US authorities today hunted for a suspect who shot and killed a US state trooper and wounded another in an ambush outside police barracks in Pennsylvania, calling the attack "cowardly."
	State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan urged members of the public to come forward with any clues they might have following last night's assault at the Blooming Grove Barracks in Pike County, in a bid to track down the perpetrator.
	"This attack was an ambush. Our troopers were leaving the barracks and were shot without warning and really had no chance to defend themselves," Noonan told reporters.
	"It's a cowardly attack. It's an attack upon all of us in society and the people of Pennsylvania."
	Authorities have offered a USD 20,000 reward for any information leading to the capture and conviction of the person responsible.
	"We're looking for the cooperation of the public, whether it's money that would motivate you or just outrage at this terrible act," Noonan said.
	"The Pennsylvania State Police ...

Hunt on for suspect in ambush at US police barracks

PTI Automatic

Chile today said it would seek to reinstate the use of undercover agents in its intelligence services after a series of bomb attacks in the Santiago area.
	Although the National Intelligence Agency (ANI) has the right to use informants, it is not permitted to use undercover agents.
	But after recent bombings, the government is moving to strengthen its intelligence services, including putting forward a bill in Congress that would reinstate the use of undercover operatives.
	The practice was banned after the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, during which intelligence agencies used agents to infiltrate opposition groups.
	"It is very important that the ANI has essential operational functions," Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo told local media.
	And ANI director Gustavo Villalobos told the El Mercurio newspaper that, in investigating and preventing the bombings "undercover agents, informants, and intelligence work is the most relevant."
	On Monday, a homemade bomb exploded ..

Chile seeks to reinstate undercover intelligence agents

US second lady Jill Biden was the star guest of Prince Harry today at the third day of the Invictus Games, a Paralympics-style event for wounded troops organised by the British royal.
	The pair, both vocal supporters of the Armed Forces, watched a wheelchair basketball match at the Copper Box arena in east London's Olympic Park.
	Harry, fourth in line to the throne, is a serving British army captain who completed two tours in Afghanistan, while Biden -- married to Vice President Joe Biden -- is a campaigner for forces' families in the US.
	A total of 416 wounded troops -- both serving and veterans -- from 13 countries were welcomed to the inaugural Games by Harry at Wednesday's opening ceremony.
	Other highlights of Saturday, the penultimate day of competition, were the rowing events with former Royal Engineer captain, Nick Beighton -- who lost both legs after stepping on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2009 -- claiming three gold medals.
	"There was a real buzz out ..

US second lady attends London Games for injured troops

At least 39 people are missing after a ferry lost control of its steering and was hit by huge waves in waters off the central Philippines on tonight, the government's civil defence office said.
	The Maharlika II ferry, carrying at least 84 people lost control and was carried away by the current and waves, forcing those onboard to abandon ship off the central island of Leyte, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in a statement.
	Rescue ships were able to pick up 55 survivors, the council said.
	Ships are still searching for the remaining crew and passengers and there are no reports of any fatalities so far, the council stressed.
	The organisation had originally stated that the vessel had sunk but officials said they were not certain of its ultimate condition.
	"Rescue boats had trouble reaching them because the waves were really huge," spokeswoman Mina Marasigan said.
	The ferry had reported "problems with steering" and had also been buffeted by heavy rains, 

39 missing after ferry mishap in Philippines: Govt

Berlin is preparing to send around 40 soldiers to northern Iraq to train Kurdish fighters battling against militants from the Islamic State, the German army said today.
	Following a decision last month by the German government to provide Kurdish peshmerga forces with weapons, Berlin's defence ministry said it had sent six soldiers to its consulate in Arbil, northern Iraq, to "coordinate" joint training exercises.
	Additional teams will be "temporarily" deployed to Iraqi Kurdistan, with up to 30 Kurdish soldiers travelling to Germany in exchange, it said.
	The first batch of German weapons, which includes "anti-tank rockets and machine guns," will arrive in northern Iraq on September 24 and will be followed "quickly" by the military trainers, according to a defence ministry spokesman.
	German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier this month that an estimated 400 German nationals had travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight on the side of the jihadists, who were threatening the stability of 

