Secretary of State John Kerry today expressed hoped that a ceasefire in Syria brokered by the United States and Russia could still hold, despite a declaration from the Syrian military that the truce is over amid other indications the latest international attempt to quiet the fighting has failed.
	Shortly after Syria's armed forces declared that the truce was dead and blamed opposition rebels for undermining it, Kerry noted that the cease-fire had not produced the desired reduction in violence and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid. But he said some aid was finally moving.
	"We have not had seven days of calm and of delivery of humanitarian goods," Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
	Those seven days of calm and aid deliveries were required before the US and Russia could embark on a plan to cooperate in targeting the Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliates working in Syria.
	He denounced the Syrian military declaration, but also suggested that ...

Kerry holds out hope for Syria truce despite violations

PTI Automatic

German Chancellor Angela Merkel took partial responsibility for her party's worst-ever performance in a Berlin state election, acknowledging today that her government's policies at the national level were a factor.
	Merkel pledged to work harder to address people's concerns, particularly on migrants. Her Christian Democratic Union party, or CDU, received just 17.6 per cent of the vote in the German capital.
	"That's very bitter," Merkel told reporters in Berlin, referring to the drop of almost 6 percentage points her party suffered.
	The result means that Berlin state's current coalition government, in which the CDU is the junior partner to the center-left Social Democrats, or SPD, has no majority going forward. A three-way coalition of Social Democrats, the Green Party and the Left Party is now likely in the capital.
	While the Berlin vote was partly seen as a referendum on Merkel's handling of the migrant crisis, the state government has no control over Germany's immigration ...

Merkel takes some blame for poor Berlin election performance

Police today detained two suspected Islamic State group would-be suicide bombers near the border with Syria, Turkey's state-run news agency reported.
	Anadolu Agency said the two were detained in Sanliurfa province together with their suicide vests and explosives. There was no immediate information on their nationalities.
	The arrests came a day after Istanbul police detained some 40 foreign nationals suspected of links to IS in simultaneous raids in the city's Fatih neighborhood.
	Those detained included nationals from Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, Anadolu reported, adding that some of them had traveled to conflict zones in Syria several times.
	Turkey has suffered a wave of suicide bomb attacks blamed on IS since last year that have killed more than 200 people.
	Turkey last month sent tanks and troops into northern Syria to clear a border area of IS militants.

Report: Turkey detains 2 would-be IS suicide bombers

The US government has mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants who had pending deportation orders from countries of concern to national security or with high rates of immigration fraud, according to an internal Homeland Security audit released today.
	The Homeland Security Department's inspector general found that the immigrants used different names or birthdates to apply for citizenship with US Citizenship and Immigration Services and such discrepancies weren't caught because their fingerprints were missing from government databases.
	The report does not identify any of the immigrants by name, but Inspector General John Roth's auditors said they were all from "special interest countries"  those that present a national security concern for the United States or neighboring countries with high rates of immigration fraud.
	The report did not identify those countries. DHS officials identified an additional 953 people who had been naturalized despite outstanding ...

More than 800 immigrants mistakenly granted citizenship

A Syrian activist group says 92 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the US- Russia-brokered cease-fire a week ago.
	The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said today that 29 children and teenagers are among those killed, as well as 17 women. The figure does not include dozens of Syrian soldiers and Islamic State militants killed in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.
	The truce excludes IS and al-Qaida-linked militants.
	Uncertainties are prevailing about the truce, which is now in its seventh day.
	The Syrian army said in a statement last week that the cease-fire would last until midnight yesterday but it's not clear if the US-Russia-brokered deal set a time limit for the truce. There have been remarks from the Syrian military in Damascus that the truce might be extended by 72 hours.

Syrian activists say 92 killed during cease-fire

Thai officials say searchers have recovered 18 bodies and are continuing to look for 12 people missing from a boat that sank in a river over the weekend.
	The two-deck boat was carrying more than 100 Muslims on a holiday excursion when it sank Sunday afternoon on the Chao Phraya river 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Bangkok.
	The boat evidently ran up a riverbank then took on water, sinking in less than two minutes just a few meters offshore.
	A Marine Department official said bodies were still being retrieved Monday afternoon, with 18 recovered so far. In addition to the dead and missing, 44 people were injured.
	The official spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to release information.

