North Korea on Monday demanded the United States provide security guarantees as a precondition to resuming deadlocked nuclear talks, dampening hopes for progress at a working-level dialogue expected in the coming weeks.
Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been gridlocked since a second summit between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in February ended without a deal.
The pair agreed to restart working-level dialogue during an impromptu meeting at the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas in June, and Pyongyang last week offered to hold those talks in late September, a move the US said was "encouraging".
But hours later, Pyongyang carried out the latest in a series of weapons tests.  A senior official from the North's foreign ministry said Monday that "discussion of denuclearization may be possible when threats and hurdles endangering our system security and obstructing our development are clearly removed beyond all doubt".
North Korea has 

N Korea demands security guarantees for nuclear talks

PTI Automatic

China looks poised to gain an ally in the strategic Pacific region this month as a new Solomon Islands leadership sours on decades of "useless" diplomatic ties to Taiwan.
While no final decision has been announced on whether to switch allegiance, Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare gave a brutal assessment of 36 years of ties to Taipei in what he beleived were confidential remarks to an Australian academic.
"To be honest, when it comes to economics and politics, Taiwan is completely useless to us," Sogavare told the Australian National University's Graeme Smith in an interview aired in a podcast earlier this month.
Sogavare has been under intense pressure since his election in April from parliamentary colleagues who see little benefit in staying with the shrinking band of nations that officially recognise Taipei.
He said China was seen as more likely to provide significant infrastructure funding to the impoverished nation, where less than 50 percent of the population have access 

Why the Solomons is mulling China diplomatic switch

Russia's Supreme Court has upheld a 14-year prison sentence for a Polish citizen convicted of spying, the FSB security service said on Monday.
A Moscow court in June found Marian Radzajewski guilty of trying to obtain military information that included Russian "state secrets" after a closed trial.
Russia's FSB security service said the Supreme Court had on Thursday ruled the sentence to be "legal and justified".
The FSB has said that the Polish citizen tried to obtain "secret components of Russian S-300 air defence systems." It said Radzajewski was arrested as he was attempting to complete the transaction.
The FSB has accused Radzajewski of acting "in the interests of a Polish organisation that is a leading supplier of (Poland's) national armed and special forces".
Radzajewski was reportedly born in 1977 and was the director of a transport company in Bialystok, a city in northeastern Poland.
Spy convictions have increased in Russia in recent years. Many of them are related to Ukraine, 

Russia upholds 14-year sentence for Polish citizen accused of spying

More than half of the 147 tigers confiscated from a controversial Thai temple have died, park officials said Monday, blaming genetic problems linked to in-breeding at the once money-spinning tourist attraction.
For years, the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua temple in the western province of Kanchanaburi pulled tourist hordes who could be photographed -- for a fee -- next to scores of tigers.
But in 2016 park officials began a lengthy operation to remove the big cats amid allegations of mismanagement, and claims the creatures were being exploited.
Dozens of dead cubs were found kept in freezers, sparking claims the carcasses were being sold by a temple rumoured to have raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars each year from visitors.
Tiger parts can fetch enormous sums in China and Vietnam, where they are falsely believed to have medicinal properties.
The surviving adults were taken to two breeding stations in nearby Ratchaburi province but only 61 of the 147 have survived so far, parks ...

Dozens of tigers dead after confiscation from Thai temple

Chinese dairy company Mengniu announced Monday it had made a takeover offer for Australian infant formula producer Bellamy's in a deal valued at around US$1 billion.
Hong Kong-listed Mengniu has been eyeing global expansion in recent years, and said it was drawn by the Australian group's local operations and supply chain, as well as its "leading organic brand position".
"Our sales growth ambitions for Bellamy's in Australia, and the broader Asia Pacific region, will see investment in the local dairy industry to ensure the required capacity is in place to achieve these plans," Mengniu CEO Lu Minfang said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange Monday.
Under the proposed deal, Mengniu would pay AUS$12.65 ($8.69) per share plus a shareholder dividend, marking a 59 percent premium on Bellamy's Friday closing share price.
Bellamy's CEO Andrew Cohen said that Mengniu offered a "strong platform for distribution and success in China", The board of directors at the Australian group ...

