Serena Williams underlined her status as the Wimbledon title favourite with a 62-minute demolition of Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina, while Karolina Pliskova became the last top 10 seed to crash out on Monday.
Williams raced into her 13th Wimbledon quarter-final as the seven-time champion thrashed Rodina 6-2, 6-2 in a Centre Court masterclass.
Williams, who won the Wimbledon title on her last two visits in 2015 and 2016, is now on an 18-match winning streak at the All England Club.
Having missed Wimbledon last year while she prepared to have her first child in September, Serena is in pole position to win her first Grand Slam crown since becoming a mother.
On Tuesday, the 36-year-old faces Italian world number 52 Camila Giorgi, who beat Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-4 to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final.  Asked if it was a flawless display, Serena admitted she is never satisfied.
"I'm a perfectionist. I always find something wrong," she said.
"It was a good win but it ..

Serena powers into Wimbledon quarters, last top 10 seed falls

PTI Automatic

Serena Williams raced into her 13th Wimbledon quarter-final as the seven-time champion thrashed Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina 6-2, 6-2 in just 62 minutes on Monday.
Williams, who won the Wimbledon title on her last two visits in 2015 and 2016, is now on an 18-match winning streak at the All England Club.
Having missed Wimbledon last year while she prepared to have her first child in September, Serena is in pole position to win her first Grand Slam crown since becoming a mother.
The 36-year-old faces Italian world number 52 Camila Giorgi on Tuesday for a place in the semi-finals.
Asked if it was a flawless display, Serena admitted she is never satisfied.
"I'm a perfectionist. I always find something wrong," she said.
"It was an interesting match. She was hitting the ball well. That's why she got this far.  It was a good win but it was tougher than the scoreline to be honest."
The 90th Wimbledon win of her career -- the most among active female players -- means Serena, currently ...

18 in a row! Serena extends Wimbledon winning run to make quarters

"Give me a chance," Nadeem Kashish pleads with voters in Islamabad. Her struggle is not for power -- she knows her campaign is futile -- but for acceptance, as transgenders make historic bids in the upcoming Pakistan election.
"I am contesting for the first time and your vote will give me my identity," Kashish tells residents as she goes from door to door in a low-income neighbourhood near the Sufi shrine of Bari Imam, in the north of the capital.
Kashish, slender and clad in yellow plaid, is contesting in a district that pits her against incumbent prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and opposition leader Imran Khan.
She is armed with small black and white leaflets displaying her picture and mobile phone number which she hands out enthusiastically to everyone she meets: shopkeepers, motorcyclists, pedestrians.
Two sentences printed on it amount to her manifesto: "Preserve water for the next generation" and "I need your support".
But the vote on July 25 is not about winning or losing ..

Hoping against hope, Pakistan's transgenders launch election fight

Israel closed its only goods crossing with the Gaza Strip today over weeks of fires at farms caused by kites and balloons carrying firebombs from the Palestinian enclave.
The arson attacks have led to increasing alarm among Israeli residents and farmers near the blockaded Gaza Strip and demands that authorities take action.
"The crossing will be closed except for humanitarian equipment (including food and medicine) that will be approved on an individual basis," Israel's military said in a statement.
"No exports or marketing of goods will be carried out from the Gaza Strip." It added that the move was also due to "additional terror attempts," referring to infiltrations and other incidents along the Gaza border.
The crossing, known as Kerem Shalom, is to remain closed until further notice.
Israeli authorities say the hundreds of arson kites and balloons sent over the border fence from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip have caused major damage to farms in the area.
A spokesman for Israel's fire ..

Israel closes Gaza goods crossing over Palestinian arson kites

Eric Dier says England are reaping the rewards at the World Cup for a change in approach following a humiliating exit to Iceland at Euro 2016 but are hungry to go beyond the semi-finals.
Aside from success on the field, a young side playing attractive football and seemingly freed from the fear of past failures has re-engaged with fans.
"After Iceland we knew things needed to change," said Dier, who struck the decisive penalty as England won a World Cup shootout for the first time ever against Colombia in the last 16.
"There has been a lot of changes since that moment (defeat to Iceland in the last 16), a moment where we were honestly extremely disappointed and we knew we couldn't let that happen again.
"We could only make amends for that moment here at this World Cup. Two years is a long period, it's been a long process since then. We've learned from our mistakes, we've made things right and we've seen the way the country has got behind us."
After the tension of extra-time and ...

