The world's first baby has been born thanks to a controversial new technique employed by US scientists to include DNA from three parents in the embryo, said a report today.
	The baby boy was born five months ago in Mexico to Jordanian parents, and is healthy and doing well, said the report in New Scientist magazine, described as an "exclusive."
	The boy's mother carried genes for a disorder known as Leigh Syndrome, a fatal nervous system disorder which she had passed on to her two previous children who both died of the disease.
	She had also suffered four miscarriages.
	The woman, whose identity was withheld by New Scientist, and her husband sought the help of John Zhang, a doctor from the New Hope Fertility Center in New York City to have a baby that would be genetically related to them but would not carry the inherited disease.
	The United States has not approved any three-parent method for fertility purposes, so Zhang went to Mexico where he was quoted by New Scientist as saying ...

World's first baby born from 3-parent technique: report

PTI Automatic

The International Monetary Fund warned today that central banks are struggling to beat back deflationary forces and that governments need to spend to help them succeed.
	In a new assessment of global economic conditions, the IMF said many countries worldwide are battling disinflation - low and slowing inflation - due to weak global economic growth.
	If central banks around the world cannot halt this stall, and if companies and people increasingly believe they can't halt it, their economies risk sinking into a deflationary spiral - where prices generally start to fall and companies and consumers hold back spending and investment, stalling the economy.
	In this case, "countries can't afford to be complacent," the Fund warned.
	The report said deflationary pressures in many countries are coming from abroad, in the form of sinking prices of both commodities and manufactured goods.
	"The breadth of the decline in inflation across countries and the fact that it is stronger in the tradable ..

IMF warns central banks could lose deflation fight

Measles has been eradicated from the Americas due to decades of vaccination efforts, making it the first region of the world to rid itself of the disease, global health authorities said today.
	"Endemic transmission of measles has been eliminated from the region," said World Health Organisation director Margaret Chan.
	"The Americas region has shown that with strong national immunization programs... Dedicated financing and strong political commitment and partner support, measles can be stopped," she added, describing it as "an outstanding achievement."
	Measles is now the fifth vaccine-preventable disease to be eliminated in the Americas, after smallpox, polio, rubella and congenital rubella syndrome, according to a statement from the Pan American Health Organisation.
	The end of endemic transmission means the virus is no longer commonly spread locally, although imported cases may still lead to isolated outbreaks.
	The region of the Americas reported its last endemic case in ...

Americas region is world's first to be free of measles

A car belonging to a Cyprus football referee was badly damaged in an overnight bomb blast in the latest attack to target officials in the sport, police said today.
	First division referee George Nicolaou, 41, was unhurt after the early morning explosion outside his home in Zakaki near the coastal town of Larnaca.
	But Charalambos Skapoullis, head of the Cyprus Referees Association, told state radio Nicolaou "was in shock and troubled" by the incident.
	"This is totally unacceptable. The referee has not been involved in any games that prompted any sort of reaction from teams or fans, so this attack is also puzzling," he said.
	Twice over the past two years referees in the east Mediterranean island have come out on strike because of attacks.
	The Cyprus Football Association said such "terror" tactics "harm our football family, as well as society in general".
	In January 2015, the CFA postponed all fixtures for a week when match officials staged a walk-out following a bombing outside the 

Bomb targets Cyprus football referee in latest attack

Panama today asked the United States to extradite former president Ricardo Martinelli to face charges of spying against opposition members while in power.
	The Foreign Ministry said it had formally filed the request with the State Department through the Panamanian Embassy in Washington, DC.
	Martinelli, who served from 2009 to 2004, is believed to be living in Miami.
	The wealthy businessman is accused of corruption and of tapping opponents' and journalists' phones and emails during his presidency.
	Panama first announced back in June that it wanted the United States to arrest and extradite Martinelli.

Panama asks US to extradite former president on spying charges

The International Monetary Fund today said immigration could help boost economic growth in host countries and called for the swift integration of new workers to help surmount political tensions.
	The remarks, contained in a new study, coincides with strong anti-immigrant sentiment in Western countries as a global refugee crisis reaches proportions not seen since the Second World War.
	"Migration may stir social tensions and provoke a political backlash in recipient economies, but past experience suggests it may also offer gains in terms of higher growth, productivity, and relief from population aging," the report said.
	A single percentage point rise in the share of migrants among a host country's adult population can in the longer-term result in a 2 per cent gain in per capita GDP, the report said.
	It called for the quick integration of new arrivals into labor markets, as well as access to schools and support for migrant businesses, to reduce the strains and social pressures that ...

