Rafael Nadal reaches China Open final to become world number one

Rafael Nadal will return to number one in the world rankings on Monday after reaching the final of the China Open.

Nadal, 27, was leading fourth seed Tomas Berdych 4-2 in the first set of their semi-final when his Czech opponent retired with a back injury.

"This is a great year, one of the best of my career," said the Spaniard, who won the French Open and US Open and was last top of the rankings  in July 2011.

Current number one Novak Djokovic plays Richard Gasquet in the other semi.

Nadal broke Berdych in the fifth game and the Czech player, who said he injured his back while reaching for a shot, retired a game later after receiving treatment.

"It is special to be back to the top position of the rankings after more than half a year without playing tennis," Nadal continued.

"What makes me happy is everything I did to be back where I am."

Berdych praised Nadal's achievement in regaining the top spot from Djokovic, who had taken over from the Spaniard more than two years ago.

Nadal returned to action in February after eight months on the sidelines with knee problems and has won 10 of the 12 finals he has contested since making his comeback, taking his Grand Slam victories up to 13.

"With Rafa, well, just all the credit," said Berdych. "It is really incredibly well done in the short time that he has become a number one again. That's really an achievement for an athlete like him."

Djokovic has spent 101 weeks as world number one.

He was knocked off top spot in July 2012 by Roger Federer, after the Swiss player beat Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final, but returned to number one in November.

Nadal had been assured of reclaiming the top spot if he reached the final in Beijing or Djokovic failed to defend his title.

He has not lost a match since he was beaten by Belgian world number 135 Steve Darcis in the first round at Wimbledon in June and has won his last 21 matches and 65 of the 68 he has played this season

Clashes erupt at pro-Morsi demonstrations in Egypt

The army portrays its crackdown on the Brotherhood as a fight against terrorism

Clashes have erupted between supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi, opponents and security forces in the capital, Cairo, and Alexandria.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Cairo said there had been heavy gunfire and explosions in the city centre.

State TV reported further clashes in the northern Sharqiya district and to the east in Giza, as well as in the northern port city of Alexandria.

Hundreds have been killed since the military deposed Mr Morsi in July.

Our correspondent says the protesters in the capital's Agouza district were chanting "Rabaa, Rabaa", a reference to the square next the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque where a sit-in was cleared by force in August.

Thousands of members of the Muslim Brotherhood have also been detained in the past two months. Several senior figures, including Mr Morsi and the movement's general guide Mohammed Badie, are being held on charges such as incitement to violence and murder.

The authorities portray the crackdown as a struggle against "terrorism".

Before Friday's clashes, soldiers and police had tightened security around key sites in Cairo, including Tahrir Square, the focus of the mass protests against Mr Morsi and his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.

Morsi supporters said they would be intensifying their demonstrations in the lead-up to Sunday's 40th anniversary of the 1973 Arab-Israeli wa

Italy sinking: Search resumes for missing migrants

'Divers off southern Italy have been searching the wreck of a boat which sank on Thursday drowning more than 300 African migrants.The fishing vessel foundered less than 1km (half a mile) from the island of Lampedusa after it caught fire.At least 111 bodies have now been recovered and some 200 of those on board the 20m (66ft) boat are still unaccounted for.Dozens of bodies are thought to remain in the sunken vessel.There had been about 500 passengers on board - most from Eritrea and Somalia, according to the UN. Rescuers saved 155.

Gavin Hewitt reports from Lampedusa on Friday morning, where locals are calling for action

The diving operation had to be temporarily suspended due to choppy seas, Italian media reports say.

At the scene Gavin Hewitt Europe editor, in Lampedusa

The arguments have begun over how to stop this tragic loss of life.
An estimated 25,000 have lost their lives in the past 20 years.
Some officials are saying that if you close borders then you give more power to the traffickers. Others point out that there are 26 million out of work in the EU and that Europe is reluctant to accommodate more migrants.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that there needed to be "more channels for safe and orderly migration". It might help but it remains likely that thousands will still try and migrate to Europe.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem vowed to "fight smugglers exploiting human despair".
None of this is easy but officials are saying that the migrants have become a "European tragedy".

Officials are quoted as saying some 100 bodies could remain in the wreck, which lies some 40m below the surface.

Half of the bodies so far recovered are said to be women and four are children.
A minute of silence was being observed in all Italian schools on Friday in memory of the victims and flags are at half-mast. A special mass is being held on Friday evening in the church in Lampedusa.
The skipper of the boat, a 35-year-old Tunisian, was arrested, announced Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano when he visited the island on Thursday.

Illegal migration numbers

• Since 1988, at least 19,142 people died trying to reach Europe's borders - 2,352 in 2011 alone
• 6,707 have died off Sicily in the past 10 years
• Of those who arrived in Italy in 2011, 571,000 continued on to Germany, 210,000 to France, 194,000 to the UK, 87,000 to Sweden, 75,000 to the Netherlands, and 58,000 stayed in Italy

Source: Fortress Europe

"He had been deported from Italy in April," Mr Alfano said.

