Brazil today launched the first public immunisation programme in the Americas against dengue fever, with 500,000 people to be injected with the world's first authorized vaccine against the disease, French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi said.
	The programme will be rolled out in the southern state of Parana, said the maker of the Dengvaxia vaccine, which is the result of 20 years of research and 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) of investment.
	"We will vaccinate all individuals 15-27 years of age in 28 municipalities and 9-44 years of age in the two municipalities with the top dengue burden in our state over the next three weeks," Parana Health Secretary Michele Caputo Neto said in a Sanofi statement.
	He cited a study published in the Brazilian Journal of Health Economics indicating that implementation of the dengue immunisation strategy "could result in 74 percent reduction in disease burden in these highly-impacted municipalities within five years".
	Sanofi said the campaign was the ...

Brazil launches first dengue vaccine campaign: drug maker

PTI Automatic

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro revived old enmities with the United States as he celebrated his 90th birthday today, skewering Havana's Cold War foe for its repeated attempts on his life.
	Castro, who retired from public life in 2006 due to ill health and appointed his brother Raul in his place, criticized US President Barack Obama for failing to explicitly apologize during his historic visit to Japan in May for Washington's decision to drop the atomic bomb.
	"The US president's speech in Japan lacked the words to apologize for the killing of hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima, even though they (the United States) knew the effects of the bomb," the ex-leader said in an article published by official media.
	(In his speech, Obama did decry the resort to war and called for a world without nuclear weapons.)
	Castro condemned as "equally criminal" the bombing of Nagasaki three days later on August 9, 1945.
	"That's why you have to stress the need to preserve peace and ...

Castro lashes out at US for 90th birthday

Dhananjaya de Silva scored his maiden Test century today to steer Sri Lanka's revival from a precarious position to 214 for five at stumps against Australia on first day of the final Test here.
     De Silva and Dinesh Chandimal put together an unbeaten 188-run partnership for the sixth wicket to thwart the Australian bowling attack after Sri Lanka were reduced to 26 for five while batting first in the third Test.
     De Silva continued his gritty innings by reaching 116 at close, with strong support from Chandimal, who scored his 11th Test half-century, batting on 64.
     Australia's Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon shared five wickets between them to decimate the Sri Lankan top-order before lunch but failed to make further inroads in the remaining two sessions.
     After settling at the crease, De Silva and Chandimal counter-attacked against an aggressive Australian onslaught who kept pushing hard by rotating their bowling options.
     De Silva's 240-ball stay was laced with 16 ...

Ton-up De Silva steers Sri Lanka to 214-5

A second resort on France's Riviera coast, Villeneuve-Loubet, announced today a ban against burkinis after Cannes banished the full-body swimsuit from its beaches.
	The town's mayor told AFP that he made the decision to bar the burkini worn by some Muslim women because of sanitary reasons.
	"I was informed that there was a couple on one of our beaches where the wife was swimming fully dressed," Lionnel Luca said.
	"I considered that unacceptable for hygienic reasons and that in general it was unwelcome."
	The mayor of Cannes, famous for its annual film festival, said he had signed off on the burkini ban out of "respect for good customs and secularism", a founding principle of the French republic.
	But prohibiting the burkini has caused an uproar with anti-racism organisations and human rights groups vowing to go to court to seek to overturn the "deeply worrying" ban.
	In the city of Marseille this week, a waterpark cancelled plans to host a private event for women wearing burkinis ...

Another French Riviera resort bans burkinis

Scoreboard at stumps on the opening
day of the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and Australia here today.
     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
     L Chandimal not out              64
     D de Silva not out              116
     Extras: (B-4, LB-5)               9
     Total: (For 5 wkts; 90 overs)   214
     Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-21, 3-23, 4-24, 5-26.
     Bowling: M Starc 18-7-47-3, J Hazlewood 11-3-27-0, N Lyon 34-9-72-2, J Holland 21-5-34-0, M Marsh 5-0-20-0, S Smith 1-0-5-0.

