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In his State of the Nation Address last month, he said "human rights cannot be used as a shield or an excuse to destroy the country." He says he may ask China and African countries to walk out too and form a rival organization. Same deaths, but these are the innocent children being killed, raped, victims of hold-up and everything, this time, almost with the same number, but it is the criminals who are dying. You must be s**t. Do not criticize immediately.” He told the American UN representatives “bastos ka (you are rude)” and went on to say they could even do anything about the killings happening within their country. Rodrigo Duterte is just a problem for the Philippines, not for the UN or the world.

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

Kurdish-aligned group in north Syria says targeted by Turkish warplanes KARKAMIS, Turkey, Aug 27 (Reuters) - A group allied to Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said it was bombarded by Turkish warplanes on Saturday, after Turkey's military launched an incursion this week into northern Syria against both Islamic State and Kurdish forces. In an ostensibly anti-jihadi operation, Turkish troops, supplemented by Turkish-trained Syrian rebels, thwarted Kurdish plans for territorial expansion on Wednesday by taking over Jarablus, a Syrian town Isis had held since July 2013. EUPHRATES U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu by phone on Thursday that YPG fighters were retreating to the east side of the Euphrates, as Turkey has demanded, foreign ministry sources in Ankara said. Jets pounded Islamic State positions and tanks crossed the border this week, allowing the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army to gain control of the strategic town of Jarablus, state-run Anadolu news service reported Wednesday.

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

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

Many of those killed or injured were holidaymakers in the four worst-hit towns - Amatrice, Pescara del Tronto, Arquata del Tronto and Accumoli - where seasonal visitors swell populations by up to tenfold the summer. USA TODAY NETWORK Rescuers clear debris while searching for earthquake victims in damaged buildings on Aug. 24, in Arquata del Tronto, Italy. Italy earthquake: Death toll hits 250 as survivors recount narrow escape Updated The death toll from the powerful earthquake in central Italy has reached 250, amid fears many more bodies remain buried in the rubble of devastated mountain villages. About 365 people injured in Wednesday's quake were hospitalised, the Civil Protection department said, adding that about 5,000 people, including police, firefighters, army troops and volunteers, were involved in post-quake operations. Meanwhile, a prosecutor in Rieti opened an investigation into possible culpable negligence over the collapse of two recently restored structures — a school in Amatrice and a bell tower in Accumoli, RAI-TV reported. Fabrizio Curcio, head of Italy’s civil protection agency, revised the death toll after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi earlier gave a toll of 120 dead and 368 injured.

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

“I’m not going to discuss what was found at the scene other than to say there is a link between our scene here and the one down on the Queens Quay,” he said. Man charged after three die in Toronto crossbow attack -police TORONTO, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Toronto police have charged a man with three counts of first-degree murder after three people were killed in a crossbow attack on a quiet suburban street, police in Canada's largest city said on Friday. One of the people who was killed made a 911 emergency call before dying, according to a local newspaper report, which said the suspect had also been wounded.

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

Just days after the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics, Brazilian senators are about to decide whether to permanently remove President Dilma Rousseff from office, the climax of a months-long political battle that has laid bare deep polarization in Latin America’s largest nation. Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski was obliged to intervene and suspend the session after Senate President Renan Calheiros was unable to stop the arguments, in a sign that the build up to a final vote expected on Wednesday morning will be fraught with tensions. If the final vote, which is expected late Tuesday or in the early hours of Wednesday, goes against Rousseff it would confirm her vice president, Michel Temer, as Brazil’s new leader for the rest of her four-year term through 2018, ending 13 years of left-wing Workers Party rule. But before new elections could occur, both Rousseff and Temer would have to resign or be removed from office.

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

ANKARA/KARKAMIS, Turkey, Aug 26 (Reuters) - A suicide truck bombing at a police headquarters in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast killed at least 11 and wounded dozens on Friday, two days after Turkey launched an incursion against Islamic State and Kurdish militia fighters in Syria. Story highlights Eleven police officers were killed, state media says Kurdish militants claim responsibility Turkey sent tanks into Syria on Wednesday Turkey-Syria border (CNN) An explosion at a police checkpoint Friday in southeastern Turkey killed 11 police officers and injured at least 78 people, the country's semiofficial Anadolu news agency reports. The bombing in the town of Cizre was the latest in a series of attacks since a ceasefire with the PKK collapsed more than a year ago, and comes as Turkey tries to recover from a failed July 15 military coup. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said there was no doubt that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy, was responsible for the attack in Sirnak province, which borders Syria and Iraq. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

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

By Albert Aji and Zeina Karam, Associated Press DARAYA, Syria — Syrian rebels and their families began evacuating a long-besieged Damascus suburb Friday as part of an agreement reached with the government following four years of grueling airstrikes and siege that left the suburb in ruins. The surrender of the Daraya suburb, which became an early symbol of the nascent uprising against President Bashar Assad, marks a success for his government, removing a persistent threat only a few miles from his seat of power. The capitulation by rebel forces in Daraya, an early bastion of the uprising against President Bashar Assad, provides another boost for his forces amid a stalemate in the fight for Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. Daraya’s rebels agreed to evacuate in a deal late on Thursday, after four years of gruelling bombardment and a crippling siege that left the sprawling suburb in ruins. Around 700 gunmen are to be allowed safe passage to the opposition-held northern province of Idlib, while some 4,000 civilians will be taken to temporary shelter in government-controlled Kisweh, south of Daraya. • August 25, 2016 Turkey: U.S. says Syria Kurds are pulling back in north Syria • August 24, 2016 Dobbs: Syrian boy is another symbol of the incalculable cost of war • August 23, 2016 Cartoons of the day: Syrian boy rescued in Aleppo • August 23, 2016 Turkey strikes Islamic State in Syria as tensions rise over border town The suburb has been besieged and blockaded by government forces, with only one food delivery by the United Nations allowed to reach the district during this time. Meanwhile, in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, had “achieved clarity” on a path toward restoring a truce in Syria, but details remained to be worked out. Russia accuses the U.S. of preventing strikes on terrorist groups out of concern that would mean targeting these rebels. Located just southwest of Damascus, Daraya has been pummelled by government air strikes, barrel bombs and fighting over the years. DARAYA, Syria (AP) — Buses, ambulances and trucks lined up at the entrance of a long-blockaded Damascus suburb on Friday to evacuate rebels and civilians under a deal struck between the Syrian opposition forces and the government. An Associated Press journalist who entered the suburb from its northern entrance saw a landscape of severely damaged and deserted buildings, some of them charred. In a landscape of severely damaged and deserted buildings, some of them charred, black smoke rose on the horizon – caused by the rebels burning their belongings before evacuating, according to Syrian army soldiers. Syrian state news operator SANA reported that “a reconciliation agreement” had been struck in the city of Darayya on Thursday, a short 15-minute drive from the center of Damascus, “so as to empty it of arms and gunmen in preparation for the return of all state institutions and the inhabitants of the city.” Families now in the besieged suburb will be transferred to “temporary residency centers” while roughly 700 gunmen would be moved to the rebel-held province of Idlib after surrendering their medium and heavy weaponry to the Syrian government troops, Darayya’s mayor, Marwan Ubeid, was quoted as saying. “We are awaiting the heroes of Darayya, the courageous,” he added, saving his criticism for western powers that he said offered no support. Daraya, which lies in the western Ghouta region, saw some of the first demonstrations against Assad after the uprising against his family rule began in March 2011, during which residents took to the streets, sometimes pictured carrying red and white roses to reflect the peaceful nature of their protests. Daraya is the latest rebel-held area to surrender to government troops following years of siege. Opposition activists and human rights groups accuse the government of using siege and starvation tactics to force surrender by the opposition. Diaa said for the last eight months Daraya has been pounded with hundreds of barrel bombs, as the government attempted to storm it. In a statement, the U.N. said it was neither involved nor consulted about the evacuation plan, adding, “the world is watching.” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said a small team of U.N. and Red Cross aid workers would travel to Daraya “to meet with all parties and identify the key issues for the civilians.” “We are using this lull in the fighting to get in and see what we can do and obviously see for ourselves what the situation is inside the city,” Dujarric told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York. “Four years and the United Nations couldn’t provide any humanitarian aid, except once.” The town became known as a centre for the opposition from the start of the uprising against Assad, which later turned into civil war. Meanwhile, activists in the town spoke of frequent bombings by government warplanes, including one they claimed took out the last remaining hospital in the suburb last week.

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

According to Turkish officials, it is estimated that the “longest suspension bridge to have a railway system” in the world will save $1.75 billion annually in terms of cutting travel times and reducing energy costs. The government guarantees the firms will receive, as a minimum, the toll income from 135,000 cars a day, though the actual number expected to use the bridge is expected to be higher.

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

Singapore's air quality deteriorated to unhealthy levels on Friday as winds blew smoke from fires on Sumatra, where millions of people are already affected by haze, across the city-state and into southern Malaysia. Every dry season, smoke from fires set to clear land for palm oil and pulp and paper plantations in Indonesia clouds the skies over much of the region, raising concern about public health and worrying tourist operators and airlines. All but seven of those infected have fully recovered, the health ministry and the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint statement on Sunday. PSI levels above 100 are deemed unhealthy and people are advised to reduce vigorous outdoor activity.

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

An explosion at a sports center in the southern Belgian town of Chimay early on Friday killed one person and wounded four others, two of them seriously, Belgium's Crisis Center said. Chimay police chief Pierre Maton said early on Friday that the blast was most likely “a gas explosion,” but an investigation into the cause was ongoing. The blast happened shortly after midnight at a complex known as Le Chalon in the southern municipality of Chimay, on the border with France. Several dozen police and firefighters attended the scene and the area had been cordoned off, but the damage was not as serious as initially feared. Windows were blown out of the two-storey building and one corner of the structure was badly damaged, but there was no major collapse. Chimay has a population of about 10,000 and is known for one of Belgium's most famous breweries.

