European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker today urged Prime Minister David Cameron to clarify quickly when Britain intends to leave the EU, saying there can be no negotiation on future ties before London formally applies to exit.
	"I will see the prime minister later this morning... To ask him to clarify the situation as rapidly as possible. We cannot get into a period of extended uncertainty," Juncker told the European Parliament, adding: "No notification, no negotiation".
	Following Thursday's referendum in which a majority of Britons voted to leave the European Union, London has to invoke the so-called Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, starting the clock on two years to negotiate the terms of the exit.
	But Cameron, due in Brussels later today for probably his last summit of EU leaders, has said that London will not take this step yet, saying yesterday that Britain needs first to "determine the kind of relationship we want with the EU."
	Juncker however, echoing the leaders of ..

EU's Juncker tells Britain to clarify position

PTI Automatic

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's uncle, suspected of using ill-gotten gains to build a real estate empire in France, has been charged with corruption, an anti-graft group said today.
	Rifaat al-Assad, 78, who was Syria's vice president in the 1980s, was charged on June 9 with embezzlement and money-laundering, the Paris-based Sherpa group said in a statement.
	Rifaat has been ordered to remain in France except for travel to Britain for medical treatment, said Sherpa, an activist group representing the victims of financial crime.
	He was forced into exile in the 1980s for trying to overthrow his older brother, the late Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad.
	French investigators have told AFP that since then Rifaat has divided his time between homes in Paris, London and the southern Spanish resort city of Marbella.
	The investigation into Rifaat's finances was triggered by Sherpa, which claims the fortune was stolen during his time at the heart of the Syrian regime.
	Sherpa today hailed ...

France charges Assad's uncle with graft: activist group

Indonesia's parliament today passed a tax amnesty bill in a bid to give Southeast Asia's top economy a multi-billion-dollar boost, defying criticism the move will let evaders off the hook.
	The government believes the amnesty can bring in 165 trillion rupiah ($12.4 billion) of additional revenue this year by offering low rates to those who come forward to declare untaxed wealth.
	Wealthy Indonesians have long chosen to stash billions of dollars abroad, particularly in neighbouring city-state Singapore, to keep it out of reach of the taxman.
	All but one of the 10 political parties in the legislature backed the controversial measure, which has been repeatedly delayed due to months of wrangling between lawmakers.
	"With this tax amnesty law, we hope to attract overseas capital belonging to Indonesians," Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told parliament after the bill passed.
	Repatriated capital would "enter Indonesia's financial system and boost economic growth", he ...

Indonesia introduces tax amnesty to boost economy

Israeli authorities announced today they were closing Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound to non-Muslim visitors after a series of clashes between worshippers and police.
	The decision will apply until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan next week, a police spokeswoman told AFP.
	Clashes between Muslims and Israeli police have been taking place every morning since Sunday over Jewish visits to the site, with youths throwing stones and security forces firing tear gas and sponge-tipped bullets.
	Prior to visiting hours today, a stone hit an elderly Jewish woman in the head at the adjacent Western Wall plaza, police and medics said. She was taken to hospital with light injuries.
	Islamic officials accused Israeli authorities of breaking a tacit agreement on non-Muslim access to the site during the last 10 days of Ramadan.
	The period, which began on Sunday, is the most solemn for Muslims and attracts the highest number of worshippers.
	Non-Muslims, including Jews, are ..

Jerusalem holy site closed to non-Muslims after violence

Rescuers launched an air and sea search today for a boat missing in Pacific waters off Tonga carrying 11 people, including up to five children.
	Tongan police said the boat set off from the capital Nuku'alofa with another vessel on Monday afternoon and was due to arrive overnight in Fonoifua island, about 90 kilometres northeast.
	One boat docked as scheduled but there was no sign of the second, prompting police to call in a naval vessel and tell other boats to be on the lookout.
	A New Zealand air force P3-Orion also scoured the area for three hours without success and Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said another Orion and a helicopter would resume the search on Wednesday.
	"The suspicion is it could be the motor must've died, they must be drifting," deputy police commissioner Pelenatita Vaisuai told Radio New Zealand.
	There were conflicting reports about how many children were on board the 11-metre (36-feet) boat.
	Police initially reported there were six adults and five children, aged .

