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Deir al-Zour: Syrian army 'takes last IS stronghold'

The Syrian army has retaken Deir al-Zour, the last major stronghold of so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria, state TV says.

"The city is completely liberated from terrorism," the state TV report said.

Other reports said the Syrian army and its allies were clearing the last pockets of resistance from IS.

IS had held most of the city since 2014. It was of strategic importance to IS because of its proximity to the border with Iraq.

• What should happen to IS fighters in Syria and Iraq?
• The rapid rise and fall of 'Islamic State'

Earlier the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, said government forces had taken control of the city after weeks of fighting.

Some 350,000 civilians in the province have been forced to flee their homes.

Why is Deir al-Zour important?

The city lies on the Euphrates river about halfway between the city of Raqqa, previously the headquarters of IS's self-styled "caliphate", and the Iraqi border.

IS had designated the area on both sides of the border as its "Euphrates Province" and used it to transfer fighters, weapons and goods between Iraq and Syria.

The cross-border province was also a symbol of the jihadists' intention to eradicate all the region's frontiers and lay to rest the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement, resented by many Arabs.

Last month a US-backed alliance of Syrian fighters pushed IS out of Raqqa,

In September, the Syrian army broke a siege by IS in part of Deir al-Zour that had trapped an estimated 93,000 civilians in an enclave on western bank of the Euphrates since 2015.

What territory does IS still control?

The militant group is now confined to just a few pockets in Deir al-Zour province.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian government forces – which are backed by Russian air strikes and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement – have been carrying out separate offensives in Deir al-Zour province with the aim of taking control of Albu Kamal, a key crossing on the border with Iraq.

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In some areas the US-backed SDF and Russia-backed Syrian army have taken up positions just a few kilometres apart.

IS has also suffered a series of defeats in recent months to Iraqi government forces, who are advancing along the Euphrates river on the other side of the border.

On Sunday Iraqi government forces began an offensive to recapture the town of al-Qaim, a town in Iraq still held by IS. It lies across the border from the Syrian town of Albu Kamal.

Soldiers, police, Sunni tribesmen and mostly Shia paramilitary fighters, some backed by Iran, are taking part in the assault on al-Qaim and Rawa.

Iraqi government forces have now driven IS out of about 95% of the land the group once held in Iraq and freed more than 4.4 million Iraqis from its rule, the US-led coalition fighting IS says.

Source – bbc.com

By Sunita Patel-Carstairs, Business Reporter

Men in some cities are being paid up to 54% more than women, according to a new survey.

Research by jobs site Adzuna found Chester to be the most "sexist" city in the UK in terms of wages, with men being paid an average of £38,000 a year compared with £25,000 for women.

Second on the list was Crawley in Sussex (50%), followed by Warrington (48%), High Wycombe (47%) and Worcester (45%).

Belfast had the narrowest gender pay gap where women earn an average of about £25,000 a year compared to just over £30,000 for men – a margin of 19%.

Smaller pay differences were also found in Southend (20%) ,Brighton (21%), Glasgow (23%) and Luton (23%).

:: Women managers earn £12k less than fellow men, study finds

Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, said the study provided "a rude awakening to cities up and down the UK" and said "unacceptable" pay differences are "holding back productivity in the jobs market".

"There is no easy fix to even-out pay levels, but employers must show more support to female staff," he said.

"We can boost women in the workplace by helping them return to work after career breaks, allowing more flexible working options, and supporting women into higher paid, higher level roles.

"The number of women in executive level positions remains far too low. Keeping women working, and allowing them to reach their full potential will fire up productivity levels and pay dividends."

The report was based on a study of the CVs of more than 155,000 jobseekers.

Large companies with more than 250 employees must reveal the difference between the average pay of male and female staff under new Government reporting regulations introduced in April.

Top 10 cities with the biggest gender pay gap:

:: Chester: £24,589 (F) £37,959 (M) – 54.4%

:: Crawley: £25,220 (F) £38,058 (M) – 50.9%

:: Warrington: £24,280 (F) £36,087 (M) – 48.6%

:: High Wycombe: £26,423 (F) £38,975 (M) – 47.5%

:: Worcester: £23,832 (F) £34,646 (M) – 45.4%

:: Winchester: £30,182 (F) £43,805 (M) – 45.1%

:: Milton Keynes: £26,652 (F) £38,540 (M) – 44.6%

:: Guildford: £28,857 (F) £41,418 (M) – 43.5%

:: Peterborough: £24,339 (F) £34,669 (M) – 42.4%

:: Hull: £20,675 (F) £29,343 (M) – 41.9%

Top 10 cities with the lowest gender pay gap:

:: Belfast: £25,258 (F) £30,040 (M) – 18.9%

:: Southend-On-Sea: £24,093 (F) £29,011 (M) 20.4%

:: Brighton: £27,889 (F) £33,879 (M) – 21.5%

:: Glasgow: ££26,130 (F) £32,182 (M) – 23.2%

:: Luton: £24,146 (F) £29,845 (M) – 23.6%

:: Exeter: £26,090 (F) £32,298 (M) – 23.8%

:: Preston: £25,212 (F) £31,353 (M) – 24.4%

:: Basildon: £23,687 (F) £29,603 (M) – 25.0%

:: Oxford: £33,118 (F) £41,456 (M) – 25.2%

:: Wolverhampton: (F) £23,009 (M) £28,803 – 25.2%

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Source – News.sky.com

By Sunita Patel-Carstairs, Business Reporter

Men in some cities are being paid up to 54% more than women, according to a new survey.

Research by jobs site Adzuna found Chester to be the most "sexist" city in the UK in terms of wages, with men being paid an average of £38,000 a year compared with £25,000 for women.

Second on the list was Crawley in Sussex (50%), followed by Warrington (48%), High Wycombe (47%) and Worcester (45%).

Belfast had the narrowest gender pay gap where women earn an average of about £25,000 a year compared to just over £30,000 for men – a margin of 19%.

Smaller pay differences were also found in Southend (20%) ,Brighton (21%), Glasgow (23%) and Luton (23%).

:: Women managers earn £12k less than fellow men, study finds

Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, said the study provided "a rude awakening to cities up and down the UK" and said "unacceptable" pay differences are "holding back productivity in the jobs market".

"There is no easy fix to even-out pay levels, but employers must show more support to female staff," he said.

"We can boost women in the workplace by helping them return to work after career breaks, allowing more flexible working options, and supporting women into higher paid, higher level roles.

"The number of women in executive level positions remains far too low. Keeping women working, and allowing them to reach their full potential will fire up productivity levels and pay dividends."

The report was based on a study of the CVs of more than 155,000 jobseekers.

Large companies with more than 250 employees must reveal the difference between the average pay of male and female staff under new Government reporting regulations introduced in April.

Top 10 cities with the biggest gender pay gap:

:: Chester: £24,589 (F) £37,959 (M) – 54.4%

:: Crawley: £25,220 (F) £38,058 (M) – 50.9%

:: Warrington: £24,280 (F) £36,087 (M) – 48.6%

:: High Wycombe: £26,423 (F) £38,975 (M) – 47.5%

:: Worcester: £23,832 (F) £34,646 (M) – 45.4%

:: Winchester: £30,182 (F) £43,805 (M) – 45.1%

:: Milton Keynes: £26,652 (F) £38,540 (M) – 44.6%

:: Guildford: £28,857 (F) £41,418 (M) – 43.5%

:: Peterborough: £24,339 (F) £34,669 (M) – 42.4%

:: Hull: £20,675 (F) £29,343 (M) – 41.9%

Top 10 cities with the lowest gender pay gap:

:: Belfast: £25,258 (F) £30,040 (M) – 18.9%

:: Southend-On-Sea: £24,093 (F) £29,011 (M) 20.4%

:: Brighton: £27,889 (F) £33,879 (M) – 21.5%

:: Glasgow: ££26,130 (F) £32,182 (M) – 23.2%

:: Luton: £24,146 (F) £29,845 (M) – 23.6%

:: Exeter: £26,090 (F) £32,298 (M) – 23.8%

:: Preston: £25,212 (F) £31,353 (M) – 24.4%

:: Basildon: £23,687 (F) £29,603 (M) – 25.0%

:: Oxford: £33,118 (F) £41,456 (M) – 25.2%

:: Wolverhampton: (F) £23,009 (M) £28,803 – 25.2%

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Source – News.sky.com

US rate for gun deaths is up for the second straight year

The U.S. rate for gun deaths has increased for the second straight year, following 15 years of no real change, a government report shows.

Roughly two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides and those have been increasing for about 10 years. Until recently, that has been offset by a decline in people shot dead by others. But there's been a recent upswing in those gun-related homicides, too, some experts said.

Overall, the firearm death rate rose to 12 deaths per 100,000 people last year, up from 11 in 2015, according to the report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Before that, the rate had hovered just above 10 — a level it had fallen to in the late 1990s.

In the early 90s, it was as high as 15 per 100,000 people.

