A suicide bomber in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province has killed 29 people, mainly members of illegal armed groups that have clashed with security forces and the insurgents in the past, an Afghan official said today.
	Heyatullah Amiri, district administrative chief of Khan Abad district, said a suicide bomber on foot targeted a meeting of criminal groups late yesterday. Twenty-five of those killed were members of the armed groups, including four leaders, while the remaining four were civilians, he said.
	Amiri said 19 others were wounded, including 15 civilians.
	Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in an email sent to media.
	The Taliban have stepped up attacks across the country since US and NATO forces shifted from a combat to a support and training role at the end of last year.
	In the northern Badakhshan province, Taliban insurgents hanged a 27-year-old mother of three after accusing her of having extramarital sex, said Nawid Frotan, ...

Taliban suicide bomber kills 29 in northern Afghanistan

PTI Automatic

Israeli authorities say they have carried out interrogations in two unauthorised settlement outposts in the West Bank.
	The move appears to be part of a crackdown on Jewish extremists following a recent arson attack on a Palestinian home.
	Israeli media said today that the interrogations are connected to the July 31 arson attack that killed a Palestinian father and his 18-month-old son and severely injured two other family members.
	Israeli police and the Shin Bet security agency would not elaborate on the interrogations. The Shin Bet and the police said one outpost raided was Adei Ad. In January, Jewish settlers near the outpost threw stones at US consular vehicles carrying American officials who were visiting the area.
	The outposts are isolated Israeli settlements built without government authorisation.

Israel carries out interrogations in settlement outposts

An Afghan official says a bombing in the northern Kunduz province has killed 22 members of illegal armed groups, including four leaders.
	Abdul Wadood Wahidi, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the bombing late yesterday targeted a meeting of criminal groups that in the past have clashed with both national security forces and Taliban insurgents.
	He said seven others were wounded by the blast in Khan Abad district.
	Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the attack.
	The Taliban have stepped up attacks across the country since US and NATO forces shifted from a combat to a support and training role at the end of last year.

Bomb kills 22 members of armed groups in Afghanistan

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said losing the Ashes was not a fitting end for what retiring captain Michael Clarke gave to the sport in Australia and that he would be considered one of the best batsmen of his generation.
     "He will be remembered for his courage and the way he played the game," Sutherland said today.
     "I don't think I can think of an Australian cricketer that has worked harder, day after day, week after week. He finished on his terms and this (retirement) is a small moment in a great career."
     The 34-year-old Clarke announced yesterday he will be retiring from test cricket at the end of the Ashes series, concluding a superlative 12-year international career. Australia lost the series 3-1 after a humiliating defeat at Nottingham, England, by an innings and 78 runs.
     The Australia captain scored 117 runs in eight innings during the series, his fourth consecutive Ashes defeat in England. In the past 20 months of test cricket, Clarke has 

Clarke honored for his courage, role model as captain

A ceremony is underway today morning in Nagasaki to mark the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the southern Japanese city.
	Survivors, guests from 75 countries and others are gathered under a tall white canopy to shade them from the sun at the annual commemoration at Nagasaki Peace Park.
	As a bell tolled, they observed a minute of silence at 11:02 am, the time when the US dropped the atomic bomb, killing more than 70,000 people and prompting Japan's World War II surrender. The first atomic bomb in Hiroshima three days earlier killed 140,000.
	The city's mayor was expected to renew his call for a world without nuclear weapons.

Nagasaki marks 70th anniversary of atomic bombing

Three women found dead in a home in the northeastern state of Vermont were relatives of a woman arrested a day earlier in the fatal shooting of a state social worker who handled the case in which she lost custody of her daughter, state police has said.
	The bodies were found yesterday morning at a home in Berlin, and police said at least two appeared to have been shot. The women were related to Jody Herring, who police said fatally shot a state social worker in neighboring Barre late Friday afternoon, police said.
	Authorities said the social worker, Lara Sobel, had handled a case for the state Department for Children and Families in which Herring's 9-year-old daughter was removed from the home.
	Gov. Peter Shumlin, who was returning from a Nova Scotia vacation a week early after receiving word of the deaths, said yesterday there was no reason to believe there was a continuing threat related to the incidents.
	Authorities said Friday night that Sobel had been involved in a case that ..

