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08/27/2016 22:00

Editor: Simon Cameron-Moore + 65 6870 3593

Picture Desk: Singapore + 65 6870 3775

Graphics queries: + 65 6870 3595

(All times GMT/ET)

TOP STORIES

Turkey ratchets up Syria offensive, says warplanes hit Kurdish militia

KARKAMIS, Turkey - Rebels supported by Turkey fight Kurdish-backed forces in north Syria, as Ankara ratchets up its cross-border offensive by launching air strikes against Kurdish forces and Islamic State. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-VILLAGE (UPDATE 7, PIX, TV), moved, by Umit Bektas, 670 words)

+ See also:

- MIDEAST-CRISIS/KERRY-LAVROV (UPDATE 4, TV, PIX), moved, by Lesley Wroughton and Stephanie Nebehay, 534 words)

- MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-UN (UPDATE 1), moved, 341 words)

Trump vows crackdown on immigrants who overstay visas

DES MOINES, Iowa - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, seeking to quiet criticism from conservatives, offers fresh details of how he would tackle illegal immigration, saying he would crack down on those who overstay their visas. (USA-ELECTION/ (PIX, TV, GRAPHIC), moved, by Emily Stephenson, 438 words)

+ See also:

- CHICAGO-CRIME/WADE (CORRECTED, UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, 470 words)

Global central bankers, stuck at zero, unite in plea for help from govts

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. - Central bankers in charge of the vast bulk of the world's economy delved deep into the weeds of money markets and interest rates over a three-day conference here, and emerged with a common plea to their colleagues in the rest of government: please help. (USA-FED/FISCAL, moved, by Howard Schneider, 690 words)

Italy grieves as state funeral is held for quake victims

ASCOLI PICENO, Italy - Weeping relatives hug each other and reach out to touch simple wooden coffins at a state funeral for some of the 291 people killed in this week's earthquake. (ITALY-QUAKE/ (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Iona Serrapica and Gabriele Pileri, 780 words)

ASIA

Singapore confirms first case of locally transmitted Zika

SINGAPORE - confirms its first case of a locally transmitted Zika virus, which has been linked in Brazil to microcephaly, a rare birth defect, the health ministry said. (HEALTH-ZIKA/SINGAPORE, moved, by Marius Zaharia, 488 words)

+ See also:

- HEALTH-ZIKA/QANDA (FACTBOX), moved 1,116 words

- HEALTH-ZIKA/ORIGIN (TIMELINE), moved, 2,279 words

Bangladesh security forces kill 'mastermind' of cafe attack

DHAKA - Bangladesh security forces kill three Islamist militants, including a Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen accused of masterminding an attack on a cafe in Dhaka last month that killed 22 people, police say. (BANGLADESH-MILITANTS/ (UPDATE 4), moved, by Serajul Quadir, 620 words)

As Obama heads to Laos, signs of a tilt away from China

VIENTIANE - The secretive communist government of Laos, a country with a population of less than 7 million, rarely causes a ripple on diplomatic circuit. Yet its sleepy capital will spring to life next week when global leaders arrive for Asian summit. (LAOS-CHINA/VIETNAM (PIX), moved, by Marius Zaharia, 720 words)

Japan pledges $30 billion for Africa over next three years

NAIROBI - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tells African leaders that his country will commit $30 billion in public and private support for infrastructure development, education and healthcare expansion in the continent. (AFRICA-JAPAN/ (UPDATE 2, PIX, TV), moved, by George Obulutsa, 450 words)

MIDDLE EAST

Yemen's exiled government welcomes U.S. plan for peace talks

ABU DHABI - Yemen's Saudi-backed exiled government says it welcomes a plan agreed by the United States, Gulf Arab states and the United Nations to restart peace talks with a goal of forming a unity government. (YEMEN-SECURITY/, moved, 304 words)

EXCLUSIVE-Iraq plans to sell oil through Iran if talks with Kurds fail

BAGHDAD - Iraq's government will consider selling crude through Iran should talks with the autonomous Kurdish region on an oil revenue-sharing agreement fail, a senior oil ministry official in Baghdad tells Reuters. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/IRAQ-OIL (EXCLUSIVE), moved, by Stephen Kalin, 720 words)

EUROPE

Up to 300,000 refugees to come to Germany this year -migration office head

BERLIN - Head of Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) tells newspaper that he expected a maximum of 300,000 refugees to arrive in Germany this year. (EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GERMANY-NUMBER (UPDATE 1), moved 278 words)

+ See also:

- EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GERMANY-FARRIGHT (TV, PIX), moved, 218 words

- EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GERMANY-GABRIEL, moved, 262 words

AFRICA

Bongo aims to prolong 50-year family rule in Gabon election

LIBREVILLE - Gabon votes amid discontent over the government's failure to raise living standards despite oil wealth, posing the biggest challenge yet to President Ali Bongo, whose family has dominated the central African nation for half a century. (GABON-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome, 736 words)

Gupta family says plans to sell South African holdings

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's wealthy Gupta family, accused of holding undue political sway over President Jacob Zuma, says it plans to dispose of all stakes it holds in South African businesses before the end of the year. (SAFRICA-GUPTAS (UPDATE 3), moved, by Ed Stoddard, 570 words)

Tunisia's new government wins parliamentary approval, eyes austerity

TUNIS - Tunisia's new government wins a confidence vote after Prime Minister Youssef Chahed warns in parliament an austerity program will be inevitable with thousands of public-sector job cuts and new taxes if Tunisia does not overcome its economic difficulties. (TUNISIA-POLITICS/PREMIER (UPDATE 3, PIX), moved, by Tarek Amara, 461 words)

SOUTH AMERICA

Venezuela ex-mayor Ceballos sent to prison from house arrest

CARACAS - Venezuelan intelligence agents take Daniel Ceballos, a former opposition mayor accused of fomenting opposition protests, to prison from house arrest in the capital of Caracas, according to his wife and the country's interior ministry. (VENEZUELA-POLITICS/ (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, 290 words)

Paraguay says eight troops killed in ambush

ASUNCION - An ambush in the north of Paraguay killed eight soldiers, authorities say, adding that the attack bore the hallmarks of the guerrilla group known as the Paraguayan People's Army. (PARAGUAY-ATTACKS/, moved, by Mariel Cristaldo, 346 words)

WIDER IMAGE

Searching for history along the Thames

LONDON - A torch on his head, Jason Sandy scours nighttime London foreshores of the Thames River, searching for objects that could offer a glimpse of life in the British capital hundreds of years ago. (BRITAIN-MUDLARKS/ (PIX, WIDER IMAGE), moved, 429 words)

08/27/2016 22:00