China Says Fugitive Businessman Returns After 15 Years

A former drug company chairman who was on a list of China's 100 most-wanted fugitives abroad has returned after 15 years on the lam in New Zealand and Australia, the government announced Saturday.

Yan Yongmin surrendered to police and was returned to China in cooperation with New Zealand authorities, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said. There was word on what charges he might face.

Yan, former chairman of Tonghua Golden Horse Pharmaceutical Group in the northeastern city of Tonghua, fled to Australia in 2001 after being accused of fraud and embezzlement, according to earlier news reports. He later became a New Zealand citizen under the name William Yan.

Yan was on a Chinese government list of the top 100 fugitives sought abroad in a marathon dragnet known as "Sky Net." As of July, 33 people on that list had been returned to China, according to the government newspaper China Daily.

China has few extradition treaties with other governments. Beijing is expanding cooperation with foreign law enforcement but that has been hampered in some cases by concern charges might be politically motivated and that China has executed convicts for non-violent offenses such as tax evasion.

In Yan's case, Chinese media said having him returned from New Zealand without his cooperation would be almost impossible.

Eleven of the suspects on the "Sky Net" list are believed to be living in New Zealand, the No. 3 destination for Chinese fugitives after the United States and Canada, according to the business news magazine Caixin.

A New Zealand court in August approved the seizure of assets from Yan valued at 43 million New Zealand dollars ($31 million), according to Chinese news reports. They said that was the biggest seizure in New Zealand to date of assets related to crimes alleged to have occurred in China.

Earlier, Australian authorities also seized some $2.8 million from Yan, according to Caixin.

NATO: Blast Inside US Base in Afghanistan Kills 4

An explosion at a U.S. airfield in Afghanistan early Saturday killed four people, the head of international forces in the country said.

U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson said another 14 people were wounded in the attack inside Bagram Air Field. He said the blast was caused by an "explosive device," without providing further details. The incident was being investigated, he said in a statement.

An earlier statement from NATO's Resolute Support mission said the blast happened around 5.30 am (0100 GMT) and that "force protection and medical teams are responding to the situation."

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which they said was carried out by a suicide bomber inside the base. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgent group, said the attack had been planned for four months.

The Taliban regularly fire rockets at Bagram from outside its perimeter.

Abdul Wahid Sediqqi, spokesman for the governor of Parwan province, where the air field is based, told The Associated Press he had reports of four dead and around 18 wounded in the attack. Laborers employed at the base line up at the gates around dawn, he said, adding that an attacker could have been among the men entering the base Saturday.

There was no immediate word on the nationalities of those killed and wounded. It is NATO policy not to release such details until families have been informed.

Mass Rally Kicks off in Seoul Calling for Park's Ouster

Tens, and possibly hundreds, of thousands of South Koreans marched in Seoul on Saturday demanding the ouster of President Park Geun-hye in one of the biggest protests in the country since its democratization about 30 years ago.

Police anticipated about 170,000 people to turn out near City Hall and an old palace gate while the protest organizers estimated as much as a million are taking part.

It's the latest of a wave of massive rallies against Park, whose presidency has been shaken by suspicion that she let a shadowy longtime confidante to manipulate power from behind the scenes.

Park's friend, Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a late cult leader who emerged as Park's mentor in the 1970s, is also suspected of exploiting her presidential ties to bully companies into donating tens of millions of dollars to foundations she controlled.

Despite rising public anger, opposition parties have yet to seriously push for Park's resignation or impeachment over fears of negatively impacting next year's presidential race. However, they have threatened to campaign for resignation if she doesn't distance herself from state affairs.

The protest on Saturday is expected to be the largest in the capital since June 10, 2008, when police said 80,000 people took part in a candlelight vigil denouncing the government's decision to resume U.S. beef imports amid persisting mad cow fears. Organizers then estimated the crowd at 700,000.

In the summer of 1987, millions of South Koreans rallied in Seoul and other cities for weeks before the then-military government caved in to demands for free presidential elections.

In an attempt to stabilize the situation, Park on Tuesday said she would let the opposition-controlled parliament choose her prime minister. But opposition parties say her words are meaningless without specific promises about transferring much of her presidential powers to a new No. 2.

