Suspended Australia cricket captain Steve Smith is returning home from the Caribbean Premier League after suffering an abdominal strain.
Smith was due to play for the Barbados Tridents Monday against the St Lucia Stars and his banned Australia teammate David Warner, but was a late withdrawal.
Tridents captain Jason Holder told the host broadcaster Smith had pulled an abdominal muscle and will not play again in the tournament, which has two rounds left.
Coach Robin Singh said Smith was already on his to Australia.
Smith and Warner received 12-month bans for their roles in the South African ball tampering scandal in March. But the ban applies only to international matches and those under the direct control of Cricket Australia. The pair have been free to play in overseas and independent leagues.
Smith scored 185 runs at an average of 26.4 in seven innings in the CPL.

Steve Smith out of CPL with abdominal strain

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It's been a frustrating week for Cristiano Ronaldo.
First, he was edged out by former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric for UEFA's player of the year award.
Then he again failed to score in Juventus' 2-1 win at Parma  extending his goal-less start with his new club to three matches.
"In Italian football there are different challenges," Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said after Saturday's match. "But he played a good game. It's one of those periods but I'm happy with what he's doing. The international break will help him to become sharper."
On Thursday, Ronaldo was the only nominee to skip the UEFA awards ceremony in Monaco.
"It's true, Ronaldo was disappointed not to receive the best player award," Allegri said. "He scored 15 goals in the Champions League and won the cup." Ronaldo left Madrid in the offseason in a Serie A-record 112 million euro (then $132 million) transfer, but he is still figuring out how to score in a league known for its defensive qualities.
"I think he'll ...

Ronaldo remains scoreless since joining Juventus

A system moving quickly toward the central US Gulf Coast is expected to become a tropical storm by Monday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The system is brewing about 281 kilometers east-southeast of Marathon in the Florida Keys. Maximum sustained winds of the unnamed system have been clocked at 45 kph and the system is moving west-northwest at 24 kph.
The Miami-based center said in a statement Sunday evening that a storm surge watch has been issued from the Mississippi-Alabama border westward to the Mouth of the Mississippi River.
A tropical storm watch has been issued for portions of the central Gulf Coast from the Alabama-Florida line westward to nearly Morgan City, Louisiana.
The system could dump 2 to 4 inches (5-10 centimeters) of rain over parts of the Bahamas, the Florida Keys and South Florida through early Tuesday.
Meanwhile Tropical Storm Florence continues to hold steady over the eastern Atlantic, about 1271 kilometers west-northwest of the southernmost 

Potential tropical storm heads toward US Gulf Coast, Florida

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday promoted Beijing's initiative to build ports and other infrastructure to African leaders as a tool for "common prosperity" in a world facing challenges from trade protectionism.
Speaking to businesspeople ahead of a conference with dozens of African leaders, Xi said the "Belt and Road" initiative will expand markets. He tried to mollify concern Beijing wants to build strategic influence, promising Chinese investment comes with "no political strings attached."
"Unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise. Economic growth lacks robust drive," said Xi in a speech. "China-Africa cooperation under the BRI is a way to common prosperity that brings benefits to both our peoples."
African and other Asian leaders have welcomed "Belt and Road" but some projects have prompted complaints about debt and other problems.
The initiative involves hundreds of projects, most of them built by Chinese contractors and financed by loans from Chinese state-owned ...

China's Xi promotes 'Belt and Road' as Africa growth tool

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been accused of condoning human rights abuses in his deadly drug crackdown and who has made controversial comments about the Holocaust, received a warm welcome in Israel when he arrived Sunday for an official visit.
Before his departure from Manila, Duerte said he "looks forward to broader cooperation on a broad range of mutually important areas  defense and security, law enforcement, economic development, trade (and) investments and labor."
Sales of Israeli weapons to his government are high on the agenda, according to Israeli media. Filipino officials have said the Philippines has recently acquired Israeli-made arms such as Galil assault rifles and pistols for its 120,000-strong police force, which is on the front line of Duterte's battle against illegal drugs and other crimes.
His four-day visit begins with a Filipino community event Sunday evening. An estimated 28,000 Filipinos live in Israel, mostly as health aides.
A Filipino living .

Duterte in Israel for first visit by a Philippines president

The UN refugee agency says people smugglers are taking greater risks to ferry their human cargo toward Europe as Libya's coast guard intercepts more and more boats carrying migrants, increasing the likelihood that those on board may die during the Mediterranean journeys.
That's one of the key findings from the latest UNHCR report about efforts to reach Europe. The report, released early Monday and titled "Desperate Journeys," says that even though the number of crossings and deaths has plunged compared to recent years, the voyage is more deadly in percentage terms for those who venture across.
The report says 2,276 people died last year while trying to cross, or one death for every 42 arrivals.
This year, it's 1,095 deaths, or one out of every 18 arrivals. In June alone, the proportion hit one death for every seven arrivals.  On the Central Mediterranean route so far this year, there have been 10 separate incidents in which 50 or more people died  most after departing from Libya. ...

