As river levels in Poland fall to record lows amid a prolonged drought, Jewish tombstones and a Soviet fighter plane with the remains of its pilots have been found in the riverbank, evidence of Poland's tortured 20th-century history.
	Those discoveries follow the findings of stone fragments from the early 20th-century Poniatowski Bridge across the Vistula River in Warsaw, which the Germans blew up in 1944 as they crushed the Warsaw Uprising. The bridge was rebuilt after the war.
	"The Vistula River is hiding no end of secrets. They are everywhere," said Jonny Daniels, the head of Jewish foundation 'From the Depths' who waded today into a shallow area of the Vistula, picking up fragments of stones with Hebrew lettering.
	Officials knew that archaeological remnants remained hidden under wild and murky waters of the Vistula River and its tributaries, but it was impossible to carry out searches for them until now. The Vistula, which flows 1,047 kilometers (651 miles) from the Beskidy ...

Soviet WWII plane, Jewish tombstones found in Polish rivers

PTI Automatic

For one family in Sweden, a pioneering procedure has led to a baby being born from the same womb that nurtured his mother, uniting three generations.
	The new mother, who lost her own uterus to cancer in her 20s, said it was "unimaginable" that she now had her own child, thanks to her mother's donated womb.
	"It can't be described how happy we are," she told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview.
	"It's everything that I hoped for and a little bit more," said the woman, who asked that she and her mother not be identified in order to protect the privacy of her 9-month-old son.
	Dr Mats Brannstrom, who is behind the revolutionary process, has ushered in four babies-all boys with transplanted wombs; a fifth is on the way. He said there was something very special about this case: "It's one uterus bridging three generations of a family."
	Before his breakthrough, there had been two attempts to transplant a womb in Saudi Arabia and Turkey but no live births. Doctors in Britain, ...

3 generations of Swedish family linked by single womb

French authorities formally opened a terrorism investigation today after a thwarted attack on a high-speed train last week, saying the suspected attacker had watched a radical video onboard minutes before the violence.
	Prosecutor Francois Molins said today the decision to open an investigation was based on the actions by 26-year-old Moroccan suspect Ayoub El-Khazzani on the train Friday night and information from other European authorities about his travels and apparent radical links.
	Molins said El-Khazzani notably watched the online video on his phone minutes before he walked through the Amsterdam- to-Paris train carrying an assault rifle and other weapons.
	Authorities say that they found the suspect's phone in a bag left in the train. El-Khazzani boarded the train on Friday at a Brussels station.
	The gunman was tackled and tied up by a group of three American friends and a British businessman. Another man who tried to stop him - a French-American named Mark Moogalian - remained 

France formally opens terrorism probe in train attack

A Russian court convicted a prominent Ukrainian filmmaker on Tuesday of conspiring to commit terror attacks and sentenced him to 20 years in prison in what critics called a politically motivated show trial.
	The court in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don said Oleg Sentsov had set up a terror cell in the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed last year, and was plotting attacks. He will serve time in a maximum-security prison.
	Such lengthy prison sentences are rare in Russia even for politically tainted trials.
	Sentsov was tried along with local activist Alexander Kolchenko who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. As the judge wrapped up the session, the two men began to sing the Ukrainian national anthem.
	The 39-year-old Crimean native was a vocal opponent of Russia's 2014 annexation of the peninsula. Critics have dismissed his prosecution as retaliation for his pro-Ukrainian position.
	"The whole trial was designed to send a message. It played into Russia's propaganda war ...

Ukrainian filmmaker sentenced to 20 years by Russian court

The Islamic State group released propaganda images today that purport to show militants laying explosives in and then blowing up the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra.
	The images, posted on social media by supporters of the group, showed militants carrying barrels of explosives, and laying them inside the temple.
	Other smaller wired cans lay around the temple walls and columns. Then an image shows a grey plume of smoke rising above the temple from a distance, and then an image of the temple reduced to a pile of rocks.
	One caption read: "The complete destruction of the pagan Baalshamin temple."
	The Associated Press could not independently verify the images. However, they were released like other group propaganda and carried a logo it often used in the city of Palmyra, in Syria's central Homs province.
	The images also corresponded to prior AP reporting. A resident of Palmyra had told the AP the temple was destroyed on Sunday, a month ...

