Liberia's government has banned 15 people, including the son of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, from leaving the country while it investigates the alleged disappearance of tens of millions of dollars intended for the central bank, the Ministry of Information has said in a statement. Border posts have been informed that Charles Sirleaf, the deputy governor of the central bank, and Milton Weeks, the former governor of the bank, are among those barred from travelling abroad, the statement added. Mr Sirleaf and Mr Weeks have not yet commented. However, Mrs Sirleaf was quoted by the Front Page Africa news site as saying that the bank had given "full evidence and clarification" to refute allegations that the money had disappeared. The government has ordered an investigation into the alleged disappearance of the newly printed bank notes that had reportedly come from abroad between November last year and August this year. "The government... takes the ongoing investigation seriously because it has national security implications," the statement added. The statement did not say how much had allegedly gone missing. Some reports put the number at around $60m (£45.6m) and others at around $100m. The central bank had flatly denied that containers packed with the money had disappeared from the port in the capital, Monrovia, Liberia's Daily Observer news site reported. Mrs Sirleaf, a former Nobel Peace Prize winner, stepped down as president in January after her two terms ended. She was succeeded by former football star George Weah, following his stunning victory in elections a month earlier.

The residents of Ilara-Mokin, a town in Nigeria’s western state of Ondo state, celebrate the harvest season in an unusual way – by beating themselves with sticks during the New Yam Festival. Last Monday, the revellers danced and sang with joy without showing any sign of pain despite the welts on their backs. The festival sees many people returning home from neighbouring states to join in. Some even send money back to relatives to help them buy canes ahead of their arrival. The King of llara-Mokin, Oba Aderemi Adefehinti, told BBC Yoruba that he was trying to stop the practice of self-flagellation, but he said it was difficult as people loved it and the cultural event attracted many participants. During the festivities, prayers are offered by the monarch and local chiefs for a bountiful harvest in the coming year.

Police in Uganda have warned that any welcoming rally for musician-turned-MP Bobi Wine will be unlawful. Police said they expect Bobi Wine - whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi - to abide by traffic laws when he returns on Thursday. He has been in the US for medical treatment after allegedly being tortured by the military. Security agencies had received intelligence of "countrywide mobilisation" to welcome him at the Entebbe International Airport, police said. Only his immediately family would be allowed to receive the MP at the airport, and he would be "availed security" to go to his home, police added. The government's media centre has been tweeting details about the police's press conference. Bobi Wine hit back in a tweet, saying: "Well, for your information, no single family member will receive me at the airport." He added: "I am a free Ugandan with the right to move freely in my country. The police has no business telling me who receives me and who cannot or where I go and where I cannot. This impunity must stop now. Wama see you friends tomorrow." The MP - who has been charged with treason - also gave a glimpse of his itinerary.

MPs in Somalia say at least three children have been killed by air strikes in the south of the country. The children died when their school was hit in the town of Sakow. The school is run by the militant Islamist group al-Shabab, which controls the area. The main hospital in Sakow district was also hit, and is said to have been destroyed. There are reports that two senior members of al-Shabab were in Sakow, but it is not clear what happened to them. The US and Kenya have carried out frequent air strikes in the region.

South Africa's leading euthanasia campaigner, Sean Davidson, has been freed on 20,000 rand ($1,357; £1,030) bail following his arrest on a murder charge. Mr Davison, the founder of Dignity SA, was arrested over the death of medical doctor Anrich Burger in 2013. Mr Burger had become a quadriplegic following a motor vehicle accident. Mr Davison's colleague at Dignity SA, Willem Landman, told the BBC that he was kept overnight at a Cape Town police station. Mr Landman said the elite police unit, known as the Hawks, had confiscated his computer and mobile phone. “There’s clearly a distinction between this sort of assisted death and to kill someone with evil intent,” Mr Landman added. Mr Davison made it clear that he would deny the murder charge. His lawyer read an affidavit on his behalf in court in Cape Town. “It is and always has been my intention that I have not committed any offence as alleged in this matter," the affidavit stated. State prosecutor Megan Blows told the court that "new info has come to light", indicating that Mr Davison "might have committed other similar offences", local media reported.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has cleared Liberian referee Jerry Yekeh from all allegations of corruption. Yekeh was one of many African match officials secretly filmed by investigative Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas. He was filmed at the 2017 West African Football Union Nations Cup finals in Ghana. However the footage did not explicitly show him receiving money. The Fifa referee was among several officials provisionally banned in July pending submissions to a Caf disciplinary board. Caf has now exonerated Yekeh "after a thorough check of the elements presented to them regarding the violation of Caf regulations"

The founder of a South African group fighting for the right to die has been arrested in Cape Town and charged with murder. A close associate confirmed that Sean Davison was detained following a search of his house. The murder charge is reported to be related to the death of a friend in 2013 who lost the use of his arms and legs after a car accident. Euthanasia is illegal in South Africa.

