German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn said today it planned to significantly ramp up cargo transport to China following a record year, using the world's longest train line in a modern-day revival of the Silk Road route.
	More than 40,000 containers were transported between the two countries in 2016, up from 35,000 a year earlier and "the largest volume of goods" moved on the iron link so far, Deutsche Bahn (DB) said in a statement.
	"This is a good basis from which to increase the number of containers to about 100,000 by 2020," DB board member Ronald Pofalla said.
	The trans-Eurasian rail stretch spans a distance of 10,000 to 12,000 kilometres, passing through Poland, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia before stopping at several Chinese cities.
	The journey takes 12 to 16 days, around half the time it would take for the goods to arrive by sea.
	Air travel would be fastest but considerably more expensive.
	The freight train service has proved especially popular with clients ...

German rail giant steps up 'Silk Road' freight line to China

PTI Automatic

At least 15 civilians, including six children, were killed today in air strikes and artillery fire on rebel-held territory near Syria's capital Damascus, a monitor said.
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not immediately possible to determine where the strikes on the Eastern Ghouta region were carried out by the Syrian regime or its ally Russia.
	Eastern Ghouta has long been a rebel stronghold, and is regularly targeted by government air strikes and artillery fire.
	The Observatory, a Britain-based monitor, reported air strikes and artillery fire on the towns of Douma, Harasta, Arbin, Zamalka and Saqba in the region.
	An AFP correspondent in Eastern Ghouta said warplanes had been overheard since the early hours of the morning.
	Opposition fighters meanwhile launched a barrage of rockets at Damascus, the Observatory and an AFP correspondent in the capital said.
	Syrian state television reported seven people were wounded in the fire.
	Elsewhere, the Observatory said ...

Strikes, artillery fire near Damascus kill 15: monitor

Boko Haram's elusive leader Abubakar Shekau appeared in a new video today to dispute a claim that the jihadist group had been routed from its Sambisa Forest stronghold.
	"We are safe. We have not been flushed out of anywhere. And tactics and strategies cannot reveal our location except if Allah wills by his decree," Shekau said in the 25-minute video, flanked by masked armed fighters.
	"You should not be telling lies to the people," he said, referring to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who said on Christmas Eve that the extremist group had been defeated and driven from the forest, its last known bastion.
	"If you indeed crushed us, how can you see me like this? How many times have you killed us in your bogus death?" he asked.
	It was not immediately clear where the new video was shot, but Shekau, who spoke in both Hausa and Arabic, said it was filmed on Christmas Day.
	Shekau last appeared in a video in September where he disputed a claim by the Nigerian military that he had been 

Boko Haram leader in new video says group safe, not crushed

Syria's army said today it would halt all military operations from midnight, under a deal brokered by Russia and Turkey, with the opposition National Coalition announcing support for the agreement.
	Earlier, Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced the deal, saying the Syrian regime and "main forces of the armed opposition" had signed on.
	"The general command of the armed forces announces a complete halt to all hostilities on Syrian territory from the zero hour of December 30th," Syria's army said in a statement carried on state television.
	It added that the halt excluded combat against the Islamic State group and the former Al-Qaeda affiliate previously known as Al-Nusra Front, now rebranded the Fateh al-Sham Front.
	Syria's leading opposition National Coalition body, a political entity based in Turkey, confirmed its support for the truce.
	"The National Coalition expresses support for the agreement and urges all parties to abide by it," spokesman Ahmed Ramadan told AFP.
	He ...

Syria army, opposition confirm nationwide truce from midnight

Russian President Vladimir Putin today announced that the Syrian regime and rebels had signed a ceasefire deal and agreed to start peace talks.
	Putin said in televised comments that Damascus and the bulk of the armed opposition had signed a document on a ceasefire in Syria and also an announcement on their readiness to start peace negotiations.
	"Three documents have been signed. The first is a document between the Syrian government and armed opposition for a ceasefire on the territory of Syria," Putin said at a meeting with his defence and foreign ministers.
	"The second document is a set of measures to verify the ceasefire. The third document is an announcement of their readiness to start peace talks."
	The truce deal will go into effect from midnight, Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu said, with the Syrian military announcing that it was gearing up to halt all operations.
	Shoigu said the rebel groups that have signed up to the ceasefire comprise some 62,000 fighters and ...

