China has refused to renew the press credentials of a French journalist, effectively expelling her, unless she recants one of her stories, the reporter said today, the first such case since 2012.
	Ursula Gauthier, a Beijing-based correspondent for French news magazine L'Obs, must issue a public apology for an article she wrote last month or China's foreign ministry will not renew her press credentials, set to expire on December 31, officials told Gauthier on Christmas Day.
	"They confirmed that if I did not make a public apology on all the points that had 'hurt the Chinese people' ... My press card would not be renewed and I would have to leave on December 31," she told AFP.
	Gauthier would be the first foreign correspondent in China to be expelled since the 2012 expulsion of Melissa Chan, correspondent for the English-language service of Al Jazeera.

China to expel French journalist

PTI Automatic

Long-awaited changes to Qatar's controversial "kafala" labour law for foreign workers will come into force in December next year, media reports said today.
	The law reforming rules that oversee exit visas and work contracts in the gas-rich Gulf state was published in Qatar's official gazette.
	The Arabic-language Al-Sharq reported that the changes will take effect on December 14 next year, 14 months after first being approved.
	This is the first time a definitive date has been given for the new laws to come into force.
	The reforms will allow foreign workers wishing to leave Qatar to apply for permission up to 72 hours in advance to the interior ministry.
	If such permission is initially denied, employees seeking to leave can then complain to a grievance committee established under the new law.
	Currently, workers need an exit visa approved by their sponsor to be able to leave the country.
	The changes also allow foreign workers to switch jobs at the end of a fixed-term ...

Reform of contentious Qatar labour law to kick in Dec 2016

Georgia's ruling coalition today nominated vice premier Giorgi Kvirikashvili as the new head of government after the surprise resignation of 33-year-old Irakli Garibashvili.
	The coalition "agreed to name Giorgi Kvirikashvili's candidacy for the post of prime minister," the leader of the Georgian Dream coalition's parliamentary majority group, lawmaker Zviad Kvachantiradze, said in a televised statement.
	Kvirikashvili has also served as foreign minister since September.
	President Giorgi Margvelashvili is to formally submit Kvirikashvili's candidacy to the parliament.
	The prime minister-designate will then nominate a new cabinet to be confirmed by the legislature.
	Garibashvili resigned on Wednesday after just two years on the job without explaining his decision.
	Opposition politicians pointed to the coalition's efforts to reverse a rapid loss of popularity amid economic turmoil ahead of parliamentary elections set to take place in October 2016.
	Vice premier Kvirikashvili, 48, is .

Georgia deputy PM to step in after boss's surprise resignation

Rescue workers and heartbroken residents sifted through what was left of homes wiped out by a series of ferocious storms and tornadoes that tore through swathes of the United States, killing 14 people.
	The storms, feeding on unseasonable warm air, left a trail of destruction in rural communities from Illinois to Alabama, just as Christmas reached its crescendo.
	More than a dozen tornadoes were reported in six states but Mississippi, in the south, was hardest hit. Seven people were reported dead there, said the state's Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).
	"Most of these storms caused a lot of damage in north Mississippi but our teams are out assessing the damage, trying to put a quantity on how many homes and how many businesses have been damaged," the emergency agency's Brett Carr said yesterday.
	Among the dead in Mississippi was a boy of seven after one particularly brutal storm picked up and tossed the car he was travelling in, fire chief Kenny Holbrook told reporters in the town 

Huge clearup after storms kill 14 in US

South Korea and Japan's foreign ministers will meet next week to settle a bitter row over a Japanese wartime brothel system which has strained bilateral ties, officials said today.
	The one-day meeting between South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, will be held in Seoul on Monday, Yun's office said.
	The ministers are to discuss "matters of mutual concern" such as the issue of women systematically forced to have sex with Japanese soldiers during World War II, it said.
	In Tokyo, Kishida told reporters that he was prepared to "work hard" to settle the dispute over "comfort women", a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered him to visit Seoul to seek a breakthrough.
	Abe aims for a resolution of the lingering issue that has hammered bilateral ties between the two East Asian US allies.
	"I'm ready to be improvisational and work hard over the Japan-South Korea relationship and the comfort women issue," Kishida said.
	He said his 

Japan's diplomat to visit S Korea for 'comfort women' talks

At least 24 people were killed when a passenger bus plunged into a ravine after a head-on collision with a truck in northern Afghanistan, officials said today, in the latest deadly road accident.
	Women and children were among those killed in the accident today on a major highway in Samangan province.
	"The crash happened when the bus carrying more than 50 passengers was travelling from Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif," said Sarajuddin Fitrat, the governor of Hazrat Sultan district where the accident occurred.
	"Twenty four people were killed and 17 others were injured."
	The defence ministry in Kabul gave a much higher death toll of 43.
	The injured were rushed to hospital while police and a rescue team retrieved the bodies.
	Afghanistan has some of the world's most dangerous roads and deadly accidents are common.
	At least 18 people were killed in May when a minivan overturned in the western province of Badghis.
	And in April 2013 a bus hit a wrecked fuel tanker in the southern province of .

