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Thursday, June 18, 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Blasts claimed by IS kill 31 at Shiite sites in Yemen

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SANAA (AFP) - At least 31 people were killed Wednesday and dozens wounded in five simultaneous bombings claimed by the Islamic State group at Shiite mosques and offices in the Yemeni capital, medics and witnesses said.IS, a Sunni Muslim radical group, said the attacks were in revenge against the Shiite Huthis, who have overrun Sanaa and much of the Sunni majority country and whom it considers to be heretics.The attacks came as the United Nations struggled to push forward peace talks between Yemens exiled government and the Iran-backed rebels in Geneva.They also come almost three months after IS carried out multiple bombings against Shiite mosques, killing 142 people. Two car bombs targeted mosques, while a third hit the house of the head of the Huthi rebels politburo, Saleh al-Sammad, witnesses and security officials said.The IS statement said the nearby politburo office was the target.One of the car bombs targeted the house of Huthi leader Taha al-Mutawakel and the adjacent Al-Hashush mosque, which was targeted in the March bombings.The other car bomb hit the Al-Quba Al-Khadra mosque in the central Hayel district, which is frequented by Huthi supporters. Bombs also went off at two other mosques -- Al-Kibssi and Al-Tayssir in Al-Ziraa district, with all the attacks timed to coincide with Muslim sunset prayers.Witnesses said the bombs were planted near the entrances to the mosques, and exploded as worshippers flocked in for the prayers, on the eve of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. At the time of the March bombings, an IS statement described the attacks as just the tip of the iceberg.That carnage drew widespread condemnation, including from IS rival Al-Qaeda, whose affiliate in Yemen issued a statement saying it had nothing to do with the bombings.The Huthis overran Sanaa in September and have since expanded their control across several regions, aided by troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.They pushed UN-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi into exile after advancing in March onto his refuge in the southern port city of Aden, triggering ongoing battles with southern fighters.In March, Saudi Arabia assembled an Arab coalition that launched an air campaign against the rebels.On Wednesday, the United Nations was struggling to get peace talks in Geneva moving, with the two sides accusing each other of trying to sabotage the process.In other unrest, nine people were killed and 76 wounded, including civilians and southern fighters in rebel bombing of three Aden neighbourhoods, the local health authority said.Clashes on the northern and western outskirts of Aden continued, while coalition warplanes intervened in support of southern fighters defending the city, an official said.Meanwhile, the humanitarian and health situations in the port city keep deteriorating. Most resident have no access to basic treatment for diseases caused by poor hygiene, such as malaria, typhoid and dengue fever, which are spreading fast across the city.The situation is precarious and sanitary conditions are deplorable, particularly after the spread of infectious diseases in Aden, said Saleh al-Dubahi, head of the epidemiological surveillance service for dengue fever at Al-Breihi hospital. The situation is very serious and could become catastrophic if someone doesnt intervene quickly. Cholera, typhoid fever and diarrhoea could soon wreak havoc and increase peoples suffering, he added.

