weah will take the reins from the current president in january.espite winning the nobel peace prize, she is been criticized for not doing enough to tackle corruption. weah supporters want him to put that the top of his to do list. host: standing by for us in the capital, monrovia. it is a landslide victory for george weah. what gave him the edge? why did he win? >> simply because the liberian people decided they don't want another party -- this is the time for george weah with over 80% of the and people voting for him with a huge enthusiasm. they do not want a party -- that is exactly what the vice president had done at this stage as opposed to george weah. host: he is relatively new to politics and he has chosen the ex-wife of the imprisoned warlord charles taylor as his running mate. it is very concern about her role in the new government now? >> the concern is that she has a wealth of experience in politics. she has been elected twice. as a senator for nine years each. she is completing her second term now. completing 18 years. she is a lot of

now 51, george weah is watching the goals go in. he keeps making history of his own, becoming the first liberian president to take power democratically since 1944. sarah: the italian government says the country will hold a general election on march 4 of next year. the president has dissolved parliament to make way for the vote. early prime minister paolo gentiloni defended his record and say he was stay in office until a new government is in place. the election will be a three-way contest between gentility -- the democratic party, the populist five-star movement, and an alliance headed by former prime minister silvio berlusconi. let's go to philip in rome. parliament has been dissolved, a new election will be held in march. was this expected? reporter: yes, this is part of an orderly transition phase. the rough date of the dissolution of parliament had been announced some weeks ago. the date of march was already penciled in, and many calendars in particular, this was to avoid dragging out the legislature to the bitter end with the r

they chanted, "it was george weah we wanted. and it is george weah we have got".he capital reverberated with singing. it was never in doubt the former world footballer of the year would win. election observers, both domestic and foreign, have hailed the conduct of the poll. this man was used to winning trophies but found it hard to win this, the biggest award of his life. liberia has stabilised after a decade of a long and bloody civil war, but it's still suffering with abject poverty and corruption. isaac zawolo is the media and communication strategist for george weah's cdc party. he joins me now from waldorf, maryland. thank you forjoining us. how does it feel to win, and win quite big as well? thank you for having me. let mejust say, well? thank you for having me. let me just say, thank you to the liberian people for the way they conducted themselves through this election campaign. i would also like to thank our opponents, the unity party, for putting up a very stiff opposition to us. in full the furtherance to our opposition, we are very much overjoyed and ex

boakai cannot win, and george weah can. what happened cannot happen again.ions are that the run—off was better organised than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no complaints so far of multiple voting according to the main local observation group. turnout seemed low. it has been quiet here at this high school. election officials are nibbling around without a lot to do. they say there's been like this for most of the day. only one person has come here in the last 30 minutes to cast their vote. was a result expected this week, liberians are looking forward to the outcome. this is the first time in over 70 years that this country has set the stage for a peaceful transfer of power from one elected president to another. a british woman has been sentenced to three years in an egyptian prison after being found guilty of smuggling drugs into the country. laura plummer, who's 33 and from england's north, was arrested in october when she was found carrying 290 tablets of the painkiller, tramadol, in her suitcase. daniela relph reports. laur

they charted, it was george weah we wa nted they charted, it was george weah we wanted an george weahd. the capital reverberated with singing and deafening cough islands. it was never in doubt the former world footballer of the year would win. election observers both domestic and foreign plays the conduct of the poll. this man was used a winning trophies but found it ha rd to used a winning trophies but found it hard to win this, the biggest award of his life. liberia has stabilised after a decade of bloody civil war but it's still suffering with abject poverty and corruption. chris fomunyoh is part of the international election observer delegation to liberia. he's the senior associate and regional director of the central and west africa for the national democratic institute. hejoins me now from monrovia. first of all, just how historic is this handover? this is huge and its historic. firstly, because it's the first in seven decades that we are changing political power through the ballot box with a democratically elected president, handing over to another democratically elected presid

i know my next leader will be george weah.ah: for more let's go to the capital monrovia, where our correspondent is standing by. evelyn, we as supporters say he is the winner. is it a done deal? >> the commission has not officially announced anyone as the winner, but what is happening is preliminary results are coming up from polling places. the indicate clearly that -- they indicate clearly that weah has taken most of the vote. but the election commission have not announced a winner for now. sarah: the winner, whoever it is, will succeed the president who won the nobel prize for helping to secure peace after liberia's back-to-back civil wars. what does weah want to do that's she did not? >> during the campaign period, george weah had said -- she admitted repeatedly that she did not succeed in fighting corruption. also the issue of reconciliation. [inaudible] he also talked about the issue of poverty. george weah is there for the young people. how will he go about doing it? he has not talked about how he will go about it. the

