ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Thousands of Shiite Muslims protested in Pakistan and Indian Kashmir Sunday, January 3, to condemn Saudi Arabia's execution of a leading cleric Nimr al-Nimr, as fury over the killing spread.

The 56-year-old Shiite cleric was put to death along with 46 Shiite activists and Sunnis who the Saudi interior ministry said were involved in Al-Qaeda killings. Some were beheaded, others were shot by firing squad.

Iran and Iraq's top Shiite leaders also condemned the execution, warning ahead of protests that the killing was an injustice that could have serious consequences.

Peaceful protests were held across Pakistan, including in the southwestern city Quetta where about 1,000 people called on the government to reconsider its longtime ties with Riyadh and demonstrators held placards bearing anti-Saudi slogans.

In the eastern city of Lahore, around 1,500 took to the streets, calling Nimr's execution a gross human rights violation, while in the port city of Karachi about a thousand men, women and children shouted slogans against the royal Saudi family. 

Similar protests also took place in several districts of the southern Sindh province and the Pakistani capital Islamabad, where about 500 people gathered to call on the UN to intervene to stop Saudi Arabia from targeting Shiite Muslims.

Amid the rallies, Saudi foreign minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir, who was scheduled to arrive in Islamabad Sunday evening, postponed his visit.

"The visit was postponed at the request of the authorities of Saudi Arabia," the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement, adding the trip would take place on January 7.  

Meanwhile in Srinagar, the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir, hundreds of angry Shiites clashed with police as they protested the cleric's execution. 

The demonstrators bearing photos of Nimr chanted "down with al-Saud dynasty," referring to Saudi leaders and called them "stooges of America" as they marched toward the city centre.

Some hurled rocks at police, who fired tear gas and wielded batons in return, a senior police officer speaking on condition of anonymity told Agence France-Presse.

Similar protests were also held in smaller towns across the Muslim-majority region, which is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in its entirety by both the South Asian rivals. – Rappler.com

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (UPDATED) – Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday, January 3, after protesters ransacked its embassy in Tehran to protest the execution of a Shiite cleric whose killing has sparked fury.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir made the announcement at a news conference in Riyadh, and said Iranian diplomats had 48 hours to leave the kingdom.

The diplomatic fallout come as Iran's supreme leader said Saudi Arabia would face "quick consequences" for executing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, and as Washington urged regional leaders to soothe escalating sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

Saudi Arabia "is breaking off diplomatic ties with Iran and requests that all members of the Iranian diplomatic mission leave... within 48 hours," Jubeir said.

"Iran's history is full of negative interference and hostility in Arab issues, and it is always accompanied by destruction," he said, accusing Tehran of seeking to "destabilise" the region.

On Saturday, January 2, a mob attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the second city of Mashhad amid protests at Nimr's execution.

Jubeir said Saudi authorities had asked their Iranian counterparts to ensure security at the embassy but they did not cooperate and failed to protect it.

Nimr, 56, was a force behind 2011 anti-government protests in oil-rich eastern Saudi Arabia, where Shiites have long complained of marginalisation.

He was put to death along with 46 other people, including Shiite activists and convicted Sunni militants who the Saudi interior ministry says were involved in Al-Qaeda attacks that killed dozens in 2003 and 2004.

Some were beheaded and others were shot by firing squad.

'Instigator of sedition'

Iran has said it arrested 44 people over the embassy attacks, and President Hassan Rouhani said the demonstrators were "radicals" and the assaults "totally unjustifiable".

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, meanwhile, condemned Nimr's execution, saying "God will not forgive" Saudi Arabia for putting him to death.

"The unjustly spilt blood of this martyr will have quick consequences," he said, adding "It will haunt the politicians of this regime."

Relations between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and Shiite-ruled Iran have been strained for decades, with Riyadh frequently accusing Tehran of interfering in Arab affairs.

The two countries have also been divided over the nearly five-year war in Syria, where Iran is backing the regime, and the conflict in Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Shiite rebels.

Khamenei was joined in his condemnation of Nimr's execution by Iraq's top Shiite authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who called the death sentence "an unjust act of aggression".

Their comments, echoed by other regional religious and political leaders, came as protests in Iran on Sunday spread to Bahrain, Pakistan, Indian Kashmir and Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia branded Nimr an "instigator of sedition" and arrested him in 2012, after a video on YouTube showed him making a speech celebrating the death of the then-interior minister.

Three years earlier he called for the oil-rich Eastern Province's Shiite-populated Qatif and Al-Ihsaa governorates to be separated from Saudi Arabia and united with Bahrain.

'Gates of hell'

Demonstrations outside the Saudi embassy and at Palestine Square in Tehran attracted around 1,500 people Sunday, with chants of "Death to the House of Saud".

