Officials in Azerbaijan today said they had arrested four men over suspected ties to US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding last month's attempted coup.
	The four are accused of an "abuse of power" while working for a mobile phone company for having passed on private information about subscribers and their call history, Azeri prosecutors said.
	During a search of the home of one of the accused, investigators discovered "religious literature, disks, brochures containing speeches by Fethullah Gulen and other documents," they said in a statement.
	A close ally of Ankara, Baku earlier this week opened a criminal investigation into supporters of Gulen, who is accused by Turkey of ordering the July 15 coup in a bid to remove President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.
	Gulen has consistently denied any involvement in the failed putsch.
	Azerbaijan last month shut down a private television channel over plans to broadcast an interview with Gulen, "in order .

Azerbaijan holds 4 over links to Turkey 'nemesis' Gulen

PTI Automatic

Nearly 7,000 migrants are now living in the camp known as the "Jungle" in the French port of Calais, marking a sharp increase in recent months, local authorities said today.
	The surge in the population of the largely makeshift camp emerged from a head count carried out by authorities on Wednesday.
	The new figure of 6,901 people is 2,415 higher than in June.
	It is considerably lower however than the figure of more than 9,000 claimed by a charity which works in the Jungle assisting migrants.
	The charity included 1,750 people living in more permanent accommodation on the site.
	The population of the camp -- which has large numbers of Afghans, Somalis, Sudanese and Kurds, among other asylum seekers --   has fluctuated.
	Earlier this year local authorities cleared shelters in one part of the site in a bid to persuade migrants to move into other accommodation or neighbouring camps on the northern coast.
	Aid agencies believe the increase is due to an influx of migrants in recent weeks ..

Migrants in 'Jungle' camp climb to near 7,000

Previously unpublished documents released by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden confirm that some of the spy agency's top-secret code has been leaked or hacked, The Intercept reported today.
	The online news site's editors include journalists that worked with Snowden to publicize his notorious 2013 NSA leak revealing the extent of government snooping on private data.
	The Intercept said Snowden had given the site a classified draft NSA manual on how to implant malware -- malicious code that is used to monitor or control someone else's computer.
	Whether code published online by a mysterious group called "Shadow Hackers" is genuine has been the source of much debate in recent days.
	The NSA has steadfastly declined to comment on whether it has been the victim of a security breach.
	Over the weekend, the Shadow Hackers posted two sets of files, one that is freely accessible and another that remains encrypted.
	They said they would release this additional ...

Snowden documents show NSA leak is real: report

Three suspected jihadist recruiters were shot dead by police today in southwest Rwanda while resisting arrest, a police statement said.
	Police said that during a targeted police operation in the Bugarama sector of Rusizi district to arrest the suspects "they turned violent, issued threats and attempted to flee".
	Three other suspects were arrested, one of whom was wounded.
	"Initial findings indicate that they were in a radicalisation campaign aimed at recruiting jihadists," the statement said.
	"Radicalisation materials including audio CDs and text books were seized from the house."
	Yesterday police said a "suspected terrorist" had been shot dead in Kigali during a three-hour shoot-out with officers.
	A short police statement said the armed man had been holed up in a house in a residential area in the capital. It gave no details on what group he allegedly belonged to.
	In January police shot dead a Muslim suspected of recruiting young people to join the Islamic State group in Syria 

Three suspected jihadist reruiters shot dead in Rwanda

Nice has become the latest French seaside resort to ban the burkini, the body-concealing Islamic swimsuit that has sparked heated debate in secular France, city officials said today.
	Using language similar to bans imposed in a string of other towns on the French Riviera, the city barred apparel that "overtly manifests adherence to a religion at a time when France and places of worship are the target of terrorist attacks".
	The ban in Nice ban referred specifically to last month's Bastille Day truck attack in the city that claimed 85 lives as well as the murder 12 days later of a Catholic priest near the northern city of Rouen.
	Fifteen towns in the southeast, as well as others elsewhere in France, have already banned the burkini including nearby film festival host city Cannes, where three women were each fined 38 euros (USD 43) under the ban at the weekend.
	Nice's deputy mayor Christian Estrosi, from the centre-right Republicans party, wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Manuel ...

