The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant posted pictures online of militants bulldozing a berm dividing Iraq and Syria, symbolising its goal of uniting its forces in the two countries.
	The jihadists could be seen clearing a road through the berm, before trucks drove through as a militant stood nearby holding the group's black flag, in photos shared on websites and Twitter.
	Creating a cross-border Islamic state is one of the group's main aims.
	The first shot was dated June 10 and carried the title of the photo series, "Smashing the Sykes-Picot border" -- a reference to the agreement between Britain and France that carved up the Middle East after World War I, with the former taking Iraq and the latter Syria.
	Another photo showed a militant standing in front of Iraqi army Humvees and trucks, suggesting the shots were taken after the launch of a jihadist offensive this week in which large numbers of military vehicles were captured.
	But the authenticity of the photos could ...

Jihadists 'bulldoze berm' dividing Iraq from Syria

PTI Automatic

Militants seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit today but security forces thwarted an assault on Samarra as a lightning jihadist offensive launched in second city Mosul swept closer to Baghdad.
	Since the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant began its spectacular assault in Mosul late Monday, militants have captured a large swathe of northern and north-central Iraq, prompting as many as half a million people to flee their homes.
	The speed with which ISIL and its allies have advanced after their seizure yesterday of Mosul -- a city of two million people -- has sent alarm bells ringing in Western capitals.
	It has also triggered a hostage crisis for Ankara, which threatened harsh reprisals if 49 Turks seized by the jihadists at its consulate in the main northern city were harmed in any way.
	Tehran and Washington, which despite their many differences have a shared interest in preventing Iraq following neighbouring Syria into all-out civil war, both pledged more aid to Baghdad.
	ISIL vowed on 

Iraq militants move nearer to Baghdad in lightning offensive

US police today named the gunman in America's latest deadly school shooting as 15-year-old Jared Michael Padgett, saying he had multiple weapons and could have killed many more people.
	Padgett, who carried his guns in a guitar-case and duffel bag and wore a camouflage helmet, killed himself after shooting one student dead at Reynolds High School in Oregon, they said.
	He obtained his weapons -- a military-style AR-15 type rifle, a semi-automatic pistol, a large knife and hundreds of rounds of ammunition -- from a locker at his family home.
	"The weapons had been secured, but he defeated the security measures," said Scott Anderson, police chief of Troutdale, outside Portland where yesterday's attack took place.
	After arriving on a school bus, Padgett entered a boys' locker room, where he murdered 14-year-old Emilio Hoffman. A teacher, Todd Rispler, suffered a grazing bullet wound to the hip as fled.
	Despite his injury Rispler made his way to the school office to sound the lockdown ..

Police name 15-year-old gunman in US school shooting

Oil prices finished somewhat higher today following an unexpectedly large decline in US crude supplies and worsening turmoil in Iraq.
	US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery edged higher by five cents to USD 104.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
	In London, European benchmark Brent oil for July delivery advanced 43 cents to USD 109.95 a barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange.
	The gains followed a weekly oil-inventory report by the US Department of Energy which showed crude stocks fell 2.6 million barrels, more than the 1.7 million forecast by analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswire.
	The report also showed a 200,000 barrel decline at a widely watched US oil-trading hub in Cushing, Oklahoma.
	Analysts kept watch on oil producer Iraq, where militants that had claimed the city of Mosul Monday seized the city of Tikrit Tuesday in a lightning jihadist offensive that swept closer to Baghdad.
	The assault by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has driven 

Oil prices rise on US inventories, Iraq turmoil

Heads of major US companies today urged immigration reform as crucial to boosting US economic growth, amid speculation the issue was dead after a shock Republican election defeat.
	The Business Roundtable, an influential group representing top chief executives, said that fixing America's "broken immigration system" would unleash a powerful force that drives growth and bolsters the business sector.
	The group issued a report laying out the economic case for immigration reform, which coincidentally landed as Washington political circles reeled from yesterday's unexpected defeat of Republican Party chieftain Eric Cantor in a Virginia primary election.
	Cantor, the US House of Representatives majority leader, was trounced by a university professor backed by the radical conservative Tea Party, David Brat, who campaigned against Cantor's support of legislation that would allow the children of illegal immigrants to remain in the country and become US citizens.
	The defeat of Cantor, one of ..

