Seven people have been held on suspicion of involvement in a €75 million ($80 million) diamond heist in 2005 at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, police in the Netherlands say.
The seven Dutch nationals, five men and two women, were arrested in Amsterdam and Valencia in Spain.
The armed gang, disguised as airport workers, stole the diamonds as they were about to be put onto a plane.
Some of the stones were recovered from a getaway car but stones worth an estimated €40 million are still missing.
According to correspondents, the theft was one of the world’s biggest ever jewellery heists.
The diamonds and other jewellery were stolen in a high security area of the airport after the thieves forced their way into a KLM armored car.
The seven were detained in raids on January 20 and 21 on suspicion of robbery and money laundering.
The diamonds were about to be flown to Antwerp, Europe’s diamond capital, when the robbers struck.
Taking his first steps as president, Donald Trump signed an executive order which targets the ObamaCare, the signature health care reforms of ex-President Obama.
Donald Trump’s proclamation ordered agencies to ease the economic burden of the healthcare laws.
In his inaugural address President Trump pledged to put “America first” and to end the “American carnage” of abandoned factories and rampant crime.
Later, about 200,000 people are due to join a Women’s March in Washington.
The Women’s March organizers say they want to highlight racial and gender equality and other issues perceived to be under threat from Donald Trump’s administration.
Similar marches are already taking place in Australia and New Zealand and many others are planned around the world.
Donald Trump’s team quickly overhauled the White House website to include his pledge to roll back Barack Obama’s strategy on climate change.
Image source CNBC
Shortly after taking office as the 45th US president, Donald Trump sent his Cabinet nominations to the Senate.
President Trump also signed a waiver to allow retired General James Mattis to serve as defense secretary, even though he left the military less than the required seven years ago.
Gen. James Mattis, whose appointment has been approved by the Senate, was later sworn in by Vice-President Mike Pence.
Mike Pence also swore in John Kelly as head of Homeland Security.
The revamped White House website replaces Barack Obama’s policies with Donald Trump’s new agenda.
The new administration lists only six issues on the website – energy, foreign policy, jobs and growth, military, law enforcement and trade deals.
Critics point out that it makes no mention of civil rights, LGBT rights, healthcare or climate change.
One of Donald Trump’s key election pledges was to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said President Trump’s executive order was for federal departments to “minimize the economic burden”‘ of the act, but he gave no details.
Donald Trump also signed a proclamation declaring a national day of patriotism.
Asked about his first day, which was capped by a dance with First Lady Melania to My Way, Donald Trump said “it was busy but good – a beautiful day”.
Gambia’s outgoing President Yahya Jammeh says he will step down, after refusing to accept defeat in elections.
Yahya Jammeh made the announcement on national TV, saying it was “not necessary that a single drop of blood be shed”.
The statement followed hours of talks between Yahya Jammeh and West African mediators. He gave no details of what deal might have been struck.
Yahya Jammeh has led The Gambia for 22 years but was defeated in December’s election by Adama Barrow.
Adama Barrow has been in neighboring Senegal for days and was inaugurated as president in the Gambian embassy there on January 19.
Troops from several West African nations, including Senegal, have been deployed in The Gambia, threatening to drive Yahya Jammeh out of office if he did not agree to go.
Image source Wikimedia
Yahya Jammeh’s decision to quit came after talks with the presidents of Guinea and Mauritania.
He said: “I have decided today in good conscience to relinquish the mantle of leadership of this great nation with infinite gratitude to all Gambians.
“I promise before Allah and the entire nation that all the issues we currently face will be resolved peacefully.”
Shortly before the TV address, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz said that a deal had been struck and that Yahya Jammeh would leave the country. He gave no further details.
Yahya Jammeh was given an ultimatum to leave office or be forced out by UN-backed troops, which expired at 16.00 GMT on January 20.
The deadline was set by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional grouping backed by the UN.
Yahya Jammeh had at first accepted defeat in the election but then reversed his position and said he would not step down.
He declared a 90-day state of emergency, blaming irregularities in the electoral process.
The electoral commission accepted that some of its early results had contained errors but said they would not have affected Adama Barrow’s win.
Yahya Jammeh had vowed to stay in office until new elections were held.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has pleaded not guilty in the US to charges that he ran the world’s largest drug-trafficking operation.
The Mexican drug lord was extradited from Mexico on January 19.
US prosecutors want an order to seize $14 billion of the head of the Sinaloa cartel’s assets.
In 2015, El Chapo Guzman famously escaped from a high-security prison through a tunnel – while being recorded on CCTV. He had fought against extradition since his recapture in early 2016.
Federal authorities have sought El Chapo Guzman for more than 20 years. He faces 17 charges including drug trafficking, illegal firearms use, money laundering, and smuggling cash across the border.
Ahead of his first appearance in a New York court, prosecutors revealed that they would seek the civil forfeiture of El Chapo Guzman’s assets to the amount of $14 billion – an indication of the extent of his empire.
US attorney Robert Capers said: “He’s a man known for no other life than a life of crime, violence, death and destruction. And now he’ll have to answer to that. That’s who Chapo Guzman is.”
Image source Vimeo
If convicted, El Chapo Guzman faces a mandatory life sentence.
Robert Capers also revealed that prosecutors were not aware the extradition was happening in advance.
He said: “Guzman’s story is not one of a do-gooder or a Robin Hood or even one of a famous escape artist who miraculously escaped from Mexican prisons on multiple occasions.
