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Matthew, a violent Category 4 storm packing 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds, is due to pound the western tip of Haiti in the early hours of Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Already, late on Monday, the outer bands of the cyclone reached the area, flooding dozens of houses in the town of Les Anglais when the ocean rose, the local mayor said. In the town of Les Cayes on the southern coast, the wind bent trees and the power went out. "We have gusts of wind hitting the whole area and the people have fled to a shelter," said Les Anglais mayor Jean-Claude Despierre. In Tiburon, another town nearby, the mayor said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also fled when the sea rose. "Everyone is trying to find a safe place to protect themselves, the situation is very difficult," mayor Remiza Denize said, describing large waves hitting the town. The storm is forecast to spread hurricane force winds and up to three feet of rain across denuded hills prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shanty towns in the capital Port-au-Prince. "This is the most vulnerable suburb in the area. Here people are going about organizing things, we know that the hurricane is coming," said Afou, a volunteer at a children's home made of tin sheeting on the rubbish-strewn seashore of Haiti's Cite Soleil slum in the capital. "If things are bad then we will come together," said Afou, who only gave his first name. Later, civil protection authorities said 130 children were evacuated by bus from another orphanage in the slum to a high school in the capital. On Monday, Frederic Hislain, mayor of the country's largest slum, the oceanside Cite Soleil in Port-au-Prince, called on the government to evacuate 150,000 people whose homes he said were threatened. Poor Haitians are at times reluctant to leave their homes in the face of impending storms, fearing their belongings will be stolen. "Even in normal times, when we have rain we have flooding that sometimes kills people," said Semelfort, comparing Matthew to 1963's Hurricane Flora, which swept away entire villages and killed thousands in Haiti. Cholera introduced by U.N. peacekeepers is expected to rise in the October rainy season, and the country was due to hold a long-delayed presidential election in five days time. The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privert said there was no change to the election date. On the north coast, some 300 detainees were transferred from their prison near the sea in the town of Jeremie, the interior ministry said. In Cuba, which Matthew is due to reach on Tuesday, evacuation operations were well underway, with most tourists in the eastern town of Santiago de Cuba moved inland and given instructions on where to shelter in hotels during the hurricane. One of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history, it was about 100 miles (155 km) south of westernmost Haiti at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT) on Monday, the U.S. hurricane center said. Crawling north at just 6 miles per hour, the storm threatens to linger enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage, especially over Haiti where deforestation exacerbates flooding and mudslides. In Haiti, streets were already flooded in coastal Les Cayes, a town of about 70,000 people that lies in the Matthew's projected path. Haitian officials said about 2,000 residents of the La Savane neighborhood of Les Cayes refused to heed government calls to leave their seaside homes and only a few families had yet opted to move to a high school in La Savane, designated as a shelter for up to 600 people. "Since yesterday we've had nothing ... We must sleep on the floor ... Everyone is hungry." The conditions in the shelter compared unfavorably with Haiti's neighbor Cuba, where authorities spent days organizing teams of volunteers to move residents to safety and secure property. The storm is expected to make a direct hit later on Tuesday in the province of Guantanamo, the disputed home to a U.S. Cuban President Raul Castro visited the Cuban military perimeter of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo on Sunday even as non-essential U.S. personnel were being evacuated in preparation for Matthew, which is forecast to pass directly over the area claimed by both countries for decades. "We are receiving people living in villages prone to flooding," said Alexis Iglesias, head of the evacuation committee at Guantanamo University which was being used as shelter. "Food is guaranteed and we have a generator that will guarantee that the kitchen keeps on working in case of a power cut," he said, at the shelter, where some 400 people were staying. The U.S. Agency for International Development said it deployed two disaster response teams to Haiti and Jamaica to coordinate relief efforts, if requested.</s>The Caribbean is currently embracing for the potentially disastrous Category 4 hurricane, which is now responsible for four deaths in the last week. Its center was expected to pass to the east of Jamaica and then cross over or be very close to the southwestern tip of Haiti late Monday before reaching Cuba on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Heavy rains from Hurricane Matthew's outer bands drench Haiti and Jamaica, killing a Haitian fisherman. The Category 4 storm, with 140 mph ((220 km/h) maximum sustained winds), is heading towards western Haiti, eastern Cuba, and the southeastern and central Bahamas.

By Ricardo Garcia Vilanova (AFP/File) Rome (AFP) - More than 5,600 migrants were rescued from distress boats off Libya Monday in one of the largest tallies for a single day since the current migration crisis erupted, Italy's coast guard said. Italy's coastguard said at least nine migrants had died and a pregnant woman and a child had been taken by helicopter to a hospital on the Italian island of Lampedusa, halfway between Sicily and the Libyan coast. Image copyright AFP Image caption The Proactiva Open Arms NGO helped in the rescue The Italian coastguard has co-ordinated the rescue of more than 5,600 migrants, in one of the biggest operations in a single day. The vast rescue operation, just 30 miles off the Libyan coast, saw Italian coast guard boats along with navy ships conducting rescues, as well as vessels from the EU’s Frontex patrols work to bring the refugees to safety. The rescues came on the third anniversary of a migrant ship fire and sinking near the island of Lampedusa which left 366 people dead and alerted the world to the unfolding drama in the Mediterranean. According to the International Organisation for Migration, around 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year, and 3,054 have died in their attempts.</s>This article is part of our premium content. You have exceeded your 10 free articles for this month. A subscription is required to access Times of Malta content from overseas. Register to get 10 free articles per month. Subscribe to gain access to our premium content and services. Your subscription will also enable you to view all of the week's e-paper editions (both Times of Malta and The Sunday Times of Malta), view exclusive content, have full access to our newspaper archive to download editions from 1930 to today, and access the website in full from overseas. All of this will also be available to you from our tablet and mobile apps. Already have an account? Sign in here

The Italian coast guard rescues more than 5,600 migrants, in one of the biggest operations in a single day.

Japanese microbiologist Yoshinori Ohsumi on Monday won the 2016 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his work on cell autophagy, a process that helps the body remove unwanted proteins but can also lead to conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.</s>Japan's Yoshinori Ohsumi has won the 2016 Nobel prize for medicine for ground-breaking experiments which exposed a key mechanism in the body's defenses where cells degrade and recycle their components

Japan's Yoshinori Ohsumi wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for experiments with yeast which exposed a key mechanism called autophagy in the body's defenses where cells degrade and recycle their components.

“This is not a decision that was taken lightly,” John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said in a statement issued Monday. However, U.S. President Barack Obama has been loath to get the United States more deeply involved in a third war in the Islamic world and U.S. officials have said he is unlikely to do so with less than four months left in office. Just a month ago, it had appeared that Secretary of State John Kerry was on the verge of securing the long-sought cooperation of Russia on Syria through an agreement with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, that called for a reduction of violence, access to humanitarian aid and the joint targeting of jihadi groups.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — International efforts to end the fighting in Syria have been dealt a serious blow, with the United States suspending direct contacts with Russia on halting the war, and chilly relations are turning even frostier after Russia put a hold on a plutonium disposal deal with Washington. The two decisions, announced in their respective capitals just hours apart on Monday, were ostensibly unrelated but underscored deep mistrust and rising tensions between the former Cold War foes, who are increasingly at odds on a number of issues, particularly Syria and Ukraine. The moves further reduce areas of Washington-Moscow cooperation, yet their most immediate impact may be the potential death blow delivered to halting attempts to revive a moribund cease-fire in Syria, get desperately needed humanitarian aid to besieged communities and begin negotiations on political transition that could mean the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. The Obama administration said it decided to cut off discussions on Syria because Russia had not lived up to the terms of last month’s agreement to restore a tattered cease-fire and ensure sustained deliveries of humanitarian aid to besieged cities, such as Aleppo, which has been under bombardment from Russian and Syrian forces. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said: “What’s clear is that there is nothing more for the United States and Russia to talk about with regard to trying to reach an agreement that would reduce the violence inside of Syria and that’s tragic.” “This is not a decision that was taken lightly,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed.” Kirby’s statement said that Russia and Syria are pursuing military action in violation of the cease-fire agreement, and pointed to their targeting of hospitals, as well as the September 19 air strike on a United Nations humanitarian aid convoy. The U.S. accused Russia of bombing that convoy, a charge both Russia and Syria have denied. Russia intervened on behalf of its close ally Syria on September 30 last year, joining Assad’s bombardment of both anti-Assad rebel groups and militant groups, such as the Islamic State and Fatah al-Sham Front, an al-Qaeda spinoff formerly known as the Nusra Front. Russia is interested in propping up Assad in part because Russia’s only naval facility outside the former Soviet Union is on the Syrian coast. If it had been implemented, the cease-fire deal would have created a joint U.S.-Russian center to coordinate military and intelligence operations. President Barack Obama had overruled Pentagon objections to such cooperation and Secretary of State John Kerry made the offer. According to a senior U.S. official, the Pentagon has ordered troops who had been deployed to set up the joint implementation center — fewer than 20 — to return to their bases. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, so the person spoke on condition of anonymity. The suspension will not affect communications between the two countries aimed at keeping their planes from bumping into each other over Syria. And, U.S. officials said that despite the suspension of talks with Russia, they would continue to work for a truce and aid deliveries to Syria in other gatherings, including the International Syria Support Group, a collection of nations that includes Russia. In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova voiced regret about the U.S. move and blamed Washington for the failure to persuade the moderate Syrian rebels it backs to cut ties with extremist groups. “Washington’s decision reflects the inability of President Barack Obama’s administration to fulfill the key condition for the continuation of our cooperation in overcoming the Syrian crisis,” the statement said. We are under a growing impression that in its striving for a much-desired change of power in Damascus Washington is ready to ‘make a deal with the Devil’ and forge a union with terrorists who want to turn history backwards and enforce their inhuman norms by force.” The ministry added that “the stakes are high,” and warned that the “White House will bear the blame if Syria come under new blows by terrorists.” The U.S. had agreed to separate the rebel groups but noted it was an extremely slow process. The U.S. has relatively few personnel on the ground in Syria and even the moderate rebels have said they are frustrated with the pace of U.S. help. The suspension in Syria talks was announced just hours after the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree halting a joint program with the U.S. on the disposal of weapons grade plutonium. Putin’s decree on plutonium cited the “emerging threat to strategic stability as a result of U.S. unfriendly actions,” as well as Washington’s failure to meet its end of the cease-fire deal. It said, however, that Russia will keep the weapons-grade plutonium covered under the agreement away from weapons programs. Under the agreement, which was expanded in 2006 and 2010, Russia and the U.S. each were to dispose of 34 metric tons of plutonium, enough material for about 17,000 nuclear warheads. When it was signed in 2000, the deal was touted as an example of successful cooperation between Washington and Moscow. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the US has “done all it could to destroy the atmosphere encouraging cooperation.” It cited US sanctions on Moscow over its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine and North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s deployment of forces near Russian borders.

The Obama administration through the U.S. State Department announces the suspension of bilateral talks with Russia about the cessation of hostilities in Syria, as Russia and the Syrian government continue to pursue a military course despite the ceasefire accord.

Workers load uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) civilian fuel made from American military plutonium on a boat heading to the US, at the port in Cherbourg, northern France, on March 22, 2005 (AFP Photo/Mychele Daniau) Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered a halt to an agreement with the United States on plutonium disposal, citing Washington's "unfriendly actions". A decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin cites “the radical change in the environment, a threat to strategic stability posed by the hostile actions of the US against Russia, and the inability of the US to deliver on the obligation to dispose of excessive weapons plutonium under international treaties, as well as the need to take swift action to defend Russian security” as justification for suspending the deal. Under the agreement, which was expanded in 2006 and 2010, Russia and the U.S. each were to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium, enough material for about 17,000 nuclear warheads. Collins, who was the United States' ambassador to Russia when the agreement was signed, called the abrogation a "strange move," given the extraordinary danger, not least to Russians, should plutonium fall into terrorist hands. The building of a MOX fuel reprocessing plant was opposed in the United States in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan over safety fears and high cost of the project, which is already billions of dollars over budget. Putin charged earlier this year that the United States was not honouring the deal by disposing of plutonium in a way that allowed it to retain its defence capabilities.</s>MOSCOW, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons-grade plutonium, signalling he is willing to use nuclear disarmament as a new bargaining chip in disputes with the United States over Ukraine and Syria. But on Monday, Putin issued a decree suspending an agreement, concluded in 2000, which bound the two sides to dispose of surplus plutonium originally intended for use in nuclear weapons. The plutonium-disposal deal, signed in 2000 but which did not come into force until 2010, was being suspended due to “the emergence of a threat to strategic stability and as a result of unfriendly actions by the United States of America towards the Russian Federation”, the preamble to the decree said. “The decision is likely an attempt to convey to Washington the price of cutting off dialogue on Syria and other issues.” U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement on Monday that bilateral contacts with Moscow over Syria were being suspended. “Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments,” Kirby said, “and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed.” Instead, the U.S. alleges, Russia and its ally, the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, used the time to pound rebel-held portions of Aleppo and numerous civilian neighborhoods with barrel bombs and other indiscriminate attacks. Western diplomats say an end to the Syria talks leaves Moscow free to pursue its military operation in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but without a way to disentangle itself from a conflict which shows no sign of ending. Putin cited “a threat to strategic stability as a result of USA’s unfriendly acts toward Russia.” This was a reference to a deepening diplomatic spat between the Kremlin and the White House over Syria, as well as tensions and sanctions that followed Russia’s 2014 takeover of Crimea and its support to separatists in eastern Ukraine. Russia also named as conditions for resuming the plutonium accord that Washington repeal its “Magnitsky Act” and that it reduce its military infrastructure and troops in countries that joined the Nato military alliance after September 1st, 2000, according to a copy of the draft law posted on the website of Russia’s lower house of parliament. It said conditions for resuming work under the plutonium deal included Washington lifting sanctions imposed on Russia over its role in the Ukraine conflict, paying compensation to Moscow for the sanctions, and reducing the U.S. military presence in eastern Europe to the levels they were 16 years ago. “The Obama administration has done everything in its power to destroy the atmosphere of trust which could have encouraged cooperation,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on the treaty’s suspension. “The step Russia has been forced to take is not intended to worsen relations with the United States. We want Washington to understand that you cannot, with one hand, introduce sanctions against us where it can be done fairly painlessly for the Americans, and with the other hand continue selective cooperation in areas where it suits them.” The 2010 agreement, signed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, called on each side to dispose of 34 tonnes of plutonium by burning it in nuclear reactors. The nuclear deal suspended Monday was to process 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium — enough to make 17,000 nuclear warheads; it was signed in 2000 by the outgoing administration of President Bill Clinton and Putin’s first government. Both sides then viewed the deal as a sign of increased co-operation between the two former adversaries towards a joint goal of nuclear non-proliferation. It also said that Washington had failed “to ensure the implementation of its obligations to utilise surplus weapons-grade plutonium”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suspends the 2000 treaty with the United States on cleaning up weapons-grade plutonium (Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement) (in Russian).

The United States Supreme Court on Monday declined to rehear a bid by President Barack Obama’s administration to revive his plan to spare from deportation millions of immigrants in the country illegally, a case in which the justices split 4-4 in June. The eight-member court, which had stymied Mr Obama’s proposed overhaul of America’s immigration system with a tied 4-4 vote in June, said in a brief order on Monday that it would not look again at the case after a ninth Justice is confirmed to break the deadlock. That decision was upheld by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals before reaching the Supreme Court, where the 4-4 tie left the injunction in place, scuppering the Obama administration’s most ambitious attempt to reform immigration policy. The court has been evenly split between conservatives and liberals or moderates since the February death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The Democratic president's plan was challenged in court by Republican-governed Texas and 25 other states that argued that he overstepped the powers granted to him by the U.S. Constitution by infringing upon the authority of Congress. Mr Obama unveiled his executive action plan, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), in November 2014, after the failure of the Republican-led Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform. Obama’s plan was designed to let roughly 4 million people - those who have lived illegally in the United States at least since 2010, have no criminal record and have children who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents - get into a program that shields them from deportation and supplies work permits. In a July 18 filing, Obama’s Justice Department had asked the court to take a second look at the case once it had a full complement of nine justices. WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court opened its new term Monday in low-key fashion, still down a justice for the foreseeable future because of the Republican-led Senate’s refusal to act on President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace late Justice Antonin Scalia.</s>WASHINGTON — An evenly divided Supreme Court opens a new term this week with a few dozen mostly low-profile cases. But perhaps the biggest question of the year won’t even be settled by the justices. Voters next month will effectively decide the court’s ideological bent for the next four years and possibly much longer. Not since 1968 has the court had a vacancy expected to be filled by the winner of a presidential election. Then, Senate conservatives filibustered President Lyndon Johnson’s choice to replace retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren, leaving Richard Nixon to nominate a conservative instead. It was the start of a quarter-century of Republican appointments that steadily moved the court to the right. Now, with the Republican-led Senate’s refusing to consider President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Antonin Scalia, the court faces the prospect of a shift in the opposite direction. If Republican nominee Donald Trump wins in November, conservatives are likely to restore their 5-4 majority, based on the names of prospective nominees his campaign has released. But a Hillary Clinton victory would give the court a majority of Democratic appointees for the first time since 1969. The Senate could decide to approve Garland in the lame-duck session at the end of the year, or leave the choice to Clinton after she takes office in January. Either way, it would represent the most liberal Supreme Court since the early 1970s. If that happens, liberals could score some short-term victories early next year on several hot-button issues involving Obama’s executive actions and regulations — on immigration, climate change, contraceptives and rights for transgender students. This past spring, the justices put off several decisions, given the current 4-4 split among Republican and Democratic appointees. For example, they did not decide whether employers at religious schools and colleges can be required to provide free contraceptives for their female employees under the terms of Obama's health care law. That issue remains unresolved, but a fifth Democratic appointee could form a majority to uphold the so-called contraceptive mandate. In June, the court split, 4-4, on Obama’s plan to defer deportation and offer work permits to more than 4 million immigrants who have been living in the U.S. illegally. The tie vote kept in place a Texas judge’s order that has halted Obama’s policy. But the case is still pending, and with a fifth Democratic appointee, the court would probably clear the way for the administration to put its policy into effect. Similarly, earlier this year — shortly before Scalia’s death in February — the court by a 5-4 vote temporarily blocked Obama’s plan to limit carbon pollution from power plants. Her petition for Supreme Court consideration was part of an appeal of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which upheld a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina dismissing her lawsuit. The growing dispute over transgender students using bathrooms that match their gender identity could be taken up early next year. Kirby also told the Blade she has filed complaints against NCSU with the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice seeking an administrative remedy to her allegations of discrimination. The court has also agreed to decide a potentially significant church-state dispute, but has put off scheduling arguments, apparently waiting for a ninth justice. At issue is whether a church day-care center in Missouri can claim an equal right to state-subsidized playground materials provided to public schools. Another major decision could come in the area of voting rights. In recent years, Republican-led states have adopted new election laws that limit early voting and require voters to display specific state-issued photo IDs at the polls. These measures have been challenged by civil rights lawyers and the Justice Department who claim that they are designed to restrict voting by African Americans and Latinos. The court is set to hear cases from North Carolina and Virginia, where Republican lawmakers are accused of setting election boundaries so that black voters are concentrated in a few districts to strengthen the Republican Party in surrounding areas. Longer term, liberals would have their first opportunity in generations to hear cases on issues such as partisan gerrymandering, political spending and protecting gays from workplace discrimination. When Republicans came to dominate the court in the 1970s and ’80s, conservatives confidently took aim at liberal precedents like the Miranda decision on police warnings, the Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion and the Bakke decision allowing race-based affirmative action in colleges and universities. But with a majority of Democratic-appointed justices on the bench, liberal think tanks and civil rights groups would — for the first time in years — have incentives to cultivate precedent-setting lawsuits and push their issues to the Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court declines to rehear President Barack Obama's 2014 plan (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans) to spare from deportation millions of immigrants in the country illegally, a case in which the justices split 4–4 in June. The justices' June 23 decision (United States v. Texas) is final.

At one stage, the FARC was positioned close to the capital and the state was on the verge of collapse. “To the Colombian people who dream of peace, count on us, peace will triumph.” Santos recently said a “no” vote would mean a return to war, and opinion polls had predicted he would win comfortably. Colombians narrowly rejected a peace deal with Marxist guerrillas in a referendum on Sunday, plunging the nation into uncertainty and dashing President Juan Manuel Santos’ painstakingly negotiated plan to end the 52-year war. The president’s supporters began insisting that FARC leaders and government negotiators re-open the accord, but Santos had repeatedly warned Colombians that no such thing would be possible. It remains to be seen whether the Farc will finally put down their guns and accept less favourable terms: Colombia’s capacity for violence of both the far left and the far right is undiminished, and Timochenko’s authority has been shaken by this shock result, as Santos’s: Uribe’s party lost no time in calling for the president to step down. “We ask that there is no violence,” said the Senator, “that the FARC are protected and that they cease all crime, including drug trafficking and extortion.” It was important for Mr. Uribe to make the point that the vote was not against peace or for war, but that it was for a different kind of peace. Few expected the turnout to be as low as it was — under 40 per cent, fewer than the percentage that came to the polls in 2014 to elect Colombia’s current President, Juan Manuel Santos — and for the vote to go against the peace agreement. Santos was wrong, he said, to frame it as a choice between peace and war: in this political argument, all sides claim to want peace. Under the accord, the FARC, which began as a peasant revolt in 1964, would have been able to compete in the 2018 presidential and legislative elections and have 10 unelected congressional seats guaranteed through 2026. At a base level, it was a clash between the two most powerful figures in Colombian politics: Santos and his arch-nemesis, conservative former president and senator Álvaro Uribe, who led the campaign against the peace deal.</s>"The FARC reiterates its disposition to use only words as a weapon to build toward the future," Mr. Timochenko said after the result. "Count on us, peace will triumph." Colombia's government and Marxist FARC guerrillas will scramble on Monday to revive a plan to end their 52-year war after voters rejected the hard-negotiated deal as too lenient on the rebels in a shock result that plunged the nation into uncertainty. Putting on a brave face after a major political defeat, President Juan Manuel Santos offered hope to those who backed his four-year peace negotiation with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Cuba. “I will not give up, I will keep seeking peace until the last minute of my term,” he said moments after losing Sunday's plebiscite to those who want a re-negotiation of the deal or an obliteration of the FARC on the battlefield. Mr. Santos plans to meet all political parties on Monday and send lead government peace negotiator Humberto de la Calle back to Havana to speak to the FARC leadership. Rodrigo Londono, the top FARC commander better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, also offered reassurance the rebels remain committed to becoming a peaceful political party. “The FARC reiterates its disposition to use only words as a weapon to build toward the future,” Mr. Timochenko said after the result. “Count on us, peace will triumph.” Mr. Santos (65), who was not obliged by law to hold a plebiscite, had said there was no Plan B for the failure of the peace vote, but now appears ready to consider options. Colombians, even those who backed the “No” vote, expressed shock at the outcome and uncertainty about the future. “We never thought this could happen,” said sociologist and "No” voter Mabel Castano (37). “Now I just hope the government, the opposition and the FARC come up with something intelligent that includes us all.” The peace accord reached last month and signed a week ago offered the possibility that rebel fighters would hand in their weapons to the United Nations, confess their crimes and form a political party rooted in their Marxist ideology. The FARC, which began as a peasant revolt in 1964, would have been able to compete in the 2018 presidential and legislative elections and have 10 unelected congressional seats guaranteed through 2026. That enraged “No” supporters, including powerful former president Alvaro Uribe, who argued the rebels should serve jail terms and never be permitted to enter politics. Mr. Uribe, a onetime ally who has become Mr. Santos' fiercest critic, may now hold the key to any potential re-negotiation. While the FARC has refused to serve traditional jail terms, it may see no future in returning to the battlefields and so consider some sort of new deal. “In the end, the people have spoken: the Colombian government and the FARC have no choice but to renegotiate,” said Peter Schechter, director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. The FARC already softened its stance in the original negotiation, publicly admitting for the first time it trafficked drugs, recruited minors and committed human rights violations, including massacres. But voters worried the rebels would fail to turn over assets from drugs and illegal mining, potentially giving them a formidable war chest that could outstrip the coffers of traditional parties. Regions still riven by the conflict, including poor areas along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, voted resoundingly in favor of the deal, but formerly violent interior areas pacified during the Uribe presidency largely backed the “no” camp. “How sad. It seems Colombia has forgotten about the cruelty of war, our deaths, our injured, our mutilated, our victims and the suffering we've all lived through with this war,” said Adriana Rivera (43), a philosophy professor standing tearfully at the hotel of the “yes” campaign. The vote may delay Mr. Santos' plans to move on to other matters including much-needed tax reform and other macroeconomic measures to offset a drop in oil income. It will also dent his hopes for a boom in foreign investment in mining, oil and agriculture in Latin America's fourth-largest economy.

FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño (Timoleón) says his troops will honor its commitments to the Colombian government, including the permanent cease-fire, despite voters rejection of the peace accord in Sunday's referendum. President Juan Manuel Santos calls the country's political parties to an emergency meeting.

QUETTA: At least four women belonging to the ethnic Hazara Shia community were killed and one injured when unidentified assailants opened fire on a bus on Kirani road near Pud Gali Chowk area of the provincial capital on Tuesday evening. "The bus was stopped and the women were shot because of their ethnicity," said provincial government's spokesman Anwarul Haq Kakar. A senior police official also confirmed to Dawn.com that the deceased women belonged to the ethnic Hazara Shia minority community and were allegedly targeted due to their sect. "It was a public transport bus and had eight women on board, out of which five were hit during the attack," said DIG Operations of Quetta police. Police officials said the bus was travelling to Hazara Town when it was attacked by unidentified assailants. Frontier Corps and police teams were dispatched to the area to control the situation. The injured were taken to Bolan Medical Hospital in Quetta for treatment and security in and around the hospital was tightened. Chief Minister Balochistan Sanaullah Zehri condemned the incident. Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, while addressing a press conference, said that Indian agency RAW's involvement can not be ruled out in the attack. He added the terrorists picked a soft target, and all efforts would be made to arrest the culprits. Balochistan has been experiencing incident violence and targeted killings since more than a decade. More than 1,400 incidents targeting the minority Shia and Hazara community have taken place in the province during the past 15 years. While sectarian terrorism in Balochistan has disproportionately targeted the Hazara community, easily identifiable because of their distinctive physical appearance, other Shias — especially pilgrims travelling to and from Iran — have not been spared either. People receive the body of a family member at a local hospital in Quetta.— AP</s>Four Shiite women killed in Pakistan bus attack Gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on a moving bus in Pakistan and killed four women from the Shiite Muslim minority in an apparent sectarian attack, officials said Tuesday. The gunmen sprayed the vehicle with bullets in the outskirts of Quetta city, the provincial capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan. "At least two motorcycle riders on one bike fired at the bus when it reached close to Hazara town. Two people, one male and another female, were also wounded in the attack," Abdul Razzaq Cheema, a senior police official told AFP. Pakistani security officials and residents gather around ambulances carrying the bodies of Shiite Muslim women killed in an attack by gunmen at a hospital in Quetta ©Banaras Khan (AFP) "The bus was travelling from one locality of Hazaras to the other," Cheema said. Qambar Dashti, Quetta city commissioner, confirmed the attack and said it could be sectarian. "This attack on Hazaras' bus could be sectarian but we are still investigating it," he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Taliban militants have attacked Shiite Hazaras in the past. Sectarian violence -- in particular by Sunni hardliners against Shiites who make up roughly 20 percent of Pakistan's 200 million people -- has claimed thousands of lives in the country over the past decade. In May last year, 43 members of the Shiite Ismaili minority were killed when their bus was stopped and riddled with bullets in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi by militants claiming Islamic State group affiliation.

An apparent sectarian attack by two motorcyclists who open fire on a bus traveling to Hazara Town, Quetta, Pakistan, kills four women from Pakistan's Shia Hazara and injures two other people.

The greenback reached a 13-day high against a basket of major currencies, helped by gains against the yen and by an upbeat survey of the US manufacturing sector that drove investors to increase their bets on a rise in US interest rates by the end of the year. In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May told her Conservative party’s annual conference that she was determined to move on with Brexit and win the “right deal” in an effort to ease fears inside her party that she may delay the split with the EU. Some have suggested sterling was overvalued going into the 23 June referendum – and that what we are witnessing today is merely a natural correction. Many in the market worry that the government’s stance points to a “hard Brexit”, in which Britain quits the single market in favour of retaining control over migration and which could drive an exodus of banks from London. “The headlines we’ve been seeing in the last few days...have been focusing the market’s attention on the big structural challenges that the UK is facing, particularly if it’s going to be ‘hard’ rather than a ‘soft’ Brexit,” said HSBC FX strategist Dominic Bunning, highlighting a report suggesting post-Brexit Britain would not be supportive of the financial sector.</s>Image copyright Getty Images The FTSE 100 share index came close to an all-time high after rising above 7,000 points as the pound plunged to a new 31-year low against the dollar. The currency has been under pressure as investors concern about UK's Brexit-vote welled up following Prime Minister Theresa May's announcement that the UK would kick of the process of separating from the EU in March 2017. The currency fell to just above $1.27, lower even than in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum on June 23, when Brits voted to take their country out of the 28-member group. Sterling meanwhile traded at 87.56 pence to the euro - its weakest level since 2013. The FTSE 250 index, however, has lagged behind the FTSE 100 since the Brexit vote because gains from the weaker pound for the outward-looking businesses have been offset by fears about the fortunes of UK-focused companies. Investors have been spooked by a series of announcements at the Conservative Party conference, where Theresa May said the two-year process of negotiating Brexit under Article 50 of the EU treaties will start by the end of March, putting the UK on course for a "hard Brexit". Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com and City Index, said: "The Tory Party conference is turning into a sell for the pound, as foreign exchange traders get spooked by May's apparent sanguine attitude to leaving the single market, preferring to focus on immigration and UK sovereignty rather than the economic fallout of Brexit." This is designed to cushion some of the blow from the UK’s departure from the European Union. Conner Campbell of SpreadEx said the prospect of a "hard Brexit" is hurting the pound: "It seems that it is going to be hard to provide a tourniquet for sterling’s recent wounds given the solidity of the newly announced Brexit timeline (with March set to go down in the history books as when Article 50 was triggered), and the firmness with which May stated her intention to chase border control even if it means relinquishing Britain’s position in the single market."

Following the June 23 Brexit vote, the exchange rate for the British pound reaches a 31-year low against the United States dollar.

"Poland considers the negotiations regarding the offset agreement with Airbus Helicopters related to the contract for the purchase of Caracal multi-role helicopters for the Polish army as finished," the ministry said. Poland's previous centrist government, beaten by the eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party in elections last October, agreed a provisional deal with Airbus for 50 EC-725 Caracal multi-purpose helicopters. Local media reported that Warsaw had actually scrapped the deal earlier this year, although Airbus said talks were continuing. Poland's Development Ministry said late on Tuesday that the negotiating position of the two sides on the purchase of 50 Caracal helicopters for 13.5 billion zlotys (3.14 billion euros) was "so different that further talks are pointless."</s> • Spanish Air Force takes delivery of its first H215 • The aircraft will be the first H215 in service in Spain • It will be based on Gran Canaria to perform Search and Rescue missions • The first H 215 “made in Romania” helicopter is to be produced in 2018 at Airbus Helicopter’s €52M investment in Ghimbav, Brasov In a ceremony held at the Airbus Helicopters plant in Albacete, the Spanish Air Force yesterday took receipt of its first H215, a robust, cost-effective latest-generation helicopter with an extensive mission capability. The purchase was negotiated in July by the Spanish Ministry of Defence, through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). A member of the tried-and-tested Super Puma family, the H215 is a twin-engine, heavy rotorcraft equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, which complies with the most stringent safety standards. Its onboard equipment includes multi-function digital screens and an advanced 4-axis autopilot which provides flight envelope protection, unrivalled precision, and stability in even the harshest operating conditions. The aircraft carried out final test flights at the Albacete plant on 22 September, where it was painted and fitted with specific mission systems enhancing its Search and Rescue (SAR) and Personnel Recovery/CSAR missions. The Air Force’s H215 boasts additional fuel tanks that extend its range up to 560 Km, an emergency buoyancy system, a high-frequency radio, a hoist, and a cockpit compatible with night vision goggles, among other equipment. “H215 is the perfect acquisition for any modern air force. Spain’s decision to buy the helicopter which we will be soon producing in Romania confirms the European value of H215 helicopter and paves the way for other air forces to upgrade their capabilities. We are looking forward to starting H215 production in Ghimbav and we hope that Romania will be acquiring the first helicopter produced by Romanians”, said Serge Durand, General Director Airbus Helicopters Industries who is leading the operations in Romania. The Spanish Air Force operates several helicopters belonging to the Super Puma family, in both civil and military versions. The aircraft operate in 3 SAR Squadrons as well as in the 402 Air Force Squadron, which is responsible for the transport of senior government officials. The new H215 will be assigned to the Air Force’s 802 Squadron/RCC Canarias and will arrive at its base in Gando (Gran Canaria) before the end of the year. The new helicopter will enter into service straightaway, following a short training program for crews, who already have extensive experience of flying other versions of the Super Puma. “We are very grateful to the Air Force for its renewed confidence, and I am proud to be here today to deliver a helicopter that is not only powerful, rapid and reliable, but also cost-effective, offering a highly optimized operating costs,” said Francisco Vergé, General Manager of Airbus Helicopters in Spain. “I wish you many flight hours, all with our first-rate support, which we are committed to providing you with.” On September 13th 2016 Airbus Helicopter inaugurated Airbus Helicopters Industries new production site in Brasov, in the presence of French President Francois Hollande and the Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos . The first H215 100% made in Romania could come out of the Final Assembly Line in Brasov in 2018.The plant in Ghimbav will employ 350 people when it reaches full production capacity.

Poland's Development Ministry cancels the April 2015 tender contract for the purchase of 50 Caracal helicopters from Airbus Helicopters, worth US$ 3.5 billion.

</s>Men push a motorbike through a street flooded by a river that overflowed from heavy rains caused by Hurricane Matthew in Leogane, Haiti, Wednesday. Rescue workers in Haiti struggled to reach cutoff towns and learn the full extent of the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew as the storm began battering the Bahamas on Wednesday and triggered large-scale evacuations along the U.S. East Coast. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Weather forecasters track Hurricane Matthew as it makes landfall in Haiti and issue hurricane warnings for Cuba and the Bahamas.

(CNN) A few months after the massive 2010 earthquake in Haiti, I stood on the terrace of my hotel and looked out onto the Champs de Mars plaza, a central square in Port-au-Prince that had become an encampment for people who'd lost their homes. It was May and the skies looked ominous as a storm hurtled toward the Haitian capital. What would become of all the Haitians left homeless in the quake, I wondered. How would they make it through the rainy season? That storm, of course, paled in comparison to the force of Hurricane Matthew, which pummeled Haiti on Tuesday with 145 mph winds and heavy rain. The worst hit was the southern port city of Les Cayes, but all of Haiti's 10 million people were exposed to danger. Among those, some 60,000 people still live in the post-quake camps that journalists referred to as "makeshift." The International Organization for Migration estimates 45 such camps still exist in the Port-au-Prince area. Somehow, they became permanent; they became "home" for those who had nowhere to go. Thousands more live in flimsy homes that can easily wash away. I tried to imagine what that must feel like: to be huddled with babies and children under plastic sheeting or a patched-together roof with little between you and the ground in the fury of a Category 4 hurricane. Matthew was another "catastrophe," the word Haitians used when they spoke of the earthquake. It hardly seemed fair that Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, should be punished this way again. In its 240 years of existence, Haitians have died because of dictatorships, violence, corruption, mismanagement and disease. And they have died in earthquakes, storms and floods. Two years before the 2010 quake, 800 people were dead and damages totaled $1 billion as three hurricanes and a tropical storm hit Haiti in a matter of four weeks. And then came the 7.0 magnitude quake that killed as many as 200,000 people. Walking around Port-au-Prince in its aftermath, I saw one apocalyptic block after another. There was nothing left. Haiti's geographic location in the Caribbean and on the Gonave microplate makes it vulnerable to natural disasters; it is considered the fifth most disaster-prone country in the world. But that doesn't fully explain why Hurricane Matthew may exact such a grave toll. In many ways still reeling from the 2010 earthquake, Haiti simply lacks the resources to prepare for such destruction. Some Haitians I spoke with then actually saw the quake as a new beginning. This was a chance to rebuild the country all shiny and new. And indeed, the world promised Haiti $13 billion to rebuild. But the optimism faded as fast as it had risen and the reality is that there is little to show for the billions pledged. The answers are, of course, long and complicated. Journalist Jonathan Katz provided his take in a 2013 book, "The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster." Katz says 93% of the money went to foreign aid agencies, including the United Nations. Granted, the Haitian government was too weak to handle massive recovery efforts just after the quake but in subsequent months, Katz argues, the money should have been channeled to Haitians who know best how to rebuild their own country. As it stands, little was done in the way of building local structures that would help Haiti respond to a future disaster, like Hurricane Matthew. In 2016, 60% of Haitians still live in poverty; half do not know how to read or write or have access to health care. Consider that only one in four Haitians have use of a toilet. On the first anniversary of the earthquake, I returned to Haiti and often on my walks down the streets of Port-au-Prince, I heard people taking God's name or chanting the Lord's Prayer. On Sundays, large crowds congregated before the carcass of the Cathedrale Notre Dame de L'Assomption, a magnificent church that took 30 years to build and only 35 seconds to come tumbling down. Many of those people told me they'd lost their loved ones, their homes, their things. But they had their faith. I can imagine that in the aftermath of the hurricane, Haitians will again struggle to see their future. The destruction will come into plain sight. More Haitians will die. A year after the earthquake, the Haitian writer Edwidge Danticat wrote that "in Haiti, people's spirits never really die." I learned that to be true from spending time with Haitians. And it is what will carry them now.</s>

A bridge in Haiti connecting Port-au-Prince with southern Haiti collapses. The storm has killed at least nine people in the Caribbean.

