California today will start taking driver's license applications from the nation's largest population of immigrants in the country illegally.
	The state Department of Motor Vehicles expects 1.4 million people will seek a license in the first three years of a program aimed at boosting road safety and making immigrants' lives easier.
	California officials say they can not predict how many people will line up immediately to apply, but the number of people making appointments for a license more than doubled when immigrants were allowed to sign up. Appointments are required to apply for a license except at four newly-created DMV offices.
	California is one of 10 states that now provide licenses to immigrants in the country illegally. The licenses issued to immigrants without legal status will include a distinctive marking and are not considered a valid form of federal identification.
	Immigrants in the country illegally have not been allowed to apply for a driver's license in California ...

Immigrants to seek California driver licenses

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Gunfire broke out at a New Year's Eve house party in Calgary, leaving one person dead and six others injured, including one in critical condition, police have said.
	Detective Steve Adair said police received multiple calls just after 5 am reporting shots fired at the party attended by more than 50 people. He said by the time officers arrived, the suspect or suspects had already fled.
	Police found five people in and around the house with gunshot wounds. Adair said two other people later showed up at hospitals for treatment.
	Police said they don't know how many suspects are involved and don't have a motive for the shootings.
	An autopsy was planned for today and the person's identity won't be released until then, police said. The victim died in a local hospital.
	Local residents said the gunfire shattered the pre-dawn quiet of the tree-lined neighbourhood.
	"All I heard was like this 'pop, pop, pop, pop.' I was half asleep, half awake, and that's all I heard, and I didn't really know 

Canada police: 1 dead after shooting at New Year's Eve party

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has been sworn in for her second term.
	Rousseff immediately faces tough challenges after taking the oath of office before congress today.
	She must spark a moribund economy that's seen paltry growth since she first took office in 2011.
	She also has to deal with a rapidly expanding scandal over a kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras, with allegations bribes made their way into her Workers' Party campaign coffers and those of allied parties.
	The left-leaning Rousseff was re-elected in October in a tight race against a more conservative rival.
	It's the seventh consecutive time a directly elected president has started a term in office-- something the country hasn't seen in nearly a century.

Brazil's leader sworn in for 2nd term

Greece and Italy are issuing widely different figures for how many passengers and crew are still not accounted for in the ferry fire that killed at least 11 people in the Adriatic Sea.
	An Italian prosecutor has said up to 98 are unaccounted for while Greece puts that number at 18 and says Italy's list is full of duplications and misspellings.
	It's also still not clear how many people were even aboard the Norman Atlantic ferry that caught fire early Sunday as it headed from Greece to Italy.
	Italy's Coast Guard says 477 people were rescued.
	Tugboat crews waited today for high winds and waves to ease before towing the vessel to the Italian port of Brindisi. Authorities want to inspect the ferry to see if contains any more dead.

Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers

The world's largest bloc of Islamic countries says its secretary general will make his first official visit to east Jerusalem on January 5 and visit one of Islam's holiest sites.
	The Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is comprised of 57 Muslim-majority nations. Saudi-born Iyad Madani became secretary general in January last year.
	The OIC said today that Madani will visit the Al-Aqsa mosque compound after meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
	Tensions have flared surrounding the holy site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
	Madani told The Associated Press in May that he encourages Muslims from all over the world to go to Al-Aqsa and "confirm that this mosque is a part of their faith.

Saudi leader of bloc of Islamic nations to visit Jerusalem

Soldiers loyal to Gambia President Yahya Jammeh went house-to-house in search of opponents today after the longtime leader blamed "terrorist groups" for staging an attempt coup earlier this week.
	Jammeh, who had been out of the country at the time of Tuesday's attack and has since returned to Banjul, the capital, alleged that the coup plotters had received backing from some foreign countries.
	After hours of fighting, forces loyal to Jammeh's regime succeeded in getting the upper hand, killing five insurgents. It was not immediately known how many casualties were suffered by the national military.
	"We are all gripped by fear," said a Banjul resident who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
	Gambia is a small sliver of a country surrounded by Senegal where human rights activists say Jammeh has long targeted political opponents, journalists, and gays and lesbians.
	UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for "a transparent investigation" into Tuesday's events ...

