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Boston voters, marking a key milestone in the city’s long political history, for the first time elected a woman and an Asian American as mayor on Tuesday, tapping City Councilor Michelle Wu to serve in the city’s top political office. Boston had only elected white men as mayor before her.

Source: apnews.com

China hit back Wednesday against criticism by US President Joe Biden, who had accused Beijing of not showing leadership after President Xi Jinping skipped the make-or-break COP26 United Nations summit in Glasgow. "Actions speak louder than words," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded Wednesday. "What we need in order to deal with climate change is concrete action rather than empty words," he added. "China's actions in response to climate change are real."

Source: france24.com

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his ex-UEFA counterpart Michel Platini have been charged with fraud in Switzerland. It follows a six-year investigation into a payment of two million Swiss francs (£1.6m) from FIFA to Platini. Blatter, 85, and French football legend Platini, 65, could now face a trial within months.

Source: news.sky.com

Actor and environmental campaigner Leonardo DiCaprio has arrived in Glasgow for the COP26 summit. The Hollywood star, who is a UN climate change representative, was seen at the Kew Carbon Garden exhibit on Tuesday at the main conference centre. He was mobbed by journalists, fans and delegates as he entered the building.

Source: bbc.com

Ethiopia's Attorney General Gedion Timothewos announced a state of emergency starting Tuesday, after forces from the northern Tigray region said they had gained territory. The move comes two days after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urged citizens to take up arms to defend themselves against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

Source: cnn.com

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has said his Bezos Earth Fund will spend $2bn (£1.5bn) restoring landscapes and transforming food systems. He told the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow that he had grasped nature's fragility when he travelled into space. Entrepreneurs including Mr Bezos have been criticised for spending money on trips into space instead of solving problems on Earth. Amazon has also been criticised by its workers over environmental practices.

Source: bbc.com

The dictator has removed portraits of his father and grandfather from buildings.  Deference for predecessors has been a staple of the Kim dynasty so far. Experts say the move shows Kim signalling his intent to be his own autocrat.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Facebook announced it is pulling the plug on its facial recognition system and will delete the faceprints of over one billion users, as the company tries to rebound from a public relations crisis spawned by whistle-blower revelations that it knew how harmful its products are but did not take meaningful steps to fix them.

Source: aljazeera.com

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has tested positive for COVID-19, the foreign ministry’s spokesman said, in advance of the nuclear talks slated to be held later this month.

Source: aljazeera.com

China and Russia are pushing the U.N. Security Council to ease sanctions on North Korea by reviving a 2019 attempt to remove a ban on Pyongyang's exports of statues, seafood and textiles and expanding it to include lifting a refined petroleum imports cap. In a reworked draft resolution, seen by Reuters on Monday, China and Russia want the 15-member council to remove those sanctions "with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population" in the isolated Asian state.

Source: reuters.com

Researchers in the Netherlands played sounds of the sea to baby harbour seals. Nearly all of them lowered their tone of voice when played more intense sounds. 'Vocal plasticity' is a rare trait in mammals other than humans, the experts say.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

The statue heads were found at the bottom of a creek bed, but archaeologists note they found the bodies during a previous dig - it is not known how the heads and bodies were separated. The heads depict ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Dionysus, the god of wine. They were carved from limestone 5,000 years ago in the ancient city of Aizanoi that was home to to one of the world's first stock exchange markets. The statues, according to archaeologists, show Greeks held on to their beliefs even under Roman rule.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

France will postpone planned sanctions on the United Kingdom over a post-Brexit fishing rights row while negotiations continue, President Emmanuel Macron has said. Paris had threatened to impose measures from Tuesday due to a bitter disagreement over the issuing of fishing licences.

Source: aljazeera.com

Lionel Messi said he will return to live in Barcelona with his family when his time at Paris St Germain is over and would like to help the LaLiga club in the role of a technical director. Messi ended a two-decade stay at the cash-strapped Spanish club, where he is their record scorer with 672 goals, in the off-season and joined PSG on a free transfer on a two-year deal.

Source: reuters.com

The leader of Japan's main opposition party announced his resignation Tuesday after an election drubbing that saw him fail to capitalise on public dissatisfaction with the ruling party's pandemic response. Yukio Edano -- who has headed Japan's leading opposition faction, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, since its founding in 2017 -- apologised for the poor electoral showing, in which the party lost 14 seats, down to 96.

Source: france24.com

The posting of an ancient Chinese poem by Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk on social media on Tuesday has driven Chinese internet users to engage in a frenzied debate game over his meaning, with many also praising him for his knowledge of the text. Musk, who is known for his cryptic Twitter posts, wrote in English "Humankind" before posting an abbreviated version of the 'Seven Steps Verse' in Chinese on his official Twitter and Weibo accounts.

Source: reuters.com

Archaeologists have excavated the first, and what they believe is the oldest, industrial wine press in northern Mesopotamia dating back more than 2,700 years and coinciding with a sharp rise in wine demand among the ruling imperial elites of Assyria. One of the world's earliest empires, Assyria was located in the northern part of Mesopotamia - most of modern-day Iraq, as well as parts of Iran, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey.

Source: reuters.com

More than 100 world leaders will promise to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, in the COP26 climate summit's first major deal. Brazil - where stretches of the Amazon rainforest have been cut down - will be among the signatories on Tuesday. The pledge includes almost £14bn ($19.2bn) of public and private funds. Felling trees contributes to climate change because it depletes forests that absorb vast amounts of the warming gas CO2.

Source: bbc.com