Boat carrying 11 people missing off Tonga

One of the two black box flight recorders from the EgyptAir plane that plunged into the Mediterranean last month has been repaired, Egypt's investigation commission said today, prompting hopes it could provide clues on why the aircraft went down.
	The black box recorder "has been successfully repaired... by the French accident investigation agency laboratory," the commission said in a statement.
	"Tests have been carried out ... And we can be sure the flight parameters were properly recorded," the investigators said.
	"Work to repair the second black box will commence tomorrow.

EgyptAir black box flight recorder 'has been repaired'

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has arrived back in England saying that while he may have learnt from his time in charge of Australia it will not alter his fundamental approach to the job.
     Arthur's last tour of England saw him sacked as Australia coach just weeks before the start of the 2013 Ashes following the team's unsuccessful Champions Trophy campaign.
	But many believed Arthur, who made his name internationally as coach of his native South Africa, was paying the price for the so-called 'homework-gate' affair in March that year after four players, including all-rounder Shane Watson, were dropped for the third Test after failing to complete a written assignment.
	Now his major challenge is to get the best out of a talented Pakistan that includes Mohammad Amir, with the left-arm paceman set to return at Lord's next month for his first Test since the 2010 spot-fixing scandal on the ground which led to five-year bans and jail terms for him, new-ball colleague Mohammad Asif and then 

Pakistan boss Arthur undaunted by Australia axe

Argentine football legend Diego Maradona urged Lionel Messi not to follow through on his vow to quit the national team after its defeat in the Copa America Centenario.
     "Messi has to stay in the national team. He has to stay because he still has playing days ahead of him," Maradona was quoted as saying by La Nacion newspaper online.
	"He will go to Russia in form to be world champion" at the 2018 World Cup, he added.
	Messi, 29, told reporters in the United States he had decided to quit after Argentina's defeat on penalties to Chile there on Sunday.
	Messi is widely rated as the best player in the world, but that was his fourth defeat in an international final for Argentina.
	The 1986 World Cup winner Maradona, 55, blamed Argentina's recent lack of trophies on the country's football association (AFA).
	He accused it of not supporting Messi and letting him take the blame for Sunday's defeat to cover up its shortcomings in managing the sport.
	"The lads have to be supported more to .

Maradona urges Messi to stay with Argentina

Iceland's co-coach Heimir Hallgrimsson toasted a potentially life-changing win for his team after the small nation stunned England at Euro 2016 here.
     "If you want the best out of life you have to be ready when the opportunity comes. That is a fact and these boys were ready today and this opportunity that was put in our hand was huge, it can change their lives," said Hallgrimsson, who combines his role as co-coach alongside Lars Lagerback with his job as a dentist.
	Iceland fell behind in the fourth minute in Nice when Wayne Rooney converted a penalty for England but Ragnar Sigurdsson quickly equalised and Joe Hart then allowed a Kolbeinn Sigthorsson shot to dribble into the net for what proved to be the winner in the 18th minute.
	In their debut appearance at a major tournament, Iceland can now look forward to a fairytale quarter-final against hosts France at the Stade de France on Sunday.
	"This will probably be a day that we will talk about for the rest of our lives and now we .

Beating England life-changing: Iceland coach

Roy Hodgson resigned as England manager following his side's humiliating 2-1 defeat by tiny Iceland in the Euro 2016 last 16 here.
     Hodgson's contract was due to expire after the tournament and following the match in Nice, he read a pre-prepared statement at his post-game press conference in which he said that he would not be seeking to continue.
     "I would have loved to stay on for another two years. However, I am pragmatic and I know we are in the results business," said the 68-year-old, who succeeded Fabio Capello as manager in 2012.
     "My contract was always up after the Euros, so now is the time for someone else to oversee the progress of this young, hungry and extremely talented group of players."
    	Hodgson left the press conference room immediately after reading out his statement and a Football Association press officer said that he would not be performing any other media interviews.
    	Hodgson said that his assistants, Ray Lewington and former Manchester United .

Hodgson quits as England boss after Iceland humiliation

"I'm still alive," quipped the British monarch Queen Elizabeth when asked about her health, in her first round of public engagements since Britain voted to leave the European Union.
	The dry remark followed a dramatic few days for Britain that have seen the prime minister resign, the pound hit a 30-year-low, and England defeated by Iceland in a shock football rout.
	Next came Elizabeth's two-day trip to Northern Ireland, where she met with leaders including Martin McGuinness, a former Irish Republican Army paramilitary who now serves as deputy First Minister of the British-ruled province.
	"Hello, are you well?" McGuinness asked as he extended his hand in greeting to the monarch in a televised meeting.
	"I'm still alive anyway. Ha," Queen Elizabeth laughed, shaking his hand.
	"We've been quite busy. There's been quite a lot going on."
	It wasn't clear whether her comments were a reference to political events in Britain -- or possibly her two recent birthday celebrations.
	The queen, ..

