Dunya TV
Dunya TV |
- Formula One: Flying Vettel puts pressure on Hamilton
- Iraq cuts Kurdistan air links with outside world
- Iraq forces attack IS-held town of Hawija
- Trump's scandal-hit health secretary resigns
- Catalans occupy polling stations ahead of contested vote
- Soldier, two civilians martyred in Indian forces firing on LoC
- Sheikhupura: 16 injured as bus turns turtle
- Corps Commander Karachi visits Rangers Headquarters
- Karachi: Rangers seize MQM-London arms cache
- South Africa on top despite Elgar heartbreak
- England thrash West Indies to win ODI series 4-0
- Police appeal for witnesses to Stokes incident
- US-led strikes claim another 50 civilian lives: coalition
- London: Kulsoom Nawaz discharged from hospital
- UN agrees to send war crimes investigators to Yemen
| Formula One: Flying Vettel puts pressure on Hamilton Posted: SEPANG (AFP) - Sebastian Vettel smashed the all-time Sepang lap record Friday as Ferrari put the pressure on Lewis Hamilton before a track fault brought an early halt to Malaysian Grand Prix practice on Friday.Vettel clocked 1min 31.261sec around the 5.543-kilometre circuit on his qualifying simulation run in the second session to smash the old record of 1:32.50 set by Fernando Alonso in 2005.His Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was second, six-tenths of a second adrift.Its been a decent day, Vettel told Sky TV.The Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were third and fourth on a frustrating day for Mercedes championship leader, Hamilton who was only sixth fastest with Valtteri Bottas seventh.Red Bull looked very fast in the mixed conditions this morning, in the damp and wet on the intermediate tyres, added Vettel.Hamilton had been on just his 10th lap of the afternoon when he took too much speed into turn eight, resulting in a sideways excursion into the gravel and a wrecked set of soft tyres.Hamilton did manage to avoid beaching the car and was able to limp back to the pits, where his mechanics removed the nose and started making frantic changes to the set-up.When he did re-emerge with 40 minutes of the session remaining his car appeared still to be handling erratically, and his first timed lap was fully 1.4 seconds down on Vettel.Fridays are when you play around and try some things, Vettel said. It looked like both Mercedes were struggling in morning and afternoon so Im pretty sure they will be fine tomorrow.Ricciardo added: I think Mercedes were quite heavy today. I dont know if its legit or theyre playing some games.The session ended 20 minutes early when Romain Grosjean hit a loose drain cover at turn 9, ripping his rear tyre apart and throwing his Haas into the barriers at around 200 kph.The Frenchman was lucky to be able to walk away but with no time to repair the offending part of the track the session was red flagged and then called off 10 minutes early.Rookie Pierre Gasly also suffered a scare when he came into the pits with huge amounts of smoke billowing from the rear of his Toro Rosso.But it turned out to be just a minor oil leak and he was soon on his way again.Earlier, the first 30 minutes of the morning practice had been lost because of heavy rain.The two Red Bulls set the pace as lap times tumbled towards the end as the track dried and drivers switched to intermediate tyres.Verstappen managed just 11 laps but his best at 1min 48.962sec was 0.757sec quicker than Ricciardo.Alonso was third, two seconds adrift of Verstappen as the Red Bulls proved untouchable in the wet.Hamilton did not bother to leave the shelter of the Mercedes garage until 30 minutes from the end of the session, and could only set the sixth fastest time, three seconds behind the leading Red Bull and eclipsed by both Ferraris.Vettel was only fifth quickest in the morning, four-tenths slower than Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.  |
| Iraq cuts Kurdistan air links with outside world Posted: ARBIL (AFP) - The Iraqi government cut autonomous Kurdistans direct air links with the outside world indefinitely on Friday, partially isolating the northern region after it voted a massive yes in an independence referendum.The move increases the pressure on the Iraqi Kurds amid soaring regional tensions following Mondays non-binding but deeply contentious vote.Washington on Friday said it did not recognise the unilateral referendum and urged all parties to reject the use of force and engage in dialogue.The vote and the results lack legitimacy and we continue to support a united, federal, democratic and prosperous Iraq, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.The central government in Baghdad had ordered the halt to all foreign flights to and from the autonomous Kurdish region from 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Friday.Foreigners scrambled to fly out