Gambia president accuses 'terrorist groups' of coup attempt

The German Foreign Ministry says five Germans have been killed in two separate incidents in Africa.
	The ministry said today that two Germans were killed last weekend in Nigeria. It declined to give further details but said it was investigating the cases in close cooperation with Nigerian authorities.
	Germany media reported the two men, who worked for the German construction company Julius Berger, had not returned from a motorcycle trip. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.
	Last October, gunmen kidnapped a man and killed another German who had also worked for Julius Berger.
	In a separate incident, the foreign ministry said, three Germans were killed in a car accident in Namibia on Monday.

5 Germans killed in Africa in separate incidents

Authorities say five people have been killed and dozens injured in separate fireworks accidents across Europe as people celebrated the New Year.
	Danish police say that three people were killed in two fireworks accidents in the north of the country. Two others were injured.
	Police said they believe the incidents occurred during the firing of powerful fireworks through tube launchers. It was not clear if the accidents late yesterday, both in the Mariager Fjord Municipality, were connected.
	German police said a 19-year-old man was killed early today in Striegistal in the eastern state of Saxony when he tried to ignite unauthorised firecrackers.
	Another man was severely injured in the accident.
	Supermarkets in Germany sell authorised fireworks for New Year's celebrations that are supposed to conform to certain safety standards, but illegally sold fireworks do not match these standards and often lead to accidents.
	Another man was killed in Alveslohe in northern Germany.
	The ...

5 killed in fireworks accidents in Europe

Pope Francis has prayed for blessings for "the entire human family" in his first public ceremony of the new year.
	Celebrating Mass Thursday morning in St Peter's Basilica, Francis also asked that God "grant peace to our days, peace in hearts, peace in families, peace among nations."
	Tourists, pilgrims and Romans were streaming to St Peter's Square for his noon appearance.

Pope prays for peace in hearts, families, world in new year

Lebanon's state-run National News agency says former Prime Minister Omar Karami has died after suffering from an undisclosed illness. He was 80.
	The agency said Karami died today morning at Beirut's American University Medical Center, where he was undergoing treatment.
	He served as prime minister for the first time between 1990 and 1992 and during his term the Lebanese pound crashed. He was forced to resign after protests that became known as the "Revolution of the Poor."
	He took the post again 2004. He again was forced to resign in 2005 following the assassination of former premier Rafic Hariri.
	Karami's elder brother, Rachid, also was also a long-serving prime minister until his assassination in 1987.
	He is survived by his wife Mariam and four sons and daughters.

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami dies

Afghan police were investigating an apparent army rocket strike on a wedding party that killed at least 28 people, an official said today, as President Ashraf Ghani marked the country's transition to full sovereignty after the formal end of 13-year international military mission.
	Police in southern Helmand province were looking into how soldiers came to fire a rocket on a house where a wedding was being celebrated late yesterday, said the deputy provincial police chief, Bacha Gull.
	The rocket appeared to have been fired from an army checkpoint near the house in Sangin district as guests waited for the bride to arrive, he said.
	Police were "keeping an eye" on two army checkpoints to determine whether the soldiers manning them were engaged in a firefight with Taliban insurgents at the time or whether they fired the rockets arbitrarily. The strike wounded 51 people.
	Sangin, in the poppy-producing Helmand River valley, has been the scene of fighting between government forces and ...

