Tradisional Sabah Borneo

The 2 1/2-week-old boy was found dead in the basement of Jennifer Berry's home in 2008. A medical examiner ruled he died of natural causes related to sudden infant death syndrome.

But prosecutors in Westchester County decided to reopen their probe into the boy's death after Berry was charged Tuesday in the Bronx with tossing her baby daughter from the window of her boyfriend's apartment.

"In light of what has transpired, we will be reviewing that death again," said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore.

In her most recent pregnancy, Berry's family and friends didn't even know she was expecting, authorities said. She told them she had miscarried, police said.

The 33-year-old from Yonkers was charged with murder and manslaughter in the girl's death MondayWhen police showed up at the Bronx apartment building in the quiet, residential neighborhood of University Heights on Monday afternoon, they found the girl's body in a garbage-filled alley behind the building.

Berry was questioned for hours by detectives and initially denied she was pregnant before saying she had given birth in the shower, authorities said. She claimed the newborn wasn't breathing when she threw the baby — and the placenta — from the window, police said.

But prosecutors say she knew the baby was alive when she threw her, umbilical cord still attached, into the alley below. The medical examiner said the baby died from blunt force trauma in the fall, meaning she was born alive.

The city's Administration for Children's Services is investigating the circumstances that led to the baby's death.

Berry briefly worked for the child welfare agency from July 2007 until January 2008. The first three months were in classroom-style training to become a child protective specialist, who would investigate reports of child abuse and refer parents to classes on how to raise their children. The rest of Berry's time at the city agency was spent as a trainee, where she had limited interaction with families. She was fired from her job after she stopped showing up for work.Berry appeared in court late Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Her attorney didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Assistant District Attorney Georgia Barker said the baby weighed 8 pounds — the weight of a full-term newborn.

"There was air in the lungs. This was a healthy baby girl," Barker said in court, according to the Daily News of New York.

Berry's boyfriend told police he was in another room when the baby was born. He told investigators he didn't realize that his girlfriend had given birth, that the baby had plunged from the window or even that his girlfriend was expecting.

As authorities continued their investigation, neighbors passed crime scene tape that was still tied to banisters in the seven-floor apartment building, and others left small keepsakes in a makeshift memorial in the lobby.

"Why did she do this? I'll just never understand," said Lourdes Ayala, who lives down the road. "It tugs at your heart as a mother. I just couldn't believe it. There are just no words to describe how horrible it was."

A cardboard box that held a small teddy bear, flowers and a bottle had a handwritten note that read: "Came into this life unknown, not knowing what would happen to me, I didn't have a chance. May her soul rest in peace with God."

New York law allows parents to anonymously give up a child by leaving a baby — up to 30 days old — at a safe place without fear of prosecution. The state's Abandoned Infant Protection Act protects parents from being prosecuted as long as the child is dropped at a hospital, police station or fire station and the parent notifies someone of the infant's location.

AP

Maximum sustained winds reached 85 mph (135 kph) and extended 35 miles (55 kilometers) from the center of the storm over the Atlantic Ocean, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, which predicted Joaquin would develop into a major hurricane in the coming days.

Authorities in the Bahamas prepared for a brush with the storm, with the center expected to pass near several eastern islands. Forecasters were still gathering data to determine how it would affect the U.S.

"We've got Air Force reconnaissance planes continuously giving us data from inside the hurricane this morning, and we're going to be throwing a lot more aircraft resources at this problem over the next few days because it still is not certain whether or not Joaquin will directly impact the U.S. East Coast or stay out to sea," said Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center.

The hurricane was expected to pass near the islands of San Salvador, Cat Island, Eleuthera and Rum Cay on Thursday, close enough that it could bring tropical-storm-force winds, storm surges, coastal flooding and 5-10 inches (13-25 centimeters) of rain, said Geoffrey Greene, a senior forecaster with the Bahamas Meteorology Department.

"We would be very concerned about them," Greene said of the eastern islands.

The islands of the eastern Bahamas have relatively small populations, fewer than 1,000 on San Salvador, but they are vulnerable in a storm since most of the people live along the shoreline in modest homes.

