Month: October 2016

Donald Trump endured boos at a charity event in New York and a biting attack by President Barack Obama as the Republican nominee’s threat not to concede if he loses next month’s elections roiled the race for the White House.
Trump cast the United States into uncharted political waters by suggesting he may not recognize the result of the November 8 presidential election and could launch a legal challenge if Hillary Clinton wins.
“I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election… if I win,” the Republican nominee told cheering supporters in Delaware, Ohio.
“Of course I will accept a clear election result, but I will also reserve my right to contest and file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result,” he said dangling his concession.
Trump later was booed at a white-tie fundraiser for Catholic charities in New York where he and Clinton, fresh off their bruising final debate in Las Vegas, took part in what was supposed to be a friendly roast.
But the bitterness of the campaign was soon on display, with Trump calling Clinton “corrupt” and jabbing her for disclosures from her campaign’s hacked emails.
“Here she is in public, pretending not to hate Catholics,” he said, as Cardinal Timothy Doland of New York looked on.
“I don’t know who they’re angry at, Hillary, you or I,” Trump said in an attempt to brush off the ensuing flurry of boos from New York’s elite.
The 70-year-old billionaire is trailing badly in the polls, and his performance debate opened him up to a stinging attack from Obama at a rally in Miami.
“When you try to sow the seeds of doubt in people’s minds about the legitimacy of our election, that undermines our democracy,” Obama said.
“When you suggest rigging or fraud without a shred of evidence, when last night at the debate, Trump becomes the first major party nominee in American history to suggest that he will not concede despite losing… that is not a joking matter.”
The unusually harsh comments suggest the White House believes this deeply rancorous election is not just about defeating Trump or winning back control of Congress, but snuffing out his populist credo.
The reality TV star has defied political convention and brought far-right policies and conspiracies to the Republican mainstream.
The final 2016 presidential debate on Wednesday was dominated by Trump’s refusal to say he would recognize a victory by Democrat Clinton, 68, who he accuses of conspiring to rig the vote against him.
“There is no way to rig an election in a country this big,” Obama fired back. “You are much likelier to get struck by lightning than have somebody next to you commit voter fraud.”
His wife Michelle encouraged voters not to heed the Trump campaign’s rigging allegations.
“They are trying to convince you that your vote doesn’t matter,” she told a Phoenix rally. “That the outcome has already been determined, and you shouldn’t even bother to make your voice heard.”
She added: “They are trying to take away your hope.”
Although Trump looks set to lose the election, his campaign sent into a tailspin by a stream of allegations of sexual misconduct, he is likely to garner as many as 50 million votes.
Despite isolated allegations of voter fraud, controversy over the tight 2000 vote and rampant gerrymandering, US elections have been regarded as free and fair.
Asked point-blank by a debate moderator on Wednesday whether he would accept the election result if he lost, the reality television star shattered that consensus.
“I’ll look at it at the time. What I’ve seen is so bad,” he said, repeating unfounded allegations of vote rigging.
Asked again by the moderator, Trump said “I’ll tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense, OK?”
His rival on the debate stage, and a phalanx of his fellow Republicans rushed to tell Trump it was not “OK.”
Clinton declared herself “appalled” by what she said was an attack on 240 years of US democracy.
Trump’s vice presidential running mate Mike Pence insisted “we’ll accept the will of the American people.”
Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, offered assurances. “Barring massive voter fraud, of course he is going to accept the results of the elections,” he said.
Polls show Clinton leading by more than six points and making gains even in states like Arizona, Texas and Georgia that have long been in the Republican column.

Rudi Garcia faces a daunting first assignment as Marseille coach with the struggling French giants travelling to bitter rivals and reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 this weekend.
The former Lille and Roma boss has penned a three-year contract at the Stade Velodrome where his task is to resurrect a side that slumped to its worst league finish in 15 years last season.
Two wins in their last three outings lifted OM but Garcia, who succeeds Franck Passi, must end a run of 10 successive defeats against PSG to avoid a losing start to his Marseille tenure.
His appointment, Marseille’s fourth different coach since the start of last season, comes just three days after US tycoon Frank McCourt completed his purchase of the club from Margarita Louis-Dreyfus.
“When I met Rudi, he told me straight away he wanted to win the Champions League,” said McCourt, the Boston-born former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I immediately knew he would be the man for the job,” he added.
PSG trail surprise leaders Nice by four points and rode their luck in a 3-0 victory over Basel in the Champions League on Wednesday as Edinson Cavani scored his 17th goal for club and country this season.
Coach Unai Emery admitted his team “need to work to improve” and will look for Angel di Maria to rediscover his best form after the Argentine netted his first goal since April against Basel.
Lucien Favre’s Nice — 1-0 winners at Salzburg in the Europa League on Thursday — will bid to extend their impressive unbeaten run when they visit Metz on Sunday, but they may be without Mario Balotelli who is nursing a thigh strain.
The Italian has scored five goals in four league appearances and Favre is hopeful a few days’ rest will be enough to help his leading scorer recover.
Monaco have a quick turnaround ahead of Friday’s home game against Montpellier after grabbing a late equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw away to CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
The principality outfit dropped to third following a 3-1 defeat at Toulouse last weekend, but defender Djibril Sidibe isn’t concerned about the team’s form with Monaco close to welcoming back Radamel Falcao.
“It’s certain that playing again Friday gives us little time to prepare, but it’s up to us to do what we need to quickly rediscover that winning feeling,” said Sidibe.
Colombian Falcao hasn’t featured since sustaining a concussion on September 21 but has been included in Leonardo Jardim’s latest squad.
Montpellier suffered a heavy blow with Chad international Casimir Ninga, who had scored five goals in his last two matches, ruled out for six months after rupturing knee ligaments in training.
Alexandre Lacazette missed a penalty as Lyon lost 1-0 at home to Juventus midweek and coach Bruno Genesio knows Saturday’s game against Guingamp is crucial as they try to shake off a run of four defeats in five matches.
“We need to start on a positive series of results and this fixture is very important. (Guingamp) have had an exceptional start to the season and we’ll have to be careful,” said Genesio.
Nabil Fekir is suspended after his red card against Nice, but Lacazette is poised to make his first start in the league since returning from a five-week injury lay-off.
Fourth-placed Toulouse will go in search of a fifth win in six outings away to Angers on Saturday.
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Friday
Monaco v Monptellier (1845)
Saturday
Lyon v Guingamp (1500), Angers v Toulouse, Bordeaux v Nancy, Dijon v Lorient, Lille v Bastia, Nantes v Rennes (all 1800)
Sunday
Caen v Saint-Etienne (1300), Metz v Nice (1500), Paris Saint-Germain v Marseille (1845)

South Africa announced Friday that it would withdraw from the International Criminal Court, dealing a major blow to a troubled institution set up to try the world’s worst crimes.
The decision followed a dispute last year when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the country for an African Union summit despite facing an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes.
South Africa refused to arrest him, saying he had immunity as a head of state.
Justice Minister Michael Masutha told reporters in Pretoria that the ICC was “inhibiting South Africa’s ability to honour its obligations relating to the granting of diplomatic immunity”.
“There is a view in Africa that the ICC in choosing who to prosecute has seemingly preferred to target leaders in Africa,” Masutha added to AFP.
The ICC, set up in 2002, is often accused of bias against Africa and has also struggled with a lack of cooperation, including from the United States which has signed the court’s treaty but never ratified it.
The withdrawal “shows startling disregard for justice from a country long seen as a global leader,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
Amnesty International said South Africa was “betraying millions of victims of the gravest human rights violations and undermining the international justice system”.
The US said it was “concerned” by Pretoria’s decision.
“We do think that the ICC has made valuable contributions in the service of accountability in a number of situations and we hope that other governments would share that,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
As an ICC signatory, South Africa’s failure to arrest Bashir last year led to a wave of condemnation and an early threat from the government to withdraw from The Hague-based court.
Bashir has evaded arrest since his ICC indictment in 2009 for alleged war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur conflict in which 300,000 people were killed and two million forced to flee their homes.
Earlier this month Burundi said it would leave the court, and Namibia and Kenya have also raised the possibility.
Welcoming South Africa’s decision to withdraw from the ICC, Sudan urged other African member nations to follow suit.
“The presidency of the republic… calls on African leaders and the people of Africa who are still members of the ICC to take a collective step in withdrawing from the ICC,” a presidency statement said.
Burundi’s foreign minister Alain-Ayme Nyamitwe, meanwhile, said the country expected others to follow, adding that it was important to note that “the ICC is not popular in Africa”.
South Africa, which delivered a letter to the United Nations on Wednesday to activate its official withdrawal, is likely to complete the process in one year.
“It could spark a domino effect on other African states,” Anton du Plessis, of the Institute for Security Studies think-tank in Pretoria, told AFP.
“South Africa played an important role in developing the ICC and now to see it playing such a destructive role is saddening,” he said.
The ICC said Friday it had not received any confirmation of the South African position, adding that it relied on “the international community in Africa and outside Africa… to fulfil its mandate.”
In March, South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal accused President Jacob Zuma’s government of “disgraceful conduct” over Bashir’s visit and ruled that the failure to arrest Bashir was unlawful.
The government was facing a possible defeat in the Constitutional Court next month over the issue, but said that Friday’s decision meant its legal battle would be dropped.
During the summit, an emergency court order was obtained for Bashir’s arrest, though government lawyers admitted he had quickly flown out of the country just before the order was issued.
“We were called as a country to arrest and prosecute a sitting head of state and the natural consequence would have been forced regime change in that country by South Africa,” Minister Masutha told AFP.
Of the ten ICC probes since 2002, nine have been into African countries and one into Georgia, though most ICC cases have been referred to the court by African governments themselves.
In a major setback, its highest profile case — over Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s involvement in election violence — collapsed two years ago.

Midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura said AC Milan are primed and ready to finally taste victory over Juventus when the sides meet in an enticing San Siro clash on Saturday.
Eight games into the season Juventus look to be on their way to a record sixth consecutive Serie A crown after opening up significant gaps on key title rivals Napoli and Roma.
Roma, at home to Palermo on Sunday, are second at five points adrift while Napoli travel to rock-bottom Crotone looking to end a two-game run of defeats in the league that has left them seven points off the pace.
Milan’s surprising purple patch of late saw the Rossoneri hand Chievo their first home reverse of the season Monday in a 3-1 win that moved them up joint second.
Bonaventura credits new coach Vincenzo Montella with helping to “end the chaos” that has reigned over the seven-time European champions in recent seasons.
And the Italy international believes the time is right to throw a spanner into Juve’s tite plans.
“We can win it because it’s a stand-alone match, we’re at home and they will have to be fully at 100% against us,” Bonaventura told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“And, our game is on a par with the top teams in the league.”
Milan’s last win over the Turin giants came in the 2012-2013 season, when current Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri was still at the helm after leading them to the 2011 title.
Juventus have won all seven league meetings since, as Milan bounced from one mini-crisis to another.
Montella is the club’s fifth coach since Allegri was sacked following a 4-3 defeat to Sassuolo in 2014, and Bonaventura says the ex-Fiorentina handler has brought “joy” back to the club.
“We’ve endured a few underwhelming seasons but Montella has brought back the joy of playing football,” Bonaventura added.
“He’s helped us in terms of our mentality, but 80% of the really important work has been done on the pitch.”
Montella is expected to deploy his preferred 4-3-3 formation with M’Baye Niang and Suso flanking Colombian striker Carlos Bacca up front.
Bacca has been in solid form, even coming off the bench in the 88th minute at Chievo to force a last-gasp own goal.
With six goals to his name and stats which show Bacca scores with every second shot, Juventus ‘keeper Gianluigi Buffon expects a tough workout.
“If you believe the numbers then he’ll score, because last year he hit a shot and I saved it,” said Buffon.
“I hope we manage to stop him before then, but he has a scorer’s instinct, he always knows where to shoot.”
If Juventus drop points, none of their rivals are likely to grumble.
Roma host Palermo a week after stunning Napoli 3-1 win at the San Paolo where Edin Dzeko hit a brace to take his league-leading tally to seven.
Notwithstanding Milan staying on track, Luciano Spalletti’s men are now considered the most likely team to trouble Juventus this season, and warmed up for hosting the Sicilians with a 3-3 draw at home to Austria Vienna on Thursday in the Europa League.
A visit to league strugglers Crotone, meanwhile, could not come at a better time for Napoli as they look to boost flagging morale.
Maurizio Sarri’s men have suffered consecutive defeats in the league, to Atlanta and Roma, and were stunned 3-2 at home to Besiktas in the Champions League in midweek.
Sampdoria v Genoa (1600 GMT), AC Milan v Juventus (1845 GMT)
Udinese v Pescara (1030 GMT), Atalanta v Inter Milan (1300 GMT), Cagliari v Fiorentina (1300 GMT), Crotone v Napoli (1300 GMT), Empoli v Chievo (1300 GMT), Torino v Lazio (1300 GMT), Bologna v Sassuolo (1600 GMT), Roma v Palermo (1845 GMT)

