Bangladesh pace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza, one of the country's biggest sports stars, stepped down Thursday as captain of the national one-day side, possibly ending his international career.
Friday's 50-over game against Zimbabwe in Sylhet will be his last as captain, said the 36-year-old, who already has a new career as a member of parliament.  Mashrafe said he would remain available for selection as a player, but selectors are under pressure to bring in fresh blood ahead of the 2023 World Cup in India.
"I would like to thank Bangladesh Cricket Board for keeping confidence in me for such a long period," said Mashrafe.
"I will try to give my best as a player if I get the opportunity."
Mashrafe had not played any one-day internationals since last year's World Cup until the current Zimbabwe series. He claimed three wickets in the first two matches.  Bangladesh won both to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Mashrafe, who withdrew from a lucrative national team contract in ...

Mashrafe steps down as Bangladesh one-day captain

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South Africa on Thursday confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus, a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy, health ministry announced.
"This morning,... the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement.
It is the first case in southern Africa, and the latest confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and Senegal.
The case was detected in the country's eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province.
The patient and his wife were part of a group of 10 people who arrived back in South Africa from Italy on March 1.
Italy has emerged as the European hotspot for the deadly virus with the national death toll at 107, the deadliest outbreak outside China.

South Africa reports first coronavirus case

Greece's defence ministry on Thursday announced a week-long shipping ban around Aegean islands facing a migration surge from Turkey, excepting only EU and NATO patrol vessels and registered commercial ships.
The ministry said the ban to March 12 around the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos was designed "to halt illegal migration flows by sea".
"An exception is made for Frontex and NATO ships, and ships conducting commercial activity that are equipped with the required valid seaworthiness documents from their flag state," the defence ministry said.
Greece is attempting to hold back a migration surge by land and sea from neighbouring Turkey that began last week after Ankara said it would no longer stop asylum seekers from entering Europe.
Hundreds of migrants and refugees have landed on the islands since the weekend.  On the island of Lesbos, a navy ship was sent this week to house around 400 of them, as the local camp is filled far beyond capacity.
The new arrivals have exacerbated an 

Greece restricts shipping near migrant islands over 'illegal' flows

The economic upheaval caused by the fast-spreading coronavirus threatens to plunge Germany's crucial industrial sector into "the longest recession since reunification", a powerful industry body said Thursday.
Germany's export-reliant industrial sector is already in the midst of a recession, with car manufacturers especially feeling the pain from months of China-US trade tensions and Brexit uncertainty.
As the deadly coronavirus wreaks havoc on international supply chains and saps consumer demand, Germany's BDI industry federation said worse was to come.
"German industry is facing the longest recession since reunification" of the country in 1990, BDI said in a quarterly report.
The sector, a key growth driver in Europe's top economy, has already seen six consecutive quarters of shrinkage.
In the final quarter of 2019, German industrial production fell by 5.7 per cent year-on-year.
The BDI said the combined effects of weak global growth, increased uncertainty and factory disruptions ...

German industry fears 'longest recession' since reunification

The United States and Israel have scrapped the remainder of their joint military exercise Juniper Cobra 20 over the coronavirus outbreak, the US European Command based in Germany said on Thursday.
"The decision is in alignment with recent Israeli Ministry of Health guidelines on COVID-19, and a precautionary measure to ensure the health and safety of all participants," said USEUCOM in a statement.

US, Israel cancel military exercise over coronavirus

England pace bowler Jofra Archer has signed a two-year contract extension with Sussex, the club announced on Thursday.
The 24-year-old rarely gets to play for his county due to his England commitments after making an instant impact in being their leading wicket-taker in the triumphant World Cup campaign.
The Barbados-born star also held his nerve to bowl the decisive Super Over that saw England edge New Zealand in the final last year.
The deal will keeps him at Sussex -- who are presently in the second tier of the county championship -- till at least the end of the 2022 season.
"Sussex gave me my opportunity right at the beginning of my career, so I am very happy to commit long term to the club," Archer told the Sussex Cricket website.
"I really do enjoy playing with everyone here at Sussex and it was really nice to come back down last year to play a few games with the lads.
"It's the same club that I left it as and it's nice to know nothing has changed.
"Sometimes people sit in my ...

England paceman Archer extends contract with Sussex

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan began talks in Moscow on Thursday aimed at resolving the crisis in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.
"The situation... in Idlib has become so aggravated that it requires us to have a direct personal conversation," Putin said at the start of the meeting.

Putin, Erdogan start talks in Moscow on Syria

Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, famed for his steamy dinner parties, has split from his longterm girlfriend reportedly to date a woman 54 years his junior.
At the height of the coronavirus epidemic, which has killed 107 people in Italy and turned pockets of the country into red zones, the dating antics of the man at the centre of world-famous "bunga bunga" soirees brought Italians a welcome distraction.
The 83-year-old billionaire has left 34-year old Francesca Pascale after a 12-year relationship, but the couple "remain friends", his Forza Italia party said in a statement on Wednesday.
Pascale, who once said in an interview that she asked Berlusconi to marry her every day, appeared to have been caught off guard, saying she was "astonished" by the statement, according to the daily Repubblica.
"I will hold him dear forever. I wish him all the happiness in the world and hope he finds someone who will take care of him as I have," said the blonde, who first caught ...

