Pakistan, winning the toss and scoring 165 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs, restricted the all-star opposition to 159 for 5.
The MCC were always in for a sniff when Australian Aiden Blizzard and former West Indies captain Brian Lara put on 94 runs for the second wicket after Shoaib Akhtar removed opener John Simpson in the first over.
Lara, dropped by Fawad Alam at short mid wicket off Shahid Afridi when 15, showed glimpses of his regal class with a series of strokes all around the wicket. He made 37 off 31 balls with five fours in the first Twent20 match of his career before Pakistan’s comeback speedster Umar Gul yorked him to break up the threatening partnership and choke the scoring.
Former Australian player Ian Harvey made 18 and combining with the smashing Blizzard almost brought MCC home. Harvey was accounted for by Shoaib Akhtar while Mohammad Aamer eventually got through Blizzard’s defence, ensuring a Pakistani win. The Australian left hander cracked six fours and three sixes in his 56-ball 73 and fell in the final over with the score on 156, the remaining 10 runs proving too big of an ask for former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Harris and Afghanistan’s Muhammad Nabi.
MCC captain Sourav Ganguly went for two, bowled by Umar who finished with two for 35. Shoaib howver, had the best figures of two for 19 and Aamer finished with one for 23 for Pakistan.
Earlier,an unbeaten 51 from Umar Akmal drove Pakistan to a fighting total as they batted first on a sun-baked, easy paced pitch at the home of cricket.
The youngster struck three sixes and as many fours in his 30 ball knock and together with Abdul Razzaq whose equally breezy 20 not out off 11 balls shared an unbroken sixth wicket stand of 38 after Pakistan had lost half the side at 127.
The Pakistanis coming straight from Sri Lanka after the Asia cup were given a good start of 53 by openers Shahzaib Hasan (34) and Salman Butt (21) but the incoming batsmen did not contribute much with Kamran Akmal falling for 2, Fawad Alam (14) and Afirdi 14).
They were undone by former New Zealand all rounder Chris Harris who finished with the best figures of 3 for 26 from four overs. Muhammad Nabi and Zimbabwean Glen Querl, took one wicket each.
Pakistan opener Shahzaib ,who also figured in T20 World Cup in England last year, played a fine innings hitting six fours and a six off 19 balls before falling to first of three catches by Sri Lakan all rounder Chamida Vaas.
Salman Butt’s subdued 21 included a solitary four. But it was the partnership between Umar and Razzaq that put life into Pakistan’s total as they cut loose with some big hitting especially Umar who pillaged 15 runs off former Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey.
BRAZZAVILLE: At least 60 people died and hundreds were injured in a rail disaster in Congo-Brazzaville, officials said on Tuesday, as a survivor said carriages derailed when the train took a bend at speed. “At a bend that the driver went into at full speed, all six carriages where the passengers were derailed. We were thrown by the impact,” said survivor Lucien Koko, 37, speaking from hospital. “Many people remain trapped. I am talking because I have a wound on my forearm. Friends who were with me are gravely wounded, he added. A member of the crisis cell dealing with the accident said there were “60 bodies in the morgue” in the southern city of Pointe Noire.
DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka: Seamer Farveez Maharoof grabbed a hat-trick on his way to 5-42 as Sri Lanka beat India by seven wickets in the last league match of the Asia Cup on Tuesday.Maharoof’s feat helped knock India over for 209, before senior pros Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene helped the defending champions gallop past the modest target in the 38th over.Skipper Sangakkara hit 73 off 82 balls and Jayawardene remained unbeaten on 53 during a match-winning stand of 104 for the third wicket at the Rangiri stadium in Dambulla.The two sides will clash again in Thursday’s final of the four-nation tournament, which also featured Pakistan and Bangladesh.Maharoof, a 25-year-old veteran of 93 one-day internationals, trapped Ravindra Jadeja leg-before, bowled Praveen Kumar and had Zaheer Khan caught behind off successive deliveries in his ninth over.India were without opener Virender Sehwag, who was ruled out of both Tuesday’s match and the final due to a hamstring injury sustained against Pakistan on Saturday.Dinesh Karthik, who flew in from Chennai to replace Sehwag, hit 40 off 43 balls after an opening stand of 58 with Gautam Gambhir.Sri Lanka, who rested three frontline bowlers in Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera and Muttiah Muralitharan, reduced India to 110-4 by the 23rd over.Rohit Sharma (69) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (41) retrieved the situation by adding 79 for the fifth wicket, before the Indian captain was run out.Dhoni’s dismissal triggered a collapse as India slipped from 189-4 to 189-8 in the space of four deliveries as Maharoof sliced through the lower order.India were all out with 7.3 overs still remaining from their allotted 50.Sri Lanka made a confident reply under lights, racing to 80-1 by the 14th over.India missed the rested bowling duo of Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh as Sangakkara and Jayawardene fired Sri Lanka home in the one-sided contest.Score board Sri Lanka won tossIndiaG Gambhir c Randiv b Mathews 23K D Karthik c Sangakkara b Herath 40V Kohli c Sangakkara b Maharoof 10R G Sharma run out 69S K Raina lbw b Herath 18*†M S Dhoni run out 41R A Jadeja lbw b Maharoof 0P Kumar b Maharoof 0Z Khan c Sangakkara b Maharoof 0A B Dinda b Maharoof 2P P Ojha not out 0Extras (lb 3, w 3) 6Total (all out; 42.3 overs) 209Fall: 1-58, 2-75, 3-77, 4-110, 5-189, 6-189, 7-189, 8-189, 9-195, 10-209Bowling: Welegedara 7.3-0-42-0; Maharoof 10-1-42-5 (1w); Mathews 6-0-37-1; Herath 7-0-31-2; Randiv 9-1-40-0 (2w); Kandamby 3-0-14-0Sri LankaW U Tharanga c Dhoni b Khan 38T M Dilshan c Jadeja b Khan 24*†K C Sangakkara c Khan b Kumar 73D P M D Jayawardene not out 53S H T Kandamby not out 7Extras (b 2, lb 11, w 3) 16Total (3 wickets; 37.3 overs) 211Did not bat: C K Kapugedera, A D Mathews, M F Maharoof, S Randiv, H M R K B Herath, U W M B C A WelegedaraFall: 1-38, 2-80, 3-184Bowling: Kumar 8-2-30-1; Khan 7-1-42-2 (2w); Dinda 5-1-39-0; Ojha 10-0-49-0 (1w); Jadeja 6.3-0-29-0; Sharma 1-0-9-0Result: Sri Lanka won by 7 wicketsMan of the match: Mohamed Farveez Maharoof (Sri Lanka)Umpires: B F Bowden (New Zealand) and B N J Oxenford (Australia). TV umpire: Sharfuddoula (Bangladesh). Match referee: A J Pycroft (Zimbabwe)
