LIVE! ICC bans Sri Lanka's Senanayake for illegal bowling action

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Sat, 12 July 2014

ICC bans Sri Lanka's Senanayake for illegal bowling action

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22:22 Merkel laments breakdown of trust in US spy row

Chancellor Angela Merkel lamented today the breakdown in trust between Germany and the United States amid a spying row that saw the CIA chief in Berlin expelled from the country.

"The thing we always have to keep in mind when we are working together is if the person across the table is possibly working at the same time for someone else, that for me isn't a trusting relationship," she told German ZDF television in a pre-recorded interview.

"Here we obviously have different points of view and we need to talk to one another," Merkel said, adding that she had "naturally hoped for a change" in Washington's behaviour.

The US yesterday hinted at displeasure with Germany over its handling of the spying row after the CIA station chief in Berlin was thrown out of the country. White House spokesman Josh Earnest, who previously declined to go into detail about the row because it touched on intelligence matters, offered a window into US thinking.

"Allies with sophisticated intelligence agencies like the United States and Germany understand with some degree of detail exactly what those intelligence relationships and activities entail," Earnest said.

Off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake has been banned by the ICC for illegal bowling action during Sri Lanka's tour of England in May.

Senanayake's ban has come with immediate effect, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said.

SLC said it had received the ICC Bowling Action Legality Assessment Report pertaining to Senanayake. It was conducted by the Cardiff Metropolitan University -- Cardiff School of Sport in England.

"The Standard ICC Illegal Action Testing Protocol was used to assess the degree of elbow extension from the point of upper arm horizontal to ball release within the bowling action," the report said.

"15-degree elbow extension threshold was exceeded in the four deliveries considered to be suspect in the 4th ODI played at Lords."

The report concludes that Sachithra bowled with an illegal bowling action and consequently he is banned from bowling in international cricket, effective immediately.

20:33 France's Sarkozy hit by new phone tap leaks

The corruption scandal surrounding former French president Nicolas Sarkozy deepened further today with fresh leaks of telephone conversations purporting to show he offered to get a judge a plum job in return for favours.

Sarkozy, who was charged two weeks ago with corruption and influence peddling in a case related to his campaign to win the presidency in 2007, claims he is the victim of a "grotesque" set-up. He accuses his enemies of using the justice system to undermine a possible political comeback.

But according to extracts from tapped calls published by the French daily Le Monde today, the ex-president appears to lobby for a job for the judge in Monaco in return for his help on one of six bribery and funding scandals in which Sarkozy is embroiled.

In intercepted mobile phone calls with his longtime lawyer -- who also faces charges - Sarkozy is alleged to have said, "I will help him (the judge)... I will get him set up," adding, "Call him today and tell him I will sort it out. I am going to

Monaco and I will see the prince (Albert)."

The conversations are alleged to have taken place in February this year on a mobile phone the 59-year-old politician bought using a false name.

Scores of civil services aspirants today staged a protest outside the residence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, demanding the scrapping of the Civil Services Aptitude Tests (C-SAT).

The protesters gathered outside Singh's house at around 9am and started the protests raising slogans -- "Rajnath Singh Ji nyay Karo" (Rajnath ensure justice for us).

They also shouted slogans against the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

"With the introduction of C-SAT, UPSC has degraded the value of Hindi medium students and aspirants. Several aspirants have been on indefinite hunger strike in Mukherjee Nagar area against this test. We would not be silent till our demand is met," said a protestor.

Protestors also demanded a four-year relaxation in age for appearing in the examinations of these services.

Later, a 4-member delegation of aspirants met Rajnath Singh and put forth their demands befor him requesting him to intervene in the matter.

At least 13 militants were killed today in air strikes on their hideouts in the ongoing military operation in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region, the military said.

Military spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa said that the attack was launched after terrorists hiding in Mirali town fired rockets at a security forces check post near the city.

"Air strikes were launched early morning today killing 13 terrorists and destroying seven hideouts. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was also destroyed," he said.

The spokesman also said that most of the terrorists killed in strikes were foreigners but he did not specify their nationalities.

18:57 UK to punish rude police officers

Police officers in Britain who are rude to the public will face disciplinary action under a new set of rules to be announced next week.

In a new 10-point code-of-ethics created to improve the image of the police and re-build its public trust, officers who are found having sex on the job or turning up to work either drunk or using drugs will face punishment.

The codes sets out 10 standards for professional behaviour, including authority, respect and courtesy, honesty and integrity, fitness for work and the use of force.

The punishments will range from verbal warnings to the possible dismissal of officers from their roles, while officers of all levels will be encouraged to report any breach of the code.

Authorities hope the new code, drawn up by the College of Policing and reportedly to be backed by UK Home Secretary Theresa May, will re-build public trust in the police following a series of high-profile scandals including the force's involvement in phone hacking.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the new leader of the reconstituted BJP Parliamentary Party in both Houses of Parliament.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be the deputy leader of the party in the Lok Sabha and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Rajya Sabha.

According to the newly-constituted BJP Parliamentary Party Executive Committee, the party has named Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu as the government's Chief Whip in Parliament, besides the chief whips of the government and the

party in both the Houses.

The party has also named 13 whips in Lok Sabha and three in Rajya Sabha.

Ministers of State for Parliamentary Affairs Santosh Gangwar and Prakash Javadekar will be the government's deputy Chief Whips in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha respectively.

Lok Sabha member from Rajasthan Arjun Ram Meghwal will be the party's Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha while Rajya Sabha member from Punjab Avinash Rai Khanna will be the new party chief whip in the Upper House.

The Nationalist Congress Party, an ally of the Congress, has said that it will not oppose the TRAI Amendment Bill as it has no reason to do so. "We won't oppose Nripendra Misra's appointment as the private secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi," said NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The Congress is opposed to the Bill, saying it is unethical. The Bill paves way for the appointment of Misra as PM's Principal Secretary.

Another batch of 29 nurses from Kerala returned to Kerala from war-torn Iraq this morning. The nurses, working at Baquba General hospital in Diyalain Iraq, travelled to Sharjah from where they boarded the plane to Kochi. One of the nurses said that they could hear bombs exploding, but did not have any problems at their hospital. Another nurse said she had gone to Iraq three months ago with lot of expectations after taking loans. However, she had to return due to the worsening situation there.

A Karnataka MLA has put forth another ridiculous reason for the rise in rapes in the country: mobile phones. Alleging that the phones are used to lure girls, the MLA suggested that mobiles should be banned in colleges so as to bring down the rate of crimes against women.

This is not the first time that a ridiculous reason has been forth by leaders for the rise in rapes in the country. In the past, Chinese food, women's short skirts and even the positions of the stars have been blamed for the rise in crimes against women.

15:16 Woman in MP accuses cop of raping her

A woman on Saturday accused a senior police officer of Madhya Pradesh of raping her and clicking objectionable pictures of her daughter and niece, a charge denied by the policeman. The woman, whose husband is lodged in a Bhopal jail in connection with a fraud case, lodged an FIR with Mahila police station against Anil Kumar Mishra, additional IG-CID of Madhya Pradesh police. She alleged that Mishra raped her several times in Bhopal and other places on pretext of helping her husband in the case and also clicked some half-naked pictures of her daughter and niece to blackmail her.

As many as seven infants have died in past 24 hours at West Bengal's Malda Medical College and Hospital. Hospital deputy superintendent Jyotish Das said the infants were aged between 0-28 days and had complaints of low birth weight, malnutrition and respiratory problems. One of them died soon after delivery. The government hospital had been in the news for the death of 23 infants due to unspecified illness in June.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Giriraj Singh gave his statement to the Patna cops in the case of theft that took place at his home. The statement comes after other leaders questioned how Singh had Rs 1.14 crore at home, in addition to $600. Earlier, Singh had said the stolen cash and the valuables belonged to his brother. However, after much uproar in the state assembly, police have begun probing the incident.

13:31 1 dead, 6 injured in Mumbai building collapse

An under-construction building in Mumbai's Colaba area has collapsed, killing one and injuring six others.

The collapse comes just two weeks after another building collapsed in Chennai, killing 62 people.

More details are awaited.

A massive hunt is underway in Assam's Baksa district after 4 men were allegedly kidnapped. Villagers recovered the men's belongings from a nearby forest in the area this morning. Authorities suspect that the militants belonging to the National Democratic Force of Boroland's Songbijit faction are responsible for the kidnapping.

Suicide bombers undergo serious and intensive training and the places where young men are turned into suicide bombers is a treasure trove of information about the process. Would-be-bombers are made to sign affidavits, which asks of personal information such as address, name, occupation. The teens are also asked to give up all their belongings and cut off from the outside world.

Read the entire story at Dawn.

Six people have been injured after an improvised explosive device exploded outside the Manipur University. As of now, there have been no fatalities in the blast.

More details are awaited.

Pakistani armed forces on Saturday opened fire at Pindi outpost in RS Pura sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Indian troops guarding the border effectively replied with similar calibre weapons. gun battle between the Indian and Pakistan forces is underway.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. During the course of their meeting, The Hindu reports that Hague took up the issue of 2002 Gujarat riots. He is the first foreign dignitary to raise the issue since the National Democratic Alliance government was sworn in. Hague raised the issue owing to the death of three UK nationals during the violence. Swaraj is understood to "have explained that the judicial processes in the country would take their own course".

Tracy Morgan, the star of hit comedy serial 30 Rock, is suing Walmart over the June 7 accident that left him seriously injured and another man dead when one of the company's sleep-deprived truckers plowed into his limo van. The suit claims Walmart was responsible for the crash, and alleges the company should have been aware that driver Kevin Roper, 35, had been awake for more than 24 consecutive hours before the accident, which also injured four others.

Activists are attacking the Modi government and accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of doublespeak when it comes to the National Food Security Act, 2013.

The Right to Food campaigners said they were flummoxed over the silence of Arun Jaitley on the issue in his Budget speech. They said that this silence was in sharp contrast to the Bharatiya Janata Party's pre-election manifesto. "This is in sharp contrast to the BJP's pre-election manifesto. BJP has always held that universal food security is integral to national security. It had always said that the right to food does not remain an Act on paper or a political rhetoric,' said Kavita Srivastava, convenor of Right to Food Campaign.

It said that the government showed no urgency in the implementation of the National Food Security Act. In a statement, the organisation said the budget made an allocation of Rs 1.15 lakh crore for food subsidy, which though higher than the food subsidy last year, was nowhere close to what was required to implement NFSA across the country.

It also added that the recent decision of extending the deadline for the Act's implementation by three months is a violation of NFSA.

Even though Mumbai experienced torrential rains for two continuous days, residents might have to endure further water cuts. Presently, Mumbaikars are facing a 20 per cent water cut. Civic body officials say that if it doesn't start raining in the catchment areas soon, Mumbaikars will have to experience a further cut in water supply. Officials said that the catchment areas are so dry that the lakes will be able to provide water to the city only for 23 days.

09:40 Senior journo Jehangir Pocha passes away

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of Editor-in-Chief at NewsX Jehangir Pocha. "Shocked and saddened to hear about Jehangir Pocha's demise. My condolences to his family in this hour of grief. May his soul rest in peace," Modi tweeted. Pocha, former editor of Businessworld, passed away in Gurgaon this morning of a cardiac arrest.

09:26 Harry Potter actor found dead in US desert

David Legeno best known for his role as Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf in the Harry Potter series, is dead following a desert hiking outing. His remains were found by two unrelated hikers early this morning in a remote wash near Death Valley's famed Zabriskie Point, California. Officials say Legeno apparently died of "heat-related issues' and there were no signs of foul play.

Corruption and misusing authority are the reasons for the sudden dismissal of the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Virendra Kataria, according to sources within the Bharatiya Janata Party. The sources say that Kataria, a Congress leader from Punjab, employed his son and daughter-in-law and there also evidences of them collecting funds inside Raj Bhavan. The sources further added that if two letters -- one by the chief minister to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the second from the chief secretary to the Union home secretary are made public -- then Kataria misusing the Raj Bhavan for personal gains would be exposed. A senior BJP leader had also written to the President's Office about Kataria abusing his power to influence a court in a case against a Hindu leader.

The Holland defender's penalty was initially saved by Argentina's Sergio Romero '" but did it cross the line after bouncing?

02:53 Is America losing Germany?

Germany may be America's most important European ally, but the relationship between the two countries is on the rocks.

On Thursday, Germany expelled a top CIA agent from Berlin, a highly unusual move for which the German government cited a "lack of cooperation" from the United States in clarifying recent spying cases.

Those cases include revelation that the CIA tried to recruit a German secret service staffer to sell classified information, and the possibility that a German Defense Ministry employee had been working for U.S. intelligence. German policymakers and journalists are up in arms, with U.S. diplomats struggling to contain the political damage.

In a recent poll, only 35% of Germans said the United States can be trusted. This is a stunning vote of no confidence amid continued public uproar about the NSA's tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone.

For those dedicated to the trans-Atlantic alliance, the current atmosphere is more depressing than during the height of the Iraq war, when Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and President George W. Bush made no secret of their antipathy. Long gone are times like when 200,000 Germans cheered for candidate Barack Obama as he spoke under Berlin's Victory Column in summer 2008. Gone, too, are Obama's 75% approval ratings among Germans.

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake has hit off the coast of Japan, with its epicenter located some 150 kilometers from the city of Namie in Fukushima prefecture triggering a tsunami alert, RT News reports.

The city of Namie is located in the southern part of the Hamadori coastal region of Fukushima prefecture. The epicenter was also located 52km away from the city of Iwaki in Honshu province, reports suggest. More to follow.

Map showing Fukushima prefecture courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Many criticised the selection of defender Ron Vlaar to take the Netherlands' first penalty in their shootout loss to Argentina.

Although Vlaar played excellently, the Aston Villa center back is far from a goalscorer, and certainly not a skilled penalty taker.

His weak attempt was simple work for goalkeeper Sergio Romero, putting the Dutch in a hole they'd never crawl out of.

However, after looking at the replay, it appears Vlaar actually almost *did* score on a slice of luck that would've gone down in World Cup history

The US Coast Guard is facing a dilemma at the North Pole.

The service's fleet of icebreakers, ships designed to navigate and cut through ice-covered waters in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, is getting older.

The vessels themselves are slowly deteriorating, and by 2020, naval experts say the country's icebreaking capabilities will run out.

The powerful ships, which can break through ice up to 6 feet thick, monitor sea traffic, conduct scientific research, and carry out search-and-rescue missions for other nation's ships at both ends of the world.

Their presence alone allows the US defend its national security, economic, and environmental interests in the Arctic region, whose vast natural resources have several countries vying for more control.

00:31 The strangest sport nobody know

In 1936, a troupe of 35 acrobats from a small town in Central India traveled to the Berlin Olympic Games to demonstrate the ancient sport of Mallakhamb.

At a formal gala convened by the International Olympic Committee, athletics officials and eager media from around the world gathered to witness the 900-year-old exotic sports global unveiling.

The team's intricate feats of contortion, strength, and death-defying gymnastics atop a skinny, eight-and-a-half foot pole thrilled Adolf Hitler; the Fhrer personally bestowed each acrobat with an honorary Olympic medal before the group returned to India.

The world's first real glimpse of this curious athletic form was also its last. But today, in the lush highlands that hug sprawling Mumbai, this peculiar sport with apparatuses that look uncannily like medieval torture devises is still practiced.

00:17 Top headlines at this hour:

Modi government sacks Puducherry Lt Governor

Israel continues to hammer Gaza Strip; over 100 dead

Air India, Indigo flights in near-miss over West Bengal

Navy to get first indigenous anti-submarine warship on Saturday

Alarming case of Indians joining ISIS war in Iraq

Ishant, Bhuvneshwar put India in control on Day 3

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