Veteran batsman Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq hit half-centuries to guide Pakistan to 205-3 at tea on the opening day of the second Test in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Younis was unbeaten on 84 with skipper Misbah-ul-Haq 35 not out after Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat on a batting-friendly pitch at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Younis was lucky not to be dismissed in the last over before tea as part-timer spinner Kraigg Brathwaite dropped a straightforward catch off his own bowling when the batsman was on 83.
Younis, who missed the first Test as he recovered from dengue fever, has so far hit seven boundaries and one six after reaching his 31st half-century shortly after lunch.
Misbah equalled Imran Khan’s record of most Test matches as Pakistan captain with 48 with his appearance in Abu Dhabi.
Younis had added 87 for the third wicket with Shafiq (68) after Pakistan lost openers Azhar Ali (nought) and Sami Aslam (six) in the first hour.
Shafiq batted well in the extended two-and-a-half-hour first session due to Friday prayers, hitting seven boundaries before playing on to paceman Shannon Gabriel.
The normal red ball and daylight cricket returned in Abu Dhabi after the first Test, which was a day-night affair with the pink ball in Dubai, as Pakistan fought back from a poor start.
Ali, who scored a career best 302 not out in Dubai, played on to Gabriel in the fifth over before Aslam was bowled by leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo attempting an ambitious drive.
Pakistan, who lead the three-match series 1-0 after winning the first Test in Dubai by 56 runs, brought in Younis, Zulfiqar Babar and Rahat Ali as they made three changes to their line-up.
Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir (both rested) and Babar Azam were the trio to make way.
West Indies were forced to leave out unfit wicketkeeper batsman Shane Dowrich, bringing in Shai Hope.
The third and final Test starts in Sharjah from October 30.

Swedish cancer charity Cancerfonden said Thursday that its video explaining to women how to check for suspicious lumps, featuring animated figures of women with circle-shaped breasts, had been removed from the US social networking site.
“We find it incomprehensible and strange how one can perceive medical information as offensive,” Cancerfonden communications director Lena Biornstad told AFP.
“This is information that saves lives,” she said. “This prevents us from doing so.”
In a tongue-and-cheek open letter to Facebook, Cancerfonden had offered a different version of the offending round cartoon breasts.
“After having tried to meet your rules for several days without succeeding, we have now reached a solution which will hopefully satisfy you: two pink squares! This cannot possibly be offensive,” the charity wrote, along with a picture of the new straight-edged breasts.
A Facebook spokeswoman later apologised for removing the video, saying: “We’re very sorry, our team processes millions of advertising images each week, and in some instances we incorrectly prohibit ads.
“This image does not violate our ad policies. We apologise for the error and have let the advertiser know we are approving their ads.”
The furore erupted just as the White House was lit up in the colour pink to mark breast cancer awareness month.
Facebook faced outrage in September for repeatedly deleting a historic Vietnam War photo included in a post by Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
It said the iconic photo of a naked Vietnamese girl fleeing a napalm bombing violated its rules, but it later backtracked on the decision.
Facebook has a ban on posts that contain nudity, with some exceptions, such as images of works of art and women breastfeeding, or educational content.
The US social media giant counts some 1.7 billion users around the world.

Arsenal will aim to make it eight consecutive victories when they host Middlesbrough in the Premier League on Saturday in defence of an 11-match unbeaten record in all competitions.
The North London side are riding high after beating Ludogorets 6-0 in the Champions League in midweek, a match where Mesut Ozil scored a hat-trick.
With leaders Manchester City not kicking off until almost 24 hours later, a victory will guarantee Arsenal top spot in the Premier League.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, has been keen to name a settled side in recent weeks and that has helped the Gunners achieve their current run of form.
Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott have also excelled in attack for a side unbeaten since their opening-day defeat by Liverpool more than two months ago.
Arsenal will be without the suspended Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka, who was sent off in the 3-2 victory over Swansea City in the league last week.
Ozil though is the man of the moment thanks to his hat-trick heroics in the Champions League.
“I think we all know that he has qualities,” said Shkodran Mustafi of his fellow German.
“As soon as he has the ball in the last third, he can make things happen and I think all the boys that played up front on Wednesday have been terrific for us.
“It was about taking the chances ?- we did that. Obviously I’m happy for him, it’s going to give him a lot of confidence for the next game and I’m sure that we are going to need that.
“He has the qualities. He sees his team-mates, he sees all the runs, he has quality on the ball. His passing, his left foot, he has all that you need on the pitch.”
Ozil’s contract expires in 2018 and Walcott for one would be happy to see him sign a new Arsenal deal.
“He’s worked really hard, he’s looking strong and fit,” said Walcott. “You can see a new, more aggressive level about his play at the moment.
“He’s getting more ruthless in front of goal, he’s chipping in with a lot more goals than he has, so hopefully it can continue.”
The Middlesbrough game is again likely to come too soon for injured pair Aaron Ramsey (hamstring) and Olivier Giroud (toe) but they may target Tuesday’s EFL Cup match with Reading for comebacks.
Meanwhile Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka insists he will stick to his principles as he battles to end the northeast side’s worst run of results since he took charge almost three years ago.
The Teessiders took five points from first three games on their return to the Premier League after a seven-year absence.
But Middlesbrough are winless in the last seven matches to leave them out of the bottom three on goal difference alone as they search their first away league win against the Gunners for more than 15 years.
“This is the type of game we have been working towards over the past two years when we’ve been in the Championship, because Arsenal are an amazing team,” said Karanka, who revealed Grant Leadbitter has returned to full training as the club captain nears a comeback following hip surgery in May.
The Spaniard added: “Last season, we were used to winning more games, but we knew this would be a tough season. It’s important to maintain a positive mindset, because we need to keep believing in ourselves.”
Karanka has come under pressure from supporters to adopt a more adventurous two-striker policy at home, but will maintain his lone forward approach at the Emirates.
Alvaro Negredo is set to retain his place up front, despite the pre-season loan signing from Valencia not having scored since the opening day draw at home to Stoke City in August.

Mauricio Pochettino is keen for his Tottenham Hotspur players to rise to the occasion and move to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday.
That may only be for a few hours but Spurs know that victory at Bournemouth in a lunchtime kick-off will be enough to lift them above current leaders Manchester City, who play on Sunday, and Arsenal, who are in action later on Saturday.
Spurs were title contenders for almost all of last season but never once reached the summit and eventually had to settle for third place.
Pochettino was eager, therefore, for his side — who are currently the only Premier League team yet to taste domestic defeat this term — to go one better.
“It’s a big motivation for us to finish the game and take the three points to be top of the table. Better motivation is impossible,” he said.
“Today the motivation was very good on the training ground. Our players are very conscious about that and it’s a good opportunity to see us at the top of the table. First of all we need to win the game.”
Pochettino is without defender Toby Alderweireld, who suffered a leg injury in last week?s 1-1 draw at West Brom, and striker Harry Kane, who stepping up his recovery from an ankle injury but is not yet near a playing return.
Left-back Danny Rose is also a doubt with a foot problem.
Spurs won 5-1 at Bournemouth last season but the Cherries will kick off on the back of a 6-1 thrashing of Hull City and Pochettino said he was a big fan of the south coast side’s manager Eddie Howe.
“The job he has done is unbelievable,” said Pochettino. “They show every week that they’re a team with principles, a team that knows what they need to do and how they need to play. For me he (Howe) is a fantastic coach and a coach I like a lot.”
Bournemouth defender Charlie Daniels began his career at north London club Tottenham and revealed he will have plenty of friends and family down to watch him — and cheer on the opposition.
“I was there for a good number of years when I was young and I still have a lot of friends there who are on the staff,” he said.
“I have a whole load of family and friends that are Spurs fans too, so they?re going to come down and enjoy the game. It’ll be a special occasion for them.
“Personally, it’s about doing a job and not only for me but for the team. We want to win and break their duck.
“We want to play a high tempo and a fast-attacking game, but I know Spurs will want to do that as well.
“Hopefully we don?t cancel each other out. It could be a bit end-to-end.”

The mood at Liverpool is an optimistic one despite the frustration of Monday’s goalless draw at home to Manchester United, as Jurgen Klopp’s injury list shortens.
Georginio Wijnaldum’s influence was missed against United as he recovered from a hip injury sustained on World Cup duty with the Netherlands, but the midfielder is back in training and ready to play against West Brom at Anfield on Saturday.
Fellow midfielder Adam Lallana, who played half-an-hour as a substitute on Monday, has fully recovered from a groin problem and should be able to play a fuller part this weekend.
Liverpool had won five successive matches in all competitions before the draw against Jose Mourinho’s side, remain well-placed going into the weekend, sitting fourth in the Premier League, two points behind faltering leaders Manchester City.
The return of Wijnaldum and Lallana, who have both made impressive starts to the season, has given Liverpool a significant lift.
“He?s a very good footballer, very important for us,” said Liverpool manager Klopp of Lallana. “Since I’ve been here, he?s on a constant high level.
“When he was very young, he was already captain of Southampton, so that says a lot about him. He?s a smart boy and now at an age where experience helps you more and more if you are smart enough. That?s what he uses. He?s a real Liverpool player, loves this club.
“Obviously Southampton still miss him. A lot of players left Southampton in the last few years but with Adam they are still not happy that he is not there any more.
“That says a lot about his quality and influence he had already at Southampton. Now he?s here and I am really happy about this fact.?
The German also insisted he was happy with his goalkeeper, despite criticism of Loris Karius since he displaced the inconsistent Simon Mignolet.
Karius had one nervous moment on Monday when he got into a mix-up with team-mate Dejan Lovren, but did come out of the match with his first Premier League clean sheet at the third attempt.
“He has made a very good start, that’s how it is,” said Klopp. “We watched him for a long time and especially in the last two years in the Bundesliga, he was outstanding. But he is still a young boy, for a goalkeeper especially.
“So, of course, he has to improve and can improve, but with the start I feel quite comfortable and everything is good.”
For West Brom, Saido Berahino is again the centre of attention despite having not played for the club since September 10.
The young striker appears certain to be a substitute at best at Anfield after it emerged he has been placed on a personal fitness programme.
Berahino, who was adjudged to be overweight by West Brom boss Tony Pulis, has lost his place as the club?s leading striker to Salomon Rondon, who has formed an impressive partnership with pre-season signing and new ‘No.10’ Nacer Chadli.
“I can’t sing his praises enough, he’s a top player,” said West Brom winger Matt Phillips. “If you provide him with service, he’s going to score. I didn’t realise how good he was until I came here.”

