Transgender troops can continue receiving transition-related medical treatment for now, the Pentagon said today, amid mounting challenges to President Donald Trump's effective ban on funding such procedures as well as enlisting new openly transgender personnel.
	Trump blindsided the Pentagon in July when he tweeted that transgender troops, who had been allowed to serve openly under rules implemented by Barack Obama's administration, would be barred from the military.
	The White House formalized the decree in an August 25 directive, but Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has ordered the current Obama-era policy remain in effect until officials conduct a review of how a ban might be implemented.
	"First and foremost, we will continue to treat every service member with dignity and respect," Mattis said in the memo to service chiefs released today.
	He said troops with a gender dysphoria diagnosis can receive Pentagon-funded sex-change procedures until March 22, when no more reassignment ...

Pentagon to fund medical treatment for transgender troops into March

PTI Automatic

France today led a push at the United Nations to keep the United States in the Paris climate agreement, as Donald Trump's administration insisted it was not changing gears.
	Gary Cohn, the chief White House economic adviser, reiterated Trump's opposition to the landmark accord as he met over breakfast with officials from other major economies at the start of the UN General Assembly, an annual week of diplomacy.
	But French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, whose government has made preserving the agreement reached in the French capital in 2015 a top priority, held out hope.
	"We take note of President Trump's statements on not respecting it, but for the moment no action has been taken and we can still hope to persuade him," he told reporters.
	"We have to make sure that international pressure is strong and that we do not stop the agreement from coming into force," he said, noting that French President Emmanuel Macron has called a climate summit for December 12 in Paris.
	The Trump .

France leads UN push to keep Trump in climate accord

North Korea bitterly denounced new sanctions on its economy as "vicious, unethical and inhumane" and warned the measures would only accelerate progress on its nuclear weapons programme, state media reported today.
	The angry statement from Pyongyang's foreign ministry came as the crisis surrounding the reclusive state was set to dominate the annual UN gathering of world leaders.
	The UN Security Council last week imposed a new raft of sanctions on North Korea, slapping an export ban on textiles, freezing work permits to North Korean guest workers and placing a cap on oil supplies.
	The international community is scrambling to contain an increasingly belligerent Pyongyang, which has conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test and fired long-range missiles over Japan that it says could reach the US mainland.
	Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself from US forces. It says it is determined to build a weapons system capable of delivering a nuclear warhead capable of ...

'Vicious' sanctions will only speed up nuclear programme:

Turkey today summoned the German ambassador for the second time in just three days, Turkish diplomatic sources said, as an intensifying bilateral crisis showed no sign of ending.
	Germany ambassador Martin Erdmann had already been called in by the Turkish foreign ministry on Saturday over a rally that Ankara said was organised by supporters of Kurdish militants in Cologne.
	Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu said the summons related to a previous incident where Erdmann had been unable to attend but did not specify further.
	A Turkish foreign ministry source, who asked not to be named, said it was a "coincidence" that the latest summons came so soon after the previous order from the ministry at the weekend.
	German foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer confirmed the summons, saying it was the 17th time in his tenure as ambassador that Erdmann had received such an order.
	Erdmann has been Berlin's envoy to Ankara since August 2015.
	Schaefer told reporters in Berlin the number ..

Turkey again summons German envoy in growing spat

Aerospace giant Airbus today formally rejected fraud allegations levelled by Austria over a USD 2.3 billion deal for Eurofighter jets, calling the accusations "factitious".
	The company said in a statement it had filed a legal submission to Austrian prosecutors denying "all allegations made by the Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil".
	Doskozil's office sued Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium in February for allegedly deliberately misleading Vienna about the purchase price, delivery times and technical equipment of the 18 jets.
	Austria is seeking up to 1.1 billion euros (USD 1.2 billion) in damages.
	"These accusations are factitious and legally groundless," Peter Kleinschmidt, a lawyer for Airbus, said in a statement.
	"The aircraft were delivered as specified in the contract," the statement read.
	The company also denied accusations that it had cheated Vienna out of 183.4 million euros in so-called offset deals.
	Part and parcel of big defence bids, these side ...

