Thursday 16 March 2017

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Air strikes on north Syria mosque kill 42: monitor

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BEIRUT (AFP) - At least 42 people were killed and dozens more wounded on Thursday in air strikes on a village mosque in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.The raids by unidentified warplanes targeted a mosque in Aleppo province during evening prayers, killing 42 people, most of them civilians, said the head of the Britain-based Observatory Rami Abdel Rahman.More than 100 people were wounded, he said, adding that many were still trapped under the collapsed mosque in the village of Al-Jineh, just over 30 kilometres (20 miles) west of Aleppo.The village is held by rebel and Islamist groups, but no jihadist factions are present.Rescue workers struggled to pull survivors from rubble, and dozens of residents were still unaccounted for, the Observatory said.Footage published by Halab Today, an online media group focused on news in Aleppo, showed piles of rubble where the mosque allegedly stood.More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began six years ago with anti-government protests.A cessation of hostilities was brokered by rebel backer Turkey and regime ally Russia in December, but violence has continued across much of the country.The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.But the skies over Aleppo province are busy, with Syrian regime and Russian warplanes as well as US-led coalition aircraft carrying out air strikes.Russia began a military intervention in Syria in September 2015, and in the past has dismissed allegations of civilian deaths in its strikes.The US-led coalition, meanwhile, has been bombing jihadist groups in Syria since 2014.The US-led coalition fighting IS said earlier this month that its raids in Iraq and Syria had unintentionally killed at least 220 civilians since 2014.Critics say the real number is much higher.

Now is not the time: May rejects Scots independence vote

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LONDON (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday rejected the Scottish governments call for a second referendum on independence before Britain leaves the EU -- but did not entirely rule out a vote.Now is not the time, she said, arguing that all of Britains energies should be put into the forthcoming Brexit negotiations, with the withdrawal process due to begin later this month.Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been sharply critical of Mays plan to pull Britain out of Europes single market, and on Monday said Scots should have a choice whether to follow that path or go it alone.The Scottish National Party (SNP) leader suggested the referendum could take place between autumn 2018 and spring 2019 -- before Britain is expected to leave the EU.Right now we should be working together, not pulling apart. We should be working together to get that right deal for Scotland, that right deal for the UK, May said.Thats my job as prime minister and so for that reason I say to the SNP: now is not the time.However, the Conservative leader refused repeated questions about when the right time might be, leaving the door open for a vote further in the future.Sturgeon responded with a string of angry tweets, saying Mays refusal was undemocratic and proof that the Tories fear the verdict of the Scottish people.The Scottish leader will seek approval next Wednesday for a new vote in the devolved Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, but Mays government has the right to block the request.May said that talking about an independence vote would make it harder to get a good Brexit deal, saying Sturgeons proposed timetable wouldnt be fair to the Scottish people.Theyd be asked to make a crucial decision without the necessary information, without knowing what the future partnership will be or what the alternative for an independent Scotland would look like, she said.But Sturgeon hit back that she was not proposing a referendum now, but when the terms of Brexit (are) clear and before it is too late to choose an alternative path.She pointed out that the SNP government was re-elected last year with a manifesto stating that it could call a second vote if there was a significant change in the countrys circumstances -- such as Brexit.Earlier in the week, Sturgeon had questioned Mays own mandate to govern, noting that she took office after the June vote without an election.In the EU referendum, the majority of Scotland opted to stay inside the bloc but Britain as a whole voted by 52 percent to leave.In 2014, Scotland held its own referendum on independence, voting by 55 percent to 45 percent to stay within the United Kingdom, and May has insisted there is no appetite for a second referendum on the matter.But a long-term study of social attitudes published on Wednesday showed a more complicated picture.The ScotCen survey found support for independence at a record high of 46 percent -- but euroscepticism was also higher than ever, at 67 percent at the end of last year.May is expected to start the formal Brexit process later this month, although actual negotiations are not expected to start for several weeks after that.A bill empowering her to trigger Article 50 of the EUs Lisbon Treaty, which starts a two-year countdown to leaving the bloc, passed parliament on Monday and on Thursday received final approval from Queen Elizabeth II.

