Thursday 27 October 2016

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Onus on Pakistan and India to work out differences: US

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WASHINGTON (Dunya News) - US State Department spokesperson, John Kirby while briefing the newsmen in Washington on Thursday said that it is responsibility of Pakistan and India to resolve their differences after Pakistan and India declared a diplomat each at their High Commissions in Islamabad and New Delhi persona non-grata and sought their recall in tit-for-tat action.Weve seen the reports of these decisions. These are sovereign decisions that nation-states make, and these are issues that were going to leave to India and Pakistan to work out, John Kirby said.The spokesperson further said that the onus is on Pakistan and India to work out differences and de-escalate tensions. These are issues that we believe Pakistan and India need to discuss, need to talk about, need to work out between themselves, Kirby said.

Rawalpindi: Lal Haveli sealed with containers

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RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) – Police on Thursday night sealed the Lal Haveli, residence of Sheikh Rashid, by placing containers in front of its main entrance ahead of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf public meeting which is scheduled to be held today (Friday) at the same place, Dunya News reported. Police also blocked all roads leading to Lal Haveli by placing more than 100 containers. Police also arrested an activist of Awami Muslim League (AML) for resistance.On the other hand, Federal Constabulary (FC) personnel reached the residence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan in Bani Gala, Islamabad and marched up to the barrier leading to the residence of the PTI leader. However, they left the scene after staying there for few hours.

Quetta: 4 terrorists killed in encounter with security forces

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QUETTA (Dunya News) – According to details, security forces and police conducted a raid on a house in Hazar Gangi area of Quetta on intelligence reports during which terrorists hiding in the house opened fire and hurled hand grenades at the raiding party, injuring three police officials.Security forces and police returned the dire as a result four terrorists were killed. Two pistols, one SMG, 20 kilogram of explosive material, detonators and motorcycle were recovered from the house.The injured police officials were shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) while the bodies of the terrorists were shifted to the Bolan Medical Complex (BMC) Hospital.

Liverpool aim to storm Palace in title bid

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LONDON (AFP) - Liverpool will look to underline the strength of their squad when they continue their Premier League title challenge away to Crystal Palace on Saturday.Having survived a nervous finish as his team beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 in the Premier League last Saturday, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp fielded a completely different starting 11 against Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, and secured another 2-1 victory.Such squad rotation should ensure Klopp has plenty of players fresh enough for the visit to Crystal Palace, when his team will seek to extend an unbeaten run in all competitions of 10 matches.Most of those who impressed on Tuesday, among them 18-year-olds Ovie Ejaria and Trent Alexander-Arnold, will return to the fringes this weekend, but midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum sees no reason why they should not be called on again.I think its a good sign for a team that you have players who can come in and fit into the team immediately, Wijnaldum said. And its easy to make changes for a manager.Its not a problem when someone is out, as you can change to a player with good quality. Its a good thing for the team.Its not easy for a young player to play in a big game for a big club. A lot of players get nervous and lose confidence, but I didnt see it in these players.Liverpool go into the weekend in third place, level on points with leaders Manchester City, and with Alex Ferguson suggesting that this could be the season that the league title goes to Anfield for the first time since 1990.You can now sense you truly have to count them in this year, said the former Manchester United manager in an interview with German magazine Kicker this week.Liverpool are being helped in their title challenge by a relatively light fixture list. Last season, they played 63 games, 15 of them in the Europa League as they reached the final.With no European campaign this season, the schedule looks far less daunting and that in turn may explain Liverpools relatively short injury list.Defender Joe Gomez and winger Sheyi Ojo are battling back from long-term injuries, but Divock Origi should be fit despite a bout of cramp on Tuesday, and Klopp otherwise is expected to have a full squad to pick from.Crystal Palaces fortunes improved when a run of three successive wins in September moved the south London club up into a mid-table position.Since then, however, Alan Pardews side have taken just one point from their last three games and midfielder Yohan Cabaye insists the responsibility to turn things around lies with the players and not the manager.Its the team that takes to the field, said the France international. In the week we work on the strategy and tactics for the weekend and the manager works out the best options but then its up to us out there on the pitch.Sometimes its too easy to say we lost because of the manager or we won because of the manager.The arrival of Belgium international Christian Benteke from Anfield at the start of this season has helped strengthen belief at Selhurst Park, the forward kick-starting his Palace career with three goals in his opening seven league games and offering glimpses of the form that persuaded Liverpool to pay Aston Villa 32 million ($39 million, 36 million euros) for the striker.Benteke will lead the Palace attack but centre-back James Tomkins will be missing from the Eagles defence with a hamstring injury.