US business chiefs call for immigration reform

French commuters today were hit by a major train strike against proposed reforms to contain the rail sector's soaring debt and also a taxi drivers' protest over rival car services.
	The 24-hour rail strike began last evening, but its main impact was felt today with train links to other countries also hit.
	Trade unions behind the protest extended the strike by another day after a meeting.
	It is now due to end tomorrow evening, unless union representatives and transport minister Frederic Cuvillier reach an agreement after talks late today.
	The state rail operator SNCF said only one high-speed TGV train out of two or three was running and regional trains were also affected. But it added that traffic would be slightly better tomorrow despite the strike.
	In the busy Paris region, services were down to a third on average. The affected trains included ones running from the suburbs through Paris to the city's Charles de Gaulle airport.
	Eurostar trains to and from London ran normally, ...

French commuters hit by train strike, taxi protest

Four former employees of the notorious Blackwater security firm went on trial here today, seven years after allegedly killing at least 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.
	Backed by an army of lawyers, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten appeared dressed in suits and ties before a federal court in Washington for the start of jury selection.
	The trial was expected to last between five and six months, Slatten's lawyer Thomas Connolly told AFP.
	Judge Royce Lamberth said an unspecified "very high number" of Iraqi witnesses is scheduled to testify about what they saw on September 16, 2007 in Baghdad's Nisour Square.
	The US Attorney's Office said it was believed to be "the largest group of foreign witnesses ever to travel to the United States for a criminal trial."
	The Blackwater employees were guarding a US diplomatic convoy when they opened fire, killing 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians according to an Iraqi investigation, or 14, according to the US count. The hail of ...

Blackwater four go on trial for 2007 Baghdad killings

Twitter today said it briefly took down its popular TweetDeck application to view and manage messages because of a security flaw, which prompted some calls to stop using the program.
	The popular messaging platform said it discovered "a security issue that affected TweetDeck" and temporarily took the service offline, telling users: "Please log out of TweetDeck and log back in to fully apply the fix."
	After a period of confusion and complaints about the fix not working, Twitter announced, "We've verified our security fix and have turned TweetDeck services back on for all users. Sorry for any inconvenience."
	Some experts said the vulnerability could be exploited by hackers, and reports cited instances of people's TweetDeck accounts hijacked on the Chrome browser.
	Independent security analyst Graham Cluley said the issue was "a potentially serious security flaw" and added, "It is easy to imagine how someone could take advantage of it with malicious purposes."
	"In my opinion, ...

Security flaw takes down Twitter's TweetDeck

British Foreign Secretary William Hague today said there was "no question" of British troops being sent back to Iraq to help battle Islamic militants who have seized control of key cities.
	Hague said while the situation was of great concern, the government was "not countenancing at this stage any British military involvement"
	He said he believed Iraq had sufficient forces to counter the threat.
	A US official said the United States "stands ready" to help Iraq, but made no mention of sending troops.
	Having overrun Iraq's second city of Mosul in a spectacular assault this week, militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the city of Tikrit today.
	Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has appealed for international assistance.
	Hague urged Iraq's political leaders to find a rapid solution to the deadlock over forming a new coalition government, and said the insurgency proved the war in Syria was "infecting" the region.
	British troops were the second largest .

'No question' of British forces for Iraq: Hague

Fighting involving heavy weapons flared again between Congolese soldiers and Rwandan troops on their volatile border today, Congolese military and officials said, further straining relations between the rival neighbours.
	Congolese regional commander Colonel Ephrem Ramazani said there had been "heavy weapon fire from both sides" as clashes erupted after several hours of calm.
	Gunfire broke out today after Rwandan troops crossed the border into the restive province of North Kivu and abducted a Congolese soldier, according to a local army spokesman who gave no details on casualties or the fate of the soldier.
	A local from a village near the fighting said the troops had used "mortars and even rockets" in the fighting, which re-started around 2:00 pm and continued into the afternoon.
	Kigali and Kinshasa have long been at odds, with Rwanda repeatedly accused by the United Nations and its neighbour of backing the M23 rebels in the strife-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.
	Rwanda last ...

