More deaths on Syria's 'day of defiance'

Up to 30 reportedly killed in the cities of Homs and Hama, as protesters around the country take to the streets.

Activists claim that up to 30 people have been killed in Syria where thousands have taken to the streets for another day of anti-government rallies, dubbed a "day of defiance". Human rights group Insan said that at least 16 people had been killed in the central city of Homs, six in Hama and two in Jableh. It said the total death toll was 26 but didn't specify where the other two deaths occurred.

A human rights activist told the Associated Press news agency that 30 people had died, while Syrian state television said an army officer and four police were killed in Homs by a "criminal gang".

Mobitel, the first in South Asia to successfully demonstrate LTE, achieving a data rate of 96 Mbps

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, the National Mobile Telecom Service Provider, announced today that it has carried out a successful trial of LTE (Long Term Evolution) Technology achieving speeds of up to 96 Mbps. Having launched the first Super-3.5G HSPA network in South Asia in December 2007, and subsequently carr

ied out trial of HSPA+, MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) with downlink speeds of up to 28 Mbps in 2009, another first in the region, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel has broken the speed barrier even further to demonstrate broadband speeds of up to 96Mbps in downlink and 49Mbps in uplink using LTE technology, and setting another record in the region for the third consecutive time.

Mr. Nimal Welgama, Chairman Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel said, "Technology advances are among the key drivers that push outwards a country's Production Possibility Frontier catalyzing economic growth. As such, the National Mobile Telecom Service Provider, Mobitel has committed to embrace and offer the latest and the most advanced technologies that are needed for Sri Lanka's rapid development. We strongly believe that embracing latest ICT technologies like LTE will lay the most conducive infrastructure for other sectors to grow and blossom at a fast pace leading Sri Lanka towards a fully developed nation."

Gayle plays another Thundering Knock against King XI !

Royal Challengers Bangalore 205 for 6 (Gayle 107) beat Kings XI Punjab 120 for 9 (Aravind 4-14, Gayle 3-21) by 85 runs

Once every two years Bangalore hosts Aero India, the country's biggest air show, on the outskirts of the city. On Friday night, Chris Gayle took it upon himself to deliver a similar spectacle to the home crowd, which went ballistic while watching a flogging of a lifetime inflicted on Kings XI Punjab. As the deflated attack desperately sought mercy, Gayle celebrated his domination with a triumphant smile, propelling his team to a thumping fourth straight win with an unforgettable century that made a backyard out of the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Adam Gilchrist, cheery as ever, decided to field on a pitch that promised assistance to his four-pronged pace attack. While he met Gayle's onslaught with a look of awe and admiration, his bowlers were what they looked - stunned into submission. The early movement and a spate of hits and misses in the first couple of overs were the few signs of encouragement in an otherwise dispiriting innings.

Gayle targeted the straight boundary, rarely attempted any cross-bat heaves or slogs, and relied on brute strength, partly a consequence of what is known to be a fitness regime that's ever the aspiration of the healthier than normal. Ryan Harris was the first recipient of Gayle's treatment, as he clobbered two consecutive sixes over long-off and long-on in the fourth over.

Western Coalitions to create fund for Libya Freedom Fighters

Countries involved in military campaign pledge money to provide food, medicine and supplies to opponents of Gaddafi.

The NATO-backed coalition in Libya has said it will create a fund for rebels fighting the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

The Transitional National Council (TNC), based in Benghazi, has appealed for loans of up to $3bn, saying they need around half of that for food, medicine and other basic supplies.

Italy, host of Thursday's meeting in Rome of the Contact Group on Libya, said the temporary special fund would aim to channel cash to the opposition administration in its eastern Libyan stronghold.

Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister, said $250m were already available, while his French counterpart said the fund could be up and running within weeks.

But efforts to unblock Libyan state assets frozen in overseas accounts, or to allow the rebels to get past UN sanctions that prevent their selling oil on international markets, have been held up.

"We'll be discussing a financial mechanism, we'll be discussing other forms of aid," Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said at a joint news conference with Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister.

"I will be formally announcing our non-lethal assistance so I think that there is an effort with urgency to meet the requests that the TNC is making," she said.

