Sunday 23 February 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Senate, NA sessions to start today

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ISLAMABAD (Online): Important sessions of the Senate and the National Assembly will begin today (Monday) at the Parliament House in Islamabad.Both Houses will debate on security‚ law and order, delay in dialogue process with Taliban and economic situation of the country.The Speaker National Assembly has also convened a meeting of House Business Advisory Committee.

Iraq violence kills 17

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BAGHDAD (AFP) - Attacks in Iraq, including a series of shootings in the north, killed at least 17 people Sunday, officials said, as the country struggles to curb a year-long surge in violence.The deadliest single attack was a bomb that exploded on a highway between Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul, killing three police and four detainees who had been captured during a raid.Six shootings in Mosul itself -- one of the most dangerous parts of the country -- killed seven people, including the brother of a provincial councillor, a health directorate employee and three security forces members.In north Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near bicycle shops in the Sadr City area, killing at least two people and wounding at least seven, while another bombing in the Hurriyah area wounded at least three more people.And a bomb exploded in a house in the Siniyah area north of Baghdad, killing a policeman and wounding two others.Iraq has been hit by a year-long surge in violence, driven by widespread discontent among members of the Sunni Arab minority and the bloody civil war in neighbouring Syria, that security forces have failed to curb.All of the city of Fallujah -- just a short drive from Baghdad -- and part of Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, to its west, have been held by anti-government fighters since early January.More than 610 people have been killed in attacks and clashes since the beginning of the month, and over 1,600 since January 1, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.And violence has killed 10 or more people on all but three days so far this month.

Chinese pandas get red-carpet welcome in Belgium

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BRUSSELS (AFP) - Two giant pandas, on loan from China for the next 15 years, received a red carpet welcome in Belgium on Sunday where they were greeted by Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo.Hao Hao, a four-year-old female whose name means Friendly, and Xing Hui (Shining Star), a male of the same age, landed around midday (1100 GMT) at Brussels airport after their journey in a pagoda-style cage onboard a cargo plane.Their plane, arriving after a 15-hour flight from Sichuan in southwest China, taxied into place through an arc of water from the hoses of Belgian firefighters. The pandas, each weighing over 110 kilos (242 pounds), emerged to find around 100 journalists and dozens of children from a nearby school waiting to welcome them. We are very honoured and proud that China agreed to lend Belgium two of its national treasures, said Di Rupo. The new arrivals were then whisked under police escort to the Pairi Daiza zoo in the town of Brugellette, 60 kilometres (37 miles) outside Brussels.Entry tickets to the zoo were entirely sold out on Sunday, even though zookeepers had warned that Hao Hao and Xing Hui will not be making any public appearances until they have acclimatised and finished a period in quarantine, due to end on April 5. The zoo has spent some 10 million euros ($14 million) to prepare a vast enclosure for its new stars in its China Garden, comprising a pool, cave and bamboo plantation.They have flown over a thousand mountains and a thousand rivers to arrive in Belgium, said China's ambassador to Belgium, Liao Liqiang. The Belgian press has also reported that one million euros per year is being paid as rent for the pandas, which have been a valuable tool for soft diplomacy and revenue collection for China over the years. Giant pandas are an endangered species, with only 1,600 left in the wild in China and 300 in captivity around the world.

Altaf terms friends of Taliban as traitors of Pakistan

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KARACHI (Online): Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain said on Sunday that the one who is friend of Taliban is traitor of Pakistan.Addressing the party’s ‘Solidarity Rally’, he said that he had warned about Talibanization in 2004 but the people made fun of him.“MQM and I will always raised voice against terrorism and Taliban”, Hussain stated.The MQM chief made it clear that the ‘Solidarity Rally’ is for the support of police, rangers, Law Enforcing Agencies (LEAs) and armed forces.He said that terror attacks are un-Islamic and the religion cannot allow bloodshed.Hussain said the Taliban and Pakistanis cannot go together as they are opposite of each other.“Taliban do not respect constitution of Pakistan and are attacking seminaries, mosques, armed forces”, he added.He condemned terrorism and said dialogue with the Taliban is useless. The leader of PML-N Nihal Hashmi stressed the need for unity to face the enemy of the country.On the occasion‚ a resolution was passed to condemn terrorism and express solidarity with the Armed Forces of Pakistan.The resolution says MQM pays tribute to sacrifices rendered by the soldiers and civilians. It urged the government to deal with the terrorists with iron hands. It said all the citizens of Pakistan have right to live their lives with freedom to practice their religion and faith.The resolution denounced explosions targeting mosques‚ shrines‚ and schools. It also stressed upon the social boycott of the political parties supporting the Taliban.

