Russian prosecutors today asked a court to sentence President Vladimir Putin's chief foe to 10 years in prison, but the defiant opposition leader vowed to keep up his fight against the Kremlin regime.
	Alexei Navalny, 38, rose to prominence with his investigations of official corruption and played a leading role in organizing massive anti-Putin street protests in 2011 and 2012. But within a month of the government's May 2012 crackdown on the opposition, investigators slapped Navalny with several criminal cases.
	In a trial last summer, Navalny was found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to prison, but he was released the next day after thousands of people protested in the streets of Moscow. He was given a suspended sentence instead.
	In their closing arguments in a separate trial in a Moscow courthouse, prosecutors asked a judge today to convict Navalny and imprison him for nine years, with an additional year added because of the prior conviction.
	Navalny and his brother Oleg are .

Russia seeks 10 years in prison for Putin foe

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Chinese state media say a Beijing court has sentenced a former employee of the Forbidden City to be executed for stabbing two of his supervisors to death on the museum's grounds.
	The state-run Beijing News says Zheng Zhibiao argued at his trial in early December that he had been concerned over a lack of protection of artifacts held at the former palace of China's emperors.
	The vast network of ceremonial halls, imperial apartments and other buildings is Beijing's premier tourist attraction.
	Beijing News says Zheng, a display designer at the museum's exhibition division, had complained about a lack of professionalism in protecting and renovating the museum.
	It wasn't clear what prompted him to kill the two supervisors, although the paper says prosecutors argued he had a personal grudge.

Ex-worker at China's Forbidden City gets death

In the first such attack since September, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck southern Israel today, the Israeli military said.
	The military said air raid sirens were sounded in the Eshkol region bordering the Palestinian coastal territory. The projectile landed in an open field, causing no injuries or damage, according to police.
	Israel fought a 50-day war this summer with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza. Hamas launched thousands of rockets and mortars toward Israel, which carried out an aerial campaign and a ground invasion.
	The war left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, according to Palestinian and UN officials. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed.
	Also today, fierce clashes erupted between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces at a West Bank military checkpoint and near the village of Turmus Aya, though no injuries were reported.
	The village was the site of a Palestinian-Israeli scuffle earlier this month during ..

Israeli military says Gaza rocket hits Israel

President Vladimir Putin says Russia will continue its ambitious military modernisation programme with a particular emphasis on nuclear strategic forces.
	Speaking at today's meeting with top military brass, Putin said the nation's nuclear forces are a "major factor in maintaining global balance," adding that "they effectively include a possibility of large-scale aggression against Russia."
	Russia-West relations have plummeted to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis.
	Putin said the military is set to receive 50 new intercontinental ballistic missiles -- a significantly higher number than in previous years.
	The huge military buildup is continuing despite Russia's economic woes triggered by a combination of Western sanctions and slumping prices of oil.
	The rouble collapse this week stoked up fears of high inflation and a banking crisis.

Putin: Russia military modernisation plan to go on

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today praised Liberia on its efforts to combat Ebola during his second visit here since the start of the outbreak that now has killed more than 6,900 people in West Africa.
	"We have reasons to be cautiously optimistic that this terrible outbreak can be defeated," said Ban at a press conference with Liberia's president.
	"Our response strategy is working -- where people are gaining access to treatment, where contacts are being traced, burials are becoming safer, communities are mobilizing to protect themselves," he said.
	Nearly 3,300 of the Ebola deaths have been in Liberia, where health officials say the spread of the virus has shown signs of slowing in recent weeks.
	Concern has grown about the situation in neighboring Sierra Leone, where the Ebola is now spreading the fastest in the region.
	"Just one case can trigger an epidemic and we have a long way to go," said Ban.
	His visit to Liberia comes on the eve of crucial midterm ...