„Matthew“ hat auf Kuba schwere Schäden verursacht: Bäume stürzten um, Straßen wurden überschwemmt. Foto: Alejandro Ernesto dpatopbilder - epa05571417 Cubans recover from the damage and havoc caused by hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, 05 October 2016. Hurricane Matthew left serious damage at the eastern end of the island, with landslides, toppling electricity poles and cutting off roads by floods. EPA/ALEJANDRO ERNESTO</s>000 WTNT34 KNHC 240234 TCPAT4 BULLETIN Post-Tropical Cyclone Chantal Advisory Number 13 NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL042019 1100 PM AST Fri Aug 23 2019 ...CHANTAL BECOMES A REMNANT LOW... ...THIS IS THE LAST ADVISORY... SUMMARY OF 1100 PM AST...0300 UTC...INFORMATION ----------------------------------------------- LOCATION...35.6N 40.9W ABOUT 785 MI...1265 KM W OF THE AZORES MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...30 MPH...45 KM/H PRESENT MOVEMENT...S OR 185 DEGREES AT 6 MPH...9 KM/H MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...1014 MB...29.95 INCHES WATCHES AND WARNINGS -------------------- There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect. DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK ---------------------- At 1100 PM AST (0300 UTC), the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Chantal was located near latitude 35.6 North, longitude 40.9 West. The post-tropical cyclone is moving toward the south near 6 mph (9 km/h). A turn toward the southwest and west is expected over the weekend, followed by a slow motion toward the northwest Sunday night and Monday. Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph (45 km/h) with higher gusts. Gradual weakening is anticipated and Chantal is forecast to dissipate on Monday. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1014 mb (29.95 inches). HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND ---------------------- None. NEXT ADVISORY ------------- This is the last public advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center on Chantal. Additional information on this system can be found in High Seas Forecasts issued by the National Weather Service, under AWIPS header NFDHSFAT1, WMO header FZNT01 KWBC, and online at ocean.weather.gov/shtml/NFDHSFAT1.php $$ Forecaster Zelinsky

Hurricane Matthew makes landfall near the eastern tip of Cuba.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and ordered an evacuation of more than a million people in coastal areas starting Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew. Haley pleaded with people to get 100 miles away from the coast, but did not say if there would be penalties for those who refuse to comply. "An evacuation is an evacuation," she said, adding that coastal residents should move at least 100 miles inland. Matthew will be a Category 2 or Category 3 hurricane when it brushes or hits South Carolina on Friday night, she said.</s>South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says she plans to issue an evacuation order Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Matthew so that 1 million people can safely and comfortably leave the coast. Haley said at a Tuesday news conference that she will finalize the order Wednesday morning, unless there is a major shift in the storm’s track. Haley says she expects the evacuation to begin at 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday. State officials say lanes on major evacuation routes will be reversed. It would be the first major evacuation since Hurricane Floyd in 1999, when the governor at the time didn’t reverse the lanes and Interstate 26 became backed up for hours and traffic was at a standstill. A two-hour drive from Charleston to Columbia turned into 24-hour nightmare. U.S. President Barack Obama will speak Wednesday at the Federal Emergency Management Agency about the federal response to Hurricane Matthew. Obama had been scheduled to travel to Florida on Wednesday for campaign events and a health care event. But the White House says the trip is being postponed because of the hurricane. Instead, Obama will travel to the agency’s Washington headquarters to meet with officials coordinating the response. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate will brief Obama on the latest developments if scheduling allows. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says Obama will be updated on the weather forecast and on operational aspects of preparing for the impacts of the severe weather. The White House says that U.S. President Barack Obama has been updated on the path of Hurricane Matthew and its potential impact in the Caribbean and the United States. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that federal officials have been deployed to state emergency operations centers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Earnest also says relief supplies have been prepositioned in the region. The White House also says that U.S. foreign disaster assistance teams have been deployed to Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas to ensure that relief efforts are coordinated if U.S. assistance is needed. Earnest also says that regional response coordination centers in Atlanta and Philadelphia will begin round-the-clock operations Tuesday. And the national response coordination center in Washington will begin 24-hour operations with full staffing on Thursday. Earnest says relief supplies are being moved into Albany, Georgia and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, so they can be delivered to affected areas quickly after the storm has passed. Florida Gov. Rick Scott says residents need to be prepared for a direct from Hurricane Matthew. Scott said while visiting the Daytona Beach area that evacuation orders could be issued as early as Tuesday. He says Florida could start to feel the hurricane’s impact in two or three days. The governor says his biggest worry is that residents won’t take seriously the threat from Matthew if an evacuation order is issued, especially since so many new residents have never lived through a hurricane. Scott says even if Matthew stays of land, Florida will still feel tropical storm-force winds. He says 200 National Guardsmen have been activated, and another 6,600 National Guardsmen are at the ready. Hurricane Matthew is expected to interrupt mosquito control efforts to stop the spread of the Zika virus in the Miami area. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Tuesday that spraying pesticides would not be effective in the tropical storm-force winds expected in the region later this week. Gimenez said mosquitoes aren’t likely to be flying around during the storm, but “the Zika prevention efforts will have to stop during those times.” Gov. Rick Scott said Florida residents should drain standing water from their properties before and after the hurricane to reduce the threat of mosquito-borne viruses. State health officials have said Miami Beach is the only area where Zika is currently being transmitted, but other infections are being investigated elsewhere in Miami-Dade County and in Palm Beach County. The U.S. National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for South Florida. The center issued the watch from Deerfield Beach to the Volusia/Brevard county line. A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area. A tropical storm watch also is in effect from the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys northward to south of Deerfield Beach, including Lake Okeechobee. Officials in the Dominican Republic are reporting that at least four people died when heavy rains linked to Hurricane Matthew damaged their homes. Emergency Operations Center coordinator Juan Manuel Mendez told a news conference Tuesday that three children were killed when the walls of their homes collapsed in a poor neighborhood in Santo Domingo. An elderly person died in a neighboring province. That would bring the total death toll from the storm to at least seven. Rescue agencies in the country say the downpours have destroyed at least two homes and damaged 190 others. Close to 18,000 people living in vulnerable areas have been evacuated and taken to the homes of relatives or to shelters. Tropical Storm Nicole has formed in the Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the storm currently poses no threat to land. Nicole is located about 525 miles (840kmh) northwest of San Juan Puerto Rico. It has maximum sustained winds near 50 mph (85kph) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is expected for the next day or so, followed by gradual weakening. With Hurricane Matthew expected to impact the South Carolina coast by the weekend, the American Red Cross is issuing a call for volunteers. Louise Welch Williams, the CEO of the Palmetto, South Carolina Region of the agency based in North Charleston, said Tuesday the Red Cross needs volunteers in the Charleston, Bluffton and Georgetown areas. The agency says it especially needs volunteers to assist with sheltering and feeding those who may be affected by the hurricane. The agency said volunteers will likely be needed to help residents across the state of South Carolina. Projections from the National Hurricane Center show that the storm is expected to be off the South Carolina coast early Saturday with maximum winds of about 100 mph. Gov. Rick Scott is urging residents up and down Florida’s Interstate 95 corridor to start preparing for “direct impacts” of Hurricane Matthew. Scott was in the Florida Keys Tuesday morning for a briefing on the Category 4 storm that is currently moving over the southwestern coast of Haiti. The storm is heading toward Cuba and the southeastern coast of Florida. The governor warned residents to take the storm seriously, adding “we cannot rule out a direct hit.” He says heavy rain, spin off tornadoes, high winds and beach erosion are among the concerns in Florida. He asked residents to listen for directions from local officials and to “prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” Scott and other officials are urging people to have at least a three-day supply of food, water and medicine on hand. Also, Scott urged people to get gas in their vehicles and to keep cellphones charged in case of electrical power loss. National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb says Hurricane Matthew will continue to have a devastating impact on Haiti, even after landfall. Knabb says the storm is about to emerge back over water but there’ll still be heavy rainfall that’s likely to cause flash floods and mudslides, along with strong winds and storm surges. The hurricane is heading to eastern Cuba, but Knabb says the island’s mountains aren’t expected to have much effect on the storm. Knabb says tropical storm or hurricane watches may be issued for parts of southeastern Florida later Tuesday. A high pressure ridge is nudging Matthew toward Florida and blocking its path due north from the Bahamas. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the Category 4 storm made landfall around 7 a.m. EDT Tuesday near Les Anglais, Haiti. Matthew’s maximum sustained winds are near 145 mph (230 kph). The hurricane has pounded the southwestern coast of Haiti, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions as it heads north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida. Rick Scott will make several stops at emergency management offices in the Florida Keys, Daytona Beach and north Florida to give updates on Hurricane Matthew and the storm’s potential impact on the state. Scott will be in Marathon at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, before moving upstate in the afternoon. The Category 4 storm’s maximum sustained winds are near 145 mph (230 kph) as it crosses the southwest peninsula of Haiti, where it’s bringing life-threatening rain, wind and storm surge. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says another landfall is expected in eastern Cuba. Forecasters say a tropical storm watch or hurricane watch is likely for parts of Florida later Tuesday. Senior Hurricane Specialist Richard Pasch says Florida residents should remain vigilant because they can’t “rule out the possibility of impacts.” A hurricane warning has been issued Tuesday morning for the northwest Bahamas as Hurricane Matthew continues its march up the Caribbean. The hurricane warning in the Bahamas includes the Abacos, Andros Island, Berry Islands, Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama Island, and New Providence. In the meantime, Matthew’s eye is nearing the southwest peninsula of Haiti, where it’s bringing life-threatening rain, wind and storm surge. The Category 4 storm’s maximum sustained winds are near 145 mph (230 kph). Heavy rain has also fallen on Jamaica and dangerous rainfall is a threat for the Dominican Republic, which adjoins Haiti.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley urges 1.1 million coastal residents to evacuate before Matthew hits this weekend.

Washington (CNN) Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, in an interview published Wednesday, discussed the massive loss of human life in Syria and equated killings from the government of Bashar al-Assad and those caused by the United States. Johnson, pressed in his interview with The New York Times , on whether he viewed deaths caused deliberately by Assad's forces as the same as those caused by the United States, Johnson indicated he did. "Well, no, of course not. We're so much better than all that," Johnson said with sarcasm, according to the report. "We're so much better when in Afghanistan, we bomb the hospital and 60 people are killed in the hospital." Johnson was referring to a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders that the United States admitted it bombed in 2015. The Pentagon said after a military investigation that the action was not a war crime, although it did not allow an independent, international investigation into the killings. Johnson has made skepticism of foreign interventions a mainstay of his campaign, ensuring to highlight it in almost every interview he does. But he has had several embarrassing incidents that demonstrated his shortcomings in that area. At the beginning of September, Johnson failed to recognize Aleppo, a city at the heart of the Syrian civil war. The embarrassing moment underscored Johnson's lack of foreign policy chops, and he compounded the mistake in a late September interview when he struggled to name a foreign leader he respected, conceding he was having another "Aleppo moment." Johnson also specifically slammed Democrat Hillary Clinton, calling her a foreign policy hawk who contributed to bloodshed overseas. "Because Hillary Clinton can dot the i's and cross the t's on geographic leaders, of the names of foreign leaders the underlying fact that hundreds of thousands of people have died in Syria goes by the wayside," Johnson said. The Libertarian nominee's criticism of Clinton appears at odds with his running mate, Bill Weld, who told CNN Wednesday he would focus his criticism on Republican Donald Trump. "I guess my role will be Hillary, and his role will be Donald Trump," Johnson said.

Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson warns that one of its Wi-Fi enabled insulin pumps for diabetics (OneTouch Ping pump) is at risk of being hacked, causing an overdose.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures with a firing stance as he announces issuing side arms to army troopers during his visit to its headquarters in suburban Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines Tuesday Oct. 4, 2016 MANILA, Philippines — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told his U.S. ally Barack Obama "you can go to hell" in a speech Tuesday that was his latest tirade against the U.S. over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign. The brash-speaking leader also has been hypersensitive to criticism over his anti-drug crackdown, which has left more than an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the U.S. and human rights watchdogs. MANILA, Philippines — Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte told President Barack Obama “you can go to hell” in a speech Tuesday that was his strongest tirade so far against the U.S. over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign, adding that he may eventually decide to “break up with America.” He also lashed out anew at the European Union, saying the bloc, which has also criticized his brutal crackdown, “better choose purgatory, hell is filled up.” Since becoming president in June, Duterte has had an uneasy relationship with the U.S. and with Obama and has declared intentions to bolster relations with China and Russia as he revamps Philippine foreign policy that has long leaned on Washington. In a speech before a local convention attended by officials and business executives, Duterte outlined his disappointments with the U.S., which has asked his government to stop the widespread killings under his anti-drug campaign and has questioned whether human rights are being violated. He also described Washington as an unreliable ally, saying Filipino forces have not benefited from joint combat exercises with U.S. troops. "Instead of helping us, the first to criticize is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr. Obama, you can go to hell," Duterte said. Then addressing the EU, he said: “Better choose purgatory, hell is filled up.” In a later speech at a synagogue in Makati city in the Manila metropolis, Duterte warned he may decide to “break up with America” in his most serious threat so far to push relations back with Washington. The use of that kind of tactic is entirely inconsistent with universal human rights and the shared values of our two countries.” Duterte has given assurances that he would not abrogate a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. and will maintain the long alliance with America, one of his country’s largest trading partners and provider of development and military aid and defense equipment. Last week, Duterte said the joint U.S.-Philippine combat exercises to be held this week, the first of his presidency, would also be the last of his tenure. Duterte's latest remarks came just as the US and Philippines started joint military exercises -- perhaps for the last time.</s>Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out once again at the United States for criticizing his self-proclaimed “drug war,” saying Tuesday that President Barack Obama can “go to hell.” The European Union, he added in a profanity-laced speech in Manila, “better choose purgatory, hell is filled up.” Duterte swept to power with a promise to “kill all” the criminals in the Philippines. In his latest salvo, Duterte said he was realigning his foreign policy because the United States had failed the Philippines and added that at some point, “I will break up with America.” It was not clear what he meant by “break up.” During three tangential and fiercely worded speeches in Manila, Duterte said the United States did not want to sell missiles and other weapons, but Russia and China had told him they could provide them easily. "Although it may sound shit to you, it is my sacred duty to keep the integrity of this republic and the people healthy," Duterte said in his second of two televised speeches on Tuesday. According to him, Japan won’t be guided by the US home policy demands during negotiations with Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said ‘do not worry, we have everything you need, we’ll give it to you.’ “And as for China, they said, ‘Just come over and sign and everything will be delivered.’ ” It is not clear yet whether his comments are strongman posturing or real policy. “And as for China, they said ‘just come over and sign and everything will be delivered’.” His comments were the latest in a near-daily barrage of hostility towards the United States, during which Duterte has started to contrast the former colonial power with its geopolitical rivals Russia and China. When asked about Duterte’s comments, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday, “Frankly, it seems at odds with the warm relationship that exists between the Filipino and American people and the record of important cooperation between our two governments, cooperation that has continued under the Duterte government.” On Sunday, Duterte said he had received support from Russia and China when he complained to them about the United States. He also vowed to review a new U.S.-Philippines agreement that would see more U.S. forces in the Philippines. The deal, signed in 2014, grants U.S. troops some access to Philippine bases, and allows them to set up storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations. Duterte said the United States should have supported the Philippines in tackling its chronic drugs problems but that instead it had criticized him for the high death toll, as did the European Union. “Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department. So you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell,” he said. “EU, better choose purgatory. Hell is full already. Why should I be afraid of you?” At a later speech he said he was emotional because the United States had not been a friend of the Philippines since his election in May. In 2015, both Russian and American generals said for the first time that a nuclear war between the United States and Russia was close like never before. According to some U.S. officials, Washington has been doing its best to ignore Duterte’s rhetoric and not provide him with a pretext for more outbursts. While an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China’s influence has grown, there were no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines, two U.S. officials said on Monday. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco Several of Duterte’s allies on Monday suggested he act more like a statesman because his comments had created a stir. On Tuesday, he said his outbursts were because he was provoked by criticism of his crackdown on drugs. “When you are already at the receiving end of an uncontrollable rush, the only way out is to insult,” he said.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte tells U.S. President Barack Obama to "go to hell" after the United States refuses to sell some weapons to his country, while also acknowledging the cooperation of Russia and China.

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish authorities on Tuesday suspended some 12,800 police officers from duty over their suspected links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen as Turkey pressed ahead with its vast crackdown on a network it says is behind the country's July 15 failed military coup. Aysenur Bahcekapili, a lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party, stands during his speech.Photo: AP The Turkish police headquarters has said 2,523 of those suspended were police chiefs. On Monday, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said the current state of emergency -- which allows the government to rule by decrees without seeking parliamentary approval -- would be extended for three more months. Turkey declared a state of emergency in the wake of a failed coup on July 15, and has since pursued a sweeping purge , dismissing more than 81,000 people in various institutions -- including the armed forces, the police, the education system, the media and the judiciary -- who were perceived as opposed to the government. About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police and judiciary have already been sacked or suspended in a post-coup crackdown, and some 32,000 people have been arrested for their alleged role in the abortive putsch. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, has denied involvement in the coup attempt that led to at least 270 deaths.</s>ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish authorities suspended nearly 13,000 police officers, detained dozens of air force officers and shut down a TV station on Tuesday, widening a state-ordered clampdown against perceived enemies in the wake of July’s failed coup. A RTUK official (L) takes notes at the master control room of the IMC TV in Istanbul, Turkey, October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir The police headquarters said 12,801 officers, including 2,523 chiefs, were suspended because of their suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, denies any link to the coup attempt, which led to the deaths of more than 240 people. The suspensions were ordered hours after Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus announced that the cabinet had approved a 90-day extension to a state of emergency, renewing President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers to govern by decree at least until January. The emergency extension, which parliamentary is likely to wave through, means Erdogan can take decisions without oversight of the Constitutional Court, Turkey’s highest legal body. As well as suspending five percent of the entire police force, the authorities detained 33 air force officers in raids across the country, the private Dogan news agency reported, and the transmission of TV station IMC was cut following accusations of spreading “terrorist propaganda”. State-run Anadolu Agency said 37 people working in the Interior Ministry’s headquarters had also been removed from their posts, although no explanation was given. Since the July 15 insurrection, Erdogan has taken steps to rid state institutions of staff deemed disloyal or potential enemies. About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police, judiciary and universities have been sacked or suspended from their jobs, and 32,000 arrested. The government says its aim is to rid institutions of links to Gulen, whose organization it calls a terrorist network. One of the police officers suspended on Tuesday, a 26-year-old man, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in a park in the Mediterranean city of Mersin, Dogan reported. SYRIA OPERATIONS The relentless crackdown has caused consternation among Turkey’s Western allies and human rights groups, who fear Erdogan is using the unsuccessful coup as a pretext to curtail any dissent, while at the same time intensifying his moves against suspected Kurdish militants and sympathizers. On Tuesday evening, the armed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) attacked a Turkish military outpost in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, in Diyarbikar province, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, the local governor said. “An attack has been made by the divisive terrorist organization on military personnel,” the governor’s office said in a statement, using the usual terminology to describe the PKK. In August, Turkish forces launched an offensive into northern Syria in support of rebels fighting against Islamic State, creating a security corridor along the Turkey-Syria border that also appears designed to push Kurdish militia away. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that the YPG Kurdish militia, which is backed by the United States, was filling a vacuum left by Islamic State and said Turkish forces were prepared to go after Kurdish fighters in the same way. “We know how to cleanse the PYD/YPG, just as we cleansed Daesh from Jarablus,” he said, referring to Islamic State. Ankara fears Kurdish militants fighting for greater autonomy in Turkey could benefit from turmoil in the region. In a further sign of the government’s desire to move rapidly to quell domestic opposition, Yildirim said the judicial process needed to be speeded up, especially when it came to prosecuting those accused of backing the coup. “One of the main goals is shortening the time it takes to prosecute people,” he said. “We are starting this with the July 15 coup plotters. We are doing this quickly.” While Turkey cracks down at home and expands its footprint in Syria, it also wants the United States to extradite Gulen so he can be prosecuted on charges that he masterminded the failed insurrection. Slideshow (2 Images) On Sunday, Turkish counter-terrorism police detained Gulen’s brother in Izmir, where he was staying at a relative’s house. Several of Gulen’s relatives, including a nephew, niece and cousins, have been arrested since July 15. Erdogan’s security clampdown may be bolstering his own authority but it has had economic repercussions, with credit ratings agencies downgrading the country’s debt to “junk” and the lira weakening against the dollar. On Tuesday, Yildirim lowered the growth outlook for 2016, saying the economy was likely to expand 3.2 percent, well below an original 4.5 percent forecast, while inflation for the year is set to hit 7.5 percent.

Turkish authorities suspend nearly 12,800 police officers from duty over their suspected links with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

INSTANBUL: Turkish police on Tuesday raided the Istanbul headquarters of prominent pro-Kurdish television channel IMC TV, cutting all its transmissions in line with a previous shutdown order. In dramatic scenes, police raided the headquarters of IMC TV and stopped broadcasts despite protests by staff who thronged the studio, its own live pictures showed. The channel was one of several outlets ordered to be shut down last week under Turkey’s controversial state of emergency. AFP</s>Istanbul: Turkish police on Tuesday raided the Istanbul headquarters of prominent pro-Kurdish television channel IMC TV, cutting all its transmissions while it was live on air. In dramatic scenes, police raided the IMC TV headquarters and stopped broadcasts despite protests by staff who thronged the studio, its own live pictures showed. The channel was one of several outlets ordered closed last week under Turkey’s controversial state of emergency imposed in the wake of the July 15 failed coup. The state of emergency has since been extended by another three months from October 19. The order has also affected 12 other television channels, which have been forced to cease their broadcasts on charges of links to groups deemed to threaten Turkey’s national security interests and support terror. Besides being accused of supporting the July 15 coup, they are charged with broadcasting “terror propaganda” for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Activists have repeatedly warned that the state of emergency could be used for crackdowns beyond the coup suspects. IMC TV’s management has rejected the accusations and called the order a “massive breach of freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” saying such actions have no place in a democracy. It had already been taken off air by Turkey’s largest satellite operator on the grounds of broadcasting “terrorist propaganda”. But the television broadcaster had remained on air until Tuesday through the Hotbird satellite and internet broadcasts. Dozens of staff crowded the news studio in a final show of defiance before broadcasts were cut, chanting “free media will not be silenced” and applauding their management. Images showed engineers from the authorities physically removing cables from the control room to ensure all broadcasts were cut. Internet transmissions were subsequently disabled although viewers could still catch the channel’s final moments broadcast by the employees on their private Periscope accounts. The closure has come at a time of growing concerns for press freedom in Turkey in the wake of the coup, with several prominent journalists under arrest. IMC TV, which was founded in 2011, has a strong pro-Kurdish tilt but broadcasts in Turkish and also focuses on women’s, leftist and environmental issues. It has always denied being linked to any organisation.

Turkish security forces raid the headquarters of IMC TV in Istanbul, cutting its transmissions while it was live on air, for allegedly broadcasting "terror propaganda".

BERLIN — German prosecutors say they have dropped an investigation of a TV comic who wrote a crude poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, citing insufficient evidence that he committed any crime. In April, the German government granted a Turkish request to allow the possible prosecution of Jan Boehmermann for insulting a foreign head of state. German law required the government to grant permission before prosecutors could consider whether to press charges. Boehmermann had read the poem on ZDF television to illustrate what he said wouldn't be allowed in Germany, contrasting it with another channel's earlier satirical song that also poked fun at Erdogan and angered Turkey. Prosecutors in Mainz, where ZDF is based, said in a statement Tuesday that "criminal actions could not be proven with the necessary certainty."</s>Image copyright Reuters Image caption Satirist Jan Boehmermann poked fun at Turkey's president in an obscene poem on TV German prosecutors have dropped an investigation into a TV comedian accused of insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The prosecutors in the western city of Mainz said they had not found sufficient evidence to continue the inquiry against Jan Boehmermann. In March, Boehmermann recited a satirical poem on TV which made sexual references to Mr Erdogan. Mr Erdogan then filed a complaint alleging that he had been insulted. Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Erdogan has drawn much criticism in Turkey and internationally for attacking political opponents In a statement on Tuesday, the prosecutors said that "criminal actions could not be proven with the necessary certainty". It was "questionable", the statement added, whether Boehmermann's poem constituted slander, given the satirical context in which the comedian recited it. In April, German Chancellor Angela Merkel Germany said her government would allow the potential prosecution of the comedian, triggering criticism that she did not stand up for free speech. Under German law, the cabinet had to approve a criminal inquiry. However, Mrs Merkel added that the authorities would move to repeal the controversial and little-used Article 103 of the penal code, which concerns insults against foreign heads of state, by 2018. Image copyright ZDF Image caption Boehmermann has relentlessly poked fun at German society Borderline racist or clever satire? By Damien McGuinness, BBC News, Berlin Was the poem a dangerous, illegal, borderline racist insult? Or was it a clever satire poking fun at German media and the country's outdated legal system? And what is satire anyway? Given that Jan Boehmermann could, at the request of a controversial foreign leader, conceivably have ended up prison over this gag, these suddenly seemed like very important questions in Germany. In the end it seems that Boehmermann's head-spinning self-referential irony has made it impossible for a court to say whether he was actually insulting Erdogan or not. Anyone who says Germans don't have a sense of humour, doesn't know Germany - and has certainly never seen Boehmermann in action. Irreverent to the point of discomfort, he is so subversive that you're often not sure if he's making fun of himself, someone else or you. During the height of tensions between Athens and Berlin over the Greek debt crisis Boehmermann portrayed Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis as a vengeful motorbike-riding sex bomb. But it was in fact his fellow Germans, and the rest of the media establishment, that the comedian was mocking. A jaunty 1930's-style Springtime for Hitler remake wittily highlighted the similarities between the views of the anti-migrant party AfD and Nazi-era politics. Even refugee helpers have been fair game, as Boehmermann mercilessly portrayed modern, multi-cultural Germans as an unstoppable horde of muesli-eating, Birkenstock-wearers. He clearly thinks they're right and the AfD is wrong. But that doesn't stop him making them look ridiculous. Boehmermann is a satirist and television presenter well-known for pushing the boundaries of German humour. The poem was broadcast on ZDF television. The comedian was later given police protection. Mr Erdogan has drawn much criticism in Turkey and internationally for attacking political opponents, including harassment of journalists. Many accuse him of authoritarian methods, stifling legitimate dissent and promoting an Islamist agenda. A rarely used article of the criminal code Paragraph 103 of Germany's penal code, on defamation of organs and representatives of foreign states, has the following to say: (1) Whosoever insults a foreign head of state, or, with respect to his position, a member of a foreign government who is in Germany in his official capacity, or a head of a foreign diplomatic mission who is accredited in the federal territory shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine, in case of a slanderous insult to imprisonment from three months to five years. The article dates back to the penal code drafted when the German Empire was formed in 1871, although at that time it just applied to monarchs. It has been little used in recent years and is colloquially known as the "Shah law" among German lawyers after the Shah of Persia successfully brought a case against a Cologne newspaper in 1964. A Swiss man living in Bavaria was also prosecuted under the article in 2007, after he posted offensive comments about then Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey on the internet. Criminal code in full (in English)

German prosecutors drop a case against comedian Jan Böhmermann, who had been indicted for a satirical poem about Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

REUTERS/Mike Blake In a Sept. 29 letter viewed by Reuters on Tuesday, Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, demanded that Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf provide a “full accounting” of customers affected. Discussions between congressional staffers and Wells Fargo “have indicated that the fraudulent activity of your employees was not limited to Wells Fargo’s consumer banking operations,” Vitter wrote. “Thousands of small business owners were impacted by this fraud.” A person familiar with Vitter’s probe say Wells has identified about 10,000 small business accounts that were subject to improper practices. A Wells Fargo spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment about Vitter's letter. The impacted accounts, including Small Business, were part of our Retail Bank business.” A Consumer Financial Protection Board spokesman contradicted the Wells statement, however, saying its figure of nearly 2 million accounts being affected did not include small business accounts. Wells Fargo spokeswoman Jennifer Langan said last week that Wells is reviewing earlier request letters sent by Vitter and will address them “in a timely manner.” The bank also plans to share information about its operations and lending with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Langan added at the time.</s>Wells Fargo staff opened checking, savings and credit card accounts without customer say-so for years to satisfy managers' demand for new business, according to a $190 million settlement with U.S. regulators and California prosecutors reached on Sept. 8. The bank said that it is "very sorry and take full responsibility for the incidents in our retail bank," and that it is taking steps to address the issues that have been raised. Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs on Monday said he was suspending $30 billion in investment activity with the San Francisco-based bank, while Chicago Treasurer Kurt Summers said he is divesting $25 million invested with Wells. Frerichs said at a news conference in Chicago that Illinois will stop using Wells Fargo as a broker-dealer to purchase investments because of illegal practices by the nation's second-largest bank.

The scandal over improper practices of unauthorized accounts at Wells Fargo extends to thousands of small-business owners.

Advisers for the candidates suggest there could be fireworks during the 90-minute affair, although vice presidential debates rarely change the direction of a presidential race. Hillary Clinton's Democratic Party running-mate Tim Kaine will go head-to-head against Republican candidate Mike Pence at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. “I can't imagine how Governor Pence can defend the insult-driven, selfish, me-first style of Donald Trump.” Mr. Pence, the governor of Indiana, calmly shot back: “You would know a lot about an insult-driven campaign,” highlighting Ms. Clinton's relentless criticism of Mr. Trump in recent months.</s>Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, and Pence, the Republican vice presidential nominee, squared off at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., for 90 minutes. A strong performance by Pence was considered crucial for Trump because of his poor showing last week and a series of controversies that followed, including his insults of a Venezuelan American beauty queen, the disclosure of a tax filing that showed Trump may not have paid federal income taxes for two decades and the suspension of his charity foundation this week by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Pence mocked that: “You used that a lot, and I think your running mate used a lot of pre-planned lines.” The debate began a few minutes after 9 p.m. at Longwood University. The Republican campaign manager predicts voters watching on TV will see Pence deliver a “fiery performance.” Virginia Sen. Kaine has a clear assignment, too: Build on Hillary Clinton’s recent burst of momentum at Trump’s expense. Pence at one point accused Kaine and Clinton of lodging “an avalanche of insults,” while Kaine accused Pence and Trump of running an “insult-driven campaign.” Moderator Elaine Quijano looked like a traffic cop for much of the evening, trying to keep the candidates from talking over each other and her. The two clashed over immigration, terrorism, policing, Russia, Donald Trump’s taxes, Hillary Clinton’s record as secretary of state, abortion rights and more in the first and only vice presidential debate of the year. Kaine is a friendly and earnest political veteran whose easygoing demeanor is similar to Pence. So I guess the rest of us who do pay for those things are stupid.” “I can’t imagine how Gov. He’s tried to serve as a validator of Clinton’s character, eager to offset the questions many Americans have about her honesty and trustworthiness. “We trust Hillary Clinton as president and commander-in-chief,” Kaine said, speaking of himself and his wife. “The thought of Donald Trump as commander in chief scares us to death.” But Pence was just as aggressive in attacking Clinton for failures in the economy and national security during President Obama’s tenure. But Pence said the U.S. should “err on the side of safety and security of the American people” when it comes to deciding whether to allow refugees in the country. “We see remarkable portions of the world ... literally spinning out of control.” Kaine countered that Clinton helped start the process to cut a deal to halt Iran’s nuclear program and worked in the Obama administration when Osama Bin Laden was killed. “I can’t believe you are defending the position there is no bias.” Kaine then pivoted into an attack on Trump, reciting the GOP nominee’s demeaning comments about Mexican immigrants, women and war hero John McCain, the Arizona senator. “If you want to have a society where people are respected and respect laws, you can’t have somebody at the top who demeans everybody,” he said. On the subject of immigration, Pence said a Trump administration would “reform the system we have” after securing the border and getting rid of illegal immigrants “who have overstayed their welcome.” Kaine criticized Trump for proposing mass deportations and said a Clinton administration would pass bipartisan reform to provide immigrants with a path to citizenship. Mike Pence quarreled Tuesday night over foreign policy, the economy and a number of other issues during the vice presidential debate.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, and the Governor of Indiana Mike Pence hold the first and only vice-presidential debate of the 2016 presidential election at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

Nigel Farage has ruled himself out of the UKIP leadership contest Nigel Farage has told Sky News he is technically still UKIP leader after Diane James quit the job after just 18 days in charge. "It has become clear that I do not have sufficient authority, nor the full support of all my MEP colleagues and party officers to implement changes I believe necessary and upon which I based my campaign."</s>Ukip leader Diane James has resigned after just over two weeks in charge of the party, it has been reported. Ms James, the front-runner throughout the leadership campaign, was backed by supporters of Mr Farage and Ukip’s millionaire funder Arron Banks. Ms James (56) was elected to the European Parliament as an MEP for South East England in 2014, as part of the political “earthquake” achieved as Ukip became the first non-mainstream party in modern times to win a national election in the UK. But asked if he would consider returning as leader, Mr Farage told the Press Association: “Not for ten million dollars.” Asked if he would take 20 million dollars, he said: “No I’m not coming back, I’m retired.”

Diane James resigns as the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party after just 18 days in charge.

Both the Colombian government and FARC rebels declare they remain committed to revive negotiations after voters rejected peace agreement BOGOTA: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos opened a new national dialogue Monday to seek peace with FARC rebels as both sides scrambled to revive a peace deal to end the half-century conflict. In a televised address a day after voters rejected the agreement in a referendum, Santos said he had asked the government’s chief negotiator Humberto de la Calle to “begin discussions as soon as possible addressing all the necessary issues to have an agreement and realize the dream of every Colombian to end the war with the FARC.” De la Calle had earlier offered his resignation, saying he did not want to be “an obstacle to what comes next.” Monday’s announcement came after Santos – who has staked his legacy on ending the 52-year-old conflict – called an emergency meeting with leaders of the country’s political parties to try to chart a way forward after Sunday’s shock referendum defeat. Both President Juan Manuel Santos and leaders of the FARC, after four years of gruelling negotiations, vowed to push ahead, giving no hint they want to resume a war that has already killed 220,000 people and displaced 8 million. “The decision on whether to open up the agreements is a decision that falls to the FARC,” Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin told a press conference. “The thing is, just as the government has its deal breakers, so does the Farc, so we have to see if it is willing to reopen the accord,” Ms Holguin told reporters. But there is vehement opposition – led by hardline former president Alvaro Uribe – to major planks of the previous deal, including guaranteed congressional seats for the Farc and immunity from traditional jail sentences for leaders. After years of refusing to meet negotiators, Mr Uribe has now said he is willing to seek a joint solution. The meeting between Santos and Uribe comes after the latter’s right-wing party, the Democratic Center, snubbed emergency talks that Santos convened Monday at the presidential palace to chart a way forward with the country’s top political leaders.</s>Colombian President Jose Manuel Santos announced Tuesday that the ceasefire signed with Marxist rebel group FARC will expire at the end of the month. "I hope that we can advance in our accords and dialogues so that we can settle on the arrangements, and the agreements that allow us to put in place a solution to this conflict," Santos said in a televised statement. Colombia was thrown into disarray Sunday after voters narrowly rejected a referendum on the deal brokered between the government and FARC to end a 52-year war. Final results showed a little more than 50% of voters chose "no." On Wednesday, Santos will meet with opposition leader and former president Alvaro Uribe. Santos will also meet with former president Andrés Pastrana Arango, who also opposed the peace deal.

Colombian government and FARC representatives meet in Havana, and President Juan Manuel Santos will meet with presidential predecessors Álvaro Uribe, the accord opposition leader, and Andrés Pastrana Arango, to continue negotiations to end the 52-year war that has killed around a quarter of a million people.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — British-born scientists David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz were awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for studies on exotic matter that could result in improved materials for electronics or quantum computers. The academy said the laureates’ work in the 1970s and ’80s opened the door to a previously unknown world where matter takes unusual states or phases. The 8 million kronor ($930,000) award was divided with one half going to Thouless and the other to Haldane and Kosterlitz for “theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.” Topology is a branch of mathematics that describes properties of objects. Haldane, 65, is a physics professor at Princeton University in New Jersey. Thouless, 82, is a professor emeritus at the University of Washington, Haldane, 65, is a physics professor at Princeton University in New Jersey, and Kosterlitz, 73, is a physics professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz, who are now affiliated with universities in the United States, were honoured for breakthroughs they made in the 1970s and ’80s, The Associated Press reported. Nobel judges often award discoveries made decades ago, to make sure they withstand the test of time. “At the risk of making a bad mistake, I would say that this quantum computation stuff is a long way from being practical.” This year’s Nobel Prize announcements started Monday with the medicine award going to Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi for discoveries on autophagy, the process by which a cell breaks down and recycles content. The chemistry prize will be announced on Wednesday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The economics and literature awards will be announced next week. Each prize has a purse of 8 million kronor ($930,000). Besides the prize money, the winners get a medal and a diploma at the award ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.</s>Press release: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2016 4 October 2016 The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2016 with one half to David J. Thouless University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA and the other half to F. Duncan M. Haldane Princeton University, NJ, USA and J. Michael Kosterlitz Brown University, Providence, RI, USA ”for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter” They revealed the secrets of exotic matter This year’s Laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states. British-born scientists David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Physics for studies of unusual states of matter such as in superconductors, the award-giving body said on Tuesday. "Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement awarding the 8 million Swedish crown ($937,000) prize. “Many people are hopeful of future applications in both materials science and electronics.” The committee said the three laureates’ use of topological concepts in physics was decisive for their discoveries. Much of the work involves a field of maths known as topology, which describes properties of matter at large and small scales. The physics of strange matter - an example Image copyright Nobel Phase transitions occur when matter changes from one phase to another, such as when ice melts and becomes water Kosterlitz and Thouless described a type of phase transition in a thin layer of very cold matter In the cold, vortices form (diagram) as tight pairs, but at higher temperatures, as the phase transition occurs, they separate and "sail" off in different directions One aspect of the work, known as the Quantum Hall effect, has led to a real-world application. Over the last decade, this area has boosted frontline research in condensed matter physics, not least because of the hope that topological materials could be used in new generations of electronics and superconductors, or in future quantum computers. "And this year's Nobel laureates in their theoretical work discovered a set of totally unexpected regularities in the behaviour of matter, which can be described in terms of an established mathematical concept - namely, that of topology. On Monday, the medicine prize went to Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan for his pioneering work on autophagy—a process whereby cells “eat themselves”, which can result in Parkinson’s and diabetes when disrupted. STOCKHOLM: The Nobel Chemistry Prize is to be announced on Wednesday, with observers suggesting it could go to gene-editing, the invention of the rechargeable battery or the discovery of new periodic elements.

British scientists, David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and John M. Kosterlitz, are awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics "for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter".

Sharapova was initially banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced the sanction by nine months, saying she bore "no significant fault or negligence." The International Tennis Federation told CNN in a statement Wednesday: "We have reviewed, and will continue to review, our processes for communicating changes to the Prohibited List to players with the aim of ensuring that no player can claim that they had not been fully informed." The five-time grand slam champion will return to the sport in April 2017 after serving a 15-month suspension for testing positive for the banned substance meldonium at the Australian Open in January. Media playback is not supported on this device Sharapova reveals failed drug test Sharapova's lawyer, John Haggerty, called the Cas decision "a stunning repudiation of the ITF". There was a hint of censure from the panel for Sharapova in that she did not mention her use of meldonium and two other over-the-counter heart treatments on her doping control forms, but her legal team argued she did not do so because she did not take these products every day and did not see the need to list them as they were legal.</s>However, will Wimbledon – or any of the other Grand Slam tournaments for that matter - want to give such support to Maria Sharapova, who remains a drugs offender despite the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to reduce her International Tennis Federation ban from two years to 15 months? Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player, tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open in January and received a two-year ban from the International Tennis Federation. “The panel has determined, under the totality of the circumstances, that a sanction of 15 months is appropriate here given her degree of fault,” the three-man arbitration body ruled. Sharapova, who tested positive for Meldonium at this year’s Australian Open, can return to competition next April, but in order to gain direct entry into the Grand Slam events she would need to be ranked in the world’s top 104 six weeks before the start of each tournament. Sharapova called it “one of my happiest days”, while Johan Eliasch, the chairman of her racket manufacturer and sponsor, Head, issued a statement in which he said the company would like to “congratulate” the player on the news. I am counting the days until I can return to the court.” The doping suspension kept the 29-year-old Sharapova out of this year’s French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open, as well as the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. While the CAS ruling will have made uncomfortable reading for the ITF, which was said to have failed to give adequate warning to players that Meldonium was being added to the sport’s list of banned substances in 2016, it also made clear that Sharapova bore “some degree of fault”. “As we demonstrated before CAS, not only did the tennis anti-doping authorities fail to properly warn Maria, if you compare what the ITF did with how other federations warned athletes of the rule change, it’s a night and day difference.” Sharapova said she was first prescribed the Latvian-made drug, typically used for heart conditions, by her family doctor for various medical issues in 2006. The ITF panel also said the case “inevitably led to the conclusion” that she took the substance “for the purpose of enhancing her performance.” Meldonium increases blood flow, which improves exercise capacity by carrying more oxygen to the muscles.

