Wednesday 3 June 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Wind damages wing of solar plane sidelined in Japan

Posted:

NAGOYA (AP) - A solar-powered plane forced to land in Japan when it hit bad weather during its trip around the globe has encountered more challenges after wind gusts damaged a wing on the grounded aircraft.Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg says on the expeditions website that the damage to the Solar Impulse 2 on Tuesday will necessitate at least a week to repair. It has delayed the journey further, but he says the damage is not a major issue.The Solar Impulse departed Nanjing, China, on Sunday on what was expected to be the longest leg of the journey, a six-day, 8,175-kilometer (5,079-mile) flight to Hawaii.Instead, the plane landed late Monday at the Nagoya Airport in central Japan to wait out unexpectedly bad weather.Borschberg is flying without any fuel.

US official: Airstrikes killed 10,000 Islamic State fighters

Posted:

BEIRUT (AP) - A US official said Wednesday that more than 10,000 Islamic State fighters have been killed by American-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in nine months, offering a body count for a campaign that has yet to blunt their advance.Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinkens figure came after a Paris conference on how to stop the extremists ended without any new strategy to halt their campaign. It also comes months after the Pentagon dismissed such counts as simply not a relevant figure in the fight against the Islamic State group.Meanwhile, the Islamic State group launched a major attack on the predominantly Kurdish city of Hassakeh in northeastern Syria, according to activists and Syrian state media.Speaking Wednesday to France Inter Radio a day after the Paris conference, Blinken said the airstrikes have been effective.We have seen enormous losses for Daesh, Blinken said, using an Arabic acronym for the group. More than 10,000 since the beginning of this campaign. That will end up having an effect.Blinken did not offer any figure for civilian casualties.In September, the CIA said that Islamic State group has up to 31,500 fighters, meaning that could represent a loss of a third of its forces. Despite that, the extremists continue to attract more recruits from around the world who come to fight with the group to expand its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.Its not clear why Blinken offered the figure, as the US military in conflicts since the Vietnam War has been either hesitant or discounted such figures as indicators of success. Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to offer them in January when asked by a reporter.The less of these guys that are out there, certainly thats the better, but the goal is to degrade and destroy their capabilities, Kirby said at the time. He added: Its simply not a relevant figure.White House spokesman Josh Earnest, later asked about Blinkens figure, said he had no reason to believe the number was inaccurate, saying 1,000 Islamic State fighters were killed in the fight for the Syrian border town of Kobani alone.Meanwhile Wednesday, the Islamic State group targeted Hassakeh in an apparent attempt to reverse some of the advances made recently by Kurdish fighters in the northeastern Syrian province. Kurdish fighters have captured dozens of towns and villages there with the help of US-led airstrikes and are getting close to Tel Abyad, a major Islamic State-held border town near Turkey.The extremists launched the push on the city of Hassakeh, which is split between government forces and Kurdish defenders, on Tuesday night.Syrian state television said extremists are battling for control of a juvenile prison still under construction on Hassakehs southern edge and have so far attacked it with five suicide car bombs.The TV report said government warplanes have struck the Islamic State stronghold of Shaddadeh, south of Hassakeh. An Islamic State-affiliated Facebook page said the airstrikes on Shaddadeh destroyed seven homes without causing any casualties.Syrias state news agency SANA said another suicide car bomb targeted the citys power station, causing damage and a power outage.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian air force is also taking part in the battle around Hassakeh and that Islamic State gunmen have entered the prison building. The group said dozens of fighters were killed on both sides, adding that IS brought reinforcements of about 400 fighters from the nearby province of Deir el-Zour.Activists also reported intense fighting Wednesday in the northern Aleppo province between Islamic State fighters and other insurgent groups including al-Qaidas branch in Syria, the Nusra Front. The Islamic State group has been on the offensive in the area where they captured several towns and villages over the past days.Also Wednesday, nine prominent jihadi ideologues issued a fatwa, or religious edict, in which they called on Muslim militants to fight the Islamic State group because they have attacked insurgents.As the nation of Islam was waiting for more conquests by the holy warriors, the Baghdadis were stabbing the holy warriors in the back, read the Fatwa that was posted on several jihadi accounts on social media, referring to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. They stopped the holy warriors march against the regime.The fatwa that was signed by religious figures including Jordans top pro-al-Qaida ideologues Abu Qatada and Abu Mohammed al-Maqdisi, as well as Abdullah al-Mheisny of Saudi Arabia who is now in Syria with the Nusra Front.In the Qatari capital of Doha, US envoy John Allen said Iraqs so-called Popular Mobilization Forces which include Iranian-backed Shiite militias have a role to play in helping take back territory from Islamic State militants in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, but that they must fall under Baghdads control.Speaking at the US-Islamic World Forum, Allen said leaders in Anbar do not view these forces through strictly a sectarian prism and understand they do not only include Shiite hard-liners.But we also remain very attentive to and concerned about extremist militia elements frequently influenced and led by the Iranian leadership, he continued. It is critical that all forces in the battle space fall under the command and control of the government of Iraq.The role of the militias is contentious among many Sunnis in Iraq, who fear they could enhance Shiite powerhouse Irans influence in the country and exacerbate sectarian tensions.Allen, a retired Marine Corps general, is President Barack Obamas envoy for the global coalition against the extremist group.

