New Zealand fans poked fun today at Matthew Hayden after the former Australian batsman suggested the Black Caps would be overawed by the huge dimensions of the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the World Cup final.
     New Zealand go into the championship match on a run of eight wins in eight games at the tournament but all of their matches have been played on their own, much smaller, grounds.
     "There were a number of times in the semi-final where the New Zealand batsmen appeared to be hitting big balls, but they'd be getting caught three quarters of the way to the fence at the MCG," Hayden  wrote in his column for www.News.Com.Au.
     "Let's be honest, the size of Eden Park (in Auckland) is ridiculous. It shouldn't be a cricket ground. If you can half throw it from the long off boundary to the opposite end it's too small."
     Hayden's comments led to an outburst of tongue-in-cheek responses from Kiwi fans, with the hashtag #mcgsobig trending on Twitter.
     Some of the wittiest ...

Kiwi fans hit back at Hayden MCG jibe

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International Cricket Council chief executive David Richardson has warned of the dangers of the game "spreading itself too thin" but said officials were still keen for the sport to fully establish itself in the United States.
     The 2019 World Cup in England is set to feature 10 teams, four fewer than are taking part in the ongoing edition where co-hosts Australia and New Zealand will contest Sunday's final in Melbourne.
     This has led to complaints from non-Test or Associate members of the ICC that they risk being frozen out from the sport's showpiece tournament, with potentially damaging consequences for the future of cricket in their countries if they don't have a realistic chance of appearing at a World Cup.
     But Richardson, speaking during Australia's semi-final win over defending champions India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday, said: "I think there's a slight change in strategy amongst our board in that we've been through a phase of trying to grow the game from 

ICC wary of expansion but keen on cracking US frontier

Few cricket fans have heard of James Laver, even though the master craftsman's bats -- likened to "Stradivarius in willow" -- have graced the innings of legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting.
     Laver works in relative anonymity in the hamlet of Waipawa on New Zealand's North Island, hand-carving bats for his boutique Laver & Wood label while also supplying some of the world's top players.
     But elite batsmen inevitably have lucrative endorsement contracts with major manufacturers, so the bats he makes for the stars appear with the sponsor's name on, rather than Laver's.
     Laver explained he has an understanding with major manufacturers that he can talk about retired players who have used his blades, but not those who are still playing.
     The result is polite evasiveness when trying to determine the level of Laver's involvement in Sunday's Cricket World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia.
     Can he confirm his bats will be used in the ...

Old-time master carves 'Stradivarius in willow'

A fine finish from captain Neymar helped secure a come-from-behind 3-1 win for Brazil over France in a friendly in Paris as they maintained their perfect record since the return as coach of Dunga.
     Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane had headed the hosts in front on a cold night at a packed Stade de France, only for Oscar to equalise late in the first half yesterday.
     Barcelona forward Neymar then controlled a Willian pass and lashed the ball high into the roof of the net from the left edge of the six-yard box in the 57th minute to put the visitors in front, and a Luiz Gustavo header secured the victory midway through the second period.
     Brazil have now won seven consecutive friendly matches under Dunga following the heavy defeats to Germany and the Netherlands that saw their World Cup campaign on home soil last year end in such catastrophic fashion.
     And this latest success against an accomplished France side will have been particularly pleasing to Dunga, back where ..

Brazil come from behind to down France

Germany's aviation association BDL has announced plans to introduce a two-person cockpit rule after it emerged that the co-pilot on a Germanwings flight deliberately crashed after being left alone.
	The announcement was made by the federation's chief Matthias von Randow, a BDL spokeswoman said yesterday.
	The new policy would require two crew members to be in the cockpit at all times. The second person could be a flight attendant if the pilot or co-pilot has to exit the cockpit in flight.
	Separately, the head of Germanwings' parent company Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr, said the two-person cockpit rule would be discussed at an industry meeting today to be attended by the Federal Aviation Office (LBA).
	The meeting will focus on "ways that could in the short term help increase security" on planes, Spohr told German public television ARD.
	Earlier yesterday, the Canadian government and several European airlines, including easyJet and Norwegian Air Shuttle, announced that they were ...

