Sunday 5 April 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Karachi: 3 gang war accused killed in encounter

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – According to Rangers spokesman, three gang war accused, Salim Dollar, Zubair Muhajir and Nawaz Dada, were killed after exchange of firing with Rangers on Sunday.Rangers sources informed that accused Salim alias Dollar was member of target killing wing of a political party. A Rangers official was also wounded in the encounter. A large amount of ammunition was also recovered.In a separate development, police conducted a search operation in Kharadar and arrested five suspects. According to SSP Fida Hussain, the accused were involved in cases of robbery.

Obama defends Iran deal as 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity

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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is defending a framework nuclear understanding with Iran as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prevent a nuclear bomb and bring longer-term security to the Middle East, insisting the U.S. will stand in defense of Israel.In a weekend interview with The New York Times, Obama argues the risks of a deal are far outweighed by potential gains if it deters Irans nuclear weapons aspirations, since the U.S. is a far superior military power who can protect its core security interests.He said the U.S. will make sure the deal does not threaten Israels own military advantage.The notion that Iran is undeterrable is simply not the case, Obama told The Times Thomas Friedman. And so for us to say, Lets try understanding that were preserving all our options, that were not naive but if in fact we can resolve these issues diplomatically, we are more likely to be safe, more likely to be secure, in a better position to protect our allies.Obama added that he was absolutely committed to making sure Israel maintains their qualitative military edge and was willing to make clear that if Israel were to be attacked by any state, that we would stand by them.Obama expressed concern about how the talks have strained U.S.-Israel relations, indicating how he takes it personally when hes accused of being anti-Israel.Part of what has always made the U.S.-Israeli relationship so special is that it has transcended party, and I think that has to be preserved. There has to be the ability for me to disagree with a policy on settlements, for example, without being viewed as ... opposing Israel.Its been a hard period, he said.

Abbas threatens to turn to ICC over frozen tax monies

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RAMALLAH (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas threatened Sunday to turn to the International Criminal Court over Israels refusal to fully release hundreds of millions of dollars in tax monies owed to the Palestinian Authority. In early January, Israel froze the monthly transfer of funds it collects on behalf of the PA as a punitive measure after the Palestinians moved to join the ICC. But on Friday, Israel agreed to release the funds after deducting debts due for electricity, water and medical services. Speaking Sunday, Abbas confirmed that two thirds of the money had been transferred. They said they were going to send the money and in the end they did, but a third of it was deducted - why? he asked during a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Now we have a new file to take to the ICC, first there was the (summer) war in Gaza, then there was the settlements and now the Palestinian leadership is considering presenting this issue to the court in due time.The Palestinians would not accept anything but the full amount, he said. We will not take the money until we get all of it: either you give us the full amount or we go to the ICC.When the announcement was made on Friday, Israel did not say how much money would be transferred nor whether it would resume the normal monthly payment of around $127 million in customs duties.The move comes after heavy international pressure on Israel to release the monthly funds, which account for two-thirds of the Palestinians annual budget, excluding foreign aid.A source close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told AFP Sunday that a portion of the money had indeed been transferred to the Palestinian Authority.The source added that Israel had assured the United States today that the remaining amount can be transferred at any moment.Under an economic agreement between the sides signed in 1994, Israel transfers to the PA tens of millions of dollars each month in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports.Although the sanction has been imposed many times, it has rarely lasted more than one or two months, except in 2006 when Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian legislative elections and Israel froze the funds for six months.Blocking the money also prevents the PA paying its roughly 180,000 employees, which costs almost $200 million (170 million euros) a month.

