Iran said today it is ready to provide aid to the Lebanese army as well as the Shiite Hezbollah group to help combat "terrorists."
	The promise of aid comes after Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia pledged billions of dollars to Lebanon's armed forces, and will be seen by many Lebanese as part of a competition for influence over the tiny country, which is gripped by sectarian tensions and bitterly divided over the Syrian civil war.
	Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was quoted by state TV as saying that "supporting the Lebanese nation, army and resistance will still remain on Iran's agenda." Hezbollah's allies refer to it as the "resistance" because of its stated mission of driving Israel out of occupied territory.
	"Iran is ready to transfer its experience in order to improve security in Lebanon and the region, and to combat terrorists," he said during a meeting with visiting Lebanese Defense Minister Samir Moqbel. Moqbel also met with Iranian ...

Iran vows to aid Lebanese military

PTI Automatic

The 10 semifinalists in the World's Funniest Person competition are:
	Mustapha El Atrassi, France. Born in France to a Moroccan family, El Atrassi began doing stand-up as a teenager. He appeared in a one-man show in Paris at age 16 and two years later had his own sitcom in Morocco. Since 2008, he's hosted a morning radio show in France.
	Ishmo Leikola, Finland. He does stand-up in both English and Finnish, appearing at clubs throughout Europe. He won his country's stand-up rookie of the year award in 2003 and has been honored five times as the favorite performer at Tomatoes! Tomatoes!, the Nordic countries' largest comedy festival.
	Vittorrio Leonardi, South Africa. Leonardi has appeared in comedy clubs throughout South Africa and taught comedy at St. Mary's Diocesan School for Girls in Pretoria. He's also the resident emcee at several South African comedy clubs.
	 Saad Haroon, Pakistan. A founding member of the Pakistani improvisational group Blackfish and other comedy troupes, Saad .

The 10 semifinalists for World's Funniest Person

Spain says a test has shown a nursing assistant who became infected with Ebola is now clear of all traces of the virus.
	A blood test has revealed that Teresa Romero's immune system has eliminated the virus from her body, according to a statement released by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's office late today.
	Manuel Cuenca, microbiology director at Madrid's Carlos III health care complex, says a second test in the coming hours is needed to absolutely confirm Romero's recovery.
	Romero, 44, had treated two patients who died of Ebola at Carlos III hospital.
	The first, Miguel Pajares, contracted the disease in Liberia and died on Aug 12 despite having been treated with the experimental drug ZMapp.
	The second was Manuel Garcia Viejo who died, aged 69, on Sept 25.

Spain: Nursing assistant clear of Ebola virus

A cruise ship carrying a Dallas health care worker who was being monitored for Ebola returned to port today after an eventful seven-day trip in which passengers had their vacations briefly disrupted with an infectious disease scare.
	A lab supervisor who handled a specimen from a Liberian man who died from Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas showed no symptoms during the cruise but self-quarantined out of caution.
	Carnival Cruise Lines said it was informed by health authorities today morning that she tested negative for Ebola. Vicky Rey, vice president of guest care for Carnival Cruise Lines, said the woman and her husband drove themselves home after arriving in Galveston.
	The Ebola scare added some drama to the trip for the more than 4,000 passengers on the ship.
	They learned through a public address system announcement that one of the passengers was being monitored for Ebola. They watched developments about the Ebola outbreak and their ship on the news.
	The ...

Cruise ship docks with Ebola-watched health worker

An Israeli hospital says it has treated the daughter of Hamas' top leader in the Gaza Strip weeks after a brutal war between Israel and the Islamic militant group.
	Avi Shushan, a spokesman for Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, said the daughter of Ismail Haniyeh was hospitalized for "a number of days" this month. He did not disclose what she was treated for.
	A spokeswoman for the Israeli military confirmed the hospital stay. She spoke today on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to release the information otherwise. Hamas officials were not immediately available for comment.
	Israel and Hamas fought a fierce 50-day war this summer that killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 72 people on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.