On Eleuthera, a narrow strip to the north of Cat Island, people were removing stray coconuts and other debris from their yards and putting up storm shutters in blustery winds, said Chris Gosling, who runs a volunteer ambulance service on the island. Islanders have learned from past storms not to take chances.

"People don't panic too much. There's nothing you can do about it. If it comes, it comes and you do what you can," said Gosling, who has lived on Eleuthera for 27 years. "If the forecast is right we will get some wind and rain and it will go back out to sea."

The center of the storm was expected to be closest to land in the Bahamas about 2 p.m. Thursday, passing east of San Salvador, Greene said.Schools were ordered closed as of noon Wednesday in pasts of the eastern and central Bahamas.

Forecasters expected the storm to drop about 3-5 inches (8-13 centimeters) in the central Bahamas, including Long Island and Exuma. The effects are projected to be minimal on New Providence, which includes the capital of Nassau, with scattered showers and thunderstorms.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center long-term forecast showed the storm could near the U.S. East Coast above North Carolina early next week.

"Residents of the Carolinas north should be paying attention and monitoring the storm. There's no question," said Eric Blake, a hurricane specialist with the center. "If your hurricane plans got a little dusty because of the light hurricane season, now is a good time to update them."

The center of the storm Wednesday afternoon was about 175 miles (285 kilometers) east-northeast of the central Bahamas and moving toward the southwest at 8 mph (13 kph).

___

AP

"We managed to overcome this camp without any casualties," interim president Michel Kafando told reporters of the raid on rogue members of the elite RSP presidential guard.

"A page in our history has been turned, the new Burkina is underway," he proclaimed at the site of the army raid, adding that the country had emerged stronger after its "long nightmare".

General Gilbert Diendere, the leader of the failed September 17 coup, was on Wednesday in talks on handing himself in to the government that his elite force tried to unseat.

The negotiations on Diendere's surrender were taking place at an unnamed diplomatic mission in the capital Ouagadougou, according to a statement by the interim government, and came as the EU urged speedy elections.

Tuesday night's raid saw the army in Ouagadougou fire heavy weapons at the barracks of the RSP, crack troops who are loyal to ousted president Blaise Compaore.

Although the unit formally abandoned their coup efforts last week -- allowing the interim leadership to resume office -- they refused to disarm under the terms of a peace deal, creating fresh tension with the military which came to a head late Tuesday.

- 'Organise credible elections' -

The European Union hailed the end of the standoff, urging the government to quickly hold elections.

"The end of the clashes is an important step towards normalising the situation in Burkina Faso," the EU's foreign affairs arm said in a statement.

"The first task now is to organise as quickly as possible, credible, transparent and free elections."

The attempted coup took place just weeks before the west African nation was to hold its first presidential and legislative elections since Compaore was ousted in a popular revolt last October after trying to extend his 27 years of iron-fisted rule.

The first round of voting was to have taken place on October 11, although officials have since said there will be a delay of several weeks due to the crisis.

Speaking to AFP as the drama played out, coup leader Diendere said it was likely there were "many deaths and injuries".

But a soldier who entered the barracks on Wednesday morning told AFP he had not seen any evidence that people had been killed.

"I have not see any bodies," he said.

The army's Chief of Staff General Pingrenoma Zagre said late Tuesday that the camp was largely empty at the time of the assault.

Diendere, Compaore's former chief of staff, told AFP he was ready to face justice, saying he was "at the disposal of my country's judiciary."

By Wednesday morning, many soldiers had fanned out on the streets of the capital's Ouaga 2000 district, where the presidency and the RSP's sprawling barracks are located.

"We are looking for members (of the RSP). Some of them are hiding," one of the soldiers told AFP as he blocked access to the neighbourhood.

Elsewhere in the city, life appeared to be regaining some semblance of normalcy, with many venturing out onto the streets on mopeds, the most popular form of transport in Ouagadougou.

And hoards of workers could be seen having breakfast in roadside taverns.

"We're proud. We were the ones who won. There was no need for talking, just to attack (the RSP)," a driver called Momune Sigue told AFP.

