Nearly 100 combatants were killed on Friday in clashes between fighters loyal to Syria's government, rebels and jihadists in northwestern Syria, a war monitor said.
Starting at dawn on Friday morning -- and after bombing by the regime -- fighting in northern Hama province killed 51 government loyalists and allied militiamen, and 45 among the rebels and jihadists, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The clashes continued in the afternoon, the Britain-based Observatory said.
Backed by its ally Moscow, Damascus has since late April intensified bombardment of much of Idlib province and the parts of neighbouring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia where Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) holds sway.
Fighting has meanwhile taken place on the ground in parts of these anti-regime areas, particularly in northern Hama.
Syria's official SANA news agency also reported bombardment on Friday.
"Units of the army today carried out massive bombing at dawn.... on positions of ..

Nearly 100 dead in northwest Syria fighting: Monitor

PTI Automatic

A Frenchman who killed his parents, wife and children after pretending to be a successful doctor for two decades in a case that inspired a book and films was released Friday after 26 years in jail and immediately moved into a monastery.
Jean-Claude Romand, 65, left the Saint-Maur prison near Bourges in central France and entered the nearby Benedictine monastery in Fontgombault where he is now expected to live.
"He was released last night," lawyer Jean-Louis Abad said on Friday.
A source close to the case, who asked not to be named, confirmed he had headed straight to the Fontgombault Abbey.
Romand's future place of residence has to be approved by the judiciary and it was not immediately clear what role he would play in the monastery.
One of France's most notorious killers, Romand murdered his parents, wife and two children in 1993 as they were about to learn about his double life.
He had spent nearly 20 years pretending he was a successful doctor and researcher working for the ...

Notorious French 'doctor' who killed family released to abbey

Togo will hold its first local elections in 32 years on Sunday -- during which one family has ruled the West African nation -- with some opposition parties taking part after boycotting last year's parliamentary polls.
Some 8,000 police and security forces will be deployed across the country as voters elect more than 1,500 local councillors for the first time in a generation.
The elections come two months after Togo's parliament approved a constitutional change allowing President Faure Gnassingbe to run two more times and potentially remain in post until 2030.
Gnassingbe took power in 2005 after succeeding his father Gnassingbe Eyadema, who seized control of the tiny country of 8 million in a coup in 1967, seven years after independence.
The local election vote was described as a hard-fought step forward by a spokesperson for one of the main opposition parties, the National Alliance for Change (ANC).
"The government has always refused to hold local elections, and today, with the ...

Togo holds its first local elections in over 30 years

Italy's data protection watchdog slammed Facebook Friday with a fine of one million euros (USD 1.1 million) for violating privacy laws over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The penalty was for "illegal actions committed in the 'Cambridge Analytica' case, the company that gained access to the data of 87 million users through an app for psychological tests," it said in a statement.
The social media network has been dogged by controversy in the wake of revelations that defunct political consultancy Cambridge Analytica used private data from tens of millions of Facebook users for political targeting.
The same consultancy worked on both the Leave campaign in the UK's Brexit referendum of 2016 and on Donald Trump's election campaign in the same year.
The privacy watchdog said the fine related to the download of the Thisisyourdigitallife app by 57 Italians via the Facebook login, which saw data gathered on a further 214,077 Italian users without their consent.
The data in this case was not ..

Italy fines Facebook over Cambridge Analytica case

Germany experienced temperatures more than four degrees higher in June than the average during an international reference period for tracking climate change, the national weather service said Friday.
The German Weather Service based in Offenbach near Frankfurt said that June temperatures in the EU's most populous country averaged 19.8 degrees Celsius (67.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
"That was 4.4 degrees higher than the average during the internationally recognised reference period of 1961 to 1990," it said in a statement.
Compared to the warmer period of 1981 to 2010, June 2019 was 4.0 degrees warmer.
"The consistently summery temperatures, which reached midsummer levels at the end of the month, were 0.4 degrees higher than the previous record in 2003 for the warmest June since the start of record keeping in 1881."
Europe is sweltering in an early summer heatwave that has already caused several deaths across the continent, mainly among the elderly.

