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ARY NEWS

Reuters

  • Champions League T20 discontinued due to lack of interest

    The 2015 edition, which would have been the seventh and was scheduled for September and October, has been cancelled because of the tournament’s “limited public following”, organisers said in a news release on Wednesday.

    “It was a fantastic platform for players from around the world to showcase their talent and the participating teams thoroughly enjoyed the experience over the last six seasons,” Anurag Thakur, the honorary secretary at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said.

    “Unfortunately, off the field, Champions League T20 wasn’t sustaining the interest of the fans as we had hoped.

    “This decision was made, after consultation with all our commercial partners and meeting the contractual obligations of all parties involved.”

    Launched by BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa in 2008, the competition offered a highly lucrative prize pool of $6 million with $2.5 million going to the winners.

    It brought together teams from the India Premier League, Australia’s Big Bash League, South Africa’s Ram Slam T20 Challenge and Caribbean Premier League along with other qualifiers.

    The inaugural event was cancelled after the death of 164 people in coordinated attacks on Mumbai in November 2008, however, and the tournament failed to gain any real traction thereafter.

    The Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings were the most successful teams in the competition after they both won it twice with the Super Kings securing what will be the final title in Bangalore last year.

  • Jadhav's maiden ODI ton eases India to victory

    Sent in to bat, India made a cautious start before Jadhav blazed an unbeaten 105 from 87 balls to propel the tourists to 276 for five in their 50 overs.

    The home side lost wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 193 in the 43rd over.

    India looked in trouble when they slumped to 82 for four but Jadhav, batting at number six, at first steadied the innings and then increased the scoring rate with some superb shots.

    His highest score in three previous ODI matches was 20, but he found his rhythm in Harare, smashing 12 fours and a six while the other batsmen on both sides found boundaries hard to come by.

    Jadhav added 144 for the fifth wicket with debutant Manish Pandey, who was last man out for 71 from 86 balls.

    Zimbabwe battled from the start of their reply with only opener Chamu Chibhabha offering any sort of resistance as he reached a second half-century in two matches with 82 from 109 balls.

    Stuart Binny, who has had a fine series with bat and ball, was the pick of the Indian bowlers and recorded figures of three for 55 from his 10 overs.

    Harbhajan Singh, returning to ODI cricket in this series for the first time in four years, bowled tidily again for two for 35 from his 10.

    The teams will begin a two-match Twenty20 series on Friday at the same venue.

  • Raheem Sterling joins Manchester City for record fee

    City paid 49 million pounds ($76.4 million) for Sterling, according to media reports, with the England international signing a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium.

    The pacy winger will fly out to join his new team mates, who are on a pre-season tour in Australia.

    “Raheem Sterling is one of the best attacking players in world football, and I am very much looking forward to him joining our squad out in Australia later this week,” City manager Manuel Pellegrini said on the club website (www.mcfc.com).

    “He is a young player with outstanding ability, and I am sure the Manchester City fans will be very excited about seeing him in action for the team.”

    Abu Dhabi-owned City did not confirm the transfer fee but said it was a record for the club.

    The fee is also higher than the previous record for an English player, surpassing the 35 million pounds Liverpool paid Newcastle United for target man Andy Carroll in 2011.

    Sterling endured an acrimonious end to his career at Liverpool after making 129 appearances and scoring 23 goals, having moved to the Merseyside outfit from Queens Park Rangers in 2010 as a 15-year-old.

    His relationship with Liverpool hit trouble in April as contract talks stalled and he gave an unauthorised interview to the BBC, denying being a “money-grabber” and claiming he was motivated purely by ambition.

    His outspoken agent Aidy Ward then angered the club and its supporters in May by saying the England player would not sign a new deal at Anfield — even for 900,000 pounds ($1.40 million) a week.

    With no City deal on the immediate horizon, the issue came to a head last week as the player did not fly out with Liverpool for their pre-season tour despite being named in the squad.

