Iran's foreign ministry on Friday dismissed the US accusation that it was behind the attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman as "baseless".
Responding to the "baseless accusations" of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi insisted that Iran had come to "help" the ships in distress and "saved" their crew as quick as possible, according to a statement published on his Telegram channel.

Iran denies 'baseless' US accusation of being behind Gulf of Oman attacks: foreign ministry

PTI Automatic

Tens of thousands of security personnel fanned out across Jakarta Friday as a court heard a defeated presidential challenger's claim that Indonesia's 2019 election was rigged -- allegations that spawned deadly rioting last month.
Ex-general Prabowo Subianto lodged an appeal that claimed his loss to incumbent leader Joko Widodo on April 17 was the result of massive electoral fraud and irregularities in the vote counting.  Indonesia's election commission has said Widodo won 55.5 percent of votes in the world's largest Muslim-majority country against Subianto's 44.5 percent.
Election officials and analysts have discounted Subianto's rampant cheating claims, and he lost a similar court battle in 2014 when Widodo defeated him.
But peaceful protests against the official result erupted into two nights of street battles between police and rioters in Jakarta last month, leaving eight people dead and hundreds injured in the capital's worst violence in years.
On Friday, the constitutional court .

Huge security operation as Indonesia court hears poll rigging claims

England captain Eoin Morgan knows better than most the emotions Jofra Archer will experience when the fast bowler plays against his native West Indies for the first time.
Dublin-born batsman Morgan, who switched allegiance from Ireland to England a decade ago, is set to lead the tournament hosts against the Caribbean side in a World Cup group match in Southampton on Friday.
Barring a late injury, Morgan's team will include Barbados-born quick Archer, who only qualified for England earlier this year but whose ability to bowl at speeds of up to 95 mph now makes him a central figure as they chase a first 50-over World Cup title.
Archer, whose father is English, could have been playing for the West Indies had he not been overlooked for the Under-19 World Cup four years ago.
That fateful decision was to spark a chain of events that saw Archer joining Sussex and then begin the process of qualifying to play international cricket for England.
Now he will be be up against plenty of familiar ...

Morgan knows what Archer's going through ahead of West Indies reunion

Star forward Neymar's injury absence changes nothing for Brazil at the Copa America, midfielder Casemiro said on Thursday, insisting that the hosts must triumph come what may.
Neymar will miss the South American showpiece after injuring ankle ligaments last week in the Selecao's penultimate warm-up friendly.
His injury came as the Paris Saint-Germain forward faced accusations from a Brazilian model that he sexually assaulted her in a hotel in the French capital.
"Regardless of the competition we're in, Brazil are favorites and must win," Casemiro said ahead of Friday's tournament opener against Bolivia in Sao Paulo.
"Without a doubt, even without Neymar -- Brazil's main star -- we're still very strong," the Real Madrid player added.
Brazil are aiming for a ninth Copa America success and have claimed victory on all four previous occasions as hosts: in 1919, 1922, 1949 and 1989.
But they haven't lifted the trophy since 2007 when winning for a fourth time in five editions from 1997.
"We .

Favorites Brazil must win even without Neymar, says Casemiro

EU finance ministers agreed on the broad outlines of a eurozone budget early Friday, France's finance minister said, a key reform pushed by Paris that was scaled back amid deep resistance by the Netherlands.
"We did tonight what we had set out to do: we've created a genuine eurozone budget," Bruno Le Maire said after more than 12 hours of talks.
"For the first time, we have created an operational budget that will help eurozone countries to converge and become more competitive. It's a breakthrough," he told AFP.
"For the first time, we will start thinking about the future as a coherent bloc and coordinating our economic policies," he added.
The spokesman for the President of the Eurogroup Mario Centeno in a tweet welcomed the deal reached by the ministers adding the details would be announced at a press conference later on Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron had championed the hard won budget, seen by many as one of the missing links in the single currency almost a decade after ...

EU ministers agree to Macron-backed eurozone budget: minister

The man accused of shooting dead 51 Muslim worshippers in the Christchurch mosque attacks in March smiled Friday as his lawyers entered not guilty pleas to multiple murder and terrorism charges.
Brenton Tarrant's barrister told Christchurch High Court his client was pleading not guilty to all charges, prompting anger from survivors and relatives of those killed in the March 15 attacks.  The self-proclaimed white supremacist appeared in court via audio-visual link from a maximum-security prison in Auckland for the brief hearing.
Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian national, was committed to stand trial next year on 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and engaging in a terrorist act.
His smiling demeanour enraged survivors still reeling from the worst massacre in modern New Zealand history, who had packed the courthouse's public gallery for a glimpse of the accused.
"It just shows he's an animal," Mustafa Boztas, who was wounded in the thigh, told AFP outside the court.
"I feel ...

