International Headlines
Nov 14: Nov 10: Powerful Handshake
United States President Trump is in Beijing where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping have announced a $253 billion trade deal. Trump said they were working towards a “fair and reciprocal " deal. However, many of the deals which have been announced are non-binding memorandums. Discussing North Korea, Xi appeared to suggest negotiations might be possible, but unlike Trump did not state denuclearisation as a goal.
Nov 8: Apple’s Tax Haven
The Paradise Papers, a huge leak of financial documents throwing light on the top end of the world of offshore finance, have revealed how Apple - the world’s most profitable company - moved $252bn to the tax haven Channel Island of Jersey. Apple says this did not lower its taxes and it remains the world's largest taxpayer, paying about $35bn (£26bn) in corporation tax over the past three years.
Nov 4: Lobbying Trump
United States President Donald Trump is to visit China, prompting a concurrent resolution on Tibet in the US House of Representative. The resolution calls on the Trump administration to make Tibet an important aspect of US-China relations, to fully implement the US Tibetan Policy Act, to encourage China to enter into dialogue with HH the Dalai Lama and to promote access for US citizens, including Tibetan-Americans, to Tibet.
Nov 4: Ebola Fraud
The Ebola epidemic that claimed at least 10,000 lives between 2014-16 lost more than $5m (£3.8m) of aid money to fraud and corruption in West Africa. Red Cross auditors for the massive multi-million dollar humanitarian operation needed to bring the epidemic under control found overpriced supplies, salaries for non-existent aid workers and fake customs bills. The Red Cross has promised to hold to account any of their staff involved.
Nov 3: Gender Gap
The World Economic Forum (WEF), an economic monitoring group, has published a report which shows that the gender gap is widening and, at its current rate, will take 100 years to close. It ranks 144 countries on economic opportunities, education, political participation and health, putting Iceland top, with the smallest gap, and Yemen bottom. Women in the Middle East and North Africa fared the worst.
Nov 2: Killer Charged
Sayfullo Saipov, 29, an Uzbek immigrant to the United States, has been charged with causing the deaths of at least eight people in New York. He drove a truck down a cycle lane in Lower Manhattan, hitting cyclists and pedestrians. He is also accused of providing material support and resources to the Islamic State (IS) group. Mr Saipov has admitted to having been inspired by IS videos.
Oct 29: Cannabis Licence
Cannabis is to be legalised for medicinal purposes in January next year and companies are now applying to the Laegemiddelstyrelsen, Denmark's medicines regulator, to grow the plant under a scheme which will initially be subject to a four year trial. Cannabis will be available on prescription and used for the treatment of painful illnesses such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.
Oct 27: Surveillance Techniques
Human Rights Watch (HRW) China has reported that China is setting up a national voice biometric database for “voice pattern” samples, suggesting this is a bid to further infringe the privacy of its citizens. The Chinese government says the company iFlytech has developed the country’s first “mass automated voice recognition and monitoring system” and it will be used too fight fraud, drug trafficking, kidnapping, blackmail cases and terrorism.
Oct 25: Happy Living
Two notes hand-written by Nobel Prize-winning German-born physicist Albert Einstein have been sold in Jerusalem for $1.56m (£1.19m). Einstein gave the notes, which described his theory for happy living, to a courier in Tokyo in 1922 as he did not have enough money to give the man a tip, and told him that if he was lucky, they would become valuable.
Oct 24: Twins in Danger
A pair of Palestinian conjoined twins’ lives are at risk, caught in Gaza in the coastal territory under blockade by Israel and Egypt. The medics there say they need to be moved from Gaza if they are to live. They are joined at the abdomen and lower body, they have one shared leg but separate hearts and lungs. One is much weaker than the other.
Oct 23: Abe Wins Again
In Japan’s snap election Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 's Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition has won, according to exit polls. He promises to deal “firmly” with threats from North Korea, and to revise Japan's pacifist constitution which was set up after World War 2 and calls for the complete renunciation of war. Mr Abe looks set to become Japan's longest serving PM.
Oct 18: Islamic State Ousted
The so-called Islamic State has been ousted from Raqqa in Syria by an alliance of Syrian fighters, backed by the United States, following a four month offensive. Raqqa has been occupied by Islamic State for three years and regarded as their “capital”. Landmines and jihadist sleeper cells are being sought out and cleared. A US military spokesman later said that about 90% of the city had been cleared.
Oct 16: Bomb Blast
An bomb in the Somali capital Mogadishu has left at least 230 people dead and hundreds more wounded, some seriously. A lorry packed with explosives was set off near the entrance to a hotel in a busy area. Mogadishu is a target for al-Shabab militants; although they have not claimed the bomb – this is the biggest terror attack since they launched their insurgency in 2007.
Oct 13: Quitting Unesco
The United States, and now Israel, are pulling out of the United Nations's cultural organisation Unesco citing Unesco’s "anti-Israel bias". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the US decision was "brave and moral” while Unesco head Irina Bokova expressed "profound regret". US President Trump is known for his hostility to multilateral organisations despite America’s role in setting up Unesco in the wake of World War II.
Oct 12: No Smoking!
Beaches in popular tourist destinations in Thailand are now subject to a smoking ban with transgressors facing up to a year in prison or a 100,000 baht ($3,000; £2,280) fine. Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources said tens of thousands of cigarette butts are left in the sand and that cigarette butts make up a third of all rubbish collected. Designated smoking areas will be provided.