Briefly

AFGHANISTAN

Ghani named winner as rival rejects result

Afghanistan's election commission on Tuesday announced the final results of Sept 28 presidential polls and declared incumbent President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani as the winner. Ghani's rival and chief executive of his National Unity Government Abdullah Abdullah stood the second by securing 39.52 percent of the votes, head of the election commission Hawa Alam Nuristani said at a news conference. However, Abdullah rejected the outcome as "unfair" and said he is the winner of the election and deserves to form government. More than 1.9 million out of 9.4 million eligible voters cast their votes in the presidential elections in September.

UNITED STATES

No verdict so far in Weinstein rape trial

Jurors in ex-Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein's high-profile sex crimes trial ended their first day of deliberations on Tuesday without reaching a verdict in the case seen as a watershed in the#MeToo movement. The disgraced movie mogul, 67, faces life in prison if the jury of seven men and five women convict him of a variety of sexual misconduct charges in New York. Jurors were scheduled to reconvene on Wednesday. More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct since October 2017.

AUSTRALIA

2 small planes collide, killing 4 on board

Two small planes collided on Wednesday, killing four people and scattering debris across grassland in southeastern Australia. Police and other emergency services were at the two separate crash scenes in Mangalore, north of the Victoria state capital, Melbourne. Police said in a statement two occupants in each plane were confirmed dead at the scene and had yet to be identified. Aerial images taken from local media showed debris from two small planes in grassy areas.

LIBYA

Govt suspends talks with east-based army

Libya's United Nations-backed government on Tuesday announced suspension of its participation in the Intra-Libyan Joint Military Commission talks in Geneva, following its rival east-based army's attack on a Turkish ship in a Libyan port. Libya's Transport Ministry said the attack destroyed a number of containers loaded with foodstuff, and the Health Ministry said three civilians were killed and five others injured. The east-based army has been leading a military campaign since April 2019 in and around Tripoli, attempting to take over the city and topple the UN-backed government.

Xinhua - Agencies