Student-led protests for democratic reforms in Hong Kong shrank today but a few hundred demonstrators remained camped out in the streets, vowing to keep up the pressure until the government responds to their demands.
	Schools reopened and civil servants returned to work today morning after protesters cleared the area outside the city's government headquarters, a focal point of the demonstrations that started the previous weekend. Crowds also thinned markedly at the two other protest sites, and traffic flowed again through many roads that had been blocked.
	The subdued scenes left many wondering whether the movement, which has been free-forming and largely spontaneous, had run its course or whether the students have a clear strategy about what to do next.
	Early talks between the government and the students have started, but many disagreements remain. Students say they will walk away from the talks as soon as the government uses force to clear away the remaining protesters.
	"This is ..

Hong Kong protests shrink after tumultuous week

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US-British scientist John O'Keefe and Norwegian husband and wife Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser have won the Nobel Prize in medicine for discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.
	The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska institute says their discoveries have helped explain how the brain creates "a map of the space surrounding us and how we can navigate our way through a complex environment.

Three win medicine Nobel for brain study

A woman who was accused of sending Internet abuse to the parents of missing girl Madeleine McCann has been found dead in a hotel room.
	Television channel Sky News identified 63-year-old Brenda Leyland as an online "troll" who had attacked Kate and Gerry McCann under the Twitter name "sweepyface." Last week a reporter confronted Leyland on camera about the alleged abuse.
	Leicestershire Police said the body of a 63-year-old woman was found in a hotel in Leicester, central England, on Saturday. The force said the death is not being treated as suspicious.
	Sky News said today it was saddened by Leyland's death but that it would be "inappropriate to speculate or comment further."
	Madeleine disappeared from a Portuguese vacation resort in May 2007, days before her fourth birthday.

Missing Madeleine: alleged online troll found dead

A typhoon carrying strong winds and heavy rains passed over the Mariana Islands, with the eye of the storm skirting the small island of Rota.
	National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Ziobro said it appeared the eye of Typhoon Vongfong had passed about 5 miles north of Rota around 2:45 am (local time) today.
	He said the eye wall, which packs the strongest winds, probably passed over the island.
	Rota, which is about 10.5 miles long and 3 miles wide, had about 2,500 residents according to the last census. Gov. Eddie Calvo asked for prayers for residents there.
	Residents on Guam heeded warnings about high winds and flooding by taking shelter at designated public schools. The Government of Guam and many businesses were expected to be closed today, and most flights were cancelled.
	Ed Propst, a manager of the Head Start Program in Saipan's public school system and a candidate for the islands' House of Representatives, said branches, leaves and debris were scattered across his yard 

Typhoon impacts Mariana Islands

A powerful typhoon lashed southern Japan, churning up high waves that washed three American airmen out to sea and killed at least one before taking aim at Tokyo.
	Elsewhere in the Pacific, a separate typhoon whipped the Mariana Islands, including Guam, with high winds and heavy rain.
	By late yesterday, Typhoon Phanfone was off the coast of Shikoku in southwestern Japan, with winds of up to 144 kilometers (90 miles) per hour after hitting the regions of Okinawa and Kyushu, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.
	One of the three airmen was found dead. The other two were missing, according to the Air Force and the Japanese coast guard.
	They had been on Okinawa island's northern coast when they were overcome by the waves, according to Tsuguyoshi Miyagi of the coast guard's Okinawa branch.
	The Air Force said the search for the missing airmen had been interrupted by rough seas. Their names were being withheld pending notification of relatives.
	Okinawa is home to about half of the roughly .

