Friday 25 November 2016

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Karachi: Rangers arrest MQM-London activist, recover arms

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KARACHI (Dunya News) - Rangers conducted an operation in Garden Shoe Market area of Karachi on Friday and arrested a terrorist Ateeq alias Chinga belonging to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-London) on charges of having links with Indian spy agency RAW, Dunya News reported.According to Rangers spokesman, the arrested terrorist was involved in extortion and target killing cases in the city. Rangers also recovered huge cache of arms from an under-construction shop in the Garden Shoe Market on the information provided by the arrested terrorist. The spokesman further informed that arms stored in the building, included two LMGs, four SMGs, one 22-bore riffle, three 12-bore pistols and 5809 bullets, were to be used in target killing incidents in Karachi on the instruction from top leadership of MQM-London.

Resolute Watling props up New Zealand

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HAMILTON (AFP) - A resolute BJ Watling kept New Zealands first innings alive Saturday as Pakistan continued to pick off wickets on day two of the second Test in Hamilton. At tea, New Zealand were 266-8 with Watling on 45 after three hours in the middle and facing 119 deliveries. Matt Henry was not out 15 off 10 balls. Watling went to the crease with New Zealand in trouble at 119-5, having lost three for 29 runs in the morning session.The wicketkeeper with six centuries to his name patiently protected his end in partnerships of 51 with Colin de Grandhomme, 33 with Mitchell Santner and 36 with Tim Southee.De Grandhomme, after working hard with Watling to get the New Zealand innings off shaky ground and through to 170-5 at lunch, was gone on the first ball after the resumption for 37. He waved his bat at an Imran delivery sailing well wide of the stumps and sent an edge to Sarfraz Ahmed to give the keeper his fourth catch of the innings. Santner chipped away for 16, including three boundaries before he nicked Sohail Khan to Younis Khan taking his turn at first slip.Swashbuckling Southee swung at everything, with five boundaries in his 29 off 28 deliveries before he was beaten and bowled by a slower Sohail delivery. After only 21 overs were possible on the first day because of rain, there were no disruptions after New Zealand resumed day two at 77-2. Ross Taylor had added eight to his overnight score when he was caught flat-footed by a Sohail delivery that jagged in, catching an edge to give Ahmed a regulation catch. Jeet Raval, dropped on four and 40 by Sami Aslam at first slip, progressed to 55 when he nicked Imran Khan to Mohammad Rizwan who had taken up the position beside the wicketkeeper. Henry Nicholls (13) edged Wahab Riaz to Ahmed to have New Zealand at 119-5, and bringing in Watling to restore substance to the innings. For Pakistan, Sohail has four for 99 and Imran two for 48.New Zealand, having won the first Test, need only a draw in Hamilton to claim their first series win over Pakistan in 31 years.

Nankana Sahib: Blaze kills mother, three children

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NANKANA SAHIB (Dunya News) – According to details, fire broke out in a house in More Khanda area near Nankana Sahib on Friday, killing a woman and her three children, Dunya news reported.Rescue teams reached the spot and shifted the dead to a nearby hospital. Rescue sources informed media that the fire was caused due to leakage of gas cylinder.

UK citizens could pay to retain EU perks, says top negotiator

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LONDON (AFP) - Britons wanting to retain benefits of European Union membership after the country leaves could pay Brussels for individual citizenship, European Parliaments lead Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt told The Times on Saturday.Many say we dont want to cut our links, the former Belgian prime minister told The Times.I like the idea that people who are European citizens and saying they want to keep it have the possibility of doing so. As a principle I like it.Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by March, setting the ball rolling on two-years of negotiations to set the terms of the divorce.Trade and immigration are set to be the key issues, with European leaders saying they will not compromise on open borders within the bloc.Brexit-supporting MP Andrew Bridgen accused Verhofstadt of trying to sow division in Britain.Its an attempt to create two classes of UK citizen and to subvert the referendum vote, he told the Times.The truth is that Brussels will try every trick in the book to stop us leaving.

