Iran may consider cooperating with the US in fighting Sunni extremist fighters in Iraq if Washington acts against them, President Hassan Rouhani told journalists on Saturday.He was responding to questions of whether mutual interests in fighting terrorism could possibly bring together Tehran and Washington - traditional foes that have had no diplomatic relations in more than three decades."If we see that the United States takes action against terrorist groups in Iraq, then one can think about it," Rouhani said at a press conference marking a year since he was elected president.Both Iranian and American leaders have separately pledged support for the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in fighting advancing fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)."We have said that all countries must unite in combating terrorism. But right now regarding Iraq we have not seen the Americans taking a decision yet," Rouhani said, mentioning that problems in neighbouring Sy

Iran's Rouhani does not rule out US cooperation on Iraq

Agencies

The frenzied scavenger hunt for large sums of cash hidden in public hit New York today, with USD 2,000 in envelopes stashed across Central Park and Brooklyn.
	The brainchild of a group of wealthy friends in California, it is the first time the treasure hunt comes to New York, having sparked Internet-driven chases on the West Coast.
	"Our biggest day ever! Houston, Mexico City, NYC today! Be safe, be kind, tweet when you find!" the @HiddenCash handle wrote on twitter kicking off the hunt at 10 am (1400 GMT).
	The 20 white business envelopes, USD 50 in each, carry a handwritten message on the front: "Twitter @HiddenCash. Tweet photo when u find. We heart NY."
	The money comes from wealthy real estate investor Jason Buzi and a group of anonymous friends, who have given to charity in the past but wanted to do something a bit more fun.
	A friend of Buzi's from San Francisco, who gave his name only as Thierry, spoke to AFP as he hid USD 1,000 in Central Park before setting out to drop ...

@HiddenCash rolls out USD 2,000 treasure hunt to New York

PTI Automatic

Leaders of developing nations plus China meet here today to draft a global anti-poverty agenda at a summit that also showcases Latin America's burgeoning relationship with the Asian giant.
	UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Bolivia's President Evo Morales were scheduled to inaugurate the G77 summit, which marks the 50th anniversary of the group's founding. It has grown from 77 developing countries in 1964 to 133 member states, encompassing two-thirds of the world's countries.
	"This summit is not purely commemorative, it will propose new social policies," said Morales, a leader of Latin America's radical left and the group's current president.
	The summit closes Sunday with a document that Bolivia's Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera described as "the first draft of the post Millennium Development Goals," a set of UN goals that are approaching their 2015 expiration date.
	Hammered out in previous meetings, the G77 document sets forth ambitious new commitments to reduce poverty and 

With China as guest, G77 seeks new development commitments

Gunmen attacked a convoy carrying the head of Iraq's anti-corruption watchdog north of Baghdad today, sparking clashes that killed nine policemen, an officer and a doctor said.
	The attack on the convoy carrying Alaa Jawad, who was unharmed in the attack, also wounded 21 people and took place on the road between Baghdad and the city of Samarra.
	It came as security forces fight to retake areas north of the capital seized by militants in a major offensive they launched on Monday night.
	It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, or if it was planned or a target of opportunity.
	The militant offensive, spearheaded by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant but also involving supporters of late dictator Saddam Hussein, overran all of one province and chunks of three others.
	But while security forces initially performed poorly, they appear to have overcome some of the initial shock of the onslaught, and have retaken several areas north of the capital.

Gunmen attack convoy, kill nine Iraq police: officer

Chile's Nottingham Forest defender Gonzalo Jara reportedly admitted cheating to orchestrate Australia striker Tim Cahill's yellow card in Friday's World Cup game in Cuiaba.
     The veteran Socceroo was booked for tangling with Jara before the break after heading in his team's only goal in the 3-1 Group B loss to the South Americans.
    	Coming off at half-time he was seen arguing with Chile's Arturo Vidal, and later explained the nature of that altercation with the Juventus star.
	"There was an incident where the left-back (Jara) elbowed me and kicked out at me when I was trying to run past him for a cross, and I've got the yellow card," Cahill told Australian media.
	"I called him a cheat and he said, 'Yeah, I'm a cheat, so what?'
	"I said to Vidal, 'This is no good, this needs to be out of the game.'"
	Australia started disastrously and were two goals down before the quarter of an hour, but a Cahill-inspired turnaround saw the Aussies finish strongly, with the former Everton star .

