A surprise assault by the Islamic State group has trapped tens of thousands of terrified people on the Syrian border with Turkey, Doctors Without Borders said today, warning the situation was "unacceptable".
	Pablo Marco, the regional manager of the charity known by its French acronym MSF, said concerns were rising for a large civilian population less than five kilometres (three miles) from advancing IS jihadists.
	"We are talking about 100,000 people who are trapped a few kilometres from IS. They are terrified, there is nowhere to go," Marco said in a telephone interview with AFP.
	IS swept towards the last rebel strongholds of Marea and Azaz in Aleppo province on Friday, forcing thousands to flee towards the northern frontier.
	But Turkey has kept the border closed, leaving civilians stuck between the violent front line with IS to the east, the sealed border to the north, and the autonomous Kurdish canton of Afrin to the west.
	"These people are now in a very small area of four by ..

'Nowhere to go': MSF says IS Syria assault traps thousands

PTI Automatic

Alastair Cook became the first England batsman to score 10,000 Test runs as his side closed in on a series-clinching win over Sri Lanka at the Riverside today.
     England were were 33 without loss at tea on the fourth day, needing just a further 46 runs to reach their winning target of 79.
     England captain Cook was 23 not out at the Riverside, having scored the five he needed to and just the 12th player of all time to score 10,000 Test runs.
     Fellow opener Alex Hales was 10 not out.
     Victory in this match would see England take an unassailable lead in the three-match series following their innings and 88-run win in the first Test at Headingley.
     Left-hander Cook reached the landmark when he clipped Nuwan Pradeep for four through mid-wicket, having got off the mark with an edged single against left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.
     At 31 years and 157 days he was the youngest player ever to achieve the feat, beating the previous record of India great Sachin Tendulkar ..

Cook breaks 10,000 barrier as England eye Sri Lanka series win

Scoreboard at tea on the fourth day of the second Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Riverside today:
     England 1st Innings 498-9 dec (M Ali 155 no, A Hales 83, J Root 80; N Pradeep 4-107)
     Sri Lanka 1st Innings 101 (S Broad 4-40, C Woakes 3-9, J Anderson 3-36)
     Sri Lanka 2nd Innings (following-on, overnight 309-5)
     D Karunaratne c Root b Woakes           26
     K Silva c Bairstow b Finn               60
     K Mendis c Bairstow b Anderson          26
     L Thirimanne b Ali                      13
     A Mathews c Bairstow b Anderson         80
     D Chandimal b Broad                    126
     M Siriwardana c Hales b Anderson        35
     R Herath lbw b Anderson                 61
     S Eranga b Anderson                      1
     S Lakmal c Broad b Woakes               11
     N Pradeep not out                       13
     Extras (b5, lb11, w1, nb6)              23
     Total (all out, 128.2 overs)           475
     Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-79, 3-100, 

Chester-Le-Street (United Kingdom), May 30 (AFP)

British police today charged two men after 20 people, most of them migrants, were rescued from the English Channel when their inflatable boat began to take on water.
	Two children and a woman were among the group of 18 Albanians and two Britons aboard the rigid-hulled inflatable boat, which got into trouble off the Kent coast, southeast England, late yesterday.
	An interior ministry spokesman said that two British men, aged 33 and 35, had been charged with immigration offences and were due to appear in court.
	Calais coastguard organisation SNSM assisted the British coastguard in the rescue operation, which ended around 2:00 AM yesterday.
	The passengers were taken to the nearby port of Dover to be interviewed by Border Force officers, the Home Office said.
	"The castaways, who were migrants, called their families, who then alerted the authorities and rescue missions were triggered on both sides of the Channel," said SNSM president Bernard Barron.
	Thousands of people have been massed 

UK police charge two after migrant boat rescue operation

The German government will put at least 100 million euros (USD 111 million) on the table to help milk producers cope with plunging prices that are threatening their livelihoods, the minister for agriculture said today.
	"We will provide financial support to producers in the short term," said Christian Schmidt during a press conference in Berlin.
	The federal government will make available "100 million euros plus X" in direct aid and tax benefits, Schmidt said, adding that he was planning to discuss with Brussels "how much the sum X could be".
	Thousands of farmers are seeing their margins squeezed by slumping prices as supply outstrips demand all across the world.
	Since the end of last year, when Europe scrapped its quota system that had been in place for three decades, many dairy farmers in Germany had ramped up production.
	But the export market proved to have a far smaller appetite than promised, as slowing economic growth in large emerging countries cut demand.
	Russia, a big ...

