Saturday 23 August 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Israeli strikes kill 10 in Gaza as Egypt readies talks

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GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israel pounded Gaza with 60 air strikes on Saturday, killing 10 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and bringing down a 12-storey apartment block as Egypt called for new truce talks.Since a previous round of frantic Egyptian diplomacy collapsed last Tuesday, shattering nine days of calm, 86 Palestinians and a four-year-old Israeli boy have been killed in the violence.Israel on Saturday sent text messages, voice mails and leaflets warning Palestinians that every house from which militant activity is carried out, will be targeted and to stay away from terrorists.Israel insists on full safety for millions of citizens who live in daily fear of rocket fire, while Hamas insists that Israel must end its eight-year blockade of the territory as part of any truce.At least 2,103 Palestinians and 68 people on the Israeli side, all but four of them soldiers, have been killed since July 8.The UN says 70 percent of the Palestinians who have died were civilians, and that among the dead are 478 children.Israel said it had carried out 60 air strikes over Gaza on Saturday and that around 71 rockets and mortar rounds from Gaza hit Israel, with another 17 intercepted, including one over Tel Aviv.Late Saturday a rocket fired from Lebanon struck the Upper Galilee causing damage to a structure, police and the army said, with a security source telling AFP it hit a Druse village.No group took responsibility for what appeared to be a show of support for Hamas, in an act similar to rocket launches from Lebanon last month.There was no immediate Israeli response but a Lebanese security source said Israeli helicopters were seen over the border area.The deadliest Israeli air strike on Gaza levelled a home in Al-Zawayda in the centre of the Strip, killing a couple, their sons aged three and four, and a 45-year-old aunt, medics said.Neighbours said the family house had been bombed earlier in the conflict and that the family had returned to camp out in the ruins, when it was hit overnight by an F16.Air strikes killed a 64-year-old man south of Gaza City, and in the town of Deir al-Balah a 12-year-old boy and his 38-year-old mother, as well as another 43-year-old woman.In the heart of Gaza City an Israeli air strike levelled an apartment building at dusk, wounding at least 18 people, 10 of them children, emergency services said.Residents in the 12-storey building were called 10 minutes before the attack and told to evacuate, sparking a stampede as dozens of people ran down to the street, neighbours said.Two missiles then slammed into the complex, reducing it to a pile of dusty rubble and sparking panic in the area, witnesses said.An Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP a Hamas military operations room had been located in the building.Veiled women wept as they stumbled down the street, cradling young children. Dozens of families were said to live in the building, adding to the 460,000 people already displaced by the war in Gaza -- more than a quarter of the enclave's 1.8 million population.They called some residents and said 'evacuate, the tower will be shelled'. We escaped to my neighbour and in minutes they destroyed it, said Sanaa Joda, who lived in the building.Another air strike later destroyed a car in Gaza City, killing one person and wounding 11, medics said.The intensified air strikes came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed harsh retribution for the killing of a four-year-old boy at his home in kibbutz Nahal Oz on Friday.One Israeli child and at least 478 Palestinian children have been killed since the conflict began, UNICEF said, in the deadliest fighting since the 2005 end of the second intifada.But speaking to community heads in the south, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said Israel was attempting to navigate events towards a return to negotiations.I am convinced the other side in its condition needs a ceasefire more than we do. We need to see that we direct things diplomatically... to a place in which we'll achieve quiet and security for a longer period, he said.Egypt's foreign ministry issued a statement calling on concerned parties to accept a ceasefire of unlimited duration and to resume indirect negotiations in Cairo.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP that any proposal offered to the movement will be discussed.Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said that what interests us now is putting a stop to the bloodshed.As soon as a ceasefire goes into effect, the two sides can sit down and discuss their demands, he said after meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Abbas's meeting with Sisi came after he held two rounds of talks in Qatar on Thursday and Friday with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, whose Islamist movement is the de facto ruler of Gaza.

