Panama’s Supreme Court on December 21 has ordered the provisional detention of former President Ricardo Martinelli, who governed the country from 2009 to 2014.
Ricardo Martinelli, 63, is accused of using public funds to illegally spy on more than 150 prominent people.
The fugitive ex-president faces up to 21 years in prison on charges of running an illegal spy ring.
Among those he allegedly spied on are trade union activists, politicians, lawyers, doctors and business people.
Ricardo Martinelli denied the allegations, saying they were part of a vendetta by current President Juan Carlos Varela.
The Supreme Court ordered the arrest because Ricardo Martinelli failed to appear at a hearing earlier this month.
The former president left Panama in January days before the Supreme Court voted in favor of having him investigated over separate corruption allegations.
Ricardo Martinelli is believed to be living in Miami, Florida.
The court did not give any details about how Ricardo Martinelli’s detention would be sought.
On December 21, Ricardo Martinelli tweeted: “First round of the political trial: without having been properly documented, without charges, without proper notification and without sentence, my provisional arrest has been ordered.”
The Supreme Court launched an investigation into the alleged spying ordered by Ricardo Martinelli in June.
It came after dozens of people alleged they had their phones tapped and that the administration of Ricardo Martinelli prepared dossiers against them containing intimate information.
Among the alleged victims are high-ranking members of the opposition Revolutionary Democratic Party, as well as lawmaker Jose Luis Varela, who is the brother of current President Juan Carlos Varela.
Investigators said the wiretaps were carried out by members of Panama’s National Security Council.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of refugees crossing into Europe by land and sea this year illegally has passed one million.
This represents a fourfold rise on the total last year.
Most of the refugees crossed by sea – with more than 800,000 traveling from Turkey to Greece. Half are refugees from Syria.
Eleven more migrants drowned on December 22, adding to the IOM toll of 3,695 dying or missing at sea.
Seven people were rescued by Turkish coast guards after the craft went down, apparently en route from Kusadasi in Turkey to the Greek island of Samos. One report said the dead were Syrians.
The huge influx of refugees has caused significant political rifts within the EU, with some states inside the border-free Schengen area putting up fences and reimposing frontier controls.
Hungary and Slovakia are taking legal action at the European Court of Justice to challenge EU plans to share asylum seekers across EU states.
Meanwhile, many refugees are pressing to be allowed to settle in richer northern countries like Germany and Sweden.
According to the IOM, migration passed the symbolic milestone on December 21, with the total for land and sea reaching more than 1,006,000.
Entries via six EU nations – Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Malta and Cyprus – are covered in the report.
The IOM report found among other things that:
Half of the refugees crossing the Mediterranean were from Syria, 20% were from Afghanistan and 7% from Iraq;
Most of the refugees who died – 2,889 – were making the sea crossing between North Africa and Italy, while more than 700 died in the Aegean crossing to Greece from Turkey;
Only 3.5% of migrants made a land journey to Greece or Bulgaria via Turkey.
The IOM gathers its statistics from registrations, law enforcement agencies and its own monitors.
IOM Director General William Lacy Swing said it was not enough to just count the figures.
“We must also act,” he said.
“Migration must be legal, safe and secure for all – both for the migrants themselves and the countries that will become their new home.”
A joint IOM and UNHCR statement said found a “more co-ordinated European response” was beginning to take shape.
However, it said more needed to be done to improve reception facilities, accommodation and registration, and to identify those who do and do not qualify for refugee protection.
Save the Children campaigns director Kirsty McNeill said: “This is the test of our European ideal. When children are dying on our doorstep we need to take bolder action. There can be no bigger priority.”
The EU last week agreed to increase the numbers of Frontex border agency staff in Greece, a key arrival point.
Germany alone has received a million refugees and migrants this year, although many were already within Europe, particularly in the Balkans.
Macedonia is now refusing to allow anyone through its Greek border who does not come from a war zone.
A UN report also last week warned that the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide would “far surpass” 60 million this year.
Sweden’s trains to and from Denmark will be canceled starting with January 4, 2016, over ID checks.
The state-owned train operator SJ will stop services because it cannot carry out ID checks demanded by the government to stem the influx of refugees.
Under a new Swedish law, transport companies will be fined if travelers to Sweden do not have valid photo ID.
SJ said it would not have time to check people traveling between Copenhagen and Malmo over the Oresund bridge.
Sweden has already received about 150,000 asylum applications in 2015.
The government has secured a temporary exemption from the EU’s open-border Schengen agreement, in order to impose border controls.
About 18,000 people commute to work daily across the Oresund bridge, Radio Sweden reports.
SJ said all services between Denmark and Sweden would be suspended from January 4 when the new law comes into force.
“Our planning of the introduction of ID border checks in Copenhagen before the departure of SJ trains bound for Sweden has shown that we are currently unable to carry out ID checks in accordance with the requirements of the new law in the amount of time allowed,” the company said on its website.
SJ added it had chosen to “cancel its departures until there is a working solution in place”.
