Trump could ‘inspire a ‘disaster movie’ – Spain’s Almodovar

(L-R) Actress Rossy de Palma, director Pedro Almodovar, and actress Marina Ambramovic attend the Pedro Almodovar Retrospective Opening Night at the Museum of Modern Art on November 29, 2016 in New York City. Jason Carter Rinaldi/Getty Images/AFP

Donald Trump would be the perfect protagonist for a disaster film, said Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, as a retrospective of his movies got underway in New York.
“I think that Trump is going to provide a lot of creative inspiration, especially for comedians,” said Almodovar at an event late Tuesday marking the launch of the film series at Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art.
The MoMA exhibition, encompassing every movie made by Almodovar, coincides with the release of “Julieta,” his 20th feature-length film, which was also previewed at MoMA Tuesday. The movie opens in US theaters on December 21.
Almodovar, Spain’s most celebrated living movie director, made it clear that he is no fan of the US president-elect but said Trump’s larger-than-life persona is the stuff of filmmaking lore.
“He seriously would inspire a disaster movie,” Almodovar said.
“This kind of personality type have no parallel in real life. He’s like a great fictional character,” the director said.

Gun that nearly killed poet Rimbaud sells for almost half million euros

The revolver with which French poet Paul Verlaine tried to kill his lover Arthur Rimbaud is displayed at Christie's auction house before the most famous gun in French literature goes under the hammer in Paris on November 30, 2016.Thomas Samson/AFP

The most famous gun in French literary history, the revolver with which Paul Verlaine tried to kill his lover and fellow poet Arthur Rimbaud, sold for 434,500 euros ($460,000) at an auction in Paris on Wednesday.
The staggering price for the seven mm six-shooter — which almost changed the course of world literature — was more than seven times the estimate, auctioneers Christie’s said.
Verlaine bought the weapon in Brussels on the morning of July 10, 1873, determined to put an end to his torrid two-year affair with his teenage lover.
The 29-year-old poet had abandoned his young wife and child to be with Rimbaud, who would later become the symbol of rebellious youth, idolised by 1960s singers like Jim Morrison.
But after an opium- and absinthe-soaked stay in London, which would inspire Rimbaud’s “A Season in Hell”, Verlaine wanted to go back to his wife.
He fled to the Belgian capital to get away from Rimbaud only for the younger man to follow him.
It was in a hotel room there at two in the afternoon where, after the lovers had rowed, cried and got drunk

UK experts give green light to ‘three-parent babies’

British scientists on Wednesday approved the use of so-called "three-parent baby" fertility treatments, paving the way for the country to become the first in the world to officially introduce the procedures.AFP

British scientists on Wednesday approved the use of so-called “three-parent baby” fertility treatments, paving the way for the country to become the first in the world to officially introduce the procedures.
An independent panel of experts tasked with reviewing the safety of mitochondrial gene therapy said the practice should be “cautiously adopted” to prevent certain genetic diseases from being passed on to future generations.
British MPs voted in February to allow the creation of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) babies with DNA from three people.
However, the country’s fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), said it would wait for Wednesday’s report before green-lighting use of the treatments in clinics.
The technique would allow women who carry disease-causing mutations in their mitochondrial genes to give birth to genetically-related children free of mitochondrial disease.
– ‘Designer babies’ –
But opponents have questioned its ethics and say it opens the way to “designer babies”.
The treatment involves the embryo receiving the usual “nuclear” DNA from the mother and father, as well as a small amount of healthy mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) from a female donor.
The review panel recommended its clinical use “in specific circumstances… where inheritance of the disease

Colombia’s congress approves revised deal with FARC

Colombia’s Congress has approved a revised peace deal with the FARC rebel group, paving the way to end a conflict that has lasted more than 50 years.
The lower house voted 130-0 on Wednesday to approve the text adopted a day earlier by the Senate.
President Juan Manuel Santos said the vote provided “landmark backing” for a deal he personally pushed for. Santos, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, shepherded the revised deal through Congress after voters shocked the world by rejecting an earlier version in a referendum last month.
The government’s chief peace negotiator with the FARC, Humberto de la Calle, had urged lawmakers to ratify this deal, warning the army’s ceasefire with the leftist guerrillas was “fragile”.
The first agreement was rejected in a referendum in October, with majority of voters saying they felt it was too lenient toward the rebels, who have battled the government for 52 years.
Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from Medellin, said the approval was a significant step towards peace in the country, but added that the deal still faced hurdles.
“A few more obstacles remain,” he said, adding the constitutional court still needed to rule on a mechanism allowing Congress to pass implementing regulations, including an amnesty law.
Resistance remains

Refugee protests disrupt Australian parliament

Protesters, angered by Australia’s refugee policy, have disrupted parliament for a second day by abseiling down the building and erecting a banner that read “close the bloody camps now”.
In the early hours of Thursday the group also poured red dye – representing blood – into a fountain in front of the building, the national broadcaster ABC reported.
The incident came after a protest on Wednesday during which the group stopped parliamentary proceedings for half an hour, shouting slogans and gluing their hands to railings in the public gallery.
The group was protesting specifically against Australia’s offshore prisons which hold 1,300 asylum seekers who were picked up trying to reach Australia by boat.
Canberra sends asylum-seekers trying to reach Australia by sea to isolated outposts on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island, with the prison conditions widely criticised by refugee advocates and medical professionals.
Speaker Tony Smith suspended question time in what cabinet minister Christopher Pyne said was the most serious intrusion into parliament in 20 years.
The group of around 30 protestors began chanting loudly soon after the session began, shouting “close the

Two dead, 4 injured in US Thanksgiving Day shooting

Two persons were killed and four were injured in a shooting at a Thanksgiving Day football tournament in Kentucky on Thursday.
The shooting occurred at Shawnee Park, where a youth football tournament called the Juice Bowl is held every year on Thanksgiving Day.
Louisville Metro Police said officers responded to a call of multiple shootings at Shawnee Park on Thursday afternoon.
Police said there were no suspects in custody and they had not established a motive for the shooting, which occurred during an annual football tournament that dates back to the 1950s.
Dwight Mitchell, spokesman for the Louisville Metro Police Department, said that as yet, no one is aware of the motive for the shooting.
Mr. Mitchell told reporters that the four survivors suffered non-life-threatening injuries and had been taken to the hospital.

