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 

Two girls die after circumcisions in S Leone, Guinea

PTI Automatic

Australia's Malcolm Turnbull today said he was "very disappointed" that hundreds of Vietnam war veterans were unable to attend 50th anniversary commemorations at a key battle site after plans were changed at the last minute.
	More than 1,000 Vietnam war veterans and their families had travelled from Australia to the Southeast Asian nation to attend a ceremony yesterday, only for the Vietnamese government to cancel the event the day before.
	Prime Minister Turnbull, who spent an hour speaking to his Vietnamese counterpart on the issue, said the initial ban was later reversed but in the end only 700 veterans had been allowed access to the site yesterday.
	"We're very disappointed that not all of the Australian veterans and their families were able to go to the Long Tan complex," he told Fairfax Radio.
	"What happened was that about 700 Australian and New Zealand veterans did attend the Long Tan area... (to) reverently commemorate that battle."
	Long Tan was the most costly single battle 

Australia upset over Vietnam's handling of war ceremony

A group of 15 suspects detained by the Thai military investigating last week's deadly tourist resort attacks was not involved in the blasts, police said today, adding to confusion surrounding the case.
	The junta said yesterday the detainees had been held during their investigation into the bombing spree, which hit tourist towns in the south, killing four and wounding dozens, including Europeans.
	But today police said the group - many of whom are elderly - had in fact set up an illegal political party to overthrow the regime.
	The bombs attacks were highly unusual in a country where foreigners and tourist towns are rarely caught up in the country's frequent bouts of political violence.
	Investigators have been under pressure to make quick arrests.
	The group appeared at a Bangkok police station today escorted by soldiers - the first time they have been seen in public - to hear the charges against them.
	Two are women and many of the men are in their 60s and 70s.
	Thai media have run .

15 held in Thailand not linked to tourist bombs: police

Usain Bolt won his second gold medal of the Rio Olympics, brushing aside all-comers again in his favourite 200m sprint but failing in his bid to smash his own world record.
     The Jamaican triumphed as Britain's Brownlee brothers dominated in triathlon to keep their country ahead of China in the medals race.
     Meanwhile, an Iranian woman finally won an Olympic medal.
     The 29-year Bolt timed 19.78sec to easily beat Canadian Andre de Grasse into second and France's Christophe Lemaitre into third, both of whom failed to get under 20sec.
     Before the race Bolt had said he would go for his world record of 19.19sec.
     Bolt said it was "a brilliant feeling" to win but he was not happy with his time and indicated he may not run the 200m at the world championships next year in London.
     "I wasn't happy with the time, my body just wouldn't respond in the straight. I'm getting older and my body is ageing.
     "Personally I think this is my last 200 but my coach may beg to ...

'Ageing' Bolt takes second Rio gold

Usain Bolt wrote another chapter of improbable Olympic history with a third consecutive 200m crown as Ashton Eaton led an American gold rush by clinching back-to-back decathlon titles.
     Bolt, who just days earlier had become the first man in history to win three 100m titles in a row, surged to victory in the 200m in 19.78sec at the Olympic Stadium.
     Canada's Andre De Grasse took silver in 20.02sec, just ahead of France's Christophe Lemaitre, who took bronze in 20.12.
     Bolt's triumph was greeted with rapturous applause by Brazilian fans who roared their appreciation as the sprint superstar set off on a lap of honour, with Bob Marley booming from stadium speakers.
     The win left the 29-year-old Bolt just one win away from his targeted "triple triple" -- a repeat of his sweep of 100m, 200m and 4x100m golds at the 2008 and 2012 Games.
     "There's nothing else I can do," said Bolt.
     "I've proven to the world that I'm the greatest. That's what I came here for. This is ..

Brilliant Bolt storms to third 200 gold

History-maker Usain Bolt said he deserves to be among sport's all-time greats after romping to a third straight Olympic 200m gold.
     With a third consecutive sweep of the 100m, 200m and relay sprints in sight today, the world's fastest man argued he should be in the pantheon of sporting heroes with Pele, Muhammad Ali and Michael Phelps.
     "I am trying to be one of the greatest. Be among Ali and Pele," he declared in the seconds after the win.
     "I'll wait to see what you guys write tomorrow," the sprint king added at a later press conference.
     "I'm just waiting to see what the media have to say and if they put me in that bracket," he said when asked how he stacked up against football star Pele and boxing legend Ali.
     "I've worked all my career, all my life for this moment. Hopefully you can read about me as one of the greatest people in sport, that's my focus."
     Bolt, who has now won a staggering 19 Olympic and world titles, insisted he had run his final ...

