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 

Top UK doctor: Ebola screening should be improved

PTI Automatic

A bomb exploded at the entrance of a town market packed with New Year's Eve shoppers in the restive southern Philippines, killing four people and wounding at least 30 others, officials said.
	Police said they have no immediate suspects in the second such attack in two months, but Muslim rebels opposed to a peace deal with the government have been blamed for similar bombings in the past.
	Most of the victims were shoppers buying fruits and horns used for noise-making to greet the new year, said police chief Joan Resurreccion of Mlang township in North Cotabato province.
	Last month, a bomb blast at a billiard hall in the same town killed three people.
	"This is not a happy new year for us people in Mlang," said Mayor Joselito Pinol.
	One suspect has been arrested in the previous bombing, but no group has claimed responsibility for either blasts. Minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation's south have been fighting for self-rule for decades.
	In March, the largest rebel 

Bomb blast in Philippines kills 4, wounds 30

German Chancellor Angela Merkel today warned the country's citizens not to participate in weekly anti-Islam rallies that have attracted growing numbers of supporters in the eastern German city of Dresden.
	Merkel condemned the organisers of the protests and said they were driven by prejudices and hatred against foreigners.
	The chancellor used unusually direct words in her New Year's speech for the rallies organised by a group calling itself Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, or PEGIDA which have been attended by thousands.
	When the protesters chant "we are the people," they actually mean to say "you don't belong because of your religion or your skin color," Merkel said.
	PEGIDA organisers insist they are protesting only against extremism and not against immigrants or Islam itself, but the demonstrations have received support from far-right groups, prompting concerns that anti-foreigner sentiment might be rising.
	Immigration has emerged as a contentious topic .

Merkel tells Germans not to attend anti-Islam rallies

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in a New Year's message to US President Barack Obama that Moscow is looking for equality in bilateral relations next year.
	The Kremlin today published several dozen New Year's messages addressed to heads of states and international organisations such as the Olympic Committee and FIFA.
	Putin reminded Obama of the upcoming 70th anniversary of the allied victory in World War II and said that it should serve as a reminder of "the responsibility that Russia and the United States bear for maintaining peace and international stability."
	Moscow is anxious for the relations to advance but only as long as there is "equality and mutual respect."
	Conspicuously absent from the list of the recipients of New Year's messages was Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Putin sends New Year's message to Obama

Authorities in Hong Kong began destroying 15,000 chickens at a poultry market today and suspended imports from mainland China after some birds were found to be infected with bird flu.
	The market in Cheung Sha Wan in the Kowloon district will be closed and imports suspended for 21 days, Health Secretary Ko Wing-man announced.
	Some chickens at the market supplied by a farm in Guangdong province on the mainland tested positive for the H7 variety of flu, Ko said. Authorities are most concerned about preventing the spread of the H7N9 strain, but Ko gave no indication whether that was found.
	Authorities will "arrange to cull all the live poultry, around 15,000 in total" at the market, Ko said at a news conference today, according to a transcript distributed by his agency.
	"Supply of live poultry from the mainland will also have to be suspended for the same period of time," Ko said yesterday, the Hong Kong government announced that tests showed some birds from the farm in Huizhou in ...

Hong Kong destroys poultry from China after bird flu found

A South Korean activist said today that he will launch balloons carrying DVDs of Sony's 'The Interview' toward North Korea to try to break down a personality cult built around dictator Kim Jong Un.
	The comedy depicting an assassination attempt on Kim is at the center of tension between North Korea and the US, with Washington blaming Pyongyang for crippling hacking attacks on Sony Entertainment. Pyongyang denies that and has vowed to retaliate.
	Activist Park Sang-hak said he will start dropping 100,000 DVDs and USBs with the movie by balloon in North Korea as early as late January. Park, a North Korean defector, said he's partnering with the US-based non-profit Human Rights Foundation, which is financing the making of the DVDs and USB memory sticks of the movie with Korean subtitles.
	Park said foundation officials plan to visit South Korea around January 20 to hand over the DVDs and USBs, and that he and the officials will then try to float the first batch of the balloons if weather 

