Wednesday 6 November 2013

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Firing incidents claim two lives in Karachi

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – According to details, some unidentified miscreants riding on motorcycles opened fire at people waiting at a bus stop in Agra Taj area of Lyari, killing two people and injuring another.In another incident, gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire and injured a man in Gulistan Jauhar area.Meanwhile, police conducted raids in Mahmoodabad and its adjoining areas and arrested six accused. Clifton Police also arrested an accused involved in dozens of cases.

Karachi: Terror bid foiled, two terrorists held

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – According to details, intelligence agencies and police during a raid in Sohrab Goth seized huge quantity of arms which was meant to be used for terrorism during Muharram and arrested two alleged terrorists.Both the accused, Zubair Ahmad and Muhammad Ali are members of a banned organistaion.According to DIG East, Munir Sheikh, 17 hand grenades, 17 pistols, silencers and huge quantity of explosives were recovered from accused. He further informed that arms and explosive material was brought from Peshawar and was meant to be used during Muharram in Karachi.

UK denies visa to Pakistani drone victims

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LONDON (Agencies) - Three Pakistani men will be prevented from giving evidence to UK Parliament regarding Britains alleged role in CIA drone strikes after they were refused entry to the country.The men, including Noor Khan, who is currently suing Britain over its alleged role in a CIA attack which killed his father, had been invited to address the all-party parliamentary group on drones.Also due to address the meeting was Kareem Khan, whose son and brother were killed in a drone strike on New Years Eve 2009.Mr Khan is suing former CIA station chief in Pakistan Jonathan Banks and ex-CIA general counsel John Rizzo over the killings.Noor Behram, a journalist who has been investigating and photographing drone strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan for almost six years, had also been scheduled to attend. Yet they were prevented from doing so after their visa applications were rejected.The family of another Pakistani drone victim recently gave evidence to a congressional hearing in the US having been granted visas to do so and campaigners have urged Britain to extend the same courtesy.Legal justice charity Reprieve strategic director Cori Crider, whose organisation represents Mr Khan, said: It is an unfortunate coincidence that David Cameron is refusing to grant a visa to the very same man who is suing his government over its role in the drone strike that killed his father.Just last week the Rehman family were able to tell their story to the US yet the UK seems unwilling to extend a similar courtesy to these three victims of the drone programme. The British government must reconsider and grant the men visas.Labour MP Tom Watson, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on drones, had written letters supporting the three mens visa applications.Mr Watson said: Its very disappointing that visas have not been granted in time for the drone victims invited by the parliamentary group on drones to speak today.The Rehman family testified to Congress about their grandmother who was killed by a CIA drone.The UK must allow Noor Khan and other survivors into the country so that we too can hear these lost voices.

Society cannot exist without justice: CJP

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Addressing to the newly elected and outgoing members of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan (SCBAP) on Wednesday, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that lawyers, media and civil society had always played an important role for the uplift of law and independence of judiciary.He said that awyers role for the uplift of justice in one way or the other is pivotal. Welcoming the newly elected representatives of SCBAP, the CJP maintained that being the part of the countrys highest and most important bar was a privilege for them and at the same time they were expected to act more professionally.He expressed the confidence that the bar representatives would leave no stone unturned for the welfare of lawyers fraternity. The Chief Justice stressed the members of SCBAP to work for the betterment of every lawyer without any discrimination.He viewed that all the newly elected members of the bar must be fully aware of their responsibilities and would also work diligently for disposing of their duties.Stressing upon the need of justice, the CJ stated that no society could flourish without practicing justice in daily life.

