Datasets:

roofdancer

/

presummarized_2_clusters_wcep

like 0

I’ll dump all of you into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there.” And here’s another, from last Sunday, after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime condemned Mr Duterte’s “apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings.” “I do not want to insult you,” Duterte said. “So take us out of your organization – you have done nothing here, anyway, also. That was the last time I saw them alive.” Bertes, a small-time drug dealer, and his father are now just two of a grim statistic – two of the 1,916 who have died in the Philippines police’s “war on drugs”, unleashed barely eight weeks ago, as new hard man president Rodrigo Duterte had promised during his election campaign “Shoot him and I’ll give you a medal,” Duterte had told police of dealing with the drug lords, suggesting the public get involved too. He also criticized the international organization for not doing anything to help the country. The story’s spin was that the granddaughter was what the newspaper called “collateral damage” in the government’s crackdown on the drug menace and its Pied Pipers across the archipelago.</s>The following day, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said the Philippines was not leaving the U.N. and Duterte made the comment only because he was tired, angry and frustrated. In his State of the Nation Address last month, he said "human rights cannot be used as a shield or an excuse to destroy the country." "Take us out of your organization. Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia has said the killings "may be a necessary evil in the pursuit of a greater good," a sentiment echoed by a deluge of comments by Duterte supporters in social media deriding his critics and defending the brutal war on drugs. The crackdown since Duterte took office in late June has seen over 650 police killings -- deaths Duterte and his top police officer, Roland Dela Rosa, say are justified self-defense killings -- alongside as many as 900 unexplained murders perpetrated by suspected vigilantes. "A battle of moralities is being waged right now by this administration — before, if you were a human rights advocate you are a hero of the country, now you are seen as someone who can destroy the country," Cornelio said. Duterte has said drugs were destroying the country. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, calling him gay in derogatory terms, after he criticized Duterte's rape comments during the presidential campaign. He also lashed out at the womens' group that filed a complaint against him before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). National police chief Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate hearing this week that police have recorded more than 1,900 dead, including 756 suspected drug dealers and users who were gunned down after they resisted arrest.

The death toll in Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs reaches 1,900 people killed.

Kurdish-aligned group in north Syria says targeted by Turkish warplanes KARKAMIS, Turkey, Aug 27 (Reuters) - A group allied to Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said it was bombarded by Turkish warplanes on Saturday, after Turkey's military launched an incursion this week into northern Syria against both Islamic State and Kurdish forces. Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes launched their first major incursion into Syria on Wednesday in support of Syrian rebels, in an operation President Tayyip Erdogan has said is aimed both at driving Islamic State away from the border area and preventing territorial gains by the Kurdish YPG militia. In an ostensibly anti-jihadi operation, Turkish troops, supplemented by Turkish-trained Syrian rebels, thwarted Kurdish plans for territorial expansion on Wednesday by taking over Jarablus, a Syrian town Isis had held since July 2013. Jets pounded Islamic State positions and tanks crossed the border this week, allowing the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army to gain control of the strategic town of Jarablus, state-run Anadolu news service reported Wednesday.</s>(CNN) More than 80 ISIS targets were attacked in the first hours of "Operation Euphrates Shield" early Wednesday, officials say, as Turkish armor and warplanes targeted a key ISIS-held town across its border with Syria. Jarablus is one of the few towns in northern Syria that ISIS still controls and is a critical location for supplies, money and fighters coming into ISIS-held areas. In recent months, much of Turkey's firepower has been directed at the Kurdish separatist PKK in southeastern Turkey and across the border in northern Iraq. It has also occasionally shelled ISIS positions in northern Syria, but its last-known airstrikes against ISIS were in November last year. Why is Turkey doing this now? Turkish authorities have been pressed into taking action against ISIS by the surge of suicide bombings in Turkey, as well as the terror group's use of safe houses and "informal" financial services on Turkish soil. "Daesh should be completely cleansed from our borders, and we are ready to do that," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. Ankara may also have calculated that ISIS is especially vulnerable, after many of its remaining fighters fled Manbij, another key stronghold in Syria. The town was liberated by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces backed by the United States. ISIS' lines of communication and resupply have now been disrupted and it's taken heavy losses across northern Syria in recent months. But Turkey is anxious that ISIS' vulnerability could provide an opportunity for their "other" enemy in northern Syria -- the Kurdish YPG militia -- who have taken several villages near Jarablus recently. What does Turkey want to achieve? Turkey has several aims. One is to degrade ISIS in this area -- to push the threat it poses away from the Turkish border and make infiltration harder. Beyond that, Turkey wants this part of Syria to become part of its sphere of influence. If it can clear this area of ISIS, it plans to inject Syrian rebel groups that it supports, according to officials. Several hundred are currently massed on the border, according to the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights. The advantage for Turkey in putting its "own" groups into this part of Syria is to stop the Kurdish advance in its tracks. Ankara sees the YPG as a terrorist group indistinguishable from the PKK, which it battles on a daily basis in south-eastern Turkey. The Syrian Kurds have made no secret of their desire to expel ISIS and link the two regions of northern Syria they already control. They would then oversee much of Syria's border with Turkey. Hence the words of Erdogan Wednesday: "Turkey is determined that Syria retains its territorial integrity and will take matters into its own hands if required to protect that unity." How much is Turkey working with coalition partners? "We are working together with the coalition regarding air support," Cavusoglu said Wednesday. In addition, it's likely that the US is providing intelligence and targeting data to Turkish forces using unmanned aerial vehicles from the Incirlik air base. The US has long urged Turkey to become more involved in operations against ISIS in northern Syria, but relations have been strained by the crackdown following the coup attempt in Turkey last month and a surge of anti-US sentiment in Turkey. Cooperating in a substantial effort to weaken ISIS -- just as Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Ankara -- is one way to overcome a troubled few weeks. Additionally, in light of the sudden rapprochement between Erdogan and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, the US wants to reinforce its partnership with Turkey. The US is also sending a message to the Syrian Kurds, its most effective partner on the ground in this region: that American support is not a blank check and that they should not provoke the Turks by moving on Jarablus. Will Turkey will get sucked in further? If the aim of the operation is to expel ISIS from Jarablus and surrounding areas, it's unlikely to be achieved in days. Manbij took weeks to clear, despite a ground offensive and hundreds of US airstrikes. One problem is the risk of substantial civilian casualties. ISIS frequently uses civilians as human shields, preventing them from leaving urban areas, to make targeting more difficult. Perhaps the greatest risk is that this incursion on the ground will spill over into conflict with Kurdish forces. But the Kurds will realize that with their light, outmoded weaponry, they are no match for Turkish tanks. The US is likely encouraging the YPG -- to which it indirectly supplies weapons and training -- to stay out of this. Additionally, Syrian Kurdish sources say they believe Turkey would like nothing better than a pretext to go after the YPG. But if the Kurds don't return to the eastern banks of the Euphrates -- Turkey's "red line" -- the operation against ISIS could evolve into something very different -- perhaps a broader operation that also focuses on the YPG. Turkish public opinion is likely to support this operation, in light of recent attacks blamed on ISIS, so long as its scope and duration is defined. But in Damascus, the Assad regime has bitterly criticized it as a "blatant breach to its sovereignty." The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "substituting (ISIS) with other terrorist organizations backed directly by Turkey" is not "fighting terrorism."

Turkey sends more tanks into northern Syria to continue its offensive against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

Miners in the Philippines criticize the government after a crackdown on mining closed more nickel and copper mines.

The search continues for survivors in central Italy with the death toll now 241. An aftershock of 4.7 MMS hits further east in the province near Norcia.

Earlier Thursday, police revealed that three people are dead, all of whom were found with apparent crossbow injuries, in the Scarborough area of Toronto on Thursday afternoon. “Homicide detectives have now taken over the scene.” While it’s unclear what was contained within the package, Carbone confirmed the downtown incident was tied to the Scarborough murders. In the initial incident, police responding to a report of a stabbing to find three people who appeared to have been injured by crossbow bolts, said police spokesman David Hopkinson. Toronto EMS confirmed two men and one woman were killed and the fourth victim suffered only minor injuries. “We don’t have any idea with regards to why this may have happened,” said Hopkinson. “They also took one person into custody.” A fourth victim was taken to hospital, he added.</s>Man charged after three die in Toronto crossbow attack -police TORONTO, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Toronto police have charged a man with three counts of first-degree murder after three people were killed in a crossbow attack on a quiet suburban street, police in Canada's largest city said on Friday. A Toronto bank robber known as the “fake beard bandit” was charged with three counts of first-degree murder after three people were killed in a crossbow attack in the city’s east end, police in Canada’s largest city said on Friday. The slayings were discovered on Thursday when police found two men and one woman lying in the driveway suffering from serious wounds with a crossbow lying nearby. Brett Ryan, 35, was slated to appear in court later on Friday, police said. The condo was evacuated as police cordoned off the area but the package was later cleared.

Three people are killed and two are injured after a crossbow attack in Scarborough, Toronto. A suspicious package was also found in another linked event.

BRASILIA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The Senate impeachment trial of suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff descended into a shouting match between her political supporters and opponents during its second day on Friday, forcing a two-hour halt in the proceedings. Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski was obliged to intervene and suspend the session after Senate President Renan Calheiros was unable to stop the arguments, in a sign that the build up to a final vote expected on Wednesday morning will be fraught with tensions. The trial is expected to culminate in the removal of Rousseff from office, ending 13 years of left-wing Workers Party rule, and the confirmation of her vice president, Michel Temer, as president for the remainder of her term through 2018. The vote means Rousseff, who was suspended this year on allegations of breaking budget laws, will likely face trial later this month after the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in Rio. Few if any Rousseff supporters have shown up outside Brazil's Congress building to back her, underscoring the impeached president's isolation.</s>Just days after the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics, Brazilian senators are about to decide whether to permanently remove President Dilma Rousseff from office, the climax of a months-long political battle that has laid bare deep polarization in Latin America’s largest nation. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino Thursday’s session, presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, heard witnesses for and against Rousseff, Brazil’s first female president, who is charged with breaking budget laws. Senate President Renan Calheiros called the row, prompted by a Rousseff loyalist’s questioning of the notoriously corrupt Senate’s moral authority, “a demonstration of infinite stupidity.” Rousseff, 68, is accused of breaking the law by taking unauthorized state bank loans to cover up budgetary shortfalls during her 2014 re-election. If the final vote, which is expected late Tuesday or in the early hours of Wednesday, goes against Rousseff it would confirm her vice president, Michel Temer, as Brazil’s new leader for the rest of her four-year term through 2018, ending 13 years of left-wing Workers Party rule. Witnesses for the defense were called Friday following the trial’s opening day Thursday, when the case against Rousseff was presented. The second day of the trial against President Dilma Rousseff got off to an edgy start when Senate President Renan Calheiros decided to bring up a comment made on Thursday by Sen. Gleisi Hoffmann, a member of Rousseff’s Workers’ Party. But before new elections could occur, both Rousseff and Temer would have to resign or be removed from office. In May, 55 of the body’s 81 senators voted to impeach and suspend her — one more than the 54 it would take to kick her out for good.

Brazil's Federal Senate begins the impeachment trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff.

ANKARA/KARKAMIS, Turkey, Aug 26 (Reuters) - A suicide truck bombing at a police headquarters in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast killed at least 11 and wounded dozens on Friday, two days after Turkey launched an incursion against Islamic State and Kurdish militia fighters in Syria. The state-run Anadolu Agency reported that Kurdish militants were responsible for the attack on a checkpoint about 50 metres from a police station near the town of Cizre, in the mainly-Kurdish Şırnak province that borders Syria. Television footage showed black smoke rising from the mangled truck, while the three-story police station was gutted from the powerful explosion. The broadcaster said a dozen ambulances and two helicopters had been sent to the scene. The bombing in the town of Cizre was the latest in a series of attacks since a ceasefire with the PKK collapsed more than a year ago, and comes as Turkey tries to recover from a failed July 15 military coup. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said there was no doubt that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy, was responsible for the attack in Sirnak province, which borders Syria and Iraq. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Last week Erdogan accused followers of a U.S.-based Islamic cleric he blames for the July 15 coup attempt of being complicit in attacks by Kurdish militants. The government has blamed the failed coup on the supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen and has embarked on a sweeping crackdown on his followers. On Thursday, Kurdish rebels opened fire at security forces protecting a convoy of vehicles carrying Turkey’s main opposition party leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in the north-east, killing a soldier and wounding two others, officials said.</s>Story highlights Eleven police officers were killed, state media says Kurdish militants claim responsibility Turkey sent tanks into Syria on Wednesday Turkey-Syria border (CNN) An explosion at a police checkpoint Friday in southeastern Turkey killed 11 police officers and injured at least 78 people, the country's semiofficial Anadolu news agency reports. Attackers detonated a bomb-laden truck near the checkpoint in Cizre, Anadolu reported, citing the governor's officer in the province of Sirnak. The injured included 75 officers and three civilians, Anadolu reported. Four of the injured were in critical condition, Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag told CNN Turk. The armed wing of the the PKK -- a militant Kurdish group that's labeled a terror group by many in the international community -- took credit Friday for the attack. In an online statement, it promised to give more details Saturday on what it called a "comprehensive action took place to kill dozens of policemen by our brave team in Cizre."

Eight Turkish police officers are killed and 40 are injured in a bombing at a police checkpoint in the town of Cizre, with the PKK believed to be responsible.

By Albert Aji and Zeina Karam, Associated Press DARAYA, Syria — Syrian rebels and their families began evacuating a long-besieged Damascus suburb Friday as part of an agreement reached with the government following four years of grueling airstrikes and siege that left the suburb in ruins. The surrender of the Daraya suburb, which became an early symbol of the nascent uprising against President Bashar Assad, marks a success for his government, removing a persistent threat only a few miles from his seat of power. The capitulation by rebel forces in Daraya, an early bastion of the uprising against President Bashar Assad, provides another boost for his forces amid a stalemate in the fight for Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. Daraya’s rebels agreed to evacuate in a deal late on Thursday, after four years of gruelling bombardment and a crippling siege that left the sprawling suburb in ruins. Around 700 gunmen are to be allowed safe passage to the opposition-held northern province of Idlib, while some 4,000 civilians will be taken to temporary shelter in government-controlled Kisweh, south of Daraya. • August 25, 2016 Turkey: U.S. says Syria Kurds are pulling back in north Syria • August 24, 2016 Dobbs: Syrian boy is another symbol of the incalculable cost of war • August 23, 2016 Cartoons of the day: Syrian boy rescued in Aleppo • August 23, 2016 Turkey strikes Islamic State in Syria as tensions rise over border town The suburb has been besieged and blockaded by government forces, with only one food delivery by the United Nations allowed to reach the district during this time. It has been held by a coalition of ultraconservative Islamic militias, including the Martyrs of Islam Brigade. As the first white government bus carrying evacuees emerged from Daraya carrying mostly women and children, Syrian Army soldiers swarmed the vehicle, shouting pro-Assad slogans. Meanwhile, in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, had “achieved clarity” on a path toward restoring a truce in Syria, but details remained to be worked out. The talks center on proposals to share intelligence and coordinate militarily with Russia against the Islamic State extremist group and the al-Qaida branch in Syria and Iraq. Russia accuses the U.S. of preventing strikes on terrorist groups out of concern that would mean targeting these rebels. The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said Thursday that Russia has agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire there and he's waiting to hear if rebels will do the same. Located just southwest of Damascus, Daraya has been pummelled by government air strikes, barrel bombs and fighting over the years. In August 2012, around 400 people were killed over several days in a killing spree by troops and pro-government militiamen who stormed the suburb after heavy fighting and days of shelling, according to opposition activists. DARAYA, Syria (AP) — Buses, ambulances and trucks lined up at the entrance of a long-blockaded Damascus suburb on Friday to evacuate rebels and civilians under a deal struck between the Syrian opposition forces and the government. An Associated Press journalist who entered the suburb from its northern entrance saw a landscape of severely damaged and deserted buildings, some of them charred. A group of uniformed soldiers celebrated, shouting pro-Syria slogans and flashing victory signs. In a landscape of severely damaged and deserted buildings, some of them charred, black smoke rose on the horizon – caused by the rebels burning their belongings before evacuating, according to Syrian army soldiers. Footage posted on the internet by a member of the Daraya local council shows a small group of a few dozen people milling about in a street lined with destroyed buildings. Surrounded by some meager belongings, they appear to be waiting to be evacuated. Women in full face cover are seen sitting on pieces of rubble while bearded men walk about. Under the deal, the government is to allow safe exit to hundreds of gunmen and their families out of Daraya and let them head to the opposition-held northern province of Idlib. Around 4,000 civilians will be taken to a shelter in Kesweh, south of Daraya. “Idlib will be their graveyard,” said a Syrian army soldier. “This is a precious moment for every Syrian,” he added. The soldiers spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Daraya, which lies in the western Ghouta region, saw some of the first demonstrations against Assad after the uprising against his family rule began in March 2011, during which residents took to the streets, sometimes pictured carrying red and white roses to reflect the peaceful nature of their protests. Daraya is the latest rebel-held area to surrender to government troops following years of siege. Opposition activists and human rights groups accuse the government of using siege and starvation tactics to force surrender by the opposition. Buses, ambulances and trucks have lined up at the entrance of a long-blockaded Damascus suburb to evacuate rebels and civilians under a deal struck between Syrian opposition forces and the government of President Bashar Assad. It was followed by truces and cease-fires in Babila, Yalda, Barzeh around the Syrian capital — all deals that swung heavily in the government’s favor and pacified the region. Daraya provided a stark example of the price of rebuffing truce overtures. For years, government helicopters conducted a brutal aerial campaign, pounding the suburb with barrel bombs — large containers packed with fuel, explosives and scraps of metal. Diaa said for the last eight months Daraya has been pounded with hundreds of barrel bombs, as the government attempted to storm it. Last December, Syrian rebels evacuated the last district they controlled in the central city of Homs, a major symbol of the uprising, after a siege that lasted almost three years. Rebels there also headed to Idlib, handing the government a significant victory in central Syria. The U.N.’s humanitarian chief, Stephen O’Brien, told the U.N. Security Council earlier this year that severe food shortages were forcing some people in Daraya to eat grass. Residents had described burning plastic material to make fuel. Daraya-based opposition activist Hussam Ayash said residents were “trying to absorb the shock” of suddenly having to leave. In a statement, the U.N. said it was neither involved nor consulted about the evacuation plan, adding, “the world is watching.” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said a small team of U.N. and Red Cross aid workers would travel to Daraya “to meet with all parties and identify the key issues for the civilians.” “We are using this lull in the fighting to get in and see what we can do and obviously see for ourselves what the situation is inside the city,” Dujarric told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York. “We are being forced to leave, but our condition has deteriorated to the point of being unbearable,” he said, ahead of the evacuations. “We withstood for four years but we couldn’t any longer,” he said, choking on his words. Residents said the situation became unbearable after the town’s remaining field hospital was bombed and destroyed last week. The government had in recent months also encroached on the town’s agricultural farms — the only source of food for the local population, which he estimated at 8,000 people. Information for this article was contributed by Albert Aji, Zeina Karam, Sarah El Deeb, Jamey Keaten and Matthew Lee of The Associated Press and by Nick Wadhams and Henry Meyer of Bloomberg News.</s>The besieged Syrian town of Darayya, a symbol of the rebellion against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, is to be taken over by government forces after the last rebel fighters agreed to hand over their weapons and leave. The surrender and evacuation of the Damascus suburb after a brutal four-year siege is a devastating blow to opposition morale and a long-sought prize for Assad. The U.N.’s Special Envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, issued a statement Friday saying, “The situation regarding Darayya [was] extremely grave.” “It is tragic that repeated appeals to lift the siege of Darayya, besieged since November 2012, and cease the fighting have never been heeded,” said Mistura, adding that he was “made aware of the agreement to evacuate the civilians and fighters” overnight. In August 2012, Darayya was the site of what U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said was “an appalling and brutal” massacre that killed more than 200 people, many of them civilians, after fierce clashes forced rebel fighters to withdraw to the suburb’s outskirts. They stormed in to make house-to-house searches, and left hundreds dead in one of the worst killing sprees of the war. But on Friday Daraya’s long defiance came to an end and the city finally surrendered to the regime troops who have besieged it since 2012.

Following a ceasefire agreement with the government, Syrian rebels begin evacuating the war-torn suburb of Darayya, near Damascus, ending a four-year-long siege by government forces. Under the terms of surrender, the 8,000 civilians who reside in the suburb will be moved to regime-controlled areas while several hundred rebel fighters will be given passage to the Idlib Governorate.

The news stories that flooded front pages in the wake of Hurricane Irene late last month focused mostly on surging rivers, torn-up homes, downed trees, and the fate of New York City. But one story in particular caught my attention: the state of Vermont lost several of its historic covered bridges, those pleasant reminders of a bucolic North American past, beloved by so many-including, as of only recently, me. Just hours before Irene slammed into the Eastern Seaboard, my girlfriend and I were driving aimlessly around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, filling to the brim our box of vacation memories, already bursting at the seams with scenes of sunrise in coastal Maryland and rainy hours whiled away in the American rooms of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Partly on whim, partly because of fond childhood memories, and partly because it just seemed like a good way to organize the morning, we decided to see as many of Lancaster County's famed covered bridges as possible. By noon, when the rain started falling, I was hooked. The architectural impetus for covering a bridge has less to do with beauty than with sheer practicality. In the northeastern states and provinces of the U.S. and Canada, the arrival of the industrial revolution in the 19th century caused a massive population explosion, and a corresponding need to bridge the terrain's many rivers and streams in order to allow the free movement of people and goods across the land. Bridges made of stone, as those in Europe generally were, didn't make sense in North America, because violent temperature swings meant that the bridges would freeze and thaw and require maintenance every year. To build them instead with wood, plentiful anywhere in the Northeast, made sense. To then protect those wooden bridges with walls and a ceiling-after builders realized that such shelter would prolong a wooden bridge's lifespan tenfold, to nearly a century-made even more sense. While the existence of covered bridges can be traced back almost 3,000 years to ancient Babylon, they reached their architectural apex, and surely their greatest numbers, in 19th century North America. In Quebec alone, over a thousand covered bridges were built during the century and a half they were in vogue. But by the 1950s, stronger building materials had been developed, making it no longer necessary for builders to cover bridges in order to extend their lives and ensure that construction of new spans would be a worthy investment. Residents of towns with covered bridges were suddenly embarrassed by them, thinking the wooden structures evidence of backwardness compared to the modern steel bridges of which neighbouring towns could boast. Many bridges were demolished in the decades between when they stopped being built and the time, not so long ago, that people began to realize how special the remaining covered bridges were, and actively moved to preserve them. After that morning in Lancaster County, I began researching covered bridges, and found that there were nearly 100 still standing in the province of Quebec. I resolved that at the first opportunity I would head into the countryside to see some of them. With only minimal coaxing, I convinced two friends, Sam and Jack, to join me for a recent Sunday drive. Neither had any prior experience with covered bridges, but both are enthusiastic and willing to thoroughly immerse themselves in new things. I did sense some initial skepticism about my new obsession, though, so my friends proved an interesting experiment for observing how excitement steadily begins to grow in a bridge-hunting initiate. So how do you find Quebec's covered bridges? It's surprisingly easy. My new favourite website, www.coveredbridgemap.com, imposes the locations of Quebec's surviving ponts couverts on Google maps; by zooming in closely, you can carefully trace a route from bridge to bridge and back home. I drew up a short plan of action, including whatever historical and expository information I could find online for each of the bridges, and had Sam, acting as navigator in the passenger seat, read the directions as we went along. After getting slightly lost in Notre-Dame-de-Stanbridge, we rounded the last curve on a small dirt road and, to whoops and hollers (disproportionately mine, I admit), finally pulled up to examine our first bridge. Sam read from a brief history of the town and the bridge that I'd pulled off a local website. Built in 1884, the Des Rivières Covered B ridge is painted barn-red, the typical uniform for most North American spans. The interior is dark, all wood, weak light shining thinly through cracks in the walls and from the far end, like a short tunnel. The floor of the bridge consists of dusty wooden slats, some more stable than others, with noticeable grooves from one entrance of the bridge to the other, where vehicles have worn down the wood over the last century. Small spare boards thrust into spaces where the wall beams fall just short of their intended marks makes the construction feel spontaneous. Through a small cut-out window in one of the walls, you can watch the stream humming along, dipping below some willow trees on the bank, and disappearing from view - precisely what you would have seen in the same spot more than 125 years ago. We returned to the car, opened some lawn chairs from my trunk, and enjoyed thick slices of mango in the sun. Inside one of the next bridges we saw, someone had spray-painted in orange block letters: "VIVE L'AMOUR!" However vandalous, such an inscription is appropriate enough: another name for a covered bridge is a "kissing bridge," because young couples back in the day used the darkness of the bridge to cloak whatever heinous things young couples used to do. Even today, the dark interiors of most covered bridges continue to host the conjoined signatures of lovers past. I should probably admit that there's a bridge somewhere in Lancaster County sporting a careful engraving from my own set of Honda keys. The last stop on our route, the Balthazar Bridge in Brigham Township, was, as Jack declared, "the finale." Built in 1932, it spans a section of the Yamaska River that features a brief section of Class 3 rapids, as we learned from a group of kayakers who had just arrived from somewhere upstream. We stood on the bank throwing large sticks into the current, admiring how the water flowed smoothly over the rocks before forking around a small island and disappearing around the bend. Quebec's covered bridges, unlike New York's, don't have signs that say you can be fined $1 for driving over the bridge faster than a walk, but the idea, I think, is implicit. Ready to return to Montreal, I slowly coaxed my car over the precarious wooden slats and onto the other side, where, along the riverbank, a dozen cows sat fatly in the grass, mooing and chewing in the shade. "Oh shit, oh my God, oh shit!" So a woman cries-literally, cries-in a video that has circulated around the Internet in recent weeks, showing the collapse of her beloved Bartonsville Covered Bridge in Vermont into the raging waters of the Williams River below. The video is really sad: a few locals stand around in Hurricane Irene's fierce rains, watching the bridge-as if at the deathbed of an old friend, as if by standing guard they might prevent the inevitable. Suddenly, the bridge, built in 1870 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, crumbles into the water and is promptly swept away. While efforts have already been launched to eventually restore the Bartonsville to its proper place and glory, another YouTube video, showing the crumpled-up remains of the bridge where it washed up downstream, makes success seem unlikely. But maybe it's not even so obvious that covered bridges should be preserved at all. "Preservation is transformation," notes Roger McCain, a professor at Drexel University who has done some academic work on the economics of historical preservation, and runs an amateur website on covered bridges. If a bridge still exists with only a fraction of its original wood, is it still the same bridge? McCain believes that sometimes it doesn't even matter. "If you want to preserve something that's attractive and picturesque and lends distinction to your community, because it's either been there for a long or there once was something very much like that was there for a long time, then it makes perfectly good sense to maintain them," he says. Covered bridges can be pleasing to look at even if their historic aura is only a façade. Unfortunately, President Barack Obama has chosen this inauspicious year to "consolidate" 55 highway- and bridge-related programs in the U.S. Department of Transportation into just five stream-lined categories. That means that projects previously funded by the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program will now have to compete for funds against other, admittedly more forward-looking projects under the department's new "Livability" goal. Other programs folded into this awkward category include "Recreational Trails" and "Safe Routes to School." The question begs itself: what politician would vote to divert funds from that latter program to maintain a covered bridge only a few romantics care about? Imagine the TV ad: "Barack Obama wants America's schoolchildren to plunge helplessly off cliffs. Is that change Virginia can believe in?" All the same, Professor McCain believes the impact of the federal preservation program being cut won't be nearly as destructive to the bridges as the recent floods. Besides, he says, it's really a decision local communities will have to make on their own. "A little federal money might encourage a local community to do more than they would do otherwise," he said. "But federal involvement in local issues is always political, and we can't make the whole world a museum." Sam, Jack, and I managed to get slightly lost again trying to find the highway, and were all late for various appointments we had in Montreal later in the afternoon. That didn't really matter. A day out in the country left us refreshed and fortified against whatever aggravations big-city life always promises to have in store. Perhaps even more than finding the bridges themselves, the joy, as ever, was in the hunt. Navigating unknown terrain, meeting unknown characters, turning one another on to good songs and interesting clouds - we agreed that while looking for covered bridges isn't necessarily the only way to see Quebec's countryside, it's as good an excuse as any to get out of the city on a beautiful autumn afternoon. Theoretically, you can just decide to go for an aimless drive in the country on a Sunday afternoon, but realistically, you never will. There's nothing specifically profound about the points on that map of covered bridges in Quebec. It's all about the connections you make in between.</s>Istanbul to inaugurate third bridge linking Europe with Asia ISTANBUL (AP) — Istanbul is inaugurating the third bridge spanning the Bosphorus Strait dividing the continents of Europe and Asia, in a ceremony to be attended by Turkish leadership and representatives of several nations. The Yavuz Sultan Selim, which runs from the Garipce area on Istanbul’s European side to the region of Poyrazkoy on the Asian side, is the third bridge to span the Bosphorus Strait and can withstand winds of 300 km an hour. The ceremony will also be attended by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President Mustafa Akinci, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov as well as other senior officials from Pakistan, Georgia and Serbia. According to Turkish officials, it is estimated that the “longest suspension bridge to have a railway system” in the world will save $1.75 billion annually in terms of cutting travel times and reducing energy costs. The government guarantees the firms will receive, as a minimum, the toll income from 135,000 cars a day, though the actual number expected to use the bridge is expected to be higher. The bridge is 1.4 kilometers (0.9 mile) long, 59 meters wide and boasts eight road lanes as well as two rail lines.

Turkey opens the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge in Istanbul, one of the world's biggest suspension bridges.

Singapore shrouded in smog as haze returns to SE Asia SINGAPORE -- Acrid smog blanketed Singapore Friday as the city-state was hit by the year's first major outbreak of haze, an annual crisis sparked by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia. Singapore's air quality deteriorated to unhealthy levels on Friday as winds blew smoke from fires on Sumatra, where millions of people are already affected by haze, across the city-state and into southern Malaysia. Last year's haze outbreak was among the worst in memory, shrouding Malaysia, Singapore, and parts of Thailand in acrid smoke. The blazes are started illegally to clear land, typically for palm oil and pulpwood plantations, and Indonesia has faced intense criticism from its neighbours over its failure to halt the annual smog outbreaks. National police chief Tito Karnavian said Friday that 85 people have been arrested this year for starting fires. Its environment agency doesn't give a health warning with the limited duration index, but on a 24-hour basis it says levels above 100 are unhealthy and above 200 very unhealthy. PSI levels above 100 are deemed unhealthy and people are advised to reduce vigorous outdoor activity. Singapore last September closed schools and distributed protective face masks as the air pollution index soared to hazardous levels following three weeks of being cloaked in smoke from Indonesia's nearby Sumatra island. Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said on its website that the number of "hotspots" on Sumatra -– which sits across the Malacca Strait from Singapore -– had increased in the past 48 hours. However there were far fewer fires than at the peak of last year’s crisis, when hundreds burned out of control.</s>SINGAPORE/JAKARTA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Air pollution in Singapore rose to the "unhealthy" level on Friday as acrid smoke drifted over the island from fires on Indonesia's Sumatra island, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said. Every dry season, smoke from fires set to clear land for palm oil and pulp and paper plantations in Indonesia clouds the skies over much of the region, raising concern about public health and worrying tourist operators and airlines. The 24-hour Pollution Standards Index (PSI), which Singapore's NEA uses as a benchmark, rose as high as 105 in the afternoon. A level above 100 is considered "unhealthy". The NEA said it planned a "daily haze advisory" as "a burning smell and slight haze were experienced over many areas" in Singapore. Indonesia has been criticised by its northern neighbours and green groups for failing to end the annual fires, which were estimated to cost Southeast Asia's largest economy $16 billion in 2015, and left more than half a million Indonesians suffering from respiratory ailments. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has increased government efforts to tackle the haze, with police doubling numbers of fire-related arrests this year. "Forest and land fires in the Riau area are increasing," Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Nugroho said in a statement on Friday, referring to aerial surveillance of 67 hotspots and smoke from the area drifting eastward over Singapore. "The smoke billowing from the hotspot locations is quite dense," Nugroho said, adding that 7,200 personnel and several aircraft had been deployed to stop the Riau fires. Pollution levels in neighbouring Malaysia were normal on Friday. Singapore has pushed Indonesia for information on companies suspected of causing pollution, some of which are listed on Singapore's stock exchange. A forest campaigner for the environmental group Greenpeace Indonesia, Yuyun Indradi, said the government was struggling to enforce laws to prevent the drainage of peatland for plantations and the setting of fires to clear land. "It has become a challenge for the government to enforce accountability among concession holders, to enforce its directives on blocking canals, and push companies to take part in efforts to restore peatland and prevent fires," Indradi said. "Now is the time for the government to answer this challenge. It is in the law." Greenpeace said, according to its satellite information, there were 138 fires across Indonesia on Friday. (Reporting by Marius Zaharia and Fathin Ungku in SINGAPORE and Fergus Jensen in JAKARTA; Editing by Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie)

Fires in Indonesia burn and blow smoke into Singapore, engulfing the city-state into darkness.

An explosion at a sports center in the southern Belgian town of Chimay early on Friday killed one person and wounded four others, two of them seriously, Belgium's Crisis Center said. "It is probably a gas explosion," an official at the agency told Reuters, adding that there was no indication of it being a militant attack. Local media reported the blast occurred just after midnight local time, 6 p.m. ET, at a sports center known as Le Chalon in Chimay, close to the French border, when five people were still inside the building. Part of the building was destroyed. Belgium and France, along with the rest of Europe, have been on high alert after ISIS-attacks in Paris and Brussels over the past year.</s>CHIMAY, Belgium (AP) - One person was killed and at least four were injured in Belgium in an accidental explosion at a sports center near the French border. Chimay police chief Pierre Maton said early on Friday that the blast was most likely “a gas explosion,” but an investigation into the cause was ongoing. The blast happened shortly after midnight at a complex known as Le Chalon in the southern municipality of Chimay, on the border with France. Several dozen police and firefighters attended the scene and the area had been cordoned off, but the damage was not as serious as initially feared. Windows were blown out of the two-storey building and one corner of the structure was badly damaged, but there was no major collapse. Firefighters were on the scene early Friday morning clearing the rubble and securing the building. Police said they believed they have retrieved all the people from the rubble. Chimay has a population of about 10,000 and is known for one of Belgium's most famous breweries.

An explosion at a sports centre in the Belgian town of Chimay kills one person and injures another four. A gas explosion is suspected to be the cause.

(CNN) The scale of damage from Wednesday's earthquake that shook central Italy is becoming clearer as rescue workers continue to dig through rubble to find survivors. Hide Caption 33 of 50 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Residents take in the damage in Amatrice. Here's a look at the devastation by the numbers: 250: Latest death toll, which is expected to rise It's hard to quantify exactly how many people are still missing or hurt, as many remote towns attract seasonal visitors. In a first raft of emergency relief measures, Renzi cancelled residents’ taxes in and around the hardest-hit towns of Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto, between 60 and 90 miles (95-145km) north-east of Rome. A photo posted by Lauren Moorhouse (@lomoorhouse) on Aug 26, 2016 at 3:08am PDT Giampiero Antonetti of the civil protection agency in the Abruzzo region said that teams were trying to relocate people out of the camps as the weather in the mountainous area cools. In May 2012, a pair of temblors killed dozens of people in northern Italy, while in April 2009, a magnitude-6.3 earthquake hit in the central L'Aquila region, leaving more than 300 people dead.</s>PESCARA DEL TRONTO, Italy, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Hopes of finding more survivors faded on Friday three days after a powerful earthquake hit central Italy, with the death toll rising to 267 and the rescue operation in some of the stricken areas called off. Three days after the quake struck the mountainous heart of the country, sniffer dogs and emergency crews continued to scour the town of Amatrice, which was levelled in the disaster, but there was no sign of life beneath the debris. Mayor Sergio Pirozzi said around 15 people, including some children and the local baker, had not been accounted for. "Only a miracle can bring our friends back alive from the rubble, but we are still digging because many are missing," town mayor Sergio Pirozzi told reporters, saying, around 15 people, including some children, had not been accounted for. But in nearby villages, such as Pescara del Tronto, rescuers pulled out after all the missing had been accounted for. READ MORE: * Why Italy's earthquake was like Christchurch * Hamilton kindy teacher loses family in Italy earthquake * 'Voices under the rubble' as Italy searches for survivors * New Zealanders in Italy share experiences of earthquake * Drone captures extent of damage in quake-hit Italian town Italy plans to hold a state funeral for around 40 of the victims on Saturday, which will be held in the nearby city of Ascoli Piceno. A day of national mourning was announced, with flags due to fly at half mast around the country for the dead, who include a number of foreigners. The civil protection department in Rome said nearly 400 people were being treated for injuries in hospitals, and 40 of them were in critical condition. An estimated 2,500 people were left homeless by the most deadly quake in Italy since 2009. Survivors with nowhere else to go are sleeping in neat rows of blue tents set up by emergency services close to their flattened communities. The government has promised to rebuild the region, but some local people feared that would never happen. "I'm afraid our village and others like it will just die. Most people don't live here year round anyway. In the winter time the towns are virtually empty," said Salvatore Petrucci, 77, who lived in the nearby small village of Trisunga. "There are still aftershocks preceded by booms and, for those of us who have just lived through an earthquake, it has a great effect, particularly psychologically," she said. More than 1,050 aftershocks have hit the area since the 6.2 magnitude quake early on Wednesday, bringing fresh damage to structures still standing. By Friday, most of the outlying communities were quiet and empty, buildings lying in crumpled mounds, the innards of private homes exposed to the skies and belongings scattered in the debris. "We have removed the last bodies that we knew about," said Paolo Cortelli, a member of the Alpine Rescue national service who helped to recover about 30 bodies from Pescara del Tronto. "We don't know, and we might never know, if the number of missing that we knew about actually corresponds to the people who were actually under the rubble." The foreigners who died in the disaster included six Romanians, a Spanish woman, a Canadian and an Albanian. The British embassy in Rome declined to comment on reports that three Britons, including a 14-year-old boy had died. The area is popular with holidaymakers and local authorities were struggling to pin down how many visitors were present when the quake hit. The Romanian Foreign Ministry said 17 Romanians were still missing. Italy has a large Romanian community, and some of the victims were residents in the country. The first funeral of a victim was held in Rome on Friday, for Marco Santarelli, the 28-year-old son of a senior state official, who died in the family's holiday home in Amatrice. "I cannot find the words to describe the grief of a father who outlives his own children. Perhaps there are no words," Marco's father, Filippo Santarelli, told Corriere della Sera newspaper. Hardly a single building was left unscathed in Amatrice, which was last year voted one of the most beautiful old towns in Italy and is famous for its local cuisine. "Amatrice will have to be razed to the ground," said mayor Pirozzi, who urged youngsters not to leave the area, saying that would mean the end of their community. "No night can last so long that the sun never rises again. I am convinced that Amatrice will rise again. We owe it to the (218) people who died here." Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has declared a state of emergency for the region, allowing the government to release an immediate 50 million euros (NZ$77.4 million) for the relief work. He has promised to rebuild the shattered homes and said he would also renew efforts to bolster Italy's flimsy defences against earthquakes that regularly batter the country. "We want those communities to have the chance of a future and not just memories," he told reporters in Rome on Thursday. Italy has a poor record of rebuilding after quakes. About 8,300 people who were forced to leave their homes after a deadly earthquake in L'Aquila in 2009 are still living in temporary accommodation. This latest disaster represents a major political challenge for Renzi, who has been in office for two years. Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was widely criticised for what was perceived to be a botched response to the L'Aquila calamity. Renzi called for national unity and declined to predict when the homeless might be rehoused. "This is not about setting challenges and making promises. We need the pace of a marathon runner," he said. Most of the buildings in the Amatrice area were built hundreds of years ago, long before any anti-seismic building norms were introduced, helping to explain the widespread destruction. Cultural Minister Dario Franceschini said all 293 culturally important sites, many of them churches, had either collapsed or been seriously damaged. Italy sits on two fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe. Almost 30 people died in earthquakes in northern Italy in 2012 while more than 300 died in the L'Aquila disaster.

A state of emergency is declared in Italy following several strong earthquakes.