Germany pledges at least 100 mn euros in aid for dairy farmers

An unemployed man who drove a car loaded with a home-made bomb into the Madrid headquarters of Spain's ruling Popular Party (PP) has been sentenced to five years in jail, a court said today.
	In December 2014, Daniel Perez Berlanga rammed a car with an explosive device made up of gas cylinders and fertiliser through the glass front of the building, reaching a staircase inside.
	The device did not go off and no one was hurt in the incident, which triggered a major security alert as dozens of police cars shut off the central Madrid street where the party's headquarters are located.
	Berlanga, 37, told police at the time that he was a ruined businessman who blamed Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative PP government for his problems.
	He later said his target was the entire political class in general.
	A Madrid court found Berlanga guilty of making and possessing an explosive device and attempted arson and sentenced him to five years behind bars, in a ruling dated May 10 that was ...

Spanish man jailed for attack on ruling party HQ

Under fire over the state of democracy in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today took aim at strike-hit France, expressing his alarm over police violence against French demonstrators.
	He accused the media of selective reporting in turning a blind eye to police repression in the West while appearing overly keen to focus on Turkey's alleged shortcomings.
	His remarks echoed Western criticism of the Turkish police's heavily-handed tactics against peaceful protesters during anti-government demonstrations in 2013.
	"I am concerned over what's happening in Paris," Erdogan said in a televised speech in Istanbul.
	"I condemn the violence committed by the French police against people who use their right to demonstration," he added.
	He complained the same Western media who had been only too keen to report on anti-government protests in Turkey three years ago were silent over the treatment of French protesters.
	"Today, Paris and Brussels are on fire," said Erdogan.
	"In other Western ...

Turkey's Erdogan alarmed by French crackdown on protests

South Korea's defence ministry said today it had detected signs that North Korea was preparing a ballistic missile launch, as Japan reportedly put its military on intercept alert.
	UN resolutions ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology, although it regularly fires short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast.
	Tensions have been running high on the divided Korean peninsula since the North's fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a long-range rocket launch the following month.
	And in recent weeks Pyongyang has voiced anger at Seoul's refusal to accept repeated offers of military talks to de-escalate the situation.
	"We are tracking signs that North Korea is preparing a ballistic missile test and are maintaining combat readiness," a defence ministry official told AFP.
	The official did not specify the missile type, but the fact that signs of a launch had been detected would point to a medium-range missile or larger.
	In April the North tried and failed 

S Korea ministry says signs North preparing missile launch

The foreign minister of Libya's unity government today formally moved into his ministerial offices in the capital Tripoli, as the Government of National Accord struggles to assert its authority.
	Mohamad Taher Siala, a foreign ministry employee for three decades, "officially took up his post" at the ministry building, Libyan news agency LANA reported.
	He is the latest member of the embattled GNA to take control of a ministry building in the divided oil-rich country since May 25, following those of health, interior and national education.
	The UN-backed GNA has taken control of several administrative offices over the past two months.
	But since designated prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj made a dramatic arrival and set up headquarters at a Tripoli naval base on March 30, the GNA has faced a raft of resistance from its opponents.
	A rival government in the east is refusing to cede power until a repeatedly delayed vote of confidence is passed in Libya's elected parliament.

Libya's new FM takes control of ministry

Rodrigo Duterte snubbed his proclamation as the next Philippine president today, reinforcing his image as a maverick outsider intent on challenging the nation's political establishment.
	A joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate in Manila endorsed the official count of this month's election, which saw the trash-talking politician who revels in threats to kill criminals win by more than six million votes.
	Duterte declined to attend the nationally televised event, preferring to remain more than 900 kilometres away in his southern hometown of Davao that he has ruled as mayor for most of the past two decades and he admits is his comfort zone.
	"I am not attending the proclamation. I've never attended any proclamation (in) all my life," Duterte, who will be sworn into office on June 30, told reporters on the weekend.
	Duterte, 71, won the elections largely due to an incendiary law-and-order platform headlined by a vow to wipe out crime within six months.
	He pledged ..