Germany sending 40 soldiers to Iraqi Kurdistan

A judge in Brazil has ordered a baby be registered as born with two mothers and a father, a first in the South American country.
	The novel step had been requested both by the baby's biological father and mother, and the biological mother's female partner.
	Judge Rafael Pagnon Cunha in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul decided Thursday the mothers had a right to form a stable legal union, and the father did as well, the newspaper O Globo said.
	He therefore ordered that the baby's civil registry be adjusted to reflect "what life has reserved for her: a multi-part nest, full of love and affection."
	"The sentence is historic," said Maria Berenice Dias, the head of the diversity committee of the lawyer's association in the state, who said the law should adapt to changes in society.
	O Globo said Fernanda Batagli Kropenski, 26, and Mariani Guedes Santiago, 27, had asked their friend Luis Guilherme Barbosa to help them have a child.
	He agreed, but on condition that he be recognised 

Baby registered in Brazil with two mothers and a father

The families of two journalists beheaded by Islamic State jihadists were both warned by US government officials they could face prosecution if they raised a ransom for their release.
	The recent executions of James Foley and Steven Sotloff by Islamic State (IS) extremists triggered worldwide revulsion and Washington has since declared it is at war with the radicals.
	The United States has a policy of never paying ransoms, contending that doing so would endanger Americans all over the world.
	Late yesterday, a spokesman for Sotloff's family said the murdered journalist's parents were told by a White House counterterrorism official last May that they could face prosecution if they paid a ransom in an attempt to secure the release of their son.
	"The family felt completely and utterly helpless when they heard this," Barak Barfi told Yahoo News.
	"The Sotloffs felt there was nothing they could do to get Steve out."
	He added that Sotloff's father was "shaking" after the meeting with the ..

Families of beheaded US reporters warned not to pay ransoms

Sri Lankan rights activists have gone to the country's highest court in a bid to stop the government summarily deporting Afghan, Iranian and Pakistani refugees, their lawyer said today.
	Six human rights defenders have petitioned the Supreme Court to challenge the expulsions, which are being carried out despite warnings that Sri Lanka is in breach of its international obligations, lawyer Lakshan Dias told AFP.
	"The case is coming up on September 29," Dias said. "We feel that some of the people who are being sent back face real danger. They have life-threatening conditions if they go back. That is why local rights defenders decided to file this case."
	The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in a statement yesterday urged Sri Lanka to stop arrests and deportations of those who have filed refugee claims with the agency's Colombo offices and sought access to those already detained.
	Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal, which is one step lower than the Supreme Court, earlier this month overturned .

Sri Lanka's expulsion of refugees goes to highest court

At least 70 people are missing after a ferry sank in the waters off the central Philippines in bad weather tonight, the government's civil defence office said.
	The Maharlika II ferry, carrying at least 84 people went down off the central island of Leyte with only 14 people rescued so far by other boats said Mina Marasigan, spokeswoman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
	"Rescue boats had trouble reaching them because the waves were really huge," she told AFP.
	The coast guard and private vessels are still in the area, Marasigan said, adding there are hopes more people will be rescued in the coming hours.
	The ferry had reported "problems with steering" and had also been buffeted by heavy rains, worsened by Typhoon Kalmaegi which is approaching the northern Philippines, she said.

70 missing after ferry sinks in Philippines: govt

The campaign for Scotland to stay in the United Kingdom has taken the lead, a new opinion poll showed today, after a shock survey last weekend put the pro-independence camp ahead.
	The Survation poll commissioned by the "Better Together" pro-union campaign gave them 47 per cent support against 40.8 per cent for the nationalists, with nine per cent undecided and 3.2 per cent refusing to say.
	Excluding undecideds, the "No" to independence camp has 54 per cent and the "Yes" campaign 46 per cent.
	With just five days until voters go to the polls, 93 per cent of 1,004 respondents questioned by telephone between Wednesday and Friday said they were certain to vote.
	"This poll suggests that 'No' are in the lead but that the race is far from over," said Blair McDougall, campaign director of the "Better Together" campaign.
	"No-one can afford a protest vote. Any one of us could cast the vote that makes the difference between the UK staying together or breaking apart."
	A spokesman for "Yes ...

