South African President Jacob Zuma admitted today the ruling ANC party is beset by corruption and divisions that could threaten its uninterrupted hold on power since the end of apartheid rule.
	Zuma, who has himself been at the centre of several major corruption scandals, called on the African National Congress (ANC) to reform and turn around its fortunes ahead of elections in 2019.
	Zuma may stay on as national president until the election, but he is due to step down as ANC chief in December and the party faces a bitter internal leadership battle.
	He said that the ANC needed to "cleanse itself" of "corruption, social distance, factionalism (and) abuse of power".
	"Factionalism is a cancer that must be rooted out of the ANC," he said, opening a six-day policy meeting in Soweto, south of Johannesburg.
	Critics accuse Zuma, 75, of allowing corruption to flourish since he came to power in 2009, and of being in the sway of the Gupta business family, allegedly granting them lucrative ...

S.Africa's Zuma admits ANC damaged by corruption

PTI Automatic

Russia today dismissed a report by the UN's chemical weapons watchdog that sarin was used as a chemical weapon in a April 4 attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun.
	The United States and its allies have accused the Moscow-backed Syrian regime of being behind the attack, a claim Russia rejects.
	"We must state that (the report's) findings are still based on rather questionable data," the foreign ministry in Moscow said in a statement.
	"It is not surprising that the contents of the report by the special mission of the OPCW are in many ways biased, which suggests that political motivation is present in the actions of this organisation."
	The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Friday that a report from its fact-finding mission "confirmed that people were exposed to sarin" in Khan Sheikhun.
	The report did not assign blame for the attack that killed at least 87 people including many children.
	US President Donald Trump launched a retaliatory cruise ...

Moscow says questionable data in chemical watchdog's Syria

China issued new regulations today around online video content, directing streaming platforms to eliminate a range of programs in yet another tightening of controls on the Chinese Internet.
	Among the films, dramas and cartoons targeted by the China Netcasting Services Assocation's (CNSA) rules are those "demonstrating 'abnormal' sexual relations or acts, such as... homosexuality."
	Online video platforms must hire at least three "professional censors" to watch every program from beginning to end and remove those that do not adhere to "correct political and aesthetic standards," the regulations said.
	Providers are called upon to produce programs that "center on the people and promote socialist values and Chinese culture."
	The new rules come just one week after China ordered a halt to video streaming on three major websites.
	According to China's media oversight body, the platforms -- including the massively popular Sina Weibo microblogging platform, iFeng.Com and ACFUN -- did not ...

China bans online videos showing homosexuality, affairs

Some 60 people are missing and believed drowned after the dinghy they were on sank off Libya, the International Organisation for Migration said today, citing survivor testimony.
	The inflatable had been carrying 140-150 people including women when it began taking on water five hours after setting off from North Africa on Monday, according to 80 survivors who were brought to safety in Italy.
	"They don't know how long it was before help arrived. They clung to bits of the dinghy until it fell dark, then a boat arrived and they were rescued," IOM spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo told AFP.
	The survivors were later transferred to the British military ship HMS Echo, which is currently operating in the Mediterranean as part of the EU's anti-trafficking Operation Sophia.
	They were among 550 people the HMS Echo disembarked in the Italian port of Brindisi on Friday, following an intense week of rescues at sea.
	With smugglers taking advantage of a spell of good weather and calm seas, more than ...

60 people missing feared drowned after boat sinks off Libya

Japan has revealed ambitious plans to put an astronaut on the Moon around 2030 in new proposals from the country's space agency.
	This is the first time the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has said it aims to send an astronaut beyond the International Space Station, an agency spokeswoman told AFP today.
	The idea is to first join a NASA-led mission in 2025 to build a space station in the moon's orbit, as part of a longer-term effort by NASA to reach Mars.
	Tokyo hopes that contributing to the multinational mission and sharing Japanese technology will land it a coveted spot at the station, from which it could eventually send an astronaut to the Moon, the spokeswoman said.
	The plan was presented at an education ministry panel this week, with a more formal blueprint expected next year, according to public broadcaster NHK.
	The announcement comes as China and India develop their space programmes.
	In November, China's Shenzhou-11 spacecraft returned to Earth, bringing home two .