Officials say bombings kill 11 people in Iraq's capital

Posted:

BAGHDAD (AP) - Authorities in Iraq say bombings targeting public places have killed 11 people around the capital, Baghdad.Police officials say a bomb exploded Wednesday afternoon near car spare parts shops in the Basmaiya area, just southeast of Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 11.Later on, police say a bomb blast killed three people in a commercial street in Baghdads neighborhood of Baiyaa. In two other districts in Baghdad, they say two bombs exploded in public markets, killing four people and wounding 17.Medical officials confirmed the death tolls. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.Iraq sees near-daily bombings frequently claimed by the Islamic State Group, which seized large parts of the country during a stunning blitz last year.

Israel strikes Hamas post in Gaza after rocket attacks

Posted:

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli airstrikes hit Hamas training sites in Gaza early Thursday in response to earlier rocket fire toward Israel from the strip, the Israeli military said. Gazas militant Hamas group said there were no casualties in the attack after they had evacuating their posts earlier in anticipation of the Israeli retaliation.Rocket fire has mostly subsided since last summers war between Hamas and Israel but there has been some occasionally.A Jihadist Salafi group that supports the Islamic State took responsibility for the rocket attack toward Israel, the second time it has done so in a week.Hamas, which has ruled Gaza with an iron fist since 2007, sees the radical group as a threat. The group said the attack was to retaliate the killing of one of its members at the hands of Hamas. A day before that killing the group gave Hamas a 48-hour ultimatum to end its crackdown on the Salafis.Even so, Israel considers Gazas Hamas rulers responsible for any attacks originating from the area it controls.When the sirens sounded this evening in Israel more than 140,000 Israeli lives were at jeopardy. Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live normal lives but instead Hamas chooses to use the Gaza Strip as a launch pad for rocket attacks, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner. The IDF will act against the aggression, will act against those that wish to terrorize Israel and will act to protect Israelis in the line of indiscriminate Gaza rocket fire.

Strike levels huge Iraq car bomb factory in blow to IS

Posted:

