Libya's internationally recognised government has demanded urgent answers after Paris conceded French missiles were found at a base used by strongman Khalifa Haftar whose forces are fighting to take over the capital Tripoli.
Foreign Minister Mohamad Tahar Siala has asked French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian to "urgently explain" how the missiles "reached Haftar's forces, when they were delivered and how", according to a ministry statement.
Haftar in April ordered his self-styled Libyan National Army on an offensive to take the Libyan capital from the UN-recognised Government of National Accord.
The battle is the latest turmoil to rock the North African country which has been caught up in fighting between rival forces since the fall of leader Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.
Siala also demanded to know "the quantities of weapons, whose existence (in Libya) contradicts the French government declarations... of support" to Tripoli's national unity government.
France's defence ministry, confirming 

Libya demands urgent answers over French missiles found at pro-Haftar base

PTI Automatic

The head of Boeing's embattled 737 MAX program plans to retire, the company said, just as it gears up to persuade regulators to return the plane to the skies after two deadly crashes.
It was the most high profile departure of a senior executive since the aircraft was grounded in mid-March following two crashes that claimed 346 lives.
Eric Lindblad, who has led the MAX program since August 2018, will step down and work with his successors on a transition, Commercial Airplanes President Kevin McAllister said in a staff memo on Thursday.
Boeing apologised following the two crashes and acknowledged falling short in communications with regulators.
But top officials, including chief executive Dennis Muilenburg, have kept their jobs amid the crisis.
"These are unprecedented times for us, as our primary focus remains the safe return of service for the 737 MAX and driving quality and safety in all that we do," McAllister said.
The company has been widely criticized over its development of the .

Head of Boeing's 737 MAX program to retire: Company

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed Iran's "malign" actions, the White House said Thursday, as escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington threatened to torpedo a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement.
"The two leaders discussed cooperation between the United States and Israel in advancing shared national security interests, including efforts to prevent Iran's malign actions in the region," Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.
Trump and Netanyahu spoke on the telephone on Wednesday, with the US president warning on Twitter of forthcoming "substantially" increased sanctions against Tehran over its announcement that it had exceeded a limit on enriched uranium reserves under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Netanyahu confirmed the conversation, tweeting that the leaders had discussed "regional developments and security issues." "Foremost among them was Iran. I thanked President Trump for his intention to ...

Trump, Netanyahu spoke about Iran's 'malign' acts

A New York judge approved fresh changes to the defense team of Harvey Weinstein on Thursday, less than two months before the former Hollywood producer's trial on sexual assault charges is set to begin on September 9.
Asked by Judge James Burke if he agreed to allowing Chicago-based Donna Rotunno, a former prosecutor who specializes in defending men accused of sexual assault, and Damon Cheronis to replace his current attorney Jose Baez, Weinstein, dressed in a suit and tie, said "Yes."
Weinstein faces charges involving two different women -- one who alleges he raped her in 2013, the other that he forced her to perform oral sex in 2006.
Having originally retained leading New York attorney Benjamin Brafman, who battled unsuccessfully to get the case dismissed, Weinstein then switched out his team earlier this year and brought in Baez and also Ronald Sullivan, a Harvard law professor, who withdrew in May after protests on campus.
According to US media reports, the founder of the Miramax ..

Judge approves fresh changes to Weinstein defense team, trial due in September

President Donald Trump's aggressive trade actions sparked a "shock" to business confidence which could impact the economy, and contributes to the case for cutting rates, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday.
While sentiment has recovered some in recent weeks, businesses around the country have been telling the Fed about their concerns about material prices and access to supplies, Powell told a Senate committee.
Business confidence surveys turned "quite negative" in May -- when Trump's trade negotiations with China collapsed amid bitter accusations -- and was "a bit of a confidence shock," he said.
That concern among manufacturers, in particular the threat to their global supply chains, prompted the Fed to "indicate at our last meeting we were looking at changing rates." The Fed open the door last month to cutting the benchmark lending rate, and economists and investors are convinced it will happen at the end of July.
Powell confirmed that the Fed is considering ...