Candace Parker scored 28 points and Nneka Ogwumke drained the game-winning basket with 3.1 seconds remaining as the Los Angeles Sparks downed the Minnesota Lynx 77-76 to win the Women’s NBA title.
Thursday’s victory in Minneapolis gave the Sparks a 3-2 triumph in the best-of-five championship series and their first WNBA crown since 2002.
They denied the Lynx a fourth championship in six years.
Ogwumike, who earned Most Valuable Player honors this season, scored from short range to put the Sparks back in front in the back-and-forth battle.
A desperation shot by Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen fell short at the buzzer.
Ogwumike finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Parker added 12 rebounds as she won her first WNBA championship. She outdueled Lynx star Maya Moore, who had 23 points to lead the Minnesota attack.
The see-saw battle was on a knife-edge through the final minute.
The Sparks led by as many as seven points late in the fourth, but Minnesota rallied to knot the score at 73-73 with 55.9 seconds to play.
The Lynx took a one-point lead with 23.4 seconds remaining, but Parker scored at the other end to make it a 75-74 game. Moore drained a 16-foot shot with 15 seconds left to put the Lynx ahead again, but Ogwumike responded with the decider.

South Africa will withdraw from the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), media reports in Johannesburg said on Friday, sparking rapid criticism from rights bodies.
A document confirming the withdrawal plan, signed by International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, was published by public broadcaster SABC’s United Nations correspondent.
The “Instrument of Withdrawal” letter said South Africa “found that its obligations with respect to the peaceful resolution of conflicts at times are incompatible with the interpretation given by the International Criminal Court”.
The decision follows a dispute last year when South Africa allowed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to visit the country for an African Union summit, despite him facing an arrest warrant from the ICC.
South Africa said he had immunity as the head of a member state.
South Africa is a signatory of the ICC, which wants Bashir arrested for alleged war crimes related to the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.
“South Africa’s proposed withdrawal from the International Criminal Court shows startling disregard for justice from a country long seen as a global leader on accountability for victims of the gravest crimes,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
“It’s important both for South Africa and the region that this runaway train be slowed down and South Africa’s hard-won legacy of standing with victims of mass atrocities be restored.”
Earlier this month Burundi said it would withdraw from the court, and Namibia and Kenya have also raised the possibility.
Some African governments say the ICC, which was established in 2002, has shown a post-colonial bias against the continent’s leaders.

Yesterday legendary Afro-Fusion Musician Achieng Abura passed away at Kenyatta Hospital, a death that has shocked many Kenyans on learning that the former TPF headmistress was no more . Plenty of celebrities have flocked to social media to mourn the late legend. Here are a few of the tweets

In an exclusive interview with Biko Zulu that was published on Business Daily on July 7th, Achieng Abura revealed that her friends abandoned her because of her son’s condition.
Abura’s son is suffering from a heart condition and sickle cell anaemia; conditions that made the Afro-jazz singer drain her finances to make sure her son gets medical treatment.
Abura told Biko Zulu that she tried raising Kes 4 million so that she could have her son travel to the UK for specialized treatment.
But to her disappointment, less than 10 people turned up for the fund raising initiative which she had called. This despite Achieng being a popular figure in the Kenyan entertainment industry.
Achieng told Biko Zulu when he asked her whether she tried reaching out to fellow performing artistes for financial help.
Achieng further revealed that only Suzanne Owiyo and Makadem helped her raise money for her son’s treatment.
She told Biko that the experience left her with only a few people whom she could call ‘true friends’.

Tamim Iqbal scored a half-century as Bangladesh made a solid start Friday in response to England’s first innings in an evenly-poised opening Test before skipper Mushfiqur Rahim was bowled just before the close.
England paceman Ben Stokes dismissed Rahim for 48, three overs before stumps in Chittagong. The hosts finished the day on 221-5, trailing England’s first innings total of 293 runs by 72.
Shakib Al Hasan, who shared a 58-run partnership with Rahim for the fifth wicket, remained unbeaten on 31 overnight along with nightwatchman Shafiul Islam, who has yet to get off the mark.
Tamim earlier top-scored with 78 for the home side, his 19th half-century and fifth against England, before he got a top edge when he attempted to cut off-spinner Gareth Batty.
“I think we have slight bit of advantage,” Tamim said after the day’s play.
“If Mushfiq had remained unbeaten we could have said we are in a better position.
“Still we have got five wickets in hand and if we can take a lead of 100 runs it would be great.”
Batty said “the match is evenly poised” and England would fancy their chances if they could polish off the Bangladeshi lower order early on the third day.
“If we can restrict them early, then hopefully we will be in the box seat,” said the 39-year-old after taking his first wicket after more than a decade out of the side.
Tamim, who hit seven fours, added 90 runs with Mahmudullah (38) for the third wicket to steady Bangladesh’s innings after Moeen Ali took two wickets in one over before the lunch break to rattle them.
Tamim got a reprieve at 55 through a television review after being given out just before the tea break.
Adil Rashid, who earlier dropped a tough catch of Tamim at 28 off Moeen, broke the left-handers’ partnership when he had Mahmudullah caught at slip by Joe Root.
The hosts had been 29-2 at lunch after Moeen — who scored a half-century in England’s innings — bowled opener Imrul Kayes for 21 off his very first ball and then had Mominul Haque caught by Stokes at slip for a duck.
Earlier, 18-year-old debutant off-spinner Mehedi Hasan claimed the final wicket of Stuart Broad to finish with 6-80 as England added just 35 runs to their overnight 258-7 before they were all out.
Left-arm Taijul Islam took the other two wickets that fell in the morning in England’s innings to return with the figures of 2-47.
Taijul dismissed overnight batsman Chris Woakes (36) off the first ball of the day as Mominul took the catch at forward short leg.
Adil Rashid was given out leg-before off Mehedi in the next over but the decision was overturned after a review as replays indicated the ball had been missing leg stump.
Rashid made good use of his fortune to score a brisk 26 before a fine diving catch at cover by Sabbir Rahman off Taijul ended his innings.
Broad also profited from the Decision Review System as he was given out by umpire Kumar Dharmasena off Taijul before it was overturned.
In a nightmare Test for the umpires, with eight of their decisions overturned in five sessions, Bangladesh also benefited from the review system at the end of the England innings.
Umpire Chris Gaffaney initially declared Broad not out off Mehedi, but wicketkeeper Rahim immediately demanded a review which showed the ball took a sharp edge before going into the hands of the captain.

Rapper Octopizzo is pretty much proud of his three children and just like any other celebrity he can not stop parading his babies on social media.
The number rapper took to instagram on Thursday October 20, 2016 to celebrate his son’s first birthday. This came as a shock to most of his fans who did not know anything about this young man.
 
He captioned the photo;
This baby boy is from his 3 baby mama and the only women he has not paraded on his social media handles.
 
 
 
 
Octopizzo is however rumored to be dating a Caucasian woman months after he split from his second baby mama.
Checkout the baby’s photos below:
 

A recent study of the entertainment sector by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) accountants showed rapid earnings growth in many African countries, fuelled largely by live performances by local artists.
“Consumers are increasingly wanting local content,” Vicki Myburgh, a PwC director who conducted the study released last month, told AFP.
“The Nigerian music market… will (soon) grow at nearly 13 percent annually, which is a fantastic rate.”
This weekend, African talent will be celebrated in Johannesburg at the annual MTV Africa awards set up in 2008 to recognise those “who have made the most impact on African music and youth culture”.
Contenders for the artist of the year category are Nigerian afro-pop stars Yemi Alade and Wizkid, South African afro-house DJ Black Coffee, Kenyan singer Sauti Sol and Diamond, a hip-hop guru from Tanzania.
The increasingly prestigious awards tap into the continent’s fast-growing youth market and its expanding consumer base, with Africa’s total population projected to jump to two billion by 2050.
A few decades ago traditional African folk music dominated the industry, but the trend has shifted.
Now, driven by a hunger for local tunes rather than output from the pop hubs of the US and Europe, African artists are mixing traditional African beats with new rhythms to produce cross-genre sounds.
“It’s the local content that’s going to drive growth,” Myburgh said.
“The one sector that has done particularly well over the last five years is live music. It goes to show what people want — they are prepared to pay a huge amount to go and watch a live concert.”
In contrast, piracy hollows out sales volumes.
“There’s lot of music being heard but not necessarily being paid for,” she added.
Nevertheless, in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, revenue from the music industry grew an estimated four-fold in the two years up to 2015, according to PwC.
The growth streak is forecast to continue, despite the country slipping into recession recently due to low oil prices.
Kenya is also forecast for a strong growth, at about 9.3 percent a year between now and 2020.
And African musicians are not only appealing to domestic consumers, but also generating more interest abroad through tours and collaborations with big international names.
“The African music scene has been very dynamic,” said Claire Henoque, music promoter and owner of France-based Tour-makers.
“What is so attractive is the ability of African musicians to blend with other music genres.”
Young artists like Black Coffee, Nigeria’s D-Banj, Don Jazzy and Tiwa Savage are now taking over from veterans such as Youssou Ndour and Hugh Masekela to clinch deals and work with Western performers such as US rapper Jay Z.
“We see a lot of African artists now performing and touring overseas,” Leo Manne, vice president of music channel Trace-TV Southern Africa, told AFP.
“And now you see the influence of African music in American music — listen to (Canadian rapper) Drake.
“African music will always influence global music. When the slave ships left Africa they left with the drum beat that continues to travel the world.”
Saturday night’s ceremony, hosted by South African comedian and US television star Trevor Noah, will be broadcast live across the continent, with US hip hop superstar Future also due to perform.
“Africa’s music industry is thriving and growing,” said Alex Okosi, senior vice president of Viacom International Media Networks Africa, which runs the MTV Awards.
“The growth is being driven by innovative artists that are breaking down boundaries and reaching Africa’s enormous youth population through their music.”

Before her demise, Achieng Abura had indicated on her Facebook page on October 7th that doctors had advised her to gain weight. This was after she lost 30kgs.
Achieng’s post read.
The legendary singer was admitted at KNH’s private wing on October 13. What she was suffering from was not immediately communicated to the public.
 
But sources close to the singer have intimidated that she was suffering from chronic illness; three diseases have been named so far.
Media reports say that Abura was being treated for depression and gastritis (inflammation of the lining of the stomach) at KHN private wing. Another source was  quoted by the Star as saying that the singer was suffering from kidney problems.
The family is yet to reveal detailed information of what caused the death of the Afro-jazz queen. We will be communicating more information once we get the scoop.
 