The Afrobeats star is out on bail after being charged with treason over the alleged stoning of President Yoweri Museveni's convoy during a parliamentary by-election campaign in northern Uganda. Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulani, denies the allegation and accuses the government of trying to crush dissent. Mr Museveni dimissed allegations of his torture as "fake news", and said he had "no head or chest injuries or bone fractures".

Equatorial Guinea has demanded that Brazil hand back more than $16m (£12m) worth of cash and luxury watches confiscated from a delegation accompanying the president's son, Teodorin Nguema Obiang. Equatorial Guinea's foreign minister described the seizure as a "paltry and unfriendly" act. Mr Obiang, who is vice-president of Equatorial Guinea, arrived in Brazil on Friday on board a private jet. Brazil prohibits people from entering the country with more than $2,400 in cash. Both Mr Obiang and his father deny misusing their country's oil revenue.

The Liberian government says it is investigating what has happened to two huge consignments of money that were printed abroad and brought into the country between November last year and August this year. The money, said to be local banknotes worth about $60m (£45.6m), has allegedly disappeared. One media report says containers packed with the money left the port in the capital, Monrovia, under security escort in March and were thought to be headed for the central bank, but they vanished. The consignment that came through the international airport cannot be account for either. The justice ministry is asking the public to remain calm while a panel of security officers investigate the matter. Minister of Information Eugene Nagbe has told state radio that President George Weah, who took office in January, is “unhappy” that he was not informed about the situation until now. “This is alarming,” Mr Nagbe said. No arrests have been made so far, but the information minister says he is certain they will get to the bottom of the suspected scandal.

Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu wants his officials to act on the results of an investigation into stolen donor funds. The directive follows Britain's decision to freeze all aid to Zambia citing "fraud" and "corruption". President Lungu wants decisive action taken against those responsible within a week. The president is quoted by his spokesman Amos Chanda as saying: Quote Message: Wherever cases of abuse requiring criminal investigations may arise, such cases must be reported to relevant agencies and where administrative action is required, I want to see prompt action taken." Wherever cases of abuse requiring criminal investigations may arise, such cases must be reported to relevant agencies and where administrative action is required, I want to see prompt action taken." Mr Lungu’s spokesman says the president is just as as the frustrated as Zambia donors because his priority is "the plight of the poor". The money has gone missing from the Social Cash Transfer programme, which allocates money that is paid directly to the poorest in Zambia. Mr Chanda adds that President Lungu met with donors at the start of September and "shared with them the measures being undertaken to address the problems encountered".

Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred has been detained in France after prosecutors successfully appealed against his bail terms over a rape charge. The 33-year-old was charged on 28 August with the rape of a woman in Saint-Tropez. He had been allowed to leave custody after posting a deposit of $175,450 (£133,500). He is already facing rape allegations dating back to 2016 and was arrested in 2010 on suspicion of another assault. His hit Lmaallem is the most-viewed song by an Arabic-language artist on YouTube, watched more than 650 million times.

Uzbekistan's education minister has defended female teachers after state television accused some of them of wearing "inappropriately short" skirts in class. The Uzbekistan 24 TV channel's International Press Club talk show said some teachers and students "dress just as they like" and risk tempting teenagers to "gaze at the teacher's body" rather than attend to their studies. The programme sent a reporter into schools in the capital Tashkent and filmed both teachers and female students wearing clothes that would be deemed unremarkable on the city streets even of this relatively conservative country. "Look at the clothes on this teacher, who is supposed to be a role model for children. Is it OK to teach in such clothes?" demanded the reporter. Various public figures spoke out against "dress code shortcomings" on Wednesday's programme, including a medic who warned that tight clothes can cause infertility. Education Minister Sherzod Shermatov, a guest on the programme, said clear school uniform guidelines would resolve any concerns. The talk show prompted a barrage of criticism on social media, with members of the public accusing it of being overly judgemental and ignoring journalistic ethics. "We're turning into North Korea. Journalists - if you are really passionate about our children's future, report about schools in Samarkand with no heating, toilets or even textbooks," complained one viewer in a representative comment. 'Humiliating' Minister Shermatov then took to Facebook to condemn the show he had appeared on two days earlier. "Publicly humiliating individuals is unacceptable in a civilised society, especially when we're dealing with children," he wrote. He called on reporters to "stop discrediting teachers and show some respect - we already have a shortage of good teachers". Sherzod Shermatov's acknowledgement of problems in the schools system and his use of social media to address public concerns are signs of the greater openness and accountability being cautiously encouraged by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who took over as head of the country's authoritarian political system on the death of President Islam Karimov two years ago.

