31 December 2013 Last updated at 08:27 GMT
Activists say Mexican authorities faced with most dramatic rise in refugees since 1980s era of rightwing dictatorships
In July, a video went up on a Russian-language website known as a forum for commentary and propaganda by militant Islamist groups in Russia’s troubled North Caucasus. In it, a Chechen man named Doku Umarov gave an unequivocal warning about the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, in whose success the Kremlin has invested tens of billions of dollars.
South Sudan rebels attack key town
Anti-government rebels in South Sudan have attacked the key town of Bor.
A UN spokesman said the fighting began at daybreak, not far from the town's UN compound.
A South Sudanese army spokesman confirmed a "big fight" had happened.
Tuesday is the deadline given by regional leaders for President Salva Kiir to hold talks with his former deputy, Riek Machar, who is accused of mounting a coup that sparked the violence.
But analysts say there seems to be little chance of the deadline being met.
Only last week, the army was celebrating the recapture of Bor from the rebel forces - but it now appears that the rebels are back, and have captured a key crossroads.
Central America migrants flee turf wars and corrupt states for refuge in Mexico
Activists say Mexican authorities faced with most dramatic rise in refugees since 1980s era of rightwing dictatorships
Extreme violence in Central America is sending a surge of refugees fleeing north to Mexico where they are caught between official indifference and yet more danger if they continue to the United States, human rights activists say.
Activists in Tapachula describe a dramatic increase in the number of women and children arriving in southern Mexico this year. Though precise numbers are hard to come by, it seems clear that Mexico has not witnessed such a refugee flow since the 1980s when the region was beset by a series of vicious civil wars involving rightwing dictatorships and leftwing guerrillas.
"There is an undeclared civil war in Central America," said Father Flor Maria Rigoni, who runs a migrant shelter in Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala. "The refugees are coming, but the Mexican institutions aren't taking the problem seriously."
Netanyahu faces backlash after Israel releases 26 Palestinian prisoners
Dutch prostitutes seek same tax deal as footballers
Lawyer says similarities between the two professions are striking
Peter Cluskey
Prostitutes in the Netherlands have begun lobbying for the same special pension rights as big-name Dutch footballers – stars such as Robin van Persie, Rafael van der Vaart and Ruud van Nistelrooy – arguing they too do “difficult physical work” during well-paid but short careers.
Their case has been put to the tax authorities by lawyer Wilhelmina Post, who says the similarities between the two jobs are striking: prostitution, like football, is best-suited to healthy youngsters, “and although the earning potential is high, by 40 you’d certainly aim to be doing something else”.
Prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands since October 2000, providing there is no coercion involved. And while the prostitutes’ case may seem unorthodox, the unique tax treatment of professional footballers does appear to set a legal precedent.
Bangladesh orders arrest of factory owners
December 31, 2013 - 7:16PM
A Bangladesh court has ordered the arrest of the owners and four others over the country's worst-ever garment factory fire that killed 111 workers, after police laid charges.
The court in Dhaka on Tuesday issued the warrants for Delwar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akter over the blaze in 2012 at the Tazreen factory, where workers stitched clothes for Western retailers.
"Dhaka's senior judicial magistrate Wasim Sheikh issued the warrants of arrest against the two fugitive owners, Delwar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akter, and four other company officials for the Tazreen factory fire," prosecutor Anwarul Kabir told AFP.
The fire on November 24, 2012, shone an international spotlight on appalling safety conditions in an industry worth more than $22.5 billion a year.
Russia suicide bombing: Is Doku Umarov the Kremlin's worst nightmare? (+video)
Two suicide bombings in a Russian city are stoking fear about the Sochi Winter Olympics. The most likely mastermind is a Chechen field commander who wants to humiliate Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin.
In July, a video went up on a Russian-language website known as a forum for commentary and propaganda by militant Islamist groups in Russia’s troubled North Caucasus. In it, a Chechen man named Doku Umarov gave an unequivocal warning about the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, in whose success the Kremlin has invested tens of billions of dollars.
"Today we must show those who live in the Kremlin … that our kindness is not weakness," said Mr. Umarov, dressed in camouflage and wearing his trademark bushy beard. "They plan to hold the Olympics on the bones of our ancestors, on the bones of many, many dead Muslims buried on our land by the Black Sea. We as mujahadeen are required not to allow that, using any methods that Allah allows us."
On Sunday and Monday two suicide bombers detonated their explosives at different sites in
Volgograd, a city, like Sochi, located just a few hundred miles from the Caucasus. Neither Umarov nor anyone else has claimed responsibility yet for the bombings, which killed at least 32 people and wounded dozens more. What’s certain, however, is that just weeks before the Olympic opening ceremonies, the attacks are bringing new tremors to a country that has struggled to quash a 20-year terrorist insurgency. 
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