Hooded attacker kills woman in French missionaries’ home

Gendarmes stand guard on a road near a retirement home for monks in Montferrier-sur-Lez, southern France, early on November 25, 2016, after an armed man burst in the home killing a woman with a knife. Armed police were hunting the man inside the home, which is home to around 70 men and women who have served as missionaries in Africa. Authorities said it was a "criminal act".AFP/Pascal Guyot

A hooded man wielding a knife murdered a woman at a retirement home for missionaries in southern France on Thursday triggering a manhunt, with the country still on edge following a string of jihadist attacks.
The man, brandishing a sawn-off shotgun and a knife, tied up and killed the woman who worked at the home in the village of Montferrier-sur-Lez near the city of Montpellier, a prosecutor said.
More than 70 men and women, most of whom served as missionaries in Africa, live at the home.
Armed police searched the building but believe the man fled, sources close to the police operation said, and a large-scale police operation was under way to find the unidentified attacker.
A helicopter was seen flying over the area, scanning the ground with a giant spotlight.
Investigators so far had no evidence to suggest the attack was terror-related at a time when France remains under a state of emergency after a number of Islamist atrocities, including the murder of an elderly Catholic priest in July.
“For the time being, there is only one victim,” Montpellier prosecutor Christophe Barret told AFP. “For the

South Africa braces for credit review as growth falls

South Africa braced for a potentially damaging credit rating review Friday as Moody’s releases its latest assessment amid political tension, reform blockages and weak economic data.
President Jacob Zuma has been engulfed by graft scandals and a power struggle with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, while growth has fallen to 0.5 percent and unemployment hit a 13-year high.
Moody’s will issue its updated grading later Friday, before Standard & Poor’s makes its key announcement a week later on December 2.
S&P currently has South Africa — the continent’s most developed economy — rated at the lowest investment grade, and a downgrade would put the country’s bonds into so-called “junk” status.
Moody’s currently rates South Africa two levels above junk.
Any downward review would further drain investor confidence in the country’s prospects under Zuma and the ANC party, which has ruled since the end of apartheid.
“We are politicising downgrading. That is our problem,” the president told parliament this week. “We have

South Africa’s scandal-plagued Zuma to face ANC integrity panel

South African President Jacob Zuma will be questioned next week by the African National Congress’ (ANC) integrity commission following persistent allegations of corruption and poor election results, the party said on Friday.
Zuma’s appearance before the panel could deepen divides within the ANC as it gears up for a national conference next year when Zuma, 74, is expected to stand down as party leader.
“He will be having a meeting with the IC,” ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe confirmed to Reuters, referring to the integrity commission.
Zuma’s meeting with the commission is expected to be held on Dec. 3 behind closed doors. Members of the ANC have been removed from their posts as a result of the commission’s recommendation.
The ANC formed the commission in 2013 to help protect its image and take “urgent action” to deal with members of the party who face allegations of improper conduct.

Thanksgiving sales surge online as shoppers stay home for holiday

Workers prepare orders for customers at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Tracy, California, November 29, 2015.Reuters/Fred Greaves

Online spending by U.S. bargain hunters climbed to above $1 billion by Thanksgiving evening, according to Adobe Digital Index, surging almost 14 percent from a year ago and reflecting a broader trend away from brick-and-mortar shopping.
At the start of the first holiday shopping season since the election of Donald Trump as president on November 8, U.S. consumers loosened their purse strings and spent $1.15 billion online between midnight and 5 pm ET on Thursday, according to Adobe.
Traditionally the day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday, has started the holiday shopping season in the United States with retailers offering steep discounts and turning a profit. But its popularity has been on the wane given the emergence of online shopping and cheap deals through the year from retailers including e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).
U.S. stores are now opening on Thanksgiving to try and boost in-store sales, while retailers have been offering online deals weeks in advance to cope with lower demand and stiff pricing competition.

EU vote: Erdogan threatens to open Turkey borders to migrants

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday threatened to throw open Turkey’s borders to illegal migrants after the European Parliament voted to back a freeze in membership talks with Ankara.
“Listen to me. If you go any further, then the frontiers will be opened, bear that in mind,” Erdogan told the European Union (EU) in a speech in Istanbul.
On March 18, Ankara and Brussels forged a deal for Turkey to halt the flow of migrants to Europe — an accord that has largely been successful in reducing numbers crossing the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece.
Turkey agreed to step up maritime and land border controls in exchange for incentives on its long-stalled membership bid, including visa-free travel for its citizens and an acceleration of accession talks.
However with an October target passing and no apparent progress on the visa issue and accession talks

Blast kills two at governor's office in southern Turkish city

A firefighter tries to extinguish burning vehicles after an explosion outside the governor's office in the southern city of Adana, Turkey, November 24, 2016. Ihlas News Agency via REUTERS

An explosion killed two people and wounded more than 30 outside the governor's office in the southern Turkish city of Adana on Thursday, weeks after the United States warned of attacks by what it called extremist groups.

