Clint Dempsey scored his 50th international goal as the United States reignited their Copa America campaign to ease the pressure on coach Jurgen Klinsmann with a 4-0 win over Costa Rica here Tuesday.
     The host nation, beaten by Group A rivals Colombia in the tournament opener on Friday, produced a devastating first half goal blitz to sink their rivals from the CONCACAF region on a warm night at Soldier Field.
     Dempsey opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Jermaine Jones and Bobby Wood struck just before half-time to effectively settle the contest. Substitute Graham Zusi added a fourth three minutes from time.
     The win came as a welcome relief for Klinsmann, whose tenure has faced mounting criticism over the past 18 months after a series of disappointing performances in competitive matches.
     United States Soccer Federation chief Sunil Gulati had fueled fresh speculation about Klinsmann's position only hours before kick-off, telling journalists: "No-one has ...

Dempsey nets 50th as USA rout Costa Rica

PTI Automatic

Scoreboard of the third
match of the Tri-Nation One-Day International series between South Africa and Australia at the Guyana National Stadium.
     South Africa:
     H Amla run out                   35
     Q de Kock lbw Hazlewood          18
     R Rossouw lbw Lyon                7
     AB de Villiers b Coulter-Nile    22
     JP Duminy b Coulter-Nile         13
     F Behardien b Maxwell            62
     W Parnell b Hazlewood             2
     A Phangiso c Hazlewood b Zampa    9
     K Rabada not out                 15
     I Tahir c Coulter-Nile b Maxwell  0
     T Shamsi not out                  0
     Extras: (lb-1, w-5)               6
     Total: (For 9 wkts; 50 overs)   189
     Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-41, 3-81, 4-97, 5-104, 6-112, 7-149, 8-188, 9-188.
     Bowling: J Hazlewood 10-3-20-2, N Coulter-Nile 10-2-38-2, N Lyon 10-0-40-1, A Zampa 10-0-46-1, M Marsh 4-0-18-0, A Finch 3-0-11-0, G Maxwell 3-0-15-2.
     Australia:
     D Warner lbw Parnell               1
     A ..

Providence (Guyana), Jun 8 (AFP) Scoreboard of the third

South Africa roared back into contention in the Tri-Nation One-Day International series with a 47-run victory over Australia in the third match of the tournament at the Guyana National Stadium here.
     Defending a modest 189 for nine on another pitch that challenged the patience and technique of all batsmen, the Proteas bowlers were resisted only by opener Aaron Finch's defiant 72 before he was ninth out as the World Cup-holders folded for 142 off 34.2 overs.
     By virtue of their margin of victory, South Africa also earned a bonus point and leapt from last to first on net run-rate over Australia, leaving hosts West Indies third. Competition resumes in St Kitts on Saturday with South Africa and Australia renewing their rivalry at Warner Park.
     Farhaan Behardien's workmanlike innings of 62 held South Africa's innings together and earned him the "Man of the Match" award. However pacer Kagiso Rabada shared the plaudits with a useful unbeaten 15 as the tail contributed important ..

South Africa back in business after ODI win over Australia

Argentina's Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra has said she would remain impartial in UN dealings on the contentious issue of the Falkland Islands if she becomes the next UN secretary-general.
	Considered a strong contender to become the first woman at the UN helm, Malcorra yesterday offered reassurances that her nationality will not create tension with Britain, one of the five permanent UN Security Council members.
	"The secretary-general has always said he will be ready to do whatever both sides agree he should be doing," Malcorra told reporters after appearing at hearings on her candidacy.
	"That will be the case of any future secretary-general no matter what the nationality."
	The 61-year-old foreign minister was UN chief Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff since 2012 until her latest appointment by President Mauricio Macri in November.
	Malcorra is seen as a consummate UN insider, having also worked as head of field operations at UN peacekeeping and in humanitarian affairs at the World ...

