15 arrested in European sweep against Ansar al Islam offshoot, police say

At least 15 people associated with a Norway-based Kurdish terror group were arrested in a multi-nation European sweep Thursday, Italian authorities said, with officials asserting the group was helping ISIS and plotting attacks against European diplomats.

The coordinated arrests in Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway and Finland targeted alleged members of Rawti Shax, a group said to be a European offshoot of the Iraqi Kurdish jihadist network Ansar al Islam, which fought an insurgency campaign with al Qaeda in Iraq last decade.

Among those arrested was Mullah Krekar, an Ansar al Islam founder and Iraqi Kurd who lives in Norway and allegedly leads Rawti Shax from the Scandinavian nation, Italian police told reporters Thursday.

Krekar has been in and out of Norwegian prison, and his group was organizing attacks against European diplomats because of one of his most recent imprisonments -- with Krekar allegedly orchestrating the network while behind bars, Italian police said.

"The group was organizing, via (the Internet), hostile activities against diplomats from Norway and the United Kingdom, to be carried out in the Middle East" in retaliation for a recent Krekar imprisonment, said Gen. Giuseppe Governale, commander of a special operations unit of Italy's military police.

A news release from Italian authorities went further, saying the group was plotting "to seize Norwegian diplomatic personnel present in a country in Europe or the Middle East ... in order to negotiate with the authorities for the release of Mullah Krekar in Norway."

Beyond sticking up for Krekar, the group -- having switched allegiances from al Qaeda to its rival ISIS -- primarily aims to help ISIS take over Kurdish portions of Iraq, according to Eurojust, the judicial cooperation arm of the European Union.

"(Rawti Shax) became active in providing logistical and financial support to recruiting foreign terrorist fighters to be sent to Syria and Iraq, also with the intent of training them for (a) future conflict" in Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region, Eurojust said.

According to an indictment against the 15, Italian prosecutors said one defendant is accused of calling "for violent acts such as kidnappings and attacks to be performed in Europe," and another is accused "in reference to planning of retaliatory terrorist actions to be performed in Norway."

Further details about the alleged plots weren't immediately available.

When asked for comment about the alleged plots against diplomats, the Norwegian Justice Ministry referred CNN to the Norwegian Police Security Service, or PST. That agency did not immediately respond to CNN's requests for comment.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it had no comment.

15 arrested; others sought

The arrests were directed by prosecutors in Rome, with cooperation with counterparts in other nations, after website surveillance led Italian police in 2010 to detect an alleged Italy-based Rawti Shax cell dedicated to recruiting militants, Italian authorities said.

On Thursday, seven people were arrested in Italy, four in the United Kingdom, three in Norway and one in Finland, Italian officials said. Police also searched premises in Germany and Switzerland.

All but one of those arrested are members of the Kurdish ethnic group; the other is from Kosovo, officials said.

"Some suspects could not be found, as they are believed to have traveled to the Middle East (Syriaand Iraq) to join jihadist organizations," including ISIS, Eurojust said.

Italian officials said Rawti Shax essentially stems from Ansar al Islam, which fought against the new Iraqi government after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.

Some Ansar members migrated to Europe after they were flushed out of Iraq, formed Rawti Shax and recently aligned with al Qaeda's rival, ISIS, Italian prosecutors said.

"(Rawti Shax's) primary objective is to violently overthrow" the leaders of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq and replace them "with a caliphate governed by Sharia law," Eurojust said in a news release.

ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, captured parts of Syria and Iraq for what it calls its Islamic caliphate. In Iraq, one of the forces opposing ISIS is the Peshmerga, the Kurdish troops who defend the Kurdish autonomous region in Iraq.

On Thursday, the Peshmerga, backed by air support from a U.S.-led coalition, launched an offensiveto take back the Iraqi town of Sinjar from ISIS.

Trump talks Clinton's 'massive' new hairdo

Donald Trump said Wednesday he was shocked to see Hillary Clinton's latest hairdo, calling it "massive" in an interview on conservative talk radio.