Anger as Christchurch mosque accused pleads not guilty

Juventus are ready to name Maurizio Sarri as their new coach on Friday after agreeing a compensation deal with Chelsea, Italian media reported.
Sky Sport Italia claimed that a sum of 3.5 million euros has been agreed with the money earmarked for the English Premier League club to use to bring former player Frank Lampard into the Stamford Bridge hot-seat from second-tier Derby County.
Sarri will be free to sign a three-year deal with Italian champions Juventus, said the reports.
Sarri has been an uncomfortable fit with fans at Stamford Bridge and despite winning the Europa League and finishing third in the Premier League, there is a perception the chain-smoking coach is unwilling to adapt tactics when things go wrong.
He had been widely linked with Juventus, who are seeking a successor to Massimiliano Allegri.
Sarri succeeded Antonio Conte as Chelsea manager last summer after spending three years at Napoli.
The 60-year-old enjoyed a tremendous start at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea went ..

Juventus to name Sarri as new coach on Friday - reports

World number five Alexander Zverev made a poor start to the grass-court season as he was dumped out of the Stuttgart ATP event by fellow German Dustin Brown.
The top seed, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the French Open quarter-finals last week, was beaten 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 by the 170th-ranked Brown.
The 34-year-old Brown, who famously knocked out Rafael Nadal in the second round of Wimbledon four years ago, saved 13 of 14 break points as he claimed only his fifth-ever win over a top-10 player.
Zverev, 22, has never won an ATP title on grass, while Brown will face Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime in his first top-level quarter-final since February 2017.
"I am very, very happy," Brown told www.atptour.com.
"I didn't have a good grass-court swing last year and just wanted to come and play very good tennis. Stuttgart is a little bit at altitude and I think that helped my game.
"I've won three very good matches, two in qualifying and one against John Millman. The court played a ...

Zverev stunned by Brown in grass-court opener

Diego Maradona has resigned as coach of Mexican second-division club Dorados for health reasons, his lawyer said Thursday, after nine tumultuous months in the job for the Argentine football legend.
Maradona, 58, "has decided not to continue in his position as manager of Dorados. Under his doctors' advice, he will be devoting time to his health and will undergo two operations: for his shoulder and his knee," lawyer Matias Morla wrote on Twitter.
"We thank the entire Dorados family and will continue the dream together in the future," he added.
Maradona took the coaching job at Dorados, who are based in the western state of Sinaloa, in September 2018 -- amusing skeptics who questioned why the 1986 World Cup champion, who has publicly battled various addictions, would move to a place better known for drug cartels than football.
But he answered his critics by coaching the struggling club to back-to-back finals appearances that brought them tantalizingly close -- but not quite -- to their ..

Maradona leaves Mexican club Dorados

Brazilian police questioned Neymar for five hours on Thursday over allegations he raped a woman he met through social media in a Paris hotel last month -- charges he has denied.
"The truth appears sooner or later," the world's most expensive footballer, who walked on crutches after injuring his right ankle in a pre-Copa America friendly against Qatar last week that forced him out of South America's showcase tournament, told reporters.
The footballer, aged 27, arrived at the police station shortly before 4:00 pm local time (1900 GMT) and left at around 9:00 pm.
Neymar's appearance comes after Brazilian police said Thursday they had filed a defamation suit against his rape accuser for insinuating the force was corrupt.
During an interview with television channel SBT this week, Najila Trindade said: "The police are bought, aren't they? Or am I crazy?", in response to questions over the police investigation of an alleged theft of a tablet device from her home that contained a short video .

