A Malaysian man who raped a 14-year-old girl avoided being thrown in jail after he married the young victim, sparking calls from angry activists for legal reforms today.
	A court in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo island ruled last week there was "no necessity to proceed further with this case" following evidence that the two were married, the Borneo Post news website reported.
	The victim, now 15, was allegedly raped twice by Ahmad Syukri Yusuf, in his twenties, last year. Rape in Malaysia carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison and whipping.
	Activists say such cases are not uncommon in the conservative Muslim-majority country, where sometimes victims' families would rather a girl marry her rapist instead of her name being tarnished in court.
	But this loophole in the system can give the wrong signal to others that there are no serious consequences for rape, they say.
	"Over the years we have handled many such cases where the man marries the victim and then divorces ..

Malaysian rapist avoids jail after marrying victim

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Taliban militants attacked a group of 12 American and European tourists escorted by an Afghan army convoy in western Herat province today, leaving at least seven people wounded as the insurgents step up nationwide attacks.
	The tourists -- eight British, three Americans and one German national -- were ambushed by Taliban gunmen in the restive district of Chesht-e-Sharif, while en route from the neighbouring provinces of Bamiyan and Ghor.
	It is unclear why they were travelling overland at a time when Western embassies typically warn their citizens against all travel in Afghanistan, citing threats of kidnapping and attacks.
	"The foreign tourists -- three Americans, six Britons, two Scots and one German -- were travelling with an Afghan army convoy when they were ambushed by the Taliban in Chesht-e-Sharif," said Jilani Farhad, the spokesman for Herat's governor.
	He said the insurgents had been repelled and the foreigners were being escorted to Herat city, adding that at least six ...

Militants ambush foreign tourists in western Afghanistan

Israeli forces today razed the southern West Bank homes of two Palestinian gunmen who shot dead four Israelis at a trendy Tel Aviv cafe in June, the army said.
	"Overnight in accordance with government directives security forces demolished the residences of the two terrorists who carried out the terror attack at the Sarona market on June 8, killing four civilians and wounding several more," a military spokeswoman said.
	The Yatta home of Mohammad Makhamrah was blown up, with the windows of nearby homes shattered by the explosion. The second story of a building where Khaled Makhamrah's family lived a short distance away was demolished by an excavator, witnesses told AFP.
	The pair, who are cousins, were charged last month at the Tel Aviv district court for murder, conspiring to murder and attempted murder.
	A third suspect also from Yatta, south of Hebron, was charged over allegedly providing them with guns.
	Video footage from the June attack showed the two men walking into a popular .

Israel demolishes homes of Palestinian Tel Aviv attackers

A court in ex-Soviet Tajikistan sentenced a 16-year-old boy to 10.5 years in jail for calling Tajiks on social media to join the Islamic State group, a court official said today.
	The official said a "schoolboy from the northern Sugd region operating under the pseudonym Hidoyatullo" had attracted a 1,000-strong following on the Russian social network, Odnoklassniki.
	The official did not name the schoolboy, citing his status as a minor, but confirmed the length of the sentence, which was handed down yesterday.
	In December, a Tajik court sentenced seven people, three of whom were minors, to terms between seven and 27 years in jail for raising the Islamic State group's flag in the south of the country.
	The government has said up to 1,000 nationals, including the former chief of the interior ministry's special forces unit, have left the country to join the jihadist group fighting in Iraq and Syria.
	The secular Central Asian country has witnessed a heavy state crackdown on Islam ...

Tajikistan jails teen for 10.5 years for IS recruitment

Scoreboard at lunch on the opening day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia here today:
     Sri Lanka 1st innings:
	D Karunaratne c Burns b Starc        0
	K Silva c Nevill b Starc             5
	K Perera not out                    47
	K Mendis not out                    52
	Extras: (B-4, LB-1)                  5
	Total: (for 2 wickets in 29 overs) 109
	Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-9
	Bowling: Starc 6-2-14-2, Hazlewood 7-2-21-0, Lyon 7-0-31-0, Marsh 3-0-14-0, Holland 6-0-24-0.

Galle (Sri Lanka), Aug 4 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the opening day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia here today:

A century partnership from the in-form Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera helped Sri Lanka recover from early losses to reach 109 for two at lunch against Australia in the second Test here today.
	The hosts, who elected to bat first on a bright sunny morning, lost two quick wickets with Australia's Mitchell Starc snaring opener Dimuth Karunaratne with the first ball of the match.
	Karunaratne tried to put away a juicy half-volley from the left-arm pacer, but failed to keep the ball down and it went straight to Joe Burns at midwicket.
	Starc (2-14) struck again in his third over, with Kaushal Silva chasing a widish delivery that was safely taken by wicketkeeper Peter Nevill as Sri Lanka slumped to nine for two.
	Mendis, who scored a century in the first Test, continued his fine form by reaching 52 at lunch, with strong support from Perera who was unbeaten on 47 at the break.
	The two batsmen, after settling at the crease, counter-attacked against an aggressive Australian attack which ...

