Kim Jong Un has promoted his younger  sister to a new post within North Korea's ruling party.
The promotion of Kim Yo Jong came at a meeting of senior  party members as North Korea marked the 20th anniversary of  Kim Jong Il's acceptance of the title of general secretary of  the ruling Worker's Party of Korea.
Kim Yo Jong was made an alternate member of the  decision-making political bureau of the party's central  committee.
Thousands of people, mostly students, packed Kim Il Sung  Square in Pyongyang to dance and watch fireworks to mark the  anniversary on Sunday night.
The late Kim Jong Il, North Korea's "eternal general  secretary," is the father of Kim Jong Un and Kim Yo Jong.

At party meeting, Kim Jong Un's sister gets promotion

PTI Automatic

President Donald Trump has told  congressional leaders that his hard-line immigration  priorities must be enacted in exchange for extending  protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of young  immigrants, many of whom were brought to the US illegally as  children.
Trump's list of demands included overhauling the  country's green-card system, a crackdown on unaccompanied  minors entering the country, and building his promised wall  along the southern border.
Many were policies Democrats have said explicitly are off  the table and threaten to derail ongoing negotiations over  legislation protecting young immigrants known as "Dreamers."
They had been given a reprieve from deportation and the  ability to work legally in the country under President Barack  Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA,  program, which Trump ended last month.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders released by the  White House yesterday, Trump said the priorities were the  product of a .

Trump links border wall, green-card overhaul to DACA

Press Trust of India

Spanish unionists in Catalonia  finally found their voice, resurrecting Spain's flag as a  symbol of patriotism after decades of it being associated with  the Franco dictatorship.
In a defiant challenge to plans by Catalonia's regional  government to unilaterally declare independence, hundreds of  thousands of people flooded the streets of Barcelona in a  surprising outpouring of Spanish unity.
They chanted "Don't be fooled, Catalonia is Spain" and  called for regional president Carles Puigdemont to go to  prison for holding an illegal referendum last week.
Some of the demonstrators took to rooftops, including  families with children, and leaned over ledges from their  perches overlooking the streets below to wave giant Spanish  flags in a city accustomed to the prevalence of the Catalan  pro-independence "estelada."
Spain's red-and-yellow flag has long been taboo here in  Catalonia and throughout the country because it has been  linked to groups supportive of Gen. Francisco Franco's  

Spanish unionists find their voice in huge Barcelona rally

Authorities say at least 10  people have been killed in northeastern Congo by Ugandan  rebels belonging to the group known as ADF.
Local administrator Amisi Kalonda said the violence took  place overnight about 20 kilometers from the town of Beni.
Military spokesman Capt Mak Hazukay Mongba said there was  an operation in the area as part of efforts to neutralise the  rebel group but he declined to give a death toll.
Human Rights Watch says that ADF rebels have killed about  1,000 people in the Beni region over the last three years. The  Congolese army has captured dozens of rebels including a dozen  who were sentenced to death.
However, local human rights groups expressed frustration  today that ADF continues to mount attacks in the region.

10 killed in northeast Congo; Ugandan rebels blamed

The Istanbul prosecutor's office is  charging Amnesty International's Turkey chief and 10 others  for allegedly belonging to and aiding terror groups with the  completion of an indictment today, according to the country's  official news agency.
The Anadolu news agency said officials concluded an  investigation into the 11 human rights activists, who are now  awaiting trial. The 17-page indictment was prepared by the  prosecutor's office's terror crimes branch.
Police detained 10 human rights activists during a  workshop on digital security at a hotel near Istanbul in July.
Eight people, including Amnesty International's director  in Turkey Idil Eser, German Peter Steudtner and Swede Ali  Gharavi, were arrested. Two others were detained but released  pending trial.
They are accused of aiding armed terror organizations in  alleged communications with suspects linked to Kurdish and  left-wing militants as well as the movement led by US-based  Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused 

11 activists charged in Turkey over alleged terror links

A pair of explosions at a gas station  in Ghana that sent a fiery mushroom cloud into the night sky  has killed at least seven people and left 68 others  hospitalised, authorities said today.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia visited the site of the  accident early today where he pledged that the government  would work to curb such tragedies.
"Eight of these explosions in three years is too much,"  he said while at the LNG filling station near Legon, a suburb  of Accra.
Ghana's Information Ministry confirmed the death toll  from late yesterday, and said that dozens of others also had  been treated and released for injuries.
The tanker explosion at a gas station late yesterday was  followed by a secondary blast. The exact cause of the accident  is under investigation, Ghana National Fire Service spokesman  Billy Anaglatey said.
In May, an explosion at a factory in the Western Regional  capital of Takoradi occurred as a tanker was discharging  liquefied petroleum gas at the Ghana ...