Islamic State images purport to show destroyed Syrian temple

Britain's Foreign Office says four Britons were among six people killed when a sightseeing seaplane crashed in a remote area of the Canadian province of Quebec.
	The ministry did not name the victims of Sunday's crash on the rugged North Shore of the Gulf of St Lawrence.
	The Foreign Office said today that British officials were in contact with Canadian authorities, and "our consular officers are ready to provide assistance."
	An official with operator Air Saguenay said the Beaver seaplane was on a sightseeing flight from Lac Long in Tadoussac, 480 kilometers northeast of Montreal, when it crashed. He said weather conditions were excellent at the time.
	Canadian officials said yesterday that all six people aboard had been found and their bodies handed over the coroner's office.

UK confirms 4 Britons among 6 killed in Quebec plane crash

At least 14 suspected members of a cell that recruited jihadi fighters for the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria were arrested today in a joint operation in Morocco and Spain, authorities said.
	Morocco's Interior Ministry said 13 people were arrested in raids in several cities across the country, including Nador and Hoceima on the Mediterranean coast close to the Spanish enclave of Melilla, as well as Fez and Casablanca.
	One of those detained had previously been arrested under the country's anti-terror law.
	A Spanish Interior Ministry statement said one person was arrested in the central town of San Martin de la Vega, just southeast of Madrid.
	It said the members of the group, whose leader was among those detained, maintained close contact with each other in Melilla.
	Both ministries said the network was aimed at recruiting fighters for the Islamic State to fight in Syria and Iraq and also to carry out IS-type actions in Morocco and Spain.
	Moroccan and Spanish authorities ...

14 arrested in anti-jihadi raids in Morocco, Spain

Russia today canceled a ban on the Russian-language Wikipedia, which barely lasted a few hours and caused a storm among Russian online users.
	The Russian communications watchdog sent out notifications to Internet providers late on Monday, instructing them to block access to Wikipedia in Russian after a provincial court ruled that its entry on hashish contains banned information.
	Internet users across Russia were reporting in the late hours of Monday that they weren't able to access Wikipedia's Russian version.
	The agency removed Wikipedia from the list of banned websites this morning, saying that the information in the article had been edited thus complying with the court decision. Internet users noted that Wikipedia didn't seem to have edited the entry but only renamed its title.
	Recent laws passed in Russia which classified as "banned" any information about drug use, suicide and anything that could be interpreted as inciting hatred have allowed authorities to clamp down on ...

Russia cancels short-lived Wikipedia ban

Two Greek coast guard vessels are searching the waters off the eastern coast of the island of Lesbos for four people still missing after a dinghy carrying migrants or refugees capsized while making its way across from the nearby Turkish coast.
	The search continued today, a day after the coast guard recovered two bodies and rescued six people after being alerted to the incident when a fishing boat picked up a man found in the sea.
	The body of a third man was also recovered Monday night, but from a different part of the island, leading authorities to suspect he might have died in a separate incident.
	Greece has been overwhelmed by more than 160,000 refugees and migrants so far this year. The vast majority arrive in Lesbos.

Greek coast guard search for 4 still missing after capsize

Russian authorities have begun to remove foreign brands of detergent and washing powder from stores, claiming that they pose health risks.
	The Consumer Protection Agency said in a statement today that recent inspections of selected goods by top foreign brands such as Colgate-Palmolive and Procter & Gamble have found high levels of toxic ingredients.
	Moscow extended its ban earlier this month on selected food imports from the EU and other countries. Russia, however, has not banned the imports of detergent and washing liquid and most of the producers mentioned by the agency have production facilities in Russia.
	The companies listed by the consumer protection agency have not immediately reacted to the allegations.

Russia removes foreign detergent, washing powder from shops

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today appointed Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to form an interim government that will lead the country into a new election, likely to take place on November 1.
	Erdogan formally called for a new election late yesterday, following an inconclusive vote in June, and the collapse of coalition-building efforts.
	Davutoglu has five days to form a temporary Cabinet - which would include opposition party legislators - to oversee the polls. However, two main opposition parties have already declared they would not participate in the interim administration.
	The opposition accuses Erdogan of triggering new elections in the hope that the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, which he founded, can win back the parliamentary majority it lost in June and again rule alone.
	Opinion polls however, suggest that the new election may not reverse the AKP's losses and another hung parliament is a possibility.
	Erdogan has said the election will take place on ...