Deadly bombs hit Syria cities after peace talks flop

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DAMASCUS (AFP) - Bomb attacks in Damascus and southern Syria killed at least 16 people on Wednesday, a day after Moscow and Washington failed to announce a date for proposed peace talks.In Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Moscow was ready to host informal talks between Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime and the opposition.Russian and US officials on Tuesday failed to agree a date for a proposed peace conference in Geneva that has been delayed multiple times.On the ground in Syria, at least eight people were killed and 50 wounded in Damascus by a blast in the central Hijaz Square, state news agency SANA reported.Eight citizens, including two women, were killed in an explosion caused by a bomb placed by terrorists at the entrance to the Hijaz railroad company, it said.And in the southern city of Sweida, eight intelligence officers were killed when a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle outside their base, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.The city is a bastion of the Druze minority and under regime control.SANA also reported the attack, citing a police source who said eight citizens were killed and 41 wounded.In central Homs province, the Observatory reported that rebels had seized part of a key arms depot after a two-week assault.The rebels seized a large amount of weapons from the sprawling complex outside the town of Mahin, the group said.But a regime security official denied the report, saying: The battle is continuing. The terrorists did not take any weapons, and there are many losses in their ranks.The Observatory reported that more than 50 rebels and 20 government loyalists were killed in fighting for the base on Tuesday alone.Farther north, government troops recaptured most of the strategic town of Tal Aran, south of Aleppo, in another boost to their efforts to consolidate a supply route to Syrias main northern city after their capture of nearby Sfeirah last week.But Al-Qaeda loyalists meanwhile seized control of the nearby Aleppo power plant, raising fears they could cut electricity to government-held parts of the city.

Test point to polonium poisoning in Arafat death: Jazeera

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RAMALLAH (AFP) - Swiss scientists have concluded that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat probably died from polonium poisoning, according to a text of their findings published by Al-Jazeera television on Wednesday.The results of tests on Arafats remains moderately support the proposition that the death was the consequence of poisoning with polonium-210, said the 108-page analysis posted on the Qatar-based satellite broadcasters website.Arafat died in France on November 11, 2004 at the age of 75, but doctors were unable to specify the cause of death. No autopsy was carried out at the time, in line with his widows request.His remains were exhumed in November 2012 and samples taken, partly to investigate whether he had been poisoned -- a suspicion that grew after the assassination of Russian ex-spy and Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.New toxicological and radio-toxicological investigations were performed, demonstrating unexpectedly high levels of polonium-210 and lead-210 activity in many of the analysed specimens, said the November 5 report penned by 10 Swiss experts.It added that polonium levels in bones and soft tissues were up to 20 times larger than references in the literature, firmly ruling out the possibility previously reported in some media that cigarette smoke had caused greater than normal polonium levels among Arafats personal effects.Arafats widow Suha said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that the poisoning amounted to the assassination of a great leader and a political crime.I dont know who did it, but its terrible, she said.Its so sad, but its a shock. Its a shock for myself, its a shock for my daughter... an elected president to be killed in this very cowardly way. People could not kill him on the battlefield.Suha met Arafat in the mid-1980s when she was a student at the Sorbonne University in Paris, but was often accused of leading a lavish lifestyle far removed from the reality of most of the Palestinians that her husband fought for.She later became his economic adviser before they married secretly in 1990, only revealing their union two years later.Israels foreign ministry on Wednesday scoffed at the notion that Arafat had been poisoned, suggesting that the investigation was not impartial.This is a soap opera -- the soap opera where Suha fights Arafats successors -- episode one hundred and something, foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP.The two (examining) teams have been commissioned by interested parties, they are not independent teams.At any rate, it is no concern of Israel because we have nothing to do with it, Palmor said.The Palestinian official in charge of the investigation into Arafats death, Tawfiq Tirawi, said on Tuesday that he had received the findings of the Swiss laboratory, although he declined to disclose them.Official Palestinian news agency WAFA said that a separate Russian team appointed by the Palestinian Authority also handed in its report on November 2.Some 60 samples were taken from the remains of the late Palestinian leader in November last year for the probe into whether he had been poisoned by polonium.The samples were divided between the Swiss and Russian investigators and a French team carrying out an investigation at Suha Arafats request.In an October report published by The Lancet medical journal, eight scientists working at the Institute of Radiation Physics and University Centre of Legal Medicine in Lausanne confirmed they found traces of polonium in separate tests on clothing used by Arafat, which they said support the possibility he was poisoned.

