Dunya TV

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• Militants target Iraq security forces as 40 killed
• At least 31 people dead in western China flooding
• Iran, Syria bid for UN rights council under attack
• Egypt to investigate Morsi for 2011 jailbreak
• Baby among 409 buried on Srebrenica anniversary
• Nadal will bounce back for US open, says coach
• Haas beats Gulbis, advances to last 8 in Stuttgart
• Berdych, Almagro make last 8 at Swedish Open
• Rooney suffers hamstring injury, out for month
• Kittel wins stage 12 of Tour; Froome keeps lead
• Study: Distant quakes can affect oil, gas fields
• 'Dead' candidate elected in south Mexico village
• Dollar extends fall on Bernanke comments
• Dhoni blasts India to tri-series title
• Australia's Agar lights up Ashes

Militants target Iraq security forces as 40 killed Posted: BAGHDAD (AFP) - Militants killed 25 Iraqi security forces in a wave of attacks on Thursday, and 15 other people died in other attacks including 10 mourners in twin bombings, officials said.The latest attacks come as Iraq witnesses a surge in violence that has killed more than 2,500 people already this year, including over 240 so far this month.Analysts point to widespread discontent among Iraq's minority Sunni community, and the failure of the Shiite authorities to address their grievances, as the main factors driving the increase in violence.In the single deadliest attack, gunmen shot dead 14 members of the Iraqi security forces, including 11 charged with protecting the country's vital oil infrastructure, on the road between Haditha and Baiji, northwest of the Iraqi capital.In another bloody attack, a car bomb ripped through a funeral tent where family members of a Shiite man were receiving condolences in Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, and a suicide bomber detonated explosives when emergency personnel arrived.The blasts killed a total of 10 people and wounded 22.Sunni militants including those linked to Al-Qaeda frequently target members of the Iraq's Shiite majority, whom they regard as apostates.Iraq was plagued by sectarian violence that killed tens of thousands of people in past years, and there are persistent fears that tensions will again boil over into all-out conflict.In Tikrit, north of Baghdad, three roadside bombs targeted police patrols, killing three policemen and wounding five.And in Khaldiya, a town in Anbar province, militants opened fire on a police station, after which one suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt in the station, and another blew up an explosives-rigged car, killing four police and wounding eight.One of the attackers was also shot dead during the assault.Militants also fired three mortars at the police directorate in Fallujah, also in Anbar, after which a suicide car bomber struck near the building, and clashes broke out.One policeman was killed and three more wounded in the violence.The attacks came after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle near a convoy on a highway in Anbar on Wednesday night, killing two policemen and wounding two others.A car bomb also rocked south-central Baghdad on Thursday, killing one policeman and two civilians, and wounding nine.In the northern city of Mosul, gunmen killed a soldier in front of his home, and a roadside bomb killed a policeman and wounded another.Another man was shot dead south of Mosul, while gunmen killed a man in the Sharqat area, northwest of Baghdad.And in the northern town of Tuz Khurmatu, a car bomb wounded 32 people, while two other car bombs northwest of the city of Kirkuk wounded 14.Both areas are part of a swathe of north Iraq territory that the autonomous Kurdistan region wants to incorporate over the strong objections of the federal government in Baghdad -- a dispute that diplomats and officials say is one of the most serious long-term threats to Iraq's stability.

