Sunday 21 September 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Man United implodes in 5-3 loss to Leicester

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LEICESTER (AP) - Manchester United surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 5-3 to Leicester in a wild Premier League game on Sunday, with the promoted side scoring four times in 20 minutes to cap its thrilling comeback.Angel Di Marias exquisite chip put United 2-0 ahead in the 16th minute but it proved in vain as Leicester exposed the visitors defensive frailties to come from 3-1 down with 28 minutes left.Penalties by David Nugent and Leonardo Ulloa the second after Tyler Blacketts sending-off came either side of goals by Esteban Cambiasso and Jamie Vardy as Uniteds defense imploded at King Power Stadium.Robin van Persie and Di Maria scored to give United a great start before Ulloa reduced the deficit in the 18th with a third goal in a five-minute span. Ander Herrera regained the two-goal lead with a deft flick before United collapsed, leaving the team with five points from its opening five games despite a summer spending spree of $250 million.We have too many players who want to seek for the goal, United manager Louis van Gaal said.It is not good, he added, because we have the game in our pocket and gave it away.After beating Queens Park Rangers 4-0 last weekend, Uniteds all-star attack looks in good shape, with Radamel Falcao making his first start and setting up Van Persies deflected header for the 13th-minute opener. Di Maria repaid even more of his $99 million price tag by producing another effervescent display and his goal a scoop over the goalkeeper from about 15 yards (meters) out would have been the highlight on another day.But United continue to look vulnerable defensively, with Blacketts upcoming suspension and a first-half foot injury to Jonny Evans, who left the stadium on crutches, not helping. Leicester could have won by even more as it created chance after chance in the final minutes.It was absolutely brilliant, said Vardy. We exploited their weaknesses and we got the result.Leicesters fightback was sparked by a penalty awarded after Rafael da Silva was adjudged to have pushed Vardy in the back. The striker appeared to have got away with a nudge on Rafael seconds earlier.Nugent slammed his penalty down the middle, Cambiasso drove in a low shot less than two minutes later for the equalizer before Vardy was sent clean through in the 79th minute to slip a low shot past David de Gea, with no United defender near him.Blackett was bundled off the ball by Vardy in the 83rd minute and, in attempts to get the ball back, tackled the striker from behind. Blackett was shown a straight red card and Ulloa made no mistake from the spot.How is it possible to give this game away? Van Gaal said. Leicester has proven already in four games that they have a strong character and that when they are 3-1 down, you can play all the game with more possession but you cannot do these kind of things.

Lampard equalizer earns City 1-1 draw vs Chelsea

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MANCHESTER (AP) - Frank Lampard scored a late equalizer against his former club Chelsea to earn 10-man Manchester City a 1-1 draw in the Premier League on Sunday and end the leaders winning start to the season.Lampard, who was released by Chelsea this summer after scoring a club-record 211 goals in 13 years, held his arm out and refused to celebrate after his side-footed shot deflected in off John Terry in the 85th minute.City right back Pablo Zabaleta was sent off in the 66th after picking up a second booking, and Chelsea capitalized by opening the scoring five minutes later when substitute Andre Schuerrle tapped in Eden Hazards low cross.Chelsea dropped points for the first time in five games but still holds a three-point lead over Southampton and is five clear of City arguably its biggest rival for the title.It was a typical late surge into the box by Lampard, who had only come on as a substitute seven minutes earlier as City fought back after going a man and a goal down. He looked emotional as he walked off, head down, after the ball hit the net and didnt want to celebrate with his joyous teammates.Im a bit lost for words I didnt expect to score like that, Lampard said. Im a bit stuck in the middle.Chelsea fans had been singing Lampards name throughout the match, hailing one of the clubs greatest servants who was allowed to join New York City in the summer. Lampard is spending the first half of the season on loan at City, the parent club of New York City.City is now winless in four games in all competitions but came back well after losing Zabaleta, who lunged at Diego Costa near the halfway line and became entangled with the Spain striker.Chelsea did the double over City last season, with its win at Etihad Stadium in February widely hailed as a tactical clinic from Jose Mourinho. And the Portuguese coach was happy to ditch the flamboyance that had helped his team claim four straight win for what will probably be its toughest match of the campaign.It made for a tense, edgy and physical battle that was dominated by defenses, with Eliaquim Mangala enjoying a strong starting debut for City after his big-money summer move from Porto.Neither goalkeeper was seriously tested in the first half and Costa, who had scored seven goals so far and at least one in every match, was a peripheral figure.City started the second half well, with Sergio Aguero forcing a save out of Thibaut Courtois and Edin Dzeko denied on the rebound by a lunging tackle from Ramires.But the game turned on Zabaletas sending off and within five minutes Costa led a counterattack by Chelsea and Hazard crossed for Schuerrle to tap in at the far post. Lampard had the last say, though.

