Germany's Lukas Podolski has jumped to the defence of his under-fire Arsenal team-mate Mesut Ozil ahead of their opening World Cup match against Portugal on Monday.
     Ozil has suffered from a drop in form this season and ex-Germany captain Michael Ballack has criticised him by saying he has looked "lost" on occasion since joining Arsenal from Real Madrid.
     Joachim Loew is set to name Ozil up front on Monday, replacing him in Germany's attacking midfield role with Bayern Munich's Toni Kroos.
     And Podolski says the German media should get off Ozil's back.
     "Mesut has the quality. He is a world-class player and will bring us plenty of joy in the shirt," Podolski said at Germany's World Cup camp.
     "You shouldn't write him off, just let the boy play football. He is just the way he is."
     Germany are amongst the favourites to win the World Cup, but Podolski says Spain's shock 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands on Friday served as a warning to other top sides.
     "We're ...

Podolski defends under-fire German teammate Ozil

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Cristiano Ronaldo is certain to play Portugal's crunch World Cup opener against Germany, goalkeeper Eduardo said, despite a lingering knee problem.
     Ronaldo took a full part in warm-ups in front of the watching media but he was careful not to put his full weight on the strapped knee as the squad went through some jumping drills.
     All eyes have been on the world player of the year's recovery from thigh and knee problems, despite his return to play 65 minutes of Portugal's final warm-up game against Ireland this week.
     The Real Madrid forward, whose form and fitness will be vital to Portugal's chances, sparked new fears over his knee problem when he had it iced after training on Thursday.
     But he looked able to run freely in a series of short sprint drills in which he practised his famous step-overs without the ball.
     Afterwards, Eduardo echoed team-mate William Carvalho's comments a day earlier when he said Ronaldo would be fit and ready for Monday's game in ...

Ronaldo certain to play against Germany - Eduardo

A Brazilian at the rain-drenched World Cup match between Mexico and Cameroon sold his USD14 poncho to a foreign fan for USD200, he said.
     Jose Humberto Martins told news website G1 he had bought the rain poncho an hour before the match outside the stadium in the northeastern city of Natal.
     He was walking with his girlfriend in the stadium when a woman approached them and offered in Spanish to buy his protective plastic hood for USD 200.
     "I thought it was a joke and kept walking. But then I thought about it and went back and asked if she was serious. She came with the money in her hand," said Martins, 28, a business manager in Natal yesterday.
     "I don't know where she was from, but she was with a man who was wearing a Mexico jersey."
     Torrential rain and a strike by bus drivers, the city's only means of public transportation, made life difficult for fans attending Friday's match, which Mexico won 1-0.
     The downpour flooded streets in what FIFA had advertised ..

World Cup fan pays USD200 for a poncho in drenched Natal

France's star winger Franck Ribery said he refused a cortisone injection that French experts claim could have saved his World Cup place because he believed it was bad for him.
     Ribery's comments deepened a battle between the French camp and Bayern Munich on the eve of the country's opening World Cup Group E match against Honduras.
     "It's not good," Ribery said of the cortisone steroid injection that French team doctor Franck Le Gall had wanted him to take to ease his crippling back pain.
     Le Gall said on Thursday that Ribery had withdrawn from the squad because he was afraid of injections.
     The Bayern Munich and German national team doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt retorted the next day that Ribery would be playing at the World Cup if France had used his calf's blood extract. The product used by the German doctor is banned in France.
     The 31-year-old Bayern winger said he had simply refused the cortisone injection.
     "I am not scared of injections. But I did 

Ribery says rejected French steroid injection

Brazil midfielder Oscar sprang to the defence of the referee at the centre of controversy in the hosts' opening World Cup win against Croatia.
     The Selecao triumphed 3-1 at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo but the outcome of the match hinged on the decision by Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura to award a second-half penalty to the hosts.
     With the scores level at 1-1 midway through the second half, Fred went to the ground under minimal contact from Croatia defender Dejan Lovren and Neymar converted the resulting spot-kick.
     But there were some dubious decisions in Friday's matches too, with Mexico seeing two goals disallowed in their 1-0 win against Cameroon, and Oscar insisted that refereeing controversies will continue to mark this World Cup.
     "Football is like that. There are always controversial incidents. It happens to all teams. There was controversy in Spain's game, the Mexico game and our game too. And there will undoubtedly be more controversial incidents," .

