An Israeli local council said today it will spend millions of dollars beautifying a settlement in east Jerusalem, where mounting Palestinian anger has spilled over in to recent clashes.
	Jerusalem city council said in a statement it planned to use USD 12.5 million to fund construction of a park, children's playgrounds, green spaces and new street lighting in Har Homa, as well as football and basketball grounds.
	It did not give a precise timeframe for the spending plan, only saying work would begin "in the near future".
	Construction first began on Har Homa -- or Jabal Abu Ghneim as the site is known to Palestinians -- in 1997, well after the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
	It sparked violent Palestinian protests and a freeze by the Palestinian Authority of high-level contacts with Israel.
	The settlement construction is considered a breach of the Oslo accords by the Palestinians but not by Israel, which does not see east Jerusalem as occupied territory.
	A string of deadly ...

Israel pledges millions to east Jerusalem settlement

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The British government today slapped a new tax rate on multinational companies that seek to avoid paying their fair share to Treasury coffers.
	The levy -- nicknamed the 'Google tax' because of the high number of technology firms seeking to avoid tax -- will come into force in April, finance minister George Osborne said in a budget update.
	"Today I am introducing a 25 per cent tax on profits generated by multinationals from economic activity here in the UK which they then artificially shift out of the country," Osborne told lawmakers in his so-called autumn statement.
	"That's not fair to other British firms. It's not fair to the British people either. Today we're putting a stop to it."
	Osborne had already warned in September that he would launch a crackdown on multinational firms that use complex corporate structures to lower their tax bills in Britain.
	The announcement comes amid simmering public anger over the tax affairs of multinationals like US technology giants Amazon, ...

Britain launches new 'Google tax' on multinationals

Boeing announced today that it completed the first test flight with "green diesel," which offers potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in aviation.
	A Boeing 787 dubbed the ecoDemonstrator successfully flew with 85 percent conventional fuel and 15 percent green diesel, the company said.
	The "green" fuel is made from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil and waste animal fats. It has previously been used for ground transportation, but not for aviation.
	"Green diesel offers a tremendous opportunity to make sustainable aviation biofuel more available and more affordable for our customers," said Julie Felgar, a director of environmental strategy at Boeing's commercial airplane unit.
	"We will provide data from several ecoDemonstrator flights to support efforts to approve this fuel for commercial aviation and help meet our industry's environmental goals."
	Boeing said green diesel could soon supply as much as one percent of global jet fuel demand. The aerospace giant said that with 

Boeing completes test flight with 'green diesel'

The Belgian microbiologist who co-discovered the Ebola virus has accused the World Health Organisation of dithering in reacting to the deadly epidemic and accused the international community of "hysteria."
	Peter Piot said that while an initial delay in confirming the outbreak could be expected, there was no excuse for waiting a further five months before acknowledging the extent of the crisis.
	"It took three months for the WHO to find out there was an Ebola outbreak. That I understand. Guinea had a poor laboratory infrastructure," he told Doha-based broadcaster Al Jazeera in an interview due to air on Saturday.
	"I have much more of a problem with the fact that it took five months for WHO -- for the international health regulations committee, for that's what it is -- to declare this a state of emergency.
	"It took a thousand dead Africans and two Americans who were repatriated to the US because they were infected. There's no excuse for that... It took too long, we wasted too much ...

WHO 'wasted precious time' over Ebola: expert

US Secretary of State John Kerry will hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at an OSCE meeting tomorrow in Basel, Switzerland, a US official said, with topics set to include Ukraine and the Middle East.
	The official said Kerry - in Brussels today for a meeting of the US-led coalition against the jihadist Islamic State group - and Lavrov would "discuss a range of topics of mutual interest including issues related to the Middle East".
	 The official gave no further details and there was no immediate confirmation from Moscow.
	The 57-member Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe is in charge of monitoring the shaky cease-fire between the Ukrainian army and separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine agreed in September.
	The Kerry-Lavrov meeting will come two days after NATO foreign ministers at talks in Brussels criticised Moscow for backing pro-Kremlin rebels in eastern Ukraine.
	The crisis has plunged Russia and the West into their deepest confrontation since ...

