Ramdin says Windies not taking Bangladesh lightly
Vice- captain Denesh Ramdin says the West Indies would not be taking Bangladesh for granted during their tour which begins here next week Tuesday. The West Indian players are already in Dhaka and will meet the home side in the first of two Test matches next Tuesday at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium .
Ramdin, no stranger to the role of Windies vice-captain, says winning the first Test is an important strategy for the visitors.
“(Bangladesh) are a team that on any given day can come and put up a good fight,” Ramdin told WICB Media.
“We are not going to take them lightly. They have good players, but we are going to play hard. They are favourites in their home conditions, but we are confident that all will go well for us on this tour.”
The second Test begins November 21 the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in the south-western city of Khulna to be followed by five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 Internationals.
Ramdeen has described the playing conditions in Bangladesh as similar to what exist in the Caribbean.
The Windies squad includes off-spinner Sunil Narine on his first trip to Bangladesh and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul on his debut tour with the senior squad.
“It is very important that we start well and not take them lightly,” the West Indies wicketkeeper said.
“We have some good players in the fray, like Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and hopefully they can give us the impetus to do well in this series.
The West Indies cricketers are still on a high following their sensational win over Sri Lanka to claim the ICC World Twenty/20 title last month.
Ramdin said the players would have to overcome the diet of limited-overs cricket which they have been playing in the last few months.
“We would like to win this series, but it will depend on the weather. Hopefully, we can all prepare well and adapt quickly to the conditions. It is very important that we keep the momentum from winning the World T20 going,” said the Windies vice-captain.
“Whatever the case, we will all have to adapt to the conditions. I believe we have the capability of playing longer innings, and all of us want to get out onto the field and be successful”.
Usain Bolt named on IAAF shortlist
Usain Bolt, David Rudisha and Aries Merritt are in contention to win the 2012 IAAF male athlete of the year.
Jamaican Bolt retained his Olympic 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles, while Rudisha of Kenya set a world best in winning the 800m.
American Merritt won the 110m hurdles and later smashed the world record.
Britain's double Olympic champion Mo Farah has missed out on the three-man shortlist despite winning the 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals at London 2012.
Farah joined distance running greats such as Kenenisa Bekele, Miruts Yifter, Lasse Viren, Vladimir Kuts, Emil Zatopek and Hannes Kolehmainen in completing the 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic double.
However, his achievements were not regarded highly enough by the International Association of Athletics Federations to make the final shortlist.
Bolt, 26, declared himself the "greatest athlete" to have lived after becoming the first man to retain the sprint titles he won four years ago in Beijing.
Rudisha lowered his own mark over two laps to one minute, 40.91 seconds as the 23-year-old became the first man to break a world record on the track at London 2012.
The winner will be announced during the IAAF's Centenary Celebrations in Barcelona on 24 November.
Jessica Ennis up for female athlete of the year award
Great Britain's Jessica Ennis has made the three-woman shortlist to become the IAAF world female athlete of the year.
Ennis, who won heptathlon gold at the London Olympics, is up against American Allyson Felix and New Zealand's Valerie Adams for the honour.
Felix won golds in the 200m , 4x400m relay and 4x100m relay in London.
Adams retained her Olympic shot put crown after Nadzeya Ostapchuk was stripped of first place for failing a drugs test.
The nomination of Ennis, 26, comes a day after fellow Briton Mo Farah, who won 5,000m and 10,000m gold at the Olympics, failed to make the three-man shortlist for the IAAF male athlete of the year.
The International Association of Athletics Federations will announce the winners in each category in Barcelona on 24 November, 2012.
Source-BBC
Andy Murray set for Novak Djokovic test at World Tour Finals
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic will resume what is currently the hottest rivalry in tennis at the ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday.
The Briton and the Serb have met six times this year, with three wins each.
They include Murray's first Grand Slam title at the US Open and a victory for Djokovic in Shanghai last month.
The two men will play in Wednesday's first Group A singles match at 13:45 GMT, before Tomas Berdych takes on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at 19:45 GMT.
Murray and Djokovic both won their opening round-robin contests and will move within sight of the semi-finals with another win.
Epic encounters in Melbourne, New York and Shanghai this year have seen the Murray-Djokovic duel, at least for now, fill the gap left by the absence of the injured Rafael Nadal, who has had a long-running rivalry with Roger Federer.
"Whether me and Novak would replace anything Roger and Rafa have done, I think that's a long way off," said Murray.
