Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro will undergo surgery to correct an incisional hernia, his fourth operation since he was stabbed nearly a year ago during his presidential campaign, his office said Sunday.
A statement from the president's office said the problem resulted from previous surgeries.
Bolsonaro tweeted a photograph of himself flanked by his doctors in Sao Paulo.
"Everything indicates I will 'enjoy' some 10 days vacation with them shortly," he said.
The president's office did not say when the surgery would take place, but the G1 website said it would be performed September 8.
His doctor Antonio Luiz Macedo, who examined Bolsonaro on Sunday, told the website the hernia developed because the area had been opened three times.
He said the operation would be performed in Sao Paulo at the Hospital Vila Sur.
The 2018 attack forced Bolsonaro to wage a virtual presidential campaign.
He did not participate in any scheduled debates and focused instead on speeches and messages ...

Brazil president to undergo surgery for fourth time

PTI Automatic

Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire along the Lebanese border on Sunday after a week of rising tensions, but no casualties were reported following the brief flare-up and UN officials immediately urged restraint.
Israel said it responded with around 100 artillery shells after Hezbollah fired two or three anti-tank missiles at a battalion headquarters and military ambulance, hitting both.
Israeli officials refuted Hezbollah claims that it had killed and wounded those inside the military vehicle, saying there were no casualties.
"We are consulting about the next steps," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
"I have ordered that we be prepared for any scenario. We will decide on the next steps pending developments."
After the exchange of fire began, Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri contacted senior US and French officials to urge their countries and the international community to intervene.
The head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon called for "maximum restraint." ...

Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire after week of tensions

France is engaged in "multiple contacts" aimed at averting an escalation of hostilities on Lebanon's southern border between the Shiite movement Hezbollah and the Israeli army, the French foreign ministry said Sunday.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri earlier Sunday accused France and the United States of "intervening" in the tensions, adding that French President Emmanuel Macron had spoken by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani "in recent days".
"France has engaged in multiple contacts in the region since the incidents of August 25 with the aim of averting an escalation," the foreign ministry spokeswoman said in a statement.
"We are in permanent contact with all the Lebanese actors," she said. "France will pursue efforts in this direction and asks all to assume their responsibilities to quickly restore calm."
Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire along the Lebanese border on Sunday after a week of rising tensions, but no ...

France 'in multiple contacts' to avert Mideast escalation: Ministry

Ross Taylor hit a quickfire 48 to set up New Zealand's five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka in Kandy on Sunday.
Taylor lifted the Black Caps from a precarious 39 for three in their chase of 175 to complete the win in 19.3 overs and lead the three-match series 1-0.
Sri Lanka skipper Lasith Malinga became the highest wicket-taker in the shortest format after his two scalps took his tally to 99 in 74 matches, surpassing Pakistan's Shahid Afridi.
But his effort was not enough as Taylor put on 79 runs for the fourth wicket with Colin de Grandhomme, who scored 44, to take the attack to the opposition bowlers.
Taylor, who survived a dropped catch on 31 by Dasun Shanaka at deep mid-wicket off Akila Dananjaya, made the most of the reprieve to hit three fours and two sixes in his 29-ball blitz.
He was finally trapped lbw off debutant leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga who returned figures of 2-21 from his four overs.
Daryl Mitchell, who made 25 off 19 .

Taylor fires New Zealand to T20 win over Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka paceman Lasith Malinga Sunday became the highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 internationals with his 99th scalp in the first match against New Zealand, surpassing Pakistan's Shahid Afridi.
Malinga, who retired from Test cricket in 2011 and played his farewell one-day international in July, bowled Colin Munro in the first over of the New Zealand chase to equal Afridi's record of 98 wickets.
The 36-year-old then cleaned up Colin de Grandhomme, for 44, to achieve the feat in his 74th T20 match of his illustrious career.
Afridi, a leg-spinner who also captained Pakistan, played 99 T20 matches.
Malinga is a quick known for bowling yorkers with his slinging action, made his T20 debut against England in 2006.

