Neymar aiming to return to action with Barca on Aug 18

Brazilian soccer player and Barcelona forward Neymar waves as he wears a ''Yukata'', a casual summer Kimono, after receiving it as a souvenir from the organizer during a fan event in Tokyo July 31, 2014.

 Neymar's injured back is healing well and he is aiming to return to action in a friendly for his club Barcelona on Aug. 18, the Brazil forward said on Thursday.

Neymar fractured a bone in his back following a challenge from Colombia defender Juan Zuniga in Brazil's World Cup quarter-final and was ruled out for the rest of the tournament.

"I am recovering bit by bit from the injury and I will arrive in Barcelona at 100 percent," Neymar, who is due back at Barca on Aug. 5, told reporters at a promotional event in Japan.

China's Li ruled out of U.S. Open

Li Na of China hits a return to Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic during their women's singles tennis match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London June 27, 2014.

China's world number two Li Na has been ruled out of next month's U.S. Open with a knee injury, she said on Thursday.

The 32-year-old Li, who won her second grand slam title at this year's Australian Open, was knocked out in the first round of the French Open and in the third round at Wimbledon.

"Since March, I have been struggling with my knee and it is just not where I need it to be in order to play at the highest level," Li said on Facebook.

Firestone a perfect place for Tiger to salvage season

Tiger Woods of the U.S. watches his tee shot on the fifth hole during the final round of the British Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, northern England July 20, 2014.

Tiger Woods, still tournament rusty after spending much of this year recovering from back surgery, could not have picked a better venue as he strives to turn his season around at this week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Woods has won the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) crown a record eight times at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio and would dearly love to add a ninth in his bid to qualify for the PGA Tour's lucrative season-ending FedExCup playoffs.
The former world number one has just three events remaining to advance from his lowly 215th spot in the FedExCup points list and book his place among the top 125 who will tee off in the playoff opener, The Barclays tournament from Aug. 21-24.

Barcelona's Pique relishing return of 'angry' Suarez

 Spain's player Gerard Pique runs during a training session ahead of the 2014/15 season at Camp Nuo, July 31, 2014.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique believes an "angry" Luis Suarez will be desperate to prove himself when he has served out a four-month ban for a biting incident at the World Cup.

Uruguay striker Suarez was given a nine-match international suspension and banned from all football-related activity for four months by FIFA after he bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in Brazil last month.

Barca have since lured him from English Premier League side Liverpool and the 27-year-old could make his debut for the Catalan club in the La Liga "Clasico" against Real Madrid at the end of October.

Tevez father kidnapped, released after ransom paid

The father of Juventus striker Carlos Tevez was kidnapped in Buenos Aires on Tuesday before being released following the payment of a ransom, according to local media.

Reports said the footballer had initially looked to fly from Turin, where he is in pre-season training, to Argentina on hearing the news of the kidnapping but he remained in Italy.Tevez said on Twitter that his father had been released without harm.

“I thank everyone for their support always. I’m able to tell you my father is ok, safe and sound. That’s what’s most important,” he said on his Twitter account (@carlitos3210).“I also thank... the Buenos Aires and Federal and Anti-kidnapping police (forces) for their support for my family.”

(OPINION) : To combat Ebola, first build back trust in healthcare workers

The worst-ever outbreak of Ebola is spreading out of control in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and now Nigeria, where almost 700 people have already died from the virus. Healthcare workers caring for Ebola patients have themselves fallen victim to the disease, including two American physicians. And, at its root, the size of this outbreak can be blamed on a lack of trust in healthcare workers.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with an infected person or their body fluids, which may include sweat, blood, urine, feces or vomit, making it difficult to contain outside of proper medical facilities.
There is no cure for Ebola, though supportive measures like intravenous fluids and antibiotics may be helpful in treating some of the complications of the disease. There is no vaccine to halt the spread of the virus. The only way to stop the transmission of Ebola is to identify and quarantine infected persons.

EU adopts toughest Russian sanctions yet, targets five Russian banks

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C) chairs a government meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, July 30, 2014.

The European Union has published a law that will curb arms sales to Russia and to cut off financing for five major Russian banks over Moscow's support for rebels in Ukraine.

Russia has denounced the measures, agreed by the 28 EU member states on Tuesday, as "destructive and short-sighted", while fighting has intensified in eastern Ukraine between Kiev forces and the pro-Russian separatists.

EU officials say the sanctions aim to inflict maximum pain on Russia and minimum pain on the EU. "We will for sure have an effect and a very substantial and concrete effect on Russia," one EU official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The toughest measures aim to prevent Russian banks from raising money on Western capital markets, while others limit defence sales and the export of hi-tech equipment for the oil sector.

Taxis, planes and viruses: How deadly Ebola can spread

Medical staff working with Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) prepare to bring food to patients kept in an isolation area at the MSF Ebola treatment centre in Kailahun July 20, 2014.

For scientists tracking the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, it's not about complex virology and genotyping, but about how contagious microbes - like humans - use planes, bikes and taxis to spread.

So far, authorities have taken no action to limit international travel in the region. The airlines association IATA said on Thursday that the World Health Organisation is not recommending any such restrictions or frontier closures.

The risk of the virus moving to other continents is low, disease specialists say. But tracing every person who may have had contact with an infected case is vital to getting on top of the outbreak within West Africa, and doing so often means teasing out seemingly routine information about victims' lives.

Under fire and out of cash, U.N. overwhelmed by Gaza crisis

Valerie Amos, United Nations Under-Secretary- General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (seen on screen) briefs a U.N. Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, at U.N. headquarters in New York, July 31, 2014.

