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Some Democrats have not yet disclosed their fourth-quarter fundraising numbers, but those who did had strong showings. International news : Bernie Sanders raised more than $34.5 million in the last quarter of 2019, the largest three-month haul for a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, while Republican President Donald Trump drew $46 million on the heels of his impeachment, their campaigns said on Thursday. The new figures brought Sanders’ total campaign fundraising last year to $96 million, making him the leading fundraiser so far among 14 Democrats vying to face Trump in November's presidential election. States begin choosing candidates next month with the Iowa Caucuses on February 3. Trump, a polarising president popular with a large majority of Republicans but vilified by many Democrats, maintained his formidable fundraising edge over Democrats with a surge of donations following his impeachment last month by the Democratic-led House of... read more

The lions were confiscated by Japanese during World War II and shipped to Japan to be melted down. They were rescued in 1945 from Osaka dockyard and restored to their former positions following year Experts in Hong Kong could be facing a dilemma unseen in more than six months of protests: How to clean a pair of iconic bronze lion statues that have stood guard over HSBC Holdings’ main offices for decades as one of the city’s foremost symbols of colonial-era largess. Demonstrators defaced the lions, nicknamed “Stephen” and “Stitt,” Wednesday during a mass march intended to show Beijing they would continue to fight its grip into the new year. They splashed the statues with red and black spray paint that depicted bleeding from the eyes, and a phrase in Chinese saying HSBC had been dyed the red of China. At least one statue was set ablaze. Workers struggled to scrub them clean Thursday morning. The lions’ visages adorn local bank notes issued by HSBC and are a remaining symbol of...

Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed late on Thursday The United States killed Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force and spearhead of Iran 's spreading military influence in the Middle East, on Friday in an air strike at Baghdad airport, the Pentagon and Iran said. Top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to Soleimani, was also killed in the attack, a militia spokesman said. The high-profile assassinations are likely to be a massive blow to Iran, which has been locked in a long conflict with the United States that escalated sharply last week with an attack on the US embassy in Iraq by pro-Iranian militiamen following a US air raid on the Kataib Hezbollah militia, founded by Muhandis. "At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by... read more

'We have managed to reach the [coalition] agreement', said Sebastian Kurz International news : The Austrian People's Party (OVP) and the Green Party reached an agreement to create a coalition government, informed Sebastian Kurz, head of Austrian People's Party (OVP). Early parliamentary elections were held in Austria on September 29. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs' final data, the OVP won with 37.5 per cent of the vote. Following the talks with all political parties represented in the country parliament, Kurz announced on November 11 that OVP would begin negotiations on forming a coalition government with the Green Party that is in the fourth place with a record 13.9 per cent of the vote. "We have managed to reach the [coalition] agreement," Kurz said at a... read more

Lpez Obrador's public safety secretary Alfonso Durazo on Wednesday echoed the president's comments about rooting out corruption in the security forces. Mexico President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador closed out 2019 with a parting shot at his predecessors, saying imprisoned drug kingpin Joaqun " El Chapo " Guzmn Loera had had the same power as the country's president. In a video message from the southern city of Palenque on Wednesday, Lpez Obrador recounted his administration's successes in its first year and highlighted its challenges foremost surging violence. He said he had already done away with the high-level corruption that was rampant in previous governments, but said it was crucial to draw a bright line between criminal elements and authorities so that the two sides do not mingle as they had in the past. "There was a time when Guzmn had the same power or had the influence that the then president had ... because there had been a conspiracy and...

Visitors are being warned to leave before Saturday, which is forecast to bring gusting winds and temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius International news : Thousands of tourists have been given less than 48 hours to evacuate fire-ravaged coastal communities as Australia braces for a heatwave Saturday expected to fan deadly bushfires. Catastrophic blazes ripped through swathes of the continent's south-east on New Year's Eve, killing at least eight people and stranding holidaymakers as seaside towns were ringed by flames. The New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service on Thursday morning declared a "tourist leave zone" stretching about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the popular holiday spot of Bateman's Bay along the usually picturesque south-east coast to neighbouring Victoria state, where people are also being urged to evacuate fire-threatened... read more