Saturday 14 September 2013

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Obama welcomes Syrian chemical weapons agreement

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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama welcomed an agreement Saturday to secure and destroy Syrias chemical weapons stockpile as an important, concrete step toward the ultimate goal of eliminating them but warned that the U.S. remains prepared to act if the attempt at a diplomatic solution fails.Obama said the deal between the U.S. and Russia offers the chance to destroy weapons the U.S. and more than 30 governments maintain were used by President Bashar Assad to kill more than 1,400 Syrians during an attack last month in the suburbs of the capital of Damascus.Assad has blamed the use of chemical weapons on rebels who have been fighting for more than two years to unseat him.I welcome the progress made between the United States and Russia through our talks in Geneva, which represents an important, concrete step toward the goal of moving Syrias chemical weapons under international control so that they may ultimately be destroyed, Obama said in a statement released soon after he arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in the Maryland suburbs of Washington for his weekly golf game.This framework provides the opportunity for the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons in a transparent, expeditious and verifiable manner, which could end the threat these weapons pose not only to the Syrian people but to the region and the world, Obama said.Obama threatened military strikes against Syria in response to the Aug. 21 attack, saying the use of chemical weapons anywhere must not go unchecked. But in an unexpected reversal, he put off ordering a strike to seek backing from Congress, but lawmakers in both political parties overwhelmingly opposed the military option.After Syria agreed to a surprise Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control, Obama asked Congress to delay a vote to allow time for tense negotiations between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to bear fruit.Besides possibly helping Syria avoid punishing U.S. military strikes, the agreement Kerry announced Saturday in Geneva while most Americans slept also offered Obama and Congress a potential way out of an unpopular situation. Polls show many Americans overwhelmingly oppose U.S. military involvement in another Middle Eastern country.Obama said the international community expects Syria to live up to its public commitments to hand over its chemical weapons stockpile.Cautioning that more work remains despite the important progress the deal represents, he said the U.S. will continue working with Russia, Britain, France, the United Nations and others to ensure that this process is verifiable, and that there are consequences should the Assad regime not comply with the framework.And, if diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to act, Obama warned.Before leaving the White House, national security adviser Susan Rice briefed Obama on the talks, the White House said. Obama also received updates by telephone from U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power and Kerry. Obama said he thanked Kerry for his tireless and effective efforts on behalf of our nation.Power will lead follow-up negotiations at the U.N. Security Council.The use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world is an affront to human dignity and a threat to the security of people everywhere, Obama said in the statement. We have a duty to preserve a world free from the fear of chemical weapons for our children. Today marks an important step towards achieving this goal.At Andrews Air Force Base, Obama teed off with sportscasters Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, hosts of ESPNs Pardon the Interruption. A White House aide completed the foursome.

Syrian opposition elects interim prime minister

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ISTANBUL (AP) - The main Western-backed opposition group in Syria has elected an interim prime minister as it seeks to firm up its standing as a viable political alternative there.The Syrian National Coalition voted during a meeting in Istanbul on Saturday to name Ahmad Saleh Touma, a dentist and longtime political activist, to lead the group. Toumas election comes as the United States and Russia have reached a deal to secure and destroy Syrias chemical weapons and are seeking a breakthrough on broad talks to end the long and deadly Syrian civil war.Touma is the second SNC member to fill the post. Ghassan Hitto resigned in July after serving only a few months. In an indication of the divisions that have hampered the opposition, many members had opposed Hitto because of his perceived proximity to the Qatari-backed Muslim Brotherhood.Touma will be charged with organizing governance in parts of Syria controlled by disparate rebel factions. He later said in a speech that they will work on returning Syria to a state that respects human life and rights.Syria will be the republic of humans where there will be no place for killers and criminals, he said. He added that he hoped a new government in exile will be formed soon.According to the Syrian National Coalition, Touma has a history of dissent from the Syrian government going back to 2001, when he joined groups calling for more freedoms and the release of political prisoners.A biography released by the SNC says Touma was detained multiple times by the Syrian government for his work and once was sentenced to two-and-half years in prison. The Syrian National Coalition says he later joined the opposition using a fake name because he was living in Syria. After his last detention in 2012, left the country for Turkey.

