Mugabe: Government will now own all Zimbabwe's diamonds

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has announced plans for his government to take control of all diamond mining operations in a bid to put an end to alleged rampant swindling linked to the multibillion dollar gem industry in the poverty-stricken country.

Mugabe's statement came a week after authorities ordered all private mining companies to stop work and leave the country's Marange fields, which in 2013 reportedly produced about 13 percentof the world's diamond supply, saying that their working licences were not renewed.

"The state will now own all the diamonds in the country," Mugabe said on Thursday in an interview with state broadcaster ZBC TV.

"Companies that have been mining diamonds have robbed us of our wealth. That is why we have now said the state must have a monopoly," Mugabe said.

Zimbabwe was the eighth largest diamond producer in the world with 4.7 million carats in 2014, according to industry group Kimberly Process.

The Zimbabwe Herald newspaper cited Mugabe as saying that he suspects at least $13bn in revenue from the country's diamond industry remains unaccounted for.

"We have not received much from the diamond industry at all," he said. "Not by way of earnings. I don't think we have exceeded $2bn or so and yet we think that well over $15bn ... have been earned in that area."

Mugabe said the nationalisation of the industry was necessary to prevent widespread swindling and smuggling by mining companies.

"You cannot trust a private company in that area. None at all. We should have learned from the experiences of Botswana, Angola, Namibia," he added.

During the interview, Mugabe said his successor must be chosen democratically and that he plans on living to 100.

"Why successor? I am still there. Why do you want a successor? I did not say I was a candidate to retire," he said

"In a democratic party, you don't want leaders appointed that way to lead the party. They have to be appointed properly by the people, at a gathering of the people, at a congress."

Mugabe said that he was not behind his wife Grace's quick rise within ZANU-PF, which has led to reports that she has plans to succeed her husband.

"Others say the president wants to leave the throne for his wife. Where have you ever seen that, even in our own culture, where a wife inherits from her husband?" Mugabe said.

Profile: Al-Shabab journalist Hassan Hanafi

Hassan Hanafi was a respected reporter and broadcaster in Somalia for many years. Now, he has been sentenced to death by firing squad for colluding with Islamist militant group al-Shabab in the murder of five fellow journalists between 2007 and 2011. 

Hanafi was born in the central Hiran region of Somalia in the early 1980s. When his family moved to Europe in the 1990s, he was the only one who stayed behind.

From 2003, he became a household name to many radio listeners in Somalia after joining popular Quran FM station in the capital Mogadishu. He left in 2006 to become an online reporter for a leading Somali website. 

A few years later, signs of his affiliation to al-Shabab emerged as he became the major source of all breaking news or reaction from the militant group. It would deny the loss of its members and claim victory through interviews with him on its propaganda station Radio Andalus.

He ran a secret bureau, monitoring news and threatening any reporter who spoke out against al-Shabab or portrayed the group in a bad light.

He would summon the offending journalists to meet him at his car.

Some were killed on the spot while others wisely declined and went on to flee the country.

Who are al-Shabab?

Nearly all the murders had a similar pattern. The victims were shot from close range in the streets or at a hotel. Others had explosive devices planted on their cars.

Often when a journalist was killed, Hanafi would be among the first to arrive at the scene or to confirm the person's death.

In 2010, the killing of Sheikh Noor Mohamed, a senior journalist at Radio Mogadishu, caused widespread shock. 

Hanafi admitted that he planned it, saying Mohamed had been killed because he worked for the government.

In 2011, an al-Shabab court found Hanafi guilty of an unspecified crime, and ordered his limbs to be amputated. 

However, the sentence was never carried out because of the service he had provided to the militants over the years.

Many Somalis were baffled by the contradictory nature of Hanafi's statements about his victims. He says he rejoices in every death because he has eliminated the enemy, but also hints at regret that someone whom he has known personally is dead. 

In 2014, he was arrested by police in neighbouring Kenya, where he had fled, and was then extradited to Somalia.

The death of reporters in Somalia has significantly reduced since his arrest.