In the past two years, sharp homicide increases in Chicago and other places that have been large enough to elevate the national statistics. According to the FBI's raw numbers, the tally of U.S. homicides involving guns rose to nearly 11,000 last year, from about 9,600 the year before.

Overall, there were more than 38,000 gun deaths last year, according to the CDC. That's up from about 36,000 in 2015, and around 33,500 each year between 2011 and 2014.

The latest CDC report means the nation is approaching two decades since there's been any substantial improvement in the rate of gun deaths, said Dr. Garen Wintemute, a prominent gun violence researcher at the University of California, Davis.

The rate for the first three months of this year was about what it was for the same period last year. Hopefully, it's a sign it will level off again, Wintemute said.

Most gun deaths tend to happen in warm weather so it's too early to know what is happening this year, said Bob Anderson, the CDC's chief of mortality statistics.

The CDC also reported a continued increase in the death rate from drug overdoses, which hit 20 per 100,000 last year, up from 16 the year before. Heroin and other opioids are driving the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history.

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Source – abcnews.go.com

'It felt like I was the middle of a fire': Wendy Williams recounts overheating, fainting, on live TV

WATCH Wendy Williams recounts fainting on live TV

Wendy Williams said that she "was scared to death," after she fainted on live television during her talk show earlier this week, but assured her fans that she has since made a full recovery.

"I got hot," told ABC News' Amy Robach of what caused her tumble Tuesday that soon went viral on social media. "I was dehydrated according to the paramedics."

Wendy Williams faints on live TV after overheating in Halloween costume Wendy Williams addresses 'scary' fall on national TV

"I'm a woman of a particular age," the host of "The Wendy Williams Show" added. "I'm also going through menopause."

Williams, 53, who passed out after overheating in her Statue of Liberty Halloween costume, said that when she first realized that she was going to faint, she told herself, "Wendy, do two things."

#WhatWendyWore @czarnyc + @katespadeny + @divaliciousco + @jcrew + @landsendhttps://t.co/ovWdOMvDlX pic.twitter.com/6buYdkSC9Y

— Wendy Williams (@WendyWilliams) October 31, 2017

"Fall pretty, cause this will never happen again, and go down with the crown," the television host added. "For people watching, when they saw me, you know, put my head, my hand up, it's cause I'm trying to make sure my crown is there."

"It was a beautiful fall," she quipped. "Unfortunately, we went to commercial … so nobody saw it."

While Williams is able to recount her fall in a light-hearted manner now, she said at the time it was incredibly frightening.

She said she first started to feel like she was overheating "when we came back from the break."

ABC News

"It felt like I was the middle of a fire," William said. "Starting down at my feet going all the way up to my top."

"Fainting is not something … that I do," she added. "I got very scared, cause it was a live show."

She said she was especially concerned about the impact of her fall.

"I was more concerned with when I fall, am I going to crack my skull?" she said. "And the crew and the security here thought that the bug-eyed look I gave was part of a stunt, cause I'm always doing tricks."

She added that because her crew thought she was doing a trick, "nobody came out until I hit the ground."

Noam Galai/Getty Images

"Then, oh my gosh, chaos ensued," Williams said. "The studio audience went wild."

"I fell with the crown," Williams said. "But I fell … booty first, then rolled onto my back, and then clunked my head on the floor."

The TV personality told ABC News that she has since gone to her doctor and made a full recovery, saying, "I'm fine, including blood work."

pic.twitter.com/yabN2CiC03

— Wendy Williams (@WendyWilliams) October 31, 2017

"I have no pain," she added. "My head doesn't hurt. I don't have a lump on my head. I never got one headache."

Williams said that she was touched by the support she received from friends and fans of her show.

"More people were concerned about me than I actually thought that they would be," she said, thanking her supporters for the "flowers and the well wishes."

Williams, who said that she has never missed a day of work in 9 seasons of her hit talk show, said she looks forward to coming into work on Monday. She is also getting ready to celebrate the milestone 1,500th episode of her show on Nov. 13.

"That's why I got up off the floor and came out here and closed out the show," she said. "You're only as good as your last performance."

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WhatsApp users had to find another way to communicate with their friends and loved ones on Friday morning after reports of an outage in countries across the world.

Due to an unknown issue affecting the smartphone app, users were seeing the clock symbol after attempting to send a message, meaning that the message hadn't been sent to WhatsApp's servers.

The website for the messaging app also appeared to be down in what may be a domino effect.

The outage may be an embarrassment for WhatsApp's parent, Facebook, which has this week announced record revenues from advertising.

Facebook declined to comment to Sky News when contacted.