“Guzman’s destructive and murderous rise as an international narcotics trafficker is akin to that of a small cancerous tumor that metastasized and grew into a full blown scourge.”
His ability to evade capture made El Chapo Guzman stand out from other drug gang leaders.
His first high profile escape was in 2001 when it was reported – despite some doubts – that he had escaped from a maximum security prison by hiding in a laundry basket.
El Chapo was recaptured thirteen years later. But in 2015, he walked out of his cell through a cleanly-dug tunnel, while under video surveillance.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto had initially resisted extraditing El Chapo Guzman to the US, insisting that he should face justice at home.
However, after El Chapo Guzman was recaptured in January 2016, President Pena Nieto changed his mind on extradition and ordered officials to speed up the process.
El Chapo Guzman was extradited suddenly on January 19, arriving in New York on a flight from Ciudad Juarez.
Design trends in the home change constantly. Â Interior decoration ideas come in and our of style regularly, and now some old time furniture is in style. Â What kind of furniture exactly? Â French Provincial Furniture. Â This kind of furniture is known for its old-looking design, its old handles, and its big and bulky display. Â It is also known for its carved edges that lay very distinct on the furniture pieces. Â If you want to add something like this into your home, however, how can you do it and make it look great? Â Here are a couple of ideas on how to do just that:
REPURPOSE IT AND GIVE IT A MODERN TWIST
As mentioned before, French Provincial Furniture is known for looking somewhat old.  However, that doesn’t mean it can’t work in a modern home.  Why not try repainting a piece of French Provincial Furniture?  You can take an old piece that you or your family may already own and give it a new paint colour that will match with your room very nicely.  It will add some class to your layout, as well as keeping everything looking nice and modern.  You can also replace the handles to make them look a little more modern as well.
You can also take a piece that once belonged in a living room, and repurpose it for another room, such as turning it into a bathroom vanity to give your bathroom a much more classic look to it. Â You can see the idea from a Pinterest user right here.
STYLE YOUR HOME TRADITIONALLY
Just because a style isn’t modern, doesn’t mean it can’t look nice.  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with styling your home more traditionally than you may see most people doing these days.  It will help the inside of your home stick out from most of your friends, and it will look upscale and more on the expensive side, even if you’re working on somewhat of a budget.  A lot of this furniture can be found at resale shops for decent prices, and you can find a piece that works for you and your living space relatively easily.
There are many other ideas on Pinterest that you can look at if you’ve fallen in love with this style of furniture.  Even though this style of furniture is from another time, it doesn’t mean it can’t look absolutely fantastic in your very own home.
Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 45th US president after taking over from President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the Capitol Hill.
The new president has delivered his inaugural address before leading a parade to the White House.
He has painted a bleak picture of a broken country speaking of abandoned factories, crime and a failed education system as problems of the past, pledging that his presidency would bring about change.
President Trump said on the steps of the Capitol: “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”
Thousands of Donald Trump supporters travelled across the country to witness the occasion from the National Mall.
The moment marks the end of an improbable journey for the billionaire after a campaign marked by controversy.
Shortly after the ceremony Donald Trump was seen signing his first official actions as the 45th president.
He sent his Cabinet nominations to the Senate as well as a signed a proclamation for a national day of patriotism, according to Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Donald Trump also signed into law a waiver allowing retired Marine General James Mattis, his pick for defense secretary, to serve in the post.
In his inaugural address, President Trump promised to be the voice of the “forgotten people”, ignored by Washington politicians.
Today, he said, was “the day the people became rulers of this nation again”.
Image source CNBC
“I will fight for you with every breath left in my body and I will never ever let you down,” said President Trump after Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath.
“America will start winning again, winning like never before.
“We will bring back our jobs, bring back our borders, bring back our wealth and we will bring back our dreams.”
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence waved goodbye as the Bidens and Obamas left the Capitol.
Barack and Michelle Obama held hands as they boarded a military helicopter that took them to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Barack Obama delivered remarks to staff and supporters before he and his wife flew to Palm Springs, California, for vacation.
He told a crowd they “proved the power of hope” and that “this isn’t a period, it’s a comma in the continuing story of building America”.
The historic moment drew congratulation messages from dignitaries around the world including Pope Francis, who said he was praying Donald Trump’s decisions would be guided by the “rich spiritual and ethical values” that have shaped America’s history.
Hillary Clinton, who lost to Donald Trump in a dramatic upset in November’s election, attended the ceremony with her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Former presidents and first ladies, including George W. Bush and his wife Laura as well as Jimmy Carter, were in attendance.
The only absences were 92-year-old George Bush Senior, who is in hospital being treated for respiratory problems, and his wife Barbara.
Members of Congress were also in attendance, although more than 50 House Democrats had refused to attend the ceremony in protest.
Donald Trump takes power at a time when the country appears to be deeply divided. He enters the presidency with historically low approval ratings.
He has vowed to roll back many of his predecessor’s policies, including repealing Barack Obama’s signature health care law and building a wall along the US-Mexico border.
Authorities arrested nearly 100 people protesting against the inauguration, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Many were apprehended for “vandalism and destruction of property”, said spokesman Lieutenant Sean Conboy.
Sean Conboy also said two police officers were hurt during clashes.
Earlier, about 150 protesters dressed in black marched through Washington, smashing windows and rolling rubbish bins into the street to form blockades.