Putin says Syrian regime, rebels have signed truce deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin today announced a "reduction" of Moscow's forces in Syria after Damascus and rebels inked a truce deal.
	"I agree with the proposal from the defence ministry for the reduction of our military presence in Syria," Putin said in a televised meeting, insisting Russia would still continue to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Putin announces a 'reduction' of Russian forces in Syria

One of Turkey's most prominent contemporary novelists appeared in court for the first time today on charges of terror propaganda, in case that has caused an international outcry over freedom of expression in the country.
	Novelist Asli Erdogan has been held in jail for 132 days since her detention over her links to a pro-Kurdish newspaper the authorities regard as a mouthpiece for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
	Also on trial is Necmiye Alpay, an internationally prominent linguist who has also made widely praised translations of Western novels into Turkish. She has been held behind bars for 120 days.
	They were taken into custody in August as part of a probe into the now shut-down pro-Kurdish newspaper Ozgur Gundem.
	Including Erdogan, 49, and Alpay, 70, a total of nine suspects linked to Ozgur Gundem have been charged in the case.
	Erdogan is no relation to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- the name is common in Turkey. There had been reports in November the pair 

Turkish novelist on trial after four months behind bars

Singapore has deported two Indonesians after one was found to have plans to travel to Syria, the city-state's interior ministry confirmed.
	"Two Indonesians were deported to Indonesia after it was established that one of them intended to travel to Syria via Singapore with the assistance of the second individual," a spokesperson from the Ministry of Home Affairs said today.
	Local media reports say that the two, a man and a woman, have suspected links to the Islamic State group, claims which were dismissed by Indonesian authorities.
	"We've questioned them and it doesn't seem they want to join IS. They are just illegal workers," Sam Budigusdian, police chief of Indonesian province Riau Islands, told AFP.
	The woman had previously worked as a maid in Syria and had wanted to return there for work while the man accompanying her was an illegal agent, helping her to get into the country unlawfully.
	"She wants to go back to (Syria) to work there as a maid... Via an illegal agent. Because ...

Singapore deports Indonesians bound for Syria

Israel's right wing today dismissed US Secretary of State John Kerry's speech on the conflict with the Palestinians as a parting shot of little consequence, especially with Donald Trump soon taking office.
	One minister repeated his assertion that a Palestinian state will be "off the agenda" once expected ally Trump takes over, while others from what is seen as Israel's most right-wing government ever mocked Kerry.
	"Palestine will be taken off the agenda," Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the hardline Jewish Home party told the Ynet news site.
	He repeated his call for Israel to annex most of the West Bank, which would destroy any hope for a two-state solution -- long the basis of negotiations and which Kerry passionately defended yesterday.
	Kerry's speech included forceful criticism of Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, warning that it was helping put the two-state solution in "serious jeopardy."
	Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 

Israeli right dismisses Kerry speech, waits for Trump

Bangladesh authorities have blocked more than 500 pornographic websites as part of a major morality drive, officials said today.
	The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said it had ordered local internet service providers to stop the sites from streaming amid fears over the impact of children.
	"We're blocking the porn sites in a bid to protect our children and youths from the harmful impact of pornography," BTRC spokesman Sarwar Alam said.
	"This is part of a major effort to promote our culture and moral values.
	"We've set up a committee which has drawn up a list of 560 (porn) sites. The committee has told local ISPs to block them," Alam said, adding the regulator would gradually broaden the blacklist.
	More than a third of Bangladesh's 160 million people have access to internet including millions of underaged teenagers who browse with smart phones, laptops and tablets.
	Junior telecoms minister Tarana Halim wrote on her Facebook page that blocking all access .

