Monday 7 November 2016

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Dunya TV

Cook hints he's nearing end as England captain

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LONDON (AFP) - Alastair Cook has indicated the upcoming Test series against India could be his last as England captain.But the 31-year-old Essex left-hander said that whatever his future as skipper, he would like to continue his Test career purely as an opening batsman.Cook is set to break Michael Athertons record of 54 Tests as England captain when he leads the tourists in the first of five-match series against India in Rajkot on Wednesday.Deep down I dont know how much longer I am going to carry on, he said in an interview with this months Cricketer magazine quoted by The Times newspaper.It could be two months, it could be a year.Cook became England captain in 2012 and promptly led his side to a 2-1 series win in India that year.In total, Cook has won 24 of his Tests as captain, a tally that includes two home Ashes series triumphs. His tally of 10,688 runs in 135 Tests is the highest by any England batsman and includes a century on debut, against India in Nagpur in 2006.That was the first of 29 Test hundreds, another England record, and Cook would like to return to the ranks before he retires from international cricket.I do look forward to the day when hopefully I can play a Test match as just a batter, theres no doubt about that, said Cook.If that happens I am going to really enjoy standing at first slip and being the bloke who makes suggestions to whoevers in charge and not being the bloke who has to make the final decision.There have been some tough moments and amazing moments and you can enjoy that success that little bit more because of what you go through as England captain.Former England captain Michael Vaughan told BBC radio on Monday that Cook could relinquish the leadership of the team either following the India series of after the 2017/18 Ashes tour of Australia.These next six or seven weeks are not crucial for Cook, he is breaking records and he has four or five years left as a batsman, if his mind wants to play that long, said Vaughan.Hed be a real good sounding board and be able to see when the new captain is under stress. He would be the perfect foil.

Tennis: Murray begins Tour Finals with Cilic showdown

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LONDON (AFP) - Andy Murray will face Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic in the ATP Tour Finals group stage as the newly crowned world number one looks to win the prestigious tournament for the first time.Murray has never been past the semi-finals at the season-ending event, but the Scot arrives at Londons O2 Arena with a huge incentive to take the title.The 29-year-old shattered Novak Djokovics 122-week reign at top of the world rankings over the weekend by reaching the final of the Paris Masters.To ensure his first taste of the number one position lasts more than two weeks, Murray must match or better Djokovics performance at the Tour Finals, a tournament the Serb has won for the last four years.After toasting his success while flying back to London on a private jet after winning the Paris Masters on Sunday, Murray was back to business on Monday as he learned his initial opponents in the Tour Finals.Murray has had mixed results against his group rivals this year, losing to Japans Nishikori in the US Open quarter-finals after beating him at the Rio Olympics and in the Davis Cup.He has lost three of his last four matches against world number three Wawrinka, including in last years group stage, although he did beat the Swiss in their only meeting this year in the French Open semi-finals.Murray was also beaten by former US Open champion Cilic in their last meeting, in the Cincinnati final, but he defeated the Croatian in the Queens Club semi-finals in June.After winning Wimbledon for a second time and then taking the second Olympic singles gold of his career, Murray can cap a dream year by lifting the Tour Finals trophy.Yesterday was a great day, today has just been a normal day at home with the family, said Murray, whose first match of the Tour Finals will be against Cilic next Monday.Once youre out on the court you dont think about your ranking. Youre playing against the top eight players in the world. I look forward to getting out there and playing at the O2.Ill try and take a few days rest now, start hitting again on Thursday. I need a few days break.It will be one big push for all the guys. Everyone has played a lot of tennis and hopefully everyone can play well.After looking invincible in the first half of the year, Djokovic, who faces Milos Raonic, Gael Monfils and Dominic Thiem in the other group, suddenly finds himself playing second fiddle to Murray.The reigning Australian and French Open champion will play in the first match of the Tour Finals on Sunday against rising Austrian star Thiem.

