DU incident

DU incident
Habibur Rashid Ismail, Jamea Rahmania Fadil Madrasa, Choitenyarhat, Chittagong
The report 'Madrasa youths swoop on office of DU VC' was published in an English language daily.

  



 

HM Ershad's interview

HM Ershad's interview
Rahman Talukdar, Lalmatia, Dhaka
The DS is doing a good job by regularly publishing exclusive interviews of politicians. But not all facts were mentioned while interviewing HM Ershad.

Controlling traffic

Controlling traffic
Farjana Afrin, Mirpur, Dhaka
The steps necessary to control the congestion level in the city are described as follows:

Melamine in milk

Melamine in milk
SN Mamoon, On e-mail
Melamine has been detected in many brands of baby milk powder. It has become the talk of the city and may be the country. The test reports are conflicting. The newspapers, TV media are hugely covering this news item since it has tremendous news value. People are 'eating' the news coverage quite voraciously. All the mothers are very worried, so are the fathers, brothers, sisters and so on. People are bewildered. They are at a loss what to feed the baby. In the mean while, so called 'fresh cow milk' sellers are making windfall profit from selling their 'cow milk'. A few years back, one 'dudhwalla' was supplying fifty litres of milk from a few cows. A friend of mine got curious and followed him to his house. He found that they were mixing powder milk in water, boiling it and later on mixing with fresh cow milk. It was sold as “Khanti gorur dudh'!

Election 2008

Election 2008
Redwanur, Shantinagar, Dhaka
The date of national election 2008 has been fixed. But is everyone getting ready for the election in a democratic style?

Ominous developments

Ominous developments
Harun-or-Rashid, Sobhanbag, Dhaka
Due to the current price hike of foods and other essentials, a good number of people have become poorer throughout the globe. The US and its allies are spending a huge amount of money on arms. Many countries are using food grains for producing bio-fuel which is surely a great threat to human beings. Dogs and other pet animals of rich countries are getting such foods which can save crores of people in the poor countries. The haves and have-nots are living in the same world. Yes, Allah, the Almighty, has sanctioned someone fortunes and He will surely examine in the life hereafter how the rich used their wealth.

Citizenship issue

Citizenship issue
Engineer Shafi Ahmed, London, UK
I refer to the letter on this topic of 19 October. There are many confusing legal and practical interpretations of 'Bangladesh dual nationality' . However, from my own experience I have learnt the following.

Power game

Power game
Asif Khan, Circular Road, Dhanmandi, Dhaka
The caretakers and the political parties have come to an understanding after so much pulling of each other's legs. What deal they have made will be unfolded gradually in the days ahead. But the caretakers are making one great mistake by trusting these shrewd political people. The very moment the emergency goes, they will show their teeth and claws.

Simply outrageous

Simply outrageous
Solaiman Palash, East Jurain, Dhaka
The outrageous activities of religious fundamentalists are increasing day by day. The photo showing some madrasa students trying to pull down the Baul sculpture is only comparable to Taliban activities.

Unprecedented vandalism

Unprecedented vandalism
Tonmoy Anowar, Ex student of DU, Uttara, Dhaka
A news item was published in different dailies regarding the unprecedented massive vandalism at the VC office of Dhaka University. How could they escape from the place without the law enforcers' trying to arrest them? The university authorities should take immediate action against the attackers to prevent repetition of such incidents in the future. There could have been a constructive negotiation between the authorities and the agitated students on the issue of admission handled by the respective departments.

Religion and politics

Religion and politics
Md. Mujibul Haque Munir, Coordinator (M&E), Coast-Shouhardo
At the outset, I will draw your attention to the news reports published recently in The Daily Star:

Unconditional surrender!

Unconditional surrender!
M. Sanaul Huq, Uttara, Dhaka
Bolstered by emergency powers, the caretaker government at one time appeared mighty powerful in their mission. Wholehearted support of the army pushed their image to an enviable height. They arrested both the former prime ministers who still enjoy robust popular support. They were so sensitive to unlawful assemblies that a few political workers were arrested in Sylhet while having their lunch at a fellow politician's home! They languished in jail for many months for their illegal (?) activities. In Khulna a former state minister was arrested from a private house allegedly for playing cards. They were prosecuted. Such examples of zero tolerance are abundant during the 19-month tenure of the CTG. We appreciated their firmness as the fallout of the great mission the CTG was going to accomplish.

Journalistic credibility

Journalistic credibility
Professor M Zahidul Haque, Professor, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka
Recently, I read a news item in one of our national English language dailies which reported killing of a rickshaw-puller Rafiqul Islam (35) by an influential person's associates just because the former's hands touched the latter's body. This unfortunate incident took place at Adabor in the capital.

Mass killing in 1971

Mass killing in 1971
S. M. Shamim-Ur-Rashid Tushar, Department of Business Administration, Shahjalal University, Sylhet
Recently, the school of Law of Australian Newcastle University organised a seminar on "Bangladesh Mass Killing-1971". This year they incorporated mass killing in Bangladesh in the 'Public International Law' course.

Baul statues

Baul statues
A reader, On e-mail
Thanks to DS for making lead news and writing a strong editorial on "Baul statue" events. I do not know how this small number of "Islamic fundamentalists" could take law in their own hands and dictate the issues of similar nature time and again. The CTG is playing a very dubious role in curbing the harmful activities of these fundamentalist groups. Apparently, they are not only supporting but giving encouragement to fan up terror under the pretext of religion. The forum which talks about "Mukti Juddha" is in effect shielding these terrorists from the wrath of the general public who believe in freedom of choice, expression and individual rights.

Food safety and Bangladesh

Food safety and Bangladesh
Sheikh Mohsin Ali , On e-mail
Talking of milk products and the inclusion of melamine in the formula are whims that need serious thoughts. I have a different perspective, I have to ask myself what are the acceptable levels in Bangladesh? Who decides these levels? Who ensures these levels are rightly present in the milk or food item?

Bangladesh News

Cyclone Reshmi looms large
Depression-turned-storm now moves towards Khulna-Barisal coast; city life crippled by gales, rains
The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal grew into Cyclone Reshmi yesterday, and was approaching the country's south-western coast with the possibility of making landfall by noon today. 
 Fuel prices slashed by 10-13pc
Diesel-run transport fares also go down
The government has slashed petroleum prices by 10 to 13 percent following the recent drastic price fall in the global market.
News analysis
Trust Bank story twisted
Interbank trading loss labelled as 'money laundering'
Interbank foreign exchange trading that caused big losses to at least eight banks about six years back has suddenly been twisted and wrongly labelled as 'money laundering', although the Bangladesh Bank had resolved them as transactional losses. 
BNP rights RPO wrongs
EC may miss October deadline for registration
The problem of wording BNP had in its provisional amended constitution regarding severing its ties with 'associated' organisations of students and professionals was corrected yesterday, removing all barriers to its registration with the Election Commission (EC).

Integrated solution for water and sanitation

Integrated solution for water 
and sanitation 

This refers to a report on experts’ views of solving city water and sanitation problems in an integrated manner. The basic idea is to recycle the sanitation waste into potable water as practised in Singapore which has a totalitarian type of administration with strict control on everything. Further, Singapore has the reputation of having one of the highest quality standards in the world based on strict and uncompromising technical discipline.
  This is something totally foreign to our culture where quality control is just to stay on the right side of the specification one way or the other. Bending rules and shortcuts is the order of the day of Bangladeshi-style technical discipline. Given these facts of life integrating water supply and sanitation which is recycling sanitation liquids into potable water may well lead to catastrophic health hazard in Bangladesh. I believe it will be far safer and saner for us to keep the two separate for our overall health safety.
  The pragmatic and realistic approach could be to go for large-scale biogas plant managed in industrial scale from the sanitation fluids and sewage. The final biogas digester solids may be mixed with suitable dried and shredded solid refuse and wastes, mixed with oil refinery sludge to make fuel cakes. This could be a realistic option given our shortage of local fuel resources.
  In my opinion, integration of water supply with recycled sanitation waste is a dangerous health proposition for the country in real terms although it is theoretically viable and justified. WASA’s water supply system that we have is bacteriologically and physically (suspended and dissolved impurities) as poor as it can be. The first and important objective is to ensure that WASA water is really safe to drink straight off the tap unless you have developed built-in immunity to intestinal bacterial infection.
  SA Mansoor
  Dhaka

Jamaat’s registration and violation of constitution

I am an Anglo-Bangladeshi, now living in New Zealand. I visit Bangladesh every two years as I still have my old mother living in Chittagong. I also follow Bangladesh politics and other activities as my heart still remains where I was born. It was interesting to see how the Jamaat amended its constitution and removed many of the clauses which were anti-constitutional, on the advice of the Election Commission. It is also interesting to note that the Jamaat allows non-Muslims to be ‘Associate’ members of the party although I am not sure how practical will that be for non-Muslims to live with the Jamaat and its ideology.
  Although the Jamaat ‘officially’ allows non-Muslims to be (associate) members of the party, there remains a gross violation of a constitutional provision. This relates to taking oath by a non-Muslim promising to defend the sovereignty and independence of Bangladesh which does not apply to Muslims seeking membership. This discriminatory clause is in violation of Articles 26, 27 and 29 (Part III; Fundamental Rights) of the constitution of Bangladesh.
  Would the EC revisit this aspect before granting registration to the Jamaat?
  Kerr Mann 
  Auckland, New Zealand

‘Rickshaws and traffic’

‘Rickshaws and traffic’ 

This is an interesting letter which appeared in the Feedback column on October 24. A good thing has been turned into a menace by the sheer incompetence and negligence of our administration. Rickshaws should be allowed freely everywhere. But the first thing is to make the rickshaw-pullers aware of traffic rules and also make them behave rationally. Their cavalier movements and antics on a busy road are hazards not only for themselves but also for all around them. But as the letter writer mentioned, it is the ‘best transport for women, small children and the elderly’ as long as the buses, auto rickshaws and taxis remain uncontrolled.
  Haq
  Dhaka

