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Flintoff going downhill pretty quickly: Ponting

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Birmingham, August 04: England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was struggling in the Edgbaston Test and his fitness is “going downhill pretty quickly”, feels Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.

Struggling with a lingering knee injury, Flintoff, who would be retiring from Test cricket after the Ashes series, was not as lethal with the ball in the drawn Test in Edgbaston as he was in the previous match at the Lord’s.

Although the 31-year-old Lancashire top scored with the bat, hitting 74, he couldn’t take a single wicket in his 11 overs yesterday.

Qadir suspects match-fixers in Pakistan team

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Karachi, August 04: The ghost of match-fixing has come back to haunt Pakistan cricket, feels former chief selector Abdul Qadir, who suspects that some players might be involved in it considering the “strange” manner in which the team lost the Test and ODI series in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan lost the Test series 0-2 and is trailing 0-3 in the five-match one-day series. Qadir, one of the greatest leg-spinners of his era told the ‘Express’ newspaper today that he suspected something fishy in the way team has lost.

Kapadia to guide Indian karate players in Bangkok

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Mumbai, August 04: Veteran karate coach and administrator Vispy Kapadia will guide a seven-member Indian team in the first Asian Martial Arts Games in Bangkok.

The seven-member team is leaving tonight for Bangkok to take part in the karate event to be held from August 6-9, Kapadia, a seventh degree Black Belt in martial arts, told reporters after being felicitated here last night.

Mohali to be developed as IT & electronics hub: Kalia

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Chandigarh, August 04: In a bid to give further boost to electronics and information technology, Punjab Infotech is developing Mohali as a hub of electronics and IT.

Disclosing this here today Manoranjan Kalia, Industry and Commerce minister said that Punjab Infotech was also committed to take information technology to grass roots in the state.

Sudan woman goes on trial for wearing trousers

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Sudan, August 04: Dozens of Sudanese women are protesting outside a Khartoum court where a female journalist is going on trial for wearing trousers in public — a violation of the country’s strict Islamic laws.
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Public flogging holds no fear for woman who dared wear trousers
Some of the protesters are wearing trousers in solidarity with Lubna Hussein, who faces 40 lashes on the charge of “indecent dressing.”

Hussein was among 13 women arrested on 3 July in a raid by the public order police on a popular cafe.

Russian atomic engineer robbed in Tamil Nadu

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Chennai, August 04: A group of miscreants robbed a Russian atomic engineer’s camera and misbehaved with his daughter at a beach in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district, officials said Tuesday.

Alexander V. Chernov, who works in the upcoming nuclear power plant in Kudankulam, and his daughter were walking on the beach Sunday when a seven-member gang assaulted them.

The miscreants, all aged below 20, misbehaved with the Russian girl and snatched Chernov’s Canon camera and fled.

Iraq parties begin registering for 2010 parliamentary elections

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Baghdad, August 04: Parties may register to stand in January’s parliamentary elections starting this week, Iraq’s electoral commission announced on Tuesday. New and existing parties have from Wednesday until August 14 to submit their applications to participate in the January 2010 polls, Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission said.

The announcement came despite the parliament’s failure to agree on a new law to cover the conduct of the elections.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Iraqi parliament to pass a new electoral law.

Floodwaters receding in Bihar, but 50,000 still stranded

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Patna, August 04: Around 50,000 people are still stranded in flood-hit Bihar though the Bagmati river, which breached its embankment and inundated nearly 200 villages in Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur districts, has started to recede. Officials have intensified rescue work to help the 200,000 people affected by the flood. “With water levels in the Bagmati river showing a receding trend and plugging of the breach near completion, the overall situation is improving,” Bihar Disaster Management Minister Deveshchandra Thakur told media over telephone from Sitamarhi.

21,000 soldiers to safeguard Iraqi Shia religious festival

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Baghdad, August 04: More than 21,000 Iraqi soldiers will provide security for Shia Muslims gathering in the city of Karbala in the coming days, a senior military officer said Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims are expected to converge on the tomb of Hussein, the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, who was killed in battle in Karbala in the year 680.

In contrast to previous years, US forces will not help maintain security for the pilgrimage, Lieutenant-General Othmanal-Ghanemi, head of security for the city, said.

Rocket attack on Afghan capital

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Kabul, August 04:Eight rockets struck the Afghan capital on Tuesday, including one not far from the US embassy, the interior ministry said, raising tensions just over two weeks before elections.

The city has not seen a significant attack in months but there are fears the Taliban and other insurgents will strike in the lead-up to the August 20 presidential and provincial council elections.

HC lawyer shot in his chamber

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Dhaka, August 04: Staff Correspondent An unidentified criminal yesterday shot a lawyer in his chamber in broad daylight at the city’s Kailash Ghosh Lane in court area.

Advocate Mia Mohammad Zakir Hossain was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with bullet injury to his right arm.

Zakir, 47, who practices in the High Court and lower courts, lives in the apartment above his chamber.

Sub-Inspector Azimul Karim of Kotwali Police Station said they could not immediately ascertain why he was attacked.

Khaleda Zia’s son challenges trial in corruption case

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Dhaka, August 04: Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia’s younger son Arafat Rahman Koko has challenged his trial for alleged corruption in two deals, one with German telecom major Siemens and the other with a Chinese firm.

From his sick bed in Bangkok, Koko filed a writ petition in the high court challenging the legality of the proceedings of the case against him.

The Anti-Corruption Commission March 17 filed the case against Koko, charging him with illegally transferring 2,884,603.15 Singaporean dollars and $932,672.81 to three accounts in Singapore banks.

Sensex back in negative zone after breaching 16k level

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Mumbai, August 04: The benchmark Sensex today lost over 109 points in early volatile trade, after breaching the 16,000-point mark for the first time since June 2 last year at the outset.

The BSE-30 share index, which had crossed 16,000-point mark to touch a high of 16,002.46 points in opening trade, plunged into the negative terrain to trade 109.28 points down at 15,814.95 as foreign funds and retail investors preferred to book profits at the prevailing higher levels.

The Sensex had gained over 750 points, or 4.96 per cent, in the past three sessions

Strauss hopeful for Flintoff’s fitness as chance slips away

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England, August 04: Andrew Strauss remains “very confident” that Andrew Flintoff will be fit to play in Friday’s fourth Ashes Test, despite the fast bowler struggling through yesterday’s stalemate at Edgbaston and often looking like a man in need of a rest.

US may seek more sanctions against Iran

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Washington, August 04: The United States has warned it may seek tough new sanctions on Iran if the Islamic republic misses a September deadline for agreeing to hold talks on its suspect nuclear programme.

US lawmakers have been pushing President Barack Obama to squeeze Iran by targeting its heavy reliance on gasoline imports, and The New York Times said that a White House envoy had discussed that option with Israel last week.

Afghan war unlawful, says ‘deserter’

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London, August 04: A soldier facing court martial over his refusal to serve in Afghanistan is expected to claim in his defence that the war is unlawful.

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, who appeared in court for a preliminary hearing into his case yesterday, maintains that British soldiers are dying in the interest of American foreign policy and should be brought home.

Make way, Fatah young guns tell Arafat generation

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Bethlehem, August 04: Fatah, the dominant Palestinian movement under Yasser Arafat that has gone from debacle to defeat since his death, begins its first leadership convention in 20 years today.

The big question as more than 2,000 delegates gather in Bethlehem is whether the secular group on which the world pins any remaining hopes for a peace deal with Israel can cast off the taint of corruption, regain its legitimacy and put forward new faces who can take back the ground lost to the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas movement.

‘Be careful what you tell journalists’

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New Delhi, August 02: Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad gave a piece of his mind to Health Secretary Naresh Dayal in full public view.

At the centenary celebrations of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (now called National Centre for Disease Control), Azad asked one of his staff members to summon Dayal who was busy talking to the media.

PU student booked for ragging

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Chandigarh, August 02: A case has been registered against a second-year engineering student of the Panjab University (PU) for allegedly ragging his junior, police said today.

According to the police, Saurab Nandal of Rohtak town in Haryana studying here at University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) was booked after the hostel warden registered a formal complaint against him.

PU authorities have also suspended the student until the probe against him is over.

Most sanitation workers unaware of their rights

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New Delhi, August 02: A huge majority of the sanitation workers in the national capital are unaware of existence of the laws to stop manual scavenging and prevent atrocities on Scheduled Castes, a latest survey has showed.

The study, conducted by a team of city based think tank Indian Social Institute, found that 97 per cent of the ‘safai karamcharies’ in Delhi do not know about the 1993 Act that prohibits employment of manual scavengers.

Pak ready to discuss all issues with India: Gilani

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Islamabad, August 02: Pakistan is ready to discuss all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, with India as war is not the solution to any problem, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.

It is necessary to resolve all issues between India and Pakistan so that the countries could give attention to the problems of the people, he said in an interview to a TV news channel.

Replying to a question about Pakistan’s relations with India, he said Islamabad has always maintained that the ties “should be on the basis of equality.”

Israel seeks clarifications from UK over Jerusalem

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Jerusalem, August 02: Israel today said it has asked Britain to clarify statements by a diplomat who reportedly said his country was financing Palestinian property projects in Jerusalem.

“We have asked the British embassy in Tel Aviv to provide explanations concerning statements made on July 22 to Al-Arabiya television by diplomat Martin Day who is based in Abu Dhabi,” foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.

Iran’s ex-president Khatami denounces riot trial

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Tehran, August 02: Former Iranian president and key supporter of Iranian opposition movement, Mohammad Khatami, denounced today the trial of around 100 people accused of rioting after the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“As per my information, what was done yesterday is against the constitution, regular laws and rights of the citizens,” his office quoted him as telling a group of political activists and lawmakers.

He said the court had relied on “confessions taken under certain circumstances which are not valid.”

Son of former Punjab minister murdered

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Bathinda, August 02: A son of a former Punjab Minister was today found murdered in a car at Sirhand Canal near Beham bridge in this district, police said.

Sandeep Singh Dhillon (45), son of Teja Singh Dhillon, a former Shiromani Akali Dal minister, was shot in the back from close range, police said.

His family said Sandeep Singh was called from his house in Civil lines by two persons who wanted to hire his land for a stud farm.