Trump and Putin 'will try to mend ties', Kremlin says www.bbc.com

US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to "normalise US-Russia ties", the Kremlin has said, following a phone conversation between the two.
Mr Putin wished Mr Trump "success in implementing the election programme".
Mr Trump, who had praised Mr Putin in the election campaign, said he wanted an "enduring relationship with Russia".
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama said Mr Trump had told him he remained "committed to a strong Nato".
'Pragmatic'
The Kremlin revealed Mr Trump and Mr Putin had discussed Syria and agreed that current Russian-US relations were "extremely unsatisfactory".

They also talked about the fact that 2017 marked 210 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries "which in itself should stimulate a return to pragmatic, mutually beneficial co-operation".
Mr Putin and Mr Trump had agreed to stay in touch by phone and arrange to meet in person at a later date, the Kremlin added.

The Kremlin did not make it clear who had initiated the phone call.
But Mr Trump's office said the Kremlin had called and that issues such as mutual threats and challenges, and strategic economic affairs, were discussed.
It said: "President-elect Trump noted to President Putin that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia."
Mr Trump's election has seen a change in tone from Russia towards the US, with state TV channels quickly switching from claims of electoral fraud to hailing the triumph of the "man of the people".

The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says that Russia views America's new president as a pragmatist - a brash businessman that Russians can do business with.
Relations between the two countries have soured in recent years, despite President Obama starting his eight years in office by calling for a "reset" with one of the US' long-term rivals.
While Russia and the US have managed to work together on issues like North Korea and Iran, they have openly clashed on Syria.
Mr Obama has also condemned Russia's intervention on the side of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, while Russia's decision to grant whistleblower Edward Snowden asylum infuriated Washington.
Mr Trump's rival for the presidency was no better liked in Moscow. Hillary Clinton was sharply critical of Russia's 2011 parliamentary elections, leading President Putin to accuse her of fomenting the mass protests against him that followed.
'Beacon of hope'
Mr Obama met Mr Trump last week and, at a press conference on Monday, said the new president had "expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships", including "strong and robust Nato" partnerships.

During the election campaign, Mr Trump had openly criticised those Nato members who he believed were not doing enough work within the organisation and had relied too heavily on the US.
Mr Obama was speaking ahead of a trip that takes in Germany, Greece and Peru.
He said he hoped Mr Trump would "look at the facts" of the nuclear deal agreed with Iran, an accord the president-elect has to this point resolutely opposed.
Mr Obama said he "absolutely" still had concerns about a Trump presidency and that there would be "certain elements of [Mr Trump's] temperament that will not serve him well unless he recognises them".
But he said there was "enormous continuity" in the US presidency and he believed the US would remain a "pillar of strength and a beacon of hope to peoples around the globe".
Mr Trump will succeed Mr Obama in the White House on 20 January.

Xi, Trump agree to meet at an early date www3.nhk.or.jp

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President-elect Donald Trump have agreed to meet at an early date.

Coldest winter in 100 years awaits Mongolia www.nationmultimedia.com

The German meteorologist Dominik Jung said the 2016-2017 winter season promises to be “unusually cold” ever recorded in last 100 years.

