Pope Francis in Africa

Pope Francis makes his first visit to Africa this week, starting on Wednesday when his delegation will visit Kenya, then Uganda and the Central African Republic.
During the five-day trip the pope is expected to deliver public masses, meet religious and political leaders and promote a message of reconciliation and unity.

But concerns have lingered over whether his visit to Central African Republic (CAR) will go ahead. The country is currently embroiled in a civil war between the predominantly Muslim Séléka rebel coalition and Christian government forces.
His visit there – where he will meet representatives from the Muslim community at mosque in the capital, Bangui – will make him the first pope to travel to an active war zone, according to Global Post.
Speculation over what the head of the Roman Catholic Church can achieve with this visit is being hotly debated online. From escalating religious tensions to pushing for LGBT equality, here are a few of the common themes being discussed.

Religious tensions

Christian militias in CAR have carried out attacks on the country’s Muslim population during the ongoing conflict, leading some people to question whether the pope’s visit could in fact escalate religious tensions.
Peter Fabricius, a security consultant at the South African-based Institute for Security Studies, argued that the pope should have planned a joint visit with a Muslim leader.
“It is a pity that Francis does not have a Muslim counterpart who could partner him on his missions of peace and reconciliation among religions,” he said.
“Nevertheless, by his highly active and increasingly visible political interventions around the world in the name of peace, reconciliation and mercy, Pope Francis may just still be inspiring and emboldening the leaders of other religions to follow his example.”
In Kenya, members of the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab killed 147 people at Garissa University College, allowing Muslims to go free but killing those who identified as Christian.
Kenyan blogger Daniel Ominde suggested the pope might transform other areas with his message of peace. “Frequent terror attacks in Nairobi, Mombasa and most recently Garissa University significantly drove down Kenya’s earnings from [tourism], the sector which was for a long time the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner.
“It is my hope that the pope will use this visit to remind the world that terror is a problem in Africa just like it is in the western world where hundreds of lives have also been lost,” Ominde wrote.
The blogger praised the pope’s “conciliatory agenda” and suggested that visiting regions with a high Muslim population “should provide him with an opportunity to reach out to Muslims, and set the stone rolling for a process of inter-religious unity in the fight against extremism.”

LGBT rights

On the issue of homosexuality, Ominde argued: “While we do not expect him to push for the legalisation of homosexuality, Pope Francis will almost definitely encourage African governments to deal with homosexuals in more a humane manner.”
Uganda is notorious for its tough laws criminalising homosexuality. In an interview in 2014 given shortly after signing a bill that made some homosexual acts punishable by life in prison, the country’s president Yoweri Museveni reportedly told CNN: “They’re disgusting. What sort of people are they?”
In CAR, homosexuality is not illegal, and the country has signed a UN statement committed to ending acts of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
However, according to the Library of Congress “public expressions of love” between persons of the same sex is punishable by six months to two years imprisonment or a fine, and there is currently no legal recognition of same-sex relationships.
In July 2013, Pope Francis showed understanding toward the LGBT community when he said: “If someone is gay and searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
But Emma Were Tinka’s tweet from Uganda, quoting the country’s Archbishop of Gulu, suggested senior religious figures would stand firm in their opposition.

Adele’s 25 Sells 2.3 Million Copies in 3 Days

American fans are saying “Hello” to Adele, buying up 2.3 million copies of her new album in its first three days on sale.

Adele’s album 25 is the second album to sell more than 2 million copies in a single week since the sales tracking began in 1991, Billboard reports,and it’s on track to beat the record.

The single-week sales record is currently held by *NSYNC for No Strings Attached, which sold 2,416,000 copies in the week it came out in 2000. Industry forecasters say Adele could blow past that with 2.9 million first-week copies.

25 was released on Nov. 20 and is Adele’s third studio album.

Thai military court charges Bangkok blast suspects

court in Thailand has charged two men police accused of carrying out a deadly August bombing at a Bangkok shrine that left 20 people dead and more than 120 injured.

