Mail bombing suspect makes first appearance in court.
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Saudi prosecutor Saud Al Mojeb held talks with Istanbul's prosecutor on Monday and Tuesday about Khashoggi's death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which has escalated into a crisis for the world's top oil exporter. Riyadh at first denied any knowledge of, or role in, his disappearance four weeks ago but Mojeb has contradicted those statements, saying the killing of Khashoggi, a critic of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was premeditated. The case has put into focus the West's close relationship with Saudi Arabia - a major arms buyer and lynchpin of Washington's regional plans to contain Iran - given the widespread scepticism over its initial response.
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Conservationists have issued a demand for urgent international action after a major report uncovered an unprecedented crisis in nature that threatens to devastate the world economy and imperil humanity itself. Only a global pact on the scale of the Paris Agreement on climate change will save the natural world from irreversible collapse, the World Wide Fund for Nature said after publishing a report showing a cataclysmic decline in global wildlife populations. Global vertebrate populations have fallen by 60 per cent since 1970 as human activity destroys their natural habitats in grasslands, forests, waterways and oceans, the organisation said. Until the turn of the 20th century, humanity’s consumption of the world’s natural resources was smaller than Earth’s ability to replenish itself. But over the past 50 years expanding agricultural activity and the over-exploitation of natural resources to feed a growing world population, particularly its booming middle class, has pushed many ecosystems to the brink of collapse. The Cerrado, a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, is being cleared for soy monoculture Credit: Adriano Gambarni/ PA “Humans are living beyond the planet’s means and wiping out life on earth in the process,” the report warns. From the savannahs of Africa to the rain forests of South America and oceans across the world, few wildlife populations have been spared. While great attention has been given to the impact of poaching on elephants and rhinos in Africa, the story has been more dismal in Latin America and the Caribbean, where 89 percent of indigenous mammals like the jaguar and anteater have been wiped out. Statistics are just as grim in the world’s rivers, lakes and seas. More than 80 per cent of freshwater populations has vanished, with freshwater fish accounting for a higher rate of extinction than any other vertebrate. Since 1950 nearly 6bn tonnes of fish and other seafood have been removed from the world’s oceans. Employees move freshly caught fish at a factory in the Angolan coastal city of Benguela Credit: AFP For surviving populations the impact of human activity is also stark: some 90 per cent of the world’s seabirds have plastic in their stomach, compared to just 5 per cent in 1960. Plastic pollution now stretches across the seas of the earth, even reaching the bottom of the Marianas Trench in the western Pacific, the deepest natural point in the world. With just a quarter of the planet’s land now free from human impact, the space bird, reptile and mammal populations' need to recover is growing ever more limited. “We are the first generation to know we are destroying our planet and the last that can do anything about it,” said Tanya Steele, chief executive of the WWF. “The collapse of global wildlife populations is a warning sign that nature is dying." As tragic as the collapse of wildlife populations is, the impact of habitat loss will have a profound impact on human wellbeing, conservationists say. Man’s encroachment on nature threatens agriculture itself, because crops pollinated by animals account for 35 per cent of global food production, while habitat loss means that the soil for crops to grow is not being replenished with nutrients. Under threat | The 19 species on the World Wildlife Fund's critically endangered list The loss of South American rainforests has reduced rainfall thousands of miles away, also imperilling crop production. As many as 70,000 species of plants are used commercially or in medicine, posing a danger to efforts to fight disease and protect industry. Yet the issue, conservationists say, is not being taken as seriously as climate change — even though protecting nature can help mitigate the impact of global warming — which is why it is essential for big business and government to come together to find a solution to the crisis. “The statistics are scary, but all hope is not lost,” said Ken Norris, director of science at the Zoological Society of London, which collaborated on the report. “We have an opportunity to design a new way forward that allows us to coexist sustainably with the wildlife we depend on.”
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PITTSBURGH (AP) — In a story Oct. 29 about developments in the aftermath of the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, The Associated Press erroneously reported the professional position of Cecil and David Rosenthal's sister. She is state Rep. Dan Frankel's former chief of staff, not his current chief of staff.
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The UN rights chief called Tuesday for "international experts" to help investigate the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and called on Riyadh to reveal the whereabouts of his body. "For an investigation to be carried out free of any appearance of political considerations, the involvement of international experts, with full access to evidence and witnesses, would be highly desirable," Michelle Bachelet said in a statement. Khashoggi, a 59-year-old Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor, was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain paperwork ahead of his upcoming wedding.
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President Donald Trump was accused in a lawsuit Monday of misleading salespeople who lost money in a multi-level marketing company that he endorsed in speeches and on "The Celebrity Apprentice." The suit filed in Manhattan federal court alleged Trump received millions of dollars in exchange for reassuring potential salespeople for telephone company ACN there was little risk if they paid fees and incurred other expenses to start selling its phone service to others.
