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King Juan Carlos paternity suit to be examined by Spain’s Supreme Court

Lisa.Felice
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King Juan Carlos paternity suit to be examined by Spain’s Supreme Court

Spain’s Supreme Court will examine one of two paternity suits against former King Juan Carlos, it was reported this week.

On January 14, the court announced that it will hear the case of Belgian housewife Ingrid Jeanne Sartiau, born in 1966, who claims that King Juan Carlos is her father.

It is the first lawsuit to be brought against Juan Carlos, 77, who lost his total immunity from prosecution when he abdicated in favor of his son Felipe in 2014.

A spokesman for the royal palace declined to comment, saying only that it respected the judiciary’s independence.

The court dismissed a second paternity suit lodged by Spanish waiter Alberto Solá Jiménez, 58, who claims to be King Juan Carlos’s son. A court official told AP that Alberto Solá Jimenez’s claim lacked legal basis.

Photo AFP
Photo AFP

Alberto Solá Jimenez has claimed that his mother, the daughter of a well-known Barcelona banker, may have had an affair with King Juan Carlos before he married Queen Sofia.

Ingrid Jeanne Sartiau and Alberto Sola Jimenez joined forces in 2012 and underwent DNA tests that showed there was a 91% chance that they had a parent in common.

Their bid to make King Juan Carlos take a paternity test at the time failed due to his protection from prosecution as a serving monarch.

The reign of King Juan Carlos was marred in later years by a series of scandals, including an extravagant elephant-hunting trip to Botswana during the economic recession.

Juan Carlos’ youngest daughter, Princess Cristina, is due to stand trial on charges of tax fraud following a long-running corruption scandal.

Infanta Cristina and her husband Inaki Urdangarin, who is accused of embezzling public funds, both deny any wrongdoing.

King Felipe VI has been trying to clean up the image of the Royal institution and restore its waning popularity.

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Shin Dong-hyuk: North Korea camp survivor apologizes for inaccurate story

Diane A. Wade
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Shin Dong-hyuk: North Korea camp survivor apologizes for inaccurate story

North Korean prison camp escapee Shin Dong-hyuk, who is now a high-profile human rights campaigner, has apologized for inaccuracies in his story.

Shin Dong-hyuk, 32, was the subject of a best-selling book after he fled North Korea in 2005.

The book described how Shin Dong-hyuk was tortured, and his relatives killed.

On January 17, author Blaine Harden said that although the key elements of Shin Dong-hyuk’s accounts were correct, the time and date of some events were wrong.

“From a human rights perspective, he was still brutally tortured, but he moved things around,” Blaine Harden told the Washington Post.

Shin Dong-hyuk was born inside a North Korean labor camp. He said that he spent 23 years in captivity before his escape, and that during his time inside, he was starved, tortured and saw his mother and brother executed.

He managed to flee after climbing through an electric fence, and eventually settled in South Korea.

Blaine Harden wrote about Shin Dong-hyuk’s experiences in his book Escape from Camp 14, which became a best-seller and was translated into 27 languages.

Blaine Harden said he had learned that Shin Dong-hyuk “had told friends an account of his life that differed substantially from my book”, and spoke to him to clarify the changes.

Photo Getty Images
Photo Getty Images

One inaccuracy in Shin Dong-hyuk’s account was where his mother and brother were executed, the Washington Post said.

In the book, Shin Dong-hyuk had said that they were killed in Camp 14, a prison camp in North Korea. However, Shin Dong-hyuk now said that the execution took place while they were in another camp, known as Camp 18.

In his original account, Shin Dong-hyuk had also described being burned and tortured when he was 13, after he was suspected of plotting an escape. However, Shin Dong-hyuk now says that that torture occurred when he was 20, the Washington Post said.

On January 18, Shin Dong-hyuk wrote on his Facebook page that he was “very sorry”. He said that he had wanted to “conceal and hide” part of his painful past.

“We tell ourselves that it’s okay not to reveal every little detail, and that it might not matter if certain parts aren’t clarified,” he wrote.

Shin Dong-hyuk also said that he might end his work against North Korea’s prison camps, but urged supporters to continue campaigning against rights abuses.

North Korea has previously sought to discredit Shin Dong-hyuk, including by releasing a video of Shin’s father saying that his son had never been in a labor camp.

Human rights experts have argued that the inaccuracies in Shin Dong-hyuk’s account are minor, and do not alter the extent of the torture he suffered.

In 2013, Shin Dong-hyuk gave evidence to a UN Commission of Inquiry on North Korea’s human rights.

In addition to public testimonies from more than 80 North Korean defectors and witnesses, the commission also drew on confidential interviews with about 240 other witnesses who were afraid to speak publicly, fearing reprisals against their families.

The commission said detainees in prison camps were subject to “deliberate starvation, forced labor, executions, torture, rape and the denial of reproductive rights enforced through punishment, forced abortion and infanticide”.

In December, the UN Security Council discussed North Korea’s human rights record, after the UN General Assembly voted in favor of referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity.

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Shots fired near Joe Biden’s Greenville home

Diane A. Wade
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Shots fired near Joe Biden’s Greenville home

According to Secret Service officials, shots were fired near Vice-President Joe Biden’s house in the state of Delaware, but he was away at the time.

The shots were fired on January 17 from a public road in Greenville, outside a security perimeter, Robert Hoback said.

The road is several hundred feet from the house, and officials were searching to see if the shots had hit anything.

The incident, which happened at about 20:25 on Saturday, is under investigation.

The Secret Service said the vehicle from which the shots were fired “drove by the vice president’s residence at a high rate of speed”.Shots fired near Joe Biden's house in Delaware

“The shots were heard by Secret Service personnel posted at the residence, and a vehicle was observed by an agent leaving the scene at a high rate of speed,” it said.

