Month: October 2016

Donald Trump will aim to dump his losing political hand Wednesday in his third and final presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, as polls show the Democrat has widened her lead over the provocative billionaire.
With just 20 days before Americans cast ballots November 8, the two candidates will face off at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas at 6:00 pm (0100 GMT Thursday) in what is sure to be a 90-minute slugfest watched by millions.
The Republican nominee, 70, is looking to bounce back from allegations made by several women of unwanted sexual advances, which came on the heels of the release of a 2005 video in which he made crass remarks about women.
“This is our final shot, folks,” Trump, who has in recent days made multiple unsubstantiated allegations that the election will be “rigged,” told supporters Tuesday in Colorado.
In recent weeks, polls have shown Clinton, 68, pulling ahead of Trump both on the national level and in key battleground states. She leads by more than six points in an average of national polls compiled by RealClearPolitics.
Women especially have thrown their support to Clinton — the difference now stands at 52 to 38 percent, according to a survey by Quinnipiac University.
Team Trump set the tone ahead of the political battle, with campaign CEO Steve Bannon promising that their debate invitation to President Barack Obama’s Trump-supporting half-brother Malik was “just an appetizer.”
The Manhattan real estate mogul has invited other guests who “expose Bill and Hillary’s sordid past,” Bannon told CNN, referring to Clinton and her husband, the former president.
The pro-Trump Breitbart website also published allegations by a former television reporter that Bill Clinton sexually assaulted her three times while serving as governor of Arkansas.
Clinton’s spokesman Brian Fallon said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Trump raised those claims during the debate, adding that Trump’s scorched earth strategy could backfire.
“If he brings this approach to the debate stage tonight, it will be his loss,” he told MSNBC.
Moderated by Fox News journalist Chris Wallace, the event is expected to draw a television audience of more than 50 million, as well as many viewers online.
The candidates will be asked about the economy, immigration, the Supreme Court, foreign flashpoints and their fitness to be president.
But if the past two debates were any guide, the duel could quickly descend into highly personal attacks, pushing substantive policy issues to the side.
Clinton, a former secretary of state and senator, has kept a low profile in recent days, shutting herself in with aides to prepare for the onslaught.
She “should do what she did in the two first debates which was largely remain calm, deflect criticism and attacks and let Donald Trump continue to self-destruct,” said John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
“If your opponent’s ship is sinking, you don’t throw them a life preserver,” he said.
Trump undoubtedly will draw on the lessons of the past two head-to-head battles, and sharpen his attacks on Clinton over Syria and Libya.
The 2012 jihadist attack on the US mission in the Libyan city of Benghazi remains a burning issue among Republicans, who hold her partially responsible for the deaths of four Americans, including the ambassador.
Trump has invited Patricia Smith, the mother of an American killed in the attack, to attend the debate, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said.
But Conway advised Trump to “focus” on the issues, and come out strong against Clinton herself.
She is “a known liar,” Conway told MSNBC. “She’s lied to Congress. She’s lied to the FBI. She lied to the Benghazi families. She lies and it’s always for political gain.”
Trump also is likely to hammer Clinton over recent revelations from emails hacked from her campaign staff and released by WikiLeaks that exposed her closed-door speeches to Wall Street and showed her flip-flops on trade deals.
Trump predicts an electoral surprise, or “new Brexit,” when Americans vote next month.
The White House is increasingly concerned that Trump and his supporters will not recognize the election’s outcome, plunging the country into a political crisis.
In a scorching rebuke, Obama told Trump on Tuesday to “stop whining” and go make his case to voters.
“I have never seen in my lifetime or in modern political history any presidential candidate trying to discredit the elections and the election process before votes have even taken place. It’s unprecedented,” the president said.

UAE giants Al Ain progressed to the final of the AFC Champions League at the expense of Qatar’s El Jaish after a 2-2 draw in their semi-final second leg in Doha ensured a 5-3 aggregate victory on Tuesday.
El Jaish needed to raise their game a few notches to overcome a two-goal deficit following their 3-1 defeat in the first leg, but despite Brazilian Romarinho’s double the Emirati giants held their nerve to clinch a last-gasp draw with Mohamed Abdulrahman finding the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Al Ain, the champions in 2003 and the runners-up in 2005, will in all likelihood take on South Korea’s Jeonbuk Motors in the final as they hold a massive 4-1 advantage over Seoul ahead of their semi-final second leg match on Wednesday.
Following a goalless first half which saw both teams miss several chances, Omar Abdulrahman put the Emiratis ahead in the 57th minute with a low shot into the bottom left corner of the net after combining with Brazilian Ciao to split the El Jaish defence with an exchange of precision passes.
El Jaish, however, equalised 10 minutes later when ex-Barcelona star Seydou Keita found Romarinho and the diminutive midfielder’s shot from the edge of the area found the net after taking a deflection off Ismail Ahmed.
Romarinho, who has modeled himself on his idol, the Brazilian legend Romario, then put El Jaish ahead almost in similar fashion, with Keita providing him with the vital assist yet again in the 81st minute.
Things then got desperate as Ciao went close in the 84th minute and Mohamed Abdulrahman saw his header blocked by El Jaish goalie Khalifa Ababacar.
With three minutes remaining, Al Ain’s Mohammed Fayez threw himself down to thwart Sardor Rashidov’s strike from the right and Ciao also missed another chance to register his name on the score sheet.
However, Mohamed Abdulrahman found the net more than four minutes into stoppage time to put Al Ain on course for a possible second continental title.

