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Tajikistan bans Christmas and new year celebrations Trees, gifts, fireworks and charity outlawed in schools and universities as government tightens restrictions Agence France-Presse 05:40 EST Wed 23 December 2015 Father Frost, the Russian version of Santa Claus, was banned from Tajik TV in 2013. Photograph: Tass/Barcroft Media Tajikistan has tightened restrictions on festive season celebrations, banning Christmas trees and gift-giving in schools. This year’s measures are the toughest yet implemented by the country, which has been toning down Christmas and new year celebrations for some time –banning Father Frost, Russia’s version of Santa Claus, from television screens in 2013. A decree by the education ministry prohibits “the use of fireworks, festive meals, gift-giving and raising money” over new year as well as “the installation of a Christmas tree either living (felled wood) or artificial” in schools and universities. While other former Soviet states have set up large Christ

NBA stars' PSA against gun violence a first-of-its-kind power move New campaign the result of a partnership between the NBA and gun control group – ‘We can all make a difference’ NBA players Joakim Noah, left, and Carmelo Anthony were among those who appeared in campaign against gun violence. Photograph: Noah K Murray/USA Today Sports Vaunted NBA players Stephen Curry and Carmelo Anthony appeared in a first-of-its-kind campaign against gun violence which debuted during the NBA’s Christmas day game slate on Friday. The public service announcement is the result of a partnership between the NBA and Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun violence advocacy group started by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Chris Paul and Joakim Noah join Curry, Anthony, victims of gun violence and their families in the 30-second spot. “We can all make a difference,” said the Chicago Bull’s Joakim Noah at the end of the ad. It is unusual for a major sports league to align itself so closely wi

Leader of powerful Syrian rebel group killed in airstrike Zahran Alloush, head of Jaysh al-Islam, said to have died along with five other senior leaders after planes targeted powerful insurgent faction’s headquarters Zahran Alloush, head of powerful Syrian rebel group Jaish al-Islam, is said to have been killed in an airstrike on the group’s headquarters. Photograph: Amer Almohibany/AFP/Getty Images The leader of one of the most powerful rebel groups in Syria appears to have been killed in an airstrike near the capital. A well-placed rebel source told the Guardian that Zahran Alloush, the leader of Jaysh al-Islam, one of the largest opposition groups that commands thousands of fighters on the ground near Damascus, was killed in an airstrike on Friday. His death was first reported by the Reuters news agency citing two rebel sources. The Syrian state news agency said Alloush was killed in the eastern Ghouta region, where Jaysh al-Islam holds sway. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rig

We must improve right now - Van Gaal Louis van Gaal says Manchester United can change their fortunes around but must make an "immediate improvement". The under-pressure United boss walked out of a news conference after less than five minutes on Wednesday. United have gone six games without a win -including three successive losses - and Van Gaal said he is experiencing his worst period at Old Trafford. He added: "There's no disguising the fact we're in a very bad period. Things must begin to improve immediately." Van Gaal was writing in the United match programme for the 28 December encounter with Chelsea, whose former manager Jose Mourinho has been linked with his job. "We can turn this situation around. The best way to come out of this period and improve is for us all to stick together," he said. Captain Wayne Rooney insists the team are behind Van Gaal, despite their longest run without a win since 1998. "We're fighting for the manager

Man City are strongest -Pellegrini Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes he has the strongest team in the Premier League - when all his players are fit. City are third in the table, six points behind leaders Leicester after Monday's 2-1 defeat at Arsenal. Captain Vincent Kompany, 29, is set to return after eight matches out. Striker Sergio Aguero has missed 11 games. "We are in all the competitions and we did that without a lot of important players," said Pellegrini. "But, of course, with all the players fit and playing every game, we are the strongest team." Defender Pablo Zabaleta and midfielder Fernando are also back in the frame after injuries, but Kompany's absence has been the most notable. City have had seven clean sheets in the eight Premier League games featuring the Belgium centre-half and kept just one in the nine matches without him. "It seems that we have a crisis but we don't have a crisis," said Pellegrini, whose si

