US forces have launched airstrikes on a district in southern Afghanistan seized by the Taliban the day before.
	Afghan army Brig. Gen. Mohammad Rasool Zaizai says NATO and Afghan warplanes struck the army and police headquarters in the Musa Qala district in Helmand province Thursday, likely killing fighters and civilians.
	He says it is not possible to confirm casualty figures because insurgents control the area.
	Col. Brian Tribus, a spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, says "US Forces conducted airstrikes in Musa Qala today against individuals threatening coalition and Afghan forces," without providing further details.
	Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef says 30 civilians and 10 fighters were killed, but the Taliban often provide unreliable figures. Taliban insurgents overran Musa Qala on Wednesday after a weeklong assault on Afghan security forces.

US strikes southern Afghan district seized by Taliban

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A suspected Taliban militant today blew himself up during a police raid in central Pakistan, killing his own wife and two children, police said.
	The counterterrorism raid on the house in the town of Pir Mahal triggered a shootout after someone inside began lobbing hand grenades, police official Khalid Rashid said.
	He said the raid was part of the investigation into the assassination of Punjab provincial home minister Shuja Khanzada, who was killed along with 17 others in an attack by two suicide bombers in his northwestern hometown earlier this month.
	Habibur Rehman, the militant who died today, was a Pakistani Taliban member, Rashid said. He said the militant initially used his wife as a human shield, but then set off the explosives when he was surrounded.
	He said police seized four suicide vests, assault rifles, hand grenades and a large quantity of explosives at the house.

Pakistan suicide bomber kills wife, kids during police raid

The Yemeni government is not negotiating with Shiite Houthi rebels who control the capital and much of the north, and demands that they lay down their arms, Foreign Minister Riad Yassin said today.
	"The Houthis and (former President Ali Abdullah) Saleh's militias must implement the UN resolution and surrender their weapons, and only then the dialogue and political process can begin, with the participation of all Yemeni parties," Yassin told reporters in Cairo after meeting with Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby.
	Referring to reports of meetings in the Gulf nation of Oman, Yassin described them as mere "consultations" between UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and the Houthis, aimed at convincing them to implement a UN resolution from April.
	That resolution requested that the Houthis withdraw from areas they seized and surrender weapons they took from military and state institutions.
	"That is the only solution that is on the table; there is nothing else," said Yassin, who .

Yemen says no talks with rebels until they lay down arms

A Thai court today issued an arrest warrant for an unnamed suspect in a riverside blast that occurred a day after the bombing of a shrine in central Bangkok which killed 20 people.
	Police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said the suspect appeared in a security video that shows a blurry image of an unidentified man in a blue shirt kicking a bag into the water near a busy pier on the night of August 17, soon after the explosion at the Erawan Shrine.
	An explosion took place near the spot about 18 hours later on August 18, but caused no casualties.
	The blast at the Erawan Shrine was unprecedented in the Thai capital, where smaller bombs have been employed in domestic political violence over the past decade, but not in an effort to cause large-scale casualties.
	Police have not determined a clear motive for the shrine bombing, which injured more than 120 people in addition to the 20 fatalities.
	Possible suspects include Muslim separatists from southern Thailand, parties seeking to avenge ..

Thai court issues warrant for suspect in second bomb blast

Iran is broadly complying with agreements on curtailing its nuclear programme, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported today in its first update since last month's deal between Tehran and world powers.
	It noted concern, however, with an Iranian military site where nuclear weapons work may have occurred more than a decade ago.
	The UN agency said Iran's current level of uranium enrichment, nuclear research and development and other activity is in line with its declarations.
	The 21-page report covers Iran's nuclear programme in the run-up to the landmark accord on July 14 and its first steps toward implementing that agreement. A copy of the document was obtained by The Associated Press.
	The agency noted that it received information from Iran about allegations of past nuclear weapons work on August 15.
	But it offered reservations about the military base of Parchin. Western intelligence agencies say Iran used the site for explosives tests and other experiments related to the ..