Head of Egypt jihadist group killed: ministry

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CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian security forces have killed the head of a jihadist group responsible for deadly attacks on police, an interior ministry statement said Sunday.It said Hammam Mohamed Attiyah was killed in an exchange of fire with security forces during a raid on an apartment in southern Cairo.No date for the incident was given, and there was no immediate confirmation from Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt).Attiyahs reported death came hours after the group claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed a policeman in an affluent Cairo neighbourhood.Interior Ministry spokesman General Hani Abdel Latif, describing Attiyah as a fugitive terrorist, said he was plotting and preparing to carry out criminal plans.The statement said Attiyah belonged to the jihadist Ansar Beit al-Maqdis -- now affiliated with the Islamic State group (IS) -- but broke away in 2013 to found Ajnad Misr.Ajnad Misr is accused of carrying out 26 attacks on police, mainly in Cairo, that have killed several people, the statement said.It said security forces acting on a tip-off approached Attiyahs apartment but he opened fire and was killed when gunfire was returned.An automatic rifle, handgun and four primed bombs were found inside the apartment alongside 18 more explosive devices still being prepared, it added.Ajnad Misr says it has attacked security forces in retaliation for the deaths of hundreds of Islamist protesters killed in a government crackdown since the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.It claimed responsibility for bombings outside the presidential palace and foreign ministry that last year killed four policemen, two of them explosives experts.The jihadist group has said it deliberately uses low-yield bombs to avoid harming passers-by, but there has also been a rise in civilian casualties.On Sunday two people, including a woman, were wounded when a bomb exploded near a checkpoint on a bridge in the affluent Zamalek neighbourhood, killing a policeman.Egypts deadliest militant group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis -- Partisans of Jerusalem in English -- is based in the restive Sinai Peninsula where it has killed scores of security personnel, including at least 15 soldiers in coordinated attacks on Thursday.The group changed its name last year to Sinai Province after pledging allegiance to IS, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria.

Suicide car bomb near Libya's Misrata kills 6 people

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TRIPOLI (AP) - The official media agency for Libyas milita-backed government says a suicide car bomb killed 6 people near the western city of Misrata.It says that the dead from Saturdays bombing included a mother and her two sons, and that 21 others were injured.A security official from Misrata, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, says that most of the wounded were militiamen guarding a gate to the city, the apparent target of the attack.Militias from Misrata serve as a key power base for Libyas Tripoli-based government. Misrata has recently sent its militias to battle Islamic State-affiliated militants who control the central Libyan city of Sirte.Libya has two rival governments claiming legitimacy as their allied militias fight across the country.

Britain's Prince Harry in Australia for army stint

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SYDNEY (AFP) - Britains Prince Harry arrived in Canberra on Monday ahead of a one-month attachment with the Australian Army, as he moves towards his retirement from the British military. The 30-year-old touched down in Sydney from where he boarded a flight for the national capital, where dozens of well-wishers were hoping to catch a glimpse of the prince.Prince Harry is expected to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial before reporting for duty at Australian Defence Force (ADF) headquarters.Captain Wales, as he is known in the British Army, is expected to take part in bush patrols, work with an indigenous regiment and possibly fly helicopters during the embed.Prince Harry is tremendously looking forward to starting his four-week attachment with the ADF, a spokesman for the prince told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Prince Harry, who will become fifth in line to the throne by the upcoming birth of his brother Prince Williams second child, will be embedded with Australian army units and regiments in Sydney, Darwin and Perth.He is expected to take part in a range of unit-based activities and training exercises, the Australian Defence Force said in a statement announcing his arrival last week.These will include urban training exercises, regional bush patrols, flight simulation and aviation activities, joint fire exercises and indigenous engagement activities.Captain Wales will also take part in routine activities, such as physical training, first aid training and pack marches.Mondays events in Canberra are expected to be his only public appearance in Australia.Prince Harry will also travel to Turkey later this month for the Anzac Day dawn service at Gallipoli to mark the centenary since that World War I campaign.

Sudan rebels seize election material days before vote: spokesman

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KHARTOUM (AFP) - Rebels in Sudans South Kordofan said Sunday they had captured a lorry carrying ballot boxes to polling stations for nationwide elections due next week, vowing to disrupt voting in the conflict-hit region.The Sudan Peoples Liberation Army-North ambushed and captured a vehicle loaded fully with ballot boxes on Saturday on the road linking the state capital Kadugli with the town of Dilling, spokesman Arnu Lodi said.The SPLA-N will press its military campaign plan to stop elections in South Kordofan, Lodi said in the statement, warning civilians to avoid military sites because they are legitimate targets.But army spokesman Colonel Al-Sawarmy Khaled Saad told AFP he had no information on the ambush.Last month the SPLA-N announced its campaign to disrupt presidential and legislative elections slated for April 13.Sudans mainstream opposition is boycotting the elections, which are widely expected to extend the rule of President Omar al-Bashir, 71.Bashirs government has been battling the SPLA-N in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since 2011.The SPLA-N has said the armed campaign intends to integrate the various means of struggle, armed uprising and civil disobedience, to work together to stop the elections.Their political wing signed the Sudan Call agreement aimed at uniting the opposition in Addis Ababa in December, along with political parties, civil society organisations and other armed groups.The group is boycotting the elections but several signatories have denied the SPLA-Ns campaign to disrupt the elections is Sudan Calls armed wing.Representatives for Sudan Call had been due to meet members of Sudans ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Addis Ababa at the end of March to discuss a national dialogue promised by Bashir last January.The dialogue was supposed to address Sudans problems and end the insurgencies in Blue Nile, South Kordofan and the western region of Darfur.The NCP did not attend and said the pre-dialogue meeting would take place after voting.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced his disappointment at the meetings failure.Sudan Call sharply criticised the NCP in a statement on Sunday, urging Sudanese to escalate resistance to the fake elections, but did not say whether they would attend talks after the vote. Violence has risen over the past month in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and the government said last week fighting since the beginning of March alone had displaced at least 20,000.Despite this, Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein said on Friday the army will not allow the rebels to impede elections.And Bashir has pledged to bring peace to conflict-stricken states, either by force or through talks.Bashir, a career soldier, came to power in a 1989 coup and has been indicted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in the western region of Darfur, where he is battling a separate insurgency.

