Month: October 2016

Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro clinched his first ATP title in almost three years with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over American Jack Sock in Sunday’s final in Stockholm.
The Argentine, who won at Flushing Meadows in 2009 before suffering a series of wrist injuries that pushed him to the brink of retirement, needed just over an hour and a quarter to beat sixth-seeded Sock.
“I?ve been trying to fix my problems for the past two years and I didn?t expect to win a title at this moment in my career. I am so happy to get the trophy here. It?s motivation for looking forward to the future,” said Del Potro.
The 28-year-old, runner-up to Andy Murray in the Olympic final in Rio in August, last played a tour final in Sydney in January 2014, when he beat home favourite Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-1.
The world number 63 played just six tournaments across 2014 and 2015 but has gradually rediscovered the form that once enabled him to reach fourth in the world.
Del Potro helped his country defeat Murray’s Great Britain in this year’s Davis Cup semi-finals and will seek to lead Argentina to their first title against Croatia next month.

Chile’s opposition is leading with a razor-thin margin in local elections that could deal a disappointment to embattled President Michelle Bachelet by returning conservatives to power.
Seen as a litmus test for her ruling center-left coalition one year before her term ends, with 95.79 percent of the vote counted, a conservative coalition Chile Vamos (Let’s go Chile) was leading with 38.53 percent against 37.07 percent for the ruling New Majority coalition.
Opinion polls had given Bachelet’s center-left coalition a razor-thin lead before polls opened.
“We’ve got to do things better. That’s what the people are asking for,” Bachelet said on Sunday after learning the results.
The local polls are the last vote before general elections in 2017 that will decide the Socialist leader’s successor, at a time when the left in Chile — as in much of Latin America — is struggling.
In the elections, which serve as the unofficial opening of the 2017 campaign season, some 14 million voters are choosing 346 mayors, plus city councils.
The vote came as Bachelet, Chile’s first woman president, has been sideswiped by a corruption scandal involving her son and is struggling to deliver on the reform agenda that got her elected by a landslide in 2013.
After testing political waters in the local polls, the country’s parties will nominate presidential candidates and launch their campaigns.
The 65-year-old Bachelet — serving for a second time as the South American country’s president — urged people to participate in the election, amid fears Sunday’s polls would be marred by low turnout.
Bachelet is one of the last remaining leaders from a “pink tide” of left-wing governments that swept Latin America in the last decade.
She served a first term from 2006 to 2010, and — constitutionally barred from immediate re-election — returned in 2014.
But her popularity has plunged since accusations emerged last year that her son and his wife used political influence and inside information to make $5 million on a shady real estate deal.
A separate campaign-finance scandal involving some of the country’s biggest firms and political parties has also been damaging.
Bachelet herself has not been implicated in either scandal, although they have hurt her image as a squeaky clean reformer.
Elected with 66 percent of the vote, her popularity now stands at just 23 percent.
The top name on the left currently being floated for a presidential run is Isabel Allende — not to be confused with her distant relative of the same name who is a best-selling novelist.
She is a senator and the daughter of former president Salvador Allende, who was overthrown by late dictator Augusto Pinochet in a 1973 coup.
Journalist and independent Senator Alejandro Guillier also scores well in opinion polls, while former president Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006) has thrown his hat in the ring, too.
On the right, former president Sebastian Pinera (2010-2014) is tipped as the likely nominee, but has yet to declare his candidacy.
The local polls come amid an economic slowdown in Chile, hit hard — like much of the region — by the plunge in global commodity prices.
Chile, the world’s top copper producer, will see economic growth of just 1.75 percent this year, before a pickup of 2.25 percent in 2017, the government forecasts.

The Republican presidential nominee has seen dismal poll numbers since a string of women came forward earlier this month to accuse him of sexual assault or inappropriate behavior in the past.
He has also stirred controversy by refusing to say that he will accept the result of the November 8 election no matter what, calling the process “rigged.”
Clinton, the Democratic former secretary of state, leads 50 percent to 38 percent in a four-way contest with two minor party candidates, according to a national ABC News poll.
It was up from Clinton’s four percentage point edge in an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted 10 days ago.
Trump held a small 47-43 percent lead among white Americans, a group that Republican Mitt Romney won by 20 points in the 2012 election.
Republican candidates must have strong support from white voters if they want to win, with non-white voters overwhelmingly favoring Democratic candidates.
Clinton leads 55-35 percent among women, and has doubled her lead to 32 points among college-educated white women — a group strongly critical of Trump’s response to allegations of inappropriate behavior.
The poll even showed Clinton leading for the first time among men, 44 to 41 percent — although that lead is within the poll’s margin of error.
With just over two weeks to go before Election Day, the two White House hopefuls are targeting key battleground states like Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Team Clinton is hoping for a landslide win, even holding out hope of taking back control of at least one of the two houses of Congress from the Republicans.
“We’re not taking anything for granted at all,” campaign manager Robby Mook told Fox News Sunday.
“Secretary Clinton at the beginning of this campaign said she wanted to help all candidates up and down the ballot. So we’re running a coordinated campaign, working hard with gubernatorial, Senate and House candidates. But we’re not — you know, this is not over yet.”
Early voting has begun in several states, and the initial details were positive, Mook said.
“We feel very, very good about what we’ve seen so far… And we’re encouraged also by who is turning out.”
Trump has tried to change the narrative, on Saturday outlining his plan for his first 100 days in office, including a pledge to create 25 million jobs and cut taxes for middle-class Americans.
“The fact is that this race is not over,” Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told Fox News on Sunday, outlining a plan to win crucial battleground states.
“He’s not — we’re not giving up. We know we can win this.”
Trump’s son Eric said polls don’t reflect the support of people who haven’t been on voter rolls for years but will turn out on Election Day to support the populist candidate.
“I’m so incredibly proud. He’s carried the weight of this country for the last 18 months. I happen to think we’re going to win,” Eric Trump said on ABC.

Asian giants Guangzhou Evergrande clinched their sixth straight Chinese Super League title on Sunday as they underlined their status as one of the region’s top clubs.
A 1-1 draw with Yanbian Funde was enough to seal the championship with two games to spare as Evergrande stayed seven points clear of second-placed Jiangsu Suning.
The deep-pocketed team from the southern metropolis of Guangzhou also became China’s first AFC Champions League winners in 2013 and regained the title in 2015.
Evergrande were relegated to China’s second tier in 2010 during a corruption crackdown but they won immediate promotion back into the Super League and have not looked back.
Brazil’s Luiz Felipe Scolari is the current coach but Evergrande tore up a deal to bring another World Cup-winning manager, Marcello Lippi, back to the club next season.
Evergrande stepped aside to allow the Italian to take the helm at China’s national team, which is struggling once again in the latest round of World Cup qualifiers.

Kenyans suffering from various liver diseases have a reason to smile following a partnership between the Mediheal Group of hospitals and India’s Yashoda Institute of Liver Transplant and Hepatobiliary Diseases.
The partnership will see the setting up of  three liver clinics in Nairobi, Eldoret and Nakuru making Kenya the first East African country to host such medical facilities.
The clinics will bolster care and management for liver patients, while encouraging foreign investment in Kenya’s medical sector.
Currently, over 5000 Kenyans travel to India in search of liver treatment.
The clinics will help reduce mortality rates arising from increased cases of liver infections in Kenya.
Patients will now be able to access quality treatment in modern facilities at subsidised costs as well as reduce the number of patients travelling abroad for liver- related treatment.
Mediheal Group chairman S. R. Mishra said doctors in the country reported increased cases of liver failure due to Hepatitis and HIV complications.
“Liver diseases are increasing at an alarming rate in the country, especially among people who are unable to afford the costly treatment.
This partnership will enable patients access low-cost medical care for liver related illness, while raising our country’s standards in the management of liver diseases,” Mishra said.
He said that the hospital will continue to sensitise communities on care and prevention of liver diseases including using properly treated water, clean ablution facilities and encouraging use of contraceptives that reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections such as Hepatitis B.

Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League with a 1-1 draw home to Southampton on Sunday but the performance again raised questions over the title credentials of Pep Guardiola’s team.
The stalemate was a fifth consecutive game without a victory for City, as Kelechi Iheanacho’s eighth goal in his last 11 league games cancelled out Nathan Redmond’s first-half opener for Southampton, which owed much to an extraordinary mistake by City defender John Stones.
City, after winning their first 10 games under Spanish coach Guardiola, have suffered a major dip in form.
“We have to analyse what is the situation,” Guardiola told the BBC.
“In the period, apart from at White Hart Lane against Tottenham (losing 2-0) it’s been good. Against Everton and Barcelona — when it was 11 v 11 — the displays were as good as those in the first 10 games.”
Guardiola, who saw his expensively assembled side held 1-1 home to Everton last weekend, had spoken passionately in the wake of the midweek 4-0 defeat at former club Barcelona about his desire to stick to his footballing philosophy.
Those beliefs, however, must have been sorely tested in a first half in which his side failed to test Fraser Forster in the Southampton goal and fell behind to the visitors.
The Saints went ahead in the 27th minute following a disastrous back pass from England centre-half Stones, who nonchalantly laid the ball back into the City penalty area despite the presence of Redmond.
The forward retained his composure, beating returning skipper Vincent Kompany to the ball and rounding Claudio Bravo before converting into the open net.
“From watching them in preparation we knew they would give us chances, they only play three at the back,” Redmond told Sky Sports. “I was anticipating it and it was just about keeping a cool head and putting the chance away.”
The draw was enough to put City back top of the Premier League on goal difference from Arsenal, with Liverpool third. All three are on 20 points.
But following Bravo?s costly defensive slip in the midweek Champions League defeat, it was another blow to Guardiola’s determination to play attractive, passing football at all costs and a handful of home supporters booed the team off at the interval.
For all their defensive problems, however, City were equally ineffective at the other end in the first half — their best effort coming when Stones had a 31st-minute effort ruled out for offside.
The defender appeared to have made amends for his earlier error when he headed home Kevin De Bruyne?s free-kick only for referee Mark Clattenburg to rule it out — a decision which replays suggested was harsh.
An early David Silva cross was easily picked out by Forster, Ilkay Gundogan shot just wide from the edge of the area and Raheem Sterling drilled a shot way off target.
Indeed, the Saints looked more likely to score, particularly on the break, with Dusan Tadic testing Bravo with an early cross-shot.
Guardiola wasted no time in altering his tactics at the interval, with Iheanacho replacing De Bruyne, who was clearly still below peak form following a recent injury lay-off.
City finally started to assert some control with Sterling?s low 54th-minute cross just bouncing beyond Silva?s far-post lunge.
Moments later, Iheanacho equalised after a flowing move exposed gaps in Southampton’s defence with passes from Fernandinho and Leroy Sane allowing the young Nigerian to sweep in a confident finish from six yards.
“They did it for themselves in the second half,” said Guardiola of his players. “They changed the game, I didn’t change the game. We did think we were going to win it, but Southampton didn’t make it easy. They have good defenders and are good at everything.”
City?s passing, so inconsistent in the first half, also improved markedly after the break and a concerted attack ended with Sterling finding Iheanacho, who turned and centred for Silva, only for a deflection off a defender to save the Saints.
Sergio Aguero also twice came close for City, first with a stooping, off-target header and then with a determined run and low shot which flashed across the face of goal.