Prosecutors have arrested Choi, one of her key associates and two former presidential aides who allegedly helped Choi interfere with government decisions and amass an illicit fortune at the expense of businesses.

Prosecutors also on Friday summoned the chairman of steelmaker POSCO over allegations that Choi and her associates tried to forcibly take over the shares of an advertisement company previously owned by the steelmaker.On Tuesday, they raided the headquarters of smartphone giant Samsung Electronics, the country's largest company, which is under suspicion of spending millions of dollars illicitly financing the equestrian training of Choi's athlete daughter.

Under South Korea's criminal litigation law, which requires suspects to be either indicted or released within 20 days of their arrest, prosecutors have until Nov. 20 to formally charge Choi.

There is also a possibility that prosecutors will eventually investigate Park, who in a televised apology last week said she would accept a direct investigation into her action. The president has immunity from prosecution except in cases of treason, under South Korean law, but she can be investigated.

Park has 15 months left in her term. If she steps down before the end of it, an election must be held within 60 days.

UN Sees Small but Significant Iranian Nuke Deal Violation

The United Nations agency monitoring the nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers said Wednesday that Iran is in violation of the deal meant to curb its ability to make atomic arms by storing marginally more heavy water than the agreement allows.

Heavy water is a concern because it is used to cool reactors that can produce substantial amounts of plutonium. That, in turn, can be applied to making the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

The U.N's International Atomic Energy Agency said in a confidential report obtained by The Associated Press that Iran had exceeded the heavy water allotment of 130 metric tons (143.3 tons) only slightly — by 100 kilograms (220 pounds.) The report also noted that Iran had served notice it would resolve the issue by exporting 5 metric tons, substantially over the excess amount.

Wednesday's report said the agency verified the overhang on Tuesday, just days after IAEA chief Yukiya Amano "expressed concerns" to top Iranian officials.

A senior diplomat familiar with the issue said the Iranians had told the IAEA that the shipment would be leaving their country within the next few days. The diplomat requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record about Iran's nuclear program.

Still, with both sides closely watching for violations, the breach was sensitive even beyond the technical uses of heavy water, especially since it was the second such breach since implementation of the deal curbing Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

In February, a month after the deal went into effect, the agency noted for the first time that Iran had exceeded its allotted limit of heavy water. The amount was greater in that case and some of the excess was exported to the United States under an arrangement criticized by U.S. congressional opponents as facilitating Iranian violations of the deal.

Wednesday's report did not specify to which country or countries the exports would be going this time.

Police: 7 Killed in London Early Morning Tram Derailment

Seven people were killed and more than 50 injured when a tram derailed while rounding a tight curve in a rainstorm in south London Wednesday, police said.

Investigators said the train, which tipped over on its side, apparently was going faster than permitted.

British Transport Police initially said five people had died, with several others seriously injured. The force later raised the death toll to seven.

Police arrested the 42-year-old tram driver on suspicion of manslaughter.

Emergency workers labored for hours to free five people trapped in the wreckage of the two-carriage tram tipped over next to an underpass in the Croydon area.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch said the tram derailed as it was negotiating a sharp curve with a speed limit of 12 miles per hour (20 kph).

"Initial indications suggest that the tram was traveling at a significantly higher speed than is permitted," it said in a statement.

Passenger Martin Bamford, 30, said the train speeded up and "everyone just literally went flying."

"There was a woman that was on top of me ... I don't think she made it at all," Bamford said outside Croydon University Hospital, where he was treated for rib injuries. "She wasn't responsive. There was blood everywhere."

Bamford said the driver told him that "he thinks he blacked out."

Liam Lehane of the London Ambulance Service described many of the people hurt as "walking wounded" but said others suffered serious injuries.

London's fire department said eight fire engines and four specialist rescue units were among the first responders to the Sandilands tram stop after the 6:10 a.m. (0610 GMT, 1:10 a.m. EST) accident.

The rescue units are equipped with heavy lifting and cutting tools, together with longer duration breathing apparatus and floodlighting.

"I heard a massive crash at about 6:15 a.m., then heard shouting, then the emergency services arrived," said resident Hannah Collier, 23. "They started bringing up the casualties, some very seriously injured."

The British capital's only tram network operates in the southern end of the city, serving 27 million passengers in the last year.