Iraq attacks kill 15, mostly police

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BAQUBA (AFP) - A suicide bomber detonated an oil tanker rigged with explosives at a police station north of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing seven policemen, while attacks elsewhere left eight dead, officials said.Iraq is mired in its worst violence since 2008, with more than 5,500 people killed this year despite major military operations targeting insurgents and tightened security measures.In Wednesdays deadliest attack, a suicide bomber drove an explosives-rigged tanker in front of police station in Muqdadiyah, in restive Diyala province, and detonated it at the entrance, police and a doctor said.The attack killed seven people and wounded 11 others, all police, and caused massive damage to the station.The bombing is the latest in a string of attacks targeting police in the past week in Kirkuk, Salaheddin and Diyala provinces.Elsewhere in Iraq, attacks on police killed three others.In Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed a policeman and wounded two others, while a gun attack left a policeman dead in the provinces north.In Baghdad, a policeman was shot dead while on patrol in the Shiite slum neighbourhood of Sadr City, while two roadside bombs in the capital left three others dead, including an anti-Qaeda militiaman.From late 2006 onwards, Sunni tribal militias, known as the Sahwa, turned against their co-religionists in Al-Qaeda and sided with the US military, helping to turn the tide of Iraqs bloody insurgency.But Sunni militants view them as traitors and frequently target them. The government has increasingly turned to Sahwa fighters as it combats a surge in unrest.Meanwhile, in the northern city of Mosul, two separate shootings killed two civilians, officials said.The level of violence in the country rose sharply after security forces stormed a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq in April, sparking clashes in which dozens died.Authorities have made some concessions aimed at placating the protesters and the Sunni minority in general, such as freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of the Sahwa.But Sunnis insist they are still marginalised by the Shiite-led government and unfairly targeted by security forces.

US seeking 'first step' in Iran nuclear talks

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GENEVA (AFP) - Washington is willing to offer Iran limited sanctions relief if it agrees this week to take a first step to stop advancing its nuclear programme, a senior administration official said Wednesday.Speaking on the eve of a fresh round of talks between Iran and world powers in Geneva, the US official told journalists there had been a key shift and that Tehran seemed serious about negotiations.What were looking for now is a first phase, a first step, an initial understanding that stops Irans nuclear programme from moving forward for the first time in decades and that potentially rolls some of it back, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.In exchange, the official said, Washington was willing to make a move on reducing the crippling economic sanctions that have been imposed on Iran over its nuclear ambitions.We are prepared to offer limited, targeted and reversible sanctions relief. We are not talking about touching the core architecture of the Iranian sanctions regime in this first step, the official said.These first steps, the official said, would put time on the clock to negotiate a final agreement on Irans long-disputed nuclear programme.The official would not provide specific details of the offers on the table, which will be discussed on Thursday and Friday as Iranian officials meet members of the so-called P51 group.The P51 includes the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany.The sides are holding another round of negotiations after talks last month that officials said were the most substantive and positive in years.The group has held years of talks with Tehran on its uranium enrichment, which Western powers suspect may be aimed at developing nuclear weapons.Iran has repeatedly denied this, insisting its nuclear programme is only for generating electricity and for medical purposes.This weeks meeting is the second since President Hassan Rouhani took office in August pledging to resolve the nuclear dispute and lift sanctions by engaging with world powers.The US official said a clear change could be seen in the tone of the talks.For the first time, Iran appears to be committed to moving this negotiation process forward quickly, the official said. We are having very detailed discussions in a way we have not before.