Tennis: Nadal to make December return in Abu Dhabi

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MADRID (AFP) - Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will make his return to action at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships exhibition event in Abu Dhabi at the end of December.Nadals 2016 season was plagued by physical problems and he cut his campaign short in October to recover fully to target a return to Grand Slam glory in 2017.Excited to announce my first tournament back will be in Abu Dhabi at the MubadalaWorldTennisChampionship in December, the Spaniard posted on his Twitter account on Monday.Nadal, a three-time winner of the event, will be joined by new world number one Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Goffin and Thomas Berdych in the six-man even from December 29-31.

Clinton, Trump fight to wire as bitter US race ends

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GRAND RAPIDS (AFP) - Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Monday gave US voters a stark choice as their brutal White House battle neared its end -- between her vision of unity and his promise to take back power from Washingtons corrupt elites.On the final day of a presidential campaign that has left a bemused world looking on in concern for its greatest power, Trump doubled down on his unabashed appeal to popular resentment.The Democrat Clinton has had sharp words for her rival, a 70-year-old property tycoon who seized the conservative Republican Party and turned it into a vehicle for his populist bombast, but she ended the race pleading for unity.Some 40 million Americans have already cast ballots in states that allow early voting, and tens of millions more will turn out on Tuesday for what is shaping up to be a historic clash. Its time to fight for America. Im not a politician, I can say proudly. My only special interest is you, Trump told a raucous crowd, vowing to end free trade, control immigration and bring back jobs. But the years of betrayal will end -- they will end and theyre going to end quickly. Theyre going to end as of the day we take office, which is going to be very, very soon.Clinton -- the 69-year-old former first lady, senator and secretary of state -- has had a narrow but consistent lead in opinion polls as she strives to become Americas first woman president.But the campaign has been bruising -- she has been dogged by allegations that she put US secrets at risk on her private email server while at the State Department and the race remains perilously close in a handful of key states. Support for Trump dropped after footage emerged of him bragging about sexual assault and at least a dozen women came forward to accuse him, but polls have tightened as the big day approaches.Tomorrow, we face the test of our time, Clinton warned. Will we be coming together as a nation, or splitting further apart? Will we set goals that all of us can help meet, or will we turn on each other.After tomorrow, the work will begin, and one of the highest priorities that I feel an obligation to address is how we bring the country together, the Democrat added, at a rally in Michigan.As Election Day approached -- to the relief of the many voters left cold by the long drawn-out slog through the political mud -- both candidates maintained break-neck schedules.Clinton made stops in three battleground states, and deployed President Barack Obama as cheerleader-in-chief in another, before they were to join up at a star-studded grand finale in Philadelphia.The world is watching us right now. This is one of those moments. Dont let it slip away, Obama said in New Hampshire.Trump sneered at Clintons choice of pop stars -- Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga -- to attract the crowds, and stuck to his stump speech, each new version slightly more aggressive than the last.This election will decide whether we are ruled by a corrupt political class, youre seeing whats happening. Everybody is watching. Or whether we are ruled by the people, he declared. Were going to be ruled by the people, folks. That is going to be the choice. Our failed political establishment has delivered nothing but poverty, nothing but problems, nothing but losses.Its time to reject the media and political elite that has bled our country dry, he declared, pointing to the press pen at his event, and whipping up cries of Drain the swamp from his fervent supporters.Trumps vow to rip up Americas free trade deals, build a wall on the Mexican border and renegotiate US treaty alliances has spooked world markets seeking stability after the recent global slowdown.Last week, US stocks as measured by the S&P 500 index fell for nine straight days for the first time since 1980, only to recover a little when the FBI confirmed Clinton would not face prosecution over her emails.Global stock markets surged on Monday, with Wall Street gaining more than two percent, as hopes for a Clinton victory rose after FBI director James Comeys weekend announcement that she was in the clear.The dollar also gained, and analyst Patrick OHare of briefing.com said: You can certainly take for granted from todays rally that the market seems to like the idea of Mrs. Clinton being elected president.On the eve of the vote, Clinton held a widening but still close 3.2 percentage point lead over Trump in a four-way race including two fringe candidates, according to a RealClearPolitics average of national polls.But a win in votes casts will mean nothing if she does not win the electoral college, fending off a last-ditch Trump bid to secure Florida and poach North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, Nevada or New Hampshire.On the eve of voting, respected data journalist Nate Silvers site FiveThirtyEight.com gave the Democrat a 69 percent chance of victory, conservative odds compared to newer rivals.

