At least five people were  killed after two army helicopters crashed near a lake in  southern France, investigators said today.
A rescue operation was under way to find the sixth  passenger after the crash about 50 kilometres (30 miles)  northwest of Saint-Tropez, the circumstances of which were  unclear.

Five dead after two army helicopters crash in France

PTI Automatic

Kenyan police today arrested an  outspoken member of the opposition, Miguna Miguna, in a dawn  raid on his Nairobi home, police and his party said.
Armed officers used explosives to break down the door  before arresting Miguna, a witness said.
"There were several blasts heard at his home before he  was finally taken out," said a neighbour who did not want to  be named.
Miguna is a provocative firebrand who attended the  Tuesday mock swearing-in of opposition leader Raila Odinga as  the "people's president", in defiance of last year's election  that saw Uhuru Kenyatta win a second term.
On Thursday he goaded police, daring them to arrest him  saying he had signed Odinga's oath, "So if you want to take me  to court for doing my job, come baby come!"
He also urged supporters to "take down portraits of  illegitimate president Kenyatta" and burn them.
Miguna's arrest follows that of TJ Kajwang, a lawyer and  MP who was arrested on Wednesday and is due to be charged with  treason and ...

Kenya opposition firebrand arrested in dawn raid

Germany's biggest lender  Deutsche Bank said Friday that Donald Trump's tax reforms in  the US pushed it into the red in 2017.
The Frankfurt-based bank said in a statement that its net  loss amounted to 512 million euros ($640 million) last year,  narrower than the loss of 1.4 billion euros in 2016.
Revenues fell to 26.4 billion euros in 2017 from 30  billion euros the year before.
At a pre-tax level, however, Deutsche Bank was back in  the black, notching up a profit of almost 1.3 billion euros,  compared with a loss of 810 million euros the previous year.
"Only a charge related to US tax reform at the end of the  year meant that we had to post a full-year after-tax loss,"  chief executive John Cryan said in a statement.
"We believe we are firmly on the path to producing growth  and higher returns with sustained discipline on costs and  risks."
Deutsche Bank had hoped to return to profit in 2017 after  years in the red due to a deep restructuring programme and  fines from a string of 

Deutsche Bank blames US tax reforms for 2017 loss

Alexis Sanchez is poised to make  his home debut as Manchester United aim to bounce back from a  damaging defeat at Tottenham Hotspur when struggling  Huddersfield Town visit Old Trafford tomorrow.
United fell 15 points behind runaway leaders Manchester  City with a 2-0 defeat at Spurs on Wednesday that also saw the  gap between United in second and Tottenham in fifth cut to  just five points in the race for Champions League  qualification.
Sanchez has yet to score in two appearances since joining  from Arsenal in a swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan head  to the Emirates.
However, midfielder Juan Mata believes Sanchez's mere  presence has helped raise the bar of what can be expected of  United for the rest of the season.
"Alexis is a great player and I'm sure that he will help  us a lot," said Mata, who himself has been pushed further down  the pecking order by the Chilean's signing.
"His arrival is great news because a player of his level  always raises the competition within the 

United seek a reaction on Sanchez's home bow

Tehran police have arrested 29 women  for appearing in public without a headscarf as protests  against the dress code in force since the Islamic revolution  of 1979 intensify, Iranian media reported today.
Those arrested were accused of public order offences and  referred to the state prosecutor's office, the Fars, ILNA and  Tasnim news agencies reported without elaborating.
Chief prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri had played down  the escalating protests on Wednesday, saying they were  "trivial" and "childish" moves possibly incited by foreigners.
He had been asked about a woman detained earlier this  week for standing on a pillar box in a busy street without the  mandatory headscarf.
Unprecedented images of at least 11 women protesting the  same way had been widely shared on social media.
A prominent human rights lawyer told AFP on Tuesday that  one of the detained women had her bail set at more than USD  100,000 (80,000 euros).
Montazeri said those flouting "hijab" rules -- which  

Iran arrests 29 women as headscarf protests intensify

Neymar insists his Paris Saint-Germain  career is just getting started as the runaway French league  leaders prepare for a crucial stretch of matches that will  likely define their season.
PSG go to struggling Lille on Saturday, exactly six  months on from Neymar's world-record transfer from Barcelona,  with the Brazilian superstar bidding to add to his overall  haul of 26 goals from 24 matches.
"I wasn't expecting this at the beginning, these  statistics with Paris Saint-Germain. But I'm here to help the  team and my teammates and to try and do better each day, in  each match, and that's the most important thing," Neymar told  PSG TV.
"It's not my objective to be the team's main player, the  lad who gets the most assists or scores the most goals. I just  want to play my own football, that's how it is, I want to make  things happen."
Neymar followed up a four-goal performance in an 8-0 win  over Dijon with a brace in last weekend's 4-0 rout of  Montpellier, and despite constant ...

