Apple is still seeing "strong growth" in China despite fears about an economic slowdown which have sparked a global market rout, chief executive Tim Cook said today.
	Cook responded to a query from CNBC about the sharp drop in Apple shares amid the market upheaval in China and around the world.
	"As you know, we don't give mid-quarter updates and we rarely comment on moves in Apple stock. But I know your question is on the minds of many investors," Cook wrote to CNBC's Jim Cramer in an email released by the cable channel.
	Cook noted that he gets updates daily on Apple activity in China "including this morning, and I can tell you that we have continued to experience strong growth for our business in China through July and August."
	He said that "growth in iPhone activations has actually accelerated over the past few weeks, and we have had the best performance of the year for the App Store in China during the last two weeks."
	Cook added: "Obviously I can't predict the future, but our .

CEO says Apple growth still 'strong' in China

PTI Automatic

The twin cubs born to the Smithsonian National Zoo's giant panda Mei Xiang were said today to be "doing well" after a night that had zookeepers on edge.
	The cubs were born within five hours of each other on Saturday, triggering "pandamonium" at the much-visited zoo in the US capital.
	"Our panda cubs are doing well, but the panda team had a challenging night," the zoo said in a brief statement.
	Mei Xiang has been caring for the delicate and vulnerable newborns one at a time -- but when handlers tried late Sunday night to swap the cubs, she refused to let go of the one in her possession.
	"Consequently, the panda team cared for the smaller cub throughout the night until 7:05 a.M. (1105 GMT) when they successfully swapped the cubs," it said.
	Prior to the swap, the smaller cub was fed formula first by bottle, then by tube, with the latter procedure turning out to work "well and quickly."
	"Our goal is for each cub to spend an equal amount of time with their mother. The newborn cubs ...

Newborn pandas 'doing well' after tense night at US zoo

Scientists have taken a major step towards creating a vaccine that works against multiple strains of influenza, according to two studies published today in top journals.
	A "universal vaccine" is the holy grail of immunisation efforts against the flu, a shape-shifting virus which kills up to half a million people each year, according the World Health Organization.
	There have been several killer pandemics in the last century -- the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak claimed at least 20 million lives.
	Existing vaccines target a part of the virus that mutates constantly, forcing drug makers and health officials to concoct new anti-flu cocktails every year.
	In the two studies, published in Nature and Science, researchers tested new vaccines on mice, ferrets and monkeys that duplicate another, more stable, part of the virus.
	Scientists have long known that the stem of haemagglutinin -- a spike-like protein, known as HA, on the surface of the virus -- remains largely the same even when the tip, .

'Major step' toward universal flu vaccine: studies

The first manned space flight from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, currently under construction in the Russian far east, has been pushed back seven years to 2025, Russia's space agency said today.
	"The first manned flight from the Vostochny Cosmodrome is scheduled for 2025 with an Angara-AV5 rocket, according to the federal space programme," agency spokesman Mikhail Fadeyev told AFP.
	A 2007 presidential decree had said that the first manned launch from the cosmodrome, which is being built in the far eastern Amur region, would take place in 2018.
	But the deadline outlined in the decree would have forced the space agency to adapt the new cosmodrome to aging Soyuz rockets, which are expected to be replaced by new Russian-made Angara rockets by 2024.
	The Vostochny Cosmodrome is designed to ease Russia's dependence on space launches in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, a launchpad Russia has been forced to rent at high cost since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
	The decision to postpone the first ...

First manned flight at showpiece cosmodrome delayed seven

Thousands of so-called "politically exposed persons", or PEPs -- a category that includes heads of state and other top officials -- hold Swiss bank accounts, a Swiss foreign ministry official said today.
	Swiss authorities estimate that "there are thousands of PEPs (with accounts) in Switzerland, not hundreds," Valentin Zellweger, who heads the ministry's Directorate of International Law, told reporters.
	Switzerland has repeatedly been embarrassed by revelations, splashed across front pages worldwide, of global political heavyweights hiding funds -- sometimes embezzled from public coffers -- in the Alpine nation's famous banks.
	But the country has not taken such scandals sitting down: it has been freezing suspicious assets for a quarter century.
	By the end of this year, Bern aims to finalise a law aimed at simplifying the process of freezing and unblocking such funds.
	In total, Switzerland has since 2003 returned a total of around USD 1.8 billion embezzled by Ferdinand Marcos of ..