England making amends at World Cup for Iceland flop, says Dier

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in for his second term as head of state today, taking on greater powers than any Turkish leader for decades under a new system condemned by opponents as a one-man regime.
Erdogan, who has transformed Turkey in 15 years of rule by allowing Islam a greater role in public life and boosting its international stature, took his oath in parliament for a five-year term after his June election victory.
"I swear upon my honour before the great Turkish nation that I will work impartially to fulfil the duty I have taken on," Erdogan said in his oath.
The inauguration was to be followed by a lavish ceremony at his palace today evening attended by dozens of world leaders marking the transition to the new executive presidency system.
Erdogan will face immediate challenges posed by an imbalanced if fast-growing economy and foreign policy tensions between the West and Turkey, a NATO member.
He has also pledged to end the state of emergency that has been in ...

Turkey's Erdogan begins new term with expanded powers

A Russian billionaire former associate of Donald Trump's ex-campaign manager won USD 16,000 damages in a lawsuit today against a model and a self-styled "sex coach" over a politically compromising video.
Anastasia Vashukevich and Alexander Kirillov were ordered to pay 500,000 rubles (USD 8,000) each to the plaintiff, Oleg Deripaska, said a spokeswoman for a court in Ust-Labinsk, southern Russia.
It also ordered them to delete all of Vashukevich's online videos and pictures showing Deripaska, the spokeswoman Oksana Shareiko told AFP.
Aluminium tycoon Deripaska had sought two million rubles in damages. He had accused Vashukevich of violating his privacy.
He sued the self-styled model Vashukevich and Kirillov over a video she apparently shot on his yacht.
It appeared to show Sergei Prikhodko, an influential Russian deputy prime minister at the time, vacationing on Deripaska's yacht.
Prikhodko had formerly been President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor.
The video raised new ...

Russian tycoon wins suit against model who claims Trump secrets

French President Emmanuel Macron today said that the government would unveil "in the coming weeks" a plan to cut public spending and keep the budget within European Union deficit targets.
"There can be no tax cuts or increased investments without slowing the continued growth of our spending," Macron told lawmakers in a speech at the Versailles Palace, promising "bold and courageous decisions".
"Everybody wants lower taxes... but nobody ever wants to take responsibility" for financing them, he said at a joint gathering of both houses of parliament.
Macron said the spending cuts would be part of a broad reorganisation of the French state aimed at boosting state services in remote and deprived areas while making them easier to manage.
He defended last year's controversial labour law reforms and other measures aimed at encouraging businesses to invest, saying it was the only way to improve the prospects of all citizens.
His critics say the policies, including corporate tax cuts and laws ..

French plan to cut public spending due 'in coming weeks': Macron

Roger Federer needed just 16 minutes to win the opening set in a 6-0, 7-5, 6-4 defeat of France's Adrian Mannarino to reach his 16th Wimbledon quarter-final on Monday.
Eight-time champion Federer will be playing in his 53rd Grand Slam last-eight when he tackles either Gael Monfils of France or Kevin Anderson, the eighth-seeded South African.
Top seed Federer, 36, has now won 32 consecutive sets at Wimbledon, just two behind his record set from the third round in 2005 to his title triumph in 2006.
"It was crucial for him to stay in the match at the beginning of the second set and then it got tougher," said Federer after his sixth win in six meetings against French left-hander Mannarino.
"You always tend to play better against better players and I am happy to be back in the second week of Wimbledon." Federer boasts a 4-0 career record against 2017 US Open runner-up Anderson and 9-4 over Monfils.
Monfils and Anderson have yet to get to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, although the French 

Sweet 16 for Federer at Wimbledon

Former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique was appointed Spain's new coach on Monday after previous incumbent Julen Lopetegui was sacked on the eve of the World Cup in what turned out to be a disappointing campaign.
"Luis Enrique's appointment as coach for the next two years was approved unanimously,"
Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish football federation, told reporters.
The 48-year-old faces a similar challenge to the one that he had when he took over at Barcelona in 2014.
A team with a history of success, a talented squad and a distinctive style of playing, had just failed to win a trophy for the first time in six years.
With Spain, Enrique must revive a side that won three consecutive major tournaments between 2008 and 2012 but are deflated after three failures, the latest their World Cup loss to hosts Russia -- ranked 70th in the world -- on penalties in the last 16.
Before that, Spain were humiliated at the hands of the Netherlands in 2014 and beaten by Italy at Euro 2016 -- their 

