Section: Dunya TV (Pakistan)
Tennis: Niculescu advances to face Williams at Indian Wells
INDIAN WELLS (AFP) – Monica Niculescu rolled over Aleksandra Krunic 6-2, 6-1 to book a second round clash with top seed Serena Williams, who is returning to Indian Wells after a 14-year hiatus.Reigning Australian Open champ Williams is one of 31 seeded players who received a first-round bye at the joint ATP and WTA Indian Wells tournament...
West boosts Ukraine aid as Russia bridles at sanctions
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The IMF handed Ukraine a $17.5 billion lifeline Wednesday as the United States agreed to send military aid to bolster its forces against pro-Russian rebels — but stopped short of promising weapons.The United States also expanded the reach of its economic sanctions, targeting a Russian bank and separatist officials...
Football: Bayern rout Shakhtar to advance to quarter-finals
MUNICH (AFP) – Bayern Munich qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-0 rout of 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday.After playing out a drab goalless draw in the first leg in Ukraine, Bayern made no such mistake against a Shakhtar side reduced to 10 men in just the third minute.Shaktars horrendous start to the match saw...
IMF chief sees ‘better news’ at last for advanced economies
BERLIN (AFP) – IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Wednesday that major advanced economies were seeing better news thanks to cheap oil, currency shifts and low interest rates that encourage investment.For once in a long time there are clearly some relatively better news on the horizon of the advanced economies. And this has not happened in...
US sends more security equipment to Ukraine, sanctions rebels
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States will deliver Humvees and drones to Ukraine and hit rebel leaders and their alleged supporters in Russia with further sanctions, after repeated ceasefire violations, officials said Wednesday.More than $75 million worth of non-lethal defensive equipment will be sent to Kiev, a senior administration...
Future bleak for Russia’s cowed opposition
MOSCOW (AFP) – After years with no real political power and a steady Kremlin crackdown on dissent, Russias opposition was in the doldrums even before the assassination of one of its most vocal activists, Boris Nemtsov.Nemtsovs brazen shooting in central Moscow sent tens of thousands onto the streets, prompting speculation that the ragtag...
Nemtsov suspect likely confessed ‘under torture’: Kremlin rights advisor
MOSCOW (AFP) – A former Chechen police officer who admitted taking part in the murder of Russian opposition activist Boris Nemtsov likely confessed under torture, a member of the Kremlins human rights council said Wednesday.Zaur Dadayev allegedly confessed and was charged with murder but has now insisted to the councils Andrei Babushkin...
Kazakhstan strongman confirms candidacy for snap presidential poll
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AFP) – Strongman Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev on Wednesday confirmed his candidacy for snap April 26 presidential elections that he is expected to win by a landslide.Nazarbayev, who has ruled energy-rich Kazakhstan since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, accepted the nomination from his ruling party and...
Russia quits arms treaty consulting group amid tensions with West
MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia said Tuesday it was suspending its participation in a consulting group on a conventional arms treaty for Europe, the latest sign of deep tensions with the West.Russia had already suspended its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) in 2007. It had however continued to take part in the...
Embattled Ukrainian town struggles to come back to life
DEBALTSEVE, Ukraine: (AP) – When the wind picks up, the rattle of the corrugated iron roof of a destroyed gas station can sound like artillery. Four charred tanks sit stranded nearby, machine oil splattered on the ground, while a pick-up truck lies on its side surrounded by shrapnel.Debaltseve, the center of one of the fiercest battles of...