Brazil police question Neymar over alleged rape

Teenage sensation Takefusa Kubo is poised to be snapped up by Spanish giants Real Madrid, Japanese media reported on Friday.
The FC Tokyo forward, who recently made his full Japan debut and is dubbed the "Japanese Messi", has also been linked with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and English champions Manchester City.
Contacted by AFP, FC Tokyo declined to comment, but Kubo's likely destination now looks to be Madrid, where he will start at Real's feeder club, according to widespread reports.
Kubo, 18, earned his high-profile nickname after being invited to Barcelona's youth academy as a nine-year-old.
Barcelona have kept tabs on the player since, but Real Madrid now look to be the front-runners to sign Kubo, whose dribbling skills made him a YouTube hit as a small boy.
Los Blancos have offered Kubo two million euros a year to play in Real's second-string Castilla side to gain experience, according to Japanese media.
Fierce rivals Barca tried to sign Kubo back in 2014, but were hit by a 

'Japanese Messi' Kubo set for Real Madrid move - media

Venezuelan shopkeeper Manuel Saavedra says new US sanctions are strangling him -- and lots of other everyday people.
A video game store owner in Caracas, Saavedra has been forced to raise prices as products became harder to import from May 15, when the US Transportation Department suspended passenger and cargo services between the US and Venezuela.
Washington has imposed that and other punishment in hopes of undermining President Nicolas Maduro and helping opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries, force him from power.
But Saavedra says those new sanctions hurt average citizens more than they do the Maduro regime.
"They're suffocating us, ordinary citizens," he said.
"I don't know how long it will last. In any country (sanctions) affect everyone (but) less so those in government." Air courier companies increased their charges from $3.50 to $4.50 per pound following the latest US sanctions while maritime shipments went from  $8 to .

US sanctions 'suffocating' ordinary Venezuelans

Saudi forces on Friday intercepted five Yemeni rebel drones in the second aerial attack on an airport in the kingdom's southwest in two days, a Riyadh-led military coalition fighting the rebels said.
The drones targeted Abha airport, where a rebel missile on Wednesday left 26 civilians wounded, and the nearby city of Khamis Mushait, which houses a major airbase, the coalition said in a statement released by Saudi state media.
"The royal Saudi air defence force and air force successfully intercepted and destroyed five unmanned drone aircraft launched by Huthi militia towards Abha international airport and Khamis Mushait," the statement said.
The airport was operating normally with no fights disrupted, the statement added.
Huthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported earlier that the Iran-aligned rebels had carried out drone attacks on Abha Airport.
The rebels, who have faced persistent coalition bombing since March 2015 that has exacted a heavy civilian death toll, have stepped up missile and ...

Saudi intercepts five Yemen rebel drones in new airport attack: coalition

The UN's counter-terrorism czar is on a visit this week to China's Xinjiang region, where Beijing insists one million Uighurs and other Muslims are detained because of a terrorism threat, UN sources and rights activists said Thursday.
Vladimir Voronkov, the under-secretary general for counter-terrorism, is the highest level UN official to visit Xinjiang, which activists have described as an open air prison, deprived of religious freedom.
UN spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed that Voronkov, a Russian diplomat, was on an official visit to China, but did not provide details of his itinerary.
Haq stressed that the UN counter-terrorism office works to ensure that measures used to fight terror respect human rights.
Beijing argues that internment camps in Xinjiang are "vocational training centers" to steer people away from extremism and reintegrate them, in a region plagued by violence blamed on Uighur separatists or Islamists.
Voronkov's visit to Xinjiang, first reported by Foreign Policy ...

UN counter-terror czar visits China's Xinjiang

The United States called Thursday for the UN Security Council to confront a "clear threat" posed by Tehran, after Washington said Iran was behind an attack on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
The council met behind closed doors to hear US acting Ambassador Jonathan Cohen present a briefing on Washington's assessment that Iran was responsible for the suspected attack on two tankers in the strategic sea lane.
The attacks, which came a month after a similar incident targeting four tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, "demonstrate the clear threat that Iran poses to international peace and security," Cohen said.
"I've asked the Security Council to remain seized of the matter and I expect that we will have further conversations about it and how to respond in the days ahead," he added.
Washington's view was not shared by other council members, who noted that there was no clear evidence to link Iran to the attacks, diplomats said.
Kuwait's Ambassador Mansour al-Otaibi said ...

