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ARY NEWS

Reuters

  • Bangladesh arrests 3 Islamists over killings of secular bloggers

    Touhidur Rahman, 58, and two active members of outlawed Islamist group Ansarullah Bangla Team were arrested in Dhaka on Monday night, said Maksudul Alam, a spokesman for the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) force.

    “Rahman is a Bangladeshi origin British citizen and we suspect he is the main planner of the killings of U.S. blogger Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das,” he told Reuters.

    In February, machete-wielding assailants killed a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin and critic of religious militancy, Avijit Roy, and seriously injured his wife and fellow blogger, Rafida Bonya Ahmed.

    Another secular blogger, Ananta Bijoy Das, was hacked to death on May 12.

    Militants have targeted secularist writers in Bangladesh in recent years, while the government has tried to crack down on hardline Islamist groups seeking to make the South Asian nation of 160 million people a sharia-based state.

    Last week, police arrested two members of Ansarullah Bangla Team for alleged involvement in the killing of blogger Niloy Chatterjee on Aug. 7, the fourth such killing of an online critic of religious extremism in less than six months, spurring calls by human rights groups for a swift and thorough investigation.

    On March 30, Washiqur Rahman, another secular blogger who aired his outrage over Roy’s death on social media, was killed in a similar fashion.

  • Australia batsman Rogers confirms he will quit after Ashes

    Rogers had already indicated that the series would be his last and the 37-year-old told reporters in London he had no reason to change his mind.

    “I think it is time, I have had an amazing couple of years playing for Australia and enjoyed it and been part of some pretty special things but everything comes to an end and I have been pretty lucky,” he told reporters at Australia’s hotel in London.

    “You are never 100 per cent sure but I felt like this was the last one, there’s been a few things, particularly the head issues lately, I am quite happy to call it a day.

    “People tell me you know when you know and I felt like this is the right time.”

    Rogers is the oldest member of the current Australian team but has been one of the few to shine in the Ashes, scoring 437 runs at an average of 62.42.

    He made 173 in the first innings of the second test at Lord’s, but retired hurt in the second innings, complaining of dizziness after being hit in the head earlier in the match.

    After struggling for years to cement a place in the team, the left-hander has been in the best form of his career, in which he has excelled at first-class cricket but managed only 24 test appearances since his debut in 2008.

    “It’s pretty special, someone said to me not many people go out when they’re scoring runs or taking wickets, it’s generally not how it happens, so that’s something to be proud of as well,” he said.

    “It would’ve been perfect to have won this series but it’s not to be, England have been deserving winners and we’ve been outplayed.

    “I think I can be proud I’ve played quite well and stood up, and made a little bit of a difference.”

    Australian captain Michael Clarke is also retiring after the fifth and test, which starts at The Oval on Thursday with England holding an unbeatable 3-1 lead.

  • Foreign firms scramble to fix Iran’s refineries once sanctions end

    Officials from Iran’s oil refining company NIORDC, its National Petrochemical Company and the privately owned Persian Oil and Gas are holding talks with services firms to clinch projects to repair Iran’s derelict refining and petrochemical sector.

    Iran badly needs to complete modernisation plans that ground to a halt after sanctions hit the country five years ago over its nuclear programme.

    The projects are worth at least $100 billion, according to sources close to firms that have held talks in Iran.

    The talks accelerated after a nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers in July paved the way to lifting sanctions.

    Sources close to the talks said Iran is moving forward with its pre-sanctions goal to refine more of its own oil and upgrade its petrochemical plants, with a view to boosting earnings.

    Iranian officials have already held meetings with a string of international companies to outline their plans, and even organised group bus tours for service companies to visit refineries, according to industry sources.

    Business prospects in the sector were also discussed during a string of trade visits from Italy, Germany, Japan and other countries in recent weeks.

    “There is also great potential in the modernisation of existing plants for extraction and processing of raw materials and the infrastructure sector,” Wolfgang Bchele, Chief Executive Officer of German gas and engineering company Linde , told Der Spiegel magazine after visiting Tehran as part of a German delegation led by Minister of Economic Affairs Sigmar Gabriel last month.

    Oil services companies that had been active in building refineries in Iran prior to the sanctions, including Australia’s WorleyParsons, France’s Technip and Axens, South Korea’s Daelim and China’s Sinopec Engineering were all interested in resuming business in the country, the sources said. The companies declined to discuss whether they are meeting in Iran.

    Several large refinery upgrades were stopped in their tracks when sanctions hit, leaving parts and equipment stranded, according to a person who operated in several projects.

    Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh said last month that the Islamic Republic planned to invest $80bn over the next 10 years to upgrade and expand its petrochemical sector.

