The number of WA women having babies over the age of 35 continues to rise but the state’s overall birthrate is falling. In WA, the fertility rate was 1.87 babies per woman, with a median age of 31 years according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Back in 2011, the state’s fertility rate was 1.93 babies per woman but the median age sat at 30.3 years. For women aged 35-39, fertility rates jumping from 64.9 to 70.9 between 2011 and 2017. But the fertility for women in the 25-29, 20-24 and 15-19 age brackets all fell sharply. Nationwide, the fertility rate of Australian women aged 35 years and over continues to rise, but the rate in most other age groups is falling. A total of 309,142 births were registered in Australia in 2017, resulting in a total fertility rate of 1.74 babies per woman, the lowest since 2001. ABS Director of Demography, Anthony Grubb, said: "The long-term decline in fertility of younger mums as well as the continued increase in fertility of older mums reflects a shift towards late childbearing. Together, this has resulted in a rise in median age of mothers and a fall in Australia's total fertility rate.” SNAPSHPOT OF BIRTHS IN 2017 Total births WA: 33,991 Multiple WA births (twin, triplets etc): 515 Boys born in Australia: 159,221 Girls born in Australia: 149,921 65.2 per cent of births were to parents in a registered marriage

It’s a dress only a supermodel can wear — braless, exposed back and a split basically up to her waist. To say that Kenndall Jenner turned heads at the British Fashion Awards in London today is an understatement. The world’s top-paid model, 23, wore the backless Julien MacDonald see-through mesh gown in yet another instalment of “Kendall goes braless on a red carpet”. With a pair of flesh-coloured knickers underneath, the Victoria’s Secret model stunned in the dramatic gold dress, which featured a hip-high split (yep, it was beyond thigh-high) and, ironically, long sleeves. Teamed with a pair of skin-coloured strappy sandals, the dress was branded the most “revealing” look of 2018 by US Vogue. The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star wore the daring outfit in front of royalty ... with Meghan Markle making a surprise appearance at the awards. The pregnant Duchess of Sussex was introduced by actress Rosamund Pike, and came on stage to present the prestigious British Womenswear Designer of the Year award to her wedding dress designer, Claire Waight Keller, from Givenchy. “It’s so nice to see so many familiar faces,” Markle, 37, told the A-list audience. “As all of you in this room know, we have a deep connection to what we wear. Sometimes it’s very personal, sometimes it’s emotional. But for me this connection is rooted in, really, being able to understand that it’s about supporting and empowering each other, especially as women.” Meantime, Jenner is said to still be dating Australian NBA star Ben Simmons though the pair are “not exclusive”, according to Us Weekly. A source told the magazine that “they’ll never be boyfriend and girlfriend, but they’re still having fun and hooking up”. “Kendall likes hanging out with Ben — he’s funny and can relate to a lot of things that Kendall relates to.” Jenner, of the famous Kardashian empire, recently appeared on the runway for US lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret, which she said was her biggest modelling dream. “I do one thing so much, which is the high-fashion stuff, and doing Victoria’s Secret shows a different side of you that you don’t get to show as much in other shows,” Jenner told News Corp Australia backstage in New York. “I think’s that cool and fun. “They’re all beautiful girls, I think it’s fun to see. Very confident women.”

Australia’s big five banks “synchronise” mortgage rate increases for homeowners to protect their revenue, and use difficult-to-understand mortgage terms to overcharge loyal customers an average $850 a year, according to the competition watchdog. In a scathing review of competition in the home loan market the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found the “opaque” pricing structure of residential mortgages makes it difficult for borrowers to shop around for the best rates, and helps protect the market domination of ANZ, Commonwealth, National Australia Bank, Westpac and Macquarie Bank. And in a clear warning to the major lenders about their business practices, the ACCC described their approach to lifting interest rates as “synchronised” and that it reflects an “oligopoly market structure”. ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the big four banks, in particular, benefited from difficult-to-understand mortgage prices and conditions, helping boost their profits. “Pricing for mortgages is opaque and the big four banks have a lot of discretion. The banks profit from this and it is against their interests to make pricing transparent,” he said. The ACCC review found the average borrower with an existing mortgage could save about $850 a year by asking their bank to match the rate offered to new borrowers. For many the savings could be far bigger, the report said. Mr Sims also sounded a warning to the big banks about acting in concert to increase rates, citing the behaviour the competition watchdog had seen when all of the major banks lifted headline variable interest rates for interest-only mortgages in response to changes made by the banking regulator to market rules last year. “We were not surprised banks seized the opportunity to increase prices for interest-only loans. These price rises were enabled by the oligopoly market structure in which the big four banks collectively have a market share of about 80 per cent,” Mr Sims said. All four banks, led by ANZ, lifted interest-only rates in June last year.