US defence chief Ashton Carter said Sunday that an operation to isolate the Islamic State group in Syria’s Raqa should begin in conjunction with the assault on the jihadists’ Iraqi bastion Mosul.
“We want to see an isolation operation begin around Raqa as soon as possible,” Carter said during a visit to Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan to review an ongoing offensive to retake Mosul from IS.
“We are working with our partners there (in Syria) to do that,” the US secretary of defence said, adding: “There will be some simultaneity to these two operations.”
Iraqi forces launched a huge operation last week to retake Mosul, the last major city in Iraq under IS control.
The United States leads a 60-nation coalition that has provided key support in the form of thousands of air strikes, training to Iraqi forces and advisers on the ground.
The loss of Mosul would leave Raqa — the de facto capital of the jihadists’ self-declared “caliphate” — the only major city still under IS control.
Carter said the idea of simultaneous operations against Mosul and Raqa “has been part of our planning for quite a while”.
In Iraq, the coalition is allied with both federal forces and Kurdish peshmerga fighters in the Mosul battle.
But in Syria, the issue of which ground forces would be involved in an operation to retake Raqa would be far more complicated.
The United States has given support to Syrian rebels and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces who have battled IS. But President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, backed by Russia and Iran, are also fighting the jihadists.

The first group of children from the French “Jungle” migrant camp with no connection to Britain have arrived in the country, the Home Office said Sunday, ahead of the camp’s planned demolition.
They were among around 70 young people who were taken to London from the camp in the northeastern French port town of Calais, the closest point to Britain on continental Europe.
The “Jungle” is home to around 5,700 people, according to official figures. Its demolition is set to begin on Monday.
Last week Britain began taking in children from the “Jungle” who had a family connection in Britain — though some newspapers with photographs of the immigrants questioned whether they were actually minors at all.
They were brought in under the Dublin rules, which require the children to have family resident in Britain.
Under a new legal amendment, a limited number of vulnerable child refugees can also enter Britain, even if they do not have family ties.
“We initially prioritised the transfer of children with family links to the UK, under the Dublin Regulation, and have now started the process of taking in those children without close family links,” said a spokesman for the Home Office interior ministry.
“We are working… to make sure we bring all eligible children to the UK as soon as possible.”
Bishop Jonathan Clark, a spokesman for Citizens UK, a giant agglomeration of largely faith-based groups that has worked to bring the children to Britain, welcomed the transfer.
“Of course this is just a very small proportion of the unaccompanied children out there and less than one percent of the total number of people in the Calais camp now, the vast majority of whom will be claiming asylum in France, as they should,” he said.
Meanwhile The Sunday Times newspaper reported that British members of the anti-capitalist protest group No Borders would attempt to block the demolition of the Jungle.
At a meeting in London last Sunday, one activist told the broadsheet that “lots of us will be going down” and warned people not to join in unless they “understood the risks”.

Anyone who has been in this three establishment will tell you for free…the prices on that menu list isn’t for small fish, the crowd is not some ratchet group of people who suddenly stumbled upon the clubs, the audiences you may wonder, they smell of money.
But who exactly are the owners of the reigning joint?

 
Meet Soraiya(Kenyan) and Aleem Ladak(Canadian), the owners of Brew’s first opened its doors in 2009, on Ngong Rd, seven years later; they now have another branch opened on Woodvale Groove (Westlands). According to Daily Africa, Brew is “the quintessential upper-middle class haunts for the-freshly-brewed-beer thirsty and the hungry for uppity cuisine or where – as they at Brew Bistro say- “the primal instincts come out to play.”

 
Featured on True Love magazine, Soraiya- who handles the marketing of Brew, talks about how she gave up her UNEP job to join her husband in his brewery dream. The husband, Aleem actually did a postgraduate in Brewing and Distilling at the VLB Brewing and Malting Institute in Berlin, Germany, he is a master brewer.
The couple has two sons: Kahil 7, and Mikhail 2.

 
The power couple, Samia Barry (Belgium) and Barry Ndegeye(Rwanda) is not your average couple, in fact, they are not even the average Kenyan car owners. The couple’s lives revolve around luxury, fashion, style and entertainment. Their yard include a Rolls Royce, Maserati, Lamborghini, Hummer, Ferrari, Mercedes, Range Rover and a futuristic Tron bike just to mention a few.

 
Met in 2006, Barry and his wife Samia not only have B-Club in Kenya  but also Billion Club in Belgium that has a capacity of 3,000 people, Afrodiziac Club (also in Belgium) that accommodates 1,000 people, B-CLUB, Kigali and B-CLUB DRC among others.
Parents to two sons: Barack 7 and Basam 2, Samia is the manager of the exclusive club. She was a Wealth Creation Manager before.
 
15years is an enviable years of marriage at this day and age, but this couple Judy Gitau (Kenyan) and Ali Oumarou (Niger), have not only made their marriage work but also their booming business. Judy was working as a Recruit and Training Manager at Emirates before she joined Ali in his dream of owning a place that would “unite Africans through taste, sound and sight” dream. While his friend opened KIZA Dubai, he ventured into Kenya.
 
According to True Love magazine, Judy handles the organization, day-to-day running and finances whereas Ali has the talent of closing businesses. They both use their strengths to support KIZA, and so far, they are doing a tremendous job!
The two have two children: daughter Alisha and son Gitau.

You’ll find these little devils across the city, on the streets, in your house, in the office, in the matatau stealing your hard earned cash/goods. You ain’t safe anywhere these days. Thieves are everywhere! And each day, their devilish minds come up with new ways to steal from you.
Nairobi is at a crazy level of thievery! And even after the numerous stories circulating online, Kenyan police are still sitting on their hands. It’s saddening. At what point exactly do they plan on doing something? Aren’t all the vice stories doing rounds plus the cases being reported in their station enough to warrant them to wake up and do something?
Yesterday, Facebook went crazy with a viral post of a lady who was allegedly mugged, in a matatu, by the driver! According o the comments, this is not the first time this has happened, we no longer have pickpockets or being threatened by a knife, we have reached the point where drivers of the inject you with some drug, so they can steal from you.
In rage, Karimi, the lady who was mugged, shares her story on Facebook.
Here is her full post and pics of the driver.
 
 
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Spain’s Socialists voted Sunday to allow the conservatives to take power, likely ending a protracted political deadlock and avoiding a third election for poll weary Spaniards.
The decision paves the way for acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy — whose conservative Popular Party (PP) won two elections in December 2015 and June this year but without an absolute majority — to form a government by November.
But while this eases uncertainty in a country that has been without a fully-functioning executive for ten months, Rajoy’s government will be extremely weak, backed by just 137 lawmakers in a 350-strong parliament and with strong opposition led by the Socialists and far-left Unidos Podemos.
Both the Socialists and Unidos Podemos had categorically refused to back Rajoy, fed up with corruption scandals and rising inequalities that marked his first four-year term, paralysing his attempts to form a government.
But as the prospect of a third election grew nearer, bitter divisions emerged within the Socialists and on Sunday the party announced its policy-setting federal committee had voted 139 to 96 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 September vote.
This will give Rajoy’s government enough traction to see it through the vote.
“Repeat elections would harm the interests of Spain and the Spanish,” read the resolution that was voted through.
It added that a third poll could also hurt the Socialists themselves, who would be held responsible for “a blockage that no one wants.”
But the decision came at a price.
Following dismal election results, the Socialist party has been decimated by in-fighting over how to handle the political blockage.
The divisions came to a head earlier this month when high-ranking Socialists amenable to a conservative government — so as to avoid a third election — forced party leader Pedro Sanchez out.
Sanchez had long opposed Rajoy, who came to power in 2011.
With him out of the way and the party run by an interim executive, those who dislodged him got their way.
Now that the Socialists have decided to abstain, Rajoy is expected to quickly submit himself to another parliamentary vote of confidence next weekend, confident of victory.
By November 1, Spain should finally get a government at a sensitive time as the country recovers from a devastanting economic crisis.
But the PP’s government will be weak.
It will face opposition not only from the Socialists but also two upstart parties — Unidos Podemos and centrists Ciudadanos.
Their participation in the last two elections put an end to Spain’s traditional two-party system.
Even Rajoy admitted it would be tough.
“If I want more support, it’s logical that I adapt my discourse to the new situation,” he said Friday on the sidelines of a European summit.
“Mariano Rajoy will have the least parliamentary support in Spain’s history,” said political analyst Pablo Simon.
“It’s more than likely that it will be a short term,” he added, pointing out that Rajoy may decide to call early elections, particularly if the opposition remains as divided as it is now.
And for many Socialist lawmakers, these divisions have been hugely damaging and many fear that the party will alienate its grassroots members by allowing a PP government to rule.
“It’s not just because of the abstention but also because of the shameful spectacle that the PSOE has presented in the past days,” Socialist lawmaker Susana Sumelzo said in a weekend interview with online daily El Espanol.
“I predict that in the medium and long-term, it will be very complicated. We will have to work a huge amount to get our credibility back.”

The European Union and Canada will decide on Monday whether to gather for a summit later this week to sign the imperilled CETA trade pact, a European source told AFP.
The source said that European Council President Donald Tusk would on Monday afternoon or evening call Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel with “one simple question: will Belgium be in a position to sign the agreement on Thursday, yes or no?”
Plans to sign the CETA trade pact at a summit scheduled for Thursday were thrown into doubt Friday when the parliament of the Belgian region of Wallonia rejected the deal, leaving Belgium the only EU state unable to sign the pact, the fruit of seven years of talks.
The European source said that on Monday Tusk would first call European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker “to share an assessment of where we are,” then Michel and lastly Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “to decide whether to maintain the summit,” and
“Regarding Thursday, if Belgium is not in a position to say that they guarantee they can sign, it’s very clear for Tusk that it doesn’t make sense to have a summit, and there will be no summit, and there will be no date set for a new summit,” the source said.
The source added that any decision would be made jointly by Tusk and Trudeau.
“The decision will very much depend on what Michel tells Tusk,” the source said.

Fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group said Sunday they had retaken control of a town in central Somalia after hundreds of Ethiopian troops serving with the African Union’s AMISOM force withdrew.
It was the third time this month that the Islamist group moved into a town in the region after the departure of Ethiopian forces.
Al-Shabaab said on the smartphone app Telegram that their fighters had “stormed the town (of Halgan) soon after the enemy pulled out” on Sunday.
“The brave fighters of Islam have taken full control of the town, the Islamic flag is waving over the station and the district headquarters,” the statement added.
After leaving Halgan together with Somali army soldiers, situated at a key junction on the road to the capital Mogadishu, the Ethiopian troops headed towards the provincial capital, Beledweyne, according to several sources.
“The Ethiopian soldiers pulled out of Halgan town this (Sunday) morning. We are getting (reports) that they have destroyed their bases and trenches around the town before heading for Beledweyne,” said Mohamed Nur Adan, a security official in Beledweyne.
“The Ethiopian soldiers vacated their bases this morning, we saw them heading towards Beledweyne. There were tanks and big trucks in their convoy,” witness Osman Adan told AFP by phone.
Halgan, situated about 70 kilometres (40 miles) from Beledweyne, came under assault from the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab in June.
The Islamists then attacked the Ethiopian army base with a suicide car bomber and gunmen. Scores were reported killed on both sides, however casualty numbers are impossible to verify.
The fall of Halgan is likely to increase pressure and attacks on AMISOM forces in Buloburde, which is the second largest town in the central Hiran region.
Earlier this month hundreds of Ethiopian troops pulled out of El-Ali — also in the Hiran region — after also withdrawing from nearby Moqokori.
Shabaab forces moved back in to both towns after the Ethiopians left.
No explanation has been given by the Ethiopian military or AMISOM.
The Shabaab was forced out of the capital, Mogadishu, five years ago but continues to carry out regular attacks on military, government and civilian targets in its battle to overthrow the internationally-backed administration.