"His death will start a revolution which hopefully will lead to the fall of the Saudi family," said Rezvan, a 26-year-old in a traditional black chador who declined to give her last name.

On Baghdad's Palestine Street, Iraqi cleric Ahmed al-Shahmani said: "The House of Saud has opened the gates of hell on its own regime."

In Bahrain, where authorities defended Saudi Arabia along with other Gulf allies of Riyadh, police used buckshot and tear gas against Shiiite protesters who threw petrol bombs. Arrests were reported.

Nimr's execution was widely condemned elsewhere by major Western powers, and the United States on Sunday called on Middle East countries to take "affirmative steps" to calm tensions.

Executions have soared in Saudi Arabia since King Salman ascended the throne a year ago with 153 people put to death in 2015, nearly twice as many as in 2014, for crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy.

Human Rights Watch said the mass execution was the largest since 1980, when 68 militants who had seized Mecca's Grand Mosque were beheaded, and called it a "shameful start to 2016".

Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia was using Nimr's execution "to settle political scores".

But on Sunday Jubeir said those executed had received "fair and transparent" trials and were convicted of carrying out "terrorist operations that led to the deaths of innocents." – Abdul Hadi Habtor with Arthur MacMillan in Tehran, Iran, AFP / Rappler.com

GUWAHATI, India (3rd UPDATE) – At least two people were reported dead on Monday, January 4, after a strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck northeast India near the country's borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, sending panicked residents fleeing into the streets.

Police said one man had died in Imphal, the Indian city nearest the epicentre, while another was reported dead in Bangladesh after apparently suffering a heart attack following the quake.

Dozens more were injured in the scramble to escape buildings in India and Bangladesh after they were woken by the early morning tremor.

Police in Dhaka said 40 people were being treated at a major hospital in the Bangladeshi capital, including one university student who jumped from a fourth-floor balcony and was in a critical condition.

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 4:35 am (2305 GMT Sunday, January 3) 29 kilometers (18 miles) west-northwest of Imphal, capital of Manipur state, where dozens of buildings were damaged.

An official at one of the main hospitals in Imphal said more than 50 people had been admitted since the quake with head injuries and limb fractures.

Imphal resident Deepak Shijagurumayum whose house was severely damaged described scenes of chaos after the quake.

"Almost everyone was asleep when it struck and were thrown out of their beds," Shijagurumayum told Agence France-Presse by phone from the city.

"People were crying and praying in the streets and in open spaces. Hundreds remained outdoors for several hours fearing aftershocks."

There were similar scenes in the northeast Indian city of Guwahati, the main commercial city of the mineral-rich state of Assam, where an Agence France-Presse correspondent said residents were "in a state of shock" after being woken by the shaking.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he had spoken to local authorities in Assam about the impact of the quake.

The tremors were felt as far away as Kolkata some 600 kilometres distant in the Indian state of West Bengal, where buildings shook.

"Many people were seen coming out of their homes in panic," said local resident Rabin Dev.

India's seven northeastern states, joined to the rest of the country by a narrow sliver of land, are located in an area of frequent seismic activity. The border region is remote and sparsely populated on the Myanmar side.

In 1950, dozens of villages were swallowed in a string of disasters generated by a powerful earthquake whose epicentre was in Tibet but which caused the greatest destruction to India's Assam state.

More than 1,500 people died in the quake, which had a magnitude of 7.6, and its disastrous aftermath of landslides and floods.

There were no immediate reports of casualties on the Myanmar side of the border, a remote and sparsely populated area that suffered widespread damage this summer from landslides caused by torrential monsoon rains.

The USGS issued a yellow alert for casualties and damage, with a 35 percent likelihood of between one and 10 deaths from the tremor. – Zarir Hussain, AFP / Rappler.com

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Dutch prosecutors said Sunday, January 3, they would "seriously study" claims by citizen journalists to have identified Russian soldiers implicated in the crash of flight MH17, shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014.

The claims are made by a British-based group of "citizen investigative journalists" called Bellingcat, which specializes in trawling through data on social media and other open sources.

"We received the report just after Christmas," Wim de Bruin, a spokesman for the Dutch prosecutor's office, told Agence France-Presse.

"We will seriously study it and determine whether it can be used for the criminal inquiry," de Bruin said.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed over war-torn eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, by a BUK surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 onboard, air crash investigators said last October.

Western nations and Ukraine say the missile was fired from pro-Russian separatist-held territory, but Moscow denies the claim, pointing the finger instead at the Ukrainian military.

The Netherlands have launched a criminal probe into those responsible for the shooting, but many experts doubt whether it will succeed.

In 2014, Bellingcat reported that a BUK mobile launcher, spotted on July 17 in an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels, came from a military convoy from Russia's 53rd anti-aircraft brigade – a unit based in Kursk but sent on manoeuvres near the Ukrainian border.