Video footage showed a vehicle ablaze in the car park outside the building and thick black smoke rising into the sky in the city, 40 km (25 miles) from Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Windows were blown out and parts of the facade of the building, roughly six floors high, were torn off.

The state-run Anadolu agency quoted provincial governor Mahmut Demirtas as saying two people were killed. Anadolu said the blast, which occurred shortly after 8 a.m., came from a vehicle in front of the building.

Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, the son-in-law of President Tayyip Erdogan, who was in Adana for a

Trump's friend Farage taunts British PM with 'ambassador's reception'

Nigel Farage, the interim leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) holds a platter of Ferrero Rocher chocolates during a party in London, Britain, November 23, 2016. REUTERS/Guy Faulconbridge

RAGELONDON (Reuters) - Nigel Farage, the Brexit campaigner who U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said would be great as Britain's envoy to Washington, taunted Prime Minister Theresa May with a mock ambassador's reception complete with chocolate and champagne.

May's government dismissed Trump's suggestion this week of "Ambassador Farage" saying there was no vacancy as Kim Darroch is currently serving as ambassador to Washington.

But at a party at London's Ritz hotel, Farage was cheered by his financial backers before offering guests pyramids of Ferrero Rocher chocolates, a joking reference to a long-running British 'ambassador's reception' TV advert which cast the gold-foiled confection as the delicacy of choice for diplomats.

Farage praised what he called "the political revolution" that had brought Brexit and then the election of

Thousands demonstrate against scandal-hit Malaysia PM

Thousands of yellow-clad Malaysians gathered in the capital to demand Prime Minister Najib Razak resign.Edgar/Reuters

Thousands of anti-government protesters marched in Malaysia’s capital demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak over his alleged involvement in a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal.
Clad in yellow shirts and unfazed by arrests of activists and opposition leaders, protesters marched on Saturday from various spots towards downtown Lumpur amid tight security.
Najib, who is attending an Asia-Pacific summit in Lima, Peru, has kept an iron grip since graft allegations emerged two years ago involving the indebted 1MDB state fund that he founded. 1MDB is at the center of investigations in the US and several other countries.
The US Justice Department said that at least $3.5 billion had been stolen from 1MDB by people close to Najib and initiated action in July to seize $1.3 billion it said was taken from the fund to buy assets in the US.
The US government complaints also said that more than $700 million had landed in the accounts of “Malaysian Official 1.” They did not name the official, but appear to be referring to Najib.

Trump settles Trump University lawsuits for $25 mn

US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday agreed to pay $25 million to settle lawsuits accusing his now-defunct Trump University of fraud, sparing him the embarrassment of further legal wrangling as he prepares to enter the White House.
A trio of suits brought by former students alleged that the training program — which was not an accredited college or university, but was in operation from 2005 to 2011 — fleeced students by tricking them with aggressive marketing.
Students paid as much as $35,000 to enroll, wrongly believing they would make it big in real estate after being taught by the Manhattan mogul’s hand-picked experts, said the suits brought in New York and California.
Trump’s lawyers had countered for years that many students had given the program a thumbs-up and those who failed to succeed had only themselves to blame.
But, with the president-elect apparently seeking to put the thorny matter to rest as he builds his cabinet, a

Saudi-led coalition to start 48-hour truce in Yemen

A Saudi Arabia-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government against Houthi rebels has declared a 48-hour ceasefire to begin on Saturday, according to local media.
“It has been decided to begin a 48-hour ceasefire from 12:00 noon in Yemen’s timing (0900 GMT) on Saturday,” a coalition statement carried by Saudi’s official SPA news agency said, adding that the truce could be renewed if Houthi fighters and their allies abided by it and allowed aid into besieged cities.
The coalition announcement came after a request for a ceasefire by Yemen’s President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, himself based in Riyadh, to Saudi King Salman, the statement said.
“Coalition forces will abide by the ceasefire,” it said, but warned that should the rebels or troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh make any military moves in the area the coalition would respond.
The naval and air “blockade” would also remain in place and surveillance jets would continue to fly over Yemen, it added.

Africans optimistic despite corruption and economy woes – survey

Most people in three African countries have an optimistic outlook despite continuing anger at corruption and economic woes, a survey has found.
South Africans, Nigerians and Kenyans all say healthcare and education will be better for the next generation.
More than three-quarters also say that young people who want a good life should stay in their countries rather than emigrate, the Pew report found.
The research agency interviewed 3,330 respondents for the study.
Respondents reported high levels of political engagement, with majorities saying that ordinary citizens could influence their governments if they make the effort.
More than half said they had voted in the past year or at some point in the past – roughly the same level as in

President Buhari arrives Marrakech for COP-22

President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived Marrakech, Morocco, to participate in the ongoing 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), tagged, COP-22.
This information is contained in the President’s twitter handle.
President Buhari, who left the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Monday, arrived the Marrakesh Menara Airport in Morocco, some hours later.
While in Marrakech, the President would participate in the official opening of the plenary of the conference on Nov. 15 where he would deliver his national statement during the High Level Segment of COP 22.
A statement earlier issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said President Buhari would be presenting Presidential address at the conference.
The address, according to the statement, is expected to highlight, among other key issues, Nigeria’s

