Tuesday 20 December 2016

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Germany hunts for attacker after IS claims truck rampage

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BERLIN (AFP) - German police on Wednesday stepped up their hunt for the driver of a truck that rampaged through a Berlin Christmas market, in a deadly assault claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.The sole suspect -- a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker -- was released late Tuesday for lack of evidence, prompting worries of a killer on the loose and further rattling nerves in a shocked country.We cant rule out that the perpetrator is on the run, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told German broadcaster ZDF.Twelve people were killed when the Polish-registered articulated truck ploughed into the crowded market on Monday, smashing wooden stalls and crushing victims.Twenty-four injured remained in hospital, 14 of whom were in critical condition, according to de Maiziere.The scenes instantly revived nightmarish memories of the July 14 truck assault in the French Riviera city of Nice, where 86 people were killed by a Tunisian Islamist.The IS-linked Amaq news agency said a soldier of the Islamic State carried out the Berlin carnage in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition countries.There was no evidence to back the claim, nor was the perpetrator identified.Germany is part of a US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria.De Maiziere said several lines of inquiry were being pursued, but we should let the security services do their job.No-one will rest until the perpetrator or perpetrators have been caught, he told ARD public television.The attack comes at a sensitive time for Chancellor Angela Merkel who is running for a fourth term in 2017 but has faced strong criticism over her decision last year to open the countrys borders to refugees.In a blow to investigators, federal prosecutors announced they had to release the only suspect in custody after finding no forensic evidence to link him to Germanys deadliest attack in recent years.The Pakistani man was arrested late Monday after he was reportedly seen jumping out of the truck and fleeing the scene.But officials had expressed growing doubts over whether they had the right suspect in custody.We may have a dangerous criminal in the area, Berlins police chief Klaus Kandt said, adding that security would be boosted while urging heightened vigilance.Following the suspects release, Kandt told ARD television one or more perpetrators were believed to be on the run and possibly armed.Images from the aftermath showed the mangled truck with its windscreen smashed, a trail of destruction in its wake, while survivors recounted harrowing stories of near misses and bloody carnage.A Polish man, killed with a gunshot, was found on the trucks passenger seat, said de Maiziere. He was believed to be the initial driver of the Polish-registered vehicle.Merkel visited the scene of the carnage for a minutes silence on Tuesday and then joined a memorial service in the adjacent Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.Mourners placed flowers and candles at the site while German flags flew at half-mast.Berlins landmark Brandenburg Gate was lit in the national colours in honour of the victims, and foreign leaders, led by US President Barack Obama, sent their condolences.Europe has been on high alert for most of 2016, with bloody jihadist attacks striking Paris and Brussels.In July, 15 people were injured in two attacks in the southern German state of Bavaria committed by asylum seekers and claimed by the Islamic State group. The arrival of 890,000 refugees last year has polarised Germany, with critics calling the influx a serious security threat.Opponents were quick to seize on the rampage as proof that Merkels liberal asylum policy had endangered the country.Marcus Pretzell of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party labelled the Christmas market victims Merkels dead.