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

PESCARA DEL TRONTO, Italy, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Hopes of finding more survivors faded on Friday three days after a powerful earthquake hit central Italy, with the death toll rising to 267 and the rescue operation in some of the stricken areas called off. Here's a look at the devastation by the numbers: 250: Latest death toll, which is expected to rise It's hard to quantify exactly how many people are still missing or hurt, as many remote towns attract seasonal visitors. Hide Caption 16 of 50 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescuers make their way through destroyed houses in Pescara del Tronto on Thursday, August 25. A 4.7-magnitude aftershock has hit the Italian town of Amatrice as rescuers and emergency teams continue their search of three flattened hilltop towns and Italy declares a state of emergency in the region. Hide Caption 41 of 50 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Residents search for victims in Amatrice. The first funeral of a victim was held in Rome on Friday, for Marco Santarelli, the 28-year-old son of a senior state official, who died in the family's holiday home in Amatrice. With the provisional death toll from Wednesday’s 6.2-magnitude quake standing at 267, including several foreigners, the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, authorised a preliminary €50m (£43m) in emergency funding for the stricken zone. "British Embassy staff will continue working with local authorities regarding any further British nationals that may require our assistance." 'The earthquake was brutal' The Italian Council of Ministers approved a state of emergency Thursday for the regions affected by the earthquake, allocating 50 million euros (about $56.5 million) in funding, while the displaced took refuge in the camps. But less than 20% of buildings do.” The culture minister said 293 historical buildings had been damaged or destroyed by the quake and public prosecutors announced an investigation into whether anyone could be held responsible. An estimated 2,500 people were left homeless by the most deadly quake in Italy since 2009. In May 2012, a pair of temblors killed dozens of people in northern Italy, while in April 2009, a magnitude-6.3 earthquake hit in the central L'Aquila region, leaving more than 300 people dead.

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

ASCOLI PICENO, Italy (AP) — The Latest on the Italian earthquake (all times local): Italian authorities say the death toll in an Italian earthquake has risen yet again as bodies continued to be recovered and now stands at 290.

The official death toll rises to 278.

Striking miners in Bolivia armed with dynamite seized highways in a protest over mining laws and then kidnapped, possibly tortured and beat to death the county's deputy interior minister in a killing President Evo Morales characterized Friday as a "political conspiracy," officials say. Government Minister Carlos Romero called it a “cowardly and brutal killing” and asked that the miners turn over the body of his deputy, Rodolfo Illanes, who holds the formal title of vice minister of the interior regime. Deputy Minister Rodolfo Illanes, whose formal title is vice minister of the interior regime, had traveled Thursday to the scene of the violent protests in an effort to negotiate with the strikers who armed themselves with dynamite and seized several highways. Government Minister Carlos Romero on Thursday called it a “cowardly and brutal killing.” Earlier in the day, Romero had said that Illanes had been kidnapped and possibly tortured, but wasn’t able to confirm reports that he had been killed by the striking informal miners, who were demanding the right to associate with private companies, among other issues. Rodolf Illanes, deputy interior minister, had gone to talk to protesting workers on Thursday in Panduro, around 160km (100 miles) from the capital, La Paz, but was intercepted and kidnapped. The vast majority of miners in Bolivia, one of South America’s poorest countries, work in cooperatives, scraping a living producing silver, tin and zinc. The National Federation of Mining Cooperatives of Bolivia (Fencomin), once a strong ally of the leftwing president, Evo Morales, began what it said would be an indefinite protest after negotiations over mining legislation failed.

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

Czech police arrested a man after he attempted to drive his black Mercedes into the motorcade of visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Prague. Police stopped the car and arrested the armed man. Local reports claim that officers found a baton, a canister of tear gas, cement blocks, and handcuffs in the man’s black 4x4 Mercedes. The police said the suspect was in custody and that Merkel was not in danger. As per details, police have arrested an armed man in a black Mercedes, who allegedly tried to join Merkel’s motorcade in Prague. Merkel held talks Thursday with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and President Milos Zeman focused on the future of the European Union after Britain's June decision to leave the bloc.

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

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

By Alon Skuy (Pool/AFP/File) Johannesburg (AFP) - A South African judge on Friday rejected an appeal by state prosecutors against Oscar Pistorius's "shockingly lenient" six-year jail sentence for murdering his girlfriend. Mr Nel told Judge Thokozile Masipa that she had misdirected herself in law by handing down a punishment that was less than half of South Africa’s prescribed minimum 15-year sentence for murder. ‘The court failed to take into account that the accused fired four shots through the door and he never offered an acceptable explanation for having done so,’ Mr Nel told the hearing, adding, ‘there was a massive chasm between regret and remorse’. I wouldn’t want to do the same thing over again as that’s boring, and for me as an artist, that’s not what’s it’s really about.’ Oscar is signed to Wichita Recording, the label that has played host to indie luminaries such as Bloc Party, Yeah, Yeah Yeahs and The Cribs. Roux argued that Pistorius had been sentenced to an effective eight-year jail term if one considered the year Pistorius spent in prison for the culpable homicide conviction and time spent under correctional supervision from October last year until July this year when he was sentenced again for the murder conviction. Counsel for Pistorius Barry Roux SC made this impassioned plea in the High Court in Johannesburg as he opposed the state’s application to extend Pistorius’ jail term to a possible 15 years.

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

A man wears a placard with the message, "Burkini = Liberty" outside the Conseil d'Etat after France's highest administrative court suspended a ban on full-body burkini swimsuits that has outraged Muslims and opened divisions within the government, pending a definitive ruling, in Paris, France, August 26, 2016. While rulings by the Council of State do set precedents, several mayors said they would not suspend their own bans and rights groups said they would bring them to courts, meaning more lawsuits are expected. Divisions have emerged in President Francois Hollande’s government over the bans, and protests have been held in London and Berlin by those defending women’s right to wear what they want on the beach.

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

High court judge Hlekani Mwayera ordered the police and government "not to interfere, obstruct or stop the march" organised by 18 opposition parties including the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai and the Zimbabwe People First formed this year by former vice president Joice Mujuru. The move to seek court backing came a day after police violently put down another march by opposition youths, firing tear gas and water cannon and beating them as they staged a protest against police brutality. Zimbabwe has seen a mounting tide of violent protests in recent weeks, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980.

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

Named Dragonfly 44, it is about 300 million light-years away in the Coma constellation with an estimated mass of about 1 trillion times that of the sun. Roberto Abraham of the University of Toronto, co-author of the paper, said: “It means that Dragonfly 44 has a huge amount of unseen mass.” Observations from the Gemini North telescope showed that Dragonfly 44 has “a halo of spherical clusters of stars around the galaxy’s core, similar to the halo that surrounds our Milky Way galaxy.” Abraham said the team had no idea how galaxies like this could have formed. It has so few stars that it would quickly be ripped apart unless something was holding it together.” The researchers measured the velocities of stars in Dragonfly 44 using data from Keck over six nights. "We knew as soon as we discovered the galaxy that it would be so tenuous if it was just made up of stars and no dark matter, that it would quickly disrupt and disappear," said van Dokkum, lead study author and Yale University astronomer. A huge amount of gravity was working to hold those stars in place, and once researchers used star velocity to measure how much mass the galaxy contained, they realized that the other 99.9% is dark matter. But now, a team of astronomers has found a galaxy that is comparable in size to ours but with a similar proportion of dark matter as VIRGOHI21. And while galaxies believed to be made up almost entirely of dark matter have been discovered before, they are usually quite small, such as VIRGOHI21 — about 50 million light-years away, it appears to contain no visible stars, has 99.9 percent dark matter and is about 10th the size of Milky Way. In their search for the pervasive-yet-elusive particles of dark matter, astronomers have tried to find galaxies with much higher concentrations of the mysterious substance — it does not interact with visible matter at all, except through gravity, which is how scientists can theorize its existence.

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

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

Yildirim also told a news conference that the outlawed Kurdish militant group PKK was behind Friday's bombing of a police headquarters in Turkey's southeast, the latest in a string of attacks that the authorities have blamed on the group. Turkey clearing borders of militants to prevent more migrants - PM ISTANBUL, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Turkey aims to clear its borders of Islamic State and other militant groups to prevent a new flow of migrants and will continue operations until the nation's security is guaranteed, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday. Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes launched their first major incursion into Syria on Wednesday in support of Syrian rebels, in an operation president Tayyip Erdogan has said is aimed both at driving Islamic State away from the border area and preventing territorial gains by the YPG. ‘Turkey is in an intense fight against terrorist organisations … The PKK/YPG and Islamic State seized the July 15 coup attempt as an opportunity,’ Kurtulmus wrote. The government has blamed the failed coup on the supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen and has embarked on a sweeping crackdown on his followers. On Thursday, Kurdish rebels opened fire at security forces protecting a convoy carrying Turkey's main opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the northeast, killing a soldier and wounding two others, officials said.

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

At least 16 migrants die in Moscow warehouse fire MOSCOW: At least 16 migrant workers mostly from Kyrgyzstan died in a fire that broke out at a Moscow warehouse early yesterday, Russian authorities said. "While extinguishing the fire, it was established that the source of fire is on the fourth floor," Dmitry Shirlin, head of the Office for Fire and Rescue Forces of the Moscow Directorate of the Emergency Situations Ministry, told reporters. The fire was caused by a faulty lamp on the first floor of the warehouse, where many flammable liquids and paper products were stored, and it spread quickly through an elevator shaft to the room where those who died were working, said Ilya Denisov, who heads the Moscow branch of the emergency services.

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

Northern Territory Labor leader Michael Gunner blames the 'chaotic' four years under the scandal-plagued Country Liberal party for the win and promises to live up to the voters' expectations. that message has been heard loud and clear within the candidates and the party of the Country Liberals.” The CLP, the party which had held government for 27 straight years until 2001, would rebuild, he said. With about 55% of the vote counted, Labor had 15 seats in the bag and another three predicted. “A boy born in Alice Springs, who grew up in public housing Tennant Creek, who now stands here as chief minister of the Northern Territory,” he said. Gunner said he would work with the independents and CLP opposition, and pledged unity and consultation – two things the electorate had indicated were missing during the CLP term.

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

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

Image copyright AFP Image caption The Farc has been fighting since 1964 in a conflict that has displaced millions A ceasefire has come into effect in Colombia between the main leftist rebel group and the government, ending one of the world's longest insurgencies. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vásquez reflects on a peace deal after 52 years of conflict Under the terms of the agreement, the Farc (the Spanish acronym for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) will give up its armed struggle and join the legal political process. In March Colombia announced the start of peace negotiations with the second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), but the rebels have yet to meet the government's precondition of releasing all of their hostages and stop all kidnapping.

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

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

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

(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Migrants, most of them from Eritrea, jumps into the water from a crowded wooden boat as they are helped by members of an NGO during a rescue operation at the Mediterranean sea, about 13 miles north of Sabratha, Libya, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO, a group set up to help rescue migrants at sea, helped pull them from their inflatable boats before handing them over to the Italian coastguards operating in the area. In images and video by The Associated Press, migrants from Eritrea and Somalia cheered as the rescue boats arrived, with some jumping into the water and swimming toward them while others carefully carried babies onto the rescue ships.