KIRKUK (Iraq) (AFP) - An air strike in the Iraqi town of Hawijah completely levelled one of the Islamic State groups largest car bomb factories, causing heavy casualties and extensive destruction, officials said.The blast caused by the strike and the destruction of explosive material was heard as far as Kirkuk, a city under Kurdish control that lies 55 kilometres (34 miles) away.Iraqi officials said the strike was carried out by a US-led coalition, which has defended its 10-month air campaign against IS despite a number of recent advances by the jihadists in Iraq and Syria.The facility, which included tanks, Humvees and large quantities of explosives, was the biggest factory in Iraq and Syria, an Iraqi colonel said.Mohammed Khalil al-Juburi, the deputy head of the Kirkuk province security committee, confirmed details of the attack, which took place early on Wednesday.Both said a large number of IS militants and civilians were killed and wounded in the strike on the edge of Hawijah but neither gave exact figures.The coalition issued a statement listing its air strikes in Iraq and Syria over a period of 24 hours straddling Tuesday and Wednesday.It mentions that a VBIED (vehicle-born improvised explosive device) facility was struck in the Hawijah area but does not provide any details.Mobile phone photos obtained by AFP that were said to show the site of the explosion picture damage on a massive scale.They show a huge field of debris -- cinderblocks, metal roofing, the twisted remains of vehicles -- that stretches as far as the eye can see.IS has made vehicle bombs, in some cases huge trucks packed with explosives, a central feature of its military tactics.Hawijah, located 225 kilometres (140 miles) north of Baghdad, is an IS stronghold that lies at the crossroads of several fronts in Iraq.Iraqi government and allied forces have been involved in a vast operation aimed at cutting off supply lines between the provinces of IS self-proclaimed caliphate.One of the immediate goals is to isolate jihadists in Anbar, a vast western province whose capital Ramadi government forces lost on May 17 in a bruising setback.Since taking the city, IS has closed one section of a diversion dam in a move officials warned would lower water levels in one branch of the Euphrates and make it easier for the jihadists to manoeuver and launch attacks.Daesh is now waging a filthy water war, said Sabah Karhout, the head of Anbars provincial council, using an Arabic acronym for IS.Cutting the water is the worst crime they could commit. It will force children, women and elderly people to flee and allow them to move in to launch attacks, he said.Arkan Khalaf al-Tarmuz, another provincial council member, said: Daesh may not have enough fighters to face us in a conventional battle right now.So they are using water as a weapon to weaken areas where there are military bases.US Deputy Security of State Anthony Blinken told France Inter radio that 10,000 IS members had been killed since the start of a nine-month-old US-led air campaign in Iraq and Syria.IS has repeatedly sought to control Iraqs dams, in some cases reducing the water flow to areas under government control or flooding land to impede military operations.In the arid lands where the Islamic State fights, control of water is the ultimate weapon of terror, the Soufan Group intelligence consultancy said in a briefing note Wednesday.At a Paris meeting that ended on Tuesday, Western powers and other members of the 60-nation coalition vowed more support for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadis efforts.Abadi had said that ISs regained momentum was a sign of the international communitys failure to provide adequate support.But Washington, which continues to refuse to send combat troops back to Iraq, and the coalition insisted they had a winning strategy of air strikes combined with thousands of forces training and advising Iraqi forces.In Iraq right now we have the right strategy, a combination of air strikes, training and effective global partners, Blinken said at the meeting.

Gunmen in Egypt kill 2 police officers outside Giza Pyramids

Posted:

CAIRO (AP) - Gunmen on a speeding motorcycle opened fire outside the famed Giza Pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo early Wednesday, killing two police officers in a rare attack near one of the countrys top tourist attractions, authorities said.The attack comes as Egypt tries to rehabilitate its vital tourism industry, which accounted for as much as 20 percent of foreign currency revenues before its 2011 revolt that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak and later years of turmoil.From a high of 14.7 million tourists in 2010, Egypt has had an average of around 9 million a year since, though officials say tourists slowly are coming back. Government officials say the tourism industry saw revenues jump to $4 billion in the first half of this year, compared to $1.9 billion in the same period last year.The gunmen opened fire on a police vehicle at the back of the Giza Pyramids plateau on a main highway that leads to southern Egypt, wounding the two tourism police officers, a security official said. They died later of their wounds in the hospital, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief journalists.Egypts state MENA news agency said the gunmen fled and that an investigation was underway. MENA quoted an antiquities official in the area, Kamal Wahid, as saying the attack was 5 kilometers (3 miles) away from the main entrances to the pyramids. The location of the attack could not be immediately reached by journalists.Egypt sees regular attacks on its security forces as it struggles with the low-level Islamist insurgency, mostly in the lawless northern Sinai Peninsula following the 2013 military ouster of elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Typically though, security forces are the targets of the attacks.But the attacks lately have inched closer to the capital, mostly targeting individual security agents but have also included near-daily small bombings in public areas. One bombing killed a police officer on a bridge in Cairos upscale island of Zamalek.An earlier wave of Islamist insurgency peaked in 1997 with a bloody attack against tourists in a temple south of Egypt that left more than 60 tourists killed. So far, however, tourist sites have not been targeted.The surge in violence in the last two years was accompanied by a crackdown on the 87-year old Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, and other Islamists. Militants say the attacks are meant to avenge the crackdown. Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis which has claimed most of the major attacks in Egypt has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group fighting in Iraq and Syria and has declared itself to be the groups Sinai Province.The government blames the Brotherhood for the violence, a charge the group has denied. But increasing pressure on the group appears to have caused a schism within, between those who openly call for a direct confrontation and others who call for peaceful means. There also has been a rise in attacks against government institutions, electricity poles and recently the deadly shooting of three judges.On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead by a sniper while manning a checkpoint in Sheik Zweid, a town south of provincial capital of northern Sinai, el-Arish, an official said. He also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.Reflecting an intention to keep up the crackdown, the government proposed Wednesday imposing penalties of no less than a year in prison and a fine for anyone who does not report owning explosives.