Oresundstag, another train operator which runs a Sweden-Denmark commuter service, said it would remain in operation after January 4, but scale back rush-hour traffic to allow time for the checks, according to reports.
One million migrants have arrived in Europe by land or sea in 2015, the International Organization for Migration says.
Along with Germany, Sweden is one of the main destinations of choice – with some 150,000 applying for asylum in 2015.
In contrast, Denmark expects to receive about 20,000 asylum seekers in 2015.
Last week a Danish government proposal to seize asylum seekers’ valuables to make them pay for their stay drew sharp criticism in international media.
Donald Trump has mocked former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for apparently taking a toilet break during a televised Democratic debate.
The Republican presidential hopeful told supporters at a rally in Michigan: “I know where she went. It’s disgusting.”
Hillary Clinton returned to the stage late after an advert break during December 19 debate with her party rivals for the presidential nomination.
Donald Trump also said Hillary Clinton had been “schlonged” by Barack Obama in 2008.
Using a vulgar Yiddish term, the Republican frontrunner was referring to Hillary Clinton’s defeat to the then senator in the primary contests that year.
Photo CBS News
“Even her race to Obama. She was going to beat Obama. I don’t know who’d be worse. I don’t know. How does it get worse?
“She was favored to win and she got schlonged, she lost.”
It is not the first time Donald Trump has referred to women in a controversial way.
In August, the property tycoon implied that he received tough questions from Fox News debate host Megyn Kelly because she was menstruating.
He has previously described comedian Rosie O’Donnell as a “fat pig”.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have been feuding in recent days over claims she made that ISIS was using Donald Trump’s videos as a recruiting tool.
The billionaire has called for Muslims to be banned from entering the United States, in light of the San Bernardino deadly terror attack carried out by a radicalized Muslim couple.
Donald Trump, who has no political experience, leads the polls nationally among Republican voters, and is also ahead in some key states.
The primary contests begin at the start of February and the presidential election is in November 2016.
There’s certainly no shortage of controversy surrounding Donald Trump. A man who was once nothing more than a hard-nosed industrialist with a reality-TV show has, for better or worse, become a significant voice in domestic U.S. politics. This man who—it is often forgotten—was once a left-leaning Democrat, now espouses some of the most far-right opinions of any contender in the Republican primary race. Even before the formation of the Tea Party, the voice of the American far-right had been growing. Is it any wonder, then, why Trump has garnered so much support?
Even still, his rise to prominence confounds some. After all, there are other 2016 contenders in the Republican field who hold identical views to Trump’s on a number of issues—without all of the brashness. But it’s not just Trump’s quasi-nationalist ideas that keep his campaign going; there is also a considerable cult of personality.
Indeed, Trump’s brash, boisterous, insult-hurling persona may be partly responsible for his success. But some political commentators believe there’s a less subtle reason for Trump’s flash of fame. To them, Trump resonates with a portion of the population that is absolutely terrified by one thing: demographic shift. In other words, strong anti-immigration sentiment in parts of the country are driving Trump to the top of the polls.
“Donald Trump’s success is no surprise,” opines Thomas Edsall, American journalist and academic with the New York Times. “The public and the press have focused on his defiant rejection of mannerly rhetoric, his putting into words of what others think privately,” he continues.
“But the more important truth is that a half-century of Republican policies on race and immigration have made the party the home of an often angry and resentful white constituency — a constituency that is now politically mobilized in the face of demographic upheaval.”
A Washington Post article by Michael Tesler presents survey data which seems to back up Edsall’s editorial.
Just how anti-immigrant is Donald Trump, anyway? In a written statement, Trump clarified his position on immigration—and, as is to be expected, drew a lot of ire in the process.
“The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States,” he wrote. “They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc.” This is the source of the infamous ‘Mexican rapists’ comment that would spark controversy among liberals and conservatives alike.
Trump continues:
“This was evident just this week when, as an example, a young woman in San Francisco was viciously killed by a 5-time deported Mexican with a long criminal record, who was forced back into the United States because they didn’t want him in Mexico. This is merely one of thousands of similar incidents throughout the United States. In other words, the worst elements in Mexico are being pushed into the United States by the Mexican government. The largest suppliers of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs are Mexican cartels that arrange to have Mexican immigrants trying to cross the borders and smuggle in the drugs. The Border Patrol knows this. Likewise, tremendous infectious disease is pouring across the border. The United States has become a dumping ground for Mexico and, in fact, for many other parts of the world. On the other hand, many fabulous people come in from Mexico and our country is better for it. But these people are here legally, and are severely hurt by those coming in illegally. I am proud to say that I know many hard working Mexicans—many of them are working for and with me…and, just like our country, my organization is better for it.”
Despite Trump’s contention that he is only looking to halt illegal immigration, further examination reveals that the rhetoric extends into the fringes of xenophobia. His campaign’s reaction to the U.S. plan to accept Syrian refugees from the United Nations demonstrates this tendency. Indeed, many followers of Trump seem to feel that even those who enter the country legally do so with too much ease—a contention with which the country’s immigration attorneys might disagree, but the sentiment sticks, nonetheless.
