Netflix confirmed Tuesday that it removed an episode of a satirical comedy show that criticises Saudi Arabia, after officials in the kingdom reportedly complained.
The move raises new questions about the limits of free online expression.
In the episode of "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," the American-born Muslim lashed Saudi Arabia after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
He specifically criticised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and was also critical of the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.
"We strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and removed this episode only in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request -- and to comply with local law," a Netflix spokeswoman said in a statement.
British newspaper the Financial Times said Netflix's action came after the kingdom's Communications and Information Technology Commission said the episode violated the cybercrime law.
In December, the US Senate approved two 

Netflix drops satire episode critical of Saudi Arabia

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Honduras on Tuesday discussed with Israel and the United States moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a controversial initiative that follows similar gestures by Washington, officials said.
In a meeting with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, "it was agreed to strengthen political relations and coordinate cooperation on development in Honduras," read a joint statement by Honduras, Israel and the US.
"They also agreed to pursue a plan of action, which includes meetings in their three respective capitals, to advance in the process of the decision to open embassies in both Tegucigalpa and Jerusalem." The meeting took place in Brasilia on the sidelines of the presidential inauguration of new Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Last year, US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move its embassy there. Months later, Guatemala followed suit.
Bolsonaro said during ..

Honduras in talks with US, Israel on moving embassy to Jerusalem

A 12-year-old Indian-origin student from Singapore has bagged two gold medals at the World Memory Championships held in Hong Kong.
Dhruv Manoj won in the "names and faces" and "random words" disciplines, beating 56 other contestants in the "kids category" in the competition held from December 20-22.
Dhruv, who just finished primary school, memorised more than seven decks of shuffled cards in an hour; 1,155 binary numbers in half that time; and 87 names and faces in 15 minutes.
The only Singaporean in the competition of over 260 contestants from China, Russia, India, Taiwan and Malaysia, Dhruv stood out with his stupendous memory.
Dhruv has mastered the Roman memory technique of creating "memory palaces", which works by associating the ideas or objects to be memorised with scenes imagined at familiar locations, such as one's house.
Training for Hong Kong competition was tougher for Dhruv, who was also a head prefect, a sprinter in the track and field team and a member of the computer ..

Indian-origin Singapore student wins gold medals at World Memory Championships

US President Donald Trump spoke over phone with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Tuesday during which they reaffirmed the strategic partnership between the two countries and discussed countering terrorism and increasing regional stability, the White House said.
"The two reaffirmed the strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt and committed to strengthening the relationship in the new year, particularly in terms of countering terrorism and increasing regional stability," a senior administration official said.
Trump and Sisi also discussed the upcoming inauguration of the Cathedral of the Nativity and the Al Fatah Al Aleem Mosque in Egypt's New Administrative Capital (NAC) and efforts to advance religious freedom in Egypt, the official said, requesting anonymity.
This was Trump's first phone call with a foreign leader in the new year and the first after the terrorist attack near Egypt's famed pyramids that killed at least four people and wounded 12 others.

Trump, Egyptian prez discuss counter-terrorism, regional stability over phone

The US Coast Guard says good Samaritans on nearby merchant vessels rescued 16 members of the crew of a Panamanian car carrier heading from Japan to Hawaii that caught fire in the Pacific Ocean.
The Coast Guard said Sunday three of the remaining five crew members of the Sincerity Ace were found but are still in the water because they are unresponsive. The agency says the other two crew members haven't been found.
The Serenity Ace caught fire early Monday morning 1,800 nautical miles (3,333 kilometres) northwest of Hawaii.
The Coast Guard has not said what caused the fire on the 198-metre ship.
The US Navy is helping with search efforts.

16 of 21 crew members rescued from burning ship near Hawaii

US authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the first hours of the new year to repel about 150 migrants who tried to breach the border fence in Tijuana.
US Customs and Border Protection said in a statement later Tuesday that the gas was used to target rock throwers apart from the migrants who were trying to cross.
"No agents witnessed any of the migrants at the fence line, including children, experiencing effects of the chemical agents, which were targeted at the rock throwers further away," the statement said.
An Associated Press photographer saw at least three volleys of gas launched onto the Mexican side of the border near Tijuana's beach that affected the migrants, including women and children, as well as journalists.
The AP saw rocks thrown only after U.S. agents fired the tear gas. The agency said agents saw "toddler sized children" being passed over concertina wire with difficulty. It said its agents could not assist the children because of the rocks being thrown. Agents ..