Asked by host Mark Levin what Clinton's appeal to voters is, Trump simply said: "Well, she has a new hairdo, did you notice that today?"

The quip prompted Levin to suggest Clinton is wearing a wig.

"I tell you what it really was shocking to see it because you're right it must be, it was massive. Her hair became massive," said Trump, whose own hair has been the subject of scrutiny.

Warned that his comments might get him in trouble, Trump brushed off the potential for sparking controversy.

"I don't care. I'm a person that tells the truth," Trump said. "You know it was interesting to see but I've never seen Hillary with that hairdo so I think that's an OK thing to say, but it was very different."

Clinton this summer poked fun at Trump's hair and questions swirling around the brash billionaire's do.

"You know a lot of people have said a lot of things about my hair over the years. So I do kind of know what Donald is going through," Clinton joked at a Democratic fundraiser in August. "And if anyone wonders if mine is real, here's the answer: The hair is real, the color isn't."

"And come to think of it, I wonder if that is true for Donald, too," Clinton added.

Trump has repeatedly sought to silence those who have questioned whether his hair is actually a toupee, allowing several interviewers as well as supporters at his rallies latch on to his locks and feel out the truth. (It's real, according to those first-hand accounts.)

Clinton also sought to prove her hair's authenticity while on NBC's "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon earlier this year.

While talking about Trump, Clinton said, "Have you ever been able to let him touch, let you touch his hair? His real hair, have you ever really touched it?"

Fallon responded: "It feels like a hologram when he is here. No I have never touched his real hair ..."

"You want to touch mine?" Clinton asked.

"Of course!" Fallon said, before grabbing Clinton's hair and pulling it.

"It is real, it's real, it's real. It is real and it has wave and it is fantastic and it smells great," he said.

In a series of tweets Thursday, conservative blogger Matt Drudge also accused Clinton of wearing a wig, prompting People Magazine to give Clinton's hair dresser a buzz.

"She has the most amazing hair in the world," the hairdresser, Santa Nikkels, told the magazine, calling the wig claims "ridiculous."

Google, Facebook, SpaceX, OneWeb plan to beam Internet everywhere

By now it's kind of hard to believe, even sort of embarrassing.

About 57% of the world population is offline — mostly because of unavailable Internet in poor or rural countries. The United Nations set a goal of getting that number down to 50% by the end of 2020.

But the U.N. now admits, that's not going to happen. In fact, overall Internet access growth is expected to dip by .5% this year.

For advocates like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, that's bad news. His goal of "connecting everyone" via Internet is "one of the fundamental challenges of our generation," he said. Internet access, he believes, could end extreme poverty.

One problem is cost. Or, as the U.N. puts it: "In many of the world's poorest countries, where broadband could potentially have the greatest benefit in terms of bridging development gaps, even basic broadband service remains prohibitively expensive."

Another hurdle: Many nations include huge wilderness areas where hard-wire delivery systems like landlines and towers don't exist.

Some say the solution consists of just two words: Look up.

Google, Facebook, SpaceX and other outfits plan to beam the Internet from either low-orbiting satellites or high-flying drones and balloons.

Here's a quick rundown of four big players:

OneWeb

What: A company called OneWeb aims to launch a more than 600 tiny satellites designed to beam high-speed Internet down to Earth.

Where: The satellites will orbit about 750 miles high. That's much closer to Earth than current Internet providing satellites, which are now 22,000 miles away. That shorter distance will speed up delivery of the signal.

Who's behind it: OneWeb is led by Greg Wyler and backed by Virgin Galactic businessman Richard Branson. "It could dramatically help close the wealth gap," Branson told CNN.

How much: Initial estimates run from $1.5 billion to $2 billion, Wyler told CNN.

When: The service is expected to begin by 2019.

SpaceX

What: SpaceX, which already serves the International Space Station, plans to put 4,000 small, low-cost, disposable satellites into orbit.

Where: Like OneWeb, SpaceX's satellites would orbit about 750 miles above the Earth to allow for faster service.

Who's behind it: SpaceX CEO and PayPal co-founder Elon Musk told Motherboard in July he thinks "the long-term potential of it is pretty great." The "communications technology will be substantially more advanced" than existing satellite Internet projects, Musk said.

