Five people including two Girl Guides at a campground died in freak accidents early today when violent storms hit Poland amid a heatwave, the fire brigade and police said.
	The two girls, aged 13 and 14, were crushed by falling trees while sleeping in a tent and around 20 other children were injured when a freak storm hit the campground for Boy Scouts and Girl Guides with 140 youngsters in the northern village of Suszek.
	A woman died when a tree hit her house in the northern village of Konarzyny while a man sleeping in a tent in a nearby village also perished after being hit by tree brought down by high winds.
	Authorities in the same region also confirmed the death of a fifth victim, a 48-year-old man, crushed by a tree.
	A total of 28 people were reported injured while power was cut to around half a million homes and businesses as violent winds downed trees and ripped off roofs in northern and southern regions.
	An unusual heatwave saw peak temperatures soar to the high-thirties ...

Five dead as storms ravage Poland

PTI Automatic

Unidentified assailants shot dead seven members of Syria's White Helmets rescue service early today during a raid on their base in a jihadist-held northwestern town, the group said.
	The attackers struck in the town of Sarmin, nine kilometres (six miles) east of the city of Idlib, that is controlled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadist alliance.
	"The civil defence centre in Sarmin was the target of an armed attack by unknown assailants in which seven volunteers were killed," the White Helmets said in statement.
	"Two minibuses, some white helmets and walkie-talkies were stolen."
	It was not immediately clear whether the motives for the raid were political or purely criminal.
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the seven volunteers had all been killed by bullets to the head.
	"Colleagues came in the morning for the change of shift and found them dead," its director, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.
	The White Helmets emerged in 2013, working to rescue civilians in rebel-held ...

Seven rescue workers killed in jihadist-held Syria town

Four people including two teenagers at a campground died in freak accidents early today when violent storms hit Poland amid a heatwave, the fire brigade said.
	The two children, aged 13 and 14, were crushed by falling trees while sleeping in tents and around 20 other children were injured when a freak storm hit a campground for Boy Scouts and Girl Guides with 140 youngsters in the northern village of Suszek.
	A woman died when a tree hit her house in the northern village of Konarzyny while a man sleeping in a tent in a nearby village also perished after being hit by tree brought down by high winds.
	A total of 28 people were reported injured while power was cut to around half a million homes and businesses as violent winds downed trees and ripped off roofs in northern and southern regions.
	An unusual heatwave saw peak temperatures soar to the high-thirties Celsius (around 100 Farenheit) across Poland in recent days, but milder weather is expected this weekend when the mercury is ...

Four dead as storms ravage Poland

Three people, including a child, have been shot dead in Kenya in opposition protests which raged overnight into today after the hotly disputed election victory of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
	Demonstrations and running battles with police broke out in Nairobi slums after anger in opposition strongholds against an election that losing candidate Raila Odinga claims was massively rigged.
	An AFP photographer saw the body of a nine-year-old boy whose family said he had been shot in the back while watching the protests from a fourth floor balcony in Mathare, a slum in the capital.
	The violence is a reminder of the bloodshed that followed a disputed 2007 election which led to two months of ethno- political violence that left 1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced.
	Attention is now focused on Odinga and his first reaction to Friday's official election results. He previously said the loss was a result of massive rigging of Tuesday's polls, which his party denounced as a "charade" and a ...

Three killed in protests against disputed Kenya vote

Kuwaiti authorities today arrested 12 convicted members of a "terrorist cell" with ties to Iran and Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah after a weeks-long manhunt.
	The interior ministry said the 12 had been captured in different areas across Kuwait. They had been on the run since their sentencing last month, while two other convicted Kuwaitis remained at large.
	The supreme court in Sunni-ruled Kuwait, which has a sizeable Shiite minority, in June overturned an acquittal by an appeals court and convicted 21 Shiites of forming a "terrorist cell" with ties to Iran and Hezbollah.
	The cell had planned to launch attacks across the Gulf state, according to the court verdict.
	Kuwait has protested to Lebanon over the alleged training of the so-called "Abdali Cell" by Hezbollah, which has ministers in the Beirut government.
	Last month, authorities expelled 15 Iranian diplomats and shut down the military, cultural and trade missions of the Iranian embassy over Tehran's backing of the ...