Czech leaders sought to stave off China’s anger in a statement on Tuesday, a day after exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived in Prague.
The statement came as Chinese firms poured fresh investment into the Czech Republic, for a value expected to reach a total of several billion euros.
The Czech president, prime minister and two parliamentary speakers said that the EU nation “respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of China.
“We consider the relationships between our countries and their remarkable development in recent years most beneficial for both parties,” the statement added.
Czech President Milos Zeman, an ex-Communist in office since 2013, has promoted friendly relations with both Russia and China.
Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of supporting separatism and violence in Tibet, a region it has ruled since 1951.
The Dalai Lama fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959, but is still deeply revered by many Tibetans in China and beyond.
He arrived in Prague on Monday to attend the pro-democracy Forum 2000 conference, co-founded in 1996 by former Czech president Vaclav Havel.
Since Havel died in 2011, Czech foreign policy has taken a turn eastwards.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Prague with a business delegation in March.
China’s CEFC, one of the country’s top 10 private firms, recently spent around a billion euros on stakes in a Czech airline, a brewery, two media groups and a top football team.
During his visit to Prague, the Dalai Lama met politicians from the small centrist Christian Democrats party, the junior partner in the leftist-led coalition government.
“The private activities of some Czech politicians do not signal a change in the Czech Republic’s official policy and we would consider it unfortunate if someone perceived them as such,” said the leaders.
Before coming to Prague, the Tibetan spiritual leader met Slovak President Andrej Kiska in Bratislava, angering Beijing which threatened retaliation, according to local media.

Montpellier’s Chadian striker Casimir Ninga has been ruled out for six months after suffering ruptured cruciate ligaments in his right knee, the Ligue 1 club said Tuesday.
The 23-year-old, who scored his first Ligue hat-trick earlier this month, picked up the injury during training.
Ninga was stretchered off in tears.
The African forward is Montpellier’s top scorer this season with five goals in the past two matches, to help move the club away from the relegation zone in 15th place.
He scored seven last season after arriving in the summer of 2015 from Gabon club Mangasport for 75,000 euros ($82,000).

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has a seemingly insurmountable lead in voter intentions ahead of elections in three weeks that are expected to deliver him a new term with his wife as vice president.
A survey published Tuesday by the M&R polling institute credited the 70-year-old onetime leftist rebel with 64 percent support. His nearest rival was seen with just 8 percent support.
The largely sidelined opposition has called the looming November 6 vote a “farce.” It wants the election to be put off until next year.
Ortega, who is widely seen as being heavily influenced by his wife, Rosario Murillo, is refusing to allow in international election observers.
Although being seen as increasingly autocratic, Ortega has broad public support including, crucially, from the business sector. His wife, currently a government minister and the government’s spokesperson, is even more popular.
In June, Nicaragua’s supreme court ordered a regime ally to take charge of the main opposition party, the PLI. Opposition lawmakers were also booted from their congressional seats.
The head of the M&R institute, Raul Obregon, told AFP that Ortega had been polling between 62 and 66 percent since February.
“It’s likely that that will continue” up to the election, he said.
The survey noted, however, that nearly a quarter of voters polled would not reveal their preference.
Ortega, head of the Sandinista National Liberation Front party, held his first term as president between 1985 and 1990. He then spent years in the political wilderness before coming back into power in 2006, and being re-elected in 2011.

