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Cricket - Sports

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Dunya TV

Dunya TV


Afghan lawmakers block law on women's rights

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KABUL (AP) - Conservative religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked legislation on Saturday aimed at strengthening provisions for women's freedoms, arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles and encourage disobedience.The fierce opposition highlights how tenuous women's rights remain a dozen years after the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime, whose strict interpretation of Islam once kept Afghan women virtual prisoners in their homes.Khalil Ahmad Shaheedzada, a conservative lawmaker for Herat province, said the legislation was withdrawn shortly after being introduced in parliament because of an uproar by religious parties who said parts of the law are un-Islamic.Whatever is against Islamic law, we don't even need to speak about it, Shaheedzada said.The Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women has been in effect since 2009, but only by presidential decree. It is being brought before parliament now because lawmaker Fawzia Kofi, a women's rights activist, wants to cement it with a parliamentary vote to prevent its potential reversal by any future president who might be tempted to repeal it to satisfy hard-line religious parties.The law criminalizes, among other things, child marriage and forced marriage, and bans baad, the traditional practice of exchanging girls and women to settle disputes. It makes domestic violence a crime punishable by up to three years in prison and specifies that rape victims should not face criminal charges for fornication or adultery.Kofi, who plans to run for president in next year's elections, said she was disappointed because among those who oppose upgrading the law from presidential decree to legislation passed by parliament are women.Afghanistan's parliament has more than 60 female lawmakers, mostly due to constitutional provisions reserving certain seats for women.There has been spotty enforcement of the law as it stands. A United Nations analysis in late 2011 found only a small percentage of reported crimes against women were pursued by the Afghan government. Between March 2010 and March 2011 the first full Afghan year the decree was in effect prosecutors filed criminal charges in only 155 cases, or 7 percent of the total number of crimes reported.The child marriage ban and the idea of protecting female rape victims from prosecution were particularly heated subjects in Saturday's parliamentary debate, said Nasirullah Sadiqizada Neli, a conservative lawmaker from Daykundi province.Neli suggested that removing the custom common in Afghanistan of prosecuting raped women for adultery would lead to social chaos, with women freely engaging in extramarital sex safe in the knowledge they could claim rape if caught.Another lawmaker, Mandavi Abdul Rahmani of Barlkh province, also opposed the law's rape provision.Adultery itself is a crime in Islam, whether it is by force or not, Rahmani said.He said the Quran also makes clear that a husband has a right to beat a disobedient wife as a last resort, as long as she is not permanently harmed. But in this law, he said, It says if a man beats his wife at all, he should be jailed for three months to three years.Lawmaker Shaheedzada also claimed that the law might encourage disobedience among girls and women, saying it reflected Western values not applicable in Afghanistan.Even now in Afghanistan, women are running from their husbands. Girls are running from home, Shaheedzada said. Such laws give them these ideas.More freedoms for women are one of the most visible and symbolic changes in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led campaign that toppled the Taliban regime. While in power, the Taliban imposed a strict interpretation of Islam that put severe curbs on the freedom of women.For five years, the regime banned women from working and going to school, or even leaving home without a male relative. In public, all women were forced wear a head-to-toe burqa, which covers even the face with a mesh panel. Violators were publicly flogged or executed.Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, women's freedoms have improved vastly, but Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative culture, especially in rural areas.

Syria's Assad says he won't step down

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BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down and will instead face the storm, raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country's civil war.In the Syrian capital Damascus, meanwhile, a powerful explosion went off in the Ruken al-Deen neighborhood, killing three people and wounding five, Syrian state TV reported. It said the blast was caused by a car bomb and that experts are dismantling other explosives in the area.On the diplomatic front, Syria's political opposition has said any transition talks must lead to Assad's ouster. However, the Syrian leader told the Argentine newspaper Clarin in comments published Saturday that he won't leave before elections are held in his country, and suggested he might seek another term.Assad's comments were the first about his political future since the U.S. and Russia agreed earlier this month to try to bring the Syrian regime and the opposition to an international conference for talks aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Such a gathering is envisioned for next month, but no date has been set, and neither the Assad regime nor the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed coalition group, has made a firm commitment to attend.The Syrian president's remarks highlighted the difficulties the U.S. and Russia face in getting the two sides to agree on the terms of negotiations.More than 70,000 people have been killed and several million displaced since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war.Assad has dismissed those trying to topple him as foreign-backed terrorists. Many in the political opposition say the Syrian president and his inner circle cannot be expected to negotiate in good faith after they brutally suppressed peaceful protests.In his comments Saturday, Assad appeared to play down the importance of any international conference, saying Syria's future will be determined by its people and dismissing any possible role the U.S. and others might play.We have said from the very beginning that any decision about reforms in Syria or any other political action are local decisions and it is not permissible that the U.S. or any other state interfere in them, he said.Assad compared himself to the skipper of a ship riding Syria's turbulent seas, saying the country is in a crisis and when a ship faces a storm, the captain does not flee.The first thing he does is face the storm and guide the ship back to safety, Assad was quoted as saying by the newspaper. I am not someone who flees from my responsibilities.An audio clip from the interview was posted on the Clarin website, with his Arabic comments dubbed into Spanish and translated into English by The Associated Press.

