Parler, the social media app popular among American right-wing activists, has dropped its case against Amazon.com Inc for cutting off its web-hosting services, court documents from late Tuesday showed.

The app went dark in January as many service providers pulled back support, accusing it of failing to police violent content related to the attack on the US&nbsp;Capitol, the nation's legislative seat, by followers of then-President Donald Trump.

Google removed the application from its Play Store and Apple from App Store.

Parler sued Amazon, accusing it of making an illegal, politically motivated decision to shut it down to benefit Twitter Inc.

A US&nbsp;judge rejected its demand that Amazon restore services for the platform later in January. A month later, Parler re-launched its services online and said the new platform was built on "sustainable, independent technology."

Amazon has said that Parler ignored repeated warnings to effectively moderate the growth of violent content on its website, including calls to assassinate prominent Democratic politicians, leading business executives and members of the media.

Parler, however, has said there was no evidence apart from anecdotes in the press that it had a role in inciting the riots in Capitol and argued that it was unfair to deprive millions of law-abiding Americans a platform for free speech.

The social network, launched in 2018, operates much like Twitter, with profiles people can follow and "parleys" instead of tweets. Freedom of expression is its declared raison d'etre.

Based in Henderson, Nevada,&nbsp;Parler&nbsp;was founded by John Matze, a young computer engineer, and Rebekah Mercer, a prominent Republican donor.&nbsp;

In its early days, the platform attracted a crowd of ultra-conservative or even extreme-right users.

It now attracts many more traditional Republican voices.&nbsp;

Parler, the social media app popular among American right-wing activists, has dropped its case against Amazon.com Inc for cutting off its web-hosting services, court documents from late Tuesday showed.

Parler, the social media app popular among American right-wing activists, has dropped its case against Amazon.com Inc for cutting off its web-hosting services, court documents from late Tuesday showed. The app went dark in January as many service providers pulled back support, accusing it of failing to police violent content related to the attack on the US Capitol, the nation's legislative seat, by followers of then-President Donald Trump. Google removed the application from its Play Store and Apple from App Store. Parler sued Amazon, accusing it of making an illegal, politically motivated decision to shut it down to benefit Twitter Inc. A US judge rejected its demand that Amazon restore services for the platform later in January. A month later, Parler re-launched its services online and said the new platform was built on "sustainable, independent technology." Amazon has said that Parler ignored repeated warnings to effectively moderate the growth of violent content on its website, including calls to assassinate prominent Democratic politicians, leading business executives and members of the media. Parler, however, has said there was no evidence apart from anecdotes in the press that it had a role in inciting the riots in Capitol and argued that it was unfair to deprive millions of law-abiding Americans a platform for free speech. The social network, launched in 2018, operates much like Twitter, with profiles people can follow and "parleys" instead of tweets. Freedom of expression is its declared raison d'etre. Based in Henderson, Nevada, Parler was founded by John Matze, a young computer engineer, and Rebekah Mercer, a prominent Republican donor. In its early days, the platform attracted a crowd of ultra-conservative or even extreme-right users. It now attracts many more traditional Republican voices.

Parler app withdraws case against Amazon for pushing it offline over Capitol violence

Scientists have discovered that the Red Planet had up to 20 separate ice ages in a&nbsp;groundbreaking new analysis of the mysterious glaciers of Mars.

The study has been published in the&nbsp;Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS) and was conducted by researchers from the&nbsp;University of Arizona, Fitchburg State University, and the University of Texas–Austin.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/united-arab-emirates-publishes-first-photo-from-mars-probe-363569">United Arab Emirates publishes first photo from Mars probe</a>

In the case of the Earth,&nbsp;glaciers covered wide swaths of the planet during the last Ice Age, which reached its peak about 20,000 years ago, before receding to the poles and leaving behind the rocks they pushed behind.

However, on Mars, the glaciers never left, remaining frozen on the Red Planet’s cold surface for more than 300 million years, covered in debris.&nbsp;

According to&nbsp;planetary geologist Joe Levy, “All the rocks and sand carried on that ice have remained on the surface.&nbsp;It’s like putting the ice in a cooler under all those sediments.”

Geologists, however, haven’t been able to tell whether all of those glaciers formed during one massive Martian Ice Age or in multiple separate events over millions of years.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/video-indian-american-scientist-swati-mohan-played-key-role-in-nasa-mars-rover-landing-364941/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Since ice ages result from a shift in the tilt of a planet’s axis (known as obliquity), answering that question could tell scientists how Mars’ orbit and climate have changed over time &nbsp;as well as what kind of rocks, gases, or even microbes might be trapped inside the ice.

“There are really good models for Mars’ orbital parameters for the last 20 million years,” says Levy. “After that, the models tend to get chaotic.”

Levy concocted a plan to examine the rocks on the surface of the glaciers as a natural experiment. Since they presumably erode over time, a steady progression of larger to smaller rocks proceeding downhill would point to a single, long ice age event.

Choosing 45 glaciers to examine, Levy acquired high-resolution images collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite and set out to count the size and number of rocks. With a resolution of 25 centimetres per pixel, “you can see things the size of a dinner table,” Levy says.

Even at that magnification, however, artificial intelligence can’t accurately determine what is or isn’t a rock on rough glacier surfaces; so Levy enlisted the help of 10 Colgate students during two summers to count and measure some 60,000 big rocks. “We did a kind of virtual fieldwork, walking up and down these glaciers and mapping the boulders,” Levy says.

Levy initially panicked when, far from a tidy progression of boulders by size, the rock sizes seemed to be distributed at random. “In fact, the boulders were telling us a different story,” Levy says. “It wasn’t their size that mattered; it was how they were grouped or clustered.”

Since the rocks were travelling inside the glaciers, they were not eroding, he realized. At the same time, they were distributed in clear bands of debris across the glaciers’ surfaces, marking the limit of separate and distinct flows of ice, formed as Mars wobbled on its axis.

Based on that data, Levy has concluded that Mars has undergone somewhere between six and 20 separate ice ages during the past 300–800 million years.&nbsp;

“This paper is the first geological evidence of what Martian orbit and obliquity might have been doing for hundreds of millions of years,” Levy says. The finding that glaciers formed over time holds implications for planetary geology and even space exploration, he explains. “These glaciers are little time capsules, capturing snapshots of what was blowing around in the Martian atmosphere,” he says. “Now we know that we have access to hundreds of millions of years of Martian history without having to drill down deep through the crust — we can just take a hike along the surface.”

That history includes any signs of life potentially present from Mars’ distant past. “If there are any biomarkers blowing around, those are going to be trapped in the ice too.”

At the same time, eventual explorers to Mars who might need to depend on extracting fresh water from glaciers to survive will need to know that there may be bands of rocks inside them that will make drilling hazardous. Levy and his colleagues are now in the process of mapping the rest of the glaciers on Mars’ surface, hoping with the data they have, artificial intelligence can now be trained to take over the hard work of identifying and counting boulders.

