The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Cairo yoday for the penultimate stop in the solar-powered plane's world tour, two days after setting off from Spain.
	The experimental plane had completed the first solo transatlantic flight to land in Spain last month, and will continue from Cairo to Abu Dhabi, where it began its marathon journey in March 2015.

Solar plane lands in Egypt in penultimate stop of world tour

PTI Automatic

An Israeli border policeman shot dead one Palestinian and wounded another in the occupied West Bank today when they drove towards officers, an army spokeswoman said.
	The officers had been carrying out a search operation in Al-Ram, northeast of Jerusalem, during which they uncovered an arms workshop, when they spotted the vehicle coming towards them, the spokeswoman said.
	One of the border policemen, who "felt in danger", opened fire, she added.
	A third Palestinian in the vehicle was arrested.
	Israeli security forces have launched a major crackdown on underground arms workshops in the West Bank, closing 16 since the start of the year, a senior army officer said on Tuesday.
	A wave of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories since October last year has has killed at least 215 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.
	Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.
	Others ...

Israel border police kill Palestinian in West Bank: army

Oil prices turned lower again in Asia today after data indicated a rise in US stockpiles, reigniting concerns about a supply glut, while profit-takers stepped in after the previous day's surge.
	The American Petroleum Institute reported a 2.2 million barrel rise in reserves last week, confounding expectations of a dip at the height of the crucial summer driving season when Americans go on holiday.
	The figures rattled traders as the Department of Energy prepares to release later Wednesday official data, which is considered a key gauge of demand in the world's top oil consumer.
	At about 0340 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 27 cents, or 0.58 per cent, to USD 46.53 while Brent was 36 cents, or 0.74 per cent, lower at USD 48.11.
	"It's bearish for oil if stockpiles gain because seasonally speaking, inventories tend to decline at least until mid-August," Hong Sung Ki, a commodities analyst at Samsung Futures Inc., told Bloomberg News.
	"But of course, we need to see whether 

Oil prices dip in Asia as oversupply worries return

Authorities in Louisiana -- already rocked by the deadly police shooting of an African American man -- said they have arrested three black youths for stealing guns they planned to use to kill officers.
	Police responded around 2:00 am on Saturday as the suspects were trying to steal weapons from a pawn shop, and surveillance video showed the trio breaking in through the roof, according to the Baton Rouge Police Department.
	Antonio Thomas, 17, "stated that he and three other suspects stole the firearms and were going to get bullets to shoot police," a police statement said.
	He was booked into prison on charges of simple burglary and theft of a firearm. It was not immediately clear whether the fourth suspect not in prison was on the run.
	Eight weapons were stolen. Authorities have recovered six of them and are working to find the other two.
	The other two robbery suspects -- Malik Bridgewater, 20, and an unidentified 13-year-old male -- were charged with burglary and theft of a ...

Three held in Louisiana gun plot against police

Pakistan's Mohammad Amir will hope to put the 2010 spot-fixing scandal behind him once and for all when he returns to the scene of the crime in Thursday's first Test against England at Lord's.
     Six years ago, during a Lord's Test against England, Amir and Pakistan new-ball partner Mohammad Asif deliberately bowled no-balls on the instructions of captain Salman Butt as part of a sting operation carried out by a tabloid newspaper.
     All three received five-year bans from cricket and, together with sports agent Mazhar Majeed, jail terms.
     Such was the impact of the controversy, the fact teenage sensation Amir took six for 84 in the first innings of that match has largely been forgotten.
     For all his time out of cricket, the 24-year-old retains the ability to swing the ball late at sharp pace, as he showed with a first-innings haul of three for 36 in Pakistan's tour opener against Somerset.
     It means an England side missing all-time leading injured wicket-taker James ...

All eyes on Amir as Pakistan return to Lord's

Wahab Riaz has warned any England cricketers who 'sledge' or verbally abuse their Pakistani opponents during the upcoming Test series may get more than they bargained for.
     Thursday sees England and Pakistan meet at Lord's for the opening Test in a four-match series.
     It will be Pakistan's first series in England since their infamous 2010 tour.
     That saw bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, together with the then captain Salman Butt given five-year bans an jail sentences for their roles in deliberately bowling no-balls during that year's Lord's Test as part of a spot-fixing 'sting' operation by a tabloid newspaper.
     Later that tour, when the teams returned to Lord's for a one-day international, fast bowler Riaz and England batsman Jonathan Trott had to be separated in the nets after an angry exchange of words.
     Riaz, recalling the incident, told reporters at Lord's on Tuesday.
     "He was a bit rude and when it comes to being rude you can never beat the ...

