Malaysia heads for hung Parliament as voters reject Barisan Nasional
Malaysians have voted in the country’s first-ever hung Parliament, with the three main national coalitions failing to secure a simple majority of 112 seats in a fiercely fought general election on Saturday.
A clutch of big names, including former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, were vanquished as official results as at 4am on Sunday left Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) neck and neck with 82 and 79 parliamentary seats each, and the Umno-led ruling alliance Barisan Nasional (BN) trailing behind with only 30 wins.
Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has 22 seats, putting it on track to become a kingmaker for the next federal government.
COP27: China's climate envoy praises 'constructive' US talks
Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua welcomed Saturday the resumption of formal talks with US counterpart John Kerry as “very constructive”, as the world’s two top polluters ended a freeze in cooperation.
The senior officials met during the UN’s COP27 conference in Egypt after US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed at a G20 summit in Indonesia earlier this week to resume collaboration on climate change.
Cooperation between the superpowers is key in the fight against global warming and has led to breakthroughs at past UN climate conferences, notably the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.
White House wedding for Biden granddaughter Naomi
Naomi Biden, the granddaughter of US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, was set to be married on Saturday in what will be the 19th time in history the White House has been used for a wedding.
The bride, 28, is a lawyer who has been living at the White House with the groom, Peter Neal, 25, a recent law school graduate who hails from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and is currently working at the Georgetown University Law Center on National Security. They met in 2018.
The ceremony was scheduled for 11 a.m. (1400 GMT) on the South Lawn of the White House on a chilly mid-November day. A luncheon for family members and the wedding party inside the White House will follow the ceremony, ending with an evening reception featuring dessert and dancing.
Football: With stadium beer ban, World Cup fans look for sip of hope
Soccer fans who travelled thousands of kilometres to get a glimpse of the sport’s most prestigious event savoured their first sips of beer at the launch of a fan festival on Saturday, a rare place where they can drink alcohol at the World Cup.
In a last minute U-turn, two days before the tournament’s opening match, international soccer governing body Fifa said on Friday that alcoholic beer would not be sold at Qatar’s World Cup stadiums.
Budweiser, a major World Cup sponsor, had been set to exclusively sell alcoholic beer within the ticketed perimeter surrounding each of the eight stadiums three hours before and one hour after each game during the month-long event.
Football: Benzema injured on return to full training for France
France forward Karim Benzema is to undergo medical tests after leaving training injured on Saturday ahead of the defending champions World Cup opener against Australia.
The Real Madrid striker has been struggling with a thigh problem since October and has played less than half an hour of football in his club’s last six games.
The 34-year-old’s return to full training was curtailed by the injury with tests later Saturday due to determine its nature and seriousness, a source close to Les Bleus told AFP.
