A donation from the Algerian government could become an issue for Hillary Clinton's widely expected 2016 presidential campaign. 

On Wednesday evening, the Washington Post reported the Clinton Foundation received $500,000 from Algeria in 2010, an apparent violation of an agreement Clinton made with aides to President Barack Obama before she was nominated to be secretary of state in late 2008. The deal was designed to address concerns foreign governments could attempt to influence the State Department by giving money to the foundation, which is now headed by Clinton, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea. 

Clinton's finances, including her speaking fees and donations to the foundation, have already emerged as a potential campaign issue. Her Republican rivals clearly see this latest story as potential ammunition against her. An aide for one of the likely 2016 GOP candidates emailed Business Insider shortly after the Post story was published and described the Algerian donation as indicative of a pattern of unethical behavior from Clinton and her family.

"How much sleazier does it get than taking money from foreign governments when you are the lead envoy to those governments?" the aide asked, adding, "Only the Clintons ..."

The Post story said the 2008 agreement was signed by the Clinton Foundation's chief executive and Valerie Jarrett, who helped head Obama's presidential transition team. Clinton pointed to the deal when concerns about the foundation's finances were raised at her confirmation hearings in early 2009. The agreement reportedly stipulated the foundation would only take donations from foreign governments that had previously given it money while Clinton led the State Department.

According to the Post, Algeria did not donate to the Clinton Foundation prior to the 2010 gift and foundation officials admitted they should have obtained approval from the State Department's ethics office before taking it.

In a statement sent to Business Insider, the foundation said the money from Algeria was intended to help fund relief efforts following the earthquake in Haiti that year. The foundation's statement admitted the State Department should have been "formally informed" about the donation.

"Immediately following the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010, the Embassy of Algeria made an unsolicited donation of $500K to Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief fund. As the Clinton Foundation did with all donations it received for earthquake relief, the entire amount of Algeria's contribution was distributed as aid in Haiti," the statement said. "This donation was disclosed publicly on our website, however, the State Department should have also been formally informed. This was a one-time, specific donation to help Haiti and Algeria had not donated to the Clinton Foundation before and has not since."

The Post noted Algeria's donation "coincided with a spike" in the country's efforts to lobby the State Department. During Clinton's time at the State Department, the agency was interested in Algeria due to reported human rights issues. The Post pointed out Clinton discussed the country in her 2014 memoir "Hard Choices" where she wrote that Algeria had a "poor human rights record," but was an ally in US efforts to fight terrorism.

Along with the $500,000 from Algeria, the Post article said the Clinton Foundation took "millions of dollars from seven foreign governments" during her time as secretary of state. The other foreign donations reportedly did not violate the agreement with the Obama administration as they came from countries that gave to the foundation before Clinton headed the State Department. However, the Post also revealed"some of the donations came from countries with complicated diplomatic, military and financial relationships with the U.S. government, including Kuwait, Qatar and Oman."

Overall, the Post article said the Clinton Foundation has "raised nearly $2 billion" since it was launched in 2001 and "foreign sources"represent approximately one third of the donors that have given it more than $1 million. On February 18, the Wall Street Journal reported the foundation resumed taking money from foreign donors after Clinton left the State Department in 2013.

Foreign governments and individuals are barred from giving money directly to presidential candidates. This has caused some observers to suggest Clinton's family's relationship with the organization is inappropriate as she embarks on a probable White House bid.

Spokespeople for Clinton, the State Department, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story from Business Insider. 

This post was updated at 11:37 p.m. with the statement from the Clinton Foundation.  

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 11 Facts That Show How Different Russia Is From The Rest Of The World

Madonna was performing her latest single "Living For Love" at the star-studded Brit Music Awards on Wednesday when her cape tie didn't release and a dancer accidentally pulled the 56-year-old diva down a flight of stairs.

It looked pretty painful, and social media captured the whole thing.

 You can see some of the aftermath here:

Let's see that in GIF form, just for good measure:

Despite the snafu, Madonna popped back up and continued dancing, finishing her performance like a total pro.

After the incident, Madonna put on a brave face and tried to explain what happened, assuring she was A-Okay: "Armani hooked me up! My beautiful cape was tied too tight! But nothing can stop me and love really lifted me up! Thanks for your good wishes! I'm fine! #livingforlove," she captioned an illustration of her costume.

Armani hooked me up! My beautiful cape was tied too tight! But nothing can stop me and love really lifted me up! Thanks for your good wishes! I'm fine! ❤️#livingforlove

A photo posted by Madonna (@madonna) on Feb 25, 2015 at 2:50pm PST

But it was too late, social media had already exploded with jokes:

Madonna's cape already has a Twitter account with nearly 5,000 followers:

SEE ALSO: John Travolta creeped everyone out at the Oscars

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This Sports Illustrated swimsuit rookie could become the next Kate Upton

Dubai spares no expense when making its cityscape the most jaw-dropping in the world.

