Indonesia's most wanted Muslim militant may have been killed today in a firefight with security forces, police said, after a lengthy hunt for the Islamic State (IS) group supporter.
	Santoso, the leader of extremist group the Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen, is suspected to have been shot dead along with another militant in a jungle-clad, mountainous district on central Sulawesi island.
	National police chief Tito Karnavian said there were indications the man killed was Santoso.
	"There are indeed signs, a mole on his forehead, which matches the features of Santoso," he said, adding the bodies of those killed were being removed from the site of the firefight for further identification.
	As well as those killed, one other man and two women managed to escape during the firefight in Tambarana village, said Karnavian.
	If confirmed, the death of Santoso would represent a major victory for the Indonesian authorities who had sent thousands of troops and soldiers to Sulawesi to hunt him ...

Indonesia's most wanted militant may be dead: police

PTI Automatic

Respect for fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and due process is critical to preserve Turkey's democracy, the United Nations said today as the Turkish authorities pressed ahead with a crackdown following a failed coup.
	More than 7,500 people including senior military officials have been detained and nearly 9,000 officials sacked from their posts in the crackdown following the attempt to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday.
	"The constitutional order needs to be fully preserved in accordance with the principles of democracy and fundamental rights, including through the full respect of freedom of speech and assembly and adherence to due process," UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.
	"These steps are critical to preserve Turkey's democracy and its future stability," he added.
	UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had called on Friday for a quick and peaceful return to civilian rule in Turkey.
	"The United Nations continues to stand firmly by Turkey and its democracy ...

Upholding rights critical to saving Turkey's democracy: UN

Suicide bombings killed 11 people today at two army checkpoints in Al-Qaeda's former stronghold in southeastern Yemen, officials said, in attacks claimed by the jihadist group.
	One attacker drove his bomb-laden truck into a checkpoint in a western district of Hadramawt's provincial capital Mukalla, security officials told AFP.
	The second attacker simultaneously blew up his vehicle at an army checkpoint in the nearby town of Hajr, some 15 kilometres (nine miles) to the west of Mukalla, the sources said.
	Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the two attacks in a report on its Telegram account.
	AQAP said "dozens were killed and wounded" from forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and it posted photographs of the two bombers.
	The commander of Hadramawt's second military region, General Faraj Salmeen, had earlier told AFP that the second bombing struck the centre of the city, blaming the attack on "terrorists".
	Eleven people were killed and 18 were ...

11 dead in Yemen bombings claimed by Qaeda

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) called for all Russian competitors and officials to be banned from the Rio Olympics and other international sport after an investigation found rampant state-run doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and other events.
	A probe by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren for WADA found the FSB secret service helped "the state-dictated failsafe system" carried out by the sports ministry and covering 30 sports.
	International Olympic Committee members will hold emergency talks tomorrow to decide provisional sanctions over what IOC president Thomas Bach called "a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sports and on the Olympic Games."
	WADA's executive committee said the IOC and the International Paralympics Committee should "decline entries, for Rio 2016, of all athletes submitted by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and the Russian Paralympic Committee."
	It also called for Russian officials implicated in the scandal to be sacked and for 

Call for Russia Olympics exclusion over state-run doping

Five people were today gunned down in attacks on a police station and a security building in Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty with security forces arresting two men in connection with the assaults.
	Kazakhstan's National Security Committee (KNB) declared its "anti-terror" operation over in the financial capital after detaining the two suspects.
	Three police officers and two civilians were shot dead in what President Nursultan Nazarbayev called "a terrorist act".
	KNB security chief Vladimir Zhumakanov said one of the suspects may have "connected" with followers of the ultra-conservative Salafi strain of Islam while in jail on theft and weapons charges.
	"We are checking this information," Zhumakanov said at a televised meeting of Nazarbayev's security council, without providing further details.
	The KNB announced "the conclusion of the anti-terror operation" and lowered the terror threat level from "critical" red to "moderate" yellow shortly after detaining the second of the two ...

Five dead in Kazakhstan 'terror' attacks on police

The truck driver who killed 84 people in the French city of Nice showed a "clear, recent interest" in radical Islam, the Paris prosecutor said today, confirming the attack was "premeditated".
	The investigation showed Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had trawled the internet for information on a terror attack in the US city of Orlando and on the killing of a police couple in a Paris suburb last month, Francois Molins said.
	A search of his computer also found violent images "linked to radical Islam", he told a press conference in Paris.
	However, he said no clear link had been established between the father of three and the Islamic State group which claimed the Bastille Day carnage.
	The revelations came on the third day of mourning over the grisly attack, which saw Bouhlel use a 19-tonne truck to mow down crowds leaving a Bastille Day fireworks display in the French Riviera city.
	A sea of people thronged the seafront promenade in Nice where the attack took place for an emotional minute's ..

Attacker in Nice showed 'clear interest' in radical Islam

New British foreign minister Boris Johnson today urged the European Union to leave room for future cooperation on strategic issues even though Britain is leaving the bloc.
	"We are very keen to see the EU develop and go forward. What we would say is to make sure that there are kinds of docking stations and doorways open for further UK involvement down the track," Johnson said after a first meeting with his EU peers in Brussels.

