A Palestinian attacker stabbed a 13-year-old girl to death at her home in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank today before being shot dead by security guards, the Israeli army said.
	The army said the Palestinian killed the girl in her bed after breaking into her house in the Kiryat Arba settlement outside the city of Hebron.
	Security personnel rushed to the house and fired on the attacker, who wounded a guard before being shot dead, said the army.
	The Palestinian health ministry identified the attacker as Mohammed Nasser Tarayra, 19, from the village of Bani Naim, just outside the city.
	Hebron has been a flashpoint in a spate of deadly unrest that has rocked Israel and the Palestinian territories since October last year.
	Several hundred Jewish settlers live in a tightly guarded enclave in the heart of the city of more than 200,000 Palestinians, a persistent source of tensions.
	The violence since October has killed at least 211 Palestinians, 33 Israelis, two Americans, an ...

Palestinian kills teen in West Bank home, shot dead: army

PTI Automatic

At least 27 policemen were killed today and 40 wounded after a bomb attack claimed by the Taliban struck a convoy of buses transporting police cadets in Kabul, the interior ministry said.
	The attack comes little over a week after 14 Nepali security guards who were heading to work at the Canadian embassy were killed in a massive blast that left their yellow minibus spattered with blood.
	"We are still investigating the precise nature of the blast, whether it was suicide attack, car bomb or whatever -- we do not know it at the moment," a senior interior ministry official said.
	He added the attack occurred at around 11.00 am local time as the buses were transporting the cadets in a western neighbourhood on the city's outskirts.
	The blasts was quickly claimed by the Taliban's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who said "many were killed and wounded" in what he described as a suicide attack.
	An AFP reporter at the scene said the area had been cordoned off by security officials but it ...

27 killed, 40 wounded in Taliban attack on police buses

Turkey today detained 13 suspected Islamic State jihadists over the deadly Istanbul airport attack, as chilling details emerged of how suicide bombers launched their assault.
	The death toll from Tuesday's gun and suicide bomb spree at Ataturk airport has risen to 42, state-run news agency Anadolu said, with 13 foreigners among the dead and more than 200 people injured.
	Turkey has been plunged into mourning over the carnage at Ataturk airport, the deadliest yet of several attacks to strike Turkey's biggest city this year.
	Police carried out 16 raids across Istanbul early Thursday, an official said, with three foreign nationals among the "IS suspects" detained.
	"It is probable that at least one attacker was a foreign national," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
	Turkey has suffered a string of deadly attacks in the past year blamed on either IS or Kurdish rebels, and the airport attack comes just at the start of the crucial summer tourist season.
	Interior Minister Efkan 

13 detained over Istanbul airport attack

Turkish security forces have killed two suspected members of the Islamic State group on the Syrian border, one of whom was believed to be planning a suicide attack in Turkey, news agencies reported today.
	The two men were shot dead on Saturday, days ahead of the triple suicide bombings at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Tuesday that left 42 people dead, the Anadolu and Dogan agencies said.
	One of the suspects, named as Mohammad Arab, was planning an attack either in the Turkish capital Ankara or in the southern city of Adana, Dogan added.
	Ankara was the scene of Turkey's worst ever attack last October when 103 people were killed in suicide bombings blamed on IS.
	Special forces also rounded up several IS suspects in Istanbul early today, Dogan said. No details were given about their identity.
	The government has said Islamic State jihadists were likely behind the carnage at Istanbul airport, one of the busiest hubs in Europe.
	Turkey has cracked down on IS after a string of deadly ...

Turkish forces kill 2 suspected IS members at Syria border

Red Bull has publicly apologised for shooting a commercial in which an athlete performed acrobatic stunts across one of Indonesia's ancient holy temples, an official said today.
	The energy drink manufacturer issued an apology in national newspapers admitting it shot the video at the 9th-century Borobudur temple "without permission from the appropriate authorities".
	The video -- in which a famous "free running" athlete is shown jumping between the temple's stone stupas -- triggered outrage in Indonesia, where Borobudur is a revered Buddhist site and national icon.
	In one scene, the athlete is seen walking past a sign clearly stating "No Climbing" in both English and Indonesian before performing acrobatics throughout the UNESCO-listed heritage site.
	The video was shot secretly despite the crew having been issued a warning by temple guards, Borobudur Conservation Agency head Marsis Sutopo told AFP.
	"They must have shot again while our guards were not looking," he said.
	The video, ..

Red Bull apologises to Indonesia over offensive ad

27 killed, 40 wounded in Kabul blasts targeting police:

Two buses transporting police cadets in the Afghan capital were struck by a suicide bomb attack today, government and Taliban sources said, with many casualties feared.
	The attacks took place in a lower-class district of western Kabul.
	Sediq Sediqqi, interior ministry spokesman, told AFP: "There were two explosions that targeted the police cadets vehicles on the outskirts of Kabul city."
	The attack was quickly confirmed by the Taliban's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who claimed "many were killed and wounded".
	The Taliban have been waging an insurgency against the government since being ousted from power by a US-led coalition in 2001.
	Casualty rates have soared since the departure of foreign combat troops in 2014, but earlier this month US President Barack Obama ordered his military to tackle the resurgent Taliban more directly -- in tandem with Afghan allies, ratcheting up the 15-year conflict he had vowed to end.
	The latest attack comes little over a week after 14 Nepali ...