Joe Biden’s office says the vice-president and his wife, Jill, were later briefed on the incident.

One man was arrested later nearby but it is not known if he was directly involved in the shooting.

The Bidens spend many weekends at the Delaware house, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The incident comes four months after an intruder armed with a knife managed to dodge guards and enter the White House.

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Faten Hamama dies at the age of 83

Sonia Pantiss
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Faten Hamama dies at the age of 83

Egyptian film icon Faten Hamama has died at the age of 83.

Faten Hamama was only a child when she made her screen debut. She went on to appear in almost 100 films.

The actress was the former wife of Egyptian actor Omar Sharif. They were married for nearly 20 years and appeared in many films together in the 1950s.

Faten Hamama died on January 17 after health problems, according to Egypt’s official news agency Mena.

Her son Tarek Sharif confirmed that the actress had passed away but did not give a cause of death.Faten Hamama and Omar Sharif

Born in 1931, Faten Hamama was known as the “Lady of the Arabic Screen” and was a star of the golden age of Egyptian cinema.

Faten Hamama’s career was at its peak in the 1950s when she met fellow actor Omar Sharif.

Born a Christian, Omar Sharif converted to Islam to marry Faten Hamama and described her as the only love of his life, reports the AFP news agency.

After their marriage they went on to star in many films together, including the 1961 film River of Love which was based on the Russian classic Anna Karenina.

Omar Sharif and Faten Hamama divorced in 1974.

Faten Hamama also starred in romantic films with the Arab singer Abdel Halim Hafez.

She appeared in films advocating women’s rights and condemning social injustices, reported AFP.

Faten Hamama is survived by her son Tarek Sharif, her daughter Nadia Zulficar, and third husband Mohammad Abdel Wahab Mahmoud.

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Pope Francis Manila Mass: 6 million people expected to attend outdoor ceremony

Diane A. Wade
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Pope Francis Manila Mass: 6 million people expected to attend outdoor ceremony

Millions of people are expected to attend an outdoor Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in the Philippine capital Manila.

An estimated three million people had already gathered at Rizal Park two hours before the Mass began.

Twenty years ago, more than five million people attended a Mass celebrated here by Pope John Paul II.

The Vatican said Pope Francis would dedicate the service in part to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the country in 2013.

The Mass will be Pope Francis’ final full day in the Philippines, where there are 80 million Catholics, concluding his six-day tour of Asia.

Pope Francis arrived in a “popemobile” based on the design of the local minibuses, known as jeepneys.

Crowds sang and cheered as the pontiff stopped at various points to greet worshippers.

Some people had camped outside the park overnight to be the first ones admitted when the gates opened early on Sunday morning.Pope Francis Manila Mass

Before the final mass, Pope Francis held morning meetings with religious leaders and young people at the University of Santo Tomas which is the biggest Catholic university in Asia.

Pope Francis opened his meeting with over 20,000 students by remembering the 27-year-old woman who had died during his visit to Tacloban on January 17.

Earlier, police had reported that she had been killed when scaffolding collapsed after Saturday’s Mass.

The Pope then listened to several children speak about their experiences of growing up on the streets.

One of the children, 12-year-old Glyzelle Palomar, wept as she told her story and asked why God had allowed it to happen.

A visibly moved Pope Francis replied: “Only when we are able to cry are we able to come close to responding to your question.”

He added that the world needed to learn how to cry with those in need.

“Those on the margins cry. Those who have fallen by the wayside cry. Those who are discarded cry. But those who are living a life that is more or less without need, we don’t know how to cry,” he said.

Pope Francis, who comes from Argentina, was applauded when he told students that sometimes men were too macho, and that women had much to tell today’s society, seeing the world through different eyes, and asking different questions.

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ISIS releases 200 members of Yazidi religious community in northern Iraq

Roy Siemens
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ISIS releases 200 members of Yazidi religious community in northern Iraq

At least 200 members of the Yazidi religious community, mainly elderly people, have been released by the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group in northern Iraq.

The freed Yazidis people crossed out of ISIS-controlled territory and were received by Kurdish officials near the city of Kirkuk.

It is not yet clear why militants released them.

ISIS attacked the Yazidi minority community in Iraq last year, killing and abducting thousands of people.

Almost all of those released on January 17 were elderly or unwell, said Reuters. An early estimate of their numbers was put at 350, but later reports said there were some 200 in the group.Yazidi members released in Iraq

The group, including several sick infants, was taken directly by Kurdish Peshmerga forces to a health centre for treatment.

Khodr Domli, a leading Yazidi rights activist, was at the centre.

“Some are wounded, some have disabilities and many are suffering from mental and psychological problems,” he told the AFP news agency.

“These men and women had been held in Mosul,” Khodr Domli added.

One elderly Yazidi among those released said some of them feared they would be executed when the militants ordered them onto buses.

Instead, they were taken to a crossing point between ISIS-controlled Hawija and the Kurdish city of Kirkuk.

One of them, an elderly Yazidi man in a wheelchair, told AFP that they had spent months in captivity.

“It was so hard, not only because of the lack of food but also because I spent so much time worrying,” he said.

The circumstances surrounding the group’s release are still unclear.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces drove back Islamic State militants in north-western Iraq last month, breaking a long siege of Sinjar mountain where thousands of Yazidis had been stranded for months.

However, many Yazidi villages remain under ISIS control. Yazidi women and girls have been forced to marry or been sold into slavery by ISIS.

The Yazidi community estimates that around 3,000 women and children are still being held captive.

