
Pressure mounted on Sunday for a broader congressional investigation of Russian cyber-attacks aimed at influencing the United States election, even as President-elect Donald J Trump team says there was no conclusive evidence of foreign interference.

A coalition of activist groups took on Sunday the streets of downtown Los Angeles to protest against some of the labor and immigration policies proposed by President-elect Donald Trump, a day before he is expected to officially claim victory in the nation’s presidential contest.

China says it will hand over an underwater U.S. drone it seized in the international waters of the South China Sea, prompting President-elect Donald Trump to say the United States should tell China to keep the device. Trump does not assume power for another month, but weighed in on the maritime incident in which Chinese naval forces seized the unmanned submersible while it was collecting unclassified scientific data on Thursday.

The next chapter in the tumultuous U.S. presidential election takes place on Monday at the Electoral College which is expected to officially confirm that billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump as the US 45th president.

Russian President Vladimir Putin supervised his intelligence agencies' hacking of the U.S. presidential election and turned it from a general attempt to discredit American democracy to an effort to help Donald Trump, three U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Brazil's President Michel Temer called U.S. President-elect Donald Trump agreeing to work together to improve business relations between the two largest economies in the Americas, a statement from Temer's office said. Brazil is keen to explore business opportunities that could open up if Trump follows through on campaign promises to rewrite a trade deal with Mexico.

Russian President Vladimir Putin again leads Forbes' list of the world's most powerful people, followed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the No. 2 spot. The annual ranking of 74 individuals was released Wednesday. It considers personal influence, financial resources, whether the person can affect a country's GDP or a company's value, and their power in multiple spheres as factors in determining the list.

Donald Trump officially announced his plan Tuesday to nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, a pick that could pose complications in the confirmation process due to Tillerson's ties to Russia. Tillerson, 64, has no government or diplomatic experience but has done extensive work overseas on behalf of his petroleum company.

Time magazine on Wednesday named Donald Trump its Person of the Year, bestowing what the president-elect called an “honor” even as he derided the idea that he’ll lead “the Divided States of America.”

Shares of Japanese technology firm Softbank have soared to their highest level in more than one year in Tokyo trade, jumping 5% at the open. That is on news Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said he will invest US$50bn in US businesses. But details are lacking on where the money will go and how it will benefit American businesses.