Taliban attack police buses in Kabul, many casualties feared

Several huge explosions rocked a poor neighbourhood of Western Kabul today, an interior ministry spokesman said, without providing further details.
	According to local media the explosions attacked a convoy of buses carrying police and have claimed many casualties.

Huge explosions rock western Kabul: interior ministry

Huge explosions rock western Kabul: interior ministry.

An attacker stabbed and wounded one person at a Jewish settlement on the outskirts of the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron today and was shot dead, the Israeli army said.
	The army described the attacker as a "terrorist," usually used to indicate Palestinian assailants.
	Israeli medics said a 15-year-old was critically wounded and a 30-year-old was severely hurt at the Kiryat Arba settlement, but further details were not clear, including how the second person was injured.
	Initial reports from medics described the attack as a shooting before the army said it was a stabbing, but details were still emerging.
	"A short while ago, a terrorist infiltrated and stabbed a civilian in the community of Kiryat Arba," the army said in a statement.
	"The attacker was shot, resulting in his death. Two civilians were wounded and are being evacuated to a hospital for further medical treatment."
	Violence since October has killed at least 211 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean ...

Stabbing at West Bank settlement, attacker shot dead: army

Japanese prosecutors today charged a US military base employee with the alleged rape and murder of a local woman on the southern island of Okinawa, media reported.
	Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, 32, a former US Marine employed at the US Air Force's sprawling Kadena Air Base, was first charged in early June for allegedly disposing of the body of the victim, identified by local media as Rina Shimabukuro.
	As is common practice in Japanese law, he was again charged by Okinawa prosecutors, this time for the separate crime of the alleged rape and murder of the 20-year-old woman, Jiji Press and other news reports said.
	Prosecutors and court officials in Okinawa refused to confirm the reports.
	The case has intensified longstanding local opposition to the American military presence on the strategic island, which reluctantly hosts nearly 75 per cent of land alloted for US bases in Japan even though it accounts for just a fraction of the country's total area.
	Crimes by US personnel have long ...

Japan charges US base worker with rape and murder: media

A Muslim father was fined in Switzerland for refusing to allow his daughters to take swimming lessons at school, in the latest case exposing the challenges of integration in the Alpine country.
	The unnamed 40-year-old man was ordered to pay 4,000 Swiss francs (USD 4,000, 3,700 euros), the ATS news agency said in a report.
	He had also refused to allow his daughters to go to camps and other school events, insisting they ran counter to his religious beliefs.
	The Altstaetten district court in the northeastern Swiss canton of St Gallen found the father guilty of among other things violating the law on obligatory schooling and of disobeying previous orders by the authorities, ATS reported
	The court reached its verdict after the father appealed a previous ruling faulting him last December.
	The prosecutor had requested that the man be sentenced to four months behind bars, in addition to a fine, maintaining that the Bosnian national who has been living in Switzerland since 1990 had ...

Swiss court fines man for blocking daughters' swimming lessons

Michael Phelps is headed to a fifth Olympics in the event that launched his epic Games career -- the 200m butterfly.
     Phelps, whose record 22 Olympic medals include an astonishing 18 gold, won the 200m fly at the US Olympic swimming trials yesterday, and if the time of 1min 54.84sec left something to be desired, it got the job done.
     "I'm checking a box off, being able to get on the team," said Phelps, who faded on the final lap but was able to hold off the determined Tom Shields, who took second in 1:55.81.
     "With everything that's happened, being able to come back -- this was probably harder than any swim I've had in my life," said Phelps, whose comeback after a brief post-London retirement was disrupted by a drink-driving arrest followed by a stint in rehab.
     "I didnt feel good the first two swims, didn't really feel that good tonight," added Phelps, who celebrates his 31st birthday on Thursday. "But getting on the team was the most important thing, and that's the ..

Phelps into fifth Olympics in event that launched Games career

World number one Novak Djokovic called for a football-style Davis Cup to help keep the 116-year-old tournament alive.
     Djokovic inspired Serbia to its only Davis Cup triumph in 2010 but has, in common with many other top players, carefully selected which ties he will honour in a packed tour schedule.
     The 29-year-old is due to play in the quarter-final against Andy Murray's Great Britain in Belgrade from July 15-17 in the week after Wimbledon.
     "I definitely stand for a change of format of the Davis Cup," said 12-time Grand Slam title winner Djokovic yesterday.
     "The format, as it is, doesn't work anymore."
     Djokovic wants the International Tennis Federation to rethink the schedule.
     He pointed to the success of football where the World Cup and European championships are organised in group stages and played at one specific time of the year.
     "Create one event in one year or two years that would be held over two weeks," suggested the Serb.
     "Make four ...

