Turkey rejected as "black propaganda" claims that Islamic State (IS) militants crossed from Turkey today to carry out a deadly bombing on the Syrian town of Kobane.
	IS extremists killed 12 civilians in a suicide car bomb near the Turkish border crossing adjacent to Kobane, according to a monitoring group.
	A few hours later, two more car bombs detonated near the border, but there were no immediate details on casualties.
	Turkish officials said four victims had died in Turkish hospitals while 96 injured received treatment on the Turkish side of the border.
	Claims circulating on the Internet suggested several cars loaded with IS militants passed through the Mursitpinar border crossing in Turkey to make their way into Kobane.
	"The claim that Daesh militants passed through the Turkish border is entirely a lie and part of a black propoganda," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said in a message on Twitter, using a pejorative Arabic term for IS.
	The governor's office in the border ...

Turkey rejects claims IS raided Kobane from its soil

PTI Automatic

Rwandan President Paul Kagame launched a furious attack on Western countries today after the arrest in Britain of the country's intelligence chief.
	"Absolute arrogance and contempt is the only basis for this arrest," Kagame said in a speech to parliament.
	"They must have mistaken him for an illegal immigrant. The way they treat illegal immigrants is the way they treat all of us. Black people have become targets for shooting practice," he said.  "We cannot accept that people treat us this way just because they can."
	President Paul Kagame's speech came on the same day that spy chief General Karenzi Karake is due to appear in court in London following his arrest under a Spanish indictment accusing him of involvement in the murder of nine Spanish aid workers.
	Describing Karake as a "freedom fighter", Kagame accused European countries of racism and seeking to humiliate Rwanda -- and Africans -- in order to mask their own complicity in the 1994 genocide that left around 800,000 people ..

Rwanda prez slams Western 'arrogance' after spy chief arrest

Around 200 students broke into the US embassy in Burundi today seeking refuge after police threatened to break up their camp outside the compound.
	Armed US marines watched from the embassy roof as students climbed under the gate and over the wall after abandoning their camp, established outside the embassy complex since violent protests began in late April.
	The students surged into the embassy compound and began a peaceful sit-in with their hands raised in the air following a police ultimatum demanding they leave their informal camp.
	Protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial third-term bid in elections due next month have left at least 70 dead and forced 100,000 to flee the country.
	The students moved from their university campus to outside the US embassy soon after demonstrations began nearly two months ago, believing proximity to the US mission would offer greater safety.
	Burundians are due to go to the polls on Monday to elect parliamentarians with the ...

Students break into US embassy in Burundi seeking refuge

A drone strike has killed four suspected Al-Qaeda militants in southeast Yemen, a front-line in the US war on the jihadist network, a provincial official said today.
	The attack late yesterday hit a car in a military camp in Al-Qaeda-controlled Mukalla, capital of the vast desert province of Hadramawt.
	The official, who did not want to be named, said a local Al-Qaeda chief was among those killed.
	A second Al-Qaeda vehicle was targeted yesterday evening in a drone strike in the town of Ghil Bawazir in the same province but there was no word of casualties, he said.
	Washington has repeatedly targeted militants from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in drone strikes in Yemen.
	AQAP said earlier this month that its leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi, number two in the global jihadist organisation, was killed in one such raid, and named its military chief as his successor.
	The jihadists have exploited months of fighting between loyalists of Yemen's exiled government and Iran-backed Huthi rebels ..

Drone strike kills four 'Qaeda militants' in Yemen

Burundi's second vice president has fled the country and sought refuge in Belgium after urging the president to step down, days ahead of key elections.
	"Put the interests of the Burundian people before your personal interests and withdraw your presidential bid, because it violates the constitution," Gervais Rufyikiri said in a letter addressed to President Pierre Nkurunziza.
	He told France 24 television he had sought refuge in Belgium after opposing Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in power.
	"I left... Because I was not able to continue to support the attitude of the president, his desire to lead the people of Burundi on the path of illegality," he told the broadcaster late yesterday from Belgium.
	In the Burundian capital Bujumbura, a source in the presidency confirmed the authenticity of Rufyikiri's letter, and also that he was currently in Belgium.
	The troubled central African nation has been in crisis since late April over Nkurunziza's controversial bid to stand for another ..