New Zealand 170-5 at lunch on day 2 against Pakistan

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HAMILTON, New Zealand (AFP) - Pakistan carved into the New Zealand line up with three wickets and brought Jeet Ravals charmed run to an end on the second morning of the second Test in Hamilton on Saturday.At lunch, New Zealand were 170-5 with Colin de Grandhomme on 37 and BJ Watling on 10.Raval, who compiled his second half century in only his third Test innings, was out for 55 when the third chance he nicked to first slip was firmly taken by Mohammad Rizwan.Raval had been dropped by Sami Aslam in the first over of the rain-abridged first day and again by the same fielder when on 40 on the second morning.Two blown chances was enough for captain Azhar Ali and there was no let off for Raval on the third edge after Rizwan was moved to the key catching position.Raval added 20 to his overnight score after New Zealand resumed the day at 77-2 and were able to progress without too much pressure.The fiestiness of Mohammad Amirs opening spell of the Test was lacking for much of the time but when Pakistan did get line and length right they found the New Zealand batsmen wanting.Taylor advanced by seven runs to 37 when he was out showing a lack of foot movement to a Sohail ball that cut back and was edged through to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed.Apart from the August tour of Zimbabwe, when he scored two centuries and a 50, it was Taylors highest score in 17 Test innings over the past year.Raval went jabbing at a short, rising Imran delivery while Henry Nicholls (13) was outsmarted by Wahab Riaz who pushed the batsman back with three short balls before catching him flat-footed with a full delivery that was edged to Ahmed.De Grandhomme was given out on seven, caught behind off Amir, but the dismissal was overturned when replays showed daylight between bat and ball and he has since added a further 30 runs.Sohail has been the most successful Pakistan bowler with 2-62 and Imran the most economical with 1-32.

RB Leipzig go six points above Bayern Munich in Bundesliga

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BERLIN (AFP) - RB Leipzig continued their stunning start to life in the Bundesliga on Friday with a 4-1 win at Freiburg that saw them move six points clear of Bayern Munich at the top of the table.Timo Werner scored twice for the visitors at the Schwarzwald Stadion in between goals by Naby Keita and Marcel Sabitzer, with Florian Niederlechner replying in vain for the home side.RB Leipzigs record-breaking start to a season for a newly-promoted side sees them still unbeaten after 12 games. They have won their last seven matches in a row and this latest success means they are certain to end the weekend clear at the summit once again.Ralph Hassenhuettls men can do no wrong at the moment and they opened the scoring in the Black Forest inside two minutes when pocket-sized Guinean midfielder Keita skipped away from Niederlechner and unleashed a superb shot that arrowed beyond the reach of goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow and into the top-right corner.Mid-table Freiburg, who had won four of their previous five home games this season, drew level out of nowhere on the quarter-hour mark when Niederlechner headed past Peter Gulacsi in the Leipzig goal following a right-wing cross by Borussia Dortmund loanee Pascal Stenzel.Freiburg had come up with Leipzig from the second tier last season, finishing five points clear of the Red Bull-backed club as they won the title.They had taken four points off them in league meetings, but Leipzig are a different proposition in the top tier and they went back in front before the midway point in the first half.Former VfB Stuttgart forward Werner was played onside by Marc Torrejon as he latched onto a ball over the top and slotted in after a rather weak attempt by Schwolow to stop him.Werner netted again for his seventh of the season 10 minutes before the break after a superb pass by the ever impressive Emil Forsberg took Nicolas Hoefler out of the game.The victory was secured as Leipzig made it 4-1 with 11 minutes left when Swedish international Forsberg set up Sabitzer to side-foot home at the near post.Carlo Ancelottis Bayern host Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday evening looking to get back on track after defeats at Borussia Dortmund and at Rostov in the Champions League over the last week.Dortmund, who are third and one of five clubs three points behind Bayern, go to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

