Saturday 20 September 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Tour ship runs aground by NYC's Statue of Liberty

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NEW YORK (AP) - A 120-foot (37-meter)-tall schooner ran aground and got stuck in shallow waters near the Statue of Liberty on Saturday afternoon, officials said. No injuries were reported and the 121 tourists on board were ferried in small boats to a lower Manhattan marina.The Clipper City, a 158-foot (48-meter)-long steel-hulled boat that has six sails, two topsails and two steel masts, hit something soft, like mud or a shoal and ran aground off Liberty Island just after 1 p.m., said Thomas Berton, owner of Manhattan by Sail, which operates the tall tourist ship.The ship was anchored in the harbor near the Statue of Liberty and was to be brought back to port by a tugboat after high tide, Berton said.He said the vessel was not damaged.The Clipper City didnt take on any water and there were no reports of pollution, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Frank Iannazzo-Simmons.The passengers were brought to the North Cove Marina via nine small rescue boats from the Coast Guard, fire and police departments.The original Clipper City was built in 1854 and was designed to carry lumber, according to Manhattan by Sails website. The ship, which has decommissioned in 1890 but underwent multiple restorations since then, has been making daily trips from the South Street Seaport since then, the website said.

Ronaldo scores 3 as Madrid thrashes Deportivo 8-2

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BARCELONA (AP) - Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick and Gareth Bale and Javier Hernandez added braces as Real Madrid rolled past Deportivo La Coruna 8-2 to emphatically end its two-game losing skid in the Spanish league on Saturday.After Madrid romped, defending champion Atletico Madrid slipped to a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo, while Granada quietly rose into a provisional share of second place with Atletico after a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao.Atletico and Granada are one point behind Barcelona before the leader visits Levante on Sunday.Ronaldo scored his first two goals on either side of James Rodriguezs superb long strike to decide the match at Riazor Stadium before halftime, and send Madrid on its way to its biggest away goal total in league play.Rodriguez then helped the Ballon dOr holder score his eighth goal in as many matches across all competitions in the second half as Deportivo completely crumbled.After back-to-back losses to Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid, Madrid rebounded by routing Basel 5-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday.This latest lopsided victory will go a long way to satisfying its fans, who turned on the team recently and directed jeers at captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas.After two losses we have scored 13 goals in two games, thats a sign we have responded well, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.Madrids second win in four rounds left it two points behind Atletico, and three points behind Barcelona before its match.Ronaldo combined physical prowess and fine touch for Madrids opening goal in the 22nd minute. He jumped and hung in the air before gently heading Alvaro Arbeloas cross over goalkeeper German Lux.Four minutes later, Lux could only watch again as Rodriguez curled an exquisite left-foot shot from outside the area over his head and just inside the corner of the goal.Helpless to stop Madrids first two goals, Lux was largely to blame for the third. The goalie rashly rushed out of his area when Karim Benzema ran onto Marcelos long pass, even though two defenders were in place to dispute the ball. His mistake left Ronaldo alone to get his second in the 41st.We have shown the talent we have in attack, Ancelotti said. We have a phenomenal player and others with a lot of talent. They looked for one another and thats what stood out.Deportivos Haris Medunjanin pulled one back from the penalty spot after Sergio Ramos used his hand to block Isaac Cuencas header in the 51st.But Marcelo spotted Bales run across the box and the Welshman used one touch to turn the ball beyond Lux, who grazed it but not enough to stop it from going in off the post in the 66th.Bales second goal was similar, except this time it was substitute Francisco Isco Alarcon who slipped the ball through for Bale to lift over Lux in the 74th.Ronaldo fired in his third in the 78th after Rodriguez stole the ball and set him up. Jose Toche Verdu scored a header for the hosts 10 minutes later.Hernandez went on for Bale in the 75th and the striker scored in the 88th with a long strike for his first goal since arriving this offseason from Manchester United. He added another goal in stoppage time against a ravaged defense.Madrids eight goals were well taken, but none compared to Pedro Hernandezs exquisite score to give Celta the lead in the 19th minute at Atletico.With Diego Godin draped all over him, the Chilean forward used a flick of his left heel with his back to the goal and the ball out of sight to redirect a long pass beyond stunned goalkeeper Miguel Moya.Atletico struck back with goals by center backs Miranda and Godin from set-pieces in the 31st and 41st. But Celta substitute Manuel Nolito Agudo converted a penalty in the 53rd after Miranda fouled Carles Planas, to secure the draw.Granada forward Jhon Cordoba scored the winner in the 40th minute at Sam Mames after Bilbaos Ander Iturraspe lost the ball. Bilbaos defeat came three days after the Basque side was held to 0-0 at home by Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.Also, Sergio Duda Barbosa scored a free kick in stoppage time to secure Malagas 2-2 draw at Espanyol.Christian Stuani scored a header in the 88th to put Espanyol on the cusp of victory, only for it to remain winless under new coach Sergio Gonzalez.