"Now we want elections and Diendere must be tried," said this father of two.

Ahead of the assault, Ouagadougou airport was closed as troops locked down the area, deploying armoured cars and pickup trucks throughout the neighbourhood and stationing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades at several intersections.

Troops also arrested Djibril Bassole ahead of the raid in connection with the coup, military and security sources told AFP. He had served as foreign minister under Compaore and had been expected to run in the presidential elections.

One of the coup plotters' main demands had been that the transitional leadership lift a ban on Compaore's allies and supporters running in the elections.

AFP

Hafarizam was responding to a report by news portal The Malaysian Insider earlier today, quoting Megat Najmuddin as the ruling Malay party’s disciplinary board chairman while weighing in on former supreme council member Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah’s attendance at an opposition-organised roundtable discussion held before the launch of Pakatan Harapan.

“I wish to correct, Tan Sri Megat is not the Umno disciplinary board chairman.

“The disciplinary board chairman is Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen still, and he is overseas and whatever statement made by Tan Sri Megat must remain personal and to him only and not on behalf of the disciplinary board,” the Umno lawyer told reporters when met at the Kuala Lumpur court complex here.

He asserted that only Tan Sri Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail can speak on behalf of the board as the chairman.

After Saifuddin unexpectedly turned up for the session on September 22, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor told the media that the Umno leader would have to face action from the party.

He later said that the party had sent a show cause letter to Saifuddin to seek his explanation on the matter.

Tengku Adnan said Saifuddin had “tarnished” the image of Umno, which is already facing a “war of perception”.

Following the roundtable session, Saifuddin made veiled remarks on Twitter to say that creating an “imperfect” new leadership would be better than having no leadership in place, amid a credibility crisis faced by the current one.

It is unclear, however, whose leadership he was criticising specifically.

Saifuddin, who is currently the chief executive officer of the Global Movement of Moderates, was present at the meeting as the head of Akademi Belia.

MALAY  MAIL  ONLINE

Central to its allegation was a 2.43-minute video clip recorded two years ago at a forum titled “Siapa Rampas Reformasi? [Who Seized Reform?]” in which Khalid was said to have advocated a liberal framework to protect a range of freedoms, including for followers of the banned Shiah Islam group and Sky Kingdom cult founder, Ayah Pin.“We ask that the police arrest and investigate Khalid Jaafar under the provisions of existing laws such as the Sedition Act and SOSMA,” JMM Federal Territory chief Faizan Mohd Nor told reporters after filing a police complaint against Khalid at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters here.

The latter law refers to Security Offences (Special Measures) Act which allows for detentions without trial and is meant to combat growing global terrorism.

“We call for stern action to be taken against Khalid Jaafar, like the arrests made against Ayah Pin followers and Shiah practitioners. A similar arrest and charge must be made against Khalid Jaafar for propagating his ultra-liberalism that go against the laws of the country,” Faizan added.

The group also raised concern over Khalid’s role as chief of staff to the Selangor mentri besar, claiming the executive director of state-linked think tank Institute of Policy Research to be in a position to exert influence on the public, especially the youth.The group also asked if Khalid’s views were a part of the Selangor government’s agenda.

“He questioned why Malaysia does not follow the US in their freedom of religion and its liberties in in interpretations. Well, in the US there are the Ku Klux Klan and Freemasons, does he want this in Malaysia? We cannot condone this kind of attitude and activities in Malaysia,” Faizan said.

The activist also urged the Communications and Multimedia Ministry to block access to the video that had garnered over 140,000 views at time of writing.

Malay Mail Online contacted Khalid for comment but had yet to receive his promised response at the time of writing. 

MALAY  MAIL  ONLINE

Beijing's envoy Huang Huikang on Friday visited Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown where ethnic Malay hardliners chanted slogans against the community earlier this month, raising fears of conflict in the multi-ethnic nation.

"The Chinese government opposes terrorism and any form of discrimination against races and any form of extremism," Huang was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper during the visit.

His comments, which are at odds with China's policy not to interfere in other nations' internal affairs, prompted Malaysia's foreign ministry to call in the ambassador "to provide an explanation".

