Greece reached a desperately- needed bailout deal with the eurozone today after marathon overnight talks, in a historic agreement to prevent the country crashing out of the European single currency.
	The country's leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to tough reforms after 17 hours of gruelling negotiations in return for a three-year bailout worth up to 86 billion euros (USD 96 billion), Greece's third rescue programme in five years.
	EU President Donald Tusk announced the deal for debt- stricken Greece on Twitter, ending a bitter six-month struggle between Tsipras's anti-austerity government in Athens and the rest of the eurozone.
	"EuroSummit has unanimously reached agreement," former Polish premier Tusk said. "All ready to go for ESM programme for Greece with serious reforms and financial support."
	Greece applied last week for a third programme from the eurozone's bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, after its previous bailout expired on June 30, leaving it ...

Greece seals new bailout deal to avoid euro exit

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Rescue workers in Washington state said they would continue searching today for a small plane carrying three people that disappeared after takeoff from neighboring Montana.
	The red and white private Beech 35 aircraft went missing after departure Saturday at 4:00 pm (2200 GMT), and family members informed authorities when the plane never arrived, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
	"The last cell phone signal from one of the plane's occupants was detected at about 11:30 pm," the agency said in a statement.
	A search yesterday turned up no signs of the aircraft, and rescue workers will continue the hunt after daybreak today.
	"Air crews searched the area listening for emergency locator beacon signals as well as conducting visual searches," WSDOT said.
	It added that crews would "continue working through the night on planning and logistics."
	The agency identified the three passengers as Leland Bowman, 62, his wife Sharon Bowman, 63 and their ...

Small plane with three on board missing in Washington state

EU President Donald Tusk said today that eurozone leaders had reached a unanimous deal to offer Greece a third bailout and keep it in the euro after 17 hours of marathon talks.
	"EuroSummit has unanimously reached agreement. All ready to go for ESM programme for Greece with serious reforms and financial support," Tusk said, referring to the EU's bailout fund that will oversee the third Greek bailout since 2010.

EU's Tusk says 'unanimous' agreement for Greece bailout deal

The trial of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, accused of spying on Iran for the United States, resumed behind closed doors in Tehran today, state media announced.
	The case against the 39-year-old, a dual American-Iranian citizen who denies guilt but has been in custody for almost a year, comes with Iran locked in nuclear talks with world powers.
	As Iranians waited for news of a possible nuclear deal in Vienna, the official IRNA news agency said the third session of Rezaian's trial -- he first faced the spying charges in May -- had started.
	The report gave no other details of the proceedings. The case has been shrouded in secrecy since Rezaian was detained on July 22 last year.
	During the last session on June 8, the journalist was given his first opportunity to defend himself.
	He is accused of collecting confidential information, cooperating with hostile governments and disseminating propaganda against the Iranian regime.
	Rezaian's family has said the reporter is being ..

Washington Post reporter trial resumes in Iran

EU's Tusk says 'unanimous' agreement for Greece bailout

Eighteen Russian soldiers have been killed after their military barracks collapsed in Siberia, a Russian defence ministry spokesman said today, adding that five troops remained missing.
	"Thirty-seven servicemen have been pulled out of the debris, 18 of them have died," Igor Konashenkov said in televised remarks.
	"The search is ongoing for five soldiers. Nineteen have been hospitalised."
	The accident happened last evening near the city of Omsk, at a training facility for Russian paratroopers.
	In footage shown on Russian television, one section of the four-story building had completely fallen through and soldiers formed a chain to pass bricks and other debris from one to another in order to clear the mountain of rubble.
	"Half of the heap has been cleared now," said acting commander of Russian paratroopers Nikolai Ignatov in remarks to Rossiya 24.

18 killed in Russian military barrack collapse in Siberia

The Colombian government reached a major de-escalation agreement today with leftist FARC guerrillas, agreeing for the first time to reduce anti-rebel operations in the decades-long armed conflict, diplomats in Havana said.
	The move marks a significant step in stop-start peace talks in the Cuban capital between the two sides that began in November 2012 but have been hampered in recent months by an uptick in violence.
	On Wednesday, FARC said it had agreed to a one-month unilateral ceasefire starting July 20, and yesterday the government committed to curtailing its efforts against guerrillas for the first time since peace talks began.
	"The national government, from July 20, will launch a process of de-escalation of military action, in response to the suspension of offensive actions by the FARC," said a joint statement read by Cuban and Norwegian diplomats, who have been mediating the talks.
	Both sides hailed the reset of the talks.
	"This is undoubtedly a strong, promising, and ...

