Hurricane Joaquin has battered parts of the Bahamas with heavy rains and winds after it was reclassified up to the second strongest type of storm.
Sustained winds of up to 130mph were reported in parts of the eastern Bahamas, the US National Hurricane Center said.
The NHC says Hurricane Joaquin could affect the US East Coast by October 4, and said it was now an “extremely dangerous” storm.
Emergency teams said there were no reports of casualties in the Bahamas.
Forecasters in the US and the Bahamas are warning that central islands, many of which are low-lying, could see a storm surge of up to 12ft.
“We do not know the impact of 130mph on those areas,” Bahamas PM Perry Christie said.
Photo AccuWeather
“We know it’s a horrific kind of experience.”
Images on social media showed water reaching close to the roofs of some homes. The Tribune 242 website said dozens of people were trapped in their homes in the southern Bahamas.
After being classified only as a storm on September 30, Joaquin had become a Category Four hurricane – on a scale of five – by October 1.
The NHC said the storm could strengthen again as it nears the central Bahamas, but it is likely to lose strength as it moves north.
States along the eastern US coast – many of whom have suffered heavy rains in recent days – have warned residents to take precautions.
But the NHC, while warning the path of the hurricane could change, said it was “becoming optimistic that the Carolinas and the mid-Atlantic states will avoid the direct effects from Joaquin”.
Meanwhile, the governors of New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and North and South Carolina declared states of emergency. One person was killed by flash floods in Spartanburg, South Carolina and schools in Charleston will be closed on October 2, local media reported.
Cuba has also issued warnings for four eastern provinces.
A White House spokesman said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was following the progress of Hurricane Joaquin and preparing in case it made landfall in the US.
The CIA has decided to withdraw its staff from the US embassy in China after data stolen from government computers could expose its agents, the Washington Post reports.
In April, data about some 21 million federal employees was stolen in a massive attack on the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Security companies have blamed Chinese state hackers for the attack.
Removing the CIA staff was “precautionary”, agency officials told the Washington Post.
The CIA declined to comment directly on the matter.
Information about CIA staff was not in the massive cache of files stolen from OPM computers, but other records about background checks carried out by the State Department on employees were copied in the raid.
The CIA fears that by comparing the list of those who have been checked with the roster of known embassy personnel could help the Chinese expose its intelligence workers.
Those working at the embassy but not checked by the State Department were CIA agents, said the newspaper, citing “unnamed officials”.
The danger that trawling through the data would expose intelligence agents was also raised by CIA Director James Clapper during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
James Clapper said the breach had “potentially very serious implications” for the intelligence community by identifying its agents in other countries.
“This is a gift that’s going to keep on giving for years,” he told the Senate committee looking into the cyber-threats facing the US and the steps the nation took to combat them.
James Clapper added the US itself engaged in the types of cyber-attacks China had been accused of.
Hackers accessed the social security numbers, birthdates and other personal information belonging to about 15 million T-Mobile wireless customers and applicants, credit reporting agency Experian said on October 1.
The breach was at a unit of Experian, which T-Mobile uses to process information on subscribers.
Experian said T-Mobile customers who applied for wireless service between September 1, 2013 and September 16, 2015 may have had their information stolen.
Names, birth dates and social security numbers are among data stolen, but not financial details, the companies said.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere said his company would review its link with Experian.
“Obviously I am incredibly angry about this data breach,” he said.
In a statement, John Legere said: “I take our customer and prospective customer privacy very seriously. This is no small issue for us.
“I do want to assure our customers that neither T-Mobile’s systems nor network were part of this intrusion and this did not involve any payment card numbers or bank account information.
“Experian has assured us that they have taken aggressive steps to improve the protection of their system and of our data.”
Experian North America chief executive Craig Boundy said in his own statement: “We sincerely apologize for the concern and stress that this event may cause.”
It was unclear when the breach was discovered, but Experian said the matter was reported to the authorities immediately after it learned of the hack.
Experian said in a statement: “We continue to investigate the theft, closely monitor our systems, and work with domestic and international law enforcement. Investigation of the incident is ongoing.
“Experian is notifying the individuals who may have been affected and is offering free credit monitoring and identity resolution services for two years. In addition, government agencies are being notified as required by law.”
Experian said there “is no evidence that the data has been used inappropriately”.
There have been a string of high-profile hacks of businesses and other organizations in recent years affecting millions of people, including adultery website Ashley Madison, Sony Pictures, and retailers such as Home Depot, Target, and eBay.
T-Mobile is now the third biggest mobile company in the US, having surpassed Sprint this year.
The gunman who burst into a community college in southwest Oregon on October 1 and opened fire, killing nine people and wounding seven others before police shot him to death, has been identified as Chris Harper Mercer.
