A court in Turkey has sentenced a Turkish man to 108 years in jail for sexually assaulting at least eight Syrian children at a flagship refugee camp, reports said today.
	The 29-year-old man, identified only as Erdal E, worked as a cleaner at the tented refugee camp in Nizip in the southern Gaziantep province near the Syrian border.
	He was found guilty of sexually abusing eight children in the camp's toilets in exchange for payments of between 1.5 and five Turkish lira (USD 0.50-USD 1.70/0.45-1.50 euros), the Dogan news agency said.
	His defence had asked for his acquittal, saying an earlier confession to police had been made under duress.
	But the judges at the court in the southern city of Nizip rejected the arguments, sentencing him late yesterday to 108 years in jail. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 289 years.
	The camp, which is home to some 10,800 refugees, has been visited by international dignitaries and is adjacent to the Nizip container camp for Syrian refugees ...

Turk gets 108 years for sex assaults on Syria children

PTI Automatic

Former US president Bill Clinton said today that he and his wife, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, were "saddened" by the passing of Muhammad Ali.
	"From the day he claimed the Olympic gold medal in 1960, boxing fans across the world knew they were seeing a blend of beauty and grace, speed and strength that may never be matched again," read a statement from the former president's office.
	"We watched him grow from the brash self-confidence of youth and success into a manhood full of religious and political convictions that led him to make tough choices and live with the consequences," he said.
	Ali was "courageous in the ring, inspiring to the young, compassionate to those in need, and strong and good-humored in bearing the burden of his own health challenges."
	Clinton said he was "honored" to have awarded Ali the Presidential Citizens Medal at the White House in January 2001, just before leaving office.
	"Through triumph and trials," Clinton said, Ali "became even ...

Clintons 'saddened' by death of Ali

Eight people were seriously injured after being struck by lightning at a rock festival in western Germany, the festival organiser has said.
	"The emergency services said that at least 42 festivalgoers were taken to hospitals in the region. Eight of them were seriously injured," said a statement on the website of the Rock am Ring festival, which is held in the town of Mendig, near Koblenz yesterday.
	The police confirmed the incident but could not give a figure for the number of injured.
	Rock am Ring, which began yesterday, continues through Sunday despite forecasts for further storms on Saturday.
	Last weekend, more than 30 people were taken to hospital in the western German village of Hoppstaedten when lightning struck the pitch at the end of a children's football match.
	On the same day, 11 people, most of them children, were injured by lightning in a Paris park after taking shelter under a tree during a storm.
	France, Germany and other parts of western and central Europe have ...

8 seriously hurt by lightning at German rock festival

Over a thousand hardline Buddhists gathered on the outskirts of Yangon for the annual summit of their ulta-nationalist group today, as the anti-Muslim network looks to stay relevant under Myanmar's new civilian leadership.
	Maroon-robed monks, nuns and other followers filled the monastery in northern Yangon to mark the third anniversary of the founding of Ma Ba Tha, which has been at the forefront of anti-Muslim sentiment in Myanmar in recent years.
	The group proved a potent political force under the former military-backed government, who they successfully lobbied to pass a series of controversial laws that rights groups say discriminate against women and religious minorities.
	But the organisation ultimately lost out in November elections that saw their allies in the incumbent party trounced by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which is now leading the former junta-run country's first civilian administration in half a century.
	Ma Ba Tha representatives from ...

Myanmar's hardline monks regroup after political change

At least 33 people were killed and 22 others injured when a truck collided with a bus which burst into flames in Algeria early today, authorities said.
	The accident took place near the city of Aflou, 400 kilometres south of the capital Algiers, the APS news agency said quoting the civil defence.
	The bus slammed into a rocky embankment after the collision and caught fire, with most of the passengers who were asleep at the time burning to death, it said.
	Road accidents kill at least 4,000 people each year in Algeria.

At least 33 killed in Algeria bus crash

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has asked a panel of experts to consider whether the Rio Summer Olympics should be held as scheduled due to concerns it could spread the Zika virus.
	The WHO sent teams of senior scientists to Brazil four times "to gather first-hand data on the current situation and assess the level of risk to the large number of athletes and spectators expected to attend the Olympic Summer Games," Director-General Margaret Chan wrote in a letter dated June 1.
	She was responding to a request by US Senator Jeanne Shaheen to evaluate the public health hazards of holding the Games in August.
	Shaheen posted Chan's letter online yesterday.
	"Given the current level of international concern, I have decided to ask members of the Zika Emergency Committee to examine the risks of holding the Olympic Summer Games as currently scheduled," Chan said.
	The WHO chief said the experts were due to meet "shortly," and vowed to post their advice online ...

WHO to weigh Rio Olympics impact on Zika spread

Thirty-two troops have been killed in a clash with Boko Haram jihadists on Niger's border with Nigeria, Niger's defence ministry said today.
	"Hundreds of assailants" attacked a military post at Bosso on Friday evening, it said in a statement that gave a "provisional toll" of 30 Nigerien and two Nigerian soldiers killed and 67 wounded.

