The president of Turkey has slammed the UN Security Council's inaction on some of the world's most pressing issues, accusing its members of rendering the world body ineffective.
	Speaking before the General Assembly meeting in New York yesterday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the UN has repeatedly failed to act, citing the Syrian civil war which has killed more than 200,000 people and this summer's Gaza War in which more than 2,000 people died.
	He also criticised Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi who spoke from the same podium shortly before.
	He said the democratically elected President of Egypt, Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, was overthrown by a coup, and the UN chose to legitimize the person who conducted this coup, a reference to El-Sissi.

Turkish leader slams UN Security Council

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British Prime Minister David Cameron and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the first such meeting since the Iranian revolution in 1979.
	A Cameron spokesman today said the two leaders agreed to seek to progressively improve their bilateral relationship.
	Cameron and Rouhani noted the threat posed to the region by the Islamic State militant group and "agreed that all states in the region must do more" to cut support for terrorists groups.
	Britain and Iran have recently taken steps to solidify relations.
	The spokesman said Cameron and Rouhani agreed it is vital to secure a comprehensive agreement in ongoing negotiations about Iran's nuclear programme.

UK-Iran meeting first since 1979 revolution

Conductor Christopher Hogwood, who pioneered the performance of 18th-Century composers like Bach and Handel on historically authentic instruments, has died. He was 73.
	His website said he died today at home in Cambridge following an illness lasting several months.
	In 1973, Hogwood founded the Academy of Ancient Music, an ensemble that played on period instruments and in period style as discerned from historical research.
	The result was a lighter, clearer sound now considered to better represent what the composers intended.
	Hogwood made more than 200 albums with the academy, including a 1980 performance of George Frideric Handel's much-loved oratorio "Messiah" that BBC Music Magazine ranked as one of the top 50 recordings of all time.
	He also had served as artistic director of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston.

Conductor Christopher Hogwood dies at 73

The Qatari emir has accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during this summer's 50-day war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
	Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani used his speech at the UN General Assembly today to urged world leaders not to receive Israeli leaders in their "diplomatic salons."
	More than 2,100 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, many of them children, were killed, while 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed on the Israeli side.
	The Qatari leader also called on the Security Council to pass a resolution forcing Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands according to a clear time table.

Qatar emir urges world to shun Israeli leaders

The Obama administration expects that a security agreement allowing US troops to remain in Afghanistan next year will be signed by the country's incoming president as early as next week.
	A senior US official told reporters today that the agreement would be signed by Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai or his designee "within days" of his inauguration next yesterday as president.
	The official spoke condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter by name.
	Ghani Ahmadzai and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, had both pledged to sign the pact that outgoing President Hamid Karzai negotiated with Secretary of State John Kerry but refused to sign.
	The deal will allow some 10,000 American forces to remain in Afghanistan next year after all combat troops are withdrawn at the end of 2014.

US: Afghan security deal may be signed next week

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi says Islamic extremists must not be allowed to abuse Islam and called for intensifying efforts to fight them.
	In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly today, he described terrorism as a plague.
	It is imperative, he said that the world intensifies cooperation and coordination to end the support for organizations.
	Egypt is not among Arab nations that joined the U.S. In airstrikes targeting the Islamic State group in Syria this week.
	In his speech, el-Sissi pledged to build a "new Egypt" that respects rights and freedoms.
	The former army general has faced international criticism for his ouster last year of Egypt's first freely elected president and his ferocious crackdown on Islamists that has killed more than 1,000 and imprisoned some 20,000.

Egypt's president says terrorism is a plague

Deborah, the dowager duchess of Devonshire, the last of the witty, unconventional Mitford sisters, died yesterday, her son said. She was 94.
	Brought up in Oxfordshire, England, Deborah was the youngest of the six sisters, but shunned the political alliances for which the Mitford girls were famous.
	One of the sisters, Unity, was a friend of Adolf Hitler, while another, Diana, was the second wife of Sir Oswald Mosley, the founder of the British Union of Fascists.
	Untouched by the famous associations, Deborah told the Daily Telegraph in 2012 that she took tea with Hitler during a visit to Munich in 1937 with her mother and sister. He made little impression.
	"Well, I've never been very interested in politics, you see," she told the newspaper. "And the truth is that I didn't give it much thought. If you sat in a room with Churchill, you were aware of this tremendous charisma. Kennedy had it too. But Hitler didn't, not to me anyway."
	The striking "Debo" was more focused on a domestic ..

Last of famous Mitford sisters dies at 94

A Kurdish organization has accused the Turkish government of backing Islamic State militants fighting with Kurds in Syria, and suggested that could jeopardize a truce that Kurdish rebels in Turkey began in March 2013.
	The statement was issued today by the Kurdish Communities Union, whose honorary leader is Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the Kurdish rebel group that has long fought Turkey for autonomy.
	The umbrella group accused Turkey of "waging a war against the Kurdish people" and vowed to step up its "struggle."
	It accused Turkey of supporting Islamic State group battling Syrian Kurdish forces along the Syria-Turkish border, and of stalling the peace process that it launched two years ago with the Kurdistan Workers' Party that led to the cease-fire in Turkey.