    Repairing the country’s 10 oil refineries would likely generate $100 million in projects for international companies in the short-term, according to industry officials and analysts.

    “It is simple if you’re allowed to do it, and it’s urgent at certain refineries,” one oil industry executive said. “It’s a quick win.”

    Years of restric­ted access to technology have left Iran’s refineries limping into the 21st century, forcing them to produce low quality and polluting fuels and creating safety hazards.

    For a country with big aims, huge oil reserves and nearly 80m fuel-hungry consumers, addressing the refining problem is a priority for Iran’s leadership, according to analysts.

    “The whole industry is in a mess,” said Mehdi Varzi, president of Varzi Energy consultancy. “Iran has 1.5m barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity, but it is the wrong capacity. Iran wants western technology and American technology specially.”

    Iranians consume close to 70m litres per day of gasoline, but the country’s refineries were designed to produce only around 40m litres. As a result, in 2010, when then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared the country self-sufficient in gasoline in res­ponse to ramped up sanctions, Iran’s refineries were forced run above full capacity, and without regular maintenance.

  • Initial insurance losses from Tianjin blasts seen at $1.5bn

    Tianjin, the world’s third-largest port in terms of total cargo volume, was hit on Aug 12 by blasts that damaged a large industrial area and sent shockwaves across several kilometres.

    Insurance companies including Zurich Insurance Group AG and Allianz SE said they had received claims from clients that had been affected by the disaster but could not provide any estimate of the potential losses.

    “Based on the available information, we do not anticipate major financial claims to arise from this incident, but we continue to assess the situation,” Allianz, Europe’s largest insurer, said in a statement.

    Chinese insurers are also expected to be affected.

    “It is still very early to determine the level of insured losses, but the event is likely to be large with initial insured loss estimates of $1-$1.5bn and a large number of insurance companies affected,” analyst Arjan van Veen said on Monday in a note, in which he compiled estimates from a range of Chinese media reports.

    Credit Suisse said those affected would be mostly Chinese insurance companies as well as international groups that either insure multinationals or provide re-insurance coverage.

    As of Monday evening, global automakers had confirmed 4,950 cars were damaged in the blast, with most saying the vehicles were insured but declining to provide additional details.

  • Bencic wins Rogers Cup after Halep retires

    Bencic needed nearly two hours and 30 minutes on a sweltering centre court to see off a determined Halep 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 3-0 and claim the biggest title of her young career, putting down a marker as a player to watch at the upcoming U.S. Open.

    The 18-year-old’s Rogers Cup debut was a memorable one as Bencic’s drive to the title included a stunning semi-final upset of world number one Williams and two former number ones in fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki and fifth seed Ana Ivanovic.

    “I’m really sorry it had to end like this, I am really sorry for Simona, I hope she will be fine for the next tournament,” said Bencic, the first Swiss woman to reach the final of the Rogers Cup since her mentor Martina Hingis in 2006.

    “For me it has been an incredible week, I cannot believe it. A win is a win and I had to fight really hard today.”

    It was Bencic’s second title in two months, following her breakthrough win at the Aegon International on grass in England in June. She arrived in Toronto ranked 20th in the world.

    Halep produced a gutsy effort but the Romanian appeared in trouble right from the start as she struggled with the heat and a sore left thigh that required treatment throughout the match, including a medical time out when medical staff checked her blood pressure.

    “In the first set I felt a little bit muscle and then it was going to the knee and in the second set I felt bad, like stomach cramps and dizzy and stuff like that,” explained Halep. “I was thinking that I need a miracle to finish the match.

    “I tried just to finish the match, but at 3-0 I said it is no sense to continue, and I stopped.”

    Down 5-3 in the second and with Bencic serving for the match, the 23-year-old Halep dug deep into her reserves and forced the set to a tiebreak which she won to thundering applause from the sun-baked crowd.

    But the effort to force a third set proved too much.

    Trailing 3-0, Halep went to her chair during the changeover and then quickly rose and walked over to Bencic and shook hands, telling her she could not continue.

    “I don’t know why I continued to play, maybe for the fans,” said Halep. “They were like screaming all the time to push me to still play.

    “I have no idea why I still played the second set but I did great, and I’m happy that I could find the power to win the second set.”

  • Murray to meet Djokovic in Montreal final

    Top seed Djokovic defeated unseeded Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4 6-4 in the earlier semi-final.

    A three-time champion on the Canadian hardcourts, Djokovic has a 19-8 career record against Murray and has won their last eight meetings since the Scot beat Djokovic in the 2013 Wimbledon final. Murray has claimed two Canadian titles.

