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    Israel a state of 'occupation' and 'terror', Erdogan tells Islamic leaders

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    Explosion at major Austrian gas hub, 'several' hurt

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    Brexit deal shows UK can leave EU in 'smooth and orderly' way: May

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    China fails to block UN meeting on North Korea human rights

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    Four hurt in New York explosion, none life-threatening

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    Man held over jihadist murders of French police couple

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    Putin calls for Mideast talks to resume, including on Jerusalem

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    'The Shape of Water' leads Golden Globe nominations with seven

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    Cairo, Moscow sign contract for Egypt's first nuclear plant

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    Police responding to explosion of 'unknown origin' in Manhattan

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    Putin orders partial withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria: agencies

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    India's Congress party names Rahul Gandhi president

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    Putin in surprise visit to Russia's airbase in Syria

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    Saudi Arabia lifts ban on cinemas: government

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    Recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital 'makes peace possible': Netanyahu

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    EU's Mogherini condemns 'all attacks on Jews everywhere'

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    Philippines' Duterte seeks martial law extension for south

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    Palestinians 'walking away' from talks with Pence snub: US

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    Qatar signs $8-bln deal to buy 24 Typhoon fighters from UK

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    Macron urges Netanyahu to freeze Israeli settlement building

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    Netanyahu accuses Erdogan of helping 'terrorists'

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    Macron urges Netanyahu to show 'courage' with Palestinians

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    Air raids on Yemen rebel training camp kill 26: security sources

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    Ferry runs aground at France's Calais port: official

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    Pope renews call for 'wisdom and prudence' over Jerusalem: Vatican

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    Erdogan calls Israel 'terrorist state'

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    Major recall of Lactalis baby milk over salmonella fears

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  • Riyadh (AFP) - 12/13/2017 - 12:26

    Palestinians have right to east Jerusalem as capital: Saudi king

  • Moscow (AFP) - 12/13/2017 - 10:53

    Kremlin welcomes 'constructive' US position on N. Korea talks

  • Istanbul (AFP) - 12/13/2017 - 10:17

    Abbas warns 'no peace or stability' without Jerusalem as Palestinian capital

  • Istanbul (AFP) - 12/13/2017 - 10:10

    Erdogan urges world to recognise East Jerusalem as 'capital of Palestine'

  • Sanaa (AFP) - 12/13/2017 - 09:53

    Strikes kill 12 in rebel-run Yemen prison camp: rebel TV

  • Istanbul (AFP) - 12/13/2017 - 09:48

    Israel a state of 'occupation' and 'terror', Erdogan tells Islamic leaders

  • Montgomery (United States) (AFP) - 12/13/2017 - 04:38

    Alabama Democrat Jones projected to win US Senate race

  • United Nations (United States) (AFP) - 12/13/2017 - 01:37

    UN envoy says North Korea agrees on need 'to prevent war'

  • Seoul (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 23:28

    Kim vows to make N.Korea 'world's strongest nuclear power': KCNA

  • Washington (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 22:45

    US ready for North Korea talks 'without preconditions'

  • New York (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 22:08

    Dow, S&P 500 end at records as banking shares gain

  • Sao Paulo (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 21:41

    Brazil court to rule on Lula jail sentence Jan 24

  • Monrovia (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 18:56

    Liberia presidential runoff set for Dec 26: election panel

  • Caracas (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 18:01

    Venezuela's ex-oil boss under investigation for graft

  • Paris (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 16:33

    'We're losing the battle', Macron tells Paris climate talks

  • Paris (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 16:26

    With fossil fuel subsidies, humanity investing in 'own doom': UN chief

  • Moscow (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 16:19

    Russia suspends diplomatic presence in Yemen

  • London (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 15:43

    Ireland-based Ryanair pilots to strike on December 20

  • Brussels (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 13:44

    Stoltenberg reappointed as NATO chief until 2020: statement

  • Paris (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 13:28

    World Bank to stop financing oil, gas projects from 2019

  • Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 13:22

    Two Palestinians killed in Gaza, Israel denies claim of attack

  • Juba (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 12:54

    S.Sudan clashes leave more than 170 dead: lawmaker

  • Paris (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 12:00

    Macron calls for 'much stronger mobilisation' on climate

  • Phnom Penh (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 11:23

    EU pulls support for Cambodia poll after opposition dissolved

  • Tehran (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 10:18

    Magnitude 6.2 quake hits southeastern Iran: seismological centre

  • Vienna (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 09:51

    Explosion at major Austrian gas hub, 'several' hurt

  • Paris (AFP) - 12/12/2017 - 08:14

    France's Unibail-Rodamco to buy Australia's Westfield: statement

  • Washington (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 23:11

    Trump wants Congress to fix 'lax' immigration after NY attack

  • Sydney (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 23:10

    ANZ Bank sells life insurance arm to Zurich for US$2.14 bn

  • Washington (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 21:25

    Trump tells NASA to send Americans to Moon

  • New York (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 18:34

    Apple to buy song recognition app Shazam

  • London (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 17:05

    Brexit deal shows UK can leave EU in 'smooth and orderly' way: May

  • United Nations (United States) (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 15:55