Italy's octogenarian Berlusconi dumps longtime girlfriend for 30-year-old

Three Russian passenger planes flying domestic routes on Thursday were targeted with anonymous bomb threats while airborne, local media said.
Anonymous messages were passed to emergency services and a Moscow airport warning that the planes had a bomb on board, Russian news agencies said.
One plane was flying from Saint Petersburg to the Crimean city of Simferopol for Rossiya airline, Interfax news agency reported.
Threats also targeted Aeroflot planes flying from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport to the northwestern city of Syktyvkar and the Siberian city of Omsk.  Crews opted not to divert the planes, which landed safely at their destinations, and no bombs were found on board.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the security services were working to identify the culprit.
"Let's hope that sooner or later they will be caught and punished in accordance with the law," Peskov told reporters.
A spokesman for Sheremetyevo airport refused to comment to AFP on the bomb threats 

Russian planes targeted in wave of bomb threats

Schools and universities in Iran will be closed until early April because of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, the health minister said on Thursday.
"People should not consider this as an opportunity to go travelling. They should stay home and take our warnings seriously," Saeed Namaki said at a televised press conference.

Iran says schools, universities shut for month over virus

A French high-speed TGV train travelling from the eastern city of Strasbourg to Paris derailed on Thursday after an embankment collapsed into the tracks, seriously injuring the driver and hurting 20 others.
The driver, whose injury was not specified, was evacuated by helicopter following the accident near Ingenheim, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) northwest of Strasbourg.
The train was still intact but the locomotive was leaning on its side and four other wagons were also off the tracks, according to the state rail operator SNCF and AFP journalists at the scene.
"Despite going off the tracks, the TGV remained upright," the operator said in a Twitter post that included a picture of what it called "a major landslide."
The crew chief on the train also suffered a back injury and one passenger was hurt in the face, the SNCF said. A total of 21 people were injured, according to local authorities.
"The necessary security mechanisms to ensure the safety of the 300 passengers onboard ...

French TGV train derails near Strasbourg, 21 hurt

Wayne Rooney has urged Manchester United fans to be patient, saying it could take "two or three years" before they return to the top of the game.
Rooney, United's record scorer with 253 goals, is set to face his old club in the FA Cup fifth round when the Red Devils travel to Derby on Thursday.
He spent 13 years at Old Trafford, during which he won every domestic honour along with the Champions League and the Europa League.
Rooney, 34, returned to boyhood club Everton in 2017 before embarking on a spell with Major League Soccer outfit DC United. He played his first game for Derby as a player-coach in January.
The former England captain feels United are moving in the right direction under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but need time before they challenge for major honours.
"It is going to take another two or three years, I believe," Rooney told the British press.
"The important thing is for them to try and get into the Champions League this year.
"It is really tight at the minute. I think that ..

Rooney urges Man Utd fans to be patient

Japan will quarantine all passengers arriving from China and South Korea, the country's prime minister said Thursday, as the government ramps up measures to contain an outbreak of the new coronavirus.
"We will strengthen immigration quarantines on people from the two countries," Shinzo Abe told a cabinet-level taskforce meeting on the virus.
"We will ask them to stay in designated areas for two weeks and not to use public transport," Abe added, saying the measures would come into force from March 9.

Japan to quarantine arrivals from China, South Korea over virus

The church built on the Bethlehem site revered as the birthplace of Jesus is to close after a suspected outbreak of the coronavirus, a church official said Thursday.
The Palestinian health ministry called for local churches, mosques and other institutions to close after a number of suspected cases at a hotel in the Holy Land city of Bethlehem.

Bethlehem church to close after suspected coronavirus cases: official

Two foreign trawlers packed with over USD 33 million worth of heroin and crystal methamphetamine were seized in Sri Lanka's biggest-ever drugs bust at sea, a navy spokesman said on Thursday.
Troops found 400 kg (about 880 pounds) of heroin and 100 kg (about 220 pounds) of the drug "ice" on board the two vessels, spokesman Isuru Sooriyabandara said.
The street value of the seized narcotics was estimated by officials to be 6,000 million rupees (USD 33.5 million).
The vessels, as well as a Sri Lankan fishing boat, were escorted on Thursday to a harbour near the capital Colombo.
Sixteen foreign crew and five Sri Lankan crewmen were detained for questioning, Sooriyabandara added. The nationalities of the foreigners were not disclosed by authorities.
"The two foreign vessels were trying to offload the drugs onto a Sri Lankan fishing boat," Sooriyabandara told AFP.
The foreign vessels, which carried no registration, were intercepted in international waters some 1,100 kilometres (687 miles) ..