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, who is in New York, said Kuala Lumpur wished "to verify whether his statement was misinterpreted or otherwise". Huang met Acting Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainuddin on Monday.

According to The Star, Huang on Friday also said Beijing would not be afraid to speak out against incidents that could derail Malaysia-China relations.Ser Choon Ing, secretary general of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, a coalition of Chinese community groups, welcomed the ambassador's visit and his remarks.

"I don't think it can be considered interference. What the ambassador did was probably a good thing for the Chinese and also for Indians who feel discriminated against," he said.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Monday defended the ambassador's actions as "normal".

He said: "We refrain from interfering into other countries’ internal affairs.

"What our ambassador did was normal, he was visiting the Chinese community during the Mid-Autumn festival. We hope that Malaysia can remain united and stable, and that people from different ethnic groups can live together in peace."

Speaking at a business conference on Monday in Kuala Lumpur, Huang stressed China and Malaysia enjoyed good relations.

"China and Malaysia have a long history of friendship. Malaysia was the earliest ASEAN country to have diplomatic ties with China and after 41 years both countries have close relations in politics, economy, culture, military, tourism and other fields," he said.Many Kuala Lumpur businesses run by Chinese -- who make up about a quarter of Malaysia's population -- were shut for the September 16 rally, which saw riot police fire water cannon on ethnic Malay protesters.

At least several thousand demonstrators marched through the heart of the capital to declare support for Prime Minister Najib Razak, a Malay who is facing calls to step down over a financial scandal.

The demonstration was one of the clearest public displays yet of what many Malaysian moderates warn is a worrying trend toward racial and religious intolerance among Malays.

AFP

Obama arrived for his annual trip to the United Nations this week eager to tout the restoration of U.S. diplomatic ties with Cuba and the completion of a landmark nuclear accord with Iran. He shook hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, the first such encounter by an American president since the 1979 Islamic revolution, and held formal talks with Cuban President Raul Castro.

To the president, the openings with Cuba and Iran are not just validation of his own belief in the pursuit of diplomacy over military force, but also affirmation of a broader international order that marginalizes bad actors while giving them clear pathways to redemption.

The chaos in Syria, however, has defied all that. He returned to Washington Tuesday with the path forward no clearer than when he arrived in New York, even after lengthy talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syria's most powerful backer.

"Nowhere is our commitment to international order order more tested than in Syria," Obama acknowledged when he addressed the U.N. General Assembly.

After 4½ years of civil war, the Syria war appears likely to be as much a part of Obama's foreign policy legacy as his diplomatic wins. The crisis has become the chief example for critics who say Obama's wariness of using military force has created a vacuum in the Middle East. His own administration still struggles to explain his 2013 decision to back away from airstrikes in retaliation for President Bashar Assad's chemical weapons use, an action by Assad he notably had said would cross a "red line."

To be sure, there's no guarantee that more aggressive U.S. action would have left Syria in a better place than it is now. White House officials often point to former President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq as an example of the U.S. military overreaching in the region with deadly and costly consequences."We've seen — at the risk of understating it — the downsides of unilateral U.S. military commitment to conflicts in the Middle East," Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday. "The United States and even the region is still paying the price."

Still, the situation in Syria only seems to be getting worse. What was already a gruesome civil war has grown into a humanitarian crisis and created yet another vacuum for terrorists to move in.

Diplomacy aimed at a political transition and Assad's removal has sputtered. Economic sanctions, a favorite tool of the Obama administration, have had little effect on the Syrian president. A plan to train "moderate" Syrians to fight the extremists now uncontrolled in the country has failed spectacularly.

Now Russia, a longtime ally of Assad, is entering the chaos.

Ahead of Putin's arrival in New York, the Russian president sent more military equipment and troops to Syria. He called on the leaders gathered at the U.N. to rally around Assad, portraying him as the only viable option for confronting the Islamic State.

Obama, in public remarks and private meetings, argued to Putin that supporting Assad was a losing proposition. He said the U.S. was willing to work with Russia on a political transition, but only if Assad leaving power was the result.It's an argument Obama has made for years with little success. And to some analysts, it's unclear at this point what else he might be willing to do to persuade Putin to follow his plan.

