The editorial board of The New York Times has officially backed the impeachment of Donald Trump.The House Judiciary Committee last week drafted two articles of impeachment against the president, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress before sending them through to the House of Representatives for a vote that is fully expected to pass, setting up a Senate trial in the new year.

A powerful earthquake hit the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Sunday, killing a child, injuring dozens and damaging buildings in an area still recovering from a string of deadly quakes in October. Police said a rescue operation had been launched at a heavily damaged market building in Padada near the 6.8 magnitude quake's epicentre, which is about 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of the major city of Davao. A provincial police commander said the number of injured across the hardest hit areas had reached 62, with one confirmed fatality after a child was crushed under a collapsed structure.

A fraternity at Indiana University in Bloomington is under investigation for allegations of physical assault and anti-Semitic and racial slurs.

Italian authorities ordered the biggest peacetime evacuation in the country since World War Two on Sunday to defuse a massive unexploded British bomb that was partially damaged when discovered in the southern city of Brindisi. The historic evacuation displaced some 53,000 residents  -more than half - of the coastal city on the Adriatic,  due to the high risk that the 440-pound ordnance containing 40 kilograms of dynamite could explode. The chances of detonation were increased after the munition was damaged on November 2  by a bulldozer excavating for a remodel of a cinema.. The bomb is believed to have been dropped on the city in a 1941 air raid, during the period of World War Two when Italy was still allied with Germany and Royal Air Force  bombers based in Malta were targeting Naples, Brindisi and Bari in order to disrupt Axis shipping lanes. According to the Italian defence department, it is just one of thousands of unexploded ordnances that still lie dormant and undiscovered throughout Italy. Earlier this month more than 10,000 Turin residents were evacuated for the deactivation of a similar British bomb, as were 4000 residents of the northern city of Bolzano in October.  In the month and a half since the unexploded bomb was discovered in Brindisi, city officials put into place a strict evacuation plan with a 1,617 metre "red zone" around the damaged bomb, which was reinforced with an external structure last week. The city's airport, train station, hospitals and prison were shut down as part of the operation on Sunday.   By  mid-morning the bomb had been successfully defused by a team of more than a dozen Italian army explosives experts, who used a special metal key that was carefully turned with remote-controlled technology, as the mayor and other security officials watched drone footage of the operation from a nearby situation room. The bomb is expected to be set off tomorrow in a remote location outside the city.

Should we let them?

(Bloomberg) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu wants the U.S. ambassador to leave the country after the diplomat criticized the African state for sentencing a gay couple to 15 years behind bars for having a consensual relationship."We have complained officially to the American government, and we are waiting for their response because we don't want such people in our midst," Lungu said Sunday in comments broadcast on state-owned ZNBC TV. "We want him gone."U.S. Ambassador Daniel Foote said last month that he was "personally horrified" after the high court sentenced the two men and called on the government to reconsider laws that punish minority groups. The move was particularly disturbing as "government officials can steal millions of public dollars without prosecution," Foote said.The U.S. provides $500 million in aid to Zambia yearly, according to Foote."We are saying no to homosexuality," Lungu said in comments broadcast by Sky News earlier this month. "When you are tying it to aid, if that is how you are going to bring your aid, then I'm afraid the west can leave us alone in our poverty. And we'll continue scrounging and struggling."The State Department didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.Read More: U.S. Rebukes Zambia for Jailing Two Men for Homosexuality(Updates with envoy's comments from third paragraph)To contact the reporters on this story: Taonga Clifford Mitimingi in Lusaka at [email protected];Matthew Hill in Maputo at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Sebastian Tong at [email protected], Helen Nyambura, Eric OmbokFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Growth in China's industrial and retail sectors beat expectations in November, as government support propped up demand in the world's second-largest economy and amid easing trade hostilities with Washington. The set of upbeat figures released on Monday follow firm signs of progress in Sino-U.S. trade negotiations over the weekend after the world's two largest economies announced a "phase one" trade deal that would nearly double U.S. exports to China. "Activity and spending indicators strengthened across the board last month, though we think this uptick will prove short-lived," said Martin Lynge Rasmussen, China Economist at Capital Economics.