Top-ranked defending champion Novak Djokovic fought through shoulder pain to reach the third round of the rain-hit US Open on Wednesday while Roger Federer shook off another slow start to advance.
Djokovic, winner of four of the past five Slam titles and 16 in all, was treated for a sore left shoulder throughout his 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 victory over Argentina's 56th-ranked Juan Ignacio Londero.
"It was definitely affecting my serve and backhand," Djokovic said of his shoulder injury. "I was definitely tested."
Djokovic next faces 27th-seeded Serbian compatriot Dusan Lajovic or American Denis Kudla, but the injury casts grave doubts on his bid to be the first US Open repeat winner since Federer won from 2004-2008.
"This is something I've been carrying for quite a while now," Djokovic said. "It wasn't easy to play with the pain, but you have to hope you will get some opportunities and some lucky shots.
"It's not the first time I'm facing this kind of adversity or challenge. It is what it 

Hurting Djokovic, slow-starting Federer win at rain-hit US Open

PTI Automatic

Almendra, a young tapir, is fed with a bottle at the Joya Grande zoo in the mountainous north of Honduras, which the government confiscated from drug traffickers six years ago.
Now it forms part of a project to rescue the threatened Central American tapirs, which Honduras declared at risk of extinction in 2008, when their population had fallen to just 5,000 adults.
The species has been driven out of its natural habitat throughout Central America by deforestation, while its trusting, amiable nature makes it susceptible to hunters.
The conservation project aims to protect several other species as well in an area covering 220 hectares (540 acres) of forest and grasslands.
Almendra is one of 10 tapirs living in a 12-hectare natural area alongside a giraffe called Big Boy, two African lions, four Bengal tigers and four hippopotamuses.
Pumas, jaguars, camels, zebras, ostriches are among the 500 animals from 48 species that live there.
After its seizure from the Los Cachiros drug cartel -- ..

Endangered tapirs thriving on former drug cartel ranch

An Australian academic arrested in China accused of being a spy has asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to help him "go home as soon as possible".
Yang Jun, an outspoken writer who also goes by his pen name Yang Hengjun, has been detained in China since January without access to his lawyer or family.
Beijing announced his formal arrest last Friday on spying charges, which could bring a lengthy prison sentence.
Yang on Thursday pleaded for Morrison to "help me go home as soon as possible" and expressed his gratitude to Australian officials for their work on his case, in a statement released via a consular official.
A Chinese investigator "told me that Australia was small and wouldn't care about me", Yang said in the letter, obtained by national broadcaster ABC.  "He said Australia was dependent on China for its trade and economy, and Canberra wouldn't help me, let alone rescue me. He said Australia wouldn't help because I am not white.
Ties between the two sides have markedly ...

'Help me': Aussie accused of spying in China pleads to return home

At least seven people died Wednesday when a river burst its banks and flooded a village football pitch where a game was being played in south Morocco, local authorities and a witness said.
Eight men who had sought refuge in the changing rooms were swept away in the floodwater after heavy showers hit the Taroudant region late in the day, an eyewitness told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"We're in shock, I'm 64 years old and I've never seen such a downpour," the witness said.
Search and rescue operations were under way to find further victims, officials said.
Photographs and videos shared on social media showed muddy waters carrying away people who had clambered on top of a building flattened by the flooding.
Morocco's national weather service had warned of the risk of stormy rains on Wednesday afternoon in several provinces.
The heavy downpour followed a dry spell, making the floods more violent, local media reported.
Floods are common in Morocco. In late July, 15 people died in a ...

Morocco flooding kills seven: Officials

Argentina asked the International Monetary Fund to restructure its debt payments on the USD 56 billion bail-out loan agreed last year in a bid to calm market turbulence, Finance Minister Hernan Lacunza said Wednesday.
Following the announcement, the IMF said in a statement that it will "continue to stand with Argentina during these challenging times."
Recession-hit Argentina has suffered market volatility since business-friendly President Mauricio Macri was trounced in party primaries three weeks ago by leftist challenger Alberto Fernandez.
Debt repayments are due to begin in 2021 while the latest loan disbursement of USD 5.4 billion is expected next month.
Lacunza said the government has "proposed the start of a dialogue to roll back the debt repayments." However, he said that while those talks would begin before the October 27 general election, they would not be finished until after the new government takes over on December 10.
The request for repayment extensions aims to allow the .

