Rain may have cut short Sunday's third one-day international between England and Sri Lanka but for Liam Plunkett there was the satisfaction of taking his 50th wicket at this level -- more than a decade after his first.
     England were left 1-0 up with two to play after rain ensured a no result in Bristol ahead of Wednesday's day/night clash at The Oval in south London.
     Earlier fast bowler Plunkett made early inroads on his way to three for 46 as Sri Lanka were held to a total of 248 for nine.
     Three Sri Lanka batsmen -- Dinesh Chandimal (62), captain Angelo Mathews (56) and Kusal Mendis (53) -- all made fifties but holed out.
     But it was opener Kusal Perera (nine) who became Plunkett's landmark success when he top-edged an intended big hit and wicket-keeper Jos Buttler held a skyer.
     It had taken the 31-year-old 37 ODIs to take 50 wickets, with his first being Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf when the Yorkshireman struck on debut in Karachi back in 2005.
     "It's only ..

Patient Plunkett proud of landmark

PTI Automatic

Scoreboard of the final of the
Tri-Nation One-Day International Series between the West Indies and Australia at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Sunday.
     Australia Innings:
     U. Khawaja c wkpr Ramdin b Holder 14
     A. Finch c Samuels b Pollard 47
     S. Smith c Samuels b Gabriel 46
     G. Bailey b Brathwaite 22
     M. Marsh b Benn 32
     G. Maxwell lbw Gabriel 4
     M. Wade not out 57
     M. Starc stpd wkpr Ramdin b Narine 17
     N. Coulter-Nile c Bravo b Holder 15
     A. Zampa run out 5
     J. Hazlewood not out 0
     Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-8) 11
     Total (50 overs, 9 wickets) 270
     Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Khawaja), 2-69 (Finch), 3-120 (Bailey), 4-152 (Smith), 5-156 (Maxwell), 6-173 (Marsh), 7-211 (Starc), 8-238 (Coulter-Nile), 9-264 (Zampa).
     Bowling: J. Holder 10-1-51-2, S. Gabriel 7-0-58-2, C. Brathwaite 8-2-32-1, K. Pollard 5-0-33-1, S. Narine 10-1-55-1, S. Benn 10-0-38-1.
     West Indies Innings:
     A. Fletcher c Smith b Hazlewood 9
     J. Charles lbw ..

Barbados, June 27 (AFP) Scoreboard of the final of the

Holders Chile stunned Argentina to win the Copa America Centenario in a penalty shoot-out here Sunday as Lionel Messi's title curse struck again.
     Messi blazed a penalty over the bar in the shoot-out before Lucas Biglia missed to leave Chile's Francisco Silva with the task of stroking home the winning spot-kick at the MetLife Stadium.
     It was a carbon copy of last year's Copa America final, also won by Chile on penalties after a goalless draw.
     Argentina's players meanwhile were left disconsolate as they digested a third defeat in a major final following losses to Germany in the 2014 World Cup and Chile in last year's Copa.
     The defeat also ensured Argentina's 23-year wait for a major title -- and a first for five-time world player of the year Messi -- continued.
     The final had gone to penalties after finishing deadlocked at 0-0 after 120 minutes.
     Both sides were reduced to 10 men in the first half as Brazilian referee Heber Lopes struggled to get a grip on an 

Chile stun Argentina to win Copa

Mitchell Marsh emerged as the unlikely bowling hero for Australia as the World Cup-holders defeated the West Indies by 58 runs in the final of the Tri-Nation One-Day International Series.
     Set a challenging target of 271 after wicketkeeper Matthew Wade's unbeaten 57 led an Australian lower-order revival from 173 for six to a final total of 270 for nine off 50 overs, Marsh claimed the prized wickets of Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels, adding the scalp of opening batsman Johnson Charles for good measure to effectively short-circuit the home side's pursuit.
     His disciplined medium-pacers realised miserly figures of three for 32 with the West Indies unable to recapture the impressive batting form of earlier matches in being dismissed for 212 off 45.4 overs at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Sunday.
     Josh Hazlewood polished off the tail to finish with the best figures of five for 50, but it was Marsh's spell that made the difference when it mattered most.
     "We really fought .