How much: In January, Google and Fidelity provided $1 billion to fund the project.

When: Testing of the technology is expected to begin in 2016.

Google's Project Loon

What: Solar powered balloons would transmit Internet signals to ground stations, homes, workplaces or directly to personal devices.

Where: Google says they would float above commercial airplanes, between 60,000 and and 90,000 feet up — all around the world. Each balloon would operate for about 100 days at a time.

How many: Google is scaling up to be able to launch dozens -- or even thousands -- of balloons, said project lead Mike Cassidy.

How much: Google told The Verge each balloon would cost "tens of thousands of dollars," which is much cheaper than communication satellites.

When: Testing is going on now.

Facebook's Aquila

What: Facebook has built an unmanned, Internet-broadcasting airplane called Aquila -- latin for eagle. It's covered by solar cells and has a huge wingspan of 140 feet -- about the same as a Boeing 737 airliner. It's designed to fly for three months at a time at an altitude of 60,000 feet, said lead engineer Andy Cox. It will use lasers to deliver high-speed Internet within a 50-mile radius on the ground below.

When: "Over the coming months, we will test these systems in the real world and continue refining them so we can turn their promise into reality," wrote Facebook's Zuckerberg.

How much: Unknown

Adding huge "constellations" of tiny satellites to the already-crowded space around Earth won't be easy. For example, companies that operate satellites that are located far away -- 22,000 miles out -- fear that -- under certain circumstances -- closer, low-Earth-orbit satellites may interfere with their electronic signals, according to SpaceNews.

A broader, long-term industry question: How will companies be able to manufacture thousands of satellites quickly and cheaply? OneWeb has hired French-based Airbus to build 900 satellites at a rate of four per day. Most will be built in the U.S., according to Airbus.

"They need to bring the sort of large-scale assembly line processes and efficiencies found in the automotive world to space, and that's a really new thing for us," said satellite industry expert Brian Weeden, technical adviser for Secure World Foundation.

But if everything works out as planned, it won't be long before the World Wide Web will truly live up to its name.

The cat that looks like a werewolf

Halloween may be over, but that doesn't mean we're done with the spooky stuff.

Meet the Lykoi cat, a breed that resembles a werewolf. According to LykoiKitten.com, "The Lykoi Cat is a natural mutation from a domestic shorthair that has the appearance of a werewolf.

"The mutation has occurred in domestic cats over the last 20 years, but to date, no reports of anyone starting a breed have been made," the site states. "Our founding cats come from two unrelated litters."

Since the Internet is made for cats, the Lykoi have been a hit there. There has also been lots of debate over whether the breed is "cute or creepy."

Gary Buchanan 

Elena 

Alex Guerra 

Veterinarian Johnny Gobble and his wife, Brittney, reportedly first bred them in 2010 and noticed that the cats lacked hair on part of their faces, contributing to their werewolf resemblance.

Gobble told The Daily Mail that his colleague Patti Thomas came up with the breed's name.

"The Lykoi Cat's name was the inspiration of Patti," he said. "She said Lykoi was the Greek word for wolf, and we all thought it was very fitting -- 'wolf cat.' "

The cats are said to act more like dogs, and they don't come cheap. Fees to adopt the kittens run from about $1,500 to $2,500.

President Obama joins Facebook, addresses climate change in first post

President Barack Obama joined Facebook on Monday and said he wanted his account to be "a place where we can have real conversations," diving right in with his first post on climate change.

In that post, Obama took Facebook users on a walk through his back yard at the White House and calling on Americans in a video "to preserve this beautiful planet of ours."

"Not only do I want future presidents to be able to take walks like this," Obama said in a video post on his profile. "I want to make sure that the American people are able to enjoy the incredible national parks, incredible beauty, the mountains, the oceans, that have been one of the greatest gifts we've ever received."

The President chose Facebook because "at a time when nearly three in four adults online use Facebook, this feels like a great place to do it," he writes.

