Toyota dethrones Volkswagen as world's top automaker

Toyota recaptured the title of world's largest automaker from Volkswagen in the third quarter of 2015, suggesting that the Japanese automaker may retain the title for the full year.
German automaker Volkswagen had seized the top spot through the first six months of the year, edging closer to its long-running goal of becoming the globe's biggest vehicle manufacturer for a full calendar year.
But the goal may prove elusive - especially considering that Volkswagen's emissions scandal was revealed with less than two weeks to go in the third quarter, leaving little time to gauge the full impact at dealerships.
Toyota still dethroned Volkswagen, selling 7.498 million vehicles during the first nine months of the year, a 1.5% decline from the same period in 2014.
Volkswagen sold 7.431 million vehicles during the first nine months of the year, also representing a 1.5% decline.
Now, the fourth quarter reflects a crucial test for Volkswagen, which is facing numerous investigations and a hail of criticism over its installation of manipulative software on 11 million vehicles to cheat emissions tests.
The company has stopped selling the diesel cars involved in the scandal until it can deliver a fix, leaving dealers with a gaping hole in their lineup. That will ding sales, although Volkswagen is expected to discount vehicles to juice sales.
Several years ago, Volkswagen's former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, had charted a goal of becoming the world's largest automaker by 2018.
After the first sixth months of the year, Volkswagen had achieved that goal, outselling Toyota by 5.04 million to 5.02 million.
Meanwhile, General Motors, once the perennial No. 1, is now firmly entrenched in the No. 3. slot. The Detroit-based automaker sold 7.151 million vehicles during the first nine months of the year, down 1.3%.

Eritrea footballers 'gain Botswana asylum' after World Cup qualifier

Botswana has granted asylum to 10 Eritrean footballers who refused to return home after a World Cup qualifying match, their lawyer says.
In 2012, 17 Eritrean soccer players and a team doctor went missing during a tournament in Uganda and eventually applied for asylum. The entire team sought refugee status at the same tournament in 2009. Many Eritrean footballers and athletes have previously used sports events to try and escape their homeland.
A report by the UN human rights council in June accused the Eritrean government of systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations.
The situation has prompted hundreds of thousands of people to flee the country, the report said.
Eritrea has denied committing human rights abuses and says those leaving the country are economic migrants.
Eritrea was eliminated from 2018 World Cup qualifying by Botswana in this week's game.

Bidya Devi Bhandari elected Nepal's first female president

CPN-UML Leader Bidya Devi Bhandari has been elected the first female and second President of Federal Democratic Republic Nepal, defeating Nepali Congress veteran leader Kul Bahadur Gurung.
During the election held at the Legislature-Parliament building on Wednesday, Bhandari garnered 327 votes, 28 more than 299 votes that she needed to be elected as the President.
Gurung, however, accumulated 214 votes. Eight votes were declared invalid. Total 549 members had cast their votes in the election.

Bhandari's Biography :  Born in June, 1961, in Manebhanjyang of Bhojpur, Bhandari had joined student politics in her early young age. ​ Bhandari, wife of charismatic communist leader Madan Bhandari, was active in politics since her school days. She, however, came to limelight after untimely demise of her husband in a road accident. She was elected twice in parliamentary elections in 1994 and 1999 defeating the then Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Damanath Dhungana respectively. Bidhya, however, lost during the 2008 Constituent Assembly (CA) poll. She held the post of Defence Minister in Madhav Kumar Nepal led Cabinet. The party elected her under the proportional electoral system in the second CA elections in 2013. According to the details provided by the CPN-UML, Bhandari joined politics as an activist of then Youth League of CPN (ML) in 2035 BS, from Bhojpur. Bhandari played a role as an In-charge for Eastern Zone Committee of ANNFSU from 2036 to 2044 BS. Her active political journey, however, started when she received party membership from the then CPN (ML) in 2037. After completing her school level study, Bhandari was enrolled in Mahendra Morang Adrsha Multiple Campus where she was elected as a Treasurer for Federation of Students’ Union (FSU). Also, she played a pivotal role as a chairperson of women's wing of GEFONT in 2050BS to 2054 BS before being elected as UML central committee member in 2054 BS. Her influence in the party remained dominant when she was elected as Vice-chairperson of the party in the party’s eight general convention held in Butwal. Bhandari, who retained her vice-chairperson position in the party’s general convention, is considered as one of the confidant leaders of party Chairman and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Ex-British PM Tony Blair apologizes for Iraq War 'mistakes'

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Saturday said he was sorry for the "mistakes" committed in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, but stopped short of apologizing for ousting then-Iraq president Saddam Hussein.

"I can say that I apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong because, even though he had used chemical weapons extensively against his own people, against others, the program in the form that we thought it was did not exist in the way that we thought," the former British prime minister said in an interview with CNN.

Blair was referring to the claim that Saddam's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction, a claim the US and its allies used to justify the Iraq invasion. But the intelligence reports the claim was based on turned out to be false.

Blair, who served as prime minister between 1997 and 2007, has repeatedly denied rushing to war. Under his leadership, Britain made the second biggest troop contribution to the Iraq invasion, and British forces were stationed in the country until 2011.