HONG KONG: The Hong Kong government’s plan to introduce limited political reforms appeared on Tuesday almost certain to be approved after it won the support of a group of pro-democracy lawmakers. The Democratic Party, which holds the swing vote on the issue and is the city’s largest opposition party, agreed to endorse the reform package, which will raise the number of directly elected officials in the city’s legislature. The former British colony, which was returned to China in 1997, has a legal and administrative system independent of mainland China’s but its constitutional development falls under Beijing’s control. Only half of the current 60-seat legislature is directly elected, with the remainder picked by “functional constituencies” based on professions and mainly comprising pro-Beijing elites. Under an original reform plan, the government proposed expanding the number of seats in the legislature to 70, with the new seats equally divided between directly elected and functional constituency seats. However, the Democratic Party had rejected that and proposed the five new functional constituency seats also be directly elected, and it is this package that will be put to the vote on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Democratic Party’s chairman, Albert Ho, said the majority of its members had now agreed that their nine lawmakers should support the revised plan. “We understand there will be different opinions on our decision. We will shoulder the responsibility for our decision,” Ho told reporters. The party and some critics consider the latest development a breakthrough, opening for the first time a channel of communication between Beijing and the city’s democrats, many of whom are banned from travelling to mainland China. However, the latest blueprint has deeply divided the pro-democracy camp, with the hardliners vowing to block it. Martin Lee, the city’s democracy figurehead, has warned he may quit the Democratic Party, which he helped found, in protest at the compromise. Andrew Cheng, one of the party’s lawmakers, said he would vote against the proposal and would also consider quitting the party. The League of Social Democrats, a more radical pro-democracy faction, accused the Democratic Party of betraying Hong Kong’s democratic progress for political interests and said they would end their cooperation with the group. “They have betrayed democracy by striking under-table deals with Beijing,” maverick lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung told AFP. Opposition groups have called on the government to postpone the vote to give the public more time to consider the revised plan. But the government refused to budge. “The reform plan has already undergone a thorough consultation. The government has decided to have the vote conducted as scheduled,” said Stephen Lam, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs. Critics argue that the latest plan does nothing to clarify how and when Hong Kong will achieve universal suffrage, a process dictated largely by Beijing. Beijing has said that, at the earliest, universal suffrage can be ushered in for the election of Hong Kong’s chief executive in 2017 and for the legislative assembly in 2020. The city’s leader is chosen by an electoral body whose members are handpicked by Beijing.
Left-handed Khawaja, 23, admitted feeling “shocked” after being brought in for the July Tests in England, which were moved from Pakistan over security problems including last year’s extremist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus.
“I was a bit shocked, I had a feeling I was close but that could mean absolutely nothing,” he said. “The feeling didn’t really sink in straight away but I’ve told my family and they’re really excited.”
Islamabad-born Khawaja now has the chance to become the first Muslim player to wear Australia’s famed Baggy Green cap as a full Test player, and just months before the much-anticipated Ashes series against England.
Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said Khawaja had earned his place after strong performances for his domestic side New South Wales, scoring 698 runs including three centuries last season.
“Usman Khawaja has been selected on the back of some very strong Sheffield Shield performances,” Hilditch said.
“He is seen... as being capable of batting anywhere in the order in Test cricket, but importantly for this particular series a top-order batsman who could bat in the top four should the opportunity arise.”
Fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus, considered a key player for the Ashes series starting in November, also returns after missing the March tour of New Zealand with knee tendonitis.
“Ben was a critical member of our 2009 Ashes bowling group and it is very pleasing to see him back in the Test squad with the next Ashes series just around the corner,” Hilditch said.
Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Johnson and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin were also both named for the two-test series that begins on July 13 at Lord’s after they were ruled out of a limited over series against England in Britain with elbow injuries.
Australia are due to play England later on Tuesday.
Johnson had made good progress and would travel to Britain later this week and could be available for the Twenty20 games against Pakistan on July 5 and 6, though Haddin is being given more time to prove his fitness, Australian team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said.
Australia will play two Tests against Pakistan at Lord’s (July 13-17) and Headingley (July 21-25). —Agencies
Squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Doug Bollinger, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Usman Khawaja, Marcus North, Steven Smith, Shane Watson.
“Without a doubt, General McChrystal, as Secretary Gates has said, has made an enormous mistake,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, adding President Barack Obama had summoned the general for talks on Wednesday.
Gibbs would not say whether McChrystal would be fired, but said “all options are on the table.”
A profile in Rolling Stone magazine quoted McChrystal's aides mocking Vice President Joe Biden and one said the general was “disappointed” after his first Oval Office meeting with Obama.
McChrystal was quoted as saying he felt “betrayed” by US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, a former military commander there, for challenging his strategy in a memo later leaked to the press.
Gibbs said Obama read the Rolling Stone article late Monday. “He was angry.” Asked whether the personality conflicts would have a negative impact on policy, Gibbs said.
“The president doesn't believe that personalities, whatever your disagreements are, or whatever your disagreements were, should distract from the strategy to get Afghanistan right.”
Gilani's comments Tuesday come two days after the US special envoy to Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, cautioned Pakistan not to ''over commit'' itself to the deal because it could run afoul of new sanctions against Iran.
The deal has been a constant source of tension between the two countries, with Pakistan arguing that it is vital to its ability to cope with an energy crisis and the US stressing that it would undercut international pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.
Gilani said Pakistan would reconsider the deal if it violated UN sanctions, but the country was ''not bound to follow'' unilateral US measures. He said media reports that quoted him as saying that Pakistan would heed Holbrooke's warning were incorrect.
The UN has levied four sets of sanctions against Iran for failing to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear weapon. The latest set of UN sanctions was approved earlier this month.
The US has also applied a number of unilateral sanctions against Iran, and Congress is currently finalising a new set largely aimed at the country's petroleum industry. Both houses have passed versions of the sanctions and are working to reconcile their differences.
Pakistan and Iran finalised the gas deal earlier this month. Under the contract, Iran will export 760 million cubic feet of gas per day to Pakistan through a new pipeline beginning in 2014. The construction of the pipeline is estimated to cost some $7 billion.
While US officials have expressed opposition to the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline deal, the issue is complicated by Washington's reliance on Pakistan's cooperation to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
The US also acknowledges that Pakistan faces a severe energy crisis and has made aid to the energy sector one of its top development priorities. Electricity shortages in Pakistan cause rolling blackouts that affect businesses and intensify suffering during the hot summer months.
