Donald Trump arrived in Mexico today for a meeting with President Enrique Pena Nieto that has aroused controversy because of the Republican White House candidate's past references to Mexican immigrants as "rapists" and criminals.
	Trump arrived at 1:09 pm local time in a plane that parked at the presidential hangar at Mexico City's international airport, an airport spokesman said.
	Local media said Trump would fly by helicopter to the presidential residence Los Pinos for the meeting with Pena Nieto and would later make a statement to the press.

Trump arrives in Mexico to meet Pena Nieto: airport official

PTI Automatic

Trump arrives in Mexico to meet President Pena Nieto: airport

Demonstrators set Gabon parliament on fire: witnesses. (AFP)

Three corpses were recovered as some 1,800 migrants were rescued off Libya today, taking the total number of people saved since Sunday to nearly 12,500, Italy's coastguard said.
	The three dead bodies were recovered from a stricken rubber dinghy by Malta-based NGO MOAS, whose boat the Phoenix rescued a total of 410 people during the day.
	Italian navy and coastguard boats were also in action along with a merchant tugboat that happened to be in the area.
	Despite the surge in numbers this week, migrant arrivals in Italy are running slightly below last year's levels.
	According to Interior Ministry figures, a total of 112,097 people had landed at Italian ports by today morning, compared with 116,149 for the same period in 2015.
	Thousands more will be registered in the coming days, putting more pressure on Italy's already rammed reception centres.
	Among those arriving today was a three-month-old Nigerian baby girl who was born in Libya and baptised Noa Mary on an Italian navy boat ...

Three dead, Italy migrant rescues hit 12,500 in four days

The number of confirmed Zika cases in Singapore surged past 100 late today, including the first pregnant woman to be infected by the disease which can cause deformities in babies.
	The United States and Britain joined Australia and Taiwan in advising pregnant women to avoid non-essential travel to the city-state, while a local health expert warned the infection rate would rise.
	The Ministry of Health and the National Environment Agency said in a joint statement late today they had identified 24 new infections plus nine more detected as a result of testing previous cases, bringing the total to 115.
	A pregnant woman was among those who tested positive for the virus.
	"Her doctor is following up closely with her to monitor her health and the development of her baby," the statement said.
	"She will be referred to a maternal-foetal medicine specialist for counselling and advice."
	The Aedes mosquito-borne Zika, which has been detected in 67 countries and territories including hardest-hit 

Pregnant woman in Singapore infected with Zika as cases soar

World oil prices fell sharply today on news that US commercial crude inventories rose by more than expected last week, indicating weakening demand and stoking supply glut concerns.
	At around 16.45 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in October recoiled USD 1.55 to USD 44.80 per barrel.
	Brent North Sea crude for the same month lost a hefty USD 1.30 to USD 47.07 a barrel compared with the closing level yesterday.
	The US government's Department of Energy (DoE) reported that commercial crude inventories rose by 2.3 million barrels in the week to August 26.
	That easily outstripped market expectations for a smaller gain of 1.3 million barrels, according to analysts polled by Bloomberg News, and followed a 2.5-million gain the previous week.
	Last week's increase also exceeded an estimated rise of 900,000 barrels from industry body the American Petroleum Institute.
	"Oil prices added to early declines after DoE inventory data showed a build," said CMC Markets analyst ..

Oil prices dive as US crude reserves jump

Iran has arrested a dual national who also holds US citizenship for "acting against national security", the ISNA news agency said today.
	The man was arrested in mid-July in the northern town of Gorgan near the border with Turkmenistan, ISNA quoted the intelligence services of the elite Revolutionary Guard as saying, without giving his name.
	The dual national is "accused of links with enemy governments, acting against national security and links with counter-revolutionary elements and media".
	"He was handed over to justice," ISNA said, without providing any further details.
	Tehran, which signed a landmark nuclear deal with world powers including Washington last year, does not recognise dual nationality and treats those arrested as Iranian citizens only.