'Thousands' of political heavyweights hold Swiss accounts

Greece's embattled ruling Syriza party suffered another blow today when its secretary quit, as eurosceptic rebels were given a mandate to try to form a government.
	Syriza secretary Tasos Koronakis stepped down in protest at Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' decision last week to call early elections, backtracking on an earlier proposal to hold a party congress in September to address the rebel faction.
	Greece is likely headed for snap elections as early as next month after Tsipras resigned in the face of the internal Syriza revolt over his acceptance of the tough terms of a massive new international bailout deal.
	Tsipras today told his party's remaining political secretariat that he did not want a "leftist civil war" to break out during the election campaign.
	According to a government note, the outgoing PM said his aim remained to "gradually" take the country out of austerity, and ruled out cooperating with the conservatives and socialists after the election.
	With the Athens stock ..

New blow for Greece's Syriza as rebels try to form govt

Two possible suicides may be linked to the hacking of adultery website Ashley Madison and the release of its membership data, Canadian police said today.
	"As of this morning we have two unconfirmed reports of suicides associated to the leak of Ashley Madison customer profiles," Toronto police Staff Superintendent Bryce Evans told a news conference.
	Evans also said the release of stolen emails and user account information from some 32 million members of the Canada-based site is now leading to "spin off" crimes.
	Evans pointed to extortion and online scams claiming to provide access to the leaked data and offers to delete it from the web.
	Ashley Madison, launched in 2001, is known for its slogan: "Life is short. Have an affair." It helps connect people seeking to have extramarital relationships and is owned by Avid Life Media.
	Last week, a hacker group identified as the "Impact Team" released emails and user account information of members stolen from the company's servers.
	The ...

Two suicides may be linked to Ashley Madison hack: police

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was today expected to call snap polls likely to be held on November 1 after efforts to form a coalition government failed.
	Erdogan was meeting with parliament speaker Ismet Yilmaz at his presidential palace to make the arrangements, a day after the deadline for forming a new government expired, the presidency announced.
	The president is also expected to give a mandate to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to form an interim "election government" to take the country to the November polls.
	Davutoglu's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its overall majority in the 550-seat parliament in June for the first time since it came to power in 2002, forcing the party to seek a coalition partner.
	But the AKP's coalition talks with opposition parties failed to produce a government.
	Erdogan, a co-founder of the AKP, wants the party to win back an overall majority and govern alone. He is also seeking to fulfil his dream of a presidency with ...

Turkey's Erdogan set to call snap polls for November 1

UN chief Ban Ki-moon today hailed Nigeria's "greater stability and peace" under its new leader as he commemorated a deadly attack on the global body by Boko Haram militants.
	The secretary-general hugged relatives of the victims of the 2011 bombing as he laid a wreath at United Nations House in the capital Abuja and praised "the extraordinary fortitude and determination" of the survivors.
	"Our fallen colleagues and partners will be remembered this morning with a moment of silence in many places," he said.
	"But nowhere are the memories of these colleagues more immediate, more vivid and more compelling than here in Abuja. We will remember them forever as truly the best of humanity."
	Twenty-four people died when a bomb-laden car exploded at UN House, the headquarters for around 400 employees, on August 26, 2011.
	Radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, blamed for the deaths of at least 15,000 people during a six-year-insurgency, mainly in Nigeria's northeast, claimed responsibility for the .

Ban marks deadly Boko Haram attack on UN in Nigeria

At least eight people were killed and two more missing today in flooding in Turkey's northeastern Black Sea province of Artvin, officials said.
	Artvin governor Kemal Cirit was quoted as saying by the DHA news agency that at least three of those deaths were caused by the collapse of a house in the town of Hopa.
	Television pictures showed chaotic scenes as rivers burst their banks and raged down roads, trapping cars and buses.
	Artvin province, on the border with Georgia, is known for its high levels of rainfall and regularly has to deal with floods.

At least eight dead in Turkey floods: official

South Africa's rand plunged to an all-time low today, breaching 14 to the dollar on the back of a global drop in commodity prices.
	The currency of the continent's most developed economy tumbled to 14.0682 against the greenback before midday, an 8.5 percent drop, before it pulled back to 13.33 by mid-afternoon.
	The currency has been under sustained pressure lately and is one of the worst hit out of 25 emerging market peers as jittery investors dispose of high-risk assets in the wake of slowing economic growth in China.
	South Africa's central bank issued a statement saying it would consider intervening in the foreign exchange market "to ensure orderly market conditions".
	"Developments in South African markets in recent days are largely a response to external factors," it added.
	"This is an emerging market risk event," said Nedbank economist Isaac Matshego.
	"Currencies of other emerging markets are under pressure too, but the volatility that we saw this morning was a bit ...