Death toll rises to 18 in Thai boat sinking, 12 missing

The Paris prosecutor's office is investigating a hoax hostage alert that prompted a major police intervention at a church in the center of the French capital.
	Police dispatched a helicopter and barricaded the area around the Saint-Leu church in the Les Halles neighborhood Saturday, and activated a special app-based public alert system created after deadly attacks in Paris last year.
	The Interior Ministry later said it was a false alarm.
	The prosecutor's office said Monday that an investigation is under way, and the perpetrators are still at large.
	Obs magazine reported that it had reached two people who boasted online of staging the hoax in a case of so-called "swatting," when hoaxers make anonymous threats to trigger a response from police and SWAT teams.

Paris investigates hoax alert prompting major police action

Real Madrid equaled a record set by rival Barcelona as James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema scored in a 2-0 defeat of Espanyol on Sunday in the Spanish league.
     It was the 16th straight league win for Madrid, going back to last season, matching Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in the 2010-11 season.
     Madrid maintained a three-point lead over Barcelona with its fourth straight league victory this season.
     Celta Vigo and Valencia remained winless, while Villarreal stayed near the top thanks to a spectacular goal from near the halfway line by Italian striker Nicola Sansone.
     Madrid's victory came despite the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, who were rested by coach Zinedine Zidane.
     "What is important is to keep adding points," Madrid goalkeeper Kiko Casilla said. "We are happy because we won again and stayed in the lead."
     Madrid is the only team to have won four straight to start the league. Barcelona won 5-1 at Leganes on Saturday to rebound from a 2-1 home .

Real Madrid equals Barcelona's winning record in Spain

After 1,192 days, Brazil's run of hosting mega-sports events came to an end at the Paralympic Games.
     It began with soccer's Confederations Cup in 2013, extended to the 2014 World Cup, ran through IOC President Thomas Bach's goodbye speech last month at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and finished with the closing ceremony of the Paralympics before 45,000 spectators at Rio's Maracana stadium.
     Awarded when Brazil was a rising economic power, the sports pageants focused unprecedented attention on the country -- much of it unwanted.
     As the shows went on, Brazil plunged into a deep recession. A billion-dollar corruption scandal buffeted state-run oil company Petrobras, and President Dilma Rousseff was removed from office in an impeachment trial just days after the Olympics closed.
     "This all left a very mixed legacy," Mauricio Santoro, an international relations expert at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, told The Associated Press. "We are going to need some years to .

After 1,192 days, Brazil mega-event run ends at Paralympics

Authorities in Egypt are pulling out all the stops to ensure that President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's visit to New York for the UN General Assembly is a diplomatic success despite growing criticism of the country's human rights record under his rule.
	El-Sissi flew to New York today to attend the General Assembly along with some two dozen loyal lawmakers and media figures who will seek to improve the country's image during the four-day visit.
	Parliamentarian Nashwa el-Deeb told reporters she and others would be meeting with US officials and congressmen to redress the "wrong perceptions and positions" about Egypt. Another lawmaker, Tareq Radwan, said they would support the president as a "symbol of Egypt."
	Some of the president's previous visits in the West have been marred by protests or assaults on accompanying journalists by supporters of Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist president whose 2013 military ouster was led by el-Sissi.
	Egypt's Orthodox Coptic Church, a staunch ally of ...

Egypt looks to burnish image with el-Sissi's UN visit

The Philippine president said today that he may need to extend a bloody government anti-drug campaign that has left more than 3,000 people dead and been slammed by the United States and others.
	Acknowledging for the first time that he may not be able to keep his campaign promise to eradicate illegal drugs in no more than six months, President Rodrigo Duterte said in jest that with the huge number of people involved, "even if I wanted to, I cannot kill them all."
	Duterte said at a news conference in the southern city of Davao that he was overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem and may need to extend his self-imposed deadline by another six months to end the scourge.
	He won the May 9 election on an ambitious promise to end corruption and crime, especially illegal drugs, in three to six months.
	More than 3,000 suspected drug dealers and traffickers have been killed in Duterte's campaign against drugs since he assumed the presidency in June, and 600,000 others, mostly drug users, ..

