Diane is a perfectionist. She enjoys searching the internet for the hottest events from around the world and writing an article about it. The details matter to her, so she makes sure the information is easy to read and understand. She likes traveling and history, especially ancient history. Being a very sociable person she has a blast having barbeque with family and friends.
Denmark’s lawmakers will vote on January 26 on a highly controversial proposal to confiscate asylum seekers’ valuables to pay for their upkeep.
The proposal drew sharp criticism in Denmark and abroad when it was announced earlier this month.
Danish authorities insist the policy brings refugees in line with jobless Danes, who must sell assets above a certain level to claim benefits.
With broad cross-party support, the bill looks set to pass into law.
The Danish government will also vote on another controversial proposal – delaying family reunifications for refugees in an attempt to discourage them from travelling to the country.
Denmark expects to receive around 20,000 asylum seekers in 2016, compared with 15,000 in 2015.
The country insists that the new laws are needed to stem the flow of refugees, despite both Denmark and Sweden recently tightening their borders.
Many have compared the plan to the confiscation of valuables from Jews during the World War II.
Integration Minister Inger Stoejberg was forced to announce that no items deemed sentimental would be taken. The law would apply to cash or assets worth more than 10,000 kroner ($1,450) – a figure raised from 3,000 kroner following objections.
UN refugee agency the UNHCR has warned that the proposals violate the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the UN Refugee Convention.
Both the ruling center-right Venstre party and the right-wing, anti-immigration Danish People’s Party back the bill, meaning it is likely to pass.
PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen of the Venstre party has shrugged off criticism, calling the bill “the most misunderstood bill in Denmark’s history”.
Israel’s ex-President Shimon Peres has been taken to hospital after suffering chest pains, 10 days after he had a small heart attack.
Shimon Peres, 92, underwent minor surgery last week for a constricted artery.
A spokeswoman said on January 24 that Shimon Peres was readmitted to a Tel Aviv hospital “for observation and testing”.
The former president was not due to undergo any invasive procedures, Haaretz reported.
Shimon Peres twice served as Israel’s prime minister and was president from 2007 to 2014.
On January 24, he was found by doctors to have an irregular heartbeat, his spokeswoman said.
Shimon Peres won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his role negotiating the Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians a year earlier, a prize he shared with PM Yitzhak Rabin, who was later assassinated, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
He was defeated in the 1996 election by the head of the opposition Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Shimon Peres has held almost every major political office since Israel was founded in 1948, and was the architect of Israel’s secret nuclear program in 1959.
Despite his age, Shimon Peres has maintained an active public schedule, mostly through his non-governmental Peres Center for Peace, which promotes closer ties between Israel and the Palestinians.
The widow of American billionaire Douglas Tompkins has begun talks with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet over the donation of a vast nature reserve in southern Chile.
Kristine McDivitt Tompkins said she had formally offered Chile 400,000 hectares of land in Patagonia to be made into national parks.
The negotiations are expected to take two years.
Douglas Tompkins, who died in December 2015 in a kayaking accident, caused controversy in the 1990s by buying up land in southern Chile and Argentina to preserve it.
Last month, Kristine McDivitt met the new Argentinean President Mauricio Macri to donate to the country 150,000 hectares of threatened wetlands near the border with Brazil, with the aim of creating the Ibera National Park.
Douglas Tompkins was a globe-trotting rock climber and skier in his youth who was the co-founder of the outdoor clothing company The North Face.
In the early 1990s Douglas Tompinks got divorced, abandoned corporate life and moved to isolated southern Chile.
With his second wife Kristine, a former CEO of outdoor clothing company Patagonia Inc, he began buying up land in order to protect an ancient forest in Patagonia.
Over 25 years Douglas and Kristine Tompkins invested more than $375 million in conservation, donating part of their lands in Chile and Argentina to create four national parks.
After the meeting with President Michelle Bachelet, Kristine McDivitt said that the donation of the latest tranche of land to Chile was being made on condition that it would be used to create national parks which people could freely visit.
“The process will take a long time,” she said.
“We won’t be deciding the timing and I know there will be a compromise both sides will have to make to work through all the stages that will be necessary.
“We want people from all over the world to be able to visit these places. With the donation of these parks, Chile will be able offer a historic legacy to the world.”
In 2005, Douglas and Kristine Tompkins donated another tranche of land to Chile, 294 hectares near the Corcovado volcano, creating the sixth largest national park in Chile – the Corcovado National Park.
Authorities in Rio de Janeiro have announced plans to prevent the spread of the Zika virus during the Olympic Games later this year.
Zika outbreak – which is being linked to severe birth defects – has caused growing concern in Brazil and abroad.
Inspections of Olympic facilities will begin four months before the Games to get rid of mosquito breeding grounds.
Daily sweeps will also take place during the Games.
However, fumigation would only be an option on a case-by-case basis because of concerns for the health of the athletes and visitors.
The Brazilian health ministry says it is also banking on the fact that the Games are taking place in the cooler, drier month of August when mosquitoes are far less evident and there are considerably less cases of mosquito-borne virus.