"If he has leverage, it really would require him to show countries in the region that the U.S. will become more involved," said Anthony Cordesman, a foreign policy analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

White House officials insist that Obama's three days at the U.N. yielded some tangible signs of progress on Syria. They point to new commitments from Malaysia, Tunisia and Nigeria in the campaign to defeat the Islamic State, bringing the total number of countries to 65. The U.S. was also encouraged by France's decision this week to join the U.S. and Arab nations in launching airstrikes in Syria.

Even so, officials indicated they still expect to be straining for solutions to Syria's troubles when Obama makes his final appearance at the U.N. General Assembly next fall, just months before the end of his presidency.

"I would anticipate that a year from now, that we will continue to be having a conversation about what we can do to address the problems of Syria," Earnest said.

AP

The hilltop compound, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, was largely quiet Tuesday. About 600 tourists and 100 Israelis visited the site without serious incident. Israel has barred Muslim men under the age of 50 from entering the compound in recent days in a move it says is aimed at easing tensions.

The site has experienced repeated clashes over the past two weeks as Palestinian protesters barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque while hurling stones, firebombs and fireworks at Israeli police outside.

The compound in Jerusalem's Old City is a frequent flashpoint and its fate is a core issue at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war, as their future capital.

The compound is sacred to Muslims, who refer to it as Noble Sanctuary, the place where they believe Islam's Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

The compound is also where the two biblical Jewish Temples stood, and is Judaism's holiest site. Under a longstanding arrangement, Jews are allowed to visit but not pray there.

The Palestinians view such visits as provocations, and rumors have spread that Jews are planning on taking over the site, fueling the recent clashes. Israel says there are no plans to change the arrangements. But calls by a group of religious Jews to visit the site, coupled with periodic Israeli restrictions on Muslim visits, have inflamed tensions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is committed to maintaining the status quo at the site and that it is the Palestinians who are breaching the fragile agreement there.

"Israel wants peace with the Palestinian people that unfortunately continue to spread crass lies about our policy on the Temple Mount. I will demand an end to this wild incitement," Netanyahu said before leaving for the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement meanwhile staged a series of protests in the West Bank on Tuesday.In the West Bank city of Ramallah, about 300 protesters affiliated with Fatah marched toward the nearby Israeli settlement of Bet El. The military said "rioters threw rocks at passing vehicles and at forces that arrived at the scene." Forces used tear gas, stun grenades and fired rubber and low-caliber bullets at the legs of "main instigators," it said. At least six Palestinian suffered leg injuries.

In Bethlehem, protesters threw rocks and firebombs, wounding a paramilitary border police officer, it said.

Fatah officials said Tuesday's demonstrations were meant to protest Israeli actions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The clashes occurred a day before Abbas is to address the U.N. General Assembly. With the plight of the Palestinians overshadowed this year by the civil war in Syria and the migrant crisis in Europe, Tuesday's unrest appeared to be an attempt to draw attention back to the conflict.

The protests also appeared to be a veiled warning to Israel.

Despite cool relations, Israel and the Palestinians have maintained close security cooperation to help ease tensions on the ground. But on Tuesday, Palestinian police left their posts and did not prevent marchers from approaching Israeli military checkpoints. In some ases, Palestinian security men even joined the protesters in throwing rocks.

"We can change the security commitments ... and implement only what is good for our people," Fatah official Hana Amira told the Voice of Palestine radio station.

The unrest comes during the weeklong Jewish festival of Sukkot that celebrates the fall harvest and commemorates the wandering of the ancient Israelites through the desert following their exodus from Egypt. In ancient times, Jews made pilgrimages to Jerusalem on Sukkot, and many Jews are visiting the city this week.

On Tuesday, Palestinians hurled stones at a taxi just outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, lightly wounding two American tourists, police said. In the West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli TV showed a young female tourist holding her head as she was treated by medics and soldiers after she was hit by a rock thrown by Palestinians.

Overnight, Israeli police arrested seven Palestinians it said were involved in the recent violence.