Germany swelters in record June temperatures

France's highest appeals court said Friday that the life support mechanisms keeping a severely brain-damaged man alive can be turned off "from now", a lawyer for his wife said, in the latest legal twist in a landmark right-to-die case.
Vincent Lambert, 42, has been in a vegetative state since a 2008 traffic accident, with the question of whether to continue keeping him alive artificially bitterly dividing his family and the nation.
"This definitely ends the matter," said Patrice Spinosi, legal counsel for Lambert's wife Rachel, who believes the most humane course of action is to let her husband die.
"There is no other recourse possible because there are no more judges to appeal to," he said.
The ruling reverses a decision by another Paris court which last month ordered that Lambert's feeding tubes be reinserted, just hours after doctors began switching off life support.
The Cour de Cassation did not consider the arguments for or against keeping Lambert alive, but only the question of .

Top French court says life support can be ended in landmark right-to-die case: Lawyer

The temperature in France surpassed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time on record on Friday as Europe sweltered in an early summer heatwave that has caused several deaths.
With France, Spain, Italy and parts of central Europe particularly badly hit by the high temperatures, officials pleaded with people to take common sense precautions.
France's new record temperature of 45.1 degrees Celsius was registered in Villevieille, a village in the southern department of Gard near Montpellier, the same area where a previous high of 44.1 degrees Celsius was set in August 2003, Meteo-France told AFP.
Records began at the turn of the 20th century.
The state forecaster said it was likely the record could be beaten again on Friday as it was still relatively early in the day.
Earlier the mercury rose above 44 degrees C in the southeastern town of Carpentras. The town was deserted, with cafe owners contemplating empty terraces, which would normally be packed.
"We have never 

Heat tops 45 deg C in France as deadly heatwave roasts Europe

A Norwegian man was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday for the sexual abuse, including rape, of several hundred underage boys in what was described as the largest such case in the country's history.
For several years the now 27-year-old posed as a young girl online, mainly calling himself Sandra, and used deception and threats to obtain sexual videos from some 460 boys, many under the age of 16.
However the charges against him, which included sexual abuse and rape, only concerned 270 of the victims.
The man, who was also a football referee, impersonated a young girl and promised sweets, smart phones, naked photos or sexual favours to lure his victims to send him videos -- and in a few cases to meet him -- and then demanded more by threatening to publish the videos.
The man admitted to some of the charges against him when he appeared before the Nedre Romerike District Court in the country's southeast.
The sentence is among the tougher handed out for sexual abuse in the ...

Norwegian man sentenced to 16 years for abusing hundreds of boys

Ethiopia's security forces have arrested more than 250 people in a sweeping crackdown following a failed suspected coup attempt and the assassination of five high-ranking officials, a government taskforce said Thursday.
The country has been on high alert since the attacks at the weekend in the capital Addis Ababa and northern Amhara state left the national army chief, a retired general and three senior regional officials dead.
The violence has underscored the pressure on Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who has pursued democratic and economic reforms that critics say have left the country divided and wrecked by ethnic fighting.
A taskforce commissioned to probe what the government has called an attempted coup by a renegade security chief said the attackers conspired to kill a "wide array of government officials".
The Security and Justice Taskforce "has arrested 212 suspects in Amhara region and 43 suspects in Addis Ababa," it said in a statement issued late Thursday.
"Destructive forces have 

More than 250 arrested after Ethiopia coup bid: Officials

Hanoi said it is committed to "freedom and fairness" in its trade ties with the United States, after President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on goods from Vietnam, a major exporter to America.
Vietnam has seen a leap in exports to the US this year as the US-China trade war simmers, prompting businesses to migrate from China to safer, and cheaper, manufacturing hubs like Vietnam.
Trump has already escalated tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, and this week singled out Vietnam as "the single worst abuser of everybody" threatening to slap levies on their exports too.
But on Friday Vietnam tried to row back tensions, saying it is committed to "economic trade, and investment relations in the direction of freedom and fairness, on the basis of mutual benefits", according to a statement from the foreign ministry.
It added that it has made "great efforts to improve the trade balance between the two countries", which hit nearly $40 billion last year, compared to China's .