Six killed as Bangladesh police raid Islamist hideouts

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CHITTAGONG (AFP) - Five suspected militants and a young boy were killed Thursday as Bangladesh police conducted a series of raids on what they said were extremist hideouts following a series of deadly Islamist attacks in the country.Police stormed a building in the southern port city of Chittagong overnight, sparking a 15-hour stand-off with militants armed with guns and grenades with around 20 civilians trapped inside.Four members of the homegrown extremist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) including one woman died in that operation, police said. At least two were killed by a suicide explosion that they set off.They came out in the stairs and carried out a big explosion. Parts of their bodies were spread to 25-30 yards (metres), said Sanwar Hossain, additional deputy commissioner of the police counter-terrorism unit.Police later found the body of a young boy as they searched the flat, senior officer Rezaur Rahman told AFP.A sixth person died in a separate raid in an eastern border town. Police identified him as a member of the banned Jihadist group Harkat-ul Jihad al Islam, which was blamed for a series of deadly blasts more than a decade ago.Bangladeshi security forces launched a nationwide crackdown following a deadly siege at a cafe in Dhaka last year, arresting scores of suspected extremists and killing the leaders of homegrown militant cells.The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, in which 22 people including 18 foreign hostages were killed in July.The Bangladeshi government however has said a new faction of the JMB was behind that and other attacks on foreigners and religious minorities in the country.Police have this month carried out a series of raids in the Chittagong region after detaining two militants with grenades this month on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.Additional superintendent of police Mosiuddowla Reza told AFP elite counter-terrorism police reinforcements were sent to the area from the capital after midnight to storm the compound where the four died.He said the suspects threw grenades and opened fire on police, injuring two.Twenty people were trapped inside the building overnight after police cordoned it off, but all have now left safely.Police also raided a second suspected hideout in the area where they arrested a husband and wife who they said were JMB members.One tried to blow herself up before she was taken into custody, Reza told AFP.We arrested them as the wife was holding her three-month-old child in one hand and tried to explode the suicide vest with the other, he said.Our bomb disposal unit later defused the vest.Japanese and Italian diners were among the 18 foreigners shot and hacked to death in last years attack on the Holey Bakery, a cafe popular with foreigners.The siege badly undermined Bangladeshs reputation as a relatively moderate Muslim nation and raised fears for the garment industry, one of the countrys biggest sources of foreign investment.Last August John Kerry, then US Secretary of State, said there was evidence to link the extremists behind the recent spate of deadly attacks in Bangladesh to IS.Critics accuse Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas secular government of using that and other attacks on foreigners and religious minorities to demonise her domestic opponents.Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said the government should admit that IS has a presence in the country.With IS expanding to Asia, sooner or later the government will have to reveal the truth, said Gunaratna, head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, in comments emailed to AFP.

Eight hurt as pupil opens fire at French school

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GRASSE (AFP) - French police arrested a heavily armed 17-year-old on Thursday after he opened fire at a school in southern France, rattling nerves in a country on edge after several jihadist attacks, authorities said.The teen was carrying a rifle, two handguns and two grenades in the attack at the Alexis de Tocqueville high school in the sleepy hillside city of Grasse, police told AFP.An interior ministry spokesman said eight people, including the principal, were injured. Some were hurt in a stampede triggered by the attack.The suspect, who has not been named publicly, had shared pictures and videos on social media of infamous US school shootings, including the 1999 Columbine massacre.The head of the regional government, Christian Estrosi, told AFP that the shooting was not at all being seen as a terror attack and that the shooter appeared to have psychological problems.The head teacher was admitted to the local hospital with gunshot wounds to the arm and three pupils were treated for buckshot injuries, the hospitals director Frederic Limouzy told AFP.Investigators initially said they were looking for an accomplice but a police source later said the shooter, who was not previously known to the authorities, appeared to have acted alone.Fifteen-year-old Mokhtaria told AFP she was having a cigarette in the school garage when she heard shots ring out.We saw people coming down shouting: Theres a nutter firing at people. We ran for it, she said.France is still in a state of emergency after a series of terror attacks including the November 2015 massacre in Paris and a truck attack in Nice, just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Grasse, in July last year.The shooting comes just over a month before the first round of Frances two-stage presidential election, in which security is one of the main issues on voters minds.All schools in Grasse were locked down after the late-morning shooting, which sent panicked pupils scurrying for cover.A police cordon was thrown up around the building in the town known as Frances perfume capital due to several scent factories.The French government had already bolstered security outside after following the series of jihadist attacks since January 2015 that have claimed hundreds of lives.More than 3,000 reservists were called up to help keep watch outside the countrys 64,000 primary and secondary schools for the opening of the school year in September.Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve cut short a trip to the northern Somme area because of the Grasse shooting, as well as a letter bomb blast at the offices of the International Monetary Fund in Paris on Thursday.A secretary at the agency suffered burns to her hands and face after opening a parcel containing explosive material believed to be a firework.Employees were evacuated from the building near the Arc de Triomphe monument in the heart of the capital as a precaution, a police source said.IMF chief Christine Lagarde condemned it as a cowardly act of violence.US-style school shootings are almost unheard-of in France, a country with low levels of gun violence.The last major attack at a school was in 2012, when an Islamic extremist from Toulouse, Mohamed Merah, shot dead three children and a teacher at a Jewish school in the city before being killed by police.In March 1984, a 15-year-old student shot and killed a teacher in the southwestern town of Castres before turning the gun on himself.