South Africa's rand tumbles to all-time low

Crude oil prices sank today after a plunge in Chinese equities raised fresh fears about China's faltering economy, the largest consumer of energy, and its impact on the global economy.
	The Shanghai stock market's 8.5 per cent dive today, its steepest in eight years, roiled markets worldwide, hammering stocks, the dollar and commodities.
	Oil prices struck new six-year lows in the sell-off as concerns mounted about demand in China, the world's second-largest economy and consumer of crude oil after the United States.
	"The petroleum markets are extending last week's decline along with global equity markets on Monday as worries over slowing Chinese economic growth intensified," said Tim Evans, energy markets strategist at Citi Futures.
	"The drop in prices is also sparking some bargain hunting that has helped trim losses, but it's far from clear that a bottom is at hand."
	Around 1530 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October delivery was down USD 1.82 at USD 38.63 a ..

Oil sinks as China fears roil markets

A prominent rival of president Mahmud Abbas called for the ouster of the veteran leader today as Palestinians seek to organise a congress for the first time in nearly 20 years.
	Mohammed Dahlan, once a leading figure in Abbas's Fatah party but now in exile in Dubai, took to his Facebook page to criticise the Palestinian president.
	His comments came after Abbas resigned Saturday as head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's Executive Committee in a bid to force new elections for the top body.
	His resignation along with more than half of the 18-member committee will only take effect with a meeting of the Palestine National Council.
	The PNC is a congress of 740 members representing those who live in the Palestinian territories and in the diaspora. It has not met since 1996.
	The opposition saw Abbas's move as a political manoeuvre aimed at empowering his allies and marginalising opponents ahead of the 80-year-old's eventual retirement.
	Dahlan, Fatah's former strongman in Gaza, ..

Abbas rival calls for ouster of Palestinian leader

A rare mass trial of 41 radical Islamists accused of seeking to overthrow the government and links with "terrorists" opened today in the United Arab Emirates, official media reported.
	WAM news agency said the hearing at the state security court in Abu Dhabi was devoted to procedural measures, including the appointment of lawyers.
	The judge then adjourned the trial to September 28.
	Earlier this month, the prosecutor general accused the defendants, who include both Emiratis and foreigners, of plotting attacks aimed at trying to "seize power and establish a caliphate".
	He also accused them of creating a group "with a terrorist, takfiri (Sunni Muslim extremist) ideology".
	Takfiris regard Muslims who do not follow their extreme interpretation of Islam as apostates who can be killed.
	The Islamic State group, which has set up a "caliphate" on territory it has captured in Syria and Iraq, follows the takfiri ideology, as does Al-Qaeda.
	It was not immediately clear if the 41 suspects ...

Rare mass 'terror' trial opens in the UAE

The Politwoops website that saves tweets deleted by politicians said today its operations have been closed down in the 30 countries where it was active after Twitter blocked its access to the social media site.
	"On Friday night, August 21, the Open State Foundation was informed by Twitter that it suspended... Access to Diplotwoops and all remaining Politwoops sites in 30 countries," said the Open Foundation, which started Politwoops in the Netherlands in 2010.
	Twitter switched off Politwoops in the United States in May and the Open Foundation voiced fears it may happen elsewhere.
	Twitter ended the US website's access to its API (application programme interface) which allowed it to see when a politician deleted a tweet, often an indicator they have changed their mind or realised a mistake.
	Since being formed at a so-called hackathon five years ago, the website that is a useful tool for journalists and a frequent source of embarrassment for politicians, has spread to 30 countries ...

Website that save politicians' deleted tweets suspended

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce became the first woman to win three world 100m titles and completed a Jamaican sprint double as she emulated Usain Bolt by storming to victory on Monday.
     The pint-sized Jamaican, unmissable with a yellow flowered garland on top of her bright green braids, shot out of the blocks and eased home, right arm raised, in 10.76 seconds.
     Dutchwoman Dafne Schippers took silver in a national record of 10.81sec with American Tori Bowie claiming bronze (10.86) in the climax to day four at the world championships in Beijing.
     Double Olympic champion Fraser-Pryce also won world gold in 2009 and 2013, and sealed her third title a day after Bolt won a thrilling 100m duel with America's Justin Gatlin.
     It came seven years after Fraser-Pryce came to the Bird's Nest as an outsider at the 2008 Olympics, and left with 100m gold.
     "When I ran the heats, I remembered when back in 2008 at the Olympic Games I was 21 years old," Fraser-Pryce said.
     "I expected ..

