Monday 31 March 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Palestinians give Kerry 24 hours to solve prisoner crisis

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RAMALLAH (AFP) - The Palestinians on Monday gave US Secretary of State John Kerry 24 hours to resolve a dispute with Israel over prisoners after which they will resume moves to seek international recognition.If we don't get an answer from John Kerry on the prisoners tonight, we'll begin to ask for membership in all UN agencies tomorrow, Palestinian MP Mustafa Barghuti told AFP following a top-level leadership meeting in Ramallah which took place as Kerry arrived in Israel.US peace efforts are teetering on the brink of collapse after Israel refused to free a group of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners under an agreement which brought the sides back to the negotiating table in July 2013.Furious Palestinian officials have warned that unless Israel changes its stance on the prisoner releases, it could signal the end of the talks.Another Palestinian official who attended the meeting in Ramallah told AFP the Israeli government violated the agreements and must bear the consequences of its decisions.The two Palestinian officials also said that the leadership had confirmed there was no link between the release of Palestinian prisoners and the extension of negotiations.Top officials also agreed there would be no extension of talks without a comprehensive freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, they said.The peace talks, which have so far yielded no obvious results, are due to draw to a close on April 29 and US efforts are currently focused on getting the parties to agree an extension.Kerry arrived on Monday evening from Paris for a flying visit and was locked in talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of a late-night meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.He was to return to Europe on Tuesday morning, officials said.

North, South Korea trade live fire over sea border

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SEOUL (AFP) - The two Koreas traded hundreds of rounds of live artillery fire across their disputed maritime border Monday, forcing South Korean islanders to take shelter a day after the North drove up tensions by threatening a new nuclear test.The exchange, triggered by a three-hour North Korean live-fire exercise that dropped shells into South Korean waters, was limited to untargeted shelling into the sea, military officials said.South Korea's defence ministry said the North fired some 500 shells during the drill, around 100 of them landing on the south side of the sea boundary.The ministry said the South had responded to Pyongyang's premeditated provocation by firing 300 shells from K-9 self-propelled howitzer batteries based on its front-line islands.If the North takes issue with our legitimate returning of fire and uses it to make yet another provocation towards our sea and islands, we will make a resolute retaliation, ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said.The United States denounced North Korea's artillery fire, with the White House and the Pentagon accusing Pyongyang of dangerous behavior.The provocation that the North Koreans have once again engaged in is dangerous and it needs to stop, Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel told reporters in Washington.Hagel said the North's actions would be a subject that I will discuss with my counterpart in China during a tour of Asia over the next two weeks.Analysts said the incident, coming a day after Pyongyang threatened to conduct a new type of nuclear test, was largely a sign of the North's growing frustration with US resistance to resuming multi-party talks on its nuclear programme.I don't see that this ran any real risk of escalating into a serious clash, said Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.It's really North Korea showing it intends to keep the pressure on to resume a dialogue, Yang said.Pyongyang sees the nuclear negotiations as an opportunity to win material concessions and aid from the international community. The South Korean stock market shrugged off the incident, with the main Kospi index closing up 0.23 percent at 1,985.61.The North had ensured maximum publicity for its live-fire drill by taking the unusual step of notifying the South beforehand, and issuing a provocative no-sail, no-fly advisory.The exercise began at 12:15pm (0315 GMT) and South Korea, which had threatened to respond if any shells crossed the border, retaliated shortly afterwards, the defence ministry said.As a precaution, border island residents were evacuated to shelters, as South Korean fighter jets flew overhead. The evacuation order was lifted an hour after the North ended its drill.In November 2010, North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong island just south of the sea boundary, killing four people and triggering concerns of a full-scale conflict.China, the North's key ally, expressed concern and urged the two Koreas to exercise restraint.Currently there are raised tensions on the Korean peninsula, and we are concerned about this. We hope relevant parties exercise restraint, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.Pyongyang has carried out a series of rocket and short-range missile launches in recent weeks, in a pointed protest at ongoing annual South Korea-US military exercises.Monday's incident coincided with a massive, amphibious landing drill by nearly 15,000 South Korean and US troops.