Reports: At least 17 killed in Ukraine battles

Posted:

KIEV (AP) - Separatists in east Ukraine said 15 people in territory under their control were killed Wednesday during battles around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk that is threatening to tip the country back into full-blown war.Two other deaths were reported in a government-controlled area.Russian news agencies cited rebel armed forces chief Vladimir Kononov as saying the dead included fighters and civilians. The figure could not immediately be verified.The Ukrainian government and rebels have accused one another of sparking the latest round of unrest, which marks some of the worst violence since a cease-fire deal was reached in February.The Ukrainian side has carried out a provocation and started shelling our positions all along the front, the Interfax news agency quoted Kononov as saying.Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko accused rebels of mounting a major artillery barrage against government-held suburbs west of Donetsk early Wednesday.The enemy is trying to advance. Ukrainian troops are repelling all attacks and successfully holding onto their positions, Lysenko said.Russias Tass news agency quoted the chief physician at the trauma center in Donetsk, Alexander Oprishchenko, as saying his hospital had admitted 60 wounded people for treatment Wednesday, of whome five were in a grave condition.Implementation of the cease-fire has foundered as low-intensity battles raged along several points of the 450-kilometer (280-mile) front. Negotiators from the warring sides met for talks in Belarus on Tuesday, but the session concluded without obvious progress.Reports of casualties among government and separatist fighters have continued unabated, but deaths among noncombatants had almost ceased. That trend has been disrupted in recent days in an indication that the warring sides are again increasingly resorting to indiscriminate shelling.The head of the government-controlled part of Luhansk region, Hennadiy Moskal, said in a statement on his official website that an elderly couple died when their car was struck by a mortar Wednesday morning, 20 kilometers inside government-held territory.Russias Interfax news agency cited a rebel representative as saying that one resident in the town of Yenakieve was killed near a waste treatment plant during a 20-minute barrage. Ukraines military denies it attacked Yenakieve.The war has killed more than 6,400 people since April 2014.The armistice signed in February requires both sides to pull back heavy weapons from the front line, but international observers vetting that process regularly note violations across the board.The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in its most recent status report that its monitors on Monday heard 109 mainly outgoing explosions from the area around Donetsk airport, which is under rebel control. That neighborhood is around 15 kilometers from Krasnohorivka and Marinka, the suburbs where fighting was unfolding Wednesday.

Bus carrying Italian tourists crashes in US, 3 dead

Posted:

TOBYHANNA (AP) - A tractor-trailer and a bus carrying Italian tourists collided Wednesday on a highway in Pennsylvania, killing three people and sending more than a dozen to hospitals, authorities said.The crash occurred shortly after 10 a.m. on a highway in the Pocono Mountain region about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northwest of New York City.The mangled front end of the bus was left upright on the highway but wedged into the side of the tractor-trailer, which was sheared in half. The cab came to rest on its side in the woods next to the road, one of its axles torn off.Monroe County Coroner Robert Allen told reporters at the scene that the death toll had climbed from two to three. Thirteen people were taken to hospitals after the crash, said Matt Kislak of the county emergency call center.State police said a second tractor-trailer was reported to have been involved, but investigators were still trying to determine what happened.The tour bus had the name of the Academy Bus company on its side, but a spokesman did not have any information on the accident. The bus appears to have been operated by Viaggidea, an Italian tour operator whose name is also on the bus. The company operates tours that head from New York to Niagara Falls and Canada and elsewhere around the country.The tractor-trailer was leased by the Xtra Lease company, and the companys attorney said officials did not yet know who was leasing the vehicle.After hearing a loud crash, all of a sudden people were screaming, Johnny Walsh, who lives near the highway, told WCAU-TV in Philadelphia.Pop singer Gloria Estefan suffered a broken vertebra when a tractor-trailer crashed into her tour bus on the same stretch of highway in 1990 while heading to a concert in Syracuse, New York.

