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 ...

Netanyahu calls in US envoy in fallout over UN vote

PTI Automatic

Twenty-two civilians were killed in a massacre in Democratic Republic of Congo's restive North Kivu province over the weekend, an official said today.
	The bloodshed happened in Eringeti, a town 55 kilometres north of the regional hub Beni, a city plagued by a wave of attacks that have claimed more than 700 civilian lives according to regional official Amisi Kalonda, who blamed the latest violence on Ugandan rebels.
	For the past two years the region around Beni has been afflicted by a series of massacres that have killed hundreds of civilians, most of whom were hacked to death.
	Congolese officials have blamed the attacks on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group of rebels dominated by puritanical Ugandan Muslims, but several expert reports have suggested that other groups, including elements within the Congolese army, took part in some killings.

Twenty-two civilians killed in DR Congo bloodbath: official

President Barack Obama and his daughters spent part of the Christmas weekend playing an "escape room" game, while White House successor Donald Trump ushered in the holiday overnight with a visit to church.
	According to pool reports, Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia and some friends spent part of yesterday evening playing "Breakout Waikiki" -- a live-action game where players are locked in a room with one hour to figure out a series of clues and riddles to escape.
	The Obamas are spending the holidays in Hawaii.
	Escape room games are all the rage in the United States, after years of popularity in Asia and elsewhere.
	"Your goal is simple: You have 60 Minutes to break out from one of our real life escape rooms," the website for Breakout Waikiki says.
	"Crack the codes. Use your gut. Solve the riddles. Find out if you have what it takes to break out in time!"
	The Obamas did, apparently.
	"They were yelling, screaming, having a blast. They broke out with 12 seconds left," the manager ..

Obamas play Christmas Eve escape game; Trumps attend late night

Thomas Coville slashed eight days off the record when he ended an astonishing solo non-stop circumnavigation of the World on his 31m maxi trimaran today.
	   The record was once famously owned by British sailor Ellen MacArthur, but the 48-year-old Frenchman's jaw dropping new mark is just 49 days, 3 hours, 7 mins and 38 secs.
	   In that time the Colville will rarely have slept for more than 30 minutes at a time and will have been on constant alert to dangers and changing conditions.
	   Having set off from Brest on the Brittany coast November 6 Coville needed to make it back by January 3 to establish a new record.
	   Coville crossed the open seas finish line off the French Atlantic coast at 16:57 GMT, December 25, and was due to head back to Brest.
	   The previous record of 57 days 13 hrs 34 mins and 6 sec was established by another Frenchman Francis Joyon under almost identical conditions in 2008.
	   Even Joyon's record back then was a huge shock as it broke MacArthur's ...

Yachting: Frenchman pulverises solo round the world record

Egypt today sentenced to life two men linked to the Islamic State group for plotting an attack on a Red Sea resort hotel during which three tourists were hurt, a court official said.
	The men armed with knives stormed the restaurant of the Bella Vista hotel in Hurghada last January as tourists were having dinner, slightly wounding an elderly Austrian couple and a Swedish tourist.
	No one claimed responsibility for the attack, during which police shot dead one of the assailants, Mohamad Hassan Mohamed Mahfouz, and wounded the other, Mohamed Magdy Abul Kheir.
	The prosecution said that the pair had plotted the attack along with fellow Egyptian Ahmad Abdel Salam Mansour, identified as an Islamic State group jihadist based in Syria where IS is active.
	The court official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Abul Kheir was present in court for the verdict while Mansour was sentenced to life in absentia.
	According to the prosecution, Mansour incited the other two to carry out ...

Egypt sentences two to life for Red Sea hotel attack

A strong Christmas day earthquake rattled Chile today, registering 7.7 on the Moment Magnitude Scale, according to US seismologists, who warned that tsunamis are possible in some areas.
	The US Geological Survey said the quake struck near the southern coast of the quake-prone South American nation at 1422 GMT.
	The epicentre of the earthquake was 40 kilometres southwest of the town of Puerto Quellon.
	The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, said in a bulletin that "hazardous tsunamic waves are forecast for some coasts."
	The quake had a depth of 15 kilometres according to the PTWC.

7.7 magnitude quake strikes Chile; tsunami warnings issued: US

Chile struck by 7.7 magnitude quake: USGS (AFP)

A suicide bomber apparently targeting a religious site on Christmas day killed two civilians in northern Cameroon, a region often hit by Boko Haram jihadists from Nigeria, the local governor said today.
	"The suicide bomber was certainly targeting a religious site, but we cannot say exactly which one. It's Christmas day and there are prayers" being said everywhere, Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of the Far North region of Cameroon, told AFP.
	"We have two deaths reported at the site, the suicide bomber and a member of a security committee, and a third person died at hospital," he said, referring to a 19-year-old student.
	The governor added that there were also five others wounded and hospitalised but their condition was not life-threatening.
	Police have surrounded a Christian church in the town of Mora which has been locked down by soldiers, a Christian teacher there who requested anonymity told AFP. The region is home to Christians, Muslims and animists.
	Northern Cameroon, bordering ..