Duterte snubs his proclamation as Philippine president

A Dubai court has sentenced an American-Lebanese businessman to 15 years in prison over fraud and misuse of power in a property deal, local media reported today.
	Zack Shahin, a former CEO of Emirati property firm Deyaar who has been in detention for more than eight years, was sentenced yesterday along with two others over a 56.3-million-dirham (USD 15.3-million) fraud, Khaleej Times reported.
	The prosecution said Shahin, 51, had "misused his power as CEO of Deyaar back in November 2007 and committed irregularities and fraud", the paper said.
	He was accused of submitting a misleading feasibility study to the company's board for the purchase of a plot of land in the United States, causing Deyaar to lose the USD 15 million, the paper said.
	The two other defendants, both Americans working for a private US realty firm, were also sentenced to 15 years in jail each but local media said they remain at large.
	The court, which could not be contacted today, acquitted five other Deyaar staff 

US ex-CEO jailed 15 years in UAE for 'fraud'

Iraqi forces thrust into the city of Fallujah from three directions today marking a new and perilous urban phase in the week-old operation to retake the jihadist bastion.
	The drive to recapture the first city to be lost from government control in 2014 came as fighting also raged in neighbouring Syria, leaving huge numbers of civilians exposed.
	Led by the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS), Iraq's best trained and most seasoned fighting unit, the forces pushed into Fallujah before dawn, commanders said.
	"Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation, and supported by artillery and tanks," said Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the commander of the operation.
	"CTS forces, the Anbar (provincial) police and the Iraqi army, at around 4:00 am (0100 GMT), started moving into Fallujah from three directions," he said.
	"There is resistance from Daesh," he added, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
	CTS spokesman ..

Iraq forces push into streets of IS-held Fallujah

The French Open suffered its first complete washout since 2000 on Monday when all scheduled matches were cancelled due to heavy rain.
     "Due to weather, there will be no matches played at #RG16 today," said the Roland Garros Twitter feed.
     There could be more problems on Tuesday with further rain forecast throughout the day before conditions brighten on Wednesday.
     Eight last-16 matches planned for Monday plus two more which had already been held over from Sunday night will now be played on Tuesday.
     Three quarter-finals are also due to take place Tuesday -- Andy Murray against Richard Gasquet and defending champion Stan Wawrinka in the men's event while Shelby Rogers was to face Garbine Muguruza in the women's singles.
     Play had been set to get underway at 1100 (0900GMT) on Monday but was eventually called off just before 1400 (1200GMT).
     "All cancelled for today -- rain, rain go away," tweeted Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych who was due to face former ...

French Open suffers first washout in 16 years

Israeli authorities have arrested three Palestinian teenagers over the stabbing of two Israeli women in their 80s earlier this month, police said today.
	"Three Arab suspects have been arrested, minors, residents of Jabal Mukaber" in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, a police statement said.
	It said the suspects were aged 16 to 17 and that one of their mothers had been arrested in the occupied West Bank a week ago on suspicion of trying to carry out a stabbing attack.
	The two Israeli women in their 80s were part of a group of five on a walk in woods between west and east Jerusalem when they were attacked and moderately wounded on May 10.
	The police said that the suspects went to the scene, two of them armed with a knife and an axe brought from home, and lay in wait "for Jewish victims".
	Two of the youths attacked the women with the knife and the wooden handle of the axe, police said.
	They fled the scene but were arrested on May 19 after discussing on social media plans to carry out 

Palestinian teens held over attack on Israeli women

Beijing insisted today a Chinese boat detained close to Indonesian islands had been fishing legally, in a fresh flare-up of tensions between the countries in the South China Sea.
	The Indonesian navy seized the Chinese boat in waters near the Natuna Islands on Friday for allegedly fishing illegally, the military said.
	The boat was towed to shore and eight Chinese crew members have been detained.
	Jakarta and Beijing have clashed before over the islands on the southwestern fringe of the disputed South China Sea, where China is also at loggerheads with several other countries because of its overlapping claims.
	Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying insisted the detained vessel had been operating legally.
	"The Chinese fishermen were conducting normal fishing operations in the relevant waters," she told a press briefing.
	"We have made stern representations with Indonesia concerning this matter."
	Achmad Taufiqoerrochman, the commander of Indonesia's Western Fleet, said the .

China angry after Indonesia detains fishing boat

A Kuwait court today sentenced three members of the Al-Sabah ruling family and four others to jail terms for insulting the emir and the judiciary on the Internet.
	The court sentenced the three royals and two others to five years each, a sixth man for one year and handed down a 10-year term to a seventh man in absentia.
	The royals include Sheikh Athbi al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a nephew of the Gulf state's emir and the former head of the secret service police.
	He is also the younger brother of international sports figure Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad Al-Sabah.
	The defendants remain free on bail.
	They were among 13 people charged with using Whatsapp and Twitter to insult the emir and publish false news accusing judges of accepting bribes, the court ruled.
	Also convicted was Sheikh Khalifa Ali Al-Sabah, the editor of Al-Watan newspaper and television which were closed by the government for violating corporate finance rules in a decision ratified by the courts.
	Another six men were acquitted.
	The 

