MSNBC's Scarborough and Brzezinski hit back at Trump tirade

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Co-presenters Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were both targets of Donald Trump's Twitter tirade

Two US journalists attacked on Twitter by President Donald Trump have accused him of lying and say he is mentally unfit to watch their show.

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, who present the MSNBC show Morning Joe, have written a joint response to the president in the Washington Post.

They deny his claim that they sought to spend time with him, and accuse him of an "unhealthy obsession" with them.

Mr Trump called them "low IQ crazy Mika" and "Psycho Joe" on Thursday.

He also referred to Ms Brzezinski as "bleeding badly from a facelift".

The pair wrote: "We are both certain that the man is not mentally equipped to continue watching our show.

"For those lucky enough to miss Thursday's West Wing temper tantrum, the president continued a year-long habit of lashing out at Morning Joe while claiming to never watch it," they continued.

Thursday's show had made disparaging comments about the president.

However, many felt that Mr Trump's attack went too far and was inappropriate for the country's leader. Senior US Republicans were among those to criticise the Twitter outburst.

Image copyright New York Daily News Image caption How the New York Daily News presented the story on their front page on Friday

In the Washington Post article, the journalists denied his claims that they had spent three nights at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, or that they "insisted" on spending time with him.

Instead they present an opposing scenario, where they turned down his invitation to attend his New Year's Eve party.

They continued: "Putting aside Mr Trump's never-ending obsession with women's blood, Mika and her face were perfectly intact, as pictures from that night reveal.

"And though it is no-one's business, the president's petulant personal attack against yet another woman's looks compels us to report that Mika has never had a face-lift."

In a previous spat with journalist Megyn Kelly, Mr Trump referred to "blood coming out of her wherever", implying she was on her period and this was affecting her work.

The journalists also said that White House staffers had told them the National Enquirer would publish a negative article about them unless they begged Mr Trump to have it stopped. "We ignored their desperate pleas," they wrote.

The spat shows no sign of ending. Mr Trump again tweeted on Friday, saying it was Mr Scarborough who had called him to stop the National Enquirer piece. "I said no! Bad show," he tweeted.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Mr Trump's remarks on Thursday were "beneath the office" of president.

He said the tweet "represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America".

"Please just stop. This isn't normal," tweeted fellow Republican Senator Ben Sasse.

Meanwhile, senior Democrat in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, called Mr Trump's tweets "sexist, an assault on the freedom of the press & an insult to all women".

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Democrats held a news conference condemning President Trump's tweets

The White House sprang to Mr Trump's defence.

"I don't think that the president has ever been someone that gets attacked and doesn't push back," spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News.

"People on that [MSNBC] show have personally attacked him many times. This is a president who fights fire with fire and certainly will not be allowed to be bullied by liberal media and the liberal elites within the media, or Hollywood or anywhere else."

Image copyright Twitter

Ms Brzezinski and Mr Scarborough co-present Morning Joe, which has increasingly derided President Trump since he took office.

In recent weeks, Mr Scarborough has called him a "bumbling dope", resembling "a kid who pooped in his pants", while Ms Brzezinski has mocked members of the administration as "lobotomised".

Ms Brzezinski is the daughter of the late Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser, while Mr Scarborough is a former Republican congressman. They are engaged to each other.

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Finland rape case: Cuban volleyball players' jail terms cut

Image copyright AFP Image caption Only one of the five players was acquitted on appeal

A Finnish court has cut the jail terms of four members of Cuba's national volleyball team found guilty of rape, and released a fifth.

The five were jailed in September for raping a Finnish woman during a World League tournament in Tampere.

The appeals court in the south-western city of Turku reduced the five-year sentences handed down to four of them.

The longest of the revised prison terms is that of Osmany Uriarte Mestre - four years. Luis Sosa Sierra was acquitted.

Ricardo Calvo Manzano will now serve three-and-a-half years, team captain Rolando Cepeda Abreu two-and-a-half years and Alfonso Gavilan one year and three months.

They were detained in the southern Finnish city on 2 July after a woman said she had been raped at a hotel. The men denied the accusation.

The team had been taking part in a tournament ahead of the Rio Olympics when the rape took place at their hotel.

Eight men were originally held. Two were released soon afterwards.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Cuba had been taking part in a Volleyball World League tournament in Tampere

In September the Tampere court heard that two of the players had met the woman in a nightclub in the hotel basement. She later went to the room of Uriarte Mestre and consented to sex.

However, Uriarte Mestre was then said to have texted the other men without the woman's knowledge. They entered the room and subjected her to a lengthy ordeal and held her by the hair to prevent her leaving.

When she was eventually allowed to leave, she complained to the hotel receptionist who called police.

