German police said today they have launched a criminal probe against a female protester who hurled insults at Chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to a refugee shelter.
	The woman, who has not been named, can be seen shouting "bitch" at Merkel in a video on YouTube, tabloid Bild reported.
	Police told AFP that an investigation has been opened into "anti-constitutional slander against constitutional organs" of state.
	The probe is "targeted at the comments made loudly" by the woman who was protesting alongside far-right demonstrators and carrying a placard reading "traitor".
	Asked about the insults levied at the German leader, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said the chancellor did not plan to press charges.
	He added that she has already made her point clear during the visit to the refugee shelter in the eastern town of Heidenau.
	"There will be no tolerance of those who question the dignity of other people," the German leader said during her visit.
	"The more people who make 

Police launch probe against protester for 'insulting' Merkel

PTI Automatic

Greece geared up today for a snap election next month, with an opinion poll showing leftist party Syriza ahead despite a wave of defections over the country's massive new bailout.
	   The state-run ANA news agency said President Prokopis Pavlopoulos had signed a decree dissolving parliament and confirming the widely-expected date of September 20 for the crisis-hit country's fifth election in six years.
	   A caretaker government appointed by Pavlopoulos to organise the election took office earlier today with Greece's top judge Vassiliki Thanou as prime minister, replacing Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras who resigned last week.
	   Tsipras, who rode to power in January on a wave of popular anger over austerity, is now seeking re-election to implement more reforms demanded under the new 86-billion-euro (USD 96-billion) international rescue package.
	   A poll in leftist newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton gave Syriza only a slim 3.5-point lead over the conservative New Democracy.
	   The ...

Greece sets vote for Sept 20 as Syriza leads polls

Pope Francis has sent his blessing to a lesbian author of children's books dealing with same-sex families, wishing her and her wife well in their work, it emerged today.
	As Vatican officials scrambled to clarify that the message was simply a standard courtesy which did not signal any change in Church teaching on the subject, the author told AFP she had been pleasantly surprised to have received such a positive response.
	Francesca Pardi, who writes and publishes books such as "Why you have two mummies", wrote to Francis in June after the publishing company she runs with her wife came under fire from Christian groups.
	She included examples of her works, some of which have recently been controversially withdrawn from nurseries and primary schools by a new mayor in Venice.
	"My books present different types of families without setting any of them up as a model," Pardi told AFP, praising the pope for having responded in a manner that showed "respect and dignity" towards her, her wife ...

Italian lesbian author gets papal blessing

Shanghai stocks closed up 4.82 per cent today, rising for a second day on strong US growth figures and a global market rally, as dealers speculated the government is also supporting the market.
	China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged 148.76 points to 3,232.35 on turnover of 474.6 billion yuan (USD 74.2 billion). Despite two days of substantial gains, the index still lost 7.85 per cent for the week.
	The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, soared 5.40 per cent, or 94.62 points, to 1,846.83 on turnover of 425.0 billion yuan. It fell 9.44 per cent over the week.
	In Hong Kong, however, shares fell 1.04 per cent, or 226.15 points, to 21,612.39 on turnover of HK dollar 112.88 billion (USD 14.55 billion).
	Dealers said a mixture of positive news boosted the markets, including a Chinese interest rate cut and stronger-than-expected US growth figures for the second quarter, which helped global markets to rally yesterday.
	"It's not one single ...

Shanghai shares close up nearly 5 per cent, extending gains

Brazil has fallen back into recession, deepening the gloom in the world's seventh largest economy already battered by falling commodity prices, political crisis and a corruption scandal.
	In the second quarter of this year, gross domestic product slipped 1.9 per cent, according to official figures released today.
	Gross domestic product (GDP) had already been down 0.7 per cent in the first quarter, the government statistics agency IBGE said.
	Brazil's economy has been in trouble for four years, ever since the end of a boom fueled by commodity exports, principally to China. Falling prices for oil and other commodities have punched huge holes in the budget.
	Adding to the economic malaise is a growing political crisis in which President Dilma Rousseff faces calls for her impeachment and discontent -- even among many of her own supporters -- over austerity measures.
	A huge corruption investigation named Operation Car Wash has revealed a bribes and embezzlement scheme revolving around ...