A rocket fired late Tuesday by Gaza militants at southern Israel was intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome rocket defense system, the military said.

Several rockets from the territory ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas have been fired recently at Israel.

AP

The soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb planted in the Semdinli district of Hakkari province, the army said in a statement. Three other soldiers were also wounded in the attack, the army added.

Separately on Tuesday, a bomb laid by PKK militants on a road in southeast Batman province went off as a police vehicle passed over it, killing a policeman and wounding eight others, state-run Anatolia news agency said.

The Turkish government launched a major campaign against the PKK in late July, aimed at forcing it out of strongholds in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

The group has hit back hard, killing dozens of police and soldiers in almost daily bomb and shooting attacks.

Nearly 150 soldiers and police have been killed in attacks since July blamed on the PKK compared with more than 1,300 rebels, according to pro-government media.

The violence has shattered a two-year-ceasefire which had stoked hopes of an end to the PKK's three-decade insurgency, in which more than 40,000 people have died.

AFP

The unforgiving assessment of Ignazio Marino -- a man the Italian media love to hate -- further heightened tensions between the pope and the mayor in the run-up to the start of the Holy Year of Mercy in December, with the Vatican fearful the Italian capital is ill-prepared for the millions of extra pilgrims.

"He pretends to be Catholic, it came on him all of a sudden. It doesn't happen like that," Francis said.

The pope's cutting comments on the politician -- who observers say rubbed the pontiff up the wrong way with his vocal support of gay marriage and euthanasia -- came as Francis returned from a barnstorming visit to the United States and Cuba.

Asked on the flight home if the pope had invited Marino, Francis said, "I didn't invite the mayor. Is that clear? I asked the organisers and they didn't invite him either."

Marino's presence on the last leg of the papal tour, coming hot on the heels of his holidays in the US and the Caribbean, did not go down well in Rome as the capital reels from a series of crises.

With the Italian press and social media humming with the pope's putdown, Marino said he had been not been invited by the pope but by the city of Philadelphia.

"If the most popular man in the world takes down one of the least popular in Italy, that says that all the rules of the game have been thrown up in the air, including possibly those of mercy," said the Turin daily, La Stampa.

"The Pope excommunicates Marino," headlined the right-wing Roman daily Il Tempo, which devoted inside pages to the controversy, while Il Giornale, owned by former premier Silvio Berlusconi, gloated at Marino's "colossal shame".

"The Pope freezes the mayor of Rome," said the centre-left La Repubblica, whose editorial said the swipe could almost be seen as a bid to "hand Rome back to the right who had poisoned the city", a reference to the Mafia corruption scandal which has engulfed its former right-wing m ayor Gianni Alemanno.

Others saw the pope's disdain for the mayor as being linked to his support of gay marriage, and in particular the city "legalising" same-sex marriages conducted abroad, even though Italy still bans such unions.

One thing is sure -- the row will not help relations as Rome gears up to welcome 20 million pilgrims for the Year of Mercy, which begins on December 8, when the faithful will be granted special indulgences, the highest form of forgiveness.

AFP

Smaller, in fact, than what's permitted for a German shepherd dog.

An Associated Press survey has found that several of Germany's 16 states have waived the usual rules expected of communal housing. As a result, migrants in some parts of Germany are finding themselves living in cramped conditions that rights groups say are unfit for human habitation.

"The situation is becoming dramatic," said Karl Kopp, an expert on refugee policy with the campaign group Pro Asyl. "If we put people up in undignified conditions then this will have long-term consequences for their health and their ability to integrate in the country."

On Sunday 14 people — including three police officers — were injured when a mass brawl involving hundreds of refugees broke out at a reception center in Calden, near Kassel. The site is a tent city originally designed for 1,000 people but now housing 1,500.

"Improvised, often catastrophically overcrowded emergency shelters offer residents no privacy or place to retreat," Pro Asyl said following the incident. "Every trip to the canteen, to the toilets or the showers becomes a patience test in these mass shelters."

The warning came as the German government agreed on measures Tuesday aimed at helping authorities cope with this year's surge in migrants.

