Month: October 2016

A group of armed protesters who led a takeover of a remote wildlife refuge in the western US state of Oregon have been acquitted by a jury of felony charges.
The seven anti-government militants, including brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, faced charges of conspiring to impede federal employees at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge through intimidation or force.
The six men and one woman each faced up to six years in prison on the conspiracy charge. Several also faced gun charges in the high-profile five-week trial.
Defense attorney Lisa Ludwig called verdict “stunning” as the group’s supporters erupted in cheers, local news media reported.
But a scuffle broke out in the courtroom after Ammon Bundy’s lawyer Marcus Mumford challenged the federal judge’s decision not to let his client walk free because of another case pending against him in Nevada.
US Marshals tackled Mumford as he argued with the judge, taking him into custody while all those in the courtroom were immediately ordered out.
Social media, meanwhile, was buzzing about the verdict with one tweet describing it as “unreal” and another saying it marked “a sad day for America.”
“No one could have scripted a more bizarre tale,” a Twitter user identifying herself as Anne Kiser said.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown said that while she respected the jury’s decision, she was disappointed.
“The occupation of the Malheur Refuge by outsiders did not reflect the Oregon way of respectfully working together to resolve differences,” she tweeted.
The Center for Western Priorities, a conservation group, also expressed disappointment with the verdict.
“The outcome of (the) trial will undoubtedly embolden extremist groups,” it said in a statement carried by local media. “It’s imperative that local, state and federal law enforcement ensure the safety of our land managers.”
However, many others hailed the verdict as a major win for ranchers throughout the West.
“It’s a tremendous victory for rural America — a disastrous, humiliating defeat for the corrupt federal government,” one of the defendants, Neil Wampler, told The Oregonian newspaper.
The 41-day siege that began at the remote reserve on January 2 put the spotlight on a long-running dispute over millions of acres of western public land and Thursday’s verdict was seen as a significant blow to federal prosecutors.
The takeover was led by the Bundy brothers, whose father Cliven Bundy had been involved in a similar confrontation with federal officials in 2014 over cattle grazing on public land in Nevada.
The Oregon takeover ended with the dramatic surrender of four holdouts, including one who threatened to commit suicide in a phone call with mediators that was streamed live.
Police had earlier fatally shot the group’s spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum during a traffic stop as he, the Bundys and several others were headed to a community meeting to plead their case.
The question of land rights has been a thorny issue for decades in western US states, where the federal government owns most of the land.
Many conservative politicians and ranchers like the Bundys argue that the land has been mismanaged and should be handed over to states or turned into private property.

Kevin Streelman, fired up by the World Series appearance of the Chicago Cubs, grabbed 10 birdies in a nine-under par 63 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the US PGA Tour Sanderson Farms Championship.
Streelman hit 13 of 14 fairways in regulation and 17 of 18 greens on the Country Club of Jackson layout in Mississippi. He was two strokes in front of Sweden’s Carl Pettersson, Ireland’s Seamus Power and American Trey Mullinax.
Pettersson holed out from 161 yards for an eagle at the par-four 16th to join the group on 65.
Japan’s Hiroshi Iwata, Colombian Camilo Villegas, Canadian Graham DeLaet and former US Open winner Lucas Glover were among a group of seven sharing fifth place a further stroke back on 66.
“Obviously I putted great,” Streelman said. “I hit it well.
“I got a little video from my coach, he gave me one or two things to think about today and one of them really clicked,” added Streelman, who is in search of his third PGA Tour title and his first since the 2014 Travelers Championship. “I’m just trying to feel a little bit more rotational and not so under — and I was just peppering the flags all day.”
The 37-year-old Streelman, an Illinois native and fan of baseball’s Chicago Cubs, said he was motivated by the team’s 5-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night that levelled the World Series at one game apiece.
The Cubs are trying to win baseball’s championship showcase for the first time since 1908.
“The Cubbies had a good night last night — felt inspired waking up,” Streelman said.
The tournament follows the US PGA Tour’s 2016-17 season-opener in Napa, California, last week and runs opposite the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, where the game’s biggest names are in action this week.
Chris Kirk, ranked 74th in the world, is the highest-ranked player in the field.
Defending champion Peter Malnati carded a 71. England’s Ian Poulter, who missed almost five months in 2016 with a foot injury, continued his comeback with a two-under 70 that left him seven off the pace.

Arsene Wenger has credited Shkodran Mustafi with giving Arsenal the defensive steel that has helped the Gunners share the lead at the head of the Premier League table going into Saturday’s match with struggling Sunderland.
Wenger’s side will head to the Stadium of Light level on points with Manchester City and Liverpool and unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions since the opening day of the season.
The midweek EFL Cup victory over Reading maintained the Gunners’ interest in four competitions but it is in the Premier League that Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny have formed a formidable central defensive partnership, resolving one of the weak points of the side last season.
Wenger acknowledges Koscielny is the senior partner of the pair, but believes the arrival of Mustafi from Valencia at the end of the last transfer window has helped transform his team.
“Koscielny is the leader because he is captain but Mustafi looks like he is taking leadership as well at the back,” the manager told Arsenal.com.
“What is surprising is how quickly he has integrated into the team at the back and how quickly they have formed a pair that works well together.
“Mustafi is a player who is highly focused. On that front he is a typical German. He wants to do the job well every day and he speaks his mind. He is vocal in the dressing room.
“He is not a quiet guy who hides. He speaks out with his opinion and communicates a lot. Even when you isolate the pictures of the game and look at that he speaks a lot during the game.”
Wenger admits tough physical games like the one he is expecting against Sunderland — whose manager David Moyes was responsible for bringing Mustafi to England for a first spell when he was at Everton — will be a test for the German to see if he is capable of matching them for physicality.
“What makes me positive is he is focused, has the desire to do well, and is 24 years old.
“So for a central defender that is quite young. Let’s see how he survives in games like against Sunderland, where it is a case of ‘Can I head the ball? Can I win the second ball?’ I would say I have a positive feeling.”
Wenger must decide whether to start Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored twice against Reading, but striker Lucas Perez has been ruled out with an ankle injury.
Sunderland have a habit of conceding late goals this season, but Wenger will know that an early strike by Arsenal could prove decisive because of the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light.
A section of their supporters are already calling for David Moyes’s brief reign to be terminated and patience is certainly wearing thin among others who are dismayed by yet another relegation struggle.
It means they will be quick to turn against the team if Arsenal make early inroads — and would mean another awkward 90 minutes for Moyes, who is still without several key players.
Adnan Januzaj, Jan Kirchhoff, Seb Larsson, Vito Mannone, Lee Cattermole and Fabio Borini are all certain to miss out, leaving Moyes with few options.
However, he was impressed by Victor Anichebe’s contribution in his first start for the club in the midweek EFL Cup defeat at Southampton and may use him alongside Jermain Defoe, who has been a lone striker throughout this season.
“I thought Victor did really well and was a handful,” Moyes said.
“He gave us a different outlook all night and we went to him.
“In the future it might be a temptation to play them both, but we don’t want to change too much in the midfield because they need to get the ball to the forwards too. You need to get the balance right.”

Struggling Lyon will attempt to halt their alarming dip in form away to Toulouse on Saturday as the pressure mounts on Bruno Genesio following a run of five defeats in six matches.
Lyon lurched into crisis mode after crashing to a 3-1 home reverse against Guingamp last weekend, and it won’t get any easier against a Toulouse side that has been rejuvenated under Pascal Dupraz.
“We’re going through a difficult period. We must rediscover our confidence. Lots of things are linked to that. We have to keep working together,” Genesio told the club’s in-house television channel.
Captain Maxime Gonalons was seen remonstrating with unhappy supporters after Lyon’s latest defeat, their second already at Parc OL this season, and admitted the current outlook at the club was troubling.
“The situation is serious, very serious even,” said Gonalons. “We understand the unhappiness of the fans but we’re in the same situation. It’s worrying and we must get back on track.”
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas set the team a target of 31 points by the winter break, a demanding assignment for a side beaten five times in 10 outings with games against Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco still to come.
Alassane Plea’s hat-trick ensured Nice remained four points clear at the top, and coach Lucien Favre is set to welcome back Mario Balotelli for Sunday’s visit to Nantes after the Italian sat out the 4-2 win at Metz through injury.
The Ligue 1 leaders have also raised more than 120,000 euros ($130,000) for the victims of July’s Bastille Day truck massacre in the city after auctioning off a commemorative kit that bore the names of those killed in the attack.
PSG coach Unai Emery backed midfielder Marco Verratti to return to his best after the Italy international’s stroppy reaction to being substituted in Sunday’s 0-0 draw at home to Marseille that left PSG six points behind Nice.
“I’m happy with Marco. He’s important for the team. The way I manage him is the same as the others,” said Emery, whose side visit Lille on Friday.
“He started (pre-season) later so it’s important to look after his physical state. Now, he has to improve as we move forward and I’m sure he will.”
PSG go to Basel in the Champions League next Tuesday and would provisionally move up to second, above Monaco, with a victory at the Stade Pierre Mauroy this weekend.
Monaco could have Portugal midfielder Joao Moutinho back for Saturday’s trip to Saint-Etienne, but Leonardo Jardim will also have an eye on Wednesday’s European tie at home to CSKA Moscow.
Rudi Garcia will take charge of Marseille at the Stade Velodrome for the first time in Sunday’s game against Bordeaux.
American owner Frank McCourt continued his overhaul of the nine-time French champions on Thursday with the appointment of former Spain and Barcelona goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta as the club’s new sporting director.
Zubizarreta carried out the same role between 2010 and 2015 at Barcelona and helped the Spanish champions lure Neymar and Luis Suarez to the Camp Nou.
Bottom side Lorient are still searching for a new manager after Sylvain Ripoll was sacked last weekend in the wake of their latest defeat.
Former Montpellier and Rennes boss Rolland Courbis had been close to taking over but was forced to rule himself out of the job after being unable to free himself from contracted media work.
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Friday
Lille v Paris Saint-Germain (1845)
Saturday
Toulouse v Lyon (1500), Bastia v Dijon, Guingamp v Angers, Lorient v Montpellier, Nancy v Caen, Saint-Etienne v Monaco (all 1800)
Sunday
Nice v Nantes (1400), Rennes v Nantes (1600), Marseille v Bordeaux (1945)

No injuries were reported.
“We could feel the plane sliding off the runway and then (it) came to a very sharp halt” after landing, CNN producer Elizabeth Landers, who was on the plane, told the channel.
“The governor and everyone on board is okay,” she said of Donald Trump’s running mate.
The Boeing 737 slid completely off the runway onto grass next to the tarmac, she added, saying there was mud and grass on the plane’s body and “gashes” on the runway.
Video footage broadcast from the runway soon after the incident showed steady rain falling. Pence could be seen shaking hands and posing for photos with first responders.
“So thankful everyone on our plane is safe,” he tweeted after the incident. “Grateful for our first responders & the concern & prayers of so many. Back on the trail tomorrow!”
Trump, who was campaigning in Ohio, called Pence after the accident, spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said.
“He reached out to Governor Pence and he is very glad everyone aboard is safe,” she said.
Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton also tweeted after the incident: “Glad to hear @mike_pence, his staff, Secret Service, and the crew are all safe.”