China returns seized US naval sea drone

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - China on Tuesday returned a US underwater probe it seized in the South China Sea, the Pentagon confirmed after Beijings capture of the craft sparked a dispute between the two powers.The Chinese navy handed over the drone near where it was seized, the Pentagon said, repeating US condemnation of Beijings actions in what it says are international waters.This incident was inconsistent with both international law and standards of professionalism for conduct between navies at sea, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.We have called on Chinese authorities to comply with their obligations under international law and to refrain from further efforts to impede lawful US activities.A US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP the probe was handed over to the guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin and will be taken to a naval base for inspection.A Chinese naval vessel seized the probe last week around 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines, a move that heightened existing tensions between the worlds two largest economies.The Pentagon statement said the US Navy drone was conducting routine operations in the international waters of the South China Sea in full compliance with international law.For its part, China said the handover of the drone was completed smoothly after friendly consultations between both sides, according to a short defense ministry statement on its website.Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the handling of the incident showed the two countries have a smooth channel of communication.But she also warned the US against conducting close reconnaissance in Chinas coastal waters.China is strongly opposed to this and has been asking the US to stop these kinds of activities, she said, adding: I believe this was the root cause for this incident happening. A second US defense official told AFP there had been an increase in interactions between US and Chinese vessels over the past year in the South China Sea and western Pacific.Pentagon officials said last week the Chinese had unlawfully grabbed the marine probe, which they described as a craft that gathers unclassified data -- including water temperatures, salinity and sea clarity.Such data can be used to help submarines navigate and determine sonar ranges in murky waters.China said it snatched the craft because it might pose a safety hazard to other vessels. It also said it strongly opposed US reconnaissance activities and had asked Washington to stop.Washington insists the small, slow-moving craft cannot be used for surveillance.The incident has heightened continuing tensions in the South China Sea. Beijing has fortified its claims to almost all the waterway by expanding tiny reefs and islets into artificial islands hosting military facilities.Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan have competing claims in the waterway.While Washington takes no position on the sovereignty disputes, it has repeatedly called on China to uphold freedom of navigation.Its military has conducted several operations in which ships and planes have passed near the sites Beijing claims.US President-elect Donald Trump raised the rhetorical heat further after the probe was seized, by accusing Beijing of theft.After Beijing and Washington announced on Sunday the drone would be returned, he tweeted: We should tell China that we dont want the drone they stole back. - let them keep itChinas foreign ministry on Monday rejected Trumps accusations Beijing had stolen the craft as not accurate.The state-owned China Daily said in an editorial earlier that Trumps behavior could easily drive China-US relations into what (US President Barack) Obama portrays as full-conflict mode.Trump had already angered China by questioning longstanding US policy on Taiwan, calling Beijing a currency manipulator and threatening punitive tariffs on Chinese imports.Though this is the first time the Chinese navy has seized a probe, it is not unusual for the underwater craft to go missing.The Navy deploys about 10 ocean gliders in the western Pacific each month, and a small percentage of these are lost in fishing nets, storm damage or through equipment failures. In October, one of our ocean gliders was lost in the vicinity of Vietnam, but we are not sure of the final disposition of the glider, said Lieutenant Commander Matt Knight, a US Pacific Fleet spokesman.

Britain's 90-year-old Queen reduces royal duties

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LONDON (AFP) - Queen Elizabeth II will stand down as patron of 25 bodies including the Wimbledon tennis championships and the Rugby Football Union, handing them to other royals after turning 90, her office said Tuesday.At the end of The Queens 90th birthday year, Her Majesty will step down as patron from a number of national organisations, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.Other bodies on the list include the childrens charity Barnardos, the British Cycling Federation and the Royal Geographical Society.At the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club Wimbledon, where the queen has been patron since 1952 despite only attending a few matches, she will be replaced by Prince Williams wife Kate.Prince Harry will take the queens place at the Rugby Football Union, where she has also been the official patron since inheriting the throne in 1952.A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the charities concerned represented less than five percent of the 600 organisations of which the queen is a patron.The queen will no longer have a formal connection to these organisations. If there is a royal engagement, then the invitation will go to other members of the royal family, he said.The queen has already slightly reduced her engagements in the past year, according to estimates in British media, from 393 in 2014 to 341 in 2015.The queen became the worlds longest-reigning monarch in October this year following the death of Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej.In September last year she had surpassed the reign of her great great grandmother Victoria, who was on the throne from 1837 until 1901.

Karachi: Fire at plastic factory godown brought under control

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – According to details, fire broke out at a factory godown in Qasba Colony area of Orangi Town in Karachi on Tuesday which spread very quickly and also engulfed a trailer parked near the building.Two fire brigade vehicles reached the spot and brought the fire under control within 30 minutes. No loss of life was reported in the incident.According to fire brigade sources, the blaze completely destroyed the plastic factory godown. Sources said that the fire was caused by a short circuit.