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

Death toll in Yemen war rises to at least 10,000-UN SANAA, Aug 30 (Reuters) - The death toll in Yemen's 18-month-old civil war stands at about 10,000, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator said on Tuesday, an increase from estimates of more than 6,000 cited by officials and aid workers for much of 2016.

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

Trooper Melissa Matey told NOLA.com ' The Times-Picayune (http://bit.ly/2bKiYW8 ) that the bus driver did not have a commercial license and was not authorized to drive a bus. The bus driver, identified as 37-year-old Denis Amaya Rodriguez, was in custody on suspicion of multiple violations, NBC News reported, citing Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Melissa Matey. Louisiana State Police/Handout via Reuters St. John the Baptist Fire District Chief Spencer Chauvin was among those killed in the early morning crash after the chartered bus slammed into him as he tried to help victims of another accident, Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Melissa Matey told reporters at a news conference.

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

Duterte takes war on drugs to the stage MANILA, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Philippine police, heavily criticised by rights groups for killing hundreds of drug dealers and users, are using a comedy puppet of Rodrigo Duterte to get the president's war on drugs message across to Manila school children. The Philippine National Police began the show, which also features a puppet of police chief Ronald dela Rosa, in Manila schools this month, the latest step in the anti-drug drive of Duterte, nicknamed "the Punisher", who won the presidency in May based on a platform of wiping out narcotics.

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

Wu Yingjie has been named as Tibet’s next Communist Party secretary, the official Xinhua news agency reported, while his predecessor Chen Quanguo is reportedly on his way to the restive region of Xinjiang in the far west. Wu, like his predecessor Chen Quanguo, belongs to China’s majority Han Chinese ethnic group. Wu has worked almost his entire career in Tibet, according to his official resume, having previously served as a deputy governor and propaganda chief, among other roles. His appointment comes ahead of a key party congress next year, which takes place once every five years, during which President Xi Jinping will further cement his hold on power. The party will hold a once-every-five-years congress next autumn where Xi is expected to further cement his hold on power by seeking to appoint close allies into the party’s ruling inner core, the politburo and the politburo standing committee. BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s ruling Communist Party appointed a new senior official on Sunday to run Tibet, considered one of the country’s most politically sensitive positions due to periodic anti-Chinese unrest in the devoutly Buddhist Himalayan region. The Chinese say they were liberating the Tibetan serfs from a theocracy until the god-king Dalai Lama fled into exile in India after a failed uprising in 1959, and they accuse the Dalai Lama of agitating for independence from there. Beijing says it is bringing prosperity to a traditionally impoverished area and rejects claims by Tibetan exile groups of widespread repression. Xinhua said that Du Jiahao had replaced Xu Shousheng as secretary of the Hunan party, while Chen Hao had replaced Li Jiheng as party secretary in Yunnan, which borders Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.

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

Gabon opposition candidate calls on President Bongo to "acknowledge his defeat" LIBREVILLE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Gabon opposition candidate Jean Ping on Monday called on President Ali Bongo to "acknowledge his defeat" in a weekend presidential election, telling reporters in the capital Libreville that unofficial tallies give him a clear edge. Bongo, 57, who first won election after his father Omar died in 2009 after 42 years in office, has benefited from being the incumbent in a country with a patronage system lubricated by oil largesse. Shortly after polling ended on Saturday, the president’s spokesman said, “Bongo will win… we are already on our way to a second mandate.” In his comments Sunday, Ping, 73 added, “as I speak, the trends show we have won.” Ping said alleged attempts by Bongo’s camp to commit fraud had been foiled and that “we will finally see off the regime.” Bongo, 57, has been in power since a disputed election held in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled the oil-rich Central African country for 41 years. Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya has said official results would be released around 1600 GMT on Tuesday and stressed it was “illegal to declare results before the relevant authorities do.” The head of the Pan-African Democracy Observatory, an NGO based in Togo, played down the significance of Ping’s declaration.

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

The test-flight of the indigenously-developed supersonic combustion ramjet engine took place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 6 a.m. ISRO on Sunday successfully test-fired a newly-developed Scramjet Rocket Engine, DDNews reported. The Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), a sounding rocket (research rocket) with a solid booster carrying advanced scramjet engines, was successfully flight-tested from the launch pad of the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, also known as Sriharikota Range (SHAR), at Sriharikota on Sunday. The space agency said with this flight, critical technologies such as ignition of air breathing engines at supersonic speed, holding the flame at supersonic speed, air intake mechanism and fuel injection systems have been successfully demonstrated. As a result, the amount of oxygen required to be carried on board would be reduced considerably as atmospheric oxygen is utilised to burn the fuel in the first stage. While conventional rocket engines need to carry both fuel and oxidiser on board for combustion to produce thrust, scramjet engines obtain oxygen from the atmosphere by compressing the incoming air before combustion at hypersonic speed. But as in the case of the successful test flight of a reusable vehicle, the first experimental flight using a scramjet engine is a technological demonstration of ISRO’s capability and will go a long way in redefining its position as one of the leading space agencies in the world. Once the second stage reached the desired conditions for engine “Start-up”, necessary actions were initiated to ignite the Scramjet engines and they functioned for about 5 seconds, it said adding that today’s ATV flight operations were based on a pre-programmed sequence.

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

At least 15 bodies taken to Aden hospital after suicide bombing- hospital source ADEN, Aug 29 (Reuters) - At least 15 bodies were transferred to a hospital run by Medicins Sans Frontieres in the southern Yemen city of Aden on Monday, a source at the hospital said, after an attack on a building used by local militias. “Some recruits were buried under rubble when a roof collapsed after the blast,” officials further said, adding, “Medical sources could not immediately verify whether all those killed in the attack were army recruits or had some other persons as well.” Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said its hospital in Aden had received 45 dead and at least 60 wounded following the explosion.

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

They discuss composition of all-party delegation that is to visit the State soon A day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called for a panel of eminent persons to be sent to the Valley for a dialogue, Home Minister Rajnath Singh discussed the Kashmir situation with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State (MoS) Jitendra Singh and BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday.

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

US actor Gene Wilder, remembered by many for his lead role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, has died at the age of 83, his family confirmed. Our mane man bridles at new phone directory * Coronation Street creator Tony Warren dies * Everybody Loves Raymond star memorialised in NYC Wilder, whose best work came in collaborations with director-writer Mel Brooks and actor Richard Pryor, died at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, from complications of Alzheimer's disease, the family said in a statement. Wilder started his acting career on the stage, but millions knew him from his work in the movies, especially his collaborations with Mel Brooks on “The Producers,” ”Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” The last film — with Wilder playing a California-born descendant of the mad scientist, insisting that his name is pronounced “Frahn-ken-SHTEEN” — was co-written by Brooks and Wilder. “He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship.” With his unkempt hair and big, buggy eyes, Wilder was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in “Young Frankenstein” or bilking Broadway in “The Producers.” Brooks would call him “God’s perfect prey, the victim in all of us.” But he also knew how to keep it cool as the boozy gunslinger in “Blazing Saddles” or the charming candy man in the children’s favorite “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” His craziest role: the therapist having an affair with a sheep in Woody Allen’s “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex.” He was close friends with Richard Pryor and their contrasting personas — Wilder uptight, Pryor loose — were ideal for comedy. They co-starred in four films: “Silver Streak,” ”Stir Crazy,” ”See No Evil, Hear No Evil” and “Another You.” And they created several memorable scenes, particularly when Pryor provided Wilder with directions on how to “act black” as they tried to avoid police in “Silver Streak.” In 1968, Wilder received an Oscar nomination for his work in Brooks’ “The Producers.” He played the introverted Leo Bloom, an accountant who discovers the liberating joys of greed and corruption as he and Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) conceive a Broadway flop titled “Springtime For Hitler” and plan to flee with the money raised for the show’s production. He returned briefly to television in the US with the sitcom “Something Wilder,” in 1994 and won an Emmy in 2003 for a guest role on “Will & Grace.” • Gene Wilder still has twinkle in his eye 44 years after playing Willy Wonka Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in June 1933, he began acting at the age of eight when his mother was diagnosed with rheumatic fever. He tried his hand briefly at a sitcom in 1994, “Something Wilder,” and won an Emmy in 2003 for a guest role on “Will & Grace.” His professional debut came in Off Broadway’s “Roots” in 1961, followed by a stint on Broadway in Graham Greene’s comedy “The Complaisant Lover,” which won him a Clarence Derwent Award as promising newcomer. Before starring in “The Producers,” he had a small role as the hostage of gangsters in the 1967 classic “Bonnie and Clyde.” He peaked in the mid-1970s with the twin Brooks hits “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” He went on to write several screenplays and direct several films. They were married in 1984, and co-starred in two Wilder-penned films: “The Woman in Red” and “Haunted Honeymoon.” After Radner died of ovarian cancer in 1989, Wilder spent much of his time after promoting cancer research and opened a support facility for cancer patients. I didn’t want to do ones where there’s just bombing and loud and swearing, so much swearing… can’t they just stop and talk instead of swearing?” Wilder is survived by his wife, Karen, whom he married in 1991, and his daughter from a previous marriage, Katherine, from whom he was estranged.

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

Hurricane Madeline, which was downgraded from Category 3 to 2 Tuesday, was weakening as it approached the islands. The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning as the major Category 3 storm dubbed Madeline hurtled west toward the island, urging residents to rush through preparations to protect themselves and their property and expect hurricane conditions within the next 36 hours. The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning as the storm dubbed Madeline churned west Tuesday toward the island, urging residents to rush through preparations to protect themselves and their property and expect hurricane conditions within the next 36 hours. "Hopefully our roofs stay on, and our houses don't float way or get blown away," said Big Island resident Mitzi Bettencourt, who boarded up walls of glass windows at her brother's oceanfront home. She and her neighbors were stocking their pantries, stowing away lawn furniture and preparing for power outages. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Oahu on Thursday to give a keynote speech at the opening of the World Conservation Congress - a major meeting of thousands of delegates, including heads of state, scientists and policy makers. The White House is tracking the weather developments closely, but it doesn’t anticipate changing Obama’s schedule. Meteorologist Chevy Chevalier said Tuesday that Pacific hurricane Madeline, now a major Category 3 storm, is expected to weaken but likely to remain a hurricane as it passes the state. The weather service said it expects Madeline to slowly weaken as it encounters vertical wind shear but remain a “dangerous hurricane” as it passes just south of the island late Wednesday and early Thursday. The last hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii was Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which hit Kauai Island, according to Chevalier. A second Pacific hurricane, called Lester, is still far from Hawaii, and it is expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it passes the state, Chevalier said. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center says a hurricane watch is in effect for the Big Island of Hawaii, warning major Hurricane Madeline could pass “dangerously close.” At 5 a.m. HST (11 a.m. EDT) Tuesday, Madeline was a powerful Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph). The center adds that the storm is centered about 445 miles (715 kilometers) east of Hilo, Hawaii, and moving west at 10 mph (17 kph). Hawaii County, which covers the Big Island, urged residents to restock their emergency kits with a flashlight, fresh batteries, cash and first-aid supplies.

