THE NEWS: Britain's May shakes it up with 'Dancing Queen' boogie

Britain's May shakes it up with 'Dancing Queen' boogie



 AFP / Paul ELLIS Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was applauded as she danced to Abba's "Dancing Queen", which she has previously revealed as being one of her favourite songs

Gyrating awkwardly to the sounds of ABBA's disco hit "Dancing Queen", British Prime Minister Theresa May made an unusual stage entrance for a keynote speech on Wednesday.

May, who captured headlines for her robotic dancing during a visit to Kenya in August, was under pressure to put on a good show at her Conservative Party's annual conference.

Her rival Boris Johnson wowed grassroots members with a barnstorming speech on Tuesday and, at last year's conference, May lost her voice and spluttered her way through her address.

But she was applauded by the hall Wednesday as she danced to the 1976 Europop hit, which she has previously told interviewers is one of her favourite songs.

Online reactions were less complimentary of May's moves.

Labour MP Angela Rayner wrote: "I use to love the Dancing Queen by Abba #Cringe" accompanied with a sad emoji.

Twitter user @JoeBlob 123 wrote: "I need the sick bucket".

Another @tasmincrompton wrote: "We are laughing at you, not with you".

Others came up with lyrics for May's version of the iconic song.

"Oooh/ EU can dance/ Pound can dive/ Taking a chance with your lives," wrote James Felton, a comedy writer.

Some also pointed out the irony of a prime minister aiming to deliver Brexit dancing to the sounds of a Swedish group.

But unsurprisingly, Sweden's ambassador to Britain, Torbjorn Sohlstrom, lauded May's moves.

"I can only say Bravo to @theresa_may for starting her conference speech with ABBA's Dancing Queen," he said in a tweet.

'Darwin in a test tube': Trio wins Nobel for harnessing evolution

'Darwin in a test tube': Trio wins Nobel for harnessing evolution
source: AFP

TT News Agency/AFP / Jonas EKSTROMER US scientists Frances Arnold and George Smith and British researcher Gregory Winter have won the 2018 Nobel Chemistry Prize

US scientists Frances Arnold and George Smith and British researcher Gregory Winter won the Nobel Chemistry Prize on Wednesday for applying the principles of evolution to develop proteins used in everything from new biofuels to to the world's best-selling drug.

Arnold, just the fifth woman to clinch chemistry's most prestigious honour since Marie Curie was honoured in 1911, won one half of the nine million Swedish kronor (about $1.01 million or 870,000 euros) award, while Smith and Winter shared the other half.

"The 2018 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have taken control of evolution and used it for purposes that bring the greatest benefit to humankind," the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences said.

Life on Earth exists because over the past 3.7 billion years organisms have adapted to their environment, with evolution solving complex chemical problems: fish can for example swim in polar oceans because they have antifreeze proteins in their blood.


 Lehtikuva/AFP/File / Heikki Saukkomaa US scientist Frances Arnold said she was "bouncing off the walls" at the news, but annoyed she couldn't tell her sons: "They never answer the phone when Mom calls"


The trio used the principles of evolution -- genetic change and selection -- to develop proteins now used in a range of fields, in what is known as directed evolution.

"They have applied the principles of Darwin in test tubes. They have used the molecular understanding we have of the evolutionary process and recreated the process in their labs," the head of the Academy's Nobel Chemistry committee, Claes Gustafsson, told reporters.

"They have been able to make evolution many 1000s of times faster and redirect it to create new proteins."

- 'Bouncing off the walls' -

Arnold, 62, who has survived breast cancer and is a single mother to three sons, is a professor of chemical engineering at the California Institute of Technology.


AFP / Simon MALFATTO The women Nobel laureates since the beginning of the prize

"I'm bouncing off the walls but I'm trying to pretend to sound calm and collected," she told the Nobel Foundation in an interview, adding she was "annoyed" she couldn't reach her sons to give them the news.

"They never answer the phone when Mom calls."

Her method of rewriting DNA to mimic evolution has helped solve problems such as replacing toxic chemicals like fossil fuels.

As a result, renewable resources like sugar cane are being converted into biofuels. More environmentally friendly chemical substances are being developed, improving everyday products such as laundry and dishwashing detergents to enhance their performance in cold temperatures.


AFP / Kun TIAN The recent winners of the Nobel Chemistry Prize


"What I do is copy nature's design process. All this tremendous beauty and complexity of the biological world all comes about through this one simple beautiful design algorithm," she told the Foundation.

"What I do is use that algorithm to build new biological things," she said.

"Nature is solving all sorts of problems that we throw at her such as how to degrade plastic bottles, how to degrade pesticides and herbicides and antibiotics... she creates new enzymes in response to that all the time, in real time."

- 'Great surprise' -


University of Cambridge/AFP / AGA MACHAJ British scientist Gregory Winter developed an "elegant method" known as phage display, where a bacteriophage -- a virus that infects bacteria -- can be used to evolve new proteins

Meanwhile, Smith, of the University of Missouri, and Winter, a 67-year-old genetic engineer at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge, developed an "elegant method" known as phage display, where a bacteriophage -- a virus that infects bacteria -- can be used to evolve new proteins, the jury said.

Pharmaceuticals for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel diseases have resulted from their research, as well as antibodies that can neutralise toxins, counteract autoimmune diseases and in some cases cure metastatic cancer.

The world's most sold prescription drug -- adalimumab, which treats rheumatoid arthritis and is sold by its trade name Humira -- is a result of their efforts.

Alan Boyd, president of Britain's Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, hailed the award.


 University of Missouri/AFP / HO US scientist George Smith said he thought it was a joke when he received the call informing him he had won a Nobel


"The use of antibodies has resulted in a paradigm shift in the way that we now treat so many diseases which has brought significant benefits to patients across the world and will continue to do so for years to come," he said.

Smith told the Foundation that the Nobel was a "great surprise".

"I thought it was one of the numerous jokes like 'call coming in from Stockholm!' which is kind of like a meme."

But there was "so much static on the line (I knew) that it had to be real."

Alfred Nobel, who created the prizes in his will, was himself a chemist, and devised his famed awards in part to atone for inventing dynamite.

The 2018 Nobel season continues on Friday with the announcement of the peace prize, and wraps up on Monday with the economics prize.

For the first time since 1949, the Swedish Academy has postponed the announcement of the 2018 Nobel Literature Prize until next year, amid a #MeToo scandal and bitter internal dispute that has prevented it from functioning properly.

May appeals for party unity at 'toughest phase' of Brexit

May appeals for party unity at 'toughest phase' of Brexit
source: AFP

 AFP / Ben STANSALL Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May appealed to her divided Conservative party to unite

Prime Minister Theresa May appealed Wednesday to her divided party to unite behind her as she heads into the "toughest phase" of Brexit negotiations, as EU leaders pressure Britain to change tack.

She offered delegates at her Conservative party conference a positive vision of life after Brexit, which she announced would also see the end of eight years of austerity measures.

Brexit was a "moment of opportunity", she told a packed hall in Birmingham, central England, adding: "There is a whole world out there. Let's lift our horizons to meet it."

But the party remains deeply split over Brexit, with eurosceptic MPs led by former foreign minister Boris Johnson running a programme of conference fringe events at which they savaged May's plan.

EU leaders have also rejected her proposal for Britain to remain closely economically aligned with the bloc, and gave her until a summit on October 18 to rework it.

European officials are now increasingly anxious about the risk of Britain leaving with no deal in March.

France unveiled a draft law for such a scenario, with the budget minister admitting Paris was preparing "for the worst".

May acknowledged the coming months were crucial, and warned failing to reach a deal "would be a bad outcome" for both sides.

"We are entering the toughest phase of the negotiations. If we stick together and hold our nerve, I know we can get a deal that delivers for Britain," she said.

- Dancing Queen -


AFP / Oli SCARFF Theresa May embraced her husband Philip after her keynote address


May's immediate concern Wednesday was to regain the confidence of her party, the day after Johnson gave his own rousing address to 1,500 delegates condemning her approach.

She began with a little dance after walking on stage to the sounds of ABBA's "Dancing Queen", one of her favourite tunes -- a nod to her widely-mocked moves displayed on a recent visit to Africa.

May then set out a wide-ranging vision for the future, attacking leftist Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, promising new homebuilding measures and vowing to make the economy work for those "left behind".

Ten years after the global financial crisis, she announced that "the austerity it led to is over", with new investment in public services due to be unveiled next year.

Delegates in the hall gave her a standing ovation, and many praised her feel-good message.

"It struck the right tone. This is not the time for the party or the country to be divided," said Faye Purbrick, 41, from Somerset, western England.

