The US economy grew much stronger than first estimated in the second quarter, at an annual rate of 3.7 per cent, the Commerce Department reported today.
	The number for gross domestic product was initially reported at 2.3 per cent on July 30.
	The sharp upward revision was mainly due to higher investment, state and local government spending, and consumer spending than was reported in the first estimate, the department said.
	The GDP report widely topped analysts' consensus estimate of a pick-up in the world's largest economy to a 3.1 percent pace following a tepid first three months of 2015.
	In the first quarter, the economy grew only 0.6 percent under pressure from severe winter weather and West Coast port strikes.

US economy grew 3.7 pc in second quarter

PTI Automatic

Western Balkan countries are facing "huge challenges" handling tens of thousands of migrants trying to get to the EU, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today.
	"Western Balkan transit countries are facing huge challenges," Merkel said at a summit with leaders from the region in Vienna. "It is our responsibility to help them.

Merkel: Western Balkans facing 'huge challenges' with migrants

Asian stocks rose today, with Shanghai leading the gains after a rally on Wall Street cheered investors and eased fears of a deep and lasting global market rout.
	Comments from a senior US Federal Reserve official that the case for a rate rise in September had weakened and upbeat durable goods data also boosted sentiment, pushing up the dollar.
	Shanghai led the charge, closing up 5.34 per cent, or 156.30 points, at 3,083.59, while Hong Kong gained 3.60 per cent, or 758.15 points, to close at 21,838.54.
	Tokyo stocks closed up 1.08 per cent, or 197.61 points, to finish at 18,574.44, while Seoul gained 0.73 per cent, or 13.91 points, to 1,908 and Sydney rose 1.17 per cent, or 60.53 points, to 5,233.30.
	Wall Street finished sharply higher yesterday, ending a six-day losing streak after fears for China's stalling economy wiped some USD 8 trillion from global share markets.
	Asian shares had ended the day mixed after a volatile session that saw Shanghai veer wildly between losses and ...

Asian shares cheered by Wall Street rally

Relatives of over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants marked today, 500 days since the abductions with hope dwindling for their rescue despite a renewed push to end the insurgency.
	The landmark comes amid a worsening security crisis in northeastern Nigeria, where Islamists have stepped up deadly attacks since the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, killing more than 1,000 people in three months.
	Boko Haram fighters stormed the Government Secondary School in the remote town of Chibok in Borno state on the evening of April 14 last year, seizing 276 girls who were preparing for end-of-year exams.
	Fifty-seven escaped but nothing has been heard of the 219 others since May last year, when about 100 of them appeared in a Boko Haram video, dressed in Muslim attire and reciting the Koran.
	Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has since said they have all converted to Islam and been "married off".
	The Bring Back Our Girls social media and protest campaign has ...

Nigeria marks 500 days since Boko Haram schoolgirl abductions

An apparent US drone strike killed five Al-Qaeda suspects in the extremist network's southeastern stronghold of Mukalla, a government official said today.
	"A drone targeted a house where Al-Qaeda militants were gathered for a meeting, destroying it and killing all five inside" late yesterday, said the local official, who asked to remain anonymous.
	The United States is the only country known to operate armed drones over Yemen, and strikes on militants have continued during months of fighting between pro-government forces and Iran-backed Shiite rebels.
	Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), viewed by Washington as the network's most dangerous branch, has taken advantage of the chaos to seize Mukalla, capital of the vast desert province of Hadramawt.
	Four other suspected Al-Qaeda militants were killed in a similar raid on Saturday in Mukalla.
	The group said in June that its leader in Yemen, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, had been killed in a drone strike.
	Officials said this week that the ..

Drone kills five Qaeda suspects in Yemen stronghold

Poland's defence minister said today the US would deploy heavy weapons to the EU member next year, as regional tensions run high over Russia and the conflict in Ukraine.
	The US had said in June it would store battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 American troops in several Baltic and eastern European countries.
	"We expect this deployment to take place in mid-2016," Polish Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak told the local news agency PAP.
	He said two locations for the weaponry had been identified in the west and northeast of the country following talks with the US but would not specify the exact locations.
	Siemoniak added that the terms would be finalised during a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels in early October.
	The deployment of weaponry will represent the first time since the Cold War that the US has stationed such equipment in NATO members that were once under Soviet sway.
	Russian President Vladimir Putin responded .