Exchange rate and foreign trade

Exchange rate and foreign trade 

Let us assume that the export price of a shirt is Tk 700.00 (USD 10.00). At this price a foreign buyer can purchase 10 shirts with USD 100.00. With the export of USD 100.00, the exporter will get Tk 7,000.00 since the rate of exchange for each USD is Tk 70.00. Now assume that an initiative is taken to depreciate Taka and it comes to Tk 80.00 for each USD. In this case, the foreign buyer will be able to buy more than 11 shirts with the same amount of USD 100.00. The depreciation of local currency makes export price competitive to the foreign buyers as it enables them to purchase commodities in bigger amount.
  The recent financial crisis in the developed world, especially in the US and the EU, may decrease our export volume. In this situation, depreciation of Taka may help in keeping the export trend of the country at upward level. A study of data of the Reserve Bank of India shows that on September 1, 2008 the rate of exchange for each USD in India was INR 44.21 and it was INR 49.95 on October 24, 2008, marking depreciation by 13 per cent. This indicates that India has taken exchange rate adjustment measures to protect their foreign exchange earnings. The same is reported to have happened in Pakistan. Presently each USD is exchanged at more than PKR 82 which was around PKR 76 early in September, 2008.
  In respect of our country, during FY08 the difference between export (USD 13945 million) and import (USD 19486 million) is found negative of USD 5541 million. This trade deficit is supported mostly by workers’ remittances amounting to USD 604 million. The present trend of trade balance is negative due to excess import cost over export earnings. The export target for the current fiscal has been set at USD 16298 million. The import will definitely grow this year if it follows the trend of the past several years. Assumed that the export target will be achieved, the trade balance will still remain negative unless import cost becomes smaller than export earnings. But such a possibility is unlikely in view of the current trend. So, there is a need to increase the export level. But recent turmoil in the US and Europe creates risk for us and the analysts predict that export may fall. If this happens, the overall economy will be affected.
  The recent efforts in the neighbouring countries in respect of currency depreciation indicate that they are trying to maintain the level of export earnings by making their price competitive. Depreciation of Taka may bring competitive advantages for the exporters. The recipients of workers’ remittances will also be benefited as in case of the exporters. If all quarters are benefited by the depreciation of Taka, the benefits will go to the whole nation. But such is not possible since the country needs huge imports for different purposes – from daily necessities to industrial goods. The depreciation of Taka may have a negative impact on the price of daily necessities if the depreciation is made against the currencies of the countries to which we export. However, we have to do something to remain in a competitive edge in foreign trade.
  Under the prevailing floating exchange rate regime, rate is fixed on the basis of demand and supply. The central bank does not intervene in this regard. But the authorities should have some tools in their hands to bring necessary changes in the value of the local currency against foreign ones.
  If any decision is made to determine new exchange rate as a policy support, the central bank should take all aspects of our major trading partners into consideration with a view to reaching a balanced level so that commodity prices in the local market does not shoot up any further.
  Mehdi Rahman
  via e-mail

Monday Sports News

Malaysia accuses AFC of 
excessive demands 
Agence France-Presse . Kuala Lumpur 

Malaysia has blamed ‘excessive demands’ from the Asian Football Confederation, including diplomatic status for its top officers, for its refusal to bid to retain the organisation’s headquarters.
  Malaysia has hosted the AFC’s headquarters since 1965, and the country’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman served as its president for 24 years.
  But in July AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam proposed shifting its base from an impressive eight-year-old facility on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, and invited applications from the confederation’s 46 member nations.
  The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) said Malaysia will not take part in the bid, rejecting AFC demands which it said included the gifting of land for its headquarters.
  It said the regional sporting body had added ‘insult to injury’ by issuing an October 31 deadline to comply with its demands if it wanted the AFC to remain in Malaysia.
  ‘How could officials from a sports body be awarded diplomatic status? AFC is not under the UN, and the president is not a diplomat of any country, so what kind of conditions are these?’ FAM general secretary Azzuddin Ahmad told AFP.
  ‘Technically, Malaysia could lose AFC because we will not be part of the bidding process,’ he said.
  ‘Emotions are running high now because the list of demands have been made public. They are supposed to service member countries in term of developing football in Asia instead of demanding excessively.’
  Bin Hammam’s plan, unveiled during a meeting of the AFC’s governing body, has come under fire from Malaysian figures including former AFC general secretary Peter Velappan.
  He described the proposal as ‘a total disrespect to all Malaysian leaders and staff who have worked very hard to develop and promote football in Asia’.
  Last week AFC submitted a list of demands to Sports Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, which is to be met by month-end if its headquarters is to remain here, the state Bernama news agency reported.
  The list included personal tax exemption for non-Malaysian AFC staff, a new office, interest-free loans and diplomatic status for the AFC office-bearers. 
Eto’o hat-trick sends five
-goal Barcelona top 
Agence France-Presse . Madrid 

Samuel Eto’o scored a hat-trick inside the first 24 minutes as Barcelona powered to the summit of the Spanish first division with a 5-0 win over ten-man Almeria on Saturday.
  Barcelona replace Valencia, who play at Recreativo Huelva on Sunday, at the top on goal difference after a scintillating display which saw the hosts score five times in the first half.
  Cameroon international Eto’o opened the scoring after just four minutes and Frenchman Thierry Henry netted on 13 minutes after brilliant play from Lionel Messi.
  The floodgates opened on 20 minutes when Eto’o scored his second and his quick-fire hat-trick was completed four minutes later.
  Eto’o becomes the league’s top-scorer with nine goals after his treble - he now has one goal more than Valencia’s David Villa.
  Almeria’s cause was not helped when striker Alvaro Negredo was dismissed for a crude challenge on the half hour mark and shortly afterwards Brazilian international Dani Alves scored his first Barca league goal from a free-kick.
  ‘It is great to finally score as I have been waiting a while,’ said Alves.
  ‘We are scoring a lot of early goals at the moment which helps a lot and the whole team is doing well.
  ‘I think we are on the right path towards success and we are getting our reward for the hard work we have all put in.’
  A half-time standing ovation from the Camp Nou greeted the smiling Barca players while Almeria’s players trudged off.
  Barca continue to plunder the goals having recently crushed Atletico Madrid 6-1 - when they led 5-1 at the break - and they also demolished FC Basel 5-0 in midweek in the Champions League.
  It was a sixth straight win in the league for Barca and a ninth successive win in all competitions.
  Barca’s title rivals are now under pressure to respond with reigning champions Real Madrid, three points behind, looking to bounce back from their 2-1 Champions League defeat to Juventus with
  victory over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
  Valencia, level on points with Barca, travel to Recreativo while fourth-placed Villarreal, two points behind, host Atletico Madrid at El Madrigal on Sunday in the game of the weekend.
  Sevilla are in third, level on points with Villarreal, going into Sunday’s home match against Malaga.
  Earlier Saturday, Osasuna’s miserable start to the season continued with a 2-0 home loss to Real Betis with Turkish international Mehmet Aurelio and Argentine Hugo Pavone on target.
  New Osauna manager Jose Antonio Camacho is still waiting for his first win in charge and the Pamplona outfit are the only team in the league yet to register a win eight games into the new season.
  It was a match-up between two teams that were among’s Spain’s elite not so long ago but are now regarded as relegation battlers.
  Betis were fourth in 2005 and played Champions League football the following campaign while Osasuna finished fourth themselves in 2006 and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2007.
  Those days must be a distant memory for both sides who fought relegation last season.
  Betis climb to 12th with their second win of the campaign while Osasuna stay second from bottom. 
Amauri fires Juventus to 
vital derby victory 
Agence France-Presse . Rome 
 

Juventus eased the pressure on under-fire coach Claudio Ranieri with a vital 1-0 victory at home to Torino in the Turin derby on Saturday.
  Meanwhile Catania missed the chance to go top of Serie A, for 24 hours at least, as they drew 1-1 at Siena.
  Brazilian striker Amauri was the Juve match winner as the Italian giants ended a run of four Serie A matches without a victory and moved up into the top half of the table, until Sunday at least.
  Torino lost for the fourth match in a row and remain just above the relegation zone, although they deserved something from this game.
  Tellingly, though, Juve celebrated wildly after the final whistle, hardly behaviour befitting one of the continent’s giants following a 1-0 home success over a team fourth from bottom.
  Although coupled with Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League, it’s been a good week for the Old Lady of Turin.
  ‘It’s been a great week and now the winning goal in the derby,’ enthused Amauri. ‘It feels like a dream. I’m happy that Juve are back to their old selves again.
  ‘Now we can’t slacken one bit, if you slacken the others will jump all over you. We have to stay on track to achieve our objectives which are (winning) the title and hopefully the Champions League.’
  Juventus had the better of a largely uneventful first half with Marco Marchionni twice denied by Alex Calderoni in the visitors goal.
  Even so, the best chance of the half fell to Torino’s Rolando Bianchi after a mistake by Juve keeper Alex Manninger, but the former Manchester City forward failed to find the target.
  Juve sprang out of the traps early in the second half with Amauri out-pacing his marker before shooting under Calderoni’s body from an angle.
  The hosts mental fraility was exposed thereafter, though, as they clung on desperately to what they had.
  Torino pushed forward but failed to work Manninger despite creating some good opportunities.
  Juve defended solidly with Nicola Legrottaglie denying Bianchi while Elvis Abbruscato and Nicola Amoruso were off target with headers from good positions.
  Sicilians Catania were lucky to escape with a point in a game the hosts dominated throughout.
  Siena took a deserved lead on 75 minutes when Emanuele Calaio ghosted between two defenders and headed home a deep cross from Cristiano Del Grosso.
  But just five minutes later Siena were stung on the counter-attack as Michele Paolucci broke from the halfway line before being brought down by Gianluca Curci after he had rounded the goalkeeper.
  Giuseppe Mascara made no mistake from the spot, sending Curci the wrong way. Catania coach Walter Zenga, a former Italy and Inter Milan goalkeeper, made no apologies for the point nicked.
  ‘For me the cup is half full, when you take home a point on a night like this it means the team is reacting, suffering and continuing to fight for its survival,’ he said.
  ‘Siena played really well, they were very good tonight, we perhaps waited too much for them to do something but we did well. A point at Siena is very important against one of our direct (relegation) rivals.’
  Siena will feel hard done by though after dominating throughout. Catania goalkeeper Albano Bizarri denied former Middlesbrough forward Massimo Maccarone and Frenchman Abdel Kader Ghezzal twice each.
  Ghezzal, who was playing for Crotone in the Italian third division before this season, claimed the point was a kick in the teeth for Siena.
  ‘I feel bitter. Given how we played tonight we deserved the three points,’ he said. Siena moved up to second with the point behind only champions Inter Milan. 
Hull City’s fairytale start continues 
Agence France-Presse . London 