But many Tories agree with Johnson and other Brexiteers, who argue May's so-called Chequers plan betrays the hopes of a clean break expressed by many who voted in 2016 to leave the EU.

European officials meanwhile argue that May is asking for too much, "cherry-picking" the benefits of the EU's single market while still leaving the bloc.

She says her plan is the only way to protect jobs and trade while also avoiding physical checks on the land border between British Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

However, she did not actually use the word Chequers in the hour-long address, prompting speculation the name itself has been quietly dropped as too toxic.

- May's resilience -

A major sticking point in the talks is the determination by all sides to keep the Irish border open.

Britain wants to achieve this through a new trade deal, but this could take years, and it has agreed to draw up a "backstop" arrangement that would be in effect until then.


AFP / Paul ELLIS Theresa May has suurprised some observers by holding on as prime minister this long

Speculation is growing that London may accept some checks on goods passing between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain, in place of those on the land border.

But Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which props ups May's government, this week signalled its strong opposition.

MPs in the House of Commons must approve any final Brexit deal, and a rejection could cause chaos.

Despite the pressure on all sides, May has supporters in the party and Brussels who believe any alternative to her plan would make matters far worse.

She has surprised observers by surviving two years of plots against her, and few delegates in Birmingham want a change in leadership now.

"We underestimated Mrs May's resilience," a senior European official told AFP.

THE NEWS: Ronaldo denies sexual assault accusation, calls rape 'abominable crime'

Ronaldo denies sexual assault accusation, calls rape 'abominable crime'
source: AFP

AFP/File / Marco BERTORELLO Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has issued a new denial of accusations by a former model that he raped her in Las Vegas in 2009

Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday denied accusations by a former American model that he raped her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009 and said his conscience is clear.

"I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me," the Portuguese superstar tweeted in Portuguese and English.

"Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in," said the 33-year-old Juventus forward.

"Keen as I may be to clear my name I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense," Ronaldo said.

"My clear conscious (sic) will thereby allow me to await with tranquillity the results of any and all investigations," he added on his Twitter feed @Cristiano, which has nearly 75 million followers.

Kathryn Mayorga, 34, of Las Vegas, accused Ronaldo, in a 32-page complaint filed last month with a district court in Nevada, of raping her on June 13, 2009.

Las Vegas police this week said they were reopening a case filed on that date but did not identify the victim or the alleged perpetrator by name.

Mayorga's lawyers are to hold a news conference in Las Vegas at 3:00 pm Pacific time (0000 GMT) on Wednesday to discuss the case.

Mayorga alleges in the lawsuit that she was pressured into signing a nondisclosure agreement to keep the alleged rape secret and is seeking no less than $200,000 in penalties and damages.

The complaint was first reported by the German magazine Der Spiegel. Lawyers for Ronaldo have reportedly threatened to sue the magazine over the story.

In the suit, Mayorga said she met Ronaldo, who was then 24 years old, on the evening of June 12, 2009 at the Rain Nightclub in the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

It said she accepted an invitation to join Ronaldo and others in his penthouse suite to "enjoy the view of the Las Vegas strip."

- 'No, no no' -

She was invited to join guests in a hot tub but she declined because she did not have a bathing suit, the complaint said.

Ronaldo offered her clothing and then followed her into a bathroom where she was going to change clothes, it said.

After she refused his demand to perform oral sex and said she wanted to leave, Ronaldo pulled her into a bedroom and anally raped her while she screamed "no, no, no," according to the suit.

"When Cristiano Ronaldo completed the sexual assault of the plaintiff, he allowed her to leave the bedroom stating he was sorry, he was usually a gentleman," it said.

The lawsuit said Mayorga reported the alleged assault to police the same day and was examined at a local hospital.

It said the assault left her with "severe emotional and bodily injuries including but not limited to anal contusions, posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression."

Under pressure from Ronaldo's "fixers," Mayorga settled the case "in exchange for a payment of $375,000 and non-disclosure of the sexual assault," the lawsuit said.

It claimed the agreement should be voided because she was "incompetent and lacked the mental capacity to participate in negotiations and settlement of her claims due to the injuries suffered during the initial sexual assault."

The unidentified "fixers" were named as co-defendants.

In an interview with Der Spiegel, Mayorga said she was inspired to come forward in part by the #MeToo movement that has exposed the sexual abuse of women by powerful men.

Ronaldo is a five-time winner of FIFA's men's player of the year award.

The Portuguese striker, a married father of four, left Real Madrid this year to join Juventus for 100 million euros ($117 million).

THE NEWS: US calls ruling a defeat for Iran, ends treaty

US calls ruling a defeat for Iran, ends treaty
source: AFP

AFP / Jim WATSON Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is terminating a 1955 friendship treaty with Iran after it was cited in a ruling against US sanctions by the International Court of Justice

The United States on Wednesday called an international court ruling against its Iran sanctions a defeat for Tehran as it terminated a 1955 treaty on which the case was based.

The International Criminal Court ordered the United States to lift sanctions on medicine, food and civilian airplane spare parts, just as President Donald Trump tries to squeeze Iran's economy.

But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted that the UN court did not rule more broadly against US sanctions and he insisted that the United States already exempted humanitarian goods from the sanctions.

"The court's ruling today was a defeat for Iran. It rightly rejected all of Iran's baseless requests," Pompeo told reporters.

Accusing Iran of "abusing the ICJ for political and propaganda purposes," Pompeo announced that the United States was ending a friendship treaty signed when Iran was ruled by the pro-US shah.

"This is a decision, frankly, that is 39 years overdue," Pompeo said, referring to the time since the 1979 Islamic revolution transformed Iran from one of the closest allies to a determined foe.

"Given Iran's history of terrorism, ballistic missile activity and other malign behaviors, Iran's claims under the treaty are absurd," he said.

The Treaty of Amity with Iran, signed in 1955 and ratified by the US Senate a year later, lays out practicalities for unfettered economic relations and consular rights between the two countries.

The US withdrawal will have limited direct effect, with the two countries not even having diplomatic relations.

But Iran has repeatedly cited the treaty to press claims from the United States, including when the US Navy shot down an Iran Air civilian plane in 1988, killing 290 people.

THE NEWS: Putin brands poisoned spy Skripal a 'traitor' and 'scumbag'

Putin brands poisoned spy Skripal a 'traitor' and 'scumbag'
source: AFP

POOL/AFP / Alexander Zemlianichenko Russian President Vladimir Putin was visibly angry when speaking about former spy Sergei Skripal

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday branded former double agent Sergei Skripal a "traitor" and a "scumbag", saying Moscow knew he had cooperated with foreign intelligence after his release in a spy swap.

But he again denied any Russian involvement in the poisoning of Skripal, who Britain says was attacked with a Soviet-designed nerve agent by members of Russia's military intelligence in March.

"He is just a scumbag," a visibly angry Putin told an energy forum in Moscow.

"He is just a spy, a traitor to the homeland," Putin said in his toughest remarks about Skripal to date.

"He was caught, he was punished, he spent five years in prison, we let him go, he left and continued cooperating with, providing consultations to (foreign) security services."

The former Russian military intelligence colonel was found guilty of passing state secrets to Britain and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006. He was pardoned by then-president Dmitry Medvedev and released as part of a spy swap with the West in 2010.

Putin's statement that Skripal consulted foreign intelligence goes against previous statements by his spokesman that the ex-spy is "of zero value or zero importance" to Moscow.

It follows reports that Skripal in recent years helped expose several Russian agents in European countries.

The Russian president once again laughed off British charges that two members of Russia's GRU military intelligence service had sought to poison Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok in the English city of Salisbury in March.


 Kommersant Photo/AFP/File / Yuri SENATOROV Sergei Skripal was found guilty of passing state secrets to Britain and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006 before being pardoned and released in a spy swap


The Skripals survived but a British couple, Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley, came into contact with the same nerve agent near Salisbury months later and Sturgess died.

Putin dismissed the crisis in relations with Britain that led to the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats from the West since the Cold War as a "row between security services".

"As we know, spying, like prostitution, is one of the world's most important professions," Putin said, drawing applause from the audience. He apparently misspoke as the euphemism for prostitution is "oldest profession."

He again denied charges Russia was behind the poisoning, saying: "No one had to poison anyone there (in Britain)."

"Sometimes I look at what is happening around this case and am simply amazed," Putin said. "The sooner (the Skripal scandal) is over, the better."

- 'No proof' -

British authorities have accused Putin of being ultimately responsible for the poisoning, allegations the Kremlin denounced as "unacceptable."

