Scoreboard at lunch on the third day of the first Test between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka here today:
     Sri Lanka first innings 536 all out (K. Perera 110, U. Tharanga 110, K. Silva 94, G. Cremer 4-142)
     Zimbabwe first innings
	T. Mawoyo c Gunaratne b Lakmal           45
	B. Chari lbw b Herath                     5
	H. Masakadza c Karunaratne b Lakmal      33
	C. Ervine lbw b D. Perera                12
	S. Williams c Gunaratne b Herath         10
	M. Waller lbw b D. Perera                22
	P. Moor not out                          25
	G. Cremer not out                        10
	Extras: (4-b, 1-lb, 7-w)                 12
     Total: (6 wkts, 52 overs)                174
     Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-92, 3-92, 4-111, 5-134, 6-139
     Bowling: Lakmal 14-2-31-2, Kumara 10-1-50-0, Herath 19-3-63-2, D. Perera 9-1-25-2.

Harare, Oct 31 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the third day of the first Test between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka here today:

PTI Automatic

Sri Lanka bowlers Suranga Lakmal and Dilruwan Perera took two wickets apiece as Zimbabwe's batsmen fell in a heap on the third morning of the first Test at Harare Sports Club today.
     Replying to Sri Lanka's 537 all out, the hosts had made a promising start in reaching the close of day two on 88 for one.
     But with Lakmal and Perera striking in quick succession, Zimbabwe fell from 92 for one to 139 for six before Peter Moor and Graeme Cremer stabilised the innings, taking the home side to lunch on 174 for six.
     A rash shot from opener Tino Mawoyo started the collapse, as he pulled a Lakmal delivery straight to deep midwicket to depart for 45.
     Masakadza was caught at slip for 33 in Lakmal's next over, before Rangana Herath claimed the key wicket of Sean Williams when the left-hander picked out Asela Gunaratne in the deep.
	With Craig Ervine and Malcolm Waller trapped lbw in consecutive overs from Perera, Zimbabwe slipped deeper into the mire before Moor counter-attack ...

Sri Lanka bowlers punish Zimbabwe

Iran's foreign ministry has rejected accusations from the United States that it has been shipping arms to the Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen, according to media reports today.
	A US admiral said on Thursday that warships from the US Navy and allied nations had intercepted four weapons shipments from Iran to the Arabian Peninsula country since April 2005.
	The shipments contained thousands of AK-47 assault rifles, anti-tank missiles, sniper rifles and "other pieces of other equipment, higher-end weapons systems," said Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan.
	Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi dismissed the claims.
	"These accusations are totally false when... Every day destructive arms, US bombs and missiles are dropped by the Arab coalition on the heads of defenceless civilians in schools, hospitals, prisons and homes in Yemen," he said, quoted in local media today.
	Ghassemi said the bombardment amounted to "war crimes".
	The United States and Saudi Arabia have repeatedly accused ..

Iran denies US accusation of Yemen arms shipments

Sony cut its annual profit forecast by a quarter today, citing the sale of its battery business, as the electronics giant sheds businesses to bolster its bottom line.
	The company now expects a net profit of 60 billion yen (USD 572 million) in the fiscal year through March, down from an earlier 80 billion yen forecast, with revenue still expected to come in at 7.4 trillion yen. The firm reports its earnings on Tuesday.
	It cited impairment charges and other costs linked to the 17.5 billion yen sale of its battery division to Apple supplier Murata Manufacturing.
	In July, Sony cut its full-year sales forecast - trimming it to the current level - as it blamed a surging yen and slower smartphone sales.
	Sony previously warned that a pair of deadly quakes in Japan in April would also dent its financial results.
	The quakes, which caused major damage in southern Kyushu and claimed dozens of lives, forced Sony to temporarily shutter factories, hitting production and sales.
	But it is ...

Sony cuts profit view on battery business sale

Scorecard at lunch on the second
day of the third and final Test between Pakistan and West Indies at Sharjah stadium today:
     Pakistan Ist innings (overnight 255-8)
     Sami Aslam c Holder b Bishoo               74
     Azhar Ali c Brathwaite b Gabriel            0
     Asad Shafiq lbw b Gabriel                   0
     Younis Khan c Johnson b Chase              51
     Misbah-ul-Haq c Dowrich b Bishoo           53
     Sarfraz Ahmed b Gabriel                    51
     Mohammad Nawaz st Dowrich b Bishoo          6
     Wahab Riaz lbw b Bishoo                     4
     Yasir Shah b Joseph                        12
     Mohammad Amir b Joseph                     20
     Zulfiqar Babar not out                      1
     Extras: (lb4, nb4, w1)                      9
     Total: (all out; 90.5 overs)              281
     Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-107, 4-150, 5-230, 6-242, 7-248, 8-248, 9-280, 10-281
     Bowling: Gabriel 21-1-67-3, Joseph 16.5-5-57-2, Holder 12-4-29-0, Chase ...

