Britain will send a second warship to the Gulf, officials said Friday, temporarily deploying two vessels near Tehran's waters as tensions surge after armed Iranian boats threatened a British oil tanker.
Government officials said the move was part of a pre-planned rotation and was meant to ensure a continued British naval presence in one of the most important but volatile oil shipping routes in the world.
The decision was announced days after the British government raised the alert level in the waters around Iran to its highest level.
A government spokesman said the HMS Duncan was "deploying to the region to ensure we maintain a continuous maritime security presence while HMS Montrose comes off task for pre-planned maintenance and crew change over".
The HMS Montrose was forced to warn off three fast Iranian gunboats on Wednesday that UK officials said were trying to "impede" the progress of a British supertanker through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
A source with knowledge of the ..

UK says sending second warship to Gulf

PTI Automatic

The separatist president of Catalonia is to be tried for disobedience after he refused to remove symbols of his movement from public buildings, the Spanish region's high court said Friday.
Catalonia's highest tribunal said in a statement it would launch proceedings against Quim Torra "for the offence of disobedience," but gave no court date.
Prosecutors in the northeastern Spanish region have called for Torra to be declared ineligible for public office for 20 months, which would make it impossible for him to remain president of the region.
In March, Spanish electoral authorities ordered Torra to remove separatist symbols from public buildings to respect institutional neutrality ahead of parliamentary elections.
They objected in particular to a banner outside the Catalonian regional government headquarters that read "Freedom for political prisoners and exiles" next to a yellow ribbon indicating  support for detained Catalan separatist leaders.
They are to be tried for leading a failed .

Catalonian president to face trial for disobedience

- Jofra Archer says he will have no problems keeping his cool even during a World Cup final that comes just over two months after his England debut.
The 24-year-old Barbados-born fast bowler, whose father is English, made his international debut in May after changes to the England and Wales Cricket Board's residency rules saw him become eligible sooner than expected.
He has now taken an England-record 19 wickets at a World Cup to help the hosts into Sunday's final against New Zealand at Lord's.
The Sussex paceman played a key role in England's eight-wicket semi-final thrashing of Australia at Edgbaston on Thursday, trapping captain Aaron Finch lbw with his first ball of the match before a well-disguised slower delivery deceived dangerman Glenn Maxwell.
England have never won the World Cup and made the last of their three losing appearances in the final in 1992 -- before Archer was born.
Archer, however, is determined the showpiece occasion at the 'home of cricket' will not overwhelm ..

England's Jofra Archer takes World Cup final in his stride

Cricket World Cup chiefs on Friday warned fans wishing to attend the final at Lord's between England and New Zealand against paying thousands of pounds on secondary ticket websites.
England trounced Australia by eight wickets to seal their spot in the final, where they will be looking to clinch their first global 50-over title.
The prospect of witnessing the host nation make history has led to a frenzied demand for tickets, with some put up for sale on unofficial resale platforms.
The cost of many of the tickets exceed ?1,000 ($1,250) while some are upwards of ?5,000.
The International Cricket Council reiterated its stance that it is "actively monitoring and taking action" against those trying to sell on secondary platforms.
Cricket's governing body warned it can "cancel the accounts and tickets we see being sold on secondary sites" and that the only way supporters can guarantee a ticket is through the official resale site.

Cricket fans warned over World Cup tickets on unofficial websites

Former England striker Peter Crouch on Friday announced his retirement from football at the age of 38 after two decades as a professional.
The much-travelled Crouch, who spent the second half of last season at Burnley, made his English league debut in 2000 at QPR and also played for Liverpool, Tottenham and Stoke.
He made his England debut against Colombia in May 2005 and went on to play 42 times for the Three Lions, scoring 22 goals.
The forward, who is a towering 2.01 metres (six feet, seven inches) tall, confirmed his retirement on Twitter, writing: "After a lot of deliberation this summer I have decided to retire from football! Our wonderful game has given me everything.
"I'm so thankful to everyone who helped me get there and to help me stay there for so long.
"If you told me at 17 I'd play in World Cups, get to a Champions League final, win the FA Cup and get 100 @premierleague goals I would have avoided you at all costs.
"It's been an absolute dream come true."
Crouch played ...

