Don McLean has been arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault, it has been reported.
The American Pie singer is said to have been released from Knox County Jail in Tennessee after posting $10,000 bail.
Don McLean, who lives in Camden, Maine, had a 1971 hit with American Pie, about the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in a plane crash.
Photo Knox County Jail
It was reported that Don McLean, 70, was held after police were called to a property at 02:00 local time on January 18.
The Wiscasset Newspaper published what it said was a mug shot of Don McLean.
He is reportedly set to appear at the Knox County Unified Court, Rockland, on February 22.
Don McLean has amassed more than 40 gold and platinum records worldwide during his career. He is understood to have last performed at a local lobster festival in August.
Eagles founder and guitarist Glenn Frey has passed away at the age of 67, the band has announced.
Glenn Frey died in New York City on January 18 from complications arising from rheumatoid arthritis, colitis and pneumonia.
“Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us,” Glenn Frey’s family and fellow band members said.
The Eagles were one of the most successful bands of the 1970s, with multiple hit singles including Hotel California, in 1976.
Glenn Frey co-wrote Hotel California with Don Henley. He wrote a number of the Eagles’ biggest songs on his own, including Heartache Tonight and Lyin’ Eyes.
French President Francois Hollande has set out a €2 billion job creation plan in an attempt to lift France out of what he called a state of “economic emergency”.
Under a two-year scheme, companies with fewer than 250 staff will get subsidies if they take on a young or unemployed person for six months or more.
In addition, about 500,000 vocational training schemes will be created.
France’s unemployment rate is 10.6%, against a EU average of 9.8% and 4.2% in Germany.
Francois Hollande said money for the plan would come from savings in other areas of public spending.
“These €2 billion will be financed without any new taxes of any kind,” said Francois Hollande, who announced the details during an annual speech to business leaders.
“Our country has been faced with structural unemployment for two to three decades and this requires that creating jobs becomes our one and only fight.”
France was facing an “uncertain economic climate and persistent unemployment” and there was an “economic and social emergency”, he said.
Francois Hollande said recently that France’s social emergency, caused by unemployment, was as serious as the emergency caused by terrorism.
The president called on his audience to help “build the economic and social model for tomorrow”.
He also addressed the issue of labor market flexibility.
“Regarding the rules for hiring and laying off, we need to guarantee stability and predictability to both employers and employees. There is room for simplification,” Francois Hollande said.
“The goal is also more security for the company to hire, to adapt its workforce when economic circumstances require, but also more security for the employee in the face of change and mobility”.
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.”
David Bowie has topped the American album charts for the first time with Blackstar, released two days before his death on January 10.
Blackstar sold the equivalent of 181,000 albums knocking Adele’s 25 off the top spot.
David Bowie’s highest-charting US album previously had been The Next Day, which peaked at No 2 in 2013.
Nineteen of his albums entered the UK album charts last week, after fans sought out his classic hits.
Blackstar is the first posthumous number one album in the US since Michael Jackson’s This Is It soundtrack topped the chart in November 2009.
Nine other David Bowie albums also made the Billboard 200 this week with the Best of Bowie reaching No 4 and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars at number 21.
David Bowie’s first hit on the US singles chart was in 1972 with Changes. The record did not initially find major success, only reaching No 66 that year.
However, the song returned to the chart in 1974, following David Bowie’s subsequent breakthrough on the American music scene with Space Oddity – his first top 40 hit which peaked at number 15.
David Bowie’s biggest selling single in the US was Let’s Dance, which reached the top of chart in 1983. He also achieved seven top 10 albums.
The iconic singer died on January 10 following an 18-month battle with cancer.
Fans around the world have been paying homage to the 69-year-old at tribute concerts and memorial sites linked to musician.
In Belgium, astronomers have paid tribute to David Bowie by dedicating a constellation to the self-proclaimed Starman. The constellation is made up of seven stars that, when connected, form the iconic lightning bolt seen on the cover of David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane album.
