South Korean protestors clashed with police today as they tried to disrupt the opening in Seoul of a Tokyo-funded foundation for women forced to work in Japanese wartime brothels.
	The plight of the so-called "comfort women" is a hugely emotional issue that has marred relations between Seoul and Japan for decades and which, for many South Koreans, symbolises the abuses of Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.
	Last December, the two nations reached a "final and irreversible" agreement, under which Tokyo offered an apology and one billion yen (USD 8.5 million) to open the foundation for the dwindling number of comfort women who are still alive.
	But the deal was condemned by some of the women and South Korean activists, who took issue with Japan's refusal to accept formal legal responsibility.
	"You can't silence the victims with money!" scores of protestors chanted at Thursday's opening event, which they picketed with banners reading: "This is not what the comfort ..

Protests as S Korea opens 'comfort women' foundation

PTI Automatic

South Korean police launched an investigation today after 200 badges featuring the portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il were found at a hotel near the country's main airport, Yonhap news agency reported.
	Police found the badges scattered on a flowerbed at the Grand Hyatt near Incheon International Airport and have launched a joint probe with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) into the source of the pins, South Korea's Yonhap said.
	Police officials and the NIS both declined to comment on the matter to AFP.
	All North Korean adults are required to wear a pin that bears the image of founder Kim Il-Sung or his son, Kim Jong-Il -- or both -- as a token of their loyalty to the leadership.
	In South Korea, wearing or even possessing such a badge would be illegal since praising the North in public is punishable by law with up to seven years in jail.
	The badges were found just a day after the South Korean military said it discovered bags of North Korean propaganda leaflets .

N Korea 'Kim badges' found in South: report

Oil prices edged up in Asia today after slumping for five-straight sessions to a three-month low after a surprise jump in US stockpiles built on increasing worries about a global supply glut.
	US energy department data showed yesterday that inventories were 13.4 per cent higher on-year, while gasoline stocks were up 11.8 per cent, indicating demand remains weak as the peak holiday driving season comes to a close.
	The news sent Brent tumbling three percent and West Texas Intermediate more than two percent down to sit at levels not seen since April, with both contracts now down about a fifth from their 2016 highs above USD 50 early last month.
	Today bargain-buyers moved in, helped by a weaker dollar after the the Federal Reserve indicated any US interest rate increase would be slow and measured.
	At about 0850 IST, US Benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up eight cents to USD 42.00 a barrel while North Sea Brent was up six cents at USD 43.53.
	"There is still a surplus and the oil ...

Oil slightly higher after five-day slump

Russia has ordered independent election watchdog Golos be closed down for breaking a controversial NGO law, less than two months before a national vote.
	A Moscow court backed a request by Russia's justice ministry, which said Golos was not in compliance with the law and the NGO has been engaged in political activities, Interfax reported.
	"We will obviously appeal this decision," Golos' lawyer Maxime Kroupski told the Russian news agency, saying the dissolution order was illegal.
	"The ministry discovered these violations in September 2015 and ordered us to remedy them before November 20," he said. "Therefore, the law has not been broken."
	In April, the watchdog said it had been fined 1.2 million rubles (USD 18,300, 16,500 euros) for violating controversial legislation forcing certain NGOs to advertise themselves as "foreign agents".
	The penalty is believed to be the largest ever imposed on a Russian organisation for violating the notorious law and comes ahead of parliamentary ...

Russia orders election watchdog close ahead of vote

Andy Murray has revealed the secret behind the personalised notes that fuelled his Wimbledon triumph and will inspire his bid for more Olympic glory.
     Murray was often seen reading a sheet of paper in breaks between games as he marched to a historic second Wimbledon title in July. The Scot offered a rare insight into the motivational scribblings after his success at the All England Club.
     The 29-year-old, who has worked with a sports psychologist in the past, writes down important aspects of his game-plan to focus on during each match and sprinkles in inspirational reminders of his qualities.
     As Murray prepares to defend the Olympics singles gold medal he won so memorably in London four years ago, the world number two will again turn to his notes for guidance in Rio.
     "They're personal notes. Some of them stay the same the whole time. They're basic things I remind myself to do during the matches," Murray said.
     "When I play my best tennis I feel like I'm doing ...