US fires tear gas across Mexico border to stop migrants

The governor of Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca is condemning the slaying of a local mayor shortly after he took office.
Governor Alejandro Murat confirmed the killing of Tlaxiaco Mayor Alejandro Aparicio Santiago via his Twitter account Tuesday. He promised a thorough investigation and said a suspect was already in custody.
The state prosecutor's office said in a statement that Aparicio had just been sworn in and was headed to a meeting at city hall when an unknown number of gunmen opened fire at him. He was taken to a hospital, but died there later.
Four other people were wounded in the attack.
Tlaxiaco is the hometown of Yalitza Aparicio, star of the film "Roma." It was not immediately known if she was related to the victim.

Mexican mayor gunned down after being sworn in

Thirty-seven civilians were killed when armed men believed to be traditional Dogon hunters attacked a village of Fulani herders in central Mali Tuesday in the latest clash between the warring communities, the government said.
The attack on Koulogon village near Bankass in the Mopti region was carried out by "armed men dressed like traditional dozo hunters" allied to the Dogon ethnic group, said an official statement.
"In addition to the 37 recorded deaths, all civilians, the casualty toll includes several wounded and many burned homes", it added.
Earlier, a security source and a man who said he had witnessed the attack also blamed the Dogon, and put the number of dead at 33.
Allaye Yattara, a Fulani, told AFP: "Our village chief Moussa Diallo was killed in the attack along with old women, (and) a girl, all members of his family." France helped Malian forces stave off a jihadist insurgency that took control of large parts of the troubled north in 2012, but since the death in November ..

37 killed in hunter-farmer conflict in Mali: government

A US Marine died of a gunshot wound while on duty early Tuesday at the Marine Barracks in Washington, media reported.
The death occurred around 5:00 am (3:30 pm IST), CNN reported. Authorities determined that there was no threat to the surrounding area in southeast Washington.
But otherwise, details were scant.
The dead marine's identity was not released.
A spokeswoman for the city's Metropolitan Police said an investigation was in its early stages but that for now, no criminal charges had been pressed.
The Marine Corps could not immediately be reached.
The barracks, sometimes known as "8th & I" for its location, is the oldest active post in the Marine Corps, founded in 1801 under President Thomas Jefferson, according to its website.
Marine units stationed there perform both ceremonial and security duties in the US capital. They include the famed Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, the Marine Band and the Marine Corps Color Guard.

US Marine dies in shooting at Washington barracks

Clashes between jihadists and rebels in northern Syria have killed at least 19 people, a war monitor said Tuesday.
The fighting, pitting Al-Qaeda-linked coalition Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) against an alliance of rebel groups, flared in western Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
HTS had on Monday accused rebel group Nureddine al-Zinki of killing five of its fighters, and launched an offensive against rebel positions close to the country's last opposition bastion in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Observatory, said 12 HTS fighters and five from the Zinki group had been killed, along with two civilians. A further 35 people were wounded, he said.
Nureddine al-Zinki is a major player in the National Liberation Front (NLF), a Turkish-backed rebel alliance.
HTS and other jihadist groups dominate more than half of Idlib province, while the NLF holds most of the rest.
The two have regularly clashed over control of .

