Dozens of Syria’s leading civil society groups have warned that a planned Russian-sponsored conference is seeking to bypass the UN-led peace process and will entrench President Bashar al-Assad in power.

The 120 organisations inside the Working Group for Syria are urging Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, not to attend the conference set for the end of January, saying it would represent a “dangerous departure from the [UN-led] Geneva process”. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is set to host a two-day Syrian Congress on National Dialogue in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, and is planning to send out over 1,700 invitations to Syrian groups, including to some members of the Syrian official opposition. Many opposition groups have already said they will not attend.

De Mistura has not definitively confirmed whether or not he will attend, and said he is opposed to anything that cuts across the UN process. But de Mistura may not want to alienate Putin by boycotting the talks since he needs Russia to put pressure on Assad to show flexibility if the stalled UN talks are to make progress. The last round of talks ended in failure before Christmas as the Assad regime refused to negotiate and instead focused on chalking up continued military victories.(theguardian)…[+]

The personal information of more than a billion Indians stored in the world’s largest biometric database can be bought online for less than £6, according to an investigation by an Indian newspaper. The reported breach is the latest in a series of alleged leaks from the Aadhaar database, which has been collecting the photographs, thumbprints, retina scans and other identifying details of every Indian citizen. The report in the Chandigarh-based Tribune newspaper claimed that software is also being sold online that can generate fake Aadhaar cards, an identity document that is required to access a growing number of government services including free meals and subsidised grain.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which administers the Aadhaar system, said it appeared the newspaper had accessed only limited details through a search facility that had been made available to government officials.

(theguardian)…[+]

Ethiopia’s prime minister has announced plans to drop charges against political prisoners and close a notorious prison camp in what he said was an effort to “widen the democratic space for all”.

Hailemariam Desalegn’s unexpected comments came after anti-government protests engulfed much of the restive Oromia and Amhara regions in recent months, bringing many businesses, universities and transport networks to a standstill. The protests spread to other parts of the east African country, leading to a months-long state of emergency that has since been lifted. “Political prisoners that are facing prosecutions and are already under arrest will be released,” Hailemariam said. “And the notorious prison cell that was traditionally called Maekelawi will be closed down and turned into a museum.” It was not immediately clear how many political prisoners were being held across the country, a close US security ally. Ethiopians were quick to respond, even with social media sites currently blocked. “I’m writing you this struggling with my tears,” wrote the renowned blogger and former detainee Befeqadu Hailu. “All these pledges need to be implemented immediately.”(theguardian)…[+]

Thousands of pro-government counter-protesters have taken to the streets of Iranian cities after nearly a week of unrest. Footage broadcast on national television and images published by state news agencies showed a high turnout in pro-establishment rallies, in cities that have seen turbulent scenes since Iran’s biggest demonstrations in nearly a decade began on 28 December.  State television aired a rally from Ahwaz, the capital of Khouzesan province, which showed thousands of people marching on a long bridge connecting two parts of the city, while holding up pro-regime placards and chanting in support of the establishment. It broadcast similar footage from Ilam, also in the west of the country, as well as from Arak, in the centre of Iran.(theguardian)…[+]

The NHS is reeling under what doctors’ leaders and hospital chiefs say is the most intense strain it has faced in decades as a result of flu, bad weather and more patients suffering breathing problems. Hospitals’ inability to keep up with the demand for care on Tuesday night prompted NHS England to tell them to take unprecedented measures to try and stabilise the service.

They included cancelling outpatient appointments and day case surgery, extending an existing ban on non-urgent surgery until the end of the month and deploying consultants in A&E units to assess if patients really are a medical emergency. Amid growing evidence of chaos as the NHS’s winter crisis bites, hospitals are being forced to create makeshift wards for patients, growing numbers are declaring a black alert – an official admission that they cannot cope – and patients are waiting as long as 12 hours for A&E care.(theguardian)…[+]

It’s a mystery as hard to grab hold of as the slippery serpents supposedly at its centre: were the 43 unidentified eggs found in a sandpit at a school on the New South Wales mid-north coast snakes, or something less sinister? Snake social media went into meltdown on Tuesday when reports emerged that wildlife rescuers had been called in to remove a dozen mystery eggs from a sandpit at a school near the coastal town of Laurieton, 350km north of Sydney. The eggs caused a stir when they were widely reported as belonging to one of Australia’s deadliest reptiles, the eastern brown snake.