Nice becomes latest French city to ban burkini

Russia's import ban on pork products from the European Union is not legitimate, a World Trade Organisation panel said today, in a key victory for the bloc.
	The WTO ruling concerns a ban imposed by Russia in early 2014, which Moscow said were necessary to protect its consumers following a small flare up of African Swine Fever in some EU states.
	Experts at the Geneva-based WTO said it did not meet the requirements needed to justify such a sweeping ban.
	"The ruling sends a strong signal to Russia, and all WTO members, as regards their obligation to respect international standards," the EU said in a statement.
	"Today's ruling confirms that the measures taken by Russia against the EU have little to do with any real sanitary or health risks," it added.
	Russia widened its ban against EU products later in 2014, a move many saw as retaliation against EU sanctions imposed on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.
	The EU statement said Friday's WTO ruling pertained to the bans imposed "in ...

WTO backs EU in Russia pork dispute

A man hurt in last month's massacre in the French city of Nice has died of his injuries, taking the death toll in the Bastille Day attack to 86, the government said today.
	The latest victim leaves behind a wife and two children, the department in charge of assisting victims of attacks said.
	The attack on France's national holiday came eight months after 130 people were killed at a Paris concert hall and other nightspots in the capital in November by Islamic State (IS) gunmen and suicide bombers.
	On top of the 86 killed in Nice, over 400 people were injured when Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a truck into crowds leaving a fireworks display on Nice's waterfront on France's national holiday.
	IS claimed the carnage as the work of one of its "soldiers".
	Investigators have found no proof of Bouhlel's allegiance to IS but say he had a fascination with jihad and had planned the attack for months.

eath toll in Nice truck attack 86

Five new cases of Zika have been found in the tourist hotspot of Miami Beach, signaling that local transmission of a virus blamed for birth defects is spreading, Florida officials said today.
	"This means we have a new area" of local transmission, Governor Rick Scott said at a press conference.
	The Health Department confirmed that five individuals have been confirmed as cases of local Zika transmission in the Miami Beach area.
	Florida now has 36 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus, which is typically spread by mosquitoes but also by sexual contact.
	The size of zone in Miami Beach where active Zika transmission is occurring is just under 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers).
	Officials had previously said Zika was spreading in a one-square-mile zone north of downtown Miami called Wynwood, where more than two dozen people were believed to have been infected by mosquitoes carrying the virus.
	Zika is particularly dangerous to pregnant women because it raises the risk of birth .

Five new Zika cases in tourist hotspot Miami Beach

A brawl broke out between villagers in eastern Bangladesh arguing over the plot of an Indian fantasy television serial, leaving 100 people injured, police said today.
	The villagers had gathered at a restaurant in Habiganj district on Wednesday night to watch Kiranmala, a famous Bengali-language show about a warrior princess who saves mankind from evil, when the dispute erupted.
	Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd as the argument escalated throughout the night, with angry viewers vandalising the restaurant in Dhol village and attacking each other with sticks and knives.
	"Two men got involved into an argument over the story of the episode, which later turned into a group skirmish," local police chief Yasinul Haque told AFP.
	"During the fight, the angry mob vandalised the restaurant and continued the fight on Thursday morning," he said.
	At least 100 people were injured during the brawl in the village 176 kilometres (109 miles) north-east of Dhaka, Haque ...

100 Bangladesh villagers injured after TV show dispute

Singapore said today it had detained two men under its tough internal security law after discovering they intended to travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State group.
	Rosli bin Hamzah, 50, and Mohamed Omar bin Mahadi, 33, are being held under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.
	Rosli, who worked as a car washer, "became convinced that ISIS militants were fighting for Islam and that their beheading of 'enemies' was religiously permissible," the ministry said, referring to the Islamic State group by another name.
	He "was keen to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS," the statement said, adding that he had researched how to travel to the war torn country.
	Omar, a waste truck driver, had made preparations with his wife and children to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group, the statement said.
	"He was prepared to die a martyr," it added.
	Singaporean officials have repeatedly warned that the 

Singapore detains two men wanting to join IS group

A body believed to be that of a 35-year-old French tourist who went missing in Nepal last week has been found, officials said today, as police awaited autopsy results to confirm her identity.
	Police began searching for the missing woman after a bag containing her passport, clothes and notebook was discovered near a highway last Friday in Syangja, 153 kilometres west of Kathmandu.
	Officers found a decomposed corpse Thursday after locals alerted the police of a foul smell in the area, said Bir Bahadur Pulami, deputy superintendent of police for Syangja.
	"The face had decomposed beyond recognition, but we believe it is the missing person after her friends identified her hair, clothes and jewellery," Pulami told AFP.
	The body has been taken to the capital Kathmandu for an autopsy.
	"A postmortem will be performed to confirm her identity and the cause of death. Our investigation is ongoing," Pulami said.
	The French embassy in Kathmandu said that it was informed of the woman's ...

