German prosecutors have opened a probe against three Swiss intelligence agents on suspicion of spying on German authorities hunting tax cheats in a case that has strained cross-border relations, local media reported today.
	The new investigation by federal prosecutors is related to the arrest in April of a Swiss man, identified as Daniel M, 54, who is accused of carrying out espionage activities against German finance inspectors since 2012, German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported in cooperation with public broadcasters NDR and WDR.
	The federal prosecutor's office declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
	According to the report, the probe launched in early August is highly unusual between western allies and underlines how seriously Germany is taking the case of Daniel M, who has been charged with spying for Switzerland's NDB intelligence service on German authorities hunting tax cheats.
	The three new suspects, who also work for the NDB, have not been named.
	The case has ...

Germany opens probe against Swiss spies: report

PTI Automatic

Australia's Crown Resorts said today that China had released all of the casino group's employees who were detained as part of a gambling crackdown last year.
	Mogul James Packer's gaming company said the last of the 19 current and former Crown employees had been set free after being held for 10 months.
	"Crown is pleased that all of our employees have now been released and reunited with their families and loved ones," executive chairman John Alexander said.
	Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the employees whose sentences ended on Saturday were expelled from the country the same day.
	"We hope relevant countries can inculcate their citizens living in China to conscientiously abide by laws and regulations and not be engaged in illegal activities," Hua told reporters.
	The 19 defendants had pleaded guilty at a Shanghai court in June and 16 of them, including three Australians, were given sentences of between nine and 10 months in jail. The sentence included time ...

Australia's Crown says all staff held in China now free

French President Emmanuel Macron today condemned an overnight assault by presumed jihadists on a Turkish restaurant in Ouagadougou, calling it a "terrorist attack".
	In a statement, Macron also praised the "effective mobilisation" of the Burkina security forces in ending the assault, which left at least 18 people dead, including at least one French national, according to Paris prosecutors.
	Macron and his counterpart in the former French colony, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, will discuss the situation, his office said in a statement.
	France remains committed to pursuing the fight against terrorist groups in west Africa and accelerating work to set up a planned Sahel force to fight jihadists, the statement said.
	Macron visited the region in early July, when he said he wanted the force, which will initially count some 5,000 troops and begin its operations in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, to be operational by the end of August.

Macron condemns 'terrorist attack' in Ouagadougou

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced a new hardline head of one of the country's top oversight bodies today, while former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad kept his seat despite a string of controversies.
	The appointment of former judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi as head of the Expediency Council means Iran's conservatives have tightened their grip on a key institution despite recent election successes for reformists.
	The Expediency Council plays a critical role in shaping policy and resolving disputes between different power centres.
	For years it was chaired by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the central figures of the Islamic revolution who sought to chart a middle ground between Iran's hardliners and reformists.
	But his death in January has opened the way for conservatives to assert their influence.
	Shahroudi, a 68-year-old who led the judiciary for a decade, has been touted in the past as a possible successor to Khamenei.
	The new line-up of .

Iran conservatives tighten grip on top oversight body

The chief executive of Australia's biggest bank, the Commonwealth, will retire, the company said today, amid pressure from regulators over alleged breaches of laws on money laundering and terrorism financing.
	The bank's chairwoman Catherine Livingstone said in a statement to the stock exchange that Ian Narev "will retire by the end of the 2018 financial year".
	Narev faced calls to step down last week after the financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC launched a civil action against the bank alleging "serious and systemic non- compliance" with the laws more than 53,000 times.
	The 50-year-old initially insisted he would stay on but Livingstone said today that the bank wanted to end speculation over his future.
	"Succession planning is an ongoing process at all levels of the bank. In discussions with (Narev) we have also agreed it is important for the business that we deal with the speculation and questions about his tenure," she said.
	"Today's statement provides that clarity and will ..

