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08/28/2016 14:00

Editor: Andrew Roche + 44 207 542 7923

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TOP STORIES

Turkish army thrusts deeper into Syria

KARKAMIS, Turkey - Turkey's army and its allies thrust deeper into Syria, seizing territory controlled by Kurdish-aligned forces on the fifth day of a cross-border campaign that a monitoring group says has killed at least 35 villagers. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Umit Bektas, 600 words)

+ See also:

- FRANCE-SYRIA/RUSSIA (UPDATE 1), moved, 300 words

More bodies located beneath rubble in Italy quake zone

AMATRICE, Italy - Rescuers believe they have located more bodies in the ruined town of Amatrice, five days after a devastating earthquake struck central Italy, killing at least 290 people. (ITALY-QUAKE/ (PIX, TV), UPDATE 1, moved, 550 words)

+ See also:

- ITALY-QUAKE/RECONSTRUCTION (PIX), moved, by Gavin Jones, 900 words)

Gabon leader and rival both claim election win, allege fraud

LIBREVILLE - Supporters of Gabon's President Ali Bongo and his chief rival both say their candidate is set to win an election that has produced the most serious challenge yet to the Bongo family's half-century rule over the tiny, oil-rich nation. (GABON-ELECTION (UPDATE 3), PICTURES, moving shortly, by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome, 520 words)

EUROPE

New tans, same old "polycrisis" as Europe's summer ends

BRUSSELS - The European Union grinds back into action after its August break, dazed by Britain's midsummer vote to quit the EU and facing much the same "polycrisis" as a year ago: a mass of refugees, a fragile economy, hostile Russians and, yes, those Brits, more awkward than ever. (EUROPE-EU/CRISES (ANALYSIS, COLUMN), moved, by Alastair Macdonald, 1,045 words)

Merkel "underestimated" migrant integration challenge

BERLIN - German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel says in an interview that Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives "underestimated" the challenge of integrating migrants. (EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GERMANY-GABRIEL (UPDATE 2), moving shortly, 500 words)

Spain starts countdown to possible third election in a year

MADRID - The clock starts ticking on Wednesday towards what could be Spain's third national election in a year when acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faces a confidence vote in parliament for a second term in office. (SPAIN-POLITICS/ (TV, PIX), by Sonya Dowsett, 718 words)

MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA

Houthis say ready for fresh Yemen talks if attacks stop

SANAA - Yemen's Houthi-run governing council says it is ready to restart peace talks with the country's exiled government provided a Saudi-led coalition stops attacking and besieging Houthi-held territories. (YEMEN-SECURITY/HOUTHIS (UPDATE 1), moved, 280 words)

Iran arrests nuclear negotiator suspected of spying

DUBAI - Iran has arrested a member of the negotiating team that forged its landmark nuclear deal with world powers on suspicion of spying, a judiciary spokesman says. (IRAN-NUCLEAR/ARREST (UPDATE 1), moved, 206 words)

Egypt's govt complicit in wheat graft -parliamentary report

CAIRO/ABU DHABI - A parliamentary fact-finding commission's report into corruption in Egypt's wheat industry finds that the government played a key role in "wasting public funds" in its costly food subsidy program. (EGYPT-WHEAT/CORRUPTION, moved, by Eric Knecht and Maha El Dahan, 685 words)

Iraq asks S.Arabia to pull envoy who riled Shi'ite militias

BAGHDAD - Iraq asks Saudi Arabia to replace its ambassador in Baghdad after his comments about Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs and the alleged persecution of Sunni Muslims angered local Shi'ite Muslim politicians and militia leaders. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/IRAQ-SAUDI (UPDATE 1), moved, 355 words)

ASIA

Veteran Uzbek leader in hospital as succession issue looms

ALMATY - Islam Karimov, the 78-year-old president of Central Asia's most populous country, is undergoing hospital treatment, Uzbekistan's government says, in a rare statement about the health of a reclusive leader who lacks an obvious successor. UZBEKISTAN-PRESIDENT (UPDATE 2), PIX, moved, by Olzhas Auyezov, 450 words)

Singapore confirms 41 cases of locally-transmitted Zika

SINGAPORE - Singaporean authorities have confirmed 41 cases of locally-transmitted Zika virus, which in Brazil has been linked to a rare birth defect, and say they expect more cases to be identified. (HEALTH-ZIKA/SINGAPORE (UPDATE 1, PIX, GRAPHICS), by Marius Zaharia and A. Ananthalakshmi, moved, 660 words)

+ See also:

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

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

AFRICA

S.African finance minister faces graft charge - newspaper

JOHANNESBURG - South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan may be charged this week for graft, the City Press newspaper reports, citing senior sources in the police, the National Prosecuting Authority and the tax service. (SAFRICA-GORDHAN/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 298 words)

Nigeria would let Boko Haram pick NGO intermediary in talks to free Chibok girls

ABUJA - Nigeria would let Boko Haram choose a non-profit organization as an intermediary in any talks on the release of about 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the northeastern village of Chibok in 2014, President Muhammadu Buhari says. (NIGERIA-SECURITY/ (moved), moved, 449 words)

08/28/2016 14:00