Body believed to be missing French tourist found in Nepal

Thirteen sick children were among 18 people evacuated by the Red Crescent from the besieged Syrian town of Madaya today, a doctor that was treating them told.
	A convoy "is headed towards Damascus where the patients will receive treatment," said Mohammad Darwish, adding that the operation was completed "in coordination with the United Nations."
	The cases included children with meningitis and malnutrition and two babies with blood poisoning.

13 ill children evacuated from Syria's besieged Madaya:doctors

The US acknowledged that it waited for Iran to release American prisoners before delivering USD 400 million in cash that it owed the country, but again insisted the payment was not ransom.
	Republicans including Donald Trump pounced yesterday's admission as proof that President Barack Obama's government had misled the American people.
	"With concerns that Iran may renege on the prisoner release... We of course sought to retain maximum leverage until after American citizens were released," State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
	"That was our top priority," he said.
	In January, five American prisoners were released as Washington granted clemency to seven Iranians and withdrew arrest warrants for 14 others.
	Immediately thereafter, the United States helped airlift USD 400 million worth of Swiss francs and euros to Iran.
	The US government insists that money was meant to settle an old debt stemming from a military purchase by Iran.
	The money was delivered on January 17, .

US sought 'leverage' with USD 400 mn payment to Iran

A magnitude 5.3 undersea earthquake struck Japan today off the coast of Ibaraki prefecture, just south of Fukushima, though there were no immediate reports of damages.
	The quake struck at about 9:07 pm (1207 GMT) at a depth of some 37 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.
	Buildings in Tokyo were shaken by the jolt, but there was no threat of a tsunami from the quake, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
	The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, battered by a massive 2011 earthquake-generated tsunami and now undergoing decommissioning, has shown no irregularities in radiation levels, a spokesman for operator Tokyo Electric Power told AFP.
	Japan sits at the junction of four tectonic plates and experiences a number of relatively violent quakes every year, but rigid building codes and their strict enforcement mean even strong tremors often do little damage.
	But the massive undersea quake that hit in March 2011 sent a tsunami barreling into Japan's northeast coast, ...

Magnitude 5.3 quake hits off northeastern Japan

A billboard advertisement at Istanbul's international airport accused Sweden of having "the highest rape rate worldwide, state media reported today just days after Stockholm accused Ankara of legalising sex with children.
	Printed in English and Turkish and displayed at the departures section of Ataturk airport, the huge banner ad reads: "Travel Warning! Did you know that Sweden has the highest rape rate worldwide?" Anadolu news agency reported alongside a picture of the ad.
	Alongside it was an enlarged copy of the front page of Gunes, a pro-government newspaper, with a headline saying: "Sweden, a country of rape."
	Anadolu said billboard advertisements at the airport were operated by a private company.
	The advert was largely seen as a tit-for-tat move after Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom caused a storm after writing a tweet which said the "Turkish decision to allow sex with children under 15 must be reversed", following a controversial ruling by the Turkish ...

Turkey airport ad accuses Sweden of 'highest rape rate'

The United States' 4x100m women's relay team won their solo race against the clock to book their place in the Olympic final Thursday.
     The American quartet of Tianna Bartoletta, Allyson Felix, English Gardner and Morolake Akinosun clocked 41.77 to eliminate China from Friday's final.
     "Before we came out our coach said it was just like a practice with the whole world watching," a relieved Gardner said after the one-off. "We just had to go out there and trust each other."
     "It was different, it was really weird," Felix added. "Running without competition is just strange.
     "I think when we walked out and people were cheering for us, it encouraged us. We're just grateful."
     It completed a surreal day for the reigning Olympic champions, who had earlier been left facing disqualification after a dropped baton exchange between Felix and Gardner in the morning heats.
     The American women were thrown a lifeline however when replays showed that Felix had been knocked ...

