The "finance chief" and brother of the head of Colombia's top drug gang was captured Thursday, the country's president said, with a government statement accusing him of manufacturing and trafficking narcotics.
Carlos Mario Usuga, whose brother Dairo Antonio Usuga heads the Clan del Golfo gang, was captured in an "impeccable intelligence operation" between the police and the army, President Ivan Duque said.
Duque said that Carlos was Dairo's "main trusted man... who managed the finances of the drug trafficking structure, perhaps the largest in the country."
The United States has offered a reward of five million dollars for Dairo Antonio Usuga, who is Colombia's most-wanted man.
The gang was formed by former members of right-wing paramilitary groups which were disbanded between 2003 and 2006, according to authorities.
Military sources estimate that the gang had 1,500 members as of May 2019, down from around 4,000, after the government launched an offensive against it four years ...

Colombia captures top drug trafficker

PTI Automatic

A Palestinian threw grenades at Israeli soldiers while attempting to cross the Gaza border overnight and was shot by Israeli forces, the army and the Gaza health ministry said Friday.
The Palestinian was wounded and taken to hospital, the ministry said.  It was the latest in a series of violent incidents along the Gaza border in the run-up to a September 17 Israeli general election.
The army said the Palestinian attempted to cross the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip and distributed a video it said showed the man throwing grenades at soldiers.
"The troops charged towards the terrorist, crossing the security fence and striking him," an army statement said, without providing further details.
The Gaza health ministry said he was shot by Israeli soldiers.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is widely seen as wanting to avoid an escalation in Gaza ahead of next month's election.
Speculation has grown that militants in the blockaded enclave are hoping to pressure him into ...

Israel shoots grenade-throwing Gazan on border: officials

Trent Boult and Tim Southee led New Zealand's charge against Sri Lanka on day two of the rain-hit second Test on Friday, with the host skipper Dimuth Karunaratne's offering resistance with a half-century.
Boult took two early wickets in one over after Sri Lanka resumed the day on 85 for two at Colombo's P. Sara Oval, where the start was delayed due to a wet outfield.
Sri Lanka were 144 for six at lunch with Dhananjaya de Silva, on 32, and Dilruwan Perera, on five, at the crease.
Southee, like Boult, also delivered a double-wicket maiden as the duo put on a superb display of seam bowling under overcast conditions.
Boult got overnight batsman Angelo Mathews caught behind for two to reach a landmark of 250 Test wickets -- only the third Kiwi bowler to achieve the feat.
He trapped Kusal Perera lbw for nought after just three balls as Sri Lanka slipped to 93-4 and would have been in further trouble had Boult held on to a simple catch from de Silva off his own bowling a few overs ...

Boult, Southee rattle Sri Lanka in second Test

Sri Lanka has ended a four-month state of emergency declared after Easter suicide bombings by Islamist extremists that killed 258 people, officials said Friday.
President Maithripala Sirisena has been extending the emergency on the 22nd of each month since the April 21 attacks on three hotels and three churches.
However, his office confirmed that Sirisena had not extended it for another term and thereby allowed the emergency to end on Thursday.
"The president did not issue a fresh proclamation extending the emergency by a further period," an official source said.
The official government printer also confirmed that there was no notification reimposing the state of emergency, which gives sweeping powers to police and security forces to arrest and detain suspects for long periods.
The government used the emergency as it tightened security across the country and hunted members of a local jihadist group which was held responsible for the attacks and which claimed allegiance to the Islamic .

Sri Lanka ends emergency four months after Easter attacks

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was released on Friday after serving 30 days in jail for planning opposition protests, which have grown into a movement that has shaken Moscow since last month.
Police were present outside the prison on his release but made no move to re-arrest him, as they have when other opposition figures were freed recently.
Navalny emerged from jail smiling, wearing a sweatshirt and sports trousers and with a bag slung over his shoulder.
The opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigner immediately condemned "acts of terror" by Russian authorities in putting down protests in Moscow in recent weeks.
"The movement will continue to grow and the regime will strongly regret what it has done," he told journalists.
Navalny was arrested in Moscow on July 24 as he left his home to go jogging and buy flowers for his wife's birthday.
The move came as authorities sought to crush a new wave of opposition protests over the exclusion of several opposition figures, including ...

