Nicola Sturgeon will become the new leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party - and therefore Scotland's first minister - as she was the only candidate when nominations closed today.
	Sturgeon, Scotland's deputy first minister, will replace SNP leader and current First Minister Alex Salmond.
	He announced his intention to resign after Scots voted to stay in the United Kingdom in the September 18 referendum.
	Sturgeon's leadership of the left-of-centre party will be officially confirmed at the SNP conference next month.
	Following that, her election as first minister must be approved by the Scottish parliament, where the SNP has a slim majority, and receive the assent of Queen Elizabeth II.
	"I am delighted that Nicola Sturgeon will succeed Alex Salmond as leader of the SNP," the party's business convener Derek Mackay said.
	"She will be a fantastic new leader of both the party and our country," he said.
	Sturgeon, 44, was seen as the brains behind Scotland's independence .

Sturgeon to become Scottish nationalist leader

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The BBC's website was blocked in China today, a day after a video of Hong Kong police beating and kicking a pro-democracy protester began circulating online.
	The move appears to be the first time the British broadcaster's website has been completely blocked in China since December 2010, when it was inaccessible for days ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony for Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
	The BBC's Chinese-language website has been blocked in China since it was launched in 1999, aside from a few months around the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
	"Extra censorship in mainland China today," the BBC's Asia bureau chief Jo Floto wrote in a Twitter posting today, noting authorities also have a "usual practice of blacking out BBC World during Hong Kong reports".
	Charlie Smith, a co-founder of the anti-censorship group GreatFire.Org, confirmed that the broadcaster's website was blocked in China today.
	China's Communist Party oversees a vast censorship system that ...

China blocks BBC website amid Hong Kong protests

Unidentified gunmen assassinated Syrian parliament member Waris al-Yunis in the central province of Hama, a parliamentary source told AFP today.
	"An armed group opened fire on MP Waris al-Yunis's car as it travelled on the Hama-Salamiyah road at around 9:00 pm (2330 IST) on Tuesday evening, killing him instantly," the source told AFP.
	Yunis was a representative from the coastal province of Tartus, a stronghold of support for President Bashar al-Assad, and a bastion of the Alawite minority sect to which the embattled leader belongs.
	Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, said Yunis was a commander in the pro-regime National Defence Force militia.
	The militia is fighting alongside government troops against rebels in various parts of Syria, including Hama province.
	Yunis is one of a number of members of Syria's parliament killed in the country's bloody conflict, which began in March 2011 with anti-government protests and has ...

Gunmen assassinate Syria MP in Hama: parliament source

British chipmaker CSR said today that it has agreed to a takeover from US giant Qualcomm.
	The cash offer, pitched at 900 pence per share, values the group at 1.56 billion pounds (USD 2.5 billion, 2.0 billion euros), it added in a statement.
	"The board believes this represents a very attractive outcome for CSR shareholders, customers and employees," said CSR chairman Ron Mackintosh.
	CSR, formerly known as Cambridge Silicon Radio, had rejected a takeover approach from US firm Microchip Technology in August.

British chipmaker agrees to takeover from Qualcomm

Bank of America reported a USD 70 million third-quarter loss today following a USD 5.3 billion charge to settle mortgage securities litigation.
	The loss compared with earnings of USD 1.5 billion last year. The bank also had a loss in the first quarter of 2014 due to hefty legal costs stemming from the financial crisis.

Bank of America reports USD 70 mln loss on huge legal costs

Nine teenage girls died and three were listed missing after a passenger boat capsized on a river in northern Nigeria, an emergency services official said today.
	"We have recovered nine bodies of the girls and we are still searching for the remaining three," Usman Ado of Kano State Emergency Service Agency told AFP.
	He said the boat was ferrying the girls, aged between eight and 14, across the river to the market on Monday when it capsized and sank following a rainstorm.
	He said the operator of the boat swam to safety but had been unable to save any of the girls in the turbulent water.
	Boat accidents in Nigeria occur frequently and are often caused by overloading, poor vessel maintainance, speeding and poor lighting.

