18-year-old fast bowler Mohammad Amir gets minimum five-year ban but Salman Butt's international career is effectively over Cricket's credibility suffered a severe blow last night after three Test players from Pakistan were found guilty of corruption by an independent tribunal. The career of Pakistan's 26-year-old-captain, Salman Butt, appears to be finished after he received a 10-year ban from the sport. Mohammad Asif was handed a seven-year ban that will keep him out until he is 35. The third player, Mohammad Amir, can realistically harbour hopes that he will one day return to the sport. The 18-year-old fast bowler's youth appears to have favoured him when he received the minimum tariff for the offence: a five-year ban. Even so, his legal team announced yesterday that he will appeal against the suspension. The International Cricket Council (ICC), the world governing body, confirmed that it had imposed the suspensions after charges under its anti-corruption code were p...

The Day of Departure has passed, but anti-government protesters say they will stay until they get their freedoms back Hosni Mubarak's presidential portrait still hangs in the grey concrete government office block that overshadows Tahrir Square. Demonstrators still pack the streets below, even though the largest protest of the past fortnight on Friday declared the Day of Departure on which Mubarak would finally be driven from power failed to see him toppled. But even as the thousands who fill Tahrir Square each day take on board that it might yet be a long haul to finally ridding themselves of a hated system, they are steeled by an ever more certain sense of victory after a week in which they have warded off the regime's bloody efforts to break their demands for freedom, and heard their ruler finally talk about quitting. With that has come ever greater determination among the protesters to see the showdown through to the end. Tahrir Square was an unusual mixing of Egyptian so...

Prime minister is accused of handing PR coup to the far right Jack Straw calls David Cameron's comments 'ill-judged' David Cameron was accused of playing into the hands of rightwing extremists today as he delivered a controversial speech on the failings of multiculturalism within hours of one of the biggest anti-Islam rallies ever staged in Britain. Muslim and anti-fascist groups questioned the prime minister's judgment and sensitivity to the issues, saying he had handed a propaganda coup to the hard-right English Defence League as 3,000 of its supporters marched through Luton chanting anti-Islamic slogans. Some of crowd were jubilant, saying that Cameron "had come round to our way of thinking". Paul Bradburn, 35, from Stockport, said Cameron was "coming out against extremism". He added: "The timing of his speech is quite weird as it comes on the day of one of the biggest EDL demos we've ever seen. If he wants to start sticking up for us,...

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg taunted over pre-election description of alternative vote as a 'miserable little compromise' Campaigners against electoral reform are to distribute six million leaflets taunting Nick Clegg for describing the proposed alternative vote (AV) system as a "miserable little compromise" before the last general election. The No to AV campaign, whose push to maintain the " first past the post " system is backed by David Cameron, believes that Clegg's assessment of AV last April fatally undermines his case for adopting the method as it shows that even he is unenthusiastic. The leaflet campaign is part of a push by the cross-party "no" camp to associate AV in the public mind with the Liberal Democrat leader and his party, whose popularity has plummeted since the pre-election upsurge of "Cleggmania". The "no" campaign includes veteran Labour veterans and street-fighters such as John Prescott, Margaret ...

About 3,000 far-right activists in Luton for biggest demonstration in the group's history Thousands of far-right activists from the English Defence League descended on Luton yesterday for the biggest demonstration in the organisation's 20-month history. Coachloads of supporters from the group's UK-wide "divisions" arrived from 10am and were joined by far right and Islamophobic groups from across Europe . The EDL and police had predicted a turnout of between 5,000 and 7,000, but as the marchers arrived in St George's Square in the town centre just after 1pm, it appeared that no more than 3,000 had turned out. Despite the smaller numbers there were minor scuffles at the train station as anti-racist protesters tried to prevent EDL supporters getting off trains. More than 2,000 police officers from forces across the south of England escorted the EDL march from the station into the centre of Luton. Some fireworks and bottles were thrown, shops and businesses in the...

The EDL have descended on Luton today for their biggest demonstration to date

About 3,000 far-right activists in Luton for biggest demonstration in the group's history Thousands of far-right activists from the English Defence League have descended on Luton today for the biggest demonstration in the organisation's 20-month history. Coachloads of supporters from the group's UK-wide "divisions" arrived from 10am and were joined by far right and Islamophobic groups from across Europe . The EDL and police had predicted a turnout of between 5,000 and 7,000 but as the marchers arrived in St George's Square in the centre of the town just after 1pm, it appeared that no more than 3,000 had turned out. Despite the smaller numbers there were minor scuffles at the train station as anti-racist protesters tried to prevent EDL supporters getting off trains. More than 2,000 police officers from forces across the south of England escorted the EDL march from the station into the centre of Luton. Some fireworks and bottles were thrown. Shops and businesses...