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Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira: Brazil outraged by Indonesia execution

Diane A. Wade
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Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira: Brazil outraged by Indonesia execution

Brazil is “outraged” by the execution of Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira in Indonesia for drug trafficking.

Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, 53, was arrested in 2003 after police at Jakarta airport found 13.4 kg of cocaine hidden in his hang glider.

Brazil says Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira was the first Brazilian national to be executed abroad and has warned it will damage relations.

Five other convicts from Indonesia, Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam and the Netherlands, were executed on January 18.

Convicted of drugs charges, they faced a firing squad in Central Java province shortly after midnight local time.

Five were executed on the island of Nusa Kambangan and the other one, a Vietnamese woman, was executed in the small central Javanese town of Boyolali.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said in a statement that she was “outraged and dismayed”.

“Relations between the two countries have been affected,” she said.

“The Brazilian ambassador to Jakarta has been recalled for consultations,” the president added.Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira Indonesia execution

The Netherlands has also recalled its ambassador, after Foreign Minister Bert Koenders called the execution of Dutch citizen Ang Kiem Soe, 52, “an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity”.

Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. The country resumed executions in 2013 after an unofficial four-year moratorium.

Indonesia’s Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo said “hopefully, this will have a deterrent effect”.

President Joko Widodo has said that he will show no mercy towards drug criminals because they have ruined the lives of so many.

Dilma Rousseff had made a plea for clemency on January 16, but it was rejected by Joko Widodo.

She told her Indonesian counterpart that she respected the sovereignty and judicial system of his country but as a mother and head of state she was making the appeal for humanitarian reasons.

Brazil says Joko Widodo said he understood the Brazilian president’s concern but said he could not commute the sentence as the full legal process had been followed.

Human rights group Amnesty International urged the Indonesian government to halt executions immediately, and eventually abolish the death penalty.

Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira said in a video recorded by a friend that he regretted trying to smuggle cocaine into Indonesia.

“I am aware that I committed a serious offence, but I believe I deserve another chance. Everyone makes mistakes.”

A second Brazilian national, Rodrigo Muxfeldt Gularte, remains on death row in Indonesia, also convicted with drug trafficking offences.

Brazil abolished the death penalty in times of peace when it became a republic in 1889.

Robert Allenby kidnapped, robbed and beaten in Hawaii

Clyde K. Valle
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Robert Allenby kidnapped, robbed and beaten in Hawaii

PGA golfer Robert Allenby says he was kidnapped from a bar in Honolulu, Hawaii, robbed and beaten, before being dumped in a park.

Robert Allenby, 43, says he may have been drugged before he was taken from the bar on January 16.

The Australian was helped back to his hotel by a retired military man.

“I didn’t think I was going to survive this one,” he told the AAP news agency.

Robert Allenby had been planning to fly out of Hawaii after missing the cut at the PGA Tour’s Sony Open.Robert Allenby beaten Hawaii

Local television said the incident was being investigated as second-degree robbery.

“I was separated from my friend in the bar after we had paid the tab at 22:48 and he went to the bathroom and next thing you know I’m being dumped in a park miles away,” he said.

Robert Allenby said a homeless woman spotted him being dumped from a car, after being robbed of his phone and wallet.

The military veteran paid for a taxi for him back to the hotel, he said.

Pictures shown on the Golf Channel showed Robert Allenby with cuts on his nose and forehead and bruising around his eye.

His caddie Mick Middlemo told the channel Robert Allenby woke up groggy with no initial recollection of what happened to him.

Robert Allenby is ranked 271 in the world and has won four titles on the elite PGA [Professional Golfers’ Association] TOUR.

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American Congressional delegation arrives in Cuba

Diane A. Wade
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American Congressional delegation arrives in Cuba

A US Congressional delegation has arrived in Havana in the first such visit since the United States and Cuba agreed to restore ties severed in 1961.

The Democrat politicians plan to meet Cuban officials and civilian leaders to discuss practical measures required for the normalization of relations.

The thaw in relations was announced on December 17 by President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro.

Earlier this week, Cuba completed the release of 53 political prisoners.

The measure was agreed as part of the agreement.

“We have all been to Cuba before, and we strongly support the president’s new direction for our policy towards Cuba,” said Senator Patrick Leahy.

New travel and trade rules between the US and Cuba came into effect on January 16, also as part of the historic deal.American delegation in Cuba

Americans will be able to take home up alcohol and tobacco from Cuba up to the value of $100.

US credit and debit cards can be used there and there will be no more limits on how much money US citizens can spend in Cuba each day.

While ordinary tourism is still banned, the new regulations will allow US citizens to travel to Cuba for any of a dozen specific reasons without first obtaining a special license from the government.

Although the latest moves put a large dent in the US trade embargo against the island’s communist government, only Congress can lift it completely.

The first high-level talks between Cuba and the US will be held in Havana on January 21 and 22.

The US delegation will be led by Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson.

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Charlie Hebdo to print 7 million copies of survivor’s issue

Sonia Pantiss
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Charlie Hebdo to print 7 million copies of survivor’s issue

Charlie Hebdo has announced it is printing a total of 7 million copies of the once-obscure French satirical magazine.

The new total reflects extraordinary demand for what has become known as Charlie Hebdo survivor’s issue.

The latest edition was produced in the days immediately following a terrorist attack at the magazine’s office in Paris. The attackers were apparently motivated by the magazine’s criticisms of Islam and depictions of the Prophet Mohammed.

The cover of the new issue has a cartoon of the prophet holding up a sign that reads ” Je suis Charlie” (I Am Charlie).

Customers at newsstands continue to seek copies of the issue – not just in France, where there were long lines observed earlier this week, but also in Germany, where the magazine went on sale on January 17.