Cameroon gets 2019 African Cup, CAF backs Blatter

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ADDIS ABABA (AP) - West Africa will stage three straight African Cup of Nations tournaments after Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Guinea were chosen as hosts for the 2019, 2021 and 2023 events on Saturday.The decisions were announced by Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou after a two-day meeting of CAFs executive committee in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.Guineas selection as 2023 host was unscheduled and a surprise. CAF had said its executive committee would vote to decide only the 2019 and 2021 host countries. There was no immediate explanation why CAF also voted on the 2023 host.Bringing a week of meetings in Ethiopia to a close, Africas football body also repeated its backing for FIFA President Sepp Blatter for re-election next year, with Hayatou praising Blatter by saying the 78-year-old Swiss had helped Africa host its first World Cup in South Africa in 2010.We wouldnt have trusted him (Blatter) had we not seen what he had done for us in the past, Hayatou said at the African Union headquarters. He has helped us host the World Cup. Actually, I would have been FIFA president by now had it not been for Africans rejection (of me) for the post back in 2002.Hayatou challenged Blatter for the FIFA presidency in 2002 and lost.Africa has been a strong supporter of Blatter since he took FIFAs top position in 1998. CAF had already declared its support for Blatter at the FIFA Congress in Brazil ahead of this years World Cup.There was unanimous support for Blatter from CAFs executive committee, the confederation said on Saturday.Cameroon, Hayatous home country, won hosting rights for the African championship in 2019, the second time it has hosted and the first time since 1972. Ivory Coast hosted its only previous Cup of Nations in 1984 while Guinea has never held the tournament.Algeria and Zambia were the other countries bidding to host one of the cups in 2019 and 2021.Hayatou also announced an extension to the CAF ban on games in the Ebola-affected countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.Citing information from the World Health Organization, Hayatou said the ban on the three countries would remain in place until further notice, meaning Guinea and Sierra Leone could be forced to play all their remaining 2015 African Cup qualifiers outside their home country. Guinea played its first home game in the ongoing qualifiers in neutral Morocco and Sierra Leone is planning to play its scheduled home games in Congo.In its latest count, WHO says nearly 2,000 people have died from Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The deadly virus has also emerged in Nigeria and Senegal, but they havent been prevented from hosting African Cup qualifiers. Liberia isnt part of the final qualifying competition.Morocco will stage next years 16-team African Cup. The 2017 version doesnt have a host after Libya pulled out citing security concerns, forcing CAF to re-start the bidding process for that tournament.

Goffin and Sousa win to reach Moselle Open final

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METZ (AP) - Sixth-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal rallied to win 7-6 (6), 6-2 against second-seeded Gael Monfils and reach the Moselle Open final, where he faces eighth-seeded David Goffin of Belgium.Goffin, who eliminated top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarters, beat Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the other semifinal on Saturday.Sousa trailed 4-2 against Monfils, who blew two match points before losing to Roger Federer in the U.S. Open quarterfinals this month, but clawed his way back into the match and saved eight of the nine break points he faced. Monfils, the 2009 champion, had 13 aces but quickly fell 3-0 down in the second set.Both finalists will go for their second career titles on Sunday, and play each other for the second time. Goffin dropped only six games when he beat Sousa in the second round of the U.S. Open three weeks ago.Sousa, ranked 39th, won on indoor hard courts at Kuala Lumpur last year, while 45th-ranked Goffins only title was on outdoor clay in Kitzbuehel, Austria, in August.In a match for servers, Goffin edged Struff 14-12 in aces and won 85 percent of his first-serve points. After trading breaks in the first set, Goffin saved three break points on his serve in the second set and took his only opportunity on Struffs serve.The 61st-ranked Struff has lost his three semifinals this season.

Hamilton beats Rosberg to Singapore pole

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SINGAPORE (AP) - The margin was closer than ever, and their rivals a tougher challenge, yet the outcome was the same as usual Saturday as Mercedes locked out the front row for the Singapore Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton edging Nico Rosberg by a mere seven thousandths of a second.Hamilton claimed his sixth pole of the season with a time of 1 minute, 45.681 seconds in the qualifying session, and those few yards of advantage between first and second on the grid could prove crucial in Sundays night race on a tight and twisty Marina Bay circuit with few passing opportunities.Rosberg leads Hamilton by 22 points in the overall title race 238 vs. 216.Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo, who is the only genuine threat to the Mercedes pair for the Formula One championship, qualified third less than two tenths of a second off Hamilton. Ricciardo was ahead of his teammate and three-time defending Singapore champion Sebastian Vettel.Ferraris Fernando Alonso will start from fifth on the grid, and later tweeted that he was very, very happy while Williams driver Felipe Massa will start from sixth.Kimi Raikkonens Ferrari had engine trouble on the final flying lap and he had to park the car out on the circuit, but still qualified seventh, ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Williams.The top eight cars were separated by just half a second a remarkably small margin on what is one of the longest laps on the F1 calendar.Its the most incredible feeling on the last lap, with all the pressure, when the smallest mistake could lose you a lot, Hamilton said. After the first sequence of corners, I was already two tenths down, but I said to myself Lets keep going and see what happens.That was one of the most exciting qualifying sessions I have had for a long time, where there are a lot of people in the mix and you have to be spot on.When told over his radio that he had lost out to Hamilton by just seven thousandths, Rosberg shouted in frustration at missing pole in Singapore by less than a tenth of a second for the second year running. But he had a smile on his face later when lamenting the small margin.If I think back over the lap, seven thousandths is nothing, Rosberg said. A little bit here or there and I could have done it.The Mercedes team calculated after the session that seven thousandths was equivalent to 33.5 centimeters roughly one foot at the end of the lap had they started side by side.Ricciardo was enthused by how little separated him from the Mercedes cars, which have shared 12 of the 13 previous poles between them this season, usually by much more comfortable margins.Its definitely encouraging, Ricciardo said. We ended up a lot closer than we thought we would. There are a lot of cars within half a second or a second, so it will be a fun race.McLarens Kevin Magnussen qualified ninth and Toro Rossos Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top 10.Lotus driver Sebastian Grosjean qualified down in 15th, and the struggles of the team this season appeared to overwhelm him as he radioed back to his team: I cannot believe it Bloody engine When a team member began to explain the issue, the Frenchman shot back: I dont care. Its too much.Among the tail-enders, Marussias Jules Bianchi caught the eye by qualifying a full second faster than his teammate and the two Caterham cars.