Putin opponent Navalny freed after 30 days in jail

Australia's prime minister on Friday urged nations in Asia to stand up for their "independence and sovereignty", with tensions high in the disputed South China Sea where Beijing is under fire for increasingly bullish behaviour.
Scott Morrison's comments came after the United States slammed China for its "escalation" in the waterway, a key global shipping route where Beijing is accused of deploying warships, arming outposts and ramming fishing vessels.
Morrison was speaking during a trip to Vietnam, one of China's most vocal critics over competing claims in the resource-rich sea.
A Chinese survey ship has antagonised Hanoi since early July, sailing though waters near the Spratly Islands where Vietnam has several oil and gas projects.
The ship left for a brief period this month and then came back -- prompting irate calls from Hanoi to vacate the area it says falls within its Exclusive Economic Zone.
On Friday, Morrison said Australia supports "the principle of international law", ...

Australia urges 'sovereignty' as S. China Sea tensions rise

China could soon be able to field a national team made up almost entirely of players born elsewhere after authorities said nine foreign footballers were switching allegiance.
On Wednesday Brazil-born striker Elkeson became the first player without Chinese heritage to be named in the national squad, as China attempts to reach the World Cup for a second time.
The 30-year-old is poised to make his debut next month in a 2022 World Cup qualifier in the Maldives, where London-born Nico Yennaris -- who is half-Chinese -- will likely win a third cap.
"We want to go to Qatar (2022 World Cup)," Chen Xuyuan, new president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), was quoted as saying by state media.
"Naturalised players can be helpful in order to achieve the national team's short-term goals.
"Up to now, clubs have registered nine naturalised players with or without Chinese heritage at the CFA in total, some of them are still going through the naturalisation process." Chen, named to the top post 

China World Cup boost as nine foreigners switch nationality

Paris and the United Nations called Thursday for the protection of the fire-plagued Amazon rainforest as Brazil's right-wing president accused his French counterpart of having a "colonialist mentality" over the issue.
Official figures show nearly 73,000 forest fires were recorded in Brazil in the first eight months of the year -- the highest number for any year since 2013. Most were in the Amazon.
The extent of the area damaged by fires has yet to be determined, but smoke has choked Sao Paulo and several other Brazilian cities in the past week.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned" by the fires.  "In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity," he said on Twitter.  "The Amazon must be protected."
France's President Emmanuel Macron said the wildfires were "an international crisis" and called on the globe's most industrialized nations to address it at their summit this weekend.
"Our house is on ...

UN, France raise concern over Amazon wildfires 'crisis'

Israel has carried out at least one strike against a weapons depot in Iraq, The New York Times reported Thursday.
There have been a series of blasts in Iraq over the past month at training camps and arms depots used by the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces, which are mainly composed of pro-Iranian militias.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Iranian targets in neighboring Syria, but an expansion of the campaign to Iraq -- where the Jewish state struck the Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 -- would risk damaging Washington's relations with Baghdad.
A senior Middle Eastern intelligence official said Israel bombed a base north of Baghdad last month, while two American officials said the Jewish state carried out multiple strikes in Iraq in recent days, the Times reported.
The Hashed's deputy commander Abu Mehdi al-Muhandis, whose virulent anti-Americanism as a militia leader earned him a US terror blacklisting, has been unequivocal in blaming Washington for the blasts.
But Faleh al-Fayyadh, the 

Israel bombed Iraq weapons depot: report

Colombian cycling reached its zenith last month when pint-sized climber Egan Bernal became his country's first winner of the sport's greatest race, the Tour de France.
Colombia is riding the crest of a wave of euphoria with the likes of former Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana winner Nairo Quintana, Esteban Chaves, Miguel Angel Lopez and Rigoberto Uran all capable of challenging for victory in the sport's most prestigious Grand Tours.
At just 22, Bernal could dominate the Tour de France for years to come.  But there is also a dark side to Colombian cycling that is little known: it has a sorry record on doping.
It's a sordid tale that AFP has uncovered by speaking to a former cycling team doctor, a retired cyclist, a physical trainer, an active coach and an investigative journalist.
All believe that cheating is a prerequisite to surviving in Colombia's highly competitive domestic cycling circuit.
According to the International Cycling Union, Colombia is second only to Costa Rica as the 

Doping: the scourge of Colombia's cycling talent production line

Vincent Kompany might have been seen as the saviour when he returned to Anderlecht as player-manager, but early results suggest it will take time for the 33-year-old to make his mark on Belgium's most successful club.
Anderlecht caused a sensation when they announced in May the appointment of Kompany, a product of the club's youth academy along with stars such as Enzo Scifo and Romelu Lukaku.
The role of player-manager is virtually non-existent these days, and the task always looked a daunting one for Kompany, who had just finished a successful 11-year spell at Manchester City.
With just two points taken from his first four games, it was announced on Thursday that Kompany, while captaining the team on the field, would leave substitutions and tactical changes to his staff during games. It is a first indication that the combination of roles was too much.
Kompany has returned to a club where much has changed since he emerged there as a teenager before joining Hamburg in 2006.
The 34-time 

Off to a slow start -- can Kompany revive Anderlecht's fortunes?

