France's foreign minister warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today against using his country's failed coup as a "blank cheque" to silence his opponents.
	"We want the rule of law to work properly in Turkey," Jean-Marc Ayrault told France 3 television, warning Turkey's government against "purges".
	His remarks came as Turkish authorities continued a crackdown over the coup, arresting over 6,000 people accused of involvement in the putsch or of supporting the coup plotters.
	Ayrault said the events of the past two days had raised questions about Turkey's "reliability" in the fight against Islamic State.
	Turkey is a member of the US-led coalition that has been carrying out airstrikes against the group in Syria.
	"There's (the question of) reliability on the one hand and, indeed, an element of suspicion on the other," he told France 3 television.

Failed Turkey coup not blank cheque for Erdogan, France warns

PTI Automatic

Scoreboard at lunch on the fourth
day of the first Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's today:
     Pakistan 1st Innings: 339
     England 1st Innings: 272
     Pakistan 2nd Innings (overnight: 214-8):
	Mohammad Hafeez c Root b Broad            0
	Shan Masood c Cook b Woakes              24
	Azhar Ali lbw b Woakes                   23
	Younis Khan b Ali                        25
	Misbah-ul-Haq c Hales b Ali               0
	Asad Shafiq b Woakes                     49
	Sarfraz Ahmed c Bairstow b Woakes        45
	Yasir Shah c Bairstow b Broad            30
	Wahab Riaz c Bairstow b Woakes            0
	Mohamad Amir c Bairstow b Broad           1
	Rahat Ali not out                         0
	Extras: (B-6, LB-11, NB-1)               18
	Total: (all out in 79.1 overs)   		  215
	Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-44, 3-59, 4-60, 5-129, 6-168, 7-208, 8-214, 9-214, 10-215
     Bowling: Broad 19.1-7-38-3; Ball 16-7-37-0; Finn 13-4-42-0; Woakes 18-6-32-5; Ali 13-3-49-2
     England 2nd Innings ...

London, Jul 17 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the fourth

Pakistan's Rahat Ali removed England's top three batsmen as the first Test at Lord's hurtled towards an exciting climax on Sunday's fourth day.
	 At lunch, England were 90 for three in their second innings, needing a further 193 runs to reach their victory target of 283.
	 James Vince was a Test-best 41 not out and the recalled Gary Ballance 15 not out after Rahat had taken three wickets for 36 runs in eight overs.
	 England captain Alastair Cook launched the chase with a four off the very first ball of the innings when he cut a loose Mohammad Amir delivery to the boundary.
	All the pre-match focus had been on Amir, making his return to Test cricket after six years out at the scene of his 2010 spot-fixing crime.
	But it was fellow left-arm quick Rahat who stunned England.
	 His back-off-a-length ball had left-hander Cook (eight) edging through to wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed.
	Cook's opening partner Alex Hales made a brisk 16 before carelessly chasing a wide ball from Rahat outside off 

Rahat rocks England before Vince hits back

SpaceX is poised to launch its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station tomorrow, carrying a key piece of equipment that was lost last year in a rocket explosion.
	The international docking adapter will function as a parking spot for space taxis, enabling commercial spaceships carrying astronauts to latch on securely to the orbiting outpost.
	It is the first of two docking adapters needed for the crew spaceships being built by SpaceX and Boeing, with those pioneer commercial flights planned for 2017 and 2018.
	For tomorrow's launch, the gumdrop-shaped Dragon spaceship is packed with nearly 5,000 pounds (nearly 2,300 kilograms) of gear, including science experiments and equipment for the astronauts living in space.
	After blasting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 12:45 am (local time), SpaceX will attempt to return the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket to an upright landing on solid ground at the NASA facility.
	The California-based company headed by ...