Russian security forces shot dead two suspected “terrorists” during a security operation in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday, citing law enforcement sources.
An explosion during the operation injured two officers from the special police and a third suspect was detained alive, reports said.
“Law enforcement officers stopped a car, two suspects resisted arrest and were liquidated on the spot. Explosives were found in the car,” TASS state news agency quoted a source as saying.
A law enforcement source told RIA Novosti that those killed were “suspected of terrorism.”
The special operation reportedly took place in a residential area of Nizhny Novgorod, an industrial city of more than one million people on the banks of the Volga River, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Moscow.
Russia’s NTV television quoted a source as saying the suspects were members of the Islamic State jihadist group who had come to the city to prepare a terror attack and were renting a flat in the suburb of Tsvety.
Local residents told news agencies that security forces told them to stay calm and not leave their homes and blocked roads leading into the area.
Local media posted photographs from social networking sites apparently showing two bodies lying on the ground close to a car with doors open, as vehicles and security officers blocked the nearby road.
The photographs also showed a device identified by media as an anti-mine robot, which TASS reported was used to neutralise an explosive device in the car.
The special operation wound up on Sunday evening but there was a heightened police presence on city roads, including ID checks on drivers and passengers, TASS reported.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the operation and state television reported that details of the incident would only be released on Monday.
The regional branch of the FSB security service told Interfax news agency that it planned to release a statement after the immediate investigation was completed.
Such special operations are frequent in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus against Islamist insurgents but are rare in the central region where most Russians live.
A law enforcement source quoted by TASS named those killed as “members of illegal armed groups,” a term also used by officials to describe insurgents in the North Caucasus.
In August, Russian special forces raided an apartment building in the second largest city of Saint Petersburg in an operation targeting North Caucasus militants, killing four suspects.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni acknowledged Sunday that his finishing abilities are on the wane as India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the third ODI riding on Virat Kohli’s sterling century.
Kohli’s unbeaten 154 drove India to their 286-run target in 48.2 overs as the hosts took a 2-1 lead in the five-match one-day series.
Kohli and Dhoni, who scored 80, were involved in a 151-run third-wicket partnership that set up the comprehensive win.
However Dhoni, who promoted himself to number four in the batting order, departed in the 36th over, leaving Kohli and Manish Pandey to get 94 more runs.
“To some extent I am losing an ability to freely rotate in the middle, so I have decided to bat up and let the others finish,” said Dhoni.
Once regarded as one of the best finishers in limited-overs cricket, Dhoni has recently found it difficult to bat at his usual number six position.
His laboured knock failed to take India over the line in their previous game in New Delhi, one of the few instances when the wicketkeeper-batsman has faltered while chasing.
Dhoni, who recorded his 61st ODI fifty and went past the 9000-run mark, hit three towering sixes during his 91-ball stay before falling to fast bowler Matt Henry.
“But I know I should still look for the big shots. Once you get 15-20 runs, you get into the groove. There were points in the middle where I had to pull myself from playing big shots,” said Dhoni.
Meanwhile Kohli, who recorded his 26th ODI ton, made the most of a reprieve after he was dropped on six by Ross Taylor at gully off Matt Henry to consolidate his position as India’s batting mainstay.
“He is somebody who has learnt a lot and he is somebody who knows his strengths really well. It’s very difficult to say what the top level is in cricket, but Kohli has done India proud,” said Dhoni.
Manish Pandey made sure that he gave Kohli the perfect support to canter home in dew-laden conditions at the Mohali Stadium.
Pandey, who scored 28, and Kohli put on an unbeaten 97-run partnership to bring the home crowd to life.
Earlier Tom Latham and James Neesham struck fighting half-centuries and a late-order flourish helped New Zealand post a competitive 285.
The visitors suffered a batting slump after Latham fell for 61 but Neesham struck a 47-ball 57 to frustrate the Indian bowling attack.
Umesh Yadav and Kedar Jadhav took three wickets each to reduce New Zealand to 199 for eight, but Neesham put on 84 for the ninth wicket with Henry before the visitors were bowled out with two balls to go.
“The surprise package has been Kedar, he has always given us wickets in the middle overs, and that’s when you can restrict the opposition,” said Dhoni.
The left-handed Neesham, who recorded his maiden ODI fifty, struck seven boundaries while Henry scored an unbeaten 37-ball 39 with the help of four fours and a six.
Part-time spinner Kedar Jadhav, who has built a reputation for getting big wickets at crucial junctures, then spun into action to have skipper Kane Williamson lbw for 22.
“I have no clue how he gets wickets. It’s important to have one in the top five to bowl a few, especially with left-handers in the opposition with him being an offspinner,” said Dhoni.
Latham put on 73 for the third wicket with Taylor (44), the pair apparently at ease on a friendly batting wicket.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra and Jadhav worked in tandem to rattle the middle order as the visitors slipped from 153 for two to lose their next six wickets in 9.3 overs.
Neesham and Henry took the fight to the opposition as the Black Caps added 44 in the last five overs, but in the end their effort was in vain.
“Obviously frustrating to lose those wickets in the middle in a clump, we were probably looking at a bit more at that stage.
“But the lower-order performed really well. Neesham and Henry were outstanding,” said Williamson.
The two teams now head to Ranchi for the fourth ODI on Wednesday.

Iraqi forces battled on Sunday through booby-traps, sniper fire and suicide car bombs to tighten the noose around Mosul, while also hunting Islamic State group jihadists behind attacks elsewhere in the country.
Kurdish forces announced a new push at dawn on Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul, where some 10,000 fighters are engaged in a huge assault to take the IS-held town.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the peshmerga had requested and received Turkish military assistance.
“They (Peshmerga) asked for help from our soldiers at Bashiqa base. We are providing support with artillery, tanks and howitzers,” Yildirim told reporters in western Turkey on Sunday.
Ankara’s claim came a day after Baghdad turned down a suggestion by visiting US Defence chief Ashton Carter — who met Kurdish leader Massud Barzani on Sunday — that Turkey be given a part in the battle.
Launched last Monday, the assault aims to reclaim the last major Iraqi city under IS control, dealing another setback to the jihadists’ self-declared “caliphate” in Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
Carter said on Sunday that the idea of simultaneous operations against Mosul and Raqa in Syria “has been part of our planning for quite a while”.
He also said destroying IS’s external operations capabilities was “our highest priority”.
The jihadists on Friday staged a surprise assault on Iraq’s Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk, and two days later security forces were still tracking down IS fighters there.
The dozens of attackers, including several suicide bombers, failed to seize key government buildings but sowed chaos in the large oil-rich and ethnically mixed city.
At least 51 of the jihadists have been killed, including three more on Sunday, local security officials said.
At least 46 people, most of them in the security forces, were also killed in the raid and ensuing clashes, which had almost completely ceased by late Sunday.
Life was returning to normal in some parts of Kirkuk, but security forces in southern neighbourhoods were still hunting for several gunmen.
IS also attacked Rutba, a remote town near the Jordanian border in the western province of Anbar, with five suicide car bombs, the area’s top army commander said on Sunday.
The attackers briefly seized the mayor’s office but security forces quickly regained the upper hand, he said.
The spectacular attack in Kirkuk, of a type observers warned could happen more often as IS loses territory and reverts to a traditional insurgency, temporarily drew attention away from Mosul.
But there was no sign it had any significant impact on the offensive to retake the city, Iraq’s largest military operation in years.
Tens of thousands of fighters, including Iraqi federal troops and Kurdish peshmerga, are taking part in the assault.
Engaged on the northern and eastern fronts, the peshmerga are expected to stop along a line at an average of 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the boundaries of the city proper.
“They are pretty much there,” a US military official said on Saturday, adding that the lines “will be solidified in the next day or two”.
The peshmerga announced they had secured eight villages near Bashiqa, an IS-held town northeast of Mosul and one of the main Kurdish targets in the offensive.
Elite federal forces were also fighting to retake control of Qaraqosh just east of Mosul. It used to be Iraq’s largest Christian town.
Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, commander of the US-led coalition, said Saturday that jihadist resistance was stiff.
“It’s pretty significant, we are talking about enemy indirect fire, multiple IEDs (improvised explosive devices), multiple VBIED (vehicle-borne IEDs) each day, even some anti-tank guided missiles,” he said in Baghdad.
Iraqi Kurdish and federal forces rarely release casualty figures, but hospitals behind Kurdish lines were overwhelmed by the number of wounded, an AFP reporter said.
“We have a shortage of human resources, medical equipment, medicine and specialised doctors,” Lawand Meran, a doctor at Arbil West hospital, said.
“Soon, if we have 1,000 casualties, our capacity will not be enough.”
US military officials have revised their estimate slightly upward for the number of IS fighters in and around Mosul.
They believe IS is defending Mosul, where the “caliphate” was proclaimed in June 2014, with 3,000 to 5,000 fighters inside the city and 1,000 to 2,000 in the outskirts.
There is deep concern for an estimated 1.2 million civilians still believed to be in the city.
Several thousand civilians fleeing the fighting and the jihadists who ruled them for two years have escaped to camps for the displaced south of Mosul.
“Over 5,000 people are currently displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance,” the United Nations said in an update on Sunday.
“Population movements are fluctuating as the front lines move, including people returning to their homes following improved security conditions in the immediate area,” it said in a statement.
Iraqi forces are now fighting in sparsely populated areas but when they near the limits of the city itself aid groups fear the start of a huge exodus.
A million people could be displaced, sparking an unprecedented humanitarian emergency in a country where more than three million people have already been forced from their homes since the start of 2014.

Angelique Kerber was given a brutal reminder of the extra burden she carries as the new world number one when she was forced to battle through three sets before winning her opening match at the WTA Finals against Dominika Cibulkova on Sunday.
The German was pushed all the way by an inspired Cibulkova before the Slovakian finally buckled and Kerber prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-3.
Although it was not her most polished performance, Kerber?s gritty victory underlined her fierce determination to cap her breakthrough season by adding the prestigious championship to her Australian Open and US Open titles.
“Of course the pressure is there,” Kerber said. “I feel the pressure of the different situation and I also have a lot more things to do in the last few days.
“It’s a challenge for me and I’m trying to play the best tennis in the last tournament in the last week of the year.
“I’m a little bit relaxed now. It was a really good, tough match so I think that was really important for me to have a match like that.?
Simona Halep, who looms as one of Kerber’s biggest threats, also laid down an ominous marker as she demolished rising American Madison Keys 6-2 6-4 in the first match of the $7 million tournament.
A finalist two years ago, the Romanian looked in great form on her return to Singapore’s purple indoor hardcourt, needing just over an hour to win her round-robin contest with the big-hitting Keys.
The American admitted to feeling some anxiety in her first appearance in the elite eight-player event as she struggled to find her rhythm against Halep, one of the most tenacious counterpunchers in the game.
“There were definitely some nerves today, which I don?t think is surprising,” Keys said.
“It’s been a while since I’ve gone to a tournament where it’s all felt new…so that was kind of difficult to deal with.”
Despite being in control, Halep also had a brief moment of self-doubt in the second set, calling for her coach Darren Cahill, who told her just to relax and stick to her gameplan.
“I panicked a little bit because I missed some easy shots,” Halep said.
“He knows how to talk to me when I need. He just calms me down and it’s perfect.”
There was no obvious sign of the intense fight that was to come when Kerber clinically broke Cibulkova in the opening game of their match and comfortably held her own serve.
But the seventh-seed Cibulkova clawed her way back, forcing a tiebreaker than dominating the second set, rattling Kerber with her penetrating groundstrokes into the corners.
Cibulkova seemed to have gained the ascendancy when she broke Kerber’s serve early in the deciding third set but the world number one dug deep and reeled off five of the last six games to clinch victory and remain on course for next weekend?s semifinals with the top two players from each group advancing.
“It is a really, really tough one. It was really close,” a disappointed Cibulkova said.
“In this game, it’s all about small details. She was just bit more consistent in few games, and that’s what made her win.”
The four players in the White Group, the defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova, French Open champion Garbine Muguruza and last-minute qualifier Svetlana Kutznetsova, all play their opening matches on Monday.

