Ricky Ponting to quit Test cricket after Perth Test against South Africa

Ricky Ponting, who turns 38 next month, announced his retirement from Test cricket with this week's Perth Test against South Africa to be his last.

Perth:  Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Thursday called time on his 17-year Test career, announcing this week's clash against South Africa in Perth will be his last.

"This Test will be my last," he said at a hastily-called press conference, adding that he will continue to play for Tasmania in the domestic competition this summer.

Ponting, who turns 38 next month, has failed in three innings against the Proteas during draws in Brisbane and Adelaide and pressure has been building on the veteran ahead of Friday's series decider in Perth.

Perth will be a fitting conclusion to a remarkable career. 

It is where he debuted against Sri Lanka in 1995 and by playing Friday he will equal Steve Waugh's mark of 168 Test matches -- the most in the history of Australian cricket.

After being made Australian captain in 2004, the right-hander went onto become one of the country's greatest cricketers.

The Tasmanian, who has 13,366 Test runs to his name, including 41 centuries with only Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar scoring more, said he knew it was time to call it a day.

"Over the last couple of weeks my level of performance hasn't been good enough," said Ponting, who had already been dumped from the one-day and Twenty20 international squads.

"My passion and love for the game hasn't changed but at the end of the day (the decision) was based on my results.

"In this series so far they have not been up to the level required of batsmen and players in the Australian team.

"I'm glad I have got the opportunity to finish on my terms."

An emotional Michael Clarke, the current captain, said Ponting would be sorely missed and his announcement took him by surprise.

"I didn't have a feeling it was coming," he said of his friend and mentor.

"Ricky spoke to me after Adelaide and obviously made his decision over the last few days.

"The boys (team) are obviously hurting right now. He's been an amazing player for a long time."

He added that the announcement would only fire up the side to win the third Test, where the number one ranking in Test cricket will be on the line.

"It will only give us more inspiration," said Clarke as he fought back tears.

In a statement, Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland described Ponting as one of the best players to ever to pad up for his country. 

"Ricky has had an extraordinary career and has made an extraordinary contribution, including through the example he has set for other elite players and through the excitement he has given fans, young and old," he said.

"I think his record until he retired as captain was outstanding but my respect for him since then has actually increased, seeing first-hand how he stepped back to become a total team player."

Study Finds Most Pork Contaminated With Yersinia Bacteria

A sample of raw pork products from supermarkets around the United States found that yersinia enterocolitica, a lesser-known food-borne pathogen, was present in 69 percent of the products tested, according to a study released today by Consumer Reports.

The  bacteria  infects more than 100,000 Americans a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but  for every case that is confirmed with a laboratory test, about 120 more cases escape diagnosis. Symptoms can include fever, cramps and bloody diarrhea.

For its sample, Consumer Reports included the same pork products millions of Americans buy every day at their supermarkets. The study included 148 pork chops and 50 ground pork samples from around the United States.

In the samples tested, 69 percent tested positive for yersinia and 11 percent for enterococcus, which can indicate fecal contamination that can lead to urinary-tract infections. Salmonella and listeria, the more well-known bacterium, registered at 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

“The results were concerning,”  Urvashi Rangan, one of the authors of the report, told ABCNews.com. “It’s hard to say that there was no problem.  It shows that there needs to be better hygiene at animal plants. Yersinia wasn’t even being monitored for.”

In a written statement, the Pork Producer’s Council questioned the methods used by Consumer Reports, saying the number of samples tested, 198, did  ”not provide a nationally informative estimate of the true prevalence of the cited bacteria on meat.”

Despite the findings, Rangan said  it’s good to know that the bacteria can be killed by cooking the pork properly and by being vigilant about cross-contamination.

Pork cuts should be cooked to 145 degrees, while ground pork needs to reach a temperature of 160 degrees to kill the bacteria.

“Anything that touches raw meat should go into the dishwasher before touching anything else,” Rangan said. ”Juices from raw meat that touch the counter should be washed with hot soapy water.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture  said the findings “affirm that companies are meeting the established guidelines for protecting the public’s health.

“USDA will remain vigilant against emerging and evolving threats to the safety of America’s supply of meat, poultry and processed egg products, and we will continue to work with the industry to ensure companies are following food safety procedures in addition to looking for new ways to strengthen the protection of public health,” the department said in a statement.

Co. Paying Just $1,200 for Each Factory Fire Life

A company that makes clothes for Sean Combs' clothing brand ENYCE and other U.S. labels reassured investors that a factory fire that killed 112 people over the weekend would not harm its balance sheet, and also pledged to pay the families of the dead $1,200 per victim.

In an announcement Monday, Li & Fung Ltd., a middleman company that supplies clothes from Bangladesh factories to U.S. brands, said "it wishes to clarify" that the deadly Saturday night blaze at the high-rise Tazreen Fashions factory outside Dhaka "will not have any material impact on the financial performance" of the firm.

The fire broke out on the ground floor of the nine-floor building as hundreds of workers were upstairs on a late-night shift producing fleece jackets and trousers for the holiday rush at American stores, including Wal-Mart, according to labor rights groups. Fire officials said the only way out was down open staircases that fed right into the flames. Some workers died as they jumped from higher floors.

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CLINTON ARRIVES IN ISRAEL AS ROCKET ATTACKS CONTINUE

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the United States is pushing for a `'durable outcome" promoting stability following Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Clinton spoke alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday after she rushed to the region to help forge a cease-fire after a week of fighting between Israel and Gaza militants.

She said "the goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advances the security and legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians alike."

Netanyahu said Israel would welcome a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but threatened further military activity, saying he is ready to take "whatever action" is necessary.

UN Security Council falls silent on Israel raids on Gaza City

United Nations: The UN Security Council is silent on Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. A draft press statement circulated to the 15 members' capitals overnight seems to have failed to win the unanimous approval that would have led to its adoption.

UNSC silent on Israel raids on Gaza

    
The Security Council has no meetings set, a sign that the draft statement on the escalating violence in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is dead.
    
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said that the United States was "filibustering" the council.
    
US Ambassador Susan Rice said that the US and Egyptian governments were trying to broker a cease-fire.
    
Rice said, "We think it's vitally important that this council, by its action, or non-action, is reinforcing the prospects for an agreed cessation" of hostilities.

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Children living near Gaza strip showing psychological toll

 ASHKELON, Israel - Iron Dome, Israel's projectile defense system, did not protect a school and a house today a coastal city in southern Israel.

For the people who live there, every day life includes having 45 seconds to make it to a safe area if they hear a siren. The sirens are activated by the Iron Dome defense system.

Two schools in Ashkelon suffered direct hits today. No one was hurt because no children living within a 25-mile radius of Gaza go to class these days.

The Hamas rockets are unguided. Where they land is random. So, in the same way that American kids have fire drills, schools here have rocket drills.

Obama Extends 'Hand of Friendship' to Myanmar in Historic Visit

Becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit this long-isolated nation, President Obama today extended "the hand of friendship" as the country emerges from five decades of harsh authoritarian rule, but cautioned that the young democracy has "much further to go."

U.S. President Barack Obama, right, waves as he embraces Myanmar democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi after addressing members of the media at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012.

This journey to Myanmar is a first, but also a poignant last for Clinton. In Yangon, she came down the air-stairs alongside President Obama for what the White House calls her final trip with him as Secretary of State, her final official ride on Air force One as the architect of his foreign policy. Clinton has said she will not remain for a second term.

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