The launcher was later filmed again, but at least one of its missiles was missing.

In an interview with the Dutch TV channel NOS on Sunday, Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins said his organisation had now identified 20 soldiers in this brigade.

This is "probably" the group that either knows who fired or has that individual among its number, Higgins said.

The sources for this include photos posted on the Internet and army data about personnel deployment that was available online, NOS said.

It added that a redacted version of the report should be published "shortly."

De Bruin said Dutch prosecutors had "already been in contact" with Bellingcat in the past. – Rappler.com

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – All train, bus and ferry passengers travelling from Denmark to Sweden will from Monday, January 4, be required to show photo identification before being allowed across the border in a drastic move by the Swedish government to stem an unprecedented migrant influx.

Travellers have been warned to expect long queues and delays once the checks go into effect from midnight (2300 GMT) on the Danish side of the Oresund bridge-and-tunnel link, which has been a major entry point for migrants and refugees hoping to start a new life in Sweden.

The measures are aimed at keeping out undocumented migrants and come after Sweden – which has taken in more asylum seekers per capita than any other European nation – said it could no longer cope with the unregulated flow of new arrivals.

A temporary fence has already been erected at Copenhagen airport's Kastrup station, where trains will be stopped for the mandatory controls, to prevent people from trying to slip across the tracks.

"It's as if we are building a Berlin Wall here. We are going several steps back in time," said Michael Randropp, a spokesman for the local Kystbanen commuters' association.

The re-introduction of border controls means that travellers between the two Nordic countries will have to show their passports for the first time in over half a century, and deals yet another blow to Europe's cherished passport-free Schengen system.

Several other European Union countries, including Germany, Austria and France, also re-imposed border checks last year as the continent grappled with its biggest refugee crisis since World War II.

More than one million migrants reached Europe in 2015, most of whom were refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Sweden, a country of 9.8 million people known for its generous asylum policies, took in an estimated 160,000 asylum seekers last year alone.

Delays, fines

But the inflow has strained the country's capacity to take care of the newcomers and authorities recently warned they would no longer be able to provide housing for everyone. 

As the public mood shifted, the government began reversing its open-door policy.

Some temporary border controls were already re-introduced on November 12, after which the number of weekly arrivals dropped from a peak of 10,500 to some 3,500 by mid-December, according to Sweden's Migration Agency.

In a further attempt to regain control over the flood of people arriving via Denmark, the Swedish parliament last month passed a temporary law making transport companies responsible for ensuring that those arriving via the 8-kilometre (5-mile) Oresund crossing carry valid photo ID.

Anyone who fails to provide the necessary documents will be turned back, and travel operators who fail to comply risk a fine.

"I believe that these ID checks will be effective. More will have to seek asylum in other countries," Migration Minister Morgan Johansson recently told the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.

Aside from the inconvenience the checks are expected to cause – especially for the roughly 8,600 daily commuters between Copenhagen and the southern Swedish city of Malmo – the new measures have annoyed Danish travel operators for financial reasons.

Danish train company DSB has already threatened to levy a supplementary charge on passengers crossing the strait to cover the costs of the checks. 

And the Danish HH Ferries Group said it had reported Sweden to the EU for unfair competition after being required to pay for identity checks.

The company argues that the consortium operating the Oresund Bridge, and which is partly owned by the Swedish government, was given special treatment because it was not required to help fund the measures. 

The border controls have also irked the Danish authorities, who are waiting to see if they will end up with a buildup of migrants stuck at their border.  

The migration crisis has been a major point of contention between the two neighbours, with Denmark's right-wing government actively discouraging migrants and refugees from settling in the country.

It took in only about 18,000 asylum seekers last year. – Sören Billing, AFP / Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Instead of penalizing both drivers and operators of smoke-belching vehicles, a lawmaker wants to hold just the owners responsible for polluting the air.

In his proposed House Bill 6298, Quezon City 5th District Representative Alfred Vargas is seeking an amendment to Section 46 of Republic Act 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999.

The current version of the law penalizes both the driver and operator of smoke-belching vehicles.

Vargas, however, said it can be assumed that drivers of smoke-belching public utility vehicles are just employees of the vehicle owners, and "do not necessarily have the proper means and control over major repairs of the vehicles."

"With the driver held liable, owners are not compelled to make the necessary vehicle repairs or part replacements in order to comply with the emission standards. Thus, the problem of smoke belching is not effectively addressed," Vargas said.

Under the proposed measure, the owner of the apprehended vehicle will be required to attend a seminar on pollution control and management to be conducted by the transportation department.

The vehicle owner will also be slapped with fines ranging from P6,000 to P10,000 as well as a one-year suspension of the motor vehicle registration (MVR).

The current version of the law penalizes drivers and operators with fines ranging from P2,000 to P6,000, and an additional one-year suspension of the MVR for the third offense.