Rwandan and DR Congo soldiers exchange heavy weapons fire

Iran today offered neighbouring Iraq support against "terrorism", as Baghdad battled a jihadist offensive that has seized the country's second city and is moving towards the capital.
	Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that "while condemning the murder of Iraqi citizens... Iran offers its support to the government and people of Iraq against terrorism."
	Iran is a predominantly Shiite Muslim country, while the campaign against Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition government is led by Sunni hardliners.
	In remarks to his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari, carried by state news agency IRNA, Zarif also called for "effective international support" for the Iraqi government.
	It was the first reaction by Iran to the campaign spearheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which is also fighting to overthrow Tehran's close ally President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Iran offers Iraq support against 'terrorism'

The United States today vowed to boost aid to Iraq as it scrambled to respond to a lightning offensive by jihadists sweeping closer to Baghdad after seizing two cities.
	Washington is committed to "working with the Iraqi government and leaders across Iraq to support a unified approach against ISIL's continued aggression," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
	"We stand ready to provide any appropriate assistance," she added, condemning today's kidnapping of 48 people from the Turkish consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul by militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
	"You can expect we will increase our assistance" to the Iraqi government, Psaki said, stressing that the United States has already expedited arms shipments to Iraq this year and ramped up training of Iraqi security forces.
	"The situation is certainly very grave on the ground," Psaki said.
	The candidate to be the next US ambassador to Baghdad, Stuart Jones, said two days of .

US vows more aid to Iraq in militant fight

Bus drivers in Natal, one of Brazil's 12 World Cup host cities, have announced they will go on strike on the day the tournament opens.
	Union leader Paulo Cesar Ferreira said the strike tomorrow would affect both buses and mini-buses, the only form of public transport in the northeastern city, which is hosting four World Cup matches starting with Mexico versus Cameroon on June 13.
	Workers decided to keep 30 per cent of the fleet on the road to avoid paralysing the city completely, Ferreira said.
	But the strike leaves organisers scrambling to find alternative transport to get fans to the 42,000-capacity Dunas Arena.
	Ferreira denied the union was using the World Cup as leverage.
	"Our negotiations take place at the same time every year. The Cup was a coincidence," he told AFP.
	Workers are seeking a 16-per cent raise and say management has not yet made a counter-offer.
	It is the latest in a wave of strikes by public transport workers, police, security guards, teachers and other ...

Bus strike hits World Cup host city Natal

Leading diamond producer De Beers today said it expects global demand for polished gems to rise by up to 4.5 per cent this year thanks the US market recovering and a bouyant China and India.
	"The global economy is still not doing very well but we are lucky that we have a good mix of countries and that the middle class is growing, which means our industry isn't doing too badly," said Chief executive Philippe Mellier told AFP an interview.
	"Demand continues to grow," he said.
	"The largest global market for diamond jewellery is the United States and everyone knows they are taking off again," said Mellier.
	"When stocks and real estate pick up like they're doing today after the big crisis, there's more money floating around and the Americans spend."
	The second-largest diamond consumer, China, together with Hong Kong and Macau, accounts for up to 13 per cent of global demand.
	"More and more Chinese are achieving the buying power to acquire jewellery and diamonds especially when they ..

De Beers expects strong demand for diamond jewellery

A US official today proposed that China and Southeast Asian nations call a moratorium on actions seen as provocative in a bid to cool tensions in the South China Sea.
	Danny Russel, the top US diplomat on East Asia, said he made the suggestion as "food for thought" and not as a formal proposal as he met regional counterparts in Myanmar to prepare for a regional summit later this year.
	"The claimant states themselves could identify the kind of behaviour that they each find provocative when others do it, and offer to put a voluntary freeze on those sorts of actions on the condition that all the other claimants would agree to do so similarly," Russel, an assistant secretary of state, told reporters on a conference call.
	"So for example, would they be willing to make a pledge as simple as not to occupy any of the land features in the South China Sea that are currently unoccupied?"
	The United States has pushed for years for a code of conduct to lay out rules to prevent the escalation of 

US proposes South China Sea provocation freeze

A Russian court today ordered the release of an opposition activist who was committed to a psychiatric hospital over his role in a rally against President Vladimir Putin.
	The court in the town of Chekhov, outside Moscow, said 38-year-old Mikhail Kosenko should be released from the hospital for outpatient treatment, a court official told AFP.
	The decision came following a request from the hospital and repeated appeals from Kosenko's supporters.
	Last October, a Russian court found the activist guilty of participating in a protest on the eve of Putin's inauguration to a third presidential term in 2012.
	He was one of a dozen activists accused of mass disorder when a peaceful rally in central Moscow descended into violence.
	Kosenko suffers from a mild form of schizophrenia and had been treated on an outpatient basis before his arrest.
	He was sentenced to undergo mandatory medical treatment at a mental hospital, even though his defence and supporters insisted he was not a danger to ...

