Australia demolished hapless West Indies on the fourth day of the second and final Test at Sabina Park today, routing the home side for 114 to win by 277 runs and take the series 2-0.

Cricket: Australia demolish hapless Windies for Test sweep

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New Zealand's Kane Williamson was happy to prove elegance and timing still had a place when batting in one-day international cricket with a brilliant century in a three-wicket win over England on Sunday.
     Victory at the Rose Bowl saw World Cup finalists New Zealand go 2-1 up in the five-match series.
     The Black Caps, chasing 303 for victory, were wobbling at 36 for two.
     But a New Zealand record third-wicket stand of 206 between Williamson (118) and Ross Taylor (110), ultimately proved decisive.
     There have long been anguished debates about whether advances in bat technology and modern-day power-hitting are making ODI cricket too much of a batsmen's game.
     But the 24-year-old Williamson proved the traditional virtues of touch and timing remain effective in white-ball cricket.
     Indeed his final scoring shot, in a sublime 113-ball innings which included 12 fours, was a seemingly effortless straight six off David Willey.
     "I don't think aggressive has to mean .

Ton-up Williamson happy to play his way

A teenage girl had part of her arm torn off and a boy was also badly injured in separate shark attacks in a North Carolina seaside town, officials and US media said.
	Authorities raced to get people out of the water at picturesque Oak Island after a shark mauled a girl of 14, followed soon after by a 16-year-old boy who reportedly lost his arm, NBC News said yesterday.
	The girl, who was visiting the area with family, was airlifted to a hospital for urgent treatment, said Oak Island Mayor Betty Wallace.
	"One of the things we hope we never have to hear from a beach community; the shark bite victim is a teenage girl," Wallace wrote on Facebook.
	"Confirmed that she has lost part of her left arm and may lose her left leg. Please keep this girl and her family in your prayers."
	Less than 30 minutes later, the boy was also attacked. NBC News said he was similarly rushed to a hospital for treatment.
	The incidents happened just a few miles up the coast from Ocean Isle Beach, where a ...

Shark attacks badly injure two teens in US

A court in Panama jailed two North Koreans for 12 years for trying to smuggle Cuban weapons through the Panama Canal in an incident which raised international suspicions, their attorney has said.
	Their convictions came as something of a surprise since a lower court had let the men off after their North Korean cargo ship was found to be carrying Cuban weapons including surface-to-air missile systems and launchers when it was stopped in the Panama Canal in July 2013.
	"Panama's Second Circuit Court first revoked that ruling and then sentenced to 12 years in prison the ship's captain and co-pilot," their attorney Julio Berrios told AFP yesterday.
	Captain Ri Yong-Il and first mate Hong Yong-Hyon were convicted of arms trafficking over the undeclared cache, including two Soviet-era MiG-21 aircraft, air defence systems, missiles and command and control vehicles.
	The cargo on the vessel, the Chong Chon Gang, was hidden under 200,000 bags of sugar and had been destined for North Korea, in .

Two North Koreans jailed in Panama over Cuba arms cache

An ethnic Russian woman and her young daughter have been found dismembered and their body parts stored in plastic garbage bags in the violence- plagued Mexican city of Tijuana near the US border.
	Baja California state deputy prosecutor Jose Maria Gonzalez said the drug-affected eldest daughter, 19, was the prime suspect in the grisly case, uncovered only when neighbours reported a foul smell emanating from the house in the middle-class district of Playas de Tijuana.
	Authorities found the bodies of Yuliya Masney Safonchik, 45, and her 12-year-old daughter Valeria Lechtchenko on Thursday.
	"The bodies were dismembered and stored in plastic garbage bags. Both were beheaded and the girl's eyes were missing," Gonzalez said.
	He said preliminary findings suggested another daughter, Anastasia, was behind the gruesome crime, motivated by a family feud.
	The family had reported the girl's drug use to the authorities. They had been living in Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, for more 

Mother and daughter, 12, dismembered in Mexico

Thousands of Syrian refugees poured into Turkey on Sunday to escape the battle between Kurds and Islamic State (IS) jihadists for the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, as the Turkish authorities reopened the border after days of closure.
	The Syrians, many carrying sacks of possessions and small children, flooded through the Akcakale border gate onto Turkish territory, an AFP photographer said.
	There had earlier been chaotic scenes as some of the refugees crossed the border illegally through holes in fences, prompting rapid intervention from the Turkish army.
	Turkey had for several days been blocking the Syrians from entering Turkey, saying it would only allow them into the country in the event of a humanitarian tragedy.
	However, local officials in Akcakale said earlier that permission had been received from Ankara to allow the refugees into Turkey.
	The decision came as Kurdish forces advanced on Tal Abyad, which is controlled by the IS group that has captured swathes of Syria and ...