'I'm still alive' jokes Queen Elizabeth on N Ireland visit

The United States has complained to Russia about a mounting campaign of harassment and intimidation of American diplomats and their families in Moscow, the State Department said.
	Among those to raise objections, US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said.
	"Over the past two years, harassment and surveillance of our diplomatic personnel in Moscow by security personnel and traffic police have increased significantly," she told reporters during a news conference.
	She was commenting about a report by The Washington Post on Monday that described a series of actions by Russian security and intelligence services, including following diplomats and their family members, appearing at social functions uninvited and paying for negative media stories.
	Some diplomats said intruders had broken into their homes at night to rearrange furniture, turn on lights and even defecate on a living .

US accuses Russia of harassing, intimidating diplomats

Roger Federer was well short of his best as the seven-time Wimbledon champion advanced to the second round with an uninspired 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 victory over Argentina's Guido Pella here.
     Federer has been plagued by injury problems this year and the world number three lacked rhythm and confidence in his opening match at this year's grass-court Grand Slam.
	The 34-year-old, without a major title since 2012, will play British qualifier Marcus Willis for a place in the last 32.
    	"I was telling myself how nice it was to be back at Centre Court. I've worked so hard since February to be ready for Wimbledon," Federer said.
	"It was a fun match, it was close, maybe exactly what I needed.
	"We'll see if I'm fully fit as I go further in the tournament, nobody knows, not even me."
	Federer's 303rd Grand Slam singles victory moved him within three of Martina Navratilova's record and gave him 302 more wins than world number 706 Willis has managed.
	Willis, 25-year-old tennis coach, 

Below-par Federer into Wimbledon second round

PepsiCo said it is putting aspartame back into some diet beverages in the United States, just a year after pulling the artificial sweetener from its products over consumer concerns about safety.
	"Consumers want choice in diet colas, so we're refreshing our US lineup to provide three options that meet differing needs and taste preferences," a PepsiCo spokeswoman, Gina Anderson, yesterday said in an email to AFP.
	The move comes as PepsiCo struggles with fizzling diet-cola sales.
	Diet Pepsi's sales volume fell 5.8 percent in 2015 and dropped roughly 11 percent at retail during the first quarter of 2016, according to data from Beverage Digest cited by Bloomberg News.
	The US beverages and snacks giant said in April 2015 it would replace aspartame-sweetened Diet Pepsi with versions sweetened with a blend of sucralose, commonly known as Splenda, and acesulfame potassium in August.
	At the time, PepsiCo said that consumers wanted aspartame-free drinks. The trend came amid studies that ...

PepsiCo brings back aspartame as diet cola sales fizzle

A toddler died in hospital following a grenade attack in Madagascar's capital, bringing the death toll to three in what the president called "an act of terrorism".
	The blast struck the Mahamasina municipal stadium in Antananarivo at around 1600 GMT Sunday, just as a free concert was taking place to mark the nation's 56th anniversary of independence from France.
	According to the gendarmerie, the attack immediately killed two teenagers aged 16 and 18.
	"There are now three dead," including the 14-month-old girl who died of her wounds, Prime Minister Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana said yesterday, adding that 91 people were injured in the attack and an enquiry was under way.
	President Hery Rajaonarimampianina, who visited the wounded in hospital, blamed the attack on tensions with political opponents in the Indian Ocean island nation.
	"There may be differences of opinion between us, but these acts of destabilisation are unacceptable," he said in a statement broadcast on national ...

Three killed, 91 injured in Madagascar 'terror blast'

Ten robbery suspects were arrested in Paris over armed raids in recent months on luxury stores in the French capital, a police official said.
	The suspects are being held in connection with the robbery of a Chanel boutique last month and one last December on Swiss luxury jewellery chain Chopard close to the presidential palace.
	Police believe the armed raiders of the Chanel outlet got away with "many hundreds of thousands of euros (dollars)" worth of goods.
	The thieves launched a dawn raid, crashing a 4x4 into the store and stealing several handbags.
	The targeted Chanel store is on the Avenue Montaigne, just minutes away from the Champs-Elysees and close to the presidential palace.
	The December attackers got away with a haul worth around a million euros (USD 1.1 million) from the Chopard store.
	In March two robbers armed with a gun and grenade stormed another branch of Chopard, just a stone's throw from the justice ministry.
	In 2014 there were several spectacular armed raids on .