Nairobi blasts kill at least six: police

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NAIROBI (AFP) - Three almost simultaneous blasts in the main Somali district of the Kenyan capital Nairobi Monday left at least six people dead and scores injured, said police, raising suspicions of terrorism.We are here at a crime scene. Of course we suspect it is a terrorist attack, Nairobi police commander Benson Kibue told reporters.The injuries number 25 -- they are in various hospitals -- and we have retrieved six bodies, he said.The three blasts targeted two small restaurants and a local clinic in a particularly densely populated area of Eastleigh, an area often known as Little Mogadishu because of its predominantly Somali population.Police were still trying to establish the type of explosives used, with Kibue saying one of the blasts might have been a homemade bomb and other witnesses at the scene of the different attacks saying one or more grenades were thrown.Eastleigh has in recent years been the scene of several explosions usually attributed by the police to Islamist extremists.Rescue workers wanted to retrieve parts from bodies blown apart by the biggest blast, but police, present at the scene in large numbers, had cordoned off the area and were first searching it for further possible explosives, an AFP photographer at the scene said.The blasts came as people made their way home for the evening, some stopping for a bite to eat.The attack comes a week after six people died when assailants burst into a church in the Likoni district close to the port city of Mombasa and opened fire on worshippers.The latest attacks have happened amid heightened warnings of a threat of Islamist violence in Kenya and despite boosted security in major cities.A suspected assailant was killed on Sunday when an explosive device he was making blew up in his face.The discovery earlier this month of an explosive-laden vehicle parked at a police station in a district of Mombasa, and the revelation that the police only searched it six days after impounding it and arresting its occupants added to the climate of insecurity.Kibue assured the public that those behind Mondays attack will be brought to justice.Rest assured, whoever has done this thing, we will get them. There is no need to panic. We are on top of these issues, he said.Kenya has been hit by a series of attacks since sending troops into southern Somalia in October 2011 to battle Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.The Islamists claimed responsibility for the most deadly attack, in which they laid siege to Nairobis upmarket shopping mall Westgate in September, killing at least 67.Dozens of other smaller attacks, most of them in the capital, on the coast or in the eastern and northeastern regions bordering Somalia, have been attributed to Shebab sympathisers.

North, South Korea trade live fire over sea border

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SEOUL (AFP) - The two Koreas traded hundreds of rounds of live artillery fire across their disputed maritime border Monday, forcing South Korean islanders to take shelter a day after the North drove up tensions by threatening a new nuclear test.The exchange, triggered by a three-hour North Korean live-fire exercise that dropped shells into South Korean waters, was limited to untargeted shelling into the sea, military officials said.South Korea's defence ministry said the North fired some 500 shells during the drill, around 100 of them landing on the south side of the sea boundary.The ministry said the South had responded to Pyongyang's premeditated provocation by firing 300 shells from K-9 self-propelled howitzer batteries based on its front-line islands.If the North takes issue with our legitimate returning of fire and uses it to make yet another provocation towards our sea and islands, we will make a resolute retaliation, ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said.The United States denounced North Korea's artillery fire, with the White House and the Pentagon accusing Pyongyang of dangerous behavior.The provocation that the North Koreans have once again engaged in is dangerous and it needs to stop, Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel told reporters in Washington.Hagel said the North's actions would be a subject that I will discuss with my counterpart in China during a tour of Asia over the next two weeks.Analysts said the incident, coming a day after Pyongyang threatened to conduct a new type of nuclear test, was largely a sign of the North's growing frustration with US resistance to resuming multi-party talks on its nuclear programme.I don't see that this ran any real risk of escalating into a serious clash, said Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.It's really North Korea showing it intends to keep the pressure on to resume a dialogue, Yang said.Pyongyang sees the nuclear negotiations as an opportunity to win material concessions and aid from the international community. The South Korean stock market shrugged off the incident, with the main Kospi index closing up 0.23 percent at 1,985.61.The North had ensured maximum publicity for its live-fire drill by taking the unusual step of notifying the South beforehand, and issuing a provocative no-sail, no-fly advisory.The exercise began at 12:15pm (0315 GMT) and South Korea, which had threatened to respond if any shells crossed the border, retaliated shortly afterwards, the defence ministry said.As a precaution, border island residents were evacuated to shelters, as South Korean fighter jets flew overhead. The evacuation order was lifted an hour after the North ended its drill.In November 2010, North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong island just south of the sea boundary, killing four people and triggering concerns of a full-scale conflict.China, the North's key ally, expressed concern and urged the two Koreas to exercise restraint.Currently there are raised tensions on the Korean peninsula, and we are concerned about this. We hope relevant parties exercise restraint, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.Pyongyang has carried out a series of rocket and short-range missile launches in recent weeks, in a pointed protest at ongoing annual South Korea-US military exercises.Monday's incident coincided with a massive, amphibious landing drill by nearly 15,000 South Korean and US troops.

