Israel today defended its conduct in the 2014 Gaza war as both "lawful" and "legitimate" in an inter-ministerial report into the deadly 50-day conflict.
	And it insisted its forces did not intentionally target civilians or civilian targets, drawing conclusions that were rejected out of hand by the Palestinians.
	The internal report, which was put together by the foreign and justice ministries with input from the military and the National Security Council, was released two weeks before a UN report into the conflict.
	The conflict ended with an informal ceasefire on August 26 after claiming the lives of nearly 2,200 Palestinians, mainly civilians, and 73 on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers, UN figures show.
	In the document, which is more than 200 pages long, the authors go to great lengths to detail the environment in which the war was fought and the military's efforts to avoid harming civilians.
	"Much of what may have appeared to external parties to be indiscriminate harm to ..

Israel probe says Gaza war actions 'legitimate', 'lawful'

PTI Automatic

Tim Southee and debutant Ben Wheeler took three wickets apiece as New Zealand dismissed England for 302 in the third one-day international at the Rose Bowl today.
     England captain Eoin Morgan made 71 on a ground where he averages 70.5 in eight one-day international innings.
     And all-rounder Ben Stokes made a dashing 68 off 47 balls.
     But England lost their last five wickets for 14 runs, with 28 balls of the innings still left when Steven Finn was last man out.
     Southee finished with three for 44 in 8.2 overs and Wheeler, replacing Trent Boult after his fellow left-arm paceman was ruled out of the rest of the tour with a back injury, an impressive three for 63 in 10 overs.
     Left-hander Morgan, fresh from his blistering 88 off 47 balls in the second of this five-match series at The Oval on Friday, appeared to be heading towards his third ODI hundred at the Rose Bowl until he was bowled slogging at Kane Williamson's off-spin.
     Together with Joe Root (54), he put ..

Southee and Wheeler restrict England to 302

A computer in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's legislative office was hit by a cyberattack that targeted the country's lower house of parliament in May, the Bild newspaper reported today.
	The daily, which did not cite its sources, said the cyberattack was broader and greater than originally anticipated and the Bundestag struggled to control it.
	The attack "infected" one of the computers in Merkel's Bundestag office. Bild said the computer was one of the first on which the Trojan Horse-style attack was discovered.
	According to the newspaper, the discovery was made on Friday, with officials finding the Trojan Horse software on five computers in the Bundestag.
	A spokesman for Merkel's conservative CDU bloc told the newspaper he could "not confirm nor deny" the report.
	It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the cyberattack.
	Merkel's official website, as well as those of the government and the Bundestag, were blocked in January in an online attack claimed by a ...

Computer in Merkel's office hit by cyberattack: report

The Pentagon is "poised" to station heavy weapons for up to 5,000 American troops in several Eastern European and Baltic countries to deter Russian aggression, The New York Times has reported.
	The proposal, if approved, would be the first time since the end of the Cold War that the US has had heavy military equipment - including battle tanks - in newer NATO members that were once under Moscow's influence as part of the Soviet Union.
	It underlines growing concerns in Eastern Europe and in Washington about Russian President Vladimir Putin's intentions after the annexing of Crimea and the actions of pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.
	The move, which still requires approval from the White House and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, would send a strong message to Putin that Washington is prepared to defend fellow NATO members that are in Moscow's shadow.
	"The proposed 'prepositioned' stocks - to be stored on allied bases and enough to equip a brigade of 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers - also would .

US 'poised' to roll heavy weapons into E. Europe: report

The British backpacker deported from Malaysia after pleading guilty to taking nude photos on a sacred mountain on Borneo island said she was "truly sorry" on her return home today.
	Eleanor Hawkins, 23, was one of four Western tourists who flew to Kuala Lumpur yesterday to be deported after admitting obscenity charges.
	"I know my behaviour was foolish and I know how much offence we all caused to the local people of Sabah. For that, I am truly sorry," she said in a statement outside her house in Draycott, central England.
	She landed at London's Heathrow Airport this morning.
	Her mother Ruth said: "She knows what she did was wrong and disrespectful and...She has been appropriately and fairly judged by the Malaysian authorities and has served her sentence in full."
	The four were arrested earlier this week in the wake of a deadly June 5 quake which killed 18 people on Mount Kinabalu in Sabah state.
	Some in Malaysia including officials had blamed their actions for causing the ...