Note perfect Murray ready for more Olympic glory

Pakistan off-spin great Saqlain Mushtaq is set for another spell as an England coaching consultant, highlighting how fluid national allegiances can become when a cricketer's playing days are over.
     Saqlain was brought in by England ahead of the recent second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford.
     In the build-up he found himself working with both off-spinner Moeen Ali and leg-break bowler Adil Rashid, although only Ali of the pair made it into the XI that won by 330 runs with more than a day to spare to level the four-match series at 1-1.
     Saqlain's former Pakistan team-mate Mushtaq Ahmed, is carrying out a similar role with the tourists in more of a permanent capacity.
     Prior to taking up his Pakistan role, former leg-spinner Mushtaq was England's spin-bowling coach.
     Off-spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, Test cricket's all-time leading wicket-taker, has come under fire for working with Australia in their ongoing series in his native Sri Lanka.
     By contrast ..

Saqlain set for second stint as England spin guru

Rio's mayor and Australia buried the hatchet in a row over shambolic conditions at the Olympic Village but controversy lingered, as a new poll showed Brazilians are deeply gloomy about the Games.
     Mayor Eduardo Paes kissed Australia delegation chief Kitty Chiller on the cheek, handed her a symbolic key to the city and apologized for the construction hiccups at the Village, which included blocked toilets, dangerous wiring and leaks.
     "I saw the things. This was the worst building. I recognize the problems you faced," a repentant Paes said.
     Paes' speech was a far cry from his apparently combative reaction Sunday after Chiller lambasted the accommodations as the worst she'd seen in five Olympics.
     The mayor's quip that a kangaroo should be sent to make the Australians feel better fell flat, being widely interpreted as a jibe and quickly surfacing on Twitter as #kangaroogate.
     Paes explained Wednesday he'd not meant any harm and offered "a formal apology, almost a ...

Olympic Village controversy lingers, Brazilians pessimistic

Venezuelan police blocked a march by opposition protesters demanding a referendum on removing President Nicolas Maduro, a prospect looking less likely as the leftist government digs in its heels.
	Some 200 police blocked hundreds of opposition demonstrators shouting "Recall now" as they tried to march on the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Caracas.
	There were no clashes, but the muscular police response lay bare the tension gripping the country as it lurches through an economic crisis that is causing severe food shortages and hyperinflation.
	"The government is desperate. They're afraid of the people's vote. They'll use every trick they can" to avoid a recall, said the speaker of the opposition-majority legislature, Henry Ramos Allup.
	The opposition has been hoping pressure from Venezuelans fed up with recession, shortages and mounting chaos will force the government to allow a referendum on Maduro.
	But the leftist leader's camp made clear it was not going ..

Venezuela police block opposition march for recall vote

US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have reached a long-awaited decision on where exactly in Chicago to build their presidential library.
	The location is the city's historic Jackson Park, near the University of Chicago where the president taught law before being elected to public office, a source familiar with the decision making told AFP.
	A formal announcement will be made in the coming days.
	The 540-acre park, named after the seventh US president Andrew Jackson, was commissioned in 1869, according to the city's park district. It is nestled on Chicago's famed waterfront, overlooking Lake Michigan and is also the site of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
	The newest addition to the US network of presidential libraries will serve as a repository for historical items, records and papers pertaining to Obama's two terms as president after he leaves office in January.
	The Obamas last year picked Chicago as the host city for their library, instead of ...

Obamas pick presidential library site in Chicago: source

The United States slammed as "provocative" Israeli plans to build hundreds of new settlement homes in annexed east Jerusalem, saying they seriously undermined the prospect of peace with the Palestinians.
	"We are deeply concerned by reports today that the government of Israel has published tenders for 323 units in east Jerusalem settlements," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement yesterday.
	"This follows Monday's announcement of plans for 770 units in the settlement of Gilo."
	"These steps by Israeli authorities are the latest examples of what appears to be a steady acceleration of settlement activity that is systematically undermining the prospects for a two-state solution," Kirby said.
	"We remain troubled that Israel continues this pattern of provocative and counterproductive action, which raises serious questions about Israel's ultimate commitment to a peaceful, negotiated settlement with the Palestinians."
	Palestinian leaders and the United Nations joined in 