Philippine president seeks extension of bloody war on drugs

Authorities say a man diving off the coast of Massachusetts died after running out of oxygen and being thrown against the rocks by the current.
	The Essex District attorney's office today identified the man as 38-year-old Vinicius Vianna, of Danvers.
	Police say a woman reported yesterday afternoon that she was off the coast of East Point in Nahant with two scuba divers and one was unresponsive in the water.
	The Nahant Harbormaster vessel was dispatched and pulled both divers on board. They were taken to a hospital, where Vianna was pronounced dead. The other diver, a 42-year-old man from Bedford, was treated for exhaustion.
	Authorities say Vianna was an experienced diver. His death remains under investigation, but foul play is not suspected.

Scuba diver runs out of oxygen, is thrown against rocks

Turkey's state-run news agency says 137 migrants have been stopped trying to cross from Turkey's Aegean coastline to the Greek islands.
	Anadolu said today that 95 migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq had tried to reach Lesbos and Chios aboard three boats.
	The remaining 42 migrants, including women and children, were picked up trying to make it to Kos. Turkish coast guard statistics show 1,603 migrants attempted to reach the Greek islands in August, nearly twice as many as in July.
	The EU's border agency Frontex said this week the number of migrants arriving in the Greek islands has increased significantly over the last month.
	Frontex said it was the "first noticeable monthly increase" since the EU-Turkey migrant deal came into effect.

Turkey stops 137 migrants trying to reach Greek islands

At least eight people were injured today after a stabbing attack at a Minnesota shopping mall which ended with the suspected attacker dead inside the mall.
	St Cloud Hospital Communications Specialist Chris Nelson told the St Cloud Times that of the eight people brought there, seven had injuries that were not life-threatening. No further details were released.
	Police Sgt Jason Burke said the mall remains on lockdown and the injured are being treated at a local hospital.
	"The individual we believe to be responsible for the victims' stab wounds is currently deceased inside the mall," Burke said in a statement.
	Harley and Tama Exsted of Isle, Minnesota, who were in St. Cloud to watch their son play in a college golf tournament, were in the mall when the incident occurred.
	"All of a sudden I heard pop pop pop," Harley Exsted told the St Cloud Times. "I thought someone tipped over a shelf. All of a sudden these people started running. I just saw everybody running our way."
	There also .

Stabbing attack in Minnesota mall; 8 injured

A pipe bomb exploded in a New Jersey shore town today shortly before thousands of runners were to participate in a charity 5K race to benefit Marines and sailors, authorities said.
	No injuries were reported in the blast in Seaside Park, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's office. He said no surrounding structures were damaged.
	The FBI has taken over as the lead agency in the investigation. But officials would not say whether they believe the incident was terror-related or if they suspected participants in the third annual Semper Five run were targeted.
	Brad Cohen, the acting special agent in charge of the FBI's office in Newark, declined to discuss the matter at length during a brief news conference staged Saturday evening. He also declined to take questions from reporters, citing the "active, ongoing" investigation.
	The race had been scheduled to start shortly before the blast occurred, but it was delayed due to the large numbers of people registering .

Pipe bomb explodes before Marines charity run; no injuries

State troopers say four people were killed and more than 40 were injured in a charter bus crash near Rockingham, North Carolina.
	Between 40 and 50 people were hurt in the crash yesterday and all have been transported to hospitals, Hamlet Fire and Rescue Chief Calvin White told to WBTV in Charlotte. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.
	University of God's Chosen coach Demetrius Hollingsworth said that football players and coaches from Ramah Juco Academy were travelling from Rock Hill, South Carolina, to Raeford to face UGC when their charter bus struck an overpass about 3 PM (local time) on Interstate 74 in Richmond County, WRAL-TV reported.
	"Prayers go out to Ramah Juco they suffered a horrific charter bus accident on the way to Fayetteville to face the University of God's Chosen. Everyone pray for Coach Bakari Rawlinson! Prayers out to you and your student athletes brother," Hollingsworth posted on his Facebook page yesterday.
	"It appears the bus experienced a .