In all, Trump’s candidacy seems to be a perfect storm comprised of good timing, an entertaining persona, and never-ending coverage by the media. In any case, there’s little doubt that Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing; and so long as he’s doing it, there will be people at his rallies cheering him on.
SpaceX has successfully landed an unmanned Falcon-9 rocket upright, after sending 11 satellites into orbit.
The Falcon-9 craft touched down on December 21, about 10km from its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
It is not the first spacecraft to land a booster vertically; that feat was claimed by the much smaller New Shepard rocket in Texas last month.
Nonetheless the Falcon-9 flight, which also went twice as high as New Shepard, is a milestone towards reusing rockets.
SpaceX aims to slash the cost of private space operations with such reusable components – but the company has not launched a rocket since one exploded in June.
On that occasion an unmanned Falcon-9 broke apart in flames minutes after lifting off from Cape Canaveral, with debris tumbling out of the sky into the Atlantic Ocean.
The rocket, which had 18 straight successes prior to the fateful flight, was in the process of sending a cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS).
SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to send supplies to the ISS.
On Monday night, local time, the upgraded 23-storey-tall rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the main stage returning about 10 minutes later to a landing site about 6 miles south of the launch pad.
Near the peak of its flight, at an altitude of some 125 miles, it propelled the rocket’s first stage – laden with 11 communications satellites – into space.
The flawless launch on December 21 is a major success for privately-owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, the California-based company set up and run by high-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Elon Musk has said the ability to return its rockets to Earth so they can be reused and re-flown would hugely reduce his company’s operational costs in the growing but highly competitive private space launch industry.
SpaceX employees broke out in celebration as they watched a live stream of the 156ft-tall white booster slowly descend to earth in the form of a glowing orange ball.
“Welcome back, baby!” Elon Musk said in a celebratory tweet.
SpaceX commentators described the launch and return – the first time an orbital rocket successfully achieved a controlled landing on Earth – as “incredibly exciting”.
“This was a first for us at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and I can’t even begin to describe the joy the team feels right now having been a part of this historic first-stage rocket landing,” the top officer at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Brig Gen Wayne Monteith, said in a statement.
SpaceX is aiming to revolutionize the rocket industry, which up until now has lost millions of dollars in discarded machinery and valuable rocket parts after each launch.
Several earlier attempts to land the Falcon 9’s first stage on an ocean platform have failed.
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has defended her claim that ISIS is using videos of Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric to recruit followers.
Donald Trump disputed that the videos exist and demanded an apology, to which Hillary Clinton’s spokesman said “hell no”.
During December 19 debate, Hillary Clinton said the Republican front-runner was becoming the group’s “best recruiter”.
Donald Trump has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, drawing criticism from around the world.
Despite providing no evidence, Donald Trump has also said American Muslims in New Jersey cheered the 9/11 attacks. He has also opposed the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the US.
Rivals in both parties have accused Donald Trump of xenophobia and preying on Americans’ heighten fears about terrorism after attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.
Earlier, a spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton’s campaign said they are not aware of a specific Islamic State video featuring Donald Trump, but that jihadis use his comments about Muslims for recruitment.
“She lies about everything,” Donald Trump said, adding that the Democratic front-runner was “making up tapes and video which don’t exist”.
Hillary Clinton’s spokesman Brian Fallon told CNN: “Hell no. Hillary Clinton will not be apologizing to Donald Trump for correctly pointing out how his hateful rhetoric only helps [Islamic State] recruit more terrorists.”
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama told NPR that Donald Trump is “exploiting” the anger and fear among blue-collar men in the current US economy.
Economic and demographic changes in the country allows for Donald Trump to spread ideas, he said.
Of that fear and anxiety, “some of it [is] justified, but just misdirected,” Barack Obama said.
“I think somebody like Mr. Trump is taking advantage of that. That’s what he’s exploiting during the course of his campaign.”
NBC asked Donald Trump if he was holding Hillary Clinton to a double standard because he could not back up his own claim that people in New Jersey were cheering when the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11.
Donald Trump said he had been “totally exonerated” from that and that he had been proven right.
Khloe Kardashian has revealed how she easily lost weight as the reality star featured the cover of New Beauty magazine’s Winter-Spring 2016 issue (on sale January 5).
According to E! News, Khloe Kardashian has openly expressed her love for the gym and explained that her decision to cut dairy from her diet proved to be very beneficial for her.
Photo Instagram
“I’m obsessed with cheese and milk, but eliminating them from my diet made the biggest difference,” the reality star told the publication.
“In a month and a half, I lost 11 pounds just from not eating dairy, without doing anything else different, and that totally blew my mind.”
Khloe Kardashian has also revealed that she is actually a natural blonde.
