A militia from DR Congo's Nande ethnic group has killed thirteen civilians from the Hutu community in the restive North Kivu province, an official said.
	A military operation to put an end to the Christmas Day killing spree left three Nande fighters dead, said local official Alphonse Mahano.
	The violence came after 13 members of the Nande ethnic group were killed on Thursday by Hutu militia forces in the same region.

13 civilians killed in DR Congo Christmas Day ethnic attack

PTI Automatic

Iran has killed hundreds of thousands of birds in recent weeks as avian flu spreads across seven provinces of the country, officials have reported.
	More than 1,000 wild birds, mostly geese, have been found dead in the Mighan wetland in central Iran, the environmental protection organisation told state news agency IRNA today.
	IRNA said 63,000 chickens, along with 800,000 fertilised eggs and day-old chicks, were culled at a farm in Qazvin province in recent days after an outbreak of the deadly H1N8 and H1N5 strains of the disease.
	That adds to the 725,000 birds destroyed since mid-November across the country following nine flu outbreaks, according to a report from the World Organisation for Animal Health released last week.
	Licenses for bird shooting have been suspended due to fear of infection by migratory birds, and people have been advised not to buy game birds at local markets.
	Despite a small number of human deaths in different countries over the years, the disease is mostly a 

Iran culls birds after avian flu outbreak

Sudan has freed 20 political opponents detained since last month after they called for protests against rising fuel prices, their parties said today.
	Sudanese Congress Party spokesman Mohamed Arabi said 16 members were freed yesterday, but added that "dozens of other figures including the head of the party and his deputy are still imprisoned."
	Another opposition group, the Future Forces for Change, announced that four of its members had also been released.
	Groups of protesters have staged rallies in Khartoum and some other cities since the authorities announced a 30 per cent hike in petrol and diesel prices in November that has led to a sharp rise in the cost of other goods, including medicines.
	A previous round of fuel subsidy cuts in 2013 sparked serious unrest that was only suppressed by a deadly crackdown that drew international condemnation.
	The government is determined to avoid any repetition of that kind of unrest and has rounded up several opposition leaders to prevent ...

Sudan frees 20 opposition members after protest call

Taiwan said today it was closely monitoring the movements of China's sole aircraft carrier and five other warships, which earlier passed south of the island on an exercise held amid worsening cross-strait relations.
	The Liaoning and five escorts sailed 20 nautical miles outside Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines yesterday, the defence ministry said.
	The ships continued sailing southwest after passing 90 nautical miles to the south of Taiwan's southernmost point Eluanbi Monday morning. They later travelled to the southeast of the Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea, the ministry added.
	"The military has been on guard and fully monitoring the Liaoning. We urge the public to rest assured," it said.
	Taiwanese media said an unspecified number of F-16 fighter jets and warships were deployed in Taiwan's ADIZ to closely watch the Chinese warships. The ministry declined to comment.
	Japan's defence ministry said ...

China's aircraft carrier passes south of Taiwan

Thousands of rescuers were searching for bodies in the Black Sea as Russia marked a day of mourning today following the crash of a Syria-bound military plane carrying 92 people.
	The Tu-154 jet, whose passengers included more than 60 members of the internationally-renowned Red Army Choir who were heading to entertain Russian troops in Syria for the New Year, went down off the resort city of Sochi shortly after take-off yesterday.
	The first 10 bodies have been flown in to the capital Moscow amid a national outpouring of grief.
	Investigators have yet to confirm the cause of the crash, but Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov told a televised briefing yesterday that authorities do not believe the plane was taken out by a terrorist attack.
	"There could be various causes -- they are being analysed by specialists, experts, the Investigative Committee," he said, adding that active theories ranged from human error to a problem with the fuel.
	"Currently the main versions do not include an act 