"But I think some of the matches we've had this year were high quality, fun to watch, and I'm all for playing more of those matches if I can."
Both men know they are in for a gruelling encounter when they meet, with sets regularly lasting over an hour.
"For me there's an understanding of how much you have to put into the match to win it," said the Briton. "I think that's just the nature of those matches.
"Both of us are very good retrievers so often the points will go on a lot. Sometimes you feel like you maybe need to win the point two or three times, which is tough and can be a little bit tiring.
"But we've played each other enough to know what to expect. We do practise with each other quite a lot too, but it's never quite the same as matches, that's for sure."Djokovic is exactly one week younger than Murray, and having known each other since they were 11 there are few surprises left between the 25-year-olds.
"When I play Andy I need to be ready for long rallies and a physically demanding match," said Djokovic. "We are big rivals but also very fair to each other.
"We have a very friendly relationship. I'm very glad to keep that relationship with Andy, somebody that I've known for a very long time."
Djokovic was presented with the trophy for being the year-end number one in London on Tuesday, for the second year in succession, after regaining top spot from Federer.
"It's a huge satisfaction," said the Serb. "Knowing in the back of my mind that I will end the year as number one is a huge relief for me and my team.
"Knowing how long the year was and how difficult and competitive it was with all my rivals, it just makes it even bigger."
Brazil launches measures to tackle Sao Paulo violence
A new plan has been unveiled to combat rising violence in Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo.
More than 90 police officers have been killed in the city since the beginning of the year, many by a criminal gang calling itself First Command of the Capital.
Among the measures introduced are a new police agency, and the transfer of prisoners to more secure jails.
Police say jailed gang members plan many attacks from inside their cells.
Behind bars
Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo announced the creation of a joint intelligence centre which will co-ordinate the work of state and federal security forces.
Despite the sharp rise in violence in the greater Sao Paulo area, the government ruled out deploying the military to the most violent neighbourhoods.
Mr Cardozo said Sao Paulo's 160,000 police officers would be enough to combat organised crime.
Under the new plan, security and surveillance will be stepped up at ports, airports and major highways, which are used to smuggle drugs into Sao Paulo.
Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin said inmates who were suspected of ordering attacks on police officers would be moved to maximum security prisons under federal control, from where they would be unable to communicate with their hit men.
It is not the first time the federal authorities have tried to break up the prison gangs by moving them to different jails.
In 2006, members of the First Command of the Capital gang unleashed a wave of violence and riots in almost all of Sao Paulo's penitentiaries to prevent being transferred.
Sandy: UN to send emergency food aid to storm-hit Cuba
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) is to deliver emergency aid to the south-east of Cuba, where Hurricane Sandy wrought widespread damage.
It was "the worst catastrophe in 50 years in Santiago de Cuba," WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said.
The WFP is also appealing for $20m (£12.5) to help some 425,000 Haitians affected by the storm.
Sandy caused widespread damage to infrastructure, crops and livestock in both Haiti and Cuba.
The WFP is planning to work with the Cuban government to distribute emergency one-month aid in Santiago de Cuba, which is home to 500,000 residents.
The hurricane, which hit Cuba on 25 October and left 11 people dead, brought down many buildings and knocked out the electricity.
Cuban President Raul Castro is in Santiago to oversee recovery efforts and has promised to remain until the power is back on.
In the city, much of the debris has been cleared from the streets and pupils have returned to classes, although not all are being held in actual school buildings.
Scarce food
According to initial government reports, Sandy damaged some 200,000 homes and affected more than a million people.
"We are especially concerned about the damage in the agricultural sector where tens of thousands of hectares of staple crops have been affected," said WFP emergency co-ordinator William Vigil in a statement.
Help would continue until production capacities were restored, he said.
The WFP is also seeking funds to help Haiti, where more than 50 people died in the storm.
Sandy's winds and rains destroyed many of the crops in the south of the country.
The WFP calculates that nearly two million people are facing food insecurity in Haiti.
The situation was already precarious in the wake of the 2010 earthquake and a drought.
Chile cabinet changes signal start of presidential race
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has reshuffled his cabinet, as two prominent ministers leave to launch their bids for the presidency in 2013.
Defence Minister Andres Allamand and Public Works Minister Laurence Golborne, who oversaw the spectacular rescue of trapped miners in 2010, both hope to be Chile's next leader.
Mr Pinera is constitutionally barred from a consecutive second term.
Former President Michelle Bachelet has yet to say if she will run.
Ms Bachelet, who was in office from 2006 to 2010, is seen as the left's best hope to regain the presidency.