Israeli hospital treats Hamas leader's daughter

A large American tug boat was pulling a disabled Russian cargo ship to a port on British Columbia's coast, ending fears that the vessel carrying hundreds of tons of fuel would drift ashore, hit rocks and spill.
	Lt Paul Pendergast of the Canadian Forces' Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre said the tug Barbara Foss arrived yesterday evening and secured a line to the Russian ship. He said the tow of the Simushir was going well.
	The owners of the Russian vessel plan to have it taken to Prince Rupert, the nearest container ship port, 171 kilometers away from where the tow operation began, another rescue spokesperson, Acting Sub Lt Melissa Kia, said today.
	Kia said the winds and seas have calmed significantly since yesterday, and at their current speed of seven nautical miles per hour (13 kilometers per hour) the ships should reach Prince Rupert later today.
	The Canadian Coast Guard vessel Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the US Coast Guard cutter Spar are providing escort service.
	The Simushir .

Tug towing disabled Russian container ship to port

The United Nations' top human rights official has condemned Congo's decision to order his representative to leave the country.
	The UN says Congo's interior ministry announced the move to declare the representative, Scott Campbell, persona non grata on Thursday, a day after a UN report detailing human rights violations by Congolese security forces was published.
	UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein said in a statement today that two other members of Campbell's team have been "seriously threatened" in recent days.
	Zeid said the government in Kinshasa "should be investigating (the report's) deeply disturbing findings and bringing alleged perpetrators to justice rather than seeking to punish the leader of the team that researched and produced the report.

UN rights chief criticises Congo over expulsion

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said today his country will work with Sudan to support Libya's military against Islamic militants in a bid to restore stability to the two countries' war-torn neighbor.
	El-Sissi's remarks came at the end of a two-day visit by Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.
	The chaos in Libya is a top foreign policy concern for Egypt, which has seen cross-border attacks by Islamic militants. Libya's new government has accused Sudan of arming "terrorist groups" in Libya, a charge Khartoum denies.
	El-Sissi said Sudan and Egypt agreed to coordinate efforts to achieve stability in Libya through supporting state institutions, primarily the military. Al-Bashir said his country "sees eye to eye" with Egypt on bilateral and regional issues.
	The two leaders said they want to move past recent strains in relations over divergent views over shared water resources and borders.
	A dam constructed by Ethiopia threatens to reduce Egypt's share of the Nile, challenging a .

Egypt, Sudan to coordinate on Libya unrest

The Kuwaiti Cabinet stripped citizenship from 33 people this year, including at least three who were vocal critics of the government, Human Rights Watch said today.
	The New York-based rights group said Kuwait announced the latest batch of 18 people who were stripped of their nationality on Sep 29. It called on Kuwaiti authorities to stop the practice against those exercising free speech and to ensure that people who lose their citizenship have the right to an independent review of the ruling.
	"Instead of targeting their critics in a back-door way, the Kuwaiti authorities should come clean and stop revoking their citizenships once and for all," Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
	The group said "revocation decisions are not subject to any judicial or administrative appeals process," but that courts did examine five citizenship revocations since 2010 of people born to Kuwaiti fathers.
	Among the most high-profile Kuwaitis to lose their 

Rights group says Kuwait strips 33 of nationality

Two tourists from South Korea are missing after a boat carrying them and about two dozen others collided with a fishing vessel near Thailand's southern resort of Phuket today, police said.
	The tourist speedboat was carrying 34 people and three crew members from Phi Phi island when it hit the fishing vessel, said police Col Phumin Poompanmoung.
	Marine police were able to rescue 27 of those aboard the tourist boat and villagers on boats retrieved eight others, but a man and a woman from South Korea are still missing.
	Authorities said some of the tourists, who were mostly Chinese but included four Koreans and two Britons, suffered broken bones and internal injuries.
	Police were holding the speedboat's crew and the fishing boat's captain for questioning.
	It was second fatal boat accident this months.
	Two Indian tourists drowned on October 5 after the boat they were in capsized in bad weather, also along Thailand's southern Andaman Sea coast. The boat's operator was charged with ...

2 South Koreans missing in Thai boat collision

Iraqi authorities have executed at least 60 people so far in 2014, a United Nations report said today, expressing concern that "irreversible miscarriages of justice" were taking place in some death penalty cases.
	Nickolay Mladenov, the UN special envoy to Iraq, urged the Iraqi government to reconsider its position on the implementation of the death penalty.
	Mladenov said the high number of executions in Iraq is, "alarming, especially since many of these convictions are based on questionable evidence and systemic failures in the administration of justice."
	The UN report said the figure accounted for executions carried out during the first nine months of 2014. In comparison the United States, which has a population more than 10 times larger than Iraq's, has executed 30 people so far in 2014, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
	The death penalty was restored in Iraq in 2005, with hanging as the primary method used. Death sentences are applicable for a range of ...