Vargas said his proposal aims to help ease the worsening air quality in Metro Manila. Around 80% of air pollution in the megacity comes from motor vehicles, according to the Environmental Management Bureau.

Long-term exposure to particulate air pollution has been found to increase the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. – Rappler.com

PARIS, France – French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo will mark a year since an attack on its offices with a cover featuring a bearded man representing God with a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder, accompanied by the text: "One year on: The assassin is still out there."

One million copies of the special edition will be available on newsstands on Wednesday, January 6, with tens of thousands more to be dispatched overseas.

It will mark a year since brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi burst into Charlie Hebdo's offices in eastern Paris and killed 12 people, including 8 of the magazine's staff.

The January 7, 2015 attack, claimed by Al-Qaeda's branch in the Arabian Peninsula, came after a 2011 firebombing of its offices that forced it to move premises. Its staff had also been under police protection since it published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2006.

Included in the special edition will be a collection of cartoons by the 5 Charlie Hebdo artists killed in the January 7, 2015 attack as well as several external contributors.

Cartoonist Laurent Sourisseau, who took over the management of the weekly in the aftermath of the attack, also penned an angry editorial in defence of secularism. It denounces "fanatics brutalised by the Koran" as well as those from other religions who hoped for the death of the magazine for "daring to laugh at the religious".

Sourisseau, known by the nickname Riss, narrowly escaped death and was seriously wounded in last year's attack.

A month before the attack, Charlie Hebdo was close to shutting down as sales had dipped below 30,000. Its brand of provocative, no-holds-barred humor appeared to have gone out of fashion.

But the attack sparked horror across the world. Donations poured in for the victims, 7.5 million people bought the first post-attacks issue and 200,000 people signed up for a subscription.

The Charlie Hebdo attacks were followed in November by a coordinated assault on multiple locations in Paris, claimed by ISIS, which left 130 dead. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Makati city government announced on Monday, January 4, that it is offering P100,000 to anyone who could provide information that would lead to the arrest of a former barangay watchman who killed two residents, including a 7-year-old boy, on New Year’s Eve.

Police said that a few minutes past midnight on January 1, suspect Raymundo Liza, 40 years old, opened fire at a group of drinkers at a house in Makati’s Barangay Southside, which is also being claimed by Taguig Ciy as Barangay Pinagsama.

Liza, believed to be drunk at the time, used a .45 caliber pistol and shot 25-year-old John Edward Pascual, whom Liza challenged into a fight. 

Police investigators said that one of Liza’s bullets also hit 7-year-old Marc Angelo Diego, the son of the owner of the house where the incident occurred. 

The child passed away a day after being shot, while Pascual succumbed to his gunshot wounds on Saturday morning. (READ: New Year mayhem kills 2, injures hundreds)

“I am extending my sympathy to the parents and relatives of Marc Angelo for his untimely demise and I am offering a reward of P100,000 to any person who could provide valuable information that could lead to the arrest of Raymundo Liza,” said Acting Makati Mayor Romulo “Kid” Peña Jr on Monday.

Another guest of the Diego family, Israel Lava, was injured from a stray bullet and is currently recovering at the Ospital ng Makati.

Police said Liza fled on foot after the shooting and has gone into hiding.

The suspect is a former watchman of Barangay Southside and was dismissed from service on December 7, 2015, because of earlier complaints filed against him.

The Makati City Police initially investigated Liza’s case, but it has now been transferred to the jurisdiction of the Taguig City Police.

The Philippine Star reported that Superintendent Arthur Asis, chief of the Taguig City Police, said they would be filing a murder complaint against Liza. – Rappler.com

Image from Shutterstock

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (UPDATED) – Bahrain said Monday, January 4, it is cutting diplomatic ties with Iran, following the suit of its ally Saudi Arabia as tensions escalate over the execution of a Shiite cleric.

Manama ordered Tehran's diplomats in the tiny Gulf state "to leave the kingdom within 48 hours," BNA state news agency said on Twitter.

A Bahraini statement said the decision was triggered by "cowardly" attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran and "increasing flagrant and dangerous meddling" by Tehran in the internal affairs of Gulf and Arab states.

Manama said the attacks on the Saudi missions represent a "very dangerous pattern of sectarian policies that should be confronted... in order to preserve security and stability in the entire region."

The Bahraini foreign ministry summoned Iran's charge d'affaires Murtada Sanawbari and handed him an official note in this regard, said the statement carried by BNA. 

Saudi Arabia said Sunday, January 3, it was severing its ties with Iran after angry crowds set fire to its embassy in Tehran and attacked its consulate in Mashhad a day after Riyadh executed Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Time to replace that periodic table hanging in your chemistry lab.

Four new elements have been officially added to the periodic table of elements, filling the gaps in the 7th row of the chart – and making chemistry textbooks around the world obsolete.

