An Asiana plane with 259 passengers aboard returned to Hong Kong today after finding a wrong passenger was aboard the aircraft, airline officials said.
	The plane was bound for Incheon, South Korea, when it had left Hong Kong earlier today. But it began flying back to Hong Kong when it was above Taiwan, Asiana Airlines officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because their company was still checking details of the incident.
	The passenger, believed to be a South Korean, was supposed to take a Jeju Air plane from Hong Kong to Incheon but that it wasn't known how he got on a wrong plane, according to Asiana Airlines.
	The Jeju Air plane was to leave Hong Kong 40 minutes later than the Asiana plane, Asiana officials said.
	They said police would question the passenger at Hong Kong's airport.
	An Asiana plane crash-landed at the San Francisco airport in 2013, killing three passengers and injuring nearly 200 people.

Asiana plane returns to Hong Kong due to wrong passenger

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About a thousand people marched today to pay tribute to Latvians who fought in German Waffen SS units against the Soviet Union during World War II, despite jeering from protesters who say the parade glorifies fascism.
	Aging war veterans led the procession to Riga's Freedom Monument, where they laid flowers and sang traditional songs. The annual march has become a public relations headache for Latvian leaders.
	Participants say they are simply honoring the so-called legionnaires for trying to defend Latvia against the Red Army.
	But protesters, many of them from Latvia's ethnic Russian minority, call the march an insult to the millions who fought and died in the struggle against Nazi Germany.
	After the ceremony, a small group of protesters dressed in mock disinfectant gear cleaned the ground near the monument in a symbolic gesture and held up photos of Nazi atrocities.
	"The glorification of the Legion is synonymous to the glorification of Nazism," said Alexander Filey, a 26-year-old 

Latvian march honors veterans who fought alongside Nazis

Congo's government spokesman says an American diplomat has been released after being detained in a raid in which journalists and democracy activists were arrested.
	Sunday's detentions followed a news conference in Kinshasa to support Congo's Filimbi movement that aims to get more youths to participate in politics. They come at a time of rising tension in Congo, where some fear President Joseph Kabila is attempting to prolong his rule beyond the end of his term next year.
	Spokesman Lambert Mende today said that the US diplomat was released overnight. He did not disclose the diplomat's name or position.
	Mende said activists from Burkina Faso, Senegal and an unspecified number of Congolese are still being held. He said they were arrested on suspicion of being a threat to national security.

Congo official: US diplomat released from detention

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea today to work harder for reconciliation over their wartime past to ensure peace and stability in the region.
	In his speech in Tokyo marking the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, Ban said the lack of reconciliation among the three key players of Asia is "a missing link" for peace and stability in northeast Asia despite the UN's engagement.
	Ban said history must be remembered correctly but urged Japan and two of its closest neighbors, both victims of Japanese militarist expansion in the first half of the 20th century, to develop forward-looking relations.
	"The United Nations has been engaging in a number of regional cooperative mechanisms but Northeast Asia still remains a missing link," he said. "I sincerely hope that the dialogue between countries in the region, in particular Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, will proceed in a forward-looking manner."
	"We must lay the ground for genuine .

UN chief urges Japan, China, South Korea to reconcile

The Afghan army killed a militant commander who had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group, the Ministry of Defense said today.
	In an operation in the southern Helmand province, long a hotbed of insurgent activity, Hafiz Wahidi and nine of his men were killed, the ministry said in a statement.
	Wahidi is the second militant commander who claimed links to the extremist IS group, to be killed in Helmand. His uncle, Adbul Rauf Khadim, was killed in a drone strike in February.
	Khadim was a former Taliban commander who had switched allegiance and aligned his followers with the Islamic State group, which controls about a third of Iraq and Syria in a self-declared caliphate. He had allegedly set up an IS recruiting network across southern Afghanistan.
	Officials have voiced concern about the IS presence in Afghanistan though the group's real strength in the country is unknown.
	President Ashraf Ghani has mentioned the threat posed by the group in recent speeches and is due to visit .