Massive search for Russia plane crash bodies

Sixteen people were killed during Christmas holiday celebrations in Mexico's main drug- trafficking states and six human heads were found in one location, officials said.
	A gang slaughtered seven people -- including three police officers -- at a family celebration in the violent southern state of Guerrero, police told AFP.
	The massacre occurred early Christmas Day outside a house in the village of Puente del Rey, where the gunmen shot dead the six men and one woman, aged 24 to 54.
	Those killed were three brothers, their father, their uncle, and a man and a woman who had been invited to the home.
	Three of the victims were police officers, a regional security ministry official said.
	In Chihuahua -- which borders the US and has, like Guerrero, endured brutal drug-related violence -- nine people were killed during Christmas celebrations, authorities said.
	Five of them died in Ciudad Juarez, including three women who were first tortured and a man whose dismembered remains were found .

16 killed throughout Mexico during holiday celebrations

Scoreboard at stumps on the first day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG today:
     Pakistan first innings
     S Aslam c Smith b Lyon 9
     A Ali batting 66
     B Azam c Smith b Hazlewood 23
     Y Khan b Bird 21
     Misbah-ul-Haq c Maddinson b Bird 11
     A Shafiq batting 4
     Extras (b4, lb3, nb1)       8
     Total (four wickets, 50.5 overs)     142
     Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-60, 3-111, 4-125
     Bowling: Starc 11-2-25-0, Hazlewood 13-5-15-1, Bird 15.5-2-53-2, Lyon 11-1-42-1.

Melbourne, Dec 26 (AFP) Scoreboard at stumps on the first day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG today:

Opener Tom Latham's career best 137 set New Zealand up for a crushing 77-run victory over Bangladesh in their opening one-day international at Hagley Oval today.
     With Latham in commanding form and Colin Munro chiming in with a rollicking 87, New Zealand posted 341-7 and the Bangladesh innings closed at 264-9 with Mushfiqur Rahim retired hurt.
     It was New Zealand's highest score in 26 matches against Bangladesh and Latham's 158-run stand with Munro was a New Zealand record for the fifth wicket against the tourists.
     For New Zealand, it was the commanding performance they were looking for after their recent 3-0 hiding by Australia.
     But for Bangladesh there were few highlights to launch their New Zealand tour.
     Their talisman Shakib Al Hasan topped their bowling (3-69) and batting (59) performances, and Mosaddek Hossain was not out 50 at the end, his maiden ODI half century.
     Mushfiqur reached 42 before a hamstring strain ended his innings, but by then ...

Latham's ton leads New Zealand to comprehensive win

Australian seamer Jackson Bird claimed two crucial wickets before tea on the opening day of the second Test against Pakistan at the MCG today.
     When tea was called early due to rain, the visitors were 142 for four with opener Azhar Ali on 66 and first Test centurion Asad Shafiq on four.
     After winning the toss and electing to bat the visitors made a cautious start, but only Ali had been able to build an innings of substance.
     Bird struck twice in quick succession to give the home team the ascendancy, removing experienced duo Younis Khan (21) and Misbah-ul-Haq (11).
     Khan, who had been given out LBW on three but successfully appealed the decision, just looked to be finding touch when Bird (2-53) snuck a ball between his bat and pad to bowl him.
     Misbah got an inside edge onto his pad and short leg Nic Maddinson dived forward to take a fine catch.
     Earlier Babar Azam (23) edged the last ball of the first session from Josh Hazlewood (1-15) to Australian captain ...

Bird puts Australia on top against Pakistan

Scoreboard at tea on the first
day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG today:
     Pakistan first innings
     S Aslam c Smith b Lyon 9
     A Ali batting 66
     B Azam c Smith b Hazlewood 23
     Y Khan b Bird 21
     Misbah-ul-Haq c Maddinson b Bird 11
     A Shafiq batting 4
     Extras (b4, lb3, nb1)       8
     Total (four wickets, 50.5 overs)     142
     Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-60, 3-111, 4-125
     Bowling: Starc 11-2-25-0, Hazlewood 13-5-15-1, Bird 15.5-2-53-2, Lyon 11-1-42-1.