The discovered elements – with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117, and 118 – are now officially verified by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the global body responsible for streamlining nomenclature in the scientific field.

All 4 new elements are synthetic elements – they do not occur naturally on Earth and are produced artificially through experiments.

One of the 4 new elements – Element 113 – will be the first on the table to be discovered and named by Asian scientists.

The said element was discovered by a team working at Japan's Riken Institute, where the element was successfully created 3 times between 2004 and 2012.

"IUPAC has announced that Morita's group will be given priority for the discovery of the new element, a privilege that includes the right to propose a name for it," Riken said in a statement.

"I feel grateful that the name will be included in the table for the first time after this recognition," team leader Kosuke Morita, a professor at Japan's Kyushu University, said at a press conference on Thursday, December 31.

Elements 115 and 117, meanwhile, were discovered by a team of scientists from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States.

The scientists have been collaborating on this discovery since 2010.

The last new element, Element 118, was discovered by another collaboration between Russia's Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and the US's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

"[The] Dubna–Livermore collaboration started in 2006 is reported as having satisfied the criteria for discovery of element Z=118," IUPAC said in a statement Wednesday, December 30.

The new elements have been given the following temporary names and symbols:

• Element 113: ununtrium, Uut
• Element 115: ununpentium, Uup
• Element 117: ununseptium, Uus
• Element 118: ununoctium, Uuo

"The chemistry community is eager to see its most cherished table finally being completed down to the seventh row," Jan Reedijk, president of IUPAC's Inorganic Chemistry Division, said in the statement.

The teams who discovered the elements have been given the naming rights, and the IUPAC will then check the proposed names "for consistency, translatability into other languages, possible prior historic use for other cases," among others.

The scientific body said the names can come from "mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, a property, or a scientist."

The final names of the new elements will be decided by the teams within the year. – With reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com

(Periodic table image courtesy Shutterstock)

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudan said Monday, January 4, it is cutting diplomatic relations with Iran after Gulf ally Saudi Arabia did the same amid mounting tensions between Riyadh and Tehran over the execution of a cleric.

"The Sudanese government announces the cutting of diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran immediately," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The the United Arab Emirates also recalled its ambassador from Iran and downgraded diplomatic relations with Tehran over its "interference" in the affairs of Gulf and Arab countries.

The UAE had decided to lower "diplomatic representation to the level of charge d'affaires and reduce the number of Iranian diplomats in the country," the foreign ministry said in a statement, quoted by the official WAM news agency.

The moves came after Saudi Arabia severed links with the Islamic republic on Sunday, amid escalating tensions triggered by the execution of a Shiite cleric in the Sunni-ruled kingdom at the weekend.

Bahrain and Sudan followed suit by also cutting ties with Iran on Monday.

"This exceptional step has been taken in the light of Iran's continuous interference in the internal affairs of Gulf and Arab states, which has reached unprecedented levels," said the UAE foreign ministry.

It said relations should be based on "mutual respect for the sovereignty" and "non-interference in the internal affairs of others".

The UAE enjoys strong business ties with Iran, and the emirate of Dubai is home to a large Iranian community. – with reports from Agence France-Presse

MOSCOW, Russia – Russia is ready to serve as an intermediary to resolve the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran that saw the kingdom break off diplomatic relations with Tehran, a Russian foreign ministry source told AFP on Monday, January 4. 

"Russia is ready to serve as an intermediary between Riyadh and Tehran," the source said, without providing any specifics about Moscow's potential role in resolving the crisis.

Another unnamed Russian diplomatic source quoted by TASS news agency said Moscow was ready to host the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers – Adel al-Jubeir and Mohammad Javad Zarif – for talks.

"If our partners Saudi Arabia and Iran show they are ready and willing (to meet), our initiative will remain on the table," the source said.

Saudi Arabia announced Sunday it was severing its ties to Iran after its embassy in Tehran was firebombed in protest at the kingdom's execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Nimr was a force behind 2011 anti-government protests in eastern Saudi Arabia, where Shiites have long complained of marginalisation.

The oil-rich rivals have also been divided over the nearly five-year war in Syria, where Iran is backing the regime, and the conflict in Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Shiite rebels.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hosted both Jubeir and Zarif individually last year for talks on the Syrian crisis as Moscow pushed for the creation of a broad coalition to fight Islamic State jihadists in Syria. – Rappler.com

WARSAW, Poland – Twenty-one people died over the weekend in Poland because of freezing weather amid one of the country's deadliest cold spells, the government said Monday, January 4.

"Twelve people died over the last 24 hours. We also recorded nine other victims the day before," spokeswoman Bozena Wysocka from the government centre for security (RCB) told AFP after temperatures dropped to minus 20 Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) in certain areas. 

That brings the total number of deaths linked to the cold weather to 39 since November 1, she added. 