Former Barca coach Enrique tasked with reviving Spain

Britain celebrated today the "enormous contribution" of its Caribbean migrants, who for a long time were airbrushed from history while some were even recently threatened with deportation.
Prime Minister Theresa May attended a service at Westminster Abbey marking 70 years since the first arrivals embarked from the Empire Windrush ship at Tilbury docks, east of London.
Most of those who arrived on 22 June, 1948, were from Jamaica, but also Bermuda and British Guiana, answering a call for workers to help rebuild Britain after World War II.
Tens of thousands followed from around the British empire, known as the Windrush generation and given free rights to live and work in a country they already considered home.
May's government this week declared they would be remembered each day on June 22 with Windrush Day, and today praised their "enormous contribution".
"Our culture has been enriched and our society has been made stronger because of the people who travelled here to build new lives in .

After migration row, UK hails its Caribbean communities

OPEC energy ministers today said they would be putting more oil onto the market to meet "extra demand", reaching a last-ditch compromise in a spat that had pitted Saudi Arabia against archfoe Iran.
The ministers said they had agreed to boost oil production by around a million barrels a day from July.
"I think it will contribute significantly to meet the extra demand that we see coming in the second half," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters after a crucial OPEC meeting in Vienna.
The tense talks had centred around whether to amend an 18-month-old supply-cut deal between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied countries that has cleared a global oil glut and lifted crude prices.
Saudi Arabia, backed by non-member Russia, had argued strongly in favour of increasing production as grumbles in major consumer countries like the United States, India and China have grown about the spike in prices.
But regional rival Iran opposed any changes 

Defusing row, OPEC agrees to output rise

Russian President Vladimir Putin today invited his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in to an economic forum in Vladivostok in September, confirming his plans to host the leaders of both Koreas in Russia.
"We would be happy to see you as an honorary guest" at the Vladivostok forum which starts on September 11, Putin told Moon during a press conference after they held talks in Moscow. The Russian leader has also invited North Korea's Kim Jong Un to the event, as well as the leaders of China and Japan.
So far, only Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has confirmed his attendance.
Today Russian media reported that Kim has not yet responded to the Kremlin's invitation. "There has not been an answer yet," Putin's aide Yury Ushakov was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.
During his press conference with Moon, Putin said he "welcomed" a recent historic summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore, when the two leaders signed a joint document calling for the denuclearisation .

Putin invites two Koreas to economic summit

US President Donald Trump today threatened to impose a 20 per cent tariff on cars imported from the European Union, after the bloc's additional tariffs on dozens of American products took effect.
"Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the US (...) by the European Union, if these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the US Build them here!" he said.

Trump threatens 20 per cent tariff on all imported EU cars

Taliban fighters kidnapped 43 people from a road construction camp during a raid in southern Afghanistan that also killed four security forces, an official said today, in the latest fighting since the group's ceasefire ended.
Militants attacked the camp in Spin Boldak district in Kandahar province overnight, provincial governor spokesman Dawood Ahmadi told AFP.
Among the 43 kidnapped were technical workers, cooks and drivers. Four police were killed and another wounded after security forces sent to rescue the workers exchanged gunfire with the Taliban, Ahmadi added.
An employee of the Afghan road construction company also confirmed that 43 people had been kidnapped.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but told AFP that the original target had been a police checkpoint. Police fled the checkpoint and went to the camp where the construction workers were sleeping.
The Taliban pursued the police but, unable to identify who was who, decided to kidnap "many" people, the group .

Taliban kidnap 43 Afghans including road construction workers

German Chancellor Angela Merkel today played down expectations that an EU summit next week will reach a solution on the issue of migration that has plunged her government into crisis.
Speaking on a visit to Lebanon, Merkel said, "We know that no solution will be reached on Thursday and Friday at the level of the 28 member states... on the overall issue of migration".
Instead, she said, "bilateral, trilateral and multilateral" deals must be reached to tackle the issue -- a message echoed almost word for word by her spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer at a Berlin press conference.
The comments came after Italy's new coalition of far-right and anti-establishment parties made clear it does not want to take in more migrants, and after several eastern European states said they would stay away from preliminary talks on the issue Sunday.
Italy's far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini reiterated in comments to German news weekly Der Spiegel that "we cannot take in one more person. On the contrary: ..