Football: Mata fires United into Europa League quarter-finals

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MANCHESTER (AFP) - Juan Mata scored the only goal as Manchester United recorded an underwhelming 1-0 victory over FC Rostov on Thursday to reach the Europa League quarter-finals.Mata struck 20 minutes from the end of a subdued game, completing a 2-1 aggregate win that sent United into the last eight of Europes second-tier club competition for the first time since 1985.But victory came at the cost of an injury to world-record signing Paul Pogba, who left the fray with an apparent hamstring injury early in the second half at an unseasonably cold Old Trafford.United manager Jose Mourinho said Pogbas injury was due to fatigue and hit out at unnamed enemies in an apparent reference to his sides jam-packed fixture schedule.Normally the enemies should be Rostov, but we have a lot of enemies, Mourinho told BT Sport.Its difficult to play Monday with 10 men (against Chelsea). Its difficult to play now. Its difficult to play 12 oclock on Sunday (against Middlesbrough). We have a lot of enemies.United, who have never previously won the Europa League, will discover their last-eight opponents in Fridays draw in Nyon.Mourinhos men are seeking to add the trophy to the League Cup they won last month and have the extra incentive of knowing it will yield a place in next seasons Champions League.Mourinho kept faith with the back three he had deployed in Mondays 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Chelsea, but whereas it was a defensive tactic at Stamford Bridge, there was very little defending to do against Rostov.Decried for a below-par display at Chelsea, Pogba was able to spray diagonal passes around to his hearts content, such was the Russian sides stubborn determination to defend the edge of their own box.Marcos Rojo had an early header swatted away by visiting goalkeeper Nikita Medvedev, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic putting the rebound against the post from a tight angle.Henrikh Mkhitaryan ran through and chipped wide from Matas pass and might have won a penalty in the 27th minute following a push by Medvedev, but Lithuanian referee Gediminas Mazeika said no.Ibrahimovic also saw a shot deflected over by Medvedev and later left the right-hand post quaking with a thunderous shot, while Pogbas left-foot curler drew a full-length save from Medvedev.Pogba departed in the 47th minute, Marouane Fellaini taking his place, and Rostov briefly threatened to take the upper hand, Sergio Romero saving from Sardar Azmoun and Christian Noboa.United also lost Daley Blind after he took a bang to the head, which resulted in the curious sight of Phil Jones coming on as a jobbing left wing-back.The hosts finally made the breakthrough in the 70th minute after Mata intercepted a loose pass in midfield and spread the ball wide to Mkhitaryan on the United right.The Armenians low cross was back-heeled towards goal by Ibrahimovic and Mata charged in at the back post to slam home from close range.Aleksandr Bukharov, Rostovs scorer in the first leg, threatened to peg United back in the 79th minute, but Romero was equal to both his glancing header and Noboas dangerous stoppage-time free-kick.A major threat to United in the next round could be Schalke, who grabbed a 2-2 draw at fellow German side Borussia Moenchengladbach to sneak through 3-3 on away goals.Also narrowly through are in-form Lyon, who went down 2-1 at Roma on the night but held on to progress 5-4 over the two legs.Genk advanced to the quarter-finals as expected after they held Belgian compatriots Gent 1-1 at home, easing through 6-3 on aggregate.Completing the last-eight line-up are Celta Vigo, Anderlecht, Ajax and Besiktas, who had Cameroon striker and goal-scorer Vincent Aboubakar sent off in the first half but still smashed Olympiakos 4-1 at home.