“The funny thing is that everyone thinks I’m naturally dark because all of my siblings are, but I’m naturally dirty blond. Tracey Cunningham does my color, and little by little my ombré turned into more of a rooted blond, and then it got lighter and lighter. I love how I stand out more as a blond -it makes me feel bright and healthy,” she said.
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have been suspended for eight years from all soccer-related activities following an ethics investigation.
The FIFA and UEFA heads were found guilty of breaches surrounding a 2 million euro “disloyal payment” made to Michel Platini in 2011.
The FIFA ethics committee found Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini had demonstrated an “abusive execution” of their positions.
“I will fight for me and for FIFA,” Sepp Blatter, 79, said at a news conference.
Michel Platini said the decision was a “masquerade” intended to “dirty” his name.
Both men continue to deny wrongdoing and intend to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Photo Getty Images
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, 60, have also been fined $50,000 and $80,000 respectively.
Despite the ban, both Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini will be allowed to attend matches – including Euro 2016 in France – if they buy tickets in a private capacity.
FIFA boss since 1998, Sepp Blatter had already announced he was quitting with a presidential election in February.
Michel Platini was tipped as a future leader of football’s world governing body and is a three-time European Footballer of the Year.
He is also a former captain of France and has been in charge of UEFA – European soccer’s governing body – since 2007.
Unshaven and sporting a plaster over his right cheek, Sepp Blatter was in defiant mood at a news conference he had called in advance of the punishments being made public.
“I will fight,” he said.
“I will fight for me and for FIFA.”
Sepp Blatter said he was “really sorry” that he is still “a punching ball” and that he has become tainted in the eyes of humanity.
He added that he thought he had convinced the FIFA ethics tribunal that the payment from FIFA to Michel Platini was legitimate.
He plans to appeal, first to FIFA, then CAS. He may also take legal action under Swiss law if needed.
“The decision is no surprise to me,” he said in a statement.
“The procedure initiated against me by FIFA’s ethics committee is a pure masquerade.
“It has been rigged to tarnish my name by bodies I know well and who for me are bereft of all credibility or legitimacy.”
In the meantime, UEFA has issued a statement, revealing it is “extremely disappointed” with the decision.
It added: “Once again, UEFA supports Michel Platini’s right to a due process and the opportunity to clear his name.”
Republican presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham has announced he is dropping out of the race for GOP’s nomination.
The South Carolina senator said in a video posted on YouTube: “Today, I’m suspending my campaign for president.”
Lindsey graham, 60, said it had been “a campaign we can be proud of” that was focused on US security.
He has performed well in the second-tier televised debates but failed to make an impact in the polls.
Photo Wikipedia
When Lindsey Graham launched his campaign earlier in the year, the foreign policy hawk emphasized his national security credentials, and he did so again when quitting the race on Monday.
He said the centerpiece of his campaign had been “securing our nation” and he had tried to “turn back the tide of isolationism that has been rising in the Republican Party”.
In this he said he had made enormous progress because some fellow Republicans had come round to his thinking that more US troops were needed on the ground in Syria and Iraq to fight ISIS.
Lindsey Graham’s departure leaves 12 main Republicans left in the contest, six weeks before the battle for each party’s nomination begins in Iowa.
Spain faces political uncertainty after new movements Podemos and Ciudadanos won nearly a third of the seats in the country’s election.
Anti-austerity Podemos and liberal Ciudadanos made big gains as the conservative Popular Party (PP) lost its majority.
“Spain is not going to be the same anymore and we are very happy,” said Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias.
The PP and the Socialists had alternated running the government for more than three decades.
The parties must now embark on negotiations to form a coalition.
The PP had 28.72% of the vote, the Socialists 22.01%, Podemos 20.66% and Ciudadanos 13.93%.
Photo Reuters
PP leader Mariano Rajoy said he would try form a government, insisting: “This party is still the number one force in Spain.”
However, Mariano Rajoy admitted that his party had taken some “difficult and even unpopular decisions” over the past four years as Spain struggled through an economic crisis.
Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez said his party was ready to start negotiations.
“Spain wants a move to the left,” he said.
Many Spaniards are poorer now than they were at the time of the last election, fuelling the rise of Podemos.
Spain’s unemployment remains high at 21%, the second-highest rate in the EU after Greece, although it has fallen from its 2013 peak of 27%.
The economy, corruption allegations and a separatist drive in the prosperous north-eastern region of Catalonia were all dominant issues in the election.
Podemos claimed it won more votes than any other party in Catalonia and the Basque region and came second in Madrid.
“Many people have lost their confidence in traditional parties,” said deputy leader Inigo Errejon.
“The two-party system has ended.”
Podemos’s rise was also hailed by Greek PM Alexis Tspiras, whose Syriza party is its ally.
“Austerity has been politically defeated in Spain,” said Alexis Tsipras, adding that the result was a sign that “Europe is changing”.
Albert Rivera, leader of the fourth-placed party Ciudadanos, meanwhile said the election marked a new era for young Spaniards like him, who were born after the country’s dictatorship ended in 1975.
