Russia's foreign ministry expressed deep concern today at Turkey's military operation in Syria, warning of rising tension over Ankara's targeting of Kurdish militia fighters at the border.
	"We are deeply concerned at what is happening in the Syrian-Turkish border area," the ministry said in a statement.
	Turkey's air and ground operation risks "further degeneration of the situation in the conflict zone," Moscow warned.
	The Turkish offensive targeting both Islamic State extremists and Syrian Kurdish militias could lead to deaths among peaceful civilians and "flare-ups of inter-ethnic tensions between Kurds and Arabs," it added.
	Russia, a major ally of the Syrian regime, has strengthened its relationship with Syria's Kurds and a Kurdish representative office recently opened in Moscow.
	Moscow, which began a bombing campaign in support of Assad in September last year, said it was "convinced that the Syrian conflict can be resolved exclusively on the firm basis of international ...

Russia says 'deeply concerned' at Turkish operation in Syria

PTI Automatic

Nepal's new prime minister will visit India next month on his first foreign visit, seeking to repair the strained relationship between the neighbours, an official said today.
	Nepal's relationship with India -- which is often accused of acting as a "big brother" to its smaller impoverished neighbour -- soured after a months-long border blockade last year by ethnic minority protesters.
	Kathmandu accused India of imposing an "unofficial blockade" on the landlocked nation in support of the Madhesis, who share close cultural, linguistic and family links with Indians across the border.
	Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former Maoist rebel chief better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, sent special envoys to both neighbouring India and China shortly after taking office earlier this month.
	"The focus of his visit is to evaluate the bitterness in the relationship after the blockade and resolve the problems," Chandra Prakash Khanal, the prime minister's political adviser, told AFP.
	 

Nepal PM to visit India to mend fractured ties

US Vice President Joe Biden said today that he understood the "intense feeling" in Turkey over the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen whom Ankara accuses of masterminding the July 15 failed coup and wants to see extradited.
	Speaking at a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Biden said work was continuing by US legal experts to evaluate the evidence produced by Turkey "that need to be supplied to an American court" for an extradition.
	"I understand the intense feeling your government and the people of Turkey have about him (Gulen). We are cooperating with the Turkish authorities,"
	He added that the US has "no, no, no, no interest whatsoever in protecting anyone who has done harm to an ally. None. But we need to meet the legal standard requirement under our law."
	He said it would be an impeachable offence for US President Barack Obama to order the extradition of a foreign national.
	"We have no reason other than to cooperate with you (Turkey)... It always ...

Biden: US understands 'intense feeling' in Turkey over Gulen

A Malian jihadist who admitted to razing ancient tombs in the fabled city of Timbuktu is "an honest man" who briefly took the wrong path in life, his lawyer pleaded today, as prosecutors urged a jail term of up to 11 years.
	"For just over three months he lost his way," Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi's attorney said at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
	"He wanted to give advice to apply Sharia (Islamic) law, which was a terrible mistake that led to his guilt," lawyer Jean-Louis Gilissen told judges.
	He is "an honest man," Gilissen said.
	Mahdi admitted at the start of his trial Monday to ransacking some of the west African city's most historic mausoleums during a two-week wave of destruction in 2012.
	He is the first Islamic extremist charged by the ICC and the first charged with crimes arising out of the conflict in Mali.
	Sentencing will be handed down on September 27.
	The wanton destruction by jihadists, who considered the mausoleums idolatrous, triggered a global ...

Malian jihadist 'lost way' in Timbuktu attacks, court told

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) today disclosed the names of 15 past Olympians, including three Beijing 2008 gold medallists, who failed doping tests after their samples were re-analysed.
     The re-analysis programme was launched by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) focusing on Beijing 2008 and London 2012 medal winners, as part of an effort to combat drug cheating in sport.
     "The IWF imposed mandatory provisional suspensions upon the athletes," the Lausanne, Switzerland-based federation said in a statement.
     Headlining the group are three Chinese champions: Cao Lei (-75 kg), Chen Xiexia (-48 kg) and Liu Chun Hong (-69 kg), who all claimed gold in Beijing. Liu also won gold in Athens 2004.
     Three Belarussians -- Andrei Ryaboku (silver medallist at Athens and Beijing), Nastassia Novikava (bronze, Beijing) and Iryna Kulesha (bronze, London) -- were among those sanctioned.
     Kazakhstan's Mariya Grabovetskaya (bronze, Beijing) Maya Maneza (gold, ..

