Month: October 2016

Defending champion Lewis Hamilton kept alive his bid for a fourth world title on Sunday when he claimed his first victory in six races at the United States Grand Prix and a 50th career win.
The Briton produced a flawless drive from pole position to finish almost five seconds ahead of his Mercedes team-mate and championship leader Nico Rosberg.
“This has always been a good hunting ground for me. I love being in the USA. I’m proud of the team’s effort this weekend,” said Hamilton.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished third for Red Bull and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel came home fourth for Ferrari after team-mate Kimi Raikkonen had been forced into a bizarre retirement when he left the pits with a loose rear wheel.
But it was again all about the Mercedes rivals and Hamilton trimmed Rosberg’s championship lead from 33 points to 26 with three races remaining, but he knows that even if he wins them all the German can take his crown by finishing second in each one.
Rosberg said: “I lost out a bit at the start, but I gave everything to come back and I was going flat out all the way right to the end.”
It was Hamilton’s seventh win this season, but his first since the German Grand Prix back in July, since when Rosberg has grabbed the momentum.
Ricciardo’s feisty Red Bull team-mate, the Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, also retired after a mechanical failure, leaving the way open for Fernando Alonso to seize fifth for McLaren after a late attack on fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz.
Hamilton had revealed concerns before the race about his engine -? fitted overnight Friday with a new fuel injection system ?- but on a near-perfect warm autumn afternoon in Texas he made a clean getaway when the lights went out.
He led off the grid from the 58th pole of his career as Ricciardo, from third, accelerated up the hill behind him into Turn One, where he found a way past Rosberg to take second.
Behind the leaders there was contact between Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India and Valtteri Bottas’s Williams, the former losing his front wing and, after limping to the pits, retiring at the end of the first lap.
Roared on by a big crowd at the Circuit of the Americas, where Taylor Swift had entertained 100,000 fans on Saturday night, Hamilton took early control of the race and enjoyed a 1.4-second lead by lap three.
Ricciardo, the only one of the leading drivers to start on “super-soft” tyres, pitted after eight laps from second, Rosberg taking his place, before he too went into the pits, followed soon after by Hamilton.
Hamilton regained control after 15 laps, when Vettel pitted for softs, the German rejoining in sixth.
Almost immediately, the Briton eased open a gap at the front while Rosberg resisted attacks from Verstappen.
Reminded by his team to be cautious and finish, the young Dutchman responded: “I’m not here to finish fourth!”
His audacity was not matched by substance and when he followed Ricciardo into the pits for his second stop, his pit crew was not ready. Verstappen apologised for his own error, took a relatively slow 9.2-second stop and within three laps was forced to retire with engine failure.
His exit prompted the deployment of a Virtual Safety Car period during which both Hamilton and Rosberg pitted again. When they rejoined, Rosberg almost went past Pascal Wehrlein’s Manor before remembering overtaking was not permitted.
For Raikkonen, in his Ferrari, it was race over when after a pit stop he stopped and rolled back down the hill to the pits.
Ferrari were under investigation for an unsafe release of his car with a suspected loose wheel. Raikkonen said a wheel-gun was still attached to his car when he left the pits.

Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa won a fairytale first CAF Champions League title on Sunday despite a 1-0 second-leg loss to Zamalek of Egypt in Alexandria.
A Stanley Ohawuchi goal on 64 minutes was not enough for the home team as they trailed by three goals from the first leg in Pretoria last weekend and lost 3-1 on aggregate.
It was a remarkable triumph because the South Africans were eliminated in the final qualifying round in April only to be reinstated when their Democratic Republic of Congo opponents were disqualified.
Success for Sundowns made them $1.5 million (1.38 million euros) richer and secured a place at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan during December.
“It was an amazing journey of ups and downs and now we are the champions of Africa,” said Sundowns’ Zimbabwe striker Khama Billiat.
“We look forward to Japan and facing the best clubs in the game. It is going to be an absolute pleasure.”
Winger Keagan Dolly said: “We knew it was going to be difficult because Zamalek are a great team with some outstanding individuals.
“Some people will say we were lucky to get a second chance after being eliminated, but I believe we deserve to be African champions.”
Goalkeeper Ahmed El Shenawy and captain and midfielder “Shikabala” were among those dropped as Zamalek coach Moamen Soliman made four changes from the side that started the first leg.
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane had to make one enforced alteration with huge Ivorian centre-back Bangaly Soumahoro coming in for suspended Wayne Arendse.
Although facing a mammoth task, history offered a hope to Zamalek with two of three previous Champions League finalists in a similar predicament emerging as overall winners.
An estimated 60,000 predominantly Zamalek supporters were inside the 86,000-capacity Borg El Arab Stadium on the outskirts of Alexandria as the match kicked off.
There are few more nerve-inducing factors in African football than a large Egyptian crowd roaring on their team, but Sundowns calmly survived early pressure.
The first scoring chance for the hosts came after 12 minutes when Nigerian Ohawuchi burst through and beat goalkeeper Dennis Onyango, but the ball trickled wide.
Ugandan Onyango, a 2016 Africa-based Footballer of the Year finalist, needed medical attention three times before being replaced by Wayne Sandilands on 28 minutes.
Striker Basem Morsy had been headlined as the Zamalek dangerman, but recent signing Ohawuchi was posing a bigger threat.
A wild but crucial clearance from Soumahoro foiled another attempt by the Nigerian to break the deadlock before Sundowns began to threaten going forward.
The first serious chance for the South Africans came on 35 minutes when awarded a free-kick just outside the box, but captain Hlompho Kekana struck the ball into the wall.
Zamalek goalkeeper Mahmoud Abdel Rahim did well to push away a goal-bound shot from Percy Tau and a looping Billiat shot struck the top of the crossbar before flying wide.
The injuries to Onyango meant eight minutes of first-half stoppage time during which Liberian Anthony Laffor troubled Zamalek twice with a shot and a header.
Half-time arrived with the second leg goalless and Sundowns retaining the three-goal advantage they established in Pretoria last weekend.
Zamalek started the second half as they did the first, controlling possession and territory but rarely looking like cracking open Sundowns’ defence.
After 64 minutes the Egyptian outfit scored and it was no surprise that the goal came from livewire Ohawuchi.
Receiving possession well outside the box, he beat one man and unleashed a low, long-range drive that flew into the corner of the net off the left hand of Sandilands.

Bayern Munich stay two points clear, Dortmund are winless in their last three league games and Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt is banished again.
Here are five things we learned from the eighth round of matches in the Bundesliga:
Tuchel fumes, Dortmund stumble
Just eight games into the season and injury-hit Borussia Dortmund already lag behind in the race to keep up with defending champions Bayern.
Borussia Dortmund are six points adrift of the leaders and sixth after Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Ingolstadt, who punished Borussia for sloppy defending at set pieces.
Ingolstadt were 2-0 up at the break when Israeli international Almog Cohen slipped his marker at a free-kick, then Dario Lezcano headed home having out-leaped Dortmund centre-back Marc Barta.
“I want to completely rid ourselves of the fact that during the first half we were definitely not ready to play in the Bundesliga in any area of our game,” fumed Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel.
“It was clear we’d be punished and it was good that we were punished.”
Volland’s fast red
Bayer Leverkusen’s Kevin Volland earned the league’s fastest red card of the season with just six minutes gone for bringing down Kerem Demirbay, who was through on goal, in their 3-0 defeat to Hoffenheim.
Having held Tottenham Hotspur to a goalless draw on Tuesday in the Champions League, Leverkusen were dealt a large dose of Bundesliga reality as the victory lifted unbeaten Hoffenheim to fourth in the table.
But Volland’s fast red came nowhere near the quickest dismissals in Bundesliga history.
The fastest sending-off in Germany’s top flight goes to Cologne’s captain Youssef Mohamad, who was red-carded just 87 seconds after kick-off in the 2010/2011 season.
Marcel Titsch-Rivero holds the Bundesliga’s all-time record dismissal — just 43 seconds after coming on for Eintracht Frankfurt in a game in 2011 in Bundesliga 2.
Repeat-offender Schmidt
Bayer Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt can expect a lengthy ban from the German FA (DFB) after appearing to hurl abuse at opposite number Julian Nagelsmann during their defeat to Hoffenheim.
“That was nothing, what sort of a nutter are you? Just shut your gob!” Schmidt was heard to shout in Nagelsmann’s direction around the time Hoffenheim went 2-0 up.
In February, Schmidt was banned for three games, with a further two in the event of a repeat offence, after refusing a referee’s order to leave the sidelines during a 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund, which caused the game to be delayed.
The 49-year-old apologised to Nagelsmann, 29, the youngest coach in the Bundesliga’s history, after the incident but his latest outburst is almost certain to land him in hot water with the DFB.
Gomez finally scores
Wolfsburg signed Mario Gomez from Fiorentina before the start of the season and the Germany forward finally scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season on Saturday.
His well-taken header from a corner was Wolfsburg’s 1000th goal in Germany’s top flight, but their 3-1 defeat to Darmstadt leaves them seven games without a win and in the relegation places.
After Dieter Hecking was sacked last week, Valerien Ismael has been brought in to stop the rot, but this was another woeful display from Wolfsburg.
Who can stop Bayern?
Bayern Munich might be top and were 2-0 winners over Borussia Moenchengladbach, but defender Mats Hummels sees old club Borussia Dortmund and new-boys RB Leipzig as genuine rivals.
RB Leipzig went second on Sunday with a 3-1 win at home to Werder Bremen to remain unbeaten in their first eight games.
“For me, Dortmund is clearly our strongest rival, even if the injuries have taken a toll,” said Hummels, who left Dortmund at the end of last season.
“RB Leipzig must also be high up on the list. (Leipzig coach) Ralph Hasenhuettl has always done a great job for his clubs.”
Bayern face Dortmund away on November 19 and host RB Leipzig on December 21.

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed African Union’s chairperson candidacy received a major boost as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) members endorsed her bid.
The endorsement came after Deputy President William Ruto attended the 19th Comesa Heads of State and Government Summit in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Ruto used the summit to  lobby the other Comesa countries to support the candidature of CS Amina.
During the summit, the member countries made it clear that they believed that her long experience of diplomacy, her proven experience working with multilateral organisations, and her successful stint as Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs all made her the best candidate to advance Africa’s Agenda.
Both President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy have been lobbying various leaders across the continent in the hope that Amina will clinch the seat during the January 2017 elections.
The aim for Kenya is to get at least two-thirds majority in the first round.
Last week, President Kenyatta met eight leaders on the margins of the AU summit on maritime security in Togo to discuss support for Amb. Mohammed.
The CS has since 2013 played a pivotal role in President Kenyatta’s administration.
Ms Mohamed will now face it off with Agapito Mba Mokuy of Equatorial Guinea, Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal and Botswana’s Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi for the powerful continental position.
Born in 1961, Ms Amina has had an illustrious career, having worked as a Deputy Executive Director at the United Nations before joining the Kenyan cabinet in 2013.
She has also previously served as Chairwoman of the International Organization for Migration and the World Trade Organisation’s General Council.
Under Ms Amina’s tenure at the helm of the foreign office, Kenya has benefited from a number of high-profile visits from powerful global leaders as well as playing host to several international conferences.
Most notably were the visits of US President Barack Obama and Pope Francis last year. Other leaders who have visited the country in the last few months include Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Indian PM Narendra Modi, and South Korean President Park Geun Hye.
Kenya has already hosted the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Trade Organisation ministerial conference.
Her persuasive shuttle diplomacy gave rise to a united African coalition that vehemently opposed the trial of African leaders at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands.

