Messi´s late strike sends Argentina through

BELO HORIZONTE: Lional Messi curled in a superb injury-time goal to give Argentina a 1-0 World Cup win over battling Iran to send them into the second round on Saturday.

Argentina dominated possession but rarely looked like penetrating the massed ranks of defenders and Iran, growing in confidence after the break, were twice denied as headers by Reza Ghoochannejhad and Ashkan Dejagah were saved by Romero, the second a spectacular tip over the bar.

The game looked to be heading for a draw until Messi scored his second of the tournament to put the Group F favourites on six points following their opening win over Bosnia.

Iran and Nigeria have one point while Bosnia are on zero ahead of their game against the Africans in Cuiaba later on Saturday. (Reuters)

 

Plunkett and Broad strike against Sri Lanka

LEEDS: Liam Plunkett took his Test-best figures and Stuart Broad his second Test hat-trick as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 257 by England on the first day of the second Test at Headingley on Friday.

England at stumps were 36 without loss. Alastair Cook, the England captain, was 14 not out and Australia-born opener Sam Robson 21 not out.

England, who had seen Cook win the toss and opt to field first in overcast conditions were clearly confident of inflicting a fresh collapse upon Sri Lanka having come within one wicket of victory after dismissing nine of the tourists´ batsmen on the last day at Lord´s. But England´s early good work threatened to be undone by Sri Lanka star batsman Kumar Sangakkara, who was given four reprieves on the way to top-scoring with 79.

Sangakkara eventually exited when he square-drove at Broad and Ian Bell, in his 100th Test, held an excellent catch in the gully.

Sangakkkara batted for just over three-and-a-half hours, facing 147 balls with 13 fours.

His departure was the start of a rapid collapse that saw four wickets lost for one run in nine balls.

Plunkett, who had already performed impressively Friday then had Dhammika Prasad caught behind for a duck.

Broad returned next over and ended an enterprising knock from Chandimal, playing in place of injured wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, when he was caught by Cook at first slip.

Broad then had his hat-trick when tailender Eranga was caught behind although neither the bowler nor his England team-mates were aware of his feat until an announcement was made over the public address system.

Plunkett, appropriately, ended the innings when he had Nuwan Pradeep, who´d frustrated England at Lord´s by holding out for the final five balls of the match, caught behind.

The 29-year-old former Durham paceman surpassed his previous Test-best of three for 17, also against Sri Lanka, in Birmingham in 2006.

Sri Lanka thought they had Cook caught at slip by Sangakkara on five but, with replays inconclusive, the left-hander survived. There was further drama before stumps when play was briefly held up after a piece of cheese was thrown from among the crowd in the Western Stand at Eranga.(AFP)

London subway strike called off at last minute

LONDON: Commuters in London and the city's hordes of tourists are breathing more easily after a planned three-day subway strike was called off at the last minute.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union suspended the strike Monday afternoon after progress was reported at talks with transport officials. The strike was due to start later Monday.

Union official Mike Cash said "real movement and significant progress on the issues at the heart of this dispute" had been made. The dispute centers on management plans to close all ticket offices on the sprawling subway network known as the Tube. Officials say some 750 jobs would be lost out of a staff of 18,000.

A two-day strike last week caused widespread disruption.

Around 3.5 million journeys are made daily on the Tube.

Punjabi men go on hunger strike in U.S. detention facility

Over hundred Punjabi men were said to be held in detention facilities for undocumented immigrants in El Paso, Texas, this week, with 42 of them embarking on the fourth day of a hunger strike to protest against authorities’ alleged denial of access to outside resources to the inmates.

Satnam Singh Chahal of the North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) expressed concern at the “miserable plight” of these “young men who are languishing in U.S. jails charged with illegal entry without valid entry visas”.

Howvever, when contacted by The Hindu the press officer at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement El Paso Processing Centre, Leticia Zamarripa, said, "I checked and there are no hunger strikers reported at the... Centre."

She said that she did not have any additional details available on the case but would be looking into it.

Speaking to The Hindu Mr. Chahal said that the men began their journey from India in July 2013 from India and reached Mexico via a circuitous global route involving Moscow, Havana, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

When they reached an unknown city of Mexico, he said, the entire group was held in a single room and not permitted to go outside the room.