The Chinese capital Beijing is hoping to put an end to the frustrations of disgruntled bus passengers complaining about long waiting times, by introducing "public bus-pooling" to the city. According to the Beijing Youth Daily newspaper, the local public transport authority is setting up a "quasi door-to-door" bus service, that will enable passengers to go online and detail what their individual needs are for a bus journey. It says that it will focus on serving large, residential communities, with the aim of providing bus routes more catered to where there are large groups of people, rather than serving existing stops and making people sit through a pre-defined route. It is also hoping to make the service safe by helping passengers find others to travel with, should they be concerned about making journeys alone. Beijing Youth Daily says: "in future, the public will expect buses to arrive like a car, and that they will meet the personalised needs of passengers". Ensures safety, helps prevent congestion The paper estimates that some 8.5m people travel by bus in the city per month. But bus journeys in the city can be frustrating, given that Beijing is the second most congested city in the country. Despite bus lanes, traffic jams are common, and the new scheme could go some way towards alleviating snarls. Media reports have not specified when the scheme will start, but it could offer an immediate solution to passengers who are unable to use taxi-hail services following a nationwide crackdown. On 11 September, China ordered the indefinite suspension of leading taxi-hail app Didi Chuxing, after the murder of two people who used its services. The authorities are carrying out an investigation into similar taxi-hail apps, and are looking at ways to ensure passengers have better safety measures in place when using their services.

In the small Austrian border town of Spielfeld there are still vivid reminders of the 2015 European migrant crisis, when tens of thousands of people crossed on foot from Slovenia. Metal barriers and huge tents were erected at the border, where refugees and migrants were sheltered and fed while their asylum claims were processed. The Austrian government that has come to power in the wake of the crisis has made migration a priority of its European Union presidency. This week, along with Brexit, migration is set to dominate the informal summit of European Union leaders that starts in Salzburg on Wednesday evening. As political tensions on migrants run high in the EU, Austria has emerged as one of the hard-line voices. Rise of Austria's right The tents of Spielfeld lie empty today, and deserted containers are still equipped with computers and finger-printing machines. They were last used on 6 March 2016, just after the Balkan route for refugees was closed, says Leo Josefus of Austrian police. The border management camp is still here "just in case", he says. "We need about 24 hours to get it working if the refugees come, but nobody knows." Some 90,000 people applied for asylum in Austria in 2015, about 1% of the country's population. But while the number of asylum seekers has now dropped dramatically, migration remains key for an Austrian coalition made up of conservatives and the far right. Taking a tough line on migration has helped conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz as much as his Freedom Party partners at the ballot box. Mr Kurz has been at the forefront of calls to shift the focus, from relocating asylum seekers inside the EU to defending Europe's outer borders. Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, spokesman for the Austrian presidency, says they hope to see progress in Salzburg on the issue of strengthening Frontex, the European coast and border guard. "Frontex's mandate should be strengthened, its ability to act on the ground and in the waters of the Mediterranean," he said. "Its resources should be strengthened and its personnel should be increased." But while there may be movement on Frontex, other splits on migration are all too evident in the EU. Last week at a conference in Vienna, Italy's far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini likened African immigrants to slaves - leading to a spat with Luxembourg's Foreign Minister, Jean Asselborn. 'I can't sleep at night' An hour's drive north of the border, in a sunny square in Graz, I met a man named Friedrich, who told me migration and integration would never work. "It's good we have this new government. The left-wing government we had before was a catastrophe," he said. "We are taking far too many people in, and they don't want to integrate. They want to live at the cost of the taxpayer." But critics of the government accuse it of deliberately stoking populist fears about migrants and refugees. Opposition politician Peter Pilz says border controls such as those at Spielfeld "are not about security, but about propaganda." Since it came to power last year, the government has moved to cut benefit payments to refugees and foreigners as well as to some of the institutions that support them. In Graz, I visited Somm, an organisation that works to help women refugees and asylum seekers get to know and integrate into Austrian society. Among its activities, it offers German classes and provides translation help at the doctor's or in hospitals. But its head, Khatera Sadr told me they have had to reduce their programmes because of a lack of funding. "With the new government, we feel the cuts because fewer German classes are being offered for migrants who don't have asylum status," she said. "We think this is a great shame because the first step towards integration is learning the language." One of her students, Saleha Yaghubi from Afghanistan, came to Austria in 2016 with her son. They applied for asylum and are waiting to hear if they will be granted the right to stay. She is nervous. "When I hear about the new government, I can't sleep at night," she told me. "I wake up and pray that all these problems will go away."