Under-fire Merkel says EU summit won't solve migration issue

Philippe Coutinho and Neymar broke down dogged Costa Rica in injury time on Friday, sealing a 2-0 win for Brazil that propels the five-time champions towards the World Cup last 16.
The Central Americans looked likely to hold on for a hard-earned draw, particularly after Neymar had a penalty award chalked off by referee Bjorn Kuipers after he consulted the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
But Coutinho and Neymar finally broke through, scoring in the 91st and 97th minute to put Tite's side on the brink of the knockout stages.
At the final whistle, Neymar sat down on the grass and wept, with the emotion of victory hitting home after the tense Group E contest at the Saint Petersburg Stadium.
Neymar started despite limping out of training on Tuesday with a hurt ankle, which the Brazilian FA said was sustained as a result of snapping Swiss defenders.
After a ponderous start, Brazil enjoyed a gradual crescendo during the first period but their dominance in possession was not reflected in ...

Brazil edge towards World Cup knockouts after Costa Rica late show

Roger Federer stepped up his grass game as the start of Wimbledon looms, holding off Australian Matt Ebden 7-6 (7/2) 7-5 in their quarter-final at the ATP Hale tournament on Friday.
With his world No 1 ranking on the line, the Swiss is sparing no effort to make sure he lifts a tenth title at the event on Sunday.
Failure to win the grass title would send rival Rafael Nadal back to the top spot. The first set on Friday was decided in a tiebreaker while the Swiss had to twice recover from a break down in the second to secure a tight victory in 88 minutes.
Federer set up match point with a flicking backhand pass and then sealed his semi-final place as Ebden returned long.
The victory was the 18th in a row on grass for the 36-year-old Federer, who last lost on his favourite surface in an opening match in Stuttgart a year ago, although the 20-time Grand Slam champion atoned last weekend, winning the Stuttgart tournament for the first time.
Now Federer is having to work to win at Halle, the .

Federer holds off Ebden to reach Halle semi-finals

OPEC members have agreed on a combined increase in crude oil output of one million barrels per day, the oil minister of the cartel's kingpin Saudi Arabia said today.
"I am pleased that at the end of the day we reconciled around the one million figure that we have been talking about," said Khaled al-Faleh after a meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, adding that support for the increase, which had been proposed by Saudi Arabia against objections from Iran, was unanimous.

OPEC agrees ouput rise of 'about' 1 mln barrels: Saudi

Mongolia broke ground today for the construction of the country's first oil refinery with the help of a USD 1 billion loan from India to ease its dependence on Russian fuel.
India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh attended the ceremony along with Mongolian Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa in a remote corner of the Gobi Desert.
Mongolia hopes the project will boost the economy and reduce its dependence on foreign gasoline imports. Nearly all of its petroleum products come from Russia.
The refinery and associated pipelines and power plant are being funded with a 20-year USD billion loan from India's export-import bank.
The project could boost Mongolia's gross domestic product by up to 10 per cent, according to a government statement.  The economy of the landlocked country sandwiched between Russia and China has struggled in recent years and has been propped up by a $5.5 billion IMF bailout.
The refinery will have capacity to process 1.5 million tonnes of oil annually, according to Mongol ...

Mongolia builds first refinery to ease Russian fuel dependence

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras today said the country was "turning a page" after eurozone ministers declared its crisis over as they granted Athens debt relief under a bailout exit strategy.
The eurozone ministers' agreement comes nearly a decade after Athens finances spun out of control, sparking three bailouts and threatening the country's euro membership.
"Yesterday we reached a historic agreement on Greece's debt with the Eurogroup," Tsipras told the country's president, Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
"We are turning a page," he said, adding that Greece had to remain on the path of reform.
Following the eurozone ministers' hard-fought agreement declared earlier Friday, Greece is slated to leave its third financial rescue since 2010 on August 20.
"The Greek crisis ends here tonight," said EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, after marathon talks in Luxembourg.
The deal was expected to be an easy one, but last-minute resistance by Germany -- Greece's long bailout nemesis ..

AFP

AFP

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