Immigrants a possible boon to host economies, IMF says

Iran today ruled out an imminent agreement with other major oil producers to freeze output as regional rivalry with Saudi Arabia hindered efforts to reverse a price slump.
	The new signs of discord sent oil prices sliding again on world markets in the face of a global supply glut that has left a gaping hole in the finances of oil-exporting nations.
	US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in November fell 3.5 per cent to USD 44.31 a barrel in New York trade today.
	Brent North Sea crude for November shed 3.4 per cent to USD 45.75 a barrel.
	OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia has so far refused to curb its output at a time when Iran is ramping up production following the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions.
	Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said today on the eve of an informal OPEC meeting in Algeria that the Islamic republic was not yet ready to join a mooted production freeze.
	"It's not in our agenda to reach an agreement in two days. We need time for more consultation," he ...

Oil slumps as Iran-Saudi discord dims freeze prospects

Syria's army took control of a rebel-held district in central Aleppo today, after days of heavy air strikes that have killed dozens and sparked allegations of war crimes.
	In the first advance since announcing plans last week to retake all of the divided city, pro-government troops seized the Farafina district northwest of Aleppo's historic citadel, a military source told AFP.
	"After neutralising many terrorists... Units are now demining the area," the source said.
	The push follows several days of Syrian and Russian air strikes on rebel-held Aleppo neighbourhoods - some of the fiercest bombardment of the five-year conflict so far - after a ceasefire deal brokered by Moscow and Washington collapsed last week.
	The Aleppo maelstrom prompted Western powers to accuse Russia of committing possible war crimes, charges the Kremlin condemned as "unacceptable".
	In the latest broadside, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also condemned the air campaign.
	"The appalling attacks on Aleppo 

Syria army retakes Aleppo district as bombs rain down

Switzerland's lower house today narrowly approved a draft bill on a nationwide burqa ban, a news report said, but the measure remains far from coming into force.
	The proposal by lawmaker Walter Wobmann of the populist right-wing Swiss Peoples Party (SVP) won 88 votes, with 87 against, the ATS news agency reported.
	Wobmann's bill was nearly identical to a measure approved in a 2013 referendum in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino banning the full-face Islamic veil.
	The Ticino ban came into force on July 1, and calls for fines ranging between 100 Swiss francs (USD 100, 92 euros) to 10,000 Swiss francs.
	ATS quoted Wobmann as saying that the goal of the national burqa ban was to "maintain public order and respect for the dignity of women."
	Today's vote may prove to be a largely symbolic move in the protracted process towards an outright ban on the full-face veil.
	Lawmakers will almost certainly defer action on the issue until the country weighs in through a referendum, ATS ...

Swiss lawmakers approve step towards burqa ban

Final scores in a
one-day international between Australia and Ireland at Willowmoore Park today.
     Ireland
     W Porterfield lbw b Zampa       24
     P Stirling c Zampa b Boland     30
     J Anderson lbw b Boland         39
     G Wilson c Wade b Worrall       14
     S Terry run out (Smith)          0
     K O'Brien lbw b Zampa           23
     S Poynter b Marsh               11
     G Dockrell b Zampa               8
     B McCarthy c Bailey b Hastings  13
     T Murtagh c Bailey b Hastings   15
     P Chase not out                  0
     Extras (LB-2, W-19)             21
     Total (43.5 overs)             198
     Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-72, 3-121, 4-123, 5-123, 6-146, 7-158, 8-178, 9-198.
     Bowling: Worrall 10-0-43-1, Hastings 7.5-0-31-2, Boland 8-0-42-2, Marsh 8-0-43-1, Zampa 10-1-37-3.
     Australia
     D Warner c and b Murtagh        48
     U Khawaja not out               82
     S Smith not out                 59
     Extras (NB-1, W-9)              10
     ...