The US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein's government and pushed Iraq into chaos, resulting in years of deadly sectarian violence and the rise of al Qaeda in Iraq, a precursor of the extremist group now known as Daesh.  

The decision to back the Iraq invasion is now deeply unpopular in Britain and has haunted Blair's Labour Party ever since. Although Blair said he apologizes "for some of the mistakes in planning and, certainly, our mistake in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime", he stopped short of a full apology for the war or for ousting Saddam and eventually sending him to his death.

"I find it hard to apologize for removing Saddam. I think, even from today in 2015, it is better that he's not there than that he is there," Blair said.

Blair also admitted partial responsibility for eventual the rise of the extremist group Daesh and that the 2003 Iraq invasion was the principle cause behind it.

"Of course, you can't say that those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015," he said. "But it's important also to realize, one, that the Arab Spring which began in 2011 would also have had its impact on Iraq today, and two, ISIS actually came to prominence from a base in Syria and not in Iraq."

Blair committed UK to Iraq war year before invasion: report

The former British PM's apology comes on the heels of a report that claims he was committed to joining the United States in the Iraq war a year before the 2003 invasion.

The revelations from documents obtained by a UK newspaper focus on a memo allegedly written by former US secretary of state Colin Powell on March 28, 2002 to then president George Bush a week before the US leader's meeting with Blair at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. 

"On Iraq, Blair will be with us should military operations be necessary," wrote Powell, in a document the Mail on Sunday published on its website.

"He is convinced on two points: the threat is real; and success against Saddam will yield more regional success," Powell said, referring to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was eventually ousted in the 2003 US-led invasion.

The newspaper, the Mail on Sunday, said the memo and other sensitive documents were part of a batch of secret emails held on the private server of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton which US courts have forced her to reveal.

A separate quote from Powell assured Bush "the UK will follow our lead in the Middle East", while other statements suggest Blair's willingness to present "strategic, tactical and public affairs lines" to strengthen public support for the Iraq war.

A controversial inquiry by former civil servant John Chilcot into the decisions leading up to the war was expected to take a year to report, but is still not public despite being announced by the government six years ago.

"This story is nothing new. The memo is consistent with what Mr Blair was saying publicly at the time and with Mr Blair´s evidence given to the Chilcot Inquiry" said a spokesperson for Blair's office.

Manchester United: Schweinsteiger may sue over Nazi dolls

Bastian Schweinsteiger is considering taking legal action against a Hong Kong company making Nazi dolls that bear a striking resemblance to him.

The Manchester United midfielder's management company put the matter into the hands of their German-based lawyers earlier this week.

The dolls, named 'World War II Army Supply Duty - Bastian', are made in China by Dragon in Dream.

The company told German paper Bild any resemblance was "purely coincidental".

"We don't sell any figures which resemble footballers. It is a complete coincidence that the figure 'Bastian' looks like Schweinsteiger," a spokesman added.

"We thought that all Germans look like that. Bastian is also a very common name in Germany."

The figurine comes in several outfits - including a version with a steel helmet, white winter jacket and woollen gloves, and another in a typical army uniform, complete with the "Wehrmachtsadler" insignia, an eagle with a swastika above the right breast pocket.

The doll is on sale for about $120 (£80).

"This is a clear violation of Schweinsteiger's personality rights," a German media lawyer told Bild.

"Everyone has rights to their own image. To see him as a swastika-bearing Wehrmacht soldier also constitutes a gross defamation and insult," Ulrich Amelung said.

Resident Of 48 Years In The UK Is ‘Illegal Immigrant’

A woman who has lived in the UK for nearly 50 years has been told she may have to leave the country because she is an illegal immigrant. 

The 52 year grandmother who has lived in Britain for nearly half a century has been told she will be deported unless she can prove her right to citizenship.

A petition has been set up to keep Ms Birkenhead in the UK and already has more than 2,000 supporters.

Winnie Birkenhead has also been told she cannot work and must take an English exam if she is to stay in the country. The 52-year-old, who is recovering from breast cancer, now fears she will be deported to Malaysia where she does not speak the language.

She came to the UK from Malaysia in 1968, aged five, on her mother’s passport and her late stepfather served in the British Army. Ms Birkenhead, of Burnley, Lancashire, said: ‘It’s terrifying knowing that they can come for me at any time and take me away.

‘Every time my dog barks or there’s a knock at the door I panic – I just don’t know what to do I feel like I’m stuck in limbo. ‘My mum gave up her Malaysian citizenship the day we came here to be British, so I just assumed I was a British citizen too.

‘I’ve never had a passport but that’s just because I like going to places like Cornwall and Devon for my holidays and don’t want to go abroad.’She claims she doesn’t know anyone in Malaysia apart from a sister, who she isn’t in contact with.

Ms Birkenhead is now asking friends for photographs from her past to prove she has lived in England for 48 years. She does have a National Insurance number and driving licence and was CRB checked eight years ago when she began working for Pride Community Care, a company which supports vulnerable adults. Her employer Amanda Balmer said she was shocked to receive a letter from the Home Office saying Ms Birkenhead couldn’t work.

The letter also states Pride Community Care could face a £20,000 fine for employing an ‘illegal immigrant’, which Ms Balmer claimed would force the company to close.