Kante confounds Conte as Chelsea sink West Ham

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Chelsea's French midfielder N'Golo Kante (L) holds off Swansea City's English midfielder Tom Carroll (R) during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Swansea at Stamford Bridge in London on February 25, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Adrian DENNIS /

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte joked he is struggling to find ways to improve N’Golo Kante after the France midfielder starred in his side’s 2-1 win at West Ham United.

Kante’s interception laid the foundation stone for Eden Hazard’s 25th-minute opener at London Stadium on Monday and he harried his opponents from first minute to last.

Asked to sum up Kante’s display, Conte complained the former Leicester City midfielder had only completed 45 of the 50 passes he had attempted, only to then burst out laughing.

“I know that he made 50 passes and he made five mistakes. He has to improve on this,” said Conte, whose side re-established their 10-point lead at the top of the table.

“I’m joking, yes. I have to find one situation to tell him to improve. He’s playing very well. N’Golo is a really good player.

“He has great stamina, but also good quality. We are working to improve the quality. I’m pleased for him, but I think all my players played very well.”

Hazard put Chelsea ahead midway through the first half, coolly finishing off a razor-sharp break involving Pedro that started when Mark Noble gifted the ball to Kante.

Diego Costa added a second goal early in the second half, kneeing the ball in from close range after Cesc Fabregas’s corner had flicked off West Ham midfielder Pedro Obiang’s head at the near post.

But Chelsea did not have things all their own way and had to weather sustained pressure from their hosts at the start and mid-way through the second half.

Chelsea had seen Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City chip away at their lead over the weekend and Conte said their display against West Ham demonstrated their mental fortitude.

“I think this period is tough because although there are only 11 games, for me 11 games are a lot,” said the Italian, a three-time Serie A champion as a manager with Juventus.

“Now in this period it’s very important to live the pressure in the right way. Above all when you play the game after you know your opponents won the day before.

“I’m pleased for the commitment, for the right mentality of my players. Very focused.

“They showed me great will to win the game and to suffer in the first part of the first half, but stay compact because we didn’t concede great chances for West Ham to score.”

– ‘Too late’ –
Asked if he had faith in his players not to blow their lead, Conte replied: “I trust them absolutely.”

Conte’s one criticism of his side was that they had not been “more clinical”, with the visitors’ failure to take more of their chances giving West Ham hope of mounting a comeback right until the end.

The home side eventually halved the deficit in stoppage time, Manuel Lanzini arrowing a shot into the bottom-left corner following a surge to the edge of the box by substitute Andre Ayew.

But West Ham manager Slaven Bilic, whose side remain in 11th place, accepted his team had been well beaten.

“We scored the goal too late,” said the Croatian.

“Statistically it looks good. The game looks even. But every attack after 2-0, they looked really dangerous. They deserved to win.

“If we had scored in the 61st or 62nd minute, when we had pressure on them, maybe things would have been different.”

While there are 11 games still to go this season, Bilic is convinced the fans in attendance had seen the champions.

“They look very serious and I can see them staying on top with the quality they have and also how solid and concentrated they are,” he said.

“Most of all how physically in good shape they are. From all the teams, Chelsea look the most solid. They’re 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League for a reason.”

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Bacha bazi: Afghan practice of child sex slavery…Read full details

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an Afghan boy, who was held as a child sex slave, sitting at a restaurant in a unidentified location in Afghanistan.<br />Afghanistan is set to lay out stringent penalties for "bacha bazi" -– sexual slavery and abuse of boys –- for the first time, officials say, in a landmark move against the deeply entrenched practice. AFP revealed last summer how the Taliban were exploiting rampant bacha bazi in police ranks to mount deadly insider attacks, with a subsequent article exposing a hidden epidemic of kidnapping of young boys for institutionalised sexual slavery.<br />/ AFP PHOTO / AREF KARIMI /

Afghanistan is set to criminalise the practice of “bacha bazi”, sexual exploitation of boys, with a slew of stringent punishments laid out for the first time in a revised penal code.

The move comes after an AFP report last year found the Taliban are exploiting the centuries-old practice, one of the most egregious violations of human rights in the country, to mount deadly insider attacks in the volatile south.

Here are some key answers about bacha bazi.

What is it?
Powerful warlords, commanders, politicians and other members of the elite often keep “bachas” as a symbol of authority and affluence.

Bachas, sometimes dressed as women, are often sexually exploited. They can also be used as dancers at private parties.

Bacha bazi is not widely seen as homosexual behaviour — popularly demonised as a deviant sexual act, prohibited in Islam — and is largely accepted as a cultural practice.

How common is it?
“Women are for child-rearing, boys are for pleasure” is a common saying across many parts of Afghanistan.

The ancient custom, banned under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, has seen a resurgence in recent years. It is said to be widespread across southern and eastern Afghanistan’s rural Pashtun heartland, and with ethnic Tajiks across the northern countryside.

How has it been allowed to flourish?
Tight gender segregation in Afghan society and lack of contact with women have contributed to the spread of bacha bazi, rights groups say.

Several other factors such as an absence of the rule of law, corruption, limited access to justice, illiteracy, poverty, insecurity, and the existence of armed groups have also helped the practice spread, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said in a report in 2014.

AIHRC points out that Afghanistan’s criminal law prohibits rape and pederasty, but so far there are no clear provisions on bacha bazi.

“There is a gap and ambiguity in the laws of Afghanistan regarding bacha bazi and the existing laws do not address the problem sufficiently,” the report said.