ASCOLI PICENO, Italy (AP) — The Latest on the Italian earthquake (all times local): Italian authorities say the death toll in an Italian earthquake has risen yet again as bodies continued to be recovered and now stands at 290. Residents of an Italian region devastated by an earthquake were rattled by a series of aftershocks overnight, the strongest measuring 4.2, as Italy began a day of national mourning on Saturday.</s>The Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) confirms on Friday the death of yet other two Romanian nationals in the Italian earthquake, the death toll thus reaching eight. “According to the last information, the MAE regretfully announces that following the earthquake of 24 August in Italy, two other deaths of Romanian nationals were confirmed. The current number of the Romanians’ death toll in Italy tragedy is eight,” the MAE specifies. Considering the complexity of the necessary actions to manage the situation, out of the minister’s order a consular mobile team with the MAE Rapid Reaction Unit trained to intervene from the very debut of the tragedy will take off for Rome, urgently, on Saturday morning to back the mobile teams of the Romanian Embassy in Rome and of the General Consulate of Romania in Bologna, which are already on the spot, the source adds. As for the information regarding the missing Romanian citizens, the number under the MAE attention reaches 19. The attempts to identifying them are under way, as checking are permanently covered in coordination with the Italian competent authorities. The MAE reminds that the affected Romanians can request consular assistance by dialling: (0039) 06 835 233 58, (0039) 06 835 233 56 for the Romanian Embassy; and (0039) 051 5872120, (0039) 051 5872209 for the Consular Office in Bologna; calls will be redirected to the Call and Support Centre for Romanian Abroad (CCSCRS) and taken by call centre operators around the clock. The ministry also extends heartfelt condolence to the families of the Romanian citizens killed in this tragedy and continues to provide full assistance. The Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) confirms on Friday the death of yet other two Romanian nationals in the Italian earthquake, the death toll thus reaching eight. “According to the last information, the MAE regretfully announces that following the earthquake of 24 August in Italy, two other deaths of Romanian nationals were confirmed. The current number of the Romanians’ death toll in Italy tragedy is eight,” the MAE specifies. Considering the complexity of the necessary actions to manage the situation, out of the minister’s order a consular mobile team with the MAE Rapid Reaction Unit trained to intervene from the very debut of the tragedy will take off for Rome, urgently, on Saturday morning to back the mobile teams of the Romanian Embassy in Rome and of the General Consulate of Romania in Bologna, which are already on the spot, the source adds. As for the information regarding the missing Romanian citizens, the number under the MAE attention reaches 19. The attempts to identifying them are under way, as checking are permanently covered in coordination with the Italian competent authorities. The MAE reminds that the affected Romanians can request consular assistance by dialling: (0039) 06 835 233 58, (0039) 06 835 233 56 for the Romanian Embassy; and (0039) 051 5872120, (0039) 051 5872209 for the Consular Office in Bologna; calls will be redirected to the Call and Support Centre for Romanian Abroad (CCSCRS) and taken by call centre operators around the clock. The ministry also extends heartfelt condolence to the families of the Romanian citizens killed in this tragedy and continues to provide full assistance.

The official death toll rises to 278.

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivian Deputy Interior Minister Rodolfo Illanes was beaten to death after he was kidnapped by striking mine workers on Thursday, the government said, and up to 100 people have been arrested as authorities vowed to punish those responsible. “At this present time, all the indications are that our deputy minister Rodolfo Illanes has been brutally and cowardly assassinated,” minister of government Carlos Romero said in broadcast comments. Five people, including a leader representing miners, were arrested Friday in relation to the killing. Two workers were killed on Wednesday after being shot by police, and the government said 17 police officers had been wounded. The National Federation of Mining Cooperatives of Bolivia (Fencomin), once a strong ally of the leftwing president, Evo Morales, began what it said would be an indefinite protest after negotiations over mining legislation failed. Protesters have been demanding more mining concessions with less stringent environmental rules, the right to work for private companies, and greater union representation.</s>Striking miners in Bolivia armed with dynamite seized highways in a protest over mining laws and then kidnapped, possibly tortured and beat to death the county's deputy interior minister in a killing President Evo Morales characterized Friday as a "political conspiracy," officials say. Government Minister Carlos Romero called it a “cowardly and brutal killing” and asked that the miners turn over the body of his deputy, Rodolfo Illanes, who holds the formal title of vice minister of the interior regime. Deputy Minister Rodolfo Illanes, whose formal title is vice minister of the interior regime, had traveled Thursday to the scene of the violent protests in an effort to negotiate with the strikers who armed themselves with dynamite and seized several highways. Government Minister Carlos Romero on Thursday called it a “cowardly and brutal killing.” Earlier in the day, Romero had said that Illanes had been kidnapped and possibly tortured, but wasn’t able to confirm reports that he had been killed by the striking informal miners, who were demanding the right to associate with private companies, among other issues. The fatal beating follows the killings of two protesters in clashes with police, deaths that likely escalated tensions in the strike. Illanes had gone to Panduro, 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the La Paz, to open a dialogue with the striking miners, who have blockaded a highway there since Monday. Thousands of passengers and vehicles are stranded on roads blocked by the strikers. Officials say he was taken hostage by the miners on Thursday morning. At midday Thursday, Mr. Illanes said on his Twitter account, “My health is fine, my family can be calm.” There are reports the Mr. Illanes had heart problems. Bolivia’s informal or artisan miners number about 100,000 and work in self-managed cooperatives. They want to be able to associate with private companies, but are currently prohibited from doing so. The government argues that if they associate with multinational companies, they will no longer be cooperatives. The National Federation of Mining Cooperatives of Bolivia, strong allies of Morales when metal prices were high, was organized in the 1980s amid growing unemployment in the sector that followed the closure of state mines.

Bolivia's deputy interior minister, Rodolfo Illanes, is kidnapped and beaten to death by striking miners.

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said in an interview on Saturday that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives had “underestimated” the challenge of integrating a record migrant influx. Czech police arrested a man after he attempted to drive his black Mercedes into the motorcade of visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Prague. Police spokesperson said that the suspect did not stop his car despite warning. Local reports claim that officers found a baton, a canister of tear gas, cement blocks, and handcuffs in the man’s black 4x4 Mercedes. British media said that Merkel was on her way to Prime Minister’s house in Prague, when a suspected black car entered in her convoy.</s>Armed Czech police fired at a suspect driving a large SUV as it attempted to ram German Chancellor Angela Merkel's motorcade. Merkel was on a visit to Prague when the man tried to break through a security cordon forcing local police to act. Officers fired at the SUV which stopped. While searching the vehicle, officers recovered handcuffs, tear gas and concrete cubes, according to local media. A man attempted to attack the motorcade of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, pictured here with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, right, as she made her way between Prague's airport and the nation's parliament building as part of her one-day working visit Protesters were waiting yesterday outside the Czech parliament building to boo Merkel Merkel, right, held talks with Sobotka, left, during the one-day working visit to Prague The man was driving a black Mercedes SUV when he tried to attack. Police spokesman Jozef Bocan said: '[The man] attempted to join the motorcade as it moved between Prague airport and Czech government headquarters.' Bocan stressed that at no stage had Chancellor Merkel been in any danger. He said: 'While attempting to join the motorcade, he tried to run down police securing the road. The suspect acted alone. He was not armed, but items found in the car could easily have been used as weapons, particularly some cement cubes.' At the same time, protesters held highly offensive banners featuring the German chancellor Merkel spoke with Czech officials about Britain's decision to leave the European Union Bocan revealed officers had been forced to open fire to subdue the suspect who is now under arrest. Merkel held talks Thursday with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and President Milos Zeman focused on the future of the European Union after Britain's June decision to leave the bloc.

An assassination attempt against Angela Merkel is foiled by Czech police.

When he was campaigning in the President election, naive and ignorant media around the world were competing in tarnishing has image In their wrong prophecy, Rodrigo Duterte was not going to win. There had been dozens of ill-motivated propaganda against him. But we, in Weekly Blitz never got puzzled or misled at all. We knew, patriotic and peace-loving people of Philippine will definitely vote for Mr. Duterte. Because they were tired of the chaotic and corruption plagued democracy. They were tired of bandits like Ferdinand Marcos and his Successors. Filipinos were tired of rampant corruption of politicians, civil servants and members of law enforcement agencies. They were tired of massive spread of narcotics and drugs, which were destroying the society, especially younger generation. Filipinos knew how the local casinos were becoming safe haven of illegal money. How millions and billions of black money were entering Philippines, while the poor were becoming poorer. jobless people were almost compelled in joining drug rackets just for the sake of earning few Pesos for survival. Even bank executives like Maia Santos Deguito had to join hands with international money thieves, may be for a better or ‘comfortable’ future. We do think, Maia Deguito is just a small fry in the stealing of USD 81 million from Bangladesh Bank. There are big fishes inside the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation and casinos in Philippine. We strongly believe, more ‘cats’ will be out of the bag soon. Special thanks to The Inquirer newspaper for exposing this story. People ask, will President Rodrigo Duterte be the Mahathir Mohamad of Philippine? With confidence we can say- yes he will be. We also hope, the communist guerrillas will sit for a peaceful settlement as insurgencies won’t bring anything good to them. They should look into the world history to know insurgencies of LTTE (in Sri Lanka) or IRA (in Ireland) had to finally get defeated and eliminated. If communist guerrillas think they have path of destruction and terror and help President Duterte in transforming Philippine as the land of prosperity, peace and smile. President Duterte’s noble battle against corruption, drug & crime is no easy task. Because those evil forces might have used a part of their evil money in buying politicians, rights groups, media and civil-military administration. They have ‘lobbyists’ in various countries in the West, who would try portraying Mr. Duterte’s good battle and noble efforts as ‘cruel’, ‘inhuman’ or they may continue propaganda claiming human rights are being violated in today’s Philippines. They may hire media to show pictures of spouses of drug peddlers crying on the street hugging dead body. But, of course, there are media who wont be purchased and they will support president Rodrigo Duterte and his noble mission. The Philippine authorities need as much information they can as to how drugs (such as ice pill, yaba or meth) are entering the country. Through which route and methods. They also need information on corrupt individuals and trails of their wealth. Weekly Blitz, as an investigative newspaper will continue to look for such information through its contacts around the world and will publish. We call upon everyone to send us information on corruption, black money, drugs, terrorists, militants etc. We always shall keep our sources undisclosed. We also welcome scoops, data and documents from Wikileaks, IFIJ and everyone else around the world. Blitz, as a newspaper shall continue to support genuine statesman and courageous leaders like President Rodrigo Duterte and other. Keep eyes on Weekly Blitz for unbiased, unmolested and exclusive reports and analysis. Please LIKE us @ Facebook and Twitter.</s>Photo by Editha Caduaya/ Rappler DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Abu Sayyaf group has received a P50-million ransom payment for its Norwegian hostage, Kjartan Sekkingstad, but the group has not yet released him as it reportedly wants to get even "more" money, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday, August 25.

Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte unintentionally reveals that a US$1 million ransom was given to the Abu Sayyaf terror group in exchange for a Norwegian hostage.

“This trial and this process has been exhausted beyond any conceivable exhaustive process.” During sentencing hearings in June, a clinical psychologist called as a defence witness told the court in Pretoria that Pistorius was “a broken man”. The multiple gold medal-winning Paralympian, serving six years for murdering his girlfriend on Valentine's Day 2013, was not in court on Friday when the judge ruled that the state's petition had no reasonable prospects of success on appeal. Judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced the Paralympic gold medallist to six years behind bars in July for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013, but the prosecution had said the decision was "shockingly lenient". Thokozile Masipa -- the same judge who imposed the punishment on the Paralympic athlete last month -- said she was not persuaded there was a "reasonable prospect of success on appeal". Roux argued that Pistorius had been sentenced to an effective eight-year jail term if one considered the year Pistorius spent in prison for the culpable homicide conviction and time spent under correctional supervision from October last year until July this year when he was sentenced again for the murder conviction. "Any party who has to apply to the trial judge for permission to appeal and is unsuccessful, the option is open for them to petition the Supreme Court of Appeal," said Stephan Terblanche, a law professor at the University of South Africa. "His remorse and or prospects of rehabilitating could not be tested," Nel argued before Masipa's ruling, referring to Pistorius' decision not to testify at the sentencing hearings. Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, by firing four bullets from a handgun through a closed toilet door in his luxury home in Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative capital, on Valentine’s Day in 2013.</s>A legal challenge to Oscar Pistorius’s ‘shockingly too lenient’ six-year jail term for murdering Reeva Steenkamp was today rejected for having ‘no reasonable prospects of success’. A Pistorius family source greeted the news ‘with great relief’ and welcomed the judge’s ‘humanity’ after accusing prosecutors of having ‘a personal vendetta’ against the shamed athlete. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel spent almost an hour arguing against ‘the injustice’ of Pistorius’ prison sentence in the latest round of legal wrangling in pursuit of the runner, which was described as ‘ego driven and unprofessional’ by one of the Blade Runner’s relatives. Mr Nel told Judge Thokozile Masipa that she had misdirected herself in law by handing down a punishment that was less than half of South Africa’s prescribed minimum 15-year sentence for murder. The 29 year-old track star, who was treated for injuries to his wrists two weeks ago in what prison sources claimed was a self-harming incident in his cell, was not in court for the 80 minute hearing. Judge Masipa, who presided over the paralympian’s trial, took a little over an hour to decide that the state’s case was not worthy of referring to her superiors in South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal as there would be ‘little chance’ of senior judges arriving at a different punishment for Pistorius. A relative of the runner’s told MailOnline, ‘Judge Masipa is not a sissy, thank god. She can stand up to Nel. She knows the case, she knows the law. She is a serious legal mind and won’t be bullied into changing it.’ Although today’s result will bring some relief to Pistorius and his family, the state may still petition a higher court over the matter. Mr Nel, known as the ‘pitbull’ for his confrontational style of questioning witnesses, told the judge that he had found six ‘misdirections’ in her sentencing of Pistorius for the 2013 murder of Reeva, which resulted in a punishment that ‘induces a sense of shock.’ The prosecutor told the court that the judge had over-emphasised the athlete’s disability, sense of vulnerability and given undue weight to his expression of remorse and led to a ‘disturbingly disproportionate’ punishment. ‘The court failed to take into account that the accused fired four shots through the door and he never offered an acceptable explanation for having done so,’ Mr Nel told the hearing, adding, ‘there was a massive chasm between regret and remorse’. Mr Nel told proceedings that the judge had ignored a string of aggravating factors about the murder of ‘an innocent, defenceless woman’. He said the court should have started at the minimum murder sentence of 15 years when considering its punishment of Pistorius. ‘This induces a state of shock,’ he told the court, bluntly. ‘The deceased died in a horrendous way. That is what bothers Mr Steenkamp [her father].’ Mr Nel concluded his 55 minute argument by stating that Pistorius’ punishment had to be challenged as it set a dangerous precedent for future murder cases. Neither family was in court for the hearing. Reeva’s uncle, Mike Steenkamp, said he was ‘not surprised’ at the judge’s ruling. 'It would be impossible for the judge to allow this to back again to the appeal court. I think Barry and June are resigned to the fact that this is the end of the road in this case. 'We didnt think that it had much chance of success from the start. But we have always gone along with whatever the state thought was the right thing to do. ‘The Reeva Steenkamp Foundation is now up and running and the family are just wanting to devote all our energies to that now, and leave this legal matter behind us. 'We move forward in Reeva’s memory and to do good things for other women, that’s what we need to be doing now, not this.’ Today’s hearing was the State’s second challenge of a ruling by Judge Masipa. It first appealed her finding that Pistorius was guilty of manslaughter, for which she sentenced him for five years in jail. Last year, the judge’s manslaughter verdict was overturned on appeal – but when Pistorius appeared again in her court for sentencing for the more serious crime, Judge Masipa increased his term by just one more year. A family source told MailOnline the athlete was ‘anxious’ about the proceedings, and was convinced Mr Nel was motivated by a personal grudge against him. ‘It’s a personal thing, a vendetta, Nel is driven by his ego, it’s not right or professional the way that he keeps coming back to this again and again. It clearly has to be personal now, ‘ he said. Barry Roux, Pistorius’ defence lawyer, echoed the family’s sentiments when arguing against the application to appeal, telling the court ‘enough is enough’. ‘I see a lot of prejudice against the accused coming from the state,’ Mr Roux said firmly, glancing at his opponent across the High Court in Pretoria. He said the state’s application was an ‘insult’ to the court the state, and their argument did not justify using his client as ‘a ping pong ball’ being sent back and forth between the court houses of South Africa. Prosecutors had an attitude of ‘punish him, punish him, punish him’ towards Pistorius, the sprinter’s lawyer said. ‘This case has been exhausted beyond the point of exhaustion,’ Mr Roux said, asserting that a higher court would not ‘come to a different finding’ on punishment for his client. South Africa’s City Press newspaper reported earlier this month that Pistorius had been put on suicide watch following an incident in his cell which had left him needing hospital treatment for injuries to his wrists. Prison officials told City Press newspaper that the athlete was under 24-hour monitoring, with increased cell visits by warders. Pistorius’ brother Carl denied it was a suicide bid, as sources had claimed. The incident coincided with the first day of competition in the Rio Olympic Games, almost three weeks ago. Inside sources told the paper that razor blades were found in the disgraced athlete's cell, and that his wrist injuries, described as 'severe', were self-inflicted. The double-amputee, who is being held at the Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria, had told prison officials he sustained the injuries sliding on his wet cell floor, while moving around on his stumps. According to the newspaper, the injury occurred soon after he had an altercation with prison officials over medication prescribed by state doctors. The Paralympian had refused to take the medication, saying it was 'toxic' and demanded to be given medication prescribed by his private doctor. He alleged that the prison official wanted to kill him and demanded to be transferred to another jail. Warders also raided his cell and found a pair a scissors, prescription drugs and 'toxic pills'. The National Prosecuting Authority said after the judgment, which surprised many legal observers, that it was ‘considering the options’ left available to take the matter further.

The Johannesburg High Court rejects an appeal against the sentencing of Oscar Pistorius.

A man wears a placard with the message, "Burkini = Liberty" outside the Conseil d'Etat after France's highest administrative court suspended a ban on full-body burkini swimsuits that has outraged Muslims and opened divisions within the government, pending a definitive ruling, in Paris, France, August 26, 2016. While rulings by the Council of State do set precedents, several mayors said they would not suspend their own bans and rights groups said they would bring them to courts, meaning more lawsuits are expected. Divisions have emerged in President Francois Hollande’s government over the bans, and protests have been held in London and Berlin by those defending women’s right to wear what they want on the beach. Anger over the issue was further inflamed this week when photographs in the British media showed police surrounding a woman in a headscarf on a beach in Nice as she removed a long-sleeved top.</s>(CNN) Mayors do not have the right to ban burkinis, France's highest administrative court ruled Friday. The Council of State's ruling suspends a ban in the town of Villeneuve-Loubet, near Nice, and could affect cities around the country that have prohibited the full-length swimsuit. More than 30 French towns have banned burkinis , which cover the whole body except for the face, hands and feet. Officials say the ban on the burkini -- worn mostly by Muslim women -- was a response to growing terror concerns Human rights activists argue that such measures are illegal, and that pushes to outlaw the garment are Islamophobic. Authorities in Nice say the officers were simply exercising their duties. Deputy Mayor Christian Estrosi denounced the photos, saying they put the officers in danger. "I condemn these unacceptable provocations," he said. In London, demonstrators created a makeshift beach Thursday outside the French Embassy for a "Wear what you want beach party." Jenny Dawkins, a Church of England priest, told CNN she joined the protest after seeing a photo of the incident in Nice. "I think it's a frightening image," she said. "I find it quite chilling to see an image of a woman surrounded by men with guns being told to take her clothes off." In April 2011, France became the first European country to ban wearing in public the burqa, a full-body covering that includes a mesh over the face, and the niqab, a full-face veil with an opening for the eyes. And much like the recent burkini bans, opinion in the country is divided between those who see the laws as an infringement on religious freedom, and those who view the Islamic dress as inconsistent with France's rigorously enforced secularism.

The France Conseil d'État suspends Villeneuve-Loubet commune's ban on full-body burkini swimsuits.

Zimbabwe's opposition supporters set up a burning barricade as they clash with police during a protest for electoral reforms in Harare on August 26, 2016. By Wilfred Kajese (AFP) Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Friday warned that the Arab Spring style of protests would fall flat in Zimbabwe after police fired teargas and beat up protesters staging the latest of a string of highly charged demonstrations. The violence came a day after a High Court judge had ordered police "not to interfere (with), obstruct or stop the march". Dozens of police blocked off the site of an opposition rally to demand electoral reforms before 2018 when 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled the southern African country for decades, will seek re-election. An AFP correspondent saw armed police firing tear gas and water cannon at protesters gathered on the fringes of Harare's central business district while waiting for the court ruling to allow the march to go ahead. The protesters responded to the clampdown by throwing stones at the police while some set tyres ablaze and others pulled down the sign for a street named after Mugabe. Some people caught up in the melee, including children going to an agricultural show nearby, ran for shelter in the magistrate's court building while riot police pursued the demonstrators and threatened journalists covering the rally. The usually bustling pavements were clear of street hawkers while some shops were shut and stones, sticks and burning tyres were strewn across the streets. The opposition protesters also clashed with supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party who had refused to clear their street stalls. The ZANU-PF youths hurled stones at the opposition activists but were overpowered and their market stalls were set on fire. High court judge Hlekani Mwayera ordered the police and government "not to interfere, obstruct or stop the march" organised by 18 opposition parties including the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai and the Zimbabwe People First formed this year by former vice president Joice Mujuru. Opposition leaders gave a news conference where they condemned the brutal repression of the protest and vowed to increase pressure on Mugabe's regime. "If that was meant to cow us from demonstrating, I want to say we are going to do the same next week Friday," former Mugabe ally and ex-cabinet minister Didymus Mutasa told reporters. Protests "will continue until the day we vote," said Mutasa, a former top member of ZANU-PF who is now a senior member of Mujuru's party. "We have had enough of ZANU-PF misrule." Tsvangirai said the public would not be easily calmed. "The people's anger is very deep. Authorities said the had arrested 67 people, and lawyers said one of them was a journalist. "Today's brutal suppression of the people will not stop them from exercising their rights." Tsvangirai said the regime was in its "sunset hour", warning that efforts to suppress the protests would backfire. "Citizens are like a spring: the more they are suppressed, the greater the rebound," he said. Charles Laurie, an analyst with Verisk Maplecroft in London, agreed that the government was on the verge of losing control. "The government is nearing a tipping point in its ability to control a population long used to violence and hardship, and who now have little to lose in putting themselves at risk in forcing political concessions," he told AFP. The move to seek court backing came a day after police violently put down another march by opposition youths, firing tear gas and water cannon and beating them as they staged a protest against police brutality. Police had tried to "discourage" Friday's march, saying the anticipated crowd of around 150,000 would disrupt business and traffic. Several foreign diplomatic missions based in Harare called on the authorities to ensure that basic human rights and freedoms are respected during policing. The Australian embassy issued a statement expressing concern over the recent unrest, saying the use of violence was "not acceptable under any circumstance." And the Canadian embassy also said it was "increasingly concerned with reports of violence and human rights violations in response to public protest" while the Australian mission said the use of violence was "not acceptable under any circumstance". Former cabinet minister Didymus Mutasa, spokesman for the National Electoral Reform Agenda which groups political parties pushing for the reforms, said the march was to demand free and fair elections. Zimbabwe's last elections in 2013 were won by Mugabe in a vote the opposition said was rigged. Home Affairs Minister Ignatious Chombo warned on Thursday that the government would clamp down heavily on what it termed "Western-sponsored" protests seeking "regime change". Zimbabwe has seen a mounting tide of violent protests in recent weeks, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980. Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, has overseen an economic collapse that has caused food and cash shortages, with the country battling to pay public servants.</s>

Police and protesters clash in Harare after a court ruled that protests against Robert Mugabe can continue.

Dark matter accounts for almost 85 percent mass of the observable universe and yet, we have never actually found the stuff outside of theories that prove it must exist. Even the visible disk of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, is believed to exist within a roughly spherical halo of dark matter that accounts for about 90 percent of the galaxy. In their search for the pervasive-yet-elusive particles of dark matter, astronomers have tried to find galaxies with much higher concentrations of the mysterious substance — it does not interact with visible matter at all, except through gravity, which is how scientists can theorize its existence. And while galaxies believed to be made up almost entirely of dark matter have been discovered before, they are usually quite small, such as VIRGOHI21 — about 50 million light-years away, it appears to contain no visible stars, has 99.9 percent dark matter and is about 10th the size of Milky Way. But now, a team of astronomers has found a galaxy that is comparable in size to ours but with a similar proportion of dark matter as VIRGOHI21. Named Dragonfly 44, it is about 300 million light-years away in the Coma constellation with an estimated mass of about 1 trillion times that of the sun. The discovery was made by astronomers from universities in the U.S. and Canada, who used the W.M. Keck Observatory and Gemini North telescope — both in Hawaii — for their observations. A paper, titled “A High Stellar Velocity Dispersion and ~100 Globular Clusters for the Ultra Diffuse Galaxy Dragonfly 44,” describing their findings was published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters on Thursday. Pieter van Dokkum, an astronomer at Yale University and lead author of the paper, said in a statement: “Very soon after its discovery, we realized this galaxy had to be more than meets the eye. It has so few stars that it would quickly be ripped apart unless something was holding it together.” The researchers measured the velocities of stars in Dragonfly 44 using data from Keck over six nights. “Star velocities are an indication of the galaxy’s mass ... The faster the stars move, the more mass its galaxy will have,” according to the statement. The stars in Dragonfly 44 were observed to be moving much faster than was expected for a galaxy of its brightness, or rather, its lack of brightness. Roberto Abraham of the University of Toronto, co-author of the paper, said: “It means that Dragonfly 44 has a huge amount of unseen mass.” Observations from the Gemini North telescope showed that Dragonfly 44 has “a halo of spherical clusters of stars around the galaxy’s core, similar to the halo that surrounds our Milky Way galaxy.” Abraham said the team had no idea how galaxies like this could have formed. “The Gemini data show that a relatively large fraction of the stars is in the form of very compact clusters, and that is probably an important clue. But at the moment we’re just guessing.”</s>But don't cue "Star Wars' " Imperial March theme music or Darth Vader breathing just yet (even if the closeup image looks like a slightly creepy emoji). Although it's massive and mysterious, Dragonfly 44 is really just misunderstood. Dragonfly 44 went unnoticed until last year because, when regarding the darkness of space, this galaxy resembles a virtually indistinguishable blob. But by looking at it with some of the world's most powerful telescopes, including the Dragonfly telescope array designed and built by study authors Pieter van Dokkum and Roberto Abraham, researchers realized something else. It is named for the telescope that found it. Dragonfly 44 is an incredibly large but diffuse and dim galaxy. Encircling its core is a halo made up of clusters of stars, much like what we see in the Milky Way. But this galaxy is only 0.1% stars. The Milky Way has more than a hundred times that. The researchers knew that something had to be holding those few stars in place. "We knew as soon as we discovered the galaxy that it would be so tenuous if it was just made up of stars and no dark matter, that it would quickly disrupt and disappear," said van Dokkum, lead study author and Yale University astronomer. A huge amount of gravity was working to hold those stars in place, and once researchers used star velocity to measure how much mass the galaxy contained, they realized that the other 99.9% is dark matter. To put this in perspective, Dragonfly 44 is comparable in size to the Milky Way, which is 100,000 light-years wide. Mostly it is just unseen because it is cloaked in darkness. "It's very exciting because we thought we had sort of figured out what the relationship is between galaxies and dark matter," van Dokkum said. "This discovery turns that on its head. Now, you can have a hundred times fewer stars in the galaxy with the same amount of dark matter as the Milky Way. That was entirely unexpected, and that means that there is something missing in our description of galaxy formations, and there are physics that we don't yet understand in that process." This newly observed galaxy could hold the secrets to understanding dark matter, the hypothesized ingredient that makes up 90% of the universe. Given the fact that we know next to nothing about it, this find could open the door to our discovery and understanding of the mysterious building block. "One of the things we are after are finding galaxies like this that are even closer to us, ideally 30 or 50 million light-years away so we could study them in detail," van Dokkum said. "We could be looking for the dark matter particle itself. Currently, people are looking at tiny dwarf galaxies that circle the Milky Way to search for the dark matter particle with X-ray and UV telescopes, but nothing has been found yet. These galaxies are a million times more massive, so we have a higher chance of detecting a dark matter signal if we find one close enough to us. "But dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in science. We don't even know if it is a particle or not. It's a bunch of steps from where we are now. For us, it's finding the best candidates. It would be incredibly exciting if it helps the search in that way." The invention and building of the Dragonfly telescope came out of a dinner conversation between the two men, that led to a bet in 2011. It has grown from one lens in a parking lot to an array of 48 lenses with a coating that enables them to do special imaging of these faint galaxies. Abraham, a professor of astronomy at the University of Toronto, is credited with putting the telescope together. Van Dokkum also has a background in photography, which enabled him to help with selecting the lenses. As it happens, in his spare time, he uses his photography skills to capture images of the underappreciated dragonfly. He calls it a "strange confluence of work and hobby," considering the name of the galaxy and telescope. See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter. Using their Dragonfly telescope, van Dokkum and Abraham will continue their research by surveying a random large batch of the sky rather than targeting of particular galaxies or groups of galaxies, as they had been doing. "We built this telescope to try to uncover what's out there," van Dokkum said. "What other things have we missed that are right above us?"

A newly-discovered galaxy known as Dragonfly 44 appears to be made up mostly of dark matter.

Aug 28 (Gracenote) - Results and standings from the Paraguayan championship matches on Sunday Saturday, August 27 Guarani 1 General Diaz 0 Rubio Nu 0 Nacional A. 0 Standings P W D L F A Pts 1 Guarani 9 6 1 2 8 6 19 ------------------------- 2 Olimpia 8 5 3 0 13 4 18 3 Sol de America 7 4 1 2 14 9 13 4 Sportivo Luqueno 8 3 3 2 9 9 12 5 Libertad 8 3 2 3 10 9 11 6 Deportivo Capiata 8 3 2 3 7 12 11 7 Cerro Porteno 8 2 3 3 14 11 9 8 Rubio Nu 8 2 3 3 8 8 9 9 General Diaz 9 2 3 4 7 9 9 10 General Caballero 8 1 5 2 7 8 8 11 Nacional A. 9 1 3 5 10 16 6 12 River Plate 8 1 3 4 6 12 6 1: Copa Libertadores Next Fixtures (GMT): Sunday, August 28 Olimpia v Libertad (2110) River Plate v Cerro Porteno (2320) Monday, August 29 General Caballero v Sol de America (2230) Tuesday, August 30 Sportivo Luqueno v Deportivo Capiata (0030)</s>The government said it is investigating the attack, which took place in a rural part of Concepcion, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of capital Asuncion, in an area where the EPP is known to operate. Because of the manner in which it was done, we believe it was an attack by the known criminal group EPP,” he said, using the Spanish acronym for the Paraguayan People’s Army.

At least eight Paraguayan Army soldiers are killed in an ambush by suspected Paraguayan People's Army (EPP) insurgents, near the village of Arroyito, in northern Paraguay.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Kurdish militant suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden truck into a checkpoint near a police station in southeast Turkey on Friday, killing at least 11 police officers and wounding 78 other people, the prime minister said. The attack struck the checkpoint 50 yards from a main police station near the town of Cizre, in the mainly-Kurdish Sirnak province that borders Syria, the Anadolu Agency reported. Rebels linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party claimed the attack -- the latest in a string of bombings by the group targeting police or military vehicles and facilities. In a statement on the website of the Workers' Party's military wing, the militant group said the Cizre attack was in retaliation for jailed Workers' Party leader Abdullah Ocalan's "isolation" on a prison island off Istanbul. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed the death toll, saying it was a suicide attack carried out with an explosives-laden truck. He vowed to "destroy the terrorists." "No terrorist organization can take the Turkish Republic hostage," he told reporters in Istanbul. "We will give these scoundrels every response they deserve." Television footage showed black smoke rising from the mangled truck and the three-story police station gutted from the explosion. The three-story police station was gutted from the powerful explosion. According to the Sirnak governor's office, three of those wounded in Friday's attack were civilians. The Health Ministry sent 12 ambulances and two helicopters to the site. Violence between the PKK and the security forces resumed last year, after the collapse of a fragile two-year peace process between the government and the militant group. Cizre was placed under 24-hour curfew for several weeks earlier this year, as the security forces launched operations to root out Kurdish militants. At the same time, Turkey has been afflicted by deadly attacks blamed on Islamic State militants, including a suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding in southeast Turkey last week that killed 54 people, and an attack on Istanbul's main airport in June that killed 44 people. The operation aims to help Syrian rebels retake Jarablus, a key Islamic State-held border town, and to contain the expansion of Syrian Kurdish militias linked to the Workers' Party. Since hostilities with the Workers' Party resumed last summer, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of Workers' Party militants have been killed, according to the Anadolu Agency. A Turkish human rights group said scores of civilians were killed in the operations. The Workers' Party is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its allies. The attacks on police come as the country is still reeling from a violent coup attempt on July 15 that killed at least 270 people. The government has blamed the failed coup on the supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen and has embarked on a sweeping crackdown on his followers. On Thursday, Kurdish rebels opened fire at security forces protecting a convoy carrying Turkey's main opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the northeast, killing a soldier and wounding two others, officials said.</s>Yildirim also told a news conference that the outlawed Kurdish militant group PKK was behind Friday’s bombing of a police headquarters in Turkey’s southeast, the latest in a string of attacks that the authorities have blamed on the group. A suicide truck bombing at a police headquarters in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast killed at least 11 and wounded dozens on Friday, two days after Turkey launched an incursion against Islamic State and Kurdish militia fighters in Syria.

Suspected Kurdish militants fire rockets at Diyarbakır Airport in Diyarbakır, Turkey.

At least 16 migrants die in Moscow warehouse fire MOSCOW: At least 16 migrant workers mostly from Kyrgyzstan died in a fire that broke out at a Moscow warehouse early yesterday, Russian authorities said. The fire was caused by a faulty lamp on the first floor of the warehouse, where many flammable liquids and paper products were stored, and it spread quickly through an elevator shaft to the room where those who died were working, said Ilya Denisov, who heads the Moscow branch of the emergency services. Denisov said firefighters found the charred bodies of 16 workers and sent four injured workers to hospital, where one later died. Denisov, whose statements were carried by Russian news agencies, said the dead were all from Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, and were believed to be working legally in Russia.</s>A fire in a warehouse at a Moscow printing works killed at least 17 people on Saturday morning, an Emergencies Ministry official told Rossiya-24 TV station. The TV station said the people, who lived and worked at the depot, were mostly from former Soviet Union countries. Ilya Denisov, an emergencies ministry official, told Rossiya-24 TV station a malfunctioning lamp caused the fire. READ MORE: * Fire breaks out at Siberian coal mine with 50 miners underground: reports * Four killed after explosions, gunfire in anti-terror raid in St Petersburg, Russia * Dozens dead in Russian hospital fire Lax fire safety standards have often been blamed for such incidents in Russia. In January, 12 people died in a fire in a Moscow clothing factory.

A fire at a warehouse in Moscow, Russia, kills at least 17 people, all migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan. The Investigative Committee of Russia, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, says a criminal inquiry has been launched.

Outgoing chief minister Adam Giles delivers a succinct obituary for his one-term government, which had its 2012 16-seat win cut to two seats This article is more than 3 years old This article is more than 3 years old It was a thumping. Adam Giles described it best, conceding defeat of his Country Liberal party government in a landslide election result in the Northern Territory. The win was called within two hours of polls closing, and just a handful of seats remained in doubt as the next chief minister, Michael Gunner, made his victory speech an hour later. Giles’s central desert seat of Braitling was one yet to be called. Northern Territory election: Adam Giles says he'll 'have a beer' if he loses Read more With more than half the votes counted the CLP had a swing against it of more than 18%. Labor did not pick all that up, gaining 6.4% on the last election. At the time of counting there was a bigger swing towards independents with 8.9%. All predictions had suggested an emphatic Labor victory after four years of an increasingly divisive and controversial term of government, but there were a lot of unknowns. Since the last election in 2012 boundaries had been redrawn and new seats created, and new laws for polling day had been introduced. Territorians had optional preferential voting for the first time, and more than 50,000 took the opportunity to vote early without an excuse. Exclusion zones around polling stations prevented anyone campaigning or handing out how-to-vote cards within 100m. The CLP had won government in 2012 with 16 seats to Labor’s eight, with a solitary independent on the crossbench, but after a series of scandals, fights, reshuffles and coups – both attempted and successful – the party was reduced to a minority of 12. Then on Saturday night that 12 became two. Maybe four at most. “Tonight no doubt is a landslide. It’s a thumping,” said Giles in Alice Springs. “Politically speaking tonight’s result is a lesson in disunity is death in politics. It’s a result of personality before the politics, it’s a lesson in looking after oneself rather than thinking about the people. that message has been heard loud and clear within the candidates and the party of the Country Liberals.” The CLP, the party which had held government for 27 straight years until 2001, would rebuild, he said. “We will remove the disagreements, we will remove the personalities of politics and we will come back bigger and better because one thing is for sure: Labor can’t manage the economy, Labor can’t manage law and order, hence one day in the future the NT will look on us to take leadership, albeit in a more concise, less personality-operated government”. With about 55% of the vote counted, Labor had 15 seats in the bag and another three predicted. The CLP had retained just two. Three independents had won, and it would likely be four. David Tollner, former treasurer and member for Fong Lim, who was not preselected for this election, predicted there would be more independents in parliament than CLP members. The official Labor event, held at the Waratahs sporting club on the outskirts of Darwin’s CBD, was full of Labor faithful as well as city and suburban candidates. Around the corner the CLP gathered in Cullen Bay. The food was better but the mood was sombre. The leader had remained in Alice Springs. Gunner entered the Labor room to shouts and chants of congratulations, and he walked a slow gauntlet of hugs and high-fives, but the audience’s attention waned during his speech and rarely a moment went by without people talking and others shushing them. In one resonating moment, Gunner spoke of his lifetime association with the NT. He is the first territory-born chief minister to be elected since self-governance in 1978. “A boy born in Alice Springs, who grew up in public housing Tennant Creek, who now stands here as chief minister of the Northern Territory,” he said. “In the Northern Territory you can dream big.” The crowd erupted. Gunner said he would work with the independents and CLP opposition, and pledged unity and consultation – two things the electorate had indicated were missing during the CLP term. “You all deserve access to us and we will govern for all Territorians. As Territorians we are stronger when we are united, and we are united in our determination to make our home a better place.” Lynne Walker, member for Nhulunbuy, told Guardian Australia she was humbled by her party’s victory, and excited that as deputy chief minister she would be representing remote and Indigenous Territorians. Northern Territory election: Michael Gunner claims victory for Labor – as it happened Read more The federal opposition leader, Bill Shorten, called Gunner early to congratulate him, and then formally sent out a public statement once the victory speech was over. “Territorians have punished the CLP for four years of scandal and controversy, and rewarded Labor for working hard and listening to people,” said Shorten. “Michael listened to Territorians and offered a positive plan for creating jobs, investing in people, and restoring trust and integrity in government. Territorians have responded to Labor’s plan, making the CLP government the first one-term government in the territory’s history.”</s>The outcome of the Northern Territory election has been labelled as extraordinary as Labor goes from being a minority to having a landslide victory. Northern Territory Labor leader Michael Gunner blames the 'chaotic' four years under the scandal-plagued Country Liberal party for the win and promises to live up to the voters' expectations. 'Every single Territorian, thank you for the trust that you have placed in Labor,' he told party supporters following the election on Saturday. 'It is a privilege to stand here today as a servant of the public and as the new chief minister of the NT.' The Labor party could have as many as 18 MPs in the 25-seat parliament, according to the predictions of the ABC election website. The party has already won 15 seats. The CLP, which went into Saturday's election with 11, may end up with only two, while independents could take the remaining three or four seats. Mr Gunner said Territorians were 'good people who deserve good governance and that's what we will give them.' 'They have rejected the chaos of the last four years and they have chosen to place their trust in Labor,' he said. He vowed Labor would provide restore confidence in the Northern Territory. 'We have got a plan to deliver certainty in the NT and to restore confidence in the NT,' 'There is a cost to chaos and there is a reward for stability.' However, he said he would work with the CLP and independents because 'they are not our enemies. They are Territorians and I will work with them.' The win is of historical importance for the party as Labor has only held power in the state for two terms since 1974 - they were consecutive terms from 2001- 2012. The CLP regained power in the 2012 election - and prior to the 2001 election they held it for close to three decades.

The opposition Australian Labor Party defeats the governing Country Liberal Party in a landslide, reducing the CLP to just two seats.