Loan rather than gift'

Clinton said the US government would try and free up some of the $30bn it has frozen in Libyan assets to help the TNC.

She said the administration of Barack Obama wants "to tap some portion of those assets owned by Gaddafi and the Libyan government in the United States, so we can make those funds available to help the Libyan
people".

Kuwait said it has pledged $180m and Qatar will put in $400-$500m, its prime minister said on Thursday.

However Britain has said it has no plans to contribute to the new fund because it had already made a "very substantial" contribution to humanitarian assistance.

Laurence Lee, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Rome, said it had been suggested that the money would not be a gift, but a loan from the coalition countries.

"One assumes that in the fullness of time this would be repaid by oil sales, which Qatar already started with one shipment of oil. And it may be able to be repaid relatively quickly.

He said the countries that recognise the rebel council, France, Italy and Qatar, are the ones with which the TNC will do business.

"The fact that it will be France and Italy that will be administing this fund is bound to lead some people to think that this is quite a good way of persuading a cash-strapped eastern Libya in Benghazi to accept a deal which is going to put oil and money into the hands of countries like France, Italy and Qatar.

"So although it looks like benevolence, there is a hard headed financial imperative that goes underneath it."

Mahmoud Shammam, chief spokesman for the TNC, has said the rebels urgently need $1.5bn to cover immediate running costs.

"We need this for medical supplies, for food supplies, to keep the minimum functions of normal life - electricity,
running hospitals etc," he said on Wednesday.

The rebels also want to press their cases for better weapons and equipment, Shammam suggested, saying that they are "hungry for basic arms."

The meeting of Libya Contact Group brought together foreign ministers from countries including France, Britain, the United States, Italy and Qatar as well as representatives of the Arab League and the African Union.

British officials said the Rome meeting would seek to impose new restrictions on arms smuggling and mercenaries operating within Libya, and hoped the contact group would work on action intended to restrict Gaddafi's exports of crude oil and his ability to import refined oil products.


Continuation of clashes

As the ministers met in Italy, fighting continued on the ground in Libya.

In Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, a rebel spokesman said NATO planes struck Gaddafi's forces and weapons depots west of the rebel-held town in two raids on Thursday.

"As far as we know, T-72 tanks, Grad missile launchers and heavy weaponry are kept in those depots," the spokesman, named Abdulrahman, told Reuters by telephone.

Earlier, Abdulrahman said pro-Gaddafi forces had fired about 50 Russian-made Grad rockets into Zintan on Thursday.

Near the border with Tunisia, a rebel fighter told Reuters there was intense fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces in the area of the village of Ghezaya.

 The village lies between the Dehiba-Wazin border crossing, which is in rebel hands, and the town of Nalut where residents said Gaddafi loyalists had been shelling rebel positions.

Rebels say they are preparing for an attempt by Gaddafi's forces to retake the crossing.

Late on Thursday a Tunisian security source said more than a dozen mortar rounds fired from Libya had landed near Dehiba, one of them near a reservoir supplying the town with drinking water.

Doubts about using Ban Ki-moon report in case Gotabhaya keeping a close watch on White Flag case

The Defence Secretary is suspicious over whether counsel for former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka would use the report by the panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sri Lanka, in the controversial White Flag case filed against Fonseka by Mahinda's Regime, a senior official from the Attorney General's Department said.

The Defence Secretary has asked the Attorney General to be mindful of such a situation and to prevent such a scenario from taking place.

The White Flag case is mentioned in the panel report.
 
Although Fonseka was to make his statement in the White Flag case yesterday, it was postponed since his lead counsel, Attorney Nalin Ladduwahetti is currently overseas.