Chile defender Jara 'cheated', says Cahill

China, whose presence in Latin America until now was largely based on an appetite for raw materials, is diversifying investments by financing much needed development projects, analysts say.
	At a summit, opening today in Santa Cruz, the G77 + China group of developing nations meets on its 50th anniversary to promote economic development.
	Delegations from 133 countries and some three dozen heads of state will be in attendance.
	"China now acts in a different way with South American countries," said Gabriel Dabdoub, president of the chamber of commerce of the Santa Cruz region, Bolivia's economic engine.
	The Asian powerhouse "no longer aims at only at buying raw materials, it wants to get into investing in industrialization," Dabdoub told AFP.
	Bolivia, Latin America's poorest country, has experienced more than six percent growth in recent years and has plans for major infrastructure work.
	"China is particularly attracted by industrialization projects that the country needs over the .

China invests in development to enhance LatAm presence

Italian sailors have recovered 10 bodies of migrants after their rubber dinghy sank off the Libyan coast, Italy's navy said today.
	Thirty-nine migrants were rescued after the vessel sank last afternoon some 40 nautical miles from the Libyan coast, the navy said, adding that the search for survivors continued today.
	A frigate and a patrol boat deployed to the scene, backed up by a helicopter and a merchant ship.
	An Italian tanker, which has picked up some 700 migrants from stricken vessels in recent days, along with the 10 bodies, is headed towards Sicily where it is expected tomorrow, the navy said.
	Also today, the Italian coastguard rescued some 300 migrants thought to be Syrians, including 93 children and six women, from a fishing boat near Calabria in southern Italy.
	Thousands of people seeking asylum or a better life in Europe have died in recent years trying to cross the Mediterranean.
	Warmer weather prompts a surge in migrants each year, and thousands of people -- ...

Ten migrants die in shipwreck off Libya: Italian navy

A seven-year-old Gaza boy wounded in an Israeli air raid on the northern Gaza Strip died today, a spokesman for the Palestinian health services said.
	Ali al-Awour was wounded in Wednesday's strike targeting his uncle, radical Salafist Mohammed al-Awour, who was killed. Another Palestinian man was wounded.
	The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had targeted "terrorists affiliated to the international jihad", its designation for Al-Qaeda inspired groups in Gaza.
	Awour, 30, and the wounded man were travelling on a motorbike when they were attacked. The boy had been passing by on foot.
	Awour had been involved in rocket attacks on southern Israel in recent years and particularly over the past month, an Israeli army statement said.

Gaza boy, 7, dies from air strike wounds: medic

Soldiers armed with shovels are digging in just 25 kilometres north of Baghdad as others man new checkpoints, bolstering the Iraqi capital's defences against a militant assault.
	A major militant offensive launched on Monday, spearheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, has overrun a large chunk of northern and north-central Iraq.
	The advance swept to within less than 100 kilometres of the capital, raising fears among residents that the city itself would be next, though militants have since been pushed back by security forces in areas farther north, making an assault on Baghdad appear less likely.
	ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani has vowed its fighters would press on to Baghdad and Karbala, a city southwest of the capital that is considered one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.
	Top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani yesterday urged Iraqis to take up arms against the Sunni ..

Iraqi troops dig in, bolstering Baghdad's defences

Afghanistan hailed another successful election today when millions of people defied Taliban threats in a run-off vote to choose a new president as US-led troops withdraw.
	But fraud allegations were likely from both campaign teams after the election, and a close count could lead to a contested result as the country undergoes its first democratic transfer of power.
	The election will decide whether former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah or ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani leads the country into a new era of declining international military and civilian assistance.
	Despite being largely peaceful, polling day saw at least 150 minor attacks, including a Taliban rocket that hit a house near a polling station in the eastern province of Khost, killing five members of the same family.
	"The voting has gone well and as planned. As you see, the turnout has been large," said Independent Election Commission chief Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani as counting got underway.
	He admitted there had been .

