Shanghai Shenhua denied suggestions that Carlos Tevez's career in China was over and said Wednesday they expected him to return after the Argentine went home for treatment on a muscle injury.

The 33-year-old forward, one of the best-paid players in the world on reported weekly wages of around 730,000 euros ($850,000), has scored just twice since joining the Chinese Super League (CSL) club in January from Boca Juniors and has missed half of this season's games with injury.

His poor form and repeated absences have seen Shanghai fans turn on the Argentina international, raising questions over whether he would return after treatment.

Tevez has helped fuel the doubts after previously criticising the standard of Chinese football and hinting he might look for a move.

"No one ever said he would leave," a Shanghai spokesman told AFP.

"After this Saturday's game we will have a short break and the whole team will be off until August 28."

The CSL, which is more than halfway through the season with Shanghai in the bottom half of the table under Uruguayan coach Gus Poyet, pauses from this weekend until September 8.

The break, and Tevez's apparent injury problems, meant it was a good opportunity for him to seek rehabilitation back in Argentina and the decision to let him go was made after discussions between the player and the Shenhua's medical team, the club said.

Tevez, who has a history of falling out with clubs and coaches during an itinerant career that has included spells at Manchester City, Manchester United and Juventus, was due to be back in China by August 30, the spokesman said.

Nicknamed "Apache", Tevez fell out with his Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini when he refused to warm up as a substitute in the last moments of a Champions League match against Bayern Munich in September 2011.

Tevez flew back to Argentina and considered retiring, before eventually returning to England in February 2012.

He enraged Shanghai supporters in April when he was spotted at Disneyland the same day he missed an important match due to injury

Poyet has also faced calls to be sacked or quit and Shenhua -- missing Tevez -- were smashed 5-0 at the weekend.

But they returned to action on Tuesday in the Chinese Cup and, with Tevez out of the country, beat second-tier Shanghai Shenxin 1-0 at home.

People watch German chancellor Angela Merkel during a live interview with four of the most famous German Youtubers, on August 16, 2017 in Berlin. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Wolfgang Kumm / Germany OUT

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, campaigning Wednesday for the youth vote on YouTube ahead of September 24 elections, said her favourite emoticon was the "smiley" and dismissed fears about a potential World War III.

The 63-year-old leader, in power for nearly 12 years, also said she hoped to appoint equal numbers of male and female ministers from her conservative party if she wins a fourth term, though she could not speak for possible coalition partners.

In interviews with four young German YouTube personalities, including beauty, technology and politics video-bloggers, she spoke about issues ranging from refugees to climate and the importance of casting one's ballot.

She said her government would push on with the promotion of environmentally friendly electric cars, revealing that her main media spokesman drives one but that she could not because no automaker had yet manufactured an armoured model.

She confided that her favourite emoticon was the smiley, sometimes with a heart attached.

Asked about the more serious issue of whether North Korea tensions and other international conflicts threatened to escalate into "World War III", she responded with a firm "no", adding that "we can avert such catastrophes".

Speaking about North Korea and the role of US President Donald Trump, Merkel said "we must be very careful with language, generally.

"Language can be the precursor to an escalation that, somewhere down the road, could lead to violence."

Nigerians love a good joke. We love jokes so much that we have the ability to joke about almost anything, regardless of the situation.

Today is the International Tell A Joke Day, and we are celebrating it by sharing some hilarious memes that have been shared by Nigerians on social media.

A meme (pronounced as mim) is an image, video, or piece of text, typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations.

With that being said, here are 20 memes that will make your day.

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(FILES) This file photo taken on October 5, 1990 shows, US First Lady Barbara Bush (L) and Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales, posing for photographers after the Princess arrived at the White House in Washington. Princess Diana revolutionised the royal dress code with the help of some of the world's greatest designers during a glamorous life that came to a tragic end on August 31, 1997, 20 years ago this month. / AFP PHOTO / Pamela PRICE

Two decades on from the death of princess Diana, her sons Princes William and Harry are working to keep her legacy alive with unusually emotional tributes after years of official silence.

As the 20th anniversary of her death on August 31 approaches, the brothers have opened up for the first time about their mother, her life, and her impact on them and on the causes she championed.

William was 15 and Harry 12 when Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

How deeply their loss affected them is something they have only recently begun to discuss.

"Twenty years on, Harry and I felt that it was an appropriate time to open up a bit more about our mother," William said.

"We won't speak as openly or publicly about her again."

The pair featured in a 90-minute programme entitled "Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy" broadcast by British channel ITV earlier this year.

"This is the first time that the two of us have ever spoken about her as a mother. Arguably, probably a little bit too raw up until this point. It's still raw," said Harry.

Harry recently revealed that he sought help in the last few years as he struggled to deal with his suppressed grief.

Celebrating Diana's life
In 2007, the princes staged a benefit concert at Wembley Stadium and a memorial service at which Harry gave a tribute.

But this year marks the first time that the brothers have spoken in such emotional depth.

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Harry opened up about the trauma of having to walk behind his mother's coffin through London for her funeral.

"I don't think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don't think it would happen today," he said.

In those tense days 20 years ago, many Britons voiced anger at a perceived lack of empathy from the royal establishment.

Some feel the royals have been happy to see Diana replaced in the limelight.

