Thursday 15 January 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Tennis: Wawrinka in Djokovic half of men's draw

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MELBOURNE (AFP) - Defending champion Stan Wawrinka was Friday pitted in the top half of the draw at the Australian Open with Novak Djokovic and faces a potential semi-final encounter with the world number one.The Swiss fourth seed upset Djokovic in the quarter-finals on the way to winning his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne last year.The Serb top seed is scheduled to face big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the quarters, while Wawrinka could meet Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori in the last eight.Roger Federer, who is chasing an 18th Grand Slam victory at the age of 33, is on course to face Andy Murray in the quarter-finals in the bottom half of the draw.Murray, a three-time Australian Open runner-up, lost to the Swiss great in the 2010 Melbourne Park final.Federer, who will face Taipeis Lu Yen-Hsun in the opening round, is the second seed.Third seed Rafael Nadal faces a tough first-up opponent in Russian Mikhail Youzhny and could play big-serving Czech Tomas Berdych in the quarters in the bottom half of the draw.One of the tougher first-round match-ups will see 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, who is on the comeback trail from wrist surgery, take on Polands Jerzy Janowicz.Australian warhorse Lleyton Hewitt, playing in his 19th consecutive Australian Open, has drawn Chinese wildcard Zhang Ze in the opening round.

Tennis: Serena seeded to face Wozniacki in Open quarters

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MELBOURNE (AFP) - World number one Serena Williams faces a potential rematch of her US Open final against Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open following Fridays draw.Williams, who is chasing her 19th Grand Slam title in Melbourne, beat Wozniacki in straight sets in New York last year.The American meets Belgian Alison van Uytvanck in the first round, while second seed Maria Sharapova first faces a qualifier in the tournament beginning on Monday.Fourth seed and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who is playing in the Sydney International final later Friday, is seeded to face Agnieszka Radwanska in the other quarter-final in the top half of the draw.Sharapova is projected to face rising Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, while third seed Simona Halep could meet Ana Ivanovic in the other last eight clash in the bottom half of the womens draw.The most interesting first-round match up will be between two-time Australian Open champion but unseeded Victoria Azarenka and American Sloane Stephens, a semi-finalist in Melbourne two years ago.

Pakistani schoolchildren are rallying against terrorism with a message you need to see

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(Web Desk) One month on…Pakistani schoolchildren are rallying against the terrorists with a message that the whole world needs to listen and support.As the schools reopen after the extended winter holidays following the tragic Peshawar massacre that left 150 dead including 132 schoolchildren, Pakistan armed forces’ public relations wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has accurately summed the sentiments and resolve of the schoolchildren in a video song.This video song is in Urdu language and has been on Pakistani TV screens for a few days now. But the message in this video is global, you can’t just miss it. The complete lyrics of the song are:Where is he searching me? I’ll be found in booksI’ll be found in the promises I’ve made with my motherI’m the future to come, how can he kill me today?He must be delusional to think he can kill my dreamsI’ve fought well for I am your bloodI have showed it to the enemy how I am bigger than himI am from a nation whose children scare himHe thinks he’s a fierce enemy but (in fact) fights with childrenWhen you hugged me when I departed (dear mother)You sent me with God’s peace and called me your sonFrom where did he come in the path of God’s peace?He came (dear mother) as near as (my forehead) where you kissed meI am from a nation whose children scare himHe thinks he’s a fierce enemy but (in fact) fights with childrenI’ve had to go but my brother is here now(My brother) will now study all that I couldn’tMy father is also here, how far can you go?This is now a promise that you’ll never be able to come here againI am from a nation whose children scare himHe thinks he’s a fierce enemy but (in fact) fights with childrenAt least 150 people were killed including 132 schoolchildren, teachers and principal on December 16, 2014 when 6 armed gunmen stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar. The massacre is one of the deadliest attacks in the country’s history.