The United States has warned its citizens of the potential risk of terror attack or attempted kidnapping of foreigners in Istanbul, which has been rocked by several bombings this year.
The consulate in Istanbul said in a message late Saturday that extremist groups continued their “aggressive efforts” to attack Americans and other foreigners in the city.
“These attacks may be pre-planned or could occur with little or no warning, and include, but are not limited to: armed attack, attempted kidnapping, bombing, or other violent acts,” it said in an online notice.
The consulate did not specify which group was believed to be plotting such acts, but in the past year the city has suffered multiple bombings by the Islamic State group (IS) and Kurdish militants.
In June, 47 people were killed in a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, which authorities blamed on IS.
Those visiting Istanbul or living in the city were advised to “review and update their personal security practices” when frequenting areas popular with Westerners or where they may live, the consulate said.
It is the latest warning from the US after the consulate in southern Adana province warned of a potential security threat targeting US-branded hotels in southern Turkey in late September.
In the same month, the US embassy warned of the risk of a terror attack on businesses, including Starbucks, used by Westerners in Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border.
That warning came after a deadly suicide bombing in Gaziantep blamed on jihadists linked to IS in August. The attack on a wedding left 57 dead including 34 children.
In the latest message, the consulate also told its citizens to avoid travelling to southeastern Turkey and to stay away from large crowds — especially in popular tourist destinations — as well as political gatherings and rallies.

US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter arrived in Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan on Sunday to review the ongoing military offensive to retake the jihadist bastion of Mosul.
As the Pentagon chief went into talks with Kurdish leader Massud Barzani, US officials said Kurdish peshmerga forces had almost reached their goals in the week-old offensive.
The battle plan is for the peshmerga forces to stop along a line at an average of 20 kilometres (12 miles) outside of the city of Mosul, the Islamic State group’s last major stronghold in Iraq.
“They are pretty much there,” a US military official said Saturday when Carter was holding meetings in Baghdad.
Elite federal forces are then expected to take the lead and breach into the city proper, where more than a million civilians are still believed to be living.
That peshmerga line of control, mostly on the northern and eastern fronts, “will be solidified in the next day or two,” the official said.
The United States leads a 60-nation coalition — which also includes Britain and France — that has provided key support in the form of thousands of air strikes, training to Iraqi forces and advisers on the ground.
Kurdish forces are currently engaged in a huge push around the IS-held town of Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul.
They gained significant ground on the eastern front in the first days of the offensive, which was launched on October 17.
In Baghdad, Carter praised the peshmerga and “the way their efforts are completely coordinated with the ISF (Iraqi securitry forces).”
The coordination between Baghdad and Arbil, at odds over Kurdish independence and oil revenue, had been one of the key question marks ahead of the offensive.
Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, commander of the US-led coalition, noted on Saturday that, while progress in the offensive was satisfactory, jihadist resistance was stiff.
“The resistance is about as broad as expected,” he said in Baghdad.
“It’s pretty significant, we are talking about enemy indirect fire, multiple IEDs (improvised explosive devices), multiple VBIED (vehicle-borne IEDs) each day, even some anti-tank guided missiles, so it’s been very tough fighting, snipers, machineguns,” he said.
US military officials have revised their estimate slightly upward for the number of IS fighters involved int he Mosul theatre.
They believe the IS group is defending its stronghold of Mosul, where the “caliphate” was proclaimed in June 2014, with 3,000 to 5,000 fighters inside the city and 1,000 to 2,000 spread out on the outskirts.
A French government official told AFP the breach into Mosul, which could mark the beginning of a phase of fierce street battles with IS, could still be a month away.

Marcello Lippi will earn almost $5 million a year as China coach but will pocket far more through a tie-in with a football academy, state media said Sunday.
The 68-year-old Italian was named boss of the national team by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) on Saturday. He has the tricky goal of steering the Asian giant to qualify for the 2018 World Cup — a near impossible feat given recent losses to Uzbekistan and war-torn Syria.
Lippi’s annual salary “should be 4.5 million euros ($4.9 million)” said state broadcaster CCTV on an official social media account.
But the offer made to the Italian also includes income from Guangzhou Evergrande’s football academy which will pay “Lippi and his team” 15.5 million euros annually to act as official “advisers” for the establishment, CCTV said.
The club, which is riding high atop the Chinese Super League, did not confirm the figure when contacted by AFP.
Lippi coached Evergrande to great heights, leading the side to three consecutive Super League titles between 2012 and 2014.
He was due to work with the club next season, but Evergrande announced Saturday it was breaking the agreement so the Italian could take the reins at a national level.
Lippi is committed to Guangzhou’s football academy until “the end of January 2019”, CCTV said. The CFA did not give details about the length of Lippi’s contract.
The Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily, citing sources close to the Italian, reported that “as well as the CFA, the highest levels of government also invited Lippi” to coach the national side, a move that had “a direct bearing on his decision”.
Improving the level of football at club and national level has been a priority for President Xi Jinping. Even before taking office he underlined his ambitions for China to qualify for the World Cup, to host the event and to one day win it.
Lippi, who masterminded Italy to their most recent World Cup triumph in 2006, has his work cut out in his latest assignment.
China, the most populous nation on earth, languish a lowly 84th in the FIFA world rankings — sandwiched between Kenya and Guatemala.
They have claimed just one point from four games in the latest World Cup qualification phase and are bottom in Group A, which includes Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Syria and Qatar.

Qatar’s World Cup organisers have announced that a worker employed in the construction of one of the stadiums for the 2022 tournament has died in a “work-related” incident.
It is the first time World Cup organisers in Qatar have announced a work-related death in regard to the tournament.
“It is with deep regret we announce a work-related fatality on one of our projects” following “an incident on Al-Wakrah Stadium on Saturday morning,” said the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
“A full investigation is underway to determine the factors which contributed to the death of one of our workers,” it added.
The statement did not identify the worker or give details on the nature of the incident.
Qatar has been widely condemned for its treatment of foreign workers.
The issue of deaths among migrant labourers helping build stadiums for its $30 billion tournament has long proved controversial.
Critics have claimed that 1,200 workers have already died and up to 4,000 could perish before the World Cup begins, a figure vehemently denied by Qatar.
Qatar has an estimated 1.6 million migrant workers, more than 85 percent of the entire workforce, according to government figures released at the end of 2015.
The number of workers employed on World Cup sites in Qatar is expected to peak at 36,000 by 2018.
In February, organisers said six labourers building stadiums for the tournament suffered work-related injuries last year but there were no fatalities.
In May, it was announced an investigation had been launched into the death of an Indian worker at the Al-Bayt stadium, but organisers denied his death was work-related.
Shaped to look like a traditional dhow boat, Al-Wakrah stadium has a capacity of 40,000 and will be used up to the quarter-final stages in 2022.

On a dusty road in northeast Syria, a woman and her four children stand beside a freshly erected green sign for Joldara, the Kurdish name of her village known for decades as Shajra.
As part of an ambitious project by Kurdish authorities, hundreds of towns and villages in northern Syria are shedding Arabised names adopted in the 1960s in favour of their traditional Kurdish ones.
In Joldara, 70-year-old Abdulrahman Hawas Hamo recounts the history of his village’s name as he fixes an old white truck in his yard.
“Joldara in Kurdish means a plain covered in trees,” he says.
“This was the name of the village before it was Arabised by the Syrian government in 1962 and changed to Shajra,” which means tree in Arabic, he explains.
A handful of modest one-room mud houses make up the village, which lies in Syria’s arid Hasakeh province against a backdrop of dry hills.
The roads into and out of Joldara are lined with new signs bearing the Kurdish names of nearby villages in both Arabic and Latin script.
Syria’s Kurds, who number about three million, have been denied basic rights for decades by the ruling Baath party.
The community was banned from speaking or teaching the Kurdish language and celebrating Kurdish feast days, and some were barred from holding Syrian nationality.
The names of hundreds of villages and towns were also Arabised in the government’s official registers — but Kurdish authorities are now reversing the procedure.
Soon after Syria’s uprising erupted in 2011, President Bashar al-Assad granted citizenship to thousands of Kurds and regime troops withdrew from Kurdish-majority areas in 2012.
Since then, Kurds have erected a parallel system of institutions, complete with schools and police units, to govern swathes of the country’s north.
“We are not renaming towns and villages — we are returning to their original, historical names,” says Joseph Lahdo, co-chair of the autonomous municipalities commission in Hasakeh.
Local committees are being consulted on the original Kurdish name of their hometowns.
“The autonomous administration then uses these names in its records and communication,” Lahdo says.
“Maps will include the original Kurdish name with the Arabised name in parentheses.”
The process is not recognised by the central government in Damascus, which has preserved the Arabised names in its own registers.
Researcher Zohrab Qado says the Arabisation of town and village names accelerated when Syria’s Baathist regime came to power in the 1960s, but had begun the previous decade under the short-lived United Arab Republic of Syria and Egypt.
Between 1978 and 1998 alone, Qado says, the names of more than 500 villages in Hasakeh province were Arabised, as well as other towns like Kobane, which became known as Ain al-Arab.
“These procedures weren’t innocent — the Arabisation was planned,” Qado tells AFP in his office, surrounded by history books in Kurdish and Arabic.
The town of Derek “was changed to Al-Malikiyah in 1957 in a formal decree in memory of Adnan al-Maliki”, the founder of Syria’s modern army.
An employee at the government’s civil register in Amuda, also in Hasakeh province, says place names were officially Arabised “in a formal letter from the ministry of interior”.
“Even newborns had to have their names approved and Arabised by security agencies,” says the employee who requested anonymity.
According to Qado, Syria’s government even distributed land around Kurdish villages to Arab farmers coming from the nearby province of Raqa in a bid to transform the demographic composition of northern Syria.
Among these, Ahmad al-Abduli’s family travelled as part of this government programme to a village now identified by its Kurdish name of Himo.
“We came from Raqa in the 1970s, and the village name was changed at the time to Hanadi. But today it has gotten its older name back,” the 45-year-old says.
Kurdish families saw the land distributions and renamings as an attempt to erase their identity.
Sheikhmous Rasho, a Kurdish farmer in his 60s, gestures excitedly in his hometown, which several weeks ago regained its original name of Girsor.
“Our village is… more than 200 years old,” he says.
“But they changed the Kurdish names to Arabic, so they could say these were Arab villages and distance us from our Kurdish nationality and language.”
Residents of Amuda were thrilled after the municipality announced they could add Kurdish-language signs outside their shops.
Outside the store where he sells roasted cashews and other nuts, Adnan Hoshi carefully writes out “Emise Hejar” — Kurdish for “Nut shop”.
“It’s a victory for us to be able to write the name of our shops in Kurdish,” he says with a grin.