Typhoon washes 3 US airmen out to sea in Japan

Paul Revere, the organist and leader of the Raiders rock band, has died. He was 76.
	Roger Hart, manager for Paul Revere and the Raiders, said he died Saturday at his home in Garden Valley, Idaho, from cancer. Revere was born in Harvard, Nebraska, Hart said.
	"He'd been quiet about it for some time," Hart said. "Treated at the Mayo Clinic, Paul stayed on the road as long as he could, then retired recently back to Idaho, where he and his wife, Sydney, always kept a home."
	Revere, born Paul Revere Dick, became known as "the madman of rock and roll" for his theatrical colonial wardrobe and infectious onstage persona with the band.
	"From Day 1, we've always been a party band that accidentally had some hit records and accidentally got on a hit television series," Revere told The Associated Press in a 2000 interview.
	The group became popular in 1963 with its rendition of Richard Berry's "Louie, Louie" before releasing its own hits, such as "Kicks," ''Hungry" and "Good Thing." The band's .

Paul Revere of Raiders rock band dies at 76

Personal computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. Reportedly plans to split itself into two separate companies by spinning off its technology services business.
	The Wall Street Journal reported the pending split today citing people familiar with the matter, who said the company announcement could come as soon as Monday. A spokeswoman for HP declined to comment.
	The breakup would create one company that sells HP's computers and printers and a second that focuses on technology service offerings including data storage, servers and software.
	The Palo Alto, California-based company has laid off thousands of employees in recent months due to flagging sales as consumers turn to mobile devices to perform basic computing chores. The shift has curbed demand for HP's desktop and laptop computers, as well as its printers.

Report: Hewlett-Packard to split in 2 companies

A correspondent for The New York Times who was expelled from Afghanistan over a story he wrote about that country's recent presidential election can return after its newly inaugurated president ordered the previous administration's decision reversed.
	Mohammad Daoud Sultanzai, an adviser to Afghan President Asharf Ghani Ahmadzai, said Sunday the country's attorney general has been told to allow Matthew Rosenberg back into Afghanistan.
	Sultanzai said the decision was made at the beginning of the Eid al-Adha holiday. "During our (presidential) campaign, we committed to respecting the freedom of the media," he said.
	"When a journalist has a source for an article he is writing, he should be allowed to write it, according to the law."
	Asked about the situation in a Facebook message, Rosenberg confirmed he is being allowed to return to Afghanistan.
	Rosenberg was told in August by former President Hamid Karzai's administration that he had to leave and could not return. The expulsion was .

NY Times reporter allowed back into Afghanistan

Israel's prime minister dismissed a recent White House rebuke of Israeli settlement construction, saying in comments broadcast today that the criticism goes "against American values."
	The tough words by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to deepen a rift with the White House over Israeli construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and claimed by the Palestinians as parts of a future independent state.
	Israel came under fire last week after a Jerusalem city official signed the final go-ahead for construction of a new housing development in east Jerusalem.
	A day earlier, an ultra nationalist Jewish group said dozens of settlers would move into six apartment buildings purchased in the heart of a predominantly Arab neighbourhood of east Jerusalem.
	Israel says east Jerusalem is part of its capital and considers Jewish housing developments there to be neighbourhoods of the city.
	But the international community, including .

Israeli leader: White House criticism un-American

Security forces investigating the role of municipal police in clashes in this southern city a week ago found a mass grave on the edge of town, raising fears the pits might hold 43 students missing since the violence that also resulted in six shooting deaths.
	Guerrero Gov. Angel Aguirre said the victims had been "savagely slaughtered."
	Jesus Lopez, the father of one of the missing students, told The Associated Press that a delegation of family and school representatives would come to Iguala on today to get information about developments in the case from authorities.
	"We cannot say anything. We are very nervous, but until they inform us, there is nothing," said Lopez, whose 19-year-old son, Giovani, hasn't been seen since the violence last weekend.
	Separately, a group of students and relatives of the missing young people said they planned to march today from Aytozinapa Normal school to the state capital of Chilpancingo to demand information in the case.
	Anger over the discovery of .

