Guardian drone

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Thursday it had shot down a US "spy drone" over its territory after it violated Iranian airspace, according to Iranian state television

Iran says it has shot down US 'spy' drone over its territory: Report

Press Trust of India

President Donald Trump's pick for ambassador to the United Nations promised Wednesday to allow climate diplomacy to move forward despite her family's fortune in coal.
Kelly Craft, at a Senate hearing to confirm her for the high-profile post that has been vacant for nearly half a year, said she would not participate personally in discussions at the United Nations in which coal is discussed.
"I will give you my commitment that where coal is part of the conversation within climate change at the UN, I will recuse myself," she told Democratic Senator Ed Markey, a leading environmentalist.
"I understand that this is an issue that needs to be addressed. I also understand that fossil fuels has played a part in climate change," she said.
But she showed no daylight with Trump on his decision to pull the United States out of the UN-backed Paris climate accord, which covers virtually every other country, saying: "We don't have to be part of an agreement to be leaders."
She also stopped short of ..

Trump UN choice to step back from some climate talks

PTI Automatic

Premier Li Keqiang vowed Thursday to further open up China's economy during a meeting with CEOs of top global companies amid simmering trade tensions with the United States.
Washington and other trade partners have long complained about the uneven playing field foreign companies encounter in China, theft of intellectual property and entry barriers that allow state-backed companies to dominate crucial sectors of the economy.
During the meeting in Beijing with heads of 19 multinational companies, Li pledged to make China more attractive to foreign investors.
"We welcome more and more foreign investment to come to China," Li told the group representing the Global CEO Council.
"We will also relax (restrictions on) access to even more fields to create a market-oriented, law-based internationalised business environment." Among the industry leaders attending the meeting at Beijing's opulent Great Hall of the People were Volkswagen head Herbert Diess, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Daimler's Ola ..

China tells top global CEOs it will 'further open up'

Hong Kong student groups were preparing to mobilise support for another major demonstration, a union leader said, as a Thursday deadline approached for the pro-Beijing government to respond to demands of protesters who have shaken the city with massive rallies.
Millions have marched this month to oppose a proposed law that would have allowed extraditions to the Chinese mainland, but the huge protest movement has morphed into a larger rebuke of Hong Kong's administration.
Under-fire chief executive Carrie Lam has apologised and suspended the controversial bill, but that has failed to quell the opposition, with protesters demanding she step down and completely withdraw the legislation.
A network of students at universities and higher education institutions is preparing to mobilise based on a 5:00 pm (0900 GMT) Thursday deadline circulating online for several demands to be met, said So Tsun Fung, president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Students Union.
In addition to Lam's 

Hong Kong protesters threaten more demos if demands not met

Former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei pleaded guilty Thursday to accepting USD 2.1 million in bribes as he stood trial in China, state media said.
China's former vice minister of public security "showed repentance" during the hearing at the Tianjin No.1 Intermediate People's Court in eastern China, said Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily.
The verdict will be announced at a "select date or time", it said.

China's former Interpol chief pleads guilty to bribery

US President Donald Trump has been briefed about a missile strike on Saudi Arabia, the White House said Thursday, after Yemeni rebels claimed an attack on a power station in the kingdom's south.
"The president has been briefed on the reports of a missile strike in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
"We are closely monitoring the situation and continuing to consult with our partners and allies." There was no immediate confirmation of the attack from Saudi authorities.
Late Wednesday, Yemen's Iran-aligned Huthi rebels said they struck a power station in southern Jizan province, according to the group's Al-Masirah TV.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Saudi-led military coalition fighting the rebels said a Huthi drone was intercepted over Yemeni airspace.
The rebels, who have faced persistent coalition bombing since March 2015 which has exacted a heavy civilian death toll, have stepped up missile and drone attacks across the border in recent ...

