Sudan today welcomed the US  decision to end its 20-year trade embargo against Khartoum as  a "positive decision".
Earlier in the day, Washington announced it was ending  the embargo, citing improvements made by Sudan in its human  rights record.
"The leaders of Sudan, the government of Sudan and the  people of Sudan welcome the positive decision taken by  American President Donald Trump of removing the economic  sanctions completely," the official SUNA news agency quoted a  statement issued by the foreign ministry.
The US decision came after months of diplomatic talks  between the two countries that began during the tenure of  former US president Barack Obama.
The lifting of sanctions is "in recognition of the  Government of Sudan's sustained positive actions to maintain a  cessation of hostilities in conflict areas in Sudan," US State  Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
And she cited what she said was Khartoum's sustained  commitment to "improve humanitarian access ...

Sudan hails end of US trade embargo as 'positive decision'

PTI Automatic

Five days after the deadliest mass  shooting in recent US history, authorities acknowledged today  they have not uncovered a "clear motive" for the gunman.
"We still do not have a clear motive or reason why,"  Undersheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan  Police Department told reporters.
"At this time I'll tell you we have no credible  information to report to you as to motivation."
Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and left hundreds  injured in Las Vegas after raining bullets on a crowd at an  open-air country music concert while perched in a 32nd floor  hotel room.

Still no 'clear motive' in Las Vegas mass shooting: police

The US government has approved  the sale to Saudi Arabia of the advanced Terminal High  Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system for USD  15 billion, the State Department said today.
"This sale furthers US national security and foreign  policy interests, and supports the long-term security of Saudi  Arabia and the Gulf region in the face of Iranian and other  regional threats," a statement said.
The THAAD -- which has already been supplied to Saudi  Arabia's neighbours Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- is  one of the most capable defensive missile batteries in the US  arsenal and comes equipped with an advanced radar system.
Its recent deployment by the US military in South Korea  to protect against any North Korean strike drew protests from  Beijing, who feared its sensors would be able to penetrate  into Chinese air space and upset the balance of power.
But the State Department said it would advise Congress  that, in Saudi hands, the system would act to stabilise the 

US to sell $15 bn THAAD missile defence to Saudi Arabia

Tropical Storm Nate gained  strength today as it headed toward popular Mexican beach  resorts and ultimately the US Gulf coast after dumping heavy  rains in Central America that left at least 22 people dead.
Nate, which currently has 85 kms per hour winds, is  forecast to reach hurricane strength by the time it makes  landfall in the United States late tomorrow on the north coast  of the Gulf of Mexico.
New Orleans, where levees were breached during Hurricane  Katrina in 2005, and other cities on the US Gulf coast were  under hurricane watch.
The US National Hurricane Centre warned of possible  "hurricane conditions" by tonight on Mexico's Yucatan  Peninsula, where Cancun and other Caribbean resorts are  located.
By late tomorrow, those fearsome winds could drive a  "life-threatening storm surge" onto southern US states along  the Gulf of Mexico.
"Nate is expected to make landfall... as a hurricane,"  the Centre said.
As of early today, the storm was located directly  offshore from ...

Tropical storm heading for US leaves 22 dead in its wake in C

Iran's opposition said today that  restrictions have been tightened on reformist former president  Mohammad Khatami, barring him from all public meetings for  three months.
Khatami has been banned from appearing in the media since  mass protests against the government in 2009-2010, but  continues to wield considerable power behind the scenes.
The opposition Kalemeh website said the Special Clerical  Court had sent Khatami a letter asking him "not to take part  in any political ceremonies and publicity for three months".
This was said to include any meetings, theatre  performances and concerts, and barred individuals, government  and seminary officials and student union members from meeting  with him.
The new restrictions were first revealed by Khatami's  nephew Mohammad Reza Tabesh, a member of parliament, earlier  this week.
The letter was said to have been signed by the head of  the Special Clerical Court, Ebrahim Raisi, the hardline  runner-up in this May's presidential ...