Jihadists staged a brazen raid on the Iraqi city of Kirkuk Friday, in what appeared to be an attempt to divert attention from the huge offensive against their Mosul bastion.
Residents awoke to the sound of shooting and praise for the “Islamic State” blaring through mosque loudspeakers.
Some attackers, whom one senior Kirkuk official numbered around 100, carried grenades and wore explosives vests or belts in the assault claimed by the Islamic State group.
An AFP reporter attended the interrogation of one suspected jihadist who said after being captured by Kurdish forces that the attack was designed to ease the pressure on the Mosul front to the northeast.
“Today’s attack was one of caliph Baghdadi’s plans to demonstrate that the Islamic State is remaining and expanding and reduce the pressure on the Mosul front,” he said.
The young man in a grey tracksuit had his hands cuffed and gave his name as Hani Aydan Mustafa, but his role in IS was unclear.
Two years ago in Mosul, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a “caliphate” straddling Iraq and Syria.
One of its main slogans was to remain and expand but it has been shrinking steadily since last year and losing Mosul could mean the end of its days as a land-holding force in Iraq.
The attack on Kirkuk, a strategic city some 240 kilometres (150 miles) north of Baghdad, demonstrated the group’s continued ability to time its attacks and grab headlines.
“Around morning prayers, I saw several Dawaesh (IS fighters) enter Al-Mohammadi mosque,” Haidar Abdelhussein, a teacher in the Tesaeen neighbourhood, told AFP.
“They used the loudspeakers to shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is greatest) and ‘Dawla al-Islam baqiya’ (Islamic State remains),” he said.
At least five suicide bombers targeted government buildings, including Kirkuk’s main police headquarters. At least six policemen and 12 jihadists were killed in clashes.
A senior police officer said the main obstacle to flushing out holdout attackers was the risk from snipers.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office announced that reinforcements would be dispatched to Kirkuk to help track down remaining attackers and end the crisis.
A journalist for a local Turkmen television station was killed by an IS sniper, and health officials also said 51 wounded residents were evacuated to nearby hospitals.
A curfew was in place and sporadic gunfire could still be heard as night fell on what was now a war zone, with armoured vehicles taking up position and security forces manning rooftops or crouching behind walls.
IS is unlikely to hold positions in Kirkuk for long, and its attack had no immediate impact on the offensive against Mosul, the biggest Iraqi military operation in years.
The governor of Kirkuk, Najmeddin Karim, told AFP he suspected the involvement of IS sleeper cells.
Kurdish peshmerga fighters have played a major role in the Mosul advance, and both they and federal security forces have made gains on several fronts.
Political and military leaders have praised what they say is speedier than expected progress, with IS offering deadly but so far ineffective resistance as forces backed by air strikes steamroll towards the edge of Iraq’s second city.
The jihadists defenders of Mosul are vastly outnumbered and the final outcome is hardly in doubt.
But they have been launching waves of suicide bombers to make the anti-IS drive as slow and painful as possible.
Also on Friday morning, gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed a power plant being built by an Iranian company near Dibis, a town southeast of the Mosul offensive’s main area of operations, and just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Kirkuk.
“Three suicide bombers attacked the power plant at around 6:00 am (0300 GMT), killing 12 Iraqi administrators and engineers and four Iranian technicians,” Dibis mayor Abdullah Nureddin al-Salehi told AFP.
A police lieutenant colonel confirmed the casualty toll from the attack, which was also claimed by IS.
IS controlled more than a third of Iraq two years ago, but its self-proclaimed “caliphate” has been shrinking steadily.
A 60-nation US-led coalition and neighbouring Iran have helped Iraqi forces regain one city after another, and Mosul is now the group’s last major stronghold in the country.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said Friday he was confident that Turkey would take part in the battle to retake Mosul, following tensions between Ankara and Baghdad over the presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraq.
“I think there is agreement there in principle,” he said in Abu Dhabi after a visit to Turkey.
The jihadist group claimed responsibility for at least five suicide car bomb attacks om Kurdish forces attacking their positions northeast of Mosul.
“Up to 10,000 peshmerga are involved in this operation from three fronts, making it one of the largest ground-led assaults in the war against ISIL,” the peshmerga command said in a statement.
Iraqi forces have not provided figures for their losses, but the statement said “a number of peshmerga have paid the ultimate sacrifice”.
The coalition announced that a US service member accompanying elite Iraqi forces northeast of Mosul was killed on Thursday.
According to the United Nations, 5,640 people were displaced in the first three days of the operation that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared on October 17.
It said up to 1.2 million people may still be inside Mosul, trapped by the estimated 3,000 to 4,500 IS fighters digging in for a major urban assault by the advancing Iraqi forces.
The aid community fears an exodus of massive proportions that could peak as winter sets in without sufficient shelter capacity for refugees.

Jaromir Jagr, a 44-year-old Czech right wing for the Florida Panthers, scored his 750th National Hockey League goal, becoming only the third player to achieve the milestone.
Jagr moved into third place on the NHL’s all-time goals list last February with his 742nd goal, trailing only Canadian legend Wayne Gretzky’s record 894 and the late Gordie Howe’s 801.
Jagr might have been second on the list by now but he played three seasons in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League from 2008-2011 and had three of his 23 NHL seasons shortened due to money disputes between club owners and players.
Jagr on Thursday scored against one of his former clubs, the Washington Capitals, to pull Florida level before the visiting Capitals scored twice to grab a 4-2 victory.
Jagr has also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils.
At third on the NHL’s all-time points list for goals and assists combined, Jagr is only 17 behind Mark Messier’s second-best total of 1,887 and figures to surpass that mark this season, although he would remain well shy of Gretzky’s record 2,857.

Addison Russell homered for the second consecutive game on Thursday as the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-4 to move within one win of their first World Series berth since 1945.
Their second successive win, on a balmy night at Dodger Stadium, gave the Cubs a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.
They will try to punch their ticket to Major League Baseball’s championship showcase — and give themselves a chance to end the longest title drought in North American sports — when they host game six on Saturday.
Game seven, if needed, would be in Chicago on Sunday.
The Cubs have not won the World Series since 1908, setting a futility standard unmatched by any team in any major sport, with some among their long-suffering fans certain the team has been cursed.
Since falling into a 2-1 series hole against the Dodgers, the Cubs have bounced back with a vengeance, displaying the form that saw them win a major league-leading 103 regular-season games.
Russell, who broke out of a 1-for-25 slump at the plate with a home run in Chicago’s 10-2 triumph on Wednesday, connected for another two-run blast in the sixth inning on Thursday.
Javier Baez was on second with one out when Russell connected on a high slider from Dodgers reliever Joe Blanton, belting it into the seats in left-centerfield.
Anthony Rizzo, whose three hits Wednesday included a homer, put the Cubs on the board with a run-scoring double in the first inning.
The Dodgers pulled even in the fifth inning when Howie Kendrick doubled with one out and then stole third on Cubs starter Jon Lester’s 1-0 pitch to Adrian Gonzalez.
Kendrick was called out, but upon review the call was overturned and he scored when Gonzalez grounded out to first base.
After Russell’s blast put Chicago back on top, the Cubs exploded for five runs in the top of the eighth when Dexter Fowler and Kris Bryant singled in runs and Javier Baez’s bases-loaded double off reliever Ross Stripling drove in three runs.
The Dodgers chipped away with one run in the bottom of the eighth and two more in the ninth before their rally bid fell short.
Although they’ll now have two chances to clinch the series at home, the Cubs will face a tough task on Saturday, when the Dodgers give the ball to left-handed pitching ace Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw baffled the Cubs in a 1-0 shutout in game two at Wrigley Field, giving up just two hits and striking out six over seven innings.

If you want to know why the All Blacks seek greatness you need to look at their history, according to coach Steve Hansen who pays homage to the pace-setting team of the 1965-1969 era.
With the All Blacks aiming for a world-record 18th consecutive victory when they tackle Australia in Auckland on Saturday, Hansen talked of the lessons learned from the side that set the benchmark of 17 wins nearly 50 years ago.
“They were probably the team that said to New Zealand rugby ‘this is not a bad way to play’,” Hansen said Thursday, singling out the free-running game of the 1967 All Blacks in particular.
“I always thought that 1967 side was the greatest team to play for the All Blacks and there have been some great ones.”
It was a team stacked with legends of the game including Colin Meads, Brian Lochore, Syd Going, Earle Kirton and Fergie McCormick who established a sweeping, ball-in-hand brand on an unbeaten tour of Britain, France and Canada.
The record was equalled by South Africa in 1997-1998 and in 2013-2014 by the All Blacks, who now stand on the verge of an unprecedented 18th straight win.
Hansen found it “humbling” for his world champions to be mentioned in the same breath as the 1967 team.
“I don’t think you can really compare different eras because the game’s different but we’ve had some great history and some great success and that’s one of the things that drives us, our history.”
McCormick, a fearless fullback who played in 12 Tests of the 17-match winning streak, has no doubt the record will fall on Saturday.
“In modern day sport they are great,” he said of the 2016 team, adding that records were made to be broken.
But when the All Blacks embarked on a four-year unbeaten run in 1965, with McCormick debuting in a 20-8 win over South Africa at Eden Park, setting records was not a consideration.
“To be honest, in the old days you didn’t take count,” he told AFP on Friday.
“We didn’t count the wins, we went out to win every game. We didn’t care who we played. Winning is grinning.
“We played a pretty open game and moved the ball around a lot but the modern boys move it a lot more and attack from all angles.”
McCormick, a pioneer of the running full-back role, also noted the greater preparation afforded the modern teams.
In the golden era of the 1960s, the playing squad was complemented by one coach and one manager while the current All Blacks have an army of positional and fitness coaches, as well as medical staff and dieticians.
“They have back coaches, forward coaches, defence coaches and so on to get the to where they are and good luck to them. They are coached by top coaches and it shows,” he said.
After the All Blacks won the World Cup last year, becoming the first team to successfully defend the title, Hansen drew a line in the sand and said it was time to start again.
Six of his most senior players, including Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, retired and he set about rebuilding the side under new leader Kieran Read.
But while their running game drew plaudits, former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer singled out the All Blacks’ kicking game and defence as being crucial.
“Their attacking kicks are meant to put you under pressure. They kick on you until you kick badly, then they punish you. They kick the ball to get it back,” he said.
“In the past, we always scored tries against them because they employed the drift defence. The biggest step-up they’ve made is in their defence, where they’ve got the aggressive press. They’re so great at it because of their fitness levels.”
Hansen said one important element that has not changed is that the great All Blacks teams have all had forwards who can carry the ball constructively, pass and catch.
“One thing we understand in this group is that you don’t own the jersey and you don’t own the job you do in the team,” he stressed.
“We do have a rich history and the responsibility of the people who are passing through at the moment is to make sure they leave it in better shape than they found it.”

Standing knee deep in a cement tank of milky water, Dinesh Kumar dunks clothes before vigorously scrubbing them with a brush at an outdoor laundry in the Indian capital.
After quitting high school, Kumar joined his father among the ranks of traditional washermen who have hand-cleaned the sprawling city’s dirty clothes for generations.
Over the years, the work of “dhobi wallahs” has modernised to a degree, with industrial machines now used at some laundries for washing heavier loads of curtains, bed covers and towels.
But 32-year-old Kumar said most of the washing was still done by hand. The more delicate and expensive garments also needed to be handled carefully to ensure sewn-on beads or embroidery were not damaged.
“I start work at the crack of dawn and wash about 100 clothes by evening,” Kumar told AFP as washermen nearby swung damp trousers over their heads before thrashing them against concrete stone slabs.
After every wash in a milky bath of bleach and detergent, Kumar inspects the clothes closely to ensure they are spotlessly clean.
“Most of the clothes come here from hotels, embassies or beauty parlours. If we don’t wash properly, they will stop sending the clothes over.”
Once the clothes are scrubbed, Kumar rinses them in the cement tub, wearing a plastic sheet around his waist to stop his rolled-up trousers getting wet.
Such so-called “dhobi ghats” are normally set up next to a river, but these washermen in New Delhi rely on well water stored in cement tanks and pools for their supply.
After the clothes are hung out on lines strung up on terrace rooftops to dry, they are ironed, often by the women in the washermens’ family.
But Ram Lal Kanojia, who runs another small laundry nearby, said younger generations were not keen on joining the family business, as India’s economy grows rapidly.
“My children are studying computers and management. They don’t want to wash clothes all their life like me,” said Kanojia, who earns about 25,000 rupees ($374) a month.
“It’s too much hard work and not much money.”

