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New Zealand struggle against Australia as wickets tumble in day-night Test

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Nathan Lyon

by Robert Smith, AFP

Adelaide: New Zealand held a tenuous 94-run lead in the absorbing day-night third Test after a second day of tumbling wickets at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

The Kiwis, trailing 1-0 in the series, struggled to build a defendable total to present Australia in the fourth innings after another fast-paced day’s cricket of 13 wickets before 42,372 fans.

116 for five At the close, the Black Caps were finding batting difficult under lights and were 116 for five with a result looming on Sunday’s third day in the scheduled five-day Test.

New Zealand had lost their top batsmen and at the crease were B.J. Watling on seven with debutant Mitchell Santner not out 13.

“Definitely no figure. Whatever we end up with we’re just going to have to get some wickets but more importantly having that new ball as close to twilight as possible,” senior batsman Ross Taylor said.

“If we can keep them out there and keep our bowlers from bowling not as many overs tomorrow, then we give ourselves the best chance.”

Josh Hazlewood led the Australian attack with three wickets in the absence of injured spearhead Mitchell Starc as the pink ball again dominated the bat.

Hazlewood removed both openers with mesmerising ball movement under lights. Martin Guptill sliced to Mitch Marsh in the gully for 17 and Tom Latham was tempted by a wider delivery and was caught behind for 10.

Hazlewood had Kane Williamson dropped on one by Adam Voges in the slips but the star Kiwi batsman soon feathered a catch to Nevill off Mitch Marsh for nine to complete a low-scoring match.

Captain Brendon McCullum followed for 20, leg before wicket to Marsh and Perth Test double century-maker Taylor fell the same way to Hazlewood for 32.

“The wicket’s not that bad to have so many wickets taken in two days,” Hazlewood said.

“We had a middle-order collapse today. We should probably be still batting now. We’ll try and fix that for the second innings.”

The second day turned on a contentious challenge decision in Australia’s favour before dinner, enabling them to go on and grab a 22-run innings lead.

Nathan Lyon survived a review in which ‘Hot Spot’ revealed a mark on the back of his bat before he had scored.

The review was churned over for minutes before the TV umpire Nigel Llong decided there was not enough to go on despite the Hot Spot evidence to give Lyon out, caught off spinner Santner, with Australia reeling at 118 for eight and trailing the Kiwis by 84 runs.

Lyon walked three-quarters of the way off the ground believing he was out before he returned to continue batting and join in a record Australian trans-Tasman series 74-run ninth-wicket stand with Peter Nevill.

Lyon was eventually out for 34 as the Australians hit back to take an innings lead with incapacitated Mitchell Starc smashing two massive sixes off spinner Mark Craig.

Starc, who came into bat at No.11 after being diagnosed with a stress foot fracture on Friday, thrilled the home crowd with his prodigious hitting.

Nevill was the hero and was the last man out for his highest Test score of 66 leaving the hobbling Starc unbeaten on 24 which included two sixes and three fours.

Doug Bracewell finished his side’s best bowler with three for 18 off 12.1 overs.

It was rough justice for the Kiwis, who have been on the receiving end of some controversial umpiring decisions.

Australia were in dire trouble at 116 for eight at tea after a rampant Kiwi bowling performance in the first session.

The Black Caps snared Steve Smith’s prized wicket when he charged off-spinner Craig only to be caught by wicketkeeper Watling.

The Kiwis had the Australians well on the back foot with Peter Siddle out four balls later in the same Craig over and then Hazlewood was bowled by Santner for four in the final over before tea.

Just 62 runs were scored by Australia for the loss of six wickets in the first session off 29.5 overs.

Planned Parenthood: Three die in shooting at Colorado clinic

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A man could be seen being taken into custody outside the centre

A man could be seen being taken into custody outside the centre

by BBC

A shooting at a family planning clinic in Colorado Springs has left two civilians and a police officer dead, with the suspected gunman under arrest.

Nine other people were injured during the standoff at the Planned Parenthood clinic, which lasted five hours before the suspect surrendered.

A number of people were trapped inside the building as shots were exchanged.

The motive remains unclear. The Planned Parenthood group has drawn anti-abortion protests in the past.

A law enforcement source identified the suspect as Robert Lewis Dear, from North Carolina. No other details were given.