Goffin wins 2nd career title at Moselle Open

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METZ (AP) - Eighth-seeded David Goffin of Belgium served 10 aces and saved all four break points he faced to claim his second career title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Joao Sousa of Portugal in the Moselle Open final on Sunday.The 23-year-old Goffin is enjoying a strong finish to his season and has now won 34 of his past 36 matches at all levels. After winning his maiden title on clay in Kitzbuehel, Austria, in August, Goffin has showed his versatility on the indoor hard court of Metz, where he upset top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals.This is very special because my family was here today. Thats the advantage of playing close to home, Goffin said. Winning my second title feels just as good as the first one.Goffin is now 2-0 against the sixth-seeded Sousa after the Belgian lost only six games when they met in the second round of the U.S. Open.Having started the year outside the top 100, the 45th-ranked Goffin is set to reach a new career high of 35 when the new rankings are published Monday. He ended last year down in 113th.Serving strong and varying his double-handed backhand well, Goffin was in control from the start. He won 81 percent of points behind his first serve and also put Sousa on the back foot with excellent returns that earned him nine break points.I had to play aggressively today, dictate the game, Goffin said. The tactics worked out well and I served well. I was able to focus until the end.Goffin set up three match points with a cross-court backhand passing shot and converted the second, falling on his back in celebration after Sousa sent a forehand into the net.The sixth-seeded Sousa had advanced to the final after saving four match points against Paul-Henri Mathieu in the quarterfinals and rallying past second-seeded Gael Monfils in the semis.Today Im not happy but it has been a beautiful week, said Sousa, who was also looking for his second title after making his breakthrough in Kuala Lumpur last year.

Venus Williams knocked out early in Wuhan Open

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WUHAN (AP) - Caroline Garcia of France defeated Venus Williams in the first round of the Wuhan Open on Sunday while wild card Victoria Azarenka withdrew with an injured right foot and will miss the rest of the season.Garcia, ranked 30 places below No. 18 Williams, won 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) and next faces Agnieszka Radwanska.Barbora Zahlavova Strycova from the Czech Republic defeated Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) while Elina Svitolina beat Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-3.Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova also moved into the second round with an easy 6-3, 6-2 win against Kurumi Nara from JapanZarina Diyas, Kirsten Flipkens, Karin Knapp and Alison Riske also advanced after dropping a set in their matches.Lucky loser Annika Beck replaced two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka in the main draw.

