Israel is working to revive and extend plans for new Jewish settler homes in the contentious area of the occupied West Bank known as E1, settler watchdog Peace Now said today.
	In a report it said was based on government data obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request, the group said the housing ministry was seeking to build 55,548 units in the West Bank -- including two new settlements -- of which more than 8,300 homes would be in E1.
	The housing ministry spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment today.
	E1 and the adjacent Maaleh Adumim settlement form an Israeli buffer east of Jerusalem that the Palestinians say would divide the West Bank and badly hurt the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state.
	"The area of Maale Adumim and E1 is one of the most sensitive areas in terms of the chances for two state solution," Peace Now wrote.
	"For these reasons, whenever an Israeli leader tries to promote the plans in E1, the international community strongly ...

Israel plans over 55,000 new W.Bank settler homes: NGO

PTI Automatic

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia posted a record USD 98 billion budget deficit in 2015 due to the sharp fall in oil prices, the finance ministry said today.
	Revenues were estimated at 608 billion riyals (USD 162 billion), well below projections and 2014 income, while spending came in at 975 billion riyals (USD 260 billion), ministry officials announced at a press conference in Riyadh.

Saudi posts record USD 98 billion deficit in 2015: ministry

A French reporter about to be thrown out of China after being accused of supporting terrorism said today the Chinese authorities were trying to "muzzle the international press".
	"This is not about me, this is about a very violent attempt to muzzle the international press," said Ursula Gauthier, the China correspondent for France's L'Obs news magazine.
	"I'm not the target here. It's very important that we don't let China fall back into ways that we thought had gone forever and which bring to mind the Cultural Revolution," she told France Inter radio.
	Beijing refused to renew Gauthier's visa after she published an article criticising the government's policies in Xinjiang, home to a mostly Muslim Uighur minority and a region where violent incidents are common.
	The foreign ministry said last week a report she did for L'Obs "flagrantly championed acts of terrorism and acts of cruelly killing innocents".
	In her story Gauthier suggested that violence by Uighurs against civilians might, .

Expelled French reporter says China trying to 'muzzle' media

Iraq declared the city of Ramadi liberated from the Islamic State group today and raised the national flag over its government complex after clinching a landmark victory against the jihadists.
	Fighters brandishing rifles danced in the Anbar provincial capital as top commanders paraded through the streets after recapturing the city they lost to IS in May.
	Pockets of jihadists may remain but the army said it no longer faced any resistance and that its main task was to defuse the countless bombs and traps IS left behind.
	"Ramadi has been liberated and the armed forces of the counter-terrorism service have raised the Iraqi flag above the government complex," Brigadier General Yahya Rasool announced on state television.
	The former government headquarters in Ramadi was the epicentre of the fighting but Iraqi forces did not rush in when IS pulled out because the entire area was rigged.
	"Daesh has planted more than 300 explosive devices on the roads and in the buildings of the government 

Iraq declares Ramadi liberated from IS, sweeps for bombs

A swine flu outbreak in Iran has killed 112 people since mid-November and the country's first medical worker has died of the virus, media said today.
	"About 1,190 people have been diagnosed with the (H1N1) virus and hospitalised" and "the death toll has reached 112", state news agency IRNA quoted a health ministry official as saying.
	"Vaccines and laboratory equipment for diagnosis are available around the clock across the country," Mohammad Mehdi Gouya, the head of the ministry's communicable diseases department, said.
	The outbreak was "under control" and its "first and more serious wave" of expansion was expected to diminish "in the coming days", he added.
	Swine flu deaths have mostly been in southeastern Iran, while many other provinces across the country have reported isolated fatalities.
	A nurse died yesterday after contracting the flu from patients at a hospital in the northeastern town of Neyshabour, the Mehr news agency reported today.
	Authorities earlier this month ...