Car bombs kill 21 in Iraq's Kirkuk

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KIRKUK (AFP) - Three near-simultaneous car bombs exploded in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Saturday, killing 21 people and wounding 118, a senior police officer and a doctor said.Two of the bombs exploded near buildings under construction that were used as observation positions by security forces, while the third struck the entrance to a market.The bombings come as Iraqi federal and Kurdish security forces battle a jihadist-led militant offensive that was launched in June and has overrun large areas of five provinces.In the early days of the onslaught, Iraqi soldiers left their positions in oil-rich Kirkuk province, the capital of which is the city of the same name.This cleared the way for Kurdish forces to take control of it and other disputed northern areas that they have long wanted to incorporate into their autonomous region, over the strong objection of Baghdad.

New Afghan president to take office September 2: Karzai

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KABUL (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday his successor would take office on September 2, despite a slow-moving vote audit designed to eliminate fraudulent ballots cast for the two contenders.The Afghan government is totally ready for the inauguration ceremony of the new president on the date of September 2, the presidential palace said in a statement.The date would not change, according to the statement, which was issued following talks between Karzai and the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan Jan Kubis.The new president was due to be inaugurated on August 2, in Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power, but the government has been paralysed for months after the first round of the presidential election failed to produce a clear winner and the second round of voting in June triggered allegations of massive fraud.As fears grew of a return to civil war, the United States last month brokered an emergency deal designed to end the impasse between poll rivals Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank economist, and former anti-Taliban fighter Abdullah Abdullah.But neither candidate appears willing to back down, and the dispute looks set to break out again in the coming days when early results emerge from an anti-fraud audit of all eight million votes.The audit has checked more than 60 percent of votes, and the next stage of invalidating fraudulent ballots will likely raise tensions between the candidates -- who are also meant to be in talks about a post-election unity government.The United States had been pushing for the next president to be inaugurated before a NATO summit starting on September 4, which should sign off on follow-up support after the transatlantic alliance's combat mission in Afghanistan ends this year.The political crisis would worsen sharply if either candidate pulls out of the audit or rejects its outcome, with possible angry street protests in Kabul by aggrieved supporters set to pose a major challenge to the national security forces.The election deadlock has revived ethnic divisions that lay behind the 1990s civil war in Afghanistan.Many of Ghani's supporters are Pashtuns in the south and east, while Abdullah's loyalists are Tajiks and other northern groups.Uncertainty has also shaken the fragile economy, which is dependent on falling aid funding as the 13-year international effort to develop Afghanistan winds down.

Libya Islamist militias 'seize Tripoli airport'