US trade uncertainties sparked business 'shock': Fed's Powell

More than 80 fighters were killed in clashes Thursday between regime and jihadist-led forces in northwest Syria, as violence raged on the edge of an opposition bastion despite a September truce deal.
In nearby Afrin, a car bombing killed 13 people in the latest violence to hit the city that Turkey-backed rebels seized last year from Kurdish fighters.  Syria's civil war has killed a total of more than 370,000 people and spiralled into a complex conflict since starting in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.
Russian and regime aircraft have since late April ramped up deadly bombardment of the Idlib region of some three million people in northwest Syria, despite a deal to avert a massive government assault.
Regime forces have also been locked in battle with jihadists and allied rebels on the edges of the bastion held by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), including the north of Hama province.
Clashes raged Thursday in northern Hama after a small 

Clashes kill more than 80 fighters in northwest Syria

Delta Air Lines rode strong consumer travel demand to banner earnings last quarter, benefiting from the company's lack of exposure to Boeing's grounded 737 MAX planes.
In earnings posted Thursday, the US carrier pointed to a double-digit revenue boost in premium product tickets off of strong demand in leisure and corporate customers as it lifted its full-year profit forecast.
"Fundamental demand for the product in this business is very strong and we're capitalizing on it," chief executive Ed Bastian said on a conference call with analysts and reporters.
Shares rose on the results in which Delta also lifted its profit forecast and boosted its dividend.
Net earnings in the second quarter were USD 1.4 billion, up 39.3 per cent from the year-ago period.
Revenues rose 6.5 per cent to USD 12.5 billion, which the company said was a record.
The results also underscored Delta's improved competitive position this summer over rivals such as American Airlines and United Continental that have been 

With no 737 MAX exposure, Delta reports banner quarter

Risk from severe weather events is not usually linked to banks but increasingly must be included in their planning, the US central bank chief said Wednesday.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell agreed that climate change is causing more extreme weather events, and said financial institutions the Fed supervises are required to factor that in, especially those in high risk areas.  He pointed to the impact of Superstorm Sandy which ravished the New York area in 2012.
"In a world where you have water lapping at the foot of the New York Fed, which is not that close to the water in downtown Manhattan, you know that you're going to need robust plans... to deal with severe weather events," Powell told a Senate committee.
The Fed looks at "cutting edge research" on the impact of climate on the economy.
"We do require financial institutions that we supervise to have a plan and an understanding to deal with severe weather events, particularly those in areas that are exposed to increased risk .

US banks must consider climate risk: Fed's Powell

Former FIFA vice president and North American regional football president Jack Warner has been ordered to pay $79 million in damages by a federal judge.
US District Court Judge William Kuntz issued the ruling by default after Warner did not on Tuesday contest a 2017 civil suit claiming he embezzled millions of dollars from the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).
Warner was accused of taking kickbacks from media rights deals for CONCACAF events and taking bribes regrding FIFA votes for hosting the 2010 World Cup that was awarded to South Africa.
CONCACAF intends to pursue Warner's assets to recover damages, according to an attorney.
The 76-year-old is living in his home nation of Trinidad and Tobago while the United States pursues extradition.
Warner, who has denied any wrongdoing, was issued a life ban from national and international football in 2015 by FIFA's ethics committee.

EX-FIFA exec Warner ordered by judge to pay $79 million

The United States and its allies are discussing plans to provide naval escorts for oil tankers through the Gulf, a top US general said Thursday after Iranian military vessels menaced a British tanker.
General Mark Milley, nominated to become the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate hearing that the US has a "crucial role" in enforcing freedom of navigation in the Gulf.
He said the US was attempting to put together a coalition "in terms of providing military escort, naval escort to commercial shipping," he said.  "I think that that will be developing over the next couple weeks.

US, allies planning naval escort for Gulf tankers: Pentagon

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed Iran's "malign" actions, the White House said Thursday, as escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington threatened to torpedo a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement.
"The two leaders discussed cooperation between the United States and Israel in advancing shared national security interests, including efforts to prevent Iran's malign actions in the region," Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.