Abril retains WBA lightweight title against Tatli

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HELSINKI (AP) - Richar Abril of Cuba retained his WBA lightweight title with a majority decision against hometown boxer Edis Tatli on Saturday.Tatli was slightly in control of the bout until the seventh round, with powerful shots and rapid attacks often surprising Abril, but Abrils defense remained unbreakable during the last five rounds.The judges scored the bout 114-114, 116-112, 117-111 in favor of Abril (19-3-1, 8 KO).Abril regarded his defense as crucial for the win.Everybody saw that I had better technique (than Tatli), Abril said. Edis generated a lot of punches but most of them were a miss. I didnt expect such a good opponent. I give him a lot of credit.It was the first defeat for Tatli, who had earned 23 wins, seven by knockout.

Astronauts getting 3-D printer at space station

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CAPE CANAVERAL (AP) - The 3-D printing boom is about to invade space. NASA is sending a 3-D printer to the International Space Station in hopes that astronauts will be able to one day fix their spacecraft by cranking out spare parts on the spot.The printer, made by a Northern California company called Made in Space, is among more than 5,000 pounds (2,265 kilograms) of space station cargo thats stuffed into a SpaceX Dragon capsule that was supposed to lift off before dawn Saturday. Rainy weather forced SpaceX to delay the launch until Sunday.Besides real-time replacement parts at the station, NASA envisions astronauts, in the decades ahead, making entire habitats at faraway destinations like Mars.If were really going to set up shop on Mars, we have to do this, Jeff Sheehy, NASAs senior technologist, said Friday. We really cant afford to bring everything we need for an indefinite amount of time. Well need to get to the point where we can make things that we need as we go.At Kennedy Space Center, the company showed off a number of objects made by its 3-D printers. On display was a scaled-down model of an air filter that the Apollo 13 astronauts devised to survive their aborted moon mission in 1970. It took five hours to print the model in a lab.SpaceX, which is making the supply run for NASA, is the same California company that just won a huge contract to deliver U.S. astronauts to the space station. Its Falcon 9 rocket with an unmanned Dragon is scheduled to blast off at 1:52 a.m. (0552 GMT) Sunday; slightly better weather is expected.Other Dragon payloads high on the cool or curious factor: a mouse X-ray machine and 20 mice; 30 fruit flies expected to have a population explosion in orbit, metal plating samples for a private research effort to build stronger golf clubs, and a $30 million instrument to measure the surface wind over Earths oceans and improve hurricane forecasting.The small 3-D printer on board is a demo unit meant to churn out sample items made from the same type of plastic used for Lego bricks.It was designed to operate safely in weightlessness inside a sealed chamber. The printing process is the same as on Earth, creating an object with layer upon layer of plastic.Once returned to Earth, the little 3-D creations will be pulled and twisted and peeled and subjected to a lot of tests to determine the quality of the parts, said Sheehy.Combined with efforts on the ground to make 3-D rocket parts out of metal even entire engines the space demonstrations will give us confidence that the stuff we make by this method, even though its new and innovative does, indeed, have the durability of traditional parts, he said.The space 3-D printer is barely a foot tall, 9½ inches (23 centimeters) wide and 14½ inches (35.5 centimeters) deep, counting the knobs on the front. A commercial 3-D printer twice the size and dubbed big brother will fly up next year, followed by a grinding machine for recycling discarded 3-D pieces.This is a huge, huge time for us, said Brad Kohlenberg, business development engineer for Made in Space.The Mountain View, California, company has a staff of fewer than 25; most of them traveled to Cape Canaveral for the launch attempt.This will be the fifth space station shipment for SpaceX, counting the 2012 test flight. The space agency also is paying Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia to make periodic deliveries.SpaceX, along with Boeing, won huge contracts Tuesday for delivering U.S. astronauts to the space station beginning in 2017. That will enable NASA to stop relying so heavily on Russia, currently the only space station partner able to send crews up and down.The Hawthorne, California, company founded by billionaire Elon Musk is shooting for its first crewed launch in 2016. The flight test crew will be a mix of NASA and SpaceX employees, confirmed Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of mission assurance for SpaceX. He said the company is still working out the details on whom to send up.

Roadside explosion injures 11 in Quetta

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QUETTA (Dunya News) – According to details, a powerful explosion outside a restaurant in Shahbaz Town Panj Footy area of Quetta on Saturday night injured at least 11 people, including two children.The blast was so severe that glasses of nearby buildings were broken. Police and rescue teams reached the spot and shifted the injured to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) where condition of two is stated to be critical.The explosive material was planted in a cycle which was parked on a road outside the restaurant. According to police five to six kilograms of explosive material was used in the explosion.