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TRIPOLI (AFP) - Islamist fighters in the Fajr Libya (Libyan Dawn) coalition said on Saturday they have captured Tripoli's battered international airport after many days of clashes with nationalist militiamen.The claim followed a setback the previous night when a warplane raided Islamist positions, killing 13 fighters, a Fajr Libya spokesman said.If independent sources confirm the airport has changed hands, it would be a major defeat for the nationalist fighters from Zintan west of Tripoli who have held the airport since the fall of long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.A statement shown on screen on An-Nabaa television, regarded as close to the Islamists, said: Fajr Libya announces that it totally controls Tripoli international airport.Later a spokesman for the Islamist coalition, partly comprising men from Misrata, east of Tripoli, said its fighters have entered the airport and are mopping up pockets of resistance.On the political front, Libya's outgoing provisional General National Congress (GNC), which was dominated by Islamists, will resume operations despite being superseded by an elected national parliament, its spokesman said on Saturday.The strategic airport 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the Libyan capital, has been shut since July 13 amid clashes between the Islamists and the Zintan force, allies of rogue general Khalifa Haftar, based at Benghazi in eastern Libya and hostile to the Islamists.The Islamist coalition, which repeatedly claims successes against the nationalists, on Thursday organised a visit by Libyan journalists to an army base on the way to the airport, to prove they had taken it.Fajr Libya on Saturday accused the United Arab Emirates and Egypt of involvement in the Friday night air raid and an earlier strike when two unidentified aircraft bombarded Islamist positions on Monday night.The Emirates and Egypt are involved in this cowardly aggression, the coalition said in a statement read out to Libyan journalists in Tripoli.In the wake of the raids, the GNC will convene again despite being a national parliament being elected in June, its spokesman said.Friday night's air strike killed 13 Islamists and left 20 wounded, Ahmed Hadia, a Fajr Libya spokesman, said, updating an earlier toll.We reserve the right to respond at the opportune moment, Hadia said.The Islamist fighters believe Libya's provisional government and newly elected parliament are accomplices to these raids and in doing so have committed an act of treason that removes their legitimacy to govern the people, he said.The spokesman called on the GNC, whose mandate expired when the new parliament was sworn in earlier this month, to meet again to defend the sovereignty of the Libyan state.The Islamists were well represented in the GNC but non-Islamist blocs dominate the new parliament, which is holed up along with the provisional government in Tobruk 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) east of Tripoli, to avoid the violence in the capital.GNC spokesman Omar Ahmidan said on a local television station: The General National Congress will hold an emergency meeting in Tripoli to save the country's sovereignty.The latest deadly air strike targeted an army base to the south of Tripoli and a nearby warehouse, Fajr Libya said earlier.The drawn-out battle for the airport has sparked the worst violence in the Libyan capital since the 2011 uprising.Fajr Libya's allegation that the UAE and Egypt were behind the raids followed days of wild speculation about the provenance of the warplanes that swooped over the airport on Monday.Haftar claimed to be behind the first raid, but specialists doubted his ability to carry out such an attack.The Islamists suspected foreign aircraft acting at the behest of the Libyan government after the new parliament elected on June 25 called for foreign intervention to protect civilians.In neighbouring Egypt, new President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is hostile towards Islamists, though authorities in Cairo have refused to comment.On their way to the airport, Fajr Libya fighters seized from Zintan militiamen a Tiger armoured car developed by the UAE, television pictures showed.The Islamists claimed the vehicle was proof of UAE support for the Zintan fighters.

Strong 6.6-magnitude quake jolts central Chile: USGS

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SANTIAGO (AFP) - A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake jolted central Chile on Saturday, US geologists said, though there were no immediate reports of fatalities or serious damage.The quake struck at 6:32 pm (2232 GMT) about 108 kilometers (67 miles) northwest of the capital Santiago, at a depth of 32 kilometers. The national emergency office ONEMI, which put the strength of the quake at magnitude 6.4, said the temblor shook Santiago and five other regions in the South American nation.More than five million people live in the capital.Chile is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, and is located in the so-called Ring of Fire area of the Pacific Ocean basin.An 8.2-magnitude quake in northern Chile in April killed six people and forced a million to leave their homes in the region around Iquique.And a February 27, 2010 quake that struck just off the coast of Chile's Maule region measured 8.8 in magnitude, making it one of the largest ever recorded.It killed more than 500 people and inflicted an estimated $30 billion in damages.

Tennis: Murray confident of peaking for US Open

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NEW YORK (AFP) - Andy Murray, without a title since his 2013 Wimbledon triumph, finally has the training under his belt to boost his confidence going into the US Open, where he broke through for his first Grand Slam title in 2012.I feel good, the Scot said on Saturday. I have had a great practice week, had good fun on the court, enjoyed it, and worked hard.It's a far cry from Murray's position going into his title defence at Flushing Meadows last year, when he was already battling the back trouble that led to surgery.The recovery period made for a slow start to his 2014 campaign, and Murray said this is the fittest he's been for a Grand Slam in more than a year.Physically I'm better prepared than I was for the other Slams, he said. I got my best training block I have had since before Wimbledon last year down in Miami. Trained hard and, yeah, I feel ready.Murray, now coached by former women's world number one Amelie Mauresmo of France, has even taken positives from quarter-final exits in Toronto and Cincinnati, noting that in both tournaments he fell to eventual title winners -- first Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and then Roger Federer.I have been playing well the last few weeks, Murray said. You know, I lost to guys who won the events, and had quite big opportunities in both those matches. I'm happy.Murray, seeded eighth, could find both Tsonga and top-seeded world number one Novak Djokovic blocking his path to the semi-finals.But he wasn't dwelling on the potential difficulties ahead.He took some time off on Friday to head to nearby Paramus, New Jersey, to watch golf's world number one Rory McIlroy in action at the US PGA Tour's Barclays championship, then took in the United States 112-86 romp over Puerto Rico in a Basketball World Cup warm-up at Madison Square Garden.It was fun, he said. I have never been to watch golf live before. For a first experience, watching the best player in the world was a pretty good experience.I guess it's like pretty much any sport -- when you watch them up close, it's impressive.Then in the evening I went to watch the basketball at Madison Square Garden. I love watching basketball. But to sit that close again and see -- I mean, those guys, they're huge guys, but just unbelievably quick, great athletes. Yeah, it was a fun day for me.Murray will get down to business on Monday, when he faces Robin Haase of the Netherlands. Haase pushed Murray to five sets in the second round in 2011, a match Murray remembered as strange.It wasn't a particularly clean tennis match, recalled Murray, who went on to reach the semi-finals that year. But I found a way to get through.

