Sunday 27 December 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Football: Messi, Barcelona win big at Globe Soccer Awards

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DUBAI (AFP) - Barcelona and star player Lionel Messi triumphed at the seventh edition of the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai on Sunday, taking home the prizes for best team and best player.The Argentina captain beat off competition from last years winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to be named Best Player of the Year.Obviously I am very happy to be here and delighted to win this award but as always, the most important thing is the collective, the team, Messi said after receiving the award on Sunday.It is difficult to pick out one moment from what has been an extraordinary year for Barca. The whole year has been wonderful.Following the victory, Messi will also be up against Ronaldo and his Barcelona team-mate Neymar for the FIFA Ballon dOr on January 11.Barcelona, who won an historic treble in 2014-15, were named Best Club of the Year, while their chief Josep Maria Bartomeu was awarded the Best President of the Year accolade.I am just one of Barcelona’s 140,000 club members and I am extremely proud to be their president, said Bartomeu.But this award really belongs to our club members and the 39 presidents before me during the club’s 116-year history. I would also like to give special thanks to the players for all of the efforts they made this year.Belgium boss Marc Wilmots was named as Best Coach of the Year ahead of Barcas Luis Enrique and Italys Antonio Conte after leading his country to top spot in the FIFA world rankings.Elsewhere, New York City pair Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard were recognised and given Player Career Awards.

Football: Van Gaal on knife-edge as United tackle Chelsea

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LONDON (AFP) - Manchester Uniteds besieged manager Louis van Gaal could see his troubled Old Trafford reign put out of its misery on Monday with fellow Dutchman Guus Hiddink cast in the role of executioner.Uniteds 2-0 defeat at Stoke City on Saturday was their fourth loss in succession -- the clubs worst run within a season since 1961 -- and reduced Van Gaal to a dead man walking in the eyes of the British media.The Dutchman admitted afterwards that he could not be certain of the United boards support and raised the prospect that he could choose to leave Old Trafford of his own accord.I have said already in former press conferences that it is not always that the club has to fire or sack me. Sometimes I do it by myself, he said.But the scrutiny is all right for me, I am used to that.A month ago we were first in the Premier League but we lost important games and now we have to come back in more difficult situations than last year because last year everyone believed and there was progression, now there is a fallback and that is different and everybody is judging also different.Should United fail to win on Monday, they will end the year with their lowest points total in 26 years.Chelsea dispensed with their own manager last week, Jose Mourinho paying the price for a calamitous start to the season, and the Portuguese is the favourite to take over at United in the event that Van Gaal departs.Hiddink has replaced Mourinho as interim manager, reprising a role he previously performed in 2009.The 69-year-old Hiddink began life back at Stamford Bridge with a 2-2 draw at home to Watford on Saturday that left the champions two points above the relegation zone in 15th place.Diego Costa scored twice to earn Chelsea a point -- book-ending goals from Watford strikers Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo -- but will miss Mondays game through suspension. Loic Remy is expected to deputise.We will go to Old Trafford. It will be difficult, but I hope this team will show, in every game, the ambition like they showed against Watford, Hiddink said. We are going there for the win.Second-place Arsenal will hope to get their title challenge back on track when they host Bournemouth on Monday, less than 48 hours after an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Southampton.With leaders Leicester City having lost 1-0 at Liverpool, victory would have sent Arsenal top, but they put in a bafflingly below-par display that resulted in their heaviest defeat of the campaign.These players have fantastic spirit. We want to respond from the disappointment, said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.I trust my players to respond well on Monday. Bournemouth have played very well recently.Leicester remained top despite their first away defeat of the campaign, but on Tuesday face a taxing home game against third-place Manchester City, who returned to form on Saturday by crushing Sunderland 4-1.Manuel Pellegrinis side will be without captain Vincent Kompany, who aggravated a calf injury against Sunderland, but striker Sergio Aguero is likely to start after being rested.Tottenham Hotspur moved into the top four on Saturday by beating Norwich City 3-0, Harry Kane scoring twice, and they face another promoted team on Monday in the form of Watford.While bottom club Aston Villa -- nine points from safety -- and second-bottom Sunderland -- four points better off -- are at risk of being cut adrift, just three points separate third-bottom Newcastle United and 13th-place West Bromwich Albion, who face off at The Hawthorns.

