Tiger Woods, who hit the links three years with Barack Obama, was planning to tee off today against White House successor Donald Trump at the real estate mogul's swank Florida golf resort.
	Woods, 40, who returned to the golf circuit this month after a 15-month injury layoff, was due to join the president-elect at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, a spokeswoman for his transition team said.
	In February 2013, the former world number teed off with Obama at a private luxury golf resort in Florida. Obama and Woods teamed up to defeat US trade representative Ron Kirk and Houston Astros owner Jim Crane.
	That golf outing was criticised after it came to light that it ended up costing US taxpayers nearly USD 3.6 million, according to a US Government Accountability report published this year.
	Trump's press team said the president-elect and Woods were also to play in a foursome, although they did not reveal the names of the other players in the group or how many holes they 

Golf's Tiger Woods hits the links with Donald Trump

PTI Automatic

Russia has sent a battalion of military police to keep order in Aleppo, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said today, after the Syrian regime took full control of the ravaged city.
	"We sent in a battalion of military police yesterday evening to maintain order in the liberated territories," Shoigu told Russian President Vladimir Putin.
	A Russian battalion normally numbers between 300 and 400 soldiers.
	The Russian military police is a subdivision of the military that is meant to ensure order and discipline in the army.
	Putin hailed the recapture of Aleppo as a "very important part of the normalisation in Syria" and said that "everything needs to be done for fighting to stop on all Syrian territory."
	Russian media earlier this month reported that scores of Chechens have been sent in as military police to Syria, with one video showing them chatting in the Chechen language while getting ready for their sendoff and wearing military police uniforms.

Russia has sent battalion of military police to Aleppo:

A 67-year-old Greek grandmother has given birth to her daughter's baby girl, becoming the world's oldest such surrogate mother, her medical team said today.
	"This is a heroic grandmother," supervising obstetrician Constantinos Pantos told state television ERT.
	The baby girl was born on Tuesday via caesarian section after a 7.5-month pregnancy, weighing 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds).
	"I feel more like a grandmother than a mother," said Anastassia Ontou from a village near Larissa, central Greece, adding that she faced few problems during the pregnancy.
	"It was an easy decision for me -- my daughter was heartbroken after not being able to carry the baby herself," she told private TV station Star.
	Pantos said that "based on international records, this is the oldest surrogate mother who is also a grandmother, based on her daughter's medical condition."
	According to the Guinness Book of Records, the oldest mother is Maria del Carmen Bousada Lara from Spain, who was 66 years and 358 days 

Greek gran becomes 'world's oldest' surrogate mum

A terminally ill Dutch six-year-old, who hoped to raise a few hundred euros for other sick children by daring people to paint their nails in garish colours, had raised more than one million by today.
	Tijn Kolsteren, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in May, launched the appeal only two days ago but it has quickly fired the imagination of the Dutch public who had donated more than 1,270,000 euros (USD 1,326,000) at the last count.
	"Paint your nails, make a donation and then challenge three of your friends to do the same," dares the donation page, which invites participants to share their pictures on social media using the hashtag #lakaan (meaning "the polish is on").
	"Most poor children diagnosed with pneumonia don't live until the age of five," said the young boy on the site. "That's why we have to put up a fight."
	Celebrities, politicians, presenters and actors have been among thousands of people who have posted pictures of their painted nails online, with far-right politician .

Internet nail-varnish dare nets sick Dutch 6-yr-old a million

An Egyptian-sponsored United Nations Security Council draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank triggered a frenzy of lobbying by Israel.
	When it emerged that Washington would not use its veto to block the resolution, Israeli officials asked US President-elect Donald Trump to intervene.
	Trump called Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who agreed to delay the vote.
	Settlements are Israeli villages, towns and even cities built on territory Israel seized during the 1967 war.
	Some 430,000 Israeli settlers currently live in the West Bank, along with 2.6 million Palestinians.
	A further 200,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem, along with at least 300,000 Palestinians, who want to make east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.
	Israel also seized part of the Golan Heights from Syria and the Gaza Strip from Egypt and established settlements in both. It evacuated the Gaza settlements in 2005.
	From the 1970s, Israel established a ...