Mourinho warns Martial over Man United place

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MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) - French forward Anthony Martial risks slipping from the first-team picture at Manchester United if he does not start making more of his opportunities, manager Jose Mourinho has warned.Martial, 20, impressed in his first United season after his move from Monaco for an initial fee of 36 million pounds ($44.9 million, 42.4 million euros), scoring 17 goals to finish as the clubs top scorer.But he has scored only twice this season, has been in and out of the starting XI and was left out of the match-day squad entirely for Thursdays 4-0 Europa League win over Feyenoord.First of all, the teams are very different, Mourinho said in reference to the changes he has enacted since succeeding Louis van Gaal as manager.The way the team played last season -- Im not saying better or worse, Im saying just different. So please write properly my words. Different teams and probably more adapted to Anthony (last season).Probably he was feeling more comfortable playing that way, at that intensity, at that rhythm, with the ball possession and ball circulation. So probably he needs also some time.But in our squad, especially for these positions, we have (Henrikh) Mkhitaryan, (Jesse) Lingard, (Memphis) Depay, (Juan) Mata, (Marcus) Rashford, Martial.Its probably the positions where we have more options. You have one opportunity, you have two, you have three -- if you dont bite, somebody comes and takes the meat.Mkhitaryan made his first start since September 10 against Feyenoord, playing in Martials usual left-sided role, and was named man of the match after a display brimming with attacking endeavour.Uniteds win left them one point from the Europa League knockout phase and they now turn their attentions back to the Premier League, with West Ham United due to visit Old Trafford on Sunday.United are sixth in the table, a sizeable nine points below leaders Chelsea, Mourinhos former club.But Mourinho cited the example of Chelseas 2014-15 title-winning season -- which he feels has been overlooked amid criticism of his mixed start at United -- as a reason for optimism.We go match after match, Mourinho told reporters after Thursdays win over Feyenoord.When I won the last title, 18 years ago -- sorry, 18 months ago -- I had 10 points advantage and then in one month I had the same points as Man City. We lost 10 points in one month.Then we recovered and won the title 18 years ago -- sorry, 18 months ago. So you can recover points. Other teams can lose points.During the season there are moments where everything goes against you. There are moments where everything goes in your favour. So we know the game is not over.

Syria army advances in rebel-held east Aleppo

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ALEPPO (AFP) - Syrian army units advanced in Aleppo on Friday and pounded rebel-held eastern neighbourhoods with air strikes and shelling, causing new deaths among besieged civilians and adding to their despair.The US military, meanwhile, announced its first combat loss in Syria, saying a service member had been killed by a bomb during an offensive against the Islamic State group.Ten days into the offensive to recapture all of Syrias battered second city, regime bombardment has killed 196 civilians, including at least 27 children, in east Aleppo, a monitoring group said.On Friday, regime forces pounded several eastern districts with air strikes and shelling that killed eight civilians, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Clashes also rocked Masaken Hanano, east Aleppos largest district, more than 60 percent of which is now under the control of regime forces, the monitor added.State television said the army was advancing into Masaken Hanano from three axes, calling it the largest front in the battle for Aleppo, the capture of which could deal a decisive blow to rebels.More than 250,000 civilians have been besieged in eastern Aleppo since July, with food and fuel supplies dwindling and international aid exhausted.The Observatory said four children fled Friday to Sheikh Maqsud, a Kurdish-controlled enclave between the government-held west of Aleppo and the east.But rebels prevented dozens of families from Bustan al-Basha from leaving, it said.And regime raids on two villages west of Aleppo killed at least 15 civilians on Friday, four of them children, said the Observatory.Damascus says east Aleppo residents and surrendering fighters are free to leave but accuses the rebels of using civilians as human shields.Residents endured a brutal night Thursday of bombardment during which 32 civilians, including five children, were killed.Im terrified by the armys advance and the increasing bombardment, said Abu Raed, a father-of-four from the Fardos neighbourhood.Theres no safe place for me and my family.Rescue workers in several parts of the east battled to extricate civilians trapped under the rubble of bombed buildings.In Bab al-Nayrab, an AFP cameraman saw them struggle for more than an hour to pull out a boy who was stuck from the waist down in the rubble, with the back of his head badly gashed.Living under these circumstances is unbearable, said 43-year-old Mohammed Haj Hussein, in Tariq al-Bab district.Theres no work, theres no food, and the bombing is incessant... I want to get out of here by any means possible.Resident Abu Hussein added: I dont know what the UN is waiting for. Why dont they at least evacuate the children and women?Retaliatory rocket fire by the rebels has killed at least 18 civilians in the government-held west, 10 of them children, since the regime assault began on November 15, said the Observatory.The UN says it has a plan to deliver aid to Aleppo and evacuate the sick and wounded, which rebel factions have approved.But Damascus has yet to agree, and additional guarantees are needed from regime ally Moscow, UN officials say.On Thursday, the head of the UN-backed humanitarian taskforce for Syria, Jan Egeland, warned there was no plan B to help civilians in east Aleppo.In many ways plan B is that people starve, and can we allow that to happen? No we cannot, he said.Further east, in Raqa province, where a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters is battling IS, Washington suffered its first combat loss in Syria, the coalition announced.It said the service member died on Thursday from wounds caused by an improvised bomb near the town of Ain Issa.US special forces are on the ground in the area supporting an offensive to retake the city of Raqa, the jihadists de facto Syrian capital.Also on Friday an air strike carried out by an unidentified aircraft hit a small maternity hospital in the north of Idlib province, killing a civilian and putting the clinic out of service, said the Observatory.Rebel-held areas in the Eastern Ghouta near Damascus were also pounded by regime forces on Friday, the monitor said, killing at least two civilians and wounding 15 in the town of Douma.The charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported multiple air strikes on Eastern Ghouta, adding that the number of the wounded is still being counted.At least 49 civilians have been killed in regime bombardment on the rebel stronghold since November 17, almost half of them children, said the Observatory.