The Women’s March on Washington on Saturday – for racial and gender equality, and other issues perceived to be under threat from Mr Trump’s administration – is expected to draw about 200,000 people.
Meanwhile in New York, thousands of people attended a rally where dozens of celebrities and politicians voiced their concerns about the president-elect.
Some spectators had waited for hours, although crowd numbers seemed to be lower than some other recent inaugurations.
Outgoing President Barack Obama released a farewell letter to the country on January 19, just one day before he hands over the White House to Donald Trump.
My fellow Americans,
It’s a long-standing tradition for the sitting president of the United States to leave a parting letter in the Oval Office for the American elected to take his or her place. It’s a letter meant to share what we know, what we’ve learned, and what small wisdom may help our successor bear the great responsibility that comes with the highest office in our land, and the leadership of the free world.
But before I leave my note for our 45th president, I wanted to say one final thank you for the honor of serving as your 44th. Because all that I’ve learned in my time in office, I’ve learned from you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man.
Throughout these eight years, you have been the source of goodness, resilience, and hope from which I’ve pulled strength. I’ve seen neighbors and communities take care of each other during the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. I have mourned with grieving families searching for answers — and found grace in a Charleston church.
I’ve taken heart from the hope of young graduates and our newest military officers. I’ve seen our scientists help a paralyzed man regain his sense of touch, and wounded warriors once given up for dead walk again. I’ve seen Americans whose lives have been saved because they finally have access to medical care, and families whose lives have been changed because their marriages are recognized as equal to our own. I’ve seen the youngest of children remind us through their actions and through their generosity of our obligations to care for refugees, or work for peace, and, above all, to look out for each other.
I’ve seen you, the American people, in all your decency, determination, good humor, and kindness. And in your daily acts of citizenship, I’ve seen our future unfolding.
All of us, regardless of party, should throw ourselves into that work — the joyous work of citizenship. Not just when there’s an election, not just when our own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime.
I’ll be right there with you every step of the way.
And when the arc of progress seems slow, remember: America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We the People.’ ‘We shall overcome.’
The ECOWAS has given Gambian incumbent President Yahya Jammeh a final opportunity to relinquish power after Senegalese troops entered his country.
Yahya Jammeh has been given until noon on January 20 to leave office or be forced out by UN-backed regional forces.
Troops have been told to halt their advance until the deadline passes.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is acting in support of Adama Barrow, who was sworn in as the new Gambian president on January 19.
Adama Barrow’s legitimacy as president, after winning last month’s election, has been recognized internationally.
Last-ditch mediation talks, led by Guinea’s President Alpha Conde, were due today. Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is on his way to Banjul, and Alpha Conde is reported to be with him.
Chairman of the ECOWAS commission, Marcel Alain de Souza, said that if the meeting with Alpha Conde proved unsuccessful, military action would follow.
“If by midday, he [Yahya Jammeh] doesn’t agree to leave The Gambia under the banner of President Conde, we really will intervene militarily,” Marcel Alain de Souza said.
ECOWAS said that its forces had encountered no resistance after entering The Gambia on January 19.
Troops from Senegal and other West African countries crossed into The Gambia after an initial deadline for Yahya Jammeh to stand down passed without his resignation.
Adama Barrow, who remains in Senegal, has said that he will not return to Gambia’s capital, Banjul, until the military operation has ended.
The threat by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS to remove Yahya Jammeh by force is supported by the 15-member UN Security Council, although the council has stressed that a political solution should be the priority.
In his inaugural speech at the Gambian embassy in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, President Adama Barrow ordered all members of The Gambia’s armed forces to remain in their barracks.
Any found illegally bearing arms would be considered “rebels”, he said.
Amid the crisis, the UN refugee agency reported that more than 45,000 people had fled The Gambia for Senegal so far in 2017.
More people could leave if the situation was not resolved, the UNHCR said.
After first accepting defeat in the election Yahya Jammeh reversed his position and said he would not step down. He declared a 90-day state of emergency, blaming irregularities in the electoral process.
The electoral commission accepted that some of its early results had contained errors but said they would not have affected Adama Barrow’s win.
Yahya Jammeh has said he will stay in office until new elections are held.
Remaining in power would also give Yahya Jammeh protection against prosecution for alleged abuses committed during his rule.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been extradited to the US, the Mexican government announced on January 19.
The notorious Mexican drug lord arrived in New York on a flight from Ciudad Juarez.
El Chapo Guzman, who could face life in a US prison, is wanted on charges of drug trafficking and smuggling vast amounts of drugs into the country.
The leader of the Sinaloa cartel was facing two extradition requests – one from California and another from Texas.
In 2016, El Chapo Guzman was moved to a prison in Ciudad Juarez, which lies just across the border from El Paso in Texas, but authorities at the time denied the transfer was a precursor to extradition.
He has been fighting to stay in Mexico but his appeals were rejected.
El Chapo Guzman was under close watch, having previously broken out of two Mexican high-security jails.
He is now expected to appear in a US federal court in Brooklyn on January 20.
A federal indictment in the Eastern District of New York, where El Chapo Guzman is expected to be prosecuted, accuses him of overseeing a trafficking cartel with thousands of members and billions of dollars in profits laundered back to Mexico, the Associated Press reports.
It says El Chapo Guzman and other members of the Sinaloa cartel employed hit men who carried out murders, kidnappings and acts of torture.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto had initially resisted extraditing El Chapo Guzman to the US, insisting that he should face justice at home.
