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.

Major 7.3 quake hits off eastern Indonesia: USGS

PTI Automatic

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned the head of Lebanon's Tehran-backed Hezbollah that "crushing" retaliation would follow any attack, after its leader said the group's rockets could reach Tel Aviv.
"Over the weekend we heard (Hassan) Nasrallah's boasting about his attack plans," he said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
"Let me be clear -- if Hezbollah dares to make the mistake of attacking Israel, we will lay upon it and on Lebanon a crushing military blow."
In a Friday interview broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television, Nasrallah warned that key Israeli sites along the Mediterranean coast, including Tel Aviv, were "within range of our rockets".
The head of the Lebanese Shiite movement also said that Israel's arch-foe Iran was "able to bombard Israel with ferocity and force," but "will not start a war".
Last week, Netanyahu said that "Iran has been threatening the destruction of Israel" and warned that Israel's fighter jets "can reach anywhere in 

Netanyahu warns of 'crushing' retaliation after Hezbollah chief's remarks

A French inventor and entrepreneur on Sunday soared above the Champs-Elysees on a turbine engine-powered flyboard in front of President Emmanuel Macron and other EU leaders.
Former jet-skiing champion Franky Zapata, grasping a rifle in a sign of the possible military uses of his device, took to the air in a futuristic showpiece of the annual Bastille Day parade, an AFP reporter said.
French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly told France Inter radio ahead of the parade that the flyboard "can allow tests for different kinds of uses, for example as a flying logistical platform or, indeed, as an assault platform."
Zapata, who first developed his device flying above water, says that the flyboard has the power to take off and reach speeds up to 190 kilometres an hour and run for 10 minutes.
He is now eyeing a crossing of the English Channel which, for the first time, will require a refuelling in mid-flight.
Zapata aims to make the crossing on July 25, 110 years to the day after pioneering 

French inventor soars above Champs-Elysees on flyboard at Paris parade: AFP

Maverick Greek economist and former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis on Sunday accused French police of "violent" behaviour over a passport check at Paris' main airport.
Varoufakis told AFP he had just landed at Charles de Gaulle airport on a flight from Athens on Saturday when a police officer standing near the plane ramp asked to see his passport.
Varoufakis said he complied, but claims the officer then stuck his elbows out as he tried to pass.
"The moment our elbows touched, he reacted violently," the economist said.
"(He) manhandled me, using physical violence," Varoufakis told AFP, adding that the officer pushed him, grabbed his passport and told him to stand against the wall.
According to a source with knowledge of the incident, a frontier police officer had been sent to check passports just outside the aircraft for passengers who boarded the Aegean Airlines flight in Athens, after it originally took off from Cairo.
The source said Varoufakis had tried to "barge" through and ...

Maverick Greek economist Varoufakis in Paris airport row

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen made a brief visit to Haiti on Saturday without unveiling new spending commitments, as she courts Taipei's dwindling allies in the Caribbean in a diplomatic struggle with China.
Since Tsai became president, Beijing - which considers Taiwan part of its territory - has poached five of the island's shrinking roster of allies, including Haiti's neighbour the Dominican Republic.
She spoke with her Haitian counterpart Jovenel Moise for half an hour to discuss possible cooperation in education and infrastructure, without providing specific details.
Taipei has allocated USD 150 million to the country to help electrify its territory but the funds have not been allocated because they have yet to be ratified by the Haitian parliament.
Port-au-Prince is in the middle of a protracted political crisis which has sapped the country's ability to leverage financial concessions out of Taipei.
Growing street protests have demanded Moise's resignation, and he has not had a 

Taiwanese president courts ally Haiti during Caribbean tour

French President Emmanuel Macron will Sunday put European military cooperation at the heart of the Bastille Day parade at a time of growing tensions with the United States.
Key EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, are to join Macron to watch the annual parade down the Champs Elysees that marks the July 14, 1789 storming of the Bastille fortress in Paris in the French Revolution.
Outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May had been expected to attend but Britain will instead be represented by senior cabinet minister David Lidington, the Elysee said.
Over 4,000 members of the armed forces thronged the start of the parade on the Champs Elysees by the Arc de Triomphe as they prepared for the ceremonial march to the Place de la Concorde where the dignitaries were to be seated.
Closer European defence cooperation has been one of Macron's key foreign policy aims and the president shows no sign of wavering despite growing political ...