In the 2000s, the emirate dropped nearly $600 billion into constructing the world's tallest tower, biggest man-made island, and most luxurious hotel, among other architectural feats.

These aerial photos of Dubai capture the city's elegance and ambition.

Dubai is a city of superlatives. Located in the United Arab Emirates, the ritzy metropolis is home to some of the tallest, biggest, and most luxurious structures in the world.

These dazzling photos of Dubai, taken from the sky, show off the city's architectural feats.

The Burj Al Arab, the fourth-tallest hotel in the world, dominates the Dubai skyline.

Palm Beach Gardens (United States) (AFP) - World number one Rory McIlroy, preparing for his 2015 US PGA Tour debut, is relishing his role as the dominant player in golf.

"Of course I want to be that guy," McIlroy said. "I said it last year, golf is waiting for someone like that to step forward, put their hand up and win the big tournaments. This is the position I want to be in, and I want to be in it as long as I can."

The Northern Irishman, whose appearance at this week's Honda Classic launches his build up to the Masters, will be gunning for a third straight major title at Augusta National in April.

A victory there would give him a career Grand Slam by the age of 25.

With 14-time major champion Tiger Woods' season in limbo after back pain forced him out of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines earlier this month, McIlroy is under even more scrutiny.

But he said Wednesday he's happy with his role.

"It's what I've always wanted to do," he said. "I would be wasting my time if I was out there practicing as much as I do and putting as much into it if I didn't want to be in this position."

McIlroy is coming off a victory in the Dubai Desert Classic three weeks ago. 

After competing this week at PGA National he'll play in the World Golf Championships event at Doral and then tee it up for the first time in his career at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill before tackling Augusta.

"I feel like I've got a nice schedule going into Augusta," he said. "I'm not playing too much, but I'm playing just enough that I should be as sharp as possible going in there."

- Consistency a goal -

McIlroy said piling up more major wins isn't his only focus.

"I've got a few goals in mind," he said. "I've got nine PGA Tour wins, which in two or three years isn't too bad. It's pretty good, but I want to make that a lot more.

"I've been on a good run over the past sort of six months, especially finishing off the European Tour last year and into this year where I've been first or second, seven events," McIlroy said, saying he wants to have the kind of consistency that makes him the man to beat every time he tees it up.

McIlroy appeared on course for a wire-to-wire victory here last year, holding the outright lead after each of the first three rounds before struggling to a four-over 74 on the final day.

He made it into a four-man playoff that was won by American Russell Henley, who denied McIlroy another title in the tournament he won in 2012 to become number one in the world for the first time.

McIlroy is paired in the first two rounds with big-hitting Americans Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.

Henley will play alongside Rickie Fowler and Graeme McDowell.

McIlroy will tee it up Thursday with a major off-course headache behind him, after settling a case with his former management company.

"It's so nice just to be able to focus on golf and put all my time and effort into that," he said.

Join the conversation about this story »

Rocksteady released a new trailer for one of this year's most-anticipated games "Batman: Arkham Knight," and we cannot wait to get our hands on this.

It looks incredible.

The game was supposed to come out last year, but was delayed last June to extend development on the game.

For the first time, players will get to drive around the Caped Crusader's Batmobile in the franchise.

It will also be the first "Arkham" game in the franchise to be rated Mature. 

"Batman: Arkham Knight" will be released June 2.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This Sports Illustrated swimsuit rookie could become the next Kate Upton

Paris (AFP) - Liverpool return to the scene of the greatest moment in their recent history in the Europa League on Thursday as Tottenham Hotspur go to Italy just three days before the English League Cup final.

The Ataturk Olympic Stadium will forever be remembered by Liverpool fans as the scene of their remarkable triumph in the 2005 Champions League final, when they came from 3-0 down to draw level at 3-3 with AC Milan before winning a penalty shoot-out to lift the European Cup for the fifth time.

On this occasion, the only prize on offer in the round-of-32, second leg is a berth in the last 16, and Liverpool hold the upper hand in the tie after a late Mario Balotelli penalty secured a 1-0 win at Anfield last week.

The Reds are unbeaten in seven games while Besiktas -- who are playing at the Olympic Stadium while their own ground overlooking the Bosphorus is rebuilt -- were knocked off the top of the Turkish Super Lig at the weekend after losing 1-0 to Eskisehirspor.

"We want to start a new winning streak starting with the Liverpool game," Besiktas coach Slaven Bilic told Turkish media after the weekend loss. 

