Former France star Thierry Henry has been named as the new assistant coach of Belgium, the national coach announced Roberto Martinez announced today.
     "Thierry is an important figure. He will bring something different. He agreed right away to join us," said ex-Everton Martinez, who was appointed at the start of the month to succeed the sacked Marc Wilmots.
     "Honoured to be assistant coach @BelRedDevils. Thanks to Roberto Martinez & the Royal Belgian Football Association. Very excited.Can't wait," Henry tweeted.
     Henry, 39, finished his glittering playing career in 2014 with New York Red Bulls after previously starring for Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal and Barcelona.
     Since hanging up his boots, he has been working as a pundit for British television station Sky and as an under-18 coach at Arsenal.
     He left the latter role in July because Gunners boss Arsene Wenger did not want Henry juggling his coaching with his punditry.
     "He is someone who knows how to ...

Henry becomes Belgium assistant coach

PTI Automatic

Israeli troops shot dead a suspected Palestinian assailant at the entrance to the West Bank village of Silwad today, the army said.
	"Forces identified a suspect running towards an (army) post in Silwad, northeast of Ramallah," a spokeswoman said.
	"The force shot the suspect, resulting in his death."
	Silwad, close to the Jewish settlement of Ofra, is under constant stakeout by the Israeli army seeking to prevent attacks on passing settler traffic.
	It is the scene of regular clashes between Palestinian stone throwers and troops.
	A wave of violence since October has killed 222 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP tally.
	Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say, with the majority of them from the West Bank.
	Others have been shot dead during protests and clashes with security forces.

Israeli troops kill suspected assailant in W Bank: army

The Philippine government and Communist guerrillas today signed an indefinite ceasefire deal to facilitate peace talks aimed at ending one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies.
	"This is a historic and unprecedented event... (but) there is still a lot of work to be done ahead," President Rodrigo Duterte's peace adviser, Jesus Dureza, said at a signing ceremony in Norway, which is mediating the talks.
	Both sides agreed to implement unilateral ceasefires which are unlimited in time, something that has never been achieved before in the peace process.
	Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende described the agreement as a "major breakthrough."
	The two parties have been meeting in Oslo since Monday, wrapping up with the signing ceremony today.
	As a prelude to the talks, each side had agreed to a ceasefire, but the truce commitment by the Communist side was due to end tomorrow.
	The two parties also agreed during their negotiations to "speed up the peace process, and aim to reach the ...

Philippine govt, Communist rebels sign ceasefire deal

Eleven Turkish police officers were killed and 78 people injured today in a suicide truck bombing by suspected Kurdish rebels, three days into a two- pronged Turkish offensive against jihadists and Kurdish militia in neighbouring Syria.
	The early morning blast almost completely destroyed the police headquarters in the southeastern town of Cizre, just north of the Syrian border.
	"At 6:45 am (0915 IST), a suicide attack with a vehicle laden with explosives was carried out by the PKK terror group on the building of anti-riot police," the provincial governor's office said in a statement.
	Eleven police officers were killed and 78 people injured, three of them civilians, the statement added.
	Health Minister Recep Akdag said four people were in critical condition.
	The explosion went off hours after the Turkish military shelled positions held by Kurdish militia inside Syria.
	Turkey says its three-day-old operation in Syria - its biggest to date in its war-torn neighbour - is aimed both .

11 Turkish police killed in suicide bombing blamed on PKK

Britain's economic growth picked up speed in the second quarter, official data confirmed today, but economists expressed concern about the longer-term impact of Brexit.
	Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.6 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a second estimate for April-June, which included the shock EU exit referendum towards the end.
	That was unchanged from the initial estimate, and followed 0.4-percent expansion in the first quarter.
	"The reporting period for this release covers quarter 2 and therefore includes data for a short period after the EU referendum," the ONS said.
	"There is very little anecdotal evidence at present to suggest that the referendum has had an impact on GDP in Quarter 2 2016," the ONS added in a statement.
	The latest second quarter growth number was in line with market expectations.
	Britons had voted on June 23 to leave the European Union in a surprise vote that sent markets tumbling and the pound slumping in its initial ...

