A German court on Monday ordered seven Islamic fundamentalists to pay fines over a so-called "sharia police" patrol they launched in 2014 to mass media and political outrage.
The men aged between 27 and 37 must pay between 300 and 1,800 euros for infringing laws against wearing uniforms, the Wuppertal tribunal found.
Germany's laws against wearing uniforms originally aimed to prevent neo-Nazis staging rallies and parades.
Judges said the group's actions were aimed at achieving an "intimidating effect suggestive of militancy" by aping the sharia police that exist in some Middle Eastern countries as violent organisations.
In September 2014, the seven patrolled the streets of Wuppertal, a west German industrial town with a sizeable Muslim population, wearing orange high-visibility vests marked "Sharia Police".
When they encountered young Muslims, they told them not to drink alcohol or visit cafes, betting shops or brothels.
Monday's verdict comes at the end of a second trial for the ...

German court orders fines for 'sharia police' group

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Voters in Sunderland in northeast England voiced hope on Monday that the Brexit Party's strong showing in European elections would trigger a quick break with the EU, expressing anger and disbelief at Britain's two main parties.
The polls delivered major losses for both the ruling Conservatives -- who have twice delayed Britain's scheduled departure from the EU -- and the main opposition Labour, which has remained deeply ambiguous over Brexit.
In the North East region, where Sunderland is located, the Brexit Party won 38.7 per cent of the vote in last week's election -- its highest result in the country.
"The sooner we get out the better," said Stephen James, a 55-year-old council worker in the former shipbuilding city, a traditional stronghold for the Labour Party.
"I'm Labour through and through but you can't trust Labour or Conservatives any more now. They're just backstabbing each other," he said -- a comment on the months of bickering in the British parliament over Brexit.
The ...

'It won't kill us': Voters voice support for no-deal Brexit

Australia's opposition is set to anoint Anthony Albanese as its new leader, hoping to win back the working class after a shock election defeat to the conservative government.
The Australian Labor Party unexpectedly lost to incumbent leader Scott Morrison on May 18, despite leading in the polls running up to the election.
Albanese, from Labor's left faction, replaced Bill Shorten when the former union chief stepped down hours after losing the vote.
The 56-year-old will be officially confirmed by the Labor caucus on Thursday after the uncontested leadership ballot.
Albanese vowed to create a "larger, more inclusive party" amid soul-searching within the ranks over the defeat.
"I understand that it is a big mountain that we have to climb," Albanese told reporters in Sydney, where he holds his lower house seat, on Monday.
"I want to build relationships between the Labor Party and those people who voted for us, but also those people who wanted to vote for us, who were open to vote for us, ..

Vanquished Australian opposition shifts left with new leader

England fast bowler Mark Wood has been passed fit for the World Cup opener against South Africa, a team spokesman announced Monday.
The Durham quick left the field early while running in to bowl during Saturday's warm-up defeat by Australia in Southampton after suffering a foot injury.
Wood's injury-plagued career has been blighted by a history of repeated ankle problems but hospital scans saw the 29-year-old given the all clear for Thursday's opening match of the World Cup, against South Africa at the Oval.
Wood was scheduled to bowl during the warm-up immediately before Monday's practice match against Afghanistan but will not play any part in the fixture itself.
Wood has been one of England's quickest bowlers of recent years.
But fears over his ability to stay fit for prolonged periods remain and he has bowled a mere 13.1 overs since the start of the season in a bid to reduce his workload prior to the World Cup.

England's Wood cleared for World Cup opener

Malaysia's last surviving male Sumatran rhino died Monday, wildlife officials said, leaving behind only one female in the country and pushing the critically-endangered species closer to extinction.
Once found as far away as eastern India and throughout Malaysia, the Sumatran rhino has been almost wiped out, with fewer than 80 left, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Only a handful of the creatures remain in the wilds of Indonesia.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the Malaysian male, Tam, had lived in a nature reserve on Borneo island.
The cause of the animal's death was not immediately clear, but previous media reports have suggested it was suffering from kidney and liver problems.
Tam's death puts pressure on an ongoing effort for conservationists hoping to use in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) techniques to create offspring from Malaysia's last female Sumatran rhino, Iman, and an Indonesian male.
Tuuga said there were problems with Iman's uterus and that she was 