Hijacker returns to US after 30 years in Cuba

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MIAMI (AP) - An American who hijacked an airliner to Cuba nearly 30 years ago as a self-described revolutionary flew back home Wednesday to face U.S. justice.FBI agents took William Potts, 56, into custody shortly after his charter flight from Havana landed at Miami International Airport, said FBI spokesman Mike Leverock. Potts faces a 1985 federal indictment charging him with air piracy for hijacking a Piedmont Airlines flight in 1984.In interviews prior to leaving Cuba, Potts said he was seeking closure and hoped to convince U.S. prosecutors to give him credit for the 13-plus years he spent in Cuban prison for hijacking the flight. The U.S. charge carries a sentence of between 20 years and life in prison, according to federal prosecutors.My position is I am a free man. I have served my time, Potts said. But they seem to have another concept. They are going to take control of me. I will be under their authority.It wasnt immediately clear how the U.S. attorneys office would proceed and exactly when Potts would make his first court appearance. He was taken from the airport to the FBIs Miami field office.U.S. authorities have aggressively prosecuted some returning fugitives, while others saw their sentences reduced significantly for time served elsewhere. Typically, a criminal defendant who pleads guilty and accepts responsibility qualifies for a more lenient sentence.In the 1960s and 1970s, dozens of American aircraft were hijacked to communist Cuba at the height of the Cold War. But by the time Potts commandeered his plane, they had become less frequent and Cuba had begun prosecuting the hijackers.According to an FBI affidavit filed with the indictment, Potts bought a one-way ticket on the Piedmont flight on March 27, 1984. Potts has said the flight originated in Newark, N.J., but the FBI affidavit said it was nearby LaGuardia Airport in New York.As the airliner approached Miami, the FBI said Potts pushed a flight attendant call button and handed her a note claiming he had two comrades on the plane and that there were two explosive devices aboard. Potts called himself Lt. Spartacus, a soldier in the Black Liberation Army, according to the FBI.Potts has said in interviews he had a gun hidden in a plaster cast that was used in the hijacking, but the FBI affidavit does not mention that.In any event, the note from Potts also demanded $5 million, threatened to blow up the plane and kill passengers if it landed in Miami, discussed freedom for brothers and sisters in South Africa and criticized U.S. interference with Nicaraguas Sandinista government. The plane was flown to Havana, where Cuban authorities boarded it and took Potts into custody.They later found an electric bill that had fallen out of Potts pocket containing the name Kay Brown of Paterson, N.J. Brown told the FBI that Potts was her nephew and that she had given him $120 to pay her electric bill but hadnt seen him since.The Piedmont ticket cost $119.Potts said he thought Cuba would welcome him and offer him training as a guerrilla. Instead, he was tried and convicted of air piracy. He was later granted permanent residency in Cuba and has been living recently in a modest apartment block east of Havana.In 2009, Potts called himself the homesick hijacker in an Associated Press article about his desire to one day return to the U.S.Even though Potts could have stayed in Cuba, he decided to come home and take his chances with the legal system. The pending U.S. case against him keeps him from living his life fully, he said.

Nadal downs Wawrinka to seal number one ranking

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LONDON (AFP) - Rafael Nadal guaranteed he will finish 2013 on top of the world rankings with a 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (8/6) victory over Stanislas Wawrinka at the ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday.Nadal arrived for the prestigious season-ending event knowing two Group A victories at Londons O2 Arena would be enough to ensure he couldnt be caught by second-placed Novak Djokovic in the race for the number one ranking.The Spaniard achieved that aim in typically dominant fashion, beating Swiss seventh seed Wawrinka 24 hours after opening the tournament with a straight-sets win over David Ferrer.It is the third time Nadal has finished a calendar year in pole position in the rankings -- and the first since 2010 -- and he celebrated with a jubilant jig around the court.He is the first player to end a year at number one three years after his last season-ending top spot.The 27-year-olds straight-sets victory over Wawrinka also booked his place in the semi-finals of the Tour Finals, with one group match against Tomas Berdych still to come.Nadals return to the top is a remarkable achievement given he only came back in February after seven months out with severe knee tendonitis that threatened to cut short his career.I had a lot of emotions today, its the perfect scenario to be the year-end number one, Nadal said.After missing this tournament last year, its been an unbelievable comeback.Being number one at the end of the season is something really difficult as there are some unbelievable competitors out there.But without my team behind me, it would be hard to think about achieving this, especially after what happened last year.Stan played really great. He had chances at the end and I was a bit lucky, but Im happy to be through to the semi-finals in the last tournament of the year.Since his return from injury, Nadal has won the French and US Open titles, as well as eight other tournaments, and a maiden triumph at the Tour Finals would be a fitting end to such a memorable campaign.Asked where his rise back to the top rated among his numerous epic feats, the 13-time Grand Slam champion said: Its one of the best things that I did in my career.To come back to the number one after three seasons, thats very difficult in our sport, and especially after a very serious injury.Its an emotional thing for me, for sure.Wawrinka has enjoyed the best season of his life, qualifying for the Tour Finals for the first time and winning his career-best 50th match of the year with a three-set victory over world number five Berdych on Monday.But Nadal had won all 11 of his previous meetings with the 28-year-old, who had never even taken a set off the Spaniard.A double-fault from the Swiss in the fifth game of the first set gifted Nadal the first break of the match.The usually indefatigable Spaniard began to show a few signs of tiredness as the set progressed and Wawrinka broke back as Nadal served for the set.To his credit, Nadal refused to let his aching limbs get the better of him even when he trailed 5-4 in the tie-break.He took the set in slightly fortuitous fashion as Wawrinka stumbled while attempting a routine volley, allowing Nadal to pick him off at the net.Wawrinka knew he had missed a golden opportunity and he smashed his racquet in frustration before hurling it across the court.The world number eights anger surfaced again when he complained to the umpire about Toni Nadal -- his opponents coach and uncle -- talking too much from his court-side seat.It looked all over for Wawrinka when Nadal broke for a 3-1 lead in the second set, but the Swiss hit back with a break of his own in the seventh game.Another tie-break was needed to settle it and Nadal once again rose to the challenge, racing into a 3-0 lead before holding off Wawrinka to seal the win.