Gaza militants fire rockets at Israel, no injuries

Posted:

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israels military says two rockets fired from Gaza have exploded in the countrys south causing no injuries.It said sirens wailed late Wednesday night warning of the incoming rockets.The Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza said militants were evacuating their posts in anticipation of Israeli retaliation.Rocket fire has mostly subsided since last summers war between Hamas and Israel but there has been some occasionally.No militant group has taken responsibility, but a Gaza group that supports the Islamic State is believed to be behind the attack. It claimed responsibility for a similar attack last week. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza with an iron fist since 2007, sees the radical group as a threat.

President Mamnoon to address joint sitting of Parliament today

Posted:

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - President Mamnoon Hussain will address the joint session of the Parliament today (Thursday). It will be President’s second address to joint session, reported Dunya News.President Mamnoon Hussain addressed the parliament on September 9, 2013 after taking the office of the President. This will be his second address on the parliament floor. The joint session will meet at Parliament House in Islamabad at 11:00am.Mamnoon Hussain’s address to the joint session of the Parliament will mark the advent of third parliamentary year of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. President’s address to the joint parliamentary session at the advent of a new parliamentary year is mandatory under the Constitution.

FIR against MQM leader Amir Khan lodged

Posted:

KARACHI (Dunya News) - An FIR (First Information Report) has been lodged against Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) leader Amir Khan and six others at the Azizabad Police Station on early Thursday morning for giving refuge to criminals at MQM headquarters Nine-Zero and adjacent localities.The FIR was lodged on the complaint of Rangers at the Azizabad Police Station. The FIR was registered for providing shelter to the criminals at Nine-Zero and houses in nearby streets. The case was lodged under Anti-Terror Act.

Djokovic ousts Nadal in French quarters

Posted:

PARIS (AP) - There was no trophy, and no title, on offer for Novak Djokovic at Court Philippe Chatrier.Perhaps there should have been, considering what he accomplished.Thoroughly outplaying the best theres ever been on red clay, Djokovic ended Rafael Nadals 39-match French Open winning streak Wednesday by beating the nine-time champion in a surprisingly lopsided quarterfinal 7-5, 6-3, 6-1.Its only Nadals second defeat in 72 career matches at Roland Garros and second in 95 best-of-five-set matches anywhere on the surface. The other came in the fourth round in Paris in 2009 against Robin Soderling.Before that, Nadal won four championships in a row. And since? Nadal collected a record five consecutive French Open titles.I lost in 2009, and (it) was not the end, Nadal said. I lost in 2015, and (it) is not the end.The No. 1-ranked Djokovic lost all six previous matches theyd played in Paris, including the 2012 and 2014 finals.But Djokovics defense allowed Nadal only three winners off his heavy topspin lefty forehand, perhaps the most feared shot in all of tennis. With his coach, Boris Becker, jumping out of his seat to applaud, Djokovic conjured up 45 winners to only 16 for Nadal, whose 29th birthday sure was a downer.He was better than me, Nadal said. Thats it.By the end, Djokovic not only had broken down Nadals game but also his usually unbending will. Appropriately for a match that did not live up to the hype, it closed with a whimper on a double-fault by Nadal.I have much respect for Rafa. He is obviously not playing at the level we expect from him this season, Djokovic said.This was only a quarterfinal because Nadals ranking slipped so far he was seeded sixth, all of his unprecedented French Open success notwithstanding.The 14-time major champion missed time last season with a right wrist injury, then had appendix surgery. He has spoken openly about a crisis in confidence from poor-for-him results in 2015: Wednesdays loss was his sixth on clay, his most in a year since 2003. When the rankings come out Monday, hell be no better than 10th, his worst spot since 2005.Djokovic, who won his eighth Slam title at Januarys Australian Open, owns a 27-match winning streak.You need to play very well to stand a chance against him, and the truth is that Rafael did not play at his best, said Toni Nadal, who coaches his nephew.Significant as this victory was, Djokovic has more work to do in pursuit of a first French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam.Well, he has to win two more matches, but this match only increase the confidence, Nadal said. Hes probably in the best moment of his career. He has a good chance to win here.In Fridays semifinals, the 28-year-old Serb will meet No. 3 Andy Murray, who eliminated 2013 runner-up David Ferrer 7-6 (4), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. The other semifinal is Stan Warinka vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.In the womens semifinals Thursday, Serena Williams plays Timea Bacsinszky, and Ana Ivanovic meets Lucie Safarova. Williams advanced with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Sara Errani, and Bacsinszky beat Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4, 7-5.This was the 44th meeting between Djokovic and Nadal, more than any two other men in the nearly half-century of professional tennis at majors. While Nadal still leads 23-21, Djokovic proved to be far superior on this particular late afternoon.My tactic was to play aggressively and to stay focused on all points, Djokovic said. Its not easy. Probably easier to say than do against Rafa.After 15 minutes, he led 4-0, taking 18 of the first 22 points, including one 19-stroke delight in which both men sprinted to track down lobs.Then, as though suddenly recalling who he is and where he was, Nadal snapped to it.It took Nadal 21 minutes to complete the minimal task of claiming a game, with the help of an on-the-run, down-the-line backhand passing winner so exquisite Djokovic gave a thumbs up. That helped the Spaniard get to 4-all.Couldnt have known it at the time, but that turned out to be his last surge. Nadal saved three set points while trailing 5-4, then another two at 6-5, despite missing an easy overhead early in the game. But Djokovic converted his sixth chance, breaking Nadal to seize the first set.Djokovic wanted the court watered after that, a request that was ignored, leading to a series of complaints from him to chair umpire Cedric Mourier. A couple of times in the second set, Djokovic slipped on the clay, then glared at Mourier.No matter. Djokovic was too good for his longtime rival, no matter the conditions.