Lithuanians fed up with low wages and a labour exodus voted for major changes in Sunday’s general election, handing victory to a farmers’ party that previously held just one seat in parliament.
The centrist Lithuanian Peasants and Green Union party (LGPU) won 54 seats in the 141-member parliament, while the conservative Homeland Union took 31 and outgoing ruling Social Democrats 17, the state election commission told AFP Sunday, citing full results.
Three other small parties also entered parliament.
Lithuanians voted overwhelmingly for change, Ramunas Vilpisauskas, director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius, told AFP.
“The LPGU will spearhead the coalition. This result means that people really want new faces in politics,” he said, adding candidly that he “didn’t expect it.”
He also said that on the foreign policy front, the LPGU would keep Lithuania firmly rooted in the EU, the eurozone and NATO.
“We will forge a rational coalition government and we’ll chose people who want to bring about changes,” Saulius Skvernelis, a popular former national police chief who ran as the LPGU’s candidate for prime minister said on national TV as the results rolled in.
He said the party was opening coalition talks with both the Homeland Union and the Social Democrats of outgoing Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevcius.
“We’ll bring transparent and responsible policies,” said Skvernelis, who is widely respected for tackling corruption in the police force during his term as commander.
Popular in the countryside, the LPGU’s official leader is Ramunas Karbauskis, a billionaire industrial farmer and land baron.
He has raised the idea of a “grand coalition” of all parties in parliament creating a technocratic government focused on economic growth.
Wage growth and job creation were key election issues the country of 2.9 million people, plagued by an exodus of workers seeking higher wages abroad.
Since Lithuania joined the European Union in 2004, an estimated 370,000 people have left — nearly half to Britain, where concern over immigration from eastern Europe was a key factor in June’s shock referendum vote to leave the bloc.
Sunday’s result effectively dashed the chances of Homeland Union leader Gabrielius Landsbergis becoming prime minister.
Analysts had tipped him as a favourite after his party finished narrowly ahead of the LPGU in round one of the election on October 9.
The 34-year-old grandson of Lithuanian independence icon Vytautas Landsbergis had vowed to fight emigration by creating jobs, reforming education, boosting exports and foreign investment.
Outgoing Prime Minister Butkevicius — who lost his seat on Sunday — had promised further increases to the minimum wage and public sector salaries.
But analysts said a new labour law making it easier to hire and fire employees, coupled with allegations of political corruption, have alienated voters already bitter over low wages and the brain drain to western Europe.
Lithuania’s economy shrank by nearly 15 percent during the 2008-9 global financial crisis but quickly recovered and is forecast to expand by 2.5 percent this year.
But the average wage of just over 600 euros ($670) per month after tax remains one of the lowest in the EU, and inequality and poverty remain comparatively high.
Skvernelis’s hard line on corruption and the LPGU’s promise to revamp the economy won over voter Galina Aleksejeva, a 50-year-old seamstress.
“They’ll introduce fresh economic policy,” she told AFP after voting in Vilnius, adding that she wants to see the LPGU in coalition with Butkevicius’ Social Democrats.
Russia’s deployment earlier this month of nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave two weeks ago rattled nerves in Lithuania which shares a border with the Kremlin-controlled territory.
But reassurance provided by NATO’s beefed up regional presence — a move that all major parties approve — means that voters are more worried about their wallets than security.
Lithuania’s election commission tallied turnout at 38 percent of the 2.5 million eligible voters.

Venezuela’s opposition-majority legislature declared Sunday that President Nicolas Maduro’s government had committed a coup d’etat by blocking a referendum on removing him from power, vowing mass protests and international pressure.
Furious over the electoral authorities’ decision to suspend the process of organizing a recall vote, opposition lawmakers passed a resolution declaring “the breakdown of constitutional order” and “a coup d’etat committed by the Nicolas Maduro regime.”
The measure came during an emergency session on the economic and political crisis gripping the South American oil giant, which briefly descended into chaos when a group of Maduro supporters forced its way past security guards and burst into the National Assembly, causing lawmakers to halt the proceedings for 45 minutes.
The legislators then called on Venezuelans to “actively defend” the constitution, declaring they would ask the international community to “activate mechanisms” to restore democracy.
“An ongoing coup d’etat has been perpetrated in Venezuela, culminating in the decision to rob us of a recall referendum. We’re here to officially declare the regrettable and painful rupture of constitutional order,” said majority leader Julio Borges of the center-right opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
On Tuesday, the assembly will “lay the groundwork for a session that would include a legal and political trial of the president… to determine what his role is in the interruption of constitutional order,” Borges warned.
Pro-Maduro lawmakers accused the opposition itself of seeking to stage a coup.
“Don’t try to take advantage of these hard times to finish off our nation,” deputy Earle Herrera said.
Despite its harsh words, the legislature’s resolution is largely symbolic.
The Supreme Court has declared the legislative majority in contempt of court for defying it by swearing in three lawmakers at the center of an electoral fraud investigation.
The opposition, which says the accusations are trumped up, condemns the high court as a Maduro lapdog.
The court has slapped down every bill passed by the legislature since the opposition took control in January.
Lawmakers nevertheless said they were going to address the issue of Maduro’s purported dual nationality — Colombian and Venezuelan — in the session on Tuesday. If confirmed, it would make him constitutionally ineligible to be president.
Ruling party bloc leader Hector Rodriguez said that Maduro sent a message from the Middle East, where he is on an official tour: “Tell them that I send my greeting, send a hug and that I will see them at the table to have a dialogue.”
Venezuela’s crisis hit a new low Thursday when the National Electoral Council (CNE) indefinitely suspended the recall referendum process after criminal courts in five states ruled the opposition had committed fraud in an initial petition drive.
Holding a recall referendum — a right guaranteed under Venezuela’s constitution — was the opposition’s main strategy to get rid of the man they accuse of driving the once-booming country to the brink of collapse.
The opposition had been gearing up for the last hurdle in the complex process: a three-day drive starting Wednesday to collect signatures from four million voters demanding a recall vote.
Now that the authorities have stymied that bid, furious opposition leaders have promised the start of a new wave of nationwide protests on Wednesday.
Political analysts have warned of a risk of violent unrest in this country of 30 million people.
Hit by the fall of global oil prices, the economy has crashed. Food shortages have prompted riots and looting in recent months.
Rioting at anti-government protests in 2014 left 43 people dead.
But the divided opposition has struggled to mobilize sustained, large-scale protests since then.
Maduro, the political heir to late president Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), derides his opponents as elitists and calls the economic crisis a capitalist conspiracy.
He accuses the “fascist right” and the United States of plotting to overthrow him.
In recession since the beginning of 2014, Venezuela’s economy is facing a contraction of 10 percent this year and inflation of 475 percent, with the International Monetary Fund predicting a rise to 1,660 percent next year.
The latest twist in the crisis comes as Maduro is on a trip abroad, touring Middle Eastern countries to push his plan for major oil producers to slash output.
Venezuela desperately needs oil prices to rise to reverse its economic crash.
Public support for Maduro has crumbled amid the crisis.
A recent poll found more than 75 percent of Venezuelans disapprove of the socialist leader.

A senior official of South Africa’s ruling party on Sunday urged its leadership to resign, including President Jacob Zuma, following divisions over charges faced by finance minister Pravin Gordhan.
Jackson Mthembu who is the African National Congress (ANC) chief whip in parliament said the party’s poor performance in August local polls, factionalism and the recent fraud charges against Gordhan had motivated his decision.
“When I said the entire ANC leadership… I meant everybody, myself included, (and) President Zuma,” Mthembu told eNCA television news channel.
Mthembu condemned Gordhan’s prosecution, claiming the charges were politically motivated and raised questions about the direction in which the former liberation party was headed.
“In my view a minister is being pursued for political reasons and then charged with fraud,” he said.
Gordhan will appear in court on November 2.
The charges against him date back to his time as head of the country’s tax collection body.
He stands accused of acting corruptly in authorising the early retirement of one of his senior employees who was later reinstated in his job.
Gordhan has on several occasions spoken out against corruption in government, and also stood up to Zuma and alleged corrupt associates linked to the presidency.
Mthembu accused the ANC leadership of being “worse than the apartheid regime” saying “the apartheid regime never pursued its ministers the way we are pursuing Pravin Gordhan”.
Gordhan’s plight has sparked division among the ANC with top leaders such as deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa as well as several other ministers voicing support for him.
Mthembu’s comments were rejected as populist by the youth wing of the ANC and Umkhonto Wesizwe, the association which brings together members of the now defunct armed wing of the ANC, both Zuma allies.

Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur all dropped points as Chelsea ensured an uncomfortable return to Stamford Bridge for Jose Mourinho with a 4-0 rout of Manchester United.
Here are five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend:
Back to drawing board for Mourinho
After a run of six matches without defeat in all competitions, Jose Mourinho appeared to be turning a corner with Manchester United, who had lost three games in succession in September. But his team’s recovery came crashing to the ground at Stamford Bridge, home of his former club Chelsea, as United fell to a scarring defeat. A team who appeared to be growing in confidence suddenly looked entirely bereft of it, Chris Smalling and Daley Blind producing error-strewn performances in defence, Paul Pogba turning in a completely anonymous midfield display and Zlatan Ibrahimovic going a sixth league game without finding the net. Compounding matters, centre-back Eric Bailly was forced off with what could be a serious knee ligament injury. Changes could now follow, with club captain Wayne Rooney and under-used new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan among those pressing for inclusion in the starting XI.
No Vardy, no problem for Leicester
Following eight games without a goal, and having been dogged by a groin complaint during the week, Jamie Vardy was left on the bench for Leicester City’s home game with Crystal Palace. Benching Vardy, emblem of last season’s fairytale title win, was a gamble by manager Claudio Ranieri, whose side had gone three league matches without victory. But it paid off as goals from Ahmed Musa and Shinji Okazaki, plus a scorching late Christian Fuchs strike, secured a 3-1 win. Vardy entered the fray as a second-half substitute, but by that point his team-mates had demonstrated that they are perfectly capable of scoring, and winning, without him.
Stones error sign of the times
It appears Manchester City fans may have to get used to the kind of mistake that saw England defender John Stones set up Southampton’s goal in the Premier League leaders’ 1-1 draw when his careless backpass across the face of goal was seized on by Nathan Redmond. With City manager Pep Guardiola determined to play a passing game and the ball-playing Stones often lauded for all aspects of his game except his actual defending, merely clearing the danger will no longer cut it at Eastlands. As Redmond told Sky Sports: “From watching them in preparation we knew they would give us chances, they only play three at the back.”
Sturridge faces winter of discontent
There was a conspicuous absence as Liverpool’s forwards celebrated the second of their goals in a 2-1 home win over West Bromwich Albion. After volleying in Roberto Firmino’s cross to put Liverpool in front, Sadio Mane freed Philippe Coutinho to double the hosts’ advantage. Mane, Coutinho and Firmino, grins as wide as the River Mersey, celebrated the second goal with a lighthearted dance. Daniel Sturridge’s goal-celebration wiggle used to be a regular sight at Anfield, but he was dropped to the bench as manager Jurgen Klopp recalled the fit-again Adam Lallana to his starting XI. Klopp appears to prefer Firmino to lead the line and when he turned to his bench for extra firepower in stoppage time it was Divock Origi who was told to get ready. Not for the first time, television cameras caught Sturridge looking nonplussed. A long winter beckons for the England striker.
Arsenal lapse a worry for Wenger
Arsene Wenger’s 67th birthday proved a damp squib as Arsenal were held to a 0-0 draw by struggling Middlesbrough. Wenger was hoping to toast his birthday by watching Arsenal extend their winning streak in all competitions to eight matches. But there was no celebratory drink for the manager. “When you win, you deserve it (a drink); when you don’t, you need it,” Wenger said. Following their swaggering midweek rout of Ludogorets in the Champions League, Wenger had warned his players to stay humble, but this lethargic effort was typical of the stumbles that cost Arsenal any chance of winning the title in recent seasons.

