One of seven men awaiting trial in the state of Minnesota on charges of plotting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group pleaded guilty today.
	Hanad Mustafe Musse, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Other counts against him will be dismissed.
	"I have committed a terrorist act and I'm guilty of it, your honor," Musse told the judge. Musse faces a maximum of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced by US District Judge Michael Davis. A sentencing date has not been set.
	Prosecutors allege Musse and some of his co-defendants took a bus to New York City last November and tried to board flights overseas, with plans to go to Syria. They were part of a larger group that conspired to join the terrorist group.
	Musse admitted in court that he learned about the Islamic State group through its online propaganda. He said he viewed the group's members as freedom fighters who are saving the oppressed people of ..

Man pleads guilty in US Islamic State case

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Iraqi military and security officials say Islamic State suicide bombings and clashes between the extremist group and Iraqi troops have killed 13 soldiers in western Anbar province.
	The officials say today's attacks involved at least two suicide bombers that targeted a military outpost in the volatile province, which fell to the IS group during the Islamic State's blitz last year.
	They said the outpost housed a joint contingent of Iraqi soldiers, policemen and allied Sunni militiamen. Another 13 troops were wounded in the attacks, the latest to hit beleaguered Iraqi forces trying to claw back territory from the IS in the region.
	The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Islamic State suicide bombings kill 13 Iraqi troops

Secretary of State John Kerry says the US is committed to increasing the number of refugees it is willing to take in as United States allies in Europe struggle to accommodate tens of thousands of refugees from the Middle East and Africa.
	After closed-door congressional meetings Wednesday, Kerry said President Barack Obama has made it clear that the US wants to take a leadership role on humanitarian issues.
	"We are looking hard at the number that we can specifically manage with respect to the crisis in Syria and Europe," he said. "That's being vetted fully right now."
	Kerry met with members of the House and Senate Judiciary committees. He did not give any specifics on the number of additional refugees the US may be willing to take.
	The US has vowed to help its European allies with an escalating migrant crisis. Earlier this week, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, Kerry's predecessor, called for a "concerted global effort" to assist the refugees.
	White House .

Kerry: US committed to accepting more refugees to aid allies

Iran has granted permission for Russian planes to fly over its territory en route to Syria, a bypass needed after Bulgaria rejected Moscow's overflight request amid signs of a Russian military buildup in Syria.
	The Russian Embassy in Tehran has received Iranian permission for Syria-bound flights, its spokesman Maxim Suslov said today, according to the Interfax news agency.
	After Bulgaria rejected Moscow's overflight request for September 1-24, a path via Iran and Iraq appears to be the only one left as Russia apparently wants to avoid flying over Turkey, which once grounded a Syria-bound Russian plane with military cargo.
	The controversy over the Russian flights comes amid signs of increased Russian military presence in Syria. Moscow, which has backed Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the nation's four-and-a-half-year civil war, said its military experts are in Syria to train its military to use weapons supplied by Russia.
	Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria ...

Russia gets Iran's clearance for Syria-bound flights

Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan is running for FIFA president, saying Wednesday he will fight "deep-seated corruption and political deal-making" and make soccer's scandal-scarred governing body more transparent.
	The prince spoke before a select crowd of about 300 young Jordanians, including school-age soccer teams, with a Roman amphitheater serving as a backdrop. After making the initial announcement in Arabic, the 39-year-old royal laid out his agenda in English.
	He said if elected, he would shift some decision-making powers from FIFA headquarters in Zurich to national football associations.
	He promised to invest more in soccer development, make sure each member association has a dedicated national stadium in the next four years, do more for women's soccer and tackle the "plague of match-fixing."
	The prince ran in the previous FIFA election in May, denying long-time incumbent Sepp Blatter a majority in the first round of voting. He stepped aside before the second round.
	Four 