    Djokovic, who received treatment on a sore right elbow several times during changeovers, showed no signs of distress on the court as he dismissed Chardy in a tidy one hour, 20 minutes to run his record to 10-0 against the Frenchman.

    “I didn’t allow Jeremy to find his forehand too much; one break per set was enough to win the match, could have done some things better but a win is a win,” said Djokovic, who did not face a break point the entire match.

    “It the (elbow trouble) comes and goes, now is not very pleasant.

    “Every day is a new day, I try to bury the pain, play with the pain, it is part of what we do.”

    He said it was par for the course for every athlete in professional sport to have “something troubling” him.

    Chardy, who needed three hours and three tiebreaks to get past John Isner in the quarter-finals, got the match off to a shaky start when he handed Djokovic a break, with the help of a couple of double faults, to open the match.

    That was all Djokovic would need with Chardy unable to apply kind of any pressure.

    Djokovic got the only break of the second set in the fifth game and then held serve as Chardy again left the court without taking a set from the Serb.

    It was a welcome low-stress match for the Serbian, who was pushed the brink of elimination in his Friday quarter-final, during which he survived two match points to beat 87th-ranked Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

    In the late semi-final, Nishikori appeared to be fatigued in the second set as Murray won 12 of the final 13 points.

    “I think I’m more tired,” the Japanese fourth seed said.

    “Everything was sore these couple of days. Today it got a little bit worst so I couldn’t really move 100 per cent.

    “Especially after the first set, I was feeling it more and more. At the beginning of the first set I was okay, but after that I wasn’t the same player.”

  • Dr Dre tops UK album chart after 16 year absence

    Compton, which the 50 year-old rapper has dedicated to his Californian birthplace of the same name, outperformed its nearest competitors by over 28,000 combined chart sales, the Official Charts Company said.

    Puth’s second British Number 1 finished the week with sales of over 94,000 after entering the tally the week before, and it marked another success for Trainor whose debut single spent four weeks at Number 1 last October.

    Calvin Harris and Disciples’ “How Deep Is Your Love” stayed firm at number two on the singles charts, having been streamed over 2.21 million times in the last seven days, and the Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” jumped five places to number three.

    Former chart-toppers Little Mix’s “Black Magic” and Lost Frequencies’ “Are You With Me” rounded out the top five.

    Dr Dre’s return comes after a successful stretch in the producer’s seat during which he fostered hip-hop artists such as Eminem, 50 Cent and Timbaland. He also became a successful entrepreneur and sold his headphone company Beats to Apple for 3 billion dollars in 2014.

    Elsewhere in the album charts, British folk singer Frank Turner’s “Positive Songs For Negative People” was at number two and British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran’s “x” at number three.

  • Galle Test: Herath takes seven as India lose by 63 runs

    Trailing for most of the match after being all out on the opening day for 183, the hosts scythed through the Indian order with 37-year-old Herath adding six wickets to his overnight dismissal of opening batsman Lokesh Rahul for his 22nd five-wicket haul in tests.

    Off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal, who took five wickets in the first innings, provided superb support by picking up three more in the second innings as India, who resumed the day on 23-1, were shot out for 112 an hour after lunch.

    Ajinkya Rahane (36) was the only Indian batsman to provide some resistance but he too fell to Herath, edging the wily spinner to home captain Angelo Mathews at slip.

    Sri Lanka looked dead and buried on 95-5 on Friday after conceding a first-innings lead of 192 but Dinesh Chandimal’s swashbuckling unbeaten 162 allowed them to stage a fightback and set India a victory target of 176.

    The hosts, who lost their last test series at home to Pakistan, put immense pressure on India with tight bowling and some smart catches.

    India failed to find scoring opportunities, with first-innings centurion Shikhar Dhawan, unbeaten on 13 overninght, taking 36 balls to score his first run in the morning.

    That came from a streaky four with the ball narrowly missing the leg stump after taking an edge.

    Herath, who has been off form lately and went wicketless in the first innings, struck with his first ball of the day, sending nightwatchman Ishant Sharma out leg before.

    He also accounted for the wickets of Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin, while Kaushal picked up India captain Virat Kohli and then took a sharp return catch to send back Dhawan.

    Rohit Sharma looks dejected after being dismissed
    Harbhajan Singh was caught out
    Sri Lankan team celebrate the dismissal of Virat Kohli

    Amit Mishra was the final man out to Kaushal, sparking wild celebrations by the Sri Lankans.

    The second test, the last for retiring Sri Lankan batting stalwart Kumar Sangakkara, will start on Thursday in Colombo.

