Militants of the Islamic State group were closing in on a Kurdish area of Syria on the border with Turkey an advance unhindered so far by US-led coalition airstrikes, including one that struck a grain silo, killing two civilians, according to activists.
	Islamic State fighters yesterday pounded the city of Kobani with mortars and artillery shells, advancing within five kilometres of the Kurdish frontier city, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Nawaf Khalil, a Kurdish official.
	The Islamic extremists intensified their shelling of the border region following US-led strikes Saturday. The aerial assault appeared to have done little to thwart the militants, Kurdish officials and activists said, adding that of anything, the extremists seemed more determined to seize the area, which would deepen their control over territory stretching from the Turkish border, across Syria and to the western edge of Baghdad.
	"Instead of pushing them back, now every time ..

Islamic State closes in on Kurdish area of Syria

PTI Automatic

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates topped Forbes' latest list of the 400 richest Americans for the 21st straight year.
	The list, released yesterday, was largely unchanged for 2014 and showed the rich getting richer. The combined wealth of those on the list rose 13 per cent to USD 2.29 trillion, helped by a stronger US stock market.
	Gates' net worth totaled USD 81 billion, up USD 9 billion from 2013.
	Investor Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, remained in second place at USD 67 billion. Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison also kept his No 3 spot with USD 50 billion.
	Brothers Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Koch Industries Inc, stay tied for fourth with USD 42 billion each.
	There were 27 new members of the list, including WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum in the 62nd spot. Facebook announced plans to buy the mobile messaging app for USD 19 billion in February.
	The biggest gainer is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, No 11, whose net worth grew USD 15 billion since last ..

Bill Gates ranked richest American by Forbes

Syria's foreign minister said today that his government is satisfied with the US-led bombing campaign against the Islamic State group, adding that the airstrikes should be expanded to include all other militant groups in Syria.
	In an interview with The Associated Press, Walid al-Moallem said the fight against terrorism has aligned Damascus with Western and Arab opponents in fighting the same enemy.
	Al-Moallem said the US does not inform Syria of every strike before it happens, "but it's OK."
	"We are fighting ISIS, they are fighting ISIS," he said, referring to the group by one of its acronyms.
	He spoke as US-led coalition airstrikes targeted towns in northern and eastern Syria controlled by the Islamic State group, including one strike that Syrian activists said hit a grain silo and reportedly killed civilians.
	Washington and Arab allies opened their air assault against the extremist group last week in Syria, going after the group's military facilities, training camps, heavy ...

Syria 'OK' with US airstrikes

Billionaire Carl Icahn is considering spending USD 100 million to save the Trump Taj Mahal casino from closing.
	But the offer comes with considerable strings attached: Icahn is willing to consider the bailout "if and only if" he gets big givebacks from the casino workers' union, steep tax breaks from Atlantic City and county, and USD 25 million in funds from a New Jersey agency, according to his attorney.
	In a filing to a bankruptcy court, the Taj Mahal's parent company, Trump Entertainment Resorts, presented a letter from Icahn's attorney saying the billionaire would consider bailing out the casino if the debt he owns in it were converted to equity that would give him ownership.
	Icahn, who bought Atlantic City's Tropicana in 2010 in a similar manner, wants the city to drastically reduce the Taj's taxes, the union to give up pension and health insurance, and a state redevelopment agency to provide the USD 25 million.
	"Notwithstanding the fact that putting more money into the Taj ..

Icahn weighs USD 100M bid to save Taj Mahal casino

A Spanish diplomat was found stabbed to death in his apartment in the Sudanese capital Khartoum today police said.
	The Interior Ministry said the body of the 61-year old consular official was discovered by his housekeeper in his apartment in the upscale Garden City suburb. He had been a resident of Khartoum for three years, the ministry said.
	The police statement said it has opened an investigation into the matter and is initiating appropriate legal and technical procedures.
	Sudan's Foreign Ministry extended condolences to the Spanish Embassy and the family of the victim. A spokesman from the Spanish Foreign Ministry said the man's name was Emiliano Garcia Arocas. He spoke anonymously as was not authorised to give a named statement to the press.
	It is rare for diplomats to be targeted in Sudan. The motive behind the stabbing was not immediately clear.