Questions and answers on Israeli settlements

Hijackers claiming to have a grenade took over a Libyan plane today and diverted it to Malta before releasing everyone on board and surrendering to authorities, officials said.
	"Final crew members leaving aircraft with hijackers," Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Twitter.
	Minutes later, he added: "Hijackers surrendered, searched and taken in custody".
	Libyan Foreign Minister Taher Siala said the two hijackers were supporters of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi and had requested political asylum in Malta.
	Siala, from Libya's internationally backed Government of National Accord, said the hijackers have also said they want to set up a pro-Kadhafi political party.
	The plane landed at 11:32 am (1032 GMT) in Malta.
	After more than an hour on the tarmac, the door of the Airbus A320 opened and a first group of women and children was seen descending a mobile staircase.
	Dozens more passengers were released minutes later following negotiations that Maltese government sources said 

Hijackers of Libyan plane surrender in Malta

The hijackers of a Libyan plane that landed in Malta earlier today have left the aircraft and surrendered after releasing all the passengers and crew, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.
	"Hijackers surrendered, searched and taken in custody," Muscat tweeted.

Hijackers from Libyan plane have surrendered: Maltese PM

The International Olympic Committee has launched an inquiry into 28 Russians suspected of tampering with doping samples at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games in a new blow to Russia's efforts to redeem its name.
     While President Vladimir Putin again denied any state backing for the mass doping revealed by investigator Richard McLaren, the IOC has also ordered new testing of all samples from Russians at Sochi, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and the 2012 London Olympics.
     The IOC said disciplinary proceedings against the 28 were ordered following McLaren's latest report for the World Anti-Doping Agency released on December 9.
     McLaren has accused Russia of "state sponsored" doping, using the intelligence services to organise the swapping of samples at Sochi.
     His latest report said that 1,000 Russian athletes in all sports took part in the doping system in which coffee and salt were used to hide failures.
     While the IOC did not name any of the 28 athletes involved in ...

28 Russians face action over tampered Sochi samples

Libya plane hijackers asking for asylum in Malta:

German authorities said they were investigating whether the main suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack, who was shot dead in Italy today, had accomplices, as they warned the high threat level remained "unchanged".
	Federal prosecutor Peter Frank told reporters that there were many open questions in the probe into Tunisian national Anis Amri, the suspect who was killed when he opened fire on Italian police in Milan.
	"It is very important for us to determine whether there was a network of accomplices... In the preparation or the execution of the attack, or the flight of the suspect," he said.
	Frank said investigators also hoped to learn whether the firearm Amri used against police in Milan was the same weapon used to shoot dead the Polish registered driver of the truck that was hijacked to mow down holiday revellers in Berlin on Monday.
	Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere later thanked Italian police for their swift action, saying the officers had been "especially brave" and 

Germany probes whether attack suspect part of a 'network'

The Islamic State group said that the man shot dead by Italian police near Milan today carried out the deadly truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market.
	"The Berlin attacker carried out a new attack against an Italian police patrol in Milan and was killed in an exchange of fire," the IS-linked Amaq agency said, referring to the fatal shooting of Anis Amri, the prime suspect in the Berlin attack, by Italian police.
	Twelve people were killed when the Polish-registered articulated truck, laden with steel beams, slammed into the crowded holiday market late Monday, smashing wooden stalls and crushing victims.
	Amaq said Tuesday that "a soldier of the Islamic State" had carried out the attack "in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition countries".
	Germany is part of a US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria.
	An Italian police officer shot Amri dead near Milan's Sesto San Giovanni train station today, four days after the attack which had triggered a Europe-wide