Suspected US drone in Yemen kills 4 militants

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SANAA, Yemen (AP) - A suspected US drone strike killed four al-Qaida militants Saturday in a southern Yemeni province once overrun by the group, according to security officials.The officials said the attack took place around dawn in an area called Deyqa in Abyan province. Officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to brief the media.Yemeni forces battled al-Qaida in Abyan province last year, routing militants from major cities that al-Qaida had briefly ruled during the country's 2011 political turmoil. The militants fled to surrounding mountainous areas after Yemen's military, assisted by the United States, forced them to retreat.According to several research groups and The Associated Press's own reporting, there has been a dramatic rise in such drone strikes in Yemen since the country's new U.S.-backed president assumed power early last year.Washington says al-Qaida in Yemen is among the group's most dangerous and active branches worldwide.The U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, Gerald Feierstein, met Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Saturday. Earlier this week, President Barack Obama extended an executive decision warning supporters of the country's former longtime ruler ousted after more than three decades in power by protests to stop hampering the political process or face having their assets frozen.Hadi also told Yemeni state TV Saturday that tampering of the country's military jets over the past year is the work of either al-Qaida or those wanting to sabotage the army, a reference to supporters of Saleh still in government and security posts.He vowed an investigation into the incidents.Seven military aircraft have been sabotaged while still on the ground, including at least two that were torched.Additionally, just five days ago a military plane on a training exercise exploded in midair over the country's capital, killing the pilot. It was the third such jet crash since Hadi took power.

Damascus car bomb kills three, wounds five

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DAMASCUS (AFP) - A car bomb exploded on Saturday in a northern district of the Syrian capital killing at least three people and wounding five others, state television reported.The state broadcaster said the bomb was placed in a car in the Rokn Eddin neighbourhood and that a bomb disposal team was defusing another device.The terrorist explosion was the result of a big bomb concealed in a car ... Three people were killed and five others wounded according to a provisional toll, it said.

Up to 60 injured after car drives into US parade

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VIRGINIA (AP) - About 50 to 60 people were injured Saturday when a driver described by witnesses as an elderly man drove his car into a group of hikers marching in a parade in a small Virginia mountain town.Washington County director of emergency management Pokey Harris said no fatalities had been reported.The injuries ranged from critical to superficial, he said. Three of the victims were flown by helicopters to regional hospitals. Another 12 to 15 were taken by ambulance. The rest were treated at the scene.The status of the driver wasn't released. Multiple witnesses described him as an elderly man.Authorities are still investigating, but Harris said they believe the man might have suffered a medical emergency before the accident.It happened around 2:30 p.m. during the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line about a half-hour drive east of Bristol.What caused the car to drive into the crowd wasn't immediately known. It appeared to come from a side street, and a thud could be heard. People yelled stop, and at some point, the car finally stopped.Witnesses said the car had a handicapped parking sticker and it went more than 100 feet (30 meters) before coming to a stop.He was hitting hikers, said Vickie Harmon, a witness from Damascus. I saw hikers just go everywhere.Damascus resident Amanda Puckett, who was watching the parade with her children, ran to the car, where she and others lifted the car off those pinned underneath.Everybody just threw our hands up on the car and we just lifted the car up, she said.Keith Neumann, a hiker from South Carolina, said he was part of the group that scrambled around the car. They pushed the car backward to free a woman trapped underneath and lifted it off the ground to make sure no one else was trapped. Another person jumped inside to put the car in park.There's no single heroes. We're talking about a group effort of everybody jumping in, he said.There were ambulances in the parade ahead of the hikers and paramedics on board immediately responded to the crash.