Argentina's Malcorra sees no clash with Britain in bid to be

A California man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for seeking to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group and wage holy war, authorities said.
	Nicholas Michael Teausant, a 22-year-old convert to Islam, had pleaded guilty in December to a charge of attempting to provide material support or resources to a terror group. He was arrested in March 2014 near the Canadian border, while en route to Syria to join the terror network.
	His prison sentence will be followed by 25 years of supervised release.
	"Terrorism has to become a zero-tolerance crime. There is no margin for error," US District Judge John Mendez yesterday said in imposing the sentence in Sacramento, California.
	"It is the court's responsibility to fashion a sentence to reduce any risk you might pose in the future."
	According to authorities, Teausant caught the attention of the FBI in 2013 after he joined online forums, expressing a desire to "conduct violent jihad and to be part of America's downfall."
	In ...

US man gets 12 years in prison for seeking to join IS

The White House has said President Barack Obama will not attend Muhammad Ali's funeral, which coincides with his oldest daughter's graduation.
	"They will be attending Malia's high school graduation ceremony in Washington, DC," said spokeswoman Jen Friedman.
	Instead, a close aide "will read a letter from the president and the first lady as part of Friday's service in Louisville.

Obama will not attend Muhammad Ali's funeral

A television journalist walking with his grandson in a city street in eastern Guatemala was shot dead by two assailants on a motorbike, police and fellow local reporters said.
	Victor Valdez, a 66-year-old Guatemalan journalist who led a cultural program on local cable network TL-COM for the past 29 years, was killed yesterday while walking with his teenaged relative in Chiquimula, a city near the border with Honduras where he lived.
	The motive for the deadly attack was not immediately known, local police chief Abelino Lajuj said.
	The two assailants went up to Valdez, shot him, then rode off, Lajuj said.
	"We condemn this crime and express our solidarity with the family and with the journalistic trade. We demand a rapid investigation," said Ileana Alamilla, head of the Guatemalan Journalists' Association.
	She called on President Jimmy Morales to speed the establishment of a special body to protect journalists provided for under a four-year-old decree.
	Three murders of reporters ...

Journalist walking with grandson shot dead in Guatemala

A healthy baby was born in Portugal on today to a mother who had been brain-dead for nearly four months.
	"The baby boy, weighing 2.35 kilos (five pounds three ounces), was born after 32 weeks without complications and by Cesarean section," announced the Lisbon hospital that carried out the procedure.
	The mother had been declared brain-dead on February 20 after suffering a brain haemorrhage, the hospital said.
	"The foetus appeared to be in good health," it added, so "the decision was taken with the family to follow through with the pregnancy."
	The hospital said the successful birth represented Portugal's longest-ever survival of a foetus whose mother was brain-dead.
	A similar case in Poland saw a baby boy born to a brain-dead mother in April.

Baby born to brain-dead mother in Portugal

A worried World Bank slashed its growth forecast for the global economy today, saying advanced economies are rebounding more slowly than expected and low commodity prices continue to hurt other countries.
	The Bank said that the global economy should grow at just 2.4 percent this year, the same lethargic pace of 2015 and much slower than the 2.9 percent it predicted in January.

World Bank slashes global growth forecast to 2.4 percent

New York City today renamed a street outside Madison Square Garden "Muhammad Ali Way" after the late boxing legend who headlined a string of fights at the iconic sports arena.
	Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the temporary renaming of West 33rd Street next to the MSG arena, where some of Ali's greatest fights took place in America's entertainment capital.
	"Today we are paying tribute to the man in the heart of this city," de Blasio said. "He deserves this naming honor and more."
	Ali, whose remarkable boxing career and civil rights activism made him one of the 20th century's most indelible figures, died last week after a decades-long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 74 years old.
	Ali boxed at Madison Square Garden eight times, including in his epic 1971 "Fight of the Century" against Joe Frazier.
	New York streets may be renamed permanently if legislation is passed by the city council and signed by the mayor.
	There are no plans so far to make the Muhammad Ali Way name change .

New York names street 'Muhammad Ali Way'

Thousands of civilians today fled a stronghold of the Islamic State group in northern Syria almost surrounded by a US-backed fighters seeking to cut a key supply lifeline for the jihadists.
	The Arab-Kurdish offensive on the town of Manbij is one of two major assaults on the route IS uses to send in more fighters, weapons and money from the Turkish border to its main Syrian bastion of Raqa.
	"We have surrounded Manbij from three sides and operations are progressing well," said Sherfan Darwish, who is leading the offensive of the Syrian Democratic Forces launched just over a week ago.
	"Every day, we are liberating villages and the only route open to IS now is towards Aleppo city" to the west, Darwish told AFP by phone.
	The SDF is now within five kilometres (three miles) of Manbij from the north, two kilometres from the south and about seven kilometres from the east, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
	"Daesh has begun allowing civilians to flee towards the west," some in ..

