Opening batsman Azhar Ali led the way as Pakistan consolidated their first innings on a rain-hit second day of the second cricket Test against Australia here today.
	Only 50.3 overs were possible on the day after 50.5 overs were bowled on Monday's opening day as rain again curtailed play.
	At the close after rain forced an early finish, the tourists were 310 for six with Azhar providing the foundations.
     Azhar was unbeaten on 139 with Mohammad Amir hitting a breezy 28 off 23 balls with six fours trying to lift the scoring rate after the dismissals of Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed.
	Azhar, playing in his 56th Test, raised his 12th Test century and third against Australia with two runs behind the wicket to fine leg.
	Azhar's hundred came off 218 balls in 338 minutes and consolidated his position as Pakistan's leading runscorer this calendar year.
	At the close Azhar had scored 1089 runs for the fifth highest aggregate for the year.
	The last Pakistan opener to carry his bat through .

Azhar's ton for Pakistan amid rain in Australia Test

PTI Automatic

Taiwan's defence minister warned today that threats from China were growing daily after Beijing's aircraft carrier and a flotilla of other warships passed south of the island in an exercise as tensions grow.
	After sailing south of Taiwan itself, the Liaoning and five other warships passed the Taiwan-administered Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea also claimed by Beijing, according to Taiwan's defence ministry.
	The navy drills are seen as a show of strength by Beijing as its relations worsen with Taiwan and the United States, following a protocol-breaking telephone conversation between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US President-elect Donald Trump.
	Chinese media had earlier reported that the aircraft carrier and escorts were headed for the Pacific on exercise for the first time.
	It was the latest in a series of recent exercises staged by China, after its military aircraft passed near Taiwan on December 10 for the second time in less than a month.
	Taiwan's defence ...

Taiwan warns of growing threats from China

An Indonesian court today refused to drop blasphemy charges against the Christian governor of the capital Jakarta, as hundreds of people protested outside the court where the trial is taking place.
	Basuki Tjahaja Purnama -- the first Christian to govern the capital in more than 50 years -- sparked anger in the Muslim-majority country when he quoted a verse from the Koran while campaigning ahead of elections for the Jakarta governorship.
	The high-profile case against Purnama, better known by his nickname Ahok, has captivated attention in Indonesia, and fanned concerns about hardliners pushing their agenda in the nation of 255 million.
	Judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto ruled that the charges filed by prosecutors were legitimate despite complaints from the defence which said the trial was rushed and surrounded by too much public scrutiny.
	Outside the court, hundreds of protesters chanting slogans including "God is Great".
	"We Muslims demand Ahok to be jailed or punished as severely as ...

Indonesia court refuses to drop 'blasphemy' governor's trial

A man has died a week after being bitten by one of the world's deadliest snakes in his living room in Australia's tropical northeast, officials said.
	The 77-year-old, named in local media as David Pitt, was at his home in Cairns when he was bitten between his toes as he tried to kill the snake with a spade last Tuesday, Queensland Ambulance said.
	Paramedics performed CPR and gave Pitt anti-venom treatment before taking him to Cairns Base Hospital in a critical condition.
	"There's quite a lot of blood on the scene so potentially the snake had actually hit a vein instead of just entering the tissue itself. It was quite a rapid injection of the venom," critical care flight paramedic Valerie Noble said last week.
	Pitt remained in intensive care but died on Monday, a hospital spokeswoman told AFP today.
	The snake was reportedly a 1.5-metre (4.9-foot) long coastal taipan, the world's third-most venomous snake.
	Deaths from bites are rare despite Australia being home to 20 of the ...

Rare death from snake bite in Australian home

Azhar Ali led a stubborn Pakistan response with a century on the second day of the second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
     Azhar, playing in his 56th Test, raised his 12th Test century and third against Australia with two runs behind the wicket to fine leg.
     The tourists, who trail 1-0 in the series, went to lunch at 232 for four and went through the extended first session without losing a wicket, with Azhar on 112 and Asad Shafiq not out on 48.
     The pair had put on 107 runs for the fifth wicket after the loss of skipper Misbah-ul-Haq for 11 before tea on Monday's rain-hit opening day.
     Azhar's hundred came off 218 balls in 338 minutes and consolidated his position as Pakistan's leading runscorer this calendar year. At lunch he had scored 1062 runs for the year.
     Shafiq, who scored a fighting 137 in Pakistan's narrow loss in the first Gabba Test, survived a review on 20 when an inside edge catch behind off Jackson Bird was found ..