British economy accelerates in second quarter: data

Kuwaiti police have arrested a government employee accused of spreading the Islamic State jihadist group's ideology online, the interior ministry said.
	Othman Zain Nayef, a 26-year-old Kuwaiti national, had "used his office and computer to spread the extremist ideology of the so-called Daesh terrorist organisation", it said in a statement late Thursday, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
	The ministry, quoted by state news agency KUNA, said he had allegedly confessed to being a member of the group's "electronic army" and to having hacked official websites "in friendly and sister states".
	Kuwaiti authorities announced last month having dismantled three IS cells plotting attacks, including a suicide bombing against a Shiite mosque and hitting an interior ministry target.
	An IS-linked suicide bomber killed 26 worshippers last year when he blew himself up in a mosque of Kuwait's Shiite minority, in the worst such attack in the Gulf state's history.

Kuwait arrests govt staffer promoting IS online

Eleven Turkish police officers were killed and 70 people injured today in a car bombing blamed on Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels, as Turkey's army pressed an offensive against a Kurdish militia in neighbouring Syria.
	The early morning blast almost completely destroyed the police headquarters in the southeastern town of Cizre, just north of the Syrian border and close to northwestern Iraq.
	The explosion went off hours after the Turkish military shelled positions held by Kurdish militia inside Syria.
	Ankara says the operation is aimed both at Islamic State (IS) jihadists and Kurdish fighters vehemently opposed by Turkey.
	The bomb blast gutted the four-storey headquarters of the anti-riot police in Cizre, with television pictures showing a thick plume of black smoke rising into the sky.
	Adjacent buildings also sustained severe damage.
	Cizre has borne the brunt of renewed violence between the outlawed PKK and government forces since the collapse of a ceasefire last ...

Eleven Turkish police killed in bombing blamed on PKK

A Sudanese Antonov aircraft made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after takeoff from a base used to bomb rebels in Yemen, the kingdom's aviation regulator said, without reporting injuries.
	The propellor-driven An-12 transport plane "made an emergency and safe landing" today at Baha airport in southwest Saudi Arabia, the General Authority of Civil Aviation said.
	Baha is about 300 kilometres north of Khamis Mushait, home to the airbase which has been at the forefront of a bombing campaign by a Saudi-led Arab coalition against rebels in neighbouring Yemen.
	The plane was en route to the Sudanese capital Khartoum with 10 crew members, the aviation authority said.
	It said the Antonov, an aircraft designed in the former Soviet Union, had engine failure and its tyres had burst on landing in Baha, without specifying if it was a civilian or military model of the plane.
	Sudan, one of several Arab countries in the coalition, has deployed troops and aircraft against the Yemeni ...

Sudan plane makes emergency landing in Saudi

Sri Lanka's heavy reliance on its spin bowlers threatens to undermine their chances at the next cricket World Cup on the faster pitches of England, according to former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga.
     Ranatunga, who led Sri Lanka to their first and so far only World Cup triumph in 1996, told reporters he had been heartened by Sri Lanka's recent whitewashing of Australia in a home Test series and their strong showing at the start of the subsequent ODIs.
	But the recent success has been largely due to the performances of spinners such as the veteran Rangana Herath and the left-armer Amila Aponso, who took 4-18 as Sri Lanka won the second ODI on Wednesday.
	Ranatunga, himself a medium-pace bowler as well as a powerful middle order batsman, said such a formula for success would not work beyond the Indian sub-continent where pitches are much less conducive to spin.
	"We need to build our all rounders and fast bowlers. Spin alone is not enough to play in conditions like in England. If we are .

Ranatunga bemoans Sri Lanka reliance on spin

A Vietnamese trainee pilot was killed when his fighter jet crashed into a rice field, an official said today, the third deadly military plane accident since June.
	The pilot was the only one on board when the plane went down in south-central Vietnam, the Ministry of Defence said on state-run television.
	The L39 fighter jet belonged to the air force pilot training college near the crash site in coastal Phu Yen province, chief administrator of the provincial people's committee told AFP.
	"During its training session, the fighter jet crashed into the rice field, killing the trainee pilot on board," Ho Thi Nguyen Thao said.
	Though Vietnam's civilian aviation sector has a strong safety record, there have been several recent accidents involving military aircraft.
	In June, a jet fighter carrying two pilots crashed during a training mission off the coast of northern Nghe An province, with only one of the pilots rescued.
	Days later, a military search plane deployed to find the missing ...

One pilot killed in Vietnam army jet crash

At least eight foreigners were among the 250 people killed when a powerful earthquake struck central Italy this week, officials said, as rescuers continued the grim search for corpses today.
	The bulk of the confirmed deaths - 193 at the latest count - were in the small mountain town of Amatrice, which normally has a population of around 2,500 but was packed with visitors when the quake struck as people slept in the early hours of Wednesday.
	Three British citizens were killed in the 6.0-6.2 magnitude quake, which had a shallow depth of four kilometres exacerbating its impact, an official from Amatrice told the BBC.
	The British foreign ministry did not immediately confirm the report, but Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has said a number of British nationals were affected.
	"My deepest sympathies are with the Italian people and everyone affected by the terrible earthquake," said Johnson, who sent condolences to his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni.
	Britain's Daily Mirror reported ..