Today at the age of social media technologies one can hardly believe that loneliness still exists and flourishes. Nevertheless, as the recent study shows Great Britain has the highest rate of people feeling lonely in comparison with other countries of the European Union. The result is rather sad, to put it mildly, and proves the fact that this problem has not gone away.
This feeling is comprehensive and appears by many reasons.
Death of a wife/husband, parents, siblings and close friends is hard to get thorough and leads to loneliness.
A divorce is another trigger often staying behind loneliness.
Constant failure to find a future spouse makes feel person unhappy and desolate.
Social networks are aimed to connect people more, but indeed, a person who is online all the time fakes one’s real life.
Aging is a biological natural reason that makes human beings less energetic, strong and beautiful. It is hard for people feeling loneliness to experience these physical and mental changes.
Scientists have found a genetic component responsible for loneliness.
The thing is that a body of socially isolated person is not happy with such a state of affairs. Its respond will be not long in coming. High blood pressure, dementia and depression are just few of possible consequences. This disease should be treated as soon as possible. Read on how to cope with loneliness.
Acceptance is half the battle. This may sound too simple. But it is what it is. Many people think that being lonely is like being defective. They try to hide this feeling deeply into their heart and numb the pain. Watching TV, social nets, video games, sleeping all the time, or, conversely, working all the time, or registering in and out a favorite dating site in UK are the signs saying that a person does not want to accept that he or she is lonely. So, the first step is to accept this emotional state.
Social contacts
There are a lot of people having the same feelings as you do. Find a support group of people who experienced the death, divorce and any other grief that made them lonely. By sharing your feelings you’ll relieve your pain and help others. Another way is joining a social group of people sharing the same interests, values and way of life. It maybe sport club, dance classes, art group, charity organization and so on. While reaching a common goal, you’ll definitely meet friends. Social contacts restored will stop isolation and loneliness.
Enjoying the time spent alone
It may seem that this recommendation contradicts the below one. Actually, this piece of advice is mainly about feeling comfortable alone with yourself and overcoming panic. Remember your childhood and what did you want to do? You have time to do what you like and like to do. Do not be afraid to discover yourself and the world around you.
Naturally, recovery process will take time and efforts. However, just a nice smile can be the first thing you can do to stop loneliness from eroding your life and disturbing your balance.
What are your thoughts on these issues? Comment below.
Japan stock market hit a one-year low in January 18 trade following big falls in the US and as oil prices dropped below $28 a barrel for the first time since 2003.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 closed down 1.1% at 16,955.57 – its lowest close in a year.
In Australia, investors also reacted to falling oil prices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0.7% at 4,858.70, with energy-related stocks and banking shares weighing on the index.
BHP Billiton shares fell 3%, Woodside lost 2.6%, and Santos shares fell 8.4%.
Photo Reuters
Australia’s big lenders also saw falls on January 18, with ANZ’s shares down 2% and Westpac’s down 1%.
In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi index closed flat at 1,878.45 after spending much of the day in negative territory.
In China, analysts said they expected markets to be hurt further this week by falling oil prices, together with continued worries about the country’s economic growth. China’s latest quarterly gross domestic product numbers are out on January 19.
Housing data released on January 18 showed house prices rose 1.6% in December from a year earlier. China’s housing market accounts for about 15% of the economy and the latest numbers mark the third consecutive month of year-on-year gains.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed down 1.5% at 19,237.45, while the Shanghai Composite finished the day 0.44% higher at 2,913.84.
Oil prices have fallen below $28 a barrel amid fears the lifting of international sanctions on Iran could worsen the existing oversupply problem.
Brent crude, used as an international benchmark, fell as low as $27.67 a barrel, its lowest since 2003, before recovering slightly to trade at $28.17.
The price of US crude fell below $29 a barrel to $28.86.
The lifting of the Iran sanctions mean half a million barrels more oil per day could be produced, say analysts.