Sri Lanka's Malinga sets T20 record with 99 wickets

Opening batsman Kusal Mendis hit a quickfire 79 to help Sri Lanka post 174 for four in the first Twenty20 international against New Zealand in Kandy on Sunday.
Mendis took charge after the hosts elected to bat first, building crucial partnerships including a 63-run third-wicket stand with Niroshan Dickwella, who made 33.
Opener Kusal Perera made 11 before falling to Kiwi skipper Tim Southee and number-three batsman Avishka Fernando was out for 10 as Sri Lanka slipped to 68 for two.
Mendis held firm to complete his fifth T20 fifty with a boundary off Colin de Grandhomme and went on to register his career-best score in the shortest format. His previous-best was 70.
He survived a reprieve on 55 when Ish Sodhi dropped a tough catch at short fine leg to add crucial runs in his 53-ball stay that was laced with eight fours and two sixes.
Mendis was finally holed out at deep mid-wicket off Southee, who returned figures of 2-20 from his four overs of pace.
The tourists suffered a blow when ...

Mendis 79 powers Sri Lanka to 174-4 in first T20

Charles Leclerc dedicated his maiden Formula One race victory at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday to his late friend, Anthoine Hubert.
The Ferrari driver led almost the entire race from pole to hold off Mercedes' defending five time world champion Lewis Hamilton's dramatic late charge by one second.
His landmark success came a day after the death of 22-year-old Frenchman Hubert in Saturday's tragic Formula Two race.
And Leclerc was quick to express his emotions as he steered back to the 'parc fermee', his steering wheel sporting a simple message 'RIP Tonio." "My first victory in F1 and this one is for Anthoine," he said on the team radio. "It feels good, but it's difficult to enjoy on a weekend like this. But thanks guys, you are the best - it's a dream come true."
Leclerc said he felt he could not enjoy his long-awaited first win.
"It has been a very difficult weekend since Saturday - I have lost a friend and I want to dedicate this victory to him. We grew up together and my first ...

Leclerc dedicates maiden F1 win to crash victim Hubert

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday vowed continued support for the Democratic Republic of Congo, grappling with the double scourge of militia violence and an Ebola epidemic.
Visiting Beni in the country's east, the secretary general said the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, the Congolese army and national police "will continue to work together to return peace and security to the region.
"We will do everything to bring an end to the scourge of insecurity," said Guterres as he stressed his support for extending MONUSCO's mandate in the country beyond its scheduled December 31 end.
"In improving this MONUSCO action I am counting on the UN Security Council to be able to renew the mandate with the necessary adjustments," said Guterres after visiting an Ebola treatment centre at Mangina, near Beni.
The UN's DR Congo mandate, which began 20 years ago and has cost the lives of 27 blue helmet troops, is one of its biggest peacekeeping missions with about 16,000 troops and an annual budget of .

UN chief vows continued support for DR Congo army

Israel said it was returning fire Sunday after anti-tank missiles were launched at its territory from Lebanon, raising fears of a serious escalation with Hezbollah after a week of rising tensions.
"A number of anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon towards an (Israeli military) base and military vehicles," an Israeli army statement said.
"A number of hits have been confirmed. (Israel's military) is responding with fire towards the sources of fire and targets in southern Lebanon."
After the initial reports of fire from Lebanon, a military spokesman called on Israelis living within four kilometres (2.5 miles) of the Lebanese border to remain at home and prepare shelters.
Tensions have risen in the last week between Israel and its enemy Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite movement backed by Iran.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Saturday the group's response to an alleged Israeli drone attack on the group's Beirut stronghold had been "decided".
The pre-dawn August 25 attack involved .

Israel says firing back after anti-tank missiles from Lebanon

Hezbollah on Sunday claimed it destroyed an Israeli tank in northern Israel and killed and wounded those inside, a week after accusing Israel of launching a drone attack on its Beirut stronghold.
Hezbollah fighters "destroyed a military vehicle on the road to the Avivim barracks (in northern Israel), killing and wounding those inside," the Shiite group said in a statement.