Malaysia's last male Sumatran rhino dies: officials

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova said she expects to be fit for the grass-court season despite pulling out of the French Open with a left arm injury on Monday.
The Czech, who was seeded sixth at Roland Garros, will be out for "two to three weeks".
"It means no tennis, of course, as it's my left forearm," said the big-hitting left-hander.
"Maybe I can play rightie. Two to three weeks, so I'll do some fitness and everything that I can do to prepare my body for the tennis on the grass."
Kvitova had been due to play Romania's Sorana Cirstea in her opening Roland Garros match on Court Suzanne Lenglen later in the day.
"I am so disappointed to have to announce my withdrawal from Roland Garros," Kvitova wrote on Twitter.
"I have had pain in my left forearm for a few weeks and last night an MRI confirmed a Grade Two tear which unfortunately could get worse if I play today."
The 29-year-old made her return from a horrific hand injury, sustained in a knife attack by an intruder at her .

Kvitova gets all clear for Wimbledon after arm injury

Days ahead of an annual holiday when Americans remember those who died while serving in the armed forces, the US Army's Twitter account asked people how their time in the military affected them and received an outpouring of grief.
The question drew some 10,000 replies since it was posted late last week -- many of which were anonymous or included details that could not be independently confirmed, but which paint a harrowing picture of the toll America's wars have taken on those who fought them.
"OEF, OIF ptsd with chronic pain," one Twitter user wrote, using the US military's acronyms for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the abbreviation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The US launched the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and the Iraq war in 2003. The conflicts left thousands of American service members dead and many more wounded. US troops are still deployed in both countries to this day.
"My dad came back from fighting in Iraq and was abusive, constantly angry, paranoid, and ...

US Army Twitter question highlights toll of America's wars

President Donald Trump said Monday the United States was not seeking "regime change" in Iran despite mounting tensions, in dovish comments also praising North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un as a "very smart guy."
Speaking after summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump seemed at pains to dial down tensions in the world's two most pressing flashpoints as the US faces increasingly bellicose regimes in Tehran and Pyongyang.
"We're not looking for regime change, I just want to make that clear, we're looking for no nuclear weapons," Trump said in relation to Iran, adding that he was "not looking to hurt" Tehran and believes the two sides could come to a deal.
He had earlier opened the door to negotiations with the regime in Tehran, saying: "if they'd like to talk, we'd like to talk also." Washington has decided to deploy 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East amid growing friction with Tehran after Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal and later re-instated tough ...

Dovish Trump says not looking for regime change in Iran

French police have arrested a suspect over an explosion in the heart of the southeastern city of Lyon last week which injured 13 people, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said Monday.
Police had been hunting for a man seen cycling near the scene of the blast who was wearing a green T-shirt and Bermuda shorts, and a carrying a dark rucksack.
"A suspect has been arrested," Castaner wrote on Twitter.  The Paris prosecutor's office, which has jurisdiction over terrorist investigations in France, confirmed that the man, a 24-year-old arrested in Lyon, is the suspected bomber.
He had been the target of an extensive manhunt since Friday night when an explosive device filled with screws and ball bearings was placed in front of a bakery near the corner of two crowded pedestrian streets in the historic centre of Lyon.
Police circulated photos of the suspect on Twitter, leading to "several dozen" calls from people with information.
Sources close to the investigation suspected the explosive ..

French police arrest suspect over Lyon explosion

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday he had won the backing of US President Donald Trump for a proposed meeting with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.
"I feel I have to meet face-to-face with Chairman Kim without attaching any preconditions and exchange frank views with him," Abe told a joint news conference with Trump following their summit in Tokyo.
"President Trump... said he will give full support needed for that," the premier said.
Abe has said that a face-to-face meeting with Kim is the only way to solve the emotional issue of Japanese people who Tokyo believes were abducted by Pyongyang, but Kim has so far shown little interest in a summit.
Japan suspects dozens of people who are still missing were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s to train their own spies in the Japanese language and culture.
Abe acknowledged he had "no specific plan" to meet the North Korean leader.
"But there is no change in Japan's policy that we will seek to resolve the issue 

Abe: 'Full support' from Trump for meeting with Kim

President Donald Trump said Monday there was a "very good" chance of clinching a trade deal with China as the world's top two economies clash over their trade relationship.
"I think sometime in the future, China and the US will have a great trade deal and we look forward to that," Trump said after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

'Very good chance' for US-China trade deal 'sometime': Trump

US President Donald Trump on Monday praised North Korean leader as a "very smart" man who is aware that he has to give up nuclear weapons to develop his country.
"He knows that with nuclear... only bad can happen. He is a very smart man, he gets it well," said Trump, who repeated that North Korea has "tremendous economic potential".