Nine girls die in Nigeria boat capsize: official

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev thinks a reset in relations between Moscow and Washington is "impossible" while punishing Western sanctions remain in force, he said in an interview aired by US TV today.
	Medvedev blasted US and EU measures imposed on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis as "absolutely destructive" and "stupid" and said there was no chance of mending ties with the White House while they were in place.
	"No, of course not. It's absolutely impossible. Let's be clear: we did not come up with these sanctions. Our international partners did," Medvedev told American channel CNBC, according to a transcript by on the government's website.
	East-West relations have slumped to their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War over accusations Moscow is backing a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine.
	Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday held three hours of talks with US counterpart John Kerry in Paris at which Washington's top diplomat laid down a series .

Reset in Russia-US relations 'impossible': Medvedev

Eight people were killed when villagers clashed with construction workers over a building project in southwestern China, officials said today, in the latest land dispute to turn violent.
	Six construction workers and two villagers were killed yesterday in Jinning, a rural county in Yunnan province, with a further 18 injured, the local government said on a verified microblog.
	Violent clashes over property are common in China's countryside, where cash-strapped local governments depend on selling land to developers to raise funds, and generally offer low compensation to locals.
	The violence began when a construction firm sent in men with riot shields and helmets to fend off locals who were opposed to the building of a logistics centre, respected financial news outlet Caixin cited locals as saying.
	Pictures posted online apparently showed locals overpowering the hired men, who were shown kneeling in a row with others lying on the ground, apparently with their hands bound.
	Locals ...

Eight killed in China rural land dispute: government

The Marussia Formula One team have slammed media reports that Jules Bianchi and team officials ignored safety measures before the horrific crash that left the Frenchman fighting for his life in Japan.
     The 25-year-old collided with a recovery vehicle during the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this month.
     Marussia issued a statement on Wednesday vehemently denying that he had failed to slow down when marshals waved double yellow flags after Adrian Sutil's Sauber had skidded off at the same spot in heavy rain.
     The team also angrily rejected claims made by Germany's Sport Bild magazine citing "new information" that team officials had ordered Bianchi to speed up in order to stay ahead of Caterham's Marcus Ericsson at Suzuka.
	   "The Marussia F1 Team is shocked and angered by these allegations," said Marussia in a statement.
     "At a time when its driver is critically ill in hospital, and the team has made clear that its highest priority is consideration for Jules and his ...

Marussia angered at Bianchi crash report

Lawyers for Reeva Steenkamp's family today expressed shock that Oscar Pistorius's defence team revealed details of secret "blood money" payments during a heated courtroom arguments over his sentencing.
	In a statement on behalf of the slain model's parents, lawyers said they had "honoured" a request from the athlete not to reveal payments of USD 540 made each month after Pistorius killed her on Valentine's Day 2013.
	"We were therefore quite surprised yesterday when this fact was disclosed in court without any prior warning to us," the statement said.
	During a sentencing hearing yesterday, a defence witness referred to the payments as evidence that Pistorius was remorseful about shooting his 29-year-old girlfriend four times through a bathroom door, believing she was an intruder.
	The revelation prompted angry suggestions that Pistorius's team had opportunistically revealed the payments to reduce his likelihood of going to jail.
	The Paralympian star athlete was found guilty last ...

Pistorius 'blood money' row deepens

Badminton's governing body has asked police to investigate claims by the world No 9 and another Danish player that they were approached to throw matches.
     Badminton World Federation (BWF) president Poul-Erik Hoyer told the Danish Broadcasting Corporation that the case was the "biggest" he could remember.
     Singles player Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, who ranks ninth, and doubles player Kim Astrup told the broadcaster that they received offers to their Facebook accounts by a Malaysian man, who said he had previously fixed matches in the Singapore Open and the Thomas Cup.
     "It's against everything I stand for as a badminton player. I was never in doubt that the Badminton World Federation should be notified immediately, and today I'm happy that we had him reported," Vittinghus said.
     Astrup, who said he was offered between 2,500 and 3,000 euros ($3,200 and $3,800) in addition to being able to bet on his own game, added he was "not surprised" match-fixing took place in ...