The United Nations in Gaza is struggling to withstand a flood of almost a quarter of a million refugees into shelters that have repeatedly come under Israeli fire.

Out of cash, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main U.N. body in the impoverished enclave of 1.8 million Palestinians, says it can barely handle the humanitarian crisis unleashed by more than three weeks of fighting between militants and Israel.

Asked to explain the scale of the civilian suffering to an Arab news station, an UNRWA spokesman simply burst into tears.

"There are times when tears speak more eloquently than words. Mine pale into insignificance compared with Gaza's," Chris Gunness said.

China says Islamist militants kill pro-Beijing imam in Xinjiang

Three suspected Islamist militants armed with knives and axes killed the imam of China's biggest mosque in the western region of Xinjiang on Wednesday, the authorities said, days after a knife-wielding gang attacked state buildings in the same region.

All three attackers, who were named by the government, had ethnic Uighur names and the imam, Juma Tayir, was a well-known pro-government Uighur who led prayers at the Id Kah Mosque in the old Silk Road city of Kashgar.

Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, who speak a Turkic language, has for years been beset by violence, which the government blames on Islamist militants or separatists who it says want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan.

Exiled Uighur groups and human rights activists say the government's repressive policies in Xinjiang, including controls on Islam, have provoked unrest, a claim Beijing denies.

Sierra Leone declares emergency as Ebola death toll hits 729

Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma attends a meeting of regional group Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS

 Sierra Leone has declared a state of emergency and called in troops to quarantine Ebola victims, joining neighboring Liberia in imposing controls as the death toll from the outbreak of the virus hit 729 in West Africa.

The World Health Organization said it would launch a $100 million response plan on Friday during a meeting with the affected nations in Guinea. It was in urgent talks with donors and international agencies to send more medical staff and resources to the region, it said.

The WHO reported 57 new deaths in the four days to July 27 in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

"The scale of the Ebola outbreak, and the persistent threat it poses, requires WHO and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take the response to a new level, and this will require increased resources," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said.

Nigeria opens long-awaited battle of ideas against Boko Haram

In classrooms facing a sandy courtyard in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, Maska Road Islamic School teaches a creed that condemns the violent ideology of groups like Boko Haram.

Not everyone has got its message. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, known as the "Pants Bomber", spent his youth in this school - and ended up trying unsuccessfully to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day 2009 with explosives hidden in his underwear.

But the school is steadfast in preaching tolerance to its pupils, and the government is about to adopt this message in a new strategy for containing Boko Haram, which has killed thousands in a five-year campaign for an Islamic state.

"We teach them that what they (Boko Haram) are doing is a total misunderstanding of the Islamic religion, that Prophet Mohammed was compassionate, he even lived together with the non-Muslims in Medina," said headmaster Sulaiman Saiki.

Orlando Bloom 'threw punch' at Justin Bieber

Orlando Bloom and Justin Bieber involved in altercation in Ibiza restaurant

                                Orlando Bloom, left, reportedly threw a punch at Justin Bieber, right

Orlando Bloom, the British actor, reportedly threw a punch at pop star Justin Bieber at a restaurant in Ibiza.
The fracas was said to have happened at Cipriani where both were dining, the celebrity news website TMZ reported.

Bloom, 37, then approached the 20-year-old singer pointing a finger at him as another man intervened. Bieber then left and the crowd clapped, according to TMZ.

MH17: Help return our children, families beg David Cameron

In meeting with PM at Downing Street, father of one victim says he is 'angry and frustrated' that his son’s body has not been repatriated 12 days after his death in the Malaysia Airlines disaster

    British families of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 victims gather at 10 Downing Street to meet with Prime Minister   David Cameron

The British families of the Flight MH17 crash victims have pleaded with David Cameron for help in bringing the bodies of “all our boys and girls home” as the European Union imposed the toughest sanctions on Russia since the Cold War.
In a meeting in Downing Street, the father of one victim said he was “angry and frustrated” that his son’s body has not been repatriated 12 days after his death.
The EU imposed sanctions including the targeting of state-owned banks, an arms embargo and restrictions on the sale of sensitive technology. Mr Cameron warned of further sanctions unless Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, stopped his “unacceptable behaviour”. The US is expected to announce its own new sanctions.

Europe 'funding al-Qaeda' as governments condemned for hypocrisy over ransom payments

British passport 'is death sentence' to kidnapped victims as UK and US refuse to pay ransoms to al-Qaeda, despite European governments handing over more than $125 million

                                 Vincent Delory, one of the two French hostages killed after being kidnapped in Niger

The sight of the French state jet sitting on a desert tarmac as the foreign minister greets a relieved newly released hostage is a familiar one but comes at a price in the form of a multi-million euro ransom payments that has filled al-Qaeda's coffers.

Despite a landmark G8 agreement banning ransoms for kidnaps, European governments are pouring money into terrorist groups in return for the release of their citizens.
A new survey suggests al-Qaeda linked groups from Mali in West Africa to Syria have garnered $66 million (£39 million) in the last year from hostages, a lucrative revenue stream that has fuelled its rise.
All told the group has taken in $125 million since 2009.

Islamic State jihadists issue 30-minute killing spree on video

Video depicting the slaughter of hundreds by Isis jihadists released as a warning to its enemies that they face a horrific death

 Islamic State now controls large swathes of northern and eastern Syria, the Iraq-Syria border and parts of northern and western Iraq

Al-Qaeda linked terrorists that control swathes of Iraq and Syria have circulated a video compilation of hundreds of graphic executions to mark the Muslim religious festival of Eid.
Accompanied by an explicit threat to Iraqi soldiers , the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Isis), showed dozens of young men men cowering in the shadow of gunmen before being brutally slaughtered.

