Iceland's footballers received a heroes welcome on returning home following their astonishing run to the Euro 2016 quarter-finals in France.
     Their plane flew low over the capital Reykjavik before landing at Keflavik airport where the local fire services gave them a fire hose guard of honour with shooting water creating a rainbow.
     Striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, who scored a consolation goal in the crushing 5-2 defeat to the hosts at the Stade de France on Sunday, said he was happy to be home.
     "It was a dream come true to get that support," he said of the estimated 30,000 fans -- some 10 percent of the population -- who followed the nation in France.
     "We experienced something simply wonderful, it was a dream come true and we are proud to have brought such cheer to our country," he said, adding that the friendly behaviour of the fans had done the country proud.
     The players were then paraded through the streets of the capital on a double decker bus in the direction 

Rapturous Reykjavik reception for Iceland's Euro heroes

PTI Automatic

Gareth Bale leads Wales into battle against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in the Euro 2016 semi-finals tomorrow hoping to become the first British side to reach a major tournament final in 50 years.
     Wales have already surpassed all expectations on their first ever appearance at the European Championship finals by reaching the last four with a rousing 3-1 win over the highly-fancied Belgium.
     However, the spectre of the Real Madrid teammates, the world's two most expensive players, going head-to-head adds extra spice to an already dazzling encounter in Lyon.
     "It's not about two players, everyone knows that, it's about two nations in a semi-final," insisted Bale on Tuesday in a bid to defuse the billing of he and Ronaldo's all-star showdown.
     "He's a fantastic player, everyone knows what he can do. We concentrate on what we can do as a team, and not concentrate on individuals."
     Despite winning the Champions League twice in three years with Madrid, Bale has tended 

Bale battles Ronaldo for ticket to Euro 2016 final

Juno probe succeeds in mission to orbit Jupiter: NASA.

Four Saudi security personnel were killed and five others were wounded in a suicide bombing outside one of Islam's holiest sites, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, the interior ministry has said.
	"Security forces suspected a man who was heading towards Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) as he passed through a visitors parking lot. As they tried to stop him, he blew himself up with an explosive belt causing his death, and the death of four security personnel," the statement said yesterday, adding that five others were injured.

Bombing near Prophet Mosque killed 4 Saudi security personnel

US President Barack Obama has celebrated the country's military as well as his daughter Malia's 18th birthday at the White House to mark America's Independence Day holiday.
	"We all know that our freedoms are dependent on an incredible group of men and women in uniform and their families who look out for us every single day," Obama said yesterday. "For those in our military who could not attend, we just want to say how much we admire, respect and appreciate everything you do to fight for our freedom every single day."
	The story of American independence is "something that we have to fight for every single day," he added. "It involves us respecting each other. And it involves us recognizing that there are still people in this country who are going hungry -- and they're not free because of that."
	"There are still people in this country who can't find work -- and freedom without the ability to contribute to society and put a roof over your head or look after your family, that's not yet .

Obama celebrates US military, daughter's 18th birthday

Peruvian police pulled a South Korean tourist dead from under a waterfall in the Amazon jungle, days after he fell in while taking a photo of himself, police said.
	The man, 28-year-old Kim Jongyeob, slipped and fell 500 meters under the waterfall in northeastern Peru last Wednesday, a local police official said yesterday.
	"The tourist was found dead, submerged seven meters deep in the lake where into which the Gocta waterfall runs," the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP by telephone.
	"He wanted to take a self-portrait at the waterfall but while he was looking for a good place to take it, he fell."
	Divers and mountain rescue teams were called in to recover the man's body.
	The Korean consul in Peru, Chang Dongyool, told reporters that Kim's uncle would transport the body to Lima and incinerate it there before taking it back to South Korea.
	Last week a 51-year-old German tourist plunged 200 meters (650 feet) to his death while posing for a photo on a mountainside at ...

S Korean selfie tourist dies in Peru waterfall: police

A barrage of rockets targeted a camp housing members of an Iranian opposition group near Baghdad, injuring several people, an Iraqi security spokesman and the exiles said.
	The People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) members are waiting at the camp to be resettled outside the country.
	The camp was targeted in a rocket attack last year that killed at least 26 people.
	"A number of rockets fell on Camp Liberty," Baghdad Operations Command spokesman Saad Maan said in a statement yesterday, referring to the camp where the PMOI members are housed.
	Maan said that some 20 rockets were launched from a truck in an area west of Baghdad toward the camp, some of which fell short, wounding Iraqi civilians.
	"A number of Camp Liberty residents were injured, but fortunately no one was martyred in the rocket attack," the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the PMOI's parent organisation, said in an online statement.
	The statement blamed Iran-affiliated militias for carrying out the ...

