The death toll from a fuel truck explosion in Tanzania on August 10 hit 100 on Wednesday after several victims perished from severe burns.
Aminiel Aligaesha, a spokesman for the National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, told reporters "two people died on Tuesday during the day, and another on Tuesday night", bringing the total number of dead to 100.
Officials had put the tally at 95 on Sunday, and another two people were announced dead on Monday.
At least 30 of the victims died in the days after the accident, in which a fireball engulfed a crowd thronging to collect petrol from an overturned tanker near Morogoro, 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Dar es Salaam.
Officials said the explosion was triggered when a man tried to take the truck's battery, creating sparks that ignited the fuel.
A doctor at the hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that most of those who survived the initial blast had suffered burns on over 80 percent of their body.
"We are doing our best, but most 

Toll from Tanzania truck blast reaches 100

PTI Automatic

French winger Franck Ribery travelled to Italy on Wednesday to complete a medical ahead of a move to Serie A club Fiorentina.
The former French international has left Bayern Munich as a free agent after 12 seasons with the German giants during which he won 23 trophies.
Ribery's new deal was rubber-stamped late Tuesday and the 36-year-old will undergo a medical before his presentation on Thursday, Sky sports Italia reported.  Both Ribery and his wife Wahiba posted photos on social media on Wednesday on board a private jet bound for Florence.
Ribery has reportedly agreed a two-year deal worth up to 4.5 million euros ($4.9m) plus bonuses.
Ribery won nine Bundesliga titles and the Champions League with Bayern after he joined the club from French side Marseille in 2007.
He also previously played for Turkish club Galatasary and French clubs Brest and Metz.
Fiorentina sporting director Daniele Prade had confirmed last weekend their desire to sign the veteran.
"We want him and would like to ..

Ribery arrives in Tuscany ahead of Fiorentina move

Single-use plastics have been banned in the Everest region to reduce the vast amounts of waste left by trekkers and mountaineers, Nepali authorities said Thursday.
In addition to seeing a record number of climbers this year, a government-led cleaning initiative on Everest -- the world's highest mountain -- also collected over 10 tonnes of trash.
The new ban in Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, home to Mount Everest and several other snow-capped mountains, covers all plastic of less than 30 microns in thickness as well as drinks in plastic bottles, and will be effective from January.
"If we start now, it will help keep our region, the Everest and the mountains clean long term," local official Ganesh Ghimire told AFP.  The region receives over 50,000 tourists every year, including climbers and trekkers.
The local body will work with trekking companies, airlines and the Nepal Mountaineering Association to enforce the ban, though no penalty has yet been decided for ...

Everest region bans single-use plastic

China named Elkeson in their squad Wednesday for their opening World Cup qualifier with the Brazilian poised to become the first without Chinese ancestry to play for the country.
The move has divided Chinese football fans and experts, however, as coach Marcello Lippi attempts to guide the nation to only their second World Cup.
Lippi has long complained about a dearth of attacking options and has moved to plug the gap with the 30-year-old striker, who will use the Chinese name Aikesen.
The move to naturalise the Brazilian comes after China similarly gave a passport to London-born midfielder Nico Yennaris.
The Beijing Guoan player has taken the Chinese name Li Ke and made his debut for Lippi's side in June this year.
The former Arsenal man, however, is half-Chinese, whereas Guangzhou Evergrande striker Elkeson qualifies for China having played in the country since 2013.
Elkeson has scored more than 100 goals in about 150 games in the Chinese Super League.
Along with Espanyol forward Wu .

Brazilian Elkeson earns landmark China call-up

An Iranian oil tanker has broken down in the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia but its crew are safe and carrying out repairs, the oil ministry's website said on Wednesday.
The HELM suffered a "technical fault" about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of the Saudi port of Yanbu on Tuesday, the ministry's website said, citing the National Iranian Tanker Company.
"The crew of the tanker are busy fixing the defect and the vessel is in a stable situation from a safety standpoint," the NITC's technical director Akbar Jabalameli was quoted as saying.
The crew of the tanker was safe and "in full readiness to solve the problem", he added.
TankerTrackers.com, which monitors ship movements, said the HELM was carrying 1.3 million barrels of crude oil and heading towards the Suez Canal from the Iranian island of Kharg.
The vessel appears on the US Treasury's website in a list of entities subject to American sanctions.
It is the second such Iranian breakdown in recent months after the tanker Happiness 1 was .