UN struggles to get Yemen peace talks off the ground

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GENEVA (AFP) - The United Nations was scrambling Wednesday to get Yemen peace talks in Geneva moving with both the exiled government and the Iran-backed Yemeni rebels accusing each other of trying to sabotage the process.The third day of the high stakes talks, launched by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with an appeal for a badly-needed two-week humanitarian truce, also stumbled over the makeup of the different delegations.The only positive point so far is that the negotiations are continuing and that no delegation has slammed the door, said a Western diplomat close to the talks.The UN special envoy for Yemen, Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has urged the warring sides to bend down, stressing the dire situation in Yemen. More than 2,600 people have been killed in the fighting since March and about 21 million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid.But the positions of the two warring sides are so divergent that they are not sitting in the same room and the UN is holding separate consultations with them.In a situation like this, the Yemenis need to talk among themselves, not with the United Nations, Ould Cheikh Ahmed said.He also said late Tuesday that the talks so far had focused on trying to get the rebels to whittle down their team from 22 to the pre-agreed 10.We believe that in order to commence, the numbers need to be reduced and there has to be a balance between the two teams, he said.The rebels rejected that their delegation size was a sticking point.The question of the number of delegates is not a problem, Faiwa Sayed, a leader of the General Peoples Congress, the former ruling party which is still headed by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.Our main demand is that the UN consider these talks as consultations between different Yemeni political parties, and not between different camps, Sayed told AFP.The exiled governments delegation was also shrouded in controversy after it became apparent that a man on the US blacklist of suspected Al-Qaeda supporters was on its team.Abdel Wahab al-Humayqani, who heads the hardline Islamist Al-Rashad party in Yemen, took part in the opening of the peace talks in the Swiss city on Monday, where he was photographed with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.Humayqani, who was added to the US blacklist in December 2013 suspected of financing Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also figures on a list of delegates of the government in exile, as a representative of Al-Rashad.He has denied the US allegations.The government delegation met Wednesday morning with a group of 16 diplomats from large powers within the EU and the Gulf countries, who are following the talks.As a sign of the chaos surrounding the talks, Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin and other delegation members, including Humayqani, marched into a scheduled news conference at the UN in Geneva and told a room full of journalists the conference was postponed because we want these consultations to succeed. Ould Cheikh Ahmed has insisted that just getting the two sides to Geneva at the same time was an achievement.Beyond being in the same city though, neither side has shown any signs they are prepared to budge on the issues. Yassin repeated the exiled governments stand that a rebel pullout was non-negotiable.The rebels control a vast swath of territory, including the capital Sanaa.On Tuesday they accused Saudi Arabia, behind coalition airstrikes on the country since March 26, of trying to torpedo the peace talks.And Abdulmalek al-Huthi, the leader of the Shiite rebels who bear his name, said the government was trying to use the UN special envoy as a tool.Yemen has been wracked by conflict between Iran-backed Shiite rebels and troops loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia in February.

Suu Kyi says Rohingya issue needs careful handling

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - In rare comments on Myanmars persecuted Rohingya Muslims, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi urged caution on granting citizenship to minorities, saying the sensitive issue must be addressed very, very carefully.The Myanmar government is reviewing citizenship status and should go about it very quickly and very transparently and then decide what the next steps in the process should be, she told The Washington Post.But in an interview published online late Tuesday, Suu Kyi dodged a direct question on whether the Rohingya -- who have triggered international outcry as they flee the country on rickety boats in their thousands -- should be given citizenship.The protection of rights of minorities is an issue which should be addressed very, very carefully and as quickly and effectively as possible, and Im not sure the government is doing enough about it, she said.It is such a sensitive issue, and there are so many racial and religious groups, that whatever we do to one group may have an impact on other groups as well, she stressed.So this is an extremely complex situation, and not something that can be resolved overnight.The plight of the Rohingya, one of the worlds most persecuted minorities, has worsened dramatically since 2012, when communal bloodshed left scores dead and some 140,000 people confined in miserable camps in Rakhine state.The violence triggered a wave of deadly anti-Muslim unrest in Myanmar and coincided with rising Buddhist nationalism that has further entrenched animosity toward the minority widely viewed as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.In recent months, images of starving, desperate migrants hauled from vessels to Southeast Asian shores have spurred calls for immediate humanitarian action.But pro-democracy icon and Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, who became a beacon of hope during decades of house arrest under the military junta, has been accused of failing to speak up for the countrys powerless as she campaigns for elections due in November.We have many minorities in this country, and Im always talking up for the right of minorities and peace and harmony, and for equality, she told the Post, speaking after a landmark visit to China.And she insisted in Rakhine the government has not done enough to lessen the tension and to remove sources of the conflict.Buddhist hardliners want the estimated 1.3 million Rohingya expelled from Myanmar. And neither the government nor opposition parties have shown much appetite to confront communal tensions for fear of alienating Buddhist voters ahead of the polls.Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) party is expected to sweep the elections, but she is barred from the presidency under a constitutional provision excluding those with a foreign spouse or children from the top job.Suu Kyi, whose husband was British, told the Post she believed the government is totally opposed to constitutional amendment that could pave the way to the presidency.After long being an international pariah due to the military junta, Myanmar has embarked on a series of reforms bringing it back into the diplomatic fold.We do worry that the reforms will turn out to be a total illusion, and we think that we need more concrete steps to ensure that the democratization process is what it was meant to be, Suu Kyi added.