Japan reveals plans to put a man on moon by 2030

Islamic State group jihadists recaptured an eastern district of their Syrian bastion Raqa today, a monitor said, rolling back the advance of US-backed fighters.
	"IS fully retook Al-Senaa, which was the most important neighbourhood taken by the Syrian Democratic Forces," said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
	"IS fighters attacked the SDF with suicide bombers and (weaponised) drones, and also used tunnels," he told AFP.
	The densely built-up neighbourhood was the closest that the SDF and allied Arab fighters known as the Elite Forces had come to the city centre.
	Yesterday, dozens of jihadists disguised in SDF uniforms launched an attack on Al-Senaa from the city centre, carrying out three suicide car bomb attacks and overrunning six SDF positions.
	By today, the SDF and its allies withdrew from Al-Senaa to the adjacent neighbourhood of Al-Meshleb.
	"They are now reinforcing their defensive positions in Al-Meshleb," Abdel Rahman said.
	An IS ...

IS retakes Raqa district from US-backed forces: monitor

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was charged today over claims her party illegally claimed millions of euros from the European Parliament to pay for France-based staff, her lawyer has said.
	Rodolphe Bosselut told AFP that Le Pen had been summoned by investigating magistrates in Paris and that they had, "as expected, charged her", adding that she would appeal.
	The 48-year-old National Front leader, who made a failed run for president this year, invoked her immunity as a member of the European Parliament in refusing to answer questions from investigators during the campaign.
	She had however promised to cooperate with the investigation after the May presidential and June parliamentary elections were over.
	Investigators suspect the FN used money from Brussels earmarked for parliamentary assistants to pay staff to work for the party in France.
	She is one of 17 FN European lawmakers -- along with her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, from whom she is estranged -- being investigated over ..

Marine Le Pen charged over EU funding scandal: lawyer

Contractors working on the renovation of London's Grenfell Tower were asked by the building's managers to reduce costs, with cheaper exterior cladding suggested as one alternative, a media report said today.
	At least 80 people were killed in the blaze that consumed the tower this month, with the cladding blamed for spreading the fire throughout the 24-floor block.
	An "urgent nudge email" sent to contractor Artelia UK from the Kensington and Chelsea tenant management organisation (KCTMO), which runs the tower block on behalf of the local council, said that "we need good costs" for council deputy leader Rock Feilding-Mellen, The Times reported.
	One suggestion was the use of aluminium panels instead of zinc, which is more fire-resistant, leading to a "saving of 293,368 pounds".
	Retired judge Martin Moore-Bick was yesterday appointed to lead a public inquiry into the fire, which engulfed Grenfell Tower on June 14.
	Residents have expressed anger at the authorities' handling of the ...

Renovators at UK blaze tower were asked to cut costs: report

Germany's parliament voted today to punish social media giants with fines of up to 50 million euros (USD 57 million) if they systematically fail to remove illegal hate speech.
	Berlin took the measure, one of the toughest in the world, after a surge in racist and incendiary speech online, particularly since the arrival of around one million asylum- seekers since 2015.
	Under German law, Holocaust denial, incitement of hatred, and racist and anti-Semitic speech are illegal.
	But critics warned that the prohibitive fines would stifle legitimate free speech by prompting online giants like Twitter and Facebook to excessively delete and censor posts as a precaution.
	They also said it would give social networks, rather than the authorities, the power to decide which content flouts the law.
	But Justice Minister Heiko Maas argued that "freedom of opinion ends where criminal law begins".
	"Death threats and insults, incitement to hate or (Holocaust denial) are not part of freedom of ...

Germany imposes heavy fines for online hate speech

An Israeli warplane struck a Syrian army post today, the Israeli military said, hours after stray fire from Syria's civil war hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
	"In response to the projectile launched earlier today at Israel from Syria, an Israel Air Force aircraft targeted the Syrian army position that fired the mortar," the English- language Israeli statement said.
	"The errant projectile was a result of internal fighting in Syria."
	It was the fourth such exchange in a week as Syrian troops battle rebels, including hardline Islamists, on the other side, leading to occasional stray fire.
	There have been no casualties on the Israeli side but the Jewish state also responded to the previous three incidents by striking Syrian government positions.
	Rebels recently launched an offensive against government forces in Quneitra on the Syrian side of the armistice line.
	Israel has conducted several air strikes in Syria since that country's civil war erupted in 2011, most of which it ..

Israeli plane hits Syrian army in latest Golan exchange

Austria's highest court ruled today in favour of last year's controversial expropriation of the house where Adolf Hitler was born, ending a long-running bitter saga between the state and the former owner.
	The government took control of the dilapidated building in the northern town of Braunau in December after MPs approved an expropriation law specifically aimed at the property.
	The move came after years of wrangling with owner Gerlinde Pommer who had been renting the house to the interior ministry since the 1970s and refused to sell it or carry out essential renovation works.
	The government said it had been necessary to force a decision on the issue to stop the premises from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.
	A lawyer for the notoriously reclusive Pommer accused the move of being excessive and launched an appeal in January.
	But the constitutional court in Vienna has sided with the government, arguing that the expropriation was "in the public interest".
	"(The house) is vulnerable to ...