of the regions capital Arbil and its second largest city Sulaimaniyah before the ban took effect.Iraqi Kurdish transport minister Mawlud Bawa Murad told AFP at Arbil airport that the ban would negatively impact all international businesses in the Kurdistan region, in addition to all civilians, from all nations.It would negatively impact our daily life, he said. We will do our best to find a viable alternative, or succeed to bring back international flights.Arbil is a key gateway for humanitarian aid workers helping Iraqis affected by the battle against the Islamic State group (IS).Washington said earlier it would be willing to facilitate talks between the Iraqi Kurdish authorities and Baghdad to calm escalating tensions over the 92-percent yes vote.Neighbouring Turkey and Iran also strongly opposed the vote, fearing it would inflame the separatist aspirations of their own sizeable Kurdish populations.Ankara has threatened a series of measures including blocking lifeline oil exports from the region via Turkey.The Kurds, whose borders with Turkey, Iran and Syria remain open, have condemned the flight suspension as collective punishment.Iraqs Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said it was not punishment but a legal measure that would be reversed if the transport authority was transferred to Baghdad in line with the Iraqi constitution.The ban saw people, many of them foreigners, flock to Arbil airport to avoid being stranded.Iraqi Kurdistan is home to a large international community, most of whom enter on a visa issued by the regional authorities that is not recognised by the central government, so they cannot travel elsewhere in Iraq.On Friday, around 100 passengers waited eagerly for their planes in Arbil, where the last flight out was to Vienna at 4 pm.We were supposed to go back to Brazil next Saturday but we rescheduled our flight, said Isidoro Junior, a 32-year-old volunteer for an NGO providing medical assistance to Iraqis displaced by the war against IS.The director of Arbil airport, Talar Faiq Salih said humanitarian, military and diplomatic flights were excluded from the ban.Earlier, the UN humanitarian office OCHA said it was working to ensure aid could continue to reach tens of thousands of needy Iraqis.In Sulaimaniyah, foreigners and others needing to leave sped to the airport before the ban took effect, while Kurds who were abroad for business or tourism rushed home.There have been masses of people for two days, said airport spokesman Dana Mohammad Said, adding that the airport remained open for domestic flights.Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraqs highest Shiite religious authority, called for all sides to abide by the Iraqi constitution and to appeal to High Federal Court to solve the Kurdistan crisis.The latest political developments should not have a negative impact on the strong relationship between sons of the homeland, Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds and others, his representative said.On the international front, Washington said it would be prepared to help facilitate a conversation between Arbil and Baghdad.We would like to see some calm on all sides, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, noting that the US had opposed the referendum because we thought it would be destabilising.On Thursday, the spokesman for the international coalition fighting IS in Iraq and neighbouring Syria said the referendum had taken focus away from the war against the jihadists.But he said there was absolutely no effect on current military operations out of Arbil using the airport.Iraqi forces on Friday launched an assault on the northern town of Hawija, one of the last IS bastions in the country along with a stretch of the Euphrates Valley near the border with Syria.Kurdish forces have been key allies in US-backed offensives against IS in both Syria and Iraq.  |
| Iraq forces attack IS-held town of Hawija Posted: BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi forces Friday launched an assault on the northern town of Hawija, one of the last bastions in the country still held by the Islamic State group, which is also under attack in neighbouring Syria.The operation came a day after IS released what it said was an audio recording of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urging resistance, the first such intervention in nearly a year.The leaders of the Islamic State and its soldiers have realised that the path to... victory is to be patient and resist the infidels whatever their alliances, said the voice in the recording, whose authenticity Washington said it had no reason to doubt.Since Baghdadis previous message to his followers last November, the territory the jihadists still hold in the cross-border caliphate they proclaimed in 2014 has shrunk to a fraction