Riaz insists no one 'ruder' than a Pakistani

Treacherous and unfamiliar challenges lie in wait as the British Open returns to Royal Troon this week and Rory McIlroy returns to the hunt for the Claret Jug.
     McIlroy, who leads a host of the sport's biggest names to have withdrawn in controversial circumstances from next month's Rio Olympics, is bidding to win his fifth major and second Open after his victory at Hoylake in 2014.
     Twelve months ago McIlroy was missing from the field in St Andrews after suffering an ankle injury while playing football but he will tee off on Thursday morning in the same group as Bubba Watson and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama.
     "I'm excited to be back and to a golf course that I've never played before," the Northern Irishman, number four in the world, told reporters on Tuesday.
     "I don't really have any experience here at Troon, so it was good to get a couple of good looks at it last week, and then I just played another 18 holes this morning."
     Troon is where Tiger Woods first played in .

McIlroy and co braced for Troon test in British Open

Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao plans to come out of retirement to fight an as yet to be named opponent later this year, his promoter said Tuesday, though the boxer said no fight has yet been set.
     Bob Arum told American sports broadcaster ESPN that the former welterweight champion plans to fight on either October 29 or November 5 as a main event bout in Las Vegas as long as it doesn't clash with his senate duties in the Philippines.
     "Manny wants to come back," Arum said. "The problem is he can only come back if it doesn't interfere with his senate duties."
     The boxer had previously planned an October 15 fight in Mandalay Bay Events Center, but scrapped it due to upcoming votes in the senate in his native Philippines, where he now serves.
     "The question is building availability because we want to do the fight in Las Vegas," Arum said about the new dates.
     Arum said the most difficult part of setting up a fight is working around the busy schedule of the boxer, .

Manny Pacquiao plans to fight again this year - promoter

The Dow shot up to a new record today as global equity markets rallied again amid confidence in US economic strengthening and the continuation of central bank easy-money policies.
	At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.7 per cent.
	The broad-based S&P rose 0.7 per cent to hit a record for the second straight day, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.7 per cent to close above 5,000 for the first time all year.

Dow hits record as US stocks extend rally

Iraq's government called today for a reprieve in protests, saying demonstrations would distract security forces, disrupt plans to push the Islamic State group back and ultimately aid the jihadists.
	The appeal was issued a day after powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called the for a "massive" protest on Friday in Baghdad's Tahrir Square to push for "true and real reform".
	"The cabinet calls on the sons of our people to carry their historic responsibilities in supporting the armed forces, and postpone the protests," said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office.
	Protesters should stay home "to spare the country falling into chaos and the increase of challenges and the distraction of the security effort," it said in a statement.
	It said related problems would "disrupt liberation plans and lead to serving the goals of the enemy and his terrorism".
	Abadi made a similar call in May during the country's operation to retake the city of Fallujah from IS, which overran large areas ...

Iraq calls for demo reprieve over security concerns

Three-quarters of the population of South Sudan needs humanitarian aid after four days of deadly fighting, the UN's World Food Programme director Etharin Cousin said today.
	Between Friday and yesterday, the capital Juba was rocked by clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his longtime opponent Vice President Riek Machar.
	The two men finally announced a ceasefire late yesterday.
	"Three quarters of the population of South Sudan is in need of humanitarian assistance," Cousin told AFP in the Jordanian capital Amman.
	"This latest conflict is going to push even more people into hunger and despair," she warned.
	Cousin said heavy fighting over two days had forced humanitarian staff into underground bunkers "because the shelling was in Juba and so close to our places of operation.
	"We had over 2,000 people taking shelter inside our compound with our staff."
	The fragile ceasefire appeared to be holding in Juba today.
	The fighting left hundreds of people dead and sent ..