Hitler house expropriation stands: Austria court

A "mentally disturbed" man stabbed and wounded two German tourists today in a Tunisian marketplace near the northeastern beach resort of Hammamet, the government said.
	The attack on a mother and her 27-year-old daughter took place in the arts and crafts market of the town of Nabeul, the tourism and interior ministries said in a joint statement.
	"The incident is not an act of terrorism", the statement said.
	The mother was slightly wounded and treated on the spot while her daughter "is in stable condition", the ministries said, adding that the attacker had been detained by police.
	Two attacks targeting tourists killed 59 foreigners and a Tunisian police officer in 2015, sending revenues in the key tourism sector plummeting.
	The Islamic State jihadist group claimed the attacks on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis and on a coastal resort near Sousse.

German tourists wounded in Tunisia stabbing

Tight security contained protesters in Hong Kong tonight as China's President Xi Jinping led lavish celebrations to mark 20 years since the politically divided city was handed back to China by Britain.
	A huge security operation has shut down large parts of Hong Kong, with thousands of police deployed to keep away demonstrators angry at Beijing's tightening grip on the freedoms of nearly eight million people.
	A planned pro-independence rally was cancelled after police banned it from taking place and cordoned off the harbourfront area where defiant protesters had said they would gather.
	An official protest zone near the harbourfront convention centre where Xi was guest of honour at an anniversary banquet and variety show was also heavily patrolled as dozens of demonstrators gathered chanting: "End one-party dictatorship!"
	Tensions had flared this afternoon as democracy campaigners and pro-China supporters swore and shouted at each other near the convention centre, with police ...

Tight security in Hong Kong as Xi leads celebrations

China slammed the United States today for its decision to slap unprecedented sanctions on a Chinese bank accused of laundering North Korean cash.
	"We urge the US side to stop their wrongful actions on this issue to avoid any effect on other cooperation issues," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters during a regular press briefing.
	"We have stressed many times that we firmly oppose any unilateral sanctions," he said, adding that Beijing had "comprehensively implemented" all UN Security Council measures on Pyongyang.
	The comments followed a decision yesterday by the US Treasury Department to sever the Bank of Dandong from the US financial system for acting "as a conduit for illicit North Korean financial activity."
	The bank, it said, had been "facilitating millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea's WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and ballistic missile programs."
	The department also sanctioned two Chinese individuals said to have ...

China slams US for 'wrongful' sanctions on Chinese bank

Solomon Mire smashed his maiden one- day century today to take Zimbabwe to a historic six wicket win over Sri Lanka and pile pressure on the beleaguered Asian nation.
     Mire hit 112 off 96 balls as Zimbabwe reached 322-4 to pass Sri Lanka's 316-5 with more than two overs to spare. It was the first time in more than 200 one day internationals in Sri Lanka that a visiting team has scored more than a 300 run target to get a victory.
     Sri Lanka have been criticised in recent days by the country's sports minister for being overweight and unfit. Captain Angelo Mathews also laid into his players after the defeat.
     "Having 315 on the board, I thought it was enough," he said. "Our bowling was poor and our fielding was pathetic. It was a good batting effort by them."
     Mire, known for his quickfire hitting, was twice dropped as Sri Lanka virtually gave the game away.
     Sikandar Raza hit an unbeaten 67 and Sean Williams 65 as Zimbabwe stunned the home side in the first one-day ..

Zimbabwe thrash 'pathetic' Sri Lanka in one day battle

Germany legalised same-sex marriage today in a change nonetheless opposed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, joining many other western democracies in granting gay and lesbian couples full rights, including adoption.
	The election-year bill was pushed by Merkel's leftist rivals, who pounced on comments she made early this week suggesting a policy U-turn - a manoeuvre that left her conservative lawmakers fuming.
	Merkel allowed her Christian Democratic Party (CDU) lawmakers to vote their conscience on the bill rather than follow the party line, and it passed by a vote of 393 to 226 on parliament's last day before the summer recess.
	But Merkel said today that she voted against the legalisation because she believes marriage is the preserve of a man and a woman.
	"To me, marriage as defined in the German constitution means the marriage between husband and wife, and that is why I voted against the law today," she said.
	But she did say that her thinking had changed on the question of child ...

