Shadab Khan, 20 year old all-rounder from Pakistan

The 20-year-old, already third in the world Twenty20 bowling rankings, has caught the eye of none other than Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to their only World Cup win in 1992

Pak all rounder Shadab Khan's journey from village cricket to World Cup

Press Trust of India

An army helicopter has crashed in western Ukraine killing four servicemen, the military said on Thursday.
The Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the western Rivne region during a training flight late Wednesday, killing three crew members and the commander of the 16th Separate Army Aviation Brigade of Ground Forces, a statement said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.
Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences and tasked  newly-appointed general staff chief Ruslan Khomchak with overseeing the investigation.
"Our army should not be losing people during games and drills," the 41-year-old president was quoted as saying by his office.
Zelensky, a former comedian, swept last month's presidential election in a rebuke to the establishment fuelled by popular anger over war with Russian-backed separatists and social injustice.
The conflict against Russia-backed insurgents in the east has claimed some 13,000 lives since 2014.

Four troops killed in Ukraine helicopter crash

PTI Automatic

The Maltese navy said Thursday it had rescued 75 migrants found clinging to a tuna pen while trying to make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean.
The rescue took place off the Libyan coast late Wednesday and the migrants will be brought to Malta, the Maltese military said in a statement.
It said it had coordinated multiple joint rescue operations in conjunction with the Italian coastguard and "in support of the Libyan coastguard".
Malta has appealed to the EU for help in dealing with the flow of migrants, which its much larger neighbour Italy has begun to turn away.
The island of 450,000 people is a common destination for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa, and a hardline stance from Italy has increased pressure on it.
More than 500 migrants have reached Malta this year, while 1,425 have made it to Italy, which has a population 130 times larger.
International Organization for Migration figures show 24,687 migrants have reached Europe so far this ...

Malta navy rescues 75 migrants clinging to tuna pen

Pakistan will seek inspiration from their dramatic Champions Trophy win in England two years ago when they take the field in their opening World Cup match against a resurgent West Indies on Friday.
Pakistan have lost their past ten one-day internationals including a 5-0 whitewash by Australia and 4-0 thumping by England, and their problems were further compounded when they went down to outsiders Afghanistan by three wickets in a warm-up match.
But skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed hopes his side will draw inspiration from when they were in a similar position in 2017.
"We will seek inspiration from our Champions Trophy win because then also we were losing and then lifted ourselves at the right time to win the trophy," Sarfaraz told AFP ahead of the game in Nottingham.
Pakistan had lost 4-1 in Australia before the tournament and arch-rivals India whipped them by 124 runs in the opening game of the Trophy.
But Pakistan then beat South Africa, Sri Lanka and England on their way to the final, where ..

Pakistan seek Champions Trophy inspiration as West Indies loom

Former Oceania football general secretary Tai Nicholas has been banned for eight years for misappropriating FIFA funds and bribery, the world governing body said.
The ban -- the latest in a series for the scandal-hit Oceania Football Confederation -- follows FIFA investigations into money given to build a lavish 'Home of Football' in Auckland.
Nicholas, also a former FIFA standing committee member, was found guilty of misappropriating funds "as well as having offered and accepted gifts or other benefits", a FIFA statement said.
He was fined 50,000 Swiss francs ($50,000) and banned from involvement in national and international football for eight years for the breaches of FIFA's code of ethics.
"The investigation into Mr. Nicholas concerned the misappropriation of FIFA funds allocated to the OFC between 2014 and 2017 in relation to the OFC Home of Football, as well as to various undue benefits accepted from or offered to several football officials and other individuals," FIFA said.
The 

Ex-Oceania football official banned for bribery, corruption

Desperate times call for desperate measures and colourful cricket superfan Shoyab Ali has had to deploy a full arsenal as he follows his beloved Bangladesh around the globe.
The 31-year-old Dhaka car mechanic, known at grounds worldwide for his distinctive tiger body and face paint, has injured himself, paid a bribe and spent his life savings to pursue his passion for the game.
But Ali insists there has been more gain than pain, and he is determined to become a fixture at the World Cup in England cheering on the South Asian nation, who begin their campaign against South Africa on Sunday.
Ali fixed the car of Bangladesh fast bowler Shahdat Hossain who gave him a ticket to his first game, which turned out to be a landmark.
Bangladesh defeated India by five wickets in Dhaka even though Sachin Tendulkar ended his long wait for his 100th international century in the Asia Cup game.
"After Bangladesh won, I cried in the stand for a long time. I saw the famous Indian fan Sudhir Gautam," he ...

