Teen stars Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary staged a remarkable comeback to claim the mixed 10m air pistol gold, providing a fitting finale to India's unprecedented dominance of the medal tally in the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol stage here.
Representing the other Indian team in the same event, Yashaswini Deswal and Abhishek Verma won the silver as the country picked up the maximum possible medals on the final day of the tournament.
The results ensured an unprecedented top finish for India across all four ISSF World Cup stages this year, including the lone junior world cup. India's final tally here stood at five gold, two silver and two bronze medals for a total of nine. No other country won more than one gold medal here.
World number one in women's 10m air rifle, Apurvi Chandela, had earlier partnered Deepak Kumar to win India their fourth gold on the concluding day of the event. The pair won the top medal in the mixed air rifle event.
Anjum Moudgil and Divyansh Singh Panwar, ...

Shooting World Cup: Manu-Saurabh win gold, unprecedented top finish for India

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be honoured later this month with the prestigious 'Global Goalkeeper Award' by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for his leadership and commitment to the Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan.
The prime minister will also address global leaders and corporate executives at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum during his visit here for the high-level UN General Assembly (UNGA) session.
Sources told PTI that Modi will be presented with the 2019 'Global Goalkeeper Award', which according to the Foundation is a "special recognition" that celebrates a political leader who has "demonstrated their commitment to the Global Goals through impactful work in their country and/or globally".
Modi will be honoured for his leadership of the Swachch Bharat Mission, which he had launched on October 2, 2014.
The ambitious mission aims at accelerating the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage in the country by this year as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth ...

PM Modi to be honoured by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for Swachch Bharat Abhiyan

Hong Kong's embattled leader insisted Tuesday she had no intention of stepping down, after an audio recording emerged of her saying she wanted to quit and apologise for causing the unrest that has rocked the southern Chinese city.
Hong Kong has endured three months of violent pro-democracy protests, triggered by opposition to Chief Executive Carrie Lam's bid to push through a law allowing extraditions to mainland China.
The protests evolved into a wider democracy campaign involving violent clashes between protesters and police, in the biggest challenge to China's rule of Hong Kong since its 1997 handover from the British.
"I told myself repeatedly in the last three months that I and my team should stay on to help Hong Kong," Lam told a press conference on Tuesday morning.
Lam said she had "not even contemplated" discussing resigning with the Chinese government, which gives Hong Kong a restricted form of autonomy but ultimately is in charge of the territory.
Lam was speaking after the .

Hong Kong leader insists she will stay on

Barcelona forward Rafinha has joined Celta Vigo on loan until the end of the season, the clubs has announced.
Rafinha spent a year on loan at Celta in 2013-14 and will rejoin the Galician side in the hope of being given more opportunities to play.
Barca have also extended Rafinha's contract to prevent the Brazilian being able to leave on a free next summer.
"FC Barcelona and the Rafinha player have reached an agreement for the renewal of his contract until the end of the 2020/21 season," Barca said in a statement on Monday.
"Likewise, FC Barcelona and Celta have reached an agreement for the transfer of the player for the 2019/20 season." Celta will pay Rafinha's contract and could owe Barcelona a further 1.5 million euros in potential add-ons.
Brought through at Barcelona with his brother Thiago Alcantara, who is at Bayern Munich, Rafinha's career has been interrupted by serious knee injuries in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
He has also struggled for minutes under Ernesto Valverde and looked ..

Barcelona's Rafinha joins Celta on loan

The transfer window shut gently across much of Europe with a flurry of loan deals instead of the anticipated bang of a mega-move.
Several big-name players did change clubs on loans, including Mauro Icardi, Nikola Kalinic on loan from Atletico Madrid and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The biggest names among the permanent transfer were a pair of Central American veterans: Keylor Navas and Javier Hernandez.
The closure of the window on Monday interrupted the saga surrounding of Neymar, the world's most expensive player, who will stay at Paris Saint-Germain having failed to get the move back to Barcelona he craved for.
Real Madrid had also been linked with Neymar as well as Manchester United World Cup winner Paul Pogba and Tottenham's Christian Eriksen as part of the expensive refurbishment of Zinedine Zidane's squad.
Pogba excited some suspicious speculation earlier in the day when he dropped out of France's two upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers with an "ankle problem." Real did do one deal with PSG. .

