Ed Joyce stars as Irish record famous win

Ed Joyce starred with the bat as Ireland earned a famous six-wicket win over West Indies in yesterday’s Twenty20 clash at Sabina Park, Jamaica.

West Indies scored 116-8 off their 20 overs, Chris Gayle top-scoring with 18, and Alex Cusack, Kevin O'Brien and Tim Murtagh taking two wickets apiece.

Joyce contributed 40 not out and Andrew Poynter 32 as Ireland triumphed with five balls to spare.

Ireland will play the World T20 champions again on Friday.

George Clooney Attends White House Screening

George Clooney, Matt Damon and Bill Murray have attended a screening of The Monuments Men hosted by President Barack Obama at the White House.

The film, directed by Clooney, is based on the true story of US soldiers in World War Two who rescued artworks stolen by Nazi thieves.

Sara Bloomfield, director the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, also attended the screening.

Three policemen interdicted after Minuwangoda mother's death

Three policemen attached to the Minuwangoda police station were interdicted after the mother of a suspect died suddenly as police attempted to arrest the suspect.

Police went to a house at Poragoda in Minuwangoda on Tuesday night to arrest a suspect in connection with an assault.

Police had entered the house through its back door as family members did not respond to the police call to open the front door.

When the suspect’s mother learned that police came to arrest her son, she suddenly fell ill on the spot.

Later police took her to hospital in the police jeep but she was pronounced dead after hospitalizing. 

Later an inquiry was held on the instruction of a Gampaha Division SP to ascertain whether the officers who visited the suspect’s home had over acted beyond their duty.

On the outcome of the inquiry, one police sergeant and two constables were interdicted today.

The trial of the case against former Chief Justice is fixed for May 12th

The trial of the case against former Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake for not declaring her bank assets was fixed for the 12th of May this year.

Colombo Chief  Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya told the Court today that the trial will be begun after charges are read out of the case filed by the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption.

Our Court correspondent said that International law counselors and legal officers attached to foreign embassies were present at the Court today to observe the trial.

Former Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake accompanied by a team of lawyers led by President Counselor Naleen Ladduwahetti appeared in Court today.

President Counselor Ladduwahetti said that the case had been fixed for trial on the 14th of last November and he raised objections for putting off the case for today on the request by the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption.

Appearing for the Attorney General State Counselor  Dilan Rathnayake said that the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption requested to postpone the case due to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

President Counselor Naleen Ladduwahetti said that although the Court ordered to hand over the documents with regard to the bank accounts, it was unable to obtain them as the case was postponed.

Later State Counselor proposed the respondent party to backdate the receipt of the bank documents to the 14th of November.

At that point,  President Counselor Ladduwahetti raised objections to the State Counselor’s proposal but agreed to record as that the documents are received today.

Accordingly the respondent party received a bank account document of 35 pages.

The Judge also said in open court that the respondent party was not affected whatsoever due to the postponement of the case.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka also appeared for the former Chief Justice, and its President Attorney-at-law Upul Jayasuriya also present in Court today.

Sri Lanka beats Bangladesh by 61 runs in 2nd ODI

Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in their 2nd ODI today, by 61 runs Played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, in Mirpur.

Kumar Sangakkara corrected the flaws in Sri Lanka's batting by scoring his 17th ODI hundred, leading a recovery at first before completely dominating the Bangladesh bowling.

Sri Lanka scored 289 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their allotted 50 overs while Bangladesh was all out for only 228 runs.

Sri Lanka's 289 was a 57-run improvement over their previous best, while batting first in Mirpur.

SL 289/6 (50.0 Ovs) | Bangladesh Vs Sri Lanka, 2nd ODI

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and elected to bat to push for a series win in the second ODI in Mirpur.

Batting first Sri Lanka scored 289 for 6 for their allotted 50 overs.

Mathews added an extra spinner in the 11, by picking Ajantha Mendis to replace the injured Nuwan Kulasekara.

The seamer was ruled out of the series with a groin injury he picked up in the first ODI, which Sri Lanka won by 13 runs.

MS Dhoni needs to take risks to win abroad, says Rahul Dravid

Former Indian Captain Rahul Dravid has backed the under-fire Mahendra Singh Dhoni to stay on as Test skipper for at least a year, but added that he would need to take a "few risks" to win abroad.

Dravid said that Dhoni's captaincy has been defensive in critical situations and felt he doesn't trust his bowling attack enough.

Away from home, Dhoni has captained India in 23 Tests, of which they have won five, lost 11 and drawn seven, and asked if the selectors should continue with him, Dravid replied in positive.

Refurbished CMC square and Vihara Maha Devi park opened

The refurbished CMC square , Vihara Maha Devi park and the Colombo road network was opened by Defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse yesterday.

Minister Dinesh Gunawardna and Colombo District Parliamentarian R Dumindha Silva also participated in the occasion.

Facebook to buy messaging app WhatsApp for $19bn

Facebook has entered into an agreement to acquire WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, for $19 billion in cash and stock, according to a filing Wednesday.