In an appeals review, the International Tennis Federation states that tennis players will not be able to plead ignorance if they test positive for banned substances. The Court of Arbitration for Sport reduces Maria Sharapova's two-year ban to 15 months. She tested positive for meldonium.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s Jose Cuervo, the world’s biggest tequila producer, has delayed its planned initial public offering and will wait until after the U.S. presidential election before going ahead, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. A bottle of Jose Cuervo Tequila rests on a shelf in Mexico City December 11, 2012. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido Speaking on condition of anonymity, the three people said concern about market volatility around the Nov. 8 U.S. election meant that Cuervo had decided to postpone the listing, which they said had been scheduled for this month. Representatives for Jose Cuervo did not respond to a request for comment on the delay, which appears to be the first instance of a major IPO being postponed because of concern about volatility surrounding the election, which has already roiled markets in Mexico. The company, known officially as Becle, announced the IPO slated for the Mexican bourse in a filing last week, but without saying when it would take place. It also plans a private placement to investors in the United States, where the tequila market has increasingly been shifting toward high-end 100 percent agave brands. A person familiar with the matter said last week the company could seek to raise between $500 million and $1 billion. Some investors in Mexico’s currency and other instruments have grown apprehensive about the possibility of a win by Republican White House candidate Donald Trump, who has fired off a series of verbal broadsides against Mexico and its economy. Trump has vowed to build a wall on the border with Mexico that he said he would make Mexico pay for and threatened to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement if he wins. He has also berated U.S. firms that invest in Mexico. Concern about the election has been more glancing on U.S. equity markets, where optimism had been growing about a rebound in IPOs after occasionally choppy markets had dampened enthusiasm for new issues for much of the year. Jose Cuervo made reference to the U.S. election in its prospectus, noting that any renegotiation of trade deals after the vote could ultimately have a serious impact on business. On Tuesday, Agustin Carstens, the head of Mexico’s central bank, said the bank may not follow any impending interest rate increase by the U.S. Federal Reserve if the outcome of the U.S. presidential election is favorable to Mexico. Last week Carstens said a Trump victory would hit Mexico like a hurricane, and that a win by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would yield a better outcome for the Mexican economy. The company has said proceeds from the IPO, due to be handled by Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Banco Santander and brokerage GBM Grupo Bursatil Mexicano, will be used to fund organic and external growth, as well as broaden its portfolio. Started by Jose Antonio de Cuervo in the late 1700s before Mexican independence from Spain, Jose Cuervo says it is North America’s oldest continuous producer of spirits. With origins in the picturesque town of Tequila in Jalisco state, the business is now controlled by the Beckmann family. They will remain the majority shareholder after the IPO.</s>MEXICO CITY, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Mexico's Jose Cuervo, the world's biggest tequila producer, has delayed its planned initial public offering and will wait until after the U.S. presidential election before going ahead, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The company, known officially as Becle, announced the IPO in a filing last week, but without saying when it would take place. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the three people said concern about market volatility meant that Cuervo had decided to postpone the listing, which they said was scheduled for this month. Jose Cuervo was not immediately available for comment. A person familiar with the matter suggested last week the company could seek to raise between $500 million and $1 billion.

Mexican tequila producer Jose Cuervo will delay its IPO until after the U.S. presidential election due to concern over potential market volatility.

SEOUL, South Korea — A typhoon that battered South Korea this week killed seven people and left three others missing, the country's safety agency said Thursday. Typhoon Chaba caused strong winds and heavy rain in southeastern South Korea and the southern resort island of Jeju on Tuesday and Wednesday. The storm later dissipated after moving off the east coast. The seven dead include one person who fell from a breakwater and another who fell from the roof of a house, the Ministry of Public Safety and Security said in a statement. It said the typhoon made 190 others homeless and temporarily left about 229,000 households without power. Chaba also inundated hundreds of houses, shops and factories, the ministry said. Another typhoon, Lionrock, hit a remote area of North Korea in late August, causing floods that are estimated to have killed more than 130 people and left 400 others missing. The Red Cross estimates that 70,000 people were made homeless in North Hamgyong province.</s>South Korea cleaned up Thursday after Typhoon Chaba lashed its southern coast with powerful winds and heavy rains that triggered flash floods and left six people dead and four missing. The violent storm passed over the southern tip of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday, pummeling the port of Busan — the country’s second-largest city — and the industrial city of Ulsan. In Ulsan, a man drowned near his apartment and a woman was found dead at a flooded underground parking lot. According to the Korea Electric Power Corp., a total of 211,852 households across the nation ― mostly on Jeju and in South Gyeongsang Province ― suffered power outages. In Ulsan, home to Hyundai Motor’s main production facilities, two car plants had to be closed down when the typhoon hit, and one remained offline Thursday due to flood damage. Photos released by the Hyundai labor union showed flooded assembly lines where workers produce popular sedans and sports utility vehicles.

Chaba leaves at least four people dead, and three others missing in South Korea.

An Israel Air Force F-16I fighter jet during a training exercise in Israel, in 2013. An Israeli Air Force pilot was killed Wednesday as he ejected from his F-16I fighter jet after returning from an airstrike mission in the Gaza Strip. The Israel Air Force struck three Hamas sites in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, after a rocket fired from Gaza exploded in the Israeli border city of Sderot. The pilot who was killed was identified as Maj. Ohad Cohen Nov, 34, who recently assumed the position of squadron deputy commander. He was survived by his pregnant wife and daughter, as well as his parents and two sisters. Maj. Ohad Cohen Nov. IDF Spokesperson's Unit A navigator who was also in the aircraft successfully ejected and escaped the incident unharmed. It was initially unclear why the jet's crew decided to abandon the aircraft as they were already in the landing stages over the Ramon Air Force base. The F-16I burst into flames following the ejection of the crew. Air Force commander Major General Amir Eshel appointed a team of investigators to determine the details of the incident. Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter Email * Please enter a valid email address Sign up Please wait… Thank you for signing up. We've got more newsletters we think you'll find interesting. Click here Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later. Try again Thank you, The email address you have provided is already registered. Close The aircraft, know as the "Sufa" ("Storm") in Hebrew, is the most advanced aircraft currently in service in the Israeli Air Force. The first of these aircraft arrived in Israel in February, 2004 and have been in service ongoingly ever since. The slightly altered Israeli version of the American-built F-16 has crashed three times during its use by the Israeli Air Force. During the Second Lebanon War of 2006, a fully-armed F-16I en route to Lebanon for operational activity crashed on the runway when one of its tires exploded during takeoff. The crew all escaped unharmed, but the plane was badly damaged. In 2010, an F-16I crashed near Mitzpeh Ramon while leading three other planes on a nighttime exercise. In that case, both crew members – Maj. Amichai Itkes and Maj. Immanuel Levy – were killed. Finally, three years ago, an F-16I crashed during a training flight about 40 miles off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Both crew members escaped unhurt. They later reported that they had experienced an engine failure, and when they were unable to solve the problem, they decided to abandon the plane over the sea.</s>An Israeli air force pilot has died after he ejected from a fighter jet which had caught fire. The F-16I jet crash landed while flying in to the Ramon Air Force base in southern Israel. Deputy squadron commander Major Ohad Cohen Nov was killed as he attempted to escape the flames. The 34-year-old was reportedly flying his plane back from Gaza, where the Israeli air force says it was launching attacks on Hamas targets in the Gaza strip in an apparent reaction to the bombing of the border town of Sderot earlier in the week. Major Nov’s co-pilot was injured during the crash and evacuated to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. “The families have been notified and an Air-Force commission to review the circumstances of the crash has commenced,” the air force said in a statement. “Deputy Squadron Commander, Maj. Ohad Cohen Nov, 34, is the pilot that was killed in the crash earlier today. May his memory be a blessing.” Israeli police said there were no casualties when a rocket struck Sderot but the air force retaliated by attacking three Hamas training camps, believing the group was responsible for the strike. “[The rocket attack] is the direct result of Hamas’ terror agenda in the Gaza Strip that encourages deliberate attacks against Israeli civilians,” army spokesman Peter Lerner said in a statement. Local reports suggest the rocket was launched by members of Ahfad Sahaba, an Isis-affiliated group operating in the area, and had nothing to do with Hamas fighters. The group posted a statement on various news websites claiming to have carried out the attack in the name of “oppressed brothers and sisters” under Israeli occupation. Hamas is yet to offer any statement regarding the death of Major Nov, but said of the Israeli attacks in Gaza: “Hamas stresses it can not keep silent if the escalation continues.” Major Nov’s funeral is due to be held at Moshav Mazor cemetery on Friday morning, the air force confirmed on Twitter.

An Israeli Air Force F-16 crashes while attempting to land at Ramon Airbase in southern Israel, killing the pilot. A navigator who was also in the aircraft successfully ejects and escapes the incident unharmed.

MIAMI, Florida (JTA) — Jewish institutions here were bracing for the worst as officials issued dire warnings about Hurricane Matthew, a Category 4 storm that approached the state’s Atlantic coast Thursday evening and was to move up the coast over the next 24 hours. The National Hurricane Center called Matthew, which wreaked havoc through Cuba and Haiti, extremely dangerous. “It is expected to remain a category four hurricane as it moves near the coast, bringing the potential for extensive damage across northeast Palm Beach County,” read a National Hurricane Center report on Thursday afternoon. “Elsewhere, the main concern is the potential for significant wind damage across the remainder of Palm Beach and northeastern Broward counties where there continues to be a threat of hurricane conditions. Squalls associated with the rain bands of Matthew are impacting much of South Florida, and will continue to be able to produce tropical storm force wind gusts through Friday.” The 550,000 Jews of south Florida joined their neighbors in hanging hurricane shutters to shield windows from flying objects as well staying home from work and school. In many cases the weather is preventing communal religious gatherings because of the dangers of braving 100-mile-per-hour winds predicted during landfall. Many synagogues are shuttering for Shabbat as the storm is predicted to rage during that time and could potentially leave a dangerous mess in its aftermath. The entire state is practically in lockdown and many are being told to evacuate coastal areas. The proprietor of Zak the Baker kosher restaurant in the hip Wynnwood section of Miami posted a Facebook photo of staff boarding up the storefront on Thursday morning. The Miami Jewish Federation rescheduled a Thursday night Community Memorial Service honoring Israeli President Shimon Peres organized together with the Consulate General of Israel in Miami and other groups. In Miami the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center and Tauber Academy announced closures Thursday, October 6 and Friday, October 7. It affected their daily minyan in the morning and afternoon. An announcement on their web page said the leadership would continue to monitor the storm and its aftermath and promised to advise the congregation via text message about holding Friday night and Saturday morning services this coming Shabbat if weather, road and building conditions permit. Temple Israel of Greater Miami on the mainland and Temple Beth Sholom on Miami Beach closed during the week, also telling their congregants they would open for services Friday and Saturday weather permitting. Farther south, Congregation Bet Shira in Pinecrest erred on the side of caution telling congregants through social media there would be no Friday evening Shabbat services but Saturday morning Shabbat services would take place as usual, providing the synagogue has electrical power. Central and northern coastal areas were expected to bear the brunt of the storm. Evacuation orders were given for those residing in coastal areas starting around the Palm Beach area as well as counties to the north. “This storm will kill you,” Governor Rick Scott said in a Thursday press conference, urging Floridians to take the storm seriously. With the danger of a storm surge, the egalitarian Temple Emanuel, located on the barrier islands of Palm Beach, cancelled Friday night and Shabbat morning services. The Conservative Temple B’nai Jacob of Wellington in the western suburbs of Palm Beach County urged congregants through their Facebook page to make sure their preparations for the hurricane were thorough and complete. “Evacuate if necessary,” they urged. “Call another member of our community if you need assistance. Contact the appropriate authorites or the shul if you need help for a specific emergency. Be safe, and be strong. Chazak v’nitchazek! Be strong and we will strengthen each other! See you on Yom Kippur, when we will bentch gomel together as a congregation for delivering us from danger.” CBS 4 newscasters on Thursday afternoon warned viewers of the post-storm dangers, specifically the possibility of downed power lines. Temple Beth Kodesh in Boynton Beach in Palm Beach County, Temple Beit HeYam in Stuart, Temple Beth El in Port Saint Lucie and Temple Beth in Jupiter are also shuttered until Monday. On Thursday morning the Orthodox Palm Beach Synagogue posted photos of men in the shul garbed in their talitot and tefillin captioned: “Last morning service at the Palm Beach Synagogue before the storm. Praying for everyone to be safe!” Farther north the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando closed their operations as did the Maitland Jewish Community Campus through Monday. The Conservative Jacksonville, Florida Jewish Center synagogue also announced their closing this week, moving their annual cemetery memorial with another synagogue indoors on Sunday to the Jacksonville Jewish Center. By far, the most creative message explaining the series of cancellations through Monday caused by weather was a YouTube video posted by the clergy at Temple Judea of Palm Beach Gardens. Rabbi Yaron Kapitulnik and Cantor Alicia Stillman sang the traditional Shalom Aleichem Shabbat song in front of the temple’s ark. “Yehi ratzon lefanecha Adonai elohenu velohei avotenu, may it be your will Adonai, God of our ancestors, that we all remain safe and dry, Amen,” Kapitulnik ended the video.

Hurricane Matthew kills at least 26 people on the island of Hispaniola; 22 in Haiti and four more in the Dominican Republic. The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicts the storm, currently a Category 3 with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h), will strengthen as it moves across the Bahamas tonight and tomorrow, and be near the east coast of Florida by tomorrow evening.

(CNN) The United Nations Security Council Thursday formally approved the nomination of former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres to be the next secretary-general. The recommendation now goes to the 193-member UN General Assembly for final ratification. Guterres, who was head of the UN's refugee agency for 10 years until 2015, emerged as the Security Council's runaway favorite after the latest in a series of straw polls on Wednesday. The informal votes were used by the Security Council to thin the ranks of the 13 candidates who entered the race to become the new face of the UN. "We have a clear favorite and his name is Antonio Guterres," Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who is president of the Security Council, said when announcing the recommendation. He said the full UN membership would vote on the issue Friday at 10 a.m. "We hope it can be done by acclamation," Churkin said. The quick approval signaled that Russia and the United States could work together on UN issues despite the serious differences dividing them in hotspots around the globe. Guterres will confront a range of issues, from war-torn Syria and Yemen to the acquisition of nuclear weapons by North Korea and the refugee crisis in Europe. If selected by the membership for the five-year term, he would succeed Ban Ki-moon, a South Korean whose second five-year term ends on December 31. Samantha Powers, the United States' Ambassador to the UN, said the recommendation of Guterres went smoothly because he was widely considered the most competent person for the job based on his experience, vision and versatility on a range of issues. "It was remarkably uncontentious, uncontroversial, and I think it speaks to the fact that each of us represent our nation and each of us know how fundamentally important this position is in terms of the welfare of our own citizens," Powers said after the Security Council's recommendation. "If we have these transnational threats, and we don't have somebody at the helm of the United Nations that can mobilize coalitions, that can make the tools of this institution ... work better for people, that's going to be more pain and more suffering and more dysfunction than we can afford." Guterres, a trained engineer who worked as an assistant professor before entering politics in 1974, led his country from 1995 to 2002 as head of the Socialist Party. From 2005 to 2015, he served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He is credited with cutting costs at the agency during his tenure, as well as lifting its performance as it grappled with the migrant crisis. A practicing Catholic, Guterres remarried after his first wife died of cancer, and has two children. In Guterres' vision statement in applying for the position, he wrote of the challenges facing the world in terms of rising inequality, terrorism and organized crime, climate change and the proliferation of armed actors internationally. He wrote that the UN was "uniquely placed to connect the dots to overcome these challenges," but that change and reform are needed. "People in need of protection are not getting enough," he wrote. "The most vulnerable, such as women and children, are an absolute priority. We must make sure that when someone sees the Blue Flag, she or he can say: 'I am protected'."</s>6 October 2016 –New York (ABC Live): António Guterres : The Security Council today formally chose the former Prime Minister of Portugal, António Guterres, as its nominee to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations for a five-year term when incumbent Ban Ki-moon steps down on 31 December. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the Security Council presidency for the month, informed the President of the Assembly, Peter Thomson, that in the sixth informal 'straw poll' for the position of Secretary-General, Guterres emerged as the clear favourite among the Council's 15 members. “There is a clear lack of capacity in the international community to prevent and to solve conflicts.” What’s needed, he said, is a new “diplomacy for peace” which requires discreet diplomatic contacts and shuttling among key players in conflicts and disputes. The 15 members of the Security Council are expected to pass their endorsement this month to the General Assembly, which takes a symbolic vote on the decision. Guterres will almost certainly select a woman as deputy secretary-general and he said in the interview that one of the things that is “crucial” at the male-dominated United Nations is “to have gender parity.” He said that his 10 years as the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, which ended in December, were “excellent preparation” for a secretary-general who needs to be an honest broker and be seen by countries as independent in order to promote consensus and overcome crises. “António Guterres showed deep compassion for the millions of people who were forced to leave their homes,” Mr. Ban said, adding: “His past experience as Prime Minister of Portugal, his extensive knowledge of world affairs and his keen intelligence will serve him to lead the United Nations at a crucial period.” Under procedures for appointing the world body’s new chief, after the recommendation is transmitted from the Council to the Assembly, a draft resolution is issued for the Assembly to take action.

The United Nations Security Council affirms the first step in the election of Portuguese António Guterres as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. If ratified by the General Assembly, he will take office on January 1, 2017.

“What once seemed unthinkable is now unstoppable,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement. The Agreement will now enter into force in time for the Climate Conference (COP 22) in Morocco in November, where countries will convene the first Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement. “There’s a lot of hard work ahead to fulfill the main Paris goal, avoiding dangerous climate change. President Barack Obama hailed the news as “a turning point for our planet,” and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the agreement’s strong international support a “testament for the urgency of action.” Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech, called it: “A moment of bright hope in the increasingly discouraging landscape of climate science.” U.N. Obama called Wednesday “a historic day in the fight to protect our planet for future generations” and he told reporters on the White House Rose Garden: “If we follow through on the commitments that this Paris agreement embodies, history may well judge it as a turning point for our planet.” Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Portugal and Malta - European Union nations which have completed domestic ratification and account for about four percent of emissions - formally signed up on Wednesday. It’ll help set bolder targets.” The Paris agreement, struck last year, calls for all 195 signatories to come up with their own voluntary plans to reduce emissions. The deal will formally start in 30 days on Nov. 4, four days before the U.S. presidential election in which Republican Donald Trump opposes the accord and Democrat Hillary Clinton strongly supports it.</s>The world’s two largest emitters, China and the United States, have already ratified the pact, and the treaty — which will enter into force once it’s been ratified by at least 55 countries that together account for 55 percent or more of global emissions — is now assured of taking effect by early November. The landmark deal adopted at the climate change conference in Paris last December sets a target of keeping the rise in global temperatures from pre-industrial levels within 2 degrees Celsius — and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees — and of cutting the man-made emissions of global-warming gases effectively to zero in the latter half of this century.

The Paris Agreement on climate change which governs greenhouse gas emissions will take effect in November.

The Russian government said Wednesday that as a countermeasure to the U.S. sanctions imposed on it over events in Ukraine, it was putting aside a nuclear and energy-related research pact with the United States. The government also said on its website that an agreement between the state nuclear energy firm Rosatom and the U.S. Department of Energy on feasibility studies into conversion of Russian research reactors from highly-enriched to low enriched uranium had been terminated. On Monday, President Vladimir Putin suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons-grade plutonium, a signal that he is willing to use nuclear disarmament as a new bargaining chip in disputes with the United States over Ukraine and Syria. “The regular renewal of sanctions against Russia, which include the suspension of Russian-American cooperation in the field of nuclear energy demands the adoption of countermeasures against the U.S. side,” the Russian government said on its website. The agreement on co-operation in nuclear- and energy-related scientific research, signed in 2013, provided the legal framework necessary to expand work between U.S. and Russian nuclear research laboratories and institutes in nuclear technology and nonproliferation, among others. The uranium agreement, signed in 2010, provided for feasibility studies into the conversion of six Russian research reactors from dangerous highly enriched uranium to more secure low-enriched uranium. The West imposed economic sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014, followed by a pro-Russian insurrection in the east of the country. The breakdown of a cease-fire in Syria, where Russia backs government forces and the West supports rebel groups, has added to tensions.</s>Following weeks of deteriorating diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Russia over Syria — to the point where the U.S. has now placed additional military options on the table — Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended a nuclear pact with Washington on Monday, Reuters reports, indicating his willingness to play the nuclear card with the United States. The United States this week announced it was suspending talks with Russia on a ceasefire, all but saying the Russian and Syrian assault on Aleppo had made a mockery of the peace effort. On Monday, Putin suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons-grade plutonium, signaling he is willing to use nuclear disarmament as a new bargaining chip in disputes with the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suspends the 2013 nuclear agreement with the United States concerning uranium research.

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military said Tuesday it had beefed up its forces in Syria with state-of-the-art air defense missiles, an announcement that follows Washington’s move to suspend contacts with Russia over Syria. The deployment immediately raised questions in the Pentagon, which wondered about its purpose. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said a battery of the S-300 air defense missile systems had been sent to Syria to protect a Russian facility in the Syrian port of Tartus and Russian navy ships off the Mediterranean coast. Tartus is the only naval supply facility Russia has outside the former Soviet Union. The deployment adds more punch to the Russian military force in Syria, which already includes long-range S-400 missile defense systems and an array of other surface-to-air missiles at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia. Russia has conducted an air campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad since Sept. 30 2015, saving his army from imminent defeat and helping it win key ground. The S-300 deployment was announced a day after the U.S. announced it was suspending direct diplomatic contacts with Russia on ending the war in Syria. Washington’s decision followed the collapse of the Russia-U.S.-brokered cease-fire in Syria and the Syrian army’s onslaught on Aleppo backed by Russian warplanes. While Washington put diplomatic contacts on hold, it has maintained a military-to-military dialogue intended to prevent incidents in the air between Russian and the U.S-led coalition aircraft over Syria. Amid the rising U.S.-Russian tensions, the new Russian missile deployment seems intended to send a warning signal to the U.S. Russia reacted nervously last month when aircraft of the U.S.-led coalition struck Syrian army troops near Deir el-Zour. Damascus said 60 Syrian soldiers died in the air raid. Washington said the strike was launched by mistake, but Moscow has questioned the U.S. explanation. The S-300, a sophisticated long-range system capable of striking enemy aircraft and cruise missiles up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) away, could cover other areas in Syria along with Tartus. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook noted that Russia’s declared goal in Syria is to fight extremism, but that the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida branch there don’t have planes that could be targeted by such a system. “I would question just what the purpose of the system is,” Cook said. Asked if the system posed a threat to U.S. aircraft or crews, Cook said, “It depends on how the Russians plan to use it.” He said the United States would continue to ensure the safety of its forces, which have the right to act in self-defense. Konashenkov sought to down play the deployment, saying “the S-300 is exclusively a defensive system that doesn’t threaten anyone.” “It’s not quite clear why the deployment of the S-300 in Syria has so worried our Western colleagues,” he said. In a sharp attack on Washington, Konashenkov also charged that the U.S.-led action against the Islamic State group was merely an “imitation” that has failed to prevent the IS expansion. Like other Russian officials, he blamed Washington for the collapse of the U.S.-Russian truce in Syria. He attributed the cease-fire’s downfall to the U.S.’s failure to force moderate rebels to break ties with the al-Qaida branch in Syria, which has recently changed its name from Jabhat al-Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. “It’s time for our American partners to publicly recognize that practically all Syrian ‘opposition’ nurtured and controlled by them is an inalienable part of the al-Qaida,” Konashenkov said. Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.</s>A senior Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “In the experts’ negotiations they (Russia) have opposed every single dot and comma of the resolution.” French officials have said that if Moscow were to oppose the resolution they would be ready to put it forward anyway to force Moscow into a veto, underscoring its complicity with the Syrian government. The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that a battery of the S-300 air defense missile systems has been deployed to Syria to protect a Russian naval facility in the port of Tartus and Russian navy ships in the area. “We consider that this is our responsibility to do absolutely everything we can do, everything humanly possible to unite the Security Council behind our efforts to end the martyrdom in Aleppo,” France’s UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said before Monday’s meeting. Rebels said they inflicted losses on pro-government fighters after hours of clashes on the fringe of Sheikh Saed district, at the southern edge of the rebel-held eastern half of Aleppo city. Half of the estimated 275,000 Syrians besieged in the rebel-held eastern part of the city want to leave, the United Nations said, with food supplies running short and people driven to burning plastic for fuel.

France seeks United States and Russian support for a Security Council resolution to impose a new truce that will allow aid into Aleppo, which has experienced two weeks of heavy Syrian and Russian bombing of rebel-held areas.

WASHINGTON — The FBI secretly arrested a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor in August and, according to law-enforcement officials, is investigating whether he stole and disclosed highly classified computer code developed by the agency to hack into the networks of foreign governments. Harold Thomas Martin III, 51, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, was arrested by the FBI in August after he admitted to having taken government secrets, authorities said. A defense attorney said Martin did not intend to betray his country. Image copyright Twitter Six of the documents found in Mr Martin's possession were classified as top secret, "meaning that unauthorized disclosure reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the US", the Justice Department said. The arrest raises the embarrassing prospect that for the second time in three years, a contractor for the consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton managed to steal highly damaging secret information while working for the NSA. "Martin at first denied, and later when confronted with specific documents, admitted he took documents and digital files from his work assignment to his residence and vehicle that he knew were classified," according to the complaint, despite not having the authorization to do so. He told the agents, according to the complaint, “He knew what he had done was wrong and that he should not have done it because he knew it was unauthorized.” The Justice Department unsealed the complaint — which was filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore — after The New York Times notified the government it intended to publish a story about Martin. Martin has been in custody since a court appearance in August, when he was arrested. There is no evidence that he intended to betray his country.” If true, the accusations against Martin are a setback for the Obama administration, which has sustained a series of disclosures of classified information. "What we do know is that Hal Martin loves his family and his country. "A large percentage of the materials recovered from Martin's residence and vehicle bore markings indicating that they were property of the United States and contained highly classified information of the United States," FBI Special Agent Jeremy Bucalo wrote. The arrest was not made public until Wednesday, when the Justice Department unsealed a criminal complaint that accused Martin of having been in possession of top-secret information that could cause “exceptionally grave danger” to national security if disclosed. John Carlin, the Justice Department's top national security official, said the arrest underlined the threat posed by insiders. According to a criminal complaint, Harold Thomas Martin III, 51, was charged with theft of government property and unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials by a government employee or contractor after searches of his home and property revealed hard-copy and digital files containing "highly classified information." In 2013, Edward Snowden, who was also a Booz Allen contractor, took a vast trove of documents from the agency that later were passed to journalists, exposing surveillance programs in the United States and abroad.</s>The Department of Justice released a criminal complaint against Harold Thomas Martin III, 51, of Maryland, charging him with theft of government property and unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials. The Justice Department’s chief national security prosecutor John Carlin said Harold Thomas Martin (51) worked as a government contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton, the same consulting firm that employed Edward Snowden when he revealed the collection of meta-data by the National Security Agency. Six documents investigators found in Martin’s possession allegedly contained sensitive intelligence and were produced by a U.S. government agency in 2014. “These six documents were produced through sensitive government sources, methods, and capabilities, which are critical to a wide variety of national security issues,” the complaint said.

The United States Department of Justice charges a top secret security clearance National Security Agency contractor, Harold Thomas Martin III, with theft of government property and unauthorised removal of "highly classified" materials.

The 70 people arrested were among more than 700 detained when police raided makeshift call centers - a bungalow, an office building and a shopping center in the Mumbai suburb of Thane - late on Tuesday. Assistant police commissioner Bharat Shelke told Reuters the alleged scammers posed as U.S. Internal Revenue Service officials and left victims voicemails accusing them of tax evasion and threatening them with arrest. Authorities say callers were trained to switch their Indian accent for a passable American one.</s>The issue of fake certificates being used for employment in India and abroad has begun to increasingly worry universities in the State. The universities find themselves in a position not to take any action against fraudulent players because they do not directly deal with the job applicants and companies do not share information of fake certificate holders. The introduction of digital signature and hologram in Calicut University in recent years, for example, has not helped to check the use of fake certificates. The number of fake certificates of Calicut University used for employment purposes rather steadily increased in the last five years. When only three fake cases were detected in 2012, the number of fake cases increased to 26 in 2013, 36 in 2014, and 38 in 2015. Fifteen fake certificates of the university were detected so far in the current year. The issue of fake certificates is almost the same in other universities in the State, said agencies involved in certificate verification. But the number of fake degree certificates of Calicut University used for jobs abroad was more than that of other universities. “It may be because of the demand for our degrees,” said a senior officer of the university. No case has been booked over fake certificates, though the university detected 118 forged documents in the last five years. University authorities said that the involvement of an outside agency for certificate verification deprives the university the opportunity to catch and book the fraud players. When an applicant submits the certificates for a job, the company refers the document to certified agencies for verification. The agency then sends the document to the university to ascertain its veracity. If the certificate is found fake, neither the university nor the agency will be able to reach the applicant as the company drops the matter there.

Police in the western Indian city of Thane arrest more than 750 people suspected of defrauding U.S. citizens from a fake call center.

WILLEMSTAD – The Supreme Electoral Council (SEC) held its first briefing today at 12 o’clock. According to Pacheco Römer, chairman of the SEC, up until that moment, 21,571 people voted which represents about 20% of the total voters on the island. “This is a good sign because normally this is 12 to 15%,” said Römer during the briefing. Voting will end at 7 o’clock and the SEC expects the first results to come in at 7:30pm. With all probability, the prison will be the first to announce its results. This year the SEC kept the number of voters for each polling stations small. None of the polling stations received more than 1500 voters. This means that the vote counting will take less time and the results will be in before the end of the day. The SEC expects that all the results will be in by 12 o’clock tonight.

Voters in Curaçao go to the polls to elect the 21 members of the Estates of Curaçao. The election had been delayed from September 30 due to Hurricane Matthew.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for developing the world’s smallest machines, work that could revolutionize computer technology and lead to a new type of battery. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage, British-born Fraser Stoddart and Dutch scientist Bernard “Ben” Feringa share the 8 million kronor ($930,000) prize for the “design and synthesis of molecular machines,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. The academy said molecular machines “will most likely be used in the development of things such as new materials, sensors and energy storage systems.” Sauvage, 71, is professor emeritus at the University of Strasbourg and director of research emeritus at France’s National Center for Scientific Research. Jean-Pierre Sauvage, 71, of the University of Strasbourg in France, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, 74, a Scottish born researcher based at Northwestern University in the U.S. each split one half of this year’s chemistry prize, worth about $1.2-million. READ MORE: Scotland’s 10 Nobel prize winners Feringa, 65, is a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. “I’m so honored’ and I’m also emotional about it.” Molecular machines are molecules with controllable movements, which can perform a task when energy is added, the academy said. So that is a bit how I feel.” The academy said Sauvage made the first breakthrough in 1983 when he linked two ring-shaped molecules together in such a way that they could move in relation to each other. Stoddart took the next step in 1991 by threading a molecular ring onto a molecular axle, while Feringa was the first to develop a molecular motor in 1999 when he got a molecular rotor blade to spin continuously in the same direction. Yesterday, Scottish-born scientists David Thouless and Michael Kosterlitz were awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in physics, for work that “revealed the secrets of exotic matter”. The Nobel in medicine or physiology was awarded on Monday to the Japanese cell biologist, Yoshinori Ohsumi, for discoveries on how cells break down and recycle their own components, a process known as autophagy. On Tuesday three British physicists, David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz, won the physics prize for their work on exotic states of matter. The winner of the peace prize will be announced on Friday and the economics prize will be announced on Monday 10 October. The Nobel Prizes will be handed out at ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, wanted his awards to honor achievements that delivered the “greatest benefit to mankind.” Samuel Petrequin in Paris and Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this report.</s>Jean-Pierre Sauvage, J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard Feringa win the Nobel chemistry prize for work on molecular machines that may lead to the development of new materials, sensors and energy storage systems

Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Scotsman Sir Fraser Stoddart, and Dutchman Ben Feringa win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research into nanotechnology.

Image copyright BLUE ORIGIN Image caption The capsule pushes itself up and away from the booster Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has furthered his ambition to launch people into space by practising a critical safety manoeuvre on his New Shepard vehicle. The rocket and capsule system launched normally from its Van Horn, Texas, desert pad on Wednesday but then made an early separation during the ascent. A motor in the capsule pushed it clear to parachute back to the ground. The “abort” simulated what would happen if the booster were ever to develop a problem as it climbed into the sky. Before Mr Bezos’ Blue Origin company starts putting people on the New Shepard system, there has to be confidence that lives can be saved in the event of an emergency. New Shepard is a sub-orbital vehicle - that is, it delivers sufficient thrust to put its capsule only briefly into space. Image copyright BLUE ORIGIN Image caption The New Shepard system is designed to be totally re-usable What is remarkable about New Shepard is that it is totally re-usable - both the booster and the capsule. Ordinarily, boosters are expendable. It is only recently that rocket vehicles have started to fly themselves back to Earth after a flight for a new mission. The booster used in Wednesday’s outing was making its fifth flight. Before the test, Blue Origin said it was unlikely to survive the demonstration due to the instability that is introduced by a mid-flight escape of the capsule. But the booster had no difficulty handling the disruption of the abort manoeuvre and brought itself down under control. It will now be put on show in a museum. Mr Bezos plans to take fare-paying passengers who want to ride New Shepard on short hops above the atmosphere. Scientists will also be given the opportunity to fly experiments in the capsule. These are studies that need to be run in a weightless environment, which the capsule will experience at the top of its arc. The online retail entrepreneur also plans to build a much bigger rocket system that he will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The booster for this, called New Glenn after the famous American astronaut John Glenn, should make its maiden flight before the end of the decade, Mr Bezos says. Image copyright BLUE ORIGIN Image caption The New Shepard booster lifts away from the Texas pad Image copyright BLUE ORIGIN Image caption The capsule has flown six times now and will also be retired to a museum Image copyright BLUE ORIGIN Image caption It made its return on three large parachutes Image copyright BLUE ORIGIN Image caption The booster came back shortly afterwards Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos</s>MIAMI: Blue Origin, the aerospace company headed by Amazon.com chief Jeff Bezos, ran a successful test Wednesday of an emergency escape function, aimed at saving space travelers’ lives in case of catastrophe. The New Shepard rocket blasted off from a Texas launchpad, then its unmanned capsule separated in mid-air about 45 seconds after liftoff, at a height of some 16,000 feet (4,900 meters). “All astronauts on board would have had a pretty exhilarating ride, but a safe ride,” said a commentator on Blue Origin’s live webcast. The New Shepard rocket is designed to eventually carry space tourists to the edge of space — defined as the Karman line about 62 miles (100 km) above the Earth’s sea level — and back, perhaps as early as 2018.

Aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin tests its New Shepard reusable launch system in Van Horn, Texas.

Six people were killed in an attack in northeast Kenya on Thursday by suspected Islamist militants from the Somali group al Shabaab, the regional governor and Kenyan media reported, the latest strike in an area by the militants. He said the “attack occurred near the border and was targeting non locals but our officers moved swiftly and rescued 27 others.” Mandera Governor Ali Roba too confirmed the attack saying “we have suffered yet another attack in Mandera and sadly we have lost 6 people.” A senior police officer from the region said “there is no doubt this is the work of Al Shabaab who crossed back to their country but we will get them.” The attack was the first in the region in the last one year, authorities said. ADVERTISEMENT “There was an attack in Mandera and unfortunately we lost six people,” Police chief Joseph Boinnet told Capital Fm on telephone. “From the nature and style of the attack, it will obviously be al Shabaab.” Kenya's Daily Nation said on its website that the attack occurred early in the morning at a public works site. Related Coverage Somali Islamist group says carried out attack in northeast Kenya Repeated in attacks in Kenya by al Shabaab have killed hundreds of people in the past three years or so and hammered the country’s vital tourism industry.</s>Six killed in suspected Shabaab attack in northeast Kenya Six people were killed in a suspected attack by Shabaab militants on a residential compound in the restive northeastern Kenyan town of Mandera, police and local authorities said Thursday. The attack reportedly targeted a gated residential building mainly housing non-ethnic Somalis and non-Muslims, less than a mile from the volatile Somalia border town of Beled Hawa, according to media reports. "We have suffered yet another attack in Mandera and sadly we have lost six people, Mandera Governor Ali Roba stated in a statement issued moments after the attack. Police chief Joseph Boinnet told AFP that there were 33 people inside the compound when the attack took place in the early hours of the morning. The Shabaab has fought to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu since 2007, but turned its sights on Kenya when the army was sent into Somalia in 2011 to fight the Islamic insurgents.

An al-Shabaab attack on a village near the Kenyan town of Mandera results in six deaths.

Image copyright LCC Image caption Opposition judicial officials and a rebel commander were reportedly among the dead At least 29 people, most of them rebel fighters, have been killed in a bombing near Syria's border with Turkey, activists say. The Islamic State group considers Atmeh a priority location because Islamic prophecies say it is the site of an end-of-times battle between Muslims and their "Roman rivals" – a term the extremist group has now expanded to include the Unite States and its allies, BBC reported. The attack, which was quickly claimed by the Islamic State group, underscored the complex layers of the Syrian conflict, where a civil war between Syrian president Bashar Assad’s forces and the rebels trying to oust him is taking place alongside a militant insurgency and an international war against IS. It was not immediately clear whether the blast was caused by a suicide bomber or a remote-controlled device. Another group, the Local Coordination Committees, said the blast was caused by a bag filled with explosives that went off on the Syrian side of a border crossing, killing 35 people including two senior judicial officials from the opposition. In the Islamic State group's claim, the IS-linked Aamaq news agency said a suicide car bomber struck a convoy of rebels on the Syrian side of a border crossing point in Atmeh.</s>IS claims bombing of Syrian rebels near Turkey that killed 20 BEIRUT — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing in a northwestern Syrian village that killed at least 20 people, including many Turkey-backed opposition fighters. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency says a suicide car bomber struck a convoy of rebels on the Syrian side of a border crossing point in the village of Atmeh. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens. An activist collective in Idlib province known as Ariha Today put the death toll at 24. The Observatory says the killed rebels have been fighting along with Turkish forces against the Islamic State group since August.

A bombing in rebel controlled Atme, Idlib Governorate, near the Syria–Turkey border, kills at least 29 people, mostly rebel fighters, and injures dozens more. ISIL claims responsibility.

