Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, which is subject to US sanctions over concerns about its ties to the government in Beijing, is planning to make major job cuts at its US operations, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The layoffs are expected at Huawei's US-based research and development arm, Futurewei Technologies, the paper reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the situation.
The unit currently employs 850 people at several labs in the United States, but hundreds of them could be laid off, the report said.
Some of the company's Chinese employees were given the option of keeping their jobs and returning home to work.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has put Huawei on its so-called entity list, which meant US companies needed a license to supply US technology to the Chinese firm.
Huawei -- a leader in next-generation 5G wireless technology -- remained barred from developing 5G networks in the United States, and the Trump administration is trying to convince ..

Huawei planning major job cuts in US: WSJ

PTI Automatic

Allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were arrested Sunday during a protest in Moscow to demand their names be included on the ballot for local elections in September.
Around a dozen people, including three organisers close to Navalny, were detained late in the day after almost 2,000 people protested against an alleged bid by city authorities to prevent independent candidates from running for office.
The unauthorised protest at the central Pushkin Square was organised by a group of candidates including supporters of Navalny.
While police turned out in force, they initially opted not to break up the rally. Candidates have the right to organise meetings with the electorate without sound amplification or banners.
Russia is to hold nationwide elections for local and regional legislatures in September.
Protesters say the electoral authorities have falsely accused them of faking signatures required for independent candidates to stand in September polls.
In Russia, candidates ...

Opposition figures arrested during Moscow vote demo

US President Donald Trump on Sunday told unnamed Democratic Congresswomen to "go back" where they came from, prompting senior members of the party to brand him a "racist" and a xenophobe.
It is the latest controversial comment by Trump, who last year reportedly referred to countries in Africa as "shithole" nations, and who has spoken of "an invasion" of undocumented migrants.
In a tweet, Trump referred to "'Progressive' Democrat Congresswomen," which appeared to be a reference to a group of outspoken relatively young, liberal women, all first-time members of the House of Representatives.  These include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
Trump did not say whom he was referring to but said they "originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world."
He accused the women of "viciously telling the people of the United States, the ..

Trump tells Congresswomen to 'go back' where they're from

Novak Djokovic saved two match points to clinch a fifth Wimbledon title and 16th major on Sunday, shattering Roger Federer's bid to become the oldest Grand Slam champion in the longest final ever played at the tournament.
Despite being outplayed by the 37-year-old Swiss for large parts of the knife-edge encounter, the world number one triumphed 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 13-12 (7/3).
At 4 hours and 57 minutes, it was the longest Wimbledon final ever played and settled by a final set tiebreak for the first time.
Djokovic is the first man in 71 years to win the title from match points down.
He is now level with Bjorn Borg as a five-time Wimbledon winner.
"I think that if this is not the most exciting final then definitely it's in the top two or three of my career against one of the greatest players of all time, Roger, who I respect," said Djokovic.
"Unfortunately in this type of match someone has to lose. It is quite unreal to be two match points down to come back and strange to ...

Djokovic saves match points to claim fifth Wimbledon title in record-breaking final

Defending champion Novak Djokovic claimed his fifth Wimbledon title on Sunday beating eight-time champion Roger Federer 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 13-12 (7/3) in the longest ever final and settled by an historic tie-break.
The 32-year-old Serbian saved two match points as he took his Grand Slam tally to 16, four off Federer's overall record.
Djokovic's victory extends to 11 successive Grand Slams won by the big three, himself, Federer and Rafael Nadal.
At 4 hours and 57 minutes it was the longest final at Wimbledon.
Stan Wawrinka was the last player outside the trio to win a Grand Slam, the 2016 US Open beating Djokovic.
The last player to win a Grand Slam aged under 30 was Andy Murray, who won the 2016 Wimbledon title aged 29.