A South Korean church which believes global famine is imminent has set up base in Fiji, where it's gained considerable influence but faced growing allegations of abuse. One woman who fled what she believes is a cult told the BBC's Yvette Tan she lost her family in the process - but has no regrets. Seoyeon Lee had one chance to escape and she took it, running down the road in Fiji in her pyjamas and flip-flops. "I was crying and I looked hysterical," she told the BBC. The then 21-year-old was being pursued by members of Grace Road - including her own mother - who she says had tricked her into going to the Pacific island nation. "I would have killed myself if they'd made me stay," she says. 'I think it's a cult' A year earlier, in 2013, Seoyeon had come home to South Korea from the US, where she was studying, for the summer. Her mum was suffering from uterine cancer but had refused treatment. She told Seoyeon she would only seek treatment if she went with her to Grace Road Church. "It was very bizarre," said Seoyeon. "There were people screaming, crying, speaking in tongues and the sermon was about how the end times were coming. "I told my mum, I think it's a cult but she didn't believe me." Once back at university, she found her mother had still not sought treatment and would only do so on one condition - that Seoyeon quit school and went back to South Korea. Seoyeon, whose father had died of cancer, took leave and went home. After her mother went through surgery, she told Seoyeon that she wanted to move to Fiji to recover - and insisted that she go along with her. Eventually, Seoyeon agreed to go for two weeks to help her adjust. "At that point, I didn't know it was an elaborate ruse," she said. "But when I got to Fiji and saw we were driving to a commune... I was like, how could I have been so stupid?" The 'great famine' South Korea has a significant Christian population, and in recent decades many small, fringe churches have sprung up, some of them developing cult-like characteristics. Grace Road, which insists it is not a cult, started out small in 2002, but now numbers about 1,000 followers, according to Prof Tark Ji-il of Busan Presbyterian University, who has closely studied Korean cults. The church's founder and head pastor, Shin Ok-ju, believes that a great famine is imminent, and that her followers "needed to find a new home to prepare for the second coming of Jesus", says Prof Tark. In 2014 - the same year it was classified as heretical by mainstream churches - the church uprooted to Fiji, declaring that it would be one of the few places saved by God from famine. About 400 of its followers now live in Fiji, mostly working for the company it has set up to manage its operations, GR Group. Seoyeon says those there have been "handpicked" by the leadership "maybe depending on how much you've donated". "When my dad died, we were left a certain sum of money. I'm pretty sure my mum took all that and gave it to the church," she said. "They make you sell your property, quit your job, cut off your friends." The group has built up a sizeable business empire, from construction to restaurants to agriculture. "Farming is our original mission because we need to prepare for the famine, we need to be self-sufficient," Daniel Kim, president of GR Group and Ms Shin's son told the BBC. The group's construction business has also won lucrative contracts, including a tender to renovate the Fijian president's residence and its State House, which Mr Kim insists was won through a legal tender process. In an indication of his good connections, Mr Kim was pictured with Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, after the group won the Prime Minister's International Business Award. 'No choice but to stay' But over the past year, a bleak picture has emerged of life inside Grace Road. Five church members who had returned to South Korea accused Ms Shin of confiscating their passports and holding them against their will. They alleged the church used forced labour and issued ritual beatings so harsh that they led to the death of one follower. In July, Ms Shin was arrested while back in South Korea on charges of assault and confinement. She was alleged to have abandoned the church members, confiscated their passports, and overseen a brutal regime. Then in August, Fijian and South Korean authorities conducted a joint raid on the church in Fiji, arresting Mr Kim and several other senior members as part of a slavery investigation. They were released without charge, but according to Fiji's police commissioner, investigations are "ongoing". A documentary by South Korean broadcaster SBS last month included footage of Ms Shin beating her followers. Chief Chun Jae-hong of the Korean National Police Agency told SBS that many had "donated their entire fortune to the church, so even if they go back they are penniless... so they have no choice [but to stay]". South Korean police directed the BBC to the documentary when asked for comment. Wilfred Regunamada, a spokesman for the Fiji Methodist Church, recently told New Zealand media that Grace Road members were living in fear, and called on the Fijian government to do more to explain its links with the church. The government did not respond to requests for interviews with the BBC. Mr Kim firmly denies wrongdoing and said of his mother: "I don't understand why they are treating her like a criminal. "It's a very malicious attack [by those] who have run away. They say that me and other senior members are like a ruling cult. It's insane." He insisted "no ritual beatings" had taken place. "If someone did something very wrong, they might get slapped by our pastor... [but] in a way that a mother would rebuke her child," he said. The cause of the follower's death was cancer and "there's no evidence to connect it to beatings", he said. Mr Kim says all those in Fiji had volunteered to go, and "it doesn't matter if they bring money or not". He evaded a question as to whether church members were paid for their work, saying they "have accommodation, food and travel all covered by the company", adding that he himself does "not receive a fixed salary every month". And what of the allegations that the 400 church members are essentially being held against their will? "Impossible," he said. "If we really captured their passports it's very simple, they can just go to the embassy and get an emergency passport." That's exactly what Seoyeon had to do. 'I would have killed myself' The day before she was due to leave, she realised that her laptop and passport were missing. Her mother admitted she had taken them to stop her leaving. "I wanted to go back to college, I wanted to meet my friends," she said. She tried ringing the police, but alleges that the other followers "rang them back, saying it was a joke". "They tried to block me but I ran out to the road. I was going insane." She found a police car which took her to the station, and eventually managed to get an emergency passport. "They followed me all the way from the station to the embassy in a car. That was when my mum tried to break me. She told me I was adopted - that was how I found out. "She said my entire family - my aunts, uncles, grandmother and cousins - were all moving here and our apartment had been sold. She was trying to convince me that I had nobody," said Seoyeon. "But I would never have gotten brainwashed and joined the church. I would have killed myself if they had made me stay." Now back in South Korea, she says she can't afford to return to studying, but has moved on and has a steady job. "I am very happy with where I am in life now. I still love my family but as cold as this might sound, I can't really forgive them for what they've done... and after everything that's happened I can never invite them back into my life," she said. "They are so deep in the cult that there's no way I could change their minds... if they're already in Fiji, they're a lost cause."