New loan signings Ivan Perisic and Philippe Coutinho both hope to make their Bundesliga debuts as champions Bayern Munich attempt to reboot a rocky start to the season at Schalke on Saturday.
Perisic and Coutinho, both of whom arrived in Munich on loan this month, will be in the squad for the first time as Bayern look to pick up their first win of the new season against David Wagner's Schalke.
Coutinho, 27, has been the talk of Germany since Bayern announced his arrival on a one-year loan deal from Barcelona last week.
Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said the Brazilian would provide "a touch of the spectacular", and hopes the former Liverpool player can sprinkle some much-needed stardust on the German top-flight.
"Coutinho is an absolutely world-class player. We should all be happy that he is in the Bundesliga," former Bayern and Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann told Sky.
Bayern announced record engagement figures on their social media accounts following Coutinho's ...

New signings in the spotlight as Bayern look to reboot

Almost 10 years to the day that Jamaican legend Usain Bolt scorched to a blistering world record of 19.19sec at the Berlin world championships, Noah Lyles again takes to the track as the athlete to watch in world championship year.
The 22-year-old, along with under-fire Christian Coleman and Michael Norman, has been touted as a possible name to help fill the now-retired Bolt's absence from the track, and the American has notched up an impressive personal best of 19.50sec this season, making him the fourth fastest man of all time.
With this year's world champs being held late in Doha, between September 28-October 6, Lyles has carefully mapped out his programme, with his immediate goal in Paris' Stade Charlety to produce a performance that will see him into the Diamond League final for the 200m, in Brussels on September 6.
A strong field in the French capital, with a track newly-laid ahead of next year's European Athletics Championships, features Turkey's world champion Ramil Guliyev, ..

Lyles steps into Paris spotlight

Severe weather and a power outage halted play on Thursday at the ATP Winston-Salem Open, where none of the scheduled quarter-final matches was completed.
Top seed Benoit Paire of France was leading Spain's Pablo Carreno-Busta 4-3 when their match was halted.
Organizers had hoped to resume play in the evening once the storms moved through and power was restored.
But after revisions to the schedule they finally suspended play for the day.
In the remaining quarter-finals, Australian John Millman will take on American Steve Johnson, American Frances Tiafoe will take on third-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and second-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov will face Russian Andrey Rublev.
The delay will make for a hectic schedule in a tournament due to end on Saturday, allowing a Sunday travel day to players headed to the US Open.
The final Grand Slam of the year starts on Monday at Flushing Meadows in New York.

Weather, power outage halt ATP Winston-Salem Open

Juventus begin their Serie A campaign at Parma on Saturday looking to push their record Scudetto run to nine but with a different style of football under new coach Maurizio Sarri, who will miss the opening fixtures with pneumonia.
Behind, Napoli and Inter Milan are waiting in the wings hopeful that Sarri's arrival can lead to turmoil in Turin and a changing of the guard in Italy.
Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli have not won the title since 1990 and open at Fiorentina Saturday with Antonio Conte's Inter at home to promoted Lecce on Monday.
Like Sarri, Conte last coached at Chelsea, and along with three-times Champions League winner Ancelotti, Serie A have a world class coaching setup this season.
Juventus start the season without Sarri however who will miss the Parma game and his former club Napoli in Turin on August 31 with pneumonia. The 60-year-old is still overseeing training.
Sarri has replaced Massimiliano Allegri whose pragmatic style of football fell out of favour despite his ...

New-look Juventus begin Serie A defence without ailing Sarri

Lionel Messi could be ready to play against Real Betis on Sunday and Barcelona could do with him back.
In other circumstances, Messi might have left it another week, having missed the whole of pre-season with a calf injury he sustained in his first training session back.
But after re-joining his team-mates on Wednesday, the temptation will be to put Messi straight to work, to lift the mood and minimise the chances of what would be a disastrous second slip in La Liga.
One defeat, by Athletic Bilbao inside a bouncing San Mames on the opening night and inflicted by a freakishly brilliant bicycle kick in the 89th minute, might ordinarily have been accepted as a blip.
"San Mames is always a difficult place to play," said Gerard Pique. "When you're not at your best, they make you look stupid." Yet memories of Barcelona's capitulation in May remain fresh.
The humiliation in the Champions League and submission in the final of the Copa del Rey mean this team and, in particular, their coach ...