Burundi 2nd vice-president flees, urges president to step down

Young off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal grabbed five wickets as Sri Lanka bundled out Pakistan for 138 on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo today.
     Seamer Dhammika Prasad chipped in with three wickets as the tourists collapsed in 42.5 overs by tea after skipper Misbah-ul Haq elected to bat on a fresh, bouncy pitch at the P. Sara Oval.
     Sri Lanka, looking for a series-levelling win after losing the first Test in Galle by 10 wickets, were 70 for one at stumps and well set to build a big first innings lead.
     Kumar Sangakkara was unbeaten on 18 and Kaushal Silva was on 21 after Dimuth Karunaratne was caught behind for 28 while trying to slash a wide ball from seamer Junaid Khan.
     Kaushal, a 22-year-old playing only his second Test match, finished with five for 42 runs in 10.5 overs of accurate spin bowling in helpful conditions.
     Mohammad Hafeez top-scored with 42 as Pakistan lost eight wickets in the afternoon session after resuming at the ...

Kaushal, Prasad skittle Pakistan in second Test

Tiny Pitcairn Island, a one-time hideout for mutineers with a population of just 50, has legalised same-sex marriage, official documents show.
	The change to the marriage law was made last month but only just publicly released on the official website for the island, Britain's last Pacific territory.
	While Pitcairn's Auckland-based Deputy Governor Kevin Lynch was unaware of any same-sex islanders likely to wed under the revised law, he said it showed the territory was adapting to the modern world.
	"I think it's quite a substantial change that reflects their standing in the world... Bringing them into line with modern legislation," Lynch told Radio New Zealand.
	The Pitcairn Group of Islands consists of four volcanic islands in the South Pacific, about halfway between New Zealand and Chile.
	Only the second-largest, Pitcairn, is populated, with its inhabitants descended from the mutineers of HMS Bounty and their Polynesian companions, who settled there in 1790.
	It became a British ...

Pacific's tiny Pitcairn Island legalises same-sex marriage

A US military plane has crashed in Arizona, reportedly rupturing a gas line and sparking a large fire, officials said.
	Emergency crews rushed to the site of the crash about eight miles (13 kilometers) north of Douglas, Arizona near the border with Mexico, local fire officials said yesterday.
	There were no immediate details on any casualties and the type of plane involved.
	The crash appeared to have ruptured a gas line and started a large fire, The Arizona Republic reported. Images on Twitter showed a large light and multiple fires illuminating brush.
	A spokesman from the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane may have departed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) away.
	Davis-Monthan Air Force Base said on its website that two F-15 fighter jet units were training at the base over the summer months.

US military jet crashes in Arizona: officials

Tea scores on the opening day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo today:
     Pakistan 1st innings:
     Mohammad Hafeez b Kaushal                        42
     Ahmed Shehzad c Sangakkara b Prasad               1
     Azhar Ali c Chandimal b Prasad                   26
     Younis Khan c Chandimal b Prasad                  6
     Misbah-ul Haq run out                             7
     Asad Shafiq lbw b Kaushal                         2
     Sarfraz Ahmed c Mathews b Kaushal                14
     Wahab Riaz lbw b Kaushal                          4
     Yasir Shah c Sangakkara b Kaushal                15
     Zulfiqar Babar b Chameera                         5
     Junaid Khan not out                               2
     Extras: (lb4, w3, nb7)                           14
     Total (all out, 42.5 overs)                     138
     Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-51, 3-74, 4-89, 5-95, 6-96, 7-113, 8-117, 9-124, 10-138
	   Bowling: Prasad ...

Sri Lanka v Pakistan second Test scoreboard

Young off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal grabbed five wickets as Pakistan were shot out for 138 on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Thursday.
     Seamer Dhammika Prasad chipped in with three wickets as the tourists collapsed in 42.5 overs by tea after skipper Misbah-ul Haq elected to bat on a fresh, bouncy pitch at the P. Sara Oval.
     Kaushal, a 22-year-old playing only his second Test match, finished with five for 42 runs in 10.5 overs of accurate spin bowling in helpful conditions.
     Mohammad Hafeez top-scored with 42 as Pakistan lost eight wickets in the afternoon session after resuming at the lunch score of 70 for two.
     Prasad, who took the field despite having suffered a finger injury during net practice on Wednesday, struck with the first ball of his second over to make it five for one.
     He forced Ahmed Shehzad to edge a rising ball to second slip where the 37-year-old Kumar Sangakkara dived to his right to pick up a low catch.
     ...