Foreigners among dead in Italy quake

Seven people were killed in an attack by Shabaab jihadists on a beachfront restaurant in the Somali capital Mogadishu, a spokesman for the city authorities said today.
	"Nine people including two Shabaab gunmen were killed in the attack" yesterday, Mogadishu city spokesman Abdifatah Halane told AFP.
	Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab jihadists attacked the Banadir Beach Restaurant close to the city's Lido Beach, setting off a car bomb before exchanging fire with security forces.
	The restaurant is popular with young people and government officials. Around 20 people managed to escape from the restaurant during the gunfight.
	By this morning officials said the attackers had been killed.
	All the "attackers have been gunned down and the restaurant is now under the full command of the Somali government soldiers," regional police commander Colonel Abshir Bishaar told the Somali National News Agency.
	"The terrorist attack killed nine persons, five of them were civilians, two security forces and the .

Seven killed in Mogadishu beach restaurant attack

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo won the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award after winning both last season's Champions League and Euro 2016 with Portugal.
     Ronaldo, 31, received the accolade for the second time in his career after finishing ahead of Real team-mate Gareth Bale and Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann.
	"I'm obviously delighted to receive this award, it's been an incredible season. But these two other players deserve it as well," said Ronaldo, who also won the prize in 2013-14.
	Ronaldo struck the winning spot-kick as Real claimed a record 11th European Cup title, beating city rivals Atletico on penalties in May, before leading his country to Euro 2016 glory.
	Ronaldo scored three goals en route to the final of the tournament to equal France's Michel Platini's record of nine goals in the European Championship finals.
	The award was voted for by journalists from each of UEFA's 55 member associations.
	Norway striker Ada Hegerberg won the women's award, ahead of ..

Ronaldo crowned UEFA Best Player in Europe

Australia coach Darren Lehmann has backed the decision to rest skipper Steve Smith for the remaining one-day international series against Sri Lanka after criticism from ex-captain Michael Clarke, reports said today.
     Smith will miss three ODIs and two Twenty20 games to return home and prepare for next month's one-day series in South Africa.
	Smith played in all three losing Tests against the Sri Lankans and the first two one-day internationals before it was announced he would fly home to rest up.
	Clarke, who retired after last year's Ashes defeat in England, expressed his surprise at the decision.
	"I would of (sic) liked to have seen the captain play until the series was won and then have a rest," World Cup-winning skipper Clarke said on social media.
	"In the same breath if Smithy needed a break then he should have flown home after the Test matches not 2x ODIs in."
	Former Test opener Michael Slater echoed Clarke's sentiments, but Lehmann said he had no issue with their ...

Lehmann backs Smith's Sri Lanka series opt out

Serena Williams once again arrives at Flushing Meadows poised to rewrite the tennis record books -- if her own troublesome right shoulder and increasingly emboldened rivals allow.
     The 34-year-old US superstar matched Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles with her triumph at Wimbledon in July.
     With a seventh US Open triumph she can break Graf's record, and continue her march toward Australian Margaret Court's all-time mark of 24 Grand Slam titles.
	She could also break Graf's record of 186 consecutive weeks atop the world rankings, and surpass Chris Evert for most US Open singles titles won in the Open Era.
	But after seeing a frustrating year go by between her 21st Grand Slam win and No. 22, Williams said she'd learned to let history take care of itself.
	"I learned not to get involved in those debates and conversations," Williams said after her straight-sets victory over Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final.
	"I definitely had some sleepless ...