'Just the beginning' for Neymar as PSG hit key run

Ben Stokes's long-awaited return  to England duty could take place in his native New Zealand  after the all-rounder was included yesterday in a 15-man squad  for a one-day international series against the Black Caps  "subject to any court obligations".
Stokes has not played international cricket since  being suspended by the England and Wales Board (ECB) following  his involvement in an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in  September that reportedly left a man with a fractured eye  socket.
As a result, the Durham all-rounder missed the whole  of England's 4-0 Ashes series defeat in Australia.
But last month saw Stokes included in England's squad  for the upcoming triangular Twenty20 series that is being co-  hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
However, English legal authorities then announced that  Stokes was due to appear in a magistrates court on February 13  after he was charged with affray.
That date clashes with what England had hoped would be  Stokes's planned international .

Stokes's England return could take place in New Zealand

Alexander Zverev handed Germany  a 1-0 lead in their Davis Cup World Group first round tie  against Australia when he outlasted Alex de Minaur in a four-  hour marathon here today.
Zverev was forced to fight every step of the way  before seeing off the challenge of the 18-year-old de Minaur  7-5, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on Pat Rafter Arena.
The world number five had looked down and out when de  Minaur, playing superb defensive tennis, took a two sets to  love lead.
But Zverev fought back to win the fourth set before  recovering from an early break in the fifth to force a  tiebreak.
He then created a mini-break at 3-4 in the tiebreak and  served superbly to take the match and give his country the  early advantage.
Zverev, 20, has had a disappointing Davis Cup record,  with one win and four losses before Friday's match.
Considered one of the rising stars of the men's game,  he also has a poor Grand Slam record and fell in the third  round of the Australian Open.
But he said he taken ...

Zverev gives Germany early advantage

The French referee who kicked out at  a player during a Ligue 1 game was yesterday handed a three-  month ban by disciplinary chiefs with a further three months  suspended.
Tony Chapron, 45, kicked Diego Carlos of Nantes towards  the end of the match against Paris Saint-Germain on January 14  after being knocked over when the pair collided.
Chapron sent the player off before apologising the next  day, saying Carlos had bumped into him but that his own  reaction had been "clumsy" and "inappropriate".
The French Football Federation (FFF) suspended Chapron  "until further notice" and the league's disciplinary  commission met Thursday in Paris with Chapron attending the  two-hour proceedings with his lawyer.
"The meeting took place in a calm atmosphere which was in  contrast to the media lynching (around the affair)," said  Samuel Chevret, the referee's lawyer.
At the time of the affair, the FFF said in a statement  that Chapron had reviewed video footage of the incident and  "noted that .

French referee who kicked player banned for three months

David Beckham has finally achieved his  goal of bringing Major League Soccer to Miami, but the  prospect of a stadium without parking that drives up housing  costs in a low-income neighborhood is no hit with residents.
The former England captain and glitzy star of storied  Champions League teams was formally awarded an MLS franchise  on Monday, but key details remain up in the air, such as its  name and logo and when it will debut.
For the 25,000-stadium, the investor group led by Beckham  has acquired land in an area called Overtown, a working class  district between downtown and Little Havana.
They still need to buy one more piece of land, but for  now the deal is held up in court by a lawsuit. The investors  are confident they will prevail.
"Our 24th team now is in Miami. The stadium is in the  Overtown site," MLS commissioner Don Garber said.
One problem is that Miami is already choked with traffic  and the stadium will not have its own parking lots.
And people in the neighborhood 

Some Miami residents call foul over Beckham football venture

Russia said yesterday it wants 33  athletes to go to the Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang  where they will compete under a neutral flag as the country  remains suspended following revelations of state-sponsored  doping.
The Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) statement said  that the list submitted to the international body features a  79-strong delegation which includes 33 athletes and seven  guides for the visually impaired competitiors.
They will compete in five sports at the March 9-18  Paralympics under the Neutral Paralympic Athlete (NPA) banner.
Russia was suspended by the International Paralympic  Committee (IPC) in August 2016 following revelations of  widespread state-sponsored doping uncovered in a report by  Richard McLaren on behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency  (WADA).
But athletes are allowed to take part in South Korea as  neutrals under an agreement similar to that put in place to  allow able-bodied Russian competitors to take part in the  Winter Olympics ...