Prince Ali of Jordan announces bid for FIFA president

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney attended a hearing Wednesday to appeal a 13-year jail sentence given to the Maldives' former president and met with the attorney general to discuss the case.
	Clooney is part of a three-member international legal team trying to secure Mohamed Nasheed's release.
	There was no decision after today's preliminary hearing, and no details were given of Clooney's meeting with Attorney General Mohamed Anil.
	Nasheed was sentenced to jail in March after a lower court found him guilty of terrorism for ordering the arrest of a senior judge when he was president in 2012. The court said the arrest by the military was akin to abduction, a crime under the terrorism law.
	Nasheed's sentencing sparked nightly protests and drew widespread international condemnation that his trial was flawed.
	The government later began negotiations with Nasheed's party and transferred him to house arrest, raising hopes of a pardon.
	The talks broke down after authorities decided to ...

Lawyer Clooney attends ex-Maldives leader's appeal hearing

Israel has reopened its embassy in Cairo, four years after an Egyptian mob ransacked the site where the mission was previously located.
	In a statement, Israel's Foreign Ministry quoted director Dore Gold as saying at today's opening ceremony that Israel and Egypt "are working together for stability and prosperity" in the region.
	It says the Israeli flag was raised and the national anthems of both countries were played during the ceremony at the new location of the embassy.
	Israeli diplomats and their families left Cairo in 2011, after rioters stormed the embassy amid angry protests over the deaths of five Egyptian policemen in Sinai, killed by Israeli forces chasing Gaza militants who had carried out a deadly attack.
	Egypt and Israel have maintained cordial relations since the 1979 peace treaty.

Israeli Embassy reopens in Cairo, 4 years after attack

After a five-day stint in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Kim Davis will return to work as soon as Friday to face another day of reckoning.
	The county clerk was locked up last Thursday for the boldest act of resistance by a public official yet to the US Supreme Court ruling in June that effectively legalized same-sex marriage across the nation. Citing "God's authority" and her belief that gay marriage is a sin, Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses.
	The apostolic Christian, now a symbol of strong religious conviction to thousands across the globe, would not say whether she would allow licenses to continue to be issued or try to block them once again, defying a federal court order that could send her back to jail.
	Davis walked out of the Carter County Detention Center's front door yesterday, arm-in-arm with her lawyer and with Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee as thousands of supporters cheered and waved white crosses backed by a 

Clerk in US gay-marriage fight back to work soon

Lockheed Martin is eliminating about 500 jobs from its Information Systems & Global Solutions segment, as the defence contractor adjusts to changing government priorities and tries to sharpen its competitiveness.
	The aerospace and defense company employs about 112,000 people globally, so the cuts amount to less than 1 per cent of its total workforce.
	The Bethesda, Maryland, company says the reductions will include voluntary and involuntary layoffs and will be completed by mid-November.
	Lockheed also said in July it would review options for its government information technology and technical services business, mainly in Information Systems & Global Solutions.
	The layoff announcement comes more than a month after Lockheed Martin Corp also said it will spend USD 9 billion to buy Black Hawk helicopter maker Sikorsky Aircraft.
	Its shares edged up in morning trading.

Lockheed Martin to cut 500 information systems jobs

China's economic muscle remains a more serious concern for Americans than security threats posed by cyberattacks and the Asian nation's growing military, according to a survey released today.
	The survey by the Pew Research Centre comes ahead of a high-profile US state visit this month by China's President Xi Jinping.
	Differences between the world powers have sharpened over hacking allegations and China's increasing assertiveness in making territorial claims in the South China Sea.
	The poll finds that 54 per cent of Americans have an unfavorable view of China, and that negative views run much higher among Republicans than Democrats.
	But overall, eight out of 10 Americans see serious problems with China on key economic, security and social issues.
	Concern is most intense over the USD 1.27 trillion in US debt held by China and the loss of US jobs to China. Next come cyberattacks, China's policies on human rights, the US trade deficit with China, China's impact on the global ...

