Report: At least 38 killed after tourist buses crash in Egypt

(CNN) – At least 38 people were killed and 41 injured early Friday when two tourist buses crashed in northeastern Egypt, the country’s semi-official news website Al-Ahram Online reported.

The two buses in the governorate of South Sinai were carrying an estimated 80 passengers, including 4 foreign tourists, the report said.

Search-and-rescue teams are still working to recover casualties at the scene, said Mohamed Lasheen, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Health in South Sinai.

Report: At least 38 killed after tourist buses crash in Egypt

Lahore judge's order for FIR against Sharifs challenged

LAHORE: Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed has challenged the ruling of a Lahore court which ordered the registration of a murder case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, several other PML-N leaders and some police officials over the June 17 Model Town incident.

Rasheed challenged the ruling in the Lahore High Court in a personal capacity which the court has admitted for hearing.

The petition will be heard today by Justice Mehmood Maqbool Bajwa of the LHC.

The petition contends that the ruling of the sessions judge that ordered the registration of cases was not based on the reality of situation, adding that the order be suspended.

Eleven supporters of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) were killed and scores were wounded in the June 17 Model Town incident.

Lahore judge's order for FIR against Sharifs challenged

Islamabad protests: PTI, PAT submit response in SC

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) on Friday submitted their responses in the Supreme Court over a set of identical petitions filed by bar associations across the country against their sit-ins on Islamabad’s Constitution Avenue.

A five-judge larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk, heard the case today.

The PTI’s response stated that it was the constitutional right of the party to hold protests, adding that the measures the party had adopted were within the parameters of the Constitution.

The reply also said that Imran had never said anything about attacking the Parliament and that he believed in the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution.

Moreover, the reply stated that the PTI chairman did not support any extra-constitutional measures nor did he have any intentions of doing so.

Also read: SC issues notices to Imran, Qadri

The PTI requested the court to order authorities to remove the containers which are installed in the federal capital to block routes, adding that the biggest obstacle in the freedom and mobility of civilians was these containers.

Advocate Ali Zafar, who was representing the PAT, verbally assured the court that the party favoured the rule of law.

“It is a peaceful demonstration, we are not blocking roads neither are we stopping anybody from entering the buildings and don’t intend to cause any damage to the buildings. It is the government that is blocking access by placing containers.”

Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, who was present on the bench, observed that the country was presently in the midst of a political impasse.

“We need to realize and understand the consequences of this impasse.”

Adjourning the hearing to August 25, the court directed PAT’s counsel to submit a concise statement by tomorrow. — Abdul Shakoor and Nasir Iqbal contributed to reporting

Islamabad protests: PTI, PAT submit response in SC

2015 World Cup: 'Sri Lanka ODIs will tell us where we stand'

HAMBANTOTA: Pakistan and Sri Lanka begin a three-match one-day series on Saturday hoping to gauge each other’s firepower and bench strength ahead of the World Cup just six months away.

The two former world champions have been drawn in different halves for one-day cricket’s showpiece that is to be played in Australia and New Zealand in February and March.

Pakistan, the 1992 champions, will look to bounce back after an embarrassing 2-0 whitewash for Misbah-ul- Haq’s tourists in the short Test series that concluded on Monday.

They will be without one-day cricket’s top bowler Saeed Ajmal for part of the series with the off-spinner, who was also reported for a suspect action, flying to Australia for testing.

“If he gets a flight on Friday then he will miss the first one-day (match) but we are trying to get him back by August 26 in time for the next game a day later in Colombo,” team manager Moin Khan told AFP.

Pakistan captain Misbah was confident the tourists will recover from the Test whitewash to put on a better display in the one-dayers.

“This is a different format and we play it well,” said Misbah, whose team beat Sri Lanka 3-2 in the one-day series in the United Arab Emirates in December.

“This is a good chance to assess ourselves since the World Cup is not too far away. Every one-dayer we play will tell us where we stand.“

Pakistan were reinforced by eight one-day specialists, including the talismanic Shahid Afridi and former captain Mohammad Hafeez, who joined the squad after the Tests.

Lanky paceman Mohammad Irfan, one of cricket’s tallest bowlers at seven feet, one inch (2.16 metres), is also back after recovering from a hip injury.

Sri Lanka, who won the World Cup four years later in 1996, hope to build on a successful run by Angelo Mathews’ team in limited-overs cricket this year when they won the one-day Asia Cup and the World Twenty20.

“Our recent record has been good, but we have to make sure we remain consistent and do the basics right,” Mathews said ahead of the first match in Hambantota.

“The one-dayers will be different and Pakistan will come hard at us. They are a good side and we have to be at the top of our game.“

Mahela Jayawardene, who retired this week from Test cricket to concentrate on his World Cup preparations, and fellow veteran Kumar Sangakkara lead a strong batting line-up that also includes opener Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Sri Lanka will miss off-spinner Sachithra Senenayake, who is undergoing remedial work on his bowling action after being reported by umpires on the England tour in June.