New York: Man throws hot coffee on Muslim woman's face

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NEW YORK (Agencies) - A rampaging homeless man chucked hot coffee at a Muslim woman, hit her and accused her of being a “terrorist” in a Midtown Dunkin Donuts Sunday, according to police sources and the store’s employees.Nathan Gray, 34, told the 21-year-old victim he “hated Muslims” and that he was going to kill her, cops said Sunday. He’s been charged with assault as a hate crime, cops said.Gray walked into the W. 35th. St. shop near Seventh Ave. at about 2:45 p.m. and asked for a cup of coffee, said one employee, who wouldn’t provide her name.“I gave him coffee and he said something to me about terrorists, but I couldnt hear what he was saying. He walked away from me and sat next to a group of Muslim women,” the store employee said. “He started talking to them and I could hear him saying, Terrorists”The women sat and ate, trying to ignore him, but he continued shouting, the employee said.“One woman called him ‘stupid.’ So he threw his hot coffee in her face,” the employee said. “It was hot, hot coffee. She could have been burned Then he swung his bag at her and it hit her in the face.”The woman ran outside, and Gray put her in a headlock, cops said. A 911 call brought police to the scene, and cops arrested Gray. The victim refused medical attention, cops said.

At least 29 dead, 70 hurt in Mexico fireworks market blast

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TULTEPEC (AFP) - A massive explosion gutted Mexicos biggest fireworks market Tuesday, killing at least 29 people and injuring 70, authorities said.The conflagration, in the Mexico City suburb of Tultepec, set off a quick-fire series of multicolored blasts and a sent a vast cloud of smoke billowing over the capital city.The market had been packed with customers buying pyrotechnics for traditional end-of-year festivities. Christmas and New Years parties in many Latin American countries often wrap up with clattering firework blasts.From a few kilometers (miles) away, the multiple explosions that started at 2:50 pm (2050 GMT) almost looked festive, alight in blue, red and white. They were anything but.We recovered 26 bodies at the scene of the incident. And three more have died in the hospital, for a total of 29 dead, Mexico states governor Eruviel Avila said.Federal police said on Twitter that 70 people were hurt and were transported to emergency rooms. Fire crews struggled for three hours before bringing the blaze under control.The head of the civil protection service, Luis Felipe Puente, said crews had to wait for all the fireworks to finish exploding before they could extinguish the flames.The entire market is gone, he said.He added that several of the injured were in delicate condition, and searches were under way for more casualties in the scorched area that looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic film, with little left standing in the smoldering ruins.Homes and vehicles nearby were also severely damaged. In some areas, authorities were gently probing for survivors under heaps of charred and twisted roofing material.People desperately searching for family and friends shouted and gestured to rescuers about where they hoped their missing loved one might be found.Most of those being picked up by rescuers had severe burns, many over their entire bodies. The military, which is in charge of issuing fireworks sales permits, was deployed to help emergency crews transport casualties to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter.Ambulances, fire trucks, police vehicles and army trucks all crowded the sprawling blast area. Mexicos President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted his condolences to the families of those killed and his wishes for recovery for those hurt.The cause of the blast was under investigation. Some speculated it could have been mishandling of gunpowder or other fireworks components.That was the cause of a September 15, 2005 explosion at another fireworks market set up ahead of the Independence Day holiday. That market was destroyed.The following year, another explosion destroyed more than 200 sellers stands. Both incidents left dozens of injured, but no fatalities.Alejandra Pretel, a resident in Tultepec, told AFP that she didnt realize at first that the explosions were coming from the large fireworks market.We thought it was a nearby fireworks workshop, she told AFP.But minutes later it became evident that it was the market being destroyed.My neighbors said they felt everything shake, but I didnt realize because I was running away, she said.

