Three to four million people could
be infected with Zika virus in the Americas this year, the World Health
Organization (WHO) predicts.
Most will not develop symptoms, but the virus, spread by mosquitoes, has been linked to brain defects in babies.
Meanwhile the US says it hopes to start vaccine trials in people by the end of the year.
WHO director general Dr Margaret Chan said Zika had gone "from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions".
She has set up a Zika "emergency team" after the "explosive" spread of the virus.
It will meet on Monday to decide whether Zika should be treated as a global emergency.
The
last time an international emergency was declared was for the Ebola
outbreak in West Africa, which has killed more than 11,000 people.
Zika was first detected in Uganda in 1947, but has never caused an outbreak on this scale.
Brazil reported the first cases of Zika in South America in May 2015.
Most
cases result in no symptoms and it is hard to test for, but WHO
officials said between 500,000 and 1.5 million people had been infected
in the country.
The virus has since spread to more than 20 countries in the region.
The New York Hotel is one of several dotted around Disneyland Paris
French police have arrested a man carrying two guns at an entrance to a hotel at Disneyland Paris.
The
man, reportedly aged 28 and not known to security services, was also
discovered with a copy of the Koran and a box of ammunition, police
said.
His bag triggered metal detectors as he entered the New York Hotel at the much-visited theme park.
France remains in a state of emergency declared in November after the deadly attacks by jihadist militants in Paris.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it carried out the co-ordinated assaults that left 130 people dead.
'Routine screening'
Disneyland Paris closed briefly after the November attacks, but the theme park remained open following Thursday's incident.
"During
a routine security screening checkpoint at one of our hotels, weapons
were discovered in a guest's luggage through our X-ray machine,"
spokesman Francois Banon told the Press Association.
"The police
were immediately notified and the individual was arrested. We continue
to work closely with the authorities and the safety and security of our
guests and cast members is our utmost priority
First opened in 1992 and located in Marne-la-Vallee, a town about 30km (18 miles) east of Paris.
Had about 10 million visitors in 2014 and calls itself the most visited tourist destination in Europe
92% of its guests are from Europe, with 49% from France, 16% from the UK and 9% from Spain.
Hosts about 1,000 business events each year
In July, the EU began an inquiry into
the theme park, following accusations that UK and German customers were
frozen out of certain promotions.
A
police source told the AFP news agency that a preliminary investigation
did not point to terrorism, and that the man had said he was carrying
the weapons because he feared for his safety.
Papers found on the suspect indicated that he lived in Paris, the source added.
Police
also arrested a woman, believing her to be the man's girlfriend, but
later released her when they realised they had got the wrong woman,
French media reported.
The interior ministry said police were
still searching for a woman who might have been with the man, according
to the Reuters news agency.
President Francois Hollande is seeking
to extend France's three-month state of emergency for another three
months, despite opposition from human rights groups.
Earlier this week, European Union policing agency Europol warned that IS was planning further attacks, with France and so-called "soft" targets at particular risk.
A satirical story that Eritrean men
have been ordered to marry at least two wives, which has been shared
across Africa, has upset Eritrean officials.
"Even a madman in [the Eritrean capital] Asmara would know that this story was not true," an Eritrean official said.
The hoax was first published online on a Kenyan news site called Crazy Monday.
Some men have commented on Twitter that they are ready to travel to Eritrea to find a new wife.
Crazy Monday,
which is published by the Standard newspaper, is well known for its
focus on scandalous stories and gossip as part of an attempt to attract a
younger readership.
But this has not stopped it being reported in many
countries from Nigeria to South Africa, with some suggesting that it was
true.
The story said that to make up for the shortage of men in
the country, following the civil war with Ethiopia from 1998-2000, every
man must marry at least two women or face imprisonment.
It has
been trending on Twitter in Nigeria, and other countries, for several
days with people sharing links to the Eritrea's visa application
documents.
'Dark Forces'
Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel tweeted that "the media frenzy to parrot this ludicrous, fabricated and trite story... is appalling".
One news website, Sahara Reporters, has retracted the story acknowledging that it was false.
In another tweet
Mr Yemane said "the story illustrates [the] vileness of the dark forces
of disinformation and proclivity of others to readily embrace the
negative narrative on Eritrea".
The New York-based group Human Rights Watch says that there is a "dismal human rights situation"
in Eritrea and the restrictions there, including on the freedom of
expression, have led some to call it the North Korea of Africa.
A recent headline in a local
newspaper captured the reaction of many Nigerians to the latest disease
outbreak in our country: "From Bats To Rats As Lassa Fever Takes Off
Where Ebola Stopped".
Rats are the newest terrorists in town.
Since
August 2015, the Lassa haemorrhagic fever outbreak, which is usually
transmitted via infected rats, has spread to 17 states in Nigeria,
resulting in about 76 fatalities, including at least one doctor who had
treated infected patients.
However, Nigeria seems bent on ensuring
that rats do not do as much damage as the bats, who were the primary
carriers of Ebola, which left more than 11,000 dead after it began in
Guinea in 2014 and spread to 10 other countries, including Nigeria.
We may not have a Pied Piper to lure the pests into the River
Benue with his shrill notes, but the federal government has appointed a
National Lassa Fever Action Committee to plan how to halt the outbreak.
