Sunday 24 August 2014

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Dunya TV

Injured Clarke out of opening Zimbabwe clash

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SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian captain Michael Clarke was Monday ruled out of the team's triangular series opener against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club with a hamstring injury. Clarke tweaked his left hamstring during Australia's first training session on Friday, but jogged several laps on Saturday to lend hope that he may recover in time.But coach Darren Lehmann said he was not fit enough to take part in Monday's game.Michael had a fitness test at training and unfortunately hasn't come through that well enough to be available for selection in game one, he said in a statement. He will continue intensive treatment on his hamstring and we'll monitor his progress ahead of game two on Wednesday.George Bailey will assume the captaincy for the first game of the two-week tri-series that also involves South Africa.

Air strikes pound Gaza as Israel presses offensive

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GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli air strikes pounded Gaza Sunday, killing at least 16 people, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the bloody offensive would continue as long as necessary.Israel and Hamas, who have been fighting for 48 days, looked unlikely to end their deadly face-off even after Egypt called for an indefinite ceasefire and new truce talks to end a war that has killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and 68 Israelis, mostly soldiers.One of Sundays air strikes killed Hamas financial official Mohammed al-Ghul as he was travelling by car in Gaza City, Israels army said in a statement. Gaza medics confirmed the death.A later strike on northern Gaza killed a mother and four children from the same family, medics said, as the days death toll reached at least 16, including six children.Israels offensive began with the stated aim of stamping out rocket attacks from Gaza and was later expanded to include the destruction of Hamas tunnels used for cross-border attacks inside Israel.Operation Protective Edge will continue until its aims are achieved... it may take time, Netanyahu said of the offensive launched on July 8.Israel on Sunday carried out 27 strikes while more than 120 rockets were fired from Gaza, including one intercepted on Sunday evening over Jerusalem, the army said. One rocket caused damage to a house but no one was injured, it added.The Israeli ambulance service said that three people were wounded by Palestinian fire at the Erez crossing point between Israel and Gaza, at least one of them seriously.Police identified the injured as Arab public transport drivers waiting in the crossings car park.At a special cabinet session at the defence ministry in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu repeated his warning of harsh retribution for the death of a four-year-old Israeli child on Friday in a rocket strike on a kibbutz near the Gaza border.Hamas is paying, and will continue to pay, a heavy price for the crimes it carries out, he said.I call on residents of Gaza to immediately leave any structure from which Hamas carries out terror activity against us. All such sites are a target for us.Hamas dismissed Netanyahus warnings to civilians as a sign of weakness.The occupation (Israel) has failed in confronting the resistance (Hamas) in the field, and has resorted to threats of assassination and other threats designed to scare us. But the will of our people will not be broken, spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.Netanyahu also added a veiled warning to neighbouring Lebanon and Syria after overnight rocket fire into Israel.Earlier on Sunday, five rockets fired from Syrian-controlled territory slammed into the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights but caused no casualties, the Israeli army said.Late Saturday, a rocket fired from Lebanon struck northern Israel, causing damage but no casualties.Israel has so far not responded to either attack.In a statement on Saturday, the Egyptian foreign ministry urged concerned parties in the Gaza conflict to accept an open-ended truce and resume indirect negotiations in Cairo.But there was still no sign of either side adopting the ceasefire.Since a previous round of frantic Egyptian diplomacy collapsed on Tuesday, shattering nine days of calm, around 100 Palestinians and the Israeli boy have been killed in the violence.Previous ceasefires with fixed timeframes have failed to give Egyptian mediators shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams enough time to broker a deal acceptable to both.Hamas, Gazas Islamist de facto ruler, says any truce must provide for a lifting of Israels crippling eight-year blockade of the territory and the opening of a seaport and airport.The invitation to new truce talks came after a meeting on Saturday between Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. What interests us now is putting a stop to the bloodshed, Abbas said.As soon as a ceasefire goes into effect, the two sides can sit down and discuss their demands, he said, adding that, as in previous rounds of talks, Hamas would be represented in the Palestinian delegation.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP that any proposal offered to the movement will be discussed.At least than 2,120 Palestinians and 68 people on the Israeli side, all but four of them soldiers, have been killed since July 8.The United Nations says 70 percent of the Palestinian victims were civilians, and that among the dead were 478 children.Around 460,000 people have fled their homes in Gaza -- more than a quarter of the densely-populated Mediterranean enclaves 1.8 million population.

