Tuesday 22 November 2016

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Three terrorists among six arrested in Karachi

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Crackdown against criminal elements under National Action Plan (NAP) continues in Karachi as police arrested six accused including three terrorists during operations in different parts of the city on Tuesday, Dunya News reported.According to details, police conducted an operation in Paredi area and apprehended three terrorists. The arrested terrorists were identified as Abdul Bashir, Abdur Rehman and Kamal-ud-Din. Police have also recovered hand grenade, crackers and other ammunition from the arrested terrorists. SSP Saddar informed media that the terrorists got training from Afghanistan.Police also conducted a raid in Agra Taj area and arrested four facilitators of a banned outfit. Sources said that the arrested persons used to provide financial assistance to the terrorists.On the other hand, police arrested three street criminals during an operation in Quaidabad area. The arrested persons were identified as Suleman, Rahim-ud-Din and Muhammad Junaid. Police also recovered arms and narcotics from their possession.

Maleeha Lodhi says Pakistan's role important for peace in region

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NEW YORK (Dunya News) - Pakistans permanent representative in United Nations (UN) Maleeha Lodhi said on Tuesday thatPakistan is willing to share anti-terrorism experience with other countries, reported Dunya News.Maleeha Lodhi was talking in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), where UN general secretary Ban Ki-Moon was also present. She said that Pakistans role is very important in maintaining peace in the region.Maleeha said that Pakistan wants permanent membership of the SCO and also willing to share experience of fighting against terrorism, with others.

Rawalpindi: Engine, two bogies of Rawal Express derailed

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RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) - Rawal Express, going to Lahore from Rawalpindi, escaped a major disaster when its engine and two bogies were derailed near Chaklal in the early hours of Wednesday, Dunya News reported. No loss of life was reported in the accident.The train was travelling at the speed of 75 kilometres per hour at the time of the accident. Railway traffic at the track was disrupted due to accident. Railway authorities have dispatched rescue teams to clear the railway track.Sources said that all the passengers of the Rawal Express were sent back to Rawalpindi on buses.

Cabinet meeting to discuss appointment of new COAS today

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (PM) has summoned Federal Cabinet meeting today to discuss key matters including the appointment of new Chief of Army Staff (COAS) after General Raheel Sharif‘s retirement.On the other hand, issues related to Indian violations at Line of Control (LoC) and repatriation of Afghan immigrants would also be taken under discussion.Federal Cabinet would also approve visa policy for Afghan immigrants.PM Nawaz will inspect progress in economical development while ongoing political and security situation of the country would also be monitored.The attendees would exchange views regarding participation of Pakistan in Heart of Asia Conference to be held in India.

