Chelsea wasted a chance to take  control of their League Cup semi-final against Arsenal as the  misfiring Blues were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw in  Wednesday's first leg.
Antonio Conte's side dominated possession for long  periods at Stamford Bridge -- where the Video Assistant  Referee system (VAR) was in operation -- but lacked the killer  instinct required to take a step towards the final.
They had 21 shots to just eight from Arsenal, yet the tie  remains on a knife-edge heading into the second leg at the  Emirates Stadium on January 24.
"We are not so clinical despite creating chances. If you  want to win you have to score," Conte said.
"We didn't concede a goal, but we know we play away at  Arsenal and we must be ready to fight if we are to play the  final."
While it was a frustrating evening for Chelsea as they  chase a first League Cup final berth since 2015, the stalemate  was a welcome tonic for their London rivals.
Arsenal, who also drew both Premier League encounters  .

Chelsea frustrated by Arsenal stalemate

PTI Automatic

Bayer Leverkusen forward Leon Bailey  plans to prove against Bayern Munich on Friday that the  Jamaican winger is even quicker with the ball at his feet than  close friend Usain Bolt as the Bundesliga returns from its  winter break this weekend.
Fourth-placed Leverkusen reopen proceedings on Friday  with a mouth-watering clash at home to run-away league leaders  Bayern, who have an 11-point lead over nearest rival Schalke.
Pacy Kingston-born winger Bailey is friends with Jamaica  sprint legend Bolt, who last weekend revealed that he wants to  launch his football career with a trial at Borussia Dortmund  in March.
Bolt, 31, bowed out of athletics last year as the 100m  and 200m world record holder over 100m and 200m, but Bailey  jokes that he is faster of the pair on the pitch.
"I've been friends with Usain for four years now, we play  football and hang out sometimes, he's a good person," 20-  year-old Bailey told Bundesliga.com after posting a picture of  himself alongside Bolt last ..

Bolt's pal Bailey out to dazzle Bayern

The International Cricket Council  Thursday approved the new Perth Stadium to host all  international formats of all the game, formally lowering the  curtain on the city's venerable WACA Ground.
The new 60,000-capacity stadium will host a sold-out  one-day international against England on January 28 in the  first sporting event held at the state-of-the-art arena.
ICC match referee Richie Richardson submitted a gushing  report after inspecting the venue.
"This is by far the most impressive and well laid-out  stadium I have ever visited," he said.
"The comprehensive amenities, along with the quality and  functionality of the facility, surpasses the required standard  to host any international cricket match."
The West Indies great added that it was "a wonderful,  refreshing, world-class stadium, and I have no hesitation in  recommending that the venue is approved for staging all three  formats of international cricket".
The WACA, a Test venue since 1970, was once touted as the  world's ..

'World-class' Perth Stadium gets ICC green light

Dutch cyclist Jelle van Gorkom,  who won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was in a coma  on Wednesday following a crash which left him with a damaged  skull, officials said.
The 27-year-old was hurt after an accident in training at  the national sports centre at Papendal near Arnhem in the east  of the country.
"After the accident, Jelle van Gorkom was taken to  hospital. He has broken ribs, a fracture to the face, a tear  in the skull and damage to the liver, spleen and kidneys. He  is being kept in a coma at the moment," said a statement on  the Royal Dutch Cycling Union website.
Jochem Schellens, the director of the Papendal sports  centre, described the accident as "terrible".
"Our thoughts are with Jelle van Gorkom, his girlfriend  and his family and we wish them all the strength in the coming  period.

Dutch BMX Olympic silver medallist in coma

Arsene Wenger insists Alexis Sanchez  remains committed to Arsenal even though the Gunners boss left  out his unsettled star for the League Cup semi-final clash  with Chelsea.
Wenger opted to keep Sanchez on the bench until the last  25 minutes of Wednesday's 0-0 first leg draw at Stamford  Bridge.
It was a bold gamble by Wenger given the League Cup  represents one of the few chances for Arsenal to win  silverware in another frustrating season.
Some Arsenal fans and pundits say Sanchez no longer gives  100 percent because his contract expires at the end of the  season and he has so far refused to sign a new deal amid  reports he is a divisive figure in the dressing room.
Although Premier League leaders Manchester City are keen  to sign Sanchez after their move for the Chile forward fell  through in August, Wenger claimed he is still completely  focused on the Arsenal cause despite a series of lacklustre  performances.
"The performance of Alexis Sanchez and the commitment  does not ...