“Those of us who didn’t experience the first democratic transition are experiencing a second one,” he said.
Election turnout was 73.2% – up slightly compared to the 2011 election.
In line with Spain’s constitution, after talking to each party, King Felipe VI will nominate a candidate for prime minister. This cannot take place until after the new Congress holds its inaugural meeting on January 13.
The nominee must then win a vote of confidence in parliament. If this fails, another candidate can be nominated and seek parliamentary approval.
If no administration can be formed within two months of the election, another must be held.
Chinese rescue teams are looking for survivors after a landslide hit 33 buildings in the southern city of Shenzhen.
Seven people were pulled from the rubble with minor injuries but 91 are still missing. About 900 were evacuated as the landslide struck on December 20.
Local authorities said a huge man-made mound of earth and construction debris lost stability and collapsed.
Shenzhen is one of China’s biggest and is a major industrial center.
The city is situated in the southern province of Guangdong, across the mainland border from Hong Kong.
The landslide has blanketed a vast area of 380,000 sq m covering it with up to 10m of mud at an industrial park, Shenzhen’s emergency management office said on its official microblog.
State news agency Xinhua said that the landslide caused an explosion at a natural gas pipeline. Workers have cleaned up about 400m of damaged pipeline and are now repairing it.
China’s land and resources ministry said in a statement on its website that initial investigations showed the landslide happened when a huge mound of soil, cement chunks and other construction waste became unstable.
“Because the mound was very large, and the angle of its slope was overly steep, this led to it losing stability and collapsing,” it said.
According to People’s Daily, the mound had accumulated at a stone quarry that had been converted into a dumping area with its entrance and exit facing an industrial district.
Residents evacuated from the surrounding area described hearing loud roars when the landslide happened.
Amateur footage of the incident broadcast on state television showed waves of red soil quickly engulfing and crushing buildings.
A video taken by an eyewitness and posted online by Beijing Daily newspaper shows plumes of soil shooting up in the air as the mound of earth collapses.
Jimmy Carter has revealed his grandson, Jeremy Carter, has died at the age of 28.
The former president made the announcement to a church class on December 20 – just two weeks after he charmed the same group by revealing his grandson had beaten cancer.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jimmy Carter arrived about 25 minutes late to his weekly class at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, and told the congregation his grandson had died just hours earlier.
Jimmy Carter said Jeremy was not feeling well on December 19 and took a nap in the family’s Peachtree City home. Hours later, his mother found him and realized his heart had stopped, the former president said. He died in a hospital on December 20, and the cause of death has not been announced.
Churchgoers told the newspaper Jimmy Carter broke the heartbreaking news, then continued with his class and even stayed to take pictures with those in attendance.
Jimmy Carter, 91, teaches a class at the church every Sunday. Earlier this month, he used his lesson to break the news that months of treatment had eradicated his recent cancer diagnosis.
Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach is this year’s winner of the Miss Universe pageant contest, but for one brief moment on December 20, it appeared as if it might be a repeat win for Colombia.
Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo was already wearing the crown as this year’s Miss Universe winner when host Steve Harvey returned to apologize.
Steve Harvey said it was his mistake and that he would take responsibility for not correctly reading the card, which said that Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach was this year’s winner and Colombia was actually the first runner-up.
The host held up the card for Fox network cameras to see up close afterward. Talking with reporters afterward, Steve Harvey and an executive for pageant owner WME-IMG called it human error.
A mystified Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach appeared stunned as she walked to the front of the stage alongside the crown-wearing Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo before last year’s Miss Universe from Colombia removed the crown and placed it on Wurtzbach’s head.
Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach later said she felt conflicting emotions as the mistake happened: joy when she was told she had indeed won, concern for Colombia contestant Ariadna Gutierrez Aravelo and confusion at the whole situation.
Photo Fox
Miss Philippines said she tried to approach Ariadna Gutierrez Aravelo onstage afterward but the Colombian was crying and surrounded by a crowd of women. She said she realized it was, “probably bad timing.”
“I did not take the crown from her,” Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach told reporters after the pageant concluded, saying she wished the contestant from Colombia well and hoped the Latin American community understands that “none of this was my fault.”
“None of this was done on purpose. It was an honest mistake,” she said, apologizing on behalf of the organization she now represents. She said Steve Harvey told her afterward that she “should just enjoy the moment.”
Steve Harvey also apologized on Twitter, but at first misspelled the home countries of both contestants before also fixing that.
“I’d like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake,” he wrote.
“I feel terrible.”
Steve Harvey, who was hosting the contest for the first time, said he re-read the card and noticed it said “first runner-up” next to the Colombia contestant’s name before he asked producers if he had made a mistake.
An executive with pageant owner WME-IMG, Mark Shapiro, said Steve Harvey caught the mistake and corrected it on his own, saying he wanted to make a wrong into a right.
As all this was unfolding, a car drove up onto a sidewalk and struck dozens of people just outside the Planet Hollywood hotel-casino where the pageant was taking place. The Las Vegas Strip was soon jammed with ambulances and fire trucks, and authorities said 37 people were taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries and one person was killed.
