Abridged Global News 

World Bank says Africa can benefit from sustained economic growth

The World Bank says Africa could benefit from sustained economic growth, if more farmers were able to prove ownership of their land. In a new report, the Bank said the continent has nearly half the world's uncultivated but viable agricultural land, yet has the highest poverty rate. But the Bank said farmers' inability to prove ownership, legal disputes and land grabs had held back cultivation. Land governance needs to be improved if Africa is to fully exploit its resources and create jobs, it said. In rural areas, chieftaincy or tribal disputes over farmland are common. The report recommends that governments secure tenure rights for communities and individuals, possibly using new and relatively cheap satellite technology to conduct land surveys.

Pope Francis visits Brazil

 Brazil  greeted Pope Francis  visiting the world's largest Catholic nation on his first foreign trip.

Pope arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Monday afternoon to attend a Catholic festival. Crowds lined the avenues as he paraded the city, waving to him and taking photos.

Pope Francis, who was elected March 2013, is the first-ever pontiff from Latin America.

He chose Brazil, home to the world's largest Catholic population of more than 125 million, as the destination of his first foreign trip.

Charles overjoyed over birth of grandchild

The  festive mood is sweeping Britain following news of the birth of the royal baby.

Prince William's wife Catherine gave birth to a boy, the couple's first child, at 4:24 PM Monday at St. Mary's Hospital in London. Buckingham Palace said the baby weighs 3,800 grams and both mother and child are doing well.

Following the announcement, the London Eye Ferris wheel on the bank of the River Thames was lit up in blue, red and white, representing the colors of the British flag.Britain's Prince Charles says he and his wife are overjoyed at the arrival of their first grandchild.

Charles released a statement on Monday. He said he's thrilled for William and Catherine at this special moment.

Prince Charles commented that grandparenthood is a unique time in life. He said it's made him proud and happy.

Turkish court gives go-ahead to demolish Gezi Park

Istanbul’s administrative court gave a green light to demolish city’s Gezi Park, which was at the center of heated nationwide protests sparked by the decision to get rid of the park and turn it into a monument to the Ottoman Empire.

70 political prisoners freed in Myanmar

The Myanmar’s government has released about 70 political prisoners following a promise by the President Thein Sein to free all prisoners by the end of the year.

A member of the Government’s political prisoner scrutiny committee said at least 70 prisoners were freed today from various prisons. Some of them are from the Kachin ethnic group, which recently signed a peace deal with the government.

The release of political detainees in Myanmar has been a key concern of the United States and other Western nations.

US, Israel not invited to Iran presidential inauguration

The US and Israel have not been invited to the inauguration of the Iranian president elect, due to take place on August 4. “An invitation is directed to all countries except for the United States and of course the Zionist entity which Iran does not recognize,” an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Abbas Araghchi, told a press conference on Tuesday. Araghchi had indicated on Sunday that leaders from all countries, including the UK, were welcome to attend. However, on the same day Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cautioned that US government officials were “not trustworthy.” Hasan Rouhani won a landslide victory in the June 14 election, and is to replace President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Blast heard in downtown Tripoli – reports

A loud explosion was heard near a building housing several foreign embassies in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing witnesses. One source said the blast had occurred in the car park of a residential compound next to the building, known as Tripoli Towers, where the British and Canadian embassies are based.

China bans construction of govt buildings

China’s leaders have banned the construction of government buildings for five years in a move that aims to address public anger at corruption. The general offices of the Communist Party’s central committee and the State Council jointly issued the directive Tuesday, Xinhua said. The directive orders an "across-the-board halt" to construction of official buildings, and "glitzy" structures built as training centers, hotels or government motels. Grand government buildings are often among the most impressive buildings across China.

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715 detained during Gezi Park protests – prosecutor

A total of 715 people were detained during the Gezi Park protests, Istanbul’s public prosecutor said Tuesday. Of those detained, 179 were sent to court with arrest demands and 41 have been arrested, according to the prosecutor’s office. Overall, 57 people have been released on probation, local media report. The statement also said 110 investigations have been launched into insulting publications, with the majority of offenses committed against high-level state officials.

Dutch appeals court blocks extradition of terror suspect to US

The Hague Court of Appeal blocked the extradition Tuesday of a terror suspect to the US, saying he was tortured in Pakistan after his arrest. The man identified as Sabir K., who has Dutch and Pakistani citizenship, was arrested in Pakistan in 2010 and expelled to the Netherlands in 2011. US authorities accuse him of working with Al-Qaeda from 2004 to 2010, and of plotting a suicide attack on an American military base in Afghanistan. Dutch authorities can still launch a final appeal to the country’s Supreme Court.

Syria Kurds expel more jihadists from villages in north – activists

Syrian Kurds made rapid advances in the north of the country Tuesday, expelling jihadists from several villages, according to activists. Tuesday’s fighting hit several villages, including Yabseh, Kandal and Jalbeh, which lie in the northern province of Raqa on Syria’s border with Turkey, AFP reported, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Kurds also expelled the jihadists from Kur Hassu, Atwan, Sarej and Khirbet Alu villages, near the majority Kurdish town of Cobany. In Hasake to the east, Kurdish-jihadist fighting went into the seventh consecutive day in the Jal Agha and other villages in the majority Kurdish province.

Turkish troops kill civilian on Syria border

Turkish security forces killed a civilian when they returned fire on a group of people trying to cross from Turkey into Syria, the Turkish military said on Tuesday. The group of eight civilians had been trying to cross illegally from Turkey’s Hatay province into northwestern Syria on Monday afternoon and opened fire on the Turkish border patrol, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Turkey’s General Staff has ordered to boost security measures on the border to prevent “threats coming from the other side,” the military said.

300 migrants storm border at Spain enclave

About 300 African migrants stormed a border fence surrounding Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla on Tuesday in an attempt to enter Spanish territory. About 100 migrants managed to enter Melilla in the assault on the border. “The assault happened early in the morning when it was still dark,” AFP quoted a local Spanish government spokeswoman as saying. Two separate groups of migrants stormed the border fence in two different locations. Melilla, home to around 80,000 people, has one of the EU's two land borders with Africa. Madrid has reported a surge in attempts to scale the fence since a crackdown on arrivals via Spain’s Canary Islands and in the wake of unrest in northern Africa over recent years.

Media agencies