The second match will be played at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo on August 27 and the third in Dambulla on August 30.

Pakistan (from): Misbah-ul Haq (capt) Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Anwar Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Talha, Wahab Riaz, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Irfan.

Sri Lanka (from): Angelo Mathews (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Ashan Priyanjan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dhammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Seekuge Prasanna, Suraj Randiv

 

2015 World Cup: 'Sri Lanka ODIs will tell us where we stand'

Army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha named Thailand's new prime minister

(CNN) – The military leader who took control of Thailand in a coup in May has been named the country’s prime minister.

Thailand’s National Legislative Assembly selected General Prayuth Chan-ocha to lead the government in a vote on Thursday.

He was the sole candidate for the post.

Members of the assembly were chosen by Prayuth; more than half are also in the military.

Prayuth seized control of the country on May 22, 2014 after months of unrest destabilized the elected government, led by former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Yingluck’s promotion as leader in 2011 led to violent protests and counter-protests amid calls for her to resign.

Critics accused Yingluck of acting as a mouthpiece for her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in the last coup in 2006 and is now living in exile.

After taking power, military authorities summoned leading political officials and other prominent figures. It imposed travel bans and delivered the firm message that dissent would not be tolerated.

King’s approval

A curfew was imposed, the military threw out the constitution, and Prayuth announced he’d be assuming powers to act as prime minister until a new one took office.

Prayuth’s formal promotion to the role needs to be approved by Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, though that’s considered a formality. The military leader announced in May that he had the revered King’s backing to assume leadership.

Since taking power, the Thai military has enforced the rule of law, seizing guns, arresting suspected criminals and shutting down illegal businesses.

Army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha named Thailand's new prime minister

Obama cracks wise about, er, 'crack' in pies

It’s not every day you hear a president joke about crack cocaine — in White House pies, no less.

During a Monday event to celebrate LGBT Pride Month, President Obama praised retiring White House pastry chef Bill Yosses — “the Crustmaster” — for his delicious pies.

“I don’t know what he does — whether he puts crack in them, or …,” Obama said as the crowd chuckled.

First lady Michelle Obama quickly weighed in, saying, “no he doesn’t. … There is no crack in our pies.”

The president went on to note that Yosses’ pies made an appearance at his first physical after moving into the White House.

“My cholesterol shot up,” Obama said. “And the doctor was like, what happened?”

He added: “And I thought, it’s the pie! It’s the pie! So we had to establish like a really firm rule about no pie during the week.”

Obama cracks wise about, er, 'crack' in pies

'Cannibal cop' to be freed, conviction overturned

A judge ordered New York’s notorious “cannibal cop” freed on $100,000 bail Tuesday, a day after tossing out his kidnapping conspiracy conviction.

A jury had convicted Gilberto Valle last year on charges of plotting to kidnap, kill and eat his estranged wife and other women. But Manhattan Federal Judge Paul Gardephe on Monday overturned the conviction on the most serious charge, citing a lack of evidence.

Gardephe let stand Valle’s conviction on illegally using a police database. The maximum sentence for that crime is a year in prison; the conspiracy charge could have meant life in prison.

Valle, 30, has been jailed for more than 18 months. The six-year New York Police Department veteran was fired from the department after his conviction.

Prosecutors had argued Valle looked up potential targets on a restricted law enforcement database. Gardephe was unconvinced.

“It is more likely than not the case that all of Valle’s Internet communications about the kidnapping are fantasy role-play,” Gardephe wrote in a 120-page opinion.

The “decision validates what we have said since the beginning: there was no crime,” defense lawyer Julia Gatto said. “Gil Valle is innocent of any conspiracy. Gil is guilty of nothing more than having unconventional thoughts.”

His estranged wife, Kathleen Mangan-Valle, testified at Valle’s trial in February 2013 that the couple were newlyweds with a young child when she found online chats and other evidence on his computer showing he had discussed killing her and abducting, torturing and eating other women.

“I was going to be tied up by my feet and my throat slit, and they would have fun watching the blood gush out of me because I was young,” Kathleen Mangan-Valle, who was 27 at the time, told a Manhattan jury.

Mangan-Valle also read about plans to put one friend in a suitcase, wheel her out of her building and murder her. Two other women were “going to be raped in front of each other to heighten their fears,” while another was going to be roasted alive over an open fire, she said.

“The suffering was for his enjoyment, and he wanted to make it last as long as possible,” she told the jury.

Gatto had argued that Valle always had been aroused by “unusual things,” including the thought of a woman boiled down on a platter with an apple in her mouth. He found a home at a fetish website with 38,000 registered members, where regulars discuss “suffocating women, cooking and eating them,” she said. But it was all fantasy, his lawyer said.

Contributing: Associated Press

'Cannibal cop' to be freed, conviction overturned