Scoreboard at stumps on the first day of the second Ashes Test between England and Australia at Lord's

England v Australia 2nd Test scoreboard - 2nd update

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Chris Rogers and Steven Smith both scored unbeaten hundreds in a record-breaking partnership as Australia dominated the first day of the second Ashes Test against England at Lord's

Record-setting Rogers and Smith pummel England

"Batman" theater gunman James Holmes has been found guilty on all charges -- and could now face the death penalty -- over the 2012 massacre that left 12 dead and 70 more injured in Colorado.
	Judge Carlos Samour took a full hour to read out the verdicts relating to each of the 82 victims hit when Holmes opened fire at a packed midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in the town of Aurora, just outside Denver.
	The 27-year-old Holmes, dressed in a blue shirt and cream-colored trousers with his hands in his pockets, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out yesterday.
	The trial now moves to the sentencing phase, in which prosecutors are calling for Holmes -- who had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity -- to face the death penalty. Jurors will reconvene next Wednesday.
	Yesterday, the jury foreman handed over a thick stack of verdict forms, representing the scale of the atrocity: in all, Holmes faced 164 charges of murder and attempted murder, as well as one count of ...

'Batman' theatre gunman James Holmes guilty of murder

A 24-year-old gunman opened fire at two US military centers in Tennessee, killing four Marines in a rampage that officials said was being investigated as an act of "domestic terrorism."
	The shooter -- identified by the FBI as 24-year-old Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez -- was himself shot dead in a firefight with police. Three people were injured -- a police officer, a Marine Corps recruiter and a Navy sailor.
	The incident yesterday served as an ugly reminder of other deadly shootings at US military installations, including a 2009 rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and a 2013 attack at the Navy Yard in Washington that left 12 dead.
	It also came amid lingering fears about the threat posed by "lone wolf" attackers in the United States, though the motive in yesterday's attacks was not immediately clear.
	President Barack Obama called the shootings "heartbreaking" and asked Americans to pray for the relatives of the victims.
	"It is incomprehensible to see what happened and the way ...

Four Marines killed in US shooting rampage, gunman dead

At least 49 people were killed and dozens injured when twin blasts struck a market in the northeast Nigerian city of Gombe, rescue workers said.
	The first explosion took place outside a packed footwear shop around 0950 IST yesterday, followed by a second explosion just minutes later, said Badamasi Amin, a local trader who counted at least three bodies.
	He said the area at the time was crowded with customers doing some last-minute shopping on the eve of the Eid festival marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
	"I was about 70 metres (yards) from the scene" when the first blast hit, Amin told AFP.
	"I and many other people rushed to assist the victims. While we were trying to attend to the wounded, another blast happened outside a china shop just opposite the footwear shop," he said, adding that he himself was "drenched in blood" from moving dead bodies.
	Ali Nasiru, another trader, said he saw "people lying lifeless on the ground".
	"Traders and shoppers helped in ...

Twin blasts hit market in NE Nigeria, 'nearly 50 killed'

Malian troops killed several jihadists near the country's southern border with Ivory Coast and destroyed the insurgents' camp in a forest straddling the frontier, a Malian army officer has said.
	"We have just destroyed the main military camp of the jihadists in the south, in the Sama forest located on the Ivorian border," the officer told AFP by telephone yesterday, requesting anonymity.
	Since last week, Malian army parachutists known as the Red Berets and regular troops stationed in the frontier region of Sikasso have been conducting operations against the insurgents, the officer said.
	Another Malian security source said "arms, ammunition, motorbikes and strategic documents" were seized from the camp.
	Asked for details about the jihadists, the source said they were members of the Islamist Ansar Dine group, which seeks to impose Sharia law in areas under its control while opposing
Western education models and vaccination campaigns.
	A humanitarian source said two Malian soldiers ..

