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President Donald Trump hit back at critics within his own party Wednesday, painting them as outliers in what is otherwise a "love fest" between him and Republican lawmakers.

A day after Republican senators Jeff Flake and Bob Corker described Trump as having a "flagrant disregard" for truth and decency and of "debasing" the nation, the combative president shot back.

Trying to forestall a broader party backlash, Trump tweeted that Flake and Corker were resigning because they had "zero chance of being elected," and insisted his meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill a day earlier had been a resounding success.

"The meeting with Republican Senators yesterday, outside of Flake and Corker, was a love fest with standing ovations and great ideas for USA!" he continued.

Trump's allies cheered Flake's departure as an unbridled victory for their effort to take over the party and a "monumental win for the entire Trump movement."

It "should serve as another warning shot to the failed Republican establishment that backed Flake and others like them that their time is up," said Andy Surabian, a former Trump White House advisor.

Still, while the departure of the two senators may ultimately play to Trump's advantage, both will remain in Congress for more than a year and will be less likely to fall in line behind the White House on key votes.

- No room for defections -

Trump had already faced a difficult task of mustering 51 votes to pass tax cuts, an effort that appears to be the glue holding the party together.

There are currently 52 Republican senators, so more than one defection would hamper reform efforts, unless Democrats can be brought on board.

It is also far from clear that more hardline Republican candidates can beat Democrats in places like Flake's native Arizona, where Trump campaigned hard in 2016 yet won by less than four percentage points.

GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / Ralph FresoArizona Republican Jeff Flake unleashed a fierce broadside at President Donald Trump as he delivered a resignation speech on the Senate floor

Many Republicans see Trump's presidency as the best way to enact long-standing goals like tax reform and cutting the size of government, and the White House has worked hard to keep the rank and file focused on those targets amid rolling scandals and failed attempts to pass legislation.

"Working hard on the biggest tax cut in U.S. history. Great support from so many sides. Big winners will be the middle class, business & JOBS," Trump also tweeted Wednesday.

"I'll tell you what, honestly, the Republicans are very, very well united," he said.

The White House points to the president's solid approval ratings among Republican voters as evidence that his brand of politics should dominate the party.

According to an Economist/YouGov Poll, 84 percent of Republican voters approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president.

- 'Not a watershed' -

Against that backdrop many Republicans privately express grave misgivings about Trump's behavior in office, but remain publicly supportive.

"Parties always have their disagreements. Look no further than Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Party. That's just part of party politics," Senator Steve Daines told AFP.

GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP / WIN MCNAMEESenator Bob Corker has publicly aired disagreements with Trump, a fellow Republican, but the feud has reached a new level

Political science professor Larry Sabato said Flake's attack on Trump was a "beating" for the president, but is "not going to be a watershed."

"I always tell people JFK's book 'Profiles in Courage' was a very slim volume."

Yet there is no doubt that Flake and Corker's comments have exposed a simmering battle for the soul of the Republican party.

Establishment conservatives -- who have managed since 2007 to co-opt waves of populist and nationalist party insurgents -- have struggled to retain control since Trump's election.

Senator Marco Rubio admitted the party "is going through a moment of realignment internally."

He cited "an internal debate about what the party is going to be about, what it's going to represent in the years to come. So is the Democratic Party. And by the way, so is every institution in America."

Somalia
A big explosion was heard in the heart of Somali’s capital Mogadishu on Saturday, with clouds of smoke seen above the scene of blast, a Reuters witness reported.

It was not clear who was responsible for the blast although Islamist group al Shabaab frequently carries out bombings in the Horn of Africa country.

Witnesses said the blast was heard close to the headquaters of the Somali intelligence agency in the capital.

Somali police is yet to give more information on the blast.

Islamic extremist group has been fighting for years in the area to take power and create an Islamic state in the region

A Zimbabwean journalist has been detained over a story alleging that used underwear had been distributed to ruling Zanu-PF supporters on First Lady Grace Mugabe's behalf, his lawyers say.

NewsDay reporter Kenneth Nyangani was likely to face "criminal defamation" charges, the lawyers added.

Zanu-PF MP Esau Mupfumi distributed the underwear, and said Mrs Mugabe had donated it, the newspaper reported.

There has been no official comment on Mr Nyangani's arrest.

It was unclear clear whether the complainant was the MP or the first lady, NewsDay reported.