Kurdish militant groups have more frequently targeted police and the Turkish armed forces, who are currently carrying out operations against the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the south-east as a three-decade insurgency continues.</s>At least 5 hurt in bomb attack near Istanbul police station ISTANBUL — A bomb placed on a motorcycle has exploded near a police station in Istanbul on Thursday, wounding at least five people, a senior official said. Vasip Sahin, the governor for Istanbul, told reporters at the scene in the Yenibosna district that none of the injured was in serious condition, retracting an earlier statement that one person was seriously hurt. One of the injured people was in serious condition, he said. The private Dogan news agency said several parked cars were damaged in the blast which also smashed windows of nearby buildings. NTV television, citing unidentified security officials, said police was searching for one person who was spotted leaving the area on a motorbike. Turkey has been rocked by a wave of bomb attacks in the past year that have killed hundreds of people and been blamed on Kurdish rebels or Islamic State group militants. The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has been waging a three-decade long insurgency, has been targeting police and military in its campaign for Kurdish autonomy in southeast Turkey.

A motorcycle bomb in the Yenibosna neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey, injures 10 civilians.

Niger troops patrol near Diffa on June 16, 2016 following attacks by Boko Haram fighters in the region. By Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File) Niamey (AFP) - Twenty-two soldiers were killed in an attack probably carried out by jihadists, on a camp in Niger sheltering Malian refugees, a security official told AFP on Friday. "Some 30 to 40 heavily armed men speaking in Tuareg carried out the attack (on Thursday), killing 22 soldiers," the official said. The UN refugee agency confirmed the death toll.</s>NIAMEY (Reuters) - At least 22 soldiers were killed in Niger on Thursday when unknown assailants attacked a camp for Malian refugees, the West African nation’s Prime Minister Brigi Rafini said. The attack targeted a camp in the village of Tassalit in Niger’s Tahoua region, around 525 km (326 miles) northeast of the capital Niamey. “We received information of an attack on the camp in Tassalit. For the moment we are told there are 22 dead, but that is not a total death toll,” he said in comments broadcast on state-run television TeleSahel. “The death toll could increase.” Rafini gave no further information concerning the suspected identities of the attackers or whether any civilians had been killed or wounded. The camp’s residents are Malians who fled to neighbouring Niger after Islamist militants, some with links to al Qaeda, seized Mali’s desert north in 2012. A French-led military intervention drove back the insurgents a year later but violence is on the rise across the region’s arid Sahel band. Niger’s small army is currently battling Boko Haram militants who launch raids across its southern border from Nigeria while seeking to prevent an overflow of attacks from Mali. There are also concerns that Islamic State fighters could be pushed onto its territory by a government offensive in Libya.

Unknown assailants attack a refugee camp near the village of Tassalit, in Niger's Tahoua Region, killing at least 22 soldiers.

Hurricane Matthew is the most powerful Caribbean storm in a decade and is currently sweeping its way up the eastern seaboard of the United States. The storm has already wreaked havoc in Haiti, leaving hundreds dead, buildings flattened and thousands of victims cut off from relief efforts. It has now moved on to America and has hit Florida where airports and theme parks have closed, trains have been cancelled and residents in some parts of the state have been urged to evacuate their homes. More than 200,000 residents have been left without power as the “monster” storm has whipped the coastline of the US. With Florida such a popular destination with British tourists the UK Government has offered advice for those visiting the state and neighbouring Georgia and South Carolina to stay safe. In its travel guidance the Government warns: “Hurricane Matthew is forecast to bring hazardous sea and weather conditions to parts of the east coast of the US from 6 October 2016. “Strong winds, heavy rain, flooding, and storm surge in coastal areas is expected. Sporadic tornadoes are possible. Hurricane warnings and watches have been issued, triggering evacuation orders in several areas of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. “You should monitor weather reports and follow the advice of the local authorities, including if you’re ordered to evacuate. “For more information and advice visit the websites of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state emergency management authorities in: Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. “If you’re in an affected area, you should call family members and friends in the UK to let them know your plans before and after the hurricane.” If you are due to fly to Florida in the coming days please check with your airline/travel provider for the latest information. Thomas Cook has warned that several of its flights from UK airports to Orlando have been delayed In a statement, the travel operator said: “We will continue to keep our customers up to date with information as soon as we are aware of the schedule changes. “We know that this can be upsetting when you want to know what is happening, but we also want to ensure that we give you the correct information, and that we do everything we can to get you to your destination to enjoy your holiday.”

Hurricane Matthew moves towards the United States with hundreds of thousands of people being evacuated from the states of Florida and South Carolina.

This article is part of our premium content. You have exceeded your 10 free articles for this month. A subscription is required to access Times of Malta content from overseas. Register to get 10 free articles per month. Subscribe to gain access to our premium content and services. Your subscription will also enable you to view all of the week's e-paper editions (both Times of Malta and The Sunday Times of Malta), view exclusive content, have full access to our newspaper archive to download editions from 1930 to today, and access the website in full from overseas. All of this will also be available to you from our tablet and mobile apps. Already have an account? Sign in here</s>PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti/DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew killed almost 900 people and left tens of thousands homeless in Haiti earlier this week before it skirted Florida’s Atlantic coast on Friday and plowed northward over waters just off Georgia. The number of deaths in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, surged to at least 877 on Friday as information trickled in from remote areas previously cut off by the storm, according to a Reuters tally of death tolls given by officials. Matthew triggered mass evacuations along the U.S. coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina. U.S. President Barack Obama urged people not to be complacent and to heed safety instructions. “The potential for storm surge, loss of life and severe property damage exists,” Obama told reporters after a briefing with emergency management officials about the fiercest cyclone to affect the United States since Superstorm Sandy four years ago. Matthew smashed through Haiti’s western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm pushed the sea into fragile coastal villages, some of which were only now being contacted. While highlighting the misery of underdevelopment in Haiti, which is still recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake, the storm looked certain to rekindle the debate about global warming and the long-term threat posed by rising sea levels to low-lying cities and towns. At least three towns in the hills and coast of Haiti’s fertile western tip reported dozens of people killed, including the farming village of Chantal where the mayor said 86 people died, mostly when trees crushed houses. He said 20 others were missing. “A tree fell on the house and flattened it. The entire house fell on us. I couldn’t get out,” said driver Jean-Pierre Jean-Donald, 27, who had been married for only a year. “People came to lift the rubble, and then we saw my wife who had died in the same spot,” Jean-Donald said, his young daughter by his side, crying “Mommy.” With cellphone networks down and roads flooded, aid has been slow to reach hard-hit areas in Haiti. Food was scarce and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of flood water mixing with sewage. The Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was heading for Haiti to support relief efforts. The ship has heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh water delivery vehicles and two surgical operating rooms. FOUR KILLED IN FLORIDA Matthew sideswiped Florida’s coast with winds of up to 120 mph (195 kph) but did not make landfall in the state. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgraded the storm to a Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity as its sustained winds dropped to 110 mph. Category 5 is the strongest. There were at least four storm-related deaths in Florida but no immediate reports of significant damage in cities and towns where the storm swamped streets, toppled trees and knocked out power to more than 1 million people. Two people were killed by falling trees, according to Florida officials, and an elderly couple died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator while sheltering from the storm inside a garage. Pictures are seen on the floor of a destroyed house after Hurricane Matthew passes Jeremie, Haiti, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins Hurricane warnings late on Friday extended up the Atlantic coast from northeast Florida through Georgia and South Carolina and into North Carolina. In Daytona Beach, the street under the city’s famed “World’s Most Famous Beach” sign was clogged with debris washed up by the ocean. The waves had receded by early afternoon but there was damage throughout the city, including a facade ripped off the front of a seaside hotel. Robert Walker, a 51-year-old mechanic, weathered the worst of the storm in his seaside Daytona Beach apartment where high-powered winds peeled back the roof. “It sounded like a jet plane coming over. I was scared,” said Walker as he stood in front of the battered remains of the two-story building.. At 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT Saturday), Matthew’s eye was about 115 miles (185 km) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and moving northward at 12 mph (19 kph), the NHC said. After passing near or over the coast of Georgia it was on a track that would put it near or over South Carolina on Saturday. Though gradually weakening, it was forecast to remain a hurricane until it begins moving away from the U.S. Southeast on Sunday, the NHC said. RELUCTANT TO LEAVE Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he was concerned that relatively light damage so far could give people up the coast a false sense of security. “People should not be looking at the damages they’re seeing and saying this storm is not that bad,” Fugate told NBC. Slideshow (25 Images) “The real danger still is storm surge, particularly in northern Florida and southern Georgia. These are very vulnerable areas. They’ve never seen this kind of damage potential since the late 1800s,” Fugate said. In St. Augustine just south of Jacksonville, Florida, about half of the 14,000 residents refused to heed evacuation orders despite warnings of an 8-foot (2.4-meter) storm surge that could sink entire neighborhoods, Mayor Nancy Shaver said in a telephone interview from the area’s emergency operations center. Television images later showed water surging through streets in the historic downtown area of St. Augustine, the oldest U.S. city and a major tourist attraction. “There’s that whole inability to suspend disbelief that I think really affects people in a time like this,” Shaver said.

The death toll is at least 140 people with 136 in Haiti.

ISLAMABAD -- Despite objections from religious hard-liners, lawmakers Thursday took the first significant move to curb mounting numbers of "honor" killings in Pakistan, stiffening the penalties and closing a loophole that allowed such killers to go free. But public outrage over the practice has also been growing as proliferating TV channels and more access to social media have lifted the secrecy that once surrounded the killings. More than 1,000 women were killed last year in so-called honor killings in Pakistan, often by fathers, brothers or husbands who believed the victims had tainted the family name by marrying the man of her choice — or even meeting or being seen sitting with a man. In accordance with Islamic Shariah law, Pakistan's legal code since the 1990s has allowed families of victims to forgive the killer. The measure passed Thursday imposes a mandatory 25-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of killing in the name of honor and bans family members from forgiving them. 'We should be ashamed' Activists and liberal opposition members who backed the law said it was a step in the right direction, although they said it should have gone further to eliminate forgiveness. We should all be ashamed. You should all be ashamed," she said of the forgiveness provisions. Only about a third of the 446 lawmakers attended the session, but debate was raucous, with the loudest opposition coming from hard-line Islamists. Zafarullah Khan, a legal adviser to Sharif, said the bill was a compromise.</s>Image copyright AFP Image caption Qandeel Baloch - a social media star in Pakistan - was allegedly killed by her brother in July in a so-called honour killing The amended law was debated by Pakistan's National Assembly for four hours on Thursday, before being passed unanimously. Image copyright AFP Image caption The new law is being seen as a big step towards ending honour killings in Pakistan Pakistan's government has closed a loophole allowing those behind so-called honour killings to go free. “Women are the most essential part of our society and I believe in their empowerment, protection and emancipation.” The perpetrators of honour killings — in which the victim, normally a woman, is killed by a relative on the pretext of defending family “honour” — often walk free because they can seek forgiveness for the crime from another family member.

Pakistan's government removes a loophole allowing those behind so-called honor killings to go free with the new legislation instead requiring a mandatory life sentence.

Steven Woolfe, who on Wednesday announced his intention to lead the right-wing UKIP party, collapsed after the incident Thursday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, and remained in hospital overnight into Friday. Steven Woolfe, who on Wednesday announced his intention to lead the right-wing, anti-immigration party, collapsed after the incident at the European parliament in Strasbourg, according to interim party leader Nigel Farage. Sources reported that he was punched in the face and then hit his head, with doctors now treating the politician for bleeding on the brain. • Ukip in turmoil as leader Diane James quits after just 18 days He was a frontrunner in the race to replace Nigel Farage as Ukip leader earlier this year, but his bid hit the buffers after ‘technical issues’ meant his papers were delayed. “He has been taken to hospital in the city and he is undergoing tests.” • Moss Side-born MEP in bid to lead Ukip after nomination gaffe Following a meeting with Ukip MEPs, interim leader Nigel Farage said: “I deeply regret that following an altercation that took place at a meeting of Ukip MEPs this morning that Steven Woolfe subsequently collapsed and was taken to hospital. Woolfe, 49, is the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England, having taken office in July 2014, and is the UKIP spokesman on migration and financial affairs. “He has been taken to hospital in the city and he is undergoing tests.” Fellow Ukip politician Suzanne Evans said on Twitter: "Shocked to hear Steven Woolfe has apparently collapsed in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.</s>“I trust that overnight everything will be OK and he’ll be released tomorrow.” Mr Farage expected Mr Woolfe to be “laid up for a little bit” after what he described as “a big shock” that had “caused us to fear for his life.” “It’s two grown men getting involved in an altercation. A statement from Ukip’s interim leader said: “I deeply regret that following an altercation that took place at a meeting of Ukip MEPs this morning that Steven Woolfe subsequently collapsed and was taken to hospital.” A party spokesman said Mr Woolfe was “taken suddenly ill” in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on Thursday morning. His condition is serious.” A party spokesman said Mr Woolfe was “taken suddenly ill” in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on Thursday morning. The spokesman added: “He has been taken to hospital in the city and he is undergoing tests.” • ’Like’ The Scotsman on Facebook for regular updates DOWNLOAD THE SCOTSMAN APP ON ITUNES OR GOOGLE PLAY

An altercation with a fellow UKIP MEP inside the European Parliament leaves UK Independence Party, Member of the European Parliament, and current UKIP party leadership favorite Steven Woolfe hospitalized.

LES CAYES, Haiti — Haiti's death toll climbed Thursday as rescue crews began reaching remote corners cut off when Hurricane Matthew slammed into the country's southwest peninsula, the first Category 4 storm to hit Haiti in more than a half century. We feel like he's somebody who can really lead the efforts in Les Cayes but he just needs help." In Haiti, nine of the country's 15 main hospitals remain operational and five are unreachable by phone or radio, the Pan American Health Organization said this week.</s>(AP Photo/Bruce Smith) A truck approaches a fallen tree caused by Hurricane Matthew on I-95 North on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016, in Richmond Hill, Ga. Matthew is continuing its march along the Atlantic coast, lashing two of the South's most historic cities and some of its most popular resort islands with heavy rain and stiff winds. There were no immediate reports of significant damage in Florida cities and towns where the storm swamped streets and toppled trees and knocked out power to more than 1 million people. After passing near or over the coast of Georgia it was on a track that would put it near or over South Carolina on Saturday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgraded the storm to a Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity as its sustained winds dropped to 110 mph. “Now is the time we ask for prayer,” Governor Nikki Haley said, bowing her head. Authorities warned that the danger was far from over, with hundreds of miles of coastline in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina still under threat of torrential rain and dangerous storm surge as the most powerful hurricane to menace the Atlantic Seaboard in over a decade pushed north. But in the end, the hurricane skirted Florida’s heavily populated Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area and sideswiped cities farther north, including Daytona Beach, Vero Beach, Cape Canaveral and Jacksonville, without its center ever actually coming ashore in Florida. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Residents of Brunswick, Georgia, woke to roads covered by water or fallen trees and power lines. “But I’m not going to lie: There’s a little bit of nervous tension right now.” Todd said he was staying with friends at a third-story condo, which had lost electricity. At one point, he said, rescuers getting people out of homes saw a shark in the water. (Zachary Sampson/Tampa Bay Times via AP) An official vehicle passes along the shoulder of Highway A1A after it was partial washed away by Hurricane Matthew, Friday, Oct. 7, 2016, in Flagler Beach, Fla. Hurricane Matthew spared Florida’s most heavily populated stretch from a catastrophic blow Friday but threatened some of the South’s most historic and picturesque cities with ruinous flooding and wind damage as it pushed its way up the coastline. “It’s pretty bad; it’s jagged all over the place,” said Oliver Shields, whose two-story house is within sight of the highway. The deaths in Florida included an elderly St. Lucie County couple who died from carbon monoxide fumes while running a generator in their garage and two women who were killed in separate events when trees fell on a home and a camper. Among the cities bracing for its effects later in the day were Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina. St. Augustine, which is the nation’s oldest permanently occupied European settlement and includes a 17th-century Spanish fortress and many historic homes turned into bed-and-breakfasts, was awash in rain and gray seawater that authorities said could top 8 feet. In St. Augustine just south of Jacksonville, Florida, about half of the 14,000 residents refused to heed evacuation orders despite warnings of an 8-foot (2.4-meter) storm surge that could sink entire neighborhoods, Mayor Nancy Shaver said in a telephone interview from the area's emergency operations center. I know some weddings were canceled and it was a huge financial loss for a lot of people.” South Carolina’s golf-and-tennis resort Hilton Head Island also took a blow as the eye of the storm passed 20 miles to the east. “We don’t have any contact with Port-au-Prince yet and there are places we still haven’t reached,” Jeune said, as he and a team of Civil Protection agents in orange vests combed through the area. Trunck had arranged for 10 men to come from Connecticut to help with the cleanup, but after getting a look at the aftermath, he said he didn’t think he needed anything but “a couple of guys and a mop.” Associated Press writers Holbrook Mohr in Orlando, Florida; Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Florida; Kelli Kennedy and Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Jennifer Kay, Freida Frisaro and Curt Anderson in Miami; Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Janelle Cogan in Orlando, Florida; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jeffrey Collins on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Jack Jones and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; and Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

Hurricane Matthew hits the southeastern United States as the death toll in Haiti rises to at least 877.

BANGKOK: Malaysian activist, Dr Fauziah Mohd Hassan was happy and cheerful when she arrived at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport here following her release by the Israeli regime. Her arrival in Bangkok from Tel Aviv was greeted by her husband, Professor Mohd Alauddin Mohd Ali who had arrived from Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysian Embassy officials in Thailand. “Dr Fauziah is happy. However, she is not allowed to leave the airport transit area, pending a flight to Kuala Lumpur,” an embassy official told Bernama after her arrival yesterday. She arrived in Bangkok at 2pm (3pm Malaysian time) via Thai Airways Flight TG4594 from Tel Aviv and proceeded to Malaysia via Flight TG417 at 4pm (5pm Malaysian time). On Wednesday, 10 women activists, including Dr Fauziah and three crew members who were on board the Zaytouna-Oliva ship on a humanitarian mission, dubbed Women’s Boat to Gaza (WBG), were detained at 2.58pm local time (9.58pm Malaysian time) at Ashdod Port, Israel. Upon arrival at the Ashdod Port, Dr Fauziah was held in Givon prison in Ramla (central Israel) before being transferred to a temporary detention centre at the Ben-Gurion International Airport. – Bernama

Authorities confirm that a wing part found in Mauritius in May is part of the aircraft from Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.

Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos has said he is deeply honoured to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end a five-decade civil war that has killed more than 200,000 people.</s>BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts to end Latin America's longest-running armed conflict, an honor that came just five days after voters dealt him a blow by rejecting a peace deal with leftist rebels. Mr Santos negotiated a peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group but the peace deal was rejected by a narrow majority of Colombians when it was put to referendum. Announcing the award on Friday, Kaci Kullman Five, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the award should also be seen as a tribute to the Colombian people who, despite great hardships and abuses, have not given up hope of a just peace, and to all the parties who have contributed to the peace process. The Nobel Peace prize, worth Swedish kronor 8 million or $0.925 million, will be awarded on December 10, the date of Alfred Nobel's death.

The Nobel Prize committee awards Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos the Nobel Peace Prize for his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end, a war that has cost the lives of at least 220 thousand Colombians and displaced close to six million people.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Friday lifted U.S. economic sanctions on the former pariah state of Myanmar, the culmination of years of rapprochement that Obama has worked to facilitate. Obama had announced plans to lift the sanctions last month, when Myanmar’s new civilian leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, visited the Oval Office. Suu Kyi concurred it was time to remove all the sanctions that had hurt the economy and urged Americans to come to the country and “to make profits.” The U.S. has already eased broad prohibitions on investment and trade but had retained more targeted restrictions on military-owned companies and officials and associates of the former ruling junta. It also lifts a ban on the importation of jadeite and rubies from Myanmar, and removes banking restrictions. It removes the national emergency with respect to Myanmar — the executive order authorising sanctions that has been renewed annually by different U.S. Presidents for about two decades till now.</s>WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama issued an executive order Friday lifting long-standing U.S. trade sanctions against Myanmar, saying in a formal notification that the regime's pattern of using repressive tactics "has been significantly altered by Myanmar's substantial advances to promote democracy" over the past year. REUTERS/Carlos Barria “I have determined that the situation that gave rise to the national emergency ... has been significantly altered by Burma’s (Myanmar’s) substantial advances to promote democracy, including historic elections in November 2015,” Obama said in a letter to the U.S. House and Senate speakers. The move followed a meeting between Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Obama in Washington last month, when she called for the lifting of economic sanctions against her country, and he said he was willing to do this. While the opposition party led by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi won in national elections last year, the military retains 25 percent of the seats in parliament and controls several key ministries under a constitution that bars Suu Kyi from becoming president. Obama’s letter pointed to the formation of a democratically elected, civilian-led government as a result of the election, the release of many political prisoners and improved human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression and freedom of association and peaceful assembly.

The Obama administration lifts U.S. sanctions on Myanmar by terminating an emergency order that deemed the policies of the former military government a threat to U.S. national security.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government for the first time on Friday formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. The official statement said the US intelligence community “is confident that the Russian government directed the recent compromises of emails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations.” The officials added: “We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities:” The statement said the disclosures of alleged hacked emails on WikiLeaks and other websites and by the online persona “Guccifer 2.0” were “consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts.” “These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process,” the statement said. The Obama administration today publicly accused the Russian government of cyberattacks against U.S. political organizations and prominent figures that are “intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.” The extraordinary move comes after months of disclosures stemming from the hacks of the Democratic National Committee and other groups — cyberattacks that the U.S. intelligence community is now “confident” were directed by the Russian government. The statement by the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not blame the Russian government for hacking attempts against state election systems, but said “scanning and probing” of those systems originated in most cases from servers operated by a Russian company. Democrats on Congress' intelligence committees were ahead of the administration by a few weeks in deciding to publicly point to Moscow, releasing a statement on September 22 that said they had "concluded" that Russian intelligence agencies were responsible for the intrusions. According to the joint statement, “disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts.” The statement amounts to an accusation that Vladimir Putin ordered interference in the American political system.</s>US accusations that Russia was responsible for cyber attacks against Democratic Party organisations lack any proof and are an attempt by Washington to fan “unprecedented anti-Russian hysteria”, the foreign ministry in Moscow said. “This whipping up of emotions regarding ‘Russian hackers’ is used in the US election campaign, and the current US administration, taking part in this fight, is not averse using dirty tricks,” deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday in comments posted on the ministry’s website. Mr Ryabkov also said Moscow reiterated an offer to Washington, first made last year, to hold consultations on fighting cyber crime together. The Obama administration formally accused the Russian government on Friday of stealing and disclosing emails from the Democratic National Committee and a range of other institutions and prominent individuals, immediately raising the issue of whether president Barack Obama would seek sanctions or other retaliation. In a statement from the director of national intelligence, James Clapper Jr., and the Department of Homeland Security, the US government said the leaked emails that have appeared on a variety of websites “are intended to interfere with the US election process.” The emails were posted on the well-known WikiLeaks site and two newer sites, DCLeaks.com and Guccifer 2.0, said to be online personas associated with Russian intelligence. “We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities,” the statement said. It did not name Russian president Vladimir Putin, but that appeared to be the intention.

The Obama administration formally accuses the Russian government of cyber attacks against the U.S. Democratic Party in influencing presidential election.

(Reuters) - Mylan NV (MYL.O) on Friday said it will pay $465 million to settle questions of whether it underpaid U.S. government healthcare programs by misclassifying its EpiPen emergency allergy treatment, which has come under intense scrutiny after a series of drastic price increases. EpiPen auto-injection epinephrine pens manufactured by Mylan NV pharmaceutical company for use by severe allergy sufferers are seen in Washington, U.S. August 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File Photo Mylan has been lambasted by consumers and lawmakers for raising prices on the lifesaving EpiPen sixfold to over $600 for a package of two in less than a decade, making the devices unaffordable for a growing number of families. Lawmakers were trying to determine whether Mylan made more money on EpiPen than warranted from state Medicaid programs by having it classified as a generic product, resulting in much smaller rebates to the government health plans. Mylan Chief Executive Heather Bresch was grilled by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for the price increase and they were skeptical of her profit analysis of the product. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in response to a request from U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, said this week that the Medicaid plan for the poor spent $797 million on EpiPen between 2011 and 2015, including rebates provided by Mylan, or $960 million before rebates. Lawmakers have contended that Mylan underpaid Medicaid rebates by misclassifying EpiPen as a generic instead of a branded drug. The Medicaid rebate for a generic is 13 percent compared with a minimum 23.1 percent for a branded drug. “I am glad the Department of Justice pursued this so quickly,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “If other drugs are misclassified, and surely EpiPen isn’t the only one ... the taxpayers need to get their money back.” Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut blasted the settlement as too small and said Congress should investigate whether Mylan violated the law. “This settlement is a shadow of what it should be - lacking real accountability for Mylan’s apparent lawbreaking,” he said in a statement. Mylan said in a regulatory filing on Friday that EpiPen will be classified as a branded drug as of April 1, 2017. Bresch told lawmakers this week that Mylan plans to launch a $300 generic version of EpiPen as soon as possible this year. Mylan also lowered its 2016 earnings outlook, but the drugmaker affirmed its 2018 forecast and its shares rose 11 percent to $39.90 after hours. “Kudos to management for fast action,” AB Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal said in a video message to investors. “This was one of the major risks everyone was focusing on ... now it is essentially off the table.” Mylan said it will record a pretax charge of about $465 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30. The company, which will make the payment to the Department of Justice and other government agencies, said the settlement does not include any finding of wrongdoing. Mylan, citing changes to the EpiPen consumer discount program and upcoming launch of a generic version, said it now expects full-year 2016 adjusted earnings per share of $4.70 to $4.90, down from $4.85 to $5.15. Mylan said it “remains committed” to its target of at least $6.00 in adjusted earnings per share in 2018.</s>The company has come under scrutiny for raising prices on the lifesaving EpiPen sixfold in less than a decade, making the devices unaffordable for a growing number of families. Mylan, which will make the payment to the Department of Justice and other government agencies, said the settlement does not include any finding of wrongdoing. Figures released by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Wednesday showed that U.S. government health plans spent more than $1 billion on Mylan's EpiPen between 2011 and 2015. U.S. lawmakers have contended that Mylan underpaid rebates to state Medicaid programs by misclassifying EpiPen as a generic instead of a branded drug. The Medicaid rebate for a generic is 13 percent compared with a minimum 23.1 percent for a branded drug. Mylan said will record a pre-tax charge of about $465 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30. The company, citing changes to the EpiPen consumer discount program and upcoming launch of a generic version of the treatment, said it now expects full-year 2016 adjusted earnings per share of $4.70 to $4.90, down from a previous range of $4.85 to $5.15 per share.

Mylan pays US$465 million to settle its underpayment to U.S. government healthcare programs by misclassifying its epinephrine autoinjector emergency allergy treatment.

Morocco's Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) won 125 seats in Friday's parliamentary election with rivals Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) winning 102 seats, and conservative Istiqlal party securing 46 seats, according to the interior minister citing final results. The vote for the 395-seat parliament was a test for Morocco five years after the king devolved some powers to ease protests for change. A tight result means coalition-building for the PJD to form a new government will be complex.</s>Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane, secretary general of the Justice and Development Party, waves during a party meeting in Rabat, Morocco, on Thursday (Reuters photo) RABAT — Morocco's ruling Islamists have beaten their liberal rivals in parliamentary elections five years after sweeping to power following Arab Spring-inspired protests, results showed on Saturday. The moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) won 125 of the 395 seats in the Chamber of Representatives, whereas the Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) came second with 102 seats, according to the country's Interior Ministry. Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane's PJD secured 125 seats against 102 for its main rival, the Authenticity and Modernity Party, which had campaigned against the "Islamisation" of Moroccan society, the ministry said after all ballots were counted. The conservative Istiqlal (Independence) Party has come in third with 31 seats, Interior Minister Mohammed Hassad told reporters. PAM spokesman Khalid Adennoun declined to comment but said that his party had filed "50 complaints" of voting irregularities, some concerning the PJD in Tangiers. The PJD clinched 12 more seats in parliament than in the 2011 election, which was held after a new constitution transferred some of the king’s powers to parliament, at a time when autocratic regimes were falling in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. "After leading the government for five years, after implementing reforms, after its achievements, after carefully managing the budget and reforms with the retirement fund ... after widening health care coverage, after all of this - thanks be to God - today, the Moroccan people have given the PJD a victory." Headed by Ilyas El Omari, it has poured enormous resources into a campaign criticising the government's economic record as "catastrophic" and pledging to roll back the "Islamisation" of society. Under the 2011 constitution, the king appoints a prime minister from the biggest party in parliament once the election results have been announced.

Voters in Morocco go to the polls for a general election with the ruling Justice and Development Party winning the most seats.

In addition to using the timeworn caveat "if anyone was offended," Trump modified his apology with the excuse that he had merely indulged in "locker room banter." "Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course," said Trump in a written statement, adding, "not even close." But after The Washington Post revealed Friday a tape that caught Trump bragging about being a sexual predator, the Republican candidate issued a statement in which he said, " I apologize if anyone was offended." • California billionaire pumps another $1.4M into N.D. Marsy's Law measure Trump has faced repeated criticism for his comments about women, most recently involving his attacks on a former beauty queen with a vague and unsubstantiated allegation about a sex tape in predawn Twitter posts that prompted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton to denounce him as "unhinged." At the time of the "Access Hollywood" taping, Trump was married to current wife Melania, but it is unclear when the incident that he was describing took place. Why did Trump change course this time, pulling a Jimmy the Greek by admitting he did something wrong? She was married," Trump said.</s>Video of a lewd conversation Donald Trump had with then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush during a 2005 bus ride to a studio where the real estate mogul was to tape an episode of Days of Our Lives is turning out to be the bombshell October surprise of the fall campaign season so far. The video, revealed by The Washington Post this afternoon, captures GOP presidential nominee Trump revealing some of his feelings about how to treat women to whom he's attracted. "You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them," he says. "It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait." "And when you’re a star, they let you do it," Trump says. "Whatever you want," says a man who sounds like Bush. "Grab them by the pussy,” Trump says. In a statement today Trump painted the conversation as private "locker room banter" that paled in comparison to some of things Trump says he's heard President Bill Clinton say on the golf course. " ... Not even close," the candidate said. "I apologize if anyone was offended," Trump stated. Bush, now co-host of NBC's Today, said he's "very sorry" for his taped remarks. "Obviously I'm embarrassed and ashamed," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's no excuse, but this happened eleven years ago — I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along." The "hot-mic" remarks were made as Trump rode an Access Hollywood "Access Across America Tour" bus on a studio lot and after he disembarked to head to the taping. At the time it appears Days of Our Lives was recorded at The Burbank Studios, run by NBC in Burbank. Reaction to the video was swift and damning, with Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, saying on Twitter, "This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president." Women's advocacy group UltraViolet called Trump "a dangerous, predatory misogynist and this video further proves that he should never be allowed to step foot in the White House," according to a statement. The Latino Victory Fund weighed in, too. "We are appalled and disturbed by Trump’s disgusting, piggish comments towards women," said César J. Blanco, the organization's interim director. "Trump is not pathologically capable of treating women like human beings. His misogynistic behavior is a disturbing pattern that we have seen time and time again and that we cannot continue to tolerate or ignore. If we ignore his attacks against women, we will certainly undo decades of hard work and hard-fought battles for women’s rights. Our nation cannot thrive and prosper if women’s civil rights are not guaranteed, and we all have the responsibility to condemn Trump and any man who threatens women’s rights."

Donald Trump issues a statement calling the conversation "locker room banter" and writes, "I apologize if anyone was offended."

WASHINGTON: Excerpts of Hillary Clinton’s paid speeches, including those to Wall Street, were leaked Friday, a revelation that may perpetuate criticism that she is an out-of-touch Washington insider and could create trouble for her in the final weeks of her campaign for president. “Obviously, I’m kind of far removed because the life I’ve lived and the economic, you know, fortunes that my husband and I now enjoy, but I haven’t forgotten it,” Clinton told Goldman-Black Rock on Feb. 4, 2014. In the transcripts, Clinton acknowledges that she can’t relate to everyday Americans and admits she’s created a public personality separate from who she is in private. She discusses her positions on trade, health care and Wall Street. “Politics is like sausage being made,” Clinton told the National Multi-Housing Council on April 24, 2013. “It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be. But if everybody’s watching, you know, all of the back room discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position.” The partial transcripts of the speeches were published by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks as part of a leak of more than 2,000 emails belonging to her campaign chairman, John Podesta. McClatchy could not verify the authenticity of the emails, and Clinton’s campaign declined to confirm their authenticity. The release came on the same day that the Obama administration accused Russia of being behind the hacking of Democratic National Committee computers in June, and four days after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he would begin 10 weeks of releases of what he said would be more than 1 million documents. “Earlier today the U.S. government removed any reasonable doubt that the Kremlin has weaponized WikiLeaks to meddle in our election and benefit Donald Trump’s candidacy,” Clinton campaign spokesman Glen Caplin said. “We are not going to confirm the authenticity of stolen documents released by Julian Assange, who has made no secret of his desire to damage Hillary Clinton.” Caplin said other hackers have already proven the warnings of top national security officials that “documents can be faked as part of a sophisticated Russian misinformation campaign.” Clinton has repeatedly refused to release transcripts of her speeches, a position that became a fierce point of contention with her opponent in the primaries, Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose campaign focused on assertions that Clinton was part of the moneyed Washington establishment. Clinton made about $21.5 million on speeches after she resigned as secretary of state in early 2013 and before she launched her presidential campaign in the spring of 2015. Sanders’ demands for the speeches struck a nerve with Democratic Party officials, the leaked emails suggest. In one email, dated Jan. 25, 2016, Clinton research director Tony Carrk sent 25 excerpts from the speeches to several party officials, including Podesta. The subject line was “HRC Paid Speeches.” “Team, attached are the flags from HRC’s paid speeches we have from HWA. I put some highlights below. There is a lot of policy positions that we should give an extra scrub with policy,” he wrote. Some of Clinton’s speeches would have been campaign fodder for Sanders. In a speech to a symposium hosted by the investment bank Goldman Sachs on Oct. 24, 2013, Clinton indicated that Wall Street insiders knew best what sort of regulations the markets needed. “There’s nothing magic about regulations, too much is bad, too little is bad. How do you get to the golden key, how do we figure out what works? And the people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry,” Clinton said. And in a speech at the University of Connecticut on April 23, 2014, Clinton voiced deep awareness that foreign governments were intercepting State Department communications and personal emails. “At the State Department we were attacked every hour, more than once an hour by incoming efforts to penetrate everything we had. And that was true across the U.S. government,” Clinton said. “And we knew it was going on when I would go to China, or I would go to Russia, we would leave all of our electronic equipment on the plane, with the batteries out, because this is a new frontier. And they’re trying to find out not just about what we do in our government. They’re trying to find out about what a lot of companies do and they were going after the personal emails of people who worked in the State Department.” According to the email, in a Jan. 6, 2014, speech to General Electric’s Global Leadership Meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., Clinton also lamented the high cost of campaigns as “so ridiculous” and described it as a “kind of free for all” that the Supreme Court allowed. “So we’re kind of in the wild west, and, you know, it would be very difficult to run for president without raising a huge amount of money and without having other people supporting you because your opponent will have their supporters. So I think as hard as it was when I ran, I think it’s even harder now,” Clinton said. “With today’s WikiLeaks revelations we are finding out who Hillary Clinton really is, and it’s not hard to see why she fought so hard to keep her transcripts of speeches to Wall Street banks paying her millions of dollars secret,” Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, said in a statement. “The truth that has been exposed here is that the persona Hillary Clinton has adopted for her campaign is a complete and utter fraud. How can Bernie Sanders and many like-minded Democrats continue to support her candidacy in light of these revelations?” Analysts doubted that the excerpts would have much effect now. In New Hampshire, where the race is too close to call and Sanders still has a strong following, pollster Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said the Clinton news wouldn’t make much difference. “Most of this is already baked into the cake,” he said. In North Carolina, Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll, agreed the effect would be minimal. “While some of Clinton’s quotes certainly aren’t helpful to her,” Husser said, “they largely confirm suspicions that many in the Sanders’ coalition already begrudgingly accepted as they switched to Clinton over Trump.” In California, Democratic consultant Bob Mulholland agreed the Clinton news would not hurt her. “With only 33 days left, most voters have concluded the candidates have warts,” he said, and have made their decisions with that in mind.</s>WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton told bankers behind closed doors that she favoured “open trade and open borders” and said Wall Street executives were best-positioned to help reform the U.S. financial sector, according to transcripts of her private, paid speeches leaked Friday. The leaks were the result of another email hacking intended to influence the presidential election. Excerpts of the speeches given in the years before her 2016 presidential campaign included some blunt and unguarded remarks to her private audiences, which collectively had paid her at least $26.1 million in speaking fees. Clinton had refused to release transcripts of the speeches, despite repeated calls to do so by her primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders. The excerpts were included in emails exchanged among her political staff, including Campaign Chairman John Podesta, whose email account was hacked. The WikiLeaks organization posted what it said were thousands of Podesta’s emails. It wasn’t immediately clear who had hacked Podesta’s emails, though the breach appeared to cover years of messages, some sent as recently as last month. Among the emails was a compilation of excerpts from Clinton’s paid speeches in 2013 and 2014. It appeared campaign staff had read all Clinton’s speeches and identified passages that could be potentially problematic for the candidate if they were to become public. One excerpt put Clinton squarely in the free-trade camp, a position she has retreated on significantly during the 2016 election. In a talk to a Brazilian bank in 2013, she said her “dream” is “a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders” and asked her audience to think of what doubling American trade with Latin America “would mean for everybody in this room.” Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has made opposition to trade deals a cornerstone of his campaign. Podesta posted a series of tweets Friday night, calling the disclosures a Russian hack and raising questions about whether some of the documents could have been altered. “I’m not happy about being hacked by the Russians in their quest to throw the election to Donald Trump,” Podesta wrote. “Don’t have time to figure out which docs are real and which are faked.” Podesta’s comments came just hours after U.S. officials publicly accused the Russian government of directing cyberattacks on political organizations and American citizens in an attempt to interfere with U.S. elections. The joint statement from the office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Homeland Security Department cited disclosures of “alleged hacked emails” on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks as being “consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts.” The statement didn’t refer by name to the affected political institutions, but federal authorities are investigating cyberattacks on the computer systems of the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement, “It’s not hard to see why she fought so hard to keep her transcripts of speeches to Wall Street banks paying her millions of dollars secret.” The emails released Friday included exchanges between Podesta and other Clinton insiders, including campaign manager Robby Mook. Most were routine, including drafts of Clinton speeches, suggested talking points for campaign surrogates and suggested tweets to be sent out from Clinton’s account. The excerpts include quotes from an October 2013 speech at an event sponsored by Goldman Sachs, in which Clinton conceded that presidential candidates need the financial backing of Wall Street to mount a competitive national campaign. “Running for office in our country takes a lot of money, and candidates have to go out and raise it,” Clinton said. “New York is probably the leading site for contributions for fundraising for candidates on both sides of the aisle, and it’s also our economic centre. And there are a lot of people here who should ask some tough questions before handing over campaign contributions to people who were really playing chicken with our whole economy.” In the same speech, Clinton was also deferential to the New York finance industry, exhorting wealthy donors to use their political clout for patriotic rather than personal benefit. She also spoke of the need to include Wall Street perspectives in financial reform. “The people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry,” Clinton said. In an April 2013 speech to the National Multifamily Housing Council, Clinton said politicians must balance “both a public and a private position” while making deals. Clinton gave an example from the movie “Lincoln,” and the deal-making that went into passage of the 13th Amendment, a process she compared to sausage-making. “It is unsavoury, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be,” Clinton said. “But if everybody’s watching, you know, all of the back room discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position.” Clinton’s speeches often touched on technology and privacy. In an April 2014 speech to JPMorgan, she denounced National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden for going abroad, saying, “if he really cared about raising some of these issues and stayed right here in the United States, there’s a lot of whistleblower protections.” But she told her audience that her time in the public eye left her sympathetic to privacy concerns. “As somebody who has had my privacy scrutinized and violated for decades, I’m all for privacy, believe me,” she said. Speaking on international affairs, Clinton’s comments were largely in line with her positions as secretary of state, if sometimes more blunt. “The Saudis have exported more extreme ideology than any other place on Earth over the course of the last 30 years,” she told the Jewish United Fund at a 2013 dinner. The speech transcripts were produced under an agreement Clinton routinely imposed on any organization that hired her to speak. The contracts, such as ones crafted by the Harry Walker Agency, required the organizations to hire, at their own expense, a stenographer who would provide the transcripts to Clinton and not keep copies for themselves. In some cases, the contracts themselves were obtained by news organizations under public records laws because Clinton was being paid to speak by public universities or colleges. Associated Press writers Ted Bridis and Stephen Braun contributed to this report.