Transfer window ends with star loans rather than huge deals

Neymar's decision to join Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 was motivated by a desire to establish himself as the best player in the world, but a troubled time in the French capital has left the Brazilian at risk of wasting the best years of his career.
The closure of the transfer window has finally brought to an end the lengthy saga surrounding the future of the world's most expensive player, who will stay at PSG having failed to get the move back to Barcelona he craved.
His former club could not complete a deal to rescue the 27-year-old from his apparent nightmare in Paris, with Neymar so determined to return that sports daily L'Equipe reported he offered to pay 20 million euros from his own pocket towards the fee.
PSG paid 222 million euros for his services, while committing reported wages of 36 million euros a year.
Yet he has not done nearly enough at the Parc des Princes in two seasons marred by injuries and interrupted by off-field distractions.
In August 2017, the desperation of ...

Neymar and PSG left to pick up pieces as transfer saga ends

Australia head into the fourth Test at Old Trafford starting Wednesday hoping Steve Smith and the boxer Muhammad Ali can revive their campaign following the hurt they felt at having the Ashes "stolen" from them by England.
The tourists were on the brink of retaining the Ashes only for Ben Stokes's superb 135 not out delivered England a stunning one-wicket win in the third Test at Headingley.
Stokes's heroics have left the five-match series poised at 1-1 with two to play.  Australia coach Justin Langer said his Ashes-holders would now take heart from an incident in Ali's childhood.
"He got his bike stolen and that was the fire he needed to become the greatest boxer of all time," said Langer.
"We felt a bit like we got the Ashes stolen the other day. They won that Test match, so we felt a bit like it'd been stolen from us.
"Now we've got to work out what we're going to do, and use that as fire.  We're not going to feel sorry for ourselves and let it slip," added Langer, aiming to ...

Australia look to Smith after England 'steal' Ashes

Christian Coleman has been cleared to take part in this month's World Athletics Championships after the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) dropped charges against him on a technicality, a statement said.
US sprinter Coleman, the fastest man over 100m this year, had been facing a two-year suspension after drug-testers were unable to locate him on three separate occasions in a 12-month period.
However, USADA said in a statement that after receiving guidance from the World Anti-Doping Agency on how the 12-month window should be calculated, it was withdrawing its case.
"Consistent application of the global anti-doping rules is essential in every case," USADA chief executive Travis Tygart said in a statement on Monday.
"In this case we applied the rules to Mr Coleman in the manner that USADA understands should be applied to any other international-level athlete.
"We must approach every case with the primary goal of delivering fairness to athletes under the rules and providing ...

US sprinter Coleman cleared as USADA withdraws case

Rafael Nadal ramped up his quest for a fourth US Open title with an impressive win over 2014 champion Marin Cilic to advance to the quarter-finals while Alexander Zverev slumped to a four-set defeat.
Second seed Nadal -- the winner at Flushing Meadows in 2010, 2013 and 2017 -- produced some electrifying moments of brilliance to end the challenge of Croatia's Marin Cilic 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-2 on Monday.
After barely breaking a sweat in reaching the last 16, a run that included a second-round walkover, Nadal stared down his stiffest test so far to surge into a quarter-final meeting with Argentine 20th seed Diego Schwartzman.
The Spaniard exchanged the first two sets with Cilic but grasped control by breaking for 3-1 in the third, a series of dazzling winners drawing an animated fist-pump from golf legend Tiger Woods at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Nadal reeled off nine games in succession across the third and fourth sets and 12 of the final 15 to nail down a 40th Grand Slam quarter-final appearance, .

Nadal reigns in clash of former US Open champs as Zverev exits

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro will skip a regional summit on fires that have devastated swaths of the Amazon because doctors want him to get ready for surgery scheduled for next week, a spokesman said Monday.
The far-right president has been widely criticised over his support for Amazon deforestation and a delayed reaction to wildfires that have hit the rain forest.
Bolsonaro has to go on a liquid diet starting Friday, the same day as the summit in Colombia, and this makes the trip unfeasible, said spokesman Otavio Rego Barros.
Brazil is considering sending a substitute or even asking that the meeting be postponed, said the spokesman.
Bolsonaro is due to undergo surgery Sunday to correct an incisional hernia, his fourth operation since he was stabbed nearly a year ago during the presidential campaign.
Doctors said Bolsonaro would need 10 days' rest following the operation, which would be performed in Sao Paulo.
Earlier Monday, the president vowed to defend his controversial Amazon 