    Liverpool, however, showed no bitterness in a short statement confirming his departure on their website.

    “Liverpool Football Club can confirm Raheem Sterling has completed a transfer to Manchester City,” the club said. “Liverpool FC wishes Raheem well.”

  • Teens stream ice cream robbery, get arrested

    A resident in West Weber, about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City, called sheriff’s deputies late on Sunday to report seeing the crime being streamed live on social media using Twitter’s Periscope App, police said.

    “The investigating deputy tracked down the creator of the video, a 16-year-old male who lived in the neighborhood,” the Weber County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Monday.

    The boy admitted breaking into the truck’s refrigerated trailer with a friend and stealing the contents, the sheriff’s office said.

    “He also confessed to posting their caper online through Periscope,” it said. “The subject said he and his friend then went and randomly placed the tubs of ice cream on the front porches of some of their neighbors as a gift.”

    The deputy spoke to the other boy, who confirmed the first boy’s account, the sheriff’s office said.

    Both boys, who were not named, will be referred to juvenile court on burglary and theft charges, the statement said.

  • Iran, six major powers reach historic nuclear deal

    “All the hard work has paid off and we sealed a deal. God bless our people,” the diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Another Iranian official confirmed the agreement.

    A senior Western diplomat also confirmed that the landmark Iran nuclear deal was reached after clearing final obstacles.

    The diplomat made the comments Tuesday amid non-stop negotiations between Iran and world powers in Vienna.

    The diplomat says it includes a compromise between Washington and Tehran that would allow United Nations inspectors to press for visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties. Iranian state television earlier rejected such a demand.

    The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement, expected after a 10:30 am final meeting between all negotiators.

  • India suspends domestic player for fixing approach

    Shah, who does not play in IPL, made the approach to his unidentified first-class cricket team mate who represents Rajasthan Royals in the lucrative Twenty20 league, the Indian board (BCCI) said in a statement.

    The player, identified by local media as Mumbai leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, reported the approach to his team, who forwarded the case to BCCI’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.

    Shah’s long-term fate will now be decided by the board’s disciplinary committee.

    “His involvement in any form of cricket affiliated with the BCCI stands suspended till the time the disciplinary committee of the BCCI passes appropriate orders,” the board said.

    Shah, 30, has played 37 first-class matches for Mumbai, averaging over 42 with six hundreds.

    “BCCI has zero tolerance for corruption in the game of cricket,” board president Jagmohan Dalmiya said.

    “We have and we will take swift action against such incidents to set a precedent and control the menace of corruption in the game.”

    Rajasthan is not alien to the threat of spot-fixing after former India paceman S. Sreesanth and two other cricketers from the team were arrested in 2013 on suspicion of taking money to concede a fixed number of runs.

    Sreesanth, who denied any wrongdoing, was subsequently banned for life by the BCCI.

  • U.S. steps up air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq: statement

    There also were nine air strikes in Syria targeting Islamic State forces with bomber, fighter-attack and drone aircraft, seven coming near Al Hasakah and one each near Raqqah and Kobani, according to the statement.

    Iraqi troops and Shia Muslim militia forces attacked Islamic State fighters on several fronts on Monday in Anbar province at the start of what is likely to be a long and fiercely contested offensive.

    The U.S. military statement said air strikes were conducted in Iraq on Sunday near seven cities using bomber, attack, fighter-attack and drone aircraft.

    Most came near Ramadi, according to the statement, targeting Islamic State staging areas, excavators, an armored personnel carrier and another vehicle. Other air strikes in Iraq came near Al Huwayjah, Habbaniyah, Hit, Makhmur, Sinjar and Tal Afar, the statement said.

  • European Leaders reach deal to resolve Greek Debt Crisis

    “EuroSummit has unanimously reached agreement,” Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, wrote on his Twitter account shortly before 9 a.m. on Monday. The new bailout for Greece would involve “serious reforms & financial support,” Mr. Tusk wrote.