That will bring us one step closer to a complete planetary history of the Red Planet, including the age-old question of whether Mars could ever have supported life.&nbsp;

“There’s a lot of work to be done figuring out the details of Martian climate history,” says Levy, “including when and where it was warm enough and wet enough for there to be brines and liquid water.”

Scientists have discovered that the Red Planet had up to 20 separate ice ages in a groundbreaking new analysis of the mysterious glaciers of Mars. The study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS) and was conducted by researchers from the University of Arizona, Fitchburg State University, and the University of Texas–Austin.

Scientists have discovered that the Red Planet had up to 20 separate ice ages in a groundbreaking new analysis of the mysterious glaciers of Mars. The study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS) and was conducted by researchers from the University of Arizona, Fitchburg State University, and the University of Texas–Austin. Also read| United Arab Emirates publishes first photo from Mars probe In the case of the Earth, glaciers covered wide swaths of the planet during the last Ice Age, which reached its peak about 20,000 years ago, before receding to the poles and leaving behind the rocks they pushed behind. However, on Mars, the glaciers never left, remaining frozen on the Red Planet’s cold surface for more than 300 million years, covered in debris. According to planetary geologist Joe Levy, “All the rocks and sand carried on that ice have remained on the surface. It’s like putting the ice in a cooler under all those sediments.” Geologists, however, haven’t been able to tell whether all of those glaciers formed during one massive Martian Ice Age or in multiple separate events over millions of years. Since ice ages result from a shift in the tilt of a planet’s axis (known as obliquity), answering that question could tell scientists how Mars’ orbit and climate have changed over time as well as what kind of rocks, gases, or even microbes might be trapped inside the ice. “There are really good models for Mars’ orbital parameters for the last 20 million years,” says Levy. “After that, the models tend to get chaotic.” Levy concocted a plan to examine the rocks on the surface of the glaciers as a natural experiment. Since they presumably erode over time, a steady progression of larger to smaller rocks proceeding downhill would point to a single, long ice age event. Choosing 45 glaciers to examine, Levy acquired high-resolution images collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite and set out to count the size and number of rocks. With a resolution of 25 centimetres per pixel, “you can see things the size of a dinner table,” Levy says. Even at that magnification, however, artificial intelligence can’t accurately determine what is or isn’t a rock on rough glacier surfaces; so Levy enlisted the help of 10 Colgate students during two summers to count and measure some 60,000 big rocks. “We did a kind of virtual fieldwork, walking up and down these glaciers and mapping the boulders,” Levy says. Levy initially panicked when, far from a tidy progression of boulders by size, the rock sizes seemed to be distributed at random. “In fact, the boulders were telling us a different story,” Levy says. “It wasn’t their size that mattered; it was how they were grouped or clustered.” Since the rocks were travelling inside the glaciers, they were not eroding, he realized. At the same time, they were distributed in clear bands of debris across the glaciers’ surfaces, marking the limit of separate and distinct flows of ice, formed as Mars wobbled on its axis. Based on that data, Levy has concluded that Mars has undergone somewhere between six and 20 separate ice ages during the past 300–800 million years. “This paper is the first geological evidence of what Martian orbit and obliquity might have been doing for hundreds of millions of years,” Levy says. The finding that glaciers formed over time holds implications for planetary geology and even space exploration, he explains. “These glaciers are little time capsules, capturing snapshots of what was blowing around in the Martian atmosphere,” he says. “Now we know that we have access to hundreds of millions of years of Martian history without having to drill down deep through the crust — we can just take a hike along the surface.” That history includes any signs of life potentially present from Mars’ distant past. “If there are any biomarkers blowing around, those are going to be trapped in the ice too.” At the same time, eventual explorers to Mars who might need to depend on extracting fresh water from glaciers to survive will need to know that there may be bands of rocks inside them that will make drilling hazardous. Levy and his colleagues are now in the process of mapping the rest of the glaciers on Mars’ surface, hoping with the data they have, artificial intelligence can now be trained to take over the hard work of identifying and counting boulders. That will bring us one step closer to a complete planetary history of the Red Planet, including the age-old question of whether Mars could ever have supported life. “There’s a lot of work to be done figuring out the details of Martian climate history,” says Levy, “including when and where it was warm enough and wet enough for there to be brines and liquid water.”

Scientists discover Mars had up to 20 separate ice ages

An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck Greece on Wednesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said, having earlier reported magnitudes of 6.9 and 5.9 for the tremblor.

The fire department said that according to the first reports, a home and a school had been damaged.&nbsp;Police also sealed off a bridge cracked by the quake.

The Civil Protection agency also reported that landslides occurred in the region, and authorities were assessing further damage.&nbsp;

"Everything happened very fast, people ran out of buildings, there are still aftershocks," Chrissoula Katsiouli, a staffer at the mayor's office in the local town of Elassona said.

"Fortunately, the teachers managed to get the children out very quickly and there were no victims," the mayor of Tyrnavos Yiannis Kokkouras told Skai TV.

'Significant' aftershocks

According to the Athens observatory, the epicentre of the quake was 21 kilometres (13 miles) south of the town of Elassona, near Larissa and was eight kilometres deep.

There were at least three aftershocks following the main tremor -- including one at magnitude 4.0 -- and authorities warned there could be more.&nbsp;

Seismologist Gerassimos Papadopoulos warned of further "significant aftershocks", speaking on Skai radio.&nbsp;

However, experts stress that quake faults in the area rarely produce tremors larger than the one clocked on Wednesday.

The last major earthquake in the area was in the 18th century and was magnitude 6.2, Manolis Skordilis, a seismologist at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University, told state agency ANA.

Greece&nbsp;is located on a number of fault lines, and is sporadically hit by earthquakes.&nbsp;

But the quakes often happen at sea and do not often kill people or cause extensive damage.&nbsp;

The last fatal earthquake was in October, when a magnitude 7.0 hit in the Aegean Sea between the Greek island of Samos and the city of Izmir in western Turkey.&nbsp;

The majority of damage from that temblor was in Turkey, where 114 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured.&nbsp;In&nbsp;Greece, two teenagers were reported dead on the island of Samos.&nbsp;