Kurds accuse Turkey of backing IS militants

Ugandan authorities today charged 10 suspects of Somali origin with terror-related offenses following their arrest in a raid on a suspected al-Shabab cell in this East African country.
	The terror suspects, including one woman, appeared in a court in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, charged with belonging to a terrorist group as well as aiding terror activities. Nine of them are Somali nationals and one is Kenyan.
	Prosecutors say the suspects belong to the al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group al-Shabab, which in 2010 claimed responsibility for bomb attacks that killed at least 76 people watching a soccer World Cup final on giant screens in Kampala.
	They are accused of being active members of al-Shabab from 2010.
	Uganda, which has troops fighting al-Shabab in Somalia, has been on alert amid concerns al-Shabab is plotting an attack similar to the deadly assault on a mall in Kenya a year ago.
	Uganda's security forces on September 13 raided at least two locations deep inside a Kampala 

10 suspects charged in Uganda over al-Shabab ties

A Red Cross team was attacked while collecting bodies believed to be infected with Ebola in southeastern Guinea, the latest in a string of assaults that are hindering efforts to control West Africa's current outbreak.
	One Red Cross worker is recovering after being wounded in in the neck in yesterday's attack in Forecariah, according to Benoit Carpentier, a spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
	Family members of the dead initially set upon the six volunteers and vandalized their cars, said Mariam Barry, a resident. Eventually a crowd went to the regional health office, where they threw rocks at the building.
	The attack is the most recent in a series that have plagued teams working to bury bodies safely, provide information about Ebola and disinfect public places.
	The most shocking was the abduction and killing last week in Guinea of eight people, health workers educating people about Ebola and the journalists accompanying them.
	Ebola ..

Red Cross team attacked while burying Ebola dead

Algerian extremists allied with the Islamic State group have decapitated a French hostage after France ignored their demand to stop airstrikes in Iraq, according to a video obtained today by a US-based terrorism watchdog.
	A group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, had said they would kill French mountaineer Herve Gourdel after abducting him Sunday unless France ended its airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq within 24 hours.
	The French government insisted it would not back down. In the video, masked gunmen from the newly formed group that split away from al-Qaida's North Africa branch, pledged their allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and said they were fighting his enemies. They criticised the French attacks in Iraq as well as its intervention against radical Islamists in Mali.
	Terrorism watchdog SITE Intelligence Group said the video had been posted on social networking site Twitter.
	Gourdel, a ...

Algerian extremists behead French hostage

Iraqi officials say Sunni militants have killed 19 Shiite militiamen in an ambush north of Baghdad.
	Police officials say the attack took place today afternoon when gunmen from the Islamic State extremist group opened fire with machine-guns on a convoy of Shiite militiamen travelling on a road in Babilan village. They said 39 other people were wounded in the attack.
	Babilan is about 90 kilometres north of Baghdad. Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information.
	Thousands of Iraqi Shiites answered a call from clergy in June to join security forces to fight the Islamic militants, who have captured large swaths of land in the country' west and north.

Sunni militants kill 19 Shiite militiamen in Iraq

The Federal Trade Commission alleges in a lawsuit that a Kansas bitcoin company bilked more than 20,000 customers out of up to USD 50 million.
	The FTC alleges that the Leawood-based company, Butterfly Labs, told consumers that computers could generate bitcoins but didn't deliver the computers or sent worthless equipment.
	The Kansas City Star reports that the FTC said yesterday the federal court in Kansas City issued a temporary restraining order that shutdown the business.
	The company said in a statement that it would fight the federal action and accused the government of wanting to shut down the company.
	Bitcoins are a way to buy and sell some goods and services instead of using dollars or other government money.

US government sues bitcoin business

The US bombed a suspected Islamic State staging area in eastern Syria today, as US warplanes also hit the militants' positions across the border in neighboring Iraq, US officials said.
	The airstrikes come a day after the US and five Arab allies opened their military operation against the Islamic State (IS) terror group in Syria with more than 200 strikes on some two dozen targets.
	That campaign, which President Barack Obama has warned could last years, expands upon the aerial campaign the US has already been conducting for more than a month against the extremists in Iraq.
	Along with its Arab partners, the Obama administration aims to destroy the Islamic State group, the extremist faction that has through brute force carved out a proto-state in the heart of the Middle East, effectively erasing the border between Iraq and Syria. The United Nations has accused the extremist faction of committing war crimes.
	The latest US strikes damaged eight Islamic State vehicles in Syria near the .