UN: Iraq has executed 60 people this year

North Korean and South Korean troops exchanged fire today along their heavily fortified border in the second such shooting in less than 10 days, South Korean officials said.
	South Korean soldiers broadcast warnings and fired warning shots at about 10 North Korean soldiers who were approaching the military demarcation line inside the Demilitarised Zone that bisects the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
	Two shots believed to have been fired by North Korean soldiers were found at a South Korean guard post, and South Korean soldiers fired toward the North, the statement said.
	South Korean defense officials said the North Korean soldiers returned to the North after the shooting lasted for about 10 minutes. There were no reports of casualties.
	On Oct 10, the two Koreas also traded gunfire along the border after South Korean activists floated balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets toward the North. There were no reports of .

S Korea: 2 Koreas exchange gunfire along border

Pope Francis today beatified Pope Paul VI, concluding the remarkable meeting of bishops debating family issues that drew parallels to the tumultuous reforms of the Second Vatican Council which Paul oversaw and implemented.
	Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI was on hand for the Mass, which took place just hours after Catholic bishops approved a document charting a more pastoral approach to ministering to Catholic families.
	They failed to reach consensus on the two most divisive issues at the synod: on welcoming gays and divorced and civilly remarried couples.
	But the issues remain up for discussion ahead of another meeting of bishops next year.
	While the synod scrapped its ground-breaking welcome and showed deep divisions on hot-button issues, the fact that the questions are on the table is significant given that they had been taboo until Francis' papacy.
	"God is not afraid of new things!" Francis exclaimed in his homily today. "That is why he is continually surprising us, opening our ...

Pope beatifies Paul VI at remarkable synod's end

Catholic bishops have scrapped their landmark welcome to gays, showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Pope Francis to chart a more merciful approach to ministering to Catholic families.
	The bishops yesterday approved a final report covering a host of issues related to Catholic family life, acknowledging there were "positive elements" in civil heterosexual unions outside the church and even in cases when men and women were living together outside marriage.
	They also said the church must respect Catholics in their moral evaluation of "methods used to regulate births," a seemingly significant deviation from church teaching barring any form of artificial contraception.
	But the bishops failed to reach consensus on a watered-down section on ministering to homosexuals. The new section had stripped away the welcoming tone of acceptance contained in a draft document earlier in the week.
	Two other paragraphs concerning the other hot-button issue at the synod of ...

Bishops scrap welcome to gays in sign of split

Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 14th and 15th goals to set a record scoring start in a Spanish league season as Real Madrid eased to a 5-0 win at Levante on Saturday, while Lionel Messi scored to move one goal from the competition's all-time scorer.
     Messi guided league leader Barcelona to a 3-0 win at home over promoted Eibar, setting up Xavi Hernandez to break through in the second half and scoring after Neymar had doubled the lead.
     Messi is now poised to equal Telmo Zarra's milestone of 251 goals that has stood since 1955 next week at rival Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
     Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo also extended his record of not conceding a goal to eight matches as the Catalan club maintained its four-point advantage over Madrid at the top of the standings.
     Valencia and Sevilla can both pass Madrid, which moved into a provisional second place, with wins on Sunday.
     While Messi closed on Zarra, Ronaldo made sure to make his own mark by breaking a ...

Ronaldo sets best scoring start in Spanish league

Hundreds of members of New York's Greek Orthodox community attended a blessing ceremony for a new church near ground zero in Lower Manhattan that will replace a house of worship that was destroyed in the September 11 terrorist attacks.
	In his remarks at the construction site, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in America recalled his dismay when, on September 12, 2001, he and other pastors visited the spot where St. Nicholas church had stood since the early 20th Century.
	The tiny structure had been crushed in the collapse of the twin towers, making it the only church destroyed in the attack.
	"We stood there frozen, paralyzed," said Archbishop Demetrios. "There was a big hole instead of a church. It left a terrible kind of impression."
	More than 13 years later, work has begun on a much larger, USD 38 million domed church designed by famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava intended to serve both as the new home for the Greek Othodox parish and as a national ...