Iran says it downed Israeli drone over nuclear site

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TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard said it has brought down an Israeli stealth drone above the Natanz uranium enrichment site in the centre of the country.A spy drone of the Zionist regime (Israel) was brought down by a missile... This stealth drone was trying to approach the Natanz nuclear zone, the corps said in a statement on its official website sepahnews.com.This act demonstrates a new adventurism by the Zionist regime... The Revolutionary Guard and the other armed forces reserve the right to respond to this act, the statement added.An Israeli spokesman told AFP in Jerusalem on Sunday that the military does not address foreign media reports.Natanz is Iran's main uranium enrichment site, housing more than 16,000 centrifuges. Around 3,000 more are at the Fordo plant, buried inside a mountain and hard to destroy.Israel has often threatened to attack Iranian nuclear installations.Iran and the P51 powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany -- reached a six-month interim agreement under which Iran suspended part of its nuclear activities in return for a partial lifting of international sanctions.In July that deal was extended by four months until November 24 to give the two sides more time to negotiate a final accord aimed at ending 10 years of tensions over Iran's nuclear programme.The sides remain split on how much uranium enrichment Iran should be allowed to carry out.Washington wants Tehran to slash its programme by three-quarters, but Iran wants to expand enrichment ten-fold by 2021, chiefly to produce fuel for its Bushehr nuclear power plant.Israel, a sworn enemy of Iran, opposes any agreement allowing Tehran to keep part of its uranium enrichment programme, saying Iran could use the material to make an atomic bomb.Iran has consistently denied wanting to make nuclear weapons.

More than 500 dead in battle for Syria's Tabqa airport: NGO

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BEIRUT (AFP) - More than 500 Syrian soldiers and Islamic State fighters died in a six-day battle for Tabqa airport, last stronghold of the Damascus regime in the northern province of Raqa, a monitor said Sunday.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 346 jihadists and 25 Syrian troops had been killed in the fighting at the airport since last Tuesday, with another 170 soldiers dying during fierce fighting on Sunday.One hundred and seventy Syrian soldiers were killed on Sunday in the offensive which led to the IS jihadists seizing Tabqa airport, the Observatory said in an email to AFP.Syrian state television said troops had staged an evacuation of the airport.After heavy fighting by the forces defending the Tabqa airport, our forces implemented a regrouping operation after the evacuation of the airport, the broadcaster said in a breaking news alert.The airports capture came after IS fighters launched a fourth assault on Tabqa overnight, in a bid to cement their control over Raqa province.The airport was the last military position under army control in Raqa, after jihadists captured Brigade 93 and Division 17, killing dozens of soldiers, many of whom were beheaded.

Major 7.0-magnitude quake strikes Peru: USGS

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - A major 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked Peru Sunday, US experts said.The quake hit at 2321 GMT 42 kilometers (26 miles) east-northeast of Tambo at a depth of 58.9 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.Located 471 kilometers southeast of the capital Lima, it hit at at 23:21 GMT. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cautioned that earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within 100 kilometers of the earthquake epicenter.Authorities in the region of the epicenter should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action, it added.

