The odds appear to be stacked against Sri Lanka in a two-Test series against South Africa, which starts at Kingsmead on Wednesday, but the tourists can take heart from their previous record in Durban.
The away team head into the series following heavy defeats in New Zealand and Australia, and having unceremoniously dumped captain Dinesh Chandimal.
Sri Lanka have lost 11 of 13 Test matches in South Africa. The exceptions occurred at Kingsmead in the only two Tests Sri Lanka have played at the ground.
In 2000/01 a rain-hit match was drawn -- with South Africa in a strong position -- and in 2011/12 Rangana Herath spun Sri Lanka to their only win in South Africa.
The hosts have been beaten in six of their eight Test matches at Kingsmead since the start of the 2008/09 season, against a single win. By contrast, at other home venues they have won 32 of their 44 Tests, with only six defeats.
Pitches in Durban have tended to negate outright pace, while offering help to spin bowlers. Herath ...

Durban offers faint hope for beleaguered Sri Lanka

PTI Automatic

Bangladesh security forces stopped 22 Rohingya Muslims from being smuggled to Malaysia by boat, officials said Monday, the second group in three days prevented from leaving squalid refugee camps.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) forces found 11 women, 10 children and a man at a village on the Bay of Bengal coast, near the border with Myanmar, on Sunday.  The 22 had paid traffickers up to $1,200 each to get a place on a small boat for the dangerous journey, a BGB officer said. The people smugglers fled before security forces arrived.
About 740,000 of the Muslim minority fled Myanmar for Bangladesh after a military clampdown in the Buddhist-majority nation in August 2017.
There were already 300,000 Rohingya already in Bangladesh where they are largely confined to the overflowing camps.
"The traffickers took whatever they could from the refugees," Lieutenant Colonel Asadud Zaman Chowdhury, BGB chief for the town of Teknaf, told AFP.
He added that it was possible many of the young women ...

Bangladesh stops more Rohingya taking risky trip to Malaysia

Vietnam's foreign minister will fly to North Korea Tuesday for an official state visit, the ministry announced, ahead of a second planned summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump announced last week on Twitter that the communist state's capital Hanoi will be the host for a second summit with the elusive North Korean head of state on February 27-28.
Vietnam's Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh "will pay an official visit to DPRK from February 12 to 14" at the invitation of his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho, Vietnam's foreign ministry announced on its website Monday.
No further details were provided for the visit, but ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said last week Vietnam is "willing to make positive contributions... for a successful US-North Korea summit".
The high-profile event is expected to draw hundreds of reporters from all over the world, as the two leaders discuss steps for North Korea's denuclearisation.
It follows a landmark ..

Vietnam's foreign minister to visit North Korea ahead of Trump-Kim summit

Singapore on Monday defended the city-state's system of conscription after the recent deaths of four servicemen, including a popular young actor, sparked widespread criticism.
As a tiny state surrounded by bigger neighbours, Singapore's founding leaders decided to rely on conscription as a major plank of its defence strategy after the country gained independence in 1965.
Male Singaporean citizens and permanent residents must undergo two years of national service upon turning 18, either in the military, the police or the emergency services.
They are also regularly called up for further training in the following years.
But some have called for the conscription system to be changed following the deaths of four servicemen -- three doing their initial two years of service, and a fourth doing reservist training -- in a spate of mishaps over the past 17 months.
The case that sparked the greatest controversy was the death of Aloysius Pang, a 28-year-old actor, who suffered fatal injuries ...

Singapore defends conscription after string of deaths

Food aid in a warehouse on the frontlines of the Yemen war is at risk of rotting, the UN said Monday, leaving millions of Yemenis without access to life-saving sustenance.
The Red Sea Mills silos, located in the western port city of Hodeida, are believed to contain enough grain to feed several million people for a month. But the granary has remained off-limits to aid organisations for months.
"The World Food Programme (WFP) grain stored in the mills -- enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month -- has been inaccessible for over five months and is at risk of rotting," read a joint statement by the UN aid chief and special envoy for Yemen.
"We emphasise that ensuring access to the mills is a shared responsibility among the parties to the conflict in Yemen."
Hodeida, and its food silos, have been in the hands of Yemen's Huthi rebels since 2014, when the insurgents staged a takeover of large swathes of Yemeni territories.
The coup prompted the military intervention of Saudi Arabia and .