Pentagon chief: Iraq not sending enough forces for training

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Secretary of Defense called out Baghdad Wednesday to send more recruits to American-run training camps, as Iraq struggles to battle the Islamic State group with a weakened military.Plans to train some 24,000 Iraqi security forces by the fall are falling short, as only enough trainees for 7,000 troops and 2,000 anti-terrorist forces have enrolled for training, Defense chief Ashton Carter said while speaking before the House Armed Services Committee.As Ive told Iraqi leaders, while the United States is open to supporting Iraq more than we already are, we must see a greater commitment from all parts of the Iraqi government, Carter said.Iraqs military has been weakened and suffered from poor morale ever since multiple divisions collapsed in the face of an offensive by the Islamic State radical group last year.Shiite militias and Kurdish forces have been called on to stand in for the Iraqi military during offensives attempting to reclaim territory from IS.Carter and General Martin Dempsey, the US militarys top officer, told the House committee that they have not ruled out increasing US troop support for Iraq.But they said such a boost requires the Iraqi military brings a more substantial force to battle IS, which holds large swaths of the north and west of the country.Introducing more American troops is a subject the US will need to revisit as those forces are actually produced, Carter said.US forces could bolster offensives, such as a much discussed Mosul campaign, but Dempsey stressed that such support should not be a crutch for the Iraqi government.The introduction of those resources should not be done on a habitual basis because we want them to understand this is their fight, Dempsey said.I would not recommend that we put US forces in harms way simply to stiffen the spine of local forces, he said. If their spine is not stiffened by the threat of ISIL on their way of life, nothing we do is going to stiffen their spine, Dempsey using another acronym for IS.President Barack Obama decided to send 450 additional troops to Iraq, bringing the total US force in the country to about 3,550. Those forces, including 50 military advisers, are confined to consulting and training missions.They will be based at the Taqaddum Air Base, to help Iraqi forces retake the city of Ramadi in the Sunni province of Al-Anbar.

British, Indian soldiers hurt as troop carriers collide

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LONDON (AFP) - Around 20 British and Indian military personnel were wounded, at least four seriously, in a collision between three troop carriers in southwest England on Wednesday, officials said.Four or five of the wounded were left with life-changing injuries following the crash on Salisbury Plain, police said, which came as the British and Indian armies conducted a joint exercise in the area.A Ministry of Defence spokesman in London said he understood that both British and Indian forces were among those hurt, adding the incident would be duly investigated.The local Wiltshire Police said that the crash happened near one of the main battle camps on Salisbury Plain and was reported to them at 6:30 pm (1730 GMT).We had reports of four to five people with life-changing injuries and approximately 16 others walking wounded, it added in a statement.A post on the Indian Armys Facebook page before the incident Wednesday said the two armies were currently carrying out a joint exercise called Ajeya Warrior to enhance their ability to undertake joint tactical level operations in (a) counter insurgency/counter terrorism environment.Salisbury Plain, a 300-square-mile (780-square-kilometre) area of land which includes the prehistoric stone circle at Stonehenge, is owned by the Ministry of Defence and is Britains biggest military training area.