of its former extent.A huge military operation has begun to liberate Hawija and its surrounding areas, the operations commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Amir Yarallah, said in a statement.Iraqi forces launched an offensive to retake the jihadist enclave around Hawija on September 21, swiftly taking the town of Sharqat on its second day before pushing on towards Hawija itself.Yarallah said Fridays assault marked the second phase of the operation and aimed to recapture Hawija and the towns of Al-Abbasi, Riyadh and Rashad to its west, east and south.All are mainly Sunni Arab towns that have long been bastions of insurgency and were bypassed by government forces in their push north on second city Mosul last year which culminated in the jihadists defeat in their most emblematic stronghold this July.Yarallah later announced that troops had taken Al-Abbasi and raised the Iraqi flag there.He said the operation involved the army, the federal police, counterterrorism units and the Rapid Intervention Force, as well as tribal volunteers and the paramilitary Popular Mobilisation force, mainly made up of Iran-trained Shiite militia.The enclave lies east of the Tigris River and south of one of its major tributaries, the Little Zab, and troops erected pontoon bridges during the night to enable the assault to begin, Yarallah said.The Popular Mobilisation force said IS had set fire to two oil wells in the Alas field, southeast of Hawija, in a bid to provide cover and slow the advance of loyalist forces.Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hailed the second phase of the operation to recapture the area.As we promised the sons of our country, we are going to liberate every inch of Iraqi land and crush the Daesh (IS) terrorist gangs, Abadi said.We are on the verge of a new victory to liberate the residents of these areas from those criminals.The Hawija enclave is one of just two areas of Iraq still held by IS, along with a stretch of the Euphrates Valley near the Syrian border which is also under attack.The US-led coalition against the jihadists said Friday that at least 1,200 Iraqi security personnel were killed during the months-long operation to recapture Mosul.The international coalition against IS also said that US-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria have killed another 50 civilians, without specifying when.It said that with the latest deaths, at least 735 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes.Further up the Euphrates Valley on the Syrian side of the border, IS is facing rival offensives by US-backed fighters and Russian-backed government forces.The jihadists launched a major counteroffensive against government forces on Thursday, killing at least 73 troops and militia in a series of attacks along their supply lines, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Most of the dead came near the desert town of Sukhna, on the main highway between the big cities of the west and the Euphrates Valley city of Deir Ezzor, the Britain-based monitoring group said.Syrian troops pushed through the desert and broke a three-year IS siege of government enclaves in Deir Ezzor earlier this month. They are now battling to retake the remaining IS posts.Further upstream, a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters is poised to capture the onetime IS bastion of Raqa, once a byword for jihadist atrocities.A top US-led coalition commander told AFP on Thursday that the jihadists were now breathing their last gasps in the city.He said the coalition was already setting its sights on another IS-held town in the Euphrates Valley -- Al-Mayadeen, between Deir Ezzor and the Iraqi border.  |
| Trump's scandal-hit health secretary resigns Posted: WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Donald Trumps embattled health secretary was forced out of the US administration Friday, amid a scandal over his use of costly private jets for government travel.Secretary of Health and Human Services Thomas Price offered his resignation earlier today and the president accepted, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.The announcement came less than an hour after Trump told reporters that Price had not offered to resign, but that his fate would be decided later Friday.The deputy assistant secretary for health, Don Wright, will be tapped to take over for Price on an interim basis, Sanders said.For days Price has battled to keep a position he has held for less than eight months, after it emerged he had repeatedly used taxpayer funds to hire private jets.In all, Price has flown on 26 separate trips this year on private aircraft, totaling some $400,000, according to Politico.He tried to put a lid on the scandal by paying back what turned out to be a fraction of the cash spent.The trips were for