Sierra Leone govt explains fuel price hike

Sierra Leone’s government is defending a price hike on petroleum products in the country. The government announced last week that it is ending the subsidy of petroleum products, raising the price of a gallon of gasoline, kerosene, diesel and fuel oil.
Under the new measures, pump price for a gallon of gasoline and diesel is up from about 67 cents to about $1.68. Fuel oil is up from about 56 cents to about 90 cents a gallon.
Abdulai Bayraytay, spokesman for Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma, says removing the fuel subsidy was necessary to address the loss of revenue caused by the Ebola crisis which affected the country’s tourism industry, and the plummeting price of iron ore.
Bayraytay said when the APC government came into power in 2007 its priority was improve the economy to attract direct foreign investment and in turn create employment.
“Thus, we embarked on massive infrastructural development across the country. That, of course created jobs and employment. Thus, the economy was booming. So, during that period, we didn’t feel it was necessary to

Russian minister Alexei Ulyukayev detained over ‘bribe’

Russia’s Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev has been detained in connection with an alleged bribe.
Russia’s main anti-corruption body, the Investigative Committee, said Ulyukayev received a payment of $2m.
His ministry had given a positive assessment that led to the oil giant Rosneft acquiring a 50% stake in another oil company, Bashneft. He is the highest-ranking Russian official to be detained since the 1991 coup attempt in what was then the USSR.
“This is about extortion of a bribe from Rosneft representatives accompanied by threats,” Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee, told RIA Novosti news agency.

Lethal Cameroon liquor kills 14

Fourteen people have died in eastern Cameroon after consuming a locally brewed liquor, State broadcaster, the Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV), reported.
CRTV said the victims had consumed a drink known locally as odontol.
The residents of seven villages in the municipality of Mindoro, reportedly consumed the liquor after they returned from their farms.
The liver
The eastern Cameroon public health officer, Dr Robert Mathurin Bidjang, said two other people who took the drink were in ‘a critical condition’ at a local government hospital.

Attorneys in Trump University lawsuit argue over trial

Attorneys representing plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Donald Trump’s now-defunct university on Monday denounced a request by the president-elect’s lawyers to delay the trial and excuse him from testifying in person.
In a motion filed in San Diego’s federal court, the attorneys said a request made at the weekend for the November 28 trial to be delayed until after the inauguration in January was no more than a tactic by the defense to postpone the case indefinitely.
“Each of defendants’ ‘modest’ requests to delay this trial has been just a prelude to another request,” attorney Jason Forge wrote in the motion.
He added that the plaintiffs in the six-year-old lawsuit, one of whom is nearly 75 years old, “cannot afford any further delays.”
“This trial, like so many Trump University student-victims’ credit card bills, is past due,” Forge wrote.

Hong Kong court upholds pro-independence MP bans

Protesters have come out in Hong Kong against what they call 'judicial interference' from Beijing.EPA

A Hong Kong court has disqualified two pro-independence members of parliament from taking office, ruling their oath of allegiance invalid.
Tuesday’s ruling was in step with Beijing, which last week intervened in the city’s legal system after street protests.
Beijing ruled that Hong Kong legislators must swear allegiance to Hong Kong as part of China, adding that

Mediterranean rescuers save 550 migrants at sea, recover five bodies

About 550 migrants, most of them from West Africa, were pulled to safety from boats in the Mediterranean on Monday in five operations during which rescuers also recovered five dead bodies, Italy’s coast guard said.
The bodies were in a rubber dinghy and one other person from the dinghy had drowned, according to aid group SOS Mediterranee, whose Aquarius vessel helped in the rescues off Libya’s coast.
“We recovered five bodies dead inside the rubber boat after the rescue, and one person drowned,” an SOS Mediterranee spokeswoman said, quoting two rescue workers who said they saw the person drowning. They were not able to recover the body.

With Trump meeting, Farage upsets UK establishment

After helping secure the shock vote for Brexit, UKIP leader Nigel Farage pulled off another coup by becoming the first British politician to meet Donald Trump, upsetting the establishment once again.
Long dismissed as a political outsider who had failed repeatedly to win a seat in the House of Commons, Farage stunned Britain and the world when he helped deliver the June vote to leave the European Union.
Five months later, Trump’s victory has again propelled the UK Independence Party (UKIP) interim leader into the limelight.
Farage had campaigned for Trump, believing the Republican billionaire — who many thought could never win — had tapped into similar anger over globalisation and ruling elites as the anti-EU campaign in Britain.
When Trump won last week, Farage returned to the United States and on Saturday met the future leader of the free world at his headquarters in New York.
A photo of the two men — Farage grinning broadly and Trump giving a thumbs up — was widely published

Trump looking at fast ways to quit global climate deal – report

President-elect Donald Trump is seeking quick ways to withdraw the United States from a global accord to combat climate change, a source on his transition team said, defying broad global backing for the plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Since Trump’s election victory on Tuesday, governments ranging from China to small island states have reaffirmed support for the 2015 Paris agreement during climate talks involving 200 nations set to run until Friday in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Trump has called global warming a hoax and has promised to quit the Paris Agreement, which was strongly supported by outgoing Democratic U.S. President Barack Obama.
Trump’s advisers are considering ways to bypass a theoretical four-year procedure for leaving the accord, according to the source, who works on Trump’s transition team for international energy and climate policy.
“It was reckless for the Paris agreement to enter into force before the election” on Tuesday, the source told

DR Congo prime minister resigns

Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo resigned Monday to make way for an opposition figure to take his place following talks aimed at averting a political crisis.
“I have offered my resignation as well as those of the members of my government… to respond to the spirit and the letter of the accord,” said Matata as he left a meeting with President Joseph Kabila, referring to the deal struck after a political dialogue boycotted by the main opposition parties.
DRC’s political crisis deepened last month after a presidential election, which had been due before the year’s end, was postponed until April 2018.