Sri Lanka seizes record drugs haul at sea

Former Brazilian football star Ronaldinho and his brother have been detained in Paraguay after allegedly using fake passports to enter the South American country, authorities said Wednesday.
"Ronaldinho will be heard at eight in the morning on Thursday at the prosecutor's office," Interior Minister Euclides Acevedo told reporters.
Paraguayan police raided the hotel in Asuncion where the 2005 Ballon d'Or winner was staying during a trip promote a book and found the false documents, the minister said.
"We are also investigating the responsibility of the authorities who allowed them to enter the country with falsified documents," Acevedo said.
Ronaldinho and his brother had their Brazilian passports withdrawn in November 2018 after failing to pay a $2.3 million fine for environmental damage incurred during the building of property in Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil.

Ronaldinho accused of using fake passport to enter Paraguay

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a personal letter to "comfort" South Koreans fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic just a day after his sister condemned Seoul as a "frightened dog barking", the South's presidential office said Thursday.
Pyongyang has imposed strict restrictions and closed its borders to try to prevent an outbreak and insists it has not had a single case of the novel coronavirus which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread around the world.
The South has reported the largest number of cases in the world outside China and its total passed 6,000 Thursday.
In his letter to President Moon Jae-in, Kim "conveyed his message of comfort to the South Korean people who are battling against the outbreak", said Yoon Do-han, a senior official at the presidential Blue House.
Kim said he was "worried" about Moon's own health, Yoon added, and "underlined his unwavering friendship and trust towards" Seoul.
It was a marked contrast to the statement issued on ...

Kim Jong Un offers South Koreans 'comfort' over virus: Seoul

A 74-year-old woman suffering from the new coronavirus has died in Switzerland, marking the country's first death in the outbreak that has claimed more than 3,200 lives globally, police said on Thursday.
The woman, who was hospitalised in the western city of Lausanne with the virus on Tuesday, died overnight, regional police in the canton of Vaud said in a statement.
The woman, who also suffered from a pre-existing chronic illness, had been considered "high risk" from the virus.
COVID-19 produces mild symptoms in 80 per cent of cases, but for the elderly and sick it can produce severe pneumonia and multiple organ failure.
Globally, it is estimated to have killed 3.4 per cent of those who have contracted the virus.
More than 95,000 people have been infected and over 3,200 have died worldwide from the virus, which by Thursday had reached some 80 countries and territories.
To date, Switzerland has registered 58 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the disease first surfaced in the country ..

Switzerland reports first coronavirus death

A French high-speed TGV train derailed early on Thursday while travelling from the eastern city of Strasbourg to Paris, an accident caused by the collapse of an embankment that seriously injured the driver and 20 others, state rail operator SNCF and local authorities said.
The driver was evacuated by helicopter following the accident near Ingenheim, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) northwest of Strasbourg.
The train was still intact but the locomotive was leaning on its side and at least two other wagons were also off the tracks, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
Rescue workers arrived shortly after the accident, which occurred around 20 minutes after the train left Strasbourg at 7:19 am (0619 GMT).
Passenger Alexandre Sergeant told BFM television by telephone: "All of a sudden we felt an impact, and then the train was on the gravel, it kept rolling for a while and then started to lean on its side."
"We're in the third wagon, all the windows are broken, and our wagon is off ...

French TGV train derails on Strasbourg-Paris line, 21 hurt

Joe Biden joked that wife Jill was his Secret Service protection after she fought off vegan protestors who stormed the stage as the former vice president was giving a victory speech to supporters.
"I'm probably the only candidate running for president whose wife is my Secret Service," the Democratic frontrunner said at a California fundraiser in Bel Air Wednesday night, a day after the incident in Los Angeles.
"Whoa, you don't screw around with a Philly girl, I'll tell you what," he said.
"I thought I heard on the news on the way over that that the committee in charge of Secret Service decided they have to start providing Secret Service for us.
"I think that"s because they're afraid Jill's going to hurt someone. I tell you what man, I married way above my station," Biden joked.
As Biden was giving a speech in Los Angeles following his Super Tuesday wins, a female vegan protestor shouting "Let dairy die" rushed the stage and Jill grabbed her husband's hand and put herself between him ..

Jill is 'my Secret Service' Biden jokes after wife tackles protestors

An Indonesian maid was jailed for two years in Singapore Thursday for giving money to an Islamic State-linked terror outfit blamed for a string of attacks in her home country.
The affluent city-state is home to over 250,000 maids from neighbouring Indonesia, and has seen a string of cases where foreign domestic helpers have allegedly been radicalised.
Anindia Afiyantari donated SG dollar 130 (USD 94) last year to charities used as fronts by Indonesia-based Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), described by prosecutors as among "the most dangerous terrorist organisations" in Southeast Asia.
It has been blamed for attacks, including the stabbing of President Joko Widodo's chief security minister Wiranto and deadly suicide bombings at several churches.
"The accused's actions of plotting to finance terrorist acts... strike at the very heart of Singapore's harmony," prosecutors said, according to court documents.
The 33-year-old -- who earned Sg$600 a month -- was introduced to radical religious ..

AFP

AFP

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