Tennis: Federer books Rome final with Nadal

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ROME (AFP) - Second seed Roger Federer will meet six-time winner Rafael Nadal in the final of the Rome Masters after a hard-fought 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 semi-final win over Frenchman Benoit Paire.Sundays final will be the 30th meeting between Nadal and Federer with the Spaniard holding a 19-10 lead.Paire has been one of the sensations of the tournament and pushed his Swiss rival to a first set tiebreak.However, Federer raised his game in an equally tight second set to set up a Sunday final with Nadal after the Spaniard accounted for Czech Tomas Berdych in straight sets.Paire had lost both of his previous encounters against the world number three -- the first in the Basel quarter-finals last year and the second in this years Australian Open -- in straight sets.However the unseeded Frenchman came into the semi-final on the back of a one-sided quarter-final win over Marcel Granollers having accounted for Juan Martin Del Potro in the third round.Paire started strongly, showing no sign of nerves in the opening game where he created two break points only to net one and send the other past the baseline.Federer held serve, but the Frenchman went on to keep the Swiss on his toes until the sixth game when some wayward serves threatened to offer Federer the break until Paire steadied the ship.Unperturbed, Paire broke Federers serve in the next game -- the seventh -- but failed to capitalise as Federer pounced on the second of two chances to break back after smashing home a Paire lob.The pair traded blows until the tiebreak, when Paire took a 3-1 lead only for unforced errors from the Frenchman, and some massive groundstrokes from Federer, to give the Swiss the set.Paire started the second set as he did the first, but back-to-back double faults in the third game gave Federer a crucial break.The Frenchman pressed Federer throughout the remainder and despite recovering from a double fault at the start of the ninth game to close to 5-4, Federer made the most of three match points at the start of the 10th to seal the win.

Azarenka sets up Serena final in Rome

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ROME (AFP) - World number one Serena Williams said she hoped to improve her game for the French Open despite easing into the Rome Open final after ending qualifier Simona Haleps dream week in the Italian capital with a 6-3, 6-0 victory.Williams, the 15-time Grand Slam winner, stretched her consecutive wins to 23 ahead of her first final meeting with Victoria Azarenka since her defeat to the Belarusian earlier this year in Doha.Azarenka, the third seed, proved too strong for home hopeful Sara Errani in a 6-0, 7-5 win in the other semi-final that was interrupted by rain twice and once by the Italian, who called for her coach after losing the first three games.The Belarusian will go to Paris with high hopes as one of Williamss biggest threats.However she was keen to point out she is not the only one to have beaten the American.She has lost to somebody else too before, said Azarenka.I dont really think about it, I just think about what I can do. Shes definitely in good form right now so its a big test for me tomorrow to be playing at that level again.Williams, meanwhile, will head to the French Open a week on Sunday as one of the favourites and with revenge on her mind after a shock defeat in last years tournament to Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.Ahead of that challenge the 30-year-old American will be hoping for a more telling workout against Azarenka after a limpid semi-final in which Romanian Halep failed to offer any kind of challenge.Williams was so unhappy with her match that she went to practise for two hours before speaking to reporters, and said: I am only unhappy with the way I played and I need to work on a few things and be able to do well here and next week.Asked about Azarenka and their last final encounter in the Gulf, the American indicated she expects an altogether different challenge on Sunday.She played well in that match (in Doha) and I was happy in the final, said Williams. It was a tough tournament and I had opportunities that I wasnt able to use, and Viki plays well in the vital points.Errani had been gifted a place in the semi-final when defending and two-time champion Maria Sharapova of Russia withdrew early on Friday citing a fever.However it was clear from the start that the Italian would be up against it.In spite of the hot and humid conditions, Azarenka barely broke sweat on her way to a first set whitewash.Errani, who had beaten the Belarusian only once in their six previous encounters, emerged with bigger ambitions in the second set.But despite battling all the way, she was ultimately broken in the 10th game before Azarenka served to take a 6-5 lead.Errani valiantly saved three match points in the final game but was finally broken by the more powerful Belarusian.

