In the context of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup currently being played
in Singapore, Afghanistan's 28-run win over the India Under-23 team was
insignificant. The Indians still topped the group to move into the
semi-final, where they will take on United Arab Emirates on Friday. But
for Afghanistan, despite the fact that the result didn't help them from
exiting the event, the victory was perhaps their most important.
For the first time in their short cricketing history, Afghanistan
had recorded a win over a Test-playing nation, albeit an age-group side
of it, in any format.
The fact that Afghanistan was allowed to enter their main side
for the tournament while the Indians obeyed the age restriction was a
footnote in fine print that in no way took away the shine from this
emerging Asian cricketing nation.
The hero of the day for the Afghanistan was their skipper
Mohammad Nabi, who scored 25 runs with the bat and finished with figures
of 3/32 in a low scoring game. Batting first, Afghanistan scored 184
with Samiullah Shenwari scoring 43 off 44 balls. In reply, the Indians
succumbed to Nabi's off-spin. India were 156/9 at the end of 50 overs.
At the end of group games; India, Pakistan and Afghanistan all
finished with four points. But Afghanistan's poor run rate got them
eliminated.
Assessing potential
Speaking to The Indian Express after the win, Nabi said, "For us
it is a big win, beating India can only be a moral booster." Though,
there were no international players in the Indian side, Nabi and his men
were in awe of their young rivals. With most of the India under-23
players playing in the Indian Premier League, the Afghanistan players
had seen them on television and thus were keen to match their skills
against them.
The best place to get the current News of the world, on going sports and more
Friday, 23 August 2013
Sport News Fernando Alonso sets pace in weather-affected first practiceFerrari's Fernando Alonso lapped fastest in a weather-affected Belgian Grand Prix first practice session on Friday as Formula One drivers shrugged off the long August break and got back up to speed. The Spaniard, third in the championship after 10 of 19 races, lapped the longest circuit on the calendar with a best time of one minute 55.198 seconds in a familiar Spa mixture of wet and dry conditions. The two Force Indias of Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil were second and third on the timesheets, with the top three all setting their comparatively slow times in the final half hour of an incident-free session. Morning rain, and occasional drizzle interspersed with cloud and sunshine, dampened part of the fast and flowing Ardennes forest circuit while a dry line emerged through the middle sector. The McLarens of Briton Jenson Button and Mexican Sergio Perez showed encouraging signs of progress, despite the team backing away from earlier assertions that they could challenge for a victory this weekend. Perez was fourth fastest while Button, last year's winner from pole, ended up 14th. Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who has a 38 point lead over Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, was sixth fastest behind fellow-German Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. Vettel, who returned from the break with his hair dyed bright blond, had the odd spin on the slippery surface without drama. Raikkonen, who cried off sick on from media engagements on Thursday after weeks of speculation about his future and talk of moves to Red Bull or Ferrari, and Lotus team mate Romain Grosjean propped up the timesheets. Finland's Heikki Kovalainen, dropped by Caterham at the end of last year, made an appearance for the team in place of regular race driver Charles Pic and was 16th quickest.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso lapped fastest in a weather-affected
Belgian Grand Prix first practice session on Friday as Formula One
drivers shrugged off the long August break and got back up to speed.
The Spaniard, third in the championship after 10 of 19 races, lapped the longest circuit on the calendar with a best time of one minute 55.198 seconds in a familiar Spa mixture of wet and dry conditions.
The two Force Indias of Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil were second and third on the timesheets, with the top three all setting their comparatively slow times in the final half hour of an incident-free session.
Morning rain, and occasional drizzle interspersed with cloud and sunshine, dampened part of the fast and flowing Ardennes forest circuit while a dry line emerged through the middle sector.
The McLarens of Briton Jenson Button and Mexican Sergio Perez showed encouraging signs of progress, despite the team backing away from earlier assertions that they could challenge for a victory this weekend.
Perez was fourth fastest while Button, last year's winner from pole, ended up 14th.
Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who has a 38 point lead over Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, was sixth fastest behind fellow-German Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes.
Vettel, who returned from the break with his hair dyed bright blond, had the odd spin on the slippery surface without drama.
Raikkonen, who cried off sick on from media engagements on Thursday after weeks of speculation about his future and talk of moves to Red Bull or Ferrari, and Lotus team mate Romain Grosjean propped up the timesheets.
Finland's Heikki Kovalainen, dropped by Caterham at the end of last year, made an appearance for the team in place of regular race driver Charles Pic and was 16th quickest.