Serena shoulders burden of history at US Open

Czech police have arrested a man for attempting to drive into the motorcade of visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Prague, they said.
	A man in a black Mercedes yesterday "attempted to join the motorcade as it moved between Prague airport and Czech government headquarters," police spokesman Jozef Bocan told AFP, adding that the suspect was in police custody and Merkel "had not been in danger".
	"While attempting to join the motorcade, he tried to run down police securing the road," Bocan said, adding that officers had to use firearms to subdue the suspect.
	"The suspect acted alone. He was not armed, but items found in the car could easily have been used as weapons, particularly some cement cubes," Bocan added.
	Merkel held talks yesterday with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and President Milos Zeman focused on the future of the European Union after Britain's June decision to leave the bloc.
	Several hundred protesters, including members of anti-Islam groups, rallied in 

Czech police detain suspect in Merkel road incident

South Africa and New Zealand go into a one-match shootout for series honours when they meet in the second and final Test starting at SuperSport Park here tomorrow.
     The Proteas can nudge up one place to sixth in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings if they win, while the Black Caps will remain fifth irrespective of the result.
	But the reputation of Test cricket is at much at stake as rankings points after a farcical first Test in Durban where less than 100 overs of cricket were played before a wet, soft outfield prevented any play on the last three days.
	There was even less cricket in a Test match between the West Indies and India in Port of Spain, also because of outfield conditions.
	It is the first time Test cricket has been played in South Africa in August, almost two months before the usual start of the season.
	Preparing grounds for winter conditions has been a challenge - which Durban failed to meet after re-seeding the outfield only two months before the 

Proteas, Black Caps shootout for Test honours

England are to go ahead with their tour of Bangladesh, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed.
     "We can confirm that @englandcricket's tour of Bangladesh will continue as planned," said a statement yesterday on the ECB's official Twitter feed.
     The future of the tour was thrown into doubt when an attack in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, saw 20 hostages killed, including nine Italian citizens, with the Islamic State group claiming responsibility.
	An ECB delegation led by security adviser Reg Dickason, accompanied by director of cricket operations John Carr and David Leatherdale of the Professional Cricketers' Association recently visited Bangladesh to make their own security assessment.
	Following their return, the ECB said Thursday that the three one-day internationals and two Tests which England are due to play in Bangladesh in October and November before heading to India were set to go ahead as scheduled.
	England players -- including Test captain Alastair Cook ...

England to go ahead with Bangladesh tour

: Rudy Van Gelder, who recorded some of jazz's masterpieces starting in his parents' living room as artists took to his intimately precise sound, died yesterday. He was 91.
	Van Gelder supervised John Coltrane's spiritually rooted 1964 "A Love Supreme," often called the greatest jazz album of all time, as well as works by Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins and Horace Silver.
	His death was confirmed by Blue Note Records, where he spent decades as the key recording engineer, and by his nephew Gregg Van Gelder, who owns a music shop in upstate New York.
	"His importance to the legacy of jazz cannot be overstated," Blue Note Records said in a statement on Facebook.
	An optometrist by training, Van Gelder in the 1940s became determined to be a recording engineer -- a profession that barely existed at the time -- as he discovered live jazz in New York and became fascinated by radio.
	He transformed his parents' living room in New Jersey into a recording studio ...

Rudy Van Gelder, legendary recorder of jazz, dead at 91

An Argentine court has sentenced 28 people to life in prison for torturing and killing opponents of the country's 1976-1983 military regime at a secret detention center.
	Those convicted yesterday included former general Luciano Menendez, nicknamed "The Hyena" for laughing during torture sessions at the clandestine prison known as La Perla.
	Menendez, 89, was already serving 11 life sentences for human rights abuses committed at the infamous facility in the central province of Cordoba.
	In the latest trial, he was convicted of 52 homicides, 260 kidnappings, 656 cases of torture and 82 disappearances of detainees who were never found.
	In all, he and his co-accused were charged with kidnapping, torturing, killing or stealing the newborn babies of more than 700 victims, 279 of whom are still officially missing.
	Ten other defendants were sentenced to between two and a half and 21 years.
	Menendez showed no remorse during the trial, telling the court there was "never repression of any ...

28 sentenced to life for Argentine dictatorship crimes

Israel has rejected a UN request to release a United Nations staffer charged with aiding Hamas, on the grounds that he enjoys diplomatic immunity.
	Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon yesterday said the UN office of legal affairs had issued a formal letter requesting the release of Waheed Borsh, who worked for the UN Development Program (UNDP).
	In early August, an Israeli court charged the 38-year-old Palestinian engineer with diverting 300 tons of rubble from a UNDP project in Gaza to build a jetty for Hamas.
	"We do not grant immunity to terrorists trying to harm our citizens," Danon said in response to the letter.
	"Israel operates according to the law, and we continue to do so in this case as well," he said in a statement from the Israeli mission to the United Nations.
	The office of legal affairs argued that Borsh, as a UN employee, enjoys immunity from arrest and from legal process, and requested that UN officials be allowed to visit him in jail.
	After reviewing the charge sheet, ..

AFP

AFP

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