Colombo, Aug 13 (AFP) Scoreboard at stumps on the opening

The nephew of the governor of a key province where Iraqi forces are battling the Islamic State group has been gunned down in the country's north, officials said today.
	The shooting in Iraqi Kurdish regional capital Arbil came just hours after Nowfal al-Aqoub, the governor of Nineveh, made controversial remarks about children being fathered by IS fighters in the province.
	The killing of Aqoub's nephew, who was also his personal driver, comes as Iraqi forces prepare for the battle to retake Mosul, the capital of Nineveh and the last city in the country still held by the jihadists.
	Sifuk Watban al-Sultan died of a single gunshot to the head yesterday night near the governor's house in Arbil, the governor's secretary told AFP, asking that he not be identified by name.
	A Nineveh provincial councillor, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed Sultan's death, saying that Kurdish security forces had subsequently removed surveillance cameras from the house as part of the ...

Iraq governor's nephew gunned down in north: officials

Sweden's youngest ever cabinet minister, who came to the country as a refugee from Bosnia, announced her resignation today after being caught driving under the influence of alcohol.
	Aida Hadzialic (29) minister for secondary and adult education, revealed that she had been stopped by police in the southern city of Malmo and tests showed she had an alcohol level of 0.2 grammes per litre of blood- just the level considered an offence in Sweden.
	"That was the biggest mistake of my life... I will take responsibility. I announce my intention to resign from my ministerial post," an emotional Hadzialic told a press conference at government headquarters in Stockholm.
	"I understand that a lot of people are disappointed in me. And I am angry with myself, and certainly I deeply regret it," added the young politician seen as the future of the Social Democrat party.
	Hadzialic was born in Bosnia and immigrated to Sweden at the age of five, in 1992, with her parents fleeing the war in the ...

Sweden's youngest ever minister resigns over drink driving

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said today he would not shy from tough economic reforms he said previous rulers had avoided fearing unrest.
	Sisi's comments come after an initial agreement with the International Monetary Fund for USD 12 billion in financing that hinges on a reform package slashing state spending and the devaluation of the Egyptian pound.
	Parliament is also expected to pass a law introducing a value added tax to raise state revenues.
	Egypt's economy has been battered by turmoil since a 2011 uprising ousted veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak, ushering in unrest that has driven away tourists and foreign investments.
	"The first attempt at real reform was in 1977," Sisi said in a speech aired by state television during the launch of an ethynyl plant in the coastal city of Alexandria.
	The country had been rocked by riots that year after president Anwar Sadat said he would end basic subsidies as demanded by the World Bank in return for a loan.
	"The people's ...

Sisi says will not balk at Egypt economic reforms

The Islamic State group has freed hundreds of civilians used by the jihadists as human shields while retreating in northern Syria, US-backed forces and a monitor said today.
	A source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, which pushed IS out of the city of Manbij this week with the aid of US-led air strikes, told AFP that some of the civilians were able to escape while "others were freed".
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor, said that several hundred of the civilians taken were no longer held by IS.
	The SDF, an Arab-Kurdish alliance, launched an assault in May on Manbij, on a key jihadist supply route between the Turkish border and IS's de facto Syrian capital Raqa.
	IS fighters seized around 2,000 civilians as they fled Manbij yesterday, using them as protection against air strikes en route to the jihadist-held town of Jarabulus, on the Turkish-Syrian border.
	"Among the civilians taken by IS there were people used as human shields but also many who chose 

IS frees hundreds of civilians in north Syria

Scoreboard at tea on the opening
day of the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and Australia here today.
     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
     L Chandimal not out              37
     D de Silva not out               74
     Extras: (LB-5)                    5
     Total: (For 5 wkts, 61 overs)   141
     Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-21, 3-23, 4-24, 5-26.
     Bowling: M Starc 13-5-38-3, J Hazlewood 9-2-21-0, N Lyon 23-7-47-2, J Holland 13-3-22-0, M Marsh 3-0-8-0.

Colombo, Aug 13 (AFP) Scoreboard at tea on the opening

A fighting century partnership from Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal helped Sri Lanka recover from a precarious position to reach 141 for five at tea against Australia in the third and final Test here today.
     The hosts, who elected to bat first on a bright sunny morning, lost five wickets for 55 runs before lunch with Australian bowlers Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon wiping out the top order.
     Starc and Lyon shared five wickets between them to rattle the Sri Lankan batting line-up, but De Silva and Chandimal put together a 115-run unbeaten stand to keep the hosts in the hunt.
     De Silva, who scored his maiden half-century in his third Test, continued his gritty innings by reaching 74 at tea, with strong support from Chandimal who was unbeaten on 37 at the break.
     After settling at the crease, the two batsmen counter-attacked against an aggressive Australian onslaught who kept pushing hard by rotating their bowling options.
     De Silva's 149-ball stay was laced 

