Month: June 2020

Coronavirus-depleted Pakistan cricket squad leave for England

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“Pakistan cricketers Babar Azam (right), Imad Wasim (left) and Imam-ul-Haq (centre) arrive to check in at the Allama Iqbal International airport in Lahore before their departure for England. ©AFP” /> Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP) – The Pakistan cricket squad left Sunday for their England tour without 10 players who had tested positive for coronavirus. Test skipper Azhar Ali said Pakistan the tourists were looking forward to playing in what will be some of the first Test matches since the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a global lockdown. “All the players are excited after…

West Indies to wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ logo for England Tests

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Black Lives Matter” logos are being worn by Premier League players. ©AFP” /> London (AFP) – The West Indies cricket team will wear “Black Lives Matter” logos on their shirts during next month’s Test series against England in a show of solidarity with the global movement. The tourists will follow the lead of English Premier League footballers during the three-Test series, which starts at the Ageas Bowl on July 8. The move comes after the death of African-American George Floyd in US police custody last month. The logo, which has…

India’s Menon becomes youngest elite umpire at 36

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“Umpire Nitin Menon keeps watch as Zimbabwe’s Tinotenda Mutombodzi bowls against Sri Lanka in January 2020. ©AFP” /> New Delhi (AFP) – India’s Nitin Menon, 36, on Monday became the youngest member of the International Cricket Council’s elite umpire list. Menon gave up playing cricket when he was 22 to start umpiring and has gradually moved up the rankings, officiating in three Tests, 24 one-day internationals and 16 Twenty20 matches. “My priority was to play for the country rather than umpiring,” said Menon, who played two matches for Madhya Pradesh state…

Ireland gets coalition government, Leo Varadkar to return as PM in 2022

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ Leo Varadkar, the outgoing prime minister of Ireland, will now be the deputy prime minister under a new coalition government from Saturday headed by Micheal Martin, and return as the prime minister in 2022 under the power-sharing arrangement. Varadkar, 41, became a caretaker prime minister after no party won a majority in the February 8 election. The process of government formation was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Three parties have now agreed to form the coalition government. They are Varadkar’s Fine Gael party, Martin’s Fianna Fail…

China’s Xi Jinping uses trade to coerce compliance with diktats: US NSA O’Brien

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien has alleged that in addition to propaganda and influence operations, China uses trade to “coerce” compliance with its diktats. The top Trump administration official, in his address to a group of people at Phoenix in Arizona, said that China’s efforts to control the mind of people residing beyond its borders is well underway. “In addition to propaganda and influence operations, the Chinese Communist Party uses trade to coerce compliance with its dictates,” O’Brien said, according to a White House transcript released on Friday.…

Satellite image: Iran blast struck by suspected missile site

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ An explosion that rattled Iran’s capital came from an area in its eastern mountains that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites, satellite photographs showed Saturday. What exploded in the incident early Friday that sent a massive fireball into the sky near Tehran remains unclear, as does the cause of the blast. The unusual response of the Iranian government in the aftermath of the explosion, however, underscores the sensitive nature of an area near where international inspectors believe the Islamic Republic conducted high-explosive…

West Indies’ Joseph hopes England treat him as ‘weaker link’

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“Not a ‘weaker link’ – West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph. ©AFP” /> London (AFP) – Alzarri Joseph hopes it will work to his advantage if England treat him as the “weaker link” of the West Indies’ pace attack during next month’s Test series. The 23-year-old is the junior member of a fast bowling line-up that also includes captain Jason Holder, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel. “Well obviously those three guys have a lot more experience than I do,” Joseph, who has played just nine Tests, told a conference call…

Ten players left off Pakistan’s England tour over virus: cricket board

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“Teenage batsman Haider Ali failed a second coronavirus test and is one of 10 players left off Pakistan’s squad for the tour of England. ©AFP” /> Karachi (AFP) – Pakistan’s cricket team will leave for its tour of England on Sunday without 10 players who tested positive for coronavirus at least once this week, the country’s cricket board said Saturday. The board chief executive Wasim Khan said the players left behind can rejoin the squad of 18 players once they have taken two negative tests. Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Haider…

AstraZeneca, Moderna ahead in Covid-19 vaccine race: World Health Organisation

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ AstraZeneca’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine is probably the world’s leading candidate and most advanced in terms of development, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief scientist said on Friday. The British drugmaker has already begun large-scale, mid-stage human trials of the vaccine, which was developed by researchers at University of Oxford. This week, AstraZeneca signed its tenth supply and manufacturing deal. “Certainly in terms of how advanced they are, the stage at which they are, they are I think probably the leading candidate,” WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told a news…

US tightens the screws on Beijing, restricts visas for Chinese officials

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ The United States is imposing visa restrictions on current and former Chinese officials responsible for “eviscerating” the freedoms of Hong Kong citizens, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, signalling that the US would continue to tighten controls vis-a-vis the Chinese government officials. The move coincides with an intensified US rhetoric against China in the midst of Trump’s re-election campaign, in which opinion polls have shown voters increasingly embittered toward Beijing, especially over the coronavirus that began from China’s Wuhan. “I am announcing visa restrictions on…