New Scottish poll confirms slight lead for 'No' camp

Fifty Palestinian families made homeless by Israeli bombing during the summer's fierce offensive on the Gaza Strip were rehoused today in mobile homes in the southern town of Khan Yunis.
	During the 50-day conflict, 9,800 homes were totally destroyed and another 8,000 left uninhabitable, according to data from the housing ministry in Gaza.
	Imad al-Haddad, Gaza head of a United Arab Emirates association providing these 50 mobile homes,  told AFP that, in the town's Khuzaa neighbourhood alone 500 families lost the rooves over their heads.
	Mohamed al-Najjar, 60, whose three-story house was crushed by an Israeli air strike, is one of those moving into the UAE accommodation, which he described as an "excellent initiative" for the near term.
	"We expect to rebuild our house; we do not just want a temporary solution," he said.
	Al-Haddad said each unit --  comprising two bedrooms, a bathroom and kitchen -- could accommodate six people and cost an estimated USD 7,000.
	He said his ...

Bombed out Gazans move into mobile homes

Ugandan security forces stopped a cell of Somalia's Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents apparently "planning for an imminent attack," the US embassy said today.
	Arrests were made, police said, in raids two weeks after Ugandan troops, fighting in Somalia, reportedly provided intelligence that helped US special forces kill the Shebab's chief in a devastating air strike.
	"Ugandan authorities reported the discovery of an Al-Shebab terrorist cell in Kampala," the US embassy said in a statement, adding that forces were working to see "whether there are members of the cell still at large."
	Citizens were urged to stay at home today.
	"We remain in close contact with our Ugandan counterparts as investigations continue into what appears to have been planning for an imminent attack," the US added.
	Police spokesman Fred Enanga said forces had "made arrests" but gave no details of how many people had been detained.
	"Joint security agencies in Uganda have foiled a terrorist attempt at one of its 

Uganda foils Somalia Shebab plotting 'imminent attack': US

Lebanese police have arrested a man who staged a sick prank by filming himself threatening to behead three Syrian refugee children left in his care, a security official said today.
	The video, which was posted on YouTube yesterday and shared widely, shows the three terrified children crying as a man standing behind a camera waves a knife and asks: "Whom do we behead first?"
	Adding to the pathos of the incident, the crying children respond by pointing at each other.
	A security official said the video proved to be a "sick joke," and that the children had been left in the man's care by their mother, his neighbour, while she went to buy groceries.
	"The intelligence branch of the Internal Security Forces has detained the man who made the video," said the police official, adding that the incident had taken place in the southern Nabatiyeh province.
	While describing the incident as "an isolated incident," the official said the video was yet another sign of the effect of the Syrian war on .

Lebanon arrests 'prankster' for threatening to behead children

Myanmar has temporarily banned its women from working as maids in Singapore due to concerns over abuse and exploitation, an employment body in Yangon said today.
	The suspension comes amid a global spotlight on the working conditions of migrant domestic helpers in Asia after reports of widespread abuse, including the case of an Indonesian maid who allegedly endured months of torture by her Hong Kong boss.
	Myanmar -- which only last year passed a law allowing its nationals to work as domestic helpers overseas -- will impose the ban until an agreement is reached with Singapore over issues including worker rights and salary.
	"We have been informed of cases of abuse and ill-treatment of Myanmar maids in Singapore... That's why we want proper protection for workers," Soe Myint Aung, a vice-chairman of the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation, told AFP.
	"The labour ministry has temporarily suspended permits for women until the federation signs a Memorandum of Understanding ...

Myanmar suspends work permits for maids going to Singapore

Pope Francis today denounced those who profit from the "madness" of war at a ceremony in the north west of Italy to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I.
	"In today's world, behind the scenes, there are interests, geopolitical strategies, lust for money and power, and there is the manufacture and sale of arms," he told the crowd of thousands standing in the rain at the Redipuglia cemetery.
	"Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war: one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction."
	Around him, neat rows of graves lined Italy's largest military graveyard in the region of Veneto, near the Slovenian border, home to the more than 100,000 soldiers killed during the Great War.
	The visit, which comes as conflicts continue to rage in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, also had a personal resonance for the pope.
	The pontiff's own grandfather fought in the fierce Italian offensive against the Austro-Hungarian empire 

Pope Francis marks 100 years from start of WWI

The United States is using the Ukraine crisis to cut economic ties between the EU and Russia and force Europe to pay more for its gas, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today.
	"The US is trying to use the crisis in Ukraine to break economic ties between the EU and Russia and force Europe to buy US gas at much higher prices," Lavrov said in a ministry statement of his interview with Russia's Centre TV.
	Washington wanted to use the five-month conflict in Ukraine "to economically tear Europe from Russia and bargain for itself the most favourable conditions in the context of the ongoing negotiations on the creation of a transatlantic trade and investment partnership".
	Lavrov accused Washington of trying to "impose on Europe deliveries of US liquefied natural gas at prices that can not be competitive compared with Russian gas prices".
	Russia supplies about a third of the EU's gas.
	The Russian foreign minister said the EU was "prepared to sacrifice its economy to politics", ..

