Report slams Congo’s $6 bln China mining deal

The US Defense Secretary said Chinese military activity around the self-governing island threatened to change the status quo. Lloyd Austin said Washington would continue to stand by Taiwan at an event in Singapore.

Net Zero Tracker says many company promises to slash emissions are flawed and vague. The report also casts doubt on the use of carbon offsets, a key tactic for many companies' climate goals.

Would Beijing back away from its strategic partnership with Moscow if the war in Ukraine goes nuclear?

Human rights campaigners say China is committing cultural genocide against its minority Uyghur residents in Xinjiang, where an estimated 1 million to 2 million residents have been incarcerated

Rebels from the M23 group in DR Congo seized the border town of Bunagana, according to local activists. The Congolese army accused Rwanda of launching an invasion.

M23 rebels have reportedly captured the eastern town of Bunagana on the Ugandan border. The violence has forced at least 30,000 people to flee the area. DR Congo's military blames Rwanda for the takeover. Also, the first flight deporting asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda is due to go ahead on Tuesday with less than a dozen people on board. And more than 1,000 people in Cameroonian city of Douala are still homeless after their homes were destroyed in May to make way for the construction of a five-star hotel.

Beijing has no reason to sanction Australia, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The call comes after ministers from two countries met for the first time in years.

The UN Refugee Agency said this was the highest number of displaced people recorded since World War II. Refugees coming to the EU from Africa's Sahel region could rise, said the report.

The move is the latest attempt by the Saudi government to censor what it sees as LGBTQ references in the conservative country. State-run Al-Ekhbariya television said rainbow-colored materials send a "poisoned message."

The Catholic bishop of the western German city of Münster says he won't resign in light of a report that criticizes the way he dealt with sexual abuse. Felix Genn admitted mistakes but said he did not cover up anything.

A violent attack on several women in northern China earlier this month has raised questions over gender-based violence in the country. CCTV footage from a restaurant in the city of Tangshan showed a man getting rebuffed after he put his hand on the back of a woman. He then slapped her, then with other men beat the group of women before punching, kicking and dragging them outdoors. For more on women's safety and their rights in China, we talk to Professor Maria Jaschok from the University of Oxford.

French prosecutors said on Wednesday they were investigating a junior minister in President Emmanuel Macron's government after two allegations of rape were brought against her.