Inter Milan will host crisis talks with coach Frank De Boer, according to reports, as the Serie A giants slipped to their third consecutive league defeat to fall further out of title contention.
Inter invested heavily in the close season and parachuted former Ajax coach De Boer in to replace Roberto Mancini two weeks before the start of the season.
But Inter’s 2-1 defeat at Atalanta on Sunday made it three league defeats in a row, following a shock home defeat to Cagliari last week and a 2-1 reverse at Roma earlier this month.
The last time Inter lost three on the trot was in 2013 when Andrea Stramaccioni was at the helm.
A report by Rai Sport said De Boer is set to meet with club management and Chinese owners Suning on Wednesday.
Inter host Torino at the San Siro the same day but De Boer, who spent the bulk of his career at Ajax and Barcelona, said for him it’s business as usual.
“I don’t know what’s happening (behind the scenes), I am here and I’ll be analysing this match to prepare better for the ones coming up, hopefully with a view towards beating Torino,” said De Boer.
“That’s all I can do right now, work hard with the players and the staff. I know it’s a difficult moment and the result is important, but in the short time I’ve been here I’ve come to understand how well I can do with this team.
“Results are decisive, but we’ve made quite a few positive steps forward.”
Inter last tasted glory in 2011 with their seventh Italian Cup triumph.
A season earlier, Jose Mourinho led Inter to the league, Cup and Champions League treble, adding the Italian SuperCup a few months later.

Japanese teenager Shoma Uno landed three quadruple jumps to capture the Skate America men’s title by winning Sunday’s free skate at the ISU Grand Prix season opener.
The 18-year-old from Nagoya took his second career Grand Prix title after last year in France with 279.34 points to defeat 2015 American champion Jason Brown by 10.96 with reigning US champion Adam Rippon third on 261.43.
Uno, the youngest Skate America champion since France’s Brian Joubert in 2002, became the fourth Japanese men’s winner in the past five Skate Americas. The title has gone to a Japanese man in nine of 12 years.
Uno, who won Saturday’s short program as well, took the free skate with 190.19 points with Brown, who missed most of last season with a back injury, second on 182.63 and Rippon third on 174.11.
“My warmup didn’t feel so good but I was still able to pull it out and I’m satisfied with that,” Uno said. “The first half of my program was great. I missed a combination near the end and I regret that.”
Uno was last year’s Skate America runner-up in his senior-level Grand Prix debut and third in last season’s Grand Prix Final at Barcelona.
Brown was ruled not to have landed a quadruple jump by the technical committee but came close enough to feel he had achieved the feat.
“I’ve trained so hard for this moment,” he said. “I’ve dreamed about it. Today it just hit.”
Rippon, 26, was happy with his finish given he had only finalized his free skate routine 10 days earlier. He said he intends to be a contender at the 2018 Olympics.
“I’m older. I’m wiser. I’m in the best shape,” he said. “And I think in 16 months I’ll be in better shape, not just to go to the Olympics but to make a mark.”
Siblings Maria and Alex Shibutani, the reigning US champions, won the free dance to capture the ice dance crown with 185.75 points. Another US duo, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, was second on 175.77 with Russia’s Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloview third, another point adrift.

As always, we hold our breaths and keep off as far as we can when we hear the local teams Gor Mahia are having a football tournament.
Football is a crazy game for many reasons. It’s crazy that grown men get paid millions to kick one ball around the field, it’s crazy that fans can unconditionally adore a side that plays on the other side of the world to them, and it’s even crazier when fans go to extra lengths to show their love for the game.
Many times we’ve seen/heard about a football fanatic who has jumped from top floor of a building committing suicide destroying their TV sets or in Nairobi’s famous walk of looting and destroying people’s property in town or cars. Latest in today though, was a fan tattooing on his arm, with a sharp object!
Following the #mashemejiderby that was taking place earlier today, where AFC lost to Gor Mahia 0-2, the fan’s picture has been circulating online better part of the day showing his forearm freshly inscribed the word ‘ Looks quite painful. Looks like he peeled his skin to write the words. Is this where now fanatics have reached? Why can’t one just enjoy his game in peace?
Have we now moved from Gor’s hooliganism to freshly peel our own skin to show love for the teams?

Scuffles between supporters and opponents of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban disrupted a state commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising in Budapest Sunday.
Orban’s address to a crowd estimated by an AFP photographer at around 15,000 in front of parliament was met by the sound of whistles and air-horns from several hundred protestors gathered at the fringe of the event.
As the protestors continued to make noise through the event, which was also addressed by Polish president Andrzej Duda, several scuffles broke out.
A prominent Hungarian historian Krisztian Ungvary, who stood among the protestors, was struck in the face by an unknown assailant.
The anniversary of the failed uprising against Soviet rule after which 200,000 Hungarian refugees fled the country has brought into focus criticism of Orban over his stance on refugees and migration.
The 53-year-old premier, in power since 2010, has been one of the European Union’s loudest critics of the bloc’s immigration policy.
Portraying himself as both a defender of Hungary and Europe against the influx into the EU of mostly Muslim migrants since 2015, Orban built razor-wire fences on the country’s southern borders.
During his speech Orban said Hungary’s geographical position “pushes it from time to time in the current of decisive debates on Europe’s future”.
“There was a time when we allowed the opening of borders so that Germans could meet with Germans, now in 2016 we had to close borders,” he said.
Orban also held a referendum last month over the EU’s plan to redistribute refugees around the bloc, and has moved to include in the constitution a ban on the settlement of “alien population”.
On October 23 1956, the armed uprising against Soviet communist rule erupted after authorities opened fire on peaceful demonstrators.
After a retreat by Soviet troops signalled an apparent victory by the rebels, the Soviets returned in early November dooming the revolt to a swift defeat.
Hundreds were executed in its aftermath including Imre Nagy, a reform-minded communist leader who moved to withdraw Hungary from the Soviet bloc.
Political demonstrations are often held on the October 23 anniversary.
In 2006, the most serious street disturbances since 1956 broke out after right-wing protestors fought fierce battles with police.

Pal Erik Teigen had to make a tough call Saturday: sail a rescue ship away from desperate migrants in waters off the Libyan coast in order to safeguard the lives of others.
The drama began at around 8 pm, 20 nautical miles off Libya, as rescuers were transferring migrants onto the Siem Pilot, a vessel built as an oil platform supply ship but now used by the EU border force Frontex in its Mediterranean rescue operations.
The migrants were being transferred from a tanker with over 900 people on board, said Teigen, a Norwegian police officer in command of operations on the Siem Pilot.
At around 3 am, the crew spotted a number of dark rubber boats coming towards the Siem Pilot.
“We followed them with the search lights and as the sun rose, we saw a total of 12 rubber boats,” he said.
Some of the more distant migrants were rescued by other military or civilian boats, including medical charity Doctors Without Borders’ Dignity 1, whose crew could do nothing for some 10 people who fell into the sea before it arrived.
“We had four (rubber dinghies) close to the Siem Pilot. We transferred some of (the people on) them to the Siem Pilot until we reached the limit of capacity,” Teigen said, adding however that everyone was given a life vest and that if anybody had been in imminent danger they could have been taken on board immediately.
But then one of the dinghies began to motor towards the Siem Pilot.
Following instructions from the crew, the boat stopped a little way off, but then the people on board began jumping into the water.
It was then that Teigen took the decision to sail away, confident that “everybody had their life vest, so we knew they would float”.
“The main reason to move the Siem Pilot was to keep the other people inside the boat,” said Teigen, adding that this also gave room for other small craft to go to the migrants’ rescue.
“The small (rescue) boats picked up the 24 (people) that had jumped into the water and took them over to the tanker. We stabilised the situation and everything was quiet after that and nobody drowned,” he said.
Others were not so fortunate.
The Siem Pilot has a refrigerated container where the bodies of 17 migrants who died from suffocation, dehydration, hypothermia or simple exhaustion are now stored.
The night’s rescue operations were also complicated by the arrival of aggressive people smugglers determined to recover their dinghies.
“For us, when we do the rescue, the most important thing is to rescue the people first. And then we could try to catch or take hold of the facilitators (smugglers). Their boat headed away once we began sailing for Palermo” with 1,093 people on board, said Teigen.
“To have so many people on the boat is difficult. But those on the boat are taken good care of. They get blankets, they get food and they get water. We have a doctor and nurses and we have a medical room to use when necessary,” he said.
Along with the over 1,000 people rescued, one extra arrived in Palermo.
During the night, a baby boy was also born, prematurely at 1.25 kg (2.75 pounds), and later taken ashore on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
“That was the first time we have had a baby born on the Siem Pilot,” said Teigen.

It paves the way for Spain to finally get a government after ten months of political paralysis following two inconclusive elections.
As a deadline to form a government fast approaches — which if missed will mean a third round of elections — these are the main developments to watch out for in the coming days:
On Sunday, after weeks of in-fighting, the Socialist Party’s policy-setting federal committee voted 139 to 96 to allow the conservatives to take power.
They decided to abstain in a parliamentary vote of confidence on a government led by acting conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy instead of casting their ballot against him as they did in a previous September vote.
This gives Rajoy’s government enough traction to see it through a vote of confidence.
With the abstention of the Socialists — who have 85 MPs — Rajoy will get the simple majority he needs in the 350-seat lower house.
With this knowledge in hand, Rajoy will meet with King Felipe VI on Tuesday, a necessary step in the process to have him appointed head of government in a non-caretaker capacity.
If Rajoy tells him he thinks he has the necessary backing, the king will nominate him as prime ministerial candidate, possibly as soon as Tuesday evening.
Parliamentary speaker Ana Pastor will then decide when to call the required two rounds of parliamentary debates after which confidence votes can be held.
The first one requires an absolute majority, which Rajoy will not get. The second one is held 48 hours later, and only requires a simple majority.
As such, the first vote could take place on Thursday, October 27 or Friday, October 28 — and the second and final one will be held on either Saturday, October 29 or Sunday, October 30.
Whatever happens, the vote must be held before October 31 under a constitutional timeframe.
If Rajoy wins the vote, the king will name him prime minister and he will set about forming a cabinet.
But he will have a tough task on his hands and will face huge opposition in parliament.

South African legend Neil Tovey left hospital Sunday a week after suffering a heart attack, the national football association said.
The only white to captain an Africa Cup of Nations-winning team collapsed last Sunday in Indian Ocean city Durban while training for a charity cycle race.
It was the second health scare for the 54-year-old after suffering cardiac arrest last year while playing squash.
Tovey skippered hosts South Africa to the 1996 Cup of Nations title, with the 2-0 final victory over Tunisia watched by an 80,000 crowd that included then state president Nelson Mandela.
He represented Bafana Bafana (The Boys) 52 times, 29 as captain.
The centre-back spent most of his playing career with Kaizer Chiefs, one of the most successful and popular South African football clubs.
He later coached several top-flight sides, steered Mamelodi Sundowns to the 2005-2006 league title, and is now the national technical director of football.

Estonia’s Tanel Kangert of the Astana team clinched the Tour of Abu Dhabi on Sunday after the fourth and final stage at Yas Marina was won by British star Mark Cavendish.
For Cavendish, the world championship runner-up in neighbouring Qatar last weekend, it was a second stage win of the Abu Dhabi race.
Stage results:
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR/Dimension Data) 3hr 07min 44sec, 2. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA), 3. Elia Viviani (ITA), 4. Magnus Cort Nielsen (DEN), 5. Jean-Pierre Drucker (LUX) all same time.
Overall:
1. Tanel Kangert (EST/Astana) 12hr 27min 34sec, 2. Nicolas Roche (IRL) at 21 sec, 3. Diego Ulissi (ITA) 43, 4. Vicenzo Nibali (ITA) 1:00, 5. Alberto Contador (ESP) 1:00.

Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri slammed the “unworthy” pitch at Crotone after a precious 2-1 victory saw his side back to winning ways despite Manolo Gabbiadini’s first-half sending-off.
Crotone’s promotion to Italy’s top flight at the end of last season came with an unwelcome surprise — in structural terms their stadium did not meet Serie A criteria.
After playing three home games this season at the stadium of league rivals Pescara during refurbishment of their usual home, basement side Crotone finally welcomed their first guests to their Ezio Scida stadium on Sunday.
Sarri though was unimpressed: “It was Crotone’s first real home game and because we won I can say this: this pitch is unworthy of professional football.”
Napoli travelled to Calabria on the back of two league defeats, to Atalanta and Roma, and a shock reverse to Besiktas that has compromised their last-16 qualifying chances in the Champions League.
After taking a 17th-minute lead thanks to Jose Callejon, the visitors were made to work for the win after Gabbiadini earned a straight red card for lashing out at Gianmarco Ferrari following a foul from behind.
Napoli doubled their lead only moments after the incident, which saw players from both teams involved in a melee, when Nikola Maksimovic bundled home at the far post from a corner.
Aleandro Rosi’s 89th-minute consolation added some unwelcome pressure late on but Napoli held on for a precious win to move to within four points of leaders Juventus, shock 1-0 losers at AC Milan on Saturday.
Sarri refused to say too much about Gabbiadini, 24.
The striker was hauled off during a mediocre performance against Roma and made slight amends coming off the bench to hit a penalty during the defeat to Besiktas.
“Manolo just has to relax a little and focus on playing,” said Sarri.
“He’s a very good player, we all have faith in him and he just needs to find his feet again.
“If I am asked any more questions about Gabbiadini, I won’t answer because I don’t want any more pressure on the lad.”
Crotone remain rooted to bottom spot with one point from nine games.

Ivorian centre-back Bailly, a close-season signing from Villarreal, limped off early in the second half at Stamford Bridge, with Marcos Rojo coming on to take his place.
“He is injured and I’m afraid he’s badly injured,” Mourinho said in his post-match press conference.
“In his knee, in the ligament area, he feels that is really bad.”
Bailly, 22, joined United from Spanish side Villarreal in June for a reported fee of 30 million pounds ($36.7 million, 33.7 million euros).
The Ivory Coast international has been a virtual ever-present to date this season, starting all 12 of United’s Premier League and Europa League games and only sitting out a League Cup tie.

As the political crisis in Spain dragged on, there had been speculation it might overtake Belgium’s record for the longest spell without a government.
But after the Socialist Party voted Sunday to allow the conservatives to take power, paving the way for a new Spanish government to be in place by November, Belgium appears to be in line to keep its record.
Belgium’s spectacular political crisis in 2010-2011 left the kingdom without a government for 541 days (18 months).
The void lasted from June 13, 2010 legislative elections until a coalition government of six parties was sworn in on December 6, 2011.
Heading the new government was francophone Socialist Elio Di Rupo, who took over from Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme.
The crisis did not prevent a multi-party caretaker cabinet, which represented a parliamentary majority and was led by a former prime minister, from taking important decisions such as sending military aircraft to Libya.
In Spain on the other hand, the acting cabinet has limited powers and can only manage day-to-day affairs.
Belgium had already experienced similar crises — in 2007 when it went for 194 days without a government, and in the 1980s when the country had no government between December 1987 and May 1988.
Spain is being run by a government without full powers after inconclusive elections in December 2015 and June 2016 that saw the conservative Popular Party (PP) win without an absolute majority.
Acting PP Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy tried to form a minority government, but the Socialists and far-left Unidos Podemos refused to back him, fed up with corruption and rising inequality during his first four-year term.
But as the prospect of a third election grew nearer, divisions emerged within the Socialists and on Sunday the party said it had voted in favour of allowing Rajoy to rule.
They decided to abstain in a parliamentary confidence vote on a Rajoy-led government instead of casting their ballot against it as they did in a previous vote in September.
This will give Rajoy’s government enough traction to see it through the vote, which should take place next weekend.
If everything goes to plan, Spain should have a government by November.
Before Belgium and Spain, the post-World War II European record for going without a government was held by Belgium’s northern neighbour the Netherlands which took 208 days — seven months — to form a government in 1977.
After May 1977 elections Joop den Uyl, the head of the Labour Party (PvdA) who won polls, led negotiations between parties from the outgoing coalition.
After negotiations broke down it was finally Dries van Agt who was nominated as prime minister in December 1977 at the head of a coalition.

She goes by the name Rosa and contrary to my thoughts initially, she’s not insane, she’s just excited about what DSTV has done which should pretty much get you excited as well.
True to their commitment to their customers, MultiChoice East Africa Regional Director Stephen Isaboke hasannounced a decrease of DStv subscription prices alongside a massive content upgrade on all DStv packages, effective
Family packages
The price decreases will be as follows:
And there is no better way to celebrate it like this lass in this captivating
 
 

Struggling South Africa coach Allister Coetzee praised high-riding England and their coach Eddie Jones Sunday ahead of a November 12 Test showdown in London.
“I have studied all the England Tests in Australia last June and they played really well,” said the Springbok handler as he summarised a 3-0 series triumph for the visitors.
“They focused on a few areas and got better as the tour progressed,” he told a media conference in Johannesburg as the national squad gathered for a four-match tour of Europe during November.
“Eddie has done a great job,” Coetzee said of Australia-born England coach Eddie Jones, who took charge when Stuart Lancaster quit after the 2015 Rugby World Cup hosts made a first-round exit.
“There is a lot of belief in the team and they have a monstrous and very physical pack. They are also very solid in defence.
“Several backs can kick the ball a mile to put the opposition under territorial pressure and ask them to run from deep.
“They also have in Owen Farrell a 95 percent successful goal-kicker.
“That is what we will be up against,” admitted Coetzee when the Springboks defend a 12-Test unbeaten record against England.
But Coetzee allayed fears among South African supporters and media that a team which has won only four of nine Tests this year face a thrashing at Twickenham.
“The prospects seem gloomy, but we will plan and prepare well. We will always give ourselves a chance, even when facing the second best team in the world.”
Although the tour opener against the Barbarians on November 5 at Wembley Stadium in London does not carry Test status, Coetzee said it was crucial to start with a victory.
“The Baabaas match will set the tone for the rest of the tour,” he said of a match where South Africa will lack their overseas-based stars because it falls outside the internationals window.
“Because it is not a Test does not mean we are going there to entertain. We want a win to lay the foundation for a successful tour.”
Coetzee dismissed media claims that he had fallen out with Toulon No. 8 Duane Vermuelen, whose Test appearances this season have been severely curtailed by injuries.
“Duane called me to say ‘Coach, based on my last outing with the Boks, I was not fit enough and my reputation took a bit of a knock.
“He added: ‘I feel at this point I am not ready for international rugby’.”
Coetzee said: “On top of that, Duane’s wife is expecting their second baby in November — for those reasons he is not available for the end-of-year tour.”
After the Barbarians and England matches, South Africa play Italy in Florence on November 19 and Wales in Cardiff on November 26.

There was nothing “Classique” about it as Paris Saint-Germain and bitter rivals Marseille conjured up an uninspiring 0-0 draw in relentless rain in the French capital on Sunday.
Billed as the Ligue 1 clash to rival Spain’s El Clasico, this was a poor advert for French football and did little to dispel the impression that reigning champions PSG are struggling to get to grips with coach Unai Emery’s methods.
Misfiring PSG striker Edinson Cavani had an evening to forget and the damp stalemate leaves his side in third, two points behind Monaco and six inferior to surprise leaders Nice, who won again despite missing the injured Mario Balotelli.
“It’s clear that the draw is not a good result for us,” said Emery. “But the team had a good match and for 90 minutes we were in charge.”
There was plenty of rain and endeavour at the Parc des Princes in Paris in the first half but precious little goal-mouth action.
Struggling in mid-table, Marseille, under new American ownership and with new coach Rudi Garcia in charge for the first time, were pinned back for long periods but the Parisians did little with the ball.
“It’s a positive result. Mission accomplished as we didn’t have a shot on goal,” said Garcia.
It took until 10 minutes before the break for the first real chance of the game, Cavani heading wastefully over for the home side when unmarked and then Serge Aurier shooting straight at Marseille goalkeeper Yohann Pele.
Cavani took a tumble in the box under minimal contact just before half-time but referee Clement Turpin was unmoved despite strong appeals from Cavani and the home support, and the PSG players remonstrated with the officials as they trudged off into the break.
Both teams emerged with more intent for the second half and captain Bafetimbi Gomis had an early and rare sniff of goal for Marseille, for whom Garcia is their fourth different coach since the start of last season, underlining the instability that has blighted the fallen giants.
On 69 minutes Cavani was guilty again of poor finishing, once more heading badly off target when free and unmarked, as the Parisians stepped up the pressure, forcing a series of corners.
And 10 minutes from time the long-haired Uruguayan made it a hat-trick of misses, prodding wide from close range when under pressure.
Alassane Plea grabbed a hat-trick as Ligue 1 leaders Nice continued their terrific start to the season with a thrilling 4-2 victory at promoted Metz.
With Balotelli out with a thigh injury, Plea assumed the lead role for Lucien Favre’s unbeaten side and netted the opener on 12 minutes before adding a second from the penalty spot after Georges Mandjeck had equalised.
Substitute Habib Diallo made it 2-2 midway through the second half for Metz but Plea struck for a third time on 84 minutes before Wylan Cyprien wrapped up the points in injury time.
“It’s a deserved win even if it was very tough. We played well,” said Favre.
“The players’ reaction was very good after they equalised for two-all. We’re incredibly happy to still be undefeated but we have to keep on working.”
Earlier, on-loan duo Henri Saivet and Jordan Veretout scored their first Saint-Etienne goals since returning to France from Newcastle United and Aston Villa respectively in a 2-0 win away to Caen.
Monaco reclaimed second place on Friday from PSG with a 6-2 demolition of Montpellier at the Stade Louis II.

Amani National Congress (ANC) Leader Musalia Mudavadi has said he has no plans of joining the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) in a super alliance to oust Jubilee from power come next year.
The declaration went against the ANC’s earlier stand of reaching out to other opposition parties.
On Friday the ANC National Executive Council endorsed the formation of a Super-Alliance between Musalia Mudavadi, Cord and other opposition parties in order to remove the Jubilee Party from power in next year’s general election.
The Party Secretary-General Godfrey Osotsi challenged Mudavadi to take charge of the formation of the proposed ‘National Super Alliance (Nasa) which would unite the opposition and ensure a win in the next election.
Speaking to teachers from Western Kenya who live in Nairobi, Mudavadi said that Friday’s announcement had been “misinterpreted” to show that he had decided to join Cord.
Mudavadi argued that the philosophy behind the super alliance was not about joining Cord.
“The idea is not about individual parties. It is bigger than just joining Cord or other parties. It is about crystallising on a vehicle that would defeat Jubilee hands down come next year,” Mudavadi said.
The ANC leader said that an alliance should not be perceived to be only about political parties.
“The super alliance can be a coalition of civil societies, churches, teachers and business societies who can change the country for a positive cause,” he said.
The declaration by Mudavadi will be seen as a setback by Cord who had already started warming up to him.
Cord co-principal Moses Wetangula has openly backed the idea of uniting opposition parties such as ANC, Kanu, Nark Kenya and Chama Cha Mashinani in order to remove Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party from power.

According to water experts, it’s unclear the exact quantity of available underground water but every day, thousands of boreholes in Nairobi sink. And with that, our quality water intake is highly questionable.
While Nairobi land lords spend about Ksh 4million to drill boreholes and facilities to channel water out, Chrysanthus Gicheruh, a hydrologist with Earth Water Ltd, warns that the likelihood of such a borehole water being contaminated is very high.
 
 “This water is injected to the ground through percolation (process of a liquid slowly passing through a filter) and most of it is raw sewage, water from polluted rivers and floods. This is what we sink boreholes to get. How frequent and conclusively do we test the suitability of that water?” Questions Gicheru.
According to Gicheruh who spoke to SDE, Nairobi now drills as deep as 300 meters unlike centuries ago at 80 meters. Boreholes need to be equipped with monitoring systems to show fluctuation of time and space.
Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) has 1,200 productive boreholes in their database, while Water Resources Management Authority talks of 2,000 legal boreholes out of the estimated 6, 000 in the capital.
 