With the number of Sydney property transactions down and the number of listings up, the coming holiday period is offering great conditions for savvy buyers and investors. According to CoreLogic’s Monthly Housing & Economic Chart Park for November, the number of settled sales in Sydney has fallen by 16.7 per cent over the past year as the Harbour City’s market came off the boil. However, conversely, the number of listings on the market are 18.6 per cent higher than last year, which means plenty of stock to choose from for those keen to make the most of market conditions. Strand Property Group director and Sydney buyer’s agent Michael Ossitt said the need for people to sell their properties didn’t stop just because it was Christmas. “December and January might be advertised as slower months by selling agents in particular, but most vendors need to sell for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with the current market conditions,” Mr Ossitt said. “Perhaps they have a new job in another city or there is a new baby on the way — whatever the reason, properties come on the market all the time. “The thing is, over the holidays, there is generally a lack of buyers, which means fewer competitors for sound properties.” While a significant proportion of Sydney’s population heads off on holiday locally, interstate or internationally, the savviest of investors and buyer’s agents were cherrypicking the very best properties on and off the market, he said. He said he had always secured top-shelf properties in suburbs such as Cremorne and Surry Hills for clients over the December to January period, but this year provided the best buying conditions for many years.

A “sleep tsar” would oversee the teaching of sleep health in schools under a plan by WA researchers to help Australians get enough shut-eye in the age of smartphones. The plan by the University of WA’s school of psychological science has been given to a Federal parliamentary inquiry looking at whether Australians are getting enough sleep. It warns there is a “national lack of awareness” of the importance of sleep, pointing to “inadequate” funding for research into sleep disorders and the absence of education programs for school children and crash-prone young drivers as evidence. The submission calls for sleep health education to be included in the licensing process for at-risk young drivers, healthcare workers to be trained in diagnosing and managing sleep disorders, and broader access to sleep diagnosis and treatment under Medicare. “Despite sleep being essential for the developing brain, teachers are not routinely taught to identify children experiencing inadequate sleep, nor to implement school-based programs to address poor sleep habits,” the submission says. “We recommend a sleep tsar to address how sleep health can be added to the school curriculum, and teachers can be empowered to identify and help students to manage inadequate sleep.” Regardless of whether the disorder is sleep apnoea or insomnia, the researchers said not getting enough sleep had negative impacts on mental health, thinking and memory skills. Early intervention is critical to prevent brain damage and reduce the risk of dementia, according to the submission. There have been almost 130 submissions to the inquiry, which was ordered by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt and will hold public hearings around the country early next year.

The youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate left an 8000-strong Sydney audience on their feet cheering after she shared her life story and encouraged young people to change the world. Malala Yousafzai is now taking her message to Melbourne on Tuesday. She received a standing ovation at Sydney's International Convention Centre on Monday night when she urged young people to believe in themselves. "Do not let your age stop you from changing the world," she said. She told the Sydney crowd about the discrimination faced by women globally and praised the Me Too movement for raising awareness of gender inequality in western countries. Ms Yousafzai, who is studying at Oxford University, also called for better treatment of refugees across the world. The 21-year-old Pakistani woman rose to international prominence in 2012 when a masked gunman got on a bus and shot her in the face as she was on her way home from school in northern Pakistan, in response to her public advocacy of girls' right to an education. She was 15. Before being shot, Ms Yousafzai had been blogging for four years for the BBC about life under the Taliban and the restrictions on the lives of local women. Her family relocated to England after the shooting, allowing Ms Yousafzai to complete her secondary and tertiary education. At 17, she became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and established a foundation in her name to fundraise for girls' education. The event, organised by The Growth Faculty, is part of its Women World Changers series.