South Korean to drop Sony film in North by balloon

A Los Angeles County jury says a man should die for the torture killings of a Lancaster woman and her three young daughters.
	Jurors reached the verdict yesterday in the case of Corey Lynn King, who was convicted last month of first-degree murder, torture and arson.
	Prosecutors say 24-year-old King stabbed Sonya Harris and her 14-year-old daughter more than 50 times each in their home in 2008. He then stabbed, beat and stomped Harris's 11-year-old daughter and strangled her 9-year-old girl.
	Prosecutors say the motive for killing Harris was unclear, but the girls were slain because they were witnesses.
	After the killings, King doused the bodies and home with gasoline and set it on fire.
	He scheduled to be sentenced Feb 20.

Death penalty verdict for man who murdered mother, 3 girls

Five men who were held for a dozen years without charge at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been sent to the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan for resettlement, the US government announced.
	The two men from Tunisia and three from Yemen had been cleared for release yesterday from the prison by a government task force but could not be sent to their homelands. The US has sent hundreds of prisoners from Guantanamo to third countries but this is the first time Kazakhstan has accepted any for resettlement.
	Their release brings the prison population at Guantanamo to 127, according to a Pentagon statement.
	The US identified the Tunisians as 49-year-old Adel Al-Hakeemy, and Abdallah Bin Ali al Lufti, who military records show is about 48.
	The Yemenis are Asim Thabit Abdullah Al-Khalaqi, who is about 46; Muhammad Ali Husayn Khanayna, who is about 36; and Sabri Mohammad al Qurashi, about 44.
	All five had been captured in Pakistan and turned over to the US for detention as ...

US releases 5 Guantanamo prisoners, sends them to Kazakhstan

Two Boston police officers were hospitalised after they were attacked by six teenagers related to a person they were arresting, authorities have said.
	Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said the officers, a woman and a man, were "pretty banged up" in Monday's attack but recovering. Both were treated for undisclosed injuries and have been released from the hospital. Their names have not been made public.
	Mayor Martin Walsh said he does not believe the assault has anything to do with rising tensions around the US over police conduct following the killings of unarmed black men in Missouri and New York City.
	Evans said the officers went to an apartment in Boston's Roxbury neighbourhood Monday morning to serve a warrant on a 19-year-old man for defaulting on court appearances. Seven people were arrested in all, including the person police were originally seeking. He was identified by the district attorney's office as Woobenson Morisset.
	Morisset and 18-year-old Lorcen Morisset, ..

2 Boston police officers attacked by teenagers

Former President George H.W. Bush has been released from a Houston hospital after a stay of about a week for treatment of shortness of breath.
	Family spokesman Jim McGrath said today the 90-year-old Bush had left Houston's Methodist Hospital, was resting at home and was "grateful to the doctors and nurses for their superb care."
	Bush is the oldest living former US president. A week ago he was taken by ambulance to the hospital as a precaution after experiencing shortness of breath.
	Two years ago, Bush spent nearly two months at the same hospital for treatment of a bronchitis-related cough and other issues. He also has a form of Parkinson's disease that has forced him to use a wheelchair or scooter for mobility.

Spokesman: George H.W. Bush returns home

A US airstrike killed the intelligence chief of Somali terror group al-Shabab, Somalia's intelligence service said today.
	Abdishakur is the name of the slain leader, who is also known as Tahlil, a statement from the spy agency said, adding that the operation also killed two other al-Shabab militants.
	The Pentagon said the airstrike took place Monday in the vicinity of Saakow, Somalia. The statement from the pentagon provided no details, beyond saying it did not believe the attack caused any civilian or bystander casualties.
	A senior defense official said the strike did not target Ahmad Umar, who took over as the top leader of al-Shabab when its previous leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed in a US airstrike in Somalia on Sept. 1. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the attack by name.
	Al-Shabab is an ultra-conservative Islamic militant group that is linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network and wants to run Somalia by ...