Tennis: Federer stays on track for eighth Halle title

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HALLE (AFP) - Roger Federer kept his chances of an eighth title at Halle on track when he overpowered Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday to breeze into the quarter-finals. The 33-year-old, 17-time Grand Slam winner was pushed to three sets in the previous round by German hope Philipp Kohlschreiber but had fewer problems with Gulbis. He will now meet Germanys Florian Mayer who defeated American Steve Johnson 6-3, 7-6 (7/4). Defending champion Federer has reached the final of the last nine editions of the grasscourt Wimbledon tune-up, winning seven.The iconic Swiss right-hander took advantage of one of his two break opportunites to snatch the first set and never looked back as he broke at 6-5 in the second to set up a winning chance. He closed out the match in style as he improved his record for the season to 30 wins against six defeats just days after losing a Roland Garros quarter-final against eventual champion and compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka. Federer has won 85 tournaments in a glittering career including three this season at Brisbane, Dubai and Istanbul.

Tennis: Lisicki fires record 27 aces

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BIRMINGHAM (AFP) - Big-serving German Sabine Lisicki blasted 27 aces in her second round Birmingham triumph over Belinda Bencic on Wednesday, a new record for a WTA tournament.Former Wimbledon finalist Lisicki hit 16 aces in the first set and 11 more in the second set to enter the record books for most aces in one match.Its nice to have another record, said the 25-year-old German after her 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) win over the Swiss teenager.Its obviously a good weapon to have on grass. And I love playing on grass.Lisicki, the 2011 Birmingham champion and 2013 Wimbledon runner-up, added: Its always special to come back to a tournament youve won before, but its not only that. All the memories I have playing in England, winning here and doing so well at Wimbledon -- its all so nice.Lisicki goes on to face Magdalena Rybarikova for a place in the quarter-finals in Birmingham.Before Wednesday, Estonias Kaia Kanepi hit 24 aces in a match in Tokyo in 2008 while Serena Williams also unleashed 24 in one Wimbledon tie in 2012.

Tennis: Wawrinka backs Djokovic for Wimbledon

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LONDON (AFP) - French Open champion Stan Wawrinka expects Novak Djokovic to bounce back from his Roland Garros heartache by successfully defending the Wimbledon title.Wawrinka handed Djokovic one of the most painful defeats of his career earlier this month when he denied the world number one a career Grand Slam by defeating him in the final in Paris.And, with Wimbledon getting underway later this month, Swiss star Wawrinka was asked who he would back for the All England Club title other than himself.And the 30-year-old made it clear he would put his money on defending champion Djokovic ahead of seven-time winner Roger Federer, 2013 champion Andy Murray and two-time winner Rafael Nadal.Novak is No. 1. Hes been playing so well and especially this year, Wawrinka told reporters at Queens Club following his second round defeat against Kevin Anderson on Wednesday.Im sure after losing the French Open final he wants more, he wants to come back and win the next big one.So he won last year. We all know that when hes playing his best tennis hes really good.But Wawrinka refuses to rule out Federer and Murray.Even if Roger lost few matches this year, Im sure hes going to be ready for the grass, said Wawrinka.Also, I think with him, with his confidence, if he can get through the first week or something, playing well, then hes going to be tough to beat.And Andy because he loves grass, playing at home, already won Wimbledon. Hes playing really well this year.After winning two of the last six Grand Slam titles and reaching the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time last year, world number four Wawrinka knows he cant be written off either.I still think that I can play my best game on grass. If I can play well at the beginning of Wimbledon, I can do a great job, he added.

