Iran on Monday urged the European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal "to take practical, effective and responsible decisions" to save the landmark agreement.
"We stress that the continued voluntary and goodwill based actions by the Islamic Republic of Iran are rooted in the principle of reciprocity of rights and duties" in the nuclear deal, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
On Sunday the European parties to the deal -- Britain, France and Germany -- called for dialogue as tensions further intensified between Iran and the United States.
In a statement, the so-called E3 expressed concern the deal was at risk of further unravelling but said it was up to Iran to ensure its survival.
The three European states were among the key players in the 2015 deal -- known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA -- on Iran's nuclear programme.
But US President Donald Trump in 2018 announced Washington was pulling out of the deal, to the dismay of its European allies.
Angered that its 

Iran urges Europe to take 'effective' steps to save nuclear deal

PTI Automatic

The Syrian government said a gas plant resumed operations Monday after repairs to a key pipeline put out of service by a sabotage attack at the weekend.
"The Ebla gas plant resumed production at full capacity" at dawn Monday after repair of the sabotaged pipeline, the Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources said in a statement.
The pipeline in the Badiya desert, where the Islamic State jihadist group is present, transports gas from the government-controlled Shaer gas field, the country's largest, in the central province of Homs to the Ebla plant.
It feeds the Ebla plant with 2.5 million cubic metres (88 million cubic feet) of gas per day, according to the ministry.
On Sunday, state news agency SANA said that a "terrorist attack" by unidentified perpetrators had put the pipeline out of service.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a bomb blast targeted the pipeline.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The Badiya desert is the scene of regular clashes ...

Syria repairs gas pipeline after sabotage: ministry

Almost 20 million children missed out on potentially life-saving vaccinations last year, the UN said Monday, as surging measles cases highlighted "dangerous" gaps in efforts to shield kids from preventable illness.
Last year, 19.4 million children were "not fully vaccinated", the World Health Organisation and the UNICEF children's agency said in an annual report -- up from 18.7 million in 2017 and about 18.5 million the year before.
This all pointed to a "dangerous stagnation of global vaccination rates, due to conflict, inequality and complacency," the United Nations agencies said.
The comparative birth rate was not provided, but they warned the global quest for widespread vaccination against life-threatening disease has stagnated.
A case in point: the global coverage rate for a key vaccine combination against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough) and measles has been stalled at 86 per cent since 2010, it said, describing the rate as "not sufficient".
Some 350,000 measles ..

20mn children not vaccinated in 2018: UN warns against 'stagnation'

A Franco-Iranian academic based at a prestigious Paris university has been arrested in Iran and denied contact with consular staff, the French foreign ministry said Monday.
The detention of Fariba Adelkhah, a prominent researcher in anthropology and social sciences based at Sciences Po, risks increasing tension between Paris and Tehran at a critical moment in the crisis over the Iranian nuclear programme.
"The French authorities were recently informed of the arrest of Fariba Adelkhah," said the foreign ministry statement which confirmed she holds dual nationality.
"France calls on the Iranian authorities to shed full light on Mrs Adelkhah's situation and repeats its demands, particularly with regard to an immediate authorisation for consular access," it said.
"No satisfactory response has been received until now," it added.
Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said he could not confirm the charges.
Adelkhah is the latest Iranian national also holding a Western passport to be ...

France says Franco-Iranian academic arrested in Iran

A senior UN official in Afghanistan has called on government offices to adopt policies of "zero tolerance" toward sexual harassment, amid a swirling scandal that has seen women allege routine misconduct in the corridors of power.
The controversy erupted in May when General Habibullah Ahmadzai, a former security advisor to President Ashraf Ghani, alleged that some members of Ghani's administration were trading government positions for sexual favours.
The attorney general's office is investigating the matter, and Ghani's spokesman has rejected Ahmadzai's claims as "completely false and baseless".
But several women have spoken out in the media with their own allegations, and stories of inappropriate behaviour by male officials are commonplace in Kabul.
Women's rights have made some significant steps since the fall of the Taliban nearly two decades ago: out of 320 parliamentary seats, roughly a quarter are held by women.
But despite these gains, harassment, abuse and violence remain ...