Vietnam says committed to 'free and fair' trade after Trump tariff threat

West Indies head coach Floyd Reifer has urged his team to play for pride as they start to rebuild for the future after a disappointing World Cup campaign.
Jason Holder's men came into the tournament tipped as a potential surprise package, especially after scoring 421 in a warm-up victory over New Zealand.
But an opening win over Pakistan at Trent Bridge has been their only victory so far in seven matches.
India were the latest team to beat the two-time champions, easing to a 125-run win at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Reifer and Holder held an impromptu team meeting for 90 minutes after the defeat and the head coach, who replaced Richard Pybus on the eve of the tournament, wants to see a response against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in their final matches.
"We had some frank discussions about the World Cup that we've had and we'll try to finish the tournament as a strong unit now," he said.
"We are still playing for pride, we know that ... people back home in the Caribbean are backing us ...

West Indies must play for pride at World Cup, says coach

AC Milan confirmed on Friday that they have accepted a voluntary ban from European football for next season over breaches of financial fair play rules.
European football's governing body UEFA had accused the club of violating financial fair play (FFP) regulations over the past three seasons and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday ruled in their favour.
"AC Milan is excluded from participating in UEFA club competitions of the sporting season 2019/2020 as a consequence of the breach of its FFP break-even obligations" for the past three seasons, the court ruled.
UEFA initially found the Italian giants, who had qualified for the Europa League next season, guilty in June last year of violating financial rules which broadly limit club expenditure to club income in any given year.
However, CAS referred the matter back to UEFA judging that an European ban was disproportionate.
Ultimately UEFA action against the club was suspended pending the outcome of arbitration, resulting in 

AC Milan accept European ban for financial fair play violations

Demonstrators formed a human chain to symbolically lock politicians in the German parliament building in Berlin Friday, as calls by schoolchildren for climate action continued into the capital's summer holiday.
The group stretched a bolt of red cloth from hand to hand while holding signs with messages like "2038 is too late" -- a reference to the government's planned date for ending electricity generation from coal.
"While the politicians are serving their final minutes before the summer holiday, we're outside saying: People who make no climate policy don't deserve a break!" the "Fridays for Future" movement tweeted.
"That's why we're forming a human chain and demanding that you continue sitting" in the chamber, the account added.
Launched by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, "Fridays for Future" has seen pupils "strike" against school teaching each Friday for months across Europe.
Around 500 people joined a march to the Reichstag parliament building from the Invalidenpark square, ...

Climate activists form human chain around German parliament

British Prime Minister Theresa May told Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday that normal relations will not be restored until Moscow ends its "irresponsible and destabilising" activity, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
The comments came as May met Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan's Osaka, their first formal face-to-face since the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal last year.
"She told the president that there cannot be a normalisation of our bilateral relationship until Russia stops the irresponsible and destabilising activity that threatens the UK and its allies -- including hostile interventions in other countries, disinformation and cyber attacks," the spokesperson said.
May also told Putin that Britain "has irrefutable evidence that Russia was behind the attack" on the former spy.
"The prime minister underlined that we remain open to a different relationship, but for that to happen the Russian government must choose a different path." London has made ...

May to Putin: Stop 'destabilising' UK, allies

For decades it was a dream of West African finance ministers: ushering in a regional single currency to boost trade and growth.
But some economists say plans to launch "the eco" remain unrealistic and potentially disastrous for the region's economies.
Almost 30 years since the goal was first sketched out, the Economic Community of West African States, better known as ECOWAS, will meet in Abuja on Saturday to accelerate plans for what they see as an African version of the euro, the European Union's single currency that was forged out of national units over two decades ago.
The African 15-nation bloc had previously committed to creating a common currency, which supporters argue would significantly boost cross border trade in West Africa, by 2020.
ECOWAS leaders have already acknowledged that target date is unlikely to be met but have vowed to push on, while accepting there are numerous stumbling blocks, including a mega-country-sized one: Nigeria.
"It is difficult to see Nigeria agree ..