Tennis: Anxious Azarenka suffers yet another blow

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BIRMINGHAM (AFP) - Victoria Azarenka, the two-time Grand Slam winner who once seemed capable of becoming Serena Williamss successor, suffered another of a seemingly endless sequence of injuries when she was forced to withdraw from the Birmingham grass court Open.These have already contributed to a two-year drought of titles, the loss of the number one ranking in 2013, and a fall from the top ten last year. This latest setback further emphasises the extent of the threat to her career.Azarenkas departure after only one match of this high quality warm-up event weakens her chances at Wimbledon, the grass court Grand Slam, which starts the week after next.Once again her problem is a left foot injury, one of the ailments which sent her plummeting down the rankings during 2014, and which is proving depressingly difficult to deal with.Its very disappointing for me to make this decision but I tried to practise and it just doesnt feel one hundred percent, Azarenka said through a prepared statement.I dont think it is the right time for me to take a risk right now, especially right before Wimbledon, and I need to make sure I have the best preparation possible.Azarenka added that she hoped to return here when fully fit. However, it was evident on Tuesday after a far from convincing victory over Varvara Lepchenko, the sixth best American, that she became tense while answering questions about her future, and perhaps significant that she declined to talk about her fitness on Wednesday.Even with 11 days in which to recover and prepare, it is now hard to see her doing well at Wimbledon. At the age of only 25, however, there may still be time to find a solution to her ailments.Earlier, Ana Ivanovic, who won the first grass court title of her career here last year, relinquished it at the first hurdle this year when she lost to qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito.The world number seven from Serbia gained her highest ranking for more than six years after a great French Open earlier this month, but was beaten 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) by a US-based Portuguese player ranked outside the top 100.Ivanovic even had a chance to serve for the match at 5-4 in the final set, but saw her opponent play a superb game to break back. After that de Brito played increasingly like a player with little to lose, striking some crucially potent blows in the deciding tie-break.Her timing was excellent and her feeling for the need to take calculated risks on a well manicured but lush surface was more ingrained than the champions.Ivanovic felt coming through qualifying had helped her opponent.Its tough playing someone who already had a few matches on the grass, said Ivanovic, who was making the most difficult transition of all on the tour, from clay to grass.Today I started really bad until I found my rhythm and so on. Her ball was staying very, very low, so I struggled with it a little bit at times.I was really disappointed I couldnt hold my serve in the third set. I think getting a win and moving on to the next one, it would be a different game next match. But its always tough, that change (of surface).It was all the more a surprising result because Ivanovic appeared to have worked her way out of trouble, after the flat-hitting and ambitious 22-year-old had broken serve early and clung on to the advantage well.After taking five games in a row from 3-3 in the second set with some forceful baseline blows, the champion appeared to be motoring to victory, but was surprised by the strength of resistance when she attempted to close it out at 5-4.After that de Brito was dangerously aggressive most of the time, earning two match points at 6-4 in the tie-break, both of which Ivanovic saved bravely. However she relinquished the third at 6-7 with a double fault.I stayed calm, definitely, said de Brito. I held my nerve. Thats one of the things Ive been doing really well, trying to keep it together and not get too upset.