Riyad Mahrez secured another Champions League victory for Leicester City on Tuesday while big boys Real Madrid, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund were also in winning form.
Leicester maintained a perfect record in Group G in their first foray in Europe’s elite club competition by edging FC Copenhagen 1-0 at the King Power Stadium with Mahrez getting the only goal of the game.
Islam Slimani headed down a Jamie Vardy cross for Mahrez to score with a close-range volley with the outside of his left foot five minutes before half-time.
With Porto winning 2-1 away to Club Brugge in the group’s other game, Claudio Ranieri’s side now know a win away to Copenhagen in their next match on November 2 will secure a place in the last 16.
“We’re in a good position now,” said Ranieri.
“We knew it would be tough. Copenhagen tried until the end. It was difficult at the start, but the performance was good.”
In Bruges, Jelle Vossen put the home side in front early on but Miguel Layun lashed in the equaliser midway through the second half and Andre Silva scored a stoppage-time winner from the penalty spot.
For Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas it was a 92nd win in the Champions League, allowing him to surpass Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez and establish a new record.
Leicester’s Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur found themselves hanging on for a point as they claimed a 0-0 draw away to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany in Group E.
A Vincent Janssen header that came back off the bar was the closest Spurs came to scoring at the BayArena.
The home side piled on the pressure in the second half but Javier Hernandez was denied by a brilliant save on the line by Hugo Lloris and Stefan Kiessling missed a great chance late on.
“We can be pleased with the point,” said Lloris.
“The game turned in the second half, Leverkusen pressed high and we struggled a bit. I think the draw is a good result for us.”
Just three points separate all four teams in the section, but it is Monaco who are on top after coming from behind to draw 1-1 at CSKA Moscow.
Ivorian striker Lacina Traore, on loan from Monaco, scored against his parent club in the 34th minute but Bernardo Silva equalised for the visitors late on.
Reigning champions Real Madrid cruised to a 5-1 victory at home to Legia Warsaw in Group F after supporter violence marred the build-up to the game at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Five fans and two police officers were treated for minor injuries following clashes outside the stadium before kick-off.
When the game began, Vadis Odjidja struck the post for the visitors before Gareth Bale fired in the opener and a Marcelo shot went in off Tomasz Jodlowiec.
Miroslav Radovic pulled one back from the penalty spot but Marco Asensio made it 3-1 before the interval and substitutes Lucas Vazquez and Alvaro Morata added further goals in the second half.
Zinedine Zidane’s side are level on seven points at the top of the group with Borussia Dortmund, who were 2-1 winners over Sporting Lisbon in Portugal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang burst through for an early opener and a superb Julian Weigl strike made it 2-0 but Dortmund were hanging on after Bruno Cesar reduced the deficit midway through the second half.
In Group H Juan Cuadrado came off the bench to score a late winner as 10-man Juventus beat Lyon 1-0 in France.
Gianluigi Buffon was in fine form for the Italian champions as he saved a first-half Alexandre Lacazette penalty, while Juve had Mario Lemina sent off early in the second period.
But Cuadrado netted the winner 14 minutes from the end as the hosts failed to make their man advantage count.
“I should thank Mario Lemina for his sending-off because I thought we played better with a man less,” said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri.
They are level at the top of the group with Sevilla, who were 1-0 winners away to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, Samir Nasri netting the only goal.

Five fans and two police officers were treated for minor injuries after clashes outside the stadium before kick-off.
UEFA had already ordered the return match between the sides in two weeks’ time be played behind closed doors due to violence and racist abuse in Legia’s opening 6-0 defeat in Group F to Borussia Dortmund last month.
“Legia is a team with tradition and deserves to play in front of a full stadium,” said Legia coach Jacek Magiera.
“These incidents reflect negatively on us and we have to ensure they don’t happen again.”
Once the action got underway, Madrid had way too much firepower as Gareth Bale, a Tomasz Jodlowiec own goal and Marco Asensio handed the hosts a comfortable half-time lead despite Miroslav Radovic’s penalty.
Lucas Vazquez and Alvaro Morata came off the bench to round off the scoring after the break.
“I am happy with the result, the goals we scored and the chances we created,” Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane told BeIN Sports.
Dortmund beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 in the other game in the group, meaning Madrid and the Germans remain tied at the top of the pool on seven points.
Real and Dortmund will mathematically seal their place in the last 16 should they repeat their success over Legia and Sporting respectively on November 2.
Legia had shipped eight goals without reply on their return to the Champions League for the first time in 21 years before arriving in Madrid.
“After 21 years we have our first Champions League goal we’re very happy about it,” added Magiera.
Yet, the Polish champions had a slew of chances to take a shock lead before Madrid got going.
Jodlowiec fired meekly at Keylor Navas before Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe hit the post.
“Our idea was to play with a lot of attacking players, we took some risks, but you can always improve, especially in the chances we gave them,” added Zidane.
Bale eased Real’s nerves when he cut inside onto his favoured left foot and curled into the far post for his first Champions League goal since December 2014.
Marcelo’s effort from the edge of the area deflected off Jodlowiec to leave Arkadiusz Malarz in the Legia goal flummoxed four minutes later.
However, the hordes of bare-shirted visiting fans got the moment of glory they came for when Danilo dived in to give away a penalty seconds later and Radovic converted from the spot.
The hosts restored their two-goal advantage before the break as Cristiano Ronaldo unselfishly teed up Asensio to drive home on his Champions League debut.
In the midst of a seven-game run in 29 days, Madrid eased off after the break.
And it needed the energy of two substitutes to keep the scoreboard ticking over as Morata and Vazquez replaced Bale and James Rodriguez.
Morata’s cross was smashed home on the volley by Vazquez for Madrid’s fourth.
Ronaldo endured a rare night without a goal in the Champions League, but still played his part with another fine pass for Morata to slide home the fifth six minutes from time.