Champions League: Messi double sees Barca into last 16

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BARCELONA (AFP) - Barcelona sealed their place in the Champions League last 16 with two games to spare as Lionel Messi scored twice in their 3-1 win over AC Milan at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.Messi ended his three-game run without a goal as he smashed home the opener from the penalty spot after Neymar had been felled by Ignazio Abate.Sergio Busquets then headed home a second, but Milan were handed a lifeline just before half-time when Gerard Pique turned Kakas cross into his own net.However, Messi made the game safe seven minutes from the end when he dinked the ball home from Cesc Fabregas pass.Defeat still leaves Milan in second place in Group H, a point ahead of Ajax and two clear of Celtic after the Dutch champions beat the Scottish side 1-0 in the nights other match.We knew the Messi thing was just a question of games because he is incomparable and in front of goal he is always in form. We hope he now doesnt stop scoring, Busquets told Canal Plus.We have achieved our objective. I think we played very well in the first-half, it was just a shame to concede the own goal.We played quite a complete match, although we had a few problems in the second-half. Now we are in a good position.An eighth meeting between the sides in just the past three seasons meant there was a more subdued atmosphere than would normally be expected for a meeting between two of Europes heavyweights.However, Barca boss Gerardo Martino showed how intent he was on sewing up qualification as he named his strongest available side with the fit-again Adriano restored at left-back.Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri, meanwhile, sprang a surprise by leaving Mario Balotelli on the bench with the former Real Madrid duo of Robinho and Kaka starting instead in attack.Both Brazilians were largely isolated in the first half though as Barcelona controlled proceedings.Xavi Hernandez pulled an early free-kick just wide before Neymar ought to have scored when played in by Messi, but he took a heavy touch and allowed Christian Abbiati to smother.Milans defensive resistence was finally undone on the half-hour mark by a moment of madness from Abate as he pulled back Neymar inside the area and Messi converted from the spot for his fifth Champions League goal of the campaign.Riccardo Montolivo then had Milans first effort on goal 10 minutes before the break with an angled drive that flew just past.Barca went on to double their advantage six minutes before half-time though when Xavis free-kick was easily headed home by the unmarked Busquets.Adriano forced Abbiati into a finger-tip save moments later as Barca threatened to run riot, but incredibly Milan got back in the game with the last kick of the half when Pique turned Kakas cut-back into his own net.Allegri then introduced Balotelli for the ineffective Robinho at the interval and the Italian international instantly brought a new dimension to the Milan attack with a fierce low drive that Victor Valdes did well to handle.Milan came close again on 63 minutes as a wonderful run from Balotelli took him past two Barca defenders and his cross was swept just wide from Kaka.Neymar so nearly then produced one of the goals of the season as he waltzed past four Milan players only to skew his shot just wide, and seconds later Abbiati produced an incredible low stop to turn Alexis Sanchezs effort from point-blank range behind as Barca upped the pace.And Messi did finally seal the three points with a cool finish into the roof of the net after a wonderful one-two with Fabregas.