Site for Greek church near WTC gets blessing

Iran has proof that militants are entering the country from neighboring Pakistan to carry out attacks and will be pursuing the matter through "diplomatic channels," an Iranian military official said today.
	Abdollah Araghi, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander, was quoted by state TV as saying that his forces have provided documents to Iranian officials proving that militants cross the border to carry out attacks.
	"We have provided information and complete documents about the infiltration of terrorist elements (from Pakistan into Iran) to political and security officials to be pursued through diplomatic channels," he said.
	Yesterday the spokesman for Pakistan's Frontier Corps said Iranian border guards opened fire at a patrol van, killing a member of the paramilitary border guard and wounding three other troops.
	The shooting came a day after Iranian Brig Gen Hussein Salami issued a stark warning to Pakistan, saying that Iranian forces may enter Pakistani territory to "prevent ...

Iran says militants infiltrating from Pakistan

The number of foreigners visiting Iran jumped dramatically over the 12-month period ending in March, with 35 percent more tourists compared to the same period a year earlier, Iran's top tourism official said today.
	Masoud Soltanifar said on state TV that the thriving industry could help boost Iran's economy out of recession and bring in much-needed hard currency. He said 4.5 million foreign tourists that came to the Islamic Republic over the period, bringing in some USD 6 billion in revenue.
	He attributed the increase to the 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani, who has shifted away from the bombastic style adopted under his hard-line predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rouhani, who has advocated for tourism, hopes it will boost the country's image.
	"The new government has employed a proper language in international relations, leading to growth in tourism," Soltanifar said, adding that foreign tourists, most of whom are from neighboring countries, spend about $1,500 each in ...

Iran says number of foreign tourists surges

The World Health Organisation said today that it wouldn't explain details contained in an internal document in which the UN health agency said it fumbled early attempts to contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
	In the draft document, which wasn't released publicly, WHO blamed numerous factors for the now explosive Ebola epidemic, including incompetent staff, bureaucracy and a lack of reliable information.
	"WHO will not do interviews or explain details on this document until it is completed," the health agency said in a statement Saturday. "WHO believes in transparency and accountability and will release this review when it is fact-checked."
	In Ghana, WHO director Margaret Chan canceled a scheduled news conference. Chan was scheduled to attend a meeting in Ghana of the UN Mission on Ebola Emergency Response, which was expected to end Saturday.
	So far, Ebola has been blamed for 4,546 deaths in West Africa out of at least 9,191 cases. WHO estimated that there could be 10,000 ...

WHO won't discuss Ebola mistakes document

The Canadian government said that it will start shipping its experimental Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organisation on Monday for possible use in the West African countries hardest hit by the outbreak.
	The government said in a news release today that the Public Health Agency of Canada is supplying the vaccine to the UN agency in Geneva.
	The WHO is the international coordinating body for battling the Ebola outbreak which has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa.
	The news release said Canada will send 800 vials of its experimental vaccine in three separate shipments.
	The WHO will consult with its partners, including health authorities from the affected countries, to determine how best to distribute and use the vaccine, taking into consideration concerns about using an experimental vaccine on people.
	Canada announced last month that clinical trials had started in the US on the Canadian-made Ebola vaccine, with results expected in December.
	"This vaccine, the product of 

Canada will send experimental Ebola vaccine to WHO

The UN's World Food Program on Saturday delivered emergency food rations to 265,000 people, many of them quarantined in Sierra Leone, to help fight the spread of Ebola.
	Food supplies are being distributed in the Waterloo district on the outskirts of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, WFP's Alexis Masciarelli told the Associated Press.
	Waterloo, about 20 miles east of Freetown, has seen some of the highest cases of Ebola infections and the deliveries are to help quarantined families by providing them enough to eat so they do not leave their homes to look for food.
	The deliveries began Friday and are continuing Saturday, said Masciarelli.
	Waterloo resident Christopher James said he got food for his family at one of the 60 distribution sites.
	"Ever since the Ebola outbreak in our area, our kids were not having proper meals in a day," said James. "We've have food constraints for the past two months and this will help us to continue to live through this Ebola crisis in our ...

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