Sri Lanka in command of 2nd cricket test despite de Silva's dismissal

GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka lost captain Dhananjaya de Silva in the over before lunch Friday but remained in control of the second cricket test against New Zealand at 402 for five on Day 2.

Glenn Phillips claimed both wickets to fall in the morning session in almost identical fashion. Both Angelo Mathews and de Silva top-edged attempted sweeps against the off-spinner and were caught out.

Kamindu Mendis was unbeaten on 93 at the interval, seven runs short of his fifth test century, after sharing a 107-run partnership with Mathews for the fourth wicket and a 74-run stand with de Silva for the fifth.

Kamindu has been the leading scorer in Sri Lanka's last two series, in England and Bangladesh, and is once again on top, playing in his hometown.

Sri Lanka leads the two-match series after a 63-run victory in the first test.

The home team has been dominant in the second test, with Dinesh Chandimal's 16th century helping the hosts reach 306-3 on Day 1.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

New Zealand's Glenn Phillips, right, celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews with captain Tim Southee during the day two of the first test cricket match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle, Sri Lanka, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

New Zealand's Glenn Phillips dives to stop the ball during the day two of the first test cricket match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle, Sri Lanka, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis plays a shot during the day two of the first test cricket match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle, Sri Lanka, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

New Zealand's Glenn Phillips celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka's captain Dhananjaya de Silva with teammates during the day two of the first test cricket match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle, Sri Lanka, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka's captain Dhananjaya de Silva plays a shot during the day two of the first test cricket match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle, Sri Lanka, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Nearly 700 people have been killed in Lebanon this week, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Israel has dramatically escalated strikes, saying it is targeting Hezbollah’s military capacities and senior Hezbollah commanders.

Top Israeli officials have threatened to repeat the destruction of Gaza in Lebanon if the Hezbollah fire continues, raising fears that Israel’s actions in Gaza since Oct. 7 would be repeated in Lebanon.

The International Organization for Migration estimated Thursday that more than 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas after it stormed into Israel, sparking the Israel-Hamas war. Lebanon says a total of 1,540 people have been killed within its borders in that time.

The United States, France and other allies jointly called for a 21-day cease-fire. Lebanon's foreign minister said the country welcomed the cease-fire efforts, and decried Israel’s “systematic destruction of Lebanese border villages.”

Israeli military vehicles were seen transporting tanks and armored vehicles toward the country’s northern border with Lebanon, and commanders have issued a call-up of reservists. Netanyahu says Israel is striking Hezbollah “with full force” and won’t stop until its goals are achieved.

Here’s the latest:

JERUSALEM — Incoming fire from Lebanon into Israel continued Friday, with one man suffering wounds from shrapnel.

The Israeli military said four drones came across the border Friday, all of which were intercepted. Earlier Friday, the Israeli miltiary said another 10 projectiles came into Israel from Lebanon, with some intercepted and others falling into open fields.

DAMASCUS — An overnight Israeli airstrike on a military site in the area of Kfar Yabous in Syria near the border with Lebanon killed five Syrian army soldiers and injured another, Syrian state news agency SANA reported Friday, citing an unnamed military official.

Israel's military did not immediately acknowledge the strike. Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria and facilities linked to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah but rarely acknowledges them.

Those strikes have become more frequent as Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces for the past 11 months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — in Gaza.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese and Syrians have fled across the border from Lebanon into Syria since the beginning of the week amid intense Israeli bombardment that Israel says is targeting Hezbollah militants and weapons. The strikes have killed an estimated 700 people to date, including at least 150 women and children.

GENEVA — A group of international trade unions on Friday filed a complaint against Israel at the U.N.‘s labor organization in a bid to win compensatation for 200,000 Palestinians who have gone unpaid or seen their benefits withheld after the Oct. 7 attacks.

The nine unions say the workers from both Gaza and the West Bank had been employed in Israel before the deadly attacks by armed militants, but were barred from entering to go to their jobs afterward. As a result, the workers and their familites have faced millions of dollars’ worth of lost income, financial insecurity and no access to remedies through the courts, they said.

“These workers have experienced widespread wage theft due to the suspension of work permits and the unilateral termination of their contracts,” said a joint statement from the unions, whose members are active in industries as diverse as construction, education, journalism, agriculture, hospitality and transportation.

The filing at the International Labor Organization in Geneva, of which Israel is a member country, is based on language in its constitution that seeks to ensure that countries uphold international commitments they have already made.

Such economic woes that many Palestinians have faced come on top of the bloodshed, displacement and other troubles faced by Gaza and the West Bank as Israel continues its campaign against armed Palestinian militants.

BEIRUT — Authorities in Lebanon say a family of nine was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a town near the border with Israel.

The state-run National News Agency reported the deaths in the strike early Friday in Shebaa. It put the strike at 3 a.m. local.

The report offered no other details and the Israeli military did not immediately acknowledge the strike.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is bracing to evacuate thousands of Filipino workers in Lebanon in case the deadly conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group further escalates, Philippine officials said Friday.

More than 11,000 Filipinos live and work in Lebanon, often as house cleaners. Philippine officials have not yet ordered a mandatory evacuation of its citizens because it was not yet clear whether a full-scale war would erupt, including an Israeli ground attack.

Many Filipinos were adamant not to leave their jobs in Lebanon and return to uncertainties at home, but they have been told to be ready to evacuate any time, Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega told a news briefing in Manila.

They say “it’s better for them to die in war than to die of hunger,” De Vega said. But he added without elaborating that the Philippine government prepared a contingency plan for a massive evacuation if widespread ground fighting erupts across Lebanon.

Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon Raymond Balatbat told reporters in Manila via video on Friday that many Filipinos there “will only decide to leave when the situation is so bad, when the war is at their doorsteps.”

This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows a closer view of a building in Chouaghir, Lebanon, on Sept. 26, 2024, after airstrikes. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)

This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows a closer view of a building in Chouaghir, Lebanon, on Sept. 3, 2024, before airstrikes. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)

Palestinian supporters march near the United Nations headquarters at a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Lebanon's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdallah Bouhabib addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Lebanese soldiers cordon off the area at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

In this combination of the satellite images released by Maxar Technologies shows a view of northern Lebanon, on Aug. 9, 2024, before airstrikes, top, and on Sept. 26, 2024, after airstrikes. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)

Municipality workers remove power cables in front of damaged buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Volunteers distribute clothes to displaced women at a school in Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A resident checks an apartment that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)