57 years after, Qatar announces plan to leave OPEC in January, becoming the first Middle Eastern country to pull out

Qatar has announced that it will leave OPEC, the oil cartel on January 1 after nearly 60 years of membership.  The country's state oil company, Qatar Petroleum, made the announcement in a series of tweets. "The withdrawal decision reflects Qatar's desire to focus its efforts on plans to develop and increase its natural gas production," Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the country's minister of state for energy affairs, was cited as saying in one of the tweets.
 OPEC members collectively supply about 44% of the world's crude oil. The cartel aims to monitor the market and decide to raise or lower oil production in order to maintain stable prices and supply.
 Qatar has been a member of OPEC since 1961. It said the organization was aware of its decision to withdraw.

Tottenham fan arrested for throwing banana at Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

A Tottenham supporter was arrested for throwing a banana skin at Arsenal and Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after he scored during north London derby on Sunday.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed there were seven arrests made and one arrested was a Tottenham fan who hurled banana skin onto the pitch as Aubameyang celebrated scoring an early penalty in front of the Tottenham fans.

360,000 adolescents expected to die of AIDS by 2030, says UNICEF

Some 360,000 adolescents are expected to die of AIDS by 2030 if investment in HIV prevention is not ramped up, according to a UNICEF report released on Thursday. The figures show the world is “off track’’ in its goal to end AIDS among children by 2030, UNICEF’s executive director, Henrietta Fore, said.
Projections show there will be a decline in the number of children and young people infected with HIV and dying from AIDS-related causes.

7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Alaska

On Friday, a  7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Anchorage, Alaska largest city violently shaking homes and businesses and knocking out power to some residents.
 The quake was located about eight miles (13 kilometers) north of Anchorage and struck at 8:29 am local time (1729 GMT), the US Geological Survey said. The city’s police department said it had caused “major infrastructure damage to Anchorage.”

Man marries his guitar in Nigeria

A man, who goes by the name Harris Best on twitter has married his Guitar. Harry who tied the knot with the musical instrument in a wedding gown shared the photos online, saying it's time to make babies after decades of being together.

China employees fined for walking fewer than 180,000 steps

A company in China has come under fire for fining employees if they don't walk at least 180,000 steps a month, it's reported. According to Information Times, employees at an unnamed real estate firm in the southern city of Guangzhou have been fined 0.01 yuan (0.1 cents; 0.1 pence) for every step that they fail to make when trying to reach their target.

Ahmed Musa accepts referee’s apology for disallowed goal against South Africa

Super Eagles skipper, Ahmed Musa, says he has forgiven Gambian referee, Bakary Gassama, after his errors cost Nigeria two goals and perhaps a win during the clash against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa. During last Saturday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, Gassama and his assistants had chalked off two Nigeria goals for offside but replays showed otherwise.
Nigeria were held to 1-1 draw by Bafana Bafana but managed to stage a return to the continental championship for the first time since 2013 as they only needed a point.

UEFA president hint at early VAR roll-out for Champions League knock-out stages

Video Assistant Referees (VAR) could be used during the knockout stage of this season’s Champions League, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and European Club Association chairman Andrea Agnelli have hinted. European football’s governing body has already announced plans to use VAR in the 2019-20 season and is in the closing stages of conducting tests with the technology.

Egyptian actress, Rania Youssef to face trial for wearing a revealing dress to the Cairo Film Festival

Rania Youssef, an Egyptian actress who wore a revealing dress to the Cairo Film Festival is to go on trial on charges of "inciting debauchery".
 Youssef appeared in a lacy, black, see-through outfit that exposed most of her legs, outraging many Egyptians, though some said she should be able to wear what she wanted. She could be jailed for up to five years if found guilty, a judicial source told AFP.

New Zealand prevents mobile carrier from buying Huawei 5G tech over security fears

New Zealand blocked its top telecom firm from using Huawei equipment for its 5G mobile network, dealing another blow to the Chinese tech company's ambitions to become a leader in the next generation wireless technology.
Spark, the country's largest telecommunications company, said government officials told the company Wednesday that using Huawei's 5G equipment "would, if implemented, raise significant national security risks."

Nigerian Super Falcons defeat South Africa to win 2018 AWCON

The Super Falcons of Nigeria have won their ninth AWCON title following a 4-3 win over South Africa after penalties in a tension soaked match.   There were no goals during regulation time as both teams matched each other strength for strength all through 120 minutes. Asisat Oshoala missed an 83rd minute penalty but that did not stop the Nigerian team from being victorious as goalkeeper Tochukwu saved the last kick taken by South Africa.

Former US President George H.W. Bush dies at age 94

Former US President George Herbert Walker Bush has died at the age of 94. A family spokesman said he died shortly before 10 p.m. Friday, Nov 30th almost eight months after the death of his wife, Barbara Bush.
His son, former President George W. Bush also released a statement confirming his father's death.
"Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro and I are saddened to announced that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died," his son said in a statement released Friday night.

Traces of faeces found on McDonald's touchscreen kioks in UK

Traces of faeces have been found on every single McDonald’s touchscreen swabbed in an investigation by metro.co.uk. Samples were taken from the new machines that have been rolled out at restaurants across the country and every one of them had coliforms.

CAF strips Cameroon of hosting 2019 Africa Cup of Nations over delay in preparation

Cameroon have been stripped of hosting next year's Africa Cup of Nations by the Confederation of African Football.   African football's governing body (Caf) says it is because of delays in the progress of Cameroon's preparation for the tournament, due to start in June.   Officials made the decision at a meeting on Friday in Accra, Ghana, that lasted more than 10 hours. CAF president Ahmad Ahmad says it will work to "determine a new organising country by the end of the year". 

DJ Khaled and Floyd Mayweather charged by US SEC for Illegally promoting Bitcoin

Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr and music producer DJ Khaled will pay thousands of dollars to settle charges that they violated US financial laws. 
 The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement on Thursday as the US financial regulator said the men failed to disclose payments they received to promote certain cryptocurrency investments. 

Angelina Jolie and Pitt reach child custody agreement

Former Hollywood couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have reached a final agreement over the custody of their six children, after more than two years of acrimonious negotiation. 
 “A custody arrangement was agreed to weeks ago, and has been signed by both parties and the judge. The agreement, which is based on the recommendations of the child custody evaluator, eliminates the need for a trial. The filing and details of the agreement are confidential to protect the best interests of the children” Jolie’s lawyer Samantha Bley DeJean said in a statement.

Ukraine bans Russian men aged 16-60 from country

Ukrainian officials on Friday temporarily banned all Russian men aged 16 to 60 from entering the country, the latest turn in a crisis between the two neighbors after Russia seized three Ukrainian ships earlier this week.

Estate agents executed after "burying clients alive" to steal property

Two estate agents who killed six people after deceiving them into giving up their homes have been executed. The "evil" gang consisting of three men and one woman buried their victims alive.
As a result two of the men were sentenced to death, the other man was sentenced to 22 years in prison while the woman was spared death because Belarus does not execute women. She was, however, sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Former U.S secretary of state John Kerry says he's considering running for president in 2020

Former U.S. secretary of state and one-time Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry, has revealed he is considering running for President in 2020. During “A Conversation With John Kerry” at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, the 74-year-old from Massachusetts revealed this when asked about a presidential run.

78-year-old man confesses to killing 90 women since 1970

A convicted felon in a Texas prison has confessed to killing 90 women since 1970, according to a shocking FBI report released this week. Samuel Little, 78, who is already serving multiple life sentences, reportedly began speaking to investigators last spring in exchange for a prison transfer after losing an appeal.