Football: Prince Ali seeks immediate release of Garcia report

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DUBAI (AFP) - FIFA presidential hopeful Prince Ali bin Al Hussein on Sunday called for the immediate publication of Michael Garcias report on alleged bribery and corruption during bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.The Jordanian prince made the remarks at a conference in Dubai alongside UEFA general-secretary Gianni Infantino, another candidate in the race to be elected the head of world footballs governing body on February 26. Prince Ali urged FIFA to have some basic norms, like publishing the Garcia report immediately, because even those who are running for the position of FIFA president... need to know what has been going on in this organisation, and the public needs to know as well. Former US prosecutor Garcia resigned as FIFAs chief corruption investigator last year in protest at the bodys handling of his report on the decisions to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.Garcia said he had found serious and wide-ranging issues in the bidding process for both of the World Cups.He had complained that a summary of his report released by FIFAs top judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert, was incomplete and erroneous.Eckert had insisted there was no evidence of corruption and that there should be no new vote on the venue for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. FIFA has said it would only be able to publish Garcias report after various individual investigations were wrapped up and by respecting a promise to all those who gave evidence on condition of anonymity.There have been a lot of proposals for reform within FIFA, but the main issue is not the proposals themselves, but the implementation of these proposals, said Prince Ali.UEFA president Michel Platini and FIFA chief Sepp Blatter were suspended by FIFAs ethics committee over a 2 million Swiss franc ($2 million/1.8 million euro) payment made to Platini in 2011 for work carried out between 1999 and 2002.Corruption charges against the two men were dropped by the FIFA court, but they were found guilty of abusive execution of their powers and a conflict of interests.At the Dubai conference, Infantino called for transparency in the money flows which is the single most important reform decision from FIFA.Once you know how the money comes in and how the money goes out, and this is transparent, this is documented, this is clear, you have solved 95 percent of the real or perceived problems of FIFA.So the transparency of the money flow is key.The Swiss candidate said the world should work together to bring football to centre stage.How do we develop football? By investing, of course. The money is there... but by investing it in a proper way, he said.Prince Ali reiterated his calls for a maximum of two terms for future FIFA presidents.However, I think there a lot of good suggestions in the latest reform proposals, but again I dont think that they go far enough, he said.