Thousands of rural families in Puerto Rico's rugged central mountains want to rebuild their traditional coffee economy after the devastation of Hurricane Maria. And one year on, they're betting on a dedicated group of millennials to get the job done, writes Tom Laffay. If they don't succeed, it could mark the end of coffee in Puerto Rico, forcing these last families to leave the island for good. Puerto Rican coffee farmers lost an estimated 85% of their crops, or some 18 million coffee trees valued at $60m (£46m), and many have lost their homes in the wake of hurricanes Irma and María. Not only an iconic part of Puerto Rican identity, coffee has been an economic engine that creates direct and indirect jobs in a US territory where so many young people leave because of a lack of jobs. The coffee farmer "I lost practically the whole farm due to María," says Luis "Nardo" Ramirez. But as soon as it cleared, we went back to work, and I found the workers to do it. The people were without their homes, without their roads, so there was a necessity to work." "Coffee is the best crop we produce, but due to the bad weather people have left it. In Las Indieras there used to be 80 big producers, now there are only five big farms left." The worker On average, 80% of coffee trees were destroyed by Hurricane María. "This is all that María left," says this worker as he loads coffee plants from a nursery subsidised by the government into a truck headed for a local farm. The three generations "There are 21 municipalities in Puerto Rico whose economies are driven by the coffee industry. And if we permit the industry to disappear, this region is going to be even poorer than it already is," says Wilfredo "Junny" Ruiz Feliciano. "It's not all San Juan, it's not all Guaynabo. María affected the people of the central region the most. We need a more aggressive plan to revitalize the industry and the region." Along with Junny's father, they are four generations of coffee farmers, including the youngest whom they hope will carry on their business one day. After Hurricane María their staff was reduced from 20 employees to only four and they went from cultivating 32 hectares to only eight. They call for an aggressive plan sponsored by the government to help farmers get back up and running and believe in the region's people to bring the coffee industry back. The rescue team ConPRometidos is an NGO run by millennials with a mission to create a stable, productive, and self-sufficient Puerto Rico, harnessing the energy, ideas and finances of the island's young diaspora. It began its work about six years ago in tapping into the know-how of young exiles in order to help address some of the problems they had left behind. The hurricanes presented a new challenge but the plight of the coffee farmers caught the group's eye. They are soliciting a $3m grant from the Unidos por Puerto Rico Foundation to fund a five-year, island-wide project that aims to provide much needed relief to the island's coffee sector. The island can produce 240,000 quintales (100lb) of coffee but is only hitting 40,000, says the organisation's 30-year-old co-founder Isabel Rullán, which means it's importing coffee unnecessarily. Increasing production could bring about $65m dollars to the poor mountain regions, she says. "The coffee industry is the backbone of 22 municipalities of the island. That's what they do, they farm coffee. So really, we're talking about improving the quality of life for 2,000 families." The military veteran After thousands of people were driven off the island by the hurricane, there is a movement to stem the flow of labour and encourage people to stay. "I'm part of this rebirth of coffee here because I grew up in the coffee culture," says Krys Rodriguez, a retired Army sergeant major who runs a farm near the Maricao coffee fields where she grew up, called Hacienda Doña Patria. "I was born on a coffee farm and I always wanted to have my own farm because I'm passionate about it. I always wanted my own brand of coffee." She is part of a group trying to educate local people in how to make a success of farming. "I'm convinced that the coffee industry here has a future. But it has to return to the small family [farms], where you, your wife and your kids can harvest and maybe even your neighbour."