Agency reports Iran broadly complying with nuclear accords

A Spanish judge has ordered a Moroccan man to jail on provisional charges of coordinating a cell that recruited jihadi fighters from Spain and Morocco for the Islamic State group.
	National Court Judge Juan Pablo Gonzalez said in a statement today that he jailed Abdeladim Achriaa because there was a high risk he would flee the country.
	Achriaa, a long-time resident of Spain, was arrested in the central town of San Martin de la Vega. Moroccan police arrested 13 others in the joint operation Tuesday.
	Morocco and Spain said the network aimed to recruit IS fighters to go to Iraq and Syria, and also to carry out IS-type actions in Morocco and Spain.
	Judge Gonzalez said five of Achriaa's brothers-in-law had gone to fight in Syria.

Suspected jihadi recruiter jailed in Spain

As Hillary Clinton remains under fire after revelations that material deemed classified was sent through an unsecure home server she used as secretary of state for email, a review of records makes clear that the leakage of secrets is a State Department problem dating to the George W Bush administration, if not earlier.
	The matter has become an issue in Clinton's front-running campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. And the trend may have accelerated under Clinton as email use became more frequent.
	One example: during the deadly 2012 attack on US facilities in Benghazi, Libya, State Department officials in Washington were emailing one another with updates in real time. Embedded in those messages were nuggets of classified information, including an apparent reference to a CIA facility that was a closely guarded secret.
	When the emails were released last year, that and other information found to be classified were censored from public view.
	Clinton's use of a home server 

Secrets have long slipped into US State Department email

Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry says 15 more people have died after contracting the Middle East respiratory syndrome, known as MERS, in the last seven days amid a surge in contractions in the capital, Riyadh.
	The Health Ministry's most recent figures today show that 498 people have died in Saudi Arabia after contracting the virus since it was first identified in 2012, compared to 483 a week ago.
	The kingdom also registered 47 new cases in the past seven days, all but two in Riyadh. That brings the total number nationwide to 1,165, with 64 receiving treatment and 603 fully recovered.
	The MERS virus belongs to the family of viruses known as coronaviruses. MERS can cause symptoms such as fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.

Saudi records 15 MERS virus deaths in a week

Greece came one step closer today to an early election as the head of a breakaway left-wing party returned his mandate to form a government after failing to find willing coalition partners.
	Former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, who formed the new Popular Unity party last week after splitting from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' radical-left Syriza party, returned the mandate today after exhausting the three-day time limit.
	Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos will now either convene a meeting of all party leaders in a last-ditch bid to find consensus for a coalition government, or declare a caretaker government and announce the election date.
	He has indicated he might skip the party leader's meeting, which would mean an announcement by tonight and the election date being set for September 20.
	However, several opposition parties still want the all-party meeting. Lafazanis said not calling the meeting would be unconstitutional, and said the vote should not be held before ...

Greece moves closer to formal announcement of election date

A spokesman for rebels in South Sudan expressed doubt today that President Salva Kiir is committed to a peace deal he signed the previous day.
	There were no reports of fighting today.
	While rebel and opposition leader Riek Machar is happy that Kiir signed the compromise agreement, the long list of reservations cited by Kiir signals "a lack of commitment," said James Gatdet Dak, a spokesman for Machar.
	"(Machar) thinks these are unnecessary and he says these were discussed during the mediation ... So there is no need to bring them up again," Dak told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Nairobi, Kenya.
	The peace pact, designed with regional leaders mediating and backed by the international community, calls for a transitional government of national unity to be established within 90 days.
	Machar is expected to return to South Sudan's capital, Juba, as Kiir's deputy. Machar used to be the vice president until he and Kiir had a falling out and the conflict erupted in ...

South Sudan rebels urge president to respect pact

An Islamic State suicide bomber killed two army generals today as they led forces against IS positions in the turbulent Anbar province west of Baghdad, military officials said.
	They said the bomber drove his explosives-laden vehicle into the advancing troops north of Anbar's provincial capital, IS-held Ramadi, killing the two generals and three soldiers. A military spokesman said on state television that 10 other soldiers were wounded.
	The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
	A military statement read on state television identified the two generals as Maj Gen Abdul-Rahman Abu-Regheef, deputy chief of operations in Anbar, and Brig Gen Sefeen Abdul-Maguid, commander of the 10th Army Division.
	Government forces and allied Sunni and Shiite militiamen have been battling IS militants in Anbar for months but have made modest gains against the group that controls most of the vast province that stretches west of ...