Passengers on all Australian domestic flights will have to weigh carry-on luggage at check-in as airlines crackdown on overweight bags in aircraft cabins. Virgin Australia and Qantas are now strictly enforcing 7kg cabin baggage rules, joining low-cost carriers Jetstar and Tigerair Australia who already use scales to weigh carry-ons. The new rules caught out the Indian cricket team, with many players being caught out with excess luggage as they flew from Adelaide to Perth for the second Test on Friday. A Qantas spokesman said the "renewed focus" on carry-on luggage weights was to ensure the system is "fair" for all customers with regular flyers annoyed by others skirting the rules. "Qantas offers the most generous amount of cabin baggage of any Australian airline and we know customers like the convenience of not having to check in luggage,” he said. Virgin Australia began its crackdown on Tuesday with manager of ground operations Paul Woosnam telling news.com.au the change was for the benefit of passengers and staff. “As an industry, we’re seeing many passengers trying to bring everything but the kitchen sink on domestic flights, which is causing flight delays as well as safety issues for cabin crew, ground crew and passengers,” he said. Both Qantas and Virgin passengers are allowed up to two items of carry-on luggage weighing 7kg each. Overweight items will be stored in the baggage hold.

WA’s Subcontractor Support Unit — the first of its kind in Australia — will “triage” the financial casualties of the State’s construction industry, Small Business Commissioner David Eaton says. Mr Eaton, to be given expanded powers in the new year to investigate complaints about payment and fair treatment, said the support unit would help create a healthier, more viable industry. “I’m excited about this opportunity,” he said. “I think this will be a circuit breaker. “Hopefully this, with other (State Government changes), we will look back on and say, ‘This is when we changed the game’.” The State Government last week said it would expand the use of project bank accounts on government projects greater than $1.5 million and establish a watchdog to expose dodgy operators. It will release lawyer John Fiocco’s report into subbies’ pay shortly. Ahead of the Fiocco report, Commerce and Industrial Relations Minister Bill Johnston went on the front foot, saying the Government was determined to deliver on its promise to make sure subcontractors got paid. With Small Business Minister Paul Papalia, Mr Johnston said the Subcontractors Support Unit would give subbies “an advocate for the first time”. Mr Eaton said details about how the unit would work would be decided after discussion with stakeholders. However, he said the Small Business Development Corporation’s Subcontractor Support Unit could be the first port of call for anyone in the construction industry — big or small, contractor or subcontractor. The unit would either help or refer elsewhere. Mr Eaton said there was no plan to duplicate the Building Commission’s rapid adjudication process. The success of SBDC’s dispute resolution service, which resolved 80 per cent of disputes without litigation, gave him confidence many disputes could be resolved with working relationships intact. Mr Eaton, who reported into the aftermath of collapses during the 2013 Building the Education Revolution, said he was shocked to discover problems had been spelt out by others (former chief justice Wayne Martin in 2006 and Bruce Collins in NSW in 2012) but not fixed. He said Mr Fiocco had taken into account the Federal report in May by building dispute specialist John Murray.

Scientists are getting closer to understanding the tsunami that struck Palu in Indonesia in September. Damaging waves rushed ashore after a Magnitude 7.8 quake, but researchers said at the time that they were surprised by their size. Now, a survey in the bay in front of the Sulawesi city shows significant subsidence of the seabed. This likely contributed to the abrupt displacement of water that then crashed ashore. More than 2,000 people lost their lives in the disaster. Preliminary results of various investigations are being reported here at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union - the largest annual gathering of Earth and space scientists. The quake occurred on what is called a strike-slip fault, where the ground on one side of a rupture moves horizontally past the ground on the other side. It is not a configuration normally associated with very large tsunamis. Nevertheless, this is what happened in the early evening of 28 September, around prayer time. Two main surges of water were observed, the second being the biggest and pushing up to 400m inland. Udrekh Al Hanif, from the Indonesian Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) in Jakarta, told the meeting that the generation source of the tsunami had to be very close to the city because of the short interval between the onset of the quake and the arrival of the high water - less than three minutes. He and colleagues have sought answers in a depth (bathymetric) map of the long, narrow inlet that leads to Palu at its head. The team is still working through the results, but the data indicates the seafloor in much of the bay dropped down in the quake. This, combined with a sharp movement of the crust northwards, could certainly have produced a tsunami, the Indonesian scientist said. "When we overlap the bathymetric data from before and after, we can see that almost all of the area of the seafloor inside the bay subsides. And from this data, we can also observe [the movement] to the north. So, actually, we have a vertical and a horizontal displacement," Udrekh Al Hanif told BBC News. Whether this behaviour was enough on its own to explain the tsunami's size is still open to question. There is evidence of several underwater landslides in the data. These, too, could have been a factor. Another possibility is an upwards thrust of the seabed in a zone some distance from Palu where the strike-slip fault splits into diverging tracks. Movement on both tracks at the same time might have compressed the crust in between. "This was a very unusual event but the tectonics tell us it could happen again," said Finn Løvholt from the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute. "Indeed, this is not the first time an event has happened in Palu. It's probably the third or fourth event that has caused many fatalities. We had events in the 1960s and 1920s." And this history is evidenced in the local culture where there are specific words to describe features of a tsunami and a quake. In the September event, Palu witnessed a lot liquefaction, where the structure of soils in the city was seen to collapse, to become fluidised and flow even on very low gradients.