"This is not an Italian tragedy, this is a European tragedy," he continued. "Lampedusa has to be considered the frontier of Europe, not the frontier of Italy."
'Immense tragedy' The ship appears to have set sail from Misrata in Libya and began taking on water when its motor stopped working as it neared Lampedusa early on Thursday morning.
It is thought that some of those on board set fire to a piece of material to try to attract the attention of passing ships, only to have the fire spread to the rest of the boat.
The boat is thought to have capsized when everyone moved to one side.
It is one of the worst such disasters to occur off the Italian coast in recent years.

Alan Johnston reports on Italy's 'day of tears'

In a separate incident on Thursday, local media reported that around 200 migrants were escorted to the port of Syracuse on the island of Sicily, when their vessel encountered difficulties five miles off the coast.
Earlier this week, 13 migrants drowned while trying to reach Sicily.

Most of those on board were from Eritrea and Somalia

More than 100 bodies have so far been recovered, with more thought to be located in the wreck

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano visited the island on Thursday evening

Bodies were taken to a hangar at the airport, because the island's mortuary couldn't cope

Ibrahim 'Rogo' Amar: Kenyan cleric shot dead in Mombasa

Salim Abdi was the only person to survive the attack

A Muslim cleric has been shot dead in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, amid high tensions between the Muslim community and the security forces.

Ibrahim 'Rogo' Amar and three other people were shot as they drove home on Thursday night after preaching.

The killing is similar to that of Aboud Rogo Mohammed last year, which sparked days of rioting by Muslims.

It comes two weeks after the attack on a Kenyan shopping centre, which killed at least 67 people.

Somali Islamist group al-Shabab, which is part of al-Qaeda, said its militants stormed the mall in Kenya's capital Nairobi in retaliation for Kenya's military involvement in Somalia.

There were gunshots and the vehicle veered off the road, I don't know how I walked out of the vehicle alive”

Salim Abdi Survivor of the attack

Mr Rogo was alleged to have links with al-Shabab and some Muslims accused the Kenyan security forces of killing him - an allegation they strongly denied.

Mr Amar is seen as the successor to Mr Rogo, as he preached at the same mosque - and after his death he was given the nickname Rogo.

The police in Mombasa have also denied involvement in Mr Amar's killing.

"The police have nothing to do with the shooting. That's not how we operate," Reuters news agency quoted Robert Kitur, Mombasa County police commander, as saying.

Salim Abdi was the only survivor of the attack on the car.

"There were gunshots and the vehicle veered off the road, I don't know how I walked out of the vehicle alive," the AFP news agency quotes Mr Abdi as saying.

"All four others I was with in the vehicle died on the spot."

US police launch inquiry after deadly car chase

Police sealed off the building in Stamford, Connecticut

An investigation is under way after a police chase through the heart of Washington DC ended with a woman driver shot dead and two officers injured.

Police and the FBI quickly sealed off and searched a house in Stamford, Connecticut, believed to be the woman's home, officials said.
Her car had rammed security gates at the White House and police opened fire as she sped off towards Capitol Hill.
A one-year-old girl was taken unharmed from the car by police.
The shooting happened two weeks after 12 people were killed and three injured in a shooting at the nearby Washington Navy Yard.
The woman has not been officially identified.
Although the reason for Thursday's incident is unclear, police said it was neither an act of terrorism nor an accident.
The incident began at 14:12 (18:12 GMT) when the driver of a black Infiniti sedan rammed security fencing at the outer perimeter of the White House, police told reporters.

Video shot by Alhurra TV shows a part of the chase near the Capitol

Tourists, congressional staff and senators watched as a convoy of police vehicles chased the car down Constitution Avenue outside the Capitol, where the two houses of Congress meet.
Footage showed the car at one point surrounded by police but the driver managed to escape, speeding around a roundabout and past the north side of the Capitol.
Images showed police pointing guns at the car before the driver rammed a Secret Service vehicle and carried on driving.
Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters that officers shot and killed the woman on a road just north-east of the Capitol.
She said Capitol Police and Secret Service officers had fired on the vehicle in two different locations during the incident.
There was no sign that the woman had been armed.

Two US Senators 'heard gun shots'

Capitol Police briefly locked down the building where lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate were debating how to end the current government shutdown.
Police said the two injured officers were in good condition and expected to recover.
Later, Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia said the FBI was executing a search warrant at a Stamford address in connection with the investigation.
Police had cordoned off a condominium and the surrounding area, he said.
 quoting law enforcement officials, said the car was registered to a 34-year-old mother and police believed it was she who had been behind the wheel.
The newspaper said a friend of the family was acting as a spokesman and that the family would release a statement

US shutdown: Barack Obama cancels Asia trip

 "Obama pins the blame on House Republicans"

US President Barack Obama has cancelled his trip to Asia because of the US government shutdown.

