*Slobodan Praljak suicide 'could not have been prevented'*

*Slobodan Praljak suicide 'could not have been prevented'*

The UN court in the Hague says it could not have prevented a war criminal from taking poison and killing himself. Gambian judge Hassan Jallow said that without specific intelligence, no measures would have guaranteed the poison was detected. Bosnian Croat war criminal Slobodan Praljak died after taking potassium cyanide when his prison sentence was upheld.

Judge Jallow - who was appointed by the tribunal to investigate Praljak's death - said it was unclear how or when the convicted man came into possession of the potassium cyanide. Even if UN staff had received information about it, he said, the 200-300mg of powder - equivalent to a single tablet - "could easily have remained undetected even through the most intrusive searches of persons, cells, and other areas".

Limitations on intrusive searches and the screening equipment available to staff also meant poison would be hard to detect, Judge Jallow said. He made recommendations for search regimes and also proposed a 30-minute delay on the broadcast of court judgements. However, he said there were no gaps or flaws in the overall treatment of detainees and did not propose any changes to regulations.


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*Germany starts enforcing hate speech law*

*Germany starts enforcing hate speech law*

Germany is set to start enforcing a law that demands social media sites move quickly to remove hate speech, fake news and illegal material. Sites that do not remove "obviously illegal" posts could face fines of up to 50m euro (£44.3m).

The law gives the networks 24 hours to act after they have been told about law-breaking material. Social networks and media sites with more than two million members will fall under the law's provisions. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will be the law's main focus but it is also likely to be applied to Reddit, Tumblr and Russian social network VK. Other sites such as Vimeo and Flickr could also be caught up in its provisions.

Most material will have to be removed within 24 hours but networks will have a week to act on "complex cases". Facebook has reportedly recruited several hundred staff in Germany to deal with reports about content that breaks the NetzDG and to do a better job of monitoring what people post. The law has been controversial in Germany with some saying it could lead to inadvertent censorship or curtail free speech.

*Former Joint Chiefs chairman: Nuclear war with North Korea closer than ever*

*Former Joint Chiefs chairman: Nuclear war with North Korea closer than ever*

The United States is "closer to a nuclear war with North Korea" than ever, Adm. Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday, adding that he does not "see the opportunities to solve this diplomatically at this particular point."

In an interview on ABC's "This Week," Mullen warned that President Donald Trump's provocative rhetoric aimed at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un likely indicates he would prefer to take a more aggressive approach to countering the rogue regime's rapidly evolving nuclear weapons program.

The North Korean leader addressed the threat of war in a New Year's Day speech on Monday. "We are a responsible nuclear nation that loves peace," Kim said. "As long as there's no aggression against us we do not intend to use nuclear powers." "The US cannot wage a war against our country at all," Kim added. "The entire mainland of the US is within the range of our nuclear weapons, and the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office. They should accurately be aware that this is not a threat but a reality."

*JX0*: *10 Americans among 12 dead in Costa Rica plane crash*

📰 *JX0*: *10 Americans among 12 dead in Costa Rica plane crash*

A small plane crash Sunday in northwest Costa Rica killed 12 people, including 10 US citizens, officials said. The single-engine turboprop's two Costa Rican pilots also died in the crash, President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera said in a statement posted on social media. There were no survivors. Costa Rica's Ministry of Public Security posted several images of the wreckage on its official Facebook page, showing the plane engulfed in flames in a wooded area, with smoke billowing from charred rubble.

The plane took off from the Punta Islita Airport at 12:10 p.m. Sunday, bound for Costa Rica's capital of San Jose. Officials received reports of the crash around 12:20 p.m., 10 minutes after takeoff, CNN affiliate Teletica reported, citing civil aviation authorities.

Earlier Sunday, heavy winds had forced the plane's pilots to land at another airport and delay their arrival in Punta Islita, Teletica said.

*Wenger record won't be beaten, says old adversary Ferguson*

📰 *KQ7*: *Wenger record won't be beaten, says old adversary Ferguson*

Alex Ferguson believes Arsene Wenger's record for Premier League games managed will never be beaten.

Arsenal boss Wenger clocked up 811 Premier League fixtures in the dugout during Sunday's controversial 1-1 draw with West Brom, surpassing the benchmark previously set by his old foe Ferguson at Manchester United.

Wenger is widely seen as the last of a dying breed, having managed the Gunners for more than 20 years, into an era that has seen sackings become much more commonplace.

"I applaud Arsene on surpassing my record of managing 810 Premier League games," Ferguson said via the League Managers' Association.

"It is a fantastic milestone which has required the highest standards of dedication and professional management to achieve. I doubt his record, whatever it turns out to be, will ever be beaten.

"Congratulations on a truly remarkable career and great service to football and Arsenal FC."

📰: *Venezuela to raise minimum wage despite economic crisis*

📰 *JX1*: *Venezuela to raise minimum wage despite economic crisis*

Venezuela is set to raise its minimum wage by 40%, in a move expected to worsen already high levels of inflation. The country is suffering from an economic crisis in which shortages of food and medicine are common. Venezuela's economy has been hit by falling oil revenue and the plummeting value of the Bolivar.

President Nicolas Maduro announced the wage increase in his end-of-year address. He said the move would "protect workers" from what he called an economic war on the socialist nation by the United States and others.

Earlier this year, the US imposed sanctions on President Maduro, labelling him "a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people". The year has been marred by widespread protests and violence in Venezuela, culminating in the creation of a constituent assembly of Mr Maduro's supporters.
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