US strikes hit IS group staging area in Syria

The Qatar women's basketball team forfeited a match against Mongolia today and is considering withdrawing from the Asian Games competition after players were refused permission to wear a hijab.
	Confusion over the implementation of recently relaxed regulations outlined by the sport's international governing body, aimed at making the game more inclusive, could be the cause of the problem in Incheon.
	"The Qatari players ... Refused to take off the hijab," Asian Games Organising Committee spokeswoman Anna Jihyun You told The Associated Press. Ten minutes after the scheduled start, "At 4:25 p.M (local time), the match was declared forfeited and awarded to Mongolia."
	You said match officials did not receive any instructions to allow head coverings, and were only following the rules which restrict the use of headgear, hair accessories, and jewelry.
	"The organising committee is not involved in the rules, and the match officials did not have any directions from world body FIBA regarding ...

Qatar forfeits game in protest over hijab ruling

A UN Security Council committee has added 16 names to its al-Qaida sanctions list, including one with ties to the Islamic State group.
	Additions came yesterday after the council approved a resolution expanding the list's scope to include people affiliated with the extremist group that has taken over a huge area of land in Syria and Iraq.
	'Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Mustafa al-Qaduli of Iraq has been listed as a senior Islamic State group official who rejoined the group in 2012 after his release from prison.
	He and other individuals and entities added to the sanctions list face financial sanctions, a travel ban and arms embargo.
	The recent council resolution also urges the sanctions committee to consider listing more names of people who support the Islamic State group.

16 names added to UN's al-Qaida sanctions list

Samsung Electronics Co said today its latest Galaxy Note 4 smartphone will go on sale in China and South Korea later this week as its flagging mobile business tries to defend sales from Apple's new iPhones.
	Samsung said all three Chinese mobile carriers and all three South Korean mobile operators will begin Galaxy Note 4 sales on Friday.
	Samsung's announcement marks the first time the Korean company has released a flagship smartphone in China before other markets.
	Apple's iPhone 6 has yet to arrive in China, the world's most populous country. But Apple Inc still chalked up 10 million sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models in the first three days after the phones went on sale.
	Samsung's early move in China comes as the South Korean company faces challenges on multiple fronts. Its profit from the crucial mobile business has flagged and local brands in India and China have dented its sales of cheap phones.
	Apple's new iPhone 6 with its larger screen than previous models eliminates .

Samsung to launch new phone in China before Apple

US Secretary of State John Kerry is calling for North Korea to shut down its "evil system" of prison camps.
	Kerry spoke at a gathering of foreign officials and activists yesterday to draw attention to the findings of a UN commission of inquiry that in February concluded that North Korea's authoritarian government had committed crimes against humanity.
	Kerry said that abuses detailed in the commission's 400-page report "have no place in the 21st century."
	The UN commission estimated that between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners are currently detained in four large camps, where deliberate starvation has been used as a means of control and punishment.
	Kerry called for North Korea to acknowledge the abuses and hold those responsible to account.

US calls for NKorea to shut 'evil' prison camps

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he is considering expanding support for Western and Arab operations against the Islamic State group to include military involvement.
	His comments yesterday to Turkish reporters in New York mark a potential shift in Turkey's position on international efforts to fight the group, hours after the US and Arab allies launched airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria.
	Erdogan spoke on the sidelines of an annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry said he expects a more robust role for Turkey in the fight against the Islamic State group after Ankara secured the release of 49 Turkish hostages that were being held by the extremist group.
	Turkey, a US ally and NATO member, has so far not committed to a US-led coalition to take on the militants, who have swallowed large chunks of Syria and Iraq. It made commitments at various regional conferences to help in the effort against the ...

Turkey considers military role against ISIL

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has said he has asked for USD 3.8 billion in urgent aid to help rebuild Gaza following its devastating 50-day war with Israel this summer.
	Hamdallah told The Associated Press yesterday that Saudi Arabia has pledged USD 500 million and other nations have indicated they would join in.
	He spoke at the end of a donor meeting lead by Norway on the sidelines of a gathering of world leaders at the UN.
	The aid request comes as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas Abbas is preparing to submit a resolution to the UN Security Council seeking a three-year timetable for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the West Bank.
	Palestinian officials said the resolution will be handed in immediately after Abbas speaks at the UN General Assembly on Friday.
	The recent Gaza war has weakened Abbas domestically, with Hamas enjoying a surge of popularity among Palestinians for fighting Israel.
	He is under pressure at home to come up with a new political strategy ...

Palestinians seek USD 3.8B in aid for Gaza

The Vatican says it has put its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic under house arrest following allegations he sexually abused young boys in the Caribbean country.
	Josef Wesolowski has already been defrocked after the Vatican's canon law court found him guilty in June and imposed its toughest penalty: laicization, or returning to life as a layman.
	Today, the Vatican's separate criminal court opened a preliminary hearing into his case and ordered him placed under house arrest.
	A Vatican statement said Wesolwski presented medical documentation detailing health concerns that prevented a more restrictive type of detention.
	The Vatican has a few small detention rooms inside its police barracks. Wesolowski could face jail time if found guilty.

AP

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