Azhar century as Pakistan build total in Australia Test

Scoreboard at lunch on the second
day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG on Tuesday:
	   Pakistan first innings (142-4 overnight)
	   S Aslam c Smith b Lyon 9
	   A Ali not out 112
	   B Azam c Smith b Hazlewood 23
	   Y Khan b Bird 21
	   Misbah-ul-Haq c Maddinson b Bird 11
	   A Shafiq not out 48
	   Extras (b-4, lb-3, nb-1)       8
	   Total (For 4 wickets, 81 overs) 232
	   Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-60, 3-111, 4-125
	   Bowling: Starc 16-4-41-0, Hazlewood 19-7-23-1, Bird 23-5-65-2 (1nb), Lyon 17-1-69-1, Smith 3-0-9-0, Maddinson 3-0-18-0.

Melbourne, Dec 27 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the second

Two sons of Panamanian ex-president Ricardo Martinelli have denied reports that they had received USD 6 million intended as a bribe for their father from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
	Ricardo Martinelli Linares and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares said in a statement that news reports linking them to a USD 6 million payment aimed at securing substantial contracts for Odebrecht were "groundless."
	Their father, who was president from 2009 to 2014, has been living in voluntary exile in Miami, Florida. Panama is seeking his extradition to face allegations of graft and spying on political opponents.
	The brothers' statement was published on the Twitter account of the former president, who confirmed its authenticity to AFP without providing any details.
	The brothers said they reserved the right to take legal action against those responsible for the alleged "media campaign" against them, adding that they could not allow their honor "to be tarnished by special ...

Sons of Panama's ex-president deny bribes from Odebrecht

The Gambia's president-elect Adama Barrow has called on President Yahya Jammeh to step aside, saying that even colonial power Britain was able to hand over power peacefully.
	In a Christmas message yesterday, Barrow said Gambians should be free of the threat of violence as "we enter a New Year of hope" after Jammeh threatened to cling to power unless the Supreme Court orders him to step down.
	Barrow also announced the creation of a group of experts to lay the foundations for his new administration.
	Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years, stunned observers by initially accepting his defeat in the December 1 vote by opposition candidate Barrow, but then flip-flopped a week later, rejecting the results and filing a court challenge.
	"I should assume office when the term of office of the incumbent expires... I do not want to preside over a country that is not at peace with itself," Barrow said in a statement.
	"I am calling on all peace loving Gambians to... Work for a peaceful ...

Gambian president-elect tells Jammeh to transfer power like

Argentine President Mauricio Macri sacked his finance minister Alfonso Prat-Gay today, shaking up his economic team amid a stubborn recession that has made his center-right reforms deeply unpopular.
	Prat-Gay's ministry will be split in two, said chief of staff Marcos Pena.
	Nicolas Dujovne, a respected economist, will take over as finance minister. Luis Caputo, who previously served Prat-Gay as budget secretary, will take over the newly created budget ministry.
	The president himself requested Prat-Gay's resignation, Pena said.
	"It's a matter of policy differences," he told a press conference.
	It is Macri's first cabinet reshuffle since he swept to power just over a year ago, putting an emphatic end to 12 years of left-wing rule.
	Prat-Gay had been instrumental in a flurry of market-oriented reforms, including the end of foreign exchange controls -- which caused the peso to lose one-third of its value and sent annual inflation soaring above 40 per cent.
	Other reforms under his ...

Argentine finance minister sacked amid stubborn recession

A southern French town announced an investigation today after a sculpture of a black man that commemorates the abolition of slavery was desecrated with Nazi graffiti and white paint.
	The damage to the bust which dates from the 19th century and is located in a park in Pau, near the Pyrenees and close to the Spanish border, was discovered during a police patrol.
	The word "Nazi" had been scrawled on the statue. It was cleaned immediately and a probe opened.
	France's overseas territories minister Ericka Bareigts condemned the vandalism, writing on Twitter that the memory of slavery must be respected.
	French President Francois Hollande announced plans in May to establish a major foundation to fund a slavery memorial and museum in Paris.
	The move was partly in response to frustration among members of France's black community over what many consider the country's overlooked involvement in the slave trade.