"We did not show the fight and work rate we usually do, I expect all my players to put in a lot more effort on Thursday."

Meanwhile, Tottenham face a make or break few days in their campaign as they go to Florence having to score in the second leg of their tie against Fiorentina after drawing 1-1 at White Hart Lane.

The match in Italy will be a huge test of Spurs' resolve with Fiorentina unbeaten in 10 games and with the small matter of the League Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley following on Sunday.

"It will be a difficult game," said Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino. "I think this is our first final before Sunday as Fiorentina are only one game from going into the next round. We know that we need to score, but we are confident."

Top goalscorer Harry Kane was one of those who sat out last week's first leg and may be kept back again with one eye on the Chelsea game.

"We'd be gutted if we go out of the Europa League," added midfielder Nabil Bentaleb as he insisted that Spurs are not taking the continental competition lightly. 

"We're going to go on Thursday to Fiorentina to win that game. If we start thinking like this we're not going anywhere. We have to keep that hunger we have inside us to want to win everything."

- 'Prey on their mistakes' -

Everton already have one foot in the next round as they host Swiss side Young Boys having won 4-1 in Bern last week with Romelu Lukaku scoring a hat-trick.

As they struggle in the league, they could be forgiven for being distracted by Sunday's trip to Arsenal, but midfielder James McCarthy said Everton minds are only on continuing their European run.

"We have a big lead but we won't take any prisoners. We have come back from a great result in Europe and we need to try and get the wins at home. The fans have come out in their numbers and we need to go again on Thursday," he told the club's website.

Meanwhile, Celtic also go to Italy needing to score as they face Inter at the San Siro after a thrilling 3-3 draw in Glasgow.

Inter have the edge in the tie and have been gradually improving recently under Roberto Mancini but Celtic captain Scott Brown is hopeful the Scottish champions can pull off a shock.

"We will probably go there, try to press them high up the park again and prey on their mistakes. If we do that who knows what can happen," he said.

Other second-leg ties to look out for on Thursday include holders Sevilla's trip to Germany to defend a 1-0 first-leg lead against Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Meanwhile, a week after their fans made headlines for trashing one of the best-known squares in the Italian capital before a 1-1 draw with Roma, Feyenoord welcome the Serie A side to Rotterdam.

Join the conversation about this story »

Emmy-winning series "House of Cards" returns to Netflix Friday. 

The show's lead character, Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, is known for his signature asides in which he breaks the fourth wall and speaks to the viewers.

More of these moments will occur in season 3, but do you know how many times it has happened on the show so far?

Jody Sieradzki made an infographic breaking down Underwood's camera asides over 26 episodes. Underwood noticeably made less comments to the audience in season 2. 

The graphic also breaks down how many threats Underwood has made and the number of murders he has committed per season.

Check it out below.

Season 3 of "House of Cards" will be available to stream on Netflix Friday at 12 a.m. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The new trailer for Season 3 of 'House of Cards' is terrifying

A company in Berkeley, California, has designed a perfectly round smartphone that looks like a pocket watch, and will debut it next week at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.

The Runcible will debut in Japan later this year, and will feature a camera and all the wireless connections you'd expect: LTE, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

It will also run the Firefox OS, the mobile platform from browser maker Mozilla. That means it won't run the hundreds of thousands of native apps available for Android and iOS, but will run only apps written in the HTML5 language, which is used for web apps. 

The lack of apps may be a turn off for some users, but this isn't a device for always-connected tech enthusiasts anyway. 

Monohm designs "heirloom electronics," and it's advertising the Runcible as a more tasteful kind of smartphone for people who don't always want to be plugged in.

As the company's web site says, it's meant to resemble "the pocket watch, the compact, the compass, the magical stone in your hand," and it "will never beep, alert, or otherwise interrupt you." 

Think of it like the fixie bike or craft artisan beer of smartphones. 

The company told CNET that photography will be a major focus for the phone, and it will use some custom HTML5 apps that are redesigned for the round screen. But most important, it's meant for people to keep for a long time, like a keepsake, rather than replaced every two or three years like most smartphones.

We'll be on hand at Mobile World Congress next week and we'll see if we can get a demo.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This video of seniors using the internet for the first time will make your day

Warren Buffett's annual letter to shareholders comes out soon, and it's guaranteed to be a must-read.

But Buffett's entire archive of letters make for great reading.

So what ones should you read?

To get a handle on this, we talked to software developer and Warren Buffett aficionado Steve Ritter, who has read every letter and goes to Berkshire's annual meetings each year.

He gave us his top 5 must-reads.

Buffett's 1977 letter is the earliest one available in the Berkshire Hathaway online archive.