France's President Emmanuel Macron has promised a minimum wage rise and tax concessions in response to weeks of violent protests. France has seen four weekends of violent protests against fuel tax rises, living costs and other issues. Speaking in a televised address, Mr Macron condemned the violence but said the protesters' anger was "deep, and in many ways legitimate". The minimum wage would increase by €100 per month from 2019, he said. A planned tax increase for low-income pensioners would be cancelled, overtime pay would no longer be taxed, and employers would be encouraged to pay a tax-free end of year bonus to employees, he added. However, he refused to reinstate a tax on the wealthy, saying "this would weaken us, we need to create jobs". The minimum wage will be increased by 7% - and the cost of this increase will be met by the government rather than employers. Government minister Olivier Dussopt told broadcaster BFMTV the total cost of all the measures is likely to be between €8bn and €10bn. "We are in the process of fine-tuning and to see how to finance it," he added. Macron 'had no choice' Analysis by the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris They wanted more than just a politician's promises. They wanted measures, banknotes in their pockets, a tangible change in their impoverished daily lives. President Macron got the message. In fact he had no choice. To have blethered about future challenges and the need for nation-building would have driven the yellow vests to distraction. So here - at the core of the address - were four simple changes: a rise in the minimum wage; the removal of tax and social charges on overtime; encouragement to employers to give workers a tax-free bonus; and an end to a surcharge on most pensions. Plus a note of contrition, and a promise of a new "national contract" built on electoral change and wider consultation with the provinces. Chuck in the concessions already given - an end to the fuel tax rise and "mobility" grants for people who drive to work - and the yellow vests suddenly appear as one of the most successful protest movements of modern times. Four weeks after their first Facebook videos were posted, they have forced a total reorientation of French social and economic policy. And without even making out a formal list of demands. What did Macron say about the protests? Mr Macron, who has until now kept a low profile during the protests, acknowledged that many people were unhappy with living conditions and felt they "had not been listened to". He said that over the last 40 years there had been "a malaise" of "villages and neighbourhoods where public services have been diminishing, where living conditions had deteriorated".

US actress Sarah Hyland has described how having to undergo two kidney transplants left her "contemplating suicide", US media report. The 28-year-old, who stars in the popular sitcom Modern Family, opened up about her kidney dysplasia in an interview with Self magazine. She said her body rejected a kidney donated by her father when she was 21, but luckily her brother was a match. "I had gone through [my whole life] always being a burden," Hyland said. In the interview published on Monday, Hyland revealed how she had undergone multiple operations and said her battle with kidney dysplasia, a condition that can eventually cause the organ to malfunction, made her feel like she had "failed". "When a family member gives you a second chance at life, and it fails, it almost feels like it's your fault. It's not. But it does," she said. "For a long time, I was contemplating suicide, because I didn't want to fail my little brother like I failed my dad." Hyland was treated with dialysis after her body started to reject her father's kidney two years ago. During her treatment, it was established that her brother, who said he "had her back", was a match. She said that going through "26 years of always being a burden" because of her health issues made her feel "really helpless", but that she was now "stable". "I'm thriving. I'm super happy with life," Hyland said. After the interview was published, Hyland posted a message on social media saying that she hoped "others can relate... and feel like they're not alone". "Hopefully those that are lucky enough not to experience this will learn something new and take a moment to appreciate their health," she wrote. Hyland also suffers with endometriosis, a chronic condition where tissue that lines the womb is found in other parts of the body, often resulting in intense pain. Last year, the actress was criticised about her appearance, with some fans suggesting that a photo posted on Instagram made it look as though she was promoting anorexia. "I'm here to say that no-one should aim to be the weight that I am right now," she responded on Twitter at the time, adding: "I'm not in control of what my body looks like."