IOC chief opposes Olympic boycott calls

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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach on Wednesday hit out at calls for protests and a boycott of the Sochi Winter Olympics over Russias anti-gay legislation.But a UN General Assembly resolution calling for an Olympic truce during the Sochi Games included a landmark call for host countries like Russia to promote social inclusion without discrimination of any kind.Russia has faced a widespread Internet campaign and calls from celebrities and gay rights groups for protests at Sochi over Russias law banning gay propaganda.While there is no serious threat to the event, Bach said: We oppose boycotts of any kind. Boycotts are a fundamental contradiction to the spirit of sport, depriving it of the means to continue working for peace, mutual understanding and solidarity.In a speech to a UN debate on the traditional truce call, Bach did not mention the Russian law or the appeals to boycott Sochi which starts on February 7 and finishes February 23.But he said sport, and the Olympic Movement especially, understands the global diversity of cultures, societies and life designs as a source of richness. We never accuse or exclude anyone.And in a veiled message to President Vladimir Putins government, Bach added that sport has to enjoy responsible autonomy. And politics must respect this sporting autonomy.Sport cannot operate in a law-free environment, Bach also told the assembly.It does mean that we respect national laws which are not targeted against sport and its organizations alone, sometimes for chiefly political reasons, Bach said.Sochi Olympic organizing committee president Dmitry Chernyshenko also did not mention the gay controversy as he introduced the traditional Olympic truce resolution at the UN General Assembly.But Putin has repeatedly guaranteed that there would be no discrimination against gays in Sochi and after the meeting Chernyshenko stressed the reference in the Olympic truce resolution on social inclusiveness.It is not just nice words. It is real action. During the Games, we guarantee that there will be no discrimination whether by religious or sexual or gender distinction, he said.The United States and Australia also drew attention to the resolutions language.This is the first time that language of this kind appears in a resolution on the Olympic truce and it sends a powerful message highlighting the role that sport plays for all people, Elizabeth Cousens, a deputy US ambassador, told the UN debate.This phrase emphasizes the importance of inclusion and participation of all people in sporting activity regardless of identity, including persons of different sexual orientation and gender identities.With the Olympics and other major events facing growing numbers of political controversies, Bach said that sport must remain politically neutral.This does not mean that it is apolitical. Sport must include political considerations in its decisions. It must also consider the political, economic and social implications of its decisions.This is particularly true when choosing the venues for major sports events, above all the biggest and most important of these, the Olympic Games.It must always be clear in the relationship between sport and politics that the role of sport is always to build bridges, it must never build walls, Bach said.

Golf: Clarke prepared for second swing at US Tour

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SEA ISLAND (AFP) - Northern Irishman Darren Clarke, the 2011 British Open champion, starts his full-time return to the US PGA Tour for the first time since 2006 on Thursday at the $5.5 million McGladrey Classic.Never too old to start again, the 45-year-old said.Clarke has not won since lifting the Claret Jug two years ago at Royal St. Georges but has played well in recent weeks, taking second at the Nanshan China Masters last month and sharing 12th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in September.I just want to go out and enjoy myself, Clarke said. I have traveled all over the world for a long time and Ive had a great time doing it. Its almost like starting over.Clarke, whose world ranking has slid to 283, has a home in the Bahamas and another in Miami. However, he plans on keeping his European Tour membership as well.But with eligibility earned from his British Open crown, he wants to play more often in America as well.Ive almost had enough of the long hauls all over Asia and all that sort of stuff, Clarke said. Not that its bad, but coming over here is certainly a lot easier for me from a scheduling point of view.Europe is my home turf, but its a great opportunity to come over here and play.Juggling both tours will be difficult, Clarke said.It is something I will try to do. I will see how I get on with it, Clarke said. But my first commitment is to the (US) PGA Tour and I have to get my tournaments in on the tour since I became a member again.Clarke plans to play next weeks US PGA event in Mexico then enjoy the December break before playing his first 2014 event at Pebble Beach in January, following with a stop at Riviera in February ahead of the March series of tournaments in Florida.Its good to have the opportunity to take it up again, Clarke said.Clarkes two US titles came at the 2003 World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational and the 2000 WGC Match Play Championship. He had 14 top-10 finishes from 2003 to 2005 on the US tour.Clarke made only 11 starts in 2006, in part because of the condition of his wife Heather, who died in August of that year of cancer.Clarke will play alongside Americans Lucas Glover and Charles Howell for the first two rounds at Sea Island, where Davis Love is the tournament host. He will play alongside two other Americans who live at the resort, Harris English and Matt Kuchar.Others in the field include 2011 US Open winner Webb Simpson, and US stars Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, David Toms and Justin Leonard.