“I want to convey to the loved ones of the victims, this is a terrible, terrible tragedy that occurred here in Colorado Springs today,” Mayor John Suthers told a news conference.

“Obviously, we lost two civilian victims. We mourn the loss of a very brave police officer.”

The dead policeman was named as Garrett Swasey, 44, who was married with two children.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey said five police officers were among the injured, who were being treated in local hospitals.

Garrett Swasey, who was killed, was a campus police officer for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS)

Police had sealed off streets around the centre as officers tried to make contact with the suspect.

“We did get officers inside the building,” police Lt Catherine Buckley said.

Turkey’s president warns Russia not to ‘play with fire’

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Erdogan condemns reports that Turkish businessmen were detained in Russia as animosity between Cold War rivals grows.

erdogan

by Al Jazeera

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Russia not to “play with fire” after reports emerged that Turkish businessmen had been detained in Russia.

Moscow said it would suspend visa-free travel with Turkey, and its tourism agency head announced on Friday it will ask more than 9,000 Russians currently in Turkey to return home by the end of December.

Relations between the former Cold War antagonists are at their lowest in recent memory after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border on Tuesday. The pilot was machine-gunned dead by rebels on the ground in Syria as he parachuted down.

Russia has threatened economic retaliation – a response Erdogan has dismissed as emotional and indecorous.

“It is playing with fire to go as far as mistreating our citizens who have gone to Russia,” Erdogan told supporters during a speech in Bayburt in northeast Turkey on Friday.

“We really attach a lot of importance to our relations with Russia … We don’t want these relations to suffer harm in any way.”

Erdogan said he wants to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a climate summit in Paris that starts on Monday. Putin has so far refused to talk to Erdogan because Ankara has not yet apologised for the downing of the jet, a Putin aide said.

Erdogan has said Turkey deserves the apology because its airspace was violated.

The nearly five-year-old Syrian civil war has been complicated by Russian air strikes in defence of President Bashar al-Assad. Turkey and regional powers have accused Russia of targeting moderate armed groups fighting Assad.

The frayed relations could also impact two major planned projects – a TurkStream gas pipeline and the Akkuyu nuclear power plant – between the two countries.

Turkey and Russia have also sparred over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant  (ISIL) group, with each side accusing the other of being soft on “terrorism”.

JD(S) rules out alliance in Council elections

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Kumaraswamy

Mysuru: JD(S) president H D Kumaraswamy ruled out an alliance with any party whatsoever in the upcoming Council elections.

H D Kumaraswamy at a press meet held in Mysuru said that both the national parties have cheated the state, especially the farmer community. “Following this, we have decided to field our own candidates from all 25 seats. Few party people who should discuss few matters within the party are doing it in public and those work against the party will face action”, he asserted.

With regard to the list of the candidates he informed that it will be finalised within the next two days. He also said that internal conflict in the party will be discussed with party supremo HD Devegowda.

“Both the national parties have attempted to close Lokayukta organisation as they closed KPSC organisation. They have wasted 10 days of winter session for their political gain”, he alleged.

JD(S) supremo H D Devegowda too, turned on his previously made statement and ruled out an alliance with Congress in the upcoming council elections. Earlier on Thursday, he had asserted alliance with the Congress.

(Agencies)

Noted Kannada writers to stay away from Bangalore Lit Fest 2015

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BANGALORE LITERATURE FESTIVAL

Bengaluru: It would seem that writer’s don’t give up on what they believe in. Notwithstanding the PM’s impassioned speech in the parliament yesterday, about the Constitution being the Govt.’s holy book, three noted Kannada writers decided to stay away from the Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) 2015 scheduled for December 5 and 6 at Bengaluru.

This unexpected action was taken by writers after Bangalore Literature Festival director Vikram Sampat in an article criticised the returning of awards in the wake of ‘growing intolerance’ in the country. Sampat termed the writers as ‘sheep’ in the article.

OL Nagabhushana Swamy, Prof Arif Raza and Dayananda TK, have withdrawn from the event and said Sampat criticism wording is neither intellectual nor academic in spirit” and questioned the political leanings of Sampat.

