China is facing a one-year ban from weightlifting over repeated doping cases in a move which threatens to stop some of the world's top athletes from competing internationally.
     The International Weightlifting Federation confirmed today that three failed retests of drug test samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics will lead to China's automatic ban -- if the cases are proven and the athletes in question disqualified by the International Olympic Committee.
     China is the world's dominant country in weightlifting, having topped the medal table at every Olympics since 2000.
     It won seven medals in Rio de Janeiro this month, five of them gold.
     The IWF said that Ukraine and Azerbaijan have joined Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which were already facing one-year bans under earlier announcements.

China faces 1-year ban from weightlifting over doping

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A brazen, hours-long militant attack on the American University of Afghanistan ended today after at least 13 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the assault on the sprawling campus on Kabul's outskirts, a government spokesman said.
	The attack underscored how despite efforts by the Afghan authorities to improve security, militants in this country are still able to stage large-scale and complex attacks, including in the country's capital, Kabul.
	The dead included seven students and one teacher, according to Afghan authorities. Three police officers and two security guards were also killed, the interior ministry said.
	No group has yet claimed responsibility for the assault but suspicions are pointing to the Taliban. The group's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, would only tell the media that the Taliban are "investigating."
	President Ashraf Ghani laid the blame on neighboring Pakistan, accusing it of supporting the Taliban in sanctuaries across the border, and saying the ...

Attack on American University in Afghanistan leaves 13 dead

British police say five men have drowned off a beach in southern England that had no lifeguard. Authorities are trying to piece together what happened to the group who traveled together from London to Camber Sands beach on Wednesday.
	Chief Superintendent Di Roskilly says this "has been an incredibly tragic incident." Authorities say that rip-tides take place off the beach and that swimmers can get into trouble easily if they are not familiar with the sea and the dangers it can pose.
	Last month, 19-year-old Brazilian Gustavo Silva Da Cruz died after getting into difficulty while swimming at Camber Sands, known for its sand dunes. The beach is around 80 miles southeast of London.
	A dozen people have died in water-related accidents off British coastlines in recent days.

5 men drown off British beach without lifeguard

South African anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has admitted himself to a Cape Town hospital for treatment of a recurring infection, according to his family foundation.
	The 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner is expected to remain in the hospital for a week or two, said the statement issued by the foundation today.
	Tutu underwent similar treatment last year, when he was hospitalised several times.
	Updated information will be released when it is available, said the archbishop's daughter, Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe.
	Tutu became the first black archbishop of Cape Town where he was an outspoken opponent of South Africa's apartheid regime, which enforced a harsh system of racial discrimination. Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
	Since the end of apartheid in 1994, Tutu has campaigned for human rights, to fight HIV/AIDS, racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia. He also chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that investigated atrocities ...

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu back in hospital

France's highest administrative authority is studying whether local bans on full-body burkini swimsuits are legal, amid growing concerns in the country and abroad about police forcing Muslim women to disrobe.
	Images of uniformed police appearing to require a woman to take off her tunic, and media accounts of similar incidents, have elicited shock and anger online this week.
	Some fear that burkini bans in several French towns are worsening religious tensions. The bans, based on a strict application of secularism policies, have exposed division within the government.
	Prime Minister Manuel Valls told BFM television today that burkinis represent "the enslavement of women" and reiterated his support for mayors who have banned them.
	But Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, a feminist with North African roots, said that while she doesn't like the burkini swimsuit, bans of the garment are politically driven and unleashing racist sentiment.
	"My dream of society is a society where ...

French burkini bans face legal challenge as tension mounts

Russian President Vladimir Putin has attacked the ban on his country from the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics as immoral and inhumane.
     Russia was suspended on August 7 over what International Paralympic Committee president Philip Craven called a "medals over morals" culture with evidence of state-sponsored doping.
     The ban was confirmed Tuesday when the Court of Arbitration of Sport rejected a Russian appeal.
     Speaking to Olympic athletes at the Kremlin on Thursday, Putin says the "decision to disqualify our Paralympians is outside the bounds of law, morality and humanity."
     Special competitions will be organised in Russia for banned Paralympic athletes with winners getting the same prizes they would have had from success in Rio.
     The Russian government awards cash prizes to Olympic and Paralympic medalists.
     The Paralympics start September 7.