Tennis: Djokovic, Sharapova, set to shine in New York night

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NEW YORK (AFP) - World number one Novak Djokovic, seeking to consolidate his Wimbledon win, is one of four former champions in action Monday on the first day of the US Open.The Serbian star ended a maddening spate of near-misses in majors with a five-set triumph over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.With his seventh Grand Slam title in hand, the 27-year-old will be trying to claim a second title at Flushing Meadows, where he won the title in 2011 but finished runner-up in 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2013.It's going to be a long two weeks' journey for all of us, said Djokovic, who will play 79th-ranked Argentinian Diego Schwartzman under the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium court.The two have never met, and Djokovic said he'd be relying on scouting reports from his team to prepare.Obviously it's never easy when you play against somebody you have never played against, Djokovic said. He's a young player from Argentina, and, sure playing on the center court for him is a great experience. He has nothing to lose.The absence of defending champion Rafael Nadal with a right wrist injury has opened up the men's draw somewhat, but many reckon the second-seeded Federer stands to benefit the most from the Spaniard's absence.The Swiss great, who claimed the last of his 17 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 2012, is enjoying a resurgence that included a picture-perfect build-up to the US Open.Favorites? I leave it to the people to really judge who is the one, two, three or number four favorite, said Djokovic, who on paper faces a tougher path to the final with 2012 champion Andy Murray, French dangerman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and big-serving American John Isner in his quarter.I know that there is one thing for sure, Djokovic said. Everybody is starting from scratch. Everybody starts from Monday.Murray, seeded eighth, hasn't reached a final of any kind since his Wimbledon triumph last year, but he says he has at last regained the level of fitness he had before back trouble slowed him late in 2013.He was pleased to be getting underway on Monday with a potentially tricky first-round match against Dutch veteran Robin Haase on Louis Armstrong Stadium.Former women's champions Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams are also in action on Monday, along with reigning Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, Tsonga, US hope Sloane Stephens and rising Canadian star Milos Raonic.While younger sister Serena Williams manages the pressure of expectations as the two-time defending champion, Venus Williams -- who lifted the trophy in 2000 and 2001 -- will be trying to make it past the second round for the first time since 2010.The 34-year-old American, ranked 20th in the world opens against a veteran she has beaten in three past encounters -- 43-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm.Sharapova won the title in 2006 but missed last year's US Open with a shoulder injury. The reigning French Open champion will take on fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko on Monday night.Kirilenko, 27, is a former top-10 player who is currently ranked 113th and has endured an injury-plagued season.Sharapova, who has won five of her seven career meetings with Kirilenko, said it was nevertheless a potentially awkward match-up.You never know because I think it's also an opportunity for someone like that to come in and have no expectations because they haven't really played a match and (they can) go out and swing away, she said.Sometimes that's a very dangerous opponent.The glamorous Sharapova has long been a favorite of the New York crowds, whose boisterous behavior is part of the fabric of the US Open.Fifth-seeded Raonic thrives on the hectic atmosphere at the final Grand Slam of the year.I like the rowdiness here particularly, said Raonic, who was warily looking forward to a meeting with Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel on Monday.Especially being the first match for me and he's already played three matches, it's going to be about finding myself in that first match, figuring out what I need to do, and sort of finding my range and keeping it very simple and not really trying to do much, Raonic said.