Israeli settlement plans 'provocative and counterproductive'

US President Barack Obama will spearhead a Democratic effort to paint Donald Trump as unfit to be commander-in-chief today, hoping to capitalise on the mogul's missteps in an escalating scandal about alleged Russian spying.
	Trump courted outrage as Democrats gathered in Philadelphia for day three of their national convention by encouraging Moscow to hack the email of his election rival Hillary Clinton.
	Obama will be one of a string of Democratic national security heavyweights -- from former CIA director Leon Panetta to Vice President Joe Biden -- who will appear before the convention to explicitly and implicitly question Trump's temperament.
	In an interview, Obama warned that "anything is possible" when it came to November's election.
	"What I think is scary is a president who doesn't know their stuff and doesn't seem to have an interest in learning what they don't know," he said, referring to Trump.
	Obama, acting as a character reference for his former primary foe and secretary ..

Obama to argue Trump fails 'commander-in-chief' test

The international coalition fighting the Islamic State group has opened a formal investigation to determine whether its air strikes last week near the Syrian city of Manbij claimed civilian lives, a spokesman has said.
	The main Syrian opposition group had urged the US-led coalition to suspend its bombardments following the July 19 strikes, which a rights-monitoring group and local residents said had killed dozens of civilians.
	After examining "internal and external information," the coalition determined that there was sufficient credible evidence of civilian victims to open a formal inquiry, said spokesman Colonel Chris Garver.
	The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 56 civilians, including 11 children, died as they fled from a village near Manbij, a strategic waypoint between Turkey and the jihadist stronghold of Raqa.
	A death toll of that magnitude would appear to be the worst in nearly two years of coalition air strikes against IS targets.
	Garver ...

Coalition to investigate recent civilian deaths in Syria

Mexico's government has said it will soon transfer aging drug lord Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo to house arrest after 31 years in prison for the killing of a US undercover agent.
	Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong yesterday said the National Security Commission exhausted all legal options for "this criminal to remain in prison" following a court ruling that granted him house arrest.
	The 86-year-old drug capo, alias "Don Neto," was convicted for the 1985 murder of US Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, a crime that strained US-Mexican relations at the time.
	Last year, a federal court approved Fonseca Carrillo's request to serve the final years of his 40-year sentence under house arrest for health reasons.
	"It's an obligation imposed on us by a judge and that we have to comply with," Osorio Chong told reporters, adding that the transfer was "imminent."
	The move would come three years after one of Fonseca's accomplices, veteran drug baron Rafael Caro .

Mexico to move jailed drug lord to house arrest

Pope Francis told cheering crowds of young pilgrims today to do their duty and "make some noise" as he kicked off an international Catholic festival in Poland.
	The Argentine, 79, was making his first evening appearance at the window of the archbishop's palace in Krakow, greeting pilgrims from across the world following a tradition begun by pope John Paul II.
	Thousands of youngsters sang football-style chants with a religious twist before the smiling and waving pope appeared.
	Francis asked for a moment of silence for a Polish volunteer who had been helping organise the 2016 edition of World Youth Day when he was diagnosed with and died of cancer.
	Maciej Szymon Ciesla, who had been a member of the WYD graphic design team, was to have travelled with Francis aboard a city tram yesterday along with a group of disabled youngsters and their families.
	"Some of you might be thinking, this pope has ruined the evening!" he joked with the crowd after telling the tale.
	"We have to get used ..

Pope tells young to 'make some noise!'

Turkey today said it was discharging 149 generals and ordering the closure of dozens of media outlets in the next phase of its controversial crackdown in the wake of the failed coup.
	Eighty seven land army generals, 30 air force generals, and 32 admirals -- a total of 149 -- were being dishonourably discharged from the military over their complicity in the coup bid, a Turkish official said, confirming a government decree published in the official gazette.
	Meanwhile the closure was ordered of three news agencies, 16 television stations, 23 radio stations, 45 newspapers, 15 magazines and 29 publishers, the official gazette added.

