More than 38,000 pigs have been culled across China, state media said Sunday, as the world's largest pork producer scrambles to contain an outbreak of African swine fever.
The disease has been discovered in five Chinese provinces, the official Xinhua news service reported, quoting statistics from the country's ministry of agriculture.
China reported its first case of the disease in August in northeast Liaoning province.
Since then the disease has moved south, with cases discovered as far as 1,000 kilometres away, raising concerns it could infect pig farms across the country.
Although the virus has continued to spread, a spokesman for the agriculture ministry said it is "generally under control," Xinhua reported.
Last week, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned the disease could spread to other parts of Asia.
African swine fever is not harmful to humans but causes haemorrhagic fever in domesticated pigs and wild boar that almost always ends in death within a few days.
There ..

China culls 38,000 pigs as swine fever spreads

PTI Automatic

At least two pro-government forces were killed overnight in a string of explosions at a military airport near the Syrian capital, a monitoring group said on Sunday.
Syrian state media also reported the blasts at the Mazzeh airbase, on the western outskirts of Damascus, but did not mention any casualties.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Mazzeh was hit by a "possible Israeli missile, which hit a munitions store setting off successive explosions".  "It left two pro-regime fighters dead and wounded another 11, some of them in critical condition," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
He could not specify their nationalities or whether they belonged to militias or government forces.
An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on Sunday.
AFP's correspondents in Damascus heard multiple blasts overnight, one of which lit up the sky in a deep red hue, but reported calm on Sunday morning.
A Syrian military source said the Mazzeh airbase "was not the target ..

Blasts at Syrian airbase near Damascus kill two: monitor

France's superstar striker Kylian Mbapppe is a target for defenders and will need to learn self-control, his France handler Didier Deschamps said after the teenege sensation was sent off for retaiation on Saturday.
Mbappe, who sot to global fame as France romped to the 2018 World Cup, scored the decisive goal in PSG's 4-2 league win over Nimes on Saturday but was sent off in injury time for lashing out after a scything tackle.
"He's going to have to learn to control himself. Kylian is a World Cup winner," said Deschamps, who will be working with the striker ahead of the Netherlands v France Nations League match next Sunday.
"I'll talk with him, he was likely afraid of getting injured," Deschamps said of the tackle that Mbappe described Saturday as having no place in football.
"I'm not accused the Nimes lot, they have a physical game and Kylian has to live with that. It wasn't that bad," said the World Cup winning coach.
Mbappe risks a lengthy ban after his red card, but he insisted he 

Red card Mbappe needs to calm down says France coach Deschamps

Indonesia needs to keep its momentum and not fall into a "black hole" after the Asian Games if it wants to host the 2032 Olympics, IOC chief Thomas Bach said on Sunday.
Bach said Indonesia had the right ingredients to host the world's biggest multi-sports event, following President Joko Widodo's surprise announcement of a bid.
The Southeast Asian country has defied expectations to hold a mainly smooth
Asian Games, which has a bumper 17,000 athletes and officials, and 40 sports.
"With the success of this Asian Games Indonesia has laid a very solid foundation for such a candidature," Bach, the International Olympic Committee president, said ahead of the closing ceremony.
"You can see the ingredients are there, you see a young, enthusiastic nation. Passionate about sports, working with high efficiency in the organisation... so, I think it will be a very strong candidature."
"I think what is important now for Indonesia is keep the momentum of this Games," he added.
"So for you now not to .

Mind the 'black hole', Olympics chief warns Indonesia

The head of Japan's Asian Games delegation said Sunday that a scandal involving basketball players caught paying for prostitutes had no negative impact on the country's overall performance in Jakarta.
"It was unprofessional and unpalatable behaviour," Yasuhiro Yamashita told a news conference after Japan finished second behind China with 75 gold, 56 silver and 74 bronze medals.
"Their conduct betrays public confidence in the the athletes and sport as a whole," he added.
"It was a huge shock to us and was a setback but I don't think it had any negative impact overall. The rest of the players stepped up, and fought with great pride and gave everything for the shirt."
The four Japanese basketball players -- Yuya Nagayoshi, Takuya Hashimoto, Takuma Sato and Keita Imamura -- were sent home in disgrace after being spotted in a notorious red light district of Jakarta, and subsequently banned for a year.
Dressed in black suits at a press conference after their return home, Nagayoshi said he ..