Turkey's prime minister appointed to form interim government

Spanish authorities say at least 14 suspected members of a cell that recruited jihadi fighters for the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria have been arrested in a joint operation in Spain and Morocco.
	A Spanish Interior Ministry statement said the arrests took place today in the central Spanish town of San Martin de la Vega and in five Moroccan cities, including Casablanca and Fez.
	No more details were immediately available.
	Spain and Morocco have arrested dozens of suspected jihadi militants and recruiters in recent years.

14 arrested in anti-jihadi raids in Spain, Morocco

German police say a gym intended as temporary housing for refugees has burned to the ground in Nauen, about 15 kilometres (9 miles) west of Berlin.
	Brandenburg state police say they are working on the assumption that the fire was started deliberately. Nobody was injured.
	Far-right protesters had repeatedly demonstrated against the arrival of asylum-seekers in Nauen this year.
	Germany has seen a surge in refugees coming to the country this year, with officials predicting the number could reach 800,000 by the end of 2015.
	While most Germans have been welcoming to the refugees, a minority has vocally opposed them. Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday condemned neo-Nazi riots outside a home for asylum seekers in Heidenau, south of Dresden, over the weekend.

Suspected arson attack on refugee shelter near Berlin

An Afghan health official says 11 people, mostly children, died when a truck transporting gas canisters exploded outside the western city of Herat.
	Rafiq Sherzai, spokesman for the Herat Regional Hospital, said today that 18 people were also wounded in the blast late yesterday.
	He says the blast happened inside the compound of a gas supply company adjacent to a camp for internally displaced people. The explosion was so powerful that the burning truck was flung into the camp, he says.
	Of the 11 dead, 10 were children, he says. Four of the wounded were sent to Iran for treatment with burns to more than 90 per cent of their body, Sherzai says.
	Gas explosions are not uncommon in Afghanistan, where bottled gas is used for household cooking nationwide.

Afghan official: 11 dead in gas explosion in western city

Congressional supporters of the Iran nuclear deal see growing momentum on their side in the Senate, raising the possibility they'll be able to block a disapproval resolution and protect President Barack Obama from having to use his veto pen.
	Such an outcome which looked all but inconceivable in the days after the deal was signed July 14, and remains a long-shot would be a major victory for Obama, who is staking his foreign policy legacy largely on the agreement struck by the US, Iran and five world powers to dismantle most of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for billions in sanctions relief.
	It would take 41 Democratic senators to block the disapproval resolution scheduled for a vote next month; only 34 would be required to uphold an Obama veto of such a resolution.
	As of now 28 Democratic senators publicly support the deal, with just two opposed. But supporters feel so confident that they can get to 34 that some have begun to say in private that 41 may even be in reach.
	Many ...

Supporters of Iran agreement feel momentum on Capitol Hill

A California-based Catholic priest was sentenced to six months in prison followed by six months of home confinement for groping a sleeping woman seated next to him on an airliner.
	Marcelo de Jesumaria, 46, was sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles yesterday. A jury found him guilty in May of felony abusive sexual contact after a mistrial in March.
	Jesumaria touched the sleeping woman's buttocks, breast and groin during a nighttime flight last August from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, according to prosecutors.
	The woman, a model, says she woke up as Jesumaria was touching her and reported the abuse to flight attendants and later an FBI agent.
	Jesumaria told the agent that he enjoys "cozy flights" with women and purposefully changed his seat to be next to the woman, but he denied touching her, according to prosecutors.
	Prosecutors say Jesumaria was able to switch seats by lying to a flight attendant that the woman was his wife.
	Jesumaria's attorney, Steven Cron, argued that his 