However, after El Chapo Guzman was recaptured in January 2016, President Pena Nieto changed his mind on extradition and ordered officials to speed up the process.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to unify America as he addressed cheering supporters at Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration concert on the eve of his presidential inauguration.
Speaking on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, Donald Trump also pledged to bring change.
Among attendees at the two-hour event were his family, actor Jon Voight and Soul Man singer Sam Moore.
President-elect Donald Trump earlier laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration on January 19 was open to the public and featured performances by country stars Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood.
In brief remarks at the end of the concert, Donald Trump said: “We’re going to unify our country.
“We’re going to make America great for all of our people. Everybody, everybody, throughout all of our country. That includes the inner cities.”
Image source Getty Images
Donald Trump’s supporters have been streaming into Washington DC, and he reminded them that many had doubted the campaign’s chances of success.
“They forgot about a lot of us,” he said.
“On the campaign, I called it the forgotten man and the forgotten woman. Well, you’re not forgotten anymore.”
Pledging to bring back jobs, build up the military and strengthen the border, Donald Trump added: “We’re going to do things that haven’t been done for our country for many, many decades.
“It’s going to change, I promise you. It’s going to change.”
Donald Trump’s first stop on January 19 was at his Trump International hotel, located just blocks from the White House.
Donald Trump appeared with his wife Melania at a luncheon for members of his incoming administration.
Melania Trump briefly spoke, telling the crowd: “Tomorrow we’re starting the work.”
Donald Trump told the crowd in the presidential ballroom: “We have a lot of smart people. I tell you what, one thing we’ve learned, we have by far the highest IQ of any cabinet ever assembled.”
He hinted that Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets NFL team, would be US ambassador to the UK.
After the welcome concert, Donald Trump spent the night at Blair House, the presidential guest residence located just steps from the White House.
He is due to be sworn in at noon on Friday, January 20.
Despite Donald Trump’s appeal for unity, billionaire investor George Soros launched a stinging attack on him.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, George Soros labeled Donald Trump “an imposter, a conman and a would-be dictator”.
Donald Trump has nominated all 21 members of his cabinet as well as six other roles that require Senate confirmation, according to his team.
The Republican-controlled Senate is expected to vote on January 20 to confirm General James Mattis, the defense secretary nominee, and retired General John Kelly, the pick for Homeland Security.
Donald Trump has asked about 50 senior Obama administration officials to stay on until they are replaced, spokesman Sean Spicer told a news conference.
They include Brett McGurk, the special envoy to the US-led coalition fighting the so-called Islamic State, as well as Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work.
Down the road at the White House, President Barack Obama spent his last day in office with the daily briefing and lunch with Vice-President Joe Biden.
Barack Obama also spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in his final conversation with a foreign leader as president, according to the White House.
First Lady Michelle Obama and Angela Merkel’s husband, Joachim Sauer, also joined the call.
Kanye West will not perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration, which is a “traditionally American” event, chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee Tom Barrack has said.
There has been speculation since Kanye West told a concert crowd he would have voted for Donald Trump – if he had voted – and then turned up at Trump Tower.
However, Tom Barrack told CNN the ceremony is “not the venue” for the rapper.
Photo Getty Images
The chief organizer said Kanye West is “a great guy” but “we haven’t asked him”.
Tom Barrack said: “He considers himself a friend of the president-elect, but it’s not the venue.
“The venue we have for entertainment is filled out, it’s perfect, it’s going to be typically and traditionally American, and Kanye is a great guy but we just haven’t asked him to perform. We move on with our agenda.”
Up to 30 people are missing after a hotel in Abruzzo, central Italy, was hit by an avalanche, apparently triggered by an earthquake, rescuers say.
Rescue teams battled overnight to reach the Rigopiano hotel, with the first of them arriving on skis. Snow dislodged by the avalanche had blocked the roads in.
One person has been pulled dead from the snow. Two have been found alive but most others appear to be still buried.
One official said there were “many dead” in the hotel.
Central Italy was hit by a succession of four earthquakes on January 18 and further tremors were reported overnight.
The earthquakes have compounded problems resulting from recent storms, which have brought down power lines and cut off villages.
Rescue operations are under way in other parts of the region as well.
Image source CBS News
The roof on the four-star spa hotel, close to the Gran Sasso mountain in the Abruzzo region, partly collapsed on January 18. Rescuers said at least 20 tourists and seven staff were inside at the time.
Crews had been calling out to survivors but there was no response.
Local residents in Farindola alerted emergency services.
The first victim, a man, was pulled out at about 09:30AM local time on January 19, Corriere della Sera reported.
Antonio Crocetta, the head of a mountain rescue team, was quoted as saying: “There are many deaths.”
There were children among the guests, and media reports say children are among the dead.
According to Italian media, some guests at the hotel had been able to send text messages after they were trapped.
A snowstorm and blocked routes made access to the hotel difficult. Vehicles struggled to get through the snow, and some rescuers eventually resorted to skis.
Italian media said the first rescuers only reached the hotel on skis at 04:00AM on January 19.
Video footage showed them shoveling through a wall of snow.
Two people were found alive outside the damaged building, which was surrounded by fallen trees. They were taken to hospital, one suffering from hypothermia.
The civil protection agency said it was now trying to get rescue vehicles to the hotel. There are reports that there is an ambulance a few miles away, which cannot yet reach the building.