Wednesday's derailment is the first tram accident with onboard fatalities since the 1950s, but official figures show that 20 people were injured in 112 tram-related accidents in the year to March, including one derailment and two collisions with other trams.

The Day After: Clinton Says US Owes Trump 'Chance to Lead'

A day after Donald Trump, against all odds, won election as America's 45th president, Hillary Clinton on Wednesday lamented that the nation proved to be "more divided than we thought" but told supporters: "We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."

Standing before a crowd of crestfallen campaign aides and backers, Clinton said, "This is painful and it will be for a long time."

Trump's triumph, declared after midnight, will end eight years of Democratic control of the White House. He'll govern with a Republican-controlled Congress and lead a country deeply divided by his rancorous campaign against Clinton. He faces fractures within his own party, too, given the numerous Republicans who wouldn't back him or only tepidly supported his nomination.

Claiming victory early Wednesday, Trump urged Americans to "come together as one united people."

That sentiment was echoed by the GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan, who had been a reluctant Trump supporter. "This needs to be a time of redemption, not a time of recrimination," Ryan said in a news conference, crediting Trump with earning a "mandate" to enact his agenda.

Clinton, hoping to become the first woman to be elected president, conceded defeat in a telephone call to Trump.

With several million votes still to be counted, she held a narrow lead in the nationwide popular vote. Most of the outstanding votes appeared to be in Democratic-leaning states, with the biggest chunk in California, a state Clinton overwhelmingly won. With almost 125 million votes counted, The Associated Press tally had Clinton with 47.7 percent and Trump with 47.5 percent.

Summoning her most magnanimous tone after a bitter race, Clinton said of the man whose victory she declared would be a danger to America and the world: "I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans."

As her supporters waited for her in a New York ballroom, the scene of despair played out for all on live television. Cameras zoomed in on the exhausted and miserable faces of several of her closest aides, some dressed in hoodies or other casual clothing. The familiar campaign music of Bruce Springsteen in the background added to the sense of disappointment.

"We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought," Clinton said in a speech she never hoped to deliver. "But I still believe in America and I always will."

Global stock markets and U.S. stock futures plunged early Wednesday, but later recovered. The Dow Jones industrial average was up almost 1 percent in midday trading in New York.

President Barack Obama congratulated Trump in a phone call and invited him to a meeting at the White House Thursday.

In the Rose Garden Wednesday, Obama said he had significant differences with Trump, as he had with George W. Bush upon taking office eight years ago. But he promised a smooth transition.

"Everybody is sad when their side loses an election," said Obama, who risks seeing much of his legacy reversed in a Trump administration. "The day after, we have to remember we're actually all on one team."

Trump, who spent much of the campaign urging supporters on as they chanted "lock her up," said the nation owed Clinton "a major debt of gratitude" for her years of public service.

A New York real estate developer who lives in a sparkling Manhattan high-rise, Trump forged a connection with white, working class Americans who feel left behind in a changing economy and diversifying country. He cast immigration, both from Latin America and the Middle East, as the root of problems plaguing many Americans and tapped into fears of terrorism emanating at home and abroad.

GOP Senate candidates fended off Democratic challengers in key states, including North Carolina, Indiana and Wisconsin. Republicans maintained their grip on the House.

Senate control means Trump will have leeway in appointing Supreme Court justices, potentially shifting the bench to the right for decades.

He has pledged to introduce sweeping changes to U.S. foreign policy, including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. He has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and advocated a closer relationship with Moscow, worrying some in his own party who fear he'll go easy on Putin's provocations.

Putin sent Trump a telegram of congratulations.

Upending years of political convention on his way to the White House, Trump repeatedly insulted his rivals, declared Mexican immigrants rapists and murderers, and vowed to suspend Muslim immigration to the U.S. He never released his tax returns and ignored the kind of robust data and field efforts that propelled Obama to two White House terms, relying instead on large, free-wheeling rallies to energize supporters. His campaign was often in chaos.

Clinton faced persistent questions about her honesty and trustworthiness. And her troubles flared anew late in the race, when the FBI reviewed new emails from her tenure at the State Department. Just two days before Election Day, the bureau's director said nothing in the material warranted criminal charges.

