British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was chided by Parliament’s standards guardian on Thursday for failing to declare his wife’s financial interest in a childcare firm that stood to benefit from government policy. Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg said Sunak broke the code of conduct for government ministers, but said the mistake was “inadvertent” and that the prime minister should not be sanctioned for the error. Read: Nearly 2,000 unaccompanied immigrant minors landed in Rome over the weekend Greenberg opened an investigation in April over Sunak’s failure to declare when questioned by a committee of lawmakers that his wife. Akshata Murthy, held shares in the company Koru Kids, which had been selected to receive government support for childcare firms. Greenberg said Murthy’s shareholding “was a relevant interest that should have been declared.” But he said the failure stemmed from confusion about the rules rather than an intent to deceive. “I confirm that the matter is now closed,” he said. Sunak apologized for the mistake. Read: Europe gripped by extreme weather as 'era of global boiling' arrives  The finding follows a string of ethics breaches by members of Britain’s Conservative government. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was driven from office in mid-2022 when his own Cabinet turned on him after a string of scandals over his judgment and finances. Read: Putin profits off US and European reliance on Russian nuclear fuel Sunak vowed to restore order and integrity to government after three years of turmoil under Johnson and briefly serving successor Liz Truss, who quit within weeks after her policies rocked the U.K. economy. But Sunak, a former investment banker, has faced questions about his wealth and the financial arrangements of his wife, the daughter of an Indian billionaire. Last year, it was revealed that Murthy didn’t pay U.K. tax on her overseas income, including 11.5 million pounds ($15 million) a year in dividends from Infosys, the Indian IT company founded by her father.

Naveed Nawaz, the assistant coach of the Sri Lanka national cricket team, said the political dissonance in Sri Lanka at present won’t hurt the spirit of their team that is currently in Bangladesh to play a two-match Test series against the Tigers starting from May 15 in Chattogram.  The South Asian island nation has been reeling under economic crisis and political turmoil for months which eventually prompted the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign on Monday. “So far I don’t think it has affected us,” Naveed said to reporters on Monday in Dhaka. “Most of the cricketers are continuing to do their hard work. Their training has been ongoing for a couple of months. I didn’t see an instance which affected the players.” Sri Lanka held their first practice session on Monday at the academy ground in Mirpur. Sri Lanka is currently in a nationwide curfew which was imposed by the police after the opponents of Rajapaksa broke into the clashes across the nation, mostly in Colombo, the capital.  “You can’t see many positives at the moment. It will be very good for us to take some positives back home. We want to keep inspiring the young generation of the country,” Naveed added. READ: Naveed sees a bright future for Shoriful, Mahmudul The upcoming series is Sri Lanka’s first Bangladesh tour in four years. They last toured Bangladesh in 2018. But Bangladesh is a familiar destination for many Sri Lankan cricketers.  Sri Lankan cricketers Dhananjaya De Silva and Kusal Mendis took part in the recently concluded Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League which is a List-A domestic competition. Naveed believes the familiarity of Bangladesh might help Sri Lanka to do well in Bangladesh.  “We have both young and experienced players in our squad. Some of them played recently in Bangladesh. So we are waiting for a great series of cricket. I think it’s going to be a tough series for both teams,” Naveed added.  Sri Lanka will take part in a two-day practice match on May 10 and 11 in BKSP against the BCB XI.  The first Test of the series will be played in Chattogram from May 15 while the second and final Test of the series will take place in Dhaka from May 23. This series is a part of the ICC Test Championship. So far, Bangladesh won a match in this event. 