our top stories: supporters of george weah celebrate as the former international footballer wins liberia's presidential election. 41 people are dead and many others are wounded in a kabul suicide attack. the islamic state group said it carried out the attack. this is the building where the explosion happened, and you can see the building has been destroyed. an easing of the diplomatic tension between turkey and the united states as both countries say they will restart visa services. and coming up: te social media campaign which helped to reunite a christmas wage packet with its very grateful owner. we were just astounded how quickly and how far it went. hello and welcome to bbc world news. we start with liberia, where it was announced a short time ago that the former international football star george weah has won the presidential election. his supporters celebrated as the electoral commission announced that with almost all the ballots counted, mr weah had won more than 60% of the vote. george weah made his name playing for ac milan, he was the first and only player from africa to win the

they chanted, "it was george weah we wanted and it is george weah we have got".ital reverberated with singing and deafening cough islands. it was never in doubt the former world footballer of the year would win. election observers, both domestic and foreign, have hailed the conduct of the poll. this man was used to winning trophies, but found it hard to win this, the biggest award of his life. liberia has stabilised after a decade of a long and bloody civil war, but it's still suffering with abject poverty and corruption. a short time ago, i spoke to chris fomunyoh in monrovia. he's from the national democratic institute and one of the leaders of the international election observer delegation in liberia. i began by asking him how significant this election result is. this is huge. it is historic, firstly because it is the second time in seven decades that liberia will be changing, where a democratically elected president will be handing over to a democratically elected president. it is also a story of someone from very humble beginnings, through hard work and pers

president—elect weah tweeted this message...domestic observers have praised the conduct of the election. they say it's a marked improvement on the way the first one was run in october. hardly anybody is surprised by weah‘s victory, but the margin is stunning. this is third—time lucky for a man who is used to winning trophies, but found it hard to win this, the biggest award of his life. it's become possible through controversial alliances. the vice president—in—waiting is the ex—wife of the convicted war criminal, charles taylor. as a footballer in the 1990s, weah won trophies in italy and france. he was the first, and remains the only african, to have been named fifa world footballer of the year. he takes over from ellenjohnson sirleaf, the first elected female president on the continent. liberia has stabilised in the past decade after a long and bloody civil war, but is still struggling with poverty and corruption. now, africa's oldest independent republic has become its first to elect a former footballer as president. let's t

our top stories: former international footballer george weah weeps with joy, after winning liberia's presidential election. 41 people are dead and many others wounded in a kabul suicide bombing. the islamic state group said it carried out the attack. our reporter has been at the scene. this is the building where the explosion happened, and you can see that the building has been almost completely destroyed. after confirming that the company deliberately slows down old iphones, apple now apologises for what it calls "a misunderstanding". and the e—mail scandal that's rocking the miss america contest. we hear from a former winner on where the organisation is heading. hello and welcome to bbc world news. the next president of liberia will be the former international football star, george weah. he wept with joy as he waved to jubilant supporters in monrovia, after winning more than 60% of the vote. with him was his running mate, jewel howard—taylor, the ex—wife of the disgraced former president, charles taylor. george weah was the first and only player from africa to win the coveted ballo

weah had won more than 60% of the vote. he made his name playing for ac milan. he was the first and only player from africa to win the coveted ballon d'or award. over the last three years, he has been a senator in liberia. when he becomes president next month, it will be liberia's first democratic transition in more than 70 years. we go to the liberian capital, monrovia, for details and reaction after the declaration of the election results. reporter: it has been wild celebrations literally two minutes after the electoral commission chairman announced the result. hundreds of people thronged in front of the election building, and from then on, central monrovia, across the city, we could hear the reverberating sound of jubilation, the honking of car horns. it has been 12 years of waiting for george weah and his supporters, the celebration will go on till tomorrow morning. sharanjit: this is liberia's first democratic transition in more than 70 years. tell us how groundbreaking is that in itself. reporter: this is very groundbreaking. liberia is the oldest independ