Women nationwide supported Clinton by a double-digit margin, while men significantly backed Trump. Nearly nine in 10 blacks and two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Clinton.

———

Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper, Catherine Lucey, Jonathan Lemire, Lisa Lerer and Jill Colvin and AP Polling Director Emily Swanson contributed to this report.

———

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Obama Says He's Heartened by Trump's Call for Unity

Conceding Hillary Clinton's staggering defeat, President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he was heartened by Donald Trump's call for unity after his stunning victory and "we are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country."

Obama spoke to reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House in a post-election ritual meant to signal the peaceful transition of power from one president to the next. He vowed to do all he could to ensure a smooth transition and tried to buck up Democrats still reeling with disappointment and shock.

"We all want what's best for this country," Obama said, noting he was encouraged by Trump's election night remarks urging reconciliation after an especially bitter and long contest.

He spoke just moments after Hillary Clinton formally conceded to Trump with a similar, though more emotional, appeal to give Trump a chance to succeed as president. The remarks were striking after a campaign in which the Democrats declared Trump was unfit to serve and told voters the future of democracy was riding on their choice.

An extraordinarily large number of Obama aides and advisers — more than a hundred in all — gathered to hear his statement, including stenographers, low-level aides and White House Counsel Neil Eggleston.

The White House said Obama and Trump are due to meet Thursday to discuss the handover of power and ongoing planning for the transition. Obama called the Republican in the early hours of the morning Wednesday to congratulate him on his stunning victory, which marked a forceful rebuke by voters to Obama's eight years in office.

For Obama, handing over the White House to Trump is a devastating blow to his legacy and to his hopes for leaving a lasting imprint on the nation's policies. Trump has vowed to rip up much of what Obama accomplished, including his signature health care law, the Iran nuclear deal and a painstakingly negotiated trade deal with Asia.

With Republican control of both chambers of Congress, he will be well positioned to make good on that promises.

Obama also called Clinton after it became clear she'd lost the race. The White House said Obama had "expressed admiration for the strong campaign she waged throughout the country."

It was unclear how substantive Obama's call was with Trump, or how long it lasted, although the White House noted that Obama placed the call from his residence in the White House, rather than from the West Wing.

Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, described it as a "warm conversation" and a "gracious exchange." She said Trump had missed the president's original call as Trump was speaking to supporters in New York, then called him back after leaving the stage.

Like Clinton and other Democrats, Obama didn't appear to see Trump's victory coming. As he campaigned vigorously for Clinton in the race's final days, Obama said he was confident that if Americans showed up to vote, they'd choose against electing the billionaire former reality TV star with no formal government experience.

He had also warned supporters in apocalyptic terms that "the fate of the republic" rested on Clinton defeating Trump on Election Day.

———

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report.

Donald Trump's Victory Sets off Protests on Both Coasts

Demonstrators opposed to the election of Donald Trump smashed windows and set garbage bins on fire in downtown Oakland, California early Wednesday, as protesters swarmed streets across the country in response to the election. The protests elsewhere were generally peaceful.

In Oregon, dozens of people blocked traffic in downtown Portland and forced a delay for trains on two light rail lines. Media reports said the crowd grew to about 300 people, including some who sat in the middle of the road to block traffic. The crowd of anti-Trump protesters burned American flags and chanted "That's not my president."

In Pennsylvania, hundreds of University of Pittsburgh students marched through the streets, with some in the crowd calling for unity. The student-run campus newspaper, the Pitt News, tweeted about an event later Wednesday titled "Emergency Meeting: Let's Unite to Stop President Trump."

In Seattle, a group of about 100 protesters gathered in the Capital Hill neighborhood, blocked roads and set a trash bin on fire.

The Oakland protest grew to about 250 people by late Tuesday evening, according to police. Officer Marco Marquez said protesters damaged five businesses, breaking windows and spraying graffiti.

Police issued a citation for a vehicle code violation, but did not make any arrests.

A woman was struck by a car and severely injured when protesters got onto a highway early Wednesday morning, the California Highway Patrol said. Protesters vandalized the driver's SUV before officers intervened. The highway was closed for about 20 minutes.

Marquez said the department is fully staffed for the possibility of another protest Wednesday evening.