Johnson wants EU to leave 'doorways' for UK cooperation

Two acting chief prosecutors, accompanied by police, have started searching a key air base in southern Turkey used by the United States for air raids on the Islamic State group, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported today.
	Authorities had earlier detained a senior air force general and a dozen other suspects accused of backing the failed coup at the Incirlik air base in the Adana province close to Syria, officials said at the weekend.
	Officials have said the authorities suspect that Incirlik was used by rogue troops to refuel military aircraft "hijacked" by the coup plotters on Friday night.
	The report did not specify what evidence the investigation team was seeking.
	The base has become a key hub for US forces after Turkey last year agreed to allow the United States to use Incirlik to carry out lethal raids against jihadists in Syria.
	Washington said yesterday that strikes had resumed from the base, after Turkish authorities imposed a security lockdown on the base and closed 

Turkey police search air base used by US : state media

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls today condemned as "disgraceful" the boos he endured while attending a minute's silence in Nice for the victims of the Bastille Day truck attack.
	Valls said the jeers and calls for him to resign reflected the "attitude of a minority" in the city run by the opposition Republicans party.

French PM condemns 'disgraceful' booing by Nice mourners

On their long-awaited reunion tour, Guns N' Roses have largely avoided the antics that once made the band so notorious -- but not entirely.
	Frontman Axl Rose said that the hard rock legends were briefly detained in Canada for trying to bring in a gun.
	"Yeah, we found a gun," he told a sold-out crowd Saturday night at the Rogers Centre arena in Toronto, according to a video posted online afterward by a fan.
	"So we weren't exactly arrested. We were detained," he said, adding that Canadian customs officers were "very nice" about the incident.
	"They were very understanding. You know, it happens -- you can forget you had a... Gun," he said, before playing "Out Ta Get Me."
	Rose did not give more details but said the gun was not his. Canada has much stricter controls on firearms than the United States.
	The Los Angeles rockers became legendary in their heyday for their confrontations with audiences and off-stage brawls. A 1992 show in Montreal ended in violence by outraged fans as the ..

Guns N' Roses say Canada detained them over gun

NATO head Jens Stoltenberg today said Turkey must fully respect the rule of law and democratic freedoms, just like any other alliance member, in the aftermath of a failed military coup.
	   "Being part of a unique community of values, it is essential for Turkey, like all other allies, to ensure full respect for democracy and its institutions, the constitutional order, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms," Stoltenberg said in a statement after speaking with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

NATO head tells 'essential' Turkey respects rule of law

A sharp rise in shipping emissions in east Asia is killing tens of thousands of people in the region every year and adding to global warming, a study said today.
	The manufacturing and export hub has the world's fastest-growing rate of particle and carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution from shipping emissions, it said.
	This is likely to grow as China pursues a policy of reviving the ancient Silk Road trade with Europe -- yet very little is known about the damage done by east Asia's shipping emissions.
	A team of Chinese and American scientists used records of more than 18,000 vessels observed in the region in 2013 to calculate emissions and their likely effect.
	They found that ship traffic in east Asia more than doubled since 2005.
	Resulting emissions accounted for 16 percent of global shipping CO2 in 2013 -- up from about 4-7 percent from 2002 to 2005.
	The region, which holds eight of the world's top ten container ports, now accounts for more than a sixth of global shipping activity and 

E.Asian shipping emissions kill tens of thousands: study

Turkey launched fresh raids and sacked almost 9,000 officials today in a relentless crackdown against suspected coup plotters that has alarmed the West and sparked fears Ankara could reinstate the death penalty.
	President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to wipe out the "virus" of the putschists after facing down Friday's dramatic coup bid that left more than 300 people dead.
	But the United States and European Union have sternly warned him against excessive retribution as the authorities round up the alleged perpetrators of the attempted power grab.
	German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman denounced "revolting scenes of caprice and revenge against soldiers on the streets" after disturbing pictures emerged of the treatment of some detained suspects.
	Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said over 7,500 people have been detained so far, including 103 generals and admirals, in the investigation into Friday's coup which Erdogan has blamed on his arch-enemy, the US-based preacher Fethullah ..

Turkey presses post-coup purge as West voices concern

Civilians in rebel-held parts of Syria's Aleppo expressed fears today of a lengthy government siege, as food supplies dwindled after regime troops seized the only road into the city's east.
	The advance by the government, which has been backed by a Russian air offensive, is seen as a major setback for opposition forces in Syria's second city.
	The United Nations says about 600,000 Syrians already live under siege throughout the country, most encircled by government forces, though rebels and the Islamic State group have also used the tactic.
	A US-backed alliance of Kurds and Arabs has also surrounded the IS stronghold of Manbij about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Aleppo city.
	Air strikes by the US-led coalition killed at least 21 civilians in and around the jihadist bastion today, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
	In Aleppo city itself, food and fuel shortages had already hit rebel-held eastern districts that are home to at least 200,000 people, after ...