Weightlifting federation names 15 re-test doping failures

Syria condemned today's Turkish incursion into an Islamic State group-held border area as a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty as Kurdish authorities said the action amounted to a "declaration of war".
	The foreign ministry in Damascus said it "condemns the crossing of the Turkey-Syria border by Turkish tanks and armoured vehicles towards the Jarabulus area with air cover from the US-led coalition and considers it a flagrant violation of Syrian sovereignty".
	The Syrian opposition in exile, however, welcomed the intervention.
	The operation -- named "Euphrates Shield" -- began around 4:00 AM (0100 GMT) with Turkish artillery pounding dozens of targets of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group around Jarabulus, the Turkish prime minister's office said.
	Turkish tanks and special forces accompanied by pro-Ankara Syrian rebels then rolled across the border in an unprecedented operation to drive IS out of Jarabulus, from which it has fired rockets into Turkey.
	"Syria demands the end .

Syria, Kurds condemn Turkish incursion

Militants attack American University of Afghanistan in

US Vice President Joe Biden today said Washington had made clear that pro-Kurdish forces in Syria must not cross west of the Euphrates River, a prospect alarming for Turkey.
	"We have made it absolutely clear... That they must go back across the river," Biden said at a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
	"They cannot, will not and under no circumstances (will) get American support if they do not keep that commitment. Period."
	His comments come after Turkish troops today launched an operation inside Syria to cleanse the key town of Jarabulus from Islamic State (IS) jihadists.
	Turkey fears that Syrian Kurds may have designs on Jarabulus after seizing the strategic Manbij area in northern Syria from IS.
	Turkey sees the Syrian Democratic Forces (PYD) and its armed wing YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a bloody campaign against the Turkish state.
	Ankara has said any attempt by the YPG -- the Syrian Kurdish ...

US told pro-Kurdish forces not to cross Euphrates: Biden

A powerful pre-dawn earthquake devastated mountain villages in central Italy today, leaving at least 73 people dead, dozens more injured or trapped under the rubble and thousands temporarily homeless.
	Scores of buildings were reduced to dusty piles of masonry in communities close to the epicentre of the pre-dawn quake, which had a magnitude of between 6.0 and 6.2, according to monitors.
	It hit a remote area straddling Umbria, Marche and Lazio, to the north of a region devastated by a quake in 2009, rousing villagers and vacationers in terrifying fashion.
	Italy's civil protection unit confirmed 73 fatalities in and around the villages of Amatrice, Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto.
	"My sister and her husband are under the rubble, we're waiting for diggers but they can't get up here," Guido Bordo, 69, told AFP in the tiny village of Illica, near Accumoli.
	"There's no sound from them, we only heard their cats. I wasn't here, as soon as the quake happened I rushed here. They managed to 

More than 70 dead as pre-dawn quake hits central Italy

A British serviceman was arrested today on suspicion of terror offences as part of an investigation into Northern Ireland-related terrorism, police said.
	The 30-year-old was arrested in Somerset, southwest England, on suspicion of being involved in the preparation for acts of terrorism, police said in a statement.
	"Today's arrest was pre-planned and intelligence-led as part of an investigation into Northern Ireland-related terrorism," the statement said.
	No armed police were involved and there was "no intelligence to suggest an immediate threat".
	Searches were under way at an address and a wooded area in Devon, southwest England, and in Northern Ireland.
	The Ministry of Defence said it was aware of the arrest and would assist the investigation.
	The 1998 Good Friday peace accords largely ended the three decades of deadly violence in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles in which 3,500 people were killed.
	However, the threat level for Northern Ireland-related terrorism within ..