Death toll rises to 7 in gas station explosions in Ghana

Baltic news agency says a civilian  helicopter has crashed in Latvia during a local car rally,  killing one person and injuring three.
The Baltic News Service agency said today that the crash  took place in the Priekule region in southwestern Latvia  during one of the stages of the Rally Liepaja, which is part  of the European Rally Championship rounds.
The agency, citing Latvian officials and witness  accounts, said the helicopter apparently got tangled up in an  electricity cable as it was taking off.
Latvian news portal Delfi said the the four-seater  Robinson R44 helicopter belonged to a local company that was  offering charter flights to rally spectators.
It wasn't immediately clear if the casualties were all  helicopter passengers. Delfi, citing municipal authorities,  said the person killed was a Polish citizen.

Report: 1 dead, 3 injured in helicopter crash in Latvia

A top Egyptian rights lawyer says the  country's candidate for UNESCO's top job is not qualified for  the post because of her silence and "sometimes complicity" in  the government's repressive policies.
Gamal Eid, head of the Arabic Network for Human Rights  Information, said on Sunday that he had sought in vain to  enlist Moushira Khattab's help after security agents stormed  three of six libraries he set up in poor neighborhoods with  prize money from a rights award he won.
After promising to help, Khattab told him the courts  would have the final say on the matter, a stance later  repeated by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Eid said there  was no court case on the closures.
Khattab did not respond to messages by The Associated  Press seeking comment.

Egypt's UNESCO candidate not qualified, says rights lawyer

Six people are known to have died from  gas explosions at Atomic Junction, near the Legon suburb in  northwest Accra, Ghana National Fire Service spokesman Billy  Anaglatey said today.
"As we speak, six people are dead due to this fire," he  said, adding that 35 were injured by the last night  explosions. Four of the 35 are in critical condition at the  intensive care unit of the 37 Military Hospital.
The cause of the explosions is being investigated, said  Anaglatey.
This morning, burned steel frames show where the two gas  stations were razed by the explosions.
"Some people said there were flames in the skies, l  looked and saw the flames and was convinced something terrible  had happened," said James Appiah, a resident of North Legon,  about 1 kilometre from the explosion.
The tanker explosion at a gas station in Ghana late  yesterday, was followed by a secondary blast, authorities  said.
The filling station is near a transport terminal and  close to some hostels for the University 

Gas station explosions in Ghana's capital kill 6 people

The office of Iraq's parliament  speaker says Salim Jabouri is traveling to the country's  Kurdish region to meet with its leader, Masoud Barzani.
The move comes in the wake of the Kurdish regional vote  for independence in a controversial referendum two weeks ago.  Jabouri's office says the two leaders will meet today in  Irbil.
Baghdad, Turkey and Iran have all threatened punitive  measures against the Kurdish region if it does not annul the  results of September's non-binding referendum, saying they  will not accept Iraq's disintegration.
Iraq's landlocked Kurdish region produces up to a quarter  of Iraq's petroleum output.
Barzani's office says he and two of Iraq's three vice  presidents agreed yesterday to restore relations with Baghdad  after a meeting in Irbil. The vice presidents' offices denied  any resolution.

Iraq parliament speaker to visit Kurdish region amid impasse

An Afghan official says at least seven  Taliban insurgents have been killed during an airstrike by  Afghan security forces in northern Sari Pul province.
Nasratullah Jamshidi, spokesman for the Army Corps in the  northern region, says 11 other insurgents were wounded late  Saturday when air forces targeted a militant training center  in Kohistanat district.
There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.
In a separate report from northern Baghlan province, two  police officers were killed after militants attacked their  check point, said Zabihullah Shuja, spokesman for the police  chief. One other police officer was wounded in the attack,  which took place in the Dand-e Ghori area of the province, he  said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack,  but Taliban insurgents often target Afghan security forces in  the region.

