Three Canadians, a Pakistani and a Nigerian were among those killed in a fire that engulfed parts of a residential compound in the kingdom's oil-rich east, a Saudi official said.
	The blaze began early yesterday in a sprawling, multistory housing complex in the city of Khobar that accommodates workers for state oil giant Saudi Aramco.
	Col Ali bin Saad al-Qahtani, a civil defence spokesman for the kingdom's Eastern Province, provided the update in comments carried by the official Saudi Press Agency early today.
	He said a total of 10 people died and 259 were injured in the blaze. The civil defence directorate previously said 11 people were killed.
	Al-Qahtani did not provide the nationalities of the other five people killed.
	Of those injured, 179 have left the hospital after receiving treatment.
	A preliminary investigation suggests a short circuit in an electrical transformer in the building's basement sparked the blaze, which quickly spread through 130 cars parked in the basement, .

Canadians, Pakistani and Nigerian among dead in Saudi fire

PTI Automatic

The Hotel Okura, a favored Tokyo lodging for US presidents, movie stars and other celebrities, is closing the doors of its landmark half-century-old main building today to make way for a pair of glass towers ahead of the 2020 Olympics.
	The redo raised an outcry from those who love the Okura's unique melange of modernism and traditional Japanese aesthetics. But social media campaigns, a petition and other efforts to "Save the Okura" just underscored the futility of resisting Tokyo's flood-tide of pre-Olympics urban renewal.
	Other major landmarks, such as the decades-old fish market in Tsukiji and the National Stadium also are being replaced over the protests of many who are sad to see them go.
	Andrew Lindsay, a Deutsche Bank executive who took part in a "Save the Okura" Facebook campaign, spent hours exploring the hotel during his first visit to Tokyo in the 1990s.
	During his last visit, he sat in the lobby, with its round, red lacquer tables and chairs arrayed like plum blossoms, .

Japan bids adieu to landmark that hosted presidents, stars

The Afghan Taliban published a biography of their new leader today as hundreds of insurgents met to resolve a dispute over his appointment following the death of figurehead Mullah Mohammad Omar.
	The 5,000-word biography, emailed to journalists in five languages, offers the story of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who now leads the Taliban in its fight against the Afghan government.
	It describes Mansoor, born in 1968, as a tireless holy warrior, good listener, neat dresser and ardent protector of civilians who was appointed as the insurgents' leader.
	Mansoor "never nominated himself for leadership, rather he was selected as the only candidate ... By members of the leading council of the Islamic Emirate and religious scholars," the biography says, using the name of the former Taliban government.
	Mansoor was named as the Taliban's leader last month after the Afghan government revealed that Mullah Omar died in 2013. But family of Mullah Omar objected, saying the vote to elect Mansoor was not ..

Afghan Taliban offer leader's biography amid power struggle

People recently punished in China's campaign against online rumors include those who circulated an inflated death toll in the Tianjin blasts and who alleged a man committed suicide because of the country's stock market woes, state media reported today.
	The official Xinhua News Agency said 197 people have been punished in a special campaign, citing the Public Security Ministry, but did not say over what period.
	Authorities over the past two years have waged a campaign to purge rumormongering from the Chinese Internet, saying that unethical and unbecoming behavior online needs to be wiped out. Critics say the campaign also is aimed at suppressing criticism of the ruling Communist Party.
	Xinhua cited the ministry as saying that 165 online accounts were closed in the campaign's latest phase.
	Among the rumors circulated were that a "man jumped to his death in Beijing due to the stock market slump," and that "at least 1,300 people were killed in the Tianjin blasts."
	The death toll in ..

China says 197 punished in crackdown on online rumors

The governor of Borno in northeast Nigeria says Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has killed 68 villagers in a remote area of his state.
	Kashim Shettima yesterday confirmed the attack without providing more details, during a meeting with the parents of the 219 girls abducted from a school in the region by the extremists last year. Thursday marked 500 days of captivity of the girls from a school in Chibok.
	Fleeing residents of Baanu village say they were attacked by the Boko Haram on Friday night.
	"We returned back to the village in the morning after spending the night in the bush, we saw corpses in the streets of the village," said farmer Mustapha Alibe. Boko Haram's six-year-old uprising has killed nearly 20,000 people.