Hull City’s fairytale start to life in the Premier League continued Saturday as a 3-0 win over West Brom left them level on points with leaders Chelsea and Liverpool.
  At least one of the top two will be ahead of the Tigers by something more than goal difference after their clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
  Neverthless fans of Hull, in the top flight for the first time in the club’s 104-year history, will be able to look at a league table this weekend where their team are five points ahead of champions Manchester United.
  Sir Alex Ferguson’s side saw their title challenge checked earlier on Saturday when Marouane Fellaini rescued a point for Everton in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.
  Having already won away to Arsenal this season, a trip to the Hawthorns was unlikely to hold few fears for a Hull side only promoted via the play-offs.
  It wasn’t until after half-time that they went ahead but Kamil Zayatte’s spectacular 47th minute volley was worth the wait.
  Geovanni doubled the lead by heading in a cross from Marlon King before the striker himself added a third in the 66th minute.
  ‘If you get 20 points from nine games you are going to be somewhere near the top,’ said Hull manager Phil Brown. ‘It is Champions League form but that is what it is, form. That is temporary.’
  Elsewhere Kieran Richardson’s thunderous free-kick sealed Sunderland’s first home win in the Wear-Tyne derby for 28 years as second from bottom Newcastle were beaten 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.
  Djibril Cisse put Sunderland ahead in the 20th minute before Newcastle drew level through a header from striker Shola Ameobi.
  But 15 minutes from time Richardson let fly with an unstoppable free-kick from the edge of the box.
  South Africa striker Benni McCarthy rescued a point for Blackburn in the fourth minute of stoppage time against Middlesbrough at a rainswept Ewood Park after coming of the bench.
  Supersub McCarthy equalised with a glancing header after Brazil forward Afonso Alves had given Boro a 74th minute lead. 
Redknapp new Spurs manager 
Agence France-Presse . London 

Harry Redknapp has been officially confirmed as the new manager of Premier League strugglers Tottenham Hotspur following the sacking of Juande Ramos last night.
  Spurs, who sit bottom of the English top flight, have agreed a compensation package of around five million pounds (7.9 million dollars) with Portsmouth to bring in Redknapp immediately.
  Ramos left the club after its worst-ever start to the season which has left it anchored to the bottom of the league, Spurs announced late Saturday.
  Redknapp — who was in charge at Portsmouth — was confirmed as the new man in charge at White Hart Lane after Portsmouth had ‘reluctantly’ agreed to talks.
  It has led to a return to London for the former West Ham boss, and although facing a huge challenge Redknapp believes his move will be best for the long-term future of both clubs.
  He told BBC Radio Five Live Sportsweek programme: ‘I suddenly got a phone call and was told Tottenham were interested in me, and I thought it was a wind-up at first.
  ‘Then when I had spoken to them, I decided it was a good move for everybody, for Portsmouth as well in the long term and they have a terrific compensation deal when things were a bit tight.
  ‘I just thought maybe it was time to move on and Tottenham are a big, big club.
  ‘I thought ‘let’s just give it a go before it is too late’.
  ‘I could have gone to Newcastle, but did not take it and a lot of people said ‘he does not have any ambition’, so this is a good chance for me.
  ‘It is a tough job, they are bottom of the league, so let’s see what we can do.’
  Despite winning the League Cup in February, Spurs have taken just two points from eight games.
  Their UEFA Cup group campaign also got off to a poor start Thursday when they were beaten 2-0 at Udinese amid reports that dressing room confidence has hit rock-bottom.
  The northeast London club announced Saturday that Ramos, formerly in charge at Sevilla, and other key staff were leaving.
  A statement from Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy on Sunday read: ‘Relieving Juande Ramos, our head coach, and Juande’s assistants, Gus Poyet and Marcos Alvarez, of their posts is not something I have undertaken lightly.
  ‘Unfortunately, our record of just three league wins since our memorable Carling Cup
  victory against Chelsea last February, combined with our extremely poor start to the season, led the board and I to determine that significant change was necessary as a matter of urgency.’
  Levy made it clear the departure of sporting director Comolli signalled a return to a ‘more traditional style of football management’.
  He added: ‘We must prepare ourselves to take advantage of the January transfer window.
  ‘Harry’s experience of the UK and international transfer market will be of critical importance and I shall be looking to Harry for clarity on our priorities.’
  Redknapp added: ‘The chairman knows the team needs strengthening in two or three positions still, we are short in one or two areas and that is something I will be looking at.
  ‘However, first and foremost it will be about getting the best out of the players who are here. There are some good ones who have not done as well as they should have done.
  ‘We have got to get them playing to their maximum and if we do that, then we will be OK.’
  Tottenham said that Clive Allen, a former club player who is now development squad coach, and youth team manager Alex Inglethorpe would be in charge for Sunday’s clash with Bolton.
  Redknapp expects to be at White Hart Lane for the Bolton match and plans to address players before the match.
  Ramos, who won the UEFA Cup with Sevilla, had only been in the job for a year. The team’s recent performances have been criticised by players Jonathan Woodgate and David Bentley.
  ‘We aren’t too good to go down — believe me,’ defender Woodgate said.
  ‘We really have got to roll up our sleeves because I am telling you, it is going to be hard.’ 
Beckham honoured by Milan move 
Agence France-Presse . London 

David Beckham said on Saturday he felt ‘honoured’ about the prospect of a loan move to ‘one of the biggest sides in the world’ in Italian giants AC Milan but stressed his long-term future was with LA Galaxy.
  England midfielder Beckham is set to put pen to paper on a temporary move to the San Siro with his American club’s Major League Soccer season now at an end.
  Such a move is necessary if Beckham is to maintain the match fitness England boss Fabio Capello says is essential if the free-kick expert is to have a chance of equalling Bobby Moore’s 108-cap record in next month’s friendly away to Germany.
  ‘One of the reasons I want to train and play in Milan for a few months is the fact that the MLS season doesn’t run as long as the European season and my body is programmed to actually not have that amount of time off,’ former Manchester United and Real Madrid playmaker Beckham told his official website.
  ‘AC Milan is one of the biggest clubs in the world, I’ve been lucky enough to play with one of the biggest clubs in England, one of the biggest clubs in Spain and now I’m being given the chance to play with one of the biggest clubs in Italy.
  ‘I’ve been given the chance to join up with Milan for a couple of months and I’m very honoured.’
  And it was clear the 33-year-old, for all he has repeatedly defended the standard of the MLS, was excited about working with some of the best players in the world once again.
  ‘They’ve got Kaka, Ronaldinho, Seedorf and also a player with one of the best records in football, in (Paolo) Maldini.
  ‘To be on the pitch and the training field and get experience with those players is a big honour for myself.
  ‘It also gives me a chance to keep my fitness up and also carry that on for when I come back to the Galaxy for the MLS season.’
  Beckham was adamant he would be returning to Los Angeles, insisting his Milan move was not the prelude to a permanent return to European club football.
  ‘It doesn’t mean I’m leaving the States,’ Beckham said.
  ‘I’m still very committed to being a Galaxy player. I came to the Galaxy to win trophies and I want to do that. I’m also very committed to my role as the MLS ambassador.
  ‘It’s been slightly disappointing on the Galaxy side because we haven’t made the play-offs again but on the other side of it - the success of the MLS as a whole - the attendances and all aspects have been rising.
  ‘The MLS is in a great position at the moment. My hope for the season coming with the Galaxy is to win trophies. That is a big part of why I’m here.’ 
United brush off claims 
of Mourinho talks 
Agence France-Presse . London 

Manchester United have brushed aside claims they are already studying possible successors, including former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, to current manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
  Mourinho said earlier this week he could return to the Premier League once his contract with Inter Milan expires in 2011.
  Ferguson declared in the summer that he would only remain at Old Trafford for another two years, meaning he would finish in 2010, after 24 years at the helm.
  Although the timing for Mourinho would be out by a year, the News of the World claimed Sunday that Old Trafford chiefs are already considering the Portuguese manager as a possible successor to Ferguson.
  However United on Sunday rejected speculation that they have already opened talks that will lead to Ferguson’s successor being appointed.
  ‘As we have said many times before, there has been no discussion about who will eventually succeed Sir Alex,’ said a United spokesman.

Monday Sports News

Rain washes out Nairobi final 
Agence France-Presse . Nairobi 

Heavy rain washed away the final of the Nairobi Tri-Series between hosts Kenya and Zimbabwe here on Saturday.
  It was the fourth consecutive game scheduled for the Nairobi Gymkhana ground to be washed out without a ball being bowled.
  Overnight rain had delayed the planned 9.30am start and then the outfield failed to dry despite the sunshine. Play was officially called off an hour later with the teams sharing trophy.
  Only three matches were possible in the tournament, with each team winning a game. Ireland failed to make the final on the basis of net run-rate. 
Soderling takes on Benneteau 
in Lyon final 
Agence France-Presse . Lyon 

Sweden’s Robin Soderling and France’s Julien Benneteau compete in Sunday’s ATP final here following victories over last week’s surprise Madrid finalist Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
  Swedish seventh seed Soderling, considered by French opponent Simon as ‘one of the best indoor players in the world,’ won 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 while Benneteau beat Tsonga 7-6 (7/4), 7-5.
  Soderling, who won in Lyon in 2004, had trouble in the first set but hit back in the second and then, breaking Simon’s serve in the first game of the final set, went on to victory.
  Simon, who beat world number one Rafael Nadal last week in Madrid, said: ‘At the beginning of the second set I felt I was losing it. I wasn’t able to return so well and I had my serve broken twice stupidly.’ 
All’s not well in Wayne’s world 
Agence France-Presse . Liverpool 