UN chief visits Ebola-ravaged West African nations

Chrysler is recalling about 288,000 older Ram pickup trucks in North America and elsewhere because the rear axle can seize or the drive shaft can fall off.
	The recall covers Ram 1500 pickups from the 2005 model year.
	Chrysler says in documents posted today by US safety regulators that the rear-axle pinion nut can come loose. That can cause problems that make the trucks spin out of control.
	The recall comes after an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that began in June.
	The agency found 15 complaints, including seven drivers who reported that the wheels locked at speeds over 50 miles per hour. Chrysler says there have been three crashes and one injury due to the problem.
	The recall includes nearly 257,000 trucks in the US, another 22,000 in Canada, 8,800 in Mexico and 400 outside North America.
	The affected trucks were made from January 28, 2004 to August 3, 2005, according to the documents.
	In one complaint to NHTSA in February 2013, a pickup ...

Chrysler to recall about 288K Ram pickup trucks

An Afghan official says a mortar attack has killed a woman and wounded another eight people, including six children.
	Sarhadi Zwak, the spokesman for the governor of Laghman province in eastern Afghanistan, says Taliban insurgents fired several mortar rounds in Dawlar Shah district today.
	He says one woman was killed, and two women and six children were wounded. The Afghan army immediately returned fire, he said.
	Afghanistan's insurgency, led by the Taliban, has become increasingly virulent in recent months as foreign troops have withdrawn ahead of the official end of the U.S.-led combat mission.
	From a peak in 2010 of 140,000, US and NATO forces will be cut to a training and support mission of 13,000 from January 1.

Afghan official: Woman killed in mortar attack

A Korean-American aid worker working in a Chinese city near North Korea has been arrested on charges of embezzlement and possession of fake invoices, his lawyer said today.
	Shanghai-based lawyer Zhang Peihong said he was notified by prosecutors in China's northeastern Yanbian prefecture of the arrest of Peter Hahn, a Christian who ran a vocational school for Chinese and Korean youth for more than a decade in the border town of Tumen.
	The charges appear to be an excuse to incriminate the man, who also had provided food to North Korean children, Zhang said.
	It is too early to suggest Hahn has been targeted for his religious beliefs, although his aid work was inspired by his Christian faith, Zhang said.
	"I am not optimistic about the case's prospects now that he has been arrested," the lawyer said. "The charges clearly have no merit."
	No trial date has been set, Zhang said.
	Earlier this year, authorities detained a Canadian Christian couple, Kevin and Julia Garratt, who had lived ..

China arrests US aid work in N Korean border town

Five people have died in floods in the capital Maputo, after days of torrential rain, according to Mozambican authorities.
	Five homes were also swept away by floodwater. Maputo mayor, David Simango, visited the affected neighbourhoods.
	People living in flood-prone areas of the coastal city would be moved to safe zones, according to the city's health and social welfare councillor, Nurbai Calu.
	"For those families who have lost their houses, in the first place we want to guarantee that they are in good health and have a roof over their heads," said Calu, according to the Mozambican news agency, AIM. "We have nobody sleeping in the open."
	Calu said it is difficult to estimate the cost of the damage so far.
	In the neighbouring city of Matola, about 300 people were left homeless after 19 houses collapsed and another 370 were flooded, reported the news agency. Hundreds of people have also been displaced in the southern city of Xai Xai.
	Mudslides have damaged roads, making it difficult 

5 die in Mozambique floods

Iraqi authorities today said that the bombings have killed 11 people in the capital Baghdad.
	Police officials said the deadliest attack happened today morning when a bomb exploded near a market in Baghdad's northern district of Shaab, killing four people and wounding nine others.
	Later on, a bomb blast at a commercial street in eastern Baghdad killed two people and wounded eight others. In downtown Baghdad, a bomb went off near car repair shops, killing two people.
	Police said a bomb blast near an industrial area killed three people and wounded seven others in Baiyaa district in western Baghdad.
	Medics in a nearby hospital confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Bombings kill 11 people in Iraq