Mexico abducted priest found alive

A priest abducted in the Mexican state of Veracruz has been found alive after three days, but with signs of torture, Church officials say.
The disappearance of Fr Jose Luis Sanchez Ruiz had sparked two days of unrest in the town of Catemaco.
He is the third Roman Catholic priest abducted in the eastern Mexican state since September. The other two were found shot dead by a roadside.
Clerics said Fr Sanchez Ruiz had been targeted because he fought corruption.
“He had received threats in recent days because he is a defender of human rights,” said Fr Aaron Reyes, a spokesman for the diocese. “He has criticised the system of corruption and the crime problem in Catemaco.”

First woman to fly China’s J-10 fighter dies in crash

The first woman to fly China’s J-10 fighter plane was killed in a crash during an aerobatics training exercise, state-run media reported Monday.
Yu Xu, 30, a member of the Chinese air force’s “August 1st” aerobatic display team, ejected from her aircraft during a training exercise in the northern province of Hebei at the weekend, the China Daily newspaper said.
She hit the wing of another jet and was killed, it said, although her male co-pilot ejected safely and survived.
“As one of only four female pilots in the country capable of flying domestically made fighter jets, her death comes as a tremendous loss to the Chinese air force,” the Global Times newspaper said.
Yu, from Chongzhou in the southwestern province of Sichuan, joined the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force in 2005, reports said.
She graduated from training four years later, one of the first 16 Chinese women pilots qualified to fly fighter jets, the China Daily said, and in July 2012 was the first woman to fly the J-10. Fans dubbed her the “golden

Pro-Russia Rumen Radev wins Bulgarian presidency

Radev won 59.4 percent of the vote, compared with 36.2 percent for the candidate of the ruling centre-right GERB party.Peter Ganev/Reuters

Pro-Russia, anti-migration candidate Rumen Radev won the Bulgarian presidential election, partial official results showed on Monday.
Former air force commander Radev won 59.4 percent of the vote, compared with 36.2 percent for the candidate of the ruling centre-right GERB party, Tsetska Tsacheva, with 99.3 percent of polling stations counted.
Bulgaria faces an uncertain future after centre-right Prime Minister Boyko Borisov quit his post following the crushing defeat of his presidential nominee at the hands of Radev.
“The results clearly show that the ruling coalition no longer holds the majority,” the premier, who was re-elected in 2014 for a second time, said on Sunday evening.
“I apologise to those who supported us. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Radev, a former fighter jet pilot and novice to politics, has tapped into public anger with political elites and

New Zealand hit by most powerful ever-recorded earthquake

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed two people and caused massive infrastructure damage in New Zealand on Monday, as forecasters warned wild weather could hamper rescue efforts.
The tremor, one of the most powerful ever recorded in the quake-prone South Pacific nation, hit just after midnight near the South Island seaside tourist town of Kaikoura.
It triggered a tsunami alert that sent thousands of people fleeing for higher ground across large parts of the country’s rugged coastline before the threat abated.
Rescuers were left scrambling to reach Kaikoura, which had no telecommunications and was isolated by landslips, making it accessible only by helicopter.
Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee said a clearer picture of the scale of the damage was slowly emerging.
“I think had there been serious injury or suspected further loss of life than we would have heard about it by now,” he told Radio New Zealand.
He added: “It looks as though it’s the infrastructure that’s the biggest problem, although I don’t want to take away from the suffering… and terrible fright so many people have had.”
Brownlee and Prime Minister John Key flew over the affected area in a military helicopter.
Aerial footage outside Kaikoura showed railway tracks ripped up and tossed 10 metres (30 foot) by the force of the quake.

WikiLeaks’ Assange faces questioning by prosecutors

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faces questioning by prosecutors Monday at the Ecuadoran embassy in London in a twist in the long-running legal battle over a rape allegation against him.
An Ecuadoran prosecutor will quiz the founder of the secret-spilling website at the red-brick building where he has been holed up for more than four years, with Swedish prosecutor Ingrid Isgren and a Swedish police inspector also attending, officials said.
The 45-year-old Australian sought refuge in the central London embassy in June 2012 after Swedish prosecutors issued a European arrest warrant against him, over allegations of rape and sexual assault filed by two women who met Assange during a 2010 trip to Sweden.
He denied the claims, saying they were politically motivated, and insisting his sexual encounters with the two women were consensual.
He has refused to travel to Sweden for questioning, fearing he would be extradited to the United States over WikiLeaks’ release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Kerry in Oman for Yemen peace talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived Monday in Muscat, Omani state media said, for talks expected to focus on efforts to end Yemen’s 19-month conflict.
ONA news agency said Kerry will be in the Gulf sultanate for two days, in one of his last trips as secretary of state before President Barack Obama’s administration ends on January 20.
He is scheduled to hold talks on Monday with Oman’s Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi and to meet ruler Sultan Qaboos.
Kerry has been pushing for a settlement of Yemen’s deadly conflict, which escalated with the military intervention of a Saudi-led coalition to support the government against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in March 2015.