California priest gets prison in sexual abuse during flight

El Salvador's supreme court has declared the country's street gangs and those who finance them as terrorist groups.
	The court yesterday said that the well-known Marasalvatrucha or MS-13 gang and any other gang that attempts to claim powers that belong to the state would be considered terrorists. It defined terrorism as the organised and systematic exercise of violence.
	The court's declaration came as a denial to four attempts to declare the country's Special Law Against Terrorist Acts unconstitutional. The court found that telephone wiretaps and the freezing of funds belonging to third parties tied to terrorist groups are constitutional, among other issues.
	The court spoke on the same day that El Salvador's attorney general said an order to kill gang members in a prison over the weekend came from inside another prison.
	Luis Martinez said yesterday that the slaughter of 14 gang members inside the Quezaltepeque prison in western El Salvador came from the San Francisco Gotera prison .

El Salvador's supreme court declares gangs terrorist groups

The thousand-mile journey to the Texas border was supposed to bring the Guatemalan teenagers to a better life.
	Instead, it was the beginning of a terrible ordeal: Prosecutors say they were fraudulently plucked from US custody by conspirators posing as friends or family who forced them to work as virtual slaves.
	As the country's immigration system was being overwhelmed by an unprecedented flow of unaccompanied children fleeing unrest in Central America, one of their countrymen orchestrated the scheme to force them to work on egg farms in Ohio, prosecutors said.
	Arodolo Rigoberto Castillo-Serrano pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Cleveland to single counts of forced labor conspiracy, forced labor, witness tampering and encouraging illegal entry into the country. His sentencing date is to be set.
	Castillo-Serrano, a 33-year-old Guatemalan, has been in the US illegally for much of the past decade, prosecutors say.
	In some cases, prosecutors say, he made victims' family ...

Man admits forcing immigrant teenagers into egg farm work

Saudi Arabia has executed at least 175 people over the past 12 months, on average one person every two days, according to a report released today by Amnesty International.
	The 43-page report titled "Killing In the Name of Justice: The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia" said that between January 1985 and June 2015, at least 2,208 people were executed in the kingdom.
	An Associated Press tally based on official announcements shows that Saudi Arabia executed 109 people since January, compared to 83 in all of 2014.
	The kingdom follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law and applies the death penalty to a number of crimes including murder, rape and drug smuggling. Though not as common, Saudi Courts allow for people to be executed for adultery, apostasy and witchcraft.
	People can also be executed for crimes committed when they were below 18 years of age.
	"Saudi Arabia's faulty justice system facilitates judicial executions on a mass scale," Said Boumedouha, acting director of Amnesty's ..

Amnesty report finds Saudi Arabia executed 175 in past year

US Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone's military unit is nominating him for the prestigious Airman's Medal in honour of his actions to subdue a heavily armed gunman on the Amsterdam-to-Paris train last Friday, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told reporters.
	And Stone whose nickname from his training days has been "Captain America" could eventually be eligible for the Purple Heart, if French authorities conclude the attack was a terrorist event, according to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A Welsh.
	Stone, US Army Spec. Alek Skarlatos, their friend Anthony Sadler and British businessman Chris Norman, all jumped on the gunman as he moved through the train with an assault rifle strapped to his chest. The four received France's highest award, the Legion d'Honneur, on yesterday.
	"Had it not been for this heroic quartet, I'm quite sure that today we would be sitting here discussing a bloodbath instead of what, in fact, we are going to discuss," James said during a Pentagon news ...

US airman on Paris-bound train could get Air Force medal

An ancient temple in the Syrian town of Palmyra was reduced to rubble by Islamic State militants, a witness said today, confirming the complete destruction of the ancient monument in what UNESCO said was a "war crime."
	The UN cultural agency called the destruction of the temple, part of a sprawling Roman-era complex that was once among the most popular tourist sites in the Middle East, an "immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity."
	Kishore Rao, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, said the ancient oasis city of Palmyra sat at a crossroads between the Roman empire, Persia, China and India, and that its soaring architecture was a "masterpiece of human creative genius."
	"The destruction of any part of it is equally deplorable," Rao told The Associated Press.
	Activists outside Palmyra reported the demolition of the Temple of Baalshamin late yesterday, but there were conflicting accounts of the timing and the extent of the destruction.
	The witness, who goes by the .

AP

AP

Page 2120 - Ap/pti