Olympics: Russia celebrates as curtain falls on Putin's Games

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SOCHI (AFP) - Sochi's $50 billion Olympics, closely interwoven with President Vladimir Putin's image and plagued by controversy in the build-up, closed Sunday with bold praise and Russia supreme on top of the medals table.In a glitzy closing ceremony, aimed at conveying a confident state at ease with its past as well as present, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said Russia delivered all what it had promised.What took decades in other parts of the world was achieved here in just seven years, he said.I would like to thank the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin, for his personal commitment to the extraordinary success of these Olympic Winter Games.Just over two weeks ago, Bach, aware of the wide-scale global resentment over Russia's notorious anti-gay law, had made an impassioned call for politicians to stay out of sports.On Sunday, he insisted that those involved in the organisation of the Sochi Games had revealed a Russia to be respected.Everybody with an open mind could see the face of a new Russia -- efficient and friendly, patriotic and open to the world, he said.Bach then closed the Black Sea coast showpiece in the traditional manner of looking ahead ot the next Games in South Korea in 2018.I declare the 22nd Olympic Winter Games closed. In accordance with tradition, I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in PyeongChang to celebrate with us the 23rd Olympic Winter Games.In a touching nod to its own sporting history, the Olympic cauldron was then extinguished by a giant, tearful bear, taking older Russians back to the 1980 Moscow Summer Games and its much-loved bear mascot, Misha.Russia guaranteed top spot in the medals table earlier Sunday after a clean sweep of the men's 50km cross country race thanks to Alexander Legkov, Maxim Vylegzhanin and Ilia Chernousov.The hosts then hammered home their supremacy when Alexander Zubkov claimed his second gold in Sochi by leading the four-man bobsleigh team to victory.Russia ended their own Games with 13 golds and a total of 33 medals, topping the table ahead of Norway.Canada had the honour of claiming the last gold when they comfortably defended their ice hockey title with a 3-0 win over Sweden.But in a reality check, Games officials had revealed that more competitors had failed drugs tests taking the total to six.Austrian cross-country skier Johannes Duerr, who had been due to take part in the men's 50km, tested positive for blood booster EPO in a pre-competition test in Austria on February 16.The Austrian took part on February 9 in the skiathlon, finishing eighth. But he tested positive for EPO a week later in Obertilliach, Austria.Late Sunday, it was revealed that Swedish ice hockey player Nicklas Backstrom had tested positive for a banned substance present in allergy medication and had been withdrawn from the Olympics final.Ukrainian cross country skier Marina Lisogor, Latvian men's ice hockey player Vitalijs Pavlovs, German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle and Italian bobsledder William Frullani all failed tests at the Games.Despite the late flurry of doping shocks, Russian officials were keen to bask in the 17-day showpiece that passed off relatively unscathed.The ice of the scepticism towards the new Russia has been broken, said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak. In the last event, NHL superstar Sidney Crosby scored in the second period as Canada claimed a record ninth gold and the first on European soil in 62 years.Jonathan Toews and Chris Kunitz also scored and goaltender Carey Price posted the shutout for Canada.We played solid and we didn't give anything up in the last few games -- we played the way we needed to and it's great to see everyone get rewarded, said Crosby.