Bayern beat Augsburg 3-1 on Wednesday in the second round of the German Cup as US international Julian Green — deputising for striker Robert Lewandowski — David Alaba and Philipp Lahm all scored.
Carlo Ancelotti rested a host of stars including Arturo Vidal, Arjen Robben, Xabi Alonso and Lewandowski ahead of this weekend’s league game at Augsburg’s WWK-Arena stadium.
The Munich giants need a win in their warm-up for next Tuesday’s Champions League clash at PSV Eindhoven to ensure they remain clear at the summit.
The top clash of the weekend is Saturday’s Ruhr Valley derby between Borussia Dortmund and arch-rivals Schalke 04.
Dortmund are unbeaten in their last three league meetings against Schalke but are struggling with a lengthy injury list and are winless in their last three Bundesliga games.
Andre Schuerrle, Raphael Guerrerio, Marcel Schmelzer, Sven Bender, Erik Durm, Neven Subotic and Marco Reus are all either out injured or returning from injury.
Dortmund hope to have striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back from a calf knock after he missed Wednesday’s nervy German Cup penalty shootout win over Union Berlin.
Schalke made a disastrous start to the season when they lost their first five games, but Markus Weinzierl’s side have steadied the ship by picking up seven points in the three matches since.
Midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, has been a revelation during the revival with three goals in his last two games.
Schalke are eager to make his move permanent, but director of sport Christian Heidel says Spurs want at least 20 million euros ($21.8 million) for the Algeria international.
“It was a double-digit sum and there was a two at the front,” Heidel said.
Bentaleb is relishing his first Ruhr derby and likened it to a match against Spurs’ north London rivals Arsenal.
“I don’t know if you can compare it to a London derby, but I’m looking forward to it,” said the 21-year-old.
Unbeaten RB Leipzig, who trail Bayern by just two points, can take a step closer to a record when they face Darmstadt away.
Under Austrian coach Ralph Hasenhuettl, Leipzig have won five of their first eight games with three draws.
They are just two short of the record of 10 matches unbeaten, set by MSV Duisburg in 1993/94, for a side at the start of their first season in Germany’s top flight.
Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen meet on Saturday with both coaches in desperate need of a victory.
Leverkusen’s Roger Schmidt serves the last of his two-match touchline ban for verbally abusing Hoffenheim’s Julian Nagelsmann in last Saturday’s 3-0 defeat.
Leverkusen, who go to Tottenham in the Champions League on Wednesday, are winless in their last four games and suffered a shock German Cup defeat to third division Sportfreunde Lotte in midweek.
Wolfsburg are without a win in seven league games and caretaker coach Valerien Ismael, who lost his first game 3-1 at strugglers Darmstadt, has been tasked with reversing the team’s fortunes.
Bottom club Hamburg, who are still winless after their first eight league games, are at Cologne on Sunday.
Unbeaten Hoffenheim host fellow high-flyers Hertha Berlin in south-west Germany, with Pal Dardai’s side suffering their lone defeat to Bayern and starting to look like realistic contenders for a Champions League place next season.
Fixtures (all times 1330 GMT unless stated)
Friday
Borussia Moenchengladbach v Eintracht Frankfurt (1830)
Saturday
Mainz v Ingolstadt, VfL Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen, Augsburg v Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen v Freiburg, Darmstadt v RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund v Schalke 04 (1630)
Sunday
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (1430), Cologne v Hamburg (1630)

Last season, City won their opening five matches under Pellegrini, then fell away so badly that they only just secured England?s fourth and final Champions League qualification place.
Guardiola, whose team visit West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Saturday, would not be satisfied with a repeat performance.
Yet having won his first 10 competitive games with the club, he has gone six without victory since.
It is the longest winless run of his managerial career, an unwanted record secured on Wednesday as his team were beaten 1-0 at Manchester United in the fourth round of the EFL Cup.
City have had some hard luck stories to tell during that run, as they should certainly have beaten Everton two weeks ago, missing two penalties in a 1-1 draw, and only took a point against Southampton last weekend despite controlling the second half.
It is also worth remembering that, for all their difficulties in recent weeks, City remain top of the Premier League and well placed to progress from the Champions League group stages.
Guardiola certainly did not field his strongest side at Old Trafford in midweek, making nine changes and fielding 19-year-olds Pablo Maffeo and Aleix Garcia in his starting line-up.
Those changes were made in the knowledge that more significant tests lie in wait, with Barcelona in Manchester for a pivotal Champions League Group C game next Tuesday.
There will be serious reasons for concern, though, if Guardiola?s lengthening wait for a victory is not ended at The Hawthorns.
“Every weekend we need to win and we need to show personality to play,” defender Maffeo said.
“We have six games in a row without a win. I think we are going to win and we go in a good way.
“Barcelona is another game. We showed on Wednesday we can compete in tough games, very hard games, and I think we can go there (to West Brom) and we are going to win.”
The manager received a piece of good news on Thursday, with captain Vincent Kompany able to train despite coming off at half-time against United on Wednesday, complaining of tiredness.
Kompany, who has suffered persistent injury problems over the last two years, was making his second start in four days at Old Trafford, and there were concerns that he may have broken down again.
Winger Kevin De Bruyne may also be fit to play some part after recovering from a calf problem.
West Brom have proved awkward opponents in recent weeks, almost rescuing a point at Liverpool last Saturday, but ultimately losing 2-1, which ended a run of three successive 1-1 draws.
Saido Berahino remains out of the team, having not started a match since September 10, and has been placed on a fitness programme after manager Tony Pulis revealed the forward was eight pounds overweight.
In Berahino?s absence, Hal Robson-Kanu has established himself as the back-up to first-choice striker Salomon Rondon, playing 25 minutes at Anfield after midfielder James McClean -? who is a doubt for this weekend -? was forced off with a gashed leg.
Robson-Kanu, deployed as a winger last Saturday, is hopeful of more chances in a team he feels can improve on their current league position of 13th.
“We?ve got all the ingredients, it?s just about applying ourselves game in, game out and picking up points,” said the 27-year-old Wales international, who scored a sensational goal for his country in their Euro 2016 quarter-final win over Belgium.
?We probably felt we could have nicked a draw at Liverpool, but it wasn’t meant to be. We move forward from that.”

Madrid bounced back from a four-game draw streak in style by scoring 20 goals in winning their last four outings to move back top of the table and take big strides towards progress in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.
However, Ronaldo has scored just one of those 20 and his return of four goals from nine appearances is by a distance his worst strike rate at this stage of the campaign since joining Madrid seven years ago.
Ronaldo was even whistled by Real’s demanding fanbase at the Santiago Bernabeu during last weekend’s 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.
“I would prefer him to score two or three goals in every match, but I am not worried because I know it will pass,” said Real boss Zinedine Zidane.
Alvaro Morata came off the bench to grab a late winner against Athletic and also struck twice in a 7-1 mauling of Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday to move ahead of Ronaldo with six goals this season.
Yet, despite still being frozen out Zidane’s preferred starting line-up by Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, Morata insists the Portuguese should be cut some slack.
“When one is used to scoring nearly 70 goals a season they are like goal addicts,” said Morata.
“For us he is still the most important player in the team and we hope he scores lots of goals, but he is not a machine.
“He is human, although it seems like he comes from a different planet, and he has the right to miss.”
Zidane is expected to resort to the side that started against Bilbao as Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Marcelo, Mateo Kovacic and Raphael Varane were all rested in midweek.
Alaves have only won twice in their first nine games on their return to the top flight for the first time in a decade.
Yet former Valencia and Liverpool defender Mauricio Pellegrino’s men have already proved they are more than capable of causing an upset as they shocked Barcelona at the Camp Nou last month and drew away to Atletico Madrid on the opening day of the season.
Five-way race
Sevilla are Real’s surprise closest challengers and can go top for at least a couple of hours with victory at Sporting Gijon earlier on Saturday.
“We won’t be jumping for joy right now. The team are performing well, but aspiring to win La Liga is a big ask,” said Sevilla winger Vitolo.
“Everyone knows there are three teams that have that aspiration and there is still a long way to go.”
Barcelona and Villarreal sit just two points back from Madrid with Atletico Madrid a point further adrift in fifth.
Barca have the easiest task of the title contenders on paper this weekend when winless Granada visit the Camp Nou.
The champions have just 16 fit first team players with Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Jeremy Mathieu and Arda Turan all sidelined through injury.
However, by contrast to Ronaldo’s struggles, Lionel Messi is in fine goalscoring form as he and Luis Suarez lead La Liga’s scoring charts on seven despite the Argentine missing a month of action due to a groin injury.
Atletico will be favoured to bounce back from their first defeat of the season at Sevilla last weekend when Malaga visit the Vicente Calderon.
Meanwhile, Villarreal will put their unbeaten record on the line at Eibar on Sunday.
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Friday
Leganes v Real Sociedad (1845)
Saturday
Sporting Gijon v Sevilla (1100), Alaves v Real Madrid (1415), Atletico Madrid v Malaga (1630), Barcelona v Granada (1845)
Sunday
Eibar v Villarreal (1100), Athletic Bilbao v Osasuna (1515), Real Betis v Espanyol (1730), Las Palmas v Celta Vigo (1945)
Monday
Deportivo la Coruna v Valencia (1945)

The Manchester United manager issued a public apology to the club?s supporters after an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Chelsea last Sunday, which left his team seventh in the Premier League.
Despite only winning one of their last six league matches, United are just six points behind leaders City as they go into Saturday?s home match against Burnley.
There is plenty of time to close the gap, and winger Juan Mata is optimistic that an improvement in form is imminent.
“After a defeat, everyone is going to speak badly about the team, about the manager. But we, as a group, need to stay strong and believe we can do great things together,” said Mata.
“We showed that after our heavy defeat, we are back.
“We were very strong in our minds these past days after critics and we showed on Wednesday that if we are focused 100%, we can win against such a good team.”
The concern for Mourinho is that injury problems are mounting.
Striker Marcus Rashford limped out of Wednesday’s match with nine minutes left clutching his thigh, and is being assessed by United?s medical team.
That setback came after defender Eric Bailly was ruled out for two months with lateral knee ligament damage sustained during the defeat at Chelsea, while forwards Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial are battling injuries too, along with centre-back Chris Smalling.
Martial, withdrawn from the squad to face City because of a minor inflammation in his foot, is expected to be fit to play against Burnley, with Rooney and Smalling likely to overcome muscle problems to be available for selection too.
As he monitors his squad’s injury problems, Mourinho is likely to be less concerned about the prospect of another touchline ban, having been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association on Thursday.
Mourinho, who has until Monday to respond to the charge, faces being punished for breaking FA rules that prevent managers from speaking about referees before matches.
He questioned the decision to appoint Manchester-based referee Anthony Taylor to take charge of United’s match at Liverpool on October 17.
It is not the first time that Mourinho has got into trouble with the authorities for comments about referees, and although he will be on the touchline for the Burnley game, United?s players may have to cope with the manager spending some time in the stands soon.
Few would give Burnley much chance of causing an upset at Old Trafford, but they have beaten Liverpool this season, and are in upbeat mood after Scott Arfield?s late goal gave them a 2-1 victory over Everton last Saturday.
Sean Dyche?s side, though, have yet to pick up a point away from home this season, with Sam Vokes? penalty in a 3-1 defeat at Southampton two weeks ago being the only goal they have scored on their travels.
Andre Gray is available to return to Burnley?s attack, having served a four-match suspension imposed for offensive social media posts made in 2012, which came to wider attention earlier this season.
Dyche will celebrate the fourth anniversary of his appointment as Burnley manager on Sunday, but has acknowledged that he faces a difficult task to mark the weekend with a win.
“For all the noise that?s been made about the ups and downs of Manchester United over the past couple of weeks they?re still a fine side,” said Dyche.
“I look at the manager, the club, the players they?ve got and they?re still a super strong group of people operating at the highest level.”

