World Briefs

UK The University of Birmingham says new scientific tests on a Quran parchment place it close to the time of the Prophet Muhammad. The university said yesterday that radiocarbon dating has put the parchment among one of the oldest known manuscripts of the Muslim holy book known to survive. The analysis dated the parchment close to the time of the prophet, who is generally believed to have lived between 570 and 632.

UK Prince George was celebrating his second birthday yesterday. A new official photograph of George, the first child of Prince William and his wife Kate, has been released by Kensington Palace to mark the occasion. It shows George grinning in his father’s arms. The royal couple is expected to celebrate his birthday privately at Anmer Hall, their country home on Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham Estate.

BURUNDI  The head of Burundi’s electoral commission says vote counting is underway and results are expected tomorrow for a controversial election in which incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term in power has sparked widespread unrest.

USA-SYRIA A U.S. airstrike in Syria has killed a key figure in a dangerous al-Qaida offshoot, the Defense Department said Tuesday. Muhsin al-Fadhli was killed in a July 8 air attack while traveling in a vehicle near Sarmada, Syria. Al-Fadhli was a leader of the Khorasan Group, a cadre of al-Qaida operatives who were sent from Pakistan to Syria to plot attacks on the West. Officials say the Khorasan Group is embedded in the al Nusra front, Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate.

SAUDI ARABIA  King Salman welcomed the Iran nuclear deal in a meeting with Defense Secretary Ash Carter but expressed reservations about how effectively it will be enforced, Carter said yesterday. Carter met with the king as well as his defense minister, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, yesterday in the Red Sea city of Jedda.

PHILIPPINES  Grammy award-winning singer Chris Brown’s departure from Manila was delayed yesterday because of fraud allegations against him and his promoter for a canceled concert last New Year’s Eve. The recording artist, who performed at a packed concert Tuesday night in Manila, was prevented from leaving on a private plane yesterday pending clearance by the Bureau of Immigration. The religious group that owns the New Year’s Eve concert venue petitioned the Department of Justice for help prosecuting Brown.

ISRAEL A West Bank hospital says a Palestinian man has died after he was shot by Israeli troops during a clash near the town of Jenin. It says 21-year-old Mohammed Ahmed Alauna was shot in the chest early yesterday and later died of his wounds at the hospital. The Israeli military says its troops were on a routine patrol in the West Bank when they were attacked by a group of Palestinians hurling rocks in their direction.