Hamilton wins in Singapore, takes F1 title lead

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SINGAPORE (AP) - For Nico Rosberg, early retirement from the Singapore Grand Prix was painful. Seeing his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton win the race and snatch back the championship lead was agonizing.Hamilton won his seventh race of the season Sunday to move to 241 points, ahead of Rosberg on 238 with five races left. The advantage is thin but the Briton carries all the momentum after back-to-back victories and Rosbergs hopes of his first F1 title are diminishing.Hamilton started from pole position and led comfortably for much of the race but was forced into a late pit-stop, briefly giving up the race lead to Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel, before he passed the German seven laps from the finish to win by 13.5 seconds at the Marina Bay circuit.Rosberg was forced to start from pit-lane due to a failure on the installation lap, and he did 14 laps at the back of the field in the stricken car before retiring. The team identified a problem in the steering column, which prevented full usage of the steering wheel, affecting gear selection and preventing use of stored battery power.I came here hoping to gain seven points (on Rosberg) and thinking anything more than that is a bonus, Hamilton said. Those extra points are a huge help.This is game time. This is about hunting. In my head, I dont think I am leading the championship. There are still five races left and all Im going to do is what Ive done in the last two races which is just attack every session.Though Rosberg tried everything to get the car into working mode, he knew from the moment the car failed to start on the warm-up lap that it was hopeless.It was a horrible feeling to see everyone go because then I knew it was over, Rosberg said.There was just no point in continuing. So a tough day really.Vettel, who temporarily looked like winning Singapore for the fourth-straight year, finished second, just holding off Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who moved to 60 points off the championship lead. Ferraris Fernando Alonso was fourth. Second to fourth places were separated by just 1.8 seconds.Williams driver Felipe Massa was fifth, ahead of fast-finishing Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne. Seventh through 10th places were fought out right until the final corner, with Sergio Perez of Force India seventh and his teammate Nico Hulkenberg ninth, while Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen was eighth and McLarens Kevin Magnussen 10th.Valtteri Bottas of Williams was seventh on the penultimate lap but ended up out of the points in 11th in a chaotic finish among the lower end of the points-yielding places.Hamilton had built a six-second lead over Alonso when the safety car emerged on lap 31 following a crash between Perez and Saubers Adrian Sutil.Alonso pitted immediately onto the harder tire, putting him on the same rubber as Vettel and Ricciardo, and the lengthy six-lap safety-car period meant they switched strategy and decided to run to the end on those tires.Hamilton, however, had to make another pit-stop as he had not yet used the harder tire, so once the safety car came in he set about building his lead, trying to get it out to 27 seconds to enable him to pit and still emerge in front.Though his tires did not have quite enough life to do that getting his lead out to just over 25 seconds he emerged from his stop behind Vettel, whose tires were very worn. The German was a sitting duck and Hamilton swept past easily to reclaim the lead.The safety-car came at the worst possible time for us, Vettel said. There was a lot of pressure from Dan and Fernando behind, so I am very happy to make it to P2 (second).Ricciardo was right on the back of Vettel in the closing stages, with marginally fresher tires, but was not able to make a passing attempt. However, he did stay ahead of Alonso, who was on the newest tires of the trio.I did expect (Alonso) to come on a bit harder ... but we fell into each others pace, Ricciardo said. It was follow-the-leader and there was not much else to do.

4 world records fall in Asian Games weightlifting

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INCHEON (AP) - North Koreas Kim Un Guk broke two world records in weightlifting at the Asian Games on Sunday, while two new womens world records were set by Taiwans Hsu Shu Ching and Kazakhstans Zulfiya Chinshanlo.Kim, claiming North Koreas second gold medal of the games, lifted 154 kilograms in the snatch to set his first record of the day in the mens 62-kilogram class. The 2012 Olympic champion went on to lift a combined total of 332 kilograms for another world best, beating his own previous mark by five kilograms.Competing in the 53-kilogram class, Hsu set the new womens record and took the gold with a combined total lift of 233 kilograms, two kilograms more than the old mark.Also in the 53-kilogram class, Chinshanlo improved the world record in the clean and jerk by one kilogram with a 132-kilogram lift.On Saturday, North Koreas Om Yun Chol beat his own world record in the clean and jerk by one kilogram, lifting 170 kilograms in the mens 56-kilogram class.A total of 15 gold medals are on offer at the Asiad.

China, US, India push world carbon emissions up

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Spurred chiefly by China, the United States and India, the world spewed far more carbon pollution into the air last year than ever before, scientists announced Sunday as world leaders gather to discuss how to reduce heat-trapping gases.The world pumped an estimated 39.8 billion tons (36.1 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide into the air last year by burning coal, oil and gas. That is 778 million tons (706 metric tons) or 2.3 percent more than the previous year.Its in the wrong direction, said Glen Peters, a Norwegian scientist who was part of the Global Carbon Project international team that tracks and calculates global emissions every year.Their results were published Sunday in three articles in the peer-reviewed journals Nature Geoscience and Nature Climate Change.The team projects that emissions of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas from human activity, are increasing by 2.5 percent this year.The scientists forecast that emissions will continue to increase, adding that the world in about 30 years will warm by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) from now. In 2009, world leaders called that level dangerous and pledged not to reach it.Time is running short, said Pierre Friedlingstein of the University of Exeter in England, one of the studies lead authors. The more we do nothing, the more likely we are to be hitting this wall in 2040-something.Chris Field, a Carnegie Institution ecologist who heads a U.N. panel on global warming, called the studies a stark and sobering picture of the steps we need to take to address the challenge of climate change.More than 100 world leaders will meet Tuesday at the U.N. Climate Summit to discuss how to reverse the emissions trend.The worlds three biggest carbon polluting nations China, the U.S. and India all saw their emissions jump. No other country came close in additional emissions.Indian emissions grew by 5.1 percent, Chinese emissions by 4.2 percent and the U.S. emissions by 2.9 percent, when the extra leap day in 2012 is accounted for.China, the No. 1 carbon polluter, also had more than half the worlds increases over 2012. Chinas increases are slowing because the Chinese economy isnt growing as fast as it had been, Peters said.The U.S. had reduced its carbon emissions in four of the five previous years. Peters said it rose last year because of a recovering economy and more coal power.Only two dozen of the about 200 countries cut their carbon emissions last year, led mostly by European countries. Spain had the biggest decrease.The world emissions averaged to 6.3 million pounds (2.9 million kilograms) of carbon dioxide put in the air every second.

