US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Beijing not to drag its feet in trade negotiations in hopes of a better deal if he is voted out of office next year.
Negotiations are due to resume this month after a sharp deterioration in the year-long trade war in August.
US import tariffs rose more than on more than $100 billion in Chinese goods over the weekend.
"We are doing very well in our negotiations with China," Trump said on Twitter, claiming China's deteriorating economy could not withstand a long wait for a resolution.
"While I am sure they would love to be dealing with a new administration... 16 months PLUS is a long time to be hemorrhaging jobs and companies."
"And then, think what happens to China when I win. Deal would get MUCH TOUGHER!" Chinese state media reported Tuesday, meanwhile, that Republican Senators Steve Daines and David Perdue met in Beijing with Vice Premier Liu He, China's top negotiator in the trade talks.
The news followed word that efforts to get the trade 

US-China deal to be 'much tougher' in 2nd Trump term: Trump

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Several valuable idols and artefacts have been unearthed during renovation work at a historic Hanuman temple in this Pakistani city, a discovery which experts believe will help in determining the origin of the temple.
Shri Ram Nath Maharaj, the trustee of the Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir in Karachi's old Soldier Bazaar area, said the artefacts were discovered when renovation work started on the temple few days back.
"What is most surprising is that we didn't have to dig too deep. We only dug two or three feet deep to find them," he said.
The artefacts recovered include eight to nine Hanuman statues, along with the buffalo-like idols, the Ganesha idols, Sherawali Mata idols along with some earthen pots, he said.
Ravi Dawani, secretary general of the All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat confirmed to PTI on Tuesday that several idols and artefacts had been recovered from the temple site.
He said these artefacts would help determine the origin of the temple said to be over 1,500-year-old and ...

Artefacts unearthed during renovation work at historic Hanuman temple in Pakistan

Anti-crime authorities in the UK said on Tuesday that it has seized 472,740 pounds from a convicted Pakistani money launderer.
The confiscation order was granted last year after Kashaf Khan bought a 412,000 pounds house with money he claimed had been won with123 prize-winning tickets in the Pakistan lottery.
The 44-year-old made the purchase in his elderly father's name but the National Crime Agency (NCA) was able to establish that it was actually Khan who was the real purchaser of the property.
Kashaf Ali Khan wrongfully thought he could get away with funding his lifestyle by criminal means. Offenders like Khan play an enabling role for other criminals to move and clean the proceeds of crime. They will be relentlessly pursued by the NCA, said NCA investigating officer Phil Houghton.
The issue poses a priority threat for the NCA and we do everything possible to combat it. This order is a warning to those who believe they can benefit financially from a criminal lifestyle  crime doesn't 

UK recovers funds from Pakistani money-launderer

A 14-year-old boy shot and killed all five members of his family in the US state of Alabama and then called police and confessed to the crime, local law enforcement said Tuesday.
Three of the victims were found dead at the scene, a house in Elkmont, Alabama, and the other two died later after being airlifted to a regional hospital.
"The 14-year old caller was interviewed and confessed to shooting all five members of his family in the residence," Limestone County sheriff said on Twitter.
"He is currently assisting investigators in locating the weapon, a 9mm handgun that he said he tossed nearby," it said.
The shootings occurred late Monday.
The boy in custody was not identified, and there was no immediate word on a possible motive for the murders.
Gun violence is a prevalent feature in American life with more than 36,000 deaths a year -- about a third of them homicides -- according to statistics compiled by the Giffords Law Center, an advocacy group.

US boy shoots, kills all five members of family

The insurance payout on the beleaguered Boeing 737 MAX aircraft after two crashes claimed 346 lives will likely be the biggest ever, S&P Global Ratings said Tuesday.
Marc-Philippe Juilliard, a directer with S&P, told a press conference the twin crashes and the subsequent global grounding of the aircraft since March amounted to the "worst disaster in the history" of aviation insurance.
Besides the accidents, insurers and re-insurers must also cover the costs of grounding the aircraft which will rise the longer it lasts, Juillard said, adding that it was "too early" to estimate the eventual payout.
Boeing has repeatedly been forced to push back the expected clearance of the aircraft by aviation regulators as a series of problems has come to light, stoking demands from airlines with the 737 MAX, or waiting on deliveries, for compensation for their loss of business.
Many are now fixing December as the most probable date for the plane to resume flying again but there is ...

