The head of France's professional handball league has been taken in for police questioning in a child sexual assault and pornography probe, French prosecutors said Wednesday, the latest sports scandal in the country ahead of next year's Paris Olympics. The Paris prosecutor's office said Bruno Martini was taken into custody Monday morning on suspicion of attempted sexual assault on a 15-year-old, of corrupting a minor and recording pornographic images of children. The president of the National Handball League was then released Tuesday night ahead of an expected plea deal on the child corruption and pornography charges, the prosecutor's office said. Before moving into handball management, Martini was a star player, keeping goal in 202 appearances for the French national team. He's the latest leader of an Olympic sport in France under police investigation in the countdown to the 2024 Games, which open in Paris in just under 550 days. French soccer federation president Noël Le Graët is under investigation for sexual harassment and “moral harassment." French rugby federation president Bernard Laporte is appealing a two-year suspended sentence that a Paris court handed down last month. He was found guilty of passive corruption, influence peddling, illegal interest-taking and misuse of corporate assets. Read more: Olympics Football: Bangladesh Women's team put in Group B The head of the Paris Games organizing committee, Tony Estanguet, expressed hope Wednesday that the various cases will progress quickly “so we can turn the page.” “French sports need stability,” he said. “We hope things quickly return to normal.” The National Handball League’s executive committee held an emergency meeting Wednesday to consider Martini’s position and said it was expecting his resignation as president, calling it “probable and desirable." Handball is a popular sport in France. The country's men and women are the reigning Olympic champions. News of the probe involving Martini, a two-time Olympian and two-time world champion with the national team, came as France's men were preparing to play Germany on Wednesday for a semifinal spot at the world championships.

Tim Paine took over the Australian test cricket team captaincy following one of the country's biggest and and most embarrassing international scandals. He's lost it following a more personal indiscretion. Paine quit as test captain on Friday after being investigated by Cricket Australia for sending explicit text messages to a female co-worker four years ago. Veteran wicketkeeper Paine was named in a News Corp. report as being at the center of the sexting scandal. The 36-year-old Paine appeared before media on Friday in Adelaide to announce he was resigning the captaincy but wanted to remain a member of the test squad. Also read: Australian court rules media liable for Facebook comments The announcement comes less than three weeks before the Dec. 8 start in Brisbane of the five-test Ashes series against England. Paine, who underwent surgery in September to repair a pinched nerve in his neck and isn't a certainty to be a starter in the Ashes series, became test captain in March 2018 after Steve Smith lost the role following the sandpaper ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. During the third test match against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town, Cameron Bancroft was caught by television cameras trying to rough up one side of the ball with sandpaper. Smith and vice-captain David Warner were found to be involved and all three received sanctions from Cricket Australia, and when Smith was dumped as captain, Paine took charge. Until Friday. “It’s an incredibly difficult decision, but the right one for me, my family, and cricket,” Paine said. “As a background on my decision, nearly four years ago, I was involved in a text exchange with a then-colleague. “At the time, the exchange was the subject of a thorough CA integrity unit investigation, throughout which I fully participated in and openly participated in. Although exonerated, I deeply regretted this incident at the time, and still do today." Also read: Australian baseball team withdraws from Olympic qualifying The messages date to 2017, months before Paine was recalled to the test team after a seven-year absence. Cricket Australia's statement said its board had accepted Paine's resignation and will look to appoint a new test captain. “Tim felt it was in the best interests of his family and Australian cricket to take this decision to step down as captain," CA board chairman Richard Freudenstein said. “While the board acknowledges an investigation cleared Tim of any breach of the code of conduct regarding this matter some years ago, we respect his decision. “CA does not condone this type of language or behavior. Despite the mistake he made, Tim has been an exceptional leader since his appointment and the board thanks him for his distinguished service." Cricket Australia said Paine "will continue to be available for selection in the test team through the Ashes summer.” He was among the 15 players named earlier this week for the Ashes. Paine said at the media conference that he thought the matter had been dealt with several years ago. “I spoke to my wife and family at the time and am enormously grateful for their forgiveness and support," Paine said. "We thought this incident was behind us and that I could focus entirely on the team, as I have done for the last three or four years. “However, I recently became aware that this private text exchange was going to become public.” Paine said he didn't want the scandal to become “an unwelcome disruption to the team ahead of what is a huge Ashes series." The series is one of the most anticipated in world cricket. After the opening test match in Brisbane, further matches are scheduled for Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Australia holds the Ashes. “I have loved my role as captain of the Australian cricket team," Paine said Friday. “I’m grateful for the support of my teammates and proud of what we’ve been able to achieve together. To them, I ask for their understanding and forgiveness. To Australian cricket fans I’m deeply sorry that my past behavior has impacted our game on the eve of the Ashes. “ Cricket Tasmania released a statement Friday saying the allegations against Paine were only raised when the female employee was charged with theft. Chairman Andrew Gaggin said no complaint was made until mid-2018 following the message exchanges in November 2017. “As soon as Cricket Tasmania was made aware, it undertook an investigation that determined the interaction was consensual, private, occurred on the one occasion only, was between mature adults and was not repeated,” Gaggin said. Paine has played 35 tests for Australia, taking 150 catches behind the stumps. He has scored 1,534 runs at an average of 32.63 with a high score of 92 and nine half-centuries. Pat Cummins is now favored to become the first fast bowler to assume the full-time captaincy of the test team, although once sandpaper-tainted Steve Smith's name has also been mentioned.

The High Court on Tuesday upheld the bail of JMI Limited Chairman Md Abdur Razzak granted by a subordinate court in a case accusing the company of supplying fake N-95 masks.

Nissan, reeling from a scandal over its former superstar executive Carlos Ghosn, sank into red ink in the latest quarter as its vehicle sales fell around the world, and the Japanese automaker slashed its profit forecast for the year.

A scandal over alleged sexual molestation and abuse at the Vatican’s youth seminary is growing, with more former papal altar boys alleging inappropriate behavior by priests inside the Vatican walls.