The Spaniard, third in the championship after 10 of 19 races, lapped the longest circuit on the calendar with a best time of one minute 55.198 seconds in a familiar Spa mixture of wet and dry conditions.
The two Force Indias of Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil were second and third on the timesheets, with the top three all setting their comparatively slow times in the final half hour of an incident-free session.
Morning rain, and occasional drizzle interspersed with cloud and sunshine, dampened part of the fast and flowing Ardennes forest circuit while a dry line emerged through the middle sector.
The McLarens of Briton Jenson Button and Mexican Sergio Perez showed encouraging signs of progress, despite the team backing away from earlier assertions that they could challenge for a victory this weekend.
Perez was fourth fastest while Button, last year's winner from pole, ended up 14th.
Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who has a 38 point lead over Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, was sixth fastest behind fellow-German Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes.
Vettel, who returned from the break with his hair dyed bright blond, had the odd spin on the slippery surface without drama.
Raikkonen, who cried off sick on from media engagements on Thursday after weeks of speculation about his future and talk of moves to Red Bull or Ferrari, and Lotus team mate Romain Grosjean propped up the timesheets.
Finland's Heikki Kovalainen, dropped by Caterham at the end of last year, made an appearance for the team in place of regular race driver Charles Pic and was 16th quickest.
Sport News Nicolas Anelka wants to quit football: West Brom
West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Clarke says Nicolas Anelka has
told him he is contemplating quitting football in the wake of the death
of his agent.
Anelka wrote on his Facebook page that he was feeling "immense sorrow" following the death of Eric Manasse, and has been granted compassionate leave by West Brom.
Asked if Anelka had talked about quitting, Clarke says "I'm not going to deny that he used that word in the conversations we had with him."
Clarke spoke briefly with the 34-year-old Anelka on Thursday before the striker left the training ground, adding Friday "he wasn't in a good place, so the club have decided just to give him a bit of time to go away and think about it."
Anelka wrote on his Facebook page that he was feeling "immense sorrow" following the death of Eric Manasse, and has been granted compassionate leave by West Brom.
Asked if Anelka had talked about quitting, Clarke says "I'm not going to deny that he used that word in the conversations we had with him."
Clarke spoke briefly with the 34-year-old Anelka on Thursday before the striker left the training ground, adding Friday "he wasn't in a good place, so the club have decided just to give him a bit of time to go away and think about it."
Sport After Arjuna award, Gaganjeet Bhullar aims to win first event on European Tour
Elated at joining the small list of Indian golfers who have been
conferred with the Arjuna award, Gaganjeet Bhullar said the honour will
motivate him to perform better at the international events besides
inspiring youngsters to take up the game.
Bhullar became the 17th golfer and the eighth Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) member to be conferred with the Arjuna Award, the nation's second highest sporting honour.
"It is a very proud moment for me and my family. I would like to thank the Government of India for acknowledging the fact that Indian golfers are making the country proud with their performances at the international level," Bhullar said.
"This is a result of the hard work I have put in over the years and the strong support I have received from my family. This award will not only motivate me to achieve greater things but will also encourage many other young golfers in the country to work harder and succeed at the highest level," he added.
PGTI members who have won the Arjuna Award in the past include Ali Sher (1991), Amit Luthra (1996), Harmeet Kahlon (1997), Jeev Milkha Singh (1999), Shiv Kapur (2002), Jyoti Randhawa (2004) and Arjun Atwal (2007).
Bhullar became the 17th golfer and the eighth Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) member to be conferred with the Arjuna Award, the nation's second highest sporting honour.
"It is a very proud moment for me and my family. I would like to thank the Government of India for acknowledging the fact that Indian golfers are making the country proud with their performances at the international level," Bhullar said.
"This is a result of the hard work I have put in over the years and the strong support I have received from my family. This award will not only motivate me to achieve greater things but will also encourage many other young golfers in the country to work harder and succeed at the highest level," he added.
PGTI members who have won the Arjuna Award in the past include Ali Sher (1991), Amit Luthra (1996), Harmeet Kahlon (1997), Jeev Milkha Singh (1999), Shiv Kapur (2002), Jyoti Randhawa (2004) and Arjun Atwal (2007).