Metro Manila, Philippines (CNN) In an unassuming Quezon City neighborhood, across from a municipal library and around the corner from a police station stands the local jail. A short ride from Manila -- depending on traffic -- the jail isn't an imposing building, or even a particularly large one. Its total floor area is a shade over 30,000 square feet. More than 4,000 inmates -- and counting -- live cheek by jowl in what has to be one of the most densely populated corners of the Philippines. With thousands of arrests made since the beginning of June in the war on drugs, the population of inmates keeps growing. With thousands of arrests made since the beginning of June in the war on drugs, the population of inmates keeps growing. At the beginning of the year, just under 3,600 were incarcerated. In the seven weeks since President Duterte took office, that number has risen to 4,053. At the beginning of the year, just under 3,600 were incarcerated. In the seven weeks since President Duterte took office, that number has risen to 4,053. Many inmates could go home but can't afford the bail, which can be as low as 4,000 to 6,000 pesos ($86 to $129). Many inmates could go home but can't afford the bail, which can be as low as 4,000 to 6,000 pesos ($86 to $129). A rigorous search of those coming in keeps the amount of contraband to a minimum, says the jail's senior inspector. But it's still a jail, he shrugs, suggesting that drugs and other illegal goods do find their way in. A rigorous search of those coming in keeps the amount of contraband to a minimum, says the jail's senior inspector. But it's still a jail, he shrugs, suggesting that drugs and other illegal goods do find their way in. "The food is terrible," says one inmate. "And it's hard to find a space to sleep, especially when it rains." "The food is terrible," says one inmate. "And it's hard to find a space to sleep, especially when it rains." Critics say this overcrowding is a predictable effect of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. Critics say this overcrowding is a predictable effect of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. It's always been packed, guards say, but recently the number of inmates has spiked. It's always been packed, guards say, but recently the number of inmates has spiked. Inmate Ramon Go, who acts as "mayor" for some of the jail's dorms, has been incarcerated for 16 years. He's currently awaiting the verdict of his murder trial, which happened two and a half years ago. Inmate Ramon Go, who acts as "mayor" for some of the jail's dorms, has been incarcerated for 16 years. He's currently awaiting the verdict of his murder trial, which happened two and a half years ago. Originally built in 1953, the country's jail authority suggests it is safe for 800 inmates -- a shade of its current numbers. By U.N. standards, it is fit for 200 inmates. Originally built in 1953, the country's jail authority suggests it is safe for 800 inmates -- a shade of its current numbers. By U.N. standards, it is fit for 200 inmates. Quezon City jail, just outside the capital Manila, is home to over 4,000 inmates. Quezon City jail, just outside the capital Manila, is home to over 4,000 inmates. It's always been packed, guards say, but recently the number of inmates has spiked. Conditions inside are astounding. Every available space is crammed with yellow T-shirted humanity. The men here -- and almost 60% are in for drug offenses -- spend the days sitting, squatting and standing in the unrelenting, suffocating Manila heat. Their numbers are climbing relentlessly. At the beginning of the year, a little under 3,600 were incarcerated. In the seven weeks since Duterte took office and charged his No. 1 cop, Ronald Dela Rosa, with cleaning up the country, that number has risen to 4,053. The Quezon City Jail was built in 1953, originally to house 800 people, according to the country's Bureau of Jail Management and Penology standards. The United Nations says it should house no more than 278. There are only 20 guards assigned to the mass of incarcerated men, some of whom have been living behind these walls for years without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom. Dela Rosa earlier told CNN that the criminals in the jails and prisons would just have to squeeze in, gesturing by pulling in his shoulders and arms. Inmates are woken at 5 a.m. before undergoing a head count -- no easy task when you have 4,000-plus men crammed into crumbling, ramshackle cells. 'Safer in here than out on the streets' Alex Beltran, a 29-year-old temp worker, has been here for a month and blames Duterte's crackdown for his imprisonment. "The food is terrible," he says. "And it's hard to find a space to sleep, especially when it rains." Life inside is "harder for the new guys," he says. Fellow inmate Romeo Payhoi, 38, is another newcomer, and while he says he was scared coming in, it hasn't been as bad as he anticipated, just cramped and lacking any privacy. At any rate, he adds, he feels "safer in here than out on the streets," where "the cops could kill you." Many who come into the system are already affiliated with gangs, like Sique-sique Sputnik (935 members incarcerated in the jail), Commando (386), Bahala Na gang (874) and Batang City Jail (740). Around a quarter of those inside the jail have no affiliation. These gangs hold considerable sway inside, and each run sections to which their members naturally gravitate. Colorful murals on the walls proclaim territory, although guards say that out of sheer necessity there is a de facto truce between the groups. Many inmates could go home but can't afford the bail, which can be as low as 4,000 to 6,000 pesos ($86 to $129), according to Joey Doguiles, the jail's senior inspector and chief of operations. A top police chief, when asked what officials did to prepare for the crackdown, said the threat from drugs was so great that there was no time to expand the facility. That would have to come later. Outside the jail as many as 700 relatives of inmates wait patiently in the still morning air to go in to see their brothers, husbands and sons. They'll be waiting for hours before adding to the crush inside -- one guard says that there isn't a specific visiting room; visitors mingle with prisoners, marked with ink stamp to denote their freedom. A rigorous search of those coming from the outside keeps the amount of contraband to a minimum, Doguiles says. But it's still a jail, he shrugs, suggesting that drugs and other illegal goods do find their way in. The main drug here -- as it is across the Philippines -- is shabu, the local name for meth. Bunks stacked at least three high Inside the dormitories -- affectionately called barangays, a Filipino name for neighborhoods -- the men are left to their own devices to find somewhere to sleep. Towels, threadbare curtains and even chipped plywood boards are put up to maintain some semblance of privacy, but it's impossible in such a cramped space. In one room there are 85 inmates in a 200-square foot space. Another one, bigger but not by much, holds 131. It's designed for 30. Bunks are stacked at least three high, and inmates have even crawled under these rickety structures to find a sleeping spot. One sleeps, cocooned, in a hammock suspended from the ceiling. And they don't even have the comfort of knowing that this is a temporary situation. The court system here works at a snail's pace. Ameena-Tara Jance visits six days a week to see her husband, who's been here for six years and counting. He's recovering from a mild stroke, and she says that in the heat some have been known to keel over and die. Her husband is due for another hearing in October, but they both feel there's no end in sight. "There's no justice," she says. The "mayor" of the second-floor dorms, Ramon Go -- an inmate responsible for marshaling and supervising around 900 of his fellow prisoners -- has been there for 16 years. He's one of the few who's had his trial -- on murder charges -- after a police raid led to a cop's shooting death. He was tried 2½ years ago -- after almost a decade and a half of waiting -- and is still stuck inside the walls of the jail in Quezon City, waiting for the verdict to come in. With thousands of arrests made since the beginning of June in the war on drugs, the population of inmates keeps growing. It's an endless wait, made keener by the fact that the inmates can't know when they might regain their freedom. So they wait, watching daily as more caught up in the crackdown are processed and attempt to eke out a space, and a life, in a jail already breaking at the seams.</s>CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (AP) — Muslim extremists supporting the Islamic State group have freed eight fellow militants in a daring attack that also allowed 15 other inmates to escape from a provincial jail in the southern Philippines. Police say about 20 heavily-armed fighters of the Maute militant group stormed the Lanao del Sur provincial jail in Marawi city before nightfall Saturday, disarmed the guards and rescued their eight comrades, including three women. Police said Sunday the eight militants were arrested by army troops and police when they were caught with a homemade mortar shell in a van in Lanao del Sur's Lumbayanague town. Several armed groups in the Philippines have pledged allegiance to IS, although the country's military says there is no evidence of active co-operation with foreign militants.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants break free supporters from a Marawi jail in the Philippines.

HAVANA (AP) - The commander of Colombia’s biggest rebel movement said Sunday its fighters will permanently cease hostilities with the government beginning with the first minute of Monday, as a result of their peace accord ending one of the world’s longest-running conflicts. Rodrigo Londono, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), made the announcement in Havana, where the two sides negotiated for four years before announcing the peace deal Wednesday. “Never again will parents be burying their sons and daughters killed in the war,” said Londono, who is also known as Timoshenko. “All rivalries and grudges will remain in the past.” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Friday that his military would cease attacks on the FARC beginning Monday. Colombia is expected to hold a national referendum Oct. 2 to give voters the chance to approve the deal for ending a half-century of political violence that has claimed more than 220,000 lives and driven more than 5 million people from their homes After the agreement is signed, FARC guerrillas are supposed to begin handing their weapons over to United Nations-sponsored monitors. Under the 297-page accord, Farc guerrillas are supposed to turn over their weapons within six months after the deal is formally signed. In return, the Farc’s still unnamed future political movement will be given a minimum 10 congressional seats — five in the lower house, five in the senate — for two legislative periods. In addition, 16 lower house seats will be created for grassroots activists in rural areas traditionally neglected by the state and in which existing political parties will be banned from running candidates. Critics of the peace process contend that will further boost the rebels’ post-conflict political power. After 2026, both arrangements would end and the former rebels would have to demonstrate their political strength at the ballot box. Not all hostilities are ending under the deal with the FARC. The much-smaller National Liberation Army remains active in Colombia, although it is pursuing its own peace deal with the government.</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vásquez reflects on a peace deal after 52 years of conflict Under the terms of the agreement, the Farc (the Spanish acronym for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) will give up its armed struggle and join the legal political process. BOGOTA: An historic ceasefire came into effect in Colombia, ending a 52-year war between FARC rebels and the government and taking a major step toward ending a conflict that has claimed more than 250,000 lives. The full ceasefire ordered by President Juan Manuel Santos and the head of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Timoleon Jimenez, began at midnight (0500 GMT). “I order all our commanders and units and each one of our combatants to definitively cease fire and hostilities against the Colombian state from midnight tonight” top FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez said in a declaration before the media in Cuba, where peace talks were held. Image copyright PA Image caption Farc leader Rodrigo Londono, better known under his alias of Timoleon Jimenez or Timochenko, announced the start of the ceasefire in Havana Image copyright Twitter Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed a decree earlier to halt military operations against the Farc, also from midnight. Santos wrote on Twitter: “The end of the conflict has arrived!” The FARC declared a unilateral ceasefire in July 2015. But Sunday night's ceasefire is the first in which both sides have committed to a definitive end to the fighting. “The ceasefire is really one more seal on the end of the conflict,” said Carlos Alfonso Velazquez, a security expert at the University of La Sabana. But the definitive ceasefire was supposed to come into force the day after the final peace agreement was signed by President Santos and the leader of the Farc, Timoleon Jimenez - an event expected in Cartagena at the end of September. The ceasefire and definitive end of hostilities will be followed by a six-month demobilization process. From Monday, the FARC's estimated 7,500 fighters will start heading to collection points to give up their weapons under UN supervision. Guerrillas who refuse to demobilize and disarm "will be pursued with all the strength of the state forces," Santos told El Espectador newspaper. Before the demobilization, the FARC will convene its leaders and troops one last time before transforming into “a legal political movement,” according to a statement published on Saturday. To end the war with the FARC for good, Colombians must now vote in an October 2 referendum on the peace accord hammered out in nearly four years of talks in Cuba. “The plebiscite will grant the political legitimacy that is needed.” He said the exact question that will be posed to voters in the referendum would be announced “in the coming days.” “We are on the verge of perhaps the most important political decision of our lives,” Santos said in a speech on Saturday. The territorial and ideological conflict has drawn in various left- and right-wing armed groups and gangs. It is historic in that - finally - it brings to an end more than 50 years of conflict which left an estimated 260,000 people dead and millions internally displaced. In March Colombia announced the start of peace negotiations with the second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), but the rebels have yet to meet the government's precondition of releasing all of their hostages and stop all kidnapping. But with the country's biggest rebel group, the FARC, ordering a definitive ceasefire, the conflict appears to be reaching an end. “To the soldiers, naval personnel and air force pilots, police and state security and intelligence agencies, we wish to express our clear and definite will for reconciliation,” said Jimenez, known by the nom-de-guerre Timochenko, in Havana. "All rivalries and grudges will remain in the past," he said. “Today more than ever we regret that so much death and pain has been caused by the war. Today more than ever we wish to embrace (the military and police) as compatriots and start to work together for a new Colombia.” AFP

The FARC orders all its fighters to observe a ceasefire from midnight local time (Monday 1 a.m. EDT).

(CNN) ISIS has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed at least 15 people and injured 16 others at a wedding late Sunday in the central Iraqi city of Karbala. Lt. Gen. Qais al-Mohammedawi says five suicide bombers took part in the attack in the village of Ein Tamer on Monday, but that the other four were killed by security forces. Karbala is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Baghdad and is one of the holiest cities for Shiite Muslims.</s>BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State has claimed a suicide bombing that killed at least 15 people and injured 16 at a wedding party near the holy Shi’ite city of Kerbala late on Sunday. Five assailants including the suicide bomber attacked the celebration in Ain al-Tamr, west of Kerbala in southern Iraq, firing machine guns and throwing hand grenades, the police said. All the attackers were killed by security forces. The bombing is the first in the Kerbala region since Iraqi forces dislodged Islamic State militants from their stronghold in Falluja, 80 km (50 miles) north of city. The ultra-hardline Sunni group has been retreating since last year in the face of government forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition and Iranian-supported Shi'ite militias. But it remains in control of parts of northern and western Iraq and continues to claim bombings all over the country, targeting mainly Shi'ite districts and cities. A statement on the Amaq news agency that supports Islamic State said the attack was carried out by four of its suicide fighters against a "gathering of Shi'ites". Initial reports in local media late, citing security sources, blamed the killings on a dispute between two tribes at the wedding party. Islamic State claimed a truck bomb that killed at least 325 people in Baghdad's Karrada shopping street in July, the deadliest attack since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

A suicide bombing kills at least 15 people at a wedding in the southern Shiite city of Kerbala.

(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Migrants, most of them from Eritrea, jumps into the water from a crowded wooden boat as they are helped by members of an NGO during a rescue operation at the Mediterranean sea, about 13 miles north of Sabratha, Libya, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. UPDATE: The 5 day old babies have been transferred for a medevac to Italy, On the same day, MSF, Proactiva Open Arms and crews from the Italian Coast Guard rescued more than 3,000 migrants off the coast of Libya. A five-day-old baby was among those rescued along with other infants and was airlifted to an Italian hospital, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which took part in operations.</s>By Emilio Morenatti, The Associated Press OFF THE COAST OF LIBYA — Italian naval ships and vessels from non-government groups rescued thousands of migrants off the Libyan coast Monday, the latest surge in desperate attempts to flee to Europe driven by war, poverty and human traffickers. The dramatic operation took place just 13 miles north of the town of Sabratha, Libya. Groups such as Proactiva Open Arms and Doctors Without Borders helped take on 3,000 people who had been traveling in about 20 small wooden boats. Migrants from Eritrea and Somalia cheered as the rescue boats arrived, with some jumping into the water and swimming toward them while others carefully carried babies onto the rescue ships. Their boats too weak and technically unequipped for a voyage across the stretch of the Mediterranean to the shores of Italy, the migrants had set off with a bit of gasoline in the crowded vessels, hoping to make it at least 15-20 miles out to sea and reach awaiting rescuers. Tens of thousands of Africans take the dangerous Mediterranean Sea route as a gateway to a better life in Europe, alongside those fleeing wars from Syria to Afghanistan. Libya’s chaos and lack of border controls have made it into a transit route. Since the 2011 ouster and killing of longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy, the country has sunk into lawlessness, facing myriad militias vying for influence and an emerging Islamic State affiliate. In June, the European Union expanded its anti-smuggling operation in the central Mediterranean to include training Libyan coastal and naval forces.

The Spanish-based Proactiva Open Arms NGO rescues more than 700 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea about 17 miles north of Sabratha, Libya. The rescued, who are from Nigeria, are transferred to the Italian Coast Guard.

Death toll in Yemen war rises to at least 10,000-UN SANAA, Aug 30 (Reuters) - The death toll in Yemen's 18-month-old civil war stands at about 10,000, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator said on Tuesday, an increase from estimates of more than 6,000 cited by officials and aid workers for much of 2016. Jamie McGoldrick told a new conference in the Yemeni capital that the new figure was based on official information provided by medical facilities in Yemen. He said he believed the toll might be even higher since some areas had no medical facilities, and relatives there often buried loved ones directly. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari, writing by Sami Aboudi, Editing by William Maclean)</s>AMATRICE, Italy (Reuters) - Rescuers believe they have found more bodies buried deep in the rubble of the ruined town of Amatrice, five days after a devastating earthquake struck central Italy, killing at least 290 people. Residents of the hill town estimated that up to 10 people were still missing and emergency services said they had located three corpses in Amatrice’s Hotel Roma, which, like much of the historic center, was wrecked by Wednesday’s quake. Deputy Mayor Gianluca Carloni said his uncle’s body had still not been recovered from the hotel, which was particularly busy at this time of year because of a food festival. “It is absolutely vital to finish as soon as possible this initial (search) phase to make sure that there are no more bodies under the rubble,” he said. Museums across Italy donated proceeds from their ticket sales on Sunday to help the rebuilding effort, while top flight soccer teams held a minute’s silence before their weekend matches out of respect for the victims. Pope Francis led prayers for the dead in his weekly address in St Peter’s Square in Rome, saying he wanted to go to the earthquake zone to bring comfort to the survivors. “Dear brothers and sisters, as soon as it is possible, I hope to come and visit you,” he said. Priests in the quake zone held their regular Sunday services in large tents. Amatrice’s municipal website said the town had 100 churches, but every one was damaged by the disaster and many would have to be demolished. FALLEN MASONRY With aftershocks continuing to rattle the region, including a magnitude 4.4 quake centered on the nearby city of Ascoli Piceno, residents were still struggling to absorb the disaster. A rescue worker and a dog search among debris following an earthquake in Amatrice, central Italy, August 27, 2016. REUTERS/Ciro De Luca “It took me 20 years to get my house, and then, in just 10 seconds, it was gone, like so many others,” said Ascenzio Attenni, who lived in the hamlet of Sant’Angelo outside Amatrice, where eight people died. “We have to thank God that we are alive,” he said, before breaking down in tears. Rescue operations in most of the area were halted two days ago, but teams were still combing Amatrice, which is 105 km (65 miles) east of Rome. The fire service said it was trying to remove some of the fallen masonry at the Hotel Roma and create a safe path to retrieve the three bodies as soon as possible. The Civil Protection Department lowered the official death toll on Sunday to 290 from a previously given 291. A number of foreigners were among the dead, including 11 Romanians, the foreign ministry in Bucharest said. Many Romanians work in Italy and Bucharest said 14 of its nationals were still unaccounted for. Italy has promised to rebuild the shattered communities and has said it will learn from the mistakes following a similar earthquake in the nearby city of L’Aquila in 2009, where much of the center is still out of bounds. Slideshow (2 Images) The rebuilding effort was stalled following allegations that organized crime groups had muscled in to obtain lucrative contracts. Italy’s anti-mafia chief Franco Roberti said the experience of L’Aquila would serve well this time around, but warned that the government could not lower its guard. “The risks are there and it is pointless to pretend otherwise,” he told la Repubblica newspaper. “Post-quake reconstruction is always very appetising for criminal gangs and their business partners.”

Officials report the death toll is at least 290 people with at least 10 others still missing.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana State Police say an out-of-control bus carrying flood recovery volunteers hit a fire truck and firefighters who had responded to an earlier wreck, killing two people and injuring dozens. Louisiana State Police/Handout via Reuters St. John the Baptist Fire District Chief Spencer Chauvin was among those killed in the early morning crash after the chartered bus slammed into him as he tried to help victims of another accident, Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Melissa Matey told reporters at a news conference. "The bus driver lost control of the bus, struck a fire truck, veered across the right lane, striking other vehicles, then veered and struck three firefighters, who, all three, were thrown over the guardrail," Matey said. Rodriguez, who was also treated at a hospital, will be booked into the St. John the Baptist Correctional Center and charged with two counts of negligent homicide, reckless operation, and having no driver's license, Matey said. The firefighters and state police troopers were on scene to investigate when the bus, also out of control, slammed into the fire truck and a Toyota Camry, Matey said. The bus driver, identified as 37-year-old Denis Amaya Rodriguez, was in custody on suspicion of multiple violations, NBC News reported, citing Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Melissa Matey. The Silverado contained three adults and two children, all of Kenner, Louisiana, who were taken to local hospitals with minor or moderate injuries, as were at least 24 passengers on the bus, police said.</s>NEW ORLEANS (AP) — U.S. Coast Guard officials say one person has been rescued and crews are searching for at least one more after a small plane crashed into a lake near a New Orleans airport. NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune, WWL-TV and WBRZ-TV report that Coast Guard personnel responded to the scene Saturday night after the aircraft crashed in the vicinity of the Seabrook Bridge near Lakefront Airport. The airport is located adjacent to Lake Ponchatrain, about 10 miles northeast of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. Coast Guard officials say the Cessna training flight crashed about 8:30 p.m. The person rescued was transferred to a New Orleans hospital in unknown condition. No further details were immediately available.

A bus carrying volunteers crashes into emergency vehicles responding to an earlier accident near New Orleans killing two, including the St. John the Baptist Fire District Chief, and injuring 43 more.

MANILA, Philippines — On the day he was sworn into office, President Rodrigo Duterte went to a Manila slum and exhorted residents who knew any drug addicts to “go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful.” Two months later, nearly 2,000 suspected drug pushers and users lay dead as morgues continue to fill up. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate hearing this week that police have recorded more than 1,900 dead, including 756 suspected drug dealers and users who were gunned down after they resisted arrest. Addict risks everything in Duterte’s drug war – ‘It’s scary because I could be next’ MANILA: Pedicab driver Reyjin dives into a neighbor’s house for a quick meth fix, fearful of taking a bullet to the head in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs but unable to quit. “The killings are OK so there will be less criminals, drug pushers and drug addicts in our society,” said Rex Alisoso, a 25-year-old cleaner in Manila. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, calling him gay in derogatory terms, after he criticized Duterte’s rape comments during the presidential campaign.</s>Duterte takes war on drugs to the stage MANILA, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Philippine police, heavily criticised by rights groups for killing hundreds of drug dealers and users, are using a comedy puppet of Rodrigo Duterte to get the president's war on drugs message across to Manila school children. More than 1,900 people have been killed, according to police figures, in the anti-drug drive since Duterte came to power with the president saying there would be no let up in the fight during a National Heroes Day speech on Monday. Duterte, who won a May election on a promise to wipe out drugs and dealers, last month named about 160 officials, judges, police and soldiers who he said were protecting drug traffickers or selling drugs in their communities. The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said last week it was "deeply concerned" about the reports of extra-judicial drug killings and it urged Duterte's government to ensure that law-enforcement efforts "comply with its human rights obligation". Duterte's crackdown on drugs and some strongly worded criticism he has made of the United States present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea. Two U.N. human rights experts recently urged the Philippines to stop extra-judicial killings, drawing a furious response from Duterte, who threatened to pull h is country out of the United Nations. The Philippine National Police began the show, which also features a puppet of police chief Ronald dela Rosa, in Manila schools this month, the latest step in the anti-drug drive of Duterte, nicknamed "the Punisher", who won the presidency in May based on a platform of wiping out narcotics. His foreign minister later rowed back on the threat. (Reporting by Peter Blaza and Ronn Bautista; Writing by Patrick Johnston; Editing by Nick Macfie)

The Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Tagle condemns the extralegal killings and murders under Rodrigo Duterte.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s ruling Communist Party appointed a new senior official on Sunday to run Tibet, considered one of the country’s most politically sensitive positions due to periodic anti-Chinese unrest in the devoutly Buddhist Himalayan region. The official Xinhua news agency named Wu Yingjie as Tibet’s next party secretary. New leaders were also appointed in two other key provinces, part of a broad reshuffle ahead of an important party meeting next year. Wu has worked almost his entire career in Tibet, according to his official resume, having previously served as a deputy governor and propaganda chief, among other roles. Wu, like his predecessor Chen Quanguo, belongs to China’s majority Han Chinese ethnic group. Xinhua said Chen would be taking another position, without giving further details. Communist troops marched in and took control of Tibet in 1950 in what Beijing calls a “peaceful liberation”. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against the Chinese. China says its rule has bought prosperity and stability, rejecting claims from Tibetan exiles and rights groups of widespread repression. Xinhua said new party bosses had also been appointed to serve in the strategically located southwestern province of Yunnan and the populous southern province of Hunan. In Yunnan, which sits of the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, Chen Hao replaced Li Jiheng, while in Hunan, Du Jiahao has assumed the party’s top job, Xinhua said. Both Chen and Du worked with President Xi Jinping when he ran China’s commercial capital, Shanghai, as its Communist Party chief for a year in 2007, according to their resumes. The party will hold a once-every-five-years congress next autumn where Xi is expected to further cement his hold on power by seeking to appoint close allies into the party’s ruling inner core, the politburo and the politburo standing committee. The year leading up to that will see Xi appoint more new people into major provincial and government positions, sources with ties to the leadership say. (Story refiles to fix typo in fourth paragraph, drops the word ‘rather’.)</s>The Chinese Communist leadership has reshuffled senior posts in key regions after its annual closed-door meeting in the seaside town of Beidaihe, putting a new cadre in control in the politically sensitive region of Tibet, as well as Yunnan and Hunan. Wu Yingjie has been named as Tibet’s next Communist Party secretary, the official Xinhua news agency reported, while his predecessor Chen Quanguo is reportedly on his way to the restive region of Xinjiang in the far west. Both men belong to the majority Han Chinese ethnic group. In both Tibet and Xinjiang, members of local ethnic groups, the Tibetans and the Uighurs respectively, chafe against rule by the Han. Mr Wu (59) has been deputy party chief in the Himalayan region since 2011, and has been based there since 1974. He worked on farms and at a power plant there before doing his university degree in the provincial capital Lhasa. His appointment comes ahead of a key party congress next year, which takes place once every five years, during which President Xi Jinping will further cement his hold on power. It marks the end of his first five-year period in office and the retirement of some of his political rivals from the seven-man Standing Committee of the Politburo. Mr Xi is expected to put his allies into key positions on both the 25-person Politburo and the Standing Committee at the meeting. Beijing has run Tibet with a firm hand since People’s Liberation Army troops marched into the overwhelmingly Buddhist Himalayan region in 1950. The Chinese say they were liberating the Tibetan serfs from a theocracy until the god-king Dalai Lama fled into exile in India after a failed uprising in 1959, and they accuse the Dalai Lama of agitating for independence from there. Tibet has seen sporadic outbreaks of violence and nearly 150 people have set themselves on fire since 2009 in acts of self-immolation to protest rule by Beijing and calling for the return of the Dalai Lama. Beijing says it is bringing prosperity to a traditionally impoverished area and rejects claims by Tibetan exile groups of widespread repression. State media has also been giving high profile of late to public appearances by the 11th Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, the second most powerful figure in Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama chose a six-year-old child, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, to be the 11th Panchen Lama, after the 10th Panchen Lama died in 1989. However, Gyaltsen Norbu, who was also six years of age, was imposed by Beijing, and the young Gedhun disappeared and has not been seen since. Xinhua said that Du Jiahao had replaced Xu Shousheng as secretary of the Hunan party, while Chen Hao had replaced Li Jiheng as party secretary in Yunnan, which borders Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.

Du Jiahao becomes Communist Party Secretary of Hunan, replacing Xu Shousheng.

LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Supporters of Gabon’s President Ali Bongo and his chief rival both said on Sunday they were set to win a presidential election that poses the most serious challenge yet to the Bongo family’s half-century rule in the tiny, oil-rich nation. Official results are not due out until Tuesday and some voters voiced fears of a repeat of the violence seen after a disputed 2009 election. “The day of glory has arrived and we are preparing as you can see to celebrate victory,” Ping, 73, said shortly after voting in Martine Oulabou school, in the capital Libreville. Bongo, 57, who first won election after his father Omar died in 2009 after 42 years in office, has benefited from being the incumbent in a country with a patronage system lubricated by oil largesse. Shortly after polling ended on Saturday, the president’s spokesman said, “Bongo will win… we are already on our way to a second mandate.” In his comments Sunday, Ping, 73 added, “as I speak, the trends show we have won.” Ping said alleged attempts by Bongo’s camp to commit fraud had been foiled and that “we will finally see off the regime.” Bongo, 57, has been in power since a disputed election held in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled the oil-rich Central African country for 41 years. Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya has said official results would be released around 1600 GMT on Tuesday and stressed it was “illegal to declare results before the relevant authorities do.” The head of the Pan-African Democracy Observatory, an NGO based in Togo, played down the significance of Ping’s declaration.</s>Gabon opposition candidate calls on President Bongo to "acknowledge his defeat" LIBREVILLE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Gabon opposition candidate Jean Ping on Monday called on President Ali Bongo to "acknowledge his defeat" in a weekend presidential election, telling reporters in the capital Libreville that unofficial tallies give him a clear edge. Both sides in Gabon poll predict win as votes are counted LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — Election officials compiled results in Gabon on Sunday as representatives of the incumbent president and his most prominent challenger predicted victory. Bongo, 57, has been in power since a disputed election held in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled the oil-rich Central African country for 41 years.

Both President Ali Bongo Ondimba and his main challenger, former Foreign Minister Jean Ping, say they won yesterday's election for a seven-year term as president. Official results are expected Tuesday.

The test-flight of the indigenously-developed supersonic combustion ramjet engine took place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 6 a.m. ISRO on Sunday successfully test-fired a newly-developed Scramjet Rocket Engine, DDNews reported. The Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), a sounding rocket (research rocket) with a solid booster carrying advanced scramjet engines, was successfully flight-tested from the launch pad of the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, also known as Sriharikota Range (SHAR), at Sriharikota on Sunday. The space agency said with this flight, critical technologies such as ignition of air breathing engines at supersonic speed, holding the flame at supersonic speed, air intake mechanism and fuel injection systems have been successfully demonstrated. As a result, the amount of oxygen required to be carried on board would be reduced considerably as atmospheric oxygen is utilised to burn the fuel in the first stage. While conventional rocket engines need to carry both fuel and oxidiser on board for combustion to produce thrust, scramjet engines obtain oxygen from the atmosphere by compressing the incoming air before combustion at hypersonic speed. Once the second stage reached the desired conditions for engine “Start-up”, necessary actions were initiated to ignite the Scramjet engines and they functioned for about 5 seconds, it said adding that today’s ATV flight operations were based on a pre-programmed sequence.</s>The Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully tested its scramjet engine on Sunday in Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The rocket took off at 6 am after reports confirmed that the wind speeds were conducive for the launch. The scramjet engine, used only during the atmospheric phase of the rocket’s flight, will help in bringing down the launch cost by reducing the amount of oxidiser to be carried along with the fuel. Meanwhile, the launch of the Indian weather satellite, INSAT-3DR, which was slated for Sunday has now been postponed to September 8. Queried about the change in launch plan Krishnan said: "While carrying out the tests there was a technical issue found with a satellite component. It has been sorted out now and hence the delay." He said the GSLV rocket that would carry the weather satellite INSAT-3DR is fully assembled. The weather satellite will be mounted on to the rocket in three to four days. According to officials, the ISRO will launch ScatSat -- a weather monitoring and forecasting satellite -- with polar satellite launch vehicle end of next month. The Indian satellite will be a co-passenger to an Algerian satellite. Both the satellites will be put into different orbits. So the fourth engine of the rocket will be switched off after ejecting ScatSat first. Then after a gap of around 30 minutes, the engine will be switched on and put the Algerian satellite into its intended orbit.

The Indian Space agency ISRO successfully tests its Scramjet engines. Two scramjet engines were mounted alongside of a two-stage, solid fueled rocket called Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), which is an advanced sounding rocket. Scramjet engines were then ignited when ATV achieved a speed of Mach 6 (7350 km/hr) at an altitude of 20 km.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A suicide attacker set off a massive car bomb in Yemen's southern city of Aden on Monday, killing at least 45 pro-government troops who had been preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia to fight Houthi rebels in Yemen's north, officials said. “Some recruits were buried under rubble when a roof collapsed after the blast,” officials further said, adding, “Medical sources could not immediately verify whether all those killed in the attack were army recruits or had some other persons as well.” Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said its hospital in Aden had received 45 dead and at least 60 wounded following the explosion.</s>ADEN, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 45 people when he drove a car laden with explosives into a compound run by local militias in Aden on Monday, Medecins Sans Frontieres said, in one of the deadliest attacks in the southern Yemeni port city. Related Coverage Islamic State claims Yemen suicide bombing, says about 60 militia recruits killed Witnesses said the suicide bomber entered the compound behind a truck that had brought breakfast for the conscripts, who had queued for the meal. A security source said the attack targeted a school compound where conscripts of the Popular Committees, forces allied to the internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, were gathered for breakfast. The blast rocked the area and sent debris flying, sending residents fleeing, one witness said. Slideshow (5 Images) Hadi’s supporters, who accuse former President Ali Abdullah Saleh of using Islamist militants to target the internationally-recognized president, have launched a series of raids in recent weeks to try to stem the violence, seizing dozens of people suspected of involvement in attacks across the city.

The death toll of a suicide bombing in the southern Yemeni city of Aden rises to at least 71. Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility.

They discuss composition of all-party delegation that is to visit the State soon A day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called for a panel of eminent persons to be sent to the Valley for a dialogue, Home Minister Rajnath Singh discussed the Kashmir situation with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State (MoS) Jitendra Singh and BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined the gravity of the situation and sought to reach out by saying that each person who dies in the Valley is “one of our people”, there needs to be an actionable checklist to demonstrate the sincerity of the outreach.</s>Indian officials lift curfew from most of Kashmir SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Authorities on Monday lifted a curfew imposed in most parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir as part of a 52-day security lockdown, although most shops and businesses remained closed due to an ongoing strike called to protest Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region. The curfew, a series of communication blackouts and a tightening crackdown have failed to stop some of the largest protests against Indian rule in recent years, triggered by the killing of a popular rebel commander on July 8. India and Pakistan have fought three conflicts over the Muslim-majority region, which Pakistan believes should have been included inside its territory when the subcontinent became independent from Britain in 1947.

A curfew has ended in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir after 52 days of protest allowing for an all-party delegation to visit the state on Sunday.

The frizzy-haired actor was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Mel Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in “Young Frankenstein” or bilking Broadway in “The Producers.” But he also knew how to keep it cool as the boozy sheriff in “Blazing Saddles” and as the charming candy man in the children’s favorite “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” In this April 9, 2008 file photo, actor Gene Wilder listens as he is introduced to receive the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Culture and Tourism at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Conn. Wilder, who starred in such film classics as "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and "Young Frankenstein" has died. His father was a Russian emigre, his mother was of Polish descent. Our mane man bridles at new phone directory * Coronation Street creator Tony Warren dies * Everybody Loves Raymond star memorialised in NYC Wilder, whose best work came in collaborations with director-writer Mel Brooks and actor Richard Pryor, died at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, from complications of Alzheimer's disease, the family said in a statement. With his unkempt hair and big, buggy eyes, Wilder was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in "Young Frankenstein" or bilking Broadway in "The Producers." Gene Wilder, whose kinky curls and startling blue eyes brought a frantic air to roles in the movies Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, died on Monday at the age of 83, his family said.</s>The comic actor, who was twice Oscar nominated, for his role in “The Producers” and for co-penning “Young Frankenstein” with Mel Brooks, usually portrayed a neurotic who veered between total hysteria and dewy-eyed tenderness. Wilder was 83. Gene Wilder, who regularly stole the show in such comedic gems as “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Stir Crazy,” died Monday at his home in Stamford, Conn. His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said he died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. “He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world,” Walker-Pearlman said. Wilder started his acting career on the stage, but millions knew him from his work in the movies, especially his collaborations with Mel Brooks on “The Producers,” ”Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” The last film — with Wilder playing a California-born descendant of the mad scientist, insisting that his name is pronounced “Frahn-ken-SHTEEN” — was co-written by Brooks and Wilder. “Gene Wilder, one of the truly great talents of our time, is gone,” Brooks wrote in a statement Monday. “He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship.” With his unkempt hair and big, buggy eyes, Wilder was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in “Young Frankenstein” or bilking Broadway in “The Producers.” Brooks would call him “God’s perfect prey, the victim in all of us.” But he also knew how to keep it cool as the boozy gunslinger in “Blazing Saddles” or the charming candy man in the children’s favorite “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” His craziest role: the therapist having an affair with a sheep in Woody Allen’s “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex.” He was close friends with Richard Pryor and their contrasting personas — Wilder uptight, Pryor loose — were ideal for comedy. They co-starred in four films: “Silver Streak,” ”Stir Crazy,” ”See No Evil, Hear No Evil” and “Another You.” And they created several memorable scenes, particularly when Pryor provided Wilder with directions on how to “act black” as they tried to avoid police in “Silver Streak.” In 1968, Wilder received an Oscar nomination for his work in Brooks’ “The Producers.” He played the introverted Leo Bloom, an accountant who discovers the liberating joys of greed and corruption as he and Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) conceive a Broadway flop titled “Springtime For Hitler” and plan to flee with the money raised for the show’s production. Blazing Saddles, Willy Wonka, are CLINICS on comic acting. Wilder would work in only a handful more TV and film projects, including one last comedy with Pryor, 1991’s Another You. I think I can be in the movies.” In 1968, Wilder received an Oscar nomination for his work in Brooks’ “The Producers.” He played the introverted Leo Bloom, an accountant who discovers the liberating joys of greed and corruption as he and Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) conceive a Broadway flop titled “Springtime For Hitler” and plan to flee with the money raised for the show’s production. Matthew Broderick played Wilder’s role in the 2001 Broadway stage revival of the show. Wilder and Brooks never collaborated in any significant way after Young Frankenstein. The 1963 play Mother Courage and Her Children paired him with Anne Bancroft and brought him into the orbit of her then-boyfriend Mel Brooks. He returned briefly to television in the US with the sitcom “Something Wilder,” in 1994 and won an Emmy in 2003 for a guest role on “Will & Grace.” • Gene Wilder still has twinkle in his eye 44 years after playing Willy Wonka Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in June 1933, he began acting at the age of eight when his mother was diagnosed with rheumatic fever. When he returned to the U.S. he taught fencing and did other odd jobs while studying with Herbert Berghof’s HB Studio and at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg. Four years later, in 1967, and a few months after he’d made his film debut in Bonnie and Clyde, Wilder starred in Brooks’s The Producers. He tried his hand briefly at a sitcom in 1994, “Something Wilder,” and won an Emmy in 2003 for a guest role on “Will & Grace.” His professional debut came in Off Broadway’s “Roots” in 1961, followed by a stint on Broadway in Graham Greene’s comedy “The Complaisant Lover,” which won him a Clarence Derwent Award as promising newcomer. The former Jerome Silberman marked his return with a new name: Gene, depending on the source, chosen either in honor of a Thomas Wolfe character or his late mother, Jeanne; Wilder, for the author Thornton Wilder. His performance in the 1963 production of Brecht’s “Mother Courage” was seen by Mel Brooks, whose future wife, Anne Bancroft, was starring in the production; a friendship with Brooks would lead to some of Wilder’s most successful film work. Before starring in “The Producers,” he had a small role as the hostage of gangsters in the 1967 classic “Bonnie and Clyde.” He peaked in the mid-1970s with the twin Brooks hits “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” He went on to write several screenplays and direct several films. They were married in 1984, and co-starred in two Wilder-penned films: “The Woman in Red” and “Haunted Honeymoon.” After Radner died of ovarian cancer in 1989, Wilder spent much of his time after promoting cancer research and opened a support facility for cancer patients. I didn’t want to do ones where there’s just bombing and loud and swearing, so much swearing… can’t they just stop and talk instead of swearing?” Wilder is survived by his wife, Karen, whom he married in 1991, and his daughter from a previous marriage, Katherine, from whom he was estranged.

Gene Wilder, known for his role as the title character in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and for his collaborations with Mel Brooks, dies at the age of 83.