Golf: Holmes wins Houston Open in playoff

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HOUSTON (AFP) - J.B. Holmes fashioned an electrifying final round, then held on to win the Houston Open in a three-way playoff Sunday for a perfect final preparation for next weeks Masters.Anytime you can get a win its a big step coming into a major, said Holmes, who beat Johnson Wagner with a par at the second hole of sudden death after Jordan Spieth was eliminated at the first playoff hole.Hopefully Ill be ready next week, Holmes said.Holmes started the day six shots adrift of overnight leader Spieth and surged up the leaderboard with seven birdies in his first nine holes -- nine of his first 12. He had just one bogey in an eight-under 64, then waited for almost two hours before he was joined on 16-under 272 by Wagner and Spieth.Spieth closed with a 70 while Wagner, playing on a sponsors exemption, made just the third birdie of the day at the Golf Club of Houstons tough 18th hole to cap a 69 and join the playoff.The trio returned to 18, where Holmes and Wagner were in the fairway but Spieths shot off the tee rolled down the bank toward the water hazard.Holmess second shot left him a long birdie attempt and he two-putted for par, while Wagner got up and down for par from a bunker.Spieths awkward second shot left him in a bunker and he was eliminated with a bogey.From the 18th tee again, Holmes and Wagner both found the fairway. Holmes gave himself a 10-foot birdie putt, while Wagner left himself a difficult effort over the ridge.Holmes birdie effort trickled right, but his par proved good enough when Wagners five-foot par putt failed to drop.Wagner had been hoping to duplicate his fairytale win in this event in 2008 -- his first US PGA Tour title giving him a Masters berth.Hes had his struggles since then, including losing his tour card. Losing out on the trophy and a spot in the years first major was a blow, but being in contention was a sign of progress.Birdying 18 to even get in the playoff was pretty incredible, Wagner said. Im pretty bummed right now, I love this event. Im really pretty disappointed, But theres a lot of good stuff going on.Spieth, who finished runner-up to Bubba Watson in his Masters debut last year, still takes plenty of confidence into Augusta.He won the Valspar championship and finished second in the Texas Open in his two prior starts.I feel as prepared as I think I could be, said the 21-year-old Texan. Ive felt more and more comfortable with more and more pressure. That gives me a lot of confidence going into Augusta.Russell Henley finished alone in fourth after a 69 for 274.Zimbabwes Brendon de Jonge carded a 67 for 275, where he was joined by Cameron Tringale (68), Keegan Bradley (69) and Charles Howell (70).