Mr Obama will miss two summits, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) meeting in Indonesia.

The decision was made due to the "difficulty in moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a shutdown", the White House said.

The US government closed non-essential operations after the two houses of Congress failed to agree a new budget.

Mr Obama called Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday morning and expressed his regret for the cancellation, Indonesian Presidential Spokesman for Foreign Affairs Teuku Faizasyah

The visit has not been rescheduled, the spokesman added.

Secretary of State John Kerry will attend the Apec gathering and the East Asia summit in Brunei in Mr Obama's place, the White House said.

'Avoidable'

"The cancellation of this trip is another consequence of the House Republicans forcing a shutdown of the government," the White House said in a statement.

"This completely avoidable shutdown is setting back our ability to create jobs through promotion of US exports and advance US leadership and interests in the largest emerging region in the world," the statement added.

Mr Obama had been due to begin a four-nation Asian trip on Saturday, heading to Bali and Brunei for regional summits before travelling on to Malaysia and the Philippines.

On Wednesday, the White House had said Mr Obama would postpone his trips to Malaysia and the Philippines because of the US government shutdown, but maintained that he would travel to Indonesia and Brunei.

The US government began a partial shutdown earlier this week after Republicans refused to approve a budget, saying they would only do so if funding for President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms was delayed.

IMF head Christine Lagarde says it is "mission critical" that the situation is resolved

On Friday, Democrats and Republicans appeared no closer to resolving the feud.

The US also faces running out of money and defaulting on its debt if there is no agreement to raise government borrowing limits later this month.

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said on Thursday that a failure to raise the US debt ceiling would be a far worse threat to the global economy than the current shutdown.

She said it was "mission critical" that the US agrees a new debt limit.

Ms Lagarde's comments were echoed by the US Treasury.

It said a debt default could lead to a financial crisis as bad as 2008 or worse.

Meanwhile, the impact of the shutdown was being felt across the country.

The National Transportation Safety Board did not sent investigators to a deadly church bus crash in Tennessee that killed eight people and injured 14 others.

The Labor Department also said it wouldn't release the highly anticipated September jobs report on Friday because the government remains shuttered.

With Tropical Storm Karen bearing down on the Gulf States, the website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), carried a message saying: "Due to the Federal government shutdown, NOAA.gov and most associated web sites are unavailable."

It referred visitors to the National Weather Service.

However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) recalled workers to help prepare for the stor

Plane crashes after take-off in Lagos, Nigeria

Yakubu Dati from the Nigerian airports authority said that the rescue operation commenced immediately

A plane carrying 20 people has crashed shortly after take-off from Lagos airport in Nigeria, officials say.

A rescue operation is ongoing. At least 13 people are known to have died and several more of those on board were injured.
The Associated Airlines plane was bound for Akure, which lies about 140 miles (225km) north-east of Lagos.
The plane's engine appeared to fail and the aircraft plunged to the ground and burst into flames, officials said.

Aviation in Nigeria

• Seven major air crashes since 1992
• Security in the sector was revamped in 2007
• All airlines had to re-capitalise or be grounded, in an effort to ensure better safety
• In August 2010, the US gave Nigeria its top safety rating, allowing its domestic carriers to fly directly to America
• Lagos's Murtala Muhammed Airport is a major transport hub for West Africa, with 2.3 million passengers passing through it in 2009
• Nigeria's government says it now has full radar coverage of the entire country

The charter flight took off at about 09:30 local time (08:30 GMT) from the domestic terminal at Lagos's Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

Officials said the plane crashed on to open land within the airport complex, close to a fuel storage depot.
It is not yet clear whether the fuel caught fire.
Eyewitness Ahmad Safian told the BBC: "I heard a loud bang and then there was lots of black smoke. The security forces rushed straight to the scene. I saw three bodies removed from the wreckage."
Mr Safian said the road to the airport was blocked for a short time but operations were continuing as normal at the airport.
Yakubu Dati from the Nigerian airports authority said that 20 people had been on board the plane.
Akure is the capital of Ondo state. Local media reported that the plane was carrying the body of the former state governor, Olusegun Agagu, who was to have been buried this weekend.
Although Nigeria's air safety record has improved in recent years, the country has a history of major passenger plane crashes.
In June 2012, more than 150 people were killed after a dual engine failure caused a plane to crash in Lagos.
Lagos airport is a major hub for West Africa and saw 2.3 million passengers pass through it in 2009, according to the most recent statistics provided by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.

Onlookers gathered around the wreckage at Lagos Airport in Nigeria