1. Apple unveils two new iPhones, watch

    In one of the most ambitious product launches in its history, Apple unveiled two new iPhones, a smartwatch and a mobile payments platform on September 9.

    The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are bigger, rounder and faster. The Apple Watch does more than any smartwatch on the market today. And Apple hailed the Apple Pay payments system for its security and ease of use.

    The iPhones have curved edges and bigger screens that measure 4.7 inches (11.9 cm) and 5.5 inches, up from just 4 inches on the iPhone 5S.

    2. British PM begs Scots to stay

    Prime Minister David Cameron begged Scots on September 10 not to rip apart Britain’s “family of nations,” visiting Scotland in an attempt to stem a steep rise in secessionist* support ahead of a September 18 referendum* on independence.

    “We do not want this family of nations to be ripped apart,” Cameron, 47, said in an opinion piece published in the Daily Mail newspaper. “The United Kingdom is a precious and special country.”

    3. Japan to restart nuke reactors

    Japan’s nuclear regulator aims to restart a nuclear power station, the first step to reopening an industry that was mothballed* after the Fukushima disaster.

    The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said Kyushu Electric Power’s two-reactor Sendai plant in southwestern Japan could restart, although that still needs the approval of local authorities.

    4. DNA tests said to ID Jack the Ripper

    Jack the Ripper*, one of the most notorious serial killers in history, has been identified through DNA traces found on a shawl*, a new book, “Naming Jack the Ripper,” claims.

    The true identity of the man whose murders terrorized the slums of Whitechapel in east London in 1888 has been a mystery ever since.

    But after extracting DNA from a shawl recovered from the scene of one of the killings, Aaron Kosminski, a Jewish emigre from Poland, who worked as a barber, was identified as the killer in the new book.

    5. Pistorius cleared of murder

    A South African judge cleared Oscar Pistorius of premeditated murder* on September 11, saying prosecutors had failed to prove the track* star explicitly* intended to kill his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day last year.

    Although she described the 27-year-old as a “very poor” and “evasive” witness, judge Thokozile Masipa said this did not mean the track star was necessarily guilty.

    6. U.S. to expand airstrikes

    U.S. President Barack Obama ordered the United States into a broad military campaign on September 10, authorizing airstrikes inside Syria for the first time as well as an expansion of strikes in Iraq.

    Obama also announced he was dispatching* nearly 500 more U.S. troops to Iraq to assist that country’s besieged* security forces. And he called on the U.S. Congress to authorize a program to train and arm rebels in Syria who are fighting both the Islamic State group and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

    7. Couple OK’d to name son Messi

    A couple in Argentina have named their new-born son Messi after the country’s soccer captain, after having been granted permission to circumvent* a 45-year-old law banning the use of last names as first names.

    Barcelona striker Lionel Messi may be one of the highest-profile figures in Argentina, but due to a 1969 statute in the South American country, proud father Daniel Varela had to petition city authorities to be granted an exception to the law.

    (SD-Agencies)