Interesting Global News

Revealed: more than 100 executives given special guest badges as activists challenge role of oil and gas firms at talks

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241115210058/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/15/fossil-fuel-bosses-get-the-red-carpet-at-cop29-despite-concerns-over-influence

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Police investigate claim that Israeli PM’s chief of staff changed recorded time of call made about Hamas attacks

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241115194747/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/15/benjamin-netanyahu-aide-alleged-tampering-7-october-phone-records

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Italian Foreign Minister Tajani condemned the incident as "unacceptable" during a call with his Israeli counterpart, urging a thorough investigation and accountability.

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241115205429/https://www.euronews.com/2024/11/15/israeli-shell-hits-unifil-base-in-lebanon-italy-seeks-clarification

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The tragedy angered local residents who attacked and looted the spaza and hounded out the shopkeeper, reportedly an Ethiopian national. Even the person who was renting out the premises fled in fear. While an autopsy revealed that a pesticide had caused the deaths, a link to the shop has not been officially established.

Six spazas were closed at Olievenhoutbosch outside the capital Pretoria last week for irregularities, municipal council official Sarah Mabotsa said. "They're selling expired food, they're selling skin products, they're selling meat, everything is in one shop," she charged.

As the continent's most industrialised economy, South Africa is a prime destination for people seeking work even though its own unemployment rate is around 32 percent. The competition has triggered mistrust and even violence.

If authorities don't step in, a xenophobic vigilante group known as Operation Dudula -- which means "push back" in Zulu -- often does.

Even politicians have made outright calls for all spaza shops to be run by South Africans.

The tragic wave of deaths of the young children has gripped South Africa, with speculation running wild in the absence of proven facts about what really caused their deaths. Some people believe that foreigners are deliberately setting out to poison South Africans; others say the outcry is a manufactured ploy to get the spazas and their profits back into the hands of locals.

Loren Landau, who studies migration at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, said attacks against foreign-owned shops were "really about eliminating competition for business. "If you try to shut down South African businesses, people would protest," he said. But "you can go after a foreigner, no one will protest."

The Foreign Office revealed in a Thursday statement delivered in both the UK’s House of Commons and House of Lords that nine “serious and significant offenses” were allegedly committed by foreign officials with diplomatic immunity in 2023. The crimes include sexual assault, indecent exposure, and child cruelty, among others.

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241115142942/https://www.jurist.org/news/2024/11/foreign-diplomats-in-uk-accused-of-serious-crimes-including-sexual-assault-and-indecent-exposure/

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The international lending giant has pledged to double agriculture funding by 2030, but development banks are so far “failing spectacularly” to invest in sustainable solutions.

Brick samples will blast off aboard a cargo rocket heading for China's Tiangong space station, part of Beijing's mission to put humans on the Moon by 2030 and build a permanent base there by 2035.

It is a daunting task: any structure has to withstand huge amounts of cosmic radiation, extreme temperature variations and moonquakes, and getting building materials there in the first place is a costly procedure. Constructing the base out of the Moon itself could be a solution to those problems, scientists from a university in central Wuhan province hope.

The temperature on the Moon can vary drastically between 180 and -190 degrees Celsius (356 to -310 degrees Fahrenheit). Its lack of an atmosphere means it is subjected to large quantities of cosmic radiation as well as micrometeorites, while moonquakes can weaken any structure on its surface.

The exposure experiment will last three years, with samples sent back for testing every year.

Beijing is far from alone in looking to build the first lunar base. China's planned outpost on the Moon, known as the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), is a joint project with Russia. A dozen countries -- including Thailand, Pakistan, Venezuela and Senegal -- are partners in the initiative, as well as around 40 foreign organisations, according to Chinese state media.

Kashmir has been divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan since their partition at the chaotic end of British rule in 1947, and both countries claim the territory in full.

Half a million Indian troops are deployed in the far northern region, battling a 35-year insurgency in which tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed, including at least 120 this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government cancelled the Muslim-majority region's partial autonomy in 2019, a decision accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long communications blackout. The territory of around 12 million people has since been ruled by a governor appointed by New Delhi -- overseeing the local government that voters elected in October in opposition to Modi.

those who have long lived under the shadow of the grinding insurgency seemingly shrug off the threat. When an attacker this month hurled a grenade at security forces in a busy market -- killing a woman and wounding 11 civilians -- shoppers returned within a couple of hours.

"It will remain like this on low boil, as long as Kashmir is divided (between India and Pakistan)," a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to journalists. "We control it here; they (Pakistan) will activate it from there." The Indian army says around 720 rebels have been killed in the past five years.

Satirical news outlet purchases media platform run by Alex Jones at a court-ordered auction

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241114185115/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/nov/14/onion-info-wars-alex-jones

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The "Suneung" university entrance exam is a major event in the education-obsessed South, and officials take extreme measures, from rescheduling flights to pausing construction, to ensure students can give their best performance.

At a church in Seoul's wealthy Gangnam district, parents gathered for a nine-hour prayer marathon, with specific requests to God tailored around the structure of the multiple choice exam, which will be taken by 522,670 pupils this year.