• Africa Live: More updates on this and other stories
• The rise of Grace Mugabe
• Saving Grace: The cost of diplomatic immunity

Police in the eastern city of Mutare detained Mr Nyangani on Monday evening for "allegedly writing and publishing a story over the donation of some used undergarments" by President Robert Mugabe's wife, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said in a statement.

The privately-owned newspaper had earlier reported that Mr Mupfumi had handed out clothes at the weekend to Zanu-PF supporters in the Mutare area.

"I met the First Lady Grace Mugabe and I was given these clothes so that I can give you. I have briefs for you and I am told that most of your briefs are not in good shape, please come and collect your allocations today," Mr Mupfumi was quoted as saying.

"We have night dresses, sandals and clothes, come and take, this is from your First Lady Grace Mugabe," he added.

Worsening economic conditions in Zimbabwe are forcing many people to buy second-hand clothing, the AFP news agency reports.

It says such items include used underwear from Western countries which is chiefly imported from Mozambique.

Mrs Mugabe, the president's second wife, attracted widespread media attention in August when she was accused of attacking a model at a hotel in South Africa where her sons were staying.

She has denied any wrongdoing.

Thousands of South Koreans protested Sunday against an upcoming visit by Donald Trump and called for peace as the US President begins an Asian tour dominated by North Korea's nuclear programme.

Trump, who arrived in Tokyo on Sunday, is set to visit the South from Tuesday to Wednesday as part of his first Asian trip as head of state that also includes Vietnam, China and the Philippines.

He is scheduled to hold a summit with President Moon Jae-In and visit a US military base, with all eyes on his message to the North and its leader Kim Jong-Un.

Tensions flared after Pyongyang staged a sixth atomic test in September and test-launched multiple missiles capable of reaching the US mainland, while Trump and Kim have traded colourful personal attacks.

South Korea is a key US ally and hosts 28,500 US troops but many of Trump's critics in the South see him as a warmonger whose recent war of words with Kim has heightened tensions on the flashpoint peninsula.

"We oppose war! Negotiate peace!" the protesters chanted in central Seoul, waving banners and balloons emblazoned "Peace, not war" and "We want peace".

Many slammed both Trump and Kim for heightening the risk of conflict.

"Trump and Kim... are using the current military standoff for their own political gain, while we South Koreans are trembling with fear of war!" one activist said on stage.

One mother whose son is serving the South's mandatory two-year army conscription accused the US leader of putting her son's life at risk.

"My heart stirs at every single word Trump says about North Korea," she said.

Organisers estimated the number of protesters at around 5,000.

Separately on Sunday a group of conservative activists held a rally to welcome Trump, urging Washington to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in the South to guard against threats from the North.

The latest standoff between Trump and Kim has raised concern among South Koreans, who have over decades grown indifferent to regular threats of attack from Pyongyang.

But some Trump advisers say US military options are limited because any armed conflict on the peninsula would be expected to cause huge casualties.

Seoul is home to 10 million people and only about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the heavily-fortified border, within range of Pyongyang's artillery.

Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh, president of Gambia, rose to power in a July 1994 military coup and was elected as President in 1996; he was re-elected in 2001, 2006, and 2011.

The metal gates lock behind Fatoumatta Sandeng as she leads the way across a small dirt yard into the concrete structure where her family of 10 sleeps on foam mattresses on the floor. This home, in a dusty town in Senegal, is where the Sandeng family has been hiding since Fatoumatta’s father, activist Solo Sandeng, was allegedly tortured to death in detention by Gambia’s secret police after they arrested him for participating in a peaceful protest on April 14.

Solo was a prominent member of the opposition United Democratic Party in Gambia. He was marching for electoral reform with youth activists near the capital, Banjul, when he was arrested. “My father and the other protesters took to the streets to demand reforms for a free and fair election that could bring a change,” says Fatoumatta. “There had been a lot of killings and illegal arrests by the government, and nothing was coming out of it because the judiciary and the media are censored. Everything that goes on in the Gambia is controlled by the government.”

Gambia’s state-sponsored intimidation could come to an end on December 1, when voters go to the polls in an election that opposition activists say is their best chance yet to oust autocratic President Yahya Jammeh, who took power through a military coup in 1994. Human rights organizations have long criticized Jammeh’s government for what they describe as the frequent use of torture, arbitrary detention and the intimidation of journalists by members of the security forces. Jammeh has won four previous elections; rights groups have described the fairness of those results as deeply compromised.