SpaceX to launch key 'parking spot' to space station

An armed Armenian group with links to a jailed opposition leader seized a police building in Yerevan today, killing one policemen and taking several more hostage, including top officers.
	One of the gunman said they were demanding the resignation of President Serzh Sarkisian and the release of political prisoners but the country's security services dismissed rumours on social media that a coup was under way.
	"A group of armed men entered the premises of a police regiment in Yerevan and is holding hostages under the threat of violence," Armenia's National Security Service said in a statement.
	"One policeman was killed and two others wounded. Two hostages were freed," it said.
	One of the gunmen said on social media that the hostages in the police station in Yerevan's Erebuni district included the country's deputy police chief.
	Nikol Pashinyan, a lawmaker who met the hostage-takers, told journalists that the group had taken eight police hostage but released one who was suffering from 

Armenia opposition group takes hostages in police station raid

A court today ordered the dissolution of Bahrain's Shiite main opposition group Al-Wefaq, a judicial source said, despite international criticism of the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom's intensified crackdown on dissent.
	The administrative court in Manama also ordered the funds of the group, accused by authorities of "harbouring terrorism" among other charges, to be seized by the government, the source said.
	The ruling can still be appealed.
	Al-Wefaq was the largest group in parliament before its lawmakers resigned in protest at the crushing of protests in 2011 calling for an elected government.
	The court accused Al-Wefaq, which draws most of its support from Bahrain's Shiite majority, of "inciting violence and encouraging demonstrations and sit-ins which could lead to sectarian strife in the country".
	It said the bloc had "criticised the performance of the state authorities -- executive, judicial, and legislative".
	On June 28, Al-Wefaq's defence lawyers withdrew from court proceedings 

Bahrain court orders Shiite opposition bloc dissolved

Myanmar's de facto premier Aung San Suu Kyi held landmark talks with senior rebel leaders today, as she strives to seal a ceasefire with a patchwork of ethnic minority militias that have battled the national army for decades.
	Suu Kyi has made peace a flagship policy of her newly installed civilian-led government which replaced decades of brutal junta rule earlier this year.
	It is a tall order in a country where the military, which is loathed and deeply distrusted by many ethnic rebel groups, still retains significant control.
	A number of key rebel factions have yet to sign up to a national ceasefire agreement, something Suu Kyi's government hopes today's talks might change.
	Zaw Htay, deputy director general of the president's office, told reporters the veteran democracy campaigner and her close associates were meeting with five leaders from the United Nationalities Federal Council.
	The body represents both rebel groups that have signed up to the ceasefire agreement and those who .

Myanmar's Suu Kyi holds landmark rebel talks

Turkish authorities rounded up dozens of senior military personnel and judges in a ruthless crackdown today, after thousands massed in the streets nationwide overnight to denounce a coup aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
	World leaders including US President Barack Obama have strongly condemned the attempted putsch but also urged Turkey to respect the "rule of law" in its aftermath, especially after pictures emerged showing the rough treatment of some coup plotters when arrested.
	According to the government, 161 civilians and regular troops lost their lives when a group within the army sought to overthrow the authorities by seizing key strategic points in Istanbul and Ankara.
	Over 100 coup plotters were also killed, the military has said.
	The botched coup bid marked the biggest challenge to Erdogan's rule in 13 years as prime minister and now president. But he successfully mobilised supporters into the streets to face down the plotters.
	Thousands responded late ...

Turkey rounds up plotters after thwarting anti-Erdogan coup

Turkey detains around 6,000 over coup plot: justice

French investigators arrested two more people today as they pieced together details about the motives and preparations of the Tunisian who rammed a truck into a crowd in an IS-claimed attack that killed 84.
	Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel visited the Nice promenade with his rented truck on the two days before he smashed the vehicle into a crowd of people watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city on Thursday night, according to a source close to the probe.
	Mangled bodies were left strewn across the storied seafront, including children, in the grisly attack by a man described by those who knew him as a loner with tendencies towards violence and depression.
	While some family and friends had described the 31-year-old as someone who smoked, drank and never went to the mosque, others questioned by police indicated "a recent swing to radical Islam", said a police source.
	However, there has been no overt evidence linking him to the Islamic State group, which yesterday claimed ..

