US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed the hope in Saudi Arabia today that a new ceasefire in the Yemen conflict could be agreed within two weeks.
	On his last visit to the kingdom as secretary, Kerry said the US will work with Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to achieve a new pause in the fighting, which would be the eighth ceasefire attempt since hostilities escalated early last year.
	The group of four nations, formed previously to focus on Yemen, "hopes that within two weeks it might be possible to achieve" a pause in fighting, Kerry told reporters at a joint press conference with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir.
	"The failure to achieve a lasting cessation of hostilities is disturbing to all of us," Kerry said.
	Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition conducting air strikes against Huthi rebels and providing other assistance to local forces in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
	The coalition intervened after the Huthi rebels .

Kerry hopes for new Yemen ceasefire in 2 weeks

PTI Automatic

At least 20 people were killed in a mine collapse in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a local minister said today.
	The deaths occurred overnight at the mine in the South Kivu region in the east of the country, the province's mines minister Apollinaire Bulindi said.

At least 20 dead in DR Congo mine collapse: minister

Gunmen killed seven people including a Canadian tourist and police officers today in a city in southern Jordan where security forces were hunting down the unidentified attackers.
	The shootings took place in Karak, a tourist destination known for one of the biggest Crusader castles in the region, around 120 kilometres south of the capital Amman.
	Jordan's general security department said four policemen, a female Canadian tourist and two Jordanian civilians were killed in a series of shootings. Several others were reported wounded.
	The first attack took place when a police patrol went to check on a fire that broke out in a house in Karak, the department said.
	"As soon as they reached the area, unknown gunmen who were inside the house opened fire on the patrol, wounding a policeman, and then fled by car," it said in a statement carried by the official Petra news agency.
	"Shortly afterwards, gunmen opened fire on another patrol without causing any casualties," it added.
	At the same ..

Canadian tourist among seven dead in Jordan attacks

Residents of a wildcat settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank voted today to evacuate their hilltop outpost peacefully, a week before a court-imposed deadline for their eviction.
	They approved a revised government proposal to relocate by a vote of 45 for and 29 against, a spokesperson wrote on the outpost's Twitter account.
	The 40 families living at Amona in the northern West Bank faced a Supreme Court order to leave the site by December 25 because it was found to have been built on private Palestinian land.
	The dispute over whether to demolish the outpost northeast of Ramallah has taken on international importance because of concern over settlement expansion in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967.
	All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem, are seen as illegal under international law, but Israel differentiates between those it has approved and those it has not.
	Despite the prospect of forceable eviction by the army, the Amona ...

Israeli settlers accept outpost relocation deal

An Israeli parole board today ordered ex-president Moshe Katsav freed from prison after serving five years of a seven-year term for rape and other sexual offences, his lawyer said.
	"It was a very long journey," Tzion Amir said in remarks broadcast on Israeli army radio. "Today that journey reached its end with a reasoned decision by the parole committee."
	Justice officials could not be reached by AFP for further details, but media said Katsav's release would be frozen for seven days for prosecutors to decide if they should appeal against the decision.
	Amir said Katsav burst into tears on hearing the ruling.
	Katzav began his sentence in December 2011 and has already been rejected twice by the parole board since he became eligible for the customary one-third reduction for good behaviour behind bars.
	His previous applications were turned down, in part because he had expressed no remorse over his crimes and undergone no rehabilitative process.
	Katsav has always maintained his ...

Israeli ex-president Katzav parolled from prison rape term

Security forces patrolled the tense streets of Kinshasa today after the suspension of last-ditch talks to find a peaceful way out of the nation's political crisis sparked by the end of President Joseph Kabila's mandate.
	Negotiations to agree a way forward for the Democratic Republic of Congo after December 20, when Kabila's second term finishes, were halted yesterday with no significant progress made.
	Fears of fresh political violence in mineral-rich but unstable Congo were running high, with no elections planned and Kabila showing no inclination to step down.
	Talks are due to resume on Wednesday when Catholic bishops acting as mediators return from a long-planned trip to Rome -- a day after Kabila's mandate ends.
	Roadblocks put up overnight were opened today morning but security forces were posted in large numbers in opposition strongholds and other flashpoints around Kinshasa, according to AFP reporters.
	"We're waiting to see what happens. The politicians are okay, it's us, the 

