US confident Syria chem arms destroyed by mid-2014

Posted: WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States believes that Syria's large stock of chemical weapons will be destroyed on schedule by the end of June 2014, US officials said Thursday.I am increasingly confident that we will be able to complete this task, the elimination of the Syria's chemical weapons program, within the target date of June 30th of next year, said Thomas Countryman, assistant secretary for international security and non-proliferation.He was speaking as the UN's chemical watchdog said Syria's entire declared stockpile had been placed under a seal and all its chemical arms production equipment destroyed in line with a November 1 deadline.The work is being carried out under an ambitious UN resolution, cobbled together by the United States and Russia, to eliminate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's entire chemical weapons arsenal.Our target dates are ambitious but they are achievable. We have the support of the international community, Countryman told US lawmakers at a hearing about the conflict in Syria.The United States said it wanted to applaud the OPCW, the United Nations and the Joint Mission staff for their unprecedented work on eliminating Syria's chemical weapons.State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki added that rendering this equipment inoperable is an important step in ensuring that chemical weapons are never used again by the Assad regime against the Syrian people.US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told lawmakers that the destruction of the regime's chemical weapons is a huge success if in fact it is carried out fully.All stocks of chemical weapons and agents have been placed under seals that are impossible to break, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons spokesman Christian Chartier told AFP, adding the seals were tamper proof.These are 1,000 tonnes of chemical agents (which can be used to make weapons) and 290 tonnes of chemical weapons, Chartier said in The Hague.OPCW inspectors had until Friday to visit all of Syria's chemical sites and destroy all production and filling equipment in line with a timeline laid down by the Hague-based OPCW and backed by the UN Security Council resolution passed last month.The Executive Council of the Nobel peace prize-winning organization will now meet again on November 5 to decide by November 15 on destruction milestones for the stockpile.The UN resolution was agreed by the US and Russia to avert military strikes on Syria after deadly chemical weapons attacks outside Damascus in August, which the West blamed on Assad's regime.But Ford acknowledged in the Senate committee hearing that opposition rebels had reacted with anguish to President Barack Obama's decision not to press ahead with military strikes.

Iraq PM urges global fight on Al Qaeda Posted: WASHINGTON (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Thursday pleaded for a major global effort to combat the virus of Al Qaeda and terror networks, likening the fight to a third world war.In Washington for a series of meetings hoping to drum up more support for Iraq, Maliki said that with US help his country had defeated Al Qaeda.But now with the vacuum created by the toppling of long-standing regimes during the Arab Spring, the terrorists found a second chance.His visit to the US comes as Iraq witnesses its worst violence since 2008, a surge in bloodshed that has killed more than 5,400 people this year despite several operations and tightened security measures.We want an international war against terrorism, Maliki said in a speech to the United States Institute of Peace, calling Al Qaeda and its ilk a virus which was trying to spread a dirty wind around the region.If we have had two world wars, we want a third world war against those who are killing people, killing populations, who are calling for bloodshed, for ignorance and do not want logic to govern our daily lives.Maliki also called for the convening of an international conference on counterterrorism to be hosted in Iraq, and his spokesman Ali Mussawi told AFP the idea had been welcomed by US officials.Maliki has received good responses, and everybody he has met has emphasized they will stand with Iraq, to help Iraq in fighting terrorism in Iraq and in the region, Mussawi said by phone from Washington.Maliki also did not rule out running for a third term in elections due next year, but said it would be up to the Iraqi people.His government has been criticized for not doing more to address grievances in the Sunni Arab community over alleged ill-treatment at the hands of the Shiite-led authorities.But the Iraqi leader denied his country was plagued by sectarian unrest, pitting Sunni and Shiite Muslims as well as Kurds against each other, saying all are targeted.He blamed the terror groups for setting back Iraq's struggles to emerge from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and the bloodshed of the US invasion to rebuild its institutions, schools and homes.Without terrorism we would have leaped forward in providing services for our people, Maliki insisted.All our efforts should aim at preventing the success of Al Qaeda and other terror organizations, he said, adding that while Baghdad was neutral in the conflict in Syria it was concerned militant groups might win control and gain a platform to wreak havoc across the region.Maliki will meet US President Barack Obama on Friday at the White House to press for military equipment and greater cooperation in fighting militants.We expect the results of the visit will be very good and will improve bilateral relations, and it will lead to solutions, Mussawi said.The United States vowed Wednesday to help Iraq combat terror groups, but said Baghdad needed a broader strategy which was not just based on strengthening its military arsenal.The top US commander in the Middle East, General Lloyd Austin, gave voice to increasing concern in Washington that Al Qaeda will manage to hunker down in a safe haven stretching from western Iraq into Syria.If left unchecked, we could find ourselves in a regional sectarian struggle that could last a decade, Austin told The Wall Street Journal in a rare interview.What we are very worried about is a continued downward spiral that takes you to a civil war, Austin said. It could easily get worse.The Iraqi leader also met Thursday with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who stressed the important role that Iraq has in maintaining regional stability, Pentagon spokesman George Little said.