At some point prior to November 11 2013, when they found themselves in the U.S. detention facility, they either attempted a border crossing into the U.S. or were transported across.

While in the facility the Punjabi youths were not permitted to use telephones or other means of communication to update friends and family on their situation, Mr. Chahal said.

NAPA extends legal aid
Following this NAPA sought to extend “legal assistance and moral support” to the detainees, including by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency of the Department of Homeland Security.

In an April 10, 2014 email to the ICE that was shared with The Hindu NAPA said, “This is our third email request to you for which we are looking forward to have your response. Several undocumented persons of Indian Origin are detained in El Paso Processing Centre 8915 Montana Ave El Paso TX 79925. We are… concerned about their future. We got information that some of the detainees of Indian origin are on hunger strike [for] three days for… unknown reasons… Please provide us [with] information about this and also let us know when our representatives can visit this facility to meet these detainees.”

NAPA sources also said that one among the Punjabi youths in detention had “committed suicide by hanging himself” because he was “unable to bear the pressure of leading this troublesome life” in detention.

NAPA, some of whose members said they were planning to “soon leave for Texas to meet these detainees after getting the permission from detention centre authorities,” also said that it sent his body to his native village in Punjab for cremation.

The organisation also flagged the problem of “human trafficking” as a criminal act that had victimised Punjabis, adding, “Punjabis enthusiasm to migrate to affluent countries in search of greener pastures has given the traffickers to exploit them. Using different modus operandi, people of different back grounds involved in human trafficking and often put the lives of their clients in considerable danger.”

Argentine teacher strike drags into third week

BUENOS AIRES: Thousands of Argentine teachers clad in white rallied in Buenos Aires on Wednesday as their strike over pay dragged into its third week, shutting millions of schoolchildren out of classrooms.

The strike is being observed in half of Argentina's 24 regions, preventing the start of the school year in those areas earlier this month.

The teachers are demanding a 35 percent pay hike after rejecting the government's offer of a 31 percent raise as insufficient to offset rising inflation, which experts say was at 25-30 percent last year.

"Public schools are not for sale!" the teachers cried as they marched through the city center towards the education ministry.

In Buenos Aires province, the country's most populous, about 2.5 million students have not had any classes this year.

The academic calendar in Argentina runs from March through December.

Khursheed to go on hunger strike till death

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Thursday threatened to go on hunger strike till death if the PML-N government went ahead with its plan to terminate the services of about 60,000 daily wagers and contractual employees.
“I will go on hunger strike in front of the Parliament House along with the daily wagers and contractual employees working in different departments,” Khursheed Shah said while speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly.

He said he had received reports that the government had finalised a plan to terminate the services of these employees while a number of employees serving in the Pakistan Electronic Media Authority (Pemra) and the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) had also met him in this regard.

Warning the government to refrain from taking such decisions, the opposition leader reminded the PML-N leader that in the past such acts had resulted in premature end of their governments.

He said he had also talked to the prime minister whom he called an innocent and decent person and discussed the issue with him. “The prime minister told me that he is not aware of any such plan,” the PPP leader said.

But, he said, now he had received reports that the employees working on temporary basis were being shown the door.Syed Khursheed Shah also regretted the statement of the finance minister on the floor of the House that the government was not considering any raise in salaries and pensions for the next fiscal year. “What was the need to make such a statement that will only add to the frustration of the salaried people?” he asked.

The opposition leader claimed that the PPP government had raised the salaries of government employees by 125 percent in five years.

APP adds: Khursheed said that the youth of the country must not be made jobless as there had been no investment in the country for the last 15 years due to terrorism. The sacking of the youth might trigger a new wave of lawlessness as the unemployed youth might indulge in anti-social activities. The large-scale sackings might create frustration among the people, which would certainly benefit the anti-democratic forces.

Criticising the metro bus project of Rawalpindi and Lahore, he said over Rs80 billion was being squandered on such projects. Whereas the per annum salary of 100,000 employees was not more than Rs4 billion. He said the PPP government had regularised the services of 125,000 contractual employees without any discrimination. He said he personally knew that the financial position of the sacked employees of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) was pitiable. After the induction of new employees, during the PPP era, the profit of EOBI had jumped from Rs5.3 billion to Rs11 billion due to the efforts and hard work of these employees, he claimed.