Airbus hits back at Austria in Eurofighter scandal

Russian energy giant Rosneft announced today it intends to help build a gas pipeline in Iraqi Kurdistan, a move bolstering Moscow's links to the region as it eyes independence.
	The state-run firm said it had "negotiated" with local authorities the "opportunity to participate in the project on funding of the construction project of Kurdistan Region's natural gas pipeline infrastructure".
	"The Kurdistan Region gas pipeline will not only supply natural gas to the power plants and domestic factories throughout the region, but also enable exporting of substantial fuel volume to Turkey and the European market in the coming years," a statement said.
	The pipeline is set to carry 30 billion cubic metres of gas a year and is scheduled to start working in 2019, the company said.
	The deal to build the pipeline should be finalised later this year, it said.
	Kurdistan is currently locked in a dispute with Iraq's central government in Baghdad over its plans to hold an independence referendum on .

Russia's Rosneft eyes Iraqi Kurdistan gas pipeline deal

The family of former White House national security advisor Michael Flynn has launched a defense fund to raise money for mounting legal costs in the sprawling Russia election interference probe.
	Flynn, who advised President Donald Trump's election campaign but was fired 22 days into the new adminstration, is under investigation for misreporting his contacts with Russian officials and his alleged lobbying activities for Turkey while involved in the campaign.
	A new website for the Michael T Flynn Legal Defense Fund called his lawyer bills "tremendous."
	"The costs of legal representation associated with responding to the multiple investigations that have arisen in the wake of the 2016 election place a great burden on Mike and his family," the site said.
	"Any support provided is greatly appreciated."
	Flynn faces probes in Congress, from Robert Mueller, the Justice Department's independent prosecutor into Russian interference, and in the Defense Department, where Flynn formerly served .

Ex-Trump aide Flynn raises money for legal costs

France warned today that salvaging the Iran nuclear deal was "essential," but left the door open to further talks to ward off any US threat to walk away from the landmark agreement.
	Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters ahead of the UN General Assembly that scrapping the 2015 agreement would launch an arms race with "neighboring countries that would feel encouraged to head into the same direction."
	US President Donald Trump has threatened to scrap the nuclear agreement, describing it as the "worst deal ever negotiated."
	"France will try to persuade President Trump of the importance of this choice, even if it can be completed by work after 2025," he said ahead of a meeting between Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron later in the day.
	Under the nuclear deal, certain limits on Iran's uranium enrichment are set to expire in 2025 and critics have said this is the weakest part of the deal.
	"It's essential to maintain (the agreement) to prevent a spiral of ...

France opens door to post-2025 talks on Iran nuclear deal

Snapchat has blocked Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera from its app in Saudi Arabia at the request of Saudi authorities, the image sharing service said Monday, as tensions simmer between the Gulf states.
	Saudi authorities have accused Al Jazeera of acting as a mouthpiece for extremist groups, a charge it denies.
	Alongside the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain, Saudi Arabia imposed a blockade on Qatar in June, in the worst diplomatic crisis to roil the Gulf in years.
	"We make an effort to comply with local laws in the countries where we operate," said a spokesman for parent company Snap Inc.
	Al Jazeera condemned the blocking as an assault on freedom of expression.
	"We find Snapchat's action to be alarming and worrying," the broadcaster's acting director general Mostefa Souag said in a statement.
	"This sends a message that regimes and countries can silence any voice or platform they don't agree with by exerting pressure on the owners of social media platforms."
	Snap Inc said ...

Snapchat blocks Jazeera in Saudi Arabia as Qatar tensions

Outgoing Syria warcrimes investigator Carla Del Ponte said today she had quit her post out of frustration over "total impunity", in a fiery farewell speech.
	Del Ponte, an accomplished war crimes prosecutor, announced last month that she was leaving the Commission of Inquiry (COI) for Syria, a UN-backed panel that has collected evidence of alleged atrocities committed in the country since the outbreak of civil war in 2011.
	"I resign to put an end to my frustration," Del Ponte told the Human Rights Council, after the COI presented its latest report.
	"Seven years of crimes in Syria and total impunity. That is not acceptable".
	Del Ponte, a Swiss national, worked on the international tribunals that prosecuted war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
	She said that when she joined the COI she did not anticipate that the international community would fail to set up a court capable of trying crimes committed in Syria.
	The commission has ...

