At least three Somali government soldiers were killed and three others wounded today in a roadside bomb explosion outside the capital Mogadishu, security officials and witnesses said.
	Officials blamed the attack on "terrorist elements", a reference to the Horn of Africa nation's Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab rebels.
	"One of the vehicles of the security forces was targeted near Hawa Abdi area in the Afgoye corridor. We believe the terrorists planted an explosive device by the roadside and remotely detonated it when the vehicle was passing by," said Hassan Abdulahi, a Somali security official.
	The official could not immediately confirm the toll from the attack, although eyewitness Ibrahim Ismail said three soldiers were killed and three others were seriously wounded.
	"The soldiers opened fire after the explosion to disperse approaching crowds. I saw three dead soldiers and three others wounded seriously," he said.
	Another eyewitness, Ahmed Gobe, also said there were several ...

Somalia bomb attack leaves at least three dead

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The jihadist Islamic State group today claimed responsibility for an attack in central Tunisia that killed three policemen and wounded 12.
	In a statement posted on Twitter, IS said the attack in the Sidi Bouzid region was carried out by "two soldiers of the caliphate who attacked two military sites with small arms."
	The group, which claimed a March attack on the Bardo National Museum in Tunis that killed 21 foreign tourists and a policeman, said it had "killed or wounded more than 20 soldiers or national guard members" in yesterday's violence.
	Three policemen and a jihadist were killed when national guardsmen, acting on a tip-off, tried to ambush two armed men who were allegedly planning attacks, the interior ministry said.
	"The national guard attempted to ambush at dawn two terrorists on a motocycle in Sidi Ali Ben Aoun after obtaining information that (they) were about to launch an operation," ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told AFP.
	He said two officers were killed in ...

IS jihadists claim deadly attack on Tunisia police

Suspected Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines set off a roadside bomb that killed a soldier and wounded eight others today, a military spokesman said.
	The troops were on patrol on a military truck in the island of Basilan when the bomb went off, said Ensign Chester Ramos, spokesman of a special anti-terror task force.
	The bomb went off after the truck had passed.
	"But the shrapnel of the bomb... (hit) our troops aboard the vehicle," said Ramos.
	The bomb is believed to have been planted by members of the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group founded in the 1990s with seed money from the Al-Qaeda movement of Osama bin Laden, he said.
	The Abu Sayyaf is active in Basilan and the other remote, southernmost islands of the Philippines and has been blamed for the worst militant attacks in Philippine history including the 2004 firebombing of a ferry on Manila Bay that claimed more than 100 lives.
	It has engaged in mass kidnappings and extortion to raise funds and has proved ...

Bomb kills soldier, wounds 8 others in southern Philippines

China warned today against "radical forces" in Hong Kong after police arrested 10 people on suspicion of making explosives ahead of a vote on a controversial political reform package.
	Police said one suspect had claimed to be a member of a "radical local group" but would not name the group or specify motives.
	The bomb allegations have been met with scepticism by some commentators in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, who questioned their timing before the vote expected by Friday.
	A senior Chinese official warned democrats to tread a "moderate" path.
	"The radical opposition camp has recently resorted to despicable means... And are engaged in extreme violent activities," said Song Ruan, deputy commissioner for Beijing's foreign affairs office in Hong Kong, without specifically referring to the arrests.
	"We hope that the moderate pan-democrats will see through the true face of radical forces."
	Song urged lawmakers to pass the  bill setting out how Hong Kong will  choose its next ...

China warns against 'radical forces' in Hong Kong

A 65-year-old German man died this month after contracting MERS during a trip to Abu Dhabi, in the first death linked to the virus in Europe this year, authorities said today.
	The man died in the western town of Ostercappeln on June 6 of an acute lung ailment that came as a complication from the MERS virus, the health ministry of Lower Saxony state said.
	German authorities said they had no indication that the virus had spread and European health officials said the risk of an outbreak in Europe remained low.
	It is believed the patient was infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) during a visit to a livestock market in the United Arab Emirates, as camels are thought to carry the virus.
	The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm said that the German case was the first MERS infection imported into the European Union so far this year, following one in the second half of 2014.
	"The fact that this patient has now died does not ...