Tennis: Wimbledon champ Kvitova takes New Haven title

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NEW HAVEN (AFP) - Reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova won her second WTA Connecticut Open title in three years Saturday, defeating Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4, 6-2 in the US Open warm-up event.Fourth-ranked Kvitova, the 2012 New Haven winner who lost to Simona Halep in last year's final, will be the women's third seed when the year's last Grand Slam tournament begins Monday in New York.It was great to win the title. I'm very happy to play the final like that, Kvitova said. Hopefully I can show that at the US Open.Rybarikova, ranked 68th, ousted top-seeded Halep on Tuesday but could not claim her fifth WTA title and the first since 2013 in Washington.Kvitova claimed her 13th career WTA crown and second of the year after her dramatic Wimbledon victory, adding momentum to her bid for another Grand Slam title in the Flushing Meadows fortnight.Never dropping a set, Kvitova lost only 18 games at New Haven and fired 31 winners to only six for Rybarikova.I needed some matches before the US Open so I'm very proud of getting through like that, Kvitova said.I'll enjoy today but from tomorrow I will focus on the US Open.Kvitova escaped a break-point to hold in the opening game of the match and broke in the sixth game to seize a 5-2 edge.But Rybarikova denied Kvitova on two set points in the eighth game and then broke back to 5-4, only to have Kvitova break again to take the set when Rybarikova netted a backhand.In the second set, Kvitova broke with a forehand winner for a 4-2 lead and broke again to claim the title with a service return winner on her first match-point opportunity.Magdalena in the first set was a very tough opponent, Kvitova said. I had to really focus until I got that first break in the second set.

Tennis: Rosol outlasts Janowicz for second ATP title

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WINSTON-SALEM (AFP) - Czech seventh seed Lukas Rosol saved two match points Saturday in rallying to defeat Poland's Jerzy Janowicz 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 in the ATP Winston-Salem tournament final.Rosol, whose only prior ATP title came last year at Bucharest, took the top prize of $80,280 (60,623 euros) and strong momentum heading into the US Open, the year's final Grand Slam event that starts Monday in New York.Down triple break point in the 11th game of the second set, Rosol battled back to hold for a 6-5 edge, denying Janowicz on all his of his break chances in the set.In the tie-breaker, Rosol won six of the last eight points to force a third set.Rosol denied Janowicz on a pair of match points in the 10th game of the final set, the first with an overhead smash and the next with a backhand volley winner, and held to equalize at 5-5.Rosol then broke for a 6-5 edge and captured the crown with his 12th ace on his first match-point opportunity.It was a very tough match for me, Rosol said.Janowicz, who lost his only prior ATP final two years ago in Paris to David Ferrer, missed a chance to become the first Polish winner of an ATP singles crown since Wojtek Fibak in 1982 at Chicago.Janowicz, ranked 19 spots below Rosol at 52nd, reached his first Grand Slam semi-final last year at Wimbledon and last week ousted eighth-ranked Grigor Dimitrov in the second round at the Cincinnati Masters.Rosol, six years older than his rival at 29, lost to Dimitrov in this year's Bucharest final and also settled for a runner-up finish last month at Stuttgart.A run into five quarter-finals since Wimbledon will boost Rosol to a career-best 27th in the world rankings on Monday.Janowicz, who won his only prior meeting with Rosol last year at Marseille, had lost his opening match in 10 events this year and until this week had not won back-to-back matches in 2014.The whole week is really amazing for me, Janowicz said. I'm happy I found my good tennis this week. I'm looking forward to next year.