There were local reports that the copies quickly sold out in cities like Berlin and Hamburg.

“We could have ordered 500 copies — they would have sold out,” a vendor at the main train station in Stuttgart told DPA, Germany’s main news agency.

Photo Reuters
Photo Reuters

For some, buying a copy is a way to show solidarity with the magazine and support freedom of expression.

Charlie Hebdo‘s French distributor, MLP, has been trying to keep pace with demand.

Roughly one million copies each were distributed on January 14, 15 and 16. Technical problems limited the number of copies available in France over the weekend, so it’ll take several days to reach the 5 million mark.

On January 17, MLP boosted the planned total to 7 million.

Le Figaro newspaper called it “a record in the history of the French press”.

A small number of copies began to reach the US on January 16, and more are expected to go on sale in the coming days.

To put the 7 million figure in perspective, only a small number of US magazines print that many copies – AARP The Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, and Game Informer Magazine.

While support for the new issue has been widespread, opposition to the Mohammed drawing on the cover has been expressed by Islamic leaders and government officials in a number of countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Charlie Hebdo’s cover has been described as insulting to Muslims and needlessly provocative.

Protests against the new cover were reported in Pakistan, Jordan, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Somalia, Senegal, and Mauritania.

Meanwhile, Charlie Hebdo’s surviving editors of the magazine have said little about their plans for future issues, but they have vowed to keep publishing.

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Charlie Hebdo sells 1.9 million copies of survivor’s issue

Sonia Pantiss
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Charlie Hebdo sells 1.9 million copies of survivor’s issue

Charlie Hebdo has sold 1.9 million copies of its survivor’s edition, which has provoked protests by Muslims around the globe over a new cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.

The French satirical magazine’s distribution has been hit by printing problems, with only 230,000 copies ready against the one million that had been expected to ship this weekend, its distributor MLP said.

The technical problem had been resolved and “distribution will resume normally on Monday”, MLP said.

The latest issue was the first since two Islamist gunmen stormed Charlie Hebdo‘s Paris office on January 7 and massacred 12 people, saying they were taking revenge for previous publications of Muhammad cartoons – considered deeply offensive to many Muslims.

Charlie Hebdo defiantly published what it called the “survivors’ issue” on January 14, featuring Prophet Mohammed in a white turban and holding a sign that reads “Je suis Charlie” under the words: “All is forgiven”.Charlie Hebdo survivor's issue

News agents on January 16 received another million copies of the issue, which “is still selling well” but not in the frenzy seen the previous two days after the issue came out, according to the French printing union UNDP.

On January 14 and 15, the 27,000 news outlets in France sold out within hours, with newspaper vendors selling a total of 1.2 million copies.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of copies have been bought by companies, institutions and communities.

Parisian theatres bought 25,000 copies to distribute to patrons and Air France took tens of thousands for its passengers, said MLP.

A further 150,000 are being shipped abroad. Germany is the largest buyer, with MLP to deliver 55,000 copies by January 19.

A total of five million copies of the issue will be printed, with deliveries continuing next week.

Prior to the attacks, the magazine sold around 60,000 copies a week.

Charlie Hebdo has also launched an app that let readers download the magazine.

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Mardom e-Emruz: Iranian newspaper shut over George Clooney’s Je suis Charlie picture

Diane A. Wade
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Mardom e-Emruz: Iranian newspaper shut over George Clooney’s Je suis Charlie picture

An Iranian court has ordered the closure of Mardom e-Emruz (Today’s People) newspaper after publishing a picture of George Clooney wearing a badge backing French magazine Charlie Hebdo, which was attacked last week.

The Mardom e-Emruz newspaper ran a picture of the actor headlined “I’m Charlie too”.

Conservative elements in Teheran were incensed by a catchphrase they regard as “anti-Islamic”.

Charlie Hebdo has published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which many Muslims see as an offensive act.Mardom e-Emruz George Clooney Je suis Charlie

The cover of Charlie Hebdo‘s latest edition, published after the attack in which 12 people were killed, featured a cartoon of the Prophet weeping while holding a sign saying “I am Charlie”.

Seven million copies of the edition are being printed in view of extraordinary demand, distributors announced on January 17.

“The court in charge of cultural affairs and the media imposed the ban on the newspaper for publishing a headline and a picture which it deemed insulting,” Mardom-e Emrouz director Ahmad Sattari told the Irna news agency.

The newspaper was only in its first month of publication, but that its political position was seen as close to that of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.

The court’s ruling is pending a final decision due later, but is unlikely to be overturned.

Said Kouachi Buried in Secret Grave in Reims

Roy Siemens
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Said Kouachi, one of the two brothers who launched a deadly attack against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last week, has been buried in an unmarked grave.

Said Kouachi, 34, was buried secretly late on Friday in the eastern city of Reims, where he had lived before the attack.

The mayor of Reims said he had opposed the burial, fearing a grave could become a shrine, but had been forced to accept it by law.

Attacks in Paris killed 17 people last week, 12 of them at Charlie Hebdo.

On January 9, two days after attacking the magazine, Said Kouachi and his younger brother Cherif were killed by police at an industrial estate north of Paris.

Cherif Kouachi, 32, is expected to be buried in his hometown of Gennevilliers, outside Paris.

There has been no announcement on plans for burying Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four people at Jewish supermarket HyperCacher in Paris on January 9 and is suspected of killing a policewoman in the French capital a day earlier.

Earlier in the week, Reims mayor Arnaud Robinet said he would “categorically refuse” a family request for Said Kouachi to be buried in the city.

Arnaud Robinet said he did not want “a tomb that could become a shrine for people to gather around or a pilgrimage site for fanatics”.

However, on January 17 he said he had been forced by the government to accept the burial.

