Bruised by months of street protests and calls to resign, Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam came to Davos with a tricky pitch to sell -- that the Chinese territory is still a safe destination for investment and she is not going anywhere.
Her stay at the four-day event in the Swiss Alps, which wraps up Friday, was shadowed by a downgrade from Moody's a day before World Economic Forum (WEF) even began on the grounds of a lack of government response to the protests.
Lam must also now deal with the health, social and economic consequences of the coronavirus in China, openly admitting Hong Kong is extremely vulnerable due to the flows of people from the mainland.
"I feel that we have gone through some very tough times. I personally have gone through and am still going through some very tough times," she said in candid remarks at a dinner late Thursday.
Lam has come under huge pressure as she struggled to end more than seven months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests in 

In Davos, Hong Kong battles to regain lost investor glitter

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Kuwait's foreign ministry summoned Iran's ambassador Friday after a high-level Iranian official implicated the emirate in the US drone attack that killed top general Qasem Soleimani, official news agency KUNA reported.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah expressed Kuwait's "amazement" at the claim that one of its air bases had been among those used to carry out the January 3 attack, KUNA said.
It said he was referring to a statement by Brigadier-General Amirali Hajizadeh, aerospace commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
"MQ-9 UAVs (drones) were flying in the region (at the time of the attack) that had mostly taken off from Kuwait's Ali al-Salem" base, Hajizadeh told Iranian state television Thursday.
Jarallah told the ambassador, Mohammed Irani, that Kuwait had already denied any role in the deadly attack in Baghdad.
He said such a claim "risks damaging relations" between Kuwait and Iran.
Soleimani had been at the centre of power-broking in the region for two decades as ...

Kuwait summons Iran envoy over Soleimani killing claim

Russia's defence minister said Friday it is sending out invitations to NATO states to take part in annual Moscow-led military drills called the "International Army Games."
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has invited "troops from 90 countries including NATO members," the ministry said on its website.
The games include events such as tank biathlon, where tank crews practise shooting, as well as an obstacle course.
This year's games will focus on "security as a whole, medical care and logistics," and should be visually entertaining, Shoigu said.
Around 6,000 troops were expected to take part in the event that runs from late August to early September, the ministry said.
Last year, several EU countries sent observers and Greece took part.
The games, which have been held since 2015, usually include former Communist regimes such as China, Vietnam and Angola, as well as Moscow allies like Iran.
NATO and Russia often spook each other with war games close to the border between Russia and eastern 

Russia invites NATO members to take part in war games

The plight of baby kangaroos and koalas orphaned by Australia's bushfires has prompted a sewing frenzy in France, where an appeal for cloth pouches for the animals has reaped thousands of contributions.
The call for international help was first issued by Australia's Animal Rescue Collective Craft Guild and promptly shared by the Australian Park, a wildlife reserve in the southwestern French town of Carcassonne.
Within a few days, schools, retirement homes and sewing enthusiasts had begun churning out small bags in which to swaddle the stranded creatures.
"We were completely surprised and overwhelmed by the outpouring of generosity that came from all parts of France," Carole Masson, the park's director, told AFP.
The apocalyptic wildfires that ravaged vast tracts of southern and eastern Australia over the past five months have killed an estimated one billion animals, an ecological disaster unprecedented in the country's history.
Rescue workers have been searching forests strewn with ...

French sewing fans to the rescue of Australia's kangaroos

The death toll from a powerful gas tanker explosion that ripped through a district of Lima rose to eight on Friday, after four more victims succumbed to severe burn injuries overnight, Peru's health ministry said.
Dozens were wounded, some severely, when the truck tanker carrying Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) exploded and ignited a major fire on Thursday that destroyed several houses in the capital's Villa El Salvador district.
"According to the latest report we have eight people dead," a health ministry spokesman told AFP.
Among those who died of their injuries overnight were a 17-year-old youth and a 38-year-old man who had burns to 100 percent of his body, the ministry said.
"Andres Asto arrived yesterday badly burned. Unfortunately he died at 0340 local time," said Rosario Kiyohara, head of Lima's Dos de Mayo hospital.
Health Minister Maria Elizabeth Hinostrozo said several survivors are in a "very serious" condition.
"They are being given full support, but the first week is ...