Brazil enters recession in second quarter

Myanmar lawmakers today held their last meetings at parliament as the body was suspended ahead of crucial general elections set to redraw the former junta-ruled nation's political landscape.
	The combined houses of parliament will reconvene only after the November 8 vote, the first nationwide poll in a quarter of a century to be contested by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's hugely popular National League for Democracy (NLD).
	"There will be no legislative meetings before the election in November," Soe Yin of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) told AFP, adding that parliament would only reconvene in an emergency.
	Under Myanmar's electoral system the current parliament will still be active until the end of January 2016, when it will hand over to a new legislature that then selects a president.
	Suu Kyi is barred from the top political job by the constitution, drafted by the country's former junta rulers, who kept her locked up for some 15 years as they tried ..

Myanmar parliament suspended ahead of crunch polls

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama's key national security aide hinted at tensions that divide their countries today ahead of a state visit to Washington by Xi.
	Meeting in Beijing with US national security adviser Susan Rice, Xi said that he looks forward to continuing a dialogue with Obama next month and working to ensure that China-US relations keep expanding.
	"China attaches great importance to the growth of the China-US relationship," Xi said.
	"We stand ready to further promote our practical cooperation, effectively manage the sensitive issues between us and strengthen the friendship between the people of both countries."
	Rice responded that Xi's visit to the US will provide a "great opportunity" for the two countries "to strengthen and deepen our relationship" as they seek ways to benefit their peoples as well as the world.
	"At the same time, we obviously have issues of difference and some difficulty that we need to work through and we will continue ..

Xi, Obama aide hint at underlying tensions ahead of summit

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has signed a new law banning mass lay-offs following a spate of redundancies that unions say put 30,000 people out of work, local media reported today.
	The Supreme Court ruled last month that employers could fire workers after giving them three months' notice and an equivalent of three months' salary.
	Several companies, including top mobile service provider Econet and the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, sacked many workers to tackle huge wage bills and rising operational costs.
	The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions tried to stage protests in the capital Harare two weeks ago, but police banned the event and briefly arrested union leaders.
	Labour unions say more than 30,000 workers have been forced out of jobs in just a few weeks.
	The new law compels employers to give notice to workers' representatives and a government board before any redundancies are processed.
	Zimbabwe's economy has been on a downward spiral for more than a ...

Zimbabwe's Mugabe inks law to stop mass lay-offs

More than 300,000 refugees and migrants have risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year, and some 2,500 more have died while making the perilous journey, the UN said today.
	Nearly 200,000 people had landed in Greece since January, while another 110,000 had made it to Italy, Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, told reporters in Geneva.
	The numbers tower high above arrivals in 2014, when some 219,000 made the crossing over the entire year.
	Fleming said people fleeing Syria's bloody civil war were now heading directly for Europe and no longer towards the neighbouring countries already bursting at the seams with millions of Syrian refugees.
	But getting to Europe is no easy task.
	Since the beginning of the year, some 2,500 people are known to have died or gone missing trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, compared to 3,500 for all of last year.
	Fleming said this number did not include the latest boat tragedy off Libya ...

Mediterranean migrant crossings top 300,000 in 2015: UN

At least 76 people have died after a ship carrying hundreds of migrants sank off the coast of Libya, a spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent said today.
	"Until now 76 bodies have been retrieved from the sea and 198 people have been rescued," Mohammad al-Misrati told AFP.
	Libya's coastguard initially said that 30 people had died in the disaster that unfolded yesterday near the western port of Zuwara.
	"There are still people missing but we don't know how many," Misrati said, adding that the figures of dead and rescued came from the local Red Crescent branch, medical facilities in Zuwara, and the Libyan coastguard.
	A coastguard official said that the survivors and the victims whose bodies had been retrieved came from African countries.
	People smugglers have taken advantage of the chaos gripping Libya since the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi to step up their lucrative business.
	But the Mediterranean crossing is treacherous, and more than 2,300 people have died ..

