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Japanese journalist freed in Syria returning home

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A Japanese freelance journalist held hostage by Islamist militants for 40 months in Syria left for Japan from Turkey on Thursday after being freed and said he was happy to be going home.

Jumpei Yasuda, who went missing in Syria where he went to cover the civil war and was confirmed safe by the Japanese government on Wednesday, is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo later on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

“I am happy that I can return to Japan. At the same time, I don’t know what will happen from here or what I should do. I am thinking about what I need to do,” Yasuda, 44, said before boarding his flight home from the southern Turkish city of Antalya.

He said that his time held captive was hell both physically and psychologically.

He said the thought of not being freed day after day led him to lose control of himself, and living in a cell had become normal for him, although paradoxically was a painful reality.

As for his release, Yasuda told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that he was taken by car and handed over to Turkish officials at the border and taken to immigration.

On Wednesday, the Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono confirmed that a man released by Syrian militants was indeed Yasuda.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said late Tuesday that the Qatari government had notified Japan that Yasuda had been released.

Suga denied on Wednesday that Japan had secured Yasuda’s release by paying a ransom despite some organisations’ claims to the contrary.

Yasuda was initially believed to have been captured and held by an Al Qaeda-linked group.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also thanked the leaders of Turkey and Qatar for their part in helping secure Yasuda’s release.

Ians

Corporation chairman shot dead in UP, one arrested

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A municipal corporation chairman in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonebhadra district was shot dead on Thursday, said police, who arrested one suspect.

Chopan Municipal Corporation chairman Imtiaz Ahmad, 40, was playing volleyball at the Grewal Park when unidentified gunmen riddled him with bullets fired from a pistol and carbine.

Rushed to a district hospital, Khan was pronounced dead.

One suspect was arrested and his interrogation was underway, a police official told IANS. Two other suspects were on the run.

Khan was elected the town corporation chief for the second time.

Superintendent of Police Kireet Rathore was trying to ease the tension that erupted in the area following the murder.

HC upholds TN Speaker’s decision disqualifying 18 TN MLAs

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The Supreme Court appointed third judge, Justice M. Sathyanarayanan of the Madras High Court, on Thursday upheld the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker’s decision disqualifying 18 AIADMK legislators in 2017.

Pronouncing his decision in the split verdict that had previously been delivered, Sathyanarayanan upheld Speaker P. Dhanapal’s disqualification order.

With this, the ban on holding of by-polls for the 18 seats has been lifted.

The disqualified legislators are with sidelined party leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran, now an Independent legislator in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Reacting to the judgement, Dhinakaran told reporters: “We will discuss with the 18 legislators and decide on the future course of action.” He said it was “an experience for us”.

“If the 18 disqualified legislators decide to go on appeal against the decision then we will go for an appeal,” Dhinakaran said.

The apex court had appointed Sathyanarayanan, replacing Justice Vimala who was originally appointed by the high court as the third judge following a split verdict in the case in June.

While Chief Justice Indrani Banerjee, heading the two-judge bench, declined to interfere with Dhanapal’s decision taken in September 2017, Justice M. Sundar set aside the Speaker’s order on the ground that it was hit by “perversity, non-compliance with the principles of natural justice, mala fides and a violation of the constitutional mandate”.

The judges said since there was disagreement between them, the case should be transferred to a third judge.

Maintaining the status quo, the court also said till the case was finally decided the interim order issued earlier that barred holding of by-elections and the floor test in the Assembly would continue.

In the 296-page judgement, Justice Banerjee said that in her opinion the view taken by the Speaker was possible, if not plausible, and “I am unable to hold that the said decision is any way unreasonable, irrational or perverse”.

“It is well-settled that when two views are possible, the High Court does not in exercise of its power of judicial review conferred under Article 226 of the Constitution of India interfere with the decision just because it prefers the other view.

“No interference is, therefore, warranted with the impugned order passed by the Speaker,” she said, dismissing the petitions by the disqualified MLAs.

In his order differing with the Chief Justice, Justice Sundar said: “sum totality of discussion leads this court to inevitably conclude that the impugned order of the Speaker disqualifying 18 writ petitioners herein deserves to be set aside.”

In case the court had upheld the disqualification, then there would have been by-elections in 18 constituencies, exposing the ruling party to vulnerabilities of electoral politics.