Trump briefed on missile strike in Saudi Arabia: White House

A Turkish court is set to hand down verdicts Thursday to more than 220 suspects in one of the biggest trials relating to the 2016 failed overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The trial of 224 suspects including more than two dozen former generals began in May 2017 in the country's largest courtroom inside a prison complex in Sincan, Ankara.
The space was purpose-built to hear coup-related trials and has room for 1,558 people.
Among the suspects is US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey accuses of ordering the attempted putsch which left hundreds dead and thousands more injured.
Gulen strongly denies the claims. Turkey has failed to secure his extradition.
The charges against the main suspects include "violating the constitution", "using coercion and violence in an attempt to overthrow" parliament and the Turkish government, "martyring 250 citizens" and "attempting to kill 2,735 citizens".
The prosecutor last month sought 252 aggravated -- without parole -- life ...

Verdict expected in mass Turkey trial of 'coup ringleaders'

The clangor of bells in the air, Myanmar children race home from school on recycled bikes shipped from Singapore and Malaysia, donated to give them easier access to education in a nation where more than half live in poverty.
Thae Su Wai will no longer need to trudge 10 kilometres (six miles) for two hours to and from lessons, she told AFP, beaming.
"I'll have more time to study and play with friends," she said, as she excitedly wheels away her new bicycle at Nhaw Kone Village school near Yangon.
The 11-year-old is among the first 200 students to receive bicycles as part of "Lesswalk", the brainchild of Mandalay entrepreneur Mike Than Tun Win.
He grew up and was educated in Singapore before returning home eight years ago with a business degree.
"I saw students walking for many hours to get to school and I felt really sorry for them," the 33-year-old told AFP.
UNICEF estimates 55 percent of children in Myanmar live in poverty, while half of 17-year-olds enter adulthood with little or no 

Ride on time: Recycled bikes get Myanmar kids to school

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Thursday it had shot down a US "spy drone" over its territory after it violated Iranian airspace, according to Iranian state television.
"The US-made Global Hawk surveillance drone was brought down by its Air Force" in the country's southern coastal province of Hormozgan, the Revolutionary Guard added, according to the English-language Press TV.
State television did not provide pictures of the drone.
The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the United States.
The US has accused Iran of being behind a series of operations against oil tankers in highly sensitive Gulf waters.
Tehran has denied involvement and instead suggested Washington could be the author of the attacks, using the operation to justify force against Iran.
Hormozgan borders the Strait of Hormuz, where the tanker attacks took place.

Iran says has shot down US drone over its territory: state TV

Japan on Thursday flatly rejected as "unacceptable" a South Korean proposal to set up a joint fund to compensate wartime forced labourers, a bitter dispute that has bogged down bilateral ties.
The proposed fund would not solve the issue, the top government spokesman told a regular press conference in Tokyo.
"The South Korean proposal is utterly unacceptable," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
"We will continue to urge South Korea to agree to arbitration," he added.  Relations between the two US allies have been increasingly strained by a series of rulings from South Korean courts ordering Japanese firms that used wartime forced labour to compensate victims.
Japan's government and the firms involved have rejected the rulings, with Tokyo saying the issue was settled when the two countries normalised relations.
Last month, Tokyo proposed the issue be put to arbitration under the terms of an agreement signed by the two countries in 1965, when ties were normalised.
The 

Japan rejects S. Korea deal over wartime forced labour

Lewis Hamilton will seek to stretch his lead and extend Mercedes unbeaten run to 10 races with a victory unaided by fortune at this weekend's French Grand Prix.
The defending five-time drivers' champion, a lucky winner in Canada two weeks ago when Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was controversially penalised, won at the remote sun-baked Le Castellet track last year and is hunting his sixth win this year and the 79th of his career.
If he, or team-mate Valtteri Bottas, succeeds, it will mean the Silver Arrows have won all eight contests this year after finishing last season with two triumphs.
But after a testing weekend in Montreal, where four-time champion Vettel claimed pole position and finished the race first 'on the road', Hamilton and Mercedes are wary of any signs of complacency.
Team chief Toto Wolff admitted: "Canada was something of a wake-up call for us.  "After a run of very good reliability over the opening six races, we experienced a number of problems almost all of which were .

