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Thursday, September 11, 2008 DUBAI: West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul has become the fifth player to be named as the 2008 ICC Cricketer of the Year at the ICC Awards ceremony in Dubai. Chanderpaul, who also made the shortlist last year, fought off competition from other nominees Mahela Jayawardena from Sri Lanka, as well as South Africa's Graeme Smith and Dale Steyn to take the top award. Six countries were represented in the 12-man ICC Test Team of the Year and three players - Kevin Pietersen of England and the Sri Lanka pair of Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan - also appeared in the World Test Team of the Year in 2007. Indeed, Sangakkara and Muralitharan also appeared in the 2006 side as well. Smith was named as captain of the team. there were also six countries represented in the ICC ODI Team of the Year of which only two - Ricky Ponting of Australia and India's Sachin Tendulkar - also appeared in the 2007 side and only one - Brett Lee - made both XIs. Pontin...

Thursday, September 11, 2008 WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush has secretly approved orders allowing US forces to conduct ground operations in Pakistan without that government's prior approval, a report said Wednesday citing senior US officials. A US daily reported that the July move allowing Special Operations forces to carry out assaults within the borders of a key "war on terror" ally marked a turn for the Bush administration, which has struggled with Islamabad over how to combat Al-Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban. "The situation in the tribal areas is not tolerable," a senior American official told the paper on condition of anonymity. "We have to be more assertive. Orders have been issued." According to the newspaper, US officials say they will notify Pakistan when the United States conducts operations on the country's territory, but that they will not ask for permission. the newspaper reported that US officials have been debating for month...

LONDON: A couple have been reunited with their missing cat after nine years, the RSPCA said on Wednesday. Dixie, a 15-year-old ginger cat, disappeared in 1999 and her owners thought she had been killed by a car. She was found less than half a mile from her home in Birmingham after a concerned resident rang the animal charity to report a thin and dishevelled cat who had been in the area for a couple of months. RSPCA Animal Collection Officer Alan Pittaway checked her microchip and confirmed it was Dixie. She was returned to her owners, Alan and Gilly Delaney, within half an hour. "In 29 years of working for the RSPCA I have never seen anyone so excited and happy as Mrs Delaney," Pittaway said. "It made my day to return Dixie to her owners." The couple were "overjoyed" to be reunited with their missing cat after so many years. "Dixie's personality, behaviour and little mannerisms have not changed at all," said Gilly Delaney. "We don't ...