Football: Tearfull Beckham bids farewell to Paris

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PARIS (AFP) - David Beckham bade a tearful farewell to Paris on Saturday as the former England star made his final home appearance for Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint Germain before heading into retirement.Last week, Beckham, 38, had helped PSG to their first league title since 1994 with a win over Lyon, and then announced he would retire at the end of the season having captured a championship in a fourth different league after England, Spain and the United States.Thanks to everyone in Paris, to all of my teammates, the staff and fans, said Beckham, who was in floods of tears when he was substituted 10 minutes from the end of the 3-1 victory over relegated Brest.It's been very special to finish my career here.Beckham was made captain for the night for his farewell performance by coach Carlo Ancelotti.When he left the pitch, he was warmly embraced by all of his teammates while the crowd accorded him a standing ovation.When he reappeared for the presentation of the Ligue 1 trophy, he was draped in an English flag as a giant video screen paid a tribute which concluded with the words, 'Thank you, David'.I now want to enjoy time with my family. I have all the memories I need.Paris has always been one of the world's most beautiful places for me. I am very sad to be leaving.Appropriately, 'Spice Boy' Beckham was serenaded by the Beatles' hit 'Hello, Goodbye' as a spectacular laser show pierced the Parc des Princes night.On the pitch, Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice.Beckham had a hand in the other PSG goal, his corner finding Blaise Matuidi as the former Manchester United star signed off with an assist while Charlison Benschop replied for Brest.When Ancelotti withdrew him with 10 minutes remaining, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan and LA Galaxy star, watched by wife Victoria and his parents, was in tears.Beckham may only have made barely a dozen appearances for PSG since joining on loan in January, yet his presence has spurred the club on, as well as giving the French game a huge shot in the arm in terms of publicity.Elsewhere on Saturday, the kind of publicity the French game does not need again surfaced just a week after celebrations marking PSG's title success degenerated into violence which forced the cancellation of a gala dinner in the capital.This time it was Lyon and Marseille fans who clashed in disturbances which left 16 people injured.Lyon decried the troublemakers after serious incidents during the afternoon before Marseille's game in nearby Saint Etienne.Lyon indicated on their official website that the club would seek to take legal action in view of the seriousness of what has happened and the injuries.The club added it appeared that supporters had clashed after hardcore fans of the club made their way back home after their match with Nice was postponed because of bad weather.The Paris violence a week earlier saw group of troublemakers fight running battles with police in disturbances which left several people injured and 47 people arrested.On the field, Marseille, already guaranteed runners-up spot, had nothing to celebrate either as they lost 2-0 at Saint Etienne which left the latter in fourth spot, a point behind Lyon, after a winless run of three games.With their extra game at Nice still in hand, Lyon will still expect to hold onto third place and thereby clinch a Champions League qualifying round berth.Saint Etienne, who saw off Marseille with first-half goals from Loic Perrin and Brandao, are guaranteed a Europa League berth at worst having lifted the League Cup.Elsewhere, Nancy are relegated after going down 2-1 at home to Bastia while Troyes are still alive after beating Bordeaux 1-0 meaning they can still just catch Sochaux and Ajaccio although their poor goal difference means they will unlikely overhaul Evian, also three points clear with one round of games remaining.

Santambrogio wins weather-altered 14th Giro stage

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BARDONECCHIA (AP) - Mauro Santambrogio of Italy won a weather-affected and altered 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Saturday, and favorite Vincenzo Nibali finished second to extend his overall lead.Santambrogio won in a time of 4 hours, 42 minutes, 55 seconds in in rainy, windy and even snowy conditions, beating Nibali in a final sprint at the top of the steep Jafferau climb. Carlos Betancur was third.The stage had to be altered shortly before the start and the climb up Sestriere was removed because of avalanche threats. The cyclists were re-routed through Val di Susa, on a longer 180-kilometer (112-mile) course from Cervere to Bardonecchia.Sunday's route, which crosses into France and includes climbs up the Galibier and the Col du Mont Cenis, is also likely to be altered.Nibali, who finished third and second in his last two Giro races, extended his lead to 1:26 over Cadel Evans and is firmly on course to win his home country's biggest cycling race for the first time.Sonny Colbrelli, Luca Paolini, Matteo Trentin and Daniele Pietropolli led for most of the leg, building a lead of more than nine minutes, but the peloton started to reel in the four escapees with 40 kilometers (25 miles) left. Trentin and then Pietropolli fell back from the lead group shortly before the start of the grueling category-one climb to the finish, which had a gradient of 14 percent in some places.Nibali made his move inside the final 2 kilometers, (1.5 miles), emerging from the fog near the finish line with Santambrogio. And Santambrogio clung on, holding off the race favorite to claim his first Grand Tour stage victory.The Giro ends May 26 in Brescia.