Wayne Rooney’s temperament is once again under scrutiny after Sir Alex Ferguson revealed he withdrew the striker during Manchester United’s 1-1 draw at Everton because he feared the player would be dismissed.
  Rooney was booked on his return to his former club in the 69th minute for a foul on Mikel Arteta and reacted to goading from the Goodison Park crowd by kissing the badge on his United shirt and pointing a finger in the air.
  Less than two minutes later United manager Ferguson intervened, substituting the forward for Nani because of concerns he would earn a red card from referee Alan Wiley.
  Rooney was replaced just eight minutes after Marouane Fellaini had equalised for Everton, cancelling out Darren Fletcher’s 22nd-minute opening goal.
  ‘I don’t know why he got booked,’ Ferguson said of Rooney. ‘And the way the referee was behaving I feared he would get sent off. ‘The way the crowd was reacting was having an effect on things.
  ‘So I had to take him off in case he got sent off.’
  Ferguson was unhappy with Wiley’s handling of a game that threatened to boil over after Everton captain Phil Neville’s crunching tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo that was punished with a yellow card,
  ‘It was like Australian Rules football and the referee didn’t give us enough protection. It was the speed of the challenges that were the problem.’
  But Everton manager David Moyes disagreed, saying: ‘Phil Neville’s tackle is a fantastic tackle, it really is. It was an outstanding tackle, it’s a full boot on the ball and there’s no way that is a booking or a foul.
  ‘Maybe the United players reacted because they thought it was bad tackle. I thought it must have been a foul by their reaction. But I’ve seen it again.’
  A solitary point meant United missed out on the chance to reduce the gap between themselves and joint leaders Chelsea and Liverpool to three points just a day before the top two were due to face each other at Stamford Bridge.
  And it also left them in the extraordinary position of being five points behind Hull after the Premier League new boys’ 3-0 win away to West Brom.
  ‘We had some good chances, played some fantastic football but at the end, I don’t think we capitalised on that,’ Ferguson admitted. ‘This was two points dropped.’
  Everton had taken just one point from their four home league games this season before the visit of United. But an optimistic Moyes said: ‘I hope this can help our season. To get a point against Manchester United is as good as a win because of the way we have been playing.
  ‘The team we had today (Saturday) was more or less the team that got us to fifth with Marouane Fellaini for Lee Carsley and Louis Saha for Andy Johnson.
  ‘These are the same players, we haven’t done anything different, but we have players coming back from long term injuries in the summer.’
  Moyes was especially pleased with Fellaini, who scored his second goal since his 15 million pounds transfer window move from Standard Liege.
  ‘I think people thought when we paid the money this was going to be something that would instantly happen but this is a 20-year-old boy and he’s coming into a team that, if I’m being honest, has been struggling at the moment,’ the Scot explained.
  ‘If you go and talk about him in Belgium, they’ll tell you he’s a big star of the future. He’s a big player for the Belgium national team and I think in the future he will be a star.
  ‘He’s getting used to us and we’re getting used to him.’ 
Ballack apologises for Low blow 
Agence France-Presse . Berlin 

Germany captain Michael Ballack has apologised to national team coach Joachim Low for comments made last week in a German newspaper criticising him for showing a lack of respect to senior players.
  ‘I must acknowledge it was unfortunately an error to chose this way (to communicate),’ Chelsea midfielder Ballack said in a statement.
  ‘I will meet with Joachim Low as soon as my health allows and I will apologise to him for my behaviour.’
  Ballack first apologised to Low in a telephone conversation on Saturday evening and the pair have agreed to meet in Germany once Chelsea allows him to travel from London after recovering from his foot operation.
  But Low has made it clear the future role of Ballack in the national team will depend on the outcome of the conversation.
  ‘I have registered the explanation of Michael Ballack,’ said Low on the German Football Federation (DFB) website.
  ‘The personal discussion is much more important. Afterwards, I will give a concluding statement.’
  The pair are expected to meet in the next seven days once the stitches from Ballack’s operation have been removed.
  The row between the pair erupted last Tuesday in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) when Ballack criticised Low and said senior players in last June’s Euro 2008 squad were being treated unfairly.
  ‘Experienced national players deserve at least some respect and loyalty,’ Ballack had said following Germany’s wins over Russia and Wales in World Cup qualifiers.
  ‘There was a group of experienced players in that squad like Torsten Frings, Miroslav Klose and me whose achievements have suddenly been questioned and we find ourselves under attack.’
  But Ballack, 32, has now back-tracked on the FAZ interview and said he never intended to attack Low.
  ‘I telephoned Jogi Low again on Saturday and said it was never my intention to criticise his work as national team coach, but primarily to protect and support my fellow players in a difficult situation,’ said Ballack.
  ‘I have a high opinion of Jogi Low as a coach and a person.
  ‘Comments in the interview were made due to the situation and were not meant to be personal.
  ‘I did not want to attack anyone, but to openly address and criticise issues which were close to my heart.
  ‘But I do not stand by the
  contents of that interview any more.’
  Ballack has already been in hot-water with the DFB this year after his on-field argument with Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff immediately after the Euro 2008 final against Spain in June.
  With Germany set to face England at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on November 19 it remains to be seen if Ballack will captain ‘die Mannschaft’ for the friendly international - or for future matches. 
Ivanovic faces Zvonareva in final 
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Linz 

Ana Ivanovic and Vera Zvonareva had contrasting victories on Saturday to reach the final of the Linz Open.
  Top seeded Serbian Ivanovic battled for over two hours to beat third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, while Russian second seed Zvonareva needed only 51 minutes to trounce sixth seed Marion Bartoli of France 6-0, 6-1.
  Ivanovic and Radwanska played to a high standard. Ivanovic served and returned better and struck powerfully from the baseline but Radwanska was smarter and more persistent.
  The Serb gave up just three points on serve in the first set but her opponent became more aggressive in the second, often forcing Ivanovic into errors.
  Ivanovic did not give up the set lightly, though, and twice recovered a break. Even after a forehand error gave Radwanska a further break to lead 5-3 the Pole needed four set points to level the match.
  The final set was also tense. Ivanovic broke to lead 5-3, but two double-faults and a netted forehand allowed Radwanska to break back, and the outcome was finally settled when she netted a backhand volley to drop her serve at 6-5.
  ‘I was very emotional. It was a lot of up and downs in the third set,’ said Ivanovic, who reached her first final since winning the French Open in June.
  ‘I think the best thing I did was managing to stay calm and fight through the whole match, especially at 5-5 in the third set.’
  Zvonareva barely broke sweat against Bartoli.
  After winning just six points on serve in the first set Bartoli continued to struggle in the second, and did not earn a game point until the 11th game.
  The beleaguered Frenchwoman then won her only game when Zvonareva double-faulted but it was a brief reprieve.
  Zvonareva broke again to lead 5-1 but then struggled to close out the match, saving four break points before finally moving into the final on her third match point.
  ‘It was definitely a good performance from me,’ said Zvonareva. ‘I think I was staying pretty aggressive throughout the match and executed well in the important moments and that probably made the difference.’ 
I need to become more Italian, 
says Mourinho 
Agence France-Presse . Milan 

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho was up to his old tricks again on Saturday, toying with the Italian press and claiming he needs to become more Italian.
  Mourinho was well known for his soundbites during a little more than three years in England, often providing the content for column inches with his outrageous claims.
  The Italian press have not taken to him yet and were particularly outraged when he failed to turn up to a post match press conference earlier in the season, sending his assistant Giuseppe Baresi instead.
  And ahead of Sunday’s visit of Genoa, he poked fun at the Italian way of doing things when refusing to divulge his formation for the match.
  ‘I’m Italianising myself, I need to become more Italian, I’m also trying to become a nicer person,’ he said.
  ‘We have to respect our opponents, they know how to play, they’ve got great players and always play good football.
  ‘Hence, the match will be tough. Hopefully Inter will have more of the ball and more chances but we still have to defend well because Genoa know how to make the most of their opportunities.’
  Mourinho refused to be drawn on the wisdom of AC Milan’s pursuit of David Beckham, claiming it wasn’t his concern.
  ‘If Beckham comes to Milan I’ll be happy, it will be a pleasure to meet him because he’s a very polite and calm guy,’ he said.
  ‘It’s not my problem if his choice is good for him or if Carlo (Ancelotti, the AC Milan coach) will be happy or not.
  ‘I only think about Milan twice a year or maybe three or four times if we meet in the Coppa Italia.
  ‘I don’t care who Milan sign. I’m Inter’s coach and that’s it, I don’t want to be any more than that.’
  Mourinho also hit out at the French as he is without midfielder Patrick Vieira, who returned from international duty last week injured.
  ‘He’s getting a bit better but he can’t play yet. I also had French players at Chelsea and it was always the same thing.
  ‘They came back injured from international duty or they got injured a few days later.
  ‘I’m worried about losing Vieira for several more weeks.’
  Mourinho said he hoped France wouldn’t call up the former Arsenal and Juventus midfielder for a friendly in November.
  ‘France’s next official match is in 2009 and given that the player has always had problems when he goes (on international duty) the most logical thing would be to leave him to work at his club and call him up in 2009,’ he said.
  ‘But I bet for this friendly in November he’ll be called up. When I arrived here Vieira was injured with the national team, then he came back playing very well, he played four matches in a row for the first time in many years, he was really playing well.
  ‘Then he got injured again and now he’s out.’
  Mourinho is also without Esteban Cambiasso and Luis Jimenez but Brazilian full-back Maxwell is available again and goalkeeper Julio Cesar will take over in goal from Francesco Toldo, who made a rare appearance in midweek against Anorthosis Famagusta. 
Schweinsteiger strike fires 
Bayern up to fourth 
Agence France-Presse . Berlin 

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger on Saturday scored his second goal in two games to give Bayern Munich a 4-2 win over Wolfsburg to fire the defending Bundesliga champions up to fourth in the table.
  Having gone 2-0 behind at Munich’s Allianz Arena, it looked like Bayern were heading for their third defeat of the season - having lost to Werder Bremen and Hanover last month which left them 11th in the table before kick-off.
  But after conceding first-half goals from Wolfsburg strikers Brazilian Grafite and Edin Dzeko, Jurgen Klinsmann-coached Bayern wrestled back control of the game and have now won their last three matches.
  ‘We said before the game that we must hit the ground running and make a strong start,’ said Klinsmann. ‘We didn’t do that and suddenly found ourselves 2-0 down.
  ‘We had to put in a lot of hard work, but I must compliment the team on how they turned the game around. There was a lot of hard, hard work out there and it was no place for the faint-hearted.’
  Having scored in the 3-0 win over Fiorentina in the Champions League on Tuesday last week, Schweinsteiger then scored the fourth and final goal against Wolfsburg which sealed the win.
  His Germany team-mate Tim Borowski had put Bayern ahead in the 63rd minute with their third goal after French star Franck Ribery and Dutch captain Mark van Bommel before Schweinsteiger netted with ten minutes to spare.
  Wolfsburg, coached by former Bayern boss Felix Magath, took the lead when Munich defender Martin Demichelis was judged to have tackled Dzeko before the ball and referee Jochen Drees pointed to the penalty spot. Grafite fired home on 31 minutes to put the visitors ahead.
  And two minutes later Japanese midfielder Makoto Hasebe crossed the ball in and, with Munich’s defence seemingly reluctant to clear the danger, Dzeko headed home.
  But Bayern responded as Ribery drilled in a shot after a wonderful strike on 41 minutes to keep Munich in touch at the break.
  The home side then equalised in the second half as Ribery cut in from the wing for Germany striker Miroslav Klose to shoot, his shot was deflected by Wolfsburg’s goalkeeper Diego Benaglio, but van Bommel headed home on 54 minutes.
  And Bayern took the lead on 62 minutes when Borowski connected with Ze Roberto’s cross to put the home side ahead before Schweinsteiger hit the fourth on 80 minutes.
  Also on Saturday, bottom side Energie Cottbus are two points adrift at the bottom of the table thanks to their 3-2 defeat at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
  Having earned Werder Bremen a point at Panathinaikos in the Champions League on Wednesday, Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida equalised for his side at Hanover in the 1-1 draw which leaves Bremen eighth.
  Schalke 04 drew 0-0 with Arminia Bielefeld to move up to fifth in the table and Borussia Moenchengladbach came off the bottom of the league with a 1-0 win at home to Karlsruhe as veteran coach Hans Meyer took charge.
  On Friday night, Bayer Leverkusen became league leaders with their 2-0 win over Cologne, but with main title rivals Hamburg and Hoffenheim playing each other on Sunday their lead may only be temporary. 
Rossi thwarted as Stoner 
thrives in Valencia 
Agence France-Presse . Valencia 