Syria rebels and jihadists clash, killing 19

Traditional Dogon hunters massacred 33 Fulani herders in central Mali Tuesday in the latest clash between the warring communities, a lawmaker and a security source told AFP.
"There were 33 deaths, civilians, and others wounded" in the assault on Khoul Hogo Peul village, MP and chairman of the national defence committee Karim Keita told AFP.
A security source, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed the number.
The source and a Fulani man who said he had witnessed the attack, blamed it on Dogon hunters known as "dozos", who in June killed 24 members of the Fulani community, according to a UN investigation.
Violence has increased in central Mali between nomadic Fulani herders and Bambara and Dogon farmers, sparked by accusations of Fulani grazing cattle on Dogon land and disputes over access to land and water.
Several houses were set on fire in Tuesday's attack some 117 kilometres from the regional capital Bankass.
"The attackers were gunmen wearing traditional dozo clothing," and they 

33 killed in Mali's hunter-farmer conflict: sources

Cuba celebrated 60 years of revolution on Tuesday amid economic crises and political reforms, the first such anniversary of the post-Castro era.
The symbolic commemoration was set for late afternoon in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba, the so-called "cradle of the revolution." Ex-president Raul Castro was slated to give the keynote speech at the tombs of national heroes Jose Marti and Fidel Castro.
For the first time since 1976, Cuba's president is not a Castro. Miguel Diaz-Canel, 58, took over in April as president from Raul Castro, who retains significant influence.
"Today the date is with Raul in Santiago," wrote Diaz-Canel on Twitter.
"The brave and noble people of Cuba" will be honored -- with Fidel, Raul and "all those who have fought, and fight, to maintain the homeland free, sovereign and happy."
The streets of Santiago were adorned with flags and posters. In one, a vigorous Fidel raises a rifle next to Raul, with the legend "60 years of victories." Concerts and ...

Cuba celebrates 60 years of revolution amid challenges and change

US President Donald Trump congratulated Brazil's new far-right President Jair Bolsonaro as he took office Tuesday for a four-year term at the helm of Latin America's most powerful nation.
"Congratulations to President @jairbolsonaro who just made a great inauguration speech - the U.S.A. is with you!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trump congratulates Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on inauguration

South Africa on Tuesday assumed the seat as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, where it said ending the conflicts on the African continent will be its key priority.
South Africa's International Relations and Cooperation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said that the silencing of guns in Africa, attending to the plight of women and children in conflict areas and coordinating a response to the rise of extremist groups on the continent would be the key priority.
"We go to the UNSC carrying an African mandate. The people of Africa have sent us to highlight their issues and to work with other nations to find solutions to their challenges. We are ready and our diplomats are ready," Sisulu said in a statement.
"Among key issues we want to attend to as a non-permanent member of the UNSC is the rise of extremist groups in Africa.
"The fact that South Africans are alleged to be involved makes this a very important and urgent matter for our law enforcement agencies in the SADC region and .

SA assumes UN Security Council seat, says priority will be to end conflict on African continent

Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right politician vowing a crackdown on crime and corruption, was sworn in Tuesday as Brazil's new president in front of Congress in Brasilia.
The 63-year-old former paratrooper and deputy for the past 27 years pledged to uphold the constitution as he embarked on his four-year mandate at the helm of Latin America's biggest economy.
Bolsonaro takes power with sky-high approval ratings and high hopes from many of Brazil's 210 million inhabitants that he can stamp out graft, reduce rampant crime and re-ignite an economy laid low by a record-breaking recession.
He has already said he will issue a decree easing gun laws to allow "good" citizens to own firearms as a way of deterring and countering armed criminals.
And he has vowed to challenge the leftist governments ruling Venezuela and Cuba, while moving closer to ideological allies US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bolsonaro takes over from deeply unpopular centre-right ...

Far-right Bolsonaro sworn in as Brazil's new president

Clashes broke out between two powerful insurgent groups in northern Syria on Tuesday, leaving up to seven people dead in the most serious fighting in months in the last major rebel stronghold in the country.
The al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham  Arabic for Levant Liberation Committee  and the Turkey-backed Nour el-Din el-Zinki group blamed each other for triggering the fighting in the northern province of Aleppo.
Nour el-Din el-Zinki is part of a 15-member coalition known as the National Liberation Front that has clashed with extremists in the past. Other factions in the NLF have been sending reinforcement to rebel-held parts of Aleppo to back their allies against al-Qaida-linked gunmen raising fears that the fighting will escalate.
According to activist collectives in northern Syria, both groups used heavy weapons, including tanks, in the fighting.
The rebel-held area is mostly in the northwestern province of Idlib that has witnessed sporadic violence since a Russia and Turkey ...