The Cuban players were found guilty of aggravated rape and ordered to pay €24,000 (£21,076; $27,383) in compensation to the victim.

As the allegations emerged, two of the team coaches were sacked.

Despite its depleted squad, Cuba fielded a team in Rio and lost all five of its matches.

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Russian TV offers gay people one-way tickets to leave

Image copyright Facebook/Tsargrad TV Image caption Tsargrad TV host Andrei Afanasyev says the offer is not a joke

A Russian religious television channel is offering to pay for one-way plane tickets for gay people serious about emigrating from the country.

In a video on its social media channels this week, Tsargrad TV called on gay people to compete for a one-way plane ticket overseas.

"Just recently, California - the most liberal state in the USA by the way - proposed to facilitate the granting of green cards to Russian perverts," said TV host Andrei Afanasyev.

The channel regularly uses offensive terms to refer to LGBT people.

"The staff of Tsargrad TV support this initiative. Moreover, we are ready to pay for a one-way ticket to anyone who plans to emigrate in complete earnest, and can provide a medical certificate proving that they are sodomites or have other forms of perversion," he added.

"We really want you to move there, where you can openly submit to your sins."

Image copyright Facebook/Tsargrad TV Image caption The channel is urging gay people to consider America as a more welcoming place to live

The channel insisted it was not trolling users and that it "wants to do good".

But a Russian sexologist speaking to the lifestyle website Afisha Daily said it was unlikely anyone would be able to obtain the required medical certificate, as sexual orientation was not considered a disease.

Russia's Fox News

Tsargrad is a niche satellite channel that was set up to promote Christian Orthodox values.

Its name means Constantinople - some indication of its religious and political outlook - and it claims an audience of about a quarter of the Russian population.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Constantinople - modern-day Istanbul - was the richest city in Europe in its time and regarded as a bastion of European Christiandom

Its founder, Konstantin Malofeev is a prominent businessman who vocally supports President Vladimir Putin. He has said he views it as the equivalent of America's Fox News channel.

Tsargrad frequently criticises Western countries for "low morals".

Tsargrad "savages"

A few people have expressed their interest in taking up the offer, though it is unclear how serious they are.

"It looks like my winning ticket to get out of this frigging country. What should I submit?" asked one.

A large majority of people responding to the video were indignant, calling the channel's staff "savages" and vowing to block it from their feeds.

A few, however, agreed with it: "I support Tsargrad. Let gays go to their USA. We have our own values in Russia, Orthodox one. Godly ones," said one user.

See also:

Anti-gay prejudice is rife in Russia, where political leaders portray being gay as a sign of degenerate morality and criticise countries that promote equal rights for LGBT people.

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One $100m grant, eight life-changing ideas: Which would you choose?

The John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation is awarding a huge grant for a project which will make "real and measurable progress in solving a critical problem of our time".

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China condemns US sanctions over 'North Korea funding'

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The US says China can do the most to impose economic pain on Kim Jong-un's regime

China has reacted angrily to a US decision to impose sanctions on a Chinese bank accused of laundering North Korean money.

A foreign ministry spokesman urged the US to "stop wrongful actions" to avoid harming co-operation.

The US announced the move, as well as sanctions on a Chinese shipping company and two Chinese nationals, on Thursday.

It said the blacklisting was aimed at cutting funds to North Korea's weapons programmes.

"We will follow the money and cut off the money," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a news conference.

But he said the move was not a response to Chinese inaction on North Korea, saying: "This is not directed at China, this is directed at a bank, as well as individuals and entities in China."

The UN has already imposed several rounds of sanctions on Pyongyang, but China is widely seen as the nation most able to impose economic pain on North Korea.

Washington has been pushing Beijing for tougher measures amid a series of missile tests by Pyongyang. But in a tweet earlier this month, President Donald Trump said China's actions had "not worked out".

The sanctions mean that the Bank of Dandong will be barred from doing business in the US.

The US Treasury said it had been "a conduit for illicit North Korean financial activity" and facilitated "millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea's WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and ballistic missile programmes".

Two Chinese nationals accused of creating front companies for North Korean entities and a shipping company, Dalian Global Unity Shipping, accused of smuggling luxury goods to North Korea, have also been blacklisted.

Mr Mnuchin said that the US could impose more sanctions in the future.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Trump and Mr Xi were all smiles at Mar-a Lago in April

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the US action went "against the important spirit" of the apparently friendly meeting between Mr Trump and US President Xi Jinping at the US president's Florida resort in April.

The sanctions came as the US announced the sale of $1.42bn (£1.09bn) worth of arms to Taiwan, the first such transaction under the Trump administration.

US arms sales to Taiwan always anger Beijing because it considers the self-governing island part of its territory.

