Page 284 - War Conflict
ICC announces amnesty in Sri Lanka Cricket corruption case
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday announced a 15-day amnesty to participants who have previously failed to report any information concerning corrupt conduct in Sri Lankan cricket.The amnesty, which will run from January 16-31, will apply to all participants under both the ICC and Sri Lankan Cricket Anti-Corruption codes.Under these codes, both domestic and international participants are obliged to report, without delay, full details of any approaches, incident or information that they receive to engage in corrupt conduct. Failure to do so is a serious offence and can result in a ban from cricket of up to five years.However, under the amnesty, any information reported by a participant will not attract a charge for their failure to report previously.ICC anti-corruption general manager Alex Marshall said that amnesty was held to face specific challenges in Sri Lanka. He further urged players to come forward and share corruption concerning information, if they have got .
17 states, UTs to showcase their tableaux during R-Day parade
Seventeen states and Union territories will showcase their tableaux in the Rajpath parade as part of this year's Republic Day celebrations, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday. The selected states who will display their floats include Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, and Goa, according to the ministry. Tableaux of Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar will also be part of the Republic Day parade. Six ministries would also showcase their tableaux -- Ministry of Home Affairs (CISF), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (CPWD), Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), it said. In marching contingents, Madras Regimental Centre, Rajputana Rifles Regimental Centre, Sikh Regimental Centre will be present. Military bands will be from Sikh Light Infantry Regimental Centre, Mahar Regimental Centre and ...
Crowds back Bashir at Sudan rally as police tear gas rival protest
Thousands of people cheered Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir in a show of support for his embattled regime in Khartoum Wednesday, as riot police fired tear gas at crowds of protesters at a rival anti-government demonstration. Hundreds of riot policemen, soldiers and security agents, some carrying machine guns, were deployed around the site of the pro-Bashir rally in the Green Yard, a large open space in the capital, an AFP correspondent said. Thousands of men, women and children carrying pro-Bashir banners arrived in buses from early in the morning, almost filling the site. The rally was the first held in Khartoum in support of the president since protests erupted. "This gathering sends a message to those who think that Sudan will become like other countries that have been destroyed," Bashir told a cheering crowd. "We will stop anyone who destroys our properties." In the initial protests, which erupted on December 19 in towns and villages before spreading to Khartoum, several ...
Sri Lanka Cricket Corruption: ICC announces 15-day amnesty
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Wednesday announced a 15-day amnesty to participants who have previously failed to report any information concerning corrupt conduct in Sri Lankan cricket. The amnesty, which will run from 16-31 January, will apply to all participants under both the ICC and Sri Lankan Cricket Anti-Corruption codes. Under these codes, both domestic and international participants are obliged to report, without delay, full details of any approaches, incident or information that they receive to engage in corrupt conduct. Failure to do so is a serious offence and can result in a ban from cricket of up to five years. However, under the amnesty, any information reported by a participant will not attract a charge for their failure to report previously. Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager Anti-Corruption, said: "This is the first time the ICC has held an amnesty and it is in response to the very specific challenges we face in Sri Lanka. Allowing retrospective reporting ..
C'hg: Naxals kill man after branding him police informer
A40-year-old villager was allegedly killed bynaxalsin Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Kanker districton suspicion of being a police informer, police said Wednesday. The body of the victim Suresh Hupendi was found dumped on the outskirts of his village Niche Kamta under Amabeda police station limits this morning, a senior police officer told PTI. As per preliminary information, a group of naxals stormed into the house of Hupendi on Tuesday evening and forcibly took him along with them, he said. Hupendi was strangled to death by the ultras who dumped his corpse on the outskirts of the village, he said. Though police are investigating the exact cause behind the murder, a Maoist banner recovered from the spot branded the deceased as a "police informer", the officer said. He, however, denied that Hupendi was associated with police. A search operation has been launched in the region, he said.
2 thieves beaten to death by locals in Rajasthan
Two alleged thieves were beaten to death in a clash with local residents in a village here Wednesday, police said. The incident took place when six armed miscreants reached Khapraila village with an intention to loot a jeep, they said. However, the jeep owner, Kedar Kushwah, and other villagers caught hold of two of them and thrashed them, ASP Rajendra Verma said, adding that five villagers were also injured in the scuffle. The two injured miscreants, who are yet to be identified, succumbed to injuries while on their way to Jaipur for treatment, he said. A case has been registered against the unidentified miscreants by the villagers, police said.