Melbourne, Dec 26 (AFP) Scoreboard at tea on the first

The woman at the heart of the impeachment crisis surrounding South Korean President Park Geun-Hye refused to leave her jail cell today for questioning by lawmakers who had convened a special hearing at her detention centre.
	Choi Soon-Sil, a long-time friend of the president, has repeatedly snubbed a parliamentary committee probing a corruption scandal that triggered Park's impeachment earlier this month.
	Currently on trial for extortion and abuse of power, Choi had ignored several summons to attend the committee's hearings in the National Assembly -- prompting the lawmakers to come to her.
	A special, televised hearing was convened in the detention centre where Choi is being held on the outskirts of Seoul, but lawmakers were left with little to do but vent their frustrations after she refused to leave her cell.
	Two former top presidential aides being held in a separate facility also refused to appear for questioning.
	"It's regrettable that the witnesses disregarded the authority ..

S Korea's detained 'Rasputin' snubs lawmakers from jail cell

US President-elect Donald Trump

Jason Miller was named director of communications in the new Trump administration

Trump pick for top spokesman post turns down offer

Press Trust of India

"Save us before we die from the cold," read the email in Father Zoltan Nemeth's inbox. It was an appeal that this Hungarian priest could not ignore.
	The SOS was sent by an asylum-seeker, one of 14 relocated from a refugee camp earmarked for closure near Budapest to what they say are freezing military tents in Kormend close to the Austrian border.
	Nemeth, the Catholic parish priest in Kormend, a town of around 12,000 souls some 230 kilometres west of Budapest, quickly offered them shelter in the parish community hall.
	"I'm not a hero, it was simply my duty as a committed Christian to help," the bespectacled and portly 61-year-old told AFP in the parish house next door where he lives.
	But Nemeth calls his stance a "lonely" one in a country led by the fiercely anti-migrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
	In 2015 Orban built fences on Hungary's borders to keep out migrants, and changed laws enabling the expulsion and jailing of "illegal border crossers".
	Refugee camps are being closed .

Hungarian priest brings migrants in from the cold

Thousands of Indonesians prayed for their loved ones at mass graves and mosques today to mark a tsunami which devastated Aceh province 12 years ago, one of the worst natural disasters in human history.
	Some 170,000 lives were lost in the country when a 9.1- magnitude "megathrust" quake struck Aceh, a predominantly Muslim province in the northern tip of Sumatra island, bringing about massive waves that also hit coastal areas as far away as Somalia.
	"I came here every year to pray for my children, daughter-in-law, and their three children," Maryam, who goes by one name, told AFP, at the Ulee Lheue mass grave, where 14,800 people were buried.
	The bodies of her family were never found but 65-year-old Maryam, who survived by holding on to a tree trunk, was certain her family were buried in the mass grave as they lived in the vicinity at the time of the tsunami.
	Graves across the province, including in Siron in Aceh Besar district where more than 46,000 were buried, were crowded with ...

Indonesia marks tsunami 12 years ago with prayers

Scoreboard in the first
one-day international between New Zealand and Bangladesh at Hagley Oval in Christchurch today.
     New Zealand
     M Guptill c Sarkar b Mustafizur 15
     T Latham c Mushfiqur b Mushfiqur 137
     K Williamson c Mushfiqur b Taskin 31
     N Broom lbw Shakib 22
     J Neesham lbw Shakib 12
     C Munro c b Shakib 87
     L Ronchi b Taskin 5
     M Santner not out 8
     T Southee not out 7
     Extras: (b6, lb8, w3) 17
     Total (7 wickets, 50 overs) 341
     Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-79, 3-134, 4-158, 5-316, 6-323, 7-327
     Bowling: Mortaza 10-0-61-0, Mustafizur 10-0-62-2, Taskin 9-0-70-2, Shakib 10-0-69-3, Sarkar 4-0-25-0, Mosaddek 7-0-40-0.