Poland's deadliest hypothermia weekend in recent years was December 19-20, 2009, when 42 people died. 

Police have called on residents of the European Union country of 38 million to keep an eye out for anyone running the risk of hypothermia, especially the homeless, inebriated or the elderly.  

Fourteen people have also died since Christmas in the Polish-Slovak Tatra mountains, with most of the victims slipping and falling to their deaths on the icy slopes. 

Poland's cold spell was late to arrive this winter, just like in 2014-2015, when 77 people died of hypothermia, compared to 78 in 2013-2014 and 177 in 2012-2013.– Rappler.com

KRUSÅ, Denmark (UPDATED) – Denmark implemented spot checks on its border with Germany on Monday, January 4, in a move that triggered fresh concern for Europe's cherished Schengen passport-free zone hours after Sweden imposed its own controls on travellers from Denmark.

Alarmed by the restrictions, the latest in a spate of border controls imposed across Europe in the wake of a massive migrant influx to the continent, Berlin warned the 20-year-old Schengen zone was "in danger".

The new Swedish measures also mean travellers between Denmark and Sweden will have to show their ID cards for the first time since the late 1950s, when a Nordic agreement on passport-free travel came into force.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen cited the Swedish checks to justify his own country's immediate introduction of random border controls. 

"We are simply reacting to a decision made in Sweden... This is not a happy moment at all," he told reporters. 

Rasmussen warned that Sweden's controls could have a domino effect on Denmark, which received just 21,000 asylum requests in 2015, compared to Sweden's 163,000.

"It's clear the EU is not able to protect its outer borders and other countries are going to be forced to introduce... border controls," he said, adding: "Europe's leaders must react to this." 

Under Schengen rules, countries are allowed to re-introduce border checks for up to 6 months in exceptional circumstances.

'Schengen in danger'

German foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer voiced concern over Denmark's decision, telling reporters: "Freedom of movement is an important principle – one of the biggest achievements (in the European Union) in recent years."

"Schengen is very important but it is in danger," he said. 

At the Denmark-Germany border, a group of 20 Syrians, including several children, en route to Sweden were made to get off a train and escorted by police.

Officers explained the new rules to them, via an interpreter, and told them they would either have to seek asylum in Denmark or turn back. 

"They all wanted to go to Sweden, but we told them it was impossible," a police officer at the scene told Agence France-Presse.

The new measures come after Stockholm – which has taken in more asylum seekers per capita than any other EU nation – said it could no longer cope with the unregulated flow of arrivals. 

Swedish Migration Minister Morgan Johansson said his country's immigration controls were aimed at "preventing an acute situation where we can no longer welcome asylum seekers properly".

More than one million migrants reached Europe in 2015, most of whom were refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Europe has struggled to respond to the continent's biggest refugee crisis since World War II, with several Schengen countries, including Germany, Austria and France, already re-imposing border checks last year. 

'Building a Berlin Wall'

On Monday, extra security staff were on hand at the Danish side of the Oresund crossing, a major entry point for migrants and refugees hoping to start a new life in Sweden.

The controls proceeded smoothly but travellers were warned to expect longer queues and delays during the early evening rush hour when commuters with jobs in Denmark return home to Sweden.

Tens of thousands of journeys are recorded on the bridge each day, including 8,600 people who commute between jobs and their homes in Copenhagen and the southern Swedish city of Malmo.

Under the new rules, all rail passengers now have to exit the train at Copenhagen airport's Kastrup station and clear checkpoints before boarding again. 

"We need controls (at our borders), but they must be fluid," said Marten Jegenstam, a Danish consultant who works in Sweden.

Officials at Danish train operator DSB confirmed a small number of people had been turned away, but would not specify if they were migrants or just commuters lacking proper ID. 

Temporary fencing has also been erected at Kastrup station to prevent people from trying to sneak onto Sweden-bound trains.

"It's as if we are building a Berlin Wall here," said Michael Randropp, a spokesman for the local Kystbanen commuters' association. "We are going several steps back in time." – Sören Billing, AFP / Rappler.com

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan police have arrested 45 people involved in a betting ring worth more than $40 million a year including wagers on the upcoming elections, officials said Monday, January 4, adding the racket could have influenced voting.

Police launched weekend raids on 31 venues across the island and made the arrests on charges of gambling and obstructing votes, prosecutors said.

"As the ring had so many posts islandwide and so many gamblers were involved, we fear that the gambling could influence the outcome of the election," said Wang Yi-wen, spokesman for the Taoyuan Prosecutors' Office.

Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections on January 16.

Gambling is banned in Taiwan, apart from lotteries run by authorised banks. But there is a vast underground network involving private casinos, pigeon-racing and bets linked to Hong Kong horse-racing.