Patrick Jephson, Diana's former private secretary, said the princess had been airbrushed out.

"There had been a period since her death during which the royal establishment has been uncertain how to treat the memory of Diana," he told AFP.

"For much of the last two decades she has been the name that cannot be spoken in royal circles.

"Therefore it is with a note of slight defiance and determination that her children have said 'no, there's lots of good to remember, let's celebrate her life'."

Kensington statue planned
The brothers have commissioned a statue of Diana which will go in the public grounds of Kensington Palace, their home which was also their mother's base.

A garden has been created at the London palace in her honour.

The princes also attended a private service on July 1 to rededicate their mother's grave at her ancestral home on what would have been her 56th birthday.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, officiated at the grave, to which the public does not have access.

In their royal duties, William, 35, and Harry, 32, have also taken up the baton for their mother's causes.

Diana's visit to a minefield in Angola helped the movement towards the 1997 landmine ban treaty.

In the 1980s, during bedside visits to AIDS patients, she made a point making physical contact. It was a remarkable gesture at the time that helped break down the stigma attached to the disease.

Harry's push on landmine clearance and HIV testing are directly aimed at continuing his mother's campaigns, as is William's work with homeless shelters and on child bereavement.

Their joint work on mental health -- which saw Harry reveal his need for treatment to cope with the trauma of her death -- also touches a cause Diana championed.

Harry said the princes wondered what Diana would be doing now were she still alive.

"There's not a day that William and I don't wish that she was still around. We wonder what kind of a mother she would be now and what kind of a public role she would have and what a difference she would be making," he said.

Jephson said Diana's greatest legacy was her sons themselves.

He said: "We can see in them many of the attributes that she had -- principally her ability to combine royalty with the common touch."

(FILES) This file photo taken on April 23, 2017 shows former US President Barack Obama visiting with youth leaders at the University of Chicago to help promote community organizing in Chicago, Illinois. A tweet by former president Barack Obama about the violence in Charlottesville has become the most liked message in the history of Twitter, the company said on August 16, 2017. The tweet by the country's first black president quoted Nelson Mandela."No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion," Obama tweeted on Sunday, following deadly clashes in the Virginia city between neo-Nazi sympathizers and counterprotesters. As of 1300 GMT Wednesday, Obama's message had been "liked" 3.2 million times, and re-tweeted 1.3 million times. / AFP PHOTO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / SCOTT OLSON

A tweet by former president Barack Obama about the violence in Charlottesville has become the most liked message in the history of Twitter, the company said Wednesday.

The tweet by the country's first black president quoted Nelson Mandela.

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion," Obama tweeted on Sunday, following deadly clashes in the Virginia city between neo-Nazi sympathizers and counterprotesters.

As of 1300 GMT Wednesday, Obama's message had been "liked" 3.2 million times, and re-tweeted 1.3 million times.

The 44th US president has not spoken out on the violence except via quotes from Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid icon who died in 2013.

A picture accompanying the tweet shows four babies -- including a black baby girl and a blonde baby boy -- in an open window as the ex-US president looks in.

Two other Obama tweets without pictures had more than one million likes.

"People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love... For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. - Nelson Mandela," Obama wrote in two tweets, also on Sunday.

A rally Saturday by neo-Nazis and white supremacists over the removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville erupted in clashes with counter-demonstrators.

The fracas ended in bloodshed when a 20-year-old suspected Nazi sympathizer plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, leaving one woman dead and 19 others injured.

On Tuesday President Donald Trump doubled down on his initial response to the white supremacist rally, saying there was "blame on both sides."

The Republican president -- who one day earlier denounced racism and singled out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis as "criminals and thugs" -- also hit out at what he called the "alt-left" over the weekend melee.

Trump has faced days of criticism from across the political spectrum over his reaction to Saturday's unrest in the Virginia college town.

The wife of the Ebonyi State governor Mrs Rachael Umahi, on Wednesday, said she would take legal action against Mrs Joy Okochi, a policewoman who allegedly poured hot soup on her house-help Chinyere Igwe.

Mrs Umahi speaking in Abakaliki through her Chief Press Secretary, Mr Donatus Owo, said the planned intervention against the culprit was to ensure that the victim gets justice.

Umahi decried the lukewarm attitudes of some citizens of the state in handling the case and the alleged threats to the lives of both the victim and her parents by some people.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident occurred on June 24.

Igwe, 15, a house-help to Okochi was said to have sustained serious injuries from the incident.

Meanwhile, Mr Godwin Igwe, the Director of Child Welfare Development in the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, condemned how the police was handling the matter.

Igwe alleged that the police officers handling the case had invited the schedule officer in the ministry on three occasions without any meaningful action taken.

“I see no reason why the police should not have written an official invitation to the schedule officer instructing her to present the victim instead of doing that through phone calls.

“ How can a matter of this magnitude be communicated through phone calls.

“And each time the victim was taken to the police as requested, she would be told that they were engaged in other assignments,’’ he said.

Igwe said that the victim was receiving treatment at the ministry’s rehabilitation centre.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Jude Madu, told NAN that the state police command had carried out an investigation into the matter as directed by the state Commissioner of Police, Titus Lamorde.