 

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook that the hacker targeted “an old site that has not been used for a long time,” adding that “specialists are working out what happened.”
The attack came after Washington earlier this week formally accused the Russian government of trying to “interfere” in the 2016 White House race by hacking, charges the Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed.
“If they establish there was hacking by Americans, even of a resource that wasn’t working, this is far from pleasant,” Zakharova wrote.
She said that this could be an indication that a “cyber machine of destruction has started acting” after US Vice President Joe Biden told NBC television that President Vladimir Putin would get a “message” from Washington in response to the hacking blamed on Russia.
Alternatively, the latest hack simply shows that the “US elections have wound up people to such a state that they start smashing everything,” Zakharova wrote.
The foreign ministry’s main website was apparently working normally on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, a hacker who calls himself the Jester tweeted: “I’m Jester & I approve this message via the Russian Foreign Affairs Website.”
The hacker, who has previously attacked WikiLeaks website, posted a link to a page which had content replaced with a message and an image of a jester.
“Comrades! We interrupt regular scheduled Russian Foreign Affairs Website programming to bring you the following important message,” he wrote.
“Knock it off. You may be able to push around nations around you, but this is America. Nobody is impressed,” he added.
CNN reported that the jester’s attack overnight Moscow time included the piercing sound used for civil alert messages about extreme weather.
The hacker said he was writing on the ministry site to complain after waves of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks pounded Twitter, Netflix and other major websites on Friday, accusing Russia of being behind this.
“Now, you can do the usual, shrug, smirk and say ‘there’s no evidence’ that points to Russia being behind any of this stuff, and you can get the Russian Ambassador to US to post some mildly amusing quips over Twitter.”
“But let’s get real, I know it’s you, even if by-proxy, and you know it’s you,” the hacker wrote.
On Sunday, after the Zakharova’s Facebook message, Jester tweeted, “#OutPropagandered – Getting Russia to admit they got ‘dinged’. Priceless. They’ve already started tweaking the story,” with a link to a somewhat dismissive article on the pro-Putin Russia Today website.
The mass DDoS attack on Friday could have been meant as a message from a foreign power, cyber security analysts told AFP at the time.
The onslaught commanded the attention of top US security agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.
“DHS and the FBI are aware and are investigating all potential causes” of the outages, a spokeswoman said.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho accused his players of making “incredible mistakes” after they lost 4-0 to Chelsea on his return to his former club on Sunday.
Goals from Pedro Rodriguez, after 30 seconds, Gary Cahill, Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante condemned Mourinho to his heaviest defeat since Real Madrid’s 5-0 demolition by Barcelona in November 2010.
It left United seventh in the Premier League table, five points below Chelsea, who climbed to fourth, and six points behind leaders Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.
“You come with a strategy. You cannot concede a goal in the way we did,” Mourinho told Sky Sports at Stamford Bridge.
“We were coming to have an offensive approach. We wanted to create chances. We showed that after the 1-0.
“The second and the third were counter-attack goals. If we score a goal like we almost did for 2-1, the game would be different.
“It is one of those days when you give the advantage to opponents by doing nothing.
“We made incredible defensive mistakes, individual mistakes, and you pay for that.”
After the final whistle a stern-faced Mourinho whispered into the ear of his opposite number Antonio Conte for some time before stalking down the tunnel.
Conte had exhorted the home fans to make more noise after Kante scored Chelsea’s fourth goal in the 70th minute.
But Mourinho refused to reveal what he had said to the Italian: “My words with Antonio Conte were for him, not for you.”
Mourinho was appointed by United in May after being sacked by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich for a second time last December.
He won three Premier League titles, three League Cups and one FA Cup over his two spells with Chelsea — 2004-2007 and 2013-2015 — making him the London club’s most successful manager.
Explaining his antics, Conte said: “I was listening to the support of Manchester United, always supporting their team, and I was asking my team to do a clap for my players.
“All the players deserves this clap.”
Pedro stuck within seconds of kick-off, sneaking in behind Chris Smalling to gather Marcos Alonso’s pass and rounding United goalkeeper David de Gea to score.
After Cahill had made it 2-0 from close range in the 21st minute, Hazard and Kante got on the score-sheet in the second half.
Hazard bent a shot into the bottom-right corner from Nemanja Matic’s pass before Kante strolled through the beleaguered United defence to roll in his first Chelsea goal.
“I am pleased with the performance,” Conte said.
“We started well, moved the ball quickly, created chances to score the goal. I see the commitment in training and the players deserve this.
“We are improving. We must continue to work. Only through the work we can improve.”

Leicester gained European Cup revenge for last season’s semi-final loss to Racing 92 by beating Dan Carter’s French stars 27-17 in their heavyweight Pool 1 clash on Sunday.
Both Leicester, the 2001 and 2002 champions, and Racing ran in two tries each with the Tigers bouncing back from their opening, shock loss to Glasgow.
All Blacks superstar Carter was playing for the first time since he and team-mates Joe Rokocoko and Juan Imhoff were cleared in a doping probe.
But they were on the backfoot in the first half after Leicester flanker Brendan O’Connor scored an early try while Owen Williams kicked the remaining points for an 11-3 lead at the interval.
Carter scored his first European Cup try just eight minutes into the second half, cleverly dummying through two defenders before potting the conversion for 11-10.
Freddie Burns replaced Williams and was responsible for the Tigers’ remaining 16 points including a long-distance breakaway try after intercepting a pass by Maxime Machenaud.
Carter was close to a second try but was held up on the line by Matthew Tait before Imhoff went over in the closing stages.
Carter converted for 27-17 but Racing were unable to grab a consolation losing bonus point and they stay bottom of the table.
“I am delighted with the performance and the result, and to deny them anything out of the game is important. We defended well, and our set-piece was probably the difference,” said Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill.
In Pool 2 Wasps scored a last-minute try to grab a 20-20 draw at Toulouse while Connacht crushed Zebre 52-7 in a game which saw Italian hooker Oliviero Fabiani red-carded for biting.
Two-time winners Wasps were trailing 20-13 in the dying moments in France before No8 Nathan Hughes scored his team’s second try.
Jimmy Gopperth then hit a nerveless conversion from out wide to keep the English side’s quarter-final hopes alive.
Tensions had boiled over on the stroke of half-time after the French side failed to convert a sustained period of pressure into a try.
Lock forward Yoann Maestri barged into Wasps fitness coach Dan Baugh as the two sides squared up on the sidelines.
Wasps then ramped up the pressure further by making Toulouse wait to start the second period, although they were soon left to regret it.
Star fly-half Danny Cipriani tried to play his way out from his five-metre line but only succeeded in fumbling the ball into the grateful hands of replacement prop Census Johnston, who barrelled over for a Toulouse try.
Sebastian Bezy converted for a 13-6 lead.
Wasps hit back when Christian Wade’s break allowed fellow winger Josh Barrett to score with Gopperth hitting the extras for 13-13.
Toulouse reclaimed the lead through star French centre Gael Fickou, who went over with Bezy again successful with the conversion.
But just as Toulouse were pondering their first win of the campaign, they were stunned by Hughes’s last-minute sucker punch.
“It’s very frustrating again. We have used the same words for three weeks,” said Toulouse coach Ugo Mola.
In Italy, Zebre’s traumatic European campaign hit a new low when Fabiani was red-carded in the first half for sinking his teeth into the forearm of lock forward Quinn Roux at the foot of a ruck.
Having been crushed 82-14 at Wasps last week, they conceded eight tries to leaders Connacht, for whom winger Stacey Ili scored a hat-trick.
In Pool 4, three-time champions Leinster went down 22-16 at Montpellier, for whom Fijian winger Nemani Nadolo scored two of his team’s three tries. Centre Vincent Martin added Montpellier’s third try.
Skipper Isa Nacewa scored all of Leinster’s points with a try and 11 points from the boot.
His conversion of his own 79th-minute try allowed the 2009, 2011 and 2012 European champions to go home with a bonus point.

Twickenham played host to the NFL’s latest landmark moment on Sunday as the New York Giants beat the Los Angeles Rams 17-10 at the cathedral of rugby union.
Fittingly for a sport that has its earliest roots in rugby, the NFL finally planted its flag at Twickenham, the historic London venue that usually serves as the headquarters of the England rugby team.
This was the first non-rugby sports event in Twickenham’s 107-year history and a capacity crowd snapped up 74,121 tickets to witness the NFL’s next step towards establishing a permanent franchise in London.
At a venue that has produced some of the most dramatic moments in rugby history, the Giants and Rams struggled to showcase the best of the NFL in a scrappy encounter encapsulated by an error-strewn display from Rams quarterback Case Keenum and illuminated by a pair of crucial interceptions by Giants safety Landon Collins.
Yet the crowd, clad in jerseys of all 32 NFL teams, were unperturbed by the low-quality encounter and remained glued to their seats in a show of faith that suggests the league’s target of having a Britain-based team by 2022 remains well within reach.
“I expect we’ll see more games here (at Twickenham) and, who knows, maybe a franchise someday,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told the BBC in an interview during the match.
After playing the previous 15 “International Series” fixtures at Wembley, Goodell arranged Twickenham’s debut to explore the suitability of other host venues with a view to increasing the number of matches played in London each season.
This is the third successive year that three games are being played in London and the Jacksonville Jaguars are playing one “home” match at Wembley each season from 2013 to 2020.
Television networks in Britain report an 80 percent rise in NFL viewing figures from the same period last season, while the league says there are now 14 million British fans of the sport.
Not content with British dominance, the NFL is playing a fixture in Mexico in November and Goodell is on record as saying he wants to take a regular-season game to China in the near feature, with Germany and Brazil also potential venues.
Ironically, while business is booming overseas, the NFL’s approval ratings back home in the United States have dipped, with viewing figures down this season.
The damaging publicity surrounding the NFL’s failure to inform players of the potential dangers of concussions and a series of ugly domestic violence incidents featuring star players have turned fans off the sport.
Only this week the Giants were forced to leave their kicker Josh Brown out of the trip to England after fresh evidence emerged of his abuse of his now ex-wife.
None of that bothers the British fans, who left Twickenham fuelled by their latest taste of the NFL and already anticipating the Cincinnati Bengals playing the Washington Redskins in this year’s final UK fixture at Wembley next Sunday.
Mark Waller, the NFL’s executive vice-president for international, believes the sustained interest shown by the British public proves the foundations have now been laid for a permanent team.
Referencing the Rams’ move from St. Louis to a new home in Los Angeles earlier this year, he told reporters: “The minute two or three owners expressed a desire to be in Los Angeles it all happened in a remarkably fast time-frame.
“What I would like to think is we are doing the best job possible to make the market ready.”
However, US-based players might not embrace the move quite so readily, according to Giants defensive tackle Damon Harrison.
“That’d be tough,” Harrison said. “The road teams would have to go 6-10 hours across the world.
“I think it would be good for football, but I’d have to stay in the States.”

Nigerian troops have thwarted an attempted hijack of a vessel in the restive Niger Delta and separately arrested five pipeline vandals, a spokesman said on Sunda.
“Troops of Operation Base 2 repelled a hijack of a vessel (MT VAJARA) by heavily armed bandits in Ramos River, around Agge area of Delta state,” Lieutenant Commander Thomas Otuji said in a statement.
He said the pirates were repelled last week after a fierce exchange of fire with government troops.
Ship hijackings have become more frequent since President Muhammadu Buhari last year announced he was winding down an amnesty to former militants in the oil-rich Niger delta region.
Otuji also said five people were arrested on October 17 and 18 near oil wellheads around the port city of Warri.
“Five suspected vandals were arrested and they confessed to their plan to vandalise the wellheads,” he said, adding that two boats were recovered during the operation.
He said the military was committed to making the entire Niger Delta and the waterways safe for oil firms, vessels and their crew.
He said the military also recently responded to distress calls by travellers who were attacked by pirates in the southern states of Cross River and Rivers, adding that the troops had killed the criminals and rescued the travellers.
Last week, seven suspected pirates and militants were killed in crossfire during a rescue operation while a group of hostages was freed unhurt.
Nigeria has deployed troops to end renewed insurgency in the region.
Since the start of the year, several militant groups have attacked oil facilities, slashing Nigeria’s output and hammering revenue.
The militant groups claim to be seeking a fairer share of Nigeria’s multi-billion-dollar oil wealth for residents of the oil region as well as political autonomy
The Nigerian government has urged the oil rebels to embrace peace talks to end the unrest.
MEND, the most high-profile group blamed for devastating oil attacks in the region before it accepted a government amnesty in 2000s, said in a statement on Sunday it had always been ready for talks.
“The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger delta hereby welcomes and endorses the forthcoming meeting aimed at finding solutions to the current Niger delta crisis,” it said.
It said the talks would be held on October 31 between government representatives and the region’s prominent leaders.
Oil-dependent Nigeria is struggling to emerge from a recession following falling oil prices and foreign exchange shortages that have led to a massive devaluation of the naira.