German aviation association 'seeks two-person cockpit rule'

Twelve people were hurt when two New York buildings collapsed and a blaze tore through neighboring properties in what preliminary indications suggested was a gas-related explosion.
	Four were in a critical condition after the blast flung the front of commercial and residential property at 121 Second Avenue across the street in the popular East Village yesterday, the fire department said, triggering the collapse of the next-door building and a huge blaze.
	The cause of the incident was under investigation but New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the initial impact appeared to have been caused by plumbing and gas work at the site.
	Witnesses several blocks away described hearing a loud bang and thick smoke could be seen high over the Manhattan skyline.
	"It was crazy loud. The windows were shaking," said Philip McElroy, a 23-year-old student, who was visiting a friend two blocks away.
	"There was a lot of smoke and part of the building was blown out."
	The incident quickly heightened ...

Twelve hurt in New York buildings collapse, blaze

An Argentine appeals court has upheld the decision to dismiss a case against President Cristina Kirchner on accusations that she shielded Iranian officials from prosecution over a 1994 Jewish center bombing.
	In a 2-1 decision, the court rejected an appeal from prosecutors who sought to revive the case against Kirchner being brought by their late colleague Alberto Nisman before he mysteriously died on the eve of congressional hearings where he was due to present his explosive allegations.
	"The federal appeals chamber ratifies the decision by Judge Daniel Rafecas to reject prosecutor Nisman's accusation," said a justice ministry statement yesterday.
	Nisman had accused Iran of ordering the bombing at the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, a long-unsolved attack that killed 85 people, the deadliest in Argentina's history.
	He alleged Iranian officials ordered the bombing via Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a claim the government in Tehran denies.
	He later concluded that a 2013 ...

Court clears Argentina president in Iran 'cover-up'

The White House has expressed concern about Iran's alleged role in stoking violence in Yemen, the latest flashpoint in tensions between Middle East powers.
	Amid a Saudi-led military offensive to defeat pro-Iran rebels that control much of Yemen, a National Security Council official yesterday said that Tehran's actions were destabilising and threatening Yemen's government.
	"We have concerns about Iranian activities in Yemen and reports of Iranian flow of arms into Yemen," Alistair Baskey said yesterday.
	The actions, he added, were "contributing to destabilizing the situation and contributing to the threat posed to the legitimate government."
	Huthi Shiite rebels have taken control of several cities and are assaulting the port of Aden, where President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi had been based before fleeing to Riyadh.
	The White House has said there is no evidence that Iran had command and control over the Huthi.
	The United States has announced it would provide "logistical and ...

White House concerned about Iranian weapons in Yemen

Canada has ordered its airlines to post two people at all times in cockpits of passenger planes after it emerged that the co-pilot on a Germanwings flight deliberately crashed after he was left alone.
	Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt's emergency directive was mandatory and effective immediately, she said.
	"If you're carrying passengers, this is going to apply to you," she said yesterday outside the House of Commons.
	"You have to have two crew members in the flight deck at all times."
	Raitt explained that the second person could be a flight attendant if the pilot or co-pilot has to exit the cockpit in flight.
	The announcement came after several Canadian airlines had already put in place new policies requiring two crew members in the cockpit in response to the tragedy on Tuesday.
	Canada's flagship carrier Air Canada, Westjet and charter airline Air Transat were among the airlines that confirmed the policy change to AFP.
	Earlier, French authorities said the co-pilot of the ...

Canada orders two crew in cockpits always, after Alps crash

The United States may provide refueling and early-warning radar aircraft support a Saudi Arabian-led operation in Yemen against Huthi rebels, officials said today.
	   "It's definitely on the table and being discussed," a defense official said of the possible US military assistance to the day-old intervention by an Arab coalition.
	   The White House said yesterday that the United States will provide intelligence and logistics support to the Saudi-led coalition and officials said that would likely include information gathered from surveillance drones.
	   Although the Saudis and other Gulf and Arab states have substantial air forces, they do not have enough refueling tankers and airborne early warning and control (AWACs) aircraft for a major, open-ended operation, officials said.
	   About a dozen US military personnel are taking part in a "joint planning cell" at an undisclosed base in Saudi Arabia to coordinate American help to the Gulf states, officials said. And it was likely the .

US weighs tanker and radar planes for Saudi Yemen op

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government must take steps to freeze Jewish settlements that are threatening to "kill the very possibility of reaching peace," the UN's Middle East envoy said today.
	In his final report to the Security Council as Middle East coordinator, Robert Serry said "I frankly do not know if it is already too late" to revive peace talks aimed at the establishment of a Palestinian state.
	"The minimum conditions of trust cannot be restored without the new Israeli government taking credible steps to freeze settlement activity," the Dutch diplomat told the 15-member council.
	Serry, who served seven years as the UN's point man on the Middle East, said the Security Council could step in to present a "framework for negotiations, including parameters" to achieve peace.
	"This may be only way to preserve the goal of a two-state solution, in the present circumstances," he said in a bluntly-worded assessment of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
	The appeal ..