Study: Apple's new iPhones score big in durability

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NEW YORK (AP) - Apples new and bigger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are more durable than last years model and a leading Android phone, a study says.Apples iPhone 6, whose screen measures 4.7 inches (11.9 centimeters), did the best across a variety of tests that measures how prone smartphones are to break due to every day accidents, SquareTrade, a company that provides extended protection plans, says.The iPhone Plus 6, whose screen measures 5.5 inches (14 centimeters), wasnt far behind but lost points because it could slip out of a persons hand since some users may have a hard time gripping its large but slim form, SquareTrade says.The iPhone 5s, which measures 4 inches (10 centimeters) and came out last year, fared better than Samsungs Galaxy S5, which measures 5.1 inches (12.95 centimeters). The Samsung phone got poor marks on several tests including the slide test. The more a phone slides, the greater its chance of falling off the edge of a table.Still, all four of the smartphones tested had a medium risk of breakage and had no drastic differences among them.The phones are getting more and more durable, says Ty Shay, chief marketing officer at SquareTrade. Manufacturers are paying more attention.SquareTrade examines the phones based on eight factors, including size, weight, grip and the quality of the front and back panels. The company measured how far the phones slide when pushed across a table on their backs and how well they withstand drops from 4 feet (1.2 meters) and being dunked in water for 10 seconds.SquareTrade says it uses robots to do the testing to ensure consistency, and rates the phones on a 10-point durability scale, with 10 signifying the highest risk. Apples iPhone 6 scored the best at 4; the iPhone 6 Plus scored a 5; the iPhone 5s a 6; and Samsung Galaxy S5 a 6.5.Apples iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus passed the slide test, but the iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxys S5 got poor marks in that area. The iPhone 6 Plus was the only one that didnt fare as well when dropped 4 feet (1.2 meters) by the robot. The glass screen survived, but the case separated from the glass. All four phones fared well in the water resistance test.SquareTrade provided The Associated Press with the results ahead of Mondays announcement.Aside from larger screens, the new Apple iPhones 6 and 6 Plus announced this month promises faster performance and offers a wireless chip for making credit card payments at stores by holding the phone near the payment terminal. The phones start at $199 with a two-year service contact. The phones went on sale this past week in the U.S. and nine other countries.

Bombings, mortar fire kill 13 people in Iraq

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BAGHDAD (AP) - Bombs and mortar fire killed 13 people in Shiite areas in and around Baghdad on Sunday, as Iraqi security forces said they succeeded in breaking a siege on soldiers who had been surrounded by Islamic State militants west of Baghdad.Police officials said three mortar shells landed on a residential area in Sabaa al-Bour, a town just north of Baghdad, killing six, including a 12-year old-boy. Several cars were damaged in the attack, which wounded 17. Later, a bomb blast in a commercial street killed four people and wounded 11 in the capitals northeastern district of Shaab.At night, a bomb explosion at a commercial street in the Shiite part of Baghdads district of Bayaa killed three people and wounded seven others, said police.Medical officials confirmed the casualty tolls. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.Attacks against Shiite civilians are a common tactic of the Islamic State militant group, which considers Shiites heretics. The group has captured large chunks of territory in western and northern Iraq as well as in Syria.Meanwhile, Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said Sunday that Iraqi security forces overnight were able to break a siege on about 400 soldiers who were surrounded by Islamic State militants three days ago in an area in Sunni-dominated Anbar province. He did not elaborate.The soldiers had been trapped in the Sijir area near the city of Fallujah, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad.Islamic militants later launched attacks involving suicide bombers on the Iraqi troops in Sijir, and clashes erupted, causing unspecified casualties, said security officials who were not authorized to speak to the media.Later on, the Defense Ministry issued a statement saying that some wounded soldiers went missing during the clashes in the Sijir area. The statement warned the militants of severe punishment if the missing soldiers were hurt.Sunni fighters took control of Fallujah earlier this year, and government forces have been unable to take it back.