Putin calls ban on Russia's Paralympic team inhumane

North Korea marked its "Military First" holiday today with mass dancing, outdoor concerts and boasts of a successful and potentially game-changing submarine-launched ballistic missile test it hopes will serve as a warning to Washington and Seoul to stop holding joint military exercises Pyongyang sees as a dress rehearsal for invasion.
	Television news broadcasts and the front pages of morning newspapers Thursday showed images of the launch, conducted in the early hours the day before. The test sent a "Pukguksong" missile soaring from a submerged position off the North's port city of Sinpo.
	It flew an estimated 500 kilometers toward the seas around Japan, the longest distance it has yet achieved in a submarine launch.
	Kim was shown smiling and hugging officials after watching the test from an observation deck. He was quoted by state media as calling it the "success of all successes," though it brought immediate condemnation from the US and the North's neighbors.
	Launching long-range 

N Korea missile test adds to 'Military First' celebration

A brazen, hours-long militant attack on the American University of Afghanistan ended early today after at least 12 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the assault on the sprawling campus on Kabul's outskirts, a government spokesman said.
	The attack underscored how despite efforts by the Afghan authorities to improve security, militants in this country are still able to stage large-scale attacks, including in the country's capital, Kabul.
	The dead included seven students, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi. Three police officers and two security guards were also killed, the ministry said.
	No group has yet claimed responsibility for the assault but suspicion is likely to fall on the Taliban. The group's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, would only tell the media that the Taliban are "investigating."
	"Most of the dead were killed by gunshots near the windows of their classrooms," Sediqqi said. The ministry statement said that 36 people were wounded, ...

Attack on American University in Afghanistan leaves 12 dead

South Korea said today that surviving South Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan's military in World War II will be eligible to receive around 100 million won (about USD 90,000) each from a foundation that will be funded by the Japanese government.
	Seoul's Foreign Ministry said that the families of deceased victims will be able to receive about 20 million won (USD 18,000), and added it expects the Japanese government to soon transfer a promised 1 billion yen (USD 9.9 million) to a foundation formally launched in Seoul last month.
	South Korea and Japan agreed to set up the foundation in December as they settled a decades-long dispute over South Korean sex slave victims. Seoul then said there were 46 surviving South Korean victims and 196 victims who had died.
	The opening of the foundation's office in Seoul was met by protests from activists and students who criticised the December agreement, which remains controversial in South Korea where many believe the Seoul 

Surviving sexual slavery victims will receive $90,000: Seoul

A Filipino fisherman in western Palawan island has found possibly the world's biggest pearl, which he had hidden under a bed for more than 10 years as a lucky charm, a tourism official said today.
	Aileen Amurao, Puerto Princesa city's tourism officer and the fisherman's relative, said Thursday the man gave her the 34-kilogram pearl that's 2.2 feet long and 1 foot wide last month for safekeeping because he was moving to a new place.
	Amurao said the pearl was sitting on a bench in her home for weeks until she found time to check the internet, and she was shocked to learn that it could be the world's biggest.
	The fisherman, his father and brothers found the irregular-shaped pearl inside a giant clam that stuck to their boat's anchor when they sought refuge from a squall on a reef, Amurao said.
	The family hid the pearl in a bag under a bed, rubbing it with their hands before going out to sea in the belief it would bring them luck, she said.
	The fisherman did not want to be ...