Benoni (South Africa), Sep 27 (AFP) Final scores in a

Usman Khawaja and captain Steve Smith shared an unbeaten 126-run partnership as Australia romped to a nine-wicket win in a one-day international against Ireland at Willowmoore Park today.
     Khawaja made 82 not out and Smith an unbeaten 59 as Australia chased down a modest target of 199 with 19.5 overs to spare.
     It was a second heavy defeat in a row for Ireland, who lost by 206 runs against South Africa at the same venue on Sunday, but set the scene for what Smith expects to be a tough five-match one-day series between South Africa and Australia, starting at Centurion on Friday.
     Ireland let slip a promising start, collapsing from 121 for two in the 24th over to 198 all out.
     The solid foundation laid by William Porterfield (24), Paul Stirling (30) and John Anderson (39) was destroyed when they lost three wickets for two runs in the space of seven balls.
     Anderson was leg before wicket to Scott Boland before new cap Daniel Worrall claimed his first international ...

Khawaja and Smith peerless in Ireland rout

Britain vowed today to oppose any attempt to create an "EU army" following the Brexit vote, although the head of NATO denied that European defence cooperation would undermine the transatlantic alliance.
	The row broke out as European Union defence ministers met in Bratislava to discuss ways of boosting defence cooperation, one of the priorities set when the bloc's leaders met without Britain earlier this month.
	Arriving for the talks, British defence minister Michael Fallon said NATO - which shares 22 of its 28 members with the EU - had to remain a "cornerstone of our defence and the defence of Europe".
	"We are going to continue to oppose any idea of an EU army or an EU army headquarters which would simply undermine NATO," Fallon told reporters in the Slovakian capital.
	Asked whether Britain could veto the plans in the estimated two-plus years before it formally leaves the EU, Fallon replied: "There is no majority here for a EU army.
	"There are a number of other countries who ...

Britain vows to oppose any 'EU army'

A Spanish court today jailed five men over the stampede deaths of five young women at an overcrowded Halloween event they organised in 2012.
	The Madrid court found the five guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from two-and-a-half to four years.
	Another two men were fined 3,600 euros (USD 4,000) for their role in the deaths.
	The court ordered the seven men to pay 350,000 euros (USD 393,000) to the families of each victim of the tragedy.
	Three women aged between 18 and 20 were killed in a stampede in the early hours of November 1, 2012 at the Madrid-Arena venue, and two others aged 17 and 20 died later in hospital from their injuries.
	The longest sentence was handed to Miguel Angel Flores, the owner of a private company that organised the event.
	The court said that he sold 16,492 tickets for a venue that could only hold 10,620 people, "which generated obvious risk for the physical safety of those present".
	It said Flores had ordered the closure .

Spain court jails five over deadly Halloween stampede

The third typhoon to hit Taiwan in two weeks killed four people and injured scores today, bringing violent winds and heavy rain as schools and offices closed.
	Typhoon Megi forced thousands to evacuate their homes and played havoc with rail and road networks as it made landfall in the eastern county of Hualien in the early afternoon.
	One man aged 40 died in a car accident in high winds while a 65-year-old man was killed when he was hit by falling scaffolding, and a 17-year-old boy drowned when his boat overturned, authorities said, with the deaths all in the south.
	Also in the south, a 48-year-old man fell to his death as he was repairing the roof of a house.
	At least 167 people were injured, including seven Japanese tourists and a local guide when their bus was bowled over by winds on a highway in central Taiwan, according to the national fire agency.
	Billboards and scaffolding were torn down while trees were uprooted and roofs ripped off. Television footage showed waves surging .

Typhoon Megi kills four, leaves trail of damage in Taiwan

The United States should give African Americans reparations for slavery, UN experts said today, warning that the country had not yet confronted its legacy of "racial terrorism."
	Amid a presidential election campaign in which racial rhetoric has played a central role, the UN working group on people of African descent warned that blacks in the US were facing a "human rights crisis."
	This has largely been fuelled by impunity for police officers who have killed a series of black men - many of them unarmed - across the country in recent months, the working group's report said.
	Those killings "and the trauma they create are reminiscent of the past racial terror of lynchings," said the report, which was presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council yesterday.
	Addressing the deeper causes of America's racial tensions, the experts voiced concern over the unresolved "legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial ...

US owes blacks reparations over slavery: UN experts

Israeli ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres was "fighting for his life" today after suffering a stroke earlier this month, a source close to him said.
	"The president is fighting for his life," the source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. "His health position is very, very difficult. His doctors are worried about his health."
	Peres, 93, has held nearly every major office in Israel, serving twice as prime minister. He was also president, a mostly ceremonial role, from 2007 to 2014.
	He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for his role in negotiating the Oslo Accords, which envisioned an independent Palestinian state.
	The former hawk turned dove -- the last of Israel's founding fathers -- is widely respected both in Israel and abroad.
	He suffered a stroke on September 13 and has been hospitalised near Tel Aviv since then.
	On September 18, Peres's office said doctors planned to ...