Brazil has the largest-known outbreak of the Zika virus which has been linked to a spike in birth defects in new-born babies whose mothers were bitten by the mosquito during pregnancy.
The US, Canada and EU health agencies have issued warnings saying pregnant women should avoid travelling to Brazil and other countries in the Americas which have registered cases of Zika.
A Canadian teenager has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder after shootings in Saskatchewan province, police say.
The boy – who cannot be named because of his age – is also charged with seven counts of attempted murder.
Four people were killed and several injured after the shootings at La Loche Community School and another location.
The January 22 attack in the remote community was “every parent’s worst nightmare”, Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau has said.
At a news conference on January 23, Grant St Germaine from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the suspect would appear in court next week.
“The days and weeks are going to be difficult as we come to terms with the impact of what has happened in our community,” he said.
“It’s a sad and difficult time and no words will take away the pain and sorrow of what has happened.”
The RCMP said Dayne Fontaine, 17, and his brother Drayden, 13, were shot dead in a house.
The gunmen then went to the school, killing teacher Adam Wood, 35, and 21-year-old teaching assistant Marie Janvier, the daughter of acting mayor Kevin Janvier.
The suspect was later disarmed and arrested. The motive behind the shootings is unclear.
Witnesses at the school described screaming and more than half a dozen shots.
The RCMP said officers were called about “an active shooter” at 13:00 local time and detained the suspect 45 minutes later, Canada’s CBC reports.
About 900 students attend La Loche Community School for kindergarten through to grade 12 (the last year of high school).
La Loche is a mainly aboriginal community of about 3,000 people.
Ex-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is thinking about running for president as an independent candidate, several outlets report.
Unnamed advisers told the New York Times that Michael Bloomberg, 73, sees a gap and has instructed staff to draw up plans.
In 2015, Michael Bloomberg commissioned a poll to see how he might perform against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton.
Photo AP
Michael Bloomberg would reportedly pump $1 billion of his fortune into a campaign.
The billionaire has yet to make a statement on the issue but members of his staff have told other US media that he is indeed thinking about running, especially if Hillary Clinton is wounded by her rival Bernie Sanders.
The New York Times also reports that he has set a deadline for making a final decision in early March, when he could still enter the race in all 50 states.
The Republican and Democratic candidates face their first real test in just over a week, when Iowa becomes the first state to make its choice of nominee.
Eastern states have received more than two feet of snow fall in a huge blizzard that is sweeping across the region.
Heavy snow began falling on January 22 across more than 20 states, affecting some 85 million people.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said the storm could be one of the worst to ever hit the city. He is considering a travel ban.
At least nine people have died and emergencies declared in 10 states.
Tens of thousands of homes are without power and traffic jams lasting at least 12 hours have been reported in Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
Washington DC could lie under a record 30in of snow by the time the storm passes on January 23. At the White House, 13in of snow fell overnight.
The heaviest snowfall recorded so far (up to 09:00 eastern time) include:
28in – Terra Alta, West Virginia
24in – Philippi, West Virginia; Oakland, Maryland
23in – Ridgeley, Maryland; Champion and Marklesburg, Pennsylvania
The weather system affects a huge swathe of the country, from Alabama in the south to Massachusetts in the north-east.
Bill de Blasio said New York City was now expecting up to two feet of snow, which would make it one of the five largest storms ever to hit the city.
In a press conference, he urged citizens to get off the road.
His office tweeted: “This is bad and getting worse rapidly.”
In Kentucky, a 35-mile traffic jam has started to clear in the past few hours, after thousands of drivers found themselves stranded on I-75 overnight by heavy snow and a number of accidents.
The Red Cross erected shelters along the highway and Kentucky State Police tweeted that officers were taking water, fuel and snacks to the motorists, some of whom had been stuck for more than 12 hours.
Further north, on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a number of other vehicles have been stuck in snow for at least 12 hours after the road closed. One university basketball team that was stranded said they were running out of leftover pizza and getting hungry.
The US federal government closed down at noon on January 22 while President Barack Obama remained at the White House.
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that the worst of the snow would fall in the Washington area from the early hours of Saturday to the early afternoon, with winds of more than 50mph.
In a warning at 02:17, the NWS tweeted that an “intense snow band” was moving through the area.
“Expect rapid accumulations and near-whiteout conditions,” it warned.
The most intense parts of the snowstorm are heading north towards New York state on January 23.
Four people are dead and at least critically injured after a school shooting in the western Canadian province of Saskatchewan, police say.
They say a male suspect is now in custody and children have been moved to safety after the shootings at La Loche Community School and another location.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier that five people had been killed, but this was later corrected.
The school shooting was “every parent’s worst nightmare”, Justin Trudeau said.
“The community is reeling.”
Photo CBS
Justin Trudeau, who was speaking in Davos, Switzerland, also praised “the first responders who acted quickly and bravely”.
Witnesses at the school described screaming and more than half a dozen shots.