Somalia says US airstrike kills al-Shabab leader

Luise Rainer, a star of cinema's golden era who won back-to-back Oscars but then walked away from a glittering Hollywood career, has died. She was 104.
	Rainer, whose roles ranged from the 1930s German stage to television's "The Love Boat," died today at her home in London from pneumonia, said her only daughter, Francesca Knittel-Bowyer.
	"She was bigger than life and can charm the birds out of the trees," Knittel-Bowyer said. "If you saw her, you'd never forget her."
	The big-eyed, apple-cheeked Rainer gained Hollywood immortality by becoming the first person to win an acting Academy Award in consecutive years, taking best actress prizes for the 1936 film "The Great Ziegfeld" and "The Good Earth" in 1937.
	It's a feat since achieved by only four other actors: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Jason Robards and Tom Hanks.
	The two trophies marked the peak of Rainer's career, which declined so rapidly that many considered her an early victim of "the curse of the Oscars." She fought ...

Luise Rainer, first to win consecutive acting Oscars, dies

The UN human rights chief today called on Bahrain's government to immediately release the leader of the country's main Shiite opposition group and the European Union warned that his arrest could further destabilize an already fragile political environment.
	Sheikh Ali Salman's arrest on Sunday has been widely viewed as an escalation that is likely to deepen the political standoff between the Arab nation's majority Shiite population and its Sunni-led monarchy.
	Public prosecutors today said Salman would remain in custody for another seven days pending further investigations into statements that allegedly incited violence. The prosecution announced Salman's week-long detention on its official Twitter page, but did not mention Salman by name.
	The spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell, urged Bahrain's government to immediately release Salman, "as well as all other persons convicted or detained for merely exercising their fundamental rights to freedom ..

UN, EU concerned at arrest of top Bahrain Shiite leader

German opposition lawmakers called today for an investigation into reports that the country's army and foreign intelligence agency contributed to a NATO list of Taliban targets in Afghanistan, some of whom were killed.
	Citing NATO documents, German newspapers Der Spiegel and Bild have reported that Germany was among the countries that added names of insurgents to the alliance's Joint Prioritized Effects List, or JPEL.
	Germany had the third-largest contingent of troops participating in NATO's International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan, which ended this year. Its participation in the mission was questioned by many in Germany, partly because it was seen as a return to the country's militaristic past.
	Jan van Aken, a lawmaker for the Left Party, called for a "comprehensive investigation" into whether information provided by the army or the foreign intelligence agency, BND, was used to kill specific individuals without trial.
	"There needs to be swift clarity on whether the 

German opposition urges probe into NATO 'hit list'

Italian prosecutors today ordered the crippled Greek ferry Norman Atlantic back to Italy as part of a criminal investigation, saying they fear more bodies will be found aboard the vessel when it is properly searched.
	The fire-tinged vessel was adrift for a third day off the Albanian coast, where two sailors were killed earlier today when a tow line being deployed apparently snapped, according to Albanian officials.
	More than 400 people were rescued from the ferry, most in daring helicopter sorties that persisted despite high winds and seas, after a fire broke out before dawn Sunday on a car deck. Both Italian and Greek authorities have announced criminal investigations into the cause of the blaze.
	Ten people were killed in the chaos that ensued, including a Greek man who died trying to get into a life raft and three Italians, whose circumstances of death haven't been released.
	Italian prosecutors have secured jurisdiction over the case from Albanian judicial authorities, citing ...

Italian prosecutors order ferry back to Italy

A South Korean court has approved the arrest of a former Korean Air Lines Co. Executive who delayed a flight in what has widely been called "nut rage."
	Seoul Western District Court said it granted a warrant today to arrest Cho Hyun-ah, 40, citing concerns that she might destroy evidence or flee.
	She resigned as vice president of Korean Air amid public anger that she forced a plane to return to its gate in New York on December 5 to remove the chief flight attendant because she was angry that macadamia nuts were served in a bag, not on a plate. Witnesses said she assaulted and insulted cabin crew members.
	The arrest comes as Korean Air faces government sanctions for allegedly trying to cover up the incident.