On other hand, if the court had quashed the Speaker’s disqualification order, the government may have to face an opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion, which it would find difficult to survive.

In the 235-member Assembly, the AIADMK has 115 members followed by the DMK with 88, Congress eight, one of the IUML, one Independent, the Speaker and 20 vacant seats (18 disqualified and two dead). Besides, there is a nominated member.

Three legislators though belonging to three different parties won their seats under the AIADMK’s two leaves symbol. Of that, one legislator Karunas is openly supporting Dhinakaran.

The case pertains from the time when O. Panneerselvam (now Deputy Chief Minister) had rebelled against the party led by jailed leader V.K. Sasikala.

Later, he merged his group with the faction led by Chief Minister K. Palaniswami, who sidelined Sasikala and her nephew Dinakaran.

In 2017, a group of 19 lawmakers met then Governor C.Vidyasagar Rao and gave a memorandum expressing loss of confidence in Palaniswami and requested him to appoint a new Chief Minister.

The Speaker then issued notice to the lawmakers asking them why they should not be disqualified under the anti-defection law.

Subsequently, one of legislators, S.T.K. Jakkaiyan, switched over to the Palaniswami side and the others were disqualified.

ISL: Goa hammer five past hapless Mumbai

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FC Goa surged to the top of the Indian Super League (ISL) table after a comprehensive 5-0 win over Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.

Star striker Ferran Corominas converted an early penalty (6′) to hand the hosts the lead before second half strikes from Jackichand Singh (55′), Edu Bedia (61′) made it 3-0. A late brace from Miguel Palanca (84′, 90′) condemned Mumbai City to a heavy defeat.

The game got off to an end-to-end start and Mumbai should have taken the lead when Arnold Issoko scuffed his effort from a corner.

From the ensuing counter, Souvik Chakrabarti brought down Coro with a horrendous challenge which left the referee no option but to point to the spot. The former Espanyol striker pulled off a Panenka which bewildered Amrinder Singh and handed Goa the lead.

The visitors had several opportunities to score the equaliser as they won several free headers inside the Goa box but just could not test Nawaz. Goa threatened themselves but Amrinder came to Mumbai’s rescue on occasions.

The floodgates opened in the second session when Seriton Fernandes’ cross into the box was turned into the net by Jackichand who got ahead of Souvik Chakrabarti to make it 2-0.

The Gaurs then added one more to the tally through Bedia’s stunning outside of the foot shot which sailed into the back of the net.

Goa were in cruise control by this time. Miguel Palanca, who came on in the 82nd minute, hammered the final nails in Mumbai City’s coffin with a well-taken brace.

First, Palanca took Manvir Singh’s cross in his stride and lifted a finish over substitute goalkeeper Ravi Kumar before sending a left-footed finish past the goalkeeper in the 90th minute after bringing Ahmed Jahouh’s cross from the right wing.

The victory would be proof for Sergio Lobera that his tiki taka ways were producing results. Goa have now scored 10 goals in their first three matches and will next face FC Pune City in the next home game on Sunday.

The win sees Goa climb above Bengaluru FC and NorthEast United on goal difference at the top of the table while Mumbai drop to the seventh spot.

IANS

Ritu Malik fails to grab bronze playoff chance at Wrestling Worlds

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Ritu Maliks efforts fell short in the 65 kg category bronze medal playoff as the Indian went down to Ayana Gempei from Japan 3-7 in the world championships at the Papp László Sportaréna here on Wednesday.

The Japanese, who won the under-23 world title last year and added this year’s World Cup crown, proved her superiority yet again.

By the end of the first period, the Japanese with a takedown and a step-out led 3-1 and, in the second, retained her aggression to score four more points, both on take downs even as Ritu managed a couple of points for the take down and one through hold.

But with time running out on her, Ritu could not overcome the deficit.

However, Ritu had done herself proud by holding on to her nerves to overpower her Bulgarian rival Sofiya Hristova Georgieva 9-8 in the repechage round and enter the bronze playoff.

It was a pulsating bout in which Ritu led 3-1 by the end of the first period. But the Bulgarian fought well in the second through a four-point throw to go 5-3 up.

However, Ritu returned the compliment and won a four-pointer and a step-out point even as the Bulgarian came too close for the Indian’s comfort as Ritu edged her rival out of contention.

