1. Samsung blames fires on faulty batteries

    The world’s biggest smartphone maker Samsung blamed faulty batteries on Monday for the fires that hit its flagship Galaxy Note 7 device last year, as it sought to draw a line under the humiliating recall.

    Samsung Electronics was forced to discontinue the smartphone, originally intended to compete with Apple’s iPhone, after a chaotic recall that saw replacement devices also catching fire.

    The debacle* cost the South Korean company billions in lost profit and reputational* damage, during a torrid* period when it has also been embroiled* in a corruption scandal that has seen South Korean President Park Geun-hye being impeached.

    2. 18 dead amid tornadoes, storms in US

    A severe storm system that spun off apparent tornadoes, pulverized* mobile homes and scattered* other destruction around the U.S. Southeast has claimed at least 18 lives on a two-day assault on the region, authorities said.

    The enormous system put millions of people in the South on edge during a weekend of violent weather that destroyed homes, downed trees and caused other damage in the hardest-hit communities from Mississippi to Georgia.

    3. British PM probed after missile ‘misfires’

    A test firing of an unarmed British nuclear Trident missile from a submarine malfunctioned* last June, the Sunday Times has reported, prompting questions about why Prime Minister Theresa May did not tell parliament ahead of a vote on renewing the submarines.

    The paper quoted a senior naval source as saying the missile may have veered* off in the wrong direction towards the American mainland when it was fired off the coast of Florida. It was the only test firing of a British nuclear missile in four years.

    4. Dozens killed in Yemen fighting

    Renewed fighting in the Yemen conflict killed about 75 people on Saturday and Sunday, according to Yemeni news reports.

    Two drone* strikes in the central Yemeni province of Bayda on Saturday killed 10 militants with al-Qaida, three of them hit while riding on a motorcycle and the other seven killed in a vehicle in a separate drone attack in the same area, the reports said.

    The United States did not take responsibility for the strikes, as is its standard policy. No other forces are known to be conducting drone strikes in the area.

    5. 1m stage Anti-Trump protests across US

    More than 1 million people on Saturday took to the streets and staged rallies across the United States to protest against Donald Trump’s first full day as the 45th U.S. president.

    In New York City, at least 200,000 people gathered near the Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women’s March on New York City.

    Carrying signs that said “Dear Trump don’t be the person we think” and “I wish your inauguration was fake news,” more and more people lined the streets on the 42nd Street and 58th Street, waiting to take part in the march.

    6. More survivors pulled from rubble in Italy

    More people have been found alive under the wreckage* of Italy’s Rigopiano Hotel, according to Luca Cari, the spokesman for Italy’s National Fire Brigade.

    This brings the number of survivors to 11. Four people have been found dead and 20 others are still missing.

    Hotel Rigopiano, a four-star hotel at the foot of the Gran Sasso mountain about 135 kilometers northeast of Rome, was buried in snow Wednesday afternoon after a series of earthquakes.

    From Thursday on, rescuers scrambled to find more survivors after the deadly avalanche swallowed the hotel, trapping dozens of people inside.(SD-Agencies)