Colombia, FARC rebels reach major de-escalation deal

Iran and major powers will today seek to put the finishing touches to a historic nuclear deal, with both sides saying an accord ending a 13-year standoff lies tantalisingly within reach.
	The talks, the latest set of which have dragged on for more than two weeks, aim to nail down an agreement curbing Iran's nuclear activities to make it extremely difficult for Tehran - which denies any such goal - to develop the atomic bomb.
	There had been optimism that a deal would be clinched over the weekend, but finalising a framework accord struck in April has proved difficult, with talks stumbling on the exact timing of sanctions relief and Iran's desire to have a UN conventional arms embargo lifted.
	"We have come a long way. We need to reach a peak and we're very close," President Hassan Rouhani said in Iran yesterday.
	"We are so close that if you look down from below you feel as if we have got there, but when you do get there you know there are still some steps to take."
	A German ...

Iran nuclear deal 'very close'

Roger Federer warned his rivals not to write him off yet after a Wimbledon final defeat that left the Swiss star without a major title for three years.
     Federer's bid for a first Grand Slam crown since he last won Wimbledon in 2012 was shattered by Novak Djokovic as the world number one clinched a 7-6 (7/1), 6-7 (10/12), 6-4, 6-3 victory yesterday.
     It was a huge blow for Federer, who had hoped to avenge last year's Wimbledon final loss against Djokovic by winning his favourite tournament for a record eighth time.
     Federer has won only one of the last 22 Grand Slam events and, with the world number two turning 34 before the US Open starts in August, there will be many who believe his 10th Wimbledon final will prove to be his last chance to add to his 17 Grand Slam titles.
     But the 33-year-old insists his dominant run to the final, which included a sublime semi-final rout of former champion Andy Murray, and a strong first two sets against Djokovic showed there is still .

Federer not ready to be written off yet

Thousands of people marched through the streets of New York for the city's first Disability Pride Parade.
	People in wheelchairs and with guide dogs and parents carrying their disabled children marched during a hot day through the center of Manhattan after Mayor Bill de Blasio kicked off the event yesterday.
	The event, subtitled "Inclusion, Awareness, Visibility" saw people carrying signs asking for better access to public transport and housing.
	"Disabled and proud," said a sign carried by a woman in a wheelchair.
	A man carried another sign reading: "Just because I can't speak doesn't mean I don't have a lot to say."
	Other signs demanded police stop killing disabled people, an issue recently in the spotlight in the country after police arrests ended in disabled peoples' deaths.
	De Blasio said July was "disability pride month" in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
	The march organized by the city is scheduled to be an annual event.

Thousands turn out for first NY Disability Pride Parade

A string of bomb explosions, including two suicide attacks, killed at least 21 people and wounded 62 in Shiite-dominated neighbourhoods of Baghdad, Iraqi police and medical sources said.
	The northeastern area of Al-Shaab was rocked by two explosions yesterday, at least one of which was caused by an attacker who detonated his suicide vest, a police colonel and an interior ministry official said.
	At least three of the 11 people killed in those blasts were members of the security forces, police said.
	The double explosion, which occurred near a market, left at least 23 people wounded.
	A suicide attacker also blew up his car bomb on Adan square, in northwestern Baghdad, just before the meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
	At least six people were killed and 20 wounded in the attack on the square, which was already targeted in February and has been frequently hit over the years.
	In Al Bunuk area, a car bomb also went off near a popular ...