Evacuation from Syrian camp 'on hold' The expected evacuation of thousands of rebels from in and around Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus has been put on hold, reports say. The reason for the halt is unclear; one report said it was 'logistical'. Militants and their families were due to be bussed to areas under the control of their respective groups, under a deal between rebels and the government. About 18,000 civilians have been trapped in Yarmouk by the fighting and a government siege since 2012. Islamic State (IS) militants took over parts of the camp earlier this year. They were pushed back by Palestinian militias and Syrian rebels after weeks of fierce fighting. Yarmouk has since been divided into areas controlled by IS, the rival al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, and pro- and anti-government Palestinian militants. Posted via Blogaway

Radiohead reveal rejected Bond theme Radiohead's Spectre is available as a free download on Soundcloud Radiohead have released the song they recorded to be the theme for the latest James Bond movie Spectre. The band have revealed they were asked to write a signature tune for the movie, but it "didn't work out" and the song was not used. Sam Smith's Writing's On The Wall ended up as the movie's theme song instead. Radiohead have now made their brooding, orchestral song, titled Spectre, available as a free download on Soundcloud. Singer Thom Yorke wrote on Twitter: "Last year we were asked to write a theme tune for the Bond movie Spectre. "Yes we were. It didn't work out, but became something of our own, which we love very much. "As the year closes we thought you might like to hear it. Merry Christmas. May the force be with you." Many fans expressed their approval on Twitter. Music critic Pete Paphides was among them, writing: "

Jackson postpones tour for surgery US singer Janet Jackson has put her Unbreakable world tour on hold until spring to have surgery. Jackson said her doctors told her she needs an operation "soon". "Please pray for me, my family and our entire company during this difficult time," the 49-year-old asked fans. She said she would not be giving any details of her health condition. Jackson began her tour last August in Vancouver and had dates across the US, Canada and Europe till next June. Her next concert had been due to take place in Denver, Colorado, on 9 January. In 2008, Jackson cancelled a string of concert dates after developing migraine-associated vertigo. • The stories behind the songs on Unbreakable "It breaks my heart to tell you that I am forced to postpone the Unbreakable Tour," she said, adding that fans should hold on to their tickets. "They will be honoured in a special way when the new schedule is announced." Unbreakable is Jackson

A new level of difficulty for the computer game industry Selling video games on the high street does not look like a business with a future - so this morning's profit warning from the Game retail group hardly comes as surprising news. But does it tell us a more worrying story about the overall health of the games industry? Game collapsed three years ago after an over-ambitious expansion programme, and was then bought out of administration. Its new owners then cut it back to a more modest size and floated it again on the London Stock Exchange. But today's statement says sales in this - its busiest period - have already proved disappointing and trading conditions in the UK market have been "challenging". This isn't, however, just a story about gamers abandoning high street stores. Game has a big online operation and says it has a 60% share of digital downloads of console games. But the overall retail market is down 13.5% year-on-year, according to the research firm

10 rules for a safe cyber Christmas By Prof Alan Woodward Department of Computing, University of Surrey In 2000, Scott Culp wrote a terrific essay on computer security. It was entitled the 10 Immutable Laws Of Security. Fifteen years is a long time in cybersecurity, so it seemed like a good time to revisit these "laws" and put them in the a context you might encounter this Christmas - a time when there's often a spike in attacks. Observing them could prevent a festive season you'd rather forget. Rule 1: If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer, it's not your computer anymore Most hacks begin this way - you receive an email, or SMS, you visit a link and are given a convincing reason why you have to install something. Or, you receive an email with a document attached, open it and it installs the malware for you. Think twice, click once. If something is unexpected don't trust it: delete it. Rule 2: If a bad guy can alter the operatin