Afghan army kills commander of Islamic State affiliate

Kurdish forces in Iraq are investigating two other possible chemical weapons attacks by the Islamic State group, a top official today said, as authorities put an Iraqi offensive to retake Saddam Hussein's hometown on hold.
	The two purported chemical weapon assaults resemble one claimed Saturday by Kurdish officials who say an independent laboratory concluded the militants used chlorine gas against its peshmerga forces in a Jan. 23 truck suicide attack.
	However, their claims were not immediately verified by international authorities.
	Iraqi officials and Kurds fighting in Syria have made similar allegations about the militants using the low-grade chemical weapons against them. The Islamic State group, which controls a third of Syria and Iraq in its self-declared caliphate, has not commented on the claims.
	Gen Aziz Wesi, in charge of a Kurdish special forces brigade, told journalists today that authorities declined to immediately discuss the two newly announced attacks when they ...

Kurds probe 2 possible Islamic State chemical weapon attacks

The BBC has launched an investigation into "Top Gear" host Jeremy Clarkson's alleged "fracas" with a producer, trying to establish the facts of the incident before deciding its next move.
	The popular TV presenter has been suspended pending an investigation into whether he punched a producer during a dispute over a meal.
	The BBC today said the investigation, led by BBC Scotland director Ken MacQuarrie, would establish the facts and that "people should wait for the outcome of that."
	Clarkson has often found himself in trouble for remarks and behavior deemed offensive.
	Last year, Argentina's ambassador to Britain demanded an apology from the BBC after the "Top Gear" crew allegedly referenced the country's 1982 war with Britain over the Falkland Islands. The crew was forced to leave the country.

BBC launches investigation into Clarkson fracas

Madison Square Garden President and CEO Tad Smith has resigned to take on the same roles at auction house Sotheby's.
	Smith has served as president and CEO of Madison Square Garden since March 2014. The 49-year-old executive oversaw all aspects of the company, including overall strategy and day-to-day operations of MSG Sports, MSG Media and MSG Entertainment.
	Smith spent five years at Cablevision Systems Corp. Before joining Madison Square Garden Co.
	MSG Sports owns and runs the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers, the New York Liberty, the Westchester Knicks and the Hartford Wolf Pack. MSG Media's television networks include MSG Network, MSG+ and regional sports networks.
	MSG Entertainment creates, produces and presents various live productions, including the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, concerts and special events.
	Smith will remain with Madison Square Garden until the end of the month. The New York company said today that it is starting an immediate search for a ...

MSG President and CEO resigns; takes same roles at Sotheby's

Authorities in Bahrain say they have arrested a person who arrived from Iraq and who was trying to smuggle bomb-making materials into the restive Gulf island nation.
	The police said in a statement today that the suspect was arrested while arriving on a bus at a border post on the causeway linking the island with Saudi Arabia. Bomb-making materials found on the bus were seized. The suspect was not identified.
	Bahrain has faced four years of unrest following widespread anti-government protests led by the country's Shiite majority against its Sunni monarchy.
	Young protesters routinely clash with riot police. A number of small bombs mainly targeting security forces have killed and wounded police officers in the unrest.

Bahrain arrests suspected smuggler of bomb-making materials

A 23-year-old boxer died today two days after losing consciousness after losing a 10-round featherweight bout.
	Family spokesman James O'Shea confirmed Braydon Smith, who was in the final year of a law degree, had been in an induced coma at a Brisbane hospital since collapsing 90 minutes after a WBC Asian Boxing Council continental title bout with John Moralde of the Philippines on Saturday.
	Smith lost in a unanimous points decision, before praising his opponent and congratulating Moralde on the win and then returning to his dressing room.
	O'Shea said Smith was alert and talkative immediately following the bout before collapsing.

Australian boxer dies 2 days after collapsing after fight

Crossing back into his native Afghanistan from Pakistan, Nezamuddin wept as he recounted the hardships his family of 11 had faced in their years as refugees, troubles that only grew insufferable after a recent terror attack there killed 150 people.
	"Whenever there was a bomb blast they would arrest us for it, beat us up, take our money," said Nezamuddin, who goes by one name like many Afghans. "Now I don't know how I am going to look after my old father, myself and my mother."
	Since January, almost 50,000 Afghans like Nezamuddin's family have passed through Torkham, double the amount of all refugees returning through the border town in 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
	Many like Nezamuddin say they fled Pakistan over increased
harassment by police who told them to return to Afghanistan, a country many have never even seen, putting new pressure on both countries to find solutions to the decades-old flow of refugees.
	There are some 1.6 million ...