Rockets target Iran exiles at Iraq camp

Bombing near Prophet Mosque killed 4 Saudi security personnel:

Acclaimed Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami has died at the age of 76 in France following a battle with cancer, Iranian media reported today.
	Kiarostami, who won the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for "Taste of Cherry", left Tehran last week to undergo treatment in France, the ISNA news agency said, adding that his death had been confirmed by Iran's House of Cinema.
	One of the brightest stars of Iran's cinema, Kiarostami was born in Tehran in 1940 and rose from relatively humble origins before becoming part of the so-called Iranian New Wave of cinema in the 1960s.
	He stayed on in his country after the Islamic revolution in 1979, but had been working internationally for the past decade.
	The news agency IRNA reported that he had undergone several unsuccessful operations in Iran between February and April, and that his body would be repatriated for burial.

Iranian director Kiarostami dies in France at 76: reports

Twelve people including two children died and 30 were injured when their bus turned over today near the Mexican tourist resort of Cancun, emergency services said.
	The bus crashed in the early hours in a wooded area of the Carrillo Puerto municipality, said Reyes Silvestre, head of the local civil protection rescue team.
	There were 50 passengers on board, all Mexicans, Silvestre told AFP. The bus had driven some 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the Veracruz region headed for Cancun.
	"Among the 12, there was a baby who died at the scene of the accident, and another child whose exact age we do not know, who died while being transferred to hospital," Silvestre said.

Mexico resort bus crash kills 12

Three suicide bombers struck in Saudi Arabia today in a rare incidence of multiple attacks in the kingdom where the Islamic State group has previously staged deadly attacks.
	There were no immediate claims of responsibility.
	The latest explosion occurred at one of Islam's three holiest sites, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina in the kingdom's west where Mohammed is buried, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel reported.
	Other blasts occurred in the Red Sea city of Jeddah near the US consulate and in Shiite-dominated Qatif on the other side of the country.
	The interior ministry said two security officers were wounded in the Jeddah bombing.
	Residents of Qatif said only the bomber died in that attack, blowing his body apart near a Shiite mosque.
	Al-Arabiya said the Mecca incident occurred during sunset prayers after which Muslims break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, which ends Tuesday.
	It showed images of fire raging in a security forces parking lot with at least one body .

Multiple suicide blasts hit Saudi Arabia

A suicide blast struck today in Saudi Arabia outside one of Islam's holiest sites, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, local media reported.
	Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel showed images of fire raging in a parking lot with at least one body nearby.
	The explosion occurred in a security forces parking area, Al-Arabiya reported.
	Two other bombers blew themselves up earlier today on opposite sides of the kingdom, which has previously been targeted by the Islamic State group of Sunni extremists.
	In Shiite-dominated Qatif, on the Gulf coast, residents said a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque frequented by the minority community.
	Another suicide bomber detonated his explosives earlier near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, injuring two security officers.

Suicide blast outside Prophet's Mosque in Medina: Saudi media

A blast occurred today in Saudi Arabia outside one of Islam's holiest sites, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, a Saudi-owned television channel reported.
	Al-Arabiya news channel showed images of fire raging in a parking lot with at least one body nearby.

Blast outside Prophet's Mosque in Medina: Saudi media

Blast outside Prophet's Mosque in Medina: Saudi media.

British broadcaster Chris Evans today announced he was to step down as lead presenter of BBC's hit motoring show "Top Gear" after only one series, which received mixed reviews.
	Evans replaced Jeremy Clarkson as main host last year following the latter's high-profile bust up with a producer.
	But the new format has suffered from dwindling viewing figures and claims of a rift between Evans and co-presenter Matt LeBlanc, the "Friends" star.
	"Stepping down from Top Gear," Evans, 50, wrote on Twitter.
	"Gave it my best shot but sometimes that's not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best."
	Evans had signed a three-year deal to present the world's most popular factual TV programme, but ratings hit an all-time low of 1.9 million during Sunday's series finale.
	Clarkson was dropped from the madcap show, which has 350 million viewers per week in 170 countries, after he punched a producer in the face in March.
	Evans is a well-known motoring enthusiast who has an ...