Iran arrests dual national with US citizenship

A suspected murderer on the run for 16 years in China found refuge in Buddhist temples, eventually rising to become an abbot, state media said today.
	Zhang Liwei was detained by police earlier this month on suspicion of stabbing three people to death with accomplices in 2000, the Beijing News reported.
	After the killings in his home province of Heilongjiang, deep in northeastern China, Zhang fled nearly 2,000 kilometres (more than 1,000 miles) south to Anhui, changing his name and finding work as a temple cook and ticket-seller, it said.
	Later he moved to the Longxing temple in Fengyang county, shaving his own head and proclaiming himself a monk.
	He became a member of a local political consultative congress - an organ of the county government - and two years ago the monks elected him abbot on the recommendation of his predecessor, according to the report.
	He was only unmasked when he applied for a passport to travel abroad and submitted his fingerprints - which allegedly matched .

Monk on the run: Chinese 'killer' becomes temple abbot

Brazil's Senate today voted not to bar Dilma Rousseff from holding public office in the future despite stripping her of the presidency at her impeachment trial.
	After the vote to impeach her, senators in a second vote fell short of the two-thirds majority required to bar her from office for eight years, with just 42 of the 81 members backing the move.

Rousseff not barred from public office despite impeachment

The daughter of Uzbek strongman Islam Karimov, who has suffered a brain haemorrhage, today said public support was helping her father's recovery, as rumours swirl over his condition.
	Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva posted a message of thanks on social media "for your kind words of support and best wishes for the speedy recovery of our president."
	"It means the world to us, and I am sure that your heartfelt good wishes are helping in his recovery," wrote Karimova-Tillyaeva, Uzbekistan's ambassador to UNESCO.
	The statement was the first on Karimov's health since his youngest daughter announced on Monday that he was in a "stable" condition in intensive care after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage over the weekend.
	Long lambasted by rights groups for his brutal crushing of dissent, Karimov, 78, has ruled Central Asian Uzbekistan with an iron fist for over a quarter of a century.
	While information is very tightly controlled in the ex-Soviet nation, reports have appeared in opposition media ...

Stricken Uzbek leader's daughter hints at 'recovery'

Israel today approved the construction of 463 homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, the watchdog Peace Now said, drawing a sharp rebuke from the United States.
	Washington said it was "deeply concerned" by the announcement, with a senior US official slamming the "pervasive advancement of settlement activity in a new and potentially unlimited way".
	The approvals mostly involved new housing units, but a retroactive green light was also granted to 179 existing homes in the Ofarim settlement.
	Around 50 new units received final approval, while others were given preliminary authorisation at different stages in the review process.
	Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "continues to plan and build all over the West Bank, while also giving settlers the message that any construction done without planning will be retroactively legalised," Peace Now said.
	Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nations coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told the UN Security Council ..

Israel approves 463 settlement homes: watchdog

Brazil's Dilma Rousseff was today stripped of the country's presidency in a Senate impeachment vote ending 13 years of leftist rule in Latin America's biggest economy.
	Rousseff, 68, was convicted by 61 of the 81 senators of illegally manipulating the national budget. The vote, passing the needed two-thirds majority, meant she was immediately removed from office.
	Cheers -- and cries of disappointment -- erupted in the blue-carpeted, circular Senate chamber as the verdict flashed up on the electronic voting screen.
	Pro-impeachment senators burst into a rendering of the national anthem, some waving Brazilian flags, while allies of Rousseff stood stony faced.
	"I will not associate my name to this infamy," read a sign held up by one senator.
	Brazil's first female president, holed up in the presidential palace on the outskirts of the capital Brasilia with close aides, was expected to make a statement soon after the vote.
	Her vice president turned bitter political enemy, Michel Temer, .

