Sydney Convicts tackle homophobia with historic rugby match

Yahoo – AFP, July 7, 2014

Sydney Convicts tackle homophobia with historic rugby match (AFP)

Sydney (AFP) - Wallabies great John Eales hailed the courage and spirit of the Sydney Convicts after they became the first gay rugby team in the world Sunday to play on the same bill as a professional match.

The Convicts defeated Macquarie University 30-12 in the curtain-raiser to the New South Wales Waratahs' Super Rugby win over the Otago Highlanders at Sydney's Allianz Stadium.

The game was part of efforts by Australia's professional sports to tackle homophobia.

Eales said Sunday's historic match was a huge step forward for sport in Australia.

"It's always disappointing to hear stories of people who don't play sports because they fear discrimination," the former Wallabies captain and two-time Rugby World Cup winner told reporters at the ground.

"There is no room for homophobia or any other exclusionary behaviour in sports or any other part of society.

"Sports can and must lead society and be welcoming for everyone.

"I'm sure that by holding historic events like this and taking other steps to publicly support gay people, we can help eradicate homophobia and discrimination in sport."

During the main game the stadium's big screen aired an anti-homophobia advertisement featuring prominent Australian sportsmen -- Wallaby David Pocock, Test cricketer Mitchell Johnson, Socceroo Harry Kewell and National Rugby League players Paul Gallen and Nate Myles.

Among the stars in the Convicts' win was scrum-half Jason Fowler, a former Macquarie University player who quit the club and joined the Convicts after fearing his old teammates wouldn't accept him if he "came out".

"Playing at Allianz is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the entire team is extremely proud and excited to be making history," Fowler said.

"Just two years ago I was afraid to come out of the closet to my teammates. Now I'm playing against them on a gay rugby team as part of a professional sporting event."

While it was an Australian sporting first it was not the first time a gay team has played in a major sporting event in the world.

Paris Foot Gay played a football match against Foot Citoyen as a curtain-raiser to the French Division One game between Paris Saint-Germain and RC Lens at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris in 2006.

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#ProudToPlay: Celebrating equality for all athletes

Commentary: Beijing, Berlin getting closer despite geographical distance

English.news.cn, Xinhua Writer Shang Jun, 2014-07-06, Editor: Xiang Bo

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Beijing and Berlin, though thousands of miles apart, are defying their geographical distance to forge ever closer ties.

The fatigue of nearly half-day flight between the two capitals cannot prevent Angela Merkel from embarking on her seventh trip to China as the German chancellor this weekend.

During her four-day stay, Merkel will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, both of whom have paid a visit to Berlin since they took office last year.

The frequency of high-level mutual visits is a clear indicator of the closeness between Beijing and Berlin and the level of importance that both countries have attached to each other.

It is fair to say that China-Germany relations are at their best in history, which have been strongly underpinned by the pragmatic cooperation between the two economic heavyweights.

For starters, it is worth noting some basic figures. Germany is now China's largest trading partner in Europe, while China is Germany's biggest in the Asia-Pacific region. Two-way trade stood at 161.6 billion U.S. dollars last year, accounting for nearly one-third of the grand total between China and the European Union (EU).

One fact that lies behind those remarkable figures and stays barely noticed is that both China and Germany are manufacturing powers and world' s leading exporters, but they for the most of the time managed to avoid a trade war and stood together for free trade.

Merkel earned applause from China last year for her opposition to the EU trade investigation into Chinese mobile telecommunication equipments.

The unusual co-action between the two exporting powerhouses is deeply rooted in their economic complementarity.

As Xi put it during his visit to Berlin in March, the China-Germany cooperation is a perfect blending of Chinese market and German technology and an alliance between Chinese speed and German quality.

When German companies are eager to sell their sophisticated products to the fast-growing Chinese market, China is equally keen to learn from Made-in-Germany for its own economic upgrading.

The visit saw Merkel accompanied by a high-profile business delegation including executives of Siemens, VW, Airbus, Lufthansa and Deutsche Bank, all familiar brands to the Chinese.

There is high expectation that the German chancellor will find her ongoing trip as fruitful as ever and bring her country one step closer to China.