UN seeks settlement freeze from new Israeli government

Iran's president today appealed to global leaders including Barack Obama as negotiators raced against the clock to agree the outlines of a deal that puts an Iranian nuclear bomb out of reach.
	   Hassan Rouhani wrote to the American president, US officials confirmed, as well as to the leaders of the five other powers heading efforts to resolve the 12-year standoff over Iran's nuclear programme.
	   The content of the letters was not known. But Rouhani, whose 2013 election led to the current diplomatic push, also phoned the leaders of Russia, China, Britain and France, his office said.
	   "We are acting in the national and international interest and we should not lose this exceptional opportunity," Hassan Rouhani told British Prime Minister David Cameron by phone, the presidency said.
	   "Hope was expressed for success at the new round of talks in Lausanne," the Kremlin said after Rouhani spoke with President Vladimir Putin, while noting with "satisfaction the progress" made.
	   ...

Rouhani writes to Obama as Iran talks near deadline

An experimental Ebola vaccine has been shown to effectively protect monkeys against the often-deadly virus, according to a study published today.
	The new medicine, described in the journal Science, is what is known as a "whole virus" vaccine.
	This means it is based on a non-active form of the entire virus instead of just fragments, and is more likely to trigger a broad immune response.
	"The new vaccine differs from other Ebola vaccines," a statement from the University of Wisconsin-Madison read. "As an inactivated whole virus vaccine, it primes the host immune system with the full complement of Ebola viral proteins and genes, potentially conferring greater protection."
	The vaccine was constructed on an experimental platform that lets researchers safely work with the virus by deleting a key gene the Ebola virus needs to make a protein required to reproduce. The Ebola virus has only eight genes.
	"In terms of efficacy, this affords excellent protection," said study author Yoshihiro .

Experimental Ebola vaccine effective in monkeys: study

Islamist fighters have seized 17 checkpoints from Syrian forces in clashes around the city of Idlib that have cost at least 71 lives, a monitor said today.
	"The government and its supporting forces have lost 17 checkpoints and regime locations to the Al-Nusra Front and other Islamist groups in and around Idlib" in the country's northwest, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
	The clashes come as part of an Islamist offensive launched Tuesday and led by Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front, on the regime-held city of Idlib.
	Calling itself "The Army of Conquest," the new Islamist coalition said  on Twitter Tuesday that it was preparing for "the invasion of Idlib" in order "to liberate this good city."
	Citing eyewitnesses, the Observatory said heavy shelling by the Islamist fighters had forced "regime forces to erect new checkpoints and barricades" in the city.
	"The violent clashes are ongoing for a third continuous day, and the regime and (pro-government militia) National 

At least 71 dead as rebels advance on Syria's Idlib: monitor

Powerful explosions rocked Sanaa today night as a Saudi-led coalition carried out air strikes against Shiite rebels in control of the Yemeni capital, an AFP correspondent reported.
	Anti-aircraft fire erupted in response to what witnesses said were air strikes by the coalition forces against a camp at Al-Istiqbal, at Sanaa's western entrance.
	Witnesses also said strikes targeted Al-Samaa military base, north of Sanaa, which is used by army units believed to take orders from their former commander, Ahmed Ali Saleh.
	Saleh is the son of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is accused of allying with the rebels against the government, relying on the loyalty of troops he built up during his three-decade rule.

Powerful explosions rock Yemen capital: AFP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began talks today to form a new Israeli government, which will have to mend shattered ties with key ally Washington, while tackling pressing social and security issues.
	After a bitterly fought campaign that exposed deep splits within Israeli society and a damaging rift with Washington, Netanyahu knuckled down to the task of building a coalition likely to be dominated by right-wing and religious parties.
	By mid-morning, disputes were already emerging, an indicator of likely problems in piecing together an operational government.
	The coalition will have to hit the ground running in order to shore up shattered ties with the administration of US President Barack Obama and address divisions at home.
	It will also have to handle an emerging nuclear deal with Iran, vehemently opposed by Netanyahu, as well as the imminent threat of Palestinian legal action at the International Criminal Court.
	And pressure against West Bank settlement resurfaced, with ...

