A rom-com about a lesbian flight attendant and a romance in a gay spa are among the shows featured on Asia's first LGBT-focused streaming service, which is pushing boundaries in an often highly conservative region.
GagaOOLala brings more than 1,000 feature films, shorts, web series, and documentaries to people across Asia, where censorship and traditional attitudes mean there has been little in the way of gay content in the mainstream media.
After launching in 2017 in Taiwan, a beacon for gay rights since becoming the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, it has expanded to 21 territories including several that still criminalise homosexuality.
"One of the main impetuses for me to create GagaOOlala, (is) to kind of dispel a lot of the myths and misconceptions that a lot of people might have about LGBT people," said Jay Lin, a prominent LGBT rights activist in Taiwan who founded the platform.
"We're not all living really tragic lives -- we're entrepreneurs, we're fathers," .

Asia's first LGBT-focused streaming service tackles taboos

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For the past few months Hasan Zaidi's phone has been ringing nonstop with calls from desperate residents in Pakistan hoping to get their hands on his newly invented air purifier as smog blankets the country.
"Some days, I had so many calls that I couldn't answer," says Zaidi during a recent interview with AFP in his workshop.
Tired of choking on putrid air, Zaidi spent six months perfecting his homemade device as he looked for a low-cost solution to battle the increasingly toxic scourge overwhelming Pakistan.
During this winter alone the 31-year-old engineer has already sold some 500 units, which are priced at just 16,000 Pakistani rupees (USD 103), but admits to refusing hundreds of orders in recent weeks due to lack of manpower and resources.
In cash-strapped Pakistan Zaidi's "Indoor Forest" purifiers are cheaper than imported models, which typically cost about two to five times more.
"Now it is less of a luxury and more of a necessity," explains Sadia Khan, whose company Autosoft ..

With purifiers and lawsuits, Pakistanis fight back against smog

New Zealand have turned to Will Somerville for his experience of playing in Sydney as they look to avoid a whitewash in the third and final Test against Australia.
Off-spinner Somerville, who was raised in Australia and played Sheffield Shield for New South Wales, will replace injured pace bowler Trent Boult for the Test starting in Sydney on Friday.
Coach Gary Stead said the inclusion of the lanky 1.93 metre (6ft 4in) Somerville was a nod to the expected conditions at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
"There's no secret the SCG pitch is one of the more spin-friendly in Australia," Stead said.
"Will offers something different to our two other spinners in the squad with his right arm off-spin and height.
"The fact he's played a lot of cricket in Sydney during his career for New South Wales will also be helpful as we prepare for this final Test."
Somerville, 35, has played three Tests, taking seven wickets on his debut against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi last year and a total of seven in two Tests ..

Ailing New Zealand call up Sydney specialist for third Test

Struggling West Ham said they had appointed David Moyes as manager for the second time in a bid to safeguard their place in the Premier League.
Moyes, whose career has never recovered from a deeply unsuccessful spell as Manchester United boss in 2013-14, succeeds Manuel Pellegrini, who was sacked after a 2-1 defeat to Leicester on Saturday that left the Hammers just one point above the relegation zone.
The 56-year-old has been without a club since leaving West Ham after a six-month spell in the 2017-18 season.
Moyes guided West Ham to safety that season after Slaven Bilic was dismissed in early November and will be tasked with doing the same for a second time.
"It's fabulous to be back," said Moyes in a club statement on Sunday.
"I'm feeling very proud that I'm back here at West Ham. But I think more importantly I'll be looking to see what I can do and what I can make improvements to.
"I do believe that the squad of players I've got here is a better squad of players than when I took ..

Struggling West Ham turn to Moyes for second time

US billionaire Dan Friedkin is poised to buy a majority stake in Italian club Roma in a deal worth up to 780 million euros ($872 million), according to several reports in Italy.
The 54-year-old Texas-based businessman will imminently take over from a US consortium led by fellow American James Pallotta, who bought two-thirds of Roma's shares in 2012.
Gazzetta Dello Sport and Sky Sports Italia reported that a preliminary agreement has been reached between both parties.
There was no official confirmation of the deal but Roma had in November said the club was in  "preliminary talks with potential investors".
Friedkin is the chief executive of Friedkin Group, the owner of Gulf States Toyota, an independent vehicle distributor in the US.
Friedkin's son Ryan could move to the Italian capital to manage the club, according to Italian news agency AGI.
Pallotta, chairman of Boston-based hedge fund Raptor Capital Management, may keep a minority stake in the club, according to reports.
Three-time .