The suit said Trump falsely reassured them he had done extensive due-diligence on the company and all was well, though he knew all along they had little chance of recouping their fees.
The suit filed by four salespeople alleged Trump violated federal anti-racketeering law and is seeking class-action status.
The suit said Trump made his millions by "systematically defrauding economically and marginalised people looking to invest in their educations, start their own small businesses, and pursue the American Dream." The suit also named the Trump Company, which is a unit of the Trump Organization, and the president's three oldest children as defendants.
It said Trump's "fraudulent scheme" also involved a vitamin company bearing Trump's name and his backing of a real estate lecture series called the Trump Institute.
The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
A lawyer for the Trump Organization, Alan Garten, told The New York Times the allegations are meritless and motivated by politics, coming just days before the midterm elections.
The lawsuit is being underwritten by a nonprofit whose leader is a major Democratic Party donor.
ACN used a system of salespeople recruiting other salespeople, each paying an "initial fee" of USD 499 to join.
It has drawn scrutiny in Canada, Australia and the US states of Maryland and Montana, where a securities regulator issued a cease-and-desist order in 2010, accusing ACN of running an "illegal pyramid promotional scheme" that relied heavily on fees from new salespeople to generate income.
Regulators dropped the charge after ACN agreed to refund money lost by salespeople and to improve training.
Trump also gave at least three speeches at ACN events, earning USD 1.35 million in fees, according to figures at the Federal Election Commission.
On an episode of "The Celebrity Apprentice" in 2011, Trump said he knew ACN "very well" and, in a video ad, said he had done "a lot of research" to gain insight into how it has "stayed ahead of the pack." In a Wall Street Journal article in 2015, however, he was quoted saying he was "not familiar" with what the company did or how it functioned.
The suit depicts the four anonymous plaintiffs as struggling workers trying to make ends meet who could not afford losing even a few hundred dollars. One was a hospice caregiver who was initially skeptical of the venture, the suit said, but was won over after watching an ACN promotional video featuring Trump and it being talked up on a "Celebrity Apprentice" episode.
She spent thousands of dollars in expenses to attend ACN events and meetings, the suit said, but only received one check for USD 38.
The nonprofit Tesseract Research Center, which is paying fees for the plaintiffs' lawyers and other costs, is run by Democratic donor Morris Pearl, a former managing director at investment giant BlackRock.
In response to the Trump Organization's criticism about the suit's timing before the midterms, the plaintiffs' lawyers said the case was brought now because "it is ready now." ''No matter when this was filed, the Trump Org would say it was politically motivated," they said in a statement.
The 160-page suit accuses Trump and the other defendants of misleading and deceptive practices and asks for triple damages under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.
Trump has a slew of legal woes, including lawsuits accusing him of violating the anti-bribery emoluments clause of the US Constitution by accepting payments from foreign governments at his hotels and other properties.
He and his three oldest children also face a lawsuit from the New York state attorney general alleging they used money donated to the president's charity, the Trump Foundation, to help his campaign, pay for a painting of himself and other personal uses.
Trump has called the suit "ridiculous" and vowed in tweets not to settle.
A New York judge put that case on hold last week until a higher court rules whether a sitting president can be sued in state court.
Uber heads to a British court on Tuesday to defend its business model of treating drivers as self-employed, entitling them to few rights in law, in the latest stage of a long-running battle at the taxi app.
The Silicon Valley-based company, which could be valued at $120 billion in a forthcoming flotation, has faced legal action, protests, regulator crackdowns and licence losses around the world as it challenges existing competitors and rapidly expands.
In 2016, two British drivers successfully argued at a tribunal that Uber exerted significant control over them to provide an on-demand taxi service and that they should be given workers' rights, which include receiving the minimum wage.
An employment appeal tribunal upheld that decision last year prompting Uber to go to the Court of Appeal, with a two-day hearing due to begin on Tuesday.
Unions argue that the gig economy - where people often work for various employers at the same time without fixed contracts - is exploitative, whilst Uber says its drivers enjoy the terms of their work and on average earn much more than the minimum wage.
"We will do everything that we can to preserve that flexibility and preserve that power for our driver partners because every single one that I've talked to says that they absolutely treasure it," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said last week in London.
In Britain, the self-employed are entitled to only basic protections such as health and safety but workers receive benefits such as the minimum wage, paid holidays and rest breaks. Uber has introduced a number of benefits for drivers.
Co-claimant in the case and chair of the drivers' branch of The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain James Farrar criticised the taxi app for continuing to oppose the original tribunal decision.
"It's two years since we beat Uber at the Employment Tribunal, yet minicab drivers all over the UK are still waiting for justice, while Uber exhausts endless appeals," he said.
Rights at firms such as Uber, fellow taxi service Addison Lee and food courier Deliveroo have risen up the political agenda in Britain as more people work for companies without fixed hours or a guaranteed income.