Meanwhile, the "Barack Obama" Facebook account, which has over 45 million followers, continues to be run by Organizing for Action.

Obama, who first joined Twitter in May, has been more active on social media as his second term nears its end, hosting Twitter Q&A's, interacting with stars of the U.S. Women's National Soccer team, inviting teen clockmaker Ahmed Mohamed to the White House, joking with Bill Clinton and even revealing his guacamole recipe preference.

Five years on: Untangling Instagram's growing web of influence

Instagram's fifth birthday party had a guest list stretching to 400 million. That's how many monthly active users the photo-sharing app now has and almost half of them are under 25. In the triumvirate of social media (along with Facebook and Twitter), it's definitely the cool one.

Much of the platform's appeal lies in it simplicity, hence developers have changed very little since its inception. But with the introduction of sponsored posts it feel like Instagram is at something of a crossroads. Will it lose its idiosyncratic creative spirit or simply push on to the next level with a whole host of new features?

Only time will tell, but let's get serious for a minute and forget the filtering fun and unobtainable constructed reality, and examine how Instagram really is changing the world.

Fashion

The best Instagram accounts are aspirational, but they also tell a story. The fashion world is starting to catch on to this.

Designers and brands are responding to a desire for storytelling, inviting their Instagram followers into a previously closed world. Show lighting and set design is planned with Instagram in mind and it's now the place where trends become reality and model's careers are made. Olivier Rousteing recently previewed Balmain's SS16 ready-to-wear collection on his feed -- many of his 1.3 million followers may not be able to afford the clothes or lifestyle (yet), but they can be part of the conversation.

"It's democratising fashion," says Eva Chen, former editor-in-chief of Lucky Magazine and now Instagram's Head of Fashion Partnerships. "There's a greater connection to the customer now. Instagram enables brands to build a voice and speak more specifically to their audiences. Designers are not just thinking about the people at the shows. It humanises [designers] I think."

Art

Art and fashion are gloriously intertwined currently, and Instagram is helping to open the former to a wider audience too.

Brett Gorvy, International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie's is a fan and thinks it's "changing how people perceive artists." Internet artist Rafaël Rozendaal, who uses Instagram to preview artworks for his project websites, agrees: "I use it as an open studio to show the process of my work, and also my life, which is work too.

It opens up the artistic process to a broader audience; it demystifies the life of artists. At the same time it creates myths. Instagram is an extra organ, an extension of the body. I would like it if the likes and comments weren't there though. Just images, no hierarchy."

Travel

Instagram is broadening our horizons as we seek ever more photogenic locations, while travel brands are commissioning popular Instagram photographers as part of their marketing approach.

Eelco Roos, who has shot for Travel Alberta, as well as brands such as Samsung and Ducati, quit his job as an IT Consultant for IBM and is now one of the most popular photographers on Instagram. "For travel brands, Instagram is more measurable than traditional media in terms of finding out what an audience thinks. I haven't experienced hostility from 'traditional' photographers, but I do have to defend ways of photography other than the traditional ones sometimes."

Instagram is also opening Western eyes to more inaccessible places, Iran for example, where Facebook and Twitter are banned, and accounts such as @everydayafricaare challenging preconceptions. Taylor Pemberton, a designer and creative director, left his home in New York earlier this year to pursue a nomadic lifestyle as a photographer. He eventually found himself in North Korea: 

"I had this hope that even though the tourism experience is sanctioned, my camera could see past the façade and bring forth the everyday nuances that exist in human life. I think a platform like Instagram is giving people a glimpse into other worlds, cultures, and topics. Like other forms of media, some Instagram accounts create more education than controversy, more conviction than humour."

Food

It's also making us more adventurous with what we eat.

Without Instagram, there would be no food porn.

As with fashion, this is where trends become reality and food writers such as Hemsley and Hemsley, whose super healthy dishes, with their rich and often bold colour palettes, seem almost tailor-made for the format, enjoy huge followings.