News World cricket divided into haves and have-nots
Rahul Dravid's eloquent plea for test cricket, his words have the
same grace as his shots, needs to be taken seriously, as does his thesis
that T20 needs test cricket. And he makes an old-fashioned plea for not
putting profits through television rights above the greater need to
develop sport. It is interesting too that it comes at a time when the
game's parents have been obsessing over whether a mark on a bat is good
for the game. Also Read: Dravid wants an open approach towards day-night Tests
You would expect Dravid to say what he does and to be fair to him, the manner in which he thought about and played cricket is consistent with what he advocates. But I can see those that run the game tut-tutting about romantics not making good businessmen. Of those that earn money from the game, the ICC is doing fairly well so are India, England and Australia and there aren't alarm bells ringing in the accountants office in South Africa either. But of the others Sri Lanka is broke, so, by their admission, is Pakistan. New Zealand are very honest about the state of their finances and the West Indies aren't exactly rolling in wealth. And there is some debate on whether Zimbabwe cricket is broke or has been broken into. That means a majority of cricket's constituents are either struggling to stay afloat or are waiting for the next payout from the ICC which derives its own income from television rights and attendant benefits. Like with the world of economics that Dravid so charmingly alludes to, cricket is split between the haves and the have-nots.
The haves don't mind playing test cricket because their lucrative television deals cover that. But outside of the top four, there are virtually no television deals and so they must offer the market what it craves for. And what the market wants in these countries is fast food, not fine dining. These countries, to be able to afford to play home tests, must generate revenue from what the market demands. And while the market makes the right noises about test cricket, it does so much like people support social causes; it rarely extends beyond words and into actual support. So to that extent, test cricket, at least in these countries, needs T20 and not the other way around.
You would expect Dravid to say what he does and to be fair to him, the manner in which he thought about and played cricket is consistent with what he advocates. But I can see those that run the game tut-tutting about romantics not making good businessmen. Of those that earn money from the game, the ICC is doing fairly well so are India, England and Australia and there aren't alarm bells ringing in the accountants office in South Africa either. But of the others Sri Lanka is broke, so, by their admission, is Pakistan. New Zealand are very honest about the state of their finances and the West Indies aren't exactly rolling in wealth. And there is some debate on whether Zimbabwe cricket is broke or has been broken into. That means a majority of cricket's constituents are either struggling to stay afloat or are waiting for the next payout from the ICC which derives its own income from television rights and attendant benefits. Like with the world of economics that Dravid so charmingly alludes to, cricket is split between the haves and the have-nots.
The haves don't mind playing test cricket because their lucrative television deals cover that. But outside of the top four, there are virtually no television deals and so they must offer the market what it craves for. And what the market wants in these countries is fast food, not fine dining. These countries, to be able to afford to play home tests, must generate revenue from what the market demands. And while the market makes the right noises about test cricket, it does so much like people support social causes; it rarely extends beyond words and into actual support. So to that extent, test cricket, at least in these countries, needs T20 and not the other way around.
News
Spinner Akshar Patel did the star turn for India Under-23 as they
fought their way back from a tough situation to set up a title clash
with Pakistan after a 46-run win over United Arab Emirates in the
semifinals of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup.
In what turned out to be another low-scoring match, the Indian colts defended a modest 208 as the opposition folded for 162 runs in 48.3 overs.
19-year-old left-arm spinner Patel snared three wickets for three runs in as many overs to trigger a collapse that saw UAE folding up for 162 after being comfortably placed at 97 for one at one stage.
Patel was the pick of the Indian bowlers returning impressive figures of four for 29 in 8.3 overs at the Kallang Ground.
India had suffered a shock 28-run defeat to Afghanistan on Thursday.
Manpreet Juneja (76) top-scored with the bat for India. Juneja's was a labored knock that mostly comprised running between the wickets - his runs came in 121 balls with a solitary boundary in the form of a six.
After skipper Suryakumar Yadav elected to bat first, India U-23 were dealt an early blow in form of Unmukt Chand (0) in the first over.
However, a 94-run stand between opener Lokesh Rahul (43) and Manpreet Juneja (76) put the innings back on course.
The UAE bowlers came back into the match with regular wickets as the Indian middle-order batsmen failed to convert their starts. Juneja was the only Indian batsman to score a half-century as wickets tumbled around him.
UAE off-spinner, Nasir Aziz (9.5-0-51-5) was India U-23's tormentor-in-chief as after dismissing Ankit Bawne (23) and Ashok Menaria (30), he returned to clean up the tail quickly.
Aziz was wonderfully supported by Mohammad Naveed (10-1-37-3) who was both economical and among wickets.
In what turned out to be another low-scoring match, the Indian colts defended a modest 208 as the opposition folded for 162 runs in 48.3 overs.