Golf: Tiger turns 40 with Nicklaus mark a distant dream

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Tiger Woods reaches his 40th birthday on Wednesday, still recovering from a third back operation with no timetable for another golf comeback and reflective comments about ending his epic career.Former world number one Woods has 14 major titles, four shy of the all-time record set by Jack Nicklaus, and 79 PGA victories, three off the career best held by Sam Snead.But to become lost in the numbers is to miss the point of what Woods has meant to golf, a unique talent who in his moment might just have been the worlds greatest sport star, the first black man to win a major golf crown sparking Tiger-mania and generating a curiosity from fans beyond golf long after his greatest days were behind him.Theres an old saying that life begins at 40. Time to set aside childish dreams, like matching a boyhood idol, and lift up your children as you revel in what you have achieved.But Woods said last week he feels at times like a teen and at others far beyond his years due to injuries.Mentally, people who know me know Im like a five-year-old. Physically, sometimes I feel old and sometimes I feel like a teenager, Woods said. I dont like the polar opposites of the two. Id like to be somewhere in the middle where I feel 40.Woods has not won a major title since the 2008 US Open, in which he limped through a playoff on a broken leg to beat Rocco Mediate.He has been through four knee surgeries, three back operations and a messy sex scandal. Once-mighty shots might only be memories. Forget record runs. Just playing, let alone winning any event, seems a distant goal now.Theres really nothing I can look forward to, nothing I can build towards, Woods said at his foundations Hero World Challenge event earlier this month. Where is the light at the end of the tunnel? I dont know.Pretty much everything beyond this will be gravy. If thats all it entails, then Ive had a pretty good run.Woods will serve as an assistant captain of the US 2016 Ryder Cup team guided by Davis Love. But he has come to grips with the idea he might never play again.Its not what I want to have happen and its not what Im planning on having happen, but if it does, it does. Ive reconciled myself to it, Woods told Time magazine. Even if I dont come back and I dont play again, I still want to have a quality of life with my kids. I started to lose that with the other surgeries.He told Time that chasing Nicklaus, now 75, was about doing things at a younger age than when Nicklaus had achieved it. It was all age-related, Woods said. To me, that was important. This guy is the best out there and the best of all time. If I can beat each age that he did it, then I have a chance at being the best.Nicklaus has one record, Snead another, and Arnold Palmer brought television to the sport. But Woods rewrote the game, helping force longer courses, boosting the price TV would pay to show golf and the fitness golfers would need to win, becoming the all-time top sports marketing pitchman before his sex scandal shattered his sponsorship supremacy.Nicklaus, for one, refuses to write off an 18th Woods major win, saying, He has always been a very focused young man with a great work ethic and is tremendously talented. To count him out of that would be foolish. He certainly has a very good chance of doing that.While the British Open has offered up some over-40 winners in recent years, the only over-40 winner of a US major since 1999 was Vijay Singh at 41 at the 2004 PGA Championship.And beyond age 40, only Old Tom Morris won four majors -- the British Opens in 1861, 1862, 1864 and 1867, the last of them at age 46, the same as Nicklaus when he won his last at the 1986 Masters.Think Woods might have one more still in him at age 46 at the 2022 Masters? If that sort of thing matters to him by then, well, as Nicklaus said, to count him out of that would be foolish.Where do I see myself in the next five to 10 years? Woods said. Im still playing golf at the highest level and winning tournaments and major championships.

Langer to coach Australia in Caribbean tri-series

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SYDNEY (AFP) - Former Test opening batsman Justin Langer will fill in for Darren Lehmann as Australias coach during next years ODI tri-series in the Caribbean, Cricket Australia said Monday.Lehmanns stated succession plan to install his former Test team-mate Langer as Australias next coach will move a step closer to fruition when Langer takes charge of the touring team to the Caribbean next year.Lehmann told CAs official website that he plans to enjoy his first extended break since taking on the role of national coach in 2013 by sitting out the ODI tri-series in June featuring the West Indies and South Africa.Langer, currently coaching Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield and the Perth Scorchers in the Twenty20 Big Bash League, will fill the job at international level for the first time.Prior to his Western Australia appointment Langer worked as a specialist batting coach with the Australian team following his retirement after 105 Tests and more than 7,500 runs for Australia.I believe he (Langer) will be the next coach of Australia, Lehmann said in a radio interview in October.However, Lehmann said he has no plans to step away from the job in the foreseeable future because he and his team have some aspirations to pursue.Chief among those are the World T20 tournament in India in March-April, a Test series in Sri Lanka and India within the next 15 months, and the World Cup defence in the UK and the Ashes in England, both in 2019.I havent got an end date in mind, Id like to go for a while yet, Lehmann told the website.Theres no immediate plans at all (to hand over the reins) but it just gives me a longer break.He (Langer) will do a great job and the blokes are really comfortable about that, weve spoken about it and everything is fine.