Brazil's Senate strips Rousseff of presidency

US President Barack Obama will call for broader fiscal stimulus from other economies and press Beijing to limit steel capacity during his final G20 summit this weekend, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said today.
	In an address in Washington prior to his departure for the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, China, Lew also said policy makers should respond to the populist discontent among voters in the United States and Europe, saying they should heed "the message of anxious and angry citizens who feel left behind."
	"The president will call on his counterparts to follow through on the G20's commitment to use all policy tools -- including fiscal policy -- to achieve robust and inclusive growth," Lew said at the Brookings Institution.
	"He will underscore the importance of investing in jobs and supporting middle-class incomes," Lew said.
	Obama will also ask China for steel industry reforms, highlighting an issue that has threatened steel producers around the world.
	"Excess capacity ...

Obama to press China on steel at G20, Lew says

Gabon's president Ali Bongo was declared winner today of contested weekend elections, extending half-a-century of rule by the Bongo family which sparked clashes in the Central African nation.
	Protesters shouting "Ali must go!" tried to storm the offices of the election commission shortly after authorities announced his re-election by a narrow majority.
	Security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to push several hundred protesters back.
	Bongo won 49.80 of the vote against 48.23 percent for his rival Jean Ping, or a razor-thin 5,594 votes of a total 627,805 registered voters, Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet-Boubeya.
	Bongo, whose father held onto power for four decades, sought relection after winning a first term in 2009 in a poll that was marred by violence.
	His rival, half-Chinese ex-diplomat Jean Ping, had also claimed victory, sparking fears of violence and the deployment of anti-riot police around the capital Libreville.
	Any appeal by Ping would be likely to focus on ...

Clashes as Gabon's Bongo narrowly wins re-election

Islamic State group spokesman and top strategist Abu Mohamed al-Adnani has been killed in Syria, the group said, with both Washington and Moscow claiming credit.
	Adnani was IS's propaganda chief, top recruiter and the reported mastermind of a string of IS-claimed attacks in the West.
	In Washington, the Pentagon said US-led coalition forces had targeted Adnani in an air strike in Syria's Aleppo province yesterday but did not immediately confirm his death.
	Russia's military said one of its air strikes had killed Adnani in a bombing raid yesterday that left up to 40 IS jihadists dead - a claim dismissed by US officials as "a joke".
	Regardless of who was responsible, analysts say his death will be a major bow to IS, which has suffered a series of setbacks this year including territorial losses in Syria and Iraq and the killings of other top figures.
	Adnani was "the most viscerally aggressive ISIS leader in the public eye," said Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East ...

US, Russia claim credit as IS spokesman killed in Syria

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew today reiterated the Obama administration's frustration with European authorities over their decision this week to impose back taxes on Apple.
	The European Commission this week said Apple, the world's most valuable company, owed Ireland USD 14.5 billion because Dublin had offered the iPhone maker illegal and unfair tax arrangements.
	"Our concern with the European Commission action is that it is using a state-aide theory to make tax law and it is doing it in a way that is retroactive and that overrides national tax law authority," Lew said following a speech in Washington on this weekend's G20 summit in China.
	Lew's remarks followed a reaction from the White House yesterday, which described European authorities' actions as "unilateral" and "unfair."
	The Obama administration has sought to prohibit corporations from virtually eliminating their entire tax burdens through overseas moves and so-called corporate inversions.
	Lew said that, while US tax ...

Apple tax bill undermines transatlantic cooperation, Lew says

John Hastings claimed six wickets before Aaron Finch and George Bailey's attacking half-centuries powered Australia to a series clinching six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the fourth one-day international here today.
     Australia rode on Finch's 19-ball 55 and an unbeaten 90 from Bailey to chase down 213 in 31 overs and take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
	Earlier Hastings career-best bowling figures of 6-45 helped bowl out Sri Lanka for 212 after electing to bat first despite Dhananjaya de Silva's fighting 76.
	It was Finch's 19-ball 55 that gave Australia a rocket start against a Sri Lankan attack that missed skipper Angelo Mathews' medium pace after the allrounder hurt his calf while batting.
	Finch, who equalled the record for the fastest fifty by an Australian, struck eight fours and three sixes as he carted the Sri Lankan spinners to all parts of the ground.
	Left-arm spinner Sachith Pathirana's triple strike in the space of five deliveries checked the ...

