Japan's Princess Mako has married her commoner boyfriend and left the royal family.
The emperor's niece, who was engaged to her college sweetheart for years, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over the scrutiny the pair were placed under.
Mako and Kei Komuro, both 30, announced their engagement four years ago.
The engagement was initially praised in the country, but tabloids reported on a money scandal involving Mr Komuro's mother, which prompted the press to turn on him.
Their marriage was postponed and Mr Komuro left Japan to study in New York in 2018, and only returned to japan last month.
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Image:Princess Mako heads for her wedding ceremony Pic: AP
For them to get married, an official from the Imperial Household Agency (IHA), which runs the lives of the royals, submitted paperwork to a local office in the morning.
They decided to forgo the typical rituals and ceremonies of royal weddings, including a reception.
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Mako also refused a one-off payment of around £944,000 typically given to royal women who marry commoners and become ordinary citizens.
Mr Komuro appeared outside his home in the morning wearing a dark suit and a tie. He bowed briefly to camera crews but said nothing.
The pair will move to New York where they will live together.
However, Mako will live on her own in Tokyo for some time after the wedding to prepare for the move. She will need to apply for the first passport of her life.
The White House has outlined new rules for foreign travellers to the US, as flight restrictions lift for the first time since the pandemic began in 2020.
The plan to reopen the US border next month to foreign flights includes a requirement that almost all foreign visitors be vaccinated against Covid.
The US travel ban has grown to include dozens of countries, including the UK, much of Europe, China and India.
The travel industry has been asking for US President Joe Biden to lift the ban.
Originally imposed by Donald Trump, the ban on flights from most foreign countries was extended when Mr Biden took power in January 2021.
The rule bans most visitors from Brazil, China, South Africa, the UK, the 26 Schengen countries in Europe, Ireland, India and Iran.
"It is in the interests of the United States to move away from the country-by-country restrictions previously applied during the Covid-19 pandemic and to adopt an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of international air travel to the United States," Mr Biden's proclamation says.
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Airlines must confirm that the proof of vaccination comes from an "official source" and was received at least two weeks prior. Any vaccines approved by US health regulators will be accepted.
Unvaccinated travellers, including Americans, will have to show a negative Covid test taken within one day of departure.
Children under the age of 18 will be exempt from the vaccination requirement but must still provide a negative test taken within three days of travel.
Sudan's top general has declared a state of emergency and dissolved the country's transitional government - as the prime minister's office said a "complete coup" was under way.
Sudan's interim prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, and at least five senior officials are understood to have been detained by military forces.
Thousands have taken to the streets in protest in the capital, Khartoum.
General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council, said in a televised address that he was dissolving the power-sharing body as well as the government.
Image:The general announced on TV that he was dissolving the government. Pic: AP
He said the military was intervening due to arguments among political factions and that a new technocrat government would steer the country towards elections.
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Mr Hamdok's office said on Facebook that he and his wife had been detained early on Monday in a "complete coup".
Sudan's information ministry said he had been taken to an undisclosed location after refusing to support the military's actions.
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In a statement to Reuters, it called it a "coup attempt".
The country's main pro-democracy group, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), called on people to resist.
"We urge the masses to go out on the streets and occupy them, close all roads with barricades, stage a general labour strike, and not to cooperate with the putschists and use civil disobedience to confront them," it said.
Image:Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his wife have been detained, his office said
Thousands in Khartoum and twin city Omdurman responded, with video appearing to show protesters blocking streets and setting tyres on fire as security forces used tear gas.
Chants of "the people are stronger, stronger" and "retreat is not an option!" could be heard.
The information ministry said some people had faced gunfire near the military's headquarters in Khartoum.
Officials said others being held included industry minister Ibrahim al Sheikh, information minister Hamza Baloul, Mohammed al Fiky Suliman, a member of the ruling Sovereign Council, and Faisal Mohammed Saleh, a media adviser to Mr Hamdok.
Ayman Khalid, the governor of the state containing Khartoum, was also arrested, according to his office's Facebook page.
Significant internet and mobile phone outages have also been reported in the country.
Image:People gathered on the streets of Khartoum amid calls to resist any coup attempt
The arrests come after weeks of rising tensions between Sudan's civilian and military leaders following a failed coup attempt in September.