UN calls for 'zero tolerance' of sexual harassment in Afghan workplace

The Bank of England on Monday said World War II code-breaker Alan Turing had been chosen to feature on the back of Britain's new 50 pound bank note.
"Alan Turing was an outstanding mathematician whose work has had an enormous impact on how we live today," Bank of England governor Mark Carney said as he unveiled the note at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, northwest England.
"As the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, as well as war hero, Alan Turing's contributions were far ranging and path breaking. Turing is a giant on whose shoulders so many now stand," the BoE chief added.
The Bank of England said that Turing played a pivotal role in the development of early computers.
Due to enter circulation by the end of 2021, the note shows a photo of Turing taken in 1951.
Turing received a posthumous pardon from Queen Elizabeth II in 2013 over a conviction in 1952 for gross indecency with a 19-year-old man.
He did not go to prison but was chemically castrated 

UK's new bank note to feature mathematician Turing

European foreign ministers met Monday for crisis talks on the Iran nuclear deal, as Britain warned the "small window" to save the accord was closing, with Tehran breaching the agreement.
Tensions in the Gulf have soared since the United States last year pulled out of the 2015 deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran, hammering its economy and prompting Tehran to break limits on uranium enrichment and stockpiling.
The European Union is desperately trying to prevent the deal unravelling completely, seeing it as the best way to stop Tehran acquiring atomic weapons, and the issue was top of the agenda as ministers from the bloc met in Brussels.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt -- who held phone talks with his US and Iranian counterparts over the weekend -- insisted "the deal isn't dead yet".
"Iran is still a good year away from developing a nuclear weapon. We think there is still some closing but small window to keep the deal alive," Hunt told reporters.
Britain, France and Germany -- ...

EU holds crisis talks on Iran nuclear deal

Three children and an adult were killed when a train smashed into their car Monday at a level crossing in eastern France, the mayor of the local town said.
Four people aboard the regional train were injured in the crash in Avenay-Val-d'Or in the Marne region, while the driver of the train is in shock, mayor Philippe Maussire told AFP at the scene.
Maussire said that according to initial indications, the car driven by a female child carer with the three children as passengers had driven into the level crossing when the barrier was closed.
The train linking the city of Reims with Epernay crashed into the car, he added. Reims prosecutors have opened an investigation but have yet to issue a statement.

Three children, adult killed in France train-car crash: mayor

Amazon employees went on strike at seven locations in Germany on Monday, demanding better wages as the online retail giant launched its two-day global shopping discount extravaganza called Prime Day.
Workers in Germany walked out in the early hours Monday morning, with Orhan Akman, a spokesman for labour union Verdi, telling AFP: "We expect a good turnout".  "Amazon offers these discounts to customers at the expense of its own employees' salaries and by fleeing collective bargaining," he charged.
Amazon had insisted in advance that Monday's strike will not affect deliveries to customers.
The strike action coincided with Amazon's announcement on Monday that it would create another 1,000 jobs in Poland as it opens a new logistics depot in the country's southwest near the German and Czech borders.
The US giant said it will offer new employees in Poland "a competitive salary of 20 zloty (USD 5.82) per hour gross".
In Germany, Amazon employees start with a minimum wage of 10.78 euros per ..

Amazon staff strike in Germany on Prime Day extravaganza

Ashleigh Barty hung on to top place in the WTA rankings on Monday despite crashing out of Wimbledon in the last 16.
The French Open champion, who was hoping to become the first Australian to win at the All England Club since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980, lost in three sets to the American Alison Riske.
The top three of Barty, Naomi Osaka and Karolina Pliskova remains unchanged although none of them reached the quarter-finals.
Simona Halep, who demolished Serena Williams in under an hour in Saturday's final, moves up three places to number four.
Williams also moves up one place to nine.
Former world number one Angelique Kerber, who lost to Lauren Davis in the second round at Wimbledon, drops out of the top 10 to 13.
WTA rankings as of July 15 (changes in brackets):
1. Ashleigh Barty (AUS) 6,605 pts
2. Naomi Osaka (JAP) 6,257
3. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 6,055
4. Simona Halep (ROU) 5,933 (+3)
5. Kiki Bertens (NED) 5,130 (-1)
6. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 4,785
7. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 4,638 ..

Barty stays at number one in spite of Wimbledon upset

At least 10 miners are trapped more than a kilometre (nearly a mile) underground after a fire started by an electrical short circuit in a coal mine in southwestern Pakistan, officials said Monday.
Rescue efforts were hampered by the fire spreading poisonous carbon monoxide gas inside the mine, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) east of Quetta, the capital of oil and mineral rich Balochistan province.
Abdullah Shahwani, a top official for the industry in the province, said 11 miners were working Sunday around 4,000 feet (1,200 metres) underground when the accident happened.
"Fire erupted due to a cable short circuit, causing the spread of poisonous monoxide gas," Shahwani told AFP.
One miner has been rescued but 10 remain trapped inside, he said.
"Hopes of their survival are very slim as rescue workers have reached only 1,200 feet (360 metres) inside the mine," Shahwani said, roughly 20 hours after the accident occurred.
The spread of carbon monoxide was hampering the attempt to reach the ..