Sixth-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta battled back from a set down to defeat unseeded Fabio Fognini and win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Sunday.
Carreno Busta, ranked 36th in the world, won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 54 minutes to record his second triumph over the 29-year-old Italian in as many meetings and claim his second ATP title.
“The title that I won first (at Winston-Salem) is very special for me because it was the first,” Carreno Busta said.
“But the Moscow title is also precious. I’ve dropped a set in both of my finals but came back to win the match and the tournament on both occasions.
“Fabio sometimes loses his focus in the match. I knew that and I forced myself to continue fighting. Sometimes he’s pretty unbelievable but sometimes he plays below par.
“I tried to play my normal tennis, to focus on my own performance and everything worked well.”
Fognini, who saw off three seeds in succession on his way to the final, started confidently, breaking Carreno Busta’s serve twice for a one-set lead in 30 minutes.
The second set was a mirror reflection of the first as the 25-year-old Spaniard also broke twice to level the final after one hour 14 minutes on court.
In the third set, Carreno Busta underlined his supremacy on the hard court of Moscow’s Olympic indoor arena to claim the title after two more breaks of serve.
He becomes the first Spaniard to lift the Kremlin Cup.

Chelsea supporters taunted Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho with chants of “You’re not special anymore!” as his Stamford Bridge return yielded a humiliating 4-0 defeat on Sunday.
With seven major titles across two spells, Mourinho is Chelsea’s most successful ever manager, but his return to his old stomping ground ended in one of the most chastening results of his career.
Pedro Rodriguez opened the scoring after just 30 seconds and Chelsea did not look back, Gary Cahill, Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante completing an emphatic Premier League victory.
“We scored the early goal, but we continued to play good football and create many chances,” Conte told the BBC.
“Today we didn’t concede, which was important. It was a type of win that increases the confidence.”
It was a fitting tribute to former Chelsea vice-chairman Matthew Harding, whose death in a helicopter crash 20 years ago was marked prior to kick-off with banners and a giant flag.
Conte’s side have won three consecutive league games without conceding a goal and climbed to fourth place, just a point below leaders Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.
Mourinho has already tasted defeat three times in the league with United, who trail City by six points ahead of Wednesday’s Manchester derby in the League Cup.
“We made incredible defensive mistakes, individual mistakes, and you pay for that,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.
He refused to divulge what he had said during a terse exchange with Conte after the final whistle, saying: “My words with Antonio Conte were for him, not for you.”
Mourinho was said to have been irritated after Conte encouraged the home fans to make more noise following Chelsea’s fourth goal.
Mourinho also expressed fears that Eric Bailly had sustained a “really bad” knee ligament injury after the Ivorian centre-back was forced off early in the second half.
The team sheet told a tale of two captains: United’s, Wayne Rooney, was absent after reportedly injuring his thigh, while Chelsea’s, John Terry, remained on the bench following an ankle injury.
Mourinho was greeted warmly by Terry and former assistant Steve Holland prior to the game, sharing a warm embrace with the former, but Chelsea’s hospitality vanished within 30 seconds of kick-off.
Chris Smalling inexplicably allowed Marcos Alonso’s pass from Chelsea’s left to bounce past him and Pedro nipped in to round United goalkeeper David de Gea and roll the ball home.
Mourinho, sacked for the second time by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich last December, looked faintly shellshocked.
He saw his side squander a chance to level when Zlatan Ibrahimovic headed over after Antonio Valencia had stood up a cross from the right.
More slack defending allowed Chelsea to double their lead in the 21st minute, Cahill slamming home after Hazard’s corner had struck Ander Herrera and bounced down inside the six-yard box.
A pocket of Chelsea fans beside the dug-outs turned Mourinho’s ‘Special One’ nickname back on him, chanting: “You’re not special anymore!”
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had been relatively untroubled up to that point, although he produced a smart double save to repel Herrera’s left-foot effort and Jesse Lingard’s follow-up.
It was an ideal first half for Chelsea, but David Luiz was fortunate to escape with only a yellow card after planting his studs in Marouane Fellaini’s knee five minutes before half-time.
Mourinho changed tack at half-time, sending on Juan Mata for Fellaini and moving Marcus Rashford up front alongside Ibrahimovic in a 4-4-2 formation.
Lingard sought to sound the revolt for United, wriggling away from a pair of Chelsea players and unleashing a crisp drive that Courtois had to push away.
But in the 62nd minute it was game over. Nemanja Matic’s pass down the inside-left channel found Hazard, who checked inside Smalling and steered a shot into the bottom-right corner.
Kante completed the rout, darting between Smalling and the sleep-walking Paul Pogba to tuck away his first Chelsea goal since his close-season switch from Leicester City.

Padraig Harrington defied defending champion Andy Sullivan to win the Portugal Masters on Sunday for his first European Tour title in eight years.
The three-time major winner, 45, refused to cave in under pressure to card a closing bogey-free 65 to get to 23 under and hold off the charging Englishman Sullivan by one shot.
The semi-retired Anders Hansen and Finn Mikko Korhonen — who secured his playing privileges after starting the week 116th on the Race to Dubai — were tied third in Vilamoura.
“It’s a big win. Portugal Masters is a big tournament. I’ve been coming here for 10 years so I’ve always liked it down here,” the veteran Irishman Harrington said.
“There’s so many Irish people here. It always felt like a home away from home, so it’s really nice to win the tournament.”
Harrington, who was languishing down in 159th in the world rankings coming into the tournament but could now burst back into the top 100, added: “I tried to be really aggressive. The golf course suited me and I just tried to go after every pin I could and make birdies.
“I have a pretty good short game that was on form this week. No matter where I hit it, I felt like I could get it up and down.”
The victory takes Harrington’s European Tour tally to 15 wins and moves him to tied 15th on the all-time list.

At the wedding of his grandfather, King Aleksandar I of Yugoslavia, nearly a century ago, more than 100,000 people thronged Belgrade’s streets in heavy rain to celebrate.
Prince Mihajlo Karadjordjevic’s wedding on Sunday was a somewhat lower profile event — covered by the tabloids but largely ignored by other media, leaving some Serbians completely unaware of the first “royal” wedding in decades.
The 30-year-old prince married Ljubica Ljubisavljevic, a Belgrade-born pharmacist, at the Orthodox Church of St George at Oplenac in central Serbia, where members of the Karadjordjevic dynasty are buried.
Just 150 or so royalists gathered outside the service, which was attended by about 300 guests.
Among them were children in traditional Serbian dress, foreign dignitaries and other members of the royal family including Crown Prince Aleksandar II, claimant to Serbia’s abolished throne.
The Karadjordjevic dynasty was founded by Djordje Petrovic, known as Karadjordje (“Black George”), who came from a family of pig farmers but led the first Serbian uprising against Ottoman rule in the early 19th century.
Aside from a cousin’s ceremony 20 years ago, the last royal wedding in Serbia was the celebrated Belgrade marriage of King Aleksandar I and Princess Maria of Romania in June 1922, considered an important Balkan political union.
Aleksandar was later assassinated in the French city of Marseille and succeeded by his son Petar II, who fled the Nazi occupation of his country just days after being proclaimed monarch at the age of 17.
He spent the remainder of World War II in Britain but was prevented from returning to Yugoslavia by the communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, which abolished the monarchy.
Petar died in the United States and his family was allowed to return to Serbia by the post-communist authorities in the early 2000s, but today the royals struggle to stay relevant among citizens of the republic.
Mihajlo, son of Petar’s younger brother Tomislav, was born in London and returned to live in Serbia in his twenties.
His Serbian wedding follows a civil ceremony in London, and he told local media this month that he and his bride “would like to live near Belgrade, so that we can breed horses and always be surrounded by nature”.

Guinea international Naby Keita scored twice as Bundesliga newcomers RB Leipzig defeated Werder Bremen 3-1 on Sunday to climb up to second place in Germany.
Keita capped off a superb solo run to put Leipzig in front just before half-time, and the midfielder struck again on 74 minutes when he powered home a cross from former Bremen striker Davie Selke.
Serge Gnabry gave the visitors hope as he cut the deficit in half almost immediately, but Germany Under-21 international Selke, who left Werder for Leipzig in July 2015, sealed the win deep into stoppage time.
Ralph Hasenhuettl’s Leipzig extended their unbeaten start to their maiden campaign in the German top flight as they pulled to within two points of leaders Bayern Munich.
Werder, who lost their first four matches this term, dropped to 15th in the table after seeing a three-game unbeaten run snapped.
Schalke collected just their second win after a dreadful start to the campaign as they eased past Mainz 3-0 in Gelsenkirchen.
Algerian midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, scored either side of a Max Meyer strike to fuel the Royal Blues’ continued resurgence.
Reigning champions Bayern defeated Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0 on Saturday with goals from Arturo Vidal and Douglas Costa to return to winning ways after back-to-back draws in the league.
Borussia Dortmund twice fought back from two goals behind to salvage a 3-3 draw at lowly Ingolstadt after 18-year-old US international Christian Pulisic popped up with an equaliser at the death.
Hoffenheim, like Bayern and Leipzig, also remain undefeated following an impressive 3-0 victory away to Bayer Leverkusen.

Case in point Mashujaa day which happened just the other day; just out of the blues, she posted a random video on instagram and asked her fans to mention people in their lives whom they termed as heroes. It could be their mothers, friends, boyfriends and what not.
She would in turn reward the first 3 with Ksh 1000 each just as a gift to celebrate the important day. And if you could speak fluent Swahili then you would be awarded with up to Ksh 5000 instead as she is an ardent advocator of the language.
 
We reached to her to get her two cents on why she started the trivia and according to her it was just an opportunity to interact with her fans, appreciate them while in the process enlightening them on Mashujaa day which has very little meaning in many Kenyans lives.
She said.
The TV personality cum lawyer is a Swahili News Anchor at Ebru TV and also hosts a youth show which focuses on general matters regarding entrepreneurship, leadership and such like.
 
She is known to have a penchant for philanthropy and charity also being a patron of a foundation which transverses across the country in children homes and slums inspiring and mentoring kids and young people to be the best they can be.
She bust into the limelight a while back with most people comparing her to mostly Janet Mbugua because of her incredible voice,modish fashion sense and her prowess in news delivery.
 