However, eating out (and in) has become such a documentable event that many people spend more time trying to get the perfect shot than enjoying the food. "Sometimes I wonder if guests are present at the table when they are obsessing about photographing everything they eat," says Massimo Bottura, chef patron of Osteria Francescana, voted second best restaurant in the world. "One time a guest suggested I change the colour of the plates (from white to black) because he said the photographs would look better."

Fame

Instagram has the power to impart rapid fame and there are certainly personalities who seem to exist solely in the Instagram world -- back to that unobtainable constructed reality. But it's also possible for relative unknowns to gain sudden worldwide recognition for the quality of their work. Sam Yeldham's stunning photograph of a newly wed couple stood against a stormy Sydney Harbour recently went viral. "The attention has been positive. I think regardless of the era, all forms of impactful or engaging art will always find an audience," he says.

Online bullying and trolling is rife across all social media of course, but high-profile users, such as supermodel Gigi Hadid, are able to generate significant debate by highlighting their own experiences. "I think it [Instagram] has given celebrities more control over how their own lives are seen," says photographer Greg Williams, who captures the famous in candid moments for his #artofbehindthescenes project.

Activism

Social media by nature is a perfect campaigning tool and Instagram's youthful demographic are more active than most, whether on wider issues in society (#ifttheygunnedmedown), or contradictory rules governing social media itself (#freethenipple).

Brooklyn-based photojournalist and activist Ruddy Roye feels Instagram has allowed him to leapfrog media gatekeepers and get his voice heard: "Up until I started using it I was at the mercy of editors. Before, we depended on magazines and television and the Internet to a smaller degree to give us a window into faraway worlds, not so anymore. I use it mostly to highlight the ills of my community," he says.

How African honey bees can help mitigate a world crisis

Managed honeybee population stocks are declining in many countries, worrying scientists, the public and politicians. This decline affects us all, as it poses a risk to food security.

Honeybees can be moved where needed and are not picky about the flower they visit to collect pollen and nectar which they feed on. Thanks to these qualities, they are the major crop pollinators relied on by humans. The honeybee equals and sometimes surpasses all other wild pollinators for this task.

In the last decade, many studies focused on honeybee health to identify the causes of unusually high colony losses. Most of this work has been performed in Europe and North America where bees are exploited in large scale commercial operations. Scientists observe interactions of many factors affecting honeybee health.

But these results are so far not sufficiently clear to understand the causes of the declines and implement adapted mitigation measures. Scientists and beekeepers will first need to understand the reasons for deaths amongst bees before they can adjust their practices to ensure the stocks' survival.

Honeybee health status or even basic data of population sizes in the wild before the modern beekeeping area is unknown. We lack important information to evaluate the severity of the current problem. Understanding how bees deal with pests, pathogens and other environmental factors in Africa, where beekeeping has not been as intrusive, could help scientists understand more about why the bees of Europe and North America struggle.

How can African honeybees help?

The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is also present in Africa. In contrast to the docile European honeybees, African honeybees are more aggressive to beekeepers and are rarely confined to man-made hives. The majority of their estimated 310 million colonies strong population is wild and lives in natural cavities in trees or ground.

A lack of data on the health status of African honeybees has prompted several international teams to investigate this issue in recent years. In attempting to deal with the problem of colony losses, beekeepers and scientists throughout the world posed the following questions:

1) Is it possible that by developing beekeeping to the current industrial level, we pushed the honeybees to their biological limits? When managing these pollinators, do we place them in such unnatural situations that they are weakened?

2) Was the selective breeding used to improve desirable traits such as honey production or docility done at the expense of their defence mechanisms?

3) Does the wide scale honeybee trade result in the spread of damaging pathogens to which the honeybees are not adapted?

Increased knowledge on African honeybee health

Recent health surveys indicated that honeybee populations in South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and Benin are indeed healthy. Pathogens, either endemic or imported, are present but do not at this time seem to generate unusual and widespread mortality. A notable exception is the damage done by a certain honeybee. A particular honeybee lineage originating in the Cape region in South Africa functions as a social parasite.

