AFP, TOKYO - Japan football coach Takeshi Okada has dropped former Eintracht Frankfurt striker Naohiro Takahara from his squad for crucial upcoming World Cup qualifiers because of poor form.

"He'd better train with his club and bring himself back into form from where he is now," Okada told reporters. "With the national team he will have limited time for training."

Portuguese Football Federation confirm Blues' manager interest

Sky Sports

The Portuguese Football Federation has confirmed Chelsea's interest in manager Luis Felipe Scolari.

AFP, PARIS - Third seed Jelena Jankovic reached the third round of the French Open on Thursday but her hopes of lifting a first Grand Slam title were hit by an injury to her right forearm and elbow.

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Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations under nine education boards began Thursday.

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BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain asked the government Thursday to stop what he said was a game in the name of dialogue and to hold elections by releasing the two detained former prime ministers.

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AP News

Oil prices fell back Thursday ahead of a report expected to show U.S. inventories of crude and petroleum products grew last week.

Prices remained volatile, though, buffeted about by threats against Nigerian oil facilities, worries about falling gasoline demand in the U.S. and a strengthening U.S. dollar.

By midday in Europe, light, sweet crude contract for July delivery was down 65 cents at $130.38 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

AFP, KATHMANDU - The royal flag was taken down from Nepal's royal palace Thursday as the Himalayan nation celebrated a vote consigning its centuries-old monarchy to the history books and declaring a republic.

REUTERS, GUWAHATI, India - Floods triggered by heavy rain destroyed more than 100 villages and affected thousands of people in Assam over the last two days, officials said on Thursday.

Surging rivers washed away homes and many villagers were being evacuated from low-lying areas in Assam, officials said.

REUTERS, NEW DELHI - Thousands of protesters from the Gujjar community burned tyres and blocked roads leading to New Delhi on Thursday, bringing a battle for college and government job quotas in which dozens have died closer to the capital.

Huge traffic jams formed on highways leading into the capital. Some train services to towns outside Delhi, including several tourist destinations, were also suspended.

AFP, STOCKHOLM - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Thursday appealed for his country's debts to be cancelled and the end of sanctions dating back to Saddam Hussein's regime, at a global conference in Sweden.

Speaking before delegations from around 100 governments and organisations, Maliki asked the international community "to end the international sanctions that were imposed on Iraq because of the previous regime and to write off debts."

REUTERS, NEW DELHI - A group of Tibetan exiles marching towards China said on Thursday that Indian police had impounded their food trucks and arrested their leaders to break up a protest walk that began almost three months ago.

Tibetan exiles, now numbering about 300, began walking on March 10 from Dharamsala, the seat of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, to join in protests against Chinese rule inside Tibet.

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Narayanganj set their final clash of the 28th National Cricket Championship against Dhaka with a tense 5-run win over Rangpur in the curtailed second semifinal at Sylhet Stadium Wednesday.

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Abahani Limited returned to the winning track in the Premier Division Hockey League when they crushed Sonali Bank 5-3 in their Super League opener at Moulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium Wednesday.

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REUTERS, NEW DELHI - Member of the Gujjar community demanding job quotas blocked highways leading to the national capital on Wednesday, threatening to bring its protests to New Delhi, the sixth day of demonstrations that killed 37 people.

Violent protests have roiled Rajasthan where at least 36 members of the Gujjar community were killed after police fired to quell rioting. A policeman was lynched.

AFP, JERUSALEM - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert quit over graft allegations or face early elections in a move that could put peace talks on hold.

Barak dropped the political bombshell one day after a wealthy US financier testified before a Jerusalem court that he had given Olmert vast amounts of cash to fund his political ambitions and perhaps his lifestyle.

Iraq's main Sunni Arab political bloc said on Wednesday it had suspended talks to rejoin the Shi'ite-led government after a disagreement with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki over a cabinet post, reports Reuters.

Persuading the bloc to rejoin has been a main aim of U.S. policy in Iraq and is widely seen as a vital step in reconciling the country's factions after years of conflict. Sunni Arabs have little voice in a cabinet dominated by Shi'ites and Kurds.