Nairobi blasts kill at least six: police

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NAIROBI (AFP) - Three almost simultaneous blasts in the main Somali district of the Kenyan capital Nairobi Monday left at least six people dead and scores injured, said police, raising suspicions of terrorism.We are here at a crime scene. Of course we suspect it is a terrorist attack, Nairobi police commander Benson Kibue told reporters.The injuries number 25 -- they are in various hospitals -- and we have retrieved six bodies, he said.The three blasts targeted two small restaurants and a local clinic in a particularly densely populated area of Eastleigh, an area often known as Little Mogadishu because of its predominantly Somali population.Police were still trying to establish the type of explosives used, with Kibue saying one of the blasts might have been a homemade bomb and other witnesses at the scene of the different attacks saying one or more grenades were thrown.Eastleigh has in recent years been the scene of several explosions usually attributed by the police to Islamist extremists. Rescue workers wanted to retrieve parts from bodies blown apart by the biggest blast, but police, present at the scene in large numbers, had cordoned off the area and were first searching it for further possible explosives, an AFP photographer at the scene said.The blasts came as people made their way home for the evening, some stopping for a bite to eat.The attack comes a week after six people died when assailants burst into a church in the Likoni district close to the port city of Mombasa and opened fire on worshippers.The latest attacks have happened amid heightened warnings of a threat of Islamist violence in Kenya and despite boosted security in major cities.A suspected assailant was killed on Sunday when an explosive device he was making blew up in his face.The discovery earlier this month of an explosive-laden vehicle parked at a police station in a district of Mombasa, and the revelation that the police only searched it six days after impounding it and arresting its occupants added to the climate of insecurity.Kibue assured the public that those behind Monday's attack will be brought to justice.Rest assured, whoever has done this thing, we will get them. There is no need to panic. We are on top of these issues, he said.Kenya has been hit by a series of attacks since sending troops into southern Somalia in October 2011 to battle Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.The Islamists claimed responsibility for the most deadly attack, in which they laid siege to Nairobi's upmarket shopping mall Westgate in September, killing at least 67.Dozens of other smaller attacks, most of them in the capital, on the coast or in the eastern and northeastern regions bordering Somalia, have been attributed to Shebab sympathisers.