Spanish diplomat stabbed to death in Sudan

A Romanian Orthodox bishop who was the first senior cleric to acknowledge collaborating with the feared Securitate communist secret police has died. He was 90.
	Nicolae Corneanu, the bishop of Banat, who irritated Romanian Orthodox Church leaders with his non-traditional views, died yesterday at his residence, church spokesman Lucian Florea said. Bells rang out at Orthodox and Catholic churches last night upon news of his death.
	In 1997, Corneanu confessed he had been recruited as an informer in 1948 when he was arrested by the communists. He said he had signed papers that led to the excommunication of five dissident priests in 1981 who had accused church leaders of prostituting the church to the demands of communist rulers. He also informed on priests visiting communist Romania "Of course I made a mistake. ... I gave into pressure," Corneanu said of his actions.
	Corneanu's confession confirmed suspicions that Orthodox church clergy had close links with the Securitate and top state .

Romanian bishop dies; collaborated with communists

Syria's foreign minister today blasted the United States' "dual policy" of striking at some militants in Syria while providing money, weapons and training to others, calling it a recipe for more violence and terrorism.
	Walid al-Moallem said such behavior creates a "fertile ground" for the continued growth of extremism in countries including Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
	He addressed the annual UN General Assembly as US-led coalition airstrikes targeted towns and villages in northern and eastern Syria controlled by the Islamic State group. Washington and Arab allies opened their air assault against the extremist group last week in Syria, going after its military facilities, training camps, heavy weapons and oil installations.
	The campaign expands upon the airstrikes the United States has been conducting against the militants in Iraq since early August.
	The coalition includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan. The US administration has also approved a ...

Syria: US dual policy is recipe for more violence

A media rights group says Sri Lanka's government has sabotaged a training program for online journalists for the third time in three months.
	Umbrella organization Action Committee for Media Freedom said a training workshop was to have been held at a resort in the seaside town of Negombo during the weekend but plainclothes police officers warned the resort owner of dire consequences if it was allowed.
	The owner has returned the advanced payment to the Professional Web Journalists Association who organized the workshop. The group says the government's move is to frighten independent journalists and stifle the media freedom.
	A police spokesman today denied any involvement. The government was accused of disrupting workshops in June and July by intimidating hotel owners and launching military-backed protests.

Media group says Sri Lanka sabotaging training

A senior adviser to US President Barack Obama today said that Afghanistan will sign a deal tomorrow to allow American soldiers to remain in the country past the end of the year.
	John Podesta, speaking to a news conference at the US Embassy in Kabul, said he didn't know if newly inaugurated President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai would be the official signing the deal for Afghanistan.
	Podesta said he would sign it on behalf of the US The deal will allow about 10,000 American troops to stay in the country after the international combat mission ends on December 31.
	The announcement comes after Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai was sworn today as Afghanistan's new president, replacing Hamid Karzai in the country's first democratic transfer of power after the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the Taliban. Moments after Ghani Ahmadzai took the oath, he swore in his election challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, as chief executive, fulfilling a political pledge he had taken to share power and defuse election tensions ...

US adviser: Afghanistan to sign troop deal tomorrow

Hong Kong's police today defended their use of tear gas and other tactics to control protests that have paralyzed the city's financial district, appealing to the thousands gathered to demand more democracy to stop the unprecedented mass act of civil disobedience for the sake of safety and stability.
	Crowds grew today evening as people getting off work joined weary-looking students camped on major roads near the city's government headquarters and in several other parts of the city. Uniformed police manned barricades and looked on, preventing access to some buildings, but did not otherwise intervene.
	Police said they used 87 rounds of tear gas yesterday in what they said was a necessary but restrained response to protesters' efforts to push through cordons and barricades. They said 41 people were injured, including 12 police officers.
	"Police cordon lines were heavily charged, by some violent protesters. So police had to use the minimum force in order to separate the distance at that 

Police defend handling of protests in Hong Kong

The UN mission to combat Ebola is opening its headquarters in Ghana, where it will coordinate aid for the West African crisis.
	The head of the mission, Anthony Banbury, and his team are expected to arrive today in Ghana's capital, Accra. The United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, also known as UNMEER, will work to identify the biggest needs during this outbreak, especially in the three hardest-hit countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. It will then ensure that aid, from medical supplies to health care workers, is being sent to fill those gaps.
	The Ebola outbreak has spiralled into the biggest ever and is believed to have killed more than 3,000 people.