Sex scandal didn't harm Japan's Asian display, says JOC

A suicide car bomb killed three security guards and injured several more people in the heart of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday, authorities said.
Islamist extremists of the Al-Shabaab movement immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
"There was a car bomb blast targeting the district administration offices and three people died and several others wounded," Mogadishu administration spokesman Salah Hassan Omar told reporters at the scene.
He said the dead were security guards at the building's main entrance where the blast occurred.
Witnesses said the explosion destroyed the building.
"The blast was very huge, it affected several nearby buildings including a Koranic school and a mosque," said witness Abdukadir Dahir.
"Eight people were wounded among them several students who stayed at a nearby madrasa," he added.
The militants' claim came in a brief statement posted on a pro-Shabaab website.
"The Mujahedeen attacked the headquarter of the apostate administration... ...

Suicide car bomber kills three in Somali capital

Platefuls of green veg, no sleeping in and barely an afternoon to hang out with friends -- life for China's 14-year-old Asian Games diving champion Zhang Jiaqi doesn't seem like much fun.
Zhang, who secured victory in the synchronised 10 metre platform in Jakarta, is now part of China's extraordinary diving history that has seen them win every Asiad gold going they first joined the Games in 1974.
But there is no secret to their colossal success, the Chinese divers say -- their enormous medal haul is simply the result of lots of hard work.
"The reason why the Chinese team is so good is that we work really hard. Harder than any other country in the world," said Si Yajie, 19.
"We have to get up very early every day and train all day," added Si, a two-time Asian Games champion and Olympic silver medallist.
The elite squad of Chinese divers, who all live together at state-run facilities in Beijing, rise at 6.00 am every day apart from Sunday, their 'rest' day.
Still, no day is completely ..

Early starts and green veg: how China became diving greats

A high-level South Korean delegation will fly to North Korea this week to discuss arrangements for an inter-Korean summit there this month, as relations grow cooler between Washington and Pyongyang.
The South's President Moon Jae-in Sunday named his top security adviser as a special envoy to the North to discuss details before Moon's planned meeting in Pyongyang with Kim Jong-Un.
Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential National Security Office, will lead a five-member delegation to the North's capital on Wednesday, Moon's spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters.
The delegation, which also includes South Korea's spy chief Suh Hoon, will fly to Pyongyang via a rare direct route across the inter-Korean border for their day trip.
It will be Chung's second visit to the North since March, when he headed the same five-member team to arrange the first summit between Moon and Kim and met Kim Jong-Un.
The spokesman said it was unclear whether the delegation would meet the North's leader this ...

S. Korea team to fly North to discuss summit details

Police in central China said Sunday they arrested nearly 50 people after a violent protest sparked by dissatisfaction with the local school system.
More than 600 protesters gathered outside a police station in Leiyang city in Hunan province around midnight Saturday after security personnel stopped a protest earlier in the day, police said in a statement on their website.
They said they arrested 46 people who "attacked" the station, throwing bottles and bricks at local officials attempting to address the crowd. Many cars had been destroyed, the statement added.
Apparent videos of the protests on Twitter showed an angry crowd violently clashing with police in riot gear. AFP could not independently confirm the video.
Trouble began after parents of some middle school students were told they would have to move their children into dormitories at a local private school, resulting in a dramatic increase in tuition fees, according to posts on Chinese social media.
Additionally, commenters ...

Chinese police arrest 46 after violent protest over schooling

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) will introduce a right of protest against controversial judging "to ensure fair play" and prevent a repeat of ugly scenes that marred the Asian Games.
Two North Korean boxing coaches were thrown out of the Asian Games Saturday after refusing to leave the ring and inciting the crowd after their fighter lost gold on a split decision to a Chinese boxer.
Police had to move in to escort the duo, who had their Asian Games credentials immediately removed, from the Jakarta International Expo arena. They will now face disciplinary action by AIBA.
And there were ugly scenes earlier in the week after an Iraqi fighter lost a close fight and a fan jumped over barriers and tried to storm the ring encouraged by the boxer's cornermen.
"AIBA has a responsibility to ensure fair play and we're going to make sure that happens," AIBA executive director Tom Virgets told AFP.
"We're going to have a protest committee in place because even in the best of times there 

AIBA to allow judging protests after Asian Games boxing turmoil

As internal divisions over Brexit plague Britain's ruling Conservative Party, a recent surge in membership has left some fearing the new recruits have ulterior motives.
The Tories have seen thousands of new members apply to join its ranks this summer, according to lawmakers and reports.
But this newfound popularity has not been welcomed by all within the centre-right bastion of British politics.
"There clearly is a movement of people joining the Conservative Party but for exactly what purpose it's impossible to say," Dominic Grieve, a pro-European MP, told AFP.
In his constituency in southeast England it has grown by around 100 people to 1,200 members in recent months -- alongside his suspicions.
"I'm sure there's a deselection agenda by some members of my association towards me," he added.
"The Conservative Party's always been a broad church and tolerant of difference.
But I'm afraid at the moment we're going through a political crisis which is reducing tolerance."
MPs who back ...