Macron to show off Euro defence cooperation at Paris parade

Israeli Education Minister Rafi Peretz has spoken of his belief in therapy to convert gays to heterosexuality and claimed he has engaged in the practice, leading to calls for him to be sacked.
The comments late Saturday in a television interview were only the latest controversial views voiced by the recently installed minister who heads a far-right party popular with Israeli settlers.
Asked by Israel's Channel 12 whether he was in favour of so-called conversion therapy and if he believed he could change a gay person, Peretz, who is also a rabbi, said "I think you can, I think you can." "I can tell you that I have a deep knowledge of education, and I have done it too," he said.
He then talked about a student who approached him and told him he was gay.  Peretz said he hugged him, was kind to him and sought to help him "understand himself well and then decide on his own."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who brought Peretz's Union of Right Wing Parties into his government after 

Calls to sack Israel education minister over gay therapy comments

A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck off northwest Australia Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami alert.
The shallow quake hit 203 kilometres (126 miles) west of the beach resort of Broome, Western Australia, the USGS said.
The tremor was felt in Broome and in Port Hedland, Australia's biggest bulk export port, according to Geoscience Australia, which measured the quake at 6.5.
In its initial assessment, the USGS said there was a low likelihood of casualties and damage.

Strong 6.6 quake hits off northwest Australia: USGS

A power outage that gripped New York's Manhattan ended Saturday after it plunged Broadway theaters into darkness, brought subways to a halt and flicked off billboards in Times Square.
About 42,000 customers lost electricity in the early evening, according to power utility Con Edison, which didn't indicate a cause of the power failure.
The power returned around 10:00 pm (0200 GMT), accompanied by applause that could be heard throughout the formerly darkened streets.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter that the outage was caused by a "manhole fire," but later told CNN it was under investigation.
Earlier in the day, dozens of people posted photos on social media of streets, subways and apartments shrouded in darkness.
The blackout disrupted services across the United States' most-populous city, with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Twitter encouraging "everyone to avoid below-ground subway stations," which account for most of the city's rail network.
Firefighters said 

Huge power outage that plunged Manhattan into darkness ends

Jason Roy says England's stinging defeat by Australia in the World Cup group phase gave the hosts a "good kick" and helped them rediscover their mojo.
England will step out at the "home of cricket" on Sunday as favourites to lift the trophy for the first time against a New Zealand side also looking to make history.
Last time they were at the ground they were pushed to the brink of a group-stage elimination by a 64-run loss to 2015 World Cup winners Australia.
Jolted by that result, England tapped into a do-or-die mentality -- confidently beating both the Black Caps and India to seal their knockout place, then exacting revenge against their Ashes rivals with a resounding semi-final win at Edgbaston.
"We didn't get too down or upset," said Roy, whose brilliant form with the bat has underpinned England's improvement.
"It gave us a good kick and pushed us to actually bring out the best in ourselves I think, and that stands us in good stead for the final," he added.
"We're in a very good ..

World Cup loss to Australia galvanised England, says Roy

Neymar says he has recovered "almost 100 percent" from the ankle injury that ruled him out of Brazil's victorious Copa America campaign.
The world's most expensive player was speaking Saturday in Sao Paulo ahead of his belated return to his club Paris Saint-Germain on Monday.
PSG were upset at Neymar's no-show at the resumption of training last week, an absence that fuelled speculation of his possible departure back to Barcelona.
And later Saturday he added fuel to the fire over a possible return to the Camp Nou when he posted on Instagram a mischievous 10-second video of him, a Barcelona shirt, his father, and a quote from the Bible: "No weapon turned against you will prosper." (Isaiah Chapter 54, Verse 17).
Both the player and his father had insisted last week he had prior agreement from PSG to stay in Brazil to help his foundation, the Neymar Institute.
Interviewed on the Parida Grande beach, where he took part in a five-side tournament organised by his charity, he ducked any ...