She is the current head of the UN's women's agency.
Mr Allamand, an experienced politician, and Mr Golborne, a businessman who shot to international prominence during the operation to rescue 33 miners trapped underground two years ago, are hoping to be the conservative coalition's candidate.
President Pinera became Chile's first right-wing leader in 20 years when he was elected in 2010.
However, he has seen his popularity drop sharply since then, and in last month's local elections, his centre-right alliance lost some key races, including Santiago.
After Monday's changes, Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter moves to defence and is replaced by government spokesman Andres Chadwick.
He in turn is succeeded by the former Governor of Santiago, Cecilia Perez.
Deputy Public Works Minister Loreto Silva takes over from Mr Golborne.
Bolivia returns stolen mummy to Peru
Bolivia has returned a 700-year-old mummy to Peru, from where it was stolen by antiquities traffickers.
The mummy of a child of about two years of age is only 30cm (12in) tall and sits wrapped in blankets.
Bolivian police seized it two years ago from a woman who was going to ship it to France.
Experts determined it was an original but found that one of its legs had been added later presumably by the smugglers who wanted to raise its value.
Experts have not been able to determine the sex of the mummy but archaeologists think it came from a pre-Inca culture of coastal Peru.
Bolivian Culture Minister Pablo Groux handed the mummy to his Peruvian counterpart Luis Peirano at a ceremony at the Peruvian Foreign Ministry in Lima.
The two ministers also signed an agreement to improve their co-operation in the fight against the smuggling of cultural artefacts.
Referring to an increase in the illegal trade in antiquities, Mr Peirano said the mummy was "just a sample of the sacking, of the violation of our patrimony and all our inheritance."
Peru, at the centre the Inca culture and other civilisations predating the Incas, has had thousands of its relics plundered and stolen over the centuries.
Peruvian officials say trafficking in mummies has been less common, though "lately, there has been an increase in the trafficking of human remains".
Asian markets flat as Barack Obama wins second term
Asian markets were little changed as President Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term.
There are concerns whether Mr Obama and a Republican-dominated Congress will be able to negotiate a way to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.
The cliff will see nearly $600bn (£375bn) of tax increases and spending cuts hit the US economy in January.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index and South Korea's Kospi were trading flat, while Australia's ASX 200 rose 0.5%.
The fear is that the tax increases and spending cuts that could be enacted if there is no agreement over deficit reduction may derail a fragile US economic recovery, and in a worst case scenario even push the economy into a recession.
"We head into the fiscal cliff, trying to find compromise where it wasn't possible before," said Rob Ryan, director of markets strategy, Asia-Pacific for Royal Bank of Scotland in Singapore.
Broader concerns
The spending cuts and increased taxes are not the only concern among investors.
The US economy has been battling various other issues, not least the high levels of unemployment in the country, which have dented consumer sentiment and impacted growth.
Despite encouraging jobless numbers last week, unemployment continues to hover close to 8%.
There are concerns amongst some analysts that the jobs market may not improve anytime soon and that the recovery in the US will remain weak.
That does does not bode well for Asian economies as they rely heavily on US demand for exports and overall growth.
Greece braces for key vote on fresh austerity measures
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has pleaded with politicians to vote through a fresh round of austerity measures crucial to securing the country's next round of financial aid.
Parliament will vote later on 13.5bn euros ($17.3bn; £10.5bn) of spending cuts, which include tax increases and cuts to pensions.
"We have to save the country from catastrophe," Mr Samaras said.
Without the aid, Mr Samaras says Greece will run out of money by 15 November.
The fresh package of spending cuts - Greece's fourth in three years - includes a two-year increase in the retirement age from the current average of 65; salary and pension cuts and another round of tax increases.
Strikes
The vote on these cuts will be followed by a second vote this Sunday on Greece's revised budget for 2013.
A positive vote on both the austerity measures and the budget is required for Greece to secure 31.5bn euros in fresh loans from the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Mr Samaras has said without this money, which will be used largely to recapitalise the country's banks, the country will be bankrupt by the middle of the month.
The prospect of further cuts has enraged Greece's two biggest labour unions, representing half the four million-strong workforce, which started what they described as the "mother of all strikes".
The 48-hour strike, the third major walkout in just two months, has bought public transport across Greece to a halt.
Despite the opposition, analysts are optimistic the fresh cuts will be approved.
"There is some uncertainty, but the likelihood is that the measures will be passed by a narrow majority," said IHS Global Insight economist Diego Iscaro.