The Down Detector website's heat map showed reports were especially common in Europe, although complaints on social media came from people located worldwide.

Without their beloved messaging app, many of the 1.3 billion monthly users took to social media to joke about the outage.

Twitter user @AdOketch said: "Many people have died due to #whatsappdown because they can't forward the chain message to their 10 friends!"

Others called for two minutes' silence for those who reinstalled the app in an attempt to get it working again.

Issues were noted in Europe, India, Malaysia and Russia.

WhatsApp did not give Sky News a statement regarding the cause of the incident, which lasted close to an hour.

A company spokesperson said: "Earlier today, WhatsApp users globally had trouble accessing the app for about an hour. This issue has been fixed and we apologise for the inconvenience."

They added: "This was not the result of a cyberattack."

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Source – News.sky.com

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The buyout firm which jointly owns Topshop with Sir Philip Green is to take control of the UK's biggest gym chain in a £600m deal.

Sky News has learnt that Leonard Green & Partners has agreed a takeover of PureGym, with an announcement expected to be made later on Friday.

The deal will come as PureGym closes in on its millionth member, with that milestone expected to be hit early next year.

Leonard Green saw off competition to buy the company from rival bidders including the private equity unit of Goldman Sachs.

The sale of PureGym comes more than a year after the company abandoned a public listing, citing difficult market conditions in the wake of the EU referendum.

PureGym's main shareholder, CCMP Capital Advisors, has worked with Harris Williams and Jefferies on the sale, which City sources say is likely to complete by the end of the month.

CCMP, which has controlled PureGym since 2013, has overseen a period of strong growth at PureGym, which now trades from more than 189 clubs.

Its relentless expansion comes after a period of turbulence in the UK gyms sector, with operators such as Fitness First being forced into financial restructurings and takeovers.

The sale of PureGym would crystallise a windfall for Sir Chris Hoy, the six-time Olympics gold medallist, who has a small shareholding in the business.

Announcing its 2016 results in March, Humphrey Cobbold, PureGym's chief executive, said: "Almost a million people currently enjoy our affordable and flexible offer and we've introduced a variety of different membership options to suit a wide range of personal circumstances.

"No operator in the history of the gym and fitness sector in the UK has ever achieved this scale of membership. For 2017, expansion remains our priority with plans for 20 to 25 openings this year in total," he added.

"Despite our size, we retain a 'challenger brand' entrepreneurial spirit with a relentless focus on ensuring our offer appeals to 21st century consumers who want quality and value for money, the flexibility of a no contract offer and facilities they actually use," he added.

A PureGym spokesman declined to comment on the sale to Leonard Green.

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Source – News.sky.com

China disputes Trump's claim of 'flood' of fentanyl into US

A Chinese official on Friday disputed President Donald Trump's claim that the deadly opioid fentanyl that is flooding the U.S. is mostly produced in China, just days before a visit by Trump at which he has said he will make China's role in the crisis a major theme of his discussions.

China doesn't deny that some fentanyl produced illicitly inside the country is contributing to the epidemic, Wei Xiaojun, deputy director-general of the Narcotics Control Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, said at a news conference.

However, according to the intelligence the two countries have exchanged, "the evidence isn't sufficient to say that the majority of fentanyl or other new psychoactive substances come from China," Wei said.

Trump last month said the U.S. was stepping up measures to "hold back the flood of cheap and deadly fentanyl, a synthetic opioid manufactured in China and 50 times stronger than heroin."

He said he would mention it to Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week. "And he will do something about it," Trump said.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's representative in Beijing, Lance Ho, declined to comment on Wei's assessment.

However, DEA officials have said in the past that their investigations consistently lead back to China. DEA data also show that when China regulates synthetic drugs, U.S. seizures plunge.

Both the DEA and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy have pointed to China as North America's main source of fentanyl, related drugs and the chemicals used to make them.

Beijing is concerned enough about international perceptions of China's role in the opioid trade that after The Associated Press published investigations highlighting the easy availability of fentanyl online from Chinese suppliers, the narcotics commission made a rare invitation to a team of AP journalists to discuss the issue at the powerful Ministry of Public Security.

Beijing has long regulated fentanyl and 18 related compounds, and in February also placed carfentanil's less-potent cousins furanyl fentanyl, acryl fentanyl and valeryl fentanyl under control.

Friday's rare news conference was held at the Ministry of Public Security, apparently in a move to emphasize China's progress on cooperation with the U.S. on fighting opioids ahead of Trump's visit.

China, Wei said, has noted Trump's announcement of an opioid crisis and "China attaches great importance to this."