String of Baghdad bombings kills 21: police

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's battle against drug cartels took a massive hit with drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's escape, stripping him of his security strategy's biggest trophy.
	Pena Nieto's nearly three years in office have been marked by a remarkable number of arrests of the country's most notorious drug kingpins.
	The captures of Sinaloa cartel boss Guzman and the chiefs of the Zetas, Knights Templar and Gulf criminal groups earned praise from the United States.
	But Guzman's second prison break in 14 years has undermined these achievements, while reviving accusations of corruption and impunity that have shadowed the government's efforts.
	US prosecutors had wanted to extradite Guzman but Mexico's government insisted on putting him on trial first.
	"In the best case, this escape is embarrassing," said Alejandro Hope, a former Mexican intelligence agency official.
	"It dents the image of effectiveness that (the government) had projected and it forces a rethink of ...

Kingpin's escape a blow to Mexico leader's drug war

Twelve loggers who were kidnapped four days ago in the southern Casamance region of Senegal have been freed, an army source said.
	"We have just observed the return of the 12 forestry workers... In the village of Kolling" yesterday, the source in the town of Kolda told AFP, requesting anonymity.
	   The kidnappers freed them in the Yassine forest, the source added, saying he had no more details on the conditions of their release.
	They had at first demanded 10 million CFA francs ( USD 17,000 ) from the sawmill where the loggers work before eventually lowering the ransom to just 700,000 francs, an army source said on Friday.
	The freed hostages were to be debriefed by police.
	Casamance has been the cradle of a low-level separatist insurgency since 1982, but there appeared to be no political motive for the kidnapping.
	The unrest in Casamance, a strip of land separated from the rest of Senegal by Gambia, has claimed thousands of lives, although it has been less intense in recent years.

Kidnappers free 12 loggers in Senegal's Casamance: army

Iran and major world powers were today closer than ever to a historic nuclear deal on the eve of a new deadline set at marathon talks in Vienna.
	"We have come a long way. We need to reach a peak and we're very close," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in Tehran.
	"We are so close that if you look down from below you feel as if we have got there, but when you do get there you know there are still some steps to take," the Iranian news agency ISNA quoted him as saying.
	"I hope we are finally entering the final phase of these marathon negotiations. I believe it," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who canceled a trip to Africa to stay at the talks.
	Iran's nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, told Iranian media that "technical negotiations were de-facto completed".
	One remaining task was to re-read the entire document, which spans 100 pages, an Iranian diplomat told AFP.
	"Sometimes a country demands that we change a word, sparking several hours of discussions because the ...

Iran nuclear talks 'near the summit'

The United States is ready to help Mexican authorities in their hunt for escaped drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said today.
	Guzman escaped down an elaborate, 1.5-kilometer (one-mile) tunnel yesterday, marking his second jail break and an embarrassing blow to the Mexican government.
	"We share the government of Mexico's concern regarding the escape," Lynch said in a statement.
	"The US government stands ready to work with our Mexican partners to provide any assistance that may help support his swift recapture."
	A massive manhunt was launched after Guzman vanished from the Altiplano maximum-security prison, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of Mexico City.
	The Sinaloa cartel kingpin, whose empire stretches around the globe, had first escaped in 2001. He was re-arrested in February last year and had been back in prison for 17 months.
	"In addition to his crimes in Mexico, he faces multiple drug trafficking and organized crime charges in the ...

US offers help in hunt for escaped Mexican drug lord

Five people suspected of planning a "terrorist attack" aimed at contaminating the water supply in the Kosovo capital Pristina have been arrested, officials in the breakaway Serbian territory said today.
	They are appearing before an investigating magistrate in Pristina, court president Hamdi Ibrahimi told reporters.
	The suspects were apprehended while riding in two cars near a lake that supplies drinking water to the city.
	Police found weapons, ammunition and Islamic State group (IS) propaganda in the vehicles.
	City authorities temporarily shut down the water supply today fearing the suspects had already carried out the plan, turning the tap back on after tests showed it was not contaminated.
	The suspects' lawyers rejected the allegations.
	The Kosovo interior ministry estimates that some 300 citizens have been or are among the ranks of jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq. Around 15 have been killed.
	In May, more than 30 people in Kosovo were found guilty on "terrorism" charges, 