Christchurch, Dec 26 (AFP) Scoreboard in the first

Pakistan lost an important wicket to the last ball before lunch on the opening day of the second Test against Australia at the MCG today.
     The visitors were 60 for two with Azhar Ali on 26 at lunch.
     The visitors had made a cautious start to their innings and were well-placed before the break, with just one wicket down.
     However, Babar Azam (23) edged the last ball of the session from Josh Hazlewood (1-8) to Australian captain Steven Smith in slips.
     Smith, who made some rare catching errors in the first Test, went low to his right and just managed to cling on, boosting Australian spirits.
     Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to bat on a dry pitch, and their openers were determined to see off any early movement from the Australian fast bowlers.
     Although the pair played and missed on occasions, Sami Aslam and Ali were able to negotaiate the seamers, and it was not until the introduction of spinner Nathan Lyon that the home side tasted ...

Australia claim important Pakistan scalp

A career best 137 by opener Tom Latham steered New Zealand to a substantial 341-7 against Bangladesh in the first one-day international at Hagley Oval in Christchurch today.
     Latham dominated the crease for more than 47 overs as he faced 121 deliveries and smacked four sixes and seven fours.
     Colin Munro chimed in with a rollicking 87 in a 158-run partnership with Latham for the fifth wicket to bolster the innings when the rest of the top order failed to stick around.
     After winning the toss and electing to bat, New Zealand maintained a steady run rate without offering prolonged support to the left-hander Latham at the top of the order.
     Martin Guptill was primed for a blistering start and smacked an early six but on 15 he misread a slower Mustafizur Rahman delivery and skied the ball to Soumya Sarkar at mid-off.
     Captain Kane Williamson moved smartly to 31 before he was undone by Taskin Ahmed, while Neil Broom (22) and Jimmy Neesham (12) came and went in quick ...

Latham's century lifts New Zealand to 341-7

Scoreboard at lunch on the first day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG today:
     Pakistan first innings
     S Aslam c Smith b Lyon 9
     A Ali batting 26
     B Azam c Smith b Hazlewood 23
     Extras (lb1, nb1)       2
     Total (two wickets, 26 overs)     60
     Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-60
     Bowling: Starc 7-1-18-0, Hazlewood 8-4-8-1, Bird 6-1-12-0, Lyon 5-0-21-1.

Melbourne, Dec 26 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the first day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG today:

A powerful typhoon threatened to bring heavy rains and winds to the heavily-populated Philippine capital as it dragged its way across the archipelago today, spoiling the Christmas holidays.
	Typhoon Nock-Ten, which made landfall on the eastern island province of Catanduanes yesterday, is forecast to move westward towards the country's heartland, packing winds of 230 kilometres per hour, the government weather station said.
	More than 218,000 people have already fled their homes while 48 domestic and international flights were cancelled, the civil defence office said, as the unusually late typhoon marred Christmas celebrations in the largely Christian nation.
	So far there have been no reports of casualties after the government took measures to prepare communities even before the storm hit.
	Nock-Ten, which is moving northwest at 20 kilometres per hour, is expected to affect Manila and the surrounding area later in the day before exiting the main island of Luzon this afternoon, the ...

Christmas typhoon threatens Philippine capital

British pop singer George Michael, who rose to fame with the band Wham! and sold more than 100 million albums in his career, has died aged 53, his publicist said.
	"It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period," his publicist said in a statement.

British singer George Michael dies aged 53: publicist

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has summoned US Ambassador Daniel Shapiro, two days after Washington abstained in a vote on a UN resolution against Israeli settlements.
	Their meeting came after Israel yesterday called in 10 representatives of 14 other states that voted for the resolution.
	An official Israeli source confirmed only that Netanyahu and Shapiro had met, without elaborating on the content or outcome of their discussions.
	The UN Security Council passed the measure Friday after the United States abstained, enabling the adoption of the first resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy.
	The resolution demands that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem".
	It says settlements have "no legal validity" and are "dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-state solution."
	Netanyahu, who also holds the foreign ministry portfolio, had rejected the ...

AFP

AFP

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