Kuwait jails three royals for insulting emir

Three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and eight wounded in a fresh "escalation" of fighting between pro-Russian rebels and government forces, Kiev said today.
	Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said fighting had intensified compared to a month ago and accused rebels of "actively using heavy weapons" including a Grad rocket launcher.
	"Over the past 24 hours, as a result of the hostilities, three Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and eight more wounded", he said.
	The spokesman said the fighting took place around the eastern rebel hub of Donetsk and the government-controlled town of Mariupol.
	There has been an uptick in violence in the east of Ukraine, with seven troops reported dead on Tuesday and five more over the weekend.
	Kiev and the West have accused Russia of buttressing the rebels and sending in regular troops across the border, claims Moscow has repeatedly denied.
	Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said last month it could take years to end the conflict, which has .

Three Ukrainian soldiers killed in upsurge in east

A special court in Senegal sentenced former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre to life in prison today for war crimes, crimes against humanity and a litany of other charges, including rape.
	The verdict brings a long-awaited day of reckoning to up to 40,000 people kidnapped, raped and tortured under his rule as president of Chad from 1982-1990.
	"Hissene Habre, this court finds you guilty of crimes against humanity, rape, forced slavery, and kidnapping," as well as war crimes, said Gberdao Gustave Kam, president of the special court.
	"The court condemns you to life in prison," Kam added.
	The court also heard that Habre had raped a woman named Khadija Hassan Zidane on several occasions.
	Upon hearing the verdict, Habre raised his arms into the air, shouting "Down with France-afrique!" referring to the term used for France's continuing influence on its former colonies.
	The case was heard at the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE) -- a special tribunal set up by the African Union under a 

Chad ex-dictator guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity

Dinesh Chandimal maintained Sri Lanka's fightback in the second Test against England with an unbeaten century at the Riverside on Monday.
     Sri Lanka, following on, were 403 for six at lunch on the fourth day -- a lead of six runs.
     Chandimal, dropped on 69, was 108 not out.
     This was his sixth hundred in 27 Tests but first outside Asia.
     Chandimal received excellent support from Rangana Herath (37 not out) in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 89 that ensured England would have to bat again in a bid to go an unassailable 2-0 up in this three-match series.
     Sri Lanka resumed on 309 for five, 88 runs adrift of England's 498 for nine declared built around Moeen Ali's Test-best 155 not out.
     At that stage, a second successive innings defeat, following Sri Lanka's innings and 88-run loss in the first Test at Headingley, was still a possibility.
     Chandimal was 54 not out overnight and Milinda Siriwardana 35 not out after Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews (80) and 

Ton-up Chandimal frustrates England

Four people died and several more were injured in southern Germany after violent storms with torrential rains caused severe flooding, authorities said today.
	One of those killed was a 13-year-old girl who was hit by a train yesterday while seeking shelter from the rains under a railway bridge.
	A boy, 12, who was with her was not physically injured but had to receive trauma counselling, said police in the southern city of Aalen.
	In Schwaebisch Gmuend near the city of Stuttgart, a volunteer firefighter died on Sunday trying to rescue a man trapped in a shaft of a flooded railway station, municipal authorities said.
	The man who was trapped was also presumed dead although neither body has been recovered, according to local police.
	In Weissbach, just to the north, a 60-year-old man died in a flooded underground garage on the same day.
	The regional authorities in the state of Baden- Wuerttemberg put the number of injured at around 10.
	A number of people had to be rescued from cars ...

Four dead in Germany floods

Scoreboard at lunch on the fourth day of the second Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Riverside on Monday.
     England 1st Innings 498-9 dec
     Sri Lanka 1st Innings 101
     Sri Lanka 2nd Innings (following-on, overnight 309-5)
     D. Karunaratne c Root b Woakes           26
     K. Silva c Bairstow b Finn               60
     K. Mendis c Bairstow b Anderson          26
     L. Thirimanne b Ali                      13
     A. Mathews c Bairstow b Anderson         80
     D. Chandimal not out                    108
     M. Siriwardana c Hales b Anderson        35
     R. Herath not out                        37
     Extras (b1, lb10, w1, nb6)               18
     Total (6 wkts, 112 overs, 488 mins)     403
     Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-79, 3-100, 4-182, 5-222, 6-314.
     Bowling: Anderson 21-5-51-3, Broad 22-6-59-0, Woakes 23-8-85-1, Finn 19-0-78-1, Ali 24-5-106-1, Vince 1-1-0-0, Root 2-0-13-0.

AFP

AFP

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