Earlier, Japan’s Yukako Kawai outclassed Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik 16-2 in the 62 kg quarterfinals. The twice World Cup title winner was technically superior to Sakshi as she had very little chance against her, despite leading 2-1 in the first period.

However, the Rio Games bronze medal winner entered the repechange round after Kawai had reached the final.

In 50kg category, after a rousing start by Ritu Phogat in the pre-quarterfinal against Thi Yuan Nguyen of Vietnam with a technical superiority, the Indian lost her quarterfinal bout by fall to Yui Susaki.

The last year’s world champion in 48kg category won 11-0. Like Sakshi, Ritu too got luckier and entered the repechage round where she will meet Alina Emilia of Roumania on Thursday. The Japanese, who Ritu conquered her in the quarters, too entered the final.

Pinki (53kg) lost her quarterfinal to Poland’s Katarzyna Krawczyk 2-7 while CWG silver medallist Pooja Dhanda lost 3-4 to China’s Ningning Rong at the same stage in the 57kg.

Pooja should thank her quarterfinal opponent from China for giving her a lease of live in the repechage round as Rong entered the final, to be played on Thursday.

IANS

PKL: Pawan Sehrawat powers Bengaluru to massive win over Haryana

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Pawan Sehrawat’s stunning 20-point raid helped Bengaluru Bulls outclass Haryana Steelers 42-34 in an inter-zonal challenge match of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) here on Wednesday.

Despite trailing in the first half, Bengaluru rode Pawan’s stunning raids to make a comeback in the second half as the raider collected 13 crucial points in the later part of the game. Apart from Pawan, Bengaluru skipper Rohit Kumar chipped in with eight raid points.

For Haryana, raider Vikash Kandola and skipper Monu Gayat collected 14 and 11 points respectively. However, their combined effort was overshadowed by Pawan’s extraordinary effort.

Haryana started with a 4-2 lead in the first four minutes before Rohit’s fine raid and Jasmer Gulia’s tackle points equalised the issue at 5-5 in the 6th minute. Pawan and Vikash kept on picking raid points for their respective teams as the contest was once again tied at 8-8 in the 10th minute.

Haryana took a slight 10-8 lead through successful raids by Vikash and Naveen before an unstoppable Pawan once again pulled things back to square things off at 10-10.

There was an equal raiding effort from both the sides in the last minutes of the first half but Haryana went with a slender 15-13 lead at the break.

Bengaluru came back with a spirited show in the second half, thanks to Pawan’s scintillating show. Pawan’s back to back raid points helped Bengaluru inflict an all out in the 24th minute as they took a 21-17 lead.

Pawan and Rohit’s combined effort saw Bengaluru taking a massive 27-19 lead and they went on to inflict the second all-out as Haryana trailed 23-32 in the 32nd minute.

Bengaluru kept their attacking display on and led the contest 36-27 with five minutes to go.

The last few minutes saw Haryana picking some quick points, but Pawan’s continuous successful raids saw Bengaluru winning the issue 42-34.

China, Russia listening to Trump’s cellphone calls: NYT

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Washington A New York Times report has claimed that when US President Donald Trump calls old friends on one of his iPhones to “gossip or gripe”, Chinese and Russian spies were routinely eavesdropping on the calls.

The daily cited American intelligence agencies over the claims which were published on Wednesday.

The spies were often listening and “putting to use invaluable insights into how to best work the President and affect administration policy”, according to current and former American officials.

Trump’s aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, The New York Times said.

But the aides have said that the President, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up his iPhones.

White House officials say they can only hope he refrains from discussing classified information when he is on them.

The American intelligence agencies had learned that China and Russia were eavesdropping on the President’s cellphone calls from human sources inside foreign governments and intercepting communications between foreign officials.

The agencies have also determined that China was seeking to use what it was learning from the calls – how Trump thought, what arguments tend to sway him and to whom he was inclined to listen – to keep a trade war with the US from escalating further.

The Chinese have also pieced together a list of the people with whom Trump regularly speaks in hopes of using them to influence the President, the officials said.

Russia was not believed to be running as sophisticated an influence effort as China because of Trump’s apparent affinity for President Vladimir Putin, The New York Times quoted a former American official as saying.

The Chinese and the Russians “would look for any little thing – how easily was he talked out of something, what was the argument that was used”, said John Sipher, a 28-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency who served in Moscow in the 1990s and later ran the agency’s Russia programme.

