Shadow Culture Secretary First Reshuffle Scalp

Mr Dugher tweeted that the Labour leader had removed him from post, saying: "Just been sacked by Jeremy Corbyn. I wished him a happy new year."

He said Mr Corbyn told him he was being demoted to the backbench for warning the Labour leader against a "revenge reshuffle" in an article for New Statesman.

He wrote that revenge wasn't "very Jedi" or "very new politics".

At the weekend the former shadow culture secretary, who ran Andy Burnham's leadership campaign, cautioned that the Labour party could be left with a "politburo of seven" and that Mr Corbyn risked turning it into a "religious cult".

Mr Burnham paid tribute to Mr Dugher saying he could "leave the frontbench with his head held high".

Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson lamented Mr Dugher's departure calling him a "rare politician – a talented working-class MP who hasn’t lost his strong Yorkshire roots".

Mr Watson said: "Politicians with his ability and commitment can make a difference in any role. Labour’s loss in the shadow cabinet will be compensated for by Michael’s free thought on the backbenches."

Shadow education secretary Lucy Powell said: "Very sorry to see Michael Dugher leave shadow cabinet. Michael is a formidable campaigner who provides an important and authentic voice."

Jeremy Corbyn is expected to reveal details of his reshuffled shadow cabinet later after a series of meetings with senior colleagues last night although it is not expected to be as far-reaching as previously thought.

Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle, who were both rumoured to be under threat, were among those to meet the party leader on Monday.

Both left without making comment to waiting journalists.

However, there was speculation Mr Corbyn may have ditched his plan to drop Mr Benn in the face of a threatened mutiny by other MPs.

The shadow foreign secretary had a very public disagreement with the Labour leader over military a

Mr Corbyn wanted to stop divisions with his top team - 11 of the shadow cabinet voted against him on airstrikes.

Some, including former London Mayor and Corbyn ally Ken Livingstone, had suggested Mr Benn could do a job swap with Mr Burnham.

Mr Benn offered no comment to waiting reporters as he left the Labour leader's office after a meeting lasting more than an hour on Monday evening.

However, Ms Eagle is expected to lose her position.

Emerging from the party leader's office, she told journalists: "I don't have anything to say to you."

Ms Eagle voted against Mr Corbyn on Syria and is a staunch supporter of the Trident nuclear deterrent - another issue on which she is at odds with the leader.

Mr Livingstone, who is opposed to Trident, was controversially appointed to chaperone her in carrying out the party's defence review.

As the reshuffle talks began on Monday Mr Corbyn moved journalists away from his office telling them: "Excuse me guys do you mind not hanging around outside my office door, could you all leave please."

Sky's Darren McCaffrey had documented the Labour leader's first shadow cabinet reshuffle in September revealing in his blog post awkward and damaging details of the decision-making process.

Labour MP John Woodcock, who has been critical of Mr Corbyn, questioned the timing of the reshuffle and pointed out the party had had a free vote on airstrikes in Syria.

U.N. Condemns Attacks on Saudi Missions in Iran

(DUBAI, United Arab Emirates) — Allies of Saudi Arabia followed the kingdom’s lead Monday and scaled back diplomatic ties to Iran after the ransacking of Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic, violence sparked by the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Sudan and the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain said they would sever ties with Iran, as Saudi Arabia did late Sunday. Within hours, the United Arab Emirates announced it would downgrade ties to Tehran to the level of the charge d’affaires, while other nations issued statements criticizing Iran.

The concerted campaign by Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia highlights the aggressive stance King Salman and his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have adopted in confronting Iran, a longtime regional rival.

“What we have seen during the last 24 hours is unprecedented … It shows you Saudi Arabia has had enough of Iran and wants to send a message,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a political science professor at Emirates University. “This is the Saudis saying: ‘There is no limit to how far we will go.'”

The standoff began Saturday, when Saudi Arabia executed Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others convicted of terror charges — the largest mass execution carried out by the kingdom since 1980.

Al-Nimr, a central figure in the Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, long denied advocating violence. News of his execution has sparked Shiite protests from Bahrain to Pakistan.