Iran said to tighten restrictions on ex-president

Saudi Arabia today rejected  the UN's move to blacklist the coalition fighting in Yemen for  the killing and maiming of children, calling the information  cited in the international body's annual list "misleading."
"We reject the inaccurate and misleading information and  figures contained in the report," the Saudi Ambassador to the  UN Abdallah al-Mouallimi told a news conference at the United  Nations, insisting the Saudi-led coalition does everything  possible to avoid hitting civilians.

Saudi rejects UN blacklisting over children deaths in Yemen

The United States will end some  of its toughest economic and trade sanctions imposed on the  government of Sudan, senior administration officials said  today.
Sudan will remain blacklisted as a state sponsor of  terror, and some targeted sanctions will remain, but the  regime has made progress in ending domestic atrocities, the  officials said.

US says to end some trade sanctions on Sudan

A British police officer was  sentenced to five years in prison today for selling data about  car crashes to insurance claims firms -- in one case even  before a police patrol had arrived on the scene of an  accident.
The fraud consisted of extracting names and contact  details for people involved in car crashes from a police  database, prosecutors said in a statement.
The information was then sold to claims firms which then  offered various types of compensation.
The police officer, Nigel Mungur, even set up his own  company to handle the data transfers and made 363,000 pounds  over seven years.
He was found out when car crash victims complained they  were receiving calls even though they had given their contact  details only to the police.
One man said he had been contacted by an insurance firm  even before police had arrived to assist him.
Two accomplices, including Mungur's wife Nicola, also a  police officer, were also convicted.
"The public expect a high standard of behaviour ...

UK policeman gets five years for selling car crash data

A teenager admitted in a British  court today to trying to hack into the computers of top US  officials, including former CIA chief John Brennan, from his  home in the East Midlands region of England.
Kane Gamble, 18, pleaded guilty to ten charges related to  the attempted intrusions in late 2015 and early 2016, which  targeted the US Department of Justice and an array of senior  American security officials.
These included James Clapper, the Director of National  Intelligence under President Obama; Jeh Johnson, the former US  Secretary of Homeland Security; and a deputy director of the  FBI.
Gamble, from Coalville, Leicester -- a small town 177  kilometres northwest of London -- pleaded guilty to eight  charges of performing a function with intent to secure  unauthorised access, and two charges of unauthorised acts with  intent to impair operation of a computer.
He was released on conditional bail ahead of sentencing  on December 15.
British judges have sentenced defendants in other ..

British teen admits trying to hack CIA chief

Final results from Catalonia's  outlawed independence referendum showed that 90 per cent of  voters backed the region breaking away from Spain, the Catalan  government said today.
A full count of the results from last Sunday's vote  published online showed that 2,044,038 of the 2,286,217 people  who took part voted for independence, with a turnout of 43 per  cent.

'Final Catalan vote count shows 90 pc backed independence'

AOL Instant Messenger, one of the  pioneering chat applications of the internet's early days,  will be shut down December 15, the company said today.
The shutdown comes 20 years after the launch of AIM,  which became a wildly popular feature of AOL, the largest  internet provider at the time.
Verizon, which acquired AOL in 2015 and merged it into a  unit called Oath this year, said it is looking at new services  to replace the instant messenger.
"AIM tapped into new digital technologies and ignited a  cultural shift, but the way in which we communicate with each  other has profoundly changed," said Michael Albers, vice  president at Oath.
"As a result we've made the decision that we will be  discontinuing AIM effective December 15, 2017. We are more  excited than ever to continue building the next generation of  iconic brands and life-changing products for users around the  world."
AIM has been overtaken by other messaging applications  and social media amid a growing move to ...

AOL Instant Messenger to sign off

Scoreboard at  close of play on the first day of the second Test between  South Africa and Bangladesh at the Mangaung Oval, here today.
South Africa first innings:
D Elgar c Mustafizur Rahman b Subashis Roy
113
A Markram b Rubel Hossain
143
H Amla not out
89
T Bavuma c Liton Das b Subashis Roy
7
F du Plessis not out
62
Extras: (B-4, LB-2, NB-1, W-7)
14
Total: (for 3 wkts in 90 overs)
428
Fall of wickets: 1-243, 2-276, 3-288
Bowling: Mustafizur Rahman 18-3-78-0, Subashis Roy 20-2-  85-2, Rubel Hossain 18-1-91-1, Soumya Sarkar 5-0-21-0, Taijul  Islam 19-0-98-0, Mahmudullah 7-2-27-0, Mominul Haque 1-0-6-0,  Sabbir Rahman 2-0-16-0.