BRUSSELS: Iceland’s whale hunting tradition despite a ban, which it wants lifted, looms as a major hurdle in its upcoming membership talks with the European Union where all cetaceans are legally protected. The EU membership talks haven’t started yet, but a European diplomat stressed that “if Iceland continues to practise commercial whale hunting for scientific purposes, that’s going to create a political problem.” In nearly all areas Iceland has been seen as a perfect EU candidate, and could have started talks earlier had it wanted to. Its European credentials are impressive already; a member of the unfettered travel Schengen area and the European Economic Area as well as a fully fledged NATO nation, Iceland ticks most of the boxes. In trade terms the ties are equally strong, more than half of Iceland’s imports come from the EU and three-quarters of its exports go there. All those factors are reasons why European heads of state and government gave the candidacy the go-ahead at an EU summit in Brussels last Thursday. However a February report by the EU Commission on Iceland’s application for membership was clear: “Necessary steps will need to be undertaken as regards the protection of cetaceans”. Britain and Germany have urged their EU partners to resist a call, expected at an International Whaling Commission meeting in Morocco this week, to lift the moratorium on whale hunting which has Iceland’s support and that of fellow whaling nations Japan and Norway. The German parliament in a resolution has urged the government to ensure that a whale hunting ban remains a sine qua non for Iceland’s EU hopes. An Icelandic diplomat said his country had applied to join the club, after the global downturn battered its economy, knowing a solution will have to be found, but not thinking that solution must necessarily be an end to whale hunting. “Iceland would as a starting negotiating position seek a way to maintain this exception in order to preserve this centuries old, sustainable tradition,” he said.“We are aware that this is a very sensitive topic,” an EU Commission spokeswoman said, citing the EU accession rule of “possible transitional periods or even derogation from some pieces of the (EU) legislation.” Icelandic hunters specialise in taking the fin whale, with a quota of 150 this year. The country resumed commercial whaling in 2006, and in 2009 set a quota for 150 fin whales, the second largest animals, over five years, despite their “endangered” status, according to WWF. Not only is that against EU rules but it is “also unnecessary,” argues Saskia Richartz, marine specialist for Greenpeace in Brussels. “Most of the 1,500 tonnes of meat produced last year continue to sit in freezers,” she adds. Icelandic political scientist Eirikur Bergmann agrees that whaling is not important for its economic contribution. “Its more a matter of independence and emotions, nationalism.” And in Iceland opinions are divided, according to Arni Thor Sigurdsson, chair of the Icelandic parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. “I personally don’t think we should do it because it doesn’t help our economy in any way,” he said. What is sure is that the matter will have to be addressed as Iceland attempts to negotiate the 30-plus accession chapters, including one on the environment, which all candidate nations must do to the satisfaction of the current EU members. Nor is whaling the only potential pitfall. Indeed fisheries in general were already being seen as a major sticking point after EU leaders on Thursday agreed to grant Iceland candidate nation status. The part-Arctic nation is fiercely protective of the abundant fishing waters around its shores and has shown no sign that it is prepared to freely open up these seas to European partners.
WASHINGTON: The White House on Sunday ratcheted up its condemnation of how BP is handling the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, complaining bitterly that it has had to push the oil giant to do more — and move more quickly — at every step of the crisis. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel also attacked BP CEO Tony Hayward, calling his attendance at a yacht race on Saturday “part of a long line of PR gaffes and mistakes.” “A lot of things that they had to be pushed to do, and pushed to do faster,” said Emanuel in an interview with ABC television’s “This Week” show. He said BP had to be forced to drill two relief wells, not just one; it had to be forced to increase the rate at which it was capturing oil flowing into the Gulf; and it had to be forced to establish a 20 billion dollar escrow account to pay off claims. Over the past week, the British energy giant has called in more ships and equipment from other locations, announced that it was ahead of schedule in drilling the relief wells, and said it would significantly boost the capture of oil leaking from its busted well. But Emanuel credited US administration pressure for obtaining those gains.“They had a system in place, not extensive enough. Not fast enough,” he said. “So we’ve made them go from 25,000 to 50,000 barrels by the end of this month. And we think by mid-July force — basically making them pick up their game — they can get to 90 percent,” he said. He sidestepped a question over whether the administration is confident that the relief wells, seen as the only remaining way to permanently plug the leak, would be ready by August. The chief of staff’s comments were the sharpest expression yet of the rising tension between BP and the administration of President Barack Obama, who last week strong-armed the company’s chiefs at a White House meeting to establish the escrow fund. Emanuel portrayed the relationship as one in which the administration has had to push a reluctant corporate partner at every step since the April 20 explosion that destroyed a BP-leased deepwater rig, killed 11 workers and unleashed the spill.But he reserved his most scathing remarks for Hayward, who was removed from day to day oversight of BP’s disaster response last week and was photographed Saturday attending a yacht race off the isle of Wight.“Well, to quote Tony Hayward, he has got his life back, he would say,” Emanuel said of the outing at the yacht race, alluding to an earlier remark by Hayward that incensed political Washington. “I think we can all conclude that Tony Hayward is not going to have a second career in PR consulting,” he said. “Now this is a mistake and it’s a big mistake, like others he has done in the sense when he said himself, he has got his life back. Emanuel added: “What’s more important is, do the people down there in that area have their life back? Do they have their livelihood back?”
Pakistan will play two Twenty20 internationals against Australia on July 5 and 6 before playing two Tests against the same opponents.
After playing Australia, Pakistan will feature in four Tests, two Twenty20 and five one-day games against England. The tour ends on September 22.
The squad for the one-dayers against England will be announced later.
The notable inclusion in the test side is that of Yasir Hameed brought in to replace former captain Younis Khan.
The 32-year-old Hameed has played 23 tests, but his last came against India in Dec. 2007.
The selectors opted against bringing the experienced Younis back into the squad for the twin test series, even though the Pakistan Cricket Board earlier this month lifted his indefinite ban.
Squad: (Twenty20): Shahid Afridi (capt), Salman Butt (vice capt), Shahzaib Hasan, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Amin, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Amir, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam
Squad: (Tests): Shahid Afridi (capt), Salman Butt (vice capt), Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Zulqarnain Haider, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Tanveer Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Danish Kaneria
VANCOUVER: A special prosecutor will look into criminal charges against four policemen who confronted a Polish traveler who died after being stunned with a Taser gun, officials said on Friday. Robert Dziekanski, 40, died in late 2007 just minutes after being stunned five times with a Taser gun and then restrained by four policemen at the airport in this Pacific Coast metropolis.Airport workers called police after Dziekanski, a nervous first-time traveler who spoke only Polish, threw a computer and a chair. He was emigrating to Canada, where his mother lived, and after arriving became mysteriously lost in the airport for about 10 hours. He grew distraught after finally emerging to find his mother gone, after an official told her he was not there. British Columbia Attorney General Michael de Jong told reporters he will immediately appoint a special prosecutor to look at the police actions — reversing a 2008 decision by the prosecutor’s office to not place charges. His statement came minutes after the release of the final report of an inquiry into Dziekanski’s horrific death. Thomas Braidwood, who heads an inquiry commission, found police were not justified in using the Taser. Five jolts from the stun gun and a physical struggle with the four police officers “contributed substantially to Mr Dziekanski’s death,” he said.