US to deploy heavy weapons to Poland in 2016

China's central bank today set its daily reference rate for the yuan currency at a four-year low against the US dollar, but it closed stronger than the previous day.
	The yuan was fixed at 6.4085 to the greenback, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, just 0.07 per cent weaker from the previous day. But it was the lowest since August 2011, the Shanghai Securities News said on its website.
	The yuan still ended the day at 6.4053 to the dollar, up from both yesterday's close of 6.4095 and the reference rate, also known as central parity.
	The lower fixing followed an interest rate cut announced on Tuesday.
	The central bank on August 11 devalued the yuan by nearly two per cent, saying the decision was aimed at moving towards a more flexible exchange rate though the market interpreted it as a sign of economic weakness. It fell further in the following days.
	The yuan is restricted to trading up or down two per cent from the daily rate on the national foreign exchange ...

China sets yuan rate at four-year low against dollar

A new 48-hour truce between Syrian regime forces and rebels in three towns entered into force today after negotiations, a mediator and a monitoring group said.
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said that fighting and rocket fire had stopped in the rebel bastion of Zabadani and the besieged government-held villages of Fuaa and Kafraya.
	Earlier, Mohammed Abu Qassem, secretary general of Syria's Tadamun (Solidarity) Party and a mediator of the truce, confirmed the ceasefire was due to begin at 6:00 AM local time.
	The new two-day truce follows a similar ceasefire earlier this month for the towns that was intended to lead to a broad agreement to end the fighting in Zabadani and the blockade of Fuaa and Kafraya.
	Pro-regime forces, including Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah militia, launched an offensive to seize Zabadani from rebel groups early last month.
	The town is the last rebel-held bastion in the area along the border with Lebanon and has been subjected .

Syria regime, rebels agree new truce for three towns

Kazakhstan and the UN nuclear watchdog signed a deal today to create the first internationally-controlled uranium bank aimed at guaranteeing supplies for power plants and curbing nuclear proliferation.
	The bank, which will be administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency and is expected to open in 2017, will contain low-enriched uranium (LEU).
	Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov said the bank, to be based in the north of the former Soviet state, would provide IAEA member states with "safe access to fuel for their nuclear power plants".
	The deal for the bank, which costs USD 150 million, was signed during a visit by IAEA chief Yukiya Amano.
	The IAEA has said it will contain up to 90 tonnes of low enriched uranium suitable to make fuel for a typical light water reactor.
	"The LEU can be used to make enough nuclear fuel to power a large city for three years," it said in a statement on its website.
	The White House lauded the plan.
	"Through this initiative, member states of the .

Kazakhstan signs deal to host nuclear fuel bank

China has jailed 45 people in its ethnically-divided Xinjiang region for "illegal border crossing", state media said today, as a group representing the mainly Muslim Uighur minority condemned the sentences.
	   Courts in at least five cities in the western region jailed the suspects for several crimes including "organising terrorist groups," and "illegal border crossing", the official Xinhua news agency said.
	   Names given for some of the suspects suggested they were Uighurs, whose homeland is in Xinjiang.
	   The region is often hit by unrest and China has launched a harsh police crackdown on "terrorists" it says are behind the violence and seek independence for the region.
	   Many Uighurs complain of discrimination -- including denials of passport applications -- as well as controls on their culture and religion.
	   A growing number have reportedly attempted to escape China in recent years by crossing borders without documentation, sometimes paying people-traffickers.
	   ...

China jails 45 in Xinjiang for illegal border crossing: Xinhua

Serbia and Macedonia's foreign ministers called for EU action on Europe's migrant crisis at a summit today of leaders from the western Balkans, attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
	Both have become major transit countries for tens of thousands of migrants trying to reach the European Union in recent months, with Macedonia last week forced to declare a state of emergency.
	"We are faced with the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. It is a true migration of peoples and Serbia is a transit country," Serbia's Ivica Dacic told a news conference at the event in Vienna.
	"This is a problem of the European Union and we (the transit countries) are expected to come up with an action plan," he said.
	"I think the European Union has to come up with a plan first," he said. "I have to be very direct here. Please understand, we are bearing the brunt of the problem."
	This was echoed by Nikola Poposki, his counterpart from Macedonia, which he said is currently having to deal with ...