But now doubt has been cast over whether they were snake eggs at all, with experts questioning whether a snake could bury its eggs in the sand.(theguardian)…[+]

Pakistan has summoned the US ambassador in a rare public rebuke after Donald Trump lashed out at Islamabad with threats to cut aid over “lies” about militancy.

Pakistan’s foreign office summoned David Hale on Monday to explain the US president’s comments, media said. A spokesperson for the US embassy in Islamabad confirmed that the meeting took place. In a withering attack, Trump tweeted on Monday that the United States had “foolishly” handed Pakistan more than $33bn in aid in the last 15 years and had been rewarded with “nothing but lies and deceit”.

“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump wrote on Twitter. On Tuesday, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, will chair a cabinet meeting that will focus on Trump’s tweet, while on Wednesday the country’s top civilian and military chiefs will meet to discuss deteriorating US ties.(theguardian)…[+]

South Korea has proposed holding high-level talks with North Korea next week, a day after the regime’s leader, Kim Jong-un, said he was prepared to send a delegation of athletes to next month’s Winter Olympics in the South Korean town of Pyeongchang.

In a cautious indication of progress in inter-Korean relations after a year of tensions over Pyongyang’s ballistic missile programme, South Korea’s unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, said the offer reiterated “our willingness to hold talks with the North at any time and place, and in any form”. Cho proposed that the two Koreas meet next Tuesday at the border village of Panmunjom, where they last held high-level talks in December 2015.

“We hope that the South and North can sit face to face and discuss the participation of the North Korean delegation at the Pyeongchang Games, as well as other issues of mutual interest for the improvement of inter-Korean ties,” Cho told reporters in Seoul, according to Yonhap news agency.(theguardian)…[+]

least 15 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a fire that broke out in a restaurant in Mumbai early on Friday. The fire quickly spread from the top-floor restaurant through a four-storey building, said fire official Balkrishna Kadam. More than 50 people have been taken to hospital. The dead included 11 women, fire officials said.

The building, in the formerly industrial area of central Mumbai, houses several upscale restaurants that had moved in over the past few years to make it a popular nightlife destination, the New Delhi Television channel reported.

“There was a stampede and someone pushed me. People were running over me even as the ceiling above me was collapsing in flames. Still don’t know how I got out alive,” Mumbai gynecologist Sulbha Arora tweeted. The Indian city desperately needs its new metro, but Zoroastrian priests are warning of a ‘backlash from nature’ – and they’re not the only detractors. She said was at the restaurant when it started and “before we knew it the whole place was engulfed in a matter of seconds”.(theguardian)…[+]

Turkish police have detained dozens of suspected Islamic State militants in a series of dawn raids, including some believed to be planning attacks on New Year’s Eve, as the authorities strengthened security measures ahead of the celebrations.

The unprecedented mobilisation of police patrols and the arrests of terror suspects in Istanbul and Ankara were aimed at preventing a repeat of last year’s midnight assault on a nightclub on the Bosphorus, in which 39 people died when a militant opened fire on revellers. Street celebrations have been cancelled across Istanbul as a result of what authorities say are security concerns. “We have taken all precautions for our citizens to spend the New Year’s Eve in the best way possible,” said the Istanbul governor, Vasip Şahin. “We have also warned entertainment venues which have their own security personnel to take precautions.” Seventy-five suspected Isis members were arrested in the country’s two largest cities, Istanbul and Ankara, on the second day of sweeping raids across 12 provinces. On Thursday another 120 suspected members of the terror group were arrested.(theguardian)…[+]