Afghan officials: 2 police, 7 militants killed in attacks

Vice President Mike Pence is  scheduled to arrive in California this weekend for a  fundraising trip in a state that overwhelmingly rejected his  boss.
Pence was set to visit Los Angeles today for an evening  reception. He was planning to raise money and talk about tax  reform during a three-day trip in the state.
Pence was in Las Vegas yesterday. He spoke at an  afternoon prayer service honoring the 58 victims killed last  Sunday in the worst mass shooting in modern US history.
The vice president was scheduled to fly to Indianapolis  to attend Sunday's Colts football game before jetting to Los  Angeles for a private 6:30 pm reception.
Pence and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy were  scheduled to hold a luncheon fundraiser at a country club in  wealthy Newport Beach tomorrow, with tickets starting at USD  2,700 each, the Orange County Register reported  (http://bit.ly/2yykHwR ), citing Republican National  Committeeman Shawn Steel.
That was one of several stops Pence originally ...

Vice President Pence plans California fundraising visit

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said  today that his government fully supports the US stance on  pressuring North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, with  all options on the table.
In a televised debate today among leaders of major  political parties, Abe said North Korea had failed to deliver  on past promises to give up its pursuit of nuclear technology  made during "six-party" talks with Japan, China, the US,  Russia and South Korea.
"They used the framework of the dialogue to earn time so  that they could develop their nuclear technology," Abe said.  "As the result, their nuclear capability has reached to this  level and we cannot afford being deceived by them again."
Abe did not specifically comment on a tweet during the  weekend about North Korea by US President Donald Trump.
Trump said that 25 years of negotiations had not worked,  with "agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings  fools of US negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!"
Abe did say his ...

Abe says Japan fully behind US on pressuring North Korea

A tanker explosion at a gas-  filling station in Ghana late yesterday, followed by a  secondary blast, has left a number of casualties in the Legon  suburb in northwest Accra, authorities said.
Ghana's deputy information minister Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah  said the fire has been controlled and firefighters are now  controlling the second explosion.
"It is early days yet to give any figures" on the number  injured or dead, he said, adding there were casualties.
Ambulances had been deployed, and those people who  sustained various degrees of injury have been sent to  hospitals, he said.
More than 200 police personnel were also deployed to help  to cordon off the area of the explosion, making it difficult  to access. The filling station is near a transport terminal  and close to some hostels for the University of Ghana in  Accra.
George Agbey, who was close to the scene of the explosion  said, "There was some panic and we all just moved away from  the scene. It was like refugees moving away ...

Official: Ghana gas station explosions kill number of people

Trying to revive health care  talks, President Donald Trump has said that he had spoken to  the Senate's Democratic leader to gauge whether the minority  party was interested in helping pass "great" health  legislation.
The answer back: Democrats are willing to hear his ideas,  but scrapping the Obama health law is a nonstarter.
Trump's latest overture to Democrats followed GOP  failures so far to fulfill the party's yearslong promise to  repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act In spite of  controlling the White House and Congress since January,  Republicans have not passed the legislation.
The president tweeted that he called New York Sen. Chuck  Schumer on Friday to discuss the 2010 law known as  "Obamacare," which Trump said "is badly broken, big premiums.  Who knows!" Trump said he wanted "to see if the Dems want to  do a great HealthCare Bill."
In remarks Saturday evening on the South Lawn before a  trip to North Carolina, Trump said he was willing to consider  "a temporary ...

Trump reaches out to Democrats in bid for 'great' health law

Vice President Mike Pence has  praised the heroic response by police and the resolve of the  American people at a prayer service in Las Vegas before  organisers released 58 white doves in memory of each victim  killed in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
At the same time, federal agents started hauling away  piles of backpacks, baby strollers and lawn chairs left behind  by fleeing concertgoers who scrambled to escape raining  bullets from a gunman who was shooting from his high-rise  hotel suite.
"It was a tragedy of unimaginable proportions," Pence  said as he addressed nearly 300 people at Las Vegas City Hall.  "Those we lost were taken before their time, but their names  and their stories will forever be etched into the hearts of  the American people."
Investigators have remained stumped about what drove  gunman Stephen Paddock, a reclusive 64-year-old high-stakes  video poker player, to begin shooting at the crowd at a  country music festival from his 32nd-floor ..