Commonwealth Bank boss to retire amid laundering claims

South Korean President Moon Jae-In called today for calm in the standoff with North Korea, saying there should never be another war on the peninsula.
	Tensions have flared since US President Donald Trump, responding to the North's latest missile tests, warned it of "fire and fury like the world has never seen".
	The North in turn threatened to test-fire its missiles towards the US Pacific island of Guam.
	The war of words has sparked global alarm, with world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping urging calm on both sides.
	Moon, a left-leaning leader who has previously advocated dialogue with the North, urged it to "stop all provocations and hostile rhetoric immediately, instead of worsening the situation any further".
	He also indirectly urged the US -- the South's key ally and security guarantor -- to resolve the crisis peacefully.
	"Our top priority is the national interest of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and our national interest lies in peace," Moon told advisers .

S Korea's Moon urges calm on N Korea, says war unthinkable

Yemenis gathered today in the rebel- held capital to witness the putting to death of a man convicted of raping and killing a child, in the second such public execution in weeks.
	Hussein al-Saket, 22, was found guilty of abducting, raping and murdering a four-year-old girl, who he later buried, said Rajeh Ezzedine, a judge who attended the execution.
	Ali Ayedh, the victim's uncle, said Saket "took part in the search for the girl before being unmasked" during the police investigation.
	He said his public execution would act as a "deterrent for criminals".
	Saket was placed face down on Tahrir square in Sanaa, which the Shiite Huthi rebels have controlled since 2014.
	A policeman shot him dead through the back with five bullets aiming for the heart, before his body was strung up on the end of a crane.
	On July 31, another man was executed in the same square after being convicted of raping and murdering a three-year-old girl.
	Both executions have been framed as an example of the Shiite 

Yemeni man executed for rape, murder of 4-year-old

Australia is scrapping secrecy laws designed to stop whistleblowers from speaking out about alleged abuse at offshore asylum-seeker detention camps, in a move which campaigners today hailed as a victory for free speech.
	Asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are either turned back or sent to remote camps in Nauru and on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.
	Refugee advocates and medical professionals have long criticised conditions in the camps, where some detainees have been held for years.
	The secrecy provisions were introduced in 2015, making it a jailable offence for immigration department workers to speak out about conditions in the centres.
	But Immigration Minister Peter Dutton last week moved an amendment to the law to restrict the definition of unauthorised disclosures to  information relating to the national or public interest.
	He told parliament last week the 2015 changes had "not kept pace with the developments in the modern border environment".
	"The definition .

Australia drops asylum-seeker secrecy laws

A two-month-old panda, the first cub born at Tokyo's Ueno zoo for five years, is growing well and has become "fluffy", the zoo said today as it released fresh video footage of the baby animal.
	The footage showed the as-yet-unnamed cub being weighed and measured by keepers at the zoo, and napping, crawling and playing with her mother, Shin Shin.
	"The baby panda is now fluffy with increasing body hair," zoo director Yutaka Fukuda said at a press conference.
	"She will grow even cuter as more panda-like characteristics begin to emerge," Fukuda said.
	The rare birth of the panda in June triggered a frenzy of media and public excitement in Japan, with businesses keen to cash in.
	The zoo has invited the public to suggest names for the cub, and said it had received some 250,000 submissions. The panda's name will be announced in September.
	The cub, which turned 60 days old on Friday, weighed 6.6 pounds -- nearly three times heavier than a month before, according to the zoo.
	She also ...

Tokyo zoo releases video of 'fluffy' baby panda

The daughter of one of Malaysia's most powerful sultans married her Dutch fiance today in a ceremony steeped in centuries of tradition during a day of lavish celebrations.
	Princess Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim, 31, the only daughter of the Sultan of Johor, tied the knot with Dennis Muhammad Abdullah, 28, capping a romance of over three years.
	The Dutchman, who has converted to Islam, and the princess wed according to Muslim Malay custom at the Serene Hill Palace, the royal family's residence in the southern city of Johor Bahru. The private ceremony was attended by close family and friends.
	The groom wore traditional white Malay wedding attire and the bride wore a white dress. Dennis Muhammad placed the wedding ring on Tunku Aminah's finger in a special room in the palace, according to the royal press office.
	In keeping with centuries-old wedding customs in the Muslim-majority southern state of Johor, he also gave her a dowry of 22.50 ringgit (about USD 5), and the couple kissed 