Formula One: Rosberg on pole for Belgian GP

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SPA (AFP) - World championship leader Nico Rosberg turned the screw to gain another advantage over his rival and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton on Saturday when he secured his fourth straight pole for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.On a day of capricious and treacherous conditions at the majestic 7.004km Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the Ardennes forest, the 29-year-old German produced a meticulous performance that delivered an error-free and fastest lap to claim his seventh pole this year and the 11th of his career.He clocked a best lap of two minutes and 5.698 seconds to outpace Hamilton by two-tenths of a second.Behind the two Mercedes, defending four time champion Sebastian Vettel was third fastest for Red Bull ahead of two-time former champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and fifth placed Daniel Ricciardo, winner in Hungary a month ago, in the second Red Bull.Valtteri Bottas was sixth in the leading Williams ahead of Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen of McLaren, Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari, Felipe Massa in the second Williams and Jenson Button in the second McLaren.Hamilton struggled with his brakes and handling in the slippery conditions, but will start alongside Rosberg on the front row as he seeks to trim his 11 points lead in the drivers' championship with eight races remaining.It was the Mercedes team's first front row lockout since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, five races previously. For Rosberg, it also brought his first top three qualifying result in Belgium in eight attempts as he seeks to land his first podium finish at the venue.It is awesome to achieve this at this track, said Rosberg.This is one of the most special tracks of the year. It was not quite as difficult out there as some other occasions because the conditions were pretty much always consistent for intermediates.Asked where he felt he had found an advantage over Hamilton, he said: In Eau Rouge, I was feeling good through it, really going for it -- and maybe that is where I made my time.Hamilton, who has not started from pole in seven races since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, controlled his disappointment behind a pair of sunglasses after the session.I had a glazed front left brake disc, so the car was pulling to the left or right and there was nothing I could do, he explained.I couldn't get rid of it. I had to bring the brake balance further back, losing massive amounts out of Turn One. It's more fun in the dry, but it's still a huge challenge here, just as Nico said, and, considering that, it was quite good today.It would have been nice to have finished further up the grid, but obviously the gap is quite big, said Vettel, who had missed most of Friday practice during which a new engine was fitted to his car.It was the best we could have done today.Hamilton was not dismayed despite seeing Rosberg take his sixth pole in the seven races since he last took one.This is a circuit where you need to have confidence in the brakes. You could see in Q3, when I was going straight on as the left brake wasn't working for some reason, I don't know why.It went into glazing. When it glazes, it is very hard to recover, you have to put the brake balance forward. It's not that easy to clear it.He added that he was confident the problem will be resolved and he will have a trouble-free race.Over the evening, you can scrub it and get rid of the glazing. It will be okay for the race tomorrow. I am not too disappointed.If you look at previous years, P2 is the best place to start here. I started from pole here last year and got overtaken by (Sebastian) Vettel. I think it gives you the most opportunity at the start so I am happy to be up there.Rosberg was on top after Q1 when Pastor Maldonado of Lotus, who had a big spin at the chicane, and Nico Hulkenberg of Force India were among those eliminated.Missing the cut after Q2 were Daniil Kvyat, his Torro Rosso teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, Sergio Perez and his Sauber partner Adrian Sutil, Romain Grosjean of Lotus and Jules Bianchi for Marussia.