Kuwait arrests 12 over ties to Iran, Hezbollah

At least two people were shot dead in Kenya during overnight protests against the election victory of President Uhuru Kenyatta by opposition supporters who believe the vote was rigged, according to police and a health official.
	"We have one person killed and four others admitted in hospital with gunshot injuries," said Dr Ojwang Lusi, the regional health chief in western Kisumu county.
	In the southwestern town of Siaya, a police officer speaking on condition of anonymity said a man had been shot dead in protests, but "we have not managed to collect the body... Because of resistance from protesters."
	Angry protests flared in opposition strongholds in Nairobi as well as in Kisumu after the election commission declared Kenyatta the victor in a hotly disputed vote over rival Raila Odinga.
	After late night looting and riots, anger remained high Saturday morning, with running battles in the capital's Mathare and Kibera slums.
	However there were also joyous celebrations, some of which ..

Two dead in Kenya poll protests: police, health official

Flash floods triggered by heavy rain in northeastern Iran have left at least 11 people dead and two missing, the Red Crescent said today.
	"So far 11 people have died in this accident -- eight of them in Khorasan Razavi, two in Golestan and another in North Khorasan," Red Crescent rescue chief Morteza Salimi told the ISNA news agency.
	Friday's storms caused flooding in five provinces and some villages remained cut off on Saturday.
	The two people missing were part of a family of three whose car was washed away by the torrent in Golestan province.
	One of them, a woman, has been found dead and the search is continuing for the other two.

Flash floods kill 11 in northeastern Iran

A scandal involving eggs contaminated with insecticide spread to 15 EU countries, Switzerland and as far away as Hong Kong as the European Commission called for a special meeting on the growing crisis.
	Ministers and food safety chiefs from around the European Union are set to meet on September 26 in a bid to get countries to stop "blaming and shaming" each other over the scare involving the chemical fipronil.
	Millions of eggs have been pulled from supermarket shelves across Europe and dozens of poultry farms closed since the discovery of fipronil, which can harm human health, was made public on August 1.
	The issue has sparked a row between Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, the three countries at the epicentre of the crisis, about how long they knew about the problem.
	"Blaming and shaming will bring us nowhere and I want to stop this," Vytenis Andriukaitis, the European Commissioner for health and food safety, told AFP as he announced the meeting.
	"We need to work together to .

Contaminated eggs scandal spreads from Europe to Asia

Three men kidnapped by Islamist militants in the southern Philippines escaped while their captors prayed, dodging bullets as they ran, police said today after a ruse using fake ransom money failed.
	The fate of a fourth man who ran off in a different direction was unclear.
	The construction workers were taken to the police on Jolo island yesterday, four weeks after being abducted by the Abu Sayyaf group, which is holding more than a dozen other hostages including several foreigners in remote jungles.
	The gunmen had received an undetermined amount of cash for the hostages on Thursday, but refused to release them after realising the money was fake, regional police chief Reuben Sindac told AFP.
	"While the abductors performed their afternoon prayer, the victims took advantage and (ran) but they were chased and fired upon," Sindac said, citing an official report.
	The Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the worst terror attacks in the nation's history, is known to behead hostages unless ransom ...

Captives escape Philippine militants after fake ransom

Four soldiers from the United Arab Emirates were killed when their helicopter crashed during a mission in Yemen, the UAE military confirmed today.
	The Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government against Shiite rebels had initially played down yesterday's incident, saying that the pilot had been forced to make an emergency landing "resulting in minor injuries to the crew".
	The four soldiers died when the helicopter crashed in the southern province of Shabwa following a technical problem, the UAE military said in statement carried by the country's official WAM news agency.
	Earlier this month, UAE-trained Yemeni special forces backed by the United States launched a major operation against Al-Qaeda in Shabwa, driving it out of most of the province.
	The jihadists are thought to have moved farther south into neighbouring Abyan province.
	Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, seen by the US as the network's most dangerous branch, has exploited years of conflict between the ...

Four UAE soldiers killed in Yemen helicopter crash

The United States today vehemently denied claims by Afghan officials that it had killed several civilians in an air strike in volatile eastern Afghanistan.
	Afghan officials had said 11 civilians, including women and children, were killed when a private vehicle was struck in Haska Mina district of Nangarhar province, a hotbed of Islamic State activity, on Thursday.
	But United States Forces-Afghanistan said in a statement the air strike "killed a number of militants".
	"The militants were observed loading weapons in to a vehicle and were under surveillance until the vehicle was destroyed by an airstrike," said Bob Purtiman, a spokesman for American operations in Afghanistan.
	"The strike was conducted in the middle of open terrain. There was zero chance of civilian casualties.
	"This was the second false claim of civilian casualties in the same district in the last three weeks," Purtiman added.
	Of the roughly 13,000 foreign forces in Afghanistan only the US carries out ...