government business, Prices department said, but some of the flights were to destinations where the health chief owns property, or where he met relatives.Price had also been intimately involved in Trumps failed efforts to overturn Obama-era health care reforms.With that effort now stalled in Congress, Prices replacement will have to decide whether to take measures to prop up the current system or let it fail.Republicans say Obamas reforms are unworkable. Democrats and independent experts say Republican plans would see millions or tens of millions of people lose insurance.In his resignation letter Price said it was an honor and privilege to serve in Trumps administration.I have spent forty years both as a doctor and public servant putting people first, he wrote.I regret that the recent events have created a distraction from these important objectives.Trump had earlier indicated that Prices job was hanging by a thread.I dont like the optics. Trump said. Im not happy, I can tell you, Im not happy.Trump described the former congressman as a very fine person, adding that for some cabinet secretaries it was not a problem because they have their own planes.It has been revealed that other cabinet secretaries -- including Treasurys Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt -- have also contracted private or military jets while in office.Their fate now appears to be unclear.Price is the most senior ranking official to be forced out of the administration, although hes far from the first.Since Trump became president in January, he has parted ways with his national security advisor, FBI director, chief of staff, press secretary, chief strategist and two communications directors.  |
| Catalans occupy polling stations ahead of contested vote Posted: BARCELONA (AFP) - Supporters of an independence referendum in Catalonia opposed by Madrid occupied would-be polling stations on Friday in a bid to ensure the vote goes ahead, as thousands gathered in Barcelona for the separatist camps closing campaign.In one of the biggest crises to hit Spain since democracy was restored after the death of Franco in 1975, the referendum has pitched the wealthy northeastern region against central government and sown divisions among Catalans themselves.Authorities in Madrid have instructed police to ensure no votes are cast in Sundays vote.A court on Wednesday ordered police to prevent the use of public buildings for the preparation and organisation of the referendum.But as classes ended for the day, small groups of activists, including parents with their children, on Friday peacefully occupied several schools in Barcelona where voting is scheduled to take place.I am going to sleep here, with my oldest son who is a student here, Gisela Losa, a mother of three, told AFP at Reina Vionant primary school in Barcelonas fashionable Gracia neighbourhood, where pro-independence sentiment runs high.The occupations appeared to be partly coordinated by a platform of schools open for the referendum which distributed a manual via social networks with instruction on how to occupy buildings and guarantee they are available to serve as polling stations.On Friday evening, around 10,000 supporters of the referendum gathered off Barcelonas Placa dEspanya, or Spain Square, as separatist leaders closed their campaign for the vote.In these hugely intense and hugely emotional moments, we sense that what we once thought was only a dream is within reach, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont told a cheering crowd.On Sunday, we have a date with the future.Many of them waved the Esteleda -- the separatists flag of red-and-yellow stripes with a white star on a blue chevron.But quite a different scene played out just six kilometres (3.5 miles) away in the town of LHospitalet de Llobregat.There, some 2,000 people who oppose separating from Spain rallied at a meeting called by Ciudadanos, Catalonias main opposition party.They waved Spanish and EU flags, as well as the Senyera -- the official Catalan flag of plain red-and-yellow stripes.This is a dead end, they want to destroy the state, Spain and Catalonia, said Dolores Molero, a 53-year-old secretary from Tarragona, a city further south.Madrid has repeatedly warned those who help stage a referendum which the courts have ruled unconstitutional that they face repercussions.On Friday, Spains education ministry said in a statement that school directors in Catalonia were not exempt from liability if they cooperated.But Jordi Sanchez, the president of the Catalan National Assembly, an influential pro-independence organisation, told AFP the court order said public spaces could not be used for the referendum on Sunday but it did not say anything about leisure activities today and Saturday.We have proposed that citizens organise activities, that they put in place a lot of activities to give life to these spaces which on Sunday should host the referendum.Barcelonas Joan Brassa high school, for instance, advertised a series of activities for Friday and Saturday, including movie screenings, football matches and Zumba dance fitness classes.Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull said there would be 2,315 polling stations all over the region for the vote. It was not immediately clear how many potential polling stations were being occupied.Police have for days been seizing electoral items such as ballot papers as they follow orders to stop the referendum while prosecutors ordered the closure of websites linked to the vote and the detention of key members of the team organising the referendum.Polls show the 7.5 million people of Catalonia are split on independence, but a large majority want to vote in a legitimate referendum to settle the matter.With firefighters and farmers vowing to protect polling stations, Catalonias regional police force, the Mossos dEsquadra, have warned of the risk of disruption of public order if they try to prevent people from casting ballots.In case they resist, Madrid has sent thousands of extra police officers from other forces to Catalonia -- which accounts for one fifth of Spains economy -- to help suppress the referendum it deems illegal.Central government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said he was completely certain that the Mossos would obey the law and the judges orders because they are subject to the law like everyone else.I insist that there will be no referendum, he said.Concerned, though, several European countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, urged their nationals in Catalonia to exercise caution ahead of the referendum.  |
| Soldier, two civilians martyred in Indian forces firing on LoC Posted: RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) – At least one soldier and two Pakistani civilians were martyred when Indian forces resorted to unprovoked cease fire violation along Line of Control (LoC) on Friday.According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Indian forces used heavy weapons and targeted civilian population in Rakhchikri, Rawalakot along the LoC, martyring two civilians including one woman while one civilian was wounded.A Pakistan Army patrol team, assisting evacuation of civilians, also came under Indian firing resulting in the martyrdom of Naib Subedar Nadeem while three soldiers got injured.Pakistan Army troops gave a befitting response to Indian army posts which engaged civil population. There have been reports of casualties on the Indian side of the LoC, the ISPR stated.  |
| Sheikhupura: 16 injured as bus turns turtle Posted: SHEIKHUPURA (Dunya News) – At least 16 passengers sustained injuries when a bus overturned at the Sheikhupura Road in Mananwala area near Sheikhupura on Friday.According to details, the ill-fated bus going to Faisalabad from Lahore turned turtle in Mananwala area near Sheikhupura when the driver tried to avoid collision with a rickshaw.Rescue teams arrived at the scene and shifted the injured to Allied Hospital in Faisalabad where condition of two wounded parsons is stated to be critical.Driver’s negligence, slack safety precautions, over-speeding and dilapidated roads are one of the main reasons of road accidents in the country whereas inexperienced drivers also flout the basic road safety rules.  |
| Corps Commander Karachi visits Rangers Headquarters Posted: KARACHI (Dunya News) - Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Shahid Baig Mirza visited the Rangers Headquarters on Friday and held a meeting with DG Rangers Sindh Maj Gen Muhammad Saeed.Rangers officials briefed Corps Commander on security arrangements chalked out by Rangers for the Muharram-ul-Haram processions and congregations in the city.Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Shahid Baig Mirza emphasized the importance of ensuring foolproof security of places of worship, congregation centres and Muharram-ul-Haram processions.  |
| Karachi: Rangers seize MQM-London arms cache Posted: KARACHI (Dunya News) - Rangers have seized a huge quantity of arms and ammunition allegedly belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-London) from Orangi Town area of Karachi on Friday, Dunya News reported.According to Rangers spokesman, the law enforcement agency conducted a raid on an MQM-London office situated on the back side of a public park in Orangi Town Sector Seven-C area on intelligence reports and recovered large quantity of weapons dumped in a store.The spokesman informed that the MQM-Londan had hidden arms and ammunition in the office with an intention to carry out terror acts in the metropolis. The seized weapons include one SMG, one Kalashnikov and one 22-bore rifle and hundreds of bullets.On the other hand, Rangers carried out operation in Sarjani Town and Mahmoodabad areas and arrested two accused including an MQM-London extortionist.  |