“He was buried last night, in the most discreet, anonymous way possible,” Arnaud Robinet told French TV.

The city said in a statement: “Given the risk of disturbance of the peace and in order to quickly turn the page of this tragic episode, it was decided to do the burial quickly.”

A lawyer for Said Kouachi’s widow said she had not attended the burial for fear that journalists would follow her and the location of the grave would be discovered.

Niger Charlie Hebdo protests: At least two churches set on fire in Niamey

Diane A. Wade
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Niger Charlie Hebdo protests: At least two churches set on fire in Niamey

Fresh protests against French magazine Charlie Hebdo‘s cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad have sparked in Niger.

At least two churches have been set on fire in the capital, Niamey.

Saturday’s protests began outside Niamey’s grand mosque with police using tear gas a day after at least four were killed in the second city of Zinder.

The French embassy has warned its citizens to stay indoors.

Last week, Islamist gunmen killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo‘s Paris offices.

Eight of them were journalists. Subsequent attacks in Paris killed another five people, four at Jewish supermarket HyperCacher.Niger Charlie Hebdo protests

The cover of Charlie Hebdo‘s latest edition, published after the attack, featured a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad weeping while holding a sign saying “I am Charlie”.

Many Muslims see any depiction of Islam’s prophet as offensive.

Protests against Charlie Hebdo were also seen on January 16 in Pakistan, where protests turned violent in Karachi, the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and the Algerian capital, Algiers.

People in Somalia took to the streets on January 17.

In Niger, a former French colony, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Niamey’s grand mosque, shouting “God is Great” in Arabic.

At least two churches were set on fire – similar to Friday’s demonstration in Zinder where protesters also raided shops that were run by Christians.

The French cultural centre in Zinder also came under attack.

The centre’s director, Kaoumi Bawa, said an angry crowd of around 50 people had smashed the building’s door and set fire to the cafeteria, library and offices.

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Eurostar train services suspended and Channel Tunnel closed after truck fire

Nancy Clayson
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Eurostar train services suspended and Channel Tunnel closed after truck fire

Eurostar train services have been suspended after the Channel Tunnel was closed “until further notice” following a fire on a truck.

Eurostar says all its services for January 17 have been cancelled and trains have returned to their stations.

It has told people expecting to travel to postpone their journeys and not go to the station.

Kent Police said the fire happened at the French end of the tunnel and that no-one was hurt in the incident.

The spokesman said the fire had led to the closure of both tunnels, and that there are currently no trains in either.

The truck is being recovered and the fire was being dealt with by the French authorities, he added.Channel Tunnel closed after fire

“Rail passengers are advised to expect significant delays whilst the vehicle is being recovered and fumes are cleared from the tunnels,” the spokesman said.

Eurostar, which operates train services through the tunnel between Paris, London and Brussels, said in a statement: “We are sorry but we are unable to run any further trains today because Eurotunnel has been closed due to smoke detected in the north tunnel.

“If you were planning to travel today, we advise you to postpone your journey and not to come to the station.”

Eurostar’s customer care number is 03432 186 186 in the UK, or +44 1233 617 575 for people outside the UK.

John O’Keefe, a spokesman for Eurotunnel which transports freight through the Channel Tunnel, said inspectors were sent into the tunnel after two smoke alarms had been triggered.

“The investigation into the two alarms is going on at the moment so as soon we know more we’ll let [everyone] know.”

Eurotunnel also said that passengers on a Calais to Dover train were evacuated from the Channel Tunnel “without incident”, following the smoke alert.

Oscar nominations 2015: Cheryl Boone Isaacs seeks diversity of voice and opinion

Sonia Pantiss
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Oscar nominations 2015: Cheryl Boone Isaacs seeks diversity of voice and opinion

President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts Cheryl Boone Isaacs says she would like to see more diversity in Oscar nominations, after a row about this year’s nominees.

All 20 contenders in the main acting categories are white and there are no female nominees in the directing or writing categories.

The Academy, which picks the contenders, has faced strong criticism.

However, Cheryl Boone Isaacs said she was proud of the nominees and that the body was “making strides” towards diversity.

Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who is the first African-American president of the Academy, told AP the organization is “committed to seeking out diversity of voice and opinion”.

“In the last two years, we’ve made greater strides than we ever have in the past toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization through admitting new members and more inclusive classes of members,” she said.Oscar nominations 2015 row

She added she would “love to see” greater diversity among the nominees.

After the nominees were announced, people mocked the make-up of the awards using the “OscarsSoWhite” hashtag.

There has been much focus on Martin Luther King biopic Selma, with director Ava DuVernay and star David Oyelowo both missing out.

At the Critics’ Choice award, another Selma actor, Wendell Pierce, said there would be “amazement” David Oyelowo was not nominated once people saw the film.

Cheryl Boone Isaacs said acclaim for Selma was reflected in its Best Picture nomination, which is chosen by all the academy members.

She said that while the Academy continued to make efforts to become more diverse, the wider industry needed to do the same.

“We hope the film industry will also make strides toward becoming more diverse and inclusive.”

Individual branches of the Academy choose the nominees, with actors choosing the acting categories, for example.

The more than 7,000 members then vote for a winner.

Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead the race for this year’s Oscars with nine nominations each.

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak: Yemen president’s chief of staff kidnapped in Sanaa

Roy Siemens
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Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak: Yemen president’s chief of staff kidnapped in Sanaa

Yemen president’s chief of staff Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak has been abducted by gunmen, officials have said.

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak and two of his guards were kidnapped early on Saturday in the centre of the capital Sanaa.