Football: Messi double hands Enrique winning start

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MADRID (AFP) - Luis Enrique got off to a winning start as Barcelona manager as they shrugged off Javier Mascherano's first-half red card to beat Elche 3-0 thanks to two goals from Lionel Messi on Sunday.Messi put the disappointment of losing the World Cup final in his last competitive outing behind him to open the scoring, but Barca were momentarily rocked by Mascherano's dismissal for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity moments later.However, 18-year-old Munir El Haddadi made the game safe with a classy lofted finish on his debut a minute into the second-half before Messi rounded off the scoring.I have to be delighted with that start, said Enrique.As we expected we had a little bit of difficulty creating chances at the start because Elche are very well-organised defensively, but bit-by-bit we began to find space and opportunities.Messi looked back to his best throughout the 90 minutes after his tired showings towards the end of the World Cup and Enrique was in no doubt that he has inherited the best player in the world.With Leo playing in his element we have taken the first step and now we move onto the second.It is clear that Messi is the best player in the world. He has a unique quality that it is easy to see. Giving assists, scoring goals, pressing, defending he does everything.Two goals in Barca's final pre-season friendly romp over Mexican side Club Leon on Monday had been enough to earn Munir his senior debut in the absence of the injured Neymar and suspended Luis Suarez.And it was the 18-year-old who had the first meaningful effort of the game as he smashed a shot off the angle of post and bar on 22 minutes.Barca's captain for the evening Andres Iniesta then also hit the bar from range as the hosts dominated possession without clearing too many clear-cut chances.However, Elche were punished for giving away possession cheaply near their own area three minutes before half-time as Sergio Busquets played in Messi and he sidestepped two defenders before slotting home on his trusted left foot.Minutes later, though, the complexion of the game appeared to have changed as Mascherano was shown a straight red card for clipping Garry Rodrigues as he galloped clear on goal.Instead, Barca were barely bothered by Elche's numerical advantage as Munir flicked home Ivan Rakitic's pass into the far corner a minute after the restart.Messi then put a seal on a comfortable three points for Barca as he again left three Elche defenders trailing before side-footing past the helpless Vicente Guaita.Earlier, Eibar made a dream start to their first ever La Liga campaign with a 1-0 win over Basque rivals Real Sociedad in front of a 5,200 capacity crowd.Javi Lara scored the only goal of the game with a wonderful curling free-kick just before half-time.And Enrique's old side Celta Vigo also made a winning start as they beat Getafe 3-1 at Balaidos.

Formula One: Australian Ricciardo wins Belgian GP

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SPA (AFP) - Nico Rosberg rode his luck to open up a clear 29-points championship advantage over Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton on Sunday when he finished second behind triumphant Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the Belgian Grand Prix.Ricciardo, of Red Bull, won with a bold and well-judged drive in a dramatic race that saw Hamilton lead from the start, but suffer a second-lap puncture following a collision with Rosberg.It was Red Bull's 50th win in Formula One and a beaming Ricciardo was hailed with cheers, while Rosberg was booed by the crowd at the end of the race. It appeared that Hamilton was the victim of a misjudged passing move by the German.The damage wrecked his race and may have ruined his title bid with seven of this year's 19 races remaining.I have apologized to Lewis... A bad result for Lewis and a bad result for the Mercedes team, said Mercedes team chief Niki Lauda.After struggling to regain his momentum, the 29-year-old Briton retired with four of the 44 laps remaining leaving Rosberg content to take his first podium finish in Belgium at the eighth attempt. He came 3.3 seconds behind the beaming Ricciardo.It was Ricciardo's third win in six races in his first season with Red Bull since succeeding fellow Australian Mark Webber as teammate to four-time champion German Sebastian Vettel, who came home fifth.Finns Valtteri Bottas of Williams and Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari came home third and fourth ahead of Vettel, Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen and his McLaren team-mate Briton Jenson Button who were all engaged in a furious final tussle for positions.On a welcome dry, if cool, afternoon in the Ardennes, Rosberg made a poor start from his 11th career pole position and Hamilton, from second on the grid, pulled alongside and outside to lead as they surged round the hairpin at La Source.The 2008 world champion pulled clear on the entry to Eau Rouge and up the hill towards Radillon where a charging Vettel, who had taken second place, attacked without success and ran off track, falling back into third behind Fernando Alonso.The Spaniard, who had struggled to leave the grid for the formation lap and required assistance to start, was handed a five seconds penalty - to be added to a pit stop - for the misdemeanor, but raced with great elan and determination.That persistence put him in the box seat when, on lap two, Rosberg attempted a slipstreaming pass on leader Hamilton at Les Combes where the Briton defended his line and, in another of his catalogue of misfortunes this year, suffered a puncture as the German's front wing slashed into his left rear tyre.Nico hit me, Nico hit me said an incredulous Hamilton.Hamilton was forced to limp back to the pits with a puncture and, after his stop, rejoined in 19th position while Rosberg battled on with half his front wing missing until he pitted from the lead after eight laps.Nico, we advise you to hang it out, he was told, a decision that cost him several laps at reduced potential. He also had a struggle to remove a strand of debris from Hamilton's punctured tyre that was flicking into his cockpit.It was clear he was struggling for outright pace and, following his stop, the aggressive Ricciardo took control at the front before he pitted after 12 laps and handed the lead to Bottas.The Finn came in just a lap later passing the lead to Button, briefly, before he pitted and Ricciardo regained the ascendancy in a flurry of positional changes and pit stops before the race began to settle down, albeit with the drivers on contrasting tyre strategies.By lap 20, Ricciardo led Raikkonen, Vettel and Bottas with Magnussen fifth, Alonso sixth and Button seventh. Perez was eighth ahead of Rosberg and a luckless Hamilton down in 17th after making two pit stops.Raikkonen pitted again and Bottas climbed back to second.Rosberg was content to work his way back up to second behind Ricciardo, knowing his teammate and only serious title-rival Hamilton had little chance of scoring any points. The Australian pitted, rejoined behind Bottas and led again when Bottas stopped again for fresh tyres, rejoining fifth.All this left the young Australian out in front with 15 laps remaining, having driven flawlessly to head the field and leave Red Bull teammate Vettel struggling in his wake and unable to resist Bottas on lap 30. Rosberg stayed second ahead of Raikkonen, a four-time winner at Spa.Rosberg pitted for a final charge on soft tyres after 34 laps, immediately losing two places when Bottas passed him, but in a thrilling pass at Blanchimont he regained third and, seconds later, surged past Raikkonen to set up a final pursuit of Ricciardo.