Kerry, Lavrov to meet tomorrow on Ukraine, Mideast

Coalition strikes against the Islamic State group are having no impact, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad said in an interview to be published tomorrow, as leaders of the US-led offensive claimed to be winning.
	"You can't end terrorism with aerial strikes. Troops on the ground that know the land and can react are essential," he said in this week's edition of French magazine Paris Match.
	"That is why there haven't been any tangible results in the two months of strikes led by the coalition.
	"They would of course have helped had they been serious and efficient."
	The US-led coalition of around 60 mainly Western and Arab states was formed several months after IS jihadists swept across northern Iraq, seizing swathes of territory and proclaiming a caliphate in parts of the country and neighbouring Syria.
	Today, representatives of the countries involved in the coalition met in Brussels and issued a statement saying the IS group's advance was finally being stopped.
	"Participants noted that ..

Coalition strikes against IS not working: Assad

A British video blogger has sold more than 78,000 copies of her first book in a week, beating established authors like JK Rowling and Dan Brown.
	"Girl Online" by 24-year-old Zoe Sugg set a record for sales of a debut novel in Britain, the media reported today, citing records that have been kept by Nielsen BookScan since 1998.
	Sugg, better known as "Zoella", started out in 2009, handing out beauty and fashion advice on YouTube to a legion of fans via her video blogs or "vlogs".
	Her account has six million followers, mainly teenagers. One of them, a 13-year-old girl, persuaded her publisher father - Penguin Random House director Tom Weldon - to give Zoella a two-year contract.
	The result is a novel about the feelings of a young adolescent with a blog. The rights for the book have been sold in 25 languages.
	"I'm legit blown away by this. I never in a million years thought that so many of you would pick up a copy of Girl Online. Almost wanna cry," she tweeted.

British vlogger beats JK Rowling with bestseller

An Italian historian's theory that Mona Lisa might be a Chinese slave and Leonardo da Vinci's mother -- making the 15th-century polymath half-Chinese -- sent online commentators into a frenzy today.
	Angelo Paratico, a Hong Kong-based historian and novelist from Italy, told the South China Morning Post "On the back of Mona Lisa, there is a Chinese landscape and even her face looks Chinese."
	Chinese web users expressed astonishment and disbelief today, posting dozens of parodies of the painting, with faces from Chinese comedians to British actor Rowan Atkinson grafted over her delicate features.
	Little is known about Caterina, the mother of the artist, writer, mathematician and inventor, and the identity of the sitter for the portrait hanging in Paris' Louvre museum has long been a matter of debate.
	Paratico, who is finishing a book entitled Leonardo da Vinci: a Chinese scholar lost in Renaissance Italy, cited Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud's 1910 assumption that the painting ...

Is Mona Lisa inscrutably Chinese? Italian's theory raises

The United States today boosted its support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, calling on China to ensure that multiple candidates are allowed to run freely in 2017 elections.
	Beijing and Hong Kong authorities should "work together to ensure a competitive process for the election of the chief executive," the top US diplomat for Asia, Daniel Russel, told US lawmakers.
	He added that Washington saw its role as fostering such elections, while speaking up in support of the protesters, adding the US takes "the side of justice, we take the side of freedom."
	Russel was speaking as the founders of the pro-democracy movement surrendered to police in a symbolic move, seeking to take the protests off the streets after more than two months of rallies which have seen sporadic violence.
	The US assistant secretary of state for Asia also told US senators that Washington was concerned "by signs" that China's commitment to the "One Country Two Systems" model, under which the former British ...

US urges 'competitive' multi-candidate Hong Kong polls

Global efforts to eradicate landmines are bearing fruit, campaigners said today, noting that the number of victims injured by the deadly weapons have fallen to the lowest level in 14 years.
	Nobel winners, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, said in its annual report that last year just 3,308 people were injured or killed by landmines or unexploded ordnance left over from different conflicts - 25 per cent fewer than in 2012.
	But it voiced concern about the situation in Ukraine, saying it remained unclear whether landmines have been laid in the bloody conflict between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels.
	In 2013 there was an average of nine victims a day, compared to 25 daily when the Landmine Monitor first started recording casualty rates in 1999. The vast majority, some 79 per cent, were civilians.
	In another measure of success in the fight against the scourge, nearly all use and production of the deadly weapons has ceased around the world.
	"While far too many people are still ..