A group of soldiers are led to a desert pit that will soon become a mass grave.
Others are seen standing on a small river jetty before shuffling forward where they are shot in the head and fall into the water. The executions take place in Saddam Hussein's hometown Tikrit.

Women should not laugh out loud in public, Turkey's deputy prime minister says

Women should not talk about unnecessary topics on their mobiles, Turkey's Deputy PM Bulent Arınc says in an Eid al-Fitr speech

    Women should not laugh out loud in public, according to Bulent Arınc, the Turkish deputy prime minister

Women should not laugh out loud in public or speak of trivial matters on the phone, according to Turkish deputy prime minister, Bulent Arınc.Mr Arınc urged men and women to remember the importance of chastity during an Eid al-Fitr meeting on Monday and to have an acute awareness of shame.

He attacked television programmes aimed at young people which encouraged them to become "sex addicts" to an audience which included a majority of men.There is a moral regression happening within the country, he said, and called on citizens to rediscover the Koran, the holy book of Islam.

“Chastity is so important. It is not only a name. It is an ornament for both women and men. [She] will have chasteness. Man will have it, too. He will not be a womanizer. He will be bound to his wife. He will love his children.

Could deadly Ebola virus reach Britain?

As the deadly virus claims its first victim in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country which has close links with the UK, experts warn British doctors to look for the signs

 The World Health Organisation says Ebola is one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind, causing death in 50 to 90 percent of all clinically ill cases

Ebola has killed 672 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since it was first diagnosed in February and more than 1,000 others have been infected by the virus. On Friday, a Liberian man who had travelled to the Nigerian capital Lagos died for the disease, heightening concerns international air travel could speed up its spread.

The Government’s Public Health England on Monday sent letters to British doctors telling them to watch for anyone with strange illnesses who have recently travelled in West Africa.

Cambridge University’s Dr Peter Walsh, a lecturer in archaeology and anthropology and Ebola expert, said: “It’s possible someone infected will fly to Heathrow having infected other people sitting next to them or by using the toilet.

Ebola outbreak: Search continues for those who may have come into contact with victim

Medical professionals seek individuals who may have come into contact with Patrick Sawyer when he travelled by plane before his death

      Ebola victim Patrick Sawyer and his wife 

Medical professionals are trying to trace an unknown number of passengers and flight attendants who may have come into contact with an American citizen who died of Ebola.

No new cases have been recorded, but fears mount about the spread of the disease after fellow passengers from the two flights he took travelled on to other cities in Nigeria.Patrick Sawyer, a consultant to the Liberian finance ministry, flew between Liberia and Nigeria while he was contagious last week.He died five days after arriving in Lagos, where he had been quarantined.

Since the outbreak of the disease in February, 670 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have died from Ebola.
Nigerian authorities have so far identified 59 people who came into contact with Sawyer, and 20 of them have been tested for Ebola.Authorities are relying on “contact tracing” whereby medical professionals monitor anyone who came into contact with Mr Sawyer, as well as anyone they may have subsequently had contact with.

Three female suicide bombers kill scores in Nigeria

Wearing traditional northern Nigerian dresses and long Muslim headscarves, three women in the last week have detonated suicide bombs in the city of Kano

       Members of the bomb squad inspect a petrol station after the bombing in Kano, Nigeria

A woman blew herself up at a petrol station in northern Nigeria on Monday, killing three people in one of three suicide bombings by females in Kano in two days.The woman was in line with other women, all wearing traditional northern Nigerian dresses and long Muslim headscarves, waiting to buy kerosene for cooking when she set off the bomb, said Tijjani Isa, an attendant at the station.

"I was nearby the queue when I heard a heavy loud (noise)," he said. "And immediately saw people running while others went down." The suicide bombing was one of five attacks in Kano in two days, said police spokesman Musa Magaji Majia.

Mourinho desperates to sell Fernando Torres

Stamford Bridge club may be forced to sell goalkeeper Petr Cech if they cannot find buyer for cut-price Spanish flop 

                        Torres (left) will be going if a buyer can be found after the return of Drogba

Jose Mourinho has admitted that he will have to get rid of one of his foreign players as Chelsea desperately try to find a buyer for Fernando Torres.The return of Didier Drogba means Chelsea’s anticipated first-team squad has one too many foreign players under Premier League and Champions League rules relating to the home-grown quota.

Clubs can only name 17 foreign players over the age of 21 in their official 25-man squads and Chelsea have 18 overseas stars who are realistically vying for those places.Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, wants to offload £50 million flop Torres, but clubs are being put off by the £20 million asking price and the Spaniard’s £175,000-a-week wages.Chelsea hope that Atlético Madrid may take Torres back, while Monaco are understood to have looked at his situation in case Radamel Falcao leaves.

Louis van Gaal's focus on technique and tactics changes mindset of Manchester United's players

Under the charismatic Dutchman the change in attitude among the squad has been remarkable

At one stage of last season, the difficulties experienced by Manchester United under David Moyes led to a joke doing the rounds that it was because the headmaster – Sir Alex Ferguson – had been replaced by a supply teacher.
It was a harsh appraisal of Moyes, but results and performances did little to help the Scot confound his critics and United's downward spiral ultimately led to the inevitable dismissal of the former Everton manager.
One inescapable conclusion of the Moyes reign was that the players never really bought into the manager's methods.
He did not challenge them enough, they became restless and, like any unruly classroom led by a supply teacher, the players lost interest and performances deteriorated as a result.
But under Louis van Gaal, the change in attitude among the squad has been remarkable.
If Moyes was a supply teacher, Van Gaal is the university professor accustomed to dealing with the very best and making them even better.