evelyn a big victory for george weah what worked in his favor. well i don't want to seem josh we as failure is that this election this year all people will say he has given this support of charity of the country as young people and these young people have had so many expectations like a nation and secondly judge we have people say yes good is somewhat of president so you think about president. has also has an interest in working with people to make his government went better especially when it comes to drawing his government so he has the support of president some of those and then a good thing for him ok. what you're saying he won the young vote the question is what is he promising liberia's wrong young his his critics say his campaign offered very few concrete solutions to the country's problems what can we actually expect from him now. that has been the melting point we have has not played these series how you will go about these different things about corruption he has stressed over and over you should have about you know education for your p

this is daily news live from berlin from the world player of the year to president soccer star george weah is elected as liberia's next leader his supporters celebrating far into the nights in the capital monrovia but we are now faces huge expectations guiding his country through recovery from years of civil war and the recent ebola outbreak also coming up. crippled. on its way out in india in a win for women a parliament inches closer to stamping out this contentious islamic practice of saying of course three times to end a marriage and a syrian a wrestling champion it gets a second sporting chance says a refugee in egypt passing on his athletic knowledge to his fellow syrians in the country. it's a pleasure to be with you. liberia is poised to usher in its first democratic transfer of power in more than seven decades international soccer star turned politician george weah won a landslide victory in this west african. g.'s presidential runoff while a little while ago his opponent joseph conceded defeat liberia a country founded by freed american slaves is africa's oldest modern republic a

boakai cannot win, and george weah can. what happened cannot happen again.re that the run—off was better organised than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no complaints so far of multiple voting according to the main local observation group. turnout seemed low. it has been quiet here at this high school. election officials are nibbling around without a lot to do. they say there's been like this for most of the day. only one person has come here in the last 30 minutes to cast their vote. with a result expected this week, liberians are looking forward to the outcome. this is the first time in over 70 years that this country has set the stage for a peaceful transfer of power from one elected president to another. the united states has announced sanctions on two officials who are developing north korea's ballistic missile programme. in a statement the us treasury named the men, on the left ri pyong—chol and on the right kimjong—sik. treasury secretary steven mnuchin added, "treasury is targeting leaders of north korea's ballistic miss

boakai cannot win, and george weah can. it's an exceptional case.hat happened cannot happen again. initial indications are that the run—off was better organised than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no complaints so far of multiple voting according to the main local observation group. but turnout appeared low. it has been quiet here at this convent high school in central monrovia. election officials are nibbling around without a lot to do. they say there's been like this for most of the day. only one person has come here in the last 30 minutes to cast their ballot. with the results expected this week, liberians are looking forward to the outcome. these elections mark the first time in over 70 years that this country has set the stage for a peaceful transfer of power from one elected president to another. the international committee of the red cross says the evacuation of critical medical cases has begun from eastern ghouta in syria. eastern ghouta, a suburb near damascus, has been under the control of the rebels — and a

old habits die hard no fifty one george weah is watching the goals go in. but he keeps making history of his own becoming the first liberian president to take power democratically since one thousand nine hundred forty four. it's time government says the country will hold a general election on march fourth of next year the president has dissolved parliament to make way for the vote earlier prime minister paolo genting on and defended his government's record and said he would stay in office until a new government is in place election is set to be a three way contest between gentle nani's democratic party the populist five star movement lenin alliance headed by former prime minister silvio berlusconi of. the let's go to philip willing in rome philip promise been dissolved a new election is going to be held in march was this expected. yes this is part of an orderly transition phase the rough date of the dissolution of parliament had been in and out some weeks ago the date of the four that march was already penciled in in many calendars and in particular they de

the former world footballer of the year, george weah, has won the liberian presidential election.f high profile clubs, including ac milan, chelsea and manchester city. he entered politics after his retirement in 2002, and will succeed ellen johnson sirleaf — africa's first elected female president. from monrovia, umaru fofana reports. hundreds of jubilant supporters of george weah took to the streets minutes after the electoral commission had announced the results. the percentage of the cdc, 61.5% for the cdc. 38.5% for the united party. minutes later, the liberian e good singing and dancing and the blaring of deafening car horns. president elect weir tweeted this message: both foreign and domestic observers have praised the conduct of the election. they say it is a marked improvement on the way the first one was run in october. hardly anybody is surprised that is weah‘s victory, but the margin is stunning. this is third time lucky for a man used to winning trophies, who found it hard to win this, the biggest award of his life. it has become possible through controversial alliance

