Naomi Osaka overcame a slow start to beat Czech Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-1 and get her US Open title defence under way in front of a roaring capacity crowd.
Four EU diplomats say a political agreement has been reached on the sanctions and that a foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg next Monday will officialise them.
Dismissal of four monks in central Phetchabun province highlights problem of drug use in Thailand, a major transit country for meth flooding in from Myanmar.
The Afghan cricket team has received approval for a Test match in Australia, raising some hopes the Taliban will refrain from a blanket ban on all forms of entertainment as it did in the 1990s.
Israeli troops shoot dead Palestinian teenager in a refugee camp in occupied West Bank, says Palestine's Health Ministry, as residents strike in solidarity with blockaded Shuafat refugee camp.
