A Syrian Kurdish official says negotiations are ongoing between the government in Damascus and Kurdish officials on how to fill the gap following the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
The official, who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because of the talks' secrecy, said Syrian Kurdish officials have visited Russia which is sponsoring the talks between the government and the Kurd-led militia that control nearly a third of the country.
The official said negotiations are ongoing and "the atmosphere is positive." President Donald Trump announced in mid-December that the US will withdraw all of its 2,000 forces in Syria.
The main US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces has expressed concerns over the planned withdrawal as Turkey has threatened to launch a military operation against Kurdish fighters in Syria.

Syrian Kurds and government discuss post-US withdrawal

PTI Automatic

On the eve of the first expected results of Congo's long-delayed presidential election, US President Donald Trump said military personnel had deployed to the region for possible "violent demonstrations," while the country's powerful Catholic church warned of a popular "uprising" if untrue results are announced.
Congo faces what could be its first democratic, peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960, but election observers and the opposition have raised numerous concerns about voting irregularities as the country chooses a successor to longtime President Joseph Kabila.
The first results are expected on Sunday, and the United States and the African Union, among others, have urged Congo to release results that reflect the true will of the people. The US has threatened sanctions against those who undermine the democratic process.
Western election observers were not invited to watch the vote.
The Catholic church, an influential voice in the heavily Catholic ...

US sends troops for possible 'violent' Congo vote protests

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer enjoyed a fifth successive win since taking over as interim manager of Manchester United when his side beat Reading 2-0 in the third round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The former United striker had already guided the Red Devils to a run of four Premier League victories since being appointed coach after Jose Mourinho was sacked last month.
That winning sequence continued against second-tier strugglers Reading, with the third round marking the entry into the FA Cup, the world's oldest senior knockout football competition, of England's top-flight clubs.
United, last season's losing finalists, were 2-0 up before half-time, thanks to goals from Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku but Reading had their chances against a still suspect defence, although Solskjaer had made nine changes to his team.
- 'Wasn't the best' -
=====================
"You can't ask for more than going through but the way we played wasn't the best," Solskjaer told the BBC.
"They controlled it .

Solskjaer's winning start at Man Utd continues in FA Cup

Swiss champion Roger Federer kept up his impressive early season form after another flawless week of singles performances at the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth -- as he declared Novak Djokovic the man to beat at the Australian Open.
Federer will be aiming for a third successive Australian Open and looked in impressive touch in claiming a second Hopman Cup, winning all four of his singles matches as he prepared for the year's first Grand Slam in Melbourne later this month.
The 37-year-old used the Hopman Cup as his launching pad for winning the past two Australian Opens, the first of which in 2017 ended an almost five-year Grand Slam drought for Federer.
Speaking after he easily accounted for world number four Alexander Zverev, the last player to beat him in singles in Perth back in 2017, Federer played down his chances of a third successive Australian Open title.
Although the 6-4, 6-2 win over Zverev in the Hopman final reversed a loss to the German in London in November, Federer ...

Federer says Novak man to beat in Melbourne

A special deployment of Brazilian troops began fanning out in the northern city of Fortaleza Saturday with orders to stop a spike in violent attacks by criminal gangs against banks, buses and shops, officials said.
By the end of the weekend, 300 soldiers will be patrolling that city and other towns in Ceara state in a bid to halt the rampage, national public security secretary Guilherme Teophilo said, according to government news agency Agencia Brasil.
The intervention is the first test of new President Jair Bolsonaro's strict law-and-order platform since he took office last Tuesday. His justice minister ordered the deployment after concluding that Ceara police were overwhelmed. Some 50 suspects have been arrested.
The gangs terrorizing Fortaleza could be seen torching service stations in security videos aired by Brazilian media. Dozens of attacks have been registered this week, forcing residents to stay at home and leaving main roads deserted.
In one attack, explosives badly damaged .

Brazil troops deploy to stop criminal attacks in northern city

Qatar's 23-man football squad for the Asian Cup left Doha on Saturday, heading circuitously to the United Arab Emirates on a sports quest which could ultimately be overshadowed by politics.
The tiny gas-rich state's participation in Asia's biggest football tournament comes at a highly sensitive time in Gulf relations, as host UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha since June 2017.
Officials and players have vowed to put politics to one side during the almost month-long tournament.
"In the end this is football," Qatar's goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb told AFP.
"We just control ourselves and play football," he said.
But the tournament -- which pitches Qatar against Saudi in Abu Dhabi on January 17 -- could prove to be a flashpoint.
Even the Qatari team's journey is a reminder of the politics involved -- the squad has to fly via Kuwait, because of a ban on direct flights imposed against Doha by the UAE, Saudi and Bahrain.
The team's route is ...

Qatar football team heads to political rival UAE for Asian Cup

Australia's coach said his young Socceroos had the energy and verve to spring a surprise at the Asian Cup after injuries and retirements forced the defending champions into major changes.
Graham Arnold said last year's World Cup, where teenage French striker Kylian Mbappe ran riot, showed football was a "young man's game" and that he expected his players to prove it by beating Jordan in their opening game on Sunday.
"Pressure is just a word," said Arnold, who has been hit by injuries to key players Aaron Mooy, Daniel Arzani and Scottish-born Martin Boyle ahead of Australia's title defence in the United Arab Emirates.
"We have the utmost belief and confidence in what we're doing. Yes, four years ago is a long, long time. Mile Jedinak, Timmy Cahill and ex-players have retired and moved on, this is football," he said on Saturday.
"We have great depth in our squad, new players coming in, young players. Young players have energy, young players have enthusiasm, and I believe that the game ..

'Young man's game' - Aussie boss backs youthful Roos at Asian Cup

Roger Federer became the most successful player in Hopman Cup history when he led Switzerland to a 2-1 win in an enthralling final of the mixed teams tournament in Perth Saturday.
In what is tipped to be the final edition of the unique tournament, the best was saved for last as Federer became the first player to win three Hopman Cups, teaming with Belinda Bencic to make it successive titles in Perth.
For the second year in a row, the Swiss beat the German pairing of Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber by claiming a deciding mixed doubles rubber which was loaded with drama.
It was Switzerland's fourth title overall, behind only the United States with six, and Federer first won the Hopman Cup back in 2001 when he teamed with Martina Hingis.
The 37-year-old gave the Swiss the early ascendancy with a straight sets win against Zverev, before Kerber squared the tie by beating a dogged Bencic to set up the mixed doubles decider.
Federer was a dominant figure in an extraordinary doubles ...

Federer wins third Hopman in dramatic fashion

Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu Saturday said that his side will play for a win against Thailand in their opening match of the Asian Cup football here on Sunday.
Speaking at the pe-match press conference, Gurpreet said, "It will be a challenge for us tomorrow against Thailand, but the boys are ready to face them and we will play for a win."
"We have worked really hard in the last four years to be here and we will try to put on the best show possible. The boys have been doing the hard work on and off the pitch, we will make sure that the work does not go in vain," he added.
India have been drawn in Group A along with hosts UAE, Thailand and Bahrain, after qualifying for only the fourth time in their history. India last qualified for the continental showpiece in 2011. The country finished runners-up in 1964.
"As a team, we have proved that we can win and we are a difficult team to play against. We are concentrating on the challenge ahead and will take one match at a time," ...

We will play for a win against Thailand: Gurpreet

The owner of a ship that lost some 270 containers in the North Sea this week, pledged Saturday to pay "the full costs" for cleaning up debris littering the northern Dutch and German coastlines.
The Panama-registered MSC Zoe, one of the world's largest container ships, lost hundreds of containers late Tuesday while battling a storm near the Frisian Islands, an archipelago off the northern Dutch coast also known as the Wadden Islands.
Containers and debris, including plastic toys, polystyrene, shoes, and at least one bag with a dangerous powder identified by authorities as "organic peroxide" washed ashore, prompting Dutch authorities to call in the army to help with clean-up operations.
"The MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company would like to assure authorities and members of the public in the Netherlands and Germany that the company will pay the full costs of the clean-up, the Geneva-based MSC said.
The company added in a statement it was "committed to continue searching for the ...

Shipping firm says will pay for Dutch island clean-up

France's "yellow vest" protestors were back on the streets again Saturday as a government spokesman denounced those still protesting as hard-liners who wanted only to bring down the government.
Several hundred protestors gathered on the Champs Elysees in central Paris, where around 15 police wagons were also deployed, an AFP journalist said. Marches were underway in several other cities across France.
On Friday, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux denounced those still protesting as "agitators who want insurrection and, basically, to overthrow the government".
This is the eighth Saturday of protests called by the grass-roots movement. The numbers turning out have fallen steadily since the start of the demonstrations in November.
But the arrest on Wednesday of Eric Drouet, one the movement's spokesman, sparked anger among his supporters. Paris police picked up Drouet, who already faces trial for carrying a weapon at a previous demonstration, and detained him for around 10 hours.
In .

France's 'yellow vest' protestors back on the streets

Madagascar police fired teargas Saturday to disperse some 500 supporters of the losing candidate in last month's presidential election, in the fifth such protest this week, AFP correspondents witnessed.
Defying a ban on demonstrations, hundreds of supporters of Marc Ravalomanana took to the streets of the capital Antananarivo to rally on the square outside City Hall, with police firing tear gas to disperse them.
Several demonstrators hurled Molotov cocktails at officers, who arrested four people, the correspondents said.
After a brief game of cat-and-mouse with police chasing demonstrators, the heavens opened and a torrential downpour quickly clearing the area.
Police had also used tear gas at a similar demonstration on Wednesday.
Angry protests erupted on December 29, just two days after former president Andry Rajoelina was declared the winner of a runoff vote which took place 10 days earlier.
Defeated, Ravalomanana -- also a former president -- cried foul, claiming fraud and ...

Simmering anger sparks days of protest after Madagascar vote

The White House has sent national security adviser John Bolton on a mission to allay Israel's concerns about President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.
The pullout announced before Christmas was initially expected to be completed within weeks, but the timetable has slowed as the president acceded to requests from aides, allies and members of Congress for a more orderly drawdown.
Bolton planned to meet with Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and other officials on Sunday before traveling to Turkey.
Israeli officials have expressed alarm that a swift withdrawal of the roughly 2,000 troops could enable Iran to expand its influence and presence in Syria, wracked by a yearslong civil war and the Islamic State militancy.
Trump's move has raised fears about clearing the way for a Turkish assault on Kurdish fighters in Syria who have fought alongside American troops against IS extremists. Turkey considers the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, a ...

Trump aide trying to allay Israeli concerns on Syria pullout

Spain's conservative Popular Party (PP) was left with egg on its face Saturday after posting a video on Twitter suggesting it wished Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez dead, drawing criticism and forcing it to delete the tweet.
Furious, the government said in a statement it would take the matter to prosecutors to see if "this tweet constitutes an offence and if it does, to move forward with criminal proceedings against the authors and those that publically disseminated it."
The video, posted on the eve of Epiphany -- a popular celebration in Spain that sees the three kings give presents to children just like Father Christmas -- shows a man reading out his son's wish-list to the Biblical Magi (three kings).
"My favourite singer was Amy Winehouse, and you took her away," the father says in the video, meant to be a humorous sketch, with his son on his knees.
"My favourite actor was Robin Williams, and you took him away. My favourite comic was Chiquito de la Calzada, and you also took 

Spain's conservatives shock with PM death tweet

British police have arrested a suspect in the fatal stabbing of a man in front of his 14-year-old son on a suburban London train.
The 51-year-old man was killed Friday afternoon onboard a train traveling from the town of Guildford to London Waterloo station.
Chief Inspector Sam Blackburn said the attack was "not believed to be a random assault." He said the two men appeared to have been involved in an argument that escalated in the moments leading up to the killing.
The suspect was detained early Saturday on suspicion of murder. A 27-year-old woman was also arrested on suspicion of assisting the murder. Police said no one else was being sought in connection with the killing.

UK police arrest suspect in fatal train stabbing

Three Wild Boars players, who captured the world's attention when they were miraculously rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand last year, will watch India's Asian Cup campaign-opening match against Thailand here Sunday.
The three players and their assistant coach will see the India vs Thailand Group A game at the Al Nahyan Stadium on the invitation of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
"Representatives from Wild Boars Football Academy will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness their Thai football idols in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019. Three Wild Boars players as well as their assistant coach, will see Thailand's opening game against India," the AFC said in a statement.
"There will also be a meet and greet for the group with their national heroes and they will receive a behind-the-scenes stadium tour before experiencing VIP access during what promises to be a decisive contest."
AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said: "The courage and perseverance of the 