Death toll in Peru gas tanker blast rises to eight: ministry

Thousands of supporters of Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr amassed in Baghdad on Friday demanding the ouster of US troops, prompting rival protests seeking to keep the spotlight on months-long calls for reform.
Sadr's march rattled the separate protest movement that has gripped the capital and Shiite-majority south since October, urging a government overhaul, early elections and more accountability.
Thousands of men, women and children massed under grey skies in east Baghdad's Jadiriyah district, chanting "Get out, get out, occupier!"
Some waved signs in Arabic and English reading "Death to America" and one protester carried a cardboard cut-out of US President Donald Trump on the gallows.
Sadr himself did not attend, but a representative read a statement in his name.
It demanded all foreign forces leave Iraq, Iraqi-American security agreements be cancelled, Iraqi airspace be closed to US military aircraft and for Trump not to be "arrogant" when addressing Iraqi officials.
"If all this is ...

Iraqis mass to urge US troop ouster, youth rallies vie for spotlight

South African authorities on Friday reburied nine men hanged by the apartheid government in 1961 in one of the darkest episodes of the country's racially-divided past.
Known as the "Cato Manor Nine," the group were executed for allegedly killing nine police officers in clashes sparked by raids at a township in KwaZulu-Natal province.
Hailed by the anti-apartheid movement as heroes, the nine were buried in unmarked graves in the capital Pretoria, some 640 kilometres (390 miles) away.
Their remains were exhumed last December last year by the Justice Department's Truth and Reconciliation Commission Unit, supported by specialists in missing persons working for National Prosecuting Authority.
They were reburied with honour on Friday at Heroes Arch in Chesterville -- the resting place in KwaZulu-Natal for many apartheid activists and musicians.
"It has been 60 years since the death of these nine heroes and our country has seen 25 years of democracy," said Justice Minister Ronald Lamola at a 

S Africa reburies nine men hanged in apartheid era

Fifteen people went on trial in the Moroccan capital on Friday over the theft of dozens of luxury watches belonging to King Mohammed VI.
Defence lawyers said the suspects, arrested at the end of last year, were also charged in a Rabat court of forming "a criminal gang".
The main suspect is a 46-year-old who worked as a cleaning woman in a royal household and has allegedly confessed to the robberies, while the others have denied involvement.
The woman, who is alleged to have stolen 36 watches, had many of them melted down and sold on to gold merchants.
The 14 others in court, all men, are gold traders or intermediaries who said they had no knowledge of the robberies.
Forbes magazine in 2014 classified the 56-year-old monarch as one of the world's richest men with wealth estimated at more than USD 2.5 billion.
He has a taste for luxury cars, paintings and watches, and was shown in an Instagram post in September 2018 with a Patek Philippe diamond-encrusted watch in white gold with an ...

15 on trial for robbing Morocco king of luxury watches

A violent storm which wrought havoc across huge swathes of Spain's eastern and southern coastline this week claimed 12 lives and left four others missing, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Friday, blaming climate change for the extreme weather.
While visiting a trade fair in Madrid, the Socialist premier expressed his "solidarity with the families of the 12 people who died" and said the government would spare no effort to locate the four missing "as soon as possible".
Local authorities had previously reported 11 storm-related deaths since Sunday, when Storm Gloria hit the region bringing strong winds, torrential rains and heavy snow, battering Spain's southern and eastern flanks before moving north.
Gale-force winds and huge waves of up to 14.8 metres (49 feet) high smashed into seafront towns, with dramatic images showing massive flooding that damaged shops, houses and restaurants.
A storm surge swept three kilometres (two miles) inland up the Ebro river delta south of Barcelona, ...

Storm Gloria claims 12 lives in Spain, four missing

Zak Crawley's maiden Test half-century gave England a solid foundation before South Africa struck back on the first day of the fourth and final Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday.
Holding an unbeatable 2-1 series lead, England were 192 for four when bad light ended a rain-shortened day.
England's youthful opening pair of Crawley (66) and Dom Sibley (39) shared England's first century opening partnership since 2016 and blunted South Africa's fast bowlers on a pitch which both captains expected to be challenging for batsmen.
Crawley, 21, and Sibley, 24, put on 107 before Sibley was caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock to give new cap Beuran Hendricks his first Test wicket.
South Africa claimed three more wickets to have England at a slightly precarious 157 for four but captain Joe Root and Ollie Pope took the tourists safely through to the close in deteriorating light.
Rain prevented any play before lunch and the South African bowling was surprisingly ...