Thousands of Syrian refugees flee into Turkey from Tal Abyad

Greece believes the demands of its EU-IMF creditors are "irrational", a government source said after the latest round of talks on its bailout ended without a deal.
	"The demands of the creditors are irrational, the discussions lasted 45 minutes," the source said of the crunch talks held in Brussels as cash-strapped Greece faces a likely default on looming debt repayments.
	Athens pinned the blame especially on the International Monetary Fund whose position was seen as "intransigent and tough" because it insisted on further cuts for pensions and a rise in value-added tax, the source said.
	The Greek government issued a statement shortly before the talks ended saying its delegation in Brussels since Saturday had submitted additional proposals "opening the way to a final accord which will answer the three main questions, that of financial and budgetary (stability) and measures for growth."
	But Athens also said it would not budge on pensions and VAT as "these measures touch workers and ..

Greece says creditors' demands 'irrational'

Italy said today it will ask the EU to set up refugee processing camps in Libya, and threatened to 'hurt' Europe should it turn a deaf ear to the crisis on its shores.
	The country is struggling to accommodate an endless wave of boat migrants, and a crackdown on security at the borders with France and Austria has exacerbated the situation, causing a bottleneck at Italy's train stations.
	The crisis "should not be underestimated", Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said, as Austria, France and Switzerland expelled asylum seekers back onto Italian soil.
	"Let me be clear, Europe's answers so far have not been good enough," Renzi added.
	The EU is having difficulty achieving consensus for its proposed migrant distribution plan -- under which 24,000 refugees would be taken in by other countries -- but Italy is hoping an EU summit on June 25-26 will go even further.
	"Redistributing just 24,000 people is almost a provocation," Renzi said.
	"If Europe chooses solidarity, good. If it doesn't, we ...

Italy to ask EU to set up refugee processing camps in Libya

Over a hundred Baluch militants fighting against Pakistani forces in the separatist-insurgency wracked southwestern Baluchistan province have surrendered and pledged their allegiance to the country, officials today said.
	A group of 59 militants including two key commanders appeared before the media, along with senior politicians and government officials from the province, to announce they would end militant activities and become a "useful part" of society.
	They followed a group of 47 militants yesterday. All were given amnesty by the government.
	"These people were in fact misled by the anti-state elements who are being funded by foreign spy agencies," said Sanaullah Zehri, senior minister in Baluchistan.
	"They have now pledged to lead a good life as true Pakistanis," he said.
	The militants who surrendered were from groups such as Baluch Republican Army (BRA), Baluch National Movement (BNM), and Lashkare-e-Baluchistan (Army of Baluchistan).
	"We were trapped by our leaders who ...

More than 100 Baluch militants surrender in Pakistan

Palestinian militant group Hamas today called for the immediate release of hunger-striking prisoners held by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
	Gaza's former Hamas premier Ismail Haniya appealed for the release of Khadar Adnan, who was imprisoned without trial by Israel and has been refusing food for about 40 days.
	He also called for the release of Islam Hamad, who has been held by Hamas's rival in the West Bank and has been reportedly on hunger strike for 63 days.
	Adnan is being held in "administrative detention", a procedure under which Israel holds Palestinian prisoners indefinitely for renewable six-month periods.
	Haniya said that Israel "arrests and kills our sons and our brothers, while our brothers use the same means."
	The West Bank-based administration of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is the bitter rival of Hamas, the de facto power in the Gaza Strip, despite repeated reconciliation efforts.
	Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007 when it expelled forces loyal to Abbas's 

Hamas demands release of hunger-striking prisoners

Israeli soldiers seen on video beating an unarmed Palestinian received punishment today ranging from confinement to base to a verbal rebuke, media reported.
	Footage of Friday's incident, at Jelazoun refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, showed troops  striking the Palestinian civilian with their fists and a rifle butt.
	The beating was accompanied by shouted obscenities as the detainee lay helpless on the ground.
	Israeli army radio and news websites said that at an internal disciplinary hearing the company commander was given a verbal reprimand, one soldier was confined to base for 30 days and two others were given suspended sentences of 28 days in military prison.
	The radio described the sentences as "relatively light" and said the incident "did not help" Israel's efforts to defend the image of its fighting forces at a time when international agencies are investigating Palestinian allegations of crimes during last year's Gaza war.
	The military also faces widespread criticism ...