US-backed forces push closer to IS 'capital' Raqa

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AIN ISSA (AFP) - A US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance pushed closer to Raqa in Syria while Iraqi forces seized a key town near Mosul as offensives advanced Monday against the two Islamic State group strongholds.After announcing the launch of the long-awaited assault on Raqa on Sunday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance said it had moved south towards the city despite fierce jihadist resistance.South of Mosul, Iraqi forces retook Hamam al-Alil from IS, a key objective in their three-week advance on the city.Iraqi forces said they found a mass grave in the area containing around 100 decapitated bodies.Raqa and Mosul are the last major cities in Syria and Iraq under the jihadists control. Their capture would deal a knockout blow to the self-styled caliphate IS declared in mid-2014.The US-led coalition that launched operations against IS two years ago is providing crucial backing to the offensives, with air strikes and special forces advisers on the ground.SDF spokeswoman Jihan Sheikh Ahmed told AFP that the alliances forces had advanced on two fronts towards Raqa amid heavy fighting.SDF fighters had pushed at least 10 kilometres (six miles) south towards the city from the towns of Ain Issa and Suluk, she said.In both cases the SDF was still some distance from Raqa -- on the Ain Issa front at least 30 kilometres (20 miles) away.The offensive is going according to plan, said Ahmed, adding that the SDF had captured at least 10 villages.An SDF commander said IS was fighting back with its favourite tactic of sending suicide bombers in explosives-packed vehicles against advancing forces.IS is sending car bombers but coalition planes and our anti-tank weapons are limiting their effectiveness, the commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity.After taking Abu Ilaj north of Raqa, SDF fighters dug trenches and piled sandbags at the entrance to the village.In every area that we advance we are digging trenches with tractors and bulldozers to protect the front line, to prevent the jihadists from getting in and to stop car bombs, one fighter said.The SDF says some 30,000 of its fighters are taking part in operation Wrath of the Euphrates which aims to surround and isolate IS inside Raqa before assaulting the city itself.Officials have warned that the battle is likely to be long and difficult.As in Mosul, the fight will not be easy and there is hard work ahead, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said.But it is necessary to end the fiction of ISILs caliphate and disrupt the groups ability to carry out terror attacks against the United States, our allies and our partners, Carter said, using an alternative name for IS.Driving IS from both cities has been the endgame since the US-led coalition launched air strikes against it in summer 2014, shortly after the jihadists seized large parts of Syria and Iraq.Some 50 US military advisers are involved in the Raqa operation, particularly to guide air strikes, according to an SDF source.Near Mosul, federal police, army and elite interior ministry forces established full control over Hamam al-Alil, the last town of note on the way to the city from the south, AFP reporters said.It lies on the west bank of the Tigris river, about 15 kilometres (nine miles) southeast of the edge of Mosul.Life quickly resumed in Hamam al-Alil, with some residents reopening shops and others bathing in the towns sulphur springs.However, police said they found a mass grave Monday at an agricultural collage west of Hamam al-Alil.The Joint Operations Command said Iraqi forces found... 100 bodies of citizens with their heads cut off.Fighting also continued east of Mosul, with Kurdish forces advancing into the town of Bashiqa and the elite Counter Terrorism Service battling IS in the citys suburbs.Up to seven neighbourhoods are under the control of counter-terrorism forces, and they are now completely securing them and clearing them of pockets of terrorists present inside the houses, CTS spokesman Sabah al-Noman told AFP.A peshmerga statement said late Monday its forces were in Bashiqa and had begun house-to-house clearances.The Mosul offensive has advanced faster than expected, but the battle for Raqa is more complicated.Unlike in Iraq where the coalition has a state-controlled ally in federal forces, in Syria its ground partner is comprised of local militias, including some rebel groups that have battled President Bashar al-Assads regime.The domination of the SDF by the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) has also raised deep concerns in Turkey, which considers the YPG a terrorist group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).Aid groups have voiced concerns for civilians trapped in both Mosul and Raqa, warning they may be used as human shields.More than 34,000 people have been displaced since the Mosul operation began on October 17, the International Organization for Migration said on Monday.A US government official put the number at just over 33,000 people.More than a million people are believed to be in Mosul.Raqa had a population of some 240,000 before 2011 but more than 80,000 people have since fled there from other parts of Syria.

