News summary for Monday, October 30, 2017

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By BNO NEWS

A quick look at the most important news of the last 24 hours:

  • George Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with people claiming to have close ties with senior Russian officials. One of those contacts told Papadopoulos that Russia had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails. He later tried to arrange a meeting between the campaign and Russian government officials, according to court documents.

  • The dismembered bodies of at least 9 people have been found inside an apartment near the Japanese capital of Tokyo, police say. A 27-year-old man who lives at the home has been taken into custody. A missing 23-year-old woman is believed to be among the victims.

  • The concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere surged at a record-breaking speed last year, reaching the highest level in 800,000 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The surge was driven by a combination of human activities and a strong El Niño. The agency warns that, without rapid cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the global temperature will reach “well above” the target in the Paris climate deal.

  • Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his former business associate Rick Gates have been indicted on 12 counts in relation to alleged financial crimes while acting as unregistered agents of the Ukrainian government, earning them tens of millions of dollars. Manafort is accused of laundering more than $18 million dollars. The allegations, although brought by the Special Counsel, are unrelated to their work for the Trump campaign. Both men pleaded not guilty and have been placed under house arrest.

  • Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and several members of his cabinet have fled to Belgium after a minister said the ousted leader could receive asylum. The development comes just days after the Catalan parliament declared independence, which prompted Madrid to dismiss the region’s parliament and fire the entire Catalan government. Puigdemont initially called for peaceful resistance but his attempt to retain control appears to have failed. Spanish prosecutors are looking to charge Puigdemont with rebellion, sedition and embezzlement, which carries a combined maximum sentence of 51 years.

IN BRIEF

  • A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has blocked Trump’s directive which sought to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.

  • Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has been declared the winner in last week’s election re-run; he received 98.2 percent of the vote due to the opposition’s boycott.

  • Netflix says the popular series “House of Cards” will end after the 6th season; it follows an allegation of sexual misconduct against actor Kevin Spacey.

  • Saudi women will be allowed to enter 3 sports stadiums in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam from early 2018. It comes just weeks after Saudi Arabia announced that it would end its driving ban for women.

  • U.S. forces have captured a man in Libya who was allegedly involved in the 2012 attack on a U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. It resulted in the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and 3 other Americans.

  • A magnitude 6.8 quake struck the Pacific Ocean near the French region of New Caledonia, generating a small tsunami. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

  • A couple from California that survived the mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas was killed in a car accident just 2 weeks later.

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