Officials: 3 dead are related to US shooting suspect

Bahraini authorities say they will allow an independent newspaper in the Gulf kingdom to resume publishing days after ordering it temporarily suspended.
	The Information Affairs Authority announced the lifting of the suspension against Al-Wasat late yesterday following discussions with the paper's management.
	The official Bahrain News Agency says the talks were "to rectify past legal and regulatory failings" and to secure commitments to "meet the necessary standards" in the future.
	Authorities suspended the paper's publication late Thursday after finding it violated the law and spread information that affects national unity and the kingdom's international relations.
	The paper was forced to temporarily halt operations in 2011 following anti-government protests dominated by the country's Shiite majority against the Sunni monarchy. Its co-founder, Karim Fakhrawy, died in police custody in April 2011.

Bahrain allows independent newspaper to resume publishing

A former US Virgin Islands government official has been charged in a USD 17 million bribery scheme.
	The US Justice Department says Julito Francis faces 11 counts including conspiracy, bribery and perjury.
	He was the Public Finance Authority's former director of finance and administration. Also charged are a construction company owner and the co-principal of an architectural company.
	They are scheduled to appear in court August 12.
	The indictment states that construction company owner Gerard Castor provided more than USD 400,000 in improvements to Francis' home and more than USD 100,000 to the property of co-principal John Woods.
	Authorities say that Castor's company in return obtained more than USD 17 million in construction contracts including one to build a library in St Thomas.
	Attorneys for the men could not be reached for comment.

Ex-USVI govt official charged in USD 17M in bribery scheme

Critics of Venezuela's socialist administration have staged a small protest against hunger and crime in Caracas as the South American country struggles to control violence in food lines.
	The past week saw daily reports of looting in supermarkets and raids on food trucks. The country's opposition coalition called for yesterday's march after a man was killed and 60 were arrested amid the looting of several grocery stores in an industrial town.
	There have been 56 episodes of looting and 76 looting attempts in the first half of 2015, according to the nonprofit Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict.
	President Nicolas Maduro has called these episodes part of a plot to weaken the country's 16-year-old revolution, and has accused the United States of helping orchestrate them.
	Many pantry staples have become scarce here in recent years, including flour, refined sugar, cooking oil and milk, but it's not clear that hunger or malnutrition are actually on the rise.
	Government statistics ..

Venezuelan opposition stages march against hunger

Donald Trump opened his mouth and now finds the door closed to him at a high-profile gathering of conservative activists.
	His latest incendiary comment, about one of the Fox News moderators from Thursday's Republican presidential debate, has led to a scolding by the party and condemnation by organizers of the RedState Gathering.
	Trump's absence from Saturday's program threatened to overshadow appearances by a number of his rivals, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
	The billionaire businessman lashed out against Fox News' Megyn Kelly for her questions during the campaign's first debate. She had asked the candidate about his use of derogatory language toward women and whether it reflected the "temperament of a man we should elect as president."
	Referring to Kelly's questions, Trump told CNN in an interview late Friday, "There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her ...

Trump barred from conservative gathering after latest barb

British cell phone retailer Carphone Warehouse says personal details of up to 2.4 million customers may have been accessed after the company was hit by a cyber-attack.
	The company said the security breach, discovered Wednesday, could have included names, addresses, dates of birth and bank details.
	It said today that up to 90,000 customers may also have had their encrypted credit card information accessed. Sebastian James, group chief executive of Dixons Carphone, said the company was informing anyone who may have been affected. The company said it has launched an investigation and has also implemented new security measures to prevent further breaches.
	Dixons Carphone operates in about a dozen European countries including Britain, Ireland and Germany.