German, 65, dies of complications from MERS infection

US First Lady Michelle Obama today visited a London school at the start of a European tour as she announced plans for USd 200 million in programmes to promote girls' education worldwide.
	"I'm here because girls like you impress me and inspire me," Obama told pupils at Mulberry School for Girls in east London ahead of a trip to Downing Street, where she will have tea with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha.
	"With an education from this amazing school, you have everything you need to rise above all of the noise and fulfil every one of your last dreams," she added.
	The first lady unveiled plans for the two countries to empower adolescent girls with a particular focus on "fragile countries".
	Obama said 62 million girls around the world did not attend school, calling it a "heartbreaking injustice" caused by factors including forced marriages, early pregnancies, abuse and sexism.
	Writing in the Financial Times, Obama said Britain the and US would work together on ...

Michelle Obama champions plans for girls' education

Al-Qaeda today confirmed that its second-in-command, the chief of its powerful Yemeni branch, was killed in a US drone strike, in the heaviest blow to the jihadist network since the death of Osama bin Laden.
	   Already struggling with the rise of rival jihadists from the Islamic State group, al-Qaeda has suffered a series of setbacks in recent months with several commanders reported killed.
	   In a video statement, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) confirmed that Nasir al-Wuhayshi was dead.
	   Wuhayshi "was killed in a US drone attack that targeted him along with two other mujahedeen," who were also killed, said the statement read by prominent al-Qaeda militant Khaled Omar Batarfi and dated June 15.
	   AQAP -- which was behind several plots against Western targets including the deadly attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris earlier this year -- said it had named its military chief Qassem al-Rimi as its new leader.
	   US officials were earlier reported to have been 

Al-Qaeda confirms top commander killed in US strike

Hong Kong lawmakers asked for calm today after police arrested 10 people on suspicion of making explosives in a plot they say is linked to a "radical" group, ahead of a vote on a controversial political reform package.
	The allegations have been met with scepticism from security experts and commentators in the southern Chinese city, who questioned its timing ahead of the vote, expected Friday.
	Police said one of the ten suspects had claimed to be a member of a "radical local group", but would not name the group or specify motives.
	They said maps of central Hong Kong districts had been found and warned anyone taking part in public gatherings to stay away from "violent protesters".
	Daily rallies are being held at the city's legislature ahead of the vote by lawmakers on the government's controversial political reform package.
	All 10 suspects were arrested yesterday "on suspicion of conspiracy to manufacture explosives" and detained overnight. The tenth, a 58-year-old man, was taken ..

Calls for calm in Hong Kong as 10 held over 'radical plot'

Scores of police and soldiers patrolled Chad's capital today, a day after twin suicide bombings blamed on Boko Haram jihadists killed 24 people and wounded more than 100.
	The areas around the presidential palace and police headquarters in N'Djamena - one of the targets of the bombers - were sealed off, checkpoints were set up across the city and vehicles with smoked glass windows banned from the roads, AFP journalists reported.
	Chad has been on the front line of a regional fight against the Nigerian Islamist group, but yesterday's attack marked the first of its kind in the capital of the north- central African country.
	"These attacks, which aimed to strike fear into the people, will not slacken Chad's determination to combat terrorism," the government said, calling on the population to "keep its legendary serenity because the situation is entirely under control."
	It said four "terrorists" were also killed in the blasts, but did not give details.
	Although Boko Haram has yet to ...

Security clampdown in Chad capital after 'Boko Haram' attacks

A Bahrain court jailed Shiite opposition leader Ali Salman for four years today after convicting him of inciting disobedience and hatred in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, a judicial source said.
	But the court acquitted him of the more serious charge of seeking to overthrow the monarchy and change the political system, the source added.
	Salman, 49, was also found guilty of "insulting an official body," the source said, referring to the interior ministry.
	His arrest on December 28 drew condemnation from both the United States and Iran, as well as human rights groups.
	It also triggered demonstrations across the kingdom.
	Salman was present for the verdict, which was delivered amid tight security outside the Manama court, witnesses said.
	Rights groups criticised today's ruling.
	"Today's verdict against Ali Salman drives Bahrain deeper into political crisis," said Brian Dooley, head of Human Rights Defenders Programme at the Washington-based Human Rights First.
	"Sending the leader of the .