Iraq attacks, including car bombs, kill 26 Posted: BAGHDAD (AFP) - Five car bombs north of Baghdad killed 19 people Thursday, while attacks elsewhere in Iraq left seven more dead, officials said, the latest casualties in a nationwide spike in unrest.The attacks, which wounded dozens, come as Iraq witnesses its worst violence since 2008, a surge in bloodshed that has killed more than 5,400 people this year despite authorities having carried out a swathe of operations and implemented tightened security measures.They struck as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visits Washington to press for military equipment and greater cooperation with the United States in fighting militants.In Thursday's deadliest attack, twin car bombs in a residential area in Tuz Khurmatu, a disputed town north of Baghdad, killed seven people and wounded 42 others.Three of the dead were from the same family.As emergency responders rushed to the scene of the attack, a third bomb went off, but did not cause any casualties, Mayor Shallal Abdul told AFP.The two car bombs went off simultaneously, and bear the fingerprints of Al Qaeda, a police major, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.Tuz Khurmatu is a majority Kurdish town which lies in a disputed area of northern Iraq, where both Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region and the central government in Baghdad vie for power.It is frequently hit by deadly attacks.Two more near-simultaneous car bombs went off in Khales, a restive town north of Baghdad, as a police patrol was passing, killing five people, including a policeman, officials said.The attack, which struck in area filled with car dealerships, also wounded 15 others, including four policemen.Another car bomb in Muqdadiyah, north of Baghdad, killed four people.Police meanwhile found the bodies of three blindfolded women bearing multiple gunshot wounds to the head, execution-style, at an empty plot in a Shiite-majority neighbourhood in northeast Baghdad.A police officer and a medical official said initial investigations showed the women were shot earlier on Thursday.Summary executions were commonplace at the height of the Sunni-Shiite conflict in 2006-2007, when many thousands died.Also on Thursday, gunmen killed a soldier and wounded two others in an attack targeting their patrol in the northern city of Mosul, while a roadside bomb targeting an army patrol northwest of the city left a soldier dead and two others wounded, officials said.And two separate gun attacks and a roadside bombing north of the capital killed five people, including an anti-Qaeda militiaman, police and doctors said.From late 2006 onwards, Sunni tribal militias, known as the Sahwa, turned against their co-religionists in Al Qaeda and sided with the US military, helping to turn the tide of Iraq's bloody insurgency.But Sunni militants view the Sahwa as traitors and frequently target them.Attacks so far in October have killed more than 730 people, according to an AFP tally.The government has come under criticism for not doing more to address grievances in the Sunni Arab community over alleged ill treatment at the hands of the Shiite-led authorities.

