Friday 16 May 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Nadal squeezes past Murray in epic Rome quarter-final

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ROME (AFP) - World number one Rafael Nadal dug deep to maintain his chances of defending his Rome Masters title after a gutsy come-from-behind 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Andy Murray in the quarter-finals on Friday.Murray had won only five of his last 18 matches against Nadal but held the bragging rights from their last two -- a walkover win in the semis of the Miami Masters and victory in the final of the Tokyo Open in 2011, both hardcourt events.And despite doubts lingering over the Scot's form following an absence from the tour due to back surgery at the start of the year, Murray produced a stunning performance at the Foro Italico to underline his form ahead of the French Open later this month.The Scot raced to a 6-1 win in the opening set, leaving clay-court kind Nadal to tinker with tactics in the second set in a bid to pull level.In a much tighter third set, Nadal maintained his momentum by winning three breaks to two for Murray.The Spaniard broke in the first game, only for Murray to break back immediately in a second game which saw the Scot pull off a stunning pull-back shot which stunned Nadal and had the crowd in raptures.That gave Murray some momentum of his own and the British number one held serve to go 2-1 in front.Both players held serve in the next two games and with the score at 3-2 Murray raced to triple break point to break again and take a two-game lead after Nadal netted a return from a powerful serve. Sensing defeat, the Spaniard upped his game and broke back to level at 4-4. Both players held serve over the next two games, but Nadal made the difference when he raced to triple break point in the 11th game before breaking for a third time in the set for a 6-5 lead and then serving out for the win.Nadal will now meet Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the semis on Saturday, when number two seed Novak Djokovic faces Canada's Milos Raonic.Djokovic ousted David Ferrer 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 while Raonic claimed his last-four spot with a commanding 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 quarter-final win over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.Italy's number 10 seed Sara Errani, meanwhile, stunned China's number two seed Li Na 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to make the semis for the second consecutive year.She is on course to become the first Italian woman since Raffaella Reggi 29 years ago to win the tournament and next meets Serbian sixth seed Jelena Jankovic after she accounted for Agnieszka Radwanska, the third seed from Poland, 6-4, 6-4.Errani and Jankovic were joined in the last four by Ana Ivanovic, although the Serbian 11th seed had to dig deep throughout a thrilling encounter with Carla Suarez Navarro before finally beating the Spaniard, seeded 13, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.Ivanovic will next meet Serena Williams after she annihilated unseeded Chinese player Zhang Shuai 6-1, 6-3. Ivanovic knows she faces a tough task.

Football: Messi agrees new Barcelona deal

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MADRID (AFP) - Four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi has agreed terms on a new contract with Spanish giants Barcelona, the club confirmed on Friday, likely making him the best paid player in the world.FC Barcelona has reached an agreement to adjust the terms in the contract binding Leo Messi to the club as a professional first team player. The revised and updated contract will be signed over the next few days, the club said in a statement on their website.The deal is expected to see Messi overtake Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo as the biggest earner in world football.Ronaldo signed a new five-year deal with Madrid in September worth a reported 17 million euros ($23.3 million) net a year.Barcelona daily Sport reported that Messi will earn 20 million euros net per year with an extra five million euros on offer in the form of bonuses for titles, goals and appearances.Moreover, the paper claimed Messi will also receive 100 percent of the income from his image rights.As in his previous deal, Messi is expected to remain tied to the club until 2018 and have a buyout clause of 250 million euros.There is the will within the club that he becomes the best paid player in the world, Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu said in an exclusive interview with AFP back in March.He is the number one and, as we have said various times, he also deserves to be the best paid player in the world.The deal is a major institutional victory for Bartomeu ahead of a crucial summer in the transfer market for Barcelona as they look to refresh an ageing squad before a decision is reached over their appeal of a one-year transfer ban from FIFA. Messi has become a legend at Barcelona since making his debut in 2004 scoring 354 goals in 424 games making him the club's all-time leading goalscorer.The deal should allow him to relax and fundamentally for the club it is important to tie down the best player in the world, Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino said on Friday.For Barcelona and for Leo it is very good news.Should Barca beat Atletico Madrid on Saturday the Argentine will win his seventh La Liga title and his 22nd trophy overall with the Catalans, including three Champions League titles.However, despite scoring over 40 goals for a fifth consecutive campaign, Messi has had his most difficult year both on and off the field in his career.The 26-year-old appeared in court in September over tax fraud allegations relating to his image rights, whilst the arrival of Brazilian star Neymar at Barcelona this season has challenged his position as top dog at the club.Messi was also struck down by persistent hamstring injuries during the first-half of the season and returned to Argentina for a month in December to rest and recuperate away from the spotlight in the Catalan capital.He hit the ground running on his return including a run of 17 goals in 12 games as Barca ousted Manchester City from the Champions League and brought themselves back into the La Liga title race with a 4-3 win at Real Madrid thanks to a Messi hat-trick.However, his threat was blunted by Atletico as Barcelona bowed out before the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in seven years and in Barca's defeat to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final last month.Once Saturday's title-decider with Atletico is out of the way, Messi's focus will turn to his quest to win the first major trophy of his career at international level as he captains Argentina at the World Cup in Brazil next month.