For two weeks and more, China’s stance on questions about its politics and policies has been straightforward: It’s the Olympics, and we’re not talking about these things. That changed Thursday at the Beijing organizing committee’s last regularly scheduled daily news conference Thursday, three days before the end of the Games. The persistent and polite refusal to answer such questions gave way to the usual state of affairs at news conferences with Chinese officials — emphatic, calibrated answers about the country’s most sensitive situations. Taiwan? An indivisible part of China. The Uyghur population of the Xinjiang region? Not being pushed into forced labor. China’s sovereignty? Completely unassailable under international norms. “What I want to say is that there is only one China in the world,” organizing committee spokeswoman Yan Jiarong said, calling it “a solemn position” for China. She referred to other assertions about China’s treatment of Uyghurs and living conditions in the northwestern region of Xinjiang as “based on lies.” Also read: At Winter Olympics, virus fight waged with worker sacrifices It was only a matter of time before these topics burst at the seams. The run-up to the Games was overshadowed by a diplomatic boycott led by the United States, which centered on China’s human rights record; China was determined to keep the focus only on sports but is also very committed to vigorously defending its stances publicly. In the final regularly scheduled briefing before the Games close on Sunday, Yan and IOC spokesman Mark Adams were peppered with questions about Taiwan, Xinjiang and the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. Following up on a question about Taiwan’s reported attempt to skip the opening ceremony, Yan asked for extra time to address the status of the self-governing island, which China views as its sovereign territory. “Mark, could I just make some supplementary remarks?” Yan said, continuing: “Taiwan is an indivisible part of China and this is a well recognized international principle and well recognized in the international community,” she said. “We are always against the idea of politicizing the Olympic Games.” Adams was immediately questioned by a non-Chinese reporter who suggested that Yan, herself, had “politicized” the Games by raising China’s stance on Taiwan. Adams dodged the question. “There are views on all sorts of things around the world, but our job is to make sure that the Games take place,” Adams said. Also read: For Asian American women, Olympics reveal a harsh duality A Games volunteer, a young Chinese woman named Wei Yining, got a question she did not expect when a reporter asked if she knew who Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai was and, further, did she believe Peng was safe. Peng, once the world’s top-ranked doubles player, three months ago accused a former high-ranking politician of sexual assault. Peng’s comments were immediately scrubbed from China’s censored internet. “Well, I am sorry,” the young women replied. “I don’t really know that.” One reporter asked Adams directly about the IOC’s position on the reported existence of “concentration camps” in Xinjiang, and whether China was using forced labor there. Adams suggested the question was not “particularly relevant’ to the briefing, and then went on to praise the power of the Olympics to unite people. Yan again made sure China’s view was heard. “I think these questions are very much based on lies,” she said. “Some authorities have already disputed this false information. There is a lot of solid evidence. You are very welcome to refer to all that evidence and the facts.”

Political parties on Wednesday recalled the contributions of Noor Hossain to the restoration of democracy in the country by sacrificing his life during the anti-autocratic movement in the late 80s. On November 10, 1987, Noor Hossain, a leader of Awami Juba League, was killed in police firing when he had staged a protest against the then autocratic rule of Lt Gen HM Ershad at the capital’s zero point near Gulistan. Different political parties and professional bodies paid tributes to the martyr by placing wreaths at the Noor Hossain Square at the Zero Point in the capital. READ: Shaheed Noor Hossain Day on Wednesday  Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader along with the party leaders and workers placed a wreath at the Noor Hossain Square around 8am paying homage to the memories of the martyr. Talking to reporters, Quader said the movement for democracy was accelerated with the sacrifice of Shaheed Noor Hossain. “So, November 10 has become a glorious day in the country's history.” He also said the long-cherished democracy was unchained under the leadership of then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina through the sacrifice by Noor Hossain. Later, different associate bodies of the ruling party, including Jubo League, Swechchasebak League and Chhatra League, also placed wreaths there.  BNP Dhaka North City unit president Amanullah Aman together with his some party colleagues also paid respect to Noor Hossain by placing a wreath at the same square. Talking to reporters, he said Noor Hossain sacrificed his life for the cause of democracy. “But the current government has obliterated democracy and snatched people’s voting and other rights. We’ll take to the streets along with people for the restoration of democracy being imbued with the supreme sacrifice of Noor Hossain.” Apart from Awami League and BNP, many other political parties, including the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Workers Party, Biplobi Workers Party and Bam Gonotantrik Jote, also paid tributes to Noor Hossain. READ: GM Quader for probe into Noor Hossain, Dr Milon murders On that day, Noor Hossain, a 26-year-old Awami Juba League leader, took to the streets with the slogan ‘Swairachar Nipat Jak, Gonotantra Mukti Pak’ (down with autocracy, let democracy be freed) inscribed in white on his chest and back. But he was gunned down as police opened fire on the demonstrators at Zero Point. His death sparked a mass uprising that finally overthrew the Ershad regime. Zero Point in the capital’s Gulistan area was renamed as ‘Noor Hossain Chattar’ (square) after the young man was killed in the area.