Tiger feat! Superfan risks bribes, injury to see Bangladesh idols

New Zealand unveiled its inaugural "wellbeing" budget Thursday in a move set to cement Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's reputation for compassionate leadership in the wake of the Christchurch mosque massacre.
Ardern announced increased spending on mental health, indigenous welfare and child poverty in a budget she described as a world-first attempt to change the way economic progress is measured.
"We said that we would be a government that did things differently, and for this budget we have done just that," she said.
"Today we have laid the foundation for not just one wellbeing budget, but a different approach for government decision-making altogether." While dismissed by critics as marketing spin, Ardern views the budget as a way to deliver the reformist agenda she campaigned on in the 2017 election.
The New Zealand leader, widely praised for her respectful handling of the March shooting in which 51 Muslim worshippers were gunned down, said the budget put people before economic ...

Ardern's 'wellbeing' budget spreads good vibes in New Zealand

A Swedish national linked to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and accused of computer hacking was denied bail by a court in Ecuador on Wednesday.
Ola Bini was arrested while trying to leave Ecuador for Japan on April 11 -- the day Quito withdrew its offer of asylum to Assange, who had taken refuge in its London embassy since 2012.
The Ecuadorian government has accused Bini, 36, of plotting to attack computer systems in the country.
Bini had refused to cooperate with investigators and the prosecution was therefore unable to identify the possible victims or damage caused by the alleged hacking, Judge Yadira Proano said in denying his bail application.
Defense lawyer Jose Charry said Bini's rights had been infringed and the prosecutor "did not do his job" by failing to identify or explain the nature of the charges.
Assange was taken into British custody and sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for violating the conditions of his bail in 2012, when he sought asylum at the embassy in London.
He 

Ecuador court denies bail to accused hacker linked to Assange

Robert Mueller said Wednesday his two-year Russia investigation had not exonerated Donald Trump, but that he had lacked the power to charge a sitting president -- passing the baton to Congress where a growing chorus is clamouring for impeachment.
Making his first public statement on the high-stakes probe into Moscow's interference in the 2016 election, the special counsel said longstanding Justice Department guidelines prevented him from charging Trump, despite at least 10 possible acts of criminal obstruction by the president.
But not indicting Trump was not equivalent to clearing him, Mueller said, suggesting Congress has both the constitutional powers and the responsibility to pursue the case.
"If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so," he said.
Mueller's oblique allegation of serious wrongdoing sparked a new firestorm in Washington, with Trump again claiming vindication and a rising number of Democrats demanding to open ...

Mueller denies probe cleared Trump, hands baton to Congress

Alisson Becker became the world's most expensive goalkeeper last summer just as Hugo Lloris was celebrating the peak of his professional career.
While new signing Becker posed for pictures at Liverpool's Melwood training ground, Lloris was still in the after-glow of the World Cup, five days on from France's 4-2 victory over Croatia.
Yet neither enjoyed the moment for long. Less than three weeks after Liverpool paid Roma 75 million euros ($83 million) for Alisson, Chelsea added another five million on top to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga.
And Lloris has spoken since about the "emptiness" he felt as soon as the dust had settled from Moscow. "I remember I needed one day to stay in bed and just stop," said Lloris.
"I had to disconnect a little bit." Or Alisson will have capped a remarkable debut season by winning the same trophy Liverpool surrendered to Real Madrid one year ago, largely due to the mistakes of his predecessor, Loris Karius.
- 'Accident serves as a lesson' ...

Alisson and Lloris face final challenge after testing seasons

Mauricio Pochettino used to wince when his pressing game was compared with Jurgen Klopp's but Tottenham and Liverpool share more than just a love of the chase in their recent fight to join Europe's elite.
With star players sold and the proceeds, largely, squandered, Pochettino and Klopp were each tasked with restoring a sense of direction to clubs clearly wandering off course.
Only this year have Liverpool soared ahead, their 26-point advantage over Spurs in the Premier League testament to a team that turned last year's Champions League run into a start not a finish. Now it is up to Tottenham to do the same.
When Pochettino was installed as head coach in the summer of 2014, to little excitement after the more illustrious Louis van Gaal chose Manchester United, he owed some gratitude to Liverpool.
Spurs had been humiliated by them 5-0 at White Hart Lane, which spelt the end for Andre Villas-Boas, and then thrashed 4-0 at Anfield, which all but ensured Tim Sherwood would not be a ...