It also came as new South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Washington for talks with Mr Trump on security issues.

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Lionel Messi prepares for his wedding day

Image copyright AFP / Getty Images Image caption Lionel Messi joined on the pitch by Antonella Roccuzzo and their two sons

Football superstar Lionel Messi will marry his childhood sweetheart in his hometown in Argentina on Friday.

The Barcelona player is returning to the city of Rosario to wed Antonella Roccuzzo, whom he met there before he moved to Spain aged 13.

Argentine newspaper Clarín has called it "the wedding of the year" and even "the wedding of the century".

Messi's teammates, including Luis Suárez and Neymar, will be among the 260 guests, it said.

Many have flown in on private jets.

Extra police officers have been drafted in to ensure security is maintained around the hotel, while a private security firm will work inside to keep out any potential gatecrashers.

Around 150 journalists have received accreditation to enter a special press area, but will not have full access to the venue, said organisers.

Where did the bride and groom meet?

Image copyright AFP / Getty Images Image caption Artist Lisandro Urteaga paints a celebratory a mural of Messi on a wall in Rosario ahead of the wedding

Messi, 30, met his future wife when he was just five years old.

She is the cousin of his best friend, Lucas Scaglia, who also became a professional football player.

Messi accepted an offer to play for Barcelona when he was 13, on condition they pay for treatment for his growth hormone deficiency.

He has spoken about the difficulties he faced on leaving behind his loved ones and former club.

The couple, who now live in Barcelona, have two sons together.

In 2016, he was given a 21-month jail term for tax evasion in Spain and the case has been subject he is unlikely to go to prison as the sentence can b served under probation or possibly avoided by paying a fine.

What do we know about the big day?

The event will take place at Rosario's City Center hotel complex, which has an adjoining casino.

Image copyright CityCenter Rosario Image caption Rosario's Hotel CityCenter set up for a previous event

Ms Roccuzzo, 29, is expected to wear a dress by Rosa Clara, a Barcelona-based designer who has dressed actress Eva Longoria and Spain's Queen Letizia.

Aside from a "sushi station", the menu is a very Argentine affair, including empanadas (traditional pasties) and all parts of the cow, from a casserole of sweetbreads to blood sausage.

Who is on the guest list?

Messi is reported to have invited the Barcelona squad, including Gerald Piqué and his pop-star wife Shakira.

Teammates from Argentina's national team, including Sergio Agüero, will also be present.

Clarín reported that he has not invited any of his recent coaches, including Pep Guardiola, who is now at Manchester City.

Argentina's other big football legend, Diego Maradona, is also not on the list, according to the local press.

Image copyright AFP / Getty Images Image caption Uruguayan footballer Luis Suárez touches down in Rosario for his teammate's big day

Where is Rosario?

The port city of Rosario sits on the banks of the Paraná, about 300km north-west of Buenos Aires in the centre of the country.

Another famous Argentine to have spent his early years here is Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

Messi is known locally simply as Lío.

Image copyright AFP Image caption A mural of Che Guevara next to the Newell's Old Boys club logo

He has been a local hero since his days as a star player for Newell's Old Boys.

The team has a staunch rivalry with nearby Rosario Central, similar to that of Boca Juniors and River Plate in Buenos Aires.

Since moving to Spain, Messi has won a record-breaking five Fifa Ballon d'Or awards.

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Hitler's birthplace seizure backed by Austrian court

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Media captionBethany Bell describes the house where Adolf Hitler was born

Austria's Constitutional Court has ruled that the state was right to expropriate Adolf Hitler's birthplace, which will be remodelled and used by a disabilities charity.

Former owner Gerlinde Pommer had appealed against parliament's vote in December to seize the property.

The court said expropriation would help ensure that the building, in Braunau am Inn, did not become a neo-Nazi shrine.

The authorities plan to transform it, to erase its associations with Hitler.

The Nazi dictator was born in a rented room on the top floor of the building, near the Austro-German border, on 20 April 1889. He lived there for only a few months.

Mrs Pommer - who does not live there - argued that the building could be transformed without it being seized by the state.

Germany's Spiegel website reports that the Austrian government has been paying the elderly, ailing woman about €5,000 (£4,390; $5,700) a month in rent. Under the expropriation law she will get compensation.

There had been calls for the building to be pulled down to prevent it becoming a shrine for neo-Nazis.

Officials want to remodel the property's facade and offer it to Lebenshilfe, a charity which supports people with learning difficulties.

The building was used by the charity as a day centre and workshop for people with special needs.

But it was forced to move out several years ago when Mrs Pommer blocked renovations.

During Nazi rule, the house was transformed into a shrine to Hitler as the town drew in a wave of tourists.

But as the Nazis began to lose control in 1944, it was boarded up.

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