1. N. Korea fires ballistic missiles off coast

    North Korea fired three ballistic* missiles off its east coast on Monday, Seoul said, in a new show of force that came as top world leaders met at the G20 Summit in China.

    The missiles were fired into the East Sea from the North’s Hwangju county at around 3 a.m., a defense ministry spokesman said, sabre-rattling* that followed a submarine-launched ballistic missile test some two weeks ago.

    2. Merkel under pressure after poll defeat

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel came under renewed pressure over her liberal refugee policy on Monday after an upstart* anti-migrant populist party handed her party a humiliating defeat in her home state.

    The xenophobic* Alternative for Germany (AfD) clinched* around 22 percent in its first bid for seats in the regional parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Vorpommern, results showed after most ballots had been counted from Sunday polls.

    Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) garnered just 19 percent in its worst ever score in the northeastern state, while the Social Democrats maintained top place with around 30 percent.

    3. Tel Aviv building collapse kills two

    At least two people were killed and dozens were injured after a structure collapsed at a Tel Aviv building site on Monday, Israeli officials said.

    An unknown number of people were trapped in the rubble several hours after the incident in the Ramat Hachayal neighborhood, with military search-and-rescue teams called in to assist extrication* efforts.

    Israel’s police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said around 30 people had been injured in the collapse. Later, the Magen David Adom ambulance service confirmed two people had died.

    4. 36 killed by Afghanistan bus inferno

    At least 36 people were killed on Sunday when a bus collided* with a fuel tanker and burst into flames in southern Afghanistan, in the latest road accident in the war-torn country.

    Many of the victims, including women and children, were burned beyond recognition in the accident in Zabul province, one of the areas worst hit by the Taliban insurgency.

    “The passenger bus was on its way from Kandahar to Kabul when it collided with a fuel tanker in Jildak area of Zabul,” provincial governor Bismillah Afghanmal said.

    5. Bangladesh hangs top financier

    Bangladesh hanged a wealthy tycoon and top financial backer of its largest Islamist party on Saturday for war crimes, dealing a massive blow to the group’s ambitions in the Muslim-majority nation.

    Mir Quasem Ali, a key leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was executed* after being convicted by a controversial war crimes tribunal* for offences committed during the 1971 independence conflict with Pakistan.

    The 63-year-old was hanged at the Kashimpur high security jail in Gazipur, some 40 kilometers north of Dhaka, amid stepped-up security outside the prison and in the capital.

    6. Singapore in Zika plea to pregnant women

    Singapore urged pregnant women showing symptoms of fever or rashes* to get tested for the Zika virus on August 31 after the number of cases in the city-state soared to 115, including the first pregnant woman.

    The U.S. and Britain joined Australia in advising pregnant women to avoid non-essential travel to Singapore, while a local health expert warned the infection rate would rise.

    Environment agency workers stepped up efforts to eradicate mosquitoes that spread the disease, expanding a fumigation* campaign. (SD-Agencies)