De Silva, Chandimal lift Sri Lanka to 141-5

Scoreboard at lunch on the opening day of the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Colombo today:
     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
     L Chandimal batting               7
     D de Silva batting               23
     Extras                             0
     Total (5 wickets, 28 overs)       55
     Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-21, 3-23, 4-24, 5-26
     Bowling: Starc 7-3-10-3, Hazlewood 7-1-17-0, Lyon 12-5-21-2, Holland 2-0-7-0.

Colombo, Aug 13 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the opening day of the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Colombo today:

Australian bowlers Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon decimated the Sri Lankan batting line-up as the hosts stood at 55 for five at lunch on the opening day of the third and final Test in Colombo today.
     Sri Lanka, who elected to bat first on a bright sunny morning, were dealt early blows against an inspired Australian side which is looking for a consolation win.
     Dhananjaya de Silva, batting on 23, and Dinesh Chandimal, on seven, were at the crease after putting together a 29-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
     Pace spearhead Starc, who took three wickets, bagged Kaushal Silva for a duck as the opener struggled to score after facing 15 balls.
     Off-spinner Lyon, who has been criticised for failing to benefit from turning tracks, soon combined forces with Starc to rattle the Sri Lankan top-order with two wickets.
     The spinner seemed to have learnt his lessons on these pitches after getting Kusal Perera caught at first slip and then the prized wicket of Sri Lankan ...

Starc, Lyon put Aussies on top against Sri Lanka

Bangladesh's cricket authorities today partially lifted the ban on former captain Mohammad Ashraful, allowing him to play in selected domestic competitions, officials said.
     Ashraful was initially banned for eight years in 2014 after he tearfully confessed on national television to helping fix matches in the scandal-hit Bangladesh Premier League.
     The Twenty20 tournament was eventually left suspended in the wake of the match-fixing controversy before being resumed in 2015 with six new franchises.
     A local appeal panel in September 2014 cut Ashraful's ban to five years including a two-year suspended sentence, meaning he can return to competitive cricket from August 2016.
     The BCB and the ICC had lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland against his reduced ban in October 2014, but later withdrew it.
     "Mr Ashraful is eligible to play domestic cricket from the 13th August 2016.  However, he will be ineligible to play International 

Bangladesh lifts Ashraful ban from domestic cricket

Joseph Schooling sensationally upset Michael Phelps in the 100m butterfly to seize Singapore's first ever Olympic gold medal at the Rio Games.
     The 21-year-old Asian champion denied Olympic icon Phelps a fourth straight victory in the event, leading from start to finish to win in an Olympic record of 50.39sec.
     Phelps, sixth at the turn, couldn't pull off one of his trademark comebacks, but he had plenty of company on the second step of the podium as his longtime rival Laszlo Cseh of Hungary and South African Chad le Clos both matched his time of 51.14sec in an astonishing three-way tie for silver.
     The only other three-way tie for Games silver came back in 1968, in the women's speedskating 500m.
     "It's wild," said Phelps. "Chad and I have had some races over the last four years and Laszlo and I - I can't even remember when I first raced him... So it's kind of special and a decent way to finish my last individual race."
     The tie with Phelps was the closest Cseh has 

Schooling stuns Phelps for Singapore's first Games gold

A police officer in the US state of New Mexico died after being shot by a passenger in a car he had pulled over, the latest deadly incident involving law enforcement in the country.
	Three suspects were taken into custody yesterday after the 3:41 PM local time traffic stop in the town of Hatch.
	Officials said the trio was allegedly responsible for shooting the officer and for shooting another man during a carjacking, triggering a massive manhunt and high-speed chase.
	The condition of the hijacked car driver was unknown.
	"During the traffic stop, a passenger who was in that vehicle reportedly exited the vehicle and she fired shots at the officer," Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kelly Jameson told reporters.
	Another officer who witnessed the shooting then chased the vehicle, with speeds exceeding 160 kmph, but "was unable to catch up," Jameson said.
	"The incident at the rest stop triggered a multiple-jurisdiction manhunt. We had assistance from just about every police 