Gomez, Hodge and Mahela makes Kochi Tuskers Victorious

Kochi Tuskers Kerala 156 for 5 (Jayawardene 55, Unadkat 2-25) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 139 for 7 (Morgan 66, Gomez 2-14 by 17 runs. (Full Scorecard at the end of the article)

A disciplined performance in the field and an explosive 35 off 19 balls from Brad Hodge helped Kochi Tuskers overcome Kolkata Knight Riders in the last match at the Nehru Stadium this IPL season.Hodge's last over blitz, in which he took 21 runs off countryman Brett Lee, proved to be the difference between the two sides, as Kochi defended 156 by 17 runs. In the chase, RP Singh and Sreesanth failed to get the same kind of movement that Brett Lee extracted early in the Kochi innings. Jacques Kallis and Eoin Morgan didn't have to take many risks early on as there were many poor deliveries that were smacked to the boundary. In the first three overs, the bulk of the short and wide ones came from RP Singh.

R Vinay Kumar and Prasanth Parameswaran pulled back the chase before it raged out of control with a selection of back of a length deliveries that proved difficult to get away. Although they kept the boundaries down, they didn't trouble the batsmen much and failed to get a breakthrough until after the halfway stage, when Kolkata were well set. Kallis was the senior partner and easily outscored Morgan in that phase. Seven times in the first ten overs Kallis stole the strike at the end of the over.

Just as Kallis looked as though he had grown roots, Raiphi Gomez rattled Kolkata with a double strike in his second over. He bowled Kallis with a legcutter and had Gautam Gambhir caught in the covers off consecutive balls, which left Morgan to assume the senior role. Manoj Tiwary could not last long, and Yusuf Pathan was expected to counterattack, but he and Morgan were frustrated by Gomez's variations and Parameswaran's accurate fuller deliveries. Sreesanth let the noose loosen, giving Morgan back-to-back boundaries but Vinay Kumar was on hand to tighten it. Confusions between Morgan and Yusuf mounted in Vinay's last over, and Morgan was run out when both batsmen ended up at the wicketkeeper's end.



It brought Brett Lee to the crease, in poetic justice for the last over he bowled, which went for 21. There were 25 to get off the last over of Kolkata's innings. Lee was run-out and the task proved too steep.

Kochi's innings was anchored by a third-wicket partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Michael Klinger before being given momentum at the death by Hodge. It didn't look as though Kochi would get over the 150-run mark, especially after the way things started. Lee's first over was a whole bag of peaches. He got impressive away movement and started the innings with a maiden.

Deccan Runs Out of Charge as Sewag gets overcharged !

Delhi Daredevils 179 for 6 (Sehwag 119, Ishant 2-16) beat Deccan Chargers 175 for 5 (Duminy 55, Sangakkara 44, Agarkar 2-29) by four wickets (Full Scorecard at the end of the article)

For a large part of his career, it was tough being Sachin Tendulkar. In the IPL, it's tougher being Virender Sehwag. After having watched his bowlers take wickets off no-balls and his fielders drop sitters, the Delhi Daredevils captain took his frustration out on the Deccan Chargers with a blistering century, his first in Twenty20s. The assault bettered his masterpiece against Kochi Tuskers Kerala, and stunned Deccan into offering him two chances. Unmindful of the complete lack of support from his team-mates, Sehwag cashed in and drowned Deccan in a flood of boundaries that took the bite out of a challenging total. The next highest score was James Hopes' 17.

Delhi's bowlers had been profligate in letting Deccan surge to 175, and their top order, barring Sehwag, let the pressure get to them. Aaron Finch, Naman Ojha and Venugopal Rao combusted against seam as Sehwag watched bemused from his end. From 25 for 3 in the sixth over, only Sehwag could have taken Delhi home, and he did it in some style, moving from 8 off 13 balls to 119 off 56, pushing Deccan to the brink of elimination.



Sehwag has made a career out of sticking to his guns regardless of the situation, and his approach today was no different. Two balls after Venugopal Rao top-edged a pull off Ishant Sharma, Sehwag shuffled across and glanced a boundary from the middle-stump line to fine leg. In the next over, Travis Birt struggled against Daniel Christian, getting beaten three times in four balls, as the asking-rate crossed eleven at by the end of seven overs.

Sehwag broke free in the next over, bowled by IPL debutant Ishan Malhotra. The first ball disappeared over deep square leg, the next over deep midwicket. Two more boundaries followed, as Sehwag looted 23 off the over. As if to dispel the notion that he had targeted just the newcomer, Sehwag plundered 13 off the next over, from Christian.