Serena Williams eases into French Open semifinals

Posted:

PARIS (AP) - In stark contrast to her previous three matches, top-ranked Serena Williams overpowered Sara Errani on Wednesday to reach the French Open semifinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win.A two-time champion in Paris, Williams extended her unbeaten record against the 2012 French Open runner-up to nine matches.The 19-time Grand Slam champion got off to sluggish starts and lost the opening set in her last three matches. She didnt have that problem today.It was very important for me to take a very good start, said Williams, speaking in French during her on-court interview. The last four French Opens in a row shes been to the quarterfinals or better, so I knew I had to play very well today.Williams broke for a 2-0 lead but dropped her serve in the next game. She saved a break point in the fifth game with a crosscourt backhand punctuated with a big Come On and held after hitting a 121 mph (195 kph) ace.Errani played deeper in the second set but was broken two more times.Williams, who will play in her fourth Roland Garros semifinal match against Timea Bacsinszky, finished with 39 winners to Erranis nine.The power is of course a big thing, Errani said. She has a lot of power in the serve. Shes serving so strong. And then from the baseline she is hitting so strong, so its difficult to play.In her nine matches with Williams, the 17th-seeded Italian has won only two sets but she was confident she could do better this time after leading by a set and a break the last time they met in April in the Fed Cup.I tried to do the same, but of course the conditions were different, Errani said. Today Serena, with these conditions, played much better, much stronger. So it was difficult for me to make the things that I normally want to do.Williams, who claimed her titles in Paris in 2002 and 2013, has won 19 straight Grand Slam matches and is two away from a third consecutive major title.Bacsinszky, the first Swiss female player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Patty Schnyder at the 2004 Australian Open, defeated Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium 6-4, 7-5. The other womens semifinal will pit seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic against No. 13 Lucie Safarova.In mens play, top-ranked Novak Djokovic was playing nine-time champion Rafael Nadal for a semifinalist spot and Andy Murray was up against David Ferrer.