Oscar jumps to defence of Croatia referee

Two goals in two second-half minutes saw the Ivory Coast come from behind and beat Japan 2-1 in a dramatic World Cup Group C late encounter.
     A fine Keisuke Honda strike after 16 minutes had put Japan in front at the Pernambuco Arena in Recife, but the Ivorians introduced Didier Drogba from the bench just after the hour mark before going on to turn the game on its head.
     Within five minutes of the veteran striker's arrival on the rain-soaked surface, the Elephants scored twice, both times from Serge Aurier crosses.
     The equaliser came when the right-back's curling delivery was headed home by Wilfried Bony, before Gervinho connected with another Aurier centre to stun the sizeable Japanese contingent inside the stadium.
     The result sees the Ivory Coast join Colombia -- who beat Greece 3-0 earlier in the day in Belo Horizonte -- on three points at the top of Group C, and Sabri Lamouchi's side must face the South Americans next in Brasilia on Thursday, with Japan next ...

Ivory Coast comeback leaves Japan stunned

Mario Balotelli's second-half header earned Italy a 2-1 victory over an enterprising England side in an engaging World Cup Group D opener in Manaus on Saturday.
     Amid muggy conditions in the Amazon rainforest city, Claudio Marchisio drilled Italy in front in the 35th minute, only for Daniel Sturridge to equalise two minutes later after a sweeping England counter-attack.
     With 19-year-old Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling to the fore, England displayed plenty of endeavour, but they were ultimately undone by former Manchester City striker Balotelli's goal shortly after half-time.
     His header prevented England from avenging their defeat on penalties by Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 and left Cesare Prandelli's side well placed ahead of Friday's meeting with Costa Rica -- shock 3-1 victors against Uruguay earlier in the day -- in Recife.
     England manager Roy Hodgson will have drawn encouragement from his youthful side's attacking vigour, but victory against a ...

Balotelli sinks England in muggy Manaus

Cuban President Raul Castro has warned allies that Havana's closest ally Venezuela needed support amid fallout from deadly anti-government protests.
	"Venezuela today needs our staunchest support," Castro, 83, said in a rare international speech at a Group 77+China meeting in Bolivia yesterday.
	"The oligarchs who could not get rid of President Hugo Chavez think the time has come to topple the Bolivarian revolution and President (Nicolas) Maduro," Castro argued, calling the elected socialist government in Caracas "the front line of independence, freedom and dignity."
	Maduro is the closest regional ally of Cuba, the region's only one-party communist state.
	Venezuelan economic support is critical to keeping the Cuban government and economy afloat.
	Cash-strapped Havana still has a centrally planned economy and cannot get access to international loans, and Venezuela supplies it with cut-rate oil.
	But inflation near 60 per cent, widespread shortages of basic goods and soaring crime ...

Castro urges defence of ally Maduro in Venezuela

More than 6,000 Mexican children and teens who crossed unaccompanied and illegally into the United States were repatriated in the first four months of this year, Mexican officials have said.
	In nearly all cases, the children had already been arrested at least once, and some more than five times, in attempts to cross the US border.
	The children make the gruelling journey of hundreds of miles (kilometers) through Mexico to escape dire economic conditions and violence in their home countries, and to join relatives in the United States.
	"From January 1 to April 30, 2014, the Mexican consular network offered assistance to 6,233 unaccompanied Mexican minors... In the process of their repatriation to Mexico," a statement from the foreign ministry said yesterday.
	Of them, nearly 77 per cent had been detained more than once in attempts to cross the border, and 21 per cent had been previously been held more than five times.
	Once intercepted by US border agents, "the unaccompanied minors ...

6,000 Mexican kids repatriated after illegal border crossings

An irate mob smashed the Russian embassy's windows in Kiev and threw a Molotov cocktail against its walls in the wake of the downing by pro-Kremlin rebels of a military plane that killed 49 troops.
	Yesterday's violence came as top Russian and Ukrainian officials met for gas talks in Kiev but failed to make immediate progress, agreeing instead to resume negotiations today in a bid to avert an imminent cut in Russian supplies that would also affect large swathes of Europe.
	The United States accused Russia of helping the insurgency by sending tanks and rocket launchers to the pro-Moscow rebels -- a charge the Kremlin denied.
	A commander in the rebel-held eastern city of Lugansk, where the plane was shot down, showed pieces of the Il-76 transporter's charred debris in a wheat field a dozen kilometres (around eight miles) outside the airport.
	The man known to his unit as Mudzhakhed (Sacred Fighter) said the plane tried to dump fuel after the rebels hit its engines. The heavy ...