Pakistan face Windies in do-or-die encounter today

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MIRPUR (Agencies) - Pakistan will meet West Indies in a Do-or-Die final group league encounter of the ICC World Twenty20 here today Tuesday.Both the teams are locked on four points each and it will be a virtual quarter-final clash to decide on the second semi-finalist from Group 2 after India emerged group.The match is being billed as a battle between the mystery spinners with West Indies banking heavily on Sunil Narine while Pakistans hopes will be pinned on Saeed Ajmal.The team that plays spinners well will win the match. We know that it is a match where we cant make a mistake, Pakistan captain Mohammed Hafeez said on the eve of their clash against West Indies.West Indies will meet a Pakistan side that have seemingly cast aside their unpredictable moniker, and played outstandingly in the tournament. Their only blemish—like West Indies—came at the hands of unbeaten India in their opening match but since then they have beaten Australia and Bangladesh to be level on four points with their Caribbean rivals.They boast a powerful all-round side, with opener Ahmed Shehzad, middle order batsman Umar Akmal and lower order hitter Shahid Afridi capable of destroying any attack. Likewise, their bowling is spearheaded by the deadly off-spin duo of Saeed Ajmal and Mohammed Hafeez, backed up by sharp seamer Umar Gul.West Indies will look to counter with the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith and Dwayne Bravo in the runs department, with off-spinner Sunil Narine, leg-spinner Samuel Badree and rookie left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie, shouldering the burden of the bowling attack.

Tennis: Injured Gasquet to miss Davis Cup tie

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PARIS (AFP) - Richard Gasquet has withdrawn from the French Davis Cup team to take on Germany in a quarter-final tie in Nancy this weekend due to a painful back, the French Tennis Federation announced on Monday.Ranked 11th in the world, Gasquet has been suffering from sciatic nerve pain and needs to rest for at least eight days, the federation said in a press release.Team captain Arnaud Clement has called up two players to replace him - Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Michael Llodra. They will join up with Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, and Julien Benneteau.Germany, who defeated Spain in the first round, have also been hit by injuries, with their top three -- Tommy Haas, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer -- all unavailable.The French have won the last six meetings between the two nations, including all four in the World Group, and you have to go back to 1938 for the last time that Germany won.

Did microbes cause mass extinction?

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Volcanoes and asteroids are sometimes blamed for wiping out nearly all life on Earth 252 million years ago, but US research Monday suggested a more small-time criminal: microbes.These microbes, known as Methanosarcina, bloomed in the ocean on a massive and sudden scale, spewing methane into the atmosphere and causing dramatic changes in the chemistry of the oceans and the Earth's climate, according to the new theory put forth by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and colleagues in China.Scientists studied sediments in rock formations in south China, seeking to explain why the end Permian extinction happened and what caused the largest of five major death events in Earth's history to reap so much destruction over tens of thousands of years.Volcanic eruptions on their own could not explain why the die-off happened so fast, but they may have released extra nickel into the environment, which fed the microbes, said MIT researcher Gregory Fournier.A rapid initial injection of carbon dioxide from a volcano would be followed by a gradual decrease, said Fournier. Instead, we see the opposite: a rapid, continuing increase, he added.That suggests a microbial expansion. Microbes can increase carbon production exponentially, which might explain the speed and potency of the mass extinction, he said.The research, funded by the US space agency NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Basic Research Program of China, appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer reviewed US journal.

Oil prices fall as Ukraine crisis simmers

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Oil prices fell Monday as dealers booked profits after strong gains last week fueled by positive US economic data and tensions over Ukraine.In New York trade, the benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May fell nine cents to $101.58 a barrel.In London, Brent North Sea crude for May dipped 31 cents to stand at $107.76 a barrel.The lack of any escalation during the weekend to the standoff over Ukraine between Russia and the West helped take some pressure off prices, though the situation remains tense.Russian troops are massed on the borders of eastern Ukraine, sparking fears about Moscow's plans after it took control of the Crimean Peninsula this month.Although the two sides failed Sunday to reach a breakthrough deal in Paris, they did agree to keep talking after what were described as frank and constructive negotiations.Russia provides about a quarter of Europe's natural gas supplies, with about half of those exports travelling through pipelines in Ukraine, analysts say.The oil market is still locked into a delicate balance of geopolitical risk and ample supply, said Phil Flynn of PRICE Futures Group.Talks with Russia that seemed to go nowhere increase the odds that there will be more sanctions directed at Russia. Russian troops are still on the Ukraine border.Also helping soften prices was the start of production from the large West Qurna-2 field in Iraq, starting at 120,000 barrels a day but expected to rise to 420,000 barrels a day by year's end.Traders also kept an eye on traffic in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, where an armed gunboat attacked an oil tanker on Sunday.The tanker's crew rebuffed the attackers, who have not been identified.

