The News of The World on 07/15/2016 ~ The News of The World

WORLD

GB: British Prime Minister Theresa May completed a major overhaul of the government Thursday, promoting leading Brexit campaigners and stunning observers by picking gaffe-prone Boris Johnson as her top diplomat.

CHINA: China warned Thursday of a "decisive response" to provocations in the South China Sea, as it faced mounting pressure to accept an international tribunal's ruling against its claims to most of the strategically vital waters.

BRAZIL: Brazil's lower house of Congress elected an ally of interim president Michel Temer as its new speaker Thursday, replacing the embattled Eduardo Cunha.

ITALY: An Italian train station manager admitted partial responsibility for a head-on collision that killed 23 people as investigators on Thursday probed the fatal delay in upgrading rail safety.

FRANCE: French President Francois Hollande threatened Thursday to sack Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, who has hinted at a bid for the presidency, unless he respects the "solidarity" of the government.

ARGENTINA: Researchers announced they have discovered a ferocious meat-eating dinosaur in Argentina, notable for having short arms like the T-rex but hailing from a

different branch of the family tree.

Resurgent Trump makes GOP convention a family affair

Donald Trump's vexed presidential campaign got a shot in the arm Thursday as a poll put

him level with Hillary Clinton, vice presidential speculation mounted and he unveiled a family-dominated convention lineup. After months of rocky sailing, Trump heads into the Republican convention in Cleveland with the wind at his back thanks to a New York Times/CBS News poll that showed a dead heat between him and Clinton. Each candidate landed support from 40 percent of registered voters. The polls underscore the depth of Clinton's troubles over her use of a private server for State Department emails when she was the nation's top diplomat. Last week the FBI announced it would not pursue criminal charges against Clinton over the issue, but described her behavior as "extremely careless." Trump still faces a herculean task of uniting the Republican Party at the convention, which

begins on Monday. Many delegates say they cannot get behind Trump and his populist

rhetoric. Some are pressing for the rules to be changed to allow delegates to ignore the

primary votes and back whichever candidate they want. The Donald's trump card may be

the selection of a vice presidential running mate who can reassure the twitchy conservative base. An announcement is expected on Friday, with Indiana Governor Mike Pence, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Former House speaker Newt Gingrich the presumed frontrunners.

Ginsburg sorry for branding Trump a 'faker'

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg apologized Thursday for publicly disparaging

Donald Trump as a phoney with a big ego. The left-leaning 83-year-old judge shocked

the US political establishment with her remarks: on Monday she called Trump "a

faker" who "says whatever comes into his head at the moment." She also told The New

York Times in an interview published last weekend that she "can't imagine" what the

United States under Trump as president would be like. Ginsburg issued a statement

Thursday saying she was sorry. "On reflection, my recent remarks in response to

press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them," Ginsburg said. "Judges should

avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In the future I will be more circumspect," she added. In response to the criticism, Trump had suggested the judge was getting senile and should step down.

"Justice Ginsburg of the Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me" said Trump.

Kerry to push Putin on Syria peace, IS fight

Top diplomat John Kerry flew into Russia Thursday to press President Vladimir Putin over Syria peace efforts and targeting jihadist groups, as leader Bashar al-Assad said he has

never faced pressure from Moscow to go. The Secretary of State was set to meet Putin

in the Kremlin with Washington reportedly ready to offer to cooperate with Moscow in

joint military action against the Islamic State group and the Syrian branch of Al-Qaida,

Al-Nusra Front. Kerry did not deny the proposal - reported by the Washington Post Thursday - and it would mark a dramatic shift if it brought together Assad's key backer

Moscow and his major foe Washington. The US envoy will also look to try to revive a

shattered ceasefire and push Putin on a stalled peace process as little progress has

been made towards a hoped-for resumption of Syria talks. Ahead of the meeting in

Moscow, there appeared little indication that Assad was set to budge on the major issue

hampering peace talks - his own future.

Assad insisted Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had never raised the

issue of his departure or a political transition

United States in Brief

OBAMA: President Barack Obama on Thursday called to congratulate new British Prime Minister Theresa May, as the White House offered a tepid response to her choice of foreign secretary.

JOB: A modest number of Americans filed new claims for unemployment insurance benefits last week, fresh evidence of steady improvement in the jobs market, government data showed Thursday. Initial jobless claims, a sign of the level of layoffs, held near a three-month low for the second week running, the Labor Department said.

DALLAS: Funerals were heldWednesday for two of the five officers killed in last week's

sniper shooting in Dallas, one day after President Barack Obama addressed a public memorial service honoring the slain police. Onlookers paused to pay their respects to

Lorne Ahrens of the Dallas Police Department and Brent Thompson, an officer with Dallas Area Rapid Transit, as public funeral processions snaked along area roads.

BANK: The Chinese government is believed to have infiltrated computers belonging to a US banking regulator, which employees then tried to cover up, a Congressional report released Wednesday said. The computer system at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which guarantees banking deposits, was "hacked by a foreign government, likely the Chinese" the document said.

DRONE: A Pakistani Taliban militant wanted for his role in a school massacre has died in a US drone strike in Afghanistan, Pakistani and American military officials said Wednesday. Umar Narai, also known as Umar Khalifa and Khalid Khurasani, died in Nangarhar province over the weekend, security officials from both countries said.

PULSE: The families of the victims slain at the Pulse nightclub will get the most money from a fund established to help the victims' families and survivors of the worst mass shooting in modern history. A proposal on how to distribute the money was released Thursday by Kenneth Feinberg, the OneOrlando Fund's administrator. (AP)

GAME OF THRONES: Power-and-blood fantasy saga "Game of Thrones" ruled the Emmy Award nominations Thursday with a leading 23 bids, including best drama, while a real-life epic of murder and celebrity, "The People v. O.J. Simpson," was close behind. "Game of Thrones" gets the chance to win its second top Emmy. "Veep" with 17 nominations was the comedy leader. (AP)

SPORT

WEDNESDAY'S SCOREBOARD MLS

Toronto FC 1 - Columbus 1

Montreal 1 - Portland 1

Vancouver 2 - Real Salt Lake 0

New York 2 - Orlando City 0

Chicago 1 - Sporting Kansas City 0

Seattle 5 - FC Dallas 0

GOLF: Former champion Phil Mickelson went clear at the top of the leaderboard at the British Open on Thursday after a stunning eight-under-par first round of 63 at Royal Troon.

SOCCER: Robbie Keane scored his second goal in as many games as the Los Angeles

Galaxy defeated the Seattle Sounders 1-0 to maintain their Major League Soccer playoff

push on Saturday.

NBA: Tim Duncan, who retired on Monday after 19 seasons and five NBA titles, thanked

fans and team-mates in a letter posted on the Spurs website.

NHL: The National Hockey League's newest expansion franchise may not have a nickname or a logo just yet but they do have general manager. George McPhee, who led the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup final in his first season as GM there, was named the first general manager of the Las Vegas NHL team onWednesday.

TENNIS: The Davis Cup quarter-finals take place this weekend but are missing the superstar pulling power of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray and potentially overshadowed by Rafael Nadal's last-ditch attempt to get to the Rio Olympics.

CYCLING: Chris Froome was allowed to keep the yellow jersey after the Tour de France race jury ruled he lost his bike in unfair circumstances. (AP)