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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been revealed as the owner of a French chateau described as the world’s most expensive home, according to a report in the New York Times.

The purchase of the vast property west of Paris for $300m would be the latest in a string of extravagant purchases by the powerful prince, who has been waging a sweeping anti-corruption campaign.

The newly-built chateau was sold to a mystery buyer in 2015, and though its ownership is concealed through shell companies, advisers to the royal family have confirmed the prince is its ultimate owner, the Times reported Saturday.

Saudi officials have declined to comment on the report, which comes after French investigative website Mediapart similarly pointed to the prince as the owner in July.

Fortune magazine reported at the time of the 2015 sale that the Chateau Louis XIV — which has fountains that can be controlled by iPhone — had smashed records to become the world’s priciest home.

On the outside, the mansion looks like a 17th-century chateau in the style of the palace at nearby Versailles, but it is in fact a new-build that went up after its Saudi developer bulldozed the existing 19th-century property.

Its antique facades hide modern facilities including a cinema, deluxe swimming pool and a moat with a transparent underwater chamber so that visitors can enjoy the sight of koi carp swimming past.

The 57-acre plot includes manicured gardens, huge fountains and a maze, while the interiors are lavishly decorated with gilding and fresco ceilings.

The Times reported that he bought the chateau through a firm managed through his personal foundation, Eight Investment Company, which also handled his 2015 purchase of a $500 million yacht.

Along with the chateau and yacht, the Times also reported earlier this month that a Leonardo da Vinci painting sold for $450.3 million in November was sold to a Saudi prince acting on behalf of the crown prince.

The yacht purchase, sealed with the help of an army of lawyers and accountants in Germany, Bermuda and the Isle of Man, was revealed through the Paradise Papers document leak

The United States on Monday vetoed a draft UN resolution rejecting President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, after all 14 other Security Council members backed the measure.

The veto cast by US Ambassador Nikki Haley highlighted Washington’s isolation over Trump’s announcement that the US embassy will be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, effectively ignoring Palestinian claims on the city.

The policy shift by the Republican president, announced earlier this month, broke with international consensus, triggering protests and strong condemnation.

Key US allies Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Ukraine were among the 14 countries in the 15-member council that backed the measure asserting that any decisions on the status of Jerusalem “have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded.”

“The United States will not be told by any country where we can put our embassy,” Haley told the council after the veto.

“What we witnessed here today in the Security Council is an insult. It won’t be forgotten,” she said, describing the measure as “one more example of the United Nations doing more harm than good in addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Egypt put forward the draft resolution, which insists that Jerusalem is an issue “to be resolved through negotiations” between Israel and the Palestinians and expresses “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem” — without specifically mentioning Trump’s move.

The United States along with Britain, China, France and Russia can veto any resolution presented to the council, which requires nine votes for adoption.

– ‘Thank you’ from Netanyahu –
“Thank you, Ambassador Haley,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter.

“On Hanukkah, you spoke like a Maccabi. You lit a candle of truth. You dispel the darkness. One defeated the many. Truth defeated lies. Thank you, President Trump. Thank you, Nikki Haley.”

US Vice President Mike Pence will visit Jerusalem on Wednesday, wading into the crisis over one of the most controversial issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel seized control of the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Middle East war and sees all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital. The Palestinians view the east as the capital of their future state.

The draft resolution had included a call on all countries to refrain from opening embassies in Jerusalem, reflecting concerns that other governments could follow the US lead.

It also demanded that all member-states not recognize any actions that are contrary to UN resolutions on the status of the city.

– Going back a ‘century’ –
Washington’s closest allies, France and Britain, came out ahead of the vote to declare their backing for the measure, which they said was in line with the positions enshrined in previous UN resolutions.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre praised the Egyptian draft as a “good text” and argued that “without an agreement on Jerusalem, there will be no peace accord” between Israel and the Palestinians.

The status of the city must be decided through negotiations and “not by the unilateral decision of a third country that would bring us back a century,” said the French envoy.

Despite outrage over the US decision, the United States “will continue to play an extremely important role in the search for peace in the Middle East,” said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft.