Nissan dismisses speculation

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Washington (AFP) - Japanese automaker Nissan is dismissing speculation that it intends to scale back electric car battery production at its US plant in Tennessee.Nissans ambitious electric vehicle program has been a signature initiative of Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive at both Renault and Nissan.The Renault-Nissan Alliance remains 100 percent committed to its industry-leading EV program, spokesman Travis Parman said in a statement.This global commitment continues for the foreseeable future, and we have not taken any decision whatsoever to modify battery sourcing allocation.Parman said Nissan has no plans to impair its battery investments in the United States or Britain.His comments came after media reports suggested that the Renault-Nissan alliance was re-evaluating its battery strategy.© AFPCEO of Nissan-Renault Carlos Ghosn delivers a speech in Tokyo on July 17, 2014 © JIJI Press/AFP/File Kazuhiro NogiThe proposal under consideration includes curtailing production at Nissan-operated battery plants in England and the United States in order to instead purchase electric vehicle batteries from the Korean company LG Chem.The speculation about Nissans cutbacks circulated as Tesla, the electric vehicle maker based in Palo Alto, outside San Francisco, joins with Panasonic to build a new $5 billion battery factory in Nevada set to build 500,000 batteries a year by 2020.Tesla currently sells about 1,500 vehicles per month but has new smaller, less expensive models on the drawing board, according to the companys founder billionaire Elon Musk.Parman noted the Nissan Leaf is the best-selling electric vehicle in the US, having set records for 18 consecutive months. Leaf sales are up 34 percent through August. In addition, electric-powered Leaf sales have topped 3,000 units in three of the last four months, Parman said.- No Charge to Charge -© AFPVisitors wait in line to test drive a Nissan Leaf electric car at the sixth annual Alternative Transportation Expo and Conference in Santa Monica, California on September 30, 2011 © AFP/File Robyn BeckNissan is promoting the Leaf through a No Charge to Charge incentive offering two years of no-cost charging to new Leaf buyers, in 11 key markets around the US such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.Nissan has helped install more than 650 quick chargers in markets across the US, and Nissan is working with partners on 500 additional chargers over the next year, Parman said.Nissan has also announced plans for introducing for a battery electric cargo van in the US.The Nissan battery plant in Smyrna opened in the spring of 2013 and is the largest Li-ion automotive battery plant North America and the only plant controlled by a carmaker.The heavily automated plant covers 475,000-square feet and is capable of making as many as 200,000 batteries annually.The battery plant sits next to the Nissan assembly plant, which was retooled in 2012 to accommodate Leaf production. The Leaf is manufactured on the same line as the Altima and Maxima so volume can readily be adjusted among the vehicles to meet demand.But electric vehicle sales continue to struggle.© AFPA Nissan Leaf electric vehicle is displayed at Star Nissan on December 3, 2012 in Niles, Illinois © Getty/AFP/File Scott OlsonThere are many different options for consumers to choose from to power their cars. Electricity and pure battery cars have some advantages but also major hurdles to win over consumers, noted Art Wheaton, automotive industry expert at Cornell University.It is also very difficult to change the mindset of drivers after more than 115 years of gasoline dominance. Without major technological innovation, new legislation or tax incentives, batteries still fall short.In addition, gas prices have decreased or stabilized in many areas.Even though Teslas new factory may help electrical battery development, the technology remains overall too heavy, too costly, and rely on Lithium, which is not as readily available as gasoline, Wheaton said.

Hosts South Korea set medal pace

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Incheon (South Korea) (AFP) - Hosts South Korea were the Asian Games surprise first-day medal leaders on Saturday but they had to share the limelight with China and record-breaking North Korea.South Korea won titles in cycling, fencing, equestrian and wushu to narrowly top the medals table ahead of China as the Olympic-size event rolled into action in Incheon.They got off to a rocky start when China, led by the unheralded Zhang Menyuang, beat them to the Games first gold in the womens 10 metre air pistol.North Koreas Om Yun-Chol set the first world record of the Games when he beat his own clean and jerk best with 170kg in the 56kg class.But victory in the mens team sprint and mens epee late in the day took South Korea to five golds, ahead of China on overall medals won.Saturday was the start of 15 days of competition involving 9,500 athletes from 45 nations, and with 439 gold medals on offer across 36 different sports.© AFPChinas Zhang Mengyuan competes during the womens 10m air pistol final of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon on September 20, 2014 © AFP Manan VatsyayanaChina, who won a record 199 gold medals at the 2010 Games, led the table for most of the day before being caught by South Korea.Army sharpshooter Jitu Rai held his nerve on the final shot to snatch 50m pistol gold from Vietnams Nguyen Hoang Phuong and put India amongst the golds.And Chinas Zhong Tianshi rode to victory in the womens team sprint, a day before she challenges Hong Kongs Olympic medal-winner Sarah Lee Wai-sze in the keirin.- Rubber stamp -While 18 gold medals were contested in venues scattered across South Koreas third city, Jakarta was rubber-stamped as host of the next Asiad in 2018.© AFPA man enters the Gelora Bung Karno stadium, the main venue for sport facilities in Jakarta on September 19, 2014. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) executive board approved Indonesia as hosts for the 2018 Asian Games © AFP/File Adek BerryOlympic president Thomas Bach told the Olympic Council of Asias general assembly that bids for future Summer and Winter Games must address the issue of sustainability.We need to address the fact that in todays world the Games need to make a greater contribution to sustainability, he said.In the future we want to invite potential bidding cities to tell us how they see the Olympic Games fitting into their social, economical, ecological and sports environment, he added.Through hosting Asiad, Incheon has become South Koreas most indebted city and Vietnam pulled out of organising the next Asian Games because of the cost involved.Chinas Zhang is only ranked 29th in the world but after helping win the team 10m air pistol title, she beat South Koreas hot favourite Jung Jee-Hae into second place.Chinese coach Wang Yifu said her triumph was doubly impressive as organisers had deliberately arranged the 10m air pistol as the first event, hoping for a home victory.It was hard for us to win this medal, Wang said.The UAE suffered a blow when its three-strong judo team was expelled from the Games for breaching eligibility requirements.© AFPSouth Koreas Jung Jin-sun (L) reacts after his final round mens epee individual fencing match against compatriot Park Kyoung-Doo during the Incheon 2014 Asian Games on September 20, 2014 © AFP Pornchai KittiwongsakulMihail Marchitan, Ivan Remarenco and Victor Scvortov were sent home from because they failed to meet an Asiad three-year residency rule for naturalised citizens.Thailands equestrian princess Sirivannavari Nariratana was down the field in the dressage, but there was an emotional team win for South Koreas Kim Hyun-Sub, whose uncle was crushed to death by his falling horse at the 2006 Asiad.On day two, Chinese swimming superstar Sun Yang will meet South Koreas Park Tae-Hwan in the first of three explosive races in the pool.And China will want to find an immediate response after coming off second best to South Korea on the first day of full competition.We have been leading both medal and gold medal tables at nine straight Asian Games, said Chinas delegation chief Liu Peng. We certainly want to keep winning this time.