At least 31 people dead in western China flooding Posted: BEIJING (AP) - Floodwaters surging through Himalayan foothills in western China have swept bridges, houses and hillsides into roiling brown torrents, leaving at least 31 people dead and 166 missing Thursday, as heavy rains buffeted many parts of the country.Flooding in the western province of Sichuan was the worst in 50 years for some areas, with more than 220,000 people forced to evacuate.Nationwide, at least 46 people have died due to the violent weather since Sunday, according to figures from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the official Xinhua News Agency. Thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged and transportation has come to a virtual standstill in hard-hit areas.Many of the casualties in Sichuan were from a massive landslide that struck a scenic resort outside the city of Dujiangyan, killing 18 people and leaving 107 missing. An entire hillside collapsed onto clusters of holiday cottages where city dwellers escape summer heat, a survivor told Xinhua.The noise was like thunder and went on for two or three minutes. My first thought was that I too would be buried, Gao Quanshi, 47, was quoted as saying. Phone lines were cut, so villagers had to trek to nearby government offices to call for help, he said.Images from the scene showed a valley filled with mud and rocks, with only the tops of trees sticking through. Drenched rescuers wearing helmets and life jackets worked mostly with hand tools to prevent harming any survivors still trapped beneath.A total of 352 tourists had been rescued from the area as of Wednesday night, Xinhua said. Overall in Sichuan, there were at least 31 people dead and 166 missing, said the provincial department of civil affairs.A mudslide in Sichuan's Aba prefecture left three people dead and 12 others missing, Xinhua said.Mudslides and flooding are common in China's mountainous areas, killing hundreds of people every year, but in some areas the current floods are already the worst in half a century. Reports said the 94 centimeters (37 inches) of rainfall that fell on Dujiangyan over 40 hours beginning Monday was the heaviest since records began being kept in 1954.Also in the west, more than 2,000 people were rescued after being trapped for several hours Wednesday in a highway tunnel between Dujiangyan and Wenchuan the epicenter of the Sichuan earthquake five years ago that left 90,000 people dead or missing.Bridges have been closed and train service suspended in some parts of the province.In nearby Beichuan county, flooding destroyed buildings and wrecked exhibits at a memorial for earthquake victims.The flooding also caused the collapse of an almost 50-year-old bridge in a neighboring county, sending six vehicles into the raging waters and leaving 12 people missing.The region lies in the foothills of the Tibetan Plateau, where mountains rise sharply from the densely populated Sichuan basin. Fast-running rivers quickly overflowed their banks, flooding scores of towns and parts of the provincial capital of Chengdu, where the waters rose to the second floor and covered the tops of cars.In Chengdu, stone bridges and brick houses along river banks were swept away, including one in which the residents were taking shelter, while others crumbled into the saturated earth already rent with fissures from the magnitude-8.9 2008 earthquake.In the northern province of Shanxi, at least 12 workers were killed Tuesday when a violent rainstorm caused the collapse of an unfinished coal mine workshop they were building.Another three people were drowned in a car in Hebei province outside the capital, while an additional 11 people were reported dead or missing in Yunnan province, Beijing, Inner Mongolia and Gansu province.

Iran, Syria bid for UN rights council under attack Posted: UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The United States and Israel on Thursday slammed a bid by Iran and Syria to get seats on the UN Human Rights Council.Acting US ambassador to the United Nations, Rosemary DiCarlo, called the campaigns highly inappropriate because of their records on human rights.Israel's UN envoy Ron Prosor said it was a new world record for lunacy.Iran and Syria are among seven countries vying for four Asia-Pacific seats on the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, diplomats told AFP.They will be in competition with China, Jordan, Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, diplomats said.A vote on the council seats will be held at the UN General Assembly in New York later this year.Iran and Syria are current members of the council but their bid to extend their terms has infuriated western governments.We expect the Asian states to face intense lobbying now over this slate, said one diplomat from the region.The US envoy said that neither country had yet submitted required documents to back their candidacies.But in our view attempts by either country to join the Human Rights Council are extremely inappropriate given existing Human Rights Council mandates to investigate human rights violations in these countries, their egregious records on human rights and their ongoing collaboration to suppress democratic aspirations of the Syrian people, DiCarlo told reporters.Iran's rights record is regularly attacked by watchdogs and it is a key backer of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad as he battles opposition rebels.Israeli ambassador Prosor was stunned at the news of the bid by Iran and Syria, both avowed opponents of Israel.This might be a new world record for lunacy at the United Nations, he said. Putting Iran and Syria on a Human Rights Council is like putting the Godfather in charge of a witness protection program.