To promote its own reproduction, this parasitic honeybee invades colonies of other subspecies and exhausts their resources until they dwindle to death. Tens of thousands of managed colonies in the hands of the beekeepers have been lost to this parasite, while the wild populations still living in natural nests fortunately seem spared. This means that beekeepers are seen as the vectors of the parasitic bee as it largely affects managed honeybees.

This phenomenon is one example of an unexpected and negative consequence of trade involving the displacement of a subspecies of bees from their natural distribution range. The huge numbers of bees being traded all over the word exposes them to numerous diseases.

In contrast, the invasion by the most damaging honeybee parasite, the well named mite Varroa destructor, does not show the same long term devastating effect on some African honeybeepopulations.

Researchers are very interested in identifying the tolerance mechanisms of the honeybee populations able to survive infestation without treatments. Selective breeding of the responsible behavioural or physiological traits could help the currently susceptible populations survive in presence of the parasite. Control efforts of the past decades have not resulted in parasite eradication and new methods are required. Honeybees that can live in the presence of this mite without human intervention are the Holy Grail for many scientists and beekeepers.

Learning from past mistakes

The African honeybee populations have so far largely coped with the arrival of new parasites andpathogens. But measures should be put in place to maintain their apparently healthy status. Beekeepers should work with local honeybee populations and refrain from importing colonies from distant places.

Despite the general positive situation, worrying signs of declining populations have recently beenreported in Madagascar, Kenya and South Africa. This is where colonies succumb to the newly arrived varroa mite or where beekeepers have increasing difficulty trapping wild swarms to build their stocks.

Africa would benefit from the mistakes made elsewhere by preventing such problems through the protection of honeybee populations. Before the states establish rules and restrictions, better information for the primary stakeholders are needed. Beekeepers play a vital role. They can help keep African honeybees healthy. The African honeybee could be a major tool for researchers and beekeepers if they want to learn about conserving the western honeybee.

Grossest restaurant ever? Inside Japan's poo curry cafe

"It literally tastes like a piece of ----," a diner says, covering her mouth and trying not to regurgitate the small spoonful of curry she just ate.

For restaurant owner Ken Shimizu, this is actually a compliment.

His Curry Shop Shimizu in Tokyo specializes in a dish that deliberately mimics the texture and flavor of feces.

Don't click away in disgust just yet -- it gets weirder.

Shimizu is also one of Japan's best known porn stars.

A star of hundreds of adult movies, he's known in Japan as Shimiken, or the "king of porn."

His latest venture, according to restaurant manager Hiroki Okada, is an attempt to satisfy an unlikely lifelong desire to find out what excrement tastes like.

"For Shimiken and Pan Pong [the curry's creator], it's a question to settle before we die," says Okada.

"We had had no choice but to answer the question with our imagination -- until now."

Forget the market research

Of course, they didn't just jump right in and open a poo curry restaurant, first of all they did some market research, surveying 400 young adults.

And, when it found that 85% wouldn't dream of setting foot in such a place, they promptly ignored it.

"We hope to defeat the market research data," says Okado.

The owners describe their venue, which opened in August 2015, as a "joke restaurant."

They say it's not so much about sating appetites as giving diners a good time -- or as good a time as is possible over bowls of stinking brown gloop.

"Instead of eating curry, the purpose of coming to the restaurant is to have fun," says Okada. "The curry is just a trigger."

Achieving that "authentic" poo flavor involves an arsenal of ingredients.

There's onion, carrot, minced chicken, bitter gourd, cocoa powder, bitter Japanese green gentian tea and curry powder.

"We also add kusaya, a sun-dried salted horse mackerel that gives off the smell of dog dung," says Okada.

The curry is served in a container shaped like a traditional Japanese toilet bowl.

Better than the real thing?

And here's where it gets even weirder -- and more disgusting.

The restaurant knows its curry tastes like poo because, brace yourselves people, Ken Shimizu has allegedly eaten poo (or so he claims).

More than once.

"Shimiken has eaten feces many times -- 250 people's -- so he can examine whether the curry tastes the same as the real thing," Okada adds.

CNN has been unable -- and, frankly, unwilling -- to confirm the curry's authenticity, but reviews have been mixed.