CM visits airport to check preparations of Zardari's welcome

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KARACHI (Dunya News) - Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah visited Karachi Airports old terminal on Monday to check the preparations to welcome former president, party chairman Asif Ali Zardari, reported Dunya News.CM said that Asif Zardari would be given a warm welcome. He said that if government did not accept PPPs demands then they would announce next strategy soon.CM said that IG Police was not dismissed by them, but departed himself. After that he also visited Tariq road and checked the ongoing work of projects. He also bought Paan from a shop.

Lahore: 2 killed in motorcycle, trailer collision

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – Two youth were crushed to death while another sustained injuries when a speeding trailer hit their motorcycle near Bhopatiyan Chowk in Lahore on Tuesday, Dunya News reported.According to details, three students of a private university were returning to their flat in Pind Arayan after shopping when a speeding trailer hit their motorcycle near Bhopatiyan Chowk on the Raiwind Road in Lahore, killing two of them on the spot and wounding to third.The deceased students were identified as Shah Nawaz of Gujranwala and Sawar Ali of Sheikhupura. The wounded student was shifted to Jinnah Hospital. Police have reached the spot and arrested the driver of the trailer.

Karachi: One killed, five injured in road accident

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – According to details, a hi-roof van collided with a rickshaw near Baloch Colony in Karachi on Tuesday, killing one person and wounding five other, Dunya News reported.Police sources said that deceased was identified as Ahmad Bakhsh. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital for medical assistance. Police have also launched an investigation.

Nine killed, 70 hurt in Mexico fireworks market blast

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MEXICO CITY (AFP) - An explosion ripped through a fireworks market in Mexicos capital on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and injuring 70, according to police.The conflagration, in the suburb of Tultepec, set off a quickfire series of multicolored blasts and a vast cloud of smoke that hung over Mexico City. Fire crews were struggling to control the blaze. But the head of the civil protection service, Luis Felipe Puente, said they had to wait for all the fireworks explosions to stop.We have a preliminary toll of 70 people injured who are being taken to various emergency rooms, and nine people dead, the federal police said on its Twitter account.The military was deployed to help emergency crews transport casualties to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter.The governor of Mexico state, Eruviel Avila, said on Twitter that the priority was to tend to the injured.The sound of blasts started to go off and we thought it was a nearby fireworks workshop, local resident Alejandra Pretel told AFP.But minutes later it became evident that it was the market being destroyed.My neighbors said they felt everything shake, but I didnt realize because I was running away, she said.