A top Bollywood movie mired in controversy for featuring a Pakistani actor will open as scheduled in India after an industry body agreed to ban actors from across the border in future.
A hardline Hindu nationalist party had threatened to attack cinemas that showed prominent Indian director Karan Johar’s film “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”, as tensions run high between New Delhi and Islamabad.
But the Film and Television Producers Guild of India has now promised to bar Pakistani actors in future under a deal brokered between the sides on Saturday.
The movie starring Pakistani heart-throb Fawad Khan is set for release next weekend, two days before the Diwali Hindu festival of lights, a major holiday in India.
“In the larger interest of the sentiments of the people and the soldiers and the entire country, we will not work with any Pakistani artist in the future,” guild president Mukesh Bhatt told reporters after the meeting.
Bollywood is the latest battleground for heightened tensions between nuclear-armed archrivals India and Pakistan, sparked by a deadly attack last month on an Indian army base blamed on Pakistani-based militants.
In a series of tit-for-tat moves in the entertainment industry, Pakistan has suspended screening all Indian movies until tensions calm, while Hindu nationalists in India have threatened violence at cinemas showing films with Pakistani actors.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947.
Under the deal, Johar and his colleagues have agreed to contribute 50 million rupees ($747,220) to the Indian army as “penance” for using a Pakistan actor in the first place.
They have also agreed to run a tribute to the soldiers who were killed before the film starts, according to Raj Thackeray, head of the far-right regional party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
The firebrand leader said protests against the film have now been called off, but it was unclear if agreement was reached on his wider demand for all moviemakers to pay a penance if they had cast a Pakistani actor previously.
The deal was struck at a meeting between Johar, the guild and Thackeray and brokered by Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra state. The state capital Mumbai is the home of Bollywood.
“Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” (“This Heart is Complicated”), which stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor, will hit Indian theatres on October 28.

Boniface Mwangi has taken his fight with the Deputy President to another level. Having called out and accused the Deputy President on a number of occasions for several things, he was slapped with a defamation suit by the DP lawyers. However, as many had expected, this only served to invigorate the outspoken activist even further.
Boniface Mwangi has come out fighting and through his lawyer Gitobu Imanyara, he has filed his defense and counter claims that throw further accusations to the Deputy President.  Among the new claims is the accusation that William Ruto impregnated a university girl in 2006 and had refused to take care of the child until he was threatened with court action.
According to his 36 page defense in court, he claims
Further, Boniface Mwangi accuses Deputy President of defaming him. Part of the statement from his legal team reads,
In the statement Boniface Mwangi alleged that he had reasons to believe that the Deputy President may wish to kill him. He argued that William Ruto had no moral authority nor reputation to protect and that he also had his freedom of expression. Below is a press statement ht e activist and his legal team released.
 

Openers Azhar Ali and Sami Aslam hit half-centuries to help Pakistan strengthen their grip on the third day of the second Test against West Indies in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Ali was unbeaten on 52 and Asad Shafiq five not out as Pakistan reached 114-1 at stumps, increasing their lead to 342 after dismissing West Indies for 224 in their first innings.
That had given Pakistan a first innings lead of 228 and left them firmly in control as they look to claim an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Pakistan won the first Test — a day-night affair played with a pink ball — by 56 runs to take a 1-0 advantage.
But despite the West Indies falling 29 runs short of avoiding the follow-on, Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq decided not to enforce it and batted again.
Both Ali and Aslam survived leg-before decisions through referrals after on-field umpire Michael Gough had raised his finger on both occasions.
Gough has now seen four of his decisions overturned in the match with fellow English umpire Richard Illingworth forced to change his initial verdict three times.
Aslam was finally dismissed when he was caught behind off paceman Shannon Gabriel for 50, although only after West Indian captain Jason Holder called for a review.
Pakistan will look to stretch their lead even further to leave the West Indies up against it on a wearing fourth and fifth day pitch at Sheikd Zayed Stadium.
Earlier, West Indies added just 118 to their overnight score before they were bowled out at tea with Pakistani leg-spinner Yasir Shah taking 4-86.
Holder (31) and Gabriel (13) frustrated Pakistan with a 27-run last wicket stand before Shah took the final wicket of Gabriel, caught at mid-on to end the innings.
“We are in a commanding position,” said Shah. “We know the pitch will help spinners from tomorrow onwards so if we get a lead of 500 then we can press for a win.
“It was good to get four wickets but I was facing a bit of difficulty after bowling with the pink ball in the first Test and then switching to red here.”
Shah also dismissed Roston Chase (22) and Shai Hope (11) after lunch while fast bowler Sohail Khan bowled Miguel Cummins (three) to finish with 2-35.
Resuming at 106-4, West Indies lost overnight batsman Jermaine Blackwood in the seventh over of the day when he edged Rahat Ali to wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed after scoring just eight.
Chase and nightwatchman Devendra Bishoo both survived lbw appeals but Sohail had the last laugh as he clean bowled Bishoo for 20, leaving West Indies struggling at 144-6.
The third and final Test will be played in Sharjah from October 30-November 3.

Bangladesh battled to 253-8 at stumps on the fourth day of a thrilling Test in Chittagong on Sunday, needing 33 for their first ever win against England.
Hopes of an historic Test victory rested with debutant Sabbir Rahman who was unbeaten on 59, after England set the hosts a target of 286 on a crumbling wicket.
Sabbir shared an 87-run stand with skipper Mushfiqur Rahim before England regained the initiative with three quick wickets in the final session.
Off-spinner Gareth Batty broke the late resistance with an awkwardly bouncing delivery that prompted skipper Mushfiqur (39) to give a catch to Gary Ballance at short leg.
Pace bowler Stuart Broad then found some reverse swing to remove Mehedi Hasan (one) and Kamrul Islam (0), putting England back in charge.
Batty finished the day with 3-65 while Broad claimed 2-26, but Sabbir kept Bangladesh in contention with a gritty innings that included three fours and two sixes.
?I think it has been a brilliant Test match,? Broad said. ?Both sets of players have shown considerable skill. The pitch hasn?t been great for the batsmen.
?I think Bangladesh will be very proud with their performance. We are proud we have utilised our skills in these conditions.
?This was our first Test match here for six years. There?s going to be 11 very disappointed and 11 delighted guys tomorrow. This is not going to be a draw,? Broad said.
Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe was happy to see his charges taking the fight to the visitors.
?I am really happy that they took 20 wickets,? he said.
?I am happy to be still in the game in the fourth day against a team like England. I don?t think anyone gave us a chance four days ago.?
Stumps were drawn early due to bad light after England were told they could only use their spinners and not the pace attack in the last five overs, a condition they did not accept.
England’s spinners earlier dismissed Bangladesh’s top five to leave them on 140-5, as Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid chipped in with useful wickets.
Ali removed a positive-looking Shakib Al Hasan for 24 just as the all-rounder was trying to rebuild the innings after Batty trapped Mominul Haque (27) and Mahmudullah (17) in the post-lunch session.
Rashid claimed Imrul Kayes for 43 in the penultimate over before lunch. Kayes, who hit six fours in his 61-ball innings, looked well settled until he misjudged a sweep to get a top edge to Joe Root at slip.
Moeen handed England their first breakthrough when he removed Tamim Iqbal for nine as Ballance took the catch at forward short leg.
Just one ball earlier, Tamim had survived a review after Root took a catch that initially hit the body of a tumbling Ben Stokes at slip. The replay indicated there was no bat or glove involved.
England were all out for 240 in their second innings in the fifth over of the morning, after adding just 12 to their overnight tally of 228-8.
Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam trapped Batty leg before off his second ball after Stuart Broad was run out on his overnight score of 10. Chris Woakes was unbeaten on 19.
The second and final Test will start in Dhaka on October 28.

Uhuru Kenyatta is now a proud father in law. The Kenyan president winded down a busy week with a colorful ceremony as he saw his son marry at a private wedding ceremony. Uhuru Kenyatta’s older son Jomo, married his girlfriend in a traditional wedding at an undisclosed location with only close family and friends invited.
The couple engaged early this year in June and have been previously seen together in public events. Most notably, they have were together during last year’s Jamuhuri Day celebrations, Obama’s Kenyan visit as well as the Pope’s tour in Kenya. They all wore traditional Kikuyu attire which appeared to be the main theme of the wedding. However, it is believed the couple will have a white wedding at a later date next year.
The privacy of the wedding keeps with the nature of Jomo who has avoided sustained public and press attention keeping much of his affairs very private. It adds the maturing Uhuru Kenyatta family a new member.
Uhuru Kenyatta who was at the ceremony sat as a Kikuyu elder as he blessed the couple and seems to be easily embracing his new status as father in law. Being one of the most followed families in Kenya, people will now eagerly await for a new born. Here are photos of the wedding

 

 
 
 
 

Justin Thomas secured a back-to-back CIMB Classic title on Sunday, posting a flawless eight-under 64 to erase a four-stroke overnight deficit in the only PGA tour event he has ever won.
Thomas finished at 23-under overall at TPC Kuala Lumpur, three shots ahead of Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, whose final-round 66 was not enough to keep up.
Both of the 23-year-old Thomas’s two PGA Tour wins have been at the CIMB Classic.
Thomas also put in a solid showing at last week’s Safeway Open, the PGA Tour’s season-opener, finishing just four strokes off the lead.
“I feel like I just need to continue to build on this momentum and try to use this as kind of a springboard to the start of the year,” he said.
“To try to move up in the world rankings and get in that top ten, get in that top five.”
Widely regarded as one of golf’s up-and-coming young players, Thomas’s deft wedge play and approach shots were a major plus in Malaysia’s hot and humid conditions, which were ideal for scoring.
Thomas said he especially drew confidence from being able to lead the first two rounds and come back for the win after faltering in round three.
On Saturday he was cruising toward the title when he dropped four shots in a three-hole stretch to start the back nine.
That put India’s Anirban Lahiri in the driver’s seat with a four-stroke lead coming into the final round.
But on Sunday it was Lahiri’s turn to falter, stumbling on the par-five third hole with a quadruple-bogey nine after his errant tee shot got stuck in a tree, forcing him to take a penalty and return to the tee.
Although he clawed back with a birdie and an eagle on the next two holes, a bogey quickly followed and failure to convert putts down the stretch sealed his fate.
“I fought back as best I could, but I just couldn’t get the putts to fall on the back nine,” he said, calling the outcome a “tough pill to swallow”.
Lahiri, the 2015 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, ended up tied for third at 19-under with Derek Fathauer of the United States, with Australia’s Marc Leishman two strokes further back.
Thomas pockets $1.26 million, 500 FedEX Cup points and an invite to the winners-only 2017 Tournament of Champions.
He now leads in the race for the FedEX Cup Championship, though the season remains young.
Thomas and several others in the field head next week to Shanghai for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.
The CIMB Classic is co-sponsored by the Asian and PGA Tours and is the second event of the PGA Tour’s 2017 schedule. It debuted in 2010.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the suspects had been placed under arrest since the attempted putsch that fell apart within hours, quoted by NTV broadcaster.
Another 3,907 suspects were still being sought while nearly 26,000 people had been released into “judicial control”, he said.
Some 82,000 individuals had been investigated in total since the coup bid, he told the audience on Saturday at a ruling Justice and Development Party conference in Afyonkarahisar, western Turkey.
Tens of thousands of people have been suspended, sacked or detained in the military, judiciary, police, education sector and media in connection with the July 15 attempted putsch blamed on Gulen and his Hizmet (Service) movement.
The unprecedented purge has come under heavy criticism from Turkey’s Western allies, including the European Union. Brussels has urged Ankara to act within the rule of law, which Turkey insists it is.
Ankara accuses Gulen of masterminding the coup, during which a rogue military faction tried to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Gulen — who has lived in self-imposed exile since 1999 in Pennsylvania — strongly denies the charges.