Civilians flee as Syria regime advances in rebel Aleppo

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ALEPPO (AFP) - Syrian pro-government forces pushed deeper into rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Tuesday, forcing civilians to flee as the regime pressed an assault to recapture the entire city.Recapturing east Aleppo would be the governments biggest victory yet in Syrias five-year conflict and deal a potentially decisive blow to the opposition.The city was once the countrys economic powerhouse, but it has been ravaged by the war that has killed 300,000 people since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011.Military aircraft dropped leaflets over east Aleppo, urging rebels to distribute food to civilians, leave the area and allow residents to do so too.Government forces pounded the area with air strikes and barrel bombs as ground troops advanced in the key eastern district of Masaken Hanano, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.A week into the latest round of fighting for the city, the regime controls around a third of the district, the Observatory said.The area has been shelled heavily during the war, and many residents had already fled, but the latest fighting prompted even the last holdouts to leave.Milad Shahabi, a member of the local council, told AFP that residents were fleeing to southern parts of the opposition-controlled east.Masaken Hanano was the first Aleppo district to fall to rebels in 2012, and it is strategically vital.Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said that if regime forces manage to take the district they will be able to cut off the northern parts of rebel-held Aleppo from the rest of the opposition-held districts.At least 143 civilians, including 19 children, have been killed in the citys east since the latest assault began on November 15, according to the Britain-based monitor.Another 16 civilians, including 10 children, have been killed in rebel fire on government-controlled western Aleppo, it said.It added that residents of eastern districts had suffered from suffocation after four barrel bomb attacks and that medical officials suspected a chlorine gas attack.The Organisation for the Prohibition for Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said that the regimes key backer Russia had offered it samples relating to an alleged chemical attack in Aleppo.The global watchdog tasked with destroying chemical weapons is probing more than 20 reports of the alleged use of toxic arms in Syria since August.Government troops, backed by Lebanons Shiite Hezbollah group and Russian and Iranian forces, are battling rebels on several fronts inside opposition-held districts.Irans veterans affairs office said that more than 1,000 combatants sent from Iran to fight in support of President Bashar al-Assad had been killed in the conflict.Tehran has sent military advisers, as well as fighters recruited from Afghanistan and Pakistan, to work with Assads forces.The renewed fighting comes amid international concern for the fate of more than 250,000 civilians trapped in besieged rebel-held areas of Aleppo.Despite searing international criticism, there is little sign that the government advance will be halted.For the past four years, Aleppo has been divided between the government-controlled west and rebel-held east, which has been sealed off from the outside world since the army surrounded it in mid-July.No food aid has entered since then, and locals suffer severe shortages of food, fuel, electricity and water.Rebels have tried several times to break the siege, without success.The UNs aid chief Stephen OBrien on Monday slammed the use of sieges in Aleppo and elsewhere. In remarks to the Security Council, he said nearly one million Syrians were living under blockade.Emile Hokayem, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said there was very little the world could now do to prevent the whole city falling to pro-regime forces.You cant send weaponry in any more, all the supply roads are cut, and you wont intervene from the air because of the costs and the risks, he told AFP.There was a time to do something about Aleppo... but now its too late.Russia, meanwhile, accused the UNs Syria envoy of torpedoing a Security Council resolution to revive peace talks between the regime and opposition.The United Nations in the form of its special representative Staffan de Mistura has been sabotaging the resolution for more than six months, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.The resolution calls for holding inclusive Syrian talks without preconditions, he said. And in Washington, the Pentagon said a US drone strike had killed a senior Al-Qaeda leader in northwestern Syria.The November 18 strike near Sarmada targeted Abu Afghan al-Masri, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said. He had ties to terrorist groups operating throughout Southwest Asia, including groups responsible for attacking US and coalition forces in Afghanistan and those plotting to attack the West, Cook said.

Coalition destroys Mosul bridge to isolate jihadists

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MOSUL (AFP) - The US-led coalition bombed a key bridge in Mosul Tuesday to isolate jihadists whose stiff resistance in the east of the city is threatening to bog down Iraqi forces.The number of civilians displaced since last months start of the offensive against Mosul -- the Islamic State groups last stronghold in Iraq -- rose to 68,000, but most of the citys population remained trapped.A coalition aircraft carried out an air strike on Mosuls third bridge, leaving a British-era bridge in the centre as the last crossing of the Tigris River running through the city.Coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian said IS fighters has been using the bridges to re-supply the eastern side of the city, essentially rotating their forces.Were not going to let that happen, he told AFP.A member of the provincial council for Nineveh, of which Mosul is the capital, said the central bridge was the last remaining after four others over the Tigris had been destroyed.IS has put up fierce resistance to defend Mosul, the city where its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a caliphate in June 2014.The eastern bank of the Tigris was expected to offer less resistance when tens of thousands of Iraqi forces launched the offensive on October 17 to retake the city.Most of the jihadists traditional bastions are on the western side of Mosul, as is the old city whose narrow streets will be hard to penetrate for the government forces armoured vehicles.A spokesman for the International Organization for Migration voiced concern that the lack of bridges could further trap civilians, who IS have routinely used as human shields.That would deprive a lot of families with an avenue to get away from the fighting, Joel Millman told AFP.Over five weeks, Iraqi forces advancing on several fronts have made considerable progress in the advance, but the fighting in Mosul itself has been tough.Elite forces from the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) -- the best trained units in the country -- have faced a daily barrage of mortar and sniper fire.IS fighters have also launched car bombs driven by a seemingly endless supply of suicide bombers against their positions and convoys in the city.Were just in the very toughest part of the fight, Dorrian said.Iraqi forces are up against an enemy where the most likely course of action and the most dangerous course of action are often one and the same, the coalition spokesman said.The intensity of the fighting has made it difficult for the hundreds of thousands of civilians in Mosul to flee to safety in camps erected around the city.68,550 people are currently displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Tuesday.OCHA said the aid response to the offensive was growing in complexity, with varying needs for different categories of civilians.Humanitarian needs are severe among displaced families in and out of camps, vulnerable residents of retaken communities, and people fleeing the intense fighting in Mosul city, it said.The UN had initially predicted that 200,000 civilians could be forced from their homes in the first few weeks of the offensive, Iraqs biggest military operation in years.Iraqi forces have so far been sending the message to the population of Mosul that they should stay at home and not try to flee through the front lines.Many residents of Mosul have indeed hunkered down homes as Iraqi forces took on IS fighters in fierce street battles.That has restricted both the government forces ability to use heavier weaponry against the jihadists and aid groups ability to deliver assistance to civilians in need.While Mosul is under ongoing heavy attack, there are currently no safe routes out of the city, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) spokeswoman Becky Bakr Abdulla told AFP.Civilians are facing an extremely difficult decision of either staying in their homes stuck in the crossfire or risk their lives in an attempt to find their way out of the city, she said.