Chinese president meets German chancellor in Beijing

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Boss of Yongkang firm arrested after fleeing to Uganda

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-07-04

Yu Youjing. (Internet photo)

Yu Youjing, who runs the largest import and export company in Yongkang in eastern China's Zhejiang province, has been arrested in Entebbe in Uganda and escorted back to China, reports the state-run China News Service.

The 40-year-old woman made headlines in February this year after she was accused of taking out loans against her company of almost 150 million yuan (US$24 million) from more than 50 creditors including four state-owned banks, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, private guarantee institutions and companies and then snuck out of the country via Guangzhou.

Yu started her career as an insurance salesperson in 1998. She founded her own business selling cars two years later with the money she borrowed and 100,000 yuan (US$16,000) of her own money. In 2004, she decided to abandon the car business and established Zhejiang Baige import and export company for higher margins. Yu served as the company's legal representative and general manager.

The company has had one of the highest trading volumes in the city since 2007 and was giving a high rating as a trading company by the Jinhua government in central Zhejiang. In 2011, the company's exports exceeded US$50 million in value, one of the 30 highest among businesses in Jinhua and the third highest in Yongkang, reports Xiandai Jinbao, a Zhejiang-based newspaper directly affiliated with Xinhua News Agency.

Yongkang police set up a team to investigate Yu after she fled the country and discovered the contract scam. The police listed Yu as a fugitive on the internet and froze the company's bank accounts and assets.

On June 4, the Chinese public security bureau posted a red notice to Interpol, seeking her location and asking for her arrest. After obtaining information of her activities in Uganda on June 30, the bureau organized a team to arrest Yu in Entebbe. She was arrested on Wednesday morning in a joint operation between Chinese and Ugandan police.

She said she regretted fleeing to Uganda with the money as her brother had quickly gambled it all away, forcing her to look for new business opportunities all over Africa over the past five months. She was about to start a new company with her mother before being arrested and escorted back to China. Yu said she will take full responsibility for her mistakes and urged her mother to return to the country as well, reports the Hangzhou-based Qianjiang Evening News.

Philippine court orders third senator arrested over graft scandal

Yahoo – AFP, 4 July 2014

Senator Juan Ponce Enrile delivers a statement at a courthouse in

Manila, on May 29, 2012

Philippine court on Friday ordered the arrest of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, one of the country's most prominent politicians and the third legislator facing criminal charges in a massive corruption scandal.

The 90-year-old former defence secretary, senate president, and martial-law enforcer of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos is accused of taking nearly $4 million in kickbacks from illegally diverted state funds.

"The first order of arrest is issued against Senator Juan Ponce Enrile," court clerk Dennis Pulma told reporters, reading from a resolution of a special anti-graft tribunal that has also ordered four other suspects detained, including an aide to the politician.

Enrile's spokeswoman Lizette Nepomuceno told AFP he was consulting his lawyers.

Enrile is the third member of the 24-seat Filipino senate to be ordered arrested by the court in a case that has staggered the nation, in which dozens of lawmakers, their staff and other officials are accused of embezzling millions of dollars alloted for development projects.

Senators Jose Estrada -- son of a former president -- and Ramon Revilla, also an action film star, were arrested last month.

The trio were among dozens indicted earlier this year.

Enrile was accused of pocketing 172 million pesos ($3.95 million) in public funds that were allegedly diverted to ghost projects.

He has been charged with one count of "plunder", punishable by life imprisonment.

The case erupted last year when businesswoman Janet Napoles was accused of colluding with lawmakers to embezzle an estimated 10 billion pesos from legislators' "pork barrel" funds, or money for their pet projects.

Napoles initially denied any wrongdoing, then in a failed effort to turn state witness gave prosecutors a list implicating more than 100 lawmakers. She has also been charged with plunder.

Two of those on the list are now members of President Benigno Aquino's cabinet, but they deny the charges and say Napoles is spreading false information to deflect blame.

Aquino came to power in a landslide election victory in 2010, pledging to sweep away massive corruption that he blames for the Philippines' stubbornly high levels of poverty.