Djokovic beats Federer to win fifth Wimbledon title in longest ever final

Qatar inaugurated its largest coast guard base Sunday as a standoff between Iran and the United States continues to boost tensions in strategic Gulf waters.
Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani and commander of US Naval Forces in the Middle East Vice Admiral Jim Malloy attended the ceremony at the Al-Daayen naval base in Semaisima, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Doha on Qatar's eastern coast.
Qatar, a key US ally in the region, is home to Washington's largest Middle East military base.
Malloy, commander of the US Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain, said the new base was "a wonderful opportunity for us to interface more strongly with the Qatari coast guard".
Tensions in the Gulf -- through which nearly a third of the world's oil is transported -- have spiked in recent weeks, with the US blaming Iran for multiple attacks on tanker ships in the region and Tehran shooting down an American drone.
The 600,000-plus square-metre site aims to "facilitate the securing of all ...

Qatar opens biggest coast guard base

Sebastian Vettel apologised to Max Verstappen immediately after Sunday's British Grand Prix, acknowledging that he had ruined his rival's hopes of claiming a podium finish.
Ferrari driver Vettel drove into the back of Verstappen's Red Bull after the Dutchman had passed him. Both cars spun off into the gravel before rejoining the race.
"Well, it was my mistake," said Vettel, who climbed out of his car at the end of the race and went to speak to Verstappen. He leaned into the Red Bull car's cockpit, shook hands and apologised.
"Obviously, he passed me and then ran a bit wide, which gave me the chance to come back," said Vettel.
"Then, it looked for a second that he was going to the right and there would be a gap to the left, which didn't open -- and by that time it was too late and I crashed."
Vettel had to pit for a new nose for his Ferrari car while Verstappen re-joined the fray and finished fifth, missing out on a possible podium finish.
Vettel was given a 10-seconds penalty and two .

Vettel apologises to Verstappen, admits mistake

A new sabotage attack has hit a gas pipeline in Syria, state media reported Sunday, putting it out of service in the latest setback to the country's troubled energy sector.
The official news agency SANA denounced what it called a "terrorist act", without identifying the suspected perpetrators.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, a bomb blast targeted the pipeline in the Badiya desert, where the Islamic State jihadist group is present.
The pipeline transports gas from the government-controlled Shaer field, the country's largest, in the central province of Homs to the Ebla plant, according to SANA.
"The gas pipeline... was put out of service by a terrorist act," the agency said, adding that "technical teams are working to repair it in the coming hours." The Badiya desert is the scene of regular clashes between regime forces and IS, which maintains a strike capability despite losing all the territory it once held in Syria.
The country's ...

Syria gas pipeline hit by sabotage attack: state media

Lewis Hamilton made the most of a favourable safety car intervention on Sunday to claim a record sixth British Grand Prix victory at a packed Silverstone.
The defending five-time world champion clocking fastest lap on his final lap to finish 25 seconds clear of Mercedes team-mate and nearest title rival Valtteri Bottas after  an action-packed contest.
The Briton moved 39 points clear of the Finn behind in the title race, but Bottas was unlucky with the timing of the safety car which effectively gave Hamilton a free pit stop.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was third.
Pierre Gasly finished fourth ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen, whose race was compromised by a late collision when Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari drove into him, and Carlos Sainz of McLaren.
It was Hamilton's seventh win in 10 races this year and the 80th win of his career. He had shared the British Grand Prix record of wins, on five, with fellow-Briton Jim Clark and Frenchman Alain Prost.
Daniel Ricciardo was ...

Hamilton wins record sixth British GP, extends F1 lead

Shintaro Mochizuki made history on Sunday becoming the first Japanese player to win a boy's Grand Slam title, beating Carlos Gimeno Valero of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in the Wimbledon final.
The 16-year-old, who was playing just his third grass court tournament, follows 1969 girls singles title winner Kazuko Sawamatsu in triumphing at the grass court Grand Slam.
Mochizuki said he had learned a lot from his compatriot, 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori.
"He's really nice," said Mochizuki. "He gives me a lot of advice.
"Like sometimes I practice with him. I learn from him a lot. Yeah, he's smart." Nishikori, nine times a Grand Slam quarter-finalist, took to Twitter almost immediately to fete his compatriot.
"Huge congrats to @ShintaroMOCHIZU! Such an amazing tournament," tweeted the Japanese star, adding a thumbs up icon, a flexed bicep icon and several Japanese flags. However, it is not 29-year-old Nishikori who is his idol.
"Roger Federer, I love watching him on TV, yeah," he said.
"I don't ..