Australia coach Michael Cheika continued his rant against the All Blacks Sunday, saying he would not back down from his outburst after the New Zealanders’ record-setting victory.
And if a perceived lack of respect by the All Blacks was not bad enough for the aggrieved coach, he faced more negative news with second-rower Dean Mumm cited for foul play during Saturday’s Test in Auckland.
Cheika was fuming after the All Blacks won 37-10 and refused to congratulate them on posting a world-record 18th consecutive victory.
Instead he launched into a wide-ranging tirade that took aim at the All Blacks, a newspaper cartoon, the referee, and the bugging device found in the New Zealand team room before a Test in Sydney earlier this year.
He even complained about not being invited into the New Zealand dressing room for a beer after the game.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen rejected all accusations and advised Cheika to “stop whining” but the Australian coach was not backing down.
“They asked me to make a comment about their achievement and I said I didn’t think they’d care about my comment which I think is the truth,” he said when the team returned to Sydney. “I think that’s the honest thing to say.”
He also continued to link the All Blacks to the New Zealand Herald’s pre-game cartoon depicting him as a clown.
“That’s their go-to paper, the whole bug thing came out from there, which you know we had policemen in our offices asking our management questions about it.
“That’s serious stuff to be accusing people of and it’s not true. That’s their go-to. Nothing happens without that connection so that’s my point of view. They don’t have to agree with it.”
Meanwhile, Cheika had to address the issue of Mumm being cited for an alleged incident “that met the red card threshold for foul play”, according to a New Zealand Rugby statement.
“A player must not strike an opponent with the fist or arm, including the elbow, shoulder, head or knee,” the statement said, adding the incident was in the 53rd minute but it did not identify who was supposedly hit.

Minutes after fishermen tip him off that a ship is about to pass through Istanbul’s Bosphorus, Yoruk Isik drops what he’s doing and rushes to his favourite vantage point, camera in hand.
The vessel is not one of the dozens of cargo boats that pass through the strait between Europe and Asia every day. It is a Russian warship, in this case the landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov.
It makes stately progress through the strait towards the Sea of Marmara on a voyage that will eventually take it into the Mediterranean towards Tartus, Russia’s naval base in Syria.
Isik clicks the shutter, capturing Russian sailors at the rails taking in the view. The Russians can be seen returning the favour, keeping a close eye on the shore-side observers.
Several Russian warships pass in both directions through the Bosphorus every week, transporting cargo for Moscow’s military campaign in Syria, in a massive logistical effort known as the “Syrian Express”.
Their passage through the densely-populated Turkish metropolis represents a unique chance to see close up a deployed Russian warship that would usually be kept well away from prying eyes.
And each time they come, a group of amateur but well-informed and hugely dedicated Turkish ship spotters are there to photograph them and share their work on social media where their following has shot up.
Their work rose to prominence in December last year when they spotted a Russian soldier aboard the Tsezar Kunikov warship with a MANPAD shoulder-launched missile aimed at the shore, in a gesture slammed as “provocation” by Ankara.
The pictures made headlines in Turkish media at a time of peak tensions between Russia and Turkey following the downing of one of Moscow’s warplanes on the Syria border just 10 days earlier.
Standing by the old Ottoman fortress of Rumeli Hisari on the European shore of the Bosphorus where the strait is at its narrowest, Isik has been waiting for this particular Russian warship for several days.
Through his contacts and social media, he knows the vessel left Russia’s Sevastopol base in Crimea — the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 — several days before.
“That ship could have arrived as early as yesterday but it appears to have travelled slower because of bad weather in the Black Sea.”
Isik says he can estimate the ship’s arrival time soon after it leaves its base, but notes it might change depending on weather conditions or its tonnage.
“From Sevastopol to Istanbul, it is approximately 300 nautical miles. But the vessel may not always pass through the congested Bosphorus strait directly.”
As the nose of the vessel emerges, he cracks a big smile, reminiscent of a small child opening a Christmas gift.
“Look, someone on the ship is saying hello to me,” he says, pointing out armed Russian soldiers on board through the camera lens.
Like a nautical dictionary, Isik knows all of the technical specifications of this Tapir class tank-carrying landing ship — when it was built, where it was used, how many military tanks it can carry.
An international relations specialist by profession, Isik is a passionate ship spotter, and only occasionally earns small amounts from the copyright of the pictures he takes.
“This is not a smart way to make money,” smiles Alper Boler, another prominent ship spotter who has also enjoyed visibility after photographing Russian soldiers last December.
Boler usually takes pictures from his home in Uskudar, which has a beautiful view of the Bosphorus from the Asian side of the city.
Asked why he has been photographing ships for three years, his answer is simple: “Curiosity.”
There was even a time when he would rush to shoot a passing ship during short breaks between business meetings.
“We are witness to whatever passes through the Bosphorus,” says Boler who designs furniture and other products.
While it struck many outsiders as astonishing that Russian warships were passing unchallenged through the Bosphorus at the height of the 2015-2016 crisis between Turkey and Russia, it is a right enshrined in the 1936 Montreux Convention.
This gives the warships of Moscow — and other Black Sea littoral states — the right to pass so long as they are not at war with Turkey.
“It’s not exceptional to see Russian ships for someone who grew up and who lives in Istanbul,” Isik says.
“This is an exceptional location passing through a mega city, a narrow passage all the ships have to pass through, there’s no other way around,” he says, pointing to the Bosphorus.
Isik says the movement of warships through the Bosphorus is itself a sign of shifting international relations.
“Likewise, the presence of NATO ships here was a part of Europe’s involvement in Ukraine-related developments with Russia.”
But the traffic of Russian warships through the strait en route to Moscow’s base in the Syrian port city of Tartus has dramatically increased in recent years, he says, especially since the Kremlin launched its military operation there a year ago.
“We predicted from August last year — by merely doing ship spotting — that Russia would launch an operation in Syria,” he says.
But apart from all the war and politics, Isik says the Bosphorus is the place where he finds himself.
“Away from the reality of daily life, traffic, your child’s school fees, that’s the place I listen to myself.”

On Friday night the inaugural Mr. and Miss Albinism Kenya pageant was held at Carnivore grounds amid pomp and glamour.
 
As the event’s tag line mentioned, ‘Beyond the Skin’, the event’s main aim was to counter the negative stereotypes and the stigma that comes with discrimination. The event also celebrated 10 years of the Albinism Society of Kenya which was the main organizer.
 
The build to the event attracted attention and it saw the participation of celebrities and top personalities with the Deputy President William Ruto being the guest of honor. Former TV girl Sheila Mwanyigah was the host and gospel star Bahati was among the performers of the night. Nominated MP Isaac Mwaura who is also ASK Kenya National coordinator revealed that,
“Persons with albinism are extremely excited about this first ever Mr and Miss Albinism. It has never happened before and they have an opportunity to showcase what they got and I can assure you it’s something,”
Like many who attended the event, he also called for more efforts to be done to create awareness not just I the country but the whole region. The Deputy President lauded the talent on show as he spoke of the government programs to involve people with albinism in nation building.
 
The judges for the vent were beauty model, Deliah Ipupa and Pastor David Burale. Most of the contestant showcased attire that showed they can handle basically any job from fishing to physical sports and uniformed forces.
 
 
At the end the first winners for the event were Jairus Jzay and Loise Lihanda who were corned Mr. and Miss Albinism Kenya 2016.
 

For decades, baseball fans in Chicago have waited and hoped that the Cubs would make it to the World Series.
They have been disappointed since 1945 — the last time the team appeared in the coveted US championship. They have not won one in more than a century, since 1908.
This year, Chicagoans held their collective breath as their beloved team won game after game. Saturday night, they breathed out a sigh of relief, and cheers rang out throughout the city.
The Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to advance to the World Series.
The streets around the baseball team’s stadium Wrigley Field were quickly filled with cheering fans, many waving the team’s signature “win” flag — a big blue W on a white background.
“My grandpa’s been alive for so long, and he’s never experienced this,” said Adam Lewickas, a 31-year-old Chicagoan.
He was standing among a sea of cheering people in front of the baseball stadium. Cars honked loudly all around. People walked up to each other with outstretched hands, giving high-fives.
“You’ve seen tears here tonight. You’ve seen people just so emotional about it,” said Anthony Madrano, 43, also a lifelong Chicagoan.
“I’ve been waiting for this all my life,” he said. “Here in Chicago, it’s just something special. You can’t describe it.”
Muhammad Abdullah said “we just got to win four more and this place is going to erupt. I can’t wait,” referring to the four additional games the Cubs must win to clinch the World Series championship.
Ask Chicagoans why it has taken the Cubs so long to even reach the World Series, and they will only half-jokingly tell you about the curse of the billy goat.
The legend goes that in 1945, Billy Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, was kicked out of a game because of the foul odor of his pet goat. Outraged, he then cursed the club and declared it would not win another World Series.
The tension in Chicago over the last few days has been palpable, as the city waited to see if the team could finally shrug off its losing streak — curse or no curse.
On Saturday night, fans such as Debbie Mytych, 57, were left in tears.
“I’m just emotional. It’s a very, very happy day,” Mytych said.
In recent years, Chicago has made headlines more for its rampant gun violence and escalating homicide rate. A historic moment was a welcome opportunity to celebrate.
“We need (a victory),” she said. “We get a lot of bad reputation, a lot of bad stories about us, but we’re more than that.”

At least 100 inmates, some of them armed, escaped a Haitian prison near the capital Port-au-Prince during a mutiny, killing at least one guard, a source close to the investigation said Sunday.
Local media, citing police, said 172 prisoners had fled the Arcahaie facility, located on the coast northwest of the capital Port-au-Prince.
A preliminary investigation indicates a guard forgot to lock a door Saturday as the inmates were eating. The prisoners left the cafeteria and armed themselves with police weapons, the source said on condition of anonymity.
During the ensuing firefight, the head prison guard was killed and two others were wounded.
Le Nouvelliste newspaper quoted Arcahaie prison manager Heurtelou Paul Colson as saying one prisoner climbed a wall and fell to his death, while two other detainees were wounded and in hospital.
Authorities refused to officially confirm the number of inmates involved or the death toll.
“Special police units are on site to secure the area and prevent those responsible from causing further harm,” the office of interim prime minister Enex Jean-Charles, who also serves as defense minister, said in a statement.
Residents have been asked to cooperate with police, who have launched a manhunt for the escapees, the statement said.
“The government strongly condemns the incidents that took place at Arcahaie prison, targeted in a mutiny by heavily armed individuals.”
The foreign, justice and interior ministers, along with top police officials, headed to the scene after the mutiny.
The US Embassy in Haiti advised all Americans to avoid the area following a “violent prison break.”
Le Nouvelliste reported that the supposed mastermind of the prison break, who was serving time for kidnapping, was arrested, along with about 10 other prisoners.
Prisons in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, suffer from mass overcrowding. Earlier this year, the International Center for Prison Studies said they were at 450 percent of capacity.
A majority of Haitian prisoners are awaiting trial.