Two held as details emerge about France truck attacker

A man claiming to have escaped North Korea was being held under police protection after he was found wandering in a city in western Japan, local media reported today.
	The man told the police that he left North Korea by ship last week, public broadcaster NHK and the Asahi Shimbun said, without clarifying why he was on board.
	He then jumped off the boat and swam ashore in Yamaguchi prefecture by holding onto a floating plastic container, the news reports said.
	The man, whose name was withheld, was found wandering in Nagato city yesterday morning and taken in by police, they added.
	Kyodo News said the man, wearing a black T-shirt and trousers, said he was born in 1990 but did not have anything to prove his identity.
	After questioning, the police will hand him over to immigration authorities to determine whether he is a North Korean defector who needs protection and assistance, Kyodo said.
	A local police spokesman declined to confirm the reports.
	Nine North Koreans were picked up ..

Suspected N Korean defector found in Japan: reports

A 5.0 magnitude earthquake shook Tokyo and large ares of eastern Japan today, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
	The quake hit at 1:24 pm (0954 IST) with its epicentre at a relatively shallow depth of 40 kilometres in Ibaraki, northeast of the capital, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
	No damage or injuries were immediately reported as buildings in Tokyo were shaken by the jolt.
	"Shinkansen" bullet train services were temporarily suspended in the region, while no abnormality was monitored at nuclear power facilities in Tokai, Ibaraki prefecture, officials and local media said.
	Japan sits at the junction of four tectonic plates and experiences a number of relatively violent quakes every year, but rigid building codes and strict enforcement mean even powerful tremors frequently do little damage.
	A massive undersea quake that hit in March 2011 sent a tsunami barrelling into Japan's northeast coast, killing more than 15,000 

5.0 magnitude quake shakes Tokyo

Turkish authorities were today rounding up dozens of generals as well as senior judges and prosecutors accused of supporting a failed military coup aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
	The government has already said that almost 3,000 soldiers had been detained on suspicion of involvement in the putsch which began on Friday night but faltered already in the early hours of yesterday.
	NTV television said that 34 generals of various grades had been detained so far. They include senior figures like Erdal Ozturk, commander of the third army and commander of the Malatya-based second army Adem Huduti.
	The authorities have been carrying out raids at military bases across Turkey in search of those suspected of supporting the coup, which has claimed at least 265 lives.
	In an operation early today, at the garrison in the western town of Denizli, its commander Ozhan Ozbakir was detained along with 51 other soldiers, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.
	The crackdown is ...

Turkey rounds up generals, judges after failed coup

Turkish authorities have reportedly detained a senior air force general and other officers accused of backing the failed coup aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a key air base used by US forces for raids in Syria.
	Brigadier air force general Bekir Ercan Van was detained along with over a dozen lower ranking officers yesterday at the air force base of Incirlik in Turkey's southern Adana province, newspapers including the Hurriyet daily said.
	They were now being interrogated by investigators, the reports added.
	A Turkish official told AFP yesterday that Ankara suspected Incirlik was used to refuel military aircraft "hijacked" by the coup plotters on Friday night.
	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.
	But the Turkish authorities imposed a security lockdown on the base in the wake of the coup, allowing no movement in or out, the US ...

Turkey detains 'coup plotters' at base used by US: reports

Tunisian attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel visited the Nice promenade with his rented truck on the two days before he rammed the vehicle into a crowd, killing 84, a source close to the investigation said today.
	The source said police had questioned hundreds of people since Thursday night's attack, several of whom said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel did show signs of being religious.
	French authorities have said the attacker became radicalised "very quickly", and some of his family and friends had previously said he smoked, drank and never went to the mosque.