Surge in Tory members sparks fears of right-wing takeover

As the pace of global warming races ahead of efforts to tame it, diplomats from more than 190 nations begin crunch UN climate talks in Bangkok Tuesday to breathe life into the Paris Agreement.
This year is the deadline to finalise the "rule book" for the 2015 treaty, which calls for capping the rise in global temperatures at "well below" two degrees Celsius, and 1.5 C if possible.
The pact also promises USD 100 billion annually from 2020 to poor nations already coping with floods, heatwaves, rising seas and superstorms made worse by climate change.
"The Paris Agreement was like a letter of intent," said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University.
Unless detailed rules of implementation covering dozens of contentious and unresolved issues are agreed upon, he and other experts said, the landmark treaty could run aground.
Lamenting "uneven progress" to date, co-chairs of UN talks last month urged rank-and-file negotiators to produce .

Can crunch talks bring the Paris climate treaty to life?

Maria Sharapova's love affair with New York nights continued Saturday as the 2006 US Open champion swept past 10th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko and into the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
Sharapova is now undefeated in 22 night matches at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
"There's no doubt I feed off this energy," Sharapova said.
"We all spend so much time on the back courts with our teams practicing.
"When you get a chance to come out here why not give everything that you have."
After some shaky moments in her first two matches, Sharapova charged through the opening set, aided by 27 unforced errors from 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko.
Ostapenko cut that down in the second, but she couldn't halt five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova, aiming to bounce back from a first-round loss at Wimbledon this year that was followed by injury withdrawals from tournaments in San Jose and Cincinnati.
Sharapova next faces Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, who ousted sixth-seeded Caroline ...

Sharapova lights up US Open again with win over Ostapenko

Five-time champion Roger Federer found a new way to amaze Saturday as he reached the US Open last 16 with a 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Nick Kyrgios.
The second-seeded Swiss withstood an early onslaught from the unpredictable Aussie, firing 51 winners that included an unlikely forehand flicked around the net post that Kyrgios couldn't believe.
"Definitely a bit of luck and good feet," Federer said of the shot that had Kyrgios wide-eyed at the net.
Federer had the luxury of a two-set lead when the duo's most entertaining exchanges thrilled the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
Things would have been much different if Kyrgios could have converted one of four break points in the seventh game of the opening set.
But Federer escaped, breaking Kyrgios to pocket the first set and dominating the second.
"He's an unbelievable frontrunner," Kyrgios said.
"When he gets in front, there's not much you can do."
Federer will be seeking a 13th appearance in the US Open quarter-finals when he plays Australian 

Federer out-maneuvers Kyrgios as Kerber, Zverev fall at US Open

Karim Benzema scored twice and Gareth Bale notched another for Real Madrid in a 4-1 thrashing of Leganes on Saturday after Atletico Madrid crashed to defeat in La Liga.
Benzema grabbed a second-half double and might have got his hat-trick had Sergio Ramos passed on the penalty he scored after a foul on Marco Asensio.
Atletico lost more ground on their city neighbours as they sank to a 2-0 defeat at Celta Vigo which coach Diego Simeone described as "a major wake-up call".
At the Santiago Bernabeu, Bale broke the deadlock with a smart half-volley, which was briefly cancelled out by Leganes' Guido Carrillo, who converted his own spot-kick to ensure Thibaut Courtois' first Madrid contribution was to pick the ball out of his own net.
Rejuvenated under new coach Julen Lopetegui and, perhaps, liberated by Cristiano Ronaldo's departure, Bale and Benzema impressed again. Bale has now scored three times and Benzema four from the first three La Liga games of the season.
Together with Asensio, ...

