Fighting in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russian-backed separatist forces has ground almost to halt.
	That should be good news for Ukraine, but Russia looks intent to pile on the economic misery.
	In a detailed op-ed piece today, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev painted a grim forecast of Russian economic blockades ahead as Ukraine embarks on closer integration with Europe.
	"The Ukrainian government has made its choice. And even if our neighbors have a poor understanding of the ultimate price they will have to pay, that is their right," Medvedev said.
	Those ominous words came as a renewed truce in east Ukraine called for by President Petro Poroshenko is holding , barring sporadic violations, since it began last week.
	More than 4,700 people have been killed since the conflict broke out in mid-April, UN rights investigators estimate, and more than a quarter of those deaths came after a cease-fire in September that was routinely ignored.
	Ukrainian authorities ..

As Ukraine truce holds, Russia vows economic pain

PTI Automatic

The Palestinians are telling members of the International Criminal Court that they want to join the tribunal to seek justice for Israel's alleged crimes.
	Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour spoke today for the first time to the assembly of 122 countries that are party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC.
	He said there is consensus among Palestinians to join the court. He said Palestine "may very well be the 123rd state party," but the timing is up to its leaders.
	Mansour said the Palestinians are "profoundly grateful" for the invitation to participate in the assembly's meeting as an observer.
	There were some behind-the-scenes objections last week from several European countries to allowing Mansour to address the assembly, but they were smoothed out.

Palestinians tell ICC they want to join the court

A Brazilian court says it has fined Google around USD 200,000 for refusing to intercept emails needed in a corruption investigation at state-run oil company Petrobras.
	The federal court in the southern state of Parana said in a statement today that Google eventually did share the emails with Brazilian police several months ago but had to pay the fine for initially refusing to comply with the judicial order.
	The Mountain View, California-based company had insisted it could only hand over the messages if the Brazilian and United States governments made a joint request.
	A spokeswoman for Google confirmed the company "obeys judicial orders in Brazil" but declined to comment further.
	The emails in question were sent by a money changer under investigation in a money laundering scheme at Petrobras.

Brazil: Google fined in Petrobras probe

Hotter days mean less cold cash for Americans, according to a new study matching 40 years of temperatures to economics.
	Days that averaged about 77 degrees (25 Celsius) ended up reducing people's income by about USD 5 a day when compared with days that were significantly cooler.
	A county's average economic productivity decreases by nearly 1 percent for every degree Fahrenheit that the average daily temperature is above 59 (15 Celsius), says a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper released today.
	And, the study's authors predict, if the world continues on its current path of greenhouse gas emissions, even warmer temperatures later this century will squeeze the US economy by tens of billions of dollars each year.
This is not from storms, drought or other weather disasters, just the sweat of daily heat.
	The paper by a pair of economists at the University of Illinois and University of California, Berkeley, has not yet been peer-reviewed but is part of work done for the ...

Study: Hotter days in US mean less cold cash

Phil Stern, an award-winning photographer who lugged his camera into combat during World War II and later became known for candid shots of Hollywood stars like Marlon Brando, has died.
	He was 95.
	David Fahey, co-owner of the Fahey/Klein Gallery that displayed Stern's work for decades, says the 95-year-old died Saturday in Los Angeles after being hospitalized.
	The Los Angeles Times says Stern, a longtime smoker, had emphysema.
	Stern, who shot for Life, Look and other magazines, honed his skills as a war photographer.
	But he gained fame for photos of icons like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and John Wayne in unguarded moments.
	One of his most memorable images is of Brando, in jeans and black leather jacket, walking the set of "The Wild One.

Phil Stern, who photographed Hollywood icons, dies

The Vatican today asked the US to find an "adequate humanitarian solution" for prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, a reflection of Pope Francis' vocal concern that prisoners be treated with dignity and not be subject to inhumane treatment.
	The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, made the request during a Vatican meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
	Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the two sides discussed the US commitment to closing the facility.
	He said Parolin expressed the Holy See's desire that "favorable attention be paid to finding adequate humanitarian solutions for current inmates."
	Pope Francis has spoken forcefully about the need to protect prisoners' rights and dignity, and has dedicated much time as archbishop of Buenos Aires and as pope to ministering to inmates.
	Just this past weekend, he sent a letter of Christmas greetings to inmates at a prison in Latina, urging them to use their time in detention for ...