Filipino fishermen find possibly world's biggest pearl

To stop wild elephants rampaging through their crops, farmers in Thailand put up electric fences, burst firecrackers and even switched their crop from pineapples to pumpkins, which the pachyderms don't relish much.
	Nothing worked, so the villagers decided on Plan Bee.
	In a pilot scheme run by the Thai Department of National Parks, farmers are deploying bees as a new line of defense, exploiting elephants' documented fear of bee stings.
	The idea to play on the phobia came out of Oxford University research and has been used successfully for several years in Africa. It's now gaining a toehold in Asia.
	The problem is quite severe in the eastern province of Chanthaburi, which has thick forests near farming communities that grow rice, cassava, pineapple and rubber.
	"Starting two years ago, elephants have come and destroyed farmers' crops almost every day," said Prasit Sae-Lee, the head of the local administration.
	"Elephants travel in a herd, a big herd, razing everything to the ground 

Thai farmers launch sting operation to stop elephant raids

The UN Security Council has agreed at an emergency meeting to consider issuing a statement on the latest North Korean missile launch.
	Malaysia's UN Ambassador Ramlan Bin Ibrahim, the current council president, told reporters yesterday after the closed meeting that "there was a general sense of condemnation by most members of the council."
	He said the United States is drafting the text of a press statement "and we will have a look at it."
	After North Korea's previous missile test, the US also proposed a press statement, but diplomats said China insisted on language linking it to US plans to place a high-tech missile defense system in South Korea. So the US dropped the statement, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were private.
	The Security Council in March imposed the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades, reflecting growing anger at Pyongyang's latest nuclear test and rocket launch in defiance of a ban on all nuclear-related ...

UN to consider statement on North Korea missile launch

An attack on the American University of Afghanistan has ended, a senior police officer said today, after at least seven people were killed and more than 30 were wounded.
	Kabul police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said the dead included one guard, and that about 700 students had been rescued.
	Rahami said one foreign teacher had been wounded.
	There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack on the university on the edge of Kabul. It was established in 2006 to offer liberal arts courses modeled on the US system, and has more than 1,000 students currently enrolled.
	Police spokesman Sediq Sediqqi earlier said was still not clear if there were one or two attackers.
	Hedayatullah Stanikzai, an official with the Ministry of Public Health, said a guard employed by the university had been killed and that the wounded included a foreign teacher. University authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.
	Dejan Panic, the program director at Kabul's Emergency Hospital, ...

Attack on American University in Afghanistan leaves 7 dead

Canada's national police force recently permitted its women officers to wear the hijab.
	The Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police recently approved the change in policy, allowing Muslim women to wear the garment, a veil that covers the head and chest, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale's spokesman said yesterday.
	Scott Bardsley said it is intended to better reflect the diversity of Canada and to encourage more Muslim women to consider a career with the force.
	The Mounties faced a public backlash more than 25 years ago when a Sikh man took the government to court and won the right to wear his traditional turban instead of the usual Mountie headgear. Canadians have long since accepted the change.
	Bardsley noted police services in the cities of Toronto and Edmonton and those across the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway, as well as some US states, have adopted similar policies.
	Julie Gagnon, a spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the organisation ...

Canadian Mounties allow officers to wear hijab

Militants attacked the American University of Afghanistan today, killing at least one person and wounding another 18, officials said, adding that security forces were still combing the campus in search of attackers.
	AP photographer Massoud Hossaini was in a classroom with 15 students when he heard an explosion on the southern flank of the campus.
	"I went to the window to see what was going on, and I saw a person in normal clothes outside. He shot at me and shattered the glass," Hossaini said, adding that he fell on the glass and cut his hands.
	The students then barricaded themselves into the classroom, pushing chairs and desks against the door, and staying on the floor. Hossaini said at least two grenades were thrown into the classroom, wounding several of his classmates.
	Hossaini and about nine students later managed to escape from the campus through an emergency gate.
	"As we were running I saw someone lying on the ground face down, they looked like they had been shot in the ...

Militants attack American University in Afghanistan, 1 dead

A black teenager who was shown on video getting thrown down by a white police officer in Iowa received thousands of dollars to keep quiet about a settlement he received, public records show.
	After resolving his federal lawsuit for  USD 95,000, the city of Waterloo negotiated an extra  USD 5,000 payment to Malcolm Anderson last month in exchange for guarantees that the 19-year-old and his attorney would not have any press conferences, make any disclosures to civil rights groups or ever mention the deal on social media.
	The Associated Press obtained the confidentiality agreement from the city under the Iowa open records law yesterday.
	Critics say it may be illegal for an Iowa government agency to demand confidentiality and goes against the public interest.
	"The people of Waterloo should be troubled that the city is paying USD 5,000 to Malcolm Anderson just to allow the government to try to remain silent about the police officer's mistreatment of him," said Randy Evans, director of ..