The suspect was not identified by local authorities but CBS, CNN and NBC named him as 26-year-old Chris Harper, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.
Chris Harper opened fire at Umpqua Community College on Thursday morning and was killed in a police shootout.
The suspect, who witnesses say fired dozens of shots into a classroom full of screaming students, was then slain in an exchange of gunfire with police in Snyder Hall at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg following the rampage shortly after 10:30 a.m. local time.
There were conflicting reports on casualties but Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said 10 dead, including the gunman, was “the best” figure.
Sheriff John Hanlin said he would not confirm the suspect’s name, adding: “I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act.”
The killer’s motive is not known, although police said they were investigating reports that he had warned of his intentions on social media.
Hours after the attack, in which seven were also injured, a visibly frustrated President Barack Obama demanded tighter gun laws, saying prayers are “no longer enough”.
Such shootings – and his own response – had become routine, Barack Obama said, barely concealing his exasperation.
“We are not the only country on Earth that has people with mental illnesses or want to do harm to other people.
“But we are the only advanced country on Earth that sees these mass shootings every few months.”
Umpqua Community College, a 3,000-student school, is located in Roseburg, Oregon, a rural area about 175 miles south of Portland.
Hundreds of people gathered for a vigil in a Roseburg park in the evening.
In audio from police radio channels an officer can be heard saying the suspect was down and that there were “multiple gunshot wounds” and calling for multiple ambulances to the scene.
The suspect supposedly used a “long gun”.
Students were transported by bus to a local fairground to be reunited with their loved ones.
According to Umpqua Community College’s website, the average age of students is about 38.
At least 13 people have been killed in a shooting rampage at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.
The 20-year-old gunman was killed by police after the shooting broke out about 10:30 local time at the rural community college campus, officials said.
Oregon State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said that at least 20 people were wounded.
The 3,000-student school is located in Roseburg, a rural area about 175 miles south of Portland.
Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said police exchanged shots with a male gunman in a classroom in the college’s Snyder Hall building.
Sheriff John Hanlin said more 100 police officers have responded to the shooting.
In audio from police radio channels an officer can be heard saying the suspect was down and that there were “multiple gunshot wounds” and calling for multiple ambulances to the scene.
The suspect supposedly used a “long gun”.
Photo ABC News
A White House official said President Barack Obama was briefed on the situation and will continues to receive updates.
Marilyn Kittelman, the mother of a student at the college, told CNN her son said he heard no sound from the “30 some shots”, suggesting a suppressor may have been used on the gun, despite there not being an official count of those shot yet.
Sgt. Aaron Dunbar of the Roseburg Police Department told CNN the “entire college went into lockdown very quickly”.
Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg wrote on Twitter that it received nine patients from the college and three more are en route.
Peace Health Oregon wrote on Twitter it expects to receive three victims from the shooting.
Students were transported by bus to a local fairgrounds to be reunited with their loved ones.
According to Umpqua Community College’s website, the average age of students is 37, with 58% female and 42% male.
Sheriff John Hanlin said the school is the only place of higher education in Douglas County and that both young people and adults seeking continuing education attend the school.
A former president of the school, Joe Olson, said the school has no formal security staff, and that there was debate over whether to have armed security guards on campus last year.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko surprised everyone by taking his 11-year-old son, Kolya, to the UN General Assembly in New York.
Kolya, short for Nikolai, was photographed posing with his father alongside Barack and Michelle Obama at a reception for the summit on September 28.
Lukashenko Jr. joined world leaders in the seats of the general assembly hall as his father addressed delegates from around the world.
It was not a one-off “take your child to work day” for Belarus’s ruling family.
Kolya Lukashenko, the president’s youngest son, often accompanies his father on official business, including a visit to Beijing for China’s World War Two commemorations on September 3.
The boy was pictured watching Beijing’s massive military parade alongside the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and lining up for a photo shoot with leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Photo Belarus Presidency Website
There are claims Alexander Lukashenko is grooming Kolya to be his successor. The president denied this and insisted Kolya was so attached to him that he would not go to sleep without him.
Alexander Lukashenko, who is estranged from his wife Galina, illegitimately fathered Nikolai, who was born in 2004. Though never confirmed by the government, it is widely believed that the Kolya’s mother is Irina Abelskaya.
Irina Abelskaya and Alexander Lukashenko, now 61, had an affair when she was Lukashenko’s personal doctor.
Alexander and Galina Lukashenko have two sons together – Viktor, 29, and Dmitry, 25.
Among other recent trips, Kolya Lukashenko went with his father to the United Arab Emirates in October 2014 where they visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
Kolya may be extraordinarily well travelled for an 11-year-old, but some critics have begun to question the increasing impact of all these appearances on his education.