Russia wants to send 33 athletes to Paralympics

Washington's top diplomat was to  sit down today with the leader of the country that President  Donald Trump has perhaps disparaged more than any other, the  United States' neighbor Mexico.
As he confronts the first stage on his first Latin  American tour since being named secretary of state, former  oilman Rex Tillerson will talk trade, crime and immigration  with President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Before setting off, Tillerson laid out a vision of the US  and Latin America -- the "democratic hemisphere" -- working  together to build a prosperous future, but first he will have  to overcome the aftermath of Trump's aggressive brand of  diplomacy.
Trump has called the North American Free Trade Agreement  (NAFTA) "perhaps the worst deal in the history of the world,"  has said immigrants from across the southern border bring  crime with them and remains determined to build a frontier  wall.
On some positions, Trump has softened his rhetoric since  his inauguration a year ago, but in this ...

Tough task for Tillerson in Mexico, south of Trump's wall

The popular eldest son of the  late Cuban president Fidel Castro committed suicide, state  media reported. He was 68 years old.
"Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, who had been treated by a  group of doctors for several months due to deep depression,  took his life this morning," Cuba's official newspaper Granma  reported.
"Fidelito" -- as he was known on Caribbean island nation  -- had initially been hospitalized for his condition and then  continued with outpatient follow-ups.
Born on September 1, 1949, he was the son of the  revolutionary Castro's first marriage to Mirta Diaz-Balart.
The younger Castro was very popular in Cuba even though  he never held a political position. He bore a strong  resemblance to his father: both were tall and had bushy  beards.
Many Cubans remember him as a little boy dressed in an  olive drab military uniform, accompanying his father on  January 8, 1959 as he entered Havana triumphantly after the  revolution.
The younger Castro was always faithful to his ...

Fidel Castro's eldest son commits suicide: Cuba state media

The corpses of two Guatemalan  journalists were found among cane fields with bullet wounds to  the head and their hands and feet bound, authorities said.
The slain reporters, identified as Laurent Castillo and  Alfredo de Leon, had recently disappeared and were discovered  by farm workers near the municipality Santo Domingo,  Suchitepequez in the Central American country's south, said  its human rights ombudsman Jordan Rodas.
The journalists had traveled to the nearby city of  Mazatenango to cover a carnival celebration.
"I demand from authorities an immediate investigation to  find those behind such a despicable act" of violence, Rodas  said, demanding also that authorities implement protections  for journalists.
On March 10, 2015 two other journalists were killed in  the Mazatenango park.
Congressman Julio Juarez was arrested last month in  connection with those deaths.

Two journalists found dead in Guatemala

Hundreds of gold  miners among almost a thousand trapped underground for more  than a day in South Africa following a power-cut resurfaced  Friday, mining company Sibanye Gold said, as a rescue effort  moved into full swing.
"Power has been restored," spokesman James Wellsted said,  adding that "the first hoist has come up and brought the first  batch of employees up".
By dawn, several buses carrying the freed miners had  already left the site of Beatrix gold mine, in the small town  of Theunissen near the city of Welkom, according to an AFP  reporter.
Rescue operations are expected to continue for around  another hour to bring up the entire group of 955 miners who  have been trapped since Wednesday evening, Wellsted said.
Asked if there had been any casualties, Wellsted said  there was "no indication so far that anyone has been in  distress" although it had been a "traumatic experience".
Several ambulances arrived on-site overnight, the AFP  reporter said.
The Sibanye-Stillwater ...