Squash: Ashour's British Open defence reaches semis

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KINGSTON UPON HULL (AFP) - Ramy Ashour, the first Egyptian in almost half a century to attempt a defence of the British Open title, trampled his way into the semi-finals like a man determined to give cheer to his troubled nation.Only briefly was Ashour slowed during his advance to a 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 victory over James Willstrop, the former world number one from England.That was when the home hope led 5-2 early on, and then repaired a three-point deficit to reach 5-5 in the third game.After two earlier long matches, however, Willstrop appeared too jaded to challenge any further and Ashour launched winner after brilliant winner, usually with drops or cut-off volleys.Especially during the time our country is living, making the people happy and giving them hope is very important, Ashour had said just before the tournament. Though seeded only third, he is increasingly looking like the unofficial favourite.However he next plays Gregory Gaultier, the former British Open champion from France who recently regained the world number one ranking, and who fancies his chances after having the easier quarter-final.He needed to contest only one game against Amr Shabana, the four-time former world champion from Egypt, who came on court with a stomach problem and quit after only eight minutes feeling even worse.He's my best mate on the tour, and it was bad enough to have to play him but now this happened, said Gaultier.So I shall hope that the other two play a match which doesn't finish till tomorrow morning, he said. In fact Ashour 's match lasted just 40 minutes.The other men's semi-final will be between Nick Matthew, the top-seeded world champion, and Mohamed El Shorbagy, the 23-year-old Egyptian who has beaten the Englishman in their last two meetings, and whom some believe is about to make a breakthrough.Shorbagy had to play well to halt the in-form Frenchman, Mathieu Castagnet, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, but Matthew needed to be close to his absolute best to deny the remarkable Fares Dessouki, an 19-year-old Egyptian who scraped into the tournament via the qualifying competition only after a late withdrawal.Matthew's 11-4, 12-10, 11-9 victory required him to save a game point at 9-10 in the second game against an opponent whose talents were threatening to blossom luxuriantly and whose future looks exceptionalEarlier the prospect of a final between Nicol David, the Malaysian who has been world number one for almost eight years, and Laura Massaro, the Englishwoman who has succeeded her as World and British Open champion, came tantalisingly closer.The top-seeded David grew in authority as she overcame Omneya Abdel Kawy, the brilliantly skilful Egyptian, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 in a repeat of the 2010 world final. The favourite's superior mobility and patience always gave her the edge.I played much better today, said David. It's great to come through to a big semi-final again, she added, perhaps mindful of her upsetting semi-final loss in the world championships in Penang last month. Massaro, who is making a major title defence before a home crowd for the first time, now has some of the pressure of expectations which David constantly endures. She nevertheless overcame both her emotions and her compatriot Sarah Kippax in a tenacious but tense11-8, 12-10, 11-8 success.