IS says man shot in Milan was Berlin attacker

The number of migrants and refugees who have perished while trying to cross the Mediterranean this year has passed 5,000, the UN said today after two more deadly shipwrecks.
	The latest incidents happened yesterday when an estimated 100 people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after two rubber dinghies collapsed, the UN refugee agency said, citing reports from the Italian coastguard.
	In October, UNHCR declared 2016 the deadliest year ever for migrants trying to reach Europe on the Mediterranean route, when the fatality mark hit 3,800.
	Deaths have surged this year because migrant smugglers are increasingly using poor quality vessels while also trying to pack more people on boats, possibly to raise profits, UNHCR has said.
	"An average of 14 people have died every day in the Mediterranean Sea during 2016," UNHCR said in a statement.
	The higher death rate has come despite a drop in the number of migrants crossing the sea this year compared to 2015.
	Last year, more than a million ...

Mediterranean migrant deaths in 2016 pass 5,000: UN

Women, children released from hijacked Libyan plane: Malta

IMF chief Christine Lagarde today joined a Cameroon summit of central African leaders aimed at tackling economic woes brought on by weak oil prices.
	"Our foreign exchange reserves have dropped substantially," Cameroon's President Paul Biya said in his opening address. "We need to act and fast, we should act together."
	Lagarde's presence had not been announced previously, nor had that of French Finance Minister Michel Sapin who also joined the meeting.
	Some of the foreign exchange reserves of central African nations using the CFA franc are held by the French treasury.
	Historically, the currency used in much of central and west Africa was pegged to the French franc. It is now fixed to the euro.
	Cameroon's leader, who has been in power since 1982, said he was waiting for "some useful light" to be shed on the situation by the International Monetary Fund.
	The Yaounde-based Bank of Central African States (BEAC), which serves six countries, estimates that the growth of gross domestic ..

IMF chief joins Cameroon summit on oil woes

The headless body of a Muslim villager has been found days after he spoke to reporters on a rare government-guided media tour of restive northern Rakhine State, Myanmar police said today.
	Troops have taken control of the dangerous and remote region bordering Bangladesh since October 9 when armed men raided police posts, killing nine officers.
	At least 34,000 Rohingya Muslims have since fled to Bangladesh, taking with them allegations of mass-killings, rape and torture at the hands of Myanmar security forces.
	The Myanmar government has vigorously denied the accusations and blamed Rohingya activists for spreading false accounts.
	Troops have killed more than 80 people throughout the crackdown, according to official figures, while conflict analysts say several Muslim villagers have also been killed by the militants whose attacks sparked the latest unrest.
	Police did not give a motive for the killing of the 41-year-old man, whose body was found floating in a river, but said he spoke ..

Muslim man found dead after speaking to media in Myanmar state

Russian President Vladimir Putin said today the recapture of the devastated city of Aleppo by Syrian regime forces was a "very important" step towards stabilising the war-torn country.
	"The liberation of Aleppo from radical elements is a very important part of the normalisation in Syria, and I hope, for the region overall," Putin told defence minister Sergei Shoigu in a meeting, the Kremlin said.
	The Syrian army said late yesterday that it had retaken full control of Aleppo, scoring its biggest victory against opposition forces since the civil war erupted in 2011.
	The Kremlin strongman said that after the ouster of rebels from Aleppo, Moscow will now look to end fighting across the country.
	"Everything needs to be done for fighting to stop on all Syrian territory," Putin said.
	"In any case, we will strive toward this."
	Putin said during his annual press conference today that he hoped that fresh peace talks could get all sides in the conflict to agree to a nationwide ...