Tennis: Wawrinka latest star to fall at Queen's

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LONDON (AFP) - Stan Wawrinka became the latest star to suffer a shock exit from Queens Club as the French Open champion was beaten 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (13/11) by South Africas Kevin Anderson on Wednesday.Just 24 hours after Rafael Nadals first round defeat against unheralded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, it was Wawrinkas turn to succumb to an unexpected loss at the Wimbledon warm-up event.The Swiss second seed had swept through his first round clash against Australian Nick Kyrgios in just 49 minutes as he looked to follow his memorable final triumph over Novak Djokovic in Paris with his first ever grass-court title.But, in the second round, Wawrinka couldnt find a way to subdue the big-serving Anderson, who fired down 22 aces en route to his first win over a top five ranked opponent this year.I did one big mistake when I had the set point, but thats it. In general he was playing really well, Wawrinka said.I couldnt find a solution. I expected him to miss a few shots, especially when its important. It didnt happen today.Wawrinka had been hoping to extend his winning run to nine matches, but the towering 6ft 8in Anderson had won their last three meetings, all in 2014, and he proved a thorn in the 30-year-olds side again.Hes a terrific player so it means a lot to me, Anderson said.It gives me confidence knowing the guy I beat just won the French Open. To do it on such a great court makes it extra special.A hard-fought first set looked to have swung Wawrinkas way when he secured two set points at 6-5, only for the Swiss to let Anderson off the hook as the 29-year-old raced through the subsequent tie-break.The superstitious Wawrinka was still wearing his lucky pair of garish red, white and grey checked shorts that caused a stir during his triumphant run in Paris, but his fortune took a turn for the worse in the second set.A dramatic second set tie-break saw Wawrinka save five match points and Anderson rescue two set points before the South African finally sealed his win.In the quarter-finals, Anderson will play Spains Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who succeeded where Nadal failed with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) over world number 79 Dolgopolov.French seventh seed Gilles Simon ended Thanasi Kokkinakiss Queens Club debut with a 6-4, 6-2 second round victory over the Australian teenager.Kokkinakis has spent much of this week in the air after making the long flight back to Australia to spend a day at home with his sick grandmother before an unscheduled return to Queens.The highly-rated world number 70 had jetted back to Adelaide to be with his family after the French Open, only to discover on landing that he had been offered a wildcard entry into the Wimbledon warm-up event.Kokkinakis got back on a plane, shrugged off the inevitable jet-lag and captured his first tour-level win on grass against Frances Jeremy Chardy before his exertions caught up with him in a tired display against Simon 24 hours later.Next up for world number 13 Simon in the quarter-finals will be Canadian third seed Milos Raonic, who defeated Frances Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1.Raonic is playing his first tournament for five weeks following foot surgery that forced the world number eight to miss the French Open.The 24-year-old, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals last year, looked a little rusty on his return in a first round three-set win over British wildcard James Ward.Once again Raonic was pushed hard against Gasquet, who secured his 400th career victory in the previous round, but he eventually hit peak form to demolish the world number 19 in the final set.

Football: Spain court probes fraud case against Barca's Neymar

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MADRID (AFP) - A Spanish court Wednesday launched a fraud investigation against Barcelona striker Neymar, a judicial source said, dragging the Brazilian star into a case in which the clubs president faces trial.The National Court admitted a lawsuit alleging corruption and swindling by the star player, his father and his former club Santos linked to the signing of Neymar by Barca in 2013.The case has been brought by a Brazilian investment fund, DIS, which owned part of the transfer rights for the player when he was at Santos, the source told AFP.The 23-year-old helped Barcelona to a stunning triple of Spanish league, cup and Champions League this season, scoring in the final of the latter against Juventus.He was to captain Brazil on Wednesday against Colombia in the Copa America tournament in Chile, hours after news of the investigation emerged.DIS received 6.8 million euros ($7.7 million) out of the total 17.1 million that Barca paid to Santos, but claims it may also be due a share of the overall transfer payments.It accuses Barca of signing a deal with the player that unfairly excluded other clubs and of hiding the true cost of the transfer.Santos have also launched an action in Brazil against Barcelona, the player and his father over alleged irregularities in the deal. The club may also face a further tax fraud enquiry in Brazil, media there have reportedIn a separate lawsuit in Spain, a judge last month ordered Barcelonas president Josep Bartomeu, his predecessor Sandro Rosell and the club itself to stand trial over alleged tax fraud linked to the signing.They have always said they paid a transfer fee of 57 million euros to sign Neymar from Santos.The courts suspect the actual price was more than 83 million euros and that Rosell and Bartomeu hid the real cost from the taxman.The case was shifted from Madrid to a court in Barcelona last month after an appeal was upheld. No date for a trial has been set so far.It is alleged the overall fee was split between a number of different contracts between Barcelona, Santos and Neymar himself.Barcelona stand accused of thereby defrauding the Spanish taxman of 12.7 million euros.Prosecutors have demanded a prison sentence of two years and three months for Bartomeu and seven years for Rosell, as well as a 22.2 million euro fine for the club.The implication of Bartomeu could seriously damage his campaign to be elected to another term as president when club members vote in an election on July 18.On Tuesday, Barcelonas former president Joan Laporta announced he too would run again for the post which he held from 2003 to 2010, a period of on-field success and financial turbulence.Barcelona said in a statement that it reiterates that the performance of the club in this affair was fully in accordance with the law.At Barca, Neymar forms part of one of the most deadly strike forces in football, alongside Uruguayan Luis Suarez and Argentine ace Lionel Messi.In an unrelated case, Messi also faces ongoing legal troubles, having last week lost an appeal over tax fraud charges which could see him go on trial.Messi and his father Jorge have denied charges that they avoided paying 4.6 million euros of tax on earnings from the players image rights from 2007-2009.