Too much reporting changing mind of judges: Khalid Javed

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LAHORE (Web Desk) - Law expert Khalid Javed said on Tuesday that there is too much reporting going on in the Panama Leaks case, which is making up the mind of judges, reported Dunya News.Khalid Javed was talking in Dunya Kamran Khan Ke Saath program, as he said that every observation in this case has been reported, which gives an impression that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer Hamid Khan presented a weak case. He said that lawyer presents the witnesses and proofs which are given by party but now cases are fought in court and outside as well. He said that whatever the outcome of the case will be, a public opinion will be formed, which will have a political significance.Kamran Khan asked him if PTI has to be blamed for giving those proofs to Hamid Khan, but Khalid Javed said that it is lawyers job to make strategy, so lawyer should not present every document which is provided by the party, but he should choose them correctly. If a lawyer starts a case with a weak document, then lawyer has to be blamed.Khalid Javed said that it was not must for Qatari prince to make presence in the court, as Sharif family can also establish the trail themselves. He also said that Sharif family can also ask for Panama Leaks author to show up in the court.

Renewed clashes in Yemen kill more than 40

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ADEN (AFP) - Renewed clashes between Yemeni government forces and rebels killed more than 40 people Tuesday, military officials said, a day after a fragile 48-hour ceasefire expired without halting the violence.Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi repelled an attack by Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies on the western outskirts of Taez city, the officials said.The attack that began late Monday targeted the Al-Dhabab area, which provides pro-Hadi forces with their only access to the flashpoint city of 300,000 people that is surrounded by insurgents.Warplanes from the Saudi-led Arab coalition took part in operations to repel the attack, officials said.Military officials also reported heavy artillery fire in an eastern suburb of Taez as pro-Hadi forces pressed a campaign to wrest back control of a presidential palace, police headquarters and an air defence base from the Huthis.Eleven rebel fighters and five pro-government soldiers were killed in the clashes around the southwestern city, they said.In northwest Yemen, fighting around the coastal town of Midi cost the lives of 18 rebels and four soldiers, a loyalist commander on the ground, Abdel Ghani Chebli, told AFP.Rebel sniper fire on Monday night killed three soldiers as the Huthis tried to advance on Midis harbour, which is controlled by pro-Hadi forces.In the Saudi border town of Najran, a Yemeni civilian was killed and seven other non-Saudis were wounded by rebel shelling from Yemen, the Saudi civil defence said.Cross-border fire from Yemen has killed dozens of people in Saudi Arabia since March 2015.The coalition and the rebels have traded blame over violations of the ceasefire which came into effect on Saturday after US Secretary of State John Kerry intervened.It was the latest international attempt to end Yemens 20-month conflict, which the United Nations says has killed more than 7,000 people and wounded nearly 37,000.The Huthis overran the capital Sanaa and other parts of the impoverished country in September 2014, prompting the coalition to intervene six months later in support of Hadi.In the southern city of Aden, an airport security officer, Colonel Abdel Rahim Samahi, was gunned down outside his home in an attack, a security official said Tuesday.The Islamic State group said it killed Samahi, the US-based SITE Intelligence Group reported.In recent months, IS and Al-Qaeda have stepped up attacks on Aden and south Yemen where loyalist forces have struggled to dismantle jihadist groups.

