United States: The man killed in a blaze at New York City's Trump Tower was an art collector who spent time with Andy Warhol, but fell on hard financial times in recent years and went through bankruptcy proceedings. Todd Brassner, 67, died yesterday at a hospital after a fire tore through his 50th-floor apartment in the high-rise, which was constructed at a time when building codes did not require the residential section to have sprinklers. The city's Department of Buildings said today the building did have working hard-wired smoke detectors. A cause of the fire had not yet been determined. Brassner, who records show bought his unit in 1996, is mentioned several times in Warhol's posthumously published diaries, with references including lunch dates and shared taxis. The artist signed and dedicated at least one print to him.
United States: An Allegiant Air passenger jet skidded off a snowy runway in South Dakota. Allegiant spokeswoman Krysta Levy says Flight 456 carrying 155 passengers and six crew members from Las Vegas touched down at Sioux Falls Regional Airport when heavy snow and crosswinds caused the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 to slide 6m off the runway. Levy says passengers walked down the plane's rear stairs and were taken by buses to the terminal. She says no one was injured. The plane came to rest with its front wheels in a patch of grass, and remained upright and level.
Britain: The British Government plans to tighten laws on weapons due to a recent wave of crime, including stabbings and acid attacks. The Home Office said it plans to ban the sale of most dangerous corrosive products to people under the age of 18 and restrict online sales of knives among other measures. The changes come as part of the Offensive Weapons Bill, which is to be tabled within weeks, as part of the government's strategy to lower violent attacks. The measures to be proposed in the following weeks also include a ban on rapid firing rifles and equipment that helps to speed up a rifle's rate of fire, such as a bump stock.
France: Travellers have grappled with another crippling wave of transport strikes in France, as train workers protested against President Emmanuel Macron's economic reforms and a stand-off between the government and rail unions hardened. Train staff last week began three months of nationwide rolling strikes in a dispute over the government's planned overhaul of state-run railway SNCF. Talks between workers and ministers have so far hit a wall. Some unions are stiffening their resistance, while the government has dug in its heels on the main aspects of its reform, which include the end of job-for-life guarantees for rail staff. Officials at the CGT union said on Friday strikes could drag on well beyond June if nothing shifted.
Canada: A hockey arena became the epicentre of grief for a small Canadian town as friends, relatives and those who housed members of a youth hockey team gathered to mourn 15 people killed when a semi-trailer slammed into the team's bus. Fourteen were also injured, some critically, in a collision that left the country, its national sport and the hockey-obsessed town of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, reeling. Residents of this town of less than 6,000 people have been leaving flowers, team jerseys and personal tributes on the steps of the arena's entrance, forming a makeshift memorial. While most of the players were from elsewhere in western Canada, they were put up by families in Humboldt.
United States: Late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel has apologised for a joke about first lady Melania Trump's accent and moved to de-escalate a feud with Fox News host Sean Hannity. Kimmel says in a Twitter post his exchanges with Hannity have been fun but he doesn't want to add to the "vitriol" of their spat. He says such animosity is "harmful to our country." Hannity says he'll address Kimmel's statement.
Australia: The Australian live export industry is under fire after video emerged of hundreds of sheep dying in extreme heat and filth aboard ships bound for the Middle East. The video, filmed by a navigation officer aboard multiple voyages, shows dozens of distressed sheep struggling to breathe while dead animals are thrown over the side of the boat. Some of the footage, shown on Nine Network's 60 Minutes programme last night, allegedly came from a voyage by market giant Emanuel Experts, which is now the focus of a potential blockade. Federal Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud said he was "shocked and deeply disturbed" by the vision. An Emanuel Exports ship carrying 65,000 live sheep and 250 cattle to the Middle East will be blocked from leaving Australia tomorrow if the export company fails to meet strict new conditions. The Agriculture Department wants the amount of stock on the ship to be reduced, and independently gathered video and photographs of conditions sent to the department every day after it sets sail.
Brazil: Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva woke up in jail today as the first current or former president in Brazil's modern history to be incarcerated, adding a measure of unpredictability to the country's upcoming presidential elections. Foreshadowing possible unrest in the weeks to come, about 500 supporters remained outside of the jail hours after police shot rubber bullets and sprayed tear gas to disperse the crowd. The Workers' Party said eight people were injured during the previous night's clashes and one was hospitalised. No serious injuries were reported.
Syria: Rebel fighters have begun leaving the besieged city of Douma for a rebel-held area of northern Syria under a deal with the Russian Army that Russian military police will help to enforce, opposition negotiators say. Under the agreement, Jaish al-Islam fighters will evacuate Douma and move to the northern city of Jarablus, near the border with Turkey, within 48 hours, state media quoted an official source as saying. Jaish al-Islam, one of the most prominent insurgent groups in the war, is bowing to the Syrian Government's demand to pull out of Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus, after the city was devastated by a seven-week government offensive. The Government said under the deal rebels will release an undisclosed number of prisoners and hostages in their prisons.