According to Bavaria's governor, 169,400 migrants have arrived in the southeastern German state since the beginning of September. Horst Seehofer said 10,000 people arrived on Monday alone, dpa reported.

Critics say that most of the new measures are focused on deterring people from coming to Germany and speeding up deportations, rather than providing immediate relief to ease overcrowding in refugee shelters.

Of the 14 states that responded to an AP questionnaire on housing standards, at least three - including Bavaria- have lowered their requirements for shelters, including for the minimum amount of space available to each refugee. Six states had no minimum requirements, while two required that refugees have at least 7 square meters (75.4 square feet) of space each.

By comparison, animal protection laws stipulate that medium-sized dogs get at least 8 square meters (86.1 square feet) of kennel space.

Campaigners and refugees have also noted the lack of sufficient bathrooms, the absence of room locks, and the remote location of some shelters that make it hard for residents to come into contact with Germans.

"You can see what the situation is like," said Gabriel Hesse, a spokesman for the ministry of work and social affairs in Brandenburg, one state that recently suspended its minimum housing standards. "We'll see how things develop, but in the coming months they aren't going to get better."

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere dismissed concerns, saying Friday that "we can't offer any luxury and we don't want to offer any luxury."

"Of course a gym with hundreds of people in it isn't nice, but it's better than no roof over the head," he said. "I think Germany doesn't have to be ashamed about the standards it offers refugees."

Rights groups have been particularly critical of a new measure that extends the amount of time asylum seekers can be housed in reception centers from three to six months.There simply isn't enough time for these standards. Last week alone we opened five emergency accommodations," said Monika Hebbinghaus, a spokeswoman for Berlin's social affairs department. She noted that authorities are struggling to find enough staff for the many shelters they are opening.

One state, Thuringia, recently took steps to prevent unrest between different ethnic groups. It now attempts to house migrants separately by country of origin.

Women and children are particularly vulnerable in cramped accommodation.

Meanwhile, there are growing calls from within Chancellor Angela Merkel's party to make it clear that Germany can't take in unlimited numbers of refugees.

German President Joachim Gauck, who has no party affiliation, struck a similar note at the weekend: "We want to help. We have a big heart. But our possibilities are finite."

AP

"We fear that the violence we're seeing in Bangui is a return to the dark days of late 2013 and 2014, when thousands were killed and tens of thousands had to flee their homes," UN refugee agency spokesman Leo Dobbs told reporters.

At least 36 people died in the last three days and 27,400 fled their homes, the United Nations said.

Gunfire was heard in the afternoon in the Combattant neighbourhood next to Bangui's international airport, where some 20,000 people have taken refuge near French and UN military bases.

Announcing she was cutting short a visit to UN headquarters in New York, the country's interim president Catherine Samba Panza said in a message broadcast on national radio: "I appeal to you my compatriots for calm. I ask you to return to your homes."

Sources close to the presidency told AFP she was expected back in Bangui late Tuesday.In Geneva, the UNHCR's Dobbs said 10,000 of those who fled had taken refuge at the airport, which had already been hosting around 11,000 people.

"There is great difficulty getting to the airport. There are barricades in the streets and there was shooting going on this morning," he said. "The displaced people are reported to be in a state of shock."

- 'Anti-balaka fighters gather' -

Residents said members of the feared "anti-balaka" (anti-machete) Christian militia, which sprung up in 2013 to defend against mainly Muslim Seleka fighters, had begun gathering in Bangui on Monday.

"Groups of them, armed with machetes, have taken up positions in the streets of the 8th and 5th districts," one of the few residents to venture out into the streets told AFP.

The fighters were positioned near the city's PK-5 shopping area, the last bastion of Muslims hounded out of other areas by the Christian militia.

The latest escalation in two years of unrest began in PK-5 when a young Muslim motorcycle-taxi driver was murdered at the weekend, angering Muslims who used grenades and guns in counter-attacks on Christians in nearby districts.

Around 100 people were wounded in the bloodshed, prompting the government to impose a curfew on the capital.