US businessman Friedkin set to buy AS Roma - reports

Liverpool needed the aid of VAR to re-establish their 13-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Wolves as a late Chelsea fightback inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Arsenal in Mikel Arteta's first home game in charge.
Manchester City remain 14 points adrift of the runaway league leaders, but closed the gap on second-placed Leicester thanks to second-half goals from Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne to beat Sheffield United 2-0.
Sadio Mane scored the only goal of a controversial clash at Anfield as Liverpool extended their unbeaten run at home in the league to 50 games.
"If it would be easy to win that number of games a lot more teams would have done it," said Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
"It is not easy and you have to fight with all you have. Sometimes we have more and sometimes less and the boys do that all the time, so I couldn't be more proud of what they did again."
Mane's strike three minutes before half-time was initially ruled out for a handball by Adam ...

Liverpool ride their luck to beat Wolves, Chelsea comeback stuns Arsenal

The United States military said it killed four "terrorists" in airstrikes against the Al-Shabaab militant group in Somalia on Sunday, a day after the country's deadliest attack in two years.
US Africa Command (AFRICOM) conducted three airstrikes in two locations in the conflict-hit east African nation on Sunday targeting Al-Shabaab militants, it said in a statement.
"These precision airstrikes targeted Al-Shabaab militants responsible for terrorist acts against innocent Somali citizens and coordinating with Al-Qaeda," AFRICOM said.
"The US and the federal government of Somalia will continue to increase pressure on the terrorist organization in order to deny them the ability to plot terrorist attacks."
Sunday's strikes killed two militants and destroyed two vehicles in Qunyo Barrow while a separate strike killed another two in Caliyoow Barrow, according to AFRICOM, which regularly carries out airstrikes in Somalia.
They followed a massive car bomb explosion in a busy area of Mogadishu .

US strikes in Somalia kill four militants

A 62-year-old Australian man is missing off the coast of New Zealand after he was seen jumping overboard from a cruise liner, search officials said Monday.
Three helicopters and two nearby container ships searched unsuccessfully for several hours for the man before the search was called off because of deteriorating weather.
The passenger went overboard the Norwegian Jewel at about 7:00pm on Sunday near Napier on the east coast of the North Island.
In a statement issued to New Zealand news media, the Norwegian Cruise Line said CCTV footage and witness statements indicated the man "deliberately jumped" off the ship.
"Unfortunately, the guest has not been found. Our thoughts and prayers are with the individual's family during this difficult time," the shipping line said.
It was not immediately known whether the missing man had travelling companions or was on his own.

Australian missing after he 'deliberately jumped' off cruise liner

Civil rights icon and US House Representative John Lewis has announced that he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.
The diagnosis followed a "routine medical visit," Lewis, a 79-year-old Democrat who has repeatedly sparred with President Donald Trump, said in a statement on Sunday, adding that he would seek treatment while continuing to represent his Georgia district.
"I have been in some kind of fight -- for freedom, equality, basic human rights -- for nearly my entire life. I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now," he said.
Known for his decades of work in the civil rights movement, Lewis marched with slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr at the August 1963 rally in Washington at which King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.
"I have decided to do what I know to do and do what I have always done: I am going to fight it and keep fighting for the Beloved Community," Lewis said.
He added the he will miss a few votes while he undergoes ...

US civil rights icon John Lewis announces cancer diagnosis

The US military launched airstrikes against the Al-Shabaab militant group in Somalia on Sunday, US Africa Command said, killing four "terrorists."
"In coordination with the federal government of Somalia, US Africa Command conducted three airstrikes in two locations targeting al-Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Qunyo Barrow and Caliyoow Barrow, Somalia, respectively, December 29," AFRICOM said in a statement.
It said two airstrikes had killed two militants and destroyed two vehicles in Qunyo Barrow while a separate strike killed another two in Caliyoow Barrow.