No Mo Farah but Hampden Park roars for hapless Rosefelo Siosi

Hapless 5,000m runner from Solomon Islands is cheered all the way home by 40,000 crowd as England's Adam Gemili qualifies fastest from 100m heats with 10.15sec

      Not so lonely long-distance runner: Rosefelo Siosi had 40,000 people cheering him to the finish line in Glasgow

They came expecting Mo Farah, and were rewarded instead by the strange but stirring spectacle of a lone straggler from the Solomon Islands. If the 40,000 vociferous fans at Hampden Park were dismayed at being denied the one transcendent star of the 5,000 metres – and Usain Bolt in the 100m heats, for that matter – they concealed it brilliantly, as last man Rosefelo Siosi completed his two final laps entirely tout seul, to be assailed by a crescendo of noise that would have embarrassed Eric the Eel.

All the finest sporting spectaculars have a habit of yielding a heroic also-ran like Siosi. At the Sydney Olympics it was, of course, the Eel, otherwise known as Eric Moussambani from Equatorial Guinea, a swimmer so hysterically underqualified that he completed the 100m freestyle in a time slower than the world record for 200m.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert wants to sign Chelsea winger Victor Moses on loan for the season

Paul Lambert keen to offer Victor Moses a fresh start in at Aston Villa as he bids to further strengthen his squad

     Target man: Aston Villa are hoping Victor Moses will lead them to the promised land of Premier League survival

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has made a move for Chelsea winger Victor Moses and will step up his bid to sign Ki Sung-yueng this week. Lambert is keen to sign Moses on loan for the season and is waiting for a response from Jose Mourinho. Moses, 23, will be allowed out for another season despite his struggles at Liverpool and Lambert is keen to offer him a fresh start in the West Midlands as he bids to further strengthen his squad.

However, the Nigeria international is also a target for Everton, Newcastle United, former club Crystal Palace, West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion and the final decision will rest with Mourinho.
After his lack of opportunities at Anfield, Chelsea are determined to ensure Moses’s next move is the right one and Mourinho will assess the merits of every club.

Nigeria isolates Lagos hospital where Ebola victim died

Dr. Jide Idris, Lagos' state commissioner for Health, speaks during a news conference on the death of an Ebola victim in Lagos July 25,2014.

The Nigerian city of Lagos shut down and quarantined on Monday a hospital where a man died of Ebola, the first recorded case of the highly infectious disease in Africa's most populous country.

Patrick Sawyer, a consultant for the Liberian finance ministry aged in his 40s, collapsed on arrival at Lagos airport on July 20. He was put in isolation at the First Consultants Hospital in Obalende, one of the most crowded parts of a city that is home to 21 million people, and died on Friday.

"The private hospital was demobilized (evacuated) and the primary source of infection eliminated. The decontamination process in all the affected areas has commenced," Lagos state health commissioner Jide Idris told a news conference.

Some hospital staff who were in close contact with the victim have been isolated. The hospital will be shut for a week and all staff closely monitored, Idris added.

What is the Ebola virus, and how worried should we be?

As the death toll from Ebola reaches 670, a second Amercian doctor contracts the virus in Liberia, and it is feared to have spread to Nigeria, here's an explanation of what Ebola is, how it is spread, and how worried we should be

The World Health Organisation says Ebola is one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind, causing death in 50 to 90 percent of all clinically ill cases

What is Ebola?
Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as "a severe, often fatal illness in humans."
It first appeared in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks - in Nzara, Sudan; and in Yambuku, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter was in a village situated near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name. It is mainly found in tropical Central and West Africa, and can have a 90 per cent mortality rate - although it is now at about 60 per cent.

How is it transmitted?
The virus is known to live in fruit bats, and normally affects people living in or near tropical rainforests.
It is introduced into the human population through close contact with the sweat, blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
The virus then spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids.

Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace sparks succession speculation with move into politics

Mrs Mugabe nominated as secretary of the ruling Zanu PF party's Women's League as her 90-year-old husband sees out twilight years of more than three decades in power

                                                            Zimbabwean President Robert Muagbe with his wife Grace

Grace Mugabe, the wife of Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe, has made her first move into frontline politics by accepting the nomination for secretary of the Zanu PF Women’s League.
Her election to the post at the Zanu PF congress in December means she will take her place in the ruling party’s politburo and, some have speculated, could even propel her into the increasingly acrimonious race to be nominated as her 90-year-old husband’s successor ahead of the party’s congress in December.

Mrs Mugabe, 49, become the president’s second wife after serving as a secretary in his typing pool when she married him in 1996, a year after the death of his first wife, Sally, a Ghanaian. The couple have three children, two of whom were born while the first Mrs Mugabe was still alive.

Female bombers target Nigeria trade show, petrol station, three dead

 Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up at a trade show and a petrol station in northern Nigeria's biggest city of Kano on Monday, killing one other person and injuring at least six others, police and a military source said.

"A show was goıng on at the trade faır complex. A young lady wearıng a veıl came and sought to enter. At the poınt when she was beıng searched by securıty at the gate, she detonated an explosıon, whıch kılled her and ınjured sıx others," Kano police command spokesman Magajı Majıya said.
The other suicide bomber at the petrol station killed herself and another person, the military source said, without giving further details of that blast.

