England fly-half Owen Farrell has been ruled out of the third Test against New Zealand with a knee injury. Farrell, 22, has suffered a strain to the medial ligament in his left knee, which means he will miss Saturday's final game in Hamilton.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster said: "The knee has been scanned. It's disappointing for Owen as he was desperate to play in the final Test."
New Zealand hold an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. The All Blacks claimed a 28-27 victory in last week's second Test to seal the series win after a narrow 20-15 success in the first game.
Farrell will stay with the squad for the remainder of the tour before returning to his club Saracens for further assessment and treatment.
Lancaster added: "Such is his character that he is already working on his rehab and still contributing to the tour.
"Fortunately, we have three other fly-halves and we'll make that selection call over the next few days."
However, Lancaster said scrum-half Danny Care missed training earlier on Tuesday and is rated 50-50 "at best" for Saturday's final Test, though centres Billy Twelvetrees and Luther Burrell will be available for selection.
An England XV are playing against the Crusaders in Christchurch on Tuesday.
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Martin Kaymer came through his "toughest day" of golf to become the first German to win the US Open.
The 29-year-old beat Americans Rickie Fowler and Erik Compton to win by eight shots at Pinehurst on Sunday. Kaymer, whose first major win came at the 2010 PGA Championship, posted a nine-under total of 271, the second lowest ever at the event.
"I would say it was probably the toughest day that I have played golf," said the Dusseldorf-born player. "If you have Americans chasing you, it's never easy being a foreigner."
Kaymer, who received a standing ovation as he walked along the 18th fairway on the final day, added: "To win one major is already very nice in your career, but to win two, it means a lot more.
"Even though I don't feel like I need to prove anything to a lot of people, somehow it's quite satisfying to have two under your belt. I played really, really well on Thursday and Friday and that gave me a really nice cushion."
Kaymer built the joint-biggest halfway lead at a US Open by shooting back-to-back scores of 65 on the par 70 course which averaged more than 73 strokes during four days.
Consistently good putting helped ensure his lead was not cut below four strokes once in the final 46 holes and secured another prized victory after he won the prestigious Players Championship in May.
Kaymer's tournament in number
Fairways hit 43/56 - 77% (field av. 70.02%)
Greens hit 45/72 - 63% (field av. 56.51%)
Sand saves 4/5 - 80% (field av. 43.34%)
Number of putts 110 Av. 1.56 (field av. 1.69)
Average driving distance 305.5 yards (field av. 284.53 yards)
Kaymer, world number one in 2011, was outside the top 60 earlier this year, but his win at the Players Championship and success at Pinehurst are likely to secure a place just outside the top 10.
He now looks certain to achieve his season's goal of winning selection for Europe's Ryder Cup team and will be among the favourites for next month's Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. With his compatriot and mentor Bernhard Langer having won the Masters twice, the Open is the only major not to have been won by a German.
"Winning the PGA, winning this one now, I hope it will make Bernhard proud. I'm sure it will make all Germany proud," said kaymer.
Since the world rankings began in 1986, only five players have won two majors and been ranked number one before turning 30 - Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Ernie Els, Seve Ballesteros and Martin Kaymer.
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Foreign Secretary William Hague has said he intends to re-open Britain's Embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran.
Mr Hague said the "circumstances were right" following an improvement in bilateral relations in recent months.
Full diplomatic relations with Iran were suspended after attacks on the British embassy in Iran in 2011.
The election of a new Iranian president and agreement on how to deal with Iran's nuclear programme has led to increased contacts in 2014. The move comes as Iraqi forces are engaged in heavy clashes with Sunni Islamist militants across the country and amid reports that Iran is providing military assistance to its historic rival.
The US is deploying up to 275 military personnel to protect staff at its huge embassy in Iraq. In a written statement, Mr Hague said the UK embassy will re-open "as soon as practical arrangements are made" as a sign of "increasing confidence" in the state of relations between the two countries.
"There has never been any doubt in my mind that we should have an embassy in Tehran if the circumstances allowed," he said.
"Iran is an important country in a volatile region, and maintaining embassies around the world, even under difficult conditions, is a central pillar of the UK's global diplomatic approach."
The foreign secretary, who is currently giving further details to MPs, said he had sought assurances that British diplomatic staff would be safe and would be able to carry out their work "without hindrance".
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Korea Republic are rarely bracketed with Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Italy and Spain. Those European and South American powerhouses have, after all, won the FIFA World Cup™ and all sit at least 48 places above the Taeguk Warriors on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.
Korea Republic do nevertheless share one record with those five teams: they have featured at the last eight World Cups – an achievement beyond the likes of England, France, the Netherlands and Mexico, among others. It is an accomplishment, according to midfielder Ji Dongwon, that they take a lot of satisfaction from, but with it comes understandable pressure.