Sharjah, Oct 31 (AFP) Scorecard at lunch on the second

West Indies had lost the key wicket of Darren Bravo and were a shaky 38-3, trailing by 243 runs, at lunch on the second day of the third and final Test against Pakistan today.
     Bravo (11) miscued a drive off a flighted ball from spinner Zulfiqar Babar and was smartly snapped up by a diving Mohammad Amir at extra cover, his first catch in 20 Tests.
     At the break in Sharjah, opener Kraigg Brathwaite (21) and Jermaine Blackwood (0) were at the crease.
     Earlier, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo finished with figures of 4-77 while fast bowlers Shannon Gabriel took 3-67 and Alzarri Joseph 2-57 to dismiss Pakistan for 281.
     West Indies got off to a disastrous start, with opener Leon Johnson trapped leg-before by paceman Wahab Riaz in the fourth over for just one.
     Bravo, who made a fighting hundred in the first Test, was left frustrated by short-pitched deliveries from Riaz and Amir before getting out.
     Marlon Samuels also did not last long, trapped leg-before by ...

West Indies struggle after Pakistan's 281

South Korean prosecutors today questioned the woman at the centre of a political scandal that has shattered public confidence in President Park Geun-Hye, with allegations of fraud and meddling in state affairs.
	In the wake of mass street protests in Seoul and other cities to demand Park's resignation, Choi Soon-Sil -- who has denied any criminal wrongdoing -- submitted to prosecutors in Seoul a day after flying back to the country from Germany.
	Park and Choi have been close friends for 40 years. The precise nature of that friendship lies at the heart of the current scandal which has triggered a media frenzy in South Korea, with lurid reports of religious cults and shamanistic rituals.
	The media has portrayed the 60-year-old Choi as a Rasputin-like figure, who wielded an unhealthy influence over Park and interfered in government policy despite holding no official post and having no security
	Suggestions that Choi vetted presidential speeches and was given access to classified ...

Prosecutors quiz woman at core of S Korea political crisis

Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party has scored a landslide win in disputed parliamentary polls, according to official results released today, prompting the main opposition to allege fraud.
	"Georgian Dream won in all but two of 50 single-mandate constituencies" where a second round was held on yesterday, Central Election Commission spokeswoman Ketevan Dangadze told AFP.
	"Independent candidates have won in two constituencies," she added.
	In the first round, which was held on October 8, Georgian Dream won 48.68 per cent of the vote in a proportional ballot, while the opposition United National Movement (UNM) came second with 27.11 per cent.
	For the first time in Georgia's post-Soviet history, the first round also saw a small anti-Western party, the Alliance of Patriots, clearing the five-percent threshold needed to enter parliament.
	According to the results, Georgian Dream will take 115 seats, UNM 27 seats, and Alliance of Patriots six seats in the 150-seat legislature.
	The ...

Georgia ruling party scores landslide win in disputed polls

Turkish police has detained the editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, state media reported today, while the daily said several of its writers were taken into police custody.
	Murat Sabuncu was detained while authorities searched for executive board chairman Akin Atalay and writer Guray Oz, the official news agency Anadolu said.
	The daily said Oz had in fact already been detained along with other journalists from the paper, including Aydin Engin, Hikmet Cetinkaya and Hakan Kara.
	According to CNN Turk, 13 arrest warrants were issued for journalists and executives from the
	Police were searching the homes of Atalay and Oz, Anadolu said, but Atalay is believed to be abroad, CNN Turk reported.
	Cumhuriyet said the home of cartoonist Musa Kart was also being searched.
	The latest detentions came as authorities pressed a massive crackdown over a failed July bid by a rogue faction of the military to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
	Turkey has been under a state of ...

Turkey detains editor of opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet

Senior paceman Dale Steyn said today his fellow quick Kagiso Rabada would bring a lot of "heat" to the South African bowling attack in this week's Test series-opener against Australia in Perth.
     Steyn, the veteran of the Proteas' new-ball attack with 416 wickets in 84 Tests, gave the Australian batsmen a sense of what they will be facing in the first of three Tests starting at the WACA Ground on Thursday.
     "A lot of heat," the 33-year-old told reporters when asked what to expect from Rabada, who is 21.
     "He's really quick and he's got a great head on his shoulders. He's always looking to learn and his record (29 wickets at 24.44 from eight Tests) is pretty amazing for such a young guy, especially a bowler.
     "Because you only see bowlers tend to come into their stripes at maybe 26 or 27, especially fast bowlers once they've learned their trade."
     Only current Test bowler Vernon Philander (30.98) and former all-rounder Mike Procter (36.93) can claim a better strike ..