Malian troops kill jihadists on I Coast border: defence source

Brazilian prosecutors have announced a probe into possible influence peddling by former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on behalf of scandal-ridden construction giant Odebrecht.
	The investigation will center on Lula's alleged use of clout after leaving office to help Odebrecht land billion-dollar deals in Latin America and Africa.
	"There is an investigation into possible influence peddling by ex-president Lula with the leaders of other countries on behalf of the construction company Odebrecht," a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office in the capital Brasilia said yesterday.
	The investigation, which drags the once highly popular Lula into Brazil's ever-widening corruption crisis, was launched July 8, but only revealed yesterday.
	Lula's foundation immediately issued a statement saying he had nothing to fear.
	"We are calm. The Lula Institute is certain of the transparency and legality of ex-president Lula's activities," spokesman Jose Chrispiniano said.
	Prosecutors ...

Brazil opens corruption probe against ex-president Lula

A car bomb exploded tonight at a security checkpoint in the Saudi capital Riyadh, killing the driver and wounding two policemen, the interior ministry said.
	The blast came with the kingdom on alert for attacks by the Islamic State group of jihadists, who have been blamed for killing policemen and for slaughtering members of the minority Shiite community.
	The policemen were in a "stable condition" in hospital, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
	The blast went off when police manning the checkpoint on Al-Hair Road stopped the car for a routine check, said the ministry.
	"The driver blew up the car and killed himself," it said.
	Asked whether the incident was linked to the Islamic State group, General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, said he was waiting for information from investigators.
	He told AFP the explosion happened on a road leading to Al-Hair prison, a high-security facility where Islamic radicals are among 

Car bomb explodes in Riyadh, driver killed: Saudi government

Twin blasts rocked a market in the northeast Nigerian city of Gombe today, leaving several people dead, witnesses said.
	The first explosion took place outside a footwear shop around 1620 GMT, followed by a second explosion just minutes later, said Badamasi Amin, a local trader who counted at least three bodies.
	He said the area was crowded with customers doing some last-minute shopping on the eve of the Eid festival marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
	"I was about 70 metres (yards) from the scene" when the first blast struck, he told AFP.
	"I and many other people rushed to assist the victims. While we were trying to attend to the wounded, another blast happened outside a china shop just opposite the footwear shop.
	"Several people were killed and many more were injured," he added.
	Ali Nasiru, another trader, said he saw "people lying lifeless on the ground".
	"Traders and shoppers helped in evacuating the victims to the hospital," he said. "I can't say how ...

Deadly twin blasts hit market in NE Nigeria: witnesses

Rare talks between North and South Korean officials on Thursday over a protracted wage dispute at the jointly operated Kaesong industrial zone in the North ended today without any agreement, according to Yonhap news agency.
	The two sides have been mired in a months-long row over wages at the Kaesong estate, just 10 kilometres (six miles) over the border in North Korea, with Pyongyang insisting on unilaterally imposing a pay rise for its workers.
	Seoul had stressed that any wage change must be a joint decision.
	North Korea last week agreed to reopen a joint committee in charge of running the industrial park for the first time in more than a year to discuss the wage dispute.
	But delegates from the North and South failed to reach any agreement, Seoul-based Yonhap reported late Thursday, citing a South Korean official.
	The official told the news agency the two sides intended to meet again but that no date had been set.
	Earlier, the five-member South Korean government delegation was .

Two Koreas fail to reach deal in Kaesong wage row talks

A gunman opened fire at a military recruiting center in Tennessee today and at least one police officer was shot, the local mayor said.
	Multiple victims were being treated in a hospital, WRCB news reported.
	"We have an officer down," Chattanooga mayor Andy Berke told reporters without specifying if the victim was dead.
	 "The suspect is also down."
	Erica White witnessed the shooting through the window of a hair salon two doors down from the recruiting center.
	"We heard one pop, really loud pop. So we went to the door to see what it was," White told CNN. "We saw a guy in a silver Mustang just unloading on the naval recruiting place."
	White said she watched in horror as the man reloaded his gun and opened fire again. He then backed up his car, pulled up to another part of the recruiting center and started shooting again.
	"We're all shook up," she said. "Never expected something like this."
	The US Navy tweeted that it was investigating a report of a shooting at a naval recruiting .