Rank me among sport's greats, says Bolt

Miami Beach now has cases of Zika infection that appear to have been locally transmitted, US media has reported, suggesting that the mosquito-borne virus is spreading in Florida.
	The Miami Herald reported yesterday a new zone of Zika transmission has been identified in the resort city, citing unnamed local health sources.
	The New York Times also reported "a cluster" of Zika cases most likely transmitted by local mosquitoes in Miami Beach, citing an unnamed health official.
	The report described "a handful of cases" in which Zika likely spread among people in close proximity to each other. It added that an official announcement could come later yesterday or today.
	Last month, Florida announced its first cases of local Zika transmission in Miami, in a one-square mile section of the arts neighborhood of Wynwood, north of downtown.
	Florida now has 35 cases of local Zika transmission. A total of 25 of those cases have been traced to Wynwood.
	Contacted by AFP, a spokeswoman for the ...

Local Zika cases spread to Miami Beach: reports

Bolivian prosecutors has said they have dropped influence-peddling charges against President Evo Morales's jailed ex-girlfriend, who is at the center of a steamy case involving allegations of corruption and a hidden love child.
	Gabriela Zapata, a former manager at a Chinese engineering group, was accused of using her influence with the president to win USD 560 million in government contracts.
	Prosecutors are still seeking a 12-year prison sentence for Zapata on money laundering charges, said state prosecutor Ramiro Guerrero yesterday. She is also accused of conspiracy and forgery.
	The case exploded into the headlines in February, just as Bolivia headed into a referendum on whether to allow Morales to run for a fourth term.
	The leftist leader, who has been in power since 2006, went on to lose the vote.
	The scandal took a bizarre twist when Morales and Zapata got into a salacious dispute over a child he allegedly fathered with her.
	He said the boy had died, while she insisted he ..

Bolivia prosecutors drop key charge against president's ex

The Nigerian navy has foiled a pirate attack on a British-flagged merchant vessel off the coast of the oil-rich west African country, a hotbed of piracy and militancy, a spokesman has said.
	Commodore Christian Ezekobe said in a statement yesterday the navy deployed a warship after receiving a distress call on Wednesday that pirates were about to hijack the MT Vectis Osprey 20 nautical miles off Bonny in southern Rivers state.
	"NNS Nwamba engaged the attackers on approaching the vessel which made them abandon their mission due to superior fire power," he said.
	"To this end, naval special forces onboard the warship embarked and rescued the crew who locked up themselves in a citadel in the merchant tanker," he said.
	Ezekobe said both the crew and cargo of the vessel were safe while an investigation had been launched into the incident.
	Ship hijackings have become more frequent since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in Nigeria last year and announced plans to wind down an ...

Nigeria foils hijacking of British-flagged merchant tanker

Two Venezuelan journalists who work for foreign media outlets said they were detained by the army while reporting near the presidential palace, triggering condemnation and calls for their release.
	Andreina Flores, a correspondent for Radio France Internationale and Colombia's RCN Radio, and Jorge Perez Valery of Colombian network Red Mas sounded the alarm on Twitter after being detained near President Nicolas Maduro's offices yesterday.
	"First they detained us in El Calvario (in central Caracas). Then they took us to an army post. Now we're at Fort Tiuna," the largest military installation in the Venezuelan capital, Perez Valery wrote.
	The national journalists' union, SNTP, said the journalists had been taken to military intelligence headquarters.
	They are accused of recording in a "presidential corridor," the union said in a statement.
	SNTP "demands these journalists' immediate release and holds Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and army commander Antonio Benavides Torres .

Two journalists held by Venezuelan army

Two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva was today elected onto the International Olympic Committee's athletes commission despite being excluded with the Russian team from taking part in the Rio Games.
     Isinbayeva, 34, was unable to defend her title after the Russian squad was hit with a blanket ban by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) over a state-sponsored doping scandal which rocked track and field.
     In her manifesto for the election, Isinbayeva, one of the poster girls of the sport, claimed she wanted to be a "bridge" between the IOC and the athletes.
	But she is also angry.
	"Of course I am upset, that I am not here as a competitor, but I need to be here," TASS news agency quoted her as telling journalists when she arrived in Rion for the election.
    	"I will never agree with the fact that they banned me, I will never forgive that.
     "What can I say to whoever will be the champion? They will be second by default."
    ...