Sri Lanka all out for 117 against New Zealand

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CHRISTCHURCH (AFP) - Sri Lanka continued to suffer the batting blues as they were dismissed for 117 against New Zealand in the second one-day international in Christchurch on Monday.The tourists again won the toss and then failed to deliver on an accommodating wicket and in the face of tight bowling from Matt Henry who took his second four-wicket bag of the series.In the first ODI, which New Zealand won by seven wickets on Saturday, Sri Lanka were all out for 188 after 47 overs.Two days later, when he won the toss again, skipper Angelo Mathews described the pitch as good for batting and then watched his side implode.Henry, the chief destroyer in the first match, again tormented the Sri Lanka batsmen finishing with four for 33.He struck first in the fourth over when Tillakaratne Dilshan was caught at first slip by Ross Taylor for seven and the wickets tumbled regularly from there.Henry played a part in removing Lahiru Thirimanne (one) with a fine catch in the deep off Mitchell McClenaghan and then had Danushka Gunathilaka caught by a diving Mitchell Santner for 17 to have Sri Lanka at 31 for three-3.Dinesh Chandimal (nine) and Mathews (17) tried to steady the ship as did Nuwan Kulasekara and Jeffrey Vandersay at the end of the innings.Sri Lanka still looked capable of posting a respectable score when they reached 81-5 in the 18th over but they then lost three wickets for no runs to be 81-8.Kulasekara, who struggled at the start of his innings, went on to top score for Sri Lanka with 19.

England need to look hard at review system, says Broad

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DURBAN (AFP) - England fast bowler Stuart Broad said his team still needed to improve their use of the television decision review system (DRS).Thats something were trying to work on as a team, not to have 25 wickets in a Test match, he said after England failed to make use of two reviews which could have resulted in wickets on the second day of the first Test against South Africa on Sunday.They were also on the wrong end of a decision when what looked like a catch by Ben Stokes in the gully was reviewed by the umpires, with television umpire Bruce Oxenford unable to decide whether an edge by AB de Villiers off the bowling of Steven Finn had carried.From our point of view we all got back in the change room and all our management thought it was a hundred percent out but Im sure the South African change room would have thought it was not out. That is the way sport works, your views are a little bit slanted, said Broad.Broad thought Hashim Amla had got a faint edge to a ball from his bowling, shortly before he dismissed the South African captain. England did not call for a review. Television replays showed a faint tremor on the snickometer.I actually thought I had Amla with a fine nick, said Broad who admitted he was still not sure whether it was out or not. It was still inconclusive whether he did or not.Another opportunity that was passed up was when Dean Elgar looked as though he was leg before wicket to Stokes with his score on 58. He finished the day on 67 not out.The reviews are all our fault really. Within the group it was thought Elgar hit the ball which is why we didnt call for the review, said Broad. At stumps on Sunday, South Africa were 137 for four, still 166 runs behind Englands first innings total of 303.

Sri Lanka opt to bat against New Zealand

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CHRISTCHURCH (AFP) - Sri Lanka won the toss for the second one-day international against New Zealand and again elected to bat first at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Monday. The match is being played on the same wicket where New Zealand, batting second, won the first ODI on Saturday by a comfortable seven wickets. Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has stacked his side with spin options, replacing Ajantha Mendis and Suranga Lakmal with Sachithra Senanayake and debutant Jeffrey Vandersay. Were playing on the same wicket. Its slightly overcast but looks good for batting, Mathews said. New Zealand have made one change with spinner Ish Sodhi coming in for Adam Milne who has a sore heel, while Kane Williamson continues to be rested to give his injured knee time to strengthen. Teams: New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (captain), Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Luke Ronchi, Doug Bracewell, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Mitchell McClenaghan. Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Danushka Gunathilaka , Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews (captain), Milinda Siriwardana, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Jeffrey Vandersay. Umpires: Richard Illingworth (ENG), Derek Walker (NZL). TV umpire: Michael Gough (ENG). Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM).