Israel reprimands officer over beating of Palestinian: media

The campaign logo is ready, so is the big speech, and his message is taking shape: Jeb Bush is about to join the crowded Republican field running for president in 2016.
	Bush, 62, has run a de facto race for six months, raising money and increasing his travels, including a trip this week to Europe.
	Today, his campaign released his logo. It reads "Jeb!" in big red letters on a white background, with 2016 in smaller blue lettering underneath the name.
	"I think the transition to a candidacy will allow me to be more direct about my advocacy of the leadership skills necessary for the next president to fix a few things," Bush told CNN in an interview aired today, a day before his planned announcement in Miami.
	"And as a candidate," he added, "I'll be more specific on policy."
	A Bush campaign video lists reforms he made while governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007.
	"The barriers right now on people rising up is the great challenge of our time," Bush says in the video.
	"My core beliefs ..

Bush ready to jump into presidential campaign

A delegation of Yemeni rebels headed today for UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva as their forces gained ground by seizing a provincial capital near the border with Saudi Arabia.
	After repeatedly delaying their departure, the delegation left from the capital Sanaa aboard a UN plane for the Swiss city, where the talks are due to start tomorrow, a day late.
	The UN's peace envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said in a statement that Monday would see the start of "preliminary inclusive consultations" bringing together the country's warring factions for the first time.
	He appealed for participants to take part "in good faith and without pre-conditions, and in a climate of trust and mutual respect".
	Yemen has been wracked by conflict between Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels and the internationally recognised government of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
	The rebels, supported by military units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have seized control of large parts of 

Yemen rebels head to Geneva talks as forces gain ground

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi wrapped up her first visit to China today, a trip that saw her meet the country's President Xi Jinping ahead of Myanmar elections in November.
	Pictures of her trip posted online showed her meeting Xi and other Communist party officials, visiting the Great Wall of China and practicing calligraphy.
	Suu Kyi visited Beijing, Shanghai and Yunnan province, which shares a border with Myanmar.
	Beijing was a key backer of Myanmar's former military junta while it was under Western sanctions -- most of which have been lifted since 2011 -- and a much-needed international ally for a brutal regime that crushed dissent and kept Suu Kyi under house arrest for more than 15 years.
	She met Liu Jiheng, the Communist Party secretary of Yunnan, in Kunming, the provincial capital, yesterday, according to the Yunnan Daily.
	During the meeting, Suu Kyi said Yunnan's experience with economic development was a model worth bringing to Myanmar, according to the ...

Myanmar opposition leader Suu Kyi wraps up China visit

A South African court today issued a temporary ban on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir leaving the country after the International Criminal Court called for him to be arrested at a summit in Johannesburg.
	Bashir, who is wanted over alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur conflict, mostly travels to countries that have not joined the ICC, but South Africa is a signatory of the court's statutes.
	The Pretoria High Court said in a statement it was "compelling respondents to prevent President Omar Al-Bashir from the leaving the country until an order is made in this court".
	The ruling came after the Southern African Litigation Centre, a legal rights group, launched an urgent court application to force the authorities to arrest Bashir.
	Bashir joined a group photograph of leaders at the summit despite the calls for his arrest.
	Wearing a blue suit, he stood in the front row for the photograph along with South African host President Jacob Zuma and ...

S Africa bans Sudan president from leaving over arrest warrant

A former senior Chinese Communist Party official, Qiao Shi, died in Beijing today aged 91, state media reported.
	Qiao, who joined the ruling party at age 15, headed China's parliament in the 1990s and was a member of the party Politburo Standing Committee, the country's most powerful body, for a decade, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
	He also served as the nation's security chief but retired from all his posts in 1998.
	During the political turmoil of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, Qiao was persecuted and held in isolation for an unspecified duration, Xinhua said.
	He was at the apex of his power during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
	Qiao was widely seen by analysts as sympathetic to their cause but seemingly survived unscathed despite his sentiments, at a time when other perceived sympathisers were being locked up.
	He was later put in charge of the rubber-stamp legislature, the National People's Congress, a role some experts saw as a ...