Yet they will do so outside the Champions League qualification slots in fifth place and without a victory in their last four fixtures.
Those statistics support claims that this season’s race for the title could end up being one of the tightest in living memory after surprise package Leicester ended up winning it so comprehensively last term.
Tottenham were the club that chased the Foxes the hardest but Mauricio Pochettino’s men fell away sharply in the last four games and had to settle for third place.
Leicester always seemed to have their noses in front and that was the case when the two sides met at White Hart Lane when Robert Huth’s header was enough for a 1-0 win.
Claudio Ranieri’s players have found life much tougher now they are champions but enjoyed the luxury of no midweek match as a much-changed Spurs were eliminated from the EFL Cup at Liverpool on Tuesday.
Defensive midfielder Eric Dier, who captained the north London club at Anfield, is likely to be played in central defence should Toby Alderweireld require extra time to recover from a leg injury.
“We’ve now got a massive game against Leicester which will mean a lot to everyone for different reasons so everyone is now fully focused on that,” England international Dier said.
“I feel like we were in a title race with them last season and they got the better of us in the game at home and that changed where the league went. It’s an important game for us.”
Dier has now racked up 98 appearances for Tottenham since joining from Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon in August 2014.
“I didn’t know until now that I was getting so close to 100 appearances for Tottenham so that’ll be another big moment for me,” he said. “I couldn’t have imagined two years ago that I’d be in this position.
“It’s fantastic for me but I want to build on that and I want to keep improving my appearances and maybe get the armband a couple more times as well.”
Spurs forward Harry Kane has had a week of training as he steps up his rehabilitation from an ankle injury but is unlikely to feature on Saturday.
Leicester have won their last two fixtures, with a 3-1 home success over Crystal Palace adding to a third straight Champions League victory, the 1-0 home win against Copenhagen.
The Foxes remain in the bottom half of the table, however, and have lost all four of their away games in the Premier League so far this season.
“We’ve worked very well this week,” Leicester manager Ranieri said. “I watched them very closely and everybody has worked well, so I’m happy.
“I think we’ve had very good preparation. When you play every three days it’s very difficult to maintain it and recharge the batteries. But now we are ready for Saturday.
“Tottenham are the only unbeaten team because they have a very good squad and Pochettino can rotate his players,” the Italian added.
“We lost the four (away) matches because we weren’t so concentrated. Now I believe my players are solid again and will make better matches.”
Midfielder Andy King was unable to complete the Palace game because of a shin injury but has been passed fit to face Spurs.
Nampalys Mendy remains sidelined for at least another month, however, following surgery to remove bone fragments from an ankle.

Higuain’s record 36 league goals for Napoli last season gave the entire city a reason to cheer after the southerners fell out of contention late in the title race.
Then, the Argentina international moved to rivals Juventus in an Italian record transfer worth 90 million euros ($98 million), prompting a fan backlash in Naples that is unlikely to settle at least until Maurizio Sarri’s men host Juventus at the San Paolo on April 2.
From enjoying the kind of adoration reserved for the likes of the legendary Diego Maradona, who steered Napoli to their sole league titles in 1987 and 1990, Higuain became a pariah overnight.
In the birthplace of the “Margherita”, pizzas with Higuain’s effigy were replaced by one-euro pizzas — sold at a knock-down price if he suffered an injury with Juventus.
Higuain has so far avoided that fate, hitting six goals in 10 outings amid what has been a mitigated start for the champions.
Juve, bidding for a record sixth consecutive title this season, sit top with a two-point lead on Roma, who are away to Empoli on Sunday. Napoli are in third, a further two points behind.
How Higuain will react, if and when he scores against the club where he was idolised, remains to be seen. He reportedly told a fan in midweek he would “score a double”.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, who said Higuain “betrayed” the club, responded: “When he said he wanted to score a double he didnt’ say it maliciously.
“It’s just a sign of respect for a team (Napoli) that has a reputation for being dangerous.”
Sarri has Napoli playing arguably the most exciting football in Italy, but after losing Higuain they are also without his replacement, Arek Milik.
The Poland striker, who made a prolific start after he was bought from Ajax in the summer, is sidelined at least until January after suffering a knee ligament injury.
With Juventus striker Paulo Dybala also sidelined with injury, Higuain will partner Mario Mandzukic. The Croat hit his maiden goal of the season in a 4-1 win over Sampdoria midweek, while Higuain is looking to hit the net for the first time since scoring a brace against Udinese on October 2.
Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini joked Higuain’s recent lean spell was because: “He’s saving his goals for Napoli.”
But Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri liked what he saw in midweek: “Both of them still have improvements to make, but they really worked well together.”
While a Juventus win would set Napoli adrift by seven points, a shock win in Turin would see Roma go top — if the “Giallorossi” account for an embattled Empoli side that has one win and two goals from 10 outings.
Roma travel to the Carlo Castellani buoyed after a 3-1 away win at Sassuolo, where Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko hit a brace to take his league-leading tally to 10 in nine appearances.
Coach Luciano Spalletti said the Juventus v Napoli game: “Will have its say, it’s a very important game.”
He will be without utility back Alessandro Florenzi, who is out for at least four months after rupturing the cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Elsewhere, AC Milan, fourth at five points adrift, host lowly Pescara looking to make amends for crashing 3-0 at Genoa in midweek.
Embattled city rivals Inter face a tough away trip to Sampdoria four days after Mauro Icardi fired a brace, including a late winner, past Torino and England ‘keeper Joe Hart to secure a precious 2-1 San Siro win.
Fixtures
Saturday
Bologna v Fiorentina (1600 GMT), Juventus v Napoli (1845 GMT)
Sunday
Atalanta v Genoa (1030 GMT), Crotone v Chievo (1300 GMT), Empoli v Roma (1300 GMT), Lazio v Sassuolo (1300 GMT), AC Milan v Pescara (1300 GMT), Sampdoria v Inter Milan (1845 GMT)
Monday
Udinese v Torino (1800 GMT), Cagliari v Palermo (2000 GMT)

Pep Guardiola takes Manchester City to West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League this weekend still trying to figure out how to lift the club out of their autumn downturn.
Scintillating over the season’s early weeks, which saw them win their first 10 games, they have now gone six matches without victory, culminating in Wednesday’s 1-0 League Cup defeat at Manchester United.
While they remain top of the league table on goal difference, City’s swashbuckling form has petered out and left-back Gael Clichy hopes their luck changes soon.
“We gave everything and at the moment we are not getting what we deserve,” the France international told the City website.
“Lately, the results and the points are not on board. We have to keep working and we’re sure we’re going to get there.
“If we are a bit more clinical playing forward and more compact as a team, maybe we can do better.”
West Brom manager Tony Pulis, famed for his pragmatism is often portrayed in England as the antithesis to the stylish, idealistic Guardiola.
Despite being 13th in the table, West Brom have a better defensive record than Manchester United and Liverpool, and have lost only once at home this season.
“Every game this season, we’ve been in,” said Pulis. “There’s not been a game we’ve not been in and that’s testament to the players.”
Buoyed by their derby victory over City, United will look to get their league campaign back on track at home to Burnley.
Jose Mourinho’s side were battered 4-0 by his former club Chelsea last weekend, but Luke Shaw believes the victory over City, courtesy of Juan Mata’s second-half goal, could prove a turning point.
“It was very important,” said the England left-back. “We saw Guardiola said it was like a final and to us that is what it felt like. To get the win was massive.
“(It was) a big confidence boost after obviously the disappointing result that we bounced back, got a win and now we need to go on a winning streak.”
United go into the weekend in seventh place, six points behind leaders City, Arsenal and Liverpool.
But they are better off than defending champions Leicester City, who sit three points below them in 12th place with just three wins from their opening nine games.
On Saturday Claudio Ranieri’s side travel to Tottenham Hotspur, who threatened to pip them in last season’s title race.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men are a point off top spot and Ranieri has braced his players for a battle.
“Spurs are the only unbeaten team in the Premier League because they have a very good squad. They can change and rotate,” said the Italian.
“Tottenham are a fantastic team. Last year they were very close to us and will continue to fight for the title.”
A late slump saw Tottenham pipped to second place by their North London rivals Arsenal, whose early-season form suggests they could be poised to go one better this term.
A six-game winning run came to an end in last weekend’s 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough, but Arsene Wenger’s team beat Reading in the League Cup in mid-week and now face a Sunderland side rooted to the base of the table.
“I think the spirit is really good in the team,” said midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Reading.
“Even when we drew with Middlesbrough on the weekend, it was almost like we lost the game. It shows how hungry this team are to win.
“We’re in a spell where we feel like we should be winning every game and we can win every game, so that’s a good thing.”
Liverpool, third behind City and Arsenal on goal difference, visit Crystal Palace, while fourth-place Chelsea, dumped out of the League Cup by West Ham United on Wednesday, travel to Southampton.
Fixtures
Saturday (1400 GMT unless otherwise stated):
Crystal Palace v Liverpool (1630), Manchester United v Burnley, Sunderland v Arsenal (1130), Tottenham v Leicester, West From v Manchester City, Middlesbrough v Bournemouth, Watford v Hull
Sunday:
Everton v West Ham (1330 GMT), Southampton v Chelsea (1600 GMT)
Monday (2000 GMT):
Stoke v Swansea

