A Palestinian astrophysics professor accused of inciting violence was sentenced to seven months in prison today by an Israeli military court, a Palestinian NGO said.
	Imad Barghouti, 52, was arrested in April and imprisoned without trial for an initial three months, under an Israeli procedure known as administrative detention.
	His lawyer said he was arrested for comments posted on his Facebook page.
	He has been accused of inciting violence against Israel, and Israeli media have said he is suspected of ties to the militant Islamist group Hamas.
	His lawyers appealed to an Israeli military court after his arrest, which in May ruled that he should be freed.
	However military prosecutors opted to put him on trial, leading to his sentence today.
	He was also given a fine of 2,000 shekels (450 euros, USD 525), according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club. He could be released in a month if he is given credit for time served.
	Barghouti is a professor at a university in the West Bank, ...

Palestinian professor sentenced in incitement case

PTI Automatic

South Africa rested three of their frontline bowlers but continued to dominate Australia as they won the fourth one-day international by six wickets at St George's Park on Sunday.
	   Kyle Abbott led what was effectively South Africa's back-up bowling attack as Australia were bowled out for 167, the lowest total of the series.
	   South African captain Faf du Plessis made 69 as South Africa secured their fourth successive win with 14.3 overs to spare.
	   It left Australian captain Steve Smith having to contemplate the prospect of a 5-0 series defeat going into the final match in Cape Town on Wednesday.
	   "We don't want a whitewash so we?ll have to turn up and play," he said.
	   Smith said he was disappointed with the batting performance.
	   "The wicket maybe wasn't as good as the others but 250 was about par."
	   Having clinched the five-match series by winning the first three games, South Africa rested fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada and leading spin bowler Imran ...

Australia fall to South Africa's back-up bowlers

Final scores in the fourth
one-day international between South Africa and Australia at St George's Park on Sunday.
     Australia
     A. Finch b Abbott                 2
     D. Warner b Abbott                6
     S. Smith lbw b Shamsi            21
     G. Bailey lbw b Pretorius         1
     M. Marsh c De Kock b Abbott      50
     T. Head lbw b Shamsi              0
     M. Wade lbw b Phangiso           52
     J. Hastings lbw b Shamsi          4
     A. Zampa b Abbott                 5
     C. Tremain not out               23
     S. Boland lbw b Phangiso          0
     Extras (w3)                       3
     Total (36.4 overs)              167
     Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Finch), 2-9 (Warner), 3-12 (Bailey), 4-49 (Smith), 5-49 (Head), 6-111 (Marsh), 7-116 (Hastings), 8-121 (Zampa), 9-167 (Wade)
     Bowling: Abbott 8-0-40-4, Pretorius 7-1-33-1 (1w), Shamsi 10-1-36-3 (1w), Phehlukwayo 5-1-28-0 (1w), Phangiso 4.4-0-17-2, Duminy 2-0-13-0
     South Africa
     H. Amla lbw b ...

Port Elizabeth, Oct 9 (AFP) Final scores in the fourth

Nine Myanmar police officers were killed in coordinated attacks by insurgents on posts along the border with Bangladesh early today, an official and police said.
	No-one has claimed responsibility but a senior local Myanmar official pointed the finger at a militant group from the Muslim Rohingya minority that has been dormant for years.
	The assaults hit three border posts around 1:30 am near Maungdaw in the impoverished western state of Rakhine, simmering with tensions between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas, who are forced to live in dire conditions.
	"Altogether nine police were killed, four others were injured and one is still missing," Tin Maung Swe, a senior official within Rakhine's state government, told AFP.
	He added that eight insurgents were also killed in the attacks.
	Police in the capital Naypyidaw confirmed the attack and said multiple weapons were seized by the assailants.
	Tin Maung Swe said the attackers were "RSO insurgents", a reference to a group known as the ...

Nine Myanmar police killed in attack on Bangladesh border

Haiti began three days of mourning today for victims of Hurricane Matthew as relief officials grappled with the unfolding devastation in the Caribbean country's hard-hit south.
	Matthew, meanwhile, lost its hurricane status, subsiding to a "post-tropical cyclone" after cutting a swath from Florida to South Carolina that left several dead.
	At 1200 GMT, the storm was still packing winds that gusted to hurricane strength as it moved away from the US coastline.
	But attention was shifting back to Haiti, the Americas' poorest country and one shattered by a 2010 earthquake and ravaged by a cholera epidemic.
	Matthew crashed ashore on Haiti's southern coast on Tuesday as a monster Category 4 storm, packing 145 mile (230 kilometer) winds.
	Aerial footage from the hardest-hit towns in southern Haiti showed a ruined landscape of metal shanties with roofs blown away, downed trees everywhere and mud from overflowing rivers covering the ground.
	Civil defense officials put the death toll at 336, .