Rupert Murdoch Ties The Knot With Jerry Hall

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has married Jerry Hall in London.

Mr Murdoch smiled for photographers next to the actress and former model, who was wearing a trench coat and flat shoes as she left Spencer House.

He later tweeted: "Feel like the luckiest AND happiest man in world."

Spencer House is described on its website as "one of the most sumptuous private residences ever built" in the capital.

The couple will hold a private ceremony of celebration on Saturday at St Bride's Church on Fleet Street.

The church, which has space for 150 to 200 guests, will be closed to the public for the day.

The couple are all smiles as they prepare to leave Spencer House

The marriage is the fourth for 84-year-old Mr Murdoch and the second for Ms Hall, 59, who had a long relationship with Sir Mick Jagger.

Mr Murdoch and Ms Hall were spotted together at the Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham on 31 October last year and announced their engagement in The Times on 12 January.

The notice read: "Mr Rupert Murdoch, father of Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan, James, Grace and Chloe Murdoch, and Miss Jerry Hall, mother of Elizabeth, James, Georgia and Gabriel Jagger, are delighted to announce their engagement."

Mr Murdoch was previously married to Wendi Deng, mother to two of his children, but they split in June 2013.

He reportedly paid out $1.7bn (£1.2bn) in a divorce settlement to his second wife Anna Murdoch. His first wife was Patricia Booker.

Ms Hall, one of four daughters, moved from the US to Paris to pursue her modelling career aged just 16.

She then famously met Rolling Stones' frontman Jagger, and the couple wed in 1990 in Bali.

The marriage was later disputed since it was not properly conducted, and was subsequently shown to be invalid.

The pair, who had four children together, parted after 23 years.

Mr Murdoch is an executive co-chairman of 21st Century Fox, which has a 39.6% stake in Sky plc, the owner of Sky News.

His News UK company publishes The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun. 

Trump Defends Manhood In Republican Debate

US commentators and voters reacted with incredulity after Donald Trump appeared to defend the size of his manhood during the latest Republican debate.

He made the remark less than 10 minutes into the debate in Detroit in response to a jibe by Florida Senator Marco Rubio over the weekend.

Mr Rubio had taken issue at Mr Trump's habit of calling him "Little Marco" as they battle to win the Republican nomination.

He told supporters: "He's always calling me Little Marco. And I'll admit he's taller than me.

"He's like 6ft 2in, which is why I don't understand why his hands are the size of someone who is 5ft 2in.

"And you know what they say about men with small hands? You can't trust them."

The billionaire real estate mogulresponded to the remark during Thursday night's debate by claiming it was a poorly disguised insult about the size of his manhood.

He said: "He referred to my hands as if they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem."

The comment triggered thousands of responses on social media as voters watched the candidates during the debate.

Veteran US TV journalist Jeff Greenfield wrote on Twitter: "Oh my God, Trump has just bragged about the size of his penis ..."

Matt Bai, a political columnist for Yahoo News, tweeted: "Didn't think Trump could say anything to make political debates even more like a show for the 12 to 18 male demographic. I was wrong."

And Brit Hume, senior political analyst at Fox News, wrote: "Donald Trump has just guaranteed America that there is no problem with the size of his, er, manhood.

"That's one way of making history."

Mr Trump's rivals have increasingly turned to personal attacks as the tycoon has built a considerable lead in primaries and caucuses.

Mr Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruzlevelled criticism at his "flexible" policy positions, while Ohio Governor John Kasich questioned his character.

But the rivals said they would back Mr Trump if he is the Republican presidential nominee in November.

After Super Tuesday, Mr Trump has won in 10 states and leads the GOP field with 329 delegates.

Cruz has 231, Mr Rubio 110 and Mr Kasich 25. Candidates need 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination.

Ahead of the debate, 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney labelled Mr Trump a "fraud".

Cops Test Knife Found At OJ Simpson Estate

Los Angeles Police Department say they have recovered a knife that was found on OJ Simpson's former estate where his ex-wife and her friend were murdered.