Tennis: Nadal proves his form with masterful Rio win

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - World number one Rafael Nadal shrugged off the injury concerns that wrecked his Australian Open bid as he dismantled Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-6 to win the Rio Open on Sunday.The 13-time Grand Slam winner showed no evidence of the back injury that hampered him in Melbourne as he wrapped up his 48th ATP title against an opponent with no answer to the relentless pressure exerted by the Spanish clay-court legend.And by winning a 43rd career clay court title, the 27-year-old threw down a gauntlet to pretenders to his French Open crowd which he defends in Paris in May.Nadal went into the match with a 4-0 winning record against Dolgopolov with the Ukrainian never having even broken the world number one's service.And the Spaniard was on top quickly in the first set, breaking Dolgopolov's second service game to love as the Ukrainian made a succession of unforced errors.Dolgopolov could find no rhythm against Nadal's trademark topspins on the Rio clay and made little inroads into the world number one's service games as he raced into a 4-1 lead in less than 20 minutes.Dolgopolov held his next service game with three aces and earned a break point in the crucial seventh -- the best of the match -- which Nadal saved with incredible retrieving and a sublime drop shot.Nadal snuffed out two further break point opportunities and finally took the game himself as Dolgopolov, seeking to shorten the points in intense humidity, shelled a forehand long.The disappointment of squandering three break points appeared to deflate the Ukrainian and Nadal took the first set 6-3 with a love service game in 39 minutes.The second set followed a similar pattern, as Nadal broke the mercurial Ukrainian in his second service game, taking it with a drilled backhand that Dolgopolov was unable to dig out at his feet.Dolgopolov hit several exquisite winners, especially from the backhand wing but struggled to find a consistent enough game to trouble Nadal, who hit only a handful of unforced errors in the whole match.To his credit, the Ukrainian refused to buckle and broke Nadal's serve for the first time ever as the world number one attempted to serve out the match.The success appeared to galvanise Dolgopolov who held his serve to take a 6-5 lead, forcing Nadal to hold for a tie-break, which he did.In the tie-break, Dolgopolov hit a crucial double-fault followed by an unforced error on his backhand to give Nadal an early lead and the world number one needed no second invitation, taking the set 7-6 and the match in one hour and 41 minutes.Nadal had a less-than-smooth run-in to the final, surviving two match points to edge compatriot Pablo Andujar in the semi-final 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (12/10).In contrast, Dolgopolov pulled off a shock against second seed David Ferrer in the other semi-final, beating the Spaniard 6-4, 6-4.Earlier in the day, Japanese player Kurumi Nara won her first WTA crown, beating Klara Zakopalova from the Czech Republic 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.Nara, ranked 62nd in the world before the tournament started, will climb into the top 50 when the new rankings are published on Monday.

Football: Slapdash win keeps Liverpool in the hunt

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LONDON (AFP) - Liverpool tightened their grip on fourth place in the Premier League after Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson each scored twice in a jittery 4-3 win over Swansea City on Sunday.Swansea hit back to level from 2-0 and 3-2 down at Anfield, before Henderson finally killed off their resistance in the 74th minute to take Liverpool back to within four points of leaders Chelsea.It was a 10th consecutive home league win for Liverpool and gave Brendan Rodgers's side a provisional six-point lead over fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur, who visit Norwich City later on Sunday.Liverpool needed less than three minutes to take the lead, with Sturridge collecting Raheem Sterling's pass and rounding Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm to score after Angel Rangel had lost possession in midfield.Sturridge has now scored in eight consecutive Premier League games and he set up his side's second goal in the 20th minute with a lay-off that was curled home by Henderson.Two goals in four minutes brought Swansea level, however, with former Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey smashing home via the crossbar before Wilfried Bony headed home via a deflection off Martin Skrtel.Sturridge restored Liverpool's lead in the 36th minute, converting a cross from Luis Suarez with his head, but Bony equalised from the penalty spot early in the second half after he had been pulled back by Skrtel.It had been a ramshackle performance by Liverpool, but they finally secured victory with 16 minutes remaining when Henderson bundled the ball home after Suarez's shot was deflected into his path.In the day's other game, Loic Remy marked his return to the Newcastle United team after suspension by smashing home an injury-time winner in a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa.The French striker collected a deflected effort by Luuk de Jong and beat Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan in the 92nd minute to give Newcastle a first home win in five league games after a run of four straight defeats.