Serbia, Macedonia call for EU action on migrants

Islamic State group fighters seized five villages from rebel forces in Syria's northern Aleppo province overnight and entered the outskirts of a key opposition bastion there, a monitor said today.
	The jihadist group seized three villages near the town of Marea and entered its southern outskirts, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	IS fighters took another two villages further north in Aleppo province, near the border with Turkey.
	Those two villages were previously controlled by Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, which withdrew from them after Turkey and the United States announced plans to cooperate on an IS-free zone in the area.
	Marea is one of the most significant rebel-held towns in northern Aleppo and lies on a key supply route running to the Turkish border.
	IS has targeted the town for months, seeking to expand westwards from territory it already holds in Aleppo province.
	The Observatory said there were reports of dozens of rebel ...

IS advances against rebels in Syria's Aleppo: monitor

A Cambodian court today sentenced five men to seven years in jail each for stealing a golden urn said to contain relics of Buddha after it was snatched from a mountain shrine.
	The disappearance of the urn - believed to contain hair, teeth and bones of Buddha - and several small statues came to light in late 2013, sparking a nationwide manhunt in the Buddhist-majority country.
	Authorities recovered the urn and the relics during a raid in February 2014 at a house in the southern province of Takeo, around 130 kilometers (80 miles) away from the shrine in the former royal city of Udong.
	Several people were arrested in connection with the theft.
	Today the court in Kandal province, where the theft took place, found five men - including four guards at the shrine - guilty of stealing the urn with the relics.
	Judge Say Samphors Serey sentenced each of the men to seven years in prison for "stealing items of Buddhist worship".
	A sixth man was acquitted.
	The relics are believed to have ...

Five Cambodians jailed for stealing Buddha relics

Reigning world tennis champion Novak Djokovic became a new goodwill ambassador for the UN Fund for Children, joining a roster of athletes and celebrities to hold the post.
     The 28-year-old Serbian, who grew up during the Balkans war, has already worked to help vulnerable children through his role as UNICEF Serbia ambassador and his Novak Djokovic Foundation.
     "I am honored to have become a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, and to continue to help defend and uphold children's rights and provide access to early childhood care and development for every girl and every boy," he said in a statement.
     Djokovic, who was born in Belgrade in 1987 shortly before the Balkans war broke out, spent much of his childhood in Serbia. He has said on past occasions that tennis was a "blessing."
     He told a news conference at UNICEF headquarters in New York that relying on the support of his family during time of war and economic crisis made him "even stronger" and led him to appreciate ...

Djokovic new UNICEF goodwill ambassador

Wayne Rooney ended a 10-game scoring drought in style with a hat-trick as Manchester United overpowered Club Brugge 4-0 to qualify for the Champions League group phase.
     Rooney had symbolised his side's recent goal-scoring problems, which have seen them score only twice in three Premier League games, but he produced three assured finishes and Ander Herrera added another to return United to the tournament after a first season of absence in 19 years.
     Louis van Gaal's side won the play-off 7-1 on aggregate on Wednesday, following last week's 3-1 victory in Manchester, and will discover the identities of their three group-stage opponents in Thursday's draw in Monaco.
     "I am very happy because it was our aim last year to participate in the Champions League and we did it tonight," said Van Gaal, who also saw substitute Javier Hernandez miss a late penalty.
     "Wayne has a very strong mentality and with his level, he always shall come back."
     It was Rooney's first ...

Rooney treble seals Champions League return

Eight members of the same family, including two pregnant women and young children, died when a fire ravaged their home in the Guinean capital, witnesses and police have said.
	The fire broke out in the early hours of yesterday, and the whole neighbourhood pitched in to try and save the inhabitants of the house in the northern suburb of Conakry.
	"It was horrifying, we tried to call the fire department which didn't respond. The whole neighbourhood tried in vain to save the family," said a witness.
	"The neighbours got together, we first broke the walls of the courtyard, then the house, but we could only save one young man," policeman Almamy Laye Soumah told AFP at the scene.
	Two pregnant co-wives -- in a polygamous Muslim marriage -- and youngsters aged between five and 22 were killed, he said.
	The women's husband was out of Guinea at the time of the fire.
	Prime Minister Mohamed Said Fofana visited the scene of the tragedy.