Egypt to investigate Morsi for 2011 jailbreak Posted: CAIRO (AP) - Prosecutors will investigate allegations that Egypt's ousted president escaped from prison during the 2011 revolution with help from the Palestinian militant group Hamas, officials said Thursday.Chief prosecutor Hesham Barakat has received testimonies from a court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia that will be the base for an investigation by state security prosecutors into the jailbreak by Mohammed Morsi and more than 30 other Muslim Brotherhood leaders, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.The question of whether Hamas helped them escape amid the chaos surrounding the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak has been debated in the media for months and proved a political headache for Morsi during his one-year rule as Egypt's first freely elected president. Critics in the opposition and judiciary have suggested that proof of foreign intervention on Egyptian soil could lead to treason charges.The issue has taken on more significance since Morsi was ousted on July 3 by the military following a wave of protests in which millions of Egyptians called on him to step down. The toppled Islamist leader has been kept at an undisclosed Defense Ministry facility and no charges against him have been announced.Hamas has denied any role in the Jan. 29, 2011, jailbreak at Wadi el-Natroun prison northwest of Cairo. Morsi and other Brotherhood leaders have said local residents helped them escape after most inmates left the facility.The investigation stems from a court case against a former inmate, but judge Khaled Mahgoub turned what was in effect a low-profile trial into a public inquiry into the escape by Morsi and the other Brotherhood officials. A series of prison officials, police and intelligence agents testified, some behind closed doors.In the end, Mahgoub referred the testimonies he collected to the chief prosecutor's office with a request that he investigates the matter further.In part at least, the trial in Ismailia fits into a picture of strained relations between Morsi and the judiciary after what many judges saw as his encroachment on the independence of the judiciary.A string of top police, prison and intelligence officials have blamed Hamas, a close ally of Morsi's Brotherhood, saying the militant group sent fighters from the Gaza Strip to join with Bedouins from the Sinai Peninsula to storm prisons and break out the jailed Hamas members.In Egypt's polarized political climate, opponents of the ousted leader used the issue against him, saying friends of the Brotherhood violated the country's security and fed its instability. The eagerness of some in the intelligence and security agencies to blame Hamas reflect in part resentment of the Brotherhood's ties with the militant group, which they have long seen as a threat.News of the intended investigation came one day after authorities issued arrest warrants for the Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Mohammed Badie, and nine other Islamists accused of inciting violence after deadly clashes the latest moves by the new military-backed government as it tries to choke off the group's campaign to reinstate Morsi.The warrants drew an angry response from the Brotherhood, which said dictatorship is back and insisted it will never work with the interim rulers.Badie's whereabouts are not known, but many of the others are believed to be taking refuge somewhere near a continuing sit-in by the group's supporters outside the Rabaah al-Adawiya Mosque in an eastern Cairo district that is traditionally a Brotherhood stronghold.Security agencies have already jailed five leaders of the Brotherhood, including Badie's powerful deputy, Khairat el-Shaiter, and shut down its media outlets.The prosecutor general's office said Badie, another deputy, Mahmoud Ezzat, el-Beltagy and popular preacher Safwat Hegazy are suspected of instigating Monday's clashes with security forces outside a Republican Guard building that killed 54 people most Morsi supporters in the worst bloodshed since he was ousted.The Islamists have accused the troops of gunning down the protesters, while the military blamed armed backers of Morsi for attempting to storm a military building.The arrest warrants highlight the armed forces' zero-tolerance policy toward the Brotherhood, which was banned under authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.This just signals that dictatorship is back, said Brotherhood spokesman Ahmed Aref. We are returning to what is worse than Mubarak's regime, which wouldn't dare to issue an arrest warrant of the general leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Baby among 409 buried on Srebrenica anniversary Posted: SREBRENICA (AP) - Hava Muhic stood Thursday above the smallest pit in the cemetery, near her husband's grave. It was dug for her baby girl who was born and died here 18 years ago on the day of the worst massacre Europe has seen since World War II.Muhic's baby is among the remains of 409 people recently identified after being found in mass graves, who were reburied at the Potocari Memorial Center on the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre. This year's commemorations bring the total of identified victims to 6,066. Another 2,306 remain missing.Muhic is burying the daughter she never had a chance to see or call by name.A simple wooden marker above the little green coffin says: Newborn Muhic (father Hajrudin) 11.07.1995 the single date marking both birth and death.Muhic blames her child's death on the frantic rush to seek safety among U.N. peacekeepers as Bosnian Serbs overran the town. A woman who helped her give birth in the U.N. compound told her the girl was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and that she was dead.There is no way to know whether the chaos of the day had anything to do with the baby's death. One thing's certain, however: Muhic spent 18 years living with the pain of not knowing where her baby girl was buried.Back then, Srebrenica was a U.N.-protected Muslim town in Bosnia besieged by Serb forces throughout the country's 1992-95 war. Serb troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic broke into the enclave on July 11, 1995. That morning, some 30,000 Bosnian Muslims flocked to the U.N. military base in the town's Potocari suburb seeking refuge.Among them was Muhic, then 24 and nine months pregnant with her second child. Labor pains took her breath away as she passed the gate of the U.N. base. One of the peacekeepers told her she could enter the base's main building but said the others would have to stay outside in the courtyard.Muhic recalled the moment after she learned her baby's fate.Two men in uniform came ... They took my baby and put it in a box. They asked me for my personal information and I gave it to them. They said they were taking the baby to bury it.Meanwhile, Serb forces had also entered the U.N. compound unopposed by any of the hundreds of frightened U.N Dutch soldiers. They began separating men from women. Over the course of 5 days, they executed 8,372 men and boys.A half hour after she delivered the baby, Hava Muhic was told to get up and leave the building. Still covered in blood, she climbed with other women into a truck that drove them to safety. She did not know where her 5 year-old son or husband were.Years later, she discovered that her husband Hajrudin, his two brothers and her brother were among the thousands killed in the massacre, which the International Court of Justice later defined as genocide. Mladic and former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic are both now standing trial in front of the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the Srebrenica genocide in Srebrenica and other war crimes.Muhic's son survived. Now 23, he lives with her in southern France.Authorities spent years trying to find a mass grave that Dutch soldiers reported digging inside the base for Bosnian Muslims who died of natural causes during the carnage, according to Amor Masovic, one of the directors of Bosnia's Missing Persons Institute.Forensic experts searched several locations the soldiers pointed out, but could not find any skeletons.Eventually we obtained a photo the soldiers have taken of the open grave with the little body in it, Masovic said. By the position of the light poles on the photo and some shades, we found the location last year. There were five other bodies in the grave besides the baby's.Srebrenica's mayor Camil Durakovic believes the baby would have been alive today had Muhic received normal medical care.But it died because it was born under unbearable circumstances and therefore it is a victim of genocide, he said.Hava had a name for her daughter but she never had the chance to give it to her. She has asked that it be engraved on the tiny white marble headstone that is to replace the wooden one.I will do all I can to have the name the mother wanted for her child engraved on the baby's tombstone, said Durakovic. That is the least we can do for the mother.So soon, Hava is likely to have the comfort of visiting a grave where instead of Newborn the headstone reads: Fatima.