Newly-crowned world champion Valentino Rossi suffered another bout of Valencia misery on Saturday when he could only clock the 10th-fastest time in qualifying for the final race of the season.
  Outgoing world champion Casey Stoner of Australia took pole on his Ducati ahead of Honda duo Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden.
  Rossi, with eight world titles to his name and six in the top class, fell off his machine in the 2006 race here while he broke his hand in 2007.
  Now the Italian has a mountain to climb if he is to set a new record on Sunday.
  With 357 points, he needs 11 more points to beat his own mark for points scored in a season (367 in 2005) and equalled by Stoner in 2007. ‘I have had two bad years at Valencia and I want to erase those memories with a good result this year,’ said Yamaha rider Rossi.
  ‘In 2006 I fell and I lost the championship and last year I broke my hand and lost second place in the championship. It’s not the best circuit for Yamaha but I won here the first year with them and I want to win again on Sunday.’
  Stoner captured his ninth pole position of the year, clocking 1min 31.502sec, and the 19th of his career in the MotoGP class.
  ‘This afternoon we struggled a bit at the beginning of the session to get a decent setup; we were a long way off the times,’ said the Australian.
  ‘We tried something a little bit different in the rear shock and it seemed to really help us. We got a lot more feeling in the middle of the turn and were able to corner harder.
  ‘Then we threw on the qualifying tyres and were quite lucky there - it had looked like it was going to rain and I’d end up at the back of the grid.
  ‘But it stayed away and we were able to get our qualifiers in. The laps were reasonable, not great, but we had some nice clean laps.’
  Pedrosa, who won here last year, was just 0.053sec behind with Hayden a 10th of a second slower.
  The American rider will leave Honda after Sunday’s race to join Stoner at Ducati.
  Marco Simoncelli is on pole in the 250cc division with Hungary’s Gabor Talmacsi leading the 125cc class.

Monday Sports News

Selection dilemma over Mishra 
Agence France-Presse . New Delhi 

India’s new bowling star Amit Mishra is sweating on selection for the third Test against Australia — despite a match-winning seven-wicket haul against the tourists.
  The 25-year-old was picked for the second Test in Mohali as a last-minute replacement for injured Indian leg-spin veteran Anil Kumble and tied the Australians in knots with his enormous leg-breaks and the odd googly.
  The debutant’s seven wickets helped India to a thumping 320-run win, and the Australians are desperate to avoid a repeat in this week’s New Delhi Test.
  But they may receive help from the Indian selectors, who face a tricky selection dilemma for the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series beginning here on Wednesday, with Kumble raring to play on his favourite surface.
  The inspirational Indian skipper became only the second bowler to take all 10 wickets in a Test innings after England’s Jim Laker at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium here in 1999. And he has 55 wickets at a rate of just 15.41 in six Tests at the venue.
  The 38-year-old’s injured shoulder is improving rapidly and he is keen to lead India again with time running out of his career spanning 18 years and 131 Tests.
  But former Australian Test captain Ian Chappell believes Mishra should be given the nod over Kumble.
  ‘Mishra is a talented leg spinner. His control and variety confused the Australians in the Mohali game,’ he wrote in his Cricinfo column, adding that going back to Kumble would be a step backwards for India.
  Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke said whoever was selected would be a challenge as the tourists seek to battle their way back into the four-Test series, in which they trail 1-0.
  ‘They are two very different bowlers but Anil has been fantastic for India for a long time,’ he said. ‘I would imagine if he is fit he will be back in the team in Delhi and the youngster is just going to have to wait until Anil gets injured again, retires, whatever he decides to do.
  ‘Whoever they pick, we know we are going to have to bat well against them.’
  Mahendra Dhoni, who stood in as captain for Kumble in the Mohali Test, kept his cards close to his chest although he was full of praise for the youngster, who has played in three one-day internationals. ‘I believe in him (Mishra) as I believe in every guy in the squad,’ he said.
  ‘It’s not fair to doubt anyone. He may not have 500-600 wickets but he has loads of wickets (310) in domestic cricket. He is different from other bowlers in that he flights the ball but is not quick in the air. ‘You have to use your feet against him because his googly and slider can really fool the batsman.’
  With such a selection dilemma on their hands, India may well keep the Australians guessing until the captains come out for the toss on Wednesday morning. 
Title holder Murray faces 
qualifier Golubev in final 
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . St Petersburg 

Top seed Andy Murray will defend his St Petersburg Open title against surprise finalist Andrey Golubev after thrashing Fernando Verdasco 6-0, 6-3 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
  The 150th-ranked Kazakh qualifier Golubev, who upset former world number one Marat Safin in round two, crushed Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-0 in 54 minutes to reach Sunday’s final.
  Murray, who overwhelmed Verdasco in last year’s final to win the $1 million tournament on his debut appearance in Russia’s second city, was just as dominant on Saturday as he took his tally against the Spaniard to four wins out of four.
  The Briton breezed through the opening set in 25 minutes before the third seed put up some resistance early in the second.
  But the world number four, on course for his fifth title of the year and his second in two weeks after clinching the Madrid Masters last Sunday, earned a decisive break in the eighth game and went on to secure victory in just over an hour.
  ‘I was feeling very comfortably throughout the match as he (Verdasco) looked weaker than me today,’ Murray said.
  Golubev, who has played mainly on the Challenger circuit and had won only three ATP matches in his career until this week, said he was looking forward to facing Murray in his first big final.
  ‘This has been a dream week for me,’ the 21-year-old, who was born and raised in Russia before switching his alliance to Kazakhstan last year, told reporters.
  ‘I’ve already achieved more than I’ve ever expected and I’ll have nothing to lose against Murray. I just don’t want to be embarrassed tomorrow and to show that I can play tennis too.’
  Murray said he would not underestimate his opponent.
  ‘I played Golubev several times when we were younger,’ said the Scot, who is also 21. ‘He is a tough opponent and I expect a tough match tomorrow.’ 
ICC rewards Afghanistan’s 
winning run with funding 
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Kabul 

The International Cricket Council has pledged vital funds for Afghanistan’s fledgling team after it won a tournament that could pave the way for a 2011 World Cup berth, an official said on Sunday.
  The international governing body made the decision last week as part of its incentive programme designed to reward nations new to the sport that have shone in regional tournaments, the head of Afghanistan’s Cricket Federation told Reuters.
  ‘Based on the pledge, Afghanistan’s cricket federation will receive between five to six hundred thousand dollars for the coming five years from the International Cricket Council,’ Allah Daad Noori said.
  Afghanistan went unbeaten in two World Cup qualifying tournaments this year, the second of which was the ICC World Cricket League Division 4 in Tanzania, where they clinched a place in next January’s Division 3 competition in Argentina.
  The top two sides from the six nations competing there will progress to the 12-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, from which the four semi-finalists will advance to the 2011 finals.
  The help from the ICC is a major boost for the Afghan team which is plagued by a shortage of funds and facilities in a country devastated by three decades of war.
  Cricket is still relatively new in Afghanistan, a country which unlike neighbouring imperial India was never colonised by the British.
  The growth of cricket in Afghanistan is instead an unexpected by-product of the 1980s Soviet occupation as millions of Afghans fled to Pakistan and picked up the sport in refugee camps there.
  The Afghan Cricket Federation hoped to use the extra funds to develop new facilities, Noori said.
  Currently, most games in Afghanistan are played in a whirl of dust on patches of waste ground, but cricket authorities have brought in soil and laid grass in an effort to create a showpiece national ground.
  The success of the Afghan cricket team this year comes after the country won its first ever medal at the Beijing Olympic Games, a bronze in taekwondo.
  The 2011 World Cup is being co-hosted by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. 
Jankovic secures end-of-year top spot 
Agence France-Presse . St Petersburg 

Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title, will finish the 2008 season as the world number one, the WTA announced on Saturday.
  Currently holding 4,555 points in the rankings, 23-year-old Jankovic has a commanding lead over Dinara Safina (3,782) and Serena Williams (3,716).
  Jankovic secured the year-end number one ranking by winning 12-straight matches en route to three consecutive titles - the China Open in Beijing, the Grand Prix in Stuttgart and the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
  As a result, Jankovic increased her 2008 singles title count to four, having also won the Tier I event in Rome one the eve of the French Open.
  ‘It has been a truly amazing year for me,’ Jankovic said. ‘Winning four WTA Tour titles, over 60 matches and to make it to two semi-finals and a final in the Grand Slams of 2008 is a dream come true.
  ‘I worked really hard this year and to finish No.1 is where I want to be and where I hope to stay.’
  In addition to her four 2008 singles titles, Jankovic reached the finals in Miami and the 2008 US Open, her first career Grand Slam final. In addition, she advanced to the semi-finals at two Grand Slams, falling to eventual champion Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open and eventual champion Ana Ivanovic at Roland Garros.
  Jankovic was one of five players to hold the World No.1 ranking this year along with Justine Henin (20 weeks), who retired on May 14 and immediately took her name off the rankings, Ana Ivanovic (12 weeks), Maria Sharapova (three weeks) and Serena Williams (four weeks).