Tennis: Mladenovic beats Wozniacki to reach Indian Wells semis

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INDIAN WELLS (AFP) - Frances Kristina Mladenovic rallied to beat former world number one Caroline Wozniacki 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 on Thursday and reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells.The 26th-ranked Mladenovic, continues to build on a strong start to a season that has included a first career title in St. Petersburg in February and a runner-up finish in Acapulco this month.By reaching the final four she is projected to break into the top 20 in the world for the first time, and shell play for a place in the final against either seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams or Russian Elena Vesnina.It took Mladenovic some time to find her way into the match against 2011 Indian Wells champion Wozniacki.She was unable to convert nine break points in the opening set as Wozniacki powered to a 5-1 lead, finally breaking the Dane for 5-2.Although Wozniacki duly pocketed the first set, Mladenovic had found her range and it was a see-saw battle featuring six breaks of serve as they played to the second-set tiebreaker.I was very frustrated with the beginning of the match, said Mladenovic, who is into the semi-finals of a premier mandatory level WTA tournament for the first time. I was hitting a lot of unforced errors and you cant do that against a top player like Caroline.I felt like I had to adjust to this huge court. It feels different to play out here after hiding out on the small courts. I just tried to stay positive and fight like always.Mladenovic broke Wozniacki twice in the third set en route to the victory in two hours and 33 minutes, finishing with an impressive 42 winners.Im going to enjoy this win and try to recover, because two and half hours on court takes a lot out of me, she said.Williams, who ended a 15-year boycott of the event last year but lost her opening match, is seeking a first Indian Wells title.The 36-year-old American, who saved three match points in her opening victory over former world number one Jelena Jankovic, says shes loving the game more than ever.Ive clearly loved the game. You have to, to play this long, to deal with the pressure and to put in the amount of work that it takes, said Williams, who made a sparkling run to the Australian Open final where she lost to her sister Serena. But I definitely feel like Im peaking in terms of the love level.Vesnina took a 3-2 career advantage over Williams into their afternoon quarter-final, including a victory at Wimbledon over the American who has won five titles at the All England Club.I have so much respect for Venus and Serena, theyre great champions, Vesnina said after ousting Germanys Angelique Kerber, who will return to number one in the world on Monday despite her early exit.I hope its going to be a great match because its always an honor to play against her.

Tennis: Carreno Busta reaches Indian Wells semi-finals

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INDIAN WELLS (AFP) - Spains Pablo Carreno Busta saved two match points en route to a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Uruguays Pablo Cuevas Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the ATP Indian Wells Masters.A tense third set between the duo saw Cuevas unable to convert match points against the Spaniards serve in both the 10th and 12th games as they took the contest to a decisive tiebreaker.The drama was heightened by Cuevass tumble on the first of those match points as he lunged for a backhand -- necessitating a mid-game medical timeout for treatment on his scraped right hand.Things stayed tight in the tiebreaker, Carreno Busta gaining a match point at 6-4 when Cuevas sent a backhand long, and sealing it with a backhand volley to reach the first Masters semi-final of his career.Carreno Busta avenged a semi-final loss to Cuevas in Sao Paulo this month, where the Uruguayan went on to win the title.The Spaniard next faces either world number three Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland or eighth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem.Wawrinka, who held off tenacious lucky loser Yoshihito Nishioka in three sets on Wednesday, is trying to reach the Indian Wells semi-finals for the first time.Thiem, who defeated Carreno Busta to lift the Rio de Janeiro singles title, has never made it to the semis in an elite Masters event.

