China strongly condemns US over its warship in South China Sea

China strongly condemned the United States after a U.S. warship deliberately sailed near one of the Beijing-controlled islands in the hotly contested South China Sea to exercise freedom of navigation and challenge China's vast sea claims.

The missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracel chain "to challenge excessive maritime claims of parties that claim the Paracel Islands," without notifying the three claimants beforehand, Defense Department spokesman Mark Wright said Saturday in Washington.

China, Taiwan and Vietnam have overlapping claims in the Paracels and require prior notice from ships transiting what they consider their territorial waters. The latest operation was particularly aimed at China, which has raised tensions with the U.S. and its Southeast Asian neighbors by embarking on massive construction of man-made islands and airstrips in contested waters.

Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said that Vietnam respects "innocent passage" of ships through territorial waters in line with international law. State media quoted Binh as reiterating Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracels and Spratlys and calling on nations to actively and practically contribute to peace and stability in the South China Sea.

The U.S. has claimed the attempts to restrict navigational rights by requiring prior notice are inconsistent with international law and pledged to regularly carry out similar maneuvers.

In October, another U.S. warship sailed in the nearby Spratly Islands near Subi Reef, where China has built one of seven artificial islands.

The latest operation also drew Beijing's ire. Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun issued a statement saying the "unprofessional and irresponsible" U.S. action "severely violated Chinese law, sabotaged the peace, security and good order of the waters, and undermined the region's peace and stability."

In an opinion published Sunday by the official Xinhua news agency, China described the maneuver as a "deliberate provocation" that raised doubts about the United States' sincerity just days after Secretary of State John Kerry visited Beijing for meetings about the South China Sea and North Korea that were called productive by both sides.

China's official response has been restrained compared to the public outrage seen online, according to Xinhua. A social media search on Sunday showed a smattering of posts calling on China to adopt a tougher military posture against U.S. encroachment — if not wage war with the United States.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea and its islands, reefs and atolls on historic grounds. The area has some of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and U.S. officials say ensuring freedom of navigation is in U.S. national interests, while not taking sides in the territorial disputes.

China seized the unpopulated Triton Island, an area of 0.46 sq. miles, from former South Vietnam in 1974. In May 2014, China parked a huge oil drilling platform off the Vietnamese coast in the area, prompting Vietnam to send fishing boats and coast guard vessels to harass the rig and nearby Chinese vessels. Skirmishes led to collisions and the capsizing of at least one Vietnamese boat.

German Girl Admits to Lying About Migrant Rape Claim

Marc Eich—DPA/CorbisHundreds of Russlanddeutsche, or ethnic Germans who had formerly lived in Russia, demonstrate with signs reading "we want more security" and against violence in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, Jan. 24, 2016. The demonstration took place in connection with the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl by a refugee, which the police say did not happen.

A 13-year-old girl has confessed to concocting claims that she was kidnapped and raped by migrantsafter her allegations triggered outrage and a diplomatic dispute between Germany and Russia.

The Russian-German girl, who was only named as Lisa, admitted to lying about the alleged rape and abduction, prosecutors said Sunday, according to the Guardian. She was reported missing on Jan. 11 after she failed to show up at school and emerged 30 hours later with injuries on her face, claiming she was attacked in Berlin by men of Middle Eastern or north African appearance, the newspaper said.

Uganda's Kiira Motors unveils 'Africa's first solar bus'

Kiira Motors' Kayoola prototype electric bus was shown off at a stadium in Uganda's capital, Kampala.

One of its two batteries can be charged by solar panels on the roof which increases the vehicle's 80km (50 mile) range.

The makers now hope to attract partners to help manufacture the bus for the mass market.

Kiira Motors' chief executive Paul Isaac Musasizi told BBC News that he had been "humbled" by the large and positive reaction to the test drive.

People have been excited by the idea that Uganda is able to produce the concept vehicle, or prototype, and Mr Musasizi said he wanted it to help the country "champion the automotive, engineering and manufacturing industries" in the region.

He also hopes that it will generate employment, predicting that by 2018, more than 7,000 people could be directly and indirectly employed in the making of the Kayoola.

But backing from international companies, which make vehicle parts, is essential for the project to take off.

The vision is that by 2039 the company will be able to manufacture all the parts and assemble the vehicle in Uganda.

The 35-seat bus is intended for urban areas rather than inter-city use because of the restrictions on how far it can travel.

If it is mass produced, each bus would cost up to $58,000 (£40,000), which Mr Musasizi says is a a competitive price.

Kiira Motors grew out of a project at Uganda's Makerere University, which is now a shareholder in the company, and it has also benefitted from government funding.

Junior Doctors' February Strike To Go Ahead

Doctors say the new contracts mean they will be worse off

The walkout will see them only offer emergency care for 24 hours from 8am on 10 February.

Thousands of operations, procedures and appointments are likely to be cancelled. 

The strike was originally to be the first-ever full walkout - meaning not even emergency care would have been provided, with consultants stepping in to cover.