Vahid Salemi—APIranian women wave flags that read, "Death to America and we shall never accept humiliation," during a rally to protest the execution by Saudi Arabia last week of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, in Tehran, Iran, Jan.4, 2016

In Iran, protesters attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. Late Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced the kingdom would sever its relations with Iran over the assaults, giving Iranian diplomatic personnel 48 hours to leave his country.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority suspended all flights to and from Iran, saying the move was based on the kingdom’s cutting of diplomatic ties.

Iran expressed “regret” over the attacks on the diplomatic missions in a letter to the United Nations on Monday and vowed to arrest those responsible. In the letter, obtained by The Associated Press, Iran’s U.N. envoy Gholamali Khoshroo said more than 40 protesters have been arrested and that authorities are searching for other suspects.

In response to a Saudi letter, the U.N. Security Council late Monday strongly condemned the attacks by Iranian protesters on Saudi diplomatic posts. The council statement, agreed to after hours of negotiations, made no mention of the Saudi executions or the rupture in Saudi-Iranian relations.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have long vied for influence in the Middle East. Their rivalry deepened following the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the chaos of the Arab Spring, which gave rise to proxy wars in Syria and Yemen.

An early battleground was Bahrain, where the Shiite majority staged mass protests in 2011 demanding political reforms from the Sunni monarchy. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates sent in troops to help quash the revolt, viewing it as an Iranian bid to expand its influence.

Bahraini officials since have accused Iran of training militants and attempting to smuggle arms into the country, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. In October, Bahrain ordered the acting Iranian charge d’affaires to leave within 72 hours and recalled its own ambassador after alleging that Iran sponsored “subversion” and “terrorism” and funneled arms to militants.

Sudan, which has been looking to Saudi Arabia for aid since the secession of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011, on Monday announced an “immediate severing of ties” over the diplomatic mission attacks. Sudan once was closer to Iran, but in recent years has tilted toward Saudi Arabia, and has contributed forces to the Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite rebels in Yemen.

The UAE, a country of seven emirates, has a long trading history with Iran and is home to many ethnic Iranians. It said it would reduce the number of diplomats in Iran and recall its ambassador “in the light of Iran’s continuous interference in the internal affairs of Gulf and Arab states, which has reached unprecedented levels.”

Saudi Arabia had previously severed ties with Iran from 1988 to 1991 over rioting during the hajj in 1987 and Iran’s attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf. That diplomatic freeze saw Iran halt pilgrims from attending the hajj in Saudi Arabia, something required of all able Muslims once in their lives.

Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Ali Esfanani, spokesman of the Judicial and Legal Committee, said security issues and the fact that Iranian pilgrims wouldn’t have consular protection inside the kingdom made halting the pilgrimage for Iranians likely, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

World powers have sought to calm the tensions. On Monday, Germany called on both sides to mend ties, while Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted an unnamed senior diplomat as saying Moscow is ready to act as a mediator.

The U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, was en route to Riyadh on Monday with plans to later visit Tehran. Iran, a staunch supporter of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Saudi Arabia, a key backer of the opposition, have participated in three rounds of international talks aimed at ending the conflict. De Mistura has set a Jan. 25 target date for a fourth round of talks.

The White House urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to not let their dispute derail efforts to end the Syrian civil war.

“Hopefully they will continue to engage,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “It is so clearly in the interests of both countries to advance a political solution to the situation inside of Syria.”

Saudi Arabia’s U.N. Ambassador Abdallah al-Moualimi said late Monday tha tSaudi Arabia will attend the Jan. 25 talks in Geneva on Syria. Iran has not said whether it will attend.

Meanwhile, al-Nimr’s family is holding three days of mourning at a mosque in al-Awamiya village in the kingdom’s al-Qatif region in predominantly Shiite eastern Saudi Arabia. Authorities have already buried the sheikh’s body in an undisclosed cemetery, his family said.

Early Monday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said a shooting targeting security forces in the village killed a man and wounded a child. It offered no motive for the attack, nor for another it said saw a mob beat and briefly kidnap a man who was driving through the area.

