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 ...

Turkey detains prominent journalist over tweets: report

PTI Automatic

Iraqi forces launched the multi-pronged "second phase" of the battle to retake eastern Mosul from jihadists today, a top commander said.
	Iraqi forces punched into eastern Mosul after the massive operation to recapture the northern city from the Islamic State group was launched on October 17, but progress slowed to a crawl.
	"The second phase of liberating the left bank in Mosul was launched, and our forces began advancing toward Al-Quds neighbourhood," Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a senior officer in Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service, told AFP.
	Mosul, now the last Iraqi city in which IS still holds significant territory, is split by the Tigris River, with the east side referred to as the left bank and the west as the right.
	"Now our forces clashed with the enemy and there is resistance," he said, adding that forces on the northern and southern fronts were also advancing.
	Iraqi forces north and south of Mosul had so far remained outside the city, with the brunt of .

Iraq forces in 'second phase' of east Mosul battle: commander

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.

Turkey,Russia plan to implement Syria ceasefire before New Yr

Oman, which generally stays neutral in the face of regional disputes, has joined a Saudi-led military coalition aimed at "fighting terrorism," official media in Riyadh said today.
	The Gulf sultanate, which maintains good ties with rival powerhouses Iran and Saudi Arabia, becomes the 41st nation in the alliance announced last year by the Saudi defence minister, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
	The official SPA agency said Mohammed received a message from his Omani counterpart praising Saudi efforts in showing "leadership in the Islamic military coalition in fighting terrorism".
	Oman is one of the few Arab states not to have joined a Saudi-led military coalition battling rebels in Yemen and has hosted several rounds of talks aimed at ending the conflict raging there since March 2015.
	Little information has been provided on the anti-extremist alliance since Riyadh announced its formation in December 2015.

Oman joins Saudi 'anti-terror' coalition

A top Taiwanese intelligence official today urged the island's former agents not to travel to China, citing safety risks as relations with Beijing grow increasingly tense.
	Kuo Chung-hsin, deputy director of Taiwan's National Security Bureau, told reporters in parliament that "the current atmosphere is not suitable" for former and retired intelligence officers to visit China.
	"China has no statute of limitations on (prosecuting) our intelligence units and will question you whenever they have an issue with you and exercise their power of the state. So how can we ensure the safety of our people?"
	His comments followed reports in Taiwanese media that the bureau sent out notices earlier this month to warn former employees against travelling to China after some complained of being questioned and harassed during their visit to the mainland.
	"There are apparent risks and safety concerns concerning our national security, the protection of secrets, and the safety of our colleagues. The ...

Taiwan warns ex-agents not to visit China

Floods triggered by heavy rains and a river bursting its banks have killed at least 50 people in the southwest Democratic Republic of Congo, a provincial governor said today.
	"The rains on the night of Monday to Tuesday have caused at least 50 deaths," Jacques Mbadu, governor of Kongo Central province told AFP, adding that a search was still going on for "more bodies that may be buried in the mud".

Floods in DR Congo kill at least 50: provincial governor

Toshiba shares plunged by double digits today for a third straight session, as investors dumped the stock on expectations the company will take a massive loss on its US nuclear business.
	The troubled company's stock plummeted as much as 25.55 per cent at one point -- virtually the maximum fall permitted for the day -- before paring losses to close 16.97 per cent down at 258.7 yen.
	Over the three days, the company's market value declined by an approximately 781 billion yen (USD 6.70 billion).
	On Tuesday, the troubled conglomerate said that costs linked to the acquisition last year by its US subsidiary of a nuclear service company will possibly come to "several billion US dollars" and cause earnings to take a hit.
	The exact figure of the potential write-down is still being worked out, Toshiba President Satoshi Tsunakawa told reporters after the announcement.
	He hinted the company may seek support from financial institutions to boost capital, while local media Thursday reported it ..