Tensions mount in DR Congo as end of Kabila's term nears

Unidentified gunmen killed a Canadian tourist and four policemen today in attacks on a police station and patrols in southern Jordan that also wounded nine others, a security source said.
	The shootings took place in Karak, a city and tourist destination known for one of the biggest Crusader castles in the region, around 120 kilometres south of the capital Amman.
	"Four of the dead are policemen and one is a (female) Canadian tourist," said the source who declined to be identified.
	He said nine others were wounded when "unknown gunmen attacked a police station and some patrols in Karak".
	Police were hunting the gunmen who fled to the Crusader castle, and authorities have sent in reinforcements, he added.

Canadian tourist among 5 dead in Jordan attacks

Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a hat-trick as Real Madrid survived a colossal scare to beat Japan's Kashima Antlers 4-2 and win the Club World Cup on Sunday.
     A Gaku Shibasaki double  threatened one of football's greatest shocks after Karim Benzema had given Real an early lead in Yokohama.
     But Ronaldo equalised from the penalty spot before pouncing twice in extra time to give the Spanish giants their second world title in three years and fifth in total.
     "Bloody hell, what a game!" said a breathless Ronaldo. "We had to suffer, but that's what finals are about. It's a trophy we really wanted to win and we end the year in the best way possible so I am very happy."
     The victory extended Real's club-record unbeaten run to 37 matches in all competitions, while French coach Zinedine Zidane surpassed Fabio Capello's record for their best start to a season.
     The European champions, yet to be defeated in 26 games this campaign, were forced to dig deep by an Antlers side who ...

Ronaldo treble fires Real to Club World Cup

Asad Shafiq scored a thrilling century as Pakistan put up a spirited resistance to Australia on Sunday, frustrating the hosts' attempts to wrap up the first Test with a day to spare.
     Shafiq dashed for three runs off a cut shot in the final over of the fourth day to reach his 10th Test century off 140 balls in the day-night match at the Gabba.
     The tourists, who have lost their last nine Tests in Australia, refused to buckle despite the loss of key batsmen Younis Khan, Azhar Ali and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq.
     At the close on a storm-hit day, with Shafiq leading the way, Pakistan had just two wickets left and were 382 for eight.
     They trail the home side by 107 runs heading into Monday's final day.
     Play was extended by an extra half-hour to seek a result but the tourists held firm.
     Steve Smith dropped a two-handed chance at second slip when Shafiq was 72 off Mitchell Starc's bowling with three regulation overs left in the day.
     Shafiq gave as good as he got ..

Fighting Pakistan resist Australia's victory drive

Scoreboard at the close on the
fourth day of the day-night first Test between Australia and Pakistan at the Gabba on Sunday:
     Australia first innings 429
     Pakistan first innings 142
     Australia second innings 202 for 5 declared
     Pakistan second innings (70 for 2 overnight)
     S. Aslam   c Renshaw b Starc             15
     A. Ali     c Wade b Starc                71
     B. Azam    c Smith b Lyon                14
     Y. Khan    c Smith b Lyon                65
     M. Ul-Haq  c Wade b Bird                  5
     A. Shafiq     not out                   100
     S. Ahmed    b Starc                      24
     M. Amir    c Wade b Bird                 48
     W. Riaz    c Smith b Bird                30
     Y. Shah    not out                        4
     Extras (lb4, w2)                          6
     Total (8 wickets, 123 overs)            382
     To bat: R. Ali
     Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Aslam), 2-54 (Azam), 3-145 (Azhar), 4-165 (Misbah), 5-173 (Younis), 6-220 .