Several UN resolutions call on Israel to withdraw from territory seized during the 1967 war and have reaffirmed the need to end the occupation of that land.

The Palestinians had sought tougher language in the draft resolution that would have directly called on the US administration to scrap its decision, but the final version was softened to draw maximum support.

Backed by Muslim countries, the Palestinians are expected to turn to the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution rejecting the US decision after the US veto.

No country has the power to veto resolutions at the 193-nation assembly.

While Haley considers “the veto a source of pride and strength, we will show her their position is isolated and rejected internationally,” Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said in Ramallah.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has scrapped a meeting with Pence in protest at the Jerusalem announcement, and will instead head to Saudi Arabia to meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Turkey meanwhile said it hopes to soon open an embassy to Palestine in East Jerusalem.

South African deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa was narrowly elected head of the ruling ANC party Monday, winning a bruising race that exposed rifts within the organisation that led the fight against apartheid.

Thousands of raucous Ramaphosa supporters sang and chanted in the conference hall as rival backers of defeated candidate Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma appeared dejected.

Ramaphosa won 2,440 votes to Dlamini-Zuma’s 2,261.

“We declare comrade Cyril Ramaphosa the new president of the African National Congress,” an official told party delegates in Johannesburg.

The victory puts Ramaphosa in line to succeed President Jacob Zuma, whose reign has been plagued by corruption scandals, economic slowdown and growing anger at the once-omnipotent party.

The vote was a long and acrimonious process. Delegates who had travelled from around South Africa cast their ballots after repeated delays caused by disputes over who was entitled to vote.

President Zuma was seen as backing Dlamini-Zuma, allegedly to secure protection from prosecution on graft charges after he leaves office.

But his loyalists did win senior positions in the vote, including David Mabuza as party deputy chief, meaning Ramaphosa is likely to face strong internal opposition to his pro-business reform agenda.

President Zuma stepped down as party chief at the conference but could remain as head of state until the 2019 election.

“I hope you will cooperate with the new leadership… as we move to the 2019 elections,” Baleka Mbete, the party chairwoman, told delegates.

– Falling public support –

The ANC, which has ruled since 1994 when Nelson Mandela won the first multi-racial vote, could struggle to retain its grip on power in the next election due to falling public support.

“The party will decide if Zuma goes (before the 2019 election),” Mzwandile Mkhwanazi, a delegate from KwaZulu-Natal province, told AFP.

“Ramaphosa’s victory is good for the country. We need a stable country, a president able to fight corruption. We think he is up to the task.”

Ramaphosa, 65, is a former trade unionist leader who led talks to end white-minority rule in the early 1990s and then became a multi-millionaire businessman before returning to politics.

He is often accused of failing to confront Zuma while serving as his deputy since 2014.

Dlamini-Zuma was head of the African Union commission until earlier this year and a former interior, foreign affairs and health minister.

She had four children with Zuma before divorcing in 1998.

“I believe Ramaphosa will work to bring back the principles of liberal politics in the party,” Amanda Gouws, a politics professor at Stellenbosch University, told AFP.

“The outcome of the vote was not easy to call. What is at stake here is unity — the new leaders need to forge unity and rebuild the image of the party.”

Allegations swirled of delegates being targeted with bribes, but ANC spokesman Khusela Sangoni told reporters that the process had proceeded “smoothly”.

“I’m bowing out very happy because I think… I made my contribution,” President Zuma said on Monday as he walked through the vast conference centre hosting the five-day event.

Soaring unemployment and state corruption have fuelled frustration at the ANC among millions of poor black South Africans who face dire housing, inadequate education and continuing racial inequality.

Party veteran Zikalala Snuki told AFP: “It’s democracy. We are happy that we managed to elect the top leadership.

“We have Ramaphosa, who may be able to steer the ship in the right direction.”

The opposition Democratic Alliance party said that the ANC was “held together only by the glue of patronage and corruption, and Cyril Ramaphosa is just a new face to the same old ANC.”

