UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- China will become the second largest contributor to the United Nations regular budget starting next year, surpassing Japan.

China's contribution will rise to 12.01 percent in the next three years from 7.92 percent for the 2016-2018 period, according to a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on Saturday.

Japan's contribution will fall to 8.56 percent from 9.68 percent.

Assessments for member countries' contributions are made based on several elements and criteria, including estimates of gross national income.

ANKARA; 23 Dec 2018; AA: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said the Israeli prime minister is heading "state terror", responding to his tweet attacking the Turkish president. 

Speaking at a mass opening ceremony in Istanbul's Arnavutkoy district, Turkish president said: "Erdogan is the voice of oppressed and you [Benjamin Netanyahu] are the voice of oppressors. You are conducting state terror." 

LONDON, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- British police said Sunday night that there might never have been drone activity over Gatwick Airport at all.

There is no footage of the device which sparked it and it is "a possibility" there never was one, the police said.

Asked about speculation there was never such a drone flown over the airport, Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley told the BBC: "Of course, that's a possibility. We are working with human beings saying they have seen something."

ISTANBUL; 24 Dec 2018; AA: In a joint operation with local police in Serbia on Monday, Turkish anti-drug teams seized a half-million illegal drug pills thought to be bound for Turkey, according to police sources.

Acting on a tip, Istanbul police acting with with Serbian and Bulgarian police stopped a tractor trailer along the Serbian-Bulgarian border, said the sources, who asked not to be named, due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

GENEVA, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- A UN expert on Monday expressed his deep concern about the death of a seven-year-old Guatemalan migrant girl while she was in the custody of U.S. immigration authorities.

Emphasizing that the U.S. should stop the detention of children, either unaccompanied or with their families, based on their migratory status, and seek alternatives to detention, Felipe González Morales, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, also called for a thorough investigation into how the girl died.

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 22; GANASHAKTI: Criticising the Centre's decision to authorise 10 agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt data contained in any computer system, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Saturday said the order was an "attack" on individual freedom and the Right to Privacy.

Vijayan said it was even more "disturbing" that the media, members of legislatures and even judiciary have not been excluded from the ambit of the order.

KARACHI / ISLAMABAD, 24 Dec 2018; AA: A Pakistani court on Monday sentenced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to seven years in jail in two corruption cases.

Sharif himself was present in the accountability court in the capital Islamabad to hear the much-anticipated verdict after a 15-month legal process in the cases, popularly known as Al Azizia Steel Mills.

Jaipur, Dec 23 (PTI) A 32-year-old woman was allegedly stoned to death by her husband in the Rajsamand district of the state, police said Sunday.

Police have detained Narsingh Rawat for allegedly killing his wife of 12 years, Rekha Devi, following a heated argument, police said, adding that the couple has four children.

"The accused (Rawat) following a dispute with his wife, stoned her to death," SHO Bheem Police Station Labhu Ram said.

Beijing, Dec 22; PTI: China on Saturday launched its first communication satellite to provide broadband internet services worldwide in an apparent bid to rival Google and other international firms.

The satellite was launched from a Long March 11 carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China and is the first in the Hongyun project planned by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC).

KARACHI, Pakistan; 24 Dec 2018; AA: Pakistan's Supreme Court Monday summoned the country's former President Asif Ali Zardari for alleged involvement in a massive money laundering, according to the court records and local media.

Headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, three-member bench also barred Zardari and others accused from trading properties in the case at the Supreme Court's Lahore branch.

The court ordered them to submit their replies by December 31, local broadcaster Geo News reported.

Muzaffarnagar, Dec 24 (PTI) An accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots was found dead under mysterious circumstances at Sikheda village here, police said Monday.

Sodan Singh's body was found Sunday evening hanging from the ceiling of a room, which housed a tube well, they said.

The body was sent for postmortem and the matter is being investigated, police said.

Singh's son has lodged a complaint at the local police station and alleged that his 60-year-old father was murdered, they said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top White House official signaled Sunday that President Donald Trump is willing to accept less money than he’s been demanding to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall, but a senior congressional Democrat said that, while their own offer could be sweetened, they still will not agree to a wall.

The back and forth across the television airwaves did little to inspire hope that a Christmas season closure of some federal government operations would end later this week, when the House and Senate are scheduled to meet again.