It is this gap which the government hopes the revised penal code will address.

But the government has a poor track record of implementing such measures, as many of the perpetrators have connections with the security organs and by using power and giving bribes they get exempted from punishment.

Where do the boys come from? And what happens to them afterwards?
Bachas are typically aged between 10 and 18. Many of them are kidnapped and sometimes desperate poverty drives their families to sell them to abusers.

“The victims of bacha bazi suffer from serious psychological trauma as they often get raped,” AIHRC’s report said.

“Such victims suffer from stress and a sort of distrust, hopelessness and pessimistic feeling. Bacha bazi results in fear among the children and a feeling of revenge and hostility develop in their mind.”

In turn, many adolescent victims are said to grow up to have boy lovers of their own, repeating the cycle of abuse.

“In the absence of any services to recover or rehabilitate boys who are caught in this horrendous abuse, it’s hard to know what happens to these children,” said Charu Lata Hogg, a London-based fellow at Chatham House, a think tank.

“We have heard anecdotal reports that many grow up to keep their own bachas, perpetuating the revolving door of abuse.”

How is bacha bazi impacting Afghan security?
Bacha bazi is having a detrimental bearing on the perpetual state of conflict in Afghanistan, helping the Taliban to infiltrate security ranks in provinces such as Uruzgan, officials say.

The abusive practice in security ranks also undermines support for NATO-trained Afghan forces.

“To date, the US has provided over $60 billion in assistance to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), including nearly $500 million to the Afghan Local Police,” the US Congress said in 2015.

“Predatory sexual behaviour by Afghan soldiers and police could undermine US and Afghan public support for the ANDSF, and put our enormous investment at risk.”

The practice also continues to embolden the Taliban’s desire to reassert sharia law in Afghanistan and is fuelling their insurgency.

“Such wild abuses of the predatory mujahideen forces in the early 1990s drove the popularity of the austere Taliban, helping them sweep to power across most of the country. Similar behaviour of the government forces after 2001 is also helping to inspire the insurgency,” a Western official in Kabul told AFP.

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Britain’s May in Turkey to seek stronger ties after Brexit vote (Read full details)

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British Prime Minister Theresa May / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Kirsty Wigglesworth

British Prime Minister Theresa May arrived in Turkey on Saturday for her first visit since becoming premier, hoping to expand ties and seal a new trading relationship before Britain leaves the EU.

Fresh from meeting new US President Donald Trump at the White House, May was to hold talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on a one-day visit to the Turkish capital Ankara.

As is traditional for any visiting leader, she started the visit by laying a wreath at the mausoleum of Turkey’s modern founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

May will be looking to strike a delicate balance between showing Britain’s keen interest in expanding trade with Turkey while echoing European alarm over the magnitude of the crackdown since the July 15 failed coup.

Turkey, which has sought to join the European Union since the 1960s, has long seen Britain as one of the most enthusiastic supporters of its troubled bid.

But following Britain’s June vote to leave the bloc, both sides are now looking to bring a new dynamic to relations, with London seeking to firm up post-Brexit trade deals with non-EU states.

Symbolically, her visit to Turkey is the last leg of a trip which took her to the White House as the first foreign leader to be hosted by Trump.

– ‘Engagement with Turkey’ –
May’s spokeswoman said increased security cooperation, especially on aviation, and a new trade relationship post-Brexit would top the agenda at the talks.

Countering criticism from MPs that Britain was cosying up to Turkey while turning a blind eye to its human rights record, the spokeswoman emphasised that there were no issues May would steer away from.

“She thinks it’s important — and in the UK’s national interest — to engage with Turkey on a range of issues from defence and security cooperation to capitalising on trade opportunities,” she said.

She added: “I don’t think there are any issues that the prime minister is afraid to bring up.”

The spokeswoman said Britain was quick to express its support for the Turkish government after the failed coup bid but indicated London was closely following the extent of the crackdown.

“We urge Turkey to ensure that their response is proportionate, justified and in line with international human rights obligations.”

Around 43,000 people are under arrest on charges of links to the coup bid, which Ankara blames on the US based preacher Fethullah Gulen. He denies the charges.

– ‘Unsavoury rulers’ –
Ahead of May’s visit, Britain’s Trade and Investment Minister Mark Price held a series of meetings with Turkish ministers in Ankara.

Bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to more than $16 billion (14.9 billion euros) in 2015, Turkish figures show, with Britain the second most important country for exports and 11th in terms of imports.

Three months after the Brexit vote, foreign minister Boris Johnson made a colourful visit to Turkey during which he said Britain was seeking a “jumbo free trade deal” with Ankara.

Noting that trade ties were already significant, Johnson said he was the “proud” owner of a Turkish washing machine and acknowledged that Britain’s iconic Jaffa Cake biscuits were owned by a Turkish confectionary giant.

He also ebulliently brushed off the embarrassment of penning the winning entry in an offensive poetry competition about Erdogan which was published by The Spectator magazine earlier in the year.

Back in the UK, MPs have urged May not to let her eagerness to promote trade overshadow human rights concerns over Turkey’s post-coup crackdown.

“The Conservative Brexit government is so desperate for trade deals with anyone but the mature democracies of the European Union that even the most unsavoury rulers are to be subjected to the prime ministerial charm,” opposition Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney wrote in the Guardian newspaper.

Writers’ group PEN International called on May to raise “serious concerns about the grave violations” being committed within the state of emergency imposed in Turkey after the coup.

Britain’s May in Turkey to seek stronger ties after Brexit vote

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