Germany releases Pakistani held over Berlin attack

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BERLIN (AFP) - A Pakistani asylum-seeker suspected of ploughing a lorry into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12, was released Tuesday for lack of evidence, leaving investigators to pursue their hunt for the real perpetrator of the massacre.The accused, detained over the attack on the Berlin Christmas market on December 19, 2016, was let go on this evening on the orders of the federal prosecutor, the prosecutors office said in a statement. The forensic tests carried out so far did not provide evidence of the accuseds presence during the crimes in the cab of the lorry.The Pakistani man was arrested after Germany daily Die Welt said a witness saw the suspected driver jump out of the vehicles cab and trailed the individual for about two kilometres (1.2 miles), tipping off police about his location. But doubts had grown throughout the day over whether the suspect held in custody overnight actually committed the atrocity, sparking fears of a killer on the run.Berlins police chief Klaus Kandt had earlier said we may have a dangerous criminal in the area, and announced that security would be boosted while urging heightened vigilance.Investigators asked the public to send them any photos and video footage.Twelve people were killed when the truck tore through the crowd Monday, smashing wooden stalls and crushing victims, in scenes reminiscent of Julys deadly attack in the French Riviera city of Nice.Another 48 people were injured, 24 of whom were released from hospital by late Tuesday.The mangled truck came to a halt with its windscreen smashed, a trail of destruction and screaming victims in its wake, with Christmas trees toppled on their side.Chancellor Angela Merkel -- who visited the scene of the carnage for a minutes silence and then joined a memorial service in the adjacent Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church -- labelled the deadly rampage a likely terrorist attack.Merkel said that, if it was confirmed that the killer had been part of the countrys recent refugee influx, this would be particularly sickening in relation to the many, many Germans who are involved every day in helping refugees.Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the Pakistani being held had insisted he was innocent and had not surfaced on any terror watch lists.Neither the Islamic State group nor other extremists immediately claimed the attack, said de Maiziere, who vowed those responsible would be hunted down.The Polish-registered vehicle, which was loaded with steel beams, had cut a bloody swathe of 60-80 metres (yards) into the market in the once-divided citys inner west.At least six of those killed were German citizens, authorities said, while countries from Israel to Spain said their nationals were among those injured in the busy tourist spot.A Polish man, killed with a gunshot, was found on the trucks passenger seat, said de Maiziere. He was believed to be the vehicles registered driver.The Polish owner of the lorry, Ariel Zurawski, confirmed Monday that the driver -- his 37-year-old cousin -- was missing, telling AFP: We dont know what happened to him... Ive known him since I was a kid. I can vouch for him.Survivors recounted harrowing stories of near misses and carnage as festive partying turned to death and destruction in seconds.Briton Emma Rushton was enjoying a glass of mulled wine when the Christmas scene was shattered by a loud crash and screams.We heard a really loud bang and saw some of the Christmas lights to our left starting to be pulled down, she told Sky news. Then we saw the articulated vehicle going through people and through the stalls and just pulling everything down, and then everything went dark.German flags flew at half-mast Tuesday and mourners placed flowers and candles at the site.As darkness fell, Berlins landmark Brandenburg Gate was lit in the German colours black, red and gold in honour of the victims.The government declared that the citys 60-odd Christmas markets -- after a one-day voluntary stoppage out of respect for the victims -- should continue because we must not let our free way of life be taken from us.Europe has been on high alert for most of 2016, with bloody jihadist attacks striking Paris and Brussels. Germany also suffered two attacks in July in the southern state of Bavaria committed by asylum seekers and claimed by the Islamic State group. An axe rampage by an Afghan or Pakistani man on a train wounded five people, and a suicide bombing by Syrian asylum seeker left 15 people injured six days later.The arrival of 890,000 refugees last year has polarised Germany, with critics calling the influx a serious security threat.Marcus Pretzell of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party labelled the Christmas market victims Merkels dead.The attack in Berlin comes five months after Tunisian Islamist extremist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a truck into a crowd on the Nice seafront, killing 86 people.Merkel received calls of support from a string of foreign leaders, including French President Francois Hollande, Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said.As well as sharing their condolences, they stressed the need for European solidarity in the fight against terrorism, Seibert said.The White House said US President Barack Obama had offered Merkel assistance following the horrific apparent terrorist attack.

