Syrian and Russian warplanes have launched a wave of air strikes in northern Syria, killing dozens in areas held by a rebel alliance battling to take control of second city Aleppo.
	The air strikes, which began yesterday and continued today, killed 45 civilians in and around Aleppo and 22 in neighbouring Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	The raids came as the Islamist Faylaq al-Sham Islamist faction, part of the rebel alliance, said it had begun a new offensive "to liberate" the regime-held district of Zahra on Aleppo's western outskirts.
	The Britain-based Observatory and opposition fighters said a car bomb exploded in Zahra Sunday, but did not mention casualties.
	The monitor said the air strikes targeted areas held by the Army of Conquest, an alliance of rebel, Islamist and jihadist forces that has mounted a major Aleppo offensive.
	"The intensification of the strikes in Idlib is due to the fact that this province is the main source of fighters for the .

Dozens dead as warplanes pound rebel-held north Syria

PTI Automatic

A robber put a gun to Ryan Lochte's head today demanding money as he drove home from an Olympic party, the star US swimmer told NBC television.
	Lochte said he and US teammates Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen were in a taxi that was pulled over by robbers posing as armed police.
	When he ignored an order to get down on the ground, "the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said 'Get down,'" Lochte told the US channel.
	"I put my hands up, I was like 'whatever.' He took our money, he took my wallet -- he left my cell phone, he left my credentials."
	Confusion surrounded the incident after International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told a media briefing earlier that reports of the robbery quoting Lochte's mother, Ileana, were "absolutely not true".
	Adams said the IOC got its information from the US Olympic Committee.
	But USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky later issued a statement outlining the events as Lochte described them.
	"According .

Olympics: Rio crime wave catches US swimmer Ryan Lochte

Ryan Lochte and three other US Olympic swimmers were held up by robbers posing as armed police after leaving a party early Sunday, the US Olympic Committee said.
     The robbers demanded their money and other items, USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said. An International Olympic Committee spokesman had earlier denied that Lochte had been held up at gunpoint.
     "According to four members of the US Olympic Swimming Team (Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, Jimmy Feigen and Ryan Lochte), they left France House early Sunday morning in a taxi headed for the Olympic Village," Sandusky said.
     "Their taxi was stopped by individuals posing as armed police officers who demanded the athletes' money and other personal belongings.
     "All four athletes are safe and cooperating with authorities."
     News of the incident first broke with Lochte's mother, Ileana telling USA Today and Fox Sports that her son was held up at gunpoint. But IOC spokesman Mark Adams insisted at a daily media briefing ...

Rio crime wave catches US swimmer Ryan Lochte

US-backed Syrian forces today said they have established a military council to push Islamic State group fighters out of their northern bastion of Al-Bab after ousting the jihadists from Manbij.
	"We announce... The creation of the Al-Bab Military Council" tasked with driving IS from the town in Aleppo province, said the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters in a statement, two days after driving the last jihadists from Manbij.
	The last remaining IS fighters abandoned the city of Manbij near the Turkish border on Friday after a rout that the Pentagon said showed the extremists were "on the ropes".
	The retreat from the city which IS captured in 2014 was the jihadists' worst defeat yet at the hands of the SDF alliance backed by US air power.
	Al-Bab is around 50 kilometres southwest of Manbij, and also in the battleground province of Aleppo.
	In today's statement, the SDF said "we promise to our people that we will strike to liberate Al-Bab@" and the region ...

US-backed Syria forces say next IS target is Al-Bab

Brazilian security forces blew up a "suspect package" near the Rio women's marathon course today, organisers said.
	Around 12.40pm an explosion was heard close to the Marina da Gloria Olympic sailing venue.
	"A suspect object was found on the grass verge between the road used by the women's marathon and the marina da Gloria," an Olympic sailing spokesman reported.
	"It wasn't a bomb, it was just a suspect bag and a team of bomb experts detonated it as a precaution."
	The spokesperson said all the marathon runners had passed when the detonation was staged.
	On the first day of competition a bomb squad detonated a suspicious package near the finish of the men's cycle race at Copacabana beach. Others have been staged since.