Govt should be tolerant instead of showing power: Farooq Sattar

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KARACHI (Dunya News) - Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Pakistan leader Farooq Sattar said that government should show tolerance and patience instead of showing power against protesters, reported Dunya News.Farooq Sattar condemned polices behaviour with women of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and arrest of PTI workers. Farooq Sattar said that country is going through a difficult time and such events can make the situation worse.

Two martyred in unprovoked Indian firing at LoC

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – According to Foreign Office spokesman, India forces agains violated ceasefire on Thursday and resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and working boundary.The spokesman further said that two civilians were martyred and 15 other were injured by Indian firing. He further said that the act of killing and injuring innocent civilians by the Indian forces is highly condemnable.

Uber lays out vision for flying commuter transit

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SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Uber on Thursday laid out a vision for on-demand aircraft that can whisk commuters to home or work in a fraction of the time it would take on the road.The ride-sharing giant assessed the feasibility of what it called vertical take-off and landing vehicles in a 98-page white paper, inviting innovators and entrepreneurs to take flight with the idea.San Francisco-based Uber said it will be reaching out to cities, manufacturers and others about the concept.Just as skyscrapers allowed cities to use limited land more efficiently, urban air transportation will use three-dimensional airspace to alleviate transportation congestion on the ground, said the white paper, authored by Uber chief product officer Jeff Holden and product manager Nikhil Goel.A network of small, electric aircraft that take off and land vertically will enable rapid, reliable transportation between suburbs and cities and, ultimately, within cities.Diagrams in the paper showed aircraft bodies of various designs with propellers that can rotate to allow for vertical lift-off or landing, then move into position for flying forward.Recent advances in technology have made it practical to build vertical take-off and landing, or VTOL, vehicles, according to the paper.More than a dozen companies taking varied design approaches are working on these types of aircraft, according to the Uber team.Since VTOL aircraft would be powered by electricity, they would be non-polluting and quiet, the paper said.Auto-pilot capabilities could be built into the aircraft to reduce the potential for human mistakes, and they could recharge at landing pads atop buildings, at existing helipads, or at stations built on unused land, according to the vision presented in the paper.However, challenges include making the aircraft affordable and reliable, training pilots, getting the approval of regulators, and making lightweight batteries.The greatest operational barrier to deploying a VTOL fleet in cities is a lack of sufficient locations to place landing pads, Holden said.Even if VTOLs were certified to fly today, cities simply dont have the necessary takeoff and landing sites for the vehicles to operate at fleet scale.