Golf: Day to face Dubuisson for WGC Match Play crown

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MARANA (AFP) - France's Victor Dubuisson beat four-time major champion Ernie Els 1 up on Sunday to book a World Golf Championships Match Play final against Australian Jason Day.Dubuisson, ranked 30th in the world, sealed the victory on the 18th green with a superb lag putt from 35 feet to set up a par that was good enough for the win after Els was unable to get up and down from a greenside bunker.The 23-year-old Frenchman had battled back from 3 down through four holes, and kept his nerve through a tense back nine that saw Els square the match with a 30-foot birdie putt at the 16th.In Sunday afternoon's 18-hole championship final, Dubuisson will take on last year's third-place finisher in Day, who defeated American Rickie Fowler 3 and 2.Dubuisson, who won his first European Tour title at the Turkish Open in November, looked shaky early against Els, but he steadied himself with a strong par save to halve the seventh, then won eight and nine with back-to-back birdies.Dubuisson squared the match with a tap-in birdie at the par-five 11th after Els missed a seven-footer.Dubuisson grabbed his first lead of the day at the par-three 12th, where Els missed the green and couldn't get up and down.The South African Veteran squared the match at 14th, where Dubuisson needed four strokes to reach the green.Dubuisson responded with a birdie to win the 15th, only for Els to even the match again.Day never trailed in his match against Fowler after winning the first hole with a birdie.Day went 3 up with birdies at seven and eight before Fowler pulled a hole back when Day's approach at the ninth landed in a rocky patch of cactus.The Australian's first attempt to get out hit a cactus and bounced back toward him in another awkward lie.After his attempt at a left-handed fourth shot Day conceded the hole, but he stretched his lead back to 3 up with a birdie at the par-five 11th.Fowler won the next two to trim the deficit, Day missing a six-footer for par at the par-three 12th and three-putting for par to lose the par-five 13th, where Fowler drained a seven-footer for birdie.Fowler couldn't get any closer however, and after Day won the 15th the match ended with Day's par at 16, where Fowler three-putted from six feet.

Cycling: Froome retains Tour of Oman crown

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MUSCAT (AFP) - Britain's Tour de France champion Christopher Froome successfully defended his Tour of Oman title on Sunday following the sixth and final stage in Muscat.The 28-year-old Kenyan-born Team Sky rider topped the overall classification ahead of American Tejay Van Garderen and Colombian Rigoberto Uran.The sixth stage was won by German sprinter Andre Greipel, his third stage win of the week, as he edged out Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni with Ireland's Sam Bennett third.While Greipel rejoiced in what has been a stunning start to the season with six victories in all, Froome was the rider wearing the broadest smile describing his week's work as the perfect beginning to his season.This success is a reward for a winter spent resting and then intensive training in South Africa, said Froome, who spent his teenage years and was educated in South Africa.We didn't get our preparation wrong. The season has been launched successfully.Froome was also satisfied in his overall level of fitness after on Saturday he had broken the speed record for the climb of the Green Mountain. My level of form is similar to that of last year at the same time, if not better.I must not take my foot off the pedal because I could tell this week that other riders are making progress.Van Garderen would have been one of those as the 25-year-old American -- fifth in the 2012 Tour de France which was won by Froome's team-mate Bradley Wiggins -- finished just 26 seconds adrift of the winner.Even if I felt I was on form I did not know too much with respect to where I was in comparison to my rivals, he said.Thus I am reassured by this performance. This fantastic result will give me confidence and above all the hunger to work even harder in order that I arrive at the Tour de de France in July in perfect shape, added Van Garderen, who was a disappointing 45th in the race last year.