'Naked' backpacker 'truly sorry' on return to UK

Suspected Shebab gunmen raided a Kenyan military base and briefly took over a village today in the latest attacks highlighting the insecurity that plagues parts of the country.
	Both attacks in Lamu county on Kenya's coast close to the border with Somalia, were blamed on the Somali-led Al-Qaeda affiliate that has in recent months focused more attention on Kenya.
	A spokesman for the Kenya Defence Forces  claimed that 11 Shebab militants were killed, including "two fighters of Caucasian origin".
	Two Kenyan soldiers were also killed in the pre-dawn assault on a military camp in Baure, said Colonel David Obonyo.
	Obonyo said weapons including 13 AK-47 assault rifles, five rocket-propelled grenades and eight hand grenades were recovered.
	Also early today, at least 60 militants raided the nearby town of Mangai, ordering residents out of their homes and gathering them at a mosque where they preached for three hours, according to local media.
	Chief Yusuf Nuri, a local official, told the ..

Islamic militants raid army base and village in Kenya

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hit out today at critics of his drive for a nuclear deal with major powers, saying they belittled the impact of sanctions on ordinary people.
	"Those who say that sanctions are not important probably don't know anything about people's wallets," Rouhani said in a televised speech, adding that they had raised the cost of imported goods by 10 to 15 percent.
	In recent weeks, the president's conservative critics have claimed that the main cause of Iran's economic woes is not Western sanctions imposed over its controversial nuclear programme but failings in government policy.
	Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said earlier this month that "mismanagement and a lack of planning in the current and previous governments have had more impact than sanctions".
	Parliament speaker Ali Larijani said only "20 to 30 percent of the economic problems" of the country were due to international sanctions.
	Rouhani has made the quest for a deal lifting the sanctions in ..

Iran's Rouhani says critics belittle sanctions impact

The European space probe Philae woke up overnight after a months-long sleep as it hurtled towards the Sun on the back of a comet, the French space chief said today.
	"We received new signals from (Philae) for a period of two minutes, as well as 40 seconds' worth of data," Jean-Yves Le Gall, president of the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), told AFP.
	"Hello Earth! Can you hear me?" the tiny robot lab tweeted under the hashtag #WakeUpPhilae.
	Europe launched a new bid in May to communicate with Philae via its mothership Rosetta, which is in orbit around Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
	Their exploration aims at unveiling secrets of comets - pristine bodies of ice and dust that are believed to explain how the Solar System was formed.
	The 100-kilogramme robot lab touched down on "67P" on November 12 after a 10-year trek piggybacking on Rosetta.
	But instead of harpooning itself onto the dusty iceball's surface, Philae bounced several times before settling at an angle in a dark 

'Hello Earth': Comet probe Philae wakes up

North Korea today test-fired three short-range missiles into the sea, South Korea's defence ministry said, weeks after claiming a successful submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test.
	The North fired three KN-01 missiles from a site near its eastern city of Wonsan, a ministry spokesman told AFP.
	"The missiles appear to have a range of nearly 100 kilometres," he said, adding the test lasted 26 minutes and began around 4.30 pm.
	"We are closely monitoring the movements of the North's military and maintaining full readiness against potential provocations," he said.
	The test is the latest since Pyongyang claimed on May 9 it had successfully test-fired a SLBM -- a technology that could eventually offer the nuclear-armed state a survivable second-strike capability.
	A fully developed SLBM capability would take the North Korean nuclear threat to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula.
	But some experts have questioned the authenticity of the May test, ...

N Korea test-fires three short-range missiles

A Malaysian-flagged tanker carrying petrol has gone missing off the south coast and is feared hijacked, the International Maritime Bureau said today.
	The owners of the MT Orkim Harmony last had contact with the ship late Thursday, said Noel Choong, head of the IMB's Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Centre.
	Malaysian media quoted the coast guard as saying the ship was in the South China Sea off Johor state when contact was lost.
	Choong said that after the  vessel went missing, an alert had been sent out to all ships in the area to guard against attacks.
	"We don't know the whereabouts of the ship right now or what happened but it is likely a hijack of the cargo," he said.
	"The ship was carrying the kind of cargo that is usually hijacked."
	Prime Minister Najib Razak posted a message on his Facebook page saying he was "distressed by the news".
	"I pray for the safety of the 22-strong crew of which 16 are Malaysians. My thoughts are with their families," he said.
	The London-based 