Toll in Libya migrant shipwreck rises to 76: aid workers

Three Islamic militants were killed after the Philippine military today launched a second attempt in two weeks to rescue hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf rebels, the army said.
	About 300 Abu Sayyaf fighters retreated after the hour-long firefight in the jungles of the remote southern island of Jolo, said Brigadier-General Alan Arrojado, the military commander in the area.
	However the military did not say if any of the hostages were freed or injured in the clashes, or how many hostage were believed to have been held at the rebel camp.
	Ten Philippine soldiers were wounded in the fighting, Arrojado added.
	"The bandits positioned their hostages in the back (of the rebel camp), they don't want another escape," Captain Antonio Bulao, a military spokesman in Jolo, told AFP.
	Last week two Philippine coast guard men, who were among 11 hostages held by Abu Sayyaf, escaped during fierce clashes which erupted after elite military forces launched a risky rescue operation, leaving 15 Abu Sayyaf 

Three Islamic militants killed in Philippine military clash

Taiwan warned officials and veterans today not to attend a military parade organised by China to mark Japan's defeat in the Second World War, as the former bitter rivals vie over the history of the conflict.
	Beijing claims Communist troops sealed victory against the Japanese in 1945 while Taiwan argues the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) army -- which later fled to the island -- won the war.
	Taiwan's objections came after a high-profile former vice president said he would attend the parade in Beijing on September 3.
	"Our people should take into consideration the public's feelings and refrain from attending such activities," Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen said in a statement.
	Taiwan's defence ministry also issued a statement urging veterans to "stand behind the government and exercise self-restraint, and not to attend the activities to be staged in the mainland".
	Lien Chan, a former vice-president and chairman of the ruling KMT party, said he planned to attend the Beijing 

Taiwan warns officials not to attend Chinese WWII parade

US President Barack Obama's key national security aide and China's top foreign policy official hinted at tensions that divide them today ahead of a state visit to Washington by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
	Meeting in Beijing, Chinese state councillor Yang Jiechi and US national security adviser Susan Rice said the two countries were cooperating in areas including climate change and military relations.
	"At the same time we've been able to discuss frankly our differences, we both acknowledge their need to be addressed effectively," Rice told Yang at the start of their talks and ahead of a meeting later with Xi.
	She called his visit to the US due next month "a milestone in our opportunity to strengthen and deepen our cooperation and work together to constructively manage differences".
	Yang said the two countries will stay in close communication on subjects including "the Iran and North Korean nuclear issues" and climate change, along with questions of "regional rights and ...

China, US officials hint at underlying tensions in talks

The editor-in-chief of one of China's most prominent official media websites is being investigated for suspected bribe-taking, prosecutors said today, amid a high-profile anti-corruption campaign by President Xi Jinping.
	Prosecutors in Henan were probing Liao Hong, the chief editor and vice chairman of the People's Daily Online, and board member Chen Zhixia, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said in a one-line notice on its website.
	The People's Daily Online is the website of the Communist Party's mouthpiece newspaper, although the two are run separately and alongside People's Daily articles the online version publishes its own content, which can be markedly more populist.
	Liao has been the chief editor since 2010, according to his official biography.
	The People's Daily Online deputy chief editor has been under investigation since May, according to a report by Southern Weekend, a Chinese newspaper.
	Chinese President Xi has launched a much-publicised drive to crack down on ...

China Communist paper website's chief editor probed:prosecutor

Former Polish archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who would have been the first high-ranking church official to go on trial on paedophile charges, died overnight, the Vatican announced today.
	Wesolowski, 67, had suffered from health problems that last month caused postponement of his criminal trial, which was to be the first of its kind initiated by the Vatican against a church official.
	Wesolowski had been charged with possessing child pornography in Rome in 2013-14, and the sexual abuse of minors during his 2008-13 stint as the Vatican nuncio, or ambassador, in the Dominican Republic.
	He was secretly recalled from his posting in 2012 after the church hierarchy was informed that he had regularly paid young Dominican boys for sexual services.
	Wesolowski was defrocked by a church court in June 2014. He was placed under house arrest in September 2014 following a decision to pursue criminal charges against him. Both moves were personally ordered by Pope Francis, according to Vatican ...

Ex-archbishop dies ahead of paedophilia trial: Vatican

A billboard in central Tel Aviv announcing the opening of an Iranian embassy that met with disbelief and curiosity turned out to be a hoax, organisers of the eye-catching stunt have said.
	"Opening here soon - Embassy of Iran in Israel," proclaimed the five-storey tall hoarding emblazoned with the Iranian and Israeli flags this week.
	Posts on Facebook suggested that the billboard could be an art installation or a private peace campaign by Israelis of Iranian descent.
	But the truth was revealed as a massive publicity stunt in a statement yesterday from the makers of a new Israeli film comedy about a nuclear conflict between Tehran and the Jewish state.
	"Mystery solved!" it said, announcing "the upcoming launch of (director) Dror Shaul's new film 'Atomic Falafel' an atomic comedy."
	Opening locally on September 10, its producer Avraham Pirchi calls it "a satirical comedy mocking ultra-militarism."
	Israel and Iran severed diplomatic relations in the wake of the 1979 Islamic ...