US police officer shot dead at traffic stop

Thai authorities today hunted for culprits behind a wave of bombings targeting popular holiday destinations, as businesses braced for the economic fallout from the attacks on the crucial tourism industry.
	The kingdom was on edge after 11 small bombs exploded across five southern provinces Thursday night and yesterday, killing four locals and wounding more than 30 people -- including foreign tourists.
	The bombs, most of them detonated in twin blasts, struck key tourism hubs during a long weekend, including the seaside resort town of Hua Hin and the island of Phuket.
	No one has claimed responsibility for the coordinated attack, but police have ruled out international terrorism and said the campaign was an act of "local sabotage".
	"We are confident this was work of a network with a mastermind," said deputy police commissioner Ponsapat Pongcharoen, adding that no arrests had been made.
	"It's still unclear what the motive is," he said, stressing it was not connected to a simmering ...

Thai authorities hunt tourist town bombers

Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana launched the Rio Olympics athletics by smashing the women's 10,000m world record as the Games reeled from doping scandals.
     Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi was suspended for failing a doping test and a Polish weightlifter and Bulgarian runner were both kicked out for drugs transgressions.
     In shock results, defending champion and world record-holder Sun Yang flopped dismally in his 1,500m freestyle heat and the USA, who have won the last three Olympic competitions, were knocked out of the women's football.
     Athletics took centre stage in Rio needing a lift after the Russia doping storm, but there were immediate questions about Ayana's 10,000m run, which broke a 23-year-old world record.
     The 24-year-old pulled away from the field midway through the race and never let up before powering home in 29min 17.45sec.
     Her winning time was nearly 14 seconds quicker than the previous world best of 29:31.78 set by Wang Junxia in Beijing in 1993.
     Ayana's 

World record as athletics begin amid doping scandal

A Venezuelan court upheld the 14-year sentence of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, in a move likely to increase tension in the crisis-hit South American country.
	Lopez has repeatedly declared himself innocent of the charge of inciting violence at anti-government protests in 2014, calling himself a political prisoner.
	"This is certainly a political trial. Unfortunately, the government's interest takes priority over the justice system," Lopez's lawyer Juan Carlos Gutierrez told AFP.
	"They upheld his sentence under the same terms," Gutierrez said, referring to the 14-year sentence.
	A 45-year-old US-educated economist, Lopez was arrested in February 2014 amid a wave of pro- and anti-government protests that swept Venezuela and left 43 people dead.
	The government accused Lopez, one of leftist President Nicolas Maduro's most hardline opponents, of inciting the violence.
	His sentence, handed down in September after a closed-door trial, was strongly condemned by the United ...

Court upholds Venezuela opposition leader's 14-year sentence

Italian authorities today ordered the expulsion of a Tunisian national suspected of planning an attack at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, according to media reports.
	Bilel Chiahoui, 26, was arrested yesterday after posting messages on social media praising those behind the jihadist attacks in Europe and saying he would attack the Tuscan city's famous monument, a huge tourist attraction.
	His expulsion order was signed by a judge today according to a police report, which said there was "evidence the Tunisian sympathised with jihadist extremism and IS," a reference to the Islamic State group.
	The police statement did not provide details on the target of the suspected attack.
	There has been mounting concern about the possibility of Italy being hit by "lone wolf" terror attacks of the kind seen in neighbouring France and Belgium.
	Recent weeks have seen a string of suspected Islamists expelled from the country on the order of Interior Minister Angelino Alfano.

'Jihadist' planned Leaning Tower of Pisa attack: media

A six-year-old boy beat to death his 13-day-old sister after their mother left them alone in her van for more than half an hour in west Florida, police said.
	The mother, 62-year-old Kathleen Marie Steele, appeared in court today and was charged with aggravated manslaughter and neglect in the infant's death, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Bail was set at $100,000.
	Pinellas County sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Steele took her three children, Frankie, 6, Philip, 3, and 13-day-old Kathleen, with her while she ran errands in the Florida city St Petersburg on Monday.
	Steele had conceived the newborn through artificial insemination using her late husband's sperm and appeared on a reality TV show called, "I'm Pregnant and 55 years old."
	She went into a store for nearly 40 minutes, shutting the children inside the minivan with the windows and doors closed, Gualtieri told journalists.
	After the baby began to cry, Frankie took the infant out of her car seat and "began flipping her, multiple ...

AFP

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