 
 

Real Madrid took advantage of Atletico Madrid’s first defeat of the season at Sevilla to move to the top of La Liga as Alvaro Morata struck a late winner to secure a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Steven N’Zonzi struck Sevilla’s winner 17 minutes from time to seal a 1-0 win at a soggy Sanchez Pizjuan.
Real lead Sevilla by a point and Barcelona and Villarreal by two at the top of the table.
Atletico, who started the weekend top, slip to fifth, three points back on their city rivals.
“We are not going to have easy matches and we will have to fight until the end,” said Real boss Zinedine Zidane.
“That is the message I transmit to my players and today we believed and didn’t give up in the difficult moments.”
Madrid couldn’t have hoped for a better start when Enric Saborit’s slip allowed Isco to tee up Karim Benzema for a simple finish after just seven minutes.
However, Real’s defensive deficiencies surfaced once more when Athletic levelled in scrappy fashion as Javier Eraso’s tenacity won the ball inside the Madrid box for Merino to slot home.
Cristiano Ronaldo suffered another off night in front of goal and was even jeered by the Bernabeu crowd when shot straight at Gorka Iraizoz with Isco and Benzema begging for a cut-back for a tap in.
Real were handed a lifeline when Inaki Williams blazed over with just Keylor Navas to beat early in the second period.
Zidane turned to Morata off the bench 15 minutes from time.
And the Spanish international ensured Real didn’t drop points at home for a third consecutive La Liga game as he bundled Gareth Bale’s low cross home at the near post.
Athletic still had the chance to snatch a point, but once again Williams misfired when clean through on goal to the relief of the Bernabeu.
And Real should have had a third with the last action of the match when Ronaldo selfishly went for goal and was again denied by Iraizoz to the fury of the supporting Toni Kroos.
Vietto haunts Atletico
Atletico were also left to rue not taking their chances in the first-half as on-loan Atletico striker Luciano Vietto came back to haunt his parent club.
Kevin Gameiro shot straight at Sergio Rico and Angel Correa wastefully wide before the break.
The in-form Samir Nasri smashed against the post before Jan Oblak made a remarkable save to prevent Vitolo opening the scoring on the volley from point-blank range as Sevilla started the second-half strongly.
Vietto endured a woeful debut campaign at Atletico last season after a 20-million-euro ($21.8 million) move from Villarreal and was used as a makeweight in the deal that brought Gameiro to Atletico in the summer.
However, he clipped a fine ball over an uncharacteristically static Atletico defence for N’Zonzi to run through and slot coolly past Oblak.
“It is an important win at home against such a strong side like Atletico,” N’Zonzi told BeIN Sports Spain.
Yet, the Frenchman refused to accept Sevilla are now serious title contenders alongside Atletico, Barca and Real Madrid.
“It is still very early and it is a long season.”
Atletico’s already difficult task was made even tougher when Koke was sent-off for a second booking 13 minutes from time.
Villarreal remain just two points off the top in fourth thanks to Cedric Bakambu’s injury time winner against Las Palmas.
Kevin-Prince Boateng’s stunning volleyed effort fired the visitors into a half-time lead, but Nicola Sansone levelled from the penalty spot before Bakambu snatched the points at the death.
Earlier, former Liverpool striker Iago Aspas struck twice as Celta Vigo smashed Deportivo la Coruna 4-1 in the Galician derby to move into the top half of the table.

Swiss customs authorities have slapped a billionaire with a $4 million fine for failing to properly declare some 200 artworks imported into Switzerland, according to media reports confirmed by officials Sunday.
Financier Urs Schwarzenbach has for years been bringing precious artworks by the likes of Yves Klein and Giovanno Segantini into Switzerland without declaring them to customs officials, or reporting their worth at far below their actual value, several Swiss media outlets reported.
Suspecting the billionaire of importing artwork illegally, Swiss customs authorities opened an investigation in 2012.
The probe concluded earlier this month that he had effectively dodged duties worth 10 million Swiss francs ($10 million, 9.2 million euros), which he was ordered to repay, along with a four million franc fine, the NZZ am Sonntag, Sonntagszeitung and Le Matin Dimanche weeklies reported.
Swiss finance ministry spokesman Daniel Saameli confirmed the content of the reports to AFP.
According to the papers, Schwarzenbach has agreed to pay back the 10 million francs, but is contesting the fine.
The 68-year-old’s lawyers in London told the papers he denied any intentional wrongdoing, and wanted to present his side of the story to the district court in Zurich to clear his name.
Schwarzenbach, who is based in Britain and is reportedly a good friend of Prince Charles, had brought at least 123 works of art into Switzerland without declaring them, with some ending up on the walls of his luxury Zurich Dolder Grand hotel, the papers said.
In one case detailed in Sunday’s articles, he purchased a Giovanno Segantini painting, “Le due madri”, for 1.4 million Swiss francs at a Christie’s auction in Geneva in 2011, and quickly flew it to Britain, thus avoiding Swiss taxation.
But the painting reportedly reemerged in his luxurious Villa Meridiana in St. Moritz in the Swiss Alps, without him ever paying duties on it.
Other artworks reportedly brought in under the radar include a painting by Russian geometric abstract artist Kazimir Malevich, valued at 16 million francs, and Yves Klein’s MG41 (L’age d’or), the papers said.
When he did declare artwork, Schwarzenbach, whose fortune was valued last year by Swiss financial magazine Bilanz at 1.25 billion Swiss francs, sometimes reportedly presented fake receipts for amounts far lower than what he had actually paid.
On June 16, 2012 he is alleged to have presented Gottardo Segantini’s “Paysage alpin” to Swiss customs officials along with a receipt for just 10,000 francs.
That is less than a tenth of the 105,000 euros he actually paid for the piece, the papers reported.
In all, the case concerns more than 200 works of art, with a combined value of at least 130 million francs, they said.

White House rivals Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump staged dueling rallies in crucial battleground Florida, with the Republican billionaire zeroing in on the Obamacare health overhaul as a job-killing, wallet-busting “monster.”
With just two weeks before the November 8 election, polls showed Democrat Clinton — who is vying to become America’s first female president — dominating nationally and looking for a resounding mandate to govern the bitterly divided country.
Early voting began in Florida on Monday, an urgent reminder that candidates have little time left to make their case in the country’s third most populous state, one with a wide mix of constituencies, including numerous retirees, Latinos and Bible Belt whites.
The Republican nominee, determined to ride out the controversies hobbling his campaign, made a pitch to Florida’s elderly voters by assailing a sharp rise in health insurance premiums expected next year under President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform.
“It’s just blowing up,” the 70-year-old real estate mogul said at a golf course he owns in Doral, Florida, vowing to “repeal and replace” Obamacare if elected.
“You will have such great health care at a tiny fraction of the cost and it’s going to be so easy,” Trump promised a rally in Sanford, Florida a few hours later.
At a third stop, in Tallahassee, he assailed the “stupid” government officials “who rammed this monster down our throats.”
“Job-killing Obamacare is just one more way that our system is rigged, believe me,” Trump said, and Clinton “wants to keep it.”
Poll averages show that the former secretary of state, who turns 69 Wednesday, is ahead in Florida by 3.1 percentage points, and nationally by 5.4 points, according to RealClearPolitics.
Rallying supporters at a college in southern Broward County near Fort Lauderdale, Clinton urged Floridians to help propel her to the White House by getting out and voting “right now.”
“This is bigger than me. It’s bigger than any of us. It’s even bigger than Donald Trump if you can believe it,” she told the cheering crowd.
Obama — who will campaign for Clinton Friday in Florida — has said he wants an overwhelming Democratic victory in order to send the message that Americans reject Trump’s divisive rhetoric.
Clinton’s communications director Jennifer Palmieri made clear what a key piece of the election puzzle Florida represents for Democrats.
“We don’t plan to lose Florida. It is the biggest prize,” she told reporters.
No one has forgotten that the 2000 presidential election hinged on Florida, where a virtual tie was decided in favor of George W. Bush by the US Supreme Court.
Earlier, Trump acknowledged that the White House will likely elude him if he doesn’t win Florida and its 29 electoral votes.
“I think that’s probably true,” he told Fox News. “I believe Florida is must-win. I think we’re winning it, think we’re winning it big.”
On the stump in Sanford, Trump pointed to what he called “record” lines of early voters in Florida — many, he said, sporting Trump hats and buttons — as a hopeful sign.
He also took direct aim at Obama, alleging based on the WikiLeaks release of hacked Clinton campaign emails that the president knew about his secretary of state’s controversial use of a private email server at the time.
After news broke about Clinton’s private server, her aide Cheryl Mills apparently wrote senior staffer John Podesta, now the candidate’s campaign chairman, on March 7, 2015, to say “we need to clean this up.”
“He (Obama) has emails from her — they do not say state.gov,” Mills wrote, in the email quoted by Trump — which he said contradicted Obama’s claim to have learned about the private server from news reports.
“In other words, they were saying he had to know Hillary was using an illegal server but he claimed otherwise,” Trump told his Tallahassee rally. “That means Obama is now into the act.”
Trump’s standing in polls has been hit hard, particularly among female voters, since this month’s release of a 2005 video on which he boasts that his celebrity allows him to grope women with impunity.
Since then, about a dozen women have come forward with sexual misconduct allegations.
But a more disciplined Trump largely stayed on message in Florida, attacking Clinton over taxes and foreign policy, and jabbing at her email scandal.
“The criminal conduct of Hillary Clinton threatens the foundations of our democracy,” Trump said, after the Tallahassee crowd broke into chants of “Lock her up!”
With his path to victory narrowing, Trump has railed against the “phony” polls and appealed to voters to turn out, calling it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to reject the political elite.
Clinton, meanwhile, received an endorsement from the latest in a long line of prominent Republicans who refuse to vote for their party’s nominee, as the ex-secretary of state and retired four-star general Colin Powell announced he would vote for her.

Edin Dzeko took his Serie A scoring lead to eight goals in nine games as Roma outclassed Palermo 4-1 to reclaim second spot and move to within two points off leaders Juventus on Sunday.
Roma had dropped to third after AC Milan stunned champions Juventus 1-0 on Saturday when teenaged midfielder Manuel Locatelli beat Gianluigi Buffon with a second-half scorcher.
But Luciano Spalletti’s men had no problem joining fellow scudetto hopefuls in capitalising on Juve’s rare slip, the Giallorossi wowing fans with a well-oiled attacking performance that kept them firmly in the title chase.
“You have to be prepared to seize the day, climb on board and secure the right result as we did tonight,” said Spalletti.
“But if anyone had a great result, it was Milan. They have the tools, beginning with their coach (Vincenzo Montella) to be able to challenge in this championship and they showed it.”
Juventus remain top but their second defeat of the campaign, after a 2-1 reverse to Inter Milan last month, has reduced their advantage to two points on Roma and AC Milan.
Fellow title hopefuls Napoli are back in the hunt after a cagey 2-1 win at basement side Crotone on Sunday moved the 2016 runners-up to fourth, at only four points adrift.
A lightning start at the Stadio Olimpico saw Stephan El Shaarawy, who hit a brace in a 3-3 Europa League draw against Austria Vienna in midweek, come close with a smashing right-foot volley from Dzeko’s pass.
The hosts finally broke the deadlock on 31 minutes, Mohamed Salah bursting through to meet Dzeko’s flick and nutmeg Josip Posavec at the near post.
Palermo came close to a quick equaliser when Alessandro Diamanti’s free kick, following a foul by Juan Jesus on the edge of the area, came off the far top corner.
But a rampant Roma virtually put the match beyond reach only six minutes after the restart, Posavec getting down low to collect Leandro Paredes’ pacy free kick from the left only to miss the ball completely.
Diamanti’s 25-yard drive forced Roma ‘keeper Wojciech Szczesny into action soon after, and the Pole was down quickly to smother Sinisa Andelkovic’s close range header moments later.
Spalletti had replaced Jesus with Alessandro Florenzi at half-time, and on 68 minutes Dzeko pounced on the Italy midfielder’s delivery to beat Posavec with an unstoppable daisycutter.
Palermo reduced arrears when Robin Quaison beat Szczesny with a deflected 25-yard drive 10 minutes from the end.
But a Roma counter two minutes later saw El Shaarawy claim his third goal in two games when he collected Salah’s unselfish pass to beat Posavec on 82 minutes.
If Juventus fail in their attempt to secure a record sixth consecutive title later this season, Milan’ first win over the Old Lady in 10 attempts will be regarded as a turning point.
Juve showed throughout a stirring encounter why they are still the team to beat in Italy’s top flight.
But failure to find a way past Milan’s teenaged goalkeeping sensation Gianluigi Donnarumma proved costly, and the cancellation of a perfectly valid goal from Miralem Pjanic, has given hope to their title rivals.
Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri said: “It’s clear that our goal was valid. I shouldn’t say it, but everyone will say it.”
At the other end, Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was finally beaten by a superb drive from 18-year-old Locatelli — although even he didn’t know how.
“I really don’t know how I did it, but I scored against the greatest goalkeeper in the world,” said Locatelli.
Milan’s fortunes contrasted with those of city rivals Inter, whose shock 2-1 defeat at Atalanta was the first time they had conceded three consecutive league defeats since 2013.
Coach Frank De Boer has reportedly been summoned by Inter’s Chinese owners Suning, but ahead of Wednesday’s outing against Torino the Dutchman says it’s business as usual.
“I don’t know what’s happening (behind the scenes), I am here and I’ll be analysing this match to prepare better for the ones coming up, hopefully with a view towards beating Torino,” said De Boer.