    Joseph Muscat, the Maltese prime minister, wrote on his Twitter account “Deal” shortly before 9 a.m. on Monday after 17 hours of talks in Brussels.

    Shares Surge: European shares surged on Monday after euro zone leaders reached an agreement to move forward with a bailout loan for Greece following all-night talks in Brussels.

    European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said there would be no Greek exit from the euro currency union, adding that he was convinced that Greek government and the Greek parliament would be able to pass all the decisions agreed at the summit.

    “For the markets, it’s clearly positive that there is an agreement among the European member states and that there is an atmosphere of co-operation,” Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets in Brussels, said.

    “Still, there is a bit of execution risk which may haunt us in terms of volatility.”

    The euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index hit a two-week high and was up 1.4 percent by 0802 GMT, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 1.3 percent to 1,563.21 points. Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC and Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.7 to 1.6 percent.

    The euro zone’s banking index advanced 1.6 percent, helped by a 1.8 to 2.5 percent rise in shares of Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and UniCredit .

    The region’s volatility index hit a two-week low.

    Ronny Claeys, senior strategist at KBC Asset Management, said that in the long run, investors will try to find answers to questions such as whether the deal Athens has agreed with its European peers fundamentally resolves the issue of Greece’s debt burden.

    Shares in mid-cap Alent spiked 44 percent after U.S. chemicals maker Platform Specialty Products Corp said it would buy the British company for about 1.35 billion pounds ($2.09 billion) in cash to expand its portfolio and save costs.

  • Iran, six world powers nearing nuclear deal

    After more than two weeks of negotiations in Vienna, Iranian and Western officials said the earliest an agreement could be ready was Monday, the self-imposed deadline for clinching a deal, though that could be extended again.

    “We still have got work to do tomorrow,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters from his hotel balcony. “No deal today.”

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has cautioned that “major issues” remain to be resolved, and comments from both senior Republican and Democrat Senators on Sunday suggested that any final deal would also face tough scrutiny in Congress.

    Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for the Iranian delegation, said on Twitter that the draft agreement Iran and the powers – the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China – were working on was “a 100-page document”.

    Western powers have long suspected Iran of aiming to build nuclear bombs and using its civilian atomic energy programme to cloak its intention – an accusation Iran strongly denies.

    The goal of the deal being negotiated would be to increase the time it takes for Iran to produce enough enriched uranium fuel for a single weapon to at least one year from current estimates of two to three months – the “breakout” time.

    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday further measures were still needed to overcome the remaining obstacles in the Vienna negotiations, ISNA news agency reported.

    “It might seem we have reached the top of the mountain. But no, there are still steps needed to be taken,” ISNA quoted him as saying. “Even if we fail … we have performed our duty.”

    In a sign that prospects for a deal being concluded on Sunday were fading, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond headed back to London but was expected to return on Monday, officials said.

    French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius cancelled a planned trip to Africa due to the continued deadlock in the Iran negotiations, a French diplomatic source said.

    “I hope, I hope, that we are finally entering the final phase of this marathon negotiation,” Fabius told reporters.

    A German government source said a deal could be reached quickly if Tehran was ready to take the last steps, adding that it was still possible for the negotiations to fail.

    “Everything can still fail, but we are indeed very close to reaching the goal… Negotiations are currently in the absolute final phase and are running intensely through the night,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

    “POLITICAL WILL”

    A senior Iranian official said 99 percent of the issues had been resolved, adding: “With political will we can finish the work late tonight and announce it tomorrow.”

    Among the biggest sticking points in the past week has been Iran’s insistence that a United Nations Security Council arms embargo and ban on its ballistic missile programme dating from 2006 be lifted immediately if an agreement is reached.

    Russia, which sells weapons to Iran, has publicly supported Tehran on the issue.