Wenger backs unsettled Sanchez

A lawmaker with Venezuela's ruling  Constituent Assembly was shot dead today by unidentified  attackers, officials said.
The murder was denounced by the head of the governing  body, Delcy Rodriguez.
The dead lawmaker was identified as Tomas Lucena, a  member of the assembly for the western state of Trujillo.
Rodriguez said those responsible for the crime "will be  punished" though she did not specify the circumstances nor the  motives of the killing.
"Nothing will stop the Constituent Assembly and its  defense of Venezuela," Rodriguez said, suggesting however that  the motive may have been political.
The Constituent Assembly was set up last year by  President Nicolas Maduro at the height of an opposition  campaign to depose him, with the aim of usurping the power of  the opposition-dominated National Assembly.
Venezuela is in the throes of a deepening crisis caused  by falling oil prices, spiraling inflation, and corruption  that has decimated the oil-rich South American country's  ...

Pro-Maduro lawmaker shot dead in Venezuela

Canada is bracing for a possible US  withdrawal from the tripartite North American Free Trade  Agreement, a source said today, ahead of the next round of  negotiations due to start in Montreal later this month.
"The Canadian government is aware of the possibility that  President Trump may announce the United States's withdrawal  from NAFTA," a senior government official told AFP on  condition of anonymity.
"We're prepared for that possibility."
In the meantime, the official said, the government is  moving ahead with plans to host US and Mexican trade  negotiators in Montreal January 23-28.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland was  in Washington to meet with senior US lawmakers and Secretary  of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Tuesday. Her office was not  immediately available for comment.
Reports of NAFTA's possible demise, meanwhile, sent the  Canadian and Mexican currencies tumbling, and the US dollar  rising from Can$1.2432 at 1200 GMT to Can$1.2554 at around  2030 GMT.
In ..

Canada braces for possible US exit from NAFTA trade pact:

The White House today demanded  that Iran release demonstrators rounded up in countrywide  protests, raising pressure on Tehran as US President Donald  Trump weighs the future of a key nuclear deal.
"The Trump Administration is deeply concerned by reports  that the Iranian regime has imprisoned thousands of Iranian  citizens in the past week for engaging in peaceful protests,"  the White House said in a statement.
It added that reports of some demonstrators being  "tortured or killed... while in detention are even more  disturbing," and slammed Tehran for what it called its "true  brutal nature."
"We will not remain silent as the Iranian dictatorship  represses the basic rights of its citizens and will hold  Iran's leaders accountable for any violations," White House  press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
"The United States calls for the immediate release of all  political prisoners in Iran, including the victims of the most  recent crackdown," the statement read.
Violent unrest fuelled 

US demands 'immediate release' of Iranian political prisoners

Bulgaria's capital Sofia was all  done-up to host incoming European Union officials for the  opening of its EU Council presidency tomorrow but it remained  blanketed by smog.
The bloc's poorest but most euro-optimistic member  state completed a costly refurbishment of its National Palace  of Culture, built in 1981 during the country's communist era,  to host meetings of the six-month revolving presidency.
The capital's airport was also made easier to access  by the hasty completion this week of a new fast road linking  it to the boulevard leading downtown.
Electric cars were hired to drive the EU delegates  around, in a move to show Bulgaria's commitment to preserving  the environment.
But Sofia remains one of Europe's most polluted  capitals due to its extremely poor air quality -- a problem  that unlike pot-holed roads is impossible to hide.
As is does every winter, thick smog blanketed the  capital, with wood and coal burnt for heating and the use of  outdated vehicles ...

Bulgaria's smoggy capital cleans up to host EU presidency

President Donald Trump is  open to talks between the US and North Korea, while remaining  determined to apply "maximum pressure" over Pyongyang's  nuclear program, the White House said today.
During a phone call with his South Korean counterpart  Moon Jae-In, Trump expressed his openness to holding talks  with Pyongyang "at the appropriate time, under the right  circumstances."
"The two leaders underscored the importance of  continuing the maximum pressure campaign against North Korea,"  White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders added in a statement  that confirmed a South Korea account of the phone call.
Moon briefed Trump on his government's talks with a  delegation from the North on Tuesday, which resulted in  Pyongyang agreeing to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics  in Pyeongchang next month, both sides said.
Trump also told Moon that Vice President Mike Pence  would lead the US delegation to the Olympic Games, the White  House said.
Pence "is attending to reinforce the ...