KARACHI: Michel van den Heuvel was on Saturday appointed as Pakistan’s national hockey coach, becoming the third Dutchman to be chosen for the job in 16 years.Van den Heuvel, who quit as Holland’s coach after this year’s World Cup in New Delhi, will begin his stint from Monday (tomorrow) when he will land in Karachi to supervise a training camp ahead of a European sojourn which begins from July 7. Pakistan will play a series of Test matches against France, Spain and Holland during the 15-day tour.Pakistan are hoping that the Dutchman will help revive their glory days by putting the team back on track ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The Greenshirts have won three Olympic titles but have returned empty-handed from the last three Games. Their last Olympic gold came way back in 1984 in Los Angeles.Before the London Games, Pakistan hockey officials are hoping that under the Dutch coach their team will show some signs of revival at the Commonwealth Games in India and the Asian Games in China.“Nobody is expecting miracles (from the coach) but one is hoping that there will be some significant progress,” Asif Bajwa, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary told ‘The News’ on Saturday.There has been some criticism over Van den Heuvel’s appointment with some critics suggesting that he was sacked as Holland’s coach after failing to guide the Dutch to the World Cup final in New Delhi. Holland finished with a bronze there.“Nobody should doubt his credentials,” said Bajwa, a former Olympian. “Van den Heuvel is top notch coach and has spent 15 years with leading teams. It’s totally untrue that he was sacked by Holland. It’s just that his contract ended after the World Cup.”Bajwa said that instead of criticising the Dutchman, all stakeholders should back him to get best possible results.“We should realize the fact that in the current situation nobody is willing to come to Pakistan,” he said. “Van den Heuvel has taken a brave decision and he should be welcomed here. Personally, I’m confident that his presence will really benefit out team.”Before Van den Heuvel, Pakistan offered the job to German master coach Paul Lissek and Australian Barry Dancer. Both turned down the offer because of security concerns.Bajwa said that Van den Heuvel had no such concerns. “But we will take care of his security,” he said.Bajwa said that Pakistan hockey needs all possible support to bounce back after a dismal last-place finish in the World Cup.“Coaching has been the only grey area for us and we needed stability in it,” said Bajwa whose PHF fired Olympian Shahid Ali Khan as Pakistan coach after the World Cup debacle. “Hopefully Van den Heuvel will help us bridge that gap but only time will prove whether he is a good choice for us.”Van den Heuvel comes in as Pakistan’s third foreign coach, succeeding his compatriots Hans Jorritsma (1994) and Roelant Oltmans (2000). Under Jorritsma, Pakistan won the 1994 World Cup in Sydney but Oltmans’ stint proved unsuccessful as under him Pakistan failed to even qualify for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
RUSTENBURG, South Africa: Ghana edged clear at the top of World Cup Group D after an exciting 1-1 draw with ten-man Australia at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Saturday.The Ghanaians moved a point above Germany and Serbia after fighting off a determined bid by the Australians, who lost striker Harry Kewell to a red card in a sensational first-half penalty incident.The Australians, trying to rebuild their World Cup campaign after a shattering 4-0 first-up loss to Germany, now have the tough task of trying to beat Serbia on Wednesday and hope Germany are beaten by Ghana to reach the knockout round.The athletic Ghanaians hit back to cancel out Australia's 11th-minute opener with striker Asamoah Gyan's 25th-minute penalty and both teams had chances at either end to win the pulsating encounter.Kewell was red carded for handling on the line of Gyan's fierce goal-bound shot - the ball hitting his upper arm.Italian referee Roberto Rosetti immediately pulled out the red card as Kewell and his Australian teammates remonstrated his decision.Gyan sent Mark Schwarzer the wrong way with his penalty attempt to level the game and leave Australia to play a man down for the remainder of the match.It was the second red card of the tournament for the Australians, who had Tim Cahill sent off against Germany.Australia got a lucky break early on when attacking midfielder Brett Holman, replacing the suspended Cahill, scored off Mark Bresciano's free kick in the 11th minute.Bresciano's free kick cleared Ghana's defensive wall and the ball bounced awkwardly off goalkeeper Richard Kingson's chest into the path of Holman, who tucked away the rebound for his third international goal.Coach Pim Verbeek brought on Scott Chipperfield and Josh Kennedy to go up front with 20 minutes left as Australia searched for the winner.The Australians took the game to Ghana and had a glorious chance in the 72nd minute when both Luke Wilkshire and Kennedy fired their shots at Kingson with a goal beckoning.Ghana went into the match without skipper John Mensah, who failed a late fitness test and was replaced by teenager Jonathan Mensah, while centre-back partner Isaac Vorsah was left out for Lee Addy.Kewell and Mark Bresciano were among four changes in the Australia side.The two sides have now met on seven occasions with Australia winning four and Ghana two.
BAGHDAD: Twin car bombs in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Sunday killed 18 people and wounded 42, many of them women or traffic police, the Baghdad operations command said.The bombs exploded within minutes of each other at around 11:30 am (0830 GMT) in the Al-Yarmuk neighbourhood of west Baghdad, a security official said.The vehicles were parked close to government offices where identity cards and passports are issued, and large queues of people had formed to seek renewals.Traffic police offices and a branch of the Iraqi Commercial Bank also lie nearby in the same square which was thronged with people on the first day of the working week. "The bank branch was seriously damaged," the security official said.The bombings came hot on the heels of a string of attacks in the capital on Saturday evening.Three roadside bombs planted in Hurriya, a Shiite neighbourhood in the north of Baghdad, killed four people and wounded 16, a security official told media.Fire from a Katyusha multiple rocket launcher killed three people and wounded four in Al-Obeidi, an anarchic Shiite slum district in the far east of the capital beyond the sprawling Shiite bastion of Sadr City, an official said.And in the Zayouna neighbourhood of central Baghdad, police found the bodies of five women. A security official said they were believed to have been killed two or three weeks ago.There has been a spate of attacks recently by hardline Islamists against women accused of breaking the mores of their ultra-strict brand of the Muslim religion.
India scored 52 runs in the last five overs after the sixth wicket had fallen at 219, with Suresh Raina making 34 off 27 balls and Harbhajan an unbeaten 15 off 11.
The exciting victory lifted both India and hosts Sri Lanka into the June 24 final with two wins each and rendered the last two league matches inconsequential.
Pakistan and Bangladesh, who have yet to win a game, play each other on Monday, while India and Sri Lanka clash on Tuesday in a dress rehearsal for the final.
Barely 2,000 Sri Lankan fans were on hand to watch a rare clash between the arch-rivals, only their second one-day encounter in the past two years.
Opener Gautam Gambhir hit 83 off 97 balls and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni chipped in with 57 during a third-wicket stand of 97 which lifted India to 180-2 in the 36th over.