US wants to cut economic ties between EU and Russia: Lavrov

Ugandan security forces are carrying out a joint operation after foiling a "terrorist attempt", police said today.
	"Joint security agencies in Uganda have foiled a terrorist attempt at one of its installations," police spokesman Fred Enanga said. "We have made arrests."
	He gave no further details, and it was not immediately possible to determine the target of the reported attack, or at what stage it had been stopped.
	The US embassy issued a warning to its citizens in the east African nation.
	"Ugandan authorities are conducting operations against a suspected terrorist cell in Kampala," the embassy said in a statement.
	"All US citizens are advised to stay at home or proceed to a safe location. Shelter-in-place and await further guidance."
	Uganda's Ministry of Internal Affairs said immigration officers had carried out an "operation on illegal immigrant workers in different parts of Kampala" today morning, with 69 people arrested.
	It was not clear if the raids were connected.
	Last 

Uganda security forces foil 'terrorist attempt'

Gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese civilian in Arsal today, a month after jihadists from Syria clashed with the Lebanese army in the restive border town, a security source said.
	The abduction comes weeks after another civilian was kidnapped and later killed by jihadists, who accused him of "collaborating" with Hezbollah, which has deployed thousands of troops in Syria alongside President Bashar al-Assad's troops.
	Arsal saw a fierce battle in August pitting the Lebanese army against jihadists from the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS).
	The fighting killed 20 Lebanese troops, 16 civilians and dozens of jihadists, who withdrew to the Qalamun mountains across the border, kidnapping dozens of Lebanese troops and policemen.
	Two of the kidnapped troops have since been beheaded, despite attempts mediated through Qatar to solve the hostage crisis.
	Today, a security source told AFP: "Gunmen at dawn kidnapped Ahmad al-Hujeiri from the town of Arsal."
	The unidentified ..

Gunmen kidnap Lebanese civilian near Syria border

Hamas's former Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniya said today the militant Islamic Palestinian group would not hold any direct talks with Israel.
	There would be "no direct negotiations with the Zionist enemy", Haniya said in a public address in the Gaza Strip, and called on Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to "review" his own strategy of talks with Israel.
	Hamas does not recognise Israel which denounces Hamas as a "terrorist" organisation, and the two sides have never had any overt direct contact.
	But yesterday, exiled Hamas official Mussa Abu Marzuq -- along with Haniya one of the movement's two deputy leaders -- said direct talks with the Jewish state might be unavoidable in light of planned negotiations in Cairo to consolidate last month's tentative Gaza truce.
	"If the situation remains as it is now... Hamas could find itself forced to do this," Abu Marzuq said, referring to the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza after 50 days of Israeli pounding from air, land .

Hamas official rules out direct talks with Israel

Pennsylvania state police said today one trooper was dead and another injured after a shooting at a police barracks in the Northeastern US state, media reported.
	WNEP television said no arrests have yet been made over the shooting at Blooming Grove barracks in Pike County, and the names of the victims have not been released.
	Police and emergency crews were at the scene, along with a coroner.
	CNN said a search was underway for the shooter.

Pennsylvania state trooper dead, one injured in shooting

The National Security Agency was unable to find evidence that leaker Edward Snowden ever raised concerns internally about its sweeping surveillance programs, after an exhaustive search that included deleted emails, court documents showed.
	NSA Associate Director for Policy and Records David Sherman said that the agency had launched a "comprehensive" investigation after media reports were published about classified NSA spy programs based on information leaked by Snowden.
	As part of last year's probe, the NSA collected and searched Snowden's "sent, received and deleted email," including that "obtained by restoring back-up tapes" Sherman said in a sworn declaration filed yesterday.
	"The search did not identify any email written by Mr Snowden in which he contacted agency officials to raise concerns about NSA programs."
	Searches for the emails included the records from the agency's Office of General Counsel, Office of the Inspector General and Office of the Director of Compliance.
	The .

AFP

AFP

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