Black teen pushed down by Iowa officer got money for secrecy

The US says it paid USD 1.3 billion to Iran in January from a little-known fund for resolving international disputes, two days after allowing a planeload of cash to fly to Tehran.
	State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau says the US can't say more about the January 19 payments because of diplomatic sensitivities. They involved 13 separate payments of USD 99,999,999.99 and a final payment of about USD 10 million.
	The money settles a 1970s payment by Iran for US military equipment that was never delivered upon because of the 1979 revolution.
	On January 17, the administration paid the account's USD 400 million principal in pallets of cash.
	The deal has faced scrutiny since the administration acknowledged using the money as leverage to ensure the release of four American prisoners. Republicans call it "ransom.

2 days after cash delivery, US paid USD 1.3 billion to Iran

On a seaside field south of Shanghai, workers are constructing a nuclear reactor that is the flagship for Beijing's ambition to compete with the United States, France and Russia as an exporter of atomic power technology.
	The Hualong One, developed by two state-owned companies, is one multibillion-dollar facet of the Communist Party's aspirations to transform China into a creator of profitable technology from mobile phones to genetics.
	In the case of nuclear reactors, industry experts say China is underestimating how tough it will be for its novice exporters to compete with the foreign companies that helped create its industry, given the political hurdles, safety concerns and uncertain global demand following Japan's Fukushima disaster.
	China's government-run nuclear industry is based on foreign technology but has spent two decades developing its own with help from Westinghouse Electric Co., France's Areva and EDF and other partners. A separate export initiative is based on an ...

China sets sights on new global export: nuclear energy

The tough-talking Philippine president said today he will walk the extra mile for peace but warned China "it will be bloody" if the militarily superior Asian neighbor infringes on his country's territory.
	President Rodrigo Duterte issued the warning in comments on his country's territorial disputes with China in a speech before troops at an army camp east of Manila. He has been seeking talks with China on the long-unresolved conflict. Duterte said China has been conciliatory and he did not want any fight.
	"We do not want a quarrel," he said. "I would walk the extra mile to ask for peace for everybody."
	He expressed fears, however, about what will happen if the peaceful efforts fail, saying Filipino troops are ready to defend their country's sovereignty despite its weak military.
	"I guarantee to (China), if you enter here, it will be bloody," he said. "And we will not give it to them easily. It will be the bones of our soldiers, you can include mine."
	An international arbitration .

Duterte:'It will be bloody' if Philippine territory breached

Tigers use a grunt-like snort called chuffing as a greeting, short roars for intimidation and long roars to find mates.
	Researchers are now trying to use those and other sounds tigers make to help protect and boost their population in the wild.
	The effort, called The Prusten Project, is the idea of Courtney Dunn, who currently works at the Dallas World Aquarium as a senior mammal keeper and has a master's degree in biology. Prusten is another word for chuffing.
	"What we have discovered with our research is that tiger voices can be used like a fingerprint for individuals, like a vocal fingerprint as unique as you and I," Dunn said.
	The first part of the project involves using digital devices to record Bengal, Malayan, Sumatran, and Amur tigers at zoos across the nation. Ten zoos have already recorded tigers with at least another 10 planning to do so.
	Project officials are using those recordings to build a computer program to help identify specific tigers and determine more ...

Recordings of tiger sounds aim to help save wild population

Saudi Arabia says it has thwarted a terrorist attack by a Pakistani resident who was planning to bomb a mosque during sunset prayers in the predominantly Shiite eastern governorate of Qatif.
	An Interior Ministry statement released today says police questioned the man the day before and discovered he was carrying a bomb inside a sports bag. The statement says police fired on the suspect during the encounter and that he died while being transported to the hospital, without providing further details.
	In July, Saudi Arabia identified a Pakistani man as being behind a suicide bombing outside the US Consulate in the western city of Jiddah. Police later arrested 12 Pakistanis in connection with that attack and two others that took place in Qatif and Medina.

AP

AP

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