Steyn spell swung the match, says Clarke

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PORT ELIZABETH (AFP) - Australian captain Michael Clarke paid tribute to a great spell of fast reverse swing bowling by South Africa's Dale Steyn after his side were bundled to defeat on the fourth day of the second Test at St George's Park on Sunday.South Africa bowled out Australia for 216 to win by 231 runs, setting up a series decider in the third and final Test in Cape Town, starting on Saturday.Australia lost nine wickets after tea, with Steyn claiming four of the wickets, including that of Clarke for one.We were outplayed with both bat and ball, Clarke admitted. He said the key was the fast reverse swing bowling of all three South African pacemen but he singled out Steyn for special praise.You've seen a class bowler bowling consistently at 140-145ks (kilometres per hour), executing his skills as well as you will see in international cricket.In contrast, the Australian bowlers were unable to get any reverse swing, he acknowledged.Set 448 to win, Australia seemed to be cruising at 141 for one at tea after Chris Rogers and David Warner had put on 126 for the first wicket, scoring at more than four runs an over.Once the wickets started to fall, Rogers fought a lone battle before being ninth man out, run out for 107. We knew the best time to bat in the second innings was against the new ball, said Clarke. We knew the hardest period was going to be once the ball got old and batsmen had to start their innings against reverse swing.South African captain Graeme Smith said the turnaround after a 281-run defeat in the first Test at Centurion was a tribute to the resilience of his players. The week building up was a tough week for us. We needed to be smart, we needed to be clinical. We needed good ideas as to how we were going to respond. I don't think many teams would have been able to respond from a defeat like we tasted.Smith said the match had been set up by a solid first innings of 423, followed by good bowling. The intensity we showed with the ball in both innings was really impressive on a wicket which didn't offer that much.Steyn's sensational post-tea spell came after he appealed vociferously for a catch behind when Rogers was on 69 in the over before tea.With the St George's Park band in full swing, the slip cordon didn't hear what replays showed to be a faint edge and South Africa did not seek a review when Rogers was given not out.Asked how angry Steyn had been after the missed opportunity, Smith quipped: I think he goes from being very angry to extremely angry most of the time when he is bowling. We always know that Dale is one spell away from creating something for us. It's great to see when the game is on the line that he can respond like that.Part-time off-spinner JP Duminy made the breakthrough when he trapped Warner leg before wicket for a sparkling 66, made off 73 balls.South Africa took four top order wickets for four runs after tea to swing the game in their favour, with Alex Doolan, Shaun Marsh, Clarke and Steve Smith falling for 5, 0, 1 and 0 respectively. Marsh was out first ball to Vernon Philander to complete a pair.Ten runs later, Steyn's fast reverse swing sent Brad Haddin's middle stump flying. Mitchell Johnson stayed long enough to see Rogers to his century but became a fourth lbw victim.Rogers, who scored only ten runs in his first three innings of the series, looked in good touch from the start of his innings, taking advantage of some over-pitched deliveries early on and almost keeping pace with Warner during what was easily the most productive opening partnership by either side during the series.With Australia seven down, South Africa claimed the extra half hour available if a result was likely and took the last three wickets with a possible 14 balls remaining.South Africa were without injured left-arm fast-medium bowler Wayne Parnell but Smith juggled his bowlers well and made good use of his part-time spinners.Hashim Amla completed his 21st Test century - and his fifth against Australia - and finished on 127 not out when Smith declared at 270 for five. South Africa added 78 runs in 17 overs on Sunday.