The two, identified as Adem Karadag and Yusufu Miefaili, faced 10 charges on Tuesday in connection with the August 17 blast at Erawan Shrine.

Thai officials said there was no political or religious motive behind the attack.

They say the blast was revenge by a people-smuggling network against Thai authorities for breaking up their operation.

Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Bangkok, said there was no mention of terrorism in those charges.

"They have been very keen to avoid using the word terrorism" because of concern it could affect the country's tourism and foreign investments, he said.

The two have been held at an army base since their arrests in August and September. They are being tried at a military court, where cases of national security have been handled since the army seized power in a coup last May.

That raises "a lot of question marks about the process", our correspondent said, adding that access have been "very limited" although defence lawyers can go and visit.

Led by Apple and Chinese Brands, High Tech Smartphone Panel

Demand for LTPS TFT LCD shipments rose 30 percent in September 2015 to reach 51.6 million units, due to strong demand from Apple and Chinese brands. Total smartphone panel shipments grew 4 percent month over month to reach 160 million units in September 2015. While amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin-film transistor (TFT) liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels continue to lead the smartphone display market, low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) TFT LCD panel shipment share is growing, according to IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of critical information and insight. 
“TFT-LCD, based on a-Si substrate, has been the leading panel technology for mobile phones because it is easy to manufacture and costs less to produce than other display technologies. However, since Apple adopted LTPS for its popular iPhones, demand for the new technology has continued to increase,” said Brian Huh, senior analyst for IHS Technology. “While LTPS panels cost greater, they boast lower power consumption and higher resolution compared to a-Si LCD panels. Greater demand for higher definition screens, especially in China, has also increased the adoption of LTPS LCD mobile phone displays.” 
Based on the latest information in the IHS Smartphone Display Shipment Tracker, the market share for the a-Si TFT LCD panel fell 10 percent month over month, but the panel still comprised the majority of smartphone display shipments, reaching 79.6 million in September 2015. Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) panel shipments grew 7 percent to reach just 25 million units. 
As a point of differentiation in the smartphone display market, Samsung Electronics adopted AMOLED-based LTPS displays in 2009. At that time Samsung Display was not looking to expand its customer base because Samsung Electronics digested almost all of the company’s AMOLED capacity. However as Samsung Electronics’ AMOLED smartphone business began to decline last year, Samsung Display has been expanding its customer lineup. “Since the end of last year, Samsung Display has been actively and aggressively promoting AMOLED displays to other electronics companies, especially in China, and AMOLED panel shipments for Chinese brands have increased remarkably since September,” Huh said.

Donald Trump is leading an increasingly fact-free 2016 campaign

Let me start with this: I am rarely surprised by anything that happens in politics. Call it cynicism or pragmatism. But after spending two decades covering politics, I feel like nothing is shocking anymore.

Except, that is, the remarkable disdain for facts in the context of this presidential campaign. Candidates have always done their best to bend numbers, statistics and stories to make themselves look as good — or as not-bad — as possible. But there was almost always a line that wasn't crossed in years past, a sort of even-partisans-can-agree-on-this standard.

Now, in large part because of Donald Trump's candidacy, that line has been smudged out of existence. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's famous quote that "you are entitled to your own opinion … but you are not entitled to your own facts" is no longer operative in this campaign. That is to the detriment of not only the people running for president but to all of us.

Trump's latest foray into the fiction zone came on Saturday when he told a group of supporters that he watched as "thousands of people were cheering” in Jersey City, N.J., when the World Trade Center towers collapsed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. On Sunday, Trump called in to ABC's "This Week" and got into a back and forth with moderator George Stephanopoulos over that claim. The exchange is long.

For those who would criticize Stephanopoulos for "letting Trump get away with it," I would ask you how he could have done things any differently. Trump is operating on his own set of "facts." Stephanopoulos is adamant that "the police have said it didn't happen" but it's quite clear that Trump wasn't going to suddenly say: "Yeah, you're right. I misspoke." Could Stephanopoulos have spent the next five minutes making the same point about the police? I guess. But Trump wasn't going to give in. Period.