Arrest warrant for ex-Korean Air exec in nut rage

China's president has called for the Communist Party's leadership over the country's universities to be enhanced in a continuing tightening of ideological controls across a wide range of society.
	Xi Jinping said higher learning institutions should publicise Marxism, one of the theoretical foundations of the Party, and enhance ideological guidance, the official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.
	"Enhancing (party) leadership and party-building in the higher-learning institutions is a fundamental guarantee for running socialist universities with Chinese features well," Xi was quoted as saying.
	Xi issued the instruction during a two-day meeting that concluded Monday on party building in higher-learning institutions.
	Under Xi, China has tightened controls on artists, churches, and others and ordered reporters to undergo training in Marxism to emphasize the ruling party's dominance.
	Political indoctrination is part of the curriculum for Chinese students, while Chinese professors ..

China leader: More party control over colleges

Turkish media reports say a former television presenter has been detained for posting a tweet suggesting a cover-up in a government corruption scandal, in a new case highlighting deteriorating media freedoms in the country.
	Sedef Kabas told Radikal news website today that she was being questioned by police after telling her Twitter followers not to forget the name of a judge who dropped a corruption and bribery probe earlier this year. The government didn't immediately confirm Kabas' detention.
	The scandal led to the ouster of four ministers. The government, citing a plot to remove it from office, then reassigned hundreds of police, prosecutors and judges. A judge later closed the case.
	Last week, a teenager was briefly arrested at his school for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Reports: Turkish ex-TV presenter held over tweet

A Libyan lawmaker says a suicide car bomber has rammed his vehicle into the outer gate of the headquarters of the internationally recognised parliament.
	Parliamentarian Abu Bakr Baeira said no one was killed in the attack in the eastern city of Tobruk, where the assembly has been forced to convene since Islamist-allied militias seized the capital Tripoli over the summer and revived a rival government.
	No one claimed responsibility for the bombing.
	Officials have blamed previous attacks on Islamic extremists based in the eastern town of Darna, who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
	Widespread militia violence has plunged Libya into chaos less than four years after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammer Gaddafi.

Suicide car bomb targets Libya parliament

A British health care worker who contracted the Ebola virus in West Africa has been transferred from Scotland to an isolation unit in London for specialist treatment.
	The woman arrived at the Royal Free Hospital in north London today. She was transferred from Glasgow on a military plane in a quarantine tent.
	She had arrived in Britain on Sunday night from Sierra Leone and became ill Monday morning. Officials say she is the first patient diagnosed with Ebola inside Britain.
	Her condition is described as "stable" and she is said to be in the early stages of the disease.
	The woman had worked with Save the Children in Sierra Leone helping people with the often-fatal disease.
	Officials say the risk to the public in Britain is extremely low, but they are tracing passengers who traveled with the patient on her journey home via Casablanca and London's Heathrow Airport.
	Paul Cosford, director for health protection for Public Health England, said the passengers were being contacted "on a .

Ebola patient in Britain transferred to London

The Islamic State group today claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a funeral tent north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad the day before that killed 16 people and wounded 34 others.
	The claim was made in a statement posted on a Twitter account frequently used by the extremist group. It did not mention the nationality of the attacker.
	Yesterday's attack targeted the funeral of the father of two members of pro-government Sunni militias. The Islamic State group frequently targets Iraq's Shiite majority as well as Sunnis allied with the Shiite-led government.
	The bomber showed up at the funeral disguised as a Shiite, with a religious flag and a portrait of a Shiite imam, according to Hussein Ali, a local resident who said he witnessed the attack.
	In a separate incident, a Shiite militia commander was killed Monday by a sniper's bullet during fighting with Islamic State militants in the town of Duluiyah, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) north of Baghdad, said another ...

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