'Very smart' Kim knows N Korea must give up nukes: Trump

Uzbek student Luiza Muminjonova wanted to work in the country's booming Islamic tourism sphere but last year she was expelled from a university in the capital Tashkent.
The 19-year-old's only fault was being a pious Muslim and wearing the hijab, a staple of female Islamic dress.
"How dare they discriminate me and stop me from getting the education I want because of my religion?" she fumed in an interview with AFP.
Instead of giving up, the student took a stand that has placed her at the centre of Uzbekistan's religious freedom debate.
Her family has sued the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan, taking its legal battle all the way to the country's top court.
Muminjonova's case points to the Uzbeks' increasing readiness to openly practise their faith as believers become emboldened by political change under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The formerly communist country's repression of the religion persisted long after it gained independence from Moscow in 1991.
The first president .

Muslims seek voice in changing Uzbekistan

With talks suspended between protest leaders and Sudan's military over a transfer of power to civilian rule, Islamist movements are backing the army in the hope it will keep sharia law in place.
Islamist parties stayed on the sidelines during the months of nationwide protests that led to the April ouster of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir.
They have since not joined the protest alliance at loggerheads with the generals over the makeup of a new governing body, which would rule the country for a three-year transitional period.
But hundreds of Islamists have rallied in the capital in recent days, warning they would reject any deal that would exclude sharia -- Islamic law -- from the country's political roadmap.
They have also backed the army's demands that the head of Sudan's new governing body be a military figure -- putting them at odds with protesters who want civilian rule.
"We agree with (protesters) that there will be a cabinet of civilian technocrats," said Hassan Rizk, deputy head 

Sudan Islamists back army in push to preserve sharia

Clashes between inmates have killed 15 people at a jail in Amazonas state in northern Brazil, the regional prison authority said.
The clashes broke out around 11:00 am (local time) on Sunday during visiting hours at the facility, located some 28 kilometers (17 miles) from state capital Manaus.
"It was a fight between the inmates. There had never been deaths during the visits," Colonel Marcos Vinicius Almeida told a news conference.
Some of the inmates were stabbed with sharpened toothbrushes, while others had been strangled, Almeida said, adding that an investigation has been opened to determine the cause of the fight.
He emphasised that authorities had reacted within minutes to the Sunday violence, preventing a potentially worse result.
The same facility was the scene of a prison rebellion that lasted almost 20 hours and left 56 people dead in January 2017.
Brazil has the world's third largest prison population, with 726,712 inmates as of June 2016, according to official ...

Clashes between prisoners in Brazil jail leave 15 dead

Massimiliano Allegri oversaw his final game as Juventus coach on Sunday, after guiding the team to an eighth consecutive Serie A title but paying the price for yet another Champions League failure despite the sensational signing of Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was left out alongside a host of other starters as the Allegri era ended with the whimper of a 2-0 defeat at Sampdoria, having played 31 of 38 matches and closing the season as the team's top scorer with 21 league goals.
But helping the team to another Serie A title was not why the 34-year-old was signed last summer.
Ronaldo had spent nine glittering seasons at Real Madrid, lifting a fourth Champions League trophy in five seasons before moving to Italy.
His arrival in Turin on a 100-million-euro ($115 million) deal, plus a reported 30 million euros a year, was hailed as "the deal of the century" by the Italian press.
But after a season in which they were expected to sweep all before them Juventus have won less 

Ronaldo not enough as Juve extend Italian domination but fall short in Europe

Petr Cech will bring down the curtain on a glittering playing career in strange circumstances as the Arsenal goalkeeper faces his former and potentially future employers Chelsea in the Europa League final on Wednesday.
Cech, 37, enjoyed the best years of his career at Stamford Bridge, winning 13 trophies including four Premier League titles and the Champions League in 11 seasons with Chelsea before moving across London to Arsenal in 2015.
And his close relationship with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich looks set to see him return to the Blues in the coming weeks as the club's new sporting director.
Cech lost his status as Arsenal's number one during Unai Emery's first season in charge, with Bernd Leno taking over in the Premier League since September, but the Czech veteran has started all of Arsenal's knockout games to reach the Europa League final.
The success of Arsenal's season depends not only on lifting a first European trophy for 25 years in Baku, but also on ensuring Champions ...