Golf: Roller-coaster Day, steady Furyk share PGA lead

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PARAMUS (AFP) - Australia's Jason Day endured a roller-coaster round while American Jim Furyk was steady and consistent as they shared the lead after Saturday's third round of the PGA Barclays tournament.Day fired a three-under par 68 that included seven birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey while Furyk shot a bogey-free 69 to leave them level for the lead on nine-under 204 after 54 holes in the first event of the US PGA's season-ending playoffs.It was an interesting day, Day said. I'm really excited to get back into contention again.Hunter Mahan was third on 205 with seven US compatriots another stroke adrift -- Cameron Tringale, Brendon Todd, Matt Kuchar, Kevin Na, Morgan Hoffmann, Kevin Chappell and Bo Van Pelt.A field of 125 qualifiers based on points will be trimmed for next week's Boston event and then cut again for the third stop in Chicago before only 30 players advance to the Tour Championship next month in Atlanta.Day seeks his first victory since the World Golf Championships Match Play tournament in February.Furyk has not won a title since the 2010 Tour Championship, missing out seven times when leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes entering his next chance to snap that streak Sunday.Furyk was a runner-up this year at the Players Championship, Quail Hollow and last month's Canadian Open, where he squandered a three-shot edge over the final 18 holes.I have been in this position a few times this year, Furyk said. It's still fresh in my mind, and that will make it easier to stay patient.My goal is to go out, not look at the leaderboard, play my style and get my putter going hot earlier.Furyk birdied the par-5 13th and par-4 16th to claim his spot at the top and in the odd couple last pairing with Day.The Aussie birded the par-3 second and par-5 third, but followed a birdie at the sixth with a bogey at seven.After starting the back-nine with a birdie, Day took a double-bogey 7 at the 13th, responded with back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16, then made bogey at the par-5 17th before closing with a birdie.I got off to a great start. Then the back nine began. Then the par-5s happened -- I clearly lost shots to the field there, Day said. I could have lost it there at 13 but I stuck it out and I played good golf after that.Keeping his cool kept Day in the hunt.When you get out of sync it's hard to get back into sync, he said. One of the things you can't do out here is react and I did a good job of staying with my swing.Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, seeking his fourth win in a row on a streak that includes the British Open and PGA Championship, fired a 70 to stand on 209, five strokes off the pace.Among his supporters this week in the crowd was Scotsman Andy Murray, the former Wimbledon and US Open champion set to contend when the year's last Grand Slam tennis event starts Monday in nearby New York.These guys are playing a different game out there, Murray said. You don't realize it until you see it.US star Phil Mickelson fired a 75 and missed the secondary cut to the low 70, but not without putting a tee shot at the drivable par-4 15th hole into a hospitality area for the second day in a row.Mickelson's tee shot at the 289-yard hole sailed left and, as it had done Friday, landed on artificial turf outside a hospitality tent, forcing the left-hander to trudge through the crowd and make them move while he lined up his approach from the oddest of places.He blasted over the green Friday and made bogey on his way to a round of 72. On Saturday, Mickelson found the green and two-putted for par.

Athletics: Bolt sets new 100m indoors best time of 9.98sec

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WARSAW (AFP) - Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt set a new best time of 9.98sec for the rarely run 100m indoors at Warsaws national football stadium on Saturday.The Olympic champion and world record holder (9.58s) eclipsed the previous best mark for the distance of 10.05 set by Namibian Frankie Fredericks in 1996.The Warsaw stadium had its roof closed for the event.Bolt, in action as preparation for Zurichs Diamond League meeting next week, said: Above all I wanted to get through this season without any injury as Ive suffered enough over the past few years.Over the next meetings starting with Zurich Im hoping to run ever quicker.Bolt received various gifts after his win over his compatriot Sheldon Mitchell and American Trell Kimmons, among them pictures of his 28th birthday celebrations in Warsaw on Thursday.Bolt had only run his first 100m of the year in an exhibition race on Rio de Janeiros Copacabana beach on August 17 in a time of 10.6sec.His last competitive individual appearance at the 100m came in Brussels last year while at last months Commonwealth Games in Glasgow he was part of the victorious Jamaican 4x100m relay team.Bolt will compete in his final Olympics in Rio in 2016 before calling time on his career in 2017 after the world championships.