Chinese dairy giant eyes takeover of Australia's Bellamy's

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, is expected to restore Monday at least a third of the production lost to weekend attacks on two major oil facilities, according to experts and reports.
The Saturday strikes on national energy giant Aramco's Abqaiq processing plant and Khurais oil field knocked 5.7 million barrels per day (bpd) off production, over half of the OPEC kingpin's output, sending shockwaves through markets.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said Sunday the kingdom would use its vast inventories to partially compensate for the lost production, and the US also authorised the release of its reserves.
But oil prices saw a record surge on Monday, with key contracts more than 10 percent higher as finger-pointing at Iran fuelled fresh geopolitical fears.
The Energy Intelligence specialist newsletter cited industry sources as saying Aramco was "close to restoring as much as 40 percent" of the lost production, or about 2.3 million bpd.
The Wall Street ...

Saudi on track to restore third of lost oil output: experts

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Monday axed top-order batsman Soumya Sarkar and called up three uncapped players in a further shuffle of their squad for the ongoing tri-nation Twenty20 international at home.
Batsmen Mohammad Naim, Aminul Islam, Nazmul Hossain will join the squad for the third and fourth match of the tournament after Bangladesh's senior players failed to deliver in the first two matches.
Bangladesh were 60-6 in the opening match against Zimbabwe before somehow managing a three-wicket win while failed to recover in Sunday's second match against Afghanistan after being reduced to 32-4 and lost by 25 runs.
Soumya bore brunt criticism for Bangladesh's woeful batting performance at top, having scored just four runs in two matches.
"He did not look in a very good form. So we thought better if we could try some new players," said BCB chief selector Minhajul Abedin.
Pacer Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam were also recalled while uncapped Mahedi Hasan and Yeasin Arafat were ...

Bangladesh axe Soumya in further T20 overhaul

Iran has not made any plans for President Hassan Rouhani to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly, a spokesman said Monday.
"We have neither planned for this meeting, nor do I think such a thing would happen in New York," the foreign ministry's Abbas Mousavi said in remarks aired on state television.

Iran says 'no plans' for Rouhani-Trump meet on UN sidelines

The leaders of Fiji and Australia agreed to boost bilateral ties Monday as they sought to smooth relations following a highly publicised clash over climate change at a Pacific summit last month.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed his Fijian counterpart, Frank Bainimarama, just weeks after the Pacific leader branded him "very insulting, very condescending" for his response to criticism of Australia's reluctance to make climate change a policy priority.
There was uproar at the Pacific Islands Forum after Morrison rejected regional leaders' demands his government ban new coal mines and coal-fired power plants as part of their call for urgent climate action.
The conservative Australian politician countered that his government was the leading provider of development aid to the Pacific region, drawing Bainimarama's rebuke.
But the two leaders struck a conciliatory tone at Monday's bilateral meeting, where they signed a "Fiji-Australia Vuvale Partnership".
Vuvale -- or family in Fijian ..

Australia, Fiji attempt to bury climate hatchet

Almost 80,000 homes are still without power a week after a powerful typhoon battered eastern Japan, authorities said Monday, with sustained heavy rain prompting evacuation orders and hampering recovery efforts.
Typhoon Faxai powered into the Tokyo region in the early hours of Monday last week, packing record winds that brought down power lines, disrupted Rugby World Cup preparations and prompted the government to order tens of thousands of people to leave their homes.
The storm killed two people, with at least three elderly later confirmed dead due to heatstroke as temperatures soared to above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) in areas affected by a post-typhoon blackout.
Some 78,700 households were still without power in Chiba, southeast of the capital, Tokyo Electric Co. (TEPCO) spokesman Naoya Kondo told AFP.
"A complete recovery is still unlikely until September 27 as we have difficulties in mountain areas," he added.
Some 16,700 households were also without water because 

Almost 80,000 homes still without power a week after Japan typhoon

Purdue Pharma is to file for bankruptcy in a settlement agreement that it hopes will provide more than $10 billion to address the opioid crisis, the company said in a statement on Sunday.
The pharmaceutical giant whose prescription painkiller OxyContin is blamed for much of the US opioid addiction epidemic, is facing thousands of state and federal lawsuits.
The settlement, which is subject to court approval, will contribute Purdue's entire value to a body established for the benefit of the claimants and the American people.
Purdue Chairman Steve Miller said the settlement will "provide billions of dollars and critical resources to communities across the country trying to cope with the opioid crisis."
The company said that it had filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code and that the board of a new company would be selected by claimants and approved by the Bankruptcy Court.
Miller said the restructuring will avoid "wasting hundreds of millions of dollars and ..