WikiLeaks releases over 2000 emails from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign chairman and former Counselor to the President John Podesta.

SANAA (Reuters) - Saudi-led warplanes struck a funeral at a community hall in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the country’s Houthi-run administration said on Saturday, but the coalition denied any role in the attack. Jamie McGoldrick, a UN official in charge of humanitarian efforts in the country, said more than 525 were injured. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check,” said U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price in a statement. “In light of this and other recent incidents, we have initiated an immediate review of our already significantly reduced support to the Saudi-led coalition and are prepared to adjust our support so as to better align with U.S. principles, values and interests, including achieving an immediate and durable end to Yemen’s tragic conflict.” Sources in the Saudi-led coalition said there was no Arab coalition air role in the strike. “Absolutely no such operation took place at that target,” one of the sources said, citing what he described as confirmation from the coalition air force command. The coalition has in the past avoided such gatherings and (they have) never been a subject of targets.” The Saudi-led coalition has been providing air support for Hadi’s forces in a civil war that has killed more than 10,000 people since March 2015 and displaced more than three million. A missile tore through the hall of the building, leaving many dead and injured, Reuters reported earlier, quoting eyewitnesses. According to the news agency, a medic said that he saw “mutilated and charred bodies,” adding that the funeral was being held for the deceased father of the Houthi rebels’ Interior Minister. “The aggression continues to shed blood in an uncommon savagery and with international collusion that reaches the level of direct participation,” the Houthi-run Saba news agency quoted the group’s spokesman, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, as saying in a statement. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Saudi Arabia joined the war on the side of President Hadi in March 2015 Thousand of civilians have been killed since the Saudi-led air campaign started last March, the UN's rights body says.</s>An air strike has killed at least 140 people and wounded more than 500 after it hit a funeral hall packed with mourners in Sanaa, Yemen's capital. The death toll is one of the largest in any single incident since a Saudi-led alliance began military operations to try to restore President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to power following his ousting by Houthis rebels in March 2015. The acting health minister in the Houthi-run administration, Ghazi Ismail blamed "Saudi aggression" for the strike. We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras. Witnesses said two missiles were fired with one tearing through the building in the south of the capital Saana, where a wake for the father of Interior Minister Jalalal al-Roweishan was being held. Those at the scene said they saw ambulances ferrying casualties and a medic claimed there were charred and mutilated bodies. The Saudi-led coalition has denied carrying out the strike. “Absolutely no such operation took place at that target,” a source in the Saudi-led coalition told Reuters, citing what he described as confirmation from the coalition air force command. “The coalition is aware of such reports and is certain that it is possible that other causes of bombing are to be considered. The coalition has in the past avoided such gatherings and (they have) never been a subject of targets.” The United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, said in a statement: "Initial reports from health officials in Sanaa indicate that over 140 people were killed and over 525 injured." The UN aid official called for an immediate investigation and said the international community must exert pressure to ensure civilians are protected. Houthi administration Health ministry spokesman Tamim al-Shami told television channel Almasirah the toll was likely to rise as "charred human remains" at the scene had yet to be identified and many people unaccounted for, AFP reports. Independent news email Only the best news in your inbox Independent news email Only the best news in your inbox Enter your email address Continue Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid Email already exists. Log in to update your newsletter preferences Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email Update newsletter preferences In the aftermath of the strike, hundreds of body parts were found strewn in and outside the hall. Rescuers collected them in sacks. The International Committee of the Red Cross said 300 body bags had been prepared. "The place has been turned into a lake of blood," said one rescuer, Murad Tawfiq. Shape Created with Sketch. World news in pictures Show all 50 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. World news in pictures 1/50 9 September 2019 A firefighter assesses the fire spreading across land on Long Gully Road in the town of Drake, Australia. A number of homes have been destroyed by bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland. EPA 2/50 8 September 2019 Damaged homes after hurricane Dorian devastated Elbow Key Island in Hope Town, Bahamas. The hurricane hit the island chain as a category 5 storm and battered them for two days before moving north. Getty 3/50 7 September 2019 An artist performs on Tverskaya street during celebrations marking the 872nd anniversary of the city of Moscow. AFP/Getty 4/50 6 September 2019 Children play football next to a defaced portrait of Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare on the day he died, aged 95. The former leader was forced to resign in 2017, after a 37-year rule, whose early promise was eroded by economic turmoil, disputed elections and human rights violations, has died. AP 5/50 5 September 2019 Authorities work at the scene of a train crash in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. According to media reports, more than 30 people were injured after a train hit a track at a crossing. EPA 6/50 4 September 2019 A police office removes burning tires from the road, as protesters set up fires to block traffic along Airport Road in Abuja, Nigeria. Reuters 7/50 3 September 2019 A riot police officer throws a teargas canister as looters make off with goods from a store in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. Police had earlier fired rubber bullets as they struggled to stop looters who targeted businesses as unrest broke out in several spots in and around the city. AP 8/50 2 September 2019 A boat off the island of Santa Cruz in California burns in the early hours of Monday morning. More than 30 people were on board the boat, which is thought to have been on a three-day diving trip. EPA 9/50 1 September 2019 Flowers are laid in a hole in a wall as people gather in the gym of a school, the scene of the hostage crisis, in memory of victims on the fifteenth anniversary of the tragedy in Beslan, North Ossetia region, Russia. More than 330 people, including 186 children, died as a result of the terrorist attack at the school. AP 10/50 31 August 2019 A man sits in front of riot officers during the rally 'Calling One Hundred Thousands Christians Praying for Hong Kong Sinners' in Hong Kong, China. EPA 11/50 30 August 2019 A migrant forces his way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. Over 150 migrants made their way into Ceuta after storming a barbed-wire border fence with Morocco. AFP/Getty 12/50 A beagle jumps through hoops during a show at the Pet Expo Championship 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. Although the four-day expo is primarily dog oriented it features a wide array of stalls catering to pet owners' needs as well as showcasing a variety of animals including reptiles, birds, ferrets, and rabbits. EPA 13/50 28 August 2019 Baby elephants rub their trunks against a tree at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Countries that are part of an international agreement on trade in endangered species agreed on Tuesday to limit the sale of wild elephants, delighting conservationists but dismaying some of the African countries involved. AP 14/50 27 August 2019 Burning rubbles in the market of Bouake, central Ivory Coast, after a fire broke overnight. AFP/Getty 15/50 26 August 2019 French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from left, sits between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they take part in a meeting at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France. The Canadian Press via AP 16/50 25 August 2019 A Brazillian Air Force jet drops water to fight a fire in the Amazon rainforest in the state of Rondonia, Brazil. EPA 17/50 24 August 2019 A police officer prepares to strike a protester as clashes erupt during a pro-democracy march in Hong Kong's Kowloon Bay. AFP/Getty 18/50 23 August 2019 Oxfam activists in costumes depicting leaders of the G7 nations protest in Biarritz, France on the day before the summit is due to be held there. AFP/Getty 19/50 22 August 2019 A vendor sits as she sells models of the Hindu deity Krishna on display at a roadside ahead of the 'Janmashtami' festival in Chennai. 20/50 21 August 2019 A girl reacts next to Pope Francis as he leads the weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. Reuters 21/50 20 August 2019 A masked dancer takes part in the Nil Barahi mask dance festival, an annual event during which dancers perform while posing as various deities that people worship to seek blessings, in Bode, Nepal. Reuters 22/50 19 August 2019 Protesters take to the street to face off with Indonesian police in Manokwari, Papua. The riots broke out, with a local parliament building being torched, as thousands protested allegations that police tear-gassed and arrested students who supported the restive region's independence. AFP/Getty 23/50 18 August 2019 People survey the destruction after an overnight suicide bomb explosion that targeted a wedding reception in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 63 people, mostly wedding guests from the Shi'ite Muslim community, were killed and more than 180 injured when a suicide bomber attacked a wedding hall. EPA 24/50 17 August 2019 A man retrieves his prize after climbing up a greased pole during a competition held as part of Independence Day celebrations at Ancol Beach in Jakarta. Indonesia is celebrating its 74th anniversary of independence from the Dutch colonial rule. AP 25/50 16 August 2019 Swiss pianist and composer Alain Roche plays piano suspended in the air at dawn during the 20th "Jeux du Castrum", a multidisciplinary festival in Switzerland. AFP/Getty 26/50 15 August 2019 Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bow during a memorial service ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two, in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters 27/50 14 August 2019 A woman walks with a Kashmir's flag to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir, during a ceremony to celebrate Pakistan's 72nd Independence Day at the Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, Pakistan. Reuters 28/50 13 August 2019 The extraordinary moment a volcano erupted, shooting luminous hot lava from the surface, as a lightning bolt striked the centre of the mountain. Photographer Martin Reitze, 55, captured rare images of volcanic ash escaping from the Ebeko volcano in Russia whilst the lightning froze the ash cloud in time. Martin, from Munich, was standing around a kilometre away from the northern crater of the volcano when it erupted. The volcano expert said: "The strong lightning which shows in the image is a very rare exception, as it was much stronger than usual." Martin Reitze/SWNS 29/50 12 August 2019 People swim in a public bath pool in Zalakaros, Hungary. Some regions of the country have been issued the highest grade of warning by the National Meteorological Service as the temperatures may reach 33-38 centigrade. EPA 30/50 11 August 2019 A pro-democracy protester is held by police outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police station during a demonstration against the controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 31/50 10 August 2019 Muslim pilgrims make their way down on a rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. AP 32/50 9 August 2019 Waves hit a sea wall in front of buildings in Taizhou, China's eastern Zhejiang province. China issued a red alert for incoming Super Typhoon Lekima which is expected to batter eastern Zhejiang province early on August 10 with high winds and torrential rainfall. AFP/Getty 33/50 8 August 2019 A herder struggles with his flock across a motorway at the city cattle market, ahead of the Eid al-Adha in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy. EPA 34/50 7 August 2019 Kazakh servicemen perform during a ceremony opening the International Army Games at the 40th military base Otar in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. Reuters 35/50 6 August 2019 Paleontologist Naturalis Anne Schulp takes part in the construction of the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex called Trix in Naturalis in Leiden, The Netherlands. After a month-long tour of Europe, Trix is home in time for the opening of the new museum. AFP/Getty 36/50 5 August 2019 Flowers paying tribute to the eight-year-old boy who died after he was pushed under a train at Frankfurt am Main's station. The horrific crime happened last week and has led politicians to call for heightened security. AFP/Getty 37/50 4 August 2019 Mourners take part in a vigil near the border fence between Mexico and the US after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso killed 20 people. The suspected gunman behind shooting is believed to be a 21-year-old white man called Patrick Crusius. Reuters 38/50 3 August 2019 Pramac Racing's rider Jack Miller in action during a practice session at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. The race will take place on 4 August. EPA 39/50 2 August 2019 An extremely rare Pink Meanie jellyfish on display at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. The Pink Meanie was discovered during a nightlight jellyfish dive by the collections team in the waters around Robben Island and in Cape Town Harbour. Pink Meanies are jellyvorous, meaning they feed on other jelly species by reeling them in with their long tentacles. Discovering the Pink Meanie in its early ephyra stage meant the team could study its growth rate which turned out to be very quick as it grew to the metaephyra stage in about a week and a half. The Mexican pink meanie (Drymonema larsoni) was only discovered in the year 2000. A Mediterranean relative, known as the Big Pink Jellyfish (Drymonema dalmatinum) has been known to science since the 1800s but when spotted in 2014 it had been almost 70 years since the last sighting. These jellies are incredibly rare and this new South African species is no exception. EPA 40/50 1 August 2019 Palestinian men breathe fire on the beach as entertainment for children during the summer vacation in Gaza City. AFP/Getty 41/50 31 July 2019 A woman rows a boat through the lotus plants on the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. The lake is a popular tourist destination because of its floating gardens and lotus flowers. EPA 42/50 30 July 2019 An effigy of demon Ghantakarna is burnt to symbolize the destruction of evil and belief to drive evil spirits and ghost, during the Ghantakarna festival at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal. Reuters 43/50 29 July 2019 Hundreds of hot air balloons take part in the Great Line at the Mondial Air Ballons festival, in an attempt to break the 2017 record of 456 balloons aligning in an hour during the biggest meeting in the world, in Chambley, France. Reuters 44/50 28 July 2019 Anti-extradition bill protesters with umbrellas attend a rally against the police brutality in Hong Kong. EPA 45/50 27 July 2019 A general view of stalls closed following yesterday's volcanic eruption at the tourism area of Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the north of Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia. Reuters 46/50 26 July 2019 Protesters rally against a controversial extradition bill in the arrivals hall at the international airport in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 47/50 25 July 2019 The pack rides in a valley during the eighteenth stage of the 106th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Embrun and Valloire. AFP/Getty 48/50 24 July 2019 Former special counsel Robert Mueller is sworn in to testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the investigation into Russian Interference of the 2016 Presidential Election. Reuters 49/50 23 July 2019 People cool down at the fountains of Trocadero during a heatwave in Paris. EPA 50/50 22 July 2019 Activists burn an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte, depicted as a sea monster, during a protest near congress. This is to coincide with his state of the nation address in Manila. AFP/Getty 1/50 9 September 2019 A firefighter assesses the fire spreading across land on Long Gully Road in the town of Drake, Australia. A number of homes have been destroyed by bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland. EPA 2/50 8 September 2019 Damaged homes after hurricane Dorian devastated Elbow Key Island in Hope Town, Bahamas. The hurricane hit the island chain as a category 5 storm and battered them for two days before moving north. Getty 3/50 7 September 2019 An artist performs on Tverskaya street during celebrations marking the 872nd anniversary of the city of Moscow. AFP/Getty 4/50 6 September 2019 Children play football next to a defaced portrait of Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare on the day he died, aged 95. The former leader was forced to resign in 2017, after a 37-year rule, whose early promise was eroded by economic turmoil, disputed elections and human rights violations, has died. AP 5/50 5 September 2019 Authorities work at the scene of a train crash in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. According to media reports, more than 30 people were injured after a train hit a track at a crossing. EPA 6/50 4 September 2019 A police office removes burning tires from the road, as protesters set up fires to block traffic along Airport Road in Abuja, Nigeria. Reuters 7/50 3 September 2019 A riot police officer throws a teargas canister as looters make off with goods from a store in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. Police had earlier fired rubber bullets as they struggled to stop looters who targeted businesses as unrest broke out in several spots in and around the city. AP 8/50 2 September 2019 A boat off the island of Santa Cruz in California burns in the early hours of Monday morning. More than 30 people were on board the boat, which is thought to have been on a three-day diving trip. EPA 9/50 1 September 2019 Flowers are laid in a hole in a wall as people gather in the gym of a school, the scene of the hostage crisis, in memory of victims on the fifteenth anniversary of the tragedy in Beslan, North Ossetia region, Russia. More than 330 people, including 186 children, died as a result of the terrorist attack at the school. AP 10/50 31 August 2019 A man sits in front of riot officers during the rally 'Calling One Hundred Thousands Christians Praying for Hong Kong Sinners' in Hong Kong, China. EPA 11/50 30 August 2019 A migrant forces his way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. Over 150 migrants made their way into Ceuta after storming a barbed-wire border fence with Morocco. AFP/Getty 12/50 A beagle jumps through hoops during a show at the Pet Expo Championship 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. Although the four-day expo is primarily dog oriented it features a wide array of stalls catering to pet owners' needs as well as showcasing a variety of animals including reptiles, birds, ferrets, and rabbits. EPA 13/50 28 August 2019 Baby elephants rub their trunks against a tree at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Countries that are part of an international agreement on trade in endangered species agreed on Tuesday to limit the sale of wild elephants, delighting conservationists but dismaying some of the African countries involved. AP 14/50 27 August 2019 Burning rubbles in the market of Bouake, central Ivory Coast, after a fire broke overnight. AFP/Getty 15/50 26 August 2019 French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from left, sits between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they take part in a meeting at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France. The Canadian Press via AP 16/50 25 August 2019 A Brazillian Air Force jet drops water to fight a fire in the Amazon rainforest in the state of Rondonia, Brazil. EPA 17/50 24 August 2019 A police officer prepares to strike a protester as clashes erupt during a pro-democracy march in Hong Kong's Kowloon Bay. AFP/Getty 18/50 23 August 2019 Oxfam activists in costumes depicting leaders of the G7 nations protest in Biarritz, France on the day before the summit is due to be held there. AFP/Getty 19/50 22 August 2019 A vendor sits as she sells models of the Hindu deity Krishna on display at a roadside ahead of the 'Janmashtami' festival in Chennai. 20/50 21 August 2019 A girl reacts next to Pope Francis as he leads the weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. Reuters 21/50 20 August 2019 A masked dancer takes part in the Nil Barahi mask dance festival, an annual event during which dancers perform while posing as various deities that people worship to seek blessings, in Bode, Nepal. Reuters 22/50 19 August 2019 Protesters take to the street to face off with Indonesian police in Manokwari, Papua. The riots broke out, with a local parliament building being torched, as thousands protested allegations that police tear-gassed and arrested students who supported the restive region's independence. AFP/Getty 23/50 18 August 2019 People survey the destruction after an overnight suicide bomb explosion that targeted a wedding reception in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 63 people, mostly wedding guests from the Shi'ite Muslim community, were killed and more than 180 injured when a suicide bomber attacked a wedding hall. EPA 24/50 17 August 2019 A man retrieves his prize after climbing up a greased pole during a competition held as part of Independence Day celebrations at Ancol Beach in Jakarta. Indonesia is celebrating its 74th anniversary of independence from the Dutch colonial rule. AP 25/50 16 August 2019 Swiss pianist and composer Alain Roche plays piano suspended in the air at dawn during the 20th "Jeux du Castrum", a multidisciplinary festival in Switzerland. AFP/Getty 26/50 15 August 2019 Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bow during a memorial service ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two, in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters 27/50 14 August 2019 A woman walks with a Kashmir's flag to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir, during a ceremony to celebrate Pakistan's 72nd Independence Day at the Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, Pakistan. Reuters 28/50 13 August 2019 The extraordinary moment a volcano erupted, shooting luminous hot lava from the surface, as a lightning bolt striked the centre of the mountain. Photographer Martin Reitze, 55, captured rare images of volcanic ash escaping from the Ebeko volcano in Russia whilst the lightning froze the ash cloud in time. Martin, from Munich, was standing around a kilometre away from the northern crater of the volcano when it erupted. The volcano expert said: "The strong lightning which shows in the image is a very rare exception, as it was much stronger than usual." Martin Reitze/SWNS 29/50 12 August 2019 People swim in a public bath pool in Zalakaros, Hungary. Some regions of the country have been issued the highest grade of warning by the National Meteorological Service as the temperatures may reach 33-38 centigrade. EPA 30/50 11 August 2019 A pro-democracy protester is held by police outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police station during a demonstration against the controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 31/50 10 August 2019 Muslim pilgrims make their way down on a rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. AP 32/50 9 August 2019 Waves hit a sea wall in front of buildings in Taizhou, China's eastern Zhejiang province. China issued a red alert for incoming Super Typhoon Lekima which is expected to batter eastern Zhejiang province early on August 10 with high winds and torrential rainfall. AFP/Getty 33/50 8 August 2019 A herder struggles with his flock across a motorway at the city cattle market, ahead of the Eid al-Adha in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy. EPA 34/50 7 August 2019 Kazakh servicemen perform during a ceremony opening the International Army Games at the 40th military base Otar in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. Reuters 35/50 6 August 2019 Paleontologist Naturalis Anne Schulp takes part in the construction of the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex called Trix in Naturalis in Leiden, The Netherlands. After a month-long tour of Europe, Trix is home in time for the opening of the new museum. AFP/Getty 36/50 5 August 2019 Flowers paying tribute to the eight-year-old boy who died after he was pushed under a train at Frankfurt am Main's station. The horrific crime happened last week and has led politicians to call for heightened security. AFP/Getty 37/50 4 August 2019 Mourners take part in a vigil near the border fence between Mexico and the US after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso killed 20 people. The suspected gunman behind shooting is believed to be a 21-year-old white man called Patrick Crusius. Reuters 38/50 3 August 2019 Pramac Racing's rider Jack Miller in action during a practice session at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. The race will take place on 4 August. EPA 39/50 2 August 2019 An extremely rare Pink Meanie jellyfish on display at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. The Pink Meanie was discovered during a nightlight jellyfish dive by the collections team in the waters around Robben Island and in Cape Town Harbour. Pink Meanies are jellyvorous, meaning they feed on other jelly species by reeling them in with their long tentacles. Discovering the Pink Meanie in its early ephyra stage meant the team could study its growth rate which turned out to be very quick as it grew to the metaephyra stage in about a week and a half. The Mexican pink meanie (Drymonema larsoni) was only discovered in the year 2000. A Mediterranean relative, known as the Big Pink Jellyfish (Drymonema dalmatinum) has been known to science since the 1800s but when spotted in 2014 it had been almost 70 years since the last sighting. These jellies are incredibly rare and this new South African species is no exception. EPA 40/50 1 August 2019 Palestinian men breathe fire on the beach as entertainment for children during the summer vacation in Gaza City. AFP/Getty 41/50 31 July 2019 A woman rows a boat through the lotus plants on the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. The lake is a popular tourist destination because of its floating gardens and lotus flowers. EPA 42/50 30 July 2019 An effigy of demon Ghantakarna is burnt to symbolize the destruction of evil and belief to drive evil spirits and ghost, during the Ghantakarna festival at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal. Reuters 43/50 29 July 2019 Hundreds of hot air balloons take part in the Great Line at the Mondial Air Ballons festival, in an attempt to break the 2017 record of 456 balloons aligning in an hour during the biggest meeting in the world, in Chambley, France. Reuters 44/50 28 July 2019 Anti-extradition bill protesters with umbrellas attend a rally against the police brutality in Hong Kong. EPA 45/50 27 July 2019 A general view of stalls closed following yesterday's volcanic eruption at the tourism area of Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the north of Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia. Reuters 46/50 26 July 2019 Protesters rally against a controversial extradition bill in the arrivals hall at the international airport in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 47/50 25 July 2019 The pack rides in a valley during the eighteenth stage of the 106th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Embrun and Valloire. AFP/Getty 48/50 24 July 2019 Former special counsel Robert Mueller is sworn in to testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the investigation into Russian Interference of the 2016 Presidential Election. Reuters 49/50 23 July 2019 People cool down at the fountains of Trocadero during a heatwave in Paris. EPA 50/50 22 July 2019 Activists burn an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte, depicted as a sea monster, during a protest near congress. This is to coincide with his state of the nation address in Manila. AFP/Getty Yemeni security and medical officials said the dead and wounded include military and security officials from the ranks of the Shia Houthi rebels fighting the internationally-recognised government of President Hadi. Among those killed was Major General Abdul-Qader Hilal, head of the capital's local council, according to the officials. Ambulances rushed to the site to ferry the wounded to hospitals. In radio broadcasts, the Health Ministry summoned off-duty doctors and called on residents to donate blood. Rescuers, meanwhile, sifted through the rubble in search of more casualties, but a fire that erupted hindered their work. The conflict in Yemen has resulted in more than 10,000 people being killed. Additional reporting by agencies

Saudi-led coalition jets launch airstrikes on civilians at the funeral of the father of the Houthi government's Interior Minister in Sana'a, killing at least 140 people, and injuring over 500 more. One of the dead is the mayor of Sana'a, Abdul-Qader Hilal.

world Updated: Oct 08, 2016 22:32 IST Bangladeshi security officials on Saturday killed 11 suspected militants of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in three separate raids as the country reinforced its counter-terrorism efforts. The suspects were members of the banned group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, which the government has blamed for a deadly attack in July at a restaurant in Dhaka, the capital, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan. Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the operations were carried out at Gazipur near the national capital, and in Tangail district. "We requested them to surrender but they opened fire at our officers, which prompted them to retaliate," Khan said, adding that forces “seized money from these extremists that they got through robbery.” Dhaka, Bangladesh Firearms, meat cleavers found Firearms, bullets and meat cleavers were found during the raids, said Mufti Mahmud Khan, a spokesman for the Rapid Action Battalion involved in Saturday’s operations. Khan said one of the men killed in Gazipur was identified as Akash, a militant who had taken over the JMB's leadership after former leader Tamim Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi Canadian who fought in Syria for the Islamic State group, was killed along with two associates in a raid in August. Bangladesh was stunned after Islamist extremists killed 20 hostages, including an Indian national and 16 more foreigners, during a siege at Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant in Dhaka's Gulshan diplomatic zone on July 1. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the restaurant attack, but authorities have denied that, saying that it was the act of JMB, and that the IS has no presence in the Muslim-majority country.</s>DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladeshi security forces on Saturday killed 12 members of an Islamist militant group blamed for a deadly attack on a cafe in Dhaka in July, senior officials said. The 11 militants, believed to be members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), were killed in three raids on militant hideouts on the outskirts of the capital, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters. Seven militants were killed in a raid on one hideout after police were tipped off that the JMB's Dhaka unit chief and his associates were there. Neo-JMB is said to be ideologically linked to the ISIS which had claimed responsibility of the attack on Dhaka’s Holey Artisan restaurant on July 1 in which nine Italians, seven Japanese, an American, an Indian and five Bangladeshis, including two police officers, were killed. Police have killed more than three dozen suspected militants in shootouts since the Dhaka cafe attack, including its presumed mastermind, Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury. The United States believes elements of Islamic State are "connected" to operatives in Bangladesh, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said during a visit to Dhaka in August.

Raids by security forces on Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh in Gazipur leave 11 militants dead.

CHARLESTON, S.C./SAVANNAH, Ga.—Hurricane Matthew slammed into South Carolina on Saturday, packing a diminished yet still powerful punch after killing almost 900 people in Haiti and causing major flooding and widespread power outages as it skirted Florida and Georgia. (CNN) After battering Florida's east coast, a weakened Hurricane Matthew churned slowly north early Saturday, bringing dangerous storm surges and heavy rain to Georgia and South Carolina. As winds dropped to less than 85 miles per hour, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of 1 to 5, the storm was about 20 miles (35 km) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The National Hurricane Service said Matthew was over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Saturday afternoon, and warned of potentially life-threatening flooding in Georgia and North Carolina even as the storm slowed as it plowed inland. At least five deaths in Florida and three deaths in North Carolina were attributed to the storm. The dead included a woman in her 60s in Volusia County who was killed by a falling tree and an 82-year-old man and a woman in St. Lucie County, officials said. There were at least four storm-related deaths in Florida but no immediate reports of significant damage in cities and towns where Matthew swamped streets, toppled trees and knocked out power to about 1 million households and businesses. Parts of Interstate 95, the main north-south thoroughfare on the East Coast, were closed due to flooding and fallen trees, state officials said. In Florida, 775,000 were without power, according to state utilities, while in South Carolina 433,000 had no electricity, Governor Nikki Haley said. About 450,000 were without power in Georgia and South Carolina on Saturday, utility companies said. A count by Reuters, based on information from local civil protection officials, put the death toll well over 800. Matthew struck the southwestern peninsula with winds of 125 mph (200 kph) and heavy rains that flattened homes, flooded villages, razed crops, swept away cattle and cut off the parts of the island. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm hurled the sea into fragile coastal villages, some of which were only now being contacted. Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was due to arrive on Sunday with heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh-water delivery vehicles and two operating rooms. Forecasters warned of flooding as 15 inches of rain were expected to fall in parts of the region along with massive storm surges and high tides. Further south, some 8 inches (20 cm) of rain fell in the Savannah, Georgia, area, downing trees and causing flooding.</s>CHARLESTON, S.C. — A fast-weakening Hurricane Matthew continued its march along the Atlantic coast Saturday, lashing two of the South’s most historic cities and some of its most popular resort islands, flattening trees, swamping streets and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands. The storm was blamed for at least four deaths in Florida and knocked out power to more than 1 million homes and businesses as it made is way northward. In its long wake, it also left at least 470 dead in Haiti in one hard-hit district alone, according to officials, with other stricken areas still unreachable four days after the disaster struck. Matthew raked Georgia and South Carolina with torrential rain and stiff winds, and — for the first time in its run up the U.S. coastline — its storm center blew ashore, making landfall north of Charleston, near the town of McClellanville, where it caused serious flooding. Early Saturday, Matthew raked the Georgia and South Carolina coasts with torrential rain, staying just far enough offshore that coastal communities did not feel the force of its winds. As the storm passed one city after another, the reaction was relief that things were nowhere near as bad as many feared. “We are all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott said. “We are blessed that we didn’t have a direct hit.” As of 11 a.m., Matthew was just barely a hurricane, with winds of 75 mph. That was down from 145 mph when the storm roared into Haiti. It was moving at 12 mph. Among the cities bracing for its effects later in the day were Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina. From there, the storm was expected to veer out to sea and loop back around toward the Bahamas, though as a much-weakened storm. Matthew was expected to near North Carolina’s southern coast by Saturday night. Pat McCrory warned people not to let their guard down just because Matthew was losing steam. In Savannah, Georgia, a historic town of moss-draped squares and antebellum mansions, floodwaters several feet deep submerged a long stretch of President Street, which links downtown to the highway to Georgia’s Tybee Island. A woman was seen staggering through waters up to her neck. The shivering woman made it to the water’s edge. A bystander handed her a sheet, which she wrapped around her neck. “I’m homeless,” said the woman, who identified herself only as Valerie. “I’ve got nine kids, but I couldn’t evacuate with them.” Matthew also brought some of the highest tides on record along the South Carolina coast. Streets in Charleston — a city of handsome pre-Civil War homes, church steeples and romantic carriage rides — were flooded. On Saturday, property manager Nick Trunck was in the city’s historic district to check on several stores and apartments. “But I’m not going to lie: There’s a little bit of nervous tension right now.” Todd said he was staying with friends at a third-story condo, which had lost electricity. “I feel badly for a lot of the businesses downtown that have been closed since Wednesday,” she added. “I noticed a lot of hotels were completely closed. I know some weddings were cancelled and it was a huge financial loss for a lot of people.” South Carolina’s golf-and-tennis resort Hilton Head Island also took a blow as the eye of the storm passed 20 miles to the east. At least one wind gust of 87 mph was recorded at Hilton Head, South Carolina. The two roads onto the island of 40,000 people were blocked by fallen pine trees, and many roads were under water. Signs were blown over, and power was out across the island. Chandler Brunson and was among those trying to go back to her home after evacuating, but found her path blocked. “I think we’re going to have a pine tree splitting our house,” she said. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Residents of Brunswick, Georgia, woke to roads covered by water or fallen trees and downed power lines. From there, it scraped the Georgia coast, including the resort islands of St. Simons and Tybee. Tybee Island also took a beating, with gusts clocked at 93 mph. Nearly a half-million electric customers in South Carolina were left without power, and 250,000 were in the dark in coastal Georgia. Matthew — the most powerful hurricane to threaten the Atlantic Seaboard in more than a decade — set off alarms as it closed in on the U.S., triggering evacuation orders covering at least 2 million people. But in the end, the hurricane skirted Florida’s heavily populated Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area and sideswiped cities farther north, including Daytona Beach, Vero Beach, Cape Canaveral and Jacksonville, without its centre ever actually coming ashore in Florida. The damage consisted largely of fallen trees, downed power lines, eroded beaches and flooded roads. It’s raining sideways now.” In Florida, the storm gouged out several large sections of the coastal A1A highway north of Daytona Beach. Well south of the storm, things quickly began returning to normal Saturday, with all three of Orlando’s main theme parks — Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld — reopening in the morning. The deaths in Florida included an elderly St. Lucie County couple who died from carbon monoxide fumes while running a generator in their garage and two women who were killed when trees fell on a home and a camper. On Friday, the storm raked yet another historic Southern city: St. Augustine, Florida, which was founded by the Spanish in the 1500s and includes a 17th-century stone fortress and many historic homes turned into bed-and-breakfasts. The city was left awash in rain and gray seawater, though the floodwaters had mostly receded by morning. Associated Press writers Holbrook Mohr in Orlando, Florida; Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Florida; Kelli Kennedy and Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Jennifer Kay, Freida Frisaro and Curt Anderson in Miami; Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Janelle Cogan in Orlando, Florida; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jeffrey Collins on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Jack Jones and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; and Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

Hurricane Matthew, responsible for killing 13 people and knocking out power to 2.2 million households and businesses in the Southeastern United States, is now a Category 1 hurricane (75 mph;120 km/h winds) approaching the North Carolina coast.

WARSAW, Poland — Poland and Estonia expressed concerns Saturday that Russia has moved nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles into Kaliningrad, a Russian region on the Baltic Sea, with one official saying Russia appears eager to dominate that body of water. Russia says the missiles are being deployed as part of regular military maneuvers to the territory, which is wedged between Poland and Lithuania. Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said Poland considers the matter of “highest concern” and is monitoring the situation. The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the reasons of deployment of the ballistic missile systems in Kaliningrad “could be innocuous.” There still are no comments of the Russian side in connection with the statement. “As part of the plan of combat training, missile troops units are engaged in training on a year-round basis, covering great distances of the Russian territory in various ways: by air, by sea, and under their own power.” Wedged between NATO members Poland and Lithuania and the Baltic Sea, Kaliningrad is vital to Russia’s strategic position. Meanwhile, Chief of Missile Forces and Artillery of the Russian Ground Forces, Major General Mikhail Matveevsky said in May 2015 that the missile brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, deployed in Kaliningrad region, as all other missile brigades, will be rearmed with the Iskander-M operational-tactical systems by 2018.</s>

Russian President Vladimir Putin deploys the nuclear-capable Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system to the Russian Kaliningrad exclave between Poland and Lithuania.

UNITED NATIONS -- Rival resolutions on Syria backed by the West and Russia were defeated Saturday in the U.N. Security Council, offering no relief to the besieged city of Aleppo and leaving the key powers even more divided over a course of action in the war-ravaged country. Instead of Russia being the lone veto on a resolution demanding an end to the bombing campaign by Syrian and Russian aircraft in Aleppo, now the Western powers have vetoed a resolution calling for a halt to fighting in that region. The rival Russian draft which made no mention of a bombing halt was rejected because it failed to get the minimum nine "yes" votes needed for approval by the 15-member council. “But certainly some ambassadors were pointing the finger at Russia because, of course, the first resolution that was proposed by France, which suggested that all military aircraft over Aleppo should be grounde,d would have gone through if it wasn’t for the Russian veto.” After Russia’s proposal failed to gather enough votes, Matthew Rycroft, Britain’s ambassador to the UN, asked Russia to “Stop bombing Aleppo now”. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current rotating council president, said before the votes that members were engaging in "one of the strangest spectacles" in the Security Council, because they were meeting knowing that neither resolution would be adopted. The French-backed resolution received 11 "yes" votes, two "no" votes from Russia and Venezuela, and abstentions from China and Angola. After Russia’s veto, the council moved to the second vote on the Russian-drafted text, but it failed to gather enough votes to pass. It was the fifth time Russia has used its veto on a UN resolution on Syria during the more than five-year conflict. Russia has condemned the UN and Western governments for attempting to thwart their attempts at defeating ISIS in Syria, vetoing a UN Security Council proposal to end fighting. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari started speaking, a number of ambassadors walked out, including the representatives of Britain, France, Ukraine and the United States. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who addressed the session before the vote on the French resolution, warned that the continued bombing of Aleppo was killing civilians and destroying hospitals and schools — "and has nothing to do with combatting terrorism," as Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and its close ally Russia contend. He said the French resolution's adoption would have been the first where the Security Council decided on a course of action for a permanent council member without prior agreement — meaning that Russia would have been required to stop all flights and bombing of Aleppo.</s>BEIRUT (Reuters) – Russia vetoed a French-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution yesterday that would have demanded an immediate end to air strikes and military flights over Syria’s Aleppo city and called for a truce and humanitarian aid access throughout Syria. Meanwhile, a rival Russian-drafted resolution that aimed to revive a failed September 9, US and Russia ceasefire deal on Syria did not garner the minimum nine votes. Fighting continued in the almost six-year conflict with Syrian government forces recapturing territory from insurgents in several western areas. President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, backed by Russian air power and Iranian, Lebanese and Iraqi fighters on the ground, hold the upper hand around the key battleground of Aleppo, whose opposition-held eastern sector has been encircled for all but a short period since July. The government side’s bombardment of Aleppo since a ceasefire brokered by Washington and Moscow in September collapsed after a week has drawn condemnation from the United Nations and countries supporting the Syrian opposition. France, which opposes Assad, demanded in its draft resolution an end to air strikes and military flights over Aleppo city. Russia has backed Assad with a year-long air campaign against the rebels. French President Francois Hollande yesterday had urged United Nations Security Council members not to use their veto against a resolution that calls for an end to bombardments of Aleppo. Russia’s draft, which does not include that demand, urges Moscow and Washington to revive the ceasefire deal. Syrian opposition negotiator Asaad al-Zoubi said on his Twitter account that its High Negotiations Committee would not accept any new ceasefire deal without guaranteed monitoring of it by European and Arab countries. Rebels also suffered setbacks further northeast near the Turkish border yesterday, in fighting against Islamic State militants, British-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Syrian government forces and their allies, backed by air raids, took over an area on Aleppo’s northern outskirts on Saturday, state media and the Observatory said. The advance in the Awaija area strengthened their hold on areas surrounding rebel-held east Aleppo, the Observatory said. Rebel official Zakaria Malahifji of the Aleppo-based Fastaqim faction denied there had been a government advance there. But he did confirm government advances further south in Hama province, reported by pro-Damascus media and the Observatory. The Syrian army and its allies recaptured several towns and villages from rebels in Hama’s northern countryside, reversing recent insurgent gains in the area. Rebels had seized towns and villages north of Hama city after launching an offensive at the end of August in rare advances while insurgent factions were pressed elsewhere. The government’s Hama advances were their first in the area since then, the Observatory said. It said the government side had taken advantage of recent infighting between two Islamist insurgent groups in the countryside of Idlib, north of Hama’s provincial boundary. In a separate government advance against insurgents near Damascus, the Syrian army and allied forces seized a large portion of the town of al-Hameh to the northwest of the Syrian capital, the Observatory said. Russia’s air power has been crucial for strengthening Assad’s position in the past year, pounding rebels including foreign-backed factions. Washington accuses Moscow and Damascus of war crimes for intentionally targeting civilians, aid deliveries and hospitals which have been hit particularly around Aleppo in recent weeks. Moscow and Damascus say they are targeting terrorist groups. The ceasefire deal brokered by Washington and Moscow in September was meant to pave the way for joint US-Russian targeting of extremists including al Qaeda and Islamic State. All sides in the multi-sided Syria conflict, now in its sixth year, are fighting a number of separate battles against IS. Members of the jihadist group recaptured several villages from foreign-backed rebels in their counter attack near the Turkish border, the Observatory said. The rebels, whom Turkey has supported with tanks and air strikes, had been pushing towards the IS stronghold of Dabiq, a village of symbolic importance to the militants. The stiff resistance the insurgents have encountered in recent days shows the challenge they face in capturing Dabiq and flushing the jihadist group out of more areas it controls in northern Syria.