Syria war crimes investigator blasts impunity in farewell

US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping spoke by telephone, the White House said today, amid an escalating crisis over North Korea's ballistic and nuclear weapons programmes.
	Trump is currently in New York for the United Nations General Assembly but Xi -- who has a major Communist Party congress that will cement his leadership for the next five years -- is not attending the event.
	Officials had said prior to the call that North Korea was likely to be the major topic of discussion. Trump is expected to make his first presidential visit to China later this year.

Trump, Xi speak by phone: White House

Britain called today for a new security treaty with the European Union after Brexit to try and prevent terror attacks, days after a bomb exploded on a London Underground train.
	London said it wanted to maintain existing partnerships with a bespoke pact that would open the door to enhanced cooperation as terror threats evolve against British and EU citizens.
	The government said it was "vital" for public safety throughout Europe that Britain and the EU maintain and even enhance close collaboration after the UK leaves the bloc in March 2019.
	A paper on the matter examined existing partnership agreements with countries outside the European Union but said they were not suitable because they would fall short of current capabilities.
	And in the event of no deal being struck, London said it was confident that law enforcement agencies would find their own ways of working together.
	"Developing a new framework to sustain this cooperation will require a shared level of ambition: the UK and ..

Britain wants post-Brexit security treaty with EU

Iraq moved 500 wives of Islamic State group jihadists to a detention centre in preparation to deport them after they were captured along with 800 children, a councillor said today.
	The women and children were detained in Iraq's second city Mosul, capital of Nineveh province and IS's main stronghold in the country until Iraqi forces retook it in July.
	"They are in a holding centre in Tal Kayf under the control of Iraqi security forces, so their cases can be examined before they are eventually expelled from the country," the Nineveh province councillor told AFP.
	The spouses and their children were moved Sunday from a camp run by international aid agencies 60 kilometres south of Mosul, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.
	A senior Iraqi security official said the 509 women and 813 children held 13 different nationalities from Europe, Asia and the Americas.
	A government official said around 300 of them were Turkish.
	"They are foreigners who entered the country ...

Iraq set to expel 500 wives of IS jihadists

Jonny Bairstow will open for England in the first one-day international against West Indies, captain Eoin Morgan announced today.
	Tomorrow's match at Old Trafford is England's first ODI since their Champions Trophy semi-final defeat by eventual tournament winners Pakistan in Cardiff in June.
	That match saw regular ODI opener Jason Roy dropped after a run of low scores, with Bairstow making 43 after being brought in at the top of the order.
	Surrey batsman Roy was out for a golden duck in Saturday's lone Twenty20 international against West Indies at Chester-le-Street and Morgan confirmed Test wicket-keeper Bairstow would open on Tuesday.
	"Jonny is going to open with Alex Hales," Morgan told reporters at Old Trafford.
	"We feel Jonny deserves a chance. He's been waiting in the wings for quite a while now.
	"This is an opportunity to make the opening position his."
	Bairstow's innings was one of the few crumbs of comfort England could take from a convincing eight-wicket defeat by ...

Bairstow to open for England in 1st Windies ODI

Golbang, a new three-a-side format of the beautiful game, hopes to fill the same role as Twenty20 and sevens in cricket and rugby, its creator Bruno Schwobthaler told AFP.
	The Frenchman's brainchild can be played by mixed sex teams with a single goal and one team defending and one attacking with the sides swopping over after 15 minutes.
	Schwobthaler, a Warner Bros executive for 20 years, launched Golbang in May after what he calls his mid-life crisis.
	He considered football to be too conservative and required an injection of entertainment and backed this up by research he commissioned which sampled 1000 French people aged between 15-45.
	"It started out of frustration as I always felt football could be so much more exciting if you were not a fan," he told AFP at the Soccerex Global Convention this month.
	"If now you invented football would you make it 90 minutes with that size of pitch and 11 players a side?
	"I think football would struggle to find its place as the attention span 

Golbang -- the Twitter generation's 'beautiful game'