Hundreds of miners among 950 trapped in SAfrica resurface

The World Anti-Doping Agency has  expressed its "serious concern" over the decision by the Court  of Arbitration for Sport to overturn Olympic life bans on 28  Russians accused of doping.
"WADA understands that this decision will cause dismay  and frustration among athletes," the organisation said in a  statement yesterday.
"The Agency supports the International Olympic  Committee's (IOC) intention to analyse these decisions very  carefully and consider all options, including an appeal to the  Swiss Federal Tribunal."
The CAS decision, which was hailed by Moscow, was a major  embarrassment for the IOC just days away from the start of the  Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
CAS ruled that the there was "insufficient" evidence that  the athletes had benefited from a system of state-sponsored  doping at the 2014 Winter Games, hosted by Russia.
The cleared 28, which includes Sochi cross-country gold  medallist Alexander Legkov, are now eligible to compete in the  Pyeongchang Olympics, but their 

WADA's 'serious concern' after CAS overturns Russian life bans

The intensifying battle for Champions  League places takes centre stage in the Premier League this  weekend as Liverpool host Tottenham, while Manchester United  and Chelsea seek to recover from damaging defeats.
Just five points now separate United in second from Spurs  in fifth, with the riches and prestige of a place in the  Champions League for next season fuelling a record 492 million  euros splurge in the January transfer window.
Arsenal sit a distant sixth, six points behind their  north London rivals, provoking an uncharacteristically busy  window of comings and goings at the Emirates.
Top four contenders at a crossroads
===================================
Philippe Coutinho's 160-million-euro move to Barcelona  meant Liverpool ended January in the black despite splashing  out a world-record 75 million British pound for a defender on  Southampton's Virgil van Dijk.
Despite holding their own in this season's Champions  League and domestically, Liverpool and Spurs are not even in 

Top-four battle heats up for Premier League's big spenders

Luis Suarez headed in the only goal  as defending champions Barcelona edged Valencia 1-0 in their  Copa del Rey semi-final first leg at a half-full Camp Nou.
Barcelona, the record 29-time winners of the tournament,  are attempting to become the first team to lift the cup four  years in a row since Athletic Bilbao in the 1930s.
But yesterday they were forced to labour against a  Valencia team missing a trio of key players -- Goncalo Guedes,  Geoffrey Kondogbia and Ezequiel Garay -- through injury.
Barcelona dominated possession but had to wait until the  67th minute for the breakthrough.
Not surprisingly, Lionel Messi was the man who unlocked  the Valencia defence before setting up Suarez.
The Argentine danced his way into the penalty area before  a deft left-footed chip left three defenders out of position  and allowed Suarez to score from the edge of six-yard box with  a diving header.
Yesterday's tight affair was dramatically different to  the last time these two teams met at the ...

Suarez gives Barcelona edge in Copa del Rey semi-finals

A car drove onto a crowded pavement  and ploughed into pedestrians in a busy area of central  Shanghai today, injuring at least 18 people including three  seriously, city authorities said.
A brief official announcement said the incident occurred  around 9.00 am (0100 GMT), when crowds of people would have  been on their way to work. It said the cause of the accident  was under investigation.

Car slams into pedestrians in Shanghai, 18 hurt: government

US President Donald Trump is set  to host Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the  White House on February 23 to "celebrate 100 years of  mateship" according to a statement issued today.
The pair held an infamously bad-tempered telephone call  early on in Trump's presidency, when the US leader reportedly  exploded and hung up after he was told about a Barack Obama-  era deal to move refugees from Australia to America.
But the affair appeared to have been smoothed over after  Turnbull visited Trump for a patch-up summit in New York last  May.
"President Trump looks forward to further enhancing our  partnership and alliance, and demonstrating our shared  commitment to the democratic values that underpin peace and  prosperity around the world," the statement said.
It added: "The President and Prime Minister will discuss  a range of shared bilateral, regional, and global priorities,  including fighting terrorism, promoting economic growth, and  expanding security and defense ...

US President Trump to host Australian PM Turnbull this month

Google parent company Alphabet  today reported a quarterly loss of USD 3 billion as it set  aside USD 11 billion for taxes on its overseas profits being  brought back to the United States.
The California tech giant said revenues in the last three  months of 2017 rose 24 per cent from a year ago to USD 32.3  billion and cited "great growth" for the company.
Shares in Alphabet slid 2.4 per cent to USD 1,139.05 in  after-hours trade, amid concerns over profits below  expectations.
Google remained the key driver of revenue and profit for  the company, which has reorganized into new divisions for  self-driving vehicles, life sciences and other so-called  "moonshot" projects.
The Google segment accounted for USD 31.9 billion in  revenue and delivered an operating profit of USD 8.8 billion.
Excluding the tax provision -- following the lead of  other multinationals taking advantage of a favorable rate to  repatriate earnings -- Alphabet would have posted a profit of  USD 6.8 billion.
"Our ...

AFP

AFP

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