Steyn warns Australia about red-hot Rabada

Defending champion Lewis Hamilton kept alive his title defence with a controlled victory ahead of championship leader and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in a stormy Mexican Grand Prix.
     The 31-year-old Briton came home comfortably ahead of the German to trim his advantage to 19 points with two races remaining after a fiery finish to the 71-lap race.
     This saw four-time champion Sebastian Vettel lose his temper during a tempestuous exchange following a clash with Dutch teenager Max Verstappen of Red Bull.
     The conflict was settled by the stewards who swiftly handed the Dutchman a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage when he went off the track at Turn One.
     Verstappen, who had finished third, had already taken his place in the pre-podium room with the two Mercedes drivers before the stewards' decision was taken -- while Vettel fumed and gave vent to a stream of profanities -- but made a hasty retreat when the German came to the room.
     However, almost three ..

Hamilton beats Rosberg in Mexico, keeps title bid alive

Ian Botham believes England's end of year tour programme will be judged on their upcoming five-Test tour of India, rather than a stunning loss to Bangladesh.
     England, 100 without loss at tea on Sunday's third day in Dhaka, collapsed to 164 all out on a spin-friendly pitch to lose by 108 runs -- their first Test match defeat by Bangladesh.
     The result saw Bangladesh share the two-match series 1-1 and raised fresh concerns over how England would cope in similar conditions in India, whose attack will feature off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin -- Test cricket's number one-ranked bowler.
     "It (a rapid collapse) can happen in that part of the world," England great Botham told AFP in an interview in London yesterday.
     "The wickets are tailored, they are designed to spin. When you see spinners opening in Tests with the new ball, you get an idea of what's coming.
     "It's good for them (Bangladesh). But what they've got to do is to start winning outside of their own country. ...

Judge England on India, not Bangladesh, says Botham

Former Australia Test spinner Brad Hogg has revealed in a new book that retirement and a marriage breakdown led him to contemplate ending his life.
     After seven Tests and being a key part of Australia's 2003 and 2007 winning World Cups, Hogg said he had no other option than to initially retire from all forms of cricket in 2007-08 in a bid to save his marriage to former wife Andrea.
     In his autobiography, "The Wrong 'Un", released today, he details the depths he plummeted to in the next three years when, with the marriage over, he turned to alcohol and was unable to find contentment in an office job.
     "I parked my car at (Fremantle's) Port Beach and went for a walk," he writes.
     "I'd stare at the sea and think, I could swim out to that groyne (stone or concrete structure), and if I make it back, fine. If I don't make it back ... Well, hard luck.
     "I was prepared to let fate decide. I was in a really dark place. I did that drive four times. And each time I thought ...

Ex-Australia spinner Hogg considered suicide - book

Ivorians voted yesterday to determine the fate of constitutional changes the president says will help end years of unrest but which have alarmed the opposition, with scuffles erupting at dozens of polling stations.
	The package put to the country's 6.3 million voters is being boycotted by the opposition and has left much of the electorate confused, analysts say.
	Commentators say turnout for the referendum is the main question, as there seems to be little doubt the changes will be approved.
	Two opposition coalitions claimed turnout was very low, estimating that only between three and seven per cent of eligible voters had cast a ballot. Official figures have yet to be released.
	"The results... Show that the project and President Alassane Ouattara (have) been rejected by the people," Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) head Pascal Affi Nguessan told AFP, claiming a resounding success for the boycott call.
	Ouattara must now either withdraw the text or resign, he added.
	Voting ended at 1800 ..

Scuffles as I Coast votes on divisive constitution

The US Senate's top Democrat has blasted FBI chief James Comey for announcing a new review of Hillary Clinton's emails just days before the presidential election, an action he says "may have broken the law."
	Allegations Clinton put the United States at risk by using a private email server while secretary of state were thrust back into the spotlight Friday when Comey revealed a renewed FBI probe into the matter based on a previously unknown trove of emails.
	"As soon as you came into possession of the slightest innuendo related to secretary Clinton, you rushed to publicise it in the most negative light possible," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement yesterday.
	"Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law," Reid said, alleging that Comey had violated the Hatch Act, which bars the FBI from influencing elections.
	Clinton has demanded the FBI director explain in detail why he had effectively reopened an inquiry declared complete in July, branding Comey's .

