The Belgian Flemish Mobility Minister Ben Weyts had finished his press address about Flemish investments in cycling infrastructure, when it turned out that his own bicycle had been stolen
The minister had taken the bicycle to the press conference to set the right example, but was left empty-handed.
The Minister had taken the race bike to the press conference in Halle (south-west of Brussels) but had an unpleasant surprise afterwards. His two-wheeler turned out to have vanished.
“I locked my bicycle properly. The press conference was not far from where I left it, but apparently somebody managed to steal it. We hope to use CCTV footage to catch the thief, and to have him account for his deeds”, Weyts told media.

A prominent environmentalist in Mexico has been shot dead over the weekend, highlighting the dangers facing activists in Latin America and prompting calls for better protection of land and indigenous rights campaigners.
Isidro Baldenegro had spent many years organizing peaceful protests against illegal logging in the Sierra Madre mountains. In 2005 he won the prestigious Goldman environmental prize.
Isidro Baldenegro was a community leader for Mexico’s indigenous Tarahumara people and was one of the country’s most prominent environmental activists.
He had recently returned to his home village after receiving death threats against himself and his family.
Mr Baldenegro known for his fight against illegal logging in the country’s Sierra Madre mountain region, was the second recipient of the Goldman Prize, given to grassroots activists, to be murdered in less than a year.
For years he led non-violent protests against logging projects, including sit-ins and human blockades.

A lawyer representing Julian Assange has indicated that the WikiLeaks founder is prepered to face extradition to the US after Barack Obama commuted the sentence of US army whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Manning is a United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly three-quarters of a million classified or unclassified but sensitive military and diplomatic documents.
On 12th January Julian Assange agreed to face extradition to the US if President Barack Obama granted Chelsea Manning clemency. Today, Obama took many by surprise when he did just that, reducing Manning’s sentence from 35 years to 7 and setting the new release date to 17th May, of this year.
Assange has been holed up at the Ecuadorian embassy in London since claiming asylum there in 2012. He has refused to meet prosecutors in Sweden, where he remains wanted on an allegation of rape, which he denies. He has repeatedly said he fears extradition to the US on espionage charges if he leaves the embassy, though at the moment the only public extradition ruling against him comes from Sweden.

Samsung heir-apparent Lee Jae-yong has been named as a suspect in a bribery case in the massive influence-peddling scandal that led to the impeachment of the South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye.
Lee Jae-yong is Samsung Electronics’ vice chairman and South Korean authorities said today (11th) that he will be summoned to face questions by investigators probing whether South Korea’s largest business group bribed a jailed confidante of President Park Geun-hye to win favours.
The possible favours include getting the government’s backing on a controversial Samsung merger in 2015 that was opposed by minority shareholders.
Lee and members of his family were the biggest beneficiaries of the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, which helped Lee increase his control over Samsung Electronics without having to spend his money to buy its shares.
The former health minister overseeing the government-controlled national pension fund was arrested last year. The pension fund, the biggest shareholder in Samsung C&T, voted for the merger even though its advisers recommended voting against it, giving the crucial vote Samsung needed to secure shareholder approval.

President-elect Donald Trump is hiring his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a senior adviser in the West Wing, giving him a sweeping portfolio and status that will make him one of the most influential figures in the administration.

Like his father-in-law, Kushner has no previous experience in government. The potential for a White House role raised ethical questions due to anti-nepotism laws and Kushner’s chief executive role at Kushner Companies, a real estate development firm.
However, an existing law bars presidents from picking relatives for agencies. Kushner, 35, will need to argue that the federal anti-nepotism law does not apply to him. The law, enacted in 1967 after John F Kennedy appointed his brother as attorney general, prohibits any federal official from hiring family members to an agency or office which he or she leads.
Kushner is an American businessman and investor. He is principal owner of the real estate holding and development company Kushner Companies and Observer Media, publisher of the weekly New York Observer.
Kushner Companies has invested billions in real estate around the US in the last decade, and relies heavily on foreign investment and lenders.
Experts have said that even should Kushner place holdings in a blind trust, he would still test ethics laws. Kushner will be required to make some financial disclosures, and would continuously test the limits of the law in the White House.

At least 48 journalists have been killed while doing their job in 2016 according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Last year the figure was 72.
The organization stated 26 of the journalists killed in 2016 died in combat or crossfire, covering conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan and Somalia.
The group said just 18 of the journalists killed in 2016 were directly targeted in retaliation for their work – the lowest number since 2002.
Syria was the deadliest country for journalists for the fifth year in a row. At least 14 journalists were killed there in 2016.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has been tracking deaths among reporters and broadcasters since 1992.

Donald Trump, the US President elect thrives in appointing billionaires to assist him in his government. The billionaires included in his cabinet are Wilbur Ross, his pick as Commerce Secretary, Todd Ricketts, who is the nominee for deputy commerce secretary, Education secretary nominee Betsy De Vos, and Vincent Viola, who is Trump’s pick for secretary of the Army.

Carl Icahn, long notorious for asset stripping and destroying jobs, is the seventh billionaire to be assigned a major role in the Trump administration.

Icahn would serve as Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform under Trump.
According to Forbes he is worth $16.5 billion, making him the 50th richest man in the world.
Mr. Icahn, also controls an oil refiner and has spent months fighting the Environmental Protection Agency over a rule he says hurts the industry.