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Xi calls for "no more stirs" on Korean Peninsula

English.news.cn, 2014-07-03, Editor: Tang Danlu

SEOUL, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Thursday all parties concerned to refrain from creating more stirs on the Korean Peninsula as many uncertainties are still existing.

"All parties concerned should jointly and properly manage and control the situation, avoid causing tension, prevent the situation from losing control, and creating no more stirs," he said during talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

Xi told Park that China upholds an objective and impartial position on the Korean Peninsula issue, and is firmly committed to pushing for a nuclear-free Peninsula, maintaining the peace and stability on the Peninsula, and resolving the issue through dialogue and consultation.

"We hold that the concerns of all sides should be treated in a balanced way, and a synchronized and equivalent method should be sought to bring the nuclear issue on Korean peninsula into a sustainable, irreversible and effective settlement process," said Xi.

China positively evaluates the proposal of a "Korean Peninsula trust-building process" raised by Park and supports the improvement of relations between the north and the south to realize reconciliation and cooperation and ultimately achieve independent peaceful reunification, Xi said.

Park said South Korea hopes to build south-north mutual trust through the "Korean Peninsula trust-building process," push for reconciliation between the two sides and safeguard peace on the Peninsula.

South Korea spoke highly of China's efforts to promoting peace and talks, and is willing to enhance cooperation with China to achieve the goal of denuclearization on the Peninsula and boosting peace, stability and prosperity in Northeast Asia, she said.

Xi arrived here Thursday for a two-day state visit to South Korea, his first trip to the Asian neighbor since he took office last year.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L, front) and his wife Peng Liyuan (R, front)

 inspect an honor guard upon their arrival in Seoul, capital of South Korea, July 3,

 2014. Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Seoul Thursday for a two-day

state visit to South Korea. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

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Japan eases sanctions on North Korea after talks

Japan eases sanctions on North Korea after talks

Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe has announced his country would ease some of its unilateral sanctions on North Korea. The move came after talks over North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals.

Deutsche Welle, 3 July 2014

Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe

Diplomats from the two countries having been holding talks in Beijing this week about abductions and recent missile launches. Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that the decision to partially lift sanctions was motivated by North Korea's efforts to give real authority to an abduction probe panel it is setting up.

The panel includes a powerful Defense Commission member, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

"We have concluded that an unprecedented scheme that can make national decisions has been established. In accordance with the principle of action to action, we will lift part of the measures taken by Japan," Abe told reporters on Thursday.

Japan says that dozens - or even hundreds - of its people were snatched by North Korean spies to train their agents in language and customs during the 1970s and 1980s. Japan and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic ties and relations between the two have been frosty for decades.

Lost people

North Korea admitted in 2002 that it had kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens to train its spies in Japanese language and customs.

Five of the abductees returned home but Pyongyang said - without producing credible evidence - that the eight others had died, provoking uproar in Japan.

Media reports on Thursday said Tokyo will lift a ban on North Koreans entering Japan, waive requirements carry large amounts of cash into the country, and end the prohibition on some North Korean ships entering Japanese ports.

The decision comes at a time of persistent international concern over the North's nuclear programs and missile tests.

bk/jr (dpa, AFP, Reuters)

Malaysia to return envoy wanted in sex case to N. Zealand

Yahoo – AFP, 2 July 2014

General view shows the exterior wall of the High Commission of Malaysia

building in Wellington on July 1, 2014

Malaysia said Wednesday it would send an envoy back to New Zealand to face an attempted rape charge as a diplomatic storm erupted over the case.

The Southeast Asian nation had earlier asked Wellington to drop the case against defence staff assistant Muhammad Rizalman Ismail, promising he would never return to the country, according to documents released Wednesday.

Muhammad Rizalman appeared in a New Zealand court on May 10 accused of stalking a 21-year-old woman the previous night and attacking her at her home in the same Wellington suburb where Malaysia's High Commission is located.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman

 (seen in Putrajaya on July 1, 2014) told 

reporters that Kuala Lumpur had initially

 been prepared to waive immunity but

 decided not to when New Zealand

presented the option of returning

Muhammad Rizalman home.