Haiti mourns hurricane dead as Matthew dwindles

Iran has temporarily released a journalist for medical treatment after he became sick following a hunger strike, local media reported today.
	Ehsan Mazandarani, who runs reformist daily newspaper Farhikhtegan, was arrested in late 2015 and sentenced in April to seven years for "acting against national security".
	"The health of my client, due to a hunger strike he was on, turned bad and he was transferred to hospital," his lawyer Hooshang Pourbabayi told the ISNA news agency.
	Mazandarani's wife, Maliheh Hosseini, told local media that a doctor at Tehran's notorious Evin prison reported concerns over the journalist's health.
	"We were told to go to Evin prison and take my husband to hospital," she told the reformist-linked ILNA news agency, adding that he had suffered bleeding in the stomach and his blood sugar level had plunged.
	Four other journalists are thought to have been arrested around the same time as Mazandarani and have been given sentences ranging from two to 10 ...

Iran temporarily releases hunger-striking journalist

Syrian government forces today kept up their blistering assault on rebel-held eastern Aleppo after a divided UN Security Council failed to agree on a truce to "save" the war-battered city.
	Regime forces and their allies were advancing street by street in the eastern sector which has been out of government hands since 2012.
	"Clashes on the ground as well as fierce air strikes went on all night and are continuing today, especially in the Sheikh Said district" of eastern Aleppo, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
	It said regime forces took control of the Jandul crossroads in the northeast of the city.
	The latest advances aim to clear the way for "a crucial and decisive land offensive", said the Damascus daily Al-Watan which is close to the government.
	The army launched its assault on the besieged sector of Aleppo more than two weeks ago with the backing of Russian air strikes, aiming to reunite the city which was Syria's economic hub before its .

Syria regime keeps up Aleppo assault after UN fails on truce

The Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen said today it is ready to investigate together with the United States an air strike on a funeral ceremony in Sanaa that killed more than 140 people.
	The Iran-backed Huthi rebels have blamed the Arab coalition for yesterday's attack, one of the deadliest since it launched a military campaign against the Shiite insurgents in March last year.
	But after initially denying any responsibility, the coalition said it was ready to launch a probe into the "regrettable and painful" strike, which a UN official said also wounded more than 525 people.
	"The coalition will immediately investigate this case along with Joint Incidents Assessment Team in Yemen and experts from the United States who participated in previous investigations," it said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
	"The coalition is also willing to provide the investigation team with any data and information related to its military operations today, at the incident's ...

Arab coalition says to probe Yemen raid that killed 140

A Danish newspaper said today it will defy a court ban and publish excerpts of a book about the country's former intelligence chief to protest censorship.
	"This ban directly attacks the fundamental liberties on which our open society and free press depends," said Christian Jensen, editor-in-chief of Politiken, the country's paper of record.
	The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) had obtained a provisional injunction yesterday from the Copenhagen district court against the publication of the book, fearing it could contain secrets.
	The book, called "Seven Years for PET -- Jakob Scharf's Time" is based partly on interviews with the former spy chief and was due to go on sale from October 17 and be serialised in Politiken t.
	"The summary of the book on the site of (publisher) People's Press gives the impression that the book might contain confidential information, the disclosure of which might endanger lives or hamper the PET's capacity to prevent crimes... Like terrorism," 

Danish paper to defy ban and publish book on ex-spy chief

Thousands of Yemenis demonstrated in the capital Sanaa today to vent anger at Riyadh, head of a coalition accused of carrying out air strikes that killed at least 140 people at a funeral.
	The protesters gathered outside UN offices in Sanaa and chanted "Death to Al-Saud," the Saudi royal family.
	The rally, dubbed the "Volcano of Rage", came a day after bombs hit a funeral ceremony in the capital, in one of the deadliest air strikes since the Saudi-led coalition intervened against Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen in March 2015.
	The attack also wounded more than 525 people, according to the United Nations.
	"After this massacre, we are more determined to confront the assailants," prominent rebel chief Mohammed Ali al-Huthi told the crowd. "Open the fronts with the Saudi enemy immediately."
	Demonstrators also chanted anti-US slogans coined in Shiite Iran, which backs Yemen's rebels but denies providing military support.
	The coalition initially denied responsibility for Saturday's strike .