Gunman opens fire at US military center

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir warned Iran today to use the economic benefits of a new nuclear deal to help its people and not fund "adventures in the region."
	"If Iran should try to cause mischief in the region we're committed to confront it resolutely," Jubeir said after meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry, days after the landmark deal was struck granting Tehran sanctions relief in return for dismantling and mothballing most of its nuclear program.

Saudi says ready to confront any Iran 'mischief'

Britain's Liberal Democrats, junior partners in the country's coalition government until May, elected a new leader Thursday in a bid to rebuild support which crumbled after a disastrous election result.
	Tim Farron, 45, is on the left of the centrist party and, as former party president, is popular with Liberal Democrat activists but less well known among the general public.
	Under their previous leader Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats teamed up with Prime Minister David Cameron's centre-right Conservatives to form a coalition government.
	But their participation in the alliance -- which led to the Liberal Democrats U-turning on key policies such as opposition to higher university tuition fees -- proved deeply unpopular with voters.
	The party slumped from 57 to eight seats at May's general election in which the Conservatives won enough support to govern alone, prompting Clegg to resign.
	Farron is a practising Christian and speaks openly about his beliefs -- unusual for a politician 

UK's Liberal Democrats elect new leader after poll disaster

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed an interest in reopening his country's embassy in Tehran during a telephone conversation between the two leaders today.
	"In phone call just now, #British PM @David_Cameron welcomed #IranDeal & Iran's constructive role in the negotiations," Rouhani said on Twitter, referring to the talks that led to a historic agreement Tuesday on Iran's nuclear programme.
	He added that Cameron had "expressed interest in reopening embassies & expansion of ties in the framework of mutual interest & respect + combating #terrorism in region".
	Britain is one of the six world powers -- along with China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- that struck the agreement with Iran after a 13-year standoff over its disputed nuclear programme.
	Plans to reopen Britain's embassy in Tehran, which was stormed by protesters in 2011, were announced last year but progress has been slow.
	The British government ...

Cameron tells Iran president of hopes to reopen embassy

US Secretary of State John Kerry will head to the Gulf in August seeking to allay fears over the Iran nuclear deal, as Saudi Arabia today warned Tehran against any further "mischief" in the region.
	Back at work only days after an 18-day negotiating marathon to seal the unprecedented accord, Kerry met Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, the beginning of a charm offensive designed to win over the many doubters in the United States and abroad.
	"All of us in the region want to see a peaceful resolution to Iran's nuclear program," Jubeir said after their talks.
	He welcomed a deal with a "robust and continuous inspections regime to make sure Iran does not violate the terms of the agreement," adding it should also have an effective and quick "snapback" mechanism that allows for sanctions to be quickly reimposed if Tehran violates Tuesday's accord.
	Under the deal, Iran will win relief from crippling sanctions in return for dismantling and mothballing much of its nuclear industry so it .

Kerry to launch Gulf charm offensive to sell Iran deal

Iran will remain under the threat of renewed international sanctions for 15 years, according to a letter to the UN from the six countries that reached the accord with Tehran curtailing its nuclear program.
	The 10-year agreement struck in Vienna this week calls for a lifting of the sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy in exchange for measures to ensure Iran does not build nuclear weapons.
	But the historic accord also features a "snapback" mechanism to restore the sanctions almost immediately if Iran does not live up to its commitments.
	According to the letter, dated Tuesday and obtained by AFP, the so-called P5+1 countries -- US Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany -- commit to extending this mechanism by five years after the nuclear accord expires.
	"For a period of five years following this termination," the letter says, the P5+1 countries will maintain the principle "that provides for the reinstatement ..