UK phone retailer says cyber-attack may have hit 2.4M people

Six Russian opposition activists ended their hunger strike on today after one of them was hospitalized following 12 days of going without food to protest being barred from elections.
	The activists in Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city, said their decision was in response to urging from opposition leader Alexei Navalny and two other prominent opposition figures.
	Navalny had called on the activists to abandon the strike for the sake of their health and devote their energies instead to organizing a protest in Moscow on Sept. 13, the day local elections will be held across Russia.
	Leonid Volkov, who was leading the opposition campaign for the regional legislature in Novosibirsk, agreed. "The right for elections has been taken away from us no more illusions so we must hurry to make use of the right to walk through the streets before it is taken away, too," Volkov wrote on his website.
	Navalny was instrumental in organizing the mass street protests that broke out in Moscow in late 

Russian opposition activists end 12-day hunger strike

A 21-year-old Saudi man carried out an Islamic State-claimed suicide bombing at a mosque inside a police compound that killed 15 people, the Interior Ministry said today, the latest citizen blamed in a wave of extremist violence gripping the kingdom.
	The ministry said Youssef al-Suleiman carried out the attack on the police compound in the city of Abha, the provincial capital of Asir, just after the Islamic State group released a still image of the man and an audio recording purportedly from him.
	They identified the bomber as Abu Sinan al-Najdi and the audio included a warning that Saudi rulers and troops "will not enjoy peace" for taking part in the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
	The troops killed in Thursday's blast belonged to an elite counter-terrorism force. The Interior Ministry on Saturday identified 11 of those killed belonging to the force, while four were Bangladeshi workers.
	Hours after Thursday's bombing, a previously unheard of ...

Saudi Arabia says Saudi citizen carried out mosque bombing

Mali's special forces early today rescued four people who hid in a hotel for nearly 24 hours after Islamic extremists stormed the building and launched a rare attack far from their northern strongholds that killed nine people, officials said.
	Three attackers were also killed in the fighting.
	The four rescued UN employees are two South Africans, a Russian and a Ukrainian, said UN mission in Mali spokeswoman Radhia Achouri.
	"Our contractors survived because at no time was their presence discovered by the terrorists in the hotel," she said adding there was not much resistance Saturday morning during the rescue. The four will soon go to Bamako, the capital, she said.
	Additional UN personnel may still be missing, said a UN official not authorized to speak to the press on the matter. Some personnel could not be reached, and some of the attackers left Sevare after the initial attacks Friday morning, the official said.
	The Russian former hostage is "alive and well," Viktor Gorelov, ...

Official: 4 rescued from Mali hotel; 9 killed in attack

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross has arrived in Yemen's rebel-held capital, Sanaa, amid its monthslong civil war.
	Peter Maurer's visit, which started today, is set to last until Monday. A Red Cross statement said it is intended "to highlight the dire humanitarian situation in the country."
	The statement added that the Red Cross is "concerned about attacks on medical facilities and personnel," saying that four Red Cross volunteers have been killed since the conflict began.
	Yemenis are suffering from a shortage of food, water and medicine in the Arab world's poorest country. The U.N. declared its highest-level humanitarian emergency in Yemen on July 1.
	A Saudi-led, American-supported coalition began launching airstrikes in March against Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies.

Red Cross president visits Yemen amid monthslong civil war

Typhoon Soudelor barreled toward mainland China today after downing trees, traffic lights and power lines in Taiwan, where at least six were killed, four are missing and dozens injured.
	A total of 101 people were hurt in Taiwan and more than 3 million households lost electricity as the powerful storm left streets strewn with fallen trees. All 279 domestic flights were cancelled today, as well as at least 37 international flights.
	An 8-year-girl and her mother died when they were swept out to sea Thursday from a beach on the east coast, the official Central News Agency reported. The girl's twin sister remains missing.
	Other casualties included a firefighter who was killed and another injured after being hit by a drunken driver as they attempted to move a fallen tree in the island's south.
	The centre of the storm made landfall in eastern Taiwan at 4:40 am today. By mid-morning, Soudelor was packing maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometres per hour, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau ..

