Romania votes in presidential poll with nationalist and leftist vying for runoff

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Sunday’s election could lead to a battle between far-right’s George Simion and Marcel Ciolacu of Social Democrats

Romanians are casting ballots on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election that could pit a far-right nationalist against the incumbent leftist prime minister in the runoff.

Thirteen candidates are vying for the presidency in the EU and Nato member country and the vote is expected to go to a second round on 8 December. Polls opened at 7am local time (05.00 GMT) and will close at 9pm. Romanians abroad have been able to vote since Friday.

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Former Taiwan leader was due to visit UK for two days in October, leak shows

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Exclusive: letter reveals dates for visit that was planned by Tsai Ing-wen before Foreign Office intervened

Taiwan’s former president Tsai Ing-wen had been due to visit the UK between 16 and 18 October before the Foreign Office intervened, the Guardian can disclose.

Tsai was scheduled to visit London for two days as part of her first international tour since leaving office and was in discussions about addressing the UK parliament, according to a leaked letter.

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Trump’s eldest son emerges as key voice influencing cabinet picks – report

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President-elect has become particularly reliant on his Donald Jr for advice, sources tell Reuters

Donald Trump Jr has emerged as the family’s most influential adviser of the moment as his father builds the most controversial cabinet in modern US history, sources close to Donald Trump’s eldest son say.

Trump Jr has in some cases promoted inexperienced loyalists over more qualified candidates for top positions in president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

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Haitian vigilantes deal major blow to gang leader ‘Barbecue’ in furious battle – Yahoo! Voices

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  1. Haitian vigilantes deal major blow to gang leader ‘Barbecue’ in furious battle  Yahoo! Voices
  2. More than 100 suspected gang members have been killed as vigilantism grows in Haiti  Miami Herald
  3. Boys forced into gangs, girls face sexual abuse as Haiti violence robs childhoods  PBS NewsHour
  4. Haiti’s children ‘dragged into hell’ as gang violence rages  Al Jazeera English
  5. Haiti’s Many Problems and Very Few Solutions, Explained  The New York Times
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War Between Hezbollah and Israel Drags Beirut Back Into Despair – The Wall Street Journal

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  1. War Between Hezbollah and Israel Drags Beirut Back Into Despair  The Wall Street Journal
  2. Dozens killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, including 29 in central Beirut  CNN
  3. Israel Conducts Widespread Strikes Near Beirut  The New York Times
  4. Beirut strike 'so powerful it was felt across the city'  BBC.com
  5. IDF 36th Division raids 150 targets, kill dozens of terrorists in two month Lebanon operation  The Jerusalem Post
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Angela Merkel ‘tormented’ by Brexit vote and saw it as ‘humiliation’ for EU

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Former German chancellor’s book tells how she tried to help David Cameron win over Britain’s Eurosceptics

Angela Merkel has said she was “tormented” over the result of the Brexit referendum and viewed it as a “humiliation, a disgrace” for the EU that Britain was leaving.

In her autobiography, Freedom, due to be published on Tuesday, the former German chancellor says she was dismayed by the notion that she might have done more to help the then British prime minister, David Cameron, who was keen for the UK to stay in the EU, but that ultimately, she concluded, he only had himself to blame.

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Democrats search for answers as blue Philadelphia turns towards Trump

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Trump grew his support in nearly all of Philadelphia’s wards – what went wrong for Harris in a key Democratic city?

When Kamala Harris stopped at the west Philadelphia barber shop Philly Cuts just days before the election, its manager, James Browne, said the vice-president came off “almost like a favorite aunt”.

Harris seemed “genuine, kind, nice, very comforting” during the half-hour she spent in the shop while campaigning in the largest city in battleground state Pennsylvania, Browne said. “Meeting her in person was very different than seeing her on TV.”

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Iranian minister to meet European counterparts after nuclear offer rejected

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Meeting comes amid fears Middle East tensions will lead Iran to redouble its efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, will meet his European counterparts in Geneva on Friday after the collapse of a deal last week under which Iran would have limited its uranium enrichment to 60% purity, just below the threshold to make nuclear weapons.

The offer was regarded by Iran as a first step to rebuilding confidence between it and the west over what it insists is its civilian nuclear programme. There are growing fears that wider tensions in the Middle East could result in Tehran redoubling efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon and trying to declare it necessary for its national self-defence.

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