The year of dramatic inter-Korean diplomacy continues apace. On Wednesday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un surprised the world with a set of summit outcomes that exceeded expectations, writes North Korea analyst Ankit Panda. Symbolically, both leaders conveyed a sense that their rapprochement was destined to continue. Beyond the practical outcomes on economic co-operation and reduction of military tensions, Kim announced he would accept an invitation to visit the South Korean capital, Seoul, and that he and Moon on Thursday would travel to Mount Paektu, which holds a central place in the country's mythology. Moon, meanwhile, achieved an important objective by securing concessions from Kim related to limiting his country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Diplomatic process back on track The concessions, to be sure, are not particularly costly for North Korea and do not set it on the path towards nuclear disarmament, but will bear particular significance in their ability to reinvigorate the stalled diplomatic process between South Korea's ally, the United States, and North Korea. Mr Moon announced that Kim would dismantle the Tongchang-ri facility, also known as the Sohae Satellite Launching Station - a well-known site associated with various aspects of the country's space and ballistic missile programs. Mr Kim had conveyed the North's intent to dismantle certain facilities there, including a static test stand for liquid propellant engines for rockets, at the June summit with US President Donald Trump. Satellite imagery showed some dismantlement work had begun. What is perhaps most significant about the declaration on Tongchang-ri is that North Korea will be inviting international experts to observe and verify the dismantlement activity at the site. Missile threat remains The closure of Tongchang-ri won't disrupt North Korea's ability to mass produce ballistic missiles or warheads, but it will serve as an important confidence-building measure. Importantly, North Korea has completed development work on its large liquid propellant engines for intercontinental-range ballistic missiles. The manufactured missiles will remain in its arsenal and any future missiles it manufactures can have their engines tested and proven elsewhere. Separately, it can explore the possibility of moving to mobile launchers for future satellite launches, as Israel and China have done with certain satellite launches. This would allow it to offer up Sohae on a platter as a concession, but retain its space program. Beyond Tongchang-ri, Mr Moon announced an unexpected potential concession: North Korea would be willing to permanently shut down its well-known nuclear facilities at Yongbyon. However, this concession was not without conditions. Moon said that this would require corresponding measures from the United States in line with the June declaration agreed by Trump and Kim. Translated, this implies US progress toward normalising diplomatic relations with North Korea and supporting a declaration to end the Korean War. A real shift in the mood While the concessions and developments related to North Korea's nuclear complex and missile programs were significant, the big announcement at the summit related to conventional arms control between the two Koreas. As had been widely anticipated in the lead-up to the summit, the two sides announced joint measures to reduce and manage tensions along the disputed Northern Limit Line and along the Demilitarised Zone. These concessions had long been in the works through working-level military-to-military talks and represent a real shift in the mood along their often-tense border. The next most important summit to watch closely will be the 25 September meeting between Mr Moon and US President Donald Trump in New York. The meeting will provide an opportunity for Mr Moon to brief the US president and, more significantly, draw him back to the negotiating table with North Korea. A chance for diplomacy As Pyongyang has observed, Mr Trump himself has been positive about the diplomatic process with North Korea, but his deputies, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis, and National Security Adviser John Bolton, have voiced reservations about North Korea's progress on denuclearisation and calls by both Koreas for the United States to sign on to a declaration to end the Korean War. Mr Moon's meeting with President Trump may pave the way for a second Trump-Kim summit meeting, allowing the United States and North Korea to work through the current logjam in the denuclearisation process. Mr Trump has welcomed the result of the outcome of the summit on Twitter already and lauded Kim Jong-un's gesture to leave nuclear-capable missiles out of the 9 September military parade to commemorate the country's 70th founding anniversary. Moon Jae-in might just be able to convince the US president to give Kim Jong-un another chance with diplomacy.

Transport police in the Colombian capital, Bogotá, punished a group of fare dodgers with cleaning duties. A group of 50 people caught trying to get onto the Transmilenio bus system without paying were made to mop the floors at one of the main terminals in the city. Transmilenio tweeted photos of the punishment under the hashtag #NoMoreDodgers. Many residents welcomed the measure but some questioned its effectiveness. Fare dodging is a huge problem in Bogotá with people jumping barriers, pushing in behind paying customers and climbing over fences, sometimes risking life and limb. Tens of thousands of people are fined every year for fare dodging in Bogotá. Many more are never caught. It is estimated that 70,000 people out of the 2.6 million who use Transmilenio every day do not pay. Educational campaigns and the installation of bollards and walls have so far failed to significantly reduce the scourge. The tweet showing the fare dodgers cleaning the floor of the 20 de Julio terminal was liked more than 2,000 times. Transport Police Commander María Elena Gómez Méndez said the idea behind the move was to both deter and be educational to teach fare dodgers that "this is not the way to use public transport". Many on social media applauded the measure saying that it was about time those who did not respect the rules were punished. The comments ranged from "marvellous" and "that's how it's done" to "simple and effective". But others said that the bus service, which suffers from chronic overcrowding, high levels of groping and pickpocketing, was not worth the fare and money should be spent on improving it rather than on catching fare dodgers. A standard fare in the city costs $0.75 (£0.57). The fine for fare dodging is at least $42. Many also questioned whether the move was a "one-off for show" and asked if police would continue staffing the stations to catch those not paying.