Trump open to talks between US, N Korea

President Donald Trump today  vowed to rewrite US libel law, after an explosive book  portrayed him as out of his depth in the White House.
"We are going to take a strong look at our country's  libel laws," Trump said after a meeting of his cabinet on his  first year in office and plans for the year ahead.
Trump said the laws should be changed so that "when  somebody says something that is false and defamatory about  someone, that person will have meaningful recourse in our  courts."
"Our current libel laws are a sham and a disgrace and  do not represent American values or American fairness," he  said, renewing a long-held desire for curbs against what is  written about him.
Trump's statements -- in the context of a meeting with  ministers about his agenda -- are likely to raise concerns  about curbs on free speech.
The 71-year-old president has been infuriated by the  publication of "Fire and Fury," an incendiary tell-all book by  author Michael Wolff about the inner workings of the .

Trump vows to rewrite US libel law

Israeli forces set up  roadblocks and deployed around a major Palestinian city today  in a manhunt for attackers who shot dead an Israeli settler,  sparking calls at his funeral for "revenge".
Raziel Shevah, a 35-year-old rabbi, was killed late  yesterday while driving near the wildcat settlement where he  lived, Havat Gilad near the northern city of Nablus in the  occupied West Bank.
Some 22 gunshots were found in his car, Israel's army  radio reported. The gunshots reportedly came from a passing  vehicle.
"Entrances and exits to and from the villages surrounding  Nablus will be possible only after security checks," the  military said in a statement.
"The review of the incident is ongoing. Based on  situation assessments, it was decided to reinforce the area  with additional forces."
Soldiers checked identification papers and searched cars  at checkpoints around Nablus, causing long back-ups. No  arrests had been reported.
The area frequently sees tensions between hardline  Israeli ..

Calls for 'revenge' at funeral of Israeli settler killed in

The  Palestinian government attacked comments today by the US  ambassador to Israel blaming it for the failure of peace  efforts, after an Israeli settler was killed in the occupied  West Bank.
In the latest tensions between them, the Palestinian  foreign ministry accused US ambassador David Friedman of a  "prejudiced and selective attitude" towards the conflict.
It comes a month after US President Donald Trump  recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, angering the  Palestinians.
"An Israeli father of six was killed last night in cold  blood by Palestinian terrorists," Friedman said on Twitter  Wednesday after a 35-year-old was killed near an Israeli  settlement in the West Bank.
"Hamas praises the killers and PA (Palestinian Authority)  laws will provide them financial rewards. Look no further to  why there is no peace."
Friedman, a supporter of West Bank settlements, was  referring to payments to the families of imprisoned  Palestinians, including those who have carried out attacks 

Palestinians reject US blame accusation after deadly attack

Officials from North and South  Korea will meet at the International Olympic Committee's  headquarters on January 20 to hammer out the details of the  North's participation at next month's Winter Games, the IOC  said today.
"The participants will be a delegation from the  PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee and delegations from the  (Olympic committees) of the Republic of Korea and the  Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), all led  by their respective presidents, as well as high-ranking  government officials and the IOC members in both countries,"  the IOC said.
"The meeting will have to take a series of essential  decisions, including the number and names of athletes and  officials from the NOC of the DPRK, since all the deadlines  for registration have already passed.
"The IOC will also have to decide on the format of such  participation, including questions related to the official  protocol (flag, anthem, ceremonies, uniform, etc.)."
The news followed a meeting ...

IOC to host North, South Korea officials for Olympic planning

Italy's Five Star Movement, which  promised supporters a referendum on the euro, has had a change  of heart, insisting it can win concessions from Europe to ease  eurozone fiscal rules instead.
When in 2013 the anti-establishment party urged a vote on  the single currency, "Germany had a monolithic government, the  French-German axis was very strong, Britain was still fully  involved," Five Star (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio said today.
"It was very difficult to negotiate. Today, everything  has changed," he told TGCOM24 television.
"Germany has been struggling for 90 days to put a  government together, Spain has a minority government, France's  traditional parties are weaker than ever.
"It's time to change the rules on the euro, not leave the  euro," he added.
The movement has been steadily distancing itself from the  idea of a referendum as it gears up for its first run at  national leadership at the March 4 general elections.
Founded in 2009 and the leading single party in opinion  ...

Italy's populist Five Stars has new plans for euro

France's Finance Minister Bruno Le  Maire today urged Germany to plough more investments into  major European projects and allow wages to rise, as part of  Berlin's contribution to boosting growth in Europe.
"France has taken on its European responsibilities, in  reducing its public spending and reforming its economy. We  expect Germany to join the movement, by adopting more  offensive wage policies and investing more," he told Die Zeit  weekly at a time when Chancellor Angela Merkel is battling to  form a new coalition government.
Le Maire's call comes at a sensitive time for Merkel, as  public spending is a hot-button issue in negotiations to forge  a new alliance with the Social Democrats.
The centre-left SPD is demanding more public spending to  help the disadvantaged, but Merkel's conservatives want to  keep the country's budget balanced as they argue that they are  saving for the ageing population's future.
"Germany has already taken decisions in the right  direction -- minimum .