Malaysian-flagged tanker missing: piracy watchdog

Kurdish forces pressed their advance on a strategic jihadist-held town in northern Syria today as terrified residents fled in droves and were pushed back from the Turkish border.
	Backed by Arab Syrian rebel factions and air strikes by the US-led coalition, Kurdish militia were closing in on Tal Abyad, a town used by the Islamic State group as a gateway from Turkey into its bastion province of Raqa.
	Kurdish sources say the goal is to cut off a crucial supply line for the jihadists, who have been accused of bringing in foreign fighters and supplies across the Turkish border.
	Many from the area's mixed population of Arabs and Kurds were fleeing in anticipation of a major battle, and thousands were gathered behind barbed wire fences around the Turkish border crossing of Akcakale, an AFP photographer reported.
	As they had on Saturday, Turkish troops were preventing anyone from crossing, sporadically firing water cannons to ensure the Syrians stayed back from the fence.
	The Syrians -- .

Thousands flee as Syria Kurds advance on IS-held border town

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said he would ask Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to form a coalition government, after it lost its overall majority in legislative elections.
	Should the AKP fail in the talks, Erdogan said he would then ask the second-placed opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to form the government.
	And only if those talks failed, Erdogan said, would he use his right within the constitution to call early elections.
	"It is unthinkable that the country is left without a government," Erdogan told Turkish media aboard his presidential plane while returning from a trip to Azerbaijan.
	"I will first give the mandate (for talks) to the head of the political party that won the most votes," he said, referring to Prime Minister and AKP leader Ahmet Davutoglu.
	"If it (a coalition) cannot be established, I will then give the mandate to the head of the party that finished second," he said, referring to CHP chief Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
	Erdogan said 

Erdogan will ask AKP to form Turkey coalition

A South African court today issued a temporary ban on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir leaving the country after the International Criminal Court (ICC) called for his arrest at a summit of African leaders in Johannesburg.
	A court statement said it was "compelling respondents to prevent President Omar Al-Bashir from the leaving the country until an order is made in this court".
	A hearing in Pretoria High Court is set to take place later today.
	The ruling came after the Southern African Litigation Centre, a legal rights' group, launched an urgent court application to force the authorities to arrest Bashir.
	Bashir, who is wanted over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Darfur conflict, mostly travels to countries that have not joined the ICC, but South Africa is a signatory of the court's statutes.
	A South African government official at the African Union summit confirmed media reports that Bashir was at the event, but he declined to give further details.
	The .

Court orders Sudan president to stay in SA until arrest ruling

New Zealand's Trent Boult will miss the remainder of the Blackcaps' tour of England after suffering a back injury, it was announced today.
     "Official: Boult out of the rest of the tour with a back injury. Will head home for further assessment," said a statement on New Zealand's Twitter feed.
     The 25-year-old left-arm paceman was New Zealand's man of the series in their 1-1 drawn Test campaign against England, taking 13 wickets at 24.84.
     He also featured in the opening two fixtures of the ongoing five-match one-day international series.
     Boult took an impressive four for 55 in England's 210-run win at Edgbaston on Tuesday and two for 53 as World Cup finalists New Zealand levelled the series with a 13-run win under the Duckworth/Lewis method at The Oval on Friday.
     However, he was left out of Sunday's third match in Southampton, with fellow left-arm seamer Ben Wheeler given an ODI debut.
     Friday saw New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson also ruled out of the ...

New Zealand's Boult out of England tour

Thousands of Japanese rallied today in protest at plans by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to bolster the role and scope of the pacifist nation's military.
	The protest which surrounded the parliament building was held as the nationalist premier tries to force through parliament a set of controversial bills making the changes.
	The bills are a pet project of Abe, who says Japan can no longer shy away from its responsibility to help safeguard regional stability, and must step out from under the security umbrella provided by the United States.
	The draft legislation would broaden the remit of Japan's well-equipped and well-trained armed forces.
	It would allow them to go into battle to protect allies - so-called "collective defence" - something which is banned by a strict reading of Japan's pacifist constitution.
	Opponents of the bills accuse Abe of trying to move the country away from pacifism, while three scholars summoned to parliament testified this month that the bills are ...

Thousands rally against Japan PM's security bills

North Korea has intensified screening and vowed "watertight" measures to ward off the MERS virus as an outbreak in South Korea killed 15 and sparked widespread alarm.
	Officials have stepped up screening for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and quarantine measures at the international airport and at border crossings, said Chosun Sinbo, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper based in Japan.
	"Central and regional health officials are making thorough and watertight preparations to block any passage of the MERS virus into the country," it said.
	Senior health ministry official Pak Myong-Su, in an essay in the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper today, noted "growing concerns in a neighbouring country" about the outbreak.
	"We all have to actively join efforts to prevent MERS and to promote the superiority and capability of our socialist health system," he wrote.
	Pyongyang has so far shown no sign of closing the only border crossing with the South, into the Kaesong joint industrial zone in the ...