'Do for Hillary what you did for me,' Obama urges Americans

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ANN ARBOR (AFP) - President Barack Obama on Monday urged Americans to make history by electing Democrat Hillary Clinton to succeed him in the White House, and reject the mean-spirited politics of Donald Trump.I ask you to do for Hillary what you did for me, Obama told a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan -- the first of three he is holding for Clinton on the eve of the vote.You have the chance to reject a coarse, divisive, mean-spirited politics that would take us backwards, he said. The chance to elect our first female president.Obama and his wife Michelle have been among Clintons most effective champions, drumming up enthusiasm for the former secretary of state as she battled setbacks in the polls.Michigan, normally a Democratic stronghold, has emerged as a crucial battleground this year, one that Trump, the Republican nominee, hopes will give him a path to victory.Obama reminded voters that his administration rescued the states dominant auto industry from the brink of collapse in 2008.All that progress goes down the drain if we dont win tomorrow, he said, adding, This race will be close here in Michigan, just like it will be in a lot of parts of the country.I want you just to focus, because the choice you face when you step into the voting booth, it really cannot be clearer. Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be commander in chief, he said.The good news is, you dont just have to vote against something. You actually have a candidate whos worthy of your vote. A candidate who is smart. A candidate who is steady. A candidate whos tested. Probably the most qualified person ever to run for this office. The next president of the United States -- Hillary ClintonObama was to rally voters in Durham, New Hampshire later in the day before joining up with Clinton for a big, star-studded campaign event in Philadelphia.He admitted to experiencing some nostalgia campaigning for what he said was likely to be the last time in a while.Its not that often youve got a chance to move history in a better direction. This is one of those moments. This is one of those moments. Dont let it slip away, he said.

Bruce and Beyonce lead stars in late Clinton push

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NEW YORK (AFP) - Top musicians from Beyonce to Bruce Springsteen are rallying behind Hillary Clinton in the countdown to Tuesdays election, adding A-list star power to a massive get-out-the-vote operation.While US pop stars have long leaned to the left, the tilt toward Clinton is unprecedented in a modern election, with Republican rival Donald Trump virtually shunned by the music world.Springsteen, one of the biggest concert attractions in the rock universe, will perform at a Clinton rally Monday evening in the must-win state of Pennsylvania.Jon Bon Jovi, a longtime campaigner for Democratic candidates, will also join the rally in Philadelphia alongside President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle.Lady Gaga, in one of her first shows since releasing her latest album Joanne, will then join Clinton and Bon Jovi at a midnight stop in North Carolina.Such celebrity entertainers invariably ensure large crowds at a point in the campaign where weak turnout would be optically disastrous.But even more importantly, big-name performances allow campaigns to collect contact details for sympathetic voters -- crucial in the polarized country where elections increasingly are won by mobilizing turnout rather than persuading the undecided.When rap mogul Jay Z announced a November 4 concert for Clinton in Ohio, her campaign had 10 days to ask fans to sign up for tickets through the candidates website.Jay Z came out in Cleveland with his wife, pop superstar Beyonce, as well as three other major names in hip-hop -- J. Cole, Chance the Rapper and Big Sean.Jay Z -- who with Beyonce had strongly supported Obama, the first African American president -- alluded to Clintons historic role as potentially the first woman to lead the United States.Our soul is colorless and I want to grow up in a world where my daughter has no limitations, Jay Z said.Without referring to Trump by name, Jay Z said the real estate tycoon was not an evolved soul and had weakened the United States through divisive remarks.Trump, in his final days of campaigning, has repeatedly lashed out at Beyonce and Jay Z, claiming at a rally Monday in North Carolina: I get bigger crowds than they do.Trump also took aim at the language by Jay Z, who like many rappers frequently uses profanity and did not edit his lyrics for the Clinton rally.Isnt it amazing that ... Jay Z and Beyonce use filthy language in the songs, using words that if I ever said those words, it would be the reinstitution of the electric chair, right? Trump said.Despite Trumps concern about profanity, one of his few musical backers, hard rocker Ted Nugent, also used unprintable words when he introduced the Republican at a rally Sunday in Michigan.Nugent, who has previously called for the death of Clinton and Obama, grabbed his crotch on stage and quipped, Ive got your blue state right here, black and blue, referring to the color associated with the Democratic Party.Trump, who has described undocumented Mexican immigrants as rapists and boasted of forcing himself on women, has faced complaints from a long list of stars including the Rolling Stones and Adele for playing their songs at rallies.Trump, a former reality television host, has several backers in Hollywood, notably Clint Eastwood.Other stars who back Clinton include Katy Perry, who has lent her hit Roar for campaign advertisements and has spoken out on Twitter, where the pop diva has more followers than anyone else.Glam pop singer Miley Cyrus has stumped door-to-door for Clinton among Virginia students, while indie rock favorites The National performed a free pro-Clinton concert in their native Cincinnati, Ohio.In one novel approach that may reach millions, users of leading music streaming site Spotify opened the service to a non-partisan message from Obama urging them to vote.And novelist Dave Eggers over the past month has led the 30 Days, 30 Songs project in which artists release anti-Trump protest songs.Contributors include electronica great Moby, who has said that Trump is pretty close to being a psychopath.