Mendis, Perera steer Sri Lanka to 109-2 at lunch

The most crisis-ridden Olympic Games in history opens here Friday with Rio organisers hoping to draw a line under a turbulent seven-year build-up to the greatest sporting show on Earth.
     Football legend Pele is tipped to ignite the Olympic flame at Rio's iconic Maracana Stadium in Friday's opening ceremony, as the four-yearly celebration of sporting endeavour arrives in South America for the first time.
     Olympic chiefs will hope the ceremony marks the start of a 17-day carnival of sport, a feast of drama framed by a Rio backdrop of breathtaking natural beauty.
     Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt will compete under the gaze of the Christ the Redeemer statue, sailors will duel in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain while the golden sands of Copacabana will host the spiritual homecoming of the beach volleyball tournament.
     Yet the sporting spectacle comes after a frequently chaotic build-up which at times has threatened to leave the city nursing a nasty hangover before the ...

Carnival after hangover as Olympics get under way

They have the most champions in Olympic boxing history and Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather all won medals at past Games.
	   But the United States has not won men's Olympic gold since Andre Ward in 2004 and in London four years ago did not get one medal in the men's competition.
	   It might be stretching it to say that American amateur boxing is in crisis, but what's clear is that Team USA at the Rio Olympics is under pressure to bring that surprisingly long barren spell to an end when boxing starts on Saturday.
	   The naysayers back home are not positive, pointing out that American men qualified in only six of the 10 men's weight classes for Rio.
	   Worst of all, say the critics, is that there will be no US heavyweight on show in Rio.
	   For a country that once rolled out the likes of Ali, Holyfield, George Foreman and Joe Frazier at the Olympics it represents a dramatic decline.
	   Billy Walsh, a respected Irishman who has been a coach of .

After Ali, where is next US boxing hero?

Militants attacked foreign tourists escorted by an Afghan army convoy in the western province of Herat today, officials said, with a military spokesman saying at least six people were wounded.
	"The convoy was ambushed by the Taliban in Chesht-e-Sharif district. The tourists were on their way to Herat from Bamiyan and Ghor provinces," Jilani Farhad, the spokesman for Herat's governor.

Foreign tourists attacked in western Afghanistan: officials

Australia made an abrupt climate change u-turn today, with the issue set to again become a key focus of the national science agency just months after it saw hundreds of jobs cut in a heavily criticised move.
	Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull -- a former environment minister -- has long been seen as a supporter of action on climate change but his government oversaw bitterly opposed cuts to national science body CSIRO earlier this year.
	But following the government's narrow re-election last month, new Science Minister Greg Hunt stressed both he and Turnbull had "clear and strong views" about the importance of climate science.
	"It's critical to our long-term planning... So climate science will be a bedrock function for research of the CSIRO," Hunt told national broadcaster ABC.
	"It's a new government and we're laying out a direction that climate science matters -- and that's both the science relating to the long-term trend, the long-term influences, where the impacts are, as well as ...

Australia boosts climate science research in u-turn

Convoy of foreign tourists attacked in western

Iran has executed a group of 20 "terrorist" Sunni prisoners for committing several murders and undermining national security, state media reported today.
	"These people had committed murder... Killed women and children, caused destructions and acted against the security and killed Sunni religious leaders in some Kurdish regions," IRIB television quoted Prosecutor General Mohammad Javad Montazeri.
	He said all the executions happened on Tuesday.

Iran executes 20 Sunni 'terrorists' in one day: state media

Oil prices extended their rebound in Asia today following a mixed set of US stockpile data but analysts warn that the gains might not hold.
	The Department of Energy's weekly report released yesterday showed that commercial crude oil supplies were up 0.3 per cent last week, but gasoline inventories and domestic crude production were both down.
	The figures are closely watched by investors, who use them as an indicator of global supply, while gasoline stocks are a focus for the market amid the summer driving season when demands peak as Americans hit the road for their vacations.
	The data reverses losses from the previous week's figures which showed an increase in gasoline stock, sending prices tumbling into a bear market as both futures fell more than 20 per cent from June peaks of near USD 50 a barrel.
	US crude had dropped below the USD 40 dollar mark for the first time since April on Monday.
	At about 0300 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 27 cents to USD 41.10 a ...

Oil continues climb on mixed US data

Security at Rio's Olympic Village was handed a further blow Wednesday when Danish athletes revealed they have had items stolen while organisers issued a public apology to competitors who have fallen victim to crime.
     Denmark's chef de mission Morten Rodtwitt told broadcaster TV 2 that mobile phones, clothing and an iPad had gone missing.
     "In connection with the many extra workers, cleaners and housekeepers who have been squeezed into the Olympic village because of our requirements and requests, we have been subjected to a series of thefts," he said, adding that he himself had his iPad stolen.
     "It's everything from phones, iPads and clothes to something as trivial as bed sheets."
     Since July 18 the Danish delegation has lodged around 150 complaints over problems in its 36 apartments in the Olympic village.
     "The buildings are simply not in order," Ulrik Wilbek, sports director of the Danish Handball Federation, told TV 2.
     The news follows the theft of a ...