Bloemfontein (South Africa), Oct 6 (AFP) Scoreboard at

South African  opening batsmen Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram hit centuries as  Bangladesh's bowlers took another pounding on the first day of  the second and final Test at Mangaung Oval, here today.
Elgar made 113 and Markram hit 143 as South Africa piled  up 428 for three at the close in Bloemfontein.
Hashim Amla was unbeaten on 89 and in sight of his second  century of the series, while South African captain Faf du  Plessis was on 62 not out.
Markram's maiden century came in his second Test, eight  days after he was run out for 97 in his debut innings during  the first Test in Potchefstroom.
It was almost an action replay of the first day of the  first Test.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and sent  South Africa in, only for his bowlers to be put to the sword  in a massive opening partnership.
The only major difference was that Bangladesh reshuffled  their bowling attack, retaining only Mustafizur Rahman of  their front-line bowlers.
The replacements made no ...

South Africa top order piles on the runs again

Opener Dimuth Karunaratne scored a  dashing half century to guide Sri Lanka to 174-3 at dinner on  the first day of the second and final day-night Test against  Pakistan, here today.
Karunaratne was unbeaten on 89 and captain Dinesh  Chandimal was 14 not out after Sri Lanka won the toss and  opted to bat on a flat pitch.
Karunaratne and opening partner Kaushal Silva (27) gave  Sri Lanka a solid 63-run start before Pakistan hit back with  three wickets in quick succession.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah provided his team with the much-  needed breakthrough when he had Silva caught behind off a  short delivery.
Debutant Sadeera Samarawickrama impressed during his  short stay of 38 runs, hitting five boundaries and a six  before he miscued a pull and was caught and bowled by pacer  Mohammad Amir.
Kusal Mendis played a rash drive off Shah and was caught  in the slips for one.
Karunaratne cracked three boundaries in an Amir over and  hit Shah for another to reach his sixth Test fifty.
Sri Lanka ...

Karunaratne puts Sri Lanka in strong position

The IMF today called on the  world's largest economies to address stalling growth and  productivity and worrisome current accounts imbalances,  saying the global recovery is not guaranteed to continue.
In a report on the economic health of Group of 20  nations, the International Monetary Fund said group members  had made substantial progress in spurring recovery after the  Great Recession, with growth stabilising and unemployment  falling.
But problems persist, according to the report, as  potential growth rates in more than half of G20 economies were  estimated at two percent or lower. Current accounts imbalances  in the Britain and the United States, which run persistent  trade deficits, could spur protectionism, it added.
The IMF and World Bank are due to convene annual meetings  next week with member states, during which G20 representatives  will also gather.
"The sustainability of growth is not assured," the report  said. "The cyclical recovery has firmed but productivity  growth 

Sustainability of G20 growth 'not assured,' IMF says

Pope Francis today urged the  world, including the Catholic Church, to face up to the  devastating effects of online sexual violence on young people,  including extreme pornography and sexting.
"We have to keep our eyes open and not hide from an  unpleasant truth that we would rather not see," Francis said  at a gathering of technology executives and health  professionals at the Vatican.
Alluding to the paedophile scandals that have rocked the  church, he added: "For that matter, surely we have realised  sufficiently in recent years that concealing the reality of  sexual abuse is a grave error and the source of many other  evils?"
In a speech about protecting the dignity of children in  the internet era, Francis warned of the spread of extreme  pornography, sexting and online bullying as well as sexual  exploitation, trafficking and the live-streaming of rape and  violence against children.
He also cited evidence of the "profound impact of violent  and sexual images on the ...