Broad strikes put England on top

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DURBAN (AFP) - Stuart Broad bowled two fiery spells and took three wickets to give England a slight edge at the end of the second day of the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead on Sunday.South Africa were 137 for four at the close, still 166 runs behind Englands first innings total of 303.Broad said England needed to press home their advantage. Tomorrow is a big first hour, he said. We need to make early breakthroughs as South Africa did today and try to get a first innings lead. I dont think anyone really knows how this wicket is going to behave. Its quite a lot drier than we expected. If it deteriorates a first innings lead could be crucial.Broad dismissed opener Stiaan van Zyl as well as South Africas two key batsmen -- captain Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers -- to finish the day with three for 16 from ten overs.Opening batsman Dean Elgar withstood the Broad barrage and was unbeaten on 67, although he could have been out for 58 if England had sought a review after an appeal for leg before wicket by Ben Stokes had been turned down.Off-spinner Moeen Ali took the fourth wicket when he bowled Faf du Plessis.Fast bowlers Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn finished with four wickets each as England lost six wickets in an extended mornings play. Morkel took all of his wickets on Sunday, including a burst of three wickets for no runs off six balls, and finished with four for 76, while Steyn took four for 70.Morkels victims included top scorer Nick Compton, who made a painstaking 85 off 236 balls.Saturday, I toiled hard for 12 overs and went wicket-less but this morning its just showed that its a funny game, said Morkel.If you are willing to put in the hard yards and get the ball in the right area consistently you can get wickets.Fresh from making a hard-hit 32 not out in a last wicket stand of 36 with Steven Finn, Broad struck with the second ball of the South African innings when Van Zyl failed to play a shot against a ball which cut back and hit the top of his off stump.Amla survived two appeals for caught behind off Broad and was dropped by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow off Chris Woakes before edging a routine catch to Bairstow after making seven.South Africa would have been in worse trouble if AB de Villiers, on 11, had not survived an umpires review after edging Finn low to Ben Stokes at gully. Stokes was not certain whether the ball had carried, an opinion shared by television umpire Bruce Oxenford after viewing several replays.De Villiers went on to make an accomplished 49 before Broad came back into the attack and had him caught behind, pushing at a ball which left him off the pitch to provide a second catch for Bairstow. It was the eighth time Broad had dismissed De Villiers in 11 Tests.Broad said De Villiers dismissal was the result of a successful plan, with seven fielders manning the off side. AB was starting to take the game away from us slightly. Hes got the ability to hit good balls for four and score very quickly, so we came up with a 7-2 plan, almost to say, you can hit your good shots but you will hit them to fielders. said Broad.The leg-cutter moved a bit more than I thought it would but I think encouraging him to play his shots is maybe the way to get players of his calibre out.The left-handed Elgar, who reached 1000 runs in his 22nd Test when he had 35, went to a 93-ball half-century with a straight six off Ali. He had faced 155 balls by the close, hitting five fours and a six.

PM Nawaz to reach Karachi today

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will reach Karachi today (Monday) on a one-day tour, Dunya News reported.During his visit to the megalopolis, PM Nawaz will hold talks with Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah in a bid to defuse on-going tension between Federal government and Sindh government over the issue of extension of powers of Rangers in Karachi.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will also preside over a high-level meeting to review the law and order situation in Karachi as well.The Prime Minister will also review the development projects in Karachi as well as in Sindh and address at an FPCCI event.PM Nawaz will review Port Qasim Authority’s development projects and inspect Port Qasim Power Project. He will also address an event organized by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers Of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI).

Afghanistan, Pakistan seek to revive stalled Taliban talks

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KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed Sunday to meet US and Chinese officials next month in a bid to prepare the ground for fresh peace talks with the Taliban, officials said, despite growing militant violence.The announcement came as Pakistans army chief General Raheel Sharif visited Kabul for a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. Pakistan hosted a milestone first round of talks in July but the negotiations stalled when the Taliban belatedly confirmed the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar.Ghani has recently pushed to strengthen ties with Pakistan -- the Talibans historic backers -- in a desperate bid to restart the talks as the insurgency expands.Both sides agreed that the first round of dialogue between Afghanistan, Pakistan, US and China will be held in January to layout a comprehensive roadmap for peace, the Afghan presidential palace said in a statement.Asim Bajwa, a Pakistani military spokesman, said on Twitter that the talks will be held in the first week of January but did not disclose the venue.There was no immediate reaction from the Taliban, who have recently stepped up attacks on government and foreign targets.Afghan forces are currently battling to push out Taliban insurgents who seized large swathes of the key opium-rich district of Sangin in southern Helmand province.Observers say the intensifying insurgency highlights a push by the militants to seize more territory in a bid to wrangle greater concessions during talks.The army chiefs visit to Kabul follows talks between Ghani and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over recent weeks that sought to pave the way for an Islamabad-brokered peace process. Afghanistan sees Pakistans support as vital to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.But despite the growing bonhomie, analysts caution that any substantive talks are still a long way off.Afghanistans intelligence chief Rahmatullah Nabil resigned this month over Ghanis diplomatic outreach to Pakistan.His resignation highlighted the domestic backlash Ghani faces over his attempts to mend relations with the neighbouring country, long blamed for nurturing the Taliban.