Tel Aviv's 'Iranian embassy' turns out to be atomic hoax

Debris from a rocket carrying a Chinese satellite into orbit crashed into a villager's home minutes after the launch, local police and media reports said.
	The parts plummeted to earth with a huge roar yesterday morning in Xunyang county in the northern province of Shaanxi, news portal Sina said on a social media account, citing local sources. No casualties were reported, it added.
	Pictures showed a man standing beside what appeared to be a rocket nozzle as tall as him, in front of a cracked wall and with pieces of broken bricks on the ground.
	Another image showed a large hole in a red-tiled roof.
	In a post on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, Xunyang police said the machinery was part of a rocket's propulsion system and called on local residents "not to panic".
	A Long March-4 rocket carrying a remote sensing satellite -- which is to be used for experiments, land surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster prevention -- was launched into space from neighbouring Shanxi province nine .

China rocket parts hit villager's home: police, media

Usain Bolt said he might end his glittering career at next year's Olympics after he completed a world sprint double in Beijing -- and got clattered by an electric scooter into the bargain.
     The towering Jamaican said he was only 50-50 about running at the next world championships in 2017 in London, and could retire at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics instead.
     "After Rio, as I said, my sponsors want me to go one more year, but my coach said, 'Listen to me, if you're not going to be serious about going to the world championships in London,' then I shouldn't do it," he said.
     "So it's all about how I feel after Rio, if I feel I can really put my body through one more season. If I'm going to be focused and I'm going to be determined. That will determine if I compete after Rio. So we'll see how it goes."
     Bolt, troubled by pelvic problems this year, was pushed all the way by Justin Gatlin in Sunday's 100m, but had an easier ride in the 200m as he beat the American by nearly ...

Bolt mulls Rio retirement segue

Europe's stock markets opened higher today following strong gains across Asia inspired by revised second quarter figures in the US indicating better economic growth than previously thought.
	In initial trade, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.24 percent to 6,207.05 points.
	In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 edged up 0.20 percent to 9,687.70 and the CAC 40 in Paris crept 0.12 percent higher to 4,663.98 points.
	European markets rebounded Thursday on comments from Federal Reserve officials throwing doubt on prospects of a US interest rate rise in September -- news that allowed traders to put on hold fears about flagging Chinese growth that had battered markets all week.
	Later in the day, revised statistics showing the US economy grew at an annual rate of 3.7 percent rather than previous estimates of 2.3 percent sent stocks in Europe and on Wall Street higher -- momentum that has carried into trading today.
	Asian stocks extended their rally Friday on the back of the strong ..

European stocks rise at open

A group of Tokyo university students have staged a rare hunger strike in front of Japan's parliament as they protest against security bills that critics fear would drag the country into foreign wars.
	The move highlights growing opposition to legislation backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, just days after Japan's national bar association joined the effort to prevent the constitutionally pacifist nation from enacting changes that could see Japanese troops engage in combat for the first time since the end of World War II.
	Four male students began their hunger strike yesterday afternoon in front of the Diet building, saying a "direct and tough approach" was required to block the bills, which are being hotly debated in parliament.
	The group, who spent their first night on the street in the Nagatacho political district, said they would hold off food until they reached their "physical limit".
	"(A hunger strike) is an act of risking one's life... But I thought I should express my ...

Japan students on hunger strike over security bills

Swiss food giant Nestle is being sued in the US for allegedly knowingly allowing its Fancy Feast cat food to contain fish from a Thai supplier that uses slave labour.
	Pet food buyers who filed the class action lawsuit yesterday in US federal court in Los Angeles seek to represent all California consumers of Fancy Feast who would not have purchased the product had they known it had ties to slave labour.
	According to the lawsuit, Nestle works with Thai Union Frozen Products PCL to import more than 13 million kilogrammes of seafood-based pet food for top brands sold in the United States, and that some of the ingredients in those products came from slave labour.
	Men and boys, often trafficked from Thailand's poorer neighbours Myanmar and Cambodia, are sold to fishing boat captains who need crews aboard their ship, the complaint said.
	It spoke of shifts of up to 20 hours a day with little or no pay, and beatings or even death if the work is deemed unsatisfactory.
	"By hiding this from .

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