Sierra Leone Ebola patient, recovered from family, dies in ambulance

A Sierra Leone Ebola patient whose family sparked a nationwide hunt when they forcefully removed her from a treatment center and took her to a traditional healer, died in an ambulance on the way to hospital, a health official said.

Health officials say fear and mistrust of health workers in Sierra Leone, where many have more faith in traditional medicine, are hindering efforts to contain an Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 450 people in the country.

In recent days crowds gathered outside clinics and hospitals to protest against what they see as a conspiracy, in some cases clashing with police as they threatened to burn down the buildings and remove the patients.

Amadu Sisi, a senior doctor at King Harman hospital in the capital Freetown, from which the patient was taken, said on Saturday that police found her in the house of a healer.

Bomb attack on church in Nigeria's Kano kills five

 A bomb attack on a Catholic church in northern Nigeria's main city of Kano killed five people and wounded eight on Sunday, a senior police officer said.

The bomber threw the bomb at worshippers on their way out of the church, police commissioner Adenrele Shinaba told Reuters.

Police cordoned off the scene.

In a separate attack, a female suicide bomber tried to attack police officers on the streets. She killed herself but only wounded to of them, Shinaba said.

Boko Haram kidnaps wife of Cameroon's vice PM, kills at least three

Nigerian Boko Haram militants kidnapped the wife of Cameroon's vice prime minister and killed at least three people on Sunday in a cross-border attack involving more than 200 assailants in the northern town of Kolofata, Cameroon officials said.

A local religious leader, or lamido, named Seini Boukar Lamine, who is also the town's mayor, and five members of his family were also kidnapped in a separate attack on his home.There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Boko Haram, an Islamist group which made international headlines with the abduction of 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in April, has stepped up cross-border attacks into Cameroon in recent weeks. Cameroon has deployed troops to its northern region, joining international efforts to combat the militants.

US evacuates embassy in Libya as militias battle for airport

United States forced to shut down embassy in Libya on Saturday, evacuating diplomats to Tunisia as fighting intensifies between rival militias 

 
Nearly three years after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, the US joined the UN and most agencies in withdrawing from the capital as Libya continued its slide into lawlessness.

The decision was taken after a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli where rival Libyan Islamists have been mounting an assault on the country's main airport over the past week.

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said "free-wheeling militia violence" had necessitated the decision, but added that the withdrawal did not signify a break in US commitment to find a political solution in Libya.
"We are suspending our current diplomatic activities at the embassy - not closing the embassy - but suspending the activities..." Mr Kerry said in Paris between meetings on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We are deeply committed and remain committed to the diplomatic process in Libya."

Australian and Dutch forces prevented from taking control of MH17 crash site

Deployment of multinational force of policemen and soldiers to site of Malaysian Airlines crash in eastern Ukraine held up by haggling with both Ukrainian and rebel authorities 

 Journalists film a Hercules C130 transport plane of the Royal Dutch Airforce taking off on Eindhoven Airbase, the Netherlands, with 40 members of the Dutch military police on board, on July 25, 2014

Australian and Dutch officials are still negotiating the deployment of a multinational force of policemen and soldiers to the site of the Malaysian Airlines crash in eastern Ukraine.

Four Australians and four Dutch investigators are already on the ground in the rebel-held city of Donetsk, and have visited the crash site several times in the past few days along with an OSCE observer team that has been based in the city for some time.

But The Hague and Canberra are both pushing for a larger multinational force from a “coalition of the grieving” to take control of the crash site.

Mr Razak said the rebels had already met the first two demands by returning the bodies of the victims and handing over the airliner’s flight recorders.

MH17: US says Russia planning to send rebels 'more powerful' rocket launchers

State Department warn the Kremlin may be furthering arming separtists as they say they have evidence Russia is firing artillery into Ukraine 

 Anatoly Antonov, deputy defence minister has said Washington's claims that pro-Russian rebels fired a missile that hit the plane did not correspond to reality

The United States has said that it had evidence that Russia was planning to deliver “heavier and more powerful” rocket launchers to pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

"We have new evidence that the Russians intend to deliver heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers to the separatist forces in Ukraine, and have evidence that Russia is firing artillery from within Russia to attack Ukrainian military positions," said Marie Harf, a spokeswoman for the State Department.Ms Harf said the information was based on intelligence reports but did not give specifics.

The claim came as Russia said that America was trying to fabricate evidence that separatists in eastern Ukraine shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 on July 17.

I DON'T WANT TO SIT ON THE BENCH

Petr Cech fit and firing in Chelsea battle to hold off Thibaut Courtois as first-choice goalkeeper

    Battler: Petr Cech, Chelsea's No1 for a decade, is determined to see off Thibaut Courtois's challenge

It is 10 years since Petr Cech moved to Chelsea as the most expensive goalkeeper in the club’s history.
He was signed for £7 million from Rennes as a highly-rated 22-year-old, who was sure he could take over from the established number one Carlo Cudicini.

Cech was immediately given his big chance by the new manager Jose Mourino after Cudicini suffered an elbow injury in pre-season.Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in the opening game of the 2004-05 season and in March 2005 Cech set a new Premier League record of 1,025 minutes without letting in a goal.

Didier Drogba set for return to Chelsea, says manager Jose Mourinho

Former favourite is expected to arrive at Stamford Bridge shortly and Mourinho insists it is for playing rather than emotional reasons

 

Jose Mourinho has confirmed that striker Didier Drogba is set to make a return to Chelsea.
He is out of contract and is understood to favour Chelsea’s offer over rival bids from Juventus and Major League Soccer clubs in the United States.

Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, believes Drogba can still be a key player for the club, two years after he left with the penalty kick that secured Champions League success, and the move has the backing of owner Roman Abramovich.