Yemeni officials suspect Shia Houthi rebels, who control much of the capital, of being behind the abduction.Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak kidnapped

Yemen has been plagued by instability since mass protests forced former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to step down in 2011.

Scores of people have been killed in clashes between the Houthis and Sunni militants.

One source told Reuters Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak was kidnapped by the Houthis to stop him presenting a draft of the new constitution to a presidential meeting.

The rebels blocked Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak’s appointment as prime minister last year.

Europe on high alert after Belgian anti-terror raids

Roy Siemens
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Europe on high alert after Belgian anti-terror raids

Europe is on high alert over terrorist threat following anti-terror raids and arrests of suspected Islamist militants.

More than 20 people have been arrested in Belgium, France and Germany.

Belgium has joined France in deploying troops alongside police.

Security has been tightened in several countries after last week’s attacks in Paris left 17 people dead.

There are increased concerns about the return of young Europeans who have gone to fight with Middle East militants.

In Belgium, five people were charged on January 16 with “participating in the activities of a terrorist group” following a series of raids that began on Thursday evening and left two suspects dead.

Guns, munitions and explosives, as well as police uniforms and a large amount of money, were all seized by police overnight.

Eric Van Der Sypt, an official at the prosecutors’ office, told AFP that: “The investigation… has shown that these people had the intention to kill several policemen in the street and at police commissariats [police stations].”

Photo AFP/Getty Images
Photo AFP/Getty Images

Thirteen people were arrested in total but only five would be prosecuted, he said. Belgium would also seek the extradition of two suspects held in France.

On January 16, the Belgian government also announced new measures to deal with terrorist suspects.

They include making travelling abroad for terrorist activities a crime and expanding the cases where Belgian citizenship can be revoked for dual nationals who are thought to pose a terror risk.

No link has been established between the terrorist plot in Belgium and last week’s attacks in Paris.

French PM Manuel Valls said on January 16 that, despite this, both countries face the same threats.

Twelve suspects are being held by police in the Paris region over last week’s attacks in the French capital that killed 17 people.

Police carried out raids in five towns, iTele reported. Those arrested are now being questioned about “possible logistical support”, such as weapons or vehicles, they could have given the three gunmen, according to police.

France remains on its highest terrorism alert level and authorities have said that some 120,000 police and soldiers have been mobilized across France.

In a separate incident on January 16, authorities shut down and evacuated the Gare de l’Est train station after a bomb scare.

The incidents in France and Belgium have had a wider impact on their European neighbors.

Spain has launched an investigation into the visit of one of the Paris gunmen, Amedy Coulibaly, to Madrid just days before the attacks in Paris.

Police in Germany have also arrested two men following raids on 11 properties on January 16, involving some 250 officers.

One of the men was suspected of leading an extremist group of Turkish and Russian nationals.

Police said that the group was preparing a serious act of violence in Syria but that there was “no indication” that the group had been planning attacks inside Germany.

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Tropical Storm Mekkhala cuts short Pope Francis’ visit to Tacloban

Diane A. Wade
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Tropical Storm Mekkhala cuts short Pope Francis’ visit to Tacloban

Pope Francis has arrived in typhoon-hit city of Tacloban in the Philippines to hold an open-air Mass.

Tacloban was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan just over a year ago.

Tens of thousands braved pouring rain and strong winds brought by Tropical Storm Mekkhala to attend the Mass.

Pope Francis was due to meet survivors of the typhoon after the mass but the storm forced the pontiff to cut short his visit.

The Pope said as soon as he saw the catastrophe caused by the typhoon, he had decided to go to the Philippines.

Pope Francis is visiting the Philippines, where there are 80 million Catholics, as part of a six-day tour of Asia.

Typhoon Haiyan, which remains the strongest storm ever recorded on land, created a 23ft high storm surge, destroying practically everything in its path when it swept ashore on November 8, 2013.

Around 90% of the city of Tacloban in Leyte province was destroyed and more than 14.5 million people were affected in six regions and 44 provinces. About one million people remain homeless.

Pope Francis was due to have lunch with survivors of Typhoon Haiyan later on Saturday but he left Tacloban four hours early because of the approaching storm and returned to Manila.

Earlier, he apologized to the crowds gathered at the main cathedral in Leyte province and said: “I am sad about this, truly saddened, because I had something prepared especially for you.”Pope Francis in Tacloban

The Pope said his pilots had told him that the weather was going to get worse.

“We barely have time to get to the aeroplane,” he said.

Tropical Storm Mekkhala, with winds of up to 80 mph, forced the suspension of ferry services to Leyte and stranded thousands of travelers, according to the Associated Press news agency.

One woman was killed after the mass, when scaffolding near the stage collapsed, local media report.

The storm is forecast to hit the shore of nearby Samar Island later on Saturday.

During the Mass in Spanish, with a translation into English, Pope Francis spoke of the devastating impact of Typhoon Haiyan on people in Tacloban.

He told the faithful that “so many of you in Tacloban have lost everything. I don’t know what to say – but the Lord does… He underwent so many of the trials that you do”.

A national holiday has been declared in Manila for the duration of Pope Francis’ visit.

Security is very tight, with tens of thousands of soldiers and police deployed, after failed attempts to kill two previous popes in the Philippines.

The centerpiece of Pope Francis’ visit will be an open-air Mass in Manila on January 18, which is expected to attract millions.

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Florida police use black suspects mugshots for target practice

Nancy Clayson
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Florida police use black suspects mugshots for target practice

Florida police officers have been criticized for using mugshots of black suspects for target practice.

The images used by North Miami Beach Police were discovered by a female soldier who used the firing range after a police training session.

Sgt. Valerie Deant recognized her brother as one of the target images, according to NBC Miami.