New Afghan president, but vote totals kept secret

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KABUL (AP) - Ending months of vote-related tension, Afghanistans election commission named a new president on Sunday only hours after the two leading candidates signed a power-sharing deal that names one of them as the countrys new chief executive.The commission named Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as the winner and next president and noted that Abdullah Abdullah will be the next chief executive. But it pointedly did not release final vote totals amid suggestions that doing so could inflame tensions.The deal brings to a close an election season that began in April, when millions of Afghans first went to the polls despite threats from Taliban militants, and ended when the two leading candidates signed a national unity government agreement and embraced in a hug.U.S. officials lauded the deal and said they believed Ghani Ahmadzai would sign a security agreement soon after taking his oath of office that would allow some 10,000 American forces to remain in Afghanistan next year. After 13 years of war following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, all combat troops are to withdraw by the end of 2014.Ghani Ahmadzai and Abdullah signed the national unity government deal as President Hamid Karzai in power since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban looked on. It took weeks of negotiations to form a power-sharing arrangement after accusations of fraud in the June runoff vote.I am very happy today that both of my brothers, Dr. Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, in an Afghan agreement for the benefit of this country, for the progress and development of this country, that they agreed on the structure affirming the new government of Afghanistan, Karzai said after the signing.The deal is a victory for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who first got the candidates to agree in principle to share power during a July visit to Afghanistan. Kerry returned to Kabul in August and has spent hours with the candidates, including in repeated phone calls, in an effort to seal the deal.A White House statement lauded the two leaders, saying the agreement helps bring closure to Afghanistans political crisis.This agreement marks an important opportunity for unity and increased stability in Afghanistan. We continue to call on all Afghans including political, religious, and civil society leaders to support this agreement and to come together in calling for cooperation and calm, the White House statement said.Jan Kubis, the top U.N. official in Afghanistan, said the uncertainty of the past months took a heavy toll on Afghanistans security, economy and governance. NATO said in a statement that it hoped both leaders could move forward in the spirit of genuine political partnership.The decision not to release vote totals underscores the fear of potential violence despite Sundays deal. One of Abdullahs final demands was that the election commission not release the vote count because of the fraud he alleges took place.Ahmad Yousuf Nouristani, chairman of the election commission, said the final ballot counts have been shared with both candidates and that the commission would announce the numbers publicly later.A Ghani Ahmadzai supporter Halim Fidai, a former governor said Sunday that Kubish, the U.N. representative, told the commission not to release vote tallies. A U.N. official who insisted on anonymity because he wasnt authorized to speak publicly said the allegation was not true and that the U.N. was only facilitating dialogue between the candidates and the election commission regarding the release of the results.A senior U.S. official said the vote result is transparent but may be released slowly over fears of violence. The official insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to be identified publicly.Ghani Admadzai supporters and election commission reports circulating on social media said that the final vote gave Ghani Ahmadzai roughly 55 percent and Abdullah roughly 45 percent.The four-page power sharing contract says the relationship between president and chief executive a position akin to prime minister must be defined by partnership, collegiality, collaboration, and, most importantly, responsibility to the people of Afghanistan.It spells out the powers for the new chief executive position: participation with the president in bilateral meetings, carrying out administrative and executive affairs as determined by presidential decree, and parity in selection of key security and economic ministries.The deal specifies that the president leads the Cabinet but that the chief executive manages the Cabinets implementation of government policies. The chief executive will also chair regular meetings of a council of ministers.An inauguration ceremony to see Ghani Ahmadzai replace Karzai as president and swear in Abdullah as chief executive was expected within days. Abdullahs spokesman Fazel Sancharaki said the event could be held on Sept. 29.As talks dragged on, Abdullahs mostly northern supporters had threatened to form a parallel government or react violently to any outright victory by Ghani Ahmadzai, a former finance minister and World Bank official whose power base is in the countrys south and east. Ghani Ahmadzai said he always maintained that ethnic politics in Afghanistan demand some sort of power sharing deal and not a winner-takes-all government.Abdullah believes he won the first round of the election in April with more than 50 percent of the vote, which would have precluded a runoff. But the official results showed him winning about 45 percent of that vote in a crowded presidential field of 10.He also believes he won a June runoff with Ghani Ahmadzai. But initial results totals showed Ghani Ahmadzai with about 56 percent of the vote. After the recount the election commission invalidated 1 million of the approximately 8.1 million cast in the runoff, according to the unreleased vote counts, suggesting that fraud was indeed widespread.Though the White House statement said that respect for the democratic process is the only viable path forward for Afghanistan, the next Afghan government to many appears to be more of a product of negotiations than vote tallies.A power-sharing deal was almost sealed about a week ago, but Abdullah then demanded that no vote totals from the runoff be released.The U.S. official said the United States government believes the new president was declared as the result of quantitative electoral results from many millions of legitimate votes and that though a political agreement was made to form a unity government the government is headed by a president decided upon by an electoral process.U.N. and Afghan election officials spent weeks auditing the runoff results after allegations of fraud, a common occurrence over Afghanistans last two presidential elections. Abdullahs side maintained the fraud was so sophisticated it was undetectable.The U.S. has been pushing for a resolution so the next president can sign a security agreement that would allow about 10,000 U.S. forces to remain in the country after combat operations wrap up at the end of the year. Karzai refused to sign it; Ghani Ahmadzai has said he will.The 13-year war against the Taliban has largely been turned over to Afghan security forces, a development that has seen casualties among Afghan soldiers rise significantly this year.The U.S. and international community will continue to fund the Afghan army in the coming years but the Afghans themselves will have to fend off Taliban attempts to again take over wide areas of the country.