Funeral bombing, other attacks kill 25 in Iraq

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BAGHDAD (AP) - A suicide bomber attacked a funeral Saturday in northern Iraq attended by members of an ethnic minority, part of a series of attacks that killed at least 25 across the country, officials said.Iraq is weathering its deadliest bout of violence in half a decade, raising fears the country is returning to a period of widespread killing such as that which pushed it to the brink of civil war following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. More than 4,000 people have been killed in violent attacks since the start of April, including 804 just in August, according to United Nations figures.In the suicide attack, the bomber detonated his explosive belt inside a tent during the afternoon ceremony held by members of the Shabak minority near the city of Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad.Authorities said the blast in the village of Arto Kharab killed at least 20 people and wounded 35. The funeral was for a member of the Shabak minority who had died of natural causes, officials said.The Shabaks are ethnic Turkomen and Shiite Muslims. Most of them live in villages east of Mosul, the provincial capital of the ethnically mixed Ninevah province that is predominantly Sunni Muslim.There was no immediate claim for the funeral attack, but Mosul has been a hub for Al Qaeda in Iraq in past years. Militants have used violence and intimidation to drive hundreds of members of minority groups out of the city.In other violence, police said a roadside bomb hit a car in Dujail town, just north of the capital, killing the driver and his wife. Police also said an 11-year old boy was killed when a bomb hit a minibus travelling on a road near Suleiman Beg town, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) northeast of Baghdad.Gunmen also stormed a tile factory in eastern Baghdad, killing the factory owner and a worker, police said.Officials in nearby hospitals confirmed the death toll. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.

Egypt police warn Islamist protesters

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CAIRO (AFP) - Egypts interior ministry on Saturday issued a tough new warning to Islamist protesters, pledging to crack down hard if demonstrators block roads or obstruct traffic.The warning came a month to the day after troops swept aside two Islamist protest camps in a deadly crackdown slammed by rights groups.It also came a day after thousands of protesters rallied in Cairo against the militarys July 3 overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.The ministry accused the protesters of committing many crimes such as blocking traffic and kidnapping journalists and confiscating their equipment.The ministry affirms that it will confront with utmost decisiveness practices such as blocking roads or obstructing traffic or threatening the security of citizens, it warned.Hundreds of people have been killed and more than 2,000 arrested in the crackdown on Morsis Muslim Brotherhood movement since August 14, when police forcibly dispersed two protest camps.The Islamists have continued to call weekly rallies, insisting that they are committed to peaceful protest.On Saturday, roughly 200 protesters in Cairo marched near Rabaa al-Adawiya square which was the site of the main protest camp dispersed a month ago.Hundreds were killed in the operation to clear the camp and another Cairo sit-in, in what Human Rights Watch described as most serious incident of mass unlawful killings in modern Egyptian history.The government defended the operation, saying it was measured and that police acted with self-restraint after coming under fire from protesters.Men, women and children chanting Rabaa, Rabaa marched peacefully in the Nasr City district near Rabaa al-Adawiya on Saturday.We are holding a symbolic march to show that one month after the Rabaa massacre we have not given up our agitation. It will continue, protester Ahmed Shamseldin, a doctor, told AFP.Morsi supporters have tried to stage regular protests since the crackdown, but in recent weeks their numbers have sharply fallen amid a sustained campaign by security forces targeting Islamists.The Anti-Coup Alliance, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, regularly calls for such protests against the military.Morsi, the countrys first democratically elected president, was ousted by the army on July 3 after massive protests demanding his resignation.On Thursday, interim president Adly Mansour extended for another two months a state of emergency in force since the mid-August bloodshed, citing security concerns.Also on Saturday, Morsis predecessor as president -- 85-year-old Hosni Mubarak -- was back in court in his retrial on charges of complicity in the deaths of protesters in 2011.It was the seventh hearing in the retrial of the ex-president and his security commanders over the killings of hundreds of protesters during the uprising that overthrew him.Lawyers for Mubarak, his interior minister and six security commanders argue that much of the killing during the uprising was carried out by Islamists linked to the Brotherhood.Before adjourning the trial to October 19, the court summoned a former head of General Intelligence Services, Murad Muwafi, army general Hassan al-Ruwaini and two other former security commanders.They will testify in camera next month for reasons of national security, the court said.