Books of 2016: From Shatner to Shakespeare Author Julian Barnes's many fans will not have to wait long for their next fix as his 12th novel, The Noise of Time, arrives in January. It is Barnes's first since winning the Man Booker Prize in 2011 for Sense of an Ending. Set in 1930s Russia, The Noise of Time is about the life of the composer Shostakkovich. There is also a new novel on the horizon from the former Man Booker winner Yann Martel. He has struggled to repeat the success of Life of Pi so it is difficult to predict how The High Mountains of Portugal will fare. It is about a quest for a lost relic which takes the reader from Africa in the 1600s to contemporary North America. It looks like an especially strong year for female writers. Jessie Burton is back, with what promises to be one of the most talked about second novels of recent years. But can it repeat the phenomenal success of her debut The Miniaturist? The Muse is set during the Spanish Civil War and 30 years later

Kidnapped by IS, saved by the Taliban By Ismael Shahamat BBC Afghan A young Afghan man freed nearly nine months after being kidnapped by Islamic State fighters in Zabul province has been talking about his ordeal. He was part of a group of hostages who were eventually freed by the Taliban and his story offers a rare glimpse inside the Islamic State group in Afghanistan. Nabi's nightmare began back in February when armed men stopped the long-distance bus he was travelling in on the road from the western city of Herat to Kabul. The 25-year old construction worker, who had recently got married, was on his way to the capital in the hope of finding work. The gunmen, dressed in black and wearing masks, singled out passengers from the Shia Hazara minority, and drove 30 of them away to a remote village in the southern province of Zabul. Initial reports blamed the Taliban for the attack, but after two days in captivity Nabi and his fellow hostages had a late-night visit from their kidnapper

India puts the brakes on Facebook Facebook rebranded its Internet.org app as Free Basics in September Facebook's effort to provide Indians with free access to a limited number of internet services has run into trouble. India's telecoms regulator has asked the mobile network that partnered with the US firm to put their Free Basics offer on hold. Data fees are relatively expensive in India, and the initiative aims to prevent this being a deterrent. But critics of the Free Basics service say it runs contrary to net neutrality principles. They suggest data providers should not favour some online services over others by offering cheaper or faster access. A spokesman for Reliance Communications -the mobile network that had supported the scheme - confirmed it would comply with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's demand. "As directed by TRAI, the commercial launch of Free Basics has been kept in abeyance, until they consider all details and convey a specific approval

Oil price to hit $70 by 2020, says Opec Oil producers' group Opec has said it expects oil prices to recover to $70 a barrel by 2020. Prices have fallen from more than $110 a barrel in the summer of 2014 to less than $37 a barrel now due to oversupply and slowing demand. But Opec said oil prices would begin to rise next year and, longer term, would rise due to higher exploration costs. It expects the market share of Opec producers to shrink by 2020 as rivals prove more resilient than expected. The group currently accounts for about 30% of the world's oil production, down from 50% in the 1970s. Part of the reason for this decline is the emergence of vast quantities of shale oil produced in the US. This has also been factor in pushing down the price of oil to 11-year lows. In its World Oil Outlook report, Opec said it expected supply growth from US shale to slow dramatically next year, as producers struggled to cope with such low prices. Opec's strategy this year has been to

Energy stocks knock Wall Street (Close): Wall Street closed down on the half-day's trading before Christmas. The main Dow Jones index dropped 50.44 points, or 0.3%, to 17,552.17. The wider S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were almost unchanged. On the Dow, after strong gains on Wednesday, energy stocks led the way down, with Chevron down 1.5% and Exxon Mobil 0.7% lower. Sportswear giant Nike implemented its two-for-one share split, cutting the value of its shares in half. On the currency markets, the dollar was down 0.4% against the euro at 91.33 cents, and also down 0.4%against the pound, at 66.98 pence. BBC © 2015 Posted via Blogaway

Fifa ex-official extradited to Uruguay A former Fifa vice-president, Eugenio Figueredo, has arrived in his native Uruguay to answer charges related to a massive corruption scandal. Mr Figueredo, 83, was one of seven officials arrested in Switzerland in May at the request of US prosecutors. But while he has been fighting extradition to the US he agreed to face charges in Uruguay. The former footballer was also once a vice-president of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol). • Fifa corruption crisis: Key questions answered Mr Figueredo was among 14 Fifa executives and associates accused of corruption by the US earlier this year. He is accused of receiving bribes worth millions of dollars connected to Copa America tournaments. A local prosecutor, Juan Gomez, has told AFP agency he will face charges of racketeering and money laundering when he makes an initial court appearance. The Swiss authorities approved requests from both the US and Uruguay for his extradition. This wee