The boy missed a week of school in September this year – the same amount of time that he missed during six months of 2014, according to the Polish-funded, Belarusian-language TV station Belsat.
Alexander Lukashenko’s tight grip on power has brought criticism from the West – with the Bush administration describing him in 2005 as the “last dictator in Europe” at the head of an “outpost of tyranny”.
Human rights groups accuse him of widespread abuses.
Meanwhile most Belarusian media channels are controlled by the government.
Kolya Lukasheno has received special attention in recent years – attending numerous world events and meeting global leaders.
Author George R.R. Martin has denied rumors that a Game of Thrones movie is being made, although he admitted he would “love to see one”.
The Daily Star quoted the author as saying at an HBO party that there “will be a movie”.
George R.R. Martin, 67, took to his online LiveJournal to respond: “Don’t believe everything you read, boys and girls. Especially not online.”
He did, however, confirm that there was “great enthusiasm” for the notion.
“The idea is still powerfully attractive. Not just to me, but to many people connected with the show. Actors, directors, producers, writers. How not?,” he wrote.
“It would be a great way to end.”
George R.R. Martin went on to qualify that “[HBO] are in the TV business, not the feature film business. And those of you with long memories may recall all the rumors about a Sopranos movie…a Rome movie…a Deadwood movie. Rumors is all they were. And that’s all this one is too, at least for now.”
HBO’s president of programming, Michael Lombardo, confirmed the station’s stance, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.
“Certainly there have been conversations where it’s been said, <<Wouldn’t it be cool to do that?>>,” Michael Lombardo said.
“But when you start a series with our subscribers, the promise is that for your HBO fee that we’re going to take you to the end of this. I feel that on some level [a movie would be] changing the rules: Now you have to pay $16 to see how your show ends.”
This is despite fans of the show already demonstrating their enthusiasm to experience the series on the big screen. The IMAX limited release of the series generated an impressive $1.9 million at the US box office for showing two repeats of the series in 205 cinemas across Super Bowl weekend.
Game of Thrones series won a record 12 Emmys at this year’s ceremony.
The number of Iranian citizens who died in the Hajj stampeded in Saudi Arabia last week has reached 464 – nearly double the previous toll, Iranian officials say.
Iranian authorities said there was no longer hope of finding any of the country’s missing pilgrims alive.
According to Saudi officials, 769 people died in the crush in Mina, near Mecca, and 934 were injured.
The Saudis have been criticized over their handling of security and for the slow publication of casualty figures.
Iranian officials allege that the overall number of deaths is now more than 1,000. Pakistan, India, and Indonesia have also suggested death toll may be higher than the 769 reported by Saudi Arabia.
Saudi authorities have not released a breakdown of victims by nationality, but a tally of the numbers of dead released by individual countries adds up to more than the official figure.
The crush occurred as two large groups of pilgrims converged at right angles on the way to taking part in one of the Hajj’s major rites at the Jamarat pillars.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Saudi Arabia to apologize for the deadly stampede and warned of “harsh” measures if the kingdom fails to promptly repatriate the bodies of Iran’s dead.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has accused Iran of “playing politics” with the disaster and called on the Islamic Republic to await the outcome of an investigation ordered by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman.
Saeed Ohadi, the head of Iran’s Hajj department, told state television that Iranian officials are trying to return bodies of Iranian pilgrims “as soon as possible”.
He said Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed not to bury any of the dead in Saudi Arabia without prior permission by Iran or the families of the deceased.
Saudi officials have blamed pilgrims for the stampede, suggesting some had “moved without following instructions by the relevant authorities”.
The Hajj disaster was the second to strike the region in two weeks, after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing 109 people.
Russia and US military will hold talks “as soon as possible” to avoid clashing in Syria, the countries’ top diplomats say.
Russian defense officials say their aircraft carried out about 20 missions against the so-called Islamic State group (ISIS) on September 30.
However, the US expressed fears the targets were non-ISIS opponents of Russia’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The US is targeting ISIS with air strikes in both Syria and Iraq.
NATO said there had been little co-ordination by Russia with US-led forces against ISIS, also known as Isil. The US says it was informed of Wednesday’s air strikes only an hour before they took place.
The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal report that US-backed rebels were targeted by Russia.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said there was a need to “establish channels of communication to avoid any unintended incidents”. His US counterpart, John Kerry, said talks will be held “as soon as possible,” maybe as early as October 1.
John Kerry added: “It’s one thing to be targeting Isil, but the concern, obviously, is that this is not what was happening.”
France’s Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, told French lawmakers: “Curiously, they didn’t hit Islamic State. I will let you draw a certain number of conclusions yourselves.”
Syria’s civil war has raged for four years, with an array of armed groups fighting to overthrow the government.