Swimming: Phelps continues comeback with butterfly win

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CHARLOTTE (AFP) - Olympic legend Michael Phelps continued his return to competitive swimming Friday with a victory in the 100m butterfly at the Charlotte Ultraswim Grand Prix meeting.Phelps, who retired after the 2012 London Games with a record 22 Olympic medals -- a staggering 18 of them gold -- notched his first finals victory since then in his second meeting since he returned to competition at the Grand Prix in Mesa, Arizona, last month.Phelps led at the 50m mark and won in 52.13sec with Pavel Sankovic of Belarus second in 52.72 and Singapore's Joseph Schooling third in 52.95.The US swimmer's winning time was the exact same time produced in the 100m fly final at Mesa, where he finished runner-up to former US Olympic teammate Ryan Lochte.Phelps also swam in the 200m freestyle heats on Friday morning, squeaking into the final but opting not to swim it in the evening.

Cycling: Bouhanni at the double as Giro's first climbs loom

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FOLIGNO (AFP) - French sprint ace Nacer Bouhanni claimed his second victory of the Giro d'Italia on Friday as Australian Michael Matthews held on to the race leader's pink jersey.Bouhanni handed the French their first win in Italy's biggest race in three years after overcoming a late puncture during Tuesday's rain-hit fourth stage to triumph at the finish line.On Friday's transitional 211km stage, the 24-year-old of the FDJ.fr team doubled his tally when he left Italian Giacomo Nizzolo and Slovenian Luka Mezgec with the minor placings. Matthews finished fourth.After Mezgec had launched the final dash for the finish line, Bouhanni used a combination of sheer speed and tactical nous to squeeze past the Slovenian and on towards victory, with Nizzolo finishing runner-up half a wheel behind.There was a gap, and I somehow found my way through it, said Bouhanni, who reclaimed the red jersey for the race's points competition.I'll try to keep it (jersey) for as long as possible. I did the intermediate sprint but didn't give it full gas as I wanted to keep some in the tank for the finish.But if I have to keep doing the intermediate sprints, I will.Despite benefiting from the early exit of German ace Marcel Kittel, who won two stages in three days before abandoning due to illness, 2012 French champion Bouhanni's exploits have prompted praise from retired Italian legend Mario Cippollini.He's the archetypal sprinter, he's afraid of nothing, said Cipollini, who still holds the record of 42 Giro stage wins.Despite the absence of both British sprint king Mark Cavendish as well as Kittel, Bouhanni was defiant.I'm not here to compare myself to them. But when I race against them it's to try and beat them, he added.They are top sprinters. I'm only 23 years old and I'm looking to get better every year.Matthews, a sprint specialist who rides for Orica, leads compatriot Cadel Evans (BMC), a favorite for overall victory, by 21sec overall ahead of Saturday's rolling eighth stage from Foligno to Montecopiolo, which ends after a 6.4km climb.Before many of the race's major climbing difficulties, Evans is in a favourable position having seen pink jersey rival Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) crash out of the race with three broken ribs on Thursday.After that crash drama, Evans said he was relieved with a much less stressful day.It was a much better day for everyone on dry roads. Most people managed to stay safe, so we are quite happy to have a day like this, said the Australian.Evans is a former Tour de France and world champion and his closest rival, Colombian Rigoberto Uran, is third overall at 1min 18sec behind Matthews. Ahead of Saturday's climbing stage, he added: It is the first really important day of the Giro, so it is good to just arrive in the group without being too stressed.