Malaysian princess marries Dutchman in lavish ceremony

Security forces in Burkina Faso's capital ended an assault today against suspected jihadists who opened fire on a restaurant in a "terrorist attack" that left at least 18 people dead, the government said.
	The attack that began Sunday night in a Turkish restaurant popular with foreigners also left a dozen people injured, while two assailants were later killed, Communications Minister Remis Dandjinou said. It was not clear how many gunmen were involved.
	"The operation has ended" but searches are continuing in the Ouagadougou neighbourhood around the restaurant, Dandjinou told a press briefing carried on social media.
	The Istanbul restaurant is just 200 metres from a hotel and cafe targeted in an assault in January 2016 that left 30 people dead and 71 wounded, many of them foreigners. That attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group.
	"According to witnesses, at least two assailants arrived on a motorcycle around 9pm armed with Kalashnikovs, opened fire on ..

18 dead in attack on Burkina Faso restaurant

Usain Bolt's retirement leaves a huge vacuum to fill but athletics is moving in the right direction in rebranding itself after scandals that seriously damaged its image, according to sports marketing experts.
     At one point, following serious allegations about former athletics boss Lamine Diack as well as the Russian doping scandal, the sport resembled the Jamaican superstar in his last appearance in a championship final, Saturday's 4x100 metres relay, lying prone down and out on the track.
    	However, under the leadership of Diack's successor Sebastian Coe, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the governing body say it is beginning to take the right steps in restoring its image.
	"The authorities are making it more accessible and improving its presentation and taking it into an urban environment with street races," Jon Tibbs, chairman of leading sport public relations firm Jon Tibbs Associates (JTA), told AFP.
	"It is becoming more ...

'Superhuman' wanted -- Bolt exit leaves vacuum to fill

Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga has urged his supporters to stay home from work today to mourn those killed in protests over what he claims was a rigged election, while he mulls his next move.
	Government officials have urged citizens to return to work, after days of anxiety since last Tuesday's election left Nairobi -- a bustling city of more than three million people -- near-deserted.
	Yesterday, life appeared to slowly be returning to normal with businesses opening and deadly protests that erupted Friday night after the election result fizzling out as Odinga's supporters await his next move.
	At least 16 people have died in protests in Odinga's strongholds, according to an AFP tally, many shot dead by police.
	"We are not done yet. We will not give up. Wait for the next course of action which I will announce the day after tomorrow (Tuesday)," Odinga told a crowd of thousands in Nairobi's slum Kibera on Sunday.
	"Do not go to work tomorrow. Let us mourn the innocent people ...

Kenya's Odinga calls strike as he mulls options

The United States "will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles," Vice President Mike Pence has said, but he emphasised a peaceful path even as he stood by President Donald Trump's startling warning that US military action remained a possibility.
	"We have many options for Venezuela, but the president also remains confident that working with all of our allies across Latin America we can achieve a peaceable solution," Pence said in a news conference alongside Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, as he began a week-long Latin America tour of four countries.
	His trip comes after Trump on Friday said he was mulling a range of scenarios for crisis-hit Venezuela -- "including a possible military option if necessary."
	Trump's comment drew condemnation from Caracas, which called the threat "reckless" and "craziness."
	The rest of Latin America -- even countries strongly opposed to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's usurpation of his country's democratic institutions -- also strongly ...

US VP Pence stresses 'peaceable' solution sought for Venezuela

Three people including a Turkish national were killed in a suspected jihadist attack on a Burkina Faso cafe, hospital sources said.
	"We evacuated 11 people but one of them, a Turk, died on arriving at hospital," a paramedic told AFP yesterday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
	A doctor said a dozen injured people were taken to the hospital. "Three of them have died. The rest of the wounded are in a critical condition," the surgeon said.

Three dead including Turkish national in Burkina Faso cafe

Japan's economy grew 1.0 per cent in the April-June period, notching up its sixth straight quarter of growth and its longest economic expansion in over a decade, government data showed today
	The growth in Japan's GDP -- 4.0 per cent at an annualised rate -- blew past market expectations for a 0.6 per cent rise, and was well up from a 0.4 per cent expansion in the first quarter, according to figures from the Cabinet Office.
	The world's number three economy has been picking up steam, mainly on the back of a surging exports including smartphones parts and memory chips, with investments linked to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics also giving growth a boost.
	But the latest GDP figures were driven by robust domestic demand and capital spending, which offset a quarterly decline in exports.
	Private consumption picked up 0.9 percent in the second quarter -- individual spending accounts for more than a half of Japan's GDP.
	The labour market is tight and business confidence is high but efforts to ...