Obama to embark on fresh push for tighter gun controls

President Barack Obama will meet with the United States’ top prosecutor Monday to discuss new firearm control measures, with the White House eyeing executive action as a way to push through ways to curb America’s gun violence.

The president will meet Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey to discuss the administration's options for tightening gun rules without going through the Republican-controlled Congress, which does not support the wide-ranging legislative changes that Obama prefers.

At the top of the list is an effort to expand background checks on gun sales by forcing more sellers to register as federally licensed gun dealers. The changes would be aimed at some unregistered sellers who skirt the background check laws by selling at gun shows, online or informal settings.

Other moves being considered include improving reporting of lost and stolen weapons and beefing up inspections of licensed dealers, according to a person familiar with the plans who would not be named discussing proposals before they are finalized.

Guns are a potent issue in U.S. politics. The right to bear arms is protected by the Constitution, and the National Rifle Association, the top U.S. gun rights group, is feared and respected in Washington for its ability to mobilize gun owners. Congress has not approved major gun-control legislation since the 1990s.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has already proposed an executive action to close the gun show loophole, cheered Obama's plans. "I am absolutely convinced we can have gun safety measures consistent with the Constitution," she said during a campaign event in Concord, New Hampshire.

"I will take on that fight. I'm very hopeful and excited that the president is going to take some action with executive action in the next week or two," she said. "But if it's a Republican who walks into the White House, within the first day, the executive orders will be reversed."

Republicans have roundly criticized the president's plans, calling them an overreach of executive authority.

"This president wants to act as if he's a king, as if he's a dictator," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican presidential candidate, said on “Fox News Sunday.” The governor, who was criticized by fellow Republicans for embracing Obama in an appeal for aid after Superstorm Sandy struck New Jersey in 2012, called the president a "petulant child."

"This is going to be another illegal executive action, which I'm sure will be rejected by the courts," Christie added.

Obama will take part in a one-hour town-hall-style forum on gun control broadcast on CNN at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, the White House said.

The event, moderated by anchor Anderson Cooper, will give Obama a chance to respond to criticism and raise public support for the measures before his State of the Union address on Jan. 12.

Obama launched a push to tighten U.S. gun laws after the massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, in which a young man armed with a semiautomatic weapon took the lives of 20 children and six educators.

But the push stalled in Congress. Last month's fatal shootings in San Bernardino, California, by a couple who authorities suspect were inspired by ISIL, gave further impetus to the White House to try again through executive actions.

"It would be better for our security if it was harder for terrorists to purchase very powerful weapons," Ben Rhodes, the White House deputy national security adviser, told reporters on Saturday in Hawaii, where Obama was concluding a two-week vacation. The president returned to Washington on Sunday.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll last month showed 65 percent of respondents saying it was important that gun control be addressed in the United States, while 29 percent said it was unimportant.

Girls' schools a 'huge disadvantage', says co-ed head

If girls did not socialise with boys at school, "what happens when they go out into the workplace?", asked Richard Cairns, head of Brighton College.

Single-sex schools were a "deeply unrealistic world", said Mr Cairns, writing in a magazine. 

But the Girls' Schools Association described his views as "old fashioned". 

Writing in Independent School Parent, Mr Cairns complained too many parents were "swayed by outdated notions about girls performing better in single-sex schools". 

Supporters of girls-only schools often argue pupils achieve better grades and are more likely to take subjects that are often male-dominated, such as maths. 

'Non-plussed'

But Mr Cairns said female pupils at Brighton College, a co-educational private school, were "non-plussed when they read press reports about their supposed inability to thrive because they are sitting next to boys in class". 

He said every year dozens of his female pupils achieved top grades in male-dominated subjects such as physics and went on to study sciences and maths at Oxford or Cambridge.

By contrast, women from all-girls' schools "may have a clutch of A*s and a first-class degree, but if they cannot meaningfully converse and communicate with male colleagues, they will be at a huge disadvantage", he warned. 

"There is something, I feel, much more common to schools that educated both boys and girls, and that something is kindness," he added. 

