Bombings suspected to have been carried out by the Islamic State group killed at least eight people in northeastern Syria hours after a top US commander visited, security forces said today.
	Washington regards the Kurdish-led militia that controls most of the northeast as the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and the head of US Central Command General Joseph Votel made a secret visit yesterday to confer with US military advisers working with them.
	A CENTCOM spokesman declined to give details of the visit, saying only that Votel had visited several location inside Syria on the highest-ranking visit to the country since the 2011 outbreak of the civil war.
	Two IS suicide bombers struck the centre of Qamishli, a mainly Kurdish city that is the de facto capital of the swathes of northern Syria where Kurdish militia have set up a self-declared autonomous administration.
	The bombers hit a restaurant and a bakery in the Christian Wusta neighbourhood of the city that is ...

Bombs kill 8 in northeast Syria as US commander visits

PTI Automatic

Austrians began voting today in a key presidential runoff which could usher in the European Union's first extreme right-wing leader amid the continent's worst migrant crisis since World War II.
	The vote pits 45-year-old Norbert Hofer of the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPOe) against the Green-backed economics professor Alexander van der Bellen, 72.
	A year of rising concerns about the migrant crisis and growing unemployment has left Austria deeply polarised and driven disgruntled voters away from traditional parties toward fringe groups.
	In last month's first round, Hofer -- a gun enthusiast left partially disabled after a paragliding accident -- comfortably beat his rival by 35 per cent to 21 per cent.
	Leaning on his trademark cane, the far-right hopeful was confident of victory in his final public address Friday.
	"I will be your new president, a patron for Austria," he told a jubilant crowd at the Viktor-Adler square in Vienna's Favoriten district, an FPOe ...

Polls open in key Austrian presidential runoff

Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi-led coalition aircraft killed 13 suspected jihadists in two overnight raids near the former Al-Qaeda stronghold of Mukalla, a security official said today.
	Three soldiers also died in the raids on suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts east of the port city of some 200,000 people that pro-government forces recaptured last month, the official said.
	Nine troops were wounded in the assaults in the Rukob and Bowaish districts outside the Hadramawt province capital. Two militants were captured.
	Apache helicopters of the coalition that intervened in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in March last year took part in the raids.
	Last month, Hadi loyalists backed by Emirati and Saudi special forces drove Al-Qaeda out of Mukalla and the port city of Shihr further east, ending a year of jihadist rule.
	But since then there has been a spate of attacks on security forces, many of them suicide bombings, claimed by Al-Qaeda or its jihadist rival the Islamic .

Yemen govt forces kill 13 jihadists in former Qaeda bastion

The Yemeni government delegation is to rejoin UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait with Shiite rebels who control the capital, ending a four-day boycott, the UN special envoy said today.
	The hard-won negotiations on ending a conflict that has killed more than 6,400 people and driven 2.8 million from their homes since March last year have been interrupted by repeated boycotts by the government delegation since they opened on April 21.
	UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi had agreed to end the latest boycott after mediation by UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
	Hadi's supporters had baulked at discussing rebel proposals for a unity government that they fear will sideline him and undermine his claim to international legitimacy.
	They insist that the talks should focus instead on enforcing an April 2015 UN Security Council resolution demanding the rebels' withdrawal from the capital and other territories they have .

Yemen govt to end peace talks boycott: UN

At the top of the corporate world, Apple and Google are in a back-and-forth battle to be number one.
	It's not clear which of the two Silicon Valley giants will emerge on top in a contest which highlights the contrast of very different business models.
	For a brief time early this year, Google parent Alphabet overtook Apple as the world's largest company by market value.
	Apple then regained, lost and recovered the leader position in May in a battle that appears set to continue for some time.
	At the close yesterday, Apple was worth some USD 522 billion, to USD 496 billion for Alphabet. The two companies have both been hugely profitable in recent years, for different reasons.
	Apple shares have slumped some 30 per cent over the past 12 months over concerns that its stunning growth pace is slowing and that the iPhone won't be able to rake in profits as it has up to now.
	Kay said Apple may be losing the position of innovation leader it achieved after the iPhone, with no new major hit ..

Apple, Google locked in battle for supremacy

Afghanistan's main spy agency said today that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone attack inside Pakistan.
	"Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... Until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle... in Balochistan," the National Directorate of Security said in a statement.

Afghan spy agency says Taliban leader killed in drone attack

Afghan spy agency says Taliban leader killed in drone

US Secretary of State John Kerry today hailed Myanmar's transition to a civilian government steered by Aung San Suu Kyi as a "remarkable statement" that furthers the global democratic cause.
	In the first high level meeting with Suu Kyi and her administration since it took office in March, Kerry told the Nobel laureate that her country's evolution towards democracy after decades under the military was a "remarkable statement to people all over the world".