Poll: Americans concerned most over China's economic power

Former senior CIA officials instrumental in extracting information from al-Qaeda prisoners through what most Americans consider to have been torture have published a book defending their conduct.
	The book, titled "Rebuttal," takes aim at the Senate report released last year that laid bare some gruesome details of the once-secret CIA program.
	Published by the US Naval Institute, "Rebuttal" features essays from three former CIA directors and other retired senior officials. They argue that the Senate report significantly distorted reality.
	Sen Dianne Feinstein, the Democrat who spearheaded the effort, says the book doesn't refute the Senate report. Polls show that most Americans believe the CIA used torture, but also that majorities believe it was justified.

Former CIA leaders release book defending brutal tactics

An adviser to the Vatican's high court has warned that Pope Francis' new reform of the church's marriage annulment process raises serious legal questions and could lead to "crises of conscience" for even happily-married Catholics.
	Canon lawyer Edward Peters, a consultant to the Apostolic Signatura, says the most troubling aspect of the reform concerns the fast-track annulment process, decided by a bishop and aimed at speeding up what has been a lengthy and complicated procedure to declare a marriage null.
	In a blog post today, Peters said the reasons listed in the Vatican's new norms could lead even happily-married couples to wonder if their marriages are invalid: If the woman had an abortion or if a spouse concealed children from a prior relationship, or a past incarceration.
	"Many, many married couples have experienced one or more events in their lives," he wrote. "Unfortunately ... People with any of these factors in their lives are going to wonder, logically and sincerely, ...

Vatican legal adviser questions pope's annulment reform

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has accused the West of creating "strange hysteria" over Russian activities in Syria, saying that Moscow has been openly supplying weapons and sending military specialists to Syria for a long time.
	The US has expressed concern about signs of a Russian military build-up in Syria, including possible preparations for sending in troops.
	Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zhakarova told journalists today that "Russia has never made a secret of its military-technical cooperation with Syria."
	And she could "confirm and repeat once again that Russian military specialists are in Syria to help them master the weapons being supplied."
	President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials also have confirmed in recent days that Russia has military experts in Syria to train its military on how to use Russian-supplied weapons.

Russia says 'no secret' it has military specialists in Syria

A German court issued an injunction today ordering a halt to a strike by pilots at Lufthansa, Germany's biggest airline, that caused the cancellation of 1,000 flights.
	Lufthansa welcomed the ruling by the state labor court in Frankfurt but said that a special, reduced timetable it had drawn up for the day would remain in place.
	It said that largely normal services would be resumed on Thursday.
	The pilots' union, Vereinigung Cockpit, has been calling regular short-term strikes in the long-running labor dispute, which comes as Lufthansa restructures to meet increasing competition from Gulf airlines.
	The pilots want the airline to keep making transition payments for those seeking early retirement.
	The court found that the union's aims went beyond that demand, to exerting more influence on Lufthansa's new low-cost operation, making the strike illegal, news agency dpa reported.
	Vereinigung Cockpit began its strike on long-haul flights Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of 90 flights, .

German court rules against Lufthansa pilot strike

The French government says it will close the nation's oldest nuclear plant no later than 2018 as part of a plan to reduce dependency on nuclear power.
	Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said today the government will issue a decree that will start process of closing the nuclear plant of Fessenheim, in east of France, at the beginning of 2016. At that point, Le Foll says "the process will be irreversible."
	Close to Germany's border, Fessenheim has become a symbol for anti-nuclear campaigners who say it is unsafe.
	France passed a law in July to reduce the share of nuclear power to 50 per cent by 2025 from the current 75 per cent, which is greater than in any other nation.

France vows to close its oldest nuclear plant by 2018

Japanese stocks posted their biggest gain in nearly seven years today, leading other world indexes higher, as Asian officials sought to counter pessimism about prospects for markets and economic growth.
	Japan's Nikkei 225 index vaulted 7.7 per cent to 18,770.51, its biggest one-day rise since October 2008, when markets were volatile during the global financial crisis, and its 10th biggest gain since 1949. Other major Asian markets rose between 2 and 4 per cent.
	The strong gains come after three months of weakness in stock markets that was partly sparked by the dramatic sell-off in Chinese shares beginning in early June.
	Economic policy measures in China and Japan were positives for investors today but there were also technical factors at work in the rebound, analysts said.
	"Buoyant sentiments were in full display across Asia as regional bourses flashed green," said Bernard Aw, market strategist at IG in Singapore. "Risk is back in vogue and the European traders clearly embrace it .