Danish shuttlers allege match-fixing offers during Thomas Cup

A second health worker at the Texas hospital where the first case of Ebola contamination on US soil occurred has tested positive for the disease, the state government said today.
	Like the first case, the second concerned a caregiver who treated a Liberian Ebola sufferer who later died at the Dallas hospital, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
	The second worker came down with a fever on Tuesday and was isolated at the hospital right away.
	"Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored," the health department said in a statement.
	Both of the health workers had cared for Ebola sufferer Thomas Duncan, who is thought to have contracted the disease while still in Liberia, and who died on October 8.

Second health worker in Texas tests positive for Ebola

Japanese toymaker Tomy today unveiled a multi-talented humanoid robot, named "Robi jr.," which can converse using some 1,000 phrases and belt out about 50 songs, as well as move its limbs and head.
	The company said it will put the Japanese-speaking humanoid, designed by well-known roboticist Tomotaka Takahashi,  on the market early next year at a price of 15,000 yen (USD 140) apiece at stores and online in Japan.
	Its Chinese-speaking siblings will also debut in Taiwan and Hong Kong at around the same time, a company official said, after Robi jr. Was unveiled at the Japan Robot Week exhibition in Tokyo.
	The googly-eyed, 20 centimetre (7.9 inches) high robot was designed to resemble a six-year-old, according to the firm, which says it is equipped with voice recognition and calendar functions so it can respond when owners ask it for the time.
	When asked to sing a song, the robot will answer, "Okay. Then let's sing along together" or "No. Ask me later because I am busy", depending on .

Japan toymaker unveils tiny talking, singing humanoid

Somali Islamist insurgents are plotting to attack an upmarket area of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, the US embassy has warned, in a notice to citizens to avoid crowded areas.
	The exact target is not known but the embassy said the "potential imminent terrorist attack" threatened the busy Bole district, which includes the capital's international airport and several diplomatic missions.
	"The embassy has received threat reports of Al-Shebab's intent to target the Bole area," said the notice to citizens released yesterday.
	"Restaurants, hotels, bars, places of worship, supermarkets, and shopping malls in the Bole area should be avoided until further notice, because they are possible targets."
	Ethiopian troops are fighting the Shehab in Somalia as part of the UN-backed African Union force there.
	The embassy warned its citizens in Addis Ababa "to avoid large crowds and places where both Ethiopians and Westerners frequent".
	The Shebab, which carried out the September 2013 massacre in .

Somali Islamist plot to attack Ethiopian capital: US

A baby born in Australia to asylum-seeker parents is not entitled to refugee status, a judge ruled today, in a case which advocates said will impact the fate of scores more children.
	   Baby boy Ferouz was born in Brisbane's Mater Hospital last year after his mother, from Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya minority, was transferred to Australia from the Pacific state of Nauru due to concerns about her pregnancy.
	Since July 2013 Australia has denied asylum-seekers arriving by boat resettlement in this country, sending them instead to camps in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
	The government considers Ferouz an unlawful maritime arrival like his parents, and has already denied him a protection visa.
	Federal Court Judge Michael Jarrett agreed with this course of action today, ruling that despite the circumstances of his birth, Ferouz was legally an "unauthorised maritime arrival".
	"On the applicant's birth he entered Australia and became an 'unlawful non-citizen', given that neither of his ...

Australian-born baby denied refugee status

Nurses at the Texas hospital where a Liberian Ebola patient died last week complain they were given few rules and little guidance on how to treat the severely ill man, contrary to assertions by US health authorities.
	The head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Thomas Frieden, said earlier this week that a "breach in protocol" by health workers led to a nurse becoming infected with the potentially fatal virus.
	But a national union speaking late yesterday on behalf of the Texas nurses rejected the assertion that protocols were breached.
	They told reporters at a telephone news conference that clear treatment guidelines for Ebola were all but non-existent at the Texas hospital.
	The CDC is saying that protocols were breached, but the nurses are saying there were no protocols," said Roseann DeMoro, head of the group National Nurses United, in a phone conference from California.
	The nurses' union shared the revelations from workers at Presbyterian Hospital ...