A heavy snowstorm has swept through US south-eastern states, killing at least three people and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. A state of emergency has been declared in North Carolina, with some areas reporting as much as 0.5m (18.5ins) of snow over the weekend. One man died after a tree fell on his car. A search is under way for a driver whose vehicle was found in a river. Thousands of flights were also cancelled across the region. 'A dangerous system' Snow, sleet and freezing rain continues to impact the South. At a news conference on Monday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said "a year's worth of snowfall fell in some places in a day". More than 300,000 people were affected by electricity outages in the Carolinas, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia on Sunday, while storm warnings remained in place in the south-east "especially North Carolina and Virginia", the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a tweet. The storm was expected to move off the coast on Monday, although the NWS's lead forecaster Michael Schichtel warned it would continue to be "a dangerous system". "It's slow to move off the Carolinas but a saving grace is that it won't hit New England," he told Reuters news agency. But the main danger appeared to be on the roads. Almost 60 crashes were reported in Virginia, state police told local media, with the number rising to 672 in North Carolina as of Monday morning. NWS officials warned of black ice forming on roads on Monday and into Tuesday. Gov Cooper emphasised that the roads could "turn into ice rinks" even as the storm passes. On Monday, the governor confirmed three storm-related deaths, saying the snow "turned into a nightmare and tragedy". A man was killed in a suburb of Charlotte when a tree fell on his car. A second person was taken to hospital following the accident, WRAL.com said. A woman receiving hospice care in the western part of the state also died during the storm. Near Winston-Salem, another individual died of a heart condition on the way to a shelter, according to the governor's office. Gov Cooper urged residents to check on their loved ones and neighbours, particularly senior citizens. The North Carolina National Guard remains active. The troops rescued 20 people in Wilkesboro, Brig Gen Todd Hunt said at the news conference, and continue to assist with road clearing and traffic accidents.

A 26-year-old man has appeared in court in New Zealand charged with the murder of British backpacker Grace Millane. Miss Millane, 22, disappeared in Auckland on 1 December - police ended their search on Sunday after finding a body in the outskirts of the city. The man, who cannot be named, is due back in court next month. Court documents showed he had been living at the Citylife Hotel on Queen Street in central Auckland, which is where Miss Millane was last seen. The judge acknowledged Miss Millane's family's grief "must be desperate". Documents also showed police believe the University of Lincoln graduate from Essex was killed between 1 December and 2 December. At a news conference, the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there was an "overwhelming sense of hurt and shame that this has happened in our country". "On behalf on New Zealand, I want to apologise to Grace's family," she said. "Your daughter should have been safe here, and she wasn't, and I'm sorry for that." The body - which has not yet been formally identified but the police believe to be Miss Millane's - was found "about 10 metres" off Scenic Drive, a countryside road outside the city, Det Insp Scott Beard said. On Sunday, Declan Millane, one of Miss Millane's brothers, shared a collection of photographs of his sister online, alongside the lyrics to the chorus of the song You Are My Sunshine. The University of Lincoln, from which Miss Millane graduated earlier this year, paid tribute and said its community was "deeply saddened". Floral tributes for the recent graduate have been growing outside the Willows Centre in her home town of Wickford. Miss Millane had been travelling alone in New Zealand for two weeks, following a six-week group trip through South America. The announcement on Saturday by police that Miss Millane was "no longer alive" followed a review of CCTV footage, the forensic examination of a hotel where she was last seen, and the discovery of a vehicle. Det Insp Beard issued an appeal for anybody who saw a red Toyota Corolla rental car, which had been hired from a company in Auckland, between 06:30 and 09:30 local time on Monday 3 December. Police said her family were "devastated" after being told the missing persons case had become a murder investigation. Speaking at a news conference in Auckland on Friday, Grace's father, David Millane, described his daughter as "lovely" and "family-orientated". He added that his daughter had been "bombarding us with numerous photographs and messages of her adventures" before she went missing. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has added his condolences on Twitter, saying: "Grace Millane's murder was an unspeakable tragedy that has shaken us all." He also thanked the New Zealand prime minister "for standing shoulder to shoulder with the UK with such grace and dignity which speaks volumes for the deep friendship between our countries".