Putin said Britain should go through proper channels to cooperate with Russia on the case by sending information to the prosecutor general so that Moscow "can look at what really happened".

Last month, Putin called for the two men suspected by Britain of seeking to assassinate Skripal to appear on television, and he claimed that they were civilians.


 Metropolitan Police Service/AFP/File / HO Britain says the poisoning of the Skripals was committed by Ruslan Boshirov (left) and Alexander Petrov

In an eyebrow-raisinginterview with the Kremlin-funded RT channel, the two, who gave their names as Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, said they went to Salisbury as tourists, prompting ridicule in Russia and abroad.

Bellingcat, the British-based investigative group, said last week that "Boshirov" is in fact Anatoly Chepiga, a GRU colonel decorated with Russia's top honour, the Hero of Russia, who has lived and worked under an assumed identity since 2010.

The report, produced together with Russian investigative journalists -- one of whom later said he has left the country out of fear of prosecution -- published an old passport photo of Chepiga, which resembles Ruslan Boshirov.

Moscow dismissed the report, saying "there is no proof" as physical likeness means nothing, and the Kremlin said it would no longer discuss the subject with journalists.

This week, several media outlets published a new photo of Anatoly Chepiga featured among portraits of honoured graduates of his military school in the Far East, which also clearly resembles Boshirov.

THE NEWS: Security failure at Facebook - what we know

Security failure at Facebook - what we know
source: AFP

AFP/File / Oli SCARFF The Facebook breach affecting some 50 million users and disclosed late last month is now under investigation by Ireland's data protection authority

The security breach revealed on September 28 by Facebook affected tens of millions of accounts at the social network, which boasts more than 2.2 billion monthly users.

On Wednesday, the Irish data authority said it was opening up a formal investigation into whether the world's biggest social network complied with tough new EU privacy regulations.

- What happened?

Hackers took advantage of a "complex interaction" between three software bugs, which required a degree of sophistication.

The vulnerability was created by a change to a video uploading feature in July of 2017.

It involved a flaw in a "See As" feature that showed Facebook what their profiles look like to other people at the social network.

Using the feature generated digital keys, called "access tokens," which let users stay connected to their accounts without having to enter passwords anew.

Hackers were able to steal copies of the digital keys, giving them the same access and control of accounts as their legitimate owners.

On September 16, Facebook noticed a spike in activity that prompted it to investigate.

On September 25, Facebook engineers determined hackers had launched a sophisticated attack exploiting the vulnerability. A fix was in place two days later and stolen tokens rendered useless.

Facebook did not disclose when hackers first took advantage of the flaw, saying the investigation was early.

- What data was leaked?

Information hackers appeared interested in included names, genders, and home towns, but it was not clear for what purposes, the executives said in a telephone briefing.

Facebook said it was still trying to figure out what, if anything, hackers did in violated accounts. It did not seem at the outset that messages or posts were tampered with, and there was no access to banking or password information, according to the social network.

Given that digital keys opened Facebook doors wide to hackers, they would have had the ability to reach into third party applications linked to social network accounts.

They would have been able to get into linked accounts including Messenger or Instagram, both owned by Facebook, but not into the social network's WhatsApp service.

An analysis of logs of third-party applications turned up no sign they were meddled with by the hackers, Facebook said on October 2.

- Who should worry?

Facebook said that "up to 50 million accounts" were directly affected, meaning hackers swiped digital keys.

According to the Data Protection Commission in Ireland, five million or fewer European users were among those affected.

An additional 40 million accounts that used the "View As" feature had tokens reset although it didn't appear they were targeted by hackers.

- Measures taken by Facebook?

Facebook said it sealed the breach late on September 27 in California, where it has its headquarters, and alerted US law enforcement authorities as well as regulators in Ireland.

Facebook invalidated "access tokens" at issue in the breach, requiring people to log in anew with passwords. The social network informed those involved by posting messages atop news feeds.

- What is the risk to Facebook?

The risks for Facebook depend on how it complied with various laws and regulations, including the new General Data Protection Regulation in Europe.

Questions likely to be asked will include whether Facebook was fast enough notifying users of the breach and how well it protected accounts.

Protection of people's data falls under the purview of the Federal Trade Commission in the United States, but states could also be interested in making sure local privacy or data protection laws were not violated.

In Europe, the Facebook breach and how it was handled would be examined through the lens of the GDPR, which strengthened protection for personal data.

Companies can now be fined a percentage of annual revenue if they break GDPR rules. Facebook appeared to have complied with a 72-hour deadline regarding publicly disclosing a hack, which could spare it a fine of more than a billion dollars.

gc/rl

---

THE NEWS; Chile archbishop remains silent over abuse cover-up claims

Chile archbishop remains silent over abuse cover-up claims
source: AFP

AFP / CLAUDIO REYES The Cardinal Archbishop of Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, arrives for questioning at the offices of the prosecutor investigating Chile's vast sex abuse scandal, in Rancagua, Chile on October 3, 2018.

Santiago Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati on Wednesday went before a prosecutor investigating a sex abuse scandal that has roiled the Catholic Church but declined to answer questions about accusations he was involved in a cover-up.

The highest-ranking member of the church in Chile, Ezzati entered the prosecutor's offices in the southern town of Rancagua under heavy police guard and surrounded by media.

A solitary protester brandished a sign that read: "Depraved Roman Church."

After an hour being interviewed by Emilio Arias -- the prosecutor investigating decades of sexual abuse of minors by Chilean priests -- 76-year-old Ezzati left the courthouse saying: "We are all going to collaborate with everything."

- No answers -


 AFP / CLAUDIO REYES Chilean public prosecutor Emiliano Arias speaks to the press after questioning Santiago Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati over allegations he covered-up the sexual abuse of minors in Rancagua, Chile on October 3, 2018.


Hugo Rivera, his lawyer, said the cardinal had used his right not to answer questions about accusations he covered up the sexual abuse of minors, in particular crimes committed by a top diocesan aide.

"For now the cardinal has not spoken until we speak with the public prosecutor's office about the definitive dismissal" of the charges, the lawyer said.

He insisted the cardinal "is innocent".

Arias began investigating scores of abuse cases in July after outrage over the church's own probe into decades of abuse by priests, crimes for which it often failed to take any action or handed down lenient punishments.

Pope Francis, who has removed several Chilean bishops over the scandal, admitted there was a "culture of abuse" within the Chilean church after sending investigators from the Vatican.

The pontiff said the church had failed "to listen and react" to the allegations, and vowed to "restore justice."

Arias' office said in August that it was investigating 119 cases of abuse against Chile's clergy going back to 1960.

"We are going to prosecute anyone who has committed crimes," Arias told reporters after questioning Ezzati.

"There is no witch hunt," he said. "If there is a crime, we will prosecute....we will accuse and go to trial," he said.

Ezzati has denied allegations that he covered up cases of abuse, including those of a top aide, Oscar Munoz. Munoz, 56, is under house arrest while a probe continues into allegations he raped at least seven children.

"The cowardly Ezzati goes to testify as an accused and decides not to speak so as not to incriminate himself," said Juan Carlos Cruz, one of the victims of the most notorious abuser, ex-priest Fernando Karadima.

Karadima, once a revered Chilean cleric, was formally expelled from the Church by Pope Francis last Friday.

THE NEWS: Canada to consider pardons for pot possession before legalization

Canada to consider pardons for pot possession before legalization
source: AFP

 POOL/AFP/File / PETER FOLEY (FILES) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, seen in a file photo from last month, said Wednesday his government will consider, after the recreational use of cannabis is legalized on October 17, pardoning persons convicted of simple pot possession

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday his government will consider, after the recreational use of cannabis is legalized on October 17, pardoning persons convicted in the past of simple pot possession.

Pressed by reporters on this, Trudeau said: "Well, as we have said, we'll look at that once the law has been changed. So from October 17, we will start looking at the best way to do it."

His office said no details of what would be considered -- whether a blanket amnesty or pardons on a case by case basis -- were yet available.

Earlier, Minister Bill Blair, who is leading the government's cannabis legalization initiative, reminded that "until the law (prohibiting cannabis) is repealed and replaced with the new regulatory regime, it remains in effect."

Trudeau himself admitted in 2013 to having smoked pot five or six times in his life, including at a dinner party with friends after being elected to parliament.

He has also said that his late brother Michel was facing marijuana possession charges for a "tiny amount" of pot before his death in an avalanche in 1998, and that this influenced his decision to propose legalizing cannabis.

On Tuesday, the prime minister posted an old photo of the two brothers on Twitter to mark what would have been Michel's 43rd birthday, writing: "I love you little brother."