Syrian rebel infighting kills 5 near Iraqi border

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BEIRUT (AP) - Al Qaeda-affiliated rebels battled more moderate Syrian opposition fighters in a town along the Iraqi border on Saturday, killing at least five people in the latest outbreak of infighting among the forces opposed to President Bashar Assads regime.Clashes between rebel groups, particularly pitting Al Qaeda-linked extremist factions against more moderate units, have grown increasingly common in recent months, undermining the oppositions primary goal of overthrowing Assad.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturdays fighting took place in the town of al-Boukamal between the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant against more mainstream rebel groups.Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said the more moderate rebels used mosque loudspeakers Friday to demand the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant leave Boukamal. When it was clear Saturday the ISIL had no plans to decamp, the mainstream groups attacked, Abdul-Rahman said.Three mainstream rebels and two ISIL fighters were killed in the clashes, he said.It was not immediately clear what spurred the rebel demands for ISIL to leave Boukamal.After months of growing tensions, infighting among Syrias mosaic of rebel factions broke into the open in July. For a time, the clashes contributed to a sense that the rebellion was faltering, and threatened to fracture an opposition movement that has been plagued by divisions from the start.The moderates once valued the expertise and resources that the Islamic extremist brigades brought to the battlefield, and rebel factions of all stripes enter into occasional alliances for specific operations. But many of the moderates now question whether such military assets are worth the trouble not to mention the added difficulty in persuading the West to arm them.To the south, the Observatory said government forces shelled the village of Ghadir al-Bustan, killing at least five people, including a child and a woman. The town is on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.The area has witnessed clashes over the past days and shells have fallen in the past on the Israeli-occupied side.In the central province of Hama, Syrian army warplanes bombarded a rebel post in the village of Aqeirbat, killing six opposition gunmen and wounding others, according to the Observatory. It said the village has been witnessing heavy fighting between troops and rebels.The rebels in the area include members of the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front that attacked villages inhabited by members of Assads minority Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam. Most of the rebels belong to Syrias majority Sunni sect.In Lebanon, three rockets fired from Syria fell near the eastern town of Labweh, wounding two people and causing fire in the fields, the state-run National News Agency said.Other rockets have hit areas where the militant Hezbollah group enjoys support since the group openly joined the battle in Syria along with Assads forces.

Czech Republic reach Davis Cup final

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PRAGUE (AP) - The Czech Republic reached the Davis Cup final again after Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek won their doubles to give the defending champion an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Argentina on Saturday.Berdych and Stepanek dispatched Carlos Berlocq and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to improve their formidable record in Davis Cup doubles to 13-1, and ensure the Czechs will defend their title against Serbia or Canada in the final in November.Serbia would host the final if it wins, but if the Canadians win they would toss a coin to decide the final site for their first meeting with the Czechs.We would like to keep the trophy because its beautiful, Stepanek said. This competition means a lot to us.Berdych converted the first match point of the semifinal with a service winner to send the Czechs to a third final in five years in front of more than 11,000 fans at O2 Arena.Its an honor for us to play in such an atmosphere, Stepanek, who was jumping on the court in joy with other members of the squad, told the crowd.Youre fantastic.The Czechs never lost serve, saving two Argentine break opportunities to clinch their eighth straight cup victory. They last lost as a pair in the first round to Kazakhstan in 2011. .Just days after his second Grand Slam doubles title at the U.S. Open, Stepanek dominated at the net with his volleys while Berdych added his powerful serve for a lethal combination that the Argentines were not able to match in their cup doubles debut.Everything was on the right place, today, Berdych said. We didnt drop serve, and then we were taking our chances.Their only moment of worry, albeit briefly, was when Berdych fell with what seemed to be a leg injury in the sixth game of the first set but recovered and continued to play.I just had a misstep on the return and twisted a little bit but it was nothing serious, he said. It didnt affect me at all.Zeballos was impressed by Berdych and Stepanek.(They) are a really good couple, he said. Berdych has an unbelievable serve and really good return and Stepanek has a lot of confidence right now.Last year, Berdych and Stepanek played all five rubbers in last years final in Prague, beating Spain 3-2 to give their country its first Davis Cup title as an independent nation and avenge the 2009 5-0 final loss to the Spaniards.As in last years final against Spain, the Czechs elected to play on their favorite fast surface to counter Argentinas clay-court specialists.That decision paid off.On Friday, Stepanek swept Juan Monaco 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 and Berdych overcame hard-hitting Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the opening singles.Argentina is without star Juan Martin Del Potro, who elected to skip the cup this year but even without him, Argentina reached the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. But its pursuit of a first cup title was ended for the second year in a row by the Czechs in the semis.It was a really good year for our country, Zeballos said. To be in the semifinals, to be one of the four who made the semifinals this year is a really good thing.