Angry anti-Saudi protest in Sanaa after funeral carnage

Chris Woakes, Jake Ball and Adil Rashid each grabbed two wickets as England restricted Bangladesh to a modest 238-8 in the second ODI in Dhaka on Sunday.
     England, who chose to bowl first in a bid to wrap up the three-match series after winning Friday's first game by 21 runs, made regular breakthroughs after Woakes struck twice in his opening spell.
     Mahmudullah top-scored with 75 while skipper Mashrafe Mortaza provided some late impetus with 44 off 29 balls, helping his side cross the 200-run mark.
     Bangladesh were in trouble once Woakes, who finished with 2-40, removed openers Imrul Kayes (11) and Tamim Iqbal (14) in his successive overs to leave the hosts on 26-2.
     Ball, man of the match last Friday with five wickets on debut, kept up the pressure when he bowled Sabbir Rahman for three. Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim put on 50 for the fourth wicket to steady the innings before Ball struck again.
     Rahim, who made 21, top-edged the paceman to fine leg where Moeen 

Disciplined England restrict Bangladesh to 238

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Johanna Konta in straight sets to take the title at the China Open in a chilly Beijing Sunday, denying the Briton her biggest career crown.
     The third-ranked Pole -- who cruised through the tournament without dropping a set -- sealed her second title in Beijing with an ace for a 6-4, 6-2 win.
     The victory was Radwanska's 20th career crown but there was more on the line for Konta, 25, who was making a bid in the Chinese capital for what would have been her second and biggest title.
     Despite the loss, by reaching the Beijing final Konta has amassed enough points to break into the top 10 -- the first British woman to do so since Jo Durie in 1984.
     When the new leaderboards are released Monday it will be the first time since computerised rankings were introduced that a British man (Andy Murray) and woman are ranked in the top 10 at the same time.
     Konta claimed two top 10 scalps en route to the final, sixth-ranked Karoline Pliskova and number ..

Radwanska beats Konta to take China Open title

Scoreboard after Bangladesh's innnings
in the second one-day international against England, at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.
     Scoreboard
	Bangladesh
	T Iqbal c Ali b Woakes            14
	I Kayes c Willey b Woakes         11
	S Rahman b Ball                   3
	Mahmudullah lbw b Rashid          75
	M Rahim c Ali b Ball              21
     Shakib c Buttler b Ball            3
	M Hossain c Ali b Rashid          29
	N Hossain not out                 27
	M Mortaza run out                 44
	S Islam not out                    0
	Extras (lb-4, w-6, nb-1)           11
	Total (For 8 wickets; 50 overs)    238
     Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-26, 3-39, 4-89, 5-113, 6-161, 7-169, 8-238
     Bowling: Woakes 9-0-40-2, Willey 8-1-36-0, Rashid 10-0-53-2, Ball 8-0-44-2, Stokes 6-1-22-1, Ali 9-0-39-0.

Dhaka, Oct 9 (AFP) Scoreboard after Bangladesh's innnings

A total of 18 people were killed in a car bomb in southeastern Turkey today, among them eight civilians, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.
	"The attack was perpetrated by a suicide bomber who detonated a van with five tons of explosives," Yildirim told a press conference in Istanbul. Earlier reports put the toll at nine dead.
	Another 26 people -- 10 soldiers and 16 civilians -- were injured in the blast in Hakkari province which was blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the official news agency Anadolu said.

Turkey car bomb toll doubles to 18 dead: PM

South Africa bowled out Australia for 167, the lowest total of the series, despite resting three of their frontline bowlers in the fourth one-day international against South Africa at St George's Park on Sunday.
	   Opening bowler Kyle Abbott bowled both Australian opening batsmen inside the first three overs and finished with four for 40, while unorthodox left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi took three for 36.
	   Mitchell Marsh and Matthew Wade made half-centuries but the next best batsman was tailender Chris Tremain, who made 23 not out.
	   South Africa, having clinched the five-match series by winning the first three games, picked what was effectively a back-up bowling attack, with fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada both rested along with leading spin bowler Imran Tahir.
	   They were replaced by Abbott and spinners Shamsi and Aaron Phangiso.
	   Abbott, who bowled a full length on a pitch which offered some sideways movement, bowled Aaron Finch with the third ball of the 