Governor: Boko Haram kills 68 in remote part of Borno State

Rescue teams have worked to reopen roads to remote communities in Dominica after Tropical Storm Erika caused flooding and mudslides that killed at least 20 people and left more than 50 missing on the Caribbean island.
	"Access by road to these communities is impossible," Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said. These towns "are cut off from the rest of the country."
	In a national address late on Saturday, Skerrit said he was declaring disaster status for nine local areas.
	Yesterday, the government ordered the evacuation of about 1,000 inhabitants from the small town of Petite-Savanne, fearing new landslides.
	Erika whipped the island for more than five hours on Wednesday, bringing strong winds and intense rain that provoked flooding and landslides. Hundreds of homes were destroyed.
	Crews were using heavy equipment sent by the governments of Venezuela, Martinique and Guadalupe. Hundreds of men worked Sunday to reopen the country's main airport, where mud and debris impeded operations, 

Dominica declares disaster status after storm leaves 20 dead

Nelson Shanks, a painter renowned for his portraits of prominent figures ranging from presidents to a pope to royalty, has died. He was 77.
	Shanks died yesterday at his home in Andsalusia, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, according to Bill Wedo, spokesman for the Studio Incamminati art school that Shanks founded with his wife, Leona.
	Shanks painted well-known subjects such as Princess Diana, Pope John Paul II, presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, and a group portrait of the first four women to serve on the US Supreme Court. He was called "the most talented contemporary traditional portraitist" by D Dodge Thompson, chief of exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
	The artist and his Clinton portrait made waves earlier this year when he told the Philadelphia Daily News that he included a subtle reference to White House intern Monica Lewinsky in the work. He said a shadow beside Clinton is a literal reference to Lewinsky's infamous blue dress and a symbolic ...

Nelson Shanks, painter of presidents and royalty, dies at 77

The Big Island and Maui are under a tropical storm watch as a Category 4 hurricane approaches Hawaii.
	The current forecast has Hurricane Ignacio passing northeast of the Big Island today and north of Maui tomorrow. It's possible that the storm will still be at hurricane strength during that time, the Maui News reported.
	Stormy weather could hit the Big Island and Maui today, the Central Pacific Hurricane Centre reported.
	Hurricane Ignacio is 400 miles (640 kilometres) east of Hilo and has sustained winds of 130 mph (209 kph), said Anthony Reynes, a meteorologist with the Central Pacific Hurricane Centre.
	"Right now, the current track, we're not expecting the hurricane to make a direct hit on the Big Island," Reynes said. "Mainly the impacts are going to be very high surf and some strong wind gusts over the coastal waters."
	Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa and Hawaii Gov David Ige have signed emergency proclamations as the islands prepare for high winds, heavy rain and ocean ...

Hurricane Ignacio at peak strength, moves closer to Hawaii

Iran's official IRNA news agency says two people have been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of spying for the United States and Israel.
	IRNA quotes judicial spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi as saying Sunday that the two were sentenced by a Revolutionary Court, which handles national security cases. He did not provide the names of those sentenced.
	The lawyer for Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who was tried for espionage in a Revolutionary Court, said the case "has nothing to do with the case of my client." Leila Ahsan says the court has yet to issue its verdict on Rezaian. Rezaian was arrested in July 2014, and reportedly faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. His case has been widely criticized by rights groups.

Iran sentences 2 people to jail for spying for US, Israel

A small plane crashed at an air show in southern Austria today, fatally injuring the pilot, authorities said.
	The accident happened at the Hirt airfield, near the town of Friesach in the southern province of Carinthia.
	The pilot, a 50-year-old local man, made a steep ascent and then went into a quick descent before crashing, Friesach police chief Marianne Makoru told the Austria Press Agency.
	The air show was halted after the crash. About 500 spectators attended on Sunday, but Makoru said that "no other people were in danger.