Afghanistan saw a 10 percent jump in opium cultivation this year because of bumper harvests, collapsing eradication efforts due to growing insecurity and declining international aid to combat drugs, the UN said Sunday.
Cultivation dropped last year due to drought but it has been on the rise in the past decade, fuelling the Taliban insurgency and spurring a growing crisis of drug addiction despite costly US-led counter-narcotics programmes.
High levels of cultivation this year meant the estimated opium production soared 43 percent to 4,800 tons, a UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report said, underscoring a “worrying reversal” in efforts to combat the scourge of drugs.
“The cultivation has increased by 10 percent this year compared to the same time in 2015 — from 183,000 hectares to 201,000 hectares,” counter-narcotics minister Salamat Azimi told reporters while releasing the UN report.
The statistics represent the third-highest level of cultivation in Afghanistan in more than two decades — after a record high in 2014 and 2013.
Officials cited favourable weather, rising insecurity and falling international donor support as the main reasons for the increase in cultivation in Afghanistan, the world’s leading producer of opium.
Ninety-three percent of the cultivation took place in the southern, western and eastern parts of the country, the report said.
The southern restive province of Helmand remained the country’s top poppy-cultivating province, followed by Badghis, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Nangarhar and Farah — all hotbeds of insurgent activity.
“I believe with the existing equipment, facilities and civilian task force, we cannot fight the cultivation of poppy in insecure areas,” said Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, deputy minister of interior for counter-narcotics.
“The challenges of deteriorating security in different parts of the country took away the opportunities to destroy poppy farms.”
Eradication efforts appeared to have collapsed. A total of 355 hectares of poppy eradication was carried out this year, a 91 percent plunge from 2015.
“In 2016, farmers’ resistance against poppy eradication operations was occasionally expressed through direct attacks on eradication teams,” the UN report said.
“No eradication took place in the provinces with high levels of opium poppy cultivation due to the extremely poor security situation in those areas and logistical/financial challenges to organise the eradication teams on time.”
Afghanistan saw a drop in opium cultivation last year for the first time since 2009, a UN report said, citing drought as a key reason for the decline. But that was seen as a temporary blip.
Poppy farmers in Afghanistan are often taxed by the Taliban, who use the cash to help fund their insurgency against government and NATO forces.
“Most of the conflicts in Afghanistan are financed by income from poppy. Anywhere you see poppy in Afghanistan you see fighting there,” said Ahmadi.
International donors have splurged billions of dollars on counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan over the past decade, including efforts to encourage farmers to switch to other cash crops such as saffron. But those efforts have shown little results.
Addiction levels have also risen sharply — from almost nothing under the 1996-2001 Taliban regime — giving rise to a new generation of addicts since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
“We explain to the international community that now is the time to increase support for counter-narcotics in Afghanistan,” said UNODC regional chief Andrey Avetisyan.

Cal Crutchlow seized on a blunder by new world champion Marc Marquez at Australia’s Phillip Island on Sunday to win only his second MotoGP.
The Briton, who turns 31 next week and was competing in his 103rd MotoGP, capitalised when Marquez made a mistake and crashed out on lap 10 while holding a big lead.
Crutchlow maintained a solid race pace on his LCR Honda to beat Italian great Valentino Rossi on his Movistar Yamaha by 4.218secs, with Spain’s Maverick Vinales third on a Suzuki Ecstar.
The race turned dramatically when Marquez, who claimed his third premier-class world crown with victory in Japan last weekend, slid off his Repsol Honda into the gravel on Turn Four when in command.
Crutchlow swept to the front and held off the nine-time world champion Rossi until the chequered flag as Vinales and Andrea Dovizioso battled for third.
He became the first British winner of the Australian MotoGP.
Marquez acknowledged that he was to blame for the crash.
“It was completely my mistake. During the whole season I?ve been very careful on the braking points and this time I risked more so this crash has nothing to do with the Michelin tyres,” he admitted.
It was Crutchlow’s second victory in premier class after beating Rossi and Marquez in this season’s Czech MotoGP in August.
“Someone asked me last week what I thought about going to Phillip Island and I said I planned to come and win… it’s nice to win one in the wet and the dry because people only think you can ride in the rain when you win in it,” Crutchlow said.
“I had to stay strong, I thought my pace in the race was good and better than in other years here,” Crutchlow said.
“I was pleased to to be able to take advantage when it came, and we look forward to Malaysia now.”
Crutchlow had memories of his crash at the same corner two years when he trailed race leader Rossi on the last lap at Phillip Island.
“I didn’t brake into that turn and took it quite easy. I was in the rhythm and so I continued with that and I rode comfortably to the finish,” he said.
“I didn’t want to make the same mistake but I knew I had to keep pushing if we lost the heat in the front tyre.
“I was quite confident I may have caught Marc but when he crashed I tried to keep the same pace and in the last 10-12 laps I didn’t really push, I just made sure I kept the heat in the front tyre.
“I was confident I could have won with Marc in the race and we now look forward to the last two races.”
Rossi greatly improved his chances of finishing runner-up this season with his second placing. He now leads team-mate Jorge Lorenzo by 24 points heading into the final two races.
Rossi has now finished 16 times on the podium in 20 trips to Australia amid his eight wins across all classes at Phillip Island.
“This morning we discovered that we have good pace and step by step I came back and I try to reach Cal, but today he was too fast and too strong for me,” Rossi said.
“Cal is always very fast around Phillip Island, he can interpret the track, and for me the second half of the race was difficult and I could not do.”
Pol Espargaro was fifth and Lorenzo sixth in Sunday’s race, with two races left in the championship in Malaysia and Spain.
Swiss Thomas Luthi pipped Franco Morbidelli on the line to win an exciting Moto2 and pull to within 22 points of French championship leader Johann Zarco with two races left.
Newly-crowned world champion Brad Binder of South Africa stretched his lead in the world championship to 130 points after a dominant win in the Moto3 race.
Many of his rivals were among a total of 14 riders to crash out, with the race shortened to 10 laps under a red flag.

After basking in its best tourist summer season in 15 years, Spain now sees dark clouds on the horizon as popular destinations reach saturation point and holidaymakers are more thrifty, industry experts say.
The 2016 summer season proved exceptionally good, with an influx of tourists fleeing other popular destinations recently hit by attacks, said Jose Luis Zoreda, vice-president of Exceltur, the sector’s employers’ association.
A combination of lower interest rates and petrol prices along with unrest in other Mediterranean countries benefited Spain’s coastal regions, with their famed “sun and beaches,” he said.
But he warned that “it will be difficult to reproduce this one-off scenario.”
Exceltur believes that out of the 75 million estimated tourists to Spain this year, close to four million will be holidaymakers who used to go to places like Turkey or Egypt.
But it’s “a very uncertain and volatile bubble,” Zoreda said.
In 2016, the tourism sector is expected to grow 4.4 percent year-on-year — compared to a forecast 3.2 percent expansion in Spain’s overall economy — which is “the highest rise in the past 15 years,” said Exceltur.
In the first eight months of the year, Spain saw a 10 percent increase in the number of tourists from 2015 — or a total of 52.5 million people, with the Brits in the lead.
This compares with more than 68 million foreign visitors for the whole of 2015, when Spain was ranked the third tourism destination in the world after France and the United States.
But dark clouds are gathering.
For one, business tourism has dropped due to political uncertainty in a country that has been without a fully-functioning government for 10 months after two inconclusive elections.
More importantly though, tourists on average have not been spending as much as last year — between two and six percent less depending on the months — as they stay for shorter periods of time.
Generally, the trend is to save money, said Philip Moscoso, professor at Madrid’s IESE Business School.
“More people arrive with low-cost airlines and opt for alternative types of rentals”, such as Airbnb, he said — a phenomenon that hurts hoteliers.
Over the past two years, the number of regulated tourist accommodation has risen 1.6 percent, while rentals through platforms such as Airbnb have jumped 75 percent, said Exceltur.
As such, popular destinations such as Barcelona and the Balearic Islands reached saturation point, which in some cases posed environmental problems.
Margalida Ramis of Majorca’s GOB environmental group said the island’s infrastructure was not able to handle “the effects of the summer”, pointing for instance to the treatment of waste water.
This summer, dirty water found its way into the island’s northern Albufera natural park as purifiers at a nearby resort’s plant stopped working correctly.
The influx of tourists on the country’s beaches also threatens a fragile ecosystem made up of dunes and aquatic plants, said Ramis, who called for a limitation on unregulated tourism rentals.
Authorities are trying to “shift the ‘sun and beach’ model towards a type of tourism that would be less about quantity and more about quality,” said Moscoso, as well as highlighting the country’s heritage.
Barcelona, for instance, is trying to promote excursions to the nearby rocky range of Montserrat, while for the northern Basque Region and the wine-making Rioja area it’s gastronomy.
Another proposal is to attract more Asian tourists — who by and large prefer shopping and visits over sunning themselves on the beach.
But Moscoso pointed out that business had been so good recently for the “sun and beach” sector companies are reluctant to drastically change their models.

One person was killed and at least two injured by twin near-simultaneous blasts in a park in central Japan on Sunday, the local fire department said.
The explosions occurred at a park in Utsunomiya, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Tokyo, shortly after 11:30 am (0230 GMT), a fire department spokesman said. It was not immediately clear what caused the blasts.
“One person was found dead,” the spokesman told AFP, without elaborating.
Public broadcaster NHK said a man’s body, badly burned in one of the blasts, was found at a bicycle parking area inside the park.
The broadcaster added two men, 64 and 58, suffered severe injuries. TV Asahi said they sustained shrapnel wounds, following the explosion inside the park.
“The sex and ages of the three are not known yet,” another fire official said, adding that one blast hit the facility’s car park.
The Yomiuri Shimbun daily said a parked car exploded, badly damaging two other nearby vehicles.
Minutes later police found the scorched body of the man inside the park at a bicycle parking area.
A local festival was taking place there but was immediately called off following the blasts, the paper added.
A man told NHK that he “smelled gunpowder in the area” after the explosions.
NHK said the sites of the two explosions were around 200 metres apart, and police what is believed to be a suicide note in one of the burned cars.
The vehicle was owned by a 72-year-old former member of the Self-Defence Forces, whose house in Utsunomiya had been destroyed in a fire shortly before the explosions hit, it said.
Explosions of this kind are rare in Japan, although small pipe bombs blasts linked to extreme leftists occasionally hit near US military bases.
In November last year, a homemade pipe bomb exploded at a controversial Tokyo war shrine, damaging the toilets at the facility but no one was hurt.
A South Korean man was later arrested and sentenced to four years in prison after admitting to detonating the bomb at the Yasukuni shrine, which has been targeted by activists who see it as a symbol of Japan’s militaristic past.

A Texan couple who discovered their love for art during a trip to Paris in the 1970s are to donate the multi-million dollar collection they have amassed since to the French capital.
Businessman Spencer Hays and his wife Marlene were in the city Saturday to formalise the first instalment of their donation — 187 works including pieces by Edgar Degas and Amedeo Modigliani worth around 173 million euros ($188 million) — to the Musee d’Orsay.
“When Marlene and I grew up in a little town in Gainesville, Texas, even visiting France was far beyond our great expectations. But in 1971 we made our first trip to Paris, and our love affair with this wonderful country began,” Hays told a crowd which included President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace.
“After our death, our collection will be gifted to the French people for the benefit of art lovers around the world. But, even more important to us, this collection is our legacy,” he added.
The couple, who are both aged 80 and have been married for 60 years, have a collection of some 600 works from the late 19th and early 20th centuries worth 350 million euros — and it continues to grow.
“The people who know you know your collection gets bigger around July 14 and December 7, because those are your birthdays. And this year, once again, Marlene, you gave Spencer a Matisse, and you, Spencer, gave Marlene a Modigliani… It wasn’t easy to live up to that!” Hollande said.
The president added that the couple had given France not only their collection but also “access to culture for everyone”.
“Your act, your donation, honours the French Republic,” he said during a ceremony in which the couple received the distinction of commander of the Legion d’Honneur, one of the country’s highest honours.

Colombia’s government and Marxist FARC rebels on Saturday started talks on how to retool a peace deal, rejected in a referendum last month, that would end Latin America’s longest civil war.
“Meeting of delegates and advisers to Government and FARC in Havana. Starting constructive dialogue. Let’s get peace done,” the government side said on Twitter.
“It’s an optimistic atmosphere. Let’s get peace,” the lead FARC negotiator Timoleon Jimenez (Timochenko) tweeted.
The sides are “trying to find common ground,” he said.
Santos — who has staked his legacy on making peace — had extended the army’s ceasefire to December 31 if no solution to the impasse is found by then.
The FARC, which had criticized Santos’s deadline, has also confirmed its willingness to continue negotiations and maintain a bilateral ceasefire.
The Colombian leader won the Nobel Peace Prize just a few days after voters shot down the historic accord in a referendum that would have ended more than 52 years of conflict.
Since the accord’s rejection on October 2, Santos has held marathon talks with political figures including the country’s former president Alvaro Uribe — who led opposition to the agreement — as well as religious leaders and victims of the armed conflict.
Under the peace accord that was rejected in the referendum, the FARC’s estimated 7,500 fighters are to disarm under UN supervision.
Santos launched talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after taking office in 2010, with the two sides sealing a historic deal on August 24 to end the conflict, which has claimed 260,000 lives.
But there is no ceasefire in place with the much smaller National Liberation Army (ELN).
The FARC and ELN have been at war with the state since 1964.
The ELN is estimated to be about a quarter the size of the FARC, with some 1,500 fighters.