Britain’s Interior Ministry, the Home Office, said on Monday that it is to extend a streamlined visa processing scheme for international Masters students.

It followed a pilot scheme, now in its second year, at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bath and Imperial College London.

The piloted process for international students looked at students wanting to study on a Masters course of 13 months or less in the Britain.

It also provides greater support for students who wished to switch to a work visa and take up a graduate role, by allowing them to remain in the UK for six months after they have finished their course.

Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said: “The expansion of this pilot is part of our ongoing activity to ensure that our world-leading institutions remain highly competitive.

“The UK continues to be the second most popular destination for international students and the number coming to study at our universities has increased by 24 per cent since 2010.

“This is a clear indication that genuine students are welcome and there is no limit on the number who can come to study in the UK.’’

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Universities taking part are given responsibility for eligibility checks, meaning that students can submit fewer documents than required in the current process alongside their visa applications.

“All students will continue to require Home Office security and identity checks.’’

The most recent Home Office statistics showed that the number of students applying for visas increased by eight per cent over the past year and there has been a nine per cent increase in the number of students applying to Britain’s Russell Group universities.

The 23 additional universities would be able to apply the pilot to their 2018/2019 intake.

The universities were selected as their visa refusal rates are consistently the lowest in their area or region.

The 23 universities to be added to the pilot are: Cardiff, Goldsmiths University of London, Harper Adams, Newcastle, Queen’s University Belfast, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Bristol, Durham, East Anglia, Edinburgh.

Essex, Exeter, Glasgow, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, University of Wales Trinity St. David (Swansea Campus), Warwick, and York. (Xinhua/NAN)

Alexander Okere, Benin

The Edo State House of Assembly has sworn in Mr. Godwin Adenomo as the member representing Ovia South-West  constituency.

Adenomo replaces Mr. Sunday Aghedo, who was sacked by a ruling of the Supreme Court on December 8.

The five-man panel had in a unanimous judgement declared Adenomo as the authentic winner of the April 11, 2015, legislative poll, having emerged as the candidate of of the All Progressives Congress in 2014.

It had also ordered the House to swear him in and the salaries and allowances received by Aghedo, also of the APC, to be returned within 90 days.

At plenary on Monday, the Speaker, Mr. Kabiru Adjoto, confirmed that Adenomo had provided copies of his declaration of assets and liabilities.

“It is constitutional for every public office holder to declare their assets before taking oath of allegiance.

“The House is in receipt of the supreme Court judgement to the effect that Mr. Godwin Adenomo be sworn in as a lawmaker representing Ovia South-West,” Adjoto added.

Banky W and Adesua Etomi spotted stepping out in grand style

- The power couple was seen rocking different shades of blue at an event.

They say love makes you happy and marriage makes you glow. This could be true for newlyweds Banky W and Adesua Etomi Wellington.

Nigerian's favourite and hottest couple had a great 2017 from announcing their engagement to their wedding ceremony and the success of the Wedding Party 2 movie.

After coming back from their wedding in South Africa, the couple has served Nigerians with hot and beautiful wedding looks that makes them look and feel like a million bucks. Could it be marriage that makes them glow or could it be the result of having a successful year?

The two lovebirds were recently spotted looking gorgeous and beautiful in different shades of blue at an event. Adesua was seen rocking a lighter shade of blue dress while her husband was spotted rocking a darker shade of blue suit.

However, despite having the best year this 2017, the new wife recently revealed that she has big plans for 2018. In an interview, she noted that she wishes to continue to stay happy.

A Trump administration judicial nominee who struggled to answer basic questions about courtroom procedure in a viral video clip withdrew his name from consideration on Monday.

Matthew Petersen, who had been tapped to be a judge on the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, wrote in a letter to President Trump that his nomination had become a "distraction."

"I had hoped my nearly two decades of public service might carry more weight than my two worst minutes on television," he wrote. "However, I am no stranger to political realities, and I do not wish to be a continued distraction from the important work of your Administration and the Senate."

He is the third of Trump's judicial nominees to be withdrawn in the last week.