Wild Boars players to watch India vs Thailand match in Asian Cup

The Indian football team set to compete in the Asian Cup has got rid of their old mindset of finishing as respectable losers since he took charge for the second time, feels head coach Stephen Constantine.
Addressing the pre-match press conference ahead of India's campaign opener against Thailand in the Asian Cup on Sunday, Constantine said his players would try their best to qualify for the knock-out rounds.
"I think it is the mentality of the players," he said when asked what was the biggest change in the team since he took over in 2015.
"When I  arrived (in India) four years ago, it was like go and play the game and not lose by too many goals. That has changed over the four years. We are not going to a game thinking about losing. We go out there thinking we are going to win and that is the biggest change," said the 56-year-old Constantine.
He said the workload of the players have also increased over the four years and the players have given "phenomenal" effort in training and in ...

This Indian team doesn't go out with mindset of losing by fewer goals: Constantine

A 612-pound (278-kilogram) bluefin tuna sold for a record 333.6 million yen (USD 3 million) at the first auction of 2019, after Tokyo's famed Tsukiji market was moved to a new site on the city's waterfront.
The winning bid for the prized but threatened species at the predawn auction Saturday was more than double the 2013 annual New Year auction.
It was paid by Kiyomura Corp, whose owner, Kiyoshi Kimura, runs the Sushi Zanmai chain. Kimura has often won the annual auction in the past.
Japanese broadcaster NHK showed a beaming Kimura saying that he was surprised by the high price of tuna this year. But he added, "The quality of the tuna I bought is the best."
The auction prices are way above usual for bluefin tuna. The fish normally sells for up to USD 40 a pound (USD 88 a kilogram), but the price rises to over USD 200 a pound near the year's end, especially for prized catches from Oma in northern Japan.
Last year's auction was the last at Tsukiji before the market shifted to a new ...

Bluefin goes for USD 3 million at 1st 2019 sale at Tokyo market

Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq shared a century partnership as Pakistan fought to avoid an innings defeat on the third day of the second Test against South Africa at Newlands on Saturday.
Facing a first innings deficit of 254 runs, Pakistan were 177 for three in their second innings at tea, 77 runs short of making South Africa bat again.
The left-handed Masood made 61 and Shafiq was 73 not out.  The pair put on 132 for the third wicket after Pakistan had been reduced to 27 for two after strikes by Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada.
Masood, who was promoted to open the batting in place of the struggling Fakhar Zaman, again looked the most organised of the Pakistan batsmen before he was caught behind off Steyn shortly before tea.
The slightly-built Shafiq played a wide variety of attacking strokes as he hurried to a half-century off 56 balls with seven fours and a six. Pakistan added 140 runs for the loss of Masood's wicket in 25 overs between lunch and tea.
Earlier, Mohammad Amir took three ...

Masood, Shafiq fight back for Pakistan

The UN envoy for Yemen arrived in the capital Sanaa on Saturday for talks to shore up a ceasefire in the country's lifeline port city of Hodeida, an AFP photographer said.
Martin Griffiths is scheduled to hold talks in Sanaa with Huthi rebel leaders and will later travel to the Saudi capital Riyadh to meet Yemeni government officials.
He will also meet in the rebel-held capital with retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert, who has been appointed by the UN to head the truce monitoring team.
Griffiths' visit comes as the ceasefire in Hodeida was generally holding, although there have been intermittent clashes with both sides blaming each other.
Yemen's government has written to the UN Security Council to accuse rebels of failing to comply with the ceasefire, while the rebels have accused the Saudi-led coalition of carrying out low-altitude flights over the city.
The United Nations is hoping to bring the warring sides together later this month, possibly in Kuwait, to follow up on the ...

UN envoy arrives in Yemen to push Hodeida truce

The Istanbul-based Orthodox patriarch on Saturday signed the formal decree confirming the creation of an independent Ukrainian church, marking a break with the Russian church that has angered Moscow.
The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the leading authority in Orthodox Christianity, signed the decree known as Tomos at a ceremony in Istanbul.
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko and former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko were on hand to witness the ceremony.
"Dear Ukrainians, this is a historic event! This is a great day!" Poroshenko said as he thanked the Orthodox patriarch.
"Once more, words of great gratitude in the name of the Ukrainian people, in the name of our nation to Your Holiness... It took us a very long time to get here."
The Ecumenical Patriarchate had first agreed to recognise the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in October. Then in December a historic council of Orthodox bishops in Kiev created the independent body.
The Russian ...

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