Fighting erupts between rival insurgent groups in Syria

A man who said he is the brother of an American arrested in Moscow on espionage charges posted on Tuesday a statement from the family protesting his innocence.
"We have read reports of the arrest in Moscow of Paul Whelan, our son and brother," said the statement posted on Twitter by David Whelan, who said he is the brother of Paul.
"Paul is a retired Marine and was visiting Moscow to attend a wedding," it continued, adding that he stopped being in communication with his family on December 28, "which was very much out of character for him even when he was traveling."
They added they had learned of the arrest through the media on Monday morning and had been in touch with US lawmakers, as well as the State Department.
"We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being. His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected," the statement said.
The arrest marked the latest in a series of espionage cases between Russia and the West.
The FSB domestic security service 

Family of American arrested in Moscow for 'spying' says he is innocent

Israel plans to inaugurate a new international airport in the south of the country near the Red Sea later this month, the transport minister announced Tuesday.
The Ramon airport will begin with only domestic flights before gradually moving toward full operation, Transport Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
The inauguration ceremony will be held on January 21 with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in attendance.
Initially domestic flights will be operated by the Arkia and Israir carriers.
A timeframe was not given for when the airport will be fully operational.  Construction costs for the airport have been put at 1.7 billion shekels (USD 455 million). Work got underway in 2013 but original specifications for the project were revised to allow for upgrades.
The airport will be some 18 kilometres from the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat and near the Jordanian port of Aqaba.
Its website says that it will be able to initially handle up to two million passengers annually, but will be .

Israel to open new Red Sea airport in January

A week and a half into a partial government shutdown, House Democrats released their plan to re-open the government without approving money for President Donald Trump's border wall.
At the same time, the president struggled to find leverage to break the stalemate before the GOP's monopoly on Washington power ended.
Democrats in the House unveiled two bills Monday to fund shuttered government agencies and put hundreds of thousands of federal workers back on the job.
They planned to pass them as soon as the new Congress convened Thursday, one of the first acts after Democrats took control, according to an aide who was not authorized to discuss the plan and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Whether the Republican-led Senate, under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, would consider the bills - or if Trump would sign either into law - was unclear.
McConnell spokesman Donald Stewart said Senate Republicans would not take action without Trump's backing.
"It's simple: The Senate is not going to ..

House Democrats have plan to fund government, but not a wall

At least four soldiers and an equal number of terrorists were killed on Tuesday in an attack by militants at a paramilitary training camp in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province.
Army said that four terrorists tried to storm the Frontier Corps training center in Loralai area of the province but they were challenged by the troops.
After failing to achieve the primary target, the terrorists resorted to indiscriminate fire and entered a compound close to the check-post, it said.
The terrorists were pinned down in the check-post by the security forces in the subsequent operation, it said.
"Four terrorists were killed including one suicide bomber who blew himself up during the final stage of the clearance operation," the army said.
Four security personnel were killed and two others injured in the attack, it added.
"The valiant and timely action of the security forces denied the terrorists entry into the residential area which would have resulted in more casualties," it said.
Nobody took 

8 killed in attack by militants in Pak's Balochistan

The legendary Sunil Gavaskar could miss the presentation of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which India captain Virat Kohli will receive, regardless of the result of the fourth and final Test against Australia.
Gavaskar said he has not received invitation from Cricket Australia.
Visiting India have taken an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-Test series, and will retain the trophy they won at home last year.
"I was sent a letter by Cricket Australia's Chief Executive, James Sutherland in May asking about my availability to present the Border-Gavaskar trophy and I would have been happy to go. But he stepped down and there has been no further contact," Gavaskar told India Today.
Border and Gavaskar were the first two to touch the 10000-run mark in Test cricket.
Cricket Australia has since undergone an overhaul in the aftermath of the ball-tampering controversy in March, with Sutherland being one of the employees to depart the scene.
India won the first Test in Adelaide before being humbled ..

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