Afghanistan investigates rocket strike at wedding

An Egyptian appeals court ordered a trial today in the case of three imprisoned Al-Jazeera English journalists.
	The decision by Egypt's Court of Cassation that lasted only a few minutes. However, Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy, Australian journalist Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohammed, who have been held their arrest December 2013, were not granted bail.
	The three journalists did not attend the brief hearing that began around 9 am local time (1230 IST) in Cairo. Reporters gathered to report on the hearing were not allowed in for those arguments, but later entered the court.
	Defence lawyer Negad Al-Borai told journalists after the hearing that he hoped for a "happy end" to the case.
	"The court has the right to release them today," he said. Fahmy and Greste were sentenced to seven years in prison, while Mohammed got 10 years, three more because he was found with a spent bullet casing. Rights groups dismissed the trial as a sham and foreign countries, including the US, ...

Egypt court orders retrial in Al-Jazeera case

A huge fire, believed to have been ignited by firecrackers, razed hundreds of shanties in a creekside slum in metropolitan Manila today in one of more than a dozen fires reported across the country as Filipinos welcomed the New Year.
	Village officer Noel Carino said the fire, apparently sparked by firecrackers set off by children, erupted after dawn and was spread quickly by strong winds through nearly a kilometer-long row of shanties in a village in suburban Quezon city.
	Firefighters struggled to get near the burning shanties because of narrow alleys.
	"It's really a tragic way to welcome the New Year," Carino said.
	Residents struggled to save anything they could from the fire, including pet cats and dogs, with many using improvised floating devices to cross a murky river to escape from the fire.
	Firefighters said hundreds of small shanties were destroyed, displacing thousands of poor families.
	Bureau of Fire Protection spokesman Renato Marcial told ABS-CBN TV network that at ...

Huge fire destroys hundreds of Philippine shanties

Sony Pictures Entertainment have saids it is expanding the digital availability of "The Interview" to top US cable, satellite and telecom services.
	The expansion work started yesterday and is increasing through the weekend.
	Starting today, the movie will also be available on PlayStation Network.
	In a statement, Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Michael Lynton thanked the new partners and specified that the studio had always sought the widest possible distribution for the R-rated comedy about an assassination attempt on the leader of North Korea.
	The film will also expand to 580 independent theatres by January 2.
	Major theatre chains cancelled showings of the movie amid threats against theatres.
	New platforms include Time Warner Cable, Comcast and DirecTV.

'The Interview' expands video-on-demand access

Donald Newman, a longtime thoroughbred owner and breeder with a number of stakes winners, has died. He was 85.
	The New York Racing Association said Wednesday he died Dec. 23 after a brief illness.
	Newman's winners included Mucchina, winner of the 1978 Ashland at Keeneland Race Course; First and Only, who took the 1993 Longfellow at Monmouth Park; and So N So, winner of the 2009 Lucy Scribner at Saratoga Race Course. In the past few years, he concentrated on breeding New York-breds.
	Among his trainers were Hall of Famer Frank "Pancho" Martin, Tom Bush, Jose Martin and Carlos Martin.
	Newman lived in Roslyn on Long Island and was a sportswear manufacturer. He bought his first racehorse in 1974.
	Son Richard Newman said the family intends to keep racing. Donald Newman is survived by his wife, Gail; daughter Rebecca; and two other sons, Matthew and Adam.

Horse owner, breeder Donald Newman dies at 85

Afghan police say that at least 26 people have been killed by a rocket that hit a house during a wedding party in the southern province of Helmand.
	Police spokesman Fareed Ahmad Obaid says at least 45 people were wounded when the rocket struck late Wednesday night during a firefight between government forces and Taliban insurgents nearby.
	Bashir Ahmad Shakir, a provincial council member, said the death toll could be up to 30 with as many as 60 wounded.
	Sangin, in a volatile area of the Helmand River valley, has been the scene of fighting between government forces and Taliban militants for the past six months since the withdrawal of US-led international forces.