| South Africa on top despite Elgar heartbreak Posted: POTCHEFSTROOM (AFP) - South Africa claimed three top-order Bangladesh wickets to take a firm grip on the second day of the first Test at Senwes Park on Friday.Bangladesh were 127 for three at the close, still trailing by 369 runs after South Africa declared their first innings on 496 for three.Dean Elgar made 199 and Hashim Amla scored 137 as South Africa batted remorselessly until tea before captain Faf du Plessis declared.The declaration caused a problem for Bangladesh because regular opener Tamim Iqbal had been off the field towards the end of South Africas innings, which meant he had to wait for 48 minutes before he could bat.Two wickets fell before Tamims enforced absence came to an end and he eventually batted at number five.It was the first time in his 52-Test career that he had not faced the first ball of an innings.Kagiso Rabada made an early breakthrough for South Africa when Imrul Kayes gloved a catch to gully in the sixth over.Morne Morkel followed up with the wicket of emergency opener Liton Das, who made a spirited 25, including two successive pulls for four off Morkel, before edging the tall fast bowler to first slip.Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim made an aggressive 44 off 57 balls but was fortunate to survive two sharp chances to Elgar at slip off left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj when he was on six and 15.He eventually fell to Maharaj, caught off bat and pad at short leg.Tamim joined Mominul Haque and the two left-handers batted through to the close, unbeaten on 22 and 28 respectively, with Tamim epitomizing Bangladeshs attacking approach by dancing down the wicket to hit Maharaj for six off the last ball of the day.Opening batsman Elgar and Amla put on 215 for the second wicket as South Africa again gave Bangladesh cause to regret their decision to send the hosts in to bat.Amla became the first batsman to fall to a bowler when he slashed a wide ball from Mustafizur Rahman to backward point in the first over after lunch.The left-handed Elgar, who had gone past his previous highest Test score of 140, looked set for a double century until an attempted pull shot against Shafiul Islam looped off a top edge to short midwicket. He had batted for more than nine hours and faced 388 balls. He hit 15 fours and three sixes.Amla went to his 27th Test century in fluent style. He joined former captain Graeme Smith as the countrys second-highest century-maker, behind only Jacques Kallis, who made 45. Amla scored his runs off 200 balls with 17 fours and a six.  |
| England thrash West Indies to win ODI series 4-0 Posted: SOUTHAMPTON (AFP) - Jonny Bairstow hit an unbeaten century to lead England to a thumping nine-wicket victory over the West Indies in Southampton on Friday, in a low-key fifth and final one-day international overshadowed by the Ben Stokes scandal.Bairstow struck 141 not out as the hosts sealed the win with 12 overs to spare to complete a 4-0 series victory.The tourists, seeking to end a long sequence of defeats against England, posted 288 for six despite becoming bogged down after a thrilling Chris Gayle cameo, but it never looked enough under the floodlights in the day-night encounter.Openers Jason Roy and Bairstow started the home sides reply confidently, with Roy reaching his second consecutive half-century in the evening sunshine after his recall for the fourth match of the series, off 43 balls.Bairstow brought up his own 50 as the England openers kept the scoreboard constantly ticking over, untroubled by either pace or spin until Roy (96 in 70 balls) was trapped lbw by Miguel Cummins.But his dismissal did little to upset Englands rhythm. Joe Root batted smoothly while Bairstow steered a ball down to third man for a single to notch his second century of the series off 90 balls with 10 fours.The home side cantered past the winning post as Root finished alongside Bairstow on 46 not out, scoring the winning runs with a six.Im pretty pleased -- its nice to finish a pretty long summer with some runs and head away this winter with some confidence, said Bairstow.The nature of sport means you have to bide your time if selection doesnt go your way and when you get an opportunity, try to take it.Earlier, Gayle (40) lit up the gloom at the Ageas Bowl following a delayed start with a breathtaking brief knock under heavy late-September skies, hitting 34 runs off just six balls, all delivered by Jake Ball, including four successive sixes.But as he threatened to take the game away from England, Liam Plunkett took a fine diving catch running