boakai cannot win, and george weah can. what happened cannot happen again. indications are that the run—off was better organised than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no complaints so far of multiple voting according to the main local observation group. turnout seemed low. it has been quiet here at this high school. election officials are nibbling around without a lot to do. they say there's been like this for most of the day. only one person has come here in the last 30 minutes to cast their vote. with a result expected this week, liberians are looking forward to the outcome. this is the first time in over 70 years that this country has set the stage for a peaceful transfer of power from one elected president to another. the international committee of the red cross says the evacuation of critical medical cases has begun from eastern ghouta in syria. the suburb near damascus has been under rebel control. almost 400,000 people there are besieged by forces loyal to president bashar al—assad. the united nations had pleaded for him

liberia's elections board has officially certified former football star george weah is the winner.he will replace ellen johnson-sirleaf, africa's first elected female head of state. andrter: the parties carnivals have continued in the last 24 hours since the announcement of the result of the electoral commission. this is the headquarters of george weah's political party, and as you can see, people with have thronged to the place almost unendingly, all-night vigil, dancing, beginning of a new era in the country. so far things are going very well with vice president having having admitted defeat in the election. george weah has held meetings with diplomats from among them the former united nations envoy here, former nigerian president. ben: a court ruling in south africa could lead to president jacob zuma facing impeachment proceedings over the use of public funds to upgrade his home. the country's constitutional court has said that parliament failed in its duty to hold the president to account, and must now look again at whether he should be removed from office. reporter: the judge

weah played for monaco, psg, and ac milan. and was named footballer of the year on three occasions. patrick snell, cnn, atlanta. >> patrick, thank you. now to puerto rico. many residents there starting the new year still in the dark. it's been 100 days now. 100 days since hurricane maria struck that island. much of it still doesn't have electricity. >> it's not the way to ring in the new year, is it? cnn's layla sanity yooeg reports that is unlikely to change as well anytime soon. >> reporter: it's more than just the flip of a switch. >> whoo! >> reporter: finally, a hint of what life was like before hurricane maria. after more than three months without power, ida is one of the lucky few who just got power. ♪ >> she says "i want to take a hot shower." that's what she's excited about. a hot shower. >> reporter: this city in southeastern puerto rico has a massive generator to power its substation. it's enough to power part of the town, not a permanent solution. not enough to turn the lights back on for all 38,000 people. it's al

george weah and his moment of triumph after winning liberia's presidential election supporters in the slums broke he grew up are ecstatic but now the hard work begins in one of africa's most countries. on its way out in india in a win for women parliament interest closer to stamping out the contentious islamic practice of staying divorced three times to end marriage. also coming up mourners remember a teenage girl stabbed to death in a german drugstore the suspected assailant is the girl's form of boyfriend a fifteen year old afghan refugee the killing is fueling debate in germany over the country's asylum longest. and welcome. the program egypt's coptic christians are in mourning after another attack by suspected islam is trailer herit authorities say nine cops and a policeman were killed when a gunman opened fire outside a church in a suburb of cairo the so-called islamic state has claimed responsibility for the attack extremists have repeatedly targeted egypt's christian minority in recent years. bullet holes on the cupcake church of insult in cairo after another attack on egypt's

boakai cannot win, and george weah can. what happened cannot happen again.t the run—off was better organised than the first round. initial indications are that the run—off was better organised than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no complaints so far of multiple voting according to the main local observation group. but turnout appeared low. it has been quiet here at this convent high school in central monvrovia. —— monrovia. election officials are nibbling around without a lot to do. they say there's been like this for most of the day. only one person has come here in the last 30 minutes to cast their vote. with a result expected this week, liberians are looking forward to the outcome. this is the first time in over 70 years that this country has set the stage for a peaceful transfer of power from one elected president to another. sense of utter destruction are coming out of the philippines. homes were all but flattened in tugaya village, where 30 people died and 60 others are missing in floods and mudslides. many local village

weah: i am going to win. what happens will not happen again. reporter: initial indications are that the runoff was better organized than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no accounts of -- no complaints so far of multiple voting. but turnout appeared low. it has been pretty quiet here at the high school in central monrovia. election officials are middling around without much to do. they say he has been like this almost all the day. in the last half an hour, only one person has come here to cast his ballot. with the result expected this week, liberians are looking forward to the outcome. these elections will mark the first time in more than 70 years that this country has set the stage for a peaceful transfer of power from one elected president to another. sharanjit: peru is divided over the legacy of its former president alberto fujimori. some people see him as the man from economic collapse and communism, but to others he was a ruthless autocrat who authorized death squad killings. he had been spending a 35-your pri