Thousands of Afghan refugees facing harassment flee Pakistan

Robert Durst, a millionaire from one of America's wealthiest families, was arrested just before the finale of a serial documentary about his links to three sensational murders in which he said he "killed them all."
	FBI agents arrested Durst at a New Orleans hotel Saturday on a warrant from Los Angeles for the murder of a mobster's daughter 15 years ago, authorities said. He was ordered held without bond pending a hearing today.
	Durst gave an extensive interview to filmmaker Andrew Jarecki for the documentary "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst."
	His estranged and fearful relatives thanked authorities for tracking him down.
	"We hope he will finally be held accountable for all he has done," said his brother, Douglas Durst, in a statement.
	The Durst family is worth at least USD 4 billion, according to the Forbes list of richest Americans.
	Durst, 71, has always maintained his innocence in the 2000 murder of Susan Berman, whose father was an associate of Las Vegas mobsters 

Arrested millionaire says in HBO finale he 'killed them all'

Philippine police say government forces have captured the leader of a new Muslim rebel group in the south who has been linked to bombings and a beheading and accused of providing sanctuary to two terror suspects wanted by the United States.
	A police report says government troops arrested Mohammad Ali Tambako and five of his men late Sunday while the militants were traveling on a motorcycle taxi to a seaport in southern General Santos city.
	The report said today that three grenades and two guns were seized from Tambako's group.
	Tambako, who formed the group Justice for Islamic Movement with about 70 armed fighters last year, is believed to have given refuge to a Malaysian and a Filipino militant wanted by US and Philippine authorities for deadly bomb attacks.

Filipino troops capture militant who coddled terror suspects

The president of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu says his country must "start over" following a powerful cyclone that destroyed 90 per cent of the buildings on the main island of Port Vila.
	Baldwin Lonsdale said in an interview that he and other top government officials were preparing to return home later Monday from Sendai, in northeastern Japan, where they were attending a disaster conference.
	Lonsdale said that the limited information he was able to get from home showed six people confirmed dead on Port Vila after the category 5 typhoon smashed across the Vanuatu archipelago. He said information from other islands was not available because most communication links were still not working. But the airport in Port Vila has reopened, allowing aid and relief flights to reach the country.

Vanuatu president: Storm-wrecked country must 'start over'

The tomb of Iraq's late dictator Saddam Hussein was virtually leveled in heavy clashes between militants from the Islamic State group and Iraqi security forces in a fight for control of the city of Tikrit.
	Fighting intensified to the north and south of Saddam Hussein's hometown yesterday as Iraqi security forces vowed to reach the centre of Tikrit within 48 hours. Associated Press video from the village of Ouja, just south of Tikrit, shows all that remains of Hussein's once-lavish tomb are the support columns that held up the roof.
	Poster-sized pictures of the late Sunni dictator, which once covered the mausoleum, are now nowhere to be seen amid the mountains of concrete rubble. Instead, Shiite militia flags and photos of militia leaders mark the predominantly Sunni village, including that of Major General Qassem Soleimani, the powerful Iranian general advising Iraqi Shiite militias on the battlefield.
	"This is one of the areas where IS militants massed up the most because Saddam's 

Saddam's tomb suffers extensive damage in Iraq fighting

Former No 2 military official Xu Caihou, who was under investigation for alleged massive bribe-taking, has died in a hospital of cancer, state media reported today. He was 71.
	A former deputy chairman of the ruling Communist Party's powerful Central Military Commission, Xu was the most senior military figure snared in a sweeping crackdown on corruption within the party launched by President Xi Jinping.
	Xu died of advanced bladder cancer that had spread throughout his body and of multiple organ failure, Xinhua news agency said.
	Xu Caihou had been expelled from the party and his rank as general had been revoked but an indictment had not yet been announced.
	The Xinhua report said the criminal investigation against him would now be dropped because of his death.
	Officials last year had been quoted as saying that Xu was ill with bladder cancer and would get appropriate treatment, but also that the case against him would go forward in a sign of determination to root out wrongdoing at ...