THE NEWS: Key lawmakers rebuke Trump for mocking Kavanaugh accuser

Key lawmakers rebuke Trump for mocking Kavanaugh accuser
source: AFP

AFP / MANDEL NGAN In an election speech in Mississippi Tuesday, President Donald Trump mocked Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her in 1982

Three Republican senators key to Brett Kavanaugh's approval to the US Supreme Court blasted Donald Trump Wednesday for mocking the woman accusing his nominee of sexual assault, as he played to a crowd of thousands at a political rally.

Still undecided on backing the conservative judge -- whose appointment to the crucial, lifelong post has fuelled a bitter partisan clash -- Senator Susan Collins weighed in to denounce the president's comments ridiculing Christine Blasey Ford as "just plain wrong."

Senator Lisa Murkowski called Trump's speech "wholly inappropriate" and "unacceptable" while Senator Jeff Flake, the third Republican swing vote, said there was "no time and no place for remarks like that."

"To discuss something this sensitive at a political rally is just not right. I wish he hadn't done it. It's kind of appalling," Flake said.

The stern lawmaker reactions raised fresh doubts over the fate of Kavanaugh, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation reviews allegations by three women that the appeals court judge drank heavily and engaged in sexually abusive behavior while he was a student in the 1980s.

The FBI was last Friday given a week to probe the accusations -- with a floor vote in the Senate pushed back accordingly -- but top lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee said they now expected the investigators to report back as early as Wednesday.


 POOL/AFP/File / JIM BOURG In searing testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Christine Blasey Ford told lawmakers she recalled was absolutely certain that a drunken Brett Kavanaugh had attacked her in 1982


Trump stirred the furious backlash when, at a Mississippi election rally late Tuesday, he ridiculed Blasey Ford's claim that Kavanaugh drunkenly tried to rape her in 1982, when both attended elite private high schools in suburban Washington.

The White House denied that Trump had derided the university professor.

"The president was simply stating facts that Dr Ford herself laid out in her testimony," spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told journalists.

Senior Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway likewise argued that Trump's comments were in-bounds in the political battle over Kavanaugh.

"Excuse me, she's been treated like a Faberge egg by all of us, beginning with me and the president," Conway said of Blasey Ford.

- 'Vile and soulless attack' -


AFP / Brendan Smialowski Republican Senator Jeff Flake said President Donald Trump's mocking of sexual assault victim Christine Blasey Ford was 'appalling' speaks with reporters after a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell about the Judge Brett Kavanaugh nomination on Capitol Hill on September 28, 2018 in Washington, DC.The US Senate Judiciary Committee gave its backing to Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's embattled pick for the Supreme Court, one day after he fought off allegations of sexual assault at a dramatic day-long hearing that riveted the nation.

But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, calling Trump's remarks "reprehensible," said the president owes Blasey Ford "an immediate apology."

In searing testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Blasey Ford told lawmakers she recalled some important details of the incident at a party in a private home, and was absolutely certain that Kavanaugh was the attacker.

She could not remember other aspects however -- prompting Trump to mock her before an auditorium of supporters.

"I had one beer, right?" Trump said, echoing one point Blasey Ford did recall.

"'How did you get home?' I don't remember. 'How did you get there?' I don't remember. 'Where was the place?' I don't remember. 'How many years ago was it?' I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know," he added, to cheers from supporters.

"But I had one beer. That's the only thing I remember." Trump said.

Michael Bromwich, one of Blasey Ford's attorneys, slammed "a vicious, vile and soulless attack" on his client.

"Is it any wonder that she was terrified to come forward, and that other sexual assault survivors are as well? She is a remarkable profile in courage. He is a profile in cowardice."

- Three Republicans still undecided -

It was not clear whether the remarks shifted the dynamic in the battle over Kavanaugh, whose appointment Republicans hope could shift the balance in the Supreme Court decisively to conservatives.


AFP / AFP US Supreme Court justices


Democrats say Kavanaugh cannot be confirmed with the still-unproven accusations hanging over his head. Kavanaugh steadfastly denies the allegations.

With Republicans holding a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, the loss of any two of their senators would doom Kavanaugh.

None of the three undecided Republicans would say if their views had solidified, one way or another.

Flake said Trump's comments would not affect his view of the nominee.

"I am taking everything into account," Murkowski told reporters when asked about the importance of Trump's remarks.

- Final vote this week-

Media reports Wednesday said the FBI was under constraints from the White House on how far it could go in interviewing witnesses.

Sanders insisted Trump had given the investigators as much rein as needed, but added that it was the Senate which dictates the scope of the probe.

Senate leader Mitch McConnell meanwhile insisted that a final vote on Kavanaugh would take place this week.

"It's time to put this embarrassing spectacle behind us," he said, calling the criticism of Kavanaugh "a feeding frenzy."

THE NEWS; Messi, Rakitic light up Wembley as stylish Barca sink Spurs

Messi, Rakitic light up Wembley as stylish Barca sink Spurs
source: AFP

AFP / Glyn KIRK Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring the third goal against Tottenham

Lionel Messi's Wembley masterclass and a sublime strike from Ivan Rakitic got Barcelona back in the groove as they clinched a pulsating 4-2 victory against Tottenham on Wednesday.

Ernesto Valverde's side arrived in London for the Champions League Group B tie amid a mini-crisis after failing to win their last three La Liga games.

But the Spanish champions have fond memories of the English national stadium, where they won the European Cup in 1992 and 2011, and they were revitalised by the sight of the iconic venue.

Aided by a rush of blood from Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, Barcelona went ahead after only 92 seconds as Philippe Coutinho scored their quickest Champions League goal since 2005.

Rakitic stole the spotlight midway through the first half when the Croatia midfielder struck with a thunderous half-volley.

In a dramatic second half, Tottenham's Harry Kane reduced the deficit before the majestic Messi added Barcelona's third.

Erik Lamela's deflected strike kept Tottenham in the hunt, but Messi capped a mesmerising performance in the final moments to give Barca a second successive group-stage victory as they emerged from their recent struggles.

Tottenham are in danger of crashing out at the group stage for the second time in three years.

Mauricio Pochettino's side have lost both of their group matches after a 2-1 defeat at Inter Milan in their opener.

They head to PSV Eindhoven for their next European fixture on October 24 knowing a win is essential as they already trail Barca and Inter by six points.

It took Messi less than two minutes to show reports of Barca's demise were greatly exaggerated.

Taking possession on the halfway line, Messi was pressured by Son Heung-Min, but his devastating response was simply sublime.

Messi twisted away from Son as if swatting away an annoying fly, then unfurled a perfectly-weighted pass that picked out Jordi Alba's run behind Tottenham defender Kieran Trippier.

Alba alertly picked out Coutinho on the edge on the penalty area and, with Lloris having needlessly rushed off his line, the former Liverpool forward was able to fire into the empty net.

It was a bad mistake by Lloris in the French World Cup winner's first appearance since August after a torrid period marred by a thigh injury and his arrest for drink-driving.

- Messi magic -

Tottenham were decimated by injuries to Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Mousa Dembele and it took 25 minutes before they finally had a shot when Kane brought a routine save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

That was only a brief respite for Tottenham as Valverde's team doubled their lead in the 28th minute.

Once again the creation and execution were breath-taking.

Messi clipped a pass to Luis Suarez before Coutinho smartly hooked the ball back from the touchline to the edge of the area, where Rakitic launched himself into the air for an agile half-volley that flashed past Lloris.

Messi was toying with Tottenham and it seemed only a matter of how many Barcelona would win by when he glided away for a shot that struck a post early in the second half.

Spellbound by Messi's magic, Tottenham backed off again moments later as the striker hit the woodwork for a second time.

Yet Kane gave Tottenham a lifeline when the England forward netted against the run of play in the 52nd minute.

Powering into the Barca area with intent, Kane side-stepped Nelson Semedo and planted a powerful low strike into the far corner for his 10th goal in 12 Champions League appearances.

Messi had the perfect response in the 56th minute when he cantered onto Alba's pass and side-footed past Lloris.

Tottenham refused to surrender and Lamela set up a tense finale when his 66th minute shot deflected off Clement Lenglet and flew past ter Stegen.

But Messi had the last word when he slotted home from Alba's cross to ease Barca's nerves in the 90th minute.

THE NEWS; Ronaldo denies hotel sex attack, calls rape 'abominable'

Ronaldo denies hotel sex attack, calls rape 'abominable'
source: AFP

AFP/File / Marco BERTORELLO Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has issued a new denial of accusations by a former model that he raped her in Las Vegas in 2009

Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday denied accusations by a former American model that he raped her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009 and said his conscience is clear.