Iran tanker breaks down in Red Sea: ministry

More than 2,300 endangered tigers have been killed and illegally trafficked since the turn of the century, according to a report published Tuesday, urging more action to protect the giant cats.
With an average of more than 120 illegally trafficked tigers seized each year -- which amounts to over two each week -- since year 2000, conservation group Traffic warned there was little sign of respite for the species.
Report author Kanitha Krishnasamy, who heads Traffic's Southeast Asia operations, said the numbers were deeply concerning.
"It looks like we are losing this fight," she told AFP.
In 1900, more than 100,000 tigers were estimated to roam the planet. But that fell to a record low of 3,200 globally in 2010.
Since then, population numbers have inched upwards, but there are still estimated to be fewer than 3,900 tigers left in the wild.
"This pernicious trafficking,evidenced by the continuously high number of whole skins, whole animals -- both dead and alive -- and bones is testament 

More than 2,300 tigers killed and trafficked this century: report

The death toll from an Islamic State attack on a Kabul wedding at the weekend has reached at least 80, an official said Wednesday, as the Afghan capital still reels from the deadliest blast in more than a year.
A suicide bomber targeted a packed Afghan wedding hall in west Kabul Saturday as celebrations were in full swing.  Authorities said the initial death toll was at least 63, with more than 180 people wounded.
"The death toll has now risen to 80," interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP.
"Some injured people with critical wounds who were taken to hospital have lost their lives." It was Kabul's deadliest attack since January 2018 when the Taliban packed an ambulance with explosives and detonated it in a crowded street -- killing 103 people, according to an official toll.
The blast was so powerful that it blew much of the roof off the massive wedding hall, where hundreds of guests had gathered.
Saturday's attack on the mainly Shia wedding was claimed by IS, the hardline ..

Death toll from weekend Kabul wedding attack now 80

A employee of Britain's consulate in Hong Kong who went missing earlier this month is being held in China, Beijing confirmed Wednesday.
The incident comes as relations between Britain and China have become strained over what Beijing calls London's "interference" in pro-democracy protests that have wracked Hong Kong for three months.
"The person you mentioned has been placed in administrative detention for 15 days as punishment" by Shenzhen police for breaking a public security law, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
Geng said the employee was from Hong Kong and therefore the issue was an internal matter.
"Let me clarify, this employee is a Hong Kong citizen, he's not a UK citizen, which is also saying he's a Chinese person," Geng said.
The man, named by his family as Simon Cheng, travelled to Shenzhen, a megacity on the China-Hong Kong border, for a one-day business meeting on August 8.
That night, Cheng returned via high-speed train and sent messages to his ...

Beijing says holding UK's Hong Kong consulate employee

Equities stuttered in Asia Wednesday as investors took a step back after recent gains, with focus now turning to a key speech by Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell at the end of the week.
Rising hopes for China-US trade talks have provided a much-needed lift to markets over the past two days but with few fresh catalysts, dealers are keeping their powder dry ahead of Friday's address.
After positive signals from Donald Trump and some of his top advisers on Monday over progress in the talks with Beijing, and an olive branch with the delay of a ban on Huawei purchases, there have been few developments for traders to buy on.
"Our trade-war headline-inspired relief rally appears to have run its course as I suspect there is still a lot of nervousness among US investors as the global economic realities are just too hard to ignore," said Stephen Innes at Valour Markets.
Hong Kong added 0.2 per cent, Shanghai was barely moved and Tokyo ended down 0.3 per cent. Sydney fell almost one percent, ..

Asian markets drop as traders await Powell speech

The United States is ready to sit down with North Korea to resume long-awaited working-level nuclear talks, a US envoy said Wednesday.
Nuclear discussions between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled since a second summit in Hanoi in February ended without an agreement over differences on the extent of denuclearisation and sanctions relief in return.
But anticipation for renewed dialogue has been on the rise after the US and its security ally South Korea wrapped up their two-week joint military drill on Tuesday.
"We are prepared to engage as soon as we hear from our counterparts in North Korea," said Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for North Korea, after his meeting with South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon in Seoul.
The comments come amid speculation that Americans could meet with North Koreans at the demilitarised zone dividing the North and South to kick start working-level talks during Biegun's three-day stay in Seoul, which began Tuesday.
The US envoy denied media .