Boeing MAX 737 likely biggest ever insurance payout: SP

Vice President Mike Pence's staff is defending his decision to stay at one of President Donald Trump's properties while in Ireland amid criticism by Democrats that he's enriching Trump at taxpayers' expense.
Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, said Tuesday that the decision to stay at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg was made at Trump's "suggestion" and that Pence and his entourage won't be staying for free.
Short says Pence's office followed protocol and received State Department sign-off. He says the club is the "one facility" in the Doonbeg area that can accommodate Pence's team.
Pence is travelling with his wife, his mother and his sister. Short says Pence is personally covering costs for his mother and his sister.
Pence is commuting into Dublin for meetings with Irish officials.

Pence defends decision to stay at Trump property in Ireland

Republic of Congo is joining an international program that will grant the country 60 million euros (USD 65.6 million) to better protect the rainforest and fight climate change.
The country's president, Denis Sassou N'Guesso, will formally sign up for the Central African Forest Initiative during a meeting Tuesday in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The programme's financing is provided by a coalition of donors: the European Union, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
Conservationists consider the Congo Basin as the earth's second set of lungs, after the Amazon.
Macron pledged last week at the G-7 summit to help sub-Saharan African countries fight fires raging in the area that are being compared to the Amazon rainforest fires.

Republic of Congo to get global funds to protect rainforest

An official says Bangladesh's telecommunications regulatory body has asked operators to shut down cellphone services in sprawling camps in the southeast where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar live, citing a security threat.
Zakir Hossain Khan, a spokesman for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, said Tuesday they asked the operators to reply to the order within seven days.
More than 700,000 Rohingya fled a harsh security crackdown in Myanmar two years ago and are staying in refugee camps in Bangladesh.
In recent months, more than 40 Rohingya have been killed amid concerns that many refugees are involved with the smuggling of illegal drugs from Myanmar.

Bangladesh bans cellphone services in Rohingya camps

England have made one change in personnel to their side for the fourth Test against against Australia at Old Trafford, with fast bowler Craig Overton replacing the dropped Chris Woakes.
Somerset quick Overton was only drafted into the squad after it was confirmed James Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker, was ruled out with a calf injury.
The same injury prevented him from bowling in the series since his four-over spell in the first innings of Australia's 251-run win in the first Test at Edgbaston.
Overton's first wicket in Test cricket was Australia star batsman Steve Smith -- who will be returning to Ashes action this match after missing England's thrilling one-wicket win in the third Test at Headingley with concussion.
England captain Joe Root also confirmed during his pre-match press conference at Old Trafford on Tuesday the switch of positions between Jason Roy and Joe Denly, with World Cup winner Roy dropping down to number four after struggling as a Test ...

England call up Overton for fourth Test

Toy maker Lego said Tuesday its revenue rose 4 per cent in the first half of 2019 but significant investments to grow its business in China and India led to a 12 per cent drop in net profit.
The privately-held company reported first-half revenue of 14.8 billion kroner (USD 2.2 billion), while net profit dropped to 2.7 billion kroner (USD 400 million).
CEO Niels B. Christiansen said the group was "satisfied with our performance given the transformative shifts which continue to reshape the global toy industry."
Christiansen said that the investments were meant to grow existing operations, open new markets in China and India, and develop online sales platforms, among other things.
Consumer sales in established markets such as the Americas and Western Europe grew by single-digit percentages. China, which Lego called "a strategic growth market," continued its strong double-digit growth in consumer sales.
Lego has some 500 stores around the world carrying the toymaker's logo.
The group will 

Lego aims to expand sales in China, India

A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced a blogger to five years in a penal colony for a tweet calling for attacks on the children of police, a ruling his lawyer said was unprecedented.
Vladislav Sinitsa, 30, posted the tweets in the wake of a police crackdown against protesters who have called for free elections.
"It's an act of intimidation," said lawyer Denis Tikhonov after a Moscow district court found Sinitsa guilty of inciting hatred.
The charges fall under Russia's harsh anti-extremism legislation. Tikhonov told AFP the sentence was "without precedent in its severity".
The ruling also comes in the context of an ongoing squeeze on internet freedoms in Russia, where social media remains one of the few places where the opposition can communicate with relative freedom.
Sinitsa, who regularly posted on Twitter under the pseudonym Max_Steklov, was detained last month over a tweet he wrote on July 31.
Sinitsa, who is from a town outside Moscow, posted about attending several opposition ...