Crawley hits maiden fifty before South Africa fight back

A gunman killed six people and seriously wounded two others in southwestern Germany on Friday, police said, with local media reporting that the victims were relatives of the shooter.
The gunman, believed to have a personal motive, launched an assault in the town of Rot am See.
Police in nearby Aalen told AFP that a man with a personal connection to the victims had been arrested and there was no indication that other gunmen were involved.
After the shooting at around 12:45 pm (1145 GMT), first responders arrived on the scene to find the dead and wounded in and around a local hotel.
Police said they responded to the shooting "in force", and images from the scene showed large numbers of emergency vehicles and heavily armed officers sealing off the area with red and white police tape.
Meanwhile forensics teams dressed in white coveralls moved in to secure evidence.  The police told local TV that the suspect was a German.
The Bild newspaper reported that the people killed were family ...

Gunman kills six in Germany attack

Pep Guardiola wants FA Cup replays to be scrapped as the Manchester City manager prepares for Sunday's fourth round tie against Fulham.
Guardiola is one of several Premier League bosses concerned about the damage being done to his players by the gruelling demands of the English fixture list.
The Spaniard has already admitted he would be happy to see the League Cup cancelled as a way to ease congestion, even though City have won the competition for the last two seasons and face Manchester United in the semi-final second leg next Wednesday.
Aware that a busy period for City would be even more packed if second tier Fulham get a draw at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola has proposed getting rid of all remaining FA Cup replays.
The Football Association abolished them from the fifth round onwards last term and Guardiola, having seen Manchester United's Marcus Rashford injured on FA Cup duty earlier in January, said: "I'm not saying what the FA has to do. When I said my comment I never expected .

Guardiola calls for FA Cup replays to be scrapped

US President Donald Trump was to address the country's biggest annual anti-abortion rally on Friday -- just blocks from Congress where senators are sitting in judgment at his impeachment trial.
Trump, with his eyes on the Christian evangelical support he'll need for re-election in November, will be the first president to deliver a speech to the "March for Life" campaigners in person.
In what will surely be a remarkable split-screen moment, Trump will address a crowd of thousands on the sprawling National Mall as Democratic prosecutors take to the floor of the Senate.
The seven Democratic impeachment "managers" are to make their final arguments on Friday for why Trump should be removed from office for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
White House lawyers will then have 24 hours, starting Saturday, to present their defense of the president, who was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 18.
While impeachment will forever stain his record, Trump is virtually ...

Trump at anti-abortion rally as Democrats wrap impeachment case

Zak Crawley hit his maiden Test half-century as England made a strong start on the first day of the fourth and final Test against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday.
England were 100 for no wicket at tea with Crawley on 57 not out and Dom Sibley on 39.
Crawley, 21, playing in his fourth Test, looked confident from the start, which was delayed until after lunch because of rain. He drove firmly off the front foot against a surprisingly unthreatening South African pace attack. He hit ten boundaries in facing 99 balls.
Defending an unassailable 2-1 series lead, England captain Joe Root decided to bat after his South African counterpart Faf du Plessis lost his seventh successive Test toss.
Both captains expected batting to be tricky on a pitch which usually favours fast bowlers -- and both teams opted for all-seam bowling attacks. But there was no discernible swing or sharp movement off the surface as England's young openers scored at better than three runs an over.
Sibley was 

Crawley hits maiden fifty as England openers make strong start

Britain is expected to announce next week whether to allow China's Huawei to develop its 5G network, an official said Friday, amid indications it will agree to grant at least limited access despite intense US opposition.
A senior UK official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the decision had not yet been taken but likely would be next week -- and strongly hinted at a green light for Huawei.
The United States has banned Huawei from the rollout of its next generation 5G mobile networks because of concerns -- strongly denied -- that the firm could be under the control of Beijing.
Washington has been lobbying Britain to do the same, even threatening to limit intelligence sharing between the two allies if the UK goes its own way.
There has been widespread speculation that Britain would allow Huawei into "non-core" elements of 5G networks, such as antennae and base stations attached to masts and roofs.
British Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said this week that a decision would be 

UK 'to decide on Huawei 5G next week'

At least two people were killed in a pre-dawn explosion at an industrial building in the US city of Houston on Friday, police said.
"We do have confirmed fatalities in this case, at least two confirmed fatalities," city police chief Art Acevedo told reporters.
"The Houston Police Department has initiated a criminal investigation.