Greek far-left militants claim media group blast
Far-left militants on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a bomb attack targeting one of Greece's leading media group in Athens last month. The Popular Fighters Group (OLA) said they had targeted private radio and television network Skai on December 17 over alleged corrupt links between media and politicians. Attacks against broadcasting groups, public companies or embassies have been frequent in Greece in recent years, and are usually blamed on anarchist or far-left organisations. The homemade bomb went off at around 2:30am, 45 minutes after an anonymous telephone warning to another TV network. Police cordoned off the neighbourhood in the Athens suburb of Neo Phaliro and evacuated the building, which contains the offices of Skai, as well as those of Kathimerini, a centre-right daily critical of the government. Both are owned by the Alafouzos shipping family. Police said the bomb was placed in a narrow street near a fence around the building and smashed windows on the facade. At the .
Cycle rally in Rajasthan to create awareness on skin disorders
A group of 18 people, including four women, on bicycles rode through the state, declaring "war" on fungal infections. Some Pune-based doctors also participated in the rally with the theme 'Fangal pe Dangal' to promote and create awareness of taking fungal infections seriously and consulting dermatologists instead of resorting to self-medication. "There is an epidemic of fungal infection in India these days. People resort to self medication and these medicines consists of steroids, which make the things worse," said Narendra Pattvardhan, a Pune-based dermatologist. "People should avoid wearing wet clothes as they cause fungal infections leading to eczema and herpes," he said. The rally began on January 5 from Udaipur then reached Jodhpur on Tuesday and would culminate in Jaisalmer on January 11, said Dr Dilip Kachhawaha, the local coordinator of the rally.
Israel sells vehicle defence systems to US in $200m deal
Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, a state-owned Israeli technology company, announced on Wednesday that it has sold the US military "Trophy" protection systems for vehicles in a deal worth $200 million.
Talks with Taliban should be held but without preconditions: Army Chief Rawat
At a time the US and Russia are reaching out to the Taliban in Afghanistan, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said the terror outfit should be engaged but talks should be held with it without any preconditions. The Army Chief's comments Wednesday, at the Raisina Dialogue, on engaging with Taliban were first such public remarks by a senior functionary of the government. Gen. Rawat said peace and stability in Afghanistan will be in interests of India, Pakistan and the entire region. "Yes, there should be talks with Taliban so long as they do not come out with any preconditions and so long as they are looking at lasting peace in Afghanistan and bring about stability in that country. It is in our interests, it is in the region's interests and it is in Pakistan's interests," Gen. Rawat said. He was asked about several countries engaging the Taliban as part of the Afghan peace process. "There can be no preconditions attached because when you start attaching preconditions, then it kind of gives a .
Six 'suspects' killed in Saudi raid on Shiite stronghold: Secret service
Six suspects wanted over unrest in Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority stronghold of Qatif were killed in a police raid this week, the kingdom's secret service said Wednesday. One person was arrested in the "preemptive" raid on a house in the eastern town of Jish on Monday, according to a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
Belgium indicts suspect involved in 2015 Paris terror attacks
A man suspected of supplying weapons to the terrorists responsible for coordinated attacks in Paris in 2015 was indicted in Belgium in late December, an official said on Wednesday.
Talks with Taliban should be sans preconditions: Army chief
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said that talks with the Taliban, if held, should be without any preconditions whatsoever.
Sudan police fire tear gas at protesters
Sudanese riot police fired tear gas at anti-government protesters in Khartoum's twin city Omdurman on Wednesday, witnesses said, after hundreds rallied in the capital in support of President Omar al-Bashir. About 300 protesters chanting "Freedom, Peace and Justice" blocked a key road in Omdurman, but were quickly confronted with tear gas as riot police moved in to disperse them. The earlier loyalist rally was the first held in Khartoum since anti-government protests erupted across Sudan last month. Authorities say at least 19 people, including two security personnel. have been killed during the demonstrations but human rights group Amnesty International has put the death toll at 37. Protests broke out on December 19 after a government decision to raise the price of bread at a time when Sudan is facing a mounting economic crisis. Food and fuel shortages have hit Sudan repeatedly over the past year as foreign currency reserves have dwindled and inflation has soared to 70 percent.