Benzema scoring freely for Real, Atletico crash to Celta

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said any summit he holds with North Korea's Kim Jong Un must tackle abducted citizens, an issue that has bedevilled relations between the two countries for decades.
North Korea kidnapped scores of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to help Pyongyang train its spies, a sore point that Tokyo says has never been adequately addressed.
"In the end, I have to meet Chairman Kim Jong Un," Abe told the Sankei Shimbun daily in an interview published on Sunday, adding he wished to "break mutual distrust" between the two countries.
But he added: "As long as we hold a meeting, the meeting must contribute to the resolution of the abduction issue".
Tokyo and Pyongyang have long had tense relations, from historical grievances of Japan's wartime brutalities on the Korean peninsula to Pyongyang's regular sabre rattling, including recent missile tests last year that sent rockets heading towards Japan.
Recent months have seen a remarkable diplomatic detente on the 

N. Korea-Japan summit must help resolve abduction issue: Abe

Cristiano Ronaldo drew another blank in his bid to score his first Serie A goal for Juventus but the Italian champions kept their winning momentum 2-1 at promoted Parma on Saturday with goals in either half from World Cup stars Mario Mandzukic and Blaise Matuidi.
World Cup winner Matuidi bagged the decisive goal on 58 minutes after Croatia's Mandzukic, a finalist in Moscow this summer, had scored after just two minutes in Emilia Romagna.
New Parma signing Gervinho -- back in Italy after two years with Chinese club Hebei China Fortune -- pulled one back after 33 minutes for the hosts who have returned to the top flight after three consecutive promotions following demotion for bankruptcy in 2015.
Ronaldo is yet to score but the seven-time reigning Italian champions are on maximum points after winning all three of their games this season.
The 33-year-old five-time Ballon d'Or winner missed a chance to open his account after 26 minutes when his powerful header was just wide, and spurned ..

Matuidi scores winner, Ronaldo draws blank as Juventus beat Parma

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres Saturday called for an end to violence in Libya in accordance with a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement.
According to a health ministry toll at least 39 people have been killed and some 100 injured in five days of clashes among rival militias, which broke out Monday in suburbs south of Tripoli.
"The Secretary-General condemns the continued escalation of violence in and around Libya's capital and, in particular, the use by armed groups of indiscriminate shelling leading to the death and injury of civilians, including children," a statement from Guterres' office said.
"The Secretary-General calls on all parties to immediately cease hostilities and abide by the ceasefire agreement brokered by the United Nations and the Reconciliation Committees."
In a joint statement Britain, France, Italy and the United States have said they "warn those who tamper with security in Tripoli or elsewhere in Libya that they will be held accountable for any such ...

UN chief condemns escalating violence in Libya

Malaysian police are seeking two Indonesian women to appear as witnesses in the trial of the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of the North Korean supreme leader.
A Saturday police statement said Raisa Rinda Salma, 24, and Dessy Meyrisinta 33, had their last address recorded at a hotel in the city of Ampang just outside Kuala Lumpur and that they could not be reached.
It called for anyone who knew the two women or had information about them to contact the authorities.
Police did not give any indication of what the two women might have witnessed or how they could help shed light on the case.
Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam are the two women accused of smearing the toxic nerve agent VX on Kim at a busy Malaysian airport, killing him in February last year in a Cold War-style hit that shocked the world.
They were arrested shortly after Kim was assassinated as he waited to board a flight to Macau.
Kim, who had lived in exile for years, was once ..

Malaysian police seeking pair to testify in Kim Jong-nam murder trial

Explosions rocked a Syrian military airport near the capital Damascus late Saturday, with an NGO saying it was a "possible Israeli missile" but state media blaming a technical issue at a munitions depot.
The military airport of Mazze, in the west suburbs of Damascus, was hit by a "possible Israeli missile, which hit a munitions store setting off successive explosions," the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahmane told AFP.
The airport houses Syrian Air Force intelligence, and in early 2017 the Syrian regime accused neighbouring Israel of bombing the base.
A Syrian military source said that "the Mazze airport was not the target of Israeli aggression," according to a Saturday report by the official Sana news agency.
"The explosions heard were due to an explosion at a munitions deposit close to the airport which was due to an electrical short circuit," the source said.
Israel has sought to avoid direct involvement in the conflict but acknowledges carrying out ...

Explosions at a Syrian military airport close to Damascus

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ratified a law granting authorities the right to monitor social media users in the country as part of tightening internet controls, the official gazette said here.
Approved by parliament in July, the state's Supreme Council for Media Regulations will have the power to place people with more than 5,000 followers -- on social media or with a personal blog or website -- under supervision.
The council will be authorised to suspend or block any personal account which "publishes or broadcasts fake news or anything (information) inciting violating the law, violence or hatred", the gazette issued yesterday said.
The new law is one of a series of measures that rights groups say are aimed at curbing freedom of expression online, with the internet one of the last forums for public debate over Sisi's rule.
In August, the president signed off on another piece of legislation allowing authorities, through a judge, to order the blocking of websites that ...

AFP

AFP

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