- Ireland centre Henshaw signs IRFU contract extension
- Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Hasina's family
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
- Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
- Clock ticks down on France government nomination
- Mozambique on edge as judges rule on disputed election
- Mobile cinema brings Tunisians big screen experience
- Honda and Nissan to launch merger talks
- Police arrest suspect who set woman on fire in New York subway
- China vows 'cooperation' over ship linked to severed Baltic Sea cables
- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- 'Draconian' Vietnam internet law heightens free speech fears
- Israeli women mobilise against ultra-Orthodox military exemptions
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital over fatal train station accident
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- 'Who's next?': Misinformation and online threats after US CEO slaying
- Only 12 trucks delivered food, water in North Gaza Governorate since October: Oxfam
- Langers edge Tiger and son Charlie in PNC Championship playoff
- Explosive batsman Jacobs gets New Zealand call-up for Sri Lanka series
- Holders PSG edge through on penalties in French Cup
- Daniels throw five TDs as Commanders down Eagles
- Atalanta fight back to take top spot in Serie A, Roma hit five
- Mancini admits regrets over leaving Italy for Saudi Arabia
- Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin
- 'Incredible' Liverpool must stay focused: Slot
- Maresca 'absolutely happy' as title-chasing Chelsea drop points in Everton draw
- Salah happy wherever career ends after inspiring Liverpool rout
- Three and easy as Dortmund move into Bundesliga top six
- Liverpool hit Spurs for six, Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth
- Netanyahu vows to act with 'force, determination' against Yemen's Huthis
- Ali hat-trick helps champions Ahly crush Belouizdad
- Salah stars as rampant Liverpool hit Spurs for six
- Syria's new leader says all weapons to come under 'state control'
- 'Sonic 3' zips to top of N.America box office
- Rome's Trevi Fountain reopens to limited crowds
- Mbappe strikes as Real Madrid down Sevilla
- Pope again condemns 'cruelty' of Israeli strikes on Gaza
- Lonely this Christmas: Vendee skippers in low-key celebrations on high seas
- Troubled Man Utd humiliated by Bournemouth
- 2 US pilots shot down over Red Sea in 'friendly fire' incident: military
- Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth, Chelsea held at Everton
- France awaits fourth government of the year
- Death toll in Brazil bus crash rises to 41
'Thieves': Romanians demand to vote after scrapped elections
Romanians on Sunday protested outside a voting station near Bucharest together with far-right presidential frontrunner Calin Georgescu after a top court scrapped the scheduled run-off vote after allegations of Russian interference.
Georgescu unexpectedly topped the first round of voting on November 24 in the NATO and EU member bordering Ukraine.
But the constitutional court on Friday unanimously decided to annul the entire electoral process as it was "marred... by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation".
The annulment followed a spate of intelligence documents declassified by the presidency this week detailing allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including claims of "massive" social media promotion and cyberattacks.
More than 100 people gathered at a polling station near Bucharest on Sunday -- the originally scheduled date of the run-off vote -- shouting "Down with dictatorship", "We want to vote" and "Thieves".
"I am here for democracy, because in my opinion it no longer exists," Adriana Iaercau, a 60-year-old teacher, told AFP.
"We are with him (Georgescu) from the beginning. It was a democratic process. Everything was fine till Friday when they decided to kill the democracy that was brought (to) Romania in 1989" when Communism ended, said Sorin Scuratovschi, a 46-year-old account manager.
Georgescu accused the authorities to have cancelled the elections by fear he would win.
"I'm here in the name of democracy and always will be," Georgescu told reporters outside the closed polling station.
Georgescu -- who has called the cancellation "a formalised coup d'etat" -- said he is contesting the vote cancellation in court, as is another far-right party, AUR, which has also called on its supporters to go to polling stations later Sunday.
- 'Crimes of voter corruption' -
On Saturday, police raided three houses in Brasov city in central Romania as part of the investigation "in connection with crimes of voter corruption, money laundering, computer forgery".
Among the houses searched was that of businessman Bogdan Peschir, a TikTok user who according to the declassified documents allegedly paid $381,000 to those involved in the promotion of Georgescu, Romanian media reported.
Georgescu on Sunday said he did not know Peschir, who has compared his support for the 62-year-old former civil servant to the world's richest man Elon Musk's backing of US president-elect Donald Trump.
Romania's authorities allege "preferential treatment" of Georgescu on TikTok -- a claim the social media platform has denied.
In the declassified documents they also said Romania was a "target for aggressive Russian hybrid actions", including cyberattacks.
Georgescu -- a past admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin who most recently has reframed himself as "ultra pro-Trump" -- told US broadcaster Sky News on Saturday that there were no links between him and Russia.
Following the vote cancellation -- rare in Europe -- the United States said it had faith in Romania's institutions, while Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has slammed it as "denying the will of the people".
A new government -- to be formed after the ruling Social Democrats won last weekend's legislative elections -- is expected to set a fresh date for the presidential vote.
In the parliamentary election, far-right parties secured an unprecedented third of the ballots on mounting anger over soaring inflation and fears over Russia's war in Ukraine.
H.Portela--PC