Ronaldo's denial came as lawyers for his accuser said they had obtained damning correspondence between the footballer and his legal team.

The case has threatened the reputation of the Portuguese superstar, arguably the world's best footballer, with Las Vegas police this week saying they would reopen their file on the matter.

"I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me," he tweeted in Portuguese and English.

"Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in," said the 33-year-old Juventus forward.

"My clear conscious (sic) will thereby allow me to await with tranquility the results of any and all investigations," he added on his Twitter feed @Cristiano, which has nearly 75 million followers.

Mayorga, 34, of Las Vegas, accused Ronaldo, in a 32-page lawsuit filed last month with a district court in Nevada, of raping her on June 13, 2009.

Las Vegas police this week said they were reopening a case filed on that date but did not identify the victim or the alleged perpetrator by name.

Complicating matters, Jacinto Rivera, a spokesman for the department, told AFP Mayorga did not identify Ronaldo by name at the time of her complaint and was "uncooperative."

Mayorga's lawsuit, however, said she had named the footballer to police "within weeks of the initial report."

- 'She said no' -


AFP / Mark RALSTON Kathryn Mayorga alleges she met Cristiano Ronaldo in June 2009 at the now-closed Rain Nightclub, located in the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas


Larissa Drohobyczer, one of Mayorga's lawyers, told reporters that whistle-blowing website Football Leaks had provided documents that showed correspondence between Ronaldo and his team of fixers around the time of the incident, which they are considering making public.

According to the alleged leak, Ronaldo told his fixers: "She said 'no' and 'stop' several times," in his written correspondence to them.

Mayorga alleges she was pressured into signing a nondisclosure agreement in 2010 to keep the alleged rape secret and is seeking at least $200,000 in penalties and damages.

The complaint was first reported by the German magazine Der Spiegel. Lawyers for Ronaldo have reportedly threatened to sue the magazine over the story.

In the suit, Mayorga said she met Ronaldo, who was then 24 years old, on the evening of June 12, 2009 at the Rain Nightclub in the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

It said she accepted an invitation to join Ronaldo and others in his penthouse suite to "enjoy the view of the Las Vegas strip."

- #MeToo movement -


AFP / Mark RALSTON Kathryn Mayorga's attorney, Leslie Stovall, addressed reporters in Las Vegas about his client's rape accusation against Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo

She was invited to join guests in a hot tub but declined because she did not have a bathing suit, the complaint said.

Ronaldo offered her clothing and then followed her into a bathroom where she was going to change clothes, it said.

She was invited to join guests in a hot tub but declined because she did not have a bathing suit, the complaint said.


AFP/File / Isabella BONOTTO The woman who accuses Cristiano Ronaldo of raping her is seeking the voiding of a nondisclosure agreement she signed with the Portuguese superstar


Ronaldo offered her clothing and then followed her into a bathroom where she was going to change clothes, it said.

After she refused his demand to perform oral sex and said she wanted to leave, Ronaldo pulled her into a bedroom and anally raped her while she screamed "no, no, no," according to the suit.

"When Cristiano Ronaldo completed the sexual assault of the plaintiff, he allowed her to leave the bedroom stating he was sorry, he was usually a gentleman," it said.

The lawsuit said Mayorga reported the alleged assault to police the same day and was examined at a local hospital.

It said the assault left her with "severe emotional and bodily injuries including but not limited to anal contusions, post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression."

Under pressure from Ronaldo's "fixers," Mayorga settled the case "in exchange for a payment of $375,000 and non-disclosure of the sexual assault," the lawsuit said.

It claimed the agreement should be voided because she was "incompetent and lacked the mental capacity to participate in negotiations and settlement of her claims due to the injuries suffered during the initial sexual assault."

Leslie Stovall, another lawyer for Mayorga, told reporters his client had suffered years of trauma as a result of the alleged attack, but had found the strength to speak out thanks to the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault at the hands of powerful men.

"The MeToo movement and the women who have stood up and disclosed sexual assaults has given Kathryn a lot of courage, and has enabled her to come forward," he said.

Ronaldo is a five-time winner of FIFA's men's player of the year award.

The Portuguese striker, a married father of four, left Real Madrid this year to join Juventus for 100 million euros ($117 million).

THE NEWS: Trump shrugs off report revealing a fortune in tax dodges, parental gifts

Trump shrugs off report revealing a fortune in tax dodges, parental gifts
source: AFP

AFP/File / MANDEL NGAN The New York Times said it reviewed more than 100,000 documents for its investigation into the source of Donald Trump's wealth

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday shrugged off a New York Times investigation that concluded he made his fortune with the help of more than $400 million from his parents, partly through tax schemes, as a boring, rehashed "hit piece."

Trump has often boasted that he built a multi-billion dollar real estate empire from a $1 million loan from his father, Fred, himself a prominent New York builder.

But the Times reviewed more than 100,000 documents including confidential tax returns and financial records that it said showed he actually received at least $413 million in today's money, in part through schemes to avoid taxes.

"They used the concept of 'time value of money' in doing a very old, boring and often told hit piece on me," he tweeted.

"Added up, this means that 97% of their stories on me are bad. Never recovered from bad election call!"

Forbes magazine, meanwhile, estimated Trump's fortune at $3.1 billion -- the same as last year, but a third smaller than it was in 2015. Forbes ranked Trump's fortune at 259 in the world, down from 248 the year he was elected president.

The Times story said that from the time Trump was a toddler, his father funneled millions of dollars to his four children through a sham corporation to avoid gift taxes.

The Times said the records also indicate that Trump helped his father take millions more in improper tax deductions.

- Father's favorite -


AFP/File / SAUL LOEB "I will say one thing the article did get right was that it showed that the president's father had a great deal of confidence in him," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders


And he helped devise a scheme that undervalued his parents' real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars, sharply reducing taxes on those properties when they were transferred to their children, according to the paper.

A lawyer for Trump, Charles Harder, called the account "100 percent false, and highly defamatory."

"There was no fraud or tax evasion by anyone. The facts upon which The Times bases its false allegations are extremely inaccurate," he added.

"President Trump had virtually no involvement whatsoever with these matters."

Addressing a press conference, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders criticized the article's main claims, but said it was right in one important aspect: Trump's business acumen.

"I will say one thing the article did get right was that it showed that the president's father had a great deal of confidence in him.

"The president brought his father into a lot of deals and they made a lot of money together. His father went on to say that everything he touched turned to gold."

- Wealthy toddler -


AFP/File / JIM WATSON The New York Times said Donald Trump's tax-hating father used various methods to funnel his wealth to his children and shield it from the Internal Revenue Service, some of which tax experts said were improper or possibly illegal

The paper's contention that Trump was earning as much as $200,000 a year in today's money by the time he was three years old, and was the equivalent of a millionaire by the age of eight, drew considerable attention.

The assertion was pounced on by several late night talk show hosts, including comedian Stephen Colbert, the host of "The Late Show" on CBS.

"So, let me get this straight: At one point, Donald Trump was an extraordinarily wealthy toddler. And today? He is still that," he said.

Not everything, however, was a laughing matter: The Times said Trump's tax-hating father used various methods to funnel his wealth to his children and shield it from the Internal Revenue Service, some of which tax experts said were improper or possibly illegal.

Following the article's publication, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced it was "reviewing the allegations in the NYT article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation."

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden called for federal tax authorities to investigate as well.

"It's critical that IRS fully investigate these allegations and prosecute any violations to the fullest extent of the law," Wyden wrote on Twitter.

Speculation about the source of Trump's wealth has mounted since 2015, when he declared his candidacy for the nation's highest office but broke with long-standing tradition by refusing to release his tax returns.

He has been repeatedly rebuked over ethics violations for refusing to divest his assets in the Trump Organization, instead turning over control of the entity to his sons, Donald Jr and Eric.


 GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / CHIP SOMODEVILLA A federal judge has allowed a suit accusing Donald Trump of violating the constitution by maintaining his interest in a hotel that does business with foreign governments to proceed


The president also continues to stay or make use of hotels and golf clubs he owns, leading to conflict of interest allegations and multiple lawsuits.

In July, a federal judge allowed a suit to proceed accusing Trump of violating the constitution by maintaining his interest in a hotel that does business with foreign governments.

It marked the first time a court interpreted the anti-corruption clause in the constitution, known as the emoluments clause, and applied it to a sitting president.