Fred and Elisa are lying on the floor of Bataclan concert hall. Alive but covered in blood, the two strangers’ hands touch in the darkness.
This is just one scene from a new graphic novel, “Mon Bataclan” (My Bataclan), drawn by Fred Dewilde.
The artist was among the survivors of the carnage at the popular Paris venue on November 13 last year when Islamic State jihadists massacred 90 people at a rock concert.
They were among a total of 130 people killed by IS gunmen and suicide bombers across Paris that night in France’s worst-ever terror attacks.
Dewilde, 50, recounts the terror in black and white, depicting the jihadists as skeletons with deathly white faces. The book, which also includes 22 pages of eyewitness accounts, is due out in France, Belgium and Switzerland on Friday.
In the Bataclan, a Friday night crowd had been enjoying a gig by Californian band Eagles of Death Metal when the shooting began.
“We are no more than a teeming mass of the living, the injured, the dead, a mass of fear, screaming in terror,” Dewilde writes of that moment.
He finds himself lying on the floor near a corpse. “I take stock of what we are experiencing. I am still alive,” he writes. “A living being among the dead.”
Beside him is Elisa, a young woman who has been injured. “She could have been my daughter,” Dewilde writes. In low voices the strangers try to comfort each other.
They know that if they cry out, revealing that survivors are still lying among the bodies, the jihadists will shoot them.
“We detach ourselves from this horror and create a bubble of humanity,” Dewilde writes.
Their ordeal lasts for two hours before the police arrive. Dewilde is physically unharmed, but he is left with “the smell, the taste of the atrocity, the incomprehensibility.”
The second part of the book is titled “Living Again”, but this is not a straightforward process for the graphic artist after what he has experienced.
“Is it really worth washing today? Or eating? I’m not hungry,” he writes in one scene. He jumps at sudden noises. He recalls being incapable of concentrating on anything for more than a few minutes.
But he pays tribute to his family’s efforts to help him come to terms with the trauma — “my wife carried me”, he says — and the healing power of humour.
Even in the Bataclan, Dewilde remembers, he somehow managed to whisper jokes to Elisa.
Writing the book was also cathartic, he notes. “By chance, I finished the drawings on Friday, May 13. Six months later, to the day.”
He insists he feels no hatred over what happened and has stressed that ordinary Muslims must not be blamed for the series of jihadist attacks that have rocked France since January 2015.
People must not “descend into fear of the crowd, of non-whites, of the other,” Dewilde wrote in an afterword following July’s truck attack, when a jihadist mowed down 86 people in a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the seafront in southern Nice.
“The enemy has no colour and no religion. The enemy is fanaticism, it’s fear, it’s the madness that leads to war.”
The Bataclan is planning a defiant return to concerts next month, when France will mark a year since the Paris attacks.

For Courage Adams a bike is meant to be ridden on its front wheel, along a stair rail, or maybe backwards down some steps. Never conventionally.
Adams, who has to live up to his name to get over the bumps and scrapes that go with BMX freestyle riding, left his native Nigeria when he was six. At 20 he is now one of the rising stars of the extreme sport.
“I feel comfortable with a bike, I forget everything. Just riding, I love it,” Adams told AFP during a visit to Paris to choose locations for a video.
Adams is brave and modest.
“Today, Courage is one of the best pros and the best street rider in Europe,” said France’s BMX Flatland world champion Matthias Dandois.
“Cycling got him out of poverty. That is how BMX brings down frontiers,” added Dandois. “It doesn’t matter whether you are big, small, ugly, beautiful, black or yellow.”
Adams escaped poverty in Nigeria with his mother and two sisters in 2003 to join his father who illegally entered Europe. The family are now based in the Spanish city of Pamplona, famed for its bull run but not yet for BMX.
Courage Adams got his first trick bike in Pamplona 10 years ago.
“I had been riding since I was small but not doing tricks.
“In Pamplona, one of my good friends took me to a skate park and I saw some guys doing some stuff with bicycles and I said: ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool. I want to do some things like that.
His parents were against it.
“They said ‘no, not bikes, football yes, football will get you money.’
“I said ‘No I don’t like football, I hate football, it’s so boring, I want something more, I want to feel good with myself.”
The Adams elders gave in and now Courage Adams has proved himself. His videos get tens of thousands of views and sponsors want to be linked to the rider with breathtaking breakneck skills.
Having started with a BMX store in Spain, he is now linked to a major soda drink that organises competitions.
“Because of my bike, I could be somebody today and I could have all I have today. It’s a big experience and motivation to keep going.”
Adams’ ambition now is to get worldwide recognition. To get that he needs a Spanish passport so that he can travel to the United States and take part in the American circuit.
He hopes to get the precious document within a year.

US prosecutors said they expected to file espionage charges against a private contractor for the National Security Agency suspected of stealing an “astonishing quantity” of classified information.
Harold Martin III was arrested August 27 in Maryland and poses a “grave danger” to the United States, prosecutors wrote in a filing ahead of a detention hearing set for Friday in Baltimore.
Martin, who has now been fired, worked for Booz Allen Hamilton — the same firm that hired the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Martin was entrusted to work with classified information for several government agencies and allegedly had been stealing information since 1996.
“The defendant violated that trust by engaging in wholesale theft of classified government documents and property — a course of felonious conduct that is breathtaking in its longevity and scale,” prosecutors wrote.
They said Martin had swiped at least 50,000 gigabytes of information, though not all of it was classified.
One single gigabyte is enough space to store about 10,000 pages of documents containing images and text.
“The defendant was in possession of an astonishing quantity of marked classified documents which he was not entitled to possess, including many marked (secret),” prosecutors said.
Some of the documents “appear” to contain national defense information and Martin allegedly kept the files in his car and lying around his Maryland home.
Investigators also allegedly found an “arsenal” of 10 firearms including an assault rifle.
“The government anticipates that the charges will include violations of the Espionage Act, an offense that carries significantly higher statutory penalties and advisory guideline ranges than the charges listed in the complaint,” prosecutors wrote.
Martin’s lawyers have previously said he loves his family, and said there was no evidence he intended to betray his country.
Martin does not appear to have a valid passport and investigators have not said he sent information to foreign governments.
But prosecutors noted: “The defendant has also communicated online with others in languages other than English, including in Russian.”
Booz Allen has said it reached out to offer full cooperation with the authorities as soon as it learned of the arrest, and quickly fired Martin.
The arrest came after investigators began looking into the theft of source code used by the NSA to hack adversaries’ computer systems, such as those of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
Such access would enable the NSA to plant malware in rivals’ systems and monitor — or even attack — their networks.
The case is an embarrassing new blow for both the NSA and Booz Allen, which the New York Times said helps build and operate many of the NSA’s most sensitive cyber operations.
Former NSA contractor Snowden has been living in Russia since shortly after leaking documents revealing the scope of the agency’s monitoring of private data.

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal are finally equipped to last the pace in the Premier League title race.
Wenger’s side have struggled to match the financial muscle and strength in depth of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City in recent years.
But the Gunners appear in much better shape to slug it out with their title rivals this season after reeling off seven successive wins in all competitions.
Arsenal have enjoyed similar hot streaks before fading in the past, but boss Wenger, speaking ahead of Saturday’s home clash with Middlesbrough, sees a more steely side to his squad this time.
“Before the season everybody would say that it could be a very tight, interesting championship,” said Wenger, whose side are behind leaders City on goal difference.
“After the first two or three games people felt that City would run away with it, or Man United would after they won their first three games as well.
“But I believe we are all in the same pack and it’s down to being consistent and trying to focus game after game. From Man City to United to Chelsea, everybody has a chance.
“We are consistent at the moment and I feel there is more to come out from our team.”
City, still smarting from Wednesday’s 4-0 Champions League loss away to manager Pep Guardiola’s former club Barcelona, are not in action again until Sunday when they face Southampton at Eastlands.
Should Arsenal and Tottenham both slip up, City could still yield top spot to Liverpool if the Merseysiders, currently two points off the summit following their goalless draw with Manchester United, beat West Bromwich Albion at Anfield on Saturday.
Tottenham face a potentially tricky trip to south coast side Bournemouth, who’ve won plaudits for the quality of their football under young English manager Eddie Howe.
Guardiola is also known for the courage of his football convictions and he insisted those would not change after he saw Lionel Messi, once his star player, score a hat-trick against City on Wednesday.
To make matters worse, City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, himself a former Barca player, was sent off for saving Luis Suarez’s effort when outside his area after gifting the ball to the Uruguayan striker as he tried to follow Guardiola’s call to play out from the back.
Guardiola won his first 10 games as City manager but the club have now gone four games without a victory, a 3-3 draw at Celtic followed by a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham before they squandered two penalties in a 1-1 draw against Everton last Saturday.
“Starting in Glasgow, own goals in White Hart Lane (against Tottenham), missing penalties, we give a lot for the opponents,” Guardiola said.
Southampton, by contrast, were unlucky to lose 1-0 to Inter Milan in the Europa League on Thursday after manager Claude Puel made several changes to the side that beat Burnley 3-1.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho returns to former club Chelsea on Sunday, fresh from guiding the Red Devils to a 4-1 Europa League win over Fenerbahce — a match in which world record signing Paul Pogba scored twice and veteran striker Wayne Rooney started after three successive club games as a substitute.
Chelsea will look to carry on from their 3-0 win over faltering Premier League champions Leicester.
Despite their domestic problems, Leicester maintained their perfect record in the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Copenhagen on Tuesday and face Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Fixtures (1400 GMT unless stated)
Saturday: Arsenal v Middlesbrough, Bournemouth v Tottenham (1130 GMT), Burnley v Everton, Hull v Stoke, Leicester v Crystal Palace, Liverpool v West Brom (1630 GMT), Swansea v Watford, West Ham v Sunderland
Sunday: Chelsea v Manchester United (1500 GMT), Manchester City v Southampton (1230 GMT)

Sam Bradford returns to Philadelphia on Sunday aiming to extend Minnesota’s unbeaten start to the season in the latest twist to what has been a surreal year for the former Eagles quarterback.
Seven months ago, the 28-year-old put pen to paper on a two-year $36 million contract with Philadelphia which encouraged him to believe he would head into the season as the Eagles signal-caller.
Within weeks, however, Bradford’s future in Philadelphia was cast into question when the Eagles brokered a deal with the Cleveland Browns for second pick in the draft — and promptly snapped up highly rated rookie Carson Wentz.
While Wentz’s arrival effectively set the clock ticking on Bradford’s long-term future, Bradford’s shock move to Minnesota in September — following a serious knee injury to the Vikings Teddy Bridgewater — remains one of the blockbuster deals of the year.
Since then, the Vikings and Bradford have gone from strength to strength, shrugging off the loss of Bridgewater and injury to running back Adrian Peterson to remain the only unbeaten side in the National Football League heading into week seven.
No-one is more surprised at the way the year has unfolded than Bradford.
“I’ve seen a lot in my seven years (in the NFL),” Bradford said.
“I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. But this was not something I expected. I was ready and excited to be in Philly this year. Getting traded wasn?t even on my radar.”
The whirlwind nature of his departure from the Eagles — he was at home in Oklahoma on September 3 when he got the call informing he had been traded to the Vikings and needed to fly to Minnesota ASAP — meant he never got an opportunity to say a proper farewell to his Eagles team-mates.
“That part was tough,” said Bradford, who has averaged nearly 250 passing yards a game in his four starts for the Vikings this season.
“When you spend so much time with coaches and players, you build relationships and friendships on and off the field. When something happens so sudden like that, there’s always a part of you that’s a little down after that.”
Eagles coach Doug Pederson admits even he was wrong-footed by the speed with which Bradford was traded to the Vikings, saying he fully expected him to start for Philadelphia this season.
“I was a little shocked,” Pederson said. “All along my plan was to have Sam start, with Chase (Daniel) No.2 and Carson (Wentz) No.3.”
Thus far the move has been win-win for both the Vikings and the Eagles. Wentz has enjoyed a 3-2 start, throwing for 1,186 yards in five games and building a passer rating of 99.9%.
Elsewhere this weekend, the NFL’s international series in London will break new ground with the Los Angeles Rams facing the New York Giants at English rugby’s citadel Twickenham.
The Rams have prepared for the game at Pennyhill Park, the luxury hotel outside London which has long been used as the England rugby team’s training base. “We’re very grateful that we?ve been given the opportunity to share the facility, with a top-two team in rugby in the world to see what their world’s like,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said.
“It’s been a good experience. We want the players to go out and get a little feel for it.”
With the 5-1 Dallas Cowboys on a bye, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will look to move to 6-1 when they travel to Pittsburgh to face a Steelers side missing the injured Ben Roethlisberger, who underwent knee surgery this week.
The Seattle Seahawks (4-1) meanwhile face a crucial divisional battle with the Arizona Cardinals (3-3), looking to put even more daylight between last year’s National Football Conference championship runners-up in the NFC West.