US warns UN of 'clear threat' from Iran after tanker attacks

The man accused of shooting dead 51 Muslim worshippers in the Christchurch mosque attacks pleaded not guilty Friday to multiple murder and terrorism charges.
Appearing in Christchurch High Court via audio-visual link from a maximum-security prison in Auckland, Brenton Tarrant sat silently as lawyer Shane Tait said his client pleaded "not guilty to all charges".
The self-proclaimed white supremacist has been charged with 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and engaging in a terrorist act over the March 15 atrocity in he South island city.
The 28-year-old Australian allegedly opened fire in the packed Al Noor mosque during Friday prayers and then travelled across town to continue the carnage in the suburban Linwood mosque.
The court heard that mental health assessments had found Tarrant was fit to stand trial for the worst massacre in modern New Zealand history.
About 80 survivors and relatives of those killed packed into the courthouse's public gallery for a glimpse of ...

Christchurch mosque attack defendant pleads not guilty

An American convicted of killing his five small children was sentenced to death Thursday, even after his ex-wife asked jurors to spare his life because the kids loved him.
Lawyers for Timothy Jones, 37, had argued that he is schizophrenic and therefore not competent to stand trial.
Jones was convicted last week of killing his five children -- aged one to eight -- in 2014.
His ex-wife stunned the courtroom in South Carolina on Thursday by asking jurors to let Jones live.
"He did not show my children any mercy by any means. But my kids loved him and if I'm speaking on behalf of my kids and not myself, that's what I have to say," Amber Kyzer said, according to press reports.
Kyzer has said she agreed to give Jones sole custody of the children because he made more money as a computer engineer than she did.
Prosecutor Rick Hubbard asked for the death penalty, calling Jones "a monster."
Jurors took less than two hours to announce their verdict.
Jones has said he thought his six-year-old son 

US man sentenced to death for killing his five children

Israel's cabinet will meet in the Golan Heights on Sunday to honour US President Donald Trump and vote on naming a settlement there after him, the prime minister's office announced.
Trump in March broke with decades of international consensus and recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, a strategic area seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day war and later annexed.
His decision was heralded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who promised to name a new settlement after Trump.
"The cabinet will meet on the Golan Heights this Sunday to thank President Trump for having recognised Israeli sovereignty of the Golan," the prime minister's office said Thursday.
The ministers will vote on whether to support naming a settlement after Trump and, if approved, will subsequently vote on its precise name.
According to Israeli media, the settlement is set to built in the northern Golan and dubbed "Trump Heights".
Israel's 1981 annexation of 1,200 square kilometres of the Golan has never 

Israeli cabinet to vote on Golan 'Trump' settlement

President Donald Trump on Thursday made the surprise announcement of the departure of spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, who has been widely criticized for her performance in the White House.
"After 3 1/2 years, our wonderful Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be leaving the White House at the end of the month and going home to the Great State of Arkansas," Trump tweeted, adding that he hoped she would run for governor of her state.

Trump announces exit of spokeswoman Sarah Sanders

UN peacekeepers said Thursday they were probing killings this week in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, raising the death toll to 17 after doctors initially reported that militiamen shot dead nine people.
The shootings took place in the village of Al-Dalij in the state of Central Darfur on Monday, a doctors' committee close to the country's protest movement said, blaming the "massacre" on Janjaweed militiamen.
The Janjaweed, a militia accused by rights groups of widespread abuses in Darfur at the height of the conflict in the region, has been absorbed into Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
On Tuesday, the doctors committee said nine people were "killed by bullets and sticks of the Janjaweed," adding that two more people had been killed but their identity was unknown.
On Thursday, the UN-African Union peacekeeping mission deployed in Darfur since 2007 said it had sent a team to Al-Dalij to investigate Monday's events.
"The mission met with the affected persons and local ...

UN peacekeepers probe Darfur killings, raise death toll to 17

French anti-fraud police on Thursday searched the residence of former Nissan and Renault chief Carlos Ghosn outside Paris as part of a probe into his sumptious marriage celebrations at the Palace of Versailles in 2016, prosecutors said.
The police went to his home in the town of Etang-la-Ville as part of a preliminary investigation prompted by Renault earlier this year, prosecutors in the district of Nanterre west of Paris said.
Renault has previously signalled to French authorities suspect transactions under Ghosn, who at the peak of his powers was known for his jet-setting and luxury lifestyle.
He is suspected of hiring the entire Palace of Versailles outside Paris in October 2016 to celebrate his marriage, a benefit estimated as being worth 50,000 euros (USD 56,000), in exchange for a philanthropy deal between the state-owned property and Renault.
The search marks a new headache for the former Renault CEO, who was also Nissan chairman in the alliance with the Japanese carmaker, ...

AFP

AFP

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