Bahrain jails opposition chief Ali Salman for 4 years

At least 14 people were killed and 70 injured when a passenger train hit a lorry south of the Tunisian capital today, the transport and interior ministries said.
	Most of the dead were passengers on the train, which derailed, the transport ministry said. Both drivers were also killed.
	The interior ministry said the train was heading into the capital from the town of Gaafour, 120 kilometers (80 miles) to the southwest, in the morning rush hour.
	The collision happened near El Fahes, some 60 kilometers from Tunis, at around 6:30 am (local time).
	"The death toll could rise," Transport Minister Mahmoud Ben Romdhane told Mosaique FM radio.

14 dead, 70 injured in Tunisia train crash

Rebel rocket fire killed at least 34 civilians in Aleppo in one of the bloodiest days of the conflict for government-held areas of Syria's second city, a monitoring group said today.
	Twelve children were among the dead as Islamist rebel factions pounded western neighbourhoods of the city with more than 300 rockets on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Right said.
	Control of the city is divided between rebels in the east, and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the west.
	Both sides frequently bombard each other but Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that Monday's deaths marked "one of the highest tolls in opposition attacks in Aleppo city".
	"The number of deaths is likely to rise, as there are roughly 190 people wounded, including dozens in critical condition with serious wounds," he said.
	"With dead and wounded combined, it adds up to the most violent day for government-controlled parts of Aleppo city in the whole war."
	The rocket fire came as UN ...

34 dead in rebel rocket fire on Syria's Aleppo: Monitor

A quarter of a million children face starvation in war-torn South Sudan, with an end to the 18-month conflict as distant as ever, the expelled UN aid chief warned today.
	   "Six months ago, we thought that violence and suffering had peaked and that peace was on the horizon. We were wrong," said Toby Lanzer, who was barred from the country earlier this month after warning of economic meltdown.
	   "Political intransigence left peace ever more distant; war raged on and is leading to economic collapse."
	   Civil war began in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings across the country that has split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines.
	   It has been characterised by ethnic massacres, rape and the use of child soldiers.
	   "In half of the country, one in three children are acutely malnourished and 250,000 children face starvation," Lanzer added, in a report ...

250,000 children starving in South Sudan: UN

The US kicks off a "strategic and economic" dialogue with China next week, a way of addressing the numerous outstanding disputes between the two powers.
	Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew are scheduled to receive State Councilor Yang Jiechi, a top foreign policy official, and Vice Premier Wang Yang on June 23 and 24, the State Department said yesterday.
	The meeting will be the seventh session of the "US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue," and features the same four officials that met last year in Beijing.
	The two nations are friendly on many fronts, but also have clashed on the international scene, most recently during the South China Sea dispute.
	The State Department said only that the session will address "challenges and opportunities that both countries face" in areas "of immediate and long-term economic and strategic interest."
	Beijing has shown it has serious ambitions in the South China Sea where China is squaring off against US-supported ...

US to host Beijing for high-level talks

Libyan jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia denied today that the Al-Qaeda-linked mastermind of a deadly 2013 siege at an Algerian gas plant had been killed in a US air strike.
	The group named seven people it said were killed in the US strike in eastern Libya but Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who Washington has said was the target, was not among them.
	"No other person was killed," the group said in a statement.
	The Pentagon had itself been non-committal about whether the strike by two F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jets armed with 500-pound bombs had succeeded in killing its target, who has been reported dead several times in the past.
	US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said: "The actual impact of that raid is still being assessed."
	Belmokhtar, nicknamed variously as "The Uncatchable", "Mr Marlboro" and "The One-Eyed", is leader of the North African Al-Murabitoun militant group and a former chief of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
	He allegedly masterminded the 2013 siege of an Algerian 

Libya jihadist group denies death of Qaeda-linked Belmokhtar

Police have arrested a tenth person suspected of making explosives in Hong Kong in a plot they say is linked to a "radical" political group, ahead of a key vote on a controversial reform package.
	A 58-year-old man was arrested "on suspicion of conspiracy to manufacture explosives" at northern border point Lo Wu late yesterday, police said.
	They had already arrested nine people yesterday on the same charge. All the suspects were detained overnight.
	Police said yesterday that one of those arrested had claimed to be a member of a "radical local group".
	They would not name the group or specify motives but said that maps of central districts of Hong Kong had been found and warned anyone taking part in public gatherings to stay away from "violent protesters".
	It comes as a series of rallies take place before a vote expected Friday in Hong Kong's legislature on a divisive roadmap for the city's electoral system, which led to mass protests at the end of last year.
	Chemicals were seized .