Iran reports 112 swine flu deaths since mid-Nov

Families of those killed in an AirAsia plane crash in Indonesia demanded today the airline apologise for negligence after a probe showed faulty equipment contributed to the accident, a year on from the tragedy that left 162 dead.
	Flight QZ8501 plunged into the Java Sea in stormy weather on December 28 last year during what was supposed to be a routine flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
	Relatives of some of the passengers, AirAsia officials and the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency gathered today in Surabaya, the country's second-biggest city, for a private ceremony to remember those killed in the crash.
	It came just weeks after Indonesian investigators' final report showed a chronically faulty component in a rudder control system, poor maintenance and the pilots' inadequate response were major factors in the crash.
	Ahead of the ceremony, an association set up by victims' relatives to push for reform of Indonesia's beleaguered aviation sector ...

Families demand apology on AirAsia crash anniversary

Moscow's Red Square, traditionally a place where people gather to ring in the New Year, will be closed to revellers on December 31, city authorities said today, amid mounting security concerns.
	This year, police will turn back everyone showing up at the square for the countdown to midnight sounded by the chimes on the Kremlin's tower clock, Moscow security chief Alexei Mayorov was quoted as saying on city hall's website.
	The official reason given for the unprecedented closure of the square, one of Russia's top tourist attractions, was the filming of a live concert for state-run Channel One television that only a select audience will be allowed to attend.
	Mayorov said the police would tell anyone else that wants to join in "that Red Square is closed for an event and that there are a lot of other places around where people can have a wonderful time."
	Speaking to Kommersant radio former lawmaker Alexander Klyukin said the surprise move was "the same as closing off Times Square in New 

In first, Russia closes Red Square for New Year's Eve

Yemen's pro-rebel ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh has rejected further peace talks with the government, saying dialogue should instead take place with Saudi Arabia.
	Riyadh has been leading a military campaign since March against Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels, who have also been supported by Saleh loyalists.
	In a speech late yesterday during a meeting with members of his General People's Congress (GPC) party, UN-sanctioned Saleh said "we will not take part in (future) dialogue... unless the war ends."
	GPC representatives attended UN-sponsored peace talks in Switzerland last week. There was no major breakthrough in the talks but the parties agreed to meet again on January 14.
	"And if the war ends, we will hold talks with Saudi Arabia and not with the delegate of escapees," he said, in reference to the delegation of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's internationally recognised government, which was forced into months of exile before returning in September to main southern city ...

Yemen ex-leader calls for talks with Saudi

Iraqi forces have liberated the city of Ramadi and today raised the national flag above the flashpoint government complex, a spokesman for the Joint Operations Command said.
	"Ramadi has been liberated and the armed forces of the counter-terrorism service have raised the Iraqi flag above the government complex," Brigadier General Yahya Rasool announced on state television.

Iraq military command declares Ramadi fully 'liberated'

Dean Elgar carried his bat for a fighting century but could not stop England from taking an 89-run first innings lead on the third day of the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead today.
     Opening batsman Elgar made 118 not out as South Africa were bowled out for 214 shortly before lunch.
     Fast bowler Stuart Broad and off-spinner Moeen Ali both took four wickets in the innings.
     Broad followed up his three wickets on the second day with an early breakthrough on Monday, bowling Temba Bavuma off an inside edge with the second ball of the morning, without addition to the overnight total of 137 for four. Broad had figures of four for 25.
     Ali took two wickets in successive overs, dismissing JP Duminy and Kyle Abbott, as South Africa crashed to 156 for seven before Dale Steyn helped Elgar add 54 for the eighth wicket.
     Ali ended the partnership shortly before the second new ball was due when Steyn lofted a catch to mid-off.
     He bowled 12 overs in an unchanged .

England lead despite Elgar century

South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement today on the thorny issue of wartime sex slaves that has long soured relations, with Tokyo offering survivors a one-billion yen payment.
	The deal would be "final and irreversible" if Japan fulfils its responsibilities, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se said after talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
	Kishida said Japan agreed to offer a one billion yen (USD 8.3 million) payment for Korean "comfort women" who were sexually enslaved by Japanese troops during World War II.
	"It's not compensation. It's a project to recover the honour and dignity of all comfort women and to heal their emotional wounds," he said.
	"The comfort women issue...Occurred with the involvement of the Japanese military...And the Japanese government acutely feels its responsibility."
	Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offers an "apology and repentance from the bottom of his heart" to the victims, Kishida said.
	"I think the agreement we ...