Canada lead Serbia 2-1 in Davis Cup semifinals

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BELGRADE (AP) - Canada set up a remarkable chance to reach its first Davis Cup final by winning the doubles against Serbia and taking a 2-1 lead in Belgrade Arena on Saturday.Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil beat Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-7 (6), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 10-8 in an exhausting match that lasted for four and a half hours on the indoor red clay.We need one more match, hopefully we can get it, Nestor said. We knew they were going to serve big and we knew they were perfect on break point opportunities. Its really special for us to win in these circumstances.Canada coach Martin Laurendeau said its a moment weve been waiting for a long time.We have to be grateful it went all the way tonight, he said. The weekend isnt over yet, were facing the world No. 1 tomorrow and this is a very stiff crowd.Serbia coach Bogdan Obradovic conceded this is a heavy blow, but we still have the singles.The result left the tie likely to be decided in the final rubber on Sunday.Top-ranked Novak Djokovic should level the semifinal against Milos Raonic, who took more than four hours to win his singles on Friday, then Janko Tipsarevic and Pospisil could meet in the decider.Obradovic said Pospisil will likely be tired after such dramatic two days.The doubles was exciting from the get go, with the Serbians favored. Zimonjic, with 27 doubles wins since 1995, has partnered with Bozoljac for seven years. Nestor, with 30 doubles wins in 21 years, and Pospisil had been a team for only two years.The Serbs saved three set points in the first tiebreaker to close the set.In the second set, the Canadians broke Zimonjic to tie. Serbia won the third set by also breaking once.The teams forced another tiebreaker in the fourth. Serbia wasted a 2-0 lead and Canada used this to push the match into the fifth set.The final set was decided when Zimonjic double-foulted to concede the only broken serve. A Nestor volley won the match and the Canadians were over-joyed.Bozoljac served 20 of the Serbs 26 aces and they landed 71 percent of their first serves, but Canada took three of their four break chances to ruin the day for 8,000 home fans.The winner will face the Czech Republic, which defeated Argentina in the other semifinal.

Spain beat Ukraine 3-0 in Davis Cup playoff

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MADRID (AP) - Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez sealed victory for Spain in its Davis Cup World Group playoff against Ukraine, beating Sergiy Stakhovsky and Denys Molchanov in the doubles for an unassailable 3-0 lead on Saturday.The Spaniards won 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4 on the outdoor red clay at Caja Magica.After Nadal and Fernando Verdasco won their singles rubbers on Friday, captain Alex Corretja paired the world No. 2 with Lopez to try and prevent the tie from going to reverse singles on Sunday.Nadal, who won his 13th Grand Slam at the U.S. Open on Monday, still looked fresh despite the travel and playing two straight days.Nadal and Lopez broke the Ukrainian duos first two service games to set the tone as they extended Spains unbeaten run on clay to 27 consecutive ties.We played at a good level, Nadal said. In my case, I had a moment I felt tired but later we were able to recover. We achieved our goal and thats the important thing.This was the first time Nadal had played for Spain since December 2011, when he won the decisive point of the final against Argentina to earn Spain its fifth title.Nadals absence was due in part to a knee injury that sidelined him for seven months last season.Rafas commitment to the team was critical and we have to be grateful for that, Corretja said.