American Apparel files for second bankruptcy protection www.cnn.com

US retailer American Apparel (AA) has filed for its second bankruptcy protection in just over a year.
The youth-focused clothes firm, hit by years of losses, will continue trading while it negotiates a potential sale of assets to Canada's Gildan Activewear.
Gildan said it had offered $66m (£53m) for the rights to the AA brand and stock, but did not want the stores.
AA, known for racy advertising and legal battles with founder Dov Charney, emerged from bankruptcy in February.
The company said last week that it was winding down its operations in the UK.
American Apparel has been looking for a buyer and has had talks with brand licensing firms Sequential Brands and Authentic Brands, as well as a financial company, B. Riley Financial.
It is the latest in a growing list of clothing brands that have gone under recently, including Aeropostale, Quiksilver, Wet Seal and Pacific Sunwear. Chains are struggling as consumers shun stores in favour of online shopping.
American Apparel filed its first bankruptcy in October 2015, following a steep drop in sales and a drawn-out legal battle with Mr Charney, who was ousted in 2014.
The retailer emerged from bankruptcy this year under the ownership of a group of former bondholders led by hedge fund Monarch Alternative Capital.
But it continued to face falling sales, exacerbated by its costly manufacturing plant in Los Angeles. Under mounting pressure, American Apparel hired investment bank Houlihan Lokey earlier this year to explore a sale.
The company has insisted that any sale must involve keeping its manufacturing plant in the US.

External trade balance resulted in surplus www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ In October, Mongolia traded with 157 countries. The overall trade turnover amounted to USD 6,994.6 million, of which 3,726.2 million was constituted by exports and 2,768.4 million – by imports.

2016 'very likely' to be world's warmest year www.bbc.com

With data from just the first nine months, scientists are 90% certain that 2016 will break the global record for the warmest year.
Temperatures from January to September were 1.2C above pre-industrial levels.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says they will remain high enough for the rest of the year to pass the mark set in 2015.
El Nino has had an impact, but the most significant factor driving temperatures up continues to be CO2 emissions.
What is climate change?
The provisional statement on the status of the global climate in 2016 has been released early this year to to help inform negotiators meeting in Morocco, who are trying to push forward with the Paris Climate Agreement.
The document says the year to September was 0.88 above the average for the period between 1961-90, which the WMO uses at its baseline.
The whole of 2015, which broke the previous record by a significant amount, was 0.77 above the 1961-90 average.

While there are still a couple of months to go this year, a preliminary analysis of the October data indicates that 2016 is very much on track to surpass the 2015 level, which in turn broke the previous high mark set in 2014.
"Another year. Another record. The high temperatures we saw in 2015 are set to be beaten in 2016," said WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas.
"In parts of Arctic Russia, temperatures were 6°C to 7°C above the long-term average. Many other Arctic and sub-Arctic regions in Russia, Alaska and north-west Canada were at least 3°C above average. We are used to measuring temperature records in fractions of a degree, and so this is different," said Mr Taalas.
The report highlights the fact that other long-term climate change indicators are also breaking records. The amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere continued on its upward march in 2016.
Arctic sea ice continued to melt in significant amounts, while the Greenland ice sheet displayed very early melting this year.
Experts believe that the El Nino weather phenomenon played a role in the record warm temperatures seen in 2015 and 2016.
They quantify it as roughly 0.2 of a degree - but the bulk of the warming is coming from the accumulation of greenhouse gases. And the impacts of that warming are being widely felt.
"Because of climate change, the occurrence and impact of extreme events has risen," said Petteri Taalas.
"'Once in a generation' heatwaves and flooding are becoming more regular. Sea level rise has increased exposure to storm surges associated with tropical cyclones," he said.
The surprise election of Donald Trump as president of the US has increased expectations that he will bring a more sceptical view of climate change to the White House.
Scientists are stressing that the evidence for the reality of climate change is getting stronger all the time.
"We are seeing the impacts of climate change on extreme weather," said Dr Peter Stott, who leads the climate attribution team at the UK Met Office.
"One degree may sound a relatively small number but in the context of such a stable climate that we've had over the past millennia, and the rapidity of that warming, we are seeing this real world evidence that doesn't come from a model or a projection."
According to the WMO analysis, 16 of the 17 warmest years have been recorded this century. The only exception was 1998.

Kaspersky attacks Microsoft as anti-competitive www.rt.com

'Trump Thump' whacks bond market for $1 trillion loss www.reuters.com

Samsung Electronics agrees to buy Harman for $8 billion www.reuters.com

Volkswagen's Audi in talks with China's SAIC Motor on tie-up www.reuters.com