World Cup: 3 cities at higher dengue risk - study

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PARIS (AFP) - Three Brazilian host cities -- Fortaleza, Natal and Recife -- are at higher risk than the other nine of a dengue fever outbreak during the World Cup, scientists said on Saturday.In absolute terms, the risk is low in all Cup venues, but comparatively greater in the three northeastern cities and authorities should beef up steps to prevent an outbreak, they said.A potentially dangerous fever caused by a virus for which there is no vaccine or cure, dengue is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito when it takes a blood meal.Doctors last year sounded the alarm over dengue at the June 12-July 13 tournament. The disease is endemic in Brazil, which is expected to lure hundreds of thousands of football visitors.Writing in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, a team of European and Brazilian experts crunched the numbers to pinpoint areas of risk.They looked at real-time weather patterns provided by four meteorological agencies, particular rainfall which affects mosquito breeding.They matched these against 13 years of data from prior dengue outbreaks in the month of June in 553 microregions of Brazil, including the 12 tournament host cities.The researchers factored in the dynamics of how a dengue outbreak builds up. It takes between seven and 14 days for a mosquito to become infectious with the virus it has picked up from a human. And when the insect bites another human, the virus needs four to seven days to incubate.Visitors are not expected to stay in the same city for more than two or three weeks, which means an epidemic must already be well underway for large numbers to be vulnerable in June.Our forecasts for June 2014 showed that dengue risk was likely to be low in the host cities Brasilia, Cuiaba, Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo, wrote the team.The risk was medium in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Salvador and Manaus. High-risk alerts were triggered (in the study) for the northeastern cities of Recife, Fortaleza and Natal.It added: efforts to reduce dengue incidence and severity should be concentrated in these cities.Potential measures include attacking mosquito breeding sites in stagnant pools of water and rubbish.The risk is more likely to be low in all 12 host venues, lead author Rachel Lowe from the Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, told AFP by email.The three northeastern cities and Manaus are considered to be comparatively more at risk because the Amazon region had heavier-than-usual rainfall in the 2013-14 southern hemisphere summer. The south and southeast of the country had an atypically hot and dry summer, which reduced mosquito infestation in Porto Alegre, Curitiba and Sao Paulo.Dengue incidence rates are considered high by the Brazilian ministry of health when they exceed 300 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, said Lowe. The team added a large margin (18 percent) to this threshold for their World Cup forecast, given that short-range predictions can be prone to greater error, she explained.Fortaleza and Natal had a higher probability than Recife of exceeding the benchmark.About 80 percent of people infected with the dengue virus develop no symptoms, but about five percent develop severe illness and for a further one percent, it is life-threatening.So far this century, Brazil has recorded more cases of dengue than any other country in the world, with more than seven million cases between 2000 and 2013, the study said.

Oil edges up on US gasoline demand hopes, Ukraine crisis

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NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices moved modestly higher Friday as the market found support from US gasoline demand hopes ahead of the looming summer-holiday driving season and the ongoing Ukraine crisis.The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in June, closed at $102.02 a barrel, a gain of 52 cents from Thursday.Brent North Sea crude for July rose 66 cents to settle at $109.75 a barrel in London.Oil prices were finding support from the approaching US summer holiday season that kicks off with the long Memorial Day weekend May 24-26.The driving season is right around the corner on Memorial Day and we expect increased demand for gasoline across the summer, said Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates.Refineries were beginning to wind down their maintenance season in preparation for a ramp-up in activity in several days, he noted.Total US gasoline inventories fell by 800,000 barrels, or 0.4 percent, last week and were down 0.1 percent from a year ago, according to the Department of Energy.For Tim Evans of Citi Futures, global oil prices showed some resilience in the face of a weaker than expected report on US consumer sentiment for May and a surprisingly powerful 13.2 percent jump in April housing starts that was driven by the volatile multi-family units sector.Traders kept an eye on the unfolding Ukraine crisis. The United Nations warned Friday of an alarming deterioration of human rights in eastern Ukraine, where the government is battling an insurgency by armed pro-Russian separatists.The political uncertainty in Ukraine continues to dominate the oil market, providing further support to crude oil prices, said analyst Myrto Sokou at the Sucden brokerage.With the May 25 presidential vote fast approaching, Kiev's interim leaders are struggling to keep the country from disintegrating further after Russia's disputed annexation of Crimea in March.Escalation of the conflict could severely disrupt energy supplies and send prices soaring, analysts say, because Ukraine is a vital conduit for Russian oil and gas exports to Europe. Nearly 15 percent of all gas consumed in Europe is delivered via Ukraine.