Japan leads world stocks higher with 7.7 per cent surge

Egypt's state news agency says authorities have closed four ports in the Suez governorate because of poor visibility due to a sandstorm gripping the Middle East.
	Egypt's state news agency MENA quotes the General Authority for Red Sea Ports as saying visibility in the area was reduced to less than 1,500 metres this morning.
	MENA reports that the ports specialise in transporting containers, goods, oils, petroleum products and passengers.
	The unseasonal sandstorm has swept across the Mideast, blanketing Beirut, Cairo and Damascus and causing the deaths of at least five people and sending hundreds of others to hospitals with breathing problems.

Egypt closes 4 ports in Suez province due to sandstorm

Officials say a roadside bomb has killed two Afghan soldiers and wounded a civilian near the capital, Kabul, as a suspected NATO drone strike has killed militants elsewhere in the country.
	The roadside bombing happened today in Kabul province's Kalakan district. Local official Rahmat Khan Faqirzada said the blast, likely from a remote-controlled bomb, also wounded a civilian.
	Faqirzada says an investigation is underway to determine who planted the bomb. The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the blast in a text message to journalists.
	Meanwhile in Kunar province, governor's spokesman Muslim Abdul Ghani says a suspected NATO drone strike yesterday killed a militant commander and one of his fighters. NATO had no immediate comment on the strike.

Roadside bombing in Afghanistan kills 2 Afghan soldiers

An engine on a British Airways jet caught fire while the plane was preparing to take off from Las Vegas, forcing passengers to escape on emergency slides.
	Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the plane's left engine caught fire yesterday afternoon. Billowing black smoke and orange flames could be seen pouring from the plane's wings before about 50 firefighters quickly doused the aircraft.
	McCarran International Airport spokesman Chris Jones said the 159 passengers and 13 crew members on the British Airways flight had gotten off the plane.
	The airport reported via its official Twitter account that two passengers were taken to a hospital for minor injuries. The airport reported one runway was shut down, but operations continued at its other three runways.
	Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Jon Klassen said the cause of the fire isn't clear yet. He says it didn't appear to breach the cabin.
	The Boeing 777-200 was bound for Gatwick Airport near London.

British Airways flight catches fire on Las Vegas runway

Former Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina has been ordered jailed on charges of fraud, conspiracy and bribery in connection with a customs corruption scandal that took down much of his government and forced him to resign.
	Judge Miguel Angel Galvez yesterday ordered the former president held during the investigation into whether he should stand trial.
	Galvez determined that there was enough evidence to link him to the fraud ring, known as "La Linea," or "The Line," in which businesspeople paid bribes to avoid import duties through Guatemala's customs agency.
	The scheme, uncovered last year by prosecutors and a U.N. commission known as CICIG, which is investigating criminal networks in the country, is believed to have defrauded the state of millions.
	Perez Molina's former vice president, Roxana Baldetti, has already been jailed and faces charges.
	It was another blow against entrenched corruption in the small Central American country and another first for Perez Molina, who was ..

Judge orders ex-Guatemalan president jailed on fraud charge

Bankrate Inc, an online publisher of widely-read consumer finance data, has agreed to pay a $15 million fine to settle federal regulators' charges of manipulating its financial results to meet analysts' expectations.
	The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the settlement of civil charges of accounting fraud with Bankrate and a former vice president of finance.
	Bankrate, based in North Palm Beach, Florida, neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing. It has agreed to refrain from future violations of the securities laws.
	The former vice president, Hyunjin Lerner, agreed to resolve allegations that he and two other Bankrate executives ran a scheme to inflate revenues and omit some expenses from reports to meet analysts' estimates for the second quarter of 2012.
	Lerner is paying a USD 150,000 fine and making restitution of USD 30,045 that he allegedly gained from selling Bankrate stock after the company announced the false results and the share price rose from USD 15.95 to .

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