Brisbane, Dec 18 (AFP) Scoreboard at the close on the

Austerity-wracked Greece could strike a deal with its creditors by early next year, a senior EU official said today, seeking to calm a recent row over surprise handouts announced by Athens.
	European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis made the comments days after the EU suspended debt relief for bailed-out Greece after its maverick premier Alexis Tsipras hiked spending for pensioners, angering austerity champion Germany.
	"We think that with a constructive attitude on all sides, a technical level agreement will be found in the next few months," he told the Greek daily Kathimerini in an interview.
	In that perspective a second examination of Greece's budget plan "will be concluded by the start of 2017," he added.
	Tsipras sparked a new row with its European creditors last week after announcing handouts including a surprise one-off payout to 1.6 million low-income pensioners and a sales tax break for islands sheltering thousands of migrants.
	On Wednesday EU finance ministers .

EU seeks to calm budget row with Greece

Ivory Coast voted today in elections that President Alassane Ouattara hopes will strengthen his hold in parliament in order to help keep the world's top cocoa producer in the economic fast lane.
	The authorities ordered some 30,000 security personnel into the streets for the vote in the wake of scattered incidents in recent months, including attacks on police posts.
	But Ouattara said after casting his vote in Abidjan: "The election is taking place in a peaceful manner across the country."
	The ruling coalition is seeking an absolute majority in the face of numerous dissidents and opposition candidates in the country, which was rocked by deadly unrest after the 2010 presidential election that saw Ouattara oust then leader Laurent Gbagbo.
	The opposition, which boycotted the 2011 legislative election, is hoping to make a return to parliament today.
	Provisional results could start being released tonight but the definitive outcome is not expected to be known until Wednesday, according ..

Ivory Coast votes as president seeks strong majority

Italy's former prime minister Matteo Renzi said today he made a mistake by "politicising" a referendum on constitutional reform that saw him bundled out of office last week.
	Renzi resigned after after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a package of reforms in a December 4 ballot that became a vote on his own record.
	"We lost, we ultra-lost," the 41-year-old Renzi told lawmakers from his centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
	"I made the mistake of politicising the referendum: I didn't see it happening and I was wrong."
	"We lost among young people, particularly the 30 to 40 year olds. We lost at home and that hurts."
	Renzi's replacement as prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, had his new government endorsed on Wednesday and hopes to guide Italy to elections in early 2018, but there are suggestions polls could come up to a year early.

Italy's Renzi admits referendum mistakes

Unidentified gunmen today attacked a police station and patrols in southern Jordan killing five people and wounding nine others including police, a security source said.
	The attack took place in Karak, a city and tourist destination known for one of the biggest Crusader castles in the region, located around 120 kilometres south of the capital Amman.
	"Five people were killed and nine others wounded, including policemen, when unknown gunmen attacked a police station and some patrols in Karak," the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that police were hunting the gunmen and reinforcements were sent.

Five dead, nine wounded in Jordan gun attack: security source

Sudanese opposition groups and activists today pressed on with plans to hold a "sit-at-home" strike against fuel subsidy cuts, despite a warning from President Omar al-Bashir that anti-regime protests would be crushed.
	Activists called for workers to stay at home tomorrow as part of a "civil disobedience movement", the second such initiative after a similar three-day strike last month which had a mixed response.
	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.
	"We are backing the Sudanese people to observe civil disobedience on December 19," said the opposition Umma party in a statement, while the Communist Party also offered its support.
	Groups of activists, actors, journalists, lawyers, teachers and pharmacists have taken to social media to offer support and launched a signature campaign 

Sudan opposition presses on with 'sit-at-home' strike

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today urged residents of a wildcat settlement to accept an improved relocation deal which would reportedly leave most of them on their hilltop site.
	The 40 families living at Amona, in the northern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, face a court order to leave the site by December 25 because it was found to have been built on private Palestinian land.
	Netanyahu is seeking a way out of an impasse which has put him between Israel's Supreme Court and the legal opinion of his own attorney general on one hand, and the anger of settlers who are a key part of his political constituency on the other.
	There is also the spectre of violent resistance if police and soldiers try to remove the Amona settlers by force.
	"Until dawn this morning we made very great efforts to reach an agreed solution on Amona," Netanyahu told ministers and media at the weekly cabinet meeting, referring to a last-ditch overnight meeting with settlers and ministerial ...