The world’s largest marine reserve aimed at protecting the pristine wilderness of Antarctica will be created after a “momentous” agreement was finally reached Friday, with Russia dropping its long-held opposition.
The deal, sealed by the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) at an annual meeting in Hobart after years of negotiations, will see a massive US and New Zealand-backed marine protected area established in the Ross Sea.
It will cover more than 1.55 million square kilometres (600,000 square miles) — roughly the size of Britain, Germany and France combined — of which 1.12 million square kilometres will be a no fishing zone.
“The proposal required some changes in order to gain the unanimous support of all 25 CCAMLR members and the final agreement balances marine protection, sustainable fishing and science interests,” New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said.
“The boundaries of the MPA, however, remain unchanged.”
The Ross Sea is one of the last intact marine ecosystems in the world, home to penguins, seals, Antarctic toothfish, whales and huge numbers of krill, a staple food for many species.
It is considered critical for scientists to study how marine ecosystems function and to understand the impacts of climate change on the ocean.
Moscow was the last government opposing the move, largely due to concerns over fishing rights, after China offered its support last year.
“We had a lot of talks with them. Secretary (John) Kerry reached out to Russian President (Vladimir) Putin and (Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov and I think that helped a great deal to convince Russia to come on board,” Evan Bloom, head of the US delegation at the meeting, told AFP.
“This decision is very important not just for the Antarctic but for efforts to promote world marine conservation.”
Moscow has signalled more commitment to conservation in recent times, designating 2017 as the Year of Ecology. It moved in August to significantly increase the size of a protected zone around Franz Josef Land in the Arctic.
While the Ross Sea plan got the go-ahead, time ran out at the meeting to reach agreement on a second proposed protected area — the Australia and France-led East Antarctica sanctuary covering another one million square kilometre zone.
Both reserve proposals have been on the table since 2012 with CCAMLR — a treaty tasked with overseeing conservation and sustainable exploitation of the Antarctic Ocean, also known as the Southern Ocean.
Consensus is needed from all 24 member countries and the European Union.
A third German-proposed plan is also in the works to protect the Weddell Sea, which extends from the southeast of South America over an area of some 2.8 million square kilometres.
“For the first time, countries have put aside their differences to protect a large area of the Southern Ocean and international waters,” said Mike Walker, project director of the Antarctic Ocean Alliance, calling the outcome “momentous”.
“Although there was not a decision on the proposed protection of the Weddell Sea and the East Antarctic this year, we are confident that these areas will be protected in the coming years, adding to the system of marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean.”
The Ross Sea is named after British explorer Sir James Ross and his great, great, great granddaughter Phillipa Ross said the family was thrilled it was safeguarded.
“The Ross family are euphoric that our family legacy has been honoured in the 175th anniversary year since James first discovered the Ross Sea, thanks to the individuals and organisations who have poured their hearts and souls into campaigning for its protection,” she said.
It culminates years of pressure by conservationists, including a campaign by the global civic movement Avaaz which was kickstarted by Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio.
“There?s massive momentum in the world right now to protect our oceans,” said Avaaz campaign director Luis Morago. “The Ross Sea is just the start.”

A resolution presented by Austria, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa and Brazil was adopted by a vote of 123 to 38, with 16 abstentions, following weeks of lobbying by the nuclear powers for ‘no’ votes.
The non-binding resolution provides for negotiations to begin in March next year on the new treaty, citing deep concern over the “catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons.”
Four of the five UN Security Council nuclear powers — Britain, France, Russia and the United States — voted against the resolution while China abstained, as did India and Pakistan.
Japan, which has long campaigned against the use of nuclear weapons, voted against it, as did South Korea, which is facing a nuclear threat from North Korea.
Opponents argued that nuclear disarmament should be addressed within negotiations on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, described the vote as a “historic moment” in the decades-long drive for a nuclear-free world.
“This treaty won’t eliminate nuclear weapons overnight. But it will establish a powerful, new international legal standard, stigmatizing nuclear weapons and compelling nations to take urgent action on disarmament.”
The measure is expected to go to the full General Assembly for a vote in late November or early December.

ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham will move permanently onto the Wallabies coaching staff when the 2017 Super Rugby season ends after signing a new three-year contract with the Australian Rugby Union Friday.
Larkham, who joined the Wallabies coaching set-up under Michael Cheika in February last year, will relinquish his role with the Brumbies at the end of next season, the ARU said.
The 102-Test former Australia fly-half is now committed to the Wallabies until the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Larkham, 42, said he was looking forward to continuing to work with the young Wallabies backline, as well as the next crop of players coming through the ranks in Super Rugby.
“I have really enjoyed working with this current Wallaby group, as well as the national coaching group,” he said in a statement.
“I hope we can continue to grow to be where we know we can be, and I’m looking forward to being part of that.”
Larkham, who has led the Brumbies to the Super Rugby finals in each of his three seasons at the helm in Canberra, added that he was committed to helping the club transition to a new head coach for 2018.
“It will be very tough to leave but I will continue to be based in Canberra and involved with the Brumbies,” he said.
Cheika said: “Stephen is on his way to becoming a world class coach and I know he is very passionate about his coaching and the Wallaby jersey.
“Having coached both last year (a Super Rugby team and the Wallabies) I know it?s a difficult task and I?m pleased for Stephen that he has sorted out his future and I am pleased that he?s going to continue with us beyond this year.”

A star alights on the campaign trail, Donald Trump springs a few surprises — and his crude remarks about women come back to bite him, again.
Here is a rundown of quirky moments on the campaign trail Thursday, as the White House race enters its home stretch.
It never hurts to invite a rock star to the party.
Hillary Clinton upped the voltage with a joint appearance with Michelle Obama — hands-down the star of the 2016 campaign since she burst onto the scene with a string of now-viral speeches denouncing Republican Donald Trump.
“Seriously, is there anyone more inspiring than Michelle Obama?” Clinton said as she introduced her Democratic ally — and shared in the rapturous applause from the rally in swing state North Carolina.
“First ladies, we rock!” quipped back Obama, urging the ecstatic crowd of 11,000 to get out and vote “right now” for “my girl” — Hillary Clinton.
“We’re going to make our voices heard,” vowed the first lady. “No one is going to take away our home. Let’s get this done!”
Donald Trump is just full of surprises.
Take his Thursday morning interview with his wife Melania when he announced — to her visible astonishment — that she would be delivering two or three “big speeches” in the closing days of the White House race.
Asked if she would be playing a more public role with Election Day around the corner, the 46-year-old began by replying : “We will see. My priorities are my son Barron, our son Barron.”
But Trump jumped in: “She’s actually going to make two or three speeches,” he said.
“She is an amazing public speaker, so she’s agreed to do two or three speeches and I think it’s going to be big speeches, important speeches.”
Melania Trump’s only big speech to date was at the Republican National Convention, where she was publicly humiliated after it turned out her remarks were in part plagiarized from Michelle Obama.
Since then, she has been all but absent from the campaign.
Russian punk feminists Pussy Riot turned their fire on Trump with a dystopian video that imagines the United States if he wins.
The provocative band, whose members were jailed in Russia, intersperses footage of Trump with scenes of real and imagined violence in “Make America Great Again,” the title an allusion to his campaign slogan.
The graphic video depicts police in a Trump America raping and humiliating members of the all-women band, including measuring them to ensure breast sizes to Trump’s likings, branding them like cows and forcibly restricting abortion.
The song’s lyrics also take to task Trump’s hardline stance on immigration and champion the rights of African Americans amid outrage over police brutality.
Pussy Riot rose to prominence through heated denunciations of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Trump has spoken of in admiring terms.
While some media once hesitated to use Pussy Riot’s name, the vulgar term for the female anatomy recently figured prominently in the news when a video surfaced of Trump boasting he would “grab (women) by the pussy” and get away with it because of his fame.
Trump may have insulted Mexicans, Muslims and women but to woo Indian American voters, he’s dabbling in Hindi for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights which falls on the weekend.
The bombastic New York businessman is seen uttering “Ab Ki Baar Trump Sarkaar” — adapting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 vote-winning catchphrase as his own — in a new campaign ad.
“This time Trump government,” says the translation offered on the screen.
Trump delivers the Hindi phrase in a thick US accent in the 30-second ad, the Republican’s latest attempt to win votes among America’s estimated four million Indian Americans ahead of Diwali.
The video opens with the message “Happy Diwali” and borrows from footage of Trump speaking at a Hindu gathering in New Jersey, lighting an oil lamp and promising close US-Indian relations.
“The Indian and Hindu community will have a true friend in the White House,” Trump says. “We love the Hindus, we love India.”
James Otis — the man who took a pickaxe to Trump’s Walk of Fame star in protest at his treatment of women — was arrested Thursday and charged with vandalism.
The arrest cut short Otis’ plan to hold a news conference and then surrender to police — but he may feel he has made his point, after his misdeed was filmed and broadcast around the world.
Otis said he initially wanted to chisel out the star and auction it on Election Day — donating the proceeds to women who have accused the 70-year-old Trump of sexual misconduct.
When he found the star too heavy to remove, he ended up taking a sledgehammer and axe to it instead.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce — which has moved to repair the star, awarded to the billionaire for his work on reality show “The Apprentice” — was not impressed with the stunt.
“When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalize a California state landmark,” chamber head Leron Gubler said.
It was just the latest assault on Trump’s Walk of Fame star, which has been smeared with excrement, daubed with a swastika, and surrounded with a tiny barbed-wire topped wall in a critique of Trump’s vow to build a wall on the Mexican border.

At the end of two-day talks, they called for more contributions to the UN mission MONUSCO from members countries of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) blocs.
The goal is to “strengthen the operations” of MONUSCO in fighting the “negative forces” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said a statement after talks in the Angolan capital Luanda.
The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO) has more than 20,000 troops in the country protecting civilians and disarming dozens of rebel and splinter groups after two decades of conflict in the east of the country.
The mission’s troops and police personnel are drawn from over 50 countries including regional nations.
At the end of the summit, presidents Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola, Joseph Kabila of the DR Congo and Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo Brazzaville met in private, a source close to the presidency told AFP.
Luanda and Brazzaville “pledged to send, before the end of Joseph Kabila’s tenure (December 20) additional military” to boost the UN peacekeeping mission, said the source.
The DR Congo is mired in crisis and political tensions have been mounting with the delay of presidential elections which were due to be held this year.
DR Congo authorities and fringe opposition groups last week reached a deal to postpone the elections in the hope it will lead to a credible vote.
But the main opposition has rejected the agreement that would effectively keep Kabila in power until the election in April 2018.
The constitution requires that Kabila, in power since 2001, steps down in December.
Last week the UN said it was moving hundreds of peacekeepers from east of the country to Kinshasa to help deal with a possible outbreak of violence over the postponement of the presidential vote.

Ireland’s 2012 boxing gold medallist Katie Taylor has set aside the disappointment of failing to defend her lightweight title in Rio and turned professional, she announced on Thursday.
The 30-year-old five time world champion — who suffered a shock quarter-final loss in Rio — will make her professional debut at Wembley’s SSE Arena on November 26.
This will set her up for appearing on the undercard of another gold medalist from 2012 Anthony Joshua’s second defence of his IBF world heavyweight title at the Manchester Arena on December 10.
“I’m excited for the road ahead,” said Taylor, whose form slipped even before Rio as her long time mentor father Peter disappeared from her corner and was replaced by her brother Lee.
“When I first dreamt of Olympic gold, female boxing was practically unknown.
“Now because of my journey and the incredible supporters who came along with me, female boxing is as much part of the fabric of the Olympics as its male counterpart.
“I want to do the same for the professional sport and I hope those who have supported me along the way will come along with me.”
The six-time European champion — who went from 2011 to 2016 without suffering one defeat but has had three this year — will be part of the powerful Eddie Hearn stable.
“She is one of the most decorated amateur boxers of all time and a public icon in Ireland,” said Hearn.
“I met Katie for the first time last week and was fascinated by her desire to not just win world titles but to break down the barriers of women’s boxing. She is an incredible role model.”
According to influential promoter Kalle Sauerland Taylor is likely to enjoy several big paydays.
“Katie has got a great mix. She has the potential to go all the way and sell out the big arenas,” he told BBC Radio 5 live.