The decision to lift the sanctions against Iran came on January 17 after the international nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, said Iran had complied with a deal designed to prevent it developing nuclear weapons.
Iran has the fourth largest proven oil reserves in the world, according to the US Energy Information Agency and any additional oil would add to the one million barrels a day of over-supply that has led to a more than 70% collapse in oil prices since the middle of 2014.
Analysts said Iran already had quite a lot of oil ready to sell.
The drop in the price of oil has been driven by oversupply, mainly due to US shale oil flooding the market.
At the same time, demand has fallen because of a slowdown in economic growth in China and Europe.
Historically, OPEC has cut production to support prices. But led by Saudi Arabia, by far the group’s most powerful member, the group has resolutely refused to trim supply this time.
Analysts expect supply to continue to outstrip demand over the next two years, which would keep prices low.
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.
According to Oxfam’s latest report, the world’s richest 1% now has as much wealth as the rest 99%.
The organization uses data from Credit Suisse from October 2015 for the report, which urges leaders meeting in Davos this week to take action on inequality.
Oxfam also calculated that the richest 62 people in the world had as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the global population.
It criticized the work of lobbyists and the amount of money kept in tax havens.
Oxfam predicted that the 1% would overtake the rest of the world this time last year.
It takes cash and assets worth $68,800 to get into the top 10%, and $760,000 to be in the 1%. That means that if you own an average house in London without a mortgage, you are probably in the 1%.
Photo Reuters
The figures carry various caveats, for example, information about the wealth of the super-rich is hard to come by, which Credit Suisse says means its estimates of the proportion of wealth held by the 10% and the 1% is “likely to err on the low side”.
As a global report, the figures also necessarily include some estimates of levels of wealth in countries from which accurate statistics are not available.
According to Oxfam, the 62 richest people having as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the population is a remarkable concentration of wealth, given that it would have taken 388 individuals to have the same wealth as the bottom 50% in 2010.
“Instead of an economy that works for the prosperity of all, for future generations, and for the planet, we have instead created an economy for the 1%,” Oxfam’s report says.
The trend over the period that Credit Suisse has been carrying out this research has been that the proportion of wealth held by the top 1% fell gradually from 2000 to 2009 and has risen every year since then.
In fact, it is only in the 2015 figures that the proportion held by the top 1% overtakes the share taken by them in the first report in 2000.
Oxfam calls on governments to take action to reverse this trend.
It wants workers paid a living wage and the gap with executive rewards to be narrowed.
It calls for an end to the gender pay gap, compensation for unpaid care and the promotion of equal land and inheritance rights for women.
Oxfam wants governments to take action on lobbying, reducing the price of medicines, taxing wealth rather than consumption and using progressive public spending to tackle inequality.
Fresh sanctions have been imposed on Iranian companies and individuals by the US over a recent ballistic missile test.
The new sanctions prevent 11 entities and individuals linked to the missile program from using the US banking system.
The move came after international nuclear sanctions on Iran were lifted as part of a deal hailed by President Barack Obama on January 17 as “smart”.
Four American-Iranians were also freed in a prisoner swap as part of the deal.
Among them was Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian – whom President Barack Obama described as “courageous”. A fifth American was freed separately.
Jason Rezaian and two of the others freed flew to a US base in Germany via Geneva for medical evaluation.
Another, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, did not fly out with the others, US officials said. A fifth man, Matthew Trevithick, was freed in a separate process.
Meanwhile the US said it had offered clemency to seven Iranians being held in the US for sanctions violations.
Negotiations in December over the prisoner exchange delayed the US Treasury’s imposition of the latest sanctions.
They were only announced once the plane containing the former prisoners had left Iran, reports said.
They were triggered by Iran conducting a precision-guided ballistic missile test capable of delivering a nuclear warhead last October, violating a UN ban.
“Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat to regional and global security, and it will continue to be subject to international sanctions,” said Adam J. Szubin, US acting under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
Moments later, President Barack Obama hailed the nuclear deal, which is being implemented following verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran had restricted its sensitive nuclear activities.