Syria refugee flood to Turkey hits 100,000

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KUCUK KENDIRCILER (AP) - The 19-year-old Kurdish militant, who has been fighting the Islamic State group in Syria, brought his family across the border into Turkey to safety Sunday. But in the tranquility of a Turkish tea garden just miles from the frontier, Dalil Boras vowed to head back after nightfall to continue the fight.Pulling a wad of Syrian bills from his pocket, the young fighter who has already lost a 17-year-old brother to the Islamic militants brutal advance said that if the Turkish border guards tried to stop him, the money would persuade them.Boras and his relatives are among some 100,000 Syrians, mostly Kurds, who have flooded into Turkey since Thursday, escaping an Islamic State offensive that has pushed the conflict nearly within eyeshot of the Turkish border.On Sunday, heavy clashes broke out between the Islamic State militants and Kurdish fighters only miles from the Syrian border town of Kobani, where members of the al-Qaida breakaway group were bombarding villagers with tanks, artillery and multiple rocket launchers, said Nasser Haj Mansour, a defense official in Syrias Kurdish region.They are even targeting civilians who are fleeing, Haj Mansour told The Associated Press.At a border crossing where Turkish authorities were processing the refugees, Osman Abbas said he and 20 relatives were fleeing a village near Kobani when Islamic State fighters shot one of his sons. The 35-year-old had tried to return to their home to recover valuables while the rest of the family fled.They took our village, they took our house, they killed my son, Abbas said. I saw it with my own eyes.As refugees flooded in, Turkey closed the border crossing at Kucuk Kendirciler to Turkish Kurds in a move aimed at preventing them from joining the fight in Syria. A day earlier, hundreds of Kurdish fighters had poured into Syria through the small Turkish village, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.Clashes broke out as Kurds trying to approach the crossing from inside Turkey scuffled with security forces, who responded with tear gas, paint pellets and water cannons. The state-run Anadolu Agency said the Kurdish protesters had hurled stones at the security forces.Two people were seriously injured in the clashes, including one Kurdish legislator who was hospitalized, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party said, adding that the Kurds were protesting the Islamic State groups attacks as well as the border closure.The sound of gunfire could be heard from the Syrian side of the frontier, where refugees were piling up after authorities shut the crossing. It wasnt immediately clear whether they were unable to cross or simply waiting to see what would happen.Despite the huge number of new refugees, Turkish authorities said they were ready to deal with the influx. The conflict has pushed more than a million Syrians over the border in the past 3 1/2 years.We have been prepared for this, said Dogan Eskinat, a spokesman for Turkeys disaster management agency. We are also prepared for worse.Boras, the young Kurdish fighter, said the lines between Kurdish and Islamic State fighters had held stable near Kobani for months, until the Islamic State group broke through in recent days, armed with more powerful weapons, including tanks. He said he did not know where the heavier weaponry came from.Two days earlier, his 17-year-old brother was killed in fighting, he said, and another 16-year-old brother, who he had brought to Turkey with his family, slipped back over the border Sunday. The three brothers were fighting with the YPK military wing of Syrias Kurdish Democratic Union Party. Turkey is wary of YPK militants, which it believes are affiliated with the PKK movement, which waged a long and bloody insurgency in southeast Turkey.Boras said the Islamic State has been killing indiscriminately as they roll through villages and that he had seen the devastation that had included blowing up houses with gasoline bombs.They captured women, buried them to the neck and stoned them, he said.Late Sunday, the AP reached Boras in Syria by cell phone. He said he was heading back toward Kobani to recover his weapons and join in the fight.While his report about atrocities could not be independently verified, the situation on the other side of the border is dire.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State group has taken control of 64 villages in northern Syria since the fighting began there early Wednesday. It says that the fate of 800 Kurds from these villages is unknown, adding that the Islamic State group executed 11 civilians, including two boys.The Aleppo Media Center, another activist group, said that Sundays battles were concentrated on the southern and eastern suburbs of Kobani. Mansour said the battles are taking place about eight miles (13 kilometers) from the town.Mohammed Osman Hamme, a middle-aged Syrian Kurdish refugee who managed to make his way across, told the AP he fled with his wife and small children from the village of Dariya in Syrias Raqqa province 10 days ago after hearing that the Islamic State group was headed their way.The family walked for three days, passing the town of Tal Abyad, near the Turkish border, where they saw four severed heads hanging in the streets, he said.As he spoke a tear gas gun went off, causing Hammes terrified daughter to start screaming. Later, Turkish police used armored cars to push people back from the border crossing at Kucuk Kendirciler.UNHCR spokeswoman Selin Unal said most of those coming across the border are Kurdish women, children and the elderly.She urged the international community to step up aid for Syrian refugees in Turkey.Turkey is assisting with all needs but its huge numbers, she said.