"Boys in single-sex school tend to create their own artificial hierarchies where only those in the first-15 rugby team are truly valued, while girls-only schools sometimes suffer a degree of emotional intensity that can lead to bullying.

"Contrast that with a co-educational world where girls admire the boys who dance, sing or act, and so, therefore, do the boys. Contrast that too with a mixed environment where the emotional intensity of all girls is diluted by the boys.

"In other words, there is a place for everyone and an environment where girls and boys can be themselves."

'Tiresome'

But Caroline Jordan, president of the Girls' Schools Association, said Mr Cairns might find the truth "unpalatable". 

"Girls' schools feature heavily at the top of the league tables for independent schools and have done for decades," she said.

"It may also have escaped his attention that all-girls schools provide plenty of appropriate opportunities for interaction with boys; in fact, it is rather old-fashioned to assume anything other."

Ms Jordan also highlighted recent Institute of Physics research that indicated girls in single-sex private schools were more likely to study A-level physics than girls in mixed private schools. 

"It is time for Mr Cairns to cease his rather tiresome attacks on independent-schools colleagues," she said.

"The sector benefits from diversity and choice, and I am sure he would agree with that."

Chimp Attack Survivor To Get Rare Facial Op

Dunia Sibomana was the only survivor in a group of three boys, including his brother and his cousin, playing near a nature preserve in his home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Although the eight-year-old was considered lucky to be alive, he was left badly injured with his lips ripped off, one cheek torn apart and muscle damage that make it hard for him to eat, swallow or speak. 

The young boy is living with a host family in Long Island. Pic: WABC-TV

As a result, the boy has become shy and withdrawn since the attack and been bullied by other boys.

Now, Dunia is to undergo rare and complicated surgery at a Long Island hospital that will use tissue and muscle from his forearm to recreate both lips with the hope he will once again be able to open and close his mouth, and eat and talk normally.

"As you can imagine, not having any lips, the food can just come right out," said senior physician Leon Klempner from Stony Brook Children's Hospital, where the operation will be carried out.

"He drools all the time and can't pronounce different words."

The planned eight-hour procedure will be the first of three for the young boy who was brought to the US in November by the charity, Smile Rescue Fund for Kids.

Dunia is living with a host family on Long Island and going to primary school where he is learning English - his native language is Swahili.

"We're feeling very optimistic," Dr Klempner said.

Another senior doctor, Alexander Dagum, said he believes there are only three other documented cases of similar surgery.

The hospital is covering the cost of the surgery and the doctors are working for free.

Chris Gayle Fined For Asking Reporter Out On Air

Gayle was talking to Melanie McLaughlin of Australia's Channel Ten when she asked him about the "aggressive" batting style that had seen him score 41 runs from just 15 deliveries on Monday night.

The former West Indies captain said: "To see your eyes for the first time is nice. Hopefully (we'll) win this game and we can have a drink after. Don't blush, baby."

A visibly rattled McLaughlin replied: "I'm not blushing."

The interview took place during a Big Bash League (BBL) game between Gayle's Melbourne Renegades and the Hobart Hurricanes. Renegades won the game by five wickets.

Renegades have fined Gayle AU$10,000 (£4,890) for the comments.

Facing a large media scrum at Melbourne Airport, Gayle apologised but defended his remarks as a "simple joke".

"It seemed to be blown out of proportion. There wasn't anything at all you know meant to be disrespectful to Mel," he said.

Renegades chief Stuart Coventry made a formal apology to McLaughlin.

"Mel is an outstanding sports presenter. We think of her very highly and the club and the players will ensure we work with her in a professional and respectful manner in the future," he said.

"We've had several discussions with Chris in the last 24 hours and he has acknowledged that his comments were out of line."

Mr Coventry added: "It could be a cultural thing but it is unacceptable here in Australia and we don't condone that sort of behaviour."

Amid reports Gayle is notorious for making inappropriate comments to female reporters, Mr Coventry said: "We think this is a one-off scenario."

He said Gayle was "quite surprised" by the fine, but accepted it.

The fine will be donated to the McGrath Foundation, a breast cancer charity.