Time for Tottenham to be brave to sustain Champions League

Louisiana lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, joining a string of other US states restricting the termination of pregnancies as early as six weeks.
The bans are expected to be blocked in lower courts, but supporters plan to appeal such decisions until they reach the Supreme Court.
They hope this will lead to the long-sought conservative goal of overturning the landmark 1973 ruling known as Roe v Wade, which recognized women's right to abortion.
The measure -- which includes exceptions for cases in which a woman's life is at risk or the fetus has a fatal condition -- passed the Louisiana House of Representatives with a vote of 79-23 after being approved in the Senate by 31-5, according to the legislature's website.
It now goes to the desk of the governor, who said he plans to endorse it.  "As I prepare to sign this bill, I call on the overwhelming bipartisan majority of legislators who voted for it to join me in continuing to build 

Louisiana lawmakers pass fetal heartbeat abortion ban

Papua New Guinea lawmakers overwhelmingly elected James Marape as prime minister on Thursday -- a former finance minister who resigned in protest against a massive ExxonMobil and Total gas project.
Marape won the landslide backing of members of parliament after weeks of political manoeuvring that saw eight-year prime minister Peter O'Neill resign.
"Honourable members, I now declare that the member for Tari Pori James Marape has been elected as prime minister-elect of the independent state of Papua New Guinea," said parliament speaker Job Pomat, announcing Marape's 101-8 victory.
In a Facebook post early on Thursday Marape vowed to make Papua New Guinea "the 'richest black Christian nation' on earth" and to put the "national interest ahead of personal and corporate interest." His victory is likely to spell continuity in many fields, but it could bring changes to energy policy and relations with neighbouring Australia.
One of Asia's most impoverished nations, Papua New Guinea is rich in 

Gas project critic Marape elected Papua New Guinea PM

G20 countries are planning a new tax policy for digital giants like Google, based on the business a company does in a country, not where it is headquartered, the Nikkei business daily said Thursday.
The basic policy is likely to be signed by finance ministers from the Group of 20 countries when they meet next month in the Japanese city of Fukuoka ahead of the main G20 meeting in Osaka, the Nikkei said.
The policy, targeting firms like Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, would "allocate revenue to countries that provide large user bases for the world's digital corporate giants," the daily said, citing unnamed sources.
The countries will seek to reach a final agreement in 2020, but how the policy will work remains to be finalised.
One possibility would be to distribute collected tax revenues to countries based on the number of users a given company has in each country.
That could mean that Facebook, which has centralised its profits and tax payments in Ireland to take advantage of low ..

G20 countries eye tax policy for internet giants: Nikkei

Eden Hazard scored twice and then admitted it was his parting gift as the Belgian's brace helped Chelsea sweep away Arsenal to win 4-1 in the Europa League final in Baku.
This match started at 11pm local time on Wednesday in Azerbaijan, but it was Thursday by the time it came to life with a flood of second-half goals started by Olivier Giroud's 49th-minute opener against his old club.
Hazard then set up Pedro Rodriguez for Chelsea's second before grabbing a double of his own -- including a penalty -- either side of Alex Iwobi's consolation for Arsenal.
The Belgian is widely expected to leave Chelsea for Real Madrid after seven years in England, and this was the perfect way for him to bow out.
"I think it is a goodbye, but in football you never know," the 28 year-old told BT Sport. "My dream was to play in the Premier League and I have done that for one of the biggest clubs so maybe now it is the time for a new challenge."
It is his, and Chelsea's, second Europa League this decade, ...

Farewell gift? Hazard scores twice as Chelsea win Europa League final

Brash and big-bearded, Benoit Paire has been booed off more courts than he'd care to remember but in Paris' gathering gloom on Wednesday evening, he was welcomed back into the arms of Roland Garros after winning a four and a half hour epic to knock out compatriot Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
His 6-2 6-2 5-7 6-7 (6/8) 11-9 on Court Suzanne Lenglen saw the mercurial 30-year-old reach the last 32 for the third time.
It also extended the thaw in his often icy relationship with notoriously fickle French crowds which started last weekend when he lifted the title in Lyon.
"Even though I'm playing against Pierre-Hugues, and even when they were supporting Pierre-Hugues, I felt it was perfectly normal.
"We're in France. We are both French, and they are supporting us, and no problem. But I felt the public is not going to make me win this match.
"There were so many people in my mind already that I didn't need anyone else."
Paire is flamboyant on the court. On Wednesday, he unleashed 84 winners and 75 ..