Troopers: 4 killed, over 40 injured after bus hits overpass

An Iranian cyclist has died after a crash in a C4-5 cycling road race at the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics.
	The International Paralympics Committee identified the dead rider as Bahman Golbarnezhad, aged 48. It said he received emergency treatment on the course and was transported to a Rio hospital. It was not immediately clear where he died yesterday.
	IPC officials said the crash took place as the rider was descending a steep hill.
	A Paralympic biography said he was born in Shiraz, Iran. He also competed in the London Paralympics and didn't medal.

Iranian cyclist dies after crash in Paralympics road race

The Israeli military sent troop reinforcements to a flashpoint West Bank area today following a weekend surge in Palestinian attacks that shattered weeks of relative calm.
	The military said a Palestinian pulled out a knife during a security check in the West Bank city of Hebron earlier today and stabbed a soldier, prompting forces to open fire and kill the attacker.
	The incident came a day after what Israeli authorities said were several Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians, police and a soldier.
	In the first Friday attack, a man came out of Jerusalem's walled Old City brandishing a knife in each hand, police said.
	He then waved the knives in the air and shouted "Allahu akbar" or "God is greatest" in Arabic as he rushed at the officers, who opened fire and killed him. The man had both a Jordanian and a Palestinian ID on him, police said.
	Shortly afterward, two Palestinians rammed their car into a bus stop, wounding three Israeli civilians near a West Bank settlement. Security 

Israel boosts troops in West Bank after Palestinian attacks

Mike Pence has released a letter from his doctor vouching for his "excellent" health. The letter summarizes the medical history of the Republican vice presidential nominee and says he can maintain his high level of work and exercise routines "without limitations."
	The letter about Pence, the 57-year-old governor of Indiana, was dated Thursday and came after Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, also provided some details of their medical history.
	The health of the candidates has become an issue since Clinton stumbled at a 9/11 memorial event and revealed afterward that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia.
	Pence's letter is written by Dr. Michael Busk with the St. Vincent Health, Wellness and Preventive Care Institute in Indianapolis. He summarizes Pence's medical history and results of a physical examination from July 6.
	Busk said that Pence had basil cell carcinomas skin cancer removed from his face in 2002 and 2010. He also had surgery in August 2015 ..

Doctor declares Trump running mate Pence to be healthy

New York City police have charged a 14-year-old boy in connection with one of a series of attacks on women whose clothes were set on fire in Manhattan.
	The boy was charged as a juvenile with attempted assault and aggravated harassment as a hate crime.
	He was arrested yesterday for allegedly trying to light a girl's blouse on fire in Bryant Park one of three similar attacks that occurred September 10. The girl's mother chased him away.
	In another incident, a woman wearing traditional Muslim clothing had her blouse set on fire. She patted out the fire and noticed a man standing nearby holding a lighter. The man then walked away.
	Police are looking for four more people in connection with the attacks.

NYC police charge teen in clothes-burning attacks on women

An Egyptian court has upheld a decision to freeze the assets of several prominent human rights campaigners.
	Today's ruling by a Cairo court comes amid a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent launched after the 2013 military ouster of an elected Islamist president. Authorities have jailed thousands of people, mainly Islamists but also leading secular and liberal activists.
	The five activists named in the court ruling include Gamal Eid and Bahey eldin Hassan, who head two well-known human rights organizations, as well as investigative reporter Hossam Bahgat, also the founder of a rights group.
	They face charges of illegally receiving foreign funds and using them to harm national security. They are part of a wider case against rights groups in Egypt. If convicted, they could face up to 25 years in prison.

AP

AP

Page 1846 - Ap/pti Reuters