Investigators said gamblers were betting via the ring on the outcome of the elections as well as on sports and on an illegal lottery, using phone and fax lines, mobile phones and online.

They estimated around Tw$1.4 billion ($42.4 million) had been wagered through the ring last year, but it was not immediately clear how much of it was related to the elections.

The ringleader was named as Lin Shih-yuan and remains in custody. Fifteen others have been bailed and 29 more released under restrictions, prosecutors said. 

Wang said the crackdown was part of efforts to fight election gambling, vote-buying and violence, which have dogged politics in Taiwan.

Government figures showed that before local elections in 2014 more than 2,400 people were investigated for vote-buying -- both candidates and supporters and mostly in rural locations.

According to prosecution statistics 601 people are currently being investigated for vote-buying in 337 cases related to January's vote.– Rappler.com

FRANKFURT, Germany – Financial losses from natural catastrophes totalled $90 billion in 2015, the lowest level since 2009, German reinsurer Munich Re said on Monday. 

Natural disasters claimed 23,000 lives last year, substantially more than the previous year's figure of 7,700. However, the number of victims was still less than half the annual average for the last 30 years of 54,000, Munich Re said in a statement. 

"2015 saw the lowest losses of any year since 2009," the statement said. "Overall losses totalled $90 billion, down from $110 billion the previous year."

Of the total overall losses, roughly $27 billion was insured in 2015, compared with $31 billion in 2014. 

"In terms of financial losses, we were somewhat fortunate in 2015: Strong tropical cyclones frequently only hit sparsely populated areas or did not make landfall at all," said Peter Hoeppe, head of Munich Re's Geo Risks Research Unit. 

"However, the comparatively low losses are no reason to become complacent," he warned. 

The year's most devastating natural catastrophe was the earthquake in Nepal, which occurred on April 25, northwest of the capital Kathmandu and reached a magnitude of 7.8.

Around 9,000 people were killed and 500,000 were made homeless as a result of the earthquake, Munich Re said. 

"As is so often the case in developing countries, only a fraction of the $4.8 billion in overall losses caused by the quake and the aftershocks was insured -- just $210 million," it added. 

For the insurance industry, the costliest natural catastrophe in 2015 was the series of winter storms that struck the northeastern United States and Canada in February. 

Here, insured losses came to $2.1 billion and overall losses totalled $2.8 billion, Munich Re said. 

Some 94 percent of loss-relevant natural catastrophes in 2015 were weather-related events, Munich Re added. – Rappler.com

GARISSA, Kenya – A university in northeastern Kenya where at least 148 people were killed in an attack by Islamist gunmen last April, was officially reponed Monday with students due to return next week.

The high-profile assault on Garissa University College on April 2, 2015 was the deadliest yet in Kenya by the Somali-based, Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab group. Nearly all the victims were students.

University principal Ahmed Osman Warfa said most of the staff had reported for duty ahead of the new term, and that around 60 students were expected to return on January 11.

Before the attack, Garissa university had around 800 students.

Warfa said security had been improved with a new police post built within the university compound and a perimeter fence planned.

"I wish I was armed and trained on the use of firearms on that night, I would have fought with the attackers and at least ensure I have saved some of my students from their killers," said the principal ahead of the reopening. – Rappler.com

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – Cops in Negros Occidental seized P13.47 million worth of illegal drugs in 2015, an increase of almost 300% compared to P5.17 million the previous year. 

A local police report shows that a total of 2,241.83 grams of shabu and a thousand grams of marijuana were confiscated from January to December last year.

The quantity of shabu and marijuana were estimated to be worth P13,450,986 and P20,000, respectively. 

At least 403 drug operations led to the arrest of 641 suspects. It showed a marked increase from 226 operations and 302 arrests the previous year. 

The biggest drug haul was made in Kabankalan City on August 1, where they found illegal drugs worth P6 million.

A total of 842 cases were filed in court in 2015, which also increased compared to 374 cases filed the previous year.

“This is our number one thrust. We will continue to focus our operations against dangerous drug personalities (inthe province),” said Senior Supt. Samuel Nacion, NOPPO officer-in-charge.

Nacion said they are determined to catch “big targets.”

In the campaign against loose firearms, the police report shows that at least 267 firearms were recovered in 2015. 

Up to 162 people were also arrested in 84 operations against illegal gambling.  Up to 131 cases were filed in the court while 201 persons were apprehended in 126 operations. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA (UPDATED) – US President Barack Obama will introduce a raft of executive actions to try to reduce US gun violence Tuesday, January 5, bypassing Congress and launching a bitter 2016 election year fight.

Kicking off his last year in the White House with a defiant show of executive power, Obama will ignore Congressional opposition and take a series of unilateral steps to regulate gun sales and curb illicit purchases.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the measures would tighten rules on who must register as a gun dealer, narrow  the "gun show" loophole that allow buyers to dodge background checks and a crackdown on "straw purchases" that see weapons purchased through intermediaries.

