Barcelona opened up an 11-point La  Liga lead over Real Madrid ahead of next weekend's Clasico  between the Spanish giants as Luis Suarez and Paulinho each  scored twice in a 4-0 thrashing of Deportivo la Coruna.
Lionel Messi also saw a penalty saved and hit the  woodwork three times as Barca regained their six-point lead  over Atletico Madrid in second place.
Real remain down in fourth, but do have a game in hand on  their rivals as they missed out on domestic action this  weekend to win the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
"I know people fixate on the difference between us and  Real Madrid, but Atletico are just six points behind," said  Barca boss Ernesto Valverde.
"No matter what happens on Saturday, there is still a  world of a way to go in La Liga."
The only drawback for Barca as they extended their  unbeaten run in all competitions to 24 games since they were  beaten by Real on their last visit to the Santiago Bernabeu in  the Spanish Super Cup back in August, was a ...

Suarez, Paulinho move Barca 11 clear of Real

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Former Brazilian World Cup  champion Kaka announced his retirement as a player, suggesting  that a management career at his old club AC Milan could be on  the cards.
"I am preparing to continue in football and to have a  different role, but I will no longer be a professional player,  an athlete," the 2007 Ballon d'Or winner told Globo  television.
"I would like to take part in a club in a role more  like... a manager, a sporting director -- someone between the  field and the club."
Kaka, 35, said AC Milan "recently made this proposal".
On his Twitter feed, devout Christian Kaka, who was part  of Brazil's 2002 World Cup-winning team, wrote: "Father, It  was much more than I could ever imagined. Thank you! I'm now  ready for the next journey. In Jesus' name. Amem."
He started his storied career with Sao Paulo in Brazil,  where his performances attracted the attention of Europe's  leading clubs and prompted a move to Milan in 2003.
It was while at Milan that Kaka picked up the Ballon  ...

Brazilian star Kaka announces retirement

Atletico Madrid and France forward  Antoine Griezmann was forced to remove a photograph from  Twitter showing him blacked up and mimicking a Harlem  Globetrotter basketball player after the post caused  controversy.
Griezmann was wearing a basketball jersey and a wig with  his face, legs and arms blacked up alongside the caption "80's  party" in the photograph on his personal Twitter page.
Although the post initially provoked little comment in  Spain where Griezmann has spent the entirety of his  professional career, many Twitter users around the world  questioned the 26-year-old player's choice of fancy dress,  with some saying it was racist.
Griezmann first responded to the criticism by posting:  "Calm down friends, I am a fan of the Harlem Globetrotters and  this beautiful era... it's a tribute."
He did not immediately delete the original photo, but  later he did remove the post and then tweeted an apology.
"I recognise that it was clumsy of me. If I have offended  people, I ...

Griezmann 'blacked-up' photo sparks controversy

Rain and a wet pitch stalled  Australia's push for victory on the final day of the third  Ashes Test in Perth today.
Showers caused play to be abandoned early on the fourth  day and they continued through to Monday morning, forcing a  scheduled early resumption to be cancelled.
Australia need just six more wickets to win the match and  regain the Ashes.
Complicating matters further was a damp spot on the  pitch, just outside the popping crease at the southern end,  with WACA ground staff working furiously with leaf blowers to  try to dry it out.
It was unclear how the water got through the covers onto  the pitch, although there was some suggestion it happened when  strong winds lifted them up.
Match officials were confident the problem would be  resolved once the rain stopped, but no time had been set for  the resumption.

Wet pitch delays play in third Ashes Test

A mudslide that buried much of a  village in southern Chile has killed 11 people while another  15 are still missing, authorities have said.
The tragedy struck a picturesque village of Villa Santa  Lucia in the southern Los Lagos (Lakes) region where heavy  rain triggered mudslides that swallowed up most of the homes  in the village of 300.
Ten families have been evacuated, Onemi added yesterday.
The town was unable to vote in Sunday's presidential  runoff won by conservative ex-president Sebastian Pinera.
The toll surged from a previous count of eight dead and  12 injured.