A coup would be a major setback for Sudan, which has struggled with a move to democracy since protests ended Omar al Bashir's long reign two years ago.
Civilian and military groups have been sharing power since then and elections were due to be held by the end of 2023.
Leadership of the joint Sovereign Council was meant to be passed from the military to a civilian figure in the coming months.
Sudan remains in the grip of an economic crisis, with high inflation and shortages of basic goods. However, there were signs international aid was starting to help.
Josep Borrell, the EU foreign affairs chief, tweeted his "utmost concern" over the situation, while US special envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman said Washington was "deeply alarmed".
AU Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat called for Sudan's political leaders to be released and human rights upheld.
The United Nations and Arab League also expressed concern.
Alec Baldwin had been rehearsing when a revolver fired and struck a
cinematographer while on set last week, court documents reveal.
Alec Baldwin drew the revolver across his body and pointed it at a camera when the weapon fired and struck the cinematographer in the chest, court documents reveal.
The film's director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her, was shot in the shoulder.
Image:A view of the entrance to Bonanza Creek Ranch where Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot the cinematographer
Baldwin, 63, was rehearsing a scene on Thursday in which he was set to draw his gun while sitting in a church pew and point it at the camera, according to court documents released on Sunday.
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He drew the revolver across his body when the weapon fired and struck the cinematographer, Mr Souza told a detective.
Mr Souza also stated that because of his job he was focusing on the monitors of the cameras and screens when the incident took place.
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Cameraman Reid Russell told a detective the camera was not rolling when the gun went off, striking and killing cinematographer Ms Hutchins.
He added that Baldwin was very careful when handling firearms on set, and recalled an instance when the actor made sure a child actor was not near him when a gun was being discharged.
Image:Candles at a vigil for Halyna Hutchins in Albuquerque, New Mexico
The Hollywood actor had been told the handgun was unloaded, authorities in Santa Fe stated.
In the court documents Mr Souza also told police he saw Ms Hutchins had been shot in the chest area.
"Joel then vaguely remembers (Hutchins) complaining about her stomach and grabbing her midsection. Joel also said (Hutchins) began to stumble backwards and she was assisted to the ground," the court documents read.
Mr Souza also told police he remembered hearing the phrase "cold gun" being said before the incident and that the scene they were shooting did not call for the use of live rounds.
He described the gunshot as sounding like a "whip and a loud pop".
Mr Russell, who was standing next to Ms Hutchins at the time of the shooting, told officials she also complained of not being able to feel her legs.
Image:Halyna Hutchins was shot dead on the set of Rust by Alec Baldwin with a prop gun
Authorities said on Friday that Dave Halls, the assistant director, had handed the weapon to Baldwin and announced "cold gun", indicating it was safe to use.
On Sunday, a crew member who had previously worked with Mr Halls said she had raised safety concerns about him in 2019.
The latest developments come as a distraught Baldwin was photographed on Saturday outside a hotel in Santa Fe embracing and talking with Matt Hutchins, the husband of Halyna Hutchins, and their nine-year-old son.
Meanwhile, production bosses have made the decision to "wrap the set" on the film Rust after Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun that fatally killed a cinematographer.
Image:Media gather outside the entrance to the film set following the tragic accident
In a letter to the film's crew obtained by NBC News, the production team offers help and support as "we all go through this tragic time and mourn the loss of our colleague and dear friend".
"We remain in close touch with Halyna's family and commend the strength they show in the face of unspeakable tragedy. It is beyond an inspiration," it reads.
It goes on to say: "As we go through this crisis, we have made the decision to wrap the set at least until the investigations are complete.
"As such, we are working through when you can pick up your personal items. You should expect an update on the wrap-out schedule tomorrow."
Image:Security guards stand near the entrance to Bonanza Creek Ranch
The production team adds that while their hearts are broken and it is "hard to see beyond the horizon", this is a "pause rather than an end".
"The spirit that brought us all to this special place remains," the letter adds.
Image:Actor Alec Baldwin leaving a New York court in 2019
It reminds the crew of the "support resources we have made available to you" and encouraged them to "reach out to the in-person and virtual grief counselors at any time".
