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 ...

Sri Lanka's war-battered Tamils pin hopes on UN visit

PTI Automatic

Even without poachers, Central Africa's forest elephants would need almost a century to get their numbers back up to 2002 levels, said a study today that pried into the elusive creatures' slow-breeding ways.
	The population had been decimated by illegal hunting, with an estimated 65 per cent decline between 2002 and 2013, said researchers.
	Roaming the tropical forests of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon and Democratic Republic of Congo, the tusker sub-species is thought to have numbered about one to two million at its peak, study co-author George Wittemyer of Colorado State University told AFP.
	In 1993, the rough estimate was 500,000, and in 2013 some 100,000.
	"The forest populations are reproducing now, though at a very slow rate," Wittemyer said by email.
	"The problem is that poaching is removing individuals at a rate that either drives the population to decline or negates any increases due to births."
	Forest elephants are smaller than savannah elephants -- the .

Study sounds alarm for slow-breeding forest elephants

Pope Francis today announced the creation of a new Vatican ministry for human development in the latest move by the reforming pontiff to put his personal stamp on the Catholic church.
	The new Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is being established by papal decree and will start work on January 1.
	Francis is to retain personal oversight of Vatican policy on migration, an issue dear to his heart.
	The new ministry is being created by merging four existing departments dealing with justice, health, development and migrants and itinerant people.
	The move is part of Francis's drive to streamline the Vatican bureacracy and put efforts to defend and support the most vulnerable at the heart of the Church's mission.
	"This Dicastery will be competent particularly in issues regarding migrants, those in need, the sick, the excluded and marginalized, the imprisoned and the unemployed, as well as victims of armed conflict, natural disasters, and all forms of slavery and torture," 

Pope extends stamp on Church with new ministry for human

Russia will hold a two-day competition next week for its Paralympic squad banned from Rio, the country's committee chief said today, just as the official Games start in Brazil.
     "We're planning to hold on September 7-8 a series of tournaments for the country's Paralympic athletes at the training bases in the Moscow region," R-Sport news agency quoted Russia's Paralympic Committee head Vladimir Lukin as saying.
	Russia looks set to miss the Paralympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport last week dismissed an appeal against a blanket ban over allegations of state-run doping.
	The country has appealed to a federal court in Switzerland against the ruling but there appears little hope of overturning the suspension before the start of the Paralympics in Rio on September 7.
	Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out against the ban on the country's Paralympians, calling the decision "outside the law, morality, humanity".
	Putin pledged that Russia instead would ...

Russia to hold alternative 'Paralympics' for banned athletes

At least 16 people were killed and 85 injured today when a lorry crashed into a bus in central Tunisia, the interior ministry said.
	The dawn accident near Kasserine also left around 15 cars ablaze, according to the ministry.
	It said the lorry driver, who was among those killed, was unable to brake and his vehicle hit the bus and several cars before slamming into an electricity pole.
	Dozens of injured were taken to hospital in Kasserine, as emergency crews worked to extract others still trapped in the wreckage.
	Photos shared on social media showed columns of thick black smoke rising from the scene of the accident, and national television broadcast images of burnt cars.
	As of the end of May, 528 people had died in road accidents in the North African country of around 11 million inhabitants since the start of the year.

At least 16 dead in Tunisia road accident

First commercial flight in more than 50 years departs US

Nigeria's economy nosedived into a recession, official data showed today, with oil production hammered by militant attacks on pipelines and foreign investment at a "record" low.
	Output in the three months to the end of June was -2.1 per cent with the oil sector reporting a double-digit decline following a wave of attacks by rebels in the oil-producing south.
	The slowdown was recorded across many sectors in a sign that Africa's economic giant is wrestling with deeper structural issues than just the low price of crude.
	During the oil boom, sales of oil at high prices had made Nigeria the biggest economy in Africa.
	But when the price of crude crashed from more than $100 a barrel in June 2014 to below $50 today, Nigeria's economy collapsed.
	The crisis was compounded by President Muhammadu Buhari's unorthodox decision to prop up the naira at 197-199 to the dollar causing foreign currency reserves to tank.
	International investors, wary of the controversial currency peg, avoided ...

Nigeria in recession with 'record' low foreign investment

Israeli authorities approved 466 settlement homes in the occupied West Bank today, settlement watchdog Peace Now said, despite growing international criticism over such projects.
	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.
	Israeli 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 on Monday that Israeli settlement expansion has surged in the two months since a key report called for a halt.
	The report by the diplomatic Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, 