Athletics: Farah breaks European two mile record

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LONDON (AFP) - Distance-running star Mo Farah marked his first appearance on a home track in more than 12 months by smashing Steve Ovett's 36-year-old British record for the rarely run two miles at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham on Sunday.The Olympic, world and European champion at both 5,000 and 10,000 metres, Farah won in a time of eight minutes 07.85 seconds as he comfortably surpassed the 8:13.51 secs mark of Ovett, the 1980 Olympic 800m champion.Early on I felt a bit tired and then as I got into it I just felt better and better, Farah said. I kept looking at the clock and thinking, 'I can do it, I can do it'.Farah won both the 5,000 and 10,000m at the European Championships in Zurich earlier this month, having started the season with an unconvincing marathon debut in London and then suffering a shock health scare which ruled him out of the Commonwealth Games.But, with next month's Great North Run in Gateshead, north-east England, set to be his final race of the season before he begins preparations for next year's World Championships in Beijing, Farah reflected on a roller-coaster campaign.When you're at the top it's harder. When you go through a struggle you are more determined, you want it more.Sometimes getting beaten or getting ill makes you want it more.Farah collapsed after finishing second in the New York City Half-Marathon in March, was a disappointing eighth in the London Marathon the following month and missed the Commonwealth Games after having to be airlifted to hospital amid concerns over his heart.There was more home success as Lynsey Sharp reversed the placings at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow by beating Kenya's world champion Eunice Sum to win the 800m in 1:59:14.Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada won the men's 400m in 44.59 secs, with Britain's European champion Martyn Rooney third.Another London 2012 champion, Kenya's David Rudisha, won the rarely run 600m, having taken 800m Olympic gold two years ago.In the women's 400m, Britain's world champion Christine Ohuruogu won in 51.40 secs while Commonwealth gold medallist Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica was first home in the women's 400m hurdles.