Brazil president to skip Amazon summit on doctor's orders

Monster storm Dorian hovered over the Bahamas Monday as surging seawaters and ferocious winds sowed chaos in low-lying island communities, killing at least five people and spurring mass evacuations on the US east coast.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis termed the hurricane a "historic tragedy" for the archipelago.
"Thus far, the Royal Bahamas Police Force has confirmed that there are five deaths in Abaco," Minnis told a news conference, referring to the islands where Dorian made landfall as a Category 5 storm on Sunday, packing blistering winds of 185 miles per hour (290 kilometers per hour).
"Teams will go to Abaco as soon as possible for a full and proper assessment and identification," he said.
As Dorian ground to a standstill, pounding Grand Bahama further to the west of the island chain, the Bahamas tourism and aviation ministry announced the start of rescue operations "in parts where it is safe."
US forecasters said the storm would keep hammering the Bahamas overnight into ..

Dorian kills five in Bahamas, US evacuates coast

Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary staged a remarkable comeback to claim the mixed 10m air pistol gold, ending India's campaign on a rousing note in the World Cup here.
Representing the other Indian team in the same event, Yashaswini Deswal and Abhishek Verma won the silver as India picked up the maximum possible medals on the final day of the tournament.
World number one in women's 10m air rifle, Apurvi Chandela, had earlier partnered Deepak Kumar to win India their fourth gold on the concluding day of the event. The pair won the top medal in the mixed air rifle event.
The results ensured an unprecedented top finish for the country across all four ISSF World Cup stages this year including the lone junior world cup.
Anjum Moudgil and Divyansh Singh Panwar, representing India 2, who won the previous two World Cup editions of the same event, won bronze as India continued to reach never-before-seen heights in rifle and pistol shooting.
In the air pistol final, the pair of Manu Bhaker and .

Manu-Saurabh win gold, unprecedented finish for India

A woman running for small town mayor and a candidate for city council were among six people shot and killed in Colombia, an official said Monday.
An armored car carrying all six was hit by long-range weapons and later set on fire in the attack Sunday night in southwest Cauca department, the regional ombudsman Jair Rossi told AFP.
Karina Garcia was running for mayor of the town of Suarez in October elections. The other fatalities included her mother and the city council candidate.
The Suarez area is torn by violence stemming from drug trafficking and illegal mining, Rossi said.  Garcia had received threats from supporters of other candidates, her father Orlando Garcia said.
The High Commissioner for Peace, Miguel Ceballos, blamed the attack on the leader of a local group of dissidents who broke with the leftist FARC rebel army.
Most of the group accepted a peace deal with the government in 2016. But its chief negotiator Ivan Marquez and other leaders announced last week they were ...

Two Colombian politicians, four others killed

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro will skip a regional summit on fires that have devastated swaths of the Amazon because doctors want him to get ready for surgery scheduled for next week, a spokesman said Monday.
The far-right president has been widely criticized over his support for Amazon deforestation and a delayed reaction to wildfires that have hit the rain forest.
Bolsonaro has to go on a liquid diet starting Friday, the same day as the summit in Colombia, and this makes the trip unfeasible, said spokesman Otavio Rego Barros.
Brazil is considering sending a substitute or even asking that the meeting be postponed, said the spokesman.
Bolsonaro is due to undergo surgery Sunday to correct an incisional hernia, his fourth operation since he was stabbed nearly a year ago during the presidential campaign.
Doctors said Bolsonaro would need 10 days' rest following the operation, which would be performed in Sao Paulo.
Earlier Monday, the president vowed to defend his controversial Amazon 

razil president to skip Amazon summit on doctor's orders

Restrictions on access to dollars took effect in Argentina on Monday as the government tries to control a rapid loss of foreign reserves and an accelerating devalution of the currency.
The measure says residents can't buy more than $10,000 a month without permission from the Central Bank. Institutions need permission for lesser sums. It also says that dollars earned for exports should be brought into the company within five days of the time they are paid. Importers also need permission to make payments.
It also bars people from buying dollars to pay domestic debts.
The measures are far less restrictive than those imposed by the government of former President Cristina Fernndez, which restricted even spending on vacations abroad and taxed credit card transactions in dollars, leading to the rise of a currency black market.
But they still alarmed many Argentines who recall past crises, and lines formed outside several banks in the capital.
President Mauricio Macri's government imposed the 

Restrictions on hard currency take effect in Argentina

Former Guatemalan first lady and presidential runner-up Sandra Torres was arrested Monday on charges of campaign finance violations, the latest high-profile political figure to face allegations of malfeasance even as a U.N. anti-graft commission is set to shut down.
Investigators searched Torres' Guatemala City home in the morning and transported her to court, handcuffed, with her face obscured by a scarf, a hood and dark glasses. She told journalists she was the victim of a political vendetta.
Prosecutors said she is accused of unregistered electoral financing and illicit association related to the 2015 election and the National Unity of Hope party, of which she was both candidate and general secretary. According to investigators the party did not properly register some $3.6 million in financing for her campaign.
The investigation found that several businesses financed the party through the payment of commissions, diversion of funds and bribes to various public and private ...