Netanyahu urges Amona settlers to take relocation deal

More than 100,000 people have been displaced as a result of the massive operation to recapture Iraq's second city Mosul, the International Organisation for Migration said today.
	Iraq launched the operation to retake Mosul -- the last Iraqi city held by the Islamic State jihadist group -- on October 17.
	Since the battle began, 103,872 people have been displaced, the vast majority from Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, the IOM said on its displacement tracking webpage.
	Iraqi Displacement and Migration Minister Jassem Mohammed al-Jaff told AFP that 118,000 people had been displaced since the operation started, a figure that includes those who fled the IS-held Hawijah area in another province.
	Aid organisations had warned that a million or more people could be displaced by the Mosul operation, but those figures have yet to materialise.
	Forces from Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service have advanced deep into eastern Mosul, and nearly half of that side of the city has .

More than 100,000 Iraqis displaced in Mosul op: IOM

A suicide bomber from the Islamic State group killed at least 48 Yemeni soldiers in Aden today, the latest in a string of deadly attacks against recruits in the country's second city.
	Military officials and medics said dozens more were wounded in the attack that targeted a crowd of servicemen who had gathered to collect their salaries near a base in northeastern Aden.
	"The number of those killed has risen to 48, while 84 others were wounded," Aden health chief Abdel Nasser al-Wali told AFP.
	Wali had initially given a toll of 40 dead, warning that the number was likely to increase due to "critical cases."
	The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who blended in among soldiers crowding outside the house of the head of special security forces in Aden, Colonel Nasser Sarea, in Al-Arish district, near Al-Sawlaban base.
	Sarea said the bomber "took advantage of the gathering and detonated his explosives among them".
	Images from the blast scene showed blood stains and scattered ...

48 Yemeni soldiers dead in IS-claimed bombing

Turkish authorities today detained nine people suspected of involvement in a night of violence against offices of the main pro-Kurdish party in apparent reprisal for a deadly attack blamed on Kurdish militants.
	The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) said 20 of its offices across the country had been attacked after yesterday's suicide car bombing in the central city of Kayseri that left 14 soldiers dead.
	It said several offices, including in Istanbul, were destroyed after being set on fire and ransacked by nationalist protesters while others were fired upon.
	The raids sparked fears of further tensions in Turkey and even street fighting as the country is repeatedly hit by attacks blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its affiliates.
	"An attempt is being made to create the conditions for conflict and a coup attempt in Turkey," party spokesman Ayhan Bilgen said in a statement.
	He accused the authorities of turning a blind eye to the attacks but said the ..

Turkey holds nine over 'revenge attacks' on pro-Kurd party

Dozens of buses began entering the last rebel-held parts of Aleppo today to resume the evacuation of thousands of increasingly desperate trapped Syrian civilians and rebels.
	The operation was suspended on Friday, a day after convoys of evacuees had begun leaving the rebel sector under a deal allowing the regime to take full control of the battleground city.
	Buses started entering several neighbourhoods today under the supervision of the Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) "to bring the remaining terrorists and their families out," state news agency SANA said, referring to the rebels.
	A military source confirmed to AFP that a new evacuation deal had been reached. State television said 100 buses would take people out of Aleppo.
	The main obstacle to a resumption had been a disagreement over the number of people to be evacuated in parallel from two Shiite villages, Fuaa and Kafraya, under rebel siege in northwestern Syria.
	A rebel representative told .

Buses enter rebel Aleppo to resume evacuations

Mali's president said today he could let Burkina Faso forces pursue jihadist fighters when they flee across the border into his country, days after militants massacred 12 Burkinabe soldiers.
	Around 40 fighters attacked a base some 30 kilometres from the Burkina-Mali border on Friday in what local authorities called the biggest ever jihadist attack on the army.
	It was the second direct strike against the Burkina army since jihadist militants surfaced in the country in early 2015, mostly staging attacks in the north near the borders of Mali and Niger.
	Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita stopped off in Ouagadougou on his way home from a summit in Nigeria to show his support for Burkina Faso after Friday's attack.
	"There can be no question of people coming to kill with impunity in Burkina and then finding safe refuge in Mali -- certainly not," Keita told reporters as he stood alongside Burkina President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
	"So this will be one of the things we will look ..

AFP

AFP

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