“This is a good day because once again we’re seeing what’s possible with international diplomacy,” he said.
“For decades our differences meant our governments almost never spoke – ultimately, that did not advance America’s interests,” Barack Obama said.
The deal meant “Iran will not get its hands on a nuclear bomb”, he said.
Barack Obama said differences with Iran remained, and the US would “remain steadfast in opposing Iran’s destabilizing behavior elsewhere” – such as its missile tests.
The president defended a separate settlement at an international legal tribunal which will see the US repay Iran $400 million in funds frozen since 1981 plus a further $1.3 billion in interest – saying there was no point “dragging this out”.
Earlier, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the nuclear deal opened a “new chapter” in the country’s relations with the world.
Iran nuclear deal has been welcomed by many governments, the UN and EU – but disparaged by some US Republicans and Israel, which says it allows Iran to continue to “spread terror”.
Citigroup’s Q4 2015 profits jumped compared with a year earlier, helped by a big fall in legal costs.
The bank said its net profit rose to $3.34 billion compared with $344 million in the last quarter of 2014 when it paid $3.5 billion in legal and other charges.
The bank’s legal and repositioning costs fell to $724 million for this quarter.
Citi – which is undergoing a restructuring – is the third largest US bank when ranked by assets.
The picture at Citi echoed that at JP Morgan Chase, which reported results on January 14. Profits there also jumped thanks to lower legal expenses and better cost control.
Citigroup has been restructuring to focus on more profitable businesses and markets, and has closed consumer operations in 11 overseas markets.
Operating expenses fell 23% to $11 billion, partly thanks to the fall in legal-related costs.
Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat said: “We have undoubtedly become a simpler, smaller, safer and stronger institution.
“We have sharpened our focus on target clients, shedding over 20 consumer and institutional businesses in the process.”
European auto sales rose 9.2% in 2015 reaching 14.2 million vehicles.
However, it still remained below levels prior to the economic crisis.
The 9.2% increase was driven in large part by incentive schemes, according to the Brussels-based trade body, the Association of European Carmakers.
Several auto makers achieved double digit growth, including Daimler (17.7%) and Fiat-Chrysler (13.6%).
Amid the emissions scandal, VW’s sales climbed only 6.2% and the group’s market share slid from 25.5% to 24.8%.
The annual figures were boosted by a strong December when sales jumped 15.9% to nearly 1.16 million, marking the 28th consecutive month of growth.
The figures include all EU members except Malta, and the three European Free Trade Association countries, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
Sales grew strongly in Spain (20.9%) and Italy (15.8%) in 2015, helped by government incentive schemes to encourage buyers. Sales also rose in the other major markets of France (6.8%), the UK (6.3%) and Germany (5.6%).
Car sales in the EU and the wider EFTA free trade area reached a peak of nearly 16 million in 2007. They subsequently fell to a low of just over 12.3 million in 2013 before rising again in 2014.
The association said the trend in 2015 was “positive, but in absolute terms, volumes remain low”.
Jakarta attacks death toll rises to eight after an Indonesian wounded in the January 14 incidents dies in hospital, police said.
Officials originally believed there were five attackers, but later said one man thought to be a militant was actually a civilian.
All of the attackers, including two previously convicted militants, were killed.
ISIS has claimed it carried out the attacks.
At least 20 people were injured, several of them in a serious condition.
One of the militants seen carrying a gun and rucksack during the attacks was named as Afif Sunakim. He was previously given a seven-year jail term for attending a militant camp.
The others have been identified as Dian Joni Kurniadi, M Ali, and Ahmad Muhazan bin Saron.
The attacks began with a series of bomb blasts at an intersection near a shopping mall and a Starbucks coffee shop. As people inside ran out, two gunmen waiting outside opened fire.
At least two militants also attacked the police box in the centre of the intersection in a suicide bomb attack.
The attackers planned to target government offices and foreigners in other Indonesian cities, a spokesman said.