NASA astronaut casts lone vote from space

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MIAMI (AFP) - In a US presidential election thats already been out of this world, the lone American astronaut in outer space has cast his vote, NASA said Monday.Shane Kimbrough became the latest astronaut to join in a long tradition of voting while floating above the Earth, inside the orbiting International Space Station.Kimbrough rode a Russian Soyuz rocket to the ISS on October 19 to start a four-month mission at the research outpost, along with two Russian cosmonauts.US astronauts have been able to vote from space since 1997, under Texas law. Most astronauts live in the Houston area, home to NASAs mission control and Johnson Space Center.The first American to vote from space was David Wolf, who cast his ballot from the Russian space station Mir.The first US astronaut to vote for a president from space was Leroy Chiao in 2004.Current space station resident astronaut Shane Kimbrough is the most recent astronaut to take advantage of the opportunity, NASA said in a statement.Since astronauts can already get emails in space, an electronic ballot generated by the Galveston County Clerks office was emailed to Kimbroughs secure account at NASAs Johnson Space Center.Mission control then transferred the email to the space station, so Kimbrough could make his selections some 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth, before sending it back to Texas via secure email.There was no word from NASA or Kimbrough on which candidate he picked for president.

Anti-bullfighting protesters clash with police in Peru

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LIMA (Agencies) - Police have clashed with anti-bullfighting protesters after hundreds took to the streets in the Peruvian capital, Lima on the opening day of the sports season. The violence took place outside the oldest bullring in the AmericasIt began as a peaceful protest against bull-fighting. However, it turned into a fight between police and protesters outside the citys main bullring.Police unleashed tear gas and water cannon against the hundreds of activists who marched on the venue to protest on the opening day of the season.The demonstrators accused the police of heavy-handedness.There appeared to be no compassion for the protesters among those arriving to see the bullfight. Perus bullfighting season runs from late October to December.

Karachi: Two accused killed in police encounter

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Crackdown against criminal elements under National Action Plan (NAP) continues in Karachi as two accused were killed in encounter with police in different areas of the city on Tuesday, Dunya News reported.According to details, police conducted a raid in Manghupir area on intelligence report during which the terrorists present in the area opened fire at the raiding party. Police retaliated due to which one terrorist was killed. The identity of the dead terrorist is not yet known.Separately, one accused was killed and another was arrested in injured condition by police after encounters in Pak Colony and Sir Syed Town areas. Police sources said that a hand grenade and a Kalashnikov was recovered from the arrested accused.On the other hand, police have released all the activists of religious parties who were arrested during protest in Malir-15 on Sunday.