Evans quits as lead host on BBC's 'Top Gear'

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia today, without causing any other injuries, residents said.
	"Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body" torn apart, said a witness to the attack in the Shiite-populated city of Qatif.
	Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that "one bomber blew himself up near the mosque", frequented by Shiites in downtown Qatif, on the Gulf coast.
	No bystanders were hurt, she said.
	The blast, near the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, was the second suicide bombing today in the predominantly Sunni kingdom.
	Another bomber blew himself up earlier near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, injuring two security officers.

Suicide blast near mosque in eastern Saudi: residents

Argentinian President Mauricio Macri said today that his country's claim to the Falkland Islands remained unchanged following Britain's vote to leave the EU.
	"Brexit or not, our claim will never change," Macri told reporters in Brussels after talks with European Union leaders.
	Britain's vote to leave the EU in a referendum on June 23 has cast uncertainty on the country's global position, including whether European states would continue to back Britain's possession of the Falklands.
	Spain said after the vote that it was closer to asserting control over Gibraltar, the rocky outcrop on its southern tip, following the Brexit vote, prompting London to jump to the defence of its overseas territory.
	"That is something long-lasting and we hope one day that we can discuss (the issue with Britain). Without that we cannot discuss other cooperation with Britain," Macri said.
	"It is something I have already discussed with Cameron, I hope that with the next English prime minister we can find ..

Argentina says Falklands claim unchanged by Brexit

Israel has approved hundreds of new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, an official said today, in a move likely to further raise tensions following a series of Palestinian attacks.
	The approval comes days after a key international report warned that Israel's settlement expansion and confiscation of Palestinian land were eroding the possibility of a two-state peace settlement.
	The report from the diplomatic Quartet -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- also called on Palestinians to halt attacks and incitement to violence.
	Under the new approval granted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, planning for 560 new Jewish homes in the large Maale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem will be allowed to move forward.
	The Maale Adumim mayor was informed of the decision on yesterday night, a spokesman for his office told AFP. The settlement founded in 1975 already has a population of more than 37,000.
	Netanyahu also .

Israel approves hundreds of new settler homes after attacks

A senior Sierra Leonean diplomat kidnapped in Nigeria last week is alive and in good health, officials in Freetown said today.
	Alfred Nelson-Williams, defence attache and deputy head of Sierra Leone's high commission in Abuja, was abducted on July 1 while travelling to Kaduna, 200 km north of Nigeria's federal capital, according to a security official in Kaduna state.
	"We are certain he is alive," presidential spokesman Abdulai Baytraytay said in a televised address.
	"Sierra Leone has sent a special envoy to Abuja as an intermediary to open a line of communication between the alleged kidnappers and our high commission," the spokesman said, adding that security considerations meant he was unable to explain how he knew Nelson-Williams was alive.
	Sierra Leonean "President Ernest Bai Koroma is very concerned over the kidnap... And is in around-the-clock contact with the president of Nigeria on the matter," said Baytraytay.
	Citing a diplomatic report, Deputy Information and ...

Kidnapped Sierra Leone diplomat 'alive and well'

China has passed a new wild animal protection law banning the sale of food from endangered species, but allowing other products to be made from them, state media said, amid controversy over its wildlife policies.
	The measure, approved by China's Communist Party-controlled parliament on Saturday, "strengthens regulation of the use of wild animals and products derived from them," the official Xinhua news agency said.
	Environmental campaigners previously slammed a draft of the law for treating animals, including tigers and bears, as commercial resources and saying it would not halt their slaughter.
	The draft would "further entrench policies of captive-breeding for commercial use of parts and derivatives of captive tigers", the Environmental Investigation Agency said.
	China passed a law on wild animal protection in 1989, partly to give a framework for the export of products derived from wildlife, and it was previously revised in 2004.
	The new law bans the production and sale of all ..

China passes law to 'regulate' wild animal products

A foreign suicide bomber blew himself up near the American consulate in Saudi Arabia's western city of Jeddah in the early hours of US Independence Day today.
	Two security officers were slightly wounded, the interior ministry said, as the American embassy in Riyadh reported no injuries among US consulate staff.
	General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television that the bomber was not Saudi but a "resident foreigner".
	Millions of foreigners, many from Muslim-majority nations in the Middle East and Asia, work in the kingdom.
	The ministry did not specify if the bomber had intended to target the consulate, but an investigation was now under way.
	The Jeddah incident came during a wave of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group or blamed on the jihadists, including a suicide bombing in Baghdad on Sunday that killed more than 200 people and recent attacks in Bangladesh and at Istanbul airport.
	It happened before the end this week of ...

AFP

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