A World Anti-Doping Agency report published Thursday found that “serious logistical failings” affected anti-doping efforts at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The report of the independent observers sent to the Games by WADA, by invitation of the International Olympic Committee, outlines cases of athletes targeted for testing who “simply could not be found”.
A lack of adequately trained anti-doping personnel — including chaperones to take athletes through test procedures — contributed to the inability to meet daily targets for out-of-competition testing in the athletes’ village.
“In fact, often only 50 percent or less of these planned tests were carried out,” the report said.
Problems surfaced at competition venues as well, with chaperones denied access to some areas and therefore unable to accompany athletes throughout a test and many of the doping control officers were inadequately trained in sample collection and other procedures.
Despite the flaws, commission chair Jonathan Taylor said the anti-doping program in Rio “was able to achieve a number of positive outcomes in the face of very challenging circumstances”.
“Despite staffing issues, resource constraints and other logistical difficulties, those tasked with implementation of the program, and in particular the volunteers, deserve immense credit for ensuring that the rights of clean athletes were safeguarded,” Taylor said.
He also commended the IOC for its use of new techniques, including pre-Games testing and information gathering and the establishment of a new Court of Arbitration division to handle anti-doping cases as a first instance panel.
The report praised improvements made to Rio’s anti-doping laboratory, which had been suspended by WADA just six weeks before the Games for failing to meet international standards.
The lab met requirements of WADA and the IOC — including some prompted by the revelations of the McLaren Report about sample swapping at the Sochi Olympics laboratory — and was “superbly equipped, operated very securely and generally very efficiently , and now represents an outstanding legacy from the Games for the anti-doping movement in South America,” the report said.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday sought to outflank his opponents in their bid to drive him from power, vowing to crush a threatened general strike.
The socialist leader is resisting growing pressure from the opposition, which blames him for the oil-rich South American country’s plunge into economic chaos.
He said authorities would seize control of companies that join a general strike called for Friday by the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
“If a company stops, it will be taken over,” he said in a televised speech.
At the same time, he moved to placate hard-up citizens by promising to raise the minimum wage by 40 percent.
Maduro was on the counterattack a day after the opposition staged anti-government protests that drew hundreds of thousands of people across Venezuela.
The president and the opposition have accused each other of mounting a “coup.”
Opposition leaders sharpened their tone after the authorities infuriated them last week by halting procedures to hold a referendum on removing Maduro.
The MUD coalition called a 12-hour general strike for Friday and promised a protest march to the presidential palace on November 3.
Maduro called on his own supporters to mobilize to “defeat the parliamentary coup.”
A crowd of his followers rallied Thursday outside the National Assembly legislature, where the MUD has held a majority since January.
Opposition lawmakers were inside hearing declarations about the crisis from civil groups.
Maduro’s supporters yelled angrily and scuffled with riot police guarding the assembly.
Clashes broke out at some of Wednesday’s protests.
The government said a police officer was killed in the northern state of Miranda.
Maduro blamed that on his rivals Thursday, calling opposition leader Henrique Capriles a “murderer” and accusing him of plotting an “attack” on the presidential palace.
The opposition’s vow to march on the palace next week further hardened the tone of the power struggle.
The palace was the scene of a short-lived opposition coup attempt in 2002 against Maduro’s late mentor, Hugo Chavez.
The current head of the military and defense minister, Vladimir Padrino, has declared loyalty to Maduro.
Maduro claims to have the Vatican’s backing to hold a “national dialogue” with opponents from Sunday.
The MUD said it would agree to talks only if the government respects the constitutional right to a referendum and frees imprisoned activists and leaders, among other demands.
Maduro has vowed to travel to the Caribbean island of Margarita, where he has proposed starting talks on Sunday.
But it is unclear whether he will have anyone to talk to. The opposition insists that any talks be held in Caracas, “in the public eye.”
The MUD’s secretary general, Jesus Torrealba, said it still wants to settle the crisis “through a referendum or early elections.”
Although Venezuela boasts the world’s largest oil reserves, falling crude prices have plunged the country into deep recession.
It is unclear to what extent Maduro’s wage hike would soothe the anger of citizens suffering shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies.
Maduro’s decree will raise the minimum wage to the equivalent of about $140 a month.
But the cost of living is driven by massive inflation and a lopsided system of fixed exchange rates.
Maduro tweaked the exchange rate earlier this year in a bid to make essential imports less expensive.
But ordinary citizens interviewed by AFP in recent days complained they still can’t afford many basic supermarket products.
Venezuela is facing inflation of 475 percent this year, with the International Monetary Fund predicting a rise to 1,660 percent next year.
“With inflation at current levels, the government could raise people’s salaries daily,” economist Luis Vicente Leon said, “and by evening they still wouldn’t have enough.”

“We believe that the proof is not there for any punitive action to be taken. It’s simply not there,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters following a closed-door Security Council meeting.
A joint United Nations-Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) panel concluded that government forces carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.
It was the first time an international probe blamed President Bashar al-Assad’s forces after years of denial from Damascus.
But Churkin told the council that the findings were not strong enough to trigger sanctions.
The conclusions “in most cases… are not substantiated by sufficient testimonial basis, first of all material proof, they are full of contradictions and therefore unconvincing,” he said, according of a text of his remarks.
The findings are “not definitive, have no legally binding force and cannot serve as accusatory conclusions for taking legal decisions,” he added.
Britain and France pressed demands for sanctions, arguing that UN resolutions provided for such action in response to the use of chemical weapons.
“Those responsible for using chemical weapons must be sanctioned. There is no other way,” French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters.
“There should be accountability for every single person involved in any use of chemical weapons in Syria or indeed anywhere else,” British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said.
Government helicopters flying from two regime-controlled air bases dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin, in rebel-held Idlib province, the panel’s latest report said.
Chlorine use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013 under pressure from Russia, Assad’s ally.
Although previous OPCW reports concluded that toxic gases were used as weapons in Syria’s five-year war, they stopped short of identifying the perpetrators.
The panel identified the 253 and 255 squadrons of the 63rd helicopter brigade, which flew from the Hama and Humaymim air bases, and the 628 squadron based in Humaymim as the perpetrators.
The UN-OPCW panel also found that the Islamic State group used mustard gas as a weapon in August 2015.
“We stand firmly behind the report and its conclusions,” Virginia Gamba, who led the investigative panel, told reporters.
Russia also rejected a US proposal to extend the panel’s mandate — which ends on Monday — for a year, arguing that more time is needed to discuss the experts’ future work.
The probe should be broadened to look at chemical weapons use by extremist groups and in neighboring Iraq, Churkin said.
The Security Council set up the so-called joint investigative mechanism (JIM) in August 2015 to determine who was behind the chemical attacks.

Colombia’s ELN rebels have begun the process of releasing a hostage at the center of a dispute threatening planned peace talks with the government, a top official said Thursday.
“We have been informed by the Red Cross that the operation to free (hostage ex-lawmaker Odin Sanchez) has begun,” said Juan Camilo Restrepo, the government’s chief negotiator for the talks.
The negotiations had been due to formally open at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT) until President Juan Manuel Santos suspended them with just hours to go because of the dispute over Sanchez.
Restrepo said he believed the hostage handover would be completed by November 3, when the first round of actual negotiations had been scheduled to begin.
“The government celebrates this news, and notes this operation, which it hopes will come to a satisfactory conclusion,” he said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross often facilitates the handover of hostages from Colombian rebel groups after their release has been agreed.
It was not immediately clear how long Sanchez’s release would take.
Santos earlier said the talks could not begin “until (the rebels) release Odin Sanchez safe and sound.”
The president, who won the Nobel Peace Prize this month, is working on two fronts to end a half-century conflict gripping Colombia.
His government is also in talks with a larger rebel group, the FARC. The two sides are racing to save a peace deal that voters rejected in a referendum this month.
Colombia’s conflict has claimed more than 260,000 lives and left 45,000 missing.

Islamic State group fighters are trickling out of Iraq’s Mosul as the jihadists suffer heavy casualties, the general overseeing American military operations in the region told AFP on Thursday.
Army General Joseph Votel, head of the US military’s Central Command, said groups of half a dozen or fewer IS fighters have been seen slipping out of the city as US-backed Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces close in.
Some of them dump weapons and try to look like civilians, making it hard for coalition drones and planes to track them, Votel said, but some presumably are headed toward Raqa, the IS group’s Syria stronghold.
“They don’t have uniforms, so it is a little bit of a challenge. These aren’t big groups, they aren’t moving in military formations,” the four-star general said, speaking from an undisclosed military base in Southwest Asia.
“There are some that will get away, and I think that happens in a lot of cases. Nothing is 100 percent, but in this case we are doing a pretty good job.”
Between 800 and 900 jihadists have been killed in and around Mosul since the Iraqi-led operation to recapture the city began 10 days ago, he added.
Earlier US estimates had put the total population of IS fighters in Mosul itself at between 3,500 and 5,000.
Up to another 2,000 were thought to be in the broader region.
Votel cautioned it was hard to provide precise numbers as IS fighters move around the city and blend in with the local population.
The jihadists have quit Mosul from the west side, which has not been sealed by Iraqi forces.
Some strategists question the Iraqis’ decision to leave part of the city open, but Votel said there were advantages to doing so.
“It certainly provides a way for the refugees of the population to get out of there,” the general said, and “it does provide an opportunity to limit destruction in the city itself”.
Aid groups are bracing for an exodus of Mosul residents as the battle enters the city proper.
The United Nations says more than 10,000 people have already been displaced.
Votel said he had spoken with Iraqi military leaders late Tuesday who told him that, as of that time, 57 Iraqi security forces had been killed and about 255 wounded.
For the Kurdish peshmerga, numbers were lower, with about 30 killed and between 70 and 100 wounded.
Despite the heavy casualties, the jihadists still think they can retain control over Mosul, Votel said, because “some of their fighters don’t understand what is taking place around them”.
The offensive is seeing tens of thousands of Iraqi fighters advancing on Mosul from the south, east and north in a bid to retake the last major Iraqi city under IS control.
Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces are pushing along several axes and have made relatively quick progress as they approach the city.
The offensive has so far been concentrated in towns and villages around Mosul, and resistance may get heavier as Iraqi forces break through IS defences and enter the city itself.
Security forces have complained about insufficient air support from the US-led coalition, but Votel said strikes were only delayed if there is a concern of causing civilian casualties.
“We do have a responsibility to make sure we know what we are shooting at… That does require some time to do that,” he said.
Votel’s job is arguably the most complex in the US military, as he is responsible for an area including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, as well as war-torn Yemen, Iran and the rest of the Middle East.
The US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces is also trying to defeat the group in Syria, where they retain parts of the north and the key city of Raqa.
Pentagon chief Ashton Carter this week said the battle for Raqa would begin within a few weeks, and Votel cautioned the fight could take longer than Mosul because the US-backed opposition forces are not as well armed or resourced as the Iraqis.
“We’ve long recognised that our greatest desire would be to orchestrate (operations in) Mosul and Raqa… almost completely simultaneously,” he said.
But “we can’t do things as simultaneously as perhaps we would like to.”