US women into relay final after solo run

Japan will request a record defence budget next year amid growing worries over North Korea and tensions with China, reports said today.
	The defence ministry has decided to seek 5.168 trillion yen (USD 51.5 billion) in spending for the fiscal year starting April 2017, up 2.3 per cent from this year's initial budget, Jiji Press reported, citing unnamed government sources.
	If approved by parliament, the budget package would mark the fifth straight increase and a new record, it said.
	Top business daily Nikkei and other media also carried similar reports, which a defence ministry spokesman said he could not confirm.
	The budget plan includes strengthening Japan's ballistic missile defence system, following missile launches by North Korea this year, the reports said.
	It also includes plans for a new land-to-sea missile as part of moves to beef up the defence of Japan's remote southern islands, the reports said.
	Those include populated ones as well as the uninhabited Senkaku chain, ...

Japan seeks record defence budget: reports

Australia will block the sale of its largest electricity network to foreigners, the government said today, as two Chinese bids for the grid were rejected over national security concerns.
	Canberra has become increasingly concerned about the purchase of Australian infrastructure and land by foreigners, and recently banned a sale by the country's biggest private landowner to a Chinese-led consortium.
	Treasurer Scott Morrison last week said in a preliminary decision that bids by China's State Grid Corp and Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings for a 99-year lease on 50.4 per cent of Ausgrid -- the electricity grid of its most populous state of New South Wales -- were "contrary to the national interest".
	Morrison confirmed the decision on Friday, saying he had "made an order under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act prohibiting the proposed acquisition by foreign investors" of Ausgrid under the current proposed lease structure.
	"The acquisition by foreign investors ...

Foreigners barred from buying Australia's largest energy grid

Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 84 university academics suspected of links with US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, blamed by authorities for last month's failed coup, media reported today.
	Police launched an operation in 17 provinces including Konya in central Anatolia, a conservative bastion of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the private Dogan news agency reported.
	Twenty-nine academics have been detained so far, it added. A large majority of the suspects were from Selcuk University in Konya, including the university's former rector, Professor Hakki Gokbel.
	To the alarm of its Western partners, Turkey has pressed ahead with a vast crackdown on alleged coup plotters in the wake of July 15 military action seeking to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.
	Prime  Minister Binali Yildirim said this week that more than 40,000 state employees had been detained in the purge, with 20,335 remanded in custody.
	More than 5,000 civil ...

Turkey academics sought in post-coup crackdown

Palestinian police searching for weapons clashed with gunmen in the West Bank city of Nablus today, leaving four people dead, Palestinian officials said.
	The firefight erupted last evening after officers entered Nablus's Old City, a densely populated warren of alleyways that was one of the flashpoints of the second Palestinian uprising between 2000 and 2005.
	The shooting was still continuing on Friday morning, security forces spokesman Adnan al-Damiri said.
	Nablus governor Akram Rajub said that two police had been killed in the operation as well as two gunmen, both of whom he said were on a police wanted list.
	Under the 1993 Oslo accords with Israel, Palestinian police are only authorised to operate in 18 percent of the occupied West Bank, encompassing most of the major Palestinian towns, including Nablus.
	The northern West Bank has seen a number of Palestinian police raids in recent months. The area has witnessed factional infighting within the ruling Fatah movement of ...

Four dead as Palestinian police clash with gunmen

A teenage girl died after undergoing a botched female circumcision in Sierra Leone, police said, just days after the death of a 10-year-old girl in Guinea.
	Female genital mutilation (FGM) is widespread in the neighbouring west African countries, with about 90 per cent of women in both countries undergoing circumcision.
	Teenager Fatmata Turay died after she was circumcised in an initiation ceremony in the village of Mabolleh in north Sierra Leone and three women involved, including the girl's aunt, have been arrested, police said yesterday.
	"There will be an investigation into the circumstances which led to the death of this girl," said vice minister of social affairs Rugiatu Turay.
	The death comes just days after a 10-year-old girl in Makpozou, a forested area in the south of Guinea, died in similar circumstances, according to the country's social action ministry.
	The child died in a circumcision camp for young girls, the ministry said.
	Guinea's government urged communities that 

AFP

AFP

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