Kevin Janvier, acting mayor of La Loche, said that his 23-year-old daughter Marie, a teacher, was one of the victims at the school.
He also said police had told him that the gunman first shot two of his siblings at home and then made his way to the school.
At a news conference, Maureen Levy, a senior officer at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), said: “There’s no risk to public safety at this time. This is truly a tragedy.”
Maureen Levy provided no further details.
The RCMP said officers were called about “an active shooter” at 13:00 local time and detained the suspect 45 minutes later, Canada’s CBC broadcaster reports.
“Words cannot express my shock and sorrow at the horrific events today in La Loche,” Brad Wall, the premier of Saskatchewan, said in a statement.
“My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims, their families and friends and all the people of the community.”
About 900 students attend La Loche Community School for kindergarten through to grade 12 (the last year of high school).
La Loche is an aboriginal community of about 3,000 people located nearly 550 miles north of the provincial capital, Regina.
American student Otto Frederick Warmbier has been arrested in North Korea for committing a “hostile act” against the state.
Otto Frederick Warmbier is a University of Virginia student, says state news agency KCNA.
He had entered North Korea as a tourist with the intention “to destroy the country’s unity”, said KCNA, which added that the US government had “tolerated and manipulated” him.
The agency did not give further details, but said he was now under investigation.
An official at the US embassy in the South Korean capital, Seoul, told Reuters it was aware of the arrest.
North Korea sometimes uses the detention of foreigners as a means of exerting pressure on its adversaries.
China-based tour agency Young Pioneer Tours released a statement confirming that Otto Frederick Warmbier had been detained while on one of their tours in Pyongyang, and said his family had been informed.
It had earlier told Reuters that Otto Frederick Warmbier was arrested on January 2.
“We are in contact with the Swedish Embassy… who are working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address the case. We are also assisting the US Department of State closely with regards to the situation,” it said in the statement.
“In the meantime we would appreciate Otto’s and his family’s privacy being respected and we hope his release can be secured as soon as possible.”
Sweden represents US interests in North Korea as Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations.
Otto Frederick Warmbier, listed by the University of Virginia’s directory as an undergraduate commerce student, is the third Westerner known to be held in North Korea.
Hyeon Soo Lim, a Canadian pastor of South Korean origin, was sentenced to life imprisonment in December for an alleged plot to overthrow the government.
A Korean-American is also thought to be in North Korean detention on charges of spying.
The latest incident comes amid escalating tensions, after North Korea said it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. The claim has not yet been confirmed.
South Korea has resumed propaganda broadcasts over the border, while North Korea has been dropping propaganda leaflets on the South.
The US is leading calls for new UN economic penalties against North Korea in the wake of the nuclear test.
The state department strongly advises Americans against travelling to North Korea.
In 2014, North Korea released three Americans it was holding in detention – Matthew Todd Miller, Jeffrey Fowle and Kenneth Bae.
East coast is prepared for a huge blizzard which is expected to dump near-record levels of snow on Washington and the Mid-Atlantic region.
More than 50 million people have been warned of a “potentially paralyzing storm” late on Friday, January 22, that will bring 24ins of snow within hours.
There are warnings the blizzard could cause power outages and will bring road and air travel to a halt.
A rush for supplies led to long queues and empty shelves at supermarkets.
The weather system has already proved to be deadly, with two drivers killed in North Carolina, one in Tennessee and a pedestrian dead in Maryland.
States of emergency has been declared in Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Washington DC’s transport system – the second busiest in the US – will close all weekend.
Garth Brooks has postponed two sold-out concerts in Baltimore due to the upcoming blizzard.
Schools across the region are closed on January 22 and airlines have issued waivers for travel, meaning passengers can rebook.
High winds could compound problems, with 30mph winds forecast for Manhattan on January 23, and even stronger gusts in Washington and Baltimore.
National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini said the system had “the potential of being an extremely dangerous storm that could affect over 50 million people”.
He added: “We are talking about a potentially paralyzing storm that is already setting up.”
The record snowfall for Washington is 28ins that fell during a two-day period in January 1922.
Boston, which bore the brunt of repeated snowstorms last year, is expected to escape relatively lightly this time, with just a few inches.
Snowfall predictions: 24ins – NE Virginia, 20ins – Washington DC, 12-18ins – Philadelphia, 14ins – Kentucky, 10ins – New York City and Long Island.
Mexican regional politician Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez is being questioned by police about her alleged links to recently recaptured drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez, 26, is a representative in Sinaloa, northern Mexico, where El Chapo (Shorty) Guzman has his powerbase.
Police officials said they wanted to know about an alleged visit Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez made to El Chapo Guzman prior to his jailbreak.
Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez denies the allegations and accuses the government of turning the arrest of El Chapo Guzman into a “media show”.
El Chapo Guzman was re-arrested on January 8 after six months on the run.
The attorney general’s office said federal police officers had taken Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez to Mexico City.
In a statement, the office said she would be questioned over an alleged visit she made to El Chapo Guzman in jail under a false identity.