The competition started with women representing 80 countries between the ages of 19 and 27. For the first time, viewers at home weighed in, with their votes being tallied in addition to four in-person celebrity judges.
Shortly after Sunday night’s confusion, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos tweeted a message on his official account to Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo.
“For us, you will continue being miss universe! We are very proud!”
Philippines presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda didn’t address the controversial win but said, “in bagging this victory, Ms. Wurtzbach not only serves as a tremendous source of pride for our people, but also holds up the banner of our women and of our country-as a true representative of what the Filipina can achieve.”
It is the third time a contestant from the Philippines has won the title. It could have been the second win in a row for Colombia.
Miss USA Olivia Jordan was named second runner-up.
The new Star Wars movie is on course to smash the record for the biggest box office debut weekend in North America, Disney has said.
Ticket sales are estimated to have made $238 million – the previous record was held by Jurassic World, which took $208.8 million in June.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has taken an estimated $517 million globally in three days.
That is just behind Jurassic World, which broke the record with $525 million.
Jurassic World had the advantage of opening in China on the same weekend it opened everywhere else, whereas The Force Awakens will not debut in the world’s second biggest cinema-going territory until January 9.
The Force Awakens also set a new opening night record in the US and Canada.
It made $57 million on Thursday night – beating the previous record of $43.5 million held by Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in 2011.
Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said in a statement: “Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers that one-of-a-kind Star Wars experience, and director JJ Abrams, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, and the Lucasfilm team have outdone themselves.”
The new Star Wars movie also set a new opening day box office record in the UK and Ireland.
Analysts say the space saga could become the biggest selling movie of all time.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens returns to “a galaxy far, far away” some 30 years on from the action of 1983’s Return of the Jedi.
Nicki Minaj has gone ahead with a concert in Angola despite the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) asking her to cancel it.
The 33-year-old rapper who arrived Angola in a private jet, was reportedly paid $2 million to headline the concert.
The HRF said in a letter that the money to pay her came from “government corruption and human rights violations”.
Nicki Minaj entertained thousands in Luanda on December 19.
The Christmas event was hosted by mobile phone company Unitel, which is part-owned by the family of Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Since the end of the conflict in 2002, Africa’s second-largest oil producer has witnessed an economic boom, but critics of the elected government say the wealth has only benefited a small elite.
Photo Instagram
HRF’s Thor Halvorssen wrote in the letter to Nicki Minaj last week that her participation in a performance sponsored by a government “involved in gross human rights violations would be improper”.
Thor Halvorssen points out that Unitel is controlled by Isabel dos Santos, daughter of the president and said to be Africa’s richest woman.
Transparency International recently named the billionaire as one of 15 symbols of grand corruption worldwide.
Two days after the accusation, Isabel dos Santos’s company Fidequity issued a statement insisting it is an independent company and does not use public funds.
Before going on stage on December 19, Nicki Minaj posted a photo of herself with Angola’s flag on Instagram along with one of her posing with Isabel dos Santos with the words: “She’s just the 8th richest woman in the world. (At least that’s what I was told by someone b4 we took this photo) Lol. Yikes!!!!! GIRL POWER!!!!! This motivates me soooooooooo much!!!!”
Nicki Minaj also shared the stage with several local acts.
The American rapper’s performance came a day after a judge ordered the release of 15 Angolan activists, including prominent rapper Luaty Beirao, who were arrested six months ago during a book reading where one of the books on the agenda was about non-violent resistance to repressive regimes.
The group will return to court next month for their trial’s conclusion on charges of “rebellion” and attempting to carry out a “coup”.
Nicki Minaj is not the only performer to be criticized by rights groups for their choice of gigs.
In 2011, Nelly Furtado said that she would give away $1 million she was paid to perform for the family of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
In 2013, Jennifer Lopez was criticized for singing Happy Birthday to the leader of Turkmenistan, who was accused of human rights violations.
Liam Gallagher has told a court he would like to re-enter the music business and to reform Oasis, but there is currently no chance of it happening.
The Oasis frontman has given evidence in a legal dispute with ex-wife Nicole Appleton over how their assets should be split.
In his ruling, Judge Martin O’Dwyer revealed that Liam Gallagher “would like to re-enter the music business”, but says there is “no prospect” of that.
Much of the hearing was private, but it was revealed that the pair had spent £800,000 ($1.2 million) on legal fees.
Judge Martin O’Dwyer said he was concerned at how much the pair, who separated in 2013 after five years of marriage, had spent on their battle at the Central Family Court in London.
Photo Getty Images
“The level of costs in this case, totaling over £800,000, are manifestly excessive for the determination of the dispute, which involves capital sums not much greater at the end of the day than £10 million.”
After hearing evidence from the pair several months ago, Judge Martin O’Dwyer decided their money and property should be divided equally, with each receiving £5.4 million.
The judge had originally banned all reporting of the case, but has now allowed much of his ruling to be released.