US denies air strike killed civilians in Afghanistan

Swiss star Roger Federer outclassed Roberto Bautista Agut as he inched closer to his sixth title of the season with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the quarter- finals of the Montreal Masters.
     Federer hammered five aces, made just two double faults and won 81 percent of his first serve points in the 68-minute centre court match. He dominated at the net, winning 21 of 25 points.
     "It pays off playing aggressively here in Montreal, plus I feel comfortable at net, so why not spend some time there instead of slugging it out from the baseline," Federer said.
     "I think I did a good job again, even though it was tough to control the ball. I got some decent rhythm going."
     Federer advances to the semi-finals where he will face Robin Haase of the Netherlands, who defeated Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 earlier in the day.
     Bautista Agut struggled on his serve as he was broken three times and won just 65 percent of his first serve points.
     "Today, I felt that I didn't get into the ..

Federer punches ticket to Montreal semis

Venezuela's military chief has said two renegade officers behind an attack on an army base to raid its armory have been captured.
	"The leaders and masterminds of the paramilitary and terrorist assault" last weekend against the base in the northwestern city of Valencia were arrested, said the defense minister and armed forces commander, General Vladimir Padrino.
	The suspects were a former captain, Juan Carlos Caguaripano Scott, 38, and a lieutenant at the base who was in charge of the weapons, Jefferson Garcia.
	Venezuelan officials said Caguaripano, who was discharged from the army in 2O14, had commanded around 20 uniformed men in the attack.
	Two of the men were killed and eight were captured, officials said previously. Caguaripano and Jefferson Garcia escaped with the rest of their team and a stolen arsenal.
	"This capture is a hard blow against fascist terrorism put into play by the Venezuelan right over the past few months," the defense minister said on Twitter, using a term ...

Venezuela says rebel officers behind army base attack captured

Caroline Wozniacki survived three rain delays to book her spot in the WTA Toronto tournament semi-final with a marathon 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 victory over world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova on Friday.
     The sixth seeded Wozniacki posted her first career win over a number-one player in seven tries as she blasted eight aces in the two-hour, 56-minute centre court match.
     She next faces American Sloane Stephens, who saved three match points in the third set to oust Lucie Safarova 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 in their quarter-final.
     Pliskova fired five aces but won just 45 percent of her second-serve points.
     "I thought she started off really strongly and she was attacking and playing really, really well," Wozniacki said.
     "After that, I feel like I stepped a little bit closer to the line just to try and take away a little bit of time. I once I kind of got on a roll, I started serving better.
     "I just tried to stay steady, tried to take the ball on the rise and try to stay aggressive ...

Wozniacki topples top seed Pliskova at Toronto tennis

Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers held on to retain her world 200m title on Friday as the United States had another night to savour at the London Stadium and two experienced campaigners claimed more gold.
     Schippers, who won bronze in the 100m, roared off the bend into the final straight and looked as if she would coast safely home.
     But the Dutchwoman began to tie up and only a savage dip at the line that saw her clock 22.05 seconds edged her past Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou by just three-hundredths of a second. It was Ta Lou's second silver after her efforts in the 100m won by American Tori Bowie, absent from the 200.
     "I fought for that," said Schippers, who won 200m silver in the Rio Olympics. "I have worked so hard this year so I am so happy. It's so cool. Two times in a row is very special too.
     "It was very important to win. I worked so hard in the last years and last year was not the easiest for me. I changed everything and got a new coach, so I'm very happy.
     .