Excluded Russian Isinbayeva elected to IOC athletes commission

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez has been cleared a path to run for re-election next year -- despite similar constitutional tinkering ending in the forced ouster of a predecessor in 2009.
	The full Supreme Court of 15 judges yesterday ruled invalid a prohibition in the constitution of the Central American country barring presidents from serving more than one term.
	Lawmakers swiftly followed up by voting 70 to 55 in favor of eschewing a referendum on the change, which could allow Hernandez to run for a new mandate in elections to be held on November 26, 2017.
	Such a plebiscite, urged by the opposition, had been approved last year by judges.
	Hernandez, 47, has not yet publicly said whether he would run, previously telling reporters that it was up to voters to decide.
	He took office in 2014 for a four-year term, after being elected to succeed Porfirio Lobo Sosa.
	Lobo Sosa was voted into the presidency in 2009, months after his predecessor, Manuel Zelaya, was toppled by the .

Path cleared for Honduras president to seek re-election

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) today said it was evacuating its staff from six hospitals in northern Yemen after 19 people were killed in an air strike on one of its facilities earlier this week.
	Monday's attack on Abs hospital in the rebel-held province of Hajja was the fourth and deadliest yet on an MSF facility in war-torn Yemen.
	The decision to withdraw "is never taken lightly", the Paris-based charity said in a statement.
	But "given the intensity of the current offensive and our loss of confidence in the SLC's (Saudi-led coalition's) ability to prevent such fatal attacks, MSF considers the hospitals in Saada and Hajjah governorates unsafe for both patients and staff", it added.
	The hospitals will continue to be manned by local workers and volunteers, MSF said.
	The Saudi-led coalition began its bombing campaign in March last year after Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels seized large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
	It stepped up air strikes this month after ...

MSF evacuates staff from 6 Yemen hospitals after air strike

Chicago's police chief said today he was recommending the firing of seven officers accused of making false reports in the deadly cop shooting of a black teenager.
	A video of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald's 2014 shooting death sparked outrage and was one of several police shootings of African Americans that spurred street protests around the country.
	Superintendent Eddie Johnson's decision to relieve the officers followed a review of documents, video and other evidence, his office said.
	The police officer's statements related to the incident violate a rule that prohibits "making a false report, written or oral," Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.
	"The officers have been relieved of their police powers."
	Their final fate will be determined by a police oversight board appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Johnson recommended that the board fire them.
	The officer who shot McDonald 16 times, Jason Van Dyke, is awaiting trial on murder charges.
	The other ...

7 Chicago cops face firing over black teen's shooting death

Twitter today announced that it has cut off 235,000 more accounts for violating its policies regarding promotion of terrorism at the global one-to-many messaging service.
	The latest account suspensions raised to 360,000 the total number of accounts sidelined since the middle of 2015 and was helping "drive meaningful results" in curbing the activity, according to the San Francisco-based company.
	Twitter has been under pressure to balance protecting free speech at the service with not providing a stage for terrorist groups to spread violent messages and enlist people to their causes.
	The latest account suspensions came since February, when Twitter announced that it had neutralized 125,000 accounts for violating rules against violent threats and promotion of terrorism.
	"Since that announcement, the world has witnessed a further wave of deadly, abhorrent terror attacks across the globe," Twitter said in a blog post.
	"We strongly condemn these acts and remain committed to eliminating .

Twitter axes 235,000 more accounts in terror crackdown

Twin car bomb attacks killed at least 10 fighters with pro-government Libyan forces today near Sirte, where they are battling to oust jihadists from the Islamic State group.
	The operations centre for the forces loyal to Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) said another 20 of its fighters were wounded in the attacks.
	A spokesman for the forces, Reda Issa, said the two attacks took place in the Gharbiyat area west of Sirte, near a centre used to distribute food, ammunition and other supplies to pro-GNA fighters.
	Backed by US air strikes, pro-GNA forces are fighting to clear the last pockets of IS resistance in Sirte, ex-dictator Moamer Kadhafi's hometown which the jihadists seized in June of last year.
	Pro-GNA forces launched an offensive in mid-May to retake the coastal city, which they entered on June 9, facing heavy resistance as they moved towards the centre.
	Last week the loyalists seized a conference centre in the city used by IS as its command centre, leaving the ...