Oakland is a hotbed of violent protest in the San Francisco Bay Area. Protesters briefly shut down two major freeways, vandalized police cars and looted businesses two years ago when a Missouri grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer in the fatal shooting of a black teenager in Ferguson.

And nearly 80 people were arrested after a night in 2010 that saw rioters using metal bats to break store windows, setting fires and looting after a white transit police officer, Johannes Mehserle, was acquitted of murder and convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the slaying of Oscar Grant, an unarmed black man who was shot dead on a train platform the previous year.

Elsewhere in California, police said at least 500 people swarmed on streets in and around UCLA, some shouting anti-Trump expletives and others chanting "Not my president!"

Smaller demonstrators were held at University of California campuses and neighborhoods in Berkeley, Irvine and Davis and at San Jose State.

How a Donald Trump Victory Is Similar to Brexit

Donald Trump's win on Election Day has been likened to Britain’s stunning vote to leave the European Union -- but bigger.

Trump hailed the Brexit vote as a harbinger to his winning the presidency, drawing a parallel to the raucous British debate over whether the United Kingdom should leave the European Union, despite warnings from elites that such a move would be a mistake.

Brexit, short for “British exit,” refers to the vote Britain held in June to withdraw from the European Union, a political and economic alliance made up of 28 countries.

Trump called his candidacy “Brexit plus,” saying that just as a populist movement in Britain led to the vote to leave the E.U., so too would a similar spirit usher him into the White House. His argument was dismissed as folly by his critics. Now, the parallels will once again be examined.

Donald Trump Captures Presidency in Historic and Stunning Upset of Hillary Clinton

President-Elect Trump Addresses Crowd: 'It Is Time for America to Bind the Wounds of Division'

"Ours was not a campaign but rather an incredible and great movement,” Trump said in his victory speech.

Fueled by grievance, the Trump vote seems particularly similar to what occurred in Britain where voters were upset over immigration and trade policies they felt worked against them.

In the end, America did exactly what the U.K. did, pointing to a disconnect that the ruling elite have with the disenchanted and skeptical voters across the electorate. Trump often spoke to his base about a "rigged system." In the U.K., the Brexit vote was a similar case of those going to vote who felt let down by a system polarized into the haves and have-nots. Many observers have described the Brexit vote as a revolt against the elite.

"Now, it's time for America to bind the wounds of division -- have to get together," Trump said after hearing from his opponent that she had conceded. "To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people."

Trump is seen as anti-establishment, and numerous polls indicated his chances of winning were far less likely than Clinton’s leading up to Election Day. He surprisingly picked up many competitive states that analysts said were out of his reach.

The fallout from Brexit is not as dramatic as a historical win for the real-estate mogul, who will now become the most powerful person on the planet.

After Brexit, the markets reacted in surprise. After projections suggested on Election Day that Trump was on course to win, the Dow Jones futures plummeted about 800 points. Wall Street still seems in recovery mode.Trump will likely win at least 270 electoral votes, according to ABC News projections, and will take his Republican ticket to the White House in January.

On Twitter, a forum Trump often used as his megaphone during his campaign, the president-elect called his win "beautiful and important."

The White House issued a statement today that President Obama plans to make the transition a priority.

"Ensuring a smooth transition of power is one of the top priorities the President identified at the beginning of the year and a meeting with the President-elect is the next step," the White House statement read.

British supporters of leaving the E.U., mostly conservatives, had called for a vote on whether to remain in the alliance, arguing a referendum on the issue hadn’t been held since 1975.

Advocates of Brexit said that being outside the E.U. would boost the British economy by placing fewer regulations on consumers, employers and the environment. It also would give the country more freedom to establish its own economic and political policies, they argued. The British pound has since hit lows not seen in more than 140 years.

Russia Says Its Warships Drove Away Dutch Sub Shadowing Them

Russian warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday drove away a Dutch submarine shadowing the squadron, the military said.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said two Russian navy destroyers spotted the Walrus-class submarine Wednesday while it was 20 kilometers (some 11 nautical miles) away from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier and its escorting ships.

The destroyers had tracked the submarine for more than an hour, using anti-submarine helicopters, before forcing it to leave the area, Konashenkov said. He didn't elaborate how the warships prompted the submarine to leave.

The spokesman added that such "clumsy" attempts to maneuver close to the Russian squadron could have resulted in an accident.

