Donald Trump wasted no time in tackling some of Obama-era deeds after being sworn-in as the 45th president of the US. Less than an hour after Trump took office, the new administration said it was rolling back a cut in government-backed mortgage insurance premiums, which was announced by then-outgoing President Barack Obama on January 9 to help more borrowers gain access to the mortgage market. Next on the list was Obamacare. Trump signed an executive order directing government agencies to "ease the burdens" of the Affordable Care Act by scaling back on provisions of the law that they deem costly. The move is in line with Trump’s promise of dismantling the healthcare reform care that has some 20 million people covered. The Trump administration is also planning to eliminate the “harmful and unnecessary” Climate Action Plan, which was proposed in 2013 by Obama to reduce carbon pollution, so as to help American workers by lifting such restrictions, according to a page titled “An America First Energy Plan” on the newly-updated White House website.

Chinese authorities have forecast a peak travel rush in the second week of China's 40-day holiday season, Chunyun, as many Chinese people are returning home for the Spring Festival. More trips will be made in the second week of Chunyun from January 20 to 26, with the daily average likely to exceed 80 million trips, the Ministry of Transport said on Friday. Chinese people made 520 million trips in the week ending on Thursday, the first week of travel around the Spring Festival, which was up 3.1 percent year-on-year, according to ministry. About 2.98 billion trips are expected to be made during the Spring Festival travel rush between January 13 and February 21.

Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh agreed to step down on Friday after holding talks with Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Guinea's Alpha Conde, in the last final diplomatic push by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) before allowing military intervention to remove him by force from his expired post. It is "not necessary that a single drop of blood be shed," Jammeh said in a television announcement. Jammeh had refused to hand over power despite losing to opposition figure Adama Barrow in last month’s presidential election. Barrow was sworn in at Gambia’s embassy in Dakar in neighbouring Senegal on Thursday, and the African country technically has since had two presidents, with Barrow being the one internationally recognised. Mediations kicked off on Thursday, during which Jammeh has reportedly demanded amnesty for any war crimes he might have committed during his 22 years in power, and asked to remain in the country – a request that was rejected. It is not yet clear where or how Jammeh would be exiled.

China's southwestern municipality of Chongqing registered the country’s fastest economic growth in 2016, driven by a boom in electronics and auto industries. At a 10.7 percent annual increase, Chongqing outpaced the country’s 6.7 percent GDP growth in 2016. The province's GDP reached 1.76 trillion yuan (256 billion US dollars) last year, according to the local statistics bureau. Electronics grew by 24 percent, while the automobile sector increased 11.3 percent year on year, according to official data.

ISIL is back to wreaking havoc in the Unesco World Heritage archaeological site of Palmyra, engaging in a fresh round of demolishment of ancient monuments. "Local sources told us that ten days ago Daesh destroyed the tetrapylon," Syria’s antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL. The tetrapylon comprises four sets of four-columned structures built in the third century. “Yesterday, we received satellite photographs from our colleagues at Boston University showing damage to the facade of the Roman amphitheatre," he added. The terrorist group recaptured the 4000-year-old Syrian city in December 2016, nine months after being driven out from it, in a surprise attack while Syrian army was focused on retaking Aleppo. Meanwhile, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 12 captives have been beheaded and shot in Palmyra. Their execution took place inside a Roman amphitheatre dating back to the second century, and in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum.

China has expressed positive expectations for the upcoming dialogue on Syria issues scheduled in Astana, Kazakhstan next Monday, saying that it hoped the talks would set a sound foundation for the Syrian talks in Geneva. "China is positive about all proposals and plans that will be conducive to the political solution to the Syria issues," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a daily press briefing on Friday. She said that China hoped the Syrian government and the oppositions could eliminate differences, accumulate mutual trust, and push forward the political process to accomplish success, adding that the Syrian government and the oppositions should take part in the Geneva talks without preconditions.

At least two people were confirmed killed and another 10 are still unaccounted for after a landslide hit a hotel in central China's Hubei Province on Friday night. A three-storey building collapsed, trapping a total of 15 people on the first floor Mirage Hotel in Nanzhang County when around 3,000 cubic meters of debris slid down a slope behind the hotel at around 7:30 p.m (local time) on Friday. Rescuers have pulled five survivors from the debris, two of whom died in hospital. Rescue work is underway.

Four children and a woman were saved on Friday after being buried for almost two days under the debris of an avalanche-hit hotel in central Italy. Rescuers clapped and shouted "bravo" as an eight-year-old boy was pulled to safety, followed by his mother. The two appeared to be in good health condition. More than 30 holidaymakers were in the luxury spa hotel when a wall of snow, triggered by a series of quakes that hit the region, tore the building apart. As the search for survivors continued, five more people were located under the snow and two bodies have been recovered.