Earlier, Big Bash chief Anthony Everard said Gayle's comments were "disrespectful and simply inappropriate".

"This league is all about its appeal to kids, families and females," he said.

"There's just no place in the BBL or, for that matter, cricket anywhere, for that sort of behaviour."

Andrew Flintoff, who is working as a commentator in Australia, tweeted: "Well played @mel Mclaughlin!! Big fan of @henrygayle but made himself look a bit of a chop there."

Saudi Arabia: Iran row will not hurt Syria, Yemen talks

In Yemen, Riyadh leads a campaign against Iran-allied Shia rebels and troops loyal to the ex-president [Mohamed Al-Sayaghi/Reuters]

Saudi Arabia has said its decision to break diplomatic ties with Iran will not affect efforts to negotiate peace in Syria and Yemen - where the two regional heavyweights support opposite sides.

Riyadh on Sunday severed relations with Iran after its embassy in Tehran was set ablaze during protests against Saudi Arabia's execution of prominent Shia religious leader Nimr al-Nimr, who was put to death along with 46 other mostly Sunni convicts on terrorism charges.

Abdullah al-Mouallimi, the Saudi Ambassador to the UN, said on Monday that the row with Tehran "should have no effect" on attempts to end the wars.

"We will continue to work very hard towards supporting the peace efforts in Syria, in Yemen, wherever there might be a need for that," he said.

"How is that going to affect the behaviour of Iran, we do not know, you will need to ask the Iranians for that," al-Mouallimi told reporters in New York, accusing Tehran of not being supportive of attempts to find peace before this latest falling out between the two nations.

"They have been taking provocative and negative positions and lines, and as such I don't think that the breaking of relations is going to dissuade them from such behaviour."

Earlier, Iran's foreign ministry said Saudi Arabia was using the attack on its embassy in Tehran as a pretext to fuel tensions.

"Iran ... is committed to providing diplomatic security based on international conventions. But Saudi Arabia, which thrives on tensions, has used this incident as an excuse to fuel the tensions," Hossein Jaberi Ansari, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, said in televised remarks on Monday.

Key players

Saudi Arabia is leading a military intervention in Yemen against the Houthis - Shia rebels who it says are backed by Iran. 

The kingdom is also part of the US-led coalition bombing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria.

Al Jazeera's diplomatic editor James Bays, reporting from New York, said diplomats at the UN were concerned about the impact the fallout could have on the wars in Syria and Yemen.

"Despite those comments [by al-Mouallimi], the United Nations knows that both Iran and Saudi Arabia are key players in both these conflicts," Bays said.

"And that's why the UN envoy for Syria is now in Riyadh. He'll be going on to Tehran and then, in the next few days, the UN envoy for Yemen will also be visiting the region."

On Sunday, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon issued a statement criticising both the executions and the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

Calls for restraint

The US government also expressed public fears over the escalating war of words.

"We do continue to be concerned about the need for both the Iranians and the Saudis to de-escalate the situation," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. 

"We are urging all sides to show some restraint and to not further inflame tensions that are on quite vivid display in the region."

Turkey said that it hoped the tension would diminish "as soon as possible". 

"The region is already engulfed by a circle of fire, it can no longer bear bigger crises," said Numan Kurtulmus, Turkey's deputy prime minister.

"As a country which has friendly relations with Iran and Saudi Arabia, we believe that both countries should show restraint."

Regional reaction

Some 3,000 people took to the streets of Tehran on Monday for a third day, chanting slogans against Saudi Arabia's ruling royal family.

In Iraq, where the Iraqi Foreign Ministry has condemned Nimr's execution, thousands of Shia protesters in Baghdad demanded their government cuts ties with Saudi Arabia. Demonstrators also called on officials to reconsider the recent re-opening of the Saudi embassy.

But Bahrain, Sudan and the UAE have rallied to Saudi Arabia's side, breaking off or downgrading relations with Iran in recent days.

Shia protesters hold posters showing Nimr as they chant slogans against the Saudi government in Najaf, south of Baghdad, onMonday [Karim Kadim/AP Photo]