Deadly suicide blasts rock Iraq capital

Dozens killed in a string of attacks in Baghdad amid growing fears that Anbar province could fall to ISIL fighters.

Government officials say Anbar province could fall to ISIL if they didn't receive help [Reuters]

At least 35 people have been killed and scores wounded in a series of attacks in Iraq, medical and police officials say.
At least 13 people were killed in two car bombings in Shia-dominated parts of western Baghdad on Saturday night. A third blast killed another 15 people, Reuters news agency reported.
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, said the explosions happened within minutes of each other and could be linked to events in western Iraq.

Iraq army pressured by ISIL in west:

US defense officials say Iraqi military in a precarious position as it battles ISIL forces west of Baghdad. 

Iraqi forces are attempting to counter ISIL who seized Anbar's Fallujah in January [AFP]

The Iraqi army is under serious pressure in the west of the country, officials said, with the world's attention fixed instead on the Syrian town of Kobane as it battles a similar Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant offensive.
"It's tenuous there. They are being resupplied and they're holding their own, but it's tough and challenging," a senior US defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the AFP news agency.

Dozens of US-led air strikes in recent weeks on the western Anbar province, including near the city of Ramadi, have helped counter the group's fighters while the capital Baghdad remained secure, the official added.

Egypt adjourns trials of prominent activists

Sana Seif and 22 others are accused of breaching the country's anti-protest law, a crime that has imprisoned thousands.

Seif's brother, prominent Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah, was arrested but subsequently released [AP]

An Egyptian court has adjourned the trial of 23 activists accused of breaching a bar on protests unauthorised by the government, a crime that has put thousands in prison.
The trial will resume on October 16. Among those activists is Sana Seif, a 20-year old who was arrested on July 21 while demonstrating against the arrest of her brother, renowned blogger and human rights defender Alaa Abdel Fattah.

Ebola death toll crosses 4,000 mark

Latest figure put at 4,033 as UN special envoy calls for greater resources and effort to battle epidemic in West Africa.

More than 4,000 people have died in the Ebola epidemic that broke out in West Africa at the start of the year, according to the latest figures released by the World Health Organisation.
The WHO said on Friday that as of October 8, 4,033 people have died of Ebola out of a total of 8,399 registered cases in seven countries. The last toll put the figures at 3,865 dead from 8,033 cases.
The seven affected countries are split into two groups by WHO.

Fresh protests in US over police violence

A crowd of about 300 people gather outside police station in Missouri after another black teenager is shot dead. 

Civil rights organisations and protest groups have invited people from around the US to join vigils [AP]

Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside a US police station, chanting against police violence and pushing forward a weekend of demonstrations after eight people were arrested in chaotic protests the previous night.
The crowd of roughly 300 people in Ferguson, which is in the state of Missouri, stood in the middle of the street chanting phrases such as "My hands on my head. Please don't shoot me dead" and "Who shuts it down? We shut it down!"

Roughly 30 regularly uniformed police officers stood guard outside the department, Reuters news agency reported. There were none of the clashes with police that have marked protests in the St Louis area since a white police officer shot dead an unarmed black teenager in August. Violence broke out again this week after another black teenager was shot dead by an off-duty police officer on Wednesday.

China cult duo to die for restaurant murder

Father and daughter belonging to banned group sentenced to death for the murder of a woman in a McDonald's restaurant.

Cult members beat the 37-year-old to death for apparently refusing to join their group [Reauters]

China has sentenced two members of a banned religious cult - a father and daughter - to death for the murder in a McDonald's restaurant of a woman who refused an apparent attempt by the group to recruit her, state media said.
The 37-year-old woman, surnamed Wu, was attacked in May in the eastern province of Shandong by members of Quannengshen, the Church of Almighty God, which had preached that a global apocalypse would take place in 2012.

India braces for powerful Cyclone Hudhud

Hundreds of thousands being evacuated as storm sweeps through Bay of Bengal and heads towards eastern coast.

About 150,000 people have already been evacuated by Saturday afternoon [AFP]

Indian authorities are evacuating hundreds of thousands of people as a powerful cyclone swept through the Bay of Bengal and headed towards the country's east coast.
Officials were stockpiling emergency supplies and rescue workers were on standby along the coastlines of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha states on Saturday, with Cyclone Hudhud expected to make landfall near the port city of Visakhapatnam around noon on Sunday.