Love him or hate him, brash, big-bearded Benoit keeps Paris entertained

Madrid will deploy an unprecedented number of police and security personnel for Saturday's all-English Champions League final, and use a drone for the first time to monitor fan activity.
With Spain's terror alert set at its second-highest level, Spanish authorities have also banned trucks weighing over 3.5 tonnes from driving near the Wanda Metropolitano stadium which will host the match between Liverpool and Tottenham deemed "high risk".
Trucks will also be barred from the vicinity of the two fan zones that will be set up in the city centre.
"We will have a very, very robust security apparatus in place to try to ensure everything takes place normally and everyone can enjoy (the match)," the director general of Spain's National Police, Francisco Pardo, told a news conference Thursday to outline the security measures for the game.
Some 4,700 police officers and private security guards will be deployed for the match, more than the nearly 4,000 used for last year's Copa Libertadores ...

Madrid plans 'robust' security for all-English Champions League final

Apple is seen as a prime target for retaliation over US moves against the Chinese tech giant Huawei, but the roots planted by the company in China should help it weather the storm, analysts say.
While Beijing may take aim at Apple in the countries' high-stakes trade war, experts believe that the company's size, cachet, and years spent cultivating business relationships in China should protect it from any direct retaliation.
"As the US pounds on Huawei, Apple is the likely target for China to pound back," technology analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said.
"As the trade war accelerates, then Apple and Huawei are the two firms likely to get the damage," he said.
Huawei has been thrust to the center of escalating tensions between the world's two top economies, which have exchanged tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in two-way trade.
President Donald Trump's administration has infuriated Beijing by blacklisting the smartphone and telecommunications company over worries that ...

Will Apple's roots in China hold fast amid political storm?

Only three coaches have won back-to-back African Cup of Champions Clubs/CAF Champions League titles during the 55 years of the competition.
Celestin Tambwe Laye was the first, guiding TP Englebert from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of  Congo) to glory in 1967 and repeating the feat the following season.
Argentine Oscar Fullone matched that achievement with different clubs, ASEC Mimosas of the Ivory Coast and Raja Casablanca of Morocco.
Portuguese boss Manuel Jose, the most successful coach in African club competitions with eight titles, was the third person to win the competition in successive years, with Al Ahly of Egypt.
Here, AFP Sport lists the details of the trio who achieved glory in consecutive seasons in the elite African club competition: African Cup of Champions Clubs
1967, 1968: Celestin Tambwe Laye (COD), TP Englebert, now TP Mazembe (COD) CAF Champions League
1998, 1999: Oscar Fullone (ARG), ASEC Mimosas (CIV), Raja Casablanca (MAR)
2005, 2006: Manuel Jose (POR), Al .

Three coaches win back-to-back CAF Champions League titles

Former Australia off-spinner Gavin Robertson has revealed he is battling brain cancer, with high-profile ex-players rallying around him.
The 53-year-old, who played four Tests and 13 one-dayers before becoming a commentator, was rushed into surgery earlier this month to remove a tumour.
He now faces intense radiation and chemo therapy to contain the cancer.
"It has been an emotional rollercoaster, consuming each and every minute of my day, and now I am ready and able to meet this challenge that confronts me," Robertson said in a statement.
His Test skipper Mark Taylor praised his fighting spirit.
"Always chin up, with a smile on his face, enjoying life; as a cricketer and as a person. That vibrancy, that always looking for the positive; that was what Gav was very good at," he told reporters.
"I hope that will hold him in good stead in the weeks, months and maybe years ahead for him." Ex-Australia coach Darren Lehmann added on Twitter: "Thinking of Gavin Robertson and his family at ...

Former Australia spinner Robertson battles brain cancer

A semi-truck and a bus carrying passengers back from a pilgrimage to a Catholic shrine crashed and burst into flames Wednesday in eastern Mexico, killing at least 21 people, officials said. Thirty others were injured.
Most of the victims were pilgrims from the southern state of Chiapas who were on their way back from a trip to Mexico City to pray at the basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the country's patron saint, said the head of the Civil Protection service for the state of Veracruz, Guadalupe Osorno.
"The forensics experts at the scene report 17 bodies of passengers who were traveling in the bus, plus two people who died in the semi-truck," she said.
"One person was dead on arrival at the hospital, and another who was in serious condition died." The Catholic archdiocese of Tuxtla Gutierrez, in Chiapas, sent its condolences to the victims' loved ones in a statement.
"We deeply regret the deaths caused by this accident and share in their families' overwhelming pain," it said.  The 

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