Liverpool dealt shock Hammer blow

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© AFPLiverpools Croatian defender Dejan Lovren (up) vies with West Ham Uniteds Senegalese striker Diafra Sakho during their English Premier League football match in London on September 20, 2014 © AFP Ian KingtonLondon (AFP) - Liverpool suffered a surprise 3-1 loss away to West Ham on Saturday as fresh questions were raised about whether they have the defence required to win the Premier League.Brendan Rodgerss side were 2-0 down inside seven minutes at Upton Park.Poor defending by Liverpool -- whove now lost three of their five league games -- saw the visitors fail to deal with James Tomkinss knock down and Winston Reid turned the ball in to put the Hammers 1-0 up in the second minute.The London side doubled their lead five minutes later when Senegal forward Diafra Sakhos intended cross beat everyone, including Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.Defensive errors cost Liverpool the title when they finished runners-up to Manchester City last term.But they remain a potent attacking force and England winger Raheem Sterling pulled a goal back with an unstoppable shot from inside the box in the 26th minute after Mario Balotellis initial effort was blocked.However, substitute Morgan Amalfitano made the game safe for Sam Allardyces side two minutes from time when he latched on to former Liverpool winger Stewart Downings through-ball before finding the far corner.© AFPArsenals German midfielder Mesut Ozil (R) shoots to score the opening goal during a match against Aston Villa in Birmingham, central England on September 20, 2014 © AFP Adrian DennisWe knew this would be a tough game but we were 2-0 down before we started, Liverpool manager Rodgers told the BBC. Were nowhere near the levels we expect to be at.With Liverpool having played in the Champions League in midweek, Hammers boss Allardyce was delighted by his sides start.Liverpool had played in the Champions League for the first time in five years which is tiring and we wanted to start as quickly as we can, Allardyce said.We said lets not let them control the tempo and press their back players. It worked brilliantly.Arsenal stopped Aston Villa going top of the table courtesy of a 3-0 win, with the much-criticised Mesut Ozil on target as the Gunners scored three goals inside four minutes at Villa Park.Ozil put the Gunners in front in the 32nd minute and former Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck scored his first Arsenal goal two minutes later before Villas Aly Cissokho turned the ball into his own net.- Wenger backs Ozil -© AFPArsenals German midfielder Mesut Ozil takes a corner during the football match against Aston Villa at Villa Park in Birmingham, on September 20, 2014 © AFP Adrian DennisArsenal manager Arsene Wenger had been forced to again defend Germany World Cup-winner Ozil, a club record £42 million ($76 million) signing from Real Madrid last term, after his uninspiring display in the Gunners 2-0 Champions League defeat at Borussia Dortmund in midweek.But, played in by Welbeck, he made no mistake with a side-foot chance to put Arsenal ahead on Saturday.Minutes later, the roles were reversed when Ozils cross found Welbeck, whose shot found the roof of the net.Kieran Gibbss cross-shot was then turned into his own net by Cissokho.Arsenal moved to within a point of second-placed Southampton and Villa in third spot and three adrift of leaders Chelsea who go to Manchester City on Sunday.I never considered leaving Ozil out, said Wenger. He showed as well he can perform when under scrutiny.Villa were hit with a sickness bug before kick-off and manager Paul Lambert said: To play Arsenal you need everyone fit.Newcastle moved off the bottom and eased the pressure on manager Alan Pardew by coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at home to Hull, with substitute Papiss Cisse scoring both the Magpies goals inside the final 15 minutes.Nikica Jelavic put Hull ahead with an acrobatic effort from 15 yards out early in the second half before Senegal midfielder Mohamed Diame doubled the lead in the 68th minute with a brilliant 25-yard shot.I am very proud to be manager of this club and I will fight to keep it, said Pardew.Southampton went second with a 1-0 away to a Swansea side who had to play more than half the match a man down after Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony was sent off.© AFPNewcastle Uniteds Senegalese striker Papiss Cisse (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring his second goal against Hull City in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on September 20, 2014 © AFP Ian MacNicolBony was shown a red card in the 39th minute when he fouled Southamptons Maya Yoshida -- his second bookable offence.But it took until 10 minutes before time for Southampton to make their numerical advantage count thanks to substitute Victor Wanyamas first goal for the Saints.QPR and Stoke shared the points in a 2-2 draw at Loftus Road while honours were also even in the goalless stalemate between Burnley and Sunderland.On Sunday, Manchester United will go in search of their first away league win under manager Louis van Gaal, at Leicester, while Tottenham Hotspur take on bottom club West Bromwich Albion and Everton face Crystal Palace.