S Korea, Japan strike deal on 'comfort women'

The evacuation of more than 450 fighters and civilians including wounded started today from three Syrian towns under a rare deal between the regime and rebels, a monitor said.
	In September, both sides reached an agreement for a six-month truce in Zabadani, the last rebel bastion on Syria's border with Lebanon, and in Fuaa and Kafraya, the last two government-held Shiite villages in northwestern Idlib province.
	The UN-brokered deal provided for a ceasefire to allow in humanitarian aid and then for the evacuation of wounded civilians and fighters.
	"More than 120 fighters and wounded have started to leave Zabadani" to other rebel-held areas in Syria via Lebanon and Turkey, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
	About "335 people, including civilians" have started to leave Fuaa and Kafraya to return to regime-held areas, also via the two neighbouring countries, he said.
	Those evacuated from Fuaa and Kafraya will travel to Turkey via the Syrian-Turkish border post of al-Hawa before .

Evacuation of 3 Syrian towns begins under rare deal: monitor

Thailand's junta chief hit out today at critics of a controversial court verdict which sentenced two Myanmar migrant workers to death for murdering a pair of British tourists last year.
	Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were found guilty on Thursday of killing David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, whose battered bodies were found on a beach in the southern diving resort of Koh Tao in September 2014.
	The killings have sullied Thailand's reputation as a tourist haven and raised questions over its justice system after the defence accused police of bungling their investigation and using the men as scapegoats -- a charge authorities deny.
	The verdicts have sparked anger in neighbouring Myanmar, with daily protests there. The country's powerful army chief has urged Thailand to review the case.
	But Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha angrily dismissed those calls in his first comments on the case since Thursday's verdict.
	"They have the right to appeal, right? Laws all .

Thai junta chief defends verdict in murder of Britons

Hundreds of people have marched in Corsica after two days of violent anti-Arab riots, sidestepping a ban on demonstrations in a flashpoint neighbourhood by taking their protests elsewhere in the capital.
	Two people were detained over days of rioting on the French Mediterranean island, which saw demonstrators vandalise a Muslim prayer hall and set fire to books including copies of the Quran.
	Hundreds marched through poor areas of the capital Ajaccio on Saturday for a second straight day, shouting slogans such as "This is our home!" and "Arabs get out".
	Corsica's administrator Christophe Mirmand announced a ban on all protests and gatherings until at least January 4 in the poor Jardins de l'Empereur housing estate, the epicentre of the violence.
	But hundreds took to the streets again yesterday, dodging the ban by marching through other Ajaccio neighbourhoods chanting: "We fight against scum, not against Arabs!"
	"We aren't thugs, we aren't racists," they cried as they marched to the 

Hundreds march in Corsica after violent anti-Arab protests

At least 14 people were killed and dozens wounded in twin bomb blasts today in the central Syrian city of Homs, state media reported.
	"The preliminary toll in simultaneous terrorist explosions that hit the city's Al-Zahraa neighbourhood is 14 dead and 132 wounded," state television reported in a news flash.
	The residents of Al-Zahraa are mostly Alawites, the minority sect of Syria's ruling clan.

At least 14 killed in bomb blasts in Syria's Homs: state media

A freight train carrying 200,000 litres of sulphuric acid has derailed in Australia, with a two-kilometre exclusion zone around the remote accident site in Queensland in place today.
	Aerial photographs showed wagons lying on their side strewn around the area, which has also been hit by heavy rain and flooding
	Police said there had been a minor leakage of sulphuric acid and spillage of diesel fuel from the accident which occurred on Sunday.
	"One locomotive and all 26 wagons are on their side following the incident," said a spokeswoman for Queensland Rail.
	Police declared an emergency at the crash site 20 kilometres east of the town of Julia Creek, which has been difficult to access due to flooding.
	Inspector Trevor Kidd told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday that assessments were being made as to whether the spill had affected the environment, but stressed it was in a remote location.
	Sulphuric acid is corrosive and can cause severe burns when it comes into ...