Murray tops Ferrer to reach French Open semis

Posted:

PARIS (Agencies) - Andy Murray became the first British player to reach three semi-finals at Roland Garros by claiming his first clay-court win over World No. 8 David Ferrer on Wednesday in Paris. The 7-6(4), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 victory lasted three hours and 21 minutes.Murray, competing in his 17th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final, is 8-0 against Spaniards since losing to the 33-year-old Ferrer in Shanghai. The Scottish World No. 3 has won all 15 clay-court matches he’s played this year, including titles in Munich and Madrid.I feel like obviously this year I played much better tennis on the clay, Murray said. I feel like I understand how I have to play on the surface better than I did in the past.His new-found confidence on the surface came in handy in a topsy-turvy first set that included three breaks of serve for each player. Murray saved two set points while serving at 5-6, only to find his footing in the tie-break. He would claim the 70-minute opener on his fourth set point.The second set proved to be a much more straightforward affair for Murray, as he saved all three break points he faced while breaking Ferrer’s serve twice.But the Valencia native would not relent in the third. Ferrer came back from an early break down and then saved a match point while serving at 4-5. He would break Murray to go up 6-5 and proceed to serve out the third set.I was frustrated to lose that for sure, Murray admitted. But I got off to a good start in the next set, so my frustration didnt last long.Murray rebooted his game in the fourth, closing out the contest on his third match point.If the 28 year old hopes to reach his first Roland Garros final, he’ll have to overcome World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Murray has an 8-18 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Serb, with his last win against him coming in the 2013 Wimbledon final. Going into the match having not lost on clay this year and having some big wins on the surface is important for me. I will just keep doing what I have been doing: have a good practice tomorrow, recover, and come up with a good game plan.

FIFA executive committee member Blazer admitted bribes

Posted:

NEW YORK (AP) - Former FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer told a US federal judge that he and others on the governing bodys ruling panel agreed to receive bribes in the votes for the hosts of the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.Prosecutors unsealed a 40-page transcript Wednesday of the hearing in US District Court on Nov. 25, 2013, when Blazer pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges.Blazer, in admitting 10 counts of illegal conduct, told the court of his conduct surrounding the vote that made South Africa the first nation on that continent to host soccers premier event.Beginning in or around 2004 and continuing through 2011, I and others on the FIFA executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup, Blazer told US District Judge Raymond J. Dearie.Blazer was the No. 2 official of soccers North and Central American and Caribbean region from 1990-2011 and served on FIFAs executive committee from 1997-2013. South Africa defeated Morocco 14-10 in the host vote.South African Football Association president Molefi Oliphant sent a letter to FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke in 2008 asking FIFA to withhold $10 million from the budget of the 2010 World Cup organizers and to use the money to finance a Diaspora Legacy Programme under the control of then CONCACAF President Jack Warner. South Africa Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula denies the money was a bribe and says it was an aboveboard payment to help soccer development in Caribbean region.Blazer also said he was involved in bribes around 1992 in the vote for the 1998 World Cup host, won by France over Morocco 12-7.Warner was among 14 soccer officials and businessmen named in an indictment announced last week, and those charges said a Moroccan bid representative offered a $1 million bid payment. Blazer, whose guilty plea was made public last week, said he agreed with others to facilitate the acceptance of a bribe.He also admitted to corruption involving the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the regions top national team tournament which he helped launch in 1991.Beginning in or about 1993 and continuing through the early 2000s, I and others agreed to accept bribes and kickbacks in conjunction with the broadcast and other rights to the 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003 Gold Cups, Blazer said.While many of the allegations were made public last week, the transcript of the closed-court hearing in Brooklyn more than 1 1/2 years ago put them in the first-person voice of Blazer, once the most powerful soccer official in the United States. Blazers allegations have assisted an investigation by US prosecutors, who foresee additional people being charged.FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who has run the governing body since 1998, said Tuesday he will be resigning, an announcement made six days after the indictments were unsealed and four days after he was elected to a fifth term. A new president will be chosen by FIFAs 209 member nations and territories, likely between December and March.Now 70, Blazer was wheelchair-bound at the hearing, according to Dearie. Blazer told the court he had received chemotherapy and radiation for rectal cancer, and he also suffered from diabetes and coronary artery disease.Dearie said prosecutors identify FIFA and its attendant or related constituent organization as what we call an enterprise, a RICO, enterprise.RICO is an acronym for, and dont overreact to this as I am sure most people do, Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization, the judge said.Blazer forfeited over $1.9 million at the time of his pleas to racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, income tax evasion and failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. He agreed to pay a second amount to be determined at the time of sentencing.Four sections of the transcript were redacted by prosecutors, presumably to protect avenues of their investigation.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)