Thousands flee IS Syria stronghold as coalition closes in

US oil prices finished above $50 a barrel for the first time since July today as a tightening supply picture and a weaker dollar further boosted the commodity.
	US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery rose 67 cents to $50.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, capping a rally from the low near $25 a barrel in February.
	Analysts said ongoing uncertainty about Nigeria's outlook for petroleum production was strengthening the oil market.
	Nigeria's government and military chiefs met governors of oil-producing states after announcing it planned peace talks with militants who have repeatedly attacked pipelines and installations, slashing output.
	Attacks have cut output to 1.6 million barrels per day, well below the budgeted-for 2.2 million barrels per day, heaping further pressure on an economy badly hit by the global fall in the price of crude since mid-2014.
	Analysts said oil was also boosted by a dip in the dollar against major currencies after Federal Reserve 

US oil prices end above $50 for first time since July

The United Nations was forced to defend its decision to remove the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen from a blacklist of child rights violators after rights groups expressed dismay.
	UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric insisted that no final decision had been taken, and that the coalition was taken off the list pending a review that is expected to be completed before August.
	"I don't think it's a reversal of policy," Dujarric told reporters. "We will see what the review is and we will adjust the list as needed."
	Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International blasted Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over the decision, accusing him of caving in to Saudi pressure and damaging the world body's credibility.
	In its annual report on children in armed conflict published Thursday, the United Nations added the coalition to its list of shame after concluding it was responsible for 60 percent of the 785 children killed in Yemen last year.
	Saudi Arabia reacted angrily and demanded that the report be 

UN under fire for removing Saudi-led coalition from blacklist

Dozens including education officials have been arrested in Algeria on suspicion of leaking final exam papers that led to more than 300,000 students needing to resit the tests, police said today.
	Managers, teachers and even the heads of national exam centres were detained for their alleged role in the scandal.
	The investigation is looking into leaks in 30 Algerian departments, or regions, according to the police unit leading the probe.
	A police statement carried by the APS news agency said cybercrime investigators had managed to identify individuals who had "published (exam) material on social networks" as well as those who facilitated the leak.
	Education minister Nouria Benghebrit broke down in tears in public last week when she was told of the leak of exams which high school students must pass before they can enrol in university.
	Benghebrit said 300,000 students out of the 800,000 who sat the "baccalaureate" final exams last week would have to undergo new testing on June ...

Dozens arrested in Algeria exam leak probe: police

Muhammad Ali's hometown of Louisville is ready to "welcome the world" for this week's ceremonies honoring the late boxing legend, the city's mayor said today, offering more details about a huge public procession for "The Greatest."
	Louisville, the largest city in the southern state of Kentucky and home to 600,000 people, will play host Thursday and Friday to the mass public celebration of the life of Ali, its most famous native son.
	Ali, whose remarkable boxing career and civil rights activism made him one of the most indelible figures of the 20th century, died last week at age 74 after a decades-long battle with Parkinson's disease.
	His death has prompted an outpouring of tributes for The Champ, who won three heavyweight titles and Olympic Gold during his illustrious years in the ring.
	"This celebration for Muhammad will be a one-of-a-kind event for anywhere in the world (...) and for us," Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said, calling on the city's residents to show the hospitality 

Louisville ready to 'welcome the world' to Ali services

Controversy over contributions to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by a French tycoon on trial for fraud deepened today after the Frenchman disputed the premier's version of events.
	With the issue receiving widespread coverage in Israel and the country's attorney general examining it, Netanyahu acknowledged on Monday that Arnaud Mimran, currently on trial in Paris, had given him $40,000.
	Netanyahu said however that all had been done according to the law, and that the 2001 contribution was not political and occurred when he was not in public office.
	The prime minister's office said the money was for a fund for Netanyahu's public activities, which included media appearances and travel abroad to promote Israel.
	A political contribution of that size would exceed Israel's campaign finance limits.
	Mimran told Israel's Channel 10 television late on Monday that the amount was actually some 170,000 euros ($193,000), transferred to Netanyahu's personal account.
	He also said that .