Officials said that in 2014 Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez had shown guards false papers to see El Chapo Guzman at the Altiplano maximum-security prison, where he was being held prior to his escape in July 2015.
Photo Facebook
Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez has not been charged with any crime and has not been stripped of her post as congresswoman, the statement adds.
On January 19, Attorney General Arely Gomez told Mexican newspaper El Universal that Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez and El Chapo Guzman had spent New Year’s Eve together.
At the time, the leader of the Sinaloa drugs cartel was on the run following his escape from Altiplano prison through a one-mile-long tunnel.
He was captured in Los Mochis, a town in Sinaloa state, on January 8.
According to local media, Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez is the youngest person to have been elected as a state representative.
Mexican daily El Universal reports that Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez ran an election campaign characterized by lavish rallies at which bands entertained voters and gifts were handed out.
Local media have also alleged that Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez, whose ex-husband was shot dead in 2014, has had at least one child with El Chapo Guzman.
She has denied having a relationship with the drug lord.
While there is little official information about El Chapo Guzman’s family, those who have followed his criminal career believe he has 18 children with seven different women.
A prison official, Eduardo Guerrero, said that Emma Coronel, a former beauty queen who had twin girls with El Chapo Guzman, was prevented from visiting the drug lord on January 16 because she could not provide the right papers.
Eduardo Guerrero said Emma Coronel could not present proof that she had been married to Joaquin Guzman since 2007, as she insisted.
According to Eduardo Guerrero, El Chapo Guzman “will have to give us a divorce certificate [from his previous marriage] and then he has to demonstrate the common-law marriage” in order to be allowed to see Emma Coronel.
Eduardo Guerrero added that security had been ramped up at the Altiplano jail to prevent El Chapo Guzman from escaping again, including training dogs to detect his scent.
The prison official also said that any food given to El Chapo Guzman was first tasted by a dog, to prevent the inmate from being poisoned.
Sarah Palin has announced her endorsement for Donald Trump’s presidential bid.
The populist ex-governor of Alaska was the Republican vice-presidential candidate in 2008.
“Are you ready to stump for Trump?” Sarah Palin asked cheering supporters at a campaign rally in Iowa.
Sarah Palin was John McCain’s running mate in 2008 before they lost to Barack Obama.
Despite retiring from politics in favor of a media career, Sarah Palin remains an influential conservative voice.
Officially announcing her endorsement, Sarah Palin said Donald Trump was someone ready to let US troops “kick ISIS’ ass”.
“We are ready for a change,” she told the rally in Ames, Iowa.
“He [DonaldTrump] is beholden to no one but ‘we, the people’. He is perfectly positioned to let you make America great again.”
Donald Trump, who leads the Republican race, said in a statement that he was “proud” to receive Sarah Palin’s backing.
She was a “trusted conservative” with a “proven record of being fiscally modest, staunchly pro-life and [she] believes in small government that allows businesses to grow and freedom to prosper”, the statement added.
Sarah Palin was just two years into her Alaskan governorship when she was picked by John McCain to be his running mate.
The self-described “hockey mom” soon garnered huge crowds and massive media attention.
After the election in 2009, Sarah Palin resigned as Alaska governor and has since forged a lucrative career as a writer and political commentator.
Ahead of the announcement, Sarah Palin tweeted a link to an article by her daughter Bristol attacking Donald Trump’s main rival for the key Iowa caucus, Ted Cruz.
Iowa is the first chance for voters to have their say in the nomination race.
Ted Cruz has himself praised Sarah Palin saying “without her support, I wouldn’t be in the Senate” – a reference to her backing that helped him to his surprise victory in a 2012 Senate run-off election.
“Regardless of what she does in 2016, I will always be a big fan,” Ted Cruz tweeted.
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s campaign team tweeted caustically after the announcement to Sarah Palin “congrats to the YouTube commenter who wrote your remarks”.
One of President Barack Obama’s key immigration reform plans could be challenged by the Supreme Court.
The plan would lift the threat of deportation from 5 million migrants living illegally in the US.
A coalition of 26 mostly conservative states, led by Texas, has been successful in lower court challenges.
A decision from the Supreme Court is expected in the early summer, just as the election gets into full swing.
“We are confident that the policies will be upheld as lawful,” said White House spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine.
President Barack Obama announced the plan, known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), in November 2014.
He justified using his presidential powers, without Congress, by saying it was in response to inaction over the issue of immigration from Congress.
If allowed to go forward, it would allow people who have lived in the US for more than five years and who have children who are living in the country legally to apply for work authorization.
In announcing the plan, Barack Obama said it would allow those who qualify to “come out of the shadows and get right with the law”.
Challenges to the plan began shortly after President Barack Obama’s announcement, with a federal court in Texas effectively putting a pause on it in February.
The Obama administration lost an appeal in November, keeping the injunction in place.
The White House has vowed to kickstart the program if the Supreme Court was to rule in its favor, so that migrants could began enrolling before a new president takes office in January 2017.