Tennis: Djokovic overpowers Murray for fifth Miami Masters title

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MIAMI (AFP) - World number one Novak Djokovic roared home in a 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-0 win over Andy Murray on Sunday to claim a fifth Miami Masters title.Serbias Djokovic pushed his career record against the Scot to 18-8, adding the triumph in the championship match on the hardcourts of Miami to victories over Murray this year in the Australian Open final and the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters.I could not ask for a better start of the season, winning three big titles, Djokovic said. Hopefully Im able to use this for the claycourt coming up. Thats extremely important for me obviously leading up to French.Djokovic became the first man to complete the Indian Wells-Miami Masters title sweep three times, having also done so in 2011 and 2014.On Monday, Djokovic will tie Spains Rafael Nadal for the sixth-most weeks spent at the top of the rankings, sitting atop the summit for the 141st week in his career.Murray, meanwhile, is poised to return to number three in the world.The Scot, whose last victory over Djokovic was in his historic Wimbledon final triumph of 2013, started strong in a bid to end a six-match skid against the Serb.The two traded four breaks of serve in the first eight games of the tense first set in which both struggled on serve on one sun-splashed end of the court.It was just very tough, brutal conditions for both of us, Djokovic said.We tried to stay mentally tough, both of us, and kind of hang in there, battle, and wear down the other player physically.There were lots of exchanges, a lot of long rallies. I was expecting that coming into the match, but one thing is to really expect and the other is to really experience it and really go through it on the court.Djokovic was quick to seize the initiative in the tiebreaker, racing to a 4-0 lead, and despite a double fault Djokovic had quickly wrapped up the decider 7/3.The second set went with serve until Djokovic, looking weary, was broken in the final game, gifting Murray a double fault for 0-30 before the Brit belted two winners to force a third set.A frustrated Djokovic barked at those in his box on the change over, startling a nearby ball kid and earning a warning from the chair umpire.But the Serb regrouped, storming through the third set for the win.Of course I go through moments of doubt, as everybody else, the world number one said.But its important to keep those moments short... Thats what happened today. I just gathered my thoughts and all the energy into right direction, and that helped.Murray had a glimmer of hope of avoiding the undesired bagel with a break chance against Djokovic in the sixth game.He couldnt convert and Djokovic gave himself a match point with a cunning drop shot-lob combination.The Serb finished Murray off on his first opportunity, pulling him out wide with a serve then stroking a winner into the open court on match point.I just managed to play the third set the way I was supposed to.Even though Murray makes Miami his training base, he said he struggled physically late in the two-hour, 46-minute match.I played very well for a couple of sets. Maybe I could have done a little bit better in the tiebreak in the first set, but, yeah, that was it, he said of his fast fade in the third.Murray said he wasnt sure what he could do differently to avoid the problem.Ive trained as hard as I can, he said.Maybe I could have hydrated a little bit better or whatever, but I dont think that I can do a whole lot more physically to get in much better shape.I just have to try and keep working hard and see if there are a few things I can do differently which might help. He was stronger than me at the end for sure.Nevertheless, the performance gave Murray more to be pleased about than his loss to Djokovic in less than an hour and a half at Indian Wells a fortnight earlier.I felt like I did many things better, Murray said. I made the match a lot harder for him.I felt like I was going for my shots a little bit more. I did pretty much all of the things that I wanted to do tactically on the court, so I felt like I played a good match tactically.

Tennis: Grand Slam buzz builds around unstoppable Serena

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MIAMI (AFP) - Serena Williams latest landmark achievement -- an eighth Miami hardcourt crown -- sends the US superstar into the claycourt season surrounded by talk of an even greater feat -- the calendar Grand Slam.At 33, the world number one is playing as well as ever. In fact, she says she has a greater understanding of the game now, making her better able to use her astonishing power and array of shots to good effect.I actually think that I read the game better, Williams says. Like when Im playing an opponent, after three games Im like, OK, now I know what youre going to do ... or when the coach comes out I really key in on what they change their games to.I dont think I did that before. I think thats just experience and age.Williams is 18-0 in 2015, a perfect run that included her 19th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.Although age doesnt seem to be dimming her physical abilities, injuries remain a potential stumbling block -- witness the sore knee that forced her to withdraw from the WTA premier level tournament at Indian Wells a fortnight before Miami.Only three women have won all four major titles in one year -- Maureen Connolly Brinker in 1953, Margaret Court in 1970 and Steffi Graf in 1988.She and coach Patrick Mouratoglou have acknowledged that her main career focus now is to add to her cache of Grand Slam titles -- with Margaret Courts record of 24 perhaps within her grasp.Williams has won four Grand Slam titles in a row -- Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open in 2002 followed by the Australian Open in 2003.She has a healthy respect for the difficulty of winning all four in one year.Obviously, anyone that wins the Australian Open wants to win a Grand Slam, she said after dismantling Spains Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 in the Miami final on Saturday.Ive won the Australian Open six times, and I have not done that yet. Im not saying this is the year or not the year. Who knows?Williams, in fact, has never managed to add the second major -- the French Open -- to an Australian Open title.The last woman to achieve the Australian-French double was Jennifer Capriati in 2001.I just think that sometimes the tournaments hard or you just fall and you fall at the wrong time, Williams said. Thats just what happens.But she is still hungry for the challenge.I think in clay courts obviously you have longer matches, consistently have longer matches, so Ive got to be ready for that. Im ready for it.