“We want to win matches and win titles, and Didier is one of the best strikers in Europe, who is still very adapted to the needs of the Premier League, and we are thinking about it in a non-emotional way,” said Mourinho.

New Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is the new Sir Alex Ferguson

Ryan Giggs claims the Dutchman is 'infectious' and has qualities that made Manchester United great under Sir Alex Ferguson

Making a point: New Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal reminds Ryan Giggs, his assistant, of Sir Alex Ferguson

It was when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored an injury-time winner for Holland against Mexico, moments after being introduced as a substitute during a World Cup second-round tie in Brazil, that Ryan Giggs knew the real Manchester United would return under Louis van Gaal.

A bold substitution, made by a manager going for broke, and a winning goal to cap a late fightback when the game had seemed lost. It struck a chord with a man accustomed to similar drama under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Having already sat face to face with Van Gaal in Holland prior to the World Cup, Giggs had experienced the straight-talking, decisive nature of the 62-year-old before watching from afar as the Dutch progressed to the semi-finals in Brazil and he admits that the similarities with Ferguson were unavoidable.

Jailed Venezuelan opposition leader put on trial in Caracas

Leopoldo Lopez, the leader of the anti-government protests that rocked the socialist administration of Nicolas Maduro, is charged with inciting violence after wave of unrest left 43 dead

    Leopoldo Lopez (C) after handing himself over to the police back in February

Leopoldo Lopez, the jailed Venezuelan opposition leader, has been put on trial behind closed doors for allegedly inciting violence at anti-government protests that swept the country.

The regime of President Nicolas Maduro has accused Mr Lopez of masterminding the wave of unrest that left 43 people dead and nearly 900 injured.

Mr Lopez had called for peaceful protests and his supporters blame the Venezuelan state security forces for the violent crackdown.

Sudanese Christian woman Meriam Ibrahim arrives in Italy

Ms Ibrahim, who was spared a death sentence for apostasy in June for refusing to renounce Christianity, meets Pope Francis after landing in Rome en route to US

Meriam Ibrahim, the Christian woman who was spared a death sentence for apostasy and then barred from leaving Sudan, met Pope Francis on Thursday after arriving in Rome to jubilant scenes following intense international efforts to free her.


Ms Ibrahim and her husband Daniel Wani personally thanked the pontiff for his support and he in turn thanked her for her courage and staying true to her Christian faith despite the threat of execution when they met for nearly half an hour at the Vatican.

Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, described the meeting as “calm and affectionate” and said the Pope wanted it to be a “gesture of support to all those who suffer for their faith, and living in difficult or restrictive situations”.

Air Algerie plane wreckage found in southern Mali

Wreckage from plane and human remains found at what is thought to be crash site of Air Algerie flight which disappeared en route from Burkina Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers and six crew on board including 51 French nationals

Air Algerie plane parking in the international airport of Algiers- the Air Algerie flight disappeared from radar screens over Mali 50 minutes after take off en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers

The wreckage of an Air Algerie flight which vanished from radar in West Africa has been discovered near Mali's border with Burkino Faso, according to officials.

Burkina Faso's commander in chief Gilbert Diendere said the burnt-out wreckage of flight AH5017 was found south of the Mali town of Gao, 30 miles north of the border.He said searchers found human remains and burned and scattered plane wreckage at the site.

The search team had gone from Burkina Faso to Mali to follow up reports from a resident who described seeing a plane go down.

11 parents of abducted girls die from stress and attacks in Nigeria

In just three months, seven fathers have been killed by insurgents and at least four more parents have died of heart failure 

In the three months since Islamic extremists kidnapped more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls, 11 of their parents have died, town residents say.

The town where the girls were kidnapped, Chibok, is cut off by militants, who have been attacking villages in the region.

Seven fathers of kidnapped girls were among 51 bodies brought to the Chibok hospital after an attack on the nearby village of Kautakari this month, said a health worker who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals by the extremists.

At least four more parents have died of heart failure, high blood pressure and other illnesses that the community blames on trauma due to the mass abduction 100 days ago, said community leader Pogu Bitrus, who provided their names.

Manchester United thrash LA Galaxy 7-0 as Ander Herrera stars to give Louis van Gaal victory in first match

Size of Manchester United’s winning margin impressive with Louis van Gaal inspiring the demolition of a team crowned MLS champions just two years ago 

                                     Seven-up: Ander Herrera and Wayne Rooney celebrate

Louis van Gaal launched his reign as Manchester United manager in emphatic style with Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young and youngster Reece James all scoring twice in a remarkable 7-0 victory against LA Galaxy in California.

Just 11 days after signing off at the World Cup with Holland, following victory over Brazil in the third/fourth place play-off in Sao Paulo, Van Gaal was back in the dug-out for his first game as United manager in the Pasadena Rose Bowl.

And the Dutchman emerged from the friendly fixture, which saw United win the Chevrolet Cup in front of a crowd of 86,432, with a host of plus points, including the performances of debutants Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw.

Islamic State tells Mosul shopkeepers to cover up naked mannequins

Mosul shopkeepers under orders from the Islamic State to protect the modesty of plastic mannequins in clothing displays 

Islamic State instructions said clothing outlets must cover the faces of mannequins in line with Muslim tenets of covering up the human former

Islamic extremists have sought to entrench their strict religious regime in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul by banning naked mannequins, just days after imposing orders to convert, pay taxes or die rules on the city's Christians.

Islamic State instructions said clothing outlets must cover the faces of mannequins in line with Muslim tenets of covering up the human former.