Sierra Leone faces criticism over Ebola shutdown

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Freetown (AFP) - Sierra Leone began the second day of a 72-hour nationwide shutdown aimed at containing the spread of the deadly Ebola virus on Saturday amid criticism that the action was a poorly planned publicity stunt.Most of Sierra Leones six million people have been confined to their homes from midnight (0000 GMT) on Friday, with only essential workers such as health professionals and security forces exempt.Almost 30,000 volunteers are going door-to-door to educate locals and hand out soap, in an exercise expected to lead to scores more patients and bodies being discovered in homes.But independent observers have voiced concerns over the quality of advice being given out, deeming the shutdown a mixed success in the Western Area, the region that includes the capital Freetown.While the supervisors were well trained, the visiting teams to families in some parts in the Western Area had poor training and could not deliver the information properly, said Abubakarr Kamara, from the Health for All Coalition, a local charity.© AFPMap of Sierra Leone showing details of the Ebola shutdown © AFPFrom my observation, many of them were too young to be involved in the exercise and in one or two households where I witnessed their intervention, there were hardly messages given to the families which were beneficial to the households.Ebola fever can fell its victims within days, causing severe muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and -- in some cases -- unstoppable internal and external bleeding.The outbreak has killed more than 2,600 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone this year, cutting a swathe through entire villages at the epicentre and prompting warnings over possible economic catastrophe from the World Bank.Ose to Ose Ebola Tok -- House-to-House Ebola Talk in the widely-spoken Krio language -- will see more than 7,000 volunteer teams of four attempting to reach the countrys 1.5 million homes before the end of Sunday.- Publicity stunt -Joe Amon, health and human rights director at New York-based advocacy organisation Human Rights Watch, described the shutdown as more of a publicity stunt than a health intervention.Publicity -- or really crisis communication -- is what is urgently needed in this epidemic, but it should focus on spreading information and building trust with the government. The shutdown is the wrong approach, he told AFP.© AFPA sign warning of the dangers of Ebola outside a government hospital in the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown on August 13, 2014 © AFP/File Carl De SouzaSteven Gaoja, head of the governments emergency Ebola operation centre, admitted the first day was really very rocky at the start, but said organisation had improved throughout the day.On the whole we came out successful. We feel confident that the initial problems we encountered have been slashed, he said.He said the centre had received 886 calls on a variety of Ebola-related issues by 3:00 pm, 102 reporting suspected cases but 238 of which were pranks.We have a target to reach every household in the country and the goal is to ensure that families have the right information about Ebola, said ministry of health spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis.We are certain we will reach the target so people have to be a little patient.Some complaints continued into Saturday, although there was also praise for the campaign.The campaign teams are not being rapid in their calls. They kept my family of six sitting the whole of yesterday and didnt show up, said Ghanaian fisherman Kwaku Adophy in Goderich, an affluent seaside suburb of 3,000 in the west end of Freetown.When they came this morning, nobody entered the compound but one member stood at the gate and shouted for us to come out and receive a bar of soap. No other information was given to us. We are very disappointed.Isatu Koroma, a resident of Hill Station some six kilometres (four miles) away, said however that a door-to-door team had spent a useful 30 minutes giving my family much needed information.A spokesman for the World Health Organization said on Friday a contingent of Cuban doctors and nurses from a 165-strong delegation expected in Sierra Leone would be arriving over the weekend.From the first week of October, the doctors and nurses would remain for six months.

Afghan's rival presidential candidates sign power-sharing agreement

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Kabul (AFP) - Afghanistans two rival presidential candidates are due to sign a power-sharing agreement Sunday, officials said, forming a potentially rocky coalition that will end a prolonged stand-off over the disputed election result.The final vote count is also scheduled for release, after being delayed for last-minute talks to break a deadlock that has plunged Afghanistan into a political crisis as US-led troops end their 13-year war against the Taliban.Ashraf Ghani -- who won the run-off vote according to preliminary results -- is set to emerge as president, with Abdullah Abdullah nominating who will fill the new post of chief executive officer, possibly taking on the role himself.Both Ghani and Abdullah claim to have won the fraud-tainted election, and the United Nations has pushed hard for a national unity government to avoid a return to the ethnic divisions of the 1990s civil war.Both candidates are expected to sign an agreement on the structure of National Unity (Government) tomorrow, Aimal Faizi, spokesman for outgoing President Hamid Karzai, said on his Twitter account late Saturday.© AFPAn Afghan resident casts her ballot at a polling station in Herat on June 14, 2014 © AFP/File Aref KarimiUnder the Afghan constitution, the president wields almost total control, and the new government structure will face a major test as the countrys security and economic outlook worsens.The vote count has been plagued by months of setbacks amid allegations of massive fraud, emboldening the Taliban insurgents and further weakening the fragile aid-dependent economy.The IEC will officially announce the final result of the presidential election tomorrow, Independent Election Commission spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor told AFP on Saturday.- Uneasy alliance? -A ruling coalition between the opposing camps is likely to be uneasy after a bitter election that has revived some of the ethnic loyalties of the civil war that led to the Taliban taking power in Kabul.The power-sharing deal will also take the luster off hopes that Afghanistan could hold a transparent election to cap the multi-billion-dollar international military and aid intervention since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.The agreement was finalised an hour ago, with both sides agreeing on all points, Faizullah Zaki, a spokesman for Ghani, told AFP.© AFPAfghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani (L) speaks as opponent Abdullah Abdullah looks on during a joint press conference in Kabul on August 8, 2014 © AFP/File Wakil KohsarIt will be signed tomorrow in front of the media, and the details will be revealed then.Abdullahs press team were not immediately available to comment late Saturday.President Hamid Karzai, whose successor was originally due to be inaugurated on August 2, was constitutionally barred from standing for a third term in office. He has stayed publicly neutral in the election.About 41,000 NATO troops remain in Afghanistan, down from a peak of 150,000 in 2010, fighting along Afghan soldiers and police against the fierce Taliban insurgency.NATOs combat mission will end in December, with a follow-on force of about 12,000 troops likely to stay into 2015 on training and support duties.After the June election was engulfed in fraud allegations, the US brokered a deal in which the two candidates agreed to abide by the outcome of an audit of all eight million ballot papers and then form a national unity government.But Abdullah later abandoned the audit, saying it was failing to clean out fraud.Only ten days ago, he insisted he had won fairly and that negotiations over the unity government had collapsed.Street protests by either sides supporters risk spilling into serious unrest because Abdullah draws his support from Tajiks and other northern ethnic groups, while Ghani is backed by Pashtun tribes of the south and east.Abdullah is a former anti-Taliban resistance fighter, while Ghani is a ex-World Bank economist.The new administration will have to stabilise the economy as international aid falls, and deal with worsening unrest nationwide.Efforts to open a peace process with the Taliban failed under Karzai and may be revived.A total of 2,312 civilians were killed in the first eight months of this year, an increase of 15 percent from 2013.