Toshiba shares plunge further after loss warning

Skipper Steve Smith scored his 17th Test century to give Australia a 22-run lead over Pakistan as rain again disrupted play in the second Test in Melbourne on Thursday.
     Smith reached his fourth Test hundred of the year before a storm lashed the Melbourne Cricket Ground just before tea and forced the rest of the fourth day's play to be abandoned.
     Smith was unbeaten on 100 with Mitchell Starc not out seven in Australia's 465 for six.
     It is unlikely there will be a result in the Test with just Friday's final day to play.
     The Australians were hoping to build a 100-plus run lead to try and put the tourists under pressure on the final day in the weather-disrupted Test.
     Smith passed 1,000 runs in a calendar year for the third time in a row during his knock, taking his 2016 total to 1,040 at 67.60 with his patient 100 not out coming off 168 balls with nine boundaries.
     Usman Khawaja was dismissed three runs short of his century early in the day, the second time ...

Smith century gives Australia narrow lead

Neil Broom's maiden century and the self-belief of Kane Williamson gave New Zealand a 67-run victory over Bangladesh to take the second one-day international and the series in Nelson on Thursday.
     Bangladesh suffered a dramatic meltdown when they were cruising towards what should have been a comfortable victory after Broom's unbeaten 109 was the only significant score in New Zealand's 251.
     The tourists reached 104 for one in the 23rd over and were all out for 184 by the 43rd, losing their last nine wickets for 80 runs.
     The win, following New Zealand's 77-run victory in the first match, gives the home side an unbeatable 2-0 lead with one match remaining, also in Nelson, on Saturday.
     With New Zealand's frontline bowlers struggled for consistency at the start of the Bangladesh innings, skipper and part-time spinner Williamson put himself into the attack as the seventh bowler and claimed three for 22 with his looping off-breaks.
     It was the breakthrough New Zealand .

Broom hundred sets up New Zealand series win

Scoreboard after the fourth day
of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.
     Pakistan first innings 443-9 dec
     Australia first innings (278-2 overnight)
     M. Renshaw   b Yasir Shah        10
     D. Warner    c Sarfraz b Riaz   144
     U. Khawaja   c Sarfraz b Riaz    97
     S. Smith     not out            100
     P. Handscomb c Sami b Sohail     54
     N. Maddinson b Yasir Shah        22
     M. Wade      c Shafiq b Sohail    9
     M. Starc     not out              7
     Extras (b1, lb8, nb13)           22
     Total (6 wickets, 113.5 overs)  465
     Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Renshaw), 2-244 (Warner), 3-282 (Khawaja), 4-374 (Handscomb), 5-433 (Maddinson), 6-454 (Wade)
     Bowling: Amir 27-5-74-0 (1nb), Sohail 23.5-7-86-2, Y. Shah 34-2-150-2, Riaz 27-3-135-2 (12nb), Azhar 2-0-11-0.

Melbourne, Dec 29 (AFP) Scoreboard after the fourth day

Australia skipper Steve Smith scored his 17th Test century Thursday before a storm stopped play on day four of the second Test against Pakistan in Melbourne.
     Smith cut Sohail Khan for three through the off-side to bring up his fourth Test hundred of the year and help build a 22-run lead over the tourists when tea was called.
     He was unbeaten on 100 with Mitchell Starc not out seven in Australia's 465 for six.
     The umpires took the players from the field for deteriorating light just before a storm lashed the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
     The Australians lost the wickets of under-pressure pair Nic Maddinson and Matthew Wade in the middle session.
     Maddinson, fighting to nail down his Test spot, failed again, deceived by Yasir Shah's flight and was bowled off-stump for 22 off 55 balls.
     Under pressure after scores of 0, 1 and 4 in his three Test innings, Maddinson advanced down the wicket but failed to get to the pitch of the ball and was cleaned up.
     ...

Smith century before storm hits Pakistan Test

Allegations over Russia and Iran's deepening ties with the Taliban have ignited concerns of a renewed "Great Game" of proxy warfare in Afghanistan that could undermine US-backed troops and push the country deeper into turmoil.
	Moscow and Tehran insist their contact with insurgents is aimed at promoting regional security, but local and US officials who are already frustrated with Pakistan's perceived double-dealing in Afghanistan have expressed bitter scepticism.
	Washington's long-time nemesis Iran is accused of covertly aiding the Taliban, and Russia is back to what observers call Cold War shenanigans to derail US gains at a time when uncertainty reigns over President-elect Donald Trump's Afghanistan policy.
	"(Russia's) narrative goes something like this: that the Taliban are the ones fighting Islamic State," top US commander in Afghanistan John Nicholson said recently, denouncing the "malign influence" of external powers.
	"This public legitimacy that Russia lends to the Taliban ..