Right away, Buffett tackles the notion that earnings performance is a good way to measure managerial performance:

Except for special cases (for example, companies with unusual debt-equity ratios or those with important assets carried at unrealistic balance sheet values), we believe a more appropriate measure of managerial economic performance to be return on equity capital. In 1977 our operating earnings on beginning equity capital amounted to 19%, slightly better than last year and above both our own long-term average and that of American industry in aggregate. But, while our operating earnings per share were up 37% from the year before, our beginning capital was up 24%, making the gain in earnings per share considerably less impressive than it might appear at first glance.

In his 1983 letter, Buffett wrote about the importance of "economic goodwill" in the companies he invested in:

We own several businesses that possess economic Goodwill (which is properly includable in intrinsic business value) far larger than the accounting Goodwill that is carried on our balance sheet and reflected in book value...

...You can live a full and rewarding life without ever thinking about Goodwill and its amortization. But students of investment and management should understand the nuances of the subject. My own thinking has changed drastically from 35 years ago when I was taught to favor tangible assets and to shun businesses whose value depended largely upon economic Goodwill. This bias caused me to make many important business mistakes of omission, although relatively few of commission.

The next year, in 1984, Berkshire highlighted its purchase of Nebraska Furniture Mart. Buffett was a huge fan of NFM's chairman, the 91-year-old Rose Blumkin, who he affectionately referred to as "Mrs. B."

Here's an excerpt:

I have been asked by a number of people just what secrets the Blumkins bring to their business. These are not very esoteric. All members of the family: (1) apply themselves with an enthusiasm and energy that would make Ben Franklin and Horatio Alger look like dropouts; (2) define with extraordinary realism their area of special competence and act decisively on all matters within it; (3) ignore even the most enticing propositions failing outside of that area of special competence; and, (4) unfailingly behave in a high-grade manner with everyone they deal with. (Mrs. B boils it down to “sell cheap and tell the truth”.)

Our evaluation of the integrity of Mrs. B and her family was demonstrated when we purchased 90% of the business: NFM had never had an audit and we did not request one; we did not take an inventory nor verify the receivables; we did not check property titles. We gave Mrs. B a check for $55 million and she gave us her word. That made for an even exchange.

That's trust.

Buffett is a long-time investor in the insurance business. In his 2001 letter, he described the economics of the industry, writing, "Our main business – though we have others of great importance – is insurance. To understand Berkshire, therefore, it is necessary that you understand how to evaluate an insurance company."

Buffett reflects on the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001, and how the prospect of terrorism altered the insurance business:

The events of September 11th made it clear that our implementation of rules 1 and 2 at General Re had been dangerously weak. In setting prices and also in evaluating aggregation risk, we had either overlooked or dismissed the possibility of large-scale terrorism losses. That was a relevant underwriting factor, and we ignored it.

In pricing property coverages, for example, we had looked to the past and taken into account only costs we might expect to incur from windstorm, fire, explosion and earthquake. But what will be the largest insured property loss in history (after adding related business-interruption claims) originated from none of these forces. In short, all of us in the industry made a fundamental underwriting mistake by focusing on experience, rather than exposure, thereby assuming a huge terrorism risk for which we received no premium.

Finally, there was 2008 – the year of the Lehman Brothers failure and the global financial crisis.

Buffett's 2008 letter is pretty wide-ranging, given the lessons investors learned that year.

In one section, Buffett touched on the dangers of derivatives, which played a big part in the crisis. Buffett, as a long-time investor in the insurance business, had plenty of experience with the instruments himself.

He wrote:

Indeed, recent events demonstrate that certain big-name CEOs (or former CEOs) at major financial institutions were simply incapable of managing a business with a huge, complex book of derivatives. Include Charlie and me in this hapless group: When Berkshire purchased General Re in 1998, we knew we could not get our minds around its book of 23,218 derivatives contracts, made with 884 counterparties (many of which we had never heard of). So we decided to close up shop. Though we were under no pressure and were operating in benign markets as we exited, it took us five years and more than $400 million in losses to largely complete the task. Upon leaving, our feelings about the business mirrored a line in a country song: “I liked you better before I got to know you so well.”

Improved “transparency” – a favorite remedy of politicians, commentators and financial regulators for averting future train wrecks – won’t cure the problems that derivatives pose. I know of no reporting mechanism that would come close to describing and measuring the risks in a huge and complex portfolio of derivatives. Auditors can’t audit these contracts, and regulators can’t regulate them. When I read the pages of “disclosure” in 10-Ks of companies that are entangled with these instruments, all I end up knowing is that I don’t know what is going on in their portfolios (and then I reach for some aspirin).

The excerpts above are, of course, only a very small sample of the type of writing that has made Buffett's letters a must-read for investors year-in and year-out.