Purdue says files for bankruptcy in bid to settle opioid crisis cases

Six weeks after he took office and six weeks before he is due to lead Britain out of the European Union, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to meet Jean-Claude Junker.
On Monday, after comparing himself to berserk comic book super-smasher Hulk, the British leader will enjoy a genteel working lunch with the EU Commission president.
Downing Street has confidently billed the Luxembourg visit as part of efforts to negotiate an orderly divorce from the union before an October 17 EU summit.
But Brussels has played down talk of a breakthrough, insisting Johnson has yet to suggest any "legally operable" proposal to revise a previous withdrawal accord.
Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier, who will join the leaders for their talks in Juncker's native Grand Duchy, has said he has "no reason to be optimistic".  And the European Parliament will this week vote on a resolution rejecting Johnson's demand that the so-called "Irish backstop" clause be stripped from the deal.
Johnson insists this measure, ..

Johnson the Brexit 'Hulk' finally meets EU's Juncker

Volkswagen has agreed to pay up to USD 87.3 million to settle multiple class action suits brought by Australian motorists over a diesel emissions cheating scandal, the parties' lawyers said Monday.
The German car giant, which owns brands ranging from luxury Audi to lower-end Skoda, said in 2015 that 11 million diesel engines globally were affected.
Owners of about 100,000 Australian cars will be able to seek compensation from Volkswagen under the terms of the in-principle agreement, which the automaker has agreed to without admitting liability and must still be approved by the Federal Court.
"This is an important step in providing a measure of justice and redress to the thousands of Australian motorists who claim they were financially impacted by the diesel emissions issue," said Julian Schimmel, principal lawyer of Maurice Blackburn, the firm behind one of the class actions.
It was revealed in 2015 that more than 97,000 Volkswagen vehicles in Australia were fitted with technology ...

VW settles Australia emissions cheating scandal

China's economy showed more signs of strain Monday as the country published weak data for industrial output, investment and retail sales, amid a lingering trade war with the United States.
Industrial output grew by 4.4 per cent year-on-year throughout August, falling to its lowest level in 17 years and down from 4.8 per cent in July.
The figure was well below analyst expectations, with a Bloomberg survey of analysts predicting heartier growth of 5.2 percent.
"We must be aware that international instabilities and uncertainties are increasing significantly, and that at home economic structural issues are still prominent and the downward pressures on (the) economy are mounting," said
Fu Linghui, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, which released the data.
Retail sales also slipped to post growth of 7.5 per cent -- 0.1 per cent down on the previous month and a knock to Beijing's aims to boost domestic consumption.
Investment in fixed assets saw year-on-year growth of 5.5 ...

China's economy strains under disappointing data

Marseille came back from two goals down to beat winless Monaco 4-3 in a Ligue 1 thriller in the principality on Sunday as close-season signing Dario Benedetto scored twice.
Andre Villas-Boas' side climbed to fourth in the early table after recovering from falling 2-0 behind to Wissam Ben Yedder's double in the first half an hour.
"It's four goals away from home, it's good. And with the victories, confidence is coming back," Dimitri Payet, who scored Marseille's third goal, told Canal+.
Monaco, who only narrowly avoided relegation last term, remain second-bottom with just two points from their opening five matches and have already conceded 14 goals.
The pressure is once again mounting on coach Leonardo Jardim, who was sacked early last season before returning after an ill-fated spell in charge from Thierry Henry.
Marseille are now only two points adrift of reigning champions and leaders Paris Saint-Germain, and behind Rennes and Nantes on goal difference.
"Maybe we've dared to play a ..

Marseille stun struggling Monaco with dramatic fightback

Bianca Andreescu, who beat Serena Williams in the US Open final to become Canada's first Grand Slam singles champion, was honoured with a rally in her hometown on Sunday.
"I am truly blessed," the beaming 19-year-old told hundreds gathered to celebrate her achievement.
"I did not get here overnight. There has been a lot of hard work and sweat that went into it, a lot of downs, a lot of ups." Bonnie Crombie, the mayor of Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto, presented Andreescu with a key to the city.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in the midst of campaigning for second term, was also on hand.
"She is an inspiration to all Canadians old and young, but to be honest, especially an inspiration to young Canadians because she showed that young people can do anything," Trudeau said.
Andreescu's stunning 6-3, 7-5 victory at Flushing Meadows denied Williams a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
In the course of a year she has climbed from 200th in the world rankings to a career high fifth.
Her 