Three quarters of South Sudanese need humanitarian aid: UN

Fifteen men have been arrested for rape and sexual assault at Spain's famed San Fermin bull-running festival in the northern town of Pamplona, the city hall said today.
	The nine-day festival, which began on July 6 and ends on Thursday, mixes concerts, daily bull runs and round-the-clock drinking.
	It has become infamous for reports of sexual assaults, including men groping women's breasts at the opening party known as the "Chupinazo".
	Pamplona city officials have in recent years launched various initiatives to curb such assaults at the fiesta, which was immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises".
	Police have received 15 complaints of assault so far this year, including six for "sexual aggression" which under Spain's penal code includes rape. The other complaints were for the lesser charge of "sexual abuse".
	A total of 15 men were arrested, city hall said in a statement.
	Two of the suspects have since been released without charge and one of the complaints ..

15 arrested for sexual assault at Pamplona bull-running

Usain Bolt will get a chance to hone his Olympic track and field legacy, as he was named to the 59 member Jamaican team that will compete at the Olympic Games in Rio next month.
     Bolt, who withdrew from the 100m final and sought a medical exemption from the 200m at the Jamaican Olympic Trials two weekends ago, was named on the provisional list submitted to the IOC to contest the 100m/200m/4x100m relays in Rio.
     He seeks to become the first man to win three straight triple-triples after wins in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.
     The announcement was made Monday afternoon at a news conference held by the Jamaica Olympic Association in Kingston where all members of the Olympic team were announced.
     The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association's (JAAA) selection rules allow for athletes ranked in the top three in the world to submit medical exemptions and miss the trials but they must be able to prove their fitness at a later date to be named to the Olympic team.
    

Bolt aims for more Olympic glory in Rio

Chinese conglomerate Wanda, owned by one of the country's richest men, said today it had bought the London-based Odeon & UCI cinema group in a deal worth around USD 1.2 billion.
	Wanda-owned AMC Entertainment Holdings, the second-largest movie theatre chain in North America, said it had entered into a "definitive agreement" to buy Odeon & UCI, which has 242 cinemas and 2,236 screens in Europe.
	"While we acknowledge that there are some uncertainties related to Brexit, we are encouraged that current currency rates are highly favorable to AMC with the pound falling to a three-decade low versus the dollar," AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron said in a statement on the company website.
	Wanda Group, owned by tycoon Wang Jianlin, bought the US chain AMC in 2012 for USD 2.6 billion.
	His group owns more than 200 malls, shopping complexes and luxury hotels across China.
	In March AMC announced it was buying the US chain Carmike Cinemas in another billion-dollar-deal, combining Carmike's ...

China's Wanda buys Britain's Odeon cinema group for USD 1 bn

Nigerian police today announced the arrest of 11 members of a "daredevil" gang after the kidnapping of a senior Sierra Leone diplomat to Abuja last month.
	The men are alleged to be part of a "kidnapping gang" that on June 30 seized Alfred Nelson-Williams, Sierra Leone's defence attache and deputy head of the country's mission in Nigeria. He was released on July 5.
	Police said the "daredevil criminal gang" also kidnapped an executive director of the Dangote Group, one of the continent's largest companies.
	The kidnappers mounted "road blocks on highways in military uniforms" to capture victims, and relocated "from one point to another in the forest with their victims to avoid detection and arrest", police said in a statement.
	Nelson-Williams said today he was stopped at a checkpoint by men armed with AK-47 assault rifles and dressed in military fatigues while travelling to Kaduna, 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Abuja.
	His abduction was the first of a Sierra Leone diplomat ...

Nigeria arrests 11 after Sierra Leone diplomat kidnapping

British main opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn hit out today at the violence and intimidation surrounding the Labour Party leadership contest after a brick was hurled through his rival's office window.
	Corbyn, who said he had recently received death threats, reacted after the attack on the constituency office of his Labour leadership challenger Angela Eagle.
	The incident follows repeated complaints by Labour MPs -- particularly women -- that they have been subjected to threats and abuse from Corbyn's supporters if they speak out against the party leader.
	Socialist stalwart Corbyn, who is highly popular with party members, has lost the confidence of three-quarters of his party's MPs, triggering Eagle to step forward on Monday.
	"It is extremely concerning that Angela Eagle has been the victim of a threatening act and that other MPs are receiving abuse and threats," he said.
	"I am calling on all Labour Party members and supporters to act with calm and treat each other with respect and 