Fraser-Pryce wins 100m, seals historic treble, Jamaican sweep

- Eoin Morgan has named captain of the England squads for the one-off Twenty20 international and five-match one-day series against Australia.
     England T20 squad Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wkt), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Essex), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Northamptonshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
     England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wkt), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales, (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), David Willey (Northamptonshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham)
	   Fixtures
	   Aug 31: Twenty20, Cardiff
	   Sep 03: 1st ODI, Southampton (D/N)
	   Sep 05: 2nd 

Morgan retained as England captain for Australia T20 and ODIS

President Francois Hollande today bestowed France's highest honour on a group of Americans and a Briton who overpowered a Moroccan gunman on a crowded train, saying the whole world "admires their courage and cool composure".
	Anti-terror investigators were questioning the alleged attacker, 25-year-old Ayoub El Khazzani, who boarded the high-speed train in Brussels bound for Paris on Friday armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a Luger automatic pistol, ammunition and a box-cutter.
	Witnesses said he opened fire, injuring a man before being wrestled to the floor and subdued by three young Americans -- off-duty servicemen Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone and their student friend Anthony Sadler -- and a Briton, 62-year-old business consultant Chris Norman.
	Presenting them with the Legion d'Honneur at the Elysee presidential palace, Hollande said: "A terrorist decided to commit an attack. He had enough weapons and ammunition to carry out a real carnage, and that's what he would have ...

France honours heroes for train attack 'courage'

Australia's tennis badboy Nick Kyrgios was on Monday handed a suspended ban and fine by the ATP for his lurid verbal attack on Stan Wawrinka at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.
     In a statement the ATP found 20-year-old Kyrgios guilty of "aggravated behaviour" and served him with a 28-day ban and $25,000 (21,450 euros) fine.
     But both punishments will be waived if Kyrgios avoids any fines for verbal or physical abuse at ATP events over the next six months.
     "Once the player has met those conditions the penalties will be formally dismissed," the ATP confirmed.
     "If the conditions are not met the penalties will be invoked after any appeals process is exhausted."
     Kyrgios made headlines around the world after crude remarks concerning Wawrinka's reported girlfriend, teenager Donna Vekic, during a match against the Swiss ace in Montreal.
     Kyrgios, who was fined $10,000 by the ATP for his courtside sledge at the time, issued a statement apologising for his remarks, ...

Wawrinka rant earns Kyrgios 28-day 'suspended ban', fine

A top court in Bangladesh today banned a movie depicting one of the world's worst industrial disasters for six months amid concerns that it would "negatively portray" the nation's USD 25 billion garment industry.
	Two High Court judges gave the order, saying the movie, Rana Plaza, named after the ill-fated factory complex, breached a previous order by the same court by screening gruesome images of the disaster that killed 1,138 people in 2013.
	"The court heard a writ filed by a labour group and banned screening of the film in the country and overseas for six months," Deputy Attorney General Mokleshur Rahman told AFP.
	"The judges imposed the ban following concerns that it would negatively portray Bangladesh's sensitive garment sector in the world and can also create [a] law and order problem in the country," he added.
	Bangladesh's garment industry is worth USD 25 billion a year in exports.
	The 137-minute film was scheduled to hit more than 100 theatres across the country on ...

Bangladesh court bans movie on factory disaster

China will swap the heads of the country's top three telecom companies in a high stakes round of musical chairs as speculation mounts over a possible merger of the trio.
	The companies - China Unicom, China Telecom and China Mobile - are all state-owned and China's Communist Party controls the management of the country's major government-run enterprises with power to shuffle their chiefs at will.
	The country's second-largest operator China Unicom will be replaced with the head of China Telecom, according to separate company statements posted on their websites, intensifying the merger speculation, which has been spreading as the government tries to reform the tightly controlled industry.
	"A change of top management does signal Chinese government actions and progress in pushing reforms," Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michelle Ma told Bloomberg News. "Investors are hoping the reforms could revitalise growth and improve efficiency in the telecom sector."
	Chang Xiaobing, former ...

AFP

AFP

Page 2109 - Afp