The Latest on tropical weather systems (all times local): Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is closing some areas at the end of the day as a major hurricane hurtles west toward Hawaii Island. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center says a hurricane watch is in effect for the Big Island of Hawaii, warning major Hurricane Madeline could pass “dangerously close.” At 5 a.m. HST (11 a.m. EDT) Tuesday, Madeline was a powerful Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph). The center adds that the storm is centered about 445 miles (715 kilometers) east of Hilo, Hawaii, and moving west at 10 mph (17 kph). The weather service said it expects Madeline to slowly weaken as it encounters vertical wind shear but remain a “dangerous hurricane” as it passes just south of the island late Wednesday and early Thursday. The hurricane is forecast to have maximum sustained winds of 105 mph Wednesday morning and 80 mph Thursday morning. Hurricane Lester was 1,275 miles east of Hilo as of 11 a.m. with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. The depression’s maximum sustained winds remain near 35 mph (55 kph) Tuesday morning but forecasters say it could become a tropical storm later in the day.</s>Hurricane churns toward Hawaii; people stock up, board up HILO, Hawaii (AP) — Preparing for what could be the first hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii in years, residents on the Big Island are stocking up on food and water and seeking shelter for their animals. The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning as the major Category 2 storm dubbed Madeline hurtled west toward the island, urging residents to rush through preparations to protect themselves and their property and expect hurricane conditions within the next 36 hours. "Hopefully our roofs stay on, and our houses don't float way or get blown away," said Big Island resident Mitzi Bettencourt, who boarded up walls of glass windows at her brother's oceanfront home. "It's like, 'Oh my God, are we going to get flattened or what?'" " Bettencourt, who lives in a subdivision called Kapoho Vacationland, manages several vacation rental properties and has her own home to worry about, which sits a few blocks from the ocean. She and her neighbors were stocking their pantries, stowing away lawn furniture and preparing for power outages. "If they're not prepared now, they should get prepared fast," said Chevy Chevalier, a meteorologist with the weather service. Hurricane Madeline, which was downgraded from Category 3 to 2 Tuesday, was weakening as it approached the islands. Madeline is expected to weaken but likely to remain a hurricane as it passes the state, meteorologist Chevy Chevalier said Tuesday. Forecasters are expecting Madeline to pass just south of the Big Island around 2 a.m. Thursday. But if the storm track shifts slightly to the north, the eye of the storm could pass over land. The last hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii was Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which hit Kauai Island, according to Chevalier. A second Pacific hurricane, called Lester, is still far from Hawaii, and it is expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it passes the state, Chevalier said. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Oahu on Thursday to give a keynote speech at the opening of the World Conservation Congress - a major meeting of thousands of delegates, including heads of state, scientists and policy makers. The White House is tracking the weather developments closely, but it doesn't anticipate changing Obama's schedule. The islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai were under a tropical storm watch, but there were no alerts for Oahu or Kauai. On the Big Island, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was closing some areas Tuesday, and park officials planned for the coastal lava viewing area to close by Wednesday morning. Some camping areas were closing, but guests staying at Kilauea Military Camp and Volcano House were allowed to shelter in place. Hawaii County, which covers the Big Island, urged residents to restock their emergency kits with a flashlight, fresh batteries, cash and first-aid supplies. It recommended that residents create evacuation plans and secure outdoor furniture. Hawaiian Airlines said customers holding tickets to or from Hawaii's Big Island from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1 would be allowed a one-time reservation change without a fee.

A hurricane watch is issued for the island of Hawaii as Hurricane Madeline approaches.

Everything you need to know about Zika Everything you need to know about Zika 01:42 Everything you need to know about Zika No country is immune from a potential outbreak, as long as the mosquitoes capable of spreading the virus -- Aedes aegypti and the Aedes albopictus -- live there. The Zika (ZEE'-ka) virus was first discovered in monkey in Uganda in 1947 - its name comes from the Zika forest where it was first discovered. 'The ratio may sound low,' Tesh said, 'but when you consider the number of Aedes aegypti in a tropical urban community, it is likely high enough to allow some virus to persist, even when infected adult mosquitoes are killed.' "In Singapore, many people live in densely packed apartment blocks so it's easy for high numbers of people to get infected even if there are only a few mosquitoes flying around," explained Ooi. In the meantime, efforts to curb Zika's spread in the city state, he said, hinged on all citizens using insect repellent and making sure there were no potential mosquito breeding areas around their residential areas. The ongoing Zika outbreak was first detected last year in Brazil, where it has been linked to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly, and has since spread rapidly through the Americas.</s>Washington, DC - Researchers at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) recently identified compounds that potentially can be used to inhibit Zika virus replication and reduce its ability to kill brain cells. These compounds now can be studied by the broader research community to help combat the Zika public health crisis. NCATS is part of the National Institutes of Health. Using NCATS’ drug repurposing screening robots, researchers identified two classes of compounds effective against Zika: one is antiviral, and the other prevents Zika-related brain cell death. The compounds include emricasan, an investigational drug currently being evaluated in a clinical trial to reduce liver injury and fibrosis, and niclosamide, a U. S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drug for use in humans to treat worm infections. In addition, the researchers identified nine cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors. CDK usually is involved in regulation of cellular processes as well as normal brain development, but the Zika virus can negatively affect this process. NCATS’ work was a collaborative effort with Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, (JHU) and Florida State University, Tallahassee, (FSU), and the study results were published in the August 29 issue of Nature Medicine. The NCATS screening effort builds on the initial research by JHU and FSU scientists, who discovered that the Zika virus infects brain cells early in development. Infection by the Zika virus may be related to fetal microcephaly, an abnormally small head resulting from an underdeveloped and/or damaged brain. The Zika virus has been reported in 60 countries and territories worldwide; currently, there are no vaccines or effective drug treatments. The virus is spread primarily through bites from infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, and in addition, can be transmitted from mother to child and through sexual contact. It also is associated with neurological diseases such as Guillain-Barré syndrome in infected adults. “The Zika virus poses a global health threat,” said Anton Simeonov, Ph.D., NCATS scientific director. “While we await the development of effective vaccines, which can take a significant amount of time, our identification of repurposed small molecule compounds may accelerate the translational process of finding a potential therapy.” NCATS researcher Wei Zheng, Ph.D., and his team led the drug repurposing screen to test three strains of Zika: Asian, African and Puerto Rican. The scientists first developed an assay (test) using caspase 3, a protein that causes brain cell death when infected by the virus. The next step was screening 6,000 FDA-approved and investigational compounds, which resulted in the identification of more than 100 promising compounds. The team then evaluated the protective effect of these compounds in brain cells after Zika virus infection. Three lead compounds, emiracsan, niclosamide and a CDK inhibitor known as PHA-690509, were identified as reducing neuronal cell death caused by Zika virus infection. These compounds were effective either in inhibiting the replication of Zika or in preventing the virus from killing brain cells. For example, emricasan prevents cell death, and niclosamide and the nine CDK inhibitors stop the virus’ replication. The team also found that emricasan, when combined with one of the CDK inhibitors, prevented both cell death and virus replication. In addition, the team noted that the CDK inhibitors may be useful in treating non-pregnant patients who face an increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome and other conditions sparked by Zika infection. The researchers cautioned, however, that the use of emricasan and niclosamide during pregnancy for Zika infection will need to be evaluated in pre-clinical toxicology studies and clinical trials. “Using the NCATS drug repurposing platform for emerging infectious diseases can help rapidly identify potential treatments for urgent needs such as the Zika virus,” Zheng said. “While identifying promising compounds is a first step, our goal at NCATS is to facilitate the translation of these findings for evaluation in the clinic. The release of all the compound screening data in this publication and in the public PubChem database opens the door to the research community to do just that.” NCATS’ screening effort enabled the broader research team to quickly translate their earlier discoveries toward work to develop treatments for Zika virus infection. JHU is working on a mouse model to study the neuroprotective effects of the compounds identified from the screen and studying the mechanism of action of the lead compounds. FSU is testing the efficacy of these compounds in a Zika virus mouse model and is also studying the mechanism of action of the lead compounds. In addition to NCATS, FSU and JHU, the research was supported by Emory University, Atlanta; the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund, Columbia; NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke through grants NS048271 and NS095348, NS047344 and NS097206; and NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases through grant AI119530.

The number of Zika virus infected in Singapore rises above 40.

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte wants his fiercest critic in the legislature, Senator Leila De Lima, to step down. "If I were De Lima, ladies and gentlemen, I will hang myself. Your life, as well as the innermost of your core as a female, is being serialized everyday,” Duterte said when interviewed in Samar where he visited the wake of PO1 Gary Cabaguing, who was killed during an anti-drug operation. Yesterday, the President said de Lima should resign from her Senate post because she is no role model for women. "Dapat ka mag-resign (You should resign), you resign," said Duterte, addressing De Lima during a short speech on Monday, August 29, in Tacloban City. Wala kang ipakita…anong ipapakita mo sa mga babae (You have nothing to show. What are you showing women, 'Follow me,' you will say?) Duterte, who previously blasted De Lima for "immorality," said the lady senator would make a bad example for women. You build the nation on the bones of your countrymen?” he added. I won’t have any respect left for myself if I do that,” the senator added. Sotto refused to disclose details of the complaint but in an interview last week, the senator hinted that some of the issues raised by the complainant were based on the allegations of President Rodrigo Duterte, particularly on her alleged involvement in illegal drug operations and immorality.</s>Philippines senator vows to press on in battle with 'The Punisher' MANILA, Aug 30 (Reuters) - A Philippines senator who is leading an inquiry into the spate of killings unleashed by President Rodrigo Duterte's 'war on drugs' has vowed to press on despite bizarre accusations and insults raining on her from the country's leader. Leila de Lima told Reuters on Monday she has no fears for her own life because it would be clear who was to blame if anything happened to her, but she has been warned by people close to Duterte to stop questioning the extra-judicial killings. "Some of my closest friends, some of my family are pleading with me 'you better stop already, stop it, stop it, keep quiet or just quit so they leave you alone'. But I cannot do that," the 57-year-old lawyer and politician said in her Senate office. More than 1,900 people have been killed in Duterte's war on drugs since he came to power two months ago, according to police figures. Police say the toll of about 36 people a day is a result of drug dealers resisting arrest or gang feuds. De Lima set up a Senate inquiry into the killings and held the first two hearings last week. On Thursday, Duterte accused de Lima of taking bribes from jailed drug lords. He has also said she is having an affair with her driver and at a news conference declared she was "finished". On Monday he attacked her again, saying de Lima had lost face as a woman and that if he were her he would hang himself. "What they are doing to me is even worse than death. The honour, especially my womanhood, my reputation," said de Lima, who denies all the allegations Duterte has made against her. Duterte, sometimes known as 'The Punisher', won a May election on a promise to wipe out drugs and dealers. But there has been an outcry from human rights groups over the sheer number of deaths that followed Duterte's victory and over his incendiary rhetoric, which they say encourages police to feel they can kill with impunity. There have been cases when police officers have killed suspected drug dealers who were in handcuffs and in custody, civil rights lawyers have said. There have also been hundreds of killings by anonymous gunmen. De Lima said witnesses had told her about one case involving a group of men dressed as civilians and wearing masks. "From all indications, based on the account of those who witnessed it, those were actually police," she said. "Are these death squads? Who are they, and under whose direction are they doing that?" She said despite Duterte's promises to go after drug syndicates and kingpins, it is mostly the poor who are dying. "The ones being targeted are the powerless, the voiceless, the defenceless, because they are so poor. Where is the justice there, there's so much injustice," she said. She said her Senate committee, which is due to hold another hearing on Thursday, was seeking facts - but it had no power to accuse or pursue any individual. De Lima is hoping the hearings will speed the passage of legislation that has been stuck in Congress that would make extra-judicial killing a special crime with harsh penalties. She also wants to bolster the independent Commission on Human Rights (CHR) so it has more capacity to investigate violations. De Lima said that the CHR and the police's internal affairs service were both overwhelmed and could only do so much, and a climate of fear meant people were reluctant to speak out. "It's only the president who can stop all of this," she said. "I call this madness really." (Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte calls on critic senator Leila de Lima to resign and "hang herself".

</s>PRESIDENT Duterte said on Monday his bloody antidrug campaign that has left nearly 1,800 people dead does not amount to genocide, but that he’s ready to go to jail to defend his men from lawsuits. Mr. Duterte drew a line between the widespread killings sparked by his antidrug war and the brutality under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the atrocities committed by Islamic State group extremists. “Genocide? Who did I kill? I did not kill any child. I did not drop barrel [bombs] just likeal- Assad,” President Duterte said in a speech to mark the Philippines’s National Heroes’ day before war veterans, ambassadors and top officials. “I’m fighting…criminals.” Referring to Islamic State group militants, whom he called “idiots,” Mr. Duterte said, “I do not burn women because they refuse to have sex.” At least 1,779 drug suspects have been killed in President Duterte’s campaign, including 712 who were gunned down in clashes with the police, with the rest being slain in still-unclear circumstances, the national police chief told a Senate inquiry last week. At least 3.7 million Filipinos have become addicted to methamphetamine, a prohibited stimulant known locally as shabu, with about 600,000 drug users and dealers surrendering to authorities, Mr. Duterte said. Human-rights groups have expressed alarm over the spate of killings, and United Nations (UN)-appointed human-rights experts warned steps should be taken to halt the violence, adding that the government and law enforcers could be held responsible. “Claims to fight the illicit drug trade do not absolve the government from its international legal obligations and do not shield state actors or others from responsibility for illegal killings,” UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard said in a statement this month. The 71-year-old President Duterte built a name with his deadly crime-busting style as a longtime mayor of southern Davao City. He described his campaign against drugs as a harsh war that would involve the military because the problem has worsened into a crisis and claimed the lives of law enforcers. “We might still end up like the South American countries and their fractured governments. I am declaring war,” he told an audience at a national heroes’ cemetery on Monday, which included ambassadors, war veterans and security officials. The drug menace, he said, “has infected every nook and corner of this country involving generals, mayors, governors, barangay [village] captains” and policemen. Pressing his campaign, Mr. Duterte announced bounties of P2 million ($42,000) for information that would help the government identify any police officer protecting drugs syndicates. He repeated his pledge to defend the police and military, but warned law enforcers against conniving with criminals. “In the pursuit of law and order, pursuant to my directions, you do not have to worry about criminal liability,” he said. “I will go to the prison for you. I take full legal responsibility, you just do it according to the books.” “But for those in the government, the police, the corrupt police and the corrupt judges and the corrupt prosecutors, there will be a day of comeuppance, there will always be a day of reckoning,” Duterte said.

Duterte rejects claims that he is inciting genocide with his anti-drug campaign.

Five held over fire at Brussels criminology institute - prosecutors BRUSSELS, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Five people were being held and questioned on Monday over a fire at Brussels' criminology institute, a spokeswoman for the city's prosecutors said. She said there was "sensitive material" inside the laboratories, but it is not yet clear what if anything was destroyed in the fire. Forensic analysis linked to criminal cases is carried out at the site, but while it is not the only laboratory of its kind linked to the police, it is the most important forensic test centre in Belgium. It goes without saying that several individuals may have wanted to destroy evidence related to their legal cases," Ms Van Wymersch added.</s>Nobody hurt in blast outside Brussels criminology institute BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian media say unidentified attackers have detonated a bomb outside Belgium's criminology institute in the capital, Brussels, but the building was empty and nobody was injured. “I cannot confirm that there was any bomb.” State broadcaster RTBF and other outlets reported that a car drove through a security barrier at the site about 2 a.m., followed by an explosion that caused significant damage to the facility on Brussels’ north side. No casualties were reported Brussels airport and metro were the targets of an Islamic State bomb attack that killed 32 people in March.

Multiple individuals rammed a van into the entrance of the Brussels National Institute of Criminology building, setting its laboratories on fire. No casualties have been reported. At least five people are arrested.

Although The Washington Post reported that Roberts attributed the database breach directly to a Russian hacker, when pressed by CNN, he said that the Arizona secretary of state's office learned of Russian involvement from internal IT and cyber security staff. In Illinois, hackers accessed a database for the Illinois Board of Elections, compromising up to 200,000 personal voter records according to Ken Menzel, General Counsel for the board. The FBI is investigating the hack, which initially occurred in late June and was discovered in July. It was first reported by Yahoo . SPRINGFIELD (AP) — Illinois elections officials are confident no voter data were compromised this summer when a hacker was able to see information on about 200,000 registered voters. The Illinois database included voters' names, addresses, sex and birthdays in addition to other information. Menzel says the Illinois system's hacker was able to get information that could include driver's license or portions of Social Security numbers. The database is comprised of records for 15 million individuals and is 10 years old. Not all outdated information has been purged, according to Menzel, so some of those records likely include information for deceased voters or those who have subsequently moved. According to Matthew Roberts, Director of Communications for the Arizona Secretary of State, in late May, Arizona officials took the statewide voting registration system offline after the FBI alerted the Arizona Department of Administration that there was a credible cyber threat to the voter registration system. When they took the system offline to review any vulnerabilities, they discovered that a county election official's username and password had been posted online publicly. It's believed that a worker may have inadvertently downloaded a virus which exposed the username and password. In this instance, the username and password information posted would only give individuals access to a localized, county version of the voting registration system, and not the entire state-wide system. Roberts says there is no evidence that any data within the system was compromised and there was no evidence of malware present in the database. The breaches are causing concern among election officials because of the voter personal information that could have been stolen, not because of any fear that an election could be stolen, law enforcement officials say. States have a variety of systems -- some better than others -- but the voting machines and tabulating systems are generally not connected to the internet, which would be the vulnerability hackers would use to compromise the electoral system. The Department of Homeland Security is unaware of any specific credible threat to the electoral systems, according to a law enforcement official. Election databases are attractive targets to hackers because they contain personal information that can be cobbled together with other data to help criminals steal money. Illinois officials say it's been a challenge to identify everyone whose records were compromised as they have to sort through the 109 jurisdictions that may have been affected. According to Menzel, they are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to figure out who was responsible. Menzel says the board is not concerned about the integrity of the voting system and does not expect the breach to impact the upcoming general election. Illinois voting machines are not connected to the internet in any way, according to Menzel. Most voters in Illinois use an optical scan ballot but some jurisdictions do have touch screen machines to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations. In some large counties, such as Cook County, at the end of the voting day, early unofficial voting results are reported back and sent via cell phone signal but they have encryption protection. Arizona largely uses paper ballots and also has touch screen machines.</s>“We believe it’s kind of serious, and we’re investigating.” The bulletin does not identify the states in question, but sources familiar with the document say it refers to the targeting by suspected foreign hackers of voter registration databases in Arizona and Illinois. Matt Roberts, spokesman for Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan, said media outlets around the world was calling to find out what was going on, but that the story was actually old news. Malicious software was downloaded onto a Maricopa County Elections Department computer, where it apparently recorded the keystrokes of the computer user and gleaned the user's password-protected login information. Hackers could conceivably use intrusions into voter registration databases to delete names from voter registration lists, although in most states, voters can request provisional ballots at the polls, allowing time for discrepancies to be resolved, an official of the National Association of Secretaries of State told Yahoo News. The FBI warning, contained in a “flash” alert from the FBI’s Cyber Division, a copy of which was obtained by Yahoo News, comes amid heightened concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about the possibility of cyberintrusions, potentially by Russian state-sponsored hackers, aimed at disrupting the November elections. The Illinois hack, which shut down the Illinois voter registration for nearly two weeks, was covered by the news media when it happened in mid-July. The Arizona Secretary of State's Office revealed news of the hack back in late June and early July, reporting that it was a serious attack, the FBI was investigating, and that no data had been stolen. But three days after that call, the FBI Cyber Division issued a potentially more disturbing warning, entitled “Targeting Activity Against State Board of Election Systems.” The alert, labeled as restricted for “NEED TO KNOW recipients,” disclosed that the bureau was investigating cyberintrusions against two state election websites this summer, including one that resulted in the “exfiltration,” or theft, of voter registration data. The FBI said Monday that it doesn't comment on specific alerts, but added that it routinely sends out advisories to private industry about signs of cyber threats that it comes across in its investigations. The FBI did not respond to detailed questions about the alert, saying in a statement only that such bulletins are provided “to help systems administrators guard against the actions of persistent cyber criminals.” Menzel, the Illinois election official, said that in a recent briefing, FBI agents confirmed to him that the perpetrators were believed to be foreign hackers, although they were not identified by country. That’s where the real potential is for any sort of meddling in the election.” And James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, has told Congress that ma­nipu­la­tion or deletion of data is the next big cyber threat–”the next push on the envelope.” But Tom Hicks, chairman of the federal Election Assistance Commission, an agency set up by Congress after the 2000 Florida recount to maintain election integrity, said he is confident that states have sufficient safeguards in place to ensure efforts at ma­nipu­la­tion will be unsuccesful. Also, he said, in general the voting systems themselves “are not hooked up to the Internet” and so “there’s not going to be any ma­nipu­la­tion of data.” Nonetheless, more than 30 states have some provisions for online voting, primarily for voters living overseas of serving in the military. “We believe that online voting, especially online voting in large scale, introduces great risk into the election system by threatening voters’ expectations of confidentiality, accountability and security of their votes and provides an avenue for malicious actors to manipulate the voting results,” Neil Jenkins, an official in the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security, Some private-sector researchers say some of the information released by the FBI points to a potential Russian link, but they caution that their work is preliminary. “Attempts should not be made to touch or ping the IP addresses directly.” “This is a big deal,” said Rich Barger, chief intelligence officer for ThreatConnect, a cybersecurity firm, who reviewed the FBI alert at the request of Yahoo News. He also said the method of attack on one of the state election systems — including the types of tools used by the hackers to scan for vulnerabilities and exploit them — appear to resemble methods used in other suspected Russian state-sponsored cyberattacks, including one just this month on the World Anti-Doping Agency. Those concerns prompted Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to convene a conference call with state election officials on Aug. 15, in which he offered his department’s help to make state voting systems more secure, including providing federal cyber security experts to scan for vulnerabilities, according to a “readout” of the call released by the department. In that call, Johnson said that while DHS isn't aware of any particular cyber threat against election-related computers, it's "critically important" to make sure that election systems are secure amid a rapidly changing threat landscape, according to a DHS summary of the call. The Arizona attack was more limited, involving malicious software that was introduced into its voter registration system but no successful exfiltration of data, a state official said.

U.S. officials are investigating the hacking of election system databases in Illinois and Arizona. The FBI alerted all election officials nationwide about this issue earlier this month.

(CNN) When Lucy, the world's most well-known fossil, was discovered sticking out of a shallow Ethiopian stream bed in 1974, she provided new insight about life for early human ancestors 3.18 million years ago. Once his team went looking for fractures in Lucy's skeleton that could have resulted from a devastating fall, they found loads: An ankle fracture known as a pilon, usually caused by falls or motor vehicle accidents; high-energy traumatic fractures to both knees; signs that bones in her legs dislocated and rammed up into the joints above them; a fracture to the first rib, which is well protected by the collar bone and usually not broken except in cases of traumatic impact. The image of her skeleton -- which is estimated to be 40% complete and considered the best representation of her species, Australopithecus afarensis -- became iconic. Fall from a tree may have caused death of 'Lucy' the famed fossil AUSTIN, Texas, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Lucy, one of the best known ancestors of humans to ever roam the earth, may have died after a fall from a tree, University of Texas researchers said on Monday after studying her 3.18-million-year-old fossilized remains. A high resolution X-ray CT (computed tomography) study of Lucy, a female hominid, indicates she suffered fractures to her right humerus not typically seen in fossils. They used the opportunity to scan her with the Jackson School of Geosciences' High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility (UTCT) - a machine designed to scan through materials as solid as a rock (as old as it is, Lucy's skeleton is totally mineralized) and at a higher resolution than medical scans. "This compressive fracture results when the hand hits the ground during a fall, impacting the elements of the shoulder against one another to create a unique signature on the humerus," Kappelman said in a statement. The injuries were consistent with those "caused by a fall from considerable height when the conscious victim stretched out an arm in an attempt to break the fall," according to the research from John Kappelman, a University of Texas anthropology and geological sciences professor, who consulted with Stephen Pearce, an orthopedic surgeon at Austin Bone and Joint Clinic. Kappelman also saw similar, less severe, fractures at the left shoulder and other compressive fractures throughout Lucy's skeleton. Overall, Lucy suffered a broken ankle, arm, knee, pelvis and at least one fractured rib - suggesting she must have suffered severe internal organ damage. But in studying Lucy's remains in new detail, Kappelman and his colleagues thought they saw evidence of breaks that had occurred before death. Kappelman claims that because of her small size — about 3 feet 6 inches and 60 pounds — Lucy probably foraged and sought nightly refuge in trees. In comparing her with chimpanzees, Kappelman argues Lucy probably fell from a height of more than 40 feet, hitting the ground at more than 35 miles per hour. 'Lucy was no longer simply a box of bones but in death became a real individual: a small, broken body lying helpless at the bottom of a tree.' "The point we argue is that it may well be the evolution of these traits for bipedalism [walking upright] that compromised her ability to climb as safely and efficiently in the trees, and that may have meant that her species was more subject to a higher frequency of falls," Kappelman said.</s>The ancient human ancestor known as Lucy may have met her death more than 3m years ago when she tumbled out of a tree and crashed to the woodland floor, a team of US researchers claim. “The consistency of the pattern of fractures with what we see in fall victims leads us to propose that it was a fall that was responsible for Lucy’s death,” said John Kappelman, an anthropologist who led the study at the University of Texas in Austin. “And they are undoubtedly the result of geological forces acting on the bones after they are buried during the process of fossilization.” Breaking Bad Lucy, a member of the species Australopithecus afarensis, was discovered in 1974. Johanson and his colleagues named the fossil after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" because it was playing over and over again at their camp the night she was found. The species, Australopithecus afarensis, meaning “southern Ape from Afar”, walked upright, but had long, strong arms and curved fingers, making Lucy more adept at life in the trees than modern humans. “If we didn’t see those arms sticking out, the argument we make might not be so powerful.” Kappelman’s research into Lucy’s demise began in 2008, when the Ethiopian government granted him 10 days to scan the preserved parts of her skeleton at the high-resolution CT lab at the University of Texas. • Google Doodle: 5 things you didn't know about the Lucy Australopithecus fossil “Here’s the most famous fossil on the planet, the centre of the debate over arborealism in human evolution, and we think it’s most likely she died from a fall out of tree,” said Mr Kappelman. “I wouldn’t think it’s impossible that they went into the trees to collect fruit or maybe even to build nests to sleep at night, but in terms of their primary mode of locomotion, these guys were essentially terrestrial.” For his part, Kappelman will continue to analyze other aspects of Lucy’s skeleton and may even look for her fracture pattern in different fossils found in the area. “Something that you can’t verify and you can’t falsify and is therefore unprovable.” Ape and Human Features If Kappelman’s research were to become widely accepted, the findings could help settle a long-standing debate: Were hominins like Lucy tree climbers? “I showed the evidence to an orthopedic surgeon, who immediately said it is a fracture caused by a fall from considerable height—there was no question at all,” says Kappelman. The bones linked to her right shoulder also sustained a series of clean breaks which echoed those orthopaedic surgeons saw as a result of patients attempting to break a fall with an outstretched arm. They also say the injury could not have happened long after death because tiny slivers of bone that broke off in the impact remained in their post-injury position rather than scattering all over the ground.

Scientists from the University of Texas at Austin postulate that the hominin fossil Lucy (Dinkinesh) died due to a fall from a tree. Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson, who is credited with discovering and naming Lucy, disagrees.

“There are about 72 mass graves in Iraq and Syria, which contains the remains of nearly 15000 victims who were killed by ISIS in the two nations,” the survey report said. The figures are based on the documentation and mapping of the 72 mass graves as well as excavations by Iraqi officials, the testimony of survivors, Isis propaganda campaigns and analysis of the ground where the victims were buried. Further mass graves are expected to be uncovered as Isis retreats in the face of a US-led coalition and allied forces on the ground in Iraq and Syria, ceding ground outside of Mosul and Raqqa – the two most populous cities under its control. The report further revealed that one of the 17 graves discovered in Syria holds the bodies of hundreds of members of a single tribe close to completely exterminated when ISIS violently took over their region. Between them, the two scenes of horror on Sinjar mountain contain six burial sites and the bodies of more than 100 people, just a small fraction of the mass graves Islamic State extremists have scattered across Iraq and Syria. (IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – In a survey conducted by the Associated Press Agency it was revealed that there are about 72 mass graves in Iraq and Syria, which contain the remains of nearly 15000 victims, who were killed by ISIS. According to survey report, smallest grave contained the remains of three bodies, and the largest one is believed to contain the remains of thousand victims.</s>IS buried thousands in 72 mass graves, AP finds HARDAN, Iraq (AP) — Surrounded by smoke and flames, the sound of gunshots echoing around him, the young man crouched in the creek for hours, listening to the men in his family die. For six days he watched as the extremists filled one grave after another with his friends and relatives. Sinjar mountain is dotted with mass graves, some in territory clawed back from IS after the group's onslaught against the Yazidi minority in August 2014; others in the deadly no man's land that has yet to be secured. Between them, the two scenes of horror on Sinjar mountain contain six burial sites and the bodies of more than 100 people, just a small fraction of the mass graves Islamic State extremists have scattered across Iraq and Syria. (Kurdish Mass Graves Directorate via AP) In exclusive interviews, photos and research, The Associated Press has documented and mapped 72 of the mass graves, the most comprehensive survey so far, with many more expected to be uncovered as the Islamic State group's territory shrinks. In Syria, the news agency has obtained locations for 17 mass graves, including one with the bodies of hundreds of members of a single tribe all but exterminated when the extremists took over the tribe's region. For at least 16 of the Iraqi graves, most in territory too dangerous to excavate, officials do not even guess the number of dead. In others, the estimates are based on memories of traumatized survivors, Islamic State propaganda and what can be gleaned from a cursory look at the ground. IS buried thousands in 72 mass graves – 5,200 to more than 15,000 people buried HARDAN: Surrounded by smoke and flames, the sound of gunshots echoing around him, the young man crouched in the creek for hours, listening to the men in his family die. Satellites offer the clearest look at massacres such as the one at Badoush Prison in June 2014 that left 600 male inmates dead. A patch of scraped earth and tire tracks show the likely killing site, according to exclusive photos obtained by the imagery intelligence firm AllSource Analysis. (AP Photo/Dalton Bennett, File) In this May 19, 2016 photo, Arkan Qassim, center, stands at the site where he witnessed the killing dozens of Yazidi men including two sons of Rasho Qassim, right, in August 2014 in Hardan, northern Iraq. The road is in territory long since seized back, but the five sites are untouched, roped off and awaiting the money or the political will for excavation, as the evidence they contain is scoured away by the wind and baked by the sun. Both survivors say they simply want the graves exhumed. There are only bones left. But they said 'No, they have to stay there, a committee will come and exhume them later,'" said Qassim, standing at the edge of the flimsy fence surrounding one site, where his two sons are buried. The Islamic State group's atrocities extend well outside the Yazidi region in northern Iraq. But proving what United Nations officials and others have described as an ongoing genocide — and prosecuting those behind it — will be complicated as the graves deteriorate. The Islamic State targeted the Yazidis for slaughter because it considers them heretics. The Yazidi faith, one of the region's oldest, has elements of Christianity and Islam but is distinct. “We see clear evidence of the intent to destroy the Yazidi people,” said Naomi Kikoler, who recently visited the region for the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. “There’s been virtually no effort to systematically document the crimes perpetrated, to preserve the evidence, and to ensure that mass graves are identified and protected.” Then there are the graves still out of reach. As documented by the aid group Yazda, which has mapped the Sinjar sites, the graves are in a rough pentagon flanking the crossroads, largely unprotected. Through his binoculars, Arkan Qassem watched it all. His village, Gurmiz, is just up the slope from Hardan, giving a clear view over the plain below. When the jihadis swept over the area, everyone in Gurmiz fled up the mountaintop for refuge. Then Arkan and nine other men returned to their village with light weapons to try to defend their homes. The first night, Arkan saw the militants line up a group of handcuffed men in the headlights of a bulldozer at an intersection, less than a kilometer (half mile) down the slope from Gurmiz. They gunned the men down, then the bulldozer plowed the earth over their bodies. Over six days, Arkan and his comrades watched helplessly as the fighters brought out three more groups of men — several dozen each, usually with hands bound — to the crossroads and killed them. Once, the terrorists lit a bonfire, but Arkan couldn’t make out its purpose. Two years later, the 32-year-old has since returned home, living in an area dotted with mass graves. "I have lots of people I know there, mostly friends and neighbors," he said. Mostly friends and neighbors,” he said. “It’s very difficult to look at them every day.” ‘My father’s clothes’ As IS fighters swarmed into the Sinjar area in early August 2014, Talal fled his town along with his father, mother, four sisters and younger brother. Many of the graves themselves are easy enough to find, most covered with just a thin coating of earth. “They are beheading them, shooting them, running them over in cars, all kinds of killing techniques, and they don’t even try to hide it.” No one outside IS has seen the Iraqi ravine where hundreds of Shiite prison inmates were killed point blank and then torched. Satellite images of scraped dirt along the river point to its location, according to Steve Wood of AllSource. His analysts triangulated survivors’ accounts and began to systematically search the desert according to their descriptions of that day, June 10, 2014. The inmates were separated out by religion, and Shiites were loaded onto trucks, driven for a few kilometers (miles) and forced to line up and count off, according to accounts by 15 survivors gathered by Human Rights Watch. Instead, all they could do was watch the slaughter below. I heard them say ‘615,’ and then one ISIS guy said, ‘We’re going to eat well tonight.’ A man behind us asked, ‘Are you ready?’ Another person answered ‘Yes,’ and began shooting at us with a machine-gun,” according to the Human Rights Watch account of a survivor identified only as A.S. He eventually fled toward the mountain, joined by three others who had survived the massacre. ___ Read previous stories in AP's occasional series "Islamic State: A Savage Legacy" at www.ap.org/explore/a-savage-legacy/ FILE - In this April 3, 2015, file photo, an Iraqi man prays for his slain relative at the site of a mass grave believed to contain the bodies of Iraqi soldiers killed by Islamic State group militants when they overran Camp Speicher military base in Tikrit, Iraq, in June 2014. On Aug. 21, 36 men convicted in those killings were hanged at Iraq's Nasiriyah prison. But justice is likely to be elusive in areas still firmly under IS control, even though the extremists have filmed themselves committing the atrocities. That's the case for a deep natural sinkhole outside Mosul that is now a pit of corpses. Of the 72 mass graves documented by AP, the smallest contains three bodies; the largest is believed to hold thousands, but no one knows for sure. Activists believe there are hundreds of mass graves in Islamic State-controlled areas that can be explored only when fighting stops. So far, at least 17 mass graves are known, though largely unreachable, in a list put together from interviews with activists from Syrian provinces still under Islamic State rule as well as fighters and residents in former Islamic State strongholds. Some of the worst have been found in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour. There, 400 members of the Shueitat tribe were found in one grave, just some of the up to 1,000 members of the tribe believed to have been massacred by the Islamic State group when the militants took over the area, said Ziad Awad, the editor of an online publication on Deir el-Zour called The Eye of the City, who is trying to document the graves. “This is a drop in an ocean of mass graves expected to be discovered in the future in Syria,” said Awad.- AP

Thousands of Yazidi are believed to be buried in 72 newly-discovered mass graves left by ISIL after the 2014 massacre.

A suspected suicide bomber crashed a car through the entrance of the Chinese Embassy in the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek, detonating a bomb that killed the attacker and wounded three embassy employees. China denounced the attack and appealed to Kyrgyz authorities to identify and harshly punish anyone involved. No group claimed responsibility. The Central Asian nation’s interior ministry said the person who drove the vehicle through the gate died when the bomb detonated. The three people injured are Kyrgyz nationals: two 17-year-old embassy gardeners and an unidentified woman. Almaz Kubatbekov, chief physician at the Bishkek National Trauma and Orthopedics Institute, said the three victims suffered concussions and multiple bruises. Photos from the scene showed the inner courtyard of the embassy compound littered with debris. Windows of one building were smashed and the plastered walls pockmarked with shrapnel. The embassy in Bishkek’s southern suburbs neighbours the US embassy. Kyrgyzstan’s interior ministry described it as a terrorist attack. Deputy Prime Minister Zhenish Razakov told the Interfax news agency it was a suicide bombing. The country, a landlocked former Soviet republic that borders China, has a predominantly Muslim population that is considered moderate in outlook. A Kyrgyz news website, Kloop.kg, quoted Razakov as saying that he would lead a meeting on tightening security ahead of Kyrgyz Independence Day today and a summit of former Soviet nations in mid-September. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying described the three victims’ injuries as minor but called for a stern security response. “China is appalled and strongly condemns the violent act,” Hua told reporters at a daily briefing. She said China’s foreign ministry has “demanded that Kyrgyz authorities take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Chinese institutions and personnel in Kyrgyzstan, launch a thorough investigation to find out the truth of the incident and harshly punish the perpetrators.” Kyrgyz authorities offered no guidance on the attacker or a possible motive. The Chinese regularly have blamed separatists and religious extremists for attacks in China’s northwest region of Xinjiang, which borders Kyrgyzstan. Al-Qaida and the Islamic State group also have threatened to attack Chinese targets in retaliation for alleged repression of Chinese Muslims, particularly those from the Turkic-speaking Uighur majority native to Xinjiang. Officials say that some 500 Kyrgyz nationals are believed to have joined so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. One of the three men who carried out an attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport in June was said to be from Kyrgyzstan. The suicide gun and bomb attack, which Turkey blamed on IS jihadists, left 44 people dead and 240 injured. Chinese have been targeted in Kyrgyzstan in the past, including in 2000 when one official was shot dead in an attack blamed on Uighurs. Kyrgyz border guards killed 11 people believed to be members of a Uighur anti-Chinese militant group after they were said to have illegally crossed the border in 2014. In its travel advice to Kyrgyzstan, the UK government warns of an underlying threat from terrorism. The radical pan-Islamic group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, is said to have a presence in the country. It was banned in 2006 amid accusations of links to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.</s>Kyrgyzstan's Deputy Prime Minister Jenish Razakov said the driver rammed through a gate to get inside the Chinese Embassy compound and detonated an explosive device that was inside the car, RFE/RL reported.

A car bomb explodes near the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan, killing the perpetrator and injuring three.

Death toll from Somalia car bomb attack on Tuesday rises to 22 -police MOGADISHU, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The death toll from a car bomb blast in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Tuesday that exploded outside the Presidential Palace has risen to 22, police said on Wednesday. Death includes wounded people who died in hospitals," police officer Major Mohamed Abdullahi told Reuters. The fortified hotel, popular with government officials, business people and visiting diplomats and delegations, was previously attacked in both February this year and January last year.</s>Car bomb outside Somali President's Palace kills at least 10 By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar MOGADISHU, Aug 30 (Reuters) - At least 10 people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Tuesday when a car bomb claimed by al Shabaab exploded outside the Presidential Palace and also damaged two nearby hotels, an official said. Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir told state radio that a meeting of security officials was under way inside one of the hotels, the SYL, at the time of blast and that one minister and some state radio journalists were injured in the attack. The blast partially destroyed two hotels, including one in which a meeting of security officials was underway, the government has said. The SYL and another hospitality facility, both located near the Presidential Palace, were partially destroyed by the blast, Major Mohamed Ali, a police officer, told Reuters. “The blast killed 10 (people) including soldiers and civilians and 30 others were wounded,” Ali said.Gunfire could be heard after the blast and a huge cloud of smoke rose above the palace, outside which were the remnants of the car and splattered blood, according to a Reuters witness. Al-Shabaab's Radio Andaluz said the Islamist group was behind the attack and their military operations spokesman, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, claimed the attack had killed 15 soldiers and 'injured many others including a lawmaker'. Seeking to impose its own harsh form of Islam, al Shabaab, wants to topple the Western backed government in Mogadishu and also push out the 22,000-strong African Union mandated AMISOM peace keeping force backing it. The terrorists were pushed out of Mogadishu by the African Union peacekeeping force AMISOM in 2011 but have remained a serious threat, launching frequent attacks aimed at overthrowing the government. The al-Qaida-linked al Shabaab group has claimed responsibility for several recent explosions in Mogadishu, including a car bomb and gun attack last week that killed 10 people at a popular beach restaurant in the capital. In a separate incident, al Shabaab fighters attacked military bases housing government and African Union troops south west of the capital Mogadishu late on Monday, police and the group said on Tuesday. Military officer Major Bile Farah said a soldier and two al Shabaab fighters were killed in the attack in K-50 and Muri in Lower Shabelle region, Al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, Abdiasis Abu Musab, said the group's fighters had killed 10 soldiers and commandeered a vehicle from the Somali government soldiers.

A car bomb explodes outside the President of Somalia's compound in Mogadishu claiming at least ten people's lives. Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack.