Motorcycling: Marquez takes pole for San Marino GP

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MISANO (AFP) - World championship leader Marc Marquez claimed his sixth pole position of the season on Saturday at the San Marino Grand Prix, edging out Yamaha duo Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.Honda rider Marquez, who has a 30-point lead over teammate Dani Pedrosa in the title race, was just 24 thousandths of a second faster than reiging world champion Lorenzo.His time of 1min 32.915sec was a new lap record for the Misano track, bettering Casey Stoners old mark.Pedrosa, who took pole last year, was fourth on Saturday, eight-tenths of a second off the pole time.I think Jorge and Valentino will be strong on Sunday, said Marquez,who won the Moto2 race at the same track 12 months ago.Especially Valentino will be very, very strong. I dont know why, but I just sense that, Jorge also; he will try to recover some points in the championship and we will try to be there.Lorenzo, who is 39 points off the championship lead, said that Yamaha had work to do despite their double front-row presence.I expected to struggle less this weekend and go faster than last year but I couldnt be faster and I couldnt improve the bike so much, said the Spaniard.We improved a little but not enough to be closer to Marc. He made an amazing lap. We are struggling to stop the bike in braking and we have more spinning than normal in acceleration, that is why the lap time is not great.Britains Cal Crutchlow was fifth and shares the second row with Aleix Espargaro, Stefan Bradl and Andrea Dovizioso.

Van Persie, Rooney propel United to 2-0 win

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MANCHESTER (AP) - A lackluster Manchester United required a fortuitous penalty converted by Robin van Persie and a late free kick by Wayne Rooney to overcome 10-man Crystal Palace 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.United manager David Moyes earned his first victory at Old Trafford but only after Palace had Kagisho Dikgacoi sent off for a 43rd-minute foul on Ashley Young that proved to be the turning point in the match.Van Persie slotted home the resulting penalty, even though the foul was committed outside the box, and Rooney wearing a thick, black headband to cover a deep gash to his forehead completed an uninspiring win in the 81st minute.After a draw with Chelsea and defeat at Liverpool, the result at least got United back to winning ways after making its worst start to the season in five years. The introduction of Marouane Fellaini a deadline-day signing from Everton for his debut as a second-half substitute was also a welcome sight for the home fans, but there was little else to cheer.Palace barely had a chance but United was far from fluent in front of former manager Alex Ferguson, who watched on from the directors box to pile even more pressure on Moyes. And the groans were audible from United fans before the debatable refereeing decision by Jon Moss, which ruined the promoted visitors hopes of taking anything back to London.Young, who had already been booked for diving, fell easily under the challenge of Dikgacoi after seizing on a sloppy pass across the face of Palaces penalty area by Mile Jedinak. Not only was the challenge outside the area, there looked to be minimal contact on Young, who ran across the path of Dikgacoi.With Palaces players still aggrieved, Van Persie sent the goalkeeper the wrong way for his third goal of the season and the tension lifted around the stadium.Fellaini, signed for 27.5 million pounds ($43 million), was brought on for the ineffective Anderson to pep up the hosts but Palace coped pretty comfortably until Rooney curled a free kick into the bottom corner past the despairing dive of Julian goalkeeper Speroni.Rooney, who missed Englands two recent World Cup qualifiers with his head injury, waved to the crowd after grabbing his first goal of the season to indicate all is well after a summer of upheaval when he was linked heavily with a move to Chelsea.

Elissonde wins Vuelta 20th stage, Horner extends lead

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ALTO DE L'ANGLIRU (AFP) - American Chris Horner moved to within touching distance of his first ever grand tour victory as he extended his lead of the Tour of Spain to 37 seconds in Saturday's penultimate stage.Frenchman Kenny Elissonde took the 142.2km 20th stage from Aviles to Alto de L'Angliru ahead of Horner in second and Alejandro Valverde in third.Italian Vincenzo Nibali couldn't live with Horner's final attack and finished 28 seconds behind the 41-year-old in fourth, meaning the Radioshack rider should be able to cruise to victory in the procession around Madrid on Sunday.