Peres 'fighting for his life' as condition worsens: source

Turkey has dismissed 87 staff from its spy agency over alleged links to the failed July 15 coup, state media said today, in the first purge of one of the country's most powerful institutions.
	National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) has suspended 141 personnel in an internal probe over links to US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who Ankara alleges was behind the coup.
	Of these, 87 have now been expelled, the Anadolu news agency said. Criminal complaints have been lodged against 52 of them, it added.
	In a separate development, Turkish police detained 41 suspects from a charity organisation Kimse Yok Mu? (Is There Anyone There?) for alleged links to Gulen, Anadolu news agency reported.
	Turkey has fired tens of thousands of people from state institutions in the wake of the attempted putsch but this was the first announcement of dismissals from the powerful spy agency.
	Turkey's secret service was widely criticised for not warning authorities about the coup bid and the government has ..

Turkey dismisses 87 spy agency staff over failed coup

Thousands of Saudis have signed a petition urging an end to the guardianship system giving men control over the work, study, marriage and travel of female relatives, activists said today.
	The petition calls for the kingdom's women to be treated "as a full citizen, and decide an age where she will be an adult and will be responsible for her own acts", said campaigner Aziza Al-Yousef of Riyadh.
	The retired university professor told AFP that she tried unsuccessfully to deliver the petition with 14,700 names to the Royal Court yesterday.
	The activists will now send it by mail as requested.
	Saudi Arabia has some of the world's tightest restrictions on women, and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive.
	Under the guardianship system a male family member, normally the father, husband or brother, must grant permission for a woman's study, travel and other activities.
	Activists say that even female prisoners have to be received by the guardian upon their release, meaning .

Saudi petition seeks 'full' rights for women

Hate standing in line at your favourite restaurant? Japanese carmaker Nissan claims to have just the thing for those sore legs.
	A company video released today re-enacts a busy restaurant with patrons waiting outside.
	They're all sitting in a row of chairs but they won't have to stand when the next hungry diner is called to a table.
	Instead, the chairs -- equipped with autonomous technology that detects the seat ahead -- glide along a path toward the front of the line.
	The now empty chair at the front moves out of pole position.
	The system, which is similar to the kind used in Nissan's autonomous vehicle technology, will be tested at select restaurants in Japan this year, Nissan said.
	"(It) appeals to anyone who has queued for hours outside a crowded restaurant: it eliminates the tedium and physical strain of standing in line," it added.
	Although Tokyo has some 160,000 restaurants, long queues are not uncommon.

Hate standing in line? Japan now has self-driving chairs

Iran is not ready to compromise on the issues of intelligence sharing, sanctions and definitions of terrorist groups in order to join an international task force against terror financing, a minister said today.
	Iran, along with North Korea, is blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and aims to be removed from "high risk and non-cooperative" status, even if it does not obtain full membership.
	Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia said Iran is not obliged to accept all the conditions put forward by the task force.
	But it will implement some of the recommendations in an Action Plan developed with the FATF in order to be upgraded to either a fully cooperating or partially cooperating country, he added.
	"We will not allow any international body to access our intelligence. We will not accept definitions and examples of terrorism from any authority except the UN Security Council," Tayebnia told a parliamentary session.
	"And we will not recognise international sanctions on ...

Iran sets conditions for joining terror finance taskforce

War crimes judges today sentenced a Malian jihadist to nine years in jail for destroying the fabled shrines of Timbuktu, in a landmark ruling experts hope will help safeguard the world's vulnerable monuments.
	Judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague found Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi guilty of directing the 2012 attacks on the UNESCO world heritage site in northern Mali.
	Mahdi "supervised the destruction and gave instructions to the attackers", presiding judge Raul Pangalangan told the tribunal.
	"The chamber unanimously finds that Mr al-Mahdi is guilty of the crime of attacking protected sites as a war crime," he added, saying the crime had "significant gravity".
	The court "unanimously sentences you to nine years of imprisonment," Pangalangan added as Mahdi, dressed in a sober grey suit and blue-striped tie, listened intently.
	The landmark verdict is the first to focus solely on cultural destruction as a war crime and the first arising out of the conflict in Mali, when ..

AFP

AFP

Page 1432 - Afp