Dollar creeps higher vs. euro

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NEW YORK (AFP) - The dollar inched higher against the euro Friday in cautious trade ahead of the weekend as traders digested mixed economic data and awaited an easing of eurozone monetary policy.The announcement Thursday of weak first-quarter economic growth in the eurozone -- at 0.2 percent, only half of what was expected -- still hung over the foreign exchange market as further evidence the European Central Bank will move next month to a more accommodative stance.The euro slipped to $1.3695 from $1.3711 Thursday, and was down 0.6 percent from a week ago.Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management noted that the euro extended its losses against the US dollar this week but, excluding its steep sell-off on Tuesday, the euro-dollar rate saw little change during the rest of the week.After ECB chief Mario Draghi indicated that he is comfortable with the idea of easing in June, weaker economic data validated the need for more stimulus and supportive comments from European policy makers indicate that his peers share his views, Lien said.In the United States, a housing report came in much better than expected. Housing starts jumped 13.2 percent in April, however that was driven by construction starts in the often-volatile multi-unit sector.We have been looking for signs that the winter weather was the cause of the economic discontent and the sharp increase in home construction seems to argue that was the case, said Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors.Traders were looking ahead to next Wednesday's release of the Federal Reserve's minutes of the April 29-30 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee for clues about the direction of US monetary policy.Chair Janet Yellen remains reluctant to move away from the zero-interest rate policy, said David Song at Daily FX.

Pakistan fine players for playing with Kaneria

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LAHORE (AFP) - Five Pakistani players have been fined for appearing in exhibition matches in the United States alongside banned spinner Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Friday.The five, Fawad Alam, Wahab Riaz, Abdul Razzaq, Nasir Jamshed and Shazaib Hasan were each fined 500,000 rupees ($5,000 dollars), a PCB statement confirmed.After thorough investigations and after players admitting that they had participated in an event that under the ICC Regulations is considered Disapproved Cricket, their contention of not being aware of the NOC requirement was not accepted by theCommittee, which recommended that each of them should be fined Rs.500, 000, the PCB release said.The five offenders featured in an unauthorised series of Twenty20 matches in Houston, Texas, last month without the permission of PCB.Kaneria was banned for life in 2012 for spot-fixing in a county game in England, which under International Cricket Council (ICC) rules effectively bars him from playing anywhere in the world.Kaneria played for Houston Eagles while the Pakistani players were playing for rival team Boom Boom Blasters.The PCB investigated the matter and interviewed the players last month, when a three-member committee recommended the fines.The committee, however, cleared PCB marketting director Badar Rafae of any wrongdoing but with a reprimand.Rafae was pictured with Kaneria during these matches.As for the Director Marketing, the Committee concluded that he was neither involved in the organization nor inviting players for the event. He just briefly attended one match only on invitation of the organizers.Alam appeared for Pakistan in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in February-March while Razzaq, Jamshed and Riaz lost their places last year.Hasan played for Pakistan in the 2009 World Twenty20 which they won in England.His subsequent photograph with Kaneria was a case of poor judgement, there was nothing to suggest that he conducted himself in any inappropriate manner. However, in the Committees opinion, he should have shown better judgement and avoided being photographed with a banned player. Hence, an official reprimand is recommended, said the release.The PCB committee was made up of comprised of domestic cr8icket director Intikhab Alam, security manager Azam Khan and international cricket manager Usman Wahla.The committee said Kaneria did not appear before it.Kaneria is serving a life ban and did not appear at the hearing nor did he respond to notice in writing. the committee referred his case to the PCB Integrity Committee for further suitable action against him.Kaneria earlier this month lost his appeal against the life ban in a London high court, but has since vowed to fight on in higher courts.Three other Pakistani players -- Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- are serving five years bans over a separate 2010 spot-fixing case.

Alleged top drug trafficker arrested in Guatemala

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GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - Guatemalan security forces have arrested a man alleged to be a top drug trafficker in an operation in which three people were killed, police said.Jairo Orellana, 36, was arrested Thursday night in the town of Gualan, 175 kilometers (110 miles) east of the capital.The United States has requested his extradition on drug trafficking charges.Orellana, who was being held at a military base, was alleged to be linked to Mexicos Zetas, a feared drug cartel formed by Mexican military deserters.Police said two of Orellanas bodyguards and a policeman were killed in the operation that led to his capture.Mexican drug gangs like the Zetas and the Sinaloa cartel have established a strong presence in Guatemala in recent years, driving up violent crime.Authorities estimate that half the nearly 6,000 murders a year in Guatemala are attributable to drug trafficking or fights among local gangs.