US Open champion Andreescu feted in hometown

Sevilla moved to the top of the early La Liga table on Sunday as Joan Jordan's brilliant free-kick helped them seal a 1-0 win at Alaves.
Julen Lopetegui's side continued their excellent start to the campaign, remaining unbeaten and moving a point clear of Atletico Madrid, who lost 2-0 at Real Sociedad on Saturday, at the summit.
Sevilla host Real Madrid next Sunday in a meeting of two sides yet to taste defeat.
"That means nothing (being top)," said Sevilla coach Lopetegui, whose team next face a marathon trip to Baku to play Qarabag in their Europa League opener on Thursday.
"The only thing that (being top) tells me is that the team is doing things well. We have to keep improving before going to Baku, where they will make it very difficult for us."
It was a first defeat of the season for Alaves, who slipped to 11th in the standings.  Lopetegui, who joined Sevilla for his first job since being sacked in quick succession by both Spain and Real Madrid, saw one of his close-season ...

Jordan free-kick fires Sevilla to top of La Liga

Australia captain Tim Paine said it was mission accomplished even though his team lost the fifth and final Ashes Test against England to draw the series 2-2.
The tourists came into the match at the Oval seeking their first series victory in England since 2001 but came up short, losing by 135 runs on Sunday.
But Paine said Australia, who won at Edgbaston and Old Trafford but lost agonisingly to a Ben Stokes-inspired England at Headingley, had achieved their main objective in retaining the urn.
"We're taking the urn home so that's certainly what we came to do," he said.
"We're thrilled by that, a little disappointed by this game obviously, puts a bit of a dampener on it."
"We can be really proud of the way we've come over here, which is a challenging place for Australians to come and play and win," he added.
"To win two Test matches pretty convincingly, should have won a third (at Headingley) -- let that slip no doubt."
Paine said winning the first Test at Edgbaston, where Australia ...

Paine proud of Australia despite defeat in fifth Test

Duvan Zapata struck late as Atalanta warmed up for their Champions League debut with a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Genoa in Serie A as Roma got their first win this season against Sassuolo, but city rival's Lazio fell at SPAL.
Colombian international Zapata rifled in the winner on 95 minutes in Genoa on Sunday to seal all three points for Atalanta who qualified for the Champions League by finishing third last season, but lost last week to Torino.
Colombian striker Muriel's 64th-minute penalty had put the Bergamo side ahead in western Italy but Genoa captain Domenico Criscito levelled from the spot after 91 minutes.
Zapata had the final say to give Gian Piero Gasperini's side, who are sixth, a confidence boost as they travel to Dinamo Zagreb for their first ever Champions League game next week.
AC Milan are just behind Atalanta, also with six points, after Polish striker Krzysztof Piatek got back scoring with a 68th-minute penalty in a hard-fought 1-0 victory over 10-man Verona.
Roma ...

Atalanta, Roma back winning as Lazio fall in Serie A

Joaquin Niemann fired a closing round of 64 to capture The Greenbrier by six strokes and become the first Chilean to win on the US PGA Tour.
The 20-year-old Niemann roared home with three straight birdies on his final three holes on Sunday, capping it off with a 25-foot bomb on 18 at the Old White TPC course in Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
He is the youngest non-American winner on the Tour since 1923 and the first third round leader to hold on and claim this event.
Niemann was overcome with emotion while being interviewed by a television reporter as he walked off the green at 18 and realized the magnitude of his victory.
"I have been thinking about this my whole life. I don't even think I realize what happen today.
"It's crazy. I am really happy for all the support, my family, my coach .... It's just crazy, sorry," he said through tears of joy before walking off camera.
Niemann finished with a 21-under par total of 259, six shots ahead of American Tom Hoge, who shot a 65.
Brian ...

Chile's rising star Niemann wins first PGA Tour event by six shots

It is a sign of the changed days at Stamford Bridge that Chelsea go into a Champions League clash with Valencia on Tuesday as the example of stability and long-term planning.
The Europa League winners return to European football's top tier under new management in Frank Lampard and having ushered in a new era where youth will be given its chance to shine rather than depending on the deep pockets of Russian owner Roman Abramovich.
There have been a few early bumps in the road for Lampard, a returning hero for the fans after scoring a club record 211 goals and winning 13 trophies, including Chelsea's only Champions League crown, as a player.
A 4-0 opening day defeat to Manchester United and blowing a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at home to newly-promoted Sheffield United exposed the frailties in relying on an inexperienced core of players.
But Lampard's faith in youth has largely been justified.
Led by a hat-trick from Tammy Abraham, Chelsea thrashed Wolves 5-2 on Saturday to move level with ...

AFP

AFP

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