Golf: Vintage McIlroy rallies with late run

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ABU DHABI (AFP) - Rory McIlroy produced a Seve Ballesteros-like recovery shot during his solid opening-round five-under par 67, three adrift of triple champion Martin Kaymer after the opening round in the $2.7 million Abu Dhabi Golf Championship Thursday.World number one McIlroy was even-par after 11 holes when he reached the par-4 third hole (his 12th) and smashed his tee shot into the fairway bunker. But from a horrific lie that prompted a very unusual stance, the Northern Irishman somehow muscled his wedge shot to 12 feet and turned what looked like a bogey into a birdie.That got his round going, and McIlroy added four birdies in his last six holes to finish on 67, the same as his playing partner, world number 10 Rickie Fowler, who made a bogey on his final hole after sending his shot over the green on the par-4 ninth.But the round of the day, which saw two holes-in-one, belonged to world number 12 Kaymer. Two birdies in the last two holes saw him finish one shot better than Belgiums 22-year-old, 6ft 6in-tall Thomas Pieters, who went out in the morning and shot a superb seven-under par 65.Kaymer, the defending US Open champion, made the turn in 33 shots, and then made six birdies and a bogey on the back nine.The German credited his hot putter for the score, and said: I think the key to me doing well here the last few years was my putting. And today, it was the same. I made ten birdies, and there were three putts in those that were over 15 feet, and thats very rare.McIlroy admitted the shot on the third hole changed everything, but he would have to up his game over the next three days to secure what would be his first Abu Dhabi title after three runner-up finishes.I was just trying to get it on the green. From looking like going one-over to finishing five-under, Im very happy, he said.Ill need to do a lot more of that over the next few days if I want to have a chance to win. I know Ill need to hit more fairways, as well. I didnt drive the ball particularly well today.Pieters was going great guns with seven birdies in his first 13 holes, but a bogey on the easy par-3 15th halted his charge, and he needed to make a birdie on the final, par-5 18th for his 65.The long-hitting Belgian said: Ive been driving it a lot better. I think thats the key out here. You have to drive it around the fairway and I drove it long today, so gave myself a lot of wedges in and converted some putts. It was a nice start to the season.There was a five-way tie for the third place at six-under par 66 that included South Africas Branden Grace, French duo of Gregory Bourdy and Alexander Levy, Mikko Ilonen of Finland and Englands Tyrrell Hatton.However, world number two Henrik Stenson did not have the best of starts, and a double-bogey on his first hole was followed by two more bogeys as he closed with a birdie-free round of 76. Englands world number six Justin Rose was three-under at the turn, but four bogeys on the back nine saw him finish at one-over par 73.Of the two holes-in-one - the first by Englands Tom Lewis on the difficult seventh hole won him a Cadillac Escape worth $88,580. While Spains Miguel Angel Jimenez got one at the 15th hole, winning a five-night stay in the Royal Suite of the official hotel, the St Regis.

Hollande says Muslims 'main victims of fanaticism'