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

NCATS’ work was a collaborative effort with Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, (JHU) and Florida State University, Tallahassee, (FSU), and the study results were published in the August 29 issue of Nature Medicine. Cambodia has reported cases in the past, but the WHO has the country on its list of countries where the outbreak has either been "terminated" or is "without documentation" in 2016. Researchers around the world have been working to better understand the disease - which can be transmitted both by mosquito bite and through a sexual partner - and also to develop medical treatments.

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

Yesterday, the President said de Lima should resign from her Senate post because she is no role model for women.

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

But Duterte, in his National Heroes’ Day speech, pointed out that he should not be compared with the murderous Islamic State or Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who are accused of various atrocities and crimes against humanity. I did not kill any child. I did not drop barrel [bombs] just likeal- Assad,” President Duterte said in a speech to mark the Philippines’s National Heroes’ day before war veterans, ambassadors and top officials. I take full legal responsibility, you just do it according to the books.” “But for those in the government, the police, the corrupt police and the corrupt judges and the corrupt prosecutors, there will be a day of comeuppance, there will always be a day of reckoning,” Duterte said. I will be happy to join them in prison. “I’m fighting…criminals.” Referring to Islamic State group militants, whom he called “idiots,” Mr. Duterte said, “I do not burn women because they refuse to have sex.” At least 1,779 drug suspects have been killed in President Duterte’s campaign, including 712 who were gunned down in clashes with the police, with the rest being slain in still-unclear circumstances, the national police chief told a Senate inquiry last week. “Claims to fight the illicit drug trade do not absolve the government from its international legal obligations and do not shield state actors or others from responsibility for illegal killings,” UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard said in a statement this month. I am declaring war,” he told an audience at a national heroes’ cemetery on Monday, which included ambassadors, war veterans and security officials. It has infected every nook and corner of this country, involving generals, mayors, governors, barangay (village) captains, and so many of the ‘ninjas’ [as]we call them … these are the police who are into it,” Duterte said in Taguig. Pressing his campaign, Mr. Duterte announced bounties of P2 million ($42,000) for information that would help the government identify any police officer protecting drugs syndicates.

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

Nobody hurt in blast outside Brussels criminology institute BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian media say unidentified attackers have detonated a bomb outside Belgium's criminology institute in the capital, Brussels, but the building was empty and nobody was injured. “I cannot confirm that there was any bomb.” State broadcaster RTBF and other outlets reported that a car drove through a security barrier at the site about 2 a.m., followed by an explosion that caused significant damage to the facility on Brussels’ north side. Belgium's terror alert level remains high since bomb attacks on Brussels airport and the city's metro, claimed by so-called Islamic State, that killed 32 people in March.

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

“We believe it’s kind of serious, and we’re investigating.” The bulletin does not identify the states in question, but sources familiar with the document say it refers to the targeting by suspected foreign hackers of voter registration databases in Arizona and Illinois. Malicious software was downloaded onto a Maricopa County Elections Department computer, where it apparently recorded the keystrokes of the computer user and gleaned the user's password-protected login information. Hackers could conceivably use intrusions into voter registration databases to delete names from voter registration lists, although in most states, voters can request provisional ballots at the polls, allowing time for discrepancies to be resolved, an official of the National Association of Secretaries of State told Yahoo News. And in July, the Illinois Voter Registration System suffered a cyberintrusion in which hackers were able to retrieve a number of voter records, according to a message from the Illinois State Board of Elections. The Illinois hackers were able to retrieve voter records, but the number accessed was "a fairly small percentage of the total," said Ken Menzel, general counsel for the Illinois elections board. According to Matthew Roberts, director of communications for the Arizona secretary of state, in late May, Arizona officials took the statewide voting registration system offline after the FBI alerted the Arizona Department of Administration that there was a credible cyber threat to the voter registration system. But three days after that call, the FBI Cyber Division issued a potentially more disturbing warning, entitled “Targeting Activity Against State Board of Election Systems.” The alert, labeled as restricted for “NEED TO KNOW recipients,” disclosed that the bureau was investigating cyberintrusions against two state election websites this summer, including one that resulted in the “exfiltration,” or theft, of voter registration data. In a statement, FBI spokesperson Jillian Stickels said, "While we cannot comment on specific alerts, what I can say is that in furtherance of public-private partnerships, the FBI routinely advises private industry of various cyber threat indicators observed during the course of our investigations. The FBI did not respond to detailed questions about the alert, saying in a statement only that such bulletins are provided “to help systems administrators guard against the actions of persistent cyber criminals.” Menzel, the Illinois election official, said that in a recent briefing, FBI agents confirmed to him that the perpetrators were believed to be foreign hackers, although they were not identified by country. That’s where the real potential is for any sort of meddling in the election.” And James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, has told Congress that ma­nipu­la­tion or deletion of data is the next big cyber threat–”the next push on the envelope.” But Tom Hicks, chairman of the federal Election Assistance Commission, an agency set up by Congress after the 2000 Florida recount to maintain election integrity, said he is confident that states have sufficient safeguards in place to ensure efforts at ma­nipu­la­tion will be unsuccesful. “Attempts should not be made to touch or ping the IP addresses directly.” “This is a big deal,” said Rich Barger, chief intelligence officer for ThreatConnect, a cybersecurity firm, who reviewed the FBI alert at the request of Yahoo News. Those concerns prompted Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to convene a conference call with state election officials on Aug. 15, in which he offered his department’s help to make state voting systems more secure, including providing federal cyber security experts to scan for vulnerabilities, according to a “readout” of the call released by the department. In that call, Johnson said that while DHS isn't aware of any particular cyber threat against election-related computers, it's "critically important" to make sure that election systems are secure amid a rapidly changing threat landscape, according to a DHS summary of the call.

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

Fall from a tree may have caused death of 'Lucy' the famed fossil AUSTIN, Texas, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Lucy, one of the best known ancestors of humans to ever roam the earth, may have died after a fall from a tree, University of Texas researchers said on Monday after studying her 3.18-million-year-old fossilized remains. “It’s one thing for me to describe it in detail in paper, but it’s another thing to hold these things, to be able to print them out, look at them and put them together,” team leader John Kappelman, a palaeoanthropologist at the University of Texas at Austin told Nature . The injuries were consistent with those "caused by a fall from considerable height when the conscious victim stretched out an arm in an attempt to break the fall," according to the research from John Kappelman, a University of Texas anthropology and geological sciences professor, who consulted with Stephen Pearce, an orthopedic surgeon at Austin Bone and Joint Clinic. “If we didn’t see those arms sticking out, the argument we make might not be so powerful.” Kappelman’s research into Lucy’s demise began in 2008, when the Ethiopian government granted him 10 days to scan the preserved parts of her skeleton at the high-resolution CT lab at the University of Texas. The species, Australopithecus afarensis, meaning “southern Ape from Afar”, walked upright, but had long, strong arms and curved fingers, making Lucy more adept at life in the trees than modern humans. "Lucy was no longer simply a box of bones but in death became a real individual: a small, broken body lying helpless at the bottom of a tree."

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

HARDAN, Iraq (AP) - Peering through binoculars, the young man watched as Islamic State terrorists gunned down the handcuffed men and then buried them with a waiting bulldozer. For six days he watched as the extremists filled one grave after another with his friends and relatives. Between them, the two scenes of horror on Sinjar mountain contain six burial sites and the bodies of more than 100 people, just a small fraction of the mass graves Islamic State extremists have scattered across Iraq and Syria. (Kurdish Mass Graves Directorate via AP) In exclusive interviews, photos and research, The Associated Press has documented and mapped 72 of the mass graves, the most comprehensive survey so far, with many more expected to be uncovered as the Islamic State group's territory shrinks. In Syria, the news agency has obtained locations for 17 mass graves, including one with the bodies of hundreds of members of a single tribe all but exterminated when the extremists took over the tribe's region. Officials do not even guess the number of dead inside at least 16 of the Iraqi graves, mostly in territory too dangerous to excavate. In others, the estimates are based on memories of traumatized survivors, Islamic State propaganda and what can be gleaned from a cursory look at the ground. The Associated Press estimated the number of known victims as between 5,200 and more than 15,000, a figure the agency described as staggering. Sinjar mountain is dotted with mass graves, some in territory clawed back from IS after the group's onslaught against the Yazidi minority in August 2014; others in the deadly no man's land that has yet to be secured. On Sinjar Mountain, Rasho Qassim drives daily past the mass grave in Hardan that holds the bodies of his two sons. The road is in territory long since seized back, but the five sites are untouched, roped off and awaiting the money or the political will for excavation, as the evidence they contain is scoured away by the wind and baked by the sun. "We want to take them out of here. There are only bones left. But they said 'No, they have to stay there, a committee will come and exhume them later,'" said Qassim, standing at the edge of the flimsy fence surrounding one site, where his two sons are buried. But proving what United Nations officials and others have described as an ongoing genocide — and prosecuting those behind it — will be complicated as the graves deteriorate. “We see clear evidence of the intent to destroy the Yazidi people,” said Naomi Kikoler, who recently visited the region for the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. “There’s been virtually no effort to systematically document the crimes perpetrated, to preserve the evidence, and to ensure that mass graves are identified and protected.” Then there are the graves still out of reach. One site outside the Badoush prison in Iraq is believed to contained the bodies of 600 inmates killed by the militants in their summer 2014 rampage. A patch of scraped earth and tire tracks show the likely killing site, according to exclusive photos obtained by the imagery intelligence firm AllSource Analysis. According to survey report, smallest grave contained the remains of three bodies, and the largest one is believed to contain the remains of thousand victims. Through his binoculars, Arkan Qassem watched it all. His village, Gurmiz, is just up the slope from Hardan, giving a clear view over the plain below. When the jihadis swept over the area, everyone in Gurmiz fled up the mountaintop for refuge. Then Arkan and nine other men returned to their village with light weapons to try to defend their homes. The Islamic State targeted the Yazidis for slaughter because it considers them heretics. The first night, Arkan saw the militants line up a group of handcuffed men in the headlights of a bulldozer at an intersection, less than a kilometer (half mile) down the slope from Gurmiz. They gunned the men down, then the bulldozer plowed the earth over their bodies. Over six days, Arkan and his comrades watched helplessly as the fighters brought out three more groups of men — several dozen each, usually with hands bound — to the crossroads and killed them. Two years later, the 32-year-old has since returned home, living in an area dotted with mass graves. As documented by the aid group Yazda, which has mapped the Sinjar sites, the graves are in a rough pentagon flanking the crossroads, largely unprotected. "I have lots of people I know there, mostly friends and neighbors," he said. “This is a drop in the ocean of mass graves expected to be discovered in the future in Syria,” added the survey report.