Police Chief J Scott Dennis said that his officers had used poor judgment but denied racial profiling.

He told NBC that using real suspect images was an important part of training for his sniper team and that his officers had not violated any policies.

“There is no discipline forthcoming from the individuals who were involved with this,” he said.

A police spokeswoman added that officers use targets of all races and genders in their training sessions.Florida police black suspects mugshots target training

The six targets left behind by police were found last month by Sgt. Valerie Deant, a band member of the Florida Army National Guard.

“I was like, why is my brother being used for target practice?” she told NBC Miami on January 16.

The photo of her brother Woody Deant had been taken after his arrest as a teenager for drag racing. It had been shot several times.

Valerie Deant said he was “speechless” when he heard the news.

“Now I’m being used as a target? I’m not even living that life according to how they portrayed me as. I’m a father. I’m a husband. I’m a career man. I work nine to five.”

Police Chief J Scott Dennis said they were “very very concerned” that one of the targets had been of a man who would be on the streets of North Miami Beach.

He said that the department would no longer use images of suspects they had arrested.

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Anti-Charlie Hebdo protests: At least 4 people killed during Niger violent protests

Roy Siemens
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Anti-Charlie Hebdo protests: At least 4 people killed during Niger violent protests

Three civilians and a police officer have been killed in violent protests against French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Niger’s second city of Zinder, officials say.

A number of churches and the French cultural centre were among several buildings raided and set alight.

Friday saw protests across the Muslim world over Charlie Hebdo‘s publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad on its first issue after last week’s attack in Paris.

Twelve people were killed in the attack at the Charlie Hebdo’s offices.

The cover of the magazine’s latest edition, published after the attack, featured a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad weeping while holding a sign saying “I am Charlie”.

Protests against the magazine were also seen on Friday in Pakistan, where protests turned violent in Karachi, the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and the Algerian capital, Algiers.

One policeman and three civilians were killed in the protests in Zinder after Friday prayers, a police source told Reuters.Niger Charlie Hebdo protests

“Some of the protesters were armed with bows and arrows as well as clubs. The clashes were very violent in some places,” the source added.

AFP quoted a minister as saying dozens of people had been injured.

Local residents told Reuters that demonstrators had set fire to churches and raided shops that were run by Christians.

“The protesters are crying out in local Hausa language: Charlie is Satan – let hell engulf those supporting Charlie,” a local shopkeeper said by telephone.

The French cultural centre there also came under attack.

The centre’s director, Kaoumi Bawa, said an angry crowd of around 50 people had smashed the building’s door and set fire to the cafeteria, library and offices.

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Critics’ Choice Awards 2015: Full list of winners

Sonia Pantiss
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Critics’ Choice Awards 2015: Full list of winners

Full list of winners at the 20th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards:

Best Picture
Birdman
WINNER: Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken
Whiplash

Best Director
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay – Selma 
David Fincher – Gone Girl
Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman
Angelina Jolie – Unbroken
WINNER: Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
WINNER: Michael Keaton – Birdman
David Oyelowo – Selma
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything 

Best Actress
Jennifer Aniston – Cake
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
WINNER: Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
WINNER: J. K. Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress
WINNER: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

Best Young Actor/Actress
WINNER: Ellar Coltrane — Boyhood
Ansel Elgort — The Fault in Our Stars
Mackenzie Foy — Interstellar
Jaeden Lieberher — St. Vincent
Tony Revolori — The Grand Budapest Hotel
Quvenzhané Wallis — Annie
Noah Wiseman — The BabadookCritics Choice Awards 2015

Best Acting Ensemble
WINNER: Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
Selma

Best Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: Gillian Flynn — Gone Girl
Graham Moore — The Imitation Game
Paul Thomas Anderson — Inherent Vice
Anthony McCarten — The Theory of Everything
Joel and Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson — Unbroken
Nick Hornby — Wild

Best Original Screenplay
WINNER: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo — Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash

Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
WINNER: The Lego Movie

Best Action Movie
American Sniper
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Edge of Tomorrow
Fury
WINNER: Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Actor in an Action Movie
WINNER: Bradley Cooper — American Sniper
Tom Cruise — Edge of Tomorrow
Chris Evans — Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Brad Pitt — Fury
Chris Pratt — Guardians of the Galaxy 

Best Actress in an Action Movie
WINNER: Emily Blunt — Edge of Tomorrow
Scarlett Johansson — Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence — The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
Zoe Saldana — Guardians of the Galaxy
Shailene Woodley — Divergent

Best Comedy
Birdman
WINNER: The Grand Budapest Hotel
St. Vincent
Top Five
22 Jump Street

Best Actor in a Comedy
Jon Favreau – Chef
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
WINNER: Michael Keaton – Birdman
Bill Murray – St. Vincent
Chris Rock – Top Five
Channing Tatum – 22 Jump Street

Best Actress in a Comedy
Rose Byrne – Neighbors
Rosario Dawson – Top Five
Melissa McCarthy – St. Vincent
WINNER: Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie
The Babadook
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
WINNER: Interstellar
Snowpiercer
Under the Skin

Best Foreign Language Film
WINNER: Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
Wild Tales

Best Documentary Feature
Citizenfour
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Last Days in Vietnam
WINNER: Life Itself
The Overnighters

Best Art Direction
Kevin Thompson, George DeTitta Jr. – Birdman
WINNER: Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock – The Grand Budapest Hotel
David Crank, Amy Wells – Inherent Vice
Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis – Interstellar
Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock – Into the Woods
Ondrej Nekvasil, Beatrice Brentnerova – Snowpiercer

Best Cinematography
WINNER: Emmanuel Lubezki — Birdman
Robert Yeoman — The Grand Budapest Hotel
Hoyte Van Hoytema — Interstellar
Dick Pope — Mr. Turner
Roger Deakins — Unbroken