An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck Greece on Wednesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said, having earlier reported magnitudes of 6.9 and 5.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck Greece on Wednesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said, having earlier reported magnitudes of 6.9 and 5.9 for the tremblor. The fire department said that according to the first reports, a home and a school had been damaged. Police also sealed off a bridge cracked by the quake. The Civil Protection agency also reported that landslides occurred in the region, and authorities were assessing further damage. "Everything happened very fast, people ran out of buildings, there are still aftershocks," Chrissoula Katsiouli, a staffer at the mayor's office in the local town of Elassona said. "Fortunately, the teachers managed to get the children out very quickly and there were no victims," the mayor of Tyrnavos Yiannis Kokkouras told Skai TV. 'Significant' aftershocks According to the Athens observatory, the epicentre of the quake was 21 kilometres (13 miles) south of the town of Elassona, near Larissa and was eight kilometres deep. There were at least three aftershocks following the main tremor -- including one at magnitude 4.0 -- and authorities warned there could be more. Seismologist Gerassimos Papadopoulos warned of further "significant aftershocks", speaking on Skai radio. However, experts stress that quake faults in the area rarely produce tremors larger than the one clocked on Wednesday. The last major earthquake in the area was in the 18th century and was magnitude 6.2, Manolis Skordilis, a seismologist at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University, told state agency ANA. Greece is located on a number of fault lines, and is sporadically hit by earthquakes. But the quakes often happen at sea and do not often kill people or cause extensive damage. The last fatal earthquake was in October, when a magnitude 7.0 hit in the Aegean Sea between the Greek island of Samos and the city of Izmir in western Turkey. The majority of damage from that temblor was in Turkey, where 114 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured. In Greece, two teenagers were reported dead on the island of Samos.

Earthquake of magnitude 6.2 strikes Greece

A small porcelain bowl purchased in a yard sale at $35 in Connecticut, has turned out to be a rare 15th-century Chinese artifact worth between $300,000 to $500,000.

The white bowl adorned with cobalt blue paintings of flowers and other designs is about 6 inches (16cm) in diameter. It is about to be auctioned at&nbsp;Sotheby’s.

An antiques enthusiast came across the piece and thought it could be something special when browsing a yard sale in the New Haven area last year, according to Sotheby’s.

The piece, one of only seven such bowls known to exist in the world, will be up for auction in New York on 17 March as part of Sotheby’s Auction of Important Chinese Art.

The buyer, whom is not being named, paid the $35 asking price and later emailed information and photos to Sotheby’s asking for an evaluation. The auction house’s experts on Chinese ceramics and art, Angela McAteer and Hang Yin, get many such emails every week, but this was one of the kind they dream about.

“It was immediately apparent to both of us that we were looking at something really very, very special,” said McAteer, Sotheby’s senior vice-president and the head of its Chinese works of art department. “The style of painting, the shape of the bowl, even just the color of the blue is quite characteristic of that early, early 15th-century period of porcelain.”

They confirmed it was from the 1400s when they were able to look at it in person.

There are no scientific tests, only the trained eyes and hands of specialists. The bowl was very smooth to the touch, its glaze was silky and the color and designs are distinctive of the period.

“All the characteristics and hallmarks are there that identify it as a product of the early Ming period,” McAteer said.

McAteer and Yin determined the bowl dates back to the early 1400s during the reign of the Yongle emperor, the third ruler of the Ming dynasty, and was made for the Yongle court. The Yongle court was known to have ushered in a new style to the porcelain kilns in the city of Jingdezhen, and the bowl is a quintessential Yongle product, according to Sotheby’s.

The bowl was made in the shape of a lotus bud or chicken heart. Inside, it is decorated with a medallion at the bottom and a quatrefoil motif surrounded by flowers. The outside includes four blossoms of lotus, peony, chrysanthemum and pomegranate flower. There are also intricate patterns at the top of both the outside and inside.

McAteer said only six other such bowls are known to exist, and most of them are in museums. No others are in the United States. There are two at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, two at museums in London and one in the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, according to Sotheby’s.

How the bowl ended up at a Connecticut yard sale remains a mystery. McAteer said it’s possible it was passed down through generations of the same family who did not know how unique it was.

“It’s always quite astounding to think that it kind of still happens, that these treasures can be discovered,“ McAteer said. “It’s always really exciting for us as specialists when something we didn’t even know existed here appears seemingly out of nowhere.”

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

A small porcelain bowl purchased in a yard sale at $35 in Connecticut, has turned out to be a rare 15th-century Chinese artifact worth between $300,000 to $500,000.

A small porcelain bowl purchased in a yard sale at $35 in Connecticut, has turned out to be a rare 15th-century Chinese artifact worth between $300,000 to $500,000. The white bowl adorned with cobalt blue paintings of flowers and other designs is about 6 inches (16cm) in diameter. It is about to be auctioned at Sotheby’s. An antiques enthusiast came across the piece and thought it could be something special when browsing a yard sale in the New Haven area last year, according to Sotheby’s. The piece, one of only seven such bowls known to exist in the world, will be up for auction in New York on 17 March as part of Sotheby’s Auction of Important Chinese Art. The buyer, whom is not being named, paid the $35 asking price and later emailed information and photos to Sotheby’s asking for an evaluation. The auction house’s experts on Chinese ceramics and art, Angela McAteer and Hang Yin, get many such emails every week, but this was one of the kind they dream about. “It was immediately apparent to both of us that we were looking at something really very, very special,” said McAteer, Sotheby’s senior vice-president and the head of its Chinese works of art department. “The style of painting, the shape of the bowl, even just the color of the blue is quite characteristic of that early, early 15th-century period of porcelain.” They confirmed it was from the 1400s when they were able to look at it in person. There are no scientific tests, only the trained eyes and hands of specialists. The bowl was very smooth to the touch, its glaze was silky and the color and designs are distinctive of the period. “All the characteristics and hallmarks are there that identify it as a product of the early Ming period,” McAteer said. McAteer and Yin determined the bowl dates back to the early 1400s during the reign of the Yongle emperor, the third ruler of the Ming dynasty, and was made for the Yongle court. The Yongle court was known to have ushered in a new style to the porcelain kilns in the city of Jingdezhen, and the bowl is a quintessential Yongle product, according to Sotheby’s. The bowl was made in the shape of a lotus bud or chicken heart. Inside, it is decorated with a medallion at the bottom and a quatrefoil motif surrounded by flowers. The outside includes four blossoms of lotus, peony, chrysanthemum and pomegranate flower. There are also intricate patterns at the top of both the outside and inside. McAteer said only six other such bowls are known to exist, and most of them are in museums. No others are in the United States. There are two at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, two at museums in London and one in the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, according to Sotheby’s. How the bowl ended up at a Connecticut yard sale remains a mystery. McAteer said it’s possible it was passed down through generations of the same family who did not know how unique it was. “It’s always quite astounding to think that it kind of still happens, that these treasures can be discovered,“ McAteer said. “It’s always really exciting for us as specialists when something we didn’t even know existed here appears seemingly out of nowhere.”

Bowl purchased in yard sale at $35 turns out to be rare Chinese artifact

FBI Director Chris Wray on Tuesday accused supporters of Donald Trump who carried out a deadly&nbsp;attack on the US&nbsp;Capitol of domestic terrorism and vowed to hold them accountable.