Bangladesh blocks 560 porn websites

Russian officials probing the crash of a Syria-bound military plane said today that there was no explosion on board, but equipment was functioning abnormally when it plunged into the Black Sea.
	"There was no explosion on board, I can say that for certain," said Sergei Bainetov, head of flight safety for the Russian airforce. "But an act of terror is not necessarily an explosion, so we are not discarding this version."
	Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said the probe has established that the plane was not working normally but will not issue any conclusions before January, cautioning journalists not to jump on any theories.
	"It is obvious that the equipment was functioning abnormally. Why that happened is up to experts to work out," he said at a joint press conference on the crash which killed all 92 on board, including scores of performers from a feted Red Army Choir troupe.
	The Soviet-era Tu-154 plane went down shortly after takeoff from the Sochi airport Sunday morning, after ...

'No explosion' on board crashed Russian plane: military

Thailand's military government today granted the king power to appoint the Buddhist country's top monk, a move aimed at resolving a bitter power struggle over the venerated post.
	The position of Supreme Patriarch has been left open for several years as Thailand's Buddhist factions tussle over a successor.
	Thai junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha has refrained from endorsing the front-runner nominated by the kingdom's ruling council of monks, a body known as the Sangha.
	The 91-year-old nominee, Somdet Phra Maha Ratchamangkhlacharn, has drawn criticism from some circles for his perceived links to the scandal-hit Dhammakaya sect.
	Critics say the breakaway order emphasises materialism and many mainstream Buddhists fear it is poised to take over the nation's faith.
	Today Thailand's rubber-stamp parliament approved an amendment that hands the king power to appoint any monk for the post -- thereby cutting out the vote of the Sangha.
	Lawmaker Somchai Swangkarn denied that the move was ...

Thai junta grants king power to appoint top monk

Ukraine today reported the first death of a soldier since Kiev agreed a new "indefinite" ceasefire deal with pro-Russian insurgents in the separatist east last week.
	The military said the death occurred yesterday in the village of Kurti Blaka, some 15 kilometres north of the militias' de facto capital of Donetsk.
	The rebels did not report any casualties on their part and the Ukrainian military did not specify how the soldier died.
	The death comes amid fresh hope that the 31-month conflict may be winding down after nearly 10,000 people have been killed.
	The former Soviet republic accuses its neighbour Russia of launching the war in retaliation for Kiev's ousting of a Moscow-backed president in February 2014.
	Russia denies any role in the conflict.
	The reported death does not necessarily mean the collapse of the ceasefire because monitors from the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have reported a significant decrease in fighting in the past two weeks.
	But 

Ukraine reports first death since new truce

A car packed with 12 migrants crashed in Serbia today, killing two people and seriously injuring 10, including five children, police and media said.
	The accident occurred around 3:40am (local time) near the town of Drazevac -- some 220 kilometres from Belgrade -- on the highway linking Bulgaria and Greece to northern and western Europe.
	"Two Afghan nationals were killed and 10 others injured... When their car ... Hit a protection fence," police said in a statement.
	Authorities said it was unclear who was driving the vehicle, adding there was an "intensive" search underway.
	Serbian national broadcaster RTS reported that all the injured, including five children, were transferred to a hospital in the nearby town of Nis.
	The migrants had "extremely severe head and limbs injuries... We are doing everything to save their lives," doctor Miodrag Lazic from the Nis hospital told RTS.
	The report quoted a migrant as saying he travelled from Iraq with his family, including two children, and 

Car carrying 12 migrants crashes in Serbia, 2 dead

Russia's transport minister today said equipment on the military jet that crashed in the Black Sea was functioning "abnormally", but that it was too early to say what caused the crash.
	"It is obvious that the equipment was functioning abnormally. Why that happened is up to experts to work out," minister Maxim Sokolov told journalists, adding that preliminary conclusions would likely be released in January.