Police charged him with burglary and assault with intent to commit rape -- both offences that carry jail terms of up to 10 years -- but he escaped prosecution after invoking diplomatic immunity and returning to his homeland.

But in an about-turn, Malaysia's foreign ministry said Wednesday that Muhammad Rizalman would return to New Zealand "to assist in the investigation for the charges".

"The Malaysian Government is of the view that this decision will provide an opportunity for Mr. Muhammad Rizalman to cooperate fully and assist the New Zealand authorities in the on-going investigations on the allegations made against him," it said in a statement.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said this was a "very welcome development which underlines the good faith and integrity with which they (Malaysia) have approached this issue".

The case has caused uproar in New Zealand, with the government facing criticism for failing to ensure the diplomat stood trial.

The Malaysian government has also been accused by its nationals of wrongly protecting Muhammad Rizalman.

Committment to 'justice'

"There was never any intention by either government to let this matter rest, and regardless of whether the process took place in Malaysia or New Zealand there was a strong commitment to seeing justice done," McCully said in a statement.

Malaysia said it would provide legal assistance to Muhammad Rizalman, who "is considered innocent until proven guilty".

In an unusual move, New Zealand earlier Wednesday released correspondence between foreign affairs officials and the Malaysian High Commission, in which the diplomatic mission refused to waive immunity and asked that the charges be dropped and the matter kept quiet.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has said he feels the accused should be in the dock in the country where the alleged offences took place.

"There is absolutely no question in my mind that this individual should be tried through the New Zealand system and face his penalties, if he is found guilty, in New Zealand," he told reporters.

New Zealand police had said in a statement that they were examining the possibility of applying for Muhammad Rizalman's extradition.

The High Commission of Malaysia in

Wellington pictured on July 1, 2014

Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman told reporters Tuesday that Kuala Lumpur had initially been prepared to waive immunity but decided not to when New Zealand presented the option of returning Muhammad Rizalman home.

He had said the case would be treated seriously by authorities in Malaysia.

McCully said the option of sending the diplomat home should have never been put on the table and apologised for his department's handling of the affair.

"The government's been poorly served and I've apologised to the prime minister for that," he told reporters.

In Malaysia, opposition politicians, activists and some of the country's active web users have also called on the government to return the envoy to New Zealand.

"Heavy rain in (Kuala Lumpur) but cannot wash away the embarrassment for my country," one user wrote on Twitter.

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India-China common interests outweigh differences: Indian VP

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-07-02

China's president Xi Jinping, right, and Mohammad Hamid Ansari shake
hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, June 30. (Photo/CNS)

Indian vice president Mohammad Hamid Ansari said on Monday that China and India's common interests outweigh their differences.

Ansari made the remarks when he delivered a speech at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank.

He said that strengthening ties with China is one of the priorities of India's foreign policy and there is consensus across the political spectrum on the issue.

India-China relations today have transcended the bilateral scope and acquired regional and global significance, Ansari said, adding that both countries view each other as partners for mutual benefit, not as rivals or competitors.

China and India together account for about 37% of the world's population and are two of the largest developing countries in the world, Ansari said.

According to Ansari, they have common interests in several areas on global issues, and hold similar positions on matters such as climate change, the Doha round, reform of international financial institutions and energy security.

"Our primary interest is to pay attention to the task of development," he said, stressing that both countries need a peaceful environment to bring prosperity and stability to Asia and the world.

At the invite of Chinese vice president Li Yuanchao, Ansari is paying an official visit to China from June 26-30. He attended commemorative activities for the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence at the weekend.

"These principles enunciate the basic guidelines for the establishment of a new international political and economic order," Ansari said.

Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement gains momentum

Waving colonial-era flags, tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged a massive rally in Hong Kong demanding full electoral freedom. But will this be enough for Beijing to back down?

Deutsche Welle, 1 July 2014

"The huge crowds gathered here reflect the willingness of the people of Hong Kong to take action and sacrifice for the sake of democracy," said Joseph Cheng. The political science professor from the City University of Hong Kong is one of many city residents who took part in the this year's July 1 rally to mark the day the territory was returned to China in 1997 after more than a century of British rule.