"I was appalled that you, our country's elected leaders, were victimized right here in these very halls," Wray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

''That siege was criminal behaviour, pure and simple. It's behaviour that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/in-pics-tear-gas-explosives-and-gunfire-trump-supporters-storm-capitol-clash-with-police-354961">In pics-Tear gas, explosives and gunfire: Trump supporters storm Capitol, clash with police</a>

It was Wray's first testimony in Congress since the attack, a failed bid to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden's November election victory, was carried out by supporters of then-President Trump who, in a speech near the White House, exhorted them to march to the Capitol in protest.

The Justice Department has charged more than 300 people on criminal counts ranging from conspiracy to attacking police and obstructing Congress. The rioting led to five deaths.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-a-stunning-video-from-capitol-riots-363269/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

At least 18 people associated with the far-right Proud Boys have been charged and nine people tied to the anti-government militia known as the Oath Keepers are facing charges they conspired as far back as November to storm the Capitol to prevent Biden from becoming president.

The FBI has not yet arrested any suspects in the death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, or for pipe bombs that were discovered outside the headquarters of both the Republican and Democratic national committees.&nbsp;

The FBI has obtained a video that shows a suspect spraying bear spray on police officers, including Sicknick, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.&nbsp;

The suspect has not yet been identified by name, and it is still not clear if the bear spray contributed to Sicknick's death.&nbsp;

In a newly unsealed search warrant, investigators say rioters carried weapons inside the Capitol including tire irons, sledgehammers, tasers, bear spray and, in at least one case, a handgun with an extended magazine.

"Everyone involved must take responsibility for their actions that day, including our former president," the panel's Ranking Republican Charles Grassley said.

"Now, in the wake of January&nbsp;6, we must seriously examine the threats of domestic extremism."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said the government has not done enough to protect against threats from far-right extremists and white supremacists, and accused the Trump administration for playing down those threats.

He added that the Trump administration "never set up a task force to combat the numerous incidents" from the far-right, and instead focused on Black Lives Matter activists.

FBI Director Chris Wray on Tuesday accused supporters of Donald Trump who carried out a deadly attack on the US Capitol of domestic terrorism and vowed to hold them accountable.

FBI Director Chris Wray on Tuesday accused supporters of Donald Trump who carried out a deadly attack on the US Capitol of domestic terrorism and vowed to hold them accountable. "I was appalled that you, our country's elected leaders, were victimized right here in these very halls," Wray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. ''That siege was criminal behaviour, pure and simple. It's behaviour that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism." In pics-Tear gas, explosives and gunfire: Trump supporters storm Capitol, clash with police It was Wray's first testimony in Congress since the attack, a failed bid to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden's November election victory, was carried out by supporters of then-President Trump who, in a speech near the White House, exhorted them to march to the Capitol in protest. The Justice Department has charged more than 300 people on criminal counts ranging from conspiracy to attacking police and obstructing Congress. The rioting led to five deaths. At least 18 people associated with the far-right Proud Boys have been charged and nine people tied to the anti-government militia known as the Oath Keepers are facing charges they conspired as far back as November to storm the Capitol to prevent Biden from becoming president. The FBI has not yet arrested any suspects in the death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, or for pipe bombs that were discovered outside the headquarters of both the Republican and Democratic national committees. The FBI has obtained a video that shows a suspect spraying bear spray on police officers, including Sicknick, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation. The suspect has not yet been identified by name, and it is still not clear if the bear spray contributed to Sicknick's death. In a newly unsealed search warrant, investigators say rioters carried weapons inside the Capitol including tire irons, sledgehammers, tasers, bear spray and, in at least one case, a handgun with an extended magazine. "Everyone involved must take responsibility for their actions that day, including our former president," the panel's Ranking Republican Charles Grassley said. "Now, in the wake of January 6, we must seriously examine the threats of domestic extremism." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said the government has not done enough to protect against threats from far-right extremists and white supremacists, and accused the Trump administration for playing down those threats. He added that the Trump administration "never set up a task force to combat the numerous incidents" from the far-right, and instead focused on Black Lives Matter activists.

FBI Director Chris Wray accuses Capitol Hill attackers of domestic terrorism

Gunmen have freed all 279 girls kidnapped last week from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria, officials said on Tuesday, and victims told of how their abductors had beaten and threatened to shoot them during a forced march into captivity.

Dozens of girls in Muslim veils sat in a hall in a state government building before being taken for medical checks. A few parents arrived, and one father wept with joy after seeing his daughter.

Farida Lawali, 15, told how she and the other girls had been taken to a forest by the kidnappers.

Also see:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/tragic-tale-of-nigerian-girls-who-were-recently-abducted-from-school-367449" hreflang="en">Tragic tale of Nigerian girls who were recently abducted from school</a>

"They carried the sick ones that cannot move. We were walking in the stones and thorns," she said, covered in a light blue veil. "They started hitting us with guns so that we could move," she added. "While they were beating them with guns, some of them were crying and moving at the same time."

"They said they will shoot anybody who did not continue to walk," another of the girls, Umma Abubakar, told Reuters, saying many had injuries that had made walking difficult.

Relief at their return was tempered by concern over the circumstances of their release. A series of similar school abductions in recent months has led many Nigerians to worry that regional authorities are making the situation worse by letting kidnappers go unpunished or paying them off.

Zailani Bappa, a media adviser to the state governor, denied that a ransom had been paid, but said the captors had been offered amnesty, as well as assistance to resettle at a site with newly built schools, a hospital and other facilities.

"The process means amnesty for those who repent and will be assisted to resettle. Hence, no monetary inducement or ransom was involved in the rescue. It was a willing surrender of the girls," he said. "Those who surrender their arms will be assisted to start a new life. Since they are herders, they will be supported with a few cows each."

President Muhammadu Buhari called for the captors to be brought to justice and said that if any ransoms were being paid, this would only make future attacks more likely.

Criminal gangs

The pupils from Jangebe, a town in Zamfara state, were seized just after midnight on Friday. All had now been freed, Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle said.

Boarding schools in northern Nigeria have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom by armed criminal gangs.

The trend was started by the jihadist group Boko Haram, which kidnapped 270 schoolgirls in 2014, around 100 of whom have never been found. But recent months have seen a sudden escalation of similar attacks, including the abduction of 344 boys in December.

Friday's raid on the Government Girls Science Secondary School was the second school abduction in little over a week in the northwest.

Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told Reuters that the authorities have made payoffs in the past in exchange for child hostages, creating an incentive for abductions.

Several of those officials declined to comment on Tuesday on whether they believed a ransom had been paid in the latest incident.

Initial reports put the number kidnapped at 317. Zamfara government spokesman Sulaiman Tanau Anka said the total was 279, as some of the girls had escaped into the bush during the raid.

Lawal Abdullahi, whose seven daughters were among those kidnapped and freed, said the incident would not deter him from schooling his children.