Warmer weather conditions in western Greece have led to the eerie spectacle of a 300m-long spider-web in Aitoliko. A vast area of greenery has been covered by the web, reports the Daily Hellas. Experts say it is a seasonal phenomenon, caused by Tetragnatha spiders, which can build large nests for mating. An increase in the mosquito population is also thought to have contributed to the rise in the number of spiders. Maria Chatzaki, professor of molecular biology and genetics at Democritus University of Thrace, Greece said high temperatures, sufficient humidity and food created the ideal conditions for the species to reproduce in large numbers. She told Newsit.gr: "It's as if the spiders are taking advantage of these conditions and are having a kind of a party. They mate, they reproduce and provide a whole new generation. "These spiders are not dangerous for humans and will not cause any damage to the area's flora. "The spiders will have their party and will soon die."

Poachers linked to South African drug gangs are threatening the existence of a species of abalone, a sea snail that is highly prized by restaurants in China, a new report says. Stocks of abalone are declining at an unprecedented rate, according to research by conservation group Traffic. The affected abalone species, Haliotis midae, is only found in the waters off the coast of South Africa. Traffic wants it to be put on the global list of endangered species. About 96 million abalone are thought to have been poached since 2000. Abalone are large and round, and cling to rocks in the shallow, shark-infested waters off Cape Town. Every year some 2,000 tonnes of abalone flesh are dried, and smuggled abroad, mostly by air to Hong Kong and beyond, where they are re-hydrated and served as a gastronomic treat. South Africa has a number of measures in place to protect abalone, but once they are taken out of the country there are no measures in place to prevent its export from the continent. The country has been losing an estimated $42m (£31m) per annum through the rampant illegal harvesting of the mollusc, Traffic found. It says that up to 43% of the illegally harvested abalone was traded through a number of non-abalone-producing sub-Saharan African countries to Hong Kong between 2000 and 2016. Efforts to curb the illegal trade have largely roundly failed, Traffic adds. Licensed wild abalone farming does take place and the molluscs are also raised in large vats of sea water close to the shore. Drug gangs The study also found that economic disparities in South Africa's Western Cape province had driven poor communities to get involved in the illegal poaching. Local drug gangs are believed to be behind the illegal trade, making huge amounts of money as the wild abalone stocks decrease, it said. "You have whole cohorts of people along the coast that are involved, and their work experience is only within an illicit economy," report author Markus Bürgener said. The organisation proposes provisions requiring traders to account for the supply chain of abalone products, so that authorities can weed out illegal poaching. It also called for the molusc to be listed on the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), which protects the global trade in endangered, threatened and at-risk species.

Two women have been arrested after they were caught selling sweets and cakes containing marijuana in a church in the US state of Georgia. The marijuana edibles Ebony Cooper and Leah Pressley were offering included cereal treats, brownies and puddings, police say. The arrests occurred at an event the church, in the city of Savannah, was holding for local entrepreneurs. The pair were detained after the event and face felony drugs charges. In a Facebook post, the local counter-narcotics team in Savannah said they uncovered the women openly selling the marijuana/tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) edibles on social media sites and decided to approach them at the event. Police say Ms Cooper was displaying the drugs on a table at the event, although the church was unaware of the illegal activities. Marijuana laws in the US vary from state to state, with nine states and Washington DC having legalised the drug, but it is illegal in Georgia.