10 held for armed raids on luxury Paris boutiques

A wave of suicide bombings targeting Yemeni troops killed at least 35 people today in the southeastern city of Mukalla, which Al-Qaeda was driven out of in April, officials said.
	The capital of Hadramawt province, Mukalla had been under the control of Al-Qaeda for one year before pro-government troops backed by a Saudi-led coalition recaptured the city.
	The Sunni Muslim extremists retain a strong presence in Mukalla, however, and they still control several towns in the interior valley of Wadi Hadramawt.
	"Mukalla witnessed five suicide attacks in four areas," the governor of the vast province, Ahmed Saeed bin Breyk, told AFP.
	Three simultaneous bombings hit security checkpoints in the coastal city at sunset, just as troops fasting during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan were breaking their fast, a security official said.
	In the first attack, a suicide bomber on a motorbike asked soldiers if he could eat with them before blowing himself up, the official said.
	Two other bombers ...

Bombings kill 35 in Yemen former Qaeda bastion

A wave of suicide bombings targeting Yemeni troops killed at least 35 people today in the southeastern city of Mukalla, a former Al-Qaeda bastion, a health official said giving a new toll.
	25 other people were wounded in the bombings that shook Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramawt, at sunset, Hadramawt's health chief Riad al-Jalili told AFP.
	A security official had earlier given a toll of 19 killed.

35 dead in suicide bombings in Yemen ex-Qaeda bastion

Hillary Clinton unleashed one of her most energetic supporters today to wallop rival Donald Trump, with Senator Elizabeth Warren warning Americans that the provocative billionaire will "crush you into the dirt" if he is elected president.
	With the battle of the presumptive presidential nominees heating up four and a half months before the election, Democrat Clinton campaigned for the first time alongside Warren, who came out swinging against Republican Trump in a likely preview of her attack-dog role in the campaign.
	The Massachusetts senator, discussed as a possible Clinton vice presidential pick, introduced Clinton at a raucous rally in Cincinnati in swing state Ohio, and painted Trump as a "thin-skinned bully" who is only in the presidential race for himself.
	"You want to see goofy? Look at him in that hat," Warren said, referring to Trump's propensity to deliver campaign speeches wearing a cap with his logo, "Make America Great Again" -- and his nickname for the progressive ...

Campaigning with Clinton, Senator Warren savages Trump

A wave of suicide bombings targeting Yemeni troops killed at least 19 people today in the southeastern city of Mukalla, which Al-Qaeda was driven out of in April, an official said.
	Three simultaneous bombings hit security checkpoints in the coastal city at sunset, just as troops fasting during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan were breaking their fast, said the security official.
	That was soon followed by a fourth bombing at the entrance of an army camp, he said, adding that in all "17 soldiers as well as a woman and child passing by were killed".
	The attacks were all carried out by suicide bombers, the source told AFP.
	Mukalla, capital of the vast Hadramawt province, remained under Al-Qaeda control for one year before pro-government troops, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, drove the jihadists out in April.
	The Pentagon revealed last month that a "very small number" of US military personnel had also been deployed around Mukalla in support of the operation, led by special Saudi and 

19 dead in bomb attacks on ex-Qaeda bastion in Yemen

German engineers have created a camera no bigger than a grain of salt that could change the future of health imaging and clandestine surveillance.
	Using 3-D printing, researchers from the University of Stuttgart built a three-lens camera, and fit it onto the end of an optical fibre the width of two hairs.
	Such technology could be used as minimally-intrusive endoscopes for exploring inside the human body, the engineers reported in the journal Nature Photonics.
	It could also be deployed in virtually invisible security monitors, or mini-robots with "autonomous vision".
	3-D printing -- also known as additive manufacturing -- makes three-dimensional objects by depositing layer after layer of materials such as plastic, metal or ceramic.
	Due to manufacturing limitations, lenses cannot currently be made small enough for key uses in the medical field, said the team, which believe its 3-D printing method may represent "a paradigm shift".
	It took only a few hours to design, manufacture and 

AFP

AFP

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