Disputes emerge as Netanyahu starts work on new Israel govt

Macedonian opposition leader Zoran Zaev today accused conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of accepting a USD 22 million bribe from Chinese firms to grant them motorways construction concessions.
	"This is one of the biggest corruption scandals not only in our country but in the whole region," Zaev, head of the main opposition SDSM party, told a press conference.
	Zaev accused Gruevski of awarding the construction of two highway sections to Chinese firms without a tender.
	The total value of works carried out on the western Kicevo-Ohrid highway and the eastern Miladinovci-Stip motorway was estimated at 570 million euros, Zaev said.
	The deal was backed by parliament last October.
	Recent bitter exchanges between the government and the opposition have pushed the former Yugoslav republic into a deep political crisis this year.
	In January, the government filed a complaint against Zaev and several other people for espionage and violence against officials.
	The opposition leader ...

Macedonia PM accused of taking USD 22 million bribe

Thirty European cities pledged today to slash their greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent as French President Francois Hollande called on them to back historic UN climate talks.
	"Your role... Is to show... That it is possible to live and live well in large urban areas and under a model that allows us to react to the demands of global warming," Hollande told city leaders.
	The 30 towns -- including Paris, Rome and Madrid -- vowed in a declaration to cut by 40 percent their emissions by 2030, which is the target laid out by the European Union.
	Under the pledge, the cities will work together to invest public money in green technology and services.
	Paris will host a major UN conference in December that aims to finalise and ink an historic climate pact to curb global warming.
	"I ask you to mobilise to the fullest extent in order to bring as much pressure to bear as necessary," to ensure an agreement is reached, Hollande said.
	"It's March and we know that time is running out," he ...

Thirty European cities pledge to slash emissions

Danish police have arrested two men over planning an attack against the country's defence minister, Nicolai Wammen, local media reported on today.
	The two, of Somali and Pakistani origin, were detained when police on Wednesday searched a number of apartments in the Copenhagen area.
	They faced preliminary charges of planning an attack against Defence Minister Nicolai Wammen, daily Ekstra Bladet wrote.
	The tabloid said it had been in contact with one of the men, who were not being charged with terrorism but under a paragraph barring the "attacking or coercing of ... The government or ministers."
	Both were released from custody on Thursday.
	Police declined to comment on the report, but lawyers Bjoern Elmquist and Andro Vrlic said they each had been asked to represent one of the suspects.
	Elmquist told AFP that since there had been no request for a custody hearing, which is required in Denmark to jail someone for more than 24 hours, the charges "maybe aren't too serious".
	The ...

Danish police arrest two over defence minister plot

British airline easyJet said today it would enforce a new policy for two crew members to be in the cockpit at all times from Friday, after a German airliner crash in the French Alps that killed 150 people.
	"EasyJet can confirm that, with effect from tomorrow... it will change its procedure," the airline said in a statement, after investigators said they believed the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight deliberately crashed the plane.
	Similar decisions have been announced by Canada's Air Transat, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Icelandair but EasyJet is by far the biggest airline to take action.
	The low-cost carrier transported nearly 65 million people around Europe over its last financial year and has 8,000 employees.
	It has a fleet of 200 Airbus planes.
	EasyJet's budget rival Ryanair, which is based in Ireland, already has the same cockpit policy.
	"Ryanair requires two people to be in the cockpit at all times," the spokesperson said.
	"If a pilot needs to visit the bathroom the cabin ..

EasyJet to change cockpit policy after French Alps crash

Arab foreign ministers meeting in Egypt agreed today on the formation of a joint military force, the Arab League's chief and the Egyptian foreign minister said.
	   The plan forms part of a draft resolution to be submitted to Arab leaders at a weekend summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
	   The ministers "agreed on an important principle, to establish the force", Arab League secretary general Nabil al-Arabi told a news conference.
	   "This is the first time that a force will be created and work under the name of Arab states," he said, describing the move as "historic".
	   Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the agreement was unanimous.
	   The rapid response force envisaged by the Arab League will work to counter "terrorists", Arabi told AFP in a recent interview.
	   The issue has been brought to the fore by Saudi-led air strikes overnight Wednesday against Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen.
	   Other Arab states in the Gulf and Egypt have said they are ...

AFP

AFP

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