Australia collapse sees South Africa level series

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PORT ELIZABETH (AFP) - South Africa took nine wickets after tea to level their three match series against Australia on the fourth day of the second Test at St George's Park on Sunday.Set to make 448 to win, Australia were bowled out for 216 after South Africa claimed the extra half hour with Australia seven down at the scheduled close.South Africa took four top order wickets for four runs shortly after tea to swing the game in their favour. Fast bowler Dale Steyn took four of the wickets that fell after tea to finish with four for 55.Chris Rogers and David Warner put on 126 for the first wicket, scoring at more than four runs an over and Rogers then fought a lone battle before being ninth man out, run out for 107.Part-time off-spinner JP Duminy made the breakthrough when he trapped Warner leg before wicket for a sparkling 66, made off 73 balls.The scoring rate slowed but Australia still looked comfortable at 141 for one at tea.Alex Doolan struggled for more than an hour, scoring only five runs off 43 balls before he was caught at first slip off Morne Morkel.Shaun Marsh, who made 148 and 44 in the first Test in Centurion, was out first ball, trapped in front by a full delivery from Vernon Philander.It completed a pair for the left-hander, who faced only two balls in the first innings.Steyn claimed the key wicket of Australian captain Michael Clarke, who edged a catch low to second slip, where Faf du Plessis held a good catch, tumbling to his right.Steyn, who was gaining reverse swing, had Steve Smith leg before with a full delivery which swung in to the right-hander.Ten runs later Steyn's fast reverse swing sent Brad Haddin's middle stump flying.Mitchell Johnson stayed long enough to see Rogers to his century but became a fourth lbw victim. Philander's appeal was turned down by umpire Richard Illingworth but South Africa sought a review which showed the ball was hitting leg stump.Rogers, who scored only ten runs in his first three innings of the series, looked in good touch from the start of his innings, taking advantage of some over-pitched deliveries early on and almost keeping pace with Warner during what was easily the most productive opening partnership by either side during the series.Rogers reached his fifty off 95 balls. He could have been out in the last over before tea. On 69, he prodded at a ball from Steyn, who appealed loudly as it went through to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers.Umpire Kumar Dharmasena gave Rogers not out and the slips cordon led by captain Graeme Smith were uncertain and did not seek a review. Replays showed the ball probably clipped the toe end of the bat.Ryan Harris was leg before to Steyn in the first of the extra overs and Rogers was then out to a direct hit from mid-off by substitute fielder Alviro Petersen, trying to keep the strike.With the umpires having looked at their light meters, South Africa used spin from both ends and left-armer Dean Elgar finished the match when Lyon was given out leg before. There were a maximum of 14 balls remaining in the day - and a forecast of rain for Monday.South Africa were without injured left-arm fast-medium bowler Wayne Parnell but captain Graeme Smith juggled his bowlers well and made good use of his part-time spin bowlers.Hashim Amla completed his 21st Test century - and his fifth against Australia - and finished on 127 not out when Smith declared at 270 for five. South Africa added 78 runs in 17 overs on Sunday. Quinton de Kock (34) was the only batsman dismissed.Amla, who was 93 not out overnight, hit 16 boundaries in a 176-ball innings. His tally of five hundreds against Australia equalled a South African record shared by Eddie Barlow, Graeme Pollock, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers.

West Indies beat Ireland by four wickets

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KINGSTON (Agencies) - Half-centuries from the openers Dwayne Smith and Kieran Powell helped West Indies beat Ireland by four wickets in Sundays one-day international at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.Ireland, who fell just short of beating West Indies in the second Twenty20 international between the nations earlier this week having shocked them in the opening encounter, reached 202 all out with Gary Wilson scoring 62 runs off 96 balls.Stuart Thompson (33) was also in good touch but three-wicket hauls from Dwayne Bravo and Jason Holder stopped the visitors from setting a bigger target.West Indies chased victory without loss until the 17th over, when Smith became one of Thompsons two victims after he had smashed 55 runs off 53 deliveries including five fours and three sixes. Two more wickets followed for the addition of eight runs but Powell hung around to anchor the innings.The left-hander reached 57 off 80 balls before falling to Paul Stirling, leaving Dwayne Bravo and Marlon Samuels to shepherd West Indies to victory, the latter smashing a huge six over long-off to end the match with 13 overs remaining shortly after losing his partner for 35.The victory over Ireland will give West Indies a confidence boost with the first of three ODIs against England set to take place in Antigua on Friday.