Argentina asks IMF to restructure debt payments

Teenage climate campaigner Greta Thunberg said the "war on nature must end" and called on Donald Trump to listen to science after she sailed into New York on a zero-emissions yacht Wednesday.
The 16-year-old completed a 15-day journey across the Atlantic shortly after 4:00 pm (2000 GMT), stepping off the boat onto a Manhattan dock to cheering crowds chanting her name.
"It is devastating and so horrible. It's hard to imagine. They are a clear sign that we need to stop destroying nature," she told waiting reporters when asked how she felt about raging fires in the Amazon, the world's largest rainforest.
The Swede also rebuked Trump, a notorious climate change skeptic.  "My message for him is listen to the science and he obviously doesn't do that," she said, as she brought her environmental message to the United States for the first time.
Thunberg poked fun at the president too by saying she was "pretty sure" windmills don't cause cancer, in reference to a comment Trump made at a ...

'War on nature must end': Teen who sailed across Atlantic to join climate meet

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday complained that the often friendly Fox News television network is not loyal enough and has stopped "working" for him.
"Fox isn't working for us anymore!" he said at the end of three tweets expressing outrage that the network had given too much airtime to Democratic party opponents.
As US president, Trump has no equivalent of the state TV channel used to serve leaders in many less free countries, like Russia. But for much of his first term he's at least been able to rely regularly on Fox for friendly coverage.
While Trump routinely lashes other networks as "fake news," he or his top aides make almost daily appearances to give often softball interviews on Fox. His former spokeswoman Sarah Sanders has just been hired by the network.
And while the news division at Fox keeps a straighter line, some key Fox commentators like Sean Hannity seemingly work in lockstep with the White House.
Trump freely admits to watching Fox on a daily basis, even tweeting 

Trump complains favorable Fox News not 'working for us'

Marnus Labuschagne missed out on a maiden Test hundred but still batted Australia into an even more commanding position against England as they looked to retain the Ashes at Headingley on Saturday.
Labuschagne top-scored with 80 in Australia's second-innings 246 on the third day of the third Test.
It was his third successive fifty since being drafted in as world cricket's inaugural concussion substitute in place of Australia star batsman Steve Smith during the second innings of the drawn second Test at Lord's.
England were left needing a mammoth 359 for victory in a match where a win for Australia would see then retain the Ashes at 2-0 up with two to play in a five-Test series.
Only three sides have made more than 300 to win in the fourth innings of a Test at Headingley --  Australia (404-3 in 1948), England (315-4 against Australia, 2001) and West Indies with 322-5 two years ago.
At lunch, England were 11-0.
The fact they survived four overs without losing a wicket was greeted by ...

Labuschagne strengthens Australia's grip on third Test

Britain on Saturday said it was "disappointed" after North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea after vowing to remain the biggest "threat" to the United States.
"We are disappointed that North Korea has conducted further short-range ballistic missile tests, which violate multiple UN Security Council Resolutions," said the Foreign Office.
It urged Pyongyang to re-engage in talks with the US, adding that "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation is the path for a peaceful and more prosperous future" for its people.
It was the latest in a series of short-range missile tests the nuclear-armed nation has carried out in recent weeks in protest against US-South Korean military exercises, which it sees as a rehearsal for invasion.
The missiles flew about 380 kilometres (240 miles) and reached an altitude of 97 kilometres at a top speed of Mach 6.5 before landing in the East Sea, also known as Sea of Japan, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of 

UK 'disappointed' by North Korea missile launch

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted his US counterpart Donald Trump for a previously unscheduled lunch on Saturday ahead of the official opening of the G7 summit in southwest France, officials in the French presidency said.
The two leaders met at the ornate Hotel du Palais in the Atlantic resort of Biarritz, the G7 venue, just a day after Trump reiterated his threat of tariffs against French wine over a new French tax on the largest US tech companies.

Macron, Trump hold lunch talks before G7 summit opens

Bangladesh police said they had shot dead two Rohingya refugees during a gunfight in a refugee camp on Saturday after the pair were accused of killing a ruling party official.
Nearly a million Rohingya live in squalid camps in southeast Bangladesh, 740,000 of whom fled a 2017 military offensive against the Muslim minority in Myanmar.
Rights activists, who asked not to be named, said they believe the two Rohingya men were killed by police in what appeared to be a staged encounter.
The incident comes two days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees, which saw not a single Rohingya turn up to return across the border to conflict-scarred Rakhine state.
"Both men died as they were rushed to a hospital," local police inspector Rasel Ahmad told AFP, adding that the incident took place in Jadimura refugee camp in Cox's Bazar district.
Ahmad said the two Rohingya were shot and critically injured during a manhunt for suspects after a youth wing official of the ruling Awami ...