One of the largest questions looming over the case is whether the state challengers have the right to do so.
Texas argues it will have to spend millions of dollars to provide driver’s licenses to people who are part of the program.
The issue of immigration has become a controversial and polarizing issue in the 2016 presidential race.
Leading Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has said she would maintain and expand President Barack Obama’s reforms, while Republican front runner Donald Trump has said he would reverse the reforms and step up enforcement.
Tougher aviation laws against unruly air passengers have been enacted in South Korea, after the so-called nut rage scandal which saw top Korean Air executive Heather Cho jailed.
Under the new rules, passengers will pay a higher fine if they disturb the pilot. Transport officials say they revised laws because of public demand.
Heather Cho – also known as Cho Hyun-ah – was convicted in February 2015 after ordering a taxiing plane back to offload a steward who served the nuts in a way she deemed inappropriate.
The case attracted global attention.
In South Korea it reopened a national debate about elitism and the Korean business system, which is dominated by family firms known as chaebols.
Besides being the vice-president at Korean Air at that time, Heather Cho is the daughter of the airline’s chairman.
Photo AP
During the incident Heather Cho was angered that she was given macadamia nuts which she did not ask for, and was offended that they were served in a bag, not in a bowl.
After confronting flight staff, Heather Cho ordered the plane which was taxiing at New York’s JFK Airport to turn back and offload the chief steward.
Under the new law, passed by parliamentarians in 2015, anyone who disturbs the pilot during a flight could face up to five years in prison or a 50 million won ($41,200) fine.
Previously the same offence did not have a jail term and only had a 5 million won fine. Crew members are also now compelled to hand over unruly passengers to the police, or risk a 10 million won fine.
“The amended law reflects mounting public demand for enhanced aviation safety and the prevention of unruly behavior during flight following the Korean Air nut rage incident,” the transport ministry said in a press statement.
Heather Cho was convicted of violating airline safety. She served five months in jail before she was freed in May after an appeals court overturned the ruling saying she did not cause a change in flight path. Another conviction of using violence against flight attendants still stands.
The UK’s parliament is to debate on whether to ban Donald Trump from visiting the country.
The lawmakers will discuss a petition, which has attracted 574,000 signatures, urging a ban following Donald Trump’s call for all Muslims to be denied entry to the US.
They will also debate a counter-petition, signed by 43,000 people, claiming such a ban would be illogical.
Donald Trump’s spokeswoman said it was an “absurd waste” of lawmakers’ time.
The Republican presidential hopeful called for a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the US in response to the shooting of 14 people in San Bernardino, California in December.
Donald Trump’s comments were criticized across the political spectrum in the US and Europe. He caused further anger by claiming that areas of London and other parts of the UK have become so radicalized that they have become no-go areas for the police.
Photo Getty Images
The tycoon is leading several opinion polls in the race to be the Republican candidate for President ahead of the first primary contest in February.
All public petitions which attract more than 100,000 signatures are considered for debate by the House of Commons petitions committee.
The “Ban Trump” petition states that the UK “has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech” and argues that the rules must be “fairly applied to the rich as well as poor”.
The counter-petition argues that foreign nationals should not be banned “for their opinions on domestic actions” and that a ban would risk damaging US-UK relations given the possibility of a Trump victory in November’s election.
Today’s debate will take place in Westminster Hall, the Commons’ secondary debating chamber, rather than the main Commons chamber itself. There will be no vote at the end of it.
The UK home secretary has the power to ban people from entering the country on grounds of national security, if they are thought likely to incite racial hatred or if they are deemed not to be “conducive to the public good”.
Conservative home secretary Theresa May has banned more than 200 people since 2010, according to figures published last year, although she has declined to comment on whether Donald Trump could be added to the list.
PM David Cameron and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn have both said they would not want to see Donald Trump excluded, arguing he should be encouraged to visit to see first-hand the UK’s diversity, cohesion and tolerance.
However, former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond, who has been involved in a war of words with Donald Trump in recent months, has suggested a ban “would do him good”.
Donald Trump, who owns the Turnberry golf course among other assets in Scotland, has threatened to cancel $1.1 billion of planned investment if he is blocked from returning to the UK.
Ahead of the debate, Trump International Links Scotland issued a statement saying lawmakers should be spending their time debating the problems facing the Scottish and UK economies.
“For the UK to consider banning someone who made a statement in America, about American borders during a US election campaign is ridiculous,” said Sarah Malone, the company’s executive vice president.
“Westminster is creating a dangerous precedent on this issue and is sending a terrible message to the world.”
Democratic candidates have clashed on gun control and healthcare in their liveliest TV debate so far.
Hillary Clinton attacked Bernie Sanders’ record on gun control, and said his healthcare plan risked derailing recent legislation.
Bernie Sanders accused Hillary Clinton of being in the pocket of financial institutions responsible for the 2008 crisis.
While Hillary Clinton leads nationwide, Bernie Sanders is a threat in key states.