'Russian crashed plane had equipment functioning abnormally'

Russian crashed plane had equipment functioning

Three Germans were feared dead after a yacht harboured on the Italian Riviera was destroyed by a fire early today, local media reported, citing emergency services at the scene.
	Firefighters called to the blaze just after 6:00 am (local time) were able to save one woman but her partner and another couple were unaccounted for, the La Repubblica daily reported on its website.
	The blaze happened at Marina di Loano, a leisure port located near Finale Ligure on the stretch of coastline between Genoa and the French border.

Germans feared dead in Italian Riviera yacht blaze

Turkey and Russia are planning to implement a countrywide ceasefire in Syria before the start of the New Year, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said today.
	The ceasefire could be put in place "at any moment", the minister told A Haber television after reports a day earlier that Turkey and Russia had agreed a deal.
	"We are planning to secure this before the beginning of the New Year," he said, adding it was the "will of the leaders" for this to happen.
	Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu said yesterday that Turkey and Russia had agreed a nationwide truce plan for Syria but none of the key players in the conflict offered an immediate confirmation.
	Cavusoglu said that if the ceasefire was successful, political negotiations between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the opposition would take place in the Kazakh capital Astana.
	But he insisted the Astana talks, overseen by Turkey and Russia, were not a rival to UN-backed talks that have been taking place ...

Turkey, Russia plan Syria ceasefire before New Year: Ankara

At least 39 people have been injured in two separate bomb attacks in the Philippines, authorities said today.
	In the first incident, two bombs exploded late Wednesday in the central island of Leyte, wounding 33 people who were watching a boxing match in Hilongos, government officials said.
	Another unexploded bomb was also found in the town, which is about 620 kilometres south of Manila, said the town's mayor Albert Villahermosa.
	A bomb went off on a highway on the southern island of Mindanao barely an hour later, wounding six people, the military said.
	"A lamppost was catapulted from the impact of the explosion," said Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Delos Reyes.
	The blast in Aleosan, hundreds of kilometres south of Hilongos, was close to the site of a Christmas Eve church bombing that injured 13.
	Police said it was too early to say if Wednesday's bombings were connected or what the perpetrators' motives might be.
	Mindanao has been wracked by bombings and other forms of violence ...

Twin Philippine bombings wound 39

Nigerian police say they have thwarted a plot to bomb a key bridge in the commercial hub of Lagos, arresting the alleged mastermind and seizing a cache of arms and ammunition.
	Police arrested Abiodun Amos, the suspected leader of a "militant gang", on November 2 after "painstaking surveillance and monitoring," national police spokesman Don Awunah said in a statement late yesterday.
	Authorities suspect the target was the 13-kilometre 3rd Mainland Bridge, which links the swanky business district of Lagos Island with the rest of the sprawling city of some 20 million inhabitants.
	The attack would have caused "devastating" damage to Lagos and Nigeria, Awunah said.
	The main suspect is an "explosive expert" with skills in assembling large-scale bombs, the police said, adding that they had seized two AK 47 rifles at his hideout in the Ikorodu area of the city.
	Information obtained from Amos led police to other plot members and they found two cartons of explosives and 125 detonators in ...

Nigeria police foil 'plot' to blow up key Lagos bridge

Turkish authorities today detained a prize-winning journalist over a succession of tweets and articles for an opposition daily, state media said, as alarm grows over press freedom in the country.
	Ahmet Sik was detained on accusations of making "terror propaganda" and denigrating the Turkish Republic, the judicial authorities and police, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
	It said he had been detained over tweets about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), as well as articles for the Cumhuriyet opposition daily that criticised the Turkish secret services.
	The author of several books, Sik is one of the best-known journalists in the country and had already endured a lengthy spell in jail from 2011-2012.
	He has won numerous awards, including the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in 2014.
	Sik's books include notably one of the few full-scale investigations into the group of Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric who Ankara blames for the July 15 failed ...

AFP

AFP

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