Click here to explore the full archive of letters on the Berkshire website >

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Nationwide's Super Bowl commercial about dead children is about corporate profits ... in a way that we can all appreciate

We're learning more about Ellen Pao's working environment at Kleiner Perkins, thanks to trial testimony from managing partner Ted Schlein.

Pao, a former junior partner at Kleiner, is seeking $16 million in damages from the firm for gender discrimination.

Schlein recalled a private jet trip to New York with Pao and Dan Rosensweig, the CEO of Chegg, a company Kleiner had invested in.

Rosensweig allegedly kept the conversation around Playboy, Victoria's Secret, and other "very offensive sexual topics," according to Pao's trial brief.

"Dan said he met with Christie Hefner at the Playboy mansion," testified Schlein. "Dan is a boisterous type."

Schlein didn't do much to rein in Rosensweig. 

"I don't remember trying to stop it," he said.

Pao's attorney, Alan Exelrod, mentioned the incident to paint a picture of the environment she worked in at Kleiner. 

SEE ALSO: Ellen Pao's attorney just revealed the insane amounts top partners at VC firms get paid

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Venture Capital Legend Reveals How To Spot The Next Tech Superstar

There is a dress that might be black and blue or white and gold. 

It started on this Tumblr page here, where a user posted this dress with the caption, "guys please help me - is this dress white and gold, or blue and black? Me and my friends can’t agree and we are freaking the f**k out"

Here's the dress.

And people on Twitter are completely freaking out whether this dress is blue and black or white and gold. (Note: some of the embedded tweets contain NSFW language.)

Taylor Swift sees black and blue. 

Mindy Kaling has also chimed in.

And BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith.

 And New York Times tech reporter Mike Isaac.

And of course, Denny's.

Naturally, the debate surrounding the dress includes the Illuminati.

And the llamas that were loose in Arizona earlier today.  

And amid all this, there might be an explanation here. 

Here's what the text in that embedded tweet says:

"Your eyes have retinas, the things that let you interpret color. There's rods, round things, and cones that stick out, which is what gives your eye a textured appearance in the colored part. The "cones" see color. The "rods" see shade, like black, white and grey. Cones only work when enough light passes through. So while I see the fabric as white, someone else may see it as blue because my cones aren't responding to the dim lighting. My rods see it as a shade (white).

There's three cones: small, medium and large. They are blue sensitive, green sensitive, and red sensitive.

As for the black bit (which I see as gold), it's called additive mixing. Blue, green and red are the main colors for additive mixing. This is where it gets really tricky. Subtractive mixing, such as with paint, means the more colors you add the murkier it gets until its black. ADDITIVE mixing, when you add the three colors the eyes see best, red, green and blue, (not to be confused with primary colors red, blue and yellow) it makes pure white.

—Blue and Black: In conclusion, your retina's cones are more high functioning, and this results in your eyes doing subtractive mixing.

—White and Gold: our eyes don't work well in dim light so our retinas rods see white, and this makes them less light sensitive, causing additive mixing, (that of green and red), to make gold."

And this user says he turned his phone's brightness from low to high and saw the colors switching. 

So give that a shot, maybe.

SEE ALSO: This dress looks white and gold to me, but Google says it's black and blue

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

Buenos Aires (AFP) - An Argentine judge dismissed the case against President Cristina Kirchner for allegedly shielding Iranian officials from prosecution over the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center.

Prosecutors had sought to relaunch the case against Kirchner that was being brought by their late colleague Alberto Nisman, who died mysteriously last month after accusing Kirchner of protecting Iranians suspected of ordering the attack which killed 85 people.

Judge Daniel Rafecas said the prosecution team that took over the file from Nisman had failed to provide sufficient evidence that Kirchner committed a crime, assailing their case in a 63-page ruling.

"I dismiss the case because no crime was committed," Rafecas said.

"It is clear that none of the alleged crimes presented by (lead prosecutor Gerardo) Pollicita in his petition to the court are demonstrated in the least."

Responding to the prosecution's allegations that Kirchner sought to have an Interpol wanted notice for the Iranian suspects annulled, Rafecas wrote: "The evidence gathered, far from supporting the prosecution's version, roundly refutes it."

Interpol's former director has denied that any such request was made.

Nisman was appointed a decade ago to reopen the investigation into the long-unsolved bombing at the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, which also left 300 people wounded.

He accused Iran of ordering the attack via Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a claim the government in Tehran denies.

He later concluded that a 2013 deal between Argentina and Iran for the suspects to be investigated by a joint commission was a conspiracy designed to ensure they would never be brought to justice.

- Mystery death -

Nisman was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head in his bathroom on January 18, four days after filing a report accusing Kirchner, Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and other figures close to the government of protecting high-ranking Iranian officials, including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, in exchange for oil and other trade benefits.