Monday Sports News

Women’s football suspended 
Staff Correspondent 

The three scheduled matches of the Dhaka Metropolitan Women’s School Football Tournament at the Dhanmondi Women’s Sports Complex were suspended due to incessant rain in the capital on Sunday.
  Viqarunnissa Noon School were scheduled to meet Natun Kuri, Master Mind were pitted against Summer Field and Siddheshwari Girls’ School were to face Azimpur Girls’ High School in the day’s matches.
  The matches have been shifted to October 29, while the semi-finals will take place on October 30 instead of October 29. The remaining fixture will remain unchanged. 
Australia receive ODI championship award 
Agence France-Presse . New Delhi 

Australia captain Ricky Ponting collected the one-day championship shield on Sunday for his team’s move to the top of the world rankings.
  The Australians regained top spot after defeating the West Indies in the opening game of the five-match ODI series in St. Vincent in June. The shield was presented to Ponting here by Inderjit Bindra, principal adviser to the International Cricket Council, ahead of the third Test against India starting on Wednesday.
  ‘It’s good for Australia to hold the ICC ODI Championship shield once again,’ Ponting said.
  ‘Following our success in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007 we were challenged at the top of the rankings by a good South Africa team but we pride ourselves on improvement.
  ‘I’m pleased that we’ve played well enough recently in ODI cricket to regain this prestigious award.’
  Bindra hailed Australia’s performance in the 50-over format over the year. ‘For me Australia have always been an exciting side and are the worthy holders of the ICC ODI Championship shield as they have remarkable consistency in winning 25 of the 34 ODIs, with three no-results, since April 1, 2007.
  ‘They retained the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies last year and reclaimed the number-one position by making a clean sweep of the five-match series against the West Indies.’
  ICC ODI Championship Table
  (Rank, Team, Rating points)
  1 Australia 131
  2 South Africa 118
  3 England 116
  4 New Zealand 113
  5 India 113
  6 Pakistan 110
  7 Sri Lanka 105
  8 West Indies 95
  9 Bangladesh 47
  10 Ireland 19
  11 Zimbabwe 15
  12 Kenya 14 
Tigers embark on SA tour Nov 1 
Staff Correspondent 

The Bangladesh national cricket team will have only two days’ recess after the New Zealand series before leaving for South Africa on November 1 to play three ODIs and two Tests against the Proteas during the month-long tour.
  Bangladesh Cricket Board is expected to declare the squad on Tuesday. The rain-affected second and final Test against New Zealand is scheduled to end on Wednesday.
  Bangladesh will start their campaign with a day-night Twenty20 match against South Africa on Nov 5 at the New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.
  The Tigers will play the first ODI on Nov 7 at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom, second ODI on Nov 9 at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni and the 3rd and last ODI on Nov 12 at Buffalo Park in East London. All the matches will be day-night affairs.
  After completing the ODI series Bangladesh will warm up for the Test series with a two-day match against South African Airways Challenge X1 on Nov 15-16 at the De Beer Diamond Oval in Kimberley.
  The first Test will be played from Nov 19-23 at Bloemfontein while the second Test will be held at Centurion from Nov 26-30. 
NCL hit by rain 
Staff Correspondent 

Due to the inclement weather and continuous downpour the three third round matches of the Ispahani Mirzapore Tea National Cricket League could not be started on Sunday.
  The matches will begin today, weather permitting.
  Leaders Rajshahi and Dhaka were waiting at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium, defending champions Khulna and Chittagong were at the Chittgaong Divisional Stadium while Barisal and Sylhet were in the dressing room of Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra. 
Joseph, Benn lead Superstars 
Cricinfo 

Stanford Superstars (146/5) beat Trinidad & Tobago (124/8) by 22 runs
  A thumping and unbeaten 45 from the Stanford Superstars’ stand-in captain, Sylvester Joseph, led his side to a convincing 22-run win over Trinidad & Tobago in the first match of the eagerly anticipated Stanford Super Series.
  The opening game was a warm-up to the richer events that lie in store next week, but there was still plenty of intrigue, not least in gauging the vagaries of the pitch – the sandy-coloured stage on which the small matter of an unprecedented US$20 million rests. From the outset, it was difficult for batsmen to time the ball, the only reward coming from muscular and powerful hitting, which Trinidad lacked.
  The Superstars initially struggled, however, with Trinidad – the domestic Stanford 20/20 champions – opening the bowling with Samuel Badree, the legspinner. Bowling full, straight and at a good pace, Badree restricted the Superstars’ strokeplay, and although Andre Fletcher and Travis Dowlin’s opening partnership spanned 7.3 overs, they scratched a paltry 34. As it turned out, this was a vital base on which to propel their innings in the last five overs.
  Fletcher grew in confidence, flicking the legspinner through midwicket and heaving him over the top for the series’ first six, but he eventually fell trying to lift another maximum to long-on, neatly taken by Ravi Rampaul. Trinidad were applying the squeeze impressively, as the Superstars limped to 50 for 2 at the halfway point, but Joseph and Dowlin provided the momentum with a brisk stand of 55 in six overs.
  Captaining the side in place of Chris Gayle, who was unavailable due to family problems, Joseph took a shine to Trinidad’s other spinner, Rishi Bachan. Joseph lifted him muscularly over midwicket before launching Sherwin Ganga onto the roof of Sir Allen’s prized Sticky Wicket restaurant.
  And then came Kieron Pollard, a heavyweight in build and batsmanship, who smashed 24 from 14 balls to really give the Superstars a late-innings charge. His only six was one of the biggest of the night, heaving Navin Stewart over midwicket and into the swimming pool. Impressively, Stewart held his nerve to york him in the same over, and Lyndon James three balls later. The Superstars had carved 96 from the second half of their innings, helped by three dropped catches from Trinidad. Nevertheless, a target of 147 still seemed perfectly gettable.
  They began poorly though, Jerome Taylor removing Lendl Simmons with a searing delivery which pinged off the surface, but William Perkins ensured Trinidad were within touching distance with a crowd-pleasing 18 from 16 balls. Like Trinidad, however, the Superstars were quick to wheel in their spinners, and Sulieman Benn, a towering windmill of a spinner at 6ft 7in, fired in a yorker to bowl Perkins.
  In came Justin Guillen – whose great uncle was Sammy Guillen, Test cricketer of both West Indies and New Zealand – and he was in elegant touch, driving sweetly through the off side. On a pitch offering no pace, Trinidad needed much more than classy twos and threes, however. Stewart showed his appetite for a battle with an enjoyable 26 which contained two of the night’s zingiest sixes – Dave Mohammed was dispatched out of the ground with ease. But with 49 needed from 25 balls, and Benn bowling full and straight, Trinidad lacked lower-order firepower to make a go of it.
  This was not the clinical performance the Superstars’ seven-week training camp promised, with dropped catches and a below-par batting performance, but they were strong enough on the night. 
Dasgupta shines for Bengal 
against Dhaka 
Cricinfo 

Royal Bengal Tigers (175/2) beat Dhaka Warriors (172/7) by eight wickets
  Sparking half-centuries from Aftab Ahmed and Alok Kapali carried the Dhaka Warriors to a competitive 172, but Deep Dasgupta’s blistering unbeaten 80 helped the Bengal Royal Tigers overhaul that with eight deliveries and eight wickets remaining. Dhaka’s medium-pacers had been unable to tie down the runs in the tournament, and it was yet another disappointing performance. Bengal knocked off the runs with ease, thanks to Dasgupta’s 109-run stand in 12.3 overs with Rohan Gavaskar.
  By the time Hamish Marshall was bowled by Mosharraf Hossain, Bengal had rattled away 41 in 4.3 overs. Gavaskar was promoted to No. 3 - he hit 30 off 12 balls against the Mumbai Champs recently - and he offered perfect support to Dasgupta, who was aggressive from the off, striking the ball with power and placement. Gavaskar ran the singles well, but it was Dasgupta’s ability to find the boundary that frustrated Dhaka. Either making room to drill the ball over extra cover or rock back to pull the errant deliveries, he was unstoppable.
  Gavaskar’s first ICL half-century consumed 32 balls and included some soft-handed steers to third man to compliment three sixes. Mohammad Rafique got him lbw for 51 with the last ball of the 17th over, but in the next Klusener had an lbw appeal overturned after it was reviewed by the television umpire. A second six from Dasgupta, effortlessly lifted over midwicket, hastened victory in the same over, and it was all over when Klusener thumped his second six.
  After electing to field, Bengal struck in the first over when Klusener had Nazimuddin caught by Upul Chandana for 2. Clearly unaffected by his opening partner’s departure, however, Aftab hit Abu Nechim for two sixes in one over, using his feet superbly. Shahriar Nafees chipped Eklak Ahmid’s first delivery to Adams at deep midwicket but Aftab remained in a different zone.
  He crunched boundaries either side of the pitch and when Chandana was brought on as Dhaka’s 50 came up in six overs, Aftab welcomed him with a six and a four. The third six raised his fifty from just 30 deliveries. A miscued pull ballooned back to Ahmid to cut short a thrilling innings on 61, from 42 balls. Mahbubul Karim swung and missed to be bowled by Ahmid for 4 to make it 123 for 4.
  A bent-knee six from Kapali only minimally dented Ahmid’s very creditable 3 for 20 from four overs, but that was just the start. A lovely short-arm jab brought Kapali his fourth six in the same direction and he raised his fifty from 27 balls. Adams served up a chest-high full toss and Kapali steered it over third man for six more. Chasing a rising delivery from Klusener, Kapali was smartly stumped by Dasgupta in the penultimate over. His 65, with five sixes, had apparently
  done plenty of damage, but Dhaka’s bowlers had another poor outing. 
Federer faces Nalbandian 
in hometown final 
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Basel 

Roger Federer will take on David Nalbandian in the Swiss Indoors final after the Basel-born, world number two’s bid for a third straight hometown title continued with an easy semi-final win on Saturday.
  The top seeded Federer booked his place in Sunday’s decider with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez while second seeded Argentine Nalbandian saw off compatriot and Davis Cup teammate Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4, 6-4.
  Federer faced two break points in his second service game against Lopez but defended them calmly with a service winner and an ace.
  After that he had no further problems — hitting a total of 15 aces and breaking Lopez three times to complete his seventh win in seven matches against the Spaniard.
  ‘I had a bit of difficulty at the start,’ acknowledged Federer. ‘But then I found my rhythm and my serve was working even better than normal so I’m really happy about that.’
  Federer said he expected a tougher challenge on Sunday from Nalbandian, whose 8 wins and 9 losses in previous matches against the Swiss is one of the best records on the tour.
  ‘Nalbandian? Never heard of him,’ the 13-time grand slam champion joked when asked about the prospect of playing the Argentine once again.
  ‘It’s true he has a good record against me and he’s also one of the few players to have been to at least the semi-finals of every Grand Slam event. It should be a lot of fun on Sunday.’
  Nalbandian also came through a one-sided match after benefiting considerably from the third-seeded Del Potro’s difficulties with a lingering toe injury.
  The 20-year-old world number nine began the match well enough against Nalbandian — the senior Argentine by six years and one world ranking place — breaking early to lead 2-0.
  A series of unforced errors by Del Potro and some astute play from Nalbandian allowed the former Wimbledon finalist to pull back with two breaks of his own, however, after which Del Potro called for treatment on the troublesome toe.
  It made little difference as Nalbandian cleverly exploited his colleague’s misfortune, spraying the ball left and right and even mixing in a handful of harsh drop shots.
  After wrapping up the first set he broke ahead early in the second and was barely troubled before saving a solitary break point at 5-4 with another drop shot that drew sympathetic groans from the crowd and then serving out.
  Del Potro, who was forced to out of this month’s Vienna Open because of the problem with the nail on his right big toe, said it would not stop him playing in next month’s Davis Cup final despite requiring removal and 15 days rest.
  ‘If I can play here I can play Davis Cup,’ he said. ‘We have the chance to win the Davis Cup for the first time so I don’t want to be thinking about my toe.’