England beat Australia by 3 wickets in 4th ODI

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CARDIFF (AFP) - England levelled the one-day series with Australia on Saturday thanks to a stunning late show from big hitters Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes in the fourth match in Cardiff.The dynamic young pair came together with their side appearing to be heading for another defeat and losing the series as well.England needed 84 runs from just over 11 overs when Ravi Bopara was out.But Buttler (65 not out) and Stokes (25) managed to turn the game on its head.Durham all-rounder Stokes was out near the end but Buttler remained and hit the winning runs with a boundary off Mitchell Johnson with three balls remaining for a three wicket win.It sets up a thrilling end to the series at Southampton on Monday.Chasing 228 to win, fast bowler Clint McKays stunning hat-trick at the start of the England innings had put Australia well on top.The big Aussie fast bowler was called into their side as a late replacement -- and then left Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and Joe Root embarrassed as they limped slowly back to the pavilion.Michael Carberry (63) and Eoin Morgan (53) led the recovery before both they and Ravi Bopara fell.But Buttler and Stokes were waiting to become the stars of the hour.Englands bowling had blown hot and cold earlier in the day with the pace of Steven Finn and Boyd Rankin ripping apart the Aussie top order in seamer friendly early conditions.And then slow bowler James Tredwell found his form late in the innings to take three wickets as Australia were bowled out for 227 off 48.2 overs.But they had had their rivals on the ropes only to lack the know how or ability to tighten their grip on the match with vice-captain George Bailey saving his side from complete disaster with 87 from 91 balls.Finn (2-43), struggling to rediscover some of his old form, did show real pace and zip with the Middlesex star removing opener Aaron Finch second ball.Rankin (2-31), a real challenger for a place in the Ashes this winter, was even more impressive.The 6ft 8in Irishman proved too good for the dangerous Shane Watson while young all-round hopeful Ben Stokes weighed in with the wicket of Shaun Marsh (25).Finn returned to remove captain Michael Clarke and the Australians were trembling on 57-4 with England eager to inflict further damage and punishment.Sadly, the lack of a real fifth front line bowler proved the downfall.For Tredwell and Ravi Bopara were easy pickings for the Aussie middle order and leaked runs constantly enabling the tourists to build momentum.Partnerships between Bailey and Adam Voges (30) and Bailey and Matthew Wade (36) frustrated Morgans side and the Cardiff crowd who had sat back expecting England to go in for the kill.Indeed, Australia looked set for a higher total until a sudden collapse, losing their last five wickets for just 18 runs.Tredwell grabbed three late wickets to finishing with 3-53.Unfortunately, for Englands batting the see-saw took a dramatic and worrying dip from the moment Pietersen and Carberry walked out to the crease.McKays second over left England rocking.Pietersen was undone by a swinging delivery which trapped him lbw. But both Trott and Root were guilty of bad shots and getting themselves out.It was the 34th hat-trick in ODIs and fifth by an Australian.Morgan joined Carberry, who had been watching from the opposite end as the carnage unfurled, and the pair slowly and surely repaired some of the damage.The pair put on 104 runs for the fourth wicket until Morgan was bowled by Watson to 53.Carberrys defiance ended when he missed a delivery from new Aussie fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile and was bowled.Yet, the dramatic final twist of a roller coaster clash was left to Buttler and Stokes who conjured up the runs needed to see England scrape home in the final over.