Juan Cuadrado came off the bench to score a late winner as 10-man Juventus beat Lyon 1-0 in France in Champions League Group H on Tuesday.
The Italian champions saw Gianluigi Buffon save a first-half Alexandre Lacazette penalty and then had Mario Lemina sent off early in the second period.
But substitute Cuadrado struck in the final quarter of an hour to stun the home fans at the Parc OL and leave the Serie A giants, Champions League runners-up in 2015, in a strong position in their section.
They are level at the top of Group H on seven points along with Sevilla, who were 1-0 winners away to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, while Lyon sit four points back in third place.
“It’s never easy to win away from home,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“I should thank Mario Lemina for his sending-off because I thought we played better with a man less,” he added.
“What more do you want us to do,” Lyon captain Maxime Gonalons told beIN Sports after the home side failed to find a way past an often inspired Buffon.
“We gave everything. It was a tactical battle. We had chances but Buffon was in great form. He was remarkable.”
Juventus had never won in six previous visits to France in the competition but Allegri’s side arrived on a run of five consecutive wins in all competitions.
Opponents Lyon had the fit-again Lacazette leading their attack but selection worries in defence meant coach Bruno Genesio handed a start to the 19-year-old Mouctar Diakhaby at the back.
Juventus, with former Lyon hero Miralem Pjanic in their midfield, were the dominant force in the early stages and Gonzalo Higuain fizzed a shot just over and then forced a fine save from Anthony Lopes.
Lyon were struggling to get into the game but they won a penalty in the 34th minute when Leonardo Bonucci was penalised for wrestling Diakhaby to the floor at a corner.
With France coach Didier Deschamps watching from the stands, Lacazette stepped up to take the spot-kick but his effort was saved by Buffon, diving down low to his left.
Lopes then denied Higuain and Bonucci headed narrowly wide as the first period ended goalless, before Lyon emerged as more of a threat after the restart.
Buffon, who had been guilty of conceding soft goals for Italy against Spain recently and in Juve’s win over Udinese at the weekend, produced a great save from Nabil Fekir’s deflected shot and also somehow kept out a Corentin Tolisso header from point-blank range.
“He doesn’t need to be defended by anybody. He is quite simply different to the rest,” Allegri said of his veteran goalkeeper.
In between Buffon’s saves, the visitors had been reduced to 10 men in the 54th minute when French midfielder Lemina was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Fekir, although he had appeared to take the ball.
But Lyon could not make their man advantage count and Cuadrado, who had replaced Paulo Dybala midway through the second half, collected a Dani Alves pass before cutting in from the right and firing in a shot that took Lopes by surprise and flew in between the ‘keeper and his near post.

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous will travel to Western Sahara this week as the United Nations works to ease tensions with Morocco over its mission in the disputed territory.
Ladsous told reporters on Tuesday that he will hold talks in Rabat, visit the headquarters of the UN mission MINURSO in Laayoune and cross into Algeria to visit the refugee camps in Tindouf.
The visit will be the first by a senior UN official since Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a controversial trip in March, angering Morocco over his use of the term “occupation” to describe the status of Western Sahara.
Ladsous described his visit to MINURSO as a “morale-boosting” exercise for the mission after Morocco cut dozens of staff in angry retaliation over Ban’s use of the term.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in April demanding that MINURSO return to “full functionality” but not all 75 staffers are expected to go back.
A review of the staffing is under way and some of the mission’s work could be handled by the UN regional hub, a senior UN official said.
The United Nations announced in August that UN envoy Christopher Ross was prepared to travel to the region for talks on ending the decades-old conflict over Western Sahara.
That trip is “still under discussion,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, adding: “To say that Western Sahara is a complex and complicated issue would be an understatement.”
Ban is due to return to Morocco in November to attend the COP22 conference on climate change in Marrakesh.
The council met behind closed doors on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Western Sahara, but there was no concrete outcome to the discussion.
MINURSO was established in 1991 after a ceasefire ended a war that broke out when Morocco sent troops to the former Spanish territory in 1975 and fought Sahrawi rebels of the Polisario Front.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, declared by the Polisario in 1976, is a full member of the African Union.
Morocco maintains that Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom despite UN resolutions that task MINURSO with organizing a referendum on self-determination.

Mexican tennis player Daniel Garza has been suspended for six months and fined US$5,000 after being found guilty of a breach of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP), the International Tennis Federation announced Tuesday.
Garza was found to have attempted to influence the outcome of a match at the ITF USA Futures 11 tournament at Calabasas, California, in March 2015.
The case was based on a Tennis Integrity Unit investigation and considered by independent anti-corruption officer Richard H. McLaren at a hearing in Miami on September 12.
Garza is currently ranked 1,064 in singles and achieved a career-high ranking of 294 in 2012.