Christmas 'cancelled' in Nigerian town as gas blast kills nine

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Lagos (AFP) - Christmas was cancelled in the southeastern Nigerian town where a huge explosion at an industrial gas plant killed nine people and left three critically injured.On a hot Christmas Eve morning Thursday, residents in the blue-collar city of Nnewi were filling bottles with cooking gas to be used to prepare their holiday feasts when the plant went up in flames.The plant was reduced to a heap of smouldering rubble and incinerated human corpses.As police investigate what triggered the blast, residents increasingly suspect that safety regulations were flouted.People are very angry, said Ilochonwu Prince, who lives near the plant. People are asking, were the necessary procedures followed?Christmas did not come to Nnewi this year, said Prince, a 26-year-old student.Everything is burnt, everything is black. Most of the Christmas arrangements -- carols, celebrations -- people have cancelled because of the tragedy.How can you enjoy yourself when you remember what happened?Instead, Nnewi residents plan a prayer session to commemorate the victims on Monday at the palace of the citys monarch, Igwe Orizu.We think many people will come, Prince said. Everything that happened that day touched many souls.- Burnt to death -The huge explosion happened around noon on Thursday, engulfing the city in clouds of billowing black smoke, leaving some of the victims charred beyond recognition.A 68-year-old woman died Saturday morning due to excessive inhalation of toxic fumes, bringing the death total to nine, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman James Eze told AFP.Three other people, including a woman who is seven months pregnant, remain in hospital.Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement Friday that tens of people had died in the explosion, but his spokesman Garba Shehu could not confirm that number.Anambra state police commissioner Hosea Karma said officers were still investigating the cause of the blast.So far we know its an accident, Karma told AFP. The nozzle from the tap got removed and gas started leaking.Karma said the plant manager, sensing danger, warned people to leave the area.Everyone immediately vacated the premises, but some people were inquisitive, Karma said, noting that several rubber-neckers were killed in the explosion, which razed surrounding trees and reduced vehicles to blackened metal shells.Then in an adjacent house, a mother and her child were burnt to death, Karma said, adding that the high death toll was preventable.What people should know is that whenever there is an incident, an explosion, it’s not a cinema hall, people should run away.Explosions are common in oil-rich Nigeria, Africas most populous nation, where fuel is distributed with poorly maintained trucks on potholed roads.Earlier in December, a tanker loaded with fuel exploded in a crowded Lagos neighbourhood, setting off a fire that injured several residents and decimated nearby vehicles and houses.Nigeria is facing an uphill battle to upgrade its dilapidated infrastructure as the tumbling price of oil depletes its crude-dependent government coffers.

Nawaz, Modi expected to meet at nuclear security summit: Indian media

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LAHORE: (Dunya News) – Indian media has on Sunday claimed that the next meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi is expected in Washington where both have been invited by United States (US) President Barrack Obama for Nuclear Security Summit, reported Dunya News.According to Indian media, no notification for this meeting has been issued but both the leaders are expected to visit US on Obama’s invitation. It will be the first time that both Indian and Pakistan premiers will be attending the summit. Nuclear Security Summit is expected to be held in Washington on March 31.