Nadal will bounce back for US open, says coach Posted: STUTTGART (AFP) - Rafael Nadal will bounce back from his shock first-round exit at Wimbledon in time for the US Open next month, his coach insisted on Thursday.The 27-year-old French Open champion suffered his earliest exit at a major when he was stunned by Belgium's Steve Darcis on the first day of Wimbledon.His straight-sets defeat to Darcis, ranked 135th in the world, led to speculation about the impact of the clay-court season on a previous injury, an inflammation of the knee cap, which curtailed Nadal's 2012 campaign.But his uncle and coach Toni has insisted that the 12-time Grand Slam champion will ease himself back into his training regime in time for the US Open, which begins on August 26.Rafa will come back. He has no fear of the (hard court) surface - he has nothing more to lose, Toni Nadal told SID, an AFP subsidiary, at the ATP tournament in Stuttgart.Currently Rafa is doing physical training, but no racquet workouts. The break is important - he has played enough.According to his uncle, Nadal, who is at home in Mallorca, will return to the tour on August 5 when he plays at the Montreal Masters, then Cincinnati, which starts August 12, before the US Open in New York.Prior to Wimbledon, Nadal had reached the final of all nine tournaments he had entered since his return from a seven-month injury lay-off, winning seven of them -- including his eighth French Open title and the Masters in Indian Wells.

Haas beats Gulbis, advances to last 8 in Stuttgart Posted: STUTTGART, Germany (AP) - Top-seeded Tommy Haas beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 to join two other Germans in the Mercedes Cup quarterfinals on Thursday.The 35-year-old Haas is the oldest player in the top 100 and is looking for his second title of the year. Haas won another tournament in Germany, in Munich, also on clay.Haas cruised through the first set, but Gulbis bounced back in the second. In the decider, Haas broke serve to win the match as Gulbis slammed a forehand into the net.There are days like that, I could feel that he couldn't find his rhythm in the first set but I was also struggling. This was my first match after Wimbledon, switching from grass to clay, Haas said.In the second, he got some first serves in and they are difficult to return. But I also served well at the end.Haas will next play fifth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy, who overwhelmed Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-1, 6-3.Fourth-seeded Benoit Paire of France also won his second-round match by beating Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-3, 6-1.Paire's quarterfinal opponent will be Victor Hanescu of Romania, who beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-1, 6-4.Hanescu leveled his record against Bellucci to 1-1.Paire advanced to the quarterfinals in Stuttgart for the first time, having twice lost in the second round previously.In other quarterfinals, Michael Berrer of Germany faces Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, while second-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany meets Gael Monfils of France.

Berdych, Almagro make last 8 at Swedish Open Posted: BASTAD (AP) - Top seeds Tomas Berdych and Nicolas Almagro began the Swedish Open by reaching the quarterfinals on Thursday.Berdych and Almagro received first-round byes, and had contrasting wins.Almagro, a three-time finalist in Bastad, got off to a rough start against fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez but rallied to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.His next opponent, Fernando Verdasco, also of Spain, beat Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets.Berdych, the No. 1 seed in the clay-court tournament, easily defeated Argentine Martin Alund 6-3, 6-0. It was the Czech's first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.Next up for Berdych is Thiemo De Bakker, the Dutchman who survived two match points before eliminating Viktor Troicki of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6).