Mass grave found as Mexico probes town's violence

A powerful typhoon is heading toward Tokyo after lashing southern Japan, where it killed at least one US airman on Okinawa island and left two others missing.
	The Meteorological Agency says Typhoon Phanfone was off the coast of Shikoku in southwestern Japan on Sunday night, packing winds of up to 144 kilometers per hour after hitting the southern regions of Okinawa and Kyushu.
	Japan's Coast Guard says three US Air Force members were washed away by high waves Sunday, with one found dead and the other two still missing. The Air Force said only that three of its airmen were missing.
	Several people on Kyushu island were injured.
	The agency predicts up to 40 centimeters of rain in central Japan by Monday morning.

Typhoon heads to Tokyo after killing US airman

Russian police say a suicide bomber blew himself up in the capital of Chechnya, killing four police officers and wounding four others.
	An Associated Press journalist at the scene saw several ambulances leave the site, which has been blocked off by police. The capital of Chechnya, Grozny, was celebrating City Day and the birthday of its pro-Kremlin leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.
	Police issued a statement that said policemen operating metal detectors outside a concert hall today evening noticed a suspicious man and when they tried to check his identity he set off the explosives that he was wearing.
	After two separatist wars in the 1990s, Chechnya has become more stable under Kadyrov. But a Muslim insurgency still simmers throughout Russia's North Caucasus region, which includes Chechnya.

Police: Suicide bomber in Chechnya kills 4 police

Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara is not doing much to encourage speculation that he's on the short list to be the next attorney general and he's not exactly discouraging it either.
	Bharara's profile has grown steadily in his five years as head of one of the nation's most high-profile federal prosecutor's offices.
	He made the cover of Time magazine for his aggressive pursuit of Wall Street fraudsters. He's overseen the biggest civilian terrorism cases. And he stood up to Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his dismantling of an anti-corruption commission.
	As recently as this week, Bharara used humour to deflect speculation he's among a handful of potential candidates for the job being vacated by Attorney General Eric Holder a promotion that would make him the first Indian-American ever to serve on any US president's cabinet.
	"So here's the problem: When you have a very proud Indian mother and a vacancy seems to be coming open, she will call all the newspapers and say please put me on the ...

Star NYC prosecutor deflects attorney general buzz

The Israeli military says it is permitting hundreds of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to pray at Jerusalem's most important mosque, the first time it is doing so since 2007.
	Israel sharply has restricted travel out of Gaza since the Islamic militant Hamas overran the enclave in 2007. Since then, it has not granted permits for Gazans specifically wanting to pray at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third-holiest site.
	Muslims are marking Eid al-Adha, an important holiday.
	The military says 500 Gazans will cross into Israel today.
	Another 1,000 are expected the following two days. The military says permits were restricted to people over the age of 60.
	The permits were granted weeks after Israel and Hamas ended a 50-day war that killed more than 2,100 people.

Israel permits Gazans to pray at Jerusalem mosque

Greek authorities say four people have been killed and at least 23 injured when a truck caused a pileup on the Egnatia Highway in northern Greece.
	Regional fire brigade chief Chryssanthos Athanassopoulos said "over 35 vehicles" were involved in the crash.
	Repair work had shut down Egnatia's eastbound lanes and vehicles were being diverted 75 kilometres west of Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city.
	A truck coming up to the diversion point did not slow down today and struck a car, which caught fire and caromed into the cars in front.
	Firefighters said the dead include two women, a man and a charred body pulled from the burning car.
	First aid personnel, who gave the number of casualties, said other slightly injured people were treated at the scene.