Putin hails Aleppo recapture, moves to expand Syria presence

A hijacked plane from Libya landed on the Mediterranean island of Malta today with 118 people including seven crew members on board, Malta's prime minister and government sources said.
	The Airbus A320 had been on a domestic Libyan route operated by Afriqiyah Airways from Sabha in the south to the capital Tripoli but was re-routed.
	"The Afriqiyah flight from Sabha to Tripoli has been diverted and has landed in Malta. Security services coordinating operations," Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Twitter.
	Libya confirmed the plane had been diverted.
	Malta International Airport tweeted: "MIA confirms there is an unlawful interference at the airport. Emergency teams dispatched".
	The plane could be seen on the tarmac surrounded by military vehicles and all flights have been cancelled.
	Maltese government sources told AFP that a single hijacker was on board and had told crew that he had a grenade. The hijacker said he would release the passengers as long as his as yet unspecified ...

Hijacked Libyan plane lands in Malta: PM

A Chinese firm has signed an agreement to sell high-speed trains to the Czech Republic, its first deal with a member of the European Union, state media reported as Beijing urges its rail makers to expand overseas.
	The deal will see CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive -- a subsidiary of Chinese rail giant CRRC, the world's largest train maker -- sell three trains to the Czech railway company Leo Express for 20 million euros (USD 20.9 million), China's official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
	The first of the three trains, which will run at a speed of 160 kilometres per hour, is scheduled to be delivered by mid-2018, according to Liao Hongtao, vice general manager of CRRC Zhuzhou.
	The deal comes as Beijing seeks to create high-tech firms capable of competing for lucrative contracts with foreign giants.
	"The sale to (the) Czech (Republic) represents the international market's recognition (of) Chinese manufacturers," Xinhua cited Liao as saying.
	Chinese firms have signed deals to build 

China firm to sell first high-speed trains to the EU

At least one civilian was killed today in the first wave of rebel rocket fire on Aleppo since the Syrian city was declared under full government control, a monitoring group said.
	Ten rockets hit the southern district of Al-Hamdaniyeh, wounding eight other civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
	Syrian state news agency SANA put the toll at three civilians killed and at least six others wounded.
	The fire was the first rebel attack since Syria's armed forces announced Aleppo was back under their control following a fierce month-long offensive.
	Under a landmark evacuation agreement, about 35,000 people were bussed out of the small pocket of residential districts in Aleppo's east, which had been held by the opposition since mid-2012.
	But opposition factions still control territory along the western outskirts of Aleppo, which Abdel Rahman said they were using to fire rockets into the city.
	For more than four years, Aleppo had been divided between rebels in ...

At least one dead in rebel fire on regime-held Aleppo

Russian President Vladimir Putin today said there was "nothing unusual" about US President- elect Donald Trump's call to boost America's nuclear capability.
	"As concerns the new president-elect of the United States Mr Trump, there is nothing new here. During his election campaign he spoke about the necessity of strengthening the nuclear component of the United States, to strengthen the armed forces. There is nothing unusual here," Putin said at his annual press conference.
	Trump yesterday wrote on Twitter that the US must massively bolster its nuclear capabilities, without providing details or context, a day after meeting a group of Pentagon top brass, and shortly after Putin called for Russia to reinforce its own nuclear capabilities.
	"The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," Trump tweeted.
	The open talk of ramping up nuclear capabilities -- reminiscent of Cold War pledges -- ...

Putin says 'nothing unusual' about Trump's nuclear call

Syrian troops cemented their hold on Aleppo today after retaking full control of the city, as residents anxious to return to their homes moved through its ruined streets.
	Syria's army announced yesterday it had recaptured the former rebel stronghold of east Aleppo following a landmark evacuation deal that saw thousands of opposition fighters and residents bussed out.
	It was the biggest victory for President Bashar al-Assad's forces in nearly six years of civil war and a major win for his foreign backers, with key ally Russia hailing the recapture as "very important" step.
	Braving the cold, war-weary residents crossed districts that had become infamous front lines, eager to return to neighbourhoods they had not seen in years.
	An AFP correspondent saw civilians wrapped in coats trekking through the cold, some rolling their belongings on wheelbarrows.
	"I came to check on my house, which I haven't seen in five years," resident Khaled al-Masri said. "I really hope my home wasn't badly 

AFP

AFP

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