Rooney suffers hamstring injury, out for month Posted: BANGKOK (AFP) - Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will be out of action for a month after sustaining a hamstring injury on the club's tour of Asia.Rooney suffered the problem during a training session on Thursday and when scans showed there was no chance he would be able to play during the tour, the England star was sent home to start his rehabilitation.Following a scan this evening on a hamstring injury sustained in training, it has been decided Wayne Rooney should return home immediately for further assessment and rehabilitation, United said in a statement.The 27-year-old now faces a race against time to recover for the start of United's Premier League title defence.United are due to compete in the Community Shield against Wigan at Wembley on August 11 and then travel to Swansea for their league opener on August 17.In between those two fixtures, England manager Roy Hodgson would have hoped to have Rooney available for a high-profile friendly against Scotland at Wembley on August 14.Rooney's injury setback comes just a day after new United manager David Moyes revealed club staff had told him the forward had returned for pre-season training in his best shape for years.His absence is the first significant setback for Moyes and comes just hours after the champions landed in Bangkok on Thursday morning.Moyes and his squad went straight to their hotel for a short rest ahead of what turned out to be Rooney's single training session.The United boss had hoped to use the tour to cement his relationship with Rooney, who worked with Moyes at Everton but has reportedly been considering making a formal transfer request following his spell out of favour during Alex Ferguson's final season in charge at Old Trafford.Moyes has made it clear that Rooney is not for sale but there has still been no word from the player about his intentions.Chelsea, Arsenal and Paris Saint Germain are all said to be interested in Rooney, who has two years remaining on his 250,000-a-week contract and is at a point when negotiations over an extension would normally begin.There is also the thorny issue of Ferguson's declaration last season that Rooney had indeed demanded a transfer, something the player has privately denied.Moyes is already without captain Nemanja Vidic, who was a surprise absentee from the United squad when they left England on Wednesday.Vidic is battling to overcome a sciatica problem and Moyes is keen for the 31-year-old to rest the problem before deciding on whether to fly the centre-half out for subsequent fixtures in Australia, Japan and Hong Kong.Those big-name absences have lent an air of chaos to United's tour, with Moyes due to speak on Friday ahead of his side's opening game against the Singha All Stars on Saturday.

Kittel wins stage 12 of Tour; Froome keeps lead Posted: TOURS (AP) - Marcel Kittel overtook Mark Cavendish at the line to win the 12th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, while Chris Froome avoided a late crash to protect his big lead.Cavendish attacked first but Kittel's late burst got him to the finish first by half a wheel to earn his second stage win in three days, and third of this race.As we say in Germany, good things come in three, Kittel said. It was a real sprint today, that's why I'm so happy.German riders have won five stages so far with Tony Martin winning Wednesday's time trial and Andre Greipel also winning a sprint stage. Beating Cavendish for pure speed, a rare feat, will further boost Kittel's confidence.It's a big achievement for me, my team, and for German sprinters as well, Kittel said.It has been a nervy Tour so far and about 20 riders were caught in a crash near the end. Froome's Sky teammate, Edvald Boasson Hagen, broke his right shoulder blade and dropped out of the tour. Froome was close enough to hear the crash but just far ahead enough to avoid it.It's always like that at the end before a sprint, Froome said. It's scary for everyone.Froome still leads Alejandro Valverde by 3 minutes, 25 seconds and is 3:54 ahead of two-time former champion Alberto Contador.At the moment I'm trying to save as much energy as possible for Mont Ventoux at the end of the week and then the Alps next week, said Froome, who dominated the first big mountain stage of the race in the Pyrenees last Saturday.Mont Ventoux will be the next really hard day for the general classification, he added.While Froome is firmly on track to become the second British rider to ever win the race Bradley Wiggins won it ahead of Froome last year countryman Cavendish has had a frustrating race.The Tour's best sprinter two years ago, he looked well set to clinch his 25th career stage win as his Omega Pharma QuickStep teammate Gert Steegmans got him in a great position.Surprisingly, Cavendish did not have the legs to hold on.I could jump onto his wheel and it worked out really well for us, Kittel said. I'm very proud of that victory. I showed today that I can beat the best sprinters.Cavendish did not look for excuses.I can go back and look over it but he was just faster, he said. (My teammates) delivered me at the right time. I was just beaten by a better guy.Peter Sagan finished third and holds a comfortable 96-point lead in his bid to retain the best sprinters' green jersey. Cavendish was second, Greipel third and Kittel fourth.The peloton rolled through vineyards and alongside the Chinon forest on a 218-kilometer (135.5-mile) route from Fougeres to Tours in the Loire valley, a picturesque region dotted with imposing chateaux such as the spiral-towered Chateau d'Usse, which dates from the 11th century, and the 16th century Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau, which rests on the water.Keen to keep their riders near the front of the main pack and limit the risk of crashes, Froome's Sky and Contador's Saxo-Tinkoff squads took turns pushing from the front.That is the best position to be in because there are crashes everywhere, Froome said. I did hear the crash behind me.Saxo-Tinkoff tried to pull away with about five kilometers (three miles) left, but Ian Stannard helped Froome catch them.Moments later, Norwegian rider Boasson Hagen's tour ended when he was the worst affected in a pile-up of 20-odd riders who were sent flying backwards, upwards and sideways off their bikes.It's a real shame for Edvald and a setback for the team, Sky manager Dave Brailsford said. But ultimately we're still confident that, with the riders we've got left, we can pull together and see the race through.Then, with the finish in sight, Froome survived a delicate moment when he appeared to be nudged by Tom Veelers.I must have hit 10 guys on the run-in today, Froome said. That's the way it is.