Thousands march in Moscow against Ukraine fighting

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MOSCOW (AP) - Tens of thousands of people marched through central Moscow on Sunday to demonstrate against the fighting in Ukraine and Russias alleged complicity in the conflict.An Associated Press reporter estimated the crowd at about 20,000, although the city police department put the number at about 5,000.The demonstrators chanted slogans including No to war and The junta is in the Kremlin, not Kiev. The latter refers to Russias contention that the ousting of Ukraines former Russia-friendly president was a coup.The fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine that erupted after the ouster has killed more than 3,000 people. Ukraine and Western countries claim Russia is supplying troops and equipment to the rebels, which Moscow denies.Our country is acting as an aggressor, like Germany in the war, said demonstrator Konstantin Alexeyev, 35.The Ukraine conflict has boosted nationalist sentiment among Russians, many of who regard eastern Ukraine as rightfully a part of Russia, and coverage of the crisis on state-controlled television channels has skewed strongly against the Ukrainian authorities.I am concerned about the rhetoric on our TV channels, which disseminate anti-Ukrainian sentiment, said 50-year-old demonstrator Ludmila Shteigervalt. Ukraine is a friendly country. We should just leave it alone.At least one scuffle broke out between protesters and nationalists who unfurled a banner denouncing The March of Traitors.In Kiev, a Ukrainian security official said attacks by Russia-backed rebel fighters are continuing despite a cease-fire called for by both sides more than two weeks ago.Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraines national security council, said two Ukrainian servicemen and about 40 rebels had died in clashes over the past day. He said the fighters fired on Ukrainian positions at 22 locations and that they fired artillery at the airport in Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city.The city council of Mariupol, a strategically vital city on the coast of the Sea of Azov, said sporadic shelling of points on its outskirts took place during the night and into Sunday daytime. There were no immediate reports of injuries there.A cease-fire was called on Sept. 5, but has been violated repeatedly. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, the rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe last week tried to further the peace process with an agreement calling for both sides to halt their advances and for pulling back heavy artillery in order to create a buffer zone.But Lysenko said the cease-fire violations are obstructing fulfillment of the buffer zone plan.The first point (the cease-fire) is not being fulfilled so far, so were not talking about the other points, he said.Along with pulling back the heavy weapons, the plan also calls for the withdrawal of foreign fighters and for all military flights over the combat area to be banned.