Obama movies to tie Trump's hands on Arctic, Atlantic drilling

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House blocked new leases for oil and gas drilling in sections of the Arctic and Atlantic Tuesday, a high-stakes bid to forestall exploration and tie Donald Trumps hands.With Trump is bringing a strident pro-oil stance to the White House, the outgoing administration has launched a rearguard action.President Barack Obama announced he was placing swaths of the Arctic and Atlantic indefinitely off limits to future oil and gas leasing.The protection covers an area of the Arctic roughly the size of Spain or Thailand and 31 sea canyons in the Atlantic.A senior administration official said that there was a strong legal basis for the move, and suggested Trump could not revoke the decision without an act of Congress.The move, based on a law from the 1950s, was taken in tandem with the Canadian government and introduces an additional headache should Trump try to row it back.Obama said in a statement that the measures would protect a sensitive and unique ecosystem.He also warned that the risk of oil spills are significant, and the ability to clean up from a spill in the regions harsh conditions is limited.The Hawaii-born presidents second year in office was dominated by the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which poured millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.The spill could not be stopped for 87 days, devastating wildlife and fishing-dependent communities in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama.The American Petroleum Institute, an industry lobby group, warned that Obamas decision blocking offshore exploration would weaken our national security, destroy good-paying jobs, and could make energy less affordable for consumers.Obamas eight years in office have resulted in a tidal wave of new environmental legislation, protecting marine ecosystems, curbing carbon emissions and boosting renewable energy.Obama rushed through ratification of the Paris Climate Accord in record time to make sure that it could not be shelved by the incoming administration.Many rules have been finalized, making them difficult to roll back. States like California have also introduced their own climate-friendly legislation.But Obamas agenda is likely to come under sustained assault from the Trump administration.The business tycoon-turned-commander-in-chief has named Exxon boss Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state and Scott Pruitt, a climate change denier, as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.Administration officials fear that while Trump cannot scrap the Paris deal, it could fatally undermine it.Many of the US commitments to reduce carbon emissions are in the Clean Power Act, which Obama unveiled in 2015. The Act limits the amount of carbon pollution power plants can emit.Obama described the legislation at the time as the single most important step that America has ever made in the fight against global climate change.The measures however have come under fierce legal challenge, including from Pruitt in his role as attorney general of Oklahoma, an oil state.Sources familiar with Trumps transition planning say the new administration is weighing options like simply shutting down the governments legal defense of the act, or scrapping plans to appeal a Supreme Court rulings that froze portions of the program.In practical terms that would mean abandoning the plan and reneging on international commitments.According to a recent Pew poll 48 percent of Americans believe climate change is caused by humans.Trump once wrote that global warming was a Chinese conspiracy to weaken the United States.The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive, Trump wrote on Twitter in 2012.

Bomb kills 7 near Iranian Kurdish party HQ in Baghdad

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SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) - Seven people were killed in a double bomb attack Tuesday near the headquarters of an Iranian Kurdish opposition party, in a rare assault in Iraqs relatively secure autonomous Kurdish region, a senior security official said.The blasts hit the town of Koysinjaq about 10:00 pm (1900 GMT), killing five members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran, a member of the security forces and a child, said Jalal Karim, the Kurdish regions deputy interior minister.The attack also left people wounded, said Karim, who did not provide a specific figure.Iraqs Kurdistan region, which has its own government, security forces and flag but is still part of Iraq, has largely been spared the horrific violence that has plagued other parts of the country in the years after 2003.The Islamic State jihadist group, which Kurdish forces have battled in the north, including as part of the still ongoing operation to recapture Iraqs second city Mosul, is the usual culprit for attacks in the Kurdistan region.But the fact that the bombings apparently targeted the Iranian party headquarters raises the possibility that another organisation or country may be responsible.The Kurds are spread across four nearby countries including Iran, where the military crushed a fledgling Kurdish republic in which Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani was born in 1946.There are some five million Kurds in Iran, and various Kurdish opposition groups oppose the government in Tehran.Iraqi Kurdistan houses a range of Kurdish groups, including armed organisations such as Turkeys Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and Irans Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), which those countries periodically target in air and artillery strikes inside Iraqi territory.