Neymar says he's fit, posts mischievous Barcelona video

Authorities warned of heavy rain and possible tornadoes throughout Saturday as major storm Barry buffeted Louisiana, though there were few indications of widespread flooding.
After briefly becoming the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, Barry was downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall -- but it nevertheless packed a serious punch as it moved inland.
All flights in and out of the airport in the state's biggest city New Orleans were cancelled, thousands had evacuated their homes, tens of thousands had lost power and first responders were poised for action.
Fears that the levee system in New Orleans could be compromised had eased after the Army Corps of Engineers voiced confidence that it would hold, but Mayor LaToya Cantrell urged residents not to be complacent.
"We are not in any way out of the woods," she said, adding that flash flooding could still occur into Sunday.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said the storm would intensify into Sunday, with many areas ...

Tropical Storm Barry pelts Louisiana, millions brace for flooding

Freed after years in jihadist captivity, Jihan faced an agonising ultimatum: abandon her three small children fathered by an Islamic State fighter or risk being shunned by her community.
"Of course I couldn't bring them home. They're Daesh (IS) children," said Jihan Qassem matter-of-factly, sitting in a sparse concrete structure she now calls home.
"How could I, when my three siblings are still in IS hands?," she added, highlighting the harsh reality that the children serve as constant reminders of the brutalities inflicted on the closed, tight-knit Yazidi community by the so-called Islamic State group.
Dozens of Yazidi women and girls systematically raped, sold and married off to jihadists after being abducted by IS from their ancestral Iraqi home of Sinjar in 2014 have faced the same gut-wrenching dilemma.
What to do about the children born of these forced unions? Now freed, the women are desperate to heal from the wounds inflicted on the conservative minority -- but raising ...

Agony of Yazidi women torn between IS kids, or return home

Subway stations plunged into darkness and the billboards of Times Square suddenly flicked off as New York's Manhattan was hit by a power outage on Saturday.
About 42,000 customers lost electricity in the early evening, according to the Con Edison utility, which did not give a reason for the cut.
On social media, dozens of users posted photos of subway stations bathed in darkness.
"While Con Edison works to restore power in Manhattan, we encourage everyone to avoid below-ground subway stations," New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority said on Twitter.
Firefighters said they were responding to numerous requests for help, particularly from people trapped in elevators.
The cut affected the western chunk of Manhattan, particularly the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood and the theatres of Broadway.

Huge power outage plunges Manhattan into darkness

China detained another Canadian citizen amid sour relations between the two countries, Canada's foreign ministry said on Saturday, though the reason for the jailing remains unclear.
"Global Affairs Canada is aware of the detention of a Canadian citizen in Yantai, China," a spokesman said.
He added that "Canadian officials are providing consular assistance" but no further details could be disclosed due to privacy laws.
The detention follows Beijing's jailing of two Canadians earlier this year after Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer for Chinese tech giant Huawei, was taken into custody in Vancouver on a warrant from the United States.
However a source familiar with the latest detention said there is no indication it's related to the cases of Canadians Michael Kovrig, an ex-diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a consultant.
The pair are facing espionage charges that Ottawa has called "arbitrary" and which have sparked questions over whether the allegations are a retaliation for Canada's ...

Canada says another citizen detained in China amid row

Britain's ambassador to Washington believed US President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal because it was associated with his predecessor Barack Obama, leaked documents showed Saturday.
"The administration is set upon an act of diplomatic vandalism, seemingly for ideological and personality reasons -- it was Obama's deal," ambassador Kim Darroch wrote in a diplomatic cable in May 2018.
The cable was included in a second batch of leaked reports published by the Mail on Sunday newspaper, the first of which caused Darroch to resign earlier this week.
In May 2018, Britain's then-foreign minister Boris Johnson went to Washington to try to persuade Trump not to abandon the Iran deal.
In a cable sent afterwards, Darroch indicated there were divisions in Trump's team over the decision, and criticised the White House for a lack of long-term strategy.
"They can't articulate any 'day-after' strategy; and contacts with State Department this morning suggest no sort of plan for ...