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

One dead, three wounded in blast at Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan BISHKEK, Aug 30 (Reuters) - A car exploded near the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, killing its driver and wounding three people, the healthcare ministry said. Kyrgyzstan's Deputy Prime Minister Jenish Razakov said the driver rammed through a gate to get inside the Chinese Embassy compound and detonated an explosive device that was inside the car, RFE/RL reported.

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

Car bomb outside Somali President's Palace kills at least 10 By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar MOGADISHU, Aug 30 (Reuters) - At least 10 people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Tuesday when a car bomb claimed by al Shabaab exploded outside the Presidential Palace and also damaged two nearby hotels, an official said. The blast partially destroyed two hotels, including one in which a meeting of security officials was underway, the government has said. The SYL and another hospitality facility, both located near the Presidential Palace, were partially destroyed by the blast, Major Mohamed Ali, a police officer, told Reuters. “The blast killed 10 (people) including soldiers and civilians and 30 others were wounded,” Ali said.Gunfire could be heard after the blast and a huge cloud of smoke rose above the palace, outside which were the remnants of the car and splattered blood, according to a Reuters witness. Al-Shabaab's Radio Andaluz said the Islamist group was behind the attack and their military operations spokesman, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, claimed the attack had killed 15 soldiers and 'injured many others including a lawmaker'. Seeking to impose its own harsh form of Islam, al Shabaab, wants to topple the Western backed government in Mogadishu and also push out the 22,000-strong African Union mandated AMISOM peace keeping force backing it. The terrorists were pushed out of Mogadishu by the African Union peacekeeping force AMISOM in 2011 but have remained a serious threat, launching frequent attacks aimed at overthrowing the government. The al-Qaida-linked al Shabaab group has claimed responsibility for several recent explosions in Mogadishu, including a car bomb and gun attack last week that killed 10 people at a popular beach restaurant in the capital.

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

Islamic State says its spokesman killed in Syria -Amaq News BEIRUT, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, one of the jihadist group's longest-serving and most prominent leaders, has been killed in Aleppo in Syria, its Amaq News Agency reported on Tuesday in a statement distributed by the group's supporters. He was a Syrian who was born in the northern province of Idlib and is believed to have been in his late 30s. U.S. Department of State/REUTERS He had been the chief propagandist for the ultra-hardline jihadist group since he declared in a June 2014 statement that it was establishing a modern-day caliphate spanning swaths of territory it had seized in Iraq and neighboring Syria. Adnani had often been the face of the Sunni militant group, such as when he issued a message in May urging attacks on the United States and Europe during the holy month of Ramadan, and as in Sept. 2014 when he called on supporters to kill Westerners throughout the world. Recent advances by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, and by Syrian rebels backed by Turkey, have made inroads into Islamic State holdings in Aleppo province, cutting them off from the Turkish border and supply lines along it. "Coalition forces conducted an air strike in Al-Bab, Syria, targeting an (IS) senior leader," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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

EU demands Apple pay Ireland up to 13 bln euros in tax BRUSSELS, Aug 30 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators ordered Apple on Tuesday to pay up to 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in taxes plus interest to the Irish government after ruling that a special scheme to route profits through Ireland was illegal state aid. The U.S. feels its firms are being targeted by the EU and a U.S. Treasury spokesperson warned the move threatens to undermine U.S. investment in Europe and “the important spirit of economic partnership between the U.S. and the EU.” Starbucks Corp has been ordered to pay up to 30 million euros ($33 million) to the Dutch state, while Amazon.com Inc and McDonald’s Corp are also under investigation by the Commission, the EU’s executive arm. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that a three-year investigation found Ireland granted such lavish tax breaks to Apple that the multinational's effective corporate tax rate on its European profits dropped from 1 percent in 2003 to a mere 0.005 percent in 2014. "This is necessary to defend the integrity of our tax system, to provide tax certainty to business, and to challenge the encroachment of EU state aid rules into the sovereign member state competence of taxation," he said. That last tax rate meant that for each $1.1 million in profits, Apple paid $55.72 in taxes, Vestager said Tuesday at a news conference. "Ireland's position remains that the full amount of tax was paid in this case and no state aid was provided," the government in Dublin said in a statement. We will appeal and we are confident the decision will be overturned.” The Irish finance minister, Michael Noonan, said he would seek approval from the Irish Cabinet to legally challenge the EU Commission’s ruling. In a statement, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said there was no basis to the European Commission's ruling, and the company would appeal. “Ireland does not do deals with taxpayers.” Apple accused the EU executive body of engaging in efforts “to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore Ireland’s tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process.” “The Commission’s case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes, it’s about which government collects the money,” the company said in a statement. The U.S. Treasury Department said it was disappointed by the EU's decision, saying retroactive tax assessments by the EU Commission "are unfair, contrary to well-established legal principles and call into question the tax rules" of the individual countries in the EU.

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

LONDON (AP) — Iceland's Meteorological Office says two earthquakes early Monday rocked the caldera of Katla, one of the country's largest volcanos. Gunnar Gudmundsson, a geophysicist, said Monday that authorities are monitoring the situation and described it as 'a little bit unusual,' but said there's 'no sign' of an eruption. Its volcanos attracted international attention in April 2010, when ash from an eruption of its Eyjafjallajokull volcano grounded flights across Europe for days, disrupting travel for millions.

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

It is also one of Asia's cleanest cities but has a chronic problem with dengue fever, which is spread by the same Aedes mosquito that carries the Zika virus. The mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has caused explosive outbreaks in the Americas and the Caribbean since late last year, poses a particular risk to pregnant women because it can cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains. It has been linked in Brazil to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect where babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains. The action comes ahead of a World Health Organization emergency meeting prompted by an outbreak of Zika in Singapore, which also led to travel warnings against the country being issued by nations such as Australia, Taiwan and the US. WHO has placed Thailand among countries with scattered Zika infection which also include Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore, said Dr Amnuay, adding that Zika infection which used to affect 16 provinces has now reduced to six provinces without any new cases. The majority of those infected with Zika in Singapore were foreign workers, but the government has not disclosed their nationalities. Authorities inspected thousands of homes in seven parts of Singapore, including five foreign worker dormitories, spraying insecticide and removing potential mosquito breeding habitats.

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

Philippines' Duterte: Obama must listen to me on human rights MANILA, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he was ready to discuss any issues with Barack Obama when they meet in Laos next week, but added that the U.S. president must listen to him first before bringing up the question of human rights. The number of drug-related killings in the Philippines since Rodrigo Duterte became president two months ago on a pledge to wipe out the illegal drug trade has reached about 2,000, according to data released today. Asked if he would be willing to discuss human rights at his meeting with Obama on the sidelines of an East Asia summit on Sept. 6, Duterte told reporters: "Depends to what degree". "They must understand the problem first before we talk about human rights," Duterte told a news conference. Police data released on Tuesday showed that the number of drug-related killings since Duterte took office now stands at around 2,000, nearly half of them in police operations and the rest in shootings by unidentified gunmen. Duterte, who is nicknamed "the Punisher", has been unapologetic over unleashing the police on drug users and dealers and has responded robustly to criticism from the United Nations and other countries over his campaign. "We absolutely expect that the president will raise concerns about some of the recent statements from the president of the Philippines," White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told a media briefing when asked whether inflammatory remarks by Duterte about women, journalists and others would be a topic of discussion. Mr Duterte’s crackdown on drugs and some strongly worded criticism he has made of the US present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea.

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

North Korea has executed a vice premier for showing disrespect during a meeting presided over by leader Kim Jong Un, and banished two other officials for re-education, South Korea said Wednesday. Ri Yong Jin, a senior official in the education ministry -- possibly the minister -- was arrested for dozing off during a meeting with Kim and charged with corruption before being killed, the paper said. Jang, denounced as a “traitor for all ages”, was killed in December 2013 after being found guilty of treason and other crimes against the North Korean state. In January last year he executed General Pyon In Son, head of operations in the army, for disagreeing with him; and in May of that year he purged his defense minister Hyon Yong Chol for dozing off at a rally. The report of the execution, however, could not be verified as South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles North Korea-related matters, has released no confirmation of the news.

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

Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Bob Green had described the standoff between Brown and officers as “long and protracted.” The search was sparked by a call for help from a woman who said she had been threatened by the performer, police sources said, with officers first arriving at Brown’s home in the 5000 block of Corbin Avenue about 3 a.m. Tuesday. Latest: Brown posts videos as police wait outside his home LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on a police response at Chris Brown's California home (all times local): Chris Brown is posting online videos declaring his innocence as police seek a warrant to search the singer's home after receiving a call from a woman there seeking assistance. Officer Lyle Knight tells The Associated Press that police are waiting for a judge to approve a search warrant for the home in the San Fernando Valley area. He did not identify the woman who called, elaborate on the assistance she needed, or know if she was injured. At least six members of the star’s entourage exited the property as cops gained entry, and Brown’s attorney, Mark Geragos, arrived just before the warrant was served, according to the Los Angeles Times. The woman said Brown, who has had several previous run-ins with the law, pointed a gun at her during a violent rage before she ran outside to call police, according to the police sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the case. “I don’t care y’all going to stay playing with me like I’m the villain out here, like I’m going crazy ... good luck when you get the warrant or whatever you need to do. “When you get the warrant for whatever you need to do, you’re going to walk right up in here and you’re going to see nothing, you idiots,” he said in one Instagram video, posted to 30m followers. It was the latest run-in with the law for the Grammy winning Brown, who has been in repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, ahead of the Grammys. The singer was ordered into rehab but was dismissed from the facility for violating its rules.