CORRECTS NAME SPELLING - This undated image posted online Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016, by supporters of the Islamic State group on an anonymous photo sharing website, shows Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, IS's spokesman and chief strategist, who laid out the blueprint for the extremist group's attacks against the West. Quoting a "military source", IS news agency Amaq said: "Sheikh Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, the spokesman of the Islamic State, was martyred while surveying operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo". It did not provide any further details on when or how he died. The announcement came as a US defence official said an IS "senior leader" was targeted in a US-led coalition air strike Tuesday in Aleppo province. If confirmed, it would be a major blow to the extremist group, which has been on the retreat in Syria and Iraq, where the borders of its self-declared Islamic caliphate have been steadily eroded in recent months. Adnani was originally from the western Syrian province of Idlib and joined the jihadist movement in Iraq where he served now slain Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and held several positions. In late June 2014, he formally declared the establishment of a caliphate, or Islamic state, stretching across parts of Syria and Iraq, under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and demanded allegiance from Muslims worldwide.</s>Islamic State says its spokesman killed in Syria -Amaq News BEIRUT, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, one of the jihadist group's longest-serving and most prominent leaders, has been killed in Aleppo in Syria, its Amaq News Agency reported on Tuesday in a statement distributed by the group's supporters. Under Adnani's auspices, Islamic State has launched large-scale attacks, bombings and shootings, on civilians in several countries outside its core area, including France, Belgium and Turkey. Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency reported that Adnani was killed “while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo.” Islamic State holds territory in the province of Aleppo, but not in the city where rebels are fighting Syrian government forces. Islamic State holds territory in the province of Aleppo, but not in the city where rebels are fighting Syrian government forces. Amaq did not say how Adnani, born Taha Subhi Falaha in Syria's Idlib Province in 1977, was killed. Islamic State published a eulogy dated August 29th but giving no further details. Recent advances by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, and by Syrian rebels backed by Turkey, have made inroads into Islamic State holdings in Aleppo province, cutting them off from the Turkish border and supply lines along it. Iraq said in January that Adnani had been wounded in an air strike in the western province of Anbar and then moved to the northern city of Mosul, Islamic State’s capital in Iraq. INROADS INTO ISLAMIC STATE Adnani was a Syrian from Binish in Idlib, southwest of Aleppo, who pledged allegiance to Islamic State’s predecessor, al Qaeda, more than a decade ago and was once imprisoned by U.S. forces in Iraq, according to the Brookings Institution. U.S. Department of State/REUTERS He had been the chief propagandist for the ultra-hardline jihadist group since he declared in a June 2014 statement that it was establishing a modern-day caliphate spanning swaths of territory it had seized in Iraq and neighboring Syria. Adnani had often been the face of the Sunni militant group, such as when he issued a message in May urging attacks on the United States and Europe during the holy month of Ramadan, and as in Sept. 2014 when he called on supporters to kill Westerners throughout the world.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant says its official spokesman, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, has been killed in Syria's Aleppo Governorate. The group's statement, distributed by Amaq News Agency, did not say how al-Adnani was killed.

EU demands Apple pay Ireland up to 13 bln euros in tax BRUSSELS, Aug 30 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators ordered Apple on Tuesday to pay up to 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in taxes plus interest to the Irish government after ruling that a special scheme to route profits through Ireland was illegal state aid. "Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years," said Competition Commission Margrethe Vestager, whose crackdown on mainly U.S. multinationals has angered Washington which accuses Brussels of protectionism. Related: How Apple paid just 0.005% tax on its global profits Apple paid tax at 1%, or less, on profits attributed to its subsidiaries in Ireland, well below the 35% top rate of corporate tax in the United States and Ireland's 12.5% rate. "This is necessary to defend the integrity of our tax system, to provide tax certainty to business, and to challenge the encroachment of EU state aid rules into the sovereign member state competence of taxation," he said. When it opened the Apple investigation in 2014, the Commission told the Irish government that tax rulings it agreed in 1991 and 2007 with the company amounted to state aid and might have broken EU laws. "It is important that we send a strong message that Ireland remains an attractive and stable location of choice for long-term substantive investment," said Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan. "The most profound and harmful effect of this ruling will be on investment and job creation in Europe," Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in a letter published on the company's website. Apple accused the EU executive body of engaging in efforts "to rewrite Apple's history in Europe, ignore Ireland's tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process." "Over the years, we received guidance from Irish tax authorities on how to comply correctly with Irish tax law — the same kind of guidance available to any company doing business there," Cook said in a letter posted on the company's website. Conversely, the U.S. corporate tax rate of 35% is the highest among the 35 members of the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, although many companies pay less because of tax breaks.</s>BRUSSELS — Apple will have to pay up to 13 billion euros ($18.9 billion) plus interest in back taxes to Ireland after the European Union found Tuesday that the U.S. technology giant received illegal tax benefits over 11 years. The U.S. feels its firms are being targeted by the EU and a U.S. Treasury spokesperson warned the move threatens to undermine U.S. investment in Europe and “the important spirit of economic partnership between the U.S. and the EU.” Starbucks Corp has been ordered to pay up to 30 million euros ($33 million) to the Dutch state, while Amazon.com Inc and McDonald’s Corp are also under investigation by the Commission, the EU’s executive arm. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that a three-year investigation found Ireland granted such lavish tax breaks to Apple that the multinational’s effective corporate tax rate on its European profits dropped from 1% in 2003 to a mere 0.005% in 2014. “Tax rulings granted by Ireland have artificially reduced Apple’s tax burden for over two decades, in breach of the EU state aid rules. That last tax rate meant that for each million euros in profits, Apple paid just 50 euros in taxes, Vestager told a news conference. “ARTIFICIAL” ARRANGEMENT The EU’s ruling challenges the way that Ireland agreed to tax the profits of Irish-registered Apple subsidiaries, through which most of its non-U.S. profits flowed. “Ireland’s position remains that the full amount of tax was paid in this case and no state aid was provided,” the Irish statement said. We will appeal and we are confident the decision will be overturned.” The Irish finance minister, Michael Noonan, said he would seek approval from the Irish Cabinet to legally challenge the EU Commission’s ruling. Tuesday’s finding against Apple was by far the largest ruling by the commission’s competition arm on a state aid matter related to tax. “Ireland does not do deals with taxpayers.” Apple accused the EU executive body of engaging in efforts “to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore Ireland’s tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process.” “The Commission’s case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes, it’s about which government collects the money,” the company said in a statement. U.S. OPPOSITION The U.S. Treasury Department published a white paper last week in which it said it was looking at possible responses to what it sees as unfair targeting of its firms, which could include extra taxes on the U.S. arms of European companies. She noted that tax rulings were by their nature confidential up to this point, adding that the commission’s investigation could take place only once the figures became public. The only politics of that is that we’re here to make sure the treaty is upheld and this is in the treaty.” In an interview with RTÉ radio, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said it was clear the ruling was “coming from a political place” and was based on “no fact or law”. Apple employs 5,500 people in areas such as logistics and distribution in the Irish city of Cork, which has about a quarter of Apple’s Europe-based staff.

The European Union orders Apple to pay up to 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland. A three-year investigation by the EU's competition commissioner concludes that Apple received "illegal state aid" from Ireland, the EU order that Apple pay 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion), and, in addition, also interest and unpaid taxes.

LONDON (AP) — Iceland's Meteorological Office says two earthquakes early Monday rocked the caldera of Katla, one of the country's largest volcanos. Its volcanos attracted international attention in April 2010, when ash from an eruption of its Eyjafjallajokull volcano grounded flights across Europe for days, disrupting travel for millions.</s>Why did this happen? Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy.

Numerous tremors rock the Katla volcano in Iceland prompting the government to raise the alarm level.

</s>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Confirmed cases of Zika virus in Singapore rose to 82 on Tuesday, as the United States joined a growing list of countries warning pregnant women or those trying to get pregnant to avoid travel to the city-state. It is also one of Asia's cleanest cities but has a chronic problem with dengue fever, which is spread by the same Aedes mosquito that carries the Zika virus. The mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has caused explosive outbreaks in the Americas and the Caribbean since late last year, poses a particular risk to pregnant women because it can cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains. It has been linked in Brazil to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect where babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains. The warnings followed news that Zika transmission appears to be occurring outside of the original cluster, with at least five of 26 new cases confirmed late on Tuesday detected in the Aljunied area in the southeast of Singapore, the health ministry and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint statement. Neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have said they will monitor visitor arrivals from Singapore, while Taiwan and Australia have issued travel advisories warning against travel to the city-state. The outbreak and the warnings come as a potential blow to tourism in one of the world's busiest travel hubs, which is already struggling to recover from a slump amid tepid global growth. Singapore's Tourism Board said it was monitoring developments, adding the city state remained a "safe travel destination", and it was premature to consider any impact. Related Coverage CDC adds Zika-hit Singapore to interim travel guidance list More than 55 million people pass through Singapore’s Changi airport every year. In the first half of this year, tourism arrivals reached almost 8.2 million, compared with around 7.3 million in the same period of last year. Singapore reported its first case of locally-transmitted Zika at the weekend, and the number of reported infections of the mosquito-borne virus has since jumped to 56. At least three dozen of those have since made a full recovery. Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore's closest neighbors, have stepped up protective measures following the outbreak, introducing thermal scanners at airports and border checkpoints. Online retailer Lazada Singapore said on Tuesday it has seen sales of mosquito repellent and other deterrent products rise fivefold over the past three days compared to a week ago. REUTERS/Beawiharta Most of the early infections were among foreign workers, hundreds of thousands of whom, mainly from the Asian sub-continent, work on Singapore’s construction sites and in the marine sector. The majority of those infected with Zika in Singapore were foreign workers, but the government has not disclosed their nationalities. The Ministry of Manpower also did not respond to a request for comment made outside working hours. The High Commission of Bangladesh, which represents the largest community of foreign workers, said none of those infected were Bangladeshis, and the Thai foreign ministry said none were from Thailand. The embassies of China, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar said they had not been notified by Singapore whether their citizens were among those infected. Authorities inspected thousands of homes in seven parts of Singapore, including five foreign worker dormitories, spraying insecticide and removing potential mosquito breeding habitats.

Australia, South Korea and Taiwan issue travel advisories concerning Singapore after cases of Zika virus infection in the city-state passes 50.

Criticism by the U.S. government, U.N. rights experts and human rights groups over the drugs killings have provoked angry outbursts from Duterte, who, at one point, threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the U.N. Duterte said that the world body and the U.S. have failed to prevent genocidal killings in Africa and the Middle East but criticize his crackdown, which targets hardcore criminals who destroy Philippine society. Washington has expressed concern about a surge in drug-related killings since Duterte became president two months ago promising to wipe out narcotics in the Southeast Asian nation. Asked if he would be willing to discuss human rights at his meeting with Obama on the sidelines of an East Asia summit on Sept. 6, Duterte told reporters: "Depends to what degree". "They must understand the problem first before we talk about human rights," Duterte told a news conference. I would insist, listen to me: this is what the problem is, then we can talk.” In a statement, the foreign ministry said the meeting would be an opportunity for the president to “communicate his advocacy to improve the peace and order situation in the country, especially towards eradicating the scourge of illicit drugs”. "We absolutely expect that the president will raise concerns about some of the recent statements from the president of the Philippines," White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told a media briefing when asked whether inflammatory remarks by Duterte about women, journalists and others would be a topic of discussion. However, it said there were also important security issues for the two closely allied countries to discuss, particularly tensions over navigation in the South China Sea. Kerry calls on China, Philippines to abide by tribunal ruling on South China Sea NEW DELHI, Aug 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday called on China and the Philippines to abide by an international tribunal's decision on the disputed South China Sea region.</s>The number of drug-related killings in the Philippines since Rodrigo Duterte became president two months ago on a pledge to wipe out the illegal drug trade has reached about 2,000, according to data released today. There has been popular support for his campaign, but the wave of killings unleashed since his election victory has alarmed rights groups and brought expressions of concern from the United States, a close ally of Manila. As officials readied a publicity campaign to explain his fight against narcotics, the Philippine National Police said that close to 900 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations from July 1st to August 20th. That was an increase of 141 people over a week, on average 20 people a day. Last week the police said 1,100 other drug-related killings that were not classified as police operations were also being investigated. No new number for that category was given today but, together with the new figure for police encounters, the total came to about 2,000. Mr Duterte won the presidency of the Southeast Asian nation in a May election on a promise to wipe out drugs. Two UN human rights experts recently urged the Philippines to stop extra-judicial killings, drawing a furious response from Mr Duterte, who threatened to pull his country out of the UN. His foreign minister later rowed back on the threat. Mr Duterte’s communications secretary, Martin Andanar, said on Monday that a 30-second advertisement explaining the anti-drug campaign would be aired over the next week by commercial and public TV stations and in movie theatres. “The government is not spending a single centavo on these ads and TV stations are carrying them for free,” Mr Andanar told reporters at an event in a Manila hotel. He said his office would also publish a 40-page pamphlet to explain the rising body count. This would be issued on the president’s first trip abroad next week, first to Brunei and then to an East Asia summit in Laos. “Some people abroad have to understand why many people are getting killed in the anti-drug campaign. They must understand, this is a war and there are casualties,” Mr Andanar said. “The pamphlet will inform and explain that the government was not killing people at random, that these killings are not extrajudicial in nature but as part of the anti-crime campaign. Some of those killed were police officers who are involved in criminal activities.” The White House said on Monday that US president Barack Obama is expected to meet Mr Duterte in Laos on September 6th, and plans to touch on human rights as well as security concerns. Mr Duterte’s crackdown on drugs and some strongly worded criticism he has made of the US present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea. There have been few signs in the Philippines itself of a backlash against the war on drugs. However, today a newly formed group called the “Stop the Killings Network” announced a #Lightforlife campaign that would start with simultaneous candle-lighting events on Wednesday evening at six venues across Manila.

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte says he would not press on for China to abide by the South China Sea ruling but he might do so in the future.

Jeong Joon Hee, a spokesman for Seoul's Unification Ministry, told reporters Wednesday that Kim Yong Jin, a vice premier on education affairs in North Korea's cabinet, had been executed. But a South Korean official, speaking on condition of anonymity citing office rules, said Kim was executed by firing squad in July for unspecified antirevolutionary and factional acts. Two senior North Korean officials were executed with an anti-aircraft gun in early August on the orders of Kim Jong Un, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported, citing people it did not identify. Ri Yong Jin, a senior official in the education ministry -- possibly the minister -- was arrested for dozing off during a meeting with Kim and charged with corruption before being killed, the paper said. It was also falsely claimed that Hwang Min, an agriculture minister, was sentenced to death for undermining the North Korean leader for coming up with new farming ideas. The North Korean regime is especially paranoid in recent weeks after a senior offiicial at the London embassy defected to South Korea along with his wife and children. North Korea rarely announces purges or executions, although state media confirmed the execution of Kim's uncle and the man widely considered the second most powerful man in the country, Jang Song Thaek, in 2012 for factionalism and crimes damaging to the economy. In January last year he executed General Pyon In Son, head of operations in the army, for disagreeing with him; and in May of that year he purged his defense minister Hyon Yong Chol for dozing off at a rally.</s>The conservative daily, the JoongAng Ilbo, reported on Tuesday that Hwang Min, a former agriculture minister, and Ri Yong-jin, a senior official at the education ministry, were executed by anti-aircraft gun at a military academy in Pyongyang earlier this month. The daily quoted the source as saying Hwang was executed over a policy proposal that represented a direct challenge to the Kim regime. Kim’s former defense chief, Ri Yong Gil, was reported by the Yonhap news agency in February to have been executed, although his name was seen in May on a list of officials selected for senior posts at the Workers’ Party Congress that month. Jang, denounced as a “traitor for all ages”, was killed in December 2013 after being found guilty of treason and other crimes against the North Korean state. Two senior North Korean officials were executed with an anti-aircraft gun in early August on the orders of Kim Jong-un, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper has reported.

Two North Korean officials are reportedly publicly executed by Kim Jong-un after they allegedly disobeyed orders: former agriculture minister Hwang Min for unsuitable policies and Ri Yong Jin, a senior official at the education ministry, for sleeping at a meeting with Kim, disrespect for the leader and corruption. They were allegedly executed by anti-aircraft artillery fire.

Latest: Brown posts videos as police wait outside his home LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on a police response at Chris Brown's California home (all times local): Chris Brown is posting online videos declaring his innocence as police seek a warrant to search the singer's home after receiving a call from a woman there seeking assistance. Brown, 27, also denied any wrongdoing in a series of Instagram posts where he said he had woken up to find police outside and that they would need a warrant to enter the Tarzana property. He did not identify the woman who called, elaborate on the assistance she needed, or know if she was injured. Officials say detectives hope to talk to Brown, the woman, and any witnesses. The model, who hasn't responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press, told TMZ she's visited Brown's home in the past and never encountered any trouble. During the standoff that occurred while police awaited a search warrant, Brown later posted rambling messages on social media proclaiming his innocence and rebuffing reports that he barricaded himself in his "palace." Y'all gonna stop playing with me like I'm the villain out here, like I'm going crazy," Brown said in one Instagram video, waving a cigarette and looking at the camera. Television news showed several police cars parked outside the property in the San Fernando Valley area. It was the latest run-in with the law for the Grammy winning Brown, who has been in repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, ahead of the Grammys. He spent six years on probation after pleading guilty to attacking his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009.</s>Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Bob Green had described the standoff between Brown and officers as “long and protracted.” The search was sparked by a call for help from a woman who said she had been threatened by the performer, police sources said, with officers first arriving at Brown’s home in the 5000 block of Corbin Avenue about 3 a.m. Tuesday. “We’re getting the cooperation of everyone that came out,” Lt. Chris Ramirez said, after informing reporters that officers had served a search warrant. At least six members of the star’s entourage exited the property as cops gained entry, and Brown’s attorney, Mark Geragos, arrived just before the warrant was served, according to the Los Angeles Times. The woman said Brown, who has had several previous run-ins with the law, pointed a gun at her during a violent rage before she ran outside to call police, according to the police sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the case. “I don’t care y’all going to stay playing with me like I’m the villain out here, like I’m going crazy ... good luck when you get the warrant or whatever you need to do. “When you get the warrant for whatever you need to do, you’re going to walk right up in here and you’re going to see nothing, you idiots,” he said in one Instagram video, posted to 30m followers. I’m tired of f–king dealing with you all, y’all the worst gang in the world, the police, and I said it.” The LA Times reports officers made an attempt to enter Brown’s house but were turned away and told to obtain a search warrant. Brown, who won a Grammy for his 2011 album “F.A.M.E.,” has been in repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna. He received five years probation, which finally ended in 2015 after a number of violations for drugs and altercations prompted officials to extend the sentence.

American singer Chris Brown is arrested on suspicion on assault with a deadly weapon following a lengthy stand-off with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Organisers of the protest, a coalition known as MUD, hope to draw hundreds of thousands of marchers from across the country of 30 million to what is being called the “Takeover of Caracas”, where they will demand a recall referendum before the end of the year, which would cut Maduro’s term short and trigger new elections. While the 1 September marches will be a show of force for the opposition, the protest is unlikely to sway electoral authorities – widely considered to do the government’s bidding – to move towards a recall referendum this year. Electoral authorities have yet to set the date for the next stage of the complex process, in which the opposition must collect 4 million signatures over three days, with a referendum vote scheduled only once the signatures are validated. Daniel Ceballos, the former mayor of San Cristobal in western Tachira state who was serving a sentence of house arrest for inciting violence in the aftermath of those protests, was reportedly taken from his home Saturday and moved to a prison in Guarico state. Among the opposition leaders reportedly detained this week is Yon Goicochea, the high-profile student activist who heads the Popular Will opposition political party.</s>Chanting “this government will fall!” Venezuelan opposition supporters descended on Caracas on Thursday to press for a recall referendum this year against unpopular Socialist President Nicolas Maduro. With thousands of protesters arriving from the Amazon jungle to the western Andes, the opposition coalition was hoping for one million people at rallies across the capital to show anger at Maduro and Venezuela’s deep economic crisis. The president’s ratings have halved to under 25 per cent as falling oil prices and the failing state-led economy have left the OPEC nation in turmoil. Triple-digit inflation, a third year of recession, shortages of basics, and long lines at shops have exasperated Venezuelans and underpinned a resounding opposition election win in a December legislative vote. Maduro, 53, says the opposition-dubbed ‘Takeover of Caracas’ disguises a US-fomented coup plan, akin to a short-lived 2002 putsch against his mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chavez. On-edge authorities arrested some well-known activists in the run-up, with 13 opposition campaigners and supporters still in custody, according to a local rights group. Extra police and troops were positioned around Caracas, and opposition supporters said there were roadblocks on all major routes, with buses being blocked and traffic crawling. Fearing violence, especially given 43 deaths around anti-Maduro protests in 2014, many businesses closed and parts of Caracas were deserted in the early morning. “We have to come out and fight for a free Venezuela! We can’t take this any more,” said Elizabeth De Baron, 69, a secretary traveling 40km from the town of Guarenas. Dozens of indigenous people marched hundreds of miles from their home state of Amazonas. Swearing loyalty to Chavez’s legacy and calling opposition leaders a wealthy elite intent on controlling Venezuela’s oil, red-shirted government supporters gathered for counter-rallies. “I’m ready for everything … we will not allow a coup,” Maduro said in a speech late on Wednesday, saying various people had been arrested while planning to place explosives and kill fellow opposition supporters to discredit the government and create chaos. Maduro narrowly won election after Chavez died from cancer in 2013, but is seen to have failed to replicate his charismatic leadership. Despite the country’s ills, the opposition has struggled to consolidate support among ‘Chavistas’ and even its own base, disillusioned with the failure of past street action. With a compliant Supreme Court vetoing every major measure that congress passes, the opposition wants to activate a plebiscite on Maduro as allowed in the constitution halfway through his term. But the election board has dragged its feet on the process, making the vote unlikely this year. Should it happen in 2017 and were he to lose, Maduro’s vice president would take over, keeping the ruling Socialist Party in power, rather than there being a new presidential election.

Venezuelan officials arrest several opposition activists, including Popular Will Party leaders, just days before Thursday's scheduled national protest against the rule of President Nicolás Maduro.

Kolkata remembers Mother Teresa on the eve of sainthood KOLKATA, India (AP) — As Pope Francis prepares to declare Mother Teresa a saint just two decades after her death, people touched by her life in the eastern Indian city where she lived and worked for close to 50 years are filled with pride. Mother Teresa moved to Calcutta, as it was known then, in 1929 Mother Teresa was born to ethnic Albanian parents on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, now the capital of Macedonia, and named Gonxha Agnes Bojaxhiu. Months later, she left for India, landing in the city then known as Calcutta in January 1929, where she taught at St. Mary's School for girls. In 1946 she received "a call within a call" to found the Missionaries of Charity, officially established as a religious congregation in 1950. Freelance photographer Sunil Kumar Dutt began covering Mother Teresa's work in Kolkata in 1965 and has one of the largest collections of photographs of the nun. Her work, which began in Kolkata's festering slums and spread across the world, won Mother Teresa a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. When she died on September 5, 1997, at age 87, hundreds of thousands of local people poured out into the streets to bid farewell. In December, Pope Francis announced that Mother Teresa would be declared a saint after recognizing a second miracle attributed to her: the healing of a Brazilian man with multiple brain tumors after loved ones prayed to her, the Italian Catholic bishops' association's official newspaper Avvenire reported.</s>How The Catholic Church Documented Mother Teresa's 2 Miracles Enlarge this image toggle caption Bikas Das/AP Bikas Das/AP Hundreds of Catholics have been declared saints in recent decades, but few with the acclaim accorded Mother Teresa, set to be canonized by Pope Francis on Sunday, largely in recognition of her service to the poor in India. "She wasn't an extraordinary person, she was ordinary like us, but she was different in the sense that she was always in continuing communion with God, whatever she was doing." He said, “Affectionately called the “saint of the gutters” during her lifetime, Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be made an official saint of the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, just 19 years after her death. Born Gonxhe Agnes Bojaxhiu in 1910 to an Albanian family in Skopje -- modern Macedonia but then part of the Ottoman empire -- Mother Teresa took holy orders aged 18 and went to India to teach. The canonisation will then be held Sunday in St Peter's Square in a ceremony set to draw tens of thousands of faithful to recognise the sainthood of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who died aged 87 in India in 1997.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta is to be canonized into sainthood after "proof" of two miracles.

TOKYO — The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is requesting another increase in spending on Japan’s armed forces, with a plan to expand missile defenses that would test the nation’s commitment to pacifism and escalate a regional arms race with China and North Korea. With rising threats from North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile program and repeated incursions by Chinese ships into waters surrounding a string of islands claimed by Japan, the request would let the Defense Ministry develop new antiballistic missiles and place troops on southern islands closer to the chain in dispute with China. If approved, the budget proposal for 5.17 trillion yen, or $50.2 billion, formally submitted on Wednesday, would be the nation’s fifth-straight annual increase in military spending. It is a 2.3 percent rise over last year. The request includes proposals to develop and potentially purchase new antiballistic missiles that can be launched from ships or land, and to upgrade and extend the range of the country’s current land-based missile defense systems, a significant expansion of Japan’s missile defense capabilities.</s>VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to continue talks on a territorial dispute over the Kurile islands, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Friday after talks between the two leaders. The tensions have prevented the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending wartime hostilities, hindering trade and investment ties. Abe's visit to Russia -- his second this year -- comes days after the Kremlin announced that Putin will travel to Japan in December, his first trip to the country since 2005. "They agreed we would continue the talks and the results would be made public during the visit of the Russian leader to Japan before the end of the year," Lavrov said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans on increasing the spending for the Japan Self-Defense Force.

Image copyright RTÉ Image caption The Boeing 767-300 diverted to Shannon Airport in County Clare after the transatlantic turbulence Twelve people, including three children, have been injured on a transatlantic flight after it encountered "severe and unexpected turbulence". Aviation officials said the United Airlines flight from Houston, Texas, to London Heathrow had to be diverted to Shannon Airport after the incident at around 3am. It made an emergency landing in the Republic of Ireland about 5.55am on Wednesday (local time), and 16 people were taken to hospital in Limerick, ITV reported. A statement from the airline said: “The aircraft diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland where it was met by medical personnel, “United Airlines is providing care and support to customers and crew of flight UA-880 which experienced severe and unexpected turbulence during a flight from Houston to London Heathrow today,” The Boeing 767-300 jet had 207 passengers and crew of 13 on board. It said 10 customers and two flight attendants were taken to University Hospital Limerick and a ll were discharged except for one flight attendant who received further treatment.</s>DUBLIN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Fourteen passengers and two crew members were injured and taken to hospital on Wednesday after a United Airlines flight was forced to divert to Ireland's Shannon Airport due to a medical situation, the airport said. Ambulances were at the scene when the flight that was en route from Houston to London Heathrow landed at 0455 GMT and the injured people were treated at the airport before being transferred to hospital, Shannon Airport said in a statement. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Toby Chopra)

United Airlines Flight 880 makes an emergency landing at Shannon Airport in the Republic of Ireland due to "severe and unexpected turbulence". At least 12 people are hospitalized.

Story highlights At least nine people reported dead as storm passes over Japan's main island Flooding, at least one missing on northern island of Hokkaido Tokyo (CNN) Nine bodies were found in a home for the elderly in the town of Iwaizumi in Iwate Prefecture, which suffered flooding following Typhoon Lionrock, police tell CNN. The bodies of all nine residents were found at a nursing home in the town of Iwaizumi in Iwate prefecture, when police were checking another facility in the flooded neighborhood, said Takehiro Hayashijiri, an official at a prefectural disaster management division. The identity of the victims and other details, including the whereabouts of their caretakers, were not immediately known, said Takehiro Hayashijiri, a prefecture disaster management division. Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed a helicopter hovering over the building as rescuers tried to pluck other stranded residents to safety. A caretaker at that facility notified the town office about their evacuation to the third floor, noting that the nine residents next door were stuck, NHK TV reported. Footage on NHK showed the nursing home partially buried in mud, surrounded by debris apparently washed down in the swollen river. A car by the home was turned upside down. "We're making a government-wide effort to assess the extent of damage," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters. The government sent Self-Defense Forces to help in the rescue and cleanup of the damage caused by the typhoon. Prefectural officials confirmed that nine bodies were found in the Ran Ran retirement home after the nearby Omoto river broke its banks. The embankments gave way before dawn on Wednesday on the northern island of Hokkaid, said NHK, quoting Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism. 'In Minamifurano town, the water level is still very high with a current, and rescue workers are using helicopters now to try to evacuate several people who are left on the roofs of their houses or their cars,' said Hokkaido official Terumi Kohan. Typhoon Lionrock made landfall on Tuesday evening near the city of Ofunato, 310 miles (500km) north-east of Tokyo on the Pacific coast, and crossed the main island of Honshu before heading out to the Sea of Japan. The typhoon was later reclassified as an extratropical cyclone and moved out into the Sea of Japan at midnight, said the Japan Meteorological Agency. The scene of large parts of northern Japan covered with muddy water was a shocking reminder of the major tsunami that struck the same region five years ago. Iwate prefecture, the hardest-hit by the typhoon, is one of the areas still rebuilding from the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake, which left more than 18,000 people dead along Japan's northeastern coast.</s>Nine people killed in flooded Japanese old people's home TOKYO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Nine people were killed when floods inundated an old people's home in Japan, police said on Wednesday, taking the death toll from a typhoon battering northern parts of the country to at least 11. INTERNATIONAL NEWS - Nine people were killed when floods inundated an old people's home in Japan, police said on Wednesday, taking the death toll from a typhoon battering northern parts of the country to at least 11.Police found nine bodies on Wednesday in the nursing home in the town of Iwaizumi, in Iwate Prefecture in the north of Japan's main island of Honshu, but it was not clear when their home was flooded.It was also not clear why people there had not been taken to safety before the storm struck. It was also not clear why people there had not been taken to safety before the storm struck. The nursing home is located near a river and was partially buried in mud and debris when the river overflowed its banks. "The area is in a state of chaos. We are not sure what preparations the facility had taken," said a prefectural government official who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The town issued evacuation preparation information on Tuesday morning, which is to inform elderly or disabled people who take time to evacuate. That, however, was not as strong as an evacuation warning, according to another prefecture official. More than 1,000 other people were forced from their homes by the flooding brought by Typhoon Lionrock. The body of a man was also found near a river in Iwaizumi and a dead woman was found in Kuji city, police said. Television showed pictures of flooded rivers with cars and homes partly submerged while rescuers picked up stranded people by helicopter. Further north, on the island of Hokkaido, at least two rivers broke through their banks. Iwate prefecture, the hardest-hit by the typhoon, is one of the areas still rebuilding from the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake, which left more than 18,000 people dead along Japan’s north-eastern coast.

At least two rivers break embankments, causing floods on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Operations are underway to rescue 400 stranded people. On Honshu Island, at least 11 people, including nine elderly from a nursing home, have died.

In Florida, Scott declared an emergency in 42 of the state's 67 counties in advance of an expected tropical storm that could make landfall on the north-central Gulf Coast between late Thursday and early Friday.</s>The National Hurricane Center said the storm’s top sustained winds rose from 75 mph in the afternoon to 80 mph by nightfall as the former tropical storm gained new fury as it bore down on the coast. Hermine’s landfall was expected early this morning in the Big Bend area – the mostly rural and lightly populated corner where the Florida peninsula meets the Panhandle – then drop back down to a tropical storm and push into Georgia, the Carolinas and up the East Coast with the potential for drenching rain and deadly flooding. Downgraded A few hours after landfall, Hermine had weakened into a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. All hurricane watches and warnings were dropped, but tropical storm warnings remained for parts of the Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia and up through North Carolina. By dawn Friday, the tropical storm was 20 miles west of Valdosta, Georgia, and moving north at 14 mph, according to the hurricane center. “On the forecast track, the center of Hermine should continue to move farther inland across southeastern Georgia today and into the Carolinas tonight and Saturday.” Its maximum sustained winds decreased to 70 mph, with additional weakening forecast as it moves farther inland. After battering coastal Florida, Hermine is expected to weaken and move across the northern part of the state into Georgia, then southern U.S. coastal regions on the Atlantic. Several Florida counties issued mandatory evacuation notices for Gulf Coast communities on the water or in low-lying areas. Projected rainfall ranged up to 10 inches in parts of northern Florida and southern Georgia, with 4 to 10 inches possible along the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas by Sunday. Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday urged residents to heed warnings about the storm. “I was here in 1985 for Hurricane Elena and I don’t recall anything this bad.” Hurricane Hermine packed a dangerous storm surge that was expected to cause 9 feet (3 m) of flooding in some areas, as rising waters move inland from the coast, the National Hurricane Center warned in an advisory. In Leon County, home to the state capital of Tallahassee, more than 30,000 sandbags were distributed. You can rebuild property. Right now, I want everybody to be safe.” Scott added that 6,000 National Guardsmen in Florida are ready to mobilize after the storm passes. Scott declared a state of emergency in 51 of Florida’s 67 counties, and at least 20 counties closed schools. Rick Scott ordered many state government offices to close at noon, including those in Tallahassee, home to tens of thousands of state employees. A video posted by Joanna Crandell (@chica_de_aqua) on Sep 1, 2016 at 3:17pm PDT The surge of ocean water could be as high as 9 feet above normal levels, forecasters said, as authorities warned its effect was not limited to Florida. “Mostly worried about washing out the roads and a few of the homes in low-lying areas.” Eddie Bass, who owns a home in Alligator Point, said he wasn’t boarding it up despite worries about the storm surge. Growing winds and driving rain from Hurricane Hermine lashed Florida’s northern Gulf Coast early on Friday as power outages left tens of thousands of households in the dark in what the state’s governor warned would be a potentially lethal storm. Mandatory evacuations were ordered in parts of five counties in northwestern Florida, with voluntary evacuations in at least three more counties. Residents in other low-lying, flood-prone areas were also being asked to evacuate. Franklin County, just southeast of Panama City, issued a mandatory evacuation order for the coastal towns of St. George Island, Dog Island, Bald Point and Alligator Point, the county’s emergency management office said. The governors of Georgia and North Carolina on Thursday declared emergencies in affected regions.

The National Hurricane Center declares a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning from the Anclote River, north of Tampa, to Destin, Florida, near the Georgia border. Hermine, now at 45 mph (75 km), is expected to reach hurricane strength when it makes landfall Thursday afternoon. Florida Governor Rick Scott, with life-threatening flooding forecast, declares a state of emergency.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Authorities have released the names of four Alaskans and a Montana man who were killed in a midair collision of two small planes in western Alaska as responders said Thursday that rough terrain is complicating efforts to recover the bodies. The collision involved a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Renfro's Alaska Adventures Piper PA-18 Super Cub with two people inside, said Candis A. Olmstead, director of public affairs for the Alaska National Guard. The troopers didn't give an exact number, but the Alaska National Guard said earlier that there were a total of five on board the planes. An aviation company contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at 11 a.m. and said they had lost radio contact with an aircraft and that it was overdue, she said. • Mid-air horror as part of plane's engine FALLS OFF while thousands of feet in the air Olmstead said the crash occurred about 6 miles northwest of Russian Mission, a remote community in the southwest of the state along the Yukon River. A Renfro employee said the company was not immediately releasing information. Representatives of Hageland, which is operated by Ravn, Alaska, did not immediately respond with comment. An Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from the 207th Aviation Battalion, based out of Bethel, left about noon and flew to the scene, Olmstead said.</s>The Latest: Troopers say no survivors in Alaska midair crash ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Latest on a midair collision in Alaska (all times local): Alaska State Troopers say all those on board two small planes died in a midair collision in the western part of the state. Troopers did not say how many people were in the two aircraft, but the Alaska National Guard said earlier that there were a total of five on board the planes. Troopers say the crash occurred northwest of the village of Russian Mission. Troopers say responders at the scene have confirmed there were no survivors on either of the planes. Alaska National Guard officials say the collision occurred just before 11 a.m. Wednesday. Officials say the planes involved in the crash are a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Renfro's Alaskan Adventures Piper PA-18 super cub with two people aboard. Representatives of Hageland, which is operated by Ravn, Alaska, did not immediately respond with comment. A Renfro employee said the company was not immediately releasing information. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Searchers are responding to a midair collision of two small commercial airplanes carrying a total of five people in western Alaska. Alaska National Guard officials say the collision occurred 60 miles north of Bethel just before 11 a.m. Wednesday. There is no immediate word on casualties. A Guard helicopter with medics on board left Bethel around noon to head to the crash site. Alaska State Troopers also are involved in the response.

At least five people are killed after two small planes collide near Russian Mission, Alaska. Officials from the Alaska Army National Guard say the planes involved were a Cessna 208 Caravan and a Piper PA-18 Super Cub.

(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) SANTA CLARA, Cuba — The first commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than a half century landed in the central city of Santa Clara on Wednesday morning, re-establishing regular air service severed at the height of the Cold War. That has a huge psychological impact,” said Richard Feinberg, author of the new book “Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy.” The restart of commercial travel between the two countries is one of the most important steps in President Barack Obama’s two-year-old policy of normalizing relations with the island.</s>First U.S.-Cuba scheduled passenger flight in decades takes off FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug 31 (Reuters) - The first regularly scheduled commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than half a century departed on Wednesday, opening another chapter in the Obama administration's efforts to open trade and travel with the former Cold War foe. The first of several U.S. carriers to begin serving Cuba in the coming months, JetBlue Airways Corp took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, en route to Santa Clara, a central city known for its monument to revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The 150-seat Airbus A320 which was packed with officials, journalists, and regular travellers, including some of Cuban descent, touched down in what the Obama administration hopes will usher in an era of more routine travel to and from the Communist-ruled island. Regular travelers, including some of Cuban descent, occupied nearly half the seats on a route that may be a commercial challenge, at least initially. Lázaro Chavez, a 49-year-old pharmacist who lives in Miami and returns frequently to his homeland, said before boarding the plane he was taking the flight for two reasons. "One, I am going to see my family. Two, I want to be on this historic flight." Two, I want to be on this historic flight.” Cuba and the United States began normalising relations in December 2014 after 18 months of secret talks and have since restored full diplomatic ties. The countries had been hostile for more than five decades, since Fidel Castro ousted U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in a 1959 revolution that steered the island on a communist course and made it a close ally of the Soviet Union. Obama's opening to Cuba has included a landmark visit by him to the Caribbean island in March and a series of measures to increase commercial ties, but the U.S. president has been unable to persuade Congress to lift the longstanding embargo. U.S. citizens are still prohibited from visiting as tourists, although there have long been exceptions to the ban, ranging from visiting family to business, cultural, religious and educational travel. The Obama administration has further eased the restrictions. Despite the travel limitations, U.S. airlines have rushed to start flights between the United States and Cuban cities - adding a lot of capacity and setting themselves up to lose money on the trips in the short run, said industry consultant Robert Mann. “Most carriers look at international markets that have been restricted and are just opening up as an investment,” Mr Mann said. "You need to get your foot in the door." “You need to get your foot in the door.” Services on regional carrier Silver Airways and American Airlines Group Inc from the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area that is home to a large Cuban-American population, to Cuba’s outlying provinces will be the next to start, in September. Three other carriers will follow. Mr Mann said the companies probably offered to fly to Cuban cities that are unfamiliar to many American travellers, so that US officials would look favourably on their applications to fly to Havana. A memorandum of understanding between Cuba and the United States will limit Havana flights to 20 round trips per day. U.S. officials have yet to announce a final decision on which companies will get those coveted routes. “The Havana competition was one of the most over-subscribed competitions that I’ve been a part of,” US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said in an interview before the plane took off. "I think that speaks to the interest on the part of the American people, and it also speaks to the level of commercial interest in the U.S. that exists."

The first commercial flight from the United States to Cuba since 1961 takes place as JetBlue Flight 387 lands in Santa Clara, Villa Clara province, after a 51-minute flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. JetBlue Flight 387 had 150 passengers, including United States Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx.

China’s activities in the sea have also drawn criticism from the United States, which says it seeks to ensure freedom of navigation in the waterway through which $5 trillion in annual global trade passes. "There clearly is a domestic political need in China to demonstrate strength on territorial issues, especially after the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling in July, and this applies equally to Japan in the East China Sea as well as to the South China Sea," he said. An international tribunal at The Hague awarded a sweeping victory to Manila in July over its challenge to Beijing's maritime claims in the South China Sea, but China has refused to abide by the ruling.</s>US Secretary of State John Kerry addresses students at Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday (AP photo) NEW DELHI — US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Wednesday on China and the Philippines to abide by an international tribunal’s decision on the disputed South China Sea and said there was no military solution to the problem. Kerry’s remarks, made in a visit to India, came ahead of a G-20 summit in China on Sunday and Monday that could be overshadowed by arguments over everything from territorial disputes to protectionism by China, diplomats say. China has been getting increasingly assertive in South China Sea notwithstanding the verdict of an arbitration court in The Hague that China had no historical title over the South China Sea. But the UN-backed tribunal, ruling on a case brought by the Philippines, found last month there was no legal basis for China's claims. “The United States continues to call on China and the Philippines to abide by the tribunal’s recent decision which is final and legally binding on both parties,” Kerry told a gathering of students in New Delhi. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than USD 5 trillion of trade moves annually. Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea despite partial counter-claims from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan. Kerry says united with allies over South China Sea The United States is united with its allies in upholding freedom of navigation rights in the South China Sea following a tribunal's decision on the contested waters, Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday. Replying to questions, Kerry said the US supported diplomatic efforts to resolve territorial disputes to which there was “no military solution”. “We are also interested in not fanning the flames of conflict but rather trying to encourage the parties to resolve their disputes and claims through the legal process and through diplomacy,” Kerry said. They said states should resolve disputes through peaceful means and “exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that could complicate or escalate disputes affecting peace and stability”.