British serviceman arrested in N. Ireland terror probe

A drone strike killed two Al-Qaeda suspects travelling in a car in southern Yemen today, a security official said.
	The attack in Shabwa province struck their vehicle as the pair were headed from provincial capital Ataq to the nearby town of Nisab, the official said.
	The United States has carried out numerous drone strikes against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operatives in Yemen.
	American officials said early this month that the US military had killed three AQAP fighters in a strike, also in Shabwa.
	AQAP has exploited a power vacuum created by a conflict between the government and Shiite rebels to expand its presence in south and southeast Yemen.
	But the US has vowed to continue its war against the group, which it considers to be the Al-Qaeda network's deadliest franchise.
	A Saudi-led Arab military coalition that backs the Yemeni government has also turned its sights on AQAP, targeting it with air strikes.
	The coalition is supporting pro-government forces which ...

Drone strike kills 2 Qaeda suspects in Yemen

A powerful earthquake that struck central Italy today has left at least 73 people dead, the country's civil protection unit said.
	Immacolata Postiglione, the head of the unit's emergency department, announced the new toll at a press conference in Rome as rescue efforts continued in the mountain villages devastated by the quake.

Italy quake leaves 73 dead: new official toll

Gaza's last tiger left the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave today with monkeys, emus, a porcupine and other animals from a zoo dubbed the "world's worst", heading for a new life in South Africa and elsewhere.
	Laziz (Cutey in Arabic) the tiger and the 15 other remaining animals from the Khan Yunis zoo were driven on a trailer in cages to the Erez crossing before dawn, an AFP journalist said.
	The animals crossed the border en route to sanctuaries and zoos in South Africa, Jordan and Israel for "a better quality of life", the Israeli army said in a statement.
	As well as Laziz, five monkeys, two emus, two deer, two eagles, two turtles, a pelican and a porcupine were transferred, the Four Paws charity ensuring the animals' welfare said.
	For months vets from Four Paws had been visiting the zoo in southern Gaza to treat the animals and transfer them out after international outcry at photos of their conditions.
	Dozens of animals had died in the zoo, some of starvation, and badly stuffed ..

Laziz the tiger and friends leave Gaza for new life

Italy quake leaves 73 dead: new official toll. (AFP)

Australia's James Faulkner recorded his first hat-trick in one-day internationals but Sri Lanka still managed to post a challenging 288 in their second match in Colombo on Wednesday.
     Sri Lanka, who chose to bat first, rode on half-centuries from skipper Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera to put up a respectable score in 48.5 overs against a persistent bowling attack.
     The hosts lost two wickets in two balls after paceman Mitchell Starc struck early to send opener Danushka Gunathilaka trudging back to the pavilion.
     Off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who shared the new ball with Starc, then bowled the veteran Tillakaratne Dilshan for 10 to have the hosts in trouble at 12 for two.
     But in-form batsmen Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal put together a 125-run third wicket partnership to build a solid platform for the hosts at the R Premadasa Stadium.
     Mendis, who followed up his 67 in the first ODI with a run-a-ball 69, hit nine boundaries and forced Australian skipper ...

Sri Lanka post 288 after Faulkner hat-trick

Tanks rumbled across Kiev today as Ukraine marked 25 years of independence with a show of force against an increasingly assertive Russia and a war simmering in the pro-Kremlin separatist east.
	Thousands of soldiers saluted Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on the same square where a pro-EU revolution in 2014 ousted a Moscow-backed leader and left former master Russia fuming.
	Poroshenko used the event to take a dig at Russian President Vladimir Putin for famous calling the Soviet Union's 1991 collapse "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century".
	"We were the ones who created what Putin later called the 'greatest geopolitical catastrophe'," Poroshenko declared in a speech to the nation as hundreds of Ukrainian blue and yellow flags fluttered in the damp wind.
	"Looking back at more than two years of war, we can confidently say that our enemy failed to achieve a single goal - it was not able to bring Ukraine to its knees."
	More than 9,500 people have died and two ..