He said that this was done through the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Madu said, “The police woman is currently facing orderly room trial; the disciplinary action of the police.

“However, an elderly man from the victim’s family came to the CP with an affidavit from a court requesting that the case be withdrawn and be resolved in their family.

“I don’t know why people derive fun in ridiculing the image of the police, what else do they want the CP to do.

“The incident happened seven days after the police woman gave birth to a set of twins through Caesarian operation,’’ Madu said.

Monaco's French forward Kylian Mbappe warms up before the French Ligue 1 football match between Dijon FCO and AS Monaco, on August 13, 2017 at Gaston Gerard stadium in Dijon, northern France. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE DESMAZES

Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim has claimed that star striker Kylian Mbappe was left on the bench last weekend "to protect him" rather than as a punishment.

The 18-year-old sensation reportedly wants away from the French champions, with Paris Saint-Germain his favoured destination but Real Madrid also reportedly ready to pay 180 million euros ($211 million) for his services.

Mbappe started Monaco's first two competitive matches of the season but sat on the bench for the duration of the principality club's 4-1 Ligue 1 victory at Dijon on Sunday.

Jardim said after that match that dropping Mbappe was a "decision by the club" but the Portuguese coach told media on Wednesday that it was not taken to punish the French international.

"We never punish our players. That is not the right word. 'Protected' is a better word. When so many things are happening around an 18-year-old kid, it is our responsibility to protect him," said Jardim.

"That means me, Vadim (Vasilyev, the vice-president) and the sporting director (Antonio Cordon). It is always to protect the squad, the player and the club.

"Kylian is not at 100 percent. He is not in great form. But that is to be expected of a kid who is just 18... Even you (journalists), if tomorrow another newspaper offers you a contract where you will earn 15 times more, you won't be so good when it comes to tapping the keys on your computer keyboard," he added with a smile.

Mbappe, whose Monaco contract runs until June 2019, could again be left out when his side travel to Metz on league duty on Friday evening.

"The philosophy at AS Monaco is to play those who are at 100 percent and totally available to the squad," said the coach, whose side have won their opening two Ligue 1 matches.

If he does not play, either Guido Carrillo or Adama Diakhaby will partner Radamel Falcao -- scorer of a hat-trick in Dijon -- against Metz.

Mbappe won his first four caps for France at the tail end of last season but Jardim accepted that the current situation puts at risk his chances of being called up for his country's World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands at the end of the month.

But the former Sporting Lisbon boss is more concerned with what losing Mbappe might mean for his squad after seeing Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Valere Germain leave, amongst others, since winning the title.

"I always say we have to adapt. Those who stay are always the most important. The objective is to be able to play well with those who remain. That is the mentality. I never cry about those who leave.

"I know the transfer market. Twenty percent of it is about buying players to strengthen the team and the other 80 percent is about weakening the opposition and messing things up for everyone else.

"It is a strategy. There are only two weeks left. After that it's finished."

Russia's Maria Sharapova celebrates after she defeated Estonia's Anett Kontaveit in the quarterfinal match at the WTA Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, southwestern Germany, on April 28, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / THOMAS KIENZLE

Five-time major champion Maria Sharapova of Russia will play her first Grand Slam event since serving a 15-month doping suspension after receiving a wildcard Tuesday into the US Open.

The move by the US Tennis Association (USTA) comes after Sharapova, ranked 148th this week, was rejected for a wildcard spot into the French Open and missed Wimbledon with a thigh injury.

Sharapova tested positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open and was suspended by the International Tennis Federation, a ban that ended in April.

Since then, Sharapova has needed wildcards to get into tournaments, drawing criticism from some fellow professionals.

"Her suspension under the terms of the tennis anti-doping program was completed and therefore was not one of the factors weighed in our wildcard selection process," the USTA said in a statement.

"Consistent with past practice, a wildcard was provided to a past US champion who needed the wildcard for entry into the main draw. Previous US Open champions who have received US Open main draw wildcards include Martina Hingis, Lleyton Hewitt, Kim Clijsters and Juan Martin del Potro."

Former world number one Sharapova won the 2006 US Open as well as Wimbledon in 2014, the 2008 Australian Open and the 2012 and 2014 French Opens.

Sharapova will also speak to youth about the benefits of the anti-doping program and the need for players to be vigilant about the banned substance list, something she admitted not doing when she did not catch meldonium being added to the ban list in 2016.

"Additionally, Sharapova has volunteered to speak to young tennis players at the USTA national campus about the importance of the tennis anti-doping program and the personal responsibility each player has to comply with the program's requirements," the USTA said.

Sharapova has shaken off criticism from rival players about wildcards and the French Open snub, tweeting after being denied a spot at Roland Garros, "If this is what it takes to rise up again, then I am in it all the way, everyday. No words, games or actions will ever stop me from reaching my own dreams. And I have many."

Players in Cincinnati for this week's WTA event welcomed Sharapova back into Grand Slam tennis.

"I'm sure this is a great moment for her to have an opportunity to be back to a place where she has done so well," ninth-ranked Venus Williams said.

World number six dismissed any notion it would be wrong to give Sharapova a wildcard, saying, "Either way it's not a controversy. I don't have a problem with that."

Sharapova has withdrawn from US Open warm-up tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati the past two weeks after suffering a left forearm injury at Stanford.