Bus crash kills at least 24 in northern Afghanistan

Selectors dropped Shaun Marsh from the Australian side today to make way for the return of Usman Khawaja ahead of the second Boxing Day Test against the West Indies in Melbourne.
     There was no room for Marsh, who hit his highest Test score of 182 in Australia's thumping innings and 212 run defeat of the Windies in the first Hobart Test.
     Pakistan-born Khawaja returns to the Australia side, reclaiming his No.3 spot after he was sidelined for the last two Tests with hamstring trouble.
     Khawaja scored 174 and 121 in the first two Tests against New Zealand last month and proved his fitness with an explosive 109 off 70 balls in the Big Bash League Twenty20 series last weekend.
     It will otherwise be an unchanged side for Saturday's Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where Australia are favoured to retain the Frank Worrell trophy against the struggling tourists.
     Khawaja's recovery from injury created a selection showdown between Marsh and opener Joe Burns.
     The ...

Marsh makes way for returning Khawaja in Australia side

President Barack Obama's administration is planning a vast operation to round up and expel from the US migrant families who fled drought and violence in Central America, reports have said.
	Any such crackdown would be hugely controversial, with immigration one of the hottest topics in the 2016 presidential campaign, and rights groups expressed grave concern at the deportations.
	The flow of families and unaccompanied children crossing into the United States from Mexico slowed this year, but the numbers surged upwards again in October and November.
	Several Latin American countries are in the grip of violent lawlessness and the El Nino weather pattern has plunged a number of countries in the region into drought.
	The Department of Homeland Security did not dispute anonymously sourced reports in The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal that a crackdown is imminent.
	According to the reports, hundreds of families living in the United States whose asylum requests have been denied will .

US readies New Year push to expel migrants

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside Thailand's embassy in Yangon today after two Myanmar migrants were sentenced to death by a Thai court for murdering two British backpackers, in a verdict that has sparked anger in their homeland.
	Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were found guilty yesterday of killing David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, whose battered bodies were found on a beach on the southern Thai diving resort of Koh Tao in September last year.
	The grim killings have sullied Thailand's reputation as a tourist haven and raised questions over its justice system after the defence accused the police of bungling their investigation and using the men as scapegoats - a charge authorities deny.
	Hundreds of people, including monks, gathered in Yangon to protest at the verdict, many saying they believed the two men had been wrongly convicted.
	"This is just discrimination against us," demonstrator Min Thein Khaing told AFP.
	"There was little evidence, no .

Protest outside Thai embassy in Myanmar against murder verdict

Pope Francis ushered in Christmas by urging the faithful to reject the materialism that pervades the gift-giving season, and to embrace "simple, balanced" values, as violence subdued festivities in the Holy Land.
	The pontiff, at his annual Christmas Eve Mass at Saint Peter's Basilica, called on Christians everywhere to push back against the excesses of modern society, which he said was "so often intoxicated by consumerism and hedonism, wealth and extravagance, appearances and narcissism".
	Christianity calls on believers "to act soberly -- in other words, in a way that is simple, balanced, consistent, capable of seeing and doing what is essential," said the 79-year old pope, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
	In many countries across the world, Christians were fearful for their future, and some were even prohibited from celebrating the holy day, a state of affairs that did not go ignored by Francis.
	"In a world which all too often is merciless to the sinner and lenient to 

Pope urges return to simple values at Christmas

A luxury apartment in Hong Kong sold for a record 594.7 million Hong Kong dollars (USD 76.7 million), days before Christmas, making it the most expensive flat in the city and possibly in Asia, reports said today.
	An unidentified buyer paid more than 103,700 dollars per- square-foot for the 5,732 square-foot (532 square-metre) unit at the luxury 39 Conduit Road apartment tower in the southern Chinese city's upmarket Mid-Levels residential area, The Apple Daily and The Standard reported.
	The condominium, on the 46th floor with a view of the iconic Victoria Harbour and a 1,754 square-feet rooftop, had a list price of 646.48 million dollars on developer Henderson Land Properties' website.
	The price beats the previous record 470 million dollars paid for a luxury unit which takes up the entire eighth floor of the Opus Hong Kong, a 12-storey residential building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry, in 2012.
	Henderson Land was not available for comment today, a public 