Olympics: Suspect package blown up near Rio marathon course

Thousands of houses have been destroyed and several villages submerged after flooding triggered by torrential rainfall killed 100 people across Sudan, officials said today.
	Thousands of people in the impoverished eastern state of Kasala bordering Eritrea fled their homes after the river Gash burst its banks, flooding entire villages inhabited by farmers.
	Many people were sheltering in makeshift grass huts on hilltops, after floodwaters also cut off the main highway between east Sudan and the capital Khartoum.
	Villagers braved waist-high water as they looked for food, drinking water and medicines amid a shortage of supplies, an AFP photographer said as he toured two flood-hit villages near the provincial capital Kasala.
	Many people, mostly children, were seen drinking muddy rain water.
	"We had no time. We simply fled, taking our children when our village was flooded in the night two weeks ago," said Taha Mahmoud, chief of Makli village in Kasala.
	"We lost all our food, belongings 

Sudan floods kill 100, destroy villages: officials

Completed scoreboard on the fourth
day of the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval on Sunday
      Scoreboard
      England 1st Innings 328 (M Ali 108, J Bairstow 55; Sohail Khan 5-68)
      Pakistan 1st Innings 542 (Younis Khan 218, Asad Shafiq 109; C Woakes 3-82, S Finn 3-110)
	   England 2nd Innings (overnight: 88-4)
	   A Cook c Iftikhar Ahmed b Wahab Riaz          7
	   A Hales lbw b Yasir Shah                     12
	   J Root lbw b Yasir Shah                      39
	   J Vince c Misbah-ul-Haq b Yasir Shah          0
	   G Ballance c Sarfraz Ahmed b Sohail Khan     17
	   J Bairstow c Azhar Ali b Wahab Riaz          81
	   M Ali c Sarfraz Ahmed b Yasir Shah           32
	   C Woakes run out (Wahab Riaz)                 4
	   S Broad c Younis Khan b Yasir Shah            5
	   S Finn not out                               16
	   J Anderson lbw b Iftikhar Ahmed              17
	   Extras (b-8, lb-10, nb-5)                    23
	   Total (all out, 79.2 overs)       

London, Aug 14 (AFP) Completed scoreboard on the fourth

Yasir Shah took five wickets as Pakistan marked the country's Independence Day with a 10-wicket win over England in the fourth Test at The Oval on Sunday.
     Victory saw Pakistan end the four-match series all square at 2-2 on an Oval ground where they won their first Test match in England back in 1954.
     England, 88 for four overnight, were dismissed for 253 in their second innings, with Shah taking five for 71 in 29 overs after Jonny Bairstow top-scored with 81.
     That left Pakistan needing just 40 to win after excellent hundreds by man-of-the-match Younis Khan (218) and Asad Shafiq (109) had helped them compile a commanding first-innings total of 542.
     Azhar Ali (30 not out) ended the match by hitting Moeen Ali for a straight six as Pakistan finished on 42 without loss. Sami Aslam was 12 not out as Pakistan bounced back from their 141-run defeat in the third Test at Edgbaston in style.
     Pakistan remain third in the world Test rankings but, following this win, could ..

Shah stars as Pakistan beat England to draw series

The Saudi-led coalition today denied targeting a Yemeni school in air strikes that killed 10 children, instead saying it bombed a camp at which Iran-backed rebels train underage soldiers.
	Doctors Without Borders, a Paris-based relief agency also known as MSF, said the children were killed yesterday in coalition raids on a school in Haydan, a town in rebel-held Saada province.
	The coalition of Arab states has been battling the Huthi rebels since 2015 after the insurgents seized Sanaa before expanding to other parts of the country.
	Ten days ago it acknowledged "shortcomings" in two out of eight cases it has investigated of strikes on civilian targets in Yemen that the UN has condemned.
	Coalition spokesman General Ahmed Assiri said the strikes hit a Huthi training camp, killing militia fighters including a leader identified as Yehya Munassar Abu Rabua.
	"The site that was bombed... Is a major training camp for militia," he told AFP. "Why would children be at a training ...