"It's a ploy to deny our girls ... from getting the Western education in which we are far behind," he told Reuters. "We should not succumb to blackmail. My advice to government is that they should take immediate precautions to stop further abductions."

The U.N. children's agency UNICEF urged the Nigerian government to protect schools so children and parents will not be afraid.

As recently as Saturday, gunmen released 27 teenage boys who had been kidnapped from their school on Feb. 17 in Niger state.

Gunmen have freed all 279 girls kidnapped last week from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria, officials said on Tuesday, and victims told of how their abductors had beaten and threatened to shoot them during a forced march into captivity.

Gunmen have freed all 279 girls kidnapped last week from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria, officials said on Tuesday, and victims told of how their abductors had beaten and threatened to shoot them during a forced march into captivity. Dozens of girls in Muslim veils sat in a hall in a state government building before being taken for medical checks. A few parents arrived, and one father wept with joy after seeing his daughter. Farida Lawali, 15, told how she and the other girls had been taken to a forest by the kidnappers. Also see: Tragic tale of Nigerian girls who were recently abducted from school "They carried the sick ones that cannot move. We were walking in the stones and thorns," she said, covered in a light blue veil. "They started hitting us with guns so that we could move," she added. "While they were beating them with guns, some of them were crying and moving at the same time." "They said they will shoot anybody who did not continue to walk," another of the girls, Umma Abubakar, told Reuters, saying many had injuries that had made walking difficult. Relief at their return was tempered by concern over the circumstances of their release. A series of similar school abductions in recent months has led many Nigerians to worry that regional authorities are making the situation worse by letting kidnappers go unpunished or paying them off. Zailani Bappa, a media adviser to the state governor, denied that a ransom had been paid, but said the captors had been offered amnesty, as well as assistance to resettle at a site with newly built schools, a hospital and other facilities. "The process means amnesty for those who repent and will be assisted to resettle. Hence, no monetary inducement or ransom was involved in the rescue. It was a willing surrender of the girls," he said. "Those who surrender their arms will be assisted to start a new life. Since they are herders, they will be supported with a few cows each." President Muhammadu Buhari called for the captors to be brought to justice and said that if any ransoms were being paid, this would only make future attacks more likely. Criminal gangs The pupils from Jangebe, a town in Zamfara state, were seized just after midnight on Friday. All had now been freed, Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle said. Boarding schools in northern Nigeria have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom by armed criminal gangs. The trend was started by the jihadist group Boko Haram, which kidnapped 270 schoolgirls in 2014, around 100 of whom have never been found. But recent months have seen a sudden escalation of similar attacks, including the abduction of 344 boys in December. Friday's raid on the Government Girls Science Secondary School was the second school abduction in little over a week in the northwest. Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told Reuters that the authorities have made payoffs in the past in exchange for child hostages, creating an incentive for abductions. Several of those officials declined to comment on Tuesday on whether they believed a ransom had been paid in the latest incident. Initial reports put the number kidnapped at 317. Zamfara government spokesman Sulaiman Tanau Anka said the total was 279, as some of the girls had escaped into the bush during the raid. Lawal Abdullahi, whose seven daughters were among those kidnapped and freed, said the incident would not deter him from schooling his children. "It's a ploy to deny our girls ... from getting the Western education in which we are far behind," he told Reuters. "We should not succumb to blackmail. My advice to government is that they should take immediate precautions to stop further abductions." The U.N. children's agency UNICEF urged the Nigerian government to protect schools so children and parents will not be afraid. As recently as Saturday, gunmen released 27 teenage boys who had been kidnapped from their school on Feb. 17 in Niger state.

'Crying and moving': Nigerian schoolgirls recount forced march kidnap ordeal

Sri&nbsp;Lanka&nbsp;will offer a strategically located deep-sea port to India and Japan, an official said Tuesday, as the island seeks to balance traditional ties against China's rising regional influence.

The government last month abruptly pulled out of an agreement with Delhi and Tokyo to jointly develop the partially built East Container Terminal, located next to a $500-million Chinese-run container jetty within the capital Colombo's sprawling port.

But Colombo reversed course Tuesday, offering the West Container Terminal (WCT), which is yet to be built and located on the other side of the Chinese-run jetty known as the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT).

"The discussions to develop the WCT will be only with India and Japan," government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters in the capital.

Rambukwella said the cabinet decided Monday to allow India and Japan to have an 85 percent stake in the West Container Terminal -- the same terms China was granted when building the CICT.

It's unclear how Tokyo and Delhi will divide their majority stake in the port.&nbsp;

The government said the Indian High Commission in Colombo has "approved"&nbsp;Sri&nbsp;Lanka's latest offer.&nbsp;

There was no immediate response from India's foreign ministry in New Delhi, and a government spokesman said Japan has yet to respond to the new proposal.

The government blamed trade unions calling for local instead of foreign development for last month’s abrogation of the East Container Terminal, which will now be completed by the&nbsp;Sri&nbsp;Lanka&nbsp;Ports Authority.

Colombo is located in the Indian Ocean between the major hubs of Dubai and Singapore, meaning control of its ports is highly sought after.

Two Chinese submarines berthed at the CICT -- which started operations in 2013 -- in 2014, sparking concerns in India which considers neighbour&nbsp;Sri&nbsp;Lanka&nbsp;to be within its sphere of influence.

Since then,&nbsp;Sri&nbsp;Lanka&nbsp;has refused permission for further submarine calls.

In December 2017, unable to repay a huge Chinese loan,&nbsp;Sri&nbsp;Lanka&nbsp;allowed China Merchants Port Holdings to take over the southern Hambantota port, which straddles the world's busiest east-west shipping route.

The deal, which gave the Chinese company a 99-year lease, raised fears about Beijing's use of "debt traps" in exerting its influence abroad.&nbsp;

India and the United States have also expressed concerns that a Chinese foothold at Hambantota could give Beijing a military advantage in the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lanka will offer a strategically located deep-sea port to India and Japan, an official said Tuesday, as the island seeks to balance traditional ties against China's rising regional influence.