4 dead, 23 injured in highway pileup in Greece

In an apparent concession to authorities warning pro-democracy protesters to clear Hong Kong's streets by the beginning of the work week, students occupying the area outside city government headquarters agreed today to remove some barricades that have blocked the building's entrance during the week-long demonstrations.
	But it was not immediately clear how significant the apparent truce was and how much it would defuse the standoff, with many protesters vowing to stay in the area.
	The partial withdrawal also appeared to be part of a strategy to regroup in another part of town.
	Television footage from the scene showed a protest representative shaking hands with a police officer and the two sides removing some barricades together.
	About 300 demonstrators remained standing peacefully outside the government's main building, and did not appear to have intentions to move.
	Across the harbour in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district, protesters appeared divided about whether to stay put or decamp 

Hong Kong protesters make apparent concessions

Record-chasing Lionel Messi and Neymar scored as Spanish league leader Barcelona eased to a 2-0 win at nine-man Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.
     Messi chipped goalkeeper Antonio "Tono" Rodriguez in the 35th minute for his 249th league goal, leaving him two behind the all-time scoring record held by Telmo Zarra since 1955.
     A minute later, Neymar added his seventh league goal in as many rounds, giving the strike pair a combined 13 of Barcelona's 19 goals in league play.
     "This goes in runs. The connection between (Messi and Neymar) is working for us now and others will appear," Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said.
     Rayo was spared a larger defeat thanks to Barcelona not exploiting its chances, despite the hosts finishing two men down after Jorge Morcillo and Javier Aquino received their second bookings.
     Barcelona's sixth win, to go with one draw, left it two points ahead of Valencia, after it beat Atletico Madrid 3-1. Atletico's first league loss dropped the defending ...

Messi, Neymar lead Barcelona to 2-0 win at Rayo

Simon has strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane in the Pacific, but still poses no direct threat to land.
	The US National Hurricane Center in Miami says Simon's maximum sustained winds increased to near 115 mph (185 kph) yesterday.
	Forecasters say Simon is expected to begin weakening today.
	The center says the hurricane is centered about 350 miles (565 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula and is moving west-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph). There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.
	Simon is expected to produce 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) or more of rainfall in southwestern Mexico and swells generated by the hurricane could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Hurricane Simon intensifies off Mexico's coast

Mexican officials say they have found a clandestine grave holding an undetermined number of bodies outside a town where violence last weekend resulted in six deaths and the disappearance of 43 students.
	Guerrero State Prosecutor Inaky Blanco says the grave is on the outskirts of Iguala, which is 120 miles (200 kilometers) south of Mexico City. He isn't saying how many bodies might be there or whether any could be some of the missing students.
	State officials have said that last weekend's bloodshed in Iguala started when city police shot at buses hijacked by protesting students, killing three students and wounding 25. Masked men later fired at vehicles on the highway, killing two people on a bus and one in a taxi.
	Homicide charges have been filed against 22 policemen.

Mass grave found near Mexico town hit by violence

A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman says a Mexico City-bound Aeromexico jet hit its brakes after the left landing gear collapsed while it was preparing to depart from a runway at Los Angeles International Airport but no injuries were reported.
	FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer says the passengers aboard Aeromexico Flight 18 were taken off the plane on the runway and bussed to the terminal early on today.
	Kenitzer says the gear collapse caused damage to the left side wing, and the plane was briefly stranded on a runway.
	City News Service reported that there were 129 passengers aboard the newer-model Boeing 737 and they were taken off using stair trucks.
	The passengers were rebooked on other flights.

Plane's landing gear collapses while departing LAX

Despite a cease-fire declared a month ago between the Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels, the biggest city in eastern Ukraine remains embroiled in fighting that includes daily artillery and rocket barrage hitting residential areas.
	The fighting focusing on the airport of the rebel-held city of Donetsk shows the difficulties of enforcing a truce that has held in most other areas of eastern Ukraine since it was declared on Sept. 5.
	Day after day, artillery shells and rockets fly overhead. Many explode in densely populated residential areas as the rebels have fought to dislodge Ukrainian government forces from the Donetsk airport just north of the city. Nine civilians were killed Wednesday, and a Red Cross staffer was killed Thursday. They were among scores killed and wounded since the fighting was supposed to have stopped.
	"All windows in our house were shaking, I was sitting on my bed and I had to hold tight not to fall," said Valentina Ryabchevskaya, a Donetsk resident, ...

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