Campaigners winning war to wipe out landmines

An American teacher and mother of twins was stabbed to death in a shopping centre toilet in Abu Dhabi by a suspect in a Muslim veil, police said today.
	It was unclear what the motive was for Monday's attack in the upmarket Boutik Mall on Al Reem Island, which is popular with expats.
	Police said the 37-year-old victim, who worked at a nursery school in Abu Dhabi, was stabbed by a person wearing a black robe, black gloves and a niqab - a Muslim veil that conceals the face except for the eyes.
	Her 11-year-old twins were taken into police care until their father arrived from abroad.
	Police released CCTV footage showing the suspect walking in and out of the mall, and shots of the knife used in the attack in a washroom following what they described as an "altercation".
	"The victim was stabbed with a sharp object following an argument in the ladies toilets," the head of Abu Dhabi's police criminal investigations department, Colonel Rashid Bourscheid, was quoted by The National daily as .

US teacher stabbed to death in Abu Dhabi mall

Global rights groups Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International slammed Egypt today over the mass death sentencing of 188 Islamists days after murder charges were dropped against ex-president Hosni Mubarak.
	A Cairo court yesterday sentenced 188 supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to death over the killing of 13 policemen in a village on the outskirts of Cairo on August 14, 2013.
	The defendants were found guilty of killing the officers in Kerdassa on the day security forces forcibly dispersed two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo in an operation that left hundreds of demonstrators dead.
	"Mass death sentences are fast losing Egypt's judiciary whatever reputation for independence it once had," Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement.
	"Instead of weighing the evidence against each person, judges are convicting defendants en masse without regard for fair trial standards."
	Egyptian courts have sentenced hundreds of Morsi ..

Rights groups slam Egypt over new mass death sentence

China is moving forward with the merger of its two top train makers, state media said today, with a plan to create a massive group to export high-speed railway technology.
	State media have previously said the merger of state-owned China CNR Corp. And CSR Corp. Will help prevent "cut-throat" competition between the two when seeking business overseas.
	The merger could also put the combined entity in a stronger position to take on the likes of Germany's Siemens and Bombardier of Canada.
	A draft plan for the merger has been submitted to China's cabinet, the State Council, for discussion and approval, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
	It quoted a source from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which manages state firms.
	The new entity's Chinese name will be "China Railway Rolling Stock Group", the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing an unnamed source.
	CSR will take the lead, taking over CNR in an all-share deal and absorbing its ...

China rolls ahead with train makers' merger: media

Thai prosecutors today said two Myanmar men will stand trial for the brutal killing of a pair of British holidaymakers on a tourist resort after finally accepting murder charges against them.
	Police originally charged the two migrant workers with the murder of David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, in October, citing DNA tests and later confessions by the pair to the crime on the diving island of Koh Tao.
	But Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun, both in their 20s, later retracted their confessions, alleging they were obtained under duress, raising concerns over the probity of the investigation.
	Prosecutors on nearby Koh Samui, where the pair are being held, had for several weeks repeatedly rejected the police file on the case, saying it was incomplete.
	But today they agreed to finally indict the suspects for trial.
	"They (the two suspects) were charged with intentional murder," Paiboon Archavanuntakun, Koh Samui's chief prosecutor, told AFP.
	"Tomorrow afternoon .

Migrants to stand trial for British tourist murders in Thai

More than 150 people, including 38 police, died in a Boko Haram raid on the northeast Nigerian city of Damaturu this week, police, a rescue official and a health worker said today.
	   A senior rescue official and a medical source at the city's Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital said 115 bodies were brought to the morgue after Monday's attack, although it was not clear whether they were insurgents or civilians.
	   All 115 were in civilian clothing, but it was not certain whether they were all non-combatants, the sources said. Among the dead were two medical doctors, a staff member of the federal polytechnic in the Yobe state capital, and his two children.
	   Six soldiers were also killed, the sources added. Emmanuel Ojukwu, spokesman for Nigeria's federal police, said: "Out of the police, we have 38 deaths."
	   Most of the police killed were at the mobile police base in the Gujba Road area of the city, Ojukwu said, confirming eye-witness testimony from residents that the facility was .

Over 150 killed in Boko Haram raid in Nigeria

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned today it will take years for a US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State group, as Washington said arch-foe Iran had launched its first air strikes against the jihadists.
	Kerry told the first high-level talks in Brussels of a coalition of around 60 nations that strikes in Iraq and Syria were having a "significant" impact and vowed that they would stay the course.
	The Pentagon said Iranian F-4 Phantom jets hit IS fighters in eastern Iraq in recent days but denied any military coordination with long-term adversary Iran. Tehran refused to confirm or deny any strikes.
	Iran is not a member of the coalition, but the claim suggested a tacit understanding between Iran and the United States to tackle the common threat from a group that proclaimed a caliphate in Iraq and Syria in June.
	Kerry, opening the talks at NATO headquarters, told foreign ministers taking part that the coalition of western and Arab states "will engage in this campaign for as .