The orders which apply to both male and female mannequins are in line with strict interpretations of sharia law that forbid statues or artwork depicting the human form are part of a growing web of rules and commercial regulations emanating from the Islamic militant group. It has also set out an extensive list of levies on all vehicles and trucks bringing goods into Mosul.

  

Chelsea's bid to sign Didier Drogba puts Romelu Lukaku's future in doubt

Didier Drogba's possible return to Chelsea creates more uncertainty over Romelu Lukaku's future and raises questions about ability meet home-grown quotas

                      Uncertain future: Romelu Lukaku has no clue where he will be playing his club football next season

Chelsea's bid to re-sign Didier Drogba underlines doubts over the club’s ability to meet the home-grown player quotas for the Premier League and Europe.

The Premier League have confirmed that Romelu Lukaku qualifies as a home-grown player this season, but the return of 36-year-old Drogba would increase the uncertainty over his position.

Chelsea appear to have put Lukaku’s future on hold until he returns for pre-season training in Holland on July 30, with Everton ready to make a bid to take him to Goodison Park permanently.

Juventus and Wolfsburg are also interested and Chelsea may be open to loaning Lukaku abroad now he has spent long enough in England to count as a home-grown player.

Head doctor fighting Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone contracts the deadly virus

Sheik Umar Khan has been hailed a 'national hero' by government for his work saving victims of the Ebola epidemic that has killed more than 600 people in West Africa

 Sheik Umar Khan, 39, was leading the fight to control an outbreak that has killed 206 people in the West African country

The head doctor fighting the deadly tropical virus Ebola in Sierra Leone has himself caught the disease, the president's office said.

The 39-year-old Sheik Umar Khan, hailed as a "national hero" by the health ministry, was leading the fight to control an outbreak that has killed 206 people in the West African country.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola which can kill up to 90 percent of those infected, although the mortality rate of the current outbreak is lower at around 60 percent.

Across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, 632 people have died from the illness, according to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) data, putting great strain on the health systems of some of Africa's poorest countries.

Suicide bombs in Kaduna kill 82, ex-leader Buhari targeted

 At least 82 people were killed on Wednesday in two suicide bombings in the north Nigerian city of Kaduna, one aimed at opposition leader and ex-president Muhammadu Buhari and another at a moderate Muslim cleric about to lead a crowd in prayer.

The attacks bore the hallmarks of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which considers all those who do not share its views to be enemies. But it may also have been linked to politics before the 2015 elections.

In the deadliest attack, a bomber in a car full of explosives hurtled towards Buhari's convoy at the crowded Kawo market, his son told Reuters on the scene and police said later. A Red Cross official said at least 50 people were killed there.

Boko Haram bomb attacks kill at least 80

Two blasts in the city of Kaduna bear hallmarks of Boko Haram, the Islamist group terrorising the country's north 

A screengrab taken from a video released by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, with Abubakar Shekau (C)- if Boko Haram is responsible for Wednesday's attack, it underscores the risks moderate clerics take speaking out against it

Two bomb blasts in the north Nigerian city of Kaduna killed at least 82 people on Wednesday, officials said, in attacks that bore the hallmarks of violent Islamist group Boko Haram.

A suicide bomber targeting a moderate Muslim cleric killed at least 32 of the cleric's congregation on a busy commercial road. Shortly after, a second bomb blast killed 50 people in the crowded Kawo market on Wednesday, a local Red Cross worker on the scene, who declined to be named, told Newsalertexpress.

Thousands were gathered for prayers with Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi in Murtala Muhammed square, and when his convoy pulled up, the bomber lunged at him before being stopped by his private security, witnesses and police said.

Brad Pitt and Anjelina Jolie to be married - in film

The Hollywood couple, who remain unmarried after nearly a decade together, will play husband and wife in a movie
Brad Pitt and Anjelina Jolie, who remain unmarried in real life, will play husband and wife in a new film.  Pitt, 50, is likely to receive a lesser fee than his wife who wrote the movie and will direct it, according to The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter.

The new film is By the Sea which has been described as an "intimate character driven drama" by Universal Pictures.

Speaking to Extra TV earlier this year Jolie, 39, said: "It's not a big movie, not an action movie. It's the kind of movie we love but aren't often cast in. It's a very experimental, independent type film where we get to be actors together and be really raw, open, try things."

It is the couple's first film together since Mr & Mrs Smith in 2005 which led to their off-screen romance.

MH17: Holland comes to mournful standstill as victims of Malaysia Airlines begin journey home

As the first of MH17's 298 victims arrive in Holland from Ukraine they are greeted by a nation in still in shock 

People carry a coffin containing the remains of a victim of crashed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 during a ceremony at Eindhoven airport in the Netherlands

Out of the carnage, chaos and unspeakable horror finally came a moment of calm.
A small dot appeared in the cloudless blue sky above the Dutch city of Eindhoven, gradually getting larger as the first plane carrying victims of last week's Malaysia Airlines disaster came in to land.

On it were 16 bodies, carried aboard the Hercules C-130 which just a few hours earlier had set off from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Then came a second plane, an Australian Boeing C-17, which touched down carrying a further 24 corpses.

Finally, the victims of this awful tragedy were coming home.
As the two planes with their precious cargo taxied into position and dulled their engines in front of up to 1,000 gathered relatives, a lone trumpeter stepped forward to play the Last Post; the profoundly moving lament which echoed across a now silent airfield.

And at 4pm, this traumatised nation – from which two thirds of the MH17 passengers originated – came to a halt.