Besiktas coach Senol Gunes “feels at home” in Naples but admits the Turkish champions face their toughest Group B encounter when they meet Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“I feel at home here, also because of the traffic coming to the stadium!” Gunes joked on Tuesday.
“Napoli are the strongest side in the group. It will be our most difficult game, but we’ll try to come up with a positive result.”
Successive Group B wins over Dinamo Kiev and Benfica mean Napoli stand on the verge of becoming the first team to clinch a last 16 berth after just three games.
Maurizio Sarri’s men will make history if they beat Besiktas and Benfica and Dinamo draw in Lisbon, thereby securing their place in the knockout round with three games to spare.
Istanbul-based Besiktas, meanwhile, need to ideally avoid defeat to boost their hopes of beating Dinamo and Benfica to second spot in the after collecting just two points from their last two outings.
Although Napoli are without prolific Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik, after he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury, Gunes expects Napoli to be just as strong.
Gunes added: “Milik is a very strong player, but they’ve got others players like (Dries) Metens who has great technique, and (Marek) Hamsik helps the attack out a lot. They have great wide players.”
With Milik sidelined for several months, Manolo Gabbiadini is expected to replace the big striker flanked by either Mertens or Lorenzo Insigne and Spanish winger Jose Callejon.
There are likely to be handshakes all round at the San Paolo, as former Napoli midfielder, Swiss international Gokhan Inler, returns to the club where he spent four “great” years.
“It will be emotional for me because I spent four great years here. Once you play for Napoli, there’s always a part of you that’s Napolitano,” said Inler, who is expected to shake off a foot problem to start.
“Playing at home, we expect Napoli to start well. They play good football so we’ll have to be vigilant and focused, and try to make the difference tactically.”

The Frankfurt book fair opened Tuesday with a plea for Turkey to release acclaimed author and rights activist Asli Erdogan, jailed along with other journalists in a post-coup crackdown.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz, in a speech at the annual fair’s opening ceremony, said he stood in “full solidarity” with the novelist, “and all authors and journalists languishing in Turkish jails”.
“Hear my clear appeal to the Turkish government: set these people free,” he said.
At the same ceremony, the head of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association Heinrich Riethmueller read out a letter from Erdogan he said had been smuggled out of her Istanbul prison.
“I cry out to you from behind stones, concrete and barbed wire,” he quoted her as saying. “Conscience is being trampled upon in my country… they are trying to kill off truth.”
Riethmueller urged the European Commission and the German government to press for her release, and said visitors to the fair would be able to sign a petition calling for her freedom.
Erdogan was arrested on August 16 and remains in jail pending trial for writing articles for a pro-Kurdish newspaper, which the government says has ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Some 20 journalists were detained along with her, a month after the failed July 15 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan which led to a purge within state institutions.
The 49-year-old writer is accused of being a member of an illegal organisation as well as publishing “propaganda for a terrorist organisation” and for “incitement to disorder”, her lawyer told AFP last month.
Erdogan’s novels have been translated into several languages and her latest book, “The Stone Building”, describes the difficulties of detention in Turkey.
The five-day Frankfurt fair, which opens to the public on Wednesday, is the world’s largest publishing event.

Bundesliga side Wolfsburg on Tuesday unveiled inexperienced ex-Bayern Munich defender Valerien Ismael as head coach — with a view to making the job permanent if results in Germany’s top flight pick up.
The 41-year-old Frenchman has been promoted from being coach of the Under-23 team to Wolfsburg’s senior side.
He replaces Dieter Hecking, who was sacked on Monday with the team winless in their last six games and sitting 14th in the Bundesliga.
“He is now the head coach,” confirmed Wolfsburg’s sporting director Klaus Allofs, who insisted Ismael was “not an emergency solution”.
“Now he has the chance to prove that to Wolfsburg.”
The main task of the former Lens, Werder Bremen, Bayern and Hanover 96 defender is to coax some form out of the likes of Julian Draxler and Mario Gomez.
Wolfsburg have scored a paltry four goals in seven league games.
Gomez was announced as Wolfsburg’s star signing before the season started, but the Germany striker has yet to hit the net.
“All my energy will go into the success of the club,” said Ismael. “It’s not about me, but the club.”
His first task is get a win on Saturday at strugglers Darmstadt, who are just a place below them in 15th, to give ambitious Wolfsburg their first Bundesliga win since the end of August.
Allofs said results in the coming weeks — and discussions with other potential candidates — will show whether Ismael is finally given the job on a permanent basis.
His only previous experience as head coach was a six-month stint at Nuremberg in 2014 when he was sacked after seven defeats in 14 games.
Following that brief stint, his only other experience was in charge of Wolfsburg’s junior team.
“The next few weeks will show which alternatives there are,” said Allofs.
Other potential candidates are ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea coach Andre Villas-Boas and ex-Schalke boss Andre Breitenreiter.