Bangladesh police shoot dead two Rohingya in refugee camp

Flights were temporarily suspended Saturday at the Libyan capital's sole functioning airport after it was hit by a rocket as two civilian flights were landing, airport authorities said.
"Flights are suspended until further notice due to rocket fire," the Mitiga airport said on its Facebook page.
After a pause of several hours flights resumed around midday, airport authorities announced in a later post.
Located east of Tripoli, Mitiga is a former military airbase that has been used by civilian traffic since Tripoli international airport suffered severe damage during fighting in 2014.
Authorities said a rocket hit just as two flights were landing -- a Buraq Air flight from Istanbul and a Libyan Airlines flight inbound from Medina in Saudi Arabia carrying over 200 passengers, including pilgrims returning from Mecca.
Mitiga has previously been targeted in fighting between the Tripoli-based UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and forces loyal to eastern Libyan strongman ...

Flights suspended at Libya airport after rocket fire

EU Council president Donald Tusk said Saturday it was hard to imagine the bloc ratifying its trade pact with South America's Mercosur grouping as long as Brazil fails to curb the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest.
The European Union "stands by the EU-Mercosur agreement", Tusk told reporters at a G7 meeting in Biarritz in southern France.
"But it is hard to imagine a harmonious process of ratification by the European countries as long as the Brazilian government allows for the destruction of the green lungs of planet earth," he added.
Tusk also the EU was ready to offer financial help to fight the fires.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said the G7 should hold emergency talks on the Amazon fires, taking the lead in piling pressure on Brazil's far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.
He and Irish leader Leo Varadkar have both pledged to block a new trade deal between the EU and Latin American trading bloc Mercosur, which includes Brazil.

Tusk says 'hard to imagine' EU-Mercosur trade deal while Amazon burns

An isolated President Donald Trump arrived Saturday for the G7 summit in Biarritz bearing threats of tariffs against host France and a decision to deepen his trade war with China, despite fears of US or even global recession.
Trump dislikes the kind of multilateral forums epitomised by the G7, insisting on a policy of "America first" and his own skills, honed in a real estate career, of one-to-one deal making.
Ahead of the summit in the elegant French seaside resort, he has criticised most of his partners, rowing with them over Iran, trade, global warming and Brexit.
And on the eve of his trip, he brushed aside concerns of global economic slowdown to exchange new tariffs with China, insisting "we'll win."
In another piece of brinkmanship, he also confirmed right before departing on the Marine One helicopter that he would retaliate against France's iconic wine exports if President Emmanuel Macron didn't retreat on a new tax that will hit US digital giants like Google.
"We'll be taxing .

Isolated Trump descends on G7, talking trade war

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Saturday that "trade tensions are bad for everyone," after US President Donald Trump imposed fresh tariffs on China and warned again that French wines could be targeted.
In a televised address to the nation as G7 leaders gathered for their summit in Biarritz, Macron said his goal was "to convince all our partners that trade tensions are bad for everyone" and he vowed to work on "a real recovery" for the global economy.

Macron warns 'trade tensions are bad for everyone'

Sudan's deposed military ruler Omar al-Bashir appeared in court Saturday for the second hearing of his corruption trial, during which his defence asked for his release on bail.
Bashir, wearing a traditional white gown, sat in the same metal cage he appeared in on Monday when his trial on graft charges opened.
In the first hearing, an investigator said that Bashir had admitted to receiving at least USD 90 million in cash from Saudi royals in recent years.
The judge in Khartoum Saturday heard three witnesses, two of them investigators who searched Bashir's residency after his ouster and the other a banker.
"We ask the court to release the accused on bail," Bashir's lawyer Hashem Abu Bakr said, to which the judge answered he would examine a written request.
After the hearing, as a massive security convoy escorted the 75-year-old Bashir back to prison, two opposing groups of demonstrators had gathered.
One group of a few dozen protesters were chanting slogans for Bashir to face justice ...