Queen Schippers retains 200m crown, US shine again

President Donald Trump will agree to speak to Venezuela's leader "as soon as democracy is restored in that country," the White House has said.
	President Nicolas Maduro has been under intense criticism around the world for installing a new all-powerful assembly that supersedes the Venezuelan congress and is packed with Maduro loyalists.
	The White House yesterday said Maduro requested on Friday a phone call with Trump, whose administration has slapped sanctions on Maduro himself and some of his allies, and branded him a dictator over his attempts to crush his country's opposition.
	Earlier Friday Trump even said he was considering military options as a response to the escalating political and economic crisis in Venezuela -- an oil-rich country reduced to widespread poverty and shortages of food, medicine and other basics.
	The White House said that since he took office Trump has been pressing Maduro to respect his country's constitution, hold free and fair elections, release political 

Trump will speak to Venezuela's Maduro when 'democracy is

The United States has said it holds Cuba responsible for investigating an apparent sonic attack that left several of its diplomats in need of medical treatment.
	Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday said the US mission in Havana had not been able to determine who was behind what he called "health attacks" on its staff.
	But he warned: "We hold the Cubans responsible just as every host country has a responsibility for safety and security of diplomats in their country.
	"We hold the Cuban authorities responsible for finding out who is carrying out these health attacks not just on our diplomats -- as you've seen there are cases with other diplomats as well."
	On Thursday, Canada revealed that one of its diplomats had also fallen victim to the mysterious attack, which officials said seem to have been carried out with some kind of sonic device.
	US personnel began experiencing ailments in late 2016, but that it was not immediately recognized that it could be anything other than an ...

US says Cuba must investigate attacks on diplomats

US President Donald Trump has said that he was considering military options as a response to the escalating crisis in Venezuela, describing the situation there as a "very dangerous mess."
	Washington has slapped sanctions on President Nicolas Maduro and some of his allies, and branded him a "dictator" over his attempts to crush his country's opposition. Venezuela has in turn accused America of "imperialist aggression."
	But yesterday's latest comments were the first sign that Trump may be mulling military intervention.
	"We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary," Trump told reporters in New Jersey.
	"We have troops all over the world in places that are very far away. Venezuela is not very far away and the people are suffering and they're dying."
	Trump said Venezuela's political crisis was among the topics discussed at the talks he hosted in New Jersey yesterday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and UN Ambassador Nikki ...

Trump says mulling 'military option' on Venezuela

At least 23 rebel fighters were killed and dozens more wounded in a suicide blast in southern Syria near the border with Jordan, a monitoring group has said.
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bomber detonated an explosive belt yesterday at a base used by Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) near the Nasib border crossing.
	"Most of the 23 rebels killed were from Jaish al-Islam. Dozens were wounded, including 20 in critical condition," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
	There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but jihadists linked to the Islamic State group have attacked rebels in southern Syria.
	The Nasib border crossing -- known as Jaber on the Jordanian side -- lies in Syria's southern Daraa province and was captured by rebel groups in April 2015.
	Syria's uprising erupted in Daraa province in March 2011 with widespread protests calling for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
	It has since turned into an all-out war that has drawn in international ...

Syria suicide blast kills 23 near Jordan border: monitor

Los Angeles city council rubber-stamped the host city contract today, paving the way for bringing the 2028 Summer Olympics to southern California and ceding the 2024 Games to Paris.
	The members voted 12-0 in favour of signing off on the memorandum of understanding and host city contract documents which would see the city host the Summer Games for the third time in history.
	"This opportunity is too great and we cannot pass it up," said council member Herb Wesson.
	"We will make the necessary adjustments to make this the most successful Olympics Games in the history of America."
	The city council signed off on the Games despite not knowing the full financial reality of hosting the 2028 Olympics.
	But Los Angeles' campaign was given a boost when Olympic leaders agreed to hand over a bigger portion of their broadcast and sponsorship revenue for allowing Paris to go first.
	Los Angeles started off competing with other cities around the world for the 2024 Games, but eventually all bidders 

Olympics: LA approves host city contract for 2028 Games

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner today of a disputed election with 54.27 per cent of votes, beating his rival Raila Odinga who scored 44.74 per cent, the election commission announced.
	"Having fulfilled the requirement by law... I therefore wish to declare Uhuru Kenyatta... As president elect," said polls commission chairman Wafula Chebukati, as cheers and singing broke out at the national tallying centre.
	Kenyatta took to the stage to thank Kenyans "for the confidence they have shown in me."
	He vowed to "continue the work that we have already started and re-dedicate ourselves toward serving this great nation and our people."
	Kenyatta also reached out to Odinga  -- who has rejected the vote due to alleged rigging -- and his supporters, to "work together... So that we can build this nation together".
	"We are not enemies. We are all citizens of one republic. As with any competition there shall always be winners and there shall be losers but we all belong to .

AFP

AFP

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