New opening partner no worry for Cook

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LONDON (AFP) - England captain Alastair Cook does not expect his role in the one-day set-up to change should he find himself opening alongside Alex Hales rather than Ian Bell during the upcoming series with world champions India.Fresh from their 3-1 Test success against the tourists, England face India in the first of five one-day internationals at Bristol on Monday as both sides continue their preparations ahead of next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.England have called up dynamic opener Hales, who has already scored a Twenty20 international hundred.Concerns have been expressed that a combination of Cook and Bell, whose one-day strike rate is 76, means England routinely make too slow a start with the bat in the 50-over game.But there are hopes Hales can be the man to make sure England make the most of the field restrictions in the opening overs given his strike-rate of close to a 100.However, Cook said Sunday: I don't think it changes my role. The job of the top four or five is to try and score a hundred, and win the game by setting up the game.You have to try and do it in your way. I have got to convert starts into scores. That's the job of an opener.When you win one-day matches, it's a common theme one of the top four or five has scored a hundred.He added: It's nice to know we've got different options, and we'll look at them over the next few months. So that when we come to the World Cup, we're very clear on what we think our best side will be.Turning to India, who beat England in last year's Champions Trophy final at Edgbaston, Cook said: A change of format will obviously do them good.It's not quite the same groundhog day for them, probably.We've got to remember they're world champions at 50 overs, so they obviously know what they're doing and will probably go into this as favourites.But if we play well, we're hard to beat in our conditions.

Flintoff relishes return to centre stage

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LONDON (AFP) - Andrew Flintoff said he had enjoyed being back in the spotlight during English county cricket's Twenty20 finals day with Lancashire but added: If we'd won it would have been a hundred times better.Former England captain Flintoff was set to be nothing much more than a squad player at Edgbaston on Saturday, having played just two matches since coming out of retirement at the start of this season.But he found himself thrust into a big-match environment once again after Kabir Ali was injured in the semi-final win over Hampshire.The 36-year-old all-rounder, whose international career ended after England's 2005 Ashes series win following a succession of injuries, promptly dismissed former Test team-mate Ian Bell on the Warwickshire batsman's home ground with his first ball of the final.As if that was not enough, he took Lancashire close to victory with two sixes off Oliver Hannon-Dalby at the end of the 19th over only for the visitors to lose by four runs.Flintoff revealed Sunday he had apologised to 25-year-old Hannon-Dalby after 'sledging' the bowler as the final approached its tense climax.I had one of those horrible things where my eyes went a little bit, and I started to get really into it, Flintoff, speaking on the Flintoff and Holdcroft podcast, said Sunday.I started to think ... 'I can win this, I'm enjoying this, it's brilliant this'.I walked past him and he had a big grin on his face and he was staring at me.I shouted at him, 'What are you looking at?', but I put another word in.It's like shouting at strangers -- I didn't even know him. I felt really bad -- 'why have you done that?'.Flintoff added: We gave the crowd false hope. Fair play to the Warwickshire lads afterwards. They were deserving winners and I apologised to the big lad for shouting at him.If we'd won it would have been a hundred times better.Flintoff explained he had been training alone while filming a television show about fish and chips, taking bowling boots and a cricket ball with him on a trip to the Scottish Highlands earlier in the week.I practised well on Friday, and I put myself in the frame but I didn't play the semi-final, I didn't expect to but there was the chance if someone went down injured I'd get a game, he said.Ali's injury gave him his chance, not that Flintoff could quite believe it at first.I thought, 'how is this happening, it's Finals Day and I've been frying fish for three weeks, Flintoff said.I warmed up well and hadn't batted since the morning, and I thought 'I won't get in, I'm number nine'.Meanwhile Bell said winning a trophy with Warwickshire, his native county, meant as much to him as any England success he had enjoyed. To win Finals Day is huge but to do it at home is unbelievable, Bell told the England and Wales Cricket Board's YouTube channel.The guys should enjoy it over the next couple of weeks. It was a great day for Warwickshire, added Bell, set to feature in England's five-match one-day series with India that is due to get underway in Bristol on Monday.Some of our batting in the middle was incredible. It wasn't just brutal with power, it was clever as well.It's nice to pop in for one day of T20 among all the hard work of a seasonAny chance I get to play for the club I love doing it.When you win a trophy it means just as much as when you win for England.