Egypt court quashes Morsi life sentence

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CAIRO (AFP) - An Egyptian appeals court Tuesday quashed one of two life sentences handed down to Mohamed Morsi since his 2013 overthrow, in the Islamist ex-presidents second appeals victory in a week.The Court of Cassation, Egypts highest appeals court, issued the verdict, Morsis lawyer and a judicial official told AFP.The court ordered a retrial in the case, Morsis lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud told AFP, adding: The verdict was full of legal flaws.The ruling also quashed sentences against 22 others, including three death sentences against Muslim Brotherhoods deputy head Khairat al-Shater and other senior officials from the now banned group.A court had sentenced Morsi to life in June 2015 on charges of spying for Iran, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.The decision was the latest legal victory for the 65-year-old, who has been convicted and sentenced in all cases against him since being removed from office in 2013.Most of the trials in which the former president has been convicted are not built on sufficient evidence: the prosecutor relies on security services reports, University of Cairo political sciences Professor Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyed told AFP on Tuesday.Morsi was Egypts first freely elected leader, taking power after the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak.But his year in office proved deeply divisive and he was overthrown by then-army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi following mass street protests.A crackdown on Morsis Muslim Brotherhood followed, with the movement blacklisted, hundreds of its supporters killed and thousands jailed or sentenced to death.The courts handling of the cases against Morsi and his supporters, many of whom have been convicted after mass trials lasting just days, has drawn criticism from Western governments, human rights groups and the United Nations, which described the trials as unprecedented in recent history.Last week, the Court of Cassation also overturned a death sentence handed down against Morsi on charges of taking part in prison breaks and violence against policemen during the 2011 uprising against Mubarak.That decision enabled Morsi to stop wearing the red uniform reserved for death row prisoners.Five co-defendants, including Brotherhood supreme guide Mohamed Badie, who also received death sentences, are to be retried too in that case.These decisions tell us that the initial verdicts were political, said lawyer and human rights activist Gamal Eid.From next Monday, the court is to start reviewing a second life sentence handed down against Morsi in a separate trial on charges of stealing documents relating to national security and handing them over to Qatar, a longstanding supporter of the Brotherhood.Last month, it upheld a 20-year jail sentence passed against Morsi on charges of ordering the use of deadly force against protesters during his year in power, which has become the only final verdict against the former Islamist president.Morsi is being held at the Borg el-Arab prison near the northern city of Alexandria.A veteran activist and engineering professor, Morsi emerged as a compromise candidate for the Brotherhood to field in Egypts first democratic presidential election in 2012.He narrowly won the vote but was soon accused of failing to represent all Egyptians and of trampling the ideals of the anti-Mubarak uprising.His rule was marked by deep divisions in Egyptian society, a crippling economic crisis and often deadly opposition protests.Morsi was removed by Sisi on July 3, 2013 after millions took to the streets demanding his resignation. Sisi became president a year later.Morsi denounced a coup and his supporters insisted he was still the legitimate president.Hundreds were killed in clashes that erupted when security forces dispersed two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo in August 2013.The years following Morsis overthrow saw a surge in bombings and shootings targeting security forces, particularly in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, a stronghold of the Islamic State group.The jihadists say the attacks are in retaliation for the crackdown on Islamists.

'Senior Al Qaeda leader' killed in US strike in Syria: Pentagon

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US drone strike has killed a senior Al Qaeda leader in Syria who previously operated in Afghanistan, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.The November 18 strike near Sarmada in northwestern Syria targeted Abu Afghan al-Masri, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said. He had ties to terrorist groups operating throughout Southwest Asia, including groups responsible for attacking US and coalition forces in Afghanistan and those plotting to attack the West, Cook said. Al-Masri was an Egyptian who originally joined Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and later moved to its Syrian affiliate, Cook said.The Pentagon did not immediately provide further information about Masri, only that he had a senior leadership role in Al Qaeda.This is someone who helped organize Al Qaeda activities, Cook said. He has been on our radar for some time.A US-led coalition is striking Islamic State group targets in Syria, but has also hit leaders from other groups including the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which has renamed itself Fatah al-Sham.In October, the Pentagon said a US air strike near Idlib had targeted a Nusra senior leader, Ahmed Salama Mabrouk, an Egyptian also known by his nom de guerre Abu Faraj.