Mochizuki makes Grand Slam history for Japan at Wimbledon

- Nine people died Sunday when a small aircraft being used for tourism crashed in northwest Sweden, the regional authority said.
"The nine people on board are dead," Gabriella Bandling, spokeswoman for the Vaesterbotten region, told AFP.
She did not say who they were.
According to Swedish media reports, the plane was carrying people for a parachute jump but crashed a little after 2:00 pm (1200 GMT).
The plane, a GippsAero GA8 Airvan, had taken off from Umea airport.
Amateur footage posted online by the Swedish daily Aftonbladet shows the plane plunging from the sky in a vertical line.
"I heard a weird sound, which didn't sound normal," one witness, Peter Larsson, told the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
"I looked up and saw a plane spinning like a top.
"At first I thought it was an acrobatic flight but we quickly realised that something was wrong."
The wreck of the plane has been found on an island in the archipelago south of Umea.

Small-aircraft crash kills nine in Sweden

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday showcased European military cooperation in a Bastille Day parade but the glittering event was tarnished by violent clashes between police and protesters.
Key EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, joined Macron in Paris to watch the annual parade that included representatives of nine other European armies in a show of unity.
But the celebrations of France's national day were tarnished by clashes that subsequently erupted between protesters and police that recalled violence seen at the peak of the "yellow vest" protest movement earlier this year.
Police fired tear gas to clear protesters from the Champs-Elysees. Protesters tore down security barriers and set fire to rubbish bins and portable toilets, AFP correspondents said.
The earlier parade itself had gone without a hitch. Some 4,300 members of the armed forces marched down the avenue's famed cobblestones in a tradition that dates back to .

Paris clashes follow Macron's military parade

Some 2,000 people protested in central Moscow on Sunday as opposition candidates accused the city authorities of seeking to remove them from the ballot in elections for the city legislature.
The unauthorised protest, at the central Pushkin Square, was organised by a group of candidates including supporters of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
While police turned out in force, they opted not to break up the rally. Candidates have the right to organise meetings with the electorate without sound amplification or banners.
Russia is set to hold nationwide elections for local and regional legislatures in September.
Protesters say the electoral authorities have falsely accused them of faking signatures of members of the public required for independent candidates to stand in September polls.
In Russia, candidates outside the large parliamentary parties have to gather large numbers of signatures from supporters to be allowed to stand. The details of signatories are then checked for ...

Thousands rally in Moscow over city elections row

French police fired tear gas at protesters during a tense standoff in central Paris on Sunday in the aftermath of the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees, AFP reporters said.
Officers attempted to disperse dozens of protesters, who chanted anti-government slogans, knocked down security barriers erected for the parade and set fire to refuse bins.
France, in particular Paris, has been rocked since late last year by the "yellow vest" protest movement against the government of President Emmanuel Macron.
Sunday's violence was the worst seen in central Paris since March. Many analysts had believed that the yellow vest movement had lost momentum.
But the demonstrators in central Paris were not wearing the yellow vests that marked out the movement. Police had earlier not allowed those wearing the garments past barriers and some had carried yellow balloons instead.
The clashes tarnished the July 14 national day that commemorates the 1789 storming of the Bastille fortress .

Paris protesters, police clash around Champs-Elysees after parade: AFP

The European Union on Sunday urged Russia to ensure continued respect of the  Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, after Moscow suspended its participation in the agreement.
"We are deeply concerned over developments with regard to the INF Treaty, which could end on 2 August 2019," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.
"The upcoming days represent the last opportunity for dialogue and taking the necessary measures to preserve this important component of European security architecture," Mogherini added.
Russia and the United States have both suspended their participation in the Cold War-era treaty, which bans a whole class of nuclear-capable missiles. Each accuses the other of having violated the accord.
On July 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill formalising its suspension.
Washington meanwhile says it will quit the deal for good on August 2 unless Russia destroys a controversial new missile system it says breaches the ...