Hong Kong apartment sells for record USD 76.7 mn

Fallen FIFA vice president Eugenio Figueredo was jailed pending trial in his native Uruguay Thursday after being extradited from Switzerland to answer charges in the massive corruption scandal roiling international football.
     Figueredo, the former president of South American confederation CONMEBOL, arrived Thursday morning and was taken directly to an initial court appearance, where he was remanded in custody, court sources told AFP.
     But Judge Adriana de los Santos may still grant him house arrest, as his lawyer has requested, the sources said.
     Figueredo faces two to 15 years in prison if convicted.
     The 83-year-old ex-football boss was one of seven top FIFA officials arrested at a Zurich luxury hotel in May, a raid that kicked off an unprecedented crisis at world football's governing body.
     The United States, which led the investigation, is also seeking to extradite Figueredo on charges of soliciting multi-million-dollar bribes from sports marketing firms.
     .

FIFA ex-VP Figueredo jailed pending Uruguay trial

Tiger Woods, the 14-time Major champion sidelined by back surgery, says he expects more major titles and top-level golf despite having no timetable for returning to the sport.
     Woods, who turns 40 next week, posted pictures Thursday on Twitter and Instagram of his new dog "Bugs" with two other dogs and his two children, Sam Alexis and Charlie.
     Earlier this week, Woods said on his website that despite being idled by the latest in a series of injury setbacks, he sees himself back at the top level as he moves through his 40s.
     "Where do I see myself in the next five to 10 years? I am still playing golf at the highest level and winning tournaments and major championships," Woods said.
     Woods says his feelings change about turning 40.
     "Mentally, people who know me know I'm like a five-year-old. Physically, sometimes I feel old and sometimes I feel like a teenager," Woods said. "I don't like the polar opposites of the two. I'd like to be somewhere in the middle where I 

Tiger talks more Majors, Ryder Cup in comeback

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says that his players must maintain the standards they set against Manchester City if they are to keep pace in the Premier League title race.
     Monday's 2-1 victory over third-place City moved Wenger's side to within two points of leaders Leicester City and they can consolidate that position when they travel to face Southampton on Saturday.
     The Frenchman claims the performance against Manuel Pellegrini's side confirmed the growing belief in his team after a season marred by inconsistency. But he is well aware of the risk of failing to build on recent progress ahead of the fixture against a Southampton side struggling for form.
     And he has challenged his players to match the levels they set in beating City and confirm their credentials as a team capable of sustaining their title challenge.
     "It was an important win for us, but we already had a good confidence level," Wenger said.
     "To win these sorts of game, you need to believe you can 

Don't let level drop, Wenger warns Arsenal

South Africa and England meet at Kingsmead from Saturday in the first of four Tests between two evenly-match teams, both seeking a return to winning ways.
     South Africa were trounced 3-0 by India recently in their biggest setback since becoming the top-ranked Test team in 2012, while England were beaten 2-0 by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in their most recent series.
     Both teams will relish a return to more familiar conditions after struggling on slow, spin-friendly pitches during their defeats.
     The absence of leading bowler James Anderson because of a calf strain is a major blow to England at a ground where swing bowlers often prosper, while the return to action after injury of Dale Steyn is a boost for South Africa.
     But England have reason for confidence after showing outstanding form in two warm-up games, while South Africa's batsmen, most of whom failed in India, were unable to rediscover their best form while playing in four-day domestic matches, with ...

South Africa, England seek return to success

Leading Sri Lanka bowler Lasith Malinga will miss the first two ODIs against New Zealand and may not be available for the entire series, team officials said Friday.
     Malinga is still recovering from a knee injury sustained during the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka in October and November.
     "He has not come for the ODIs. He's feeling some discomfort in his knee. Whether he will come between the ODIs and T20s -- no-one knows," team manager Jerry Woutersz said.
     Thisara Perera has joined the squad in Malinga's place ahead of the first ODI in Christchurch on Saturday. New Zealand also have injury concerns with Kane Williamson, the newly crowned number one Test batsman in the world, suffering discomfort in his right knee.
     Test opener Tom Latham has been put on standby for the ODI squad.
     "We're just working through that knee. It's just a little bit niggly so we want to make sure it's 100 percent," New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan said.
     "If it's not Tom is ..