19-year-old left-arm spinner Patel snared three wickets for three runs in as many overs to trigger a collapse that saw UAE folding up for 162 after being comfortably placed at 97 for one at one stage.
Patel was the pick of the Indian bowlers returning impressive figures of four for 29 in 8.3 overs at the Kallang Ground.
India had suffered a shock 28-run defeat to Afghanistan on Thursday.
Manpreet Juneja (76) top-scored with the bat for India. Juneja's was a labored knock that mostly comprised running between the wickets - his runs came in 121 balls with a solitary boundary in the form of a six.
After skipper Suryakumar Yadav elected to bat first, India U-23 were dealt an early blow in form of Unmukt Chand (0) in the first over.
However, a 94-run stand between opener Lokesh Rahul (43) and Manpreet Juneja (76) put the innings back on course.
The UAE bowlers came back into the match with regular wickets as the Indian middle-order batsmen failed to convert their starts. Juneja was the only Indian batsman to score a half-century as wickets tumbled around him.
UAE off-spinner, Nasir Aziz (9.5-0-51-5) was India U-23's tormentor-in-chief as after dismissing Ankit Bawne (23) and Ashok Menaria (30), he returned to clean up the tail quickly.
Aziz was wonderfully supported by Mohammad Naveed (10-1-37-3) who was both economical and among wickets.
Sport Barcelona sign Suarez from City
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Barcelona sign Suarez from City
23 August 2013, 11:08
Barcelona says it has signed 19-year-old Spanish midfielder Denis Suarez
to a four-year contract after securing his transfer from Manchester
City.Barcelona says Suarez will play with its second team in Spain's second division.
His contract includes a buy-out clause of ?12 million that will increase to ?35 million if he joins Barcelona's first team.
Suarez played for Spain at the under-20 world championships. He joined City from Spanish club Celta Vigo in 2011.
Monday, 19 August 2013
Some 38 Muslim Brotherhood supporters died in disputed circumstances at a prison on Sunday, as the leader of Egypt’s powerful army warned he would not tolerate violence, urging rebels to change course.
Latest government figures said at least 830 people had died since
last Wednesday in clashes pitting followers of deposed President Mohamed
Morsi against security forces in the worst political bloodletting to
rock Egypt in recent history.
Three sources put the number of dead at 38.
Police have rounded up hundreds of Morsi’s Brotherhood backers in recent days, in an effort by the army-backed government to end weeks of protests and to stamp their authority on the deeply polarised nation. The government said 70 members of the security forces were among the dead.
The Interior Ministry said a group of detainees had tried to escape from a prison on the outskirts of Cairo, adding that an undisclosed number had been suffocated by tear gas when police moved in to free an officer who had been taken hostage.
Offering a very different version of events, a legal source said that men had died from asphyxiation in the back of a crammed police van while being drive to prison.
Vowing to take a firm stand against violence, army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi struck an apparently inclusive note in a speech broadcast on television, telling Morsi’s supporters: “There is room for everyone in Egypt.”
But, in his first public comments since the latest upsurge in violence, he urged them to “revise their national position and realise that legitimacy belongs to the people to give it to whoever they want and take it from them whenever they want.”
The Brotherhood, under huge pressure since police stormed its protest camps in Cairo and killed hundreds of its supporters on Wednesday, staged several more marches across the country to demand the reinstatement of Morsi, ousted by Sisi on July 3.
Egypt, the most populous Arab nation, risks lurching into anarchy just 30 months after President Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow was hailed as heralding democratic change across a region ruled by autocrats.
Offering a glimpse at previously unreported violence, state news agency MENA said 79 people died on Saturday across Egypt and 549 were wounded. It was not immediately clear how the deaths had occurred. Previously only one person had been reported killed.
The clampdown has brought the military rulers criticism from Egypt’s major ally, the United States, and the European Union, but support from wealthy Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, which fear the spread of Brotherhood ideology to the Gulf monarchies.
Suppression
The interim cabinet met on Sunday to discuss the bloody confrontation, with liberal deputy prime minister, Ziad Bahaa el-Din, advocating an end to a state of emergency declared last week, political participation for all parties and guarantees of human rights, including the right to free assembly.
But his initiative seemed at odds with the stance of Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi, who has suggested outlawing the 85-year-old Brotherhood, which would force it underground.
The cabinet meeting lasted about four hours, but ended with no immediate announcement of any major decision.