Djokovic calls for football-style Davis Cup

World number two Jordan Spieth remains uncertain if he will compete in the Rio Olympics when golf returns to the Games lineup for the first time in 112 years.
     Spieth and many of the world's top golfers will compete this week at the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
     But with world number one Jason Day of Australia joining the list of top names backing out of golf's Olympic return over his concerns about the Zika virus, the hot topic ahead of Thursday's opening round was Rio.
     "Right now, I'm uncertain," Spieth said. "I have not received enough information to make an informed decision either way or not, so as we gather more information I will be able to make a decision one way or the other.
     "When I feel confident, I will make a decision either side."
     The world rankings of July 11 will determine rosters so players have until then to decide about playing or not.
     Spieth's US compatriot, third-ranked US ..

Spieth still uncertain if he will play in Rio

South Africa's Lee-Anne Pace became the first woman golfer to withdraw from the Rio Olympics, saying she will not play in Brazil because she fears contracting the Zika virus.
     "I was very much looking forward to the opportunity," said Pace, her nation's top-ranked woman golfer at 38th in the world.
     "However, over recent months my team has been monitoring the situation regarding the Zika Virus and finding out as much information as possible.
     "After weighing up all the options and discussing it with my family and team, I have decided that due to the health concerns surrounding the Zika virus, I will not be participating."
     Pace's pullout leaves 119th-ranked Paula Reto and 207th-ranked Ashleigh Simon in position to compete at Rio as golf returns to the Olympic lineup of sports after a 112-year absence.
     "I hope that everyone can understand that this was a very difficult decision to come to, however my health and my future family's health must come first," Pace said. 

South African Pace first LPGA player to skip Rio

Completed scoreboard in the
fourth ODI between England and Sri Lanka at The Oval.
	   Sri Lanka
	   K Perera run out (Bairstow)                 1
	   D Gunathilaka c Ali b Rashid               62
	   K Mendis c Plunkett b Rashid               77
	   D Chandimal b Willey                        63
	   A Matthews not out                          67
	   S Prasanna b Willey                          9
	   D Shanaka not out                           19
	   Extras (LB-2, W-5)                           7
	   Total (For 5 wkts in 42 overs)              305
	   Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-136, 3-158, 4-245, 5-259.
	   Bowling: Willey 8-0-58-2; Woakes 9-65-0; Plunkett 8-0-65-0; Rashid 9-0-57-2; Ali 8-0-58-0
	   *England revised victory target 308 (D/L)
	   England
	   J Roy  b Pradeep                         162
	   M Ali c Chandimal  b  Pradeep               2
	   J Root c Pradeep b Gunathilaka             65
	   E Morgan c Gunathilaka b Lakmal            22
	   J Bairstow not out                    

London, June 30 (AFP) Completed scoreboard in the

Jason Roy fell five runs short of setting a new batting record but his superb 162 still helped England win the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka and take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
     Surrey's South African-born opener took centre stage on his home county ground and hammered the second highest individual one-day score by an England batsman yesterday.
     His fireworks lit up the gloomy, rain-filled South London skies to ensure England captured the series at The Oval.
     His second hundred in three ODI games, 162 runs off 118 including 13 fours and three sixes, helped England clinch a six wicket win with overs to spare as they chased down their revised victory target of 308 with ease.
     And they clinched the series 2-0 with just one game left in Cardiff on Saturday.
     It was England's second highest successful one-day run chase - and they did it in 42 overs.
     Sadly for Roy he fell just five runs short of overtaking the highest score by an England batsman with another ...

Roy's stunning knock powers England to victory

Swiss court fines man for blocking daughters swimming lessons

US President Barack Obama said today he is "confident" that Britain's vote to leave the European Union will not harm the the global financial system, as markets rebounded from post-Brexit losses.
	"Given the vote of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, our economic teams are going to continue to work together so that we remain focused on keeping our economies growing and making sure that the global financial system is stable, something I am confident that we can do," Obama said at a summit with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts in Ottawa.

Obama confident Brexit will not harm global financial system

Oil scored a second straight day of solid gains today as US crude inventories fell much more than expected and Brexit fears receded.
	Oil prices advanced on easing worries about Britain's vote to leave the European Union and its impact on the global economy.
	The gains accelerated after the US Department of Energy reported the country's commercial crude inventories fell by 4.1 million barrels to 526.6 million barrels in the week ending June 24.
	The drop was about twice as large as expected.
	US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery jumped USD 2.03 to USD 49.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
	In London, Brent crude for delivery in August, the global benchmark, finished at USD 50.61 a barrel, also a gain of USD 2.03 from yesterday's settlement.
	It was the sixth straight week of falling crude stockpiles in the United States, the world's largest consumer of crude, a jolt of good news amid worries about abundant global supplies.
	"That's bullish on its ...

AFP

AFP

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