Rat poison seller: "The Boko Haram Rat Disposal was an instant hit, becoming very popular with customers"
"With the resources available to us, we will collectively eliminate
the disease in Nigeria soon," assured the Minister of Health, Isaac
Adewole, at a meeting during which the committee was inaugurated.
Meanwhile,
a ban has been placed on eating rats - a delicacy in certain parts of
the country - which my friend's father tells me tastes like grasscutter
or squirrel meat.
"You remove the entrails and roast it without boiling it first," he said.
"When you add some pepper and salt, it becomes quite tasty."
As
a young man in the late 1960s, he had fought on the Biafran side during
the civil war, when many ethnic Igbos were forced to eat rodents in
order to ward off starvation.
In addition, public service
announcements continue to warn against consuming foods that may have
been exposed to rats, especially when not prepared with heat.
Particular
caution has been drawn to the drinking of garri, a powder produced from
cassava that is sometimes left open in storerooms accessible to rats.
Garri
soaked in water, with sugar or salt, is considered the most affordable
meal in Nigeria, often described as "poor man's food".
Lassa fever The virus is transmitted to humans from rodents that harbour the virus
Endemic in parts of West Africa
The multimmate rat is the carrier
Usually transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated by its urine or faeces
Symptoms of the viral haemorrhagic illness: Fever, headache, sore throat, cough, nausea, diarrhoea, muscle pain
Person-to-person infections can occur through contact with bodily fluids
100,000 to 300,000 infections every year with about 5,000 deaths
Deafness occurs in 25% of patients who survive the disease
Then,
of course, there are the ubiquitous sellers of rat poison, young men
who appear out of nowhere in traffic and push their wares against the
window of your car, a string of mummified rats dangling in their other
hand. With the rise of the Boko Haram insurgency a few years ago,
some of these pedlars no longer need a collection of dead rats to help
us visualise the destruction their wares can accomplish.
They allow new brand names to do the job, such as "Automatic Bomb Rat Killer".
Evocative name
The
owner of Divine Chemicals, which produces "Boko Haram Rat Disposal" was
happy to tell me the motivation behind his choice of rat poison name,
although he declined to have his name published.
"The way
they kill people is the way the rats need to be destroyed," he said,
referencing images from the aftermath of Islamist militant bombings.
Many towns in the north-east have been destroyed during the Boko Haram insurgency
Divine Chemicals was already in the business of rat
poison before the insurgency began, but decided on the more evocative
name after two of his relatives were ki
lled in separate bomb attacks in northern Nigeria.
The
"Boko Haram Rat Disposal" was an instant hit, he told me, becoming very
popular with customers. "The thing is moving market," he said.
Not long after my initial conversation with Divine Chemicals, which took place over a year ago, he dumped the lucrative name.
His
loved ones were worried that it might attract the attention of the
wrong people, he explained - that the rightful owners of the Boko Haram
brand might take offence.
Strangers also rang occasionally to
caution him against his choice of name, good Samaritans worried about
the possible dire consequences.
With the current Lassa fever
outbreak, I imagine that Divine Chemicals will once again begin to see a
boom in sales, despite having jettisoned its lucrative product name.
Hopefully,
with this widespread war on rats, the minister of health's bold
prediction will prove accurate - and, like Ebola in Nigeria, this Lassa
fever too shall soon pass.
Last year, a reporter was
given access by the Catalan police, Mossos D'Esquadra, to an
investigation into a Nigerian sex-trafficking gang. He spoke to
traffickers and women rescued from sexual slavery before filming an
early morning raid in November, which led to 23 arrests. He also
discovered that the gang is now using London as a gateway into Europe.
It's
08:00 in the Catalan Police Headquarters on the outskirts of Barcelona
and Xavi Cortes, head of the anti-trafficking unit, waits patiently for
his 22 teams to confirm they are in position. Finally, he gives the
order.
Two-hundred-and-fifty officers quietly climb out of their
police vans. Single file, each team approaches a residential building
watched by a few surprised neighbours.
On reaching the door, one
of the masked police officers uses his fingers to count down. Three,
two, one. The door is knocked down, the silence shattered, the officers
rush inside.
The raid results in the arrest of the leaders of a
Nigerian-based group running an international sex-trafficking ring in
Barcelona. It's known as the Supreme Eiye Confraternity (SEC), or
the Air Lords, and 23 people are now behind bars, with European Arrest
Warrants issued for those who have left the country.
This operation was 18 months in the planning and involved monitoring
more than a million phone calls, tapping dozens of mobile phones and
months of surveillance.
Cortes and his team first came across the
group in 2011 during a forgery investigation, but quickly discovered it
was a huge network trafficking women and drugs.
He asks me to look
at his screen. On it is a map detailing all the locations they have
identified where members of the SEC operate. Cities are marked in
Europe, North, West and East Africa, North and South America, the Middle
East and Asia. Eiye
in Yoruba, the main language of south-western Nigeria means "bird". The
group's insignia is an eagle and each city containing members is called
a "nest", with the "mother nest" in Ibadan, about 100km (60 miles) north-east of Lagos.
The group uses forged documents and passports from Nigeria to fly into
places like Gatwick - these need co-operation of people working in the
government
The group was started at the University of Ibadan in the 1970s, and
the original intention was to make a positive contribution to society.
Over time, however, many members went astray, committing violence in
Nigeria and delving into crime abroad.