Load-shedding to be reduced to half from today

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Power load-shedding across the country will be reduced to half from today (Tuesday) on the directives of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Dunya News reported.According to Ministry of Water and Power, electricity load-shedding in urban areas will be reduced from six hours to three hours and in rural areas from eight hours to four hours on the directives of the Prime Minister.The Ministry of Water and Power further informed that in areas where majority does not pay electricity bills or low recovery areas, load-shedding will remain the same.The Prime Minister has tasked the Secretary Water and Power to effectively implement the decision.

Eight Indian diplomats to leave for India today

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – Sources said that eight Indian diplomats and staff belonging to Indian intelligence agency RAW and Intelligence Bureau (IB) who were found involved in subversive activities in Pakistan under the garb of diplomatic assignments will leave for India today (Tuesday).According to details, three RAW agents will fly home on a private airline flight EK-613 while five RAW and IB agents will depart from the Wagah border.Those who will leave for India today included RAW’s station chief in Pakistan, Rajesh Kumar Agnihotri, IB’s station chief in Pakistan, Balbir Singh, Jayabalan Senthil, Anurag Singh, Amerdeep Singh Bhatti, Dharmendra Sodhi, Vijay Kumar Verma and Madhavan Nanda Kumar.According to Pakistan Foreign Office, Indian diplomats and staff belonging to Indian intelligence agencies RAW and IB were involved in coordinating terrorist and subversive activities in Pakistan under the garb of diplomatic assignments.Pakistan Foreign Office further informed that activities of these operatives included espionage, subversion and supporting of terrorist activities in Balochistan and Sindh, especially Karachi, sabotage CPEC, and fuel instability in the two provinces and create unrest in Gilgit Baltistan.

Karachi: Arrested LeJ activist confesses to 6 murders

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – According to investigation report obtained by Dunya News on Monday, detained Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) local ameer Hafiz Umar Hayat has confessed to killing six persons in New Karachi, Sarhani Town and Ajmair Nagri areas of Karachi.Hafiz Umar got training in Afghanistan and was head of a terrorist group in Karachi. The accused also revealed names of five of his accomplices during the investigation.

Multan: Parents stage protest as newborns swapped at private hospital

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MULTAN (Dunya News) – According to details, two newborn babies, a girl and boy, were swapped in the nursery of a private hospital situated at the Abdali Road in Multan on Monday, Dunya News reported.Fathers of the newborns, Arif and Atif, have expressed their anger against hospital administration while their relatives staged a protest inside the hospital.Father of the baby boy said that according to ultrasound reports they were expecting a boy but the hospital administration informed him about the birth of a baby girl.Hospital administration carried out DNA tests for the identification. They said that the babies were swapped due to a mistake carried out by the staff at the hospital’s nursery during tagging of the newborns.

CM Sindh orders release of detained religious parties protesters

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Two ulema delegations called on Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah at the CM House on Monday during which the recent wave of target killing in Karachi was reviewed Dunya News reported. The ulema delegations on the other hand expressed concern over the arrests made during religious parties’ workers protests in Malir and Numaish Chowrangi.One delegation was consist of Allama Abbas Kumeli, Sahibzada Hamid Raza and Maulana Nazir Abbas while Qari Usman, Mufti Muhammad Nadeem, Maulana Rahat Ali Hashmi, Maulana Muhammad Salfi and others were members of the other delegation.The chief minister ordered the release of all religious parties’ workers detained during protests in Malir and Numaish Chowrangi after the meeting. CM Sindh said that Mr Abdi would be set free if he produces the license.The ulema also demanded release of former Senator, Faisal Raza Abdi, upon which CM said that Mr Abdi has been arrested for possessing an unlicensed gun. Talking on the issue of Mirza Yousif Hussain arrest, the chief minister said that he would have to seek bail from the court of law.Those who were also present during the meetings included IS Sindh, Advisor to CM Sindh on Information and Archives Maula Bux Chandio and Advisor to CM Sindh on religious affairs Dr Qayoom Soomro.
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