UN agency: Trips across Mediterranean fall, but risks rise

The Vatican is starting to push back against Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, author of the bombshell accusation of a sex abuse cover-up against Pope Francis, with a statement from its former spokesman about a controversial 2015 meeting Vigano organized.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi and his English-language assistant, the Rev.
Thomas Rosica, issued a joint statement late Sunday disputing Vigano's claims about the encounter he organized with an American anti-gay marriage campaigner, Kim Davis, during Francis' September 2015 visit to the United States.
The Vatican had sought to downplay the encounter after conservatives presented it as a papal stamp of approval for Davis.
Vigano, whose cover-up claims have thrown Francis' papacy into turmoil, issued another statement saying Francis knew well who Davis was, and the Vatican approved the meeting in advance.

Vatican begins push-back against ex-ambassador over Davis

Israel's prime minister on Sunday welcomed the U.S. decision to stop funding the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing it of perpetuating a crisis that lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The agency's commissioner rejected such accusations, saying that the failure of political leaders to resolve the conflict has caused the refugee crisis to drag on for 70 years.
Speaking in southern Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel has taken in hundreds of thousands of Jews uprooted from homes in the Middle East and Europe.
"This is not what is happening with the Palestinians," he said. "There they created a unique institution, 70 years ago, not to absorb the refugees but to perpetuate them." UNRWA was founded after the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation to serve some 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were uprooted from their homes. Today, it provides education and social services to over 5 million people across the region.
Netanyahu said ..

Israeli leader praises US cuts to UN agency for Palestinians

Chinese billionaire Liu Qiangdong, also known as Richard Liu, the founder of the Beijing-based e-commerce site JD.com, was arrested in Minneapolis on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct, jail records show.
Liu, 45, was arrested late Friday night and released Saturday afternoon pending possible criminal charges, Hennepin County Jail records show. The jail records don't provide details of the alleged incident.
Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said Sunday that he couldn't provide any details because the investigation is considered active. He declined to say where in Minneapolis Liu was arrested or what Liu was accused of doing.
Minnesota law defines five degrees of criminal sexual misconduct, ranging from a gross misdemeanor to felonies, covering a broad array of conduct ranging from nonconsensual touching to violent assaults with injuries. The jail records for Liu don't indicate a degree.
JD.com, the main rival to Alibaba Group, said in a statement posted Sunday on the Chinese ..

Chinese billionaire Liu of JD.com arrested in Minneapolis

Libya's UN-backed government has announced a state of emergency in the capital and its outskirts as ongoing fighting has killed some 39 people including civilians in the past days.
The fighting erupted last week between armed groups from Tripoli against others from a town to the south vying for power in Libya's capital. The Health Ministry said the fighting has also wounded 96 others.
Sunday's statement by the government urged rival militias to stop the fighting and abide a UN-brokered ceasefire.
Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi. The country is currently governed by rival authorities in Tripoli and the east, each backed by an array of militias that wield real power on the ground.

Libya announces state of emergency in Tripoli

A crowd gathered when Venus Williams practiced with Sachia Vickery at the U.S. Open. Kids waited by the fence for autographs.
The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion helped Vickery prepare for her first-round match. Vickery lost, but the thrill of hitting with her idol was a lasting memory.
"That was actually an experience of a lifetime for me, so I'm still in shock a little bit," said Vickery, a 23-year-old African-American and former top-ranked junior player.
Venus and Serena Williams have been a nearly constant presence at the U.S. Open since the debut of Arthur Ashe Stadium 21 years ago. Their 30 combined Grand Slam singles titles have changed the tennis landscape.
Many American kids of color are taking part in youth programs, often citing the superstar sisters as the reason.
"There's certainly more diverse activity from an ethnic standpoint since they came on the scene," said D.A. Abrams, chief diversity and inclusion officer for the U.S. Tennis Association.
"At junior ...

Venus and Serena Williams help inspire diversity in tennis

Britain's prime minister has again spoken out against calls for a second referendum on Britain's decision to split with the European Union.
Theresa May wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that it would be a "gross betrayal of our democracy" to have another vote.
She said "millions came out to have their say" in the June 2016 vote that set Brexit in motion.
Her embattled government has faced increasingly strident calls for another vote once the terms of Britain's future relations with the EU are known.
The prime minister used the column to defend her "Chequers proposal" that would maintain some ties with the EU, and said she won't be pushed around by EU negotiators.
Britain is expected to leave the EU in March and enter a transition phase.

UK prime minister says no, again, to second Brexit vote

Egypt said Sunday that archeologists have unearthed one of the oldest villages ever found in the Nile Delta, with remains dating back to before the pharaohs.
The Antiquities Ministry said the Neolithic site was discovered in Tell el-Samara, about 140 kilometers north of Cairo. Chief archaeologist Frederic Gio said his team found silos containing animal bones and food, indicating human habitation as early as 5,000 B.C.
That would be some 2,500 years before the Giza pyramids were built.
In recent years, Egypt has touted discoveries in the hopes of reviving tourism after the unrest that followed its 2011 popular uprising.