The January 18 quakes came after the regions of Abruzzo, Marche and Lazio were hit by days of heavy snow.
One person in the area died and another was reported missing.
The same region was hit by a strong earthquake in August last year, when 298 people died.
A landmark high-rise building in Iran’s capital, Tehran, caught fire and collapsed reportedly killing dozens of firefighters.
According to state media, two hundred firefighters had battled the blaze in the 17-storey Plasco building for several hours before it fell to the ground in a matter of seconds.
More than 200 people were also reportedly injured in the incident.
Completed in 1962, the Plasco building was once Tehran’s tallest and contained a shopping center and clothing workshops.
The fire reportedly began around 08:00AM local time on January 19, at a time when many of the shopkeepers were not inside.
Initial photos showed flames and smoke pouring out of the top floors.
Ten fire stations responded to the fire and state TV reported that dozens of firefighters were inside the building when the north wall collapsed, swiftly bringing down the whole structure.
Image source NBC News
Emergency Medical Services chief Pir-Hossein Kolivand told the official Irna news agency that many firefighters were feared dead but did not give an exact figure.
The state-run English Press TV channel cited an official as saying that between 50 to 100 people were believed to have been trapped under the rubble.
Earlier, fire department spokesman Jalal Maleki said the building had lacked fire extinguishers.
He was quoted as saying by the AFP: “We had repeatedly warned the building managers about the lack of safety of the building.
“Even in the stairwells, a lot of clothing is stored and this is against safety standards. The managers didn’t pay attention to the warnings.”
The Tasnim news agency reported that the Plasco building “had caught fire in the past”.
According to Irna, police have cordoned off Jomhoori avenue, which passes by the building, as well as the nearby British and Turkish embassie.
A South Korean court has refused a request by prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics Vice-chairman Lee Jae-yong.
On January 19, the judge ruled that there was insufficient reason to arrest Lee Jae-yong over accusations of bribery, embezzlement and perjury.
Lee Jae-yong, known professionally as Jay Y. Lee had been waiting for the ruling overnight since a hearing on January 18.
The allegations were part of a corruption scandal which led parliament to impeach President Park Geun-hye.
Samsung Electronics, which has consistently denied any wrongdoing, said in a statement that the “merits of this case can now be determined without the need for detention”.
President Park Geun-hye is accused of abusing her position by colluding with her close friend Choi Soon-sil to use their relationship to secure millions of dollars from major companies. The money was allegedly paid into Choi Soon-sil’s non-profit foundations in exchange for favorable government treatment.
Image source Wikimedia
Prosecutors allege that Samsung paid 43 billion won ($36.3 million) to secure government support for a controversial merger of two of its affiliates.
Samsung has acknowledged making the payments but insists it did not expect anything in return.
South Korea’s special prosecutors had declared Lee Jae-yong a criminal suspect and made a formal request for an arrest warrant earlier this week.
However, the judge ruled that after reviewing the evidence it was “difficult to acknowledge the necessity and substantiality of an arrest at the current stage”.
Opposition lawmakers said the decision was “regrettable” and ignored the strength of public sentiment.
Correspondents say prosecutors’ hopes of stretching criminal proceedings to include President Park Geun-hye may have been knocked off course by the refusal to issue a warrant against Lee Jae-yong.
Samsung is South Korea’s most high-profile company, and its sales are equal to about a fifth of the country’s GDP.
Park Geun-hye, who has faced massive public protest in recent months, has been stripped of her presidential powers while the constitutional court considers her impeachment.
Having a baby is one of the most miraculous and life-changing things you will ever do. But what happens if you struggle getting that baby on board? It can be a huge source of worry and frustration, but don’t give up. Even if you haven’t fallen pregnant right away you have plenty of options for boosting your success of adding a baby to your family.
Many couples can be worried when they don’t conceive straight away. However, it’s worth noting that 85% of women conceive naturally within one year and 95% within two, so the likelihood is you will probably be able to have a baby naturally. If it’s still early days, there are a few things you can do to help boost your chances of falling pregnant. Both you and your partner being within a healthy BMI, exercising regularly, not smoking or drinking too much alcohol and eating a healthy diet can all improve your general health and boost fertility. Consider adding foods such as bananas, asparagus, almonds and citrus fruit to your diet which have been shown to be useful in fertility. If you work rotating shifts, now is the time to change your hours at work. Research found that women working these patterns had an eighty percent higher rate of fertility problems than those who worked steady day shifts. So isn’t something to take lightly.
Have IVF
If you’ve been trying to conceive without luck, your next step could be to consider having IVF. This is where an egg and sperm are manually fertilized in a laboratory dish to create an embryo, which is then transferred to the uterus. There are a number of steps involved, and the process can be complicated, but for many couples, it gives them the opportunity to have a baby that’s genetically both theirs. You could search IVF doctors in your area to find out the exact process, your likelihood of success and the costs involved.
Consider Donor Egg or Sperm Programs
If one partner is infertile and their eggs or sperm are unusable, you could consider using either a donor egg or donor sperm. While the baby will only be genetically related to one partner, it’s an option for those who aren’t able to have a baby by other means.
Use a Surrogate
A surrogate carries the baby, and generally uses her own egg. If the female partner is infertile but you want a baby that’s genetically the male’s, then this is a good option. Surrogacy can be complicated so be sure to do your research before considering this. Use a reputable agency rather than finding someone yourself as there’s less risk this way.