Superstar ally Michelle Obama hits trail with Clinton

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WINSTON-SALEM, United States (AFP) - Michelle Obama, surprise star of the 2016 White House campaign, hit the trail Thursday with Democrat Hillary Clinton as the former and current first ladies fight to conquer battleground states before Election Day.Obama has emerged as a compelling force in the hard-fought campaign, delivering powerful arguments against Republican Donald Trump and in support of Clintons bid to become the first female president in US history.Michelle and Hillary joined forces on the trail for the first time to headline a rally at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina -- a key swing state where early voting is already under way before the November 8 election.It doesnt get any better than being here with our most amazing first lady, Michelle Obama, Clinton said as she introduced a woman whose voice we need now more than ever.Taking the podium, Obama hailed Clinton for her leadership, for her courage and for what she is going to do for this country.I dont know about you but Im fired up Were going to make this happen, she said.The 52-year-old wife of President Barack Obama has energized the Democratic camp with a series of speeches taking Trump to task for his strident rhetoric and for what she brands his frightening attitude towards women.And in the closing two weeks of the unprecedented race, Clinton is capitalizing on one of the most popular Democrats in America to help make her case.Clinton holds the momentum as the clock ticks down to Election Day, the polls crediting her with a compelling lead over Trump, but her Republican rival has pledged to pour millions more of his own dollars into his teetering White House bid.North Carolina voted for Republican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012, but the southern state has been leaning Democratic in the current White House race.Clinton is relying on strong turnout from the states substantial African-American population, and a rally featuring Michelle Obama could inspire them to head to polling stations.Clinton holds a two-point lead there and the states Republican leaders worry that Trumps slow collapse will hurt them in congressional races.The latest rolling poll average compiled by tracker RealClearPolitics showed Clinton with a 5.8 point lead in a national race against Trump and two outsiders -- pointing to a likely electoral college victory.I feel really good, energized, working hard, the former secretary of state told reporters aboard her plane Wednesday, her 69th birthday.Trumps standing has been hit hard, particularly among female voters, since this months release of a 2005 video in which he boasts that his celebrity allows him to grope women with impunity.But the 70-year-old Manhattan real estate mogul took heart from a new survey that shows him with a two-point lead in early-voting Florida, a state where presidential races are often won and lost.A combative Trump promised supporters in Ohio Thursday, We are going to win back the White House.We dont want to give this away, he said. We are going to Washington, DC. And we are going to drain the swamp.Pressed a day earlier on whether hell open his own wallet to match an onslaught of Clinton ads, Trump said he will have spent $100 million of his own money by Election Day, a sum which would imply him digging much deeper than he has so far.A Bloomberg poll out Wednesday put Trump up 45 to 43 percent among likely voters in the Sunshine State, where Clinton has been campaigning -- a close margin in what is a must-win state for him.The RealClearPolitics poll average still puts Clinton ahead in Florida by 1.6 percentage points. On Friday, President Obama will campaign for Clinton in the state, which he won, albeit narrowly, in both 2008 and 2012.But Bloombergs survey shows Trump doing somewhat better than Clinton with independents, who may hold the key to victory in a state that was famously deadlocked in 2000, when the Supreme Court decided the outcome, giving the win to George W. Bush.Trump also appears to have clawed back ground in Nevada, where a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll has the western state in a dead heat.And the provocative billionaire may have found a useful card to play in the final hand: Obamacare.Republicans have attacked the outgoing presidents signature health care reform since it was passed, but they have found new traction after officials confirmed this week that voters premiums will jump an average of 25 percent next year.

North Dakota police move to clear pipeline protesters

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CHICAGO (AFP) - Police in the US state of North Dakota engaged in a tense standoff with oil-pipeline protesters Thursday in an effort to clear them from a public road and off private property.Police arrested at least 16 people. That number was expected to rise as numerous arrestees were yet to be processed, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier told a news conference.Demonstrators moved to block two roads over the weekend, camping on private land in an effort to stop Energy Transfer Partners construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline -- the subject of a months-long protest by Native Americans and supporters.The project resumed construction earlier this month after courts refused to halt it.We have tried everything we possibly could, talked to everybody we could, Kirchmeier said Thursday of attempts to get protesters to leave voluntarily, adding that their refusal forced law enforcement to act.As police moved in, protesters created a barricade with tires and wooden poles, briefly lighting it on fire.Police in riot helmets used a sound cannon device and pepper spray during operations that lasted more than five hours. Most protesters left voluntarily or were arrested, officials said.Hopefully, we have persuaded these protesters that our state highways and county highways, private property, is not the place to carry out a peaceful protest, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple said at a separate news conference.The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose reservation is close to the pipelines route, objects to the project, saying it would endanger the tribes water supply by crossing the nearby Missouri River, and destroy sacred Native American sites.Dallas Goldtooth, a protester at the scene of the Thursday standoff, said police were very aggressive and had also used bean bags and a concussion grenade.The police action today was to remove protectors from this land, he said.Kirchmeier could not immediately confirm Goldtooths account, saying operations were still ongoing, but said protesters were free to exercise their free speech rights as long as it was done legal and lawful.The Native American-led protest has grown into a larger movement in the United States, drawing in other tribes, environmentalists and advocates for Native Americans.The Sioux tribe criticized the sheriffs actions Thursday.The tribe had asked the Obama administration to intervene to stop the pipeline construction and for the Justice Department to investigate law enforcement abuses at the site, spokeswoman Sue Evans said.The federal government has twice asked the pipeline operator to voluntarily pause construction near the tribes reservation while the authorities reconsider the projects route.But courts have refused to compel a halt. Energy Transfer Partners, which insists the pipeline complies with the law, resumed construction on October 11.