Production bosses said they were also still cooperating with police as the investigation continues, adding they are "conducting an internal review of safety protocols".
"As with any ongoing investigation, we are limited in our ability to say anything further publicly or privately, and ask for your patience in that regards."
A German Muslim convert who joined the Islamic State group in Iraq has been jailed for 10 years in Munich over the killing of a Yazidi girl she and her husband had bought as a slave.
Jennifer Wenisch was judged to have committed a crime against humanity, having stood by when her husband left the five-year-old to die of thirst, chained outside in the blazing sun.
Wenisch's husband, an Iraqi jihadist, is on trial in Frankfurt.
The girl died in Fallujah in 2015.
Wenisch, 30, denied the charge. Her lawyers said the child's mother Nora was an unreliable witness, and they alleged there was no evidence the girl had actually died. Nora and the girl had been enslaved by IS, along with many other Yazidi.
The verdict on the husband, Taha al-Jumailly, is expected next month.
It is one of the first cases of an IS crime against the Yazidi community going to trial. The Yazidi, a Kurdish group from northern Iraq, were a particular target of IS brutality.
The court found Wenisch guilty of belonging to a foreign terrorist organisation, and of assisting attempted murder, an attempted war crime and a crime against humanity.
As a member of IS, it ruled, she supported the "destruction of the Yazidi religion" and "enslavement of the Yazidi people".
The judges said she had also threatened to shoot the Yazidi girl if she did not stop crying.
Court spokesman Florian Gliwitzky said: "The court handed down a sentence of nine years for the death of the child resulting from slavery, which it viewed as a crime against humanity, and two years and six months for membership of a terror group. This was made into a total sentence of 10 years."
Wenisch stood trial in Germany because of the legal principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows prosecutions for alleged war crimes, including genocide, occurring overseas. She was arrested in Turkey in 2016, then extradited to Germany, AFP news agency reports.
Wenisch allegedly served in an IS "anti-vice squad" which enforced strict Islamic rules in Mosul and Fallujah.
London-based human rights lawyer Amal Clooney was part of the legal team representing the girl's mother.
In 2014 IS fighters stormed into the ancestral heartland of the Yazidi people in northern Iraq, seizing thousands of women and children as slaves.
The most wanted drug lord in Colombia has been captured after more than a decade on the run, in an arrest that has been compared to that of Pablo Escobar.
Dairo Antonio Úsuga, who has been described by Colombia's president as "the most feared narcotrafficking leader in all the world", was arrested by armed security forces on Saturday.
Colombia's military presented the 50 year old to the media in handcuffs and wearing rubber boots.
Úsuga, better known by his alias Otoniel, is the alleged head of the much-feared Gulf Clan, whose army of assassins has terrorised much of northern Colombia to gain control of major cocaine smuggling routes through thick jungles north to Central America and onto the US.
Dairo Antonio Úsuga was presented to the media at a military base in Necocli, Colombia on Saturday. Credit: AP
He's long been a fixture on the US Drug Enforcement Administration's most-wanted fugitives list, for whose capture it had been offering a $5 million reward.
Described as a rural warlord, he was able evade capture for 12 years by corrupting state officials and aligning himself with combatants on the left and right.
President Iván Duque said the arrest was the "largest strike against the narcotrafficking gangs in this century in our country. This is only paralleled by the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s".
Úsuga was first indicted in 2009, in Manhattan federal court, on narcotics charges and for allegedly providing assistance to a far-right paramilitary group designated a terrorist organisation by the US government.
The arrest has been compared to the capture of Pablo Escobar three decades ago. Credit: AP
Later indictments in Brooklyn and Miami federal courts accused him of importing into the US at least 73 metric tons of cocaine between 2003 and 2014 through countries including Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, and Honduras.
But like many of his gunmen, he's also cycled through the ranks of several guerrilla groups, most recently claiming to lead the Gaitanist Self Defense Forces of Colombia, after a mid-20th century Colombian leftist firebrand.
Authorities said intelligence provided by the US and UK led more than 500 soldiers and members of Colombia's special forces to Úsuga's jungle hideout, which was protected by an eight rings of security.
Úsuga for years flew under the radar of authorities by eschewing the high profile of Colombia's better known narcos.
