ANKARA; 16 Aug 2018; (AP) — The Turkish lira continued to rebound from record losses on Thursday a day after Qatar pledged $15 billion in investments to help Turkey’s economy.

The currency strengthened some 2 percent against the dollar, trading at around 5.85 per dollar, hours before Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak was scheduled to update international investors about the economy.

WASHINGTON, August 15. /TASS/. The United Sanctions expanded its sanction list related to North Korea, adding Russia’s Profinet Company and its general manager Vasily Kolchanov, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) reports on Wednesday.

One Chinese company and one Singaporean company were also added to the list.

Kolkata, Aug 16 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said the informal sector and small businesses will be worst hit by the depreciating rupee and lead to increase in the oil import bill.

"After demonetisation disaster and now Rupee slide, Rupee crashes to its lowest ever. We are very concerned," the chief minister tweeted.

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. About 11 mln Syrians are currently considered forcibly displaced persons, 6 mln of those have become refugees within the country, Russian Foreign Ministry representative Nikolai Burtsev informed on Wednesday.

"According to the data we received, currently 11 mln Syrians are "forcibly displaced persons". Out of them, 6 mln are internally displaced," Burtsev said.

The representative added that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees provided this data.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (NNN-NST) -- The national fertility rate this year is expected to decline to the lowest level recorded since the formation of Malaysia in 1963, with 15.8 births per 1,000 people compared to 16.1 in 2017.

According to the 2018 Malaysia's Selected Demographic Indicator, the overall fertility rate of Malaysian women aged 15 to 49 is estimated at 19.1 children, which is below the replacement level of 2.1 children.

By Alessandra Cardone

GENOA, Italy, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government has declared the state of emergency in the Liguria region surrounding the northwest city of Genoa, a day after the dramatic collapse of a major motorway bridge that caused dozens of victims, the country's prime minister said on Wednesday.

A state of emergency request had been filed by the regional authorities earlier in the day.

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today and requested him to increase the deployment of Army and Navy in flood-hit Kerala and give special financial assistance to the state.

Gandhi spoke to the prime minister over phone and announced it on Twitter. He noted that the tragedy is unparalleled in Kerala's history and the state is in "great pain".

By MARCIA DUNN

CAPE CANAVERAL, 16 Aug 2018; (AP) — Spacewalking cosmonauts set up an antenna for tracking birds on Earth and sent a series of tiny satellites flying from the International Space Station on Wednesday.

Russian Sergey Prokopyev used his gloved right hand to fling four research satellites into space. The first mini satellite safely tumbled away as the space station soared 250 miles above Illinois. By the time the fourth one was on its way 14 minutes later, the station was almost to Spain. Two were the size of a tissue box, while the other two were longer.

ANKARA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree to raise the tariffs on some U.S. imports including cars, alcohol and tobacco, an official report said on Wednesday.

According to the decree published in the official gazette, Turkey has imposed an extra 60-percent of tariffs on passenger cars, 70 percent on alcohol and 30 percent on tobacco. Tariffs on cosmetics, rice and coal were also increased.

The move was a response to Washington's "economic attack" on Turkey, the country's Vice President Fuat Oktay tweeted.

GENOA, Italy, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- As the toll in the deadly bridge collapse in Italy's northwestern city of Genoa reportedly reached 35 and rescue workers frantically searched in the debris for survivors, the chance of finding more people alive looked slim.

Bloomberg reported the toll had reached 35. It could rise further in the following days, police and Red Cross officials told Xinhua.

By Yoshita Singh

United Nations, Aug 15 (PTI) India and China, the most populous nations in the world, are key to making the United Nations relevant to everyone, President-elect of the UN General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces has said.

Garces visited the two countries this month as she prepares to assume the role of President of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in September.

JERUSALEM, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel reopens Gaza's main cargo crossing on Wednesday morning, a week after it was closed amidst a flare-up of violence.

The opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing after nearly two weeks was decided by Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and the Chief of General Staff Gadi Eisenkot, the military said in a statement.

"The Kerem Shalom crossing will be re-opened this morning for full activity," the statement read, adding that the fishing zone off the Gaza Strip will also be expanded to nine nautical miles (16.6 km).