French slavery monument vandalised with Nazi slogan

No, Britney Spears is not dead.
	Yet her fans' hearts may have skipped a beat today when tweets purportedly from Sony Music Entertainment said "RIP @britneyspears #RIPBritney 1981-2016" and "Britney spears is dead by accident! We will tell you more soon #RIPBritney."
	The real Sony Music Entertainment quickly deleted those tweets and issued a terse clarification:
	"Sony Music Entertainment's Twitter account was compromised. This has been rectified," it said. "Sony Music apologizes to Britney Spears and her fans for any confusion."
	Spears's manager, Adam Leber, told CNN that "Britney is fine and well."
	She had posted photos yesterday of her children in camouflage gear during an outdoors excursion.
	"There have been a few Internet clowns over the years who have made similar claims about her death," Leber said, "but never from the official Sony Music Twitter account."
	In 2001, a Texas radio station reported that Spears and then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake had died in a car crash. Two .

Sony deletes tweets on Britney Spears's death, blames hackers

The shock announcement of Afghanistan's first woman fixed-wing pilot to seek asylum in the US has touched off a spirited national debate on the country's most vexing issues: insecurity, women's rights and mass exodus of young people.
	Niloofar Rahmani, a 25-year-old pilot lionised widely as the "Afghan Top Gun" after the 1986 Tom Cruise film on flying aces, was scheduled to return to Afghanistan last week after a 15-month training course with the US air force.
	But on the eve of her departure, she declared she will not be returning citing fears for her safety, triggering a storm of criticism in Afghanistan for "betraying" her nation but also garnering support from activists.
	"What she said in the US was irresponsible and unexpected. She was meant to be a role model for other young Afghans," defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanesh told AFP today. "She has betrayed her country. It is a shame."
	Rahmani became a symbol of hope for millions of Afghan women when she surfaced in the .

Afghan woman pilot's asylum bid sparks fervent debate

A prison riot erupted today in South Africa when inmates clashed with guards at a jail outside Port Elizabeth, leaving three people dead and 26 others injured, officials said.
	A helicopter, ambulances and other emergency vehicles rushed to the scene as guards struggled to impose order at St Albans prison, which was also hit by a deadly riot in 2013.
	Officials declined to say whether the three fatalities were prisoners or guards, but added that investigations were under way and Justice Minister Michael Masutha would visit the prison on Tuesday.
	"There was a clash between prison officials and inmates resulting in the deaths of three people and 26 others injured," Correctional Services spokesman Logan Maistry told AFP.
	"We cannot say how many are prisoners and how many are officials. We are concerned at seeing that the injured receive medical attention and that the situation returns to normal."
	Ten of the injured were in a serious condition in hospital.
	Maistry said that special ...

Three killed in South African prison riot

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman today criticised an upcoming Middle East peace conference organised by France, calling it a new "Dreyfus trial" and urged French Jews to move to Israel.
	Representatives of around 70 countries are due to attend the January 15 conference aimed at restarting long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
	Israel has strongly opposed it, instead calling for direct talks with the Palestinians.
	"This is not a peace conference. It's a tribunal against the state of Israel," Lieberman told members of his Yisrael Beitenu party, according to a recording released by the party.
	"A conference whose whole point is to harm the security of Israel, its good name -- a trial against Israel."
	"It's a Dreyfus trial in a modern version, what they're preparing there in Paris for January 15, with one difference. Instead of one Jew being on trial, it will be the entire Jewish people and the state of Israel."
	Alfred Dreyfus was a French Jewish army captain ...

Israel minister dubs French peace meeting new 'Dreyfus trial'

Six people have been killed in northern Nigeria's Kaduna state, with herdsmen suspected of committing the attack in the restive region, a former lawmaker and an official said today.
	A long-running battle over land and grazing rights has left hundreds dead in central and northern Nigeria.
	The violence occurred between Saturday and yesterday in Goska, near Kafanchan, despite a 24-hour curfew following incessant clashes between herdsmen and local farmers, they said.
	"We lost six people, including my 17-year-old daughter who was one year to her graduation from secondary school," said Gideon Morik, a former member of the state house of assembly.
	"The gunmen we suspect to be Fulani herdsmen attacked the village late Saturday into Sunday," he said, adding that the attackers wounded many people and destroyed houses before fleeing.
	Governor Nasir El-Rufai condemned the attack in a statement today, vowing to find the killers.
	President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim, has proposed setting up ..