UN mission to combat Ebola opens HQ in Ghana

East Ukraine has suffered the worst violence in more than a week, as fighting between pro-Russian rebels and government troops in the region killed at least 12 people and wounded 32.
	Col Andriy Lysenko told journalists in a briefing in Kiev today that at least nine servicemen had been killed in the last day and 27 had been wounded.
	The city council of Donetsk said in a statement published online that at least three civilians were killed and five wounded in overnight shelling of a residential area in the north, where fighting has centered on the government-held airport.
	Violence has continued despite a cease-fire declared on September 5. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has been at pains to prove to a skeptical audience at home that his peace plan is working.
	Since fighting began in April, the conflict has claimed at least 3,500 lives. Last week, representatives of Russia, Ukraine, and the rebels signed another agreement that would require both sides to remove all heavy ...

12 killed in worst east Ukraine shelling in a week

US-led coalition warplanes bombed Islamic State group positions overnight across four provinces in northern and eastern Syria, hitting a grain silo as well as the country's largest gas plant, activists said today.
	Washington and its Arab allies opened their air assault against the extremist group last week, going after its military facilities, training camps, heavy weapons and oil installations.
	The campaign expands upon the airstrikes the United States has been conducting against the militants in Iraq since early August.
	The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said coalition forces hit Islamic State group facilities overnight in Aleppo, Raqqa, Hassakeh and Deir el-Zour provinces.
	It said there were casualties, but that it did not have concrete figures. Among the facilities hit was the entrance to Syria's largest gas plant, Conoco in Deir el-Zour province, and grain silo in the extremist-held town of Manbij in Aleppo province.
	It said the gas facility itself was not 

US-led airstrikes hit 4 Syrian provinces

Military and other rescue workers began airlifting more than two dozen bodies from the ash-blanketed peak of a Japanese volcano this morning, as family members of the missing waited at a nearby elementary school.
	At least 31 people are believed to have died. Four victims were flown down yesteray, and rescuers returned to 3,067-metre (10,062-foot) Mt. Ontake on Monday morning to recover the remaining 27.
	Exactly how they died remains unclear, whether from toxic gases, suffocating ash, falling rocks or other causes.
	Scenes broadcast live on Japanese TV station TBS showed soldiers carrying yellow body bags one-by-one to a camouflage military helicopter that had landed in a relatively wide-open area of the now bleak landscape, its rotors still spinning.
	The first bodies were flown to a nearby athletic field, its green grass and surrounding forested hills contrasting with Mt Ontake's ash-gray peak in the background, a reduced plume still emerging from its crater.
	There, they were ...

Recovery of bodies underway at Japanese volcano

Police say two skydivers have died after crashing into a building during a tandem jump in Massachusetts.
	Barnstable police say the skydiving instructor and student died yesterday night, shortly after the crash near the Cape Cod Airfield.
	Centerville Fire Capt Sean Greene tells WBZ-TV that the pair landed on a building outside their designated landing area.
	Barnstable police Sgt David Myett tells the Boston Globe that it's unclear whether the skydivers' equipment malfunctioned. He says the district attorney's office will investigate their deaths.

2 skydivers die after landing on US building

A string of security lapses resulted in a four-day delay before the US Secret Service realized that a man had fired a high-powered rifle at the White House in 2011, an incident that could have put President Barack Obama's daughters at risk, according to a Washington Post investigation.
	At issue is what the Post calls the Secret Service's bungled response to the case of Oscar R Ortega-Hernandez, an Idaho man who was sentenced to 25 years in prison after firing at least seven bullets at the White House on November 11, 2011. The president and Michelle Obama were away, but their daughters were in Washington one at home and the other due to return that night.
	A White House usher expressed concerns about the safety of Malia Obama, who was to arrive within minutes of the reports of the shots, The Post reported. The usher told the staff to keep Sasha Obama and her grandmother, Marian Robinson, inside.
	The reports of shots fired that night were not connected to the White House until four ...