In her first US match since March 2015, Sharapova defeated American Jennifer Brady 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 at Stanford.

But in the triumph, Sharapova suffered the forearm injury that has sidelined her since, even after arriving in Cincinnati hopeful of playing as a wildcard in the final major tuneup before the US Open.

"Following the doctor's advice on-site, as a precaution for the US Open, I am unfortunately withdrawing from the tournament with the left forearm injury I sustained in Stanford," Sharapova said.

Serena Williams, feeling "new power" from her pregnancy, is already preparing for an Australian Open title defense in January.

In a wide-ranging interview with Vogue touching on motherhood, body image and race, Williams said she had set herself a goal of playing Melbourne.

"It's the most outrageous plan," the 36-year-old Williams, who is expecting her first child next month.

"I just want to put that out there. That's, like, three months after I give birth. I'm not walking anything back, but I'm just saying it’s pretty intense."

Williams said during her pregnancy layoff she had kept a close eye on the tennis world, including her sister Venus's run to the Wimbledon final.

And she has her eye on matching Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles. She was already pregnant when she won her 23rd at the Australian Open last January.

"Obviously, if I have a chance to go out there and catch up with Margaret, I am not going to pass that up," Williams said. "If anything, this pregnancy has given me a new power."

Williams says she's had a "love-hate relationship with the idea of power" as it relates to her game, sometimes irked that her skill and strategy seemed to be overlooked.

"As I've gotten older I've started to feel differently about it. Power is beauty. Strength is beauty. So now on the court I want people to think that I'm powerful," she said.

But she's dismayed to think that many interpret her on-court determination as "mean" -- something she believes has to do with race.

"I feel like people think I'm mean," she says. "Really tough and really mean and really street. I believe that the other girls in the locker room will say, 'Serena's really nice.' But Maria Sharapova, who might not talk to anybody, might be perceived by the public as nicer. Why is that? Because I'm black and so I look mean? That's the society we live in. That's life. They say African-Americans have to be twice as good, especially women. I'm perfectly OK with having to be twice as good."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses the parliament in Tehran on August 15, 2017. Rouhani warned that Iran could abandon its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers within hours if the United States keeps on imposing new sanctions as he outlined plans for his new term. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE

President Hassan Rouhani warned Tuesday that Iran could abandon its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers within hours if the United States keeps on imposing new sanctions.

In a speech to parliament outlining plans for his new term, Rouhani also hit out at US counterpart Donald Trump, saying he had shown the world that Washington was "not a good partner."

Rouhani's comments come with the nuclear deal under mounting pressure after Tehran carried out missile tests and strikes, and Washington imposed new sanctions -- with each accusing the other of violating the spirit of the agreement.

Rouhani warned that Iran was ready to walk out of the deal -- which saw the lifting of most international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme -- if Washington persisted.

"Those who try to return to the language of threats and sanctions are prisoners of their past delusions," he said in the televised address.

"If they want to go back to that experience, definitely in a short time -- not weeks or months, but in the scale of hours and days -- we will return to our previous situation very much stronger."

He said Iran did prefer to stick with the nuclear deal, which he called "a model of victory for peace and diplomacy over war and unilateralism" but that this was not the "only option."

Rouhani said Trump had shown he was an unreliable partner not just for Iran but for US allies as well.

"In recent months, the world has witnessed that the US, in addition to its constant and repetitive breaking of its promises in the JCPOA (nuclear deal), has ignored several other global agreements and shown its allies that the US is neither a good partner nor a reliable negotiating party," he said.

He highlighted Trump's decisions to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and international trade deals.

'Too big to fail?'
"Iran cannot be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage," Washington's United Nations envoy Nikki Haley said in a statement.

"Iran, under no circumstances, can ever be allowed to have nuclear weapons... The nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail.'"

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert insisted Washington was in full compliance with its side of the JCPOA.

But she confirmed the US administration was reviewing its policy toward Iran and that it believes the nuclear deal did not put an end to Tehran's other "destabilising activities" in its region.

Iran's parliament approved Sunday more than half a billion dollars in funding for the country's missile programme and foreign operations of the elite Revolutionary Guards in response to the new US sanctions.

In talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rouhani vowed to build on their joint military efforts across the region.

"Tehran welcomes the active presence of Russia's investors... in major infrastructure projects including in the fields of industry and energy," his office said.

'Wanted to nominate women'
Rouhani was addressing lawmakers as deliberations start over his new ministerial lineup, which must be approved by lawmakers in the coming days.

The president started his second term a fortnight ago under fire from reformists over his elderly and all-male cabinet.

"I wanted to nominate three women ministers but it did not happen," he said, without explaining why.

"All ministers must use women in high-ranking positions... and especially female advisers and deputies."

Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate cleric, won a resounding re-election victory in May in large part due to the backing of reformists who supported his message of greater civil liberties and equality.

Many felt let down by the lack of women ministers, saying he had bowed to pressure from the conservative religious establishment, although he did appoint two female vice presidents and a senior aide -- positions that do not require parliamentary approval.

He defended his cabinet selections on Tuesday, and pointed to his pick for telecoms minister, 35-year-old Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, as "our first experience in choosing from the youth, someone who has grown up after the revolution."