Goodyear employees in Venezuela are each to be given 10 tyres as part of their severance payment, as the US firm halts operations in the country. Quality tyres are valuable on the black market, in a country where there is a chronic shortage of all sorts of goods. A number of foreign firms have pulled out of Venezuela, citing a growing economic crisis and US sanctions. President Nicolás Maduro has accused his opponents and the US of waging an "economic war" on his government. In a statement on Monday, Goodyear said that it "has made the difficult decision to stop producing tyres" in Venezuela, Reuters news agency reports. "Our goal had been to maintain its operations, but economic conditions and US sanctions have made this impossible." The company said it was in the process of making severance payments, which included giving each employee 10 tyres. Goodyear is the latest multinational to leave Venezuela, following Kellogg, Kimberley Clark and several airlines. Venezuela has been in a dire economic crisis since 2014. An estimated 2.3 million citizens have fled hyperinflation, power cuts, and food and medicine shortages. Over the past two years, the US administration of President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on dozens of Venezuelans, including top officials. Washington accuses them of corruption, drug trafficking and human rights abuses - a claim they deny.

Black people are "grossly over-represented" in violent police interactions in the Canadian city of Toronto, a human rights investigation has found. The Ontario Human Rights Commission launched the probe into the Toronto police department last year. The interim report, released Monday, found a black person is 20 times more likely than a white person to be shot and killed by police. About 8% of Toronto, Canada's most populous city, is black. "I don't think we can ignore this disparity," said Scot Wortley, a criminologist at the University of Toronto, who conducted the research. Unlike in the US, Toronto police do not keep race-based data, which can make studying racial profiling challenging. To examine racial bias, Dr Wortley reviewed 244 Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigations, launched between 2013-17. He used police notes, case photographs, media reports and occasionally social media to identify the race of those involved in the incidents. The SIU is responsible for investigating complaints against Toronto police officers, and these incidents represent the most serious cases involving a police officer and a civilian. About a quarter of all SIU investigations involved a black civilian. The more serious the incident, the larger the disparity between black and white complainants, Dr Wortley found. About 70% of SIU investigations into police shootings that resulted in a civilian's death involved a black civilian. Regardless of race, two-thirds of civilians involved in SIU investigations were unarmed at the time of their encounter with police. Black people were more likely to have allegedly resisted arrest than white people (41.7% v 25.5%). But white people involved in police incidents investigated by the SIU were more likely to have a criminal record (54.5% v 44.4%) and to have allegedly threatened or attacked police (61.8% v 44.4%) than black people. The human rights commission called these findings "disturbing" and called on police to begin tracking race-based data and making the data public so that racial profiling can be more consistently monitored. Black community leaders also spoke out about the report, applauding its efforts to document and quantify police violence against the black community but noting that its findings are not surprising. "This report is not news to the black community," said Valerie Steele, a community activist. "We in the black community live this abuse and brutality on a daily basis."

You don't need to look hard to see how the Global Times - the state-backed Chinese newspaper - is interpreting the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. "Washington's move to stifle Huawei will undermine itself," reads a headline. "Banning Chinese companies like Huawei will isolate US from digital economy of the future," reads another. It's that second headline, the threat of isolation, that should give US technology companies considerable pause as we head into Ms Meng’s 12th day of detainment in a Canadian jail. The fallout from her arrest will surely mean, at the very least, an even more difficult relationship for the handful of US tech giants that have found great fortune in China. In particular, Apple, the poster child for US tech success, and a company that relied on China for 20% of its revenues this past year. The Global Times said: "Some Western countries are resorting to political means to resist Huawei's attempts to enter into their markets. "Failure to provide reciprocal opening-up means their companies won't get any benefits from China's digital economy.” Blocked sales “Look,” said analyst Dan Ives from investment firm Wedbush, “the Huawei CFO situation... it’s the straw that could break the camel’s back.” China has long felt that the US is unfair to its big tech firms - in particular Huawei, which is the closest thing the country has to a true Apple competitor. While it doesn’t (yet) come close in terms of yearly revenue - $266bn for Apple against an expected $100bn or so for Huawei - the firm did manage to leapfrog Apple in global smartphone sales earlier this year. Huawei is now second only to Samsung. On Tuesday, a Chinese court banned the sale of older iPhone models as part of a long-running patent infringement lawsuit between Apple and Qualcomm. Most legal observers had expected China to reject Qualcomm’s request for an injunction. There is no direct link between this action and the Huawