subhan London, July 02: Damien Martyn has slammed his former coach John Buchanan over what he believes was poor preparation for the 2005 Ashes series and said England would never again play as well as they had that year.
Martyn’s criticism of Buchanan, who has taken on a consultancy role with the ECB, echoes the thoughts of Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill, who have never hidden their contempt for Australia’s ex-coach.
Baghdad, July 02: Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has criticized Baghdad and Washington for their handling of the issue of US forces’ withdrawal from the country.
With at least 131,000 US forces remaining in Iraq, Sadr said the way US troops are leaving the country “shows that the (Iraqi) government and the occupation are not serious about the withdrawal.”
“The withdrawal should include all the occupation forces: army, intelligence, militias, and security companies and others. Otherwise, the withdrawal will be uncompleted and useless,” he added on his website on Wednesday.
Kabul, July 01: US Marines have launched a massive offensive into lower Helmand River in southern Afghanistan, as President Barack Obama unveils a new war plan in the region.
Operation Khanjar (Strike of the Sword) involved nearly 4,000 US forces as well as 650 Afghan police and soldiers, the Marine Expeditionary Brigade said, announcing the pre-dawn launch of the drive in southern Helmand province.
The operation was the Marines first major operation since they were deployed to the region over the past few months.
London, July 01: Scientists have discovered a wonder molecule in mother’s milk that protects and repairs the delicate intestines of newborn babies.
Called pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (PSTI), the ingredient is found at its highest levels in colostrum – the milk produced in the first few days after birth.
PSTI is a molecule normally found in the pancreas, and protects it from being damaged by the digestive enzymes it produces. It seems to play a similar protective role in the gut.
London, July 01: Ricky Ponting has demanded his bowlers fix the no-ball problem that hampered them in the tour opener so it doesn’t cost them in next week’s first Ashes Test.
The attack registered 38 of the extras in the warm-up against Sussex and while Ponting was sympathetic to their concerns, he does not want a repeat.
London, July 01: England’s all-powerful women’s cricket team eased to a 55 run win at Chelmsford on Tuesday to go 2-0 up over Australia in their five-match one day international series.
England’s heroine was Sarah Taylor – who scored 68 in the opening match – as she scored her third ODI century with a run-a-ball 120 out of England’s total of 259-6 off their allotted 50 overs.
Despite the Australians getting off to a good opening partnership of 85 between Shelley Nitschke and Lisa Sthalekarm, they were unable to maintain their momentum and were eventually all out for 204.
Colombo, July 01: Sri Lanka has stepped up security for the visiting Pakistan team and slapped new restrictions at match venues, officials said Wednesday.
Fireworks, musical bands, glass bottles, tin cans, sharp objects, laser pointers and mirrors have all been banned from the grounds where the matches are slated to be played.
“Other than national flags of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, no banners, posters and discriminating slogans will be allowed,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said.
Cairo, July 01: Egypt’s intelligence service kept talks aimed at reconciling rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah from collapsing completely, a Fatah negotiator said Wednesday.
“Egypt saved the Palestinian reconciliation from failing, and (intelligence chief) Omar Suleiman played a vital role in pushing the two sides to reach an agreement,” said Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the Fatah bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council, before leaving Cairo for Ramallah.
Detroit, July 01: Two gunmen in a green minivan have opened fire on a group of teenagers waiting at a bus stop near a Detroit school, leaving 7 wounded, 3 of them in critical condition.
The kids had just left Cody Ninth Grade Academy where they had been taking summer classes.
The teenagers, four of whom are boys and three of them girls, are aged from 14 to 17 years old.
The gunmen, who apparently masked their faces with used T-shirts, exited a vehicle and “asked for a person by name” before they “opened fire at the crowd”, said Detroit Public Schools Police Chief Roderick Grimes.
Mumbai, July 01: Bollywood goes bold. If Saif Ali Khan has touched Deepika Padukone’s butt in ‘Love Aaj Kal’ and Kareena Kapoor kissed Akshay Kumar 10 times in ‘Kambakkht Ishq’ then why not Bebo can kick Saif’s butt. Yes, in a rare situation, Kareena will kick Saif’s butt in ‘Agent Vinod’.
The duo will be seen in an absolute dynamic role performing various types of action. As they are going to play Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in the Hollywood remake of ‘Mrs and Mrs Smith’, the duo is going to do all that Brangelina has done.
Mumbai, July 01: Big B’s concern for women in sports Amitabh Bachchan is presently in London shooting for Paa. In his free time he has been exploring London and also managed to experience a few matches of the ongoing Wimbeldon.
But then post his viewing experience he has expressed his concern about the disparity between men and women in sports.
Tehran, July 01: An official breaks the news of a grenade having been planted at a mausoleum in a northern area of the Iranian capital Tehran.
People working at a mausoleum called Imamzadeh Saleh — located at Tajrish Square — on Tuesday night found a grenade that had been planted in a trash can in the women’s restroom, the Fars news agency quoted the head of the Tehran section of the Charity Organization, Yadollah Shirmardi, as saying on Wednesday.
Mumbai, July 01: Aishwarya gets Karate training Rajnikant’s mega budget next Endhiran starring him along side Aishwarya Rai seems to have garnered a lot of curiosity as the makers are keeping the production a close guarded secret.
But the audience interest about it seems to be multiplying day by day as inside details are being leaked out. We managed to find out one such inside info about Aishwarya Rai’s character in the film.
Mumbai, July 01: Scriptwriter Suchitra Bhatia claims that ‘New York’ was her story which she has penned three years back and even narrated the script to Yash Raj Films Arjun Sablok.
Suchitra expressed her shock that Yash Raj has made a film on the script written by her without her knowledge. Her story titled, Osama – A Love Story.
New Delhi, July 01: BCCI have finalised the venues for the ODI series between India and Australia towards the end of this year. The seven-match series will be played between October 25 and November 11.
Australia, who are to tour India shortly after the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, would contest in the 7 ODIs to be held at Guwahati, Mumbai, Jaipur, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mohali and Baroda.
Mumbai, July 01: Deepika Padukone has everything going for her in Bollywood. She has worked with top stars and big banners.
But she does have one regret – making her relationship with Ranbir Kapoor public.
“When we got into a relationship, we decided to be open about it. Otherwise there would be reports about us being spotted holding hands, kissing, hugging, etc. Since we were so clear about our relationship, we had nothing to hide. I thought people would respect that. But it didn’t work out that way,” Deepika told IANS.
London, July 01: As the Twenty20 juggernaut rumbles on, a report in the Daily Telegraph claims that the ECB is considering cutting the number of County Championship matches to accommodate the Champions League, which will take place in September 2010.
A proposal by Alan Fordham, the ECB’s head of cricket operations, includes several schemes such as reducing the number of Championship games from 16 to 12, and possibly splitting the tournament into three divisions.
Tehran, July 01: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has cancelled a planned visit to Libya where he was due to address an African Union summit.
“The president’s visit to the summit that was supposed to start on Wednesday has been cancelled,” Reuters quoted a presidential office spokesman as saying.
No reason has been given for the decision.
Iran’s president had plans to pay a visit to Libya on Wednesday to address the summit of African leaders, which is set to discuss agricultural investment in Africa.
—–Agencies
New Delhi, July 01: West Indian pace surprise Ravi Rampaul has found an admirer in Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has praised the right-armer for his ability to force mistakes from batsmen by consistently bowling in the right areas.
Rampaul returned career-best figures of 4-37 against India as West Indies beat India by eight wickets in Kingston to stay afloat in the four-match series currently tied 1-1.
“Rampaul swings the ball really well, bowls in the right area, he forces you to play a big shot like the cover drive,” Dhoni said ahead of the third one-dayer here on Friday.
Washington, July 01: A North Korean ship, suspected of transporting a cargo of weapons, has suddenly changed course while being monitored by the US Navy, a US official has claimed.
Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, the official said that a ship named Kang Nam — whose quest was allegedly to deliver weapons to Myanmar — has reversed its course and may be headed back to North Korea.
“We’ve no idea where it is going,” the official said. “The US didn’t do anything to make it turn around.”
“It’s pretty much on a reciprocal track,” the official added.
Lahore, July 01: While Shoaib Akhtar’s future in the national team looks bleak with the emergence of bowlers like Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer, former Test fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz believes the pacer still has a chance but only if he gets himslef in shape on time.
Hyderabad, July 01: Praja Rajyam Party founder president Chiranjeevi has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and immediately stop the Maharashtra government from going ahead with Babli and 11 other projects across the Godavari.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the actor-turned-politician drew Dr Singh’s attention to the plight of Andhra Pradesh and said Telangana region would become barren if the upper riparian state was allowed to complete these projects.
The Centre should immediately intervene and take steps to protect the riparian rights of the lower State, he added.
London, July 01: Ricky Ponting’s record may single him out as one of the most successful captains in Test cricket, but former fast bowler Jeff Thomson has unleashed a verbal assault on the Australian skipper’s captaincy skills, describing him as a ‘crap’ leader.
Thomson however, said Australia will win the Ashes series against Australia by a single Test but was too critial about Ponting whose captaincy, he thought, hasn’t improved one bit ever since he took over from Steve Waugh five years ago.
Tehran, July 01: Following the conclusion of a probe into the complaints into the 10th presidential elections in Iran, the Interior Ministry has ordered all election headquarters to end their activities.
“Any activities by the election headquarters in provinces, cities and districts will no longer have a legal basis,” warned the ministry.
New Delhi, July 01: She was rumoured to be dating Shahid Kapoor and then Hurman Baweja. But there is no one “special” in her life right now and she won’t think about marriage for the next 10 years, says actress Amrita Rao, who is all set to don a glamorous avatar in “Short Kut”.
“I’m not getting married for the next 10 years. I don’t have anyone special in my life at the moment and my complete focus is on my work,” Amrita told IANS over phone from Mumbai.