At least 2 dead in Houston building explosion: US police

The European Union on Friday named an ambassador to post-Brexit Britain, to take up his duties on February 1, the United Kingdom's first day outside the bloc.
The nomination of Joao Vale de Almeida, previously Brussels' top envoy to the UN and to the US, came after top EU officials signed the UK's divorce papers.
Early in his long career with the European Commission, Vale de Almeida was on the team of spokespersons that fielded questions from journalists -- including one Boris Johnson, who was a Brussels-based correspondent three decades ago and is now British prime minister.
The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced in a statement that the appointment of an ambassador was necessary because, from February 1, "the United Kingdom will be a third country".
As a consequence, the EU will maintain in the UK a "delegation" -- analogous to an embassy -- just as it does in other non-EU countries such as Turkey, the US or Australia.
Vale de Almeida, a 62-year-old Portuguese ...

EU names ambassador to post-Brexit Britain

A woman in Chicago in her sixties was on Friday confirmed as the second patient on US soil infected with a deadly new virus that has sickened hundreds in China, health officials said, with 50 other suspected cases under investigation.
"I'm pleased to report she is clinically doing well and is in stable condition," said Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

US confirms second case of China virus, 50 under investigation

Six people were killed and two seriously wounded in a shooting in southwestern Germany, police said on Friday.
The shooter, believed to have a personal motive, launched an assault in the town of Rot am See.
Police in nearby Aalen told AFP a man with a personal connection to the victims had been arrested and there was no indication that other gunmen were involved.
The police told local TV that the suspect was a German.
After the shooting at around 12:45 (1145 GMT), police arrived on the scene to find the dead and wounded in and around a local hotel.
The Bild newspaper reported that the people killed were family members of the shooter, adding that the perpetrator was a man born in 1983.
Police were unable to confirm details of the relationships or the identity of the shooter.
The shooting took place near the train station at Rot am See, a town of 5,200 residents near Heidelberg.
Aalen police urged people to "refrain from speculation" about the shootings in a message on Twitter.
Police ..

Gunman kills six in Germany attack: police

At least 21 people have died in Madagascar following almost a week of torrential rain in the north-west of the island, the government said on Friday.
The tropical Indian Ocean nation is in the midst of an intense six-month rainy season that often leads to casualties and widespread damage.
Flooding in the districts of Mitsinjo and Maevatanana has claimed at least 21 lives since Sunday, and 20 more people are still missing and thousands displaced, the National Bureau of Disaster Risk Management (BNGRC) announced on Friday.
Strips of road were swept away by the rains and access to affected areas has been cut off.
The BNGRC warned that flooding in lowland and rice-growing areas posed a risk of "food insecurity and malnutrition".
A disruption in the supply of basic goods could also lead to surge in prices, it added.
Opposition lawmaker Hanitriniaina Razafimanantsoa called on President Andry Rajoelina to declare a "natural disaster".
The rainy season usually stretches from October to April .

Heavy rain kills dozens in Madagascar

Former nuns "abandoned" by the Catholic Church, including some who became prostitutes to survive, have been sheltered at a Vatican residence for more than a year, a Brazilian cardinal said.
Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz confirmed the house's existence at an undisclosed location in Vatican City during an interview for the February issue of the Vatican's magazine Women Church World.
In the wide-ranging interview about women's roles in the church, Braz said existence of the home underscored Pope Francis' desire to rectify abuses within the Church, such as nuns who are expelled from their convents with nowhere to go.
"At times they are completely abandoned," Braz said, according to an advance copy of the issue released on Thursday.
"But things are changing. The most significant example is precisely the pope's decision to establish in Rome a house to welcome in from the street nuns who were sent away by us, or by the superiors, especially if they are foreigners."
Braz said he had visited the .

AFP

AFP

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