44 dead as trains collide in Iran

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TEHRAN (AFP) - Two trains collided and caught fire Friday in a remote region of northern Iran, killing 44 people and injuring dozens more, in one of the countrys worst rail disasters.Provincial governor Mohammad Reza Khabbaz told state television that the crash took place in Semnan province on the main line between Tehran and Irans second city Mashhad.An express train operating from Tabriz in the northwest to Mashhad had stopped, Khabbaz said, initially suggesting the cause could have been mechanical failure or extreme cold, although it was later put down to human error.Two coaches on the express burst into flames when a passenger train behind smashed into the back of it at 7:50 am (0420 GMT).The front four coaches of the second train -- running from Semnan to Mashhad -- derailed and overturned.One minute I was sleeping and the next I was being carried out of a coach on fire, one hospitalised passenger told state television.Television broadcast images of a huge column of black smoke and flames shooting into the sky from coaches with their windows shattered, as firefighters battled the blaze and rescue workers searched for victims.With the toll climbing throughout the day, Hossein Kulivand, head of Irans emergency services, said late Friday that 44 people were killed and 82 hospitalised, of whom 17 were treated for light injuries and released.Human error was determined to have caused the accident.For some unknown reasons due to human fault, the train (from Semnan) was ordered to move and so it hit the other train from behind, said Mohsen Poor-Seyed Aghaie, the head of Iranian railways.The provinces Red Crescent director, Hassan Shokrollahi, said the remote location of the crash site, between Semnan and Damghan, the next major town, had complicated rescue efforts.Due to the difficulty of access, only our helicopter has managed to reach the scene, he said.The injured were airlifted to hospitals in Semnan and Damghan.The Tehran-to-Mashhad line was briefly closed to allow an investigation into the cause of the crash, said Sadegh Sokri, spokesman for Irans railways.A collision on the same line between a freight train and a passenger train left two dead and 30 injured in June 2014.President Hassan Rouhani called for all technical, administrative and preventive measures to be taken to prevent the recurrence of such an accident.Iranian trains have been involved in four collisions this year with road vehicles, including a crash with a truck in July that left around 30 injured near the Caspian Sea in the northern province of Mazandaran.Collisions between trains are rarer.In the countrys deadliest rail disaster, 328 people were killed when a train transporting sulphur, petrol and fertilisers exploded in northern Iran on February 18, 2004.Irans roads are notoriously deadly, mainly because drivers show scant regard for rules, with 16,000 lives lost in the Iranian year between March 2015 and March 2016.In a sign of progress, however, an average of 28,000 deaths a year were registered on Iranian roads a decade ago.