Guatemala arrests ex-1st lady, presidential runner-up Torres

Hurricane Dorian unleashed massive flooding across the Bahamas on Monday, pummelling the islands with so much wind and water that authorities urged people to find floatation devices and grab hammers to break out of their attics if necessary. At least five deaths were blamed on the storm.
"We are in the midst of a historic tragedy," Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said, calling the devastation "unprecedented and extensive." The fearsome Category 4 storm slowed almost to a standstill as it shredded roofs, hurled cars and forced even rescue crews to take shelter until the onslaught passed.
Officials said they received a "tremendous" number of calls from people in flooded homes. A radio station received more than 2,000 distress messages, including reports of a 5-month-old baby stranded on a roof and a grandmother with six grandchildren who cut a hole in a roof to escape rising floodwaters. Other reports involved a group of eight children and five adults stranded on a highway and two storm ...

Dorian triggers massive flooding in Bahamas; at least 5 dead

Minutes after a Hezbollah anti-tank missile exploded on an Israeli army base, an Israeli military helicopter touched down and medics loaded a soldier on a stretcher aboard. By the time it landed at a Haifa helipad minutes later, TV cameramen were at the scene to film paramedics transferring the soldier into a waiting ambulance.
Only it turns out there were no wounded Israeli soldiers. By Monday morning, Israeli media reported on the "deception operation" the military had waged against the Lebanese militant group the day before in the thick of the fog of war.
The Israeli military's aim: to convince Hezbollah that it had scored a direct hit on a military vehicle and inflicted Israeli casualties, and therefore cease fire.
The militant group Hezbollah said its missile attack was retaliation for an Israeli airstrike in Syria a week earlier that killed two of its members. Israel said its bombardment on the outskirts of Damascus thwarted an imminent Hezbollah drone strike force organized by .

Reports: Israeli army faked casualties in Hezbollah attack

A Catholic school in Tennessee has removed the Harry Potter books from its library after the school's priest decided they could cause a reader to conjure evil spirits.
In an email obtained by The Tennessean, the Rev. Dan Reehil of Nashville's St. Edward Catholic School said he consulted exorcists in the U.S. and Rome who recommended removing the books.
Reehil wrote, "The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text."
Catholic Diocese of Nashville superintendent Rebecca Hammel said Reehil has the final say at his school.
Hammel said she thinks the books by J.K. Rowling are still on the shelves of other libraries in the diocese.

Harry Potter removed from Tennessee Catholic school library

A massive explosion rocked central Kabul late Monday, killing at least five people in a Taliban-claimed attack near an international complex while the US special envoy leading talks with the insurgents visited the Afghan capital.
The blast took place in a residential area near Green Village, a large compound that houses aid agencies and international organisations, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said.
It came while Afghanistan's main TV station Tolo News aired an interview with the US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who was discussing a potential deal with the Islamist extremist Taliban that would see the US withdraw forces from five bases across Afghanistan.
Gunfire could be heard in the aftermath of the blast along with a secondary explosion when a nearby petrol station caught fire, sending plumes of smoke into the night sky.
"Five bodies and 50 wounded -- all civilians -- have so far been evacuated from the area," Rahimi said, noting the toll could rise.
Green Village is ...

Five dead in Taliban attack on Kabul as US envoy visits

Gunmen attacked a bus station in Mexico Monday, killing five people and wounding one in Cuernavaca, a picturesque colonial city popular with tourists, authorities said.
The security commission for the state of Morelos, of which Cuernavaca is the capital, said the gunmen staged a "targeted" attack, seeking out specific victims at the Estrella de Oro bus station, near the city center.
Local media reports said the gunmen killed three victims aboard a bus, one in the waiting area and one in a bathroom.
Morelos is the scene of a turf war between at least five different drug cartels, according to authorities.
The bus station shooting came after a violent weekend in which at least 15 people were murdered in various incidents in the state, according to media reports.
Mexico has been hit by a wave of violence since the government deployed the army to fight powerful drug cartels in 2006. Since then, more than 250,000 people have been murdered.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador acknowledged .

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