Adopt
Finally, if none of the other options are suitable or you decide against them as a couple then you still have the opportunity to adopt. You get to show a child an incredible life and be parents even if the child isn’t genetically yours. Fostering children is another option, and again you open your heart and life to a child who may not have had the best start.
A tiny moth from California has become the first creature named after President-elect Donald Trump.
The Neopalpa donaldtrumpi has a very recognizable “hairstyle”.
The tiny moth was discovered in California by Canadian researcher Vazrick Nazari.
The name was inspired by the striking golden flakes covering its head, which Vazrick Nazari likened to the soon-to-be 45th president of the United States’ famous mop.
Image source NBC News
Nine species were named after President Barack Obama during his term in office.
What Donald Trump will make of the honor remains to be seen – especially as the tiny moth, with its wingspan of just more than a centimeter, is native to southern California and the Mexican region of Baja California.
However, Vazrick Nazari said he hoped it would inspire President Trump to prioritize ecological issues during his term in office.
Vazrick Nazari told Live Science: “I hope that the president will make conservation of such fragile ecosystems in the US his top priority. These ecosystems still contain many undiscovered and undescribed species, and deserve to be protected for future generations.”
For the first time, the CIA has released online about 13 million pages of declassified documents.
The documents were uploaded following lengthy efforts from freedom of information advocates and a lawsuit against the CIA.
The records include intelligence briefings, research papers, UFO sightings and psychic experiments.
The full archive is made up of almost 800,000 files.
The release includes the papers of Henry Kissinger, who served as secretary of state under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, as well as several hundred thousand pages of intelligence analysis and science research and development.
Among the more unusual records are documents from the so-called Stargate program, which dealt with psychic powers and extrasensory perception.
Those include records of testing on celebrity psychic Uri Geller in 1973, when he was already a well-established performer.
Memos detail how Uri Geller was able to partly replicate pictures drawn in another room with varying – but sometimes precise – accuracy, leading the researchers to write that he “demonstrated his paranormal perceptual ability in a convincing and unambiguous manner”.
Other unusual records include a collection of reports on flying saucers, and the recipes for invisible ink.
While much of the information has been technically publicly available since the mid-1990s, it has been very difficult to access.
The records were only available from four physical computers located in the back of a library at the National Archives in Maryland, between 09:00 and 16:30 each day.
A non-profit freedom of information group, MuckRock, sued the CIA to force it to upload the collection, in a process which took more than two years.
At the same time, journalist Mike Best crowd-funded more than $15,000 to visit the archives to print out and then publicly upload the records, one by one, to apply pressure to the CIA.
Mike Best wrote in a blog post: “By printing out and scanning the documents at CIA expense, I was able to begin making them freely available to the public and to give the agency a financial incentive to simply put the database online.”
In November, the CIA announced it would publish the material, and the entire declassified CREST archive is now available on the CIA Library website.
A series of earthquakes hit central Italy on January 18, as the region shivers in freezing temperatures.
The biggest 5.4-magnitude quake struck at 10:25 local time, with other two following. They hit the same area devastated by quakes in August 2016.
Shockwaves were felt in Rome, 60 miles to the south-west.
Almost 300 people died in the mountainous region around Amatrice in 2016. There are no reports so far of any injuries in the latest quakes.
Image source USGS
The latest quakes mainly affected three neighboring regions – Abruzzo, Lazio and Marche.
Two tremors of more than magnitude 5 hit within an hour of the first, and seismic organizations have recorded strong aftershocks since in the epicenter area some 10km south of Amatrice.
They follow some 36 hours of steady snowfall in areas around Amatrice and Norcia, which is said to be hampering emergency services’ attempts to reach affected areas. In some areas, avalanche warnings have been issued.
Schools that were not already closed in the worst-hit areas were evacuated. Rome’s underground system was shut as a safety precaution.
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s term has been extended by 90 days after the parliament declared a state of emergency in the crisis-hit West African country.
Yahya Jammeh’s term is due to end on January 19 following his defeat in elections by Adama Barrow.
Regional leaders have threatened to use military force to oust Yahya Jammeh if he refuses to hand power to President-elect Adama Barrow tomorrow.
Thousands of tourists are being evacuated from The Gambia.
The Gambia is popular with European holidaymakers because of its beaches.
The country was plunged into crisis after Yahya Jammeh rejected Adama Barrow’s shock victory in the December 1st election.
In a TV announcement on January 17, the outgoing president said: “Any acts of disobedience to the laws of The Gambia, incitement of violence and acts intended to disturb public order and peace were banned under the state of emergency.”
Yahya Jammeh said security forces were instructed to “maintain absolute peace, law and order”.
The US State Department urged Yahya Jammeh to transfer power to Adama Barrow on January 19.
Spokesman John Kirby said: “Doing so would allow him to leave office with his head held high and to protect The Gambian people from potential chaos.
“Failure to do so will put his legacy, and more importantly The Gambia, in peril.” Â
Regional bloc ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States), has prepared a Senegal-led force to oust Yahya Jammeh if he refuses to step down.
The African Union has warned that it will not recognize Yahya Jammeh as president after January 19.
Adama Barrow, a property developer, has been in Senegal since January 14. His aides said he would return to The Gambia for his inauguration.
Last month, Adama Barrow said he would be sworn in at a ceremony organized by his transition team, raising the possibility of two rival presidents.