Spain’s divided Socialists gathered in Madrid on Sunday for a meeting widely expected to help finally unblock the country’s ten-month political impasse.
The party’s policy-setting federal committee is likely to lift a veto that has prevented the conservative Popular Party (PP) forming a minority government.
The meeting follows weeks of in-fighting within the Socialists, Spain’s second largest party.
The Socialists (PSOE) have been weakened by dismal election results and internal strategy disagreements amid Spain’s efforts to form a government after two inconclusive general elections.
The divisions came to a head earlier this month when high-ranking Socialists amenable to a conservative government — so as to avoid a third election — forced party leader Pedro Sanchez to resign.
Sanchez opposes acting conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who came to power in 2011 and whose four-year term was marked by a series of corruption scandals.
Rajoy’s Popular Party (PP) won elections in December 2015 and again in June this year but without enough seats to rule alone.
The PP therefore needs the main opposition Socialists to either support its government or abstain in a parliamentary confidence vote.
With Sanchez out of the way and the party run by an interim executive, most of the delegates at Sunday’s meeting were expected to support an abstention.
“Most Spaniards, more than 65 percent, don’t want to go back to the ballot box and it’s the same among Socialist voters,” said lawmaker Ignacio Urquizu.
If the Socialists decided to abstain from another parliamentary confidence vote on Rajoy — who lost one in September — could hold another one next week, with some confidence of victory.
Still, divisions persist within the Socialists.
“We are coming to the federal committee to support the ‘No’ against Rajoy and the PP,” Idoia Mendia, head of the Basque socialists, whose position is shared by their Catalan colleagues, said as he arrived at the party’s headquarters.
Outside around 15 people braved the rain outside the building to voice their opposition to Rajoy.
“This is not the PP headquarters,” they chanted.
For Guillermo Fernandez Vara, president of the western Extremadura region and who helped bring down Sanchez, the “the worst results in our recent democratic history (mean) the PSOE finds itself in a key situation.”
Writing in his blog, he argued that only the Socialists could enable a government to be formed.
After that, it could mount a “true opposition” once Rajoy was back in power, he wrote.
By the beginning of November, Spain should finally get a government at a sensitive time as the country recovers from a devastating economic crisis.
But with only 137 of the 350 seats in parliament, the PP’s government would be weak.
It would face opposition not only from the Socialists but also two upstart parties — the far-left Unidos Podemos and centrist Ciudadanos.
Their participation in the last two elections put an end to Spain’s traditional two-party system.
The Socialists, meanwhile, run the risk of alienating grassroots members staunchly opposed to the corruption-tainted PP if it is allowed to form a government.
In an interview with online daily El Espanol, Socialist lawmaker Susana Sumelzo said the party would “undoubtedly” do badly in future elections and had lost credibility among voters.
“It’s not just because of the abstention but also because of the shameful spectacle that the PSOE has presented in the past days,” she said.
“I predict that in the medium and long-term, it will be very complicated. We will have to work a huge amount to get our credibility back.”

Jeffery Woodke was no stranger here.
“We are furious and shocked by this kidnapping,” said Ibrahim Adamou, a 16-year-old student, as he and neighbours of Woodke recalled the evening of October 14 when the American was seized at gunpoint from his home.
“Like every night, he was drinking tea” in the courtyard of his house, along with his guards, when “two armed men in turbans” stormed in and grabbed him, killing his bodyguard and a member of the national guard.
Woodke, reportedly in his 50s, “struggled” to break free from his captors.
“We cried and shouted for help but the gunmen just threw him into their vehicle,” said Aicha, one of the neighbours.
A local official said they drove off “with no headlights on” taking the road that leads to Mali, where investigators have since tracked the kidnappers and believe Woodke is being held by the Al-Qaeda linked group, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao).
A shopkeeper Mohamed said when he thought of Woodke, “I hear his laughter in my head”.
The American had become one of them after running the aid group JEMET there since 1992, helping the local Tuareg community. He speaks their language Tamasheq fluently as well as Fula and Arabic.
Jeff, as they call him, could be seen around town in a turban, leather sandals and a big boubou — a flowing African tunic.
“He was with us through all the hardest times”, said Abalak’s mayor Ahmed Dilou — the times of a food crisis, the droughts, the floods.
The Friday night of Jeff’s abduction “was such a devastating shock that the whole city cried”, he said.
But apparently Woodke was not concerned about living in this unstable Tahoua region of Niger, close to the borders of Mali and Algeria. Western embassies have issued strong warnings to their nationals against venturing there.
A Nigerien official said he had “tried everything” to convince the American to leave the area but “he refused, insisting that he was not afraid”.
Investigators have sealed off Woodke’s house. In the courtyard shaded by thorn trees, some bricks can be seen piled up next to sacks of cement.
“He was rebuilding a wall that had collapsed after some heavy rains,” explained Aicha.
Still, despite Woodke’s popularity with the townspeople, a regional lawmaker said he believed the kidnappers “were helped by some locals”.
According to Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum, who visited Abalak, around 350 kilometres northeast of the capital Niamey, the kidnappers “went straight to his home, guided by a motorcyclist”.
Last Sunday Bazoum said that Woodke — the first American abducted in the west African country — “was probably kidnapped by the Mujao or handed over to the Mujao”.
“We have had no contact with the Mujao, which is a terrorist organisation,” he added.
Niger’s long, porous borders make it occasionally vulnerable to the armed violence in neighbouring countries.
No matter who is responsible, in Abalak, the mayor — speaking for the distressed people of his city — is categorical in his condemnation.
“The kidnapping of Jeff is wrong,” he said.

Lithuania’s left-wing government was fighting for survival Sunday in a run-off election clouded by an exodus of workers that has fuelled a demographic crisis in the Baltic eurozone state.
Official results expected later on Sunday were forecast to hand victory to either the conservative Homeland Union or the centrist Lithuanian Peasants and Green Union party (LPGU).
No exit polls were issued after the close of voting at 1700 GMT. Lithuania’s election commission tallied turnout at 38 percent of the 2.5 million eligible voters.
Both main opposition parties scored just over 21 percent of the vote in round one of the election on October 9, while Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius’s Social Democrats trailed in third with just 14.42 percent.
Three other small political parties entered parliament after the first round, signalling that complicated coalition talks lie ahead in the coming days.
Tipped as the next prime minister, Homeland Union leader Gabrielius Landsbergis has presented himself as the face of change.
The 34-year-old grandson of Lithuanian independence icon Vytautas Landsbergis has vowed to fight emigration by creating jobs, reforming education, boosting exports and foreign investment.
Landsbergis has said he is keen to forge a coalition with the LPGU but has ruled out a deal with the Social Democrats.
Wage growth and job creation have been key issues for candidates in 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.
Landsbergis has won support among disillusioned voters like Vilnius businessman Linas Bagiusis.
“I want change. We need new ideas and new energy, especially to curb emigration and stop all the young people from fleeing,” he told AFP on Sunday outside a polling station in central Vilnius.
Prime Minister Butkevicius has promised further increases to the minimum wage and public sector salaries.
But analysts say 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 Lithuania’s 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.
Analysts have tipped the farmer-backed LPGU — led by popular former national police chief Saulius Skvernelis — as kingmakers after the vote.
Skvernelis, 46, has said his party was open to coalition talks with both the conservatives and the Social Democrats.
His hardline on corruption and the party’s promise to revamp the economy won over 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.
With the Homeland Union and LPGU expected to stay neck-and-neck in round two, Vilnius University analyst Mazvydas Jastramskis said a stalemate could be just around the corner.
“It won’t be good if both parties win equal voter support. Both will want to spearhead talks” to lead the next government, he told AFP.
But he added that non-aligned President Dalia Grybauskaite could “invite certain party leaders she would like to see in the coalition to the negotiating table.”
Grybauskaite has criticised Butkevicius while making it known she favours “changes”.
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.

The Chicago Cubs are headed to the World Series for the first time in 71 years after a 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The hard-luck Cubs haven’t won the world Series since 1908, and last played in Major League Baseball’s championship showcase in 1945.
But with the victory before 42,386 ecstatic fans at Wrigley Field, the Cubs wrapped up the National League Championship Series four games to two and will face the Cleveland Indians in the 112th World Series starting on Tuesday in Cleveland.
The Indians haven’t won a World Series title since 1948.
The Cubs pounced quickly on Dodgers pitching ace Clayton Kershaw, scoring two runs in the first inning to stake Chicago starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks to an early lead.
After giving up a first-pitch single, Hendricks dominated, facing the minimum number of Dodgers hitters through 7 1/3 shut-out innings.
Cubs catcher Willson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo both homered off Kershaw as the Dodgers were denied their first trip to the World Series since 1988.
A Cubs team that won a major league-leading 103 regular-season games chased Kershaw after five innings. Kershaw, who pitched seven scoreless innings in a game-two win over the Cubs at Wrigley a week earlier, gave up five runs, four of them earned, on seven hits.
“The Cubs’ hitters, they had a great game plan tonight,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “There was traffic all night for Clayton. And he gave it everything he had, but when he did make a mistake, they made him pay.”
When the Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig grounded into a double play to end the game, Wrigley Field erupted as Cubs players stormed the mound to celebrate.
“This is unbelievable right now,” Hendricks said. “Today, that might have been the best game I pitched all year. I had my fastball command, changeup, curveball, I had everything going.”
Chicago second baseman Javier Baez delivered more heads-up defensive play, tagging Andrew Toles out to spark a double play in the first inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, Kris Bryant singled to right field to score Dexter Fowler for the first run, and the Cubs capitalized on Toles’ error in left field to score a second run on Ben Zobrist’s sacrifice fly.
It was the first time this season that Kershaw allowed two runs in the first inning and was a sign of things to come.
Addison Russell led off the bottom of the second with a double and scored on Fowler’s two-out single. Contreras homered off Kershaw in the fourth and Rizzo in the fifth.
It was sweet relief for long-suffering Cubs fans, whose team were one win from the World series in 1984 before San Diego rallied to win three straight games and advance to the Fall Classic.
In 2003, the Cubs led the NLCS 3-2 and were up 3-0 in the eighth inning of the sixth game when a fan, Steve Bartman, tried to grab a foul ball in the front row of the stands and disrupted a potential leaping catch by Cubs outfielder Moises Alou.
Instead of the Cubs being four outs from the World Series, the Florida Marlins had new life and went on to win that game and the next to deny the Cubs again.
For some, all the heartache can be traced back to that last World Series appearance in 1945 and the “Curse of the Billy Goat,” when Billy Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, cursed the club when asked to take his pet goat from the ballpark.
While the Indians still await, it wasn’t surprising that the Cubs’ achievement in reaching the World Series sparked celebrations beyond the “friendly confines” of Wrigley Field.
“Incredible. Absolutely incredible,” an enthusiastic Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.
“The Chicago Cubs are National League champions. Across Chicago and around the world, generations of Cubs fans, from the very young to the very, very old, are celebrating tonight.”
But Cubs slugger Bryant said he and his teammates are only looking ahead.
“We’re too young. We don’t care about it,” Bryant said of the Cubs’ decades of agony.
“This is a new team. We’re enjoying it — and our work is just getting started.”