    China fails to block UN meeting on North Korea human rights

  • New York (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 15:25

    Four hurt in New York explosion, none life-threatening

  • Paris (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 15:11

    Man held over jihadist murders of French police couple

  • Cairo (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 15:11

    Putin calls for Mideast talks to resume, including on Jerusalem

  • Los Angeles (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 14:55

    'The Shape of Water' leads Golden Globe nominations with seven

  • Cairo (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 14:35

    Cairo, Moscow sign contract for Egypt's first nuclear plant

  • New York (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 14:03

    Police responding to explosion of 'unknown origin' in Manhattan

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    Putin orders partial withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria: agencies

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    India's Congress party names Rahul Gandhi president

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    Putin in surprise visit to Russia's airbase in Syria

  • Riyadh (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 09:43

    Saudi Arabia lifts ban on cinemas: government

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    Recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital 'makes peace possible': Netanyahu

  • Brussels (AFP) - 12/11/2017 - 08:46

    EU's Mogherini condemns 'all attacks on Jews everywhere'

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    Philippines' Duterte seeks martial law extension for south

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    Palestinians 'walking away' from talks with Pence snub: US

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    Qatar signs $8-bln deal to buy 24 Typhoon fighters from UK

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    Macron urges Netanyahu to freeze Israeli settlement building

  • Paris (AFP) - 12/10/2017 - 17:08

    Netanyahu accuses Erdogan of helping 'terrorists'

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  • Aden (AFP) - 12/10/2017 - 16:22

    Air raids on Yemen rebel training camp kill 26: security sources

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    Ferry runs aground at France's Calais port: official

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    Pope renews call for 'wisdom and prudence' over Jerusalem: Vatican

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    Erdogan calls Israel 'terrorist state'

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Alabama Senate victor Doug Jones a civil rights champion

AFP / JIM WATSON Democrat Doug Jones is a former US attorney who successfully prosecuted two Ku Klux Klansmen for a 1963 church bombing that killed four young girls

Doug Jones, the Democrat who pulled off a stunning upset victory in Alabama's nail-biter Senate contest on Tuesday, is considered a champion for civil rights in a state that played a seminal role in the 1960s movement for racial equality.

Jones' supporters erupted in cheers and jubilation as it became clear their portly, balding candidate had become the first Alabama Democrat to win a US Senate seat in 25 years.

"I am truly, truly overwhelmed," Jones said as aides and volunteers hugged and cheered.

"We have shown the country the way that we can be unified."

It came at the bitter end of a vitriolic campaign centered on Jones's Republican rival, Roy Moore, a Christian conservative accused of preying on teenage girls years before.

Former White House strategist Steve Bannon had championed Moore as an anti-establishment fighter, and ultimately President Donald Trump threw his weight behind the embattled former judge even as other Republican leaders kept their distance.

But Trump was quick to congratulate Jones, even though Moore had yet to concede defeat.

"A win is a win," Trump said on Twitter.

- A long shot -

Jones, 63, had never run for office before throwing his hat into the ring in Alabama -- and as a believer in climate change and abortion rights was initially given no chance in the solidly Republican state, where Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by 28 points.

The former US attorney earned his reputation with the successful prosecution of two members of the Ku Klux Klan for a 1963 dynamite attack on a black church in Birmingham, Alabama.

The infamous Sunday morning bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, which left four young girls dead, helped galvanize support for the civil rights movement and came just months after Martin Luther King Jr was arrested for organizing non-violent protests against racial segregation in Birmingham.

Jones was a prosecutor in a pair of cases brought nearly 40 years later which led to the conviction of two of the white supremacists behind the attack.

Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton were sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the September 15, 1963 church bombing.

"Justice may have been delayed, but it was certainly not denied," Jones said of the case, which he called "the most tarnishing crime in Alabama in the 20th century."

- National attention -

While Jones was plainly the underdog at the outset of the race to succeed Jeff Sessions, who left his Senate seat vacant when appointed Trump's attorney general, his Republican rival was a polarizing figure in Alabama.

Moore was forced to step down twice from the state supreme court, the second time for disobedience to the US Supreme Court's ruling legalizing gay marriage.