England striker Peter Crouch announces retirement

British rookie Lando Norris has been told to pay the repair bill after he crashed a McLaren supercar during a demonstration lap ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old Englishman lost control of the car, valued at 250,000 dollars, in the fast Maggots and Becketts corners before spinning into a gravel trap.
He was giving former British Grand Prix winner Johnny Herbert, now a pundit with Sky Sports television, a 'hot lap' of the resurfaced track when he went off.
Herbert climbed out and attempted to lift the rear of the car out of the gravel without success before it was lifted out and towed clear by a rescue vehicle.
Norris's future with McLaren, in 2020, was confirmed by the team earlier in the week.
But on Friday, the team used Twitter to tell him: "We'll send you the bill". It was accompanied by winking mojo.
A spokesperson for McLaren said: "That's what happens when you put two 19-year-olds together in a car and leave them to it...

'We'll send you the bill' Mclaren tell Norris after supercar crash

The United Nations said Friday it was "alarmed" at death sentences given by a court run by Yemen's Huthi rebels to 30 academics, trade unionists and preachers for alleged spying.
"The UN Human Rights Office has received credible information suggesting that many of those convicted were subjected to arbitrary or unlawful detention, as well as torture," rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.
Those condemned were accused of spying for the Saudi-led coalition, which intervened in Yemen in March 2015, shortly after the Iran-backed Huthis seized the capital Sanaa.
Shamdasani noted the group will likely appeal to a higher court, which is also under Huthi control.
The rights office urged the appeals court to consider "the serious allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, and of violations of the fair trial and due process rights of the convicted people," Shamdasani said.
The Huthis have been accused by rights groups of using Sanaa's courts to target opponents and ...

UN 'alarmed' at death sentences given by Yemen rebel court

NATO said Friday it was "concerned" by Turkey's acquisition of Russia's S-400 missile defence system after Ankara took delivery of its first batch.
The alliance has repeatedly warned Turkey that the Russian system is incompatible with other NATO weapons systems, not least the F-35 fighter jet.
"We are concerned about the potential consequences of Turkey's decision to acquire the S-400 system," a NATO official told AFP.
"Interoperability of our armed forces is fundamental to NATO for the conduct of our operations and missions."
The US fears that if NATO member Turkey integrates the S-400 into its defences, there is a risk that sensitive data about the F-35, a new generation multi-role stealth fighter, could leak back to the Russians.
President Donald Trump's pick for Pentagon chief, Mark Esper, confronted the Turkish defence minister about the deal on the sidelines of a NATO meeting last month.
Washington has threatened to expel Turkey from its F-35 programme, giving Ankara until July .

NATO 'concerned' by Turkey receiving Russian missiles

Afghan commandos must be prosecuted after they "executed" four civilians during a night raid on a medical clinic in central Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said Friday.
Doctors and hospitals have been frequently targeted during the country's decades-long conflict, with 2019 already proving far deadlier than last year for aid workers.
Several witnesses told the US-based non-governmental organisation that Afghan special operations forces entered the clinic, the only one operating in Wardak province west of Kabul, on the night of July 8-9.
"They killed a family caregiver and then detained and bound staff and family members accompanying patients," HRW said in a statement.
Three other people -- a lab worker, a guard and another person caring for a patient -- were later found dead from gunshots. HRW said they had been "executed".
"Attacks on medical facilities challenge the very foundations of the laws of war, and will persist if those responsible go unpunished," HRW's associate Asia ...

Afghan commandos killed four at medical clinic: HRW

At least 10 civilians were killed Friday in Syrian regime air strikes in the country's northwest, including three children, a war monitor said.
Another 45 civilians were wounded in the strikes across the jihadist-held Idlib region, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Those killed included three people in Idlib city, which until Friday had been spared strikes by the regime and its Russian ally since they stepped up bombardment of the region more than two months ago.
"It's the first time that the raids hit the centre of Idlib, after being confined until now to its suburbs," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
Last month a civilian was killed in an air strike on the outskirts of the regional capital, considered the stronghold of Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
The group in January took full administrative control of the Idlib region, home to three million people, although other jihadist groups and rebel factions are also ...

Regime air strikes kill 10 civilians in northwest Syria

The recent decision by oil producing countries to prolong cuts in output will not fundamentally change the outlook for a market that is heavily oversupplied, the IEA said on Friday.
"The widely-anticipated decision by OPEC+ ministers to extend their output agreement to March 2020 provides guidance but it does not change the fundamental outlook of an oversupplied market," the International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly report.
At a meeting two weeks ago in Vienna, OPEC countries and other oil producers such as Russia agreed to prolong by nine months daily output cuts aimed at supporting prices and soaking up excess supplies.
But supply is currently well in excess of demand, said the Paris-based institution that provides advice to oil-consuming nations.
"The main message of this report is that in the first half of 2019, oil supply has exceeded demand by 0.9 million barrels per day," the IEA said.
According to the agency's latest data, there was a global surplus in the second .

OPEC deal won't alter fundamental outlook for oil market: IEA

Japanese attacking midfielder Hiroki Abe said Friday he was moving to Barcelona, becoming the second Japanese player in a month to join one of La Liga's big two clubs.
J-League outfit Kashima Antlers, where 20-year-old Abe was spending his third season as a professional, confirmed the move.
Abe is expected to play for Barcelona's B team to start with, Japanese broadcaster NHK said.
The news came as Barcelona prepare to tour Japan later this month for friendly matches, including one against Premier League side Chelsea.
"I felt strongly that I wanted a new challenge at FC Barcelona, although the decision was difficult to make because it required me to leave the team (Antlers) during this ongoing season," Abe said in a statement.
Abe, voted the J-League's Best Young Player last season, was called into Japan's national team for the first time in June for the Copa America where he played in two games, including one as a second-half substitute.
Abe will complete the move after a medical ...

Japan midfielder Abe to move to Barcelona

A looming ban on climbing Australia's Uluru rock, intended to protect the sacred site from damage, has instead triggered a damaging influx of visitors, tourism operators said Friday.
Clambering up the giant red monolith, also known as Ayers Rock, will be prohibited from October -- in line with the wishes of the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land, the Anangu.
But a rush to beat the ban has led to a sharp increase in tourists and is causing its own problems for the World Heritage Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
Families arriving in campers vans and RVs are a particular problem, chief executive of Tourism Central Australia Stephen Schwer told AFP.
"We have got so much of one particular market coming, we don't have enough infrastructure to handle the number of drive travellers." While most visitors are doing the right thing, camping venues in the area are at capacity with advance bookings, leaving many less organised arrivals to set up illegally.
"People don't realise when they go .

Tourist rush at Australia's Uluru before climb ban

Serena Williams's place among the legends of tennis is assured but her mission will not be accomplished unless she at least equals Margaret Court's record haul of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
The 37-year-old American gets a third chance in a year to go level with the controversial Australian when she plays another former world number one Simona Halep in the Wimbledon final on Saturday.
Aside from the one-on-one rivalry on court, both women have a member of the royal family rooting for them -- Williams's friend Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Halep favouring Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.
Williams will hope for a happier ending than being out-played both by Angelique Kerber in last year's Wimbledon final and Naomi Osaka in the US Open final where a spectacular meltdown torpedoed her cause, leading her to eventually consult a therapist.
Williams claimed after her semi-final romp over unseeded Czech Barbora Strycova that the Court landmark is not on her mind.
"I thought about it this ...

Calm before the storm? Halep stands between Serena and Court landmark

England head coach Trevor Bayliss knows his side must shut out the noise of an expectant nation as they prepare for a first World Cup final in 27 years.
The host nation produced an inspired display to complete an eight-wicket victory over Australia at Edgbaston on Thursday and will meet New Zealand at Lord's on Sunday.
With the showpiece event also being broadcast on a free-to-air platform following an agreement between rights holders Sky and Channel 4, expectations will be elevated even further.
Australian Bayliss, though, has called for calm as England look to go one better than they did in their last World Cup final appearance in 1992, when they lost against Imran Khan's Pakistan in Melbourne.
"We had a chat in the changing room (at Edgbaston) afterwards and realised we have not won anything yet," Bayliss told BBC radio.
"There is going to be a lot of noise around 'you guys are now the favourites', and all this type of thing -- we can't listen to any of that.
"We have just got to ..

England must block out 'noise' ahead of World Cup final, says Bayliss

A South African court on Friday acquitted Duduzane Zuma, the son of former president Jacob Zuma, of manslaughter charges over a fatal late-night car crash in 2014.
Duduzane, 35, had pleaded not guilty at a magistrates' court in Johannesburg to causing the death of Phumzile Dube after his Porsche hit a minibus.
One woman died in the crash, three others were injured and another passenger died in hospital weeks later.
Magistrate Tebogo Thupaatlase said the state had failed to prove the manslaughter charges beyond reasonable doubt.
"The accused is found not guilty," he said.
"None of the evidence presented established that there was anything that a reasonable man in the position of the accused, on that night would have foreseen."
Zuma had testified that his car had spun out of control after hitting a pool of water.
Amid tight security, former president Zuma was at the court to support his son, as well as Duduzane's twin sister Duduzile.
"The court assessed the situation well and the ...

S African court acquits Zuma's son over car crash

The fate of an alleged people trafficking kingpin who insists he is a victim of mistaken identity hung in the balance Friday, with a verdict expected in a trial against him in Italy.
Eritrean national Medhanie Yehdego Mered is accused of being "the General" of one of the world's largest migrant trafficking networks, with branches in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Europe.
But the man on trial in Sicily, who was arrested in Sudan in 2016 and extradited to Italy, insists he is carpenter Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe.
Despite differences in appearance between the two men, and DNA evidence supporting Berhe's case, Italian prosecutors have stuck to their guns throughout and have called for a 14-year jail sentence.
It is not the life sentence one might expect for an alleged people smuggling mastermind with blood on his hands, and is proof the prosecutors know they have the wrong man, the defendant's lawyer says.
"They should just have said 'we made a ...

Verdict looms in Italy 'mistaken identity' trafficking trial

Six children were among 10 people killed when an all-terrain vehicle capsized while crossing a remote Siberian river, authorities said Friday.
Apparently members of two families, they are thought to have drowned in the Siberian region of Tyva bordering Mongolia, the head of the region said.
"Ten people died as they attempted to cross the Shui river in their UAZ-469," Sholban Kara-ool said in a post on Facebook, referring to an offroad light utility vehicle that seats up to seven people.
In a separate statement, investigators said locals found ten bodies in a vehicle that appeared to have capsized in the water.
Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious incidents, said it has opened a criminal probe into a possible violation of traffic safety rules.
Road accidents are common in Russia, where many people ignore traffic rules.

Six children, four adults die in Russia car accident

Nepal's only international airport was closed Friday after a plane skidded off the recently repaired runway, injuring two people, officials said.
The country has a poor flight safety record -- Nepali airlines are banned from European Union airspace -- and its airports are notoriously difficult to land in.
The Yeti Airlines ATR 72-500, arriving into Kathmandu from southern Nepal with 66 passengers, skidded about 15 metres (yards) into the grass.
"Our teams are working to remove the plane and reopen the airport," the airport's general manager Raj Kumar Chettri told AFP.
Chettri said that removing the Franco-Italian-made turboprop plane was taking a long time because heavy rain has made the area muddy.
Authorities took 11 hours to remove a domestic aircraft that suffered a similar runway excursion in September last year, months after a Malaysian jet with 139 people on board had aborted its takeoff and skidded off the runway.
In March 2018, a US-Bangla Airways plane crashed near the ...

Nepal airport closed after plane skids off runway

Turkey received the first batch of Russia's S-400 missile defence system on Friday, the defence ministry said, despite repeated warnings from its NATO ally United States against the purchase.
"The delivery of the first shipment of parts of the S-400 long range regional air missile defence system began as of July 12, 2019 to Murted air base in Ankara," the ministry said in a statement.
The delivery, which was made by plane, is likely to escalate tensions with the US after Washington warned this week that there would be "real and negative" consequences if Ankara bought the Russian defence system.
The US State Department has said that Turkish officials are fully aware of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, a law passed by Congress in 2017 that mandates sanctions for any "significant" purchases of weapons from Russia.
Washington has threatened to remove Turkey from its F-35 fighter jet programme, giving Ankara until July 31 to cancel the S-400 purchase or have its .

Turkey receives first delivery of Russian S-400 missile system: Ankara

England head coach Trevor Bayliss has no intention of staying in the job, even if his side go on to win the World Cup and the Ashes.
Australian Bayliss, 56, is set to step down at the end of his current deal in September.
"I have always been a believer that four or five years is long enough, whether you are doing well or not," Bayliss told BBC radio.
"It is time for a new voice for the boys, to hopefully take them to another level."
Bayliss, though, knows his side still have work to do if they are to follow up their impressive eight-wicket victory over Australia with a win against New Zealand in the final at Lord's on Sunday.
"Four years ago after the last World Cup, which was not good for England, we set out and had planning to hopefully win the 2019 edition, and it feels great that now we have a chance to fulfil those dreams," he added.
"We had a chat in the changing room (at Edgbaston) afterwards and realised we have not won anything yet. There is going to be a lot of noise around .

AFP

AFP

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