Saudi Arabia will allow women into  sports stadiums for the first time from next year, authorities  have said, in a landmark move opening up three previously  male-only venues to families.
The ultra-conservative kingdom, which has some of the  world's tightest restrictions on women, has long barred women  from sports arenas by strict rules on segregation of the sexes  in public.
The yesterday's announcement is in line with powerful  Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious reforms shaking  up the kingdom, including the historic decision to allow women  to drive from next June.
"Starting the preparation of three stadiums in Riyadh,  Jeddah and Dammam to be ready to accommodate families from  early 2018," the General Sports Authority said on Twitter.
Restaurants, cafes and video screens would be set up  inside the venues, the authority added.
Last month hundreds of women were allowed to enter a  sports stadium in Riyadh, used mostly for football matches, in  a one-off event to ...

Saudis to open sports stadiums to women in reform push

PTI Automatic

The Chinese agency representing a  14-year-old Russian model who died after taking part in  Shanghai Fashion Week has denied allegations that she was  overworked and exhausted.
The death of the teenager in a Chinese hospital on Friday  has shone a light on the murky world of western models in  China, many of whom are from the former Soviet Union.
Vlada Dzyuba began feeling dizzy and started being sick  last Tuesday and was taken to a Shanghai hospital the next  day, but died on Friday after her condition quickly  deteriorated.
English-language The Siberian Times alleged that Dzyuba  died of meningitis compounded by severe exhaustion.
"We feel sorry that we lost an angel," ESEE Model  Management in Shanghai said in a statement on Weibo, China's  equivalent of Twitter, pointing out that Shanghai Fashion Week  ended on October 18 but she fell ill six days later.
ESEE's chief executive Zheng Yi separately told the state  Global Times that she had worked a legal eight hours a day  during ..

China agency denies dead Russian model, 14, was overworked

Roger Federer has  pulled out of next week's Paris Masters, virtually ensuring  old rival Rafael Nadal will end 2017 on top of the world  rankings as the 19-time Grand Slam champion insists his body  needs a break.
Federer, 36, withdrew from the final event of the regular  season after battling past Juan Martin del Potro 6-7 (5/7), 6  -4, 6-3 to win his eighth Swiss Indoors title in Basel.
Federer, winner of a 95th career title which puts him  into second on the all-time list behind the 109 of Jimmy  Connors, had said all week that he would make a late decision  depending on his post-Basel fitness.
"My body is asking for a break," said the Swiss legend.  "Basel takes a lot out of me emotionally. I had five matches  in six days. I feel sorry and sad for Paris.
"I love to play at Bercy, it's a few times now that I've  not played there. It's a tough one but they have to understand  that it's for the cause of staying injury-free and healthy.
"I'd like to be fully fit for London (the World

Federer snubs Paris as Nadal eyes year-end No1 spot

Britain's foreign secretary has  defended his predecessor's role a century ago in paving the  way for the creation of Israel, saying two sovereign states  for Israelis and Palestinians remains the "only viable  solution" for peace.
This Thursday marks the centenary of the Balfour  Declaration -- a 67-word letter from Britain's then foreign  secretary Arthur Balfour that threw London's backing behind a  homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to  London to mark the anniversary.
The statement remains controversial, setting off a chain  of events that eventually led to Israel's formation, the  displacement of millions of Palestinians and decades of strife  between the two communities that continues to this day.
"I am proud of Britain's part in creating Israel,"  current Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson wrote in the Telegraph  newspaper on Sunday, adding the document was "indispensable to  the creation of a great nation".
But he ...

Britain defends Balfour Declaration, 100 years on

Australia paceman Josh Hazlewood has  warned Joe Root's England tourists and their raft of Ashes  debutants they risk being exposed if their big guns don't fire  in the coming series.
England's depleted squad touched down in Perth yesterday  without suspended star all-rounder Ben Stokes.
Their arrival coincided with Hazlewood's Test pace  partner Mitchell Starc picking up a career-best eight wickets  with the pink ball in a Sheffield Shield match in Adelaide.
The world number two's inexperienced batting line-up has  been highlighted as its biggest weakness as it aims to emulate  the feat of Andrew Strauss' men by becoming only the second  England team to retain the Ashes urn in Australia in 31 years.
While doubts remain about the security of Australia's top  six batsmen, there is an air of confidence among their bowling  attack heading into the opening Test at the Gabba on November  23.
"If you get him (Root), Alastair Cook and Jonny Bairstow,  who have been scoring runs the last few .