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

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

How The Catholic Church Documented Mother Teresa's 2 Miracles Enlarge this image toggle caption Bikas Das/AP Bikas Das/AP Hundreds of Catholics have been declared saints in recent decades, but few with the acclaim accorded Mother Teresa, set to be canonized by Pope Francis on Sunday, largely in recognition of her service to the poor in India. Mother Teresa moved to Calcutta, as it was known then, in 1929 Mother Teresa was born to ethnic Albanian parents on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, now the capital of Macedonia, and named Gonxha Agnes Bojaxhiu. The religious congregation she established in 1950, the Missionaries of Charity, now counts more than 4,500 religious sisters around the world. The canonisation will then be held Sunday in St Peter's Square in a ceremony set to draw tens of thousands of faithful to recognise the sainthood of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who died aged 87 in India in 1997. But Mother Teresa, one of the most recognisable faces of the 20th century, was put on the fast track to sainthood after dying of a heart attack on Sept. 5, 1997.

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

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to continue talks on a territorial dispute over the Kurile islands, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Friday after talks between the two leaders.

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

United Airlines flight diverts to Ireland after 16 hurt in turbulence DUBLIN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Fourteen passengers and two crew members were injured on Wednesday when a United Airlines flight ran into severe turbulence and had to divert to Ireland's Shannon Airport, the airport said. DUBLIN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Fourteen passengers and two crew members were injured and taken to hospital on Wednesday after a United Airlines flight was forced to divert to Ireland's Shannon Airport due to a medical situation, the airport said. It said 10 customers and two flight attendants were taken to University Hospital Limerick and a ll were discharged except for one flight attendant who received further treatment. A statement from the airline said: “The aircraft diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland where it was met by medical personnel, “United Airlines is providing care and support to customers and crew of flight UA-880 which experienced severe and unexpected turbulence during a flight from Houston to London Heathrow today,” The Boeing 767-300 jet had 207 passengers and crew of 13 on board. University Hospital Limerick said passengers and crew treated in its accident and emergency ward suffered soft tissue injuries, lacerations and minor head injuries.

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

INTERNATIONAL NEWS - Nine people were killed when floods inundated an old people's home in Japan, police said on Wednesday, taking the death toll from a typhoon battering northern parts of the country to at least 11.Police found nine bodies on Wednesday in the nursing home in the town of Iwaizumi, in Iwate Prefecture in the north of Japan's main island of Honshu, but it was not clear when their home was flooded.It was also not clear why people there had not been taken to safety before the storm struck. Footage on NHK showed the nursing home partially buried in mud, surrounded by debris apparently washed down in the swollen river. Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed a helicopter hovering over the building as rescuers tried to pluck other stranded residents to safety. Prefectural officials confirmed that nine bodies were found in the Ran Ran retirement home after the nearby Omoto river broke its banks. 'In Minamifurano town, the water level is still very high with a current, and rescue workers are using helicopters now to try to evacuate several people who are left on the roofs of their houses or their cars,' said Hokkaido official Terumi Kohan. Iwate prefecture, the hardest-hit by the typhoon, is one of the areas still rebuilding from the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake, which left more than 18,000 people dead along Japan’s north-eastern coast.

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

The National Hurricane Center said the storm’s top sustained winds rose from 75 mph in the afternoon to 80 mph by nightfall as the former tropical storm gained new fury as it bore down on the coast. Hurricane specialist Eric Blake works at the National Hurricane Center to track the path of Tropical Storm Hermine, which strengthened this morning and is expected to make landfall along Florida's Gulf Coast as a hurricane by by tomorrow on September 1, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Hermine is expected to drop back down to a tropical storm before pushing into Georgia, the Carolinas and up the East Coast with the potential for drenching rain and deadly flooding. In Florida, Scott declared an emergency in 42 of the state's 67 counties in advance of an expected tropical storm that could make landfall on the north-central Gulf Coast between late Thursday and early Friday. Growing winds and driving rain from Hurricane Hermine lashed Florida’s northern Gulf Coast early on Friday as power outages left tens of thousands of households in the dark in what the state’s governor warned would be a potentially lethal storm.

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

Troopers did not say how many people were in the two aircraft, but the Alaska National Guard said earlier that there were a total of five on board the planes. • Mid-air horror as part of plane's engine FALLS OFF while thousands of feet in the air Olmstead said the crash occurred about 6 miles northwest of Russian Mission, a remote community in the southwest of the state along the Yukon River. • Passenger 'speaking gibberish' forces plane into emergency landing after trying to open door mid-flight The Cessna belonged to Hageland Aviation Services, a regional airline, and the Piper was operated by Renfro's Alaskan Adventures, she added. Representatives of Hageland, which is operated by Ravn, Alaska, did not immediately respond with comment. An aviation company contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at 11 a.m. and said they had lost radio contact with an aircraft and that it was overdue, she said. The crash scene covers a large area that is accessible only by helicopter, said Clint Johnson, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska division, and the cause is being investigated.

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

Next stop... #cuba #jetbluesofly Honor to be on the first commercial flight to cuba in over 50 years.. #worklife #humble #jetblue #florida Today is a historic day for the U.S. and Floridians especially.A Jetblue flight from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, made its way to Santa Clara, Cuba in the first regular passenger flight between the U.S. and Cuba in 50 years.Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was on the 9:45 a.m. flight. “So it just shows how in 55 years things have changed.” After landing in Santa Clara and receiving another ceremonial water canon shower from Cuban fire engines, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was the first to disembark. Maiden commercial flight from US to Cuba takes off Cuba and the United States took the latest step in their efforts to boost ties Wednesday when the first regular commercial flight from America to the communist-ruled island in more than 50 years took off.

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

US Secretary of State John Kerry addresses students at Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday (AP photo) NEW DELHI — US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Wednesday on China and the Philippines to abide by an international tribunal’s decision on the disputed South China Sea and said there was no military solution to the problem. "There clearly is a domestic political need in China to demonstrate strength on territorial issues, especially after the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling in July, and this applies equally to Japan in the East China Sea as well as to the South China Sea," he said. “The United States continues to call on China and the Philippines to abide by the tribunal’s recent decision which is final and legally binding on both parties,” Kerry told a gathering of students in New Delhi. China’s activities in the sea have also drawn criticism from the United States, which says it seeks to ensure freedom of navigation in the waterway through which $5 trillion in annual global trade passes. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on parts of the sea, which is believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.

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

Earlier today it was reported by TMZ that the singer was being investigated on an allegation of criminal assault, after a woman claimed he threatened her with a gun while at an LA residence, prompting her to call 911. • Chris Brown slams police and insists he's innocent in expletive laden rant as officers surround his home "So I'm asleep half the damn night," he begins, "I just wake up, all these mother f****** helicopters is around, police out there at the gate." "I don't care y'all going to stay playing with me like I'm the villain out here, like I'm going crazy ... good luck when you get the warrant or whatever you need to do. Brown has been accused of everything from grabbing a cell phone to threatening paparazzi; he has done stints in rehab and has landed in jail for violating his probation. Mr Brown's lawyer tweeted that his client was later freed, adding that the accusations were "demonstrably false".The singer has several convictions for violence, including a 2009 assault on his then girlfriend, pop star Rihanna. In 2014, he spent almost three months in jail last year for violating his probation after allegedly hitting a man in Washington, D.C. A felony assault with a deadly weapon conviction carries a sentence of four years in county jail, along with a $10,000 fine.

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

“The government is not spending a single centavo on these ads and TV stations are carrying them for free,” Andanar told reporters at an event in a Manila hotel. Most disingenuous was Andanar’s claim that President Duterte, in waging the drug war, is just fulfilling a campaign promise in the May 2016 elections. They must understand, this is a war and there are casualties,” Andanar said.

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

Brasilia, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday voted to remove President Dilma Rousseff from office, the culmination of a yearlong fight that paralyzed Latin America’s largest nation and exposed deep rifts among its people on everything from race relations to social spending. Brazil’s first female president was accused of breaking fiscal responsibility laws in her management of the federal budget. 'See you soon' Ms Rousseff lost the impeachment battle but won a separate Senate vote that had sought to ban her from public office for eight years. This follows secret recordings of Romero Juca, the majority leader of the senate and a key ally of Michel Temer (Ms Rousseff’s conservative former vice president), plotting to remove the president to halt the Lava Jato (car wash) investigation into kickbacks at state oil company Petrobras. Her conservative former vice president, Michel Temer, who has run the country since her suspension in May, will be sworn to serve out the remainder of her term through 2018. Temer, who has served as “interim” president since Rousseff was suspended in May, will now be granted full powers, but may nevertheless face an uphill battle to establish popularity and get the economy back on track.

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

Bongo took power in 2009 in a violence-marred election that followed the death of his father Omar Bongo, who had governed the oil-rich former French colony for 41 years. The opposition has described the election as fraudulent and called for voting results from each of Gabon's polling stations to be made public to ensure the credibility of overall outcome -- a demand echoed by the United States and European Union. Violence erupted Wednesday after Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya announced the results from Saturday's vote, which showed that incumbent President Ali Bongo defeated opposition candidate Jean Ping by a very slim margin: Bongo had 49.8% of the vote, while Ping, a diplomat and former African Union official, had 48.23.

Ali Bongo is re-elected President of Gabon.

Myanmar's Suu Kyi kicks off peace conference with appeal for unity By Shwe Yee Saw Myint and Antoni Slodkowski NAYPYITAW, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi launched a major push to end decades of fighting between the military and myriad rebel groups with an appeal on Wednesday to the country's ethnic minorities to overcome their differences to achieve peace. The peace talks are called Union Peace Conference -- 21st Century Panglong, a reference to the Panglong Agreement brokered in 1947 by Suu Kyi's late father, independence hero Gen. Aung San, in the town of Panglong, when Myanmar was still ruled by Britain. This week's peace summit has been dubbed the '21st Century Panglong' in reference to that deal, which fell apart after Suu Kyi's father was assassinated, but which remains the closest modern Myanmar has come to being a unified state.

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

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

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

The research team has studied the scraps they have to try to place this individual pterosaur in a clade.

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

Oldest fossils found in Greenland, from time Earth was like Mars OSLO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The earliest fossil evidence of life on Earth has been found in rocks 3.7 billion years old in Greenland, raising chances of life on Mars aeons ago when both planets were similarly desolate, scientists said on Wednesday. Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago and the relative sophistication of stromatolites indicated that life had evolved quickly after a bombardment by asteroids ended about 4 billion years ago. "Stromatolites contain billions of bacteria ... they're making the equivalent of apartment complexes," said Martin Van Kranendonk, a co-author at the University of New South Wales who identified the previously oldest fossils, dating from 3.48 billion years ago. It points to a rapid emergence of life on Earth.” The one-to-four centimeter (0.4-1.6 inch) high Isua stromatolites—exposed after the melting of a snow patch in the Isua Greenstone Belt—matched other biological evidence on the evolution of the genetic code that placed the origins of life in a similar period, Nutman said. Writing in the journal Nature, they said: 'The recognition of 3,700 million-years-old biogenic stromatolites within Isua dolomites indicates that near the start of the preserved sedimentary record, atmospheric CO2 was being sequestered by biological activity.