Referring to Oasis, the judge wrote: “It was formed in 1991 and discontinued in 2009, it is said after an argument between [Liam Gallagher] and his brother.
“[Liam Gallagher] says there are no plans to reform and, although he would like to do so, he does not anticipate there is a possibility currently of any such reform.
“Subsequent to Oasis, [Liam Gallagher] formed another group called Beady Eye but they disbanded in 2014.”
The judge added: “Although he expressly would like to re-enter the music business, currently he says there is no prospect of that.”
After Oasis split, Liam Gallagher’s brother and former bandmate Noel formed his band High Flying Birds, who are going on tour in 2016.
According to a new research, at least 15 rebel forces in Syria are ready to succeed ISIS if it is defeated by the US-led coalition.
The Centre on Religion & Geopolitics, linked to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, also says that 60% of the rebels could be classified as Islamists.
It argues that attempts by world powers to distinguish between moderate and extremist factions are flawed.
Western countries have stepped up air strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
But the Centre on Religion and Geopolitics said the greatest danger to the international community was groups who share the ISIS ideology but are currently being ignored.
They number about 100,000 fighters, the centre said.
“The West risks making a strategic failure by focusing only on ISIS,” the centre said.
“Defeating it militarily will not end global jihadism. We cannot bomb an ideology, but our war is ideological.”
If ISIS is defeated, dispersed fighters and other extremists could attack targets outside Syria under a rallying cry that “the West destroyed the Caliphate”, the centre warned.
Such new groups could compete for the spotlight to ensure allegiance from the global fighters and financing that ISIS currently attracts.
By contrast, fewer than a quarter of the rebels surveyed were not ideological, the centre said.
But many of those were willing to fight alongside extremists and would probably accept an Islamist political settlement to the civil war, it claimed.
In response, the military campaign against ISIS must be accompanied by an “intellectual and theological defeat of the pernicious ideology that drives it”, the centre said.
It also said that unless President Bashar al-Assad leaves or is removed from office, the war in Syria is likely to spread further.
Spanish voters are to go to the polls in a landmark election that will see more than two parties compete for power for the first time in decades.
Newcomers Podemos, an anti-austerity party, and Citizens, a liberal party, are challenging the ruling Popular Party (PP) and the Socialists.
Opinion polls have put PM Mariano Rajoy’s PP narrowly ahead.
While he has been in power, Spain has emerged from a financial crisis into a period of economic growth.
The conservative PP currently has a majority in Spain’s lower house of parliament.
Podemos and Citizens are fielding national candidates for the first time.
Both Podemos and Citizens look set to take a take a large chunk of the vote, ending the power monopoly of Spain’s traditional heavyweights.
It is almost certain that no party will get a majority of lawmakers in the parliament meaning some form of coalition will have to be agreed before a government can be formed.
Spanish politics have been dominated by the economy, corruption allegations and a separatist drive in the prosperous northeastern region of Catalonia.
Mariano Rajoy’s administration adopted unpopular austerity measures and job reforms that have been credited with returning the Spanish economy to growth.
Candidates:
Pablo Iglesias, 37, university lecturer, leader of new anti-capitalist party Podemos. Sound-bite: “The problem isn’t Greece, the problem is Europe. Germany and the IMF are destroying the political project of Europe.”
Pedro Sanchez, 43, academic, leader of established Socialist party (PSOE). Sound-bite: “The head of the government, Mariano Rajoy, has to be a decent person, and you are not.”
Albert Rivera, 36, lawyer and former competitive swimmer, leader of new Citizens (Ciudadanos) party. Sound-bite: “They [Podemos] blame the system – we blame the people who have corrupted the system.”
Mariano Rajoy, 60, current prime minister and leader of established, conservative Popular Party. Sound-bite: “Who today is talking about bailout Spain? No-one.”
However, unemployment remains high at 21%, the second-highest rate in the EU after Greece, although it has fallen from its 2013 peak of 27%.
The PP has also been damaged by corruption scandals.
The central government in Madrid has also had to contend with an attempt by Catalonia to breal away from the rest of Spain.
Pro-independence parties in Catalonia won an absolute majority in regional elections in September and a month later passed a motion to begin the process of declaring independence.
Spain’s Constitutional Court has revoked that motion, but Catalonia’s leaders said they would ignore it.
Mariano Rajoy has vowed to quash the threat to Spanish unity, but other parties favor negotiations to devolve more power to the region, which accounts for about a fifth of Spain’s economic output.
Ahead of the vote, the party leaders made a point of relaxing as they observed a “day of reflection”.
Mariano Rajoy said he wanted some fresh air and went for a jog around the official prime minister’s residence.
However his campaign was marred last week after a teenager punched him in the face during a visit to the town of Pontevedra in the northwest.
Mariano Rajoy has also raised questions about his future by including his deputy, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, on campaign posters and fielding her in his place during a leaders TV debate.
Meanwhile Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, a 43-year-old former basketball player, watched his daughters play basketball match and Pablo Iglesias booked a ticket for the new Star Wars movie.
