Roch Marc Christian Kabore has been elected Burkina Faso's new leader, the second civilian to become president since the West African country won independence in 1960, according to preliminary results released by the country's electoral commission.
Kabore will replace the transitional government put in place after a popular uprising in October 2014 [Virginie Lefour/EPA]The Independent National Electoral Commission said on Tuesday morning that results showed that Kabore, from the Movement of People for Progress party, won 53.5 percent of the vote, just enough to secure a first round victory. Kabore, 58, will now replace the transitional government put in place after Blaise Compaore, Burkina Faso's longtime leader, was toppled in a popular uprising in October 2014.
Zephirin Diabre came in second place with 29.6 percent of the vote, and Tahirou Barry came in third with three percent.
Barthelemy Kere, electoral commission president, said 60 percent of the country's 5.5 million registered voters participated in Sunday's election.
Fourteen candidates took part in the elections to replace the transition government set up after Compaore was forced into exile in October 2014 after a 27-year rule.
The poll, originally scheduled for October, was postponed after a coup by the presidential guard in September.
Michel Kafando, transitional president, and the prime minister were restored to power after a week, and the guard was disbanded.
Hundreds of supporters gathered on Monday night at Kabore's campaign headquarters as early results showed him likely to win. Diabre joined and congratulated him.
Candidates have seven days to contest the results before the constitutional court finalises them.
Kabore was the prime minister and speaker of parliament under Compaore.
In January 2014, Kabore and others broke with Compaore to oppose a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to extend his power.
Compaore seized power in a coup, ruled for 27 years and won four elections, all of which were criticised as unfair.
This week, 150 nations have gathered together in Paris for the 21st Conference of the Parties to discuss combating climate change. But the global leaders aren’t the only ones voicing concern.
The research group Climate Central released images of an artist’s impression of climate change’s possible effect on cities across the globe. Before and after pictures predict that cities such as Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro could be heavily immersed in water if the world was four degrees warmer.
It’s 1997, and Steve Jobs has just returned to the company he was fired from 12 years before.
On stage at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference, Jobs was holding a rare Q&A with developers when one audience member stood up and lobbed an insult at Jobs.
“Mr. Jobs, you’re a bright and influential man,” he starts out with a flat tone. The audience laughs in the pause.
“Here it comes,” Job responds with a smile.
“It’s sad and clear that on several counts you’ve discussed, you don’t know what you’re talking about. [Audience laughter]. I would like, for example, for you to express in clear terms how, say, Java and any of its incarnations addresses the ideas embodied in OpenDoc. And when you’re finished with that, perhaps you can tell us what you personally have been doing for the last seven years,” he says.
David Paul Morris—BloombergSteve Jobs at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference 2011 in San Francisco on June 6, 2011.
At that point, the audience fell quiet and someone is heard saying “Ouch.” (Jobs had spent the last seven years not at Apple.)
“Mistakes will be made”
Jobs’ response in the five minutes that follows is a masterclass in how to gracefully turn an insult into an impromptu speech on vision.
First, Jobs politely responds.
“You know, you can please some of the people some of the time, but…,” Jobs paused. “One of the hardest things when you’re trying to effect change is that people like this gentleman are right in some areas.”
He acknowledges that there are things OpenDoc does that he’s not even familiar with, but that doesn’t stop him in planning Apple’s future.
“The hardest thing is: how does that fit in to a cohesive, larger vision, that’s going to allow you to sell 8 billion dollars, 10 billion dollars of product a year? And, one of the things I’ve always found is that you’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards for the technology.” You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try to sell it. And I made this mistake probably more than anybody else in this room. And I got the scar tissue to prove it. And I know that it’s the case,” Jobs said.
“And as we have tried to come up with a strategy and a vision for Apple, it started with ‘What incredible benefits can we give to the customer? Where can we take the customer?’ Not starting with ‘Let’s sit down with the engineers and figure out what awesome technology we have and then how are we going to market that?’ And I think that’s the right path to take,” Jobs continued.
He apologizes for killing off some of the software, but passionately stands by his employees who were working hard to get Apple back to the place where he could hold up a box and people would go “Whoa! Yes!” and want it. (Think about what Apple events are like today.)
“Mistakes will be made, some people will be pissed off, some people will not know what they’re talking about, but I think it’s so much better than where things were not very long ago. And I think we’re going to get there,” Jobs concludes.
Swapping Asia's giant for Africa's powerhouse can be a disorientating experience.
Leaving Beijing to go and live in Lagos is not a well-worn path.
But both Nigeria and China are the most populous countries and biggest economies in their respective continents, making them ripe for comparison.
I feel I've left behind the grey, imposing order of Beijing for the chaos and colour of Lagos, where fun and frustration are doled out in equal measure.
Part of the correspondent's condition is that your ears prick up at the slightest mention of a previous posting.
Imagine my surprise then when, watching last month's inauguration of the new Nigerian cabinet, a remark about the Great Wall of China cropped up during the opening address.
The point, I believe, that the official was trying to make was that the Great Wall was not in itself enough to protect China from invaders - the government and people need to be incorruptible as well.
I say believe because the audio on the state broadcast briefly cut out.
In China, an audio glitch at such an important event would cause heads to roll in shame. In Nigeria, people roll their eyes and shrug it off.
It is just one small example of how the Chinese are known for getting things done, while in Nigeria there is a reputation for cutting corners.
Whereas Beijing is a city of smog (the killer downside to the country's breakneck development), Lagos is a city of generators (the sound of a nation failing to realise its economic potential because it can't get its power grid in order).
But when it comes to business, Nigeria and China are alike in one inspiring and infectious way.
Both possess an extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit, a can-do-attitude, that if you want to build something you'd better do it yourself.
From street hawkers and small shop owners, to CEOs of large companies, people here survive and, occasionally, flourish despite all the obstacles.
As for a journalist operating in Nigeria, there is one major difference.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage captionMohammadu Buhari is shouldering the expectations of millions
In China, people would shut down at the sight of a foreign journalist, silenced by government repression.
In Nigeria, people and politicians don't shut down, they unload.
They talk and talk, and talk some more - they love it.
Everyone seems to have an opinion on everything.
For a journalist this is both a joy and, as I am beginning to discover, a bit of a nightmare.
In China, people and particularly officials said barely anything, so you would spend hours parsing the meaning.
In contrast, in Nigeria you feel you are drowning in information and quotes.
Working out what is actually true can be just as time consuming.
When I talk about China to Nigerians, there is an awe and respect that I have heard in many other developing countries about China's remarkable economic achievements in the past three decades.
And, interestingly, while in China the dizzying pace of change has now left many feeling unfulfilled by their material gains, in Nigeria there is a suffocating sense of people wanting meaningful change.
Nigerians want to see infrastructure built, they want better schools and hospitals, and, perhaps, most importantly, they want jobs to better themselves.
They want a government that will build and not pilfer.
The Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe once wrote that there was nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character.
The author blamed the country's ills squarely on a failure of leadership.
"The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of the personal example, which are the hallmarks of true leadership," he wrote.
There is now a sense that Nigeria could be at a turning point.
Just as 1979 marked the start of China's economic transformation, many Nigerians hope that 2015 will be the beginning of a new era for their country.
They are placing their faith in the former army general they have elected leader, President Muhammadu Buhari.
With his no-nonsense style, he has already told his countrymen that they are too "unruly" and need to learn how to queue properly.
In a nation where politicians are notorious for plundering state coffers, Mr Buhari has a reputation for unimpeachable honesty and integrity.
People now believe that he will get roads and bridges built (rather than the money being stolen by corrupt officials) which in turn will help get the economy moving.
With almost two million Nigerians entering the job market every year, the country faces a demographic dividend or a demographic disaster.
One man is shouldering the expectations of millions.
But can Mr Buhari pull it off? Evidence might suggest otherwise.
But then remember China.
Thirty-five years ago the country was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution.
Now, by some estimates, it is the largest economy in the world.
With the right leadership, countries can be transformed.
You could say that Miss World Canada 2015 has been crowned Miss International Incident.
That's because her country of birth, China, has barred Anastasia Lin, a 25-year-old actor and classical pianist, from representing the country she now calls home, Canada, in the beauty pageant's finals at the tropical island resort of Sanya, Hainan, on December 19.
Lin's story has made headlines around the globe. But not in China. That's where censorship is state policy, dissidents are jailed and any criticism anywhere by anyone can be stifled by the long arm of President Xi Jinping's regime.
Academics, journalists, even Hollywood celebrities who speak out against human rights abuses in China are banned. So Lin is in good company, along with Richard Gere, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Bon Jovi and other stars.
'Evil cult'
Her crime could be that she follows the spiritual practice of Falun Gong, which China has outlawed as an "evil cult". Its members have been jailed, tortured and, as reports suggest, murdered for their organs.
Miss World Canada Anastasia Lin poses with her crown before an interview at her home in Toronto, Ontario [REUTERS
It could also be that Lin doesn't just spout cliched paeans to world peace like beauty contestants typically do during the question-and-answer sections of pageants.
Through her film roles portraying Chinese dissidents and her music performances playing their songs, she lives her conviction that everybody is entitled to freedom of thought, religion and expression.
In 2013, when she first competed for the Miss World Canada title, and was quizzed on her beliefs, she quoted the late Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker: "I am a Canadian free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I think wrong, or free to choose those that shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and for all mankind."