The deal is by far Facebook's largest acquisition to date and comes after rumors in late 2012 and early 2013 that Facebook and Google were vying to buy the messaging service.

According to the filing, Facebook has agreed to pay $12 billion in stock and $4 billion in cash for the company. Facebook has also agreed to pay an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units to WhatsApp's founders and employees as part of the deal, which would bring the total deal price to about $19 billion.

WhatsApp, founded in 2009 by former Yahoo engineers Jan Koum and Brian Acton, is the most popular of a set of mobile messaging apps that some argued posed a threat to Facebook's business. The app served as an alternative to SMS by letting users send messages for free across smartphone platforms. It currently has more than 450 million people who use the app every day.

"WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable," Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's cofounder and CEO, said in a statement. "I've known Jan for a long time and I'm excited to partner with him and his team to make the world more open and connected."

On an investor call that followed the announcement, Zuckerberg added: "The growth rate they have today and the monetization that's early but promising and in place, we see a clear trajectory ahead and are excited to work together on this."

Unlike Facebook, WhatsApp does not make money through ads. Instead, WhatsApp is free to use for the first year and then charges $0.99 a year for a subscription after that. The founders have been firm on not wanting to introduce advertising, a point that was re-iterated by Zuckerberg and Koum on the call.

"We think that for our product, advertising is not necessarily the right way to go," Koum said. "We think we have a very solid monetization system in place."

If the deal doesn't go through, Facebook will pay a breakup fee of $1 billion to WhatsApp, which is still more than the total amount Facebook ended up paying to acquire Instagram.

Facebook stock declined by more than 4.5% in after hours trading following the announcement.

US government warns airlines of new shoe - bomb threat

The US government has advised airlines to beware of any attempts to smuggle explosives onboard in footwear.

Homeland security officials did not indicate any known specific threat or plots, but said the warning focused on US-bound flights from abroad.

It is the second time in recent weeks that the US has warned of an increased threat of explosives on airliners.

The latest advisory comes just weeks after the US told airlines to be on the lookout for explosives hidden in toothpaste tubes on direct flights to Russia.

Time up for Dhoni : Amarnath

Former India cricketer Mohinder Amarnath says the time has come to remove Mahendra Singh Dhoni from captaincy as his "defensive approach" has resulted in the country's prolonged failure on foreign soil.

India had lost successive overseas Test rubbers in England in 2011 and Australia in 2012 and more recently in South Africa and New Zealand.

Asked about his choice for future captain, he said Virat Kohli looked

Iran nuclear deal framework 'agreed' in Vienna

Iran is reported to have agreed a framework for talks with six world powers in Vienna on a comprehensive agreement to limit its controversial nuclear programme.

A top Iranian representative was quoted as saying that agreement was reached after two days of talks.

But correspondents say the two sides remain far apart on a final resolution.

Iran is accused by Western countries of trying to develop nuclear weapons, something it denies.

TN told not to proceed with release of Rajiv killers says Manmohan

Holding that assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was an attack on India’s soul, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the release of his killers would be “contrary to all principles of justice” and the Tamil Nadu government has been told not to proceed with it as it is “not legally tenable”.

In a statement in New Delhi, he said that no government or party should be soft in the fight against terrorism, an apparent reference to the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu which has decided to release all the seven convicts in the assassination case after the Supreme Court commuted death sentence of three of them to life imprisonment.

He said the Centre has “informed the Tamil Nadu government that their proposed course of action to release the killers of Rajiv Gandhi is not legally tenable and should not be proceeded with.”

The Jayalalithaa government decided to set free all seven convicts in the assassination case after the apex court had commuted the death penalty of three of them to life imprisonment.

Update : Supreme Court puts on hold release of Rajiv Gandhi's killers

The Supreme Court has put on hold Tamil Nadu's plan to release seven people convicted of killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, which has led to a legal battle between the state government and the Centre.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said Tamil Nadu's decision was legally untenable, contrary to all principles of justice and "should not be proceeded with."

On Wednesday, a day after the top court spared three of the convicts, Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan from execution, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced that all seven convicts in the case would be freed and gave the Centre three days to respond to her decision, after which, she said, she would go ahead.

Update : Thursday, 20 February 2014 - 1:45
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Indian Central Government filed a petition against Jayalalitha's decision to release Rajiv killers - SC agrees to examine

The Indian Central Government filed a petition at its Supreme Court today against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jayeram’s decision to release Rajiv Gandhi killers.

New Delhi reports stated that the Supreme Court has agreed to examine the petition filed by the Center.

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa triggered outrage in the Congress and elsewhere by announcing her government's decision to release all seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

It immediately sparked a heated political row with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asking, "If a Prime Minister's killers can be released, what kind of justice should the common man expect?"

Legal experts, however, questioned the validity of her claim as the state advisory board alone had the powers to process remission pleas of lifers.

The top legal minds of the central government were in a huddle to work out the strategy to prevent the killers from walking free.

The BJP also expressed its dismay over Jayalalithaa's decision.