Marsh powers Aussies to Tri-Nation win

Spain's acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he would make a push for power after his conservatives won more seats in parliament in a repeat general election, even though it still fell short of a majority.
	His Popular Party (PP) was the big winner of the election, the second in six months, which played out amid the turbulence from Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union.
	The party, which portrayed itself as the guardian of stability, won 137 seats in the 350-strong lower house of parliament -- 14 more than in December and more than what pre-election polls predicted.
	All other parties lost votes or seats, in come cases both.
	The Socialists held on to second place like in December, though with just 85 seats, their worst score in modern history.
	The far-left Unidos Podemos coalition came third with 71 seats, reversing pre-election expectations that it could leapfrog over the Socialists and replace them as the main left-wing force.
	Market-friendly party Ciudadanos, ...

Spain's Rajoy claims right to form govt after poll win

Chile beats Argentina to win Copa America Centenario.

Seven people were hospitalized with at least two in critical condition after a stabbing spree broke out during a neo-Nazi rally at California's state capitol building, officials said.
	The white supremacist rally on Saturday was met by counter protesters, Sacramento Fire Department spokesman Chris Harvey told AFP.
	The fire department posted on Twitter that some of the patients had "critical trauma stab wounds." It was unclear to which group the wounded belonged.
	According to The Sacramento Bee newspaper, the stabbing spree broke out between some 25 neo-Nazis who had permission to protest on the capitol's west steps and more than 150 anarchists and "anti-fascist" counterprotesters.
	Emergency responders received a call to the scene just before noon (1900 GMT).
	The Los Angeles Times reported that a white-supremacist, anti-immigration group called the Traditionalist Worker Party staged the event.
	Protesters had mostly cleared the capitol lawn, with only small groups remaining as of ..

Seven hospitalized in California stabbing at neo-Nazi rally

Six people have been killed in villages on the outskirts of Lagos, police and the state government said, blaming "suspected militants" from the Niger Delta.
	The Lagos State government yesterday said police had started an "aggressive manhunt for suspected militants" after the attacks in the Igbo-Olomu and Ishawo areas of the eastern suburb of Ikorodu on Friday.
	"The gunmen, who were alleged to be from the Niger Delta, were said to have come in through the waterways close to the communities and started shooting sporadically," it added in an emailed statement.
	The southern Niger delta region, which produces most of Nigeria's oil, has been hit since February this year by a string of attacks on pipelines and installations, severely hitting production.
	But the Niger Delta Avengers group, which has claimed most of the attacks, has stressed it does not target oil sector personnel, only its infrastructure.
	The majority of attacks have also been concentrated in the states of Bayelsa and ...

Six killed in Lagos 'militant' attack: police

Ten people including eight children were injured today when a rollercoaster crashed at a theme park in Scotland, police and media reports said.
	Images posted on social media showed a mangled carriage and a number of people trapped upside down in their seats in the Tsunami ride at M&D's amusement park near Glasgow.
	The ride had been full when it derailed, according to eyewitnesses at the park, which was evacuated after the accident according to its website.
	"It's like something out a horror film, children crying and everything," Katie Burns, who had just ridden the rollercoaster and was walking past it when the crash occurred, wrote on Facebook.
	Lanarkshire Police initially said two adults and nine children had been injured, but later revised the number of children hurt to eight.
	Chief Inspector David Bruce said a series of five gondolas on the inverted rollercoaster -- meaning that the gondolas hang from the rails rather than run on top of them -- had detached, "struck the ...

Eight children injured in Scotland rollercoaster crash

At least two people were killed and some 70 wounded in a grenade blast at a stadium in Madagascar's capital today during celebrations marking the country's independence day, the gendarmerie said.
	"The explosion was caused by a grenade," general Anthony Rakotoarison, head of security and intelligence with the national gendarmerie, told AFP by phone.
	"We consider this a terrorist act," he said, but added that the motive was as yet unclear.
	The blast struck the Mahamasina municipal stadium in Antananarivo at around 1600 GMT, just as a free concert was taking place to celebrate the island nation's 56th anniversary of independence from France.
	A military parade was held at the stadium earlier in the day.
	Prime Minister Olivier Solonandrasana Mahafaly, who rushed to hospital to visit the injured, strongly condemned the "disgusting and shameful" attack.
	He told reporters some 72 people were hurt in the explosion.
	The last attack to hit Madagascar was in January 2014 when a grenade ...