backwards off a slower Tom Curran delivery and the West Indies lost all momentum.Spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali established impressive control and the tourists went from the ninth over until the 31st over without scoring a single boundary.Desperately needing to step up the scoring rate to post a competitive total, Shai Hope clubbed three successive fours off ODI debutant Curran but was caught on the boundary by Sam Billings off Ball for 72 off 95 balls.Sunil Ambris (38 off 27 balls) and Ashley Nurse, with an impressive 31 off just 12 balls, gave much-needed impetus at the end of the innings as the West Indies went from 174-3 at the end of the 38th over to 288-6 at the end of the 50th over.The guys batted well but it went wrong in the bowling department. We werent anywhere near as consistent as we wanted to be, said West Indies stand-in captain Jason Mohammed.The formerly dominant West Indies, who will be forced to qualify for the 2019 World Cup, have now lost 16 of their past 17 completed ODIs against England and look a long way short of being able to compete on equal terms.Curran replaced Chris Woakes in the England team while West Indies brought in Kyle Hope and debutant Ambris for the injured Evin Lewis and captain Jason Holder, who had to return home for a funeral.England have had a good summer, but their preparations for the Ashes in Australia have been thrown into disarray with Stokes suspended after an apparent fracas outside a nightclub.England said the all-rounder would not be considered for selection by England until further notice following the emergence of a video apparently showing him fighting outside the club in the southwestern city of Bristol.Test vice-captain Stokes was included in the Ashes squad announced Wednesday, despite reportedly injuring his hand in the incident that led to his arrest on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm.The 26-year-old Durham all-rounder was released without charge on Monday but remains under investigation.  |
| Police appeal for witnesses to Stokes incident Posted: LONDON (AFP) - Police investigating England vice-captain Ben Stokes over allegations of causing actual bodily harm appealed for two specific witnesses to contact them regarding the incident which took place early on Monday morning.Stokes -- who was suspended by England on Thursday, a day after video footage was published by the Sun newspaper of the incident -- was released without charge on Monday but remains under investigation.The two witnessess police have called on to come forward were allegedly present prior to the fracas that took place outside a Bristol nightclub.Our enquiries into the disorder in the Queens Road/Clifton Triangle area of Bristol in the early hours of Monday are continuing, read the police statement.We believe there are two specific witnesses, both men, with information about what happened in the moments prior to the disorder who are yet to come forward and wed appeal for them to do so as soon as possible.The all-rounders participation in the upcoming Ashes series in Australia is now under threat, although he was named in Englands squad on Wednesday.Opening batsman Alex Hales, who was with 26-year-old Stokes on Sunday after playing alongside him during a win over West Indies in the third one-day international in Bristol, has also been suspended from England duty.Stokes, no stranger to off-field disciplinary problems during his career, saw his troubles pile up further on Friday with a video -- published on the Daily Express website -- in which he allegedly belittles the teenage handicapped son of former model Katie Price.Price, 39, wrote Shame him on her official Twitter account, directly in response to a newspaper report about the video.  |
| US-led strikes claim another 50 civilian lives: coalition Posted: WASHINGTON (AFP) - US-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria have killed another 50 civilians, the international coalition against the Islamic State group announced on Friday.With the latest deaths, at least 735 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes, it said in a statement, without specifying when the deaths occurred.The United States began carrying out strikes against IS in Iraq in August 2014, a campaign that has since been expanded to Syria and now includes dozens of countries backing counterterrorism efforts.The strikes have played a key role in a series of successful operations to push IS back in Iraq and Syria, but have taken a deadly toll on non-combatants caught up in the fighting.Iraqi forces launched an assault on IS-held Hawijah on Friday that a top commander said marked the second phase of an operation launched earlier this month that aims to retake it and the nearby towns of Al-Abbasi, Riyadh and Rashad.All are mainly Sunni Arab towns that have long been bastions of insurgency and were bypassed by government forces in their push north on second city Mosul last year that culminated in the jihadists defeat in their most emblematic stronghold this July.In Syria, IS is facing rival offensives by US-backed fighters and Russian-backed government forces.The jihadists launched a major counteroffensive against government forces on Thursday, killing at least 73 troops and militia in a series of attacks along their supply lines, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.  |