Police injured as Lazio's 119th anniversary celebrations turn violent
Eight police officers were injured after celebrations to mark Lazio's 119th anniversary in the centre of Rome turned violent, police told Italian media on Wednesday. The skirmishes took place at Piazza della Liberta in the centre of the Italian capital where up to 2,500 Lazio fans gathered late Tuesday at the spot of the club's foundation. The gathering had also been attended by the club's president Claudio Lotito who addressed the crowd but left before tensions mounted. Shortly after midnight, an estimated 300 fans, with their faces covered, broke away from the main group and began throwing bottles and other objects at police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons. Police said eight officers had injuries, mostly with cuts and bruising, one fan was arrested and three others detained, all with links to the club's hardcore 'Ultra' fans. All will receive DASPO Urbano exclusion orders, a 'Sports Event Access Ban'. Tensions are running high in Italy after violent clashes before ...
Indian, Pakistani troops trade gunfire in Poonch, Rajouri
Indian and Pakistani troops traded gunfire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri districts on Wednesday.
Pompeo meets Iraq officials on unannounced Baghdad visit
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Iraqi officials, including the speaker, on an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Wednesday, the parliament's spokesman said. Pompeo's talks, on the second leg of a key Middle East tour, come less than two weeks after President Donald Trump drew criticism for failing to meet a single Iraqi official during a surprise Christmas visit to US troops.
New Myanmar unrest panics Rohingya in border limbo
Panic is gripping thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees living in no-man's land on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, with daily clashes between Myanmar security forces and ethnic Rakhine insurgents. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar since a military crackdown started in 2017 - most to sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh -- but many have been living in limbo on the border, unwilling to enter the camps or return home. They are now caught on the sidelines of fighting between Myanmar troops and the Arakan Army, a militant group seeking more autonomy for western Rakhine state's Buddhist-majority population. "Heavy fighting is going on between the government troops and Arakan Army inside Myanmar," Rohingya leader Dil Mohammad told AFP. "The situation is very tense," he said, adding the security build-up and daily gunfire had created "panic". Myanmar troops last week set up security camps and bunkers along the border after fighting saw 13 police killed. Some of the ..
Social media must be controlled to stop radicalisation: Gen Rawat
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said that some Kashmiri youths are getting radicalised due to misinformation and falsehood about religion being fed to them."Radicalisation through social media is becoming one of the reasons for raising funds for terrorist organisations. The biggest issue is that social media needs to ensure that radicalisation does not happen through false information and misinformation," said General Rawat at the Raisina Dialogue conference."That is why you find more and more educated youth being drawn into terrorism," he added.General Rawat said that terrorism is 'a new mode of warfare' and a 'multi-headed monster' that is 'here to stay' as long as states continue to push and promote it as a state policy.The Army Chief said that Pakistan should be worried about the presence of Taliban in its backyard and that there should not be any conditions in talks with Taliban as a part of Afghan peace process."Pakistan has always treated Afghanistan as its backyard and they ...
Taiwan announces new-look military drills to counter China
Taiwan's military on Wednesday announced a series of newly designed large-scale military drills for this year aimed at countering China's renewed threat to use force to gain control over the island. While Taiwan's armed forces regularly hold such exercises, this year's drills are "being drafted based on newly adopted tactics for defending against a possible Chinese invasion," the official Central News Agency quoted Defence Ministry planning chief Maj Gen Yeh Kuo-hui as saying. China claims sovereignty over the self-governing island democracy, which split from the mainland amid civil war in 1949. Chinese President Xi Jinping renewed the threat of force in his January 2 message to the island, saying China reserved that right if necessary to counter interference by external forces and what he called an extremely small number of Taiwanese separatists. Although Xi didn't mention the US by name, Washington is a key supplier of weaponry to the island and is legally bound to respond to ...