Controversy deepens over French tycoon's payments to Netanyahu

Beijing will not budge on its claims of ownership over a vast tranche of the South China Sea, a top official insisted today, as a key annual meeting with the US ended with no movement on the issue.
	During a two-day confab in the Chinese capital, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged China to settle its territorial rows peacefully and based on the "rule of law".
	But Beijing's top diplomat Yang Jiechi said the United States should butt out of disputes a long way from its shores, including an international arbitration case brought by the Philippines.
	China's stance on the case is "in line with international law", Yang said, insisting that Beijing's position "has not and will not change".
	The case, he said, should be settled directly between the parties involved and called on Washington to "honour its promise of not taking a position in territorial disputes".
	The South China Sea has "been China's territory since ancient times" and China "has every right to uphold its territorial ...

Beijing refuses to move on sea disputes as US meet ends

The last major primaries of the 2016 White House race kick off today in New Jersey and California, hours after US delegate counts showed Hillary Clinton clinching the Democratic nomination.
	The first polls opened at 6 am (1000 GMT) in New Jersey, with voting to begin four hours later in California, the country's most populous state.
	Passing the milestone of 2,383 delegates late Monday secured Clinton's status as the presumptive Democratic nominee, and she becomes the first female standard-bearer of a major US political party.
	It's a dramatic political resurgence for a highly experienced but controversial candidate who lost to Barack Obama in their 2008 battle for the Democratic nomination.
	This time the 68-year-old former secretary of state survived an extraordinarily strong grassroots campaign by her party rival Bernie Sanders and is set to go head-to-head with Republican real estate tycoon Donald Trump in an unprecedented showdown for the White House.
	But Sanders was not ready .

Final decisive day of primaries kick off in US

New scientific research confirms that Aborigines were the first inhabitants of Australia, refuting theories that others of possible European origin were the first humans on the continent.
	Work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal on Monday puts to rest a controversy over the first Australians that has lingered for more than 150 years.
	The research refutes an earlier study claiming DNA sequences were recovered from the remains of the Mungo Man, the oldest human remains on the continent, and allegedly showing that he came from an extinct lineage that lived on the continent before Aboriginal Australians.
	However, researchers at Australia's Griffith University in South East Queensland used new DNA sequencing methods to re-analyze the remains.
	The earlier test "contained sequences from five different European people suggesting that these all represent contamination," said David Lambert at the university's Research Centre for Human Evolution.
	"By ...

Confirmed: Aborigenes were the first Australians

Just one per cent of the world's population can call themselves millionaires or richer. But together they hold almost half the world's wealth, and their share is growing, according to a new study released today.
	Some 18.5 million households around the world have at least USD 1 million worth of assets, for a total of USD 78.8 trillion -- or about the same size as global annual economic output -- Boston Consulting Group's annual report on global private wealth says.
	That also amounts to 47 per cent of total global wealth -- based on holdings of cash, financial accounts, and equities, but not real estate -- leaving the rest to be divided by the other 99 per cent of the world's population.
	The elite one percent have steadily grown their share of global wealth from 45 per cent in 2013 to 47 per cent last year, the findings show, supporting worries among economists that inequality is growing around the globe.
	The United States tops the world's count of millionaires by far, with eight ...

1 per cent of world's population holds half its wealth: report

Forensic experts today exhumed the remains of former Chilean president Eduardo Frei in an attempt to determine how he was poisoned by agents of Augusto Pinochet's regime.
	Frei, president from 1964 to 1970, died of a sudden infection in January 1982 while he was hospitalized for hernia treatment. He was 71.
	Pinochet became Chile's dictator soon after a military coup that killed Frei's successor, Salvador Allende, on September 11, 1973. Pinochet left office when democracy was restored in 1990.
	Frei died when he and his Christian Democratic Party were gaining strength as the military regime's main opposition. The Pinochet regime faced its first street protests in the early 1980s.
	Frei's remains were first disinterred in 2004 to search for a toxic agent that could explain the infection that led to his death following an operation with no major complications.
	A probe led by Judge Alejandro Madrid determined that dictatorship operatives killed Frei by poisoning. The new exhumation ...

AFP

AFP

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