Passions were running particularly high this time around as tens of thousands marched through the heart of the city demanding more democracy and accusing Beijing of taking their civil liberties away. Some, chanting anti-Beijing slogans and waving colonial-era flags, even called for the city's chief executive to be sacked in a move seen by many as a direct challenge to the rule of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The mass demonstration came just a day after polls closed in an unofficial referendum on democratic reform which drew an unexpectedly high turnout of nearly 800,000 votes - more than a fifth of the city's electorate - but was slammed by Beijing as an "illegal farce" that was "tinged with mincing ludicrousness."

Early June Beijing issued a "white paper"
 on its relations with the special
administrative region

Exceeding expectations

The 10-day poll - which took place online and at physical polling stations - was intended to urge Chinese authorities to allow opposition democrats to run in a 2017 citywide election for a new chief minister. The vote gave city residents three options on how the poll should be carried out - all of which included the public having some influence on the selection of candidates. Beijing has promised direct elections in 2017, but has ruled out allowing voters to choose who can run for the top job. Both the vote and the rally were organized by the pro-democratic protest group Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP).

In a DW interview, Joseph Cheng, described the poll as "platform for the Hong Kong people to articulate their views on political reform," adding that true universal suffrage was the only way to ensure that the people will have a meaningful choice and that the vote will be genuinely competitive. But Cheng also pointed out that Chinese authorities are extremely sensitive to the idea of allowing such polls as they could be interpreted as a challenge to the CPC's authority. "The authorities are also very worried about similar votes being carried out in Taiwan or regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang," he added.

Beijing's 'white paper'

Shortly before the referendum got underway, China's State Council's Information Office issued a white paper on June 9 reiterating that Beijing had "comprehensive jurisdiction" over the former British colony. The policy document stated that some people were "confused or lopsided in their understanding of one country, two systems and that this has led to "many wrong views" about the city's economy, society and the development of its political system.

Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the US at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, says Hong Kong is only as special as Beijing allows it to be. However, it is not in China's interest that the territory functions simply as one more Chinese city. "Beijing benefits from Hong Kong's openness and from its attractiveness to foreign corporations. Cracking down too harshly on Hong Kong would put the lie to overtures the PRC makes to Taiwan under the "One Country, Two Systems' banner."

Most Hong Kong residents are pragmatic and hope for good relations with the People's Republic, Daly added. But they also want the city to remain unique and modern. The want to enjoy freedoms of speech, information, and association, and they want to participate meaningfully in their own governance.

Hong Kong's Basic Law promised those things to the people of Hong Kong and since 1997, Beijing has, in the main, honored its promise. "The recent White Paper issued by Beijing, however, called the promise into question with its implication that Hong Kong administrative personnel, including judges, must now take direction from Beijing."

China scholar Perry Link told DW that the aim of the white paper was to intimidate democrats and make clear that Beijing intends to continue its 'digestion' of Hong Kong. "It appears to be a clear violation of Deng Xiaoping's promise of "one country, two systems" for fifty years. But in fact it is not really new. Deng's promise was never a promise in the conventional sense," Link said.

Link believes that Beijing's increasingly tight control of Hong Kong won't make much of a difference economically as most of the city's tycoons are already allied with Beijing. Politically, however, this will sharpen and deepen the political problems in Hong Kong, he said. "This will enforce a surface appearance of unity with Beijing, but cover a resentful populace who will now have even more reason to feel resentful", the China expert said.

'A polarized society'

Tim Pringle, a Hong Kong permanent resident and senior lecturer at SOAS University of London, has a similar view. He told Hong Kong society had become increasingly polarized since 2003 when the city witnessed the first great pro-democracy march of the post-colonial era.

Pringle explains that while a vibrant students and workers' movement has emerged, what happens in the city does not take place in isolation. "If Beijing fails to exercise considerable influence over the arrangements for the next election of Chief Executive, this would give succor to those demanding democratic reforms in the mainland. Therefore, the chances of an entirely unfettered election in 2017 are slim."

