Russian war planes have launched fresh strikes on the Syrian province of Idlib, a monitor says, as talks in Tehran failed to stop an impending military offensive there.
The raids targeted rebel-held positions in Idlib’s south-west, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Syrian forces, backed by Russia and Iran, are poised to attack the last major rebel stronghold in Syria.
Turkey and others have warned of a pending humanitarian disaster.
In the province itself, thousands of people staged street protests after Friday prayers calling for international protection.
In footage circulating on social media, one protester in the town of Al-Dana said they were demanding that the UN “stop the killing of Syrians.”
The observatory said Russian jets hit positions of the jihadist alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Ahrar al-Sham group on Friday.
“The aim was to destroy rebel fortifications,” observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
HTS is designated by the UN as a terrorist group and has an estimated 10,000 fighters in Idlib.
Earlier in the week, Russian jets were reported to have carried out about 30 strikes on rebel-held areas in western Idlib, the mountains of Latakia province, and the Sahl al-Ghab plain.
At a trilateral meeting between Russia, Iran and Turkey on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected Turkey’s calls for a truce in Idlib.
Mr. Putin said Russia would continue its fight against “terrorists” in Idlib province.
Turkey – which has long backed some rebel groups – fears an all-out assault will trigger another major refugee crisis on its southern border.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian and Iranian counterparts: “We don’t want Idlib to turn into a bloodbath.
“Any attack on Idlib would result in a catastrophe. Any fight against terrorists requires methods based on time and patience.”
However, Russia and Iran say jihadist groups in Idlib must be wiped out.
Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro ‘lost 40% of blood in stabbing’
Brazil’s presidential front-runner, Jair Bolsonaro, lost 40% of his blood after he was stabbed on Thursday, hospital officials say.
The far-right politician was attacked at a campaign rally in Minas Gerais.
Doctors say he suffered a deep and life-threatening wound in his intestines, but is now recovering well.
His son, Flavio Bolsonaro, said it was unlikely that his father would be able to return to campaigning before next month’s election.
He said his father was still weak and had trouble speaking, adding: “He cannot go to the streets, but we can.”
The controversial politician has won supporters for his tough stance on crime, but has outraged many in Brazil with racist and homophobic comments.
Polls suggest he will get the most votes in the first round of the October presidential elections if former President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva remains blocked from standing, but is unlikely to win a run-off.
Hospital director, Eunice Dantas, told reporters on Friday that Mr. Bolsonaro had lost more than two litres of blood, and was in shock, when he arrived.
He is now stable and “in excellent clinical condition” after being operated on, she added, although he will need to spend at least a week in hospital.
Mr. Bolsonaro’s family say the knife had penetrated 12cm (4.7in) into his abdomen, Reuters news agency reports.
He has now been transferred to a hospital in São Paulo.
In a video circulated on social media on Friday, Mr. Bolsonaro gave a brief message from his hospital bed.
In a hoarse voice, he thanked God and his medical team and compared the stabbing to the shock of being hit hard by a ball in football match.
He said the pain had been “intolerable” but he knew he could face risks. He added that he had “never hurt anyone.”
Flavio Bolsonaro also tweeted a photo of his father giving the thumbs-up gesture from his hospital bed.
Alibaba’s Jack Ma ‘to step down and focus on philanthropy’
One of China’s richest men, Jack Ma, is to step down as executive chairman of the Alibaba e-commerce empire on Monday, the New York Times reported.
He will remain on Alibaba’s board of directors but focus on philanthropy in education, the newspaper said.
Mr. Ma co-founded Alibaba in 1999 and has seen it become one of the world’s biggest internet companies.
With a market value of more than $400bn (£309bn), it includes online selling, film production and cloud computing.
In an interview with the Times, former English teacher Mr. Ma said retirement would not be the end of an era but “the beginning of an era,” adding: “I love education.”
Mr. Ma, who will be 54 on Monday, has a net personal wealth of $40bn, making him the third richest person in China, according to the 2017 Forbes’ China rich list.
Earlier this week, Mr. Ma told Bloomberg TV that he wanted to create a personal foundation, following in the footsteps of Microsoft’s Bill Gates.
“There’s a lot of things I can learn from Bill Gates,” he said.
“I can never be as rich, but one thing I can do better is to retire earlier. I think some day, and soon, I’ll go back to teaching. This is something I think I can do much better than being CEO of Alibaba.”
Mr. Ma began his professional life teaching English at a university in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, in eastern Zhejiang province.
He started Alibaba from his flat in Hangzhou with a group of friends.
Mac Miller: US rapper ‘found dead at home’ aged 26
US rapper Mac Miller has been found dead at his California home, a Los Angeles coroner has confirmed.
Media reports say the 26-year-old, who was open about his substance abuse, died from an apparent overdose.
The rapper, whose real name was Malcolm James McCormick, rose to fame after topping US charts with his debut album in 2011.
He released his latest record,Swimming, earlier this year and was due to go on tour.
“The music artist known as Mac Miller died today in his Studio City home,” the LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner said in a statement.
“In the late morning of September 7, Malcolm McCormick was found unresponsive…. authorities were called and Miller was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:51 (18:51 GMT).
“At this time, an autopsy is pending and a cause of death has not been determined.”
Miller went through a well-publicised break-up with singer and girlfriend, Ariana Grande, earlier this year.
The pair, who met in 2012, collaborated on a number of songs and performed together at the One Love Manchester concert in 2017.
Charges were filed against the rapper last month after he was arrested in May for driving under the influence and hit and run.
Grande spoke out publicly about ending their “toxic relationship” after fans blamed her for his arrest.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Miller began to focus on his music while still at school and released his first mixtape under the name EZ Mac at just 15.
Maturing in the public eye, he starred in a MTV reality series in 2013 which followed him and a group of friends after he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career.
He released a series of albums and EPs across the last decade, collaborating with high-profile artists like Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell Williams.
In his final tweets posted on Thursday, the rapper promoted the North American tour he was set to embark on next month.
He was “a bright light in this world for his family, friends and fans,” his family said, in a statement confirming his death.
Artists including Snoop Dog, Wiz Khalifa and Shawn Mendes paid tribute to Miller after news of his death broke on Friday.