MQM rejects NYT report about Altaf

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Coordination Committee has rejected a report, published in US newspaper ‘New York Times’, about MQM chief Altaf Hussain.“The news story, reported by Declan Walsh, who was expelled from Pakistan after the government declared him a persona-non-grata, is absolutely unfounded and fabricated”, said the MQM Coordination Committee in statement issued here on Saturday.“We are consulting with legal experts to file a defamation lawsuit against the paper and journalist”, the statement further added.The New York Times has expressed fears that Altaf Hussain’s MQM network of influence and intimidation that stretches from North America to South Africa may now be fraying. In a detailed report by Declan sWalsh, the newspaper said: “For two decades, Altaf Hussain has run his brutal Pakistani political empire by remote control, shrouded in luxurious exile in London and long beyond the reach of the law.” He follows events through satellite televisions in his walled-off home, manages millions of dollars in assets and issues decrees in ranting teleconferences that last for hours — all to command a network of influence and intimidation that stretches from North America to South Africa.This global system serves a very localised goal: perpetuating Hussain’s reign as the political king of Karachi, the brooding port city of 20 million people at the heart of Pakistan’s economy. “Distance does not matter,” reads the inscription on amonument near Hussain’s deserted former house in Karachi, where his name evokes both fear and favor. Now, though, his painstakingly constructed web is fraying. A British murder investigation has been closing in on Hussain, 59, and his MQM.His London home and offices have been raided, and the police have opened new investigations into accusations of money laundering and inciting violence in Pakistan. The scrutiny has visibly rattled Hussain, who recently warned supporters that his arrest may be imminent. And in Karachi, it has raised a previously unthinkable question: Is the end near for the untouchable political machine that has been the city’s linchpin for three decades?“This is a major crisis,” said Irfan Husain, the author of “Fatal Faultlines,” a book about Pakistan’s relationship with the United States. “The party has been weakened, and Altaf Hussain is being criticised like never before.” Hussain’s rise offers a striking illustration of the political melee in Pakistan. His support stems from the Mohajirs, Urdu-speaking Muslims whose families moved to Pakistan after the partition from India in 1947, and who make up about half of Karachi’s population.Since the 1980s, the MQM has fiercely defended Mohajir interests, and in turn it has been carried to victory in almost every election and to an enduring place in national coalition governments as well. Hussain fled to London in 1992, when the movement was engaged in a vicious street battle with the central government for supremacy in Karachi. The British government granted him political asylum and, 10 years later, a British passport. London has long been the antechamber of Pakistani politics, where self-exiled leaders take refuge until they can return.The former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, lived here until recently, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lived here until 2007. Hussain, however, shows no sign of going back. The MQM has an office in Edgware, in northwest London. But these days Hussain is mostly at home, in a redbrick suburban house protected by raised walls, security cameras and a contingent of former British soldiers he has hired as bodyguards. From there, he holds court, addressing his faraway followers in a vigorous, sometimes maniacal style, punctuated by jabbing gestures and hectoring outbursts. Occasionally, he bursts into song, or tears. Yet, on the other end of the line, it is not unusual to find tens of thousands of people crowded into a Karachi street, listening raptly before an empty stage containing Hussain’s portrait, as his disembodied voice booms from speakers.“The cult of personality surrounding Altaf Hussain is quite extraordinary,” said Farzana Shaikh, an academic and the author of “Making Sense of Pakistan.” “He is immensely charismatic, in the way one thinks of the great fascist leaders of the 20th century.” In Karachi, his overwhelmingly middle-class party is fronted by sharply dressed, well-spoken men — and a good number of women— and it has won a reputation for efficient city administration. But beneath the surface, its mandate is backed by armed gangs involved in racketeering, abduction and the targeted killings of ethnic and political rivals, the police and diplomats say.Other major Pakistani parties indulge in similar behavior, but the MQM frequently brings the most muscle to the fight. An American diplomatic cable from 2008 titled “Gangs of Karachi,” which was published by WikiLeaks, cited estimates that the party had an active militia of 10,000 gunmen, with additional 25,000 in reserve — a larger force, the dispatch notes, than the city police.Many journalists who have criticised the party have been beaten, or worse, driving most of the news media in Karachi to tread lightly. In June, the Committee to Protect Journalists, a lobbying group based in New York, accused the party of organising the killing ofWali Khan Babar, a television reporter. In the West, the party has avoided critical attention partly because it has cast itself as an enemy of Islamist militancy. In 2001, Hussain wrote a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, offering to help Britain set up a spy network against the Taliban. Critics of the party have frequently questioned the role of British officials in facilitating its unusual system of governance. Pakistani exiles from Baluchistan, also accused of fomenting violence, have faced criminal prosecution. But Britain is not the only node of Hussain’s international support network.Through the Pakistani diaspora, the MQM has active branches as far afield as the United States, Canada and even South Africa, which has become an important financial hub and a haven for the group’s enforcers, Pakistani investigators say. Two police interrogation reports obtained by The New York Times cite militants from the movement who say they traveled to South Africa in between carrying out political assassinations in Karachi. One of those men, Teddy Qamar, confessed to 58 killings between 2006 and 2012, the police say. In an interview, Anis Hasan, the party’s joint organizer for South Africa, denied any link to organised violence.But if Hussain seemed immune to scrutiny at his London stronghold, his luck started to turn in September 2010 after Imran Farooq, a once-influential leader in the movement who had split from the party, was stabbed to death near his house in Edgware.Soon after, Hussain appeared on television, mourning Farooq with a flood of tears. But over the past year, the police investigation has turned sharply in his direction. In December, officers from Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command searched the movement’s London office. Then in June they went to Hussain’s home and arrested Ishtiaq Hussain, his cousin and personal assistant, who is now out on bail. The police impounded $600,000 in cash and some jewelry under laws that target the proceeds of crime. Hussain was not available for an interview, his party said. But a senior party official, Nadeem Nusrat, speaking at the movement’s London office, denied any link to Farooq’s killing.“Our conscience is clear,” Nusrat said. “We have nothing to do with it.” Nusrat said the impounded money had come from political donations. And he rejected accusations, also the subject of a police inquiry, that Hussain has directly threatened political rivals, in some instances by warning that he would arrange for their “body bags.” “It’s all taken out of context,” Nusrat said. Hussain has receded from public view during the recent furor. There have been rumors about mounting health problems, which Hussain’s aides deny. But he cannot return to Pakistan, they say, because the Taliban could kill him. “In Pakistan,” said Muhammad Anwar, a longtime aide, “nobody can guarantee your life.” Then there are the legal threats: over the years, dozens of murder charges have been lodged against Hussain in Pakistan, although some have been quashed in court. A more pressing question, perhaps, concerns the impact on the streets of Karachi if Hussain is forced to step down. Some fear that without his guiding hand, tensions within the movement could split it into hostile factions—a frightening prospect in a city where political violence already claims hundreds of lives a year. “However viciously the party conducts itself, there is an order within the apparent disorder,” said Shaikh, the academic.Even if the British government wished to crack down on Hussain, she added, it might find itself subject to appeals from the Pakistani authorities. “The fear of Karachi going up in flames is so great,” she said, “that no government can take that risk, as long as Altaf Hussain is alive.”

