EU deadlocked on migrant relocation system
EU ministers failed on Monday to break a deadlock over sharing out responsibility for sheltering some of the hundreds of thousands of people who have sought asylum in Europe this year, leaving the shape of a final deal in doubt.
Determined opposition from a core of ex-Communist eastern states blocked efforts by Germany and France to secure agreement for a proposal by the EU executive to relocate 120,000 people from frontier countries according to mandatory national quotas.
After six hours of argument, ministers put off a decision, saying they hoped to agree on a deal to find places for the asylum-seekers at another meeting on Oct 8.
Mexico condemns killing of Mexican tourists mistaken for militants in Egypt
Egyptian security forces killed 12 people and wounded 10 "by accident" when they mistook a convoy of mostly Mexican tourists for a group of militants they were hunting in the desert, the interior ministry said on Monday.
Two Mexicans were killed, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said, though Egyptian security and judicial sources later said that eight Mexicans and four Egyptians were killed, and eight Mexicans and two Egyptians were wounded.
The sister of a Mexican Reiki healer who was among the dead said a relative of the group's tour guide had sent her a list of eight Mexicans killed in the incident.
Japan warns tourists on Mount Aso after eruption
Japan warned tourists to keep away from popular Mount Aso after it began belching smoke and ash into the air, the latest eruption in one of the world's most volcanically active countries.
Authorities issued their third-highest alert and cancelled more than a dozen flights after the huge volcano on the southwestern main island of Kyushu shot a column of ash several thousand metres (a few thousand feet) into the clear sky.
"We suddenly saw an unusually massive plume rising in the air," Kimihiko Jo, an Aso official, said. "The black and grey column at one point appeared to be weakening, but it's growing bigger again."
Dalai Lama calls for more research into 20-year disappearance of Panchen Lama
The Dalai Lama said on Monday more research was needed to settle the fate of the man he named as the Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, who vanished two decades ago but is said by the Chinese to be living a normal life.
Gendun Choekyi Nyima, now 26, disappeared shortly after he was declared by the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet to be the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama when he was six years old.
His fate, which is just one area of contention between China and the Dalai Lama over Tibet, continues to be a deep concern to many Tibetans and he remains one of China's most zealously guarded state secrets.
Dallas Cowboys unseat Real Madrid as world's most valuable sports franchise: Forbes
The Dallas Cowboys of Americn football have unseated Spanish football's Real Madrid as the world's most valuable sports franchise, according to a Forbes poll released on Monday.
A new broadcasting deals helped boost the valuee of the average team in the National Football League (NFL) in the United States by 38 per cent from last year, the magazine said, and remain the NFL's most valuable team for a ninth consecutive year, Forbes said in a statement.
The Cowboys, which have not won a Super Bowl title in 20 years, are valued at US$4 billion (S5.62 billion), a 25 per cent jump from last year, compared to US$3.25 billion for Real Madrid.