Turkey's Erdogan threatens EU with new migrant influx

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ISTANBUL (AFP) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Friday to walk away from a deal that has substantially reduced the flow of migrants to the European Union and also effectively end Ankaras membership bid by bringing back capital punishment. Erdogans warning he could open Turkeys borders to illegal migrants bound for Europe prompted an immediate objection from Germany that such threats were unhelpful.Greece, which would face a heightened influx of migrants if Turkey made good its threat, also expressed concern at what it said would be an act of aggression.The Turkish leaders comments came a day after the European Parliament angered Ankara by backing a freeze of its EU accession talks, already hit by alarm over its crackdown in the wake of a failed coup in July.Listen to me. If you go any further, then the frontiers will be opened, bear that in mind, Erdogan told the EU during a speech in Istanbul.At a later meeting, Erdogan reaffirmed he would sign a law bringing back the death penalty if it is approved by parliament.If the people say we want the death penalty... and this goes to parliament and parliament passes it and it comes to me, I declare I will approve this, he added.EU officials have repeatedly made clear that bringing back the death penalty would instantly end Turkeys bid for membership as abolishing capital punishment is a key precondition.On March 18, Ankara and Brussels forged a deal for Turkey to halt the flow of migrants to Europe -- an accord that has largely been successful in reducing numbers crossing the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece.According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), just over 171,000 have crossed to Greece so far this year, much lower than the comparable figure for 2015 of almost 740,000.Hundreds of migrants drowned while trying to cross the Aegean in 2015 on unseaworthy boats, including three-year-old Syrian Aylan Kurdi. The images of his lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach spurred the international community into action. Turkey agreed to step up maritime and land border controls in exchange for incentives on its long-stalled membership bid, including visa-free travel for its citizens and an acceleration of the accession talks.However with an October target passing, no apparent progress on the visa issue and the accession talks stalled, Ankara has accused Brussels of failing to keep its side of the bargain.In response to Erdogans remarks, German Chancellor Angela Merkels spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said the deal was in the interest of all parties and that threats on either side are not helpful.Greeces Deputy Defence Minister Dimitris Vitsas said that using refugees and migrants to achieve other objectives (than those related to managing the influx) is an act of aggression.EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said it would not get involved in statements about hypothetical scenarios and was still committed to implementing the agreement.Erdogan has also accused Brussels of failing to fulfil a promise to deliver some six billion euros ($6.3 billion) in aid for refugees. The EU says the money is to be transferred gradually for individual projects and not in a single payment. Erdogan said while Turkey itself was looking after three million refugees -- including 2.7 million Syrians who escaped the civil war but also Iraqis -- you (the EU) did not fulfil your promises.The European Parliament vote to freeze the accession talks reflected spiralling tensions with Ankara after Brussels repeatedly expressed alarm over the magnitude of Turkeys crackdown after the coup attempts as well as the threats to bring back capital punishment.The parliamentary vote is non-binding and earlier this month, all EU foreign ministers -- with the exception of Austria -- said they favoured continuing the accession talks.But analysts say the entire membership process is in deep trouble, with little hope of progress and several risk factors that could lead to its collapse.Realistically, moving forward is also nearly impossible... Both Brussels and Ankara remain stuck and are playing for time, Asli Aydintasbas of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) said in a research paper.She suggested an alternative form of engagement between Turkey and the EU, other than full membership, could be agreed to save face and move forward.Austrias Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, a hardliner on Turkey, said Europe should strengthen its own borders after Erdogans comments and must not give into blackmail.