Barcelona edge past Celta Vigo 1-0 in La Liga

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BARCELONA (Agencies) - Jeremy Mathieu scored a brilliant header to lead Barcelona to a narrow 1-0 victory against Celta Vigo at the Balaidos stadium on Sunday.Barcelona had to work much harder at Celta Vigo, but Mathieu scored in the 73rd minute to eke out a 1-0 victory that maintained their advantage with nine rounds to go.Messi and the rest of Barcelonas attack was kept in check by Celtas pressure until the hosts tired and Barcelona increased their control with Xavi Hernandez coming on as a second-half substitute.The veteran playmaker made the most of a free kick earned by Luis Suarez by picking out Mathieu at the far post, and the defender did the rest by fending off Andreu Fontas mark to head the ball in off the crossbar. Mathieu scored a similar header for the opening goal in last rounds 2-1 win over Madrid.It was a tough, very difficult game, Mathieu said. Celta was better than us in the first half, but sometimes games are decided in the details.Celtas Fabian Orellana earned a direct red card with three to play after he threw a piece of turf and hit Barcelonas Sergio Busquets.The Catalan giants are now four points clear of the second placed rival Real Madrid at the top of La Liga table.

Football: PSG come from behind to beat Marseille

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PARIS (AFP) - Paris Saint-Germain must now be considered favourites to win a third consecutive Ligue 1 title after coming from behind to beat fierce enemies Marseille 3-2 in Le Classique at the Stade Velodrome on Sunday.Marseille held a 2-1 lead at the interval thanks to Andre-Pierre Gignacs brace either side of a Blaise Matuidi beauty, but two goals in the first six minutes of the second half swung the match decisively in the capital clubs favour.Marquinhos equalised and then Jeremy Morels own goal in the 51st minute allowed PSG to claim a seventh consecutive victory against OM in all competitions as Laurent Blancs side moved back to the top of the table, a point above Lyon.Unfortunately tonight (Sunday), we lost two players which is worrying for the upcoming matches, Matuidi told Canal Plus tv in reference to injuries picked up by David Luiz and Thiago Motta. Overall, we played a great match but it wasnt easy against a good Marseille team, but I think the best team won. It was important for us to come here and win and to regain top spot but its going to be hard right to the finish and its not over for Marseille and theres still Lyon and Monaco.Its up to us to fight to the end and well do everything to win a maximum of trophies, added Matuidi with PSG in the hunt for the league title, Champions League, French Cup and League Cup. Marseille, who won 11 successive home league matches between August and January, have now gone four without a win at the Velodrome and this defeat, which leaves them five points off top spot in third, will surely prove fatal to their title chances.Not only that, but Bielsas team -- who had Andre Ayew red-carded after the final whistle -- are hanging onto the third and final Champions League qualifying berth, with fourth-placed Monaco only three points behind with a game in hand.There was a stunning atmosphere, and a record attendance of 65,145, at the recently rebuilt Velodrome for one of the most hotly anticipated meetings of the sides in years.That ensured an intimidating environment for Paris, whose team bus was struck by missiles -- including a golf ball that smashed a window -- en route to the ground.It was Marseille who opened the scoring on the half-hour mark, Gignac switching the play to Dimitri Payet on the right and then outmuscling Marquinhos to head home his team-mates cross at the back post.When Paris lost David Luiz to a hamstring injury, it looked like it would not be their night, but Matuidi silenced the Velodrome in the 35th minute with a magnificent curling strike into the far top corner of the net on his weaker right foot.However, Marseille reclaimed the lead two minutes before the interval. Alaixys Romao hounded Pastore out of possession in midfield and suddenly Gignac found himself through on goal with just Salvatore Sirigu to beat.His finish for his 18th goal of the season was cool, and the home support greeted the half-time whistle as though they had won the game.But PSG drew level on 49 minutes, Marquinhos firing into the roof of the net after a Zlatan Ibrahimovic free-kick struck Rod Fanni inside the box and broke to the Brazilian defender.And two minutes after that they scored again, Morel turning a Pastore ball from the left into his own net under pressure from Ibrahimovic.They are in pole position with seven games of the season remaining, although they saw Thiago Motta limp off injured late on and Lyon remain very much in contention after winning 3-1 at Guingamp on Saturday.Monaco came from behind to draw 1-1 with Saint-Etienne on Friday, and while they have a game in hand to play against Montpellier on Tuesday, their sole focus now is on securing a top-three finish.Elsewhere on Sunday, an injury-time goal by substitute Nicolas Maurice-Belay gave Bordeaux a 2-1 home victory against relegation-threatened Lens.Mariano had given Bordeaux the lead only for Pablo Chavarria to equalise for the visitors, who are bottom.Caen moved six points clear of the relegation zone after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Nantes.Alejandro Bedoya put the Canaries ahead early on but Emiliano Sala levelled with a penalty 10 minutes from time and a Thomas Lemar free-kick evaded everyone to end up in the net in stoppage time as the Normandy side claimed a first win in four.