Five arrests as 'terror attack' on Kosovo water supply feared

The Colombian government reached a historic agreement today with leftist FARC guerrillas to de-escalate the decades-long armed conflict, diplomats in Havana said.
	The move marks a significant step in peace talks between the two sides that began in November 2012 but have been hampered in recent months by an uptick in violence.
	"The national government, from July 20, will launch a process of de-escalation of military action, in response to the suspension of offensive actions by the FARC," said a joint statement read by Cuban and Norwegian diplomats, who have been mediating the talks.
	On July 8, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said they would observe a one-month unilateral ceasefire.
	Cuba and Norway are acting as so-called "guarantor" countries in the peace talks. Chile and Venezuela are "escort" countries. All four had called for an urgent de-escalation of the violence.
	Colombia's civil strife dates back to 1964 and has drawn in left-wing guerrillas, right-wing ...

Colombia, FARC reach agreement on de-escalating conflict

Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped through a mile-long tunnel under his prison cell's shower, authorities said today, marking his second jailbreak and an embarrassing blow to the government.
	A massive manhunt was launched after Guzman vanished late Saturday from the Altiplano maximum-security prison, some 90 kilometers west of Mexico City.
	The Sinaloa cartel kingpin, whose empire stretches around the globe, had been in prison for 17 months, since his recapture in February 2014.
	After security cameras lost sight of Guzman, guards went into the cell and found a hole 10 metres (33 feet) deep with a ladder, National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido said.
	The gap led to the 1.5-kilometre tunnel with a ventilation and light system, Rubido said, adding that its exit was in a building that was under construction in central Mexico State.
	A motorcycle on a rail system was found in the tunnel and is believed to have been used to transport tools and remove earth .

Mexico kingpin 'Chapo' escapes prison again, via tunnel

Two soldiers, a pro-Russian rebel and a civilian were killed in 24 hours of fighting in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military and rebels said separately today.
	"We have lost two soldiers in fighting and acts of provocation, five have been wounded," Ukraine army spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists, reporting heavy shelling by rebels despite a four-month truce.
	Separatist leader Eduard Bassurin, meanwhile, said shots "fired by the Ukrainian army" killed a rebel and a civilian.
	Lysenko accused rebels of using "on 10 occasions artillery over 100 mm calibre." Such heavy weaponry was to have been withdrawn from the front line under the terms of a peace deal signed in Minsk.
	The military spokesman said firing came from the area around Donetsk airport, controlled by rebels since January but still a flash point, as well as close to the village of Trokhizbenka in the rebels' self-proclaimed people's republic of Lugansk.
	In a report published yesterday, the OSCE, which has a ...

Four killed in eastern Ukraine clashes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today sought to calm angry US Jews after his religious affairs minister questioned the Jewishness of the Reform movement, to which many of them belong.
	"Israel is a home for all Jews," he said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
	"The government of Israel serves all Israeli citizens -- secular and religious -- regardless of which stream they come from," he said, pledging to convene round table discussions between the different streams of Judaism and Israeli officials.
	There were public statements of outrage from rabbis and Jewish community leader in the United States after minister David Azoulay, of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, said in a radio interview on Tuesday that he "couldn't say" Reform Jews were Jews.
	"These are Jews that have lost their way," he added.
	The head of the Union for Reform Judaism in the US, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, slammed his "ignorant and myopic views."
	Abraham Foxman, national director of major US Jewish ...

Netanyahu pledges Jewish dialogue after Reform remarks

At least 18 people were killed and six wounded today in a suicide car bomb attack near a military base in Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost, where Afghan and foreign soldiers are stationed, authorities said.
	The bomber detonated the explosives at a military roadblock near the entrance to Camp Chapman, said Faizullah Ghairat, the Khost city police chief.
	Authorities were unable to specify the victims' identities or say if troops were among the casualties.
	There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban has often targeted Afghan and foreign troops.
	"We counted 18 dead and six wounded," said a doctor at a hospital in the city.
	Ghairat put the toll at 25 dead and 16 wounded.
	Foreign troops including US soldiers are stationed at Camp Champan alongside Afghan soldiers.
	A statement from the NATO mission in Afghanistan said it was "aware" of the blast, but did not elaborate.
	In 2009, Camp Chapman was the target of a spectacular suicide attack claimed by Al-Qaeda. 

AFP

AFP

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