Myanmar's transition 'remarkable statement' to world: Kerry

Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was targeted by US drone strikes because he posed an "threat" to US troops, Afghan civilians and peace talks, Secretary of State John Kerry said today on a visit to Myanmar.
	The US said Saturday's strikes hit a vehicle carrying Mansour and a second passenger in Pakistan's remote southwestern province of Balochistan bordering Afghanistan.
	Speaking to reporters in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw Kerry outlined the reasons for the strikes.
	"Mansour posed... An imminent threat to US personnel, Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces," he told reporters, adding "he was also directly opposed to peace negotiations."
	The US "has long maintained that an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process is the surest way to ensure peace... Peace is what we want, Mansour was a threat to that," Kerry added.
	The Taliban have so far not commented on the American strike or confirmed Mansour's death. He had been appointed leader last July.
	The drone attack ..

Taliban chief targeted by drones threatened US troops: Kerry

Thailand's ousted prime minister called on the kingdom's generals to return power to the people as the country marked the second anniversary today of its latest coup.
	Yingluck Shinawatra, whose government was thrown out of office on 22 May 2014 in the military's 12th successful putsch, said the country was "suffering" under army rule.
	Since their takeover, Thailand's military have clamped down on dissent, banning political protest and ramping up prosecutions under the country's draconian sedition and royal defamation laws.
	The economy has also stagnated, debunking the junta's claims that it alone holds the key to the nation's prosperity.
	"Today is the 2nd anniversary of the coup d'etat that removed my government from office," Yingluck said in a Facebook post uploaded today.
	"It was the day that the people's rights and freedom were taken away."
	Yingluck was Thailand's first female prime minister and the sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, who was also toppled in a 2006 coup backed by ..

Two years after coup ousted Thai PM says country 'suffering'

A Florida neighbourhood watchman has sold for USD 250,000 the gun he used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, auctioneers said.
	United Gun Group, which hosted the auction on its website, confirmed yesterday the amount of the sale of the Kel-Tec PF-9, a 9mm pistol.
	The price, also reported by television stations in Nevada and Florida a day earlier, far exceeded the market value of a secondhand weapon.
	The very fact that the weapon was even being auctioned off had triggered a major backlash due to the nature of 17-year-old Martin's 2012 shooting.
	Watchman George Zimmerman claims he acted in self-defense but the teen's family and friends claimed it was a murder driven by racism.
	Zimmerman's trial and subsequent acquittal exposed deep racial divides in US society, and nationwide protests erupted over the shooting.
	The TMZ celebrity news website said the winning bid was a last-minute one, denying a Florida bar owner to own for USD 150,000 what Zimmerman has called an ...

US killer's gun sells for USD 250,000: auctioneers

Taliban leader targeted by airstrike posed threat to US

A guitar given to Elvis Presley by his father in 1969 went under the hammer for USD 334,000 in New York during an auction that also saw a Michael Jackson vest fetch USD 256,000.
	Vernon Presley is said to have changed the finish of the Gibson Dove acoustic guitar to ebony after his son earned his black belt in karate.
	It beat auction house Julien's estimate of USD 200,000 to USD 300,000 for yesterday's sale.
	During a 1975 concert in Asheville, North Carolina, Presley had given the guitar to fan Mike Harris, who had kept it until now.
	Another highlight of the auction was a red neoprene vinyl jacket created by Dennis Tompkins and Michael Bush for Michael Jackson to wear during the 1996-1997 HIStory world tour.
	It scored more than four times the auctioneers' estimate of USD 40,000 to USD 60,000.
	The highest bid reached USD 354,400, for John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
	Julien's had expected it would fetch between USD 300,000 and ..

Elvis guitar fetches USD 334,000 at New York auction

A 27-year-old man opened fire on people after a concert in a village in western Austria, killing two people and injuring 11 others before turning the gun on himself, police said today.
	The incident occurred overnight in the province of Vorarlberg where around 150 people remained after the event, at which alcohol was consumed.
     After getting into an argument, the man went back to his car and returned with a gun with which he began shooting people at random before killing himself, according to preliminary information.
	The incident did not immediately appear to be linked to Sunday's presidential election runoff vote in Austria that could see a far-right candidate swept to power.

Two dead, 11 injured in Austrian shooting rampage

A Japanese pop star who was repeatedly knifed in a frenzied attack by an obsessive fan was in a critical condition today, police and reports said.
	Mayu Tomita, 20, was stabbed dozens of times in the neck and chest as she was waiting to appear at a small concert venue in Tokyo, Jiji Press and other local reports said.
	Police arrested Tomohiro Iwazaki, 27, on the spot and seized a blood-covered knife, a spokesman for the Tokyo force said.
	Tomita had been working as a pop star and actor while completing her college studies, the reports said.
	Before the attack, the singer had complained to police that Iwazaki was posting obsessive comments about her on Twitter and blogging sites, Jiji said.
	Iwazaki told police he became angry towards the star when she returned a gift he had sent her, public broadcaster NHK said.
	Female Japanese pop stars often cultivate a girl-next-door image, appearing at fan events and performing at smaller venues.
	In 2014, two teenage members of Japanese girl ...