Turkey discharges generals, shuts media outlets after coup

Pro-opposition gunmen locked in a protracted standoff with police in the Armenian capital Yerevan today took four medical staff hostage, officials said, after a shootout left five people wounded.
	Two doctors and two nurses were held after entering a police compound seized by the assailants 10 days ago to treat two gunmen injured in clashes.
	"The doctors who went into the captured territory to assist two members of the armed group who refused to go to hospital have been taken hostage," police spokesman Ashot Aharonyan wrote on Facebook.
	"The police are taking steps to free the doctors through negotiations."
	A health ministry spokesman said later on Facebook that one of the nurses had been freed.
	"Three other health professionals, two doctors and a nurse, are still being held," he said.
	Gunmen -- supporters of fringe jailed opposition leader Zhirair Sefilyan -- stormed a police building in Yerevan on July 17, killing one officer, taking several more hostage and seizing a store of .

Medics 'taken hostage' as Armenia standoff drags on

Two jihadists who attacked a French church and killed a priest pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, a video showed today, as investigators worked to identify the second assailant.
	The attack is the third in two weeks in France and Germany in which jihadists have pledged allegiance to the group, increasing jitters in Europe over young, often unstable men being lured by IS propaganda and calls to carry out attacks in their home countries.
	IS also claimed that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who killed 84 people when he ploughed a truck into a crowd in the French city of nice on July 14, was one of their "soldiers", however no direct link has been found.
	France was still deep in mourning over the massacre when two men stormed into a church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass yesterday and slit the 86-year-old priest's throat at the altar before being gunned down by police.
	Another man was left seriously injured in a hostage drama, while three ...

French church attackers pledged allegiance to IS in video

The Federal Reserve today left key interest rates untouched but acknowledged improved economic performance, suggesting a rate increase may be on the horizon in 2016.
	Policy makers had not been expected to raise rates, out of concern that a hike could stifle fragile growth.
	Their improved view on economic conditions was therefore likely to raise market expectations for an increase in the benchmark federal funds rate, now at 0.25-0.50 per cent, by December.
	Despite weak job creation in May, the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets the monetary policy, said employment and economic growth had grown at a moderately since their mid-June meeting.
	They also appeared to see less threat to US growth from Britain's vote to leave the European Union, which took place a week after the June FOMC meeting.
	"Near-term risks to the economic outlook have diminished," the FOMC said in announcing the outcome of the closely watched two-day meeting in Washington.
	Inflation rate hawks and doves had 

Fed leaves rates unchanged but says US economy improving

The Islamic State jihadist group released video footage today it said showed two men who killed a priest in a French church pledging allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
	The video, posted on the IS news agency Amaq, shows two young men with an IS banner, as one of them recites in Arabic in a strong non-native accent a traditional pledge of allegiance to the group's head.

Video shows France church attackers pledge allegiance to IS

Austria is to hand over to France two suspected members of the same Islamic State group unit who massacred 130 people in Paris last November, officials and media reports said today.
	Austrian authorities believe the Algerian and the Pakistani, aged 34 and 28 at the time, travelled to Greece along with two men involved in the attacks, posing as refugees.
	While the assailants continued on to France and died after conducting their massacre on November 13, the other two were detained by Greek authorities for 25 days because they had falsified Syrian passports.
	Once let go, they made it to Salzburg in western Austria at the end of November -- after the Paris atrocities -- and Austrian police arrested them at a migrant centre on December 10.
	Following a French request, a court in Salzburg approved at the beginning of July their transfer to France, but the Pakistani appealed, the Austria Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
	A higher court in the city of Linz rejected this appeal today, a .

Austria to hand over Paris attacks 'accomplices' to France

An internal probe has found the security contingent in Nice was "not undersized" on the night of the Bastille Day truck attack that killed 84 people, the French authorities said Wednesday.
	Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve ordered the investigation as the government faced fierce criticism from the opposition over security for the July 14 event.
	The head of the national police internal affairs division, Marie-France Moneger-Guyomarc'h, described the squabble as "the result of poor understanding and interpretation of information."
	She said that 64 national police and 42 municipal police were deployed to secure a fireworks display on the Nice seafront for the July 14 national holiday.
	A truck driven by Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian, rammed into the revellers, killing 84 and injuring more than 300. Bouhlel was shot dead by police.
	Opposition politicians had contested the figures for police deployment, with regional president Christian Estrosi slamming "state ...

AFP

AFP

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