Cech hopes to haunt Chelsea in Europa League final farewell

Atalanta won at Sassuolo on Sunday to secure their first ever Champions League spot and Inter Milan joined them while ensuring Empoli were relegated after a frantic second half in the San Siro.
AC Milan ended up fifth despite winning at SPAL. Genoa and Fiorentina stayed in Serie A after a nerve-wracked goalless draw.
The evening started with Inter, Atalanta, AC Milan and Roma battling for the two remaining Champions League spots and Empoli knowing that if they won they would survive.
Because their ground is being redeveloped, Atalanta had to cede home advantage and play at Sassuolo where they quickly fell behind.
Duvan Zapata levelled before half-time. After Sassuolo lost their scorer Domenico Berardi, who received a red card for his part in the mass brawl that ended the first half, Atalanta comfortably sealed third as goals by Alejandro Gomez and Mario Pasalic completed a 3-1 win.
"It's been an extraordinary season," Atalanta president Antonio Percassi told Sky Sport.
"My first hug ..

Atalanta qualify for Champions League as Milan miss out

Twenty-two years after the savage murder of the wife of a celebrated French film producer in Ireland, a trial gets under way in Paris on Monday, but with the British suspect absent and unrepresented.
Ian Bailey, a 62-year-old former freelance journalist, denies killing Sophie Toscan du Plantier on December 23 1996, and "will not be present, or represented" in court on Monday, his lawyers Dominique Tricaud and Franck Buttimer told reporters.
The Irish government has refused to extradite Bailey, who will therefore be judged in absentia.
The parents, son and other people close to the victim, will however be present for the trial.
Toscan du Plantier, who was the 39-year-old wife of film producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier, was found beaten to death at her holiday home in County Cork in southwest Ireland. Injuries to her hands showed that she had struggled to defend herself.
Near her body was found a large rock and bloodstained concrete block.
Bailey has long lived in Ireland near the home .

British suspect absent for Paris trial over 1996 murder in Ireland

Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva agreed on Sunday to pay the US state of Oklahoma USD 85 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of fueling the state's opioid epidemic, Oklahoma's attorney general said.
The announcement comes after Purdue Pharma, maker of the opioid painkiller OxyContin -- a key driver of the crisis responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in the United States -- reached a USD 270 million settlement with the state in March.
Attorney General Mike Hunter said in a statement the Teva settlement shows Oklahoma's "resolve to hold the defendants in this case accountable for the ongoing opioid overdose and addiction epidemic that continues to claim thousands of lives each year."
The money will be used by the midwestern state to fight the opioid crisis, Hunter said, with an announcement of how exactly it will be spent made in the future.
Meanwhile, another pharmaceutical titan, Johnson & Johnson, is set to go on trial in Oklahoma on Tuesday, with the company facing ...

Israeli drugmaker Teva to pay Oklahoma $85 mn in opioid suit

A powerful 8.0-earthquake toppled houses, blocked roads and knocked out power in parts of Peru on Sunday, killing one person and injuring at least 26 others as the shockwave extended into neighboring Ecuador.
The quake hit in a sparsely populated region of Peru's Amazon basin region but was felt over a wide area. In Lima and other cities, frightened residents rushed into the streets.
"There are many old houses that have collapsed after this strong earthquake," said Hugo Araujo, the mayor of Yurimaguas, a town near the epicenter.
Peru's civil defense coordinator Ricardo Seijas told RPP radio that a man was killed by falling debris in his house in Cajamarca.
Danilo Munoz, the 48-year-old victim, was asleep when the quake struck at 2:41 am (0741 GMT).
Seijas said 11 people were injured in Peru, and more than 50 houses were left uninhabitable.
Reports said 15 people had been hurt in Ecuador.
The quake blocked roads, damaged a bridge and knocked down houses, said Peru's President Martin ...

AFP

AFP

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