Yahya Jammeh’s declaration of a state of emergency was seen as an attempt to block the ceremony, scheduled to take place at a stadium in Bakau town, west of the capital Banjul, from going ahead.
Adama Barrow could, technically, also be sworn in at The Gambian embassy in Senegal.
Thousands of Gambians, including women and children, have been fleeing to Senegal and further afield to Guinea-Bissau, fearing unrest.
Yahya Jammeh has ruled The Gambia since taking power in a bloodless coup in 1994.
The Gambia regularly held elections, which he won until his shock defeat in the latest poll.
Yahya Jammeh has said there were irregularities in the election process, including the turning away of some of his supporters from polling stations, and errors made by the electoral commission.
The commission accepted that some of the results it initially published contained errors, but said Adama Barrow had still won.
Yahya Jammeh has said he will stay in office until new elections are held.
Retaining power would also ensure Yahya Jammeh was not prosecuted in The Gambia for alleged abuses committed during his rule.
A new research has showed that babies build knowledge about the language they hear even in the first few months of life.
The research is published in the journal, Royal Society Open Science.
According to the study, if you move countries and forget your birth language, you retain this hidden ability.
Dutch-speaking adults adopted from South Korea exceeded expectations at Korean pronunciation when retrained after losing their birth language.
Scientists say parents should talk to babies as much as possible in early life.
Dr. Jiyoun Choi of Hanyang University in Seoul led the research.
Image source freegreatpicture.com
The study is the first to show that the early experience of adopted children in their birth language gives them an advantage decades later even if they think it is forgotten, she said.
In the study, adults aged about 30 who had been adopted as babies by Dutch-speaking families were asked to pronounce Korean consonants after a short training course.
Korean consonants are unlike those spoken in Dutch.
The participants were compared with a group of adults who had not been exposed to the Korean language as children and then rated by native Korean speakers.
Both groups performed to the same level before training, but after training the international adoptees exceeded expectations.
There was no difference between children who were adopted under six months of age – before they could speak – and those who were adopted after 17 months, when they had learned to talk.
This suggests that the language knowledge retained is abstract in nature, rather than dependent on the amount of experience.
Dr. Jiyoun Choi said there were practical messages for parents.
”Please remember that [the] language learning process occurs very early in life, and useful language knowledge is laid down in the very early months of life as our study suggests,” she said.
”Try to talk to your babies as much as possible because they are absorbing and digesting what you are saying.”
The process of acquiring language starts extremely early, even while the child is still in the womb.
Babies have learned their mother’s voice by the time they are born.
It has long been known that the foundations for speaking and listening to a native language are laid down very early in life.
However, it was not known until now that very early language acquisition is an abstract process.
Summer Zervos, a former Apprentice contestant who accuses Donald Trump of assault, has filed a defamation lawsuit against the president-elect.
She alleges Donald Trump forced himself on her in 2007.
The lawsuit, which Summer Zervos announced at a news conference, alleges Donald Trump is a “liar and misogynist” who “debased and denigrated” her.
The news came just three days before Donald Trump is sworn in as president.
Donald Trump faced a spate of misconduct allegations in the run up to the election, all of which he has denied.
At the time, he dismissed them as “false and ridiculous” and said they were “sick” and driven by fame, money or politics.
Photo Getty Images
“Since Mr. Trump has not issued a retraction, as I requested, he has therefore left me with no alternative but to sue him in order to vindicate my reputation,” Summer Zervos told journalists in LA on January 17.
The former Apprentice contestant was joined by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, a Democratic Party activist, who said the plaintiff’s allegations had passed a lie detector test.
Summer Zervos, 41, is one of several women who came forward to accuse the incoming 45th president of assault after the October release of a 2005 videotape in which he is heard making lewd comments about groping women.
The former reality show contestant said Donald Trump had assaulted her during a meeting to discuss job opportunities at a Beverly Hills hotel.
Donald Trump has not filed a lawsuit against any of the women, despite an earlier threat to sue the accusers.
Summer Zervos’ lawsuit alleges that Donald Trump defamed her by denying her account and accusing her and other women of fabricating assault claims.
She asked the president-elect to retract his words late last year, but he declined to do so.
Gloria Allred said Donald Trump “knowingly, intentionally and maliciously threw each of these women under the bus” and that repeatedly calling them “liars” in public caused distress.
Summer Zervos added that she would be willing to rescind the lawsuit if Donald Trump retracts the statements he made and acknowledges his behavior towards her.
Following her allegations, the Trump campaign released a statement from someone it identified as Summer Zervos’ first cousin.
John Barry wrote that he was “shocked and bewildered” by her allegations, insisting Summer Zervos had only previously said “glowing” things about Donald Trump.
In his final days in office, President Barack Obama has decided to commute Chelsea Manning’s sentence for leaking documents to WikiLeaks in 2010.
The transgender US Army private, born Bradley Manning, will be freed on May 17 instead of her scheduled 2045 release.
The 29-year-old was sentenced to 35 years in 2013 for her role in leaking diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.
The leak was one of the largest breaches of classified material in US history.
The Obama administration has been under pressure to release Chelsea Manning, who twice attempted suicide last year at the male military prison where she is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Chelsea Manning also went on a hunger strike last year, which ended after the military agreed to provide her with gender dysphoria treatment.
More Democratic lawmakers have said they plan to boycott Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 45th US president on January 20.