So far, 12 arrests have been made and police have also shut down at least 11 websites and social media accounts.
The attackers are thought to have belonged to an ISIS faction made up mainly of Indonesians and Malaysians. The guns they used came from the Philippines, officials said.
Hundreds of people from Southeast Asian countries with significant Muslim populations have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight with the group.
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.
Celine Dion’s older brother, Daniel, has died of cancer, two days after husband Rene Angelil also died.
Daniel Dion, 59, died on January 16 near Montreal, a statement by Celine Dion’s spokeswoman said.
Celine Dion’s family paid tribute to the father-of-two, calling him “a gentle and reserved man of many talents”.
Photo Facebook
The singer’s husband and former manager, Rene Angelil, died on January 14 aged 73.
Rene Angelil’s death in Las Vegas came after two bouts with throat cancer.
Daniel Dion was the eighth of 14 children, and performed with his siblings in their parents’ piano bar in Quebec province.
He had been suffering cancer of the throat, tongue and brain, his sister Claudette told the Journal de Montreal newspaper.
“He was ready, and isn’t suffering anymore,” she said.
“He was at peace.”
The funeral of Rene Angelil, who helped to launch Celine Dion’s career, will be held on January 22 in the Notre Dame basilica in Montreal, where the couple married.
The economic sanctions on Iran have been lifted after the country’s compliance with obligations under its nuclear agreement with world powers was certified.
The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, announced the lifting of sanctions in accordance with the deal “as Iran has fulfilled its commitment”.
International nuclear watchdog IAEA said its inspectors had verified that Iran had taken the required steps.
A deal between Iran and world powers was agreed in July 2015.
The IAEA’s Director General Yukiya Amano said it was “an important day for the international community”.
Lifting the international sanctions on Iran will unfreeze billions of dollars of assets and allow Iranian oil to be sold internationally.
As part of the deal, Iran had to drastically reduce its number of centrifuges and dismantle a heavy-water reactor near the town of Arak, both of which could be used in creating nuclear weapons.
Iran has always maintained its program is peaceful, but opponents of the deal – such as some US Republicans – say it does not do enough to ensure the country cannot develop a nuclear bomb.
Secretary of State John Kerry has ordered that US nuclear-related economic sanctions against Iran be lifted.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani congratulated the nation following the IAEA announcement. The deal “had “borne fruit,” Hassan Rouhani tweeted, adding that he took “a bow before a patient nation like ours”.
On the same day it emerged that Iran had released Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-American prisoners in an apparent prisoner swap with the US.
Jason Rezaian, 39, was jailed on charges, including espionage, in November 2015.
America said it was offering clemency to seven Iranians being held in the US for sanctions violation.
Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-American prisoners have been released in Iran as it anticipates the lifting of international sanctions.
Jason Rezaian, 39, was convicted of espionage in Iran in 2015.
Iranian state TV named the other three as Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati and Nosratollah Khosravi.
Iran said they were being swapped for seven Iranians held in American prisons but there was no immediate US confirmation.
The Iranian state news agency listed the seven as Nader Modanlo, Bahram Mechanic, Khosrow Afghani, Arash Ghahreman, Tooraj Faridi, Nima Golestaneh and Ali Saboun.
In addition, Iranian state TV said 14 Iranians sought by the US would be removed from an Interpol wanted list.
News of the releases came after Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif predicted that international sanctions against his country would be lifted on January 16.
Javad Zarif is in Vienna for talks with Secretary of State John Kerry over Iran’s nuclear deal.
Photo EPA
The international nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, is expected to confirm that Iran has scaled back its atomic activities in line with the agreement.
Billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets are expected to be released and the sale of Iranian oil on the world market will again be permitted.
Lifting sanctions would unfreeze billions of dollars of assets and allow Iranian oil to be sold internationally.
Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post‘s Tehran correspondent, had been detained in Iran for more than a year before his sentencing last November. The WP has dismissed the charges as absurd.