LeBron James, who achieved a life dream by bringing home Cleveland’s first sports title in 52 years, now draws motivation from wanting to eclipse Michael Jordan as the greatest player in NBA history.
James, a native of nearby Akron, will begin his 14th NBA campaign Tuesday as the Cavaliers raise a championship banner at their 2016-17 season opener against New York.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the banner go up: 2015-16 champions. It means a lot,” James said.
The 31-year-old playmaker, a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, unleashed one of the NBA’s greatest one-man efforts last June as Cleveland made the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history from 3-1 down to beat Golden State in the best-of-seven series.
James averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.3 blocked shots and 2.6 steals a game — leading the finals in each category in an unprecedented feat that earned him unanimous NBA Finals MVP honors.
James sought the fairytale ending when he returned to Cleveland in 2014, having won two titles in four seasons with the Miami Heat after playing his first seven NBA seasons for the Cavaliers.
Now he admits his drive and inspiration come from trying to overtake former Chicago Bulls star Jordan and be seen as the greatest player in NBA history, a Herculean challenge that should see James to the end of his career.
“My motivation is this ghost I’m chasing. The ghost played in Chicago,” James was quoted by Sports Illustrated as telling a high school basketball player.
“What I’ve gone through is totally different than what he went through. What he did was unbelievable and I watched it unfold. I looked up to him so much.
“If I can ever put myself in position to be the greatest player, that would be something extraordinary.”
Jordan, now 53, won six titles in six trips to the finals in the 1990s with Chicago, each time the NBA Finals MVP. He was the regular season MVP five times, an NBA All-Star 14 times and the NBA scoring champion 10 times. He’s also the all-time NBA playoff scoring leader and ranks fourth on the all-time NBA regular-season scoring list.
And that was with Jordan, now the wealthy owner of the NBA Charlotte Hornets, retiring for almost two full seasons in the 1990s for a failed bid at a baseball career.
James has three titles at the same age Jordan had won three titles but has already been to seven career NBA Finals, including the past six in a row. He owns three NBA Finals MVP awards from his championship runs in 2012, 2013 and this year. He’s a 12-time NBA All-Star but won his only scoring crown in 2008.
Both were known for high-leaping slam dunks and acrobatic style in jamming the ball through the cylinder in younger days and adapting to age by utilizing teammates more.
James is still writing his story. Only 12 players have more NBA Finals appaearances, most of them from the Boston Celtics dynasty in the 1950s and 1960s and the rest from the Los Angeles Lakers.
In his five seasons after age 31, Jordan won three titles with Chicago and made a two-year comeback from retirement with the Washington Wizards from 2001-2003, retiring for good at age 40.
By that scale, James has nine more years to make his case as the Greatest of All Time.
“That’s my personal inspiration. That’s what drives me,” James told ESPN. “I’m chasing that greatness. That’s how great that ghost was. If I can be in a situation where I’m even talked about as the best basketball player ever, that will be great.”
But first things first. For James, that means Tuesday starts an eight-month quest to return to the NBA Finals and defend the title, something no Cleveland team has managed since the 1955 NFL Browns.
“It will not be easy, and it shouldn’t be easy,” James said. “In my two years here, it’s never been easy, and in my 13-year career, so far nothing has been easy. So I look forward to the journey and the work that lies ahead.”

Heavy rain ruined Friday’s opening practice sessions for this weekend’s Australian MotoGP with Cal Crutchlow squeezing in the fastest lap time at Phillip Island.
The morning session was completed but following a 40-minute delay, afternoon practice was red-flagged after just 14 minutes as incessant rain made conditions too dangerous to continue.
British Honda rider Crutchlow, seventh behind newly crowned world champion Marc Marquez on the championship standings, posted a best lap of one minute 40.957 seconds in the morning.
He put in only eight laps to record his best time as riders were severely hampered by the slippery conditions around the island circuit.
Italian Danilo Petrucci on a Ducati was second fastest ahead of Australian hope Jack Miller, riding a Honda.
Valentino Rossi, vying with Movistar Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo to be this season’s championship runner-up, was initially second, 0.041secs behind Crutchlow.
But the nine-time world champion ran into strife for exceeding the 10-lap limit on one of the Michelin wet tyres, and race stewards deleted his lap times set on that rubber compound.
That relegated the Italian legend to the 20th-fastest time, just one slot behind team-mate Lorenzo.
“The conditions were very difficult. This morning we were able to ride for 20 minutes in acceptable conditions and I was quite strong,” Rossi said.
“In the afternoon the temperature went down and the amount of water was too much, so unfortunately we couldn’t ride.”
Marquez, who at 23 became the youngest rider to win three premier-class world championship titles with victory last week in Japan, was fourth fastest with a best lap of 1:41.511.
“Although it rained all day, in the morning we put in a few laps, but at the end of the session we had to stop because there was too much water on the track,” Marquez said.
“This afternoon it was also raining, making it dangerous to ride, we decided not to go out because it was an unnecessary risk.”
Lorenzo, who was pipped by Marquez by just 0.249 seconds in last year’s Phillip Island race, had a troubled opening practice and recorded only the 19th best time of 1:45.651 in a disastrous day for the Movistar Yamaha team.
“I exited the pit lane quite late this morning and I didn?t make so many laps on the first run,” Lorenzo said.
“I was progressing slowly, but I stopped too early and when I tried the second bike there was already more water on the track, so I did just one more lap.”
Marquez holds an unassailable 77-point lead in the standings with three races to go, starting this weekend at Phillip Island.
The Moto3 riders got in the two scheduled practice sessions but the Moto2 teams lost the afternoon session entirely to rain.
Riders will have further practice sessions on Saturday ahead of qualifying for Sunday’s third-last MotoGP of the season.
The forecast is for continuing showers but at this stage Sunday’s race has only a medium chance of showers.

The usually frenetic streets of Hong Kong were deserted Friday as the city was battered by Typhoon Haima after the storm left a trail of deaths and damage in the Philippines.
More than 700 flights in and out of Hong Kong were cancelled or delayed, roads were clear of cars and pavements empty, with schools and offices shut as the storm passed east of the city and hit southern mainland China.
Trading on the city’s stock exchange was also cancelled for the day.
As Haima swept past Hong Kong, trees were felled by winds, and waves crashed over coastal roads.
Eight people were left hospitalised with injuries, authorities said. Four are in a serious condition.
At 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) Haima’s centre was moving away from Hong Kong and was 160 kilometres (100 miles) to the northeast. It has made landfall near Shanwei in China’s southern Guangdong province, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
Hong Kong’s Number 8 storm signal — the third-highest warning level — which had been raised Friday morning, was downgraded to a Number 3 signal in the early evening.
The observatory warned the public to stay away from the shoreline due to rough seas, but many residents turned storm watchers.
In the western neighbourhood of Kennedy Town people laughed and joked as they were soaked by waves.
“I’m from Nepal and I used to live by a lake. I like playing with the water. I’m not afraid of the water,” said one resident who gave his name as Raju.
Others jogged and fished as the storm rolled in.
At the popular southern beach spot of Big Wave Bay a handful of surfers attempted to catch thunderous waves.
Rain poured down into the late afternoon with wind gusts up to 101 kilometres per hour.
Ferry services including the city’s famous cross-harbour Star Ferry were cancelled.
Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific said it expected “significant disruptions” to its flights between 11:00 am and 10:00 pm (0300 GMT to 1400 GMT) Friday.
Underground metro train services were also reduced and all buses cancelled.
The government has set up more than 20 shelters and the city is expected to remain in lockdown for most of Friday until the storm passes.
It comes after a week of downpours in Hong Kong that brought severe flooding to some parts of the city.
Traffic was caught in torrents of water flowing down main roads on Wednesday as the observatory issued its severest “black rainstorm” warning.
One elderly man became a local hero after online images of him calmly reading a newspaper in a flooded branch of Starbucks went viral, earning him the nickname “Starbucks uncle”.
Haima, which means “seahorse” in Chinese, has wreaked havoc in the Philippines where it brought ferocious gales and landslides.
Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed and at least eight people are reported dead so far.
When it hit the Philippines late Wednesday night, Haima was categorised as a super typhoon.
It has since been downgraded to a typhoon as wind speeds at its centre have dropped from 200 kilometres an hour to 145 kilometres an hour.

Venezuela’s opposition Friday urged “resistance” after the government blocked its efforts to force a recall vote on President Nicolas Maduro, but vowed peaceful action to keep a political crisis from erupting into violence.
Hundreds of students took to the streets in protest after authorities halted a drive to hold a referendum on removing the leftist president, creating what the opposition called a “very dangerous scenario.”
“The government wants violence or submission,” said Jesus Torrealba, spokesman of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), the center right-dominated opposition coalition.
“Our response will be civic courage, peaceful resistance. A country under a dictatorship must fight bravely for a vote,” he told reporters during a break in the MUD’s emergency meetings.
Authorities on Thursday quashed the opposition’s main strategy to get rid of the man they accuse of driving the oil-rich country to the brink of economic collapse.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) said it had indefinitely suspended the recall referendum process, after criminal courts in five states ruled the opposition had committed fraud in an initial petition drive.
The news came as the opposition was gearing up for the last hurdle in the complex, multi-stage process: a massive three-day drive next week to collect signatures from four million voters demanding a recall referendum.
Opposition leaders were due to give a press conference later Friday to announce their next moves.
Henrique Capriles, a former presidential candidate and governor of the state of Miranda, warned on Twitter that the government was taking the country into a “very dangerous scenario, and an even greater crisis.”
Analysts have warned there is a risk of unrest in the country of 30 million people, where 43 people died during riots in 2014.
“The referendum was going to be a pressure valve,” said Jose Vicente Haro, a constitutional expert.
“When the institutional paths are closed, there is a rise in violence and political conflict.”
The United States — which Maduro has accused of plotting to overthrow him — said it was “deeply concerned” by the decision to halt the referendum process.
“By doing so, we believe the CNE prevents the Venezuelan people from exercising their important constitutional right,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby.
Capriles said he and seven other opposition figures had received court orders barring them from leaving the country.
Maduro’s camp hinted it would seek to have opposition leaders jailed over the alleged fraud.
It has previously sidelined opponents by jailing them, such as Leopoldo Lopez, the leader of the anti-government protests in 2014.
“Let us hope that those responsible will now be sought out and detained and go to prison for the deception they have committed,” Maduro’s number two, Diosdado Cabello, said in a speech.
Constitutional law specialist Jose Ignacio Hernandez said the electoral authorities’ ruling stood on legally shaky ground.
“A criminal court can’t annul an electoral process,” he told AFP.
Lopez’s wife, Lilian Tintori, called on Venezuelans to respond with “civil disobedience,” including by blocking highways Saturday.
“In the street, with determination, strength, conviction and unity, we will tell this dictatorship government to get out,” she told a forum.
The opposition had been confident it would collect signatures from the required 20 percent of the electorate to move on to a full referendum.
Public support for Maduro has crumbled under the pressure of a crippling recession, soaring inflation and widespread shortages of food, medicine and basic goods.
A recent poll found more than 75 percent of Venezuelans disapprove of Maduro.
The socialist president, who succeeded the late Hugo Chavez in 2013 and whose term ends in 2019, has vowed to hold on to power.
The MUD says Maduro and his allies control the courts and electoral authorities and are using them to cling to power.
Maduro says the crisis is a capitalist conspiracy.
He accused the opposition of “gigantic fraud,” in a speech before leaving on a tour of the Middle East.
There he planned to push his plan for major oil producers to slash output in a bid to boost prices and get Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy out of crisis.