Vatican presses US on Guantanamo inmate treatment

A radical Muslim killed a soldier outside Canada's Parliament.
	A right-wing extremist opened fire on buildings in Texas' capital and tried to burn down the Mexican Consulate.
	An Al-Qaida-inspired assailant hacked an off-duty soldier to death in London.
	Police said all three were terrorists and motivated by ideology.
	Authorities and family members said they may have been mentally ill.
	A growing body of research suggests they might well have been both.
	New studies have challenged several decades of thinking that psychological problems are only a minor factor in the making of terrorists.
	The research has instead found a significant link between mental problems and "lone wolf" terrorism.
	Now academics and law enforcement officials are working to turn that research into tools to prevent deadly attacks.
	"It's never an either-or in terms of ideology versus mental illness," said Ramon Spaaij, a sociologist at Australia's Victoria University who conducted a major study, funded by the .

Can identifying mental illness stop terror attacks?

Police today surrounded a home outside Philadelphia where they believe a suspect had barricaded himself after shootings at multiple homes.
	The man was suspected of killing five people today morning at three different homes, police told WPVI-TV.
	The communities are about 6.5 kilometers from each other in Philadelphia's northwestern suburbs.
	Officials are referring questions to the district attorney's office, which did not immediately return messages left by The Associated Press.
	Police said they believed the suspect was holed up at the Souderton shooting scene.
	SWAT teams with armored vehicles and rifles focused on a home on a block of brick-faced houses.
	Police Chief Tim Dickinson said officers saw movement in the home but were unsure if it was the suspect.
	Several area school districts ordered students and teachers to shelter in place.

TV station: 5 dead in shootings in US

Authorities say a helicopter carrying four people has crashed into an icy lake in southeast Romania. One person was rescued and a search is underway for the other three.
	The chopper plunged into the Siutghiol Lake near the Black Sea this afternoon, carrying a pilot, a co-pilot, a doctor and a nurse.
	Interior Ministry official Raed Arafat said the doctor was rescued and transported to a hospital in serious condition.
	Divers and rescue workers were looking for the other three at the crash site, 250 kilometers east of Bucharest.
	The search was hampered by frigid temperatures and darkness.
	Arafat said the cause of the accident was not immediately known.

Helicopter crashes into lake in Romania, 3 missing

Yemeni police shot and killed a prominent separatist activist today while he inspected protests in the south organized to press for southern secession, a spokesman for his movement said.
	The police had no immediate comment on the death of Khalid al-Junaid, a 42-year-old activist the separatists describe as a main organizer of the protests against the northern government.
	Once-independent Southern Yemen was united with the north in 1990.
	An attempt to break away from the union in 1994 was ruthlessly crushed by the army of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
	The south complains of negligence and the centralization of power in the impoverished country's north.
	Al-Junaid was driving his car today in the southern city of Aden to inspect the response to calls for civil disobedience, the latest escalation after thousands of protesters camped out in the city's streets demanding secession.
	In October, protesters took to the streets in the south to press their demands.
	Radfan al-Dubeis, 

Yemen police shoot and kill separatist activist

A UN commission is asking for more debt cancellations for the three West African nations hardest hit by the Ebola virus.
	The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said today that it is crucial that the current Ebola health crisis not be a catalyst for financial distress in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
	Carlos Lopez, a UN under secretary-general and the executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, appealed in Ethiopia today for loan forgiveness.
	A new report on the socio-economic impact of Ebola said the overall impact on Africa should be minimal because the three countries account for only 0.68 per cent of Africa's GDP.
	The report estimates that Ebola's impact on the continent's GDP levels in 2014 and 2015 will be only -0.19 per cent and -0.15 per cent.