US strikes against Al-Shabaab kill four militants in Somalia: AFRICOM

A small plane has crashed into a residential carport and vehicle in a Washington suburb, killing one person, a local fire official confirmed.
Mark Brady, a fire department spokesman for Prince George's County, Maryland, told AFP the plane crashed on Sunday afternoon in a neighbourhood in Lanham, northeast of Washington, shortly after takeoff from nearby College Park Airport.
He said the victim was presumed to be the pilot. No other injuries were reported. It was unclear whether anyone was in the house at the time.
Brady said there was no immediate information on the pilot's identity, the cause of the crash or the model of aircraft involved.
Photos posted by a local Fox affiliate showed the smoking debris of the badly damaged plane strewn across a wet roadway.

One dead in small plane crash in Maryland: Official

Fifteen fighters, including commanders, have been killed in US strikes against a pro-Iran armed group in western Iraq, an official from the Tehran-backed Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary told AFP.
The official said several fighters were also wounded in the Sunday night strikes, which the Pentagon said targeted the Iraqi Kata'ib Hezbollah in response to a barrage of 30 or more rockets that was fired on Friday at an Iraqi military base, killing a US civilian contractor.
Repeated mortar and rocket attacks have since late October targeted American interests in the country, where the US has 5,200 troops deployed as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group.
The Pentagon said in a statement it had carried out strikes against five Kata'ib Hezbollah facilities -- three in Iraq and two in neighbouring Syria.
US-Iran tensions have soared since Washington pulled out of a landmark nuclear agreement with Tehran last year and imposed crippling sanctions.
Baghdad -- ..

US strikes kill 15 pro-Iran fighters in Iraq: Hashed official

Donald Trump faced calls from his own party to show more restraint on Twitter as the White House faced a storm of outrage Sunday over the president revealing the name of a man widely thought to be the whistleblower who triggered his impeachment.
Trump has faced growing criticism since retweeting an attack that included the name of the reported CIA staffer at the heart of the Ukraine scandal -- an act that could violate the whistleblower's guaranteed anonymity under the law.
"If the president would tweet a little bit less, it wouldn't cause brain damage. But the president does not have to take my advice, nor do I expect him to," Republican Senator John Kennedy, a key Trump ally, told "Fox News Sunday."
Trump is ending 2019 as the third president in US history to be impeached after pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, a rival in his 2020 reelection bid.
The historic rebuke by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives for abuse of office and obstruction of Congress is ...

Trump faces firestorm after identifying alleged whistleblower

Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Sunday thanked US counterpart Donald Trump for intelligence that helped to foil attacks on Russian soil, the Kremlin said.
Putin thanked Trump "for the transfer, through special services, of information allowing the prevention of terrorist acts in Russia," the president's office said in a statement.
Russia's FSB, a successor to the KGB, quoted by Russian agencies, said two Russian citizens were arrested on Friday suspected of planning an attack in St Petersburg during the New Year festivities.
They appeared to have been preparing a "terrorist act", the reports said.
Although Moscow and Washington are at odds on many issues, both regularly stress their mutual determination to fight terrorism.

Putin thanks Trump for intel that helped foil attacks: Kremlin

The French government and a key trade union on Sunday exchanged bitter accusations over who was to blame for France's over three-week transport strike against pension reforms, as the stalemate showed little sign of relenting.
Deputy Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari accused the hardline CGT union of a "systematic opposition to any reform" while the union's chief Philippe Martinez charged the government with strewing "chaos" in the conflict.
The strike -- now longer than the notorious 22-day strike of winter 1995 -- has lasted 25 days and is on course to surpass the longest transport strike in France which lasted for 28 days in 1986 and early 1987.
Aside from two driverless lines, the Paris metro was again almost completely shut down on Sunday while only a fraction of high-speed TGV trains were running.
The government and unions are only due to hold their next talks on January 7, two days ahead of a new day of mass demonstrations against the reform which is championed by ...

French government, unions exchange barbs in strike deadlock

The White House said Sunday it would consider "other tools" beyond personal diplomacy if North Korea went ahead with a threatened "Christmas gift" that could reignite global tensions over its nuclear program.
Experts have interpreted the message delivered earlier this month by Pyongyang as a warning that a long-range missile test was imminent if the US did not give ground by the end of the year in negotiations to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.
Asked by ABC about possible consequences of such a test, White House national security advisor Robert O'Brien said he did not want to speculate.
"But we have a lot of tools in our toolkit, and additional pressure can be brought to bear on the North Koreans," he said.
O'Brien said North Korea's nuclear program was the "most difficult challenge in the world" when President Donald Trump took office in January 2017.
The aide suggested that Trump's strategy of face-to-face diplomacy may have forced North Korean leader Kim Jong Un into a ...

