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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s prime minister said Wednesday he expects a German-led secret pact to be revealed soon that would bring up to 500,000 Syrians from Turkey directly into the European Union, but EU leaders rejected the claim.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban said a similar idea was rejected recently by European leaders but the new scheme will be announced in Berlin as soon as this week.

“This secret background agreement exists. And we will be confronted by it in the coming days,” Orban said at a meeting of Hungarians from around the world. He said the plan included forcing all EU countries to take in some of the migrants, even if they are opposed to mandatory relocation quotas.

EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, however, bluntly rejected Orban’s assertion.

“I’ll try to explain this in clear terms —nonsense,” Timmermans said in Brussels.

On Sunday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had said some EU nations were looking at plans to bring groups of refugees to Europe, “amounts that are much smaller than now.”

“I do not recognize myself in something like that,” Rutte said when asked about a newspaper claim that there was talk of 400,000 in a first group of migrants. Such figures were also rejected by officials in Belgium.

Orban said there would be “huge pressure” on countries like Hungary and others in the region to take part in the scheme.

Orban, who stated earlier that Europe’s Christian identity was at risk from so many Muslims reaching the continent, said asylum-seekers were “overrunning Europe,” aided by human smugglers, rights groups and some leading politicians.

“This is the absurd coalition which has resulted in us transporting these people into Europe,” Orban said.

Orban repeated his view linking refugees to the deadly Paris attacks, saying the migrant wave was being used to bring “guerrillas” from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan into Europe.

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Raf Casert in Brussels and David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.

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Throngs of Black Friday holiday shoppers and revelers provided cover for a million-dollar jewelry heist at a store at Santa Fe’s scenic downtown plaza.

Outdoors, holiday revelers gathered for caroling, hot chocolate and a first glimpse at holiday lights on the day after Thanksgiving. Inside the Diva Diamonds & Jewels storefront, police say thieving hands reached into an unlocked glass jewelry case while staff were too busy attending to customers to notice.

Surveillance video is providing clues about a trio of suspects linked to the crime, Santa Fe Police Lt. Michele Williams said. Eleven items worth more than a $1 million were taken from the store.

“We had the Christmas tree lighting, we had Black Friday shopping,” Williams said. “There were crowds all around. Whether they planned it on that day or not, it certainly worked out well for them.”

Investigators have honed in on video footage from both the day of the theft and nearly three weeks earlier, when possible conspirators were seen snooping around the jewelry store.

Police declined a request to release the surveillance video, but they have distributed still images from the video of three suspects in hopes of identifying the individuals.

Williams said releasing the complete videos could interfere with the investigation.

Santa Fe’s downtown plaza is ringed by museums, art galleries and restaurants. The public square dates back to the 1600s and remains a popular venue for performances and seasonal markets.

The jewelry store could not be reached by phone or email. It advertises diamonds, gems, and fine jewelry in a wide range of styles. Police declined to describe the stolen items.

A glass display case was kept unlocked during business hours. Police said the jewelry was removed between 5:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Jewelry store employees discovered the items were missing about 6 p.m.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of rare and original collectibles associated with “Star Wars” are headed to auction.

Sotheby’s is holding the online auction for items associated with the space odyssey series. Estimates run from $100 to $35,000.

It’s the collection of Japanese designer NIGO (NEE’-goh).

The items will be offered Dec. 11 at: http://ift.tt/1NYZrAC and eBay.com/Sothebys.

Two “Power of the Force” coin sets that were only available on special request from the manufacturer have a $25,000 to $35,000 estimate.

A Luke Skywalker figurine with double telescoping lightsaber has a pre-sale estimate of $12,000 to $18,000.

Highlights will be on view Dec. 4 to 11 at The Conde Nast Gallery at One World Trade Center.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is being released this month.

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Dan Harris, ABC Nightline News anchor and author of 10% Happier, tells us how a panic attack on national television changed his life for the better.

Produced by Jenner Deal. Camera by Justin Gmoser.

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A heated debate has descended on the history world: Was the Statue of Liberty originally a Muslim woman?

The discussion centers around French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the designer of the Statue of Liberty.

In the 1860s, long before the Statue of Liberty was constructed, he designed a statue of a female Egyptian peasant to be placed at the head of the Suez Canal.

The original sculpture, sketched out as a robed woman holding a torch, would be known as “Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia” to symbolize progress.