China inks gas line deal with Tajikistan

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DUSHANBE (AFP) - Chinas Xi Jinping at a regional summit signed a deal to build a gas pipeline through the impoverished ex-Soviet country of Tajikistan, Tajik television reported Saturday.The pipeline will transport gas from energy-rich Turkmenistan to China in as part of a huge supply deal.Carrying out this project will allow us to attract more than $3 billion of direct investments from Chin into the economy of Tajikistan, said the press service of Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon.It will supply China with 25-30 billion cubic metres of oil per year, the press service said.China is eyeing the vast oil and gas resources of ex-Soviet Central Asia for its fast-growing domestic economy and is also keen to assert political influence in a region that was dominated by Moscow for decades.Xi and Putin met at a regional security conference held by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Bishkek.The new pipeline is due for completion in 2016 and will run for more than 400 kilometres (250 miles) within Tajikistan.The mountainous country is the poorest ex-Soviet republic and dependent on remittances from its nationals doing manual labour in Russia.Xi is carrying out a four-nation tour of Central Asia.

Florida girl commits suicide over cyber bullying

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - A 12-year-old Florida girl who suffered months of ruthless cyberbullying from other girls committed suicide this week, authorities say.Rebecca Ann Sedwick of the town of Lakeland in central Florida jumped from a platform at an abandoned cement plant near her home on Monday, according to the Polk County sheriffs office.Her death is the latest in an apparently growing phenomenon of youths driven to taking their own lives after suffering cruel treatment online via text and photo messaging applications.More than a dozen girls have been identified as possibly involved in the bullying of Sedwick, Polk County sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference Thursday.The bullying apparently started with a dispute over a boy that Sedwick had dated for a while, the New York Times reported.According to her mother Tricia Norman, Sedwick received text messages that said things like Youre ugly, Why are you still alive? and Go kill yourself.Judd, the sheriff, said the girl was absolutely terrorized on social media.At one point, the mother had pulled her daughter out of school and transferred her to another, closed down the girls Facebook page and took away her cellphone.Things seems to be getting better and Rebeccas spirits seemed to be lifting at her new school.But she also secretly signed on to new apps such as a cellphone message application called Kik Messenger and the bullying resumed, the Times said.In Kik Messenger, Sedwick had changed her user name to That Dead Girl, the Times said.
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