The boycott comes amidst a feud between Donald Trump and the civil rights activist and congressman, John Lewis.
Up to now, more than 50 House Democrats announced they are refusing to watch the president-elect’s inauguration.
John Lewis, a revered member of the 1960s struggle, sparked controversy on January 13 when he called Donald Trump’s victory illegitimate because of Russia’s alleged interference in the election.
Donald Trump hit back on Twitter, attacking the Georgia lawmaker as “all talk, talk, talk – no action or results”, which prompted a wave of outrage from people saying if anyone embodied action, it was John Lewis.
Dozens of members of Congress have announced they will skip the inauguration ceremony.
Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota tweeted following the row: “I will not celebrate a man who preaches a politics of division and hate.”
Maryland Representative Anthony G. Brown also tweeted: “Skipping Inauguration. @RepJohnLewis a civil rights hero. Enormous responsibility to be POTUS. I respect the office, can’t tolerate disrespect.”
Image source Flickr
The number grew to more than 40 over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, but that did not stop Donald Trump from continuing to rail against the 76-year-old civil rights icon on January 17.
Donald Trump tweeted that John Lewis had falsely claimed this would be the first inauguration he has missed since joining Congress in 1987.
“WRONG (or lie)!” the president-elect tweeted, saying John Lewis had skipped George W. Bush’s inauguration in 2001.
John Lewis’ office confirmed that he did miss President George W. Bush’s ceremony.
Spokeswoman Brenda Jones said: “His absence at that time was also a form of dissent.
“He did not believe the outcome of that election, including the controversies around the results in Florida and the unprecedented intervention of the US Supreme Court, reflected a free, fair and open democratic process.”
An estimated 800,000 to 900,000 people are expected to flood Washington on January 20 for the inauguration, but it is unclear whether they will be there in celebration or protest, officials said.
President Barack Obama drew an estimated 1.8 million people to Washington when he took office in 2009.
The “level of enthusiasm” and demand for hotel rooms has not reached that of previous inaugurations, according to Elliott Ferguson, president of Destination DC, the city’s convention and tourism bureau.
In fact, some hotels have reduced the minimum-night stay from four nights to two.
Other hotels are only 50% full, but higher-end hotels appeared to have more bookings, he added.
Donald Trump’s swearing-in comes at a time when the nation appears deeply divided after the contested election.
Though Donald Trump swept the Electoral College, his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost 2.9 million more votes.
Recent polls have also showed historically low marks for any presidential transition.
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll found just 40% of Americans view Donald Trump favorably compared with the 79% President Barack Obama received in 2009.
A CNN/ORC survey released on January 17 also showed Donald Trump with a 40% approval rating compared with the 84% Barack Obama had in 2009.
A Gallup poll conducted two weeks before Donald Trump’s inauguration found 51% of respondents disapproved of how he is handling the presidential transition compared with 44% who approved.
Vladimir Putin has described allegations Russia holds compromising material on President-elect Donald Trump as “utter nonsense”.
The Russian president questioned what reason Russian intelligence would have had to spy on Donald Trump before he entered politics.
Vladimir Putin said those making the allegations were “worse than prostitutes”.
Memos published last week alleged Donald Trump’s election team colluded with Russia which also had salacious videos of his private life.
The allegations claim Russia has damaging information about Donald Trump’s business interests, and that Trump had been filmed with prostitutes at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow during the Miss Universe pageant in 2013.
Donald Trump has dismissed the memos, said to have been prepared by a former British spy, as “fake news”.
Image NBC News
Speaking in Moscow, Vladimir Putin also said the published documents were “clearly fakes”, published by those trying to “undermine the legitimacy of the elected president”.
“When Trump came to Moscow, he was not a political figure, we were not even aware of his political ambitions,” he said.
“Does somebody think that our secret services are chasing every American billionaire? Of course not. It is utter nonsense.”
Vladimir Putin added that he did not see why Donald Trump would rush to meet prostitutes in Moscow, given he was organizing beauty pageants and meeting “the most beautiful women in the world”.
“I find it hard to imagine he ran to a hotel to meet our girls of <<low social responsibility>>… though they are of course also the best in the world. But I doubt Trump took that bait.”
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the UK ex-spy said to have prepared the memos is “some runaway crook from the MI6”.
US intelligence agencies considered the claims relevant enough to brief both Donald Trump and President Barack Obama.
Donald Trump accused US intelligence of leaking the content from a classified briefing – a claim denied by National Intelligence Director James Clapper.
Vladimir Putin also said reports that Russian hackers had interfered in the US election were “fake news”, though he told people to keep in mind that “the hackers didn’t make anything up – whoever they were – they just uncovered material”.
The hacking scandal dominated the US election campaign, with US spy agencies concluding Russia was behind the hacking and release of Democratic Party emails intended to damage the campaign of Hillary Clinton.
Russia has consistently denied it.
Signaling optimism that the US-Russia relationship will improve under the new administration, Sergei Lavrov said he was encouraged by some pragmatic comments from the Trump team so far.
Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow was ready to co-operate with the new administration on key issues including nuclear weapons and Syria. US representatives have been invited to Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan next week but are yet to respond, he added.
“I am convinced we will be able to restart a dialogue on strategic stability with Washington that was destroyed along with everything else by the Obama administration,” Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by Reuters.
US-Russia relations have worsened significantly in recent years over the war in Ukraine, the Syrian conflict and cyber-hacking.