UN commission asks for Ebola debt forgiveness

Ethnic rebels attacked an army outpost in northeast Myanmar, killing seven government troops and wounding 20 others, state media said today.
	Heavily armed ethnic Kokang guerrillas attacked the outpost last Wednesday, the state-run Myanma Ahlin daily reported, citing the army. The report said the army camp, located near the Chinese border, was surrounded by the guerrillas for two days.
	Since coming to power in 2011, the elected government of President Thein Sein has been striving to strike a comprehensive peace agreement with about a dozen ethnic rebel groups that have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy. It has preliminary cease-fires with most, but clashes occur sporadically, and the two sides cannot agree on terms for a political settlement.
	The Kokang served as the main fighting force for the now-defunct Burmese Communist Party until signing a cease-fire pact with the then-military government in 1989.
	In 2009, the cease-fire was breached when government forces raided 

Myanmar army: Ethnic rebels kill 7 govt troops

Vienna school officials have ordered the closure of a Saudi Arabian school accused of teaching anti-Semitism, after it refused to comply with a request to identify the institution's director and teachers.
	The board began investigating the school last month after media reports that a history book used there contained anti-Jewish material.
	The book allegedly describes Freemasons as "a Jewish, secret, subversive organization focused on guaranteeing control of the world by Jews."
	The school refused to comment and that probe is continuing. But the Vienna school board said in a statement Monday the school's "continued operation is prohibited after the end of the 2014/2015 school year" because of the refusal to provide the information on its staff.
	The school has four weeks to appeal the decision.

Vienna's Saudi school ordered closed

The cab-hailing company Uber was promising free rides and refunds today for people fleeing central Sydney after coming under criticism for hiking prices during a hostage crisis that was unfolding there.
	Technology news website Mashable reported that Uber was briefly charging customers a minimum fare of 100 Australian dollars (USD 82) and four times the usual per-mile rate to leave the city center. Uber said on its smartphone app that the rates had been increased because "Demand is off the charts!" according to Mashable.
	But Uber, which offers a service based on hailing taxis from its app, quickly backtracked after an outcry on social media.
	The company explained that it had used automatic "surge pricing" to encourage more drivers to get online and pick up passengers.
	It wrote today on its Sydney blog that it was in the process of refunding people who had already paid the excessive fares and was giving free rides to others wanting to leave.
	"We are all concerned with the events ...

Uber backtracks on price hikes during Sydney drama

Saudi police say a member of the security forces has been killed in an operation to free three labourers taken hostage by a gunman in the capital, Riyadh.
	A statement by the Riyadh police carried by the official Saudi Press Agency today said an attacker armed with an assault rifle seized the workers yesterday evening near a mosque and opened fire when surrounded by police.
	He was eventually wounded and captured.
	Police say the hostages were freed. In addition to the slain officer, a civilian and a member of the security forces were injured.
	The incident comes amid growing concerns about militant attacks in the kingdom in retaliation for its role in the coalition battling the Islamic State group.

Saudi Arabia: 1 killed in hostage rescue

Taxi drivers are blocking some roads around Paris and its airports to urge the French government to ban ride-hailing service Uber.
	The demonstration today comes as France's Interior Ministry says UberPop, the company's low-cost service, will be outlawed as of January 1, when a new law tightens regulations for chauffeured rides.
	About 200 taxis blocked the roads heading from the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport.
	France is the latest of several places where Uber has faced challenges to its service, which matches people seeking rides with drivers through a cell phone app.
	Traditional taxis say Uber has an unfair advantage because its drivers don't face the same requirements, insurance and taxes.
	The Interior Ministry spokesman, Pierre-Henry Brandet, told iTele a 2015 law would effectively ban Uber's lowest-cost option.