'Online sexual violence harming children': Pope

The Kremlin on Friday criticised  "unprecedented pressure" on Russian media in the United States  and warned of possible reciprocal action.
The US Department of Justice has ordered the state-funded  RT media group, a television channel which broadcasts in  English and other languages, to register as a "foreign agent"  under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
The television network is increasingly viewed in  Washington as a Kremlin propaganda tool used to interfere in  the 2016 US presidential polls.
According to RT, the channel has been given a deadline of  October 17 to register under FARA, a law written in 1938 to  blunt Nazi propaganda, which specifically exempts news  organisations.
Foreign agent status could mean that the channel would  have to make personal information about its employees and  interviewees public, RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan  said yesterday.
"If we don't... our employees and property will be  arrested," she said, calling it "de-facto expulsion 

Moscow slams US for pressure on Russian media

A French woman who travelled three  times to Syria in support of her jihadist son was given a 10-  year jail sentence today after being convicted of being part  of a terrorist conspiracy.
Christine Riviere, 51, was sentenced for her "unfailing  commitment" to jihad and for helping a number of young women  travel to Syria as part of attempts to find a bride for her  son, Tyler Vilus.
It was the maximum sentence possible.
Vilus travelled to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic  State group.
Riviere, who has been nicknamed "Mama Jihad" in the  French press, visited him three times in 2013 and 2014.
She told the court she feared he would not return home.
She was arrested in July 2014 as she was preparing a  fourth visit.
Vilus was arrested a year later in Turkey, from where he  was extradited to France.

French woman jailed for 10 years for spurring on jihadist son

Survivors of the World War II atomic  bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki today congratulated ICAN on  winning this year's Nobel Peace Prize, vowing to work together  with the disarmament group to achieve a nuclear-free world.
"I'm delighted that ICAN, which has taken action to  abolish nuclear weapons like us, won the Nobel Peace Prize,"  Sunao Tsuboi, who suffered serious burns in the blast and  subsequently developed cancer, said in a statement, according  to public broadcaster NHK.
"I want to offer my warmest congratulations," said the  long-time Hiroshima campaigner for nuclear disarmament.
"Together with ICAN and many other people, we 'Hibakusha'  will continue to seek a world without nuclear weapons as long  as our lives last," the 92-year-old said.
Tsuboi was among a handful of Hiroshima survivors who met  then US president Barack Obama during his historic visit to  the city last year.
"We want to take great delight as it helped build up a  treaty banning nuclear weapons," ...

Japan A-bomb survivors hail ICAN Nobel Peace Prize win

NATO gave a chilly reception to  nuclear disarmament group ICAN's Nobel Peace Prize win today,  saying efforts to end the atomic bomb must take into account  the "realities" of global security.
The Geneva-based organisation, recognised by the Nobel  committee for its decade-long campaign, was a key player in  the adoption of a treaty symbolically banning nuclear weapons,  signed by 122 countries at the UN in July.
NATO, which has three of the world's nuclear powers in  its ranks, strongly criticised the treaty, saying it risked  undermining the international response to North Korea's atomic  weapons programme.
Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance's secretary-general,  welcomed "the attention given to the issue" of disarmament by  the Nobel Committee and said NATO was committed to creating  conditions for a world without nuclear weapons.
But he restated his criticism of the nuclear ban treaty  -- which was shunned by all nuclear powers -- saying it put  years of progress on non-proliferation 

NATO gives frosty reception to ICAN Nobel win

Thousands of Islamist hardliners  marched in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong today calling  for the government to arm Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing a  crackdown in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state.
More than half a million Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh  since attacks by militants belonging to the Muslim minority on  Myanmar police posts sparked brutal reprisals by security  forces.
The refugees accuse Myanmar's army -- flanked by mobs of  ethnic Rakhine -- of slaughtering them and burning their  villages in a campaign which the United Nations says amounts  to "ethnic cleansing".
Myanmar's military have blamed the unrest on the  Rohingya.
Up to 15,000 people joined the demonstrations in  Bangladesh's second largest city, police said, organised by  hardline Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam to protest against the  killings of the Rohingya.
"We demanded a halt to the genocide of the Rohingya,"  Hefazat spokesman Azizul Hoque Islamabad told AFP.
"We have also asked the government .

AFP

AFP

Page 1076 - Afp