vying for the top job in liberia presidential candidates george weah joseph buckeye cast their votes in a runoff election. hello i'm adrian for again this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up a trail of destruction the philippines assesses the aftermath of one of the worst storms to ever hit the country. a prominent russian opposition leader calls for a boycott of next year's presidential election and that could land him in further trouble. more on rest in peru police fired tear gas and fight with protesters angry over a decision to pardon of former president. both candidates of cast their votes in liberia's runoff election that's expected to mark the country's first democratic transfer of power in seventy three years creating jobs and fighting corruption of the. the major campaign issue is liberia is one of the world's poorest countries and many of its four point seven million citizens live without basic services george weah has crafted his image as the candidate for the poor drawing on his own meteoric rise from poverty to blow ball football stardom. listen. to this led me.

is you know we do is live from berlin from world player of the year to president soccer star george weah is elected as liberia's next leader his supporters celebrating far into the night in the capital monrovia but we are now faces huge expectations guiding his country through we're covering from years of civil war any recent ebola outbreak also coming up. mourners remember a teenage girl stabbed to death in a german drugstore the suspected assailant a fifteen year old afghan refugee is fueling debate in germany over the country's asylum laws and a shred it to forget it for those hoping to be luckier in the new year is out with the old in new york city visitors and residents celebrating good riddance day bid farewell to last year's bad memories in the lead up to the new year celebrations in times square. very much for your company. liberia is poised to usher in its first democratic transfer of power more than seven decades international soccer star turned politician george weah won a landslide victory in this west african country's presidential runoff a little while ago his opponent jose

if you lose yourself accept that it's a runoff vote between former international footballer george weah and vice president joseph bach both of whom join voters in casting their ballots. that are good beer because it's a test of democracy that we went in one time there were two right there at work and i would reduce it cool. we have got critical process there's a process that we're through we're willing to live with. born in a slum in the capital monrovia george weah star performances for europe's biggest football teams in the ninety's won the hearts of young liberians this is his second run for president. to do this. they said i'm going to wind. up back at our. outgoing president ellen johnson sirleaf rule cemented peace in the west african country after civil war ended in two thousand and three but the majority of liberians still live in dire poverty. whoever wins this election will face that challenge and will have to prove that he can govern in a way that will benefit the country and its citizens as the year twenty seventeen draws to a close we've been looking at some of the technolo

instead of the news coming to long and strong berlin former software star george weah wins liberia's presidential won all defeats the country's vice president with more than sixty one percent of the vote now liberia is set for its first democratic transition of power in decades also coming up the government of italian prime minister paolo gentle sets more fourth as the day for a national election of the president dissolved parliament open the the latest from iraq. and carnage in kabul multiple bluffs rocks the afghan capital a suicide attack on a shia cultural center and media outlets kills adults and. i'm sarah harman welcome to the program it's good to have you with us former soccer star george weah has won liberia's presidential election provisional results show we are taking about sixty one percent of the vote defeating vice president joseph walker we have supporters in the capital city monrovia have been cheering his victory the fifty one year old will be sworn in next month and was sent to be the country's first democratic transition of power in more than seven deal here. corre

news live from berlin from world player of the year to president soccer star george weah is elected as liberia's next leader his supporters celebrating into the night in the capital monrovia but we now faces huge expectations guiding his country through recovery from the years of civil war and a recent poll outbreak also coming up. triple the lock on its way out in india in a win for women parliament interest closer to stamping out the contentious islamic process practice of being divorced three times to end marriage. and shred it and forget it for those hoping to be luckier in the new year it's out with the old in new york city visitors and residents celebrating good riddance day this farewell to last year's bad memories in the lead up to new year's celebrations in times square . and and welcome to the program liberia is poised to usher in its first democratic transfer of power in more than seven decades international soccer star turned politician george we won a landslide victory in the west african countries presidential runoff a little while ago his opponent joseph book i conceded