Iran to remain under threat of sanctions for 15 years

Turkey's top administrative court has removed its block on the controversial redevelopment of an Istanbul park that in 2013 sparked the most serious anti-government protests in years, a pressure group said today.
	Istanbul authorities had planned to rebuild an Ottoman-era barracks on the site of Gezi Park, one of the few green spaces in the city centre, at the fringes of Taksim Square.
	But the construction was blocked by court order after the mass protests in May-June 2013 that snowballed into a wave of public anger against the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then premier, and left eight people dead.
	But the Taksim Solidarity pressure group, which monitors the issue, said Turkey's top administrative court, the Council of State, had reversed its previous decision to block the construction.
	It denounced the authorities for putting "the pursuit of short term economic interests before our political, natural, historic and cultural assets" and said the decision was "evidence of ..

Top court approves Istanbul development that sparked protests

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced a social media storm today after the release of a video showing her awkward interaction with a crying Palestinian girl threatened with deportation.
	In a week in which Germany has confronted international criticism for a hard line on debt-mired Greece, Merkel was hit with fresh accusations of coldness, just as others leapt to her defence.
	Merkel was attending a public discussion with teenagers in the northern city of Rostock as part of a government-initiated series called "Living Well in Germany".
	As seen in the video broadcast on public television, the Palestinian girl named Reem told Merkel that her family had been informed they would have to return to a camp in Lebanon imminently only to receive a last-minute temporary residence permit for Germany.
	"I would like to go to university," Reem, who has spent four years seeking asylum in Germany, said in fluent German.
	"It's really very hard to watch how other people can enjoy life and you ...

Merkel explains 'tough' asylum policies to crying girl

Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit a federal prison today, amid a push to reform America's expensive and overcrowded correctional system.
	Obama arrived at El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in Oklahoma, where he is to meet officials and inmates and speak about proposed reforms.
	Nearly a quarter of the world's prison population is concentrated in American jails. The United States accounts for less than five percent of the world's population.
	Obama wants to cut the number of people incarcerated, as well as curbing the use of solitary confinement and ending mandatory minimum sentences.
	"Our criminal justice system isn't as smart as it should be," he said this week, after commuting the sentences of 46 non-violent drug offenders.
	"It's not keeping us as safe as it should be. It is not as fair as it should be. Mass incarceration makes our country worse off."
	The United States jails as many people as the top 35 European nations combined, with ...

Obama becomes first president to visit US prison

Britain will send another spy plane to fly over Iraq and Syria in what Defence Secretary Michael Fallon called a "new Battle of Britain" today, as it edges towards joining US-led air strikes in Syria.
	Fallon announced Britain would take delivery of a new Airseeker plane next month, which would "shortly after" be deployed to carry out reconnaissance of suspected Islamic State (IS) group targets.
	"Today, with more warnings of threats to our citizens in Tunisia following the horrific events of two weeks ago, we're fighting a new Battle of Britain," he said during a speech in central London.
	"Once again, against a fascist enemy, an enemy prepared to kill its enemies and civilians alike, it is the RAF spearheading our counter attack".
	The Battle of Britain took place during World War II in 1940, pitching Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) against its German counterpart, the Luftwaffe.
	Eight British RAF Tornados based in Cyprus are carrying out air strikes over Iraq as part of US-led ...

UK sends new spy plane to 'Battle of Britain' against IS

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond today sought to reassure Israel over a nuclear deal between major powers and Iran, saying "robust measures" were in place to ensure its success.
	"We would not have agreed to the deal unless we were sure we had robust measures in place to deliver effective oversight of Iran's nuclear programme," Hammond said ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
	"Our focus now will be on swift and full implementation of the agreement to make sure that a nuclear weapon remains beyond Iran's reach," he said.
	Hammond was the first senior official from the so-called P5+1 countries to visit Israel since they struck a landmark deal with Iran Tuesday that would row back its nuclear programme in return for relief from crippling economic sanctions.
	The P5+1 -- the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France and Germany -- inked the deal in Vienna with Israel's arch-foe after months of intense diplomacy.
	Israel immediately denounced the ...

AFP

AFP

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