But Gambhir’s dismissal at that stage, bowled by Saeed Ajmal, triggered a middle-order collapse which saw four wickets fall for the addition of 39 runs.
Dhoni was bowled by Shoaib Malik and Rohit Sharma was trapped leg-before by Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, before Ajmal removed Ravindra Jadeja to make it 219-6 in the 46th over.
Raina and Harbhajan then stepped in to lead a brilliant recovery and crush a valiant Pakistan side’s hopes of staying alive in the tournament.
For Pakistan, opener Salman Butt top-scored with 74 and Kamran Akmal hit 51 off 41 balls after Afridi won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night international.
“After the decision of the Tehran revolutionary tribunal, Abdolmalek Rigi was hanged on Sunday morning in Evin prison,” IRNA said.
It quoted a court statement as saying: “The head of the armed counter-revolutionary group in the east of the country ... was responsible for armed robbery, assassination attempts, armed attacks on the army and police and on ordinary people, and murder.” Rigi was captured in February while on a flight. He led a shadowy Sunni militant group called Jundallah (Soldiers of God) that had waged a deadly insurgency in southeastern Iran killing civilians as well as military officials.
Iran says the group was backed by the United States.
IRNA, quoting the court statement, said Rigi's group was “responsible for the killing of 154 members of security forces and other innocent people and wounding of 320 people since 2003.” It said Jundallah was “linked to members of foreign intelligence services, including members from US and Zionist regime's intelligence services under the cover of NATO.” It was also linked to intelligence services of some Arabic countries and counter-revolutionary group People's Mujahedeen, the statement said.
Rigi himself was charged with forming the “terrorist group Jundallah which was fighting the Islamic republic.” He collaborated and ordered 15 armed abductions, confessed to three murders, ordered the murders of tens of citizens, police and military personnel through bombings and armed actions,” the statement added.
IRNA said he had been sentenced to be hanged in front of the relatives of some of the victims of his attacks, but the report did not specify whether he was actually executed in their presence.
“Pakistan has an obvious, major energy problem and we are sympathetic to that, but in regards to a specific project, legislation is being prepared that may apply to the project,” he said, referring to the pipeline.
“We caution the Pakistanis not to over-commit themselves until we know the legislation.”
Pakistan is plagued by chronic electricity shortages that have led to mass demonstrations.
US Senator Joseph Lieberman said last week he expects Congress to finish shortly legislation tightening US sanctions on Iran that will include provisions affecting the supply of refined petroleum products to Tehran, and add to sanctions on its financial sector.
Lieberman, an independent, is a member of a House-Senate committee of negotiators working on final details of the bill and said it could pass by July 4.
The $7.6 billion natural gas pipeline deal, signed in March, doesn't directly deal with refined petroleum products and was hailed in both Iran and Pakistan as highly beneficial.
The US has so far been muted in its criticism of the deal, balancing its need to support Pakistan, a vital but unstable ally in the global war against al-Qaeda, with its desire to isolate Iran.
But the legislation could be comprehensive enough to have major implications for Pakistani companies, Holbrooke said.
“We caution Pakistan to wait and see what the legislation is.”
This was Holbrooke's tenth trip to Pakistan since President Barack Obama appointed him special representative to the region. His visit followed a series of working groups this week that are part of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, which both countries say will lay the groundwork for a new relationship.
Afghanistan was on the agenda in meetings with the Pakistani leadership, Holbrooke said, including talks on a Pakistani role in talks between the Afghan Taliban and the Kabul government.
But the United States would not support Pakistan pushing the Haqqani network, one of the strongest factions of the Afghan insurgency and mostly based in Pakistan's North Waziristan, into talks with Kabul as Washington sees the group as intransigent, brutal and too tightly allied with al-Qaeda.
The United States has said any groups wishing to lay down their weapons must renounce al-Qaeda and agree to participate peacefully in the Afghan political process.
“It's just hard to see that happening,” Holbrooke said of the Haqqani network.
Regardless of what happens in Afghanistan, he said, the United States would remain engaged with Pakistan.
“Pakistan matters in and of itself. Whatever happens in Afghanistan, the US cannot turn away from Pakistan again,” he said. “We are not going to repeat the mistakes that occurred — at least not on our watch — of the last 20 years.”
Security officials followed one of the gunmen, who fled to nearby Jodia Bazaar and killed himself. One hand grenade was recovered from his possession, while search teams have been sent to other areas to locate the remaining gunmen.
The four escaped prisoners were identified as Murad, Wazir, Miskeen and Murtaza, and were brought to the courts of the judicial magistrate south.
Two people were also injured as a result of the attack and have been shifted to Civil Hospital.
Mr Svanberg also confirmed that BP chief executive Tony Hayward would be handing over the day-to-day response to BP managing director Bob Dudley.
The BP oil rig exploded on 20 April.
Eleven people died in the Deepwater Horizon drill rig accident, which left a ruptured well spewing hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite BP efforts to contain the leak, oil continues to enter the sea, threatening states along the Gulf coast.
It has been described as the worst ecological disaster in the US.
A containment cap and another device are capturing some 25,000 barrels of oil a day - the latest estimates suggest 35,000-60,000 barrels a day are spewing out.
The company has agreed to put aside $20bn (£13.5bn) to compensate victims of the oil spill - and has vowed to help with the clean-up.
On Friday, rating agency Moody's downgraded BP's credit rating by three notches, following similar moves by the other two rating agencies earlier this week.
It said the full costs of the oil spill would have a negative impact on the company's cash flow for "a number of years". Complaicency charges
On Thursday, Tony Hayward faced an angry US Congressional panel which told him BP had ignored dangers when drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
House committee on energy and commerce chairman Henry Waxman said BP's "complacency" before the rig explosion had been "astonishing".
He accused Mr Hayward of "stonewalling" for failing to answer his questions.
But Mr Svanberg defended the chief executive, saying the answers would have to wait until a BP inquiry into what happened was completed.
"Whether the company can digest those expenditures, whether they will lead to the annihilation of the company or its break up is a matter of expediency," Mr Medvedev said.
But the BP chairman rejected his company was facing that prospect.
"The company is strong, the company has strong underlying performance - strong cash flow, strong operations," Mr Svanberg said.
But he added that it was impossible to know the final cost of the spill until it had been stopped.
BP says it will withhold dividends until the end of the year as part of its response to the spill.
The long-term hope for ending the spill rests with two relief wells now being drilled, one of which has reached two miles (3km) below the seabed, or about two-thirds of the way to its target, US disaster co-ordinator Admiral Thad Allen reported on Thursday.
BP plans to seal the leak with concrete but that is not likely to happen until August at the earliest.
JOHANNESBURG: Midfielder Michael Bradley’s late goal sealed the United States’ fight back as they drew 2-2 with Slovenia at the World Cup on Friday night to keep their hopes of reaching the Last 16 alive. 