Former champions Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Jelena Jankovic advanced to a second round showdown at the Kremlin Cup on Tuesday.
Pavlyuchenkova, the 2014 winner and seeded seventh, battled through a tough three-set first round clash with Czech Katerina Siniakova.
The Russian, ranked 23rd, won 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 7-5 in two hours 46 minutes, to chalk up her third win over the 20-year-old Siniakova in as many meetings.
Pavlyuchenkova will face Jankovic for a place in the last eight after the 2008 winner from Serbia eased past Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 6-3 in 74 minutes.
“Overall it was tougher than the scoreline suggests,” Jankovic told AFP.
“It was a bit unusual with so many breaks and it was quite difficult for me to hold my serve. But my good return made the difference today.
“Of course I would love to repeat my 2008 success here as it’s always my goal – to win the tournament that I’m playing.”
Pavlyuchenkova, who is seeking a career ninth and season’s first title in Moscow, took the opening set in a tiebreak after 51 minutes, while Siniakova fought back from 3-0 down in the second to level after one hour 52 minutes on court.
The deciding set was a mirror reflection of the second as Pavlyuchenkova overcame a three-game deficit to claim her second-round spot.
Earlier, Croatian lucky loser Ana Konjuh, ranked 58th, produced the first upset of the tournament beating sixth seeded Czech Barbora Strycova 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
“I’m really pleased to get the win,” the 18-year-old Konjuh said. “It wasn’t easy after losing in qualifying but today thankfully I played my own style of tennis. I was more aggressive than her and that was the key.”
In the ATP section, Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi, the seventh seed, cruised into the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over a compatriot Federico Gaio, while sixth seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta ousted Austria’s qualifier Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2).

Traffic through the Channel Tunnel between France and Britain was stopped in both directions for almost five hours on Tuesday after a power problem, before resuming mid-evening, managers said, adding that 17 trains had to be cancelled.
Both Eurostar passenger trains and Eurotunnel services, transporting cars and trucks through the tunnel, were suspended from around 1300 GMT to 1730 GMT, a Eurostar spokeswoman said.
“The two tunnels are now operating. Work finished around 1830 (1730 GMT) and services are now resuming,” a Eurotunnel spokeswoman added.
No Eurostar or Eurotunnel trains were inside the tunnel when the stoppage began, a Eurotunnel spokesman said, adding traffic had been suspended “as a safety measure” owing to “concern about electrical power between an overhead power line and the trains”.
Eurotunnel teams were despatched to inspect the electrical equipment inside the tunnel, used by some 20 million people a year.
The stoppage forced the cancellation of five Paris to London services, four in the opposite direction and eight more travelling between London and Brussels.
After the service resumed, a Eurostar spokeswoman said operations were “gradually returning to normal.”
French singer Renaud was forced to cancel a concert in London after he was stuck in Paris his Facebook page announced.

Guardiola won the Champions League twice in four glorious years as Barca coach between 2008 and 2012 and returns to the Camp Nou for the second time as a visiting boss just two months into his reign at City.
“Manchester City was 35 years without competing in Europe. That is a long time,” Guardiola said on Tuesday.
City reached the last four for the first time in their history last season under Manuel Pellegrini, but lost all four meetings against Barcelona on the only other occasions they’ve even reached the knockout phase in the previous two seasons.
“You are an important team in Europe when you are in Europe many times. That is the target for Manchester City in the next five, six, seven years, to be competing every year.”
Guardiola admitted he felt emotional to return to the club he also captained for the majority of his playing career in the nineties.
“This stadium is part of my life. I grew up here,” he added.
“I have a lot of passion for the spectators, and we had an unbelievable generation of players.
“It was a part of my life, but I closed the chapter and (as Bayern Munich coach) in Munich I opened a new one and now in Manchester a new one again.”
City head to Barcelona on the back of a three-game winless streak after Guardiola won his first 10 games in charge.
And the Catalan coach believes he will learn much from how prepared his side are to compete in Europe by facing the best team in the world in his opinion.
“It is a good test for us to know our level against one of the best teams. What I want is the points to be able to go through to the next round and to be ourselves,” he continued.
“I need to know as soon as possible where is my team and tomorrow we will see if we have the level (to compete).”
City will be faced with a fit-again Lionel Messi after he netted on his return from a groin injury against Deportivo la Coruna at the weekend.
“I am happy he is back. It is always a joy to watch him play,” insisted Guardiola, despite the damage the Argentine could wreak upon the City defence.
“I don’t know what instructions I can give the defenders so stop his talent.”
And Guardiola spurned City fans’ faint hopes that he could tempt Messi to swap Barcelona for Manchester.
“I didn’t phone Messi this summer,” Guardiola said, swatting away speculation he had tried to lure a series of high-profile players away from the Camp Nou.
“Messi is the one that will decide when and if he leaves Barca.”