The US and its allies have insisted that President Bashar al-Assad should leave office, while Russia has backed him remaining in power.
The Russian defense ministry said the country’s air force had targeted ISIS military equipment, communication facilities, arms depots, ammunition and fuel supplies – and did not hit civilian infrastructure or areas nearby.
Syrian opposition activists said Russian warplanes hit towns including Zafaraneh, Rastan and Talbiseh, resulting in the deaths of at least 36 civilians, a number of them children.
None of the areas targeted was controlled by ISIS, activists said.
In a TV address, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the air strikes were targeting Islamist militants – including Russian citizens – who have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq.
“If they [militants] succeed in Syria, they will return to their home country, and they will come to Russia, too,” he said.
He added that Russia would be “supporting the Syrian army purely in its legitimate fight with terrorist groups”.
Vladimir Putin also said he expected President Bashar al-Assad to talk with the Syrian opposition about a political settlement, but clarified that he was referring to what he described as “healthy” opposition groups.
A new explosion has hit Guangxi province, a day after a series of parcel bombs killed seven people, Chinese authorities say.
The blast took place at an apartment block at 08:00 local time in Liucheng county, said state media.
The cause was not clear, and no casualties have been reported.
Seventeen separate explosions hit Liucheng on September 30. Police have arrested a suspect they believe sent out the bombs in the mail.
It is unclear whether today’s blast is connected to the multiple blasts on the previous day.
The new explosion took place at a six-storey building in a residential area. Xinhua news agency said the force of the blast had caused debris to rain down on a road opposite the building.
Local police issued a statement calling on the public to be wary of accepting parcels sent by strangers or packages “sent by non-proper channels”.
The local postal service has halted all deliveries until October 3.
The parcel bombs on September 30 targeted a prison, a train station, a hospital and a shopping centre among other locations.
State media said besides the seven dead, another two people remained missing and 51 people were injured in afternoon’s blasts.
A 33-year-old Liucheng resident, identified only by the surname Wei, is in police custody for the explosions.
There have been a number of cases in China of disaffected people with a legal grievance against the authorities using explosive devices in public attacks.
According to Canadian scientists, being exposed to “good bacteria” early in life could prevent asthma developing.
The research team, reporting in Science Translational Medicine, were analyzing the billions of bugs that naturally call the human body home.
Their analysis of 319 children showed they were at higher risk of asthma if four types of bacteria were missing.
Experts said the “right bugs at the right time” could be the best way of preventing allergies and asthma.
In the body, bacteria, fungi and viruses outnumber human cells 10 to one, and this “microbiome” is thought to have a huge impact on health.
The specialists, at the University of British Columbia and the Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, compared the microbiome at three months and at one year with asthma risk at the age of three.
Children lacking four types of bacteria – Faecalibacterium, Lachnospira, Veillonella, and Rothia (Flvr) – at three months were at high risk of developing asthma at the age of three, based on wheeze and skin allergy tests.
The same effect was not noticed in the microbiome of one-year-olds, suggesting that the first few months of life are crucial.
Further experiments showed that giving the bacterial cocktail to previously germ-free mice reduced inflammation in the airways of their pups.
One of the researchers, Dr. Stuart Turvey, said: “Our longer-term vision would be that children in early life could be supplemented with Flvr to look to prevent the ultimate development of asthma
“I want to emphasize that we are not ready for that yet, we know very little about these bacteria, [but] our ultimate vision of the future would be to prevent this disease.”
Asthma is caused by airways that are more sensitive to irritation and inflammation.
One explanation for the rise in asthma and allergies is the “hygiene hypothesis”, which suggests that children are no longer exposed to enough microbes to calibrate the immune system to tell the difference between friend and foe.
Giving birth by Caesarean section and not breast-feeding both limit the bacteria that are passed to a newborn. Antibiotics taken by a pregnant woman or newborn child can also change the microbiome.
Dr. Brett Finlay, another researcher in the project, said: “[I was] surprised to realize that fecal microbes may be influencing things.
“What data’s really starting to show these days is that the immune system gets itself set up in the gut and influences how it works everywhere else in the body.”
Hurricane Joaquin has strengthened into a Category 3 storm as it nears the Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) says.
The eye of the storm is expected to pass over eastern islands of the Bahamas overnight.
A hurricane warning is in effect for much of Bahamas that could see winds of up to 115mph.
The NHC says hurricane Joaquin, the third of the Atlantic season, could affect the US East Coast by October 4.
Photo ABC News
It warned that Joaquin “could become a major hurricane” by October 2. It picked up considerable strength on September 29, after being upgraded from a storm to a category 3 hurricane, on a scale of five, in only a few hours.
Geoffrey Greene, a senior forecaster with the Bahamas Meteorology Department, said he was “very concerned” about some of the smaller islands in Joaquin’s path, such as San Salvador, Rum Cay and Cat Island, which all have small populations.