Egypt says village found in Nile Delta predated pharaohs

The Ukrainian city of Lviv, once a major center of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, is commemorating the 75th anniversary of the annihilation of the city's Jewish population by Nazi Germany and honoring those working today to preserve what they can of that vanished world.
City authorities honored recipients during a ceremony Sunday with 75 sculptured glass keys modeled by an American artist on an old metal synagogue key that she found at a Lviv market. The commemorations, including a concert amid the ruins of synagogues, come amid a larger attempt to revive the suppressed memories of the Jews who were once an integral part of life in the region.
"God forbid our city once suffered such a misfortune," Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said at the ceremony. "Today we cannot even imagine for a moment the pain, humiliation and grief that thousands of Lviv's people suffered in the last century."
Iryna Matsevko, deputy director of the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe and one of the ...

Ukrainian city remembers Jews on Holocaust anniversary

US Army Gen. Austin Miller has assumed command of the 41-nation NATO mission in Afghanistan following a handover ceremony.
Miller took over Sunday from Gen. John Nicholson, who held the post for more than two years, at a ceremony attended by senior Afghan officials and foreign ambassadors.
The handover comes at a time when Afghan forces are struggling to contain a resurgent Taliban and an increasingly powerful Islamic State affiliate. The Taliban control several districts across Afghanistan, and both groups have launched a relentless wave of attacks in recent months.
The NATO mission began with the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks. The U.S. and NATO formally ended their combat mission in 2014 but still routinely come to the aid of Afghan forces.

US general assumes NATO command in Afghanistan

Two recreational boats collided head-on Saturday in a stretch of the Colorado River near the California border with Arizona that was crowded with people enjoying the Labor Day weekend, sinking one boat and leaving 13 people injured, authorities said.
Another two people were missing and "presumed submerged." The crash happened in Moabi Regional Park, a popular water recreation area along the border about 290 miles (467 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.
Eric Sherwin, spokesman for the San Bernardino County Fire District, said one person sustained life-threatening injuries and was transported to University Medical Center in Las Vegas.
Six others were transported to local hospitals with less serious injuries. Another six had minor injuries and only one of them requested to go to a hospital.
Sherwin said the depth of the water on the river can range from shallow to 30 feet deep. Rescuers had to call off the search for the missing until Sunday morning because it was too dangerous to put ...

13 hurt and 2 missing after boats collide on Colorado River

A Somali police officer says at least four people are wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle outside the compound of a district headquarters in Somalia's capital.
Capt Mohamed Hussein says the bomber tried to speed through a checkpoint but was stopped by security forces, prompting him to detonate the vehicle near the gate of Howlwadag district headquarters.
He says the wounded are mostly young students at a nearby Islamic school.
Officials warn there could be more casualties as the blast pulled down nearby buildings including a mosque.
There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, which shattered a period of calm in seaside Mogadishu.
The al-Shabab extremist group often targets the capital.

Suicide car bombing in Somalia's capital wounds at least 4

An Afghan official says a foreign pilot and two Afghan soldiers were killed when a helicopter contracted by NATO crashed inside an army base.
Maj Hanif Rezaie, an army spokesman, says three others, including another foreign pilot, were wounded when the MI-14 helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff from the base near the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
Rezaie says the crash was caused by a technical problem and the helicopter caught fire after it hit the ground. He says there was no enemy fire.
Seven other security forces on board the helicopter were rescued. Rezaie was unable to confirm the nationality of the two foreign pilots.

Helicopter crashes in northern Afghanistan, killing 3

John McCain is being laid to rest at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
The private burial Sunday next to Adm Chuck Larson brings to a close the six-term senator's cross-country farewell after he died of brain cancer August 25 in Arizona.
The procession was carefully designed by McCain as a final call to arms to a nation he feared was at risk of losing its civility and sense of shared purpose.
To illustrate the warning, McCain asked former Presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush to eulogize him at Washington National Cathedral. The service Saturday was a rebuke of President Donald Trump's divisive politics.
Trump had mocked McCain for getting captured in Vietnam and was not invited to any events. The president spent the day tweeting and golfing.

AP

AP

Page 1604 - Ap/pti Reuters

Steve Smith out of CPL with abdominal strain

Ronaldo remains scoreless since joining Juventus

Potential tropical storm heads toward US Gulf Coast, Florida

China's Xi promotes 'Belt and Road' as Africa growth tool

Duterte in Israel for first visit by a Philippines president

UN agency: Trips across Mediterranean fall, but risks rise

UN agency: Trips across Mediterranean fall, but risks rise

UN agency: Trips across Mediterranean fall, but risks rise

Vatican begins push-back against ex-ambassador over Davis

Israeli leader praises US cuts to UN agency for Palestinians

Chinese billionaire Liu of JD.com arrested in Minneapolis

Libya announces state of emergency in Tripoli

Venus and Serena Williams help inspire diversity in tennis

UK prime minister says no, again, to second Brexit vote

Egypt says village found in Nile Delta predated pharaohs

Ukrainian city remembers Jews on Holocaust anniversary

US general assumes NATO command in Afghanistan

13 hurt and 2 missing after boats collide on Colorado River

Suicide car bombing in Somalia's capital wounds at least 4

Helicopter crashes in northern Afghanistan, killing 3