Ukraine marks 25th independence day, show anti-Russian force

Brazilian police said they have uncovered evidence linking the detained head of the Olympic Council of Ireland Patrick Hickey to a Rio Games ticket scam.
     Hickey, 71, also head of the European Olympic Committees and an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, has been held in a Brazilian top security prison since police raided his Rio hotel on August 15 during the Olympics as part of their probe into the affair.
     Warrants for the arrest of four others were issued including Marcus Evans, a British businessman who is also the chairman of Ipswich football club in England.
     "The analysis of the pieces of evidence, and above all of the emails, confirm that the president of the Irish Olympic Committee, Patrick (Hickey), was in direct contact with Marcus Evans, who is the head of THG," Rio police investigator Ricardo Barbosa told a Rio press conference Tuesday.
     He said the British company THG, a hospitality firm, "was the organiser of this criminal system that consists .

Rio police say evidence links Hickey to ticket scam

A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank today and was shot dead, the army said.
	An army statement said Israeli forces had been chasing a group of alleged rock throwers who were in a car.
	"One of the assailants exited the vehicle and stabbed a soldier," it said. "Responding, the soldier fired towards the perpetrator, resulting in his death."
	The soldier was taken to hospital for treatment, the statement said, without giving details on his condition.
	The attack took place close to the Israeli settlement of Ariel, near the Palestinian city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.
	A wave of violence since October has killed 221 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP tally.
	Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say, with the majority of them from the West Bank.

Palestinian stabs Israeli soldier in West Bank, shot dead:army

Scoreboard after Sri Lanka's
innings in the second one-day international against Australia at Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday:
     Sri Lanka
     K. Gunathilaka b Starc             2
     T. Dilshan b Lyon                 10
     K. Mendis lbw Zampa               69
     D. Chandimal lbw Zampa            48
     A. Mathews c Henriques b Faulkner 57
     D. De Silva c Smith b Zampa        7
     K. Perera lbw b Faulkner          54
     T. Perera b Faulkner              12
     S. Prasanna not out                2
     D. Perera b Starc                  5
     A. Aponso b Starc                  2
     Extras (b 4, lb 7, w 9)           20
     Total (all out; 48.5 overs)      288
     Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Gunathilaka), 2-12 (Dilshan), 3-137 (Chandimal), 4-146 (Mendis), 5-158 (de Silva), 6-261 (K. Perera), 7-279 (Mathews), 8-279 (T. Perera), 9-286 (D. Perera), 10-288 (Aponso)
     Bowling: Starc 9.5-0-53-3, Lyon 9-0-49-1, Faulkner 9-0-45-3, Head 4-0-41-0, Zampa 10-0-42-3, ..

Colombo, Aug 24 (AFP) Scoreboard after Sri Lanka's

A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar today, killing at least one person and damaging pagodas in the ancient city of Bagan, officials said.
	The quake, which the US Geological Survey said hit at a depth of 84 kilometres, was also felt across neighbouring Thailand and Bangladesh, sending panicked residents rushing onto the streets.
	At least one man was killed in a Myanmar village near the epicentre, said Han Zaw Win, a local MP from Magway region where the quake struck.
	"A 22 year-old man was killed when a nearby building collapsed during the earthquake," he told AFP, adding that a woman was  injured.
	A tourist police officer reported damage to several temples in Bagan - Myanmar's prized ancient capital, some 30 kilometres north of the epicentre.
	"Some famous pagodas were damaged during the earthquake," he told AFP, adding that some of the damage was "serious".
	The officer, who requested anonymity, said a Spanish tourist was slightly hurt when she fell from a .

Powerful quake hits Myanmar, damaging famed Bagan temples

An avid gamer, Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg took a break from her official duties in Bratislava this week to hunt for Pokemon monsters in the Slovak capital's old town.
	Accompanied by bodyguards, senior officials and a television crew, Solberg took advantage of some free time between two meetings on Monday to hit the town with her eyes firmly fixed on her smartphone, television footage aired today showed.
	The 55-year-old conservative leader told TV2 that while she was also hunting for Pokemon monsters, she was mainly trying to hatch eggs to get her hands on the rarest Pokemons, which requires some players to walk as much as 10 kilometres.
	The free Pokemon Go app uses graphics and satellite location and camera capabilities to overlay cartoon monsters on real-world settings, challenging players to capture and train the creatures for battles.
	Previously known for her fondness for the game Candy Crush, Solberg said last week she had become fascinated with Pokemon Go "the day ..

AFP

AFP

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