Officials in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, states badly affected by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, warned residents should begin making preparations.
Virginia’s Governor, Terry McAuliffe, has declared a state of emergency in response to heavy flooding earlier in the week, and because of what he called “a serious threat to life and property” from Joaquin.
A White House spokesman said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was following the progress of Joaquin and preparing in case it made landfall in the US.
At a New Hampshire rally, Donald Trump talked about the current refugee crisis saying that he would send home all Syrian refugees the US accepts, if he becomes president.
The Republican presidential frontrunner said: “If I win, they’re going back.”
It marks a reversal in policy – earlier this month Donald Trump told Fox News the US should take in more refugees.
A refugee crisis has gripped parts of Europe and the US has pledged to take 10,000 refugees from Syria in 2016.
Half a million people have crossed the Mediterranean into Europe in 2015, with the largest number from Syria, where 250,000 people have been killed in a civil war.
On September 30, Donald Trump told an audience at Keene High School: “I hear we want to take in 200,000 Syrians. And they could be – listen, they could be ISIS [Islamic State].”
Photo AP
Describing them as a “200,000-man army”, the billionaire later added: “I’m putting the people on notice that are coming here from Syria as part of this mass migration, that if I win, if I win, they’re going back.”
Donald Trump has made immigration a central plank of his election campaign, pledging to build a wall on the southern border.
He was harshly criticized after saying undocumented Mexican immigrants were “bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists”.
Donald Trump’s latest comments about sending Syrians home are more in line with his hardline immigration policy, although at odds with what he said earlier this month.
Asked whether he thought some of the migrants travelling into Europe should be allowed in the US, the business mogul said: “I hate the concept of it, but on a humanitarian basis, with what’s happening, you have to.”
Donald Trump blamed President Barack Obama for the crisis and added: “It’s living in hell in Syria. They are living in hell.”
The US has allowed 1,500 Syrians to re-settle since the start of the conflict four years ago.
A number of Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, have urged the US to increase the number of Syrians from 10,000 to 65,000.
Secretary of State John Kerry has pledged to take more refugees worldwide, raising the yearly cap from 70,000 to 85,000 in 2016 and to 100,000 in 2017.
Caitlyn Jenner won’t be charged over her involvement in the Malibu car crash that killed Kim Howe in February, California prosecutors say.
Sheriffs had previously decided the 65-year-old reality star, then Bruce Jenner, had been driving too quickly when her SUV collided with two cars, pushing one into oncoming traffic.
The crash killed 69-year-old Kim Howe, whose Lexus was hit by a Hummer. Four others were injured in the crash in Malibu on February 7.
It is now been ruled there is not enough evidence to secure a conviction.
Photo Instagram
“We believed from the start that a thorough and objective investigation would clear Caitlyn of any criminal wrongdoing,” said Blair Berk, Caitlyn Jenner’s attorney.
“We are heartened the district attorney has agreed that even a misdemeanor charge would be inappropriate.
“A traffic accident, however devastating and heartbreaking when a life is lost, is not necessarily a criminal matter.”
Investigators had said Caitlyn Jenner’s vehicle was travelling at an unsafe speed for the road conditions and said they had hoped the reality star would face charges for “vehicular manslaughter”.
At the time she cooperated with investigators at the scene and passed a sobriety test.
The former Olympic champion also offered a blood sample.
The accident happened before Jenner announced she is transgender and transitioned into her new identity as Caitlyn.
Palestine’s flag has been raised for the first time at United Nations headquarters in New York.
The ceremony was attended by the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, Mahmoud Abbas said it was unconscionable that the question of Palestinian statehood remained unresolved.
Mahmoud Abbas also warned that the Palestinian Authority no longer felt bound by agreements with Israel he claimed were “continually violated”.
He said: “As long as Israel refuses to cease settlement activities and to release of the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with our agreements, they leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements.
“We therefore declare that we cannot continue to be bound by these agreements and that Israel must assume all of its responsibilities as an occupying power.”
Meanwhile, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Mahmoud Abbas’s speech was “deceitful and encourages incitement and lawlessness in the Middle East”.
“We expect and call on the Authority and its leader to act responsibly and accede to the proposal of… Israel and enter into direct negotiations with Israel without preconditions.”
Mahmoud Abbas has in the past threatened to dissolve the Palestinian Authority (PA) and hand sole responsibility for the West Bank to Israel if there is no chance of a peace deal.
The PA was set up as an interim administration for the major Palestinian cities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip after the 1993 Oslo Accord. It was envisaged that a comprehensive treaty would be concluded within five years.
However, more than two decades of talks with Israel have failed to achieve a final peace settlement and an independent Palestinian state. The last round of negotiations collapsed in April 2014.