A middle-ranking security officer, who asked not to be named, said no political proposals or foreign condemnation would be allowed to deflect the suppression of the Brotherhood.
“We have the people’s support. Everybody is against them now as they see the group as an armed terrorist organisation with no future as a political power,” the officer said.
The capital’s frenetic streets, unusually empty in the past few days, were returning to normal, although the army kept several big squares closed and enforced a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
“As long as we have bloodshed on the streets, it takes away any reason for foreign and regional investors to buy in Egypt,” said Amer Khan, director at Shuaa Asset Management in Dubai.
Egypt’s new rulers blame the Muslim Brotherhood, which won five successive national polls held after Mubarak’s fall in 2011, but which drew charges that it was incompetent and bent on consolidating its own power during Morsi’s year in office.
Sisi said: “We will not stand idle in face of the destruction and torching of the country, the terrorising of the people and the sending of a wrong image to the Western media that there is fighting in the streets.”
Brotherhood leaders accuse the military and other state institutions of sabotaging their time in government.
Credibility
In calibrated rebukes to the army, the United States has delayed delivery of four F-16 fighters and scrapped a joint military exercise, but it has not halted its $1.55 billion a year in aid to Egypt, mostly to finance US-made arms supplies.
But on Sunday, a bipartisan series of US lawmakers – several of them reversing earlier stances from before the crackdown – said that Washington should suspend the aid.
“For us to sit by and watch this happen is a violation of everything that we stood for,” said Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona. “There are many areas where we could exercise influence over the generals, and we’re not doing any of it, and we’re not sticking with our values.”
The European Union says it will urgently review relations.
Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy sought to pre-empt any Western attempt to use aid flows as a lever by saying he would look at all such assistance to see “what aid is being used to pressure Egypt and whether this aid has good intentions and credibility”.
He told a news conference Egypt was not seeking to reshuffle its friendships, but would widen them to increase its options.
“The relationship between Egypt and the US has been there for a long time. It has been through ups and downs in the past.
We hope things will go back to normal promptly,” Fahmy said.
As part of a concerted push to drive home the state’s narrative of events, Fahmy’s aides distributed a pack of photos said to show Muslim Brotherhood members carrying firearms and wooden staves – and in one picture a black al Qaeda-type flag.
The Brotherhood denies links to the global militant network.
Officials have accused Western media of biased coverage of the unrest, saying they have ignored attacks on police and the destruction of churches blamed on militants.
The army crackdown has drawn wide support among Egyptians tired of political turmoil and hard-hit by its economic fallout.
“I tried to sympathise with the Brotherhood but could not,” said Hussein Ismail, 32, on holiday from his job in the Gulf, who took part in anti-Morsi protests late last year.
“They stormed our protests at the presidential palace, they hit our women protesters,” he said.
Three sources put the number of dead at 38.
Police have rounded up hundreds of Morsi’s Brotherhood backers in recent days, in an effort by the army-backed government to end weeks of protests and to stamp their authority on the deeply polarised nation. The government said 70 members of the security forces were among the dead.
The Interior Ministry said a group of detainees had tried to escape from a prison on the outskirts of Cairo, adding that an undisclosed number had been suffocated by tear gas when police moved in to free an officer who had been taken hostage.
Offering a very different version of events, a legal source said that men had died from asphyxiation in the back of a crammed police van while being drive to prison.
Vowing to take a firm stand against violence, army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi struck an apparently inclusive note in a speech broadcast on television, telling Morsi’s supporters: “There is room for everyone in Egypt.”
But, in his first public comments since the latest upsurge in violence, he urged them to “revise their national position and realise that legitimacy belongs to the people to give it to whoever they want and take it from them whenever they want.”
The Brotherhood, under huge pressure since police stormed its protest camps in Cairo and killed hundreds of its supporters on Wednesday, staged several more marches across the country to demand the reinstatement of Morsi, ousted by Sisi on July 3.
Egypt, the most populous Arab nation, risks lurching into anarchy just 30 months after President Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow was hailed as heralding democratic change across a region ruled by autocrats.
Offering a glimpse at previously unreported violence, state news agency MENA said 79 people died on Saturday across Egypt and 549 were wounded. It was not immediately clear how the deaths had occurred. Previously only one person had been reported killed.
The clampdown has brought the military rulers criticism from Egypt’s major ally, the United States, and the European Union, but support from wealthy Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, which fear the spread of Brotherhood ideology to the Gulf monarchies.