Afghans defy Taliban threats to vote in run-off election

Kumar Sangakkara scored his first Test hundred at Lord's as Sri Lanka looked to avoid the follow-on against England here today.
     Sri Lanka were 309 for four at tea on the third day, still 266 runs behind after Joe Root's maiden Test double century had taken England to 575 for nine declared in the first of this two-match series.
     But now they needed just 67 more runs to make England bat again.
     Left-hander Sangakkara, 36, was 121 not out but there was no third Lord's hundred on Saturday for the 37-year-old Mahela Jayawardene in what was set to be a fourth and final Test at 'the home of cricket' for both Sri Lanka greats.
     Sri Lanka resumed on 140 for one, having fought back well in the face of England's imposing total.
     Kaushal Silva was 62 not out and Sangakkara unbeaten on 32.
	Play commenced in gloomy overcast conditions that led to the floodlights being switched on.
	But it was pace and bounce, rather than swing, that did for gutsy opener Silva.
	He'd added just 

Sangakkara century frustrates England

A shallow 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the southern Indian Ocean today, US seismologists said, prompting Australia to issue a tsunami warning which was later cancelled.
	The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of seven kilometres at 1110 GMT, almost 700 miles northwest of Australia's Cocos Islands, also known as the Keeling Islands.
	There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, but the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre (JATWC) issued an alert and advised people not to swim in the sea, and to move away from beaches, harbours, marinas and coastal estuaries. Evacuations from the area were unnecessary, it said.
	The centre cancelled the warning around three-and-a-half hours later. It had put the quake at a magnitude of 6.6.
	The Cocos Islands are located 2750 kilometres northwest of Perth in Western Australia.

Tsunami warning issued as quake hits southern Indian Ocean

EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger will hold another round of talks with Russia and Ukraine in Kiev today to try and resolve a bitter dispute over gas supplies.
	"The aim is to continue the discussions on issues related to gas supplies from Russia to Ukraine with the objective of finding a solution that secures stable deliveries," a European Commission statement said.
	The last round of EU-brokered gas talks broke up Wednesday without a deal, prompting concerns that Russian giant Gazprom would make good on its Monday deadline to cut supplies unless Kiev paid outstanding bills and accepted a new payment framework.
	Ukraine Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan told AFP earlier today that Russia had "given its preliminary agreement to attend" the talks.
	"We are ready to search for a compromise but putting pressure on us is of no use," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov told RIA Novosti.
	Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said yesterday he had told officials to begin implementing ..

EU says commissioner to attend Russia, Ukraine gas talks

More than 50,000 children in South Sudan face death from disease and hunger, the United Nations warned today as it begged for over a billion dollars to support those hit by six months of civil war.
	War in the young nation has already killed thousands and forced more than 1.5 million people from their homes, and aid agencies warn of the risk of famine should fighting continue.
	"The consequences could be dire: 50,000 children could die this year if they do not get assistance," UN aid chief for South Sudan Toby Lanzer said, at the launch of a plan to support 3.8 million people "hit by hunger, violence and disease."
	President Salva Kiir and his arch-rival Riek Machar committed themselves again this week to a ceasefire, although many analysts are sceptical they really want a negotiated end to the conflict, and instead believe a military victory is still possible.
	"Even if the cessation of hostilities holds... Fighting and displacement has already shattered the lives of millions of ...

50,000 children facing death in war-torn South Sudan: UN

Afghanistan hailed another successful election today when Taliban militants failed to launch a major attack and millions of voters turned out to choose a new president as US-led troops withdraw.
	Fraud allegations were likely from both campaign teams after the run-off vote, and a close count could lead to a contested result as the country undergoes its first democratic transfer of power.
	Despite being mainly peaceful, polling day saw at least 150 minor attacks, including a Taliban rocket that hit a house near a polling station in the eastern province of Khost, killing five members of the same family.
	The election will decide whether former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah or ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani leads the country into a new era of declining international military and civilian assistance.
	"The voting has gone well and as planned. As you see, the turnout has been large," said Independent Election Commission chief Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani.
	He admitted there had also ...

Afghanistan celebrates largely peaceful run-off vote

Alexander Stubb is set to become Finland's new prime minister after he won a vote to head the ruling conservative party today.
	Stubb, 46, currently European and trade minister in Finland, will replace Jyrki Katainen, who said in April he would step down to seek a job within the European institutions.
	He defeated Social Affairs Minister Paula Risikko by 500 votes to 349 in the second round of polling by members of Finland's national coalition. Industry Minister Jan Vapaavuori, a controversial candidate with a criminal record, came third.
	Stubb is a former foreign minister known for his liberal economic stance. Staunchly pro-EU and an advocate of Finland's accession to NATO, he is faced immediately with an economy mired in recession.
	Finland has endured eight consecutive quarters of decline or stagnation in gross domestic product (-0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2014) making for the country's longest recession in 20 years.
	Public debt, just under 50 per cent of GDP when ...