Real Madrid wait for misfiring Ronaldo to catch fire

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

Deal struck for world's biggest marine reserve in Antarctica

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SYDNEY (AFP) - The worlds largest marine reserve aimed at protecting the pristine wilderness of Antarctica will be created after agreement was finally reached Friday with Russia dropping its long-held opposition.The deal, sealed by the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) at an annual meeting in Hobart after years of negotiations, will see a massive US and New Zealand-backed marine protected area established in the Ross Sea.It will cover more than 1.55 million square kilometres (600,000 square miles), of which 1.12 million square kilometres will be a no fishing zone, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully announced.The proposal required some changes in order to gain the unanimous support of all 25 CCAMLR members and the final agreement balances marine protection, sustainable fishing and science interests, he said.The boundaries of the MPA, however, remain unchanged.Moscow was the last government opposing the move, due to concerns over fishing rights, after China offered its support last year.But time ran out to reach agreement on a second proposed protected area on the meetings agenda, the Australia and France-led East Antarctica sanctuary covering another one million square kilometre zone, sources told AFP.Both reserve proposals have been on the table since 2012 with CCAMLR -- a treaty tasked with overseeing conservation and sustainable exploitation of the Antarctic Ocean, also known as the Southern Ocean.Consensus is needed from all 24 member countries and the European Union.For the first time, countries have put aside their differences to protect a large area of the Southern Ocean and international waters, said Mike Walker, project director of the Antarctic Ocean Alliance.The Ross Sea is one of the last intact marine ecosystems in the world, home to penguins, seals, Antarctic toothfish, and whales.It is seen as critical for scientists to study how marine ecosystems function and to understand the impacts of climate change on the ocean.

Bayern Munich face Augsburg for the second time in four days

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BERLIN (AFP) - Bayern Munich face familiar opposition in neighbours Augsburg on Saturday as the Bundesliga leaders take on their Bavarian rivals for the second time in four days.Bayern beat Augsburg 3-1 on Wednesday in the second round of the German Cup as US international Julian Green -- deputising for striker Robert Lewandowski -- David Alaba and Philipp Lahm all scored.Carlo Ancelotti rested a host of stars including Arturo Vidal, Arjen Robben, Xabi Alonso and Lewandowski ahead of this weekends league game at Augsburgs WWK-Arena stadium.The Munich giants need a win in their warm-up for next Tuesdays Champions League clash at PSV Eindhoven to ensure they remain clear at the summit.The top clash of the weekend is Saturdays Ruhr Valley derby between Borussia Dortmund and arch-rivals Schalke 04.Dortmund are unbeaten in their last three league meetings against Schalke but are struggling with a lengthy injury list and are winless in their last three Bundesliga games.Andre Schuerrle, Raphael Guerrerio, Marcel Schmelzer, Sven Bender, Erik Durm, Neven Subotic and Marco Reus are all either out injured or returning from injury.Dortmund hope to have striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back from a calf knock after he missed Wednesdays nervy German Cup penalty shootout win over Union Berlin.Schalke made a disastrous start to the season when they lost their first five games, but Markus Weinzierls side have steadied the ship by picking up seven points in the three matches since.Midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, has been a revelation during the revival with three goals in his last two games.Schalke are eager to make his move permanent, but director of sport Christian Heidel says Spurs want at least 20 million euros ($21.8 million) for the Algeria international.It was a double-digit sum and there was a two at the front, Heidel said.Bentaleb is relishing his first Ruhr derby and likened it to a match against Spurs north London rivals Arsenal.I dont know if you can compare it to a London derby, but Im looking forward to it, said the 21-year-old.Unbeaten RB Leipzig, who trail Bayern by just two points, can take a step closer to a record when they face Darmstadt away.Under Austrian coach Ralph Hasenhuettl, Leipzig have won five of their first eight games with three draws.They are just two short of the record of 10 matches unbeaten, set by MSV Duisburg in 1993/94, for a side at the start of their first season in Germanys top flight.Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen meet on Saturday with both coaches in desperate need of a victory.Leverkusens Roger Schmidt serves the last of his two-match touchline ban for verbally abusing Hoffenheims Julian Nagelsmann in last Saturdays 3-0 defeat.Leverkusen, who go to Tottenham in the Champions League on Wednesday, are winless in their last four games and suffered a shock German Cup defeat to third division Sportfreunde Lotte in midweek.Wolfsburg are without a win in seven league games and caretaker coach Valerien Ismael, who lost his first game 3-1 at strugglers Darmstadt, has been tasked with reversing the teams fortunes.Bottom club Hamburg, who are still winless after their first eight league games, are at Cologne on Sunday.Unbeaten Hoffenheim host fellow high-flyers Hertha Berlin in south-west Germany, with Pal Dardais side suffering their lone defeat to Bayern and starting to look like realistic contenders for a Champions League place next season.Fixtures (all times 1330 GMT unless stated)FridayBorussia Moenchengladbach v Eintracht Frankfurt (1830)SaturdayMainz v Ingolstadt, VfL Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen, Augsburg v Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen v Freiburg, Darmstadt v RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund v Schalke 04 (1630)SundayHoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (1430), Cologne v Hamburg (1630)