    Other problematic issues in the talks are access for inspectors to military sites in Iran, answers from Tehran over past activity and the overall speed of sanctions relief.

    Kerry and Zarif have met nearly every day since Kerry arrived in Vienna more than two weeks ago for what was intended to be the final phase in a negotiation process that began with an interim nuclear deal clinched in November 2013.

    Kerry met Zarif again on Sunday, a U.S. official said, in an attempt to break the deadlock.

    Experts and senior officials from Iran, the United States and the other powers have been meeting non-stop for months, often working into the early hours of the morning, to finalise an accord that will include five technical annexes.

    An agreement would be the biggest step towards rapprochement between Iran and the West since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, although both sides are likely to remain wary of each other even if a deal is concluded.

    Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Tehran would continue its fight against “global arrogance” – referring to the United States. But Khamenei did not set any new “red lines” for his negotiators as he did in a tough speech two weeks ago.

    In Washington, the top Republican in the U.S. Senate cast doubt on whether President Barack Obama would be able to win approval in Congress for any deal.

    “I think it’s going to be a very hard sell, if it’s completed, in Congress,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the “Fox News Sunday” broadcast. “We already know it’s going to leave Iran as a threshold nuclear state.”

    A leading Democrat also struck a downbeat note.

    “There is no trust when it comes to Iran,” said Senator Ben Cardin, the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that would examine any deal as part of the U.S. Congress’ 60-day review.

  • India, Pakistan to join China, Russia in security group

    The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, meeting in the Russian city of Ufa a day after the BRICS emerging economies held a summit there, said the invitation to the two Asian nations showed a “multi-polar” world was now emerging.

    Those words will have pleased Putin, who says the United States has an outdated vision of a “uni-polar” world dominated by Washington and wants to show Russia has not been weakened by Western sanctions over its role in the Ukraine crisis.

    “The evolution of the SCO is taking place at a complicated stage in the development of international relations and amidst the emergence of a multi-polar world,” the group said in a declaration after the meeting.

    “These processes are accompanied by increasing security challenges and threats, increasing uncertainty and instability in various regions of the world.”

    The SCO, which also includes the Central Asian former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, is widely seen as a platform for Moscow and Beijing to project influence in the region.

    Until now it has not been a big force and relations between China and Russia have not developed as quickly as Moscow would like, despite agreement on a major gas supply deal last year.

    But Putin saw the signs of unity in the SCO and the BRICS – Brazil, India, South Africa, China and Russia – which agreed to coordinate efforts to keep their economies stable, launched a development bank and agreed on a currency pool.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the expansion of the SCO should serve a “springboard” for the organisation to become one of the most dynamic in the world.

    “The time has come to reach out across the region,” Modi said. “We have everything we need to succeed.”

    Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said: “President Putin’s efforts will enhance the political and economic scope of the Eurasian belt.”

    ENERGY PRODUCERS

    The addition of Pakistan and India, two nuclear-armed neighbours who have years of tensions between them, could also lead to easing the conflicts between New Delhi and Islamabad.

    The two leaders agreed in a separate meeting in Ufa that Modi would visit Pakistan next year.

    Joining a group that includes energy producers such as Kazakhstan and Russia may have been a strong incentive for the two countries to join.

    “India is particularly interested because it lacks direct access to Central Asia, and it sees SCO membership as a way to get a better foothold on the region. SCO membership could better position India to benefit from Central Asia’s gas riches,” said Michael Kugelman, senior programme associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Wilson Centre in Washington.

    But he added: “In (the) SCO, India and Pakistan wouldn’t be dominant powers – China and Russia would retain that title.”

    The SCO did not invite Iran to join, although it has long sought membership. The group says Iran can join only after reaching a deal with big powers on its nuclear programme.

    With the addition of Iran, the group would control around a fifth of the world’s oil and represent nearly a half of the global population. The BRICS account for a fifth of the world’s economic output and 40 percent of its population.