Farrow, the Pulitzer-winning whiz chronicling #MeToo

Farrow, the Pulitzer-winning whiz chronicling #MeToo

source: AFP

GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / Jamie McCarthy The son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow bucks the trend of celebrity progeny insulated from the real world by privilege

Ronan Farrow is the whiz kid prodigy and preeminent chronicler of America's sexual harassment watershed, whose bombshell exposes have sunk a litany of powerful men, spawned the #MeToo movement and won a Pulitzer.

The only biological child of actress-activist Mia Farrow and famed director Woody Allen -- or "possibly" Frank Sinatra -- at 30 years old, Farrow bucks the trend of celebrity progeny insulated from the real world by privilege.

Much has been made of his parents' poisonous separation and his support of seven-year-old sister Dylan -- who accuses Allen of molesting her -- as having laid the foundation for his reporting.

His exposes for The New Yorker -- after months of painstakingly persuading women to speak out -- helped bring down movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, now charged, forced to wear a GPS monitor and facing trial.

While most journalists work a lifetime without ever breaking such a huge story, Farrow won the prestigious Pulitzer public service medal for his first outing for the magazine, shared with The New York Times.

Since then, he has written expose after expose, forcing the resignation of CBS ex-CEO Les Moonves, for decades one of the most powerful men in television, and New York state attorney general Eric Schneiderman.

Last month, he and investigative journalist Jane Mayer turned their sights on Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, bringing to light a second allegation of sexual misconduct from the 1980s.

The Yale Law School alumnus was calm and articulate, hitting back at concerns about Deborah Ramirez's certainty that the jurist was the culprit, a lack of witnesses and being inebriated at the time.

- Renaissance man -

"That's extremely typical of these stories when you're dealing with trauma, alcohol, many years in between," Farrow told ABC News.

"The more cautious witnesses that I've dealt with, in cases like this, very frequently say, 'I want to... make sure that I can affirmatively stand by these claims' in the face of what she knew would be a crucible of partisan push back."

But reporting is just one string to his bow. Farrow is something of a 21st century Renaissance man, seemingly able to turn his hand to anything.

Earlier this year, he published an ambitious, best-selling tome, "War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence," exploring a major theme at a time of budget cuts by the Trump administration.

Farrow, who interviewed every single living former secretary of state from Henry Kissinger to Rex Tillerson, argued that the decline has been decades in the making, and spans the Balkans to Afghanistan, China and North Korea.

Born on December 19, 1987 in New York and initially known by first name Satchel, he graduated from Bard College aged 15 and Yale Law School at 21, before going to Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship.

As a 17-year-old he was a spokesperson for youth at UNICEF and an advocate for women and children caught up in the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.

- 'Heartbroken' -

He went on to work in Afghanistan and Pakistan for late US diplomat Richard Holbrooke before becoming an adviser to then secretary of state Hillary Clinton on global youth issues in 2011.

In 2014, he fronted an hour-long program on left-leaning MSNBC. If the program bombed, his subsequent New Yorker success has sparked blowback against the network for failing to cultivate his true talents.

Nor is he just clever: his piercing blue eyes and tousled blonde hair made him one of People magazine's sexiest men in 2013.

There is also endless public interest in his home life. He is one of 14 brothers and sisters, most of them adopted from all over the world.

His parents' relationship imploded when Allen began an affair with Mia's adopted daughter Soon-Yi and Ronan is estranged from his father.

Farrow sides with his sister Dylan's claims that Allen molested her. The director denies the allegations.

"I owe everything I am to Mia Farrow. She is a devoted mom who went through hell for her family all while creating a loving home," he wrote after a recent Soon-Yi interview that he mocked as a "hit job."

In May, he told graduates at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, that his career was on the rocks before his Weinstein reporting went public.

"I wish I could tell you I was confident... or that I said 'to hell with it,'" he said. "But the real version of this was that I was heartbroken, and I was scared, and I had no idea if I was doing the right thing."

THE NEWS: #MeToo sharply polarizing US, one year on

#MeToo sharply polarizing US, one year on
source: AFP

 AFP/File / Eric BARADAT Activist demonstrate against Brett Kavanaugh, whose confirmation to the US Supreme Court -- which once seemed all but certain -- has been threatened by the #MeToo movement

The #MeToo movement in one year has shaken the United States, brought down dozens of powerful men and threatens the confirmation of a Supreme Court judge, yet it has also become deeply polarizing and its long-term impact remains unclear.

Accusations last October that Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein engaged in decades of sexual assault, opened the floodgates with liberals still reeling from President Donald Trump's 2016 election despite boasting that he groped women with impunity.

But #MeToo, like almost everything in America these days, has proved divisive.

And with Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh accused of misconduct by three women in the 1980s, the polarization is becoming near hysterical.

On Tuesday, Trump was cheered by supporters in Mississippi when he mocked Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, provoking a furious backlash from Democrats and criticism from moderate Republicans.

"It's a very scary time for young men in America, where you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of," he said earlier this week.


AFP/File / ROBYN BECK Accusations taht Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein engaged in decades of sexual assault, opened the floodgates


"You have this backlash that many Republicans are feeling that if Kavanaugh is not confirmed, it allows this liberal movement to take precedence over their politics and concerns," explained Melissa Deckman, professor of political science at Washington College in Maryland.

Research indicates a gender gap -- that women care more than men about sexual misconduct -- but that party is the deciding factor, with Democrats caring more than Republicans.

#MeToo spurred the ouster of Democratic lawmakers such as the popular Al Franken and John Conyers, hugely respected for his civil rights work.

This 20 years after Bill Clinton survived allegations of sexual assault and harassment, as well as an attempt to remove him from office over a consensual affair with an intern that many now consider an abuse of power.

- 'Marathon, not a sprint' -


 GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / Joe Buglewicz In an Alabama election last year, Republicans backed Roy Moore despite accusations he molested teenage girls

In an Alabama election last year, meanwhile, Republicans backed their guy despite accusations he molested teenage girls.

With Kavanaugh, having a conservative judiciary appears to carries more weight with many in his camp than anything he may or may not have done as a teenager.

#MeToo has been credited with spurring women to run for office in record numbers as Democrats hope next month's midterm elections will strip Trump of his majority and elevate women into power.

But a revolution remains a long way off.

The best possible outcome in November is that women will make up 24 percent of Congress, a US record and up from the current 19.3 percent, a rate of representation still flagging far behind many in the developed world.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," says Jean Sinzdak, associate director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. "We are likely to see some gain... but we are not going to be at parity."

Women have come forward to vent their anger over harassment and assault that for years they kept quiet, humiliated and disbelieving that they would be heard. Instead now they are being heard, being believed and supported.

There are signs attitudes are shifting. This year, Bill Cosby, once one of the most famous Americans in the world, was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in 2004 and sentenced to at least three years in prison.

- 'Anything could happen' -


GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / STEPHANIE KEITH In American business circles, women account for fewer than four percent of board chairs in the S&P 1500


From police reopening a rape investigation into one of the biggest soccer stars on the planet, to ex-gymnastics USA doctor Larry Nassar being jailed for life, barely a day goes by when #MeToo is not front-page news.

But the lasting impact is unclear.

There has been growing pushback questioning whether all sexual misdemeanors should be treated with the same kick-them-to-the-curb attitude.

An increasingly vocal segment believe the movement may have gone too far in ousting at least some men without the evidence to back up their accusations.

"The effectiveness of the #MeToo movement and the long-lasting impact of it is largely dependent on men buying into it," said Lisa Kimmel, president and CEO of the Canadian arm of US-based public relations firm Edelman.

In American business circles, women account for fewer than four percent of board chairs in the S&P 1500.

"It's almost tone deaf if there is not a real commitment to enhance women in the workplace," said Kimmel.

And what of politics? How long will it take a viable woman presidential candidate to fare better than Hillary Clinton?

"If things continue the way they are, you are going to have the same momentum in 2020 and women ready to throw their hats into the ring," said Sinzdak. "But anything could happen, between now and then."

THE NEWS: Last orders as Tokyo's Tsukiji market relocates

Last orders as Tokyo's Tsukiji market relocates
source: AFP

 AFP / Kazuhiro NOGI Each New Year's Day, high-profile buyers vied to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the top tuna at the first auction of the year

For decades, Tokyo's Tsukiji market has been the beating heart of a world-class culinary capital, supplying Michelin-starred chefs and drawing tourists who queue for hours to glimpse pre-dawn tuna auctions.

But this week it will finally shut its doors and relocate from its dilapidated but central location to a new site in eastern Tokyo, after a lengthy and controversial process, hindered by pollution rows and construction delays.

Traders will sell their last wares at Tsukiji's inner market on October 6, shutting up shop after one final tuna auction.

The mammoth move will begin the following day, with vendors expected to file out of the market in a mass exodus to the new site, where operations start on October 11.