Sri Lanka will offer a strategically located deep-sea port to India and Japan, an official said Tuesday, as the island seeks to balance traditional ties against China's rising regional influence. The government last month abruptly pulled out of an agreement with Delhi and Tokyo to jointly develop the partially built East Container Terminal, located next to a $500-million Chinese-run container jetty within the capital Colombo's sprawling port. But Colombo reversed course Tuesday, offering the West Container Terminal (WCT), which is yet to be built and located on the other side of the Chinese-run jetty known as the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT). "The discussions to develop the WCT will be only with India and Japan," government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters in the capital. Rambukwella said the cabinet decided Monday to allow India and Japan to have an 85 percent stake in the West Container Terminal -- the same terms China was granted when building the CICT. It's unclear how Tokyo and Delhi will divide their majority stake in the port. The government said the Indian High Commission in Colombo has "approved" Sri Lanka's latest offer. There was no immediate response from India's foreign ministry in New Delhi, and a government spokesman said Japan has yet to respond to the new proposal. The government blamed trade unions calling for local instead of foreign development for last month’s abrogation of the East Container Terminal, which will now be completed by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. Colombo is located in the Indian Ocean between the major hubs of Dubai and Singapore, meaning control of its ports is highly sought after. Two Chinese submarines berthed at the CICT -- which started operations in 2013 -- in 2014, sparking concerns in India which considers neighbour Sri Lanka to be within its sphere of influence. Since then, Sri Lanka has refused permission for further submarine calls. In December 2017, unable to repay a huge Chinese loan, Sri Lanka allowed China Merchants Port Holdings to take over the southern Hambantota port, which straddles the world's busiest east-west shipping route. The deal, which gave the Chinese company a 99-year lease, raised fears about Beijing's use of "debt traps" in exerting its influence abroad. India and the United States have also expressed concerns that a Chinese foothold at Hambantota could give Beijing a military advantage in the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lanka offers strategic deep-sea port to India, Japan

Recent inter-galactic discoveries that will blow your mind!

Three female media workers were shot and killed in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday, their TV network said, in what appeared to be the latest targeted killing to rock the war-torn country.

Zalmai Latifi, the director at Enikass TV,&nbsp;said the women were killed in two separate attacks after leaving the station.

"They are all dead. They were going home from the office on foot when they were shot," Latifi told AFP, saying all three worked in the dubbing department for the broadcaster.

Zahir Adel, a spokesman at Nangarhar's provincial hospital, also confirmed the toll.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Nangarhar police chief Juma Gul Hemat said an armed suspect was later taken into custody following the shootings, adding that authorities were still looking for other culprits.&nbsp;

"We arrested as he was trying to escape," said Hemat. "He has admitted that he carried out the attack. He is a Taliban member."

A Taliban spokesman later denied that the group had any hands in the killings.&nbsp;

Journalists, religious scholars, activists and judges have all been targeted in a recent wave of political assassinations that have spread panic across&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;and forced many into hiding -- with some even fleeing the country.

The killings have increased since peace talks were launched last year between the Afghan government and the Taliban -- the latest attempt to end decades of conflict.

Afghan and US officials have blamed the Taliban for the wave of violence, but the group has denied the charges.

The killings come as the US special envoy to&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;Zalmay Khalilzad returned to Kabul this week for meetings with Afghan leaders, in a bid to revive a flagging peace process as violence soars in the war-weary country and a deadline for US troop withdrawal draws closer.

Khalilzad's arrival marks the first time he has returned to&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;since US President Joe Biden took office in January and asked him to stay in his post.

Donald Trump's administration, eager to end America's longest war, tasked the veteran diplomat with negotiating with the Taliban, culminating in a deal signed in Qatar on February 29 last year.

The accord states that the US will withdraw all troops from&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;by May, with the Taliban promising not to allow territory to be used by terrorists -- the original goal of the US invasion following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Speculation is rife over America's future in&nbsp;Afghanistan, after the White House announced plans to review a withdrawal deal brokered by Khalilzad and the Taliban in Doha last year.

Fears are growing across&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;that a speedy US withdrawal from the country may unleash even greater chaos in the war-weary country.&nbsp;

Three female media workers were shot and killed in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday, their TV network said, in what appeared to be the latest targeted killing to rock the war-torn country.

Three female media workers were shot and killed in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday, their TV network said, in what appeared to be the latest targeted killing to rock the war-torn country. Zalmai Latifi, the director at Enikass TV, said the women were killed in two separate attacks after leaving the station. "They are all dead. They were going home from the office on foot when they were shot," Latifi told AFP, saying all three worked in the dubbing department for the broadcaster. Zahir Adel, a spokesman at Nangarhar's provincial hospital, also confirmed the toll. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks. Nangarhar police chief Juma Gul Hemat said an armed suspect was later taken into custody following the shootings, adding that authorities were still looking for other culprits. "We arrested as he was trying to escape," said Hemat. "He has admitted that he carried out the attack. He is a Taliban member." A Taliban spokesman later denied that the group had any hands in the killings. Journalists, religious scholars, activists and judges have all been targeted in a recent wave of political assassinations that have spread panic across Afghanistan and forced many into hiding -- with some even fleeing the country. The killings have increased since peace talks were launched last year between the Afghan government and the Taliban -- the latest attempt to end decades of conflict. Afghan and US officials have blamed the Taliban for the wave of violence, but the group has denied the charges. The killings come as the US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad returned to Kabul this week for meetings with Afghan leaders, in a bid to revive a flagging peace process as violence soars in the war-weary country and a deadline for US troop withdrawal draws closer. Khalilzad's arrival marks the first time he has returned to Afghanistan since US President Joe Biden took office in January and asked him to stay in his post. Donald Trump's administration, eager to end America's longest war, tasked the veteran diplomat with negotiating with the Taliban, culminating in a deal signed in Qatar on February 29 last year. The accord states that the US will withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by May, with the Taliban promising not to allow territory to be used by terrorists -- the original goal of the US invasion following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Speculation is rife over America's future in Afghanistan, after the White House announced plans to review a withdrawal deal brokered by Khalilzad and the Taliban in Doha last year. Fears are growing across Afghanistan that a speedy US withdrawal from the country may unleash even greater chaos in the war-weary country.

Three female media workers shot to death in eastern Afghanistan

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven senior Russians as it said its intelligence concluded that Moscow was behind the poisoning of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

"The intelligence community assesses with high confidence that officers of Russia's Federal Security Service FSB used a nerve agent known as Novichok to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on August 20, 2020," senior Biden administration officials said.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/your-story-kremlin-critic-alexie-navalny-transferred-to-penal-colony-366509/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The sanctions were a response to what the officials said was a Russian attempt to assassinate&nbsp;Navalny&nbsp;last year, an accusation Russia denies.&nbsp;

President Joe Biden's decision to impose sanctions for&nbsp;Navalny's poisoning reflects a harder stance than taken by his predecessor, Donald Trump, who let the incident last August pass without punitive US&nbsp;action.

“The United States is neither seeking to reset our relations with Russia, nor are we seeking to escalate," one official said.

"We believe that the United States and our partners must be clear and impose costs when Russia’s behavior crosses boundaries that are respected by responsible nations, and we believe there should be guard rails on how these adversarial aspects of our relationship play out," the official said.

Navalny&nbsp;fell ill on a flight in Siberia in August and was airlifted to Germany, where doctors concluded he had been poisoned with a nerve agent. The Kremlin has denied any role in his illness and said it had seen no proof he was poisoned.