Hopes fade for 10 miners trapped underground at Pakistan colliery

Novak Djokovic's successful defence of his Wimbledon crown ensured that the Serb remained at world number one in the latest ATP rankings released on Monday.
The 32-year-old collected his fifth Wimbledon title and 16th major Sunday with a thrilling five-set win over Roger Federer, a match that last three minutes short of five hours.
He is now 4,500 points clear of second-ranked Rafa Nadal who is just 485 points ahead of 37-year-old Federer.
The biggest climber is Roberto Bautista Agut whose ride to the semi-finals, where he lost in four sets to Djokovic, sees him rise nine places to 13, equalling his best ranking.
David Goffin, who lost to Djokovic in the quarters, returns to the Top 20, rising five places to 18th.
ATP rankings as of July 15 (changes in brackets):
1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 12,415 pts
2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 7,945
3. Roger Federer (SUI) 7,460
4. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 4,595
5. Alexander Zverev (GER) 4,325
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 4,045
7. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,040
8. Karen .

Wimbledon champion Djokovic consolidates top ranking

A Canadian citizen detained in China is being held on drug-related offences, Beijing said Monday, at a time of tense relations between the two countries.
News of the latest arrest comes amid a diplomatic crisis sparked by the detention of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer for Chinese tech giant Huawei, in Vancouver on a US extradition bid.
"The Shandong Provincial Public Security Bureau recently seized a drug-related case involving foreign students," said foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang at a press briefing.
"One of the people involved in the case is a Canadian citizen."
Geng said the case was under investigation and the relevant embassies had been notified.
Canada said Sunday that one of its citizens was being detained in the city of Yantai in the eastern province of Shandong, and that consular assistance was being given.
A source familiar with the latest detention told AFP there was no indication that the case was related to the arrests of Canadians Michael Kovrig, an ...

China detains Canadian citizen on drugs charges

Authorities in Papua New Guinea have boosted security to prevent a further escalation of tribal violence, officials said Monday, after at least 24 people were killed in a troubled upland region earlier this month.
The country's highland clans have fought each other for centuries, but last week's discovery of bodies, mostly belonging to women and children, marked a deadly departure from a cycle of killing in which the vulnerable are usually off limits.
PNG's new police minister Bryan Kramer said immediate intervention was needed in Hela province -- a rugged region in the west of the country -- to prevent the latest bout of violence becoming the new norm.
"Last week's merciless killings has changed everything," Krammer said in a Facebook post on his return from the affected region.
Kramer said the decades-old conflict between two tribes had spiralled following the murder of a tribesman in June, and lead to the massacre of women and children which he described as "the worst pay back ...

PNG to boost security after mass killing escalates tribal war

Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate hit 175 per cent in June, official data showed Monday, stoking fears of a return of the hyperinflation that wiped out savings ten years ago when the economy collapsed.
Official inflation is the highest since hyperinflation forced the government to abandon the Zimbabwe dollar in 2009.
Supplies of essentials such as bread, medicine and petrol are regularly running short in the country.
"The year-on-year inflation rate for the month of June 2019 as measured by the all items consumer price index stood at 175.66 per cent while that of May 2019 was 97.85 per cent," the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency said in a statement.
Millions of Zimbabweans have fled abroad in the last 20 years seeking work.
Many others are now seeking to leave as conditions worsen under President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had promised an economic revival after he succeeding long-ruling Robert Mugabe in 2017.
Mnangagwa vowed to end the country's international isolation, attract ...

Zimbabwe inflation rate soars to 175 per cent

South Africa's graft-accused ex-president Jacob Zuma said on Monday he had been "vilified", as he testified at a judicial inquiry into the alleged looting of state funds while he was in power.
"I have been vilified, alleged to be the king of corrupt people," he told the inquiry. "I have been given every other name and I have never responded to those issues. I believe it is important that we respect one another."
Zuma had struck a characteristically relaxed tone ahead of his televised appearance, which could last for five days, tweeting a video on Sunday of himself dancing and singing "Zuma must fall" before laughing heartily.
The former president is accused of fostering a culture of corruption during a nine-year reign before he was ousted in 2018 by the ruling ANC party and replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa.
Zuma, 77, was not legally required to appear at the inquiry into the so-called "State Capture" scandal.
State capture describes a form of corruption in which businesses and politicians .