Fear in Syria's rebel-held Aleppo as regime lays siege

UNESCO has named Iraqi marshlands once ravaged by dictator Saddam Hussein as a World Heritage Site, a bright spot for a country where jihadists have repeatedly sought to wipe out history.
	The area named "is made up of seven sites: three archaeological sites and four wetland marsh areas in southern Iraq," UNESCO said.
	"The archaeological cities of Uruk and Ur and the Tell Eridu archaeological site form part of the remains of the Sumerian cities and settlements that developed in southern Mesopotamia between the 4th and the 3rd millennium BCE," it said.
	"The Ahwar of Southern Iraq -- also known as the Iraqi Marshlands -- are unique, as one of the world's largest inland delta systems, in an extremely hot and arid environment," UNESCO said.
	Iraq has been seeking World Heritage status for the marshes since 2003, and its government hailed the move.
	Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated the Iraqi people on UNESCO's decision, and thanked "all those who contributed to this ...

Iraq marshlands named UNESCO world heritage site

Air strikes by the US-led coalition killed at least 21 civilians in and around a stronghold of the Islamic State group in northern Syria today, a monitor said.
	At least 15 civilians were killed in raids in a northern district of Manbij while six others were killed in a village near the city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
	The jihadist bastion lies on their main supply route between Syria and Turkey in the northern province of Aleppo.
	It has faced a US-backed offensive by Kurdish and Arab fighters since May 31 that has caused thousands of civilians to flee.
	But tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped in Manbij, most of which is controlled by the jihadists.
	On June 23, the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters broke into western districts of Manbij, after blocking the road south of the city heading to IS's de facto capital of Raqa.
	But their advance has been slowed in the past month because of landmines planted by the jihadists, ...

Coalition raids kill 21 civilians in Syria: monitor

France truck attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had a "clear, recent interest in the radical jihadist movement", Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said today.
	Investigations showed the Tunisian had searched on the internet for information on a terror attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando and the Paris suburb of Magnanville -- where a police couple were killed last month.
	Molins said the attack was "of a premeditated nature."
	Bouhlel staked out the site of the carnage in Nice, the Promenade des Anglais, on several occasions, took selfies there throughout the day of the attack and had reserved the rented truck on July 4.
	Since July 1, he had also made several internet searches for "horrible fatal accident" and had on his computer violent images "linked to radical Islam".
	Investigations also showed he had grown a beard eight days before the attack, telling people "the meaning of this beard is religious".
	Authorities believe Bouhlel was radicalised very quickly, as he had never shown .

Nice attacker had 'clear, recent' interest in radical Islam

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) called for Russia to be completely banned from the Rio Olympics and other international sport after an investigation found rampant state-run doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and other events.
     An investigation by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren for WADA found the FSB secret service helped "the state-dictated failsafe system" carried out by the sports ministry and covering 30 sports.
     "WADA calls on sport movement to deny Russian athletes participation at international competition including Rio until 'culture change' achieved," the international anti-doping agency spokesman Ben Nichols said in a statement on Twitter.
     International Olympic Committee members were to hold an emergency telephone conference on Tuesday to decide provisional sanctions over what IOC president Thomas Bach called "a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sports and on the Olympic Games."
     McLaren's report said the cover up started 

Call for Russia's Oly ban after probe finds state-run doping

Britain's new foreign minister Boris Johnson has given up his lucrative newspaper column, which he had used for years to mock world leaders, his spokesman said today.
	The leading Brexit campaigner was paid 250,000 pounds a year for his weekly article in The Daily Telegraph broadsheet, which he continued writing during his eight-year tenure as mayor of London.
	He used the column to showcase his rapier wit, but some of his barbs -- including comparing White House hopeful Hillary Clinton to a "sadistic nurse" -- came back to haunt him when he was named foreign secretary last week.
	Prime Minister Theresa May, who took office following the June 23 referendum vote for Britain to leave the EU, stunned observers by naming gaffe-prone Johnson as her top diplomat.
	His new job comes with a salary of 135,527 pounds a year, which includes 74,962 pounds for being a member of parliament.
	"Whilst Mr Johnson has enjoyed a close working relationship with The Daily Telegraph for over 20 years, it ..

Britain's Johnson quits controversial newspaper column

Two acting chief prosecutors, accompanied by police, have started searching a key air base in southern Turkey used by the United States for air raids on the Islamic State group, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported today.
	   Authorities had earlier detained a senior air force general and a dozen other suspects accused of backing the failed coup at the Incirlik air base in the Adana province close to Syria, officials said at the weekend.

Turkey police search key air base used by US after failed

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said today that the truck attack that killed 84 in the Riviera city of Nice was "of a premeditated nature."
	Investigations have shown that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel staked out the Promenade des Anglais on several occasions, taking selfies there throughout the day of the attack, and had reserved the rented truck on July 4.

AFP

AFP

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