*) Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed vows to lead army 'from the battlefront'

The Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed has announced he will lead his army from the battlefront against advancing rebel forces, in a statement on social media.

His remarks come as rival Tigray forces close in on the capital Addis Ababa, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency earlier this month.

Thousands of people have already been killed in the war between government forces, and fighters from the northern Tigray region. *) Several killed in bus crash in Bulgaria

At least 45 people have been killed in western Bulgaria when a bus with North Macedonian plates caught fire on a highway, officials said.

There were children among the victims, and seven people with burns were rushed to hospital in the capital Sofia, local news reported. The cause of the accident has yet to be determined. *) Wisconsin driver to face homicide charges for Christmas parade deaths

The driver of the car that ploughed into a Christmas parade in the US state of Wisconsin will be charged with multiple counts of intentional homicide.

Five people were killed and 48 injured when the suspect drove an SUV into the crowd in Waukesha.

Police say he had left the scene of a domestic dispute minutes before, and that there is no evidence the incident was a terrorist attack.

*) Belarusian president calls for European powers to work with Minsk

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says he does not want confrontation with Poland, but he says if the situation at the border remains the same, war will be “unavoidable.”

Lukashenko has called on European leaders to work with Minsk to solve the migrant crisis.

He proposed Germany take in two thousand migrants, and that the remaining five thousand be repatriated - a request Berlin has rejected.

Poland and its Western allies have accused Minsk of instigating the crisis.

And finally… *) Kevin Spacey ordered to pay $31M for ‘House of Cards’ losses

Kevin Spacey and his production companies must pay the studio behind “House of Cards” more than $30 million because of losses brought on by his firing for sexual misconduct.

A document filed in Los Angeles Superior Court requesting a judge's approval of the ruling says that arbitrators found that Spacey violated his contract's demands for professional behavior.

MRC, the studio behind “House of Cards,” had to fire Spacey, halt production of the show's sixth season, rewrite it to remove Spacey's central character, and shorten it from 13 to eight episodes to meet deadlines.

The 62-year-old Oscar winner's career came to an abrupt halt late in 2017 as the #MeToo movement gained momentum.