Polling stations open at 9AM and close at 8PM. Exit polls are expected minutes afterwards and complete results are due two days later.
Democrat presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has apologized to fellow candidate Hillary Clinton after his staff stole valuable voting data from her campaign.
“This is not the type of campaign that we run,” Bernie Sanders said during Abc New debate on December 19.
The candidates criticized Republican frontrunner Donald Trump for his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
They clashed over Syria, with Bernie Sanders accusing Hillary Clinton of being set on regime change while she said US leadership was needed.
Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley also took part in the debate in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton remains the frontrunner.
Photo AP
On Syria, Hillary Clinton insisted that the US should seek to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power.
“If the US does not lead, there is not another leader – there is a vacuum,” she said.
Bernie Saunders however argued that the US should first concentrate on defeating ISIS.
“Getting rid of dictators is easy, but you have to think about what happens the day after,” he said.
Both the main speakers had strong words for Donald Trump, with Hillary Clinton calling him “the biggest recruiter for ISIS” and saying he used “bigotry and bluster to inflame people”.
The debate was the first for Democrats since 14 people were killed by a married couple that the authorities say had been radicalized.
All three candidates said it was important to work more closely with Muslim-American communities to tackle radicalism at home.
Bernie Sanders admitted that on two occasions his campaign could see proprietary data from Hillary Clinton’s campaign following computer breaches – which he said were the fault of the software vendor.
He said that the most recent breech involved inappropriate behavior by one of his staff members, adding that person had now been dismissed.
Bernie Sanders said that the Democratic Party’s decision to temporarily suspend his campaign’s access to the strategically crucial database was “an egregious act”.
The Sanders campaign on December 18 filed a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee in a federal court to restore its access to the voter data.
Strategically important information on voters is contained in the database, which campaigns use to decide strategy.
That data takes on a crucial role as campaigns prepare for early primary voting in just over a month’s time.
Mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale’s assets in Brazil have been blocked by a federal judge over the deadly collapse of a dam.
The joint-venture company they own, Samarco, does not have enough resources to cover the potential damages, estimated at 20.2 billion reais ($5.2 billion), the judge ruled.
Samarco owned the dam, which held back waste water from iron ore mining.
The dam burst last month, flooding a vast area and killing at least 13 people.
Anglo-Australian company BHP Billiton and Brazil-based Vale said they had not been officially notified.
Judge Marcelo Aguiar Machado’s ruling was published on December 18.
The two companies will also have to implement “immediate damage-mitigating environmental measures” or they will be liable to a daily fine of 150 million reais ($38 million), ruled Judge Marcelo Aguiar Machado.
Photo AP
On November 28, the Brazilian government filed a lawsuit against Samarco for the environmental damage caused by the accident.
Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said the accident in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais had “a huge impact from an environmental point of view”.
The village of Bento Rodrigues was totally destroyed and the toxic mud generated by the November 5 dam collapse polluted drinking water over a vast area.
The money will be used to compensate the victims and help repair the environment.
“It is not a natural disaster, it is a disaster prompted by economic activity, but of a magnitude equivalent to those disasters created by forces of nature,” said Izabella Teixeira when the lawsuit was filed.
About 310 miles of the Rio Doce – one of Brazil’s most important rivers – will have to be dredged in parts, vegetation replanted and fresh-water springs cleared, the minister said.
Less than a week after the accident, Samarco had its mining license suspended.
Samarco also agreed to pay 1 billion reais ($260 million) temporary compensation to the victims.
Scott Weiland died from a toxic mix of drugs including cocaine, alcohol and ecstasy, The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office has said.
The medical examiner also noted a history of heart disease, asthma and substance abuse.
Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland, who was 48, was found dead on his tour bus outside a hotel in Bloomington, Minneapolis, on December 3.
The medical examiner determined Scott Weiland’s death was an accident.
Bloomington police said at the time they recovered a small amount of cocaine on the tour bus.
Photo Getty Images
Scott Weiland rose to fame with the Stone Temple Pilots, becoming one of the most commercially successful US bands in the early 1990s.
After the band split up in 2003, Scott Weiland went on to front supergroup Velvet Revolver alongside Slash, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses and Dave Kushner of Wasted Youth.
Scott Weiland had a long history of substance abuse-related arrests – in 1995, he was convicted of buying crack cocaine and sentenced to probation.
The singer was jailed in 1999 for violating his probation after being convicted of heroin possession in 1998, and four years later was sentenced to three years’ probation for drug possession.
In 2008, Scott Weiland was sentenced to eight days in jail after pleading no contest to a DUI charge.
Velvet Revolver frequently had to alter schedules to accommodate Scott Weiland’s court appearances and spells in rehab, parting ways the following year, blaming the singer’s “erratic behavior”.
Scott Weiland later returned to the reformed Stone Temple Pilots – but in 2013 they, too, ejected him from the band, claiming he had been “misappropriating” their name to further his solo career.
