Snow disrupts transport in Alps, several dead A woman walks on an icy road after heavy snowfall in Warngau near Munich, Germany, on Sunday. Authorities in southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland have closed roads and some train lines due to heavy snowfall in the region. At least five have died in weather-related incidents in the area over the weekend. Officials warned that the risk for avalanches in the northern Alps remains high.SD-Agencies Suspected USS Cole bombing planner killed Jamal al-Badawi, wanted by the United States for his suspected role in the attack on the USS Cole 18 years ago, was killed in a precision strike* in Yemen on January 1, U.S. Central Command said on Sunday. Badawi was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2003 over his role in the deadly October 2000 deadly bombing of the USS Cole, a Navy guided-missile destroyer. He escaped from prison in Yemen twice, once in 2003 and again in 2006. “U.S. forces confirmed the results of the strike following a deliberate assessment process,” said Central Command spokesman Captain Bill Urban. Thailand will not forcibly deport Saudi woman The Saudi woman who made a desperate plea for asylum* after landing at Bangkok Airport will not be forcibly deported from Thailand, an official said on Monday. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun said that she ran away from her family while travelling in Kuwait because they subjected her to physical and psychological abuse. The 18-year-old said she had planned to seek asylum in Australia and feared she would be killed if repatriated* by Thai immigration officials who stopped her during transit on Sunday. Four die in Spain building fires Four people died on Saturday and a baby girl in critical condition was among the injured, in two separate tower block fires in northeastern Spain, firefighters said. The first blaze started on Saturday morning in a 10-story block of flats in Badalona, about 10 kilometers northeast of Barcelona, said firefighters in the Catalonia region. Three people died, including a 92-year-old woman and two other people not yet identified, the regional government said. Among those injured were a baby girl, who is in critical condition, and two adults. Assembly rejects legitimacy of Maduro 2nd term Venezuela’s opposition-controlled but toothless* National Assembly declared Nicolas Maduro’s presidency illegitimate* on Saturday, calling on the military to support efforts to “restore democracy.” The United States, which has sanctioned Venezuelan officials and entities, hailed the legislature as “the only legitimate and last remaining democratically elected institution” in the country. Bolton puts conditions on Syria withdrawal U.S. President Trump’s national security adviser, John R. Bolton, rolled back Trump’s decision to rapidly withdraw from Syria, laying out conditions on Sunday for a pullout* that could leave American forces there for months or even years. Bolton, making a visit to Israel, told reporters that American forces would remain in Syria until the last remnants* of the Islamic State (IS) were defeated and Turkey provided guarantees that it would not strike Kurdish forces allied with the United States. (SD-Agencies) | 