Study: Distant quakes can affect oil, gas fields Posted: LOS ANGELES (AP) - The powerful earthquake that rocked Japan in 2011 set off tremors around a West Texas oil field, according to new research that suggests oil and gas drilling operations may make fault zones sensitive to shock waves from distant big quakes.It's long been known that large quakes can trigger minor jolts thousands of miles from the epicenter. Volcanically active spots like Yellowstone National Park often experience shaking after a large distant event.Less is known about the influence of remote quakes on fault lines that have been weakened by man-made activity like the deep disposal of wastewater at the Texas oil field. A new study led by researchers at Columbia University and published Friday in the journal Science suggests a strong quake that strikes halfway around the globe can set off small to mid-size quakes near injection wells in the U.S. heartland.The seismic waves act as the straw that breaks the camel's back, pushing the faults that last little bit toward an earthquake, lead researcher Nicholas van der Elst said in an email.There has been heightened scrutiny in recent years of quakes near industrial areas as drilling is ramped up to satisfy the country's energy hunger. Research has shown that wastewater disposal the process of pumping fluids deep into the ground at high pressures can weaken nearby fault lines and even produce quakes big enough to be felt. The controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which uses high-pressure mixtures of water, sand and chemicals to extract natural gas or oil, also can trigger quakes, but they're typically microquakes smaller than magnitude-2.By poring through the quake archives, van der Elst and colleagues found evidence that faults near wastewater injection sites were loaded with stress when ripples from a faraway earthquake traveled around the planet.They contend:The magnitude-9 Japan quake set off a swarm in the West Texas town of Snyder, where oil extraction has caused shaking in the past.The magnitude-8.8 Chile quake in 2010 triggered a magnitude-4.1 in Oklahoma home of active injection wells.The Chile quake also set off a series of small quakes in the Colorado town of Trinidad near the New Mexico state line known for extracting natural gas from coal beds.In those instances, the triggered seismic activity was followed months later by a moderate quake and researchers say that could be a warning sign of stress on the fault. The triggered events are too small to relieve all the stress and some of that stress can be transferred to nearby faults, making a future larger event more likely, said van der Elst.Not all sites near injection wells showed increased shaking after a strong distant quake. The team found the most affected areas were places where pumping has been going on for decades.University of Utah mechanical engineer Sidney Green called the results interesting but rather speculative and said they need more study.If the observations bear out, it could help oil and gas operators know where it's safe to inject and where it's not, said Julie Shemeta, a geophysicist and president of Colorado-based MEQ Geo Inc., a consulting company.Despite a history of man-made quakes near wastewater injection sites, only a small number of the country's 30,000 disposal wells are a problem, said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist William Ellsworth, who published an article in the journal reviewing the state of research.Ellsworth said fracking does not pose a high risk for triggering quakes strong enough to feel. The largest man-made quake linked to fracking was a magnitude-3.6 in British Columbia in 2009.In a third quake-related paper appearing in Science, researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, found increased seismic activity over a 30-year period around a Southern California geothermal plant located near the San Andreas Fault. The plant pumps water in and out of an underground reservoir to make steam that drives turbines.Lead author Emily Brodsky said she has come up with a way to determine the rate of quakes from pumping at the site and plans to test the method at other geothermal plants.

'Dead' candidate elected in south Mexico village Posted: MEXICO CITY (AP) - Prosecutors are investigating how a man certified as dead got elected mayor of a village in southern Mexico.Authorities say relatives of Lenin Carballido used a death certificate showing that he died of a diabetic coma in 2010 to convince police to drop an arrest warrant against him for allegedly participating in a 2004 gang rape.A living Carballido later ran in, and narrowly won, Sunday's election in San Agustin Amatengo in Oaxaca state. In his campaign, he posted photos of himself all around the village of 1,400 residents, with slogans like A Real Change and United for Development.But shortly after his victory, the death certificate surfaced with his full name of Leninguer Carballido.Officials in Oaxaca said Thursday that the certificate had been drawn up and signed by a public registry official, but that the information had been faked.Carballido's party, the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, known as the PRD, said it had been fooled by the candidate.When he registered as a candidate, he presented all his paperwork, his birth certificate, a letter stating he had no criminal record, said Rey Morales, the state leader of the PRD. He fooled the prosecutors office, he fooled the office of records, he fooled electoral officials.If all this is true, he cannot take office as mayor, said Morales.Haydee Reyes Soto, the director of the Oaxaca public records office, said the registry official who drew up the fake death certificate used a real official form, signed it and stamped it with an official seal, and even listed it under a file number used to record a real death.The form is real, what is false is the information, Reyes Soto said, adding the decision has already been made to fire the official, Abel de la Rosa Santos, who is also being questioned by prosecutors.According to records, a woman accused of Carballido and four other men of having raped her in Oaxaca city in 2004.Mayra Ricardez, spokeswoman for the Oaxaca state prosecutors' office, said the arrest warrant against Carballido was never served, because his family showed officers a false death certificate.Ricardez said the statute of limitations had not run out on the crime.The prosecutors' office is taking all the legal steps necessary to revive the case and serve the arrest warrant that is still pending, she said.It seems unlikely that Carballido will be able to take office in San Agustin Amatengo, an impoverished village near the city of Oaxaca where many residents left in the 2000s to seek work in the United States and elsewhere.Carballido didn't answer his cellphone Thursday.One San Agustin Amatengo official, who said he could not speak on the record about a criminal case, said residents hadn't been aware of the candidate's past; the rape did not take place in the village.All of this came out after the elections were over, the official said.It's not the first time that embarrassing candidates have been elected in Mexico.In 2009, a PRD candidate went fugitive after winning a seat in Mexico's Congress, when tapes surfaced of a conversation between him and a drug lord. And congressional candidates have often been caught running for seats in districts where they don't really live.