The Kremlin in response said that the US&nbsp;sanctions&nbsp;would not achieve their goal and would merely worsen already strained relations.

In his turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow would respond in kind to any new US&nbsp;sanctions over the treatment of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei&nbsp;Navalny.

EU foreign ministers agreed on February&nbsp;22 to impose sanctions on four senior Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin in a mainly symbolic response to&nbsp;Navalny's jailing. The EU was expected to formally approve those in early March.

After his medical treatment in Germany,&nbsp;Navalny, 44, returned to Russia in January. He was arrested and later sentenced to more than 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations he said were trumped up.

Biden last month called the jailing of&nbsp;Navalny&nbsp;"politically motivated" and called for his release. He has pledged a new and tough approach toward Moscow, saying the United States would no longer be "rolling over" in the face of aggressive action by Russia.

Washington and Moscow disagree on a wide range of issues on top of&nbsp;Navalny, such as Russia's military ambitions in Ukraine and Georgia, as well as a cyberattack on U.S. government agencies last year that Washington blames on Russia. Moscow has denied responsibility for the hacking campaign.

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven senior Russians as it said its intelligence concluded that Moscow was behind the poisoning of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven senior Russians as it said its intelligence concluded that Moscow was behind the poisoning of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. "The intelligence community assesses with high confidence that officers of Russia's Federal Security Service FSB used a nerve agent known as Novichok to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on August 20, 2020," senior Biden administration officials said. The sanctions were a response to what the officials said was a Russian attempt to assassinate Navalny last year, an accusation Russia denies. President Joe Biden's decision to impose sanctions for Navalny's poisoning reflects a harder stance than taken by his predecessor, Donald Trump, who let the incident last August pass without punitive US action. “The United States is neither seeking to reset our relations with Russia, nor are we seeking to escalate," one official said. "We believe that the United States and our partners must be clear and impose costs when Russia’s behavior crosses boundaries that are respected by responsible nations, and we believe there should be guard rails on how these adversarial aspects of our relationship play out," the official said. Navalny fell ill on a flight in Siberia in August and was airlifted to Germany, where doctors concluded he had been poisoned with a nerve agent. The Kremlin has denied any role in his illness and said it had seen no proof he was poisoned. The Kremlin in response said that the US sanctions would not achieve their goal and would merely worsen already strained relations. In his turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow would respond in kind to any new US sanctions over the treatment of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. EU foreign ministers agreed on February 22 to impose sanctions on four senior Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin in a mainly symbolic response to Navalny's jailing. The EU was expected to formally approve those in early March. After his medical treatment in Germany, Navalny, 44, returned to Russia in January. He was arrested and later sentenced to more than 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations he said were trumped up. Biden last month called the jailing of Navalny "politically motivated" and called for his release. He has pledged a new and tough approach toward Moscow, saying the United States would no longer be "rolling over" in the face of aggressive action by Russia. Washington and Moscow disagree on a wide range of issues on top of Navalny, such as Russia's military ambitions in Ukraine and Georgia, as well as a cyberattack on U.S. government agencies last year that Washington blames on Russia. Moscow has denied responsibility for the hacking campaign.

US imposes sanctions on Russia over poisoning of Kremlin critic Navalny

A French court on Monday convicted former President Nicolas Sarkozy on charges of corruption and influence peddling, handing him a three-year prison sentence of which two years are suspended.

Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012 and remains influential among conservatives, was accused of offering to help a judge obtain a senior job in Monaco in exchange for inside information on an inquiry into his campaign finances.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-frances-ex-president-nicolas-sarkozy-sentenced-to-jail-367265">WATCH |</a></div>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo">&nbsp;</div>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-frances-ex-president-nicolas-sarkozy-sentenced-to-jail-367265/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo">&nbsp;</div>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo">Taking into account the two years suspended, the sentence of one year jail means it is unlikely Sarkozy will physically go to prison, a punishment that in France usually applies to jail terms of above two years</div>

During his testimony,&nbsp;Sarkozy&nbsp;said he was the victim of lies and denied ever committing an act of corruption.

"Never. Never abused my influence, alleged or real," he told the court in December. "What right do they have to drag me through the mud like this for six years? Is there no rule of law?"

Prosecutors alleged Sarkozy&nbsp;offered to secure a plum job in Monaco for judge Gilbert Azibert in return for confidential information about an inquiry into accusations that he had accepted illegal payments from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his 2007 presidential campaign.

This came to light, they say, while they were wiretapping conversations between&nbsp;Sarkozy&nbsp;and his lawyer Thierry Herzog after&nbsp;Sarkozy&nbsp;left office, in relation to another investigation into alleged Libyan financing of that 2007 campaign.

Azibert, at the time a magistrate at France's top appeals court for criminal cases and well-informed on the Bettencourt inquiry, did not get the job in Monaco.

Prosecutors are seeking the same punishment for Azibert and Herzog, who are on trial alongside&nbsp;Sarkozy.

Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, is the only other president under France's post-war Fifth Republic to have faced trial after leaving office.

Chirac, who died in 2019, was found guilty in 2011 of presiding over a system of ghost jobs in Paris City Hall for political cronies when he was mayor of the capital. Handed a two-year suspended sentence, Chirac escaped serving time in jail.

A French court on Monday convicted former President Nicolas Sarkozy on charges of corruption and influence peddling, handing him a three-year prison sentence of which two years are suspended.

A French court on Monday convicted former President Nicolas Sarkozy on charges of corruption and influence peddling, handing him a three-year prison sentence of which two years are suspended. Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012 and remains influential among conservatives, was accused of offering to help a judge obtain a senior job in Monaco in exchange for inside information on an inquiry into his campaign finances. WATCH | Taking into account the two years suspended, the sentence of one year jail means it is unlikely Sarkozy will physically go to prison, a punishment that in France usually applies to jail terms of above two years During his testimony, Sarkozy said he was the victim of lies and denied ever committing an act of corruption. "Never. Never abused my influence, alleged or real," he told the court in December. "What right do they have to drag me through the mud like this for six years? Is there no rule of law?" Prosecutors alleged Sarkozy offered to secure a plum job in Monaco for judge Gilbert Azibert in return for confidential information about an inquiry into accusations that he had accepted illegal payments from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his 2007 presidential campaign. This came to light, they say, while they were wiretapping conversations between Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog after Sarkozy left office, in relation to another investigation into alleged Libyan financing of that 2007 campaign. Azibert, at the time a magistrate at France's top appeals court for criminal cases and well-informed on the Bettencourt inquiry, did not get the job in Monaco. Prosecutors are seeking the same punishment for Azibert and Herzog, who are on trial alongside Sarkozy. Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, is the only other president under France's post-war Fifth Republic to have faced trial after leaving office. Chirac, who died in 2019, was found guilty in 2011 of presiding over a system of ghost jobs in Paris City Hall for political cronies when he was mayor of the capital. Handed a two-year suspended sentence, Chirac escaped serving time in jail.

French court convicts former President Nicolas Sarkozy on corruption charges

Astronomers have identified&nbsp;eerie stars of 'dark matter' that were behind the&nbsp;largest gravitational wave, in a recent study.

The study published in Physics Review Letters&nbsp;led by the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE) and the University of Aveiro shows that the heaviest black hole collision ever observed, produced by the gravitational-wave GW190521, might actually be something even more mysterious: the merger of two boson stars.&nbsp;

This would be the first evidence of the existence of these hypothetical objects that constitute one of the main candidates to form dark matter, which makes up 27 per cent&nbsp;of the Universe.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/scientists-identify-slime-mold-that-saves-memories-without-nervous-system-366847" hreflang="en">Scientists identify slime mold that saves memories without nervous system</a>

Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime that travel at the speed of light. These originate in the most violent events of our Universe, carrying information about their sources.

Since 2015, mankind&nbsp;can detect and interpret gravitational waves thanks to the two LIGO detectors (Livingston and Hanford, USA) and Virgo (Cascina, Italy) detectors. To date, these detectors have already observed around 50 gravitational-wave signals.

All of these were originated in the collision and merger of two of the most mysterious entities in the Universe, black holes and neutron stars, allowing us to deepen in our knowledge about these objects.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/tremendous-implications-moons-biggest-crater-reveals-lunar-formation-secrets-364295" hreflang="en">'Tremendous implications': Moon's biggest crater reveals lunar formation secrets</a>

The team compared the GW190521 signal to computer simulations of boson-star mergers and found that these actually explain the data slightly better than the analysis conducted by LIGO and Virgo. The result implies that the source would have different properties than stated earlier.

According to Dr Calderón Bustillo: “First, we would not be talking about colliding black holes anymore, which eliminates the issue of dealing with a forbidden black hole. Second, because boson star mergers are much weaker, we infer a much closer distance than the one estimated by LIGO and Virgo. This leads to a much larger mass for the final black hole, of about 250 solar masses, so the fact that we have witnessed the formation of an intermediate-mass black hole remains true”.

Dr. Nicolás Sanchis-Gual, explains: “Boson stars are objects almost as compact as black holes but, unlike them, do not have a “no-return” surface. When they collide, they form a boson star that can become unstable, eventually collapsing to a black hole, and producing a signal consistent with what LIGO and Virgo observed. Unlike regular stars, which are made of what we commonly know as matter, boson stars are made up of what we know as ultralight bosons. These bosons are one of the most appealing candidates for constituting what we know as dark matter”.

The team found that even though the analysis tends to favour “by design” the merging black-holes hypothesis, a boson star merger is actually preferred by the data, although in a non-conclusive way.&nbsp;Prof. Jose A. Font&nbsp;from the University of Valencia says “Our results show that the two scenarios are almost indistinguishable given the data, although the exotic boson-star one is slightly preferred. This is very exciting since our boson-star model is as of now very limited and subject to major improvements. A more evolved model may lead to even larger evidence for this scenario and would also allow us to study previous gravitational-wave observations under the boson-star merger assumption”.

Professor&nbsp;Carlos Herdeiro, from the University of Aveiro, says that “one of the most fascinating results is that we can actually measure the mass of this putative new dark-matter particle and that a value of zero is discarded with high confidence. If confirmed by subsequent analysis of this and other gravitational-wave observations, our result would provide the first observational evidence for a long-sought dark matter candidate”.

Astronomers have identified eerie stars of 'dark matter' that were behind the largest gravitational wave, in a recent study. The study published in Physics Review Letters led by the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE) and the University of Aveiro shows that the heaviest black hole collision ever observed, produced by the gravitational-wave GW190521, might actually be something even more mysterious: the merger of two boson stars.

Astronomers have identified eerie stars of 'dark matter' that were behind the largest gravitational wave, in a recent study. The study published in Physics Review Letters led by the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE) and the University of Aveiro shows that the heaviest black hole collision ever observed, produced by the gravitational-wave GW190521, might actually be something even more mysterious: the merger of two boson stars. This would be the first evidence of the existence of these hypothetical objects that constitute one of the main candidates to form dark matter, which makes up 27 per cent of the Universe. Also read| Scientists identify slime mold that saves memories without nervous system Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime that travel at the speed of light. These originate in the most violent events of our Universe, carrying information about their sources. Since 2015, mankind can detect and interpret gravitational waves thanks to the two LIGO detectors (Livingston and Hanford, USA) and Virgo (Cascina, Italy) detectors. To date, these detectors have already observed around 50 gravitational-wave signals. All of these were originated in the collision and merger of two of the most mysterious entities in the Universe, black holes and neutron stars, allowing us to deepen in our knowledge about these objects. Also read| 'Tremendous implications': Moon's biggest crater reveals lunar formation secrets The team compared the GW190521 signal to computer simulations of boson-star mergers and found that these actually explain the data slightly better than the analysis conducted by LIGO and Virgo. The result implies that the source would have different properties than stated earlier. According to Dr Calderón Bustillo: “First, we would not be talking about colliding black holes anymore, which eliminates the issue of dealing with a forbidden black hole. Second, because boson star mergers are much weaker, we infer a much closer distance than the one estimated by LIGO and Virgo. This leads to a much larger mass for the final black hole, of about 250 solar masses, so the fact that we have witnessed the formation of an intermediate-mass black hole remains true”. Dr. Nicolás Sanchis-Gual, explains: “Boson stars are objects almost as compact as black holes but, unlike them, do not have a “no-return” surface. When they collide, they form a boson star that can become unstable, eventually collapsing to a black hole, and producing a signal consistent with what LIGO and Virgo observed. Unlike regular stars, which are made of what we commonly know as matter, boson stars are made up of what we know as ultralight bosons. These bosons are one of the most appealing candidates for constituting what we know as dark matter”. The team found that even though the analysis tends to favour “by design” the merging black-holes hypothesis, a boson star merger is actually preferred by the data, although in a non-conclusive way. Prof. Jose A. Font from the University of Valencia says “Our results show that the two scenarios are almost indistinguishable given the data, although the exotic boson-star one is slightly preferred. This is very exciting since our boson-star model is as of now very limited and subject to major improvements. A more evolved model may lead to even larger evidence for this scenario and would also allow us to study previous gravitational-wave observations under the boson-star merger assumption”. Professor Carlos Herdeiro, from the University of Aveiro, says that “one of the most fascinating results is that we can actually measure the mass of this putative new dark-matter particle and that a value of zero is discarded with high confidence. If confirmed by subsequent analysis of this and other gravitational-wave observations, our result would provide the first observational evidence for a long-sought dark matter candidate”.

Astronomers detect eerie stars of 'dark matter' behind largest gravitational wave

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