| London: Kulsoom Nawaz discharged from hospital Posted: LONDON (Dunya News) – Wife of former premier Nawaz Sharif, Kulsoom Nawaz, has been discharged from the hospital after successive surgeries as she was diagnosed with throat cancer in Pakistan.She was alongside her children Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz and Maryam Nawaz. Also, her son-in-law Capt Safdar was present at the healthcare unit.Government officials including Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir was also there for her in London.Kulsoom Nawaz had swept NA-120 by-election from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ticket, defeating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Yasmin Rashid by over 14,000 votes. It was earlier reported through sources that  |
| UN agrees to send war crimes investigators to Yemen Posted: GENEVA (AFP) - The UN Human Rights Council agreed Friday to send war crimes investigators to Yemen, overcoming resistance from Saudi Arabia which sought to fend off an independent international probe.In a resolution adopted by consensus, the council mandated UN rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein to send a group of eminent experts to Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Huthi rebels since March 2015.The group will then carry out a comprehensive examination of all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights committed in the conflict and try to identify those responsible.Launching the probe marks a victory for a group of European states and Canada, which pushed hard for an international inquiry fully independent of the Yemeni national investigation that is supported by the Saudis.The Saudi-led coalition has been accused of bombing schools, markets, hospitals and other civilian targets in support of Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.The Iran-backed Huthi rebels have also been accused of widespread abuses, which the UN team will also probe.Saudi Arabia had for the past two years succeeded in blocking the rights chiefs call for an international inquiry.In a letter leaked to several media outlets this week, the kingdom threated economic and diplomatic retaliation against rights council members which voted for the EU/Canadian proposal.The Saudi envoy to the council, Abdulaziz Alwasil, ended up endorsing Fridays resolution, which was slightly softer than previously EU proposals.An earlier Dutch/Canadian draft asked for a Commission of Inquiry (COI) in Yemen, the UNs highest level investigation, but that call was removed from the adopted version.Countries with significant and lucrative ties to Saudi Arabia, including the United States, Britain and France, were reported to have sought a compromise between the EU and Arab camps, which were deadlocked through the week on a resolution.Turning pointA US envoy to the UN in Geneva, Theodore Allegra, said he was pleased the 47-member rights council was speaking with one voice on Yemen.British ambassador Julian Braithwaite called the resolution a significant achievement.Yemeni ambassador Ali Mohamed Saeed Majawar said his government will engage positively with the team of experts.For Human Rights Watch, which had argued forcefully for a Commission of Inquiry, Fridays result still amounted to a success.After more than two years of impunity for horrendous crimes in Yemen, today could mark a turning point, HRWs Geneva director John Fisher said in a statement.The new probe will bring an unprecedented level of scrutiny to the conduct of all parties to the Yemen war, he said.Amnesty International called the resolution a breakthrough and a victory for suffering Yemeni civilians.The conflict has killed more than 8,500 people and wounded nearly 49,000 others, according to the World Health Organization.More than 17 million Yemenis are now facing dire food shortages, and a nationwide cholera epidemic has killed more than 2,100 people since April.Cholera cases could hit 900,000 by years end, the head of the Yemen delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Alexandre Faite, told journalists earlier Friday.The situation in Yemen is often described as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.  |
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