Russia vetoes a French-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for a ceasefire in Aleppo. China, which had backed Russia's four previous Syria-related vetoes, abstains.

German police have raided an apartment building in the eastern city of Chemnitz Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016 after receiving information someone may be planning a bombing attack. BERLIN -- German police searched nationwide Sunday for a 22-year-old Syrian man believed to have been preparing a bombing attack, who slipped through their fingers as they were closing in on him, and were questioning a second Syrian man on suspicion he was involved in the plot. The suspect remained on the run but three contacts were detained and being questioned, police said. He was the renter of the apartment that police raided in their search for the main suspect, Jaber Albakr from the Damascus area of Syria, Saxony police spokesman Tom Bernhardt told The Associated Press. The apartment was raided after local authorities received a tip-off from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency that the suspect might be there, and that he was thought to be planning a bomb attack. Saxony police put out an alert, identifying the suspect as 22-year-old Jaber Albakr from the Damascus area, and urging anyone with any information of his whereabouts to contact authorities. Two people who had "contacts" with Albakr were taken into custody near the Chemnitz train station and a third was found downtown, Bernhardt said, adding they were being questioned with the hope that they might help authorities find Albakr. German media have reported that Albakr is believed to be connected to Islamic extremist groups, but Saxony police have not commented on his possible motivation or the bomb plot's target. He said experts were still trying to determine whether it was the same explosive used in the deadly Nov. 13 attacks in Paris and the March 22 attacks in Brussels known as TATP, or triacetone triperoxide. Authorities released no details about how long the suspect had been in Germany, and Bernhardt said it was unclear whether he had come in the huge wave of asylum-seekers in 2015. Neighbors reported hearing an explosion during the raid, but that was the police team blowing open the apartment door, police spokeswoman Kathlen Zink told The Associated Press. Germany has been on edge since two attacks this summer claimed by the Islamic State in which multiple people were injured and both assailants died. Two other attacks unrelated to Islamic extremism, including a deadly mall shooting in Munich, have also contributed to heightened fears.</s>The officers told them to leave their homes quickly and quietly before centring on one particular home. Terrified residents posted images of officers clad in black helmets, balaclavas and body armour with their assault weapons raised and poised. Germany has been on edge after suffering two attacks claimed by the Islamic State group (IS) in July — an axe rampage on a train in Wuerzburg that injured five and a suicide bombing in Ansbach that left 15 wounded. Saxony police have released pictures of Damascus-born Mr al-Bakr wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt with a colourful print. Image copyright AP Image caption Police failed to find the suspect in a raid on an apartment Police in the eastern German city of Chemnitz have detained three people as they continue a search for a suspect believed to be planning a bomb attack. Officers are carrying out a major operation in the German city of Chemnitz "because of the suspected preparation of an attack with explosives," Saxony police said via Twitter on Saturday. An explosion heard at the scene "was a protective measure taken by the police," the police force said, as it warned people in the area to stay indoors. The wanted person has not been found,” police added.

After authorities in Chemnitz, Germany, uncover a suspected terrorist bombing plot, police seek the suspect.

Palm Springs, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement regarding the deaths of Palm Springs Police Department Officers Jose Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny: “Officers Vega and Zerebny were killed today doing what they do every day – protecting their community. The shooting occurred after two officers went to a home after receiving a report from a female caller that her adult son was causing a disturbance, police chief Bryan Reyes told journalists. Advertisement “They were responding to a simple family disturbance and [the gunman] elected to open fire,” an emotional Reyes told reporters during an afternoon news conference. Speaking of the two police officers killed on Saturday in Palm Springs, California, Police Chief Bryan Reyes said: "Today Palm Springs lost two brave officers. “So we stayed indoors,” she said, “and it was kind of, pretty scary.” Nothing like this has happened during the three years Eden has lived in Palm Springs, she said. The Palm Springs Police Department officers fatally shot Saturday have been identified as Jose Gilbert Vega, a 35-year veteran officer working an overtime shift, and Lesley Zerebny, 27, a mother of a 4-month-old child, Police Chief Bryan Reyes said Saturday. The Palm Springs police chief said the area where the shooting occurred was still an active scene and the investigation had been turned over to the central homicide unit of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. “It’s like a nightmare.” Georgie Eden said she was outside doing yard work with her son and her husband when “all of a sudden I hear this pow, pow, pow pow.” “At first I’m thinking, perhaps it was party poppers in the neighbor’s garden or something, and my husband’s like, ‘Uh, that’s gunfire — get in the house.’ ” Eden then heard several more rounds of gunfire that seemed to continue for 10 to 20 minutes, she said.</s>Video: Two police officers dead, one wounded in California Police in Palm Springs, California are searching for the man who shot and killed two officers and wounded another as they were attempting to resolve a domestic disturbance.

A gunman shoots three police officers in Palm Springs, California, leaving two dead and one injured.

TBILISI (Reuters) - The ruling party in Georgia decisively won parliamentary elections, firming its grip on power in the former Soviet nation, near-complete results showed on Sunday. Georgia's former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili (L) and Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili wave at a rally of Georgian Dream party after the parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, October 8, 2016. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili With 99.41 percent of the votes in, data from the Central Election Commission gave the ruling Georgian Dream party 48.61 percent of the vote and the opposition United National Movement (UNM) 27.04 percent. A U.S. ally traditionally buffeted between Russia and the West, Georgia hopes to join the European Union and NATO one day even though that is something that Russia, its former colonial master, strongly opposes. With political stability still fragile — the first peaceful transfer of power since the 1991 Soviet collapse only took place four years ago - the authorities were keen the election be widely seen as free and fair to avoid a return to the days when politicians tried to seize power by force. Georgia is criss-crossed by strategically important oil and gas pipelines and a fifth of its territory remains under the control of pro-Russian separatists following a short war with Russia in 2008. Georgian Dream, which is pro-Western but also favors closer ties with Russia, declared victory shortly after polls closed on Saturday. “I congratulate you with a big victory Georgia!” Prime Minister Georgy Kvirikashvili told jubilant supporters gathered outside the party’s headquarters in Tbilisi, the capital. “According to all preliminary results, Georgian Dream is leading with a big advantage,” he said, as dozens of party members waved blue party flags and balloons. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said on Sunday the election had been competitive and that fundamental freedoms had been generally respected. With some parties threatening to organize street protests if they do not get into parliament, the government is likely to use the OSCE’s assessment to bolster its assertion that the vote was largely fair despite some problems. Related Coverage OSCE says Georgian parliament vote was competitive with some flaws UNREST The pre-election atmosphere was marred by a string of violent incidents blamed by Georgian politicians on everyone from Moscow to shadowy forces bent on destabilizing the vote. In one of them, a group of unidentified attackers threw stones and smashed windows at two polling stations in the village of Jikhashkari in western Georgia on Saturday night. They also damaged the ballot box and attacked international and local observers on the spot, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) said in a statement. Before that, on Tuesday, a car bomb targeted an opposition deputy in Tbilisi. Givi Targamadze survived, but five passers-by were injured. In a separate attack, two men were shot and wounded last Sunday at an election rally in the town of Gori, while on voting day itself disturbances broke out in the village of Kizilajlo in south-east Georgia. Georgian Dream, which came to power in 2012, is funded by tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s richest man, while the opposition UNM was founded by former president Mikheil Saakashvili. “I’m happy that Georgian Dream has won. I believe that they will do more for people,” said Murman Sanikidze, a 37-year-old Tbilisi resident. Although the economy is emerging from a deep slowdown, many in this nation of 3.7 million people are unhappy with their living standards, which have been hit by a decline in exports and remittances. Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia, helped end UNM’s nine-year rule in 2012. Slideshow (12 Images) Under Georgian Dream, dozens of ex-officials have been arrested on charges such as abuse of power, though some Western countries have accused the government of applying justice selectively. Saakashvili, now a regional politician in Ukraine, is wanted at home on several charges, including corruption. He says the charges are politically motivated.</s>The last date for enrolling as a voter for election to the Member of Legislative Council from the graduates constituency of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts is November 5, Collector and District Election Officer Pravin Kumar said here on Friday. Any one who has received a degree from a recognised university or equivalent qualification as specified in the Representation of People’s Act 1950 at least three years before the qualifying date and is an ordinary resident of the constituency is eligible to be enrolled as a voter for the graduate MLC’s election. “Those who have voted in the earlier graduates MLC seat election have to get enrolled again. Electoral rolls for this election are different from the electoral rolls for the general elections. One should have his or her name in the electoral rolls to exercise his or her franchise. No one can claim that he or she can vote in this election also because his or her name is on the electoral rolls for general elections”, Mr. Pravin Kumar clarified at a press conference.

Voters in Georgia go to the polls for a legislative election.

Turkey has been rocked by a wave of bomb attacks since last summer that have killed hundreds of people and been blamed on either the PKK or the Islamic State group Kurdish militants detonated a car bomb on Sunday outside a military station in southeast Turkey, killing eight soldiers and wounding five others, Turkey’s state-run news agency said. Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency, citing a statement by the Turkish Armed Forces, said the attack occurred at 9:45 a.m. outside a Gendarmerie checkpoint on the Semdinli-Yuksekova highway and was the work of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Turkey has been rocked by a wave of bomb attacks since last summer that have killed hundreds of people and been blamed on either the PKK or the Islamic State group. Fighting between the PKK and the state security forces resumed last year after the collapse of a fragile 2 ½-year cease-fire. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed in clashes, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. Rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also been killed in the fighting. On Thursday, 10 people were slightly wounded by a bomb mounted on a motorcycle that exploded near a police station in Istanbul. On Friday, the militant Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, considered an offshoot of the PKK, claimed responsibility. Six people have been detained in connection with that attack.</s>The mountainous Hakkari province, where the attack occurred, lies near the border with Iraq and Iran and is one of the main flashpoint areas in a conflict that has pitted Turkey’s army against the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for 32 years. The governor’s office said extensive air-backed operations were being conducted by commando units in the area to capture PKK militants, who were believed to have opened fire in the run-up to the attack to distract soldiers at the checkpoint. The bomb exploded at a police station in Hakkari, a town 77 kilometers (48 miles) from the Iraqi border, the Turkish army said in a statement. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a PKK offshoot, claimed responsibility for that blast. The PKK, a group that is proscribed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has waged a 32-year insurgency against the Turkish state, which has left nearly 40,000 dead since 1984. A two-year ceasefire between the group and Turkish authorities collapsed in July last year and the violence subsequently flared to levels not seen since the height of the conflict in the 1990s.

A suspected PKK car bomb kills at least 17 people, and injures 27 others in Turkey's southeast Hakkâri Province.

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian motorist launched a shooting spree near the Israeli police headquarters in Jerusalem Sunday, wounding eight people, two of them seriously, before being shot dead, Israeli police and emergency services said. The attacker sped towards a busy stop of the city's light rail system and opened fire, seriously wounding a woman waiting there, according to police spokeswoman Luba Samri. He then continued driving and shot another woman who was seated in her car before speeding off towards an Arab neighbourhood in east Jerusalem. Samri said police officers on motorcycles chased the assailant, who eventually stepped out of his vehicle and opened fire at them. A 30-year-old police officer was critically wounded in the shootout. A separate police force ultimately shot and killed the attacker, Samri said. She identified him as a 39-year-old man from the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan. • John Barrowman shares horror at Palm Springs shooting which killed two police officers yards from his home Israel's Magen David Adom emergency medical service said it was treating eight wounded people, of whom two were in a critical condition. Police cordoned off the area of the shooting and briefly shut down traffic on the light rail. Part of the light rail service was also halted. The attack was an unusual one in the year-long spate of Palestinian assaults since most have been stabbings rather than shootings. A spate of Palestinian assaults, mainly stabbings, has killed 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans since it began just over a year ago, around the Jewish high holidays. About 219 Palestinians have been killed during that period, with Israel saying the vast majority of them were attackers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the potential for violence could rise as the Jewish high holidays approach again and Israel has beefed up its security presence as a result. There has been a recent surge in Palestinian attacks that shattered weeks of relative calm and raised fears of a return to the near-daily attacks often seen throughout the wave. Israel has blamed the violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders, compounded on social media sites. The Palestinians say it is rooted in nearly 50 years of military occupation and dwindling hopes for independence.</s>We also condemn the statements glorifying this reprehensible and cowardly attack.” The statement came hours after a Palestinian assailant shot and killed at least one person at the Ammunition Hill light rail station in northern Jerusalem, and then continued his shooting spree as police pursued him, ultimately shooting and killing the assailant. The assailant, a 39-year-old resident of eastern Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood, had been expected to report to an Israeli prison on Sunday at the time of his shooting attack for a conviction on assaulting a police officer in 2013. The Hamas terrorist organization called the “operation” in Jerusalem “heroic,” and said the attack is a “natural response to the occupation’s crimes and violations at the expense of our people and holy sites.” The attack comes a year after the start of several months of attacks, including car ramming, stabbings and shootings, and at the start of the Jewish High Holiday season, where attacks often rise.

A shooting takes place in Jerusalem that kills two people, including a police officer, injuring six others. The attack was carried out by a Palestinian gunman who opened fire from a vehicle on people waiting at a train station and then the nearby police headquarters in Jerusalem. Israeli police kill the gunman.

A Saudi warship fires a shell during Gulf Shield 1exercise by members of Royal Saudi Navy, east of Saudi Arabia, on Sunday (Reuters photo) RIYADH — Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen fell short of a US warship patrolling the Red Sea off the coast of the war-torn country, the US navy said on Monday. The missile launches come after a United Arab Emirates ship was targeted several days ago by missiles apparently fired by Shiite rebels in Yemen known as Houthis and their allies. The missile fire also comes after a ballistic missile launched from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite rebels and their allies.</s>The air strike ripped through a wake attended by some of the country's top political and security officials, outraging Yemeni society and potentially galvanizing powerful tribes to join the Houthis in opposing a Saudi-backed exiled government. Riyadh is leading a coalition of Arab states which began launching air strikes in Yemen 18 months ago to restore to power ousted President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, who was driven from the capital two years ago by the Houthis. The Houthis, fighters from a Shi'ite sect that ruled a thousand-year kingdom in northern Yemen until 1962, are allied to Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh. They have the support of many army units and control most of the north including the capital Sanaa. The war has killed at least 10,000 people and brought parts of Yemen, by far the poorest country in the Arabian peninsula, to the brink of starvation. Both sides accuse the other of war crimes. The Saudis say the Houthis are stooges of their enemy Iran. The Houthis say they have led a national revolt against a corrupt government, and the country is now being punished by its rich and aggressive Gulf Arab neighbors with U.S. political and military support. Riyadh has denied responsibility for Saturday's air strike, one of the bloodiest incidents of the war. A U.S. military spokesman said two missiles were fired from Houthi-held territory at the USS Mason, a guided missile destroyer sailing north of the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait. Neither missile hit the ship. The Houthis denied firing at the U.S. ship. The Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a missile fired by the Houthis at a military base in Taif in central Saudi Arabia, striking deeper then ever before in the latest in a series of more than a dozen missile attacks. A missile was also fired at Marib in central Yemen, a base for pro-government militiamen and troops who have struggled to advance on the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies have launched thousands of air strikes against the Houthis during the 18-month war, and have imposed a naval blockade that has restricted trade to a country that depends on imported food to feed itself. This month the Houthis launched a missile at a ship from the United Arab Emirates and at government positions on a island at the strategic 20 km (12 mile)-wide Bab al-Mandab strait, which controls the mouth of the Red Sea, on the main shipping route from the Indian Ocean to Europe through the Suez Canal. Among the dead in the funeral bombing on Saturday were notables straddling the country's many political divides, threatening to harden the will of powerful armed tribes around the capital who may make common cause with the Houthis. "Despite all the massacres that have happened in this war, attacking a funeral is unprecedented and crosses a major red line in Yemeni culture," said Farea al-Muslimi, an analyst at the Sanaa Centre for Strategic studies. "The air strikes killed powerful people, and their tribes and families will be drawn closer to the Houthis as they all try to retaliate."

The United States Navy's destroyer USS Mason comes under missile attack in the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen. The two missiles, fired from Yemeni territory controlled by Iranian-backed Houthis, impacted the water well before reaching the ship, according to Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis named 17 new cardinals Sunday — three of them American moderates, including Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich and Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin — in a clear signal to the conservative U.S. church hierarchy that he values pastors focused more on mercy than morals. Tobin’s nomination also carries a political message ahead of the U.S. election next month, given that he openly opposed a request from Indiana Gov. Michael Pence, now the running mate of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, to not settle Syrian refugees in the state. “I am shocked beyond words by the decision of the Holy Father,” Tobin tweeted. “Please pray for me.” Thirteen of the new cardinals, including all the Americans, are under age 80 and thus eligible to vote in a future conclave to elect Francis’ successor, the key job of a cardinal. As is Francis’ tradition, the new cardinals hail from some of the most far-flung and peripheral corners of the globe, with Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania getting far more representation in this round than Europe, which has long dominated the College of Cardinals. As is Francis' tradition, the new cardinals hail from some of the most far-flung and peripheral corners of the globe: Bangui, Central African Republic; Port Louis, Mauritius; and Tlalnepantla, Mexico. Significantly only one Italian elector was named: Francis’ ambassador to “the beloved and martyred Syria,” Cardinal-elect Mario Zenari. Simoni, who turns 88 later this month, brought Francis to tears when he recounted his life story to the pope during Francis’ 2014 visit to Tirana: the two decades he spent imprisoned, tortured and sentenced to forced labor for refusing to speak out against the The third American, Cardinal-elect Kevin Farrell, the outgoing bishop of Dallas, was an expected nomination. The two other Americans chosen as cardinals are the leading U.S. moderate, Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich, and outgoing Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell, whom Francis tapped in August to head the Vatican's new family and laity office. Speaking Sunday at the end of a special Mass on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis said the 17 would be elevated at a consistory on Nov. 19, on the eve of the close to his Holy Year of Mercy. Of the new cardinals, Cupich is very much a pastor in Francis’ likeness, emphasizing the merciful and welcoming side of the church — somewhat to the dismay of U.S. conservative Catholics. His nomination as Chicago archbishop was Francis’ first major U.S. appointment and he was a papal appointee at the pope’s big family synod last year. In a statement, Cupich said his appointment was “humbling and encouraging” and said he hoped that despite the new responsibilities, he and his flock would “continue the task we have begun of renewing the church in the archdiocese and preparing it to thrive in the decades ahead.” The nomination for Tobin is significant both for the U.S. church and the U.S. election and reflects Francis’ ongoing concern for refugees. “These appointments of cardinals is one of those moments where you see Pope Francis is changing the face of the church,” said Massimo Faggioli, historian and theologian at Villanova University. The governors were met with open challenges from bishops, including Tobin. 2 in the Vatican office for religious orders for only two years when in 2012, then-Pope Benedict XVI sent him back to the U.S. to head the Indianapolis archdiocese, which has fewer than 230,000 parishioners. The transfer was seen in some Vatican circles as being tied to Tobin’s efforts to promote dialogue and resolve tensions between the Vatican and U.S. nuns who were subject of two separate Holy See investigations at the time. After Francis was elected, both investigations were concluded with Vatican praise for the work of the sisters.</s>Pope Francis said on Sunday he would elevate 17 Roman Catholic prelates to the high rank of cardinal, including 13 who are under 80 years old and thus eligible to enter a conclave that will one day choose his successor. Cardinals, who wear red hats and are known as “princes of the church,” are the most senior members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy after the pope and serve as his principal advisers around the world and in the Vatican. Just over 35 percent of the members of the group that elected Pope Francis in 2013 were Curia veterans, although only 24 percent of the cardinals in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict were. Not only did Pope Francis name the first ever cardinal electors from Bangladesh, Central African Republic and Papua New Guinea, he named Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin the first cardinal elector of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis; Archbishop Baltazar Porras Cardozo the first cardinal elector of Merida, Venezuela; and Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes the first archbishop of Tlalnepantla, Mexico, to be a cardinal elector. The four new cardinals over 80, who get the position as a symbolic honor to thank them for long service to the church, include Father Ernest Simoni, 88, an Albanian priest who spent many years in jail and forced labor during the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, who died in 1985. Three are from the United States: Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago, Archbishop William Tobin of Indianapolis and Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas, who was recently appointed to head a new Vatican department on family and life issues.

Pope Francis announces the upcoming creation of 17 new Cardinals; 13 of them will be under the age of 80 and thus able to vote in a future papal conclave to select the new Pope.

WILLISTON, Vt. — A man driving the wrong way on an interstate highway in Vermont spawned several crashes that left five people dead, an unknown number injured and at least two vehicles in flames, including a stolen police cruiser, state police said Sunday. Local news outlets are reporting those killed were teenagers riding in the same vehicle, which had been south on Interstate 89 in Williston. Their identities were not immediately released. Emergency dispatchers started getting calls about a vehicle north in a southbound lane of the interstate Saturday, just before midnight. State and local police officers tried to locate the vehicle, but soon began getting reports of the crash. A vehicle was in flames when a Williston officer arrived at the scene. He grabbed a fire extinguisher before pulling a female victim away from the burning vehicle, authorities said. As the officer tried to extinguish the fire, a man took the officer's police cruiser and began speeding away. When a Richmond police officer tried to stop it, the driver turned the cruiser around and began heading north in a southbound lane, back toward the crash scene, police said. The cruiser struck seven vehicles. The driver, identified by police as 36-year-old Steven Bourgoin, was thrown from the cruiser, which also burst into flames. Police had not determined whether Bourgoin was the driver who caused the initial crash. Bourgoin was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center, where spokesman Mike Noble said he was listed in critical condition. It's unclear if Bourgoin has an attorney. Several people injured in crashes caused by the cruiser were taken to the hospital, but Noble could not say how many were treated. Police said none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening. Paul Swann, of Waterbury, was headed home when he came upon the scene of the first crash. He told WCAX-TV there was debris everywhere and he heard people yelling and screaming before he saw the police cruiser drive away. It returned several minutes later. "The only thing I could do was try and yell and just gasp as this thing came flying in," Swann said. "I couldn't even believe what I was seeing when the cruiser came back in in that high rate of speed and just no brakes, no nothing."</s>next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 The Latest on a wrong-way crash that killed five Vermont high school students (all times local): 4:30 p.m. A school co-principal says the five teenagers killed in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver in Williston, Vermont, were all high school juniors. Harwood Union Middle and High School co-Principal Amy Rex says four of the five attended Harwood Union High School in Duxbury. She says the fifth victim is from the community, but attends a different school. Rex says the deaths were "an unprecedented tragedy" and that all were vibrant members of the community with bright futures. Police say the victims were hit by a wrong-way driver early Sunday morning. The car hit was found in flames. A man who allegedly stole a police cruiser from the crash scene is facing charges, but police haven't said if he was driving the wrong-way vehicle. WILLISTON, Vt. (AP) — Vermont State Police say a man driving the wrong way on an interstate highway crashed into a car, killing five people. Minutes later in the same area, a man stole a police cruiser and struck seven vehicles, injuring several people while driving the wrong way. It was unclear if the same person was responsible for all of the crashes. But police apprehended 36-year-old Steven Bourgoin at the scene early Sunday on Interstate 89 in Williston. Police say dispatchers began receiving reports just before midnight that a vehicle was traveling north in the south lane of the interstate. They say the first car struck burst into flames. Authorities say none of the injuries caused by the police cruiser appeared to be life-threatening. ___ 5:30 a.m. Vermont State Police say five people have been killed after a wrong-way driver caused several crashes on Interstate 89 in Williston. Vermont State Police Capt. Mike Henry tells the Burlington Free Press (http://bfpne.ws/2dWOKFk ) the crash happened early Sunday morning. Henry says a man was traveling northbound in the southbound lane on the interstate between exits 11 and 12 when he collided with another car. Williston police arrived to investigate, and the man exited his truck and stole a police cruiser and headed south toward Richmond. When Richmond police attempted to intercept him, the suspect made a U-turn and again headed north in southbound lanes.

A man driving the wrong way on Interstate 89 in Williston, Vermont, kills five people, all local high school juniors.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption A torched bus in the Sebeta region of Ethiopia Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency following months of anti-government protests by members of the country's two largest ethnic groups. Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn declared a six-month state of emergency on Sunday, saying it was to restore order after weeks of protests that have resulted in deaths and damage to mostly foreign-owned factories and flower farms. According to local media , officials in the country have shut down mobile Internet service and blocked social media in most parts of Oromia, the largest of Ethiopia's nine regional states. "The state of emergency was declared following a thorough discussion by the Council of Ministers on the loss of lives and property damages occurring in the country," Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said. Protests reignited this week in the Oromia region — the main focus of a recent wave of demonstrations — after dozens of people were killed in a stampede on October 2, which was sparked by police firing tear gas and warning shots at a huge crowd of protesters attending a religious festival. The official death toll given by the government was 55, though opposition activists and rights groups said they believe more than 100 people died as they fled security forces, falling into ditches that dotted the area. In the wake of the state of emergency declaration, residents of the capital Addis Ababa and regional towns reported more police on the streets but little other change. Both groups say that a multi-ethnic ruling coalition and the security forces are dominated by the Tigray ethnic group, which makes up only about 6 percent of the population.</s>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- The Ethiopian government has declared a state of emergency effective immediately after a week of anti-government violence that resulted in deaths and property damage across the country, especially in the restive Oromia region. "The Council of Ministers has declared a state of emergency that will be effective as of Saturday evening so as to deal with anti-peace elements that have allied with foreign forces and are jeopardizing the peace and security of the country," the state Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation announced Sunday morning. "We put our citizens' safety first. Besides, we want to put an end to the damage that is being carried out against infrastructure projects, education institutions, health centers, administration and justice buildings," said Desalegn on the state Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation. "The recent developments in Ethiopia have put the integrity of the nation at risk," he said, adding, "The state of emergency will not breach basic human rights enshrined under the Ethiopian constitution and won't also affect diplomatic rights listed under the Vienna Convention." The internet is blocked across many parts of Ethiopia, residents reported Sunday. The government has blocked the internet for more than a week to prevent protesters from using social media to get supporters to attend demonstrations. Major towns and cities across Ethiopia's Oromia region are experiencing unrest and widespread violent protests after dozens were killed on October 2 in a stampede triggered when police fired teargas and bullets to disperse protestors at the annual Irrecha thanksgiving celebration in Bishoftu town. Anti-government protests continued Sunday. Many roads into and out of the capital, Addis Ababa, are blocked by protesters and those who try to drive through are targeted by people who jump out from behind bushes and hurl rocks, witnesses told the Associated Press by phone on Sunday. The state broadcaster said details of the state of emergency will be communicated to the public later Sunday. In a separate development, Ethiopian officials summoned Egypt's ambassador to the country, Aboubakr Hefny, for discussions. The State Minister for Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs Ministry talked to the Egyptian diplomat after a video appeared online which purportedly shows members of the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front sharing a stage with what Ethiopia's state broadcaster described as Egyptians.

Ethiopia's government declares a six-month state of emergency amid continuing protests, especially in the restive Oromia Region.

• Celebrities tweet support for Hillary Clinton as she takes on Donald Trump in second US presidential debate Trump would 'throw Clinton in jail' if he was in charge Trump said Clinton should be in jail over her use of a private email server while she was US secretary of state. Trump said he was embarrassed by the video but dismissed it as "locker room talk." But they were also prepared in case Trump follows through with a threat to focus on Clinton's sometimes troubled marriage to former President Bill Clinton. Clinton said he had insulted women throughout the presidential campaign, saying: "What we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald talking about women, what he thinks about women, what he does to women, and he has said that the video doesn't represent who he is, but I think it's clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is, because we've seen this through the campaign. His children are incredibly able and I think that says a lot about Donald." Trump complained about moderators Anderson Cooper of CNN and Martha Raddatz of ABC News, saying the debate was "three on one." Trump disagrees with his OWN running mate Mike Pence Trump sounded the most indignant when he pressed Clinton on US foreign policy in Syria, Libya and other areas of the Middle East. But Trump, the Republican candidate, interjected: "Why haven't you brought up the emails?" After Donald Trump's accusations about her husband, Hillary Clinton said a lot of what he had said was "not right". Asked at the end to name one thing each admired about the other, Clinton said she respected his children for their ability and devotion to Trump.</s>Sunday night is round two of the Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump presidential debates -- it’s likely to attract a lot of attention, especially given the emergence of a decade-old tape of Trump speaking about women in surprisingly vulgar terms that have earned him the condemnation of most Republicans, even those who have supported his campaign. Trump is under enormous pressure from his own Republican Party after the release of a 2005 video in which the businessman can be heard saying his fame allows him to “do anything” to women. “Don’t talk about what the other side wants you to talk about, focus on what you want to talk about.” Clinton has been hunkered down for days getting ready for what could be, for her, a knockout blow against Trump. The debate, which will be a town hall meeting format, will be hosted by ABC’s Martha Raddatz and CNN’s Anderson Cooper at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. … She’s raising everybody’s taxes massively.” CLINTON: “He would end up raising taxes on middle-class families” THE FACTS: Clinton is not raising taxes on “everybody.” Nearly all of Hillary Clinton’s proposed tax increases would affect the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. “It is just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.” Trump also suggested more than once that the two moderators were conspiring against him, including once after an extended discussion about Clinton’s emails, which Trump complained to CNN’s Anderson Cooper was not long enough. With more than two dozen Republican lawmakers and other party leaders rescinding their support since the video surfaced Friday — and the odds against him winning the White House growing steeper — Trump faced a political crisis unlike any candidate has faced in modern times. Trump has said that he can’t release his returns because he’s under audit, but that doesn’t bar someone from making them public.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump hold the second presidential debate of the 2016 U.S. presidential election at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in a "town meeting" format.

It's seven years since Lithuania became a trailblazer for European Union austerity amid an unprecedented slump. Despite uninterrupted economic growth since, disquiet over pay and opportunities in the tiny Baltic nation has left Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius' job in the balance. While narrowly leading polls before elections on Sunday, support for Butkevicius' Social Democrats has shrunk on persistent emigration, sluggish salary growth and a procurement scandal that's worsened already frosty ties with President Dalia Grybauskaite. His coalition allies have also lost ground, while his two closest challengers could forge an alliance to usurp him. Lithuania, a euro-area and NATO member that borders Russia and Poland, won plaudits for its response to one of the continent's worst recessions after the 2008 crisis. But the recovery hasn't stemmed an exodus of workers or triggered the kind of wage growth seen elsewhere in the region. Campaigning, rocked by graft scandals at parties including the Social Democrats, has focused on pledges of future prosperity, though tight fiscal is set to stay. "Jobs and wages dominate voters' concerns, but high-profile corruption caseshave significantly rocked the political scene over the past year," said Otilia Dhand, senior vice president at Teneo Intelligence in Brussels. "The outlook for the formation of the next cabinet is unclear." The Social Democrats will get 15.6 percent of the national vote, the Peasants & Green Union 14 percent and the conservative Homeland Union-Christian Democrats 13.7 percent, an Oct. 4 poll showed. Butkevicius' coalition partners -- the Labor Party and Order & Justice -- are near the 5 percent entry barrier, according to the survey, which had a 3.1 percentage-point margin of error. Parties can also win seats in single-mandate constituencies, which account for 71 of parliament's 141 seats and where the Social Democrats have traditionally outperformed. A second round of voting in individual constituencies will be held Oct. 23. Butkevicius, 57, wants more increases in the minimum wage to help lift average monthly salaries to 1,100 euros ($1,230) by 2020 from 772 euros now. He'll also skew taxation from labor to property. Homeland Union, popular among urban voters, pledges to boost average salaries to 1,250 euros. Having secured investment from the likes of Barclays when last in power, it promises 147,000 new jobs, a higher cutoff for untaxed earnings and the return of 80,000 emigrants to the nation of 3 million. "You don't need to pack your suitcases and leave," Homeland Union head Gabrielius Landsbergis said Thursday evening during a televised debate. "You have to come back because there will be jobs." The balance of power will probably lie with the Peasants & Greens, who advocate less red tape and a more technocratic government. While they haven't specified a preferred coalition partner, they may be a better fit for Homeland Union, according to Ramunas Vilpisauskas, director of the Institute for International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University. Whatever the result, a budget stance that's reigned the deficit back within EU limits is unlikely to change with the big parties shunning major additional expenditure beyond meeting NATO-mandated defense outlays by 2020 in the wake of Russia's Crimea annexation. Economic growth, while curbed by EU sanctions against Russia that Grybauskaite strongly backs, is set to top 3 percent in 2017 and 2018. Government bond yields are near all-time lows. Fitch Ratings said last month in a report that it's "not expecting a new government to diverge from the current economic, fiscal and social-policy agenda, regardless of the outcome of upcoming parliamentary elections." --- Ott Ummelas and Milda Seputyte contributed.</s>VILNIUS, Lithuania — Lithuanians were voting Sunday in the first round of a parliamentary election, with the governing Social Democrats facing challenges from conservatives and an agrarian party. Lithuania, the biggest of the three Baltic countries, has struggled to stem emigration since regaining independence in the early 1990s and joining the European Union in 2004. Both the Social Democrats, which have led a coalition government since 2012, and opposition parties have promised to raise living standards in the country of 2.9 million. Many Lithuanians complain that prices have gone up since the country introduced the euro, the EU's common currency, in 2015, while salaries have not. The country was hit hard by the global economic meltdown and is just emerging from a recession. Pre-election polls showed the Social Democrats in the lead, ahead of the agrarian Peasant and Green Party and the conservative Homeland Union-Christian Democrats in the race for parliament's 141 seats. Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius leads the Social Democrats while the conservatives are led by Gabrielius Landsbergis, who at 34 is trying to become Europe's youngest prime minister. He is the grandson of Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania's first head of state after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Lithuania remains highly suspicious of Russia and tense relations with Moscow are expected to continue regardless of the outcome of the election. Polling stations will close at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT). A second round will be held on Oct. 23 in constituencies where no candidate wins a majority of votes. No party is likely to get more than 20 support so coalition-building talks are sure to follow the election.

Voters in Lithuania vote to elect representatives for the 141-seat parliament.

Bai Enpei given suspended death sentence for amassing millions in bribes and will have no chance of parole under changes to the criminal code</s>BEIJING (AP) — A former Chinese provincial Communist Party boss has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve as part of the country’s ongoing crackdown on corruption at all levels. The Anyang City Intermediate People’s Court in Henan Province said Sunday that Bai Enpei was found guilty of taking “a huge amount of bribes” and possessing a large amount of income from unidentified sources. Bai had been a senior lawmaker with the national legislature and formerly served as the top ranking official in the western provinces of Qinghai and Yunnan. Suspended death sentences are usually reverted to life imprisonment after two years with good behavior. Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to end corruption and government waste, although critics have accused him of using the campaign to attack political rivals.

A court sentences former Communist Party Secretary of Yunnan province, Bai Enpei, to death for corruption and amassing wealth of unclear origin.

REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom News about the king’s health is closely monitored in Thailand, where King Bhumibol is widely revered, and the wording of palace statements on his health is intensely scrutinized. The king has been treated for various ailments over the past year at Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital - his home for much of the past year - and was last seen in public on Jan. 11, when he spent several hours visiting his palace in the Thai capital. Anxiety over the king's health and an eventual succession has formed the backdrop to more than a decade of bitter political divide in Thailand that has included two military coups and often-violent street demonstrations. Sunday's statement was the second health bulletin this month after the palace said on Oct. 1 that the king was recovering after a respiratory infection. On Saturday, the king was given hemodialysis - a way of cleansing the blood of toxins, extra salts and fluids - which made his blood pressure drop occasionally, the palace said. Subsequently, medicines were administered to enlarged blood vessels in the lungs, which led to the improvement of the pulse and blood pressure, the statement said. The health of Thailand's ailing 88-year-old king has deteriorated and his condition is unstable, the palace said, adding to concerns about the eventual succession of the monarchy. News about the royal family is tightly controlled in Thailand, where laws protecting the royals from insult make it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the king, queen, heir to the throne or regent.</s>Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej is in an “unstable” condition after undergoing multiple medical procedures, and is now confined in a hospital, a statement from the palace confirmed. The 88-year-old monarch’s health is closely watched, as he is revered by many for what they say has been his unifying presence during a seven-decade reign. However, as his health has deteriorated, his participation in public affairs has sharply declined in recent years. The palace statement, released Sunday night, relates that doctors at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok conducted hemodialysis – a procedure that requires inserting a tube into a vein to allow the kidney to filter blood. It said the doctors also changed a tube that drains excess cerebrospinal fluid during a two-and-half-hour procedure. After that procedure, his blood pressure dropped, which was brought back to normal after he was put on a ventilator and administered medicines. On Sunday, the doctors gave the King medicine to expand blood vessels around his lungs following an echocardiography -- a sonogram of the heart -- which showed that blood flow to the left side of his heart had reduced significantly. His blood pressure then "improved," but his general condition "remains unstable," according to the statement from the Bureau of the Royal Household, posted on the King's official Facebook page. Public concern over King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s health has been growing due to his prolonged hospital stays. Last month, he was treated for fluid in his lungs, reduced kidney function and a severe infection, following removal of his gallbladder last year, according to CNN. Thailand’s baht headed for the longest stretch of losses this year, as investors sold the nation’s assets after the royal palace said the king’s condition was unstable.

Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 88, the world's longest reigning monarch, is in unstable condition after a hemodialysis treatment.

The Taliban militants group conducted a suicide car bombing in the vicinity of Lashkargah city as they attempted to enter the provincial capital of southern Helmand province. The militants attacked security checkpoints inside the city of Lashkargah on Monday, said the Interior Ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqq. Sediqq said the country’s security forces “will soon push them back.” However, the Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed the militants were advancing through the town. According to Abdul Majeed Akhonzada, the deputy director of Helmand’s provincial council, the militants managed to enter the city after breaching the “defense security belt.” The Taliban have already stepped up attacks in Helmand and on Sunday captured Nawa district, which is close to the provincial capital of Lashkargah. Over the past few months, Afghan security forces have also been busy foiling attacks by the group in Helmand and the northern city of Kunduz, the capital of a province with the same name. Security forces are currently engaged in heavy fighting with the Taliban to retake the control of Kunduz, which fell to Taliban on October 3 for the second time in a year. The militant group lost its grip over Afghanistan in the US-led military invasion, but security has not been delivered to the country despite the presence of foreign boots on Afghan soil. • Vice President Dostum off to Faryab amid reports of Ghormach fall • Afghanistan To Get A Further Four Super Tucanos • Sharp rise in Afghan army casualties, MoD reports 96 martyred in one week</s>ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - A suicide car bomber killed more than 14 people, mostly police officers, and wounded many more in an embattled key provincial capital in southern Afghanistan, hours after Taliban insurgents staged a major assault and forced their way into the city. REUTERS/Abdul Mailk LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suspected car bomb on Monday killed at least 10 police amid increased Taliban attacks on the besieged capital of the southwestern Afghan province of Helmand, with the toll expected to rise, a security official said. Insurgents attacked Kunduz, the capital of the province of the same name, a week ago, a year after they overran it and held it for a few days, then battled Afghan and U.S. forces for three weeks until they were driven out. He says 10 police officers and four civilians were killed but warned that the death toll is likely to rise as it is unclear how many people remain unaccounted for after the explosion. Cecilia Strada, president of the medical charity Emergency, which operates a hospital in Lashkar Gah, said on Twitter that at least 30 wounded had been brought to the hospital shortly after the suicide car bomb exploded. In the Afghan capital of Kabul, Sediq Sediqqi, the Interior Ministry spokesman, confirmed the attack but expressed confidence security forces “will soon push them (Taliban) back.” He said security forces had responded quickly but gun battles were continuing, with at least seven insurgents killed and two vehicles packed with explosives destroyed. The Taliban briefly held a police station in the second police district of Lashkar Gah before Afghan forces responded and “kicked out” the insurgents, said Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor. It remains strategically important for the insurgents, as it’s the main source of the country’s opium, the Taliban’s cash crop, worth an estimated $4 billion a year, much of which funds the insurgency.