Russia, Iran ties with Taliban stoke Afghan anxiety

At least 33 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 27 people who were watching a boxing match in Hilongos, police said.
	Another unexploded bomb was also found in the town, which is about 620 kilometres (385 miles) 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 the Wednesday 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 33

Chelsea can take another step towards English football history when they host Stoke City on Saturday, as the Premier League's jam-packed festive schedule rumbles into 2017.
     Chelsea's 3-0 win over Bournemouth on Boxing Day was their 12th in succession, leaving them two wins short of Arsenal's overall top-flight record of 14, set over two seasons in 2002.
     With each win, Antonio Conte's side have looked more and more like champions-in-waiting, but with half the season still to go, Chelsea's players are desperately trying to ignore the hype.
     "It's unbelievable because it's very difficult to do that in the Premier League, but the team are very compact on the pitch and that's the right way," Spanish forward Pedro Rodriguez told the club website.
     "Bournemouth are a good team and it was very difficult. Stoke are also a very good team, but we must take it game by game."
     Scorer of two goals against Bournemouth, Pedro will be suspended for the visit of Stoke, which ...

Record-chasing Chelsea out to stoke title dreams

Scoreboard in the
second one-day international between New Zealand and Bangladesh at Saxton Oval in Nelson on Thursday.
     New Zealand
     M. Guptill lbw Mushrafe             0
     T. Latham lbw Shakib               22
     K. Williamson c Shakib b Taskin    14
     N. Broom not out                  109
     J. Neesham st Nurul b Mosaddek     28
     C. Munro b Mashrafe                 3
     L. Ronchi c Tanveer b Taskin       35
     M. Santner c Mashrafe b Subashis    9
     T. Southee c Nurul b Shakib         3
     L. Ferguson c Nurul b Mashrafe      4
     T. Boult run out (Nurul/Taskin)    12
     Extras (b1, lb7, w4)               12
     Total (all out, 50 overs)         251
     Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Guptill), 2-37 (Williamson), 3-47 (Latham), 4-98 (Neesham), 5-107 (Munro), 6-171 (Ronchi), 7-198 (Santner), 8-214 (Southee), 9-228 (Ferguson), 10-251 (Boult)
     Bowling: Mashrafe 10-1-49-3 (2w), Subashis 10-1-45-1 (1w), Taskin 10-1-45-2 (1w), Shakib 10-0-45-2, Tanveer ...

Nelson (New Zealand), Dec 29 (AFP) Scoreboard in the

Neil Broom scored a run-a-ball 109 not out in a defiant lone stand for New Zealand batting first against Bangladesh in the second one-day international in Nelson on Thursday.
     It was a maiden century for Broom as New Zealand struggled to 251.
     It was a good toss to win for Bangladesh skipper Mushrafe Mortaza who needs a victory to keep the three-match series alive after New Zealand won the first ODI by 77 runs.
     He put New Zealand into bat to make the most of the heavy overcast conditions. When the clouds cleared and the pitched flattened out Bangladesh maintained the pressure.
     Only Broom, back in the New Zealand side after nearly seven years in the wilderness, and whose previous best was 71, was able to offer any resistance.
     His 109 off 107 deliveries included three sixes and eight fours. He offered only one chance when dropped by debutant wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan in the penultimate over.
     Mashrafe had Bangladesh in charge from the start when removed Martin .