NATO cautiously welcomes Ukraine buffer zone deal

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Kiev (AFP) - NATOs top military commander expressed cautious optimism Saturday that a tenuous Ukrainian ceasefire whose details were thrashed out in marathon overnight negotiations would help end a bloody pro-Kremlin uprising that has inflamed East-West ties.Government forces and pro-Kremlin militias were due by early Sunday to pull back their forces and set up a buffer zone along the frontline that splits a key industrial wedge of Ukraines Russian-speaking east from the rest of the ex-Soviet state.The withdrawal and an accompanying monitoring mission by teams from the OSCE pan-European security body are at the heart of a nine-point plan struck overnight in the Belarussian capital Minsk.The deal is meant to put meat on the bones of a Kremlin-backed September 5 truce which Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko unveiled in a bid to stem five months of clashes that have threatened his countrys survival and claimed nearly 3,000 lives.© AFPUS General Philip Breedlove addresses the media in Vilnius on September 20, 2014 © AFP Petras MalukasNATO General Philip Breedlove said continuing clashes have shown the two-week agreement to be a ceasefire in name only as he accused Russia of enmeshing soldiers among the guerrillas in order to split the westward-leaning neighbour in half.The truce was still there in name, but what is happening on the ground is quite a different story, Breedlove said on the sidelines of a meeting NATO symbolically convened in the ex-Soviet satellite state of Lithuania.But he struck a more optimistic note when he added: We heard today of some possible new agreements (in Minsk) and it is our sincere hope and desire that... the two combatants can come to agreement to again get to a ceasefire situation.- Russians still in Ukraine -© AFPA Ukrainian serviceman on September 19, 2014 following the recent bombing of a camp near the village of Dmytryivka in the Lugansk region © AFP/File Anatolii StepanovSaturdays Minsk memorandum -- signed by the warring parties and endorsed by both Moscows Kiev ambassador and an OSCE envoy -- also requires the withdrawal of all foreign armed groups and mercenaries from the conflict zone.The reference to hired guns and foreign soldiers marked a rare but indirect admission by Moscow that its fighters were manning the front lines alongside the increasingly well-armed and emboldened pro-Kremlin militias.Russia insists that its troops were all either off-duty or vacationing soldiers who had slipped across the border based on their own convictions rather than direct orders from the Moscow military command.But Breedlove insisted NATO intelligence showed that the Russian forces are still inside Ukraine.And even those who negotiated the peace plans details for Kiev conceded that the entire deal required a great deal of good faith by two sides that have viewed each other as mortal foes for months.© AFPLorries, part of a Russian humanitarian convoy, approach the Ukrainian border at the Donetsk-Izvarino border checkpoint on September 19, 2014 © AFP/File Sergei VenyavskyFormer Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma -- representing Kiev throughout stuttering efforts to resolve the crisis -- said the entire arrangement would fall apart without the creation of a 30-kilometre (20-mile) buffer zone.Territory under rebel control would be left open to their administration under a temporary self-rule plan adopted by lawmakers in Kiev on Tuesday.Swiss president and OSCE chief Didier Burkhalter hailed the Minsk meeting as a significant step towards making the ceasefire sustainable and an important contribution in the efforts to peacefully settle the crisis.- Mushroom cloud over Donetsk -But the pact only came together after all sides agreed to leave the most divisive political issues concerning the rebel-held areas status for future negotiation.© AFPSmoke rises after a weapon factory controlled by pro-russian militants exploded near Donetsk on September 20, 2014 © AFP Philippe DesmazesIt also overlooked unceasing flareups in violence that have claimed the lives of 35 Ukrainians soldiers and civilians in the 15 days since the original truce was declared.A source in the Donetsk city government told AFP that a series of ground-shaking blasts that tore through a Soviet-era munitions plant on the outskirts of the main rebel stronghold early Saturday was set off by artillery fire whose source could not be traced.The incident caused no casualties but saw a towering mushroom cloud rise over an entire section of the city at sunrise.When the first two explosions went off I woke up, said a 15-year-old schoolboy named Bogdan. I could feel the wave of the impact, the vibrations in my body.- New Russian truck convoy -Rebel representatives in the city of nearly one million said they had also received a huge Russian humanitarian convoy overnight -- a type of shipment Kiev believes Moscow may be using to secretly supply the rebels with arms.A top Ukrainian security spokesman said Moscow had blatantly violated international law and our sovereignty because it never gave Ukrainian customs officials a chance to inspect the cargo.But there were still signs that the tenuous truce was making some progress on the ground.An AFP reporter outside Donetsk saw the rebels hand over 34 Ukrainian government soldiers to government forces in exchange for 38 guerrillas. Dozens of war prisoners have been swapped on an almost daily in the past two weeks.Saturdays Minsk agreement came at the end of a dizzying week for Poroshenko that included Ukraines ratification of a landmark EU association agreement for which he personally lobbied, and a visit to Washington for talks with US President Barack Obama.But the 48-year-old chocolate baron failed to convince Obama to provide Kiev with offensive weapons in the face of Russian aggression.