Troubled Barcelona look to Messi for inspiration

Early Premier League leaders Liverpool and Arsenal face-off, while Frank Lampard is under pressure to deliver his first win as Chelsea boss at Norwich on Saturday.
One of the only two remaining 100 percent records in the Premier League will go at Anfield where the European champions will hope to continue a fine recent record against the north Londoners.
Jurgen Klopp has never lost in seven previous Premier League meetings against Arsenal and his side have beaten the Gunners 4-0 and 5-1 at home in the past two seasons.
However, Unai Emery's outfit are hoping a busy summer in the transfer window, while Liverpool did not strengthen, will have significantly narrowed the 27-point gap between the sides last season.
Emery could hand a first start to ?72 million ($87 million) club record signing Nicolas Pepe, while on-loan Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos earned rave reviews by creating both goals on his full debut against Burnley last weekend.
However, it is at the back Arsenal need a ...

Arsenal out to close gap on Liverpool, Lampard seeks first win

Arsenal manager Unai Emery's concession that his side "don't want to play against Liverpool ever" was hardly the rallying cry of a confident man leading his side to Anfield on Saturday.
But the Spaniard will have a much better grasp of what the Gunners are capable of achieving this season on the journey back home.
Early summer scepticism around the Emirates after missing out on Champions League football for a third consecutive season and fans' discontent with the level of investment provided by owner Stan Kroenke, has evaporated thanks to a fruitful end to the transfer window and two wins to start the Premier League season.
Emery has more firepower at his disposal with club record ?72 million ($87 million) signing Nicolas Pepe joining Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette in attack.
On loan Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos showed his class with both assists in last weekend's 2-1 win over Newcastle, while David Luiz's switch across London in the final hours of the ...

Liverpool the true testing ground for upbeat Arsenal

Jofra Archer insisted his six-wicket haul on the opening day of the third Ashes Test at Headingley proved there was more to his game than raw pace alone.
The build-up to this match had featured plenty of talk about the physical threat posed by England fast bowler Archer, who by hitting Steve Smith with a 92 mph bouncer in the drawn second Test at Lord's had ruled the star Australia batsman out of the Headingley match with concussion.
But Archer deployed his fearsome short-ball sparingly during a superb return of six for 45 in 17.1 overs as Australia, 1-0 up in the five-match series, were dismissed for just 179 after England captain Joe Root won the toss in overcast conditions on his Yorkshire home ground.
"I don't need to run in and bowl 90 mph every spell to get wickets," said Archer.
"I've shown that today. There will be times in Test matches you have to focus on hitting your length. There will be times to ramp it up as well but you don't have to go into it every innings." Archer, ..

Six-wicket Archer doesn't always feel need for speed

Justin Thomas rolled in a two-foot birdie putt at the 18th to join Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka atop the leaderboard of the US PGA Tour Championship on Thursday.
The top trio were tied on 10-under par, although under the "staggered start" format by which players were spotted strokes based on their position in the playoff standings Thomas needed only to card an even par 70 to land there.
World number one Koepka rattled in a 12-foot birdie putt at 18 to cap a 67 and Schauffele, who won the Tour Championship as a rookie in 2017, posted a 64.
Koepka acknowledged it was "just weird" to arrive at the first tee at East Lake in Atlanta, Georgia, already three shots off the pace. But with one round done the event was feeling more normal.
Thomas topped the standings after his victory in the BMW Championship on Sunday and therefore started the tournament at 10-under, two strokes ahead of Patrick Cantlay, three ahead of Koepka and four ahead of Patrick Reed.
Thomas hit just six of 14 ...

Schauffele surges to share of Tour Championship lead with Thomas, Koepka

US toymaker Hasbro announced Thursday that it is acquiring studio Entertainment One, which owns popular cartoon series "Peppa Pig" among other children's content, for approximately USD 4 billion.
Under the all-cash transaction, Entertainment One shareholders will receive 5.6 pounds (USD 6.86) per share, according to a statement from Hasbro.
In addition to Peppa Pig, the popular swine with a British accent who loves jumping in muddy puddles, the purchase includes the successful children's cartoon "PJ Masks," about a trio of young friends who become superheroes at night.
"The acquisition of highly profitable and merchandisable preschool brands is a strategic growth opportunity for Hasbro," the company said.  "Peppa Pig" has extended itself to new profit streams that continue its success, it added.
Meanwhile "PJ Masks" growth outlook "is supported by new formats, its current rollout in China, the launch of new seasons in multiple regions, a live touring event and new toy lines." Hasbro ..

AFP

AFP

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