She would have been Arab, Michael Daly recently noted in The Daily Beast, which means she could have also been Muslim. But Bartholdi never got a chance to build the sculpture.

While some historians believe Bartholdi designed the Statue of Liberty for the US after he failed to sell that original idea of the peasant statue to Egypt — sort of as a last-ditch attempt at getting the project off the ground — others say that argument belittles both works and the two aren’t all that connected.

“Bartholdi remained determined to erect a colossus on the scale of the one in ancient Rhodes,” Daly writes, arguing in favor of the Statute of Liberty as essentially a ripoff. “He sailed to America with drawings of the Muslim woman transformed to the personification of Liberty.”

However, historians question the timeline, pointing to the fact Bartholdi originally drew up sketches for “Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia” in the 1860s. It wasn’t until 1885 that he brought the Statue of Liberty to the US.

“He went back to France and was there for about a year or so before he went to the United States,” Edward Berenson, professor of history at New York University and author of “The Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story,” told Global News Canada. “He didn’t go directly from Egypt to the United States.”

It may only have been once he decided to immigrate to the United States that the idea popped back into his head, reimagined for an American context.

“Bartholdi took the sketches he had made for the Egyptian statue and changed them. He worked from that model,” Berenson told Global News.

In other words, Bartholdi certainly could have drawn inspiration from his earlier project in Egypt in bringing a new statue to America. But it’s less certain whether he did so as a way to avoid throwing out a complex project.

It may simply have been a design Bartholdi enjoyed, which he wanted to adapt in some form no matter where it stood.

Judge for yourself. The similarities are apparent, but does that mean The Statue of Liberty began as a Muslim peasant?

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NOW WATCH: Secrets of the Statue of Liberty

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Here’s something you hear thrown around a lot: “China is taking all of our jobs.”

This was perhaps true a generation ago. 

But the reality is that while China’s economy took off in the last 20 years and seemingly everything was “Made in China,” the cost of labor was forever going up. 

And now, China is facing an economic slowdown amid a government-sponsored shift towards the service sector and away from manufacturing, the “Made in China” story is falling apart as Mexico and Brazil become more attractive for global manufacturers.

One look at this chart tells you why: labor costs about five times more in China than it did two decades ago and now costs even more than it does in Mexico. 

In its year-ahead outlook, Credit Suisse includes this chart as part of its argument for being bullish on Mexico, nothing that Mexico’s manufacturing competitiveness — particularly against China — is as strong as its ever been. 

Mexico also benefits from having 81% of its exports flow to the US — an economy that is widely seen as the best Western economy — while Brazil, which has also seen manufacturing competitiveness measured by average US dollar wages in the sector increase against China, exports 17% of its goods to China, one of this highest proportions among emerging markets. 

Now, it’s worth noting that in the last year Mexico has taken an edge on labor costs against China because of the dollar’s strength, which benefits free-floating currencies like the peso over pegged currencies like the yuan, but this is a blip in the grand scheme of this shift over the last two decades. 

(Brazil, on the other hand, has all sorts of economic problems — not the least of which is a collapse in value of the real against the dollar — and so their “gains” in competitiveness here have come with major costs. Though when measuring any US-related manufacturing impacts here, Mexico and China are more relevant comparisons regardless.) 

The real story here, though, is that the manufacturing story has simply changed in China and around the world. 

For years the story in global manufacturing was all about China: labor was cheapest and consumption was highest. 

And that is simply no longer the case. 

SEE ALSO: Here’s Why Mexico Is Increasingly Becoming A Crucial Global Manufacturing Hub

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NOW WATCH: We did a blind taste test of popular french fries — the winner was clear

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Going to college may not be worth it anymore, according to Goldman Sachs. 

In a research note, Goldman analysts said that the average economic return for going to college is falling.

For some, the “cost may not be justified,” according to the note. 

That is because it’s going to take a lot longer to pay off those student loans, given the rising costs of tuition.

Goldman notes that since 2009 the cost of college has risen by 10.6% in real terms. Wages for college graduates have fallen by 0.1%, in contrast.

“For the typical student the number of years to break even on the cost of college has grown from eight years in 2010 to nine years today. If current cost and wage growth trends persist then students starting college in 2030/2050 will have to wait 11/15 years post college to break even. 18 year olds starting college in 2030 with no scholarship or grants will only start making a positive return when they turn 37,” Goldman’s Hugo Scott-Gall wrote.