Suicide bomber kills 2 civilians in north Cameroon

Voters in Oman headed to the polls today to choose municipal councillors in only the second local election held in the Gulf sultanate.
	Ruled by Sultan Qaboos since 1970, Oman has made tentative steps in recent years towards reform, though political parties remain banned.
	In 1994 it became the first Gulf monarchy to give the vote to women and in 2011 Qaboos decreed that elections be held for municipal councils.
	More than 620,000 voters were registered to take part in today's polls, which will choose councillors for 11 municipalities including the capital Muscat.
	The councillors will have limited powers, as authorities will designate chairmen and deputy chairmen for the municipalities from outside those elected.
	"I voted for the person who will best represent me," Jawhara al-Zadjali said as she left a polling station in Muscat.
	Voters across the country are choosing 202 councillors from among 731 candidates, including 23 women, for the four-year posts.
	At the national level, Oman 

Omanis vote in municipal elections

A powerful typhoon with gusts reaching 235 kilometres (146 miles) an hour made landfall in the eastern Philippines late today, the state weather service said.
	The eye of Typhoon Nock-Ten hit the remote island of Catanduanes just after 6:00 pm (local time), the weather service announced on its official Twitter site.
	There were no immediate official reports of damage or casualties.
	The military and local governments have moved more than 100,000 people from the coasts and other hazardous areas of Catanduanes and nearby areas of the Bicol peninsula after experts warned of possible huge waves, floods and landslides.
	The typhoon, the strongest to hit the disaster-prone archipelago this year, was forecast to sweep west into the country's most densely populated areas including the capital Manila over the coming hours and tomorrow.

Powerful typhoon slams into the Philippines

Pope Francis urged peace in the Middle East as tens of thousands gathered to hear his Christmas address today, while offering comfort to victims of terrorism after a year of bloody jihadist attacks.
	The 80-year-old Argentine called for guns to fall silent in Syria, saying "far too much blood has been spilled" in the nearly six-year conflict.
	And he urged Israelis and Palestinians to "have the courage and the determination to write a new page of history" in his message from the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica to a crowd of 40,000 gathered in the square below which, despite the sunny weather, was far from full.
	As Europe ramped up security for the holiday just days after the truck attack that left 12 dead at a Berlin Christmas market, the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics said he hoped for "peace to those who have lost a person dear to them as a result of brutal acts of terrorism".
	In Milan, where suspected Berlin attacker Anis Amri was killed in a police shootout on ...

Pope comforts terror victims in Christmas message

A Russian military plane crashed on its way to Syria today, with no sign of survivors among the 92 onboard, who included dozens of Red Army Choir members heading to celebrate the New Year with troops.
	The Tu-154 plane crashed in the Black Sea shortly after taking off from the southern city of Adler where it had been refuelling, defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies.
	It disappeared from radars just two minutes after it took off at 5:25 am (0755 IST).
	The ministry told agencies there was no sign of any survivors at the crash site and that four bodies had been recovered off the coast of the resort city of Sochi, after authorities launched a frantic search operation.
	"Fragments of the Tu-154 plane of the Russian defence ministry were found 1.5 kilometres from the Black Sea coast of the city of Sochi at a depth of 50 to 70 metres," it said.
	President Vladimir Putin has ordered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to head a government commission to ...

'No survivors' as Syria-bound Russian jet crashes

A Frenchwoman who runs an aid group has been kidnapped in Mali's restive north, the French foreign ministry confirmed today.
	Sophie Petronin was abducted in the city of Gao yesterday, the ministry said, adding that French and Malian authorities were working together "to find and free our compatriot as quickly as possible".
	Petronin was the director of a non-governmental organisation that helps children suffering from malnutrition, the ministry said, adding that officials were in contact with her family.
	Malian officials had yesterday reported the kidnapping of a woman with French and Swiss nationality in Gao, but there was as yet no confirmation that Petronin held dual citizenship.
	"We immediately launched a search," a Malian security source said yesterday on condition of anonymity, without revealing the victim's identity or how she was abducted.
	Northern Mali fell to jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda from March 2012. These forces were driven out of key towns by a French-led ...