Saeed Abedini, 35, is a Christian pastor who had been imprisoned since July 2012 for organizing churches in people’s houses.
Amir Hekmati, 32, is a former Marine who spent more than four years in prison on spying charges following his arrest in August 2011 during a visit to see his grandmother.
The detention of Khosrawi had not been previously released.
The Associated Press news agency had named the fourth prisoner known to be held in Iran as Siamak Namazi, a businessman and the son of a politician from the shah’s era.
The news agency added that a former FBI agent, Robert Levinson, had disappeared in Iran in 2007 while working for the CIA on an unapproved intelligence mission.
The Washington Post said in a report that there had been no official US confirmation of the release.
Twenty three people of 18 different nationalities are now known to have been killed after Islamist militants attacked Splendid Hotel in Burkina Faso.
Al-Qaeda militants attacked the luxury hotel in Ouagadougou as well as a cafe and another hotel nearby.
Four attackers – two of them reportedly women – died in the assaults.
The siege at the Splendid hotel was declared over after a joint operation by local and French security forces.
The Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) militant group has said it carried out the attack, which began on January 15.
Bukinabe President Roch Kabore, who arrived at the scene on January 16 amid tight security, announced the death toll and the liberation of at least 150 hostages.
The French Ambassador, Gilles Thibault, gave a higher death toll of 27 and denied any women were among the militants killed at the hotel.
In another development, an Austrian doctor and his wife were kidnapped on January 15 in northern Burkina Faso near the border with Mali, Burkinabe officials said. AQIM said it kidnapped the couple.
In November, an AQIM attack on a hotel in Bamako, the capital of neighboring Mali, left 19 people dead.
Militants attacked the Splendid and the nearby Cappuccino cafe on Friday evening, setting off several explosions. Both places are popular with UN staff and foreigners.
Survivors described how the militants went from person to person, touching their bodies to see if they moved.
Burkina Faso’s Interior Minister Simon Compaore said 10 bodies had been found on the cafe terrace alone. He added that at least 33 hostages had been injured.
As the end of the siege at the Splendid was being announced, reports came in that militants had taken up position at the Yibi hotel, a short distance away. One attacker was killed at the Yibi, officials said later.
Simon Compaore said two black Africans and an Arab were among the militants killed.
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”.
Dan Haggerty known for staring Grizzly Adams in the 1970’s film and TV series has died at the age of 74.
The actor’s manager Terry Bomar told ABC News that Dan Haggerty had been suffering from cancer.
Before starring as the nature-loving Grizzly Adams, Dan Haggerty worked as a stuntman and an animal handler in Hollywood.
Dan Haggerty also guest starred in numerous TV shows such as CHiPs, Charlie’s Angels and The Love Boat.
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams tells the story of a mountain man who is forced to live in the wilderness after being wrongly accused of murder.
While on the run, the woodman adopts an orphaned grizzly bear and names him Ben.
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams became the seventh high-grossing film of 1974 and the NBC network aired a TV series of the same name, which ran from 1977 to 1978.
The film and the TV series were loosely based on the life of James Capen Adams who trained bears in California in the mid-19th Century.
Mos Def has been ordered to leave South Africa within 14 days after being arrested for breaking immigration laws.
The American rapper, now known as Yasiin Bey, was held at Cape Town International Airport on January 14 after trying to leave South Africa with unrecognized papers.
South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs said the 42-year-old singer produced what he called a “world passport”.
It said Mos Def had overstayed his tourist visa, obtained in 2013.
Born Dante Smith in New York, Yasiin Bey is now banned from South Africa for five years, but has been allowed to appeal. He had been living in Cape Town since May 2013, South African media said.
“Further investigation into the matter revealed that Mr. Smith’s wife, mother and four children had overstayed and were sojourning in the country illegally,” a statement by the Department of Home Affairs said.
As well as being nominated for six Grammy Awards, Mos Def has appeared in a number of movies, including The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Be Kind Rewind and The Italian Job.
