Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first competitive goals for Juventus on Sunday, with a second-half double that ensured a 2-1 win over Sassuolo to make it four victories from as many Serie A games.But there was controversy in Turin as Juventus winger Douglas Costa was sent off late on after being caught on camera spitting at Sassuolo's Federico Di Francesco.Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo, who arrived amid great pomp and ceremony following a 100-million-euro ($117 million) deal from Real Madrid

Typhoon Mangkhut slammed into mainland China late on Sunday after leaving a trail of destruction in Hong Kong and Macau and killing at least 59 people in the northern Philippines.The world's biggest storm this year felled trees and sent skyscrapers swaying in high-rise Hong Kong, injuring more than 200 people there before making landfall on the coast of Jiangmen city, in southern China's Guangdong province.Provincial authorities said they evacuated a total of 2.37 million people and ordered tens

WASHINGTON - One of the top US experts on North Korea says President Donald Trump should agree to separating talks for a formal peace on the Korean peninsula from the issue of Pyongyang's denuclearization.In an interview with AFP, Victor Cha, who was Trump's pick for a new ambassador to Seoul last year before the White House changed its mind, said Trump should get on board with the effort by North and South Korea to craft a declaration to end the 68-year official state of war between the two cou

MANILA (AFP) -- Two women were killed Saturday in a landslide set off by Super Typhoon Mangkhut, Philippine police said, the first reported deaths in the massive storm. A man is hit by a wave while attempting to recover salvageable materials in Manila Bay, Manila, Philippines, Saturday. (Yonhap)　Officers in the city of Baguio recovered the women‘s bodies from the soil and rubble after a hillside collapsed from the typhoon’s heavy rains, said police Superintendent Pilita Tacio.

PALERMO, Italy  (AFP) -- Pope Francis visits the Italian island of Sicily on Saturday to pay homage to a priest murdered by the mafia 25 years ago after trying to save youngsters in poor neighbourhoods from falling into their hands.　The Argentinian pontiff‘s visit will be brief but is part of a wider campaign he has been waging against organised crime. 　He is expected to arrive in Palermo at 10:45 am (0845 GMT) and will say mass, then head to the Palermo parish where Father Giuseppe “Pino” Pugli

Volkswagen announced Thursday it would end production of its iconic "Beetle" cars in 2019 after adding a pair of final editions of the insect-inspired vehicles.The curvy-topped sedans, which shook off Nazi origins to become a global auto phenomenon, are being sidelined as Volkswagen emphasizes electric cars and larger family-oriented vehicles.But company officials, still trying to completely turn the page after 2015's costly "dieselgate" scandal, opened the door to reviving the model at some poi

Tadd Fujikawa, the youngest American to make the cut in a US PGA Tour event, became the first openly gay male professional golfer, making the revelation in an Instagram post.The 27-year-old from Honolulu said he had been pondering about going public for some time before telling the world he is gay."I thought that I didn't need to come out because it doesn't matter if anyone knows," Fujikawa wrote. "But I remember how much other's stories have helped me in my darkest times to have hope. I spent w

Cancer will kill nearly 10 million people this year, experts said Wednesday, warning the disease's global burden continues to rise in spite of better prevention and earlier diagnosis. An estimated 18.1 million new cancer cases were predicted worldwide for 2018 -- with 9.6 million deaths, said a report of the International Agency for Research on Cancer.This is up from estimated 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million deaths reported in the agency's last assessment just six years ago.The tol

CUPERTINO, California (AFP) -- Apple unveiled three new iPhones on Wednesday in a bid to bolster its spot in the premium smartphone market, along with an upgraded smartwatch that takes electrocardiograms and detects falls.The California tech giant said it would begin selling its 5.8-inch iPhone XS and 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max later this month, keeping the starting price of the company’s top-end model at $999 but bumping the entry price for the version with the larger screen.Apple also announced a

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Scientists have identified two of the sets of remains of US troops killed in the Korean War that were recently returned by North Korea, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday.“There’s been already some closure for a couple of families that have waited many, many years for this,” Mattis told Pentagon reporters.Praising the “good work” of forensic scientists, the Pentagon chief said they had been able to quickly identify the two remains thanks to a variety of information, in