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PARIS (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that Muslims were the main victims of fanaticism, as funerals were held in Paris for five of the 17 people killed in last weeks Islamist attacks.Speaking at the Arab World Institute in Paris, Hollande said: It is Muslims who are the main victims of fanaticism, fundamentalism and intolerance, adding the whole country was united in the face of terrorism.Members of the Muslim community in France, Europes largest, have the same rights and the same duties as all citizens and must be protected, the president vowed.The five buried included two of Charlie Hebdos best-known cartoonists and Franck Brinsolaro, 49, a police protection officer who was killed in the satirical magazines editorial meeting.Even as the ceremonies took place, the magazine continued to fly off the shelves, sparking fury in some parts of the Muslim world for depicting the Prophet Mohammed on its cover.Georges Wolinski, 80, and Bernard Tignous Verlhac, 57, who were gunned down by two Islamist brothers in the attack claimed by Al-Qaeda, were buried at private family funerals.Thousands braved drizzle outside the town hall memorial service for Tignous, laying flowers under a huge portrait of the cartoonist as his wife Chloe paid tribute inside.His cartoon-covered coffin was carried through an applauding crowd for final burial, as people held aloft banners reading Thank you Charlie Hebdo and Our heroes.It would really annoy you to see us here today with our long faces. We shouldnt be sad, but proud to have known you, said Coco, a fellow Charlie Hebdo cartoonist.After the shooting at Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people died, the French rushed to get their hands on the survivors issue which sold out Wednesday before more copies of an eventual print run of five million hit newsstands.Long queues formed again on Thursday as copies were snapped up.Charlie Hebdo is alive and will live on, Hollande said Wednesday. You can murder men and women, but you can never kill their ideas, he said, declaring the previously struggling weekly reborn.The Charlie Hebdo assault on January 7 was followed two days later by an attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris by a gunman claiming to have coordinated his actions with brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi.In all, 17 people died over three days in the bloodiest attacks in France in half a century, which ended when police stormed two hostage sieges and killed all three gunmen.Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve also announced that a Malian described as a hero after he helped hostages in the supermarket would be granted French citizenship.In Wednesdays new edition of Charlie Hebdo, the prophet is depicted with a tear in his eye, under the headline All is forgiven.He holds a sign reading Je suis Charlie (I am Charlie), the slogan that has become a global rallying cry for those expressing sympathy for the victims and support for freedom of speech.The creator of Je suis Charlie told AFP Thursday he was seeking to copyright the slogan to stop the nearly uncontrollable flood of people seeking to profit from it.Speaking at Tignous funeral, Justice Minister Christiane Taubira said France was a country where one can draw anything, including a prophet.But the cover of the new Charlie Hebdo has sparked controversy and protests in some parts of the Muslim world, where many find the depiction of the prophet highly offensive.Al-Qaedas branch in Yemen, where at least one of the Kouachi brothers trained, released a video Wednesday claiming responsibility for the attack, saying it was vengeance for the cartoons of the prophet.The Afghan Taliban on Thursday condemned Charlie Hebdos publication of further Mohammed cartoons and praised the gunmen.Angry protests have been staged in countries from Pakistan and Turkey to the Philippines and Mauritania.Pope Francis, speaking in Manila, stressed that you cannot provoke, you cannot insult other peoples faith, you cannot mock it.Amedy Coulibaly, who shot dead four Jewish men at a kosher supermarket in Paris and a policewoman the day before in attacks he said were coordinated with the Kouachi brothers, has claimed links to the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.A Spanish High Court judge on Thursday announced a preliminary investigation into a stay Coulibaly made in Madrid days before the attacks.A Turkish court ordered a block on websites featuring images of the magazine cover and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday described it as a grave provocation, adding: Freedom of the press does not mean freedom to insult. But many have sought to calm tensions, with French Muslim leaders urging their communities to stay calm and avoid emotive reactions.France continued to receive support from its Western allies.US Secretary of State John Kerry, who will fly into Paris later Thursday to pay his respects to the dead, said he wanted to give the French capital a big hug.France has deployed armed police to protect synagogues and Jewish schools and called up 10,000 troops to guard against other attacks.Authorities have admitted clear failings in intelligence. The three gunmen were known to French intelligence and on a US terror watch list for years.Meanwhile debate was mounting in France over where freedom of expression begins and ends.Controversial comedian Dieudonne will stand trial on charges of condoning terrorism after describing himself as Je suis Charlie Coulibaly, referring to the supermarket attacker.

US funded Afghan training base that later crumbled: watchdog

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States wasted nearly $500,000 on an Afghan police training center that began to fall apart only months after it was built due to shoddy contractor work, according to a watchdog report released Thursday.The centers adobe-style brick buildings were supposed to replicate an Afghan village to allow the countrys special police to practice search operations but the roof and walls began melting away in the rain four months after it was completed, said the report by John Sopko, Washingtons special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR).Therefore, although this project may have been well intentioned, the fact that the Afghans had to demolish and rebuild the DFR (dry fire range) is not only an embarrassment, but, more significantly, a waste of US taxpayers money, Sopkos office said.The report found that US officials failed to properly supervise or hold accountable the Afghan firm selected to build the center, Qesmatullah Nasrat Construction Company, which used substandard bricks and failed to follow contract requirements.The inspector generals report is the latest in a long series that have found massive waste and botched projects worth billions of dollars across Afghanistan. For the police training center in eastern Wardak province, American officials at Forward Operating Base Shank awarded the $456,669 contract to the firm in May 2012. And the company was paid in full once the buildings were completed in October of the same year.The center was not constructed according to contract requirements, and our analysis showed that, as a result, water penetration caused its walls to begin disintegrating within 4 months of when the US government accepted the project . . ., the SIGAR report said.The firm installed roofs without gravel and asphalt, failed to ensure a slope to the roof to allow water to drain to collection points, used smaller bricks than required and of insufficient strength, it said.The bricks were made mostly of sand with little clay content and that the lack of adequate clay material caused the bricks to fail when water penetration occurred, it said.The report included photos that showed the buildings intact just after construction was completed, then with massive leaks and disintegrating walls in the following months.US officials eventually concluded the building was completely unsafe and would have to be rebuilt entirely. The contracting company initially planned repairs but was not ready to rebuild the entire facility, it said.The Afghan government has since demolished the buildings and is now rebuilding the training center.The report urged US Central Command to try to recoup funds where possible, determine why the compound was not built according to contract requirements and what disciplinary action should be taken against contracting officials.Central Command accepted the reports recommendations and said it plans to take corrective action.Sopko has warned that it will be difficult to track reconstruction projects as international troops withdraw. Most of a NATO-led force has pulled out of Afghanistan and a small force of about 12,000, made up mostly of American troops, remains deployed.