Two killed, 70 wounded in Madagascar grenade blast

Tunisia held a minute's silence today marking one year since a seaside attack claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 38 tourists including 30 Britons in the North African country.
	Tunisia's Tourism Minister Selma Elloumi Rekik and British Foreign Office official Tobias Ellwood laid down flowers to remember the victims of the shooting in the town of Port El Kantaoui south of the capital.
	A priest then called out the names of the victims under the watchful eye of security forces, who were out in high numbers for the occasion.
	Hotel employees as well as diplomats from Germany, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium and Russia -- whose countries also lost victims in the attack -- also attended the ceremony.
	Tourists fled in horror on June 26 last year, as a Tunisian gunman pulled a Kalashnikov rifle from inside a furled beach umbrella and went on a shooting spree outside a five-star hotel near the city of Sousse.
	Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, has suffered from a wave of ...

Tunisia commemorates victims of beach massacre

Spain's repeat polls ended today with the incumbent conservatives appearing to have won the most seats tailed closely by a far-left coalition led by Podemos, exit polls said.
	The election came just three days after Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union, pitting those hungry for change in a country with high unemployment against those who fear it would torpedo Spain's slow economic recovery.
	If the results are confirmed, this would be a historic shift in Spain with the Unidos Podemos coalition replacing the 137-year-old, crisis-hit Socialists as the country's main left-wing force.
	Podemos was only created just over two years ago on the back of the Indignants anti-austerity protest movement, and has experienced a meteoric rise with charismatic, pony-tailed Pablo Iglesias at the helm.
	"If this is confirmed, we would be faced with a historic opportunity for our country," said Alberto Garzon, one of the leaders of Unidos Podemos, although he urged caution on the ...

Spain's PP wins election, Podemos coalition second: exit polls

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon vowed today to protect Scotland against the "devastating" fallout of Brexit, as new polls found over half of Scots now want independence, which she may put to a second referendum.
	Scotland had rejected independence in a 2014 referendum but Sturgeon said the landscape had changed since then due to Thursday's seismic national vote to leave the European Union.
	The United Kingdom -- as it was when Scotland voted to stay in it -- "does not exist any more", she said.
	Britain as a whole voted by 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the EU but Scotland voted strongly for Britain to remain -- by 62 percent to 38 percent.
	After the result became clear, Sturgeon said that a new independence vote within two years was now "highly likely" and that Scotland was seeking "immediate discussions" with European leaders.
	"What's going to happen with the UK is that there are going to be deeply damaging and painful consequences... I want to try and protect Scotland from ...

Sturgeon plans EU future for Scotland after Brexit

England were left 1-0 up with two to play after rain meant the third one-day international in their five-match series against Sri Lanka ended in a no result at Bristol today.
     Chasing a target of 249 for victory, England were 16 for one off four overs when rain stopped play.
     A minimum of 20 overs needed to be bowled in the second innings for a result to be declared under the Duckworth/Lewis method for rain-affected matches.
     But the players were still off the field when the umpires abandoned the match at 5:30pm local time (1630 GMT).
     On Friday, Sri Lanka had 34.1 overs in the field without any success as England won the second ODI at Edgbaston by 10 wickets to go 1-0 up in the five-match series after Tuesday's tie at Trent Bridge.
     At Edgbaston, England openers Jason Roy (112 not out) and Alex Hales (133 not out) both posted their ODI best scores in an unbroken stand of 256.
     It was a very different story for Hales at the County Ground on Sunday when he fell .

Rain has final say as Hales goes from hero to zero

British Prime Minister David Cameron is not expected to trigger the Article 50 mechanism to leave the EU when he meets his European Union peers on Tuesday, a senior bloc official said.
	"We expect Cameron to present the outcome of the referendum and the situation in the UK ... We do not expect Cameron to trigger Article 50 at that stage," said the official who asked not to be named.

'Cameron not expected to trigger Article 50 at EU summit'

Just days after a shock Brexit, Spaniards voted in repeat elections today to decide if they too want a radical shift as promised by a far-left coalition led by Podemos.
	The election pits those hungry for change in a country with high unemployment against those who fear it would torpedo Spain's slow economic recovery.
	Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union has further exacerbated this division.
	The outgoing conservative Popular Party (PP) is insisting on the need for "stability" in the face of "populism" - a thinly-veiled dig at the Unidos Podemos coalition.
	Voters have the choice between four major political groupings after the emergence of Podemos and centre-right upstart Ciudadanos last year uprooted the country's two-party dominance.
	The December general election resulted in a 350-seat parliament so splintered that parties failed to agree on a coalition, and this is what has prompted Sunday's repeat vote.
	Opinion polls - conducted pre-Brexit - suggested the results .

