IRAN - The Iranian regime accused Britain, the US and Saudi Arabia of fomenting protests in the country as government forces struggled to contain the increasingly violent and widespread unrest. In his first public comments since protests began six days ago, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei blamed the uprising on the “enemies of Iran” and said foreign governments were sending money and weapons to undermine the Islamic Republic. "The enemy is always looking for an opportunity and any crevice to infiltrate and strike the Iranian nation,” he said. At least 21 people have been killed since last Thursday, including a police officer and a Revolutionary Guardsman…

CHINA - China's Communist Party adopted a secret plan in September to bolster the North Korean government with increased aid and military support, including new missiles, if Pyongyang halts further nuclear tests, according to an internal party document. The document, labeled "top secret" and dated September 15 — 12 days after North Korea's latest underground nuclear blast — outlines China's plan for dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue. It states China will allow North Korea to keep its current arsenal of nuclear weapons, contrary to Beijing's public stance that it seeks a denuclearized Korean peninsula.

NIGERIA - Gunmen killed at least 14 churchgoers returning from a midnight service on Monday in Nigeria's Rivers State, a police source told AFP, the latest violence to hit the oil-rich region. "The gunmen opened fire on a set of worshippers at about 12:30 on Monday," said Ugochi Olugbo, a relative of one of the victims who were attending a New Year's Eve service. The shooting took place in the town of Omoku about 90km from the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt. "Fourteen persons died on the spot, while 12 who sustained gunshot wounds were rushed to the hospital and are receiving medical attention," said a police source who asked to remain anonymous.

SWEDEN - A church in a Swedish city has defended its choice of gender-neutral pronoun ‘hen’ in reference to Jesus in an advertisement. The church insists the word gives “new perspective.” In November, the largest religious institution in the country, the Church of Sweden, advised its clergy to avoid terms like ‘Lord’ and ‘He’ in worship services in order to not highlight that God is male, in the new version of a handbook on how to conduct services. The move has triggered a backlash, with critics saying the change undermines the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity and politicizes faith.

USA - US President Donald Trump apparently decided not to start the New Year with a clean slate, opting to re-ignite old disputes instead. In his first 2018 tweets, the US leader hit out at Iran and Pakistan.

USA - The nation’s most populous state joins a growing list of other states, and the nation’s capital, where so-called recreational marijuana is permitted even though the federal government continues to classify pot as a controlled substance, like heroin and LSD. Pot is now legal in California for adults 21 and older. But finding a retail outlet to buy non-medical pot in California won’t be easy, at least initially. Only about 90 businesses received state licenses to open on New Year’s Day. They are concentrated in San Diego, Santa Cruz, the Bay Area and the Palm Springs area.  Los Angeles and San Francisco are among the many cities where recreational pot will not be available right away because local regulations were not approved in time to start issuing city licenses needed to get state permits.

NORTH KOREA - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a dramatic shift in his approach to Seoul on Tuesday as he called for direct talks in an apparent bid to drive a wedge between South Korea and the United States, its key ally. The isolated dictator said he hoped the two Koreas could meet "immediately" as the south prepared to host the Winter Olympics in Peyongchang, but warned he had no intentions of backing down over his nuclear weapons strategy. "The Winter Games to be held in South Korea will be a good occasion for the country", Mr Kim said in a speech televised by state-run media on Monday. "We sincerely hope that the Winter Games will be a success", he added. "We are willing to take various steps, including the dispatch of the delegation… to this end, the two Koreas can immediately meet."

SOUTH KOREA - South Korea has seized a second oil tanker it claims was involved in delivering fuel to North Korea. Authorities are holding the Panama-registered vessel on suspicion it breached international sanctions that ban the supply of fuel to the communist state. The tanker, named KOTI, and its crew are being held at the port of Pyeongtaek-Dangjin. Few details of the alleged illegal trading have been provided, but the vessel is believed to have been seized between 19 and 21 December. 

VATICAN - Pope Francis has recommended jettisoning life's "useless baggage" in 2018, including what he called "empty chatter" and banal consumerism, and focusing instead on building a peaceful and welcoming world, particularly for refugees and migrants. Francis offered his reflections on paring down non-essentials as he celebrated New Year's Day Mass Monday in St Peter's Basilica and later greeted some 40,000 people in St Peter's Square. His advice included setting aside a moment of silence daily to be with God. Doing so would help "keep our freedom from being corroded by the banality of consumerism, the blare of commercials, the stream of empty words and the overpowering waves of empty chatter and loud shouting," Francis said.

GERMANY - Global concerns about the spread of misinformation online have increased following reports that the Russian government fabricated news stories to interfere with the United States presidential election. This concern has led to numerous efforts to stop the threat of false information online. However, some of these new measures — including landmark legislation in Germany to criminalize fraudulent news on social media — threaten to infringe on free speech online. Regardless of the solution, the public should be wary of attempts to stop fraudulent news that overly restrict the free speech rights of journalists and the public. Fraudulent news is certainly dangerous to the democratic process, but overly impeding free speech is also inherently problematic.

JORDAN - King Abdullah spared no time in arresting both his brothers and cousin; Prince Faisal bin Hussein, Prince Ali bin Hussein and Prince Talal bin Muhammad after Jordanian intelligence services alerted the King that there was communication between the brothers and cousin and Saudi and Emirati leaders; Mohammad bin Salman and Mohammed bin Zayed.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - According to the latest reports from the UN and the Red Cross, there were already between 15 000 and 17 000 displaced people in Paoua by mid-December. Mired in poverty but rich in minerals, the former French colony has been battered by a three-year conflict between rival militias that began after then-president Francois Bozize was overthrown. Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting. According to the UN, more than a million people have fled their homes and 2.4 million people - more than half of the Central African population - are in need of emergency food aid. 

UK - Schools should give boys lessons in zumba and ballet to promote the idea that PE is gender neutral, the head of a leading sports organisation has said as she reveals that girls as young as six are losing interest in exercise. Offering a full range of activities will help to combat the stereotypes and “cultural norms” that are putting girls off sport before they reach junior school, according to Ruth Holdaway, who is chief executive of Women in Sport. In addition to giving female pupils the option to play cricket and football, “boys should also be asked what they want, and given the opportunity to do a zumba class or whatever," she said.

UK - Volatility has ended the year at record lows, adding to concerns that complacent investors are sleepwalking into the next crash as stock markets around the world hit new highs. The VIX Index, a widely-used measure of expectations of future volatility, slipped a further 21 percent in 2017, finishing at an end-of-year record low of 10.40. In the past, low volatility has predated some of the biggest market collapses. According to the VIX index, also known as the Fear Index, volatility tumbled to an intraday low of 8.56 in November, its lowest level since the index began in 1990, while FTSE-100 volatility is also at an end-of-year record low at 9.56. The last time volatility sunk to levels this low was in the run-up to the financial crisis a decade ago and volatility then soared to a peak of 80.86 at the height of the downturn in 2008!

USA - The United States doesn’t let anyone see its gold reserves. Even if the Treasury has the number of billions it claims, they are not tradable, warns Singapore’s BullionStar precious metals expert Ronan Manly. The US government claims to hold 8133.5 tonnes of physical gold in its official reserves.