Apple, Google, other tech firms to pay $415M in wage case

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Apple, Google and two other Silicon Valley companies have agreed to pay $415 million in a second attempt to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging they formed an illegal cartel to prevent their workers from leaving for better-paying jobs.The settlement filed Thursday in a San Jose, California, federal court revises a $324.5 million agreement that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh rejected as inadequate five months ago. Koh indicated that she believed the roughly 64,000 workers in the case should be paid at least $380 million, including attorney fees.The lawsuit, filed in 2011, sought $3 billion in damages that could have been tripled under U.S. antitrust law. Attorneys for the workers decided to settle after concluding it would have been difficult to prove the alleged conspiracy to a jury.If Koh approves the latest settlement, it would avoid a potentially embarrassing trial over claims that Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. secretly agreed not to recruit each others employees from 2005 to 2009.The alleged collusion stopped after the U.S. Justice Department opened an investigation that culminated with an antitrust complaint being filed against Apple, Google and the other participating companies in 2010. The Justice Departments case was settled without the companies admitting any guilt or paying any fines.The evidence gathered in the ensuing class-action lawsuit has exposed Apple and Google emails that have cast some of their top executives in an unflattering light.Apples late CEO Steve Jobs is depicted as the conniving ringleader of a scheme designed to minimize the chances that the top computer programmers and other talented employees would defect to other technology companies. The lawsuit contends the secret no-poaching agreements orchestrated by Jobs suppressed the wages of the employees, many of whom were already making more than $100,000 annually.Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who was on Apples board at the time that the alleged collusion began, sometimes took drastic actions to make sure his company didnt cross Jobs. In 2007, Schmidt, in a bid to keep Jobs happy, fired a Google recruiter for contacting an Apple engineer, according to internal emails.Both Apple and Google declined to comment on the new settlement. As they did in the Justice Departments investigation, they have denied wrongdoing.Intuit Inc., Pixar Animation Studios and Lucasfilm also participated in the no-poaching ring. Those three companies reached a $20 million settlement that Koh approved last year.If Koh approves the deal filed Thursday, the eligible workers at Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe would receive an average of about $5,200 apiece. They could have received an average of more than $100,000 apiece had the case gone to trial and resulted in trebled damages of $9 billion.The workers attorneys are seeking fees of up to $82.3 million in the settlement, the same amount they wanted in the previous agreement.