Fire kills 8 family members in Guinea capital

The bodies of seven inmates at a maximum-security prison in Guatemala were found stuffed inside garbage bins today, their remains showing signs of torture, authorities said.
	Officials at El Boqueron prison found the bodies in an area that holds inmates from Mara Salvatrucha, one of the drug gangs blamed for a wave of violence sweeping Central America, said prisons spokesman Rudy Esquivel.
	The victims have not been identified, he said.
	Officials are investigating whether they were killed in a feud between warring gangs.
	On August 8, three other inmates were found murdered at the same prison in the eastern city of Cuilapa.
	Their bodies also bore signs of torture, but investigators said the victims were not linked to any gang.
	The prison holds 521 inmates, including 286 who belong to Mara Salvatrucha, whose members are known for their full-body tattoos.
	The gang's bloody war with its rivals has been blamed for making Central America one of the most violent regions in the ...

Seven inmates' bodies found in trash at Guatemala jail

Oil prices dipped today after US petroleum data showed lower crude-oil inventories but barely any decline in production despite sinking prices.
	US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery shed 71 cents at USD 38.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
	European benchmark Brent oil for October delivery lost seven cents at USD 43.14 a barrel in London.
	Crude supplies in the United States fell by 5.5 million barrels for the week ending August 21, according to US Department of Energy data.
	However, the report also showed US crude production slipped a scant 11,000 barrels a day, keeping output above 9.3 million barrels, not far from a decades-high production level.
	In another bearish indicator, gasoline supplies increased by 1.7 million barrels, the data showed.
	"The market continues to try to push off from six- or seven-year lows," said Gene McGillian, broker and analyst at Tradition Energy.
	However, after the inventory report came out, "some of the buying ...

Oil dips after mixed US petroleum supply report

Outgoing Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras today ruled out forming a national unity government should he fail to win a outright majority in snap elections triggered after he resigned last week.
	Tsipras, who called for a fresh vote after suffering a major rebellion in his hard-left Syriza party over Greece's huge new international bailout, dismissed suggestions he could work with the conservative opposition New Democracy, the Pasok socialists or the centre-right Potami if the poll results were inconclusive.
	"I will not become a prime minister who cooperates with New Democracy, Pasok or Potami," Tsipras said in an interview with the Alpha TV channel, his first since resigning last Thursday.
	"If we do not have a majority, I will not cooperate with (the parties that ran) previous governments."
	The date for Greece's general election -- the fifth the country has held in six years -- is to be officially announced by President Prokopis Pavlopoulos by the end of the week, but it is ...

Greece's Tsipras rules out forming national unity govt

A Guatemalan judge ruled today that former vice president Roxana Baldetti must remain in jail pending trial on charges of defrauding the customs service of millions of dollars.
	Judge Miguel Angel Galvez said he considered it "prudent" to deny bail to Baldetti, whom prosecutors and a special UN investigative commission accuse of masterminding a customs bribery ring along with President Otto Perez.
	Baldetti, 53, is accused of running a scheme in which businesses bribed officials to clear their imports through customs at a fraction of the actual tax rate.
	Prosecutors accuse her of taking a 50 per cent cut on all illegally slashed customs payments, for a total of some USD 3.8 million between May 2014 and April 2015.
	The scandal erupted in April when the UN's International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) accused one of Baldetti's top aides of involvement in the bribery scheme.
	Baldetti resigned on May 8.
	She was arrested Friday at a private hospital where she had ...

Guatemala ex-VP remanded in custody in corruption case

Iraqi President Fuad Masum said today Iraq's constitution should be amended rather than bypassed, in an apparent criticism of the premier's plan to abolish the constitutionally mandated vice presidency.
	Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered Iraq's three vice presidential positions to be scrapped and their funding reallocated as part of a reform drive aimed at curbing rampant corruption and government waste in response to weeks of protests.
	Masum called on his website for "protecting the constitution... And not bypassing it and not stopping working with it."
	He did not reject proposed changes outright, but said they must be carried out in keeping with the constitution.
	"We agree on the need to amend the constitution," he said, while also emphasising the "importance of respecting the principles of the constitution as the basis for any reforms and for any measures."
	Abadi, in a statement on his website, said "the reforms voted on by the cabinet and the parliament are ...

AFP

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