Petersen was raked over the coals in a cringeworthy exchange last week with Republican Sen. John Kennedy (La.), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

After Petersen admitted he's never tried a case, Kennedy told him as a trial judge he's going to have to deal with witnesses. He then asked him what the "Daubert standard" is.

"I don't have that readily at my disposal," Petersen said of a rule regarding expert testimony in federal court.

"Do you know what a 'motion in limine' is?" Kennedy asked a moment later, referring to a request to exclude certain evidence in a trial.

Petersen said he hadn't had time to "do a deep dive," before later saying that he would "probably not be able to give you a good definition right here at the table."

Kennedy in an interview Monday morning on WWL-TV in Louisiana said that Peterson is a "decent guy," but too inexperienced for the bench.

"Just because you've seen 'My Cousin Vinny' doesn't qualify you to be a federal judge," he said, referring to the 1992 movie starring Joe Pesci.

Peterson, who is a member of the Federal Election Commission, had been rated "qualified" by the American Bar Association, but "he has no litigation experience and my job on the Judiciary Committee is to catch them," Kennedy said.

Kennedy also said that Trump called him over the weekend and expressed support for his work on the Judiciary Committee.

"The president called me the day before yesterday. He doesn't interview these guys. He has his staff do it and he said, 'Kennedy, I think you're right. Number two, Mr. Petersen's a really smart guy.' "

"The president and I get along fine, and he has told me, 'Kennedy, when some of my guys send somebody over who's not qualified, you do your job," he said.

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), the District's nonvoting representative, criticized the White House for not consulting her on judicial nominations.

"D.C.'s District Court is one of the most important federal courts in the nation and should be filled with judges who have first-rate qualifications and experience," she said in a statement. "The White House should learn from this embarrassing moment and, at the very least, extend to District of Columbia residents the courtesy of consulting on nominees to our federal bench here."

Petersen's withdrawal came just days after the White House heeded a call from Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to withdraw two other controversial judicial candidates - Brett Talley and Jeff Mateer.

Talley, who was nominated to be a federal judge in Alabama, had never tried a case before in court and was rated "unqualified" by the American Bar Association.

Mateer, meanwhile, drew fierce criticism for past speeches in which he compared homosexuality to bestiality and described transgender children as a part of "Satan's plan."

The liberal Alliance for Justice, which has been fighting Trump's judicial picks, said Petersen was "among many unfit" nominees that have been put forth by this administration.

"It took the nomination of some egregiously underqualified people to make Senate Republicans begin to push back, but this GOP-led Senate has been rubber-stamping unfit judicial nominees for months now," Daniel Goldberg, the group's legal director, said in a statement.

"It's time for that irresponsible behavior to stop, and also time for the White House to stop sending up the kind of nominees we're seeing: individuals with inadequate credentials, open hostility to the rights of fellow Americans, or both."

Rebecca Dykes, who is said to be in her 30s, was found dead on the side of a highway in Lebanon, police said.
Rebecca Dykes, who is said to be in her 30s, was found dead on the side of a highway in Lebanon, police said.  (Family handout)

A diplomat working at the British Embassy in Lebanon was found dead Saturday by the side of a road, reportedly strangled.

Rebecca Dykes’ body was found Saturday on the side of a highway east of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, the BBC reported Sunday. Dykes, believed to be 30, was strangled, senior police sources told the news site. Local media Al Jadeed TV said Dykes was raped, though authorities said they are investigating whether she was sexually assaulted.

A forensic official also told The Associated Press that Dykes was strangled with a rope.

Dykes reportedly met friends and colleagues at a bar in central Beirut the night before she was killed, the Telegraph reported. She left the bar just after midnight.

Dykes had been living in Beirut since January while working as the Department for International Development’s program and police manager, according to the BBC.

Friends said she was flying home for Christmas Saturday.

"We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. We are doing all we can to understand what happened. We request that the media respect our privacy,” Dykes’ family said in a statement.

A spokesman for U.K.’s Department for International Development said an investigation into the death is being conducted.

"Following the death of a British woman in Beirut, we are providing support to the family," the spokesman told the BBC. "We remain in close contact with local authorities. Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time."