The group now traffics
human beings and narcotics (cocaine and marijuana) and forges passports.
It has also facilitated the transport of stolen crude oil into Europe.
"They are able to earn money in many ways, but we are focused on human-trafficking and the victims," says Cortes.
His second-in-command, Alex Escola, then tells me something remarkable.
"You
know, one of the tappings showed us that last year, on 7 July, around
400 members of SEC met in Geneva. They had a big meeting, all together."
It
was an audacious display of arrogance. In a city where many of the
world's global institutions are headquartered, including numerous UN
agencies, a global criminal institution held its own parallel international gathering and no-one tried to stop it.
Benin City, Nigeria, is a human-trafficking hub, and a good place to observe how the criminal operation works.
After
long negotiations, our team manages to speak to a recruiter, whose job
it is to find girls. The recruiter explains that they either approach
girls directly or through their families offering fake jobs abroad in a
supermarket, or as a cleaner.
However, not everyone is tricked.
Many women approach the recruiters themselves, often in full knowledge
that they will be working as a prostitute in Europe. Some parents, also
aware of this, approach recruiters on behalf of their children.
Destiny, who was 19 when she was trafficked to Spain three years ago,
told me she knew sex would be involved but had never imagined she would
be turned into a sex slave.
"If you live in Benin, there are many
girls who came back from [Spain] with lots of money. They told us they
had to have sex sometimes," she says. "We are not stupid but I did not
know I would be beaten and raped and have to have sex every night of the
week."
NGOs in Benin City say many of the recruiters now look
outside the major cities in order to find girls who have not heard their
warnings about the reality of life for trafficked women, or the stories
of those like Destiny who have returned and are now alerting others to
the dangers.
Once recruited, the girls are then taken to
Lagos or to northern Nigeria where they are picked up by men known as
"coyotes" or "trolleys".
Like many migrants, trafficked women are often taken across the Sahara Desert
The journey to Europe is perilous. Wire taps reveal how coyotes
transporting women were stopped by armed groups in the deserts of Niger
or southern Libya demanding thousands of euros for them to pass.
"One
phone call from a coyote to SEC showed how a coyote was saying, 'I have
a gun on my head and they want money,'" says Cortes.
A woman who was herself trafficked tells me about other horrors.
"The journey took weeks," says Sarah, who arrived in Spain in 2013 at
the age of 21. "One of the girls kept asking for water. The men did not
like it so they threw her out in the desert in Libya. They left her and
we continued the journey. They told the boss on the phone that she was
killed by terrorists. We were not human beings. We were animals."
Once girls are trafficked across the desert, they are then taken to "keepers", who often rape them before they cross to Europe.
"When
we got to Libya they put us in a house," says Sarah. "This is when I
knew we would not be working in a supermarket. One man was taking care
of us. He would have sex with us, rape us. Then I became pregnant."
Women
who insist they will not work as prostitutes are tied up in a position
called "the crocodile". Their hands tied to their feet, they are left
for days with no food or water. Some are left to die as an example to
others.
Keepers often get the women pregnant prior to making the
crossing to Spain. With a child or pregnant, they stand a better chance
of not being deported, and the men can use access to the child as a form
of blackmail to keep the women under control.
Two years ago, at a
time when the coyotes reported Libya had become too dangerous, recorded
phone calls show that the girls were taken instead to Greece, via
Yemen, Iran and Turkey. And today, as the Mediterranean becomes more
difficult to cross - and the authorities try harder to detect
traffickers - the SEC has begun to use airports in the UK more
frequently.
"This is a more expensive option for the group,"
Cortes tells me. "They use forged documents and passports from Nigeria
to fly into places like Gatwick. The language is also easier for them. These documents are expensive though and need co-operation of people working in the government to get."
One evening in Barcelona, I head out with the undercover surveillance
team. At around 10pm, plain-clothes officers in an unmarked car drive
me to Badalona on the edge of the city.
We are taken to a
top-floor flat where police have spent hundreds of hours watching the
house opposite.
A light is on in the window and shadows move between the
curtains, before someone appears on the balcony - a madame.
Most
of the women that make it to Europe live in flats with a few other women
and their madame - almost always a trafficked woman, who has managed to
pay off her debt. Girls arrive knowing they must earn a sum, which may
be from 30,000 to 60,000 euros (£22,000 to £44,000), before they will be
free.
There are two ranks of madame. Lower-ranking madames prowl
the streets - many on la Rambla, the main tourist strip in the centre
of Barcelona - constantly texting and calling their girls to
check on their whereabouts. Girls are told to earn about 500 euros
(£370) a night to stay in the madame's good books.
But clients, mostly tourists, may pay as little as 20 euros (£15) for sex, so this is often impossible.
After
a night's work, girls return home and divide their earnings into three.
One part goes to pay for the flat, the second to pay for food and the
third goes to the SEC. If they are not earning enough or refuse to work,
the madames may beat them.
Higher-ranking madames collect money from their subordinates to pass on to local SEC leaders known as ibakkas. Always men, the ibakkas run the whole operation. They facilitate payment through the hawala system - a form of money transfer based on trust and one that is difficult to trace.
Ibakkas make sure that if any of their girls step out of line, their
families back home are threatened. Family members have been known to be
abducted and "disappeared" when girls refuse to pay their madames.