Maradona to play match for Colombia's peace process

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BOGOTA (AFP) - Argentinas legendary ex-footballer Diego Maradona will play in a pro-peace match in Bogota this month to support Colombias ongoing peace process, officials said Sunday.The game will take place on April 10 at Techo stadium in Bogota, and will include other football greats whose names were not immediately released, a statement from the mayors office said.The appearance by Maradona, 54, is a big show of support for talks aimed at ending Latin Americas longest running civil war.The Colombian government is negotiating with the Marxist-inspired Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to end decades of bloody war. Bogotas mayor Gustavo Petro is a former rebel with the disbanded M-19 insurgency.The Colombian conflict has killed around 220,000 people and uprooted more than five million since the FARC launched its rebellion in 1964.Maradona led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup with his famed Hand of God goal.

Yachting: Abu Dhabi survive mayhem to lead Volvo Ocean Race

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ALICANTE (AFP) - Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing emerged victorious on Sunday after 6,776 nautical miles (nm) of immensely challenging racing in leg five to take a big advantage at the top of the Volvo Ocean Race standings.Briton Ian Walkers crew now stand seven points clear of their nearest rivals, Dongfeng Race Team.The Chinese boat, Dongfeng, suffered a broken mast in the Southern Ocean last Monday and were later forced to pull out of the leg, having started the stage level at the top of the standings with Abu Dhabi.Dongfeng were not the only team to encounter serious problems with Spanish boat MAPFRE and the all-womens crew of Swedish Team SCA also crashing to their sides in so-called Chinese gybes before righting.Additionally, several of the boats suffered damage to their sails along the way.Walker, as usual, barely had a wink of sleep over the final 48 hours of a three-week leg as he staved off challenges from MAPFRE, Turkish-US boat Team Alvimedica and Team Brunel of the Netherlands, to clinch victory.An elated but exhausted Walker certainly was not taking overall victory in the race for granted after sailing into a packed Itajai harbour following the 19-day crossing through the South Pacific, Southern Ocean and south Atlantic.Instead he was simply savouring a very hard-earned win with only 32 minutes to spare from the chasing pack.Awesome. Its been such a monster of a leg, we are so, so stoked, said the 45-year-old after beating their closest pursuers by just 32 minutes.We have sailed very, very well but it was a very tight finish.The leg was incredibly closely contested with MAPFRE, Team Alvimedica and Team Brunel, contesting the lead with Abu Dhabi all along the Brazilian coast and eventually finishing in that order with less than an hour separating first to fourth. Team SCA, who suffered more problems when one of their rudders broke on Sunday, are expected to complete the leg on Tuesday.The fleet will next sail from Itajai for Newport, Rhode Island, on April 19 and Dongfeng face a race against time to nurse their stricken boat to the south-eastern Brazilian port and then fit a new mast.From Newport, the boats will tackle an Atlantic crossing to Lisbon, before the race concludes with two shorter European legs, taking the fleet to Lorient in France and then Gothenburg in Sweden, the latter via The Hague in the Netherlands.In all, they will have covered 38,739nm, visited 11 ports and every continent.The 41-year-old race, generally reckoned offshore sailings toughest and most prestigious challenge, is held every three years.

Italy rescues 1,500 migrants in Mediterranean in one day

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ROME (AFP) - Some 1,500 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Italy in five different boats were rescued in one day, Italian coastguards said Sunday.Four coastguard vessels and an Italian navy ship intervened Saturday to save three large boats carrying migrants off the Libyan coast after intercepting distress calls from satellite telephones, only to find two other migrants boats in difficulty nearby.The Italian vessels were on Sunday transferring the migrants to the island of Lampedusa and the Sicilian ports of Augusta and Porto Empedocle.In a separate incident on Saturday, 318 migrants were brought to the Sicilian port of Pozzallo after being rescued off Libya by an Icelandic navy ship taking part in a patrol for the EU borders agency Frontex.The migrants included 14 children and five pregnant women, authorities said.The number of migrants entering the EU illegally in 2014 almost tripled to 276,000, according to Frontex, nearly 220,000 of them arriving via the Mediterranean.The chaotic situation in Libya has sparked a rise in migrant boats setting out for Europe from its unpoliced ports carrying refugees fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
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