Australia beat Sri Lanka, clinch ODI series

A Japanese gunman accused of shooting dead a construction worker and wounding three others died today after he also shot himself following a long and tense standoff with police, news reports said.
	Yasuhide Mizobata fled into an apartment building yesterday afternoon after firing repeatedly at officers who challenged him, a force spokesman said.
	About 17 hours later the suspect shot himself in the abdomen, public broadcaster NHK and Jiji Press reported.
	NHK footage showed police storming the building after hearing a gunshot as an ambulance apparently carrying the suspect sped off. The broadcaster said police arrested him.
	He was then treated in hospital but later confirmed dead, NHK said.
	Police could not immediately confirm details.
	The standoff surprised Japan, where gun violence is exceedingly unusual and there are very strict controls on firearms ownership.
	Mizobata had spent the night holed up in the building, surrounded by heavily-armed police trying to persuade him to ...

Japan gunman shoots himself dead after standoff with police

Cuba and the US took the latest step in their efforts to boost ties today when the first regular commercial flight from America to the communist-ruled island in more than 50 years took off.
	JetBlue Flight 386 left Fort Lauderdale in southeastern Florida shortly after 10:00 AM (1400 GMT) with 150 passengers on board. After less than an hour in the air, it will land in central Cuba's Santa Clara, 280 kilometers east of Havana.
	The flight is the first of dozens of daily trips connecting US cities to nine Cuban airports, many of them in or near tourism hotspots. Regular air service was severed during the Cold War, and charter flights have been the only air links since.
	"It's a new day for Cuba travelers and one we have thoughtfully prepared for. We are proud to usher in a new era of Cuba travel with affordable fares and great service," JetBlue's executive vice president Marty St George said.
	The Fort Lauderdale airport was in full party mode near Jet Blue's departure area -- a live ...

Maiden commercial flight from US to Cuba takes off

A Pakistani entrepreneur has developed a mobile game app intended to break taboos surrounding menstruation in the developing world, including beliefs that periods are "evil" or make women impure.
	"MoHim", an acronym for Menstrual Health Management which also means "effort" in Urdu, arms players with a pair of panties which they use to catch sanitary pads while avoiding items unsuited to absorbing period flow such as leaves and newspapers.
	As players complete levels they are awarded keys which unlock "myth-buster" doors that dispel deep-seated prejudices against menstruation in much of the developing world -- such as the idea that women should not cook or bathe while having their periods.
	The app is the brainchild of Mariam Adil, a World Bank analyst in Washington, DC. She also heads a small Pakistan- based startup called GRID that aims to use games to promote social change.
	Adil told AFP today of the stigma she encountered around menstruation in Pakistan, such as "when girls skip .

Pakistani team develops menstrual game app to break taboos

Joseph Rasanayagam jumped on his bicycle as soon as he heard rumours the army would be handing back his ancestral land in Sri Lanka's battle-scarred north to mark a visit by the United Nations chief.
	But when the 59-year-old fisherman arrived at a major military compound in Jaffna, soldiers turned him away -- dashing his hopes of finally returning home.
	"I can see my land over the (military) fence but I can't access it until it's released," Rasanayagam said.
	"For more than 26 years I lived in seven IDP (internally displaced people) camps," said Rasanayagam, who recently decided to move his wife and four children into a relative's house, where they are crammed into a single room.
	Sri Lanka's army has occupied thousands of hectares in the Jaffna peninsula -- the heartland of the country's Tamil minority -- and elsewhere in the north since the end in 2009 of a decades-long conflict with Tamil separatist rebels.
	Last year it began returning plots to their original owners.
	But ...

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