Former senior Chinese official Qiao Shi dies aged 91

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said today that any withdrawal of the International Monetary Fund from negotiations on its bailout would not prevent Athens reaching a deal with European creditors.
	"I wouldn't be surprised if the IMF makes unacceptable demands that it well knows Greece cannot agree to in order to justify it leaving the negotiations," Varoufakis said in an interview with Realnews.
	The minister stressed however that this departure "would not prevent an agreement between only Athens and the Europeans".
	The country's creditors along with the IMF are the European Union and the European Central Bank.
	Greek and EU-IMF negotiators were locked in last-chance talks today to avert a default by Athens that could pave the way for a catastrophic exit by Greece from the euro and sow economic chaos in Europe.

Greece's Varoufakis says an IMF withdrawal would not stop deal

Sudan insisted President Omar al-Bashir's visit to Johannesburg for a summit was proceeding normally and he would return after its main meeting, despite a court order today banning him from leaving South Africa.
	The South African court issued the temporary ban after the International Criminal Court called for the arrest of Bashir, who is wanted over alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur conflict.
	"It is difficult to give details of President Bashir's timetable, but he will return when the main session is over. This could be today or tomorrow. I will not go into the details," said Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Ismail.
	"Until now, things are normal and there is no risk to his excellency the president," Ismail said at a news conference.
	Bashir travelled to Johannesburg for the summit on Saturday at the head of Sudan's delegation in defiance of his ICC indictments.
	But the Southern African Litigation Centre, a legal rights group, ...

Sudan says all 'normal', Bashir to return after AU summit

Ukraine's military today said escalating clashes between government forces and pro-Russian insurgents in the separatist east left one Ukrainian soldier dead and 21 injured.
	A top military adviser for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the fighting had intensified around the rebel-held airport of the insurgents' de facto capital Donetsk.
	"The past day of combat (in the war zone) saw one Ukrainian serviceman die and 21 being injured," Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told reporters.
	The latest casualties near the twisting and hotly disputed line separating Ukrainian forces from their heavily-armed foes add to the strains of a February truce designed to end one of Europe's deadliest conflicts in decades.
	About 50 people have been reported killed this month -- a figure that fails to include the deaths suffered by the secretive and partially splintered rebel command.
	The February accords that the leaders of Germany and France helped broker had initially helped limit the fighting to ...

1 Ukraine soldier killed, 21 hurt in clashes with separatists

Lions, tigers and even a hippopotamus escaped from a zoo in the Georgian capital Tbilisi today, adding to chaos caused by flooding that killed at least 12 people, officials said.
	Police and soldiers were hunting down the animals, recapturing some and shooting others dead, while rescuers airlifted scores of people trapped by the floods.
	Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili called on Tbilisi residents to stay indoors while the animals were still at large, describing the damage to the city's infrastructure as "substantial" after the River Vere burst its banks after hours of torrential rain.
	"Our latest estimate is that the death toll is 12," Tbilisi Mayor David Narmania told journalists.
	The mayor's office said dozens of families had been left without shelter and thousands without water and electricity in the city.
	Several main roads were completely destroyed and small houses and cars were swept away by the torrents, while half a dozen coffins in a city cemetery were washed out of the 

12 dead as tigers and lions roam Tbilisi after floods

Israel today defended its conduct in the 2014 Gaza war as both "lawful" and "legitimate" in an inter-ministerial report into the deadly 50-day conflict.
	And it insisted its forces did not intentionally target civilians or civilian targets, drawing conclusions that were rejected out of hand by the Palestinians.
	The internal report, which was put together by the foreign and justice ministries with input from the military and the National Security Council, was released two weeks before a UN report into the conflict.
	The conflict ended with an informal ceasefire on August 26 after claiming the lives of nearly 2,200 Palestinians, mainly civilians, and 73 on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers, UN figures show.
	In the document, which is more than 200 pages long, the authors go to great lengths to detail the environment in which the war was fought and the military's efforts to avoid harming civilians.
	"Much of what may have appeared to external parties to be indiscriminate harm to ..

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