First right-wing Landon Donovan scored a superb goal on 48 minutes, then the equaliser came with eight minutes left as US striker Jozy Altidore flicked on a header deep in the penalty area and Bradley - son of the coach Bob - fired his shot home.
Slovenia had got off to the ideal start when Auxerre’s Birsa drilled in a long-range shot from 30 metres out which flew into the back of the net with US goalkeeper Tim Howard rooted to the spot after 13 minutes.
Centre-back Oguchi Onyewu’s challenge on Birsa looked to have left the goalkeeper unsighted.
Slovenia centre-back Bostjan Cesar then picked up the first yellow card of the match when he fouled Altidore on 35 minutes and Francisco Torres’ free-kick forced the Slovenian goalkeeper into a diving save.
The US threatened with half-time approaching as a Bradley shot was saved off the line, but in the melee striker Robbie Findley was booked for hand ball and misses the next game against Algeria next Wednesday in Pretoria.
With three minutes left of the half, Ljubijankic latched onto a well-timed pass which split the US defence and drilled his shot past Everton’s Howard to make it 2-0 at the break.
US coach Bradley made two changes at the break bringing Maurice Edu in as a defensive midfielder and putting Benny Feilhaber on the wing.
It paid off as US Galaxy’s Donovan controlled the long-ball, dribbled into the area and drilled his shot into the roof of the net past Slovenia goalkeeper Samir Handanovic just three minutes into the half.
Slovenian centre-back Marko Suler was booked on 69 minutes for hauling down Altidore just outside the area and the forward managed to latch onto the end of the resulting free-kick but fired his shot at Handanovic.
With the US upping the pace, Slovenia’s left-wing Andraz Kirm also went into the referee’s book as did Bojan Jokic for a foul on Donovan just before Bradley’s late equaliser.
The US looked to have taken a sensational lead when Edu scored with time almost up, but the referee judged the goal off-side.
Both teams now have all to play for in their last group match when Slovenia play England in Port Elizabeth next Wednesday and the US face Algeria.
DAMBULLA: Tillakaratne Dilshan starred with bat and ball as Sri Lanka trounced Bangladesh by 126 runs on Friday to virtually book their place in the Asia Cup final.
Dilshan smashed 71 off 51 balls and claimed three wickets as the defending champions piled up a commanding 312-4 in their 50 overs and then shot out Bangladesh for 186.
It was Sri Lanka's second win in a row after the 16-run defeat of Pakistan in their opening match and helped them step closer to becoming the first team to take a berth in the June 24 final.
Bangladesh, who had lost to India on Wednesday, are virtually out of contention in the four-nation tournament.
Sri Lanka put on a dazzling batting performance to record the highest total ever at the Rangiri international stadium in Dambulla.
Dilshan and Upul Tharanga set the ball rolling with an opening stand of 111 by the 16th over after Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night match.
Tharanga (54) and Sangakkara (52) hit half-centuries to build on Dilshan's aggressive knock which included 11 boundaries and a six.
Mahela Jayawardene chipped in with 43 during a third-wicket stand of 69 with Sangakkara.
Angelo Mathews (42 not out) and Chamara Kapugedera (37 not out) hammered 73 runs in the last 10 overs to set Bangladesh a tough target of six runs an over under lights.
Bangladesh found the task beyond their reach despite a typically aggressive 51 off 53 balls by left-handed opener Tamim Iqbal.
Tamim put on 57 for the second wicket with Junaid Siddique (38) after opening partner Imrul Kayes was caught in the slips off Nuwan Kulasekera for three.
Bangladesh, who were 77-1 at one stage, lost five wickets for 66 runs as Dilshan and Muttiah Muralitharan sliced through the middle order.
Dilshan, bowling off-spin, sealed Bangladesh's fate in the space of nine deliveries when he had Tamim stumped by Sangakkara and then trapped Mohammad Ashraful leg-before.
Dilshan also removed Mushfiqur Rahim, while Muralitharan dismissed Junaid Siddique and skipper Shakib Al Hasan at the other end.
On the same day she made her first visit to the devastated city of Osh since unrest erupted one week ago, interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said that the official death toll, which the health ministry said Friday had reached 192, was vastly underestimated.
“I would increase the official death toll from southern Kyrgyzstan by ten times,” Otunbayeva said in comments broadcast on national radio.
“There were very many deaths in the countryside, and our customs dictate that we bury our dead right away, before sunset,” meaning that many bodies were buried before deaths could be registered with authorities, she said.
Wearing a bullet-proof vest and accompanied by a heavy security detail, Otunbayeva landed by helicopter in the centre of Osh, some 300 kilometres (186 miles) south of the capital Bishkek.
“I came here to see, to speak with the people and hear firsthand what happened here. We will do everything to rebuild this city,” Otunbayeva said before a handful of people on the main square.
The UN's World Health Organisation said it was working on a worst-case estimate that the crisis could affect up to one million people.
“We are working with a planning figure of one million people that have been directly or indirectly affected by this event — 300,000 of them... refugees,” said Giuseppe Annunziata, WHO coordinator for emergency programme support.
The UN Human Rights Council on Friday called on the Kyrgyz government “to conduct a full and transparent investigation that holds perpetrators accountable for the loss of life” during both the recent inter-ethnic violence and riots in April that brought the interim government to power.
On a visit to Uzbekistan's border region of Andijan, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake went a step further and called for an independent probe into the violence.
“I think it's important that there be an investigation... but given the large number of ethnic Uzbek refugees here in Uzbekistan whose stories need to be heard, the Kyrgyz investigation needs to be accompanied by an investigation by an independent body,” he told AFP.
The provisional government has insisted it is in control, but Otunbayeva said Russian troops will be deployed to guard some sites.“Russian troops will guard some strategic sites in Kyrgyzstan,” she said.
“This decision has been taken to ensure security for these sites.” Russia's defence ministry confirmed that Kyrgyzstan had made a request for troops to guard sites but said a decision on whether to send forces had not yet been made.
“We can confirm that the Kyrgyz government has requested that Russian soldiers be deployed to protect strategic sites. We are taking the request into consideration but a final decision has not yet been made,” a source in the Russian defence ministry told Russian news agencies.
Otunbayeva had earlier asked Russia to send military forces to help quell the ethnic clashes.
The Kremlin dispatched humanitarian aid but rejected Otunbayeva's request for military help, saying the violence was an internal affair that had to be brought under control by the government of Kyrgyzstan.
During her visit to Osh, Otunbayeva stayed away from the city's devastated Uzbek neighbourhoods — many of which were burnt to the ground amid the worst of the ethnic bloodshed.
Victims of the unrest have told AFP that the violence was a brutal and orchestrated campaign by armed militias of ethnic Kyrgyz targeting Uzbek neighbours.
But Otunbayeva played down the scale of animosity between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that fueled the clashes.
“We have always lived together and we always will live together,” she said.