Palestinians threaten to sue Israel over settlements Posted: JERUSALEM (AFP) - Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki on Thursday denounced Israeli plans to build hundreds of new settler homes in east Jerusalem, threatening to pursue international legal action in response.Israel announced on Wednesday it would build 1,500 new settler homes in the mostly Arab sector of Jerusalem, immediately after the Jewish state released 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners in line with its commitments to US-backed peace talks.The foreign ministry is seriously looking at turning immediately to international courts and organisations, and filing the necessary complaints in order to stop settlement building, Malki said.He condemned plans approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for settlement building, and Netanyahu's attempts to link the settlement issue with the prisoners issue.PLO chiefs convened later on Thursday in Ramallah, in a session chaired by president Mahmud Abbas.The Palestinian leadership will take a number of steps in the next few days to face the settlement offensive, the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive said after the meeting.Plans to build another new settler homes in east Jerusalem came to light almost immediately after Israel began freeing 21 prisoners to the West Bank and another five to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.The sequence was almost a mirror image of August 13, when a first tranche of 26 prisoners were freed and Israel announced construction of more than 2,000 new settler homes, mostly in east Jerusalem.The Palestinians agreed to refrain from pursuing legal action against Israel during ongoing peace talks, but have repeatedly warned that continued settlement building would force them to recourse to the International Criminal Court and other international bodies.The settlement issue derailed the last round of peace talks in 2010.US Secretary of State John Kerry, who nudged the sides back to the negotiation table in July, is heading back to Israel and the West Bank next week in a bid to bring fresh impetus to the talks, amid accusations from the Palestinians that Israel is working to wreck peace attempts with its settlement plans.

Nadal beats Janowicz to reach Paris quarterfinals Posted: PARIS (AP) - Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic overcame big servers Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters.Nadal defeated last year's runner-up Jerzy Janowicz 7-5, 6-4, while Djokovic rallied from a set down to beat John Isner 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2.Defending champion David Ferrer, Juan Martin del Potro, Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet also won their third-round matches.The Paris Masters has turned into a rehearsal for the ATP World Tour Finals as the eight quarterfinalists are also the eight players who qualified for the London tournament next week. Wawrinka and Gasquet grabbed the last two spots at the season ending-event when Berdych eliminated Milos Raonic of Canada 7-6 (3), 6-4.Nadal broke for a 6-5 lead before whipping a forehand winner down the line to take the first set.The top-seeded Spaniard and Janowicz traded breaks early in the second set before the Pole double-faulted to hand Nadal a 3-2 lead. The U.S. Open champion clinched the victory when Janowicz's forehand sailed long.Nadal next faces Frenchman Gasquet, who downed Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-3, 6-2.Djokovic couldn't find a breakthrough in the first set as Isner saved six break points to force the tiebreaker and won it when Djokovic's backhand sailed wide.The second-seeded Serb raised his game in the second set, making only two unforced errors and breaking Isner twice.I just needed to be very tough mentally and just believe I can make a break, Djokovic said. I knew as soon as I make a break I'm going to start playing better and relaxed in a way, so that's what happened.Djokovic then won the last five games of the match, finishing off the American with a backhand volley.Djokovic stretched his winning streak to 14 matches after taking the China Open and the Shanghai Masters titles in October.In China, I have had probably the best two weeks of the year, except at the beginning of the year, so it gives me a lot of confidence, Djokovic said. I feel that I'm back mentally where I need to be, and hopefully I can maintain this winning streak and I can kind of keep on playing better and better.The Australian Open champion next plays Wawrinka, who beat Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-2.The seventh-seeded Swiss rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the first set and broke Almagro twice in the second.Federer also moved into the quarterfinals by dismissing Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-4.The fifth-seeded Swiss saved three break points and broke once in each set, improving his record against Kohlschreiber to 8-0.I'm just really focused on trying to win as many matches as I can, get some momentum going, and getting in form, Federer said. I felt good again for the second straight day here in Paris. It's still early in the tournament, and it's a good thing that I feel so good so early. I hope to maintain this kind of a play, and if possible try to get just a touch better.Federer, who won the Paris Masters in 2011, next meets del Potro in a rematch of last weekend's Swiss Indoors final. The fourth-seeded Argentine overcame Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.Del Potro broke for a 5-4 lead in the deciding set before hitting a forehand winner on match point.Spain's Ferrer cruised past Gilles Simon of France 6-2, 6-3, to next play Berdych.Berdych saved three set points in the tiebreaker against Raonic before firing a forehand winner to convert his sixth set point. Raonic dropped serve in the opening game of the second set and lost the match when he sent a forehand return long.