18 dead as Thai bus plunges into ravine

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BANGKOK (AFP) - Eighteen retirees returning from holiday were killed on Tuesday after their tour bus plunged down a ravine in northern Thailand, police and a media report said, the latest disaster in a country with notoriously dangerous roads.The victims were all former employees of state-run company CAT Telecom and were making their way to Bangkok from a province in the mountainous north.They were returning to the capital after a holiday trip, the Bangkok Post website reported. 18 people died and 20 were injured after a bus fell down into deep ravine because the driver was not familiar with the road, Police Colonel Ditsayadej Patcharapuwadol, commander of Uttaradit police station, told AFP.The bus was on its way to Bangkok -- coming down a steep road when it hit a barrier and fell into the 50-metre deep ravine, he said, adding that the driver was one of those killed in the accident in Muang district of Uttaradit province.Photos of the crash site posted on social media showed the bus had come to a halt down a steep jungle ravine, its roof almost entirely sheared off. Despite relatively good infrastructure, Thailand has the worlds second most dangerous roads in terms of per capita deaths, according to data collected by the World Health Organization in a 2015 report. The WHO estimates about 24,000 people die each year in traffic accidents on Thailands roads.Only Libya records a greater number of fatalities per capita.

Tennis: Wozniacki, Ivanovic to play at Auckland Classic

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WELLINGTON (AFP) - Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic will compete at the Auckland Classic in January, organisers said Wednesday, hailing the strongest field ever at the Australian Open warm-up tournament.With Serena and Venus Williams participation previously announced, tournament director Karl Budge said there would now be four former world number ones lining up in New Zealand.This is uncharted territory for a sporting event in New Zealand, he said. Any one of these four players could headline the tournament on their own. They are the most marketable female athletes in the world.Wozniacki, currently ranked 19th in the world, and Ivanovic (63) are both on the comeback trail after battling injuries.I have very fond memories of winning the title in Auckland 2014 and I am determined to make my mark again in 2017, Ivanovic said. Venus Williams (17) won the event in 2015, beating Wozniacki in the final, while world number two Serena has never played in Auckland.Defending champion Sloane Stephens (35) of the USA is also part of the 24-player field.The tournament runs from January 2-7 in the lead-up to the seasons opening Grand Slam in Melbourne that begins January 16.

Former caretaker PM Moeen Qureshi passes away

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – Former caretaker Prime Minister Moeen Qureshi died in United States on Tuesday at the age of 86, Dunya News reported. Moeen Qureshi served as the caretaker prime pinister of Pakistan from 18 July 1993 to 19 October 1993 after both Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan resigned from their respected offices.Moeen Qureshi was born in Lahore on 26 June 1930. He attended the Government College University in Lahore where he gained BA (Honors) in Economics and received an MA in Economics from the Punjab University. He received the Fulbright scholarship and went to the United States to attend the Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he earned a PhD in Economics in 1955.He returned to Pakistan in 1955 and joined the countrys civil service and was initially posted at the Planning Commission. In 1956, he resigned from the Planning Commission and went to the United States to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF).In 1981, Moeen Qureshi joined the World Bank and become the senior vice president of finance, which he remained until 1987. Eventually, he was appointed the Senior Vice President of the World Bank and oversaw its financial operations all over the world.In 1993, he returned to Pakistan and served as caretaker prime minister from 18 July 1993 to 19 October 1993. Moeen Qureshi returned to New York in 1993 after his three-month tenure as caretaker prime minister and established a consultant office with the help of his son.Moeen Qureshi died on Tuesday (November 22). His funeral prayer will be offered in Maryland, United States.