32 troops killed in Niger clash with Boko Haram jihadists

Initial results from a criminal inquiry into the downing of a Malaysia Airlines flight over war-torn eastern Ukraine nearly two years ago will be available within months, Dutch prosecutors have said.
	The results are expected to shed light on the exact type of missile used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board, and exactly where it was fired from.
	"After this summer, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) will present the first results of the criminal investigation into the crash of flight MH17," the public prosecutor said in a statement released late yesterday.
	"It concerns the weapon which was used to shoot down the aircraft and the exact launch site of the weapon," it said, noting that the inquiry was at "a very advanced stage".
	However, investigators on the Dutch-led team, which includes experts from Australia, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine, were still awaiting information from Moscow about BUK missile ...

MH17 criminal probe results due within months: prosecutor

Syria army enters IS bastion province Raqa for first time

A pilot was killed and three passengers critically wounded after a helicopter crashed in remote eastern Indonesia today, officials said, the latest accident to beset the country's beleaguered aviation sector.
	The Bell 206 helicopter of aircraft operator Amur went down in Paniai district, Papua province.
	It was not immediately clear what caused the accident. Weather conditions were reported to be normal at the time.
	"We have evacuated the passengers to the nearby city of Nabire so they could get medical treatment," said Agus Rianto, a spokesman for Indonesia's national police.
	Papua,the easternmost province of Indonesia, is a remote, mountainous area and light aircraft are commonly used for transport in the province.
	But the difficult terrain and bad weather have caused several accidents in recent years.
	Last year, a plane from Trigana Air, a small domestic Indonesian airline, crashed killing 54 people on board.
	The aviation sector in Indonesia is expanding due to economic ...

One dead, three critical in Indonesian chopper crash

Muhammad Ali was remembered in tributes worldwide for his iconic fight for social justice as well as his legendary boxing battles following his death Friday at age 74.
     "We lost a giant today," iconic Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao said. "Boxing benefitted from Muhammad Ali's talents but not as much as mankind benefitted from his humanity."
     Ali spoke out for African-American civil rights in the 1960s, carrying on his fight against injustice and sacrificing prime years of his own career in the process.
     "He is, without a question in my mind, the most transformative person of our time," boxing promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.
     "Muhammad Ali had the most influence because he was this great sportsman, great boxer, the way he could connect with people, a great talker, he said what was on his mind, what he thought was right."
     Ali, born Cassius Clay, beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win the heavyweight title but was stripped of his titles in 1967 when he refused to join the US 

Ali recalled as fighter for justice and in ring

Colombia wrecked the United States' hopes of a winning start to the Copa America Centenario as goals from James Rodriguez and Cristian Zapata gave the South Americans a comfortable 2-0 victory.
     AC Milan's Zapata and Real Madrid star Rodriguez struck in the first half before a sell-out 67,439 crowd at the Levi's Stadium in northern California to puncture American hopes of emerging from a difficult Group A.
     US coach Jurgen Klinsmann's side had hoped to score an upset victory to emulate the Americans' famous defeat of Colombia at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
     But for long periods here Friday Klinsmann's men were chasing shadows as the skilful 2014 World Cup quarter-finalists delivered a stinging reality check.
     Klinsmann sought to put a positive spin on the game, insisting his team had competed as equals.
     "For our players it's really important that they can see we can beat them," Klinsmann said.
     "The end result is 2-0. But the players will take a ..

Colombia shatter American dream in Copa opener

Spanish champions Barcelona said they have been fined 150,000 euros by UEFA after separatist flags were flown in the Camp Nou during Champions League games last season.
     In a statement the Spanish champions said yesterday that they would do everything to overturn a punishment which they described as "totally unjust and...Opposed to the exercise of the freedom of expression."
     Of the fine, 50,000 euros will be suspended if there is no repeat offence in the next two years.
	The Catalan 'estelada' -- which differentiates from the red and yellow Catalan flag by the presence of a five-pointed star within a blue triangle -- has in recent years become a symbol of the independence movement within Catalonia.
	European football's governing body considers it a political symbol and fined Barcelona 40,000 euros after it was flown during a Champions League group game against Bayer Leverkusen last September.
	The club was also fined 30,000 euros in July 2015 after it was flown during the ...

UEFA fine Barcelona for Catalan separatist flags

Heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali, an icon of the 20th Century whose fame transcended the sport during a remarkable career that spanned three decades, has died, his family said.
     The beloved 74-year-old sports hero, who had been battling Parkinson's disease for decades, passed away yesterday in a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, where he had been admitted earlier this week suffering from respiratory problems.
     "After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74," spokesman Bob Gunnell said.
     "The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening."
     Funeral arrangements for Ali would be announced today, he added.
     Concern for Ali had grown throughout Friday, and tributes immediately poured in for "The Greatest," who was known globally not only for his storied ring career but also for his humanitarian activism.
     Ali had been hospitalized multiple times in recent years.
     He spent time in hospital in ...