The parents of Colorado theatre shooting suspect James Holmes are pleading for him to be spared the death penalty.
	Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of killing 12 people and injuring 70 in the 2012 attack at a movie theatre in Aurora outside Denver. Jury selection is scheduled to start January 20.
	In a letter to The Denver Post published today, Robert and Arlene Holmes say they have always loved their son and do not want him to be executed.
	"He is not a monster. He is a human being gripped by a severe mental illness," they wrote.
	They also said that they would like to avoid a traumatic trial.
	One option would be a plea deal allowing him to plead guilty to the charges in exchange for life in prison without parole.
	"If that happened, our son would be in prison the rest of his life, but no one would have to relive those horrible events at a trial the media has permission to televise," they wrote.
	They say the best option for their son would be if he is 

James Holmes' parents plead against death penalty

FIFA will not reopen the vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and will publish at least some of the confidential report into the bidding process, President Sepp Blatter said today.
     The 78-year-old Blatter, who is seeking a fifth term as president, said there are "no legal grounds to revoke the executive committee's decision (in 2010) on the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups."
     But Blatter said FIFA can publish -- at least in part -- the 430-page investigation report into the bidding contest by ethics prosecutor Michael Garcia despite initially insisting it must remain confidential.
     Last month, FIFA ethics judge Joachim Eckert released his 42-page summary of the report, essentially clearing Russia to host the 2018 World Cup and Qatar to host the 2022 tournament. But Garcia soon appealed to FIFA, saying his work was misrepresented by Eckert. The American lawyer then resigned on Wednesday after his appeal was rejected.
     Blatter said there was a unanimous agreement 

FIFA will not reopen 2018 and 2022 World Cup votes

A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted today, spewing towering clouds of hot ash into the air and leaving four hikers injured and one missing when they scrambled to safety, an official said.
	Mount Gamalama on Ternate island in North Maluku province shot thick gray smoke up to 2,000 meters into the sky just before midnight yesterday, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman for Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency.
	He said nine panicked hikers fell while fleeing to safety. Four of them were hospitalized and rescuers were searching for the tenth.
	Slow-moving red lava was visible at the peak of the eruption today and villages were blanketed with thick ash, but no evacuation orders have been issued, Nugroho said.
	An airport in Ternate, the provincial capital about30 kilometers from the volcano, was forced to close today as did schools and offices.
	Mount Gamalama is one of about 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia. Its last major eruption was in 2012. No deaths were reported ...

Indonesia volcano erupts, injuring 4; 1 missing

The Japanese researcher whose claim of a major breakthrough in stem cell research was discredited has resigned after the government lab where she worked failed to replicate her results.
	Haruko Obokata said in a statement today that she was leaving the Riken Center for Developmental Biology after the lab concluded the stem cells she said she had created probably never existed.
	The center announced yesterday that it would stop trying to match Obokata's results after months of trying.
	Obokata initially was lauded for leading the research that raised hopes for a discovery of a simple way to grow replacement tissue.
	But questions about the validity of the research prompted Riken scientists, including Obokata, to retract two scientific papers.

Japan scientist quits as cell research discredited

A judge cleared the way for thousands of young immigrants in Arizona who are protected from deportation under an Obama administration policy to get driver's licences.
	The preliminary injunction issued by US District Judge David Campbell bars the state from enforcing Gov. Jan Brewer's policy of denying the licences to about 20,000 immigrants.
	The injunction that takes effect on Monday was a formality that carries out instructions issued in July by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
	The move in Arizona to deny the licences was a reaction to steps taken by the Obama administration in June 2012 to shield thousands of immigrants from deportation. Brewer's move marked the nation's most visible challenge to the Obama policy.
	She has asked the US Supreme Court to review her appeal of the 9th Circuit decision.
	Brewer lashed out at yesterday's order, saying issuing licences is a state matter, not one for "the federal government or an unelected judiciary."
	"It is outrageous that Arizona .