Iran hostages 'win compensation' The US victims of the Iran hostage crisis are to receive compensation 36 years after their ordeal, reports say. Each of the 53 hostages or their estates will receive up to $4.4m (£3m), according to a US spending bill passed last Friday. The victims of other state-sponsored terror attacks such as the US embassy bombings in East Africa in 1998 will also be eligible. The hostage-taking lasted 444 days and led the US to break off ties with Iran. The decision to award compensation follows a controversial deal between world powers and Iran over its nuclear programme. "Those negotiations resulted in an understanding that an inevitable next step in securing a relationship was to address the reason for the rupture, which was our kidnapping and torture," former hostage Rodney Sickmann told the New York Times. US outrage at Iran 'hostage-taker' envoy Remembering the Iran hostage crisis In pictures: Iran hostage crisis US-Iran relations:

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Michael Moore: 'Donald Trump is a performance artist' On the eve of the limited US release of his film Where to Invade Next, the film-maker says that he expects Trump to be the Republican candidate Michael Moore: ‘A person who believes change is possible.’ The words “If you don’t like America, then leave” have surely been thrown at documentary directorMichael Michael Moore countless times over the course of his 25-year career as the US’s best-known agitator, dissenter and man on a soapbox. Now the film-maker, never one to back down from a fight, has done just what his detractors asked in the making of his latest movie. In Next Where to Invade Next, screened in select cinemas for an Oscar-qualifying run for one week starting on 23 December and later released across the US in February, Moore goes on a naif’s tour of various European countries looking for better alternatives to American systems and institutions, including drug enforcement policies, standardised testing, correc

One dead after Christmas Eve shootout at packed North Carolina shopping mall Long-running feud sparked fight where gun was drawn and shots fired, say police, with officer shooting and killing a man who pointed firearm towards him Police outside North Lake Mall following a shootout that ended with an armed man killed by police. A long-standing dispute led to gunshots at a crowded North Carolina shopping mall on Christmas Eve, police said, with an off-duty officer responding and fatally shooting a man who pointed a gun in his direction. Police said no one else was shot and there were no other reports of injuries. The shooting was not a random act but rather the result of a feud among people who knew each other, though there was no indication it was gang-related, said Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department. During the fight a weapon was brandished and shots were fired about 2pm at Northlake Mall in Charlotte, Putney said. Shoppers who were crowding the mall

Christmas in Bethlehem: Hopes and fears for the future As Bethlehem prepares for Christmas, five people chosen to represent characters in the original Nativity story have been speaking about their hopes and fears for the festive period. Celebrations are taking place in the West Bank town where it is believed that Jesus was born. However this year they are overshadowed by the latest Israeli-Palestinian violence that shows no signs of abating. The mother: Mary Anastas Mary Anastas runs a shop selling her husband's stone sculptures and feels a special affinity with her namesake, the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. She is a mother of three children herself and worries about their safety in these tense times. The two eldest are studying at Birzeit University, north of Ramallah, but come home at weekends. Young Palestinians regularly join protests that result in confrontations with Israeli soldiers. There are flashpoints across the West Bank including on the edge of Ramallah and in Bethl

Walid Muallem said the government would participate in talks "without any foreign interference" Syria's government is prepared to take part in UN-brokered peace talks aimed at finding a political solution to the four-year conflict in the country. Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said it would be "ready as soon as we receive a list of the opposition delegation". The warring parties and the world powers backing them have to agree on which rebel groups will be designated as "terrorists" and not represented. The UN hopes to convene the talks in Geneva towards the end of January. More than 250,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes. "Syria is ready to participate in the Syrian-Syrian Dialogue in Geneva without any foreign interference," Mr Muallem told reporters in Beijing on Thursday following a meeting with his Chinese cou