Trump taps national security veteran for White House role

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - US president-elect Donald Trump on Friday hired as a senior adviser a Republican national security veteran who first worked in the White House situation room under Richard Nixon.As deputy national security adviser, 65-year-old Fox News commentator Kathleen Troia KT McFarland, will return once again to the executive mansion as number two to former general Mike Flynn.She has tremendous experience and innate talent that will complement the fantastic team we are assembling, Trump said, in a statement issued from his luxury Florida golf resort.White House national security roles do not need to be confirmed by the Senate, so McFarland will take up her duties when President Barack Obama passes Trump the baton on January 20 next year.She would in any case have been an uncontroversial choice, with decades of experience under three former Republican presidents and as a former aide to foreign policy heavyweight Henry Kissinger.She has never herself held elected office, but in 2006 was defeated in a bid to seek the Republican nomination to challenge then New York senator Hillary Clintons successful re-election bid.Her most prominent roles before joining Fox News were as deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs under president Ronald Reagan and between 1982 and 1985 as defense secretary Caspar Weinbergers speechwriter and spokeswoman.McFarlands appointment came as Trump was ensconced with senior advisors in his Mar-a-Lago resort drawing up transition plans. A spokesman said no more major decisions are expected before Monday.

At least five killed, 27 wounded in Afghan triple bombing

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JALALABAD (AFP) - At least five people were killed and 27 others wounded in a triple bombing in eastern Afghanistans Nangarhar province Friday, provincial officials said. There was no claim of responsibility for the three bombings in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, which is a hotbed of IS militancy.Five people were martyred in three explosions in different parts of Jalalabad of Nangarhar province this morning, provincial spokesman Ataullah Khogyani told AFP.Khogyani said the first blast was a roadside bomb which detonated outside the house of a senior prison official, Abdul Hakim, killing him and a child and wounding six others. The second blast came outside the fire brigade office -- from where the first rescuers are usually dispatched after an attack -- killing three and wounding 21. Khogyani said the third blast came as people gathered at Hakims house after the first blast, but there were no casualties.Dr Najib Kamawal, director of the Nangarhar civil hospital confirmed the toll.The IS group appears to be intensifying attacks against the government and civilians as Afghan forces, backed by NATO air strikes, step up operations against them in Nangarhar. Last week IS claimed a massive suicide blast targeting Shiites in Kabul that killed at least 27 people.In late October, a suicide bomber killed at least six people at a gathering of tribal elders seeking aid for war-displaced families in Jalalabad.As well as the emerging threat from IS loyalists, who are making gradual inroads across Afghanistan, Taliban fighters are active in Nangarhar.

Erdogan, Putin in Syria talks after Turkish soldiers killed

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ISTANBUL (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the Syrian conflict with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by phone Friday after the Turkish army accused Moscow ally Damascus of killing its soldiers in northern Syria.Erdogan informed Putin of the strike that killed four Turkish soldiers, presidential sources said, which the Turkish army assessed to have been by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad early on Thursday.It was the first time Turkey had blamed the Assad regime -- which is given military support by Russia -- for a deadly strike on its troops during Ankaras three month campaign inside Syria.Erdogan and Putin also agreed to accelerate their efforts to find a solution to the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, where the regime continues its Moscow-backed offensive to recapture the whole city, which is divided between the government and rebels.During the phone call, Erdogan told Putin of how the Turkish-backed offensive in Syria was evidence of Ankaras determination to fight against terror, the sources added.The president stressed Turkeys commitment to Syrias territorial integrity -- Russia had previously said it was deeply concerned by Turkeys incursion while Damascus has called it a blatant violation of sovereignty.The presidents also backed the process to normalise relations between Russia and Turkey after the crisis sparked by the shooting down by Turkish forces of a Russian jet over Syria last year.The army said on Friday that a fifth Turkish soldier was killed in northern Syria in clashes with Islamic State (IS) jihadists. Seventeen Turkish soldiers have been killed since the military began an unprecedented operation in Syria on August 24 to back pro-Ankara rebels.Turkish planes also carried out air strikes against seven IS targets in northern Syria, the army said in a statement on Friday carried by the state-run Anadolu news agency.Turkey launched the operation in August -- dubbed Euphrates Shield -- in support of Syrian rebel fighters seeking to retake IS-held territory in northern Syria and also to halt the advance of Kurdish militia.Since it began, the pro-Ankara rebels have captured the IS stronghold of Jarabulus, cleared IS from Al Rai and retaken the symbolically important town of Dabiq without much resistance.They are now pressing to take Al Bab from the jihadists and will then move to Manbij to ensure there are no Kurdish militia members remaining, as agreed with Washington.The battle to recapture Al Bab appears to be proving more difficult and violent as Dogan news agency reported on Friday evening that five more soldiers were injured after an IS attack.They have been taken to the southeastern city of Kilis for medical treatment, Dogan said, adding that the total number of soldiers wounded in the days action was seven.a