Israel approves 466 settlement homes: watchdog

Australian medium-pacer John Hastings took six wickets to help bowl out Sri Lanka for 212 despite a half-century from Dhananjaya de Silva in the fourth one-day international here today.
     Sri Lanka, who trail the five-match series 2-1, suffered from a lack of partnerships as their innings ran out of steam. They folded on the last ball of the 50th over after electing to bat first.
	Australia's pace spearhead Mitchell Starc struck in the very first over to have debutant batsman Avishka Fernando trapped lbw for nought.
	Hastings, who recorded career-best figures of 6-45, soon got Kusal Mendis caught behind for one. The on-field umpire gave the batsman not out before Australia successfully reviewed the decision.
     Scott Boland, who replaced Josh Hazlewood in the Australian starting XI, joined the pace charge to dismiss previous match centurion Dinesh Chandimal -- caught behind to leave Sri Lanka reeling on 31 for three.
	De Silva, who scored 76, and Mathews then started a rebuilding 

Hastings' six wickets restrict Sri Lanka to 212

Scoreboard after Sri Lanka's
innings in the fourth one-day international against Australia here today:
     Sri Lanka
	D. De Silva c Finch b Hastings        76
	A. Fernando b Starc                    0
	K. Mendis c Wade b Hastings            1
	D. Chandimal c Wade b Boland           5
	A. Mathews c Bailey b Hastings        40
	A. Perera c Wade b Zampa               7
	K. Perera c Warner b Head              6
	T. Perera c Finch b Hastings          13
	S. Pathirana c Faulkner b Hastings    24
	D. Perera c Wade b Hastings           18
	A. Aponso not out                      1
	Extras: (B-4, LB-2, W-15)              21
     Total (all out in 50 overs)           212
     Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-18, 3-31, 3-115 (retired hurt), 4-121, 5-130, 6-134, 7-165, 8-199, 9-200
     Bowling: Starc 10-1-51-1, Hastings 10-0-45-6, Boland 10-1-36-1, Faulkner 10-0-39-0, Zampa 8-0-30-1, Head 2-0-5-1.

Dambulla, Aug 31 (AFP) Scoreboard after Sri Lanka's

Russia's military today said its air strikes had killed top Islamic State group strategist Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, after Washington said coalition forces had targeted the jihadist propaganda chief.
	In a statement, Russia's defence ministry said an Su-34 warplane yesterday killed "up to 40" IS fighters in a bombing raid near the village of Um Hosh in the province of Aleppo.
	Russia has been flying its own bombing campaign in Syria in support of leader Bashar al-Assad since September but this is first time they have claimed to have killed a top-ranking IS leader.
	"According to information confirmed through several intelligence channels, field commander Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was among those killed," the statement said.
	The IS-affiliated Amaq news agency announced propaganda chief Adnani's death late on Tuesday, saying he "was martyred while surveying operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo" in northern Syria.
	The United States said coalition forces had targeted ...

Russia claims it killed IS spokesman Adnani in Syria

Sri Lankan police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of fans trying to force their way into a stadium where the home team were playing their fourth one-day international against Australia here today.
     About 300 fans tried to force their way into the 18,000-capacity Dambulla stadium after the authorities announced that all tickets had been sold and asked anyone without tickets to leave the area, a police official said.
	"We asked them to go, but they tried to break in while some blocked the main road by sitting down," said a police official in Dambulla, around 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Colombo.
	"The situation was quickly brought under control," added the official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
	There were also chaotic scenes during the third ODI at the same venue on Sunday when fans without tickets broke through barricades and entered the stadium en masse, dislodging ...

Police fire teargas at Sri Lanka cricket fans

Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews was badly shaken today after a bouncer smashed into his helmet during a match against Australia and broke a protective strap designed to safeguard the back of his skull.
     Play was stopped for several minutes while Mathews recovered from the impact of the ball from fast bowler Scott Boland which evoked memories of the on-field death of the Australian batsman Phillip Hughes in 2014.
	Mathews was struck after losing sight and then turning his back on a rising delivery from Boland which thudded into the base of the helmet, just above his neck.
	The 29-year-old could be seen rubbing the back of his head vigorously and was given the once-over by Sri Lankan physio Paul Klarenaar.
	The umpires called an early drinks break but Mathews then carried on with his innings before retiring hurt with an unrelated calf injury, having made 28 in the fourth one-day international being played in Dambulla.
	The world of international cricket was stunned two years when .

Aussie bouncer breaks Sri Lanka skipper's helmet

A Pakistani national in Romania has been declared persona non grata for allegedly spreading "jihadist propaganda" in online forums and will be expelled from the country, authorities said today.
	The suspect, who entered the European Union country illegally in late 2015, is "in police custody and proceedings are under way to send him back (to Pakistan)," an immigration official dealing with the case told AFP.
	The man will be banned from re-entering Romania for 10 years, the official added.
	In a statement released late yesterday, secret service officials said the man had drawn attention after spreading "online propaganda backing several terrorist groups active in his home region, supporting Islamist extremism, and calling for global jihad".
	He is also accused of researching bomb-making instructions on the internet.
	The Romanian government is seeking to tighten its anti- terror legislation following deadly Islamist attacks in France and Belgium.
	On Monday, Romanian lawmakers ...