Nearly 800,000 people participated in the referendum

Pringle points to the fact that despite the massive support in favor of direct elections for the chief executive post, there are also significant number of Hong Kong people who support Beijing as an expression of their patriotism or because they agree with the argument that Hong Kong folks are more concerned with 'making money' than engaging in political struggles. "While there is strong evidence to suggest that the majority of Hong Kong people support direct elections, it is not the case that Beijing is on a collision course with Hong Kong residents in general."

According to Daly, the protests will, therefore, have only a limited impact as China will continue to insist that only candidates who "Love China" - i.e. take directions from Beijing when it chooses to provide it - are qualified to run for chief post. "Hong Kong is, irrevocably, part of China and, under the Beijing formula, 'without the Communist Party, there would be no new China.' That's the bottom line; the interests of the Party and Chinese State are one. Hong Kong must operate under that umbrella."

What next?

As for the pro-democracy campaign, analysts argue Beijing will prefer to divide and weaken this movement and perhaps isolate its more "radical" wing rather than collide with it head-on. "A key challenge for the movement will be to maintain unity as some of the more radical actions planned unfold – such as occupying the central financial district – while leaving room for Beijing to compromise," said Pringle.

Daly shares a similar view: "Beijing needs to find a way to acknowledge the Hong Kong demonstrators' concerns - to mollify them without emboldening them. But it's getting harder to square that circle. To date, mollification hasn't been style of Chinese President Xi Jinping."

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Malaysian official on sex charge uses diplomatic immunity to leave NZ

Muhammad Rizalman bin Ismail, charged with sexual assault, will be extradited if New Zealand government requests it

theguardian.com, AP, Kuala Lumpur, Tuesday 1 July 2014

Malaysia's foreign minister, Anifah Aman, speaks to press in Putrajaya,
Malaysia. Photograph: Vincent Thian/AP

Malaysia has confirmed that a junior military official at its diplomatic mission in New Zealand has returned home in disgrace using diplomatic immunity after being charged with sexual assault.

Malaysia's foreign minister, Anifah Aman, told reporters that a defence ministry panel will investigate second warrant officer Muhammad Rizalman bin Ismail, 38, and "stern action will be taken" if he is found guilty.

"Diplomatic immunity is not a licence for them to commit crime," he said.

Anifah said Muhammad Rizalman was working at the Malaysian high commission in Wellington for the past year as a defence staff assistant.

New Zealand police said he followed a 21-year-old woman home and assaulted her. They have charged him with burglary and assault with the intent to rape, each of which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

Anifah said the accused will be sent back to New Zealand "if it is absolutely necessary". Asked to elaborate, Anifah said he will be extradited if New Zealand requests it or if its government thinks the Malaysian investigation is not being conducted properly.

He said the accused was detained on 9 May and charged on 10 May, and returned home with his family on 22 May. Initially, Malaysia was willing to waive diplomatic immunity but decided to take up New Zealand's offer to invoke it and have him brought back home for investigations.

However, New Zealand's prime minister, John Key, indicated earlier that his government would have preferred to keep the accused in New Zealand and try him there. But Malaysia "stopped us from doing that by invoking diplomatic immunity", he said.

The differing versions could not be immediately reconciled.

Anifah said it was never Malaysia's intention to treat the matter lightly. He said the accused was sent for a medical checkup after his return. "His physical state is satisfactory. However he is now under psychiatric evaluation to assess his mental and emotional condition."

The defence ministry has established an inquiry to investigate the case thoroughly and has given assurance that "it will not compromise or conceal any facts on the case, being fully aware that Malaysia's good name is at stake," Anifah said.

He added: "The Malaysian government acknowledges that the incident is a serious matter and we do not have any intention to sweep the matter under the carpet."

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N.Zealand's Vincent gets life ban for cricket fixing

Yahoo – AFP, 1 July 2014

Ex New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent during a match against South
Africa September 19, 2007 (AFP Photo/Saeed Khan)

Disgraced former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent said Tuesday he had received a life ban from cricket for match-fixing.

"My name is Lou Vincent and I am a cheat. I have abused my position as a professional sportsman on a number of occasions by choosing to accept money through fixing," he said in a statement confirming the ban.