Golf: Fitzpatrick, Grillo share Bay Hill lead

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MIAMI (AFP) - Matthew Fitzpatrick fired a bogey-free five-under-par 67 Thursday to match Argentinas Emiliano Grillo for the lead after the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.The 22-year-old Englishman seeks his first career US PGA victory after three European Tour triumphs, the most recent last November at Dubai when he captured the World Tour Championship by one shot over compatriot Tyrrell Hatton.Englands Paul Casey shared third, one stroke off the pace, with former US Open winner Lucas Glover and fellow American Charley Hoffman while Australians Greg Chalmers and Ryan Ruffels were in sixth on 69.Fitzpatrick, who began his tour of the famed Orlando layout on the back nine, birdied the par-5 16th after reaching the green in two and added back-to-back birdies at 18, sinking a 15-foot putt, and one, dropping a 25-footer.He birdied the third after dropping his approach three feet from the cup and added another at the par-5 sixth, blasting his third shot from a greenside bunker to four feet and sinking the putt.Grillo endured a wilder ride with birdies at the third and par-5 fourth holes, then closed the front nine with birdies on four of the final five holes -- three putts between eight and 13 feet and the last a 47-foot birdie effort at the ninth.The South American standout, whose lone US PGA win came at the 2015 Frys.com Open, followed with birdies at the 11th, par-5 16th and par-3 17th. He missed a 19-foot eagle putt at 16 for a tap-in birdie before dropping a 40-foot birdie bomb at the penultimate hole.Aussie Jason Day, the world number two, was in a 12-man pack on 70 that also included South Africans Louis oosthuizen and Trevor Immelman, Canadians Adam Hadwin and David Hearn, Swedens Alex Noren and Aussie Aaron Baddeley.Japans Hideki Matsuyama, ranked fourth, opened on 73 while third-ranked Rory McIlroy, hoping for a fifth career major title and the completion of a career Grand Slam at next months Masters, fired a 74.

Pakistan T20 team training camp to conclude today

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – The training camp of Pakistan T20 team, which is in full swing in Lahore, will conclude today (Friday) and the team will leave for West Indies on March 20.Wicket-keeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmad will lead the 15-member squad to play four-match T20 series against West Indies. The first match will be played on March 26.Kamran Akmal and Usman Shinwari have made their comeback in the Pakistan squad after a period of three years. Pakistan will also play three one-day internationals and three Tests during West Indies tour.

PSL fixing row: Afridi demands life ban for those found guilty

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Former Pakistan team captain Shahid Afridi has demanded of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to take stern action and impose life ban if the players allegedly involved in the recent match-fixing scandal in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) are found guilty.The star all-rounder further said that PCB’s decision to remove Azhar Ali from captaincy and not selecting him for the ODI series against West Indies was wrong.Another former captain and star batsman Javed Miandad said that cricket structure in Pakistan needed an overhaul in order to curb the menace of match fixing. Miandad said that he will even favour death penalty for match-fixers.It is pertinent here to mention that Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Irfan have already been conditionally suspended from all formats of the game due to alleged spot-fixing in second edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), and Umar Amin and Zulfiqar Babar might be summoned by PCB soon as their names are also revolving in the fixing scandal.

Ishratul Ebad declines Zardaris offer to join PPP

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DUBAI (Dunya News) - Former Sindh governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan while talking to Dunya News on Thursday said that co-chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Asif Zardari has offered him to join his party which I declined.He further said that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was notorious for having terrorists, extortionists, target killers and land grabbers in its ranks but all those terrorists are now part of Pak Sarzameen Party.Dr Ishratul Ebad also said that the candidates backed by MQM-London would win majority of seats in Karachi during the next general elections.

Oil tanker blaze injures two in Multan

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MULTAN (Dunya News) – At least two people were wounded when an oil tanker caught fire at the Muzaffargarh Road in Multan on Thursday, Dunya News reported.According to details, fire erupted when oil was being transferred from oil tanker to a petrol pump. The blaze injured 25-year-old Kashif and 23-year-old Wasim.Rescue teams police reached the spot and shifted the injured to Nishtar Hospital where condition of Kashif is stated to be critical. Police have registered a case and started investigation.