Tennis: Del Potro win leaves Davis Cup final all square

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ZAGREB (AFP) - Juan Martin del Potro beat veteran Ivo Karlovic in a tense four sets to draw Argentina back level at 1-1 against Croatia in the Davis Cup final on Friday.Croatia had taken an early lead when their top player Marin Cilic battled back from a mid-match collapse to beat Federico Delbonis 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 1-6, 6-2 in the opening rubber at the Zagreb Arena.But Del Potro left the final all square when he despatched 37-year-old Karlovic 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 7-5.It was a fine performance from the Olympic silver medallist, who had secured Argentinas appearance in their fifth final when seeing off Andy Murray -- his Rio conqueror -- in an epic five-setter against the defending champions Great Britain in the semi-final in Glasgow.Del Potro, 28, is a veteran of two losing finals -- both against Spain in 2008 and 2011 -- while Karlovic is the oldest player to feature in a Davis Cup singles match since 43-year-old Australian Norman Brookes in 1920.Del Potro was rock solid, allowing the Croat not one break point in the entire match which kept the 15,000-capacity crowd enthalled for three hours and 19 minutes.Earlier, former US Open champion Cilic appeared to be cruising towards a routine victory only to lose his way after storming into a two-set lead over the world number 41.Sixth-ranked Cilic, who made his second appearance at the ATP Tour Finals last week, secured the first two sets with a single break in each, but Delbonis claimed the third before racing through the fourth to force a decider.Backed by an impassioned crowd Cilic regained his nerve in the final set, breaking his opponent in the first game and building on that momentum to eventually close out victory in three hours and 30 minutes.Four-time runners-up Argentina are chasing a first title, while Croatia are looking to emulate their 2005 triumph over Slovakia.Saturdays doubles pits Croatian duo Ivan Dodig and Franko Skugor against Leonardo Mayer and Guido Pella.

Boxing: Pacquiao says rematch with Mayweather 'possible'

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TOKYO (AFP) - WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao on Friday kept alive hopes for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, saying the epic clash was possible but only if his arch rival returns to the ring.The Filipino icon, 37, made a winning comeback from his brief retirement in November following his defeat to Mayweather last year in the richest fight in boxing history.If he will come back in boxing, there is a possible that there is a rematch, but right now we dont talk or discuss about it, Pacquiao told reporters in Tokyo, where he will open his first overseas boxing gym next year.Asked if he is confident about winning a rematch, Pacquiao said only: Yes, of course.Pacquiao originally retired in May after beating American Timothy Bradley in a non-title fight before standing for and winning a seat in the Philippines Senate.I feel lonely and sad because I (was) no longer active in the sport that I love, Pacquiao said.I can still fight and my body is still okay, so I decided to come back and Im here. Pacquiao fuelled talk of Pacquiao-Mayweather 2 when he invited the undefeated American, who retired in September 2015, to attend his successful comeback against Jesse Vargas in Las Vegas on November 5.Earlier this month, Pacquiao teased fans about a possible rematch by posting pictures on social media wearing a suit bearing photos of him and Mayweather in the lining. But Mayweather, 39, said days later he had no plans to come out of retirement. Meanwhile, organisers of Fridays event told reporters there would be no political questions asked of the boxer-cum-senator.Despite admitting to past use of illegal substances, Pacquiao has endorsed Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes high-profile war on drugs.The crackdown has left more than 4,000 people dead since the president took office in June and has been condemned by the United Nations.
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