Cricket Hero Breaks Down in Tears on TV Over Cheating

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Cricket Hero Breaks Down in Tears on TV Over Cheating
Disgraced in a blatant ball-scuffing scandal that has transfixed the cricket world, one of its most exalted players flew home to Australia from South Africa on Thursday and broke down in tears, apologizing on live national television for sullying his country and its national pastime.
“I know I’ll regret this for the rest of my life,” said the athlete, Steve Smith, who until a few days ago had been the Australia team’s heroic captain. “I’m absolutely gutted.”
“I hope in time I can earn back respect and forgiveness,” Mr. Smith told a news conference at the Sydney airport as he struggled to keep his composure, his father standing behind him. “Cricket is the greatest game in the world. It’s been my life, and I hope it will be again.”
Mr. Smith returned to Australia five days after admitting to having concocted a plot with teammates to doctor the cricket ball by scuffing it with sandpaper during a match with South Africa last weekend. S..

Pope Washes the Feet of Inmates, Reveals He Has Cataracts

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Pope Washes the Feet of Inmates, Reveals He Has Cataracts
ROME — Pope Francis urged inmates at a Rome prison on Thursday to never let their hopes be clouded like cataracts cloud the eyes — and revealed that he suffers from the condition and has to have surgery for it next year.
Francis, 81, disclosed the news as he bid farewell to inmates and staff at the Regina Coeli prison, where he washed the feet of 12 prisoners in a Holy Thursday ritual.
Francis frequently uses his visits to prisons to encourage inmates not to lose hope, and he repeated that Thursday by telling the prisoners that they must clear their eyes every day so they can see and spread hope.
“At my age, for example, cataracts come and you don't see reality well. Next year I have to have an operation,” he said.

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He said the same thing happens with life, when disillusionment, errors and fatigue cloud the soul. Francis urged the inmates to do a daily cleansing of their vie..

Russia Will Expel 150 Diplomats, as Tensions With West Reach Fever Pitch

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Russia Will Expel 150 Diplomats, as Tensions With West Reach Fever Pitch Photo Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia announcing the Kremlin’s decision to retaliate for the expulsion of more than 150 Russian diplomats from Western — which was itself a reaction to a nerve-agent attack on British soil. Credit Yuri Kadobnov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images LONDON — Intensifying Russia’s clash with Europe and the United States, the Kremlin on Thursday announced that it would expel 150 Western diplomats and close the American consulate in St. Petersburg.
The action was in retaliation for the expulsion of more than 150 Russian officials from other countries — which was itself a reaction to a nerve-agent attack on British soil that Britain and its allies have blamed on Moscow.
The United States ambassador to Russia, Jon M. Huntsman Jr., was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, the foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, announced. Sixty American diplomats will be expelled from Russia — the s..