N Korea vows 'watertight' measures against MERS

Pro-democracy campaigners took to the streets of Hong Kong today, but in far smaller numbers than expected, before a vote on a political reform package that has divided the city and sparked mass protests.
	The controversial electoral roadmap, which lays out how Hong Kong's next leader should be chosen, goes for debate at the legislature on Wednesday and will be voted on by the end of the week.
	It is the culmination of a fraught chapter which saw tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters bring parts of the city to a standstill late last year.
	Those rallies were sparked by a ruling from Beijing that candidates in the city's first ever public vote for its leader in 2017 must be vetted.
	Pro-democracy lawmakers in the semi-autonomous Chinese city have vowed to vote down the election package, which sticks to Beijing's ruling.
	Currently the chief executive is elected by a 1,200-strong pro-Beijing committee.
	More than 1,000 people set off from the city's Victoria Park today ...

Hong Kong democracy groups take to streets as key vote looms

The International Criminal Court has called for South Africa to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who is reported to have arrived in Johannesburg for a summit of the African Union that starts today.
	Bashir is wanted by the ICC, of which South Africa is a signatory, over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Darfur conflict dating back to 2003.
	The court's president Sidiki Kaba said in a statement that he "calls on South Africa, which has always contributed to the strengthening of the Court, to spare no effort in ensuring the execution of the arrest warrants."
	He was deeply concerned "about the negative consequences for the Court in case of non-execution of the warrants," the statement added.
	Officials in Johannesburg declined to confirm Bashir's arrival for the two-day summit, but the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) said in a tweet that Bashir had been "welcomed by South African officials and Sudanese diplomats".
	The Sudanese ...

International court calls for SAfrica to arrest Sudan prez

Israeli soldiers today killed a Palestinian man by hitting him with their jeep during clashes near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian security sources said.
	Abdallah Ghanayem, 21, died after being struck by the vehicle during clashes that erupted in the village of Kfar Malik following a dawn Israeli army raid, the sources said.
	An army spokesman told AFP that a Palestinian had died after he threw an incendiary device at a jeep and the vehicle overturned on him.
	It was the second death of a Palestinian in clashes with Israeli forces in less than a week, after a man was shot dead during a confrontation with the army on Wednesday in a northern West Bank refugee camp.
	According to the United Nations, Israeli soldiers have killed 11 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the year.

Israel army kills West Bank Palestinian: Palestinian security

A new music streaming service in Japan is aiming to make a dent in the world's second-largest music market, but it could face a tough challenge from the undisputed king of the sector -- the good old compact disc.
	While digital music now eclipses CD sales in the United States, Japanese music lovers tend to be big on showing off their disc collections -- e-books have also struggled -- and the industry is heavily geared toward sales of physical media.
	This week, mobile messaging giant Line said it was going where others including Sony and games giant DeNA had failed, with a streaming service that offers unlimited access to a collection of more than 1.5 million songs for 1,000 yen (USS 8) a month.
	The announcement comes weeks before tech giant Apple is expected to enter the Japanese market with its own streaming business -- part of a wider digital download strategy that will offer up a heavyweight rival to online services such as Spotify, Pandora and Jay Z's fledgling Tidal.
	Line ...

Music streaming business targets CD-crazy Japanese

Argentina's dreams of a first major title in 22 years were given a reality check as Paraguay came from behind to snatch a last-gasp 2-2 draw in a Copa America classic.
     English Premier league star Sergio Aguero and captain Lionel Messi looked to have put Argentina on the road to a routine victory in Group B after firing the tournament favourites into a 2-0 first-half lead yesterday.
     But a long-range strike from Nelson Valdez hauled Paraguay back into the contest before Argentine-born forward Lucas Barrios grabbed a dramatic 90th-minute equaliser.
     The stunning comeback left Argentina in shock and could complicate their route through the knockout rounds in Chile.
	"It is a sin," to give away an equaliser in the final minute, Argentina coach Gerardo Martino said afterwards, lambasting his team's "neglect."
     "We lost control and the other team had four or five chances to get a draw," Martino told a news conference.
     "We had many chances to win," he added, saying that 

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