Sampat said in the article, “It is intriguing that the writer community was largely silent when books were banned, authors attacked, and rationalists killed. Why the selective outrage, as though apocalypse has descended on us as far as freedom of expression is concerned? Intolerance and violence against a contrary opinion is not a sudden phenomenon in India.”

Arif Raja called Sampat’s comments ‘politically motivated and childish’.

Shivaram Karanth had returned his Padma award and Chandrashekar Patil (Champa) had lost his job because he opposed Indira Gandhi, said Arif Raja. Dayanand TK, said in his letter that he had misgivings about some of the sponsors of the festival.

He also said he did not want to be part of a literature fest whose principal organisers ‘don’t understand the sentiment and the feeling of terror’ that forced the country’s intellectuals to speak out.

Famous Malayalam writer K Sachidanandan, said he too refused to be part of BLF this year, coming out in support of Raja and Dayanand.

The process of returning awards started when Hindi writer Uday Prakash returned the Sahitya Akademi award in September 2015 to protest against the Akademi’s “indifference” over the murder of intellectuals such as M M Kalburgi. Nearly three dozen writers have since returned their prizes to the Akademi.

(Agencies)

Woman IPS transferred after spat with Haryana minister

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Sangeet Kalia Anil Vij

Chandigarh: IPS officer Sangeet Kalia, SP of Fatehabad district, was today shunted out, a day after a spat with Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij during a meeting, triggering angry reactions against him from the opposition and on the social media.

The minister had on Thursday stormed out of a meeting of the District Grievances and Public Relations Committee after the police officer refused to follow his order to leave the venue following heated exchanges between them. The video of their spat went viral on social media.

Official sources said government has decided to transfer Kalia from her current post as Fatehabad SP, adding formal orders will be issued soon.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar earlier today told reporters in Karnal that he had taken cognizance of the matter and it will be dealt with appropriately.

The spat issue drew sharp reactions from various quarters, with opposition slamming Vij over his comments with a lady officer, while Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes, P L Punia, demanded that the Minister should be sacked.

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the Minister should have maintained decorum while speaking to a lady officer and deprecated his behaviour with her.

Notably, Vij, who is known for his outspoken nature even taking on his own government, said that he had been getting complaints of drug mafia and liquor mafia being active.

“Yesterday, one NGO complained to police, but she (Kalia) shouted back at the NGO telling it why you are complaining to the Minister, that itself shows that she is not cooperating,” he said.

Following it with a tweet, Vij said that he is ready to pay any price and even ready to make sacrifice to ensure justice to people who are oppressed due to indifferent attitude of administration.

“I have spoken to the CM. I want to make one thing very clear that I will continue to fight against those officials who do not work,” he said.

The incident drew sharp reactions on social media, with several coming out in support of Kalia, saying the Minister should have exercised restraint.

In another tweet, the minister said, “I am ready to pay any price and make any sacrifice for getting justice for people who face harassment at the hands of administration”.

Vij was slammed for his tweet by the people on social media.

One tweet said, “Fatehabad SP is an honest officer, who is stopping illegal work that comes to her notice. You (Vij) are being misguided by wrong people. I was not expecting this from a leader like you”.

“Her only fault lies that she cares two hoots for power brokers. She has been working honestly and during her time crime graph has come down,” he said.

Another tweet reminded the Minister that he was occupying a “constitutional post”.

“You should not speak through your tongue (asking SP to get out..),” he tweeted.

The confrontation between Vij and Kalia took place during a meeting of the District Grievances and Public Relations Committee in Fatehabad yesterday, where the minister questioned Kalia regarding a complaint pertaining to an unauthorised sale of liquor in villages.

Deputy Commissioner N K Solanki was also present in the meeting.

Vij asked the SP what the police was doing regarding multiple sale points of liquor opened in villages.

The officer explained the responsibilities of the police in this regard and mentioned that 2,500 cases had been registered in connection with the Excise Act in the past 10 months, which was a record.

The minister was, however, not satisfied with SP’s response.

As the exchange between the duo continued, the minister by now enraged asked the SP to “get out” of the meeting.

The lady officer, however, refused to leave the meeting as she felt she was not in the wrong, and even objected to the minister’s manner.

The minister then left the meeting in a huff. All BJP workers and committee members followed suit.