Structural reforms
Rouhani promised a more targeted approach to social welfare and job creation, responding to attacks during the campaign that his neoliberal agenda was mostly benefiting the rich.

He promised to eradicate absolute poverty and improve the conditions of the poorest "by five times" by the end of his term in 2021.

"The government is determined to carry out structural reforms. It sees the all-out fight against corruption as an absolute prerequisite for progress and social justice," he said.

He also detailed a range of economic challenges, particularly the need to clean up the banking system, which is riven with toxic debt, and reform taxation to end the country's reliance on unstable oil revenues.

MASON, OH - AUGUST 15: Venus Williams signs autographs after defeating Alison Riske during the Western and Southern Open on August 15, 2017 in Mason, Ohio. Rob Carr/Getty Images/AFP

Wimbledon and Australian Open runner-up Venus Williams is preparing this week for the US Open and to become a new aunt with sister Serena giving birth to a baby soon.

Ninth-ranked Venus advanced Tuesday to the second round at the WTA Cincinnati Open by eliminating US compatriot Alison Riske 6-2, 6-0 in 66 minutes.

But off the court, she's doing some online shopping for Serena's baby, and getting some valuable advice from her mother, Oracene Price, who has raised five daughters.

"I have a lot of things in my cart that I'm about to order," Venus Williams said. "I talked to my mom yesterday. I'm like, 'Mom, what do you really, really need?' So she really gave me the low-down.

"So I'm going to get this stuff and as things progress I'll see what I need after."

Serena and her fiancee, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have said they plan to keep the sex of the baby a surprise until birth.

Serena, 35, was pregnant when she beat Venus, 37, in an Australian Open final that was more all-Williams than either knew, winning a 23rd career Grand Slam singles crown, one shy of Margaret Court's all-time record.

In April, Serena revealed on social media that she was pregnant. She is expected to give birth in about another month.

With Serena sidelined, seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus has picked up the family mantle and turned back the clock, making a run to the Wimbledon final last month, losing to Spain's Garbine Muguruza in a bid for her first Slam crown since 2008.

Venus, who won five Wimbledon and two US Open titles, has been an aunt before, but not when she was old enough to do some serious spoiling and spending on the new arrival.

"This is the first time I've been an aunt as an adult," she said. "So it's a completely different experience than before when I was a child."

After a third-round exit in Toronto last week, Williams hopes to put the final fine tuning on her game this week ahead of the year's final Grand Slam that begins August 28 in New York.

"I just want to play free and feel confident. That's important," Williams said. "I need to play my best at all the big events.

"Today was about being measured and being patient and trying to just capitalize on the match."

Williams, who won her 49th career WTA singles crown last year at Kaohsiung, said she doesn't feel pressure to win the title this week.

"Not really, but I want to (feel that pressure)," she said. "I want to win every match. The aim is to get out there and be better every single time."

This picture taken on August 14, 2017 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 15, 2017 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) clapping hands while viewing a stage during his inspecting the Command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA) at an undisclosed location. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said on August 15 he would hold off on a planned missile strike near Guam, but warned the highly provocative move would go ahead in the event of further "reckless actions" by Washington. / AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIS KNS / STR / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT 

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised North Korea's leader for backing off on plans to fire missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam.

"Kim Jong-Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trump stunned the world last week by warning North Korea it faced "fire and fury" if it continued to threaten the US or its allies with its ballistic missile program. His impromptu comments while on vacation in New Jersey were interpreted as raising the prospect of a US nuclear attack against North Korea.

The unpredictable and isolated North Korean leader on Tuesday had been briefed by his missile forces on a "plan for an enveloping fire at Guam," according to the North's official KCNA news agency.

But afterward, according to KCNA, he decided to postpone the operation to "watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" and not to go ahead unless the US commits more "reckless actions."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said after Kim postponed the threat that Washington remains ready for talks.

But he added that would be up to Kim when such negotiations would begin.

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has assigned portfolios to two ministers inaugurated into the federal executive council three weeks ago.

‎The ministers -- Professor Stephen Ocheni and Suleiman Hassan -- were nominated by President Buhari in March and
were confirmed by the Nigerian Senate on 3rd May.

Ocheni hails from Kogi State which has not had representation in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as constitutionally required, since the death of James Ocholi who was a former minister of state for Labour in a road accident in 2016.

Hassan, from Gombe State, is to replace Amina Mohammed who left Nigeria’s public service to assume responsibility at the United Nations (UN) headquarters.

Acting President Osinbajo, before the commencement of the federal executive council meeting on Wednesday, deployed Professor Ochen‎i as Minister of State for Labour and Employment while Hassan has been assigned appointed as minister of state for Power, Works and Housing.

The deployment of the two minister‎s came amidst mounting speculations that the acting president may have been prevented from carrying out this function by a cabal loyal to the ailing President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently also described the acting president as a mere figurehead in the APC-led government.

Meanwhile, the acting President who carried out the inauguration at the council chambers of the presidential villa shortly before the commencement of Wednesday's Federal Executive Council (FEC) also swore-in 15 federal permanent secretaries out of the 21 recently appointed.