Konashenkov said the Russian squadron had previously spotted several NATO submarines, including a U.S. Virginia-class nuclear submarine, while en route to eastern Mediterranean waters.

A NATO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't allowed to discuss the sensitive issue on the record, said the alliance's navies have been monitoring the Russian fleet in recent weeks in a "measured and responsible way, as is customary." He refused to elaborate on how NATO was doing that.

In a tweet, the Dutch Defense Ministry said it does not comment on operations conducted by its submarines.

The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier is being accompanied by the nuclear-powered Peter the Great missile cruiser and several other ships on a mission to Syria's shores, the Russian navy's largest deployment since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

NATO has expressed concern, saying the move could presage an increase in the number of Russian air raids in Syria, particularly around the besieged city of Aleppo.

———

Lorne Cook in Brussels and Mike Corder in Amsterdam contributed to this report.

Clinton Tells Supporters to Greet Trump With 'Open Mind'

Hillary Clinton told supporters Wednesday that they owed Donald Trump "an open mind and a chance to lead," urging acceptance of the celebrity businessman's stunning win after a campaign that appeared poised until Election Day to make her the first woman elected U.S. president.

Addressing stricken staff and voters at a New York City hotel, Clinton said she had offered to work with Trump on behalf of a country that she acknowledged was "more deeply divided than we thought."

Her voice vibrated with emotion at times, especially as she acknowledged that she had not "shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling."

Flanked by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and daughter, Chelsea Clinton Mezvinsky, Clinton then made a direct plea to "all the little girls" watching: "Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every opportunity in the world and chance to pursue your dreams."

The speech followed a dramatic election night in which Trump captured battleground states like Florida, North Carolina and Ohio and demolished a longstanding "blue wall" of states in the Upper Midwest that had backed every Democratic presidential candidate since Clinton's husband won the presidency in 1992.

Democrats — starting with Clinton's campaign staff and the White House — were left wondering how they had misread their country so completely. Mournful Clinton backers gathered outside the hotel Wednesday.

"I was devastated. Shocked. Still am," said Shirley Ritenour, 64, a musician from Brooklyn. "When I came in on the subway this morning there were a lot of people crying. A lot of people are very upset."

The results were startling to Clinton and her aides, who had ended their campaign with a whirlwind tour of battleground states and had projected optimism that she would maintain the diverse coalition assembled by President Barack Obama in the past two elections.

On the final day of the campaign, Clinton literally followed Obama to stand behind a podium with a presidential seal at a massive rally outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia. As she walked up to the lectern, the president bent down to pull out a small stool so the shorter Clinton could address the tens of thousands gathered on the mall. Before leaving the stage, Obama leaned over to whisper a message in Clinton's ear: "We'll have to make this permanent."

Clinton's stunning loss was certain to open painful soul-searching within the party, which had endured a lengthy primary between Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who drew strong support among liberals amid an electorate calling for change.

"The mistake that we made is that we ignored the powerful part of Trump's message because we hated so much of the rest of his message. The mistake we made is that people would ignore that part and just focus on the negative," said Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis, who was not affiliated with the campaign.

The tumultuous presidential cycle bequeathed a series of political gifts for Clinton's GOP rival: An FBI investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server, questions of pay-for-play involving her family's charitable foundation, Sanders' primary challenge, Clinton's health scare at a Sept. 11 memorial ceremony and FBI Director James Comey's late October announcement that investigators had uncovered emails potentially relevant to her email case.

Yet her team spent the bulk of their time focused on attacking Trump, while failing to adequately address Clinton's deep liabilities — or the wave of frustration roiling the nation.

Every time the race focused on Clinton, her numbers dropped, eventually making her one of the least liked presidential nominees in history. And she offered an anxious electorate a message of breaking barriers and the strength of diversity — hardly a rallying cry — leaving her advisers debating the central point of her candidacy late into the primary race.

Clinton's campaign was infuriated by a late October announcement by Comey that investigators had uncovered emails that may have been pertinent to the dormant investigation into Clinton's use of private emails while secretary of state. On the Sunday before the election, Comey told lawmakers that the bureau had found no evidence in its hurried review of the newly discovered emails to warrant criminal charges against Clinton.