Ukraine protest after rebels down military plane, killing 49

Salvadoran health authorities have confirmed that a dengue-like disease that has been spreading across the Caribbean has now appeared in the Central-American country.
	Health Minister Violeta Menjivar said at least 1,200 people have been formally diagnosed with the chikungunya viral disease, although the positive testing must still be confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
	Menjivar, interviewed by state-run Channel 10 television, said that cases were found on the outskirts of the Ayutuxtepeque municipality just outside the capital San Salvador.
	In that area at the end of May, the ministry's epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists detected an outbreak of a rare viral disease that caused fever and skin rash, which they said affected at least 181 people.
	She said suspected cases were also found in residents in two other area on the edge of northern San Salvador.
	The mosquito that transmits chikungunya -- the Aedes aegypti -- is the same one that ...

Dengue-like chikungunya virus reported in El Salvador

Costa Rica came from a goal down to beat Uruguay 3-1 in a huge World Cup upset Saturday as the Copa America champions suffered for the absence of star striker Luis Suarez.
     After Edinson Cavani gave the South Americans the lead from the penalty spot in the first half, Costa Rica roared back with two goals in three minutes from Joel Campbell and Oscar Duarte.
     With Liverpool star Suarez confined to the bench recovering from a knee injury, Costa Rica grabbed a third through substitute Marcos Urena to throw Group D, which also features England and Italy, wide open.
     Uruguay's Maxi Pereira was red-carded in injury time to compound his team's misery.
     Uruguay had the ball in the net after 15 minutes but Diego Godin's effort was rightly ruled out for offside.
     German referee Felix Brych called it right again in the 22nd minute when defender Junior Diaz was penalised for hauling down Uruguay skipper Diego Lugano in the box.
     Up stepped Paris Saint-Germain striker ...

Costa Rica stun Uruguay as Suarez looks on

An urgent round of EU-brokered gas talks between Russia and Ukraine opened in Kiev today ahead of a looming threat by Moscow to cut off its neighbour's supplies in a move that could impact Europe.
	The first stage of the meetings was expected to stretch into Sunday, and was attended by EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan and Alexei Miller, the head of Russia's state held energy giant Gazprom.

EU-brokered Russia-Ukraine gas talks open in Kiev

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan today, the US Geological Survey said, predicting low chances of any major damage being caused.
	The epicentre was located in mountains along the north astern side of Honshu, Japan's largest island, at a depth of 90 kilometres. Cities close to the epicentre include Hanamaki, Kitakami and Morioka.
	The Japan Meteorological Agency put the quake's strength at a slightly lower figure of 5.5 magnitude, adding that there was no risk of a tsunami.
	Japan is situated at the meeting place of several of the Earth's tectonic plates and experiences a number of relatively violent quakes every year.
	But thanks to strict building codes, even powerful quakes that might wreak havoc in other countries frequently pass without causing much damage.
	Last month a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook buildings in the Japanese capital Tokyo, injuring 17 people.

Moderate 5.6 quake hits Japan's north

Gunmen attacked the convoy of the deputy head of Iraq's Shiite religious endowment today, killing eight of his guards, the senior cleric said.
	Sheikh Sami al-Massudi said his convoy was ambushed near Ishaqi, a town north of Baghdad that was retaken from militants on Saturday, sparking hours-long clashes in which 10 guards were also wounded.
	The endowment is a major organisation that manages Shiite religious sites in Iraq.
	"We were on our way to Samarra, but we were surprised by a fierce battle near Ishaqi," Massudi said.
	Gunmen were hiding in farmland next to the road, and opened fire on the convoy with machineguns and sniper rifles, he said, adding that the fighting lasted from this morning into the afternoon.
	"I cannot say if I was the target," Massudi said.
	Ishaqi was one of two towns retaken by security forces on Saturday from Sunni militants who have seized a swathe of territory in a major offensive.
	The militant attack, spearheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and the ...