FIFA uses top US lawyer to battle corruption storm

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ZURICH (AFP) - FIFA has hired a top American lawyer Jenny Durkan, who was a candidate to become US attorney general, to help in its battle against a corruption storm, officials said Wednesday.Durkan was spoken of as a candidate last year to head the US legal department that has caused the biggest crisis to hit footballs scandal-tainted world body.Quinn Emanuel (QE) are representing FIFA and Jenny Durkan is part of the QE team, a FIFA spokeswoman told AFP.US authorities last month indicated 14 people, including nine top football officials and five sports business executives over tens of millions of dollars of bribes for media rights contracts.Swiss authorities are also investigating the award of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar.Loretta Lynch who was named US Attorney General in place of Eric Holder said that corruption was rampant at FIFA.The storm played a key role in the announcement of FIFA president Sepp Blatter this month that he would step down. Durkan, the first openly gay top prosecution official in the US system, was the US attorney for the western district of Washington state until September last year.In five years in the post the 57-year-old handled major civil rights cases involving Seattle police and cyber crime.She also handled the terrorist case against an American Muslim, Abu Khalid Abdul Latif, who was found guilty of planning a 2011 attack against a military base near Seattle and Ahmed Ressame, an Algerian accused of plotting an attack on Los Angeles airport on the eve of the 2000 millennium.Since January Durkan has been a partner in the Los Angeles based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan which has about 700 lawyers around the world and specialises in international affairs.

Football: Chile's Vidal loses license, stays in Cup after crash

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SANTIAGO (AFP) - Chilean football star Arturo Vidal made a tearful apology Wednesday after he saw his drivers license suspended for crashing his Ferrari while driving under the influence, but he remained on the national team.After spending the night in jail, the Juventus midfielder appeared in court in Santiago, where the judge freed him from custody but suspended his license and ordered him to report to the Chilean consulate in Milan every month under the terms of his release.Vidal, who is home from Italy playing with the Chilean national team in the Copa America, collided with another car late Tuesday as he and his wife, Maria Teresa Matus, returned from a night out at a casino.The accident has upended the South American championship in Chile, where the host nations fans have pinned their hopes on Vidal to help bring them their first-ever continental title.Vidal, who is the leading scorer in the tournament, was briefly taken to hospital along with his wife following the accident, then carted off to jail in the back of a police car.Officials have not disclosed how much alcohol the 28-year-old star had in his blood.The accident left his red Ferrari badly mangled on the drivers side, its airbags deployed.After his court appearance Wednesday morning, Vidal rushed off to Chiles training camp, where he tearfully took responsibility for the accident and apologized to his team and the country.I let everyone down, he said.I want to tell you what happened. Yesterday I went to the casino. I had two drinks, he told journalists, struggling to get his words out.I put my wifes life at risk, a lot of peoples lives at risk. Im very sorry.Vidal does not face jail time because only he and his wife were hurt. He suffered minor injuries and his wife has moderately serious injuries, police Colonel Ricardo Gonzalez told reporters.Chile has a zero tolerance law on drunk driving. On Wednesday the court took Vidals license away pending further investigation. If convicted, his license could be suspended for up to two years.The tone of Vidals apology was markedly different from a YouTube video he posted proclaiming his innocence after the accident.It was not my fault, he said in the recording, thanking his supporters and giving a thumbs up.A video of the accident scene posted online by Santiago radio station Bio Bio showed Vidal combatively exchanging words with police officers.Go ahead and handcuff me, but youre going to shit all over Chile, he said.After a night of hand-wringing for Chilean fans, coach Jorge Sampaoli said he would not suspend the star.Hes just arrived and were going to see how he is and try to make him understand that he maybe made a mistake, which for us is not so decisive that we need to suspend him, he said.He said Vidal has always shown very good behavior under his watch, despite his previous brushes with controversy.This accident of Arturos is not going to affect Chile because hes a player who is with the team, beyond any mistake, he said.Teammate Alexis Sanchez also rallied behind him.I back you and send you all my support as always. The most important thing is that you and your family and the other people are fine. I love you, the Arsenal star wrote on Twitter.Vidal, whose tough style of play has earned him the nickname The Warrior at Juventus, is no stranger to controversy.In 2011, he was among five players excluded from Chiles squad preparing for World Cup qualifiers after they turned up for training late and drunk.He was welcomed back to the fold after apologizing.This season, Juventus imposed a club record $112,000 fine after Vidal was allegedly involved in a drunken brawl outside a Turin nightclub.In the Copa America, he has scored three times in two matches.He hit a penalty in Chiles opening victory against Ecuador and two more goals in Mondays 3-3 draw with Mexico in Santiago -- just 24 hours before his accident. Chile are at the top of Group A and meet Bolivia in their final first-round match on Friday.