Anti-IS fight will take 'years', says Kerry

The founders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy Occupy movement surrendered to police today in a symbolic move, as they try to take the protests off the streets after more than two months of rallies punctuated by violence.
	Dozens of supporters, carrying yellow umbrellas which have become a symbol of the movement and shouting "I want true democracy without fear!", surrounded the trio as they turned themselves in at a central police station.
	However Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and Chu Yiu-ming quickly emerged from the station, saying they had not been arrested despite admitting "participating in unauthorised assembly".
	"We have not been arrested so we are allowed to leave with no restriction on our liberty," said Tai.
	He told AFP there were "political considerations" behind their swift release to avoid crowds flocking to the protest zones, but said it was inevitable they would eventually be arrested.
	"I don't think the matter will be resolved on this occasion, later we may be arrested, even .

Hong Kong Occupy protest leaders turn themselves in to police

Ukraine said today there was "no threat" from an electrical fault at a nuclear power plant last week and that it would would be fixed by Friday.
	   The short-circuit at the Zaporozhye plant in the southeast of the country occurred on Friday, leading to a partial shutdown and electricity shortages in the surrounding region.
	   "The accident happened in the third block of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in the power output section. This is in no way associated with the reactor," Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn told reporters.
	   Demchyshyn said tests would be run at the affected block over the next two days and "by Friday it will be working at full strength.
	   Nuclear power accounts for 44 per cent of Ukraine's power production, according to the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.
	   A statement on the power plant's website had said that production unit three had been disconnected from the power network until December 5 and that radiation levels around the plant were .

Ukraine nuclear plant accident poses 'no threat': minister

The tide is beginning to turn on the Islamic State group, analysts say, with the jihadists losing ground in Iraq and only able to hold on to their positions in Syria.
	Harassed by air strikes and facing better coordination among their opponents, IS fighters have suffered a string of defeats in Iraq and had to retreat from some areas they had conquered in June and the following months.
	In November alone, the jihadists pulled back from the key battleground of Jurf al-Sakhr south of Baghdad, lost the northern town of Baiji and lifted their siege of a nearby refinery.
	In the east, they were also ousted from one of the country's largest dams in Adhaim and two towns near the border with Iran.
	In Kobane, a Kurdish town on Syria's border with Turkey, weeks of fighting and suicide attacks have cost IS dear in manpower and failed to break the defences of Kurdish fighters.
	"The anti-IS war effort is beginning to show more concrete results across a diverse set of battlefields," said Ayham ...

Jihadist 'caliphate' has peaked: analysts

Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou stepped down today as chairman of the ruling party, following a massive polls defeat for the government as public fears grow over Chinese influence.
	Ma resigned as head of the Kuomintang (KMT) following the party's humiliation in local elections Saturday - seen as a key barometer ahead of the 2016 presidential race.
	In a sombre meeting earlier in the day President Ma bowed deeply as a sign of apology as he formally presented his resignation to senior party officials, which was televised live.
	"The KMT suffered an unprecedented defeat. I apologise to the supporters as the chairman... I feel shamed," he said.
	"I must shoulder the utmost responsibility for the defeat and today I announce my resignation to the Central Standing Committee."
	Ma will retain the presidency until 2016 when he must step down after serving two terms, but observers say his influence within the party will now be severely diminished.
	His resignation as chairman, however, 

Taiwan's Ma quits as ruling party head after vote defeat

Pakistan and New Zealand dedicated the trophy for their two Twenty20 matches in the Dubai starting on Thursday in memory of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes who died last week.
     Hughes died last Thursday, two days after being hit by a bouncer in a first class match in Sydney, leaving the cricketing world to mourn his death.
     Hughes's funeral was held early Wednesday, as Pakistan and New Zealand prepare for the shortest format of the game after drawing a preceding Test series 1-1.
     Pakistan's Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi said Hughes's tragic death has left the cricketing world in a shock.
     "Hughes died very young and his tragic death has left everyone shocked," said Afridi on Wednesday. "We are thankful to the sponsors who have decided to dedicate the trophy in memory of Hughes as a mark of respect," said Afridi on Wednesday.
     Pakistan are boosted by the return of paceman Umar Gul, who has not played international cricket since April due to a knee problem.
     ..

AFP

AFP

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