French aid worker kidnapped in Mali: France

'No sign of survivors' at Russian plane crash site:

Heavy snow in northern Japan caused transport chaos over the holiday weekend, with flights and train services cancelled and thousands of passengers forced to camp out at a regional airport for three straight nights.
	Sapporo on Hokkaido island had up to 96 centimetres (38 inches) of snow as of Friday night, the city's heaviest snowfall in half a century, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
	The snow blanketed New Chitose Airport, the main gateway to the northern island region, and caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled.
	Some 2,500 people were forced to stay there on Thursday night, 6,000 on Friday night and 2,600 in Saturday night, according to a security official at the airport.
	The passengers' plight was compounded by the fact that most flights had been fully booked due to the holiday, national broadcaster NHK said.
	More than 280 flights to and from the airport were cancelled on Friday alone, along with hundreds of train services in the region during the weekend, ...

Thousands stranded at Japan airport after heavy snow

A Russian military plane crashed today in the Black Sea as it made its way to Syria with 92 people onboard, including Red Army Choir members heading to celebrate the New Year with troops.
	Local news agencies, citing the defence ministry, said the Tu-154 plane had crashed shortly after take-off from the southern city of Adler at 5:40 am local time.
	Defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies that one body had been recovered six kilometres off the coast of the resort city of Sochi, as a frantic search operation continued to hunt for the missing.
	"Fragments of the Tu-154 plane of the Russian defence ministry were found 1.5 kilometres from the Black Sea coast of the city of Sochi at a depth of 50 to 70 metres," the ministry said.
	The plane had been on a routine flight to Russia's Hmeimim airbase in western Syria, which has been used to launch air strikes in Moscow's military campaign supporting its ally President Bashar al-Assad in the country's devastating .

Syria-bound Russian military jet crashes with 92 onboard

A Saudi soldier was killed in a cross-border firefight with Yemeni rebels, the interior ministry said today.
	A border post was attacked overnight by Huthi rebels, a spokesman said, adding that one soldier wounded in the exchange died before reaching hospital.
	He was the latest of at least 111 Saudi soldiers and civilians to die in the country's south since the kingdom launched a coalition to battle Yemeni insurgents in March 2015.
	Most Saudi casualties have been from retaliatory cross- border rocket attacks or combat. But there have also been previous deadly mine blasts in Jazan.
	In Yemen itself, more than 7,000 people have been killed, mostly civilians, since March last year according to the United Nations.
	A Yemeni military official said today that five rebels were killed in a coalition air raid in the southern Shabwa province.
	Also in Shabwa, three armed tribesman were killed in an ambush by fighters belonging to the Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda.
	President Abedrabbo Mansour ...

Saudi soldier killed near Yemen border

Debris from a Russian military plane carrying 91 people that had disappeared from radars has been found in the Black Sea, local news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying today.
	"Fragments of the Tu-154 plane of the Russian defence ministry were found 1.5 kilometres from the Black Sea coast of the city of Sochi at a depth of 50 to 70 metres," the ministry said.
	The plane had vanished from radar screens shortly after taking off at 5:40 AM (0810 IST) from the southern city of Adler, south of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.
	It was conducting a routine flight to Russia's Hmeimim airbase outside the coastal Syrian city of Latakia, the ministry said.
	The ministry said the plane was carrying Russian servicemen as well as members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, the army's official musical group, who were headed to Syria to participate in New Year celebrations at the base.
	There were nine members of the media on board, the ministry said.
	Moscow has been flying a bombing campaign 

Debris from missing Russian military plane found in Black Sea

Debris from missing Russian military plane found in Black

A Russian military plane headed to Syria has disappeared from radar after taking off from the southern city of Adler, local news agencies reported the defence ministry as saying today.
	The ministry said that there are 91 people onboard and that search and rescue groups had been dispatched to locate the missing Tu-154.
	The plane had departed at 5:40 am local time from Adler, south of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, and was conducting a routine flight to Russia's Hmeimim airbase outside the coastal Syrian city of Latakia, the ministry said.
	The ministry said the plane was carrying Russian servicemen as well as members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, the army's official musical group, who were headed to Syria to participate in New Year celebrations at the base.
	There were nine members of the media on board, the ministry said.
	Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the situation and was being kept abreast of the ..

Russian military plane headed for Syria disappears from radar

Two people have died after a bus carrying a student band from Tonga crashed 100 metres down a bank while they were heading to a Christmas Day service in New Zealand, police said today.
	More than 40 people were injured when the bus ploughed through a barrier and rolled down a steep bank late on Christmas Eve about 30 kilometres from the resort town of Gisborne, on the east coast of the North Island.
	The body of one person was found soon after the crash and the second body was recovered in a later search of the wreckage.
	Facebook posts identified the passengers as a brass band comprising students and teachers from Mailefihi Siulikutapu College on Vavau Island in Tonga.
	Police initially said 46 people were on board, but after the discovery of the second body they said the numbers were yet to be confirmed and they were working with the survivors to make sure everyone was accounted for.
	Ambulance staff said 41 people required treatment and 27 were taken to hospital.
	"The passengers ..

AFP

AFP

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