Japan economy posts longest expansion in over a decade

An officer was stabbed to death near a police station in Istanbul by a suspected member of the Islamic State group, Turkish media says.
	The attacker, who was suspected of preparing to carry out a suicide bombing, was shot dead after killing the policeman yesterday, the pro-government Anadolu news agency reported.
	The private Dogan news service said the assailant had already been arrested and was being transported to a police station when the stabbing occurred at around 11 pm (2000 GMT).
	The officer died from his wounds after leaving the scene in an ambulance, Dogan said.
	It was not immediately clear how the man managed to keep a knife while being taken into custody.
	Turkey was hit in 2016 by a succession of attacks that left hundreds dead in the bloodiest year of terror strikes in its history.
	The attacks were blamed on IS jihadists who had taken swathes of territory in neighbouring Syria and Iraq as well as the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who have battled the Turkish 

Turkey policeman stabbed to death by IS suspect

The United States expressed sadness and horror today over the killing of seven members of Syria's White Helmets rescue service in a jihadist-held town near Idlib.
	The seven were killed yesterday by unidentified assailants in a raid on their base in Sarmin, nine kilometers east of the city of Idlib.
	The town is controlled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadist alliance, which denounced what it called an "ugly crime."
	State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert extended condolences to the families of the victims.
	"We are saddened and horrified to hear about the brutal murders of seven Syrian Civil Defense Members, more widely known as the White Helmets," she said.
	"These cowardly acts of masked men took the lives of civilian volunteers who work tirelessly as first responders in order to save lives in incredibly dangerous environments," she said.
	The White Helmets emerged in 2013, working to rescue civilians in rebel-held areas.
	They have since gained international renown for their .

US 'horrified' by killing of Syrian rescuers

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake shook parts of central Peru today, causing momentary panic in several cities but with no initial reports of damage or injuries, authorities said.
	The quake occurred just before noon local time (17H00 GMT), with an epicenter 67 kilometers northeast of the city of La Merced at a depth of 15 kilometers, the Geophysical Institute of Peru reported.
	The tremor caused panic in la Merced and several other cities in the region, RPP radio reported, and some areas lost power and phone service.
	A 6.0 magnitude quake on Friday along Peru's southern coast caused at least one death.

Quake in central Peru causes panic but no injuries: officials

Ame is taking a break. After four months of going into Caracas streets to demonstrate against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, she is frustrated and discouraged by the unending political crisis.
	This weekend, she ignored a call by the opposition for yet another rally, one that attracted only 1,000 people -- a fraction of the mass gatherings of the past weeks.
	"We're being made fun of," sighed the 24-year-old single mother who identified herself only by her nickname for fear of government reprisals.
	A member of a radical wing of young protesters who call themselves the "resistance," she was among those confronting security forces with Molotov cocktails and stones, masks covering their faces to conceal their identity and protect them from tear gas.
	Since it erupted April 1, the mass movement demanding Maduro's exit has battled security forces and roving gangs of pro-government militants.
	Nearly 130 people have been killed, and hundreds of opposition members have been ...

Venezuela's discouraged protesters pull back

Boko Haram gunmen have killed four people and torched homes in a nighttime raid on a village in restive northeastern Nigeria, local sources said today.
	The militants stormed Amarwa village, while lies about 20 kilometres from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state and birthplace of Boko Haram.
	According to a leader of a local militia fighting the jihadists, the gunmen shot indiscriminately at villagers and set fire to homes in the raid late yesterday.
	"Two were shot dead and the other two choked to death in the fire the attackers set to houses," militia leader Ibrahim Liman said, adding that a number of people were also injured.
	A local chief said the attack in the village in the Konduga district started around 11 pm (2200 GMT) and continued past midnight.
	"We have so far recovered four bodies, two of them with bullet wounds," said the local chief, who did not want to be named.
	"We lost our homes and food stocks in the fire."
	Amarwa also came under attack in May, when Boko Haram 

AFP

AFP

Page 1096 - Afp