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

Supporters of Gabonese opposition leader Jean Ping have taken to the streets to protest the outcome of the presidential election. Gabon opposition leader says two killed, many wounded after disputed vote LIBREVILLE, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping said on Thursday two people were killed and many wounded when the presidential guard and police attacked his party's headquarters overnight after an election narrowly won by President Ali Bongo. Gabon's newly re-elected president sought to assert authority Thursday as the presidential guard attacked the opposition candidate's party headquarters overnight, killing at least one person and injuring more than a dozen amid fiery protests that have seen hundreds detained and the internet blocked. There are 19 people injured, some of them very seriously," said opposition presidential candidate Jean Ping, who was not at the party headquarters himself.

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

The constitutional court must finalize provisional results, which came a day later than expected Around 1 a.m. Thursday, soldiers in green berets identifying them as the presidential guard shot live rounds during an attack on Ping's opposition headquarters, injuring at least 20 people, according to Paul Marie Gondjout, an opposition electoral representative who was there. A government spokesman said the operation was to root out "criminals" who had set fire to parliament. The official election result, announced on Wednesday afternoon, gave Mr Bongo a second seven-year term with 49.8% of the vote to Mr Ping's 48.2% - a margin of 5,594 votes. But Mr Ping said the election was fraudulent and "everybody knows" he won. Gabon election: Bongo v Ping Image copyright Getty Images Mr Bongo took office in 2009 after an election marred by violence He succeeding his father Omar Bongo who had come to power in 1967 and was Africa's longest serving leader Veteran diplomat Mr Ping had served as chair of the African Union He had been a close ally of Omar Bongo and had been his foreign minister He had two children with Omar Bongo's daughter, Pascaline Mr Ping has called for voting figures from each polling station to be made public. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged political leaders and their supporters "to refrain from further acts that could undermine the peace and stability of the country."

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

Suspected cell member Yakub Sahin said in testimony to prosecutors that he was told that rallies in Suruc and Ankara were targeted because they were members there of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an outlawed group fighting the Turkish state for Kurdish autonomy.

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

Mighty Southeast Asia director Bustar Maitar said plantation companies like Korindo compensate Papuan communities for clearing the forests that once provided them with food. Korindo has already cleared more than 50,000 hectares (193 square miles) of tropical lowland forest for palm oil plantations in the remote provinces of Papua and Maluku, and at least 75,000 hectares are at "immediate risk" of being cleared, the report said.

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

An explosion on the launch site of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is shown in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Thursday (Reuters photo) MIAMI — An unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on Thursday on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida during a test, destroying it along with its payload, but causing no injuries, the private space firm said. This spring, the company landed its first big Pentagon job — an $83 million contract from the Air Force to launch a global positioning system satellite from Cape Canaveral in 2018. “Per standard operating procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries.” Facebook was contracted to use the Amos-6 to provide broadband internet coverage for large parts of sub-Saharan Africa and other remote parts of the world as part of the social media giant’s Internet.org initiative.

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

Evacuations were under way in New Zealand Friday after a tsunami warning was issued following a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake which struck before dawn off the east coast of the North Island. The shallow tremor was estimated at a depth of around 30 kilometres (18 miles) off the coast, some 167 kilometres from Gisborne, according to the US Geological Survey said. The earthquake, which struck at 4:37am (1637 GMT) was felt over much of the country but there were no immediate reports of damage and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a warning.

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

India confirms 13 of its nationals test positive for Zika in Singapore NEW DELHI, Sept 1 (Reuters) - India's foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday that 13 of its nationals had tested positive for the Zika virus in Singapore, after an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease that at first affected three dozen workers on a construction site. "According to our mission in Singapore 13 Indian nationals have tested positive for Zika in Singapore," Vikas Swarup, spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, said in response to a Reuters inquiry. U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies.

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

To many this was a surprise, Allardyce limiting his time with the team when it was felt he would use the opportunity of a week together to pump his philosophy into them. It’s not where I’m suited to, it’s just where I’ve been for most of the time.’ And now he has the chance to prove that.

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

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

“Burying the dictator in the Libingan ng mga Bayani will not heal our wounded country.” MANILA – Even as President Duterte said the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) is meant “to heal” the nation, his decision only opened an old wound, one that has to do with bringing the tyrant and his family to face punishment for their crimes against the people. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has weighed in on the issue of whether former President Ferdinand Marcos is a hero by submitting to the Supreme Court (SC) 54 pages of attachments to its Consolidated Comment including 11 documents supposedly showing that Marcos was recognized by the government as a soldier, war hero and Medal of Valor recipient. Roque had filed a bill proposing to change the name of the Libingan ng mga Bayani to “Libingan ng mga Bayani at mga Dating Pangulo” (Cemetery for Heroes and Former Presidents) as a means to prevent public unrest in wake of opposition from some sectors to the planned burial of Marcos’ remains at the Hero’s Cemetery. The sovereign Filipino people cannot and must not allow this unprincipled and opportunistic Congress to propose a revision to the Constitution at the behest of a constitutionally excluded authority. Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, whose brother Hermon disappeared during Martial Law and was never found, said “far from being a hero, former President Ferdinand Marcos was a despot, an oppressor of the Filipino people, during the dark era of Martial Law.” “A Marcos hero’s burial would glorify a dictator, distort history, aggravate the injustice to human rights violation victims and their families and mock the heroism of desaparecidos (disappeared) and other victims of Marcos’ atrocities,” Lagman added. Bound by statutes Barry Guttierez, who represented Martial Law victims like former Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairwoman Loretta Ann Rosales, said Duterte was constitutionally bound by statutes that recognize the Marcos regime’s atrocities, such as Republic Act 10368 that gave reparations to human rights victims. Photo by LeAnne Jazul/Rappler MANILA, Philippines – Victims of horrifying acts of torture during Martial Law recounted their painful experiences before Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Wednesday, August 31.

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

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

In the city of Mardan, in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, at least 13 people were killed and another 53 injured in an attack at the city's district courts Friday, District Police Officer Faisal Shehzad told CNN. Story highlights Suicide bombers attack Peshawar and Mardan Friday morning 13 dead in Mardan, one killed on outskirts of Peshawar Peshawar, Pakistan (CNN) At least 14 people were killed Friday in the latest suicide attacks by a Pakistani Taliban splinter group targeting Christians and lawyers in the country, authorities say. Both attacks were claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of Pakistan's Tehreek-i Taliban (TTP) -- also known as the Pakistani Taliban -- which has killed scores of people in previous attacks targeting both groups in the country this year.

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

Lean Daval Jr., Reuters Andanar: Initial reports say IED shrapnel were found in blast site DAVAO CITY (6TH UPDATE) - A huge explosion rocked a busy night market Friday evening in Davao City, the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 60 others, police and local officials said. DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/01 Sept) — The Task Force Davao has assured Dabawenyos that there are no threats directed at the city from the Abu Sayyaf despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to “destroy them.” Speaking in Thursday’s iSpeak Forum at the City Hall, TF Davao deputy commander Col. George Lalaquil said they have not received reports from the intelligence community that the city, where Duterte served as mayor for 22 years, is under threat amid Duterte’s war against the Abu Sayyaf terrorists. Duterte, who was in Davao at the time of the attack but not near the market, told reporters before dawn Saturday that it was an act of terrorism, as he announced extra powers for the military under a “State of Lawless Violence.” At least 14 people were killed and another 67 were wounded in the explosion, police said.

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

Samsung Elec says to halt Galaxy Note 7 sales on battery problem SEOUL, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Friday it will halt the sales of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones and will prepare replacement devices for phones already sold after finding problems with the battery cell used. Koh Dong-jin, head of the South Korean company’s smartphone business, declined to comment on how many phones needed to be replaced, but said Samsung had sold 2.5 million of the premium devices so far. Koh Dong-jin, head of the South Korean company's smartphone business, expressed regret over the recall, which will affect markets including South Korea and the United States, at a news conference on Friday. Further roll-outs have occurred since in markets like China, where sales started just this week. In a statement, Samsung said the problems have been reported in 35 phones globally, and that the company is conducting a thorough inspection with its suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. “The recall is likely to be a blow to earnings.” Samsung said new sales of the Note 7 in affected markets would resume after it deals with replacements, a process it expects will begin in about two weeks.

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

The governors of Georgia and North Carolina on Thursday declared emergencies in affected regions. One homeless man was hit by a tree and died, Florida Governor Rick Scott said, but officials have not confirmed whether the death was storm-related. "This is one of the worst that we have seen in the city in a long time, and unfortunately, it is not over yet," Mayor Rick Kriseman of St. Petersburg, Florida, told reporters. The first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma more than a decade ago, Hermine came ashore early on Friday near St. Marks, Florida, 20 miles south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas. Towns, cities and counties were hastily preparing shelters for people and pets and placing electric line repair crews on standby ahead of the storm. Residents of the Sandpiper Resort survey the rising water coming from the Gulf of Mexico into their neighborhood as winds and storm surge from Hurricane Hermine affect the area on Thursday, September 1, in Holmes Beach, Florida. The huge storm - which has knocked out power for more than 132,000 people - is then expected to push further into Georgia, the Carolinas and up the East Coast as a tropical storm, with the potential for heavy rain and flooding. Forecasters warned of "life-threatening" floods and flash floods there.

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

Tropical storm and flooding watches and warnings were in effect along the Atlantic seaboard from South Carolina north to Rhode Island as the potentially life-threatening storm moved along a stretch inhabited by tens of millions of Americans. The storm was projected to creep north along the Carolina coast Friday night, then gather strength after moving offshore into the Atlantic on Saturday morning, possibly reaching near-hurricane intensity by late Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Labor Day weekend plans for thousands of vacationers who were headed to popular beach spots along the Atlantic seaboard were dampened after the storm battered Florida's $89 billion tourism industry. Hermine, the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, swept ashore early on Friday near the Gulf shore town of St. Marks, 20 miles (30 km) south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas. Becker said localized flooding hit low-lying areas across the state, and there were widespread reports of "downed power lines, downed trees, trees on cars and some flooded cars," along with isolated incidents of tree-damaged homes. Governors Terry McAulliff of Virginia and Larry Hogan of Maryland declared states of emergency for coastal areas and warned of life-threatening storm surges. Overnight, Pasco County crews rescued more than a dozen people and brought them to shelters after their homes were flooded. Richard Jewett, 68, was rescued from his home in nearby New Port Richey, around 1.30am local time (5.30pm NZT) on Friday as emergency workers carried out a mandatory evacuation. "The canal started creeping up toward the house, and even though it wasn't high tide it looked like it was coming inside," Jewett said. One mobile home was virtually sliced in two by a fallen tree, but authorities had no reports of serious storm-related injuries or fatalities, Becker added. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday activated his state's emergency operations center and ordered officials to stockpile resources, including sandbags and generators. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said residents should avoid beach waters for fear of life-threatening riptides. Hurricane Hermine tore a path of destruction across Florida on Friday, leaving more than 253,000 homes and businesses without power, flooding low-lying areas and raising concerns about the spread of the Zika virus due to the massive pools of standing water left behind.