(FILES) This file photo taken on January 20, 2015 shows opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema, 52, of the United Party for National Development (UPND), casting his ballot at a school in Lusaka's affluent Kabulonga suburb. Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who has been held in custody for four months for treason, has been released after charges against him were dropped, according his party, AFP reports on August 16, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / GIANLUIGI GUERCIA

Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema was released from prison Wednesday and the treason charges against him were dropped shortly before his trial was to begin in Lusaka.

Hichilema has been in custody since April over an incident in which he allegedly failed to give way to President Edgar Lungu's motorcade.

His trial, which was due to begin during the morning, had threatened to rock a country known for its relative stability.

"Hakainde Hichilema and his 5 co-accused have been released from prison with the treason charge dropped," the United Party for National Development (UPND) said in a statement.

Lillian Kayuni, director of public prosecution, told the court she would be "entering a nolle prosequi" -- a formal notice of abandonment.

Lungu, who narrowly beat Hichilema in last year's presidential election, has dismissed allegations of growing authoritarianism and has accused his rival of trying to overturn the election result.

Hichilema and five aides denied the treason charges at a plea hearing on Monday where police officers in riot gear had sealed off the court precinct as scores of UPND supporters waited outside.

Zambia has enjoyed relative stability since its first multi-party election in 1991.

But last year's election was marked by clashes between supporters of Lungu's Patriotic Front (PF) party and the UPND.

Hichilema, 55, says the election was rigged and has refused to recognise Lungu as the president of Zambia.

High-speed road drama
In June, parliament suspended 48 UPND lawmakers for boycotting a Lungu address three months earlier.

And last month, Lungu invoked a state of emergency, increasing police powers of arrest and detention after a series of arson attacks blamed on opposition parties.

The government has also increased pressure on media outlets that support the opposition, eroding Zambia's reputation as a stable democracy.

Hichilema was arrested after he allegedly put Lungu's life in danger when his convoy failed to make way for the presidential motorcade in a high-speed road drama caught on video camera.

The two men were both travelling to Western province for a traditional ceremony.

Days later, more than 100 armed police surrounded Hichilema's house outside Lusaka, firing tear gas before detaining him and his aides.

Harassment and intimidation
A businessman turned politician, Hichilema has claimed he was assaulted by police during his arrest and suffered mistreatment in detention.

Treason is an offence in Zambia that carries a minimum 15-year jail-term and, in theory, a maximum sentence of death.

A person accused of treason is not allowed to post bail.

When he was arrested, Amnesty International said Hichilema and the five other accused were "victims of longstanding persecution" by authorities and faced charges designed to "harass and intimidate".

Lungu did not mince words during the election campaign, warning political rivals and activists that "if they push me against the wall, I will sacrifice democracy for peace".

Police Senior Superintendent Romeo Caramat gestures during a press conference at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Manila on August 16, 2017. Philippine police killed 32 people in "shock and awe" raids aimed at scaring drug traffickers, authorities said on August 16, after President Rodrigo Duterte admitted to setbacks in his controversial crime war. / AFP PHOTO / Noel CELIS

Philippine police killed 32 people in "shock and awe" raids aimed at scaring drug traffickers, authorities said Wednesday, after President Rodrigo Duterte admitted to setbacks in his controversial crime war.

Duterte has waged an unprecedented crackdown on drugs during his 14 months in power that has seen police and suspected vigilantes kill thousands of people, leading to warnings by rights groups that he may be overseeing a crime against humanity.

In one of the deadliest operations of the war, police reported killing 32 people in a series of raids Monday on suspected drug traffickers across Bulacan province, which neighbours the capital of Manila.

"We wanted to shock and awe these drug personalities," Romeo Caramat, the Bulacan police chief, told reporters in Manila on Wednesday, adding 109 suspects had also been arrested.

"Other drug personalities will think twice before continuing with their drug trade."

Caramat insisted the police had only killed the suspects in self defence, and highlighted in the press conference that pistols and grenades had been seized in the raids.

"We know we have done nothing wrong," Caramat said.

He later told AFP that no police had been killed or wounded.

When asked how it was possible there had been no police wounded if the raiding officers had been acting in self defence when killing 32 people, Caramat said: "Don't ask me to explain".

Duterte easily won last year's presidential election largely on a vow to kill tens of thousands of drug traffickers and addicts, which he said was necessary to stop the country's slide to narco-state status.

Duterte promised during the campaign he would win his drug war in three to six months, a vow that resonated with voters fed up with high crime rates and corrupt politicians.

Duterte then as president railed against critics who said it was impossible to quickly end the drugs problem by killing traffickers and addicts.

But Duterte, who is limited by the constitution to serving a single term of six years, conceded last week that he may be unable to deliver on his campaign pledge.

"Look, these shabu (meth) and drugs, et cetera, cannot be solved by one man, for a president for one term. It has bogged nations (down)," he said in his southern home city of Davao on Friday.

But in another speech last week, at national police headquarters, Duterte also signalled there would be no change in tactics.

He again vowed to pardon police if they were found guilty of murder for killing while fighting his drug war.

PHOTO:AFP

South African police Wednesday said they knew the whereabouts of Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe, who faces accusations of assault, but declined to say if she had fled the country.

The 52-year-old wife of President Robert Mugabe is accused of beating model Gabriella Engels, 20, on Sunday evening at the Johannesburg hotel where her two sons were staying.