One
woman, Jessica, who was trafficked to Spain in 2009, says two of her
daughters, now in their early 20s, left home in Benin to escape the
gang. One is in Dubai, the other in Morocco waiting to cross to Spain.
But in escaping one group of traffickers, they have put themselves in the hands of another.
"In order to pay the debt, they will be prostitutes too," says Jessica.
Tragically, this is not an isolated case.
It's
a few days after the raid and Cortes seems content. Back in the office,
dressed in full uniform, he details the large quantities of phones,
computers, fake passports and documents seized at the time of the
arrests.
Despite that, there is a hint of frustration in his smile.
"The size of the network means those arrested will be replaced," he says.
According
to recent wire taps, one of the major European co-ordinators of the
group is looking to restructure the gang. The ibakka, based in London,
was trying to get his 95 other European counterparts together for a
meeting.
This kind of organised crime cannot simply be tackled
locally. Arresting madames and taking women off the streets merely
increases the demand for more women from Nigeria. This is an organised
crime group, run by men, operating across the world. This is a network
which requires a global police response.
Donald Trump has said he will boycott the final Republican presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses.
The
Republican frontrunner had clashed with the moderator, Megyn Kelly of
Fox News, in the first debate in August and says she would not treat him
fairly.
Fox News accused Mr Trump of vicious attacks on Kelly and making demands that she be removed. Capitulating would "violate all journalistic standards".
"We can't give in to terrorisations toward any of our employees," it said.
Mr
Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, announced the pullout on
Tuesday evening, with just 48 hours to go before the debate.
There are plenty of reasons Donald Trump's last-minute withdrawal from the Republican debate could be a bad move.
He's
on the verge of winning the Iowa caucuses, so why shake things up now?
His past debate performances haven't hurt him, and his most recent was
probably his best.
What's to gain from a fight with the most
powerful conservative media company in the nation? Already his opponents
are blasting him for being afraid of a fight, with Ted Cruz's campaign
labelling him "Donald duck".
Yet
every time it seems like Mr Trump has made a grievous miscalculation
that will sink his campaign, it ends up as either brilliant strategy or
his political armour is just too strong.
So maybe this will work
out for the New Yorker. He's dominating the headlines once again. And
his plan to hold a rally to support wounded veterans, while his
opponents aim their criticisms at an empty lectern, could prove a
winning contrast.
Did Mr Trump just turn the whole Fox Thursday night event into a "kids' table" debate?
Mr Trump was angered by a statement from a Fox spokesman who poked fun at his threats to boycott the debate.The
statement had read: "We learned from a secret back channel that the
Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they
meet with him if he becomes president - a nefarious source tells us
that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his
Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings."
Mr Trump said it was "written by a child".
Fox
said Mr Trump would still be welcome at the debate and would be treated
fairly but "he can't dictate the moderators or the questions".
"We're not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute," Fox said.
The broadcaster also accused Mr Lewandowski of making veiled threats towards Megyn Kelly.
Megyn Kelly with other Fox moderators at the August debate
Mr Trump will hold a separate Iowa event at the same time as the debate to raise money for wounded veterans.
Iowa hosts the nation's opening presidential primary contest on Monday.
"They
can't toy with me like they toy with everybody else. Let them have
their debate and let's see how they do with the ratings."
Mr Trump's pullout prompted his closest rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, to challenge him to a one-on-one debate.
Mr Cruz said: "Apparently Megyn Kelly is really, really scary. And you know, Donald is a fragile soul."
On Tuesday night's airing of her Fox News show, The Kelly File, Kelly said the debate would "go on with or without Mr Trump".
Ted Cruz poked fun at Donald Trump's "fragile soul"
In the first Republican TV debate back in August, Mr Trump accused her of asking "ridiculous" questions.
In
a statement widely perceived to be a reference to menstruation,
something Mr Trump later denied, he said: "You could see there was blood
coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever."
The Republican National Committee (RNC) said Mr Trump's latest decision to withdraw was up to him.
Mr
Trump's decision leaves seven other candidates in the debate: Mr Cruz,
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former
Florida Governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Ohio
Governor John Kasich and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.
Mr Trump has
garnered media attention with provocative actions and statements,
including a call for a temporary ban on all Muslim immigrants.
Ms Taubira is one of France's few black politicians to have filled a senior ministerial role
French Justice Minister Christiane
Taubira has stepped down from her job, shortly before plans to strip
people convicted of terrorism of their citizenship go before parliament.
Ms Taubira was known to disagree with the controversial proposals.
The citizenship plans were put forward after the 13 November Paris attacks in which 130 people were murdered.
"Sometimes staying on is resisting, sometimes resisting means leaving," she tweeted.
Many
of the Islamist militants who carried out attacks in France and have
joined the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group have had dual citizenship,
and Ms Taubira was among several figures on the left who objected to the
government's proposals because they singled out those with dual
nationality.
However, the law went before a parliamentary commission shortly after
her resignation on Wednesday with no reference to dual nationality.
Racist taunts
One
of France's few senior black politicians, Christiane Taubira, 63, has
been replaced by Jean-Jacques Urvoas who is seen as a supporter of the
constitutional change and an ally of Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
Born in French Guiana, she has suffered racist taunts from the far-right during her time as justice minister.
Ms Taubira was known to disapprove of the citizenship reform but appeared alongside the prime minister when he announced it
Her left-wing leanings have put her increasingly at odds with
official policy, especially after the November attacks when the
president announced a much tougher line on terrorism.
