ISIS spiritual leader allegedly captured in Mosul Iraq

A Polish pig farmer is feared to have been eaten by his own pigs after collapsing from a suspected heart attack. Neighbors, curious after not seeing the 71-year-old, identified only as Krzysztof, since New Year’s Eve visited his farm to find a pile of bones and skull fragments. He is believed to have been devoured by 12 Hungarian Mangalica pigs.

Miss Thunberg delivered a passionate plea to more than 10,000 climate protesters in the city of Lausanne Switzerland while speaking ahead of the Davos 2020 World Economic Forum next week. Greta called upon leaders from around the world to ’wake up’ to the climate emergency. She is attending Davos for the second year in a row and will take part in two panel events.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, making his first sermon in eight years in Tehran, branded US President Trump a ’clown’ who only pretended to support the Iranian people. Called the downing of a Ukranian plane a ’bitter accident’, Khamenei said Iran’s enemies had seized on the crash to question the country. Separately, he said Iran would be willing to negotiate, but not with the US.

Ukraine’s prime minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has offered his resignation after audio was leaked of him allegedly criticizing President Zelensky’s understanding of the economy. In a supporting statement, Honcharuk said the audio ’artificially created an impression that my team and I do not respect the president’. Zelensky’s office said it is considering a course of action.

In a latest series of ideas, the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has announced that he plans to sell off the official jet of his predecessor. According to the President, the plane is too luxurious for the President of a country where half of the people live in poverty.

A 69 year old man died in China after being infected by a new virus that has infected 41 other people. The infection, which originated in the city of Wuhan, is a pneumonia like outbreak. It has also infected three people outside China. While the new illness comes from the same family as that of the deadly SARS, it is not as lethal, health experts have said.

Taiwan has reported the sailing of a US warship through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday. The ship sailed in a northerly direction through the waterway and Taiwan’s armed forces monitored it throughout, the Taiwanese ministry said in a brief statement. China has added that it kept a close eye on the US Navy vessel.

The US treated 11 of its troops for symptoms of concussion after an Iranian missile attack on an Iraqi base on January 8 where US forces were stationed, the US military said Thursday. The US military had previously said that there were no casualties after the strike. As a measure of caution, some service members were taken to US facilities in Germany or Kuwait for ’follow-on screening’.

A bill has been passed by the regional government of Balearic Islands which has aimed at clamping down on alcohol-fueled holidays. No new licenses will be granted for new party boats while happy hours, two-for-one drinks parties and free bars have been banned due to the law.

Christopher Tolkien, the son of ’The Lord of the Rings’ author J. R. R. Tolkien, has died at 95. Christopher, a former lecturer at the University of Oxford, is credited with drawing the 1954 map of Middle-earth for his father’s novel The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was his father’s literary executor, editing much of the author’s work published posthumously, including ’The Silmarillion.’

Rio de Janeiro police are investigating workers at a state utility after foul-smelling tap water began flowing into dozens of neighborhoods in the city. Police are expected to question staff at Cedae, the water utility, to find out whether sabotage, human error or natural changes in the water could be responsible for the odor and taste. Residents have reported a brownish color to their water.

Outgoing Bank of England Gov. Carney is set to join as a climate advisor to PM Boris Johnson. Carney steps down from the BoE in March and has already accepted a role as a UN envoy on finance and climate change, taking over from former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. ’His expertise will help the UK to lead in mobilizing businesses and investors to support our net-zero revolution’, Johnson said.

The US ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris is facing criticism by some local media and activists over his moustache. The facial hair has been compared with those of officials in the Japanese colonial government that ruled Korea from 1910 to 1945. Harris was born to a Japanese mother and an American father.