2 Iraqi army generals killed in IS suicide bombing

China's key stock market index surged 5.3 per cent today, its biggest gain in eight weeks, as markets across Asia rose following Wall Street's rebound, giving investors some relief after gut-wrenching global losses.
	The Shanghai Composite Index, whose steep drop in recent days triggered worldwide selling, gained 5.3 per cent to close at 3,083.59 points, bouncing back from losses that wiped some 20 per cent off its value over the past week. It was the biggest one-day gain since a 5.5 per cent rise on June 30.
	Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2.9 per cent to 21,697.31 and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added 1.1 per cent to 18,574.44. Sydney's S&P ASX 200 advanced 1.2 per cent to 5,233.30 and Seoul's Kospi gained 0.7 per cent to 1,908.00. Markets in Singapore, Bangkok, New Zealand and Jakarta also rose.
	European markets also advanced in early trading. France's CAC-40 added 2.1 per cent to 4,597.36 and Germany's DAX gained 2.4 per cent to 10,240.92.
	The gains came after Wall ...

Chinese stock index jumps 5.3 per cent as Asian stocks rise

Australia will play two tests and three one-day internationals on its tour to New Zealand in February, sacrificing an additional test to revive the one-day international series for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.
     The tests will be played at Wellington's Basin Reserve from Feb. 12 to 16 and at Christchurch's Hagley Oval from Feb. 20 to 24.
     A third test was planned but New Zealand Cricket confirmed Thursday that a three-match one-day series will be played instead -- the first series for the Chapell-Hadlee Trophy since 2010. The matches will be played at Auckland on Feb. 3, Wellington on Feb. 6 and Hamilton on Feb. 8.
     Australia and New Zealand will meet in eight Chappell-Hadlee series over the next seven years.
     New Zealand will also host tours by Sri Lanka in December and Pakistan in January.
     The Sri Lanka series will include a Boxing Day one-day international at Hagley Oval on Dec. 26, while Pakistan will play a one-day match at the Basin Reserve on Jan. 25 -- the ..

New Zealand, Australia revive Chappell-Hadlee ODIs

Long before he filmed himself shooting and killing a TV reporter and cameraman during a live news broadcast, the man identified as the suspect followed a twisted and volatile career path that saw him fired from at least two stations for conflicts with co-workers, leaving colleagues with memories of an "off-kilter" loner easily angered by office humour.
	When the suspect, identified by authorities as Vester Lee Flanagan II, was fired from WDBJ in Virginia in 2013, he had to be escorted out of the building by local police "because he was not going to leave willingly or under his own free will," the station's former news director, Dan Dennison, said in an interview with a Hawaii station, Hawaii News Now (KHNL/KGMB).
	Flanagan, 41, had "a long series of complaints against co-workers nearly from the beginning of employment at the TV station," said Dennison, now an official with the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
	"All of these allegations were deemed to be unfounded. And .

In TV shooting, a volatile suspect 'waiting to go BOOM'

A member of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia faces a possible life sentence after admitting his role in the 2003 kidnapping of three Americans.
	Diego Alfonso Navarrete Beltran pleaded guilty today in US District Court in Washington to three counts of hostage-taking, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
	The FARC is Colombia's main rebel movement, formed in 1964 as the armed wing of the Colombian Communist Party. US authorities say it evolved into a major armed force financed by drug trafficking, hostage-taking and extortion. It has been on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations since 1997.
	Then-US contractors Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves were conducting counter-drug aerial surveillance in southern Colombia in February 2003, when they were forced to crash land their plane on a mountainside and taken captive.
	Two others aboard the plane, American contractor Thomas Janis and Colombian army Sgt Luis Alcides ...

Terror group member pleads guilty to holding 3 US hostages

A Swedish rescue crew cut up the deck of a migrant boat north of Libya today to make a grisly discovery in the hull: The corpses of 51 migrants who died making the dangerous Mediterranean crossing in hopes of reaching Europe.
	The Swedish ship Poseidon was already rescuing 130 migrants from a raft north of Libya's coast when it got a call to assist a nearby wooden ship, authorities said. The Swedes rescued 439 survivors from the wooden boat then looked for the bodies.
	"We had to cut up the deck of the wooden boat to get to (the bodies) in a safe way," Swedish coast guard spokesman Mattias Lindholm told The Associated Press.
	He said the victims probably died of asphyxiation. The corpses were placed in body bags to make sure they didn't come into contact with the survivors.
	The Italian coast guard said that in addition to the 51 dead discovered by the Poseidon crew, three women were found dead in another migrant boat and another corpse was found during the 10 rescue operations that ..