Flintoff heroics can't stop Bears winning T20 title

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LONDON (AFP) - Andrew Flintoff returned to the Lancashire side five years to the day since he last played Test cricket but his efforts weren't quite enough to stop Warwickshire winning English county cricket's Twenty20 Blast final.Flintoff, who had made just two appearances in the competition after coming out of retirement earlier this year, was a late replacement for the injured Kabir Ali after not featuring in Lancashire's semi-final win over Hampshire at Edgbaston earlier in the day.But the 36-year-old all-rounder, whose international career ended after England's 2005 Ashes series win following a succession of injuries, showed he could still rise to a big occasion.He removed former England team-mate Ian Bell with his first ball, although the dismissal owed much to an excellent catch in the deep by Karl Brown.Warwickshire -- who compete in this competition as Birmingham Bears -- made 181 for five in their 20 overs after easing past a Surrey side featuring Kevin Pietersen (out for 13) in the semi-finals.Lancashire were struggling at 152 for seven but Flintoff smashed Oliver Hannon-Dalby for two sixes in the 19th over, a typical straight drive followed by a clubbing blow over midwicket.That left his native Lancashire needing 14 off the last over from Chris Woakes, one of Flintoff's successors as England pace-bowling all-rounder.But Flintoff couldn't repeat his heroics and he wasn't on strike when, with six needed off the last ball, Stephen Parry could only manage a single as Warwickshire won by four runs. I thought we had it in the bag and then 'Freddie' (Flintoff) hits a couple and all of a sudden it's game on again, said Warwickshire coach Dougie Brown.Credit to Woakes, he did exceptionally well and it's just amazing to get it over the line. It was a complete rollercoaster of emotions.We've done really well and come on as a side massively in the last two to three years, so to get across the line here on our home ground is incredible.Woakes, reflecting on Flintoff's contribution, said: He's still got it hasn't he?There was some good striking at the end there and it's just great to close it out. Your heart is going for the whole 20 overs.Lancashire captain Paul Horton said watching Flintoff, whose unbeaten 20 took just eight balls, made him think an unlikely win was on the cards.It looked that way at one stage with Freddie whacking them out of the ground, but all credit to Warwickshire, he said.

Interior Minister directs double security for Red Zone

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ISLAMABAD: (Dunya News) – Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has directed to double the security of Red Zone. The number of security officials is being doubled in the Red Zone. These directions have come after Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri’s claim that government has entered terrorists into Red Zone who may act tonight.Earlier, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri had claimed that government has entered terrorists into Red Zone who will carry out attacks tonight. Participants of the sit-in recited Azans as well.Talking to the sit-in, PAT Chief said that mobile services have been blocked in the Red Zone. He said that government has entered terrorists in the Red Zone in the name of moving containers.Dr. Qadri claimed that rulers’ ambitions were not good and the terrorists could act tonight. PAT Chief directed the participants of the sit-in to recite Azans after which all the participants turned towards Kabah to recite Azans. Participants prayed for safety of the sit-in and entire country afterwards.

Govt has entered terrorists into Red Zone: Tahirul Qadri

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ISLAMABAD: (Dunya News) – Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri has claimed that government has entered terrorists into Red Zone who will carry out attacks tonight. Participants of the sit-in recited Azans as well.Talking to the sit-in, PAT Chief said that mobile services have been blocked in the Red Zone. He said that government has entered terrorists in the Red Zone in the name of moving containers.Dr. Qadri claimed that rulers’ ambitions were not good and the terrorists could act tonight. PAT Chief directed the participants of the sit-in to recite Azans after which all the participants turned towards Kabah to recite Azans. Participants prayed for safety of the sit-in and entire country afterwards.

Asif Zardari summons PPP Central Executive Committee on August 25

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KARACHI: (Dunya News) – Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari has summoned PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting in Karachi on 25th of August.Former President Asif Ali Zardari spent a busy day today (Saturday) as he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Head Sirajul Haq in Mansoora and Pakistan Muslim League (Q) leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi.Holding press conference after meeting all these senior politicians, Asif Ali Zardari said that dialogue was the only solution to the current political crises in the country. He said that politicians must solve the crises in a political manner.PPP’s CEC meeting will be held in Karachi on Monday.
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