Wawrinka, Gasquet book last 2 ATP Finals spots Posted: PARIS (AP) - Richard Gasquet and Stanislas Wawrinka grabbed the last two remaining spots for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals after Milos Raonic lost to Tomas Berdych 7-6 (13), 6-4 Thursday in the third round of the Paris Masters.Raonic needed at least a runner-up finish in Paris to have a chance to qualify for the London tournament next week, which features the top eight players. This will be Wawrinka's first appearance while Gasquet also qualified in 2007.Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer, Juan Martin del Potro and Berdych had already booked their spots before playing in Paris. Andy Murray also qualified but withdrew from the event to recover from back surgery.Roger Federer made the tournament for a 12th straight year by defeating Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the second round on Wednesday. Federer was happy to see both Wawrinka and Gasquet join him.Since Richard has a one-handed backhand, I like it. I like to see one-handed backhands in the Masters, a smiling Federer said about one trait he shares with Wawrinka and Gasquet.The 17-time Grand Slam champion was not surprised by fellow Swiss Wawrinka's good season.Physically we know how tough he is, Federer said. I think it was important for him mentally to show the players and the press, I guess, and the critics, that he can hang tough with the best guys and do it on all surfaces.Wawrinka won the Portugal Open and had three runner-up finishes while Gasquet clinched three titles this year. They also both reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open.Going to London is not a normal thing, Wawrinka said. You need to have an exceptional year. This year I had very good results to be able to compete for this. What changed this year is that I really tried to enjoy my victories more.Wawrinka beat Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in Paris on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals while Gasquet defeated Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-3, 6-2.

Ivanovic beats Stosur at Tournament of Champions Posted: SOFIA (AP) - Ana Ivanovic overcame Sam Stosur 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 on Thursday for her second straight victory in the group stage at the season-ending WTA Tournament of Champions.The two-time tournament winner played very aggressively to win the opening set in just 30 minutes. Stosur then broke Ivanovic's serve in the second set to go up 5-3. But Ivanovic got the early break at 2-0 in the third set and cruised from there. She will play Russia's Elena Vesnina on Friday with both players still trying to secure a spot in the semifinals.Vesnina outlasted Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 for her first victory at the tournament.In Thursday's last match, top-seeded Simona Halep of Romania swept past Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-1, to finish the round-robin phase unbeaten. She had already qualified for Saturday's semifinals.

FIFA rule cairo safe for World Cup playoff against Ghana Posted: LAGOS (AFP) - FIFA have ruled that Cairo is safe for a 2014 Africa Zone World Cup playoff between hosts Egypt and Ghana.Ghana had raised objections to Cairo hosting the return leg playoff after the recent anti-government protests in Egypt.But officials of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) said they have since received a FIFA decision that the game be played in Cairo on November 19 after a visit by their security inspection.FIFA said that the decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to go ahead with a November 10 CAF Champions League return leg final in Cairo further shows the situation in Egypt has normalised.Egypt host Ghana in a return leg of a final World Cup playoff on November 19.Ghana won the first game in Kumasi 6-1 last month.