Giles admits T20 defeat to Dutch 'embarrassing'

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CHITTAGONG (AFP) - England coach Ashley Giles Monday admitted their World Twenty20 defeat against minnows the Netherlands was embarrassing and said he shared the fans' anger at their humiliating loss.England went down to the Netherlands by 45 runs in their last group one match in the Super-10 stage, a repeat of their 2009 World Twenty20 defeat on home ground. Stuart Broad's men had threatened to be the dark horses in the group after beating pre-tournament favourites Sri Lanka on Thursday but their exit capped a miserable winter in which they were also crushed 5-0 in the Ashes in Australia.Giles said having no chance of qualifying for the semis may have induced complacency in the team.Certainly complacency would be one of them. You can't hide from it and it was embarrassing, said Giles after the match.England restricted the Netherlands to 133-5 in their 20 overs but were never in the hunt for the chase, bowled out for 88 in 17.4 overs.Giles said he understood and shared the anger of the fans.Absolutely I share that anger. There are a lot of emotions flying at the moment. We are human beings and when that's your line of work you should be angry and I understand why the supporters are angry. All we can do is apologise to the people watching at home.The coach also gave the Dutch their due.With all due respect to the Dutch because they played some good cricket in this competition. Clearly every time they go out and play, they play with pride and passion. Giles said England started on the wrong note.The messages were the same before the game and through the game. We had the same meetings and talked about concentrating on the job that needed to be done and then at half time making sure guys are in the right space, he said.You say I was happy at half time but I thought we started the game poorly, I thought we were slow in the field and lacked intensity for them to be 47 for one after six overs. Giles said there had to be some personal responsibility among the players.Don't get me wrong, when the guys go out there, there has to be some personal responsibility there as well, but we are a team, we stick together and we have all lost that match. It should hurt those guys as much as it hurts me and I hope it does. Giles, who is seeking the coach's job in all formats, was unsure the result will hurt his chances.I don't know, look, you will have to ask someone else. It never helps does it, losing to Holland? We wanted to leave here after what in some ways were some positive performances with a win.It has been a difficult winter and (we) look to rebuild. The sun will still come up tomorrow but sometimes it feels like it won't when you have days like that.

McCullum looks for improvement in New Zealand

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CHITTAGONG (AFP) - New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum Monday stressed his team must look for a turnaround soon if they want to win a major tournament following their unceremonious exit from the World Twenty20.The Black Caps were dealt a telling blow by Sri Lanka, who beat them by 59 runs in a low-scoring game in Chittagong.With Sri Lanka dismissed for a paltry 119, the match was within New Zealand's reach but left-arm spinner Rangana Herath demolished them with figures of five for three runs in 3.3 overs.That bowled New Zealand out for their lowest Twenty20 total of 60 -- overall third lowest in the shortest format.New Zealand have only once reached the semi-final, way back in the inaugural edition -- a trend McCullum wants to end. Something's going to have to change at some stage, said McCullum after the match.Otherwise we'll keep turning up at tournaments, winning a couple, losing a couple and never claiming any silverware and that's not what we play for and something's going to have to change if New Zealand's going to start winning major tournaments.We've got one at home in a year's time which better be it.New Zealand and Australia co-host the 2015 World Cup (50 overs) in February-March.Regarded as the perennial under-achievers in world cricket, New Zealand have only won the 2000 Champions Trophy in their history. Chasing a modest target, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill to a silly run out and five balls later McCullum was stumped off Herath for nought.There was some soft dismissals, some poor options - myself included, said McCullum, who hit a match-winning 65 against the Netherlands in their previous game.He was lost for words on being all out for 60, with opener Kane Williamson contributing 42 of that low total.How do you get out for 60? I'm still trying to work that out as well -- especially when one guy gets 40-odd, said McCullum.They bowled really well, but we didn't bat well. We played across the line to the ball which was skidding on and some of us tried to be too aggressive against the ball spinning away.T20 is a game in which you've got to be convinced in your method... and I don't think we really committed to our method today.McCullum admitted New Zealand were not good enough.We're not good enough to only play at 80 percent and there's some things that irked me through the tournament and I'll be addressing those later, he said.Our cricket smarts weren't there. When you're playing on these surfaces, which are very foreign to what we're used to, plus with the nature of Twenty20, where you have to be very smart with your decision making as well, you can't afford to be lacking with your cricketing intelligence and that's what we lacked in this tournament.