Senior Iraq Shiite cleric says attack kills 8 guards

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on the international community today to support her campaign to change a military-drafted constitution that bars her from becoming president, and help prepare "a fair playing ground" for elections next year.
	The former political prisoner-turned-politician has been campaigning to amend the charter since she became a lawmaker two years ago.
	The 2008 constitution blocks anyone whose spouse or children are overseas citizens from leading the country -- a clause widely believed to be targeted at the Nobel laureate, whose two sons are British.
	In a speech to Nepal's parliament today, Suu Kyi said she wanted to participate in "genuine democratic elections, not just free but fair".
	"Fair elections mean a fair playing ground," she added, explaining her campaign to change Myanmar's charter, which also reserves a quarter of seats in parliament for unelected military personnel.
	"The movement for constitutional amendment is gaining ground," she 

Myanmar's Suu Kyi seeks global support for charter change

Kumar Sangakkara's first Test hundred at Lord's saw him rewrite cricket's record books but England remained in control of their series opener with Sri Lanka on Saturday.
     Sri Lanka were 415 for seven at stumps on the third day of this two-match series, with left-hander Sangakkara's 147 key to their avoiding the follow-on.
     His century made the 36-year-old the first man to score hundreds in three consecutive innings on three separate occasions in Tests.
     England, however, still led by 160 runs after Joe Root's maiden Test double century had taken them to a total of 575 for nine declared.
     Sangakkara was involved in partnerships of 97, 126 and 96 with Kaushal Silva (62), Mahela Jayawardene (55) and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews (79 not out) respectively.
     He was all assurance until caught behind off Moeen Ali to give the debutant off-spinner his first Test wicket.
     England captain Alastair Cook, often accused of lacking imagination, tried to unsettle the ...

England on top despite Sangakkara century

Millions of Afghans turned out to vote today in a presidential run-off election despite Taliban threats and violence that killed nearly 50 people ahead of the withdrawal of NATO troops later this year.
	Afghan officials said more than seven million people voted, a higher than expected turnout of 52 per cent based on an estimated electorate of 13.5 million voters.
	But fraud allegations were likely from both campaign teams after the election, and a close count could lead to a contested result as the country undergoes its first democratic transfer of power.
	The election will decide whether former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah or ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani leads the country into a new era of declining international military and civilian assistance.
	On the campaign trail, both candidates had offered similar pledges to tackle rampant corruption, build much-needed infrastructure and protect citizens from violence.
	Polling day saw no major attacks in cities, but at least ...

Deadly attacks mar high turnout at Afghan vote

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's official car, an Alfa Romeo convertible, has fetched 180,000 euros (USD 240,000) at auction in France, the auctioneer said today.
	An unnamed Russian museum bought the car, which needs complete restoration, at a sale in Caen-Carpiquet in northwestern France.
	Originally fitted with a silver dashboard and handles, the car was custom-built in 1937 for Italian King Victor Emmanuel III before becoming Mussolini's official car, according to expert Xavier Aiolfi.

Mussolini's Alfa Romeo sold at auction

The United States has ordered an aircraft carrier, the USS George H W Bush, into the Gulf in response to the crisis in Iraq, the Pentagon said today.
	   "The order will provide the commander-in-chief additional flexibility should military options be required to protect American lives, citizens and interests in Iraq," Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said, adding that the carrier would be accompanied by a guided-missile cruiser and a guided-missile destroyer.

US orders aircraft carrier into Gulf over Iraq crisis

The frenzied scavenger hunt for large sums of cash hidden in public hit New York today, with USD 2,000 in envelopes stashed across Central Park and Brooklyn.
	The brainchild of a group of wealthy friends in California, it is the first time the treasure hunt comes to New York, having sparked Internet-driven chases on the West Coast.
	"Our biggest day ever! Houston, Mexico City, NYC today! Be safe, be kind, tweet when you find!" the @HiddenCash handle wrote on twitter kicking off the hunt at 10 am (1400 GMT).
	The 20 white business envelopes, USD 50 in each, carry a handwritten message on the front: "Twitter @HiddenCash. Tweet photo when u find. We heart NY."
	The money comes from wealthy real estate investor Jason Buzi and a group of anonymous friends, who have given to charity in the past but wanted to do something a bit more fun.
	A friend of Buzi's from San Francisco, who gave his name only as Thierry, spoke to AFP as he hid USD 1,000 in Central Park before setting out to drop ...

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