Freight train carrying sulphuric acid derails in Australia

Chinese media today celebrated the imminent expulsion of a French reporter accused of supporting terrorism, with a poll purporting to demonstrate overwhelming support for the decision.
	Beijing refused to renew Ursula Gauthier's visa after she published an article criticising government policies in Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uighur minority and a region which regularly sees violent incidents.
	China's foreign ministry last week said her essay in French news magazine L'Obs "flagrantly championed acts of terrorism and acts of cruelly killing innocents".
	The government's decision to expel Gauthier was approved by 95 percent of respondents to a poll on the web site of the Global Times, an often incendiary publication with close ties to the ruling Communist Party.
	The poll, which asked "Do you support expelling the French journalist who supports terrorism?", had more than 200,000 respondents by Monday afternoon.
	Among those who disagreed, many felt that the punishment was not ..

Chinese media piles scorn on expelled French reporter

Australia amassed a formidable 459-run lead over the West Indies and were heading for a series victory with two days left in the second Test in Melbourne on Monday.
     After dismissing the outgunned tourists for 271 and a 280-run first innings lead, skipper Steve Smith did not enforce the follow-on, preferring to recharge his bowlers and bat a second time.
     By close on the third day, Smith had led the Australians to 179 for three with his virtuoso unbeaten knock of 70 off 70 balls with the under-used Mitchell Marsh, elevated to fifth in the order, chipping in with 18.
     The Australians have been far superior and seemed intent on constructing a huge overall lead and bowling out the Windies for a fourth time in the one-sided series.
     Australia crushed the Windies by an innings and 212 runs in the first Test in Hobart and have lost only 10 wickets for 1,313 runs in three incomplete innings.
     Smith had Sunday's third Test in Sydney and the extra bowling workload in mind ..

Australia swell lead to 459 in Windies Test

Oil prices fell in Asia today, giving up some of last week's sharp gains as concerns of a global supply glut weighed on prices ahead of fresh US stocks data.
	US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in February was down 27 cents at USD 37.83 and Brent crude for February was trading 17 cents lower at USD 37.72 a barrel at around 0320 GMT.
	Prices jumped last week after data showed an unexpected fall in US commercial crude stockpiles, with WTI adding almost 10 percent.
	News the US will resume exports after a 40-year ban also helped to drive the country's benchmark to a premium over London-traded Brent, which is seen as a measure of global prices.
	"With no major economic news during the week, which will be a short trading week due to holidays, the markets will be looking closely for EIA's weekly US crude oil inventory data," said Sanjeev Gupta, head of the Asia Pacific oil and gas practice at EY.
	Analysts predict the US Energy Information Administration will report ...

Oil prices down in Asia

A Taliban bomber detonated an explosives-packed vehicle near Kabul airport today in an attack on a NATO convoy, killing one civilian a day after Pakistan's army chief visited the Afghan capital in an effort to revive peace talks.
	Four other civilians were wounded in the early morning attack, which comes amid a worsening security situation in Afghanistan as the Taliban step up their nationwide offensive.
	"The bombing occurred near Kabul airport... We are finding out more details," Gul Agha Rohani, Kabul deputy police chief, told AFP.
	Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on Twitter: "One civilian killed and (four) civilians wounded in today's car bomb explosion."
	Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgents were behind the suicide attack on a foreign forces convoy, claiming that "several invading forces were killed and wounded".
	The Taliban are known to exaggerate battlefield claims.
	In a brief statement, NATO said it was investigating the incident.
	The ...

Taliban car bomber targets NATO convoy near Kabul airport

Barcelona and star player Lionel Messi triumphed at the seventh edition of the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, taking home the prizes for best team and best player.
     Messi had travelled from Argentina to attend the ceremony on Sunday.
     "It's very nice to receive these awards, but I always say that the team makes it possible," said Messi. "It's been an extraordinary year."
     Barcelona won five titles in 2015 -- the Spanish league title, the Copa del Rey, Champions League, European Super Cup and the World Club Cup.
     Only the Spanish Super Cup eluded them with a loss to Athletic Bilbao.
     Belgian coach Marc Wilmots was named best manager while Benfica took the award for best club academy.
     Italy's Andrea Pirlo and England's Frank Lampard were lauded for their long careers.

AFP

AFP

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