UNP Deputy Leader Hon. Sajith Premadasa Criticized Ra-NIL for violating the party constitution

The process of selecting the UNP National Organizer was in complete violation of the party constitution, UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa stated on May 4th.

He stated that the appointment should have been made by the Working Committee before April 12 while he added at a previous press conference that Ranjith Madduma Bandara's name was proposed for the position at the Working Committee meeting.

Hon. sajith Premadasa stated that the Leaders of the party , Ra-NIL was violating the party constitution blatantly while he condemned the act.

Ra-NIL, though he is a royalist, said to be a man who stabbs behind the back of those who are capable of making the party victorious and he is contiously making everything possible to protect his leadership by appointing Homo-type Individuals and Weak UNP MP's to post which are likely to cause any threat to his leadership. Ra-NIL also has no intension of toppling the dictators regime and he is now a bootlicker of Anti Democratic Mahinda.

3 key figures in Anti Democaratic Gaddafi's regime will have to face WAR Crimes for crimes against humanity in Libya

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) has told the UN Security Council that he will seek three arrest warrants for crimes against humanity in Libya.

Charges against the three members of the Libyan government may include murder and unlawful detention, use of cluster bombs and rape as a weapon, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said on Wednesday.

The UN Security Council referred the Libyan violence to the ICC in February.

Moreno-Ocampo is investigating Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, some of his sons and aides over a "pre-determined plan" to attack protesters.

He did not, however, name the targets of the arrest warrants, which he said he will request in several weeks for crimes against humanity committed in Libya since February 15.

"Crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Libya, attacking unarmed civilians including killings and persecutions in many cities across Libya," the prosecutor said in a statement.

The prosecutor added that he was also investigating the deaths of dozens of sub-Saharan Africans in the rebel capital of Benghazi by an "angry mob" who believed they were mercenaries for Gaddafi.

Khalid Kaim, the Libyan deputy foreign minister, dismissed the ICC allegations saying Moreno-Ocampo's report painted a partial picture.

"Any decision or any conclusion can Mr. Ocampo draw out of his visit to Benghazi and to Egypt will be just one party review or one party position," Kaim said.

"Of course, since we are not party of the ICC, we cannot invite Mr. Ocampo but instead of that we can invite another fact-finding mission from the [UN] Security Council."

Rape as a weapon

Moreno-Ocampo said there were allegations that Africans from other nations had been attacked in rebel territory because they were thought to be mercenaries.

Alleged criminal incidents include security forces opening live fire at unarmed peaceful protesters, using rape as well as "systemic arrests, torture, killings, deportations, enforced disappearances and destruction of mosques" as a weapon, according to the prosecutor's report.

While a precise number is hard to provide, up to 700 people were killed in February alone, the report said. Gaddafi estimates that "only 150 or 200" have been killed.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said almost 40,000 people fled fighting in western Libya last month.

Mumbai Indians wins with allround performance once again - Pune getting closer and closer to the exit of the tournament

Mumbai Indians 160 for 7 (Suman 36, Rahul 2-7) beat Pune Warriors 139 for 7 (Pandey 59, Malinga 3-25) by 21 runs. (Score Card and Current Points table at the end of the article )

Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians are geographically the two closest IPL franchises but they couldn't get any further from each other in the points table. Mumbai proved they are the best team in the tournament and reclaimed their position at the summit of the table by battering Pune at the DY Patil Stadium, whose freefall continued with a seventh successive loss that kept them firmly at the bottom.

Mumbai gave another demonstration of the depth of their batting talent, as two men who have had little batting time this season, T Suman and Kieron Pollard, fired them to a competitive total. Their brilliance undermined the efforts of the Pune spinners who had initially shackled Mumbai.

Yuvraj Singh, who has under-bowled himself in the IPL, removed the rocks at the top of the Mumbai batting, Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu. Then, legspinner Rahul Sharma prised out two important wickets with the most economical spell of the season (4-0-7-2) to leave Mumbai at an insufficient 114 for 5 after 15 overs. Suman and Pollard, however, got stuck into the erratic Alfonso Thomas to lift Mumbai to a competitive score.