Hurricane Matthew left over 500 people dead and a trail of destruction in Haiti, but Jolinda Hackett of the award-winning GOALS programme told AFP that morale can be rebuilt through the power of sport.
The American has seen that on the ground as GOALS (Global Outreach and Love of Soccer), which was set up in 2010 and dedicated to working in Haiti by her compatriot Kona Shenis, has been involved in some of the most remote and poverty-stricken areas of the Caribbean nation.
“Around 50 to 100 of our kids were affected by the hurricane,” Hackett told AFP prior to GOALS winning the Sport for Education Award at the prestigious Beyond Sport awards.
“They lost a lot of materials, school supplies, backpacks, uniforms.
“The most upsetting thing about it for me is some families have lost their homes twice now (the 2010 earthquake all but destroyed the port town of Leogane for instance).
“How do you recover from that devastating earthquake and hurricane? I think the power of sport is it just has a huge capacity to bring communities together, to bring a little joy and love to life when it’s needed most.
“The power of sport works even in the most vulnerable parts of the planet.”
Hackett, who says the literacy part of the programme has had surprising successes with even a 66-year-old grandmother learning to read and write, admits GOALS will have to dig deep to replace lost school equipment.
“I wish there were other outside agencies,” she says. “In some of the communities where we work they are geographically isolated and a lot of other traditional agencies — of which there are a lot in Haiti — simply aren’t going into them.
“We go into the communities that have the greatest need because that’s where we need to be and where the greatest impact needs to be happening is required.
“I would welcome other agencies to shoulder the burden but at the end of the day if we want kids to be going to school they need shoes, books and uniforms for their dignity.”
Hackett, whose programme has around 20 coaches, all Haitians, admitted it was not always doom and gloom.
“We literally have children who grew up barefoot and hungry which sounds a cliche,” she said.
“They were wandering round their villages barefoot and hungry and had never played soccer before.
“They came to the GOALS programme and some boys are now in the Haiti Under-15 team and been at CONCACAF (North and Central American) tournaments and we have girls in the Under-15 and Under-17 teams.”
Hackett says this year the programme will pay for 25 children (roughly costing 350 per child) to go to high school.
One pupil, called Olsen Saintyl, has made Hackett particularly proud.
“Olsen is enrolled in university and entering his second year of a law degree which for someone growing up in poverty-stricken rural Haiti is an incredible accomplishment,” she said.
Hackett, who took three days to travel from Haiti to London for the awards, says her own ideas have changed during her time in the country.
“What brought me to Haiti seven years ago to what is keeping me here now is very different.
“It is seeing the impact we have on people, individuals like Olsen, every single day. These are people who over the past few years I’ve seen grow up, have babies, graduate…”
However, Hackett admits once they pass into adulthood they are cut loose.
“We are supporting children educationally and on the football field, giving them opportunities and confidence and giving them a chance.
“Afterwards its up to them how they use it.”

Argentina issued another extradition warrant Thursday for an Iranian ex-foreign minister over the deadly bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994, the government said.
Investigating Judge Rodolfo Canicoba asked Baghdad to extradite Ali Akbar Velayati, who is on the Interpol wanted list, since he is currently on Iraqi soil.
He asked Iraq to arrest Velayati “in order to extradite him, after learning via the international press that the accused travelled to Baghdad” on Wednesday, the Argentine justice ministry said in a statement.
In July Argentina issued a similar warrant to Singapore and Malaysia after learning Velayati was on a lecture tour to those countries.
Argentine investigators accuse Velayati and four other Iranian former officials, including ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, of orchestrating the July 18, 1994 car bombing at the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association in Buenos Aires.
The Iranians allegedly ordered the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to carry out the bombing, the deadliest terror attack in the South American country’s history.
Iran, which denies involvement, has repeatedly rejected Argentine demands for the accused to testify.
Velayati rejected the accusations as a lie in an interview last year with Argentine television channel C5N.
The attack remains politically explosive in Argentina.
The lead prosecutor in the case, Alberto Nisman, was found dead last year in mysterious circumstances four days after accusing then-president Cristina Kirchner of conspiring with Iran to shield suspects from prosecution.
The case against Kirchner has since been thrown out for lack of evidence.
Nisman’s death is still under investigation.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said Paul Pogba needs time to fulfil his full potential in England after the French midfielder scored twice in a 4-1 win over Fenerbahce.
Pogba, a world-record 89 million pounds ($109.1 million, 100 million euros) signing from Juventus, scored a penalty and a long-range effort in Thursday’s Europa League group game at Old Trafford.
The 23-year-old is yet to hit the heights since returning to United after four years in Turin, but Mourinho believes such performances will help expedite the bedding-in process.
“First of all, in some of your mouths, he goes from the worst player in the Premier League to a great player in 48 hours,” Mourinho told reporters.
“I am not specifically saying it is you. I say media, especially the Einsteins. We know he is a very good player.
“We know he needs some time to show his potential. I know Italian football very well. I know teams play completely different from the Premier League.
“I am not saying we are better, but we are different: different in the intensity, the number of touches on the ball, everything is different and he needs time to adapt.
“He is a self-confident boy. He was not depressed because some people said he was a bad player. He was calm.
“It is always nice for a player to score, to score at home and especially to score such a beautiful goal.”
Pogba opened the scoring in the 31st minute, netting a penalty after Juan Mata had been bundled over by Fenerbahce centre-back Simon Kjaer.
Pogba’s France team-mate Anthony Martial added another penalty three minutes later before Jesse Lingard teed up Pogba to whip a first-time shot into the top-left corner from outside the box.
Lingard got on the score-sheet with another long-range effort early in the second half before United old boy Robin van Persie reduced the arrears late on, for which he received a rousing ovation.
While Pogba further endeared himself to the Old Trafford faithful, another close-season signing, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, looked on forlornly from the back row of the directors’ box.
The Armenian playmaker has not played since September 10 due to a thigh problem and while he is now fit, Mourinho says he will need to knuckle down in training if he is to earn a place in the team.
“The situation is that we played with Lingard, with Mata and Martial,” said Mourinho, who takes United to his former club Chelsea on Sunday.
“I am not an Einstein. I don’t know a tactical system that can play with four wingers at the same time.
“He has to work more to get the intensity and fitness to play at a high level.
“To have him on the bench and give him 15 or 20 minutes like I did to Memphis (Depay), I think it is much better for him to work yesterday much harder — and he did today in a specific session — and wait for his chance. But he is ready very soon.”
Defeat saw Fenerbahce slip from first to third place in Group A, two points below United and Feyenoord ahead of next month’s return fixture against Mourinho’s men.
Having finished second to Besiktas in the Turkish Super Lig last season, Fenerbahce are currently eight points off the pace in ninth place and coach Dick Advocaat is desperate for answers.
“We have to talk tomorrow about everything with the team,” said the 69-year-old Dutchman.
“Maybe it’s good tomorrow that they start speaking instead of me. Normally it’s me, so maybe it’s good when they starting speaking about everything.
“Some players last season did really well, but what I see this season is not good enough. I’d really like to know the reason.”

But life is about to imitate art.
Inspired by the film, officials decided to hold a similar parade on October 29 that will start at the Angel of Independence monument and end at the historic Zocalo square.
The procession will have hundreds of volunteers and will “revisit the props and the wardrobe of the well-known film Spectre,” the city government said in a statement on Thursday.
In the film, the British spy played by Daniel Craig goes after a bad guy through a parade featuring giant skeletons floating among people dancing with their faces painted as skulls.
The parade didn’t exist in real life, said Tourism Minister Enrique de la Madrid. “Now, based on the film, there will be this festival.”
The procession will be part of a series of events that will run through November 2 in the capital.
The Day of the Dead takes place between November 1-2 every year, when Mexicans visit cemeteries to pay respects to their late relatives, bringing them food and drinks in a centuries-old tradition mixing pre-Hispanic and Catholic beliefs.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi demanded that any mention of possible punitive measures against Moscow over the Syrian carnage should be removed from a statement issued after a summit in Brussels.
The climbdown underscored the deep divisions between the 28 European Union leaders as they tried to thrash out a long-term strategy on their increasingly bellicose eastern neighbour.
The watered-down statement said the EU “strongly condemns the attacks by the Syrian regime and its allies, notably Russia, on civilians in Aleppo” and called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities.”
“The EU is considering all available options, should the current atrocities continue,” it added.
An earlier draft had mentioned sanctions.
Russia had upstaged the summit by announcing that it would halt hostilities over Aleppo on the same day, and said Thursday it would extend the truce by 24 hours.
EU President Donald Tusk, who had earlier said that sanctions should be on the table, insisted that the leaders had agreed to “keep the unity of the EU” over Russia.
The leaders brought up Russian “airspace violations, disinformation campaigns, cyber-attacks, interference in political processes in the Balkans and beyond” and other issues.
“Given these examples it is clear that Russia’s strategy is to weaken the EU,” said Tusk, the former prime minister of Poland, one of the countries that is most hawkish on Russia.
The EU is due to decide at their next summit in December whether to renew sanctions over the Ukraine crisis for another six months.
But the European Union remains split over how best to deal with Russia, with countries such as Italy and Greece favouring selective engagement with a major economic partner and energy supplier.
Renzi, at whose request the EU held the discussion on Russia, said the priority had to be to “make all possible efforts to find a peace deal in Syria.”
“I believe there wouldn’t have been any sense in inserting a reference to sanctions, while the rest of the statement was what foreign ministers approved on Monday,” he told reporters.
The leaders of France and Germany had also called for sanctions to remain on the table after they met Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks on Wednesday night in Berlin.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after the summit that the EU “cannot accept these inhuman bombardments”.
“If this kind of violation continues, of course we will envisage all available measures in order to react to this,” she told a press conference.
Merkel added: “I think there was fairly broad agreement concerning the strategic options on Russia”.
French President Francois Hollande said earlier that “all options are open for as long as there is not a ceasefire that is respected and for as long as there is an intention to destroy this town, Aleppo, a town of martyrs.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May, arriving for her first EU summit since the June Brexit vote, called for a “robust and united” European approach to “sickening atrocities” in Syria.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg joined the chorus of outrage, saying the alliance feared that a Russian aircraft carrier battlegroup heading to Syria could join attacks on Aleppo.
“We are concerned Russia’s carrier group will support military operations in Syria in ways which increase human and civilian suffering,” Stoltenberg said at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Moscow is Assad’s strongest ally and came to his rescue last year when rebels appeared to be gaining ground.
Relations with Russia were put on the agenda of the two-day summit in Brussels months ago amid expectations of progress on Ukraine.
Since then, the deepening of the Syrian crisis has poisoned the atmosphere while Berlin talks with Putin on Wednesday produced no real progress.

The 31 passengers on the bus were retired staff members of Costa Rica’s National University on their way to an indigenous reserve to carry out social work, the institution’s rector said.
“It looks like the bus’s brakes failed,” Esteban Gonzalez, the son of one of the survivors, told a Costa Rican television network.
The accident occurred near Cinchona, a village around 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the capital San Jose, on a road winding between two volcanos.
Hector Chavez, director of the fire service, confirmed the accident toll.
TV images showed the pancaked blue and white bus lying on a lower stretch of road where it had come to rest. Stunned survivors sat by the side of the road, some with bandages.
Helicopters were used to transport the more seriously injured to hospitals in San Jose. Five were in critical condition, according to Red Cross paramedics.