South Africa bowl Australia out for 167

Nigeria's secret police seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and assets in a series of anti-corruption raids targeting senior judges, drawing sharp condemnation today from the bar association and rights groups.
	During the nationwide operation, which took place on Saturday, police also detained several judges although the number was not exactly clear.
	The raids prompted the Nigerian Bar Association to declare a state of emergency, denouncing the "Gestapo-style" operation.
	In a statement, the Department of States Services (DSS) said it had seized USD 800,000 (715,000 euros) in cash during the operation which was launched on the basis of "allegations of corruption and professional misconduct" by a number of judges.
	"The searches have uncovered huge raw cash of various denominations, local and foreign currencies, with real estate worth several millions of naira and documents affirming unholy acts by these judges," it said.
	A source at DSS headquarters told AFP "about four .

Nigeria detains judges, seizes assets in graft probe

A Palestinian opened fire from a car in Jerusalem today and again as police chased him, killing two people, authorities said, after concerns over the potential for a new upsurge in violence.
	The gunman was killed soon after carrying out the attack near police headquarters, close to the line dividing mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem from the mostly Jewish western sector of the city.
	The shooting rampage comes at a time of increased Jewish visitors to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem for the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, which was last week, and Yom Kippur, which begins Tuesday evening.
	Police said the 39-year-old assailant fired in the direction of a tram station in the area, seriously wounding a woman.
	He then continued at high speed and shot at a car, leaving another woman badly hurt, they added.
	One of the women, a 60-year-old, was reported by medics to be in critical condition after being shot in her upper body.
	The attacker then headed toward the nearby ...

Palestinian gunman kills 2 in Jerusalem, shot dead

An attacker opened fire from a car in Jerusalem today, leaving at least three people wounded, before the assailant was killed by police, authorities said.
	Two of those injured were badly hurt, police said.
	The attack occurred near police headquarters, close to the line dividing mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem from the mostly Jewish western sector of the city.
	The area is also located near a light rail station. The assailant fled, but was pursued by police on motorcycles and was shot dead, police said.
	The attacker had also opened fire on police, they said.
	Details were still emerging from incident, which comes at a time of increased Jewish visitors to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem for the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur.
	The site is holy to both Muslims and Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.
	Last year's Jewish high holidays led to clashes and marked the start of an upsurge in Palestinian gun, knife and car-ramming ...

Shooting attack in Jerusalem wounds 3, assailant killed:police

Dealing with poorly drafted laws

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looking though binoculars at the site of a ballistic missile launching at an undisclosed location in North Korea

Satellite images taken on October 1 show increased activity at the Sohae satellite launch station in North Korea

Activity at N Korea rocket site fuels test concerns

Press Trust of India

England ground out a low-key 2-0 victory over Malta in 2018 World Cup qualifier in interim manager Gareth Southgate's first game in charge, while defending champions Germany strolled past the Czech Republic 3-0.
     Daniel Sturridge and Dele Alli scored first-half goals in front of a crowd of 82,000 at Wembley to steer England to a second straight win in Group F, leaving them two points clear at the top.
     Liverpool striker Sturridge headed superbly back across Malta goalkeeper Andrew Hogg in the 29th minute following an inviting cross from club team-mate Jordan Henderson.
     Alli then combined cleverly with Henderson to grab England's second goal seven minutes before half-time, the duo exchanging passes on the edge of the area before the former poked home the rebound after his initial effort was saved.
     "We, at times, played some really nice stuff in both halves, and had plenty of chances to have made it more comfortable," said Southgate, who has been appointed on a ...

England win on Southgate debut, classy Germany cruise

The ruling Georgian Dream party topped Georgia's legislative polls, official early results showed today, but accusations of vote rigging from the opposition sparked fears of political instability in the Caucasus nation.
	With votes from over 54 per cent of precincts counted, the central election commission said Georgian Dream was leading main opposition force the United National Movement (UNM) by 50.44 per cent to 26.67 per cent.
	The figures are for a proportional ballot that will decide 77 of the 150 seats in the legislature.
	After voting closed yesterday the Georgian Dream was quick to declare victory based on exit polls which gave it a strong lead over the UNM.
	But the UNM accused the government of attempts to "steal elections" and held a protest rally outside the central election commission.
	"Votes have been stolen from us. We will defend our votes," Nika Melia, chief of UNM's campaign and an MP candidate, told protesters, claiming that the electoral victory belonged to his ...

AFP

AFP

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