But the announcement may have damaged Clinton while her campaign tried to generate support in early voting in battleground states like Florida and North Carolina. In the nine days between Comey's initial statement and his "all clear" announcement, nearly 24 million people cast early ballots. That was about 18 percent of the expected total votes for president.

Canadian PM Trudeau Says He'll Work Closely With Trump

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed Wednesday to work "very closely" with President-elect Donald Trump.

The Liberal prime minister told students at an event in Ottawa that he will work with Trump not just for Canadians "but for the whole world." He earlier offered his congratulations in a statement and said Canada has no closer ally and partner than the United States.

But Trudeau's openness to trade, refugees and the environment stands in stark contrast to Trump. Of particular concern to Canada is Trump's vow to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. A spokeswoman for Trudeau said the prime minister would not be taking questions from the media on Wednesday.

Trudeau told the students he sees a message in the election. Trump awakened a movement of angry working-class voters.

"The fact is, we've heard clearly from Canadians and from Americans that people want a shared shot at success," Trudeau said. "We share a purpose, our two countries, where we want to build places where the middle class and those working hard to join it have a chance."

A positive for Canada could be the eventual approval of the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast. President Obama nixed it but Trump supports the pipeline but has said he wants a share of the profits.

Brad Wall, premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, noted Trump's support for Keystone XL.

"And with Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, I am hopeful that this important project will move ahead quickly," Wall said in a statement. "On the other hand, I hope he reconsiders his plan to end the North American Free Trade Agreement."

The Canadian government confirmed Wednesday the website for Citizenship and Immigration Canada became temporarily inaccessible Tuesday night as a result of a significant increase in the volume of traffic as election returns favored Trump.

Internet searches for "move to Canada" and "immigrate to Canada" spiked Tuesday night and "Canada" was a leading U.S. trend on Twitter, with more than 1 million tweets. Some Americans had vowed previously to move north when George W. Bush was re-elected president in 2004 but few, if any, did.

Stunned Mexico Ponders New Relationship With US

Hours after the United States elected Donald Trump to be its next president, Mexico began carefully laying the groundwork for a relationship with a new leader who campaigned against its citizens and threatened to wreak havoc with its economy.

President Enrique Pena Nieto sent a series of messages from his official Twitter account Wednesday morning, congratulating not Trump himself but the American electorate, and said he was ready to work with Trump to advance the countries' relationship.

"Mexico and the United States are friends, partners and allies that must continue collaborating for the competitiveness and development of North America," Pena Nieto wrote.

The messages came shortly after Mexico's Treasury Secretary Jose Antonio Meade tried to strike a reassuring tone in a news conference by saying that Mexico's financial position is strong in the face of a falling peso. He says no immediate actions are planned.

But the threat is real. The United States is Mexico's largest trading partner and the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has said he wants to re-negotiate, is the backbone of that commerce.

"The relationship of Mexico and the U.S. is uncertain," said Isidro Morales, of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. "Donald Trump is not a person of institutions. Surely it will be a unilateral policy worse than (George W.) Bush and we don't know what to expect."

Mexico's currency appeared to track Trump's rising and falling fortunes throughout the campaign and it fell sharply Tuesday night. According to Banco Base, the peso dropped 9.56 percent, its biggest daily loss since 1995.

In the streets, Mexicans fretted about just how many of Trump's promises to deport millions of immigrants, revamp trade relations and make Mexico pay for a border wall would come to fruition.

Reyes Isidro, a barista in a small neighborhood coffee shop, said that one way or another he was sure the poor would bear the brunt of Trump's policies, even in Mexico.

"In the end, the most affected are always those of us who have the least," Isidro said. "We're the ones that have to take the hits." He said the weaker peso would make it more difficult to buy things.

And if Trump follows through on his promise of increased deportations, "what are those people going to do? They will have to find a way to survive on this side. The possibilities begin to narrow for you," he said.

Jose Maria Ramos, a professor at the College of the Northern Border in Tijuana, said Mexicans will have to wait and see what Trump really does.

"A lot of proposals had a marketing effect," he said. "It's one thing to be a politician and make statements; he managed the media very effectively." But things like building a wall and making Mexico pay for it could turn out to be too complicated to carry out. "Being a candidate is not the same as being president."