Broom hundred is shining light for N.Zealand

Scoreboard at lunch on the fourth day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday:
     Pakistan first innings 443-9 dec
     Australia first innings (278-2 overnight)
     M. Renshaw   b Yasir             10
     D. Warner    c Sarfraz b Riaz   144
     U. Khawaja   c Sarfraz b Riaz    97
     S. Smith     not out             61
     P. Handscomb  c Sami b Sohail    54
     N. Maddinson   not out            7
     Extras (b1, lb8, nb13)           22
     Total (4 wickets, 92 overs)     395
     Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Renshaw), 2-244 (Warner), 3-282 (Khawaja), 4-374 (Handscomb)
     Bowling: Amir 24-5-63-0 (1nb), Sohail 20-6-71-1, Shah 23-1-120-1, Riaz 23-3-121-2 (12nb) Azhar 2-0-11-0.

Melbourne, Dec 29 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the fourth day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday:

Skipper Steve Smith had an unbeaten half-century as Australia reduced Pakistan's first innings lead to 48 runs by lunch on day four of the second Test in Melbourne on Thursday.
     Smith reached the interval unbeaten on 61 off 107 balls with rookie Nic Maddinson, badly needing a big score to protect his Test place, not out seven in Australia's 395 for four.
     Australia added 117 runs off 34 overs in the extended morning session and were poised to take the lead during the afternoon.
     Usman Khawaja was dismissed on 97 for the second time this season when he played away from his body and edged Wahab Riaz to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed.
     He faced 12 balls for two runs Thursday before he was out in the day's fifth over and left the ground with his head bowed.
     Khawaja also missed out on a century against South Africa in the second innings of last month's first Test in Perth.
     Peter Handscomb claimed his third half-century in his three Tests to push along the Australia ...

Smith fifty as Australia trail by 48 at lunch

Former Test fast bowler Jason Gillespie was Thursday appointed as Australia assistant coach for the three Twenty20 internationals against Sri Lanka in February.
     Cricket Australia said Gillespie will work with Justin Langer, who was confirmed as coach for the series earlier this month.
     They will step in for head coach Darren Lehmann and his assistant David Saker, who will be with the Test squad for the tour of India over the same period.
     Apart from his work with the Adelaide Strikers in the T20 Big Bash League, Gillespie spent five successful years as head coach of English county Yorkshire.
     "I'm just buzzing to get this role. It really is an exciting opportunity and I'm humbled to be thought of by Cricket Australia in this regard," Gillespie said.
     "With some players likely to be away in India it really will be a shop window for players from the BBL to showcase their skills and to show the selectors and the Australian public what they can do."
     Gillespie ...

Gillespie named Australia T20 assistant coach

The Syrian conflict "has become a cancer on a global scale", incoming UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said, while hoping Washington and Moscow overcome their differences to help end the crisis.
	The war has caused "not only the suffering of the Syrian people" but also sparks "violent reactions which in some cases lead to terrorist acts", the former Portuguese premier told Portugal's SIC television channel in an interview broadcast yesterday.
	The conflict began in 2011 as an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad but quickly morphed into a civil war after the regime unleashed a brutal crackdown against dissent.
	The war has killed more than 310,000 people and forced millions more to flee their homes.
	It has since become a complex, multi-front conflict, drawing in global powers as well as militias and jihadists.
	While Western powers and some regional states have backed the rebellion, Russia and Iran have thrown their full weight behind Assad's regime.
	Guterres termed ..

Syrian war 'cancer on a global scale': incoming UN chief

Japan's defence minister went to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo today, media reports said, the day after accompanying Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on a highly symbolic visit to Pearl Harbor.
	The shrine honours millions of mostly Japanese war dead and has been criticised by countries such as China and South Korea which suffered under Japan's colonialism and aggression in the first half of the 20th century.
	Tomomi Inada, Abe's hawkish new defence chief, visited Yasukuni for the first time since taking the key cabinet post in August, according to national broadcaster NHK, the Asahi Shimbun and Jiji Press.
	The timing of the visit is likely to prove highly contentious coming so soon after Abe's pilgrimage with President Barack Obama to the site of Japan's December 7, 1941 attack on a US navy base in Hawaii that drew the US into World War II.
	Defence ministry officials could not be reached for immediate comment.
	Abe and Obama paid homage to the more than 2,400 Americans killed in ...

AFP

AFP

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