Motorcycling: Marquez within touching distance of title

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MADRID (AFP) - Marc Marquez is aiming to become the youngest ever MotoGP world champion at the age of 20 as the Spaniard takes a 13-point lead over compatriot and defending champion Jorge Lorenzo into the seasons final Grand Prix in Valencia this weekend.Marquez has seen his lead whittled down by a late season charge by Lorenzo, but will seal the title in his maiden year in MotoGP should be finish fourth or better at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.The Honda Repsol rider remains very much the favourite for the championship having only failed to make the podium once this year, when he was disqualified for failing to pit in time for a mandatory change of tyres in Australia last month.I am desperate to get back on the bike, he told Spanish sports daily Marca.Obviously we know what is in play in this last Grand Prix of the year, but, as always, we will face it as we have in all the other races. We will work hard from Friday and we will do our best.After a blistering mid-season run of four straight wins that put him in charge in the championship standings, Marquez has won just one of the last six races and suffered a heavy crash during practice at Motegi in Japan last time out.However, he is counting on the positive experience of winning the Moto2 race in Valencia last year to see him over the line.It has been good to spend a few days at home after three long weeks away. After the fall in Motegi I have been doing muscular rehabilitation on my neck ahead of the race and now I feel much better.We have had good performances in Valencia before. I have always given my all there and I have good memories of last year in Moto2. The weather will also be a factor to take into account because it is very changeable.Lorenzo had looked out of the championship running after a broken collarbone forced him to miss the German Grand Prix and affected his participation in the Dutch and American Grand Prix.However, four wins in the last six races have given him hope of a third world title and he insists the pressure is all on Marquez this weekend.Im very stimulated because three races ago we thought the championship was over, said the 26-year-old Yamaha rider, whose only win in the race came in 2010.Instead we have a chance to fight for the title. Valencia is my home race and it will be very emotional considering our position in the classification.We dont have anything to lose but everything to win, and this card plays on our side. Maybe our main rival can feel much more pressure in Valencia than us because he is so close to victory.You never know what can happen, especially if the forecast is uncertain as it was last year. We trust in ourselves and we expect a good race in front of our fans. We will never give up until the endMarquezs Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa will definitely finish the season in third place behind his two compatriots, but he has enjoyed the most success at Valencia with six victories in total, including three in the MotoGP race in 2007, 2009 and 2012.And the 28-year-old three-time championship runner-up could do Marquez a huge favour if he manages to keep Lorenzo off the top of the podium with another victory on Sunday.Although we are now out of the fight for the championship, we have had good results there in the past with some victories, including last year when we won having started from the pit lane. Therefore, I would like to end the season on top, he said.I am desperate to go to Valencia and ride in front of all the fans after a long trip around Asia. It will be nice to return to Valencia again, where the atmosphere is always very special.

Oil jumps after US says demand for gas rising

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NEW YORK (AP) - Oil rose 1.5 percent Wednesday as the U.S. government reported a strong increase in demand for gasoline last week.Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery gained $1.43 to close at $94.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil is still down about 9 percent since closing at $104.10 on October 2.The government said gasoline supplies dropped by 3.8 million barrels last week, almost four times the decline analysts were expecting. For the four week period ended Nov. 1, gasoline demand rose 5.4 percent to an average of 9.1 million barrels per day. Demand for distillates, which includes diesel and heating oil, rose 8.2 percent for the same period.Those figures overshadowed another increase in U.S. crude stockpiles. Oil supplies rose by 1.6 million barrels.Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 9 cents at $105.24 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
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