Sri Lankan President reinstates Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister

Sri Lanka's reinstated Prime Minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe, centre, greets to Buddhist monks with his wife Maithree, left, after assuming duties in Colombo. Photo / AP

Sri Lanka: The President of Sri Lanka launched a scathing verbal attack at his reappointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, accusing his leadership of being corrupt and anti-national, casting doubt on any immediate end to the country's restive politics. Maithripala Sirisena administered the oath to Wickremesinghe, nearly two months after firing him and setting off a long political stalemate. But soon after the ceremony, he made a speech in which he said he doubted if the two leaders will be able to work together for long. "With the issues we have I am not sure what guarantees we have that we could go on this journey together," Sirisena told Wickremesinghe. He said he can't find people of honesty and integrity to help him take the country forward. A new Cabinet is expected to be sworn in soon.

Brazil: Brazilian police in the central state of Goias said that a healer accused of sexually abusing more than 300 women has turned himself in. Joao Teixeira de Faria, who is known as Joao de Deus, had until 3pm local time to comply with an arrest warrant. Alberto Toron, a lawyer representing de Faria, told newspaper O Globo that his client would present himself "although perhaps outside the time frame" established.

China: Canada's ambassador to China was given access to detained Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor six days after he was arrested, the country's Global Affairs department said. Ambassador John McCallum also met ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig last week. Both were detained in China in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive on behalf of the United States. Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on December 1 on US charges that she misled banks about the company's business dealings in Iran. Canada gave Meng access to Chinese consular staff on the day she was arrested and three days of public hearings before releasing her on bail. By contrast, the Chinese secretly detained the two Canadians on suspicions of "engaging in activities that endanger the national security of China".

Yemen: Fighting has erupted between Shia rebels and forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognised government near the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeida, leaving at least 12 people dead and 25 others wounded from both sides, officials said, just two days ahead of the implementation of a ceasefire agreed in talks in Sweden. The port sees about 70 per cent of Yemen's food aid and other imports coming into the country.

1 dead and 44 hurt as tour bus crashes while en route from Switzerland to Germany https://t.co/NUSQtbuE5x

— CTV News (@CTVNews) December 16, 2018

Germany: Zurich police say a tour bus on its way to Germany has crashed in Switzerland, killing one person and injuring 44 others. Three people, including the driver, have serious injuries. The DPA news agency reported that the bus travelling to Duesseldorf from Genoa in Italy crashed south of Zurich after going into a skid on the snowy road and crashing into a wall.

Belgium: Police fired tear gas and water cannons on demonstrators who had congregated around the European Union's headquarters in Brussels after marching against a new United Nations migration pact. About 5000 people gathered for the march that local authorities initially banned for fear of violence. Belgium's high court overturned the ban, citing the right to protest peacefully. Police in Brussels say some protesters became violent when they were asked to disperse from outside the EU building. The Belgian Government had to be revamped last week because the biggest coalition party opposed Prime Minister Charles Michel's decision to sign the pact, which is meant to streamline and smooth international mass migration.

"Let's start the dance":
10.000+ crowd moving to Parliament. #Budapest #Hungary pic.twitter.com/nrbNnjDPl2

— Balazs Csekö (@balazscseko) December 16, 2018

Hungary: Several thousand protesters marched through Budapest for a fourth day to oppose laws promoted by the Hungarian Government that critics say will restrict workers' rights and already have undermined democracy. The protesters chanted anti-government slogans and braved sub-zero temperatures while gathered in front of Parliament, where speakers denounced revised overtime rules approved last week. The changes increased the maximum amount of overtime workers can put in a year from 250 to 400 hours to offset Hungary's growing labour shortage and gave gives employers three years instead of one to settle payments of accrued overtime. The demonstrations have evolved to encompass other policies of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Government, including another bill passed last week that establishes a separate court for administrative matters.

Israel: Facebook has blocked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son Yair for 24 hours after he wrote a post criticising the social media platform as "thought police" and sharing previously banned content. Yair Netanyahu blasted the website for removing an earlier post in which he called for "avenging the deaths" of two Israeli soldiers killed last week by Palestinian gunmen and calling for the expulsion of Palestinians. He shared a screenshot of the earlier post in violation of Facebook's community rules. Facebook deleted a post by Netanyahu last week in which he said he would "prefer" if "All the Muslims leave the land of Israel." Facebook had no immediate comment.

-AP