Spain holds rerun poll amid Brexit after-shocks

Fighting between Yemeni government forces and Shiite rebels killed 41 people on several fronts today, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged the rival factions in Kuwait to accept a peace plan.
	UN sponsored talks between the Iran-backed Huthi rebels and the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have failed to achieve a breakthrough since starting in the Gulf emirate on April 21.
	The Huthis and allied forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have seized control of large parts of the impoverished country since 2014 and still control swathes of territory including the capital Sanaa.
	UN special envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed has repeatedly urged both sides to make concessions to end the conflict, which has cost more than 6,400 lives since March 2015 and displaced 2.8 million people.
	But the clashes raged today, with the rebels pressing ahead with attempts to advance towards the strategic Al-Anad airbase, in the southern province of Lahj, a military official said.
	The rebels and ..

Yemen clashes intensify as Ban pushes peace

Sri Lanka, after losing the toss, made 248 for nine against England in the third one-day international at Bristol today.
     Three Sri Lanka batsmen -- Dinesh Chandimal (62), captain Angelo Mathews (56) and Kusal Mendis (53) all made fifties.
     Chris Woakes took three for 34, including two wickets with his last two balls, after fellow paceman Liam Plunkett made early inroads on his way to a return of three for 46.
     England lead the five-match series 1-0 after their 10-wicket win at Edgbaston on Friday. That followed Tuesday's tie at Trent Bridge.

Sri Lanka 248-9 against England

A giant Chinese-chartered freighter nudged its way into the expanded Panama Canal today to mark the completion of nearly a decade of work forecast to boost global trade.
	Thousands of people cheered and waved flags as they watched the vessel, especially renamed COSCO Shipping Panama, inaugurate the widening of the century-old waterway, which has been fitted with a new shipping lane and locks.
	"This is a great day, a day of national unity and a day for Panama," President Juan Carlos Varela said in a speech.
	"This is the route that unites the world," he said.
	The Chinese ship entered from the Atlantic and was to take hours to make its way to the Pacific side of the country, where a ceremony attended by several heads of state and foreign dignitaries was to take place.
	The US - builder of the original canal, which opened in 1914 and is still in operation alongside the additions - was being represented by the wife of US Vice President Jose Biden, Jill Biden, and the US ambassador to ...

Chinese ship inaugurates expanded Panama Canal

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls today blasted a planned EU-US trade treaty, saying the ambitious deal was against "EU interests."
	"No free trade agreement should be concluded if it does not respect EU interests. Europe should be firm," Valls told members of the governing Socialist Party, adding "France will be vigilant about this."
	"I can tell you frankly, there cannot be a transatlantic treaty agreement. This agreement is not on track," Valls said.
	The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) aims to topple regulatory and tariff barriers and establish the largest free-trade and investment area in the world.
	The United States and the European Union (EU) have been negotiating the deal for the last three years.
	The two sides have been pushing to resolve remaining issues by year's end, coinciding with the end of Barack Obama's presidency. The next round of negotiations is expected in July.
	But the project has been facing mounting opposition in parts of Europe, ...

French PM opposes trade deal with US as against 'EU interests'

Fighting between Yemeni government forces and Shiite rebels raged today on several fronts, killing 41 people, officials said, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in Kuwait to push forward peace talks.
	The Iran-backed Huthi rebels pressed ahead with attempts to advance towards the strategic Al-Anad airbase, in the southern province of Lahj, a military official said.
	The rebels and their allies of forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh captured the area of Qubaita, on the frontier between Lahj and Taez province.
	Eleven rebels were killed when warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition bombed them in Qubaita and Kirsh, the official said.
	Also along the frontier between Lahj and Taez, five rebels and three government soldiers died in clashes triggered by a rebel attempt to advance in the Waziya area, a source in loyalist militia said.
	Six other soldiers were killed in clashes in the flashpoint city of Taez, where rebels attacked an army base, a military official ...

AFP

AFP

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