Belgium raid on alleged terror group kills two

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VERVIERS, Belgium (AFP) - Belgian police shot dead two alleged militants in a gun battle Thursday during a huge operation to prevent what they called imminent terrorist attacks, raising fresh alarm for Europe days after 17 people were killed in Paris.A third person was arrested after the bloody shootout in the eastern town of Verviers, near the German border, which targeted a cell of the latest in a series of young Europeans said to have returned from jihad in Syria.Police also conducted around a dozen searches in Brussels and its suburbs in a sweep that came on the heels of last weeks Islamist attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris.This operational cell of about ten people, some of whom had returned from Syria, was on the point of launching significant terrorist attacks in Belgium, Thierry Werts of the Belgian federal prosecutors office told a press conference in Brussels.During the search, certain suspects immediately opened fire at special forces of the police with automatic weapons. They opened fire for several minutes. Two suspects were killed and a third was arrested.Prime Minister Charles Michel said the raid showed Belgiums determination to fight those who want to spread terror.Belgian authorities raised the security alert for official buildings to its second highest level, saying that the thwarted attack had intended to target police.No police or civilians were hurt in the operation in Verviers, a city with a large Muslim population some 125 kilometres (70 miles) from Brussels, prosecutors said.In video footage shown on Belgian television, gunshots and explosions could be heard for several minutes and a blaze apparently erupted in the property.Werts said that even after one of the suspects was lying on the ground injured, he continued to fire.I heard two explosions. I left, then I saw two young people run -- Arab types between 25 and 30 -- who hurtled down in the dark with woolly hats on their heads, local resident Yilmaz, 41, told the Libre Belgique newspaper.Redouane, 65, a Belgian of Moroccan origin, said: People are terrorised. They cannot leave their homes. There are terrorists in Verviers.... My wife and I cannot take it anymore.Another local resident said machineguns were firing for about 10 minutes.Jihadist networksSome 325 people have left Belgium to fight with the Islamic State and other groups in Iraq and Syria, according to officials, giving the country the highest per capita number of residents becoming jihadists in Europe.In May 2014, a suspected Islamist shot four people dead at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche, who had been in Syria, has been charged with murder.The men targeted in Verviers had been under surveillance since returning from Syria a week ago and were believed to be about to spring an attack, prosecutors said.Prosecutors said theyd found no link at this stage to the Paris attacks.But earlier Thursday, investigators said they suspect a Belgian man could have supplied Jewish supermarket gunman Amedy Coulibaly with his weapons.The suspect, Neetin Karasular, had bought a car belonging to Coulibalys partner Hayat Boumeddiene, who has since fled France, apparently reaching Syria.Karasular handed himself into police on Tuesday, saying he had been in contact with Coulibaly in recent months and had tried to swindle the Frenchman over the car deal, but was scared after the Paris attacks.The issue of weapons is under investigation, prosecutors office spokesman Eric Van der Sijpt told AFP.Investigators say they have found documents at Karasulars house showing he negotiated with Coulibaly over weapons, including a Tokarev pistol of the sort used during the supermarket attack, Belga news agency reported.Karasular will appear before a magistrate in Charleroi on Monday to find out if he will remain in custody.Spain meanwhile opened an investigation Thursday into Coulibaly and Boumeddienes visit to Madrid shortly before the attacks.Turkish authorities say Boumeddiene crossed into Syria on January 8 from Turkey. She had arrived in Istanbul on a flight from Madrid before the Paris attacks took place.

COAS in London: Pakistan's political, military leadership working together against terrorism

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LONDON (Dunya News) – Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif on Thursday visited Royal Military Academy and Royal College of Defense Studies in London and said that the Peshawar massacre has united the whole nation, adding that the political and military leadership of the country is working together against terrorism, Dunya News reported.During his visit to London’s Royal Military Academy, Army Chief met Pakistani cadets under training in the academy. General Sharif urged Pakistani cadets to become team leaders and to bring honour to the country.General Sharif also visited Royal College of Defense Studies and presented Pakistan’s stance on security challenges and terrorism. He said Pakistan is determined to work against terrorism.The Pakistani High Commission in London also held a reception in Army Chief’s honour in which British Defense Minister Michael Falcon, members of parliament Lord Tariq Mehmood, Saeeda Warsi, Lord Nazir Ahmad, Khalid Mehmood and members of European parliament Dr Sajjad Kareem and Amjad Bashir and leaders of local Pakistani community participated.In his address to the reception ceremony, General Sharif said that the entire nation has united after the Peshawar massacre, one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country that left 150 dead including 132 schoolchildren.He said the operation against the terrorists is continued and that several areas have been cleansed of terrorists.Army Chief said that Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan are improving and that Pakistan’s political and military leadership are working together to root out the terrorism from the country.The Pakistani community congratulated the army chief on successful UK visit.

Islamabad police send carjacking case to be tried in military courts for terrorists

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Islamabad police have sent a carjacking case to the Interior Ministry recommending it to be tried in the military courts which are designated for terrorism cases only.According to the sources, the police sent six cases to be tried in the military courts and one of the cases is of carjacking.Sources said that the car was lifted from Islamabad’s Ghauri Town area in 2013. The FIR of the incident was lodged in Islamabad’s Koral police station.The Islamabad police have reportedly moved the Interior Ministry to try the case in the military courts after showing carjacking FIR as the FIR of attack on police case.