Nisman died on the eve of congressional hearings where he was due to present his findings.

Since his death, initially labeled a suicide, suspicion has fallen on Kirchner's government of orchestrating his murder.

The president has suggested the prosecutor was manipulated by disgruntled former intelligence agents who then killed him to smear her.

Kirchner's supporters rallied around her after Thursday's ruling.

"Judge Rafecas's ruling puts in black and white the huge mess that put Nisman's case in the ranks of the ridiculous," top Kirchner aide Anibal Fernandez wrote on Twitter.

"The farce is over," tweeted Ecuador's leftwing President Rafael Correa.

- Sweeping intelligence reform -

Kirchner has clashed with the intelligence establishment, sacking the top officials at Argentina's Intelligence Secretariat (SI) and introducing a bill to disband it.

The bill passed the Chamber of Deputies early Thursday by a vote of 131 to 71, clearing its final hurdle in a congress where Kirchner enjoys a solid majority.

The legislation, which Kirchner is expected to sign in the coming days, dissolves the SI and replaces it with a body called the Federal Intelligence Agency.

Kirchner had argued the SI still operated with agents and methods dating back to Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship.

The intelligence services had already been ensnared in a scandal involving wiretaps carried out to extort judges, prosecutors and other powerful figures.

One of the new law's most controversial changes is to put the country's solicitor general, who answers to Kirchner, in charge of the office responsible for carrying out telephone wiretaps.

Nisman had based his accusations against Kirchner and her foreign minister on hundreds of hours of wiretaps.

After Nisman raised suspicions about the president, the government turned the spotlight on Antonio Stiuso, who had been sacked as IS operations chief in December.

Kirchner has accused the powerful ex-spy of feeding false information to Nisman, and suggested that he then had the prosecutor killed.

On Tuesday, the government accused Stiuso of running a smuggling ring and committing tax fraud.

Opposition lawmakers had been demanding a reform of the spy agency, but criticized the new law as a move by Kirchner to shift attention away from the Nisman case.

They opened the debate on the bill with a minute of silence in Nisman's memory.

Join the conversation about this story »

One of the more challenging tasks given to 15 of America's most gifted children on the competition series "Child Genius" was to memorize the order of a shuffled deck of cards within an hour.

Child prodigy Katherine, 11, a finalist in the competition series, got a perfect score on the memory round and needed less than three minutes to recite all the cards.

"She started by looking at the cards and was like, 'Hey, how do I remember all of these?' Then, she did it. She remembered all 52 cards. Then she did it forward and then backwards and if we asked, 'Where is the king of hearts?' she would tell you exactly where it was in the deck," her dad said on the show, which is on Lifetime.

Here's how she did it.

For Katherine, each suit of cards represents an image of people, places, animals, etc. She incorporates these images into a story and connects every card to a particular element in that story. 

"For the memory round I have a system that creates a journey in my head and I place these cards as images along the journey so I can memorize it better," Katherine explained on the show.

Lisa Van Gemert, of the elite IQ society American Mensa, said Katherine's technique is common among extraordinary children.

"You're going to be able to tell the difference between kids who use those systems and kids who just try good old fashioned memorizing where you are reciting what you are trying to remember over and over again to keep it in your head, the same way you and I would with a phone number," Van Gemert said ahead of the memory round.

Here is Katherine at the beginning of the round ...

 And less than three minutes later ...

Katherine was selected out of thousands of applicants to compete against 20 other remarkable children in the grueling eight-week-long national intelligence competition.

She isn't just a memory maven; Katherine excels at all her school subjects and participates in various extracurricular activities. "She has gotten an A+ on every subject, even Spanish. I have no idea how she did that," her dad said, smiling.

Katherine attends flute, piano, ballet, tap dance, ice skating, and swimming lessons, according to her parents. She also plays soccer and is a star on her school's debate team. 

"I think I'm so good at so many things because I learn really fast and I can remember things really easily," Katherine said.

SEE ALSO: See if you can answer the questions asked in a child geniuses competition

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

Palm Beach Gardens (United States) (AFP) - World number one Rory McIlroy battled to a three-over-par 73 at a windswept Honda Classic in his first US PGA Tour start of 2015.

Given Friday's daunting conditions, which saw only 19 players break par, the Northern Irishman wasn't too disappointed with an effort that left him eight shots off the pace set by Web.com Tour graduate Jim Herman.

"I'm coming off a three-week break, tough conditions to come back in," McIlroy said.

"Today wasn't what I wanted to start with, but if I can get it into red numbers tomorrow I'm right back in the tournament."

McIlroy opened with a double-bogey at the first hole of the par-70 PGA National layout, unable to find his tee shot that landed in the brush.