Pinterest valued at $5 bn after fresh funding

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SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Pinterest on Friday confirmed that another $200 million has been pumped into its coffers to build up search capabilities at the booming, bulletin board-style social network.The latest round brings to $764 million the total amount of funding raised by the San Francisco-based start-up and gives Pinterest an overall value of $5 billion.Pinterest has a vision of solving discovery and helping everyone find things theyll love, said start-up co-founder and chief Ben Silbermann.This new investment gives us additional resources to realize our vision.The latest infusion of cash came from existing Pinterest backers SV Angel, Bessemer Venture Partners, Fidelity, Andreessen Horowitz, FirstMark Capital, and Valiant Capital Partners.Uses for the money were to include paying for technology and talent to develop Pinterest into a discovery platform in a potential challenge to Internet search king Google.- Finding Pins -Pinterest last month launched a tool to help people quickly sift through the roughly 30 billion Pins on the services online bulletin boards to find what they like.In a move similar to one made last year by Facebook, Pinterest is tapping into its rich trove of user-posted content to tackle questions that traditional search engines such as Google or Bing handle less well.Pinterest users can turn to the new Guided Search feature for answers to questions such as how to make a yummy breakfast, where to go on vacation or how to customize a motor scooter.The company has not disclosed the number of users, although estimates from digital analytics firm comScore put the figure at around 60 million.There are more than 750 million online bulletin boards with a combined total of about 30 billion Pins hand-picked by people sharing images on myriad interests from travel to food to sports and more, according to Pinterest.Guided Search was billed as being tailored for exploring, whether you know exactly what you want, or youre just starting to look around.The tool is available on smartphones and tablets that are increasingly the preferred options for accessing the Internet. It begins with keyword searches that trigger suggestions.Money from the latest round of funding was to also be used to continue expanding internationally.Pinterest is currently available in 31 countries and reported that about 30 percent of its users are outside the United States.Pinterest said it will also invest in its revenue-generating advertising program.Pinterest this week began pinning ads to its popular online bulletin boards in the form of promoted Pins.Facebook and Twitter both bring in money from ads in the form of posts promoted to prominent positions in streams of updates at the social networks.Pinterest has become one of the Internets hottest young websites, particularly among women, by giving people virtual bulletin boards that they personally curate with pictures showcasing interests in anything from food to sports, fashion or travel.

Cable Operators Association demands ban on Geo

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KARACHI (Dunya News/Agencies) - Chairman Cable Operators Association of Pakistan Khalid Arain has demanded that Pakistan Broadcasting Association must take notice of Geo's transmission and cancel its licence.Addressing a press conference here on Friday night, Khalid Arain said that Jang and Geo group had sent at least 18 people to disrupt cable operators’ press conference, which was held on Friday evening. “Our voice was suppressed today. Geo reporters should have fulfilled journalistic responsibilities, but they didn’t. It was complete rogue attitude against us.”The association also announced to launch countrywide protests from Saturday against hooliganism of Geo.The media group is spreading hatred against national security. Freedom of speech cannot be used against the religion, said Arain. Earlier, the Jang and Geo group reporters disrupted Cable Operators Association of Pakistan’s press conference at Karachi Press Club (KPC).As soon Cable Operators Association of Pakistan Chairman Khalid Arain began his hurriedly-called press briefing, a reporter of Geo News stood up and indulged in bickering with Arain along with targeting other cable operators’ representatives.Shortly other reporters of Jang and Geo chipped in and started hurling abuses at cable operators.Initially Arain had spoken that cable operators were facing difficulties due to recent situations.“No TV programme has anything to do with cable operators. We have no role in content generation. But we all are instantly blamed and our cable connections are cut off in rage and protest,” said Arain.Meanwhile, the transmission of Geo News has been closed in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on the instruction of Prime Minister of the region Chaudhry Abdul Majeed.Protests and rallies were also taken out against Geo Group after the channel showed blasphemous content in its morning show Utho Jago Pakistan hosted by Shaista Lodhi.Protests erupted in various cities, including Karachi, Faisalabad, Multan by activists of religious organizations who chanted slogans and flashed banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the TV channel.The participants in the rally are demanding the federal government to close the news channel.Condemnations had flooded in from all religious schools of thought against the private channel soon after the programme was aired.Various religious scholars described the show as ‘blasphemous’, and called for ban on Geo’s transmission. SIC took a step ahead and has issuing a fatwa (religious edict) declaring watching Geo TV as “haram”.It also demanded that the government ban the Jang/Geo Group satellite channels just like it banned YouTube.On the other hand, Dr Shaista said that she seeks forgiveness from the Almighty Allah over an unintended gaffe that hurt the sentiments of the people.

