China coast guard deploys ‘floating barrier’ to cut off disputed South China Sea shoal (www.theguardian.com)
Philippines says it ‘strongly condemns’ move at Scarborough Shoal which prevents its fishing boats from gaining access...
Gold bars, cash-stuffed envelopes: New indictment of Sen. Menendez alleges vast corruption (apnews.com)
China Evergrande shares sink 25% after wealth unit staff detained (www.reuters.com)
The Global South is the epicenter of poor air quality, which suffocates and kills the most vulnerable (english.elpais.com)
Putin's top doctor who 'has inside knowledge of despot's medical secrets' is arrested by FSB after he was caught 'trying to escape Russia via Belarus' (www.dailymail.co.uk)
Putin’s top doctor, who is believed to have inside knowledge of despot’s medical secrets, has been arrested by the FSB after he was caught ‘seeking to flee the country’....
Tech firms fail to tackle Russian propaganda - EU (www.bbc.com)
Rural areas sacrificed for Xi Jinping’s new city, satellite imagery shows (www.washingtonpost.com)
Satellite imagery and firsthand accounts show the damage wrought when Chinese authorities opened floodgates and dams this month, sacrificing whole villages to spare politically important cities....
BREAKING: Potential military coup in Gabon (www.aljazeera.com)
"Gabon military officers claim power, say election lacked credibility Television announcement comes shortly after state election body announces incumbent Ali Bongo had won a third term as president....
Fifa suspends Luis Rubiales from all football-related activity over Hermoso kiss (www.theguardian.com)
Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are among 6 nations set to join the BRICS economic bloc (apnews.com)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Iran and Saudi Arabia are among six countries that will join the BRICS bloc of developing economies as new members from 2024, South Africa’s president said Thursday....
Ukraine ready to boycott Olympic Games if Russia and Belarus take part in competition- Ukrainian Prime Minister (www.pravda.com.ua)
Hawaiian Electric stock plunges 40% after lawsuit alleges it failed to shut power off ahead of the Maui wildfires (edition.cnn.com)
World race to the seventh continent: the Moon (english.elpais.com)
“Barbie” might be banned in Lebanon for ‘promoting homosexuality’ (www.france24.com)
The Ministry of Culture in Lebanon may decide to ban the film “Barbie” after it accused the film of “promoting homosexuality” on Wednesday. Lebanon, normally perceived as relatively open and free in the Middle East, has seen its ruling elites gather around hardcore conservative values.
Music labels sue Internet Archive over digitized record collection. (www.reuters.com)
Universal Music Group (UMG.AS), Sony Music Entertainment (6758.T) and other record labels on Friday sued the nonprofit Internet Archive for copyright infringement over its streaming collection of digitized music from vintage records.
Malaysia warns owners of LGBTQ-themed Swatch watches could face jail time (www.cbsnews.com)
ground.news/…/malaysia-makes-owning-an-lgbtq-swat…
Philippines says China fired water cannon at boats - BBC News (www.bbc.co.uk)
‘Word of God’: Why Muslims are opposed to the burning of the Quran (www.aljazeera.com)
Demonstrations have been held in several Muslim countries in recent weeks in response to the repeated desecration and burning of the Quran in Sweden and Denmark....
More Wagner fighters move closer to Polish border, Poland PM says (www.reuters.com)
A group of a hundred soldiers from the Russian Wagner group have moved closer to the Belarusian city of Grodno near the Polish border, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday....
France cuts off aid to Niger amid growing Western condemnation of coup (www.france24.com)
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, receiving close to $2 billion a year in official development assistance, according to the World Bank....
Spain isn't bowing to the rise of the far-right in the EU. Why? (www.euronews.com)
Europe has seen an increasing trend of far-right parties surging in popularity and conservative parties rising to power. Why has Spain bucked this trend?...
Student in Mauritania charged with blasphemy over exam paper (www.bbc.com)
Mauritanian authorities have charged a high school student with blasphemy over a mock exam paper she submitted....
Far-right group burns Quran in Copenhagen (www.politico.eu)
India, Manipur genocide : 18-year-old gang-raped in Manipur, India after women vigilantes hand her over to armed men (www.thehindu.com)
FIR says Meira Paibis women’s group handed her over to four armed men; after a brutal assault, gangrape, murder threats, she arrived at Bishnupur police station but did not trust Meitei police to take her home
China talks of mending fractured relations but says it won’t tolerate Canadian criticism of its human-rights record (www.theglobeandmail.com)
China’s chief diplomat told Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly Friday that Beijing wants to “inject momentum into the restoration of normal relations,” but said the Asian power will brook no criticism of human-rights abuses or its menacing threats to the island democracy of Taiwan....