Suppression
The interim cabinet met on Sunday to discuss the bloody confrontation, with liberal deputy prime minister, Ziad Bahaa el-Din, advocating an end to a state of emergency declared last week, political participation for all parties and guarantees of human rights, including the right to free assembly.
But his initiative seemed at odds with the stance of Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi, who has suggested outlawing the 85-year-old Brotherhood, which would force it underground.
The cabinet meeting lasted about four hours, but ended with no immediate announcement of any major decision.
A middle-ranking security officer, who asked not to be named, said no political proposals or foreign condemnation would be allowed to deflect the suppression of the Brotherhood.
“We have the people’s support. Everybody is against them now as they see the group as an armed terrorist organisation with no future as a political power,” the officer said.
The capital’s frenetic streets, unusually empty in the past few days, were returning to normal, although the army kept several big squares closed and enforced a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
“As long as we have bloodshed on the streets, it takes away any reason for foreign and regional investors to buy in Egypt,” said Amer Khan, director at Shuaa Asset Management in Dubai.
Egypt’s new rulers blame the Muslim Brotherhood, which won five successive national polls held after Mubarak’s fall in 2011, but which drew charges that it was incompetent and bent on consolidating its own power during Morsi’s year in office.
Sisi said: “We will not stand idle in face of the destruction and torching of the country, the terrorising of the people and the sending of a wrong image to the Western media that there is fighting in the streets.”
Brotherhood leaders accuse the military and other state institutions of sabotaging their time in government.
Credibility
In calibrated rebukes to the army, the United States has delayed delivery of four F-16 fighters and scrapped a joint military exercise, but it has not halted its $1.55 billion a year in aid to Egypt, mostly to finance US-made arms supplies.
But on Sunday, a bipartisan series of US lawmakers – several of them reversing earlier stances from before the crackdown – said that Washington should suspend the aid.
“For us to sit by and watch this happen is a violation of everything that we stood for,” said Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona. “There are many areas where we could exercise influence over the generals, and we’re not doing any of it, and we’re not sticking with our values.”
The European Union says it will urgently review relations.
Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy sought to pre-empt any Western attempt to use aid flows as a lever by saying he would look at all such assistance to see “what aid is being used to pressure Egypt and whether this aid has good intentions and credibility”.
He told a news conference Egypt was not seeking to reshuffle its friendships, but would widen them to increase its options.
“The relationship between Egypt and the US has been there for a long time. It has been through ups and downs in the past.
We hope things will go back to normal promptly,” Fahmy said.
As part of a concerted push to drive home the state’s narrative of events, Fahmy’s aides distributed a pack of photos said to show Muslim Brotherhood members carrying firearms and wooden staves – and in one picture a black al Qaeda-type flag.
The Brotherhood denies links to the global militant network.
Officials have accused Western media of biased coverage of the unrest, saying they have ignored attacks on police and the destruction of churches blamed on militants.
The army crackdown has drawn wide support among Egyptians tired of political turmoil and hard-hit by its economic fallout.
“I tried to sympathise with the Brotherhood but could not,” said Hussein Ismail, 32, on holiday from his job in the Gulf, who took part in anti-Morsi protests late last year.
“They stormed our protests at the presidential palace, they hit our women protesters,” he said.
News weeps in court, murder trial set for March 2014
South African Olympic and Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, prayed and wiped away tears at a court hearing on Monday which set a March 3, 2014 start date for his trial.
The trial was moved to a high court and is scheduled to run until March 23. If convicted of murder, he could face up to life in prison. Double-amputee Pistorius, 26, known as "Blade Runner" for the prostheses he wears in competition, bowed his head and held his hands in prayer with his brother Carl and sister Aimee before the brief hearing in a Pretoria court.
Detailed charges were presented in an indictment outlining the prosecution's case of premeditated murder against Pistorius, who has admitted to shooting Steenkamp through a bathroom door at his Pretoria home on February 14, Valentine's Day. Pistorius, who was released on bail in February, claims he was acting in self-defense against what he thought was an intruder. In the South African legal system, an indictment is used to move existing charges from a lower court to a high court.
The trial was moved to a high court and is scheduled to run until March 23. If convicted of murder, he could face up to life in prison. Double-amputee Pistorius, 26, known as "Blade Runner" for the prostheses he wears in competition, bowed his head and held his hands in prayer with his brother Carl and sister Aimee before the brief hearing in a Pretoria court.