Yemen food aid at risk of rotting: UN

More than 820 million electronic "red packets" were sent over China's Lunar New Year holiday, leading social media platform WeChat said, as the centuries-old practice of exchanging monetary gifts increasingly goes digital.
WeChat, which is owned by Chinese internet giant Tencent, said the tally was reached over a six-day span during last week's national holiday, and marked a seven per cent rise over the same period in 2018.
Money inserted or wrapped into paper "red packets", or hongbao in Mandarin, are traditionally given out as a blessing during the holiday, a time when revellers exchange wishes for good prosperity in the year ahead.
But China has rapidly embraced a cashless society in which payments are made via smartphone apps, and electronic "red packets" have become hugely popular.
E-commerce giant Alibaba said more than 450 million users had participated between January 25 and February 4 in a game offered on its payment platform Alipay in which users can collect five ...

China's 'red packets' go digital over Lunar New Year

Britain's economy grew at the slowest pace in six years in 2018 with near-flat output in the final quarter, data showed Monday, as Brexit uncertainty and weaker global growth bites.
Gross domestic product growth stood at 1.4 per cent last year, down from 1.8 per cent in 2017, while growth was only 0.2 per cent in the last three months of 2018, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.
"Following a pickup in activity over the summer months -- in part due to warm weather and the World Cup -- real GDP growth slowed markedly in the final quarter of 2018, with GDP falling by 0.4 percent in the month of December," the ONS said.
"Construction, production and services output fell in the month, the first time that there has been such a broad-based fall in monthly output since September 2012." The data comes after the Bank of England last week slashed its forecast for UK growth this year to 1.2 per cent from 1.7 per cent, blaming the downgrade on a global economic slowdown and ...

UK posts slowest growth in six years ahead of Brexit

Thai Princess Ubolratana was on Monday formally disqualified for running for prime minister, ending her brief and ill-fated political union with a party allied to the powerful Shinawatra clan, just days after a stern royal command rebuking her candidacy was issued by her brother, the king.
Uncertainty and conjecture have coursed through Thailand since Friday when the Thai Raksa Chart party made the explosive announcement of Princess Ubolratana, King Maha Vajiralongkorn's elder sister, as their candidate for premier after the March 24 election.
Her tilt appeared to some to be a masterstroke of back-room dealings by Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire self-exiled ex-premier, just weeks before the poll.  But just hours later it fell apart.
A royal command from the king put a pin in her unprecedented political aspirations, insisting the monarchy was above politics and describing his sister's candidacy as "highly inappropriate".
Thailand's incredibly wealthy and powerful monarchy is ...

Thai princess disqualified from list of candidates for PM

Refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi will not be sent back to Bahrain after Thailand dropped extradition proceedings against him at the Gulf State's request, a prosecutor said Monday.
Araibi, a former Bahraini national youth team player, was granted refugee status in Australia after fleeing charges in the oil-rich kingdom connected to Arab Spring protests.
But he was stopped at a Bangkok airport at Bahrain's request in November as he arrived in Thailand for his honeymoon Since then, he has been detained in a Bangkok prison pending a court ruling over the extradition request from the Bahraini government -- a move the footballer has pleaded against as he fears torture if returned.
Monday brought a stunning about-turn from the Bahraini government, which withdrew the extradition request, said Chatchom Akapin, Director-General of the International Affairs Department at the prosecutor's office.
"We have been informed that Bahrain wants to withdraw the (extradition) request... if they don't ..

Refugee footballer will not be extradited to Bahrain: Thai prosecutor

Liverpool's transformation this season into Premier League title contenders reflects how much they have improved, says midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.
The 28-year-old Dutch international, who scored a superb goal in Saturday's 3-0 victory over Bournemouth despite suffering from a stomach upset, admitted two successive draws had been a setback as the club chases a first league title since 1990.
But he added that garnering 65 points at this stage of the season exceeded their expectations when the campaign got underway.
"We had two draws in a row and that didn't feel that good," said Wijnaldum.
"But if we had been told that at the beginning (of the season) you will have this kind of points (65) everyone would have taken it.
"It could be better but we must appreciate where we stand.
"You can see the improvement. You could see at the beginning of the season we improved. We just have to keep it going." Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is taking the squad to the Spanish resort of Marbella for .