Wei also said the Justice Department's public announcement last month of indictments against two Chinese men accused of making tons of fentanyl and other powerful narcotics sold in the U.S. could impede efforts to bring them to justice.

"I have to admit regret regarding the U.S. move to unilaterally use the method of calling a news conference to announce the matter of these two wanted individuals who've fled to China," he said.

The release of information will "impact on the ongoing joint investigation into the case," Wei said, adding that China noted the U.S. failure to mention their successful cooperation on this and other cases.

The Department of Justice said Xiaobing Yan and Jian Zhang worked separately but similarly and controlled one of the most prolific international drug-trafficking organizations. The lack of an extradition treaty significantly reduces the chances they will be returned to the U.S. for trial.

The Trump administration's anti-drug efforts suffered another recent setback when its nominee for drug czar withdrew from consideration following reports that he played a key role in weakening the federal government's authority to stop companies from distributing opioids.

Trump last week declared opioid abuse a national public health emergency and announced new steps to combat the crisis.

Fentanyl can be lethal even in small amounts and is often laced with other dangerous drugs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the drug and its analogues killed more than 20,000 Americans last year, and the number is rising.

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Source – abcnews.go.com

Pistorius case returns as prosecutors seek longer sentence

WATCH Oscar Pistorius's Trial From Beginning To End

A judge "overemphasized" Oscar Pistorius' disability and was far too lenient on the double-amputee athlete, prosecutors said Friday as they tried to convince a South African court to more than double his prison sentence from six to 15 years for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

"Murder is murder," chief prosecutor Andrea Johnson told a five-judge panel at the Supreme Court of Appeal. She asked them to overturn Pistorius' initial sentence and give him the prescribed minimum of 15 years. There is no death penalty in South Africa.

If the court agrees with prosecutors that he deserves a harsher sentence, Pistorius, now 30, could remain in prison until after he turns 40.

The judges did not deliver a decision on Friday. Typically, Supreme Court judges take a couple of weeks before the senior judge returns to read out the decision, which is made through a simple majority.

Nearly five years after the once-admired Olympic runner first appeared in court for shooting Steenkamp multiple times through a closed toilet door at his home, Pistorius' fate is still not certain.

He was not present at Friday's hearing as he serves his sentence at a prison near the capital, Pretoria. He has served more than a year of his six-year term. Steenkamp's mother, June Steenkamp, did attend. Speaking outside the courthouse, her lawyer said the Steenkamp family supported prosecutors' attempt to get a longer sentence.

Prosecutors had two arguments to make to the court. First, they needed to apply for permission to appeal Pistorius' sentence. They were asked by the judges to also present their arguments for why, if their appeal is allowed, his sentence should be increased.

This is the second time prosecutors have gone to the Supreme Court in the central city of Bloemfontein to challenge a decision by Judge Thokozile Masipa, who presided over Pistorius' trial.

In 2015, prosecutors successfully appealed against Masipa's judgment that Pistorius was not guilty of murder. The court overturned Masipa's verdict of culpable homicide — or manslaughter — and convicted Pistorius of murder.

Legal analysts say, however, it is more difficult to get the court to change a sentence.

After the manslaughter conviction was overturned, Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison for murder, a term just one year longer than her original sentence for manslaughter. Prosecutors called that sentence "shockingly" light.

Judges can deviate from prescribed minimum sentences if there are compelling circumstances. The prosecution says there were no compelling reasons.

"What we are saying is the court exercised its discretion inappropriately," prosecutor Johnson said, calling the six-year sentence "unjust."

She said Pistorius still had not shown "genuine remorse" for killing Steenkamp and that Masipa put the athlete's personal circumstances and his disability ahead of the need for "retribution" when she sentenced him.

Pistorius claimed he mistook Steenkamp for a dangerous intruder hiding in his bathroom in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine's Day 2013 when, without his prosthetic legs on, standing on his stumps and feeling vulnerable, he shot four times through the cubicle door.

Masipa's initial sentence was appropriate in the circumstances, Pistorius' defense lawyers said, and his disability was not exaggerated. Pistorius had both his legs amputated below the knee when he was a baby because of a congenital condition.

"Of course his disability is mentioned, but it can't not be mentioned," defense lawyer Kelly Phelps said. "It is one of the factors of this case. We can't magic away his disability."

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Source – abcnews.go.com

The Twittersphere lit up Thursday night when President Donald Trump's Twitter account was briefly deactivated by a Twitter employee. It was the individual's last day with the company.
Source – abcnews.go.com