    Sri Lankan veteran Kumar Sangakkara being carried out in the field by his team mates

  • Here’s what American President Barack Obama listens to

    The White House on Friday released two music sets “hand-created” by the president of the United States for daytime and evening listening as part of the launch of a new channel on the popular music-streaming service. And there is more to come.

    “You can expect to see the White House share playlists created by people in the White House, as well as playlists curated around events and issues to engage the public,” a White House official said in an email.

    Obama, who is vacationing with his family on the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard and playing a lot of golf, is a music lover. He has made headlines on rare moments when he has grabbed a microphone in public and crooned.

    His summer music selections contain a wide variety of artists from Beyoncé to Bob Dylan. The two playlists, provided by the White House, are listed below:

     

    “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” – The Temptations

    “Live It Up” – The Isley Brothers

    “Memories Live” – Talib Kweli & Hi Tek

    “Tombstone Blues” – Bob Dylan

    “So Much Trouble in the World – Bob Marley & The Wailers

    “Paradise” – Coldplay

    “Tengo Un Trato” (Remix) – Mala Rodriguez

    “Wang Dang Doodle” – Howlin’ Wolf

    “Another Star” – Stevie Wonder

    “Hot Fun in the Summertime” – Sly & The Family Stone

    “Boozophilia” – Low Cut Connie

    “Wherever Is Your Heart”  – Brandi Carlile

    “Good Day” – Nappy Roots

    “Green Light” – John Legend

    “Gimme Shelter” – The Rolling Stones

    “Rock Steady” – Aretha Franklin

    “Down Down the Deep River” – Okkervil River

    “Pusher Love Girl” – Justin Timberlake

    “Shake It Out” – Florence + The Machine

    “La Salsa La Traigo Yo” – Sonora Carruseles

     

    Evening Playlist

    “My Favorite Things” – John Coltrane

    “Superpower” (feat. Frank Ocean) – Beyoncé

    “Moondance” – Van Morrison

    “Is Your Love Big Enough?” – Lianne La Havas

    “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” – Al Green

    “Red & White & Blue & Gold” – Aoife O’Donovan

    “Nothing Even Matters” – Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo

    “The Best Is Yet to Come” – Frank Sinatra

    “You Don’t Know Me” – Ray Charles

    “I Found My Everything” – Mary J Blige

    “Help Me” – Joni Mitchell

    “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” – Otis Redding

    “Suzanne” – Leonard Cohen

    “Feeling Good” – Nina Simone

    “Stubborn Love” – The Lumineers

    “Until” – Cassandra Wilson

    “UMI Says” – Mos Def

    “The Very Thought of You” – Billie Holiday

    “Flamenco Sketches” – Miles Davis

    “Woo” – Erykah Badu

  • Steve Smith named new Australian test captain

    Opening batsman David Warner will be Smith’s deputy in the test and one-day international formats, Cricket Australia said in a statement.

    Clarke announced his decision to quit international cricket after England won the fourth test at Trent Bridge last week to regain the Ashes.

    The 26-year-old Smith was expected to take the role having previously led the team when he replaced the injured Clarke as captain for three tests during the home series against India.

    National selector Rod Marsh said Australia had no doubt that Smith was the right man for the job.

    “We have had a clear succession plan in place for the captaincy with Steve Smith gaining valuable experience leading the Australian test team while Michael Clarke was recovering from injury last season,” Marsh said in the statement.

    “When Michael made his decision to retire last week it was a very straight forward decision for us to nominate Steve as his successor.

    “He has big shoes to fill but everything about him suggests he is the right man for the job. At 26, he is a fine young man with extraordinary talent, excellent leadership qualities and a terrific temperament.

    “He is highly regarded by the selectors and we congratulate him on being appointed to the role on an ongoing basis. He should be incredibly proud.”

    Smith has clearly been Australia’s best batsman in the last year but his team is certain to have a very different complexion when they embark on a two-test tour of Bangladesh in October.

    Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, Chris Rogers and Shane Watson are all expected to have played their last tests during their calamitous trip to England, while paceman Ryan Harris retired before the first Ashes test after suffering another knee injury.

    Besides Smith, the diminutive Warner is expected to carry most of the burden of Australia’s batting.

    Nicknamed ‘Bull’ and one of the cleanest hitters in the game, Warner, when on song, can take a game away from opponents but also relishes a verbal battle out in the middle and his sledging has drawn multiple code of conduct violations in the past.

    However, Marsh felt the extra responsibility would help the left-handed batsman.

    “We have reached a point in time where we’ve had to look at our leadership positions again with an eye to the future,” Marsh said.

    “David has matured and developed into an important senior figure in the Australian team. He has come a long way.

    “We believe that he will respond well to the added responsibility of leadership.”

    The fifth Ashes test starts on Thursday at The Oval, London.