“Of course we are very proud of the record and the fact that we have qualified for the World Cup eight times in a row,” he told FIFA.com. “It means we have a habit of winning and these days we have to at least qualify for the World Cup.”
The pressure from the fans also comes from the wealth of football at their fingertips, with the top leagues in the world showing on South Korean television and shaping their expectations of what they want to see on the field. “Nowadays they are watching the [English] Premier League, [German] Bundesliga and [Spanish] La Liga. They always have access to good football.
"Automatically their expectations are very high, but one thing you have to remember is that there is a big difference between the continents. Up until now, Asia as a continent has not been as good as the likes of Europe and South America. From the performances we know we are not at the same level, but we are improving.”
Ji was just 11 years old when the East Asians registered their greatest footballing triumph, finishing fourth on home soil in 2002. Ji insists being coached by the captain of that great side, Hong Myungbo, is not an over-awing experience, but admits the difference between those who have been at a World Cup is stark to those in the team who are making their first trip. It is a reality that he feels could impact principle Group H rivals Belgium and Russia as well – who only have one player each who attended their last appearances in Korea/Japan.
I believe it is the teamwork between the players, and also the understanding between those on the field and the coaching staff, that is our greatest strength.
“If you look at our team, we only have five players with experience of a World Cup, and there is a clear difference between those five and the rest in terms of their attitude, approach and process to being here," said the Jeju native. "The players for Belgium and Russia may feel similar, being in the same position as many of us. They will both be under pressure from the fans to perform, having not been at a World Cup for 12 years."
With an average age of 26.2, there are only four sides in Brazil that can boast a more youthful squad than theirs, but they come with success already on their résumé. Their third-placed finish at the Men's Olympic Football Tournament London 2012, of which 11 of the squad participated under Myungbo, was the best-ever for any Korea Republic men's team at a global tournament.
Ji feels they have developed and grown since then, after their team-orientated brand of pass-and-move football exhibited up and down Great Britain caught the eyes of fans and pundits alike.
“The current selection of players have all come together under Hong Myungbo, which I feel is very important and as time has gone by the teamwork has improved,” the former Sunderland man explained. “We understand the philosophy of this team and the coach, and I feel we can produce some good results. I believe it is the teamwork between the players, and also the understanding between those on the field and the coaching staff, that is our greatest strength.”
Since picking up their bronze medals, many of those young stars have found spots in the top leagues in Europe and Asia to test themselves, with Ji set for a move to Borussia Dortmund following the tournament after impressing with Augsburg. The challenge of playing abroad has helped the team grow in his mind. He said: “Since 2012 many of us have gone to the Bundesliga, Premier League and many others, so I think as a result of playing in those kinds of environments the individuals have developed a lot, so automatically the team has benefited as well. As a team, the philosophy has remained the same, but experience is the main thing we have gained.”
While expanding the comparisons with some the world's top teams might be even beyond the dreams of their expectant fans, with the taste of success already on the palette of this young team, they will have their sights set high as they kick off their Brazil 2014 campaign.
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Vera Sidika has caused quite a storm with her open unapologetic bleaching. When it started off, there were trolls from every corner of the internet taking shots at her. But now things just got serious. When I first posted about Vera toasting the creams she uses and thanking them for making her lighter, I refused to get in too deep to the story and the issues.
As far as I was concerned this is not the avenue for discussing such issues. but for me to say that is sheer cowardice. Plus someone else will just come out to ask all the tough questions. So I will do that... Some other day. For now, allow me to show you how a top American website called Vice picked on the story, the angle they opted to use and the story they ran:
Rich Kenyans Are Injecting Themselves with Black Market Creams to Become White
Standing in a small wooden booth cluttered with brightly colored cosmetics boxes a heavily made up woman unwraps a syringe and a needle, then fills the syringe with pink cream that's been decanted from a blue packet. “You must only use a small amount, otherwise you can become albino.
This is strong stuff,” she says as she pricks her customer's skin. Rose is one of dozens of skin bleaching gurus that operate along River Road in downtown Nairobi, a hub for illicit activities that is notorious for its knock-off electronics, budget brothels, flamboyant transsexuals and petty crime. It is also known for its backstreet beauticians, like Rose, who promise clients that their treatments will make them look six years younger and ten shades lighter.
These salons have been around for a long time, and have caused a number of health scares over the years, often due to creams with high mercury content, but recently more extreme treatments have started to become popular and are causing concern amongst health officials.
The popularity of skin-bleaching injections has rocketed over the last 18 months according to Dr Pranav Pancholi, a Harvard-trained dermatologist who works at Kenya's Shah Hospital. Pranav says because it's a recent phenomenon, no one really knows what the long-term health implications are.
“The products used on the streets are not used by certified professionals” he says. “The trade in black market creams and injections is completely unregulated. There is no way of knowing just how dangerous they are.”
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