Japanese pop star attacked by knife-wielding fan

Turkey's Transport Minister Binali Yildirim will be formally appointed as head of the ruling party and as the new prime minister today, strengthening the grip on power of his mentor President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
	Yildirim -- a longstanding and faithful ally of Erdogan -- is the only candidate at an extraordinary congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) today that will choose the party chairman, meaning he will become prime minister.
	His main task in the post, observers say, will be to push through a change in the constitution to transform Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system, placing more power in Erdogan's hands.
	The 60-year-old will replace Ahmet Davutoglu, who threw in the towel after a bitter power struggle with Erdogan.
	Divisions between Davutoglu and Erdogan had been boiling for months over a series of issues including Turkey's peace process with the Kurdish militants, an accord with the European Union on refugees and the shift from ...

Erdogan loyalist to be appointed as Turkish PM

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored two goals and set up another as Paris Saint-Germain defeated bitter rivals Marseille 4-2 to clinch a 10th French Cup title in the Swede's final game with the club.
     Blaise Matuidi struck PSG's opening goal inside two minutes at the Stade de France, but Marseille hit back just 10 minutes later through on-loan Newcastle midfielder Florian Thauvin.
	Ibrahimovic then converted a penalty immediately after half-time to restore the capital club's lead, before he played in Edinson Cavani to add a third goal on 56 minutes.
	The 34-year-old Swedish star signed off in trademark spectacular style with his second of the evening, the 156th and final goal of his PSG career, eight minutes from time as Laurent Blanc's side repeated last year's domestic treble despite a late consolation from Michy Batshuayi.
	With the Ligue 1 crown and French League Cup already in the bag, PSG were aiming to move level with record 10-time French Cup winners Marseille in a repeat of the ...

Ibrahimovic lifts French Cup in PSG swansong

An Australian and a Dutch mountaineer have died of altitude sickness after summitting Mount Everest, expedition organisers said, the latest deaths to hit the Himalayan climbing season.
     The Australian climber was on her way down from Camp 4 to Camp 3 when she fell ill and died yesterday afternoon, Pasang Phurba Sherpa, a board director at Seven Summit Treks, told AFP.
     "After reaching the summit yesterday she said she was feeling very weak and suffering from a loss of energy... Signs of altitude sickness," Sherpa said.
     The Australian woman was identified as Maria Strydom by a spokesman for Monash University in Melbourne, where she worked.
     "The Monash University community is deeply saddened by the tragic news of the loss of Dr Maria Strydom on Mt Everest. We are liaising with authorities and our heartfelt thoughts and support are extended to Maria's family, her friends, colleagues and students," he said.
     Sherpa said Strydom was in her mid-30s.
     The Dutch ...

Australian and Dutch climbers die after Everest summit

The French Open gets under way at leafy Roland Garros today with security ramped up in the aftermath of the November terror attacks in Paris and with low-key fare on the playing schedule.
     Storylines of Novak Djokovic chasing an elusive first title at the gruelling claycourt tournament and Serena Williams looking to equal Steffi Graf's modern-day record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles will have to wait.
	The first challenge for organisers is to keep the daily crowds of 30,000 fans safe and sound, a task which was fairly straightforward until last year when another of the city's showpiece sports venues, the Stade de France, was targeted by suicide bombers.
	"Security is at the heart of our priorities and it will be reinforced," said Guy Forget, the former player and Davis Cup winner who was appointed as tournament director only in February.
	"There will be a double security perimeter with only three entry points. We cannot afford to take the slightest risk."
	Metal detectors and ...

High security, low-key start for French Open

An extra-time winner from late substitute Alvaro Morata saw Juventus to their 11th Italian Cup with a 1-0 triumph over AC Milan.
     It means Juventus become the first Italian team to win successive league and Cup doubles, a year after ending a 20-year wait to achieve the feat.
     AC Milan's defeat yesterday means the seven-time European champions failed to qualify for Europe next season. Sixth place finishers Sassuolo will be handed a Europa League place.
     Milan put everything into a match most expected to be a one-sided in Juve's favour but came away lamenting their failure to convert a host of chances.
	Morata came off the bench to replace Hernanes in the second period of extra time, and only two minutes later the Spain international fired a superb first-time strike from Juan Cuadrado's chipped pass past a well beaten Ganluigi Donnarumma to wrap up the double for Massimiliano Allegri's men.
	But on all-round performance, the champions were barely worthy winners after a ...

Morata strikes as Juve retain Cup, keep Milan out of Europe

England captain Alastair Cook said he knew Jonathan Bairstow would be an international player from the moment he first set eyes on him after the Yorkshireman's impressive century set up a thumping Test win over Sri Lanka.
     England thrashed the tourists by an innings and 88 runs inside three days to win the first Test at Headingley on Saturday and so go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
	James Anderson made the most of overcast conditions ideally suited for swing bowling with a match haul of 10 for 45.
	In the process, he became the first England player to take 10 wickets in a Test at Headingley since fast-bowling great Fred Trueman did so on his Yorkshire home ground against Australia back in 1961.
	But it was current Yorkshire star Bairstow who laid the platform for Saturday's success by making 140 -- his first Test century in England -- after Cook's men were struggling at 83 for five having lost the toss.
	The wicket-keeper's knock was the cornerstone of England's 298, with Sri .

AFP

AFP

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