Sri Lanka lose Malinga ahead of New Zealand ODIs

Flooding have dampened Christmas eve celebrations in parts of Latin America, leaving five people dead and driving almost 150,000 from their homes in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.
	Some 130,000 people have been forced from their homes across Paraguay, officials said yesterday, as President Horacio Cartes declared a state of emergency to free up more than USD3.5 million in disaster funds.
	Three people traveling Paraguay's international Route 2, which links Asuncion and Foz de Iguazu in Brazil were killed when a tree fell on their vehicle before dawn.
	Another woman traveling by motorcycle in Asuncion was killed by a falling tree overnight, official sources told AFP.
	The National Emergency Secretariat (SEN) reported a dozen other similar incidents in the capital.
	The agency's head of operations, David Arellano, said rescue and evacuation operations were underway for dozens of families in the face of floodwaters from the Paraguay River.
	Around the capital Asuncion 125,000 homes ...

Five dead, 150,000 evacuated in Latin America floods

A cargo jet overshot the runway while landing in a central city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing seven residents with homes adjacent the airport, officials have said.
	The cargo jet "of the Services Air company overshot the runway and killed seven people on the ground" while landing in the city of Mbuji-Mayi, the governor of the Western Kasai region, Ngoyi Kasanji, yesterday told AFP.
	An air traffic controller, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "all those killed were in their homes located adjacent to the airport".
	Kasanji said the aircraft was an Airbus, and the company's website said it flies an Airbus 310 cargo jet, a model that was last built in the 1990s but is still in service including with US express delivery firm FedEx.
	Congo Airways, the new national airline, suspended service to Mbuji-Mayi earlier this month, citing the poor infrastructure at the airport of the capital of the Western Kasai region.
	Only a handful of local companies serve the immense ...

Seven dead after cargo jet overshoots runway in DR Congo

Panic erupted at a US mall packed with Christmas Eve shoppers today, amid reports of a shooting inside.
	Local broadcaster WBTV said the incident happened at the Northlake Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina.
	The CBS affiliate, citing an unnamed witness, said that a gunman was shot and killed by an officer.
	CNN also reported that one person had been shot by an officer after pulling out a gun during a confrontation, but it said his condition was unclear.
	On its Twitter feed, WBTV quoted a witness as saying there was an argument before shots were fired, also suggesting the shooting was the result of a dispute of some sort.
	Frantic shoppers reportedly ran out of stores seeking shelter, with one woman telling WBTV that she hid in a storage room.

Panic at US shopping mall amid reports of gunshots

Pilgrims began celebrating Christmas today in the birthplace of Jesus, but festivities were subdued against a backdrop of violence in the Holy Land and a growing jihadist threat across the Middle East.
	In other parts of the Middle East, and in the world beyond, Christians were fearful for their future, and some even prohibited from celebrating the holy day.
	In Bethlehem, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land arrived ahead of the traditional midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity, built over the site where Christians believe Jesus was born.
	Travelling from Jerusalem nearby, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Jordanian Fouad Twal, would have had to pass through the Israeli wall that separates the two cities, with Bethlehem located in the occupied West Bank.
	A wave of violence has led to a sharp decline in pilgrims visiting Bethlehem and the rest of the Holy Land this year, and only a sparse crowd was on hand to welcome Twal's procession.
	Violent protests and a .

Bethlehem pilgrims celebrate Christmas amid violence

New Yorkers doing some last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve left their winter coats at home today as temperatures soared to record highs.
	The mercury hit 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 Celsius) in the morning, prompting some people in the Big Apple to head out in T-shirts even though skies were overcast.
	According to the National Weather Service, temperatures could soar to 74 degrees Fahrenheit in the city's iconic Central Park later in the day -- that would be a first for the date since weather record keeping began in 1871.
	The previous record for December 24, 63 degrees, dates back to 1996.
	Fall and winter have been very mild on the US East Coast so far this season, much to the dismay of stores selling coats, scarves and gloves.
	Today's record is one of several set in the past two months, with 66 degrees recorded in Central Park on December 13.
	The monthly average temperature for December is 37.5 degrees Fahrenheit in New York.
	In contrast, last winter was especially cold and ...

AFP

AFP

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