Plane crashes at Austrian air show, fatally injuring pilot

Health officials in Sierra Leone say tests on the body of a 67-year-old woman who died recently have tested positive for Ebola.
	Dr Brima Kargbo, chief medical officer, today confirmed the positive test results from the woman from Kambia district in northern Sierra Leone.
	Last Monday, Sierra Leone's last known Ebola patient was released from a hospital, a milestone that allowed the West African nation to begin a 42-day countdown toward being declared free of Ebola transmission.
	Kargbo said authorities were still trying to determine whether the woman in Kambia died before or after that countdown began.
	The World Health Organisation says the worst Ebola outbreak in history has killed nearly 4,000 people in Sierra Leone out of more than 13,500 confirmed, probable and suspected cases.

Sierra Leone: Officials confirm new Ebola death

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi told voters Sunday to ignore intimidation and to cast their ballots without fear in the upcoming general election.
	The leader of the National League for Democracy toured a number of villages near the capital Naypyitaw despite a warning from the Union Election Committee the body that will oversee the poll that the official campaigning period for the Nov. 8 elections hasn't yet begun.
	But Suu Kyi said this wasn't campaigning; it was a voter education exercise.
	"Do not be scared to vote on election day, no matter if they threaten you." she said. "No one knows which box one you choose. And one thing: the more they threaten you, the more you should vote NLD."
	The election campaign will open on Sept. 8th with more than 90 parties contesting the seats.
	The NLD is widely expected to make large gains at the expense of the ruling party, and may even win a majority. But the constitution bars Suu Kyi from becoming president because she was married 

Suu Kyi tells voters to ignore intimidation in Nov. Election

A tiny, wireless pacemaker could offer some heart patients a surgery-free alternative to the traditional devices, a new study says.
	Some doctors, however, say there are lingering safety questions and warned patients not to rush to get the new technology.
	Unlike traditional pacemakers, which need a generator and wires and are implanted via surgery, the new pacemaker is a wireless tiny tube that can be attached to the right side of the heart using a catheter inserted through the leg.
	"This is another landmark in the development of pacemakers," said Christopher Granger of the American Heart Association, who was not part of the new study. Still, he said doctors need time to learn how to use any new technology to avoid potential problems.
	"I would tell patients to be careful of being one of the first to get this unless there's a compelling reason," he said.
	In the new research, doctors in Australia, Canada and the US implanted the mini-pacemaker into more than 500 people.
	After six ..

Study: Tiny, wireless pacemaker could be surgery-free option

Security officials say gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead the head of security in Yemen's port city of Aden.
	The officials say Col Abdelhakim al-Sanidi was killed today while driving on a busy street in al-Mansoura neighbourhood.
	Last week, high-ranking police officials in Aden said hundreds of al-Qaida militants and Islamic extremists moved into the port city, exploiting a vacuum left by pro-government forces pushing north to fight Shiite rebels and their allies.
	No group immediately claimed today's attack, but some officials say they suspect al-Qaida because hitting a moving target from a speeding motorcycle requires specialised training, and because the group has used motorcycles in previous assassinations.
	All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to brief reporters.

Gunmen kill head of security in Yemen's Aden

Hungarian police say they have detained a fifth man suspected of being involved in the deaths of 71 migrants found in a truck in neighbouring Austria.
	A national police statement said the Bulgarian national was arrested last evening. Police said today they will seek to have him held in custody on suspicion of human trafficking.
	Yesterday, a court in the central city of Kecskemet from where prosecutors say the truck departed placed four other suspects under preliminary arrest pending possible indictment.
	Those men, three Bulgarians and an Afghan, were arrested Thursday in southern Hungary. The truck with the dead migrants was found earlier that day parked along the Budapest-to-Vienna highway.
	Austrian experts are performing autopsies on the victims: 59 men, eight women and four children.

Hungary detains 5th suspect in truck deaths of 71 in Austria

A newspaper in Swaziland is reporting that one of the drivers involved in the crash that killed a reported 38 young women and girls has been arrested.
	The Times of Swaziland reported today that the man appeared in court yesterday was charged with negligent driving. He remains in police custody.
	The newspaper said the 46-year-old man is a driver employed by the government of Swaziland.
	The girls and young women were killed while on their way to join thousands of others at Swaziland's most famous traditional festival, the annual reed dance.
	A rights group, the Swaziland Solidarity Network, claims that the death toll has risen to 65. Swazi police dispute this, saying that only 13 people died.