A communique from the Elysee
Palace said that President Francois Hollande had accepted the justice
minister's decision to resign.
"They agreed on the need to bring
her role to an end at a time when debate on constitutional revision
begins in the National Assembly, today," the statement read.
In his communique, President Hollande also praised Ms Taubira's part in pushing through same-sex marriage laws.
Sani said further that some people who had been parading themselves as
President Muhammadu Buhari’s friends would soon be tried for corruption.
Senator Shehu Sani
Senator Shehu Sani has said that over $200 billion has been hidden away by corrupt Nigerians in Dubai.
Sani said further that some people who had been parading themselves as President Muhammadu Buhari’s friends would soon be tried for corruption.
The
Senator, who represents the Kaduna Central Senatorial District, is said
to have made the disclosure to journalists during a solidarity visit
from female supporters.
“Corrupt Nigerians
have stashed unbelievable amount of monies in Dubai alone in the name of
estates acquisition, purchase of exotic houses and business partnership
in the last 16 years,” Sani said.
“Some
have stashed raw cash. This is why the US, and Europe are making
conditions for laundering of money into their countries very difficult.
These crooks have now found it conducive to use the Middle East and
South East Asia as their destinations. They use names of their cronies,
family members and friends to siphon public funds out of Nigeria.
“Some
of them are APC members, who had their political upbringing in the then
ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Sooner than later those who are
parading themselves as Buhari’s friends, but are corrupt, will be
interrogated, prosecuted because the President does not know friend or
relation as far as the fight against corruption is concerned.
“It
was based on the information on the quantity and quality of the assets
of corrupt Nigerians that President Buhari had to sign that agreement
with UAE at Abu Dhabi. I can tell you that it was smart and patriotic
move. Let me advise the President to steer clear of hypocrites, because
it is better to live with an enemy than hypocrite because hypocrite
derives joy from stabbing one’s back.
Over
$200 billion Dollars are stashed away from Nigeria to Dubai alone. This
may the monies stolen since in the past 20 years. I am not talking
about estates and bonds and other securities bought with Nigeria stolen
money. Buhari is going to recover all these monies and assets with the
help of UAE.
“If you notice now, since
the agreement, some of the corrupt persons are now rushing to Dubai to
effect changes in the ownerships of the ill-gotten assets. But, they are
just wasting their time. President Buhari needs the support of all
Nigerians to wipe out corruption from the country. The President is on
rescue mission. He needs our support.
“We
cannot sit down idly and watch people sabotaged Buhari, and I can tell
you that since Buhari went to Dubai, there were three attempts to
sabotage Buhari’s government. The first one was that they planted a
story in newspapers that there was crisis in Buhari’s government because
he went to Dubai.
“The second one was
that they planted fake lists of Nigerians that have property in Dubai,
while we were waiting for the original list of those who have houses in
Dubai. And the third one was to sponsor foreign media to discredit
Buhari’s economic policies,” he said.
Sani had earlier urged Buhari to extend his search for funds looted from Nigeria to China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand.
Buhari’s war against corruption recently got a boost after the government signed a bilateral agreementwith the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to aid the recovery of Nigeria’s looted funds.
Europe
should be prepared for more of the ruthless and coordinated attacks
that ISIS carried out in Paris last year, officials say. The militant
group is planning more large-scale, "special forces-style" assaults that
don't even necessarily need to be coordinated from Syria.
That disturbing scenario was laid out in a report by Europol - Europe's law enforcement agency -- released Monday.
The
report, entitled "Changes in modus operandi of Islamic State terrorist
attacks," paints a picture of a terror group whose methods keep evolving
and whose threat is two fold: Coordinated attacks and lone wolf
operatives.
"The Paris attacks, and
subsequent investigation, appear to indicate a shift towards a broader
strategy of [ISIS] going global, of them specifically attacking France,
but also the possibly of attacks against other Member States of the EU
in the near future," the report said.
The report details some of the ways ISIS is adapting. Here are some of the key findings:
Soft targets are the most vulnerable
Attacks will be primarily directed at soft targets because of the impact and mass casualties they generate, the report says.
Intelligence
also suggests that ISIS has developed a command structure to plan and
coordinate "special forces style" operations abroad. This could mean
that more Paris-style attacks are currently being planned and prepared,
the report says.
Attacks aren't always planned from within Syria
In addition to training facilities in Syria, there are also smaller scale training camps in the EU and in Balkan countries.
ISIS-inspired attacks do not necessarily have to be coordinated from Syria.
"Central
command in Syria is believed to map out a general strategy, but leaves
tactical freedom to local leaders to adapt their actions to
circumstances on the spot," the report says. Operatives can choose their
targets based on capability and resources, which leaves room for
spontaneity and makes it hard for law enforcement to identify targets
and suspects.
Recruits are young and not necessarily religious
Recruitment
into ISIS happens quickly, without necessarily requiring a long
radicalization process, the report says. The "romantic" prospect of
being part of something important and exciting may also play a role in
recruiting.
Peer pressure has replaced some of the religious components of recruiting, the report says.