Yemen government signs peace deal with Shiites

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SANAA (AP) - Yemeni government officials and Shiite rebels signed a peace agreement on Sunday following days of violence that left more than 140 people dead and sent thousands fleeing their homes, state media said, although major rebel advances earlier in the day deepened a sense of uncertainty in the country.The agreement calls for an immediate cease-fire and the formation of a technocratic government within a month after consultations with all political parties, a U.N. envoy said later at a joint news conference with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in the capital, Sanaa.The head of the government may not belong to any political group, Jamal Benomer said, reading from the document, which, he added, also calls for security forces to be restructured based on consultations with the political parties.Just hours earlier, state media reported that the countrys prime minister had resigned, but the presidents office denied it had received any such request.The conflicting information came as the rebels, called Hawthis, seized numerous strategically important installations in Sanaa, including the Defense Ministry, the Central Bank, a key military base and Iman University, military and security officials said. An official at the Defense Ministry later said that the situation there was normal and stable and that the building had not been attacked.The Hawthis have in recent months routed their Islamist foes in a series of battles north of Sanaa, and in recent days consolidated and expanded their grip on areas just to the north of the capital.Their foes have traditionally been Sunni Islamist militias allied with the government or the fundamentalist Islah party. The Hawthis have been pressing for a change of government and what they see as a fair share of power.In many cases, officials said the rebels handed over installations they captured to the military police or to popular committees comprising Hawthis and local residents to protect them against looting.However, they dealt harshly with personnel and installations associated with their foes in years of war, such as the university, which was seen as a bastion of Sunni hard-liners and a recruitment hub for militants.On Sunday afternoon, the official SABA news agency announced the resignation of Mohammed Salem Bassindwa but gave no details. A subsequent report by the agency quoted the presidents office as saying it had not received any such request.Bassindwa took office shortly after former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to step down. He has been in office since February 2012 and has been sharply criticized for his inability to deal with the countrys pressing problems.The military base captured by the Hawthis is the headquarters of the armys 1st Armored Division, an elite outfit led by Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who has led several military campaigns against the Hawthis in the north.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to brief reporters. There were no official casualty figures from Sundays violence.Hawthi rebels captured the state television building on Saturday.Interior Minister Hussein al-Terb issued a statement Sunday calling on policemen in the capital to cooperate with the Hawthis in maintaining security, a move seen as an attempt to stop the city from descending into lawlessness.The Defense Ministry and the General Staff earlier in the day called on military units in Sanaa and nearby areas to remain at their posts, be on high alert and safeguard their weapons and equipment.The Hawthis waged a six-year insurgency that officially ended in 2010. The following year, an Arab Spring-inspired uprising shook the country, eventually forcing Saleh to step down in 2012 as part of a U.S.-backed deal giving him immunity from prosecution.Yemen, one of the Arab worlds poorest nations, is facing multiple challenges. In addition to the Hawthi rebels, an al-Qaida branch in the south poses a constant threat as it tries to impose control over cities and towns.The U.S. considers Yemens local branch of al-Qaida to be the worlds most dangerous, and has helped support Yemeni government offensives against it with drone strikes.On Saturday, the U.N. envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, had signaled that an agreement was reached to halt the violence, and that preparations were underway to sign the accord.

NA Speaker summons 6 PTI MNAs for resignation verification

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq on Sunday wrote to at least six members of national assembly (MNAs) of PTI for resignation verification, Dunya News reported.According to details, the six MNAs who are summoned to appear before the speaker include Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Arif Alvi, Shireen Mazari, and Engineer Ali Muhammad.The letters were sent to six MNAs to appear before the Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq for verification of their respective resignations.Sources revealed that the Election Commission has also written to the Speaker inquiring about the resignations of PTI’s MNAs. The sources add that the Speaker has been urged to accept the resignations from the date they were submitted.Sources further added that the salaries and allowances of PTI’s NA members are stopped.

PTI strategic partner of Taliban: Saad Rafique

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique on Sunday alleged that PTI is the strategic partner of Taliban, adding that this is how they won election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Dunya News reported.Talking exclusively to Dunya News, Rafique said that Imran Khan is emotionless and ‘champion of lies’.He alleged that those who are crying rigging have a forged mandate themselves. He claimed this mandate is result of support from Taliban.Earlier, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rasheed termed PTI’s Karachi rally a result of ‘muk muka’, an urban term for ‘deal’.Responding to PTI chief Imran Khan, Rasheed alleged that Imran Khan is conspiring to divert attention from the Operation Zarb-e-Azb and floods.He said Imran Khan should read Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Arbab Shahzad’s letter regarding his own government before leveling allegations against anyone, adding that Imran Khan will have no option but to be ashamed.He said the person who challenged the government in Islamabad couldn’t do so when in Karachi.
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