And Jones' electoral fortunes changed dramatically when The Washington Post reported that Moore had allegedly preyed on teenage girls when he was a district attorney in his 30s -- allegations denied by the now 70-year-old former judge.

Democratic donors from around the country began pouring money into the race, buying television advertisements for Jones and seeking to mobilize African-American voters, who make up about a quarter of the electorate in the state.

Former vice president Joe Biden made an appearance at a Jones rally in Birmingham in October and president Barack Obama pitched in with a robo-call for voters.

"This one's serious. You can't sit it out," Obama said.

Born in Fairfield, Alabama, the son of a steelworker, Jones attended high school when the state was in the midst of court-ordered desegregation of its high schools.

He became an assistant US attorney in Birmingham in 1980 and was named US attorney for the northern district of Alabama in 1997 by former president Bill Clinton.

Jones and his wife, Louise, have three children and two grandchildren.

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News

Alabama Senate victor Doug Jones a civil rights champion

AFP / JIM WATSON Democrat Doug Jones is a former US attorney who successfully prosecuted two Ku Klux Klansmen for a 1963 church bombing that killed four young girls

Doug Jones, the Democrat who pulled off a stunning upset victory in Alabama's nail-biter Senate contest on Tuesday, is considered a champion for civil rights in a state that played a seminal role in the 1960s movement for racial equality.

Jones' supporters erupted in cheers and jubilation as it became clear their portly, balding candidate had become the first Alabama Democrat to win a US Senate seat in 25 years.

"I am truly, truly overwhelmed," Jones said as aides and volunteers hugged and cheered.

"We have shown the country the way that we can be unified."

It came at the bitter end of a vitriolic campaign centered on Jones's Republican rival, Roy Moore, a Christian conservative accused of preying on teenage girls years before.

Former White House strategist Steve Bannon had championed Moore as an anti-establishment fighter, and ultimately President Donald Trump threw his weight behind the embattled former judge even as other Republican leaders kept their distance.

But Trump was quick to congratulate Jones, even though Moore had yet to concede defeat.

"A win is a win," Trump said on Twitter.

- A long shot -

Jones, 63, had never run for office before throwing his hat into the ring in Alabama -- and as a believer in climate change and abortion rights was initially given no chance in the solidly Republican state, where Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by 28 points.

The former US attorney earned his reputation with the successful prosecution of two members of the Ku Klux Klan for a 1963 dynamite attack on a black church in Birmingham, Alabama.

The infamous Sunday morning bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, which left four young girls dead, helped galvanize support for the civil rights movement and came just months after Martin Luther King Jr was arrested for organizing non-violent protests against racial segregation in Birmingham.

Jones was a prosecutor in a pair of cases brought nearly 40 years later which led to the conviction of two of the white supremacists behind the attack.

Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton were sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the September 15, 1963 church bombing.

"Justice may have been delayed, but it was certainly not denied," Jones said of the case, which he called "the most tarnishing crime in Alabama in the 20th century."

- National attention -

While Jones was plainly the underdog at the outset of the race to succeed Jeff Sessions, who left his Senate seat vacant when appointed Trump's attorney general, his Republican rival was a polarizing figure in Alabama.

Moore was forced to step down twice from the state supreme court, the second time for disobedience to the US Supreme Court's ruling legalizing gay marriage.

And Jones' electoral fortunes changed dramatically when The Washington Post reported that Moore had allegedly preyed on teenage girls when he was a district attorney in his 30s -- allegations denied by the now 70-year-old former judge.

Democratic donors from around the country began pouring money into the race, buying television advertisements for Jones and seeking to mobilize African-American voters, who make up about a quarter of the electorate in the state.

Former vice president Joe Biden made an appearance at a Jones rally in Birmingham in October and president Barack Obama pitched in with a robo-call for voters.

"This one's serious. You can't sit it out," Obama said.

Born in Fairfield, Alabama, the son of a steelworker, Jones attended high school when the state was in the midst of court-ordered desegregation of its high schools.

He became an assistant US attorney in Birmingham in 1980 and was named US attorney for the northern district of Alabama in 1997 by former president Bill Clinton.

Jones and his wife, Louise, have three children and two grandchildren.

AFP / JIM WATSON Democrat Doug Jones is a former US attorney who successfully prosecuted two Ku Klux Klansmen for a 1963 church bombing that killed four young girls

Doug Jones, the Democrat who pulled off a stunning upset victory in Alabama's nail-biter Senate contest on Tuesday, is considered a champion for civil rights in a state that played a seminal role in the 1960s movement for racial equality.

Jones' supporters erupted in cheers and jubilation as it became clear their portly, balding candidate had become the first Alabama Democrat to win a US Senate seat in 25 years.

13 Dec 2017

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