11 dead, 15 missing in Chile mudslide

Honduran President  Juan Orlando Hernandez was declared today the winner of a  heavily disputed presidential election held three weeks ago,  despite mounting protests and opposition claims of fraud.
Electoral authorities made the announcement the day that  Hernandez's leftist opponent, Salvador Nasralla, left for the  United States to highlight what he said was ballot tampering  in the November 26 poll.

Honduran president declared winner of disputed poll

Police in Gabon arrested dozens  of people today over a knife attack that wounded two Danish  nationals working for National Geographic, apparently in  retribution for "US attacks against Muslims," officials said.
The men detained were mostly traders and sellers in the  popular market in Libreville where the attack occurred  Saturday -- and all are from west Africa.
An official said they were taken to police headquarters,  where they are due to be questioned.
"Operations are ongoing," government spokesman Alain-  Claude Bilie By Nze told AFP. "We are not commenting at this  stage."
National Geographic confirmed that the targets of the  attack were working for the organisation.
"We are deeply saddened to confirm the reports that the  two Danish nationals horrifically attacked in Gabon are  members of the National Geographic family," it said in a  statement.
"We are in direct contact with the victims and the Danish  production company with whom they were on assignment, and our  main ...

Gabon arrests dozens in knife attack that wounded two Danes

Toronto's homicide unit has taken  over a probe into the "suspicious" deaths of Canadian  pharmaceutical billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife Honey,  police said today after finding they had died of  strangulation.
"The cause of death for both deceased was ligature neck  compression," Toronto police said in a statement following  post-mortem investigations of the bodies of the 75-year-old  chairman of the board of Apotex and his 70-year-old wife.
"Toronto Police Service Homicide has taken the lead in  this suspicious death investigation."
Police provided no further details on the case.
At 11:44 am on Friday, police responded to an emergency  call to the couple's home on Old Colony Road, in a tony  neighborhood of Toronto.
Local media cited a police source as saying the Shermans'  bodies were found hanging from a railing around a basement  pool, the theory being that the Apotex chairman killed his  wife Honey, hung her body and then hanged himself by the  pool's edge.
But their ...

Homicide team probing deaths of Canada billionaire couple

Billionaire Sebastian Pinera will  return to power as Chile's president next year, according to  virtually complete results from a runoff election held today.
Electoral authorities said the 68-year-old conservative,  who previously led the South American nation from 2010-2014,  had 55 percent of the vote, with 98 per cent of ballots  counted.
His leftist rival Alejandro Guillier, a 64-year-old TV  presenter turned senator who ran as an independent backed by  outgoing center-left President Michelle Bachelet, conceded  after receiving 45 percent.
"We have suffered a tough defeat," Guillier said. He  called for the opposition to "defend" reforms started under  Bachelet.
He said Pinera walked away with "a solid and impeccable  triumph."
Pinera will lead the country -- the world's top copper  producer -- for four years starting in March 2018.
He will once again take over from Bachelet, who was  barred by the constitution from running for re-election.
Bachelet and Pinera have tag-teamed the 

Billionaire Pinera to return as Chile's president

The UN Security Council will  vote tomorrow on a draft resolution that would reject US  President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as  the capital of Israel, diplomats said.
Egypt requested the vote today, a day after it presented  the measure that is likely to be vetoed by the United States.
Breaking with international consensus, Trump this month  announced that he would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's  capital and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, sparking  protests and strong condemnation.
US Vice President Mike Pence will visit Jerusalem on  Wednesday, wading into the crisis over one of the most  controversial issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel seized control of the eastern part of the city in  the 1967 Middle East war and sees all of Jerusalem as its  undivided capital. The Palestinians view the east as the  capital of their future state.
The draft resolution obtained by AFP stresses that  Jerusalem is an issue "to be resolved through ...

UN to vote tomorrow on measure rejecting US Jerusalem decision

US Senator John McCain will miss  a key vote on the Republican tax bill, further narrowing the  already-thin margin of support for the controversial measure,  US media reported today.
The legislation, which will slash corporate taxes as well  as cutting those for individuals, has been criticized as  primarily benefiting the wealthy.
The measure is President Donald Trump's last shot at a  major legislative accomplishment in his first year in office.
CBS News reported that McCain, who was hospitalized for  side effects of chemotherapy treatment for brain cancer,  returned to Arizona today and would miss the tax overhaul  vote.
CNN also reported that McCain would miss the vote, which  is expected to be held in the next few days.
His daughter Meghan said her father would be spending the  holidays in Arizona.
"My father is doing well and we are all looking forward  to spending Christmas together in Arizona," she wrote on  Twitter.
If McCain is absent, Republicans -- who have a 52-48  ...