Germany legalises same-sex marriage, Merkel votes against

Three former executives at the operator of Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant went on trial today, the only people ever to face a criminal court in connection with the 2011 meltdowns that left swathes of countryside uninhabitable.
	Ex-Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, 77, and former vice presidents Sakae Muto, 66, and Ichiro Takekuro, 71, all pleaded not guilty to charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, over six years after the worst atomic accident in a generation.
	Katsumata told a three-judge panel hearing the case that it was impossible for him to have foreseen the risk of the towering waves that pummelled Japan's northeast coast and swamped reactors in March 2011.
	"I apologise for the tremendous trouble to the residents in the area and around the country because of the serious accident that caused the release of radioactive materials," Katsumata said in a barely audible voice, as he bowed.
	But "I believe I don't have a criminal ...

Ex-bosses stand trial over Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuke crisis

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker admitted today that he had not yet joined the smartphone revolution, as he helped launch the EU presidency of digital-savvy Estonia.
	"I shouldn't say but I have to say it, I still don't have a smartphone," the 62-year-old head of the EU's executive arm said at a news conference in the Baltic state's capital, Tallinn.
	"So I couldn't become prime minister of Estonia, this would be totally impossible," Juncker said  alongside a smiling Estonian premier Juri Ratas.
	He added that Ratas was aware of his lack of a smartphone, "which is why he sent me, like in the 19th century, a postcard inviting me to Tallinn."
	Juncker, a former Luxembourg prime minister, uses an old Nokia mobile phone, EU sources told AFP.
	His admission comes 10 years after Apple introduced the iPhone and launched a global smartphone boom.
	It puts him in good technophobic company among world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who still does not have a ...

I still don't have a smartphone, admits EU's Juncker

Formula One legend Ron Dennis' 37 year relationship with McLaren ended today with the announcement he is stepping down as chairman and has sold his 25% stake in the McLaren Technology Group.
     The 70-year-old's announcement will come as no surprise after he was placed on 'gardening leave' last November as his relationship with his fellow shareholders deteriorated beyond repair.
     Prior to Friday's announcement Bahrain's Mumtalakat investment fund owned 50% and the remaining 25% was held by Dennis's long-time business partner Mansour Ojjeh, a Saudi- born Frenchman.
     Dennis -- who helped guide the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Ayrton Senna to the world title -- said he was pleased to have come to an agreement that would allow him to focus on his other interests.
     "I am very pleased to have reached agreement with my fellow McLaren shareholders," Dennis said.
     "It represents a fitting end to my time at McLaren, and will enable me to focus on my other interests.
     "I ...

Legend Dennis brings curtain down on McLaren affair

Defending champion Andy Murray was drawn to potentially face fellow two-time winner Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon semi-finals today while Roger Federer, chasing a record eighth crown, was lined up to face three-time titlist Novak Djokovic.
     Top seed Murray will start his campaign on Monday against a qualifier while second seed Djokovic tackles Slovakia's Martin Klizan before a tricky possible third round clash with old rival Juan Martin del Potro.
     Federer, seeded third, starts against Alexander Dolgopolov of Ukraine while fourth-seeded Nadal, fresh from a 10th French Open triumph, has Australia's John Millman in the first round.
     Murray will enter the tournament desperately trying to shake off a hip injury which played a part in his Queen's Club title defence coming to an abrupt end in the first round last week.
     If the 30-year-old negotiates the first round, he would then possibly face Portugal's Joao Sousa with Dustin Brown a potential third round rival.
     German 

Murray v Nadal, Federer v Djokovic in potential Wimbledon

Scorecard in the first One-day
International between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe here today.
     Sri Lanka:
     N Dickwella c Burl b Chatara       10
     M Gunathilaka c Ervine b Williams  60
     B Mendis c and b Cremer            86
     W Tharanga not out                 79
     A Mathews b Mire                   43
     D Gunaratne c Waller b Chatara     28
     L Madushanka not out                1
     Extras: (B-1, LB-2, W0-6)           9
     Total: (For 5 wkts; 50 overs)     316
     Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-133, 3-180, 4-254, 5-310.
     Bowling: Chatara 9-1-49-2, Tiripano 6-0-45-0, Williams 9 -0-57-1, Cremer 10-0-57-1, Mire 7-0-47-1, Raza 9-0-58-0.
     Zimbabwe:
     H Masakadza c Dickwella b Malinga    5
     S Mire c and b Gunaratne           112
     C Ervine c Tharanga b Dananjaya     18
     S Williams b Gunaratne              65
     S Raza not out                      67
     M Waller not out                    40
     Extras: (LB-5, W-9, NB-1)           15
     ...

AFP

AFP

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