PARIS - A man wielding a knife and an iron bar injured seven people, including three tourists, in Paris, in an attack that bystanders tried to stop by throwing petanque balls at the assailant.Four of the victims were in a critical condition, police said, after the man, believed to be an Afghan national, went on the rampage next to a canal in the northeast of the capital on Sunday evening.Two British tourists, an Egyptian tourist and a local man were among the injured, police added. French police

Alibaba's charismatic co-founder and chairman Jack Ma plans to retire from the Chinese e-commerce giant on Monday to devote his time to philanthropy focused on education, he told the New York Times in an interview.Ma was an English teacher before starting Alibaba in 1999 and built it into a multibillion-dollar internet colossus, becoming one of the world's richest men and a revered figure in his homeland.His own worth has soared along with that of the company, which has added cloud computing, fi

Thai fishermen and labourers whose livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels kicked off an international day of protests in Bangkok Saturday, where key UN talks are attempting to breathe life into the Paris Agreement on climate change.As global warming races ahead of efforts to contain it, the discussions are deadlocked over a number of contentious issues, with activists demanding immediate action to prevent irreparable damage to the planet. (AFP)The "Rise for Climate" protest movement --

Hundreds of trucks carrying thousands of troops lined a Pyongyang riverbank in the pale light of dawn early Sunday, as nuclear-armed North Korea prepared to celebrate its birthday with a huge show of military strength.Sunday is the 70th anniversary of the 1948 foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the North is officially known, three years after Moscow and Washington divided the peninsula between them in the closing days of the Second World War.(AFP)Such set-piece dates are

Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese to win a Grand Slam singles title on Saturday as her idol Serena Williams angrily imploded, calling the chair umpire in the US Open final "a thief".Osaka, 20, triumphed 6-2, 6-4 in the match marred by Williams's second set outburst, the American enraged by umpire Carlos Ramos's warning for receiving coaching from her box. (AP)When a second code violation for racquet abuse was handed out to her -- along with a point penalty -- Williams exploded.She tearfully

Severe flooding in North Korea has killed at least 76 people with another 75 missing, many of them children, the Red Cross said Thursday.Thousands of people have been left homeless after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, toppling more than 800 buildings including houses, clinics and schools in North and South Hwanghae provinces, leaving Red Cross volunteers scrambling to find survivors."Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of health services, shelter, food, safe drin

SEOUL (AFP) -- Before meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, Southern spy “Black Venus” was told to stay up late, shower, and dress neatly. He also hid a micro recorder in his penis.　Few spies have ever got as close to the leader of an enemy state -- let alone one as reclusive as the isolated North -- as Black Venus, real name Park Chae-seo.　In the 1990s he posed as a disgruntled former South Korean military officer turned businessman looking to film commercials for Southern companies in sceni

The International Boxing Association will introduce a right of protest against controversial judging "to ensure fair play" and prevent a repeat of ugly scenes that marred the Asian Games.Two North Korean boxing coaches were thrown out of the Asian Games Saturday after refusing to leave the ring and inciting the crowd after their fighter lost gold on a split decision to a Chinese boxer. (AFP)Police had to move in to escort the duo, who had their Asian Games credentials immediately removed, from t

China hosts African leaders Monday for a summit aimed at promoting Beijing's vision for development on the continent, even as it finds itself increasingly criticised over its debt-heavy approach to foreign aid.President Xi Jinping and leaders from across the continent will hold the two-day Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, with talks expected to focus on Xi's cherished "Belt and Road" infrastructure programme.The massive scheme is aimed at improving Chinese access to foreign markets and resourc

Argentina's Central Bank hiked its benchmark interest rate from 45 to 60 percent on Thursday in a dramatic but fruitless bid to shore up the peso, which plunged to a record low against the dollar.Despite the bank's extraordinary measure to impose one of the world's highest benchmark rates, the currency lost a further 13.5 percent by the close -- its biggest daily loss of the year.The Argentine currency has now lost 53 percent of its value since the beginning of the year, to trade at 39.87 to the