Dollar extends fall on Bernanke comments Posted: NEW YORK (AFP) - The dollar fell on Thursday for the second day in a row after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke championed the Fed's easy-money policy.The euro was at $1.3092 around 2100 GMT, up from $1.2988 at the same time on Wednesday.In intraday trade, the euro hit $1.3207, its highest level in nearly three weeks.The dollar also fell against the Japanese currency, to 98.90 yen from 99.72 yen late Wednesday.The euro, meanwhile, was unchanged at 129.50 yen.The US dollar pared the sharp decline sparked by the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, but we may see a larger correction ahead of the next FOMC interest rate decision on July 31 as the central bank head continues to endorse a highly accommodative policy stance, said David Song at DailyFX.Bernanke's comments on Wednesday -- signaling an accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future -- deepened the mystery over the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee's timetable for easing its QE stimulus, pushing traders who had bet on a higher dollar to unwind their positions, analysts said.Some traders expect the FOMC to begin tapering the Fed's $85 billion-a-month bond purchases in September.It is important to realize that Bernanke said nothing to change the prospect of a reduction in asset purchases this year, said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management, who is predicting a September pullback.The dollar weakened against other major currencies, falling to 0.9468 Swiss franc from 0.9583 franc.The pound rose to $1.5185 from $1.5034 the prior day.

Dhoni blasts India to tri-series title Posted: PORT-OF-SPAIN (AP) - Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit an unbeaten 45 off 52 balls to give India a thrilling one-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the Celkon Mobile Cup final at Queen's Park Oval on Thursday.Dhoni, returning from an injured hamstring, shared a last-wicket stand of 20 with Ishant Sharma as India reached its winning target at 203-9 with two balls to spare.Opener Rohit Sharma anchored the run chase with 58 off 89 deliveries while Suresh Raina (32) and Dinesh Karthik (23) scored crucial middle order runs.Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was Sri Lanka's trump card with a career-best 4-20. Fast bowler Shaminda Eranga claimed 2-50 but was pounded for two sixes and a four by Dhoni, who scored 16 in the decisive final over.Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara's top-score of 71 led Sri Lanka but its last eight wickets subsided for 30 runs and it was bowled out for 201 off 48.5 overs.Dhoni said he was always confident of getting his side over the line despite the tense finish.I think I'm blessed with good cricketing sense, he said.I thought 15 runs was something I can look for, the reason being the opposition bowler was not someone who was very experienced like (Lasith) Malinga or some of the other bowlers. I thought rather than taking chances against a Malinga or a (Angelo) Mathews, I would take it to the end and take a chance against someone who is not so experienced. It worked and I'm happy it worked.Dhoni changed his bat for the final flourish.It was a very heavy bat that was needed at that point of time. The weight of the bat was perfect for slogging, he said.India's run chase was set back early by Eranga, who claimed two early wickets with the new ball.Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli both fell to outside edges to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara. Left-hander Dhawan (16) got a big nick while Kohli (2) feathered a drive to leave India on 27-2 in the 11th over.Rohit Sharma and Karthik rebuilt in a 50-run third wicket stand. Karthik edged a cut hard to slip but India consolidated with Rohit finding another solid ally in Raina, the pair adding 62 for the fourth wicket before Herath turned the match on its head by ripping through the middle order.Sharma hit five fours and a six before he was bowled playing back to a Herath delivery which crept along the ground.Suranga Lakmal also chipped in with the wicket of Raina, who edged a big drive, and the innings was in crisis. India was 152-7 in the 38th over.India fell further behind when Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0) and Vinay Kumar fell to Malinga and Mathews respectively. India needed 20 off 22 deliveries.Dhoni, who turned 32 four days ago, had been ruled out of the series when he strained a hamstring just over a week ago in Jamaica. But he batted with typical calm to see his side through.Earlier, the Sri Lankan innings was in good shape at 171-2 in the 38th over before Ashwin, Jadeja and Ishant Sharma inspired the decline.Bhuvneshwar Kumar had made two early strikes after Dhoni won the toss and chose to bowl.The seamer claimed both openers in a lengthy opening spell. Upul Tharanga (11) was first to go, at 29-1 in the seventh over, advancing down the pitch but only inside edging his aggressive stroke through to wicketkeeper Dhoni.Jayawardene followed at 49-2 when he chased a wide outswinger and provided an easy catch for Ashwin at slip.Sangakkara and Thirimanne had a bit of luck early as they forged a third-wicket stand of122 to tilt the balance towards Sri Lanka.Thirimanne was just on 2 when he was dropped by Ashwin at slip off Ishant Sharma, while Sangakkara was 23 when Suresh Raina grassed a difficult return catch.Veteran Sangakkara went past Sourav Ganguly into sixth place in the leading run-scorers in one-dayers when he reached 9 and played a masterful knock to anchor the innings.Thirimanne was less fluent but they put their team in a fine position before the dramatic late collapse. Dhoni claimed three stumpings as Jadeja ran through the lower order.