Football: Comeback king Reus hits hat-trick in record haul

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DORTMUND (AFP) - Marco Reus netted a hat-trick on his comeback as Borussia Dortmund hammered Legia Warsaw 8-4 on Tuesday in a record Champions League result which yielded seven first-half goals. It was the first time a Champions League game has had a 5-2 half-time scoreline since Monaco ended up beating Deportivo de La Coruna 8-3 in November 2003.The 12-goal haul in Dortmund bettered the record set in the Monaco-Deportivo game of 11 goals for a Champions League game.With Dortmund already through to the last 16, the huge win keeps them top of Group F, two points clear of Real Madrid.Dortmunds Shinji Kagawa and Legias Aleksandar Prijovic both finished with two goals each thanks to some poor defending by both teams.Reus, who captained Dortmund, made his return after 185 days out with an adductor injury which ruled him out of Junes European championships.It was his first match since Dortmund lost the German Cup final to Bayern Munich on penalties in Berlin on May 21.Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel made nine changes to his starting line up after admitting his side looked tired mentally and physically from Saturdays 1-0 win over Bayern Munich.Only defenders Marc Bartra and Matthias Ginter kept their places in Dortmunds starting line-up.The match got off to an explosive start.Legia took an early lead when Prijovic was given too much space in the area to chip his shot home and stun the Dortmund crowd on 10 minutes.But Borussia roared back with five goals in 16 minutes.Their first three goals came in 198 seconds when Kagawa headed home on 17 minutes, then slotted a second just a minute later.To compound Warsaws problems a clearance punch from goalkeeper Radoslaw Cierzniak clattered off Nuri Sahins chest and into the Legia goal to make it 3-1 on 20 minutes.Prijovic pulled another goal back for Warsaw on 26 minutes, and could have claimed a hat-trick when his chip hit the crossbar moments later.Dortmunds French winger Ousmane Dembele made it 4-2 when he beat several defenders to fire home on 29 minutes.He then helped Kagawa set up Reus for his first on 32 minutes.Dembele then weighed in with his third assist of the night with a superb cross to allow Reus to claim his second and Dortmunds sixth on 52 minutes.Warsaw midfielder Michal Kucharczyk pulled a third goal back for Legia on 57 minutes before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came off the bench to hit the post for Dortmund.Dortmund defender Felix Passlack then scored his first Champions League goal before Hungary striker Nemanja Nikolic netted Warsaws fourth in the final ten minutes.Reus wrapped up his hat-trick in the 93rd-minute when he converted Aubameyangs final pass at point-blank range.

Real Madrid reach 16 as toppers after beating Sporting

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LISBON (AFP) - Cristiano Ronaldo was lauded like a king of his return to where his career began at Sporting Lisbon, but Real Madrid showed no mercy in booking their place in the knockout stages for a 20th consecutive season with a 2-1 win on Wednesday.However, victory came at a cost for the European champions as Gareth Bale limped off just before the hour mark with an ankle injury just 11 days before Real travel to face Barcelona in El Clasico.Real had substitute Karim Benzema to thank for all three points as he came off the bench to down Sportings 10 men with a fine finish from Sergio Ramoss cross.Raphael Varane had fired Real into a first-half lead, but Sporting captain Adrien Silva levelled from the penalty spot after Joao Pereira had seen a straight red card.Real still need to beat Borussia Dortmund at home in two weeks time to top Group F after the Germans thrashed Legia Warsaw 8-4.Ronaldos name was loudly cheered amidst the otherwise din on whistles that greeted the announcement of the Real team, whilst a banner with the message Made in Sporting was raised by the home fans with a picture of a teenage Ronaldo in their famous green and white hooped shirt.Despite leaving Sporting for Manchester United at just 18 having not even won a trophy with the Portuguese giants, Ronaldo is revered in Lisbon having captained his country to a first ever international tournament win at Euro 2016.The affection shown may even have had an effect on the normally ruthless Ronaldo as for the first time in four meetings against Sporting he failed to find the net.Sporting needed to win to keep any chance of qualifying for the last 16 alive with Dortmund already having qualified.However, after an intense start buoyed by a boisterous atmosphere, the holders slowly grabbed a stranglehold of the game and went in front on 29 minutes when Luka Modrics low free-kick was deflected into Varanes path and the French international swept home his third goal of the season.Madrid captain Ramos was making his first appearance in six weeks after spraining knee ligaments and came to his sides rescue moments later to deflect Bruno Cesars goalbound shot behind.Cesars strike at the Bernabeu in September looked set to hand Sporting a famous victory until a remarkable late fightback inspired by a Ronaldo free-kick saw Real snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.And the Brazilian came close again to sending the hosts in level at the break with a free-kick that curled inches wide.Real were put under pressure at the start of the second period as Ramos cleared a dangerous cross from Gelson Martins and further disrupted as Bale hobbled off.However, Sportings chances looked to have gone when Pereira was shown red for an off-the-ball clash with Mateo Kovacic.Despite their numerical disadvantage, Sporting were level 10 minutes from time when Silva blasted home from the penalty spot after substitute Fabio Coentrao had been penalised for handball.Joel Campbell even had an effort saved by Costa Rican international teammate Keylor Navas as Sporting searched for the winner they needed to keep their Champions League hopes alive.Instead, they were hit with a Real sucker punch as Benzema fired low into the far corner to set up a shootout with Dortmund for top spot in a fortnight.
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