Younger
recruits are more impressionable and radicalize quicker. Less than half
of all people arrested for joining ISIS or expressing an intention to
do so have relevant knowledge about their religion. This makes them
vulnerable to interpretations of the Koran that fit ISIS logic, the
report says
Recruiters
use survival training to test recruits' fitness and ability. "Sports
activities have been used for combat and interrogation resistance
training," the report says.
A
"significant" portion of foreign fighters were diagnosed with mental
problems prior to joining the terror group. However, the report doesn't
specify how they know this and what types of mental issues fighters may
be suffering from. The report also says that a large portion of recruits
have criminal records.
Refugees are not a threat, but...
There is no concrete evidence that terror groups (ISIS or otherwise) are using the current refugee crisis
to slip into Europe unnoticed. Instead, the report says that there's a
more "real and imminent" danger that members of the refugee population
will become vulnerable to radicalization once in Europe, and that
they're being specifically targeted by terror recruiters.
They use encrypted communication tools
ISIS
has taken advantage of the availability of secure and encrypted
communication methods such as WhatsApp, Skype and Viber for
communication and to procure goods and services such as weapons and fake
IDs.
How they finance attacks in Europe is largely unknown
Travel
costs, car rentals, safe houses and weapons require considerable sums
of money, the report says. However, there is no evidence of ISIS
-financing networks in the region.
Al Qaeda is still a threat
The
report warns that Al Qaeda is still a "factor" in the region and a
reason for the EU to focus broadly on religiously inspired groups.
A separate report charges
that Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, is a greater threat
to the United States in the long term than is ISIS, making the United
States' current single-minded focus on the latter group misguided.
Recently, al Qaeda or Taliban affiliated groups have claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in Pakistan, Burkina Faso and Somalia.
The bill would give police the authority to search migrants' luggage and clothes in search of assets
The Danish parliament will vote on
Tuesday on a highly controversial proposal to confiscate asylum seekers'
valuables to pay for their upkeep.
The proposal drew sharp criticism at home and abroad when it was announced earlier this month.
Danish
authorities insist the policy brings migrants in line with jobless
Danes, who must sell assets above a certain level to claim benefits.
MPs are also expected to back plans to delay family reunions.
The proposal to increase the wait from one year to three is aimed at discouraging new arrivals.
Denmark expects to receive around 20,000 asylum seekers in 2016,
compared with 15,000 last year, the integration ministry said.
With broad cross-party support, the bill looks set to pass into law.
Denmark
and neighbouring Sweden recently tightened their borders in an attempt
to bring down the number of migrants and refugees.
Denmark is not the first European country to demand the assets of asylum seekers.
Earlier
this month, Switzerland was criticised by a refugee group for seizing
assets from some 100 people in 2015. Under Swiss rules, asylum seekers
have to hand over assets above $1,000 (£700; €900).
Danish critics have likened their government's plan to the confiscation of valuables from Jews during the World War Two
Integration Minister Inger Stoejberg was forced to announce that no
items deemed sentimental would be taken. The law would apply to cash or
assets worth more than 10,000 kroner (1,340 euros, $1,450) - a figure
raised from 3,000 kroner following objections.
UN refugee agency
the UNHCR has warned that the proposals violate the European Convention
on Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the
UN Refugee Convention.
But both the ruling centre-right Venstre
party and the right-wing, anti-immigration Danish People's Party back
the bill, meaning it is likely to pass.
Prime Minister Lars Lokke
Rasmussen of the Venstre party has shrugged off criticism, calling the
bill "the most misunderstood bill in Denmark's history".
'An impossible choice'
Once
a champion of refugees' rights, Denmark's goal is now to make itself
less attractive for asylum-seekers. Mr Rasmussen's party won a June 2015
election after promising an "immediate slowdown" of Denmark's refugee
influx.
"The tone in the public debate about refugees and
immigrants has undoubtedly become tougher," Kashif Ahmad, the leader of
the National Party, told the AFP news agency.
Amnesty
International has said war refugees would face "an impossible choice" if
the waiting period to apply to bring over their family was increased
from one year to three.
"Either bring children and other loved
ones on dangerous, even lethal journeys, or leave them behind and face a
prolonged separation," said Amnesty spokeswoman Gauri van Gulik.
Thousands
of refugees and other migrants have arrived in Denmark this year, many
of them in transit to Sweden, after arriving illegally by sea in
southern Europe.
Several EU states said on Monday they plan to prolong temporary border controls
introduced in recent months for as many as two years, in order to
reduce the number of migrants entering from neighbouring nations.
The announcement came after a meeting of EU interior ministers in Amsterdam
Mr Najib has consistently denied allegations of corruption
Malaysia's top prosecutor has
cleared Prime Minister Najib Razak of corruption in a long-running
financial scandal that has gripped the nation.
The
attorney-general's office said the $681m (£479m) that Mr Najib received
in his bank account was a personal donation from the Saudi royal family.
Critics had alleged the money came from state-owned investment fund 1MDB.
Mr Najib has consistently denied these accusations, but has faced pressure to resign over them.
Anti-corruption officials have previously said he received money as a gift from a foreign funder.
Attorney-General
Mohamed Apandi Ali said in a press statement on Tuesday that the amount
was a "personal donation" from the royal family in Saudi Arabia,
transferred between the end of March and early April 2013.
He added that anti-corruption officials had met witnesses including the person they identified as the donor to confirm it.