The Philippines says it won't have bilateral talks with China until the Chinese stop all provocations in the South China Sea.

A huge police presence has been at the mansion since early this morning, with the first time arriving at around 3am following reports he threatened a woman with a gun. Police SWAT team surround Chris Brown's LA mansion as a 'gun, weapons and drugs are recovered from bag' A team of officers are currently outside the sprawling home, where they have been seen putting up police tape as they attempt to investigate the alleged incident. • Chris Brown slams police and insists he's innocent in expletive laden rant as officers surround his home "So I'm asleep half the damn night," he begins, "I just wake up, all these mother f****** helicopters is around, police out there at the gate." "Come on my n****, what else do you f****** want from me bro, I stay outta the way, take care of my daughter, do work. "I don't care y'all going to stay playing with me like I'm the villain out here, like I'm going crazy ... good luck when you get the warrant or whatever you need to do. • Chris Brown 'under investigation for allegedly threatening a woman with a gun at LA residence' The woman at the centre of the drama was quickly identified as beauty queen Baylee Curran. Mr Brown's lawyer tweeted that his client was later freed, adding that the accusations were "demonstrably false".The singer has several convictions for violence, including a 2009 assault on his then girlfriend, pop star Rihanna.</s>Afterwards, Rihanna famously told Oprah Winfrey that she forgave Brown, and insisted he "made that mistake because he needed help." But Brown continued to find trouble. There were public brawls with other celebs and a 2013 arrest for punching a man in the face on a Washington, D.C. street. On Tuesday, the singer was back in the news, this time accused of threatening a woman with a gun at his Tarzana mansion. Police swarmed his home for an hours long standoff which ended with Brown's arrest on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. The latest incident comes as no surprise to the many who have been following his life and career over the years. Brown was touted as "the new Michael Jackson" when he burst onto the music scene in 2005 at the age of 16 with a self-titled, multi-platinum album. His fame grew even more once he and Rihanna began dating in 2008. With their matching places on the charts, the pair quickly became a match made in pop music heaven. That fairy tale took a dark turn just hours before the 2009 Grammys, when Brown assaulted Rihanna, whose birth name is Robyn Fenty. "Robyn F. turned to face Brown and he punched her in the left eye with his right hand," the police report of the incident read. "He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand. The assault caused Robyn F.'s mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle." Brown pled guilt to a felony assault charge and received five years probation, community service and an order to attend a year of domestic violence counseling. The high profile nature of the crime -- including the circulation of the photo of Rihanna's battered face -- has continued to color public perceptions of Brown. The couple remained together for some time afterwards. In 2012, Rihanna told Winfrey that Brown had been her best friend and first love. "I lost my best friend. Everything I knew switched ... switched in a night and I couldn't control that," Rihanna said. "So I had to deal with that, and that's not easy for me to understand or interpret. It's not easy to interpret on camera. Not with the world watching." What has followed has not helped to restore Brown's image. There have been public physical altercations with fellow celebs including rapper Drake and singer Frank Ocean. Brown has been accused of everything from grabbing a cell phone to threatening paparazzi; he has done stints in rehab and has landed in jail for violating his probation. A 2014 report from his rehab facility chalked up Brown's aggression to bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and drug use. In April 2016 a trailer for the documentary "Welcome to my Life: The Official Chris Brown Documentary" was released. In it Brown says that after the incident with Rihanna he contemplated suicide and he "wasn't sleeping, I barely ate. I just was getting high." "I went from being on top of the world, No. 1 songs, being kind of like America's sweetheart to being Public Enemy No. 1," he also said in the trailer. For many that label has stuck. Following Tuesday's incident legendary songwriter Diane Waren tweeted "Chris Brown got arrested for assaulting a woman today. In other shocking news the sun rose this morning and is expected to set tonite." Still, through it all Brown has maintained a loyal fan base. Since news of Tuesday's incident became public, many of Brown's supporters have been tweeting their support for the embattled singer, using his nickname "Breezy" for the hashtag #FreeBreezy. Brown was charged on suspicion of "assault with a deadly weapon" Tuesday evening after a nine hour standoff with police. Police were called to Brown's home around 3 a.m. local time. While they waited outside, he took to Instagram to slam the police and say that he was being targeted. "Good luck. When you get the warrant or whatever you need to do, you're going to walk right up in here," he wrote. "And you're going to see nothing, you idiots," he said in one video. "I'm tired of ... dealing with y'all." Brown was arrested, then transported to a police facility where he was formally booked, and released a few hours later on bail. "My client's position is that we're cooperating," Brown's attorney Mark Geragos told HLN's Dr. Drew Pinsky. "There's no truth to it, and we're going to let it play out." Geragos later tweeted that Brown was "out and well." He also called the charges "demonstrably false."

Singer Chris Brown is released on a US$ 250,000 bail for an assault charge.

Manila: The number of drug-related killings in the Philippines since Rodrigo Duterte became president two months ago on a pledge to wipe out the illegal drug trade, has reached around 2000, according to data released on Tuesday. There has been popular support for his campaign, but the wave of killings unleashed since his election victory has alarmed rights groups and brought expressions of concern from the US, a close ally of Manila. As officials readied a publicity campaign to explain his fight against narcotics, the Philippines national police said that close to 900 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations from July 1 to August 20. That was an increase of 141 people over a week, on average 20 people a day. Last week the police said 1100 other drug-related killings that were not classified as police operations were also being investigated. No new number for that category was given on Tuesday but, together with the new figure for police encounters, the total came to around 2000. Duterte won the presidency of the Southeast Asian nation in a May election on a promise to wipe out drugs. Two UN human rights experts recently urged the Philippines to stop extra-judicial killings, drawing a furious response from Duterte, who threatened to pull his country out of the UN. His foreign minister later rowed back on the threat. Duterte’s communications secretary, Martin Andanar, said on Monday that a 30-second advertisement explaining the anti-drug campaign would be aired over the next week by commercial and public TV stations and in movie theatres. “The government is not spending a single centavo on these ads and TV stations are carrying them for free,” Andanar told reporters at an event in a Manila hotel. This is a war He said his office would also publish a 40-page pamphlet to explain the rising body count. This would be issued on the president’s first trip abroad next week, first to Brunei and then to an East Asia summit in Laos. “Some people abroad have to understand why many people are getting killed in the anti-drug campaign. They must understand, this is a war and there are casualties,” Andanar said. “The pamphlet will inform and explain that the government was not killing people at random, that these killings are not extrajudicial in nature but as part of the anti-crime campaign. Some of those killed were police officers who are involved in criminal activities.” The White House said on Monday that US President Barack Obama is expected to meet Duterte in Laos on September 6 and plans to touch on human rights as well as security concerns. Duterte’s crackdown on drugs and some strongly worded criticism he has made of the US, present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea. There have been few signs in the Philippines itself of a backlash against the war on drugs. However, on Tuesday a newly formed group called the ‘Stop the Killings Network’ announced a #Lightforlife campaign that would start with simultaneous candle-lighting events on Wednesday evening at six venues across Manila. (Reuters)</s>Senator: Philippine crackdown 'not going to be the norm'

More than 2,000 people have reportedly died in the Philippine Drug War.

Brasilia, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday voted to remove President Dilma Rousseff from office, the culmination of a yearlong fight that paralyzed Latin America’s largest nation and exposed deep rifts among its people on everything from race relations to social spending. While Rousseff’s ouster was widely expected, the decision was a key chapter in a colossal political struggle that is far from over. Rousseff was Brazil’s first female president, with a storied career that includes a stint as a Marxist guerrilla jailed and tortured in the 1970s during the country’s dictatorship. Brazil’s first female president was accused of breaking fiscal responsibility laws in her management of the federal budget. Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, who presided over the trial, ruled: “The Senate has found that the president of the federal republic of Brazil, Dilma Vana Rousseff, committed crimes in breaking fiscal laws.” The opposition needed 54 of the 81 senators to vote in favour for her to be removed. Opposition lawmakers, who made clear early on the only solution was getting her out of office, argued that the maneuvers masked yawning deficits from high spending and ultimately exacerbated the recession in a nation that had long enjoyed darling status among emerging economies. Nonsense, Rousseff countered time and again, proclaiming her innocence up to the end. Previous presidents used similar accounting techniques, she noted, saying the push to remove her was a bloodless coup d’etat by elites fuming over the populist polices of her Workers’ Party the last 13 years. The opposition needed 54 of the 81 senators to vote in favor for her to be removed. They got many more, winning in a landslide of sorts, 61-20. “Today is the day that 61 men, many of them charged and corrupt, threw 54 million Brazilian votes in the garbage,” Rousseff tweeted minutes after the decision. Rousseff won re-election in 2014, garnering more than 54 million votes. In a second Senate vote about 30 minutes later, Rousseff won a minor victory as a measure to ban her from public office for eight years failed. In the background of the entire fight was a wide-ranging investigation into billions of dollars in kickbacks at state oil company Petrobras. The two-year probe has led to the jailing of dozens of top businessmen and politicians from across the political spectrum, and threatens many of the same politicians who voted to remove Ms Rousseff. Rousseff argued that many opponents just wanted her out of the way so they could save their own skins by tampering with the investigation, which Rousseff had refused to do. Many lawmakers and Brazilians nationwide, meanwhile, blamed Rousseff for the graft even though she has never been personally implicated. They argued that she had to know, as many of the alleged bribes happened while her party was in power. Ms Rousseff’s removal creates many questions that are not easily answered. Michel Temer, her vice president who became her nemesis, will serve out the remainder of her term through 2018. But Brazilians have already gotten a taste of Temer’s leadership, and they are clearly unimpressed. In May, Temer took over as interim president after the Senate impeached and suspended Rousseff. The 75-year-old career politician named a cabinet of all-white men, a decision roundly criticised in a nation that is more than 50 per cent non-white. Three of his ministers were forced to resign within weeks of taking their jobs because of corruption allegations, which also follow Temer and threaten his hold on power. When Temer announced the opening of the Olympics on Aug. 5, he was so vociferously booed that he remained out of sight for the remainder of the games. Rousseff’s allies have vowed to appeal to the country’s highest court. While previous petitions to the court have failed to stop the impeachment process, at the very least legal wrangling will keep the issue front and center. The decision also leaves many question marks over the economy, expected to decline for a second straight year. Temer has promised to pull the country of 200 million people from its recession by tackling reforms that have long been taboo, such as slimming public pensions. But he has not been able to accomplish much the last three months as interim president, and it remains to be seen whether Congress will be willing to work with him.</s>BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil’s Senate removed leftist President Dilma Rousseff from office on Wednesday for breaking budgetary laws, in an impeachment process that has polarized the Latin American country and paralyzed its politics for nine months. This follows secret recordings of Romero Juca, the majority leader of the senate and a key ally of Michel Temer (Ms Rousseff’s conservative former vice president), plotting to remove the president to halt the Lava Jato (car wash) investigation into kickbacks at state oil company Petrobras.

President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff is removed from office by a vote of 61–20 in the Senate. Current Acting President Michel Temer will serve out the remainder of her term, which ends January 1, 2019.

Violence erupted Wednesday after Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya announced the results from Saturday's vote, which showed that incumbent President Ali Bongo defeated opposition candidate Jean Ping by a very slim margin: Bongo had 49.8% of the vote, while Ping, a diplomat and former African Union official, had 48.23. Turnout was 59%, according to the country's election commission. Nearly 600,000 people were registered to vote. The final results must be confirmed by the country's constitutional court within a week. The opposition claimed the results were fraudulent and thousands of people took to the streets of the capital in protest. The Parliament and other government buildings were set ablaze overnight Wednesday into Thursday, as government forces tried to restore order. Shops and businesses were looted. Three people died in the violence, Gabon's Interior Ministry announced in a statement Thursday. Hundreds reportedly were injured. Onlookers watch the smoke rise from a fire amid the clashes. told CNN on Thursday that while his teams are still assessing the number of casualties, they have seen at least one body of a protester who was killed in the overnight clashes. Patrick Obiang, the Red Cross director of operations in Gabon, told CNN on Thursday that while his teams are still assessing the number of casualties, they have seen at least one body of a protester who was killed in the overnight clashes. Bongo's re-election would extend his family's half-century rule over the oil-rich nation by another seven years. Bongo took power from his father, Omar Bongo, in 2009, when similar protests erupted. The US and France have expressed concern about the situation in Libreville and called for restraint by both sides. The US State Department called on the government to release the results from each polling station, saying "elections must credibly reflect the will of the people." The government has faced criticism for its response to restore stability and for reportedly interrupting communications. "I am deeply concerned and saddened about the situation in the Gabonese Republic provoked by the electoral crisis, in particular the arson attacks and disproportionate response of security agencies that has led to unfortunate loss of life and property," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.</s>

Ali Bongo is re-elected President of Gabon.

Myanmar's Suu Kyi kicks off peace conference with appeal for unity By Shwe Yee Saw Myint and Antoni Slodkowski NAYPYITAW, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi launched a major push to end decades of fighting between the military and myriad rebel groups with an appeal on Wednesday to the country's ethnic minorities to overcome their differences to achieve peace. Ethnic peace talks seek to pave new path for Myanmar Peace talks between Myanmar's government and warring ethnic minorities open Wednesday seeking to end decades of bloodshed and bring investment to Southeast Asia's poorest country. More than 100,000 Rohingya have been living in unsanitary camps since fleeing their homes in Rakhine state starting in 2012, following deadly violence driven largely by Buddhist mobs. Among those absent from the conference, however, were any representatives of Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims, who face persecution and human rights abuses at the hands of their Buddhist neighbours in northwestern Rakhine State. The gathering has been compared to the Panglong Conference, a meeting between Suu Kyi's father, Myanmar's national hero General Aung San, and ethnic minorities in 1947 that led to the formation of the Union of Burma after independence from Britain. This week's peace summit has been dubbed the '21st Century Panglong' in reference to that deal, which fell apart after Suu Kyi's father was assassinated, but which remains the closest modern Myanmar has come to being a unified state. Powerful armed groups from regions bordering China, including the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), who refused to sign a ceasefire last October under the previous military-backed government, are now taking part, partly owing to China's tacit support for the talks, observers say. Perhaps most notable is China, not only because Myanmar's neighbour is its most important economic partner, but also because many of the ethnic groups occupy territory along the China-Myanmar border and some, such as the United Wa State Army, were once armed by Beijing.</s>NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar has a unique opportunity to end decades of ethnic rebellions in various parts of the country, leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday as she promised that her government will guarantee rebel groups equal rights and respect in historic peace talks. "This is a unique opportunity for us to accomplish a great task that will stand as a landmark throughout our history," said Suu Kyi, whose official title is state counsellor although she is the real power in the government, above the president. Suu Kyi, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the head of armed forces Gen. Min Aung Hlaing are scheduled to give speeches at the opening of the talks to determine the fate of the country's various ethnic minorities, who make up about 40 percent of the population. "All our people around the country want peace. So I do believe we will be successful in getting it at the conference," said Khun Than Myint, the facilitator of the meeting, whose official title is Union Peace Conference -- 21st Century Panglong. The peace talks are called Union Peace Conference -- 21st Century Panglong, a reference to the Panglong Agreement brokered in 1947 by Suu Kyi's late father, independence hero Gen. Aung San, in the town of Panglong, when Myanmar was still ruled by Britain. WHO IS TAKING PART, AND WHO ISN’T Suu Kyi said all ethnic armed groups would be invited to the talks, and most of the main rebel movements are taking part, including the Karen, Kachin, Shan and Wa ethnic groups. The 1947 deal granted ethnic minorities autonomy and the right to secede if they worked with the federal government to break away from Britain together. But Aung San was assassinated the following year and the deal fell apart. Since then, ethnic groups have accused successive, mostly military, governments of failing to honor the 1947 pact, just before Myanmar gained independence from Britain the next year. The first uprising — launched by ethnic Karen insurgents — began shortly after the country gained independence from Britain in 1948. Suu Kyi’s administration is hoping to build on those gains, but there are still skirmishes between the army and rebels, particularly in Kachin and Shan states. At least 100,000 more have sought refuge in squalid camps in neighboring Thailand, and are unlikely to return home until true peace takes hold. The rebel armies control a patchwork of remote territories rich in jade and timber that are located mostly in the north and east along the borders with China and Thailand. Since then other ethnic groups have also taken up arms with roughly the same aim -- to fight for autonomy while resisting "Burmanization," a push by the Burman ethnic majority to propagate its language, religion and culture in ethnic minority regions. "The government that emerged after the 2015 elections is determined to uphold the same principles," she said, referring to the landmark elections that brought the NLD to power after decades of military rule. The previous military-backed government brokered individual truces with various insurgent groups and oversaw a cease-fire covering eight minor insurgencies last year that fell short of a nationwide deal. An official representing a coalition of rebel groups, the United Nationalities Federal Council, called those talks “a meeting that led to constructive intentions for the future meeting.” Some ethnic rebel groups have said they are not fully prepared for talks yet, and complained the government set the date without consulting them. "But we really hope that we can achieve real democracy and equality for all ethnic groups, and self-determination in our region."

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi holds historic peace talks to end decades of ethnic conflict in the country.

ISTANBUL, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala has resigned, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday, following a string of bombings that prompted public criticism and concerns about intelligence failures before last month's failed coup. The prime minister did not give a reason for the resignation in his brief statement broadcast on Turkish television channels. But Turkey has faced a series of attacks blamed on Islamic State and Kurdish militants, and President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters in July that there had been clear intelligence failures in preventing last month's failed coup attempt. The Interior Ministry portfolio has been filled by Labour Minister Suleyman Soylu, the prime minister said. Soylu said a day after the coup bid that it was clear "America is behind it", though Erdogan's spokesman later said he had spoken "in the heat of the moment". The interior minister has a high profile role in a nation seeking to stop foreigners crossing the southeastern frontier to join Islamic State in Syria. The minister is also on the front line of efforts to prevent militants infiltrating back into Turkey. In addition, Turkey has been battling an insurgency by the Kurdish militant group PKK that is seeking autonomy in the southeast of the country. The group has launched a series of attacks since a ceasefire broke down last year. The minister has been at the centre of a campaign to root out sympathisers of the July 15 coup that sought to topple Erdogan and his government. The Turkish authorities have removed from public duties about 80,000 people suspected of having sympathies with the plotters and with a U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom officials accuse of masterminding the putsch. Earlier on Wednesday, the outgoing interior minister had released new figures about the number of people arrested in the Turkey's crackdown against Islamic State militants. Ala said 865 people had been arrested since the start of 2016 alone, and more than half of those were foreigners. The new labour minister was named as Mehmet Muezzinoglu, a deputy chairman of Erdogan's AK Party.</s>ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala has resigned, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday, following a string of bombings that prompted public criticism and concerns about intelligence failures before last month’s failed coup. Turkey's Interior Minister Efkan Ala attends a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara July 22, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo The prime minister did not give a reason for the resignation in his brief statement broadcast on Turkish television channels. But Turkey has faced a series of attacks blamed on Islamic State and Kurdish militants, and President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters in July that there had been clear intelligence failures in preventing last month’s failed coup attempt. The Interior Ministry portfolio has been filled by Labor Minister Suleyman Soylu, the prime minister said. Soylu said a day after the coup bid that it was clear “America is behind it”, though Erdogan’s spokesman later said he had spoken “in the heat of the moment”. A senior official told Reuters that some of the appointments Ala had made while in post had raised concerns, as well as “his inability to meet expectations in some areas, primarily security.” The interior minister has a high profile role in a nation seeking to stop foreigners crossing the southeastern frontier to join Islamic State in Syria. The minister is also on the front line of efforts to prevent militants infiltrating back into Turkey. In addition, Turkey has been battling an insurgency by the Kurdish militant group PKK that is seeking autonomy in the southeast of the country. The group has launched a series of attacks since a ceasefire broke down last year. The minister has been at the center of a campaign to root out sympathizers of the July 15 coup that sought to topple Erdogan and his government. “Erdogan expects a much more effective fight against Fethullah Gulen organization,” the senior official said, adding that “Soylu is one of the names Erdogan trusts the most.” The Turkish authorities have removed from public duties about 80,000 people suspected of having sympathies with the plotters and with a U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom officials accuse of masterminding the putsch. Earlier on Wednesday, the outgoing interior minister had released new figures about the number of people arrested in the Turkey’s crackdown against Islamic State militants. Ala said 865 people had been arrested since the start of 2016 alone, and more than half of those were foreigners. The new labor minister was named as Mehmet Muezzinoglu, a deputy chairman of Erdogan’s AK Party.

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala resigns amid criticism over his handling of a string of ISIL and PKK terror attacks, and is replaced by Süleyman Soylu.

A TINY pterosaur from the age of flying giants is causing a flap among Portsmouth experts. The rare reptile, with a wingspan of 'only' 1.5 metres (4.9ft), would have been dwarfed by its cousins from the Late Cretaceous era 77 million years ago. Some of them were much larger, with wingspans of up to 11 metres (36 feet), making them the size of a small plane. But what the new specimen, thought to belong to the azhdarchoid pterosaur family, lacks in size it makes up for in terms of scientific importance. Before the discovery in Canada, researchers thought small pterosaurs had been unable to compete with early birds in the Late Cretaceous. First dodo skeleton in 100 years to be sold at auction 354 years after bird went extinct Lead scientist Elizabeth Martin-Silverstone, from the University of Southampton, said: "This new pterosaur is exciting because it suggests that small pterosaurs were present all the way until the end of the Cretaceous, and weren't out-competed by birds. 'The hollow bones of pterosaurs are notoriously poorly preserved, and larger animals seem to be preferentially preserved in similarly aged Late Cretaceous ecosystems of North America. A 77-million-year-old fossil unearthed on Hornby Island in British Columbia, Canada, reveals what may have been the smallest pterosaur to soar in the Late Cretaceous skies. This tiny pterosaur had a wingspan of just under 5 feet, according to the description of the new fossil published Tuesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science. Pterosaurs - which were not flying dinosaurs - were the earliest vertebrates to develop powered flight, pre-dating birds by millions of years. "We have this small pterosaur, which is in a time when there aren't meant to be any small pterosaurs," study co-author Mark Witton, a paleontologist at the University of Portsmouth in England, tells The Christian Science Monitor. 'It's rare to find pterosaur fossils at all because their skeletons were lightweight and easily damaged once they died, and the small ones are the rarest of all. 'But luck was on our side and several bones of this animal survived the preservation process. Giant 4 foot long Tyrannosaurus Rex skull unearthed by museum is 66 million years old "Happily, enough of the specimen was recovered to determine the approximate age of the pterosaur at the time of its death. 'By examining its internal bone structure and the fusion of its vertebrae we could see that, despite its small size, the animal was almost fully grown. 'The specimen thus seems to be a genuinely small species, and not just a baby or juvenile of a larger pterosaur type.'</s>Scientists have discovered a new species of pterosaur - an extinct group of flying reptiles - from the early Jurassic period in the Patagonia region of South America. The cranial remains were in an excellent state of preservation, said the researchers who have named this new species ‘Allkauren koi’ from the native Tehuelche word ‘all’ for ‘brain’, and ‘karuen’ for ‘ancient’ Pterosaurs had an extraordinary adaptation to flight, including pneumatic bones to lighten their weight, and an elongated digit supporting a wing membrane.

The fossil of a new species of pterosaur is discovered on Hornby Island, British Columbia in Canada.

Oldest fossils found in Greenland, from time Earth was like Mars OSLO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The earliest fossil evidence of life on Earth has been found in rocks 3.7 billion years old in Greenland, raising chances of life on Mars aeons ago when both planets were similarly desolate, scientists said on Wednesday. Scientists have discovered the world’s oldest fossils — about 3.7 billion years old — which pushes back the previous record by 220 million years and captures the earliest history of our planet. Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago and the relative sophistication of stromatolites indicated that life had evolved quickly after a bombardment by asteroids ended about 4 billion years ago. "Stromatolites contain billions of bacteria ... they're making the equivalent of apartment complexes," said Martin Van Kranendonk, a co-author at the University of New South Wales who identified the previously oldest fossils, dating from 3.48 billion years ago. It points to a rapid emergence of life on Earth.” The one-to-four centimeter (0.4-1.6 inch) high Isua stromatolites—exposed after the melting of a snow patch in the Isua Greenstone Belt—matched other biological evidence on the evolution of the genetic code that placed the origins of life in a similar period, Nutman said. “Rather than speculating about potential early environments, for the first time we have rocks that we know record the conditions and environments that sustained early life,” said Prof. Bennett. Writing in the journal Nature, they said: 'The recognition of 3,700 million-years-old biogenic stromatolites within Isua dolomites indicates that near the start of the preserved sedimentary record, atmospheric CO2 was being sequestered by biological activity.</s>Scientists have found what they think is the oldest fossil on Earth, a remnant of life from 3.7 billion years ago when Earth's skies were orange and its oceans green. In a newly melted part of Greenland, Australian scientists found the leftover structure from a community of microbes that lived on an ancient seafloor, according to a study in Wednesday's journal Nature . The discovery shows life may have formed quicker and easier than once thought, about half a billion years after Earth formed . And that may also give hope for life forming elsewhere, such as Mars, said study co-author Martin VanKranendonk of the University of New South Wales and director of the Australian Center for Astrobiology. "It gives us an idea how our planet evolved and how life gained a foothold," VanKranendonk said. Scientists had thought it would take at least half a billion years for life to form after the molten Earth started to cool a bit, but this shows it could have happened quicker, he said. That's because the newly found fossil is far too complex to have developed soon after the planet's first life forms, he said. In an outcrop of rocks that used to be covered with ice and snow which melted after an exceptionally warm spring, the Australian team found stromatolites, which are intricately layered microscopic layered structures that are often produced by a community of microbes. The stromatolites were about .4 to 1.6 inches high (1 to 4 centimeters). It "is like the house left behind made by the microbes," VanKranendonk said. Scientists used the layers of ash from volcanoes and tiny zircon with uranium and lead to date this back 3.7 billion years ago, using a standard dating method, VanKranendonk said. "It would have been a very different world. It would have had black continents, a green ocean with orange skies," he said. The land was likely black because the cooling lava had no plants, while large amounts of iron made the oceans green. Because the atmosphere had very little oxygen and oxygen is what makes the sky blue, its predominant color would have been orange, he said. The dating seems about right, said Abigail Allwood , a NASA astrobiologist who found the previous oldest fossil, from 3.48 billion years ago, in Australia. But Allwood said she is not completely convinced that what VanKranendonk's team found once was alive. She said the evidence wasn't conclusive enough that it was life and not a geologic quirk. "It would be nice to have more evidence, but in these rocks that's a lot to ask," Allwood said in an email. Follow Seth Borenstein at http://twitter.com/borenbears and his work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/seth-borenstein In this photo provided by Allen Nutman, a rock with the stromatolites, tiny layered structures from 3.7 billion years ago that are remnants from a community of microbes that used to be live there. Scientists have found what they think is the oldest fossil on Earth, a remnant of life from 3.7 billion years ago when Earth¿s skies were orange and its oceans green. In a newly melted part of Greenland, Australian scientists found the leftover structure from a community of microbes that lived on an ancient seafloor, according to a study in Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016 journal Nature. (Allen Nutman/University of Wollongong via AP)

The oldest fossil (stromatolite) that had life is discovered in the melting snow at the Isua Greenstone Belt of Greenland.

Gabon opposition leader says two killed, many wounded after disputed vote LIBREVILLE, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping said on Thursday two people were killed and many wounded when the presidential guard and police attacked his party's headquarters overnight after an election narrowly won by President Ali Bongo. Bongo took power in 2009 in a violence-marred election that followed the death of his father Omar Bongo, who had governed the oil-rich former French colony for 41 years. Among the many important buildings on this boulevard is the national assembly, which was set ablaze by protestors who also managed to break down the building's massive front door. A government spokesman has said security forces seized Ping's headquarters with the 27 people inside because the protests allegedly were being planned there. The opposition has described the election as fraudulent and called for voting figures from each of Gabon's polling stations to be made public to ensure the credibility of overall result -- a demand echoed by the United States and European Union. After the announcement that Bongo had won 49.8 percent of the vote, fewer than 6,000 ballots more than Ping, thousands of people took to the streets to accuse the government of stealing the election. Supporters of Gabonese opposition leader Jean Ping have taken to the streets to protest the outcome of the presidential election. There are 19 people injured, some of them very seriously," said Ping, who was not himself at the party headquarters.</s>Gabon opposition says two killed as security forces storm HQ Two people were killed and more than a dozen injured as Gabon security forces stormed the opposition's headquarters early Thursday after disputed polls, the party leader Jean Ping told AFP. "There are two dead and many injured according to a reliable source," said Ping, who was not at the headquarters building. Violence has swept the capital Libreville since President Ali Bongo was declared the winner of polls by a slim margin over Ping, a veteran diplomat and former top African Union official.

Large explosions and gunfire are reported in the Gabonese capital Libreville as security forces clash with supporters of opposition presidential candidate Jean Ping protesting the election results indicating a narrow victory by President Ali Bongo Ondimba.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Soldiers detained people near the opposition headquarters Gabon's opposition leader Jean Ping has told the BBC a presidential guard helicopter bombed his headquarters and killed two people. A government spokesman said the operation was to root out "criminals" who had set fire to parliament. Protestors took to the streets on Wednesday claiming fraud after it was announced that President Ali Bongo had been narrowly re-elected. Some 1,000 people have been arrested, officials say. In a national address, Mr Bongo said "democracy does not sit well with an attack on parliament". Protests and gunfire continued in the capital Libreville on Thursday. US state department spokesman John Kirby said events in Gabon were being closely monitored by the international community and "appropriate actions" were being considered. "We deplore the escalation of violence," he said, adding that the US urged "all parties to come together peacefully in this critical time". The official election result, announced on Wednesday afternoon, gave Mr Bongo a second seven-year term with 49.8% of the vote to Mr Ping's 48.2% - a margin of 5,594 votes. But Mr Ping said the election was fraudulent and "everybody knows" he won. Internet cut Mr Ping won in six out of nine provinces but disputes the result in Mr Bongo's home province of Haut-Ogooue, where turnout was 99.93% and 95% of votes were for the president. Turnout in the other provinces was between 45% and 71%, according to Gabon's interior ministry. EU election monitor spokesperson Sarah Crozier told BBC Newsday "it's not a very common result, that's for sure". Gabon election: Bongo v Ping Image copyright Getty Images Mr Bongo took office in 2009 after an election marred by violence He succeeding his father Omar Bongo who had come to power in 1967 and was Africa's longest serving leader Veteran diplomat Mr Ping had served as chair of the African Union He had been a close ally of Omar Bongo and had been his foreign minister He had two children with Omar Bongo's daughter, Pascaline Mr Ping has called for voting figures from each polling station to be made public. The US and EU have also called for the results to be published, while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged calm. Former colonial power France, which retains strong economic and political ties to the country, also said it was "deeply concerned". The BBC's Charles Stephane Mavoungou reports from Libreville that on Thursday people in the capital have been unable to access the internet, including social media. The Boulevard Triomphal, home to Gabon's parliament, was covered in burnt-out cars and lined with torched buildings on Thursday, reports the AFP news agency. It said police used tear gas to prevent crowds from gathering again and arrested people as they emerged from remains of the parliament. Police chief Jean-Thierry Oye Zue said six officers had been killed in the protests but declined to give an overall casualty figure, AFP reports. Oil-rich Gabon has one of the highest per-capita incomes in Africa, but few of its 1.6 million people feel the benefit. Image copyright AFP Image caption Smoke and flames poured from the national assembly building on Wednesday Image copyright AFP Image caption Police patrolled the area around the parliament on Thursday Image copyright AFP Image caption They prevented large crowds from gathering and removed some barricades</s>Gabon's top opposition candidate Jean Ping declared Friday that he was the rightful winner of the presidential election, accusing the country's incumbent leader of using fraud to cling to power. The move sets the stage for a protracted dispute over the election, as President Ali Bongo Ondimba also has declared victory. On Friday, Ping called for the release of results from individual polling stations. Results released by election officials showed Bongo won by a mere 1.57 percentage points. "The whole world knows today who is the president of the Republic of Gabon. It's me, Jean Ping," he told reporters. "Each time the Gabonese people have chosen their president, the dark forces are always gathered to place he who was not chosen as head of state. Together we have decided that this time things however will be different." Bongo's father had ruled the oil-rich country since the 1960s until his death in 2009 when his son then came to power. Ping's supporters already have taken to the streets in protest, and at least three people have been killed in the unrest. On Friday, Ping said citizens had "strongly demonstrated their legitimate anger." The U.S. Embassy in Libreville said in a statement on its website Tuesday that Gabon's voters were not "well served by the many systemic flaws and irregularities that we witnessed," including the late opening of polling stations and "last minute changes to voting procedures." The embassy said the government should publish results by polling station. European Union observers have criticized a "lack of transparency" on the part of institutions organizing the vote.

Military helicopters bomb the headquarters of Union of Forces for Change, according to opposition leader Jean Ping, killing at least two people. Internet is also cut in the capital, Libreville.

ANKARA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Turkish air strikes destroyed three buildings used by Islamic State on Friday in north Syria, the military said, the latest action in a 10-day cross-border offensive by Turkish-backed forces that is targeting jihadists and Kurdish militias.</s>Soldier killed in clash with Kurdish forces in Turkey ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey's state-run news agency says one Turkish soldier was killed and one wounded after Kurdish militants shot at security forces during a military operation in the southeastern province of Siirt. The governor's office of Van released a statement Saturday on operations against members of the "separatist terror organization," Turkey's description of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK. Thirteen PKK fighters were killed by Turkish jets around Tendurek mountains in Van province, the office said, while Anadolu reported that the operation supported by the air force continued. The three-decade-long conflict between Turkey and the PKK has killed an estimated 40,000 people. Eight Turkish soldiers were killed during clashes with rebels in the eastern province of Van on Friday, the governor’s office said, quoted by state-run news agency Anadolu. The guard killed was part of a group of local residents who cooperate with Turkish security forces against the PKK, listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

Turkish Armed Forces claims that it has killed three Kurdistan Workers' Party fighters in air strikes in southeastern Turkey near the borders with Iraq.

Some of the world’s biggest buyers have stopped trading with Korindo after the emergence of footage claiming to show illegal burning in Papua province A Korean palm oil company has been dropped by buyers after footage emerged that allegedly shows the illegal burning of vast tracts of tropical forest on lands it holds concessions for in Indonesia. Some of the world’s biggest palm oil trading producers including Wilmar, Musim Mas and IOI have stopped using palm oil sourced from Korindo, much of which is destined to meet European demand. Korindo’s alleged deforestation of pristine woodland in Papua province also threatens to destroy the last sanctuary of several birds of paradise and the tree kangaroo, according to a report by a new environmental alliance called Mighty. The group has collected evidence from drones, remote sensors, GPS satellites, and videographers and photographers on the ground, which it says proves that Korindo has flouted Indonesia’s no-burning laws and violated responsible sourcing requirements. Bustar Maitar, Mighty’s campaign director in Papua, told the Guardian: “Korindo is clear-cutting forests and then starting fires to clear the land of remaining biomass. That is forbidden by Indonesia’s regulations but during last year’s forest fires, most of the blazes in the Papua region happened in Korindo’s concessions.” “There are a lot of animal species and flora here that haven’t even been discovered yet,” Maitar added. “If these kinds of land clearing activities continue, they may never be.” But Koh Gyeong Min, Korindo’s head of sustainability, denied that the firm had been responsible for any illegal forest burning. “It is not true actually,” he said. “We followed all of the Indonesian regulations and acquired all the proper licences from the government for all areas of operation within our group.” “I also would like to ask: do the local NGOs or residents have any evidence about our company that they have brought to the Indonesian government or the local courts? As far as I know there have been no cases of that.” Indonesia is burning. So why is the world looking away? | George Monbiot Read more The allegations come as south-east Asia’s 2016 burning season is just beginning. On 30 August, the Indonesian government warned that haze from fires on Sumatra and Kalimantan could reach Malaysia and Singapore in the days ahead. More than 3,000 hotspots have been detected in the Indonesian archipelago in the last month, with maps released by Greenpeace of Riau and West Kalimantan showing that many are occurring on industrial plantation concessions in the same areas that burned last year. Yuyun Indradi, Greenpeace Indonesia’s forest campaigner said: “Companies that refuse to take steps to prevent fires have not just ash, but blood on their hands.” Wildfires in Indonesia’s tropical forests last year are thought likely to have contributed to the premature deaths of more than 100,000 people, and to have emitted more CO2 than the whole of the UK that year. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Native forest cleared for palm oil plantations. Photograph: Yerimia Leo/Mighty Korindo is active in Indonesia’s north Malaku region as well as Papua, holding around 620 square miles of forest concessions in total. The company, whose promotional video calls on viewers to “make the Earth green”, has already cleared around 193 square miles of forest. Maitar said that Korindo had not responded to letters sent by the new alliance, and that the new report was aimed at putting pressure on the Indonesian government. Several major buyers of Korindo’s palm oil acted to cut the firm out of their supply chains after hearing of the allegations. A spokeswoman for Musim Mas told the Guardian that it wanted to see Korindo engage with civil society groups and adopt a “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation” (NDPE) policy. “During this period we will continue to stop buying the palm oil temporarily and monitor Korindo’s progress,” she said. NDPEs have become a palm oil industry standard in south-east Asia but the Mighty campaign argues that they are not working. Glenn Hurowitz, Mighty’s US campaign director, said that Korindo had been able to deforest 113 square miles of land since 2013, despite clearly visible satellite evidence of 894 hotspots in that period. “This investigation shows the true face of the palm oil industry in Indonesia even after No Deforestation policies,” Hurowitz said. “The current, mostly confidential company-by-company system is inadequate. We urgently need a transparent, systematic approach, as well as further action by government and prosecutors.” One of Malaysia’s largest palm oil companies, IOI – which was itself suspended from a sustainability scheme for not doing enough to prevent deforestation - said that its third party suppliers had also “decided to temporarily stop sourcing from Korindo” after hearing the allegations. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Korindo’s alleged deforestation of pristine woodland in Papua province also threatens to destroy the last sanctuary the tree kangaroo. Photograph: Tim Laman/NG/Getty Images The palm oil giant Wilmar told the Guardian that it too had contacted Korindo after a heads up about the new evidence. “Due to a lack of progress from the supplier, and in view of the serious allegations, Wilmar has ceased procuring from Korindo with effect from June 2016,” a spokeswoman said. None of the companies would reveal how much money they spent on ensuring that third-party palm oil suppliers did not cause environmental damage. Gyeong Min said that after a demand from Wilmar earlier this year, Korindo began a “high-carbon stock assessment” which would be published later this month. “We also announced a temporary moratorium for our remaining plantation area,” he said. Last month, a Korindo subsidiary called PT Tunas Sawa Erma declared a three-month suspension of new forest clearings across 25,000 hectares of territory, while it developed a NDPE policy. But Mighty says that the moratorium did not extend to all Korindo operations. “A couple of months ago we visited their concessions and the land clearing was still happening,” Maitar said. “In our experience with other companies, all activities involving the cutting down of forests should be stopped, while they are doing these sorts of assessments.”</s>KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Malaysia aims to "harmonise" its palm oil export duty plan with the more competitive Indonesian levies in a bid to win global market share, a Malaysian minister said in first ever official remarks on what the country's palm sector has long been seeking. Malaysia has always trailed Indonesia as the world's No.2 producer and exporter of palm oil mainly because of lower land and labour costs in its larger Southeast Asian neighbour. This gap widened further after Indonesia in 2015 imposed levies on shipments that both improved downstream margins and increased its dominance of major markets like India and China. Indonesian refined, bleached and deodorised crude palm olein has this year been selling at a discount of around $10 to average Malaysian prices, hurting refiners in Malaysia and prompting calls for a common export policy from them. "I have suggested harmonizing the tax duty structure (to Indonesia)... It's not good competing with one another. It's a lose-lose situation to keep undercutting (one another)," Mah Siew Keong, Malaysia's minister of plantation industries and commodities, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. "The market has changed. China used to be our biggest market, now it is number three," said Mah, adding Malaysia needed to hunt for new markets and diversify. Chinese imports of Malaysian palm plunged 49 percent in the first half of 2016 from a year ago to 0.6 million tonnes, while its purchases from Indonesia only fell 0.2 percent to 1.2 million tonnes. Malaysia will look to win back market share in China and enter markets such as Africa, Korea and Japan, said Mah. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board is also working from Iran to target Central Asian countries, he said. Having more oleochemical plants built abroad would also add value to Malaysia's downstream palm industry, said Mah. "In Europe we are quite represented. In America, we have not gone there aggressively enough," he added. Mah expects Malaysia's palm oil output to climb to 20 million tonnes in 2017 if weather normalises for the rest of this year, recovering from a projected drop in 2016 due to the impact of dryness linked to an El Nino weather event. Analysts expect Malaysian palm oil output to slip to 19 million tonnes in 2016, from 19.96 million tonnes in 2015. The drop in production this year will, however, not be as drastic as the 16 percent decline seen in the first half, said Mah, as output has picked up over July and August. Mah retained his palm price forecast of 2,500-2,600 ringgit per tonne for 2017. Benchmark prices are currently near a three-week low of 2,487 ringgit ($610.46).