US 'prepared to engage' with N. Korea in nuclear talks: envoy

Indonesia's Papua was hit by fresh unrest Wednesday as more than 1,000 security personnel were sent to the restive region after violent protests that saw buildings torched and street battles between police and demonstrators.
Jakarta has called for calm in its easternmost territory -- where an insurgency against Indonesian rule has simmered for decades -- following riots triggered by the detention of dozens of Papuan students at the weekend.
On Wednesday, about 1,000 people protested in the streets of Timika city, where an AFP reporter saw demonstrators throw rocks at police and try to rip down a fence surrounding the local parliament building.
The crowd began to disperse as riot police fired warning shots in the air.
There were also demonstrations in the town of Fakfak on the western edge of the island, which is divided between the Indonesian province of West Papua and the independent nation of Papua New Guinea.
The latest protests come after several cities in resource-rich Papua were 

Indonesia's Papua hit by fresh unrest as troops deployed

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats display "either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty," sparking accusations that he is promoting and politicising anti-Semitism.
His comments, which drew fierce rebuke from Jewish groups, came amid his ongoing dispute with Democratic Muslim congresswomen Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, both of whom support a boycott of the Jewish state for its treatment of the Palestinians.
"Five years ago, the concept of even talking about this -- even three years ago -- of cutting off aid to Israel because of two people that hate Israel and hate Jewish people -- I can't believe we're even having this conversation. Where has the Democratic party gone?" Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
"I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty." Israel last week barred Omar and Tlaib from entry on the grounds that they ...

Trump accuses Jewish Democratic voters of 'great disloyalty'

Australia will join the US-led mission to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions with Iran, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Wednesday.
Morrison said Australia would provide a frigate, a P8 maritime surveillance aircraft and support staff to the mission, which will also involve British forces.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper had requested Australia's help patrolling the strategic waterway during a visit to Sydney earlier this month.
The move follows a spate of incidents -- including the seizure of ships -- involving Iran and Western powers, in particular Britain and the US, centred on the vital Gulf channel.

Australia to join US in Gulf maritime security mission: PM

US President Donald Trump and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday that talks between senior officials were underway, as the South American country struggles under the weight of US sanctions.
"We are in touch. We're talking to various representatives of Venezuela," Trump told reporters.
He declined to say which officials were engaged in the talks, stating only that "we are talking at a very high level," and adding that "representatives at different levels of Venezuela" were involved.
Maduro confirmed the talks, stating that "for months there has been contact between senior officials of the United States, of Donald Trump, and the Bolivarian government that I preside over," in a message broadcast on radio and television.
"Just as I have sought dialogue in Venezuela, I have sought a way in which President Donald Trump really listens to Venezuela," Maduro said.
Earlier this month, Maduro blamed Washington when he canceled scheduled talks with his country's opposition led 

US, Venezuela in talks: presidents

With Egyptian football in chaos following the sudden departure of the national federation's leadership, FIFA on Tuesday appointed a temporary committee to take over.
Hani Abou Rida, the president of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), resigned last month immediately after the hosts' shock elimination from the African Cup of Nations taking the rest of the board with him and "sacking" his technical staff.
The governing body of world football said it had appointed a "normalisation committee" to "run the daily affairs" of the EFA and "to organise and conduct elections of a new EFA board."
It had until the end of July 2020 to complete its work.
The five members still had to pass a FIFA background check, said a statement.  Egyptian football was beset by problems during Rida's three-year reign.
The decision to use Grozny in Chechnya as a base for the Pharaohs disastrous 2018 World Cup campaign, drew criticism.
Star striker Mohamed Salah accused the federation of misusing his image ...

FIFA appoints emergency committee to run Egyptian football

The Paralympics  chief has said the 2020 Games are "on track," but raised alarm bells over a dearth of accessible hotel rooms in Tokyo with only one year to go.
"I couldn't be happier with the preparations so far. With one year to go, we're totally on schedule, on track," Andrew Parsons told AFP in an interview to mark 12 months until the start of the games on August 25, 2020.
However, he admitted that his "biggest concern" was still the poor selection of hotel rooms equipped for the thousands of disabled supporters, journalists and coaches poised to descend on Tokyo for the 13-day competition.
Athletes and some support staff will be housed in the Olympic village where there will be enough wheelchair-friendly rooms.
But outside the village, currently only half of the fully accessible rooms needed for the Games are available and Paralympic officials do not want hotels to be too widely dispersed around the vast Japanese capital for fear of creating a knock-on transport ...