"I
am satisfied that there is no evidence to show that the donation was a
form of gratification given corruptly," he said, adding that evidence
did not show the donation was used as an "inducement or reward" for Mr
Najib to do anything in his capacity as prime minister. Case that gripped Malaysia
The case of the mysterious millions has in equal part enthralled and angered Malaysians.
Even
after this decision many still have unanswered questions. In the first
place, why did their prime minister need this personal donation? What
was the money used for?
The attorney general said Mr Najib had returned $620m, but that begs the question - where did the other $61m go?
Leaders
from Umno, Mr Najib's party, have claimed the donation funded party
activities including the campaign for the 2013 election, but critics
have alleged it was used to buy political support within the leadership
and for Mr Najib's personal use.
Some Malaysians have pointed to
the fact that the new attorney general is a recent appointment -
replaced after Mr Najib kicked his predecessor out over this very same
drama.
The scandal has cast an ugly shadow over Mr Najib's
seven-year leadership. But this decision effectively clears him, which
political analysts say will secure his position within his own party and
the country for now.
Malaysia
held its last general election in May 2013, which returned Mr Najib's
party to power but with one of its poorest showings on record.The
attorney general also said no criminal offence was committed by Mr
Najib in relation to three other related investigations and that no
further action would be taken.
Donald
Trump has hit a new high in the race for the Republican nomination,
according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, with more than 4-in-10 Republican
voters nationwide now saying they back the billionaire.
And more than two-thirds of Republicans say he's the candidate most likely to capture their party's presidential nomination.
Trump
has topped the 40% mark for the first time in CNN/ORC polling, standing
at 41%. That more than doubles the support of his nearest competitor,
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who notches 19% support in the poll. No other
candidate hit double-digits. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio landed at 8%,
retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 6%, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at
5%, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 4%, and the rest at 3% or less.
Despite
the new high-mark for Trump, the GOP race remains fairly stable
compared with where it was in the most recent CNN/ORC poll in late
December.
In that poll, Trump stood at
39%, Cruz at 18% and Rubio at 10%. Carson's 4-point dip, from 10% to
6%, between the two surveys is the largest change in the field, and it
is not large enough to be a statistically significant change given the
new poll's 5-point margin of sampling error.
Trump's
lead is clearly significant, however, and the poll finds him well ahead
of the field among a range of GOP subgroups. He leads among both men
and women, younger and older voters, white evangelicals, conservatives
and both self-identified Republicans and independents who lean toward
the party.
There are two subgroups
where Trump's lead is less dominant: college graduates and tea party
supporters. Even among those groups, however, he remains at the head of
the pack. Among those holding degrees, 26% back Trump, 20% Cruz, and tea
party supporters split 37% for Trump, 34% for Cruz.
Trump's
supporters are more likely than those backing other candidates to say
that they've definitely made up their mind (70% of Trump's supporters
say they are locked in compared with 40% who back other candidates).
And
the prospect of a Trump candidacy generates more enthusiasm overall
(40% of Republican voters say they would be enthusiastic about a Trump
nomination) than the possibility of Cruz (25% enthusiastic) or Rubio
(18% enthusiastic) at the head of the ticket.
Trump's dominance continues when voters assess which of the GOP candidates would best handle top issues.
Trump
holds his widest advantage on handling the economy: 60% of GOP voters
say Trump would best handle it, a 48-point lead over Ted Cruz. Likewise,
Trump has a 55% to 16% edge on handling illegal immigration.
His
margin is smaller, though still significant, on handling foreign
policy. Republican voters in the poll rated terrorism their most
important issue in considering a candidate for president: 49% called it
"extremely important," outpacing the share calling the economy,
government spending or illegal immigration as central to their vote.
Trump
has gained ground over the course of the campaign on the values issues
that are often meaningful among Republican primary voters.
The
share who say Trump would do the best job on social issues has grown
from 15% in September to 28%. Cruz trails Trump by just 4 points on that
matter.
And about one-third of
Republicans say they think Trump is the candidate who "best represents
the values of Republicans like yourself," 34% choose Trump, 9 points
ahead of Cruz at 25%. No other candidate hits double-digits on that
measure.
Trump's case for the
presidency rests at least in part on his standing as a political
outsider. The poll finds that a broad swath of GOP voters (55%) say they
feel completely unrepresented by the government in Washington, and
among those voters, Trump holds a 47% to 19% lead over Cruz.
The
poll also finds Trump is widely seen as the candidate best able to win
in November: 63% of Republicans say so, compared with 16% who see Cruz
as best positioned to win and 10% who name Rubio.
But
in hypothetical general election, Trump appears to fare slightly worse
than either Cruz or Rubio when matched up against either Hillary Clinton
or Bernie Sanders. All six match-ups are close, with no one candidate
leading another outside the margin of error of 3.5 percentage points for
registered voters. But Rubio and Cruz each hit 50% support when matched
against Clinton, while Trump stalls at 47%.
Rubio
and Sanders produce a near-even split, 49% Sanders to 48% Rubio, while
the Democratic senator hits 50% against either Trump or Cruz.
Overall,
a majority of registered voters (56%) now say they think Trump will win
his party's nomination for president, and that rises to 68% among
Republican voters. Last summer, 40% of registered voters said they
thought Bush would top the GOP ticket in 2016 -- now, just 5% say so.