Australia's Agar lights up Ashes Posted: NOTTINGHAM (AFP) - Teenage Australia debutant Ashton Agar fell agonisingly short of becoming the first Test match No 11 to score a century as he frustrated England with a record-breaking 98 on the second day of the Ashes opener at Trent Bridge on Thursday.It seemed England would have a commanding first innings lead as Australia collapsed to 117 for nine in reply to the Ashes-holders' first innings 215.But 19-year-old Agar went on to make the highest score by any Test No 11, surpassing Tino Best's 95 for the West Indies against England at Edgbaston last year.Together with fellow left-hander Phil Hughes (81 not out), Agar shared a 10th wicket Test record partnership of 163 to take Australia to 280.That topped the previous last wicket record stand of 151 held jointly by Brian Hastings and Richard Collinge for New Zealand against Pakistan at Auckland in 1972/73 and Azhar Mahmood and Mushtaq Ahmed for Pakistan against South Africa at Rawalpindi in 1997/98.Left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc then followed up by taking two wickets in successive balls to leave England floundering at 11 for two.But England captain Alastair Cook (37 not out) and Kevin Pietersen (35 not out) rebuilt the innings with an unbroken stand of 69 that left the hosts 80 for two at stumps -- a lead of 15 runs.When I walked to the crease I was thinking we were in a little bit of trouble but the wicket was good, Agar told BBC Radio's Test Match Special after stumps.I have always tried to play freely and naturally and I don't really get too nervous. There are a lot of people who would love to be doing what I'm doing.Australia resumed Thursday on 75 for four, a deficit of 140 runs, after an overcast first day where seamer Peter Siddle rocked England with five for 50.But Thursday saw sunshine and blue skies which promised better batting conditions for Steven Smith, 38 not out overnight, and Hughes.James Anderson, who on Wednesday had gone past England fast bowling great Fred Trueman's record of 307 Test wickets, made the breakthrough Thursday on his way to an innings return of five wickets fir Smith, driving loosely at Anderson, gaining reverse-swing, was caught behind by wicket-keeper Matt Prior for 53.This was the start of an Australia collapse that saw five wickets lost for nine runs.Agar did survive a desperately close stumping appeal from Prior off spinner Graeme Swann on six, with Australia then 131 for nine -- 84 runs adrift -- as third umpire Marais Erasmus eventually ruled in his favour.Agar, a shock selection for this Test after playing just 10 first-class matches for Western Australia with a highest score of 71 not out, then cashed in with shots reminiscent of India's Yuvraj Singh including two magnificent straight sixes off Swann.But, in sight of a century, Agar -- recently playing club cricket for southern English side Henley -- pulled Stuart Broad to Swann at deep midwicket to end a two-and-quarter hour innings of 101 balls including 12 fours and two sixes.I tried to hit that last ball a little flatter, I was a little disappointed not to get a hundred but I didn't think I would get 98 when I walked out there so I can't complain too much, Agar said.England then saw Joe Root caught down the legside by wicketkeeper Brad Haddin off Starc and next ball Jonathan Trott was given not out by Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar after a raucous lbw appeal.Australia reviewed the decision and, with the technology at his disposal not detecting an edge, Erasmus instructed the decision be reversed.Tea was then taken with England 11 for two, a deficit of 54 runs, and Starc on a hat-trick.But Pietersen survived the hat-trick immediately after the resumption as Starc bowled a wayward delivery.Cook and Pietersen carefully repaired the damage. Agar, in his primary role as a left-arm spinner, saw Pietersen, on 25, edge him into Haddin's pads.But next ball Pietersen cover-drove Agar, originally added to the squad as a 'development' player for just the first two Tests, to the boundary as the bowler found wickets harder to come by than runs.

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