EU urges Moscow to continue to respect nuclear missile treaty pull-out

At least 10 people have died and thousands of shanty homes have been destroyed since April by monsoon rains in overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh's southeast, officials said Sunday.
Bangladesh's meteorological department said the Cox's Bazar district -- home to nearly one million Rohingya Muslims who have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar -- has seen at least 58.5 centimetres (nearly two feet) of rain since July 2.
An International Organisation for Migration (IOM) spokeswoman said heavy rains triggered mudslides in the refugee camps -- which are mostly built on hill-slopes -- destroying some 4,889 tarpaulin and bamboo shacks.
More than 200 landslides have been reported since April in the camps, built near the border with Myanmar, and at least 10 people were killed, a UN report said.
In the last week alone, two Rohingya minors died and another 6,000 people were left without shelter because of heavy rains.
Displaced refugees said they were suffering as rain disrupted ...

Deadly monsoon destroys 5,000 shelters in Bangladesh Rohingya camps

A major 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the remote Maluku islands in eastern Indonesia Sunday, sending panicked residents running into the streets, but no tsunami warning was issued.
The shallow quake struck about 165 kilometres (100 miles) south-southwest of the town of Ternate in North Maluku province at 6:28 pm (0928 GMT), according to the US Geological Survey.
"The earthquake was quite strong, sending residents to flee outside. They are panicking and many are now waiting on the roadside," said local disaster mitigation official Mansur, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
Officials were assessing the situation but there were no immediate reports of casualties, he told AFP.
In the town of Labuha, one of the closest to the epicentre, panicked residents took to motorcycles in a bid to flee to higher ground, according to an AFP photographer in town when the earthquake hit.
Local disaster official Ihsan Subur told Metro TV that no damage or casualties had been reported there so ...

Major 7.3 quake hits remote Malukus in eastern Indonesia

The EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said Sunday the bloc is increasing its engagement in the Middle East, as she opened a new mission in Kuwait City.
The office in Kuwait's tallest skyscraper is the third such EU mission in the Gulf, after Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
"This also sends a message to the whole region; the European Union is increasing its presence and engagement in the Middle East," Mogherini said at the opening ceremony.
"What happens to the Gulf matters to Europe and what happens to Europe matters to the Gulf," she added.
The ceremony in the Al Hamra Tower, which is also home to the French embassy, was attended by Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah.
The opening, decided several months ago, comes amid a tense standoff between the United States and Iran which has affected the Gulf.
"In a moment of regional and global tensions, Kuwait is a voice of wisdom and force of peace and this is what made us natural partners," Mogherini said.
Kuwait has strong .

EU opens new mission in Kuwait

Neymar fired another shot in his battle with Paris Saint-Germain after saying his favourite football memory is Barcelona's incredible 2017 comeback win over PSG, which Neymar helped inflict on his current club.
Asked by online sports channel Oh My Goal about his best changing room memory, the world's most expensive player chose the aftermath of that win.
"We all went crazy afterwards. I think it was the best possible feeling for all of us," the Brazilian star said in the interview, which was posted on Saturday.
Neymar was speaking in Sao Paulo ahead of his belated return to the club on Monday, after insisting last week that he had prior agreement from PSG to stay in Brazil to help his foundation, the Neymar Institute.
His comments are set to further strain his relationship with the club.  He wants out of the Parc des Princes and would prefer a return to Barca, but is struggling to find suitors due to the 222 million euros ($252 million) the capital splashed out to take him away from ..

Neymar renews war of words with PSG, hailing Barcelona 'remontada'

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday sought to showcase European military cooperation in the annual Bastille Day parade at a time of growing tensions between Europe the United States.
Key EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, joined Macron to watch the parade down the Champs-Elysees that marks the July 14, 1789 storming of the Bastille fortress in Paris in the French Revolution.
Over 4,000 members of the armed forces, including regiments from other European armies, marched down the famed cobbles of the avenue in a tradition that dates back to the aftermath of World War I.
Army dogs festooned with medals, members of France's celebrated Foreign Legion and mounted cavalry in glittering uniforms brandishing ceremonial sabres all paraded in front of the high-ranking guests.
Meanwhile, French inventor and entrepreneur Franky Zapata showed off his futuristic flyboard, soaring above the Champs Elysees and the assembled ...

Macron showcases Europe military prowess at Paris parade

A major 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit off the remote Maluku islands in eastern Indonesia Sunday, US seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued.
The quake struck about 165 kilometres south-southwest of the town of Ternate in North Maluku province at 6:28 pm local time, at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey.

AFP

AFP

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