Saudi woman climbs Everest in first

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JEDDAH (AFP) - A Saudi woman, Raha Muharraq, on Saturday reached the summit of Everest, the world's highest peak, in a first for the conservative Muslim kingdom where women's sports are severely restricted, her proud father said.She reached the summit of Everest on Saturday morning. We have been able to contact her and she is very exhausted and now resting, Hassan Muharraq told AFP.She is very happy and we, the family, are very happy with her achievement, which was not easy.He said that Raha, a 25-year-old graduate of the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, left her home in the Saudi city of Jeddah on April 3 and underwent rigorous training before the climb.With Everest, she had achieved her ambition of climbing the seven highest peaks in the world after having climbed mountains in Europe, Tanzania, the South Pole and Argentina.Her dream was to prove that with determination and self-denial she can bear difficulties because she believed that humankind can overcome all tests, he said.Saudi Arabia, which implements a strict form of Islam and imposes a segregation of the sexes, this month gave the green light for girls at private schools to play sports, under certain conditions. Under pressure from international sports bodies, it sent two women athletes to the London Olympics last summer.

Southee treble rocks England in first Test

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LONDON (AFP) - Tim Southee bowled New Zealand back into contention in the first Test against England with a dramatic burst late on the third day at Lord's on Saturday.At stumps, England were 180 for six in their second innings -- a lead of 205 runs.England were building a sound position at 159 for two when paceman Southee wrested back the initiative with three wickets for four runs in 17 balls. In all, England lost four wickets for 12 runs to throw the first of this two-Test series wide open, although their lead was now almost as much as New Zealand's meagre first innings 207.Nightwatchman Steven Finn was six not out and Ian Bell nought not out at stumps.Now we're into the bowlers, Southee, who had close of play figures of three for 34 in 14 overs, told reporters.Finn is in and we know (Stuart) Broad is capable with the bat and (Graeme) Swann is dangerous, he can score some quick runs. We can't get too far ahead of ourselves. We've still got a job to do.Jonathan Trott (56) and Joe Root (71) shared a third-wicket stand of 123 before the latter's exit sparked England's slump.They had steadied the ship after England captain Alastair Cook and fellow opener Nick Compton had fallen to the left-arm pace duo of Trent Boult and Neil Wagner respectively with the score on 36.Shortly after tea, Root was nearly run out when he dabbed the ball onto the offside and set off for a single before Trott sent him back.A direct hit by New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum would have seen the Yorkshireman run out but Root just did enough as wicket-keeper BJ Watling tried to make the best of a bad return with a despairing effort of his own.Watling injured his knee in the process and was replaced behind the stumps by McCullum, who had given up keeping in Tests because of knee and back problems.Root, in only his fifth Test and first in England, punched Wagner through the covers for four to complete a 78-ball fifty featuring six boundaries.But in sight of beating the Test-best 73 he made against India on debut in Nagpur in December, the 22-year-old, promoted up the order because Bell had flu, inside-edged Southee on to his stumps.Root's Yorkshire colleague Jonny Bairstow, top-scorer in England's first innings with 41, was then yorked off his foot by Southee for five.The collapse continued when wicket-keeper Matt Prior, so often England's saviour with the bat, completed a pair when he pulled Southee to square leg.Trott then exited when he was bowled by a sharply turning off-break from part-time spinner Kane Williamson.It was a worrying sight too for New Zealand's batsmen, with England having the fit-again Swann, one of the world's leading off-spinners, in their side. Trott and Root were making it look very easy so it was nice to get back in the match, Williamson, who earlier made 60, told Sky Sports. It's going to be a big challenge for us to come back tomorrow (Sunday) and take the last four wickets and then chase the total because it's suiting the bowlers.Williamson's view was backed by Root, who said: It's quite a slow pitch -- you've got really work hard to start with. I was very disappointed not to kick on and, after giving them a sniff tonight, we're quite down about it.Hopefully we can have a good morning and build a platform to win the game.Before lunch, England dismissed New Zealand for a first innings lead of 25.James Anderson, who on Friday had become only the fourth England bowler to take 300 Test wickets, finished with five wickets for 47 runs in 24 overs.It was the 30-year-old Lancashire swing bowler's 13th five-wicket or better innings return in an 81 Test-career that started at Lord's a decade ago.He was well supported by Finn (four for 63) although it was fellow seamer Broad who had dangerman McCullum caught behind for just two early Saturday.

PTI leader gunned down in Karachi

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KARACHI (Dunya News) : Just hours before re-elections in some polling stations of NA-250 are due to begin, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf central vice president was shot dead outside her house in Karachi.According to initial details, Zara Shahid Hussain was shot dead outside her house in Defence Phase IV late on Saturday evening.The motive of the attack could not be immediately ascertained.PTI leader Sheeren Mazari is of the view that PTI leaders are being harassed as they are receiving life threats from different channels.She was the central vice president of the party and a member of the party’s central executive committee. She was also the former president of the party’s Sindh Women’s wing.