Syrian Kurds flee to Turkey, fearing IS onslaught

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Suruc (Turkey) (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds flooded into Turkey on Saturday, fleeing an onslaught by the jihadist Islamic State group that prompted an appeal for international intervention.The massive influx came as 46 Turks kidnapped by IS jihadists in Iraq in June were freed and returned home for emotional reunions with their families.Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said more than 60,000 Syrian Kurds had crossed into the country since the frontier was opened on Friday.The exodus was prompted by intense clashes between IS and Kurdish fighters trying to hold off an assault on the town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane by the Kurds.© AFPGraphic on foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria and where they come from © AFP John Saeki/alIt is the third-largest Kurdish town in Syria and a strategic prize because it lies on the border with Turkey in northern Aleppo province.Since Tuesday night, IS fighters have been advancing on the town, hoping to seize it and secure their control over a large swathe of Syrias northern border with Turkey.The group has moved quickly, seizing at least 63 surrounding villages, although the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said 18 IS fighters were killed in clashes overnight.It said 13 jihadists were killed on Saturday, and that 25 Kurdish fighters have been killed since Tuesday.On Saturday, the Observatory said 300 Kurdish fighters had entered Syria from Turkey to reinforce the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) fighting IS.- Children, elderly flee -© AFPA Syrian Kurd pours water on a child after they crossed the border between Syria and Turkey near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, on September 20, 2014 © AFP Bulent KilicPeople of all ages were among those seeking shelter in Turkey, including a child clutching a siblings hand as they marched across the dusty border and an elderly wheelchair-bound woman helped by relatives.The IS came to our village and threatened everyone. They bombed our village and destroyed all the houses. They beheaded those who chose to stay, said Mohammed Isa, 43, who left with his family of seven.Turkish forces cut the barbed wire along the frontier to make it easier for people to enter while soldiers and aid workers handed out food and water.ISs advances have prompted calls from Syrias opposition and Kurdish officials for international intervention, with one leader warning of ethnic cleansing.© AFPAn Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighter holds a position on the front line in Khazer near the Kurdish checkpoint of Aski kalak, on September 16, 2014 © AFP/File Safin HamedThe United States has organised a coalition of countries to tackle IS jihadists who have declared an Islamic caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq and carried out abuses including beheadings and crucifixions.American warplanes have launched a total of 183 air strikes across Iraq, targeting IS vehicles, checkpoints and outposts.US President Barack Obama plans to make his case against IS before the world at the UN General Assembly next week in a bid for more international support.The Syrian opposition National Coalition urged international air strikes to stop mass atrocities if IS advances into Ain al-Arab.© AFPTwo French Rafale fighter jets during a mission over Iraq. French jets carried out their first air strike against Islamic State militants in Iraq on September 19, 2014 © ECPAD/AFP/File Jean-Luc BrunetAir strikes are needed to help opposition forces protect vulnerable civilians, the coalitions US representative Najib Ghadbian said.And Salih Muslim Mohamed, a leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), urged the United States and Europe to help Ain al-Arab avoid the fate of the Iraqi town of Sinjar, which has been emptied of its Yazidi minority residents in the wake of an IS onslaught.Kobane is facing the most barbaric attack in its history, he warned.If you want to avoid an ethnic cleansing even more barbaric than that in Sinjar, you must support Kobane because the next few hours will be decisive, he added in a statement late Friday.Obama said last week he was ready to launch strikes on IS fighters in Syria, expanding the campaign already underway in Iraq, but so far there have been none.© AFPIraqi Kurdish supporters of the Kurdistan Workers Party demonstrate against the threat posed by the Islamic State jihadists outside the UN office in Arbil on September 20, 2014 © AFP Safin HamedThe Observatory reported on Saturday that IS militants had executed at least 11 Kurds, and that the fate of some 800 residents who fled their villages remained unknown.- Emotional return -As Turkey dealt with the arrivals on its southern border, the government in Ankara welcomed home the 46 Turks kidnapped by IS in the Iraqi city of Mosul in June. Three Iraqis were also detained.It was unclear how the group, abducted from Turkeys consulate in Mosul, had been freed, though President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to a secret operation.There were emotional and triumphant scenes on their return, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cutting short a trip to Azerbaijan to greet them.Early in the morning our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back into our country, Davutoglu told reporters before leaving Baku.There are unnamed heroes, like those who brought our citizens back to Turkey, he told cheering crowds at the airport back in Ankara.In other developments, a captive Lebanese soldier was executed by the Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda, the government said.
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