The UN General Assembly passed a motion earlier this month to raise the Palestinian and Vatican flags. Israel voted against the motion, along with the United States and six other countries. Forty-five countries also abstained.
Israel’s permanent representative to the UN, Ron Prosor, said at the time that the move was a “blatant attempt to hijack the UN”. He insisted that the only way Palestinians could achieve statehood was through direct negotiations.
In 2012, the UN General Assembly voted to upgrade the status of the Palestinians to that of a “non-member observer state” – the same position that the Vatican holds.
The move followed a failed bid by the Palestinians to join the international body as a full member state in 2011 because of a lack of support in the UN Security Council.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), everyone who has HIV should be offered antiretroviral drugs as soon as possible after diagnosis.
The health agency’s latest policy removes previous limits suggesting patients wait until the disease progresses.
The WHO has also recommended people at risk of HIV be given the drugs to help prevent the infection taking hold.
UNAIDS said these changes could help avert 21 million AIDS-related deaths and 28 million new infections by 2030.
The recommendations increase the number of people with HIV eligible for ARVs from 28 million to 37 million across the world.
The challenge globally will be making sure everyone has access to them and the funds are in place to pay for such a huge extension in treatment. Only 15 million people currently get the drugs.
Michel Sidibe, of UNAIDS, added: “Everybody living with HIV has the right to life-saving treatment. The new guidelines are a very important steps towards ensuring that all people living with HIV have immediate access to antiretroviral treatment.”
The WHO announcement comes after extensive research into the issue.
A US National Institutes of Health study due to run until 2016 was stopped early after an interim analysis found giving treatment straight after diagnosis cut deaths and complications, such as kidney or liver disease, by half.
Russia has conducted the first airstrikes in Syria against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.
The strikes reportedly hit rebel-controlled areas of Homs and Hama provinces, causing casualties.
The US says it was informed an hour before they took place.
Russian defense officials say aircraft targeted the Islamic State (ISIS) group, but an unnamed US official told Reuters that so far they did not appear to be targeting ISIS-held territory.
Syria’s civil war has raged for four years, with an array of armed groups fighting to overthrow the government.
The US and its allies have insisted that President Bashar al-Assad should leave office, while Russia has backed its ally remaining in power.
Photo CNN
The upper house of the Russian parliament granted President Vladimir Putin permission to deploy the Russian air force in Syria.
The Russian defense ministry said the country’s air force had targeted ISIS military equipment, communication facilities, arms depots, ammunition and fuel supplies.
A Syrian opposition activist network, the Local Co-ordination Committees, said Russian warplanes hit five towns – Zafaraneh, Rastan, Talbiseh, Makarmia and Ghanto – resulting in the deaths of 36 people, including five children.
None of the areas targeted were controlled by ISIS, activists said.
In a TV address, President Vladimir Putin said the air strikes were targeting Islamist militants – including Russian citizens – who have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq.
“If they [militants] succeed in Syria, they will return to their home country, and they will come to Russia, too,” he said.
Vladimir Putin added that Russia was not going to send ground troops to Syria, and that its role in Syrian army operations would be limited.
“We certainly are not going to plunge head-on into this conflict… we will be supporting the Syrian army purely in its legitimate fight with terrorist groups.”
Vladimir Putin also said he expected President Bashar al-Assad to talk with the Syrian opposition about a political settlement, but clarified that he was referring to what he described as “healthy” opposition groups.
A US defense official said: “A Russian official in Baghdad this morning informed US embassy personnel that Russian military aircraft would begin flying anti-ISIL [ISIS] missions today over Syria. He further requested that US aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during these missions.”
State department spokesman John Kirby told reporters: “The US-led coalition will continue to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned and in support of our international mission to degrade and destroy ISIL [ISIS].”
Tesla has unveiled its long-awaited Model X with a “bio-weapon defense” system and Falcon Wing doors.
The Model X is the third vehicle produced by the electric car-maker, and was unveiled nearly two years later than originally planned.
Tesla – which has yet to make a profit – said about 25,000 people had pre-ordered the all-electric SUV.
Analysts say the Model X should be a success because it will be seen as a status symbol.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the car launch in Fremont, California: “I think we got a little carried away with the X.
“There is far more there than is really necessary to sell a car.
“And some of the things are so difficult, they make the car better but the difficulty of engineering those parts is so high.”
Photo Tesla
Analysts say the model filled a gap in the market.
The sports utility vehicle (SUV) can fit seven people at a time.
The Model X’s Falcon Wing doors open upwards and use sensors to help them clear obstacles, such as garage ceilings. Tesla suggests this will make it easier to put young children in car seats without hitting their heads on the roof.
