Top News Stories –

Oscar Pistorius’ early release blocked by minister –
South Africa’s justice minister has blocked the early release of athlete Oscar Pistorius from prison on Friday. He said the decision by the parole board to free the athlete after serving 10 months of his five-year sentence was premature and without legal basis. It could now take months for the board to review its decision, legal sources told the BBC. Pistorius was convicted of manslaughter last year after shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The Olympic athlete insists he mistook her for an intruder. [BBC]
Oscar Pistorius competing

Athletics: Sebastian Coe elected IAAF president –
Former Olympic 1500m champion Lord Coe is the new president of the IAAF, the body that governs world athletics. The 58-year-old Briton beat rival Sergey Bubka, a former Olympic pole vault champion, by 115 votes to 92. Following his election, Coe tweeted that, after the birth of his children, this was the most “momentous moment” of his life. The former chairman of London 2012, Coe replaces 82-year-old Senegalese Lamine Diack, who has been in charge for 16 years. [BBC] See List of the Day
Sebastian Coe and Oscar Pistorius in 2011

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List of the Day –

Sebastian Coe medal record [Wikipedia]

Olympic Games
	1980 Moscow	1500 m
	1984 Los Angeles	1500 m
	1980 Moscow	800 m
	1984 Los Angeles	800 m
European Athletics Championships
	1986 Stuttgart	800 m
	1982 Athens	800 m
	1986 Stuttgart	1500 m
	1978 Prague	800 m

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Boko Haram insurgency
  • At least 151 were killed in a Boko Haram attack last week on a northeastern Nigerian village, Yadin Kukuwa. News of the attack was slow to emerge because the militants destroyed telecom masts around the village. (Independent) (AFP via Times Live)
• Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL, Syrian Civil War
  • Islamic State militants behead 82-year-old antiquities scholar Khaled Asaad, who worked for over 50 years as head of antiquities in Palmyra. (Reuters) (BBC)
• Iraq War (2014–present)
  • A suicide bomber kills at least 20 Iraqi Army troops in the city of Baiji. (Al-Arabiyah)
• South Sudanese Civil War
  • Fighting resumes in South Sudan after the failure to reach a deal between tribes loyal to the president and tribes loyal to the former vice-president. (AP via Fox News)
• Turkey-PKK Conflict
  • At least eight soldiers were killed in a bomb detonated by Kurdish militants. (NY Times) (Independent)

Business and economy

• Greek government-debt crisis
  • The Bundestag votes to approve a third bailout for Greece. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

• A brush fire burning near the American town of Twisp, Washington, kills three firefighters, injures as many as four others and forces the evacuation of the towns of Twisp and Winthrop. (KREM), (Seattle Times)

International relation

• Estonian-Russian relations
  • A court in Russia has sentenced Estonian security official Eston Kohver to 15 years in prison for espionage. (BBC)
• South Sudan–United States relations
  • United States announces that it is proposing sanctions against those connected to the South Sudan conflict, unless a ceasefire is reached promptly. (Al Jazeera English Online)

Law and crime

• Following a July 15 hacking, user data of the infidelity-promoting dating website Ashley Madison is leaked with over 30 million users having their information compromised. (BBC)
• Police in the American city of St. Louis, Missouri, make nine arrests and use tear gas to disperse protesters after a killing of an armed man allegedly aiming a gun at police officers earlier in the day. (CNN)

Politics and elections

• The United States Navy SEALS announce a plan to allow women to register, the first time in history. (Navy Times)

Sport

• The International Association of Athletics Federations elects former British Olympic champion runner Lord Sebastian Coe as its new President, replacing Lamine Diack of Senegal. Ukrainian pole vaultchampion Sergey Bubka was the other contender for the position. (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online)

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