Coalition denies targeting Yemen school as 10 children killed

Boko Haram today released a new video purportedly showing some of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok more than two years ago, and called for its detained fighters to be freed.
	The government said it was in touch with those claiming to be behind the undated video, which shows groups of girls in Islamic dress standing or sitting around a masked man armed with an assault rifle.
	The film was issued just days after embattled Boko Haram head Abubakar Shekau denied claims he had been replaced as the leader of the Nigeria-based jihadist group.
	The mass kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014 provoked global outrage and brought unprecedented attention to Boko Haram and its bloody quest to create a fundamentalist state in northeastern Nigeria.
	A man wearing camouflage gear in the video called on the government to release Boko Haram fighters in exchange for the girls.
	"They should immediately release our brethren in their custody," the man said, warning that if ..

New Boko Haram video 'shows Chibok girls'

Thai police discovered unexploded bombs in three top tourist destinations over the weekend as they searched for clues to a wave of blasts that rocked resort areas and killed four last week.
	No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing spree, which hit seven southern provinces on Thursday and Friday and left dozens wounded, including European tourists.
	Police said they know who to blame but have yet to reveal a culprit or suspected motive.
	They have ruled out international terrorist groups, calling the attacks an act of "local sabotage".
	"Our investigation is progressing. We know who was behind it," deputy national police spokesman Piyapan Pingmuang told AFP, declining to give further details.
	Unexploded devices were found and defused today in two bomb-hit areas, the upscale beach town of Hua Hin and the popular island of Phuket, according to the interior ministry permanent secretary.
	"It is likely they were intended to explode at the same time of the previous explosions," ..

Thai police find unexploded devices in search for bombers

Scoreboard at lunch on the fourth
day of the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval on Sunday:
     England 1st Innings 328
     Pakistan 1st Innings 542
     England 2nd Innings (overnight: 88-4)
     A. Cook c Iftikhar Ahmed b Wahab Riaz          7
     A. Hales lbw b Yasir Shah                     12
     J. Root lbw b Yasir Shah                      39
     J. Vince c Misbah-ul-Haq b Yasir Shah          0
     G. Ballance c Sarfraz Ahmed b Sohail Khan     17
     J. Bairstow not out                           70
     M. Ali c Sarfraz Ahmed b Yasir Shah           32
     C. Woakes not out                              0
     Extras (b4, lb9, nb4)                         17
     Total (6 wkts, 58 overs, 265 mins)           194
     Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Cook), 2-49 (Hales), 3-55 (Vince), 4-74 (Root), 5-128 (Ballance), 6-193 (Ali)
     Bowling: Amir 18-5-61-0; Sohail 13-2-37-1; Riaz 7-1-33-1 (4nb); Shah 18-1-49-4; Iftikhar 2-1-1-0.

London, Aug 14 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the fourth

Yasir Shah took the key wicket of Moeen Ali as Pakistan moved closer to victory in the fourth Test against England at The Oval on Sunday.
     England were 194 for six in their second innings at lunch on the fourth day, still 20 runs shy of making Pakistan bat again as the tourists sought a win that would see them end the four-match series all square at 2-2.
     Leg-spinner Shah had rocked England with three for 15 late on Saturday following Younis Khan's commanding 218 in Pakistan's first innings 542.
     And he struck again just before lunch when he had first-innings century-maker Ali caught behind for 32. Jonny Bairstow, enjoying a brilliant year with the bat, was 70 not out and Chris Woakes unbeaten on nought.
     England resumed in trouble at 88 for four, 126 runs adrift. Gary Ballance was four not out and Yorkshire team-mate Bairstow 14 not out. Bairstow took the attack to Pakistan's bowlers as he twice cover-drove Wahab Riaz for four.
     But Sohail Khan, a right-arm, ...