The officer declined to comment on the incident, saying everything happened before media and that she would not like to add anything further.

Congress leader Manish Tewari said the minister acted in a “crude manner. For the simple reason, you don’t behave with a lady in this manner irrespective of whether she is an officer or not. There is certain decorum which you must observe. If this had happened in some other party

Senior party Digvijay Singh said, “It displays arrogance and ego of the BJP. This will continue till such things are not eliminated.”.

“This is punishment without any inquiry. The Haryana government has initiated action against the SP without going into details and without conducting any inquiry,” another leader Shakeel Ahmed said.

(PTI)

AAP’s Lokpal ‘mahajokepal’, Bhushan tears into Kejriwal

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A file photo of activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan. Photo: PTI

A file photo of activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan today accused Arvind Kejriwal of playing the “biggest fraud” on people by diluting the provisions of the Jan Lokpal draft of the Anna movement while Shanti Bhushan demanded the Delhi Chief Minister’s resignation.

Bhushan read out certain provisions of the draft Bill, that is yet to be made public by the Delhi government. He claimed that Ministers and officials of the Centre were put under the ambit of the proposed legislation “deliberately” to provoke confrontation.

He said Kejriwal does not like to be questioned like “Modi” so he has chosen not to make the contents of the Bill public.

“No activist or movement in India’s history has played such a big fraud with people. This will only ensure that the Central government does not approve and the Bill never gets passed. Kejriwal never had the intention to form a strong Lokpal body,” the former AAP leader said.

Dissident AAP MLA Pankaj Pushkar, who was also present at the presser at Bhushan’s Noida residence, claimed that he had managed to get hold of its copy in his capacity as a member of the Business Advisory Committee.

Bhushan questioned the appointment and removal processes of the Lokpal laid out in the Bill, which was recently cleared by the AAP Cabinet, saying they would put the Ombudsman at the mercy of the city government.

The Bill purportedly says that a four-member selection committee, comprising the Chief Minister, Speaker, Leader of Opposition and Delhi High Court Chief Justice would appoint the Lokpal, while the removal can be ensured by a motion in the Assembly with two-thirds majority.

“Even the Centre’s Lokpal Act, which has been termed as jokepal by Kejriwal, is stronger than this Bill. This is a ‘mahajokepal’. Kejriwal must resign from office,” senior Bhushan said.

They said by expanding the jurisdiction of the Lokpal, by proposing to bring Centre under its ambit was uncalled for and aimed at stoking another fight. “In all the draft Lokpals that we have prepared till date, state Lokayuktas are not supposed to have any such powers.”

The father-son duo also slammed the alleged provision which stipulates one-year imprisonement for false complaints, which they said will only deter complainants. “So the falsity is to be decided by a sarkari lokpal?” they asked.

“We can now understand why this draft was kept under the wraps. The plan was to pass this maha jokepal Bill and then play victim by claiming that the Centre is obstructing it. Will say nahi karne diya ji,” Bhushan said in a mocking tone.

(Agencies)

Controversy surrounding Aamir Khan’s comments politically motivated

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Aamir Khan

by Sherful Islam

The so-called controversy surrounding Aamir Khan’s comments on growing religious intolerance in the country is unfortunate and politically motivated. What Khan said was nothing new. But when top star expressed alarm and despondency over the rise in the number of such incidences and said that his wife had even contemplated relocating to another country, he was only airing an opinion under the freedom of expression enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Khan was not the first to speak out on the raging issue. His colleague, Shahrukh Khan, had echoed similar views. Several eminent writers, filmmakers, historians et al. have also given up their prestigious honours to inveigh against the government’s failure to respond with alacrity to such incidences. But instead of understanding why Aamir Khan went public with his comments and felt the way he did, a battery of angry posts on the social media, taunts and personal innuendos have welcomed him. What followed more were, inter alia, the calls to boycott his movies, stop using the e-commerce Snapdeal app, which he is brand ambassador of, and the latest by the right-wing Shiv Sena – offering Rs1 lakh to anyone who slaps him – which are nothing short of obnoxious.