Liverpool's improvement is clear to see, says Wijnaldum

Malaysian former premier Najib Razak's trial over the 1MDB mega-scandal was postponed Monday to allow an appeal to be heard, in the latest blow to slow-moving efforts to bring the disgraced politician to justice.
Najib had been due to go on trial Tuesday for the first time over allegations he was involved in the looting of Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in a fraud that stretched around the world.
But his lawyers filed an application for the trial to be delayed pending an appeal on a technicality related to the transfer of charges between different courts.
The Court of Appeal on Monday agreed to the postponement to allow for the appeal to be heard, V Sithambaram, a criminal lawyer on the prosecution team, told AFP.  "It won't be delayed too long," he said, adding he hoped the appeal would only take a week or two.
Billions of dollars were allegedly stolen by Najib and his cronies from 1MDB, which was set up to help develop Malaysia's economy, and spent on everything from high-end .

Toppled Malaysian leader's 1MDB trial delayed

Iran's president on Monday blasted a US "conspiracy" against the country as vast crowds marked 40 years since the Islamic revolution at a time of heightened tensions with Washington.
"The presence of people today on the streets all over Islamic Iran... means that the enemy will never reach its evil objectives," Rouhani told those thronging Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) square.
Chador-clad women, militia members in camouflage fatigues and ordinary citizens marched through the capital in freezing rain to mark the day in February 1979 that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ended millenia of royal rule.
Life-size replicas of Iranian-made cruise and ballistic missiles lined the route in a statement of defiance after Washington last year reimposed sanctions after pulling out of a deal on Tehran's nuclear programme.
A pre-prepared resolution was read out that proclaimed "unquestioning obedience to the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei" and called US President Donald Trump an "idiot".
The event ...

Iran slams US as huge crowds mark 40 years since revolution

A Singaporean woman who abused her Myanmar maid by forcing her to pour hot water on herself, pulling her hair out and hitting her was jailed for three years on Monday.
Singapore is home to almost 250,000 maids, mostly from other parts of Southeast Asia, who head to the tiny but wealthy city-state to earn far higher salaries.
Beauty parlour manager Linda Seah, 39, was convicted last month for the abuse inflicted on Phyu Phyu Mar in 2016.
The mistreatment detailed in six charges included two instances when the maid was forced to pour hot water onto her left shoulder, leaving her with burn marks and blisters.
Seah also forced her to drink "water adulterated with floor cleaner", according to the charges.
On one occasion she shook the maid by the hair until some of it came out, and on another, hit her repeatedly in the head with a mobile phone.
The Singapore court heard that Seah was unhappy as she felt her employee was slow in completing her chores.
But handing down the jail sentence, ...

Singaporean salon manager jailed for abusing Myanmar maid

Thai Princess Ubolratana was formally disqualified for running for prime minister for a party-linked to ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the Election Commission (EC) said Monday, days after a stern royal command issued by her brother, the king, rebuked her candidacy.
"The EC today has announced the name of candidates excluding Princess Ubolratana proposed by the Thai Raksa Chart party," it said in a statement, adding "because all royal family members are above politics.

Thai princess disqualified from list of candidates for PM: Election Commision

Refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi will not be sent back to Bahrain after Thailand dropped extradition proceedings against him on the Gulf State's request, a prosecutor said Monday.
Araibi, a former Bahraini national youth team player, was granted refugee status in Australia after fleeing charges in the oil-rich kingdom connected to Arab Spring protests.
But was stopped in Thailand in November attempting to go on his honeymoon.  Since then, he has been detained in a Bangkok prison pending a court ruling over the extradition request from the Bahraini government -- a move the footballer has pleaded against as he fears torture if returned.
Monday brought a stunning about-turn from the Bahraini government, which withdrew the extradition request, said Chatchom Akapin, Director-General of the International Affairs Department at the prosecutor's office.
"We have been informed that Bahrain wants to withdraw the (extradition) request.... if they don't want him, we have no reason to keep him ..

Refugee footballer will not be extradited to Bahrain: prosecutor

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who led an active, reformist tenure as African Union chair, on Sunday passes the baton to Egypt, seen as more likely to focus on security issues than expanding the powers of the body.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will officially take over the post of ceremonial head of the AU which rotates between the five regions of the continent at the start of a two-day summit in Addis Ababa.
While multiple crises on the continent will be on the agenda of heads of state from the 55 member nations, the summit will also focus on institutional reforms, and the establishment of a continent-wide free trade zone.
The Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) was agreed by 44 nations in March 2018, but only 19 countries have ratified the agreement, with 22 needed for it to come into effect.
The single market is a flagship of the AU's "Agenda 2063" programme, conceived as a strategic framework for socioeconomic transformation.
Cairo is backing the initiative, but analysts 