Hazlewood targets England's batting greenhorns

Lewis Hamilton clinched his  fourth drivers' world championship in unexpected but dramatic  fashion when, after a first lap collision with title rival  Sebastian Vettel, he finished ninth in the Mexican Grand Prix.
The 32-year-old Briton, who would have needed to finish  in the top five to be sure of the title if Vettel had won the  race, battled from last position in his Mercedes yesterday  after suffering a puncture that needed an opening lap pit-stop  as Dutchman Max Verstappen won the race for Red Bull.
Vettel, already a four-time champion, came home fourth  for Ferrari after driving through the field from 19th  following his part in the early crash with Hamilton. He also  pitted for a new front wing.
Hamilton's title triumph made him the first Briton to be  a four-time champion, elevating him clear of Jackie Stewart,  and alongside Vettel and Frenchman Alain Prost.
Only German Michael Schumacher with seven titles and  Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio on five have claimed more  ...

Hamilton claims 4th world title, Verstappen wins in Mexico

State-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines  will launch its first flight to Baghdad in 27 years tomorrow,  state media said, amid a thaw in ties between the Arab  neighbours.
The airline, also known as Saudia, will depart from the  Red Sea city of Jeddah barely two weeks after Saudi budget  carrier flynas made the first commercial flight from Riyadh to  Baghdad since 1990.
"Saudi Arabian Airlines will inaugurate regular flights  between the kingdom and Iraq after an interruption of 27  years," the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.
"The resumption of flights is in line with growing ties  between the two brotherly countries."
Flights between Iraq and Saudi Arabia were suspended in  August 1990 after former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein  ordered his troops into neighbouring Kuwait.
After years of tense relations, ties between Sunni-ruled  Saudi Arabia and Shiite-majority Iraq have begun looking up in  recent months.
Earlier this month Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi  and ...

Saudi Airlines to operate first Baghdad flight in 27 years

An Egyptian court ruled today that a  television programme deemed contrary to Islamic law should not  be broadcast, following a request from the country's highest  institution of Sunni Islam.
Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb of Al-Azhar had demanded that  the authorities ban "With Islam" presented by controversial  intellectual reformer Islam Behairy and aired by private  channel Al Qahera Wel Nass.
Al-Azhar accuses Behairy of "regularly attacking Islamic  law".
Although Al-Azhar advocates tolerance and moderate Islam  in conferences, it also routinely asks for programmes and  shows in which secular Egyptians criticise current Islamic  practices or heritage to be banned.
Behairy has infuriated Al-Azhar's traditional clergy in  the past with attacks on canonical religious books and some of  Sunni Islam's most important scholars.
He served a year in prison for "insulting religion"  before being released in late 2016 under a presidential  pardon.
Behairy can still appeal against the ban on his  

Egypt court orders ban on 'anti-Islam' broadcast

Iceland's conservative prime  minister came out on top in a snap election despite a string  of scandals, final results confirmed Sunday, but it remained  unclear whether he will be able to form a viable coalition.
PM Bjarni Benediktsson, 47, was accused named last year  in the "Panama Papers" worldwide tax-evasion leaks. He has  also been accused of wrongdoing during Iceland's financial  collapse in 2008.
His Independence Party, however, beat its rivals in  yesterday's election, according to final results published  today, although no party came near to winning a majority in  parliament.
The Independence Party won 16 seats in the 63-seat  parliament. Turnout was 81 per cent.
It could now take days, weeks or even months before  Iceland has a new government in place as thorny coalition  negotiations await.
Benediktsson's challenge comes from the Left Green  Movement and its potential allies, the Social Democratic  Alliance and the anti-establishment Pirate Party.
The Left-Green Movement 