So, what is causing more disquiet is that in today’s India, it has become next to impossible for anyone to freely air his/her opinions in public. Even the more worrisome trend is a section of ruling party leaders going hell for leather, accusing Khan of acting as an agent of the Congress and being part of its conspiracy to malign the Narendra Modi government. Some radical Hindu groups went to the extent of labelling him as an anti-national and asking him to leave the country. Mr. Perfectionist also came under attack from some of his Bollywood fellows, including Anupam Kher and Paresh Rawal, who have been the staunch supporters of the current political leadership. But instead of threatening or bullying Khan, the government needs to reach out to him and ask what makes him stick his neck out and say so.

GST bill deadlock: Modi invites Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh for tea

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modi_sonia_gandhi_manmohan_singh

New Delhi: Reaching out to main opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh for tea this evening during which issues like GST may come up.

Modi today invited the Congress leaders at his Race Course Road residence at 7 PM, sources said.

This assumes significance as the Government and the Congress are at loggerheads which is stalling the passage of crucial legislations like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had yesterday said that the Prime Minister is willing to speak to everyone to get the landmark indirect tax law through.

Jaitley, who needs Parliament approval for GST Bill in the winter session to roll out the new indirect tax regime as planned from April 1, said he has spoken to “almost all Congress leaders” on the issue.

“We have absolutely no hesitation even at the level of Prime Minister. We have never had in it in the past, we don’t have it (now). He is willing to speak to everyone,” he had said.

Congress had stalled passage of the GST Constitution Amendment Bill in the last session of Parliament over its demand that a revenue-neutral rate not higher than 18 per cent be mentioned in it. It is also opposed to states being given powers to levy additional 1 per cent tax on supply of goods over and above GST rate.

(PTI)

ISIL claims responsibility for Bangladesh mosque attack

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Two suspects arrested after gunmen storm mosque and open fire on praying worshipers, killing one and wounding three.

A man wounded in an attack on a Shia mosque is carried for treatment in Bogra district on Thursday [AP]

A man wounded in an attack on a Shia mosque is carried for treatment in Bogra district on Thursday [AP]

by Saif Khalid, Al Jazeera

ISIL claimed responsibility after gunmen killed one Shia Muslim and wounded three others at a mosque in Bangladesh, a US monitoring website said Friday, the second assault targeting the religious minority in a month.

However, a Bangladeshi official denied that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was operating in the South Asian nation of 160 million people.

Three masked attackers entered the Imam Khomeini mosque in Haripur village and began shooting indiscriminately before escaping, witnesses told Al Jazeera. At least 20 people were performing evening prayers at the time on Thursday.

Two suspects were arrested in connection with the attack in Bogra district, 125 kilometres northest of the capital Dhaka, according to local media reports.

The US-based intelligence group SITE, which monitors the commications of armed groups, said ISIL had taken responsibility online for the mosque assault.

But Muntasirul Islam, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said he doubted the veracity of ISIL’s statements, adding past claims by the group could not be corroborated.

“We have spoken to the media before, categorically denying ISIL’s claims in the past. Investigating agencies did not find any relations with the murder of bloggers and foreign nationals to outside terrorist organisations,” Islam told Al Jazeera.

Seventy-year-old Moazzem Hossain – the mosque’s muezzin, the man who calls Muslims for prayer – died shortly after being admitted to a local hospital.

ISIL has claimed responsibility for the murder of two foreign nationals in recent months, as well as the grisly killings of several bloggers.

On October 24, ISIL claimed responsibility for a series of blasts targeting Shia Muslims in Dhaka during a religious procession, killing one person.

But Islam told Al Jazeera local armed groups were behind past attacks, not ISIL. “They use the name of Islamic of State [of Iraq and the Levant] to attract media attention,” he said.

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said those carrying out attacks are not real Muslims.

“Killing people during prayers at mosques is not a job done by a true Muslim … nor is suicide a job of a true Muslim,” she was quoted as saying.

Amid rising threat to foreign nationals, Australia on Friday asked its citizens to voluntarily leave Bangladesh, adding that it will withdraw government-funded volunteers by December 31.

Additional reporting by Mahmud Hossain Opu

Seventy-year-old Moazzem Hossain - the mosque's muezzin - died shortly after being admitted to a local hospital [The Associated Press]

Seventy-year-old Moazzem Hossain – the mosque’s muezzin – died shortly after being admitted to a local hospital [The Associated Press]

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