The punishment, which is expected to be formally announced by the England and Wales Cricket Board later Tuesday, stems from one-day matches that Vincent admitted he helped rig in English county cricket in 2011.

The 35-year-old has also given evidence to International Cricket Council anti-corruption investigators in which he says he was involved in fixing in five countries between 2008 and 2012.

Vincent said he had shamed his homeland and the game, prompting him to come clean to try to ease his conscience.

"Speaking out. Exposing the truth. Laying bare the things I have done wrong is the only way I can find to begin to put things right," he said.

"The time has come for me to now face them like a man and accept the consequences."

Vincent played in 23 Tests and 102 one-dayers for New Zealand before retiring from international cricket in 2007.

After that, he travelled the globe playing in numerous domestic leagues before retiring from playing early last year.

Bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers found in West Bank

Naftali Frankel, Gil-ad Sha'er and Eyal Yifrach were kidnapped while hitchhiking back from their religious schools

theguardian.com, Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem,  Monday 30 June 2014

An Israeli woman holds a sign showing images of the Israeli teenagers
at a rally in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters

The bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers, including one with US citizenship, have been found close to the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

A senior spokesman for the Israel Defence Force, Lt Col Peter Lerner, told the Guardian that soldiers and civilian volunteers came across "two bodies buried under a pile of rocks" at about five pm on Monday afternoon in a field between Halhoul and a neighbouring village.

"Digging deeper they came cross a third body." The source added that the identities of the bodies had not be confirmed nor was there any information on the state of the bodies at present to suggest when they had been killed.

He added: "The families have been informed about the discovery and we will release more details when it is available."

The three, Eyal Yifrach, 19, and Gil-ad Sha'er and Naftali Frankel who were both 16, went missing while hitchhiking back from their religious schools in settlements on the West Bank, prompting claims from the Israeli government that they had been kidnapped by the militants from the Islamist organisation Hamas.

Israel has named two Hamas members from the Hebron area as suspects, but despite the arrest of some 400 Palestinians, the two men remained on the run on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with his Security Cabinet late on Monday to discuss Israel's response to the discovery of the bodies amid a period of increased rocket fire from Gaza and retaliatory airstrikes by Israel.

The case prompted a massive manhunt by soldiers, police, civilians and members of Israel's domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet.

Binyamin Proper, who was among the civilian volunteers that found the bodies, told Channel 2 TV that a member of the search party "saw something suspicious on the ground, plants that looked out of place, moved them and moved some rocks and then found the bodies. We realised it was them and we called the army."

The hunt for the three missing youths has galvanised Israeli society, prompting round the clock coverage and large rallies – the most recent in Tel Aviv on Sunday – calling for their release.

As the search went on, concerns mounted for the teenagers safety amid pointed and grim reminders in the Israeli media that West Bank kidnapping victims historically had often been killed shortly after their abduction.

Early reports on social media and elsewhere suggested the bodies had been found in a rocky gully close to Halhul a town at the entrance to Hebron, a city of 750,000, although that could not immediately be confirmed.

However reports suggested that the access to the area had been sealed by military roadblocks.

The abduction of the three youths has become a heated political issue both on the domestic and international political front, with Palestinian leaders accusing the Israeli government of using it as an excuse to smash the new Palestinian unity government backed by Hamas.

However, even within Palestinian circles cross to President Mahmoud Abbas, concerns had been growing over the potential fallout that would follow the revelation the teenagers had been kidnapped or killed by militants associated with, or member of, Hamas with one official telling the Guardian the unity government would be dead in the water.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, "We obviously condemn in the strongest possible terms violence that takes the lives of innocent civilians."

n a statement issue by his office British prime minister David Cameron said: "I am deeply saddened by the news that the bodies of the three Israeli boys kidnapped on 12 June have been found this evening. This was an appalling and inexcusable act of terror perpetrated against young teenagers. Britain will stand with Israel as it seeks to bring to justice those responsible."

#Palestine and #Israel are killing each others children and have dreams for peace ? Injustice and peace cannot coexist @CBC @CTVToronto
— asma Mahmood (@asmaAmahmood3) July 2, 2014

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