The riots were the worst inter-ethnic clashes to hit the impoverished Central Asian state since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Uzbeks make up 14 percent of Kyrgyzstan's population of 5.3 million.
“Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will visit Pakistan at the invitation of the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, Mr Salman Bashir,” said a statement from the Indian foreign affairs ministry on Friday.
Rao will also meet Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Qureshi has invited his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna to Islamabad on July 15 as part of a process of reconciliation between the South Asian neighbours.
Qureshi met with Indian Minister of Trade and Industry, Anand Sharma last week in Istanbul. Both leaders spoke about potential trade volume between Pakistan and India. Sharma also showed his willingness to meet his Pakistani counter part.
Qureshi also welcomed Home Minister P. Chidambaram's proposed visit to Pakistan. He said that there is a need to join efforts to end terrorism.
WASHINGTON: Pakistanis see their country in crisis and they give their national government lower ratings than at any time in this decade. And almost no one is satisfied with national conditions, a latest survey indicated.President Asif Zardari’s popularity is at all-time low at 32 per cent while Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Nawaz Sharif has reached a new high at 79 per cent approval ratings. The role of Pakistani media is viewed favourably as almost 77 per cent of those interviewed for the survey believe that the media is having good influence on the country.Overall, 89 per cent say they think of themselves first as Pakistani, rather than as a member of their ethnic group, the survey said.Conducted by the Pew Research Centre’s Global Attitudes Project, it also finds that a long-standing concern about extremism has grown even greater over the past year, and indifference and mixed opinions about both Al Qaeda and the Taliban have given way to a strong condemnation of both groups.While views about national conditions are overwhelmingly negative, most Pakistanis are upbeat about their personal lives — 74 per cent say they are very or somewhat satisfied with their overall lives, and most are satisfied with their family lives and incomes.
Friday's Outlook
ISLAMABAD
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About 300,000 people have fled their homes, while another 75,000-100,000 people - not counting children - are thought to have taken refuge in Uzbekistan.
The Red Cross (ICRC) has described the situation as an "immense crisis".
Some aid has begun to arrive in the region, but the ICRC says refugees are running short of basic supplies.
At least 40,000 refugees are without shelter.
People have been leaving after violence between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks last week, in which at least 191 were killed. Some observers have said the death toll is higher.
The latest UN Humanitarian Office figure exceeds previous estimates of 250,000-275,000 displaced.
Many report instances of rape, and severe beatings.
"We need clothes and medical supplies, especially for the children, because when we fled our homes we just ran away and couldn't take anything with us," said Halima Otajonova, a 41-year-old mother of two, at a refugee centre at a stadium in the Uzbek town of Khanabad.
"Some of us even ran away in bare feet, without shoes," she told the AFP news agency.
The city of Osh, which saw most of the violence, is being patrolled by Kyrgyz troops, amid an uneasy calm. However, there have been reports of soldiers taking part in looting.
The ICRC says its workers have reached refugees in the areas around Osh.
"We've seen for ourselves and also heard about pockets of displaced people ranging from several hundred to several thousand in number," said the ICRC's Severine Chappaz.
The organisation said insecurity and fear, combined with shortages of basic necessities like food, water, shelter and medicine, were putting a tremendous strain on communities, hospitals and families.
"We're going to have an increasingly serious humanitarian problem which is going to affect both the Kyrgyz and the Uzbek communities in southern Kyrgyzstan," he told the BBC from the capital, Bishkek.
"The reports from the Uzbek communities in Osh and in Jalalabad are so bloodcurdling that I doubt whether anybody will want to go back in the near future. In fact they'd probably only go back if the Uzbek government forced them to."
In an Uzbek district of Osh, a baker who had fled to the border with his wife and five children on Sunday said his family had lost hope after supplies on the border ran out, and returned out of desperation.
"Is there any difference where to die? There is no food, no water, no humanitarian aid," Melis Kamilov told the Associated Press news agency. Mob attacks
Eyewitnesses say Kyrgyz mobs began attacking people in Uzbek areas of Osh and another southern city, Jalalabad, in the early hours of Friday last week.
Kyrgyzstan's interim leaders have been struggling to impose their authority since coming to power after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown in April.
The government believes allies of Mr Bakiyev, who now lives in exile in Belarus, want to derail a national referendum on constitutional reform scheduled for 27 June.
But the government has said it will go ahead with the referendum despite the clashes.
Mr Quinn-Judge told the BBC the decision not to delay the vote suggested the interim government was "having a few reality problems".
Ethnic Uzbeks have largely supported the interim government, but Mr Bakiyev remains popular with many Kyrgyz in the south.
A Kyrgyz government appeal for Russia to send in peacekeeping troops was rejected by Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has now said his country will provide technical assistance to Kyrgyzstan to help it track down those behind the clashes.
Washington is sending its top Central Asia diplomat, Robert Blake, for meetings with officials in Bishkek on Friday and Saturday.
The clashes are the worst ethnic violence to hit southern Kyrgyzstan since 1990, when deadly clashes were suppressed by the Soviet authorities.
Kyrgyz interim leader Roza Otunbayeva has arrived in Osh in the south of the country, the scene of the country's worst ethnic violence in decades.At least 191 people were killed in fighting between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks around Osh and Jalalabad.
About 400,000 people have been displaced by the unrest, with many Uzbeks fleeing into Uzbekistan.
The Red Cross (ICRC) has described the situation as an "immense crisis", with shortages of basic necessities.
Speaking in Osh's main square, Ms Otunbayeva said: "I came here to see, to speak with the people and hear first hand what happened here. We will do everything to rebuild this city."
She rejected criticism of her interim government's handling of the crisis.
The Kyrgyz government had earlier appealed to Russia to send in peacekeeping troops. But Moscow rejected the request, offering instead technical assistance to track those committing the violence.
Ms Otunbayeva is scheduled to meet local leaders and visit hospitals during the trip.
The unrest last week came two months after the country's former president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was forced out of office.
Ms Otunbayeva's government has blamed the former leader for stoking the conflict.
He visited refugees in camps in the Uzbek border city of Andijan on Friday.
"It is important to establish peace for your safe return," Reuters news agency reported him as telling people in the camps.
"An investigation should be carried out to prevent this in the future."
Many observers have said the death toll could be higher than the official figure of 191.
Ms Otunbayeva was quoted by the Russian daily Kommersant as saying that she would "multiply by 10 times the official figures", because of the custom of family burying loved ones as soon as possible.
In the refugee camps in Uzbekistan, there are many reports of rape and severe beatings.
Some aid has begun to arrive in the region, but the ICRC says refugees are running short of basic supplies. At least 40,000 refugees were without shelter.
The organisation said insecurity and fear, combined with shortages of basic necessities like food, water, shelter and medicine, were putting a tremendous strain on communities, hospitals and families.
Kyrgyzstan's interim leaders have been struggling to impose their authority since coming to power after President Bakiyev was overthrown in April.