Gunmen kill six in northern Nigeria

Israel has postponed this week's visit of Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman following a landmark UN Security Council vote demanding a halt to Israeli settlement building, officials said today.
	The move was the latest by Israel targeting countries that supported Friday's resolution which deeply angered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
	Ukraine, currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council, in turn summoned the Israeli ambassador in Kiev for further discussion, the foreign ministries of both countries said.
	It was unclear when or if the visit would occur following the postponement.
	Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon confirmed the visit had been postponed, while also issuing a statement saying that "our ambassador Eli Belotsercovsky was summoned to the foreign ministry in Kiev" over the issue.
	Ukraine's foreign ministry said it "expressed disappointment with the emotional reaction of individual Israeli officials and politicians ...

Israel postpones Ukraine PM visit after UN vote

Attacks in villages and fighting between militias killed at least 35 people over the Christmas weekend in North Kivu, a majority Christian area in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
	The bloodshed began in Eringeti -- a town 55 kilometres north of the regional hub Beni, which for two years has been hit by massacres killing hundreds, many of whom were hacked to death.
	Rebels from The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) -- dominated by puritanical Ugandan Muslims -- killed 22 people after storming Eringeti on Saturday, regional official Amisi Kalonda told AFP.
	The toll climbed to 35 today with the announcement that at least 13 Hutu civilians, mostly women and an eight-year-old girl, were killed yesterday by a militia from the Nande ethnic group.
	"The victims were all Hutu. There was an eight-year-old girl, a father and the rest were women," said local official Alphonse Mahano.
	They were killed around the village of Nyanzale, a Hutu majority community.
	The Nande and some other ethnic .

DR Congo Christmas slaughter leaves 35 dead

Seven women were elected to Oman municipal councils, according to vote results released today by the interior ministry, a day after the Gulf sultanate held its second ever local election.
	Voters across the country went to the polls yesterday to choose 202 councillors from among 731 candidates for 11 municipalities, including the capital Muscat.
	There were 23 women candidates, and seven won seats on local councils -- three more than in the previous election.
	In 1994, Oman became the first Gulf monarchy to give the vote to women and in 2011 Sultan Qaboos, who has ruled for more than 40 decades, decreed that elections be held for municipal councils.
	Oman has made tentative steps in recent years towards reform, although political parties remain banned.
	Councillors, who serve for four years, have limited powers as authorities designate the chairmen and deputy chairmen for the municipalities, and not from those elected.
	The interior ministry said that 39.85 percent of the 623,224 ...

Women win new seats on Oman municipal councils

Surveillance footage confirms that Anis Amri, the suspected Berlin truck attacker gunned down by Italian police, transited through the French city of Lyon by train, a source close to the investigation said.
	"A man corresponding to the killer was spotted on the afternoon of Thursday, December 22, on a platform at the (Lyon-Part-Dieu) station wearing a cap and backpack," the source said, confirming media reports. "He appears alone in these images.

CCTV confirms Berlin attacker transited France: probe source

Russian rescuers found today the first parts of the Syria-bound military plane that plunged into the Black Sea, as officials dismissed terrorism as a possible cause of the crash that killed all 92 people on board.
	The Tu-154 jet, whose passengers included more than 60 members of the internationally-renowned Red Army Choir, was heading to Russia's military base in Syria when it went down off the coast of the resort city of Sochi shortly after take-off yesterday.
	Investigators have yet to confirm the cause of the crash, but officials said that an act of terror was not being considered as a possible explanation, despite the plane and its black boxes still being underwater.
	A spokeswoman for the Sochi-based search and rescue branch of the emergency ministry confirmed that parts of the plane had been found underwater.
	"The debris is at the depth of 27 metres one mile from shore," spokeswoman Rimma Chernova told AFP.
	The Russian military added that divers had retrieved "two elements of 

Parts of crashed Russian plane found in Black Sea

The White House orchestrated a "gang-up" against Israel on last week's UN settlement vote, its ambassador to Washington said today, in the latest sign of anger between the longtime allies.
	Israel's ambassador Rob Dermer said in an interview with CNN that his government plans to show evidence of the alleged US maneuvering in due time.
	"What is outrageous is that the United States was actually behind that gang-up. I think it was a very sad day, really a shameful chapter," the Israeli diplomat told CNN.
	"We have clear evidence of it. We will present that evidence to the new administration through the appropriate channels. And if they want to share it with the US people they're welcome to do it," Dermer said, adding that the Israeli government is "deeply disappointed" with Washington over the UN vote.
	On Friday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including .

AFP

AFP

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