Americans have nothing to fear – Trump

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to move aggressively on a conservative agenda in filling Supreme Court vacancies, cracking down on immigration and cutting taxes, but also sought to reassure worried Americans they have nothing to fear from his presidency.
Setting aside the strident tone of his campaign, the 70-year-old assumed a gentler manner in his first television interview since his shock election, saying he was “saddened” by reports of harassment of Muslims and Hispanics, and telling the perpetrators: “Stop It.”
The interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” which was taped Friday and aired in full Sunday, offered Trump an opportunity to reintroduce himself after an ugly, name-calling campaign and surprise victory that sparked protests in cities across the United States.
“I just don’t think they know me,” the billionaire real estate mogul said at one point, of the thousands of protesters who have massed in streets below his Trump Tower headquarters with signs that read “Not our president.”
Told that many Americans are scared of his presidency, Trump said: “Don’t be afraid. We are going to bring our country back.”
– Conservative agenda –
Millions were expected to tune in to Trump’s interview for clues on how the billionaire will govern, and how

Toddler dies in attack on church

A Indonesian toddler died Monday from injuries sustained in a suspected extremist attack on a church, with a group of militants who support the Islamic State group detained over the assault.
Two-year-old Intan Olivia Marbun was among four small children hurt when an attacker wearing a T-shirt with the word “jihad” on it threw Molotov cocktails at the place of worship on Borneo island from a motorbike on Sunday.
The youngsters, aged between two and four, had been playing in the car park of the church in the city of Samarinda at the time of the attack.
Local police spokesman Fajar Setiawan told AFP Marbun suffered extensive burn injuries and respiratory problems, adding: “Unfortunately the doctors could not save the victim… she died early this morning.”
The other children suffered less serious injuries and were still being treated in hospital but would likely be

No refugees will be sent to US this year – Australia PM

Australia’s prime minister said on Monday resettlement to the US of many of the 1,200 asylum seekers held in prisons on Papua New Guinea and the Pacific island of Nauru would begin after president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
Whether Trump honours the deal Australia reached with the outgoing Obama administration, and announced earlier this month, will provide an early test of the new president’s anti-immigration stance.
Campaigning for the presidency, Trump started by advocating a blanket ban on Muslims entering the US, but later adjusted his stance to propose that the ban should apply to people from nations that had been “compromised by terrorism”.
Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Sunday that the US had agreed to take a “substantial” number of the 1,800 refugees held on Manus Island and Nauru. Many of them are Muslims who have fled

Israeli committee approves bill legalising outposts

Israel has approved a controversial draft bill aimed at authorising Jewish settlements that were built on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank without Israeli government permission.
The bill must now pass through three readings in parliament and also be ratified by the Supreme Court before it can become law.
Sunday’s vote was rushed through the ministerial committee for legislation in an attempt to prevent the evacuation of the outpost of Amona in the Israeli-occupied West Bank by the end of the year.
The Supreme Court had ordered the evacuation of settlers from Amona and the demolition of their homes by December 25.
Amona, near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, is home to about 40 Jewish families and was built on land privately owned by Palestinians who had petitioned the court for the outpost to be removed.
The international community considers all Israeli settlements in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and the

I will only take $1 as salary – Trump

Donald Trump said Sunday that he wasn’t even sure what the presidential salary was — but he wasn’t taking it.
During his first television interview as president-elect, Donald Trump, told CBS News’ Leslie Stahl Sunday night that he would forgo taking a salary while he’s president. He added that he did not even know how much the president earned.
“I think I have to by law take $1, so I’ll take $1 a year,” Trump said. “But it’s a ― I don’t even know what it is. Do you know what the salary is?”
“$400,000 you’re giving up,” Stahl answered.
“No, I’m not gonna take the salary. I’m not taking it.”

China threatens to cut iPhone sales if Trump declares a trade war

China’s state-run newspaper says the government would respond with “countermeasures” if President-elect Donald Trump starts a trade war against the country, warning that the sales of iPhones and US cars would suffer a “setback.” In an editorial published on Sunday, the Global Times said it would be “naive” for Trump to follow through on his campaign promises to implement a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports to the US and to declare the country a currency manipulator.
Trump repeatedly targeted China during his presidential campaign, vowing to take a tougher stance on trade in the hopes of reviving manufacturing in the US. In its editorial, the Global Times dismissed the notion that Trump alone could implement a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports, though it warned that any protectionist measure could leave trade “paralyzed.”
“China will take a tit-for-tat approach then,” the editorial reads. “A batch of Boeing orders will be replaced

Nigerians ‘fear’ Trump win – report

Many Nigerians have reportedly said that they would prefer Democrats leader Hillary Clinton over her main rival Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump in becoming the next US president.
According to BBC, many Nigerians were concerned about the New York City born billionaire’s immigration policies.
Furthermore, some of the Nigerians were also fearful of the impact this would have on their own livelihoods as they were also dependent on financial support from their relatives abroad.
In his campaign trail the property mogul indicated that he would look into a possible ban on immigration.
Are you following the US Election? Where in SA will you be watching? Who do you want to win?

Gunmen kill five Niger soldiers as Mali insurgency spreads

Heavily armed gunmen riding motor bikes and other vehicles raided a village and killed five soldiers in Niger near the border with Mali early on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, amid signs of a growing Islamist insurgency in the region.
Dozens of attackers entered Banigabou, about 20 km (12 miles) from the frontier before dawn – gunshots rang out for two hours, said residents.