In elections and campaigns past, there would have been a price to pay for The Donald's complete flouting of fact. It would have hurt him politically to just say things that aren't true. In this one, there's plenty of reason to think that he not only will get away with saying it but also that it may even help him among certain segments of the electorate.

Why? Because trust in the media — in both parties but especially among conservatives who comprise Trump's base — is at an all-time low. So, anything that a member of the media calls a "fact" is inherently viewed as fishy (at best) by the people backing Trump. The media lies, we all know that, so why wouldn't they lie about this, too? All the mainstream media cares about is serving as the political correctness police, so if this did happen then of course they would work to cover it up, right?

Here's the thing: If there is no agreed-upon neutral arbiter, there are no facts. And, as I have written before, what is happening in the Republican race is that most of the candidates — save Trump and, at times, Ben Carson — are playing by an established set of rules around what you can say and do. Trump is not only not playing by those rules but there are also no referees to enforce his blatant flouting of them.

I give you, Ben Carson's response Monday to Trump's allegations, a response that amounts to "Yeah, I saw that too."

.@RealBenCarson tells me he "saw the film" of American Muslims cheering as the towers fell in New Jersey on 9/11.

— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) November 23, 2015

What's remarkable is that even as the fact-checking industry has blossomed — our own Fact Checker gave Trump's "cheering" claim Four Pinnocchios, meaning it has no truth to it — its ability to keep candidates honest has declined precipitously.

Suspected Suicide Belt Found In Paris

The object found in a dustbin in the Paris suburb of Montrouge has "the same configuration" as suicide belts used by others involved in the attacks, according to a police source.

Abdeslam is suspected of playing at least a logistical role in the coordinated shooting and suicide bombings on 13 November and police say phone location data places him in Montrouge that evening.

It comes as the 26-year-old fugitive's brother Mohamed suggested Abdeslam may have decided not to go ahead with the attack at the last moment.

Another theory suggested by police is that Abdeslam, if he was involved in the attacks, may have had a technical problem with his belt.

Abdeslam's other brother, 31-year-old Brahim, died after his suicide belt exploded outside a café during the attacks, injuring 15 people.

The pair from Belgium had a heated argument the night before the massacres according to friends living in Brussels. One friend told television channel France 2 the disagreement appeared to be over money.

"I heard an argument, a massive argument," he said.

"I leaned against the window and I saw the two brothers. They were there. They were fighting each other."

In a statement released the day after the assaults, IS spoke of simultaneous attacks in the 10th, 11th and 18th arrondissements by eight "brothers wearing explosive belts".

Seven suicide bombers died: two at the Bataclan concert venue, three at the Stade de France, one at a cafe on Boulevard Voltaire and one during a police raid at an apartment in Saint-Denis.

There was no attack on the 18th district.

Francois Molins, the Paris anti-terror prosecutor in charge of the investigation said the vests used in the attacks were composed of acetone peroxide, a chemical explosive easy to produce by amateurs.

Police are continuing to focus their investigations on Brussels which remains on maximum alert.

Following raids at the weekend prosecutors charged a fourth persons with terrorist offences linked to the attacks but released 15 others.

Citing "increased terrorist threats" the US State Department has issued a global a global travel alert following deadly the Paris attacks.

"Current information suggests that ISIL, al Qaeda, Boko Haram and other terrorist groups continue to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions," a spokesperson said.

Voter apathy in Egypt

Many voters stayed away from polling stations on the final day of the parliamentary election in Egypt. Many candidates also boycotted the vote.

Some blame voter apathy, others call it voter fatigue.

Unofficial counts says between 13 percent and 21 percent of voters have taken part in the election.

Voters are choosing new legislators in the first parliamentary election since a court dissolved the chamber in 2012.

But with many Egyptians not taking part, will this election result in an unbalanced parliament?

Presenter: Laura Kyle

Guests:

Timothy Kaldas - Non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy

Wafik Moustafa -Founder and Chairman of The British-Arab Network

Angus Blair -Chairman of the Signet Institute