French minister urges more German investment in EU

Malaysia signed a deal with an  American firm today to resume the search for MH370 almost four  years after the plane disappeared, with the company to receive  up to $70 million if successful.
The new hunt, which will last 90 days, is expected to  start in mid-January when a high-tech vessel leased by the  seabed exploration firm, Ocean Infinity, reaches a new search  zone in the southern Indian Ocean.
The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared in March 2014 with  239 people -- mostly from China -- on board en route from  Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, triggering one of the world's  greatest aviation mysteries.
No sign of the plane was found in a 120,000 square  kilometre search zone selected by satellite analysis of the  jet's likely trajectory.
The Australian-led sea search, the largest in aviation  history, was suspended in January last year.
But three firms submitted bids to resume the hunt  privately and after lengthy negotiations, the Malaysian  government agreed to engage Ocean Infinity ..

Firm to receive up to $70 mn if MH370 found in new hunt

Arab foreign ministers will meet  early next month to discuss steps against US President Donald  Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the Arab  League said today.
The meeting of the League's Council will be held on  February 1 in Cairo, its general secretariat said in a memo  obtained by AFP.
Trump's decision in December to relocate the US embassy  to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv sparked deadly clashes in  Palestinian territories and was rejected in a non-binding UN  General Assembly resolution.
Jordan said on Saturday that the League would seek  international recognition of the Palestinian state with east  Jerusalem as its capital following the US move.
In a resolution after an emergency meeting in December,  Arab foreign ministers urged the US to rescind its decision  and said Washington had "withdrawn itself as a sponsor and  broker" of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank in the  1967 Six-Day War and later annexed east 

Arab FMs to meet in February on Trump's Jerusalem move

Myanmar security forces took part in  a massacre of 10 Rohingya in September, the army chief's  office said today, as it admitted for the first time abuses  during a crackdown that sparked a mass exodus of the Muslim  minority.
The massacre took place on September 2 in the village of  Inn Din in Rakhine state, the Facebook posting said, as  tensions escalated pitting Rohingya against security forces  and ethnic Rakhine locals following the killing of a Rakhine  man.
"Some villagers from Inn Din village and security members  confessed they killed 10 Bengali terrorists," the office said  in its post, using a pejorative term for Rohingya and blaming  militants for causing the unrest in the village.
The post also gave the first confirmation of a mass  Rohingya grave inside Rakhine state following an army  crackdown on militants from the minority group.
In its account, the office said security forces captured  10 Rohingya militants before killing them as violence engulfed  Inn Din village .

Myanmar security forces took part in killing 10 Rohingya: army

An associate of French politician  Nicolas Sarkozy was granted bail today by a British court,  after his arrest on charges linked to a probe into financing  the ex-president's election campaign.
French businessman Alexandre Djouhri appeared at a London  court after being detained on Sunday at Heathrow airport on a  European arrest warrant.
The judge ordered a 1 million pound bail be paid to  secure the 58-year-old's release.
Wearing a dark suit with a white shirt, frequently  tightening the knot on his dark blue tie, Djouhri was ordered  to stay at his daughter's home in the British capital.
Embroiled in an investigation into the suspected Libyan  financing of Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign, he has refused  to respond to summons for questioning in Paris.
Well known among France's rightwing political  establishment, Djouhri is facing fraud and money-laundering  charges and will next appear in court for an extradition  hearing.
The Swiss resident has been a focus of the inquiry opened 

Sarkozy associate granted bail by London court

Forty-three gold diggers died in  abandoned mines in Cameroon in the first 10 months of last  year, a watchdog group said today.
"The toll of people who died in mining holes... reached  43 in the first 10 months" of 2017, said Foder, a local NGO  whose full name in English means Forest and Rural Development.
The group said much of the blame lay with corporations,  many of them Chinese, which abandon open-cast gold mines after  profitable seams run out.
When the companies leave, individual gold hunters move  in, digging holes into a site that in some cases have already  been excavated to a depth of 200 metres (650 feet).
Nine died last year after the walls of their hole  collapsed on top of them, Foder said. In September, a 12-  year-old boy drowned in a lake that had formed in an abandoned  pit.
Foder said the problem is worst in eastern Cameroon,  where from 2012 to 2014, 250 mines were opened and then  abandoned by their operators. It is campaigning for mining  companies to cover ...

AFP

AFP

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