Pastor Lee Chan-soo, who has held "Suneung prayer sessions" since 1992, said he tried to use the sessions to prepare parents to face any exam disappointments with equanimity. "The Suneung isn't everything in life. It's just the start," he said. "They are still our loving children and God's children regardless of the test scores."

At the Bongeunsa Buddhist temple, one of Seoul's largest, head monk Wonmyung was trying to comfort parents, who were performing rituals to help their children. Some parents bowed 108 times before the altar -- which in Buddhist theology should result in their wishes coming true.

For parents who are unable to pray in person, many churches and temples stream the sessions live on YouTube. Yoido Full Gospel Church, one of the largest churches in South Korea with about 480,000 members, is holding a YouTube live for the entire duration of the exam, featuring gospel songs and the faithful speaking in tongues.

Lee Sang-joon, 21, who is taking the test for the third time, told AFP he was "so happy" when he learned about the reforms, which gave him fresh hope of pursuing a medical career. This year is his "final chance" to succeed, he said. "It was nearly impossible to go to medical school, the top 0.01 percent in the country could go in. Now it's about 0.015 percent, which sounds like a chance to me".

Thousands of trainee doctors and medical students stopped working in February in protest of the plans, which sharply increased the number of places available for trainee doctors. But the government has pressed ahead, even as a roughly nine-month work stoppage has hit hospitals across the country.

To minimise noise around the more than 1,200 test centres nationwide, traffic has been ordered to slow, with bus and taxi driver unions agreeing not to honk during test hours. Construction work near the schools will also be halted. During the crucial listening portion of the English test, the land ministry imposed a nationwide ban on all aircraft takeoffs and landings outside of emergency situations.

Businesses were asked to adjust opening hours to alleviate traffic congestion and ensure that students arrived on time for the test, which started at 8:40 am. Even the stock market will also open an hour later at 10:00 am.

Anxious parents wept while wishing their children good luck and police escorted test-takers who were running late into schools early Thursday.

Crops have failed in several countries, with 27m people at risk of hunger according to World Food Programme

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241114080636/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/nov/14/lost-everything-southern-africa-battles-hunger-amid-historic-drought

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fglobal-development%2F2024%2Fnov%2F14%2Flost-everything-southern-africa-battles-hunger-amid-historic-drought

The journalist Mélissa Cornet and the photographer Kiana Hayeri met more than 100 Afghan girls and women in seven provinces, and found resistance and defiance but also despair

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241114080409/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/nov/14/women-girls-afghanistan-taliban-repression-interviewed-photographed-100-afghan-women

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Australia votes with 158 other countries to recognise ‘permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory’

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241114080100/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/14/australia-backs-un-resolution-recognising-permanent-sovereignty-of-palestinians-in-major-departure

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More than 100,000 Palestinians have fled to Egypt to escape the war in Gaza. Mona and her children are among them, but without a secure residence status they are constantly worried about their home and the future.

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241114075829/https://www.dw.com/en/gaza-is-my-heart-palestinians-struggle-with-life-in-egypt/a-70772582

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Tech-savvy organised crime groups profiting from billion-dollar enterprise that is spreading beyond Russian borders

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241114070340/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/14/russia-rise-of-powerful-darknet-drug-industry-dead-drops-punishment-beatings

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Human Rights Watch says it has evidence that suggests ‘the war crime of forcible transfer’ of civilians

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241114065936/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/14/israel-accused-of-crimes-against-humanity-over-forced-displacement-in-gaza

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Officials said the man had killed himself with a bomb after trying to enter the Supreme Court, prompting security concerns ahead of the global leaders meeting

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241114041438/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/14/g20-summit-explosions-brazil-bombings-death-toll-plaza-of-the-three-powers

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2024%2Fnov%2F14%2Fg20-summit-explosions-brazil-bombings-death-toll-plaza-of-the-three-powers

Niger's recent diplomatic shift away from France towards Russia has marked a turning point in the nation’s resource management strategy, particularly concerning its abundant uranium reserves.

Following the military coup in July 2023, which resulted in the removal of President Mohamed Bazoum, Niger's military junta has been taking increasingly bold steps to redefine its international partnerships, especially in the critical mining sector. On 8 November, Mining Minister Ousmane Abarchi announced that Niger is actively seeking to attract Russian investment in uranium and other natural resources.

"With regards to French companies, the French government – via its head of state – has said it does not recognise the Niger authorities," he said. "Does it seem possible in this case that we, the State of Niger, accept that French companies continue to exploit our natural resources?"

Tensions between France and Niger escalated after the junta’s decision to revoke Orano’s licence to operate at the Imouraren uranium mine in June of this year. This deposit is one of the largest in the world and has been a focal point of French investment over the years. Since its involvement began in the early 2000s, Orano has invested over €1 billion in developing the mine.

This comes as Niger signed an agreement with the Russian company Glavkosmos earlier this month to acquire advanced satellite technology.

The junta’s increasing reliance on Russia not only signifies a search for allies in a complicated political and security environment but also represents an outright rejection of France's former influence in the region.