Best Costume Design
WINNER: Milena Canonero – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mark Bridges – Inherent Vice
Colleen Atwood – Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard — Maleficent
Jacqueline Durran — Mr. Turner

Best Editing
WINNER: Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione — Birdman
Sandra Adair — Boyhood
Kirk Baxter — Gone Girl
Lee Smith — Interstellar
Tom Cross — Whiplash

Best Hair & Makeup
Foxcatcher
WINNER: Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Into the Woods
Maleficent

Best Score
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Jóhann Jóhannsson – The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Gone Girl
WINNER: Antonio Sánchez – Birdman
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

Best Song
Big Eyes Lana Del Rey – Big Eyes
Everything is Awesome Jo Li and The Lonely Island – The Lego Movie
WINNER: Glory John Legend and Common – Selma
Lost Stars Keira Knightley – Begin Again
Yellow Flicker Beat Lorde – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

Best Visual Effects
WINNER: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Edge of Tomorrow
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar

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Michael Keaton falls off stage at Critics’ Choice Awards 2015

Sonia Pantiss
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Michael Keaton falls off stage at Critics’ Choice Awards 2015

Oscar nominee Michael Keaton fell off stage at last night’s Critics’ Choice Awards ceremony.

Michael Keaton, who collected two best actor trophies for Birdman at Thursday’s ceremony, later joked “that I took the Birdman flying thing way too far”.

Boyhood drama walked away with the coveted best picture award.

The Lego Movie – snubbed by Oscar voters earlier in the day – picked up the best animated feature award.

Michael Keaton, who was fine after his fall from the stage, won best actor and best actor in a comedy, while Birdman also collected best acting ensemble and original screenplay among its seven-trophy haul.

He was one of the five actors who had earlier learned they would be vying for the best actor Oscar.Michael Keaton falls off stage at Critics' Choice Awards 2015

Julianne Moore, also an Oscar nominee, picked up the best actress for Still Alice, while JK Simmons was rewarded with a best supporting gong for Whiplash.

The Critics’ Choice Awards is a rarity in rewarding the action movie genre, with Guardians of the Galaxy coming out on top in the category.

Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper won the award for best actor in an action movie, while Emily Blunt took the actress title, for Edge of Tomorrow.

There was also recognition for space saga Interstellar in the sci-fi/horror category.

Richard Linklater won best director for Boyhood, while Patricia Arquette won best supporting actress. Both are Oscar nominees.

Ellar Coltrane won the best young actor for his role in the film, which started its 13-year long shoot when he was just five and continued over the course of 12 years.

The best song award went to Common and John Legend for Glory from the civil rights drama Selma.

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Selma to be screened at White House

Sonia Pantiss
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Selma to be screened at White House

Oscar-nominated movie Selma will be shown at the White House during a special screening hosted by President Barack Obama.

Selma depicts the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The movie is a contender for best picture at next month’s Academy Awards, alongside seven other films including Birdman, Boyhood and Grand Budapest Hotel.

Cast and crew, including director Ava DuVernay, are expected to attend the screening on January 16.

Selma picked up just two nominations for the Oscars, the second being a nomination for best original song, Glory, by John Legend and Common.

David Oyelowo missed out on a best actor citation, for his depiction of Martin Luther King, and Ava DuVernay failed to make the cut for best director.Selma White House screening

Had she been nominated, Ava DuVernay would have become the first African-American woman to be nominated in that category.

The Oscar nominations have come under fire from some commentators for their lack of diversity, after it was revealed that all 20 contenders for the acting categories were white.

However, the Academy’s first African-American woman president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, told New York Magazine‘s Vulture blog that the organization does not have a diversity problem “at all”.

Previous Oscar contenders to be shown at the White House include last year’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln in 2012, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln.

The screening will take place in the 40-seat family cinema, part of Barack Obama’s private family quarters, according to Variety.

The first movie screened at the White House was in 1915, when Woodrow Wilson hosted a showing of Birth of a Nation.

The Obamas have also screened Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Julie & Julia (2009), starring Meryl Streep and He’s Just Not That Into You (2009), starring Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore.

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2014 was hottest year on record

James J. Williams
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2014 was hottest year on record

According to US scientists, 2014 was the warmest year on record, with global temperatures 0.68C (1.24F) above the long-term average.

The results mean that 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have occurred since the turn of the century.

NASA and NOAA researchers published the report on January 16.

Last month, the World Meteorological Organization released provisional figures that predicted the past 12 months were set to be record breakers.

“This is the latest in a series of warm years, in a series of warm decades,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

“While the ranking of individual years can be affected by chaotic weather patterns, the long-term trends are attributable to drivers of climate change that right now are dominated by human emissions of greenhouse gases,” he added.2014 warmest year on record

NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintain two of the three global datasets of global temperatures. The UK’s Met Office maintains the third. Data from all three are used by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and formed the basis of its provisional figures in December.

Reviewing extreme weather during 2014, the WMO highlighted a number of record-breaking events:

  • In September, parts of the Balkans received more than double the average monthly rainfall and parts of Turkey were hit by four times the average.
  • The town of Guelmin in Morocco was swamped by more than a year’s rain in just four days.
  • Western Japan saw the heaviest August rain since records began.
  • Parts of the western US endured persistent drought, as did parts of China and Central and South America.
  • Tropical storms, on the other hand, totaled 72 which is less than the average of 89 judged by 1981-2010 figures. The North Atlantic, western North Pacific and northern Indian Ocean were among regions seeing slightly below-average cyclone activity. [youtube SstUwTtk6iQ 650]
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