Five great limited overs upsets

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LONDON (AFP) - Following the Netherlands' stunning 45-run thrashing of England in Chittagong on Monday, the second time the Dutch have defeated their Test opponents in the ICC World Twenty20, AFP Sport recalls five huge limited overs shocks:Nottingham, 1983: Zimbabwe beat AustraliaThe 1983 World Cup got off to a sensational start as Zimbabwe, then a non-Test nation, defeated an Australia side featuring all-time greats in Allan Border, Rodney Marsh and Dennis Lillee by 13 runs. Zimbabwe captain and future England coach Duncan Fletcher led from he front with an unbeaten 69 before taking four wickets for 42 runs.Cardiff, 2005: Bangladesh beat AustraliaReigning world champions Australia were 1/500 with some London bookmakers to win this match before play started against perennial makeweights Bangladesh. But a brilliant hundred by Mohammad Ashraful saw Bangladesh to only their 10th win in 108 one-day internationals amid jubilant scenes at Sophia Gardens.Lord's, 2009: The Netherlands beat EnglandLightning struck for the first time when the Dutch kicked off the 2009 World Twenty20 at the 'home of cricket' with a dramatic four-wicket success. England, without the injured Kevin Pietersen, were held to 162 for five but, with Tim de Grooth making 49, the Dutch got home off the last ball of the match when bowler Stuart Broad missed with a wild shy at the stumps and the minnows pinched an extra run off the over-throw. Broad, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara would all experience the feeling of losing to the Netherlands again five years later.Bangalore, 2011: Ireland beat EnglandKevin O'Brien struck the fastest-ever World Cup hundred as Ireland chased down a seemingly challenging 327 to win by three wickets. O'Brien needed just 50 balls for his century and in total made 113 off 63 deliveries including 13 fours and six sixes.Chittagong, 2014: The Netherlands beat EnglandDouble Dutch disaster for England as they rounded off their World Twenty20 campaign in emphatically embarrassing fashion. It seemed England were half-way to victory in holding the Dutch to 133 for five only to collapse to 88 all out and a 45-run defeat -- a mammoth margin in a Twenty20 match. No England batsman made more than Bopara's 18 and there were only four fours in the entire innings. Mudassar Bukhari (3-12) and Logan van Beek (3-9) were the Dutch's destroyers-in-chief with the ball.