The woman who accuses US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her will not testify to the Senate next week, her lawyer says. Christine Blasey Ford's attorney told CNN her client has been "deflecting death threats and harassment". Lawyer Lisa Banks said before her client goes to Congress, she wants an FBI investigation into Judge Kavanaugh. The nominee, who denies the claim, has met officials at the White House for a second day. Prof Ford, a psychology lecturer in California, has accused Judge Kavanaugh of drunkenly trying to remove her clothing in 1982 when they were both teenagers in a Washington DC suburb. She says he pinned her to a bed and clamped his hand over her mouth when she attempted to scream. Judge Kavanaugh, 53, has called the allegation "completely false". Why won't Prof Ford testify? Prof Ford's legal team say they have written to the Senate Judiciary Committee declining its offer to testify. Her lawyer told CNN on Tuesday night: "It's premature to talk about a hearing on Monday because she [Prof Ford] has been dealing with the threats, the harassment and the safety of her family and that's what she's been focused on for the last couple of days." She said that since going public with her allegation in the Washington Post on Sunday, Prof Ford has been trying to work out where her family are going to sleep at night. The legal team's letter says that Prof Ford's family has been forced to move out of their home, her email has been hacked and she has been impersonated online. The correspondence says "a full investigation by law enforcement officials will ensure that the crucial facts and witnesses in this matter are assessed in a non-partisan manner, and that the Committee is fully informed before conducting any hearing or making any decisions". Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley later said that there was no reason to delay Prof Ford's testimony as the aim would be to establish "her personal knowledge and memory of events". "Nothing the FBI or any other investigator does would have any bearing on what Dr Ford tells the committee," he said in a statement. What has the reaction been? Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, said that if Prof Ford did not appear to testify on Monday, "we are going to move on and vote [on the nominee for the Supreme Court] on Wednesday". "They've had tons of time to do this," he said, adding: "This has been a drive-by shooting when it comes to Kavanaugh, I'll listen to the lady, but we're going to bring this to a close." Senator Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio, said the process was "very unfair" and that he did not blame Prof Ford, instead blaming "Democrats who misused this process". Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said he supported the call for an FBI investigation prior to the hearing. In a statement he urged Senate Republicans and the White House to "drop their inexplicable opposition" to it and "allow all facts to come out". Hawaii Democrat Mazie Hirono said "the men in this country" should "just shut up". "Not only do women like Dr Ford, who bravely comes forward, need to be heard, but they need to be believed," she told a press conference. Separately, the FBI declined to comment after the letter was made public on Tuesday. What has Trump said about Kavanaugh? US President Donald Trump, who reportedly did not meet Mr Kavanaugh on Tuesday, expressed sympathy for his nominee. "I feel so badly for him that he's going through this, to be honest with you," the Republican president told a news conference. "This is not a man that deserves this." He added: "Hopefully the woman will come forward, state her case. He will state his case before representatives of the United States Senate. And then they will vote." Mr Trump also appeared to suggest that the controversy was being exploited by Democrats as lawmakers looked to delay the Supreme Court vote. "The Supreme Court is one of the main reasons I got elected President. I hope Republican voters, and others, are watching, and studying, the Democrats Playbook," he tweeted. Meanwhile Mark Judge, a friend of Judge Kavanaugh who Prof Ford says witnessed the alleged incident, has said he does not want to speak publicly about the matter. "Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school but I do not recall the party described in Dr Ford's letter," he is quoted as saying in a letter from his lawyer. What is at stake? Republicans control the Senate by only a narrow 51-49 margin, meaning any defections could scupper the Supreme Court nomination. That would set back President Trump's efforts to install more conservatives on the Supreme Court and broader US judiciary. If confirmed, Judge Kavanaugh, a conservative federal appeals court judge, would be expected to tilt the court's balance further to the right. The ugly confirmation battle could shake up the forthcoming mid-term elections. Democrats are hoping to wrest control of Congress from Mr Trump's fellow Republicans on 6 November, dealing a serious blow to the president's efforts to install more conservatives on the Supreme Court and broader US judiciary.

An airline has had to send a new plane back to the paint shop after the company's name was spelled incorrectly on it. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific painted its name as "Cathay Paciic" on the side of the jet. Eagle-eyed travellers spotted the mistake at Hong Kong International Airport and contacted the airline. "Oops this special livery won't last long! She's going back to the shop!" the company joked on Twitter. The airline said it was a genuine mistake, although some in the industry said it was inexplicable. "The spacing is too on-point for a mishap," an engineer for Haeco, a sister company of the airline, told the South China Morning Post. "There should be a blank gap in between letters if it was a real mistake I think." Social media users saw the funny side, however.

The Australian government says it will introduce stricter criminal penalties in response to a fruit contamination scare that has alarmed the country. Authorities are investigating more than 100 reports of people finding needles concealed within strawberries and other fruits since last week, officials said. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said culprits could face 15-year jail terms. A young person has been arrested after admitting putting needles in the fruit as a copycat prank, police said. The child would be "dealt with under the youth cautioning system," New South Wales Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said. 'A coward and a grub' Prime Minister Morrison said on Wednesday that the new penalties were on a par with crimes such as child pornography and financing terrorism. "That's how seriously our government takes it," he said, urging parliament to pass the new laws this week. Currently, the maximum sentence for contaminating food is 10 years. The Labor opposition said it would support the change. Mr Morrison said the new legislation would also target those behind copycat and hoax incidents. "You are putting the livelihoods of hard-working Australians at risk, and you are scaring children," Mr Morrison said. "And you are a coward and a grub." 'Slow investigation' The federal government pledged A$1m (£550,000; $720,000) to assist the strawberry industry, matching a commitment made by Queensland. Three states have offered A$100,000 rewards for information, as police continue to investigate the cause of the sabotage. In Queensland, where cases were first reported, police have said they are focusing on complicated food supply chains. The scare has prompted product recalls, forcing some growers in the A$130m annual industry to destroy their crops. Exporters have been ordered to undergo tighter checks, including mandatory screening of produce through metal detectors or X-ray machines. The government has urged consumers to continue purchasing strawberries, but to cut them up before consumption.