Steve Bannon says inauguration marks ‘official surrender’ of tech titans to Trump

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Former Trump White House adviser says supplication akin to Japanese surrender to allied forces in September 1945

Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House chief strategist, has described the tech titans gathering at Monday’s inauguration as “supplicants” to Donald Trump making “an official surrender”, akin to the Japanese surrender to allied forces on the deck of the USS Missouri in September 1945.

Bannon, who served as architect of Trump’s 2016 presidential win but later fell out with the president-elect after he criticized his intellect and members of his family, told ABC News in an interview airing Sunday that Trump “broke the oligarchs” who had previously been aligned against him.

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Russia Attacks Kyiv With Ballistic Missiles, Ukraine Says – The New York Times

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  1. Russia Attacks Kyiv With Ballistic Missiles, Ukraine Says  The New York Times
  2. Friday, January 17. Russia’s War On Ukraine: News And Information From Ukraine  Forbes
  3. Russian strikes kill six in Ukraine including in Kyiv, officials say  Reuters
  4. Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,059  Al Jazeera English
  5. Russian ballistic missiles kill 3 and hit water main in Kyiv, officials say  The Washington Post
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South Korean court orders formal arrest of President Yoon over martial law decree – NPR

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  1. South Korean court orders formal arrest of President Yoon over martial law decree  NPR
  2. YouTube election fraud conspiracy theories fuel impeached South Korean president and his supporters  The Associated Press
  3. South Korean president arrested, accused of leading insurrection  The Washington Post
  4. Yoon supporters storm Seoul courthouse after judge extends detention  Financial Times
  5. Yoon Suk Yeol: South Korea impeached president arrested after investigators scale walls  BBC.com
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Ski lift at Spanish resort collapses, injuring dozens – CNN

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  1. Ski lift at Spanish resort collapses, injuring dozens  CNN
  2. Dozens injured, trapped in a ski lift accident in northern Spain  Reuters
  3. Ski Lift Collapse Injures Dozens of People and Traps About 80 Skiers in Chairlifts at Resort: ‘We Were Hurt’  PEOPLE
  4. 'People were flying': Eyewitnesses describe ski lift collapse  BBC
  5. Around 30 people injured in Spain as chairlift collapse at ski resort  Euronews
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Gunman shoots dead 2 judges in Iran’s capital tied to 1988 mass executions – The Associated Press

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  1. Gunman shoots dead 2 judges in Iran’s capital tied to 1988 mass executions  The Associated Press
  2. Two Prominent Judges Are Shot Dead Outside Iran’s Supreme Court  The New York Times
  3. Two judges shot dead in Iran’s supreme court building, state media say  The Guardian
  4. Two Iran Supreme Court judges killed in Tehran shooting attack  Al Jazeera English
  5. Two Iranian ‘judges of death’ gunned down in Tehran  Yahoo! Voices
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Two judges shot dead in Iran’s supreme court building, state media say

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Unnamed gunman killed Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghisseh before shooting himself, Mezan reports

Two judges have been killed in a shooting on Saturday at the supreme court building in Tehran, Iranian state media have reported.

“This morning, a gunman infiltrated the supreme court in a planned act of assassination of two brave and experienced judges. The two judges were martyred in the act,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported.

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Italian Reporter’s Ordeal in Iranian Prison: ‘I Was Trapped in a Game’ – The New York Times

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  1. Italian Reporter’s Ordeal in Iranian Prison: ‘I Was Trapped in a Game’  The New York Times
  2. Musk played no part in release of journalist held in Iran, Italy says  Reuters
  3. Italian journalist Cecilia Sala freed from Iran with Elon Musk's help, reports claim  Euronews
  4. Elon Musk Helps Free Italian Prisoner In Iran  The Daily Beast
  5. Musk ‘helped get Italian journalist out of jail in Iran’  The Telegraph
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Mined diamonds are a waste of money, an expert says. Here’s why

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Lab-grown diamonds sell for one-quarter of the price of traditional ones and an Australian wholesale broker says he can’t tell the difference

When Steve Richards, a gemologist trained to identify grades of precious jewels, was considering a Christmas present for his wife, he settled on a pair of diamond earrings.

These diamonds, however, were not formed deep in the Earth over millions or billions of years and brought to the surface through volcanic eruptions. They were grown in a lab over a matter of weeks and bought for a fraction of the price.

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Fema’s message to LA wildfire victims: ‘carefully consider’ GoFundMe appeals

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Having a GoFundMe does not disqualify someone from aid – but it might affect their eligibility to cover specific needs

After the house that she grew up in burned down in the Eaton fire in Altadena, California, last week, Steven Celiceo’s wife Kiri suggested that the couple visit the local library. As a librarian herself, she knew there were resources being distributed – and Fema agents available – at nearby branches.

The couple had heard some concerning claims on social media and wanted to sort fact from fiction. Like hundreds of other Angelenos, Celiceo had launched a GoFundMe for his in-laws – but rumors were floating around that its existence could prevent the family from receiving badly needed funds.

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Revealed: Conservatives spent £134m on never-used IT systems for failed Rwanda scheme

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Home Office official says data protection laws caused the cost of its forced removal programme to increase

The Conservative government spent more than £130m on IT and data systems for the scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, which will never be used, the Observer can reveal.

Digital tools needed to put the forced removal programme into effect made up the second-largest chunk of the £715m spent in little over two years, behind only the £290m handed directly to Paul Kagame’s government.

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