A South Korean palm oil company is accused of causing the wildfires in Indonesia.

NASA says SpaceX was conducting a routine test-firing of its rocket when the blast occurred. An explosion rocked the SpaceX launch site in Florida on Thursday. NASA says SpaceX was conducting a test-firing of its unmanned rocket when the blast occurred on Thursday morning. The test, considered routine, was in advance of a planned Saturday launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Buildings several kilometres away shook from the blast, and multiple explosions continued for several minutes. A cloud of dark smoke filled the overcast sky. Additional details were not immediately available. But sirens could be heard in the aftermath. The rocket was supposed to hoist an Israeli satellite this weekend.</s>An explosion on the launch site of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is shown in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Thursday (Reuters photo) MIAMI — An unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on Thursday on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida during a test, destroying it along with its payload, but causing no injuries, the private space firm said. This spring, the company landed its first big Pentagon job — an $83 million contract from the Air Force to launch a global positioning system satellite from Cape Canaveral in 2018. “Per standard operating procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries.” Facebook was contracted to use the Amos-6 to provide broadband internet coverage for large parts of sub-Saharan Africa and other remote parts of the world as part of the social media giant’s Internet.org initiative.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket explodes during a routine firing test at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. SpaceX say there were no injuries, but that an "anomaly" during the static fire test resulted in the loss of the rocket and the Israeli Amos-6 communication satellite it was carrying.

Evacuations were under way in New Zealand Friday after a tsunami warning was issued following a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake which struck before dawn off the east coast of the North Island. The shallow tremor was estimated at a depth of around 30 kilometres (18 miles) off the coast, some 167 kilometres from Gisborne, according to the US Geological Survey said. New Zealand’s civil defence organisation, responsible for the nation’s emergency management, said it had issued “a tsunami potential threat advisory in all New Zealand coastal areas”. Radio New Zealand reported that residents in coastal areas of the East Cape region were being advised by local civil defence officials to evactuate. Civil defence public information officer Sheridan Gundry said the emergency management centre has been activated. The earthquake, which struck at 4:37am (1637 GMT) was felt over much of the country but there were no immediate reports of damage and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a warning. New Zealand is on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, which form part of the so-called “Ring of Fire”, and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year.</s>Following the earthquake, New Zealand's Earthquakes Commission tweeted: 'We hope everyone is okay up on the after that one. A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.1 has struck off the coast of New Zealand, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Tsunami activity will continue for several hours," the Civil Defence organisation, responsible for national emergency management, said in a statement, AFP reports. Residents of a small community on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island have been told they can return to their homes, after a severe earthquake at sea sparked a tsunami warning. The quake did not pose any danger of a tsunami on the Pacific coast of Canada or the United States, the US National Tsunami Warning Center said.

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake occurs off the north east coast of North Island, New Zealand. A tsunami warning was issued after the earthquake, and waves of 0.3m have been reported near Gisborne.

Malaysia confirms first case of Zika, launches measures to contain spread of virus KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Malaysia confirmed on Thursday its first case of Zika after a woman tested positive for the virus following a three-day visit to neighbouring Singapore on August 19. The 58-year-old woman had showed signs of a rash and fever one week after returning from Singapore, according to Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam. "We are carrying out control measures against aedes mosquitoes near the woman's home to prevent the spread of the virus," he said at a news conference on Thursday, adding that the virus was discovered in the woman's urine sample. Subramaniam initially said the woman's "child" had also tested positive for Zika in Singapore. He later clarified that the child was in fact an adult daughter who is working in Singapore and has not returned to Malaysia. Subramaniam said they have already intensified vector control activities in Taman Botani in Klang, where the infected woman's home is located, and urged residents to allow officers despatched to the area to enter their homes and carry out fogging and larvicidal spraying. Singapore announced the first locally contracted case of Zika late on Saturday, and the number of diagnosed infections has grown steadily this week. A pregnant woman was among those diagnosed with Zika infections in Singapore, as the number of confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne virus in the city-state rose to 115. Subramaniam said on Thursday that a total of five Malaysians have so far been identified as having tested positive for Zika in Singapore. U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies. The World Health Organization has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults. The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,600 cases of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers.</s>U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ZIKA The Zika (ZEE'-ka) virus was first discovered in monkey in Uganda in 1947 - its name comes from the Zika forest where it was first discovered. The virus had hit pay dirt, racing through the gay sexual revolution where one man might have sex with 30 other men a year, giving the virus exponential rates of infection Over time, the virus' transmission shifted, especially in Africa, from rare cases of monkey-to-human transmission to general heterosexual spread, with women today five times more likely to be newly infected compared to men, thanks to sexual cultures that favor male promiscuity.

A pregnant woman is discovered to be infected by the Zika virus after cases jump to over 100 in Singapore.

‘I don’t see why some days after training the manager can’t say, ‘‘Right, I’ll see you at 9am tomorrow’’ and then that time is your own.’ Maybe Allardyce has discussed this issue with his captain. To many this was a surprise, Allardyce limiting his time with the team when it was felt he would use the opportunity of a week together to pump his philosophy into them. It’s not where I’m suited to, it’s just where I’ve been for most of the time.’ And now he has the chance to prove that.</s>Labor powerbroker Sam Dastyari has been admonished by a senior factional ally and is facing further scrutiny after it was revealed he backed China's position in the South China Sea dispute at an event with a Chinese-Australian political donor who has previously forked out for his legal bills. In a June press conference for Chinese media, Senator Dastyari pledged to respect China's position in the hostile dispute with other Asian nations and the United States, at odds with the Labor Party's position, The Australian Financial Review reports. The senator is also reported as saying "the South China Sea is China's own affair", calling on Australia to remain neutral and drop its opposition to China's air defence zone in the region. Labor frontbencher Tony Burke, a senior figure of Senator Dastyari's own NSW right faction, has now restated the party's "crystal clear" stance on the issue and Coalition minister Josh Frydenberg labelled the reports "very worrying".

Iranian-born Australian politician Sam Dastyari pledges his support for China's position in the dispute.

Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, it is with great pleasure that I wish the people of Vietnam a joyous National Day this September 2. "The relationship between our two countries and peoples is stronger than it has ever been. We are poised to make even more progress in the months and years ahead as we work together to implement the historic initiatives announced during President Obama’s visit to Vietnam in May. "I was honored to accompany President Obama on his visit -- my third trip to Vietnam as Secretary of State -- and was struck, as I always am, by the remarkable transformation in our bilateral relations. "From the first time that I stepped foot in Vietnam as a young soldier in 1968 to my most recent visit in May, I’ve seen incredible changes taking shape, from the growing city skylines to the pulsating entrepreneurial energy to the increasing flow of people, goods, and ideas from every corner of Vietnam to the United States and elsewhere. "In the midst of these changes, what remains constant for me, and what I’ve always loved about Vietnam, is the warmth, and generosity, and ingenuity of the Vietnamese people. "It is their resiliency and innate desire to move beyond the shadow of the past toward a more prosperous, healthy, and free society for their children and future generations that had shaped Vietnam’s trajectory. "Vietnam is a country of tremendous potential, and I’m confident it will have a bright future thanks to the dedication of its young people, business community, and active civil society. "We look forward to continuing to deepen our comprehensive and increasingly strategic partnership with Vietnam to advance our shared interest in building and sustaining a rules-based order, not only in the Asia-Pacific region but throughout the world. "On this festive occasion, I wish the people of Vietnam peace and prosperity in the coming year."</s>Hanoi has officially reacted to Phnom Penh’s request to “identify” and “take strong action against” Vietnamese nationals who purportedly left insulting comments on Cambodian Premier Hun Sen’s Facebook page, criticizing him for supporting Beijing’s claims over the South China Sea. In a written statement, Le Hai Binh, spokesman for the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the personal opinions apparently posted by Vietnamese writers “do not reflect Vietnam’s stance.” “We ... do not support those who used freedom of speech to make personal insults and provocative attitude in order to drive a wedge between the peoples of the two countries,” the spokesperson said. Last week, the Cambodian government condemned the “verbal attacks” accusing Hun Sen of betraying his eastern neighbor as “immoral” and “highly offensive.” Huynh Ngoc Chenh, a Vietnamese media expert, said he was surprised by Vietnam’s response. “It shows the increased impact of social media — Facebook in particular — on the ruling authorities, especially the Vietnamese ones,” said Chenh, adding that even Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Xuan Phuc was recently forced to publicly apologize after his motorcade swept through narrow Hoi An streets reserved for pedestrians, resulting in widespread rounds of condemnation on Facebook. Premier's response The Cambodian premier on Monday took to the social network to hit back at his South China Sea detractors, calling on Vietnam to respect Cambodian sovereignty and "[educate] their people not to bother me anymore." "Again, I want to reaffirm with you that I am not a Vietnamese puppet serving the benefits of Vietnamese country, and I’m also not a boss of Vietnam," the Cambodian leader posted. "I’m not asking Vietnam to serve Cambodian political interest either. The South China Sea conflict should [be resolved] ... peacefully by the Chinese and Vietnamese governments. It’s better than [resolving] it through war, as you’ve mentioned in your comment on my Facebook.” Filipinos and Vietnamese residents shout during a Filipinos and Vietnamese residents shout during a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in the financial district of Makati, east of Manila, Philippines, Aug. 6, 2016. They called on China to respect the international arbitration ruling favoring the Philippines on the disputed group of islands in the South China Sea. Filipinos and Vietnamese residents shout during a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in the financial district of Makati, east of Manila, Philippines, Aug. 6, 2016. They called on China to respect the international arbitration ruling favoring the Philippines on the disputed group of islands in the South China Sea. Ou Virak, founder of the Phnom Penh-based Future Forum think tank, told VOA's Khmer service that although he agreed the criticism of his premier didn't reflect the stance of Vietnamese officials, he questioned Hun Sen's political prudence in personally responding to the slights of random internet users, let alone in the manner of a formal diplomatic statement. "I believe there are people who build the premier's Facebook page," he said. "If he does not like how people comment [on his posts], he can just ignore them." Vietnamese spokesperson Binh told VOA's Vietnamese service that the foreign ministry attaches importance to “friendly, neighborly and comprehensive relations with Cambodia,” and that it has "made efforts to maintain these ties for the common interests of two peoples.” Border dispute On Tuesday, Vietnam and Cambodia concluded closed-door discussions on a territorial border dispute, jointly agreeing to "seek international consultants to advise on ways to demarcate the border.” Var Kim Hong, leader of the Cambodian delegation, told reporters that the two sides “failed to reach an accord.” Tran Cong Truc, a former Vietnamese official in charge of border affairs who has repeatedly engaged with Cambodian counterparts, struck a slightly more optimistic tone. Var Kim Hong (R) shakes hands with Vietnamese Depu FILE - Chairman of Cambodia's border committee Var Kim Hong, right, shakes hands with Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung before a meeting about the border between Cambodia and Vietnam in Phnom Penh, Aug. 29, 2016. FILE - Chairman of Cambodia's border committee Var Kim Hong, right, shakes hands with Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung before a meeting about the border between Cambodia and Vietnam in Phnom Penh, Aug. 29, 2016. "Vietnam has shown its willingness to solve the border issue by agreeing to have a third party, especially France, joining in the demarcating process," he said, adding that France prepared the original map delineating the shared border during the colonial era. The head of the Cambodian delegation, however, said Phnom Penh observes the border with Vietnam as it was set in 1983, according to maps of Indochina — the former French colonial territory that now comprises Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Tensions have mounted in recent weeks as Phnom Penh has accused Hanoi of illegally digging ponds and building outposts inside Cambodian territory — assertions that Vietnam denies. This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Vietnamese and Khmer services. VOA's Ith Sothoeuth and Hul Reaksmey contributed reporting from Phnom Penh.

Cambodia and Vietnam fail to agree on a resolution regarding their border dispute.

“Burying the dictator in the Libingan ng mga Bayani will not heal our wounded country.” MANILA – Even as President Duterte said the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) is meant “to heal” the nation, his decision only opened an old wound, one that has to do with bringing the tyrant and his family to face punishment for their crimes against the people. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has weighed in on the issue of whether former President Ferdinand Marcos is a hero by submitting to the Supreme Court (SC) 54 pages of attachments to its Consolidated Comment including 11 documents supposedly showing that Marcos was recognized by the government as a soldier, war hero and Medal of Valor recipient. Roque had filed a bill proposing to change the name of the Libingan ng mga Bayani to “Libingan ng mga Bayani at mga Dating Pangulo” (Cemetery for Heroes and Former Presidents) as a means to prevent public unrest in wake of opposition from some sectors to the planned burial of Marcos’ remains at the Hero’s Cemetery. Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, whose brother Hermon disappeared during Martial Law and was never found, said “far from being a hero, former President Ferdinand Marcos was a despot, an oppressor of the Filipino people, during the dark era of Martial Law.” “A Marcos hero’s burial would glorify a dictator, distort history, aggravate the injustice to human rights violation victims and their families and mock the heroism of desaparecidos (disappeared) and other victims of Marcos’ atrocities,” Lagman added. Bound by statutes Barry Guttierez, who represented Martial Law victims like former Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairwoman Loretta Ann Rosales, said Duterte was constitutionally bound by statutes that recognize the Marcos regime’s atrocities, such as Republic Act 10368 that gave reparations to human rights victims. Alunan said the fourth paragraph of the memorandum of agreement was controversial because former first lady Imelda Marcos penciled the words “temporarily interred” on the document to replace “buried on the 9th of Sept.” Alunan said Mrs. Marcos countersigned it but he did not. However, the Supreme Court is not expected to discuss whether or not Marcos was a war hero during the second round of oral arguments on September 7, according to two lawmakers.</s>Martial Law victims attend the oral arguments on the hero's burial for the late President Ferdinand Marcos. Photo by LeAnne Jazul/Rappler MANILA, Philippines – Victims of horrifying acts of torture during Martial Law recounted their painful experiences before Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Wednesday, August 31. Etta Rosales, former chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) who experienced the atrocities of the dictatorship, recounted: "They had a gun and they threatened me to answer the question, otherwise they [would] shoot [me]." She was also raped, tortured, and went through electric shock and Russian roulette. Rosales is among the petitioners asking the Supreme Court to stop the burial of the late dictator at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, which President Rodrigo Duterte had allowed supposedly for the country to be able to move on from that period of history. Read related stories: Worse than death: Torture methods during Martial Law #NeverAgain: Martial Law stories young people need to hear Another petitioner in one of the cases, Trinidad Herrera, told the Chief Justice about her terrible experience under the dictatorship. "'Pinatanggal nila ang aking blusa at 'nilagay ang linya ng kuryente sa suso ko. Pumasok pa ang kuryente sa katawan ko hanggang di ko na nakayanan," Herrera tearfully recalled during oral arguments on the petition against a hero's burial for the late president Ferdinand Marcos. (They ordered me to remove my blouse and they applied electric shock on my breast. Electricity went through my body until I couldn't take it anymore.) "They even put water on the floor so that the electricity would enter my body," she added in Filipino. Another victim, Fe Mangahas, shared: "They would scare me again by touching me and breathing down my neck and then I felt something like naihi ako (I peed). I figured it was blood because at the time I did not realize I was two months pregnant." "When they found out I was pregnant I was released, but I was asked to report weekly about my whereabouts. I had to do this every Saturday for a year," she added. Other victims also detailed what they went through when they were captured by uniformed men. Maria Christina Rodriguez said her captors burned her skin with cigarette. Her fingers were swollen because of bullet-pressing. Maria Christina Bawagan said her thighs were hit until they looked like rotten vegetables. She was sexually abused, with her captors inserting objects into her vagina and touching her breasts while blindfolded. She said she may never know who exactly tortured her, but she clearly remembered their voice. Each of these women remembered the exact date they were captured and went through the life-scarring experience. Sereno asked the petitioners, who are claimants for compensation under Republic Act 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparations Act, to speak before the court. (READ: What the gov’t still owes Martial Law victims) She told them, "The Court is listening." Not about the money During her interpellation of former Akbayan Representative Ibarra Gutierrez III, lawyer for one of the petitioning groups, Sereno asked if the monetary compensation for the victims was not sufficient. Gutierrez responded: "No, your Honor, because the law explicitly acknowledges to recognize the [victims and their heroism and sacrifices]." He also said that money is not equivalent to the restoration of dignity of the victims. The late strongman's state burial, he said, would "prolong and extend" the suffering of the victims. Human Rights Victims Claims Board (HRVCB) Chairperson Lina Sarmiento, who was one of the resource persons invited, said that out of over 75,000 claims, they have only finished processing 17,000. HCRVB can only start distributing the compensation after every case has been settled because the P10 billion funds allotted will be divided according to the intensity of human rights violations experienced by each victim. Sarmiento said they are hoping to finish the work before May 12, 2018, when their office expires. Non-repetition Also appearing as a resource person, CHR Chairperson Chito Gascon said the state has an obligation for "non-repetition" of the trauma they experienced during Martial Law. "There is a commitment on the part of the state [to] non-repetition, [that] the victims should not be exposed to re-traumatization," he told Chief Justice Sereno. Gascon stressed that local and international laws acknowledge reparations as a "positive act that the stake must undertake to [prevent] impunity." – Rappler.com Other stories from the SC oral arguments on the Marcos burial cases:

Female victims of the martial law dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos speak at the Philippine Supreme Court about how they endured torture during Marcos' regime.

The immunity of opposition Senator Thak Lany (pictured) is on the line after Prime Minister Hun Sen accused her of "slander" and "incitement". Facebook Thak Lany immunity vote today The Senate is set to vote today on whether to strip the senatorial immunity of opposition Senator Thak Lany, after the body’s permanent committee yesterday decided to hold a plenary session following a request by the Appeal Court. A letter released after the 13-member committee’s meeting, signed by the Senate Secretary-General Um Sarith, stated that the session would be held at 8am. According to Senate spokesman Mam Bunneang, 10 committee members voted to send the court’s request to remove Lany’s immunity to a full vote. Lany has been accused by Prime Minister Hun Sen of “slander” and “incitement” for allegedly suggesting he was involved in the murder of prominent political analyst Kem Ley. While the motion to remove her immunity requires a two-thirds majority vote, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party holds more than enough seats in the chamber to approve it. Commenting on the swift granting of the Appeal Court request, Bunneang said that there was no stipulated timeframe for such matters and the committee also wanted to ensure senators could quickly return to their communities to register to vote.</s>BANGKOK, June 29 – Thailand’s First Army Region Commander, Lt-Gen Udomdej Sitabutr on Wednesday denied as spurious the idea that Thai troops will attack Cambodia on July 1 as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sun reportedly claimed. The Thai military has a clear policy that it will not invade other countries but will retaliate only after being attacked first, he said. Gen Udomdej said the Cambodian military has moved more infantry units closer to Thailand’s northeastern border province of Sa Kaeo, however, there has been no report of reinforcement of armoured vehicles or heavy weapons. The move, he said, has not affected the border situation. However, the first army region commander said he has ordered his subordinates to step up security measures including a strict check on people and vehicles which approach the border checkpoint and sought negotiation to ease problems such as talks by the regional border committee earlier scheduled in April. Cambodia however has not yet responded to that. Gen Udomdej also denied reports which link the border situation to an attempt to provide an excuse to cancel Thailand’s general election on July 3. Thailand on Saturday announced its departure from the World Heritage Convention (WHC) at the WHC meeting in Paris, saying the World Heritage Committee failed to heed its request seeking postponement of Cambodia’s unilaterally-proposed Preah Vihear temple management plan, as Thailand fears that it may threaten national sovereignty. ‪‪Ties between the neighbours have been strained since Preah Vihear temple was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008. In April, Cambodia asked the court to clarify its 1962 ruling on the ancient Hindu temple on its disputed border with Thailand following recent deadly armed clashes between the two neighbouring countries. The court, based in The Hague, ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but both Phnom Penh and Bangkok claim ownership of 4.6-square-kilometre of the surrounding area. (MCOT online news)

The Parliament of Cambodia plans to strip political immunity for opposition politician Thak Lany of the Cambodia National Rescue Party alliance after she criticized Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Story highlights Suicide bombers attack Peshawar and Mardan Friday morning 13 dead in Mardan, one killed on outskirts of Peshawar Peshawar, Pakistan (CNN) At least 14 people were killed Friday in the latest suicide attacks by a Pakistani Taliban splinter group targeting Christians and lawyers in the country, authorities say. Both attacks were claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of Pakistan's Tehreek-i Taliban (TTP) -- also known as the Pakistani Taliban -- which has killed scores of people in previous attacks targeting both groups in the country this year. In the city of Mardan, in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, at least 13 people were killed and another 53 injured in an attack at the city's district courts Friday, District Police Officer Faisal Shehzad told CNN. The attacker threw a hand grenade at the court gates, then blew blew himself up after security prevented him from entering, Senior Police Superintendent Shafiullah Khan said. Four of those killed were lawyers, according to Amir Hussain, the president of the Mardan Bar Association. Read More</s>Twin attacks have hit Pakistan today after 12 were killed in a suicide blast at a courthouse and four Taliban bombers tried to blow themselves up in a Christian colony. The bodies of lawyers, police officers and civilians have been recovered from the wreckage at the court building in the city of Mardan in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. On the same day, gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed a Christian colony near the town of Peshawar, killing one civilian, before being shot dead by soldiers. In Mardan a suicide bomber launched a grenade at the district court before detonating his explosives, according to government spokesman Mushtaq Ghani. He said that lawyers, policemen and passers-by were among those killed in the attack. Some of the 52 wounded were critically injured, Ghani said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for second attack. Earlier, four suicide bombers who tried to attack a Christian colony were killed in a gunfight with security forces. Soldiers backed by army helicopters exchanged gunfire with militants in suicide vests who had tried to storm into the colony near Warsak Dam, just north of Peshawar in the northwest of the country. Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway Taliban faction, claimed responsibility for the attack. 'Four suicide bombers with arms and ammunition entered the Christian Colony at Warsak after hitting a security guard at 5.50am,' the Pakistan army said in a statement. 'Security forces promptly responded and surrounded the area. Exchange of fire took place and all four terrorists were killed,' it said, adding that two paramilitary soldiers, a policeman and two security guards were wounded in the gunfight. The 'situation is under control,' the statement said, adding that troops were now carrying out a house to house search of the area. Discrimination and violence against religious minorities is commonplace in Pakistan, where Muslims account for more than 90 percent of the population. The Pakistani Taliban in particular routinely target minority groups, and in 2011 gunned down Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who was federal minister for minority affairs. A Taliban suicide bomber targeted Christians in a park in the eastern city of Lahore at Easter this year, killing more than 70 people, including many children. Taliban militants stormed a school in Peshawar in December 2014, killing more than 150 people, mostly children, in Pakistan's deadliest-ever terror attack. The army launched an operation in June 2014 in a bid to wipe out militant bases in the tribal areas and so bring an end to the bloody insurgency that has cost thousands of civilian lives since 2004.

Islamic militants attack Christian sections of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, leaving 13 dead in the city of Mardan.

Investigators said Abu Sayyaf, a southern Philippine group notorious for acts of piracy, kidnappings and beheadings, had claimed responsibility for Friday’s night bombing at a Davao street market, although police said they were still trying to authenticate the claim. DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/01 Sept) — The Task Force Davao has assured Dabawenyos that there are no threats directed at the city from the Abu Sayyaf despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to “destroy them.” Speaking in Thursday’s iSpeak Forum at the City Hall, TF Davao deputy commander Col. George Lalaquil said they have not received reports from the intelligence community that the city, where Duterte served as mayor for 22 years, is under threat amid Duterte’s war against the Abu Sayyaf terrorists. Duterte, who was in Davao at the time of the attack but not near the market, told reporters before dawn Saturday that it was an act of terrorism, as he announced extra powers for the military under a “State of Lawless Violence.” At least 14 people were killed and another 67 were wounded in the explosion, police said.</s>(CNN) Police in the Philippines are looking for three people they want to question -- one man and two women -- in connection with the blast at a crowded market in Davao City that killed 14 people Friday night. Jboy Gonzales SJ (@jboygonzalessj) September 2, 2016 Police Regional Office 11 Director Chief Superintendent Manuel Gaerlan, in a statement, called for calm and asked people to refrain from "creating/passing misleading or unverified reports to avoid confusion and panic." Lean Daval Jr., Reuters Andanar: Initial reports say IED shrapnel were found in blast site DAVAO CITY (6TH UPDATE) - A huge explosion rocked a busy night market Friday evening in Davao City, the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 60 others, police and local officials said. A statement from Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, released through the local government's official Facebook page, confirmed the initial 10 victims who died on the spot. He said he had warned the public that there could be blowback from intensified government military operations against the pro-ISIS Islamist group Abu Sayyaf in Sulu province, where 8,000 troops deployed in recent weeks. Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, quoting initial reports, told ABS-CBN News that components of a suspected improved explosive device (IED) were found at the blast site in Davao City. Online images show emergency teams rushing people out of the night market, which was reopened only three weeks ago after being shut down, in wheelchairs and stretchers. There are bomb threats everywhere and some of my schoolmates are victims of the explosion and now dead."

An explosion at a night market in Davao City, Philippines, kills at least 14 people and injures 60. President of the Philippines and former Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte was in the city at the time. Abu Sayyaf have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Samsung has suspended sales of its Galaxy Note 7, two weeks after the flagship smartphone's launch, after finding batteries in some of the gadgets exploded while they were charging. Samsung's Note 7s are being pulled from shelves in 10 countries, including South Korea and the United States, just two weeks after the product's launch. Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung's mobile business, said customers who had already bought Note 7s will be able to swap them for new smartphones, regardless of when they purchased them. He apologized for causing inconvenience and concern to customers. The recall, the first for the new smartphone though not the first for a battery , comes at a crucial moment in Samsung's mobile business. Apple is scheduled to announce its new iPhone next week and Samsung's mobile division was counting on momentum from the Note 7's strong reviews and higher-than-expected demand. He added that while phone combustions are unusual, "35 instances are 35 too many." There have been no reports of injuries related to the problem. Samsung is issuing what amounts to its first global recall of the flagship smartphone because it has not found ways to specify which phones may endanger users. It estimated that about 24 out of 1 million units may have a faulty battery. On the Note 7, after complaints surfaced online, Samsung found that a battery cell made by one of its two battery suppliers caused the phone to catch fire. Koh refused to name the supplier. "There was a tiny problem in the manufacturing process, so it was very difficult to figure out," Koh told reporters at a news conference. "It will cost us so much it makes my heart ache. Nevertheless, the reason we made this decision is because what is most important is customer safety.” Customers’ reports of scorched phones prompted Samsung to conduct extra quality controlling tests and delay shipments of the Note 7s this week before the recall. South Korean high school teacher Park Soo-Jung said she had rushed to buy the new phone, pre-ordering and then activating it on Aug. 19, its official launch date. The 34-year-old living in the port city of Busan said that she was bruised when she rushed out of bed after her phone burst into flames, filling her bedroom with smoke stinking of chemicals. She's having second thoughts about buying another newly released device, especially after losing all her personal data stored in the destroyed Note 7, she said. "If the exploded phone had burned near my head, I would not have been able to write this post," she said in a popular online forum Thursday, where she shared a photo of the scorched Note 7 and described dousing the flames. China is not affected by the sales suspension. The company said it used a battery made by another supplier for the Note 7s sold in China.</s>Samsung Elec says to halt Galaxy Note 7 sales on battery problem SEOUL, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Friday it will halt the sales of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones and will prepare replacement devices for phones already sold after finding problems with the battery cell used. The recall comes just over two weeks after the launch of Samsung's latest premium phone, which features an outsized screen and high-resolution camera, and follows reports of the $885 phone igniting while charging. “The recall is likely to be a blow to earnings.” Samsung said new sales of the Note 7 in affected markets would resume after it deals with replacements, a process it expects will begin in about two weeks.

Samsung Electronics recalls all Galaxy Note 7 smartphones that have fire-prone batteries, and halts sales in 10 markets. A Samsung official says phones with the problematic battery account for less than 0.1 percent of those sold.

Some parts of eastern Florida could be hit with 20 inches of rain in the next 24 hours and dozens of towns in Hermine's path have been evacuated. The governors of Georgia and North Carolina on Thursday declared emergencies in affected regions. Mr Scott, who declared an emergency in 51 counties, said 6,000 National Guardsmen were poised to mobilise for the storm's aftermath. "You can rebuild a home, you can rebuild property, you cannot rebuild a life," he said at a news conference on Thursday afternoon, adding that "we are going to see a lot of flooding". In coastal Franklin County, people on barrier islands and low-lying areas on the shore were being evacuated. Hurricane Hermine made landfall in Florida's Big Bend area early on Friday - the first hurricane to hit the state in more than a decade. Residents of the Sandpiper Resort survey the rising water coming from the Gulf of Mexico into their neighborhood as winds and storm surge from Hurricane Hermine affect the area on Thursday, September 1, in Holmes Beach, Florida. "I've never seen it this high, it's pretty damn crazy. The huge storm - which has knocked out power for more than 132,000 people - is then expected to push further into Georgia, the Carolinas and up the East Coast as a tropical storm, with the potential for heavy rain and flooding.</s>TAMPA, Fla.—Hurricane Hermine tore a path of destruction across Florida on Friday, Sept. 2, leaving more than 253,000 homes and businesses without power, flooding low-lying areas and raising concerns about the spread of the Zika virus due to the massive pools of standing water left behind. The first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma more than a decade ago, Hermine came ashore early on Friday near St. Marks, Florida, 20 miles south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas. It was set to snarl Labor Day holiday travel after battering Florida's $89-billion tourism industry. The tempest headed toward the Atlantic seaboard on a path where tens of millions of Americans live, causing storm watches and warnings stretching to New Jersey, the National Hurricane Center said. One homeless man was hit by a tree and died, Florida Governor Rick Scott said, but officials have not confirmed whether the death was storm-related. "Now is the time to come together. There is a lot of work to do," Scott told a news conference, warning people to look out for downed power lines and avoid driving in pools of standing water. Concerns over the standing water in which mosquitoes breed intensified as the state battles an outbreak of the Zika virus. It is incredibly important that everyone does their part to combat the Zika virus by dumping standing water, no matter how small. Any amount of standing water can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes," Scott said. According to the Florida Department of Health, there have been 47 cases of Zika in people believed to have contracted the virus through local mosquitoes. Active transmission is thought to be occurring only in two small areas around Miami. As the sun rose on Friday morning on Hudson Beach, just north of Tampa, cars sat askew in the middle of flooded out roads. Palm fronds, tree branches and garbage cans were scattered about. Overnight, Pasco County crews rescued more than a dozen people and brought them to shelters after their homes were flooded. Richard Jewett, 68, was rescued from his home in nearby New Port Richey, around 12:30 a.m. CDT on Friday as emergency workers carried out a mandatory evacuation. "The canal started creeping up toward the house and even though it wasn't high tide it looked like it was coming inside," he said. A weakening Hermine moved across southern Georgia, blowing winds of 60 miles per hour at 7 a.m. CDT, according to the NHC. The tropical storm was expected to reach the coastal Carolinas later Friday, then move offshore from North Carolina on Saturday. Forecasters said it could strengthen over the sea. In Cedar Key, an island community in northwest Florida, waters rose more than 9.5 feet, among the highest surges ever seen, the National Weather Service said. Officials in the affected region on Friday warned that homes continued to be threatened by high water and implored people to avoid flooded roads. "This is one of the worst that we have seen in the city in a long time, and unfortunately, it is not over yet," Mayor Rick Kriseman of St. Petersburg, Florida, told reporters. On its current path, the storm could dump as much as 15 inches of rain on coastal Georgia, and the Carolinas. Forecasters warned of "life-threatening" floods and flash floods. The governors of Georgia and North Carolina declared emergencies in affected regions. As it moved north across Florida, the storm continued to whip up heavy rain. Trees blocked roads and bridges were shut to assess the damage caused by high waters, the Florida Department of Transportation said.

Residents of the American state of Florida prepare for the impact of Hurricane Hermine which is expected to make landfall today. A state of emergency has been declared in 51 of the 67 counties in the state.

Tropical storm and flooding watches and warnings were in effect along the Atlantic seaboard from South Carolina north to Rhode Island as the potentially life-threatening storm moved along a stretch inhabited by tens of millions of Americans. "Hermine not only threatens to foil weekend getaways at the beach, but has the potential to cause damage in some communities and pose risk to the lives of those who venture in the surf or on the seas," said Alex Sosnowski, a meteorologist, on Accuweather.com. The storm was projected to creep north along the Carolina coast Friday night, then gather strength after moving offshore into the Atlantic on Saturday morning, possibly reaching near-hurricane intensity by late Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center. The threat of severe weather caused officials in Atlantic City to cancel concerts over the weekend and beaches to close in several coastal communities. Labor Day weekend plans for thousands of vacationers who were headed to popular beach spots along the Atlantic seaboard were dampened after the storm battered Florida's $89 billion tourism industry. "We’ll probably stay inside watching movies or going to the movie theater," Joan Whalen told an ABC affiliate in Virginia after canceling plans to head to the beach for the weekend. Hermine, the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, swept ashore early on Friday near the Gulf shore town of St. Marks, 20 miles (30 km) south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas. As of 5 a.m. EDT, the fourth named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season was about 60 miles (95 km) west-northwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, where 60 mph (95 kmh) winds were reported, the hurricane center said. Early Saturday morning, crews in Wilmington, North Carolina rescued several people who were sitting on top of their vehicle after a flood engulfed their street, photos from local media showed. At least one tornado was reported touching down in North Carolina on Saturday, causing at least one injury, local media reported. As of 9:00pm EDT (0100 GMT), the fourth named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season was passing near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, leaving some 51,000 power outages across the state, said state emergency management spokesman Derrec Becker. Becker said localized flooding hit low-lying areas across the state, and there were widespread reports of "downed power lines, downed trees, trees on cars and some flooded cars," along with isolated incidents of tree-damaged homes. Likewise, emergency officials reported no storm deaths in Georgia, which Hermine swept through on its way to South Carolina, but said at least 100,000 utility customers were without power at one point. Emergency declarations remained in effect for all or parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. Overnight, crews in Pasco County, Florida, rescued more than a dozen people after their homes were flooded. Richard Jewett, 68, was rescued from his home in New Port Richey, just north of Tampa, as emergency teams carried out a mandatory evacuation. "The canal started creeping up toward the house, and even though it wasn't high tide it looked like it was coming inside," Jewett said. One mobile home was virtually sliced in two by a fallen tree, but authorities had no reports of serious storm-related injuries or fatalities, Becker added. In addition to powerful winds extending up to 185 miles (295 km) from its center, Hermine was expected to unleash a dangerous storm surge in the Hampton Roads area of tidewater Virginia, where flooding could become 3 to 5 feet deep, the NHC warned. The storm also could douse several southeastern and mid-Atlantic states with up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain through Sunday, the agency said. New Jersey, still mindful of devastation from superstorm Sandy in 2012, was on high alert as emergency officials advised residents to prepare for flooding, high winds and a surge of seawater. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday activated his state's emergency operations center and ordered officials to stockpile resources, including sandbags and generators. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said residents should avoid beach waters for fear of life-threatening riptides. ‘It is incredibly important that everyone does their part to combat the Zika virus by dumping standing water, no matter how small,’ Florida governor Rick Scott told a news conference.</s>Hurricane Hermine dropped to a tropical storm but then regained strength Saturday as it drenched coastal North Carolina and Virginia on a path up the East Coast. At 11 a.m. Saturday, Hermine was centered just off North Carolina's Outer Banks, with top sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph), moving east-northeast at 15 mph (24 kph). The tempest headed toward the Atlantic seaboard on a path where tens of millions of Americans live, causing storm watches and warnings stretching to New Jersey, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Hermine rose up over the Gulf of Mexico and became the first hurricane to hit Florida in more than a decade, wiping away beachside buildings, toppling trees onto homes and leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity as it plowed onward to the Atlantic Coast. As the sun rose on Friday morning (Saturday NZT) on Hudson Beach, just north of Tampa, cars sat askew in the middle of flooded out roads. RECOMMENDED Hawaiian islands prepare for Hurricane Lester Several Homes and businesses in Taylor County, located in the Panhandle area, were damaged from rising flood waters and at least 10 feet of storm surge. In Marion County in Central Florida, a homeless man was hit by a tree, but officials were waiting for the coroner to confirm the death was storm related. RELATED Hawaiian islands prepare for Hurricane Lester Florida Gov. He warned residents to begin cleanup with caution. Hurricane Hermine, the first hurricane to strike Florida in more than a decade, made landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast early Friday morning, pummeling small seaside towns with powerful 80 mph winds and heavy rain. Governors in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina have declared states of emergency in a swath of counties: Gov.

Hermine, as a Category 1 storm, kills one person and leaves a quarter-million others without electricity during its trek through Florida. Now a tropical storm over North Carolina, Hermine should re-strengthen when it moves into the Atlantic Ocean tomorrow. Tropical storm warnings and watches are issued from Georgia to Rhode Island.