TransAsia Airways plane crashes in typhoon-hit Taiwan, killing 47

A TransAsia Airways turboprop plane crashed on its second attempt at landing during a thunderstorm on an island off Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 47 people and setting buildings on fire, officials said.

The plane, a 70-seat ATR 72, crashed near the runway on the island of Penghu, west of the mainland, with 54 passengers and four crew on board, they said. No one was killed or hurt in the buildings.

Eleven injured people on the plane were taken to hospital, the government said.

The aircraft took off from Taiwan's southern city of Kaohsiung, headed for the island of Makong, but crash-landed in Huxi township of Penghu County, the main island of the chain also known as the Pescadores.

Paul Hogan's Divorce Is Dundee

Perhaps Paul Hogan will mark his divorce by throwing a few more shrimp on the barbie.

A California judge has finalized Hogan's divorce from wife Linda Kozlowski and the assets have been divvied up.
Per the settlement, Hogan, 74, retains the rights to the character "Crocodile Dundee," the role that made him famous, as well as ownership of the film company that produced the huge original film (1986) and its two sequels, Crocodile Dundee II (1988) and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001).

Ryder Cup 2014: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson among those in danger of missing Ryder Cup

Time is running out for American to prove form and fitness for Geneagles while Mickelson and Westwood also face selection battle

                          Searching for form: Tiger Woods finished tied for 69th at the Open

One of these American golfing legends believes he is worth a Ryder Cup wildcard despite lying in 70th place in the standings, having missed more than three months because of back surgery and having a best finish for the year of a tie for 25th.

The other is not sure whether he is worth a wildcard, despite lying in 11th place in the standings, having three top-12 finishes in his past six outings and having recorded a fine 68 in the final round of the Open on Sunday. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have always been opposites.

However, they do at least have one thing in common. Together, with Lee Westwood from the Europe perspective, they are emerging as the main stories in the biennial Ryder Cup selection head-scratcher. This time around the cranium could bleed from all the frenzied nail rubbing.

Stoke City sign Bojan Krkic for £3million from Barcelona

Stoke manager Mark Hughes delighted to land Spain international Bojan Krkic the former Barcelona prodigy once hailed as the next Lionel Messi 

Firepower: Stoke are confident of wrapping up a deal for Bojan in the next few days which will see him sign for the season

Bojan Krkic, the former Barcelona prodigy once hailed as the next Lionel Messi, has signed for Stoke City in a £3million deal.
The Spain international flew out to Germany on Tuesday night to join Mark Hughes's squad on their pre-season tour and will sign a four-year contract.

Bojan, 23, held talks with Hughes a fortnight ago and also passed a medical but Stoke feared missing out when negotiations with Barcelona stalled.

But Bojan verbally agreed to move to the Britannia Stadium on Monday night and his arrival ensures a remarkable coup for Hughes.

A product of Barcelona's famed academy, which has produced talents such as Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi, he made his debut for the Catalan club at the age of 17 and is determined to rebuild his career after falling off the radar in recent years.

Louis van Gaal faces his first test ahead of LA Galaxy friendly: who should captain Manchester United?

New manager Louis van Gaal needs to decide who will captain Manchester United this season, with Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie obvious but divisive options

Louis van Gaal will make his first significant decision as Manchester United manager on Wednesday when he names his captain for the pre-season friendly against LA Galaxy in Pasadena.

The absence from the United States tour of Robin van Persie, Van Gaal’s captain during the World Cup with Holland, and the ankle injury which has sidelined Michael Carrick for three months ensures that a decision on a permanent captain may still be some weeks away.

But if Van Gaal overlooks Wayne Rooney when he hands out the armband in the Rose Bowl dressing room, it will point towards a wholly new dynamic at Old Trafford and one which the England forward is unlikely to have anticipated when he signed his new five-year contract in February.

The loss of so many experienced and long-serving players this summer has created a captaincy vacuum at United and the reality is that there is no outstanding candidate to succeed Nemanja Vidic, who has left for Inter Milan.

How Real Madrid and Barcelona could line up following stunning signings of James Rodriguez and Luis Suarez

James Rodríguez's £63million arrival at Bernabéu ensure that both Spanish clubs will be equipped with the most formidable forward lines next season 

                            James Rodriguez (right) poses with Florentino Perez after signing for Real Madrid

In 2001 when Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez began the second summer of his Galáctico revolution with the signing of Zinedine Zidane from Juventus for a world record fee of £45 million, the only available squad number between one and 11 was No5. And so the greatest midfield player of his generation glided around the Bernabéu for the next five seasons with a swan-necked centre-half’s shirt on his back. Two years later David Beckham turned that notion on its head when he took No23 because Raul held the freehold on No7, but before the marketing phenomenon arrived it was felt that 1-11 remained the most valuable slots for merchandising.

Commonwealth Games 2014: Glasgow’s big night comes by royal appointment

The Queen will attend opening ceremony of event that presents an invigorating antidote to some of the grating commercialism of mainstream sport

It was a papal document that encapsulated the standard to which Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games aspire.

“A place of renown,” read the Vatican’s edict of 1451, establishing a university in the city, “where the air is mild and the victuals are plenty.” Truly, Pope Nicholas V could not have put it any better than if he had been describing a summer’s night on Sauciehall Street.

For Glasgow, aptly for a place once heralded as the ‘Second City of the Empire’, finds itself enveloped by a Commonwealths fever.

Not, mercifully, the gastroenteritic variety that plagued the last Games in Delhi – although the athletes’ village in the East End has reported more than 50 cases of the norovirus – but the same avid, fervent, immersive fascination with the spectacle that marked the 2006 instalment in Melbourne.