Engels said she suffered deep cuts to her forehead and the back of her head, and on Monday she registered a case with the police alleging assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

"We know where the suspect is," South Africa's police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo told AFP.

"We are still continuing with the investigations. No warrant of arrest has been issued," he added after some reports suggested Grace Mugabe had hurriedly returned to Harare late Tuesday.

The alleged attack threatened to spark a diplomatic tiff between the two neighbouring countries, which have strong political and economic ties.

Grace Mugabe allegedly arrived at the Capital 20 West Hotel with bodyguards and accused Engels of partying with her sons Robert and Chatunga, who are both in their 20s and live in Johannesburg.

- 'Kept beating me' -
Pictures on social media appeared to show Engels bleeding from her head after the alleged assault at the hotel in the upmarket business district of Sandton.

Engels said she had been attacked with an electrical extension cord.

"She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over. I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised… I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away," she told the News 24 website.

Zimbabwe's president is expected to fly to South Africa later this week for a regional SADC summit which opens in Pretoria on Saturday.

Grace Mugabe is 41 years younger than her 93-year-old husband and the couple has two sons and a daughter.

She regularly speaks at rallies in Zimbabwe and is seen as one possible contender to take over from her increasingly frail husband.

Last month she urged him to name his chosen successor, reviving speculation about the race to take over from the world's oldest national leader.

President Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from British colonial rule in 1980.

South African Police Minister Mbalula told reporters on Tuesday that "in terms of foreign citizens, they must understand they have responsibilities, especially those who hold diplomatic passports.

"We have had to act in the interests of the victim."

This handout photograph released by The Presidential Service Communication Unit (PSCU) shows Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta (L) watched by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi as he addresses media representatives outside his office in Nairobi on August 14, 2017. Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has appealed to the opposition to hold legal demonstrations, not street protests, and allow Kenyans to get back to normal life after last week's disputed vote. / AFP PHOTO / KENYAN PRESIDENTIAL SERVICE COMMUNICATION UNIT / HO

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga is expected to unveil his next move Wednesday to contest a presidential poll he claims was rigged in favour of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The 72-year-old cried foul shortly after vote counting began in last Tuesday's election, sparking deadly protests in his strongholds that left at least 17 dead and 177 injured.

But the unrest has given way to a tense limbo as his supporters wait to hear if their leader will take his grievances to court, as he has been urged to do, or back onto the streets.

Initially, his decision was to have been announced on Tuesday, but he pushed it back by a day citing the "complexity and delicate nature" of discussions with his allies in the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition.

Odinga is expected to outline his strategy in an announcement at 1200 GMT, a party source told AFP.

His vow that "there is no turning back" and comments by NASA officials that court is not an option have placed the country on tenterhooks over the likelihood of a protracted vote dispute involving more violence and economic disruption.

The international community and many within Kenya have urged Odinga to use legal means to express his grievances.

The veteran opposition leader has now lost four elections and cried foul over results in the previous two.

After the 2007 vote, Odinga's supporters took to the streets, and a resulting crackdown coupled with a wave of politically motivated tribal violence left over 1,100 dead.

In 2013 he challenged the presidential results in court and lost.

Any legal challenge must be lodged by Friday.

- NGO 'vendetta' -
A legal petition can also be filed by members of civil society.

Two of Kenya's leading rights organisations suggested this might be behind efforts this week to shut them down -- citing tax and registration issues -- but on Wednesday, the government appeared to backpedal on the matter.

Interior Minister Fred Matiangi suspended action against the two for 90 days pending an exhaustive review of their status.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) viewed the move against them as highly suspicious at a time when they are weighing legal action over election "inconsistencies".

"Every single thing happening at this moment rotates around the elections... it is all about keeping this election as opaque as possible," said Maina Kiai, a board member of both bodies.

Civil society members saw in the move yet another attempt by Kenyatta's government to clamp down on their activities.

Haron Ndubi, a lawyer for AfriCOG, said Kenyatta had a "vendetta" against rights groups who played an active role in seeing him indicted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged role in the 2007 post-poll violence.

In 2014 the ICC dropped charges against Kenyatta citing the disappearance of witnesses and lack of evidence.

- Police brutality -
Speaking this week, Kenyatta said that if Odinga chose not to go to court, he was welcome to protest legally.

"Just do it peacefully, orderly... As a government we will not allow loss of life, destruction of property and looting," he said.

While police deny the use of excessive force, outrage has grown over brutality during the crackdown on protesters.

On Tuesday a six-month-old baby succumbed to her injuries following four days in a coma after being clubbed during a police raid on a house during protests on Friday, her father told AFP.

A nine-year-old girl also died after being hit by a stray bullet when police opened fire in a slum.

The dispute has plunged Kenya into its worst political crisis since the 2007 post-election violence that laid bare decades-old political and ethnic grievances over access to power and land.

Three of Kenya's four presidents -- including Kenyatta and his father -- have come from the Kikuyu ethnic group. The other was Kalenjin.

That has left the Luos -- Odinga prominent among them -- and other major ethnic groups feeling excluded from power and marginalised for over half a century.