Former BBC presenter Hall cleared of rapes

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LONDON (AFP) - Veteran former BBC TV and radio presenter Stuart Hall was cleared on Friday of raping two girls but was convicted of indecent assault.Hall, 84, mouthed thank you to the jury at Preston Crown Court in northwest England at the end of the two-week trial as he was led away to the cells to continue serving his sentence for earlier sexual offences.The jury found him guilty of one count of indecent assault and he had pleaded guilty to one other count on the same charge at the start of the trial.Hall will be sentenced next Friday.The former presenter of Its A Knockout who later became an eccentric football match summariser for BBC radio was not due to be released from prison until September, but his sentence could now be lengthened.The broadcaster -- who was in his 40s at the time of the allegations -- told the court the sex with the girls in their mid-teens was consensual.Many of the encounters were at BBC studios in Manchester where Hall presented the corporations regional news programme.Hall is one of a string of British celebrities of the 1970s and 1980s to face investigation for sexual offences, in the wake of the revelation that one of the BBCs biggest stars, Jimmy Savile, was a prolific child sex offender.

Altaf's NICOP issue: MQM holds countrywide protest

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KARACHI (Dunya News) - Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Thursday held country wide demonstrations against delay in issuing giving NICOP to Altaf Hussain.The demonstrations were held in different parts of the country outside NADRA offices including Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Hyderabad, Ghotki, Sukkur, Larkana, Nawabshah, Khairpur, Badin, Thatta, Multan, Sukkur and other cities.Speaking at a protest demonstration outside NADRA office at Shahra-e-Faisal in Karachi, Deputy Convener of MQM’s Rabita Committee Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that Altaf Hussain applied for NICOP on April 4 but it has not been issued yet.He said some people were afraid of the return of Altaf Hussain as he was the only hope of people to fight for their rights.Addressing the gathering, member of MQM Rabita Committee leader Haider Abbas Rizvi said that the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, during his Karachi visit had, directed Interior Minister to resolve the issue immediately.He said if the government should give the concrete reason if it does not want to issue NICOP.The MQM leaders demanded to expose those creating hurdles in the process of issuing NICOP to Altaf Hussain.On the other hand, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the government had no objection to issuance of an identity card to MQM chief Altaf Hussain.He said that MQM is only trying to complicate Altaf Hussain’s identity card issue through agitations.

Algeria closes Libya embassy over 'real and imminent threat'

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ALGIERS (AFP) - Algeria has closed its embassy and its consulate in Tripoli because of a real and imminent threat to its diplomats, the foreign ministry announced on Friday.The decision was taken in coordination with the Libyan authorities, after information was received about the existence of a real and imminent threat targeting our diplomats and consular staff.The ministry said the temporary measure was dictated by the difficult security conditions in Libya, while emphasising Algerias support for the authorities in Tripoli and their efforts to build the rule of law and establish peace and security throughout the country.Libya has suffered a series of attacks on its leaders and foreign diplomats in the increasingly lawless North African country, three years after NATO-backed rebels ended Moamer Kadhafis four-decade dictatorship.The Jordanian ambassador Fawaz Aitan was seized in April by masked gunmen as he was being driven to work in Tripoli. They shot at his car and wounded his driver.Aitan was freed and flown home on Tuesday in an exchange for a Libyan jihadist jailed in Jordan for plotting bomb attacks.Diplomats in Tripoli say militias which fought to topple Kadhafi in 2011 often carry out kidnappings to pressure foreign governments into releasing Libyans held abroad.Libyas central government has struggled to assert its control over the vast, mostly desert country, which is awash with heavy weapons and effectively ruled by a patchwork of former rebel militias.In March, the authorities acknowledged for the first time the existence of terrorist groups, particularly in Benghazi but also elsewhere in the east.
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