China is refusing Australia's demands to apologize after a Chinese government official tweeted a doctored image depicting an Australian soldier holding a knife to a blood-stained Afghan child.
Driving the news: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters Monday he wanted the "outrageous" and "repugnant" post removed immediately.
New Zealand authorities laid safety violation charges Monday against 10 organizations and three individuals over the fatal Whakaari/White Island volcanic disaster last December, per a statement from the agency WorksSafe.
Details: WorksSafe declined to name those charged as they may seek name suppression in court. But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said government agencies GNS Science, which monitors volcanic activity, and the National Emergency Management Agency were among those charged over the "horrific tragedy" that killed 22 people.
Jared Kushner will travel in the coming days to Saudi Arabia and Qatar in a last-ditch effort to resolve the dispute between the Gulf countries.
Why it matters: Fixing the rift between Saudi Arabia and Qatar would bring a sense of stability back to the Gulf and notch a last-minute achievement for Kushner and the Trump administration before Jan. 20.
Details: "No land is shownon the map, only the locations where people actually live. ... The higher the spike, the more people live in an area. Where there are no spikes, there are no people (e.g. you can clearly identify ... the Sahara Desert)."
Scores of bushfires are threatening parts of Australia during a record heat wave — including an out-of-control blaze that prompted evacuations in Sydney Sunday and another fire ravaging the popular Queensland tourist destination of Fraser Island.
A massive protest in Paris against a security bill descended into clashes between police and demonstrators Saturday, as tens of thousands of people rallied across France against the measure, per AFP.
Why it matters: The bill, if signed into law, would bolster government surveillance and restrict the sharing of images of police officers, which critics say would erode civil liberties including the freedom to report on police brutality.
Ethiopia’s military took “full control” of the capital of the Tigray region on Saturday, the army announced — a major development following more than three weeks of unrest in the area, AP reports.
Driving the news: Ethiopia's military launched an assault in the Tigray region earlier on Saturday following a collapse of diplomatic negotiations and in an effort to arrest the region's rebelling leaders, according to local media and regional government officials.