Paris taxis block highway to urge ban on Uber

Jihadi fighters captured a Syrian army base today in the northwestern province of Idlib after two days of intense fighting that killed at least two dozen gunmen, activists said.
	The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and an Idlib-based activist who goes by the name of Mohammed al-Sayid said members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and other rebel factions captured the Wadi Deif base this morning.
	A Twitter account run by the Nusra Front in Idlib province said fighters are now removing mines from the area after the "Wadi Deif camp was liberated."
	The capture of Wadi Deif is a blow to the Syrian government that has managed to hold the besieged post for more than two years and repelled repeated attacks by opposition fighters.
	Rebels and the Nusra Front control much of the countryside of Idlib province while government forces dominate the provincial capital city -- also called Idlib.
	The capture came a day after rebels and Nusra Front fighters took over seven ...

Jihadis capture army base in northwestern Syria

A court in northern China today cleared a man of the rape and murder of a woman in a public toilet 18 years after he was executed for the crime.
	The Inner Mongolia Higher People's Court announced on its microblog that it had overturned the conviction of Huugjilt, who was 18 when he was sentenced to death and executed for the 1996 crime. Huugjilt used only one name, as is common among ethnic Mongolians.
	The deputy head of the court, Zhao Jianping, offered his "sincere apologies" to Huugjilt's parents, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. The parents received 30,000 yuan (USD 5,000) as an expression of the court's sympathy and were told they could claim an unspecified amount of compensation.
	Chinese state media carried photos of a court official handing over the verdict to Huugjilt's weeping parents at their home in Inner Mongolia's regional capital of Hohot.
	State media reported in 2005 that a convicted serial rapist and killer confessed to the murder after receiving a ...

China clears man 18 years after his execution

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed today to prevail over resistance to his plans for economic and political change following a weekend election victory that gives him up to four more years in power.
	In yesterday's snap election, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party that has ruled for most of the post-World War II era locked up a solid majority of at least 291 seats.
	About 35 seats were claimed by the LDP's coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komei party, giving the ruling bloc more than two-thirds of the 475-seat House of Representatives.
	That majority could enable the coalition to override resistance in the upper house, but not necessarily the powerful vested interests and bureaucrats opposed to major reforms many economists say are needed to revitalise Japan's economy.
	"We are taking the energy, power and support we received from the voters and will firmly and directly proceed ahead," a visibly weary but relaxed Abe said in a news conference. "We still face a ...

Japan's Abe faces battle on reforms despite win

South Korean President Park Geun-hye faces a political crisis over allegations that a former chief adviser pulled strings behind the scenes on key state affairs and feuded with her younger brother for power.
	The scandal poses a setback for Park, who already faces criticism that her leadership is similar to the heavy-handed style of her late dictator father, President Park Chung-hee.
	Critics say the current president's poor communication with the public and lack of transparency on the personnel decisions she makes are to blame for the scandal.
	The scandal centers on ex-aide Chung Yoon Hoe, who, according to local media reports, allegedly met regularly with 10 of Park's associates at a Seoul restaurant to try to exert influence on her personnel management.
	Chung was a Park aide when she was in the legislature but has never worked at the presidential Blue House.
	Those reports are based on leaked presidential documents from an office headed by a presidential aide who's reportedly ...

S Korean leader's aides, brother summoned over scandal

Around 2,500 Hungarians protested outside Parliament against alleged government corruption, austerity measures and deteriorating social welfare programs. Protest organiser Zoltan Vajda said the 2015 state budget to be approved by lawmakers Monday was unworthy of Hungary.
	"The government is a lie," Vajda said yesterday. "Their whole system is based on lies and (Prime Minister Viktor) Orban himself is a lie."
	Rallies against Orban's government have been held regularly over the past two months, sparked by a failed attempt to tax Internet use, Orban's increasingly close economic ties with Russia and suspected corruption among top officials, including at the national tax office.
	"Why are there many thousands of us here on this cold winter night on the third Sunday (yesterday) of Advent instead at home baking cookies?" Vajda asked, to which protesters yelled "So Orban will go away!"
	People were also upset by government plans to reduce enrolment at universities to increase the number of .

AP

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