Hours before the debate in South Carolina, Bernie Sanders – a Vermont senator – had unveiled a healthcare plan for all American citizens.
This was the final Democratic debate before caucuses in Iowa on February 1 show who the state’s voters prefer as their candidate.
Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, who is trailing Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in polls, also took part in the lively debate in which personal attacks were few and far between.
Photo AP
Bernie Sanders announced his universal healthcare plan two hours before the debate started.
Hillary Clinton said any moves to scrap the current Affordable Healthcare Act risked plunging the Democrats into “contentious debate”. Instead, the party should work on improving the program, known as ObamaCare.
Bernie Sanders responded: “Nobody is tearing this up.”
He said he wanted to build on ObamaCare.
Gun control was the first subject in the two-hour debate, that was held near a church in Charleston where nine parishioners were shot dead in June 2015.
Hillary Clinton released an advertisement this week attacking Bernie Sanders for his attitude towards gun control. His home state, Vermont, has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the US, with close to one in two households owning a weapon.
In the debate, Hillary Clinton again highlighted legislation she said showed that Bernie Sanders supported the gun lobby.
However, Bernie Sanders told the debate he had a “D minus voting record” from the National Rifle Association, and fully supported moves by President Obama for tougher background checks on gun buyers.
Martin O’Malley pointed out restrictions he passed against combat assault weapons in Maryland, adding: “I have never met a self-respecting deer hunter who needed an AR-15 [semi-automatic rifle] to down a deer.”
Polls indicate Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are neck-and-neck ahead of the caucus in Iowa, where voters will decide who they want as their preferred candidate. She had once commanded a large lead.
In New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders holds a lead in polls ahead of voting in the primary there eight days later.
President Barack Obama has signed an emergency declaration for the city of Flint, Michigan, where the water has become contaminated with lead.
Flint’s water became contaminated after a change in supplier in 2014. Corrosive water leached lead from old pipes into the water supply.
The emergency declaration will unlock $5 million in federal funding.
Earlier in the week, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder had requested $31 million from the federal government.
Rick Snyder said the need in the city of almost 100,000 people “far exceeds the state’s capability” and sought a disaster declaration.
Photo Getty Images
However, reports in Michigan said Barack Obama denied that request that would have freed up more than the $5 million, as such declarations are only made for natural disasters.
In October, testing revealed increased lead levels in water supplies and in children’s blood. Lead exposure can cause learning disabilities and behavioral problems in children.
Before then, residents had complained of discolored water, bad smells and headaches and rashes from using the water from the city’s new supplier.
Flint switched its water source from the city of Detroit to the Flint River in 2014. It has since switched back to Detroit’s water.
Michigan’s attorney general has said he will investigate the water crisis to see whether any state laws were violated.
The lack of clean water in Flint “is a human tragedy in which families are struggling even with the most basic parts of daily life”, said Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.
Rick Snyder has already declared an emergency in Flint due to the water situation. Local officials deemed it a public health emergency in October.
He has been criticized for his handling of the water crisis, with protesters calling for him to resign.
As a result of Barack Obama’s announcement, officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will co-ordinate the response in Flint.
On January 16, Cher said she would donate bottled water to Flint residents, with some 180,000 bottles to be shipped.
“This is a tragedy of staggering proportion and shocking that it’s happening in the middle of our country,” the singer said.
Tsai Ing-wen has become Taiwan’s first female president after winning the island’s election on January 16.
The 59-year-old leads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that wants independence from China.
In her victory speech, Tsai Ing-wen vowed to preserve the status quo in relations with China, adding Beijing must respect Taiwan’s democracy and both sides must ensure there are no provocations.
China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province – which it has threatened to take back by force if necessary – and is bound to be watching the election closely.
January 16 polls come just months after a historic meeting between the leaders of the two sides, the first in more than 60 years when outgoing Kuomintang (KMT) President Ma Ying-jeou met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in November for talks that were seen as largely symbolic.
It is the flagging economy as well as Taiwan’s relationship with China that are the key issues for voters.
This is the second-ever victory for the DPP.
The first was by pro-independence advocate Chen Shui-bian – during his time as president between 2000 and 2008 tensions escalated with China.
Tsai Ing-wen has not made her stance clear. A former scholar, she has said she wants to “maintain [the] status quo” with China.
However, opponents say relations will deteriorate as she does not recognize the “one China” policy. She became chairwoman of the DPP in 2008, after it saw a string of corruption scandals.
Tsai Ing-wen lost a presidential bid in 2012 but has subsequently led the party to regional election victories. She has won increased support from the public partly because of widespread dissatisfaction over the KMT and Ma Ying-jeou’s handling of the economy and widening wealth gap.
Eric Chu, 54, is the mayor of New Taipei City and stepped up to become chairman of the party in October. The KMT is at risk of losing its majority in the legislature for the first time in history.
The former accounting professor is popular with young people in the party, but has not been able to change public opinion that is increasingly unhappy with the party’s friendly stance towards China and the island’s economic travails.