McIlroy pulled back a shot with a birdie at the third, but then made bogey at the fourth and double-bogey from the water at the fifth.

After a birdie at the eighth, McIlroy stumbled to bogeys on 11 and 14 before salvaging his round with a birdie-birdie finish.

"The wind started to die down for us the last few holes," said McIlroy, who said he told playing partner Brooks Koepka as they headed toward the 15th tee, "Let's just make a couple birdies on the way in, try to get something out of it."

Koepka, winner of the Phoenix Open earlier this month, ended up signing for an eight-over 78 while Dustin Johnson, the third man in the group, posted a 77.

McIlroy, coming off a victory in the Dubai Desert Classic and a runner-up finish in Abu Dhabi in his first two European starts of the season, managed to finish on a better note and was optimistic of more improvement Friday.

"I looked at the forecast for tomorrow morning ... it looks nice. Hopefully the conditions will be a little easier," he said.

The struggles of McIlroy and so many others only made Herman's round look all the more impressive.

Herman, who lives in nearby Palm City, played without a bogey in the morning wave.

Herman, who has one career victory on the Nationwide Tour, now the Web.com Tour, at the 2010 Moonah Classic in Australia, earned his 2015 tour card through last year's Web.com Finals Series and has made the cut in six of his first 10 events this season.

"The wind is very challenging," said Herman, who posted one of just two bogey-free rounds on Thursday.

"When you get it down wind you have to take advantage of it. The par-fives are very doable. I was able to get home on 18 ... When you do get down wind you have to take advantage of it."

Herman had a one-shot lead over fellow American Brendan Steele.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington shared third place on three-under 67 with Americans Martin Flores and Patrick Reed.

Join the conversation about this story »

Los Angeles (AFP) - A pair of sprightly llamas jigged their way to immediate social media stardom after they led dozens of US police a merry dance on the bemused streets of Phoenix, Arizona.

The duo, one white and the other black, had the eyes of the world on them as American media transmitted live footage from the air of them darting across busy roads and parking lots in their brazen -- and for an hour successful -- attempt at evading capture.

Their run for freedom in Sun City, a Phoenix suburb, after numerous hapless attempts at capture by police and startled members of the public failed, finally ended when first the black one was lassoed and taken in, followed soon after by the companion, when it was cornered and gave up the game.

They were whisked away in a trailer without putting up a fight, but were already minor celebrities by then.

Twitter lit up after their heroics, with #whitellama, #llamas, #teamllama and ##llamadrama all trending. 

Disney joined in the fun, tweeting a cartoon picture of a defiant-looking llama with the words, "Llama drama."

Quick-thinking Twitter users launched a spoof account on behalf of the llamas, @SunCityLlamas, tweeting: "Wow. We're famous."

Police said it was three onlookers who finally caught up with the runaway animals.

The llamas escaped after a rancher brought them to an assisted living facility to visit an ex-llama rancher as a form of animal therapy, Lieutenant Brandon Jones, of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, told local media.

Jones said the animals were spooked when the door of the trailer that was transporting them to the site opened. There were actually three llamas in the trailer, but only two ran for it.

Their bolt for freedom earned the admiration of the Internet.

One Twitter user, @devincf, wrote: "Thank you to the #llamas for helping everybody forget, briefly, that we are all going to die some day."

Another, @mikezoller, tweeted: "Whoever said 24 hour news was a bad thing didn't get 2 llama cams this afternoon."

The Arizona Cardinals, the nearby NFL football team, got in on the fun, tweeting: The #AZCardinals have agreed to one-year deals with the #llamasontheloose. Each llama will earn 2,340 lbs of hay."

Join the conversation about this story »

This dress that might be white and gold or black and blue is currently going massively viral thanks to a Tumblr post that asked readers to identify what color it is.

Different people apparently perceive the dress differently. 

I see the dress as white and gold. However, Google has told me I was wrong. 

When I plugged the picture of the dress into Google images, the "visually similar images" identified by the search engine were all dresses that were very clearly in various shades of blue. According to Google, the company's image search engine uses "computer vision technology" to create a "mathematical model" of the picture's most distinctive properties.

That Google image search software clearly says the dress is black and blue.

See the result for yourself: 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

Social media is going crazy over a dress that might be black and blue or white and gold. 

The dress first appeared on Tumblr with the caption, "guys please help me - is this dress white and gold, or blue and black? Me and my friends can’t agree and we are freaking the f**k out."

Here is the dress.

In short, some people see a dress that is blue and black, some see a dress that is white and gold, and some see one combination and later see another. According to one poll on Buzzfeed, 74% see white and gold.

So we put the dress to Photoshop, a program that should not be susceptible to variations in genetics or eye strength, to see what it sees.