Paralympic chief hails Tokyo 2020 prep but hotels 'biggest concern'

As the sole survivor of a coaching shuffle among the leading challengers, Carlo Ancelotti could have the best chance to end Napoli's 30-year wait for the Serie A title.
Yet Antonio Conte's arrival at Inter Milan has also raised expectations of an end to Juventus's long domination in the season that kicks off on Saturday.
Serie A runners-up Napoli have not held the Scudetto aloft since Argentine legend Diego Maradona inspired them to their only titles in 1987 and 1990.
Ancelotti's campaign begins in Fiorentina on Saturday, after Juventus, now coached by Maurizio Sarri, open their quest for a ninth consecutive title in Parma.
Chinese-owned Inter Milan have also changed coaches with former Juventus and Chelsea boss Conte back home in Italy. Marco Giampaolo takes over at AC Milan and Paulo Fonseca at Roma.
Sarri came close two years ago when he guided Napoli to runners-up spot, just four points behind Juventus, before moving to Chelsea.
At 60, Sarri returns to Italy to coach Juventus as ..

Serie A coaching shuffle gives Ancelotti's Napoli hope of toppling Juventus

Australia coach Justin Langer has told his side to avoid being drawn into a bouncer battle after Steve Smith was ruled out of the third Ashes Test against England.
Star batsman Smith suffered delayed concussion symptoms after being hit on his neck by a 92 mph bouncer from England fast bowler Jofra Archer during the drawn second Test at Lord's.
His absence from the third Test at Headingley starting Thursday leaves Australia with a huge hole to fill.
Smith marked his return to Test cricket after a 12-month ball-tampering ban with innings of 144 and 142 during Australia's 251-run win in the first Test at Edgbaston that put his side 1-0 up in the five-match series.
He also made 92, having retired hurt after being hit when on 80, at Lord's where Marnus Labuschagne, Test cricket's first concussion substitute, made a brave fifty in the second innings after being hit flush on the grille of his helmet by Archer.
World Cup-winning fast bowler Archer struck several telling blows on a Test debut .

Australia rule out bouncer battle despite Smith blow

Australia captain Tim Paine says the tourists will not be intimidated by England fast bowler Jofra Archer and has backed misfiring batsman David Warner to hit form in the third Ashes Test at Headingley.
Paine was full of praise for Archer, whose raw pace electrified the drawn second Test as he took five wickets and peppered the Australians with bouncers, leaving Steve Smith with concussion that has ruled him out of the match in Leeds.
But Paine said Australia's batsmen were used to facing pace and had a few useful speedsters of their own.
"It's fantastic to see a young cricketer with so much talent come onto the scene and it was a bit of a buzz to face him at Lord's," Paine wrote in a column for the Australian newspaper.
"He's fast for sure, but in Australia we've been brought up facing guys of his pace.
"Every time we have a net (session) we have Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson coming at us like we are the opposition."
Paine said Smith's replacement Marnus ...

Paine plays down Archer fear factor, backs Warner

Amateur golfer Michelle Liu hasn't yet hit her teens, and says it's "crazy" to think she'll be teeing it up on Thursday in the Canadian Women's Open.
Liu, 12, was the low Canadian at the 2019 Canadian Women's Amateur Championship to earn an exemption into the field at this week's tournament at Magna Golf Club near Toronto.
She'll become the youngest to compete in the 47-year history of the event, breaking the mark set by fellow Canadian Brooke Henderson who was 14 when she made her debut in her national championship in 2012.
"I look up to Brooke Henderson, just because she's a great player, great personality, Canadian," Liu said Tuesday.  She met Henderson -- the defending champion -- on the driving range on Monday.
"I took a picture with her," Liu said.
Asked if she was finding her first professional tournament "a bit of a crazy experience" Liu said that was "a good word for it." "I would say I've got to play with some really nice and like really good LPGA players," she ...

Liu, 12, set to become youngest Canadian Women's Open starter

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is postponing a planned meeting with Denmark's prime minister due to her lack of interest in selling Greenland to the United States.
"Based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time," Trump tweeted.
"The Prime Minister was able to save a great deal of expense and effort for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct. I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!" the US president wrote.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump had expressed interest in the self-governing part of Denmark -- which is mostly covered in ice -- asking advisors if it would be possible for the US to acquire the territory.
Trump confirmed Sunday that he was indeed interested in buying Greenland, but said it was not a priority for his administration.
"It's ...

AFP

AFP

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