A previous two-day strike planned for last month was suspended because it appeared progress was being made. 

But the British Medical Association (BMA) said today that negotiations had "foundered following the Government's continued refusal to put reason before politics in agreeing a fair solution for an already overstretched junior doctor workforce".

Junior doctors say the new contracts will leave many worse off - a claim the Government denies.

The sticking point in negotiations is still said to be the time at which premium pay rates apply - particularly at the weekend.

Under the latest offer, the extra pay would kick in at 9pm from Monday to Friday, rather than 7pm currently; and from 5pm on Saturdays, instead of all day.

s entrenched position in refusing to recognise Saturday working as unsocial hours, together with its continued threat to impose a contract so fiercely resisted by junior doctors across England, leaves us with no alternative but to continue with industrial action," said Johann Malawana, chair of the BMA's junior doctor committee.

The Government is offering an 11% rise in basic pay and has said no junior doctor working legal hours would lose pay overall, and that 75% would see a rise.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is pursuing the changes to bring in one of the Tories' key election pledges - a "truly seven-day NHS" - which means non-urgent procedures would be available every day.

The Prime Minister has not ruled out imposing the contracts on junior doctors if the talks at conciliation service ACAS fail.

Junior doctors' last strike, on 12 January, saw some 38,000 medics walk out for 24 hours.

A spokesman from Acas said talks between the two sides had adjourned on Friday and that it was "ready to help" if they wanted to get round the table again.

Launch Date Of Samsung's S7 Phone Revealed

And bosses will be hoping the launch could help it regain some of mobile phone market share, which has dwindled in recent years.

Its worldwide share peaked at around 33% in 2012, but has since fallen to just over 20%.

Profits have also been hit, as it faced pressure from Apple's new big-screen phones and competition at the bottom end of the market too.

The launch event on 21 February could feature some sort of virtual reality gimmick - the Gear VR headset was briefly shown in a teaser clip.

Other details are still hazy - but could see the recently scrapped microSD card slot reintroduced.

The event could also see the launch of Samsung Pay in Europe, which is the company's answer to Apple's contactless payment service.

Samsung Pay was made available in the US in September last year, but so far there has been no UK release date set.

Net profits for Samsung fell by 40% in the last three months of 2015.

Despite a huge advertising push and good reviews, the Samsung S6 models failed to sell well.

Samsung is still has the world's biggest mobile sales figures, shipping more than 300 million devices in 2015.

Last week rival Apple warned iPhone sales are expected to fall for the first time since the smartphone's launch in 2007 - sparking a drop in its share price.

Deadly Suicide Blast At Kabul Police Office

The blast followed a spate of suicide attacks last month including one that killed seven journalists from a local television station and another in which six US troops were killed.

The attacks have coincided with concerted efforts to revive Afghanistan's peace process while the Taliban continues its campaign against the country's western-backed government.

The attack coincided with efforts to revive Afghanistan's peace process

The blast comes as parts of Afghanistan continue to suffer prolonged blackouts after insurgents destroyed an electricity pylon in the Dand Shahabuddin district of Baghlan province last week.

The pylon, which was cut down with machine saws, brought power from Uzbekistan to meet almost half of Kabul's 600 megawatt daily requirement.

Engineers have been unable to repair the power lines due to the presence of nearby mines and the threat from insurgents.

Residents have reported that more pylons have since been brought down.

The blast followed a spate of suicide attacks last month

Abdul Satar Barez, the provincial governor of Baghlan, said operations to secure the area to allow repair crews to work on the pylons had been suspended due to fog and bad weather.

"Taliban are still in the area, they are a threat and danger and we cannot launch our operation now. We are waiting for the weather to get better," he said.

Last month, Helmand's deputy governor Mohammad Jan Rasulyar warned that the southern province of Helmand was  "on the brink" of falling to the Taliban, despite Afghan troops having received extensive training by US and British forces.

Tareena Shakil Jailed For Joining Islamic State

The 26-year-old fled her home in Birmingham in October 2014, telling her family she had booked a holiday.

Instead, she took her baby son to Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror network.

She was found guilty last week and is believed to be the first British woman to stand trial accused of joining IS in Syria.

The judge - during sentencing today in Birmingham - said she had told "lie after lie" with no signs of remorse.

He also described as "abhorrent" pictures of Shakil's baby son with weapons and wearing an IS balaclava.

"You told your father you wanted to die as a martyr ... no doubt because of your mindset you were embraced by ISIS," said Judge Inman.

"Your role [in Raqqa] would not be to fight but to be a wife and mother to produce the next generation of fighters," he told the 26-year-old.

Shakil had denied joining IS and encouraging support for IS on her Facebook and Twitter accounts.

She said she "had made a mistake" travelling to Syria, but had done so simply to find a better life for her and her son.

Shakil's father reacted angrily outside court, pretending to punch a cameraman and shouting that he hoped no other woman would come back "to face this kind of b*******".