White House warns N Korea over 'Christmas gift' threat

Iraqi anti-government protesters blockaded an oil field and rallied in southern cities Sunday while political factions remained paralysed in their attempts to form a new government.
Several hundred people demanding jobs shut off access to the Nasiriyah field, 300 kilometres (190 miles) south of Baghdad, which produces 82,000 barrels of oil per day, executives said.
The two-day-old blockade is the first to disrupt operations in OPEC's second largest producer since the start of the popular revolt set to enter its fourth month in early January.
The Iraqi oil ministry said the blockade "will not have an impact on production and exports", adding that the national oil company's branch in the southern port of Basra will "compensate for the losses".
Iraq exports around 3.6 million barrels of oil per day.
The youth-led protests demand the ouster of the entire political class that has run the country in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam ...

Iraq protesters lock down oil field, call strike

Chelsea ruined Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta's home debut as Tammy Abraham's late strike sealed a dramatic 2-1 win after Bernd Leno's horrific blunder turned the tide in a thrilling London derby on Sunday.
Leading through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's early goal at the Emirates Stadium, Arteta was just seven minutes away from securing his first victory in his second game in charge.
But Gunners goalkeeper Leno made a hash of coming to catch a free-kick and Jorginho tapped in to spark a Chelsea fightback that climaxed in Abraham firing home with three minutes left.
After dominating the first half, it was a shocking but familiar collapse from Arsenal, whose lack of steel was the key element in the downfall of Arteta's predecessor Unai Emery.
In their final game of the decade, Arsenal showed just how much work Arteta has to do to steer the Gunners back to respectability in his first managerial role.
After coming from behind to rescue a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth in his first match on Thursday, .

Arteta rocked as Chelsea sink Arsenal with late fightback

British police on Sunday said they are investigating a "racially motivated hate crime" after anti-Semitic graffiti was found daubed across a synagogue and several storefronts in north London.
The Jewish holy symbol had been spray-painted alongside the numbers "9 11" on the premises in the Hampstead and Belsize Park areas of the capital on Saturday night, according to images of the vandalism posted on social media.
The graffiti appears to reference an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that Jews were responsible for the 9/11 terror attack in the United States.
It was found hours after five people were stabbed at a rabbi's home north of New York in an incident the state governor said was "an act of terrorism", and comes during celebrations for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
"This is clearly a concerning incident and one we are taking seriously," said Inspector Kev Hailes of London's Metropolitan Police Service.
"We have liaised with our partners in order to remove the graffiti and various 

Anti-Semitic graffiti mars London synagogue, storefronts

An intruder stabbed and wounded five people at a rabbi's house in a New York suburb late Saturday, in an incident the state governor said was "an act of terrorism" after a spate of attacks on Jewish targets.
Local media reported that a man with a machete entered the rabbi's property in Monsey, Rockland County, during celebrations for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, knifing several people before fleeing.
Victims were rushed to nearby hospitals, with no official details on their injuries. Police said a suspect was later arrested.
"This is an act of terrorism. I think these are domestic terrorists. They are trying to inflict fear," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters at the scene on Sunday.
"They're motivated by hate. They are doing mass attacks. These are terrorists in our country perpetrating terrorism on other Americans, and that's how we should treat it."
Last year a white supremacist walked into a Pittsburgh synagogue and killed 11 people -- the deadliest attack against ..

Five stabbed at New York rabbi's home in 'terrorist' attack

Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists in the country's war-torn east exchanged 200 prisoners on Sunday, swapping detained fighters for civilians and servicemen held captive in some cases for years in two breakaway regions.
Kiev handed over to separatists five riot policemen suspected of killing protesters during a pro-Western uprising in 2014 as part of the swap, sparking public outrage.
"The mutual release of the detainees has ended," the Ukrainian presidential office said in a statement on Facebook, adding that it would provide more details later.
The presidency said Kiev received 76 captives, while separatist officials said the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics took in a total of 124.
The head of the Lugansk stronghold, Leonid Pasechnik, congratulated his people on a new "victory" ahead of the New Year's festivities.
The exchange came after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky held their first face-to-face talks in Paris on ..

AFP

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