Monday Sports News

ICC asked to overturn result 
of forfeited Oval Test 
Agence France-Presse . New Delhi 

The Marylebone Cricket Club, the game’s rule-makers, asked the International Cricket Council on Sunday to overturn the result of the 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan.
  The result of the forfeited Test match was changed from an England win to a draw by the ICC in July but the MCC said the move contravened the laws of cricket.
  ‘The MCC’s World Cricket Committee met here over the weekend and states that ICC was not justified in overturning the result of the Oval Test,’ MCC Head of Cricket John Stephenson said in a statement.
  ‘The Committee urges ICC to revoke its decision which is contrary to the laws of cricket and to confirm that the original result of the match still stands.’
  What was the first and only forfeit in the history of Test cricket took place at The Oval in August 2006 when Australian umpire Darrell Hair and his West Indian colleague Billy Doctrove penalised Pakistan five penalty runs for alleged ball-tampering.
  That sparked an angry response from Pakistan, who refused to take the field after tea on the fourth day in protest — a move that saw the umpires declare that Pakistan had forfeited the match and award it to England.
  Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq was subsequently cleared of ball tampering charge and Hair was removed from the ICC’s elite panel of umpires.
  He was only reinstated as a Test umpire earlier this year after a legal battle which saw Hair allege he was the victim of racial discrimination by the ICC before dropping his case at an employment tribunal hearing in London.
  In overturning the result, the ICC said its decision was based on the view that in light of the unique set of circumstances the original result was felt to be inappropriate.
  Stephenson said whatever the circumstances, ICC did not have the power to alter the result of a match.
  ‘The ICC does not have the power under the laws of
  cricket to decide that results should be altered whether it feels them to be inappropriate or otherwise.
  ‘The ICC decision is wrong and sets a very dangerous precedent. Cricket is worse for this decision.’
  MCC was formerly the governing body of cricket in England and across the world. But most of its global functions were passed on to the ICC in 1993 and its English powers were passed to the England and Wales Cricket Board.
  It remains the framer and copyright holder of the Laws of Cricket. 
Hayden ready to counter Zaheer 
Agence France-Presse . New Delhi 

Australia’s struggling opener Matthew Hayden said on Sunday he would go after India’s Zaheer Khan despite being dismissed by the bowler three times in the series.
  Hayden, 36, said Zaheer’s behaviour during the second Test in Mohali revealed an unstable temperament which he wanted to exploit in the third Test beginning here on Wednesday.
  ‘There’s method behind my madness,’ Hayden told reporters here.
  ‘Zaheer Khan has been put under pressure a lot by myself and (Adam) Gilchrist in all the tournaments we’ve played in one-dayers and I’ve also tried to emulate that when we’ve played Tests.
  ‘I just feel like he’s vulnerable when he’s like that. His temperament was revealed the other day by his send-off. He loses consistency and control when he does that.’
  Zaheer was docked 80 per cent of his match fee for an angry exchange with Hayden and for pointing him to the pavilion after Hayden had belted four fours in his quickfire knock of 29 before being dismissed by Harbhajan Singh.
  ‘It’s something that would be in the back of his mind and I can use that to my advantage,’ said Hayden, who has just 42 runs from four outings in the four-Test series so far.
  Hayden said he would
  adopt the same aggressive approach when he came out to bat again.
  ‘We saw straight away what happened when I was making those runs in Mohali, there were blokes going in every direction in the outfield.’
  Hayden, who attained batting renaissance in India during the 2001 series, has 835 runs from nine Tests in India at an average of 49.11.
  The burly Queenslander admitted his team, trailing 1-0 after the 320-run hammering in Mohali, needed him and pace spearhead Brett Lee to fire if they were to catch up with India.
  ‘You’ve got to have a strong presence from the guys that have been playing for a long time, it’s been no different this series.
  ‘When you look at it, myself and Binga (Lee) do need to play good cricket. We’re a vital part of that leadership group.’
  Hayden also said the team was expecting Stuart Clark to be fit for the Delhi Test and share the bowling responsibilities with Lee, who has just four wickets from four innings.
  ‘Taller guys who bowl into the wicket as we have seen with (Ishant) Sharma do make a difference and a bit of variation in height and bounce can be effective when you’ve got height into the wicket,’ he said.
  ‘So Stuart will be a big plus assuming that he is fit.’ 
Lawson to seek legal help 
over pay dispute 
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Karachi 

Sacked Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson is seeking legal advice over a pay dispute, sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Sunday.
  PCB director general Salim Altaf said the Australian former test bowler had returned a cheque given to him as full and final payment because he was unhappy with the sum. Lawson was due three months’ pay as compensation for the early termination of his contract and Altaf said this obligation had been met.
  ‘We will look into it and have it sorted out by our lawyers. Contractual obligations will be fulfilled,’ Altaf said.
  Sources in the board told Reuters that Lawson had told the PCB that he was in touch with the Australian high commission for legal advice and that he would not leave Pakistan until the matter was settled.
  Lawson declined to comment. Lawson’s contract was terminated by the Pakistan board on Friday with nine months remaining of his two-year contract.
  He was appointed coach last year after the death of Bob Woolmer during the World Cup.
  The PCB has appointed former test player Intikhab Alam as coach for next month’s one-day series against West Indies in Abu Dhabi and also offered him a two-year contract that has to first be ratified by the governing body. 
‘England players must play 
substantial amount of IPL’ 
Cricinfo 

Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, has said the chances of England players appearing in the league are dim unless they are available for a significant portion of the 2009 tournament. The England board is believed to have made its players available for 14 days of the IPL as part of a deal in which 20 IPL players will be released for the ECB’s proposed Twenty20 league.
  ‘The critical issue for us is whether it is appealing enough for our club owners to have English players only for a few matches,’ Modi, told Observer Sport. ‘They must be there for a substantial number of games or for all the matches.
  ‘Are the franchise owners happy for Kevin Pietersen to play a handful of matches and then go away? I don’t think anybody would be happy with that. He wouldn’t add any value and would be more of a disruption. It takes time to gel with team-mates and to become part of team strategy and implement that strategy.’
  Modi said it would have been different had the England players joined the IPL in the beginning, before its commercial rights were sold. ‘Their impact and market value would have been reflected in our broadcast rights or in the amount of sponsorship we could have sold. But we have sold those rights for ten years already. So we in the IPL do not benefit from their addition to the league.’
  Sean Morris, the Professional Cricketers’ Association chief executive, said he will discuss the matter with the England players and then talk to the ECB. ‘Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are keen to play in the IPL, so they will not be very happy with this news,’ Morris said. ‘But they are pawns in a game of international politics between the two boards.
  Everyone says you need to create an official window in the international cricket calendar to let the IPL happen. What I’m seeing is the manipulation of Test teams.’
  Sri Lanka cancelled their tour of England in 2009 to allow their players to participate in the IPL. West Indies are expected to take their place but Morris was doubtful whether any strong team will be available to play England. ‘Chris Gayle [the West Indies captain] is getting $900,000 to play in the IPL, so what do you think is going to happen there? What are the chances of him coming to play for West Indies in England? It’s not going to happen. Who, actually, will be available for England to play? Go through the teams. Scotland or Ireland? There’s no one else left.
  ‘The reality is world cricket has all the eggs in one basket and we’re not one of them. It’s hurting us domestically with things like the Champions League,’ Morris said. ‘Because Australia and South Africa have a 30 per cent and 20 per cent share, they will be receiving $150 million over the next ten years which they can obviously invest in their players and game. We will be receiving a participation fee of $1.5 million a year. That’s because we’re not a shareholder.’

Monday Sports News

Test not abandoned yet despite rain 
No play for the second consecutive day 
Azad Majumder 
 

Rain has washed out play for the second consecutive day in the second and final Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.
  The match is scheduled to start at 9:00am on Day Three if the weather permits, but the possibility of making up for lost time is unlikely with heavy showers forecast until Monday.
  It means the rain will have the final say in this match, though the umpires were not ready to give up.
  ‘There could be play on any of the five days, so there will be no decision of calling the match off until the fifth day. If the conditions are so bad on the fifth day that we could not start the match then it would be abandoned,’ said umpire Daryl Harper.
  ‘But at this stage we are hoping for some finer weather and hoping some play before that comes round,’ said the 57-year-old Australian.
  ‘The pitch is being covered for the last 72 hours, so we don’t know what is underneath. That is the most important area we have to look at, you know. We have to inspect it first and then we will take our decision about what to do,’ added another umpire Asoka de Silva.
  Neither Bangladesh nor New Zealand did turn up at the stadium and the umpires too went there only at 11:30am. After having a simple look at the ground which was still being drenched by the rain water, they decided to call off the day’s play.
  It left the few BCB staff and media personnel, who defied the poor weather to be at the stadium, guessing over the fate of the game, but the statement of the umpires allayed their fears.
  Umpire Harper said he has personal reason to start the game as it is his 75th Test match as an umpire.
  ‘I was never ever involved in a game when all five days were washed out. And my briefest Test was a one-and-half-day one in Madras a couple of years ago (between India and Sri Lanka). I am very keen to start this game, because this Test is my number 75 and I don’t want to miss out on it (laughs),’ he said.
  Cricket experts said the game will be treated as a draw if there is a toss at least, otherwise it will go down in cricket history as one of the very rare abandoned Test matches.
  Of the 1888 Test matches played so far, only seven had been abandoned completely. The last time a Test match was totally abandoned was in 1998, also involving New Zealand against India at Carisbrook in Dunedin.
  Test cricket has seen a result in two days 19 times, so the experts said the game is not yet dead and an outcome is still possible even if they can start the play on the fourth day.
  If the teams forfeit an innings or declare an innings on nought by mutual consent like what South Africa and England did at Centurion in 2000, a result is possible even on the fifth day, they said.
  In that game at Centurion, South Africa, who had already won the five-match series, ended the Day One on 155-6, but the next three days were rained off. On the fifth day when the play resumed the then England captain Naser Hussain took an initiative to bring some life into the game and asked his counterpart Hanse Cronje to forfeit an innings by each side.
  After South Africa finished their first innings on 248, England came out to bat and declared their innings without scoring any run and South Africa also forfeited their second innings setting a victory target of 249 runs for the visitors.
  England won the game by two wickets. A similar move can give the ongoing Test some life, provided there is some play possible on the fifth day. Cricket analysts, however, said that kind of move is unlikely here as New Zealand already lead the series.