Kaushal, Prasad wreck Pakistan in second Test

French cab drivers angry at competition from taxi app Uber today blocked access to Paris airports and train stations as they protested losing customers to the popular service.
	Access to three terminals at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport in the north was blocked and cabs were converging on the Orly airport in the south and at train stations inside the city, officials said.
	The striking cabbies also blocked a western section of the "peripherique" highway that encircles the French capital for about thirty minutes, overturning trash bins onto the busy thoroughfare before police moved in to restore the traffic flow, police officials said.
	"The goal is to block space because we are really fed up," said Karim Asnoun of the CGT union.
	Thousands of cabs were also due to assemble in several of France's other major cities as part of the strike today.
	Taxi drivers in France are furious at US-based Uber, which they say is endangering their jobs by taking customers away from licensed cab ...

French cabbies angry at Uber block Paris airports, stations

Toyota and Nissan, Japan's two top automakers, today said they will recall more than three million more cars globally because of concerns over airbags involved in eight deaths worldwide.
	"Toyota will now globally expand its recalls to involve approximately 2,860,000 additional vehicles equipped with certain front passenger airbag inflators," the automaker said in an email.
	Nissan said it would recall 198,000 units worldwide, while Mitsubishi also said it would call back 120,000 vehicles.
	Airbags made by Japanese parts maker Takata have sparked a global recall crisis for many automakers.
	Toyota alone says a total 12.66 million units are now affected, but Honda, Japan's number three automaker, has been the hardest hit, with more than 19 million vehicles recalled globally.
	Tokyo-based Takata last month agreed to double a US recall to a record more than 30 million vehicles made by some of the world's biggest automakers.
	The defect -- thought to be linked to a chemical propellant ...

Toyota, Nissan to recall more than 3 mn more cars over airbag

Islamic State group fighters executed at least 23 Syrian Kurds, among them women and children, in a village south of the border town of Kobane today, a monitor said.
	"Islamic State forces shot dead at least 23 people in the Kurdish village of Barkh Butan, including women and children and residents who had taken up arms to fight," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	IS launched a surprise attack on Kobane on Thursday, using at least two suicide car bombs and clashing with Kurdish forces.
	Kobane, on the border with Turkey, is an important symbol in the battle against the jihadists, having been secured by Kurdish militia with US-led air support in January after four months of ferocious fighting.
	IS fighters briefly entered Barkh Butan, about 20 kilometres south of Kobane, in the morning but withdrew after coalition air strikes and the arrival of Kurdish forces, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
	At least five jihadists were killed in clashes with residents, the ..

IS executes 23 Kurds in village near Syria's Kobane: monitor

A group of Thai students who were detained in Pakistan after one of them was caught carrying a gun through Lahore airport returned home today after officials secured their release.
	Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the students -- who all hailed from the kingdom's Muslim-majority deep south -- left Lahore late last evening.
	The Thai government has said the students are not linked to any insurgent groups including in Thailand's conflict-plagued south where ethnic Malay Muslims have been fighting for a level of autonomy.
	"All the Thai students are in good health and good spirits as they have returned to their respective hometowns," the ministry said in a statement.
	The ministry did not say whether any deal was struck to secure the group's release or whether they still faced any charges.
	The five students were detained by Pakistani police on 8 June after a handgun and bullets were found in one of the Thais' luggage as they checked in for a flight at Allama Iqbal ...

Thais caught with gun in Pakistan return home

China will merge its three biggest freight airlines and build the combined entity into Asia's largest air cargo operator, a top aviation official was reported as saying.
	"Currently, this work (the merger) is being actively pushed," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Zhou Laizhen, deputy chief of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) as telling an industry forum.
	China's top three cargo operators are the freight arm of Beijing-based flag carrier Air China, Shanghai-based China Cargo Airlines, and China Southern Airlines Cargo, headquartered in the southern city of Guangzhou, said the report.
	China has the world second's largest air transport system but its cargo flight throughput grew just 7.8 per cent last year to 135.6 million tonnes.
	According to International Air Transport Association statistics, Asia's biggest cargo airline by freight tonne kilometres in 2014 was Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, followed by Korean Air. Worldwide they were number two and three ...

China to merge 3 cargo airlines to create Asia leader

A solar-powered plane attempting to fly around the world must cross the Pacific within a few weeks or it could remain stuck in Japan for a year, its pilot said in an interview published today.
	Solar Impulse 2, which has been stranded in Japan for three weeks and had to postpone a planned take off this week due to bad weather over the Pacific, only has a short window for making the next leg of its journey, one of its two pilots, Bertrand Piccard, told the Tribune de Geneve daily.
	By early August, the days will become too short for the solar-driven plane to cross the Pacific, and subsequently the Atlantic Ocean safely, he said.
	"Before August 5, we must have crossed the Pacific or the Atlantic," Piccard said, adding that if the team is unable to do so they will have to find a permanent hangar where the fragile aircraft can pass the winter.
	If the plane makes it to the United States, it can easily pass the winter there before crossing the Atlantic to complete its around-the-world ...