Russian blogger sentenced to five years over 'extremist' tweet

UN agencies said Tuesday they had emergency medical and food aid ready to help the people of the Bahamas after the devastating passage of Hurricane Dorian through the island chain.
They estimate that at least 61,000 people will need food aid after the monster storm hit the islands, officials told reporters in Geneva.
And damage to the islands' water system suggested that fresh water would be a priority in the coming days, said a statement from the UN's humanitarian affairs agency, the OCHA.
But UN experts were waiting for government clearance before assessing the situation on the ground, said OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke.
The OCHA statement said the authorities on Abaco island were talking of "catastrophic damage", while emergency officials on Grand Bahama were reporting massive flooding there.
Herve Verhoosel for the World Food Programme said their initial estimate suggested that 47,000 people would need food aid on Grand Bahama and another 14,000 on Abaco.
Emergency medical teams were 

UN agencies say ready with emergency aid for Bahamas

Hundreds of doctors in public hospitals across Zimbabwe went on strike on Tuesday demanding their salaries be pegged to the US dollar in the face of spiralling living costs.
"We are not in the wards, we are not at the hospitals. We simply do not have the means, we are incapacitated," Peter Magombeyi, president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, told AFP by phone.
Salaries are fast losing value as the southern African country battles a currency crisis and triple-digit inflation.
A junior doctor's monthly salary in the Zimbabwe currency is now equivalent to around $100, Magombeyi said.
"We don't have money for transport, we don't have money for food, we don't have money to pay our kids schools fees, we don't have rental and we can't keep on subsidising the employer anymore." Talks with the government on Monday failed to yield any solution.
"We were called to a meeting yesterday and they don't have any solid answer, they didn't give a position which addresses our concerns," ...

Zimbabwe public hospital doctors strike over pay

Eight students of a primary school in central China were killed and two others injured in a brutal knife attack carried out by an ex-convict, state-run media reported on Tuesday, in the third such assault on school children this year.
The incident happened at around 8:00 am on Monday at Chaoyangpo grade school in the town of Baiyangping at Enshi county at Hubei province, on the first day of the new academic year, according to the Global Times.
Eight children were stabbed to death, while two other students suffered injuries in the attack, it said.
The suspect, a 40-year-old local resident, was arrested immediately after the incident.
The man was an ex-convict who had spent over eight years in jail for attempting to gouge out his girlfriend's eye, the report said. He was released from jail in May.
The attacker's motive was not immediately clear.
The victims' ages were not released, but children at the school range between six and 13 years old.
The incident sparked public outrage as ...

8 primary school children killed in knife attack by ex-convict in China

Indonesia is imposing restrictions on foreigners visiting its restive Papua region, the government said Tuesday, after four Australians were deported over claims they took part in independence protests.
Papua, where a low-level insurgency against Indonesian control has simmered for decades, has seen two weeks of mass protests and deadly riots sparked by anger over racism and fresh calls for self-rule.
On Tuesday, Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto said the country would limit foreigners entering its easternmost territory -- which has popular beach destinations -- over safety concerns and to weed out suspected agitators.
"We'll temporarily limit (access to Papua)," the minister, who goes by one name, told reporters in Jakarta.
"That doesn't mean we won't allow anyone in. There will be filters based on security and safety issues," he added, without elaborating.
It was unclear whether the new restrictions would prevent foreign journalists from going to a region subject to a ...

Indonesia restricts foreigner travel to restive Papua

Hungarian prosecutors on Tuesday charged a Syrian man arrested in Budapest last year of terrorism and crimes against humanity including the beheading of an imam in Syria in 2015.
According to a statement from the Budapest Chief Prosecution Office, prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment without parole for the 27-year-old man, identified as F. Hassan.
The authorities believe he commanded a small unit of the Islamic State group in Homs province in 2015 tasked with terrorising and executing civilians and religious leaders who refused to side with the terror group.
He is accused of personally taking part in the beheading of an imam in the town of al-Sukhnah, as well as the murders of three other people in the area between May 13 and 15 in 2015.
His unit also killed at least 25 people in the town during the period including women and children, according to the prosecutors' statement.
Authorities in Malta, Greece and Belgium, as well as in Hungary, took part in the investigation, which ...