As Kagame steps down, Egypt takes helm at African Union

Democrat Elizabeth Warren has officially kicked off her 2020 White House run with a full-throated pledge to defend working Americans, unbowed by a row over her Native American ancestry that has threatened to nip her campaign in the bud.
"This is the fight of our lives," she told cheering supporters in gritty Lawrence, Massachusetts, against "a rigged system that props up the rich and powerful and kicks dirt on everyone else."
"Millions of families can barely breathe," Warren said Saturday, in a feisty speech that struck aggressively populist and unapologetically left-leaning notes.
"It is not right." The Massachusetts senator -- who had announced her intention to run on New Year's Eve -- is among the highest-profile of the growing pool of Democrats hoping to unseat President Donald Trump in 2020.
The Democratic field is already the party's most diverse ever -- in gender, age and ethnic background -- and one of its more progressive. It includes several well-known women lawmakers, with .

Democrat Warren kicks off 2020 run, ignoring ancestry row

The Trump administration's new rules for a US visa program widely used for technology workers are getting cautious praise from Silicon Valley amid surging demand for high-skill employees.
The H-1B visa programme, which admits some 85,000 foreign nationals each year, will give higher priority to people with post-graduate degrees from US universities, under a final rule published in January by the Department of Homeland Security.
"US employers seeking to employ foreign workers with a US master's or higher degree will have a greater chance of selection in the H-1B lottery" under the new rule, said Francis Cissna, director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, in announcing the change on January 30.
The changes come with the tech industry pleading for more immigrants to fill key skilled positions, and responds in part of concerns that the program has been exploited by some tech giants and outsourcing firms to depress wages and displace US employees.
"The changes are, on the whole, a 

Modest praise for US reform of visa program for skilled workers

Napoli could finish the weekend trailing Serie A leaders Juventus by 11 points after Carlo Ancelotti's wasteful side stuttered to a 0-0 draw at Fiorentina, as Lautaro Martinez scored the only goal to get Inter Milan back winning against promoted Parma.
Both sides start their Europa League campaigns this week after crashing out of the Champions League with Napoli travelling to FC Zurich and Inter Milan away to Rapid Vienna in their round of the 32, first leg ties.
Fiorentina goalkeeper Alban Lafont produced a string of saves to deny Piotr Zielinski and Dries Mertens as Napoli failed to score away from home for the third game running.
"We dropped two points that we would've deserved for attacking from start to finish," said Ancelotti.
"In some ways, it was an impeccable performance, but we weren't clinical enough in front of goal and were forced to make do with a point."
Ancelotti's side have now been held twice in the past three games while hosts Fiorentina drew for the 11th time in 23 

Napoli stumble at Fiorentina, Martinez gets Inter back winning

One of Europe's traditional financial powerhouses Manchester United meet the nouveau riche Paris Saint-Germain as the Champions League last 16 gets underway on Tuesday with both sides hoping to finally reap some reward on the biggest stage from record levels of investment.
Despite splashing hundreds of millions on new players since taking over in 2011, PSG's Qatari owners have not been able to buy success in the competition they crave the most with four successive quarter-final exits between 2013 and 2016 the furthest they have progressed.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have ended the French champions' dreams at this stage in each of the past two seasons.
Once again in the last 16 PSG must face one of the few clubs in the world that can boast greater revenue than they can thanks to United's commercial power and the riches of the Premier League's TV contracts.
But, unlike the two Spanish giants who have used their financial muscle to win seven of the last 10 Champions League titles between .

Big spenders under pressure to deliver Champions League returns in last 16

Southampton have promised to ban supporters involved in mocking the death of Emiliano Sala by making aeroplane gestures during their match at home to Cardiff City.
The Premier League fixture Saturday was Cardiff's first since the Argentinian striker's body was formally identified by an English coroner on Thursday, a day after it was recovered from underwater wreckage in the Channel.
However, after the game video on social media appeared to show two men in the home section of St Mary's Stadium seemingly making aeroplane gestures in the direction of the away supporters.
Southampton confirmed both fans had been spoken to by police and intended to take "an extremely firm stance" over the incident.
"Southampton Football Club can confirm that two fans were detained and had their details taken by police during our match against Cardiff City on Saturday," said a statement from the club.
"The club will continue to work with Hampshire Police to identify any individuals deemed to have made ...

AFP

AFP

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