The PK-5 area was the epicentre of an unprecedented wave of violence pitting majority Christians against minority Muslims in late 2013 and early last year.

- DR Congo closes the border -

Fears of a sudden refugee influx saw the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo announce the immediate closure of its northern border with the landlocked former French colony.

One in 10 Central Africans -- 460,000 people -- have sought refuge outside the country, mainly in Cameroon, Chad, DR Congo and Congo, since the start of the conflict.

In Bangui, terrified residents fled to camps by the airport, where French and UN peacekeepers from the MINUSCA force are based.

MINUSCA denied reports that its troops on Monday killed three people and injured others after opening fire on a crowd of several hundred demonstrators heading towards the presidency to demand Samba Panza's resignation.But it pledged to look into the allegations. The 10,000-strong peacekeeping force is already facing damaging accusations of sex abuse, while French troops, numbering around 1,000, face separate sex abuse allegations.

- 500 prisoners escape -

UN spokesman Rupert Colville said in Geneva that some 500 prisoners had escaped from Bangui's main prison overnight, adding to the climate of insecurity.

"This is a huge setback for the preservation of law and order, and for the fight against impunity, which has been and remains a chronic problem in CAR," he told reporters.

Overnight, shooting erupted as security forces tried to stop looters from attacking the premises of several humanitarian organisations, which had been evacuated for security reasons, a military source told AFP.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was "alarmed by the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Bangui" and had not been able to work in the capital since Sunday.

The UN's humanitarian coordinator in the country, Aurelien Agbenonci, strongly condemned attacks against the aid organisations, adding: "All perpetrators of crimes against humanitarians will be held accountable."

Looters targeted the offices of the UN World Food Programme, French medical NGO Premiere Urgence and the Dutch NGO Cordaid, police said, indicating that they had repelled them in several places.The Central African Republic descended into bloodshed more than two years ago after longtime president Francois Bozize, a Christian, was ousted by Seleka rebels, triggering the worst crisis since independence in 1960.

Though the tit-for-tat sectarian attacks have subsided significantly since last year, Bangui is still plagued by violent crime, fuelled in part by easy access to weapons left over from the conflict.

Presidential and legislative elections are due by the end of the year, but have already been pushed back several times.

AFP

He made the announcement at the UN General Assembly while pressing for reforms that would allow Japan -- the second largest contributor to the UN budget -- to become a permanent member of the Security Council.

The package includes $810 million to assist refugees from, and people displaced within Syria and Iraq -- triple the amount Japan provided last year -- and $750 million for peace building in the Middle East and Africa.

Japan has already set aside another $2 million to assist Lebanon, which hosts more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees, and $2.5 million for Serbia and Macedonia, through which refugees flee en route to the European Union.

"Each of these assistance measures is an emergency countermeasure that Japan is able to undertake," Abe told the General Assembly."But at the same time, our unchanging principle is at all times to endeavor to return to the root of the problem and improve the situation."

The Syrian war, now into a fifth year, has killed more than 240,000 people and forced four million people to flee abroad, contributing to the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

- Revamped Security Council -

The $750 million are expected to boost peace and stability efforts, such as vocational training, and providing dependable water and sewage facilities in Iraq, the wider Middle East and North Africa.

"I wish to look squarely at the fact that behind the refugees we find a much larger number of people who are unable even to flee and become refugees," Abe explained.

The Syrian war has helped spark mounting calls for changes to the powerful Security Council, which has been deeply divided over how to address conflict with Russia pitted against Western powers.

Japan joined Brazil, Germany and India on the sidelines of a UN development summit Saturday to push for seats in a revamped Council that they said would do a better job of addressing global crises.

"Japan seeks to become a permanent member of the Security Council and makes a contribution commensurate with that stature," Abe said Tuesday.He highlighted Japan's role in training more than 20,000 police personnel in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and army engineers working in Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Japan is in the process of upgrading its domestic laws so that it can play a more active role in UN peacekeeping, he said. Japan's pacifist constitution has barred Tokyo from sending troops in peace operations.

Tokyo hopes to be elected to the 15-member council as a two-year rotating member for what would be the 11th time.

AFP