Shah takes Pakistan nearer fourth Test win

Scoreboard at stumps on the second
day of the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Colombo on Sunday.
	   Sri Lanka 1st innings
	   K Silva c Smith b Starc             0
	   D Karunaratne b Starc               7
	   K Perera c Smith b Lyon            16
	   K Mendis c Smith b Starc            1
	   A Mathews c Starc b Lyon            1
	   D Chandimal c Nevill b Starc      132
	   D de Silva c S. Marsh b Lyon      129
	   D Perera c Lyon b Holland          16
	   R Herath retired hurt              33
	   S Lakmal c M. Marsh b Starc         5
	   L Sandakan not out                  4
	   Extras (b-4, lb-7)                  11
	   Total (all out, 141.1 overs)       355
	   Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-21, 3-23, 4-24, 5-26, 6-237, 7-267, 8-348, 9-355
	   Bowling: Starc 25.1-11-63-5, Hazlewood 18-4-52-0, Lyon 50-11-110-3, Holland 37-8-69-1, M. Marsh 10-1-45-0, Smith 1-0-5-0
	   Australia 1st innings
	   D Warner c Kusal Perera b De Silva  11
	   S Marsh batting               

Colombo, Aug 14 (AFP) Scoreboard at stumps on the second

Half-centuries from skipper Steven Smith and Shaun Marsh kept Australia in the hunt after Dinesh Chandimal's ton for Sri Lanka dominated Sunday's play in the third and final Test.
     Australia, who lost opener David Warner early, were 141 for one at stumps on the second day in Colombo and trailing the hosts by 214 in the first innings.
     Dhananjaya de Silva, who scored his maiden Test century on Saturday, struck again with the ball to claim the crucial wicket of Warner for 11.
     But Smith, who was on 61 at stumps, soon took charge along with Marsh who finished the day on 64. The pair used their feet to good effect against the Sri Lankan spinners as they combined the right mix of caution and aggression.
     Smith's 108-ball stay was laced with five boundaries and a six. Marsh, who was drafted into the XI for his Asia experience, struck 10 fours.
     However Chandimal, who started Sunday on 64, was the hero of the day after his dogged 132 helped Sri Lanka post a challenging ...

Marsh, Smith keep Australia afloat in Colombo

Jailed murderer Oscar Pistorius has been put on suicide watch following mysterious wrist injuries that landed him in hospital earlier this month, media reported today.
	Prison officials told City Press newspaper that the athlete, who is serving a six-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend, was under 24-hour monitoring, with increased cell visits by warders.
	Some inside sources told the paper that razor blades were found in the disgraced athlete's cell last Saturday afternoon, and that his wrist injuries, described as "severe", were self-inflicted.
	Prison authorities have launched a probe into the incident.
	"Our internal investigation is at an advanced stage," said Correctional Services spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo.
	The 29-year-old double-amputee, who is being held at the Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria, had told prison officials he sustained the injuries falling off his bed.
	According to the newspaper, the injury occurred soon after he had an altercation with prison ...

Pistorius put on suicide watch: media

Swiss police said today there was so far no indication that an attacker's knife rampage on a train, which killed one woman and injured five passengers, was an act of terror.
	"The question of motive remains," police from Switzerland's eastern Saint Gallen region said in a statement, stressing: "To date there is no indication this was a terrorist or politically motivated act."
	Police spokesman Bruno Metzger told AFP "terrorism is not our main theory" for yesterday afternoon's attack and that "other motives" figured far higher on the list, although he would not say what they were.
	A 27-year-old Swiss national used flammable liquid to start a fire on a moving train in eastern Switzerland before stabbing passengers, according to police.
	The attack took place at around 2:20 pm (1220 GMT) near Salez station on a train running between Buchs and Sennwald near Switzerland's eastern border with Liechtenstein and Austria.
	Police said the attack had been caught on video, allowing them to ...

