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World in brief: November 20 2018

CHINA: Beijing has agreed to allow a US aircraft carrier and its battle group to make a port call in Hong Kong after turning down a request in September amid earlier tensions with Washington.

The Hong Kong Marine Department’s website listed the USS Ronald Reagan and three other navy warships as approved to arrive tomorrow.

September’s refusal arose during tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea that resulted in various exchanges being put on hold.

GERMANY: Budget airline Eurowings says 14 flights were cancelled at Duesseldorf airport today after flight attendants staged a strike over working conditions.

Flight attendants want, among other things, more reliable work schedules. Their union, ver.di, says the strike was a reaction to the company’s refusal to further negotiate on working conditions.

Eurowings, which belongs to Lufthansa, condemned the strike and rejected the union’s allegations.

 

ISRAEL: Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said today that police are recommending charges be brought against Interior Minister Aryeh Deri in a major corruption case.

He added that there is an “evidentiary basis” that Mr Deri has committed fraud and breach of trust, as well as millions of shekels in tax offences, money laundering and disruption of court proceedings.

The minister was previously given three years for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in 1999 during a previous stint as interior minister in the 1990s before making a political comeback to lead the ultra-Orthodox Shas party.

 

PAKISTAN: Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua summoned top US diplomat Paul Jones today to protest at President Donald Trump’s allegation that Islamabad harboured Osama bin Laden.

Mr Jones was told that ”such baseless rhetoric … was totally unacceptable,” and that Pakistan’s intelligence service provided initial evidence helping the US trace the al-Qaida leader.

Trump said in a Sunday TV interview that “everybody in Pakistan” knew he was there and no-one said anything despite Washington providing $1.3 billion a year in aid.

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