Solar Impulse could be stuck in Japan for a year: pilot

Myanmar's parliament today dealt a decisive blow to Aung San Suu Kyi's hopes for changing the junta-era constitution that bars her from the presidency ahead of landmark elections, voting down a bill that would have ended the military's effective veto on charter change.
	The vote, held after three days of energetic debate between uniformed soldiers and elected MPs, saw parliament shoot down a draft amendment that would have chipped away at the military's political stranglehold.
	The amendment bill was "not enacted", parliament speaker Shwe Mann told the legislature after the 388 votes in favour of change fell below the threshold of 75 per cent of all lawmakers needed for it to pass.
	Myanmar's parliament continues to be dominated by the army and former generals despite dramatic reforms since the end of outright junta rule in 2011 and observers say the military is extremely reluctant to see any further reduction in its powers.
	Suu Kyi this week said "genuine change" in Myanmar was ...

Myanmar parliament rejects bill to curb army constitution veto

North Korea's showcase new airport terminal, which had to be partly demolished and rebuilt at leader Kim Jong-Un's whim, is to open on July 1, state media said today.
	Kim called for a grand opening of the new Terminal 2 at Pyongyang International Airport on a tour accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-Ju and sister Kim Yo-Jong as well as senior party officials, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
	He also enjoyed a bird's eye view of the terminal, which KCNA described as a "landmark of the Songun (military-first) era", from his plane.
	But the facility, reserved for international civilian flights, risks being virtually empty after it opens as Pyongyang has just a trickle of scheduled foreign flights.
	On his tour, Kim told workers and officials he was "very satisfied to see the terminal well built in harmony with modern aesthetic taste and national character", KCNA reported.
	Kim also called for the construction of a high-speed railway and a motorway between Pyongyang and the ...

N Korea's 'landmark' airport terminal to open on July 1

The future is here already -- or at least the one imagined for Marty McFly -- with a carmaker unveiling a real, working hoverboard, like that used in the "Back To The Future" film franchise.
	Toyota's luxury car brand Lexus says it has created a prototype that glides frictionlessly just above the ground with technology similar to that used in so-called maglev trains.
	A teaser video posted online appears to show the hoverboard floating, although the sequence ends before a skateboarder actually begins to ride it.
	While the hoverboard Michael J. Fox's character rides in "Back To The Future II" floats above anything -- except water -- the Lexus model requires magnets to be embedded in the ground, limiting its range to special tracks.
	The project is "the perfect example of the amazing things that can be achieved when you combine technology, design and imagination," said Mark Templin, executive vice president at Lexus International.
	Testing will take place in Barcelona, Spain "over the .

'Back to the Future' hoverboard comes to life

Islamic State group fighters entered the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh overnight, seizing two neighbourhoods from government forces in heavy clashes, a monitoring group said today.
	At least 30 regime loyalists and 20 IS jihadists were killed in the fighting, which continued into this morning, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	The Britain-based group said the IS attack began late on Wednesday, with the jihadist group using at least one suicide bomber against a militia checkpoint during its advance.
	"Heavy fighting is continuing, with shelling by both sides," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
	He said IS had taken control of two southern districts of the city.
	"Civilians in those areas and nearby are fleeing to the northern parts of the city," he added.
	Control of Hasakeh, a provincial capital, is divided between Kurdish militia and government loyalists.
	Kurdish forces are mostly present in the city's north and northwest.
	IS has sought repeatedly to ..

IS seizes parts of northeast Syria city Hasakeh

A rebel alliance, including Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front, attacked government-held parts of the southern city of Daraa today, a monitoring group said.
	The alliance, also involving powerful Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham, bombarded loyalist positions with mortar and artillery fire, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	Syria's official SANA news agency said "terrorists hit neighbourhoods of Daraa city with mortar rounds and gas canister bombs," adding that there were reports of casualties.
	"Army units foiled attempts by terrorist groups to attack several military positions in Daraa province destroying several armoured vehicles and killing dozens of terrorists," state television said.
	It made no mention of fighting inside Daraa city, parts of which are already under rebel control.
	Around 70 per cent of Daraa province is under the control of rebel groups, who have made several advances in the region in recent weeks.
	In early June, rebels from the Southern Front ..

AFP

AFP

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