South Korea, Australia sign $ 4.5 bn currency swap deal

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SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea and Australia signed Sunday a currency swap deal worth $4.5 billion, Seoul's central bank said, in a move to boost trades and help curb currency swings.The deal -- signed by the countries' central bank governors -- allows the two nations to purchase and repurchase each other's currency of up to 5 trillion won, the central Bank of Korea said in a statement.The three-year deal, which is renewable upon agreement, will allow greater flexibility for businesses to use local currencies for trade that have been commonly settled in US dollars, the statement said.The agreement is designed to promote bilateral trade for the economic development of the two countries, it added.Bilateral trade amounted to $30 billion in 2013, the bank said, adding that South Korea -- Asia's fourth-largest economy -- was also Australia's fourth-biggest trading partner.Mineral-rich Australia is also the South's seventh-largest trading partner, exporting mostly iron ore, coal and crude oil.South Korea, a small and open economy, has in recent years sought to guard against financial turmoil through a series of currency swap deals.Last October it signed currency swap deals worth $10 billion and $5.4 billion with Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, respectively.Seoul also maintains separate currency-swap agreements worth 64 trillion won with China and $10 billion with Japan as part of a multilateral deal known as the Chiang Mai Initiative.

Most People singing National Anthem: Program to reclaim title in Lahore delayed

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – Program to attempt to break world record for most people singing national anthem has been delayed in Lahore mainly because the venue was under capacity to accommodate four hundred thousand registrants. Reportedly, the registrants outnumbered by double the amount of original capacity of two hundred thousand.According to Dunya News reports, arrangements to break the world record were being finalized with security plan in place; however, the Punjab administration expressed inability to go ahead with the plan at the last minute citing lack of space around and inside the Punjab University campus to execute the program.According to Punjab government sources, maintaining traffic flow amidst the arrival of as many as four thousand buses filled with students was deemed ‘extremely difficult.’Following the inability of administrative institutions, Punjab government has resolved to delay the program. The new schedule will be announced later.