Young immigrants allowed to get driver's licences

South Korea's constitutional court today ordered the dissolution of a small leftist political party hounded by claims of pro-North Korea views, a move critics say exposes limits of freedom of expression in a country once ruled by military dictators.
	The Justice Ministry petitioned the court to disband the Unified Progressive Party in November 2013, accusing it of supporting North Korea-style socialist systems and posing a threat to South Korea's liberal democracy.
	The request was made two months after key party members were arrested for allegedly plotting a pro-Pyongyang rebellion to overthrow the South Korean government in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula.
	The party was founded in late 2011 with a merger of small progressive groups, and has five lawmakers, all of whom, the court ruled, are to be deprived of their seats.
	It is the first time the court has ordered the breakup of a political party since it was founded in 1988 to better protect basic public rights.
	In the .

S Korea court orders dissolution of leftist party

Colombia's government has rebuffed a unilateral truce declared by the country's largest rebel group, saying the guerrillas' conditions are unacceptable until a peace deal is reached.
	The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on Wednesday said it would lay down its weapons for an unlimited period to bolster peace talks that have been held in Cuba for the past two years.
	But Latin America's oldest and strongest insurgency also said it would call off the cease-fire if its units were attacked by Colombia's US-backed military, a condition that appears to doom the gesture due to the government's longstanding refusal to enter a bilateral truce out of fear it would give the rebels an opportunity to rearm.
	President Juan Manuel Santos said he couldn't accept the rebels' demand the truce be verified by several Latin American nations and by the international Red Cross. Such outside verification would have to wait until a deal to end hostilities is reached, he said in a statement ...

Colombia's government rebuffs rebel truce

Italy's president says he will resign soon, keeping a promise he made last year when he accepted an unprecedented second term as head of state when squabbling lawmakers couldn't agree on a successor.
	President Giorgio Napolitano spoke of the "imminent conclusion of my presidential mandate" as he addressed diplomats yesterday in an end-of-year greeting.
	The 89-year-old Napolitano is expected to announce as soon as New Year's Eve that he will leave office when Italy's term at the helm of the rotating European Union presidency ends in mid-January.
	When lawmakers re-elected him in the spring of 2013, Napolitano said he wouldn't complete the seven-year term because of his age.
	Politicians again are competing to support rival candidates. Persistent bickering within Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's Democrats and other parties complicates the process.

Italy's 89-year-old president to step down soon

The US is prepared to veto a United Nations Security Council proposal that calls for an end to Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands in 2017.
	State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the resolution, offered by Jordan and pushed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is unlikely to face an immediate vote.
	Israel has described the Arab-backed proposal as counterproductive, and its approval would all but certainly upend hope for a peace settlement.
	Secretary of State John Kerry spoke yesterday with diplomats from the Mideast and Security Council nations to craft an agreement likely aimed at restarting peace talks.
	Senators Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham urged the State Department to veto any measure that imposes a peace agreement without direct negotiations between Israel and Palestinians.

US prepared to veto UN plan for Israeli occupation

A Canadian woman who caused a fatal traffic accident after stopping her car to help ducks on a busy highway has been sentenced to 90 days in prison.
	Emma Czornobaj was convicted by a jury on two counts of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing death.
	The 25-year-old was charged in the deaths of Andre Roy, 50, and his daughter Jessie, 16.
	The sentence was handed down yesterday in Montreal. The sentence also prohibits her from driving for 10 years and stipulates she must do 240 hours of community service.
	After Czornobaj stopped her car in June 2010 to rescue ducklings on the side of a Montreal highway, a motorcycle carrying the victims slammed into her vehicle.

Canada woman stops for ducks; sentenced in 2 deaths

Apple chief executive Tim Cook, the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company, is donating money to help fund a gay rights initiative in his native Alabama and two other Southern states, organizers said today.
	The amount of Cook's contribution to the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign wasn't disclosed, but the advocacy organization called it "substantial."
	Organizers said it would help fund a three-year, USD 8.5 million campaign launched in April in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.
	Called Project One America, the goal of the public relations effort is to build acceptance for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in the states.
	The campaign includes advertising on TV and elsewhere, direct-mail fliers and staff members hired in each state.
	"We hope Tim Cook's substantial personal investment inspires others to support this vital and historic project," Jason Rahlan, a spokesman for Human Rights Campaign, said in an email.
	Human Rights Campaign announced the ...

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