A British cyclist who hit and killed a pedestrian and was convicted under a 19th-century law for drivers of horse-drawn carriages was sentenced today to 18 months in prison.
	Charlie Alliston, a former courier who was 18 at the time of the accident in London last year, was riding a fixed-wheel track bike with no front brakes.
	These types of specialist bikes can only be used on racing tracks in Britain and are banned from roads.
	Alliston struck 44-year-old Kim Briggs, a mother of two, at a speed of 29 kilometres per hour.
	He was convicted of "wanton and furious driving", a crime contained in an 1861 law that is still in force and carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
	The case has divided Britons, with some calling for tougher sentences for dangerous cycling and others saying pedestrians should take more responsibility.
	"This case has clearly and evidently demonstrated there is a gap in the law when it comes to dealing with death or serious injury by dangerous ...

Cyclist jailed for 18 months for killing pedestrian in UK

France today warned that salvaging the Iran nuclear deal was "essential" to prevent other countries from seeking nuclear weapons as world leaders gathered at the United Nations.
	Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also told reporters ahead of the opening of the General Assembly that applying pressure on North Korea with sanctions was the only path to address the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests.

France warns on Iran, N Korea ahead of UN assembly

Dubai-owned giant port operator DP World announced today it has agreed to acquire two maritime services companies for a total of USD 405 million.
	The company which operates 77 marine and inland terminals around the world said it will buy Drydocks World, which operates the largest ship repair yard in the Middle East, for USD 225 million.
	DP World also announced in a statement the purchase for USD 180 million of Maritime World, the 100-percent owner of Dubai Maritime City, a service facility.
	"These transactions will enhance our position as a leading maritime services provider, and we look forward to leveraging on our proven track record to accelerate growth and deliver stakeholder value," DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said.
	With container handling as its core business, the company shipped around 85 million TEU, 20-foot equivalent containers, in 2016.
	DP World also said it has decided not to renew its operating contract for PT Terminal Petikemas Surabaya in Indonesia ..

Dubai giant port operator to acquire 2 maritime firms

The World Health Organisation today urged Yemen to approve cholera vaccinations it has offered to help contain an epidemic that could affect nearly a million people by year's end.
	Yemen, where a multinational conflict has caused a humanitarian crisis, had asked the UN health agency earlier this year for doses of the vaccine, said Dominique Legros, the agency's cholera specialist.
	The WHO sent a million doses in June only to see the Yemeni government change its mind, leading the United Nations to reassign the vaccines to Somalia and Sudan, Legros told reporters in Geneva.
	Asked about Yemen's reversal, Legros said only that discussions with countries about vaccinations could be "complicated", noting the lack of familiarity with them in affected communities, especially in the case of newer vaccines like the one for cholera.
	"We are still in negotiation with the government in Yemen to make sure we can also use (vaccines) to help control" the outbreak, he said.
	Last week, the ...

WHO urges Yemen to accept vaccines as cholera crisis deepens

At least 15 people were killed today when suicide bombers attacked an aid distribution point in northeast Nigeria, in the latest suspected strike by Boko Haram insurgents against civilians.
	The blasts occurred in the Konduga area, about 40 kilometres from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, both of which have been repeatedly targeted by the jihadist group.
	On August 16, at least 28 people were killed and more than 80 injured when three female suicide bombers detonated their explosives outside a camp for displaced persons in Konduga.
	A rescue worker said the first blast on Monday happened at 11:10 am in the village of Mashalari. "(It) killed 15 people and left 43 others injured," he told AFP.
	"It happened during aid distribution by an NGO, when people had gathered to receive donations," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
	"Twelve minutes later, another bomber struck, but luckily only she died."
	The rescue worker said both bombers were women but did not specify which NGO .

Suicide bombers kill 15 in northeast Nigeria

Hurricane Maria strengthened to a Category Two storm today with maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour as it menaced Caribbean islands already hard-hit by megastorm Irma.
	The US National Hurricane Center expected Maria to grow into a "major hurricane" -- a Category Three -- later Monday with the French territory of Guadeloupe -- the staging area for relief operations for several islands battered by Irma -- in the crosshairs.
	Warnings were also triggered for Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and the British island of Montserrat.

AFP

AFP

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