A march backed by several trade unions and involving cleaners, receptionists and security officers is due to take place on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Theresa May launched a review into working practices but her administration has yet to provide a response after a consultation closed over the summer.
The government will reply in "due course," a business ministry spokeswoman said.
Britain said it would tax the revenue that online platforms such as Google, Facebook and Amazon make in the country to update a system that had not kept pace with changing digital business models.
"It's clearly not sustainable, or fair, that digital platform businesses can generate substantial value in the UK without paying tax here in respect of that business," finance minister Philip Hammond said in his annual budget speech on Monday.
The tax will be designed to ensure established tech giants, rather than start-ups, shoulder the burden, Hammond told parliament.
The Treasury said profitable companies would be taxed at 2 percent on the money they make from UK users from April 2020, and the measure was expected to raise more than 400 million pounds ($512 million) a year. The tax will be based on self-assessment by the companies.
"A tax take of 400 million pounds or so might seem a small number when you consider that Amazon alone is expected to post sales of $233 billion this year. But the worry for the tech giants, and their shareholders, is that this is the pebble that starts an avalanche of taxes from international governments," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Laith Khalaf said.
Big internet companies, which say they follow tax rules, had previously paid little tax in Europe, typically by channelling sales via countries such as Ireland and Luxembourg which have light-touch tax regimes.
Both Google and Facebook have changed the way they account for their activity in Britain.
In 2016, Facebook started recording revenue from its UK customers supported by local sales teams, and subjecting any taxable profit on the income to UK corporation tax.
However, a number of offsets meant Facebook had a tax charge for 2016 in Britain of 5.1 million pounds compared with 4.2 million pounds for 2015.
SLOW INTERNATIONAL PUSH
The tax will target platforms such as search engines, social media and online marketplaces, Hammond said, and it will be paid by companies that generate at least 500 million pounds a year in global revenue.
Britain had been leading attempts to reform international corporate tax systems, Hammond said, but progress had been painfully slow and governments could not simply talk forever.
Clifford Chance tax partner Dan Neidle said the radical nature of the proposal clearly showed that Britain was becoming frustrated with the slow pace of change in global tax laws.
"The UK is running ahead of every other country except Spain," he said.
But given the dominance of U.S. tech giants, President Donald Trump's administration may not appreciate the proposal at a time when Britain is trying to agree new trade deals.
The European Commission proposed in March that EU states would charge a 3 percent levy on digital revenues of large firms like Google and Facebook.
But the plan is opposed by smaller states like Ireland, which fears losing revenues, and by Nordic governments which think the tax could stifle innovation and trigger retaliation from the United States - the home to most of the firms which could be hit by the proposed tax.
France, which supports a new levy, put forward last month the idea that such a tax would have a "sunset clause", meaning the tax would end when a global solution is found.
Hammond said on Monday that if a global solution emerges, Britain would consider adopting this instead of its levy.
But in the meantime, the government would consult on the detail to make sure it got its plan right, and then ensure Britain remained one of the best places to start and scale up a tech business.
Amazon and Netflix declined to comment.
Facebook said it looked forward to receiving more details about the proposals, and until then it was too early to comment.
A typhoon that devastated islands in the Western Pacific slammed into the Philippines on Tuesday, bringing strong winds and a risk of floods, storm surges and landslides in some northern provinces.
Yutu, the 18th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, swept across the main island of Luzon on Tuesday morning with wind speeds of 140 km per hour (87 mph) and gusts of up to 230 kph, and was expected to exit in the afternoon.
The typhoon, named Rosita by Philippine authorities, comes just six weeks after super typhoon Mangkhut dumped massive rains on Luzon, triggering landslides that killed more than 70 people. Thousands of people were preemptively evacuated on Monday.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Video from the path of the storm on television and on social media showed strong winds bending trees and signs, sheets of rain lashing down and loose materials flying through the air.
Lorelai Plaza Lastica, a resident of Isabela, the province in northeast Luzon where Yutu made landfall, said power was down and she could see debris scattered on roads, but no major damage.
"It was scary since it was so strong past midnight," she said by phone.
State weather agency PAGASA advised against land and sea travel in affected regions and told residents to stay indoors.
Boat services were suspended in the busy port city of Batangas. Thousands of people in some mountain, coastal and river areas moved to temporary shelters on Monday after warnings were issued for landslides and waves of up to 3 metres (9.8 feet).
Yutu has weakened substantially since the night of Oct. 24, when as a super typhoon packing winds of at least 270 kph made a direct hit on Saipan and Tinian, two islands of the Northern Marianas, an American territory about 9,000 km (5,590 miles) west of the U.S. mainland.
It was the strongest storm to hit the archipelago in 50 years and killed a woman and wounded more than 130. Yutu tore off the roofs of buildings, flipped vehicles and damaged generators, water pipes and down hundreds of electricity poles.
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