No hospital 'protocols' for Ebola treatment: US nurses' group

US Secretary of State John Kerry was due back in Vienna today for a fresh push with his Iranian counterpart to jumpstart stalled talks over Tehran's nuclear programme.
	Iran and six world powers have six weeks, before a November 24 deadline, to strike a historic deal meant to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian atomic programme.
	Kerry, who attempted a similar mission in Vienna before a July deadline which was then pushed back, said Tuesday there was still hard work to be done but that a deal remains achievable.
	"I don't believe it's out of reach, but we have some tough issues to resolve," Kerry told reporters in Paris after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
	Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif struck a similar tone after talks with EU and US officials in Vienna, telling state media that the "notable differences" were "not insurmountable".
	"All the issues are linked and we need to reach an agreement that covers ...

Kerry seeks elusive breakthough in Iran nuclear talks

The gunman suspected of killing an American in Saudi Arabia's capital had no known links to "extremist" organisations, the interior ministry said, as Washington sought clarification about the killer's motive.
	Abdulaziz Fahad Abdulaziz Alrashid, 24, the alleged shooter who authorities say was wounded in a gunfight with security forces, is a US-born Saudi who had been fired from US defence contractor Vinnell Arabia, an interior ministry spokesman said in a statement late yesterday.
	The dead American and another US national who was wounded also worked for Vinnell Arabia, which trains the Saudi Arabian National Guard, the spokesman said.
	"The security services have no proof that (the killer) had prior links with extremist organisations," he said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
	An investigation into the motive for the shooting is continuing, he added.
	The attack occurred yesterday at a petrol station in eastern Riyadh.
	US Secretary of State John Kerry told .

'No proof' of extremist ties in Saudi killing of American

Sixth-seed local favourite Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova secured her second round Kremlin Cup ticket on Tuesday with a straight-set victory over Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh, here yesterday.
     The 23-year-old Pavlyuchenkova, seeking her seventh career title at the joint WTA and ATP event, outclassed Konjuh 6-3, 6-4 in their first ever meeting.
     The Paris WTA indoor winner broke midway through the opening set and kept her narrow lead through to lift herself 1-0 up in 31 minutes.
     The second set was a virtual carbon copy of the first as Pavlyuchenkova, 30th in the WTA rankings, broke once again to take the set and the match in one hour 21 minutes.
     "I knew almost nothing about my opponent and was mostly focused on my own performance," Pavlyuchenkova said.
     "In general I'm pleased with my tennis today as it's always difficult to start a new tournament especially in front of my home crowd."
     Meanwhile, unheralded Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic, who appeared in the main draw .

Local favourite Pavlyuchenkova on song in Moscow

A towering header deep into injury-time from Cristiano Ronaldo gave Portugal a 1-0 win over Denmark in their Euro-2016 qualifier yesterday.
     The Real Madrid forward rose magnificently to head home a cross from Ricardo Quaresma five minutes into time added on, earning a welcome first win for Portugal's new coach Fernando Santos.
     Portugal lost their opening match in qualifying Group I 1-0 at home to Albania last month, a result that led to the departure of former coach Paulo Bento.
     And they then went down 2-1 to France in a friendly on Saturday in their first game under Santos.
     Albania, whose game with Serbia was abandoned before half-time in Belgrade on Tuesday after an incident involving a drone, still top Group I with four points from two games, above Denmark on goal difference, while Portugal are a point back.
     Denmark 'keeper Kasper Schmeichel made a double save from Ronaldo as early as the seventh minute, and the stopper was equally impressive saving from ...

Injury-time Ronaldo header delivers Portugal

Queens Park Rangers defender Rio Ferdinand has been charged with misconduct over a comment he made on Twitter, the Football Association announced yesterday.
     The FA did not identify the posting in question, but reports suggested it concerned a tweet in which Ferdinand had referred to the mother of another Twitter user as a "sket" -- a derogatory slang term for a promiscuous woman.
     "Queens Park Rangers defender Rio Ferdinand has been charged by The FA for misconduct in relation to a comment he made via social media," the FA said in a statement on its website.
     "It is alleged the comment posted on his Twitter account was abusive and/or indecent and/or insulting and/or improper. It is further alleged that this breach is aggravated pursuant to FA Rule E3(2) as it included a reference to gender."
     Ferdinand, 35, has until October 21 to respond to the charge. A Twitter user provoked the tweet that appears to have landed Ferdinand in hot water by sending him a teasing ...

AFP

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