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

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is expected to fly in for the funeral, along with a coterie of leaders from former Soviet republics including Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and the prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Kazakhstan. I choose my words and cannot believe it myself..." Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Some say Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev could have the upper hand Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim broke news of the death at a televised meeting of his cabinet.

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

More than three dozen people have tested positive for Zika in South Carolina, Weyman said, and officials have made it a priority to prevent local transmissions through the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Ward said Dorchester County does not have any aerial spraying flights planned at this time, but emphasized that "aerial spraying is being utilized to supplement our mosquito ground spray trucks and larvae control programs in targeted areas."

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

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

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A record-tying earthquake in the edge of Oklahoma’s key energy-producing areas rattled the Midwest from Illinois to the southwest part of Texas on Saturday, and likely will bring fresh attention to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground. Other tremors in these fracking regions include a 5.3-magnitude quake near Trinidad, Colorado, in 2011 and a 4.8-magnitude quake near Timpson, Texas, in 2012. An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which since 2013 has asked wastewater-well owners to reduce disposal volumes in parts of the state, directed about 35 wells within an approximately 500-square-mile area around the epicenter to shut down within seven to 10 days because of previous connections between the injection of wastewater and earthquakes. As to whether the injection wells are what causes the earthquakes, and this quake in particular, Skinner would only say, "There's all kinds of theories as to why it puts pressure on the basement faults, but somehow that is happening and we have taken many actions based on that." “We’re trying to do this as quickly as possible, but we have to follow the recommendations of the seismologists, who tell us everything going off at once can cause an (earthquake).” Skinner said the commission’s “area of interest” includes another 211 square miles in Osage County, but doesn’t know how many wells may be involved because the area is under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency, and that the commission is working with that agency. Fallin declares state of emergency in Pawnee County following earthquake Officials with the Pawnee County Emergency Management say buildings there suffered significant damage as the result of the earthquake. “Most of it’s brick and mortar, old buildings from the early 1900s.” Randell also said a man suffered a minor head injury when part of a fireplace fell on him as he protected a child. SEE MORE: How to stay safe during an earthquake He was later released from the hospital. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, a regulatory agency that examines the state's fuel, oil, gas, public utilities and transportation industries, is "reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake near Pawnee," Oklahoma Gov. — Governor Mary Fallin (@GovMaryFallin) September 3, 2016 The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is checking bridges for damage and structural engineers are assessing building safety, according to Fallin. The declaration is also the first step toward seeking federal aid should it be necessary The damage is not as severe as the 2011 quake near Prague, Oklahoma, about 60 miles south of Pawnee, despite being the same magnitude and approximately the same depth. "A quake this size would shake for about 15 seconds and it was a shallow quake, about 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) deep," said Randy Baldwin, a USGS geophysicist. “But in harder rock, it won’t shake as much.” Pawnee furniture store owner Lee Wills told The Associated Press that he first thought it was a thunderstorm. Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets, broke glasses.” Some parts of Oklahoma now match northern California for the nation’s most shake-prone areas, and one Oklahoma region has a one-in-eight chance of a damaging quake in 2016. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal.

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

When an earthquake struck Oklahoma on Saturday, one of the first steps state officials took was to shut down 37 of the state's 3,200 active disposal wells -- a move that drew national attention to the link between oil and gas drilling and earthquakes. No one was seriously injured in the Oklahoma quake, and investigations and cleanup has begun. Here's what you need to know. Disposal wells are used by oil and gas producers to get rid of wastewater from the drilling process. The wells push the wastewater deep underground, even deeper than where oil and gas are found. The wastewater mostly consists of a substance called brine -- a mix of water and chemicals that comes to the surface with oil and gas when they are pumped from the Earth. A small portion is also the water that's pumped underground in the modern hydraulic fracturing process, a drilling technique often referred to as fracking. The EPA says there are about 40,000 disposal wells nationwide. Did the disposal wells cause the earthquake? That is the concern. Oklahoma didn't have much of a history of earthquakes. But a big one struck in November 2011, causing injuries and leveling houses, and officials said in 2014 that earthquakes in the state have increased 5,000%. Scientists began looking into the role pumping liquid underground can play in seismic activity decades ago. And while much remains unknown, government scientists said in March that disposal wells have caused an increased risk for "induced" earthquakes in large areas of the country. There are about 4,200 total wells across the state and about 700 in a 15,000-square-mile "Area of Interest" created by the commission to address earthquakes in the area that includes the epicenter of Saturday's temblor near Pawnee. What's being done to stop it? Oklahoma regulators have been monitoring the wells for years. In January, the state began forcing 27 disposal wells to reduce their activity. That's also when Oklahoma dedicated $1.4 million to fund "research and response" efforts. Saturday's order that 37 wells shut down over the next 10 days marks the strongest action against disposal wells yet. Why are disposal wells used? The Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association said in April that producers would take "significant measures" to combat the earthquakes and promised to explore alternative disposal methods. But OKOGA president Chad Warmington said "underground wastewater disposal is currently the safest and most cost-effective way to dispose of produced water." Drillers also argue that recycling is more expensive, in part because they must pay to transport the wastewater to recycling facilities. Some drillers do recycle. For example, about 90% of wastewater in Pennsylvania is recycled. In Texas, drought has spurred an increase in recycling. But recycling has been slow to catch on in Oklahoma, and regulators have been criticized for not taking more aggressive action against disposal wells. What happens next? That's not clear. The quake, centered near Pawnee, rattled the state just after 8 a.m. Eastern time Saturday, tying a record set in 2011 for the strongest such tremor in Oklahoma history, according to the National Weather Service. Halting or slowing the use of disposal wells won't necessarily resolve the seismic issues. Scientists studying the issue told PBS in March that even if Oklahoma shuttered all its disposal wells, the wastewater that has already been pumped can continue to cause problems. And the ground is sensitive to sudden changes in disposal well pumping. In fact, Oklahoma regulators ordered the 37 wells offline over the course of 10 days for fear "that a large scale, sudden shutdown could cause an earthquake," according to authorities.

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

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

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

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

"The armed forces in cooperation with their allies took full control of the military academy zone south of Aleppo and are clearing the remaining terrorists from the area," state television said, citing a military source. BEIRUT, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and their allies recaptured areas in southwestern Aleppo on Sunday which rebels seized last month, after heavy bombardments and repeated attempts to drive the insurgents back, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

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

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption As the Pope declared Mother Teresa a saint, cheers rang out from the crowd of thousands in St Peter's Square Mother Teresa, revered for her work with the poor in India, has been proclaimed a saint by Pope Francis in a ceremony at the Vatican. Vatican City (AP) — Elevating the “saint of the gutters” to one of the Catholic Church’s highest honors, Pope Francis on Sunday praised Mother Teresa for her radical dedication to society’s outcasts and her courage in shaming world leaders for the “crimes of poverty they themselves created.” An estimated 120,000 people filled St. Peter’s Square for the canonization ceremony, less than half the number who turned out for her 2003 beatification. She made her voice heard before the powers of this world, so that they might recognize their guilt for the crime of poverty they created.” For the newly-sainted Teresa, he said, “mercy was the salt which gave flavor to her work, it was the light which shone in the darkness of the many who no longer had tears to shed for their poverty and suffering.” She was an example to volunteers around the world, he said. “Mercy, forgiveness, good works: It is the heart of a mother for the poor.” While big, the crowd attending the canonization wasn’t even half of the 300,000 who turned out for Mother Teresa’s 2003 beatification celebrated by an ailing St. John Paul II. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A woman who said she experienced Mother Teresa's first "miracle" describes what happened Born in 1910 to ethnic Albanian parents, Agnese Gonxha Bojaxhiu grew up in what is now the Macedonian capital, Skopje, but was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Mother Teresa died in 1997 and was beatified - the first step towards becoming a saint - in 2003, after her first cure - of a woman with an ovarian tumour - was recognised by the Church. Born to Kosovar Albanian parents in Skopje -- then part of the Ottoman empire, now the capital of Macedonia -- she won the 1979 Nobel peace prize and was revered around the world as a beacon for the Christian values of self-sacrifice and charity.

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

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/04 Sept) – A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Talacogon in Agusan del Sur at 10:38 a.m. Sunday but there were no reports of deaths, injuries or damages to property. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake was felt in neighboring areas, at Intensity 6 in Talacogon, La Paz and Rosario in Agusan del Sur; Intensity 5 in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur; Intensity 4 in the cities of Butuan and Tagum and in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur; Intensity 3 in the cities of Davao, Bislig in Surigao del Sur and Gingoog in Misamis Oriental, and in Balingoan and Balingasag towns also in Misamis Oriental.

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

Official: 36 dead in bus-tanker collision in Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says at least 36 passengers including women and children have been killed when their bus collided with a fuel tanker in southern Zabul province. The collision on the Kandahar-Kabul highway occurred Sunday around 5 a.m. local time (8.30 p.m. Saturday ET), when the long-distance bus, which was carrying passengers from Kandahar to Kabul, collided with the tanker in the Shar e Safa area.

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

Meanwhile, the Iwate Prefectural Government said Sunday two bodies have been newly found and identified in the town of Iwaizumi in the prefecture, hit hard by downpours caused by Typhoon Lionrock last week. The Self-Defense Forces used helicopters to help residents get to shelters as officials made efforts to prevent the town from being cut off again by a typhoon. As of Sunday, Namtheun was heading north toward Kyushu, the Meteorological Agency said, noting that warnings for strong wind, heavy rain and floods had been issued for Kyushu. Lionrock became the first typhoon to land on the Pacific coast of Tohoku last Tuesday, dumping torrential rain over a wide area. Overflowing rivers wreaked havoc, stranding many communities in the largely agricultural northeast. Iwaizumi lost nine elderly people who were buried without warning in a care facility that was engulfed by floodwaters from a nearby river. Before Lionrock, two typhoons had claimed at least two lives in Japan's northeast.

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