West African 'single currency' dream gives economists nightmares

The Vatican on Friday called on Beijing to stop putting pressure on worshippers who choose to belong to China's unofficial underground church loyal to the Vatican.
China's roughly 12 million Catholics are divided between a government-run association, whose clergy are chosen by the atheist Communist Party, and an unofficial underground church loyal to the Vatican.
"The Holy See asks that no intimidatory pressures be applied to the 'non-official' Catholic communities, as, unfortunately, has already happened," the Vatican said in a statement Friday.
Beijing and the Vatican severed diplomatic relations in 1951.  Although ties have improved as China's Catholic population grows and the Vatican intensifies efforts to restore relations, tensions remain.
The law in China requires priests and bishops not only register but also align with the country's official church, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
"Priests are asked to subscribe to texts which are incompatible with the doctrine of 

Vatican urges China not to intimidate underground Catholics

A bomb attack on an elite Philippine army unit left three soldiers and two civilians dead in the southern Philippines on Friday, military spokesmen and witnesses told AFP.
The authorities said Abu Sayyaf militants could be behind the midday blast, which also left nine other soldiers wounded on the island of Jolo, a stronghold of Islamic State-linked gunmen.
"We're not discounting the possibility that it's the handiwork of Abu Sayyaf Group," regional military spokesman Major Arvin Arcinas told reporters after the attack on the special counter-terrorism unit's temporary headquarters.
The Philippines has renewed its campaign against the militants on Jolo this year after at least one suspected suicide bomber attacked the island's Roman Catholic cathedral in January, killing 21 people.
Friday's blast blew the roof off the sentry gate of the military camp and blackened its concrete walls, according to photographs of the aftermath of the attack on local television.
Three members of the ...

Three soldiers, two civilians killed in southern Philippines attack

The temperature in France on Friday surpassed 45 degrees Celsius for the first time as Europe wilted in a major heatwave, state weather forecaster Meteo-France said.
The record was set in the village of Villevieille in the southern department of Gard, which registered a high of 45.1 degrees Celsius.
The previous record stood at 44.1 degrees Celsius in the same area during the notorious August 2003 heatwave, Meteo-France told AFP.

Heat tops 45C in France for first time: weather service

OPEC is on red alert over escalating US-Iran tensions that have fuelled strong oil-price gains -- but the cartel and other crude-producing nations are unlikely to end output cuts at a meeting Tuesday, traders say.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a cartel of 14 countries pumping one third of the world's oil, is acutely aware that a faltering global economy is sapping growth in crude demand, helping to offset fears of potential supply disruptions in the Middle East.
Ministers from OPEC's member-nations meet in Vienna on Monday, before gathering a day later for the OPEC+, a group of 24 oil-producing countries that includes major crude supplier Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan, insisted that oil producers would seek in Vienna to safeguard output "stability".
"We believe that our production stabilisation agreements... have had a positive effect," Putin told the Financial Times in remarks published ...

OPEC faces output balancing act over US-Iran crisis

UK leadership race frontrunner Boris Johnson voiced pessimism Friday about mending ties with Russia as long as President Vladimir Putin remains in power.
The former foreign minister's comments came as outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May told Putin on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Japan that relations will not be restored until Moscow ends its "irresponsible and destabilising" activity.
Contacts between Moscow and London have been frozen since former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was poisoned with a nerve agent in England last year.
Reacting to remarks about the supposed death of liberal values made by Putin in a Financial Times interview published on the eve of the G20 summit, Johnson dismissed the Russian leader's view as "totally wrong".
"Putin is not Russia," he said.
"There is a young generation of Russians who are going to want to listen to a new message, and who are going to want to engage in a different way." He spoke in an address to a group of Conservatives who will be voting 

UK's Johnson downbeat on ties with Russia under Putin

The US and Japan will "speed up" talks on a trade agreement, Japan's economy minister pledged Friday, as Washington pushes Tokyo for a "more fair" trade relationship.
President Donald Trump, while touting his close ties with Japan, has repeatedly criticised Tokyo for what he views as a trade imbalance, with the issue coming up during his bilateral talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G20 Friday.
"During the Japan-US summit, the two leaders agreed to speed up trade negotiations so that they can achieve results swiftly. Based on that, we held a ministerial meeting in the afternoon," Japan Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said after talks with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
The two negotiators agreed to "vigorously push for meetings of working-level and high-level officials to move negotiations forward", Motegi told reporters.
The meetings will begin in early July to be followed by another round of ministerial-level talks, he added.
"Discussions have 

AFP

AFP

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