Driver arrested, charged with negligence in Swaziland crash

Saudi civil defense authorities say one person has been killed and 30 were wounded when a fire broke out at a residential complex used by the state oil giant Saudi Aramco.
	Aramco said the fire started early today in the eastern city of Khobar. It says an investigation has begun into the cause of the blaze.
	The Interior Ministry's General Directorate of Civil Defense said the casualties involved victims of various nationalities, without elaborating. Like many companies in the Gulf, Aramco relies on migrant laborers to help bolster its workforce.
	Images posted by witnesses on social media showed thick smoke pouring from the large multistory complex as helicopters hovered overhead.
	Khobar was the site of a deadly 1996 truck bombing at a dormitory for US Air Force personnel.

Fire at Saudi oil company residential complex kills 1

Big crowds of protesters returned to the streets of Kuala Lumpur today to demand the resignation of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over a financial scandal, after the first day of the massive rally passed peacefully.
	The protesters camped overnight wearing yellow shirts of the Bersih movement the coalition for clean and fair elections even after authorities blocked the organizer's website and banned yellow attire and the group's logo in a bid to deter the rallies, which were also held in other Malaysian cities.
	Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has been spearheading calls for Najib's resignation, added momentum to the rally when he made a surprise brief appearance late yesterday with his wife to loud cheers from the crowd, and telling protesters to "carry on."
	Najib has been fighting for political survival after leaked documents in July showed he received some USD 700 million in his private accounts from entities linked to indebted state fund 1MDB. He later said the 

Huge Malaysia rally for Najib's resignation enters 2nd day

A woman who was stranded in the rugged Sierra Nevada for nine days while suffering from some broken bones survived by using a water filter to drink from a creek, authorities said.
	Miyuki Harwood, 62, was found yesterday in a remote area of the Sierra National Forest after she used a whistle to get the attention of a search and rescue team who were looking for her, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said at a news conference.
	Harwood was airlifted to a hospital to treat an unspecified injury sustained on August 20 when she got separated from a group of hikers near Horsehead Lake, about 160 kilometres northwest of Fresno.
	She was listed in stable condition, the sheriff said after meeting Harwood at her hospital bed.
	"Her voice was strong. She was extremely thankful that people were looking for her," Mims said.
	Harwood, of Folsom, California, was the focus of an intense search involving several law enforcement agencies after she got lost in the mountains.
	She broke some bones and .

Missing hiker found alive after 9 days lost in Sierra Nevada

Siddharth Jaganath wanted to return to India after earning his master's degree at Texas' Southern Methodist University. Instead, he built a new life in the US over a decade, becoming a manager at a communications technology company and starting a family in the Dallas suburb of Plano.
	"You start growing your roots and eventually end up staying here," the 37-year-old said.
	His path is an increasingly common one: Immigrants from China and India, many with student or work visas, have overtaken Mexicans as the largest groups coming into the US, according to US Census Bureau research released in May.
	The shift has been building for more than a decade and experts say it's bringing more highly skilled immigrants here. And some Republican presidential candidates have proposed a heavier focus on employment-based migration, which could accelerate traditionally slow changes to the country's ever-evolving face of immigration.
	Mexicans still dominate the overall composition of immigrants in the 

Immigration shift shows India, China outpacing Mexico

An international flight from Las Vegas to Frankfurt, Germany, made an emergency landing at Denver International Airport escorted by two F-16 fighter jets Friday night after what officials called a "disturbance on the plane."
	A pilot on the Condor Airlines Boeing 767 reported an in-flight emergency, and the fighter jets were sent as a precaution, said Air Force Capt. Ashleigh A. Peck, a spokeswoman for North American Aerospace Defense. The plane landed safely, and one person was taken off the plane.
	"All passengers are fine," airport spokesman Heath Montgomery said.
	The FBI told ABC News that the incident was a "misunderstanding," and nobody was arrested or taken into custody, but no other details were available.
	Carsten Stepanowicz (ste-PAN'-o-wits), a spokesman for the airline in Germany, said the pilot requested help because of an unruly passenger on board.
	"It was not possible to go on with the flight, so the pilot decided to land in Denver," he said. He said he could not ...

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