In 2014, hundreds of students occupied the parliament in the largest show of anti-Chinese sentiment on the island for years. Labeled the Sunflower Movement, protesters demanded more transparency in trade pacts negotiated with China.
Taiwan’s election has an unlikely third main protagonist – 16-year-old Chou Tzuyu of South Korean girl band Twice.
The Taiwanese singer has appeared in a video bowing and apologizing after being seen waving a Taiwan flag – in a row that has dominated local media coverage.
Chou Tzuyu said she felt “proud to be Chinese” and said there was “only one China” – but many on the island felt she had been coerced into saying sorry.
Presidential frontrunner Tsai Ing-wen insisted holding a Taiwan flag was “a legitimate expression of national identity”, however Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the row was being exploited to “stir up feelings”.
Venezuela has declared a 60-day economic emergency as the country deals with its worsening crisis.
President Nicolas Maduro will govern by decree for two months.
The edict includes tax increases and puts emergency measures in place to pay for welfare services and food imports.
The government’s move came as official figures released by the central bank showed that the Venezuelan economy had contracted by 4.5% in the first nine months of 2015.
The emergency was declared hours before President Nicolas Maduro delivers a State of the Nation address to Congress for the first time since his centre-right opponents took control of the legislature.
The decree also instilled more state controls on businesses, industrial productivity and on electronic currency transactions.
Venezuela has the world’s biggest known oil reserves but the huge fall in oil prices in the past 18 months has slashed its revenues by 60%.
Annual inflation up to September 2014 is said by the Venezuelan Central Bank to have reached 141%.
President Nicolas Maduro and new Economy Minister Luis Salas have argued for the need to protect social program established by his predecessor, former President Hugo Chavez, from the global drop in oil prices.
Oil exports account for as much as 95% of Venezuela’s revenue.
The government says the country’s soaring inflation and basic goods shortages have been induced by political opponents.
Correspondents say Venezuelans will be watching carefully to see if the opposition-dominated Congress will support President Nicolas Maduro.
If it does not, the Maduro administration could appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice.
Donald Trump has attacked Ted Cruz over his birth in Canada in the latest Republican debate for White House hopefuls.
The Republican front-runner said Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s birth in Canada raised questions about his presidential eligibility: “There’s a big question mark over your head.”
The constitution mandates the president be a “natural born citizen” of the US.
Issues of national security, the economy and foreign policy have also played heavily in the debate.
In the polls, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are leading the five other candidates who were also on the stage in North Charleston.
The debate came just two weeks before the first real test of the campaign, when voters in Iowa pick their Republican and Democratic choices for president.
The event hosted by Fox Business Network came after days of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump taking shots at each other, shattering a months-long period of goodwill between the two men.
The start of hostilities began a week ago when the billionaire businessman started raising questions about whether the Texas senator’s birth in Canada put his eligibility in doubt.
Photo Reuters
However, on the debate stage on January 14, Ted Cruz said there was “zero chance” of a lawsuit succeeding, because the constitution’s definition of “natural born citizens” included people born to an American parent.
Ted Cruz was born in Calgary to an American mother and a Cuban father.
Donald Trump stood firm, noting that a Harvard law scholar had raised doubts and Ted Cruz could face lawsuits by Democrats wishing to challenge his qualification.
They also argued over the meaning of “New York values”, which Ted Cruz threw at the New York billionaire as a slur on his conservative credentials.
Donald Trump said that was an insult to the “great people” who pulled together after the 9/11 attacks.
After the debate, Donald Trump told reporters: “I guess the bromance is over.”
All the candidates targeted leading Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who was repeatedly attacked for her time as Secretary of State.
The primary contests, in which each party picks their nominee for president, begin in February and the presidential election is in November.
Former comedian Jimmy Morales has been inaugurated as Guatemala’s new president.
Jimmy Morales was elected in October after huge anti-corruption demonstrations that led to the prosecution of a former president and vice-president.
He has no previous experience in government. In his inaugural address, Jimmy Morales promised to fight against corruption.
US Vice-President Joe Biden attended the ceremony.
It was the first time in 30 years that such a high-ranking American official was present at a Guatemalan inauguration.
Photo Getty Images
In a wide-ranging speech, Jimmy Morales praised the anti-corruption movement and said Guatemala was going through a “renaissance”.
He also promised money for health and education.
“We want quality education for everyone, which prepares our children for a modern technical world,” Jimmy Morales said.
His critics said President Jimmy Morales gave few clues as to how he was going to fight corruption and how he was going to deal with Guatemala’s high levels of violence, poverty and social inequality.
Last week legal proceedings began against an aide to Jimmy Morales who is suspected of human rights abuses related to Guatemala’s long and bloody armed conflict which ended in 1996.
Fourteen former military officers – many supporters of Jimmy Morales’s party – were arrested on similar charges.
Jimmy Morales has denied links to the former military officials.
President Barack Obama has given his last State of the Union address last night defending his legacy while striking an optimistic note for America’s future.
Barack Obama criticized the negative tone of the current presidential race, arguing the US has the “strongest, most durable economy in the world”.
“Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction,” he told lawmakers in Washington.
The speech to Congress highlighted Barack Obama’s accomplishments such as health reform.
He adds that with just a year to go and a Republican Congress, there is neither the time nor the votes to get much done.
Republicans attacked many of Barack Obama’s assertions, with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley saying in the party’s official response his record “had fallen short of his soaring words”.
“For my final address to this chamber, I don’t want to talk just about the next year. I want to focus on the next five years, 10 years, and beyond,” Barack Obama said.
“I want to focus on our future.”
The president rejected suggestions by politicians and commentators that America’s economy is getting weaker.
However, Barack Obama added: “What is true – and the reason that a lot of Americans feel anxious – is that the economy has been changing in profound ways.”
He focused on the need to tackle income inequality, use technology to combat climate change and maintain national security while not becoming mired in foreign conflicts.
The president called on voters and politicians to change the divisive tone of politics and to “change the system to reflect our better selves”.
Barack Obama said a major regret of his presidency was that Republicans and Democrats had become more hostile towards each other.
“Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get all the attention,” he said.
He took indirect aim to Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump who has been criticized for his comments about Muslims and immigrants.
“When politicians insult Muslims, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid bullied, that doesn’t make us safer,” BarackObama said.
“That’s not telling it like it is. It’s just wrong… And it betrays who we are as a country.”
For 2016, Barack Obama said he wanted to: close the Guantanamo Bay prison; achieve meaningful criminal justice reform; address rising tide of prescription drug abuse; authorize the use of military force against ISIS and lift the embargo on Cuba.
He also announced a new national cancer research initiative that Vice-President Joe Biden will be leading.
Barack Obama only mentioned guns briefly, despite a recent policy push for executive actions on gun control, though a chair was left empty in the chamber to symbolize victims of gun violence.
Samar Badawi, the wife of jailed prominent Saudi human rights campaigner Waleed Abu al-Khair, has been arrested, activists say.
She was detained for allegedly managing a Twitter account calling for the release of her husband.
Amnesty International called the arrest “the latest example of Saudi Arabia’s utter contempt” for human rights.
Waleed Abu al-Khair was jailed for 15 years for “undermining the regime” in 2014. He is the founder of the Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia group.
Samar Badawi is also the sister of imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who in 2014 was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam.
Raif Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, also reported the arrest in her tweet: “Urgent: #Samar_Badawi was arrested on the charge of directing @WaleedAbulkhair twitter account.”
Samar Badawi was arrested on January 12 in Jeddah and transferred along with her two-year-old daughter to a police station, Amnesty International USA quoted local activists as saying.
After questioning, Samar Badawi was sent to prison and is expected to appear before a prosecutor on January 13, it says.
Amnesty’s Philip Luther said the arrest “demonstrates the extreme lengths to which the authorities are prepared to go in their relentless campaign to harass and intimidate human rights defenders into silent submission”.
Saudi officials have not publicly commented on the issue.
President Barack Obama will give his final State of the Union address.
The president will focus on cementing his legacy rather than unveiling new policies, officials have said.
Barack Obama is expected to frame some of the key issues in a way that fellow Democrats can embrace during campaigning for the upcoming election.
However, recent polls suggest that seven in 10 people in the US do not share their leader’s optimism.
A response by the GOP will be delivered by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
Barack Obama’s aides have avoided characterizing the speech as a victory lap, but say it will highlight his accomplishments over the past seven years.
They say that it will present an optimistic alternative to the dire narratives put forward by Republican presidential candidates.
Among the events and developments that Barack Obama will tout as successes are: nuclear deal with Iran; rapprochement with Cuba; Paris climate change deal; positive economic indicators; budget deal with Republicans; recent gun control reforms.
Barack Obama will also continue his public messaging campaign aimed at improving the image of his strategy against ISIS.
Keeping with tradition, the president will speak about what he would like to see Congress work on and his vision for the US beyond his last year in office.
While Barack Obama is not expected to offer a large list of policy proposals, he could urge action on a number of items he feels have been left undone or could be accomplished with bipartisan support during his remaining year in office.
Among the items that could be on Barack Obama’s to-do list are: criminal justice reform; closing Guantanamo Bay prison camp; approving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.
Also keeping with tradition, First Lady Michelle Obama will host several guests that reflect the president’s vision for US society.
In 2016, an empty chair will be featured in remembrance of gun violence victims.
Among guests are: Syrian refugee Refaai Hamo, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, first female US Army Ranger Lisa Jaster, Supreme Court plaintiff Jim Obergefell, Muslim US Army Veteran Naveed Shah, Mexican immigrant and science proponent Oscar Vazquez.
The speech is expected to begin around 21:00 local time, and has – in the past – had a duration of about an hour.
Barack Obama’s remarks mark the fulfillment of a constitutional mandate that requires the president to “from time to time give the Congress information on the State of the Union”.
Historically, the update has usually been given annually, in January, as a speech to a joint session of Congress.
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