Beyond cute cats: How BuzzFeed is reinventing itself

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - BuzzFeed has come a long way from cat lists. This month one of its journalists was on the ground in Kiev reporting on the crisis in Ukraine, and last December it published an in-depth article on a Chinese dissident living in Harlem, New York.The kittens haven't disappeared, but these days there is serious journalism as well.When Facebook Inc tweaked its News Feed filters in December to weed out low-quality stories and other content, many were waiting to see if it would hurt publishers including BuzzFeed, the leading purveyor of sponsored content on the Web.But that didn't happen to BuzzFeed, which continues to log impressive increases in readership. Founder and CEO Jonah Peretti attributes that to the company's investment in building a news operation to complement its staple of entertainment and advertising-sponsored articles.Founded in 2006, BuzzFeed is now among the top 10 most-visited news and information sites in the United States, joining the ranks of established media outlets like CNN and The New York Times.Over the past year, BuzzFeed's traffic has soared fourfold, with more than 160 million unique visitors, according to online measurement and advertising firm Quantcast.The social news and entertainment company is famous for producing advertising-sponsored listicles that go viral, such as lists of golden retrievers (sponsored by a pet food brand) or popular quizzes like Which billionaire tycoon are you? (News Corp's Rupert Murdoch took the quiz and got himself.)Less known outside media circles is BuzzFeed's foray into serious journalism, which began two years ago when it hired Ben Smith, a former Politico reporter, as its editor-in-chief.Headquartered in New York, BuzzFeed now has more than 150 journalists, an investigative reporting unit, bureaus in Australia and the United Kingdom, and foreign correspondents in far-flung places like Nairobi and the Middle East.Its expansion comes amid a wave of investor interest in new media companies that are trying to capitalize on a decade-long wave of job cuts at newspapers, and new technology that has upended how news and advertising are produced and distributed.BuzzFeed, which has about 400 employees, raised $46 million in venture capital from the likes of Lerer Ventures, Hearst, RRE and Japan's SoftBank.SUPPLIER TO SOCIAL MEDIA PIPESBuzzFeed and other media companies, ranging from upstarts like Vox Media and Upworthy to established media outlets such as the Washington Post, depend on social media to fuel readership. BuzzFeed gets about 75 percent of traffic referrals from social media, and the majority of that is from Facebook.Last August, Facebook made a change to News Feed, which is prominently featured on a user's home page, pushing more stories through the stream. Many media sites saw their referral traffic soar. From September 2012 to September 2013, BuzzFeed's traffic jumped 855 percent, Facebook said in a blog post.But in December, Facebook made another adjustment to News Feed's filters to improve the quality of the content.BuzzFeed appears to have benefited - the number of people who visited the site rose 20 percent from December to mid-February, according to Quantcast. But other sites have suffered a drop in traffic since Facebook's tweaks.An oft-cited rival of BuzzFeed is Upworthy, which aggregates material across the Web to help its content go viral. It experienced a dip in traffic during the same period. Upworthy, which grew at an even faster clip than BuzzFeed last year, experienced a 22 percent decrease in unique users from December to mid-February, according to Quantcast.To be sure, there are many reasons why the number of people visiting a site can fluctuate from month to month, including seasonal factors and news items. An Upworthy spokeswoman pointed to the site's sharp rise in unique users from October to November, and said the number of people visiting Upworthy is still up significantly since October.Facebook's dominance in social media is similar to Google's leading position in Web search. When the Internet giant made several changes to the formula that determines search query results to ensure more quality information, that hurt some media companies that relied on high search results, including Demand Media and Rap Genius.Peretti said he is not worried that Facebook could harm BuzzFeed's prospects because the company distributes its content through other social media platforms, such as Twitter and LinkedIn. As long as there is benefit for the consumer, he said, any traffic fluctuations should work out in the long run.BuzzFeed expects revenue to double to $120 million this year, according to a person familiar with the company. BuzzFeed declined to give financial figures. Peretti would only say that the company is profitable.A MASH-UPBuzzFeed's investors say they are focused on the company's growth, including news, and decline to discuss exit strategies such as an initial public offering or sale to another company.BuzzFeed must be in the real news business, said Kenneth Lerer, chairman of BuzzFeed and an investor in the company through New York-based Lerer Ventures.You have to deliver the whole package. There are not a lot of companies serving that demo with hard news, he said, referring to readers between the ages of 18 and 34.BuzzFeed says it plans to hire more journalists and is keen to expand its foreign news coverage. Still, some media experts say balancing a mix of serious stories with sponsored content can be difficult.For instance, BuzzFeed published a list of alleged secret menu items at McDonald's Corp, such as the Monster Mac, McCrepe and Pie McFlurry. The list looked like an ad sponsored by the hamburger chain, but it was actually a tongue-in-cheek article produced by a BuzzFeed staff writer. (r.reuters.com/dax96v)The one question for BuzzFeed as they move further to produce their own journalism is whether they will be able to successfully straddle that line of content on their site that is purely for commercial gain and content that is meant to inform people about issue or events they care about, said the Pew Research Center's Mitchell.No one expects sponsored content to go away, especially as advertisers are expected to earmark more dollars toward the ad form. Several major news organizations, including The New York Times, The Guardian, Time Inc and Hearst, are publishing sponsored content. It offers more lucrative advertising rates at an average cost-per-thousand-users of around $10, compared with a banner ad that typically offers only 50 cents to $1 on the ad exchanges.We don't question news organizations that create entertainment content anymore, said Kyle Acquistapace, partner and director of media at the advertising firm Deutsch LA, about BuzzFeed's news expansion.What causes the question mark in BuzzFeed is if it can credibly make news when the top thing on its home screen is '28 things that people with big boobs can simply never do.' Can that door swing both ways? I think it can. It's a great mash-up.BuzzFeed is confident that chasing hard news is good for business. Its in-depth report about the Chinese dissident in Harlem, Dr. Gao Yaojie, had more than 700,000 views. A 6,000-word story about buying a house in Detroit for $500 got 1.5 million views. For comparison, The New York Times' popular Snow Fall interactive feature got about 3.5 million views.There are things now that we can try and do that may have been out of our reach before, said Smith, BuzzFeed's editor-in-chief. We can step back and swing for the fences. We can send reporters down rabbit holes, which I'm really excited about.
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