'No indication' Swiss train attack was terrorist act: police

Dinesh Chandimal scored a defiant century to power Sri Lanka to 299 for seven at lunch on the second day of the third and final Test against Australia in Colombo today.
     Chandimal's overnight partner Dhananjaya de Silva advanced from 116 to 129 before falling in the first hour, but not before the pair had rescued the innings with a 211-run partnership for the sixth wicket after coming together with Sri Lanka at 26 for five.
     Chandimal, scoring his seventh Test ton, remained unbeaten on 105 at the break with strong support from Rangana Herath on 14.
     Chandimal and de Silva started the second day cautiously, playing out three straight maiden overs, but soon gained momentum after hitting a couple of boundaries.
     Off-spinner Nathan Lyon finally provided the breakthrough by claiming de Silva, who had scored his maiden Test century on the opening day.
     Lyon, rewarded for his persistence, pitched the ball outside the off-stump, with de Silva nicking the ball to Shaun ...

Chandimal century drives Sri Lanka to 299-7

Scoreboard at lunch on the second day of the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Colombo today:
 Sri Lanka 1st innings: overnight 214 for 5
 K. Silva c Smith b Starc           0
 D. Karunaratne b Starc             7
 K. Perera c Smith b Lyon          16
 K. Mendis c Smith b Starc          1
 A. Mathews c Starc b Lyon          1
 L. Chandimal not out             105
 D. De Silva c S. Marsh b Lyon    129
 D. Perera c Lyon b Holland        16
 R. Herath not out                 14
 Extras (b4, lb6)                  10
 Total (7 wickets, 121 overs)     299
 Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-21, 3-23, 4-24, 5-26, 6-237, 7-267
 Bowling: Starc 24-10-63-3, Hazlewood 15-4-43-0, Lyon 45-11-100-3, Holland 31-7-58-1, M. Marsh 5-0-20-0, Smith 1-0-5-0.

Colombo, Aug 14 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the second day of the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Colombo today:

Protests took place today in Manila over Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's plans to honour the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos with a state burial.
	About 2,000 people gathered in heavy rain to denounce Duterte's plans to move Marcos' remains from his northern hometown to the National Heroes' Cemetery in the capital, Manila, next month.
	"We would be the laughing stock of the entire planet," Senator Risa Hontiveros, one of four members of parliament to attend the Manila rally, told AFP.
	She called Marcos an "unrepentant enemy of our heroes".
	Marcos's family have kept his preserved body on display after he died in exile in 1989 following a popular revolt three years earlier, demanding that it be buried with full honours in the Heroes' Cemetery.
	Marcos was elected president in 1965 and declared martial law in 1972, allowing him to rule as a dictator while he, his family and allies enriched themselves through massive corruption and his troops brutally stamped out dissent.
	But ...

Marcos 'hero' burial plan sparks Philippines protests

Britain smashed their own world record to win Olympic gold in the women's team pursuit in Rio.
     It was the third time in the space of 48 hours that the quartet of Katie Archibald, Laura Trott, Elinor Barker and Joanna Rowsell-Shand had set a new world mark in the 4km race.
     They had already set world records in qualifying and their semi-final.
     "In the semi-final we rode more within ourselves, the girls came off the track saying that was about 80%," said Rowsell-Shand, who as part of the winning team four years ago alongside Trott and Danielle King, when the women rode 3km in a three-rider team.
     "All we had to do in that ride (the semi-final) was beat Canada, which we did, so we thought we might go a bit quicker in the final, but we also thought we might run a bit closer with America.
     "You always go quicker when you're chasing a team -- I think we knew we had more in the tank."
     The 2012 London Olympic champions beat world champions USA by more than two ...

AFP

AFP

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