Syria ceasefire takes effect with President Bashar al-Assad emboldened, opposition wary
A nationwide ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia went into effect in Syria on Monday evening, the second attempt this year by Washington and Moscow to halt the five-year civil war.
The Syrian army, announced the truce at 7 pm (midnight Singapore time), the moment it took effect, saying the seven-day "regime of calm"would be applied across Syria. It reserved the right to respond with all forms of firepower to any violation by "armed groups".
Rebel groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad had decided to respect the ceasefire, while expressing their deep reservations about the overall agreement, said Zakaria Malahifji of the Aleppo-based rebel faction Fastaqim.
Former British PM David Cameron resigns from parliament, ends political career
Britain's former prime minister David Cameron said on Monday he was resigning from his seat in parliament, ending his political career just weeks after he lost a referendum to stay in the European Union to avoid becoming a"distraction".
Cameron, who came to power in 2010, said he had told Prime Minister Theresa May of his decision to stop representing his constituency in Oxfordshire to make way for someone who could concentrate on the area in central England.
"I've thought about this long and hard over the summer and I've decided the right thing to do is to stand down as the member of parliament for Witney," he told BBC TV.
Four South Korea nuclear reactors shut down after 5.8-magnitude quake
South Korea's nuclear operator said early on Tuesday it suspended operation of four reactors at a nuclear power complex as a precaution late on Monday after two earthquakes struck the country's southeast.
The earthquakes, of magnitude 5.1 and 5.8, occurred on Monday night near the city of Gyeongju, according to South Korea's meteorological agency.
The 5.8 magnitude earthquake was the strongest recorded in South Korea, an official at the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.
One killed in riots in Indian IT hub over river water dispute
At least one person was killed and another wounded when police opened fired to quell rioting that erupted in the Indian technology hub of Bengaluru on Monday over a long-running river water dispute with the neighbouring state, an official said.
Fifteen policemen were wounded after protesters set cars and buses on fire and pelted people with stones, said L Chandrashekar, a senior police officer.
Riot police took to the streets, and public gatherings were banned in a bid to rein in the unrest, while police said the local metro network had been temporarily suspended.
Paralympics: Singapore misses out on bronze in boccia mixed pairs BC3 event
In the boccia BC3 mixed pairs bronze medal play-off, Nurulasyiqah Taha and Toh Sze Ning missed out on Singapore's third medal of the Rio Paralympics early Tuesday (Sept 13).
They lost 1-8 to Greece in Court 3 of Carioca Arena 2 in Rio.
The duo first edged out Greeks Anna Ntenta, Nikolaos Pananos and Grigorios Polychronidis 3-2 and then outclassed Portugal's Armando Costa, Jose Carlos Macedo and Mario Peixoto 5-1 on Sept 10 (Brazil time).