Romania to expel Pakistani over 'jihadist propaganda'

The Maldives government said today it was seeking the arrest of former president Mohamed Nasheed for failing to return to the archipelago to complete a prison sentence after receiving medical treatment in Britain.
	Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically-elected leader, recently won political asylum in Britain after being granted permission to travel there for treatment while serving a 13-year sentence for a terror-related offence.
	"A court order (has been) issued for arrest of former president Mohamed Nasheed," the government said in a statement, issued after Nasheed flew to neighbouring Sri Lanka.

Maldives issues arrest warrant for ex-president Nasheed

Maldives court issues arrest warrant for ex-president

Kazakhstan said today it had arrested 21 members of radical groups plotting terror attacks in public places, after two deadly attacks that fuelled fears of rising extremism.
	The security service of mainly Muslim Kazakhstan said in a statement that it had arrested 21 people from three groups after detaining them in two western regions bordering Russia.
	The ex-Soviet country said it had foiled "attacks on law enforcement officers and also acts of terrorism in crowded public places" and had confiscated weapons, ammunition and TNT as well as "extremist" texts and symbols.
	This summer Kazakhstan was shaken by two attacks with multiple victims that damaged its reputation for stability and led to concerns that home-grown radicalism could be on the rise in the oil-rich Central Asian republic.
	On July 18, a gunman attacked a police station and a building used by the security services in the financial capital of Almaty, leaving six dead, with the authorities linking the gunman to followers .

Kazakhstan arrests 21 suspected of plotting terrorist attacks

A second woman has died from her injuries after a grisly attack on a Swiss train earlier this month, in which a man started a fire and stabbed passengers, prosecutors said today.
	"In the course of the night, another victim -- a 17-year-old woman -- succumbed to her injuries in hospital," the prosecution office in the eastern canton of St Gallen said in a statement.
	The woman was one of six people injured in the August 13 attack on a moving train near Salez station, not far from the eastern border with Liechtenstein and Austria.
	A 27-year-old Swiss man used a flammable liquid to start a fire in a carriage and began stabbing passengers.
	The attacker, who died of his injuries in the hours following the attack, was identified by media as Simon S., and described by neighbours and acquaintances as a "loner" who "had been teased his whole life".
	Police have not revealed his motive, but have said it did not appear to have been politically motivated or an act of terrorism.
	A 34-year-old .

Swiss train attack claims second victim

A retired Iranian general has been killed while battling jihadists as a volunteer in northern Syria, Iranian media reported today.
	Ahmad Gholami, who had served as a senior Revolutionary Guards commander in the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s, died yesterday "while fighting the takfiri terrorists in Aleppo, Syria," said the Fars news agency, which is close to the Guards.
	Iran uses the term "takfiri" to describe Sunni jihadists.
	Gholami went to Iraq and Syria "voluntarily" to fight Islamic State group jihadists, it added.
	Iran is the principle backer of President Bashar al-Assad. It denies that any of its professional soldiers are active in Syria -- insisting its commanders and generals act purely as "military advisers" -- but it also leads large volunteer forces, comprised of fighters from both Iran and neighbouring Afghanistan.
	Iran does not provide precise casualty figures for those killed in action in Syria and Iraq, but Iranian media have previously reported "hundreds" of military 

Iranian ex-general killed fighting jihadists in Syria

Turkey today said it did "not accept" US claims that it had agreed a truce with Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria.
	"We do not accept in any circumstances ... A 'compromise or a ceasefire reached between Turkey and Kurdish elements,'" EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik told state-run Anadolu news agency.
	"The Turkish republic is a sovereign, legitimate state."
	Celik said Turkey could not be put on an equal footing with a "terrorist organisation", referring to the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
	A US defence official told AFP in Washington yesterday that the Turkish and Kurdish-led forces had reached a "loose agreement" to stop fighting each other.
	Last week, Turkey launched a two-pronged offensive against Islamic State jihadists and the YPG in northern Syria.
	After a weekend of Turkish clashes with YPG-allied forces, Washington expressed alarm and urged both sides to stop fighting each other and concentrate on combatting IS.
	Turkey sees the YPG as an ...

Turkey does 'not accept' ceasefire with Syrian Kurd militia

A Japanese gunman accused of shooting dead a construction worker and wounding three others before going on the run, was locked in a tense standoff with police today.
	Yasuhide Mizobata fled into an apartment building yesterday afternoon after firing repeatedly at officers who challenged him, a force spokesman said.
	He spent the night holed up in the building, surrounded by heavily-armed police who were trying to convince him to surrender.
	Television footage showed Mizobata, clad in a black shirt and pants and white shoes, brandishing two pistols as he stood atop scaffolding.
	Media reports said the suspect had threatened to shoot police and turn the gun on himself during the overnight standoff in Wakayama, 450 kilometres southwest of Tokyo.
	Broadcasters said the building had been evacuated as the incident began and there are not believed to be any hostages.
	A massive manhunt began on Monday after Mizobata allegedly killed 45-year-old Junsuke Ishiyama and wounded three others when .

AFP

AFP

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