Donald Trump may have insulted Mexicans, Muslims and women, but to woo Indian American voters he’s even dabbling in Hindi for Diwali.
The bombastic New York businessman is seen uttering “Ab Ki Baar Trump Sarkaar” — adapting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 vote-winning catchphrase as his own — in a presidential campaign ad released Thursday.
“This time Trump government,” translates the ad on the screen.
Trump may speak in a thick US accent, but the 30-second ad is the Republican nominee’s latest attempt to win votes among Indian Americans ahead of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights which falls on the weekend.
The video opens with the message “Happy Diwali” and borrows from footage of Trump speaking at a Hindu gathering in New Jersey this month, lighting an oil lamp and promising close US-Indian relations.
“The Indian and Hindu community will have a true friend in the White House,” he says in the ad. “We love the Hindus, we love India,” he adds, saying that he looks forward to working with Modi.
The candidate’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump visited a Hindu temple this week in Virginia, the home state of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine which is expected to vote blue on November 8.
Trump trails 5.4 points in the latest poll average compiled by tracker RealClearPolitics in a national race against Clinton and two outsiders — pointing to a likely electoral college victory for the Democrat.
There are an estimated four million Indian Americans living in the United States according to 2015 census figures. They are among the most educated ethnic groups and generally well off, according to the Pew Research Center.
Only about half are Hindu and 65 percent are Democrat, or Democrat-leaning, the think tank found in a 2014 report.

As the bulldozers clear the remaining shacks at the “Jungle” camp, the thousands of migrants moved out to shelters around France are facing an uncertain welcome from their new hosts.
The government is looking to distribute the 6,000 residents of the squalid, lawless shantytown in Calais in special centres around the country.
While some ordinary French people are happy to help France do its part in Europe’s biggest migrant crisis since World War 2, there has also been resistance.
Much of the opposition has been in small towns which say they were not properly consulted by a government rushing before winter to find accommodation for the migrants from the Jungle — most of them Sudanese, Afghans and Eritreans.
Late last week the mayor of the rural village of Saint Bauzille in southern France threatened to resign en masse with his council in protest at plans to send them 87 migrants.
After hurried negotiations with the interior ministry and regional officials, the number was halved and on Thursday 43 migrants, mostly Sudanese, arrived by bus from Calais to stay at a reception centre.
Immigration has become a hot topic in France ahead of next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, stoked by a string of jihadist attacks and inflammatory rhetoric from right-wing politicians.
In a handful of towns, including the former spa town of Forges-les-Bains, near Paris, this unease has spilled over into attacks on migrant shelters.
The arson attack on the Forges-les-Bains shelter came before any migrants moved in, but the traces are still visible.
The large residence in the heart of the affluent town is home to 77 Afghan men who arrived in two groups, the first a month ago, the second on Tuesday.
While none of them came from the Jungle, their experiences may be indicative of what those bussed out of Calais can expect.
“We’ve told them about reservations expressed” by many residents before the centre opened “and asked them to be careful in their behaviour”, said Bruno Morel, head of Emmaus Solidarite, the group running the Forges-les-Bains centre.
But they decided not to tell the migrants about the fire. “We must not panic them,” Morel said.
Five days after the first batch moved in a group of around 250 protesters marched through town to denounce the “imposition” of the shelter by the government.
The shelter’s residents already have a lot on their plate. After a French lesson, Fazalkhaliq Sahak, 18, gets out his timetable — a language lesson or sport every day, on top of chasing up his asylum application, a long and complex process.
Relief dominates his hesitant words. “Sleeping here, it’s good. The rooms, they are nice,” he said.
Before landing in Forges, he went through exile, sleeping rough on the Paris streets, then accommodation in a gymnasium in the French capital’s suburbs, where he said the lack of privacy made it impossible to sleep.
The centre’s management says there have been no incidents with locals since it opened, but the town has not exactly warmed to them either.
Around 15 Afghans went to the annual chestnut festival earlier this month.
But their “hellos” to locals are sometimes met with silence.
A survey of the town’s 3,700 inhabitants by the council found that 59 percent were against having the migrants, and outside the pharmacy resignation mixes with mistrust.
Some say they should make the best of it, others say they check their doors are locked now and have stopped taking walks in the woods.
Local resident Armelle Rouffignac, 42, is more enthusiastic. She has taken her adolescent sons to play table tennis with the Afghans and hopes to bring some of them into her judo club.
She says many are “against the way it has been done, not against the migrants”, criticising the lack of consultation from the central government.
“Forges is not anti-migrant (but against) a badly designed and disproportionate scheme,” said Sebastien Roger, a member of a group opposed to the centre.
Many residents have also voiced concern at the presence of a shelter for a group of single men 100 metres (yards) from a school.
For one group of Sudanese asylum seekers bussed out of the Jungle on Monday to the peaceful eastern village of Chardonnay, there was a chilly welcome.
Locals watched from a distance as the two dozen men got off the bus in the village, which has a population of just 200 but will eventually host 50 asylum seekers.
“This massive arrival of migrants, it’s inappropriate,” fumed resident Joelle Chevaux.

Mamelodi Sundowns won their first match since lifting the CAF Champions League trophy four days ago, beating Polokwane City 2-0 Thursday in a South African League Cup last-16 tie.
The new champions fielded six of the team that overcame Zamalek of Egypt 3-1 on aggregate in the final of the premier African club competition.
A seventh starter in Alexandria last Sunday, Zimbabwean Khama Billiat, was introduced for the second half in place of injured Ivorian striker Yannick Zakri.
But it was Themba Zwane, an unused Champions League substitute, who came off the bench in Pretoria to swing the League Cup first round match in favour of the title-holders.
He created space for captain Hlompho Kekana to drill the ball past Zimbabwean goalkeeper George Chigova for the lead on 65 minutes.
Unmarked Zwane scored a simple second goal five minutes later at Lucas ‘Masterpieces’ Moripe Stadium, tapping in a low cross at the far post.
Sundowns are only the second South African champions to conquer Africa after Orlando Pirates, who triumphed in 1995 when the competition was called the African Cup of Champions Clubs.
“My boys are unbelievable professionals,” said Pitso Mosimane, the first South African to coach a Champions League-winning team.
“They trained the day after becoming African champions and they had very little rest on the eve of this match due to celebratory events.”
Sundowns host Cape Town City Sunday in the Premiership, where they have fallen five fixtures behind due to Champions League commitments.

Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag insisted on Thursday that he had provided US authorities with enough evidence for them to arrest alleged coup mastermind Fethullah Gulen.
Bozdag met US Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Wednesday to press the case, but left without being given any guarantees on Turkey’s demand that the US-based cleric be detained and extradited.
US authorities are still examining the request but after the meeting Lynch’s office tellingly noted that the case for extradition “must meet the evidentiary standards of the requested country.”
On Thursday, Bozdag told reporters he had sent Lynch three folders containing additional information requested by US officials to allow them to study the Turkish case against Gulen.
This new documentation concerns a previous extradition request related to Gulen’s alleged role coordinating “terrorist” activity in Turkey from the US state of Pennsylvania before the bloody July 15 coup attempt.
But, Bozdag said, Turkey had also on September 10 submitted a separate request that Gulen be detained in the US pending extradition for his alleged role as leader of the coup attempt itself.
“In our provisional arrest request we put more-than-sufficient evidence and information about the fact that the coup attempt was carried out under the instructions and coordination of the terrorist leader Fethullah Gulen,” he told reporters.
Once the US Justice Department has judged whether there is sufficient evidence to begin extradition proceedings, Turkey’s request will be passed to a judge to be examined under a lengthy court process.
But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, while insisting it respects US procedure, is increasingly frustrated and its supporters are stoking popular anti-Americanism, accusing Washington of harboring a terrorist mastermind.
“Turkey cannot accept and we cannot understand the fact that the murderer of 241 people, who wounded around 2,194 people, is acting freely and managing a terrorist organization freely from a friendly and allied country,” Bozdag said.
Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who has lived in the United States since 1999, denies the claims and his supporters ridicule the description of his group as the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO), saying he runs a peaceful religious and educational network.

The public face of the Icelandic Pirate Party, Birgitta Jonsdottir is a hacker, cyberspace anarchist, poet — and a rather reluctant politician.
However, she could find herself strutting the corridors of power if the Pirate Party emerges as expected as the strongest group in Saturday’s election in the North Atlantic island nation.
“I’m not a career politician. I ended up here by pure accident, maybe I’m just a poetician,” the activist and lawmaker told AFP in Reykjavik.
The daughter of folk singer mother and a father she never knew, Jonsdottir has worked in a variety of fields, including as a graphic designer, journalist and spokeswoman for WikiLeaks, as well as a painter and poet.
“I could do anything I wanted to but I decided when I was 14 that I wanted to become a poet,” said the 49-year-old lawmaker whose pitch-black hair and bangs give her a distinctive punk rock style.
The Pirate Party, which she cofounded in 2012, is leading in opinion polls ahead of the snap election and could find itself negotiating to form a coalition government with other opposition parties from the left and centre.
But the mother-of-two has expressed reluctance to take on the role of prime minister in the country of 330,000 people because she is seeking a radical change to the power structure in Iceland.
“I would like to take this idea of power and bring it to the parliament and actually be the speaker of the house but not the prime minister,” Jonsdottir said.
“We need to really shift… parliament should be the strongest and most important institution,” she said.
Her party has pledged to stamp out public corruption in Iceland after the Panama Papers offshore tax haven revelations in April that tarnished bankers, CEOs and cabinet ministers, and cost the then prime minister his job.
It wants to get rid of the traditional parties of the centre-right and right which were associated with the disastrous banking system collapse in 2008 and the Panama Papers scandals.
“Is Iceland going to be brave enough to say no to this corruption bloc which is affiliated with the governmental parties and going to vote for change or are they not ready yet? I hope they are ready!” Jonsdottir said.
“We all share the same ideology when it comes to critical issues: constitution, people power, dealing with the corruption, getting resources from our fisheries so we can pay for the resurrection of the healthcare sector.”
Although she has been campaigning for civil rights for years, including the Tibet independence movement, it was the economic crisis of 2008 that pushed her to commit to activism in Iceland.
In the 2009 election, Jonsdottir was elected as member of parliament, or the Althingi, representing the Citizens Movement, which sought a radical reform of Icelandic democracy.
She was a member of the Icelandic delegation to the NATO parliamentary assembly between 2009-2013 and the foreign affairs committee’s working group on European affairs between 2010-2011.
Her personal life has been marred by tragedy. Her first husband with whom she had a son disappeared in 1993 and his body was found five years later. She was later married to an Australian for five years.
An avid user of social media, Jonsdottir wrote on her Facebook account:”I have to admit that it is both scary and deeply exciting to be this close to making fundamental changes for my nation.”