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies at 74

A 96-year-old Japanese man is potty at the prospect of breaking more records after being recognised as the world's oldest university graduate with his degree in ceramic arts.
	Spritely senior Shigemi Hirata received his Guinness World Records certificate yesterday after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kyoto University of Art and Design earlier this year, local media reported today.
	Born on a Hiroshima farm in 1919 - the year the Allies and Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles - Hirata is something of a celebrity on campus.
	"Students whose name I don't even know call out to greet me," he told Japan's Yomiuri newspaper.
	"That gives me a lot of energy."
	Hirata, who took 11 years to complete his ceramic arts course after taking up pottery as a pensioner, insisted he was not done setting records.
	"My goal is to live until I'm 100," he said. "If I'm fit enough it might be rather fun to go to graduate school."
	Hirata, who served in the navy during World War II and has four ...

Japanese man, 96, becomes world's oldest college graduate

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray meet in a seventh Grand Slam final tomorrow with the clock ticking on their French Open title aspirations.
     World number one Djokovic, the winner of 11 majors, is bidding for a first French Open to become just the eighth man to complete the career Grand Slam.
	Victory tomorrow would also give him the 'Novak Slam' as he already holds the Wimbledon, US and Australian Open titles.
     But the 29-year-old has lost all three finals he has made in Paris.
	Murray, also 29 and a rival of Djokovic since their junior days, has previously fallen three times at the semi-final stages.
	The last British man to win in Paris was Fred Perry in 1935 while Bunny Austin was the last finalist from his country in 1937.
	"It's obviously a very big match for both of us. Novak trying to win the career slam and me trying to win my first French Open," said Murray, aware that even Roger Federer needed 11 visits to Paris to win his first and only French Open.
     When Federer .

Djokovic, Murray set for blockbuster as Open clock ticks

Scoreboard from opening
match of the Tri-Nation One-Day International series between the West Indies and South Africa at the Guyana National Stadium.
	   South Africa Innings
	   Q de Kock b Brathwaite 30
	   H Amla lbw Narine 20
	   R Rossouw c Brathwaite b Narine 61
	   AB de Villiers c and b Taylor 31
	   JP Duminy b Holder 23
	   F Behardien lbw Narine 0
	   C Morris lbw Narine 9
	   K Abbott b Brathwaite 5
	   A Phangiso c Holder b Narine 3
	   K Rabada not out 1
	   I Tahir lbw Narine 0
	   Extras (lb-1, w-4) 5
	   Total (46.5 overs, all out) 188
	   Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-52, 3-130, 4-160, 5-160, 6-172, 7-181, 8-181, 9-185, 10-188
	   Bowling: J Taylor 7-0-36-1, J Holder 10-1-37-1, C Brathwaite 8-0-35-2, S Narine 9.5-0-27-6, S Benn 10-0-41-0, K Pollard 2-0-11-0.
	   West Indies Innings
	   J Charles b Tahir 31
	   A Fletcher b Tahir 11
	   D Bravo lbw Phangiso 30
	   M Samuels lbw Phangiso 1
	   D Ramdin c de Villiers b Duminy 10
	   K Pollard not out 67
	   C Brathwaite c ...

Providence (Guyana), June 4 (AFP) Scoreboard from opening

Boxing icon Muhammad Ali has died, a family spokesman said in a statement.
     "After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74," spokesman Bob Gunnell said.
     Ali, whose fame transcended sport during a remarkable heavyweight boxing career that spanned three decades, had been hospitalized in the Phoenix, Arizona, area with a respiratory ailment this week.
     Concern for the three-time heavyweight world champion had grown throughout Friday amid reports that his respiratory trouble was complicated by the Parkinson's that had left the fighter called "The Greatest" increasingly frail.
     Known globally not only for his storied ring career but also for his civil rights activism, Ali had been hospitalized multiple times in recent years.
     He spent time in hospital in 2014 after suffering a mild case of pneumonia and again in 2015 for a urinary tract infection.
     His Parkinson's, thought to be linked to the thousands of punches he .

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies at 74 - family

Sunil Narine snared career-best figures of six for 27 on his return to West Indies colours as the hosts defeated South Africa by four wickets in the opening match of the Tri-Nation One-Day International series at the Guyana National Stadium.
     Forced to remodel his action after it was deemed illegal during the Caribbean side's last ODI campaign in Sri Lanka last November, the 28-year-old mystery spinner was at his mesmerising best on a turgid surface where the South Africans were dismissed for 188 off 46.5 overs. They found it difficult to establish any sort of momentum despite two useful partnerships at the top of the order.
     Narine's returns were not only a personal milestone but also the best-ever by any opponents in one-day cricket against South Africa.
     "I've had to change my bowling action almost 80 percent and it's great to see how it has worked out," said Man of the Match Narine. "I really hope I can keep on playing for the West Indies for the rest of my career."
   

Narine sinks Proteas in West Indies romp

Boxing icon Muhammad Ali has died, a family spokesman said in a statement.
     "After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74," spokesman Bob Gunnell said.
     Ali, whose fame transcended sport during a remarkable heavyweight boxing career that spanned three decades, had been hospitalized in the Phoenix, Arizona, area with a respiratory ailment this week.

AFP

AFP

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