US ambassador to India quits after rift

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US ambassador to India resigned Monday in the wake of a bitter rift between the usually friendly countries following a diplomats arrest in New York.The announcement by Nancy Powell, a veteran diplomat with extensive experience in South Asia, comes days before India heads into elections in which the Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi -- formerly a US pariah -- is forecast by polls to become prime minister.Powell, in a brief statement, did not elaborate on her reasons but said that her decision was planned for some time and that she will retire by the end of May in the eastern US state of Delaware. She is in her late 60s.Powell, who has been ambassador for less than two years, submitted her resignation to President Barack Obama and announced her decision at a meeting of staff in New Delhi, said the statement issued by the embassy.She is leaving after the worst crisis between the United States and India since they started building a warmer relationship in the 1990s. India voiced outrage in December when one of its diplomats, Devyani Khobragade, was arrested and strip-searched in New York on charges of underpaying her servant.US diplomats expressed regret over the diplomats treatment but appeared to have been blind-sided by the decision taken by prosecutors. Khobragade returned to India under a deal, but prosecutors went ahead in March with a second indictment.In February, Powell took the lead in US policy by meeting with Modi, the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat and candidate for prime minister of the right-leaning Bharatiya Janata Party.The United States had earlier refused Modi a visa on human rights grounds over anti-Muslim riots in 2002 in which more than 1,000 people were killed. Critics accused Modi of turning a blind eye or worse to the violence, although investigations cleared him of personal blame.Despite the controversy in Washington over Modi, most policymakers agreed that the United States needed to reach out to him due to the likelihood he will become prime minister.Powell, who holds the prestigious title of career ambassador, served as a US diplomat for 37 years and was previously the top US envoy in Ghana, Nepal, Pakistan and Uganda.

Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 59 runs to reach semi-finals

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CHITTAGONG (AFP) - Left-arm spin wizard Rangana Herath conjured up astonishing figures of 3-5 to help Sri Lanka demolish New Zealand by 59 runs Monday in the race for the World Twenty20 semi-finals.The spinner rocked New Zealand, chasing a modest 120-run total, in his 3.3 destructive overs to bowl them for 60 in 15.3 overs in Chittagong -- the Black Caps lowest total in T20s.The victory gave the 2012 runners-up their fourth successive semi-final place. They play the winners of Tuesdays game in group two between defending champions the West Indies and Pakistan.The first semi-final will be in Dhaka on Thursday.The 2007 champions India take on South Africa in the second semi on Friday, with the final to be played in Dhaka on Sunday.Stand-in captain Lasith Malinga hailed Herath.I trusted my spinners and Herath was unbelievable, said Malinga. We were waiting for an occasion like this and we pulled through. Rangana was waiting for his chance and he proved himself really well.It was fourth time unlucky for New Zealand who played the semi-final only in the inaugural edition of the World Twenty20 in 2007.Skipper Brendon McCullum rued their batting failure.We knew there was a lot of hard work to go, he said. It was a bit drier than we expected and Herath and Sachitra, the way they bowled was outstanding.Just when they needed some sensible batting to overhaul a paltry total, New Zealand performed in a dismal manner with opener Kane Williamson the only man to reach double figures with 42.He was the eighth man out and with Corey Anderson unable to bat due to a finger injury sustained while fielding, Herath wrapped up the match with Trent Boults wicket.New Zealand lost opener Martin Guptill (five) in the fourth over, run out in Heraths first over.After playing four dot balls, New Zealands most dangerous batsman Brendon McCullum jumped out off Herath and was stumped.Herath then trapped Ross Taylor (nought) leg before and bowled Jimmy Neesham off successive deliveries to push New Zealand on the back foot.It became 5-29 in Heraths third over when he had Luke Ronchi (two) leg before wicket to improve on his previous best figures of 3-25 in the 2012 semi-final against Pakistan in Colombo.Fellow spinner Sachitra Senanayake took 2-3 in his three overs.New Zealands previous lowest Twenty20 total of 80 came against Pakistan at Auckland two years ago. It also becomes the third lowest total ever in all T20s, behind the Netherlands 39, also against Sri Lanka here last Monday and 56 by Kenya against Afghanistan at Sharjah last year.Earlier left-arm paceman Boult and Neesham took three wickets apiece to wreck Sri Lanka for a paltry 119 in 19.2 overs after they were sent into bat.Left-armer Mitchell McClenaghan took 2-24.Boult had opener Kusal Perera (16) in his first over and then dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan (eight) and Kumar Sangakkara (four) to give New Zealand a headstart to the match.Mahela Jayawardene, who top-scored with a 32-ball 25, added 30 for the fourth wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne (20) before the former captain was bowled round his legs in the 15th over.Thisara Perera hit three boundaries in his 13-ball 16 before Neesham took three wickets in 14 balls to rout the pre-tournament favourites.Sri Lanka were without their regular T20 captain Dinesh Chandimal, suspended for a slow over-rate. Malinga stepped in as skipper.Thirimanne and Herath had replaced Chandimal and Ajantha Mendis in the team which lost to England on Thursday.New Zealand kept faith in the same side which beat the Netherlands on Saturday.