Mexican driver Esteban Gutierrez expects his future with the Haas team to be decided in the next two weeks, he told a news conference ahead of his home Mexican Grand Prix on Thursday.
The Haas team has indicated that it will keep Frenchman Romain Grosjean for 2017, but has said little about the identity of his future team-mate, currently Gutierrez.
?I think Haas have been very clear in the media,? said Gutierrez.
?They want to wait a few more races. We are now considering something and it will be important to close something soon as we cannot afford to wait to a few more races — the deadline should be in the next two weeks.?
Gutierrez has yet to score a point this season with Grosjean responsible for all 29 points registered by the Haas team.

Slovenia on Thursday started burying the remains of some 800 alleged Nazi collaborators killed by communist forces in the aftermath of World War II, and discovered in a giant mine in 2009.
“It is our human and state duty to bury in a civilised way the victims of war and post-war killings,” Slovenian President Borut Pahor said at the burial ceremony in the northern city of Maribor.
“We’re not changing history, we are changing our future. This represents a step forward,” he added.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic also attended the ceremony, the first in a series of state burials expected to continue until the end of 2017.
The bodies were discovered in March 2009 in the Huda Jama mine, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of the capital Ljubljana.
Experts say most of the victims were Croats and Slovenes who had been executed for collaborating with the Nazis, often without trial.
Authorities believe the mass grave may have contained up 2,500 bodies.
Croatia’s President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, who visited Maribor earlier on Thursday, said “the historic truth has to be determined to ensure a better future”.
A special government commission has so far registered 700 possible mass grave sites containing up to 15,000 bodies in Slovenia, a former Yugoslav republic until 1991 when it declared independence.

A German court ruled Thursday that a man who put his one-month-old baby up for sale on the online auction platform eBay should only be allowed contact with the child under supervision.
The man, who is a refugee, had admitted to putting up the advertisement offering his baby girl for 5,000 euros ($5,500), but said it was meant as a joke.
On Thursday, the court in the western city of Duisburg decided to restrict contact between the man and his child, national news agency DPA reported.
It ruled that the man’s wife, who is also a refugee, should have custody of the baby and move into special housing for mothers and children.
The man would be allowed contact with the child only under supervision, the court said.
The couple’s nationality was not released by authorities.
The advertisement, which appeared online on October 11 for about 30 minutes before eBay took it down, sparked outrage in Germany and prompted police to launch a probe into possible human trafficking.
Several pictures of the black-haired infant were seen in the advertisement, which was titled “40-day-old child named Maria …for sale”, according to local media.
The baby girl was handed to child protection officers during the investigations.

The head of Portugal’s ruling Socialists called German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble a “pyromaniac” Thursday after he criticised Lisbon for reversing course on austerity.
Carlos Cesar’s jibe came after Schaeuble said Portugal had been “very successful” until the Socialists, on coming to power last year, declared they would “not respect what the former government had agreed.”
“As everyone knows, the German finance minister is a pyromaniac who tries to present himself as a firefigher,” Cesar told news radio TSF.
“His compatriots do not think like him,” he added, going on to cite examples of German firms that have made huge investments in Portugal.
“They understand that the Portuguese economy has potential, that political and social stability is a factor that they value, and that Portugal is in a position to make progress with our policy,” said the Socialist leader.
Since coming to power the Socialists have reduced taxes for lower income earners and rolled back some austerity measures launched during the country’s 2011-2014 78-billion-euro ($85 billion) bailout.
They took office after teaming up with the Communists and the far-left Left Block to oust a centre-right administration which had embraced a German-led austerity push by raising taxes, cutting spending and reforming labour laws.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa has vowed to “turn the page on austerity” with steps including a reversal of public-sector wage cuts and higher pensions, giving people and the economy more spending power.
Costa dismissed Schaeuble’s comment made on Wednesday, saying he “pays attention mainly to Germans who know Portugal, and as a result, know what they are talking about.”
“I usually only talk about what I know and I never talk about other countries about which I know nothing, based on prejudices,” he added.
The government’s draft budget for 2017 forecasts the public deficit will fall to 1.6 percent of economic output next year from 2.4 percent in 2016, well below a European Union limit of 3.0 percent.
Portugal posted a deficit of 4.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2015, the third highest in the EU after Greece and Spain.

Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps quietly married girlfriend Nicole Johnson in June, weeks after the birth of the couple’s son, Boomer, documents obtained by multiple US media outlets indicated.
While Johnson and Boomer were in Rio to cheer Phelps on during his fifth and final Olympics, where he took his career tally of Games gold to 23, the couple didn’t let on that they’d already wed.
But a record of marriage first published by celebrity website TMZ shows they were married on June 13 in Paradise Valley, Arizona, both at the age of 30.
According to the record, Phelps’s agent, Peter Carlisle officiated.
The two met in Los Angeles in 2007 and had an on-again, off-again relationship.
They were engaged in February and Boomer was born on May 5.
Johnson posted a picture on Instagram on June 13 of herself with Phelps and Boomer captioned, “Such a memorable night with my lil fambam”.

Spain’s Socialists may have reluctantly decided to let Mariano Rajoy govern again but they will not go easy on the acting conservative premier once he re-takes power, they warned Thursday.
“You don’t have our trust, nor do you have our support,” Antonio Hernando, the Socialists’ parliamentary spokesman, told Rajoy as he addressed lawmakers.
In a taste of things to come, Hernando blasted the acting prime minister’s first term track record in a bitter debate held before Rajoy submits himself to a preliminary, symbolic parliamentary confidence vote.
Rajoy is widely expected to lose this vote, due later Thursday, before submitting himself to a second, final and decisive vote at the weekend which he will likely win thanks to a decision by the Socialists to abstain.
The Socialists have defended this decision by saying they are helping unblock the political impasse in Spain, which has remained without a fully-functioning government for 10 months after two inconclusive elections.
“There is no reason to maintain the political blockage and take Spaniards to new elections,” Hernando said.
“Our abstention on Saturday will allow you to form a government, but it is not support for your government or your policies,” he told Rajoy.
Support will be in short supply when Rajoy takes power next week at the head of a minority government, a far cry from 2011 when his Popular Party won an absolute majority.
With just 137 seats out of 350 in parliament, his party will face huge opposition and Thursday’s bitter debate reflected this as Rajoy came out fighting and his rivals criticised him.
Pablo Iglesias, the head of far-left Podemos, which aspires to replace the Socialists as the main opposition force, also warned his own party would not “fall into line.”
“We are not a left-wing force that fits the mould… we want a different way of doing things and want to change things,” he said.
Rajoy, meanwhile, called on opposition parties to try to agree on crucial measures such as the 2017 budget, as Spain works to reduce its deficit under EU scrutiny.
“Demonising your enemy is not credible, it doesn’t work,” he told lawmakers.
“Not having a government is as bad as having a government that can’t govern,” he said.
“Without a budget, by not complying with our agreements with the European Union, we run the serious risk that Spain will experience a sterile four-year term.”

IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday that Egypt is going through a currency “crisis,” suggesting a quick devaluation to tackle a widening gap between the official and black market rates.
Egypt has been struggling to shore up its foreign currency reserves in the political and economic turmoil following the January 2011 uprising that toppled former ruler Hosni Mubarak.
The government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is rolling out an austerity programme and is seeking billions in support from abroad in order to meet conditions for a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and boost investor confidence.
The country’s foreign currency reserves stood at $19.6 billion in September, an increase from previous years but less than 50 percent of the level in early 2011.
“In terms of exchange rate, there is currently a crisis, because if you look at the official price if you look at the grey market price, there is a 100 percent difference so that needs to be addressed,” Lagarde said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
Lagarde applauded the planned reforms, including the austerity programme, saying the IMF was ready to support the government if it takes the measures needed to meet the loan conditions.
“If they decide to move forward we will certainly support that move, we will certainly accompany it, we’ll put money on the table to help them along the way. But it’s their call and it’s their decision,” she said.
Responding to a question on whether a total free float or gradual devaluation might be the best, Lagarde said the right conditions were “going to be dictated entirely by the circumstances”.
“When you have very low reserves, when the difference between official and unofficial rate is very wide, historically we have seen rapid transitions being most efficient,” said Lagarde, adding that “in other cases it has been gradual”.
Loans from Saudi Arabia and China would help Egypt gather the $5-$6 billion in additional financing required to complement the IMF lending, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington on Thursday.
“I think they’re very close and clearly the financing is one of the aspects that they need to lock in,” Lagarde said, commenting on the loans.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to secure the IMF board approval in the next few weeks.”

Nico Rosberg shrugged off Formula One ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone’s reported comment that a world title for the German would be “bad for business”, preferring instead to focus on capturing the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday.
Rosberg can seal his first world title this weekend if he wins the race and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, the defending champion, fails to finish.
The German driver, who does not have the same colourful public profile as his British teammate, said he was unperturbed by comments attributed to Ecclestone, suggesting that if he wins the world title it will not be good for the sport.
“It’s not important and I focus on my thing and that’s it,” said 31-year-old Rosberg on Thursday.
“To win the championship would be a childhood dream, of course, but that?s it and that?s where it ends for me.
“Really for me, now, it?s all about winning the Mexican Grand Prix and that’s it. I am just going one at a time. It feels right. I like to keep it simple, be in the moment and just do what I can focus on. It works so I am sticking with it.”
Rosberg finished second behind Hamilton in last Sunday?s United States Grand Prix but leads Hamilton by 26 points with three races remaining.
He said that the atmosphere in the Mercedes team was very exciting for all involved ahead of the final three showdown events.
“We had a great party last Sunday night in Austin ? it is great to see that we have come such a long way together as a team and we are strong in every area now.
“We are pulling together in one direction and we are all thrilled.?
Asked if his relationship with Hamilton was as harmonious as the team ambience, Rosberg said it was better than in previous seasons.
“The dynamic with Lewis is not something that I think too much about,” he said.
“I just try to get the best possible results -? it is intense, yes, but there is also an easy-going side too lately.”
He added that the pair continued to share all data and information about their cars. “Everything is open and shared as usual, nothing has changed,” he said.

Sunderland manager David Moyes was charged by England’s governing Football Association with misconduct on Thursday after being ordered off the touchline during Wednesday’s 1-0 League Cup fourth-round loss away to Southampton.
Former Everton and Manchester United manager Moyes was sent to the stands after complaining about a decision by referee Chris Kavanagh not to award a late penalty after Maya Yoshida appeared to trip Victor Anichebe in the box.
Scottish boss Moyes said afterwards he had had been dismissed for swearing at fourth official James Adcock.
“David Moyes has been charged with misconduct by the FA in relation to Sunderland’s EFL Cup tie against Southampton,” said an FA statement issued Thursday.
“It is alleged that in or around the 90th minute of the fixture Moyes used abusive and/or insulting words towards a match official.
“Moyes has until 6:00pm (1800 GMT) on 1 November 2016 to respond to the charge.”
After Wednesday’s match, Moyes said: “I was sent off for leaving my box and swearing at the fourth official.
“The problem was he chased me down the touchline. I swore at him and I shouldn’t have done so I deserved to be sent off.”
Moyes was adamant top-flight basement club Sunderland should have had a penalty against their Premier League rivals, adding: “When you see it again it’s a stonewaller, no question.
“Inside the box Yoshida fouls Victor, he comes across him, and it should have been a definite penalty awarded.”