Police: Rocket kills 26 at Afghan wedding party

Stormy weather in the Adriatic Sea thwarted efforts today to tow a fire-ravaged ferry to Italy so authorities can investigate the blaze that killed at least 11 people and search the ferry for more possible dead.
	Ninety-eight people were still unaccounted for Wednesday after a pre-dawn fire raced through the Norman Atlantic ferry on Sunday, Bari prosecutor Giuseppe Volpe was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
	It's not clear if those people ever boarded the ferry which left Greece on Saturday bound for Italy if they were rescued, or if they died in the fire or the sea. Hundreds were rescued but the exact number of ferry survivors is still not known.
	Volpe said he hoped that Greek authorities would be able to say that many of those unaccounted for had arrived on various vessels in Greece.
	He also told Sky TG24 TV it was important to have the ferry towed to Italy "to see if there are bodies aboard...To ascertain what caused the fire and to see if safety measures were ...

Italy: 98 still unaccounted for from fire-ravaged ferry

Stung by a resounding defeat in the UN Security Council, the Palestinians announced today that they joined the International Criminal Court to pursue war crimes charges against Israel.
	The move by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas set the stage for a diplomatic showdown with the United States and was likely to draw an angry response from Israel.
	Abbas has been under heavy domestic pressure to take action against Israel following months of tensions fueled by the collapse of US-brokered peace talks, a 50-day war between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, a spate of deadly Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets and Israeli restrictions on Palestinian access to a key Muslim holy site in Jerusalem.
	Yesterday's defeat in the UN Security Council further raised pressure on Abbas to act.
	"We want to complain. There's aggression against us, against our land. The Security Council disappointed us," Abbas said as he gathered a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the West ...

Palestinians join International Criminal Court

Backed by US-led airstrikes, Kurdish Iraqi forces said they launched a large-scale offensive Wednesday to push Islamic State group extremists from an area outside the militant-held northern city of Mosul.
	The targeted area covers about 120 square kilometres (46 square miles) and is located between the towns of Gwer and Makhmour, Kurdish forces said in a statement. The two towns, both recaptured by peshmerga forces in August, are located northeast of Mosul and near the Kurdish capital of Irbil.
	"The objective is to push the enemy farther away from both areas," the statement said.
	The US Central Command said Wednesday that the international coalition it leads had conducted seven airstrikes against militants' positions in Syria and three in Iraq, using fighter jets and drones.
	Earlier this month, peshmerga fighters retook small villages around the militant-held Sinjar town, opening a corridor to help hundreds of Yazidi families atop nearby Mount Sinjar.
	The Islamic State group, ...

Kurds in new Islamic State group offensive in Iraq

Three Chinese police have been arrested in the beating death of a female construction worker who was attempting to receive her wages, state media reported today.
	The official Xinhua News Agency said one officer was accused of causing the death of the 47-year-old worker, Zhou Xiuyun. Two others were arrested for allegedly abusing their power.
	Xinhua said more than 10 workers were stopped by guards and police on December 13 when they attempted to enter the construction site in northern Shanxi province to be paid. It said a brawl ensued in which police also broke Zhou's husband's ribs.
	A video of Zhou's struggle with police has spread widely in China, with one segment showing a police officer appearing to stand on her hair as she lay unconscious on the ground. Zhou's son said the construction boss had delayed payment of the workers' wages, Xinhua reported.

3 Chinese police arrested in female worker's death

Britain's chief medical officer acknowledged today that Ebola screening procedures should be improved, after a nurse was cleared to fly hours before she was diagnosed with the disease.
	Nurse Pauline Cafferkey flew from London to Glasgow on Sunday after returning from Sierra Leone. Her temperature was taken seven times at Heathrow Airport once on arrival and six times after she told staff she thought she might have a fever.
	Her temperature was found to be within the range defined as acceptable, and she was allowed to fly to Scotland.
	Cafferkey developed a fever Monday and is being treated in an isolation unit at a London hospital.
	A doctor who flew back from Sierra Leone with Cafferkey, Martin Deahl, has criticized the Heathrow screening, saying there were too few staff and the medical workers were not segregated from other passengers.
	Chief Medical Officer Sally Davies said that "the process does seem to have not been as good as we all want to see." But she said Cafferkey had not 

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