UK envoy said Trump ditched Iran deal to spite Obama: Report

A prominent member of Greece's Golden Dawn party recently elected to the European parliament has defected, the party said Saturday, the latest blow to a troubled organisation facing a damaging murder trial.
Yiannis Lagos, formerly a Golden Dawn lawmaker in Greece, had earlier told a Greek news portal that he was becoming an independent because he disagreed with party policy.
"I feel we are making the wrong political moves," he told newsbeast.gr portal. "Golden Dawn was never a criminal organisation, nor will it ever be. We always stood for the homeland and the nation," he said.
The party on Saturday called on Lagos to relinquish the European parliament seat he won in May's election.
"Everyone knows that he was elected on a ticket bearing the name of Golden Dawn," the party said.
Once Greece's third-strongest party, Golden Dawn has been in disarray as a verdict in the trial for the 2013 murder of an anti-fascist rapper by alleged members of the party has drawn closer.
The party's ...

Greek neo-Nazi Euro deputy defects from Golden Dawn party

Sudanese protesters lit candles and released balloons in Khartoum as thousands rallied across the country to mourn dozens killed last month in a brutal raid on a protest camp.
Crowds of protesters were violently dispersed by men in military fatigues in a pre-dawn raid on a sit-in outside army headquarters on June 3.
Saturday's commemorative rallies came as mediators said talks between generals and protest leaders to discuss the finer details of a recently agreed power sharing accord had been postponed to Sunday, at the request of protest leaders.
They were previously scheduled for Saturday evening. The protest movement, the Alliance for Freedom and Change, had called for marches  -- dubbed "Justice First" -- across the country on Saturday to mark 40 days since the raid.
Demonstrators who had camped outside military headquarters for weeks demanding civilian rule were shot and beaten, triggering international outrage.
Chanting "Blood for blood, we won't accept compensations," crowds of .

Thousands mourn protesters killed in Sudan raid

A total of 141 migrants from the sub-Sahara region were rescued at sea Saturday between Spain and Morocco, from a variety of makeshift vessels, the Spanish maritime rescue service said.
Two boats carrying 86 people, one of which was already beginning to sink, were recovered in the Alboran Sea, the stretch of the Mediterranean between the two countries, a spokesman for the service said.
Some of the people were already in the water by the time the rescuers arrived, but everyone was rescued, he said, adding that among the 86 were 14 women and three children.
Further west, in the Straits of Gibraltar, rescue boats picked up three men in a kayak, and another 52 people -- including 14 women -- in a dinghy.
Around 11,000 migrants have arrived in Spain by sea since the beginning of the year and 203 people have died attempting the crossing from north Africa, according to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), issued on Wednesday.
Over the same period in the 

Spain rescues 141 migrants at sea in one day

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt sought to ease tensions with Iran on Saturday, saying a tanker held by Gibraltar would be released if Tehran guaranteed it was not heading to Syria.
He said he had a "constructive call" with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, who he said assured him that Tehran "is not seeking to escalate" tensions between the countries.
"I reassured him our concern was destination not origin of the oil on Grace One," a tanker seized off the coast of the tiny British territory of Gibraltar on July 4, Hunt tweeted.
US officials believed the tanker was destined for Syria to deliver oil, in violation of separate sets of EU and US sanctions.
Hunt said Britain "would facilitate release if we received guarantees that it would not be going to Syria, following due process in Gib (Gibraltar) courts.
"Was told by FM Zarif that Iran wants to resolve issue and is not seeking to escalate." Tehran had reacted angrily to the seizure, and Britain this week said Iranian 

UK says Iran tanker will be freed after guarantees on destination

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday announced he was creating a national military space force command that would eventually be part of his country's air force.
The declaration -- made on the eve of France's Bastille Day national celebrations that feature a military parade down Paris's Champs-Elysees -- mirrors an initiative in the US championed by President Donald Trump.

AFP

AFP

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