The
CNN/ORC Poll was conducted by telephone January 21-24 among a random
national sample of 1,002 adults. Results for the full sample have a
margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. For
results among the 405 registered voters who are Republicans or
independents who lean toward the Republican Party, the margin of
sampling error is plus or minus 5.0 percentage points.
Snowfall in New York City was just 0.1in (0.25cm) short of the record
A travel ban in New York City has ended as the eastern US begins digging out from the weekend's massive snowstorm.
New
York, the most populated city in the US, saw its second-highest
snowfall since records began in 1869, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
As
five states saw snowfall of three feet (91cm) or more, the hazards of
shovelling snow were brought home by at least six deaths.
A further 12 people have died in other snow-related incidents since Friday.
The storm, dubbed Snowmageddon and Snowzilla on social media, is weakening and heading for the Atlantic Ocean.
It has affected some 85 million people, cutting power to 200,000
people. The heaviest fall was recorded in Glengary, West Virginia, which
had 42ins (107 cm).
In Washington DC, the metro is set to remain closed and air travel in the region faces further disruption.
Some
7,000 flights were cancelled this weekend and disruption is to continue
into the working week, with at least 615 cancelled for Monday.
Elements often come together to create snow, but not always in the same way and to this extent - it was the perfect winter storm
A low pressure system was able to transport and circulate huge amounts of moisture north from the Gulf of Mexico
The position of the jet stream allowed a low pressure system to be picked up and drawn northwards along the eastern seaboard
Very warm air falling into very cold air from the north and mixing meant there was only one thing that would happen - snow
Very strong winds: low pressure moves
in one direction and high pressure in another and, much like cogs in a
wheel, they increased the wind
The storm moved especially slowly, leading to more snow being dumped over a long time
Many people have taken to streets and parks to enjoy the snow, with a
giant snowball fight breaking out on Times Square, New York, overnight.
Eight
museum employees will be charged with negligence after a botched
reattachment of the beard on King Tutankhamun's mask, Egyptian
authorities said.
King Tut's burial mask is displayed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and is considered a valuable artifact from ancient history.
There
have been differing accounts of how the mask's blue-and-gold braided
beard broke off since its damage came to light in 2014.
At
the time, a museum conservator said the beard detached when the mask
accidentally fell during cleaning. It was quickly reattached with a
strong adhesive, but the glue left a gap between the face and the beard,
the conservator said.
Others said the beard loosened with age.
Museum officials dismissed the claims when they emerged, saying reports of the mask's damage were unfounded.
Investigation opened
Prosecutors opened an investigation into the damage last year, saying workers did not follow protocol during restoration.
"The
(museum) officials dealt recklessly with a piece of an artifact that is
3,300 years old, produced by one of the oldest civilizations in the
world," the Administrative Prosecution said Saturday in a statement to
state-run Ahram Online.
Prosecutors
said the eight people who will be charged are six restorers and two
former heads of the restoration section at the museum.
They are accused of negligence and violation of the professional rules of the workplace, the statement said.
It did not say when the trial will be.
Boy king
The
boy king's elaborate burial mask, discovered in his tomb in 1922, is
major tourist attraction and draws visitors from all over the world.
Tutankhamun, who ruled from 1336-1327 BC, is thought to have been about 17 years old when he died.
Mask fixed
After the botched attempt, the museum brought in experts who fixed the mask.
King Tut's case is not the first time a historical treasure was damaged in a place where it's supposed to be safe.
Last year, a boy tore a hole in a $1.5 million artwork during a visit to a Leonardo da Vinci-themed show in Taipei, Taiwan.
Mr Goldberg called for a leadership clearout of the ANC
Veteran African National Congress (ANC) activist Denis Goldberg has called for leaders of the party to be replaced.
In an interview, he alleged that the ANC leadership, locally and nationally, was riddled with corruption.
Mr Goldberg said that leaders' focus on personal enrichment was threatening freedom in South Africa.
As
a member of the ANC's military wing, he was convicted of armed
resistance to apartheid and sentenced to four life terms in 1964.
Mr Goldberg was the only white man to be convicted among 10 people on trial for their lives alongside Nelson Mandela.
Huge steps had been made in education, health care and the
development of the civil service since the end of apartheid, Mr Goldberg
said.
"We have undoubtedly made huge progress, [but] we have more progress to make," he told John Pienaar.
Apartheid enforced a racial hierarchy privileging white South Africans
The economy is three times larger than it was when apartheid came to an end in 1994, he said.
"Corruption
is a problem. I personally believe, and I will say it publicly as I do
in South Africa, the members of the ANC need to renew the leadership
from top to bottom.
"I'm not going to name names, because it's a problem throughout, from national, provincial and local government level."
The
ANC veteran told the Pienaar's Politics programme that "a definite
attempt" was now required by ANC members to say "enough is enough" and
instigate a leadership clearout.
"Let us focus on the needs of our
people, not on your needs as new political leaders with access to
power, and therefore wealth and personal enrichment, which robs us, in a
way, of our freedom," he said.
Denis Goldberg
Served 22 years in Pretoria's whites-only Central Prison
"Being black and involved [in the
struggle] meant you had the support of many people and it meant you got
to be part of a community. Being white and involved meant being
isolated," he once said
Strongly critical of Israel's
treatment of the Palestinians and its warm relations with the apartheid
government despite Israel interceding on his behalf
Worked for the ANC's London office from 1985 to 1994