South Africa was the first to take the formal step at the United Nations last week and Gambia has also said it plans to pull out of the Rome treaty that created the ICC.
Burundi’s Justice Minister Laurentine Kanyana personally delivered the formal letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s office.
The withdrawal takes effect one year after the letter is received.
The United Nations is calling on South Africa and Burundi to reverse their decisions.
“That withdrawal can be withdrawn,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Burundi’s move came after a UN envoy was dispatched to Bujumbura for crisis talks.
UN envoy Jamal Benomar was in Bujumbura meeting with leaders to try to defuse tensions over the ICC pullout and the government’s decision to break ties with the UN rights office.
Set up in 2002, the ICC is often accused of bias against Africa.
The ICC in April launched a preliminary investigation of allegations of killings, torture and other rights abuses in Burundi.
A report by UN rights experts has blamed President Pierre Nkurunziza’s security forces and police for the violence that has torn the country since 2015.
The UN Human Rights Council decided last month to set up a formal commission of inquiry that could help identify those responsible for the violence.
Burundi has been in turmoil since Nkurunziza announced plans in April last year to run for a third term, which he went on to win.
More than 500 people have died in the violence and at least 300,000 have fled the country.

NATO and the European Union are partners in defence, not rivals, top officials said Thursday, downplaying any suggestion EU military ambitions might undermine the US-led alliance which has protected Europe for decades.
“I strongly believe it is absolutely possible to strengthen European defence without duplicating efforts by NATO,” alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said.
“EU leaders have (also) conveyed that this is not about the EU doing collective defence, the EU building structures that would compete with NATO,” Stoltenberg said after EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini met NATO defence ministers in Brussels.
Mogherini has drawn up a Global Strategy which says the EU should seek “strategic autonomy” to face multiple security threats, ranging from conventional to hybrid warfare, from the Ukraine crisis to Syria, from poverty in Africa to massive migrant flows.
Her proposal for an EU military headquarters in Brussels — also home to NATO’s HQ — has especially sparked concerns that the bloc is seeking a more independent role.
Mogherini on Thursday insisted this was not the case at all.
“Let me clarify that immediately — I have to do that again and again — first of all we are not planning a European army,” she said as she arrived for the defence ministers meeting.
“We are not planning to have any headquarters, as for instance NATO has SHAPE,” she said, referring to the alliance’s military HQ.
At the same time, Mogherini said the EU does have civilian and military operations, such as in Africa or in the Mediterranean, and needs to improve command and control centres to run them.
“But this can be done … without any kind of overlaping or duplication with NATO,” she said.
Britain, a major power itself, has traditionally opposed any idea of a European army or EU military arm but after the shock Brexit vote, France and Germany said the bloc should be more ambitious.
Britain’s defence minister Michael Fallon said Wednesday there could be no question of the EU taking on NATO’s collective defence mantle, and there was “very strong opposition to that kind of duplication” in the bloc.
German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen meanwhile said there was room — and benefit — for both in an increased EU defence effort.
“I will make clear that NATO and the European security and defense union have different profiles and different tasks but that we need them both,” von der Leyen said.
“It is important that we do not build double structures. I will emphasise again that we are not talking about a European army,” she added.

Peace talks between Colombia’s government and leftist ELN rebels hung in suspense Thursday, hours before their scheduled launch, as leaders complained the insurgents had not released a key hostage.
The talks are meant to open a new, decisive front in President Juan Manuel Santos’s efforts to end an armed conflict of half a century that has killed more than 260,000 people.
Santos, the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has already signed a peace deal with the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
But voters rejected it in a referendum on October 2, sending the two sides back to the drawing board.
That has complicated the peace process with the country’s second-biggest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) — a more intransigent negotiating partner.
The ELN had promised to free its hostages before the talks open in the Ecuadorian capital Quito — as the FARC did before starting negotiations in Cuba in 2012.
But the ELN bristled last week when the government’s chief negotiator issued an ultimatum for it to free former congressman Odin Sanchez.
Since then, there has been no news on the fate of the hostage — or hostages, according to some sources — still being held by the leftist guerrillas.
Sanchez voluntarily went into the ELN’s custody in April to take the place of his brother Patrocinio, who had fallen ill after three years in captivity.
Sources in the Catholic Church, which has played a part in preliminary negotiations, say the rebels are also holding a doctor named Edgar Torres.
The talks were due to open at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT). It is the fifth attempt to make peace with the ELN over the years.
Santos said on Twitter late Wednesday that he had not yet signed off on the start of negotiations because Sanchez had not been freed.
The ELN’s head negotiator Pablo Beltran tweeted in response: “We are fulfilling everything that was agreed.”
He said the ELN negotiating team had been in Quito since Wednesday night.
“There is still time — a few hours,” said the government’s chief negotiator Juan Camilo Restrepo in televised comments on Wednesday night.
“We have reasonable confidence because it is the spirit and good faith that encourages the government to start this dialogue.”
Like the FARC, the ELN formed in 1964 and is blamed for killings and kidnappings during a many-sided civil war.
Analyst Camilo Echandia of Colombia’s Externado University said the ELN was reluctant to accept the release of hostages as a condition for talks.
“That is the big difference between the ELN and the FARC,” he told AFP. “These negotiations are going to be very complicated.”
Frederic Masse, a specialist on armed groups at Colombia’s Externado University, said: “What is still lacking in the case of the ELN is trust between the two delegations” to the talks.
Incidents involving ELN forces have kept tensions high in recent months.
The Colombian army blamed the ELN for a non-fatal explosion at an oil pipeline near the Venezuelan border on Sunday.
“The ELN guerrilla group comes strengthened to the negotiations with the government. Over the past three years this group has increased its level of violence,” Colombia’s Conflict Analysis Resource Center (CERAC) said in a report this month.
Colombian authorities estimate the ELN currently has some 1,500 members.
Its activities are restricted mainly to parts of the north and west of the country, according to CERAC.
Colombia’s territorial and ideological conflict has drawn in various guerrilla and paramilitary groups, drug gangs and state forces over the decades.
The conflict has forced nearly seven million people to flee their homes, according to Colombian authorities.

Barcelona reported La Liga president Javier Tebas to Spain’s highest sports court on Thursday after he questioned the Barca players’ conduct during a heated 3-2 win at Valencia last weekend.
Luis Suarez and Neymar were hit by a plastic bottle thrown by Valencia fans as Barca celebrated Lionel Messi’s 94th-minute winner on Saturday.
A disciplinary committee of the Spanish Football Federation fined Valencia 1,500 euros ($1,600) on Wednesday and said a repeat could result in a stadium closure.
However, the committee also criticised the “reproachable behaviour” of the Barca players as Neymar and Messi were recorded shouting obscenities towards the Valencia fans.
“The most serious thing is the thrown bottle, but some players acted in a way we don’t like,” Tebas said of the incident earlier this week.
However, those comments have been branded “irresponsible and unbecoming of a sports official” by Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
Moreover, in a statement the club invited Spain’s administrative sports court to open disciplinary proceedings against Tebas and members of the Spanish federation’s disciplinary committee “for inadmissable assessments of the Barcelona players’ behaviour when they were assaulted during the game.”

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday promised workers a 40 percent rise in the minimum wage, after opponents seeking to drive him from power called for a general strike.
“I decree and will sign a 40 percent overall rise in workers’ legal minimum wage,” he said in a public speech, a day after the opposition staged mass street demonstrations against him.
The socialist leader is resisting growing pressure from the opposition MUD coalition, which blames him for Venezuela’s plunge into economic chaos.
Opposition leaders have sharpened their tone after authorities infuriated them last week by halting procedures to hold a referendum on removing Maduro.
The MUD called a 12-hour general strike for Friday and vowed to march in protest to the presidential palace next week.
Maduro’s number two Diosdado Cabello warned that any business that shuts for a general strike could be taken “by the workers, and by the Armed Forces.”
Speaking on Thursday at a ceremony to inaugurate a social housing project, Maduro added a gesture of appeasement with the wage proposal.
It was unclear to what extent the move would soothe popular anger in Venezuela, where citizens are suffering shortages of food, medicine and basic supplies.
Maduro earlier this year tweaked the state-controlled exchange rate in a bid to make essential imports less expensive.
But various ordinary citizens interviewed by AFP in recent days complained that many basic items in supermarkets remain too expensive to buy.
Venezuela is home to the world’s largest oil reserves but has plunged into a deep recession due to falling crude prices.
Clashes broke out at some of Wednesday’s protests, which drew hundreds of thousands of people.
The government said a police officer was killed in the northern state of Miranda.
Three people were shot in the northwestern city of Maracaibo, said Alfredo Romero, head of Venezuelan rights group Foro Penal.

The government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is rolling out an austerity program and seeking billions in financial support from other countries in order to meet conditions necessary for the IMF’s loan program — moves which threaten to increase public anger.
“We think that the reforms that the government is undertaking are headed in the right direction,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington.
“That doesn’t mean they’re easy to do. They’re difficult. There’s going to be disagreement and differences and maybe even protests.”
Egypt is reeling after six years of political and economic turmoil involving the ousters of two presidents.
Loans from Saudi Arabia and China will help Egypt gather the $5-$6 billion in additional financing required to complement the IMF lending, according to Rice.
Given that “good progress” toward securing the bilateral funds, the IMF program could come before the Fund’s board of directors for approval “in the next few weeks,” he said.
Rice said Cairo had adopted a new budget, approved a value-added tax, and developed a plan on energy subsidies, and that the central bank planned a gradual move toward a more flexible exchange rate.
He stressed however that the IMF’s planned $12 billion loan program did not call for cuts to food subsidies. Egyptian consumers have faced stinging shortages in rice, sugar, cooking oil and baby formula.
“A lot of the protest seems to be aimed at the issue of food subsidies, and I just want to make clear that the IMF program does not call for any cuts in food subsidies,” said Rice.
“In fact, it provides for increases in the food subsidy budget to help people get through the early months of adjustment. Of course, it’s up to the Egyptian government to decide which subsidies will be increased.”
Rice said that the IMF program would make social protection a “cornerstone,” moving budgetary savings to areas that would cushion the poor and vulnerable from expected effects of government reforms.

A suspected Al Shabaab militant was on Thursday evening shot dead outside the United States Embassy in Gigiri, Nairobi.
Reports indicate that the man of Somali origin attempted to stab a General Service Unit officer who was manning the entrance of the compound before he was gunned down.
The government on Thursday announced a 60-day dusk to dawn curfew in the northeastern town of Mandera, hit by two deadly terrorist attacks in three weeks.
Interior minister Joseph Nkaissery issued the order two days after Shabaab militants killed 12 people at a hotel in Mandera town on Tuesday.
More to folllow……