S frica's graft-accused Zuma claims he has been 'vilified'

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Monday that Iran's actions were "profoundly destabilising" but said he wanted to reduce tensions in the Middle East, ahead of talks with his EU counterparts.
"Heading to Brussels for urgent talks on how to reduce tensions with Iran," Hunt tweeted.
"Their approach to Mid East has been profoundly destabilising but we want to reduce not raise tensions over Grace 1 and avoid a nuclearised region.
"But a deal is a deal and if one side breaches it..." European Union foreign ministers are meeting to discuss the 2015 deal over Iran's nuclear programme, as tensions further intensify between Tehran and the United States.
Washington has pulled out of the deal, to the dismay of its European allies who also signed the accord.
Angered that its beleaguered economy is not receiving sanctions relief it believes was promised under the deal, Iran has intensified its sensitive uranium enrichment work, prompting warnings from Washington.
Britain was drawn into ...

Ahead of EU talks, UK calls for reduced tensions with Iran

The first case of Ebola has been confirmed in Goma, the biggest city to have been affected by the disease since its outbreak in eastern DR Congo last August, the health ministry said on Sunday.
The patient is a pastor who had been preaching in church and would have touched the hands of worshippers "including the sick", the ministry said in a statement.
His symptoms first appeared last Tuesday in Butembo, one of the main towns touched by Ebola where he had been preaching.
He left by bus on Friday to Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, arriving early Sunday where "the results of the laboratory test confirmed that he was positive for Ebola", the ministry said.
"Given that the patient was quickly identified, as well as all the passengers on the bus from Butembo, the risk of the disease spreading in the city of Goma is low," the ministry said.
The other 18 passengers and the driver will begin getting vaccinations on Monday, it added.
Health workers in Goma were vaccinated as early as 

Pastor confirmed with Ebola as disease spreads in DR Congo

The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have appealed for calm after the first case of Ebola was diagnosed in the main eastern city of Goma.
The city is the biggest where a case of the killer disease has been confirmed since an outbreak started in eastern DR Congo last August, but the government said chances of it spreading were "low".
The patient is a pastor who had been preaching at a church in another town, Butembo, where he would have touched worshippers "including the sick", the country's health ministry said Sunday.
His symptoms first appeared last Tuesday.
The preacher left for Goma from Butembo, one of the towns most affected by the outbreak, by bus on Friday, and arrived two days later where "the results of the laboratory test confirmed that he was positive for Ebola", the ministry said.
"Given that the patient was quickly identified, as well as all the passengers on the bus from Butembo, the risk of the disease spreading in the city of Goma is low," it added.
The 

DR Congo urges calm after Ebola case in key city

About 300 gunmen raided a village in northwestern Nigeria in a revenge attack, killing 10 people, burning cars and stealing cattle, police said.
The assailants "invaded" Kirtawa village in Katsina state late Saturday, shooting residents and stealing cows, regional police spokesman Gambo Isah said in a statement.
"Ten persons were found dead, five injured," Isah said.
The bandits set fire to five cars and four motorcycles after stealing "an unspecified number of cows", he said.
Police said the gunmen opened fire on security forces as they arrived on the scene, shooting out the tyres of an armoured vehicle and wounding a soldier and a paramilitary officer, before fleeing.
The raid was a "reprisal attack" for an earlier assault on the bandits by vigilantes from the village, police said.
Katsina state has seen a surge in attacks by kidnapping and cattle rustling gangs, prompting villagers to form vigilantes groups to defend themselves.
The bandit gangs maintain camps in Rugu forest which .

Gunmen kill 10 in revenge attack on Nigerian village: police

Asian markets recovered after an early stumble on Monday as data showed China's economy growing at its weakest pace in nearly three decades, hit by the US trade war, while investors debated the depth of an expected Fed rate cut.
The world's number-two economy expanded 6.2 per cent in April-June, the worst reading since the early 1990s but in line with forecasts and within the government's target range.
The reading highlights the negative impact the US tariffs stand-off is having on China as leaders also try to recalibrate its growth model from exports and state investment to one driven by consumer spending.
"While GDP touched a 27-year low in Q2, the on-consensus print does lessen market fears that China's economy is headed for a hard landing," said Stephen Innes at Vanguard Markets.
Observers also pointed out that the weakness raised the chances of further monetary easing measures from the central People's Bank of China, while investors were also tracking the progress of trade talks .

AFP

AFP

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