Monday International News

Bush leaves successor a 
world of trouble 
Agence France-Presse . Washington 

US president George W Bush’s successor inherits a world of troubles come January, including wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a defiant Iran, and a US economy battered by the global financial crisis.
  The new president will take the reins of a limping superpower facing deep doubts overseas about the limits of its strength, and sharply diminished US standing even among Washington’s closest friends, recent studies find.
  ‘America’s moral leadership and decision-making competence will continue to be questioned at home and abroad, despite the arrival of new leadership in Washington,’ a Georgetown University working group said earlier this year.
  Already, both major contenders in the November 4 election — Bush’s fellow Republican and chosen successor John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama — have denounced the vastly unpopular president’s policies and promised a new course.
  ‘Restored respect will come only with fresh demonstrations of competence,’ the Georgetown group said in a study of US standing in the world and the foreign policy challenges of the next administration.
  Bush leaves a mountain of unfinished business. Barring perhaps unimaginable breakthroughs, it will fall to one of his successors to end the US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, herald the end of nuclear programmes in Iran and North Korea, and celebrate a lasting peace deal in the Middle East.
  And the next president will certainly inherit a grim economy — the White House this week predicted a sharp rise in unemployment, while some private-sector forecasts warn of a trillion-dollar budget deficit in 2009. 
Russia, neighbours eye Obama surge 
with uncertainty: experts 
Agence France-Presse . Moscow 

For Russia and its ex-Soviet neighbours, the Democratic Party candidate’s surge in the US presidential election campaign has people pondering the same question asked by his opponents: Who is Barack Obama?
  Unlike his Republican Party adversary John McCain, a Vietnam War veteran with avowedly hawkish views on Russia, Obama is far more an unknown quantity when it comes to US-Russian relations, experts said.
  ‘Under an Obama administration, US-Russian relations will develop in a less predictable, more interesting way,’ said Andrei Kortunov, president of the New Eurasia Foundation, a Moscow-based NGO that promotes civil society in Russia.
  ‘Obama is a challenge for Russian politicians. It was easy with Bush. The Republican administration made so many mistakes ... that it was fairly easy for our political leaders to polemicise and argue with them,’ he said.
  But while Obama has blasted Bush’s unilateralism and pledged to restore the United States’ image abroad, he has also echoed McCain’s criticism of Russia and accused Moscow of engaging in ‘evil behaviour.’ 
IMF chief guilty of ‘serious error 
of judgment’ in affair 
Agence France-Presse . Washington 

International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn kept his job Saturday after an investigation into his affair with an IMF economist, but was scolded by fund directors for ‘a serious error of judgment.’
  Based on an independent external inquiry, the IMF executive board said it had ‘concluded that there was no harassment, favouritism, or any other abuse of authority by the managing director.
  ‘Nevertheless, the executive board noted that the incident was regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment,’ it said in a statement.
  In a teleconference with the press, IMF executive director Shakour Shaalan said that the board had unanimously accepted Strauss-Kahn’s apologies and that it would continue to work with him.
  ‘The mood of the board was very, very positive,’ he said after it met Saturday on the case. ‘Our conclusion was that this in no way affects the effectiveness of the managing director.’ 
Palin’s homestate Alaska 
newspaper backs Obama 
Agence France-Presse . Los Angeles 

Alaska’s top newspaper on Sunday endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for the White House, saying it would be too risky to put their Republican state governor Sarah Palin just ‘one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world.’
  The Anchorage Daily News, the leading daily in the overwhelmingly Republican state, called Palin’s vice-presidential nomination ‘an improbable and highly memorable event’ and added that ‘many Alaskans are proud to see their governor, and their state, so prominent on the national stage.’
  Nevertheless, the newspaper editorial deemed her not yet ready to serve in the White House, and saying the hometown boosterism ‘does not overwhelm all other judgment.’
  The paper was even more scathing in its assessment of the top of the Republican ticket.
  ‘Our sober view is that her running mate, senator John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation,’ the daily wrote.
  ‘Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office,’ the Anchorage Daily News said.

Monday International News

British-S African buried 
in Afghan capital 
Agence France-Presse . Kabul 

A British-South African aid worker gunned down in Afghanistan last week was buried in a cemetery in Kabul in a heavily guarded funeral attended by about 50 friends, family and colleagues.
  Gayle Williams, shot dead on Monday in a killing claimed by the insurgent Taliban movement, had asked to be buried in Afghanistan where she worked with disabled children, those close to her said.
  Friends and family — including her mother Patricia and sister Karen, who arrived from Britain and South Africa respectively — wept as her coffin was lowered into the ground.
  The funeral, in the city’s historic British cemetery, was attended by British diplomats and watched over by police and guards. Williams’ relatives were taken to meet the president, Hamid Karzai, at his palace afterwards.
  The Taliban said the 34-year-old aid worker was targeted because SERVE Afghanistan, the organisation she worked for, was ‘preaching Christianity’ — a charge rejected by the group.
  On Saturday a British man and a South African man were shot dead by their Afghan guard, who then turned the gun on himself.
  The motive for the killing is unclear but it has added to security concerns among expatriates based in the city, which has suffered a series of dramatic attacks this year. 
Sudan confident Chinese hostages 
will be released 
Agence France-Presse . Khartoum 

The Sudanese government on Sunday expressed optimism that nine Chinese oil workers kidnapped more than a week ago seemingly by Darfur rebels would soon be released, safe and well.
  ‘We are working to achieve the release. This will happen definitely, yes, I’m sure,’ foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadiq told reporters after talks with China’s visiting special envoy to Darfur, Liu Guijin.
  Three Chinese engineers and six other workers employed by the China National Petroleum Corporation in South Kordofan, a state which includes the disputed oil district of Abyei, were kidnapped on October 18.
  ‘They are fine,’ Sadiq added.
  He attributed a ‘delay’ in efforts to release the nine down to concerns over their safety.
  ‘We don’t want to engage in anything that might cause harm to the abducted. We are optimistic. We will achieve something,’ said Sadiq. The diplomat said he had no idea when the workers would be released but stressed ‘hopefully it will be very soon’.
  Sadiq said the authorities know where the Chinese are being held, but refused to give further information in order not to jeopardise the rescue.
  The Chinese were snatched in Heglig, near the line separating the former warring north and south, in the Muglad Basin where most of Sudan’s proven oil reserves are located. 
Obama, McCain fight over 
western states 
Agence France-Presse . Albuquerque, New Mexico 

Front-runner Barack Obama and a scrapping John McCain fought a pitched battle over western states Sunday as the Democratic nominee was to woo voters in Colorado and his Republican rival prepared to appear on national television.
  Obama played to vast crowds in New Mexico and Nevada Saturday before heading to Colorado, another key battleground state, where he was to campaign on Sunday.
  McCain, desperately needing to reverse Obama’s momentum, was to appear for an in-depth interview on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ programme.
  But he faced a new rash of painful headlines about his running mate Sarah Palin, amid signs finger pointing typical of losing campaigns was beginning to afflict his White House effort.
  Obama made a fresh bid to shackle senator McCain to president George W Bush’s unpopular economic legacy.
  ‘John McCain’s mad at George Bush, so opposed to George Bush’s policies, that he voted with him 90 per cent of the time for the past eight years,’ senator Obama said in a mass rally here.
  ‘That’s right, he decided to really stick it to George Bush 10 per cent of the time.’
  ‘John McCain attacking George Bush for his out-of-hand economic policy is like (vice president) Dick Cheney attacking George Bush for his go-it-alone foreign policy,’ he said, noting that Bush cast an advance ballot for the Republican nominee on Friday. ‘It’s like Robin getting mad at Batman.’
  The Obama rally in Albuquerque drew 35,000 people with an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 gathered outside, according to the local fire marshall.
  Earlier, a comparable McCain event in Albuquerque drew only an estimated 1,000.
  In another blow to the Republican campaign, The Anchorage Daily News, the main newspaper in Alaska, the home state of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, endorsed Obama, saying he ‘truly promises fundamental change in Washington.’
  At three stops in Nevada and New Mexico, Obama, who is vying to become America’s first black president, thanked well-wishers at his three rallies for a stream of flowers sent to his 85-year-old grandmother Madelyn Dunham’s apartment in Honolulu, Hawaii.
  ‘I just want you to know it meant the world to her, it means the world to me,’ Obama said. ‘Thank you everybody for being so gracious.’
  McCain jumped on a report in the New York Times that Obama’s transition chief had already drafted an inaugural address for the Illinois senator, suggesting he was hubristic and took voters for granted.
  ‘Senator Obama’s inaugural address is already written,’ McCain told a crowd of around 2,000 people at Mesilla’s historic plaza. ‘I’m not making it up. A lot of voters are undecided but he’s decided for them.’
  ‘There’s still 10 days left — maybe he’ll have written the State of the Union address before this thing is finished. I may be old-fashioned about these things, but I prefer to let the voters weigh in.’
  The Obama camp responded that the report that transition chief John Podesta had penned an address, which has already been published in a book, were false.
  ‘While this charge is completely false and there is no draft of an inaugural address for senator Obama, the last thing we need is a candidate like John McCain who just plans on rereading George Bush’s,’ said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.