Squash: Matthew downs Shabana to reach world semis Posted: MANCHESTER (AFP) - Nick Matthew strengthened his assertion that even at the age of 33 he can reclaim the world title, producing a performance which denied fellow former champion Amr Shabana a semi-finals place on Thursday.Matthew, who won the world title in Al Khobar and in Rotterdam, was enduringly efficient in the way in which he crafted a straight games victory over Shabana, four times the former world champion.The Englishman's 11-8, 11-4, 11-7 victory over the Egyptian was however only really in doubt for a game and a half, after which Shabana's lack of match play following a lengthy illness became increasingly apparent.He is such a great player. Sometimes I sit back in the corner and I admire it, said Matthew. Then I remember I have to compete against it. I was nervous at the beginning, but the cheer I got from the crowd when I walked on relaxed me, so thank you to Manchester for that.The value of a world championship only 60 miles from his Yorkshire home became increasingly apparent for Matthew, who identified his tactics correctly and executed them calmly.This included extending the rallies early on -- one of them last more than eighty shots -- before identifying moment to risk the drops with more frequency.By the end of the second game Shabana had ceased to run all of them down, and the outcome was becoming predictable.There were some trademark disguises and a familiar facility for mixing the short and the long games, but Shabana's touch was not as he would have liked it to be. Early in the third game he raised his arms to the heavens and blew ironic kisses after succeeding with a feather-light backhand volley drop.Better may yet be to come from the 34-year-old, and Matthew was in no doubt that Shabana has it in him still to be a force when he has had more time to train and has played more tournaments.Asked whether beating such a great player was as good as it gets, Matthew was not prepared to allow that it was. Happy as I am now I have to think it's a step long the way, he said.I have to keep my feet on the floor. If I do the same thing on Sunday (the day of the world final), then I will think it is as good as it gets.Matthew will on Saturday play the winner of Ramy Ashour, the Egyptian who took away his title in Doha almost a year ago, and Saurav Ghosal, the first Indian ever to reach the World Championships quarter-finals.

Study: Hefty soda tax would reduce UK obesity Posted: LONDON (AP) - Slapping a 20 percent tax on soda in Britain could cut the number of obese adults by about 180,000, according to a new study.Though the number works out to a modest drop of 1.3 percent in obesity, scientists say that reduction would still be worthwhile in the U.K., which has a population of about 63 million and is the fattest country in Western Europe. About one in four Britons is obese.Researchers at Oxford University and the University of Reading estimated a 20 percent tax on soft drinks would reduce sales by 15 percent and that people would buy beverages like orange juice, milk and diet drinks instead. They said the tax would have the biggest impact on people under 30, who drink more sugary drinks than anyone else. No funding was provided for the study, published online Thursday in the journal, BMJ.Every possible alternative that people would buy is going to be a better than a sugary drink, said Mike Rayner of Oxford, one of the study authors. (The tax) is not a panacea, but it's part of the solution.Rayner acknowledged the government might shy away from introducing such a hefty tax at a time when the economy is still shaky. Last year, Britain's Conservative-led coalition had to backtrack on a sales tax it planned to levy on fat-laden meat pies after a public outcry.Such soft drink taxes have been used or considered elsewhere, including France, Mexico, Norway and some U.S. states, but previous analysis of them have found mixed results on people's drinking habits.In the past, the U.K. has relied on convincing businesses to make their products healthier as opposed to resorting to taxes; that strategy reduced salt levels in processed foods by 20 to 50 percent.Last week, Britain announced another government-led initiative, in which several major food companies promised to cut the amount of saturated fat in their products. Critics slammed the deal and said the U.K. shouldn't rely on voluntary measures to fight the country's growing waistlines.We are at the mercy of these (food and drink) companies, said Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum. Fry was not linked to the BMJ study and said the proposed 20 percent tax would be a hard sell. Instead, Fry said the government should simply fine companies if they exceed a certain threshold for the amount of sugar allowable in food and drink.Companies should be coerced with fiscal measures rather than punishing the consumer with taxes, Fry said. We are in such a predicament with obesity in this country that we have to put the pussy-footing measures to one side, he said. It's time for the stick to come out.