Police make tenth arrest over explosives in Hong Kong

The leader of al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen was targeted in a CIA drone strike last week, though US officials would not immediately confirm he had been killed, according to a media report.
	Nasir al-Wuhayshi's group, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is behind several plots against the US, including an attempt to blow up a US commercial airliner on Christmas Day 2009.
	US officials told The Washington Post they were reviewing intelligence linked to a June 9 drone strike that targeted Wuhayshi, who was also named al-Qaeda's number two, and other AQAP operatives.
	"We are looking to confirm his death," a US intelligence official told the newspaper.
	A local Yemeni official told AFP today that Wuhayshi is believed to have been killed in the raid in Al-Qaeda-held Mukalla, in southeastern Yemen, and that his body could be kept in a local morgue amid tight secrecy imposed by the militants.
	"There are currently four bodies belonging to al-Qaeda members. One of them is believed to be ...

CIA drone strike targets top al-Qaeda leader in Yemen: report

New Zealand coach Mike Hesson believes his side are now facing a far more "scary" England team compared to the one the Blackcaps thrashed at the World Cup.
     In February, New Zealand hammered England by eight wickets in Wellington en route to a World Cup final which they lost to co-hosts Australia.
     The Blackcaps skittled out England for just 123 on that occasion, with Tim Southee taking a New Zealand one-day international record seven for 33.
     New Zealand then chased down their meagre target in a mere 12.2 overs, with skipper Brendon McCullum blasting 77 in 25 balls.
     But Hesson's men haven't had things all their own way during their ongoing five-match one-day international series in England.
     The first ODI at Edgbaston saw England make 408 for nine in a 210-run win -- both national records.
     New Zealand levelled the series with a 13-run Duckworth/Lewis success at The Oval but only after England, initially chasing 399 for victory, had been 345 for seven and ...

'Scary' England impress New Zealand coach

Australian authorities work within the law to stop asylum-seeker boats, Prime Minister Tony Abbott insisted today after reports officials have made cash payments to members of people-smuggling rings for years.
	The government has refused to deny reports that six Indonesian crew members were paid USD 5,000 each to return an asylum-seeker vessel to Indonesia in late May, saying no comment will be made on operational issues.
	Indonesia has pushed for answers, with Vice President Jusuf Kalla warning yesterday that paying people-smugglers would amount to "bribery".
	Abbott said while Australia would do "whatever is necessary" to crack down on people-smuggling, he was confident officials had worked within the law.
	"The most moral thing you can do here is stop the boats because as long as the boats are coming the evil people-smuggling trade is in business and the deaths continue," Abbott told reporters in Canberra.
	"So we've done the right thing, we've done the moral thing, the decent ...

Abbott brushes off Indonesia people-smuggling bribery claims

FIFA boss Sepp Blatter has cancelled plans to visit New Zealand for this weekend's Under-20 World Cup final in Auckland, world football's governing body said today.
     "Due to his current commitments in Zurich, the FIFA president (Blatter) will not be able to travel to New Zealand to attend the final of the FIFA U-20 World Cup," a spokeswoman said.
     The Swiss supremo would likely have received a cool reception had he made the long trip, after New Zealand Football (NZF) defected from the Blatter camp and voted against him in last month's presidential election.
     NZF chief Andy Martin said earlier this month that he hoped Blatter stayed away as his presence would turn the tournament final into a "sideshow".
     Blatter, who has been in charge of FIFA since 1998, has announced he will quit after the organisation was engulfed by a series of widespread corruption allegations.
     The FIFA U-20 World Cup final will take place on Saturday, featuring the winners of Wednesday's ...

Blatter to skip U-20 final in New Zealand

The Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo announced that it will end its partnership with football's world governing body FIFA, which has been engulfed by an unprecedented corruption scandal.
     The Nobel centre and FIFA have been partners in the "Handshake for Peace" initiative between team captains and officials since 2012.
     "The board of directors asked management to end cooperation with FIFA as soon as circumstances permit," said centre, an offshoot of the Nobel Committee which awards the Nobel Peace Prize.
     The Nobel statement did not explicitly refer to the accusations of corruption at FIFA that have delivered a body blow to the organisation's prestige.
     FIFA has been increasingly isolated since May, when a US investigation into the corruption allegations brought charges against 14 people.
     The scandal spectacularly brought down FIFA boss Sepp Blatter and has also cast doubt on the fairness of the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, to be staged in Russia ...

AFP

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