Islam Karimov, who crushed all opposition in the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan as its only president in a quarter-century of independence from the Soviet Union, has died of a stroke at age 78, the Uzbek government announced Friday. An honour guard stands near a portrait of Uzbek President Islam Karimov during a mourning ceremony following Karimov’s death, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Saturday (Reuters photo) ALMATY — Islam Karimov, president of Uzbekistan for the past quarter of a century, was buried in his home city of Samarkand on Saturday, leaving behind a power vacuum in a nation that serves as a bulwark against militancy in Central Asia. His younger daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, said in a social media post Monday that he had been hospitalized in the capital of Tashkent after a brain hemorrhage Aug. 27. On Friday, she posted again, saying: “He is gone.” Little other information was available. One of the world's most authoritarian rulers, Karimov cultivated no apparent successor, and his death raised concerns that the predominantly Sunni Muslim country could face prolonged infighting among clans over its leadership, something its Islamic radical movement could exploit. Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told the Tass news agency: 'The death of Islam Karimov may open a pretty dangerous period of unpredictability and uncertainty in Uzbekistan.' At Tashkent airport, as the coffin was being loaded onto a plane bound for Samarkand, Karimov's wife, Tatiana, and his younger daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, stood at the foot of the aircraft steps. Many people had anticipated that Karimov would be succeeded by his older daughter Gulnara, a businesswoman and pop star, but she fell from favour two years ago and there was no sign of her on Saturday among the family members in the funeral cortège. Given the lack of access to the strategic country, it's hard to judge how powerful the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan might be. Over the years, the group has been affiliated with the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, and it has sent fighters abroad. Under the Uzbek constitution, if the president dies his duties pass temporarily to the head of the senate until an election can be held within three months. However, the head of the Uzbek senate is regarded as unlikely to seek permanent power and Karimov's demise is expected to set off a period of jockeying for political influence. Karimov was known as a tyrant with an explosive temper and a penchant for cruelty. His troops machine-gunned hundreds of unarmed demonstrators to death during a 2005 uprising, he jailed thousands of political opponents, and his henchmen reportedly boiled some dissidents to death. He came under widespread international criticism from human rights groups, but because of Uzbekistan's location as a vital supply route for the war in neighboring Afghanistan, the West sometimes turned a blind eye to his worst abuses. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is expected to fly in for the funeral, along with a coterie of leaders from former Soviet republics including Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and the prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Kazakhstan. At the Samarkand ceremony, Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev, 59, and Finance Minister Rustam Azimov, 57, were allocated spots in the front row, nearest to Karimov's coffin. In a statement offering his condolences, US President Barack Obama said his country stood with Uzbekistan as it "begins a new chapter in its history". Noting Karimov’s death, President Barack Obama said in a statement the U.S. “reaffirms its support for the people of Uzbekistan.” “This week, I congratulated President Karimov and the people of Uzbekistan on their country’s 25 years of independence,” Obama said in the statement. 'As Uzbekistan begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to partnership with Uzbekistan, to its sovereignty, security, and to a future based on the rights of all its citizens.' U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was “saddened” at Karimov’s death and paid tribute to his efforts “to develop strong ties between Uzbekistan and the United Nations as well as strengthen regional and global peace and security,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Ban singled out Karimov's promotion of the treaty to establish the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone which entered into force in 2009. Uzbekistan, a country of 30 million people famous for its apricot orchards, cotton fields and ancient stone cities along the Silk Road, had been one of the Muslim world's paragons of art and learning. But Karimov cracked down on any form of Islam that wasn't patently subservient to him. His leadership style was epitomized by propaganda posters often displayed in Uzbekistan that depicted him alongside Tamerlane, a 14th-century emperor who had conquered a vast region of West, South and Central Asia. He was known to shout and swear at officials during meetings and it was widely rumored that in bursts of anger he would beat officials and throw ashtrays at them. Under Karimov, the economy remained centralized, with a handful of officials controlling the most lucrative industries and trade. A 1996 ban on the free convertibility of the national currency, the som, blocked trade and foreign investment, while unemployment soared and poverty was widespread. Endemic corruption stymied development, despite considerable resources of natural gas and gold, along with its cotton exports. Millions of Uzbeks have flooded into Russia and neighboring Kazakhstan to support their families with remittances that amount to a sizable part of the country's GDP. Karimov was suspicious of the West and infuriated by its criticism of his human rights record, but he also dreaded Islamic militancy, fearing it could grow into a strong opposition. He unleashed a harsh campaign against Muslims starting in 1997 and intensifying in 1999 after eight car bombs exploded near key government buildings in Tashkent. The explosions killed 16 people and wounded more than 100. "I am ready to rip off the heads of 200 people, to sacrifice their lives, for the sake of peace and tranquility in the country," Karimov said afterward. “If a child of mine chose such a path, I myself would rip off his head.” In the next few years, thousands of Muslims who practiced their faith outside government-controlled mosques were rounded up and jailed for alleged links to banned Islamic groups. In 2004, a series of bombings and attacks on police killed more than 50 people and sparked a new wave of arrests and convictions. Following 9/11, the West overlooked Karimov's harsh policies and cut a deal with him in 2001 to use Uzbekistan's Karshi-Khanabad air base for combat missions in Afghanistan. In the Uzbek city of Andizhan in May 2005, security forces killed around 500 mostly unarmed people who had been protesting against local officials, witnesses and rights groups said. It was the world's worst massacre of protesters since the 1989 bloodbath in China's Tiananmen Square. Angered by U.S. criticism of the crackdown, Karimov evicted U.S. forces from the base. He later quietly softened his position, allowing Uzbekistan to be part of the Northern Distribution Network supply route for Afghanistan, whose utility declined when Russia dropped out of the network in 2015. The United States in turn agreed to start the sale of non-lethal military goods to his regime. Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov was born on Jan. 30, 1938, and studied economics and engineering in what was then a Soviet republic, rising through the Communist Party bureaucracy. In 1989, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made Karimov Uzbekistan's Communist Party chief in the wake of a huge corruption scandal that involved top Uzbek officials. At the time, Karimov was seen as a hard-working and uncorrupt Communist. On March 24, 1990, the local parliament elected him president of the Uzbek Socialist Republic, and in December 1991, just days after the Soviet Union ceased to exist, Karimov won the presidency in a popular vote. Shaken by a series of ethnic and religious riots in the turbulent years surrounding the Soviet collapse, Karimov was obsessed with stability and security. He said Uzbekistan would follow its own path of reform and would build democracy and a market economy without the turmoil and crises of most other former Soviet nations. After his 1991 election, the fledgling democratic opposition was banned and forced into exile. The media were muzzled by censorship. Law enforcement and security services grew increasingly powerful and abusive, and the use of torture in prisons was labeled "systematic" by international observers. Karimov's death would "mark the end of an era in Uzbekistan, but almost certainly not the pattern of grave human rights abuses, said Denis Krivosheev, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International. “His successor is likely to come from Karimov’s closest circle, where dissenting minds have never been tolerated.” Karimov was a distant leader. His annual New Year's address to the nation was always read by a TV anchor. His wife rarely appeared in public, and his vacations were never announced. But the public was constantly reminded of his leadership by banners with quotes from his speeches posted on buildings and billboards. All of his election victories were landslides, but none were recognized as free or fair by international observers. His only challenger in 2000, Abdulkhafiz Dzhalolov, said he himself voted for Karimov. His nephew, opposition journalist Jamshid Karimov, was forcibly committed to a psychiatric institution after a series of articles criticizing his uncle and other officials. Karimov's oldest daughter, Gulnara, generated media buzz over her immense wealth, fashion shows and music videos done under the stage name GooGoosha. Sometimes touted as a potential successor, she was both admired and despised at home. In 2014, she used her Twitter account to accuse Uzbekistan's security services of orchestrating a campaign of harassment against her and deceiving her father. Her tweets then stopped, prompting speculation that she and her 15-year-old daughter were under house arrest in Tashkent. Word of Karimov's death began spreading even before the Uzbek government announced it Friday night, with officials in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan saying leaders from those countries would attend his funeral and the Turkish prime minister offering condolences. Uzbekistan celebrated its Independence Day on Thursday, which is perhaps why the government had delayed any news about Karimov. Photos carried Friday by the respected Central Asian news website Fergana.ru showed what appeared to be undertakers in Samarkand working on a plot in the cemetery where Karimov's family is buried. The Samarkand airport said it would be closed to all flights except specially approved aircraft Saturday, according to U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's website. Uzbek opposition blogger Nadezhda Atayeva said Friday that Uzbek authorities appeared to be cracking down on communication channels. Speaking from western France, she said an opposition contact told her via Skype that government officials had been told to turn off their phones and Internet speeds had slowed. As he spoke, she said, the signal went dead.</s>Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov, who diplomatic sources said on Friday had died aged 78 after suffering a stroke, saw himself as the protector of his Central Asian nation against the threat of militant Islam. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the presidents of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan were among dignitaries attending the memorial service on the famed UNESCO World Heritage site of Registan Square.

President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan dies after 27 years in office.

Champaign County has its first confirmed case of Zika virus, Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Administrator Julie Pryde said. Pryde said the state Department of Public Health lab confirmed positive results Friday. She couldn’t confirm whether the results were for the female University of Illinois student said to have sought treatment at the UI McKinley Health Center after returning from a Zika virus-affected area. The health center announced two weeks ago that there was a Zika case on campus, warning: “Because of the large number of our community who may have traveled to affected areas or are contemplating travel, it is likely that additional individuals among the (UI) community will be exposed to the virus which causes Zika infection.” McKinley Director Dr. Robert Palinkas told The News-Gazette on Thursday that the person affected was a UI student.</s>Millions of US bees die from spray to fight Zika mosquitoes Beekeeper Juanita Stanley woke up stunned Monday morning when she realized the familiar buzz at her South Carolina apiary had gone silent. "Our family business has been destroyed by the aerial spray," Stanley said on the Facebook page of her Summerville, SC apiary, Flowertown Bee Farm and Supplies. Video posted by a beekeeper to Facebook showed thousands of dead insects heaped around hives, while a few survivors struggled to move the bodies of fellow bees. Last weekend, Stanley lost more than 3 million bees -- all 46 of her hives and her entire livelihood -- when Summerville officials decided to aerially spray a small area of the town for Zika-carrying mosquitoes. "Dorchester County is aware that some beekeepers in the area that was sprayed on Sunday lost their beehives," said County Administrator Jason Ward in a statement, urging affected beekeepers to report their losses. Ward said Dorchester County does not have any aerial spraying flights planned at this time, but emphasized that "aerial spraying is being utilized to supplement our mosquito ground spray trucks and larvae control programs in targeted areas." “Chemical application of any sort creates an imbalance from the ground up, even if a simple mosquito is the target.” ‘We always have the environment in mind’ Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and independent universities say Naled is far safer than other chemicals. “There’s some data from Florida that suggests it can be effective where Aedes aegypti mosquitos are primarily outdoor breeders,” he said, “but from my data, it was spotty.” Like Healy, Gubler recommended a mix of techniques – targeting adults and larvae through habitats and sprays and a partnership between citizens and agencies.

Over 3 million bees die in South Carolina after being exposed to pesticides intended for mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday that 15 people were missing in the northern city of Hoeryong and thousands were left homeless by flooding caused by heavy rain in recent days. The official KCNA news agency said flooding of the Tumen river, which forms a border with China, had damaged or destroyed 17,180 houses, and 44,000 people were left homeless in North Hamgyong province. Widespread deforestation makes North Korea prone to flooding.</s>Weapons were paraded through Pyongyang as a clear signal to the rest of the world that North Korea has military might. Farm manager Kim Myong Jon is something of a national celebrity in North Korea. During the past 40 years, she's met with three of the country's leaders. The farm is home to one of North Korea's first greenhouses. It was first visited by Kim Il Sung more than three decades ago, and more recently by his grandson, current leader Kim Jong Un. Chili peppers lie in the sun at the Jang Chon farm. It's used for making kimchi, the fermented cabbage dish that is a staple of the North Korean diet. Two officials walk in the grounds of the space facility. While there, NADA officials told CNN they had prepared multiple satellites and were in the "final stages of perfecting all operations." In May 2015, CNN was given rare access to a faculty apartment in an upscale area of Pyongyang, near Kim Il Sung University. The lounge was neat, if a little dated. This is the master bedroom of the three bedroom apartment. A university professor lives there with his adult children. It's 200 square meters (about 2,150 square feet) -- large for an apartment in Pyongyang. Every home in North Korea displays portraits of late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Housing is assigned by the government and is free. Those who want to move have to sign up to exchange spaces with other citizens. First graders in a Pyongyang classroom are orderly yet energetic, often standing and giving spirited answers to their teacher's questions, May 7, 2015. Photo by CNN's Will Ripley. Young boys practice a drum routine that they will perform during International Children's Day in June. Toy rocket launchers, similar to those displayed in North Korean military parades, are on the shelves for children to play with. The view from the North Korean side of the DMZ, with armed DPRK soldiers standing guard. North Korea displays the armistice agreement that ended the brutal fighting of the Korean War in 1953. Junior Lt. Colonel Nam Dong Ho is part of North Korea's standing army of more than one million. Two women share a bicycle as they head south on a highway leading from Pyongyang to the DMZ, May 2015. Pyongyang women wear their Sunday best, and carry ornate umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. Twin statues honor the late leaders of North Korea Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Visitors are routinely taken here to pay their respects and lay flowers at the statue. Photo taken May 2, 2015. Kim Jong Un personally inspected the plans for this new water park 113 times and had his top officials safety test the water slides. Guests frolic in the park in this photo taken in May 2015. The Pyongyang Gold Lane, a bowling alley in the North Korean capital, is popular among young people. Pyongyang Airport is the first stop on tours of North Korea. Air Koryo is the national airline, which operates direct flights from Beijing and Shenyang in China, and Vladivostok in Russia. Air Koryo has an aging fleet, although it has purchased some newer aircraft in recent years.

North Korea says that at least fifteen people are missing and thousands left homeless in the city of Hoeryong after the Tumen River floods.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A record-tying earthquake in the edge of Oklahoma’s key energy-producing areas rattled the Midwest from Illinois to the southwest part of Texas on Saturday, and likely will bring fresh attention to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened at 7:02 a.m. Saturday in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That matches a November 2011 quake that hit the city of Prague, which is about 70 miles south of Pawnee. An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which since 2013 has asked wastewater-well owners to reduce disposal volumes in parts of the state, directed about 35 wells within an approximately 500-square-mile area around the epicenter to shut down within seven to 10 days because of previous connections between the injection of wastewater and earthquakes. “We’re trying to do this as quickly as possible, but we have to follow the recommendations of the seismologists, who tell us everything going off at once can cause an (earthquake).” Skinner said the commission’s “area of interest” includes another 211 square miles in Osage County, but doesn’t know how many wells may be involved because the area is under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency, and that the commission is working with that agency. Dallas TV station WFAA tweeted that the quake shook their studios, too. Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell said no buildings collapsed in the town of 2,200 about nine miles southeast of the epicenter, and there were no injuries, either. “We’ve got buildings cracked,” Randell said. “Most of it’s brick and mortar, old buildings from the early 1900s.” Randell also said a man suffered a minor head injury when part of a fireplace fell on him as he protected a child. Fallin said the Oklahoma Corporation Commission staff is at the office reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake. Mary Fallin tweeted that state highway crews were checking for bridge damage and the state Department of Emergency Management would assess damage and determine how to address it. The declaration is also the first step toward seeking federal aid should it be necessary The damage is not as severe as the 2011 quake near Prague, Oklahoma, about 60 miles south of Pawnee, despite being the same magnitude and approximately the same depth. Saturday's quake was centered about 9 miles northwest of Pawnee, Oklahoma, which has a population of about 2,200. “But in harder rock, it won’t shake as much.” Pawnee furniture store owner Lee Wills told The Associated Press that he first thought it was a thunderstorm. 'Then it just ... Everything went crazy after that. It just started shaking,” said Wills, who lives about 2-½ miles outside of town. “It rocked my house like a rubber band. Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets, broke glasses.” Some parts of Oklahoma now match northern California for the nation’s most shake-prone areas, and one Oklahoma region has a one-in-eight chance of a damaging quake in 2016. Sean Weide in Omaha, Nebraska, told The Associated Press that he'd never been in an earthquake before and thought he was getting dizzy. Weide said he and one of his daughters “heard the building start creaking” and said it “was surreal.” Sandstone bricks from the side of the historic Pawnee County Bank litter the sidewalk after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets, broke glasses.” Sandstone bricks from the side of the historic Pawnee County Bank litter the sidewalk after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016.</s>The earthquake was also felt in Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Nebraska and Iowa, according to the US Geological Survey. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, a regulatory agency that examines the state's fuel, oil, gas, public utilities and transportation industries, is "reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake near Pawnee," Oklahoma Gov. Governor Mary Fallin said emergency management is going to assist in Pawnee after the earthquake. — Governor Mary Fallin (@GovMaryFallin) September 3, 2016 The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is checking bridges for damage and structural engineers are assessing building safety, according to Fallin. Fallin declares state of emergency in Pawnee County following earthquake Officials with the Pawnee County Emergency Management say buildings there suffered significant damage as the result of the earthquake. It's still standing but some of the outer layers of sandstone fell, it could be cosmetic damage, we don't know yet," said Pawnee Mayor Brad Sewell. "A quake this size would shake for about 15 seconds and it was a shallow quake, about 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) deep," said Randy Baldwin, a USGS geophysicist. A local liquor store also reported hundreds in damages. Related Headlines VIDEO: Pawnee earthquake damages pharmacy The Pawnee Nation has declared a state of emergency after an earthquake shook the area Saturday. 0 Pawnee Nation declares state of emergency after earthquake PAWNEE, Okla. - Quick facts: A 5.6 magnitude shook Green Country Saturday. Despite the light damage from the sizable quake, the shakeup did set off alarm bells on social media. With earthquakes in the central and eastern United States, "the ground is softer, so the seismic waves have a much farther travel distance then an earthquake in California or Nevada," said another USGS geophysicist, Robert Sanders.

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes Pawnee, Oklahoma, tying the record for the strongest in state history. At least one person was injured.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The 37 wastewater disposal wells to be shut down in north-central Oklahoma, where a 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck this weekend, are just a fraction of the state's total number. There are about 4,200 total wells across the state and about 700 in a 15,000-square-mile "Area of Interest" created by the commission to address earthquakes in the area that includes the epicenter of Saturday's temblor near Pawnee. The earthquake tied a November 2011 quake as the strongest in recorded state history and was felt as far away as Nebraska, but no major damage was reported. Not all of the state's wells operate simultaneously, Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner said. "We estimate that at any one time, there are about 3,200 active disposal wells," Skinner said. An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production, and since 2013, the commission has asked wastewater-well owners to reduce disposal volumes in parts of the state where the temblors have been most frequent.</s>When an earthquake struck Oklahoma on Saturday, one of the first steps state officials took was to shut down 37 of the state's 3,200 active disposal wells -- a move that drew national attention to the link between oil and gas drilling and earthquakes. No one was seriously injured in the Oklahoma quake, and investigations and cleanup has begun. Here's what you need to know. Disposal wells are used by oil and gas producers to get rid of wastewater from the drilling process. The wells push the wastewater deep underground, even deeper than where oil and gas are found. The wastewater mostly consists of a substance called brine -- a mix of water and chemicals that comes to the surface with oil and gas when they are pumped from the Earth. A small portion is also the water that's pumped underground in the modern hydraulic fracturing process, a drilling technique often referred to as fracking. The EPA says there are about 40,000 disposal wells nationwide. Did the disposal wells cause the earthquake? That is the concern. Oklahoma didn't have much of a history of earthquakes. But a big one struck in November 2011, causing injuries and leveling houses, and officials said in 2014 that earthquakes in the state have increased 5,000%. Scientists began looking into the role pumping liquid underground can play in seismic activity decades ago. And while much remains unknown, government scientists said in March that disposal wells have caused an increased risk for "induced" earthquakes in large areas of the country. That includes the area where Saturday's earthquake occurred. What's being done to stop it? Oklahoma regulators have been monitoring the wells for years. In January, the state began forcing 27 disposal wells to reduce their activity. That's also when Oklahoma dedicated $1.4 million to fund "research and response" efforts. Saturday's order that 37 wells shut down over the next 10 days marks the strongest action against disposal wells yet. Why are disposal wells used? The Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association said in April that producers would take "significant measures" to combat the earthquakes and promised to explore alternative disposal methods. But OKOGA president Chad Warmington said "underground wastewater disposal is currently the safest and most cost-effective way to dispose of produced water." Drillers also argue that recycling is more expensive, in part because they must pay to transport the wastewater to recycling facilities. Some drillers do recycle. For example, about 90% of wastewater in Pennsylvania is recycled. In Texas, drought has spurred an increase in recycling. But recycling has been slow to catch on in Oklahoma, and regulators have been criticized for not taking more aggressive action against disposal wells. What happens next? That's not clear. The state of Oklahoma has declared a state of emergency in the wake of Saturday's quake. Halting or slowing the use of disposal wells won't necessarily resolve the seismic issues. Scientists studying the issue told PBS in March that even if Oklahoma shuttered all its disposal wells, the wastewater that has already been pumped can continue to cause problems. And the ground is sensitive to sudden changes in disposal well pumping. In fact, Oklahoma regulators ordered the 37 wells offline over the course of 10 days for fear "that a large scale, sudden shutdown could cause an earthquake," according to authorities.

State officials order closure of three dozen wastewater disposal wells by oil and gas operators.

"I appreciate the quick response by the Department of Emergency Management and Department of Transportation to assess damage of the affected area and to ensure our state highway and turnpike bridges are safe. And I applaud the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the state agency tasked with regulating the oil and gas industry, in taking swift action by ordering all Arbuckle disposal wells within a 725-square-mile area of today’s earthquake to shut down and working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has sole jurisdiction over disposal wells in nearby Osage County.

Governor Mary Fallin declares a state of emergency for Pawnee County.

Pursuing an approach of multiple engagements, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised U.S. President Barack Obama for his leadership of the G20 and asserted that the grouping in the future would succeed if it pursued a “collective, coordinated and target oriented” approach. On the second and final day of the summit in this east Chinese city, Modi held separate "pull-aside" meetings with Hollande and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan with whom he discussed India's NSG membership.</s>Tens of millions of public sector workers have gone on a day-long strike across India, protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic policies, particularly his plans to push for greater privatisation. Thousands of state-run banks, government offices and factories were closed on Friday, and public transport disrupted, in the strike called by 10 trade unions. "This strike is against the central government, this strike is for the cause of the working people," said Ramen Pandey, of the Indian National Trade Union Congress. "Our strike will be 100 percent successful ... we will prove that this strike is the world's largest ever." WATCH - India: The next global economic powerhouse? Union officials said about 180 million workers, including state bank employees, school teachers, postal workers, miners and construction workers, were participating, but the figure could not be independently verified. The strike was called after talks with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley broke down, with union leaders rejecting his offer to raise the minimum wage for unskilled workers from 6,396 rupees ($96) a month to 9,100 rupees ($136). Workers are demanding the government dump plans to close unproductive factories, raise foreign investment caps in some industries and sell off stakes in state-run companies - over fears that creeping privatisation will jeopardise jobs. The unions said the government should guarantee both social security and healthcare for all, and should be hiking the minimum wage to double what it is offering in order to keep up with inflation. Indian media said transport and essential services such as power and water supplies were not affected in major cities like New Delhi and Mumbai. Private banks were operating and schools and colleges were open. According to broadcaster NDTV, the strike had its greatest impact in the southern states of Karnataka and Kerala, ruled by the opposition Indian National Congress and Left Democratic Front respectively. Daily life was also hit in the eastern state of Bihar, where shop and business establishments were shut and train and road services were disrupted by union activists. More than 20 protesters were arrested after they damaged two government buses in West Bengal, senior police official Anuj Sharma told the AFP news agency. The Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a landslide victory in May 2014 general elections, promising business-friendly reforms to boost the economy. According to the latest budget, the government aims to raise about $8.3bn through privatisation in 2016-17 and shut down some state-run firms, after losses exceeded $4bn in the last financial year.

Around 180 million people are claimed to be striking in India against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic privatization plans. The strike is allegedly the largest in human history.

THE operator of the most modern port terminal in the Philippines said the Mindanao region can become the next transshipment point in Southeast Asia due to its modernized facilities and spacious terminals. “Mindanao is ideal as a transshipment point in the region. Given the Asean integration, we find Davao and Mindanao in a very strong strategic position relative to other Asean states,” Alexander N. Valoria, president and CEO of Anflo Management & Investment Corp. (Anflocor), operator of Davao International Container Terminal Inc. (DICT) told reporters in a news briefing on Thursday. Valoria said some cargo shipments from New Zealand, Indonesia and Australia are already bypassing Singapore and made DICT as their transshipment point. “Singapore is very congested and expensive. The potential is for the Philippines and Mindanao,” Valoria said, adding that even the Port of Singapore Authority lauded the capabilities and potential of DICT. “All the indigenous advantages are already here where we can springboard from and become a world- class terminal,” Valoria said. He added that their port-terminal fees are way cheaper than those of Singapore. “We are even lower than the government ports,” he said, but didn’t disclose any amount. DICT completed its P5-billion expansion in August 2016. The completion of the second phase of DICT increases the total-handling capacity of the port to 800,000 TEUs from the current capacity of 300,000 TEUs, Valoria said. “From two quay cranes, we now have four quay cranes, eight RTG [rubber-tired gantry] cranes and other various container-handling equipment,” he said. The container port, which is adjacent to a 70-hectare export-processing zone, has an area of 11 hectares, backed up by a 15-hectare container yard, DICT said. DICT said their recent expansion is a support to the anticipated economic growth and development of Mindanao, given the plans and outlook President Duterte on the region. “A major component of the economic program is increased spending on infrastructure. The completion of the DICT project is seen to help improve the logistics backbone of Mindanao’s economy, as well as create jobs in areas less progressive,” DICT said in a statement. DICT Vice President Bonifacio Licayan said the recent expansion enables DICT to handle Panamax and even post-Panamax-size vessels, a feat which the Manila Port can cater to, but on a restricted manner. Panamax vessels are midsized cargo ships capable of passing through the Panama Canal. “They can handle the same vessel, but they are given restricted load, because the water in Manila is shallow. The freight can damage the port,” Licayan said. The first-ever Panamax vessel the Philippines received docked in DICT on December 24, 2014, Valoria said. “That vessel has never docked in any other port in the Philippines, but we receive that size of a vessel here regularly,” he said. Aside from the port-terminal expansion, DICT also invested in a $1-million terminal operating system (TOS) called Navis from America-based Cargotec Corp. The top-of-the-line TOS allows a port-terminal operator to control and trace the port logistical and cargo operations in real time and paperless through high-tech technology system, DICT said. “You don’t see us like other ports, which have spotters whose job is to look for containers physically. We do it automated with tracking numbers recorded and viewable in the TOS,” Licayan said. Valoria said they edgedout other ports with their modernized facilities, which allow them to ease up their operation process from the usual three-day time frame to within hours, allowing them to service more vessels. “The BOC called us the most modern port in the Philippines today. The level of our technology allows us for an integration from interface and shipping to the loading and departure of the vessel,” Valoria said. “There is a number of competition. There are a number of private ports, but they don’t have the efficiency, they don’t have the gigantic cranes and modern facilities like us,” Valoria added. Shipping lines that call on DICT include American President Lines, Maersk MCC, CMA CGM, Wan Hai Shipping Lines, Advance Container Lines (ACL), Regional Container Lines (RCL), Pacific International Lines (PIL), Mariana Express Lines and Cosco Shipping Lines. Licayan said 85 percent of the volume of the cargoes they ship are fresh produce, including pineapples and bananas. DICT also handles dry cargoes like rubber and skin coconuts. “We have more white containers than colored containers. It speaks a lot about DICT,” Licayan said, referring to reefer containers, which are refrigerated containers made specifically for fresh produce. Licayan said DICT has 1,080 reefer tanks, meaning it is capable of handling 1,080 reefer containers at any given moment. DICT said there are ongoing negotiations for additional shipping lines which would call the terminal soon. The company didn’t disclose any names of prospective shipping lines. DICT said that they will hit their shipping target this year of 300,000 TEUs on the back of their recent improvements. DICT shipped 267,000 TEUs last year using only one berth, Valoria said. DICT is a joint venture between Anflocor and Dole-Stanfilco, the leading producers and exporters of fresh Cavendish bananas in the Philippines. It was formerly known as San Vicente Terminal and Brokerage Services Inc., servicing the stevedoring and arrastre requirements of break bulk shipments of fresh produce like bananas and pineapples at the Tadeco wharf.</s>DAVAO BOMBING. An explosion hit a night market in Davao City on September 2, 2016, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 60 others. Photo by Manman Dejeto/Rappler MANILA, Philippines – A number of foreign countries have alerted their citizens not to travel to parts of the Philippines in the wake of the blast in Davao City where at least 14 people were killed and more than 60 others injured. The United States Embassy has "temporarily suspended all official travel to Mindanao" despite no direct threat against US citizens in the country. "The Embassy encourages all US citizens to remain vigilant and employ sound personal security measures as you go about your day. The Embassy will continue to monitor the current state of affairs in the Philippines and will release additional messages as needed," it said in its travel advisory. Canada has also warned its citizens against traveling to Mindanao and Sulu. "There is no nationwide advisory in effect for the Philippines. However, you should exercise a high degree of caution due to an ongoing terrorist threat to Westerners and Western interests," said the Canadian government. The British Embassy, on the other hand, advised against "all but essential" travel to Eastern Mindanao where Davao City is. British citizens are also advised to refrain from traveling to the rest of the island. "There is a high threat from terrorism, including kidnapping. There has been an increase in kidnapping of foreign nationals since late 2015. It's likely that terrorist groups continue to plan kidnap operations against western nationals in the region. You should remain vigilant at all times," said the British Embassy. Australian citizens traveling to the Philippines are advised to exercise a "high degree of caution" while those going to Eastern Mindanao may "reconsider [their] need to travel." Those heading to Central and Western Mindanao, including the Zamboanga Peninsula and the Sulu area, are advised not to go instead. Meanwhile, Singaporeans in the Philippines are cautioned to "exercise vigilance, and monitor the local news and instructions of the local authorities." (For updates on the Davao blast, check Rappler's live blog) – Rappler.com

In light of the attacks, the governments of Australia, Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States issue travel warnings against going to Mindanao, Philippines.

Smoke billows on Sunday from a location on the southern outskirts of the Syrian city of Aleppo after regime forces retook control of three military academies from rebel fighters (AFP photo) BEIRUT — Syrian government troops renewed the siege of rebel-held parts of Aleppo on Sunday, as Washington and Moscow failed to reach a deal on stemming violence in the country's devastating war. State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that troops have captured the Armament Academy and are “continuing their advance in the area to impose almost a total siege on the gunmen in Aleppo.” The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that government troops captured the academy, adding that insurgents have launched a counteroffensive. If they recapture the school, government forces could then "easily take Ramussa, a suburb south of Aleppo, and reimpose a siege of the rebel districts," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. Once Syria's economic powerhouse, Aleppo has been ravaged by the war that began with protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government in March 2011.</s>BEIRUT, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and their allies recaptured areas in southwestern Aleppo on Sunday which rebels seized last month, after heavy bombardments and repeated attempts to drive the insurgents back, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The areas recaptured included the Weaponry College and the Air Force Technical College in the Ramousah area on the city's southwestern outskirts, the British-based Observatory said. Rebels captured those areas last month in an assault that broke through a government siege on Aleppo's opposition-held eastern sector. Recapturing all the territory gained by insurgents in that assault would effectively re-impose the siege. A rebel official said earlier on Sunday government forces had entered the Weaponry College but battles were ongoing there. Rebels could not immediately be reached for comment on the government side's latest gains. President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia, Iran and the powerful Lebanese Shia group Hizbullah, wants to recapture the whole of Aleppo, which was Syria’s biggest city when the conflict in the country broke out five years ago. Moscow's intervention last year turned the war in Assad's favour in many areas, but rebels have made some gains including in Aleppo and in Hama province, further south.

Syrian government forces advance around and encircle Aleppo in order to try and impose a siege.

Vatican City (AP) — Elevating the “saint of the gutters” to one of the Catholic Church’s highest honors, Pope Francis on Sunday praised Mother Teresa for her radical dedication to society’s outcasts and her courage in shaming world leaders for the “crimes of poverty they themselves created.” An estimated 120,000 people filled St. Peter’s Square for the canonization ceremony, less than half the number who turned out for her 2003 beatification. Pope Francis will declare Mother Teresa a saint at a morning Mass on Sunday, making her the model of his Jubilee Year of Mercy and in some ways his entire papacy. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910, Mother Teresa set up her Missionaries of Charity in the slums of Kolkata in 1950 and made her headquarters in the Indian city for nearly half a century. In 1946, she received what she described as a “call within a call” to found a new order dedicated to caring for the most unloved and unwanted, the “poorest of the poor” in the slums of her adopted city, Kolkata. “Mother Teresa belonged to Kolkata, and she has been declared a saint.” For Francis, Teresa put into action his ideal of the church as a “field hospital” for those suffering both material and spiritual poverty, living on the physical and existential peripheries of society. “She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity,” he said. She made her voice heard before the powers of this world, so that they might recognize their guilt for the crime of poverty they created.” For the newly-sainted Teresa, he said, “mercy was the salt which gave flavor to her work, it was the light which shone in the darkness of the many who no longer had tears to shed for their poverty and suffering.” She was an example to volunteers around the world, he said. About 1,500 homeless people from across Italy were bused into the Vatican to be given seats of honor at the Mass — and be served a pizza lunch by nuns afterward. “Mercy, forgiveness, good works: It is the heart of a mother for the poor.” While big, the crowd attending the canonization wasn’t even half of the 300,000 who turned out for Mother Teresa’s 2003 beatification celebrated by an ailing St. John Paul II. While Francis is clearly keen to hold Mother Teresa up as a model for her joyful dedication to the poor, he is also recognising holiness in a nun who lived most of her adult life in spiritual agony sensing that God had abandoned her. According to correspondence that came to light after she died in 1997, Teresa experienced what the church calls a “dark night of the soul” — a period of spiritual doubt, despair and loneliness that many of the great mystics experienced. In Mother Teresa’s case, it lasted for nearly 50 years - an almost unheard of trial. For the Rev Brian Kolodiejchuk, the Canadian priest who spearheaded Mother Teresa’s saint-making campaign, the revelations were further confirmation of her heroic saintliness. He said that by canonizing her, Francis is recognizing that she not only shared the material poverty of the poor but the spiritual poverty of those who feel “unloved, unwanted, uncared for.” “If I’m going to be a saint, I’m going to be a saint of darkness, and I’ll be asking from heaven to be the light of those who are in darkness on Earth,” she once wrote. In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity, which went on to become a global order of nuns - identified by their trademark blue-trimmed saris, as well as priests, brothers and lay co-workers. Earning global recognition for her unending work and compassion for the poor, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Mother Teresa’s devotees began pressing the Vatican soon after her death to speed up the nun’s sainthood cause, saying her holiness was clear to many around the world. “May she be your model of holiness.” In a departure from his scripted remarks, he noted that people “may struggle” to refer to her as “Saint Teresa.” “With great spontaneity, I think we will continue to call her Mother Teresa,” he said.</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption As the Pope declared Mother Teresa a saint, cheers rang out from the crowd of thousands in St Peter's Square Mother Teresa, revered for her work with the poor in India, has been proclaimed a saint by Pope Francis in a ceremony at the Vatican. More than 100,000 pilgrims are expected to attend a service led by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to honour the tiny nun who worked among the world's neediest in the slums of the Indian city now known as Kolkata. Mother Teresa, the celebrated nun whose work with the poor of Kolkata made her an instantly recognisable global figure, will be proclaimed a saint on Sunday. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A woman who said she experienced Mother Teresa's first "miracle" describes what happened Born in 1910 to ethnic Albanian parents, Agnese Gonxha Bojaxhiu grew up in what is now the Macedonian capital, Skopje, but was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910, Mother Teresa set up her Missionaries of Charity in the slums of Kolkata in 1950 and made her headquarters in the Indian city for nearly half a century. Born to Kosovar Albanian parents in Skopje -- then part of the Ottoman empire, now the capital of Macedonia -- she won the 1979 Nobel peace prize and was revered around the world as a beacon for the Christian values of self-sacrifice and charity. Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity (MoC) order have been criticised both during her life and since her death in 1997, but many Catholics revere her as a model of compassion. In 2002, the Vatican ruled that an Indian woman's stomach tumour had been miraculously cured after prayers to Mother Teresa, despite the doubts of her husband. The Pope said Mother Teresa had spent her life "bowing down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity".

Mother Teresa, known for working with the desperately poor, is canonized in a ceremony at the Vatican.

ADVERTISEMENT A 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook Agusan del Sur on Sunday morning, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/04 Sept) – A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Talacogon in Agusan del Sur at 10:38 a.m. Sunday but there were no reports of deaths, injuries or damages to property. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake was felt in neighboring areas, at Intensity 6 in Talacogon, La Paz and Rosario in Agusan del Sur; Intensity 5 in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur; Intensity 4 in the cities of Butuan and Tagum and in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur; Intensity 3 in the cities of Davao, Bislig in Surigao del Sur and Gingoog in Misamis Oriental, and in Balingoan and Balingasag towns also in Misamis Oriental. The earthquake, which is tectonic in origin, is expected to have caused damages and to have aftershocks. The agency updated its earlier report that the quake, which occurred at 10:38 a.m., was of 5.7 magnitude.</s>CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/02 September) — The Filinvest Development Corporation said on Friday it has synchronized the energy production of its multi-billion peso coal-fired power plant at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental to the Mindanao grid system. In a statement, Filinvest said two units of turbine, each of them generating 135 megawatts are already producing electricity and connected to the Mindanao grid. A third turbine, also capable of generating 135 MW is expected to be online by the end of September, the company said. “To date, FDC Misamis Oriental has a generating capacity of 270 megawatts and is currently supplying 200 megawats to the Mindanao grid. We expect to attain the full capacity by this month,” FDC Utilities President and Chief Executive Officer Mario Pangilinan said. FDC’s 450-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental is the biggest of its kind in Mindanao and is using circulating fluidized bed boiler technology, touted as one of the cleanest in the industry. National Grid Corporation of the Philippines head of Mindanao operations Ambrosio Rosales welcomed the entry of FDC’s coal plant, saying it will help secure the stability of the energy situation in Mindanao. Presently, Mindanao only has a power reserve of 131 MW against a peak demand of 1,574 MW Upon commissioning of its third turbine unit this month, the FDC coal plant will supply 500 MW to the grid and is expected to secure supply contracts with Mindanao’s energy distributors and industrial centers. FDC is the holding company of the Gotianun-led Filinvest group, one of the country’s leading conglomerates with interests on property development, banking, hotel and resorts, sugar and energy. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Agusan del Sur province in Mindanao island.

(Last Updated On: September 4, 2016) At least 35 people were killed and 25 others wounded after a passenger bus crashed with a fuel tanker along a highway in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan on Sunday, local officials said. Many of the victims, including women and children, were burned beyond recognition in the accident in Zabul province, one of the areas worst affected by the Taliban insurgency. The collision on the Kandahar-Kabul highway occurred Sunday around 5 a.m. local time (8.30 p.m. Saturday ET), when the long-distance bus, which was carrying passengers from Kandahar to Kabul, collided with the tanker in the Shar e Safa area. In the accident, 35 people were killed and more than 20 others were wounded,” Zabul’s Governor Bismillah Afghanmal told APP.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says at least 36 passengers died in collision between bus and fuel tanker in southern Zabul province.

At least 35 people are killed and 25 are injured after a bus crashes into a fuel tanker in Afghanistan's Zabul province.

TOKYO (AFP) - The death toll from Typhoon Lionrock has risen to 17 in Japan, with several people still missing, and officials said on Sunday (Sept 4) a new storm threatens the country's south-west. Two more deaths were confirmed on Sunday from the major typhoon which hit northern Japan last week, said an official in the hard-hit prefecture of Iwate. The death toll is now 17, including the two confirmed on the northern main island of Hokkaido. Now a new typhoon is bearing down on the country's main island of Kyushu in the southwest. As of 4pm, Typhoon Namtheun was some 90km south-west of the city of Amakusa in western Kyushu, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The new storm is slowly moving northward with gusts of up to 126 kmh and bringing heavy rain, the agency said, warning of high seas, landslides and floods. Namtheun is expected to hit northern Kyushu early Monday around high tide, the agency warned. Lionrock landed on Japan's northern Pacific coast on Tuesday evening, dumping torrential rain over a wide area. Overflowing rivers wreaked havoc, stranding many communities in the largely agricultural north. The northern town of Iwaizumi in Iwate was the hardest hit. Nine people were buried inside a old people's home engulfed by a flooded river. Before Lionrock, two typhoons had claimed at least two lives in Japan's northeast. In 2013 a powerful typhoon that triggered massive landslides on Oshima island killed 40 people, while 82 died after a typhoon hit Japan in 2011.</s>Typhoon Namtheun made landfall in Nagasaki in the early hours of Monday, prompting the nation’s weather agency to warn of strong winds, heavy rain, mudslides and river floods. After making landfall in the city shortly after 1 a.m., the typhoon moved over the northwestern part of Kyushu. At 6 a.m., it was about 30 km northwest of the city of Fukuoka and was moving in a north-northeasterly direction at a speed of around 20 kph. The storm was packing winds of up to 64.8 kph with an atmospheric pressure of 1,002 hectopascals near its center, according to the Meteorological Agency. Strong winds brought by the typhoon knocked a man down in Minamikyushu, Kagoshima Prefecture, leaving him with a minor head injury, according to the prefectural government. Up to 150 mm of rain is forecast over a 24-hour period through midnight Monday in the northern part of Kyushu and Shikoku, as well as Nagoya and its surrounding region. In Osaka and its surrounding region, up to 180 mm of rain is expected during the same period, and up to 120 mm in Hiroshima and its surrounding region. Meanwhile, the Iwate Prefectural Government said Sunday two bodies have been newly found and identified in the town of Iwaizumi in the prefecture, hit hard by downpours caused by Typhoon Lionrock last week. As a result, 16 people, mostly in Iwaizumi, have been confirmed dead in the rain disaster in Iwate. In the town, six people are still unaccounted for. The Iwaizumi Municipal Government in the morning instructed 9,947 residents in all 4,587 households to take shelter at six evacuation centers and a hotel in the town for fears that more landslides may occur due to possible heavy rain caused by another typhoon approaching southwestern Japan. According to the prefectural government, 602 people remained isolated in 17 districts in Iwaizumi as of 6 a.m. Some 140 people were airlifted by Self-Defense Forces helicopters by the late afternoon. Helicopter rescue operations for 198 isolated people in the Iwate city of Kuji were put off due to the bad weather.

The death toll in Japan from Typhoon Lionrock rises to 17 with several people still missing. Typhoon Namtheun is now threatening the main island of Kyushu.