French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault resigns after local elections setback

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PARIS (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande has reacted to a humiliating setback at the polls by appointing popular Interior Minister Manuel Valls as his new prime minister, sources told AFP on Monday.Hollande, who was expected to confirm the move in an address to the nation at 1800 GMT, decided to axe current Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault after his Socialist Party lost more than 150 towns and cities to the main opposition and far-right in municipal elections on Sunday.Officials at the prime ministers official residence, Matignon, confirmed that Ayrault and the government he headed had resigned.Waking up to headlines that included A rout, A slap and A kick up the backside, Hollande was left with little option but to order a radical shake-up of his deeply unpopular government, which is seen by many voters as drifting hopelessly in the face of a stagnant economy, persistently high unemployment and falling living standards for many people.Both the far-right National Front (FN) and the mainstream opposition made historic gains in Sundays nationwide elections, which were the first major electoral test since Hollandes 2012 election.The scale of the setback was unprecedented.Marine Le Pens FN, skilfully rebranded as more than just an anti-immigrant party, won control of 11 towns and more than 1,200 municipal seats nationwide, easily its best ever performance at the grassroots level of French government.But even more worrying for Hollande and Co. was the strong showing of the mainstream Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). The party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy snatched a string of major towns that were once considered bastions of the left in a performance which, if repeated in national elections, would see them sweep back to power with ease in 2017.The losses of Quimper in Brittany, where one of Hollandes closest allies, Bernard Poignant, was booted out of the town hall, and Limoges, a stronghold of the left for over a century, were telling indicators of how the night went.This first test for Francois Hollande has been a veritable catastrophe. The Socialists gains from the last municipals in 2008 have been completely wiped out, said Frederic Dabi of the Ifop polling institute.UMP leader Jean-Francois Cope hailed as historic a blue wave that saw 155 towns of more than 9,000 residents switch from the left.I set the objective of taking control of 50 percent of towns with more than 9,000 inhabitants, we actually reached 62 percent, he said. It is a historic score. It is not just the government lineup that has to change, it is the entire direction of the country.- Valls popular but divisive -Valls is popular in the country but not so much in his own party, where he is regarded with suspicion by many on the left.Appointing him as prime minister is a decisive move by Hollande but, as with his switch to a more business-friendly economic policy earlier in the year, it comes with risk of exacerbating internal party tensions.These are already acute because of misgivings on the left over Hollandes decision to give priority to austerity measures designed to get the countrys budget deficit under control rather than seeking to attack unemployment by trying to stimulate demand, notably through measures to increase the spending power of the poorest sectors of society.Persistently high unemployment and falling living standards are seen as the principal causes of the Socialists current woes, but concern over crime and insecurity, coupled with hostility to immigrants and Europe, also helped to fuel the success of the FN and the mainstream right, according to experts.For the rest of the reshuffle, there is also keen interest in whether Hollande will recall the mother of his four children, Segolene Royal, from the political wilderness.Royal was the Socialists presidential candidate in 2007 but her inclusion in Hollandes first cabinet was reportedly blocked because of hostility from Valerie Trierweiler, the presidents then girlfriend.That obstacle has now been removed following Hollandes separation from Trierweiler, and Royal is tipped for a return to the frontline of politics with a major portfolio covering education, sport and youth.
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