Hamilton seeks to stretch Mercedes unbeaten run, unaided

French veteran Jo-Wilfried Tsonga believes he has nothing to lose against Roger Federer as he continues along the comeback trail in the second round of the ATP tournament in Halle this Thursday.
Tsonga, 34, missed seven months of last season due to knee surgery, but has shown solid form this month upon his return to grass court tennis for the first time since 2017.
After reaching the second round in Stuttgart last week, the Frenchman beat compatriot Benoit Paire in straight sets in Halle on Tuesday to set up a second round fixture with Federer on Thursday.
"It is always special to play Federer, I will give everything I've got," Tsonga told AFP.
"There is less pressure than usual, because there is no shame in losing to Roger Federer. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain."
The Frenchman is one of the few players who can boast of a perfect record on grass against eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer.
The two have met only once on the surface, a gruelling battle at Wimbledon ..

'Nothing to lose' - Tsonga upbeat ahead of Federer clash

Captain Faf du Plessis was left contemplating the ruins of another World Cup campaign on the ground where South Africa experienced their greatest heartache in the competition 20 years ago.
The Proteas' hopes of reaching the semi-finals in England and Wales are all but over after a four-wicket defeat by New Zealand on Wednesday.
One minor consolation is that the recriminations from Wednesday's reverse at Edgbaston are unlikely to be as great as those at Warwickshire's headquarters 20 years ago when a disastrous run-out saw them tie with Australia and miss out on the final due to an inferior net run rate.
South Africa are still alive at the World Cup but with just one win from six matches it would take an extraordinary combination of results to see them into the semi-finals from a 10-team round-robin group phase.
On Wednesday, South Africa fought hard to get to 241 for six on a difficult pitch after losing the toss.
And it so very nearly proved enough, with New Zealand needing a ...

South Africa lick wounds after more World Cup agony

Novak Djokovic shrugged off Nick Kyrgios's characterisation of him as "cringeworthy" and "having an obsession with wanting to be liked" by insisting the firebrand Australian is a "good guy".
Kyrgios, more often in the headlines for what he says off the court than what he achieves on it, described world number one Djokovic as desperate to be held in the same high esteem as Roger Federer.
"I feel he wants to be liked so much that I just can't stand him. This celebration thing (Djokovic's 'cup of love' gesture to the crowd) is so cringeworthy," Kyrgios told NCR Tennis Podcast.
"No matter how many Grand Slams he wins, he will never be the greatest to me.  "For me, Federer will always be the greatest of all time."
Djokovic, however, said Kyrgios's remarks "don't keep him awake at night".
"I think that basically he is a good guy. I don't know why he said all those things. Does he want to attract attention, does he want to be different?," Djokovic told reporters in Belgrade ahead of ...

'Kyrgios good guy even if no respect for me,' says Djokovic

Joe Root says the "ridiculous" way England captain Eoin Morgan led from the front with a record-breaking innings against Afghanistan is inspiring for the World Cup hosts.
Morgan hit an astonishing 17 sixes -- the most in a one-day international innings -- during the course of a fearsome 148 as England thrashed the World Cup outsiders by 150 runs in a pool match at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Test skipper Root, who has weighed in with a considerable 367 runs at 91.75 so far during the tournament, said it was significant that Morgan, whose dynamic leadership has revived England's white-ball fortunes, had rewritten the record books.
"It was phenomenal, ridiculous really," said Root. "It's not even like it is a small ground.
"It's a really good sign for the group having the captain in that sort of form, playing as well as that. I thought his game was impeccable. It gives the dressing room a huge amount of confidence."
"For it to happen now, at the business end of things when you want to be ..

England's Root relishing 'ridiculous' Morgan World Cup fireworks

A Lionel Messi penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw for Argentina against Paraguay as the two-time world champions once again struggled at the Copa America.
Messi swept in a 57th-minute spot-kick at Belo Horizonte's Mineirao Stadium to cancel out a first-half opener from Paraguay's Richard Sanchez.
Argentina also had goalkeeper Franco Armani to thank for a second half penalty save that prevented Paraguay from taking a 2-1 lead in the Group B battle.
The draw left Argentina with one point from two games and on the bottom of the table with one game remaining.
However with the two best third placed teams advancing to the quarter-finals, Argentina can still reach the last eight with a decisive win over Qatar in their final group game.
The South American giants will need to raise their game however to advance any further after another disjointed performance which followed their opening defeat to Colombia on Saturday.
A lacklustre opening saw both sides struggle to generate any sort of attacking ...