The relocation has been in the works for decades, driven in part by the rundown quarters where vendors sell 480 different types of seafood worth $14 million each day.


AFP / Kazuhiro NOGI Opened in 1935, Tsukiji is walking distance from the swanky Ginza district where some of Tokyo's most famed restaurants are located


This summer, a heatwave virtually overwhelmed the market's outdated air conditioning, forcing wholesalers to keep pricey produce in cool trucks until moments before auction.

The market's new location in Toyosu promises state-of-the-art facilities. Special doors will help keep halls cool and sterile, while gawping tourists will be confined to a viewing gallery behind glass.

For some vendors, the changes will be a welcome improvement from conditions at Tsukiji, where throngs of visitors interfering with the actual business of the market have irked wholesalers.

But the move also has its detractors, with concerns about everything from Toyosu's location, far from clients, to pollution at the new site.

- Protests against move -

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, who has championed the move, has been forced to repeatedly defend Toyosu after the discovery of soil contamination on the site, formerly home to a gas plant.

AFP / Kazuhiro NOGI Tsukiji vendors sell 480 different types of seafood worth $14 million each day

Officials say the pollution has been remedied but not everyone is convinced.

In the weeks before the move, hundreds of protestors demonstrated against the relocation, and legal challenges have been filed.

"The new site at Toyosu is not suitable for wholesalers. There are going to be a lot of problems," said lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya.

Asunaro Suetake, another protestor, said it was "strange to move the world's biggest fish market to a polluted site, especially when the majority of fishmongers are opposed".


 AFP / Kazuhiro NOGI Traders will sell their last wares at Tsukiji's inner market on October 6, shutting up shop after one final tuna auction


Opened in 1935, Tsukiji is walking distance from the swanky Ginza district where some of Tokyo's most famed restaurants are located.

The proximity has created a close relationship between vendors and fiercely exacting chefs seeking top quality products for restaurants sometimes boasting multiple Michelin stars.

Fishmongers fear they may lose clients with the move to the less accessible new site.

The relocation will also be something of a blow to tourists, who often lined up for hours to secure one of just 120 spots to view Tsukiji's pre-dawn tuna auction.

- 'End of an era' -

Each New Year's Day, high-profile buyers vied to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the top tuna at the first auction of the year.


 AFP / Kazuhiro NOGI This week Tsukiji market will finally shut its doors and relocate from its dilapidated but central location to a new site in eastern Tokyo

At Tsukiji's last New Year's sale, one buyer put down $320,000, still far short of the record $1.8 million paid for a bluefin in 2013.

The so-called outer market at Tsukiji -- brick-and-mortar shops selling everything from seaweed to coffee -- will remain after the move.

But the warehouses that housed vendors and additional shops and restaurants are expected to be levelled to make way, initially, for a transport depot for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Beyond that, the site's future is more uncertain, though Koike has suggested it could be transformed into a kind of culinary theme park, commemorating the market's colourful history.

AFP / Kazuhiro NOGI The relocation will be something of a blow to tourists, who often lined up for hours to secure one of just 120 spots to view Tsukiji's pre-dawn tuna auction


Yukari Sakamoto, author of Food Sake Tokyo, who has run tours of Tsukiji for over 10 years, said problems with the new site had left vendors frustrated.

"They all agree that the current site needs to be upgraded. But... they should have rebuilt on the current location," she told AFP.

With the move just days away, "you do feel that sadness" in the market, she said.

"You're thinking 'oh wow, this is the end of an era'. It's just so disappointing that it's not ending on a positive note."

THE NEWS: Britain, Australia accuse Russian spies of global cyber attacks

Britain, Australia accuse Russian spies of global cyber attacks
source: AFP

AFP/File / Natalia KOLESNIKOVA The headquarters of the Russian Main Intelligence Department (GRU) in Moscow, which has been accused of various high-profile hacking attacks

Britain and Australia on Thursday accused Russian military intelligence of conducting a campaign of cyber attacks targeting political institutions, businesses, media and sport bodies around the world.

Operatives from Russia's GRU arm carried out various "reckless and indiscriminate" high-profile online attacks, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement.

Many have been previously linked to Moscow, including the 2017 "BadRabbit" ransomware targeting of a Ukrainian international airport and Russian media outlets, and the attempted hacking of the World Anti-Doping Agency in Switzerland, also last year.

"This pattern of behaviour demonstrates (the GRU's) desire to operate without regard to international law or established norms and to do so with a feeling of impunity and without consequences," Hunt said.

"Our message is clear: together with our allies, we will expose and respond to the GRU's attempts to undermine international stability."

Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) named the GRU operatives as the perpetrators, according to the Foreign Office.

The NCSC has "high confidence" that the GRU was "almost certainly" responsible for the 2017 attacks, as well as others including the infamous targeting of the US Democratic Party ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Whitehall sources said.


AFP / Paul ELLIS British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt accused Russia's military intelligence of "indiscriminate and reckless" online attacks


The British government holds the Kremlin ultimately responsible for the cyber campaign, they added.

The Foreign Office described the alleged cyber campaign as a "flagrant violation of international law" that had cost national economies millions of pounds.

"These cyber attacks serve no legitimate national security interest, instead impacting the ability of people around the world to go about their daily lives free from interference, and even their ability to enjoy sport," Hunt added.

"The GRU's actions are reckless and indiscriminate: they try to undermine and interfere in elections in other countries; they are even prepared to damage Russian companies and Russian citizens."

- 'Fancy Bear' -

Australia joined Britain in its accusations, with the prime minister and foreign minister calling Russian online meddling "unacceptable".

"The Russian military, and their intelligence arm 'the GRU', is responsible for this pattern of malicious cyber activity," the Australian government said Thursday.

Canberra said it reached its conclusion on advice from Australian intelligence agencies and in consultation with partners and allies.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that while Australia was not significantly impacted by the attacks, Moscow's behaviour had "shown a total disregard for the agreements it helped to negotiate".


AFP/File / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV Britain's National Cyber Security Centre believes Russian military intelligence was behind various hacking efforts, including "APT28", "Pawn Storm", "Sandworm", "Fancy Bear" and the "Sofacy Group"

"Cyberspace is not the Wild West. The international community -- including Russia -- has agreed that international law and norms of responsible state behaviour apply in cyberspace," they said in a statement.

The hackers identified by the NCSC include an entity variously called "APT28", "Pawn Storm", "Sandworm", "Fancy Bear" and the "Sofacy Group", according to the British Foreign Office.

The Justice Department in the United States has previously blamed the group for conducting numerous hacking operations there and around the world.

They include targeting everything from American political parties and the websites of conservative US think tanks to key infrastructure industries such as power grids.

Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the GRU's activities "go well beyond traditional peacetime espionage".

"By launching disruptive operations that threaten life in target societies, they blur the line between war and peace," he added.

THE NEWS: US, China look on as Putin seeks India arms deals

US, China look on as Putin seeks India arms deals
source: AFP

AFP/File / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking to seal a $5-bn deal to sell the S-400 air defence system to India

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in India on Thursday looking to tie up billions of dollars in arms deals with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, likely irking the US, China and Pakistan in one fell swoop.

The Kremlin said before the two-day visit that the "key feature" would be the signing of a $5-billion deal for the advanced S-400 air defence system, despite US sanctions against countries buying Russian defence hardware.

India will ask the United States for a special waiver for the purchase -- as discussed by their defence and foreign ministers in New Delhi last month -- but Washington has signalled there is no guarantee it will accede.

The US is in a difficult position as it seeks to contain China through better ties with India, which like Washington has been unnerved by Beijing's growing assertiveness.

Washington and New Delhi announced plans last month for joint military drills in 2019, and agreed on the exchange of sensitive military information.

But Russia remains India's main arms supplier, and a string of new deals with the Asian giant would be a major win for Moscow -- and a big snub to the US.

Putin and Modi, who appear to enjoy a personal rapport, are also likely to discuss a deal for four Krivak-class frigates worth $2 billion and 200 light utility Ka-226 helicopters pegged at $1 billion.

India and Russia have already concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement for the choppers, 60 of which would be built in Russia and the rest in India.

"Russia is a time-tested friend. I am really glad some spine has finally been shown by India," R.R. Subramanian, a Delhi-based strategic affairs analyst, told AFP.

"It's about time we... showed that we are not going to be pushed around by Washington."

Experts say India needs the sophisticated S-400 system to fill critical gaps in its defence capabilities, in view of China's rise and perceived threats from Pakistan, against whom India has fought three wars.