Alexander Stubb wins ruling party vote to become Finland's PM

Iran may consider cooperating with its arch-foe the United States to fight Sunni extremist militants in Iraq but has not yet been asked to intervene, President Hassan Rouhani said today.
	He made the remarks when asked if mutual interest could possibly bring Iran and the US together, despite their lack of diplomatic relations for more than three decades.
	Rouhani left the door open to some form of joint intervention after noting that Iran was worried about security in the region, and after acknowledging his country's "close and intimate" relations with Iraq.
	"If we see that the United States takes action against terrorist groups in Iraq, then one can think about it," he said.
	"We have said that all countries must unite in combating terrorism. But right now regarding Iraq... We have not seen the Americans taking a decision."
	Rouhani and US President Barack Obama have separately pledged support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government in fighting advancing militants from .

Iran offers help if US acts against Iraq militants

Sri Lanka star batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jaywardene held firm against England in the first Test at Lord's on Saturday.
     The tourists were 212 for two at lunch on the third day after losing just one wicket in the morning session.
    	Sangakkara, yet to score a Test hundred at 'the home of cricket', was 73 not out and Jayawardene, whose three previous Lord's Tests had yielded two centuries, unbeaten on 29.
     Their third-wicket stand was so far worth 61.
    	However, Sri Lanka were still 363 runs behind and requiring a further 164 to avoid the follow-on after Joe Root's maiden Test double century had taken England to 575 for nine declared.
     Nevertheless, Sri Lanka had fought back well to be 140 for one at stumps on Friday's second day.
     Kaushal Silva was then 62 not out and Sangakkara 32 not out.
    	Play resumed Saturday in gloomy overcast conditions that led to the floodlights being switched on.
	But it was pace and bounce, rather than swing, that did for ...

Sri Lanka greats repel England

Three Israeli teenagers, one of them also a US citizen, have been kidnapped in the occupied West Bank, presumably by Palestinians, the army said today.
	Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held the Palestinian Authority responsible for their wellbeing, but Palestinians baulked at the idea they were to blame for the disappearance inside an Israeli-controlled area of the West Bank.
	The abductions come as Israel piles pressure on a new Palestinian government, formed early last week under a reconciliation deal between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel foe Hamas.
	The three, all students at a Jewish seminary, went missing late Thursday as they were hitchhiking between Bethlehem and Hebron.
	"We believe that they have indeed been kidnapped by presumed Palestinians," a senior officer told journalists, without giving further details on who was behind the abduction.
	He said the search is being carried out in coordination with security forces from the Palestinian ...

Israel says Palestinians kidnapped three missing teens

Dutch media hailed their football team's World Cup mauling of Spain as "heroic" and "historic" today with headline writers going into overdrive in search of superlatives.
     "They are heroes", "A dream start for the Oranje", "Incredible" "Netherlands crush Spain", and "Historic" screamed out from newspapers across the country after the Dutch handed Spain a record 5-1 rout in Salvador.
     The win was sweet revenge after Spain had edged the Netherlands 1-0 in the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa.
    	"What incomparable revenge against Spain: 5-1," said popular daily, Telegraaf.
	"In one of the most memorable matches ever in the history of the Dutch team at the World Cup, even one of the most memorable matches in the history of the World Cup itself, Netherlands crushed the defending champions," wrote Volkskrant.
	The newspaper saluted the tactics of coach Louis van Gaal, describing the "magisterial plan" of using five defenders to thwart the Spanish, and praised as well Robin ...

Dutch press hail 'heroic', 'historic' victory

German football legend Franz Beckenbauer is cancelling his trip to the World Cup in Brazil in the light of FIFA suspending him for 90 days over the investigation into the Qatar 2022 World Cup bid, he told the German media today.
     The 68-year-old, who won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach in 1974 and 1990 respectively, told daily newspaper Bild he did not feel he would be made welcome after FIFA announced he had been suspended because he refused to speak to investigators looking into allegations that Qatar paid bribes to secure votes for its 2022 World Cup bid.
     "I won't be going to Brazil," said Beckenbauer, whose sole title these days is honorary president of Bayern Munich.
     "I am basing that decision on the fact I will not be welcomed by FIFA."
     Beckenbauer, who was a member of the FIFA executive board in 2010 when the votes were cast to award Russia the 2018 finals and Qatar the 2022 edition, had originally planned to go to Brazil for the semi-finals.
   

AFP

AFP

Page 3054 - Afp