It would also encourage the Pentagon, with its vast buying power, to procure weapons from manufacturers who use " gun safety technology" such as fingerprint scanners.

Obama will discuss the new measures – which Republicans who control Congress, weapons makers and gun enthusiasts have already lambasted as an infringement of constitutional freedoms – in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday.

Around 30,000 people die in gun violence every year in America, most by suicide.

During Obama's 7 years as president, he has often shown flashes of anger and frustration at Congress's refusal to tighten gun controls, most notably after the mass slaughter of Connecticut schoolchildren, South Carolina churchgoers and Colorado movie watchers.

The measures will stop well short of introducing universal background checks or registering or collecting some of the more than 300 million guns already thought to be in circulation in the United States, moves that would likely need Congressional approval.

On the eve of the announcement, Obama admitted his executive actions were "not going to solve every violent crime in this country. It's not going to prevent every mass shooting. It's not going to keep every gun out of the hands of a criminal." 

"It will," he said, "potentially, save lives in this country" and spare families heartache.

But even in taking limited measures, by acting alone and against the will of Congress, Obama has invited political and legal maelstrom.

Several Republican presidential candidates and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, lined up to accuse Obama of "dismissiveness" toward Americans who value the constitutional right to bear arms.

"We all are pained by the recent atrocities in our country, but no change the president is reportedly considering would have prevented them," said Ryan. "We have seen consistently that an underlying cause of these attacks has been mental illness."

"This is a dangerous level of executive overreach, and the country will not stand for it," Ryan warned.

Republicans have long positioned themselves as the champion of gun owners, who make up a sizeable voting bloc in many areas that could decide 2016 election races.

Polls have shown most Americans back tougher gun laws. But that support has ebbed recently amid concerns about the Islamic State group and the wider threat from terrorism.

Obama's plans could put pressure on some of his Democratic allies who face tough election battles in toss-up states and conservative congressional districts this autumn.

Republicans may also try to block funding for parts of the package designed to more aggressively enforce existing laws, including the hiring of 200 additional federal agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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But politicians from both parties are sure to embrace the issue one way or another, using it to galvanize support and donations among supporters.

On Thursday, January 7, Obama will take part in a primetime town-hall style debate on gun control to try to boost his case.

The event, broadcast by CNN, will take place at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

'Scrubbing the law'

A more serious challenge to the new rules may come through the courts.

Obama's lawyers have spent months "scrubbing" existing laws to see where rules could be tightened, while surviving inevitable court challenges.

"A lot of the work that has gone on behind the scenes to take a look at what the president can do using his executive authority has been grounded in the knowledge that the gun lobby and the Republicans in Congress who regularly do their bidding are going to look for ways to try to stop it," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

Ahead of the announcement Obama insisted the measures would fall "well within my legal authority."

But similar executive efforts by Obama to bring millions of illegal immigrants out of the shadows by shielding them from deportation have prompted a slew of lawsuits and left a key Obama policy goal in the hands of the Supreme Court. – Andrew Beatty, AFP / Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) recently released its comment defending the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), which denied the petition to disqualify Grace Poe as an incumbent senator of the Philippines based on claims that she is not a natural-born Filipino.

The disqualification case against Poe has reached the Supreme Court (SC) after losing senatorial candidate Rizalito David filed a petition for certiorari in which he asked the High Court to review the SET decision. 

The OSG, headed by Florin Hilbay, will represent the SET before the SC, which will hear oral arguments on the case on January 19.

In a 27-page comment filed on December 30, 2015, the OSG asked the SC to dismiss David's petition for lack of merit. The OSG said the tribunal did not commit grave abuse of discretion in ruling that:

• Poe is a natural-born citizen
• Poe validly reacquired her natural-born citizenship under Republic Act 9225
• Poe validly renounced her foreign citizenship
• Poe's use of her US passport cannot be considered a recantation of her renunciation of US citizenship

Citing deliberations during the 1934 Constitutional Convention, the OSG stated: 

"The understanding that foundlings are citizens of the Philippines rests on the rational and practical assumption that a child of unknown parentage is the son of a Filipino. This assumption makes foundlings in the Philippines natural-born citizens."

It also agreed with the SET decision that David's camp has the burden to prove that Poe is not a natural-born citizen.

"Even on the assumption that the 1935 Constitution does not recognize foundlings as natural born Filipinos en masse, private respondent should nonetheless be considered a natural born citizen given the facts of her case," the OSG said.

Majority of the SET voted in favor of Poe and ruled that she is a natural-born citizen under the 1935 and 1987 Constitutions.

However, all 3 SC justices in the tribunal voted to disqualify Poe: Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, and associate justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Arturo Brion.

Carpio earlier said all 3 of them will inhibit from the case. – Rappler.com