A suicide bombing kills at least 14 people, mostly police officers, in Lashkargah, Helmand Province, as Taliban insurgents advance upon the Afghan city.

Gunman kills 14 at shrine in Afghan capital Kabul, police say Updated At least 14 people have been killed after a gunman in a police uniform opened fire on worshippers gathered at a shrine in the Afghan capital of Kabul for a Shiite holy day, officials said. Thirteen civilians and one police officer died and 36 people were wounded, Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack Ministry of Public Health officials said at least 43 people had been injured in the incident and had been taken to hospitals in the city for treatment. The attack began just before 8:00pm (local time), police said, with witnesses reporting an explosion followed by gunfire. Initial reports put the number of attackers at three, but Sediqqi said police special forces who responded to the scene found and killed only one gunman. The attacker was dressed in a police uniform, according to a police official. Security forces at the scene evacuated the shrine as the attack unfolded, said Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi. The attack occurred at one of Kabul's largest shrines as Shiite Muslims gathered to observe the Ashura holy day, which commemorates the 7th century death of a grandson of the prophet Mohammed. Afghanistan has largely avoided widespread sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, but Afghanistan's Shiite minority has complained of discrimination and has faced increased threats. At least 84 people were killed and another 130 injured in a suicide attack on a Shiite demonstration in July. That attack, during a protest march in Kabul, was also claimed by Islamic State militants. In 2011, Ashura gatherings were targeted by suicide bombers in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing about 80 people altogether. Reuters Topics: terrorism, death, afghanistan First posted</s>A gunman opened fire in a Shiite shrine in Kabul on Tuesday morning, killing 14 people before Afghan security forces killed him, reported Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs. The attack happened about 7:50 a.m. at the Karte Sakhi shrine. A police officer and a child were killed and 36 people were wounded, including 19 women, Sediqqi said. After a two-hour gunbattle, security forces killed the gunman. No group has claimed responsibility yet. Another mass killing occurred in Kabul on August 24, when attackers killed 13 people at Kabul University . Police killed two attackers and a third attacker died when he detonated an explosive-laden vehicle, authorities said. In July, at least 80 people died in an attack on a minority group's peaceful demonstration in Kabul. ISIS claimed responsibility.

A gunman kills 14 people at a Shi'ite shrine in Kabul on a holy day.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s leading filmmaker Andrzej Wajda, whose career maneuvering between a repressive communist government and an audience yearning for freedom won him international recognition and an honorary Oscar, has died. Wajda’s career spanned 60 years, winning prizes at the Cannes and Berlin film festivals, an honorary Oscar in 2000, and a lifetime achievement prize from the European Film Awards. The director trod on ground controlled by communist-era censors with “Man of Marble,” which looked at the roots of worker discontent in communist Poland in the 1950s; and “Man of Iron” on the rise of the Solidarity movement. In 2000, Wajda was awarded an honorary Oscar for his contribution to world cinema. Wajda’s last movie “Afterimage,” a biopic about an avant-garde artist, was recently chosen as Poland’s official entry for the 2016 Oscar for best foreign language film. Sometimes the provocation in his work poked its head above the surface, as in his 1981 film Man of Iron, which gave a cameo role to Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa and made repercussions for Wajda and his backers. Wajda once said that “the good Lord gave the director two eyes – one to look into the camera, the other to be alert to everything that is going on around him.” Wajda was born in 1926 in the north-eastern Polish town of Suwalki. His father was murdered in 1940 as part of what became known as the Katyń massacre, as invading Soviet soldiers systematically killed thousands of military and police officers and intellectuals. As a teenager, he followed his father’s footsteps into the army and participated in resistance activities against both the Soviets and the Nazis. After graduating from film school after World War II, Wajda started directing theater, but he also helmed his first film A Generation back in 1955. It was only after the fall of communism in 1989 that he was able to make his film about Katyn.</s>Image copyright AP Image caption Many of Andrzej Wajda's films were inspired by Poland's turbulent history Oscar-winning Polish film director Andrzej Wajda has died aged 90, the Polish Filmmakers' Association has confirmed. He made more than 40 feature films in a career spanning 60 years. Many of his films - including Kanal, Man of Marble, Man of Iron and Katyn - were inspired by Poland's turbulent wartime and communist history. In 2000, Wajda was awarded an honorary Oscar for his contribution to world cinema. 'Be alert to everything' Wajda had been recently taken to hospital. Unconfirmed reports say he died of lung failure. Poland's former prime minister and the current head of the European Council, Donald Tusk, tweeted: "We all stem from Wajda. We looked at Poland and at ourselves through him. And we understood better. Now it will be more difficult." Film director and head of the Polish Filmmakers' Association Jacek Bromski told Polish broadcaster TVN24: "He was one of the greatest Polish artists, one of the best-known in the world. Poland was his passion. "For us, for the community he was a pillar of strength, everybody gathered around him. He was always present in the life of the film-making community, he was a mentor, a paragon." Wajda's last film Powidoki (Afterimage) tells the life story of the avant-garde painter Wladyslaw Strzeminski, who suffered under the post-war Stalinist government in Poland. The director said he wanted to "warn against state intervention in art". 'Feel the love' The film was recently chosen as Poland's official entry for the best foreign language film at the 2017 Oscars. Four of Wajda's earlier works had been nominated for that category. Man of Iron won the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival in 1981. Wajda once said that "the good Lord gave the director two eyes - one to look into the camera, the other to be alert to everything that is going on around him." Other tributes included one from film critic Tomasz Raczek, who wrote on Twitter: "Polish cinema will be in mourning for a long time." Actor Daniel Olbrychski, who starred in 13 of Wajda's movies, including The Promised Land' and The Maids of Wilko, said he had never met another director who worked with actors so well. "We could feel the love of our audience through him. But when he frowned just a little, I knew I had to try and do it better," Olbrychski told TVN24. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Wajda received his honorary Oscar from Jane Fonda in 2000 Wajda was born in 1926 in the north-eastern Polish town of Suwalki. His father was among the victims of the Katyn massacre of Polish army officers by the Soviet Union in 1940. Wajda tried to follow in his father's footsteps, but was rejected by a military academy, and joined the Polish resistance in World War Two. During the war, Wajda joined the Polish resistance. He later studied to be a painter, before entering the Lodz Film School. In 1955, he made his feature film debut with Generation, set during the German occupation of Warsaw in World War Two. It was followed by Kanal, and Ashes and Diamonds, which form a trilogy about life in wartime Poland. 'I lived to see freedom' Some of his films found disfavour with the communist rulers of Poland because of their trenchant portraits of the wartime Warsaw Uprising and the suppression of the Solidarity movement in the 1980s. It was only after the fall of communism in 1989 that he was able to make his film about Katyn. "I never thought I would live to see the moment when Poland would be a free country," Wajda said in a 2007 interview with the Associated Press. "I thought I would die in that system. It was so surprising and so extraordinary that I lived to see freedom." Following Poland's first free elections in 1990, he served for two years as a senator in the upper house of parliament. Wajda is survived by his fourth wife, actress and stage designer Krystyna Zachwatowicz, and his daughter, Karolina. Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Polish film director and recipient of an Academy Honorary Award Andrzej Wajda dies at the age of 90.

STOCKHOLM: British-born Oliver Hart and Finland-born Bengt Holmstrom won the 2016 Nobel Economics Prize for their contributions to contract theory, helping the understanding of issues like the performance-based pay for top executives. After the announcement, he tweeted: The prize givers said the award reflected the pair’s role in launching contract theory as a “fertile field of basic research” and their subsequent work that has helped lay a foundation for designing policies and institutions in areas from bankruptcy legislation to political constitutions. Holmström, now working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Hart of Harvard University, drew praise and congratulations from fellow economists, although they had not been seen as frontrunners for the honour, officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank prize in economic sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel. “I woke at about 4:40 and was wondering whether it was getting too late for it to be this year, but then fortunately the phone rang,” Hart was quoted as saying on the official Twitter account of the Nobel Prize. “This year’s laureates have developed contract theory – a comprehensive framework for analysing many diverse issues in contractual design, like performance-based pay for top executives, deductibles and co-pays in insurance, and the privatisation of public-sector activities.” Hart’s research work has included a damning assessment of America’s private prisons.</s>Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom will share the 8 million Swedish krona (£744,652) prize UK-born Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom of Finland have won the Nobel economics prize for work on contract theory. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their theories “are valuable to the understanding of real-life contracts and institutions, as well as potential pitfalls in contract design.” For example, contract theory can be used to analyze performance-based pay for CEOs or deductibles and co-pays for insurance, the academy said. (JTA) — American-Jewish economist Oliver Hart, a professor of economics at Harvard University, and Bengt Holmstrom of Finland, a professor of economics and management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were awarded the 2016 Nobel Economics Prize. Two professors from Harvard and MIT have been awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for contributions to contract theory -- the agreements that shape business, finance and public policy. It is the fifth Nobel to be announced this year, after prizes for physiology or medicine, physics, chemistry and peace were awarded last week. This year's Nobel announcements will finish Thursday with the literature award. The pair will receive 8 million Swedish krona (£744,652) from the committee.

British-born American Oliver Hart and Finnish Bengt Holmström win the Nobel Prize in Economics for their work on the science of contracts.

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) said in an emailed statement Tuesday, it is investigating the possibility the Note 7 smartphones may have a new defect. Samsung is asking owners of its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 to do something crazy: “power down and stop using the device.” In an age when smartphones have become extensions of ourselves, the last thing we look at before falling asleep and the first thing we grab in the morning, this is all but unthinkable, even at the dinner table, even on the toilet. However, concerns were raised over further defects beyond the battery cell, following several reports in the US of phones catching fire that showed the green battery icon Samsung added to replacement phones to mark them as safe.</s>(CNN) When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone back in August, with its much-lauded battery life, the South Korean firm looked like it was on to a winner -- until the phones started bursting into flames. Initially, the tech giant cited "battery cell issues" in September but since then, radio silence on the cause of the fault. Not only did the Seoul-based firm face an embarrassing worldwide recall, but subsequent replacement phones also faced similar issues. Attention has continued to focus on the phone's lithium-ion battery. Having failed to fix the disastrous problem, Samsung announced a permanent end to production of the troubled smartphone on Tuesday. With many of our electronics using these lithium-ion batteries, consumers have been left wondering if they are safe. Here's what you need to know: Batteries are containers that can convert chemical energy to electrical energy through the transfer of electrons from the negative plate -- or anode -- at one end of the battery to the cathode -- or positive plate at the other end. But traditional batteries have a limited number of units of convertible chemical energy. The difference with the lithium-ion battery is that it is rechargeable -- a game-changer in tech innovation. "Lithium is the lightest metal in the world which is why they use it but it is also extremely volatile, Almost every laptop on the planet, almost every smartphone is a standard formulation which is cobalt-oxide and lithium. But then there are competing formulations." So why do some of them catch fire? Levine says speculation among researchers suggests that the battery manufacturing process could be the source of the smartphone fires, but ultimately no one knows. And the lack of information creates consumer anxiety which could ripple out to the wider electronics industries. "It potentially tarnishes all the manufacturers," said Levine. "How do we know that Apple or the new Google phone is not going to have the same problem?" However, some experts say the fact the high-end phone has been discontinued points towards a design flaw. Could manufacturing be the problem? This is by not the first time lithium-ion batteries have hit the headlines. Although the Samsung phone's battery is different to those in airliners, Boeing faced similar issues with lithium-ion batteries in their Dreamliner aircraft. Their entire global fleet was grounded in 2013 after multiple instances of overheating batteries in Boston and Tokyo. At least two fatal cargo jet crashes are believed by investigating authorities to have been caused by fires on board as a result of these lithium-ion batteries. In 2010, a Boeing 747 crashed in Dubai, killing two crew members while an Asiana Airlines 747 crashed off South Korea the following year, also killing two crew members. No, according to Levine, who says consumers are not at immediate risk from phones in their pockets blowing up. He said: "We know right now that the problem has been confined to this one model... that it hasn't been something that has risen chronically, at least in any other Samsung device, [or] at any other manufacturer. "So the quick answer is that [consumers] shouldn't be concerned but that doesn't mean they won't be."

Samsung recalls and suspends production of its reformulated-version of Galaxy Note 7 smartphone due to the same persistent problem with battery fires and explosions.

Now weakened, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007 unleashed torrential rains and powerful winds as it churned slowly north after pummeling the southeastern coast of the United States, killing at least 11 people in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina since Thursday and leaving more than two million businesses and homes without power. Early on Sunday, the storm threatened coastal communities in North Carolina and Virginia, where flash flood warnings were issued and gusts of winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kph) were recorded. “The wind is bending the trees to a 90 degree angle in my backyard, I've lost electrical power in my home and the rain is blowing sideways,” Frank Gianinni, a 59-year-old occupational therapist, said in an email from his home in Wilmington, North Carolina. “Standing outside in my backyard just now, and I’m humbled by the power of nature.” Forecasters warned that widespread flooding was possible from heavy rain - 15 inches (40 cm) was expected to fall in some areas - along with massive storm surges and high tides. "We are looking at very significant flooding. Almost every road in the city is impassable," Virginia Beach spokeswoman Erin Sutton told the Weather Channel on Sunday from the city of almost 500,000 people that sits between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. On Saturday evening, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory had urged residents to stay off roads and sidewalks to avoid "deadly conditions" caused by severe flooding and debris. Local and national media showed footage from throughout the region of motorists and passengers sitting and standing on vehicles stuck in rushing flood waters as crews used swift water boats to rescue the stranded. In Cumberland County, North Carolina alone, more than 500 people had been rescued by crews as of early on Sunday, the Weather Channel reported. As of 2 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) on Sunday, the storm was about 50 miles (80 km) east of Morehead City, North Carolina, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The center of the storm was set to move near or south of the North Carolina coast early on Sunday and east of the state later in the day as it weakens. Matthew, which topped out as a ferocious Category 5 storm days before and killed at least 877 people in Haiti, has now been downgraded to Category 1. Matthew, which days ago briefly topped out as a ferocious Category 5 storm, made U.S. landfall on Saturday near McClellanville, South Carolina, a village 30 miles north of Charleston that was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane in 1989. The storm was blamed for at least 11 deaths in the United States - five in Florida, three in North Carolina and three in Georgia, including two people killed by falling trees in Bulloch County, the county coroner said. Power was reported knocked out for more than 2 million households and businesses in the U.S. Southeast, the bulk of those in Florida and South Carolina. The storm-stricken stretch of the Atlantic Coast from Miami to Charleston, a nearly 600-mile drive, encompasses some of the most well-known beaches, resorts and historical towns in the southeastern United States. Parts of Interstate 95, the main north-south thoroughfare on the East Coast, were closed due to flooding and fallen trees, state officials said. Roads in Jackson Beach, Florida, were littered with debris, including chunks from an historic pier dislodged by the storm, with some intersections clogged by up to a foot of standing water. Beachfront businesses suffered moderate damage. "We rode out the storm. It wasn't this bad at our house, but here there's a lot of damage," said Zowi Cuartas, 18, as he watched bystanders pick up shattered signs near the beach. Florida Governor Rick Scott said more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters overnight, but he appeared relieved that the state had been spared from greater harm. "We're all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast," he said. He predicted electricity would be restored to most without power by Sunday evening. Streets in downtown Charleston, known for its historic waterfront architecture, were flooded to the tops of tires on some parked cars, and a few residents could be seen wading near the city's sea wall as high tide approached. Some 8 inches (20 cm) of rain fell in the Savannah, Georgia area, downing trees and causing flooding. The National Weather Service said record-high tides were recorded along the Savannah River at the South Carolina-Georgia border, peaking at 12.6 feet, surpassing those from Hurricane David in 1979. Storm damage was far greater in Haiti earlier in the week when Matthew plowed directly into the impoverished Caribbean island nation. At least 13 people on the Caribbean island have also died from outbreaks of cholera since the storm, and around 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said.</s>Forecasters said North Carolina and Virginia could get even more rain and warned of the danger of life—threatening flooding through Monday night. What will go down as one of the most potent hurricanes on record in the U.S. was blamed for at least 10 deaths in the U.S. and more than 500 in Haiti. The unofficial rainfall totals were staggering- 18 inches in Wilmington, 14 inches in Fayetteville and 8 inches in Raleigh. With five people reported missing and rivers rising, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory said he expected the death toll to rise. Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday after its rampage through the Caribbean killed nearly 900 people in Haiti and at least 16 people in the United States. The storm centre was about 320 km (200 miles) off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and heading away from land, according to the National Hurricane Center’s Sunday 9pm Irish time (5pm local time) report. The fearsome storm then sideswiped hundreds of miles of the U.S. coastline from Florida through Georgia and the Carolinas, its eye staying far enough offshore that the damage in many places along the coast was relatively modest, consisting mostly of flooded streets, flattened trees and blown-down signs and awnings. “Trees are down in every neighbourhood on almost every road,” he said, adding “I am no weather man, but would guess that the gusts of wind were near 100 mph (160 km), and with soggy ground a lot trees couldn’t stand up to it.” In Virginia Beach, the city said it had received over 33 cm (13 inches) of rain and 55,000 people remained without power on Sunday night. An estimated 2 million people in the Southeast were ordered to evacuate their homes as Matthew closed in. More than a million people in South Carolina and North Carolina were without power, and at least four separate sections of Interstate 95 — the main artery linking the East Coast from Florida to Maine — were closed in North Carolina. Property data firm CoreLogic projected that insured losses on home and commercial properties would amount to $4 billion to $6 billion, well below Hurricane Katrina's $40 billion and Superstorm Sandy's $20 billion.

The death toll in the United States from Hurricane Matthew rises to 27 with at least five people still missing in North Carolina. Governor Pat McCrory warns that the state's swollen rivers are still rising with flooding continuing to pose threats to life and property this week. The storm, downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone yesterday, moves away from the U.S. coastline on an east-northeast track.

Six people died of Cholera in a hospital in the southern town of Randel, which is inland near a river, and another seven died in the western coastal town of Anse-d´Ainault, the officials said, likely as flood waters mixed with sewage. In one hospital in Jeremie, which is in Grand-Anse, there are at least 40 suspected cases of cholera since Hurricane Matthew hit. “It’s quite frightening to see from the air.” On Sunday, he flew into the town of Roche-a-Bateau, where he said 90 per cent of the buildings had been destroyed by the storm, including the concrete school and church buildings, leaving the residents with no shelter. Cholera cases have been reported in Randel, in southwestern Haiti, UNICEF reported in a situation update Monday, while DeGennaro said there had been dozens of cholera deaths in the southwestern town of Port-a-Piment. “The international community continues to do inspections while people are dying of hunger — and so right now, we need supplies.” Matthew, classified as a Category 4 hurricane at the time of landfall, ripped through Haiti on Tuesday, killing some 877 people. After pummeling Haiti on October 4 as a monster Category 4 storm, packing winds of 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour, Matthew slammed into the southeastern United States, where it killed 20 people. Hundreds of people have been killed in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, officials said, with the death toll expected to rise.</s>The powerful hurricane, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, slammed into Haiti on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (233 kph) winds and torrential rains that left 1.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. A Reuters tally of numbers from local officials showed that 1,000 people were killed by the storm in Haiti, which has a population of about 10 million and is the poorest country in the Americas. The official death toll from the central civil protection agency is 336, a slower count because officials must visit each village to confirm the numbers. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haiti started burying some of its dead in mass graves in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, a government official said on Sunday, as cholera spread in the devastated southwest and the death toll from the storm rose to 1,000 people. Frenel said 522 people were killed in Grand'Anse alone. A tally of deaths reported by mayors from 15 of 18 municipalities in Sud Department on the south side of the peninsula showed 386 people there. In the rest of the country, 92 people were killed, the same tally showed. Mr Frenel said there was great concern about the cholera spreading, and that authorities were focused on getting water, food and medication to the thousands of people living in shelters. Cholera causes severe diarrhea and can kill within hours if untreated. It is spread through contaminated water and has a short incubation period, which leads to rapid outbreaks. Government teams fanned out across the hard-hit southwestern tip of the country over the weekend to repair treatment centers and reach the epicenter of one outbreak.

Matthew's death toll in Haiti rises to at least one thousand, with victims being buried in mass graves. An unknown number of people remain missing and authorities report that cholera is spreading in the hardest hit-areas in the country's southwest.

KABUL (Reuters) - At least 14 people were killed on Tuesday when a gunman in a police uniform opened fire on worshippers gathered at a shrine in the Afghan capital of Kabul for a Shi’ite holy day, officials said. Thirteen civilians and one police officer died and 36 people were wounded in the attack, said ministry of the interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi. The attack began just before 8 p.m. (3:30 p.m. GMT), police said, with witnesses reporting an explosion followed by gunfire. Initial reports put the number of attackers at three, but Mr Sediqqi said police special forces who responded to the scene found and killed only one gunman. Security forces at the scene had evacuated the shrine as the attack unfolded, said Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi. The attacker in Kabul, said to be wearing a police uniform, entered the Karte Shakhi mosque on Tuesday night and opened fire on a crowd of Shia Muslims gathered for Ashura, which marks the seventh-century death of a grandson of the prophet Mohammed. Islamic State also targeted members of Kabul’s Shia community in a suicide bombing in July that killed more than 80 people and wounded 130. Islamic State (IS) on Wednesday claimed responsibility for an attack that killed at least 18 worshippers at a shrine in the Afghan capital, raising fears of sectarian violence after a string of attacks on the country’s Shia minority.</s>A number of gunmen have reportedly opened fire on Ashura observers in the west of Kabul city leaving at least 14 dead and 36 others wonded. The gunmen attacked the Imam Ali shrine in the vicinity of Karte Sakhi area of the city. The Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqi confirmed the area has been cleared and the last attacker was shot dead. Sediqi further added that the number of casualties will be released later. However, a security source confirmed that 14 people were killed in the attack and around 36 others were wounded. Eyewitnesses and local residents in Karte Sakhi area earlier said sporadic clashes still continue in the area as scores of Afghan forces have arrived to eliminate the attackers. According to one of the eyewitnesses, the attack was initially launched by gunmen who started shooting the worshipers and at least one of the gunmen detonated his suicide vest. They are saying another militant has been shot dead by the security forces while one of them is still fighting the security forces. No group has so far claimed responsibility behind the incident. Follow Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook. Stay updated via RSS

A gunman, reportedly wearing an Afghan police uniform, kills at least 14 people and wounds dozens more in the Shiite Karte Sakhi shrine in Kabul on the beginning of Ashura. Police kill the attacker.

Armed men believed to be from the long-oppressed Rohingya Muslim minority launched a coordinated assault on three border police posts in the early hours Sunday, killing nine police, injuring five and making off with dozens of weapons and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition. Military personnel and police reinforcements have poured into the Muslim-majority township of Maungdaw, northern Rakhine State, and have clashed with groups of up to 300 men, armed with pistols, swords and knives, according to official reports. Human rights groups and advocates for the stateless Rohingya have voiced concern that the civilian population may be caught up in the authorities' violent response. He urged the security personnel “to exercise caution in the future to avoid any injuries or loss of innocent civilian lives, collateral damage to properties or any perception of harassment of the local population.” Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi said in her first speech to the U.N. General Assembly last month as Myanmar’s de facto leader that the government was “standing firm against the forces of prejudice and intolerance” and is “committed to a sustainable solution that will lead to peace, stability and development for all communities within the state.” But Suu Kyi, who has been criticized by some human rights activists for not speaking out forcefully in support of the Rohingya, did not mention the group by name in her speech. Sunday was the bloodiest day in the state since 2012, when more than 100 people were killed in clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. The Rohingya, who are mostly stateless and are subject to severe restrictions on their movements, make up the majority of the population in the northern part of Rakhine State.</s>Twelve people have died in the north of Myanmar's Rakhine state in clashes between armed men and troops, state media reported on Wednesday, in a sharp escalation of violence in the restive region. Four soldiers and one attacker were killed on Tuesday when hundreds of men wielding pistols and swords assailed troops in Pyaungpit village, in Maungdaw township. Troops also found seven dead along with rudimentary weapons after fighting broke out in the nearby village of Taung Paing Nyar. “After the incident, troops found seven dead bodies,” the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported. “Swords and sticks were found with the bodies.” The military have been scouring the region, not far from the border with Bangladesh, after nine police officers were killed on Sunday in coordinated attacks on three border posts. Most people in the impoverished area are Muslim Rohingya, a stateless minority Buddhist nationalists vilify as illegal immigrants. The unrest has raised the spectre of a repeat of 2012 when sectarian violence ripped through Rakhine, killing more than 100 people and driving tens of thousands of Rohingya into displacement camps. Four men suspected of being involved in Sunday's attacks, two of whom were named as Andra Mular Kein and Mawlawi Fordita Laung by state media, were also captured on Tuesday.

In a third day of fighting, an attack in Rakhine State kills four Myanmar soldiers.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A ballistic missile launched from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi and rebel media reported Monday, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite rebels and their allies. The deliberations about how to retaliate to the missile launches come as the U.S. considers withdrawing its support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis following Saturday's airstrike on the funeral and other troubling incidents of civilian casualties as a result of the Saudi bombing campaign. In a statement, the Navy said no American sailors were wounded and no damage was caused to the USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer whose home port is Norfolk, Va. Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a spokesman for U.S. Navy Forces Central Command, said it's unclear if the USS Mason was specifically targeted, though the missiles were fired in its direction over an hour's time, starting at about 7 p.m. A U.S. defense official said the USS Mason used onboard defensive measures after the first missile was fired, but it wasn't clear if that caused the missile to splash harmlessly into the sea.</s>The USS Mason fired defensive salvos in response to at least one missile which did not hit the ship or caused any damage as it operated north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Pentagon said. Indications are that the second salvo brought down an incoming missile, one U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The renewed attempt to target the U.S. Navy destroyer will add pressure on the U.S. military to retaliate, a move that would represent the first direct U.S. military action against Houthis in Yemen's conflict. The Pentagon said it would respond "at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner." The United States, a longtime ally of Saudi Arabia, has provided aerial refueling of jets from a Saudi-led coalition striking Yemen and it supplies U.S. weapons sales to the kingdom. Michael Knights, an expert on Yemen's conflict at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the missile attacks appeared to be the Houthis' response to an attack last weekend, widely blamed on Saudi-led forces, on mourners gathered in Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa. The White House says it is reviewing its support for Saudi-led forces in Yemen in the wake of Saturday's strike, which killed at least 140 people by one count. Knights said the targeting of U.S. warship suggested the Houthis, fighters from a Shi'ite sect that ruled a 1,000-year kingdom in northern Yemen until 1962, could be becoming more militarily aligned with groups like Lebanon's Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah. "Targeting U.S. warships is a sign that the Houthis have decided to join the axis of resistance that currently includes Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran," Knight said. The USS Mason was also the target of a failed missile attack off Yemen on Sunday, and the Navy praised the resolve of sailors aboard the ship. "The team in USS Mason demonstrated initiative and toughness as they defended themselves and others against these unfounded attacks over the weekend and again today," the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said. "All Americans should be proud of them," he said. The missile incidents, along with an Oct. 1 strike on a vessel from the United Arab Emirates, add to questions about safety of passage for military ships around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping routes. The Houthis, who are battling the internationally-recognized government of Yemen President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, denied any involvement in the previous attempt to strike the USS Mason. But U.S. officials have told Reuters there are growing indications that Houthi rebels, despite those denials, were responsible for Sunday's incident. The rebels appeared to use small skiffs as spotters to help direct the missile attack on the warship on Sunday. The United States is also investigating the possibility that a radar station under Houthi control in Yemen might have also "painted" the USS Mason, something that would have helped the Houthi fighters pass along coordinates for a strike, the officials have said. The Houthis, who are allied to Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, have the support of many army units and control most of the north including the capital Sanaa. Reuters has learned that the coastal defense cruise missiles used against the USS Mason on Sunday had considerable range, adding to concerns about the kind of heavy weaponry that the Houthis appear willing to employ and some of which U.S. officials believe is supplied by Iran. Although the United States has provided limited support for the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis, it also has reserved its direct military role in Yemen to the fight against al Qaeda's affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That general U.S. policy might still remain in place, even if it opts to carry out one-off retaliatory strikes. Yemen's war has killed at least 10,000 people and brought parts of the country to the brink of starvation.

The Obama administration through the U.S. Defense Department says it will take appropriate action against those responsible for October 9 unsuccessful cruise missile attack, apparently fired from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, upon the USS Mason.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russian jets resumed heavy bombing of rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Tuesday after several days of relative calm, a rebel official and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. Shelling was also reported in the capital, Damascus, with mortar shells fired by opposition groups landing in the residential Qasaa district and close to the Umayyad Mosque, wounding an unspecified number of people. “This is the heaviest Russian bombardment since the Syrian regime announced it would reduce the bombardment” last week, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. The Civil Defence, a rescue service operating in rebel-held areas, said on its Twitter feed the air strikes had killed 25 people, 15 of them at a market place in the Fardous district. The Syrian army has denied any targeting of civilians but France and the United States have called for an investigation into what they said amounted to war crimes by Syrian and Russian forces in the city. The Syrian government said rebels holed up in Aleppo can leave with their families if they lay down their arms. Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile cancelled a trip to Paris in a row over the violence in Syria, where Moscow is helping President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in an operation to recapture all of Aleppo. Regime ally Russia carried out its heaviest strikes in days on Syria’s Aleppo on Tuesday, as rebel fire killed at least five schoolchildren in the war-torn country’s south. Now the goal of FSA forces was to retake the town of Soran, an Islamic State stronghold in the area, before moving on to Dabiq, he said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and state media reported the shelling of a school by insurgents had killed at least five people, including children, in the southern city of Daraa Daraa is also split between Syrian government and rebel control.</s>More than 65 killed in last 3 days in Aleppo BEIRUT — Overnight shelling and more than a dozen airstrikes on rebel-held parts of Aleppo killed at least 11 people Thursday, bringing the death toll in the last three days to at least 65, according to an opposition activist group and Aleppo's volunteer civil defense forces. The airstrikes came a day after an air raid hit eastern Aleppo's biggest market, killing at least 15 people and leveling buildings. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported more than 20 airstrikes on eastern Aleppo that killed seven while shelling killed four, adding that clashes were taking place between government forces and insurgents on the city's northern edge. The Halab Today TV channel reported "intense" airstrikes on rebel-held parts of Syria's largest city, adding that cluster bombs were being dropped. His mother survived but remains in critical condition, said Ibrahim al-Haj, a member of the Syrian Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets. The Observatory said Wednesday that at least 358 civilians have been killed in eastern Aleppo since a U.S. and Russian-brokered truce collapsed on Sept. 19. The U.N. says over 100 children have been killed in the campaign, which has also included a limited ground offensive.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a rebel official report that Russian jets have resumed heavy bombing, and, in total, have now killed at least 50 civilians in villages surrounding rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Samsung said it is halting sales of the star-crossed Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after a spate of fires involving new devices that were supposed to be safe replacements for recalled models. Before the report of Samsung’s production suspension emerged, AT&T, one of the largest phone retailers in the U.S., stopped giving consumers replacement Note 7s and encouraged customers with Note 7 phones to exchange them for other devices. Officials from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission echoed that advice in their own statement, adding that they are continuing to investigate at least five incidents of fire or overheating reported since a formal recall was announced Sept. 15. The Note 7 recall, Samsung’s first smartphone recall, and its handling of the incidents have left the company facing its biggest crisis in years. Passenger Brian Green, 43, said the device was a Galaxy Note 7 he had picked up from an authorized AT&T retailer Sept. 21 as a replacement for another Note 7 phone he returned when the global recall was announced. “There’s been a shift toward bigger screen devices, and there’s less competition there given the Note 7 issue, so there’s definitely more opportunities for the iPhone 7 Plus,” said James Cordwell, an analyst at Atlantic Equities. It’s like a ticking time bomb.” Minter is one of several people to report that replacement devices have caught fire, starting with Southwest Airlines passenger Brian Green last week.</s>SEOUL (dpa-AFX) - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SMSN.L, SSNNF.OB, SSNLF.OB) has temporarily halted production of its troubled Galaxy Note 7 following reports of fires in replacement devices, according to media reports, citing person familiar with the matter.

Samsung announces an end of production of the Galaxy Note 7 after continued problems with its battery.

However, the pound’s weakness boosted the UK’s FTSE 100 share index – which features companies that make a significant proportion of their profits in dollars – as it closed at 7,097.5, near its record closing high of 7,104 last year. She added: “There are many barriers to a pound recovery, including low interest rates from the Bank of England and strength in other currencies, such as the yen and the US dollar, where interest rates could rise in December.” Click here to ‘Like’ The Scotsman Business on Facebook</s>BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The pound erased its early losses against its major counterparts and drifted higher in pre-European trading on Wednesday, as investor concerns over a 'hard Brexit' eased after the U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has allowed the call to let the U.K. Parliament to decide on the Brexit strategy. The next possible downside target for the pound may be found around 122.5 against the yen, 1.19 against the greenback, 1.16 against the franc and 0.92 against the euro. The pound advanced to a 5-day high of 0.8967 against the euro and a 2-day high of 1.2180 against the Swiss franc, off its lows of 0.9127 and 1.1966, respectively hit at 5:30 pm ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Following the Brexit vote and the subsequent drop in the exchange rate of the British pound to U.S. dollar, the FTSE 100 Index reaches an all-time intra-day high of 7,129.

Cybersecurity giant Symantec Corp. (SYMC) announced Tuesday that a second hacking group has launched a mission to rob banks using fraudulent messages on the financial messaging platform SWIFT, reports Reuters. The group, dubbed “Odinaff,” has used the same approach that yielded $81 million from an attack earlier this year on the central bank of Bangladesh. (See also: Investors Rally to Cybersecurity.) Using Malware to Hack SWIFT The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said the new hackers have infected 10 to 20 of its customers with malware that can be used to hide fraudulent transfer request on SWIFT, a financial messaging service used globally by moe than 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories. Last Month, SWIFT CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt disclosed information on three hacks and warned of an upcoming surge in cyberattacks on banks. SWIFT and Symantec have not given details to the public about targets beyond the Bangladesh Bank, but they point to the United States, Hong Kong, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ukraine as major hubs for Odinaff attacks. Banks Become Cybercrime Targets The news indicates a surge in recent cybercrime, particularly in the financial sector, and a subsequent, revitalized need for next-gen cybersecurity. While Lazarus—the hacker group allegedly behind the Bangladesh heist and the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment—has been linked to North Korea, Odinaff appears to be a financially motivated criminal group unaffiliated with a nation state. “The discovery of Odinaff indicates that banks are at a growing risk of attack. Over the past few years, cybercriminals have begun to display a deep understanding of the internal financial systems used by banks. They have learned that banks employ a diverse range of systems and have invested time in finding out how they work and how employees operate them. When coupled with the high level of technical expertise available to some groups, these groups now pose a significant threat to any organization they target,” Symantec stated in a company release on Tuesday. (See also: Cybercrime Pays for Tech Investors.)</s>(Reuters) - Cyber-security firm Symantec Corp said on Tuesday that a second hacking group has sought to rob banks using fraudulent SWIFT messages, the same approach that yielded $81 million in the high-profile February attack on Bangladesh’s central bank. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Symantec said that a group dubbed Odinaff has infected 10 to 20 organizations with malware that can be used to hide fraudulent transfer requests made over SWIFT, the messaging system that is a lynchpin of the global financial system. Symantec’s research provided new insight into ongoing hacking that has previously been disclosed by SWIFT. SWIFT Chief Executive Gottfried Leibbrandt last month told customers about three hacks and warned that cyber attacks on banks are poised to rise. SWIFT and Symantec have not identified specific victims beyond Bangladesh Bank. Symantec said that most Odinaff attacks occurred in the United States, Hong Kong, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ukraine. Symantec said it would share technical information about Odinaff with banks, governments and other security firms. The company in May said it believed the Bangladesh heist was carried out by a group known as Lazarus, which was also responsible for attacks on SWIFT customers in Southeast Asia as well as the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The U.S. government has blamed North Korea for the Sony attack. Symantec researcher Eric Chien said his firm has not confirmed that North Korea was behind Lazarus, but that the high level of sophistication of its work suggests involvement by not a nation state, he added. Odinaff, on the other hand, appears to be a financially motivated criminal group, not a nation state, he added. SWIFT spokeswoman Natasha de Terán said that the messaging cooperative’s customer security intelligence team had sent a warning about Odinaff’s activities to its members in the early summer. That warning included technical indicators to help thwart potential attacks and a description of the group’s habits, Terán said. Symantec said it believed that Odinaff is linked to Carbanak, a hacking group that has been targeting banks and merchant point-of-sale systems since at least 2014. The two groups employ similar tactics in carrying out attacks and have used the same IP addresses to connect to their servers, according to Symantec.

Computer security firm Symantec warns a second hacking group, going by the name Odinaff, is trying to rob banks using fraudulent SWIFT messages, the same approach that yielded U.S.$81 million in February's attack on Bangladesh's central bank. So far, the group has infected 10 to 20 organizations with this malware.

She was found deep in the debris of four six-storey residential buildings more than 12 hours after they crumbled in Wenzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang, killing at least 22 people, state broadcaster CCTV said. The six-storey buildings collapsed in Wenzhou’s Lucheng industrial district and rescuers were verifying the number of people trapped under the debris. The cause of the collapse, according to the agency, is still being investigated. Recent heavy rainfall combined with the poor quality of construction and age of the buildings, built by the villagers themselves, were probable contributing factors, it cited a preliminary analysis as saying. At least 20 people were killed today when four multi-storey residential buildings packed with migrant workers collapsed in eastern China’s coastal Zhejiang Province.</s>BEIJING — The death toll has risen to at least 22 in the collapse of a group of decrepit homes in eastern China, state media reported Tuesday. The official Xinhua News Agency says that 15 people were pulled from the rubble Monday on the outskirts of the city of Wenzhou and that rescue work is continuing, mainly by hand to avoid harming any survivors. There were six survivors pulled from the rubble on the outskirts of the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, Xinhua News Agency said in a brief report, adding search and rescue efforts were “basically over.” The cause of the collapses on Monday was under investigation, although reports said the four buildings were built in the 1970s by their farmer owners and were in a highly degraded state. Extra floors had also been added over the years, making them between three and five stories high and further weakening their structures. Poor construction quality has long been a problem in China, particularly in the countryside and smaller cities.

