Europe

20 November 2019; AFP: Oil, gas and coal output already planned or in the pipeline will overwhelm efforts to cap global warming at levels consistent with a liveable planet, the UN and leading research groups warned Wednesday.

The world is on track to produce 50 percent more fossil fuels than could be burned without increasing Earth's surface by more than two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, they said in a major report.

VALLETTA (Reuters) - Malta police arrested one of the country’s most prominent businessmen on Wednesday in connection with an investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, two sources said.

Yorgen Fenech was detained after police intercepted his yacht off the Mediterranean island, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

His arrest came the day after the government said it would offer a pardon to a suspected middleman in the 2017 murder of Caruana Galizia if he provided legal binding evidence of who was behind the killing.

ROME (Reuters) - Reform of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund may be unacceptable for Italy, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told daily Corriere della Sera on Wednesday.

The proposals have created a political storm in Italy, where parties and institutions are battling over whether Rome should try to block the changes at the European Union level.

LONDON (Reuters) - A former employee of Britain’s Hong Kong consulate said Chinese secret police beat him, deprived him of sleep and chained him as they pressed him for information about activists leading the pro-democracy protests, the BBC and Wall Street Journal reported.

Simon Cheng, a Hong Kong citizen who worked for the British government for almost two years, was detained for 15 days on a trip to mainland China in August.

“I was shackled, blindfolded and hooded,” the 29-year-old told the BBC.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn attacked each other’s policies on Brexit, health care and the economy Tuesday in a televised election debate that likely failed to answer the question troubling many voters: Why should we trust you?

The two politicians hammered away at their rival’s weaknesses and sidestepped tricky questions about their own policies in the hourlong encounter, which was the first-ever head-to-head TV debate between a British prime minister and a chief challenger.

PARIS, Nov 19 (NNN-Prensa Latina) - Venezuela denounced at the UNESCO General Conference the impact of the US-imposed financial blockade on the country’s socio-cultural life and its relations with the UN specialized organization.

Addressing the general debate of the forum that entered its second week, Minister for Indigenous Peoples Aloha Nuñez said that Washington’s unilateral sanctions prevent in many cases the importation of food and medical supplies essential for the population.

GENEVA, Nov 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Dengue is now endemic in 128 countries and is the biggest threat to world health. With Pakistan and Laos among the most affected, the international community must take drastic action to stop dengue outbreaks.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), dengue strikes as many as 96 million people each year, a huge leap from the 1970s when it existed in only nine countries.

VLADIVOSTOK, November 19. /TASS/: The Pacific Fleet’s rescue vessel Igor Belousov will take part in the Russian-Vietnamese drills in the South China Sea in December for assisting the crew of a submarine in distress, the Fleet’s press office reported on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/: The Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooepration in Europe (OSCE), Thomas Greminger, said he was concerned by the latest wave of protests in Georgia and urged all sides to engage in peaceful dialogue.

"Following developments in Georgia with concern," the OSCE head wrote on Twitter. "Look to all sides to ensure peaceful protest and progress through dialogue and respect for legal frameworks."

SEVASTOPOL, November 19. /TASS/: An investigation launched in the wake of Ukraine’s provocation off the coast of Crimea will continue despite the return of detained warships to Ukraine, a member of the Federation Council (upper chamber of parliament) representing the Crimean city of Sevastopol, Valery Kulikov, told TASS.

"The investigation into this crime against the sovereignty of our country continues. Actions by all participants of this provocation will be duly assessed," said Kulikov, who is a member of the Federation Council’s Defense and Security Committee.