Paul Pogba scored twice as Manchester United crushed Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday, while their Premier League rivals Southampton went down to Inter Milan.
AFP Sports picks out the best of the action on matchday three:
Pogba stars, United romp
Paul Pogba scored twice in the first half as Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United thumped Fenerbahce 4-1 at Old Trafford. Pogba’s opener came from the penalty spot just after the half-hour mark, and his fellow Frenchman Anthony Martial also scored from the spot shortly after. The world’s most expensive player netted his second and the hosts’ third in first-half stoppage time with a stunner, before a sweet Jesse Lingard strike made it four just after the break. Robin van Persie pulled one back against his old club late on, his close-range effort being met with applause from all around his old stomping ground. It was a second straight win for United in Group A, and they are level at the top of the group with Feyenoord, who beat Zorhya Luhansk 1-0 with Nicolai Jorgensen netting the only goal.
Inter ease pressure on De Boer
Under-pressure Frank de Boer saw his Inter side hold on with 10 men to beat Southampton 1-0 in at San Siro. Antonio Candreva got the only goal of the game midway through the second half for the Serie A club, coming across Virgil van Dijk to meet a Davide Santon ball and finish emphatically past Fraser Forster. Inter held on after Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic was sent off for a second yellow 13 minutes from time. It was a cruel result for Southampton, who had been the better side and saw Jay Rodriguez have a goal disallowed early in the second half. The result sees Saints remain on four points in Group K, two points behind Sparta Prague, who beat Hapoel Beer-Sheva 1-0 in Israel. “We should have had the game dead and buried in the first half but that is what happens if you don’t take your chances,” said Van Dijk. Inter are off the mark after losing their first two games and De Boer needed a positive result with his side also struggling domestically.
Dundalk come undone
It has been a fairytale run in Europe this season for Ireland’s champions-elect Dundalk, but they suffered a first defeat in Group D as they went down 2-1 at home to former UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg in Dublin. At the Tallaght Stadium home of Shamrock Rovers, Robbie Benson fired Dundalk in front early in the second half. However, Zenit drew level when a spooned kick out by goalkeeper Gabriel Sava put the home defence in trouble. Domenico Criscito then teed up Robert Mak to score. And the Russians went ahead on 77 minutes, a lovely move ending with Axel Witsel setting up Brazilian Giuliano. Zenit might have added another at the death, but Mauricio’s penalty was saved after he had been fouled by Brian Gartland in the area. Zenit have won three out of three, but Dundalk remain second on four points.
Roma blow it
On the night Francesco Totti made his 100th European appearance, Roma seemed to be heading for a routine three points at home to Austria Vienna only to blow a two-goal lead and end up drawing 3-3 at the Stadio Olimpico. Stephan El Shaarawy’s brace turned the game around for Roma after Raphael Holzhauser had given the visitors the lead early on. Alessandro Florenzi then made it 3-1 midway through the second half, but goals in the last eight minutes from Dominik Prokop and Nigerian Olarenwaju Kayode allowed the Austrians to escape with a draw in the Group E clash.
Villarreal battle back
Enjoying a fine start to the season in La Liga, where they sit fifth, level on points with Barcelona and two points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, Villarreal remain unbeaten in Group L but only after battling back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Osmanlispor in Turkey. Two goals in as many minutes from Raul Rusescu had the hosts in control in Ankara, but Alfred N’Diaye pulled one back before Alexandre Pato levelled on 74 minutes.

Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova battled into the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup on Thursday with a hard-fought win over tearful ninth seed Timea Babos of Hungary to boost her hopes of making the WTA Finals.
The two-time Grand Slam title winner, ranked ninth in the world, won her first ever meeting with Babos 7-5, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2.
Kuznetsova took the opening set in 50 minutes and was serving for the match in the second but Babos survived by winning the tiebreak that followed to level at 1-1 after one hour 47 minutes on court.
A left thigh injury forced Babos to take a medical break halfway into the deciding set and in the last game she collapsed in tears.
“It was really good for me that we had to play the third set. I finally relaxed and began to play my normal tennis,” Kuznetsova said.
“But before that I felt stressed and rusty. When I served for the match in the second set I squandered all of my chances. It was a really terrible game. Hopefully I will be relaxed in the semi-final.”
Russian veteran Kuznetsova needs to retain her Moscow title to edge Britain’s Johanna Konta and claim the last spot in the elite eight-woman field at next week’s season finale in Singapore.
Kuznetsova will next face fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who dumped Croatia’s Ana Konjuh out of the event with a 6-1, 6-1 win in just one hour.
In the other semi-final, Julia Goerges of Germany, who saw off eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia 7-5, 6-1, will clash with Australia’s Daria Gavrilova, who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, seeded seventh, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
In the ATP event, Russian teenage qualifier Alexander Bublik upset top-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, a two-time runner-up in Moscow, 6-2, 7-5.

Paul Pogba struck twice as Manchester United invigorated their Europa League campaign with a classy 4-1 home victory over Turkish giants Fenerbahce on Thursday.
France midfielder Pogba scored a penalty and curled in from distance to take his tally to three goals since his world-record 89 million pounds ($109.1 million, 100 million euros) return from Juventus.
Anthony Martial, with another penalty, and Jesse Lingard were also on target as Jose Mourinho’s team secured a win that left them level on six points with Feyenoord at the top of Group A.
“It is three points and that is what we needed,” said Mourinho.
“We knew after the first defeat (1-0 at Feyenoord) it was important to get nine points at home and a few more away, so it was a very important victory for us.”
Fenerbahce replied late on through United old boy Robin van Persie, who tucked in a cross from substitute Emanuel Emenike and was rewarded with applause from all four corners of Old Trafford.
“The first 30 minutes, the game was balanced, with United having more possession, but not creating many chances,” said Fenerbahce coach Dick Advocaat.
“But if you give goals away against a team like United, with the quality they have, you’re asking for problems.”
The result vindicated Mourinho’s decision to make seven changes to the team that had held in-form Liverpool to a 0-0 draw on Monday.
The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ander Herrera and Marcus Rashford are likely to return for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Chelsea, after which United host Manchester City in the League Cup.
The joint-biggest win of the nascent Mourinho era was witnessed by ex-England manager Sam Allardyce, who attended as a guest of Alex Ferguson in his first public outing since his much-publicised departure.
Dropped for United’s last three games, captain Wayne Rooney returned up front to face the team against whom he scored a memorable debut hat-trick in a 6-2 Champions League win in September 2004.
With Juan Mata prominent in the number 10 role, United’s build-up play was neat, but they showed next to no threat until they were awarded a 31st-minute penalty.
Michael Carrick’s raking pass was beautifully brought down by Mata, who was brought down in turn by a clumsy challenge from the stumbling Simon Kjaer.
Referee Benoit Bastien thrust his hand towards the penalty spot and after an almost comical tip-toed run-up, Pogba tucked away a low shot to goalkeeper Volkan Demirel’s right.
The home fans had called for Rooney to take the spot-kick and when Bastien awarded United a second penalty three minutes later, they were disappointed again.
Mata’s exquisite, fizzing pass freed Martial, who was caught from behind by Sener Ozbayrakli, and the Frenchman picked himself up to deliver the sentence in person.
Brazilian midfielder Souza had an immediate chance to reduce the arrears, but after cutting inside the sliding Eric Bailly, he saw his shot blocked at the near post by David de Gea.
The game was up in first-half stoppage time as Pogba strode onto Lingard’s lay-off to curl a glorious first-time shot into the top-left corner from outside the box.
Mourinho raised his finger to the sky and walked straight down the touchline to the tunnel.
Within three minutes of kick-off in the second half, United were four goals to the good as Rooney laid off Pogba’s pass to Lingard, who drove a crisp shot past Demirel from 20 yards.
Fenerbahce inflicted United’s first ever home defeat in European competition, a 1-0 loss in October 1996, but the only thing for their fans to shout about here was Van Persie’s 83rd-minute consolation.

Courts ruled against the Venezuelan opposition’s efforts to remove the crisis-stricken country’s president Nicolas Maduro, officials said, in a move that could block the recall drive for good.
It was the latest blow for the center right-dominated opposition, whose aim of forcing a referendum this year through a series of preliminary petitions now looks practically impossible.
Socialist President Nicolas Maduro has vowed to hold on to power in the South American oil exporter, where an economic crisis has prompted food shortages and looting.
The pro-Maduro governors of the states of Apure, Aragua, Bolivar, Carabobo and Monagas announced on Thursday that local judges had annulled the results of the last petition, held in June, in their states because of alleged fraud in the counting of signatures.
Maduro’s number two Diosdado Cabello said later in a speech: “Let us hope that those responsible will now be sought out and detained and go to prison for the deception they have committed.”
The opposition MUD coalition says Maduro and his allies control the courts and electoral authorities and are using them to cling to power.
Maduro’s opponents were hoping to mount a fresh petition next week, the last stage necessary for calling a referendum.
Electoral authorities had warned that if the first-round petition was annulled in any state, that key stage in the referendum process would be void.
But the chances of Maduro being removed by referendum this year already looked impossibly slim. The electoral authorities have said a referendum could not take place before mid-January.
Under constitutional rules, if voters do not remove Maduro from office by January 10, his hand-picked vice president will finish his term, which ends in 2019.

British warships on Thursday shadowed a Russian aircraft carrier battle group through the North Sea as NATO voiced fears the powerful force could soon join in attacks on Syria’s besieged city of Aleppo.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would monitor the eight-ship force in “a responsible and measured” way as it headed to the Mediterranean, the latest cat-and-mouse encounter in two years of Cold-War style tensions.
“We are concerned Russia’s carrier group will support military operations in Syria in ways which increase human and civilian suffering,” Stoltenberg said at North Atlantic Treaty Organisation headquarters in Brussels.
“This group may be used to… increase attacks on Aleppo,” the former Norwegian premier told a press conference after talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Stoltenberg said NATO was also concerned about Russia’s “continuing destabilisation” of eastern Ukraine, where Moscow-backed rebels are battling Ukrainian government forces two years after what he reiterated as Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea.
European Union leaders also meeting in the Belgian capital meanwhile warned Russia that they will consider sanctions over its role in the Syrian conflict if Moscow does not stop “crimes” in the devastated city of Aleppo.
NATO-Russia ties have sunk to lows not seen since the Cold War as President Vladimir Putin reasserts Russian power through intervention in both Ukraine and Syria.
A Royal Navy spokesman told AFP that the battle group spearheaded by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier was the biggest deployment of Russian naval assets seen off British shores in recent years.
Britain’s HMS Richmond frigate and the HMS Duncan air defence destroyer were monitoring the task force, which also included the nuclear-powered Pyotr Veliky battle cruiser and the Vice-Admiral Kulakov destroyer.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the Russian naval deployment was aimed at “testing” British and broader NATO capabilities
“The Russian fleet that is now sailing from the North … is clearly designed to test the alliance. It’s being marked every step of the way by the Royal Navy and ships and planes of other NATO members as well.
“It’s clearly designed … to test our response, and any weaknesses in the alliance, and we must make sure we respond in due measure,” Fallon said.
The deployment comes after Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the Admiral Kuznetsov, part of its Northern Fleet, would be sent to the eastern Mediterranean to boost its naval forces in the area.
Russia has been staging a bombing campaign in Syria for the past year in support of long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad and deployed a naval contingent to back up its operation.
A Royal Navy spokesman said the Russian ships were “behaving very well”, including booking areas for flying and calling up coastguard stations.
A NATO official said separately the deployment “does not inspire confidence” that Moscow is seeking a political solution to the Syria crisis even as it implemented a temporary “humanitarian pause” to operations on Thursday.
Since tensions erupted over Ukraine two years ago, Russian air and naval forces have had a number of close shaves with their NATO counterparts.
In November, NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on the Turkish-Syrian border, sending relations into a tailspin before both sides recently mended fences.

The wife of former Indianapolis Colts cornerback Antonio Cromartie says the NFL team released her husband for kneeling during the US national anthem as a protest move, ESPN reported Thursday.
The kneeling protest follows the lead of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began the kneeling protest during the pre-game playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in protest over allegations of police brutality.
According to ESPN, Terricka Cromartie said in an Instagram posting later taken down that she sees the team’s attitude toward players as to avoid such protests.
“You are nothing more than an entertainer,” she posted. “Just shut up and do what we say. You have no rights as long as you are working for me.. there are other places for you to fight and stand for what you believe.”
It also said: “My husband was told not to take a knee and he went with his heart and he took one. And that cost him his job.”
Colts owner Jim Irsay was asked about the kneeling protest at NFL owners meetings in Houston and said stadiums were the “wrong venue” for such moves.
“It hasn’t been a positive thing,” Irsay said. “When the lights go on we are all entertainment. We are being paid to put on a show. There are other places to express yourself.”
Colts coach Chuck Pagano called Cromartie’s release a decision based upon performance.
“Every decision we make as far as our roster goes is based on two things — what is best for this team and what gives us the best chance to win,” he said.
Cromartie took a knee in September and again when the Colts played Jacksonville in London on October 2, a game in which he was benched in the second half. He was released two days later following the return from injury of cornerback Darius Butler.

In a story which has first aired on NTV, she has been pronounced dead after being rushed to Kenyatta National hospital.
Keep it here for more information on the developing story.