LAPD Capt Andrew Neiman said a construction worker discovered the blade years after the killings.

The builder handed it to an off-duty or retired police officer, but detectives only recently learned of its existence.

Capt Neiman said they were conducting body fluid, DNA and hair sample tests on the weapon.

OJ Simpson was acquitted in 1995 in 'the trial of the century'

But he said that whatever evidence is found, Simpson cannot be tried again for the murders under America's double jeopardy rules.

OJ Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and friend Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death at the home on 12 June 1994.

Nicole Brown Simpson (L) and Ronald Goldman

The former professional football star and actor was acquitted a year later of two counts of murder in what media dubbed the trial of the century.

Police have never found the murder weapon.

According to TMZ.com, a builder discovered the folding buck knife buried at the perimeter of Simpson's estate in Los Angeles' affluent Brentwood area, possibly in around 1998 when the property was being demolished.

The worker gave the blade to a traffic officer, who kept it as a souvenir instead of taking the potential item of evidence to the precinct, according to the celebrity gossip website.

In 1997, Simpson was found liable for the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman in a civil lawsuit.

He was ordered to pay the victims' families $33.5m (£23.5m) in damages.

The case has received renewed attention recently because of FX television series The People v. O.J. Simpson.

Simpson, 68, is currently serving a prison sentence in Nevada for the 2007 armed robbery and kidnap of a sports memorabilia dealer.

Two Jailed Over Drowned Toddler Alan Kurdi

Two Syrians have been jailed by a Turkish court over the drowning of toddler Alan Kurdi in September last year.

The two smugglers have been sentenced to four years and two months each, following the death of the three-year-old - whose name was initially reported as Aylan - and four other people when their ship capsized as they fled from Syria.

A court convicted Muwafaka Alabash and Asem Alfrhad of human trafficking, but acquitted them of the charge of causing the deaths through deliberate negligence.

Had the two smugglers been convicted of the second charge, they would have faced up to 35 years in prison.

Alan, centre, and his brother Galip, right, died. Father Abdullah survived

Alan's brother, Galip, and mother, Rihan, were among the five victims who died - but it was the photograph of Alan's lifeless body washed up on the beach that shocked the world.

The boy's father, Abdullah, survived and has returned to Syria.

Their boat went down on an ill-fated journey from Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos.

The family had been fleeing Syria, which has suffered for more than four years under a civil war leaving around 250,000 dead.

They were hoping to eventually reach Canada to live with family there.

Trials in Turkey are usually very lengthy, but the verdict in this case arrived just a month after it opened.

Next week a summit takes place between Turkey and the European Union to discuss the migrant crisis.

Turkey is under pressure to reduce the flow of migrants to Europe and to combat smuggling rings.

AI-Powered Trump Tweets Are Like The Real Thing

An artificial intelligence-powered Twitter account which has learned to tweet like Donald Trump has been developed at one of America's top universities.

'Deep Drumpf' was created by post-doctoral student Bradley Hayes by inputting the US presidential hopeful's recent primary season victory speeches.

The artificial intelligence system developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) then spotted his speech patterns and analysed his most-used words.

Mr Hayes said he chose to use Mr Trump over the other presidential candidates because his language is easier to process.

The AI system was developed at MIT

He said: "Trump's language tends to be more simplistic, so I figured that, as a modelling problem, he would be the most manageable candidate to study."

The algorithm works by learning the underlying structure from all the data it gets, and then comes up with different combinations of the data it was taught.

The bot randomly picks a first letter, then follows with the next-most likely letter.

It keeps building the tweet until the 140-character limit is reached.

But the bot is a hit-and-miss effort - some make no sense, but when they are correct they are indistinguishable from the billionaire businessman.

The Twitter account's name - @DeepDrumpf - is a reference to his ancestors who changed the family to Trump from Drumpf.

Mr Trump once said: "One of my ancestors, a winegrower, changed the family name to Trump at the end of the 1600s - a good move, I think, since Drumpf Tower doesn't sound nearly as catchy."