France attacker visited site with truck twice: Source

US Vice President Joe Biden today unveiled a series of agreements between the US and Australia to create an "unprecedented" international research database of cancer patients as he kicked off a three-day visit in Melbourne.
	Fighting cancer is a personal goal for Biden, who lost his son Beau Biden to brain cancer last year, with the opening of an USD 760,000 medical facility his first event on his Australia tour, ahead of talks with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
	"Cancer research has not really been a team sport the last 25 years," Biden, who heads up the White House's "moonshot" initiative to speed up research into the disease, said at the launch of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
	"But you're making it, as we say in the States, a team sport," he added, declaring that the world was on the verge of major breakthroughs in treatment.
	The collaboration would see an "unprecedented international dataset" of at least 8,000 US patients and 50,000 from Australia made 

Biden announces 'unprecedented' US-Australia cancer database

Two new arrests in French truck massacre case: judicial

The Olympic movement faces division in a critical week ahead of the Rio Games with a report tomorrow to set out whether Russia manipulated doping samples, followed quickly by a sports tribunal verdict on 68 Russian athletes demanding to compete in Rio.
     A World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decision on whether to let the Rio doping laboratory reopen could also hamper International Olympic Committee preparations.
     "It's an incredibly important week that could crack the unity built up on doping," an international sports federation president who is also a senior IOC member told AFP.
     A report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren has caused divisions before it is even released in Toronto on Monday with the United States and Canada leading calls for a potential complete ban on Russia from the Rio Games which start on August 5.
     McLaren has carried out an independent investigation for WADA of allegations made by former Moscow doping laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov that even 

Key Russia findings could cast shadow over Rio

Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion pressed Turkey to handle the aftermath of a coup attempt according to "fundamental principles of democracy."
	Speaking on the television network Radio-Canada after a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Canadian diplomatic chief said it was "important to avoid collect punishment" against those who organized the aborted coup that sought to seize power from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
	"Democracy has been saved," Dion said yesterday, after Turkish authorities wrested back control of the country Saturday.
	"We must be discerning to ensure that those on trial have the chance to prove innocence or express their point of view according to the fundamental rules of justice we must aim to respect."
	Turkish authorities crushed the putsch bid by discontented soldiers in a chaotic night of violence that left at least 265 dead.
	With the coup defeated, Turkey rounded up 2,839 soldiers over alleged involvement, amid ...

Canada urges Turkey to avoid summary justice after failed coup

Heavy rains and flash floods in Sudan's war-torn region of Darfur killed nine people, the official SUNA news agency reported.
	The deaths occurred in the town of El-Fasher, the capital of the state of North Darfur.
	"Heavy rains lashed the north and east parts of El-Fasher causing floods," the town's municipal commissioner Eltijani Abdullah Salah told SUNA yesterday.
	Salah said nine people drowned in the floods, including two from a camp for internally displaced people.
	The United Nations aid agencies had warned of flooding in Sudan between July and November this year.
	Flash floods and heavy rains already damaged more than 2,500 houses in the state of Sennar last month, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest weekly bulletin.
	Darfur has seen violence since 2003 when ethnic minority rebels rose up against President Omar al-Bashir, accusing his Arab-dominated government of marginalising the region after which Bashir mounted a brutal ...

Floods kill 9 in Sudan's Darfur

The final leg of an unprecedented world tour by a solar-powered plane was postponed due to the pilot's health, he said in a message on Twitter.
	The Solar Impulse 2 had been scheduled to leave Cairo for Abu Dhabi.
	"I'm sick. Stomach upset. I prefer to postpone the take-off @solarimpulse. I cannot go flying for 48 hours in that shape. Sorry," Bertrand Piccard wrote on Twitter yesterday.
	The aircraft had arrived in Cairo on Wednesday after a two-day flight from Spain, finishing the 3,745 kilometre (2,327 mile) journey with an average speed of 76.7 kilometres an hour.
	It had earlier landed in Seville after completing the first solo transatlantic flight powered only by sunlight, flying through the night with energy stored in its 17,000 photovoltaic cells.
	The plane is being flown on its 35,400-kilometre (22,000 mile) trip in stages, with Piccard and his Swiss compatriot Andre Borschberg alternating at the controls of the single-seat plane.
	"So Piccard was not feeling well yesterday. .

AFP

AFP

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