Scientists fear renewed threat to white pine trees Posted: CONCORD (AP) - A fungus targeting white pine forests has mutated and poses new threats more than a century after it first hit the United States, American and Canadian scientists said Thursday.A mutant form of white pine blister rust was discovered by Cornell University researcher Kerik Cox in 2011 in Connecticut. After two years of study, scientists now believe a large number of host plants called ribes previously thought to be immune to the fungus are susceptible. Ribes include valuable niche crops like black currants and gooseberries that are used in products from jam to vodka.Spores from infected ribes are carried by wind to the pines where the fungus invades the tree, eventually killing it.This is a problem both for the forest industry and for growers (of ribes), said Isabel Munck, a plant pathologist for the U.S. Forest Service based in Durham, New Hampshire. She estimates up to half the plants previously thought to be immune have been found to be infected.When the fungus first hit in 1909 and spread outward from New York state, a massive eradication effort including a federal ban on planting ribes, helped stem the destruction. Still, within 13 years, about half the pines in New Hampshire were infected by the fungus, which is native to Asia and is believed to have hitchhiked here on an infected pine seedling from Europe.Philippe Tanguay, a molecular forest pathologist with the Canadian Forest Service, said a genetic fingerprint of the new discovery determined it was a mutation of an existing strain of blister rust and not a new strain.There are other treatments including fungicides used on ribes, pruning of infected pine branches or removal of trees, she said.It's a worry in timbering states like New Hampshire and Maine and in Canada.Pine is still the king in New Hampshire, said Kyle Lombard, the state's forest health program manager. We grow and cut more pine in New Hampshire than any other tree species.Eastern white pine is native to eastern North America. It ranges as far north as the Canadian Maritimes, westward to the Great Lakes and as far south as Mississippi. Munck said scientists are just getting a handle on the mutation and part of the early effort will focus on outreach to other states.This is all brand new, she said.

Oil ends month with 6 percent drop Posted: NEW YORK (AP) - Oil fell for a third straight day Thursday, and finished October with a second consecutive monthly decline.Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery fell 39 cents to close $96.38 a barrel at on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the month, oil dropped $5.95 a barrel or 5.8 percent.Ample supplies of oil have weighed on the price. The Energy Department said this week that U.S. supplies increased 4.1 million barrels last week. Over five weeks, supplies have risen by more than 25 million barrels, suggesting muted demand.The outcome of a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy committee added to the pressure on oil prices. The central bank's positive tone on the economy indicated that it might be prepared to slow its bond purchases by early next year, sooner than some have assumed.The withdrawal of stimulus would result in higher interest rates and a stronger U.S. dollar, making oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.Brent crude, a benchmark for international crude also used by U.S. refineries, fell $1.02 to $108.84 on the ICE exchange in London.

Euro dives vs. dollar on deflation worries Posted: NEW YORK CITY (AFP) - The euro slumped against the dollar Thursday after discouraging eurozone inflation data raised concerns about looming deflation in the single-currency bloc.The euro bought $1.3579 around 2100 GMT, down from $1.3735 at the same time Wednesday. Earlier the beleaguered currency fell to a two-week low at $1.3573.The euro dropped to 133.60 yen from 135.29 yen, while the dollar also fell against the Japanese currency, to 98.37 yen from 98.50 yen.The euro-dollar rate slipped back below the 1.3600 handle as the eurozones consumer price report highlighted a growing threat for deflation, David Song, an analyst at DailyFX, said in a market note.Data released by the European Union statistics agency Eurostat on Thursday showed inflation across the 17-country eurozone fell sharply in October to an annual rate of 0.7 percent, the lowest level in nearly four years.The reading came in well below the European Central Banks target of 2 percent, ahead of the ECB monetary policy meeting next Thursday.That was much weaker than expected, said Charles St-Arnaud of Nomura.That clearly raises the possibility that the ECB next week will show a little more pessimism about growth prospects and signal its willingness to lower interest rates, one of the tools it can use to ward off deflation, he said.Given the strength of the euro and the weak inflationary outlook, pressure looks set to build on the ECB to loosen monetary policy further, said economist Ben May at London-based Capital Economics.The dollar firmed against the Swiss currency, to 0.9069 franc from 0.8991 franc late Wednesday.The pound slipped to $1.6033 from $1.6038.