Afzal Khan reveals rigging in 2013 elections

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LAHORE (Dunya News/Web Desk) – Former Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) additional ‎secretary Muhammad Afzal Khan made startling revelations about rigging in 2013 elections and ‎alleged that justice (r) Riaz Kiyani and former chief justice Ifthikhar Chaudhry was responsible ‎for disrupting the elections.‎Khan has opened a Pandora’s Box by boldly claiming that people’s mandate was stolen in the ‎‎2013 elections, adding that Kiyani was majorly responsible for corruption.Khan alleged that Ifthikhar Chaudhry appointed returning officers instead of the ECP and ‎Tasaduq Hussian Jillani was part of the great game as well.‎The former additional secretary rhetorically said that how Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar knew ‎that votes were unverifiable even though they were sealed.‎Afzal Khan claimed that election tribunal’s integrity has been compromised, as they have been ‎bribed by undue favors. He endorsed Imran Khan’s rigging claims.‎Afzal Khan alleged that former chief election commissioner Fakhruddin G Ebrahim had ‎overlooked the colossal rigging on purpose, as he was terrified of ‎whistle blowing.

Report of Model Town incident to be made public today

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Islamabad (Online): Sources told Online that the team of sensitive departments probing the incident has held Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif mainly responsible for the incident.At least 14 workers of Pakisan Awami Tehreek (PAT) were killed and more than 90 were injured in the Model Town on June 17.According to the report, the deceased and injured persons were innocent and the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the then Law Minister Rana Sanaulla and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Dr Tauqeer were wholly solely responsible for the incident.After the incident, the PAT chief Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri held Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif responsible for the unfortunate incident and he along with his party activists has also organised a protest sit-in in Islamabad and his main demand is registration of FIR of the Model Town incident and bringing the involved and responsible people to justice.

American hostage released by Syrian Islamic rebel group

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - A young American who has been held hostage for two years by an Islamic rebel group in Syria was released Sunday to UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, US and UN officials said.Finally, he is returning home, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement, confirming the release of Theo Curtis, an American researcher whose disappearance in Syria had not been previously reported. Curtis was handed over to UN peacekeepers in the village of Al Rafid, Quneitra in the Golan Heights and after undergoing a medical checkup was turned over to US representatives, the United Nations said.The news of his release came less than a week after a video surfaced showing the slaying of captive US journalist James Foley at the hands of an Islamic State militant. Particularly after a week marked by unspeakable tragedy, we are all relieved and grateful knowing that Theo Curtis is coming home after so much time held in the clutches of Jabhat Al-Nusrah, Kerry said referring to the Al-Nusra Front, another Islamic rebel group operating in Syria.Kerry said the United States had reached out to more than two dozen countries for help in securing Curtis' release, and that of any other American held hostage in Syria.Kerry's statement said Curtis' mother was from Massachusetts and had worked indefatigably to keep hope alive that this day could be a reality.US National Security Adviser Susan Rice said she expected Curtis to be reunited with his family shortly.Just as we celebrate Theo's freedom, we hold in our thoughts and prayers the Americans who remain in captivity in Syria, she said.She recalled Foley's killing, which she said shocked the conscience of the world, and said the United States will continue to use all of the tools at our disposal to see that the remaining American hostages are freed.

PML-N demonstrates street power in Faisalabad

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FAISLABAD (Dunya News) – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ‎demonstrates street power in Faisalabad, as thousands of protestors gathered ‎to respond to anti-state rallies.PML leaders made it clear that Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif would not ‎resign at any cost.The rally led by former law minister Rana Sanaullah started from Zilla Council ‎and went on until the clock tower where workers chanted slogans in favor of ‎the government and the perpetuation of democracy.‎Protestors including a large number of women were seen holding pictures of ‎Nawaz Sharif and flags of PML-N. ‎Addressing the rallyRana Mashood said that this was a conspiracy attempting to ‎dethrone the PM, and all coalition partners were on the same page, for the ‎upholding of democracy. Mashood added that there would be no compromise ‎on the supremacy of the constitution and democracy.‎Other PML-N leaders while commenting on the current political situation said ‎that no one would be allowed to invade Pakistan through ‘mob politics’.
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