Owner hires men to smash up luxury supercar

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A wealthy Chinese Maserati owner hired four sledgehammer-wielding men to smash up his $420,000 supercar in protest at poor customer service, Agence France-Presse reports.A wealthy Chinese Maserati owner hired four sledgehammer-wielding men to smash up his $420,000 supercar in protest at poor customer service, Agence France-Presse reports.The owner staged the dramatic intervention outside a convention center in Qingdao where a major auto show was being held. Local newspapers reported that his dispute with a Maserati dealership began when he took the car in for repairs and was charged for a new spare part even though a used part had been fitted.In 2011, the city saw a similar stunt when the owner of a Lamborghini ordered the destruction of his vehicle after a service failed to get it running smoothly.

Pizza deliveryman nabbed for selling cocaine in boxes

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A Papa Johns delivery man has been arrested for allegedly selling more than $40,000 in cocaine hidden in pizza boxes to undercover police officers he met near his home and outside the Brooklyn restaurant where he works, prosecutors said.Ramon Rodriguez, 45, was charged Wednesday with multiple counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance and one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance.Prosecutors say Rodriguez allegedly sold cocaine to undercover officers 19 times since the fall of 2011.He was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly sold $27,500 worth of cocaine hidden in a bag with pizza and chicken nuggets to an undercover officer outside the Fifth Avenue store where he works in Sunset Park.Rodriguez often wore his Papa Johns uniform when he sold the drugs, prosecutors said. Authorities found $4,500 in cash and drug paraphernalia, including a scale and packaging material, during a search of his home.Prosecutors say a small bag of cocaine was also recovered from his car.A second suspect, Jonathan Martinez, was also arrested Wednesday in connection with the drug dealing. Prosecutors say Martinez, 28, sold 40 grams of cocaine for $1,200 to an undercover officer in November 2011; Rodriguez allegedly set up the meeting.Information on attorneys for the suspects wasnt available.Calls to Papa Johns were not immediately returned.

Gunmen kill 9 in Iraq, 8 police kidnapped

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BAGHDAD (AP) - Gunmen killed an anti-terrorism policeman and his family in Baghdad on Saturday, while kidnappers abducted eight policemen guarding a post on Iraqs main highway to Jordan and Syria, the latest in a wave of violence to grip the country. Attackers also shot dead a Sunni cleric in the Shiite-majority south.The attacks follow three days of bombings and other violence that killed 130 people, targeting a market, a mosque and bus stops in both Shiite and Sunni areas in scenes reminiscent of retaliatory attacks between the two groups that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006-2007.The particularly violent recent weeks have raised fears the country may be heading toward a new round of sectarian conflict.Saturdays deadliest attack occurred when gunmen broke into the house of an anti-terrorism police officer in the southern suburbs of Baghdad, killing five people including him and his sleeping family.Police officials say the attackers stormed the house in the al-Rasheed district early Saturday and shot dead Cap. Adnan Ibrahim, his wife and two children, aged eight and 10.As they were leaving the area, the attackers killed another policeman who tried to stop them at a nearby checkpoint.Meanwhile in the western Sunni province of Anbar, gunmen kidnapped eight policemen who were guarding a post on the main highway linking Iraq to both Jordan and Syria, said two police officials.The abductions happened Saturday on the desert road west of Baghdad, they added.Earlier in the day, security forces and gunmen clashed in the area when police tried to arrest a Sunni tribal sheik suspected of being behind the killing of three army intelligence soldiers stopped by gunmen near a protest site in Ramadi last month. Iraqi authorities had offered a bounty for the arrest or information leading to the arrest of Khamis Abu Risha and two other people they say were linked to the killings.The fighting, near Abu Rishas house north of Ramadi, left three people wounded. No arrests were made. Later, gunmen deployed near the main entrance of Anbar Operations Command headquarters in Ramadi, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad.Elsewhere, in the southern city of Basra, gunmen shot and killed a Sunni cleric, Assad Nassir, as he was leaving his house, police said.Two Iraqi soldiers were also killed and two others wounded when a roadside bomb struck a group of soldiers arriving to inspect the scene of a blast that took place earlier in the northern city of Mosul.A security official said a roadside bomb hit a police patrol in the northern suburbs of Baghdad, killing one policeman and wounding two others.Health officials confirmed the death tolls. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

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