Weakened South Korean president takes another hit

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Tuesday agreed to dump her nominee for prime minister and cede control of some state affairs in a major climbdown forced by a corruption scandal battering her administration.
The same scandal saw prosecutors carry out a morning swoop on the offices of South Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Electronics, looking for incriminating documents.
In a significant political concession, Park told the speaker of the National Assembly she would accept a prime minister chosen by the opposition-controlled legislature “and let him control the cabinet”.
The premiership is normally a largely symbolic post in South Korea, where power is firmly concentrated on the executive.
It was a double surrender by Park — effectively jettisoning her own choice for prime minister and relinquishing some of her extensive powers to whoever parliament puts forward.
Her climbdown underlined just how weakened she has been by the scandal involving a close personal friend, Choi Soon-Sil, who has been arrested on charges of fraud and abuse of power.
The charges relate to allegations that Choi leveraged her personal relationship with Park to coerce

Hong Kong lawyers to protest against China’s decision

Hundreds of lawyers in Hong Kong are scheduled to hold a silent march after China’s most direct intervention in the Chinese territory’s legal and political system since the 1997 handover.
Tuesday’s protest march comes a day after China’s parliament passed a ruling that effectively bars two elected Hong Kong pro-independence politicians from taking office.
The dispute flared after the young politicians deliberately misread their oaths of office in October, inserting expletives and draping themselves with “Hong Kong is not China” flags.
The National People’s Congress in Beijing ruled on Monday that the two must swear allegiance to Hong Kong as part of China.
It also said that candidates would be disqualified if they changed the wording of their oath of office or if they failed to take it in a sincere and solemn manner.
The situation is seen among many across Hong Kong’s legal and political elites as well as young citizens of Hong Kong as one of the biggest tests the global financial hub has faced since its handover to China, with some fearing its vaunted rule of law is under threat.
Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said he would implement China’s ban on the two

US stocks jump after FBI lifts cloud over Clinton

US stock futures jumped after the FBI reaffirmed Sunday its decision to not prosecute Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over her use of private email while secretary of state.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced a review of newly discovered emails had provided no reason to alter its July decision that Clinton and her aides’ use of the private server for official documents, while “reckless,” did not warrant criminal charges.
The lifting of an FBI threat that Clinton might face charges — less than two days before her face-off with Republican Donald Trump — raised investor sentiment on Wall Street.
Ahead of Monday’s market opening, futures on the broad-market S&P 500 index leaped 1.4 percent to 2,108.25. Futures based on the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 1.1 percent at 17,999.

Trump cries foul as FBI clears Clinton

Donald Trump has accused the FBI of impropriety after it once again exonerated his rival Hillary Clinton of criminal conduct on her emails.
The FBI director said a fresh inquiry into the Democratic candidate’s communications found nothing to change the bureau’s conclusion this summer.
The Clinton campaign said it was “glad” the lingering issue had been resolved.
The dramatic twist lifted a cloud from her campaign as the final day of the marathon US election race loomed.
The latest opinion polls on Sunday, before news broke of the FBI announcement, gave Mrs Clinton a four to five-point lead over Trump.
The Republican nominee cried foul after learning about the law enforcement bureau’s decision.
At a rally in the Detroit suburbs, Trump insisted it would have been impossible for the FBI to review what has been reported to be as many as 650,000 emails in such a short time.
“Right now she’s being protected by a rigged system. It’s a totally rigged system. I’ve been saying it for a long time,” he told supporters in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

Earthquake shakes major US oil city

A sharp earthquake centred near one of the world’s key oil hubs Sunday night triggered fears that the magnitude 5.0 tremor might have damaged key infrastructure in addition to causing what police described as “quite a bit of damage” in the Oklahoma prairie town of Cushing.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission said it and the Oklahoma Geological Survey were investigating after the quake, which struck at 7:44 p.m. and was felt as far away as Iowa, Illinois and Texas.
“The OCC’s Pipeline Safety Department has been in contact with pipeline operators in the Cushing oil storage terminal under state jurisdiction and there have been no immediate reports of any problems,” the commission’s spokesman, Matt Skinner, said in a statement. “The assessment of the infrastructure continues.”
The oil storage terminal is one of the world’s largest.
The Cushing Police Department reported “quite a bit of damage” from the earthquake but details were not immediately available. Photos posted to social media show piles of debris at the base of commercial buildings in the city.

Obama unlikely to see assault on Islamic State’s Syria stronghold

A U.S.-backed assault on Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto capital in Syria, is unlikely to pierce the city itself before President Barack Obama leaves office in January, denying him the chance to claim the end of the group’s “caliphate” as part of his legacy.
Although a U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian armed groups announced the kickoff of the offensive on Sunday, U.S. officials caution the fighters will first try to seal off and isolate the Islamic State stronghold, a process that could take two months or longer.
As a result, the victor of Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election almost certainly will inherit the job of routing the militants from the city from which they have run their shrinking territories in Syria and Iraq, overseen branches from West Africa to South Asia and plotted attacks in Western Europe and elsewhere.
“There is no available force capable of taking Raqqa in the near future,” said one U.S. official. Another said some of the needed Arab forces were still in training. Like seven other officials interviewed for this report, they requested anonymity to discuss the issue.
U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, the top U.S. military officer, played down the idea that

Moroccan king reaches out to African leaders in Senegal

Moroccan King Mohammed VI offered a conditional olive branch to African leaders Sunday in a speech in Senegal declaring his country wanted to “take back its natural position in Africa”.
Morocco is seeking to rejoin the African Union, 32 years after quitting the bloc in protest at its decision to accept Western Sahara as a member.
In a gesture of African solidarity, Mohammed VI delivered an annual speech usually given at home in Dakar to “show the great interest we take in our continent”, while still firmly maintaining the “unshakeable Moroccan identity of the Western Sahara”.
Morocco has occupied the sparsely populated Western Sahara area since 1975 in a move that was not recognised by the international community.
Mohammed VI emphasised his nation would “ask no one’s permission to take our legitimate