Rio sorry as Village suffers new theft

Russian Olympians turned out in force to see their flag raised over the athletes' village in Rio on Wednesday in an impressive show of defiance.
     Numerous Russian sports stars, including their entire track and field squad, have been barred from the Games in Rio due to a string of damaging doping scandals.
     But for tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam winner, it was vital for those allowed to compete to show their commitment to the cause by making their presence in the village -- and in front of the world's media -- highly visible.
     "It's very sad that so many top athletes cannot be here with us because we're a big country," she said at the Russian welcome ceremony in the Olympic Village.
     Whereas other major nations sent a small contingent for their ceremonies, the entire team of the embattled European powerhouse were present.
     "It's important for us to see our flag raised in the village," added Kuznetsova, the US Open champion in 2004 and ...

Russians in show of defiance at athletes' village

Chile backpedaled on a decision to ban election campaigning on social media after the ruling united politicians from both left and right in outcry.
	With candidates gearing up for local elections on October 23, the Chilean Electoral Service (Servel) issued a manual yesterday on the country's new electoral law that included blanket bans on campaigning via Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or newspaper websites.
	But politicians of all stripes united in outcry.
	"Servel has overstepped its limits. Its interpretation of the law is absurd. It's a serious mistake. The legislation we approved did not in any way limit campaigning via the internet," said lawmaker Leonardo Soto of the ruling Socialist Party.
	"There's been a misinterpretation," said Cristian Monckeberg, a lawmaker for right-wing party National Renewal.
	Hours later, the electoral authorities changed their minds. Upon further reflection, posting on social networks is private speech, not "electoral propaganda," they said.
	Social ...

Chile nixes Facebook, Twitter campaign bans after outcry

One dead, others injured in London knife attack with

The outlying sweep of a tropical hurricane gliding across the Caribbean started lashing northern Central American countries amid warnings from authorities of the risk of impending floods and mud slides.
	Honduras, which issued a red alert for its islands in the Caribbean, reported the advance fringe of Hurricane Earl was hitting its northern coast yesterday, but there was no emergency reported as yet. Airports in the region were closed.
	The eye of the hurricane was still out to sea and moving westwards at a leisurely pace.
	The US National Hurricane Center in Miami said a weather-spotting aircraft had flown up to Earl and measured its maximum sustained winds at 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour.
	That graduated it from a tropical storm into a hurricane ranking the first category on a five-point scale.
	Belize was expected to feel the brunt of Earl, which was to make landfall late yesterday or early today.
	Belize's National Emergency Management Organization said heavy rain "could ...

Hurricane Earl bears down on Central America

Italy's defence minister Roberta Pinotti has said that Rome would positively consider a US request to use airbases and airspace for Libya strikes.
	"The government is ready to positively consider a request to use airbases and national airspace, and support the operation, if it is believed that it would lead to a more rapid and effective conclusion of the ongoing action," Pinotti said yesterday during parliamentary question time.
	US warplanes began carrying out air strikes on positions of the Islamic State jihadist group in its Libyan stronghold of Sirte on Monday in response to a request from Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA).
	"The government keeps and open, direct and constant line of dialogue with both our Libyan counterparts and our American allies to keep an eye on the operation's developments and the need for indirect support," Pinotti said.
	She added that Rome believes "success in the fight to eliminate IS's terrorist centres in Libya" was of "fundamental importance 

Italy would 'positively consider' US use of airbases in Libya

Chile's electoral authority inspired a rare display of unity across the political spectrum today by banning election campaigning on social media, drawing condemnation from both left and right.
	With politicians gearing up for local elections on October 23, the Chilean Electoral Service (Servel) issued a manual of guidelines on the country's new electoral law, including blanket bans on campaigning via Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or newspaper websites.
	Social networks have revolutionized election campaigning around the world by giving politicians direct, instantaneous and free access to the masses.
	But according to Servel's interpretation of a new electoral law passed last year -- which replaced ones dating back to the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1998) -- social media outlets are now off limits.
	Politicians of all stripes united in outcry.
	"Servel has overstepped its limits. Its interpretation of the law is absurd. It's a serious mistake. The legislation we approved did not .

Facebook, Twitter ban has Chile politicians up in arms

"The Devil" wanted to change his face, but the suspected drug lord with the demonic nickname was arrested before his appointment with a plastic surgeon in Mexico City.
	David Garza Avila, also known as Elias Garza Garcia, was arrested on Monday in Naucalpan, a suburb of the capital, along with three other people after authorities caught wind of his doctor's appointment, according to the National Security Commission.
	"He had come to get face surgery to avoid being identified," an official at the commission told AFP on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly.
	The 28-year-old suspect, known in Spanish as "El Diablo," had traveled from the northeastern state of Tamaulipas for the operation, but police and troops arrested him, without firing a shot, on the eve of his appointment.
	A commission statement said the suspect was in charge of drug trafficking operations to the United States for the Gulf cartel.
	"Characterized by his high level of violence," the ..

AFP

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