Here are the results and they are fascinating. Basically, one of the colors falls on the black/gold border and the other falls on the blue/white border.

At this point it appears to be just how your eyes adjust to the mix of colors. If your eyes are more sensitive to blue and black, that's what you see, if they are more sensitive to the lighter colors, that is what you see.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch 2 armed gangs fight on a busy road in China

Beijing (AFP) - Beijing has imposed a one-year ban on the import of ivory carvings, amid international criticism that rapidly-growing Chinese demand could push wild African elephants to extinction within a generation.

The move, which took effect Thursday, was announced by China's State Forestry Administration in a statement posted on its website.

It comes days ahead of a visit to China by Britain's Prince William, who has campaigned against illegal wildlife trafficking. He is expected to speak on the issue during a stop in southwestern Yunnan province next Wednesday.

China is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, but regulated sales of ivory carvings are legal in the country.

It is the world's largest consumer of illegal ivory, with skyrocketing demand leading to the slaughter of tens of thousands of African elephants each year, conservationists say.

Many increasingly wealthy Chinese shoppers buy ivory trinkets as a sign of financial success.

Between 800 to 900 smuggling cases are detected in China every year, according to customs statistics cited by the state-run Beijing Youth Daily, and more than half of businesses dealing in legal ivory are also involved in illegal trade.

A joint report in December from the Save the Elephants and The Aspinall Foundation campaign groups found that more than 100,000 wild elephants were killed from 2010 to 2012, with their slaughter largely fuelled by the "out of control" illegal ivory trade in China.

China is making efforts to stem the trade, including closing down at least 10 officially designated factories and jailing hundreds of dealers, but the measures were not going far enough, the report's authors said.

Researchers said prices for raw ivory in China had risen from $750 (550 euros) per kilo in 2010 to $2,100 (1,540 euros) in 2014.

The one-year timeframe for the new ban on carvings "is designed to assess the effects", Xinhua reported.

Join the conversation about this story »

Despite being one of the most valuable alcohol brands in the world, Jack Daniel's is manufactured in a 147-year-old distillery in Lynchburg, Tenn. that is actually on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Register of Historic Places.

It's so old that I was worried while standing in a hot and deafening room of whiskey stills on a recent tour that one of them might erupt.

Nonetheless, the 1,700-acre operation has around 435 workers and ships out 119 million bottles in a year.

To meet rising global demand, in August parent company Brown-Forman Corp. announced a major expansion for the distillery costing more than $100 million. The enlargement will provide 20 percent more production and storage capacity while preserving the familiar landscape.

Maintaining traditional methods, after all, is key both to the brand and the product.

The distillery was founded almost 150 years ago when Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel ran away from home and started making whiskey with a Lutheran Minister when he was only seven years old.

"Church people started talking about how the minister was working for God on Sunday and then making liquor on Monday. In order to keep the church family happy the Minister sold the business to Jack for $25," distillery tour guide Jesse James told me.

We took a tour to see how the whiskey is made.

The Jack Daniel Distillery is located in Lynchburg, Tenn., a dry county that's a 90 minute drive from Nashville.

Everywhere you look there are creative uses of whiskey barrels.

There was already a crowd at 9 a.m. on a Saturday, with 1,300 guests expected over the course of the day.

Sydney (AFP) - South Africa won the toss and chose to bat against the West Indies in the World Cup Pool B game at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.

It is a crucial game for the Proteas after they lost by 130 runs to India, while the West Indies are confident following their 73-run win over Zimbabwe.

That has left AB de Villiers' team with just two points after two games and trailing India, the West Indies and Ireland in Pool B.

Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn came into the West Indian side for Nikita Miller after passing a fitness test on a back complaint.

JP Duminy failed a late fitness test after sustaining a side strain, and joined Vernon Philander (hamstring strain) on the sidelines for South Africa.

Rilee Rossouw, Farhaan Behardien and Kyle Abbott were named in the side for Duminy, Philander and Wayne Parnell.

While the South Africans mastered the West Indies 4-1 in a home series last month they confront a Caribbean team full of confidence after their their thumping win over Zimbabwe.

Opener Chris Gayle bounced back to his destructive best with the highest ever individual World Cup score of 215 containing a record-equalling 16 sixes, while Marlon Samuels scored an unbeaten 133 in an all-time ODI record stand of 372.

Teams:

South Africa: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw, AB de Villiers (capt), David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Dale Steyn, Kyle Abbott, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir.

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin, Lendl Simmons, Jonathan Carter, Darren Sammy, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (capt), Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn. 

Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) Steve Davis (AUS)

TV umpire: Ranmore Martinesz (SRI)

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)

Weather: Sunny. Maximum temperature 27 Celsius

Join the conversation about this story »