Football: Mourinho and Man Utd focus on Burnley boost

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

Australia's security chief arrives in Dhaka to see security arrangements

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DHAKA (AFP) - Cricket Australias head of security has arrived in Dhaka to view Englands safety arrangements during the ongoing Test series, an official said.Sean Carrolls arrival on Thursday comes a year after Australia pulled out of a Test series in Bangladesh over safety fears.Basically he came here to see the security arrangement for the England team, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury said.Australia also refused to send their junior team to the ICC Under-19 World Cup held in Bangladesh earlier this year.Carroll travelled with the England team on their way to Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from their hotel to see for himself what kind of security measures had been put in place for the visiting side.He will be here a few more days and see our other arrangements. Australian High Commission has also maintained regular contact with us, Chowdhury said.The bilateral series between Bangladesh and Australia has now been shifted to August 2017.BCB hope the visit will reassure Australia, convincing them it is safe to send its team next year.Its really encouraging for us, said the BCB chief executive.England agreed to go ahead with the current tour only after safety arrangements were cleared by their security chief Reg Dickason following a visit.The series was plunged into doubt after an attack in a Dhaka restaurant in July that killed 22 people, mostly foreign hostages.It has so far passed incident free. England will play their last match of the tour, the second Test of the two-Test series, on Friday.

Spurs seek end to winless streak against Leicester City

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LONDON(AFP) - Tottenham Hotspur will kick off at home to champions Leicester City on Saturday as the Premier Leagues only remaining unbeaten team and just a single point behind leaders Manchester City.Yet they will do so outside the Champions League qualification slots in fifth place and without a victory in their last four fixtures.Those statistics support claims that this seasons race for the title could end up being one of the tightest in living memory after surprise package Leicester ended up winning it so comprehensively last term.Tottenham were the club that chased the Foxes the hardest but Mauricio Pochettinos men fell away sharply in the last four games and had to settle for third place.Leicester always seemed to have their noses in front and that was the case when the two sides met at White Hart Lane when Robert Huths header was enough for a 1-0 win.Claudio Ranieris players have found life much tougher now they are champions but enjoyed the luxury of no midweek match as a much-changed Spurs were eliminated from the EFL Cup at Liverpool on Tuesday.Defensive midfielder Eric Dier, who captained the north London club at Anfield, is likely to be played in central defence should Toby Alderweireld require extra time to recover from a leg injury.Weve now got a massive game against Leicester which will mean a lot to everyone for different reasons so everyone is now fully focused on that, England international Dier said.I feel like we were in a title race with them last season and they got the better of us in the game at home and that changed where the league went. Its an important game for us.Dier has now racked up 98 appearances for Tottenham since joining from Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon in August 2014.I didnt know until now that I was getting so close to 100 appearances for Tottenham so thatll be another big moment for me, he said. I couldnt have imagined two years ago that Id be in this position.Its fantastic for me but I want to build on that and I want to keep improving my appearances and maybe get the armband a couple more times as well.Spurs forward Harry Kane has had a week of training as he steps up his rehabilitation from an ankle injury but is unlikely to feature on Saturday.Leicester have won their last two fixtures, with a 3-1 home success over Crystal Palace adding to a third straight Champions League victory, the 1-0 home win against Copenhagen.The Foxes remain in the bottom half of the table, however, and have lost all four of their away games in the Premier League so far this season.Weve worked very well this week, Leicester manager Ranieri said. I watched them very closely and everybody has worked well, so Im happy.I think weve had very good preparation. When you play every three days its very difficult to maintain it and recharge the batteries. But now we are ready for Saturday.Tottenham are the only unbeaten team because they have a very good squad and Pochettino can rotate his players, the Italian added.We lost the four (away) matches because we werent so concentrated. Now I believe my players are solid again and will make better matches.Midfielder Andy King was unable to complete the Palace game because of a shin injury but has been passed fit to face Spurs.Nampalys Mendy remains sidelined for at least another month, however, following surgery to remove bone fragments from an ankle.
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