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NOW WATCH: How a successful investment banker used insider information to bankroll his mistress and child

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BALTIMORE (AP) — A jury was seated Wednesday for the first police officer to go to trial in the death of Freddie Gray, a young black man whose injuries in police custody triggered protests and rioting, and helped fuel the Black Lives Matter movement.

Officer William Porter, who is also black, is among six officers charged in the case. He faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. Prosecutors say he failed to render aid to Gray, who repeatedly asked for medical attention.

The charges carry maximum prison terms totaling about 25 years.

The jury selection process was relatively brisk, given defense assertions in pretrial proceedings that it would be impossible to seat an impartial panel. Judge Barry Williams repeatedly denied defense motions to move the trial out of Baltimore.

Williams questioned 150 jurors over two days, mostly out of public view, in an efficient process designed to shield their identities. Some were dismissed, leaving a smaller pool for the final selection of 12 — eight women and four men — and four alternates.

Opening statements could be heard as early as Wednesday.

Gray, 25, died April 19 of a severe spinal injury he suffered while riding in the back of police van without a seatbelt, a violation of department policy. Porter is accused of failing to get him medical help during several stops on the 45-minute trip. Gray arrived at a police station unresponsive, was taken to a hospital and died a week later.

According to a pretrial filing by defense attorneys, Porter told investigators that arresting Gray “was always a big scene” and indicated that he knew of a previous arrest in which Gray allegedly tried to kick out the windows of a police vehicle.

“You know, so he was always, always, like, banging around,” Porter said in the filing.

Porter will likely take the stand in his own defense.

Prospective juror Franz Schneiderman said he was interviewed individually by the judge after he indicated that he had been accused in or the victim of a crime. He told the judge he had some “unfortunate” experiences with Baltimore police, but believed he would be able to render a fair verdict. He was still dismissed.

For several days after Gray died, the demonstrations were mostly peaceful. But on the day he was buried, looting and rioting started, and businesses were burned down. The unrest caused at least $33 million in property damage and police overtime.

A verdict will likely to set the tone for the city. If Porter is acquitted, there could be protests and possibly more unrest. A conviction could send shock waves through the city’s troubled police department.

Two other officers are black and the three additional officers are white. They will be tried separately beginning in January. Their trials are expected to last until the spring.

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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Wladimir Klitschko has invoked a contract clause calling for a rematch with Tyson Fury in an attempt to regain the heavyweight title he lost to the British fighter.

Fury took away Klitschko’s four titles in a stunning unanimous decision in Duesseldorf on Saturday night, ending the Ukrainian’s 9 ½-year reign as champion.

“It’s fantastic news, we are ecstatic,” said Peter Fury, the uncle and trainer of the new champion.

Fury is obliged contractually to accept a rematch, he said. Peter Fury suggested holding the new fight in England, possibly at Wembley Stadium.

Fury took Klitschko’s WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight belts, as well as the minor IBO title. Klitschko had been unbeaten since April 2004.

“I was really frustrated directly after the fight but after some short nights I now know that I want to show that I am much better than my performance on Saturday,” Klitschko said in announcing plans for the rematch.

“I couldn’t show my full potential at any time. This is what I want to change in the rematch — and I will. Failure is not an option.”

Klitschko’s management team says it will get in touch with Fury’s promoter to set the venue and date for the rematch.

“There will be a huge worldwide interest in this fight which already can be billed as the fight of the year 2016,” said Klitschko’s manager Bernd Boente.

Klitschko turns 40 in March. Fury is 27 and 2.09 meters (6-foot-9) tall.

Klitschko, who is 1.98-meters (6-foot-6), was in the unusual position of facing someone taller. Fury, who weighed in at 112 kilograms (247 pounds) also had half-kilo (1.1 pound) weight advantage for the fight.

The Ukrainian dropped to 64-4, with 53 KOs, while Fury improved to 25-0, with 18 KOs.

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In celebration of 2015, Reuters has rounded up some of the most fascinating, mind-blowing, and just plain weird pictures its photographers snapped since January.

From dogs surfing in California, to a robotic bridesmaid in China, to a headless man spotted roaming the streets of Spain, these pictures are like nothing you’ve seen before. 

Check out 42 of the strangest photos snapped around the world in 2015. 

The King, or rather, Kings, have entered the building at the annual European Elvis Tribute Artist Contest and Convention in England.

A participant in “The No Pants Subway Ride” in Mexico City, Mexico.

Check out this crazy swimming cap from the UK Cold Water Swimming Championships in London.

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