The long-running saga over the expansion of Roland Garros, the historic but cramped home of the French Open, received a new boost on Tuesday after the Paris High Court confirmed work could go ahead.
The Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI) ruled that work on a 5,000-seater stadium in the historic Serres d’Auteuil in no way impacted on historic greenhouses by architect Jean-Camille Formige dating back to the 19th century.
The court set a date of November 3 for a final examination of the dossier.
“For the second time in a week, the court noted the facts and the project and rejected the application of the descendants of Formige,” French Tennis Federation (FFT) lawyer Julien Guinot-Delery told AFP.
Formige’s heirs have been fighting to stop work on the 400-million-euro ($448 million) redevelopment in the plush western sector of Paris.
The FFT plans to demolish certain greenhouses which it judges to be without architectural value immediately beside the historic greenhouses.
Opponents of the project believe this would modify the entire architecture of the site.
The TGI, however, found the “request to suspend unfounded” and that “the French Tennis Federation project in no way affected (the greenhouses) listed as historic monuments”.
Part of the redevelopment of Roland Garros will also see a roof built on the central Court Philippe Chatrier but that is not expected to be finished before 2020.
The sport’s other three Grand Slam events — Wimbledon and the US and Australian Opens — all have covered stadiums.

Sport gave JJ Chalmers a new lease of life which culminated in his winning gold at the 2014 Invictus Games just three years after the then-Royal Marine lay seriously wounded in Afghanistan.
The Scotsman — who was speaking at the Beyond Sport summit, a leading movement for sport for social change — recalled how he won the award in somewhat controversial circumstances in London.
The Invictus Games — the brainchild of Prince Harry — are an international sporting event for wounded, injured and sick service personnel from all round the world.
Competing in a cycle race — the men’s recumbent circuit race — he described how unorthodox teamwork paid off.
“We (he and two fellow former British servicemen) worked together because like in the military you look after the soldier next to you and he or she looks after you,” said Chalmers.
“I recall hearing the commentator saying with 10 minutes to go ‘who’s going to be the one to leave his friends behind?’
“We decided all of us would cross the line together hand in hand. The BBC weren’t very happy and Prince Harry said to us privately ‘you idiots!’ but they gave us all gold medals.”
It was a happier ending than the initial challenge he set himself at the Games which was the 100 metres.
“I lined up…and in lane one there was a French Paralympian. I said to myself ‘right if I beat him I’m on for the Paralympics’.
“However, once the starters gun went, reality bit as he disappeared down the track leaving me for dust! My Paralympics dream as an athlete went with that too!”
Chalmers, who did make the Paralympics this year in Rio but as a presenter for the British broadcaster Channel Four, had travelled a long way from the time he was caught in an explosion of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in 2011.
“It wasn’t a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time because I was searching a compound for IEDs and putting them out of action,” he said.
“So there I was at one o’clock in the afternoon, two months into my tour of duty, scouring the place for them.
“You are 100 percent at risk because they are crudely made bombs and can catch you out. You know every step is a risk.
— Hit by a train —
“Next thing I know I am on my back and in pain you could barely believe.
“It felt like I’d been hit by a train, one of my friends had stood on a device and the shrapnel from it tore me to pieces.”
Chalmers suffered a broken neck, severe facial and leg injuries and underwent 30 operations in all — some lasting over 12 hours — but miraculously lost just a couple of fingers.
It was while lying in his hospital bed back in England Chalmers made the decision to use sport as a way of beginning life all over.
“Well, plan A, B and C had gone out the window,” he said.
“I had two options: stay lying in that bed, or get up.
“I had two friends killed in the blast so I said to myself make the most of this second chance — you have got yourself a golden lottery ticket.”
Chalmers, who three years later had a house and was engaged to be married, said competing and then presenting sport had proved him right in choosing option two.
“Sport has changed my life, and continues to today,” he said.
“It is like a drug. It is not for myself but to honour those who didn’t come home.
“Like my friend Dave Henson (Paralympic bronze medallist this year and also wounded in an IED blast) says ‘kick the arse out of life’.”

Munster and Ireland rugby legend Anthony Foley died of an “acute pulmonary edema”, an autopsy revealed Tuesday.
According to the autopsy, the 42-year-old Foley “had a heart rhythm disorder that caused an acute pulmonary edema”, the Nanterre public prosecutor west of Paris told AFP.
Pulmonary edema is a build-up of fluid in the lungs that can lead to respiratory failure.
His death could therefore “be linked to a cardiac problem”, the prosecutor added, without giving any further details.
Other toxicological analyses are under way, with results due in the coming weeks.
The prosecutor also issued a burial permit, with the body free to be released to the family.
Foley, the head coach of Munster, was found dead in his hotel room hours before his side were to play Racing 92 in the European Champions Cup in Paris on Sunday.
The robust backrow forward won 62 caps for Ireland, captaining the team on three occasions. He also led Munster to the European title in 2006.