Iceland's scandal-hit PM wins snap election, hopes to form

Pakistan marked the return of Sri  Lanka with a 3-0 Twenty20 series whitewash on Sunday, as  officials hoped it will help re-establish the country's  reputation for hosting international cricket.
The third and final Twenty20 match, which Pakistan  comfortably won by 36 runs at Gaddafi stadium in Lahore, was  Sri Lanka's first since their team bus was attacked near the  same venue in March 2009.
Those attacks, which left eight people dead and seven Sri  Lanka players and their staff injured, suspended international  cricket in Pakistan and forced them to play at neutral venues  of United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The first two matches, which Pakistan won by seven and  two wickets respectively, were played in Abu Dhabi before Sri  Lanka flew to Lahore in a 24-hour fly in, fly out arrangement.
The match was the fourth international since the attack,  with Zimbabwe playing a five-match limited over series in 2015  followed by the final of Pakistan Super League and a three-  match Twenty20 ...

Pakistan mark Sri Lanka return with Twenty20 win

Hundreds of thousands of  Spaniards rallied in Catalonia's capital Barcelona today,  waving national and European flags and chanting "Viva Espana!"  to denounce regional lawmakers' vote to sever the region from  Spain.
Crowds of protesters swarmed, singing and clapping,  through Barcelona's streets in a sea of red-and-yellow Spanish  flags, brandishing placards reading "De Todos" (It belongs to  all of us).
Municipal police said the crowd numbered about 300,000  while organisers said 1.3 million turned out and the central  government's representative in Catalonia put the figure at one  million.
Spain's biggest political crisis in decades mounted on  Friday when secessionists in the Catalan parliament voted to  declare the wealthy northeastern region of some 7.5 million  people an independent republic.
The central government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy  reacted swiftly by temporarily stripping the region of its  autonomy and declaring the dismissal of secessionist regional  ...

Mass march for unity after Catalan independence move

Scoreboard at stumps on  day one of the second Test between Zimbabwe and West Indies at  Queens PSports, here today.
Zimbabwe first innings:
H Masakadza not out
101
S Mire c Dowrich b Roach
4
C Ervine b Gabriel
0
B Taylor b Roach
1
P Moor b Chase
52
Sikandar Raza not out
9
Extras: (NB-2)
2
Total (for 4 wkts in 61 overs)
169
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-11, 3-14, 4-156
Bowling: Gabriel 13-3-37-1, Roach 10-4-24-2, Blackwood 4  -1-8-0, Holder 11-1-28-0, Bishoo 14-2-46-0, Chase 9-1-26-1.

Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), Oct 29 (AFP) Scoreboard at stumps on

Scoreboard of the third and final  Twenty20 international between Pakistan and Sri Lanka played  at Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.
Pakistan
Fakhar Zaman b Munaweera
31
Umar Amin c Perera b Udana
45
Babar Azam not out
34
Shoaib Malik c de Silva n Sanjaya
51
Faheem Ashraf not out
13
Extras: (lb2, nb2, w2)
6
Total: (for 3 wkts; 20 overs)
180
Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-91, 3-166
Bowling: Sanjaya 4-0-41-1 (2nb), Munaweera 4-0-26-1,  Udana 3-0-32-1, Gunathilaka 2-0-16-0 (1w), Perera 4-0-28-0  (1w), de Silva 1-0-14-0, Shanaka 1-0-13-0
Sri Lanka
D. Gunathilaka c and b Hafeez
9
D. Munaweera b Amir
1
S. Samarawickrama c Azam b Wasim
4
M. Udawatte c Azam b Ashraf
11
D. Shanaka c Wasim b Ashraf
54
P. de Silva b Amir
21
T. Perera c Shadab b Hasan
10
S. Prasana c Ahmed b Amir
16
S. Pathirana c Hafeez b Amir
14
I. Udana not out
0
V. Sanjaya not out
1
Extras: (lb1, w2)
3
Total: (for nine wkts; 20 overs)
144
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-15, 3-21, 4-57, 5-96, 6-106,  7-114, 8-142, 9-143
Bowling: Wasim 4-0-30-1, .

Lahore, Oct 29 (AFP) Scoreboard of the third and final

Hamilton Masakadza's  fifth Test century helped Zimbabwe recover from a horror start  to the second Test against the West Indies today and end a  rain-hit first day on 169 for four.
Just 61 overs were possible as rain wiped out most of the  final session, but that was still enough time for Masakadza to  register an unbeaten 101 and drag Zimbabwe out of a hole.
The home side slumped to 14 for three after winning the  toss and electing to bat first, as fast bowlers Kemar Roach  and Shannon Gabriel struck with the new ball.
In cloudy conditions it took Roach just two overs to make  the first breakthrough as he had Solomon Mire caught behind,  and Craig Ervine and Brendan Taylor soon followed when they  were bowled by Gabriel and Roach respectively.
Those early setbacks meant that Peter Moor, who was only  picked at the last minute when allrounder Sean Williams  withdrew because of illness, walked out to bat in challenging  conditions.
But he duly dug in for a 142-run stand for the fourth 

Masakadza ton leads Zimbabwe recovery

Scoreboard of  the second Twenty20 international between South Africa and  Bangladesh at Senwes Park, here today.
South Africa:
H Amla c Soumya Sarkar b Mohammad Saifuddin
85
M Mosehle b Shakib Al Hasan
5
JP Duminy b Shakib Al Hasan
4
AB de Villiers c Imrul Kayes b Mohammad Saifuddin
20
D Miller not out
101
F Behardien not out
6
Extras: (LB-1, W-2)
3
Total: (for 4 wkts in 20 overs)
224
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-37, 3-78, 4-157
Bowling: Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-22-2, Taskin Ahmed 3-0-41-0  (1w), Mehedi Hasan 4-0-46-0, Rubel Hossain 4-0-51-0, Mohammad  Saifuddin 4-0-53-2, Mahmudullah 1-0-10-0
Bangladesh:
Imrul Kayes run out (Miller)
6
Soumya Sarkar c Hendricks b Phangiso
44
Shakib Al Hasan b Duminy
2
Mushfiqur Rahim c Mosehle b Frylinck
2
Sabbir Rahman c Hendricks b Duminy
5
Mahmudullah st Mosehle b Phangiso
24
Liton Das c Frylinck b Pretorius
9
Mohammad Saifuddin c Amla b Hendricks
23
Mehedi Hasan c Mosehle b Phehlukwayo
13
Taskin Ahmed run out (Phehlukwayo)
4
Rubel Hossain not out
1
Extras: 

Potchefstroom (South Africa), Oct 29 (AFP) Scoreboard of

Three Lebanese nationals kidnapped  in the Iraqi capital Baghdad last week have been freed and  were expected to arrive in Beirut later today, Lebanon's  interior ministry said.
The three men, named as Imad al-Khatib, Nader Hmadeh and  George Batrouni, were kidnapped on arrival in Baghdad on  October 22.
A statement from the interior ministry said today the men  were freed in an operation coordinated between Lebanese and  Iraqi authorities.
It said the men had been kidnapped by a "gang", adding  that one kidnapper had been killed in the rescue operation and  others arrested.
The statement said additional kidnappers were still being  pursued, without specifying the suspected motives for the  abduction.
Kidnappings for ransom or for sectarian or political  reasons were rife in Iraq following the US-led invasion of  2003 that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, but they became  less common from 2015 onwards.

Three Lebanese kidnapped in Iraq freed: ministry

David Miller  smashed the fastest century in Twenty20 international cricket  as South Africa outclassed Bangladesh by 83 runs in the second  and final Twenty20 international at Senwes Park, here today.
Miller's 35-ball hundred propelled South Africa to 224  for four before Bangladesh were bowled out for 141, completing  a clean-sweep for South Africa in two Tests, three one-day  internationals and two T20 internationals.
It was an extraordinary innings by Miller.
Dropped on nought, he admitted: "I felt pretty scratchy  to be honest. In the first ten balls I could have been out  twice."
He had only scored 18 runs off 14 balls, then came an  assault which yielded 82 runs off 21 balls to get to his  century.
"Once I hit one or two I decided to keep going," he said.
The previous fastest T20 international century was made  off 45 balls by fellow South African Richard Levi against New  Zealand in Hamilton in 2011/12.
Five of Miller's nine sixes came off the first five balls  of the 19th ...

Miller hits fastest T20 ton as South Africa rout Bangladesh

Saudi Arabia today accused Iran of  blocking peace efforts in Yemen, slamming its political arch-  rival over support for the Yemeni rebels Riyadh is fighting  against.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir accused Tehran of  smuggling arms to Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels, who control  northern Yemen, and to the rebels' ally former president Ali  Abdullah Saleh.
"Iran is destroying all attempts to find a solution in  Yemen, which has led to the failure of all political  negotiations between the government and these militias,"  Jubeir told a gathering in the Saudi capital of foreign  ministers and military officials from countries including  Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Senegal.
"These militias would not have continued operations  without the support of the greatest sponsor of terrorism in  the world -- the Iranian regime," Jubeir said.
The Yemen war has claimed more than 8,600 lives since a  regional military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, joined the  Yemeni ...

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of blocking Yemen peace

Russians gathered in central Moscow  today to honour the victims of Stalin-era purges, as many  called for the release of a jailed activist who researched  mass graves.
In an annual ceremony organised by the country's oldest  rights organisation Memorial, hundreds of people are set to  take turns during the day to read from a list of names of  people killed during Joseph Stalin's rule.
This year's ritual will take place near the Solovetsky  Stone, a monument in Lubyanka Square, across from the former  KGB headquarters.
The ceremony comes as Yury Dmitriyev, a respected  activist and head of Memorial's Karelia branch in northwestern  Russia who had researched and exhumed mass graves of victims  of Stalin's Great Terror, is still held in custody.
"Freedom to Yury Alekseevich Dmitriyev," said one  participant at the ceremony.
"Is history repeating itself?" asked another.
The 61-year-old activist was arrested last year and  accused of producing pornography, which he denies. Dmitriyev  now .

Russians honour Stalin victims, urge activist's release

Iceland's conservative  prime minister won a snap election despite a string of  scandals, final results confirmed today, but it remained  unclear whether he could form a viable coalition.
Bjarni Benediktsson, 47, was accused named last year in  the "Panama Papers" worldwide tax-evasion leaks. He has also  been accused of wrongdoing during Iceland's financial collapse  in 2008.
Nevertheless his Independence Party beat its rivals in  Saturday's election, according to final results published on  Sunday.
It won 16 seats in the 63-seat parliament. Turnout was 81  percent.
No party won a majority. It could take months before  Iceland has a new government in place as thorny coalition  negotiations await.
Benediktsson fended off a challenge from the Left Green  Movement and its potential allies, the Social Democratic  Alliance and the anti-establishment Pirate Party.
The Left-Green Movement came in second with 11 seats, the  Social Democratic Alliance with seven seats, and the Pirates  with ..

Iceland's scandal-hit PM wins re-election

Angry protesters and police clashed  in Niger's capital Niamey today as a demonstration against  financial reforms in the West African nation turned violent.
Local civil society organisations have for weeks been  denouncing the 2018 budget for one of the poorest countries on  the planet.
More than 1,000 demonstrators rallied near the city  centre to protest against the government's financial plan that  they branded "anti-social" and said created new taxes.
The protest began quietly but quickly degenerated when a  group of people defied a ban and headed to a square opposite  the country's parliament.
Police used tear gas to stop the group from reaching  parliament, an AFP correspondent said.
The protesters responded by throwing stones and bricks,  building barricades and lighting tyres on fire.
"The new budget is going to squeeze the poor," said  Nouhou Arzika, a prominent activist and one of the protest  leaders.
Instead of creating new taxes, Arzika suggested that the  authorities ...

AFP

AFP

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