The government believes allies of Mr Bakiyev, who now lives in exile in Belarus, want to derail a national referendum on constitutional reform scheduled for 27 June.
But the government has said it will go ahead with the referendum despite the clashes.
Ethnic Uzbeks have largely supported the interim government, but Mr Bakiyev remains popular with many Kyrgyz in the south.
Pietersen made his first appearance in two years in last Sunday's Friends Provident t20 win over Surrey.
That was only his 11th Hampshire game in the last four years and his current Rose Bowl contract is due to expire.
"It's just a geographical issue," said his agent Adam Wheatley. "He and his family are in London, and the county is 90 minutes down the road."
"I have not had much opportunity to play for Hampshire but I want to thank the players, staff, chairman and fans, for the support I have had during my time at The Rose Bowl," said Pietersen, in a statement issued by his county.
But he has been a centrally contracted England player for most of his time with Hampshire and, since making his Test debut in July 2005, he has made just one Championship appearance.
When asked after the game last Sunday evening, if he would like to feature more for his county, Pietersen told BBC Radio Solent: "Geographically, it just doesn't work. I live in Chelsea."
That would appear to indicate Pietersen's preference for one of the two London counties, Surrey or Middlesex. But Wheatley insists: "There have been no approaches at all.
"It's certainly not Kevin's intention to be a freelance cricketer as he would still be required to play for a county.
"I think now we've given notice to Hampshire, things may start to happened if there is some interest."
"Technically speaking," said an ECB spokesman, "a player doesn't have to be registered with a county to be eligible for England.
"But, practically, it's in the best interest of the player and the England management that he is registered with a county.
"This is so the option exists for that player to go back to his county and play cricket when required, eg in between international series."
Pietersen will be back at The Rose Bowl next week, but only for England's one-day international series opener against Australia (22 June).
Hampshire chairman of cricket Rod Bransgrove added: "Given England's critical dependence on KP in all forms of cricket, we have not seen anything like as much of him as we would have liked over the past six years.
"He remains, however, a fantastic player and we wish him continued success wherever he plays."
Two second-half goals gave Mexico their first ever victory over France to leave El Tri well-placed to make the last 16 and the 2006 runners-up on the verge of elimination.
Mexico were the brighter of the two throughout but were unable to take any of their chances until just after the hour, when substitute Javier Hernandez broke the offside trap and rounded keeper Hugo Lloris before slotting home.
Another Mexican substitute, the 37-year-old Cuauhtemoc Blanco, sealed the victory from the penalty spot after a third replacement, Pablo Barrera, had been felled in the box.
It leaves Mexico level at the top of Group A with Uruguay and a draw between those two sides in their final game in Rustenburg would send France out of the tournament.
Mexico and France met in the first ever World Cup finals match in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930, with Les Bleus cruising to a 4-1 victory, but this keenly contested encounter was never likely to reproduce such a scoreline.
Both teams showed greater endeavour than in their drawn opening games, with France in particular looking more lively, but for long periods neither possessed the cutting edge to truly punish their opponents.
The French squad is reportedly in disarray, with suggestions of a training ground bust-up between coach Raymond Domenech and midfielder Florent Malouda, who was not selected for their uninspired 0-0 draw with Uruguay, and they have been criticised by former midfielder Zinedine Zidane.
However, Malouda was recalled in place of Yoann Gourcuff in a line-up that kept faith with a world class strike-force, spearheaded by Nicolas Anelka, that has failed to register an international goal since last November.
Malouda showed rare glimpses of the form he showed throughout last season for Chelsea, forcing Mexico keeper Oscar Perez to palm over early in the second half, having earlier begun a free-kick routine straight off the training ground that saw Frank Ribery flash a drive across goal.
This was the closest Ribery would come to affecting the game from his central playmaker role and, as against Uruguay, Anelka was largely anonymous and was replaced at half-time by Andre-Pierre Gignac, who also offered little in his 45 minutes on the pitch.
Mexico's attack is exciting but too often lightweight. Their forwards missed numerous chances in their opening 1-1 draw with hosts South Africa but all three players retained their place in the side - although Arsenal striker Carlos Vela was forced off with an injury on the half hour with only one skied shot to his name.
Another member of their attacking triumvirate, Tottenham's Giovani Dos Santos, produced another lively display to match the one he produced against South Africa and, but for Patrice Evra's presence, would have been able to get greater purchase on a shot that bobbled wide just before half-time.
Mexico's chief offensive weapon in the first half was left-back Oscar Salcido, who regularly found himself in advanced positions, but his execution could not match his intent.
He had two good shooting opportunities in the first half but from the first he shot wide of the far post from 25 yards, and then saw a close-range effort blocked by France keeper Lloris after William Gallas had inexplicably backed away from Salcido's run.
The opening of the second half had seen a clear dip in quality from what had been a decent first 45 minutes, but two positive Mexican substitutes - Hernandez and Blanco - altered that, with a third, Vela's replacement Barrera, also playing a part.
In the 64th minute, Marquez chipped a ball forward from midfield, Eric Abidal played the Manchester United-bound striker onside and with the French defence static and begging for offside, Hernandez was able to advance onwards, skip round Lloris and slot into the vacated goal.
France's response was meek at best but the Mexicans, by now full of confidence, continued to press and were rewarded when Barrera was tripped and Blanco charged in from outside the box to dispatch his penalty into the right-hand corner of the net.
Convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner, who had spent 25 years on death row, was killed soon after midnight local time (0600 GMT) on Friday, hours after a final appeal was rejected.
Gardner, 49, chose the firing squad as his method of execution before it was banned by Utah in 2004.
He was only the third man put to death in that way in the US since 1976.
He was convicted in 1985 of fatally shooting a lawyer during an attempt to escape from a court where he was facing another murder charge dating from 1984.
Just hours before his scheduled execution, the US Supreme Court - the highest court in the nation - rejected Gardner's final appeal against that decision.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert also rejected a request for a temporary stay on Thursday, saying Gardner's legal team had presented no material that had not already been considered by the courts.
"Mr Gardner has had a full and fair opportunity to have his case considered by numerous tribunals," he said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Gardner ate his final meal of steak, lobster, apple pie, vanilla ice cream and 7-Up, before beginning a 48-hour fast.
Gardner's lawyers said he had undertaken his fast for "spiritual reasons", the Salt Lake City Tribune newspaper reported. 'Wild West'
The execution was carried out by a five-man firing squad.
Gardner washooded and strapped to a black metal chair, with a white target pinned to his chest. He would have been asked for his last words before the execution.
Critics say the method is a relic from the state's Wild West past and should be abolished.
Death row convicts in Utah were for decades allowed to choose their method of execution.
State legislators removed that choice in 2004 and made lethal injection the standard method - but inmates sentenced before then can still opt for firing squad.
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