Snooker: O'Sullivan sets new career century record

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LONDON (AFP) - Ronnie OSullivan took sole possession of the record for most professional career century breaks when he posted his 776th three-figure contribution on Thursday.OSullivan set a new mark in the opening frame of his eventual 6-1 Masters quarter-final win against Hong Kongs Marco Fu at Londons Alexandra Palace, having equalled fellow multiple former world champion Stephen Hendrys record of 775 centuries with two hundreds during his tournament-opening win over Ricky Walden on Tuesday. I was a bit nervous, to be honest, because I knew everyone was thinking about it, so to get it out of the way was nice, OSullivan told the BBC. But there was still a match to play -- (at) 1-0, I was like, Calm down, he added.Hendry, now commentating for BBC television, said of OSullivans record-breaking hundred: It hasnt been in doubt from very early on. Every shot has been cued to perfection.Local hero OSullivan, 39, was cheered to the echo by the crowd, who gave him a standing ovation when his break ended on 101 after The Rocket lost position on the final red.Five-times Masters champion OSullivan raised his cue in acknowledgement of spectators applause.However, Fu kept his composure to win the second frame and level the best of 11 match at 1-1 before OSullivan, after a couple of hard-fought frames, pulled away to a convincing victory that saw him into the semi-finals of the Masters for the 11th time. Marco is playing consistently well, so I knew it was going to be a tough match, said OSullivan. He is at the business end of most tournaments and he always plays well against me, so I knew I had to be on my game.The first four (frames) were a little bit hit and miss but I was pleased that I was able to not get frustrated and just try to compete and try to drain every bit out of those first four frames as I could.

Euro dives vs dollar after Switzerland removes cap

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NEW YORK (AFP) - The euro sank sharply against the dollar Thursday after Switzerland surprised investors by removing its currencys floor against the euro, sending the Swiss franc soaring.The Swiss National Bank announced earlier in the day it was abandoning the minimum rate of 1.20 francs against the euro, a ceiling it had imposed three years ago to hold down the value of the franc against the currency of the 19-nation eurozone, of which it is not a member.Minutes after the Swiss central bank said it was pulling away the floor, the safe-haven Swiss franc strengthened almost 30 percent against the euro. By late Thursday, the euro was fetching 1.0035 Swiss francs, down about 16 percent from the same time Wednesday.The Swiss National Banks decision to remove the EURCHF Sf1.2000 floor is a monumental development for FX markets, said Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at DailyFX, in a market note.Nothing more needs to be said than the fact that this is a complete surprise for most (if not all) market participants.Even the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, called the move in a CNBC television interview a bit of a surprise.Lagarde also said that she had not been informed in advance of the Swiss decision. I find a bit surprising that he didnt contact me, she said about the chairman of the Swiss National Bank.I would hope that it was communicated with other colleagues of central banks. Im not sure it was, she added.Analysts cautioned that the forex market would likely be highly volatile in the wake of the Swiss action, and ahead of the European Central Bank meeting next Thursday. There is widespread speculation that the ECB will announce a large asset-buying program, or quantitative easing, to counter deflation and weak growth in the eurozone.In approaching parity with the euro Thursday, the Swiss franc also rose against the dollar, to 0.7406 franc, its strongest level against the greenback since August 2011.