US Senator John McCain to miss key tax vote: reports

A British woman employed at the UK  embassy in Lebanon has been found murdered, a senior official  said today, adding that the crime did not appear to be  political.
"Our first impression is that it's not politically  motivated," the official, who is involved in the  investigation, told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He confirmed that the victim's name was Rebecca Dykes but  could not elaborate on the exact circumstances of her death.
A statement from the Foreign Office and the family  provided no further details.
"We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. We  are doing all we can to understand what happened," the family  said in a statement passed on by the Foreign Office.
According to Dykes' social media profiles, she was  employed by the UK Department for International Development  (DFID) which issued a statement following confirmation of her  death.
"Our thoughts are with Becky's family and friends at this  very upsetting time," DFID said, adding that the ...

British embassy worker found murdered in Lebanon: official

Billionaire former president  Sebastian Pinera will return as Chile's leader next year,  according to near-complete official results from a runoff  election held today.
Pinera's leftist rival in the race, senator and former TV  presenter Alejandro Guillier, recognized his "tough defeat."
Electoral authorities said Pinera won 55 per cent of the  vote, based on a count of 92 per cent of the ballots.

Billionaire Pinera to return as Chile's president: results

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  expressed hope that Turkey would soon be able to open an  embassy to a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, as he  stepped up his attacks on Donald Trump's recognition of the  city as the Israeli capital.
Erdogan has sought to lead Islamic condemnation of his US  counterpart's move, calling a summit of the leaders of Muslim  nations last week in Istanbul who urged the world to recognise  East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel after it seized  control of the area in the 1967 war, in a move never  recognised by the international community.
"Because it is under occupation we can't just go there  and open an embassy," Erdogan said in a speech to his ruling  party yesterday in the city of Karaman.
"But, God willing those days are near and... we will  officially open our embassy there," he said, without giving  any precise timescale.
Turkey currently has a general consulate in Jerusalem.  Ankara has full diplomatic ...

Turkey to open 'embassy to Palestine in Jerusalem': Erdogan

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip  fired two rockets at southern Israel today, the Israeli army  said in a statement without giving further details.
State-owned Kan 11 TV said nobody was injured, despite  one of the rockets apparently hitting a house.
The attacks ended a three-day lull in the latest wave of  rocket attacks amid anger over US President Donald Trump's  December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
On Wednesday Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system  intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza while a third came  down inside Israeli territory.
Early Thursday morning Israeli aircraft hit three  "military facilities" of the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.
Militants in the Palestinian enclave have fired both  rockets and mortar rounds into Israel since Trump's deeply  controversial announcement.
Trump's announcement was followed by protests across the  Palestinian territories, with six Gazans killed -- four in  clashes with Israeli forces along the border and two .

Palestinians in Gaza fire rockets at Israel: army

A senior adviser to Iran's  supreme leader today accused French President Emmanuel Macron  of being the political "apprentice" of his American  counterpart, Fars news agency reported.
"If France is trying to retain some respectability on  the international scene, it should not be the subordinate of  the Americans and it must learn not to follow in (Donald)  Trump's steps," said Ali Akbar Velayati, senior foreign policy  adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei.
"Today, the French president is the apprentice of  Trump in Europe," he added according to Fars, a news agency  close to Iranian conservatives.
Macron, who has announced plans to visit Iran in 2018,  has been regularly criticised by the country's conservative  media over comments he made in November about its ballistic  missile programme.
In an interview published on November 8 by the Emirati  newspaper Al-Ittihad, the French president called for  vigilance towards Tehran.
"It is important to remain firm with Iran over its  regional ...