Report: Service bungled White House shooting

Conservatives won French Senate elections today to take control of parliament's upper house, handing President Francois Hollande's Socialists a new setback.
	The far-right National Front party also gained its first two Senate seats in the balloting.
	The Senate press office said a final count will await tallies from all of France's overseas holdings not likely until tomorrow, but it was already clear that the conservatives were back in control of the 348-seat chamber.
	A conservative win was expected, Senators are chosen by nearly 88,000 electors nationwide, including local officials who took office in a conservative victory in municipal elections six months ago.
	Socialists still control the National Assembly, which has final say in drafting laws. But control of the Senate victory gives conservatives a chance to delay legislative bills supported by Hollande possibly thwarting his reform agenda that has drawn plaudits for cost-cutting among some European partners like Germany, but has 

French conservatives capture control of Senate

Fifteen people have been wounded in a shooting that sent terrified patrons scrambling from a Miami nightclub early today, police said, adding the youngest victim is 11 years old.
	When Miami police and rescue crews arrived at a club called The Spot around 1 am, they said they found chaos among the large crowd of adults and teenagers gathered there. Rescuers found wounded people inside and outside the club, reporting some were too hurt to flee.
	At least one person was reported in critical condition but the extent of the other injuries wasn't immediately known. At least three of the victims were transferred to a paediatric unit.
	Some people were running, "people were screaming, people were saying they were shot," said Miami Fire Rescue Capt Ignatius Carroll said, speaking with The Associated Press.
	One male was found unresponsive and not breathing when emergency responders arrived. Five girls between 11 and 17 years old also suffered gunshot wounds, Carroll said.
	Details were sparse 

Police: 15 hurt in Miami nightclub shooting

Iranian state television has accused the BBC of trying to steal "artistic, historic and cultural documents" from government archives in the Islamic Republic.
	The BBC had no immediate comment on the claim, coming in a report aired today, though Iran has a history of accusing the British broadcaster as operating as a cover for spies and dissidents.
	The state television report said Iranian intelligence officials disrupted the alleged plot by "local dependents" of the BBC targeting "formal archives." It did not elaborate.
	The BBC's Farsi-language service is not authorized to operate in Iran, and working for the network is against the law. The BBC says Tehran also blocks its broadcasts into the country.
	In 2012, Iran arrested two filmmakers over alleged links to BBC. They were released later.

Iran state TV: BBC tried to steal from 'archives'

A news agency in Iran is reporting that the Islamic Republic has built a new surface-to-surface cruise missile capable of being launched from an airplane.
	The report today by the semi-official Fars news agency quotes Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the airspace department of the elite Revolutionary Guard, as saying that the missile has a range of 700 kilometres.
	Hajizadeh said the missile can be launched from land-based pads, naval vessels, aircraft, helicopters and drones.
	From time to time Iran announces building new military devices, which cannot be independently verified.
	Iran began a self-sufficient military programme in 1992, under which the country produces weapons from mortars to submarines.

Report: Iran builds surface-to-surface missile

Hong Kong police used tear gas today to try to clear thousands of pro-democracy protesters who had gathered outside government headquarters in a challenge to Beijing over its decision to restrict democratic reforms for the city.
	After spending hours holding the protesters at bay, police lobbed canisters of tear gas into the crowd this evening. The searing fumes sent protesters fleeing down the road, but many came right back to continue their demonstration.
	Students and activists have been camped out on the streets outside the government complex all weekend.
	Students started the rally, but by early today leaders of the broader Occupy Central civil disobedience movement said they were joining them to kick-start a long-threatened mass sit-in to demand an election for Hong Kong's leader without Beijing's interference.
	Authorities launched their crackdown after the protest spiralled into an extraordinary scene of chaos as the protesters jammed a busy road and clashed with officers ...

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