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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

EU fails to agree on glyphosate license renewal The European Commission has again hit a wall in renewing the approval for the weedkiller glyphosate. The vote comes after 18 months of agonizing over the controversial herbicide. The European Union on Thursday voted on whether to prolong the use of the common but controversial herbicide glyphosate within its borders, but failed to reach a consensus. The proposal to renew the EU license for glyphosate for another five years failed to a reach a qualified majority, meaning a decision has again been postponed, according to lawmakers. The current license is due to expire on December 15, but there is an 18 month grace period. Fourteen countries voted in favor of the renewal, nine against, while five, including Germany, abstained from voting. The proposal could now be referred to an appeal committee, or alternatively the Commission could draw up a new proposal to be voted upon.

Paradise Papers: Apple shifted billions offshore to avoid tax New relevations about Appleʼs tax avoidance strategy are making headlines as the Paradise Papers scandal unfolds further. EU finance ministers are due to discuss the issue during talks in Brussels on Tuesday. Apple has denied accusations inthe Paradise Papers investigationthat it moved its operations from Ireland to an offshore center to avoid tax. Documents cited by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on Monday suggested that offshore law firm Appleby, which is based in multiple tax havens, helped the iPhone maker move billions of dollars in revenues collected in Ireland to the Channel Islands to head off increased European Union scrutiny of its tax affairs in Dublin.

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ICC war crimes judges approve Burundi investigation Hundreds of people have been killed since 2015

Judges in The Hague have approved a full investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in Burundi, the first country to leave the International Criminal Court. Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague approved on Thursday the chief prosecutorʼs request for afull war crimes investigation in Burundi. The judges found there was "a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation in relation to crimes against humanity" in their decision made on October 25 but not announced publicly until Thursday. United Nations investigators reported in September there was strong evidence of killings, torture and rape by mainly government forces but also by opposition groups in the land-locked, central African state. The Burundi government had a "duty to cooperate with the court for the purpose of this investigation," the court found, since the probe was approved before Burundiʼs "withdrawal became effective" from the ICC, the judges said. They added that if "sufficient evidence" was found the prosecutor could "issue either summonses to appear or warrants of arrest." The judges ruled that although Burundi had becomethe first country to leave the ICC, the court still had "jurisdiction over crimes allegedly commit-

ted while Burundi was a State party to the ICC Rome Statute. Burundi was a State Party from the moment the Rome Statute entered into effect for Burundi (1  December 2004) until the end of the one-year interval since the notification of Burundiʼs withdrawal (26  October 2017)." There have been protests since 2015 after President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term. The opposition boycotted the poll. The ICC judges noted that "at least 1,200 persons were allegedly killed, thousands illegally detained, thousands reportedly tortured, and hundreds disappeared. The alleged acts of violence have reportedly resulted in the displacement of 413,490 persons between April 2015 and May 2017." Officers with Burundiʼs National Intelligence Service, which reports directly to the president, the national police force, military and the ruling partyʼs youth league were implicated in the crimes, according to the UN report. Based on interviews with 500 victims and witnesses, the report also suggested Burundiʼs armed opposition groups had committed rights abuses.

US absence felt on first day of UN climate summit As the 23rd annual UN climate conference kicks off in Bonn, people are already jostling to fill the climate power vacuum left by a retreating United States. The small city of Bonn, Germany, was inundated with thousands of delegates today for this yearʼs UN climate summit. Over the coming two weeks, negotiators will hammer out the rule book for the Paris climate agreement reached two years ago. The VIPs will not arrive until next week for the intensive final days of the summit. But already, the politicians are gearing up for a battle between people claiming to speak for the United States. Donald Trump announced earlier this year he will pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. However, the withdrawal process takes three years, leaving the United States in as a signatory until then. President Trump is sending a small delegation to Bonn that will try to continue to shape the rules of the agreement.

Scottish parliament evacuated after suspicious package found The Scottish parliament building has been evacuated following the discovery of packages containing white powder. Parliament later announced that afternoon sessions would go ahead as planned. Scotlandʼs parliament building was evacuated on Tuesday after at least one package containing white powder was found. A package containing white powder was sent to a Conservative Party lawmaker, a source at the parliament told Reuters news agency.

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