Bashir defence asks Sudan court for bail release

The leaders of the G7 club of rich countries meet in southwest France on Saturday, a gathering clouded by the burning Amazon, diving stock markets and their own stark divisions, giving little grounds for optimism.
US President Donald Trump, who landed in France around midday, faces a mass protest outside the Atlantic resort  of Biarritz where the summit is taking place, though 13,000 police have been deployed to keep them far from view.
Thousands began rallying Saturday some 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the G7 gathering at the border town of Hendaye for a march over the Bidassoa River toward the Spanish town of Irun.
Red, white and green Basque flags waved above a crowd that included anti-capitalists, environmental activists as well as a few dozen of France's "yellow vest" anti-government protesters, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
"It's important to show that people are mobilised and do not accept the world they're offering us," said Elise Dilet, 47, of the Basque ...

Protests to greet G7 leaders as they talk Amazon fires, trade

Geoffrey Boycott has torn into England after they collapsed to 67 all out in the third Test against Australia, saying they "batted without brains" and "threw away the Ashes".
Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood took five wickets as England slumped to their worst Ashes total in 71 years, with only Joe Denly (12) among the home batsmen getting to double figures on Friday's second day at Headingley - former England opening batsman Boycott's Yorkshire home ground.
With Ashes-holders Australia already 1-0 up in the five-Test series, victory in this match would see them retain the urn and they consolidated their strong position by getting to 171-6 in their second innings at stumps -- a lead of 283 runs.
"What the hell is going on with this England team? How do you expect to win the Ashes with that sort of batting?," Boycott wrote in his column for Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper published Saturday.
"If England had batted all day they would have a lead of 100. So, what did England do? ..

Boycott slams England for 'batting without brains'

Sri Lankan bowlers struck three times after batsman Dhananjaya de Silva steered the hosts to 244 with a century on day three of the rain-hit second Test against New Zealand Saturday.
Jeet Raval and skipper Kane Williamson departed early while Ross Taylor let go of his good start in New Zealand's first innings reply as the tourists reached 103 for three at tea in Colombo.
Tom Latham, on 55, and Henry Nicholls, on five, were batting at the break with New Zealand still trailing the hosts by 141 runs.
Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera opened the bowling for Sri Lanka and got the left-handed Raval caught at slip for nought soon after lunch.
Paceman Suranga Lakmal then got Williamson's prized scalp for 20 after the batsman edged an away-going delivery to be caught at second slip.
Latham and Taylor, who made 23, tried to steady the innings by putting together 50 runs before left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya broke the partnership.
Embuldeniya drew Taylor out of his crease only for the batsman to .

Sri Lankan bowlers dent New Zealand reply

Hong Kong riot police fired tear gas and baton-charged protesters who retaliated with a barrage of stones, bottles and bamboo poles, as a standoff in a working-class district on Saturday descended into violence, breaking an uneasy peace that had lasted several days.
Thousands of demonstrators, many wearing hard hats and gas masks, marched through the industrial Kwun Tong area, where they were blocked by dozens of officers with shields and batons outside a police station.
Frontline protesters pulled together a barricade of traffic barriers and bamboo construction poles, spray-painting walls with insults directed at the police.
As the afternoon wore on some fired stones from slingshots, prompting a charge from police wielding batons and pepper spray.
Tears gas swept across the road as protesters retreated, leaving a trail of broken bottles and at least one small fire in their wake.
Several of the black-clad protesters were detained as officers swept through, with police justifying their 

Hong Kong police fire tear gas as clashes return to city streets

Hong Kong riot cops fired tear gas and baton-charged protesters who retaliated with a barrage of stones, bottles and bamboo poles on Saturday, as a standoff in a working-class neighbourhood descended into violence, breaking an uneasy peace that had lasted several days.
Earlier thousands of demonstrators, many wearing hard hats and gas masks, marched through the industrial Kwun Tong area, where they were blocked by dozens of riot police with shields and batons outside a police station.
Frontline protesters -- known as "braves" -- pulled together a barricade of traffic barriers and bamboo construction poles. As the afternoon wore on some fired stones from slingshots, prompting a charge from police, wielding batons and pepper spray.
Tears gas swept across the road as protesters retreated, leaving a trail of broken bottles and at least one small fire in their wake.
Several of the black-clad protesters were detained as officers swept through.
Hong Kong's police force have become the target 

AFP

AFP

Page 437 - Afp