Hezbollah claims it destroyed Israeli tank

Nine people were killed when an air-ambulance plane crashed at a resort area near the Philippine capital on Sunday, sparking a fierce blaze and sending terrified locals fleeing, authorities said.
Dramatic video on social media showed emergency vehicles rushing toward a building engulfed in roaring flames in Calamba City as authorities urged crowds to move away for their own safety.
After dousing the blaze, rescuers found nine bodies in the smoking ruins -- believed to be those aboard the King Air 350 light aircraft.
"No one will survive this crash. We assume that all confirmed passengers of this plane are dead," local emergency official Jeffrey Rodriguez told AFP.
Police said two people on the ground were injured in the crash and rushed to hospital, but have not reported any fatalities from those who were in the resort area when the plane went down.
Philippine aviation authorities said the plane was carrying a patient and medical team from the nation's south to Manila when it ...

Nine killed in Philippine air-ambulance crash

A fourth Rohingya refugee was shot dead, Bangladesh police said Sunday, amid growing fallout over the murder of a ruling party official that sparked a violent backlash from locals.
There has been an outbreak of violence in recent weeks at refugee camps in southeast Bangladesh, where nearly one million Rohingya live after fleeing crackdowns in Myanmar.
At least five Rohingya men have died in clashes in the settlements -- allegedly over gang violence -- while an Awami League official was shot in the head in late August at Jadimura camp in the border town of Teknaf.
Police blamed Omar Faruk's death on Rohingya hitmen, and have shot dead three refugees over the past week in connection with the incident.
The latest to die was 36-year-old Nur Mohammad, who officers allege was a Rohingya gang leader who arrived in Bangladesh in 1992 and was operating in the hills around the refugee camps.
Local officials say Mohammad was a drug trafficking kingpin involved in using refugees to smuggle yaba, .

Fourth Rohingya refugee shot dead over Bangladesh murder

A Sri Lankan court Sunday banned two ultra-nationalist Buddhist organisations from demonstrating against a major Shiite holy day, the first on the island since the deadly Easter Sunday suicide bombings.
Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said Colombo Magistrate's court issued restraining orders against the two groups led by Buddhist monks who planned to disrupt a gathering in Colombo of Dawoodi Bohra, a Shiite sect.
An estimated 25,000 adherents from around the world have been meeting in Colombo since Saturday for a 10-day religious event culminating with Ashura.
It is one of the holiest days in Shiite Islam and commemorates the 7th century martyrdom of Prophet Mohammed's grandson.
Gunasekera said police had information that two nationalist groups were planning to disrupt the event in the capital, where police and troops have stepped up security.
It was not immediately clear what the groups were planning, but nationalist groups have usually taken a hardline stand against religious ...

Sri Lanka bans protests against Shiite pilgrims

Hurricane Dorian strengthened into a catastrophic Category 5 storm Sunday, packing 160 mph (267 kph) winds as it was about to slam into the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas, US weather forecasters said.
"#Dorian is now a category 5 #hurricane with 160 mph sustained winds," the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in a tweet.
"The eyewall of this catastrophic hurricane is about to hit the Abaco Islands with devastating winds," it said.
The slow moving storm was expected to linger over the Bahamas through Sunday and much of Monday, dumping up to 25 inches of rain in some areas and unleashing storm surges of 10 to 15-feet, forecasters said.
"If you're watching anybody in the Bahamas a very dangerous, dangerous situation," said Ken Graham, the NHC's director.

Hurricane Dorian now Category 5 storm: NHC

An Afghan asylum seeker who killed a man and stabbed several others in the French city of Lyon sparked a row about immigration on Sunday as new details emerged about his rampage.
The 33-year-old killer stabbed a 19-year-old to death and injured eight others on Saturday afternoon in the Villeurbanne suburb of Lyon before he was cornered by locals and arrested by police.
French investigators are so far treating the stabbings with a knife and meat skewer as a criminal incident, rather than a terror attack, amid reports that the perpetrator was a drug addict.
Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen led criticism of what she termed "the laxness of migration policy" in France which she said was "a serious threat to the safety of French people."
But the mayor of Villeurbanne, Jean-Paul Bret from the Socialist party, accused her and others on the right and far-right of "exploiting things politically."
"It's the classic reaction from the far-right which tries to turn a dramatic event to its ...