Detailed charges were presented in an indictment outlining the prosecution's case of premeditated murder against Pistorius, who has admitted to shooting Steenkamp through a bathroom door at his Pretoria home on February 14, Valentine's Day. Pistorius, who was released on bail in February, claims he was acting in self-defense against what he thought was an intruder. In the South African legal system, an indictment is used to move existing charges from a lower court to a high court.
North Korea Struggles, Pyongyang’s Fortunate Few Go Shopping
The city of Pyongyang may conjure up images of Mass Games
and goose-stepping sentries, but the North Korean capital looks very
different from the place it was 10 years ago. It’s not just the new
high-rises, even the people appear different — many are toting mobile phones, and women dress in high heels. As implausible as it sounds, signs of a small middle class can be seen.
Of course, that is exactly the side of a brutally repressed, deeply impoverished country that the government wants foreigners to see. The authorities go to great lengths to ensure tourists keep to a well-marked trail. But even through this very narrow prism, there is no denying that material life in the capital, at least for the lucky ones, is getting a little less harsh.
(MORE: Golf in North Korea — The Hermit Kingdom’s Newest Pastime)
“The change has been most obvious over the last couple of years,” says Simon Cockerell of Koryo Tours, who has made more than 100 trips into North Korea over the last decade. As the regime seeks to buttress support, it has allowed life for some groups to improve. “There is more stuff to buy,” Cockerell says. “There were always clothes available, but now there are nicer and better clothes.”
Change began in the capital a decade ago with the opening of the first Tongil market hall in 2003. Tongil (“Reunification”) sells agricultural produce, clothing and simple electrical goods, and satellite imagery shows these distinctive blue-roofed markets expanding to different locations in Pyongyang and beyond. The markets are strictly off limits to foreigners and only accept local currency, which tourists are not allowed to use.
For the elite, there are department stores. There are about 10 in Pyongyang and others in the provincial capitals. These stores only accept hard currency such as U.S. dollars, euros or renminbi, and are stocked with imported goods, mostly from China.
(MORE: Choco Pie Withdrawal — North Koreans Crave Their Favorite Treat)
The two-storey Taesung Department Store in Pyongyang is typical. Built in 1986, it was revamped a few years ago and although the displays look dated by global standards it is well stocked — for those who can afford it — with food, cosmetics, hardware and furniture on the ground floor, and clothing, toys and bedding on the upper floor. A blouse goes for about $20 and a comforter costs $50. (Average annual income is about $1,200.)
Almost all the goods are made in China. Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the U.S. Korea Institute at John Hopkins University, says North Korean consumers are forced to be canny shoppers out of necessity. Without access to reliable product data or consumer protection, they make decisions based on scanty information and experience.
(PHOTOS: A Rare Look Inside North Korea)
“When it comes to buying durable goods in particular, the country of origin is an important proxy for quality. South Korean and Japanese are the best. Chinese is better than North Korean.” In broader terms, Melvin says that interest in foreign fashions and culture “indicates that North Koreans do not believe the propaganda their leaders tell them, particularly about life in South Korea.” Though banned, South Korean films circulate widely if covertly on DVD, and some North Koreans living in border areas can access Chinese and South Korean TV.
Escorted by official minders around the clock, foreign visitors to Pyongyang don’t get to see any scenes of deprivation. The government would instead rather that tourists came away with impressions of the supermarket on Changjon Street in downtown Pyongyang (stocked with Italian wines, Coca-Cola and Hershey’s Kisses) and the handful of fast food restaurants that have opened in recent years (there are burger bars, pizza parlors and a KFC-style fried chicken joint). On Kim Il-sung Square, there’s even an Austrian-style coffee shop.
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The reality, of course, is that many North Koreans are still struggling to get enough to eat — never mind a cappuccino. There are regular reports of famine, and the majority of North Koreans will never visit the capital, only knowing of it and its attractions from carefully stage-managed television reports. In quality of life terms, the gulf between the residents of Pyongyang and those outside it is vast.
And even in Pyongyang, “consumerism” is a subdued affair. There is very little advertising, with just five billboards in the capital, all of which are owned by the Pyonghwa Motors Company. Popular local brewery Taedonggang Beer briefly ran an advert on TV, but it has since gone off air.
“Some advertising exists, but it’s not the overwhelming sensory experience that you have anywhere else,” says Cockerell. “Most shops don’t have signs or if they do they are small, subtle ones rather than a big emblazoned sign.”
Melvin observes that public advertising is still taboo and stresses that although economic conditions are improving in Pyongyang and inflation appears to have stabilized, the realities of everyday life remain grim — however many phone-toting, high-heel-clad women a visitor may see on the streets on the capital.