liberia's elections board has officially certified former international football star george weah asen to mr weah‘s party headquarters. the street parties and carnivals have continued in the last 2a hours since the announcement of the results by the electoral commission. this is the headquarters of george weah‘s political party and as you can see, people have thronged to this place almost unendingly. they spent an all—night vigil here, dancing, celebrating what they call the beginning of a new era for this country. so far, things seem to be going very well with the vice president joseph boakai, whom george weah defeated, having admitted defeat in the elections. diplomatic efforts are going on, with george weah having held meetings with some visiting diplomats, among them the united nations envoy here, former nigerian president 0lusegun 0basanjo. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: paradise lost: bali's beaches are smothered by a rising tide of rubbish. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow i

kabul thank you all right some breaking news just coming in former international soccer star george weah has won liberia's presidential election over a new war on the story at the top of the hour. children on the front lines of the world's conflicts face shocking levels of violence as according to a statement by eunice then structure of emergency programs new york today manuel fontaine said combatants were blatantly disregarding international laws to protect the vulnerable and in many cases attackers were being deliberately targeted or used as human shields. for its hardest on the most vulnerable those who survive are often marked for life. in syria death and violence are part of growing up. unicef says snipers there even used children as human shields in many war zones there is no regard for children at all. is in for years we have seen brutality and many wars and crisis regions but when the iraqi city of mosul was recaptured from the islamic state children were being used as human shields in northern iraq children were recruited and then in order to carry out suicide bombings. and it's

former football superstar george weah is set to become liberia's president provisional results have been released from choose days presidential runoff with more than ninety eight percent of the vote now counted the electoral commission says we have secured sixty one point five percent of the vote he will succeed ellen johnson sirleaf when he becomes president next month this will be the first democratic transition of power in the west african nation in seventy three yes ma'am going to joins us from liberia's capital monrovia and what has been the reaction that these provisional results mohammed. well madame of course the supporters of george aware aha p. and they've been thinking about holding a victory party the in the cup we're told will grow via but they've been asked not to do that because the final results will be released to morrow these are provisional results although again where hans an unassailable lead over he's contend the other the other candidate of walker the man who's been prez vice president in liberia for the past four years old way of course very popular with the youth

produce the first democratic transition of power in seventy three years fifty one year old george weah has crafted his image as the candidate for change he spent his childhood in monrovia rising to become the first african to be named faeces world player of the year in one thousand nine hundred five in two thousand and three we returned to liberia and became a senator the following year before unsuccessfully running for the presidency in two thousand and five his rival joseph was liberia's agriculture minister as far back as one nine hundred eighty three six years before a fourteen year long civil war began the seventy two year old has served as vice president under ellen johnson sirleaf since two thousand and six but sirleaf is not backing him she has endorsed george weah of the doe is live for us in monrovia mohammed what's the turnout looking like so far. well. cues in polling stations pits. anything near what. happened in all trouble when the foster round was a halt at the polling station where we are in the hot movie of the cup with all the crowd has already seen doubts about the

this is you know you news life or limb from world player of the year to president soccer star george weah is elected as liberia's next leader his supporters celebrating into the night in the capital monrovia but we are now faces huge expectations tackling corruption and boosting a flagging economy or liberia with reactions also coming up. mourners remember a teenage girl stomped to death in a german drugstore yet it to get the identity of the suspect in her killing a young afghan refugee is fueling debate in germany over the country's asylum laws and media coverage of the case. and as this year draws to a close it's out with the old in new york residents there celebrating good riddance day and saying farewell to bad memories as the city gears up for its new year's festivities. it's great to have you along. liberia is poised to usher in its first a democratic transfer of power in more than seven dec. it's international soccer star turned politician george weah won a landslide victory in this west african countries presidential runoff liberia a country founded by freed american slaves is af

but it was george weah's promise of change that won the day.ugh for many, the country's first peaceful democratic change of power since 1944 was cause enough for celebration. ♪ >> reporter: george weah's vice president will be his running mate, charles taylor's ex-wife to celebrate alongside him. weah has yet to show whether his relative political experience can be overcome. but for his supporters, the very fact of his victory provides change enough and much needed hope for the future. melissa bell, cnn, london. >> melissa, thank you. >>> as we prepare to ring in the new year, well, maybe you're wishing for a quieter 2018. that's understandable. this past year has brought an avalanche of headlines. cnn's phil black recounts some of the stories for 2017 one for the record books. >> reporter: terrorism, conflict, natural disasters, 2017 was a turbulent year. dominated by politics, it saw a u.s. president of the united states unlike ever seen before. >> i donald j. trump. >> reporter: trump became known as controversial. >> witch hunt. >> both sid