At least 10 dead as car bombs hit Libya forces near Sirte

Russia said today it was ready to halt fire for 48-hour periods in Aleppo from next week, following UN calls to extend humanitarian pauses to deliver aid.
	"Russia's defence ministry is ready to support the proposal by UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura regarding the introduction of weekly 48-hour 'humanitarian pauses' (in Aleppo)," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
	"We are ready to implement the first 48-hour 'humanitarian pause' to deliver humanitarian aid to Aleppo residents as a 'pilot project' already next week in order to ensure safe cargo deliveries to the city's civilians."
	"Specific dates and times will be determined after information regarding the readiness of humanitarian convoys is received from the UN, as well as confirmation of safety guarantees from American partners," he said.
	Russia last week declared it would hold three-hour pause in artillery fire and airstrikes daily around the ravaged Syrian city but the UN decried this as ...

Russia says ready for Aleppo 'humanitarian pause'

The death toll from historic flooding in Louisiana rose to 13 today as receding waters exposed the extent of devastation in the hard-hit southern US state.
	The highest number of confirmed fatalities was in East Baton Rouge parish where five people were dead, Shauna Sanford, a spokeswoman for Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, said.
	The parish's sheriff's office said it had "shifted phases from search and rescue to public assistance and crime prevention."
	Officials in other areas also said rescue operations were slowing.
	"Assessments are beginning in areas where the water has receded," Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard said Thursday in a statement.
	Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson was in Baton Rouge Thursday, reviewing the emergency response and recovery efforts. He is expected to join other officials for a news conference at 1:45 pm Central time (1845 GMT).
	Complicating the recovery were possible showers and thunderstorms in parts of Ascension parish -- which is ...

Louisiana death toll rises as flood waters recede

Base-jumping, regarded as one of the world's most dangerous sports, has claimed two more victims after a Briton and an Italian plunged to their deaths in central Switzerland, police said today.
	Both accidents occurred yesterday near Lauterbrunnen in the Alps.
	Police in the Swiss canton of Bern said a 30-year-old Italian man jumped from the "Black Line" peak at Stechelberg but lost control of his route before hitting the cliffside and dying.
	Italian media identified him as Uli Emanuele. Profiling Emanuele last year, Vice magazine said he worked as dishwasher and had attempted a series of increasingly dangerous jumps.
	The other fatality was a 49-year-old Briton who jumped from the "High Ultimate" peak at Muerren and who also crashed into a cliff. Police said he had not yet been identified.
	Base-jumpers typically wear wingsuits as they plunge, reaching speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour before deploying a parachute.
	The American daredevil Johnny Strange died in the Swiss Alps .

Two more base-jumpers die in Switzerland

Yemen troops today launched a bid to break a rebel siege of third city Taez, with fierce fighting leaving five soldiers and 13 insurgents dead, military sources said.
	Soldiers attacked positions of the Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels from the east, west and north of the flashpoint southwestern city that has been under siege for more than a year, they said.
	One military source said the troops made "a relative breakthrough" by driving the Huthi rebels from several positions around the city.
	A pro-government activist, Abdel Majid al-Dhababi, confirmed that troops had made progress after months of trying to break the siege of Taez.
	He told AFP the army "practically succeeded in breaking the blockade from the west.
	"But the road leading to Aden is still unsafe and this is preventing civilians from fleeing south," said Dhababi.
	Yemen has been hit by unrest since the Huthi rebels and allied loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran the capital Sanaa in September ...

Yemen army launches bid to break rebel siege of Taez

A senior Muslim cleric in Russia has prompted controversy by urging universal female genital mutilation after a rights group released a report on the practice in the country's North Caucasus region.
	Mufti Ismail Berdiyev, who heads a Muslim association for the North Caucasus region, said yesterday that if FGM "could be applied to all women, that would be very good" in an interview with Interfax news agency.
	The practice, which ranges from pricking of the clitoris to its complete removal, causes infections and loss of sensation.
	The procedure has come under massive international scrutiny in recent years, with UN chief Ban Ki-Moon in 2014 launching a global campaign to end it.
	Berdiyev, who was decorated by President Vladimir Putin in March, said FGM does not stop women from fulfilling their ordained role of motherhood and if all women were mutilated, "there would be less fornication".
	He later retracted his comments, claiming that he had been joking and Islam does not call for ...

AFP

AFP

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