“Economic and bureaucratic inefficiencies still abound and corruption has run rampant,” he says. “Human rights are still not respected in the DPRK and people are not free to travel, speak, or pursue their lives they see fit.”
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Of course, that is exactly the side of a brutally repressed, deeply impoverished country that the government wants foreigners to see. The authorities go to great lengths to ensure tourists keep to a well-marked trail. But even through this very narrow prism, there is no denying that material life in the capital, at least for the lucky ones, is getting a little less harsh.
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“The change has been most obvious over the last couple of years,” says Simon Cockerell of Koryo Tours, who has made more than 100 trips into North Korea over the last decade. As the regime seeks to buttress support, it has allowed life for some groups to improve. “There is more stuff to buy,” Cockerell says. “There were always clothes available, but now there are nicer and better clothes.”
Change began in the capital a decade ago with the opening of the first Tongil market hall in 2003. Tongil (“Reunification”) sells agricultural produce, clothing and simple electrical goods, and satellite imagery shows these distinctive blue-roofed markets expanding to different locations in Pyongyang and beyond. The markets are strictly off limits to foreigners and only accept local currency, which tourists are not allowed to use.
For the elite, there are department stores. There are about 10 in Pyongyang and others in the provincial capitals. These stores only accept hard currency such as U.S. dollars, euros or renminbi, and are stocked with imported goods, mostly from China.
(MORE: Choco Pie Withdrawal — North Koreans Crave Their Favorite Treat)
The two-storey Taesung Department Store in Pyongyang is typical. Built in 1986, it was revamped a few years ago and although the displays look dated by global standards it is well stocked — for those who can afford it — with food, cosmetics, hardware and furniture on the ground floor, and clothing, toys and bedding on the upper floor. A blouse goes for about $20 and a comforter costs $50. (Average annual income is about $1,200.)
Almost all the goods are made in China. Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the U.S. Korea Institute at John Hopkins University, says North Korean consumers are forced to be canny shoppers out of necessity. Without access to reliable product data or consumer protection, they make decisions based on scanty information and experience.
(PHOTOS: A Rare Look Inside North Korea)
“When it comes to buying durable goods in particular, the country of origin is an important proxy for quality. South Korean and Japanese are the best. Chinese is better than North Korean.” In broader terms, Melvin says that interest in foreign fashions and culture “indicates that North Koreans do not believe the propaganda their leaders tell them, particularly about life in South Korea.” Though banned, South Korean films circulate widely if covertly on DVD, and some North Koreans living in border areas can access Chinese and South Korean TV.
Escorted by official minders around the clock, foreign visitors to Pyongyang don’t get to see any scenes of deprivation. The government would instead rather that tourists came away with impressions of the supermarket on Changjon Street in downtown Pyongyang (stocked with Italian wines, Coca-Cola and Hershey’s Kisses) and the handful of fast food restaurants that have opened in recent years (there are burger bars, pizza parlors and a KFC-style fried chicken joint). On Kim Il-sung Square, there’s even an Austrian-style coffee shop.
(MORE: Vacation in Lovely … North Korea?)
The reality, of course, is that many North Koreans are still struggling to get enough to eat — never mind a cappuccino. There are regular reports of famine, and the majority of North Koreans will never visit the capital, only knowing of it and its attractions from carefully stage-managed television reports. In quality of life terms, the gulf between the residents of Pyongyang and those outside it is vast.
And even in Pyongyang, “consumerism” is a subdued affair. There is very little advertising, with just five billboards in the capital, all of which are owned by the Pyonghwa Motors Company. Popular local brewery Taedonggang Beer briefly ran an advert on TV, but it has since gone off air.
“Some advertising exists, but it’s not the overwhelming sensory experience that you have anywhere else,” says Cockerell. “Most shops don’t have signs or if they do they are small, subtle ones rather than a big emblazoned sign.”
Melvin observes that public advertising is still taboo and stresses that although economic conditions are improving in Pyongyang and inflation appears to have stabilized, the realities of everyday life remain grim — however many phone-toting, high-heel-clad women a visitor may see on the streets on the capital.
“Economic and bureaucratic inefficiencies still abound and corruption has run rampant,” he says. “Human rights are still not respected in the DPRK and people are not free to travel, speak, or pursue their lives they see fit.”
MORE: 5 Things We Hoped Dennis Rodman Learned About North Korea