Texas tornadoes kill 11 as wild weather lashes US

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Garland (United States) (AFP) - At least 11 people lost their lives as tornadoes tore through Texas, authorities said Sunday, as they searched home to home for possible more victims of the freak storms lashing the southern United States.The rare December twisters that flattened houses and caused chaos on highways raised the death toll from days of deadly weather across the South to at least 28.An infant was reportedly among the latest casualties.The extreme weather, fueled by unseasonably warm air, is likely to continue for the next few days, the National Weather Service warned, complicating search and rescue efforts and possibly wreaking more havoc on the region.Several tornadoes touched down around the densely populated Dallas area Saturday evening, the day after Christmas, with the city of Garland to the northeast the hardest hit.Aerial footage taken as day broke showed some homes completely flattened, while others had roofs blown off and windows shattered, curtains fluttering in the wind.It is total devastation, local police spokesman Lt. Pedro Barineau was quoted as saying by the Dallas Morning News.It was here that authorities confirmed eight fatalities, adding that 15 people were taken to hospital with injuries.About 600 buildings have been damaged, they said, with single-family homes most affected.Officials are continuing this morning to check and clear structures as they assess the damage in the approximate 2-square-mile (five-square-kilometer area) area, officials said in a statement.Police said the deaths happened during tornado-related traffic accidents near Interstate 30 and the George Bush Turnpike, the Dallas Morning News reported, saying some of the bodies were found in cars while others were catapulted from the scene.Three other storm-related fatalities occurred in the towns of Copeville and Blue Ridge in Collin County to the northeast of Dallas, the local sheriffs office confirmed to AFP, without providing more details.The Dallas Morning News reported that an infant was among the dead.- Dangerous weather to continue -The late Saturday deaths in Texas came as millions of residents in the southern United States struggle to recover from fierce storms and heavy flooding, with more rain in the forecast.At least 17 people were killed in storm-related incidents since Wednesday in Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas, local officials said.In Alabama, heavy flooding continued Sunday following several days of heavy rain that began on Thursday.Governor Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency to deal with the flooding just before tornadoes uprooted trees and tore off rooftops on Christmas Day.One touched down in Birmingham, the states most populous city. There were no fatalities, but the twister damaged three homes, local fire chief Charles Gordon told CNN.Near the state capital Montgomery, more than 300 inmates at the minimum-security Red Eagle Community Work Center were forced to evacuate due to flooding, local media reported.And residents of the town of Elba were nervously eyeing a levee amid forecasts that the Pea River would crest and possibly overflow the barrier, the AL.com news site reported.In Mississippi, where Governor Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency to deal with flooding, severe storms are forecast for late Sunday through Monday, the state Emergency Management Agency said.Early EMA damage reports showed 241 homes destroyed or with major damage, and more than 400 total homes affected.The agency confirmed the deaths of 10 people in Mississippi. There were another six confirmed fatalities in Tennessee, and one person was killed in Arkansas.Georgia Governor Nathan Deal also declared states of emergency in counties affected by the weather.A variety of dangerous weather conditions will continue across the middle of the country through Sunday, the National Weather Service said.It warned of blizzard conditions from west Texas into Kansas, and hazardous ice accumulations in Oklahoma.Dangerous flooding will extend from north Texas to central Illinois, it said.Flood warnings and advisories also remained in effect in parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and other areas in the southeast.

PM, Javed Hashmi, Zulfiqar Khosa attend Raheel Munir's Walima

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LAHORE: (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, political leaders Javed Hashmi and Zulfiqar Khosa on Sunday attended the Walima ceremony of PM’s granddaughter and Chaudhry Munir’s son Raheel Munir along with various leading political and religious figures of Pakistan, reported Dunya News.The Walima ceremony was held at Chaudhry Munir’s farmhouse located on Raiwind Road.The ceremony was attended by leading political personalities including PM Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif, former Azad Kashmir PM Sardar Attique Ahmad, Zulfiqar Khosa and Makhdoom Javed Hashmi. Various other federal and provincial ministers, bureaucrats and foreign ambassadors also attended the ceremony.Around 4500 guests were served with traditional Mutton Korma and Chicken Pulawo while Carrot Halwa was presented in dessert.The one-dish rule was abided by in the ceremony. Although thousands of guests attended the ceremony, the traffic continued on Raiwind Road as per normal practice.Raheel Munir was wedded last night with PM’s granddaughter Mehr-un-Nisa in Jati Umra last night.
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