Labour leader urges calm after brick hurled at rival's office

One hundred years after they fought together in World War I, white and black soldiers are finally being honoured equally at South Africa's memorial on the former battlefields in northern France.
	South African President Jacob Zuma today inaugurated a new memorial wall at the site of the Battle of Delville Wood where some 3,000 citizens fell in July 1916.
	"We are here to honour in particular black people who fell in this war, who were not accorded the respect and recognition they deserved, and which is equal to that of their white compatriots," Zuma said at the commemoration ceremony.
	When World War I broke out, South Africa was still a British colony and the segregationist policy of apartheid had not yet been set in law.
	However, black South Africans faced strict movement and residential restrictions under white minority rule and were treated as lesser citizens.
	The South African Native Labour Contingent (SANLC) was formed to provide workers for Allied forces who were struggling ..

S.Africa's Zuma honours black WWI soldiers

Malaysia's low-cost airline AirAsia today placed a blockbuster order for 100 single-aisle fuel-efficient A321neo jets worth a vast USD 12.5 billion in the biggest deal so far at the Farnborough airshow.
	The AirAsia deal, worth the equivalent of 11.3 billion euros at list prices, was unveiled on the second day of the Farnborough airshow by its chief executive officer Tony Fernandes and Airbus president and CEO Fabrice Bregier.
	AirAsia, the region's biggest budget carrier by fleet size, added the fuel-efficient A321neo would seat up to 240 passengers in a single class layout, while enjoying greater capacity and the lowest operating costs in the single aisle category.
	"The A321neo will help us to meet ongoing strong demand as well as further reduce our cost per available seat kilometre across the group, which will translate to lower air fares for our guests," Fernandes said.
	"We would like to congratulate Airbus for producing the state-of-the-art A321neo aircraft that meets our ...

AirAsia orders 100 Airbus A321neos worth USD 12.5 bn

Iran and France have agreed to cooperate on the multi-national nuclear fusion project known as ITER, the spokesman of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said today.
	The announcement comes a year after Iran struck a nuclear deal with six world powers led by the United States to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
	Behrouz Kamalvandi told Mehr and Fars news agencies that Iranian officials have "reached a general understanding with the French side for joint cooperation" on the project.
	Mehr and Fars said that Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, visited the headquarters of ITER at the end of June.
	Salehi was one of Iran's key negotiators in the nuclear deal with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States on July 14 last year.
	ITER, which means "the way" in Latin, is the acronym for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor which is being built in the south of France.
	The unique ...

Iran says to cooperate with France on nuclear project

Sri Lanka today announced that it had raised USD 1.5 billion through a bond issue which was nearly four times oversubscribed despite volatility triggered by Britain's to leave the European Union.
	The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said orders totalled USD 5.5 billion for the USD 1.5 billion bond issue yesterday. Sri Lanka offered USD 500 million in bonds with a tenure of 5.5 years and USD 1 billion for a period of 10 years.
	The shorter term debt was priced just below 6.125 per cent while the longer tenue was at 7.125 per cent, the bank said, adding that the rate was well within its anticipated interest rate.
	"Despite the high volatility in the global financial markets following the historic United Kingdom referendum in June regarding their membership of the European Union, the bonds saw strong interests from a wide range of high quality investors," the bank said.
	Sri Lanka has already appointed a high-powered panel to study the effects of Brexit on its USD 82 billion economy as 10 per .

Sri Lanka raises USD 1.5 bn despite Brexit volatility

Popular Zimbabwean pastor Evan Mawarire, one of the organisers of the largest protests in years against President Robert Mugabe, was arrested today and charged with inciting public violence, his lawyer said.
	A national "shutdown" protest last week closed many businesses, shops and schools, with public transport and some government departments and courts also ceasing to function.
	The strike on Wednesday followed protests triggered by an outbreak of demonstrations on the outskirts of Harare over police accused of using road blocks to extort cash from motorists.
	Further shutdowns are planned tomorrow and on Thursday in a surge of public anger over the country's worsening economic crisis and opposition to the authoritarian regime of Mugabe, 92.
	Banks have run short of cash, government salaries have been delayed and some imports banned at a time when the country has also suffered a severe drought that has left millions hungry.
	"(Mawarire) has been charged with inciting public ...

AFP

AFP

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