He and his brother, who was killed in a raid in 2012, got their start as gunmen for the now-defunct leftist guerrilla group known as the Popular Liberation Army and then later switched sides and joined the rebels' battlefield enemies, a right-wing paramilitary group.
He refused to disarm when that militia signed a peace treaty with the government in 2006, instead delving deeper into Colombia's criminal underworld and setting up operations in the strategic Gulf of Uraba region in northern Colombia, a major drug corridor surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean sea on either side.
Leaks and a network of rural safe houses he supposedly moved among every night allowed him for years to resist a scorched-earth campaign by the military against the Gulf Clan.
As he defied authorities, his legend as a bandit grew alongside the horror stories told by Colombian authorities of the many underage women he and his cohorts allegedly abused sexually.
Cocaine, harvested from coca leaves, is exported by drug cartels from Colombia to countries around the world. Credit: AP
But the war was taking its toll on the 50-year-old fugitive, who even while on the run insisted on sleeping on orthopedic mattresses to ease a back injury.
In 2017, he showed his face for the first time on occasion of Pope Francis' visit to the country, publishing a video in which he asked for his group be allowed to lay down its weapons and demobilise as part of the country's peace process with the much-larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
His arrest is something of a boost for the conservative Duque, who law and order rhetoric has been no match for soaring production of cocaine.
Land dedicated to the production of coca — the raw ingredient of cocaine — jumped 16% last year to a record 245,000 hectares, a level unseen in two decades of US eradication efforts, according to a White House report.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered ten western ambassadors to be declared persona non grata, risking a new low in Turkey’s already deeply strained relations with Europe and the US.
The Turkish leader has appeared to double down on a previous threat to expel the envoys, including the US and German ambassadors. The decision could torpedo Ankara’s recent efforts to repair ties with Washington and the EU and inflict more pain on the lira, which has fallen sharply in recent weeks amid worries about the economy.
Erdogan signalled that the diplomats would be forced to leave the country after signing a joint declaration, published last Monday, that called for the release of the jailed businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala.
“I gave the order to our foreign minister and said what must be done: these 10 ambassadors must be declared persona non grata at once. You will sort it out immediately,” he said in speech in the north-western city of Eskisehir.
“They must know and understand Turkey,” he added. “The day they do not know and understand Turkey, they will leave.”
The joint statement by the ten ambassadors — from Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the US — called for a swift and fair resolution to the case of Kavala, who has been behind bars for the past four years on charges of seeking to overthrow the government.
Human rights groups, opposition parties and even members of Erdogan’s own ruling party have described the charges as flimsy and politically motivated. In 2019, the European Court of Human Rights ordered his release.
But Kavala has remained trapped in a Kafkaesque series of trials. Last year he was acquitted of charges that he orchestrated the 2013 Gezi Park protests only to be rearrested hours later.
Kavala, 64, has become a symbol of the sweeping crackdown overseen by Erdogan in the wake of a 2016 coup attempt.
But Erdogan has maintained that he is a “terrorist”. Speaking on Thursday in response to the statement by the ambassadors, he said that they would not release “bandits, murderers and terrorists” in their own countries.
The president’s decision risks inflicting further damage on the already ailing Turkish lira, which has set a series of record lows in recent weeks amid investor concern about Erdogan’s interference in monetary policy and his broader management of the $765bn economy.
On Friday, the lira reached a new nadir of 9.66 against the dollar after the central bank on Thursday stunned markets by slashing its main interest rate at a time of rising inflation and growing financial instability.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the country’s main opposition leader, accused the Turkish president of acting not in the national interest but rather of “manufacturing fake justifications” for the state of the economy following Erdogan’s remarks.
Soner Cagaptay, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, a think-tank, described the decision as “insane, even by Turkish standards”.
He added: “I think [Erdogan] has digested the fact that the Turkish economy has gone bad beyond repair. Instead of trying to make things better, he is trying to blame the west.”
The US state department said it was aware of reports of Erdogan’s comments and was “seeking clarity” from the Turkey’s foreign ministry.
The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark said they had not yet received any notification from the Turkish authorities.
Several other affected countries said they had yet to receive any official notification from the Turkish authorities.
Additional reporting by Stefania Palma in Washington and Richard Milne in Oslo