Ex-top China military official, facing bribery probe, dies

The Brazilian government raised the death toll of a bus accident to 54 while police continued their search for more victims today in the rugged lands of southern Brazil.
	The dead include at least eight young children, three adolescents, 24 women and 14 men, the government of Santa Catarina state said in a statement earlier today when the death toll stood at 49. There was no breakdown by age or gender given on the five additional casualties reported later.
	The bus plunged 1,300 feet down a mountain near the city of Joinville on Saturday. Ten people were transferred to nearby hospitals with severe injuries, and only one patient has been reported in stable condition.
	Officials earlier warned that the death toll could rise because more bodies could be found under the bus and in the woods. Police officers and emergency personnel started working on removing the bus on Sunday from the mountainous area in Serra Dona Francisca.
	Later, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said the number of ..

Brazil raises toll of bus accident to 54 dead, 10 injured

A teacher from rural Maine has won the USD 1 million Global Teacher Prize in Dubai.
	Nancie Atwell of Southport, Maine, won the prize during a ceremony today.
	Atwell has been teaching since 1973 and founded the Centre for Teaching and Learning in Southport, which is a nonprofit demonstration school created for the purpose of developing and disseminating teaching methods.
	The school says 97 per cent of its graduates have gone onto university.
	The Global Teacher Prize is an annual, USD 1 million prize awarded by the Varkey Foundation, which focuses on education issues.

Maine teacher wins USD1 million Global Teacher Prize in Dubai

Russia was ready to bring its nuclear weapons into a state of alert during last year's tensions over the Crimean Peninsula and the overthrow of Ukraine's president, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks aired today.
	Putin also expanded on a previous admission that the well-armed forces in unmarked uniforms who took control of Ukrainian military facilities in Crimea were Russian soldiers.
	Putin's comments, in a documentary being shown on state TV, highlight the extent to which alarm spread in Russia in the weeks following Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster in February 2014 after months of street protests that turned increasingly violent.
	After Yanukovych fled Kiev, eventually surfacing in Russia, separatist sentiment soared in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula dominated by ethnic Russians.
	Russian forces took control of Ukrainian military facilities on the peninsula and a referendum on secession was hastily called. The referendum, which was widely denounced in the West 

Putin: Russia prepared raising nuclear readiness over Crimea

The Czech president has greeted a group of Ukrainians of Czech decent who have accepted his country's offer to move back to their former homeland because of the turmoil in Ukraine.
	Czech authorities have granted permanent residency for 140 people of Czech origin, with 35 landing today at Prague's Vaclav Havel Airport aboard a government passenger jet.
	"Welcome home," President Milos Zeman told them. "May you like it here."
	The government is providing financial support and fully covering a half-year stay in a hotel in the southern Czech Republic. In cooperation with a Catholic charity, authorities will help them find a place to live and work.
	Before World War II, some parts of what is now western Ukraine belonged to the former Czechoslovakia.

Ethnic Czechs move from Ukraine to former homeland

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi today boisterously marked the final day of a major economic conference that has injected billions of dollars' worth of aid and investment in his country, while still acknowledging that Egypt's road to recovery will be long and costly.
	A jubilant el-Sisi invited young Egyptian organisers to join him at the podium before he addressed a packed auditorium at the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Several seized the opportunity to take selfies with the Egyptian leader and joined him in what has become his customary slogan of "Long live Egypt!"
	But the president swiftly stopped a chant of "long live el-Sisi."
	"Long live Egypt and no one else," said el-Sisi, who in the 35-minute address let out several hearty laughs and joked about how he drove hard bargains with top multinational executives to reduce prices, deliver ahead of schedule and allow longer grace periods for loan repayments.
	He singled out Germany's Siemens and the United States' General ..

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