Hungary charges Syrian IS suspect with imam beheading

Horrific rights violations, including killings, torture and sexual violence, are being committed with impunity by all sides in Yemen's brutal conflict, UN war crimes investigators warned Tuesday.
The investigators, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2017, said they had "identified, where possible, individuals who may be responsible for international crimes" and had provided the confidential list to UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet.
If confirmed by an independent and competent court, many of the violations identified "may result in individuals being held responsible for war crimes," they said in a statement.
"The international community must stop turning a blind eye to these violations and the intolerable humanitarian situation," said Kamel Jendoubi, who heads the so-called Group of Independent Eminent International and Regional Experts.
Since 2015, fighting in Yemen has claimed tens of thousands of lives and sparked what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian ...

UN probe alleges war crimes, 'endemic impunity' in Yemen

Britain has made no concrete proposals on revising the Brexit agreement, and the prospect of a divorce without a deal remains "a very distinct possibility", the EU said Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the European Commission said "technical talks" were continuing on the diplomatic process but she had no progress on substance to report.
The comments came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists he will take Britain out the bloc with or without a deal on October 31 and rebel British MPs try to stop him.
"Our working assumption is that there will be Brexit on October 31," Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told reporters.
Asked whether it was possible that Britain and Europe would part ways without an agreement, she said: "I would say that it is a very distinct possibility." Britain's Brexit "sherpa", senior diplomat David Frost, is due in Brussels on Wednesday for talks with EU officials.
But Andreeva could offer nothing to dispel reports from London that Johnson's government has yet to ...

EU says UK has yet to show plan to revise Brexit deal

Spain's first major match-fixing trial began Tuesday with former Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera among 42 defendants charged over a 'suspect' 2011 match between his former club Real Zaragoza and Levante.
The accused made no comments as they arrived at the court in the eastern city of Valencia for the start of  proceedings which are expected to last until September 30.
Real Zaragoza's 2-1 win on May 21, 2011, the last match of the season, spared the club relegation from the Spanish first division.
But it triggered an investigation by Spain's anti-corruption prosecutors' office over suspect payments to playing staff and coaches.
Midfielder Gabi Fernandez, who currently plays in Qatar, scored both goals in Real's crucial victory. He is among the accused along with Herrera, who moved to Paris Saint-Germain over the summer on a free transfer from Old Trafford.
Real Zaragoza's coach at the time, Mexico's Javier Aguirre, is also on trial. Aguirre was sacked as Japan's coach in ...

Herrera in the dock as Spain match-fixing trial opens

Alexis Sanchez believes his failure to shine in a dismal 18 months at Manchester United prior to joining Inter Milan on loan was due to a lack of opportunities.
The Chilean moved to Italy on a 10-month loan deal last week with United still paying a large chunk of his reported ?400,000 ($484,000) a week wages.
Sanchez failed to live up to the expectations United had when signing him from Arsenal on a four-and-a-half year contract in January 2018, scoring just five times in 45 appearances for United.
However, he started just 31 of 77 games the Red Devils played during his time there and played the full 90 minutes on just 13 occasions.
"I've always said to my friends: I want to play," Sanchez told the BBC.
"If they would let me play I'll do my best. Sometimes I'd play 60 minutes then I wouldn't play the next game -- and I didn't know why."
Sanchez was signed with United second in the Premier League and aiming to close the gap on local rivals Manchester City, who were also interested in ..

Sanchez blames Man Utd flop on lack of game time

The body of a man found off a cliff in the south-east of England is believed to be that of the missing son of a Telangana BJP leader who was studying in London, according to police.
Ujwal Sriharsha Sanne, the son of Khammam district BJP president Sanne Uday Pratap, had been missing for a few days and a large-scale search was launched for the 24-year-old assisted by a police helicopter.
A body was recovered on Sunday at Beachy Head, a chalk headland cliffs in East Sussex country of England, a landmark which is infamous as a suicide spot in the UK.
"The body of a man was discovered at Beachy Head at 10pm on Sunday, which is believed to be that of missing 24-year-old Ujwal Sanne from London," a Sussex Police spokesperson said on Tuesday.
"The matter has been passed to the Coroner's Officer and next of kin have been informed," the spokesperson said.
Ujwal Sriharsha Sanne was studying for a tech related Masters degree at the Queen Mary University of London and his family in India were ...

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