The biohazard button activates the air filtration system, which fills the cabin with “medical-grade air”.
The Model X also features a panoramic windshield that extends overhead, which Elon Musk said was the largest single piece of glass ever used in a car.
Tesla says the car, which has two electric motors, can travel about 250 miles on a single charge and features automatic functions that bring it “ever closer to autonomous operation”.
It will be continuously improved, Tesla says, via software transmitted “over the air”.
An update expected within the next month should enable an auto-pilot function, allowing the cars to be driven hands-free on motorways.
The Model X is priced as high as $144,000 and Tesla expects the pre-orders will take between 8 months and a year to fulfill.
Tesla has not disclosed pricing for the base model, but Elon Musk said that in the future there would be a “lower-cost” version.
The Model X is the third vehicle unveiled by Tesla. Its first was the Roadster sports car – which is no longer in production, and its second the Model S saloon.
Tesla has pledged to make its next vehicle – the Model 3 – lower cost. It is due to be revealed in 2017.
The company hopes to disrupt the car market by demonstrating that vehicles with electric motors do not need to compromise on speed or handling.
Tesla has yet to make a profit and its costs are mounting.
The company’s spending on fixed assets totaled $831.2 million over the first half of the year due to its investment in the Model X and Model 3 as well as a new battery factory in Nevada.
The Model X, Elon Musk said, “gives us a cash flow stream we can use to develop and facilitate” production and development.
In August 2015, Elon Musk said Tesla would make between 50,000 and 55,000 Model S and Model X vehicles this year, and would have the capacity to roll 1,600 to 1,800 vehicles off its production lines per week in 2016.
Call of Duty maker has come under fire after a controversial web campaign to launch the newest title from its popular video game franchise, Call of Game: Black Ops III, described a fictional “terror attack” in Singapore.
Set in Singapore during the year 2065, Call of Duty: Black Ops III begins with a mission where players must investigate the “mysterious disappearance” of a CIA station.
Ahead of its worldwide release on November 6, games maker Activision launched a series of tweets, setting up the opening scene for a fictional attack in Singapore.
While the tweets aimed to tease fans and also introduced new characters to the game, many social media users were unimpressed at the way things were playing out on Twitter, saying the scenario was in bad taste.
The popular Call of Duty franchise has attracted its fair share of controversy since its release in 2003.
Earlier editions of the game focused on World War Two events while newer titles have been set during more recent times.
Cuban authorities expressed unhappiness over a mission in one of the games, where players could attempt to overthrow and assassinate former leader Fidel Castro.
Another Call of Duty expansion saw players raiding a news agency in Doha, widely speculated to be the offices of Arabic TV network al-Jazeera.
How Call of Duty unfolded “Singapore terror attack” in September 29 tweets:
10:03: Fictional news network “Current Events Aggregate” sent out a breaking news tweet about “unconfirmed reports” of “an explosion” in Singapore’s marina, exciting some gamers on Twitter while confusing others.
10:14: “Emergency teams” began to converge on the area.
10:21: Another update followed, confirming that the explosion took place at the “Singapore Research Laboratories” facility.
10:52: Chaos ensued, causing major traffic jams around the city centre. This led to a “state of emergency” and the Singapore authorities declaring martial law.
11:44: Military drones and riot police descended upon Chinatown to control the crowds.
12:05: The “Singapore army” released a series of statements on the ground, establishing a “30-mile quarantine zone” and calling for citizens to remain in their homes.
“There have been no claims of responsibility from any terror organization,” it added in a tweet.
12:35: Fictional army commander James Chung, also declared that martial law would “remain in place” until the incident was “firmly understood”.
14:37: The series of live tweets ended with an official message: “This was a glimpse into the future fiction of #BlackOps3”
Anders Behring Breivik has threatened to starve himself to death in protest at his treatment in a Norway prison, according to media reports.
The mass killer claims to have been kept in isolation since September 2, with time outside his cell limited to an hour a day.
Anders Breivik, now 36, killed 77 people in 2011 when he bombed central Oslo before going on a shooting spree at a youth camp on Utoya island.
He was sentenced to 21 years in 2012.
Anders Breivik’s claims about deteriorating prison conditions were made in a letter to media outlets in Norway and Sweden.
Photo Getty Images
In his letter, Anders Breivik says harsh prison conditions have forced him to drop out of a political science course at the University of Oslo.
“Studying and corresponding is not humanly possible under such circumstances, and this applies to anyone who is isolated under such conditions,” he wrote according to English news site The Local.
Anders Breivik said that if conditions remained unchanged he would continue the hunger strike until he died, Norwegian media reported.
Norwegian Justice Minister Anders Anundsen declined to comment on Anders Breivik’s claims, according to the Dagbladet newspaper.