Iran nuclear talks 'in decisive phase': Germany

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BERLIN (AFP) - Germanys foreign minister said Thursday no more deadlines must be missed in the Iran nuclear negotiations which had entered a decisive phase.We must now use the newly opened time window, we must leave nothing undone to reach the solution that has eluded us in recent years, Frank-Walter Steinmeier said before the talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.In a brief joint press appearance with Zarif, Steinmeier said we probably share the understanding that this is now the decisive phase of the negotiations.Iran and major world powers have given themselves until late June to reach a comprehensive agreement that would prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb, a goal it denies having, in return for an easing of punishing economic sanctions.Sunday will see talks in Geneva between Iran and the so-called P51 group -- the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- seeking to break a stalemate that has seen two earlier deadlines pass without an accord.Steinmeier said that we have extended this transition agreement twice but we also agreed at the last meeting that we share the common understanding that one cannot indefinitely continue the extensions.Irans path to nuclear weapons must end unambiguously, verifiably and permanently, and in return sanctions must be lifted credibly and step-by-step, Steinmeier said.He added that this would restore trust between all sides as they faced a host of crises and conflicts such as the threat posed by the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.We have lost 11 years, and the conditions have not become better. And thats why we need to seize the opportunity to achieve justice, peace and security, and Im certain that with the participation of Germany... we can reach this goal, Zarif said.Later Thursday, Zarif met European Union foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini who insisted that the negotiations have to be brought to a conclusion in line with the agreed time.Mogherini also discussed a wide range of topics including the crisis in Syria and Iraq.Mogherini encouraged Iran to use its considerable influence to help create a more inclusive and stable Iraq, which is in both the EUs and Irans interests, a statement said.Zarif met US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva on Wednesday and is due to meet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Paris on Friday.

Oil market tumbles after OPEC boosts output

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NEW YORK (AFP) - The oil market tumbled Thursday after OPEC said it produced more oil in December than its limit, despite sharply falling prices, and lowered its global demand outlook for its crude.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in February plunged $2.23, or 4.6 percent, to $46.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, almost wiping out Wednesdays rally, considered a rare market breather in oils dizzying dive since June.In London trade, Brent North Sea crude for February delivery, the international benchmark futures contract, fell $1.02 (2.1 percent) to $47.67.The OPEC announcement that December production was up, when people had been hoping it would be falling, was the primary factor, said Michael Lynch of Strategic Energy & Economic Research.The 12-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which produces about one third of global supplies, said in a monthly report Thursday that its production rose to 30.2 million barrels a day in December, above the cartels 30 million output limit.In addition, OPEC projected that demand for its oil would fall to 28.8 million barrels per day (mbpd), from 29.1 million in 2014.The broadly downbeat OPEC report said the global demand for crude will rise slightly this year, to 92.3 mbpd, but that the increase would essentially be absorbed by a 1.28 mbpd rise in production by non-OPEC countries, leaving a persistent oversupply of at least 1.0 mbpd in 2015.The oil market has been notably volatile since WTI on Tuesday hit its lowest close in six years at $45.89 a barrel.With prices down almost 60 percent since June amid oversupply and weakening global economic growth, traders are speculating about when the market will bottom out and begin to climb again.I think weve reached a bottom, at $45, and the fair value should be higher. People want to go higher, but they wait for a better sentiment about economic conditions, said Carl Larry of Frost & Sullivan.Tim Evans of Citi Futures noted the trading action came as the February Brent contract expired Thursday and ahead of the February WTI contract expiration on Tuesday, suggesting a significant book squaring element in todays dealings.

Football: Holders Japan face Iraq in first Cup test

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SYDNEY (AFP) - Japan will aim to take a giant step towards retaining their Asian Cup title when they face former winners Iraq in their first real test of the tournament on Friday.The Blue Samurai ran out easy 4-0 winners against debutants Palestine in their opening Group D encounter in Newcastle on Monday, the match at times resembling an exhibition game.In Brisbane, 2007 champions Iraq overcame Jordan 1-0 and are favourites to finish second in Group D, setting up a quarter-final with arch-rivals Iran or the United Arab Emirates.Swindon Town midfielder Yaser Kasim, who scored the winner against Jordan and was named man of the match, said Javier Aguirres Japan held no fear for his side.I look forward to it because I know Japan is a good side, a good passing side, he said, ahead of the game which starts at 7:00 pm (0900 GMT) in Brisbane.Whenever I come up against a passing side in England, which is rare, its like a chess match and I really enjoy it.Elsewhere in Group D on Friday, Palestine and Jordan are seeking their first points in Melbourne when they kick off at 6:00 pm (0700 GMT).It promises to be a tasty affair with Jordan boss Ray Wilkins and the head of the Palestine FA Jibril Al Rajoub engaged in a war of words this week.Al Rajoub reportedly told Qatari media that Wilkins must have been intoxicated when he suggested that whoever won Mondays opener between Jordan and Iraq would advance to the quarter-finals with Japan.Jordan are also missing striker Ahmad Hayel, who is being rested after he drank large amounts of water to give a urine sample for a drugs test, and started vomiting and fell ill.
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