Sri Lanka rattle Bangladesh with late strikes

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COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka took a flurry of late wickets to put the brakes on Bangladesh at the second Test in Colombo Thursday after the tourists made a promising start to their first innings with a 95-run partnership.Soumya Sarkar top-scored for Bangladesh with 61 while sharing a solid opening stand with Tamim Iqbal which gave the visitors the upper hand on day two before their innings unravelled late in the afternoon.Left-arm spinner Lakshan Sandakan claimed two wickets in two balls in the final hour as Sri Lanka reduced Bangladesh to 214-5 at the close after the latest in a string of collapses by Test crickets newest team.It means the hosts still lead Bangladesh by 124 runs after making 338 in their first innings, thanks largely to a fighting century by Dinesh Chandimal.Bangladesh thought they were in a comfortable position after Soumya made his third fifty in the series in as many innings, and Tamim made 49 before being trapped lbw by Sri Lankan skipper Rangana Herath.Sandakan then trapped Imrul Kayes plumb in front to dismiss him for 34 and then successfully reviewed a not out decision to remove nightwatchman Taijul Islam off the next ball.Suranga Lakmal delivered a further blow to the visiting side when he removed Sabbir Rahman after he had scored 42, playing the lead role in a 62-run partnership with Imrul for the third wicket.After Herath earned Sri Lankas first breakthrough, Sandakan then bowled Soumya before finishing the day with 3-65.Honestly I am out of ideas, the same thing happened every time, said Bangladeshs batting coach Thilan Samaraweera.When we start to collapse we cannot control it. Tomorrow is a new day, hopefully we can get close to Sri Lankas score.Shakib Al Hasan lived dangerously to see out the day with unbeaten 18 alongside skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, who was on two at the close.The hosts earlier added exactly 100 runs to their overnight 238-7 before they were all out on the stroke of lunch break.Chandimal, who was unbeaten on 86 overnight, made 138, his eighth in Test cricket, off 300 balls after an innings which contained more than its share of good fortune.After surviving two TV reviews on the first day, he was again given out caught behind on Thursday off Mustafizur Rahmans bowling but the decision was overturned when replays showed the ball had not touched his bat.I rate this is as my number one century in Test cricket so far because I batted four sessions -- Ive never batted four sessions in my Test career, Chandimal said after the days play.We were in a tough spot with three wickets down for 30-odd. I had a responsibility at the time to think about how I can take the team beyond 250.Bangladesh were hoping to wrap up the innings quickly once Shakib removed Herath for 25 in the ninth over of the morning session after the Sri Lankan skipper added just seven runs to his overnight score.Soumya managed to grasp the catch after several fumbled attempts but Chandimal and Lakmal then continued to frustrate Bangladesh as they put on a 55-run partnership for the ninth wicket.Off-spinner Mehedi finally dismissed Chandimal, who now has four Test centuries against Bangladesh in six Tests, as debutant Mosaddek Hossain took the catch at midwicket.Chandimal, who struck only four boundaries on the opening day while helping his side recover from 70-4, batted aggressively on the second day to hit 10 fours and a six overall in his innings.Lakmal swung his bat to add 35 runs to Sri Lankas total before he became the last man to be dismissed with a catch to Soumya at third man off pace bowler Subashis RoyMehedi finished with 3-90 for Bangladesh.

Britain to probe Fox's giant takeover bid of Sky

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LONDON (AFP) - A proposed multi-billion takeover bid for European pay-TV giant Sky by 21st Century Fox will be probed by media watchdog Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority, the government said Thursday.In a statement to parliament, media minister Karen Bradley said she had ordered the investigation in the public interest on grounds of media plurality and commitment to broadcasting standards.Media tycoon Rupert Murdochs Fox announced in December it had reached a formal agreement to buy the 61-percent stake in Sky which it does not already own.The deal, valued at $11.7 billion (13.5 billion euros, $14.4 billion), would expand the footprint of the media-entertainment powerhouse owned by Murdoch.The takeover bid raised fears that it could give the Murdoch family too much control over the British media landscape and reduce media plurality.21st Century Fox is one of the worlds largest entertainment companies, with a vast portfolio of cable, broadcast, film, pay-TV and satellite assets across six continents.Sky broadcasts the 24-hour Sky News channel, blockbuster movies and live English Premier League football, and also provides internet and telephone services.Back in 2011, Murdoch was forced to abandon his previous takeover bid of Sky -- then known as BSkyB -- as controversy raged over the hacking of the telephones of celebrities and crime victims by his tabloid the News of the World, which was subsequently shut down.

Conjoined twin sisters born in West Bank share one heart

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HEBRON (AFP) - A Palestinian woman gave birth on Thursday to conjoined twin sisters who share a heart, her husband said, as he launched an urgent search for funds to pay for their surgical separation abroad.My wife and my two daughters are in hospital and doctors say they are all in good health, Anwar Zyadat told AFP in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron.The operation that will allow them to be separated is impossible in Palestine, but doctors tell us that it might be doable in Saudi Arabia.The two sisters, Acil and Hadil, who are joined at the waist, share a single heart and circulatory system, according to medics.The operation, which would require the girls to reach Saudi Arabia through Jordan, is very expensive, according to Zyadat.We dont know who can help, perhaps private donors, though no one has approached us so far, said the father of 10.Many Palestinians receive medical treatment abroad, most often in Israel. Much of the costs are passed on to the Palestinian Authority that runs the occupied West Bank.Last year two conjoined twins were born in the Gaza Strip but the sisters did not survive.
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