Tamim on top as Bangladesh beat New Zealand, win series Posted: DHAKA (AFP) - Tamim Iqbal became Bangladesh's top run scorer in one-day cricket on Thursday as his team beat New Zealand by 40 runs in the second ODI to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Set a target of 248, New Zealand caved in for 207 in 46.4 overs to suffer their sixth successive ODI defeat to Bangladesh, who won Tuesday's series opener by 43 runs.Off-spinner Sohag Gazi and paceman Mashrafe Mortaza led Bangladesh's bowling attack, sharing six wickets between them to stifle New Zealand, who lost to Bangladesh 4-0 in their previous visit in 2010.Mashrafe provided the early breakthrough when he bowled Hamish Rutherford for one before Sohag took a return catch to dismiss the other opener, Anton Devcich for 19.The tourists were soon on 45-3 when Abdur Razzak trapped Grant Elliot lbw for 14.Corey Anderson (37) and Ross Taylor tried to repair the damage, but a stunning catch by Mushfiqur Rahim off Mashrafe ended their 61-run stand and gave Bangladesh a firm grip on the match.Bangladesh sensed victory when occasional left-arm spinner Mominul Haque had New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum out lbw for 14.Taylor (45) held down one end before he was caught by Mahmudullah off Sohag at long on.Some late blows by Nathan McCullum (25 off 23 balls) and unbeaten Kyle Mills (27 off 25 balls) only delayed the inevitable.New Zealand captain McCullum congratulated Bangladesh for their series win.We gave ourselves a real opportunity to chase the total down, he said after the match. But credit to Bangladesh that they played better cricket than us. We are having a rough time as a unit.Earlier, Corey Anderson and James Neesham each grabbed four wickets as New Zealand bowled out Bangladesh for 247 on a slow Sher-e-Bangla pitch.Anderson finished with 4-40 while Neesham claimed 4-53, his second successive four-wicket haul in the series.Bangladesh also lost wickets at crucial times even though most of their batsman got a decent start.Tamim Iqbal scored an arduous half-century but was out just when the team were looking for him to accelerate.His 58 off 86 balls, which included five fours and a six, saw him overtake Shakib Al Hasan to become Bangladesh's leading scorer in one-day international cricket.Tamim, who has now 3,702 runs to his name in 124 ODIs, put on 63 with debutant Shamsur Rahman in the opening stand after captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and elected to bat.Shamsur, replacing Anamul Haque in the line-up, managed only 25 before he fell to Nathan McCullum.Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur hailed Tamim for his effort.We were 20 runs short on this track. We needed a good opening partnership, said Mushfiqur. It wasn't an easy track to bat on. Tamim deserves all the credit for staying there.Bangladesh went into the batting powerplay in the 36th over on 149-3, but three wickets in three consecutive overs pegged them back.Mominul Haque (31) and Mushfiqur Rahim (31) were the other notable scorers for Bangladesh.The third match of the series will be held on Sunday at Fatullah.

Govt slashes POL prices Posted: ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The Federal government has approved decrease in petrol, diesel, Hi-Octane and kerosene oil prices.According to the notification issued by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), price of petrol has been slashed by 0.48 paisa per liter only while diesel and kerosene cost has been decreased by 0.20 paisa, 0.13 paisa per liter respectively, while a decrease of Rs 2.67 per liter has been made in price of Hi-Octane.These new prices of petroleum products will be affective from mid night tonight.