Moussa Dembele grabbed a late winner as Celtic clinched a place in the Scottish League Cup final with a 1-0 defeat of Old Firm rivals Rangers at Glasgow’s Hampden Park on Sunday.
Rangers looked a much improved side from the one hammered 5-1 at Parkhead in their last meeting with arch-rivals Celtic in August, but it was the Hoops who had the best chances, with Erik Sviatchenko’s header ruled out for a foul before Scott Sinclair crashed a free-kick off the bar.
The game looked to be heading for extra-time before Dembele, who grabbed a hat-trick on his Old Firm debut, added the finishing touch to substitute Leigh Griffiths’s cross in the 87th minute.
Celtic will join Aberdeen in the final after the Dons defeated Championship side Greenock Morton 2-0 in Saturday?s first semi-final.
“I thought we were very dominant today in terms of chances and the quality of our game,” Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said.
“If the chances don’t go in you are always vulnerable to the counter-attack but I thought that every element of our play was at a high level.”
Rangers manager Mark Warburton was pleased with the improvement from his players.
“We’re obviously feeling disappointed and frustrated but I think there are a lot of positives to take out the game.
“We’ve worked very hard to move forward as a team. The so-called gap is a lot narrower than people think and we have to learn from today’s performance.”
Rangers had selected full-backs Lee Hodson and James Tavernier down the right to deal with the pace of Sinclair and Kieran Tierney, which caused them so much damage in their September mauling by Celtic.
After a frantic start it was the Hoops who threatened first with Sinclair cutting in from the left to pick out Tom Rogic, whose deflected strike landed on the roof of the net.
Rangers were appealing for a penalty moments later when Barrie McKay went down under a challenge from Jozo Simunovic but referee Craig Thomson instead booked him for simulation, much to the fury of the Rangers players.
A slack pass was then intercepted by Dembele, who played Sinclair clean through, but Matt Gilks raced off his line to block his shot with his legs.
Gilks breathed a sigh of relief when his attempted pass went straight to Rogic in the box, but the Australian couldn?t find the target with his effort.
The Rangers keeper then redeemed himself as he made a point-blank save to keep out a close-range header from Dembele.
The French striker was then lucky to avoid a booking for diving after he threw himself to the ground in the hope of a penalty as referee Thomson kept his cards in his pocket.
Celtic had the ball in the net three minutes after the break when Sviatchenko headed Sinclair’s cross past Gilks but Thomson adjudged that the Dane had fouled Rangers defender Clint Hill in the build-up.
Sinclair and Rogic then combined to carve the Rangers defence open but Gilks blocked the English winger?s effort.
Rangers had yet to threaten Craig Gordon?s goal but the best chance of the match then fell to Jason Holt when Tavernier found him in the middle but his goal-bound effort was well blocked by Simunovic with McKay sending the follow-up straight into the hands of the Hoops keeper.
Only the crossbar prevented Celtic from taking the lead in the 69th minute when Sinclair’s curling free-kick rattled the woodwork.
With the game heading to extra-time Celtic made the breakthrough as Griffiths got behind Lee Wallace and his cross from the right was prodded home by Dembele under pressure from Rob Kiernan.

Basic leadership failures in many Afghan police and military units are helping drive casualty rates to ever-higher levels, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned Sunday.
Afghan forces are nearing the end of their second year providing security across their war-torn country, after NATO moved into an advisory and training role, and the toll on the local forces has been devastating.
An estimated 5,000 were killed in 2015, primarily in fights with a resurgent Taliban, and another 15,000 were injured.
US Army General John Nicholson said this year promises to be worse still.
“We are very concerned about the casualty rate … This year has been the same, or slightly higher, depending on the unit and region,” he told reporters.
“One of the principal factors for the high casualties has been the leadership, the failures of leadership at certain levels. Primarily this has been in the police and to a lesser extent the army.”
Speaking from the NATO mission’s Kabul headquarters, the four-star general said street-level Afghan soldiers were performing as best they could, but are frequently left vulnerable by shoddy performance from higher-ups.
“These young police officers who are out dying on the checkpoints don’t always have enough food, or water, or ammunition and their leader may not be with them,” Nicholson said.
“This is a failure of leadership,” he added, blaming this in part on corruption in the interior ministry.
Figures for this year’s casualty rates were not provided, but officials said the issue had contributed to a shortfall in the Afghan army’s ranks.
The service has places for about 190,000 troops but current levels are stuck at around 170,000.
Fifteen years and hundreds of billions of dollars after the US-led invasion saw the Taliban government ousted, the Afghan government only has full control of two-thirds of the country’s population of 30 million.
Ten percent is in Taliban hands, and the rest is still being fought over.
This summer’s fighting saw the Taliban try at least seven times to seize a provincial capital, as they did in Kunduz last year.
The Afghans managed to repel these thanks to NATO support, easier rules for the United States to strike targets and the growing confidence of the Afghan air force.
Nicholson and other US military officials pointed to several units that can boast significant successes this year, including the Afghan police and military special operations units and the army’s 201st Corps.
That unit performed well in Nangarhar province this month, attacking a local Islamic State group affiliate and not incurring any casualties, officials said.
The corps’ deputy commander, Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Shujai, said “99 percent” of enlisted troops volunteer to extend their contracts at the end of a tour, “which is a source of pride”.
Officials also paid tribute to several exemplary leaders, including a lieutenant from a police crisis-response unit who was killed this year during an attack on the American University in Kabul.
Nicholson warned he expects to see additional high-profile attacks at any moment.
The Taliban threat forced President Barack Obama to slow plans to draw down US troop numbers at the end of this year. Some 8,400 will remain in 2017, compared with 5,500 initially planned.
Most US forces in Afghanistan operate under the NATO banner and work as trainers or advisers to Afghan forces.
Despite being America’s longest-fought war, the conflict is largely forgotten at home.
During three lengthy debates between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Afghanistan was mentioned in passing only once.

Burundi police said Sunday they had briefly arrested an American freelance journalist along with a local reporter working with her, who was still being held.
Police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye said on his Twitter timeline that journalist Julia Steers and Gildas Yihundimpundu were arrested on suspicion of “trying to destroy evidence of crimes by insurgents.”
Steers, who had official accreditation, was released, but her colleague was still being interrogated and her driver detained.
“Many thanks for concerns — I’m safe but remain extremely concerned for my Burundian colleague Gildas Yihundimpundu and our driver Pascal,” Steers tweeted after her release.
The pair are the latest in a long line of journalists arrested by Burundi authorities in a crackdown on the media since a crisis prompted by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s disputed run for a third term in office in April 2015.
Marked by assassinations on both sides, attacks against the police and summary executions, the violence has left more than 500 people dead and forced more than 270,000 Burundians to flee the country, according to the UN.
Burundi’s government has silenced independent journalists at home and regularly lashes out at the international media, accusing the press of being part of a “conspiracy” to overthrow it.
The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) estimates 100 journalists have been forced into exile since the violence erupted.
The CPJ this week urged Burundi’s national intelligence service to release radio journalist Salvador Nahimana, detained since October 2.
Another journalist, Jean Bigirimana, of the independent Iwacu newspaper, has been missing since July 22.

The said money, Ksh 2 million has suddenly vanished. Both bodies that involved in the raid, the Police and Ethics and Anti-corruption Commissioners both give conflicting stories about who actually did carry the money from Deputy Governor’s home in Tunyai Tharaka South district.
According to Standard Media, Police Boss Mary Maina recounts that the detectives from EACC conducted the raid simultaneously in both Eliud Muriithi Mati (Deputy Governor) homes in Meru town and Tunyai Tharaka South district. The money was found in the Tunyai home, the Ksh 2 million in fake currency, however, now the EACC refute that they did indeed recover the money.
 
The anti-graft body said no money printing machine or fake currency was recovered. The commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Hallake Wako, reported that the said detectives recovered only Sh900,000 and not from Mati’s home but from a clinic owned by Dr Mati’s wife in Meru town.
According to Standard Media, EACC also said they had recovered what the commission described as “very useful documents” but would not divulge the contents of the said documents.
So where did the money go to?

French authorities will on Monday begin moving thousands of people out of the notorious Calais Jungle before demolishing the camp that has served as a launchpad for attempts to sneak into Britain.
A major three-day operation is planned to clear the sprawling shanty town near Calais port — a symbol of Europe?s failure to resolve its migrant crisis — of its estimated 6,000-8,000 occupants.
More than 1,200 police officers will be deployed to prevent any unrest as the migrants are directed to buses that will take them to temporary shelters nationwide where they can seek asylum.
The closure of the squalid camp is aimed at relieving tensions in the Calais area, where clashes between police and migrants trying to climb onto trucks heading to Britain are an almost nightly occurrence.
As officials and charity workers spread out across the Jungle on Sunday distributing flyers about the camp’s impending demolition, some were still clinging to hopes of a new life across the Channel.
“They’ll have to force us to leave. We want to go to Britain,” said Karhazi, a young Afghan among many of the migrants who had their hearts set on Britain, believing it to offer better prospects.
“We have yet to convince some people to accept accommodation and give up their dream of Britain. That’s the hardest part,” Didier Leschi, head of the French immigration office OFII told AFP.
Aid agencies have warned that some migrants could try resist being relocated.
There were riots when French authorities razed the southern half of the settlement in March.
A Syrian man named Sam who spent 13 months in the Jungle told AFP he had fled the camp on Saturday night to an undisclosed location about 12 kilometres (seven miles) away where he said “dozens” of migrants were hiding out to avoid being moved.
But as winter sets in and the rain turns part of the Jungle into a swamp, some residents have cautiously welcomed the chance of a warm bed.
“The officials say tomorrow is the beginning of something better. Let’s hope this is true,” Faisal al-Ajab, a 39-year-old Sudanese man who has already applied for asylum in France but is still waiting for housing, said.
The flyers distributed on Sunday instructed the migrants in Arabic, Tigrinya, Pashto and other languages to show up at a hangar next to the camp from 8:00 am on Monday (0600 GMT) with their luggage.
There they will be separated into four groups for families, single men, unaccompanied minors and other people considered vulnerable before boarding one of 60 buses that will take them to nearly 300 shelters nationwide.
British officials have been racing to process child refugees seeking to be transferred to Britain before they become scattered throughout France.
By Saturday, the number of minors given a one-way ticket to Britain under a fast-tracked process for children launched a week ago stood at 194, according to France Terre d’Asile, a charity helping in the process.
Most have relatives across the Channel but 53 girls without family in Britain also departed France at the weekend.
A spokesman for Britain’s interior ministry confirmed it had “now started the process of taking in those children without close family links”.
Adult migrants with relatives in Britain have complained about being left out in the cold. Some have vowed to keep trying to stow away on a truck or to jump onto a train entering the Channel Tunnel.
Dozens of migrants have died in such attempts.
The dire security and humanitarian situation in the Jungle ? situated on a former rubbish dump where migrants first established a camp in the early 2000s ? has long been a bone of contention between France and Britain.
The centre-right front-runner in next year’s French presidential election, Alain Juppe, has called for Britain’s border with France, which was extended to Calais under a 2003 accord, to be moved back to British soil.