Shimizu's fellow adult movie star Uehara Ai gave up after her third mouthful, declaring the meal the toughest task she'd encountered this year.

Surprisingly, some, like the Tokyo-based bloggers of Wowsabi, claim they have slurped down a whole bowl.

Of the 300 customers who graced the restaurant in its first month, more than 90% manage to finish their curry, according to the owners.

Some, apparently, develop such a taste for it that they go on to eat their ... let's stop right there.

Back for more

Despite the awful taste, the cost of the curry is very high and profit margins are small.

But Okada claims he's able to bank on some loyal customers.

"Many guests visit the restaurant every day and there are more and more returned customers," he says.

"Most visit to satisy their curiosity -- they want to know what feces taste like. Some use it as a penalty game. Many customers return because they enjoy seeing other guests' reaction."

The owner hopes his restaurant will develop a global reputation that will bring in foreign diners.

If that doesn't pan out, he's always got his day job to fall back on.

Okada adds: "Shimiken still works as a porno actor. He wants to go on being one all his life."

Neymar and Luis Suarez double act lifts Barca; Man City tops EPL

The Neymar and Luis Suarez double act left Barcelona in fine fettle ahead of the first El Clasico of the season with a 3-0 dismissal of Villarreal Sunday to top the La Liga standings.

Barca's next game is in the Santiago Bernabeu on November 21 against arch-rival Real Madrid, who needed to win at Seville in the late game to draw level on points at the top with the Catalan giants.

European champion Barcelona has been without its star player Lionel Messi for the past six weeks, but Neymar and Suarez have stepped into the breach by scoring all 17 of its league goals since his injury layoff.

Their incredible record was maintained after a scoreless first half in the Nou Camp, the on-form Neymar converting after a Sergio Busquets's through ball.

FC Barcelona

Suarez stepped up to take the penalty for the second after Munir El Haddadi had been brought down by Jaume Costa.

Neymar might have taken the spot kick and Suarez returned the favor by supplying the pass from the Brazilian conjured up a magical third, flipping it over a defender and volleying home. He has scored a league leading 11 goals and 13 in all competitions.

"We are talking about a unique player, special. We have to look at his work." said Barcelona boss Luis Henrique as he reflected on a vital win.

"That the team is growing and improving in key aspects of the game is obvious," he told the official Barcelona website.

"Right now Neymar is the most dominating striker in the league," said Villarreal head coach Marcelino Garcia Toral.

Earlier, Athletic Bilbao secured its fifth straight win in all competitions, set on its way by a wonder goal from Inaki Williams in a 3-1 victory over Espanyol

The young striker converted with a spectacular volley after flicking the ball over Enzo Roco before unleashing a spectacular volley into the top corner.

Hernan Perez leveled for the visitors just after halftime but Raul Garcia headed home the winner for Bilbao midway through the second half.

Man City tops EPL

In the English Premier League, Manchester City stayed top of the standings on goal difference from Arsenal on a Sunday afternoon which saw a thrilling 1-1 draw in the North London derby and the first defeat for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.

City was held to a goalless draw at bottom club Aston Villa where Remi Garde took charge for the first time, but Arsenal missed the chance to go above them after a 1-1 home draw against Tottenham Hotspur.

Harry Kane put Spurs, unbeaten in the EPL since the first game of the season, deservedly in front with a first half opener as the visitors had the better of a closely fought match.

Arsenal FC

Arsenal saw Olivier Giroud waste a series of headed opportunities in the second half but Tottenham again made the better openings with Kane and Christian Eriksen going close.

Substitute Kieran Gibbs proved an unlikely savior for the hosts as he connected with a Mesut Ozil pass at the far post and it was Arsenal who finished on the front foot.

Liverpool trailed at Anfield to a Yannick Bolasie opener for Crystal Palace in the 21st minute but looked to have regained the initiative when Phlippe Coutinho leveled just before halftime.

Crystal Palace FC

But it was Palace who took the three points through Scott Dann's winner with eight minutes to go, sealing a third straight victory over the Merseyside giants after completing a league double last season.