Top Iranian official says Macron 'apprentice' of Trump

The Pentagon has acknowledged  funding a secret multi-million dollar program to investigate  sightings of UFOs.
The shadowy program ended in 2012, according to the  Defense Department, but the New York Times reported that it is  still up and running -- with officials continuing to study  incidents brought to their attention by US military service  members while performing their regular duties at the Pentagon.
The so-called Advanced Aviation Threat Identification  Program operated from 2007 to 2012 and had $22 million a year  in funding tucked away in the Pentagon's gargantuan budget,  the Times said, quoting program participants and records.
The program yielded documents describing sightings of  unidentified flying aircraft that apparently moved very fast  with no visible sign of propulsion or hovered with no apparent  means of lift, the Times said.
Program officials also examined video of encounters  between unknown objects and US military aircraft.
This included one released in ...

Revealed: the Pentagon's secret UFO-hunting program

Russian President Vladimir Putin has  thanked his US counterpart Donald Trump for the CIA's help in  foiling a plot to attack the city of Saint Petersburg, the  Kremlin said today.
Putin spoke by phone with Trump to thank him for  intelligence supplied by the CIA which allowed Russia's FSB  security service to break up an Islamic State group cell that  was planning a suicide attack on December 16, it said in a  statement carried by Russian news agencies.
The FSB announced on Friday it had arrested seven members  of a cell that had been planning a suicide attack and "the  killing of citizens" in crowded areas of Russia's second city.
Police confiscated a "large number of explosives used to  make homemade bombs, automatic rifles, munitions and extremist  literature," it said in a statement.
On Tuesday, FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov said Russia was  on alert for the possible return of jihadists from Syria ahead  of the World Cup and the presidential election in 2018.
Russia has suffered .

Putin thanks Trump for help in foiling attack plot

A Gaza  Strip restaurant is offering mouth-watering discounts to any  North Koreans who might be passing by in gratitude for  Pyongyang condemning the US recognition of Jerusalem as  Israel's capital.
But restaurateur Salim Rabaa is unlikely to have to  honour his generous pledge.
"80 per cent off for Korean customers in appreciation of  the role of Korean leader Kim (Jong-Un) in our Palestinian  cause," a sign on the Rabaa Restaurant in the Jabalia refugee  camp reads.
There are currently no North Koreans in the besieged  coastal Palestinian territory, nor do any Palestinian  residents hold the citizenship, according to the Gaza interior  ministry.
But Kim has won admirers for his vocal criticism of  Israel and his jibes about the controversial American policy  shift on Jerusalem.
US President Donald Trump announced on December 6 he  would recognise the disputed city as Israel's capital and move  his embassy there.
Kim responded by calling Trump a "dotard" and slamming  his decision .

Gaza restaurant offers N.Koreans discount in gesture to Kim

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin  Salman has been revealed as the owner of a French chateau  described as the world's most expensive home, according to a  report in the New York Times.
The purchase of the vast property west of Paris for USD  300 million (275 million euros) would be the latest in a  string of extravagant purchases by the powerful prince, who  has been waging a sweeping anti-corruption campaign.
The newly-built chateau was sold to a mystery buyer in  2015, and though its ownership is concealed through shell  companies, advisers to the royal family have confirmed the  prince is its ultimate owner, the Times reported Saturday.
Saudi officials have declined to comment on the report,  which comes after French investigative website Mediapart  similarly pointed to the prince as the owner in July.
Fortune magazine reported at the time of the 2015 sale  that the Chateau Louis XIV -- which has fountains that can be  controlled by iPhone -- had smashed records to become the  ...

Saudi crown prince 'buyer of $300 mn French chateau'

A lawyer for Donald Trump's  transition team has alleged special counsel Robert Mueller  unlawfully received tens of thousands of emails, in the latest  attack on the credibility of the probe into Russian meddling  in the US election.
With the ex-FBI director's investigation making inroads  into the president's inner circle in recent weeks, Republicans  have cast doubt on its impartiality and pressed for a new  independent prosecutor to investigate anti-Trump bias.
This in turn has led to speculation that the  administration could be laying the groundwork for firing  Mueller.
In a letter to congressional committees, Trump campaign  lawyer Kory Langhofer alleged the General Services  Administration (GSA) "unlawfully produced" private materials,  including privileged communications which Mueller then used as  part of his Russia probe.
GSA is the government agency which supports presidential  transitions -- the interim period after a new president is  elected but before he takes ...

AFP

AFP

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