Cycling: Pinot wins stage and takes yellow in Swiss Tour

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LAUSANNE (AFP) - Frenchman Thibaut Pinot made a statement about his Tour de France credentials in winning Wednesdays fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland to move into the race leaders yellow jersey.Third at the Grand Boucle last year, Pinot soloed to victory at the end of the 237km stage from Unterterzen to Soelden in Austria.Italian Domenico Pozzovivo finished second at 34sec with Simon Spilak of Slovenia third at 37sec.Britains Geraint Thomas moved into second overall at 42sec after finishing fifth on the stage. Spilak is third overall with Pozzovivo fourth.Previous yellow jersey wearer Tom Dumoulin fought gamely to hold onto his lead but drops to seventh overall after coming home 10th at more than a minute and a half down.Pinot has proved to be in fine form recently having also won a stage at last months Tour de Romandie where he finished fourth overall.Switzerland has been good to me, this stage was my aim, Pinot told Swiss channel RTS.But there are still four stages, including a timetrial on Sunday where Ill have to watch out for the rouleurs (more powerful riders).On the final 14km climb to the finish, Spilak was the first to attack with 8km left but Pinot chased him down and then with 2km to ride he left his rivals in his wake.He then reeled in the last of the days breakaway riders, Stefan Denifl, who faded to ninth.Thursdays stage six from Wil to Biel/Bienne covers 237km.

Fed rate hold, dovish talk sends dollar lower

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NEW YORK (AFP) - The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate locked at zero as expected Wednesday, but its surprise dovish stance on the outlook sent the dollar tumbling.The dollar traded flat at around $1.1248 per euro before the Feds policy statement, and immediately sank 0.8 percent to around $1.1350 afterwards, before a slight rebound.The main catalyst was the much-flattened interest rate curve implied by the Fed policy makers forecasts. While they kept unchanged their outlook for a 0.625 percent rate for the end of this year, the end-2016 rate was 1.625 percent, down 20 basis points from the March forecast, and 2.875 percent for 2017, 25 basis points lower.Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the economy still has room for further improvement and stressed that, after the first rate liftoff, progress toward a normal monetary policy would be gradual.The Fed has once again surprised markets (including us) a bit on the dovish side, by further widening the gap between the assessment of fundamental developments and the monetary policy outlook, said UniCredit economist Harm Bandholz in a client note.The dollar also dropped versus the British pound but was relatively steady against the yen.

Posted by IMRAN ALI SOOMRO (DARVESH) at 6/18/2015 07:02:00 AM

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