Top Senate Democrat says FBI email action may have broken law

France has charged an Italian restaurateur, a homeless former British special forces soldier and a one-time paparazzi photographer over the kidnapping of a French hotel magnate, a prosecutor said.
	Jacqueline Veyrac, 76, the millionaire owner of the Michelin-starred La Reserve hotel in Nice on France's Riviera was snatched on Monday as she was getting into her SUV and bundled into a waiting van.
	She was released two days later after being spotted by a passerby, tied to the van's floor.
	Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre yesterday said that Veyrac had her wrists and ankles bound and her eyes and mouth sealed with tape. She had managed to partly break free and nearly succeeded in leaving the van, sustaining several injuries, he added.
	Authorities have charged three other people for their part in the conspiracy, and all six have been remanded in custody.
	They all face life imprisonment if convicted.
	Separately, a former police officer who now works as a private detective was charged 

Restaurateur, ex-commando, paparazzo charged in Nice kidnap

Niger Delta militants have claimed an attack on a gas pipeline in protest at upcoming talks between the Nigerian government and leaders from the oil-producing south.
	In a statement, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate group yesterday said it would not support the talks being held by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and representatives from the Niger Delta to end the oil infrastructure sabotage.
	Attacks on pipelines by militant groups have slashed Nigeria's oil production helping to tip the country into recession as it struggles to adapt to the low price of crude globally.
	"...In furtherance of the Operation Hammurabi Code, our Akuma strike team struck and brought down the 32-inch Effurun-Otor delivery line," the militant group's spokesman Aldo Agbalaja in a statement.
	"This is not ending soon, we shall fulfil our promise of uprooting your entire assets in our land."
	The Effurun-Otor pipeline feeds the Utorogu gas plant that powers Lagos, a megacity of around 20 million ..

Niger Delta militants claim gas pipeline attack in Nigeria

Georgia voted in the second round of contested parliamentary polls today, with the ruling Georgian Dream poised for a landslide victory, prompting opposition parties to cry foul.
	Led from behind the scenes by billionaire ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream is running against the main opposition United National Movement (UNM), founded by exiled former president Mikheil Saakashvili.
	Today's vote, which works on a first-past-the-post basis, will decide the fate of a third of the mandates in the 150-seat legislature.
	In the first round, which was held on October 8, Georgian Dream won 48.68 percent of the vote in a proportional ballot, while UNM came second with 27.11 percent.
	For the first time in Georgia's post-Soviet history, the first round also saw a small anti-Western party, the Alliance of Patriots, clearing the five-percent threshold needed to enter parliament.
	According to the first round result, Georgian Dream will take 67 seats, UNM 27 seats, and Alliance .

Georgia ruling party cruising to landslide election win

Syria's regime and rebels engaged in fierce fighting today in Aleppo's western edges, where 41 civilians have been killed in an opposition offensive the UN warned could amount to war crimes.
	Rebels have unleashed car bombs and salvos of rockets and shells to break through government lines and reach the 250,000 people besieged in the city's east.
	Syrian state media today accused them of firing shells containing toxic gas into government-controlled districts.
	State news agency SANA reported that 35 people were suffering from shortness of breath, numbness, and muscle spasms after "toxic gases" hit the frontline district of Dahiyet al-Assad and regime-held Hamdaniyeh.
	The head of Aleppo University Hospital, Ibrahim Hadid, told state television that "36 people, including civilians and combatants, were wounded after inhaling toxic chlorine gas released by terrorists".
	Two days of heavy rebel bombardment have killed 41 civilians, including 16 children, and wounded 250, according to the .

Civilian toll in fight to break Aleppo siege appals UN

Iceland was gearing up today for tough horsetrading over its next government after the anti-establishment Pirate Party and its allies gained ground against the ruling centre-right in a vote triggered by the Panama Papers scandal.
	Prime Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson announced his resignation after his centrist Progressive Party -- which had been governing in a coalition with the conservative Independence Party -- suffered a drubbing in yesterday's vote.
	Final figures from the election, called after Johannsson's predecessor was forced out over revelations in the Panama Papers of a hidden offshore account worth millions, pointed to a deadlocked outcome.
	The Independence and Progressive parties together won 29 seats in the 63-member parliament or Althingi, down nine from the outgoing assembly.
	The Pirates and its three centre-left allies won 27 seats, reaping gains from a wave of popular anger with the establishment parties but falling short of a majority.
	Johannsson, an ...

Iceland PM quits after Pirates advance in vote

Authorities in El Salvador arrested the country's ex-president Elias Antonio Saca and several other former officials today for alleged embezzlement and money-laundering, the attorney general's office said.
	Saca, 51, and six other former officials from his government were detained in the early morning "on charges of various crimes," it said on Twitter.
	Saca is a member of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). He was president of El Salvador from 2004 to 2009.
	He is accused of embezzlement, money-laundering and links to illegal groups, the prosecutors' office said.
	It give no further details of the accusations for the time being.
	A self-made businessman, Saca became a well-known journalist before becoming president.
	He was seen as a strong ally of the United States during his time in power.
	The other suspects arrested include former public waterworks official Cesar Funes, 46, and ex-presidential communications chief Julio Rank, 65.
	El Salvador is a Central ...

AFP

AFP

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