A residential building collapses in the eastern China city of Wenzhou, leaving at least 22 people dead.

(CNN) Haitians in the areas worst hit by Hurricane Matthew are desperately awaiting assistance six days after the storm, as concerns grow about potential cholera outbreaks. Haiti started burying some of its dead in mass graves in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, a government official said on Sunday, as cholera spread in the devastated southwest and the death toll from the storm rose to 1,000 people. "Flooding and contaminated water caused by the storm pose a huge threat to survivors, including thousands of children. Cholera, which is spread through water or food contaminated with Vibrio cholerae bacteria, can cause severe diarrhea and vomiting, which leads to extreme dehydration. While some towns and villages reported an apparent spike in infections since the storm, Poncelet said “the number of cases of cholera that we have confirmed are low.” He declined to give a number, but said there were “tens” of cases in one area of the peninsula. "For cholera, every one person who has it tends to infect two or three people, so it's frightening," he said. An ongoing cholera outbreak has already killed roughly 10,000 people and sickened more than 800,000 since 2010, when the infectious disease was introduced into the country’s biggest river from a U.N. base where Nepalese peacekeepers were deployed. “These numbers and needs are growing as more affected areas are reached.” After pummeling Haiti on October 4 as a monster Category 4 storm, packing winds of 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour, Matthew slammed into the southeastern United States, where it killed at least 20 people. Guillaume Silvera, a senior official with the Civil Protection Agency in the storm-blasted Grand-Anse Department, which includes Jeremie, said at least 522 deaths were confirmed there alone — not including people in several remote communities still cut off by collapsed roads and bridges. Many Groteaux homes sported new tin roofs bought at inflated prices, but poorer families could not afford new metal sheets to shelter them from intense sunlight, tropical rains or bloodthirsty mosquitoes. "The top priority clearly for those people affected by the hurricane is to give them access to safe water, that is the only way we can control cholera in the long term in Haiti," he said.</s>Less than a week since Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti, killing at least 1,000 people according to a tally of numbers from local officials, devastated corners of the country are facing a public health crisis as cholera gallops through rural communities lacking clean water, food and shelter. Reuters visited the Port-a-Piment hospital early on Sunday morning, the first day southwestern Haiti's main coastal road had become semi-navigable by car. At that time, there were 39 cases of cholera, according to Missole Antoine, the hospital's medical director. By the early afternoon, there were nearly 60, and four people had died of the waterborne illness. "That number is going to rise," said Antoine, as she rushed between patients laid out on the hospital floor. Although there were 13 cases of cholera before Matthew hit, Antoine said the cases had risen drastically since the hurricane cut off the desperately poor region. The hospital lacks an ambulance, or even a car, and Antoine said many new patients were coming from miles away, carried by family members on camp beds. Inside the hospital, grim-faced parents cradled young children whose eyes had sunk back and were unable to prop up their own heads. "I believe in the doctors, and also in God," said 37-year-old Roosevelt Dume, holding the head of his son, Roodly, as he tried to remain upbeat. Out on the streets, the scene was also shocking. For miles on end, almost all the houses were reduced to little more than rubble and twisted metal. Colorful clothes were littered among the chaos. The region's banana crop was destroyed with vast fields of plantain flattened into a leafy mush. With neither government or foreign aid arriving quickly, people relied on felled coconuts for food and water. The stench of death, be it human or animal, was everywhere. In the village of Labei, near Port-a-Piment, locals said the river had washed down cadavers from villages upstream. With nobody coming to move the corpses, residents used planks of driftwood to push them down the river and into the sea. Down by the shore, the corpse of one man lay blistering in the sun. A few hundred meters to his left in a roadside gully, three dead goats stewed in the toxic slime. "It seems to me like a nuclear bomb went off," said Paul Edouarzin, a United Nations Environmental Program employee based near Port-a-Piment. "In terms of destruction - environmental and agricultural - I can tell you 2016 is worse than 2010," he added, referring to the devastating 2010 earthquake from which Haiti has yet to recover. Diarrhea-stricken residents in the village of Chevalier were well aware of the nearby cholera outbreak, but had little option except to drink the brackish water from the local well that they believed was already contaminated by dead livestock. "We have been abandoned by a government that never thinks of us," said Marie-Ange Henry, as she surveyed her smashed home. She said Chevalier had yet to receive any aid and many, like her, were coming down with fever. Cholera, she feared, was on its way. Pierre Moise Mongerard, a pastor, was banking on divine assistance to rescue his roofless church in the village of Torbeck. In his Sunday best - a sports coat, chinos and brown leather shoes - he joined a small choir in songs that echoed out into the surrounding rice fields. "We hope that God gives us the possibility to rebuild the Church and help the victims here in this area," he said, before the music seized him, and he slowly joined in the chant, closing his eyes and turning his palms up toward the sky.

The United Nations launches an emergency appeal for almost U.S.$120 million in life-saving help for 750,000 survivors in Haiti at risk of starvation and/or cholera.

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — A flight instructor and a student pilot had an altercation inside the cockpit of a small plane, and the instructor was unable to regain control from the trainee before the plane crashed near the headquarters of a military jet engine manufacturer, killing the student, a U.S. official familiar with the investigation into what happened said Wednesday. East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc told The Associated Press that the badly burned pilot told authorities the crash Tuesday was not an accident, but she cautioned that investigators have not confirmed that information. Prevalla’s social media pages indicate he’s president of the American Flight Academy and a managing member of the Hartford Jet Center, both based in Hartford. “But I also know that stories change and information can be skewed. We’re waiting for the facts to come out.” Smoke pours from the smoldering remains of a small plane that crashed on Main Street in East Hartford Conn., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Authorities said a student pilot and an instructor were trying to land the Piper PA-34 Seneca at Brainard Airport in Hartford when it struck a utility pole in East Hartford and crashed onto the road at around 4 p.m., bursting into flames. The crash site is a short distance from the airport, across the Connecticut River and in line with the runway. The police chief in East Hartford asked the FBI to assist in the investigation because it happened so close to Pratt & Whitney. “The path that the plane took could have been much worse. Police Chief Scott Sansom said the path the plane took “could have been much worse.” “So we’re very fortunate in that sense,” he said. Safety officials said the FBI was taking over as lead investigator of the crash because of indications it was an intentional act. The passenger was in the wreckage and presumed dead. Police haven’t released names. Two people in a minivan that came close to colliding with the plane were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Authorities urged people to avoid the area as investigators continued their work. “This is a very complex investigation with a lot of different agencies and a lot of different moving parts,” fire Chief John Oates said.</s>NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Wednesday it believes a small plane crash in East Hartford, Connecticut, was due to an intentional act and is transferring the investigation to the FBI. Authorities say a student pilot and an instructor were trying to land the Piper PA-34 Seneca at Brainard Airport in Hartford when it struck a utility pole and crashed around 4 p.m. Tuesday, bursting into flames. Officials in a Chicago suburb say there is no record a student pilot killed in a small plane crash in Connecticut ever lived in the village, even though it's been identified as his home. The instructor and Freitekh were the only people aboard the plane when it crashed at about 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT) on Tuesday during flight training that originated at the Hartford-Brainard Airport, local police said. WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. investigators believe a Jordanian student pilot was trying to kill himself when he crashed a small plane in Connecticut this week but do not believe he was affiliated with militant groups, two federal officials familiar with the probe said on Thursday. East Hartford Police Lieutenant Joshua Litwin said at a news conference on Wednesday that the plane had two sets of controls, but that he did not know which person was flying the plane at the time of the crash.

Jordanian student pilot Feras Freitekh kills himself and attempts to kill his flight instructor, when their small Piper PA-34 Seneca airplane crashes in East Hartford Connecticut. Investigators conclude the crash was an intentional act motivated by suicide based on the surviving instructor who said there was an argument and struggle for control. The FBI investigates. Reuters

SDSU students continue to study abroad in South America despite Zika threat The mosquito-borne Zika virus is an emerging health threat that is spreading globally. With no vaccine or treatment for the virus, San Diego State students who are studying abroad are encouraged to take precautions before traveling. Despite the Zika virus threat, several SDSU students are studying abroad in Zika-infected countries. The International Student Center requires students to learn about the health risks and threats in the countries they are visiting from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website. “Zika is a newer threat and we send students to universities where there is less risk such as Puerto Alegre in the south of Brazil,“ senior advisor and study abroad coordinator Maribel Franco said. “We send students a fact sheet for risk management and an emergency card for services in the country and even at SDSU.” Franco said the northern part of Brazil has a large number of Zika outbreaks. Stanley Maloy, dean of the College of Sciences and professor of biology, warns the Zika mosquitos can cause threats to pregnancies. Maloy said the Zika virus is also tricky because mosquitos like humans and are able to survive in areas where there are less water. Maloy was a moderator at an event for the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology on Oct. 5 where a panel of experts discussed the Zika virus. “It is important to be aware of the males that can transmit the Zika virus because it stays in their bodies for six months,” Malloy said. “Males are able to transmit the virus to a baby if they get a female pregnant during that period of time.” Abel Martinez, an international business student with an emphasis in Latin America said he doesn’t think he will get the Zika virus while studying abroad. He said he has gotten four vaccines in order to avoid getting sick. Martinez is studying at the Universidad del Desarollo in Chile and learning new business concepts to find ways in which the U.S. can help South America in their development. Martinez was in Brazil for five days before the school semester began and said he never worried about the Zika virus. “If it’s something that seems to be big in the U.S., it may be the media inflating it,” Martinez said. “The locals don’t talk about the virus and I never saw any information about it anywhere.” Maloy said that Zika is spreading throughout the world and recently there have been outbreaks in Puerto Rico. “Students need to have mosquito protection when traveling such as being aware of where they sleep especially in open areas, wearing mosquito repellent and closing windows at night if they don’t have window screens,”Maloy said. Franco said she also tracks current events in countries where the students are studying to inform and help them if there is a threat.

The World Health Organization warns that the Zika virus will continue to spread across Asia with cases already reported in Singapore and Thailand.

Apple, Samsung take battle to US Supreme Court The epic legal battle pitting Apple against its bitter rival Samsung over the design of the iPhone reaches a new level Tuesday when it heads to the US Supreme Court. The high court is set to hear arguments over financial damages the South Korean smartphone giant owes Apple for allegedly violating design patents by producing copycats of its groundbreaking smartphone. Observers are watching the case closely to see how the court — which has not taken up a design patent case in more than a century — tips the balance between technological innovation and protecting intellectual property. A ruling is expected in several months. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a $400 million verdict — part of a nearly billion-dollar award in Apple’s favor later reduced to $548 million — that found Samsung had copied the iPhone, including its distinctive front screen and graphical touchscreen interface. California-based Apple had protected those features with US design patents that concern the way items look. They are distinct from utility patents, which protect how articles are used and work, and do not concern copyrights or trademarks. Samsung is challenging the verdict, disputing how damages are calculated in design patent cases. The award — in accordance with a statute first adopted in 1887 and later affirmed by Congress in 1952 — requires patent violators to hand over their total profits even if the violation covers only one element of a product. Samsung argues it should be held liable only for some portion of the profit tied to patented design aspects, given the many innovative components that go into the making of smartphones. “A single design patent on the portion of the appearance of a phone should not entitle the design-patent holder to all the profit on the entire phone.” Apple lawyer Seth Waxman fired back that Samsung made a conscious decision to revive its fortunes by copying the iPhone. The legal battle, which began more than five years ago, could have major repercussions in a tech industry where design and innovation play key roles in distinguishing one device from another. But a major debate is underway on just how much protection should be granted for visual design. … Based on what I heard, I think it’s very likely that the (justices) will modify the lower court’s decision.” Samsung has won the backing of major Silicon Valley and other IT sector giants, including Google, Facebook, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, as well as a group of law professors. Apple, for its part, got backing from big names in fashion and manufacturing, such as Calvin Klein and Adidas, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association, whose members — largely lawyers — represent owners and users of intellectual property. Apple’s supporters argue that Samsung’s argument would hurt the tech industry by weakening the patent system. “A strong patent system will force technology companies to actually innovate, not mimic. That is how patent systems are designed to work all over the world,” said Matthew Siegal, an intellectual property lawyer with the firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. “The differences in Samsung and Apple smartphones are marginal because of copying, not innovating,” he added. An amicus brief filed on behalf of design professionals, researchers and academics said they have no financial interest in the case but argue on the basis of “fundamental principles of visual design.” They cite precedents like the Coca-Cola bottle, which is an integral part of the value of the product, according to the brief Tuesday’s hearing was held before a short-handed panel of eight justices, with a ninth still missing since Antonin Scalia’s death in February. Republicans in Congress have refused to replace him with President Barack Obama’s nominee before the Democrat leaves office in January. The hearing takes place at a difficult time for Samsung, as it is struggling to contain a snowballing safety crisis that threatens to derail the powerhouse global brand. It told customers worldwide on Monday to stop using Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, calling a halt to global sales and exchanges following complaints that its lithium-ion battery explodes while charging. Apple is also facing challenges from mounting international competition, having lost a critical share of the Chinese market after critics there found its latest iPhone 7 lacks major innovations.</s>The US Supreme Court on Tuesday signalled a willingness to reduce the potentially huge penalties imposed for ripping off a patented design as it heard arguments in the legal fight over the amount Samsung should pay Apple for copying the iPhone’s distinctive appearance. The eight justices heard arguments by lawyers for the world’s two top smartphone manufacturers, as well as the US government, in Samsung’s challenge to the $399 million it was forced to pay Apple for violating three patents regarding the iPhone’s rounded-corner front face, bezel and colourful grid of icons. “I can’t get over the thought that nobody buys a car, even a Beetle, just because they like the way it looks,” he said. That would be a win for businesses and consumers alike.” Apple’s chief litigation officer, Noreen Krall, said courts at every level have found that Samsung intentionally and blatantly copied the iPhone, adding: “We think that’s wrong and that it poses chilling risks to the future of design innovation.” A ruling is due by the end of June. “Samsung’s smartphones are sold as single, unitary articles to ordinary purchasers,” the brief notes, “and their infringing designs are closely intertwined with the phones’ hardware and software to create the products’ overall look and feel.” Apple’s brief also suggests Samsung’s infringement was brazen, noting, “The evidence showed how assiduously Samsung copied Apple’s iPhone in response to its ‘crisis of design,’ and instantly increased its market share,” the brief noted. The case came before the Supreme Court on same day Samsung scrapped its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone following reports of the phones catching fire in one of the costliest product safety failures in tech history. This is the first time the High Court has taken a look at design patents in well over 100 years, four years after a lower court jury found Samsung had copied part of the iPhone’s design and awarded Apple nearly $1 billion in damages that were later reduced. The eight justices heard arguments in Samsung’s bid to pare back $399-million (U.S.) of $548-million it paid Apple in December following a 2012 jury verdict finding that it infringed Apple’s iPhone patents and copied its distinctive appearance in making the Galaxy and other competing devices. Samsung has contended it should not have had to turn over all its profits on phones that infringed the iPhone design patents, which the company said contributed only marginally to a complex product with thousands of patented features. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is raising serious doubts about a $399 million judgment against smartphone maker Samsung for illegally copying parts of the patented design of Apple’s iPhone. Cupertino, California-based Apple sued its South Korean rival in 2011, claiming Samsung stole its technology and the iPhone’s trademarked appearance. Design patent fights only very rarely reach the Supreme Court, which had not heard such a case in more than 120 years, when the products involved were considerably less high-tech: carpets and a spoon handle. Those tech companies—and Samsung, for that matter—are asking the Supreme Court to overturn a decision last year by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that ruled in Apple’s favor.

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a patent dispute between Apple Inc. and Samsung concerning both company's smart phone designs (Samsung Electronics v. Apple (15-777)).

Feds Will Press Criminal Contempt Charges Against Ariz. Sheriff Arpaio Enlarge this image toggle caption Ross D. Franklin/AP Ross D. Franklin/AP Federal prosecutors will charge Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio with criminal contempt of court for violating a judge's order to stop immigration patrols that led to a court finding of racial profiling. Neither investigation led to prosecution of the sheriff nor his employees, but federal authorities plan to reverse course and charge the defiant 84-year-old lawman with misdemeanor criminal contempt of court, marking a major blow on the day early voting begins in his bid for a seventh term. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who became a national name by cracking down on illegal immigration and forcing inmates to wear pink underwear and live in tents in the desert heat, faced federal investigation four years ago on allegations he retaliated against two local officials and a judge at odds with him by accusing them of corruption. Sheriff Joe Arpaio will face the possibility of jail time and a clouded political future when prosecutors file a misdemeanor contempt charge against him for defying a judge’s orders to end his signature immigration patrols. Although U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow also referred Arpaio's chief deputy Jerry Sheridan, Captain Steve Bailey, and attorney Michelle Iafrate for a potential contempt charges in August, the U.S. Attorney's Office has only taken aim at the sheriff — so far. The U.S. Justice Department also is conducting an obstruction-of-justice investigation into Arpaio's defiance of a court order to turn over 50 hard drives in a secret investigation that critics say aimed to discredit the judge in the racial profiling case. The racial profiling lawsuit that Arpaio lost more than three years ago morphed into a contempt case after the sheriff was accused of violating court orders. Since then, the sheriff has faced a steady stream of unfavorable news from his racial profiling case, including revelations that it's expected to cost taxpayers $72 million by next summer. Arpaio would face up to six months in jail if convicted of misdemeanor criminal contempt and an unspecified sentencing range if such a conviction is deemed a felony. If prosecutors charge him, the case is not expected to be designated as a misdemeanor or felony until later.</s>PHOENIX — The Latest on the contempt of court case against Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona (all times local): Federal prosecutors say they will file criminal contempt-of-court charges against Sheriff Joe Arpaio for disobeying orders to stop his immigration patrols. The announcement in federal court sets in motion criminal proceedings against the sheriff less than a month before Election Day as he seeks a seventh term as Maricopa County sheriff. A judge will hold a hearing to discuss legal issues raised by a recommendation that prosecutors charge a famously defiant Arizona sheriff with criminal contempt of court for defying orders in a racial profiling case. Prosecutor John Keller said in court that the government will bring charges, with the next step being a court filing possibly in the next day that's akin to a criminal complaint. Arpaio could face up to six months in jail if convicted of misdemeanor contempt. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton called the hearing to discuss issues raised by another judge's request that Arpaio face criminal contempt charges after refusing to stop targeting Latinos in patrols. Arpaio has acknowledged violating the order to stop the immigration patrols but insists his disobedience wasn't intentional.

The Obama administration through the U.S. Department of Justice announces that they will file criminal contempt of court charges against Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio for violating a judge's order to stop immigration patrols that led to a court finding of racial profiling. The charges carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail.

Autopsy: Unarmed man shot by Tulsa police was high on PCP An unarmed black man shot dead by a white police officer after his car broke down on a city street last month was high on the hallucinogenic drug PCP in when he died, according to toxicology tests released by a medical examiner Tuesday. The office said the figure reached the threshold for "acute phencyclidine intoxication." Officer Betty Jo Shelby was charged with first-degree manslaughter after his death, with a prosecutor saying she reacted unreasonably when Crutcher disobeyed her commands. Medical literature says PCP, also known as Angel Dust, can induce euphoria and feelings of omnipotence as well as agitation, mania and depression. Dr. Matthew Lee, a physician and pharmacist who also works for the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner's Office, said the 96 nanograms per milliliter of PCP found in Crutcher's system is more than enough to cause someone to be uncoordinated, agitated and combative. "It's on the high side, relative to causing some sort of impairment or intoxication," Lee said. Videos from a police helicopter and a dashboard camera showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby on a North Tulsa street with his arms in the air, but the footage does not offer a clear view of when Shelby fired the single shot. Tulsa police had said previously that they had found a vial of PCP in Crutcher's SUV -- and the police officer's lawyer said she had completed drug-recognition training and believed Crutcher might have been under the influence of drugs. According to an eight-page report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Oklahoma City, Crutcher suffered a "penetrating gunshot wound of chest" and noted both of Crutcher's lungs were pierced and that he had four broken ribs. In addition to saying Crutcher had PCP in his system, it said he was obese and had too much cholesterol in his gallbladder. The examiner recovered a bullet fragment from Crutcher's left chest. Shannon McMurray, one of Shelby's defense attorneys, said the report helped provide an early "snapshot" of evidence in the case and that as more is released, "it will be clear in my mind as the case unfolds that the officer was justified in her use of force." Another Shelby lawyer, Scott Wood, had said previously that the officer was so focused on Crutcher that she didn't hear other officers near her before she fired her service weapon. Almost simultaneously, another officer fired a Taser at Crutcher as he moved toward his SUV. Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby has pleaded not guilty to first-degree manslaughter in connection with the shooting and is out on bond.</s>TULSA, Okla. — The Latest on an Oklahoma police officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed black man (all times local): Attorneys for the family of an unarmed man killed by a Tulsa police officer last month say a toxicology report showing he had the hallucinogenic drug PCP in his system doesn't justify the shooting. Terence Crutcher, 40, had “acute phencyclidine intoxication” when he died Sept. 16. Officer Betty Jo Shelby was charged with first-degree manslaughter after his death, with a prosecutor saying she reacted unreasonably after Crutcher disobeyed her commands. According to an eight-page report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Oklahoma City, Crutcher suffered a “penetrating gunshot wound of chest” and noted both of Crutcher’s lungs were pierced and that he had four broken ribs. The autopsy report says Crutcher's blood tested positive for phencyclidine, also known as PCP or Angel Dust. Medical literature says PCP, also known as Angel Dust, can induce euphoria and feelings of omnipotence, and also notes that it can lead to “combativeness-agitation,” mania and depression.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Oklahoma City reports that an unarmed black man, Terence Crutcher, shot dead on September 16, by a white police officer, Betty Jo Shelby, had acute PCP intoxication. Authorities charged her with first-degree manslaughter.

A Raisin In the Sun: Still Good A massive brick wall descends from the sky and surrounds Lena Younger's modest Chicago home on three sides. One little window is knocked out of the brick, and an American flag hangs off the sill like a tired dream. Set designer Michael Ganio's constant metaphor is loud, constant, imposing: the American Dream is seductive, but it's a bill of goods, and it's sold to black people at ten times the price. Aside from that heavy scenic gesture, director Timothy McCuen Piggee faithfully reproduces for the Seattle Rep Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 classic, A Raisin in the Sun. The Youngers are preparing to inherit some insurance money following the death of the father, who worked his whole life so his children would have a better one, but housing discrimination, sexism, racism, poverty, and con artists conspire to make that goal nearly impossible to achieve. Many of conversations happening between and within the characters of this play are alive today. Walter Lee's struggle, for instance, is a study in the intersection of sexism and racism. He's an enterprising and ambitious man constantly trying to prove himself as such in a society that infantilizes black men as "boys" and servants, but his adherence to male supremacy poisons his relationship with his wife and mother, his two biggest supporters. The scenes between Beneatha "Bennie" Younger (Claudine Mboligkpelani Nako) and George Murchison (Tré Cotten) explore the tensions between radical and incremental approaches to social change, settling a little uneasily on a kind of punctuated equilibrium theory of justice, while Bennie and Joseph Asagai (Ricardy Charles Fabre) play out a back-to-Africa argument. And of course, when Karl Linder (Charles Leggett) walks through the door and offers to pay the family NOT to move in to his 100% white neighborhood, recent articles about redlining in Chicago and current examples of housing discrimination jump to mind. Mama Younger's (Denise Burse) wisdom and strength ultimately offers a little leaf of hope that determination and the right kind of pride will lead to liberation, albeit slowly. On opening night, the actors warmed to their roles by the second act. You could see Water Lee's pain, anguish, anxiety, and joy pulse through Prioleau's body—a mixture of his high-energy and Burse's projection of power carries you through the long play. Mia Ellis's portrayal of the firm but endlessly forgiving Ruth reached its apotheosis during a hilarious release of frustration and hope when the prospect of leaving her small house beset by roaches becomes a reality. And Leggett perfectly embodies the insidious nature of systemic racism: he spits out the phrase "you people" while holding up a calm, nice-guy exterior. The play is three and a half hours long. If you walked into the theater with a grape and a sun lamp you'd have your own raisin by the end. But the show doesn't feel long. Rightly confident in the power of Hansberry's language and the complexity of her characters, Piggee doesn't rush you through the show. Therefore, you do not feel rushed. You feel a story rise to meet the demands of its genre. This story needs to be a play, it needs to be three and a half hours long, and if you've only ever read this play in a Language Arts class back in high school, you need to see this production.</s>Preparing MPCs (Info) MPEC 2016-T104: 2014 UZ224 The following Minor Planet Electronic Circular may be linked-to from your own Web pages, but mustotherwise be redistributed electronically A form allowing access to any MPEC is at the bottom of this page. M.P.E.C. 2016-T104 Issued 2016 Oct. 11, 02:44 UT The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual minor planets and routine data on comets. They are published on behalf of Division F of the International Astronomical Union by the Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network MPC@CFA.HARVARD.EDU URL https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/ ISSN 1523-6714 2014 UZ224 Additional Observations: K14UM4Z 7C2014 08 19.42458303 09 29.78 -10 17 00.6 22.8 i ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2014 09 27.31120103 08 56.22 -10 29 11.5 23.6 g ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2014 09 27.31256903 08 56.21 -10 29 11.2 23.5 r ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2014 09 27.31393503 08 56.22 -10 29 11.3 22.9 i ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2014 10 28.34163203 07 55.24 -10 37 22.8 22.7 i ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2015 01 08.14069403 05 31.64 -10 38 07.9 22.7 z ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2015 11 30.25380803 07 58.72 -10 35 21.4 22.8 i ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2015 12 17.19166703 07 23.66 -10 35 03.1 23.0 r ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2015 12 17.19306703 07 23.66 -10 35 02.8 23.6 g ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2016 01 16.11657403 06 41.95 -10 30 25.2 23.0 i ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2016 07 18.41357603 11 49.06 -09 56 39.0 ET104W84 K14UM4Z 7C2016 07 18.41623803 11 49.06 -09 56 39.1 22.4 i ET104W84 Observer details: W84 Cerro Tololo-DECam. Observers S. Kent, R. Kron, J. Annis, C. Davis, A. Plazas, A. Elliott, K. Grabowski, H. Spinka, K. Bechtol, B. Nord, E. Buckley-Geer, R. Rosenfeld, N. MacCrann, K. Romer, C. Bonnett, A. Palmese, J. Smith, E. Balbinot, A. Kremin, C. Sanchez, A. Walker. Measurers D. Gerdes, M. Sako, S. Hamilton, C. Scheibner, L. Zullo, T. Khain, G. Bernstein, W. Wester, J. Annis. 4.0-m f/2.87 reflector + CCD. Orbital elements: 2014 UZ224 Epoch 2016 July 31.0 TT = JDT 2457600.5 MPC M 320.26291 (2000.0) P Q n 0.00086742 Peri. 29.55170 -0.90390587 -0.26034054 a 108.8889451 Node 131.14108 +0.24688295 -0.96547772 e 0.6513458 Incl. 26.78510 +0.34928927 +0.00869379 P 1140 H 3.5 G 0.15 U 5 Residuals in seconds of arc 140819 W84 0.1+ 0.0 141021 W84 0.2+ 0.0 151217 W84 0.1- 0.2+ 140927 W84 0.0 0.2- 141023 W84 0.2- 0.0 160116 W84 0.1+ 0.1+ 140927 W84 0.1- 0.1+ 141028 W84 0.2- 0.0 160718 W84 0.1+ 0.1- 140927 W84 0.1+ 0.1+ 150108 W84 0.1+ 0.1+ 160718 W84 0.0 0.1- 141021 W84 0.1+ 0.2- 151130 W84 0.0 0.0 141021 W84 0.1- 0.1- 151217 W84 0.1- 0.1- Ephemeris: 2014 UZ224 a,e,i = 108.89, 0.65, 27 q = 37.965 Date TT R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. Phase V 2016 09 11 03 11 55.5 -10 11 45 91.0723 91.6052 121.7 0.5 23.2 ... 2016 09 26 03 11 36.3 -10 16 31 90.8908 91.5866 133.7 0.5 23.2 ... 2016 10 04 03 11 23.0 -10 18 56 90.8122 91.5767 139.6 0.4 23.2 ... 2016 10 10 03 11 11.9 -10 20 39 90.7627 91.5693 143.7 0.4 23.2 2016 10 11 03 11 09.9 -10 20 55 90.7553 91.5681 144.3 0.4 23.2 2016 10 12 03 11 07.9 -10 21 12 90.7482 91.5668 144.9 0.4 23.2 ... 2016 10 18 03 10 55.6 -10 22 46 90.7104 91.5594 148.3 0.3 23.2 ... 2016 10 26 03 10 38.1 -10 24 39 90.6743 91.5495 151.5 0.3 23.2 ... 2016 11 10 03 10 03.4 -10 27 24 90.6528 91.5309 152.3 0.3 23.2 A. U. Tomatic (C) Copyright 2016 MPC M.P.E.C. 2016-T104 MPEC number: Enter an MPEC number in one of the following forms:

Astronomers announce that 2014 UZ224 is the third most distant Solar System object known from our Sun, currently over 90 times the Earth's distance from the Sun (90.8 AU or 8.44 billion miles), after Eris (96.2 AU) and V774104 (~103 AU).

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey can't be excluded from a possible operation to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul, Turkey's president said Tuesday, telling Iraq's leader to "know his place." "You are not my interlocutor, you are not at my level, you are not my equivalent, you are not of the same quality as me," Erdogan said Tuesday, addressing Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a speech delivered in Istanbul.</s>(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, that Turkey will not take instructions from Iraq, Anadolu Agency reported. In his speech to the 9th Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul, Erdogan told Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi not to cross the line, and added that the presence of Turkish Troops in Iraq is based on an Iraqi official demand. Erdogan said, “Abadi himself had asked Turkey to form a military base in Bashiqa, northeast of the ISIS-held city of Mosul, during the term of former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu,” adding that, “We have live records of this and will broadcast it on television channels today or tomorrow.” The Turkish President also explained that the Turkish army has not lost its standing and won’t take instructions from Abadi who is now calling Turkey to withdraw its troops from Iraq, while emphasized that Turkey would continue to do “what is necessary” in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi rejects Turkey's claim that Turkish forces must be included in an operation to retake the militant-held city of Mosul.

(Hedayatullah Amid/European Pressphoto Agency) A second deadly attack on Shiite worshipers in two days killed at least 17 people and wounded 36 others when a remote-controlled bomb exploded outside a mosque in northern Afghanistan, as crowds in the capital and elsewhere gathered defiantly to commemorate one of Islam’s holiest days. The blast in the northern Balkh province - home to one of the most important Shiite shrines - followed an attack Tuesday in Kabul at a Shiite shrine that killed at least 17 people and raised fears of more violence during the Shiite processions and gatherings. But Shiites refused official appeals to stay off the streets, packing areas in Kabul and elsewhere for events marking Ashura, which commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad who was killed in battle in the 7th century. The Amaq news agency, an Islamic State-linked media wing, asserted that the group was involved in planning Tuesday's bloodshed and said an Islamic State fighter was among the gunmen, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist websites. Dozens of uniformed and plainclothes police officers were stationed on every block, and squads of gunmen in trucks circled the ethnic Hazara Shiite district of West Kabul. In July, suicide bombers from the Islamic State killed 80 people at a peaceful protest by Hazaras in the same community. Five years ago, suicide bombers attacked another Shiite shrine in Kabul on the same day, known as Ashura, killing more than 50 people, and bombs were also detonated at mosques in two other Afghan cities. “Those who did this are determined to stop our gathering, but they will fail.” Like many in the crowd, Abdullah said there was no enmity between Afghan minority Shiites and majority Sunnis, and he accused outside forces of using violence in an attempt to sow sectarian division and hatred. Nasir Alizada, 27, a metal worker, said he was at the rally that was bombed in July, where young Hazaras had gathered to protest discrimination and poor public services to their community.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says at least 17 people including a policeman are dead after a militant attack on a Shiite shrine in the capital Kabul late Tuesday. Another 26 people were wounded in the attack on Sakhi Shrine in the city’s western suburbs, the largest such shrine in Kabul, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said. The dead included 13 civilians and one policeman, while three police officers were wounded, according to Sediqqi. Shiites had gathered at the Sakhi Shrine, the largest in the capital, as part of annual commemorations for Muhharam, a month of mourning to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein — the grandson of the Prophet Muhammed — in Karbala, Iraq, in 680 AD. On Wednesday, Shiites will mark Ashoura Day, the climax of the holy month, which in Afghanistan is a public holiday. Shiites, mostly ethnic Hazaras, had been warned by authorities to avoid large gatherings as attacks were expected. Lt. Gen. Gul Nabi Ahmadzia, the commander of the Kabul garrison, told The Associated Press on Monday that he had received credible reports that Ashoura activities would be targeted and called for Shiites to hold the ceremonies “within limits.” Shiites make up an estimated 15 percent of Afghanistan’s population of around 30 million people. Most Afghan Shiites are ethnic Hazaras. Militant Sunni fundamentalists such as the Taliban and the Islamic State group view Shiites as apostates and frequently attack Shiite mosques and public gatherings. A July suicide bomb attack in central Kabul that targeted a public demonstration by Hazaras against discrimination killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 200. In 2011, at least 54 people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated his device at another Kabul shrine where hundreds of people had gathered. A Shiite mosque in the northern city of Mazar—i—Sharif was hit at the same time, leaving four dead.

A bomb explosion among crowds of Shiite Muslims gathered to mark Ashura, one of their holiest commemorations, kills at least 12 people and wounds 28 others. Also, authorities revise the death toll to 17 from yesterday's attack on a Kabul Shiite shrine.

The superstar has confirmed to People magazine that she is indeed expecting her first baby at age 50. The star showed off her baby bump in a photo Wednesday, smiling in a white dress and cradling her belly. She told people, "We thank God for our blessing." She told People, “We thank God for our blessing.” In April, Jackson said she was postponing her Unbreakable World Tour the following month to focus on “planning” a family with husband Wissam Al Mana. She has kept a low profile since then, but was spotted recently by "Entertainment Tonight" shopping at a baby store.</s>Singer Janet Jackson on Wednesday showed off her baby bump, confirming that she is pregnant with her first child at the age of 50. She told People magazine: "We thank God for our blessing", and posed for a picture with her growing baby bump. She gave no further details Jackson in April called off her "Unbreakable" world tour in a cryptic video selfie in which she said she was planning her family and had to rest up. My husband and I are planning our family," she said, adding: "Please if you can try and understand that its important that I do this now." My husband and I are planning our family,” she said, adding: “Please if you can try and understand that its important that I do this now.” She went on to say: “I have to rest up, doctor’s orders.” • Janet Damita Jo Jackson was born on 16 May 1966 in Gary, Indiana in the US • She is the youngest of nine children and sister of late pop icon Michael Jackson • She released her first album Janet Jackson in 1982 • She has a total of 11 albums with the most recent, Unbreakable, released in 2015 • She began her career with the family's reality TV series The Jacksons in 1976 and has since appeared in several movies such as Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married • The singer married her third husband, Qatari billionaire Wissam al-Mana, in 2012.

American popstar Janet Jackson announces that she is pregnant with her first child at the age of 50.

SAN FRANCISCO — Wells Fargo’s embattled CEO John Stumpf has resigned, effective immediately, as the nation’s second-largest bank is roiled by a scandal over its sales practices. The San Francisco bank said Wednesday that Stumpf is retiring effective immediately and also relinquishing his title as chairman. Tolstedt announced in July that she would retire from the bank this year and had been expected to leave with as much as $125 million in salary, stock options and other compensation. Wells Fargo & Co’s veteran chairman and chief executive officer, John Stumpf, is leaving the bank in the wake of a sales scandal and will be replaced as CEO by President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Sloan. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and the panel’s senior Democrat, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, said Wednesday that Stumpf’s retirement doesn’t answer important questions. The regulators alleged employees trying to meet aggressive sales targets opened bank and credit card accounts, moved money between those accounts and even created fake email addresses to sign customers up for online banking – all without customer authorization. “We are going to make it right by our customers and we are going to work to win that trust back.” Stumpf, a 34-year veteran of the bank who took over as CEO in 2007, had previously gained acclaim for navigating Wells Fargo through the financial crisis and keeping it free of scandal. Mr Stumpf had previously gained acclaim for navigating Wells Fargo through the financial crisis and keeping it free of scandal, but he came under withering pressure over the alleged misconduct, believed to have gone on at the bank for years. About 5,300 lower-level employees were fired.</s>SAN FRANCISCO (dpa-AFX) - Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) Wednesday said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf is retiring from the company and the Board, as the bank struggles to re-establish itself after the fake-account scandal. Tim Sloan, Wells Fargo's president, will take over as chief executive, and lead director Stephen Sanger will take over Stumpf's other duties as chairman of the board. At the time it was announced, Stephen Sanger, the board's lead independent director, said Stumpf and another top bank executive could face further penalties, depending on the results of the investigation. Wells Fargo has been marred by a scandal after its retail banking segment employees opened up more than two million unauthorized bank and credit card accounts over the past five years and used those fake accounts to charge extra fees from customers. Related: I called the Wells Fargo ethics line and was fired Yet former Wells Fargo employees believe it was precisely the bank's pressure-cooker sales environment that spurred staffers to open thousands of fake accounts. Stumpf, a 34-year veteran of the company, joined Wells Fargo in 1982 as part of the former Norwest Bank, becoming Wells Fargo's CEO in June 2007 and its chairman in January 2010.

John Stumpf resigns as CEO and chairman of Wells Fargo amid a scandal over its sales practices.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Burundi’s parliament voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, a move no other country has taken despite complaints from Africa that the court disproportionately targets the continent. The decision escalates a bitter dispute with the international community over the human rights situation in the East African country, which has seen more than a year of deadly violence after President Pierre Nkurunziza made a controversial decision to pursue a third term. PHOTO | FILE Burundi's pending decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) likely heralds similar action by other African countries, the Burundian ambassador to the United States said on Thursday. ALSO READ: Kenya inches closer to pulling out of ICC after Bill gets nod He said African disgruntlement with the court stems primarily from the ICC's nearly-exclusive focus on countries in the continent in cases related to genocide and war crimes. Ninety-four out of 110 Burundi lawmakers voted in favor of the withdrawal plan, months after the court announced it would investigate the country's ongoing violence. Earlier this year, the ICC opened a preliminary investigation into Burundi, focusing on acts of killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as enforced disappearances. Observers say a county wishing to withdraw from the court must write to the U.N. secretary-general stating its intention, and the withdrawal takes effect a year after the day the secretary-general receives the letter. Hundreds have died in Burundi since Nkurunziza last year pursued and won a third term that many call unconstitutional.</s>People demonstrate outside the office of the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner in Bujumbura on September 24, 2016, against a report by investigators tasked by the UN with probing rights abuses in Burundi. Burundi's Lower House of parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), after the UN began an enquiry into human rights abuses in the turbulent nation. President Pierre Nkurunziza's government reacted angrily to a report by UN rights experts that blamed state police and security forces for the violence that has torn apart the country since April 2015. By Tony Karumba (AFP/File) United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council on Thursday decided to dispatch a UN envoy to Burundi after the government in Bujumbura broke off ties with UN rights monitors and kept up resistance to the deployment of a UN police force.

The Parliament of Burundi votes overwhelmingly to withdraw Burundi from the Dutch-based International Criminal Court.