Officials said the President has two official iPhones that have been altered by the National Security Agency to limit their abilities and a third personal phone.

Trump keeps the personal phone, White House officials said, because unlike his other two phones, he can store his contacts in it.

None of them are completely secure and are vulnerable to hackers who could remotely break into the phones themselves.

(IANS)

Srikanth, Saina advance at French Open

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Indian stars Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal entered the second round of the men’s and women’s singles categories respectively at the French Open badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

Srikanth defeated Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong in straight games in his campaign opener.

The Indian brushed off a tough challenge in the opening game to clinch a comprehensive 21-19, 21-13 verdict in 42 minutes.

Srikanth will now face the winner of the first round clash between Khosit Phetpradab of Thailand and South Korea’s Lee Dong Keun.

Saina also had an easy outing in her first round clash. Currently placed at the 10th spot in the world rankings, Saina needed just 37 minutes to beat Saena Kawakami of Japan 21-11, 21-11.

Saina will next take on the winner of the first round clash between Beatriz Corrales of Spain and Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara.

IANS

PKL: Puneri Paltan end home-leg on losing note

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U.P. Yoddhas tasted their second win in the ongoing edition of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) after defeating host Puneri Paltan 29-23 in an inter-zonal challenge match here on Wednesday.

U.P. saw a collective effort from raiders Prashant Rai, Srikanth Desai and Rishank Devadiga, who scored eight, six and four points respectively.

Pune’s star raider Nitin Tomar once again failed in replicating his earlier form after managing to pick just five points, while Monu scored seven points.

Despite ending their home leg on a defeat, Pune continues to be at the top of zone A rankings with 32 points from 10 games while Bengaluru Bulls lead the zone B charts with 16 points.

Shrikant Jadhav opened UP’s account with a two-point raid in initial minutes before Monu responded for Puneri Paltan with an equivalent raid.

After being tied at 3-3, UP led 8-4 in the eighth minute as Prashanth scored four raid points in quick successions.
Later, Nitin came with a two-point raid in the 14th minute, reducing the deficit to one-point for Pune.

UP went into the half time leading 16-12 and holding a slight edge over Pune.

In the second half, UP maintained four-point lead in the 23rdminute.

A super tackle in the 30th minute by UP saw them leading 21-17.

In the last five minutes, Pune’s Akshay Jadhav scored a raid point but the visitors still led the issue 25-21.

UP’s defence then tackled Nitin twice to clinch the contest 29-23.

Harmanpreet hat-trick helps India beat South Korea

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Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat-trick of penalty corner conversions to give India a 4-1 victory over South Korea in the Asian Champions Trophy Muscat 2018 here on Wednesday.

Th result also knocked the Koreans out of semi-final contention.Harmanpreet opened the Indian scoring in the fifth minute with a firm drag-flick and returned to score two goals in the last quarter with rasping shots in the 47th and 59th minute to become the tournament’s third player to score a treble.

India’s Dilpreet Singh and Pakistan’s Aleem Bilal are the other players to have registered hat-tricks in the Asian Champions Trophy.After Harmanpreet opened the scoring, Gurjant made it 2-0 in the 10th minute when he picked up a through ball on top of the circle, turned around and sent a stinging shot into the boards.

Lee Seung-Il brought Korea back into the game with an opportunist strike in the 20th minute.

Lee picked a short pass inside the scoring zone and sent a rasping shot into the top left corner of the goal, but Korea could not deliver goal-bearing shots in some openings they created after half-time.

Harmanpreet’s return to goal-scoring action sealed the fate of the encounter.”I feel happy the way I am shooting the penalty corners. I just focused on a job and they goals came,” said Harmanpreet.

After Korea’s loss in their last preliminary league outing, they are left on three points.The four semi-finalists have been decided, but the league standings will be finalized only after Malaysia, Pakistan and Japan play their last preliminary round matches on Thursday.

India stayed on top of the standings with 13 points from five outings, followed by Malaysia on 10 points from four matches, Pakistan on seven points from four outings and Japan on four points in four games.

Korea will play Oman Saturday in the play-off to decide the fifth and sixth positions.

Hosts Oman, who are yet to earn a point from four fixtures, still have a game against Japan remaining.

Even a victory over Asian Games gold medallists Japan, Oman cannot log more than three points.Indian coach Harendra Singh was all praise for Harmanpreet.

“He is one of the best penalty flickers in the game,” the coach said.

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