Tennis: Kvitova out indefinitely after burglar attack

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PRAGUE (AFP) - Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will need at least three months of rest after surgery to her left hand cut by a knife-wielding burglar on Tuesday, her spokesman said.Kvitova suffered an injury on all five fingers and two nerves in her left hand, her racket hand, after fighting with the burglar at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov.Doctors stitched the injured finger tendons during the surgery that took three hours and 45 minutes, Kvitovas spokesman Karel Tejkal told AFP.The hand will now be bandaged for two days, then put in a splint for 6-8 weeks.She cant burden the tendons for at least three months.The injury is serious, but the surgeon says Petra is young and healthy and there is no reason why she cant resume tennis.Earlier on Tuesday, Tejkal said the burglary was a random crime as nobody was going to attack or rob her as Petra Kvitova.The 26-year-old world number 11 said on Facebook she was shaken but fortunate to be alive.I was attacked in my apartment by an individual with a knife, said Kvitova, adding she tried to defend herself.I trust the doctors and I believe it will all end well. Dont worry about me.Local police spokesman Frantisek Korinek said the attack had occurred before 0730 GMT on Tuesday near the Prostejov town centre and that the burglar was still at large.Meanwhile, support poured in from fellow tennis stars.So upset hearing the news about @Petra_Kvitova. Hands down one of the nicest people Ive ever met. All my thoughts with her, tweeted world number eight Madison Keys.Just finding out about @Petra_Kvitova and the awful stabbing and injury to her hand - pulling for you Petra, added Czech-born former great Martina Navratilova.And Oracene Price, the mother of Serena and Venus Williams, tweeted: @Petra_Kvitova Im very sorry to hear what happen to you. Im praying for your speedy recovery. Blessing to you and your family.The burglary adds a sombre ending to a rather lacklustre year for Kvitova, who slid from sixth in the world in January to 16th in August.She sacked two coaches before winning the Wuhan Open in China in October after a 13-month title drought.She added a victory at Zhuhai, China in November and was on the Czech Republic team that won the Fed Cup later that month, beating France for their fifth title in six years.On December 1, Kvitova hired a new coach, Czech Jiri Vanek, who had led her Fed Cup teammate Karolina Pliskova to this years US Open final.Bronze medallist from the Rio Olympics and Wimbledon champion in 2011 and 2014, Kvitova is also recovering from a stress fracture to her foot.Just hours before the attack, she said the injury had forced her out of the mixed doubles Hopman Cup starting on January 1, where she was due to play alongside her former boyfriend Adam Pavlasek.She said she hoped to start next year at Sydney on January 8 to warm up for the Australian Open -- a plan that she will have to drop following doctors orders.

Aussies call up Zimbabwe-born all-rounder

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BRISBANE (AFP) - Australia called up uncapped, Zimbabwe-born all-rounder Hilton Cartwright on Tuesday as cover for their fast bowlers after the gruelling first Test win over Pakistan.Cartwright, 24, joins the squad for next weeks second Test in Melbourne as Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird recover from their exertions in the Brisbane heat.We wanted to give ourselves the option of including an all-rounder in Melbourne to ease that workload somewhat, said interim national selector Trevor Hohns.To do that we wanted a batting all-rounder, someone to bowl seam-up and capable of batting in the top six as well, and after considering several names we came to the conclusion that Hilton fits that bill.Cartwright, part of Australias one-day squad for last months three ODIs against New Zealand, gets the nod ahead of the more established Mitchell Marsh and Moises Henriques.Steve Smiths team were taken to the wire by Pakistan before squeezing out a tense 39-run victory on Monday, with the bowlers getting through an exhausting 145 overs between them.Coach Darren Lehmann said the recovery of Starc, Hazlewood and Bird, who bowled 56, 56 and 45 overs respectively in Pakistans second innings, was being monitored closely.Lehmann also threw his backing behind struggling lower-order batsman Nic Maddinson and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade ahead of the Boxing Day Test.Maddinson scored one and four at the Gabba, following his 12-ball duck on debut in last months third Test against South Africa in Adelaide, another day-night match.Weve had two pink-ball Test matches, so red-ball Test coming up and we know Nics a fine player. Hes just got to believe at this level, Lehmann said.Wade, who displaced Peter Nevill, has scores of four, seven and one not out, along with a mis-stumping and dropped catches.Even though he hasnt got any runs at the moment, hes been working pretty hard with that, Lehmann said of the wicketkeeper.His keeping in this (Gabba) game -- hed like to keep better obviously, but I thought hes improved his keeping out of sight in the last 12-18 months.Matthews got the chance to nail down the spot and well see how he goes in Melbourne.Lehmann said the revamped Australia team, chasing their third Test win after mass changes following their run of five straight Test defeats against Sri Lanka and South Africa, was coming together well.Theyre young, theyre learning the game, he said. I think one of the things we learnt from this game (at the Gabba), especially, is that you cant relax or think youre just going to get the wickets.Its a good result for a young group, but weve got to play well in Melbourne to try to clinch this series.Selectors had named an unchanged 12-man squad for Melbourne before Cartwrights call-up.
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