The University of Oslo admitted Anders Breivik as a full student in July 2015, explaining that inmates had a right to higher education if they won entry to courses.
Anders Breivik has previously complained of “inhumane” prison conditions, including that his coffee was being served cold.
Eurozone countries returned to deflation in September 2015 as prices fell at an annual rate of 0.1%, according to the Eurostate statistics agency.
It is the first time inflation had turned negative for six months, with an 8.9% fall in the price of energy largely responsible for the decline.
Core inflation in the countries that use the euro – which strips out energy and food prices – showed a 0.9% rise, the same as August.
The Eurostat statistics agency also said the eurozone’s unemployment rate for August was unchanged at 11%.
Photo Getty Images
Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), warned earlier this month that inflation could turn negative.
The ECB expects inflation to be 0.1% in 2015 as a whole, rising to 1.5% in 2016 and 1.7% in 2017.
The bank is spending €60 billion on asset purchases, under its program known as Quantitative Easing (QE), every month for the next year in an attempt to boost prices.
However, the latest figures increase pressure on the bank to increase the spending or carry it beyond September 2016.
Asian markets traded higher on September 30, recovering from the previous session’s steep losses, despite disappointing economic news from Japan.
The Japanese index, Nikkei 225, led the region’s gains, closing up 2.7% at 17,388.15, after losing more than 4% on September 29.
Investors ignored data that showed Japanese factory output shrank by 0.5% in August from July, and retail sales also fell short of expectations.
Investors are awaiting the Bank of Japan’s business confidence survey.
Bank of Japan’s quarterly Tankan survey due on October 1 is expected to show that business sentiment worsened in the three months to September.
Shares in Japan Tobacco fell 6.7% on concerns that it has paid too much to buy the rights for Reynolds American’s Natural American Spirit tobacco brand outside the US for 600 billion yen ($5 billion).
Chinese shares headed higher as investors took in news of a new tax cut on some car sales.
A government announcement on September 29 said the sales tax on cars with smaller engines would be halved. The cut will be effective from October 1, 2015, until the end of 2016.
China is the world’s biggest market for cars and the new tax cut will apply to about 70% of the market.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed up 1.14% at 20,851.32, while the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.48% at 3,052.78.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 2.1% at 5,021.60 after hitting a two-year low on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kopsi index ended up 1% to 1,962.91 as it reopened following public holidays.
Kelly Gissendaner has become the first woman executed in Georgia since 1945.
Kelly Renee Gissendaner, 47, has been executed despite a number of last-ditch appeals, including one by Pope Francis, to try to block her execution.
Lawyers filed at least three appeals with the Supreme Court to try to delay the sentence hours before she died.
Kelly Gissendaner planned but did not carry out her husband’s murder in 1997.
Her former lover, Gregory Owen, who killed Douglas Gissendaner, was given life in prison as part of a plea bargain.
Pope Francis, who was recently on a US tour, urged the review board to reconsider.
However, on Tuesday afternoon, the board announced it was not granting clemency.
Hours later, the Supreme Court said it had rejected three applications for a stay of execution.
Witnesses to the execution told local media that Kelly Gissendaner sang Amazing Grace before being given a lethal injection.
“Bless you all,” she was quoted as saying by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Photo Georgia Department of Corrections
“Tell the Gissendaners I am so, so sorry that an amazing man lost his life because of me. If I could take it all back, I would.”
Pope Francis’ appeal for Kelly Gissendaner’s life was made in a letter written by his diplomatic representative in the US, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, on September 29.
The archbishop wrote that, while not wishing to minimize the gravity of the crime, he implored the board “to commute the sentence to one that would better express both justice and mercy”.
Kelly Gissendaner’s lawyers told the board she had undergone a transformation in prison, offering support to troubled inmates and showing remorse for her own crime.
Former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher also made representations to say Kelly Gissendaner’s death sentence was disproportionate to the crime that she committed.
He noted that Georgia had not executed a person who had not committed the actual killing since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, and said a court process to review an appeal by Kelly Gissendaner had been “deeply flawed”.
Georgia has executed nearly 60 people since 1976, and has more than 80 people on death row.
Kelly Gissendaner’s former lover, Gregory Owen, will become eligible for parole in 2022.
Gregory Owen took a plea deal and testified against Kelly Gissendaner, and for his co-operation was sentenced to life in prison.
Douglas Gissendaner’s family said in a statement on September 28 that Kelly Gissendaner’s sentence was appropriate.
“She had no mercy, gave him no rights, no choices, nor the opportunity to live his life,” the family said.
The woman has had two previous execution dates.
Kelly Gissendaner’s execution was rescheduled in February because of a winter storm that was forecast to hit Georgia, and the next date in March was canceled after officials said the drug used in the lethal injection was cloudy.