Court orders release of anti-Putin activist from hospital

Bangladesh's coastguard today found five dead and nearly 200 injured on a stricken people-smuggling boat it rescued in the Bay of Bengal after clashes between the would-be migrants and crew, officials said.
	More than 300 people including two Thai crew and an alleged people trafficker from Myanmar were on board the Malaysia-bound vessel, which was found seven nautical miles southeast of Bangladesh's southern-most Saint Martin's Island in rough seas, they said.
	Thousands of poor Bangladeshi and ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar try to migrate to Malaysia every year on a perilous and sometimes fatal 3,200-kilometre journey.
	"We searched the ship and found five bodies of Bangladeshi nationals. All of them were shot dead by the crew and the traffickers," coastguard commander Harun-or-Rashid told AFP by phone from the island close to the Myanmar border.
	Passengers said clashes erupted after they had been kept on the ship for more than two weeks with little or no food as the ...

Bangladesh coastguard finds 5 dead after clash on migrant ship

Palestinian militants fired a rocket on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip today, prompting Israel's premier to hold Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas responsible for such attacks.
	The rocket hit the Eshkol region without causing any casualties or damage, officials said.
	The attack came just over a week after the Palestinians formed a unity government for both Gaza and the West Bank, as part of efforts to end years of division.
	From 2007, when Hamas drove Abbas's forces from Gaza, the territory was ruled by Islamist movement Hamas, which Israeli routinely blamed for all attacks on the Jewish state.
	Now, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Abbas, who heads the unity government, is responsible for rocket fire from Gaza.
	"Abbas is responsible and accountable for rockets that are fired at Israeli towns and cities by terrorists in the Gaza Strip," Ofir Gendelman wrote on Twitter.
	Another Netanyahu spokesmen released a statement demanding that Abbas disarm ...

Israel blames Abbas after rocket fired from Gaza

Taxi drivers brought parts of London, Paris and other European cities to a standstill today as they protested against new private cab apps such as Uber which have shaken up the industry.
	Thousands of London's iconic black cabs, many of them beeping their horns, filled the roads around Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament to the exclusion of any other vehicles.
	In Paris, hundreds of drivers blocked the French capital's airports and staged a "go-slow" during the morning rush hour, while protests were also staged in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Rome and Milan.
	Long-running complaints about competition from private hire and unlicensed taxis have been crystallised by the new challenge posed by smartphone-dependent car services.
	California-based company Uber is the main target of the drivers' ire, thanks to an increasingly popular app that is now used in 128 cities in 37 different countries.
	Uber allows customers to order and pay for a car using their phone, ..

European taxis cause chaos in app protest

Washington will try to help the as many as half a million people who have fled fierce fighting in Iraq, the nominee to be the next US envoy to Baghdad said today.
	Denouncing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as "one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world," Stuart Jones told US lawmakers the United States "will continue to monitor the situation closely, and will work with our international partners to try to meet the needs of those who have been displaced."
	His testimony came a day after the fall of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, to the Sunni militants and amid police reports that ISIL fighters also took the northern city of Tikrit in fighting today.
	Police and witnesses said security forces were fighting militants at the gates of Samarra today.
	As many as half a million Iraqis fled their homes in Mosul to escape the stunning offensive, as ISIL vowed on its Twitter account "not to stop this series of blessed offensives."
	Jones, who is currently US ...

US vows to try to help Iraqis displaced by fighting

Bombings that included a suicide attack on tribal leaders in Baghdad hit Shiite areas of central and southern Iraq today, killing at least 37 people, officials said.
	They targeted three Baghdad neighbourhoods as well as Karbala and Basra provinces, south of the capital, the officials said.
	In the Sadr City area of northern Baghdad, at least 15 people died and 34 were hurt when a suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a tent where local Shiite tribal leaders were meeting.
	A car bomb struck another northern area of Baghdad, killing 13 people and wounding at least 24, while a roadside bomb in the capital's east killed two people and wounded three.
	North of Karbala city, a car bomb killed four people and wounded 13, while another one hit a market west of the southern port city of Basra, leaving at least three dead and seven wounded.
	The violence came during a major offensive by Sunni jihadists that overran the entire province of Nineveh and swathes of Kirkuk to its southeast, and 

AFP

AFP

Page 3063 - Afp