Messi rescues Argentina as Paraguay pay penalty

Florencia Bonsegundo's twice-taken penalty completed Argentina's dramatic fightback against Scotland on Wednesday and also opened the door at the Women's World Cup for four winless teams who play on Thursday.
Also in Group D, England and Japan were already through to the last 16 before meeting in Nice, where two goals by Ellen White secured a 2-0 victory and first place with a maximum nine points.
Argentina fought back from three down to draw 3-3 in Paris to eliminate the Scots as they climbed to third. But they only have two points and are weakly placed in the battle to finish as one of the four best third-place teams.
To advance, the Argentines need an unlikely pair of draws in Thursday's final set of group games.
England will head to Valenciennes in northern France for a last-16 tie on Sunday against a third-placed side with China, Cameroon, New Zealand, Chile and even Thailand all potential opponents.
- High stakes -
===============
The permutations are less complicated for Japan, 

Argentina break Scots hearts but give Cameroon, Chile and NZ hope

Brooks Koepka isn't one to sit still as the four-time major champion returns to the Travelers Championship less than a week after falling just short of winning a third straight US Open.
World number one Koepka finished three strokes shy of fellow American Gary Woodland who claimed his first major championship at Pebble Beach on Sunday.
Koepka, who is seeking to win his seventh PGA Tour title, joins defending champion Bubba Watson, former back-to-back winner Phil Mickelson, and rising star Viktor Hovland in the field for the $1.2 million event that begins Thursday in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Koepka says keeping busy is his way of staying sharp on the Tour and even though he was in contention in Pebble Beach he's not as tired as he was last year when he won his second consecutive Open.
"Last year I don't even think I knew where I was," he said. "It was all kind of a whirlwind.
"It's a lot different when you win and you're trying to play the week after. It's a bit hectic, chaotic.
"This ...

World number one Koepka says success comes from keeping calm

President Xi Jinping arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday on a historic trip to reboot a troubled alliance, as he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un face their own challenges with US President Donald Trump.
Xi is the first Chinese president to visit North Korea in 14 years, after relations between the Cold War era allies deteriorated over Pyongyang's nuclear provocations and Beijing's subsequent backing of UN sanctions.
Xi and Kim have been working to repair ties, with the young North Korean leader visiting his older ally four times in China in the past year and Beijing calling for sanctions to be relaxed.
But the Chinese leader waited to reciprocate the visit, biding his time to see how nuclear talks between Kim and Trump would play out before deciding to travel to Pyongyang, according to analysts.
Xi, who will pay a two-day state visit, arrived in North Korea late Thursday morning, China's CCTV said.
He is visiting with his wife Peng Liyuan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and other ...

Xi arrives in North Korea to meet Kim ahead of Trump talks

A Syrian refugee in the US was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of planning an attack against a Pennsylvania church in the name of the Islamic State group, the Justice Department said.
Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, 21, who arrived in the country as a refugee from Syria in August 2016, intended to target a church in the North Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh, assistant attorney general John Demers and Pittsburgh federal prosecutor Scott Brady said in a statement.
"Court documents show Mustafa Alowemer planned to attack a church in the name of ISIS, which could have killed or injured many people," Michael McGarrity, of the FBI's counter-terrorism division, said in the statement.
"The FBI takes threats to churches and other religious institutions extremely seriously and will use all our resources to stop potential terrorist attacks against them," he said.
The suspect allegedly passed on documents about the construction and the use of explosives to a man he believed to be an IS group ...

Syrian refugee in US arrested for plotting church attack

Xi Jinping arrived in Pyongyang Thursday for a two-day state visit, the first by a Chinese president in 14 years, according to Chinese state media.
Xi, who is accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other officials, landed at 11:40 am local time (0240 GMT), according to China's CCTV broadcaster.

AFP

AFP

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