Afghan killer sparks far-right criticism in France

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday renewed his pledge to annex all Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank as he sought to shore up right-wing support ahead of a September 17 election.
Netanyahu and his Likud party have been working to maximise turnout and wrest votes from other right-wing parties close to the influential settlement movement.
"With the help of God we will apply Jewish sovereignty to all communities, as part of the (biblical) Land of Israel, and as part of the state of Israel," he told an audience at the West Bank settlement of Elkana.
He made the same promise ahead of the last election in April, but the results left him unable to form a viable governing coalition and he opted for a fresh poll for September 17.
Israel occupied the West Bank in the Six-Day War of 1967.
Israeli settlements are viewed as illegal under international law and as major obstacles to peace since they lie on land the Palestinians see as part of their future ...

Netanyahu renews pledge to annex West Bank settlements

Sudan's hard-won transition to civilian rule fell further behind schedule Sunday, days after the new prime minister delayed the formation of the first government since veteran leader Omar al-Bashir was ousted.
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, a seasoned UN economist who faces the daunting task of rescuing his country's moribund economy, was supposed to unveil a cabinet on Wednesday under a post-Bashir roadmap.
But he is still considering the candidates, causing a knock-on delay to the first meeting between the government and the joint civilian-military ruling body overseeing the transition which was supposed to have been held on Sunday.
Hamdok, who took the oath on August 21, only received the nominees list from the Forces for Freedom and Change umbrella protest group on Tuesday and has been mulling the candidates since then.
"The FFC was late in submitting the list of nominees to the PM which has ultimately delayed the unveiling of cabinet," protest leader Amjed Farid told AFP.
Ibrahim 

Sudan's post-Bashir transition faces further delay

An anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel on Sunday, Israel's army said, after Hezbollah vowed revenge for a drone attack a week ago it blamed on Israel.
It was unclear if the missile caused any damage or injuries. Israel's military said it was fired toward the Israeli community of Avivim, but did not immediately give further details.

Anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel: Israeli army

Pope Francis said Sunday he will create 13 new Catholic cardinals next month, including some from the developing world and a Vatican expert on aiding migrants and refugees.
Francis made the surprise announcement during his weekly Angelus, and said they would be appointed on October 5.
The appointments come as the Argentine pontiff gradually shapes a less European college of cardinals.
The newcomers hail from North America, Central America, Africa, Europe and Asia, and Francis says "their origin expresses the missionary vocation of the Church".
The new "princes" of the Church, who will be appointed at a special ceremony known as a consistory, come from countries including Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia and Morocco.
Cardinals under age 80 are able to take part in the secret conclaves to elect the head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, who is chosen from among them.
As well as having that key role, cardinals often also hold the highest administrative offices in the 

Pope to create 13 new cardinals in October

The US and the Taliban are on the brink of striking a deal after 18 years of war, Washington's top negotiator said Sunday, ahead of a visit to Kabul where he was to meet with Afghan officials.
The apparent progress at the latest round of talks to conclude in Doha came even as the Taliban launched a broad offensive on the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, and violence flared in a neighbouring province.
"We are at the threshold of an agreement that will reduce violence and open the door for Afghans to sit together to negotiate an honourable and sustainable peace," tweeted Washington's special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad.
His comment came just hours after Afghan security forces said they had cleared Kunduz of Taliban fighters, who on Saturday launched a broad assault on the provincial capital in a bid to score a repeat of a 2015 takeover.
Afghan forces, backed with local and US air power, were able to stop the city falling and repel the Taliban, but 20 troops and five ...

US and Taliban on 'threshold' of deal, says US Afghan envoy

More than 100 people are believed to have been killed when the Saudi-led coalition fighting Huthi rebels launched an air strike on a detention centre in Yemen, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday.
"We estimate over 100 people were killed," Franz Rauchenstein, head of delegation for the ICRC in Yemen, told AFP after he travelled to the city of Dhamar where the air strikes hit.
He said at least 40 survivors were being treated for their injuries in hospitals in the city, which lies south of the capital Sanaa.
The Saudi-led military coalition said earlier that it launched air strikes against a Huthi military target that "stores drones and missiles".
However, the Huthi television channel Al-Masirah said that "dozens were killed and injured" in seven air strikes that hit a building the rebels used as a prison.
The ICRC has sent medical teams and hundreds of body bags to Dhamar, saying that it had visited detainees at the location before.
"As we speak, the teams are ...

AFP

AFP

Page 424 - Afp