Saudi King appoints female deputy minister, sacks military chiefs
Riyadh: In a series of late-night royal decrees, Saudi Arabia announced political appointments, including the rare appointment of a female Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Development, Tamadar bint Yousef al-Ramah.
At the same time, the Saudi king sacked its top military commanders, including the Chief of Staff.
The sackings come as the war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting rebels, is nearing the end of its third year.
Saudi King Salman, who is also the Defence Minister, replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defences too. The news was published by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), but no reason for the sackings was given.
This is another sweeping overhaul of Saudi institutions that has become the hallmark of the reign of King Salman, although the driving force is once again his son and heir, Crown Prince.
The Saudi intervention in the Yemen conflict was his initiative - one of the first indications of just how dramatically he was going to break away from the country's traditional caution.
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Suryakumar's half-century, Hardik's five-for in vain as LSG defeat MI by 12 runs
Lucknow, Apr 4 (PTI): Suryakumar Yadav's fighting half-century went in vain as Lucknow Super Giants defeated Mumbai Indians by 12 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Friday.
Batting first, LSG, riding on half-centuries from openers Mitchell Marsh (60 off 31 balls) and Aiden Markram (53 off 38 balls), scored 203/8 despite MI skipper Hardik Pandya (5/36) taking his maiden five-wicket haul in T20 cricket.
In reply, MI were restricted to 191 for five despite Suryakumar scoring a 43-ball 67, studded with nine boundaries and a six.
Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan and Digvesh Rathi took a wicket each for LSG.
Former MI skipper Rohit Sharma sat out of the contest after being hit on the knee during nets.
Brief scores:
Lucknow Super Giants: 203 for 8 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 60, Aiden Markram 53, Ayush Badoni 30, David Miller 27; Hardik Pandya 5/36).
Mumbai Indians: 191 for 5 in 20 overs (Naman Dhir 46, Suryakumar Yadav 67, Tilak Varma 25, Hardik Pandya 28 not out).