Asian markets rally on FBI Clinton announcement

Asian equities staged a rebound and the Mexican peso rallied Monday as traders breathed a sigh of relief after the head of the FBI said market-favourite Hillary Clinton would not face charges over her use of a private email server.
Investors were sent into a funk last week after James Comey said messages linked to the Democratic presidential nominee were being looked at, sending rival Donald Trump surging in opinion polls just days before the November 8 vote.
The former Secretary of State is considered by most investors to be a safer, more stable bet than Trump, who is seen as a loose cannon, with policies many fear could wreck the world’s top economy.
However, on Sunday Comey announced he would not change his July recommendation that Clinton not be prosecuted for putting US secrets at risk.
“Markets are likely to remove some of the risk premium taken as a precaution against a Trump victory now that Hillary Clinton will not be charged over her use of a private email server,” said CMC Markets chief analyst Ric Spooner.
“However, an element of uncertainty remains over this election. It seems unlikely that markets will make a full ‘risk on’ move until Clinton is declared the winner.”
Tokyo’s Nikkei ended the morning session 1.4 percent higher while Hong Kong was up 0.3

Trump and Clinton fight to the finish in bitter US vote

White House rivals Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were still flailing for a knockout blow Monday as a presidential race that has cast a pall over US democracy neared its end.
With one day of campaigning left, both sides had packed schedules in the swing states that will decide whether the Democrat can convert her slim opinion poll lead into final victory.
Trump, a populist tycoon who co-opted the Republican Party and created a raucous, nativist grassroots movement in his own image, was still campaigning at midnight Sunday.
Branding 69-year-old Clinton the “most corrupt candidate ever to seek the office of the presidency,” he urged supporters to “deliver justice at the ballot box on November 8.”
Clinton, the former secretary of state running to become America’s first female president, had events planned through midnight Monday to take her into polling day itself.
The Democrat spent the last eight days of campaigning under a renewed FBI inquiry into whether she had exposed US secrets by using a private email server at the State Department.
That burden was finally lifted on Sunday, when the FBI confirmed it would not seek criminal charges, but at the cost of another cycle of headlines about an issue that has hurt her.
She tried to end Sunday’s round of rallies on a note of optimism about the United States, albeit couched as a warning that her supporters need to rise to counter the Trump threat.
“I really want each and every one of us to think for a moment about how we would feel on November 9, if we were not successful,” she said in Manchester, New Hampshire
“When your kids and grandkids ask you what you did in 2016, when everything was on the line, I hope you’ll be able to say you voted for a better, stronger, fairer America.”
The world has looked on agog during the campaign, as Trump’s once mocked reality television shtick became a plausible vehicle for victory in a divided and suspicious country.
World markets were rocked last month when the renewed FBI probe threated to sink Clinton’s chances, and Asian exchanges opened higher after that threat was lifted.
But Trump came back fighting, and experts said the renewed scandal had already damaged the Democratic former first lady’s chance of succeeding President Barack Obama.
Clinton’s lead dropped from 5.7 to 2.9 percentage points in the week since the scandal returned, according to influential data journalist Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com.
Trump is predicting a ballot upset on a par with Britain’s shock vote this year to quit the European Union, or what on Sunday he called: “Brexit plus, plus, plus.”
Clinton has booked a star-studded roster of supporters — headlined by President Barack Obama and rock star Bruce Springsteen — for her final events on Monday.
But Trump is also touring key swing states and was determined not to let Clinton off the hook over her email, a symbol for his supporters of the corruption of the Washington elite.
– ‘Rigged system’ –
“The rank and file special agents of the FBI won’t let her get away with her terrible crimes,” Trump told a rally in Michigan, a state won comfortably by Obama in 2012.
“Right now she’s being protected by a rigged system. It’s a totally rigged system. I’ve been saying it for a long time,” he declared, as his supporters chanted “Lock her up!”
Late last month, with Clinton seemingly on a glide path to victory, a renewed FBI investigation in Clinton’s email use sent shock waves through both campaigns.
Trump, the 70-year-old property tycoon and Republican flag-bearer, seized on the opening, condemning Clinton’s “criminal scheme” and arguing that she is unfit to be president.
He has previously threatened to reject the result of Tuesday’s vote if he loses, alleging that the race has been “rigged” by the media and the establishment elite.
Opinion polls tightened as Trump began to recover ground he lost after several women accused him of sexual assault, and the race looked headed for a photo finish.
Clinton made no direct reference to her reprieve during her Sunday campaign stops.
Instead, she hammered her opponent over his sometimes ugly rhetoric and, implicitly, the alleged covert Russian interference that have poisoned the race.
“There are powerful forces inside and outside of America that do threaten to pull us apart,” she said.
“We’ve arrived at a moment of reckoning in this election. Our core values as Americans are being tested.”
If Clinton wins, she will seek to build on Obama’s cautious but progressive legacy, including his controversial health insurance reforms.
Trump has vowed to tear up the reform along with free trade agreements, to rebuild a “depleted” US military and review US alliances.
The latest polls give Clinton a narrow national lead of between three and five percentage points, but rolling averages point to a closer race, with Trump up in some swing states.
Silver has Clinton as a two-to-one favorite against Trump, but warned Sunday that her lead appears “less solid” than Obama’s did before his re-election victory in 2012.