Typhoon threatens China after 10 dead or missing in Taiwan

England regained the Ashes with a match to spare in the series after dismissing Australia for 253 to win the fourth Test by an innings and 78 runs at Trent Bridge today.
     Australia started Day 3 on 241-7, and the English took the three wickets they needed in 10.2 overs.
     Mark Wood took the series-clinching wicket when Nathan Lyon played the ball on to his own stumps, sparking wild celebrations among England's players.
     England won with two days and more than two sessions to spare, taking an insurmountable 3-1 lead ahead of the final test at The Oval.
     England has won five of the last seven Ashes series, and the last four at home.
     Adam Voges and Mitchell Starc were jeered onto the pitch by giddy England supporters anticipating a quick finish to one of the most remarkable Ashes Tests, which began with Australia getting skittled for 60 in 18.3 overs for the shortest first innings in Test history.
     It took 22 balls for Ben Stokes to get a nick off Starc (0), with .

England wins 4th Test, regains Ashes from Australia

A worker at Japan's wrecked nuclear power plant has died after his head got stuck in a hatch on the back of a septic tank truck while inspecting the vehicle, the latest accident at a site still struggling with the cleanup of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
	The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant says the 52-year-old worker was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital after his colleague, who operated on the hatch from near a driver's compartment, found him slumped at the back of the vehicle today.
	The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., says the cause of the accident is unknown and police are investigating. The plant's decades-long decommissioning involves thousands of workers. The number of injuries last year doubled from a year earlier.

Worker at wrecked Japan nuclear plant dies from head injury

The Islamic State group has released an audio recording purporting to feature the suicide bomber who killed 15 people at a police compound mosque in Saudi Arabia.
	The audio, along with a photo of the suicide bomber identified as Abu Sinan al-Najdi, was posted late yesterday on IS-affiliated Twitter accounts.
	The speaker on the recording vowed more attacks, saying Saudi rulers and troops "will not enjoy peace" for taking part in the US-led coalition battling IS in Iraq and Syria. He urged other militants to carry out suicide bombings, saying explosive belts are more effective than firearms.
	The attack in Abha on Thursday was one of the deadliest against Saudi Arabia's security personnel in years. Most of the victims were members and recruits of the kingdom's special forces.

IS audio vows more attacks following Saudi mosque bombing

Struggling a bit with a left arm that has never straightened out, Sumiteru Taniguchi slowly peeled the undershirt off his frail 86-year-old body to show two visitors his scars from the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki.
	For 70 years, he has lived with them, a web of wounds covering most of his back, and the remains of three ribs that half rotted away and permanently press against his lungs, making it hard to breathe. His wife still applies a moisturizing cream every morning to reduce irritation from the scars. Not a day goes by without pain.
	He was 16 and on the job as a letter carrier when the powerful blast threw him from his bicycle. He had been about 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) from the epicenter of the "Fat Man" plutonium bomb that detonated over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killing more than 70,000 people. Six days later, Japan surrendered, ending World War II.
	Speaking in a weak voice with some effort, he told the story last month of wandering for three days in a daze, unaware of 

Nagasaki atomic bomb left a man scarred for life

Typhoon Soudelor barreled toward mainland China today after downing trees, traffic lights and power lines in Taiwan, where at least four were killed, four are missing and dozens injured.
	A total of 64 people have been hurt in Taiwan and almost 2 million households are without electricity as the powerful storm left streets strewn with fallen trees.
	An 8-year-girl and her mother died when they were swept out to sea Thursday from a beach on the east coast, the official Central News Agency reported. The girl's twin sister remains missing.
	Other casualties included a firefighter who was killed and another injured after being hit by a drunken driver as they attempted to move a fallen tree in the island's south.
	The center of the storm made landfall in eastern Taiwan at 4:40 am today.
	Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said that by mid-morning Saturday, Soudelor was packing maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometers per hour.
	It was moving away from the island in a northwesterly direction .

AP

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