At first, her businessman father back in Hunan province celebrated. But then he went silent after hearing from authorities that suggested his daughter shut up.
Fear of reprisals
That pageant was when she first crossed China's repression radar screen. The second time was last May, when she won first place. At first, her businessman father back in Hunan province celebrated. But then he went silent after hearing from authorities that suggested his daughter shut up.
In a telephone interview with Al Jazeera from her Hong Kong hotel room, Lin admits: "I don't dare to contact my father nowadays. He's really scared."
Still, Lin was determined to go for the world crown. So the University of Toronto graduate in international relations and drama sold her car to finance her trip. But last week, while she was on the flight to Hong Kong, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa issued a terse statement, effectively calling her "persona non grata".
"Why did they wait so many weeks?" she asks. "I never got a definitive answer about my visa from the Chinese government and I lost contact with Miss World too, although they did offer me a spot in the 2016 pageant [in Jakarta]. It seemed they were very reluctant in answering my questions. I sent them my photographs but they never even put them on their website."
Soft-pedalling soft power
Considering the relationship the London-based Miss World Ltd has with China, that's hardly surprising. In 2003, as part of its attempt to soft-peddle its soft power, it opened its luxurious Sanya Beauty Crown Hotel complex specifically to host Miss World, which it has done five times since. The 2015 contest will be its sixth.
That China has offered generous financial concessions to Miss World Ltd is well documented. But that's nothing compared with the estimated $10bnthe regime invests annually to boost its image abroad.
As Lin told reporters at a news conference in Hong Kong last week, "Ask them whether they will also bar athletes from participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics if they hold views that the Communist Party disagrees with. If an athlete is of Tibetan or Uighur heritage, and advocates for the human rights of those peoples, can they compete in the Olympics? What if they practise Falun Gong? Or if they support democracy in China?"
Mr Kulikovsky lived at a caravan park in Katherine
Leonid Gurevich Kulikovsky, 72, was a direct descendant of the penultimate tsar and a distant relative of Queen Elizabeth II.
He died while walking his dog on 27 September in the town of Katherine, in Australia's Northern Territory.
His pet was sitting dutifully next to him when his body was found under a tree, according to Australia's NT News.
Mr Kulikovsky's body had been kept in a hospital morgue while authorities researched his identity and looked for relatives.
They found a sister in Denmark, his birth place, and a statement from his family said they had lost contact with him when he moved to Australia in 1967.
They had reportedly been trying to track him down just days before finding out about his death.
Mr Kulikovsky settled in Katherine - 220 miles (350km) south of Darwin - five years ago while driving around Australia in his retirement.
He apparently decided to stay in the town after having problems with his vehicle, said Russian consul Simon Andropov.
"Old Nick they called him, so he didn't even use his proper name," he said.
"He lived completely incognito; didn't tell anyone of his heritage or anything.
"But it seems he was a well-liked fellow, always cheerful."
Many Russian royals were murdered by the Bolsheviks after the country's 1917 revolution, but dozens of others - including Mr Kulikovsky's descendants - were able to escape abroad.
He previously worked at Sydney's water company and never married or had children, according to Mr Andropov.
Among the 50 people at his Darwin funeral were officials from the Danish, Russian and Northern Territory governments.
A wealthy family from the city has offered to pay for his burial because his estate did not have enough money to cover the cost.
Nigeria's stocks fell to their lowest level in almost three years as foreigners exited the market amid fading hopes that President Muhammadu Buhari's government can revive the Africa's largest economy, Bloomberg news agency reports.
All Share Index dropped 0.8% to 27,385.69 at close in the commercial capital of Lagos, the lowest since December 2012.
The gauge declined on all but three trading days in November for a monthly drop of 6.2%.
The government has not come up with a definitive policy for the economy," Pabina Yinkere, an analyst at Vetiva Capital Management Ltd, told Bloomberg.
"The continued lack of clarity is affecting the stock market," he added.
Some analysts say Mr Buhari, who came to office in May, has prioritized stamping out corruption while the West African nation's economy is growing at its slowest pace this century.
![Kabore will replace the transitional government put in place after a popular uprising in October 2014 [Virginie Lefour/EPA]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sV6JbHCHzWptsXy6EVvvMin2wp-iVfJAhXje2Z9ZNawKSrHp6Rk5AQmrLVCE0jp7k0KRu4ZnsXFRR7KugoMWZ21LDc7CXNTtzJv70Fgo-XIBFoygEPQdYVjdlfjd9g4j9am6QAgdXkV8_vB52Zb0HNZ7BEfdas1Fav6JnaAaeaetA8RAHdLgM6OYgl0AeV-o-M_42s3UPzhcSL=s0-d "Burkina Faso elects new leader after historic election")