Indian Air Force Chief Birender Singh Dhanoa said on Wednesday that the S-400 and the 36 Rafale fighter jets purchased from France -- a 2016 deal mired in political controversy -- represent a "booster dose" for the country.

- Boldly go -

Putin, 65, and Modi, 68, are also set to discuss a possible second Russian-built nuclear power plant in India. Moscow is currently expanding India's biggest nuclear power plant in Kudankulam.

Also on the agenda is Russian training for Indian astronauts as New Delhi aims to launch its first crewed space mission in 2022.

Rakesh Sharma, the only Indian to travel in space, did so on a Soviet spacecraft in 1984.

But military kit is the main focus.

India is the world's biggest arms importer and is undergoing a $100-billion upgrade of its ageing hardware, much of it of Soviet vintage like MiG jets that regularly crash in the Indian countryside.

Russia is still India's biggest arms supplier, and the two have had warm ties since Stalin died in 1953.

The US is now number two, though, supplying the Indian military with advanced hardware like Apache attack helicopters and negotiating the sale of armed drones.

Russia-India trade has slipped below $10 billion since 2014, as Modi has cultivated closer diplomatic and economic ties with Washington, while Russia has courted Pakistan and China.

But ties received a boost last year when Modi and Putin held a fruitful annual bilateral summit, followed by meetings in Astana and at the G20 in Germany. They also met in Sochi this year.

On the strategic front, Russia helped India become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation this year and has backed New Delhi's long-held demand for a permanent UN Security Council seat.

Moscow is also pushing for India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group of countries controling access to nuclear technology despite atomic-armed India not signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

THE NEWS: IOC says boxing's Olympic future in jeopardy

IOC says boxing's Olympic future in jeopardy
source: AFP

AFP/File / Yuri CORTEZ The International Olympic Committee warned in July that boxing could still be axed from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics if the International Boxing Association does not put its house in order

Boxing risks being thrown out of the Olympics unless the sport's ruling body addresses "grave" concerns regarding its governance, the International Olympic Committee executive board said on Wednesday.

A strongly worded IOC statement warned that the International Boxing Association (AIBA) must tackle governance issues at its upcoming congress or it could face sanctions.

"The Executive Board of the IOC today expressed its ongoing extreme concern with the grave situation within the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and its current governance," the board said in a statement.

"These include the circumstances of the establishment of the election list and the misleading communication within the AIBA membership regarding the IOC's position."

The executive board, meeting in Buenos Aires where the Youth Olympic Games begin on Saturday, said the troubles in the AIBA affect "not just the reputation of AIBA and boxing but of sport in general".

"Therefore, the IOC reiterates its clear position that if the governance issues are not properly addressed to the satisfaction of the IOC at the forthcoming AIBA Congress, the existence of boxing on the Olympic programme and even the recognition of AIBA as an International Federation recognised by the IOC are under threat."

The IOC warned in July that boxing could still be axed from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics if the AIBA did not put its house in order.

In February the IOC said they were worried by the nomination of Uzbek businessman Gafur Rakhimov for the AIBA's interim presidency.

However Rakhimov, who has been linked to organized crime by the US Treasury Department, is now the only candidate for the presidency to be voted on at the AIBA congress in Moscow in November.

In attempting to force change at the AIBA this year, the IOC had already suspended financial contributions from the IOC to the AIBA.

Even though the IOC believes sweeping change is needed at the AIBA, the governing body voiced support for boxers themselves.

"At the same time we would like to reassure the athletes that the IOC will -- as it has always done in such situations and is currently doing at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 -- do its utmost to ensure that the athletes do not have to suffer under these circumstances and that we will protect their Olympic dream."

THE NEWS: Bangladesh kids turn the tide on climate change aboard floating schools

Bangladesh kids turn the tide on climate change aboard floating schools
source: AFP

 AFP / Munir UZ ZAMAN Bangladeshi students at a floating school operated by the Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (SSS) charity in Chalan Beel -- one of a range of initiatives to adapt to the challenges brought on by climate change

Mosammat Rekha's older cousins grew up unable to read and write, their tiny village so frequently cut off from the nearest school by floods that would rise suddenly in their remote corner of disaster-prone Bangladesh.

But seven-year-old Mosammat is learning her ABCs aboard a boat fitted with a classroom and play equipment that is helping children thrive even as climate change alters the world around them.

"We can attend classes even during the rainy season, when our homes are barely above water," the seven-year-old told AFP aboard the vessel in Chalan Beel, some 175 kilometres (around 110 miles) northwest of Dhaka.

Climate change is already taking its toll across Bangladesh, a densely populated and impoverished country the United Nations has identified as among the most vulnerable to a warming planet.

Millions in the low-lying nation are being forced to adapt to overflowing rivers, rising seas and increasingly extreme weather in a country frequented by destructive storms and cyclones.


 AFP / Munir UZ ZAMAN In Chalan Beel, more than 20 floating schools chug along rivers and lakes swollen by floods, bringing education to students long denied a chance to learn in one of Bangladesh's poorest locations


Twenty million people there could be made "climate refugees" by the end of the century, a UN panel has warned, turfed out of their homes as rivers swallow towns and seas encroach on coastal communities.

In villages like Kalidaskhali on the banks of the Padma River, these forces are already reshaping lives by the hour.

As much as five metres (16 feet) of riverbank can disappear in a single day, consuming everything in its path, local government official Azizul Azam told AFP.

More than 9,000 people have been displaced by the Padma in just five years, as the main tributary of the Ganges encroaches further and further inland.

"Today my backyard is gone. I had a cowshed over there... now it is just water," said Rukaiya Khatun, watching helplessly as chunks of earth disappeared into the turbid water inching towards her home.


 AFP / Munir UZ ZAMAN More than 9,000 people have been displaced by the Padma river in just five years, as the main tributary of the Ganges encroaches further and further inland

"The Padma has devoured everything."

River erosion -- though long a phenomenon in the delta nation -- is rapidly accelerating due to climate change, said Atiq Rahman, a member of a Nobel Peace Prize-winning UN climate panel.

A warming planet has made monsoon rainfall more unpredictable across Bangladesh and melted Himalayan glaciers to the north, turbocharging the waterways that criss-cross the country.

Many have struggled to adapt as the river has turned, in the words of one villager, "wild and furious".

- Full steam ahead -

But elsewhere, local ingenuity is finding ways around the turbulent and unpredictable forces of nature.


 AFP / Munir UZ ZAMAN River erosion -- though long a phenomenon in the delta nation -- is rapidly accelerating due to climate change, experts say


Students at BRAC University in Dhaka last month unveiled a model for a floating bamboo home, one that could survive a flood or be easily relocated elsewhere in case of inundation.

In Chalan Beel, floating schools chug along rivers and lakes swollen by floods, bringing education to students long denied a chance to learn in one of Bangladesh's poorest locations.

"Now, they have year-round education," said Mohammad Rezwan, head of the Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha charity that runs the pioneering project.

Today they run more than 20 "floating schools" in the Chalan Beel area. Other charities have replicated the idea in different parts of Bangladesh, where the world's largest river delta empties into the Bay of Bengal.


AFP / Munir UZ ZAMAN The more elaborate floating schools are twin-storey designs boasting slides, monkey bars and swing sets for playtime, while banks of solar panels atop the boats power the school’s laptop computers

Smaller models are equipped with desks, libraries and blackboards while more elaborate, twin-storey designs also boast slippery slides, monkey bars and swing sets for playtime.

Children even learn to use laptop computers, all powered by banks of solar panels atop the boats.

At night, once school is over, adults come aboard to learn new techniques for farming in an extreme climate.

Rezwan said farmers were being taught how to plant flood-resistant crops in floating seed beds, a possible lifeline for rural communities who can lose a year's harvest when the waters suddenly rise.

Bangladesh has invested more than $400 million into a new special agency for adaptation projects, including flood embankments, floating farm technology and mobile water-purification stations.

"It shows how seriously we are taking this," said Mukhlesur Rahman Sarker, deputy chief of the government's Bangladesh Climate Change Trust, of the new fund.


 AFP / Munir UZ ZAMAN A man walks through the remains of a home next to the eroding banks of the Padma river in Bangladesh's Rajshahi district


Simple local innovations have changed lives in a generation in Chalan Beel.

Mosammat Jharna, a mother of two, spent her youth hemmed in on all sides by water as unpredictable storm surges and fast-rising floods made walking to the nearest school impossible.

She now beams at the floating school anchored near her home -- a symbol of hope for her children, no matter how the landscape changes in the future.

"My dream of educating my children, including my daughter, has come true," she told AFP. "I don't want to see them end up illiterate like me."