In Vegas, Pence praises US resolve to find hope after horror

The trial of two women accused  of killing the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader  enters its second week with the court moving temporarily  Monday to a high-security laboratory to view evidence tainted  with the toxic VX nerve agent.
High Court Judge Azmi Ariffin declared that prosecutors  and defence lawyers, along with the two suspects, will hold  court at the laboratory for chemical weapons analysis to  examine samples of the women's clothing before they are  formally submitted as evidence.
The decision came after government chemist Raja  Subramaniam told the court that VX found on the clothing may  still be active.
Such a move is not unusual in criminal cases in Malaysia,  where judges often visit crime scenes.
Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, lawyer for Vietnamese suspect Doan  Thi Huong, told The Associated Press that the visit to Raja's  lab is purely for safety reasons.
He said the concept of holding a formal court session at  the lab is to legalise the visit, which is ...

Kim's murder trial to resume with lab visit for VX evidence

Turkey's president has announced  that the country has launched a "serious" operation in Syria's  northwestern Idlib province with Turkey-backed Syrian  opposition forces, following international efforts for de-  escalation in the war-torn country.
The operation has been highly expected in the province,  where al-Qaida-linked fighters enjoy wide influence, after  last month's talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana during  which Turkey, Iran and Russia agreed on setting up "a de-  escalation zone" in the province.
The operation is aimed at eventually crushing al-Qaida in  what may turn into a long and costly war. The extremist group  has thousands of battle-hardened fighters and enjoys some  popular support in the province, unlike the Islamic State  group.
Turkey is a strong backer of Syrian opposition fighters  while Iran and Russia back President Bashar Assad. Moscow  joined the war two years ago siding with Assad while Tehran  has sent thousands of Iranian-backed fighters, tipping ...

Turkey's president announces operation in Syria's Idlib

In a challenge to President Vladimir  Putin on his 65th birthday, protesters rallied across Russia,  heeding opposition leader Alexei Navalny's call to pressure  authorities into letting him enter the presidential race.
Police allowed demonstrators in Moscow to rally near the  Kremlin yesterday in an apparent desire to avoid marring  Putin's birthday with a crackdown.
A bigger rally in St Petersburg, Putin's hometown, was  disbanded by police after protesters blocked traffic and  attempted to break through police cordons.
The rallies came as Navalny himself is serving a 20-day  jail term for calling for an earlier unsanctioned protest.  In Moscow, several hundred protesters, most of them students,  gathered on downtown Pushkinskaya Square, waving Russian flags  and chanting "Russia will be free!" and "Let Navalny run!"
Police warned them that the rally wasn't sanctioned and  urged them to disperse, but let the protest continue for hours  without trying to break it up.
Mostly teenage ..

Protesters rally across Russia on Putin's 65th birthday

Hurricane Nate has come ashore on  a sparsely populated area at the mouth of the Mississippi  River and closed in on Mississippi, pelting the central Gulf  Coast region with strong winds and heavy rains.
Nate was forecast to make its second landfall near  Biloxi, Mississippi, and threatened to inundate homes and  businesses.
The center of the storm passed to the east of New  Orleans, sparing the city its most ferocious winds and storm  surge. And its quick speed lessened the likelihood of  prolonged rain that would tax the city's weakened drainage  pump system.
The city famous for all-night partying was placed under a  curfew, effective at 7 pm (local time), but the mayor lifted  it when it appeared the storm would cause little problems for  the city. Still, the streets were not nearly as crowded as  they typically are on a last night.
Along the Mississippi coast, cities such as Gulfport and  Biloxi were on high alert. Some beachfront hotels and casinos  were evacuated, and rain began 

Hurricane Nate closes in on Mississippi, eyes 2nd landfall

An official Saudi news agency says an  attack on the Al-Salam Palace in Jiddah has killed two members  of the Saudi Royal Guard.
The Saudi Press Agency quoted the security spokesman for  the Interior Ministry as saying that at around 3:325 am  yesterday the perpetrator disembarked from a vehicle and  opened fire on the western gate of the palace, killing two  Guard members and wounding three others. The gunman was shot  dead on the spot, according to the SPA report.
The ministry identified the attacker as Mansour bin  Hassan bin Ali bin Al Fahid al-Amri, a 28-year-old Saudi  national, the report said, adding that he was carrying  Kalashnikov rifles and three Molotov cocktails. It said the  investigation is ongoing.

AP

AP

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