Swiss champions Basel have a respectable record in Europe in recent seasons and fancy their chances of springing a surprise when they face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“We have not come to Paris to take selfies,” warned Basel’s Ivory Coast midfielder Geoffroy Serey Die ahead of the game at the Parc des Princes.
“Whether Paris are in form or not doesn’t matter to us, we have come here to get a result.
“We know Paris are a very good team. Their strength is when they have the ball. We are ready for battle.”
Urs Fischer’s Basel have picked up just one point from their opening two Group A games after losing 2-0 away to Arsenal in their last outing but they have claimed famous wins against the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in recent seasons.
They also arrive in France as an utterly dominant force in Swiss football, with a 14-point lead at the top of the table just 11 games into the season.
Such domestic dominance is something PSG have enjoyed in recent times, but less so this season.
Under Unai Emery they are still trying to find their feet, although they have won their last three games and in Edinson Cavani they have the in-form striker in Europe just now.
Cavani has scored 16 goals for club and country this season, including three in the Champions League in two games and what proved to be the winner at Nancy in Ligue 1 at the weekend.
He will lead the Paris attack but Italian midfielder Thiago Motta is set to miss the game with a buttock muscle problem as Paris look to keep up with Arsenal in the fight for top spot in the section. Both sides have four points from two outings.
“The first goal is qualification. But if we can have first place as the icing on the cake that’d be good,” midfielder Blaise Matuidi said.
“For that we need a win tomorrow (Wednesday) and to see what happens after. The game against Basel will be difficult, but we’re prepared. We expect a difficult game, but that’s how it is in the Champions League.”
Coach Emery added: “This is an important match. We want to stay in first place. We are playing in front of our fans and so it is important to win and play well.”

The Warriors, beaten in last year’s finals by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, are backed by a whopping 69% of GMs to regain the title they last won in 2015.
The Warriors lost an epic NBA Finals duel against the Cavs in June, being pipped 4-3 in the best-of-seven series.
However since that bitter defeat the Warriors have strengthened their squad with the addition of Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant.
Only 31 percent of GMs polled backed James and the Cavaliers to mount a successful defence of their title.
Unsurprisingly, the Warriors and the Cavs are the overwhelming favorites to top their respective conferences, both coming out on top with 96.7%.
The Warriors were backed to finish ahead of the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference, while the Cavs were expected to finish first ahead of Toronto and Boston in the East.
Golden State’s stellar line-up was also tipped to be the most likely to be fun to watch, with 93.3% of the votes.
Nevertheless, while the Warriors remained overwhelming favorites, Cleveland talisman James was tipped to be the season MVP, with 46.7% of the votes, ahead of Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook 23.3% and Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Houston’s James Harden, both with 10%.
The survey however found that Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns was the most coveted player in the league. Asked to name the one player they could sign if they were starting a franchise, Towns topped the poll with 48.3%, ahead of Durant (20.7%) and James (17.2%).
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo was named as the best international player in the league with 27.6% ahead of Memphis’s Marc Gasol and the evergreen Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas.

Australia all-rounder James Faulkner is returning to Lancashire for next year’s edition of English cricket’s Twenty20 Blast competition, the northwest county announced Tuesday.
Faulkner, 26 helped the Old Trafford club win the 2015 edition, when he was the joint leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 25 wickets in 13 matches and also scored 302 runs.
The 2015 season also saw Faulkner take 23 wickets in the County Championship and compile his maiden first-class hundred as Lancashire were promoted to the First Division of the four-day competition.
Faulkner, who took a one-day international hat-trick against Sri Lanka in August, is set to join up with Lancashire again in July 2017
“We?re thrilled to have James joining us again next summer. He?s a world-class cricketer, a true competitor and it?ll be great to have him back,” said Lancashire coach Ashley Giles in a club statement.
“He is a great guy to have in the dressing room and his experiences at international level will really benefit the squad,” the former England spinner added.
“He played an important role in our success throughout the competition last year and we look forward to welcoming him back to Emirates Old Trafford in 2017.?
Meanwhile Faulkner said: “I?m absolutely delighted to be returning to play for Lancashire Lightning in the NatWest T20 Blast next summer. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with Ashley Giles, the coaches and the rest of the squad in 2015.
“Finals Day at Edgbaston was one of the best days of my career so hopefully we can replicate the success of 2015 next year. I was blown away by the support I received from the Lancashire fans and I?m really excited to be playing my cricket at Emirates Old Trafford in 2017.”

President Pierre Nkurunziza on Tuesday signed legislation enabling Burundi to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
A copy of the law seen by AFP and dated October 18 allows “the Republic of Burundi’s withdrawal from the Rome statute”, the ICC’s founding treaty.
The next step will be for the country to officially notify the United Nations, launching a year-long departure process that will make the country the first ever to quit the tribunal.
Burundi’s lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favour of the move on October 12, its latest snub of the international community after the release of a damning UN report in September detailing atrocities and warning of “genocide”.
Burundi was plunged into crisis in April 2015 when Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office, which he went on to win.
A vicious government crackdown on protests and widespread violence followed, which some rights organisations estimate has left more than 1,000 people dead.
Burundi’s move to leave the Netherlands-based court comes amid rising resentment in Africa against the ICC, whose leaders accuse it of unfairly targeting Africans for prosecution.