51 bodies found in hull of migrant ship off Libya

The transmission of now-classified information across Hillary Rodham Clinton's private email is consistent with US State Department practices in which diplomats routinely sent secret material on unsecured email during the past two administrations.
	Clinton's use of a home server makes her case unique and has become an issue in her front-running campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to documents reviewed by AP.
	But it's not clear whether the security breach would have been any less had she used department email. The department only systematically checks email for sensitive or classified material in response to a public records request.
	In emails about the 2012 attack on a US diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, department officials discuss sensitive matters in real time, including the movement of Libyan militias and the locations of key Americans. The messages were released last year under the Freedom of Information Act and are posted on the State ...

State Department officials routinely sent secrets over email

US stocks surged today in a broad rally, rebounding from a big slump that was driven by worries about the health of the Chinese economy.
	The three major US indexes dropped six days in a row heading into today. That's the longest market slide in more than three years. The Dow had fallen about 1,900 points over that period, while the slump wiped more than USD 2 trillion off the value of S&P 500 companies.
	Today was the second day that stocks had staged a rally.
	A strong rebound had yesterday evaporated in the final minutes of trading and the Dow ended more than 200 points lower after having been up more than 400 earlier in the day.
	The Dow Jones industrial average rose 454 points, or 2.9 per cent, to 16,123 as of 3:08 pm Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 54 points, or 2.9 per cent, to 1,922. The Nasdaq composite added 95 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 4,601.
	Markets have been volatile since China decided to weaken its currency earlier this month. Investors ...

US stocks surge, rebounding from six-day slump

James Holmes was an angry quitter who gave up on life and turned his hatred into murder and mayhem against innocent victims in a Colorado movie theater, the judge today before formally sentencing him to life in prison.
	Samour formally sentenced Holmes to life in prison without parole for the murders of 12 people. He also was sentencing to more than to 3,200 additional years for attempted murder and an explosives conviction.
	"It is almost impossible to comprehend how a human being is capable of such acts," Judge Carlos A Samour Jr said.
	Samour also contrasted Holmes' bloody assault with the compassion of a juror who voted for a life sentence instead of the death penalty.
	"At least one juror showed the defendant the mercy that he refused the victims that day when he went into that theater," the judge said.
	The judge had no other sentencing option on the murder charges after a jury earlier this month did not unanimously agree that Holmes should get the death penalty. Samour issued ..

Judge formally sentences Colorado shooter to life in prison

Thai explosives experts say substance from the bomb that blew up in downtown Bangkok last week smells like TNT, although police still have not received chemical test results, the national police spokesman said today.
	Prawuth Thavornsiri told journalists that it was still not clear if the bomb that killed 20 people Aug 17 was made of TNT or C4, a plastic explosive. But based on the experience of the bomb disposal experts, he said in English, "they say the smell looks like TNT."
	Prawuth says investigators are trying to find other pieces of the bomb to analyze.
	More than a week after the bombing at the Erawan Shrine, which also left 120 people injured, police appear to be no closer to tracking down suspects or determining a motive for the attack.
	Police have released an artist's sketch of the suspect who was seen in a security camera video from the open-air shrine leaving a backpack at a bench and walking away.
	A separate camera showed the suspect, wearing a yellow T-shirt, on the ..

Thai police say Bangkok bomb substance smells like TNT

Saudi Arabia's official news agency says the military has "intercepted and destroyed" a Scud missile fired from Yemen, which was claimed by Shiite rebels being bombed by a Saudi-led coalition.
	The news agency says the Saudi military destroyed the missile's launch pad inside Yemen. It says the missile was in the Jizan region in Saudi Arabia when it was intercepted today.
	A statement from the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, says the missile hit a power plant in Jizan.
	Houthi rebels and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh are fighting against an array of forces including southern separatists, local and tribal militias, Sunni Islamic militants as well as troops loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
	The Houthis took over the capital, Sanaa, last September.

AP

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