Members of a burial team ride on an ambulance outside the Connaught Morgue in Freetown on August 15, 2017.<br />Sierra Leone's president issued a desperate appeal for help a day after flooding ravaged the country's capital, killing more than 300 people and leaving hundreds more missing. The government of Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, has promised relief to more than 3,000 people left homeless, opening an emergency response centre in Regent and four registration centres. / AFP PHOTO / SAIDU BAH

Concern shifted Wednesday to the estimated 600 people still missing and thousands made homeless in Sierra Leone by deadly floods in the capital, as aid groups scrambled to coordinate a response.

The United Nations said Tuesday it was evaluating humanitarian needs in Sierra Leone, while the first Israeli aid packages were sent and Britain pledged its support.

With morgues overwhelmed with bodies, burials began on Tuesday for some of the bodies too mutilated to identify.

President Ernest Bai Koroma fought back tears on Tuesday as he visited the devastated hilltop community of Regent, saying the scale of the challenge ahead was "overwhelming us".

"Entire communities have been wiped out," Koroma said. "We need urgent support now."

The government of Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, has promised relief to more than 3,000 people left homeless, opening an emergency response centre in Regent and registration centres to count those left on the streets.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York the UN country team was "supporting national authorities in rescue operations, helping evacuate residents, providing medical assistance to the injured, registering survivors, and providing food rations, water and dignity kits to those affected."

The Red Cross says 600 people are still missing, while more than 300 are already confirmed dead.

- From shock to anger -
Adele Fox, national health coordinator for Sierra Leone for the charity Concern Worldwide, told AFP that the search for bodies continued but the survivors were facing difficult conditions.

"There is basic need for food, water, sanitation equipment and medical assistance. Since it is still rainy season, further flooding is also a possibility," she warned.

The sentiment among those in the disaster areas had shifted from shock and grief to anger at what is an annual problem in Freetown, though never before on this scale.

"There is some frustration over the regularity of flooding and destruction during the rainy season and its effects," she said.

- 'Wake-up call' -
Society 4 Climate Change Communication (S4CCC), a local environment group, has called the tragedy a "wake-up call".

Deforestation, a lack of urban planning and vulnerability to climate change had all played a part, it said.

The UN said contingency plans were being put into place in case of any potential outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea, as dirty water stagnates.

Sulaiman Zaino Parker, an official with Freetown's city council, said 150 burials took place on Tuesday evening and that many would be laid to rest in graves alongside victims of the country's last humanitarian disaster, the Ebola crisis, in nearby Waterloo.

"We have started burying some of the mutilated and decomposed bodies. All the corpses will be given a dignified burial with Muslim and Christian prayers," Parker said.

The graves would be specially marked for future identification, he added.

Three days of torrential rain culminated on Monday in the Regent mudslide and massive flooding elsewhere in the city, one of the world's wettest urban areas.

Freetown is hit each year by flooding during several months of rain, and in 2015 bad weather killed 10 people and left thousands homeless.

Sierra Leone ranked 179th out of 188 countries on the UN Development Programme's 2016 Human Development Index, a basket of data combining life expectancy, education and income and other factors.

Arsenal's Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez celebrates after scoring their second goal during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Arsenal at The London Stadium, in east London on December 3, 2016. Justin TALLIS / AFP

Alexis Sanchez and Arsenal remain at an impasse over new contract talks, manager Arsene Wenger said on Wednesday.

Wenger's admission will only heighten speculation the 28-year-old Chile international forward will join Premier League rivals Manchester City.

Sanchez, who played under City manager Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, is presently injured with an abdominal strain which will keep him out of Saturday's game against Stoke City and prevented him from playing in the opening 4-3 win over Leicester City.

"He (Sanchez) is a player who goes into the final year of his contract. We have not progressed on that front," said Wenger on Wednesday.

"Let's not be wrong, it's not an ideal situation on the financial side and it demands some sacrifice.

"But first of all it doesn't mean the players who are in the final year of their contract will not extend their contract. You have still that possibility and we work on that as well."

If no contract extension is agreed and Sanchez stays at the Emirates, he could leave for free at the end of the season.

"That is a consequence of what I say, yes, unfortunately," added Wenger.

"But we have to make a choice between efficiency on the field and financial interest, and most of the time if you can find a good compromise, it's better.

"But in this case, I think I prioritise the fact that he will be useful on the sporting side."

However, Wenger took the positives out of the fact neither Sanchez nor England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain -- who has been linked with a move to champions Chelsea -- had handed in a transfer request, unlike Liverpool's Brazilian star Philippe Coutinho who wants to move to Barcelona.

"Yes, I am very happy about that," said Wenger.

"It's important you have a serene atmosphere inside and clarity about your commitment.

"It's important the players aren't half in and half out, and they are completely in."

Wenger is adamant Oxlade-Chamberlain will remain and predicted great things for him.

"I'm convinced that he will be in the next two or three years the English player everyone looks at," said the Frenchman.

Wenger, who signed a new contract of his own after Arsenal salvaged a disappointing last season by beating Chelsea in the FA Cup final, said he agreed with the likes of Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp that the transfer window should close prior to the season beginning, rather than August 31, as is currently the case.

"I would support it," said Wenger.

"It's better for the season, for our psychological comfort as a manager."

Meanwhile, German defender Shkodran Mustafi and Frenchman Francis Coquelin are in contention for a place in the side to play Stoke.