Trump, Netanyahu spoke about Iran's 'malign' acts: W House

London said Thursday that armed Iranian boats tried to "impede" a UK supertanker before being warned off by a British warship in a dramatic escalation in the Gulf that jeopardises attempts to salvage a landmark nuclear accord.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards denied involvement but also cautioned both the US and Britain that they would "strongly regret" the UK Royal Marines' detention of one of the Islamic republic's own tankers off Gibraltar last week.
The Gibraltar police brushed aside the warning and announced the arrest Thursday of both the Indian captain and officer of the seized Iranian tanker.
And President Donald Trump raised the US pressure by tweeting on Wednesday that sanctions against Iran over its stepped-up nuclear activities would be "increased substantially" soon.
The rapid chain of events further complicates Britain and other European allies' efforts to salvage a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran from which Washington pulled out more than a year ago.
The UK defence ministry 

UK warship fends off Iran bid to 'impede' its tanker in Gulf

The United States imposed sanctions Thursday on Venezuela's military counter-intelligence agency, accusing it of torturing and murdering detainees.
The new sanctions, announced by the US Treasury Department, freeze any US-based assets of the country's General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence.
They come less than a week after the US imposed sanctions on President Nicolas Maduro's son, as part of Washington's bid to force the Venezuelan leader from power.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement the move was triggered by the death in custody of a navy captain who was allegedly tortured.
"The politically motivated arrest and tragic death of Captain Rafael Acosta was unwarranted and unacceptable," Mnuchin said.
The captain was arrested in June on charges of plotting to assassinate Maduro. He died in custody eight days later, and Venezuela's attorney general said that two officials from the counter-intelligence agency were charged with homicide.
The Treasury said ...

US slaps sanctions on Venezuelan counter-intelligence agency

A car bomb exploded during the funeral of an ex-army commander in the Libyan city of Benghazi on Thursday, killing at least three people and wounding 15, a hospital said.
A security official said the attack, the first in over a year in the bastion of Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar, targeted servicemen at the funeral of Khalifa al-Mesmari, a special forces chief under Libya's ousted leader Moamer Kadhafi.
The Benghazi Medical Centre said the blast in a cemetery left three dead and 15 wounded, without specifying whether the victims were civilian or military.
Al-Jala, another hospital in the city, said it was treating wounded but did not specify the number.
Benghazi, Libya's second city and the cradle of the 2011 uprising that overthrew Kadhafi, was hit by years of violence targeting diplomatic offices and security forces after his fall.
An attack on the US consulate on September 11, 2012, killed US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
The last attack in ...

Car bomb 'kills three' at funeral in Libya's Benghazi

Gibraltar police have arrested the Indian captain and chief officer of a seized Iranian tanker suspected of breaching EU sanctions by shipping oil to Syria, a spokesman for the Royal Gibraltar Police said Thursday.
The two men, both Indian nationals, were arrested on Thursday afternoon but neither have been charged, the spokesman added.

Gibraltar police arrest captain, officer of detained Iran tanker

US President Donald Trump on Thursday accused China of backsliding on promises to increase purchases of American farm exports.
The president's latest salvo on Twitter comes the same week that US and Chinese trade officials had their first contact in months in an effort to revive negotiations that nearly collapsed in May.
Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met last month on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan, agreeing to cease further hostilities while the talks resumed.
"Mexico is doing great at the Border, but China is letting us down in that they have not been buying the agricultural products from our great Farmers that they said they would," Trump said Thursday on Twitter.
"Hopefully they will start soon!"
Following the Osaka summit, Trump announced that, in return for suspending a planned tariff increase on USD 300 billion in Chinese imports, Beijing had offered to buy "a tremendous amount of food and agriculture product."
Reducing America's soaring trade ..

China fails to buy agricultural goods as promised: Trump

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are planning to launch sweeping deportation raids this weekend as the Trump administration expands its crackdown on undocumented immigrants, the New York Times reported Thursday.
A senior administration immigration officials says that ICE has about one million names on a list of targets in the raids, which have been postponed for two weeks, partly due to resistance from inside ICE, according to the Time report.
The report says the move planned for Sunday will initially target some 2,000 members of undocumented migrant families in at least 10 cities.
ICE has already obtained removal orders from courts, allowing them to move quickly to expel the migrants, some of whom may have been in the United States for over a decade, building lives for their families.
Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said Wednesday that ICE has court-issued removal orders for around one million people, but acknowledged ...

US to launch raids on undocumented migrants Sunday: report

Simona Halep became the first Romanian woman to reach the Wimbledon final on Thursday when she defeated Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-3.
The 27-year-old seventh seed, who was French Open champion in 2018, will be playing in her fifth Grand Slam final.
"It's an amazing feeling but I am also excited and nervous. It is one of the best moments of my life," said Halep.
"The match was not easy, the games were long and went deep.
"I fought hard to win this match and I was strong mentally and physically and had the right tactics." Halep will face either seven-time champion Serena Williams or unseeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic for the title on Saturday.
Halep, who had knocked out new star, 15-year-old Coco Gauff in the last 16, lost in her previous semi-final appearance at Wimbledon to Eugenie Bouchard in 2014.  However, she said she was a different player now and had taken to grass.
"I have more experience, I don't give up anymore," se said.
"I plan to be the best version of ..

Halep overwhelms Svitolina to make Wimbledon history for Romania

A Palestinian militant was killed by Israeli fire near the border fence in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the enclave's Islamist rulers Hamas said, while Israel suggested its soldiers had fired in error.
Mahmoud al-Adham, 28, was shot by Israeli forces in northern Gaza, a statement from Hamas's armed wing said, claiming him as a member.
It said in a statement it would not let the death go "unpunished" and Israel "would bear the consequences of this criminal act."
In an initial statement, an Israeli army spokesman confirmed forces fired on two "armed suspects approaching the fence in the northern Gaza Strip." Hamas's armed wing has observation points close to the border fence.
But later in the day, the military signalled it had fired in error.
It said an initial inquiry showed that a Hamas security agent had arrived in the area "because of two Palestinians who were wandering" there.
The army said the initial inquiry showed soldiers misidentified the Hamas agent as "an armed terrorist and .

Israel says may have fired in error after Hamas militant killed

Eleven people drowned Thursday when their boat capsized on a river in central Niger, the governor of the region told AFP.
The accident happened near the town of Maradi, said governor Zakari Oumarou of the Maradi region near the border with Nigeria.
"Three or four passengers" of the boat were also reported missing, a local source added.
The Goulbi is a seasonal river that originates in Nigeria.
"In the rainy season, the Goulbi cuts off the roads, obliging inhabitants to take small boats to go from one place to another," a resident told AFP.
In June, the UN warned the Sahel desert country risks floods affecting as many as 170,000 people this rainy season, which lasts about three months.
In 2018, heavy rains were blamed for the deaths of 52 people and the destruction of 170,000 homes.
The waters also destroyed 8,000 hectares of crops, killed 33,000 head of cattle and damaging schools and drinking water wells.
The year before, 56 people died in flooding which affected some 206,000 people .

11 dead as boat capsizes in Niger

In Greenland, climate change isn't just a danger to ecosystems but also a threat to history, as global warming is affecting archeological remains, according to a study published Thursday.
There are more than 180,000 archaeological sites across the Arctic, some dating back thousands of years, and previously these were protected by the characteristics of the soil.
"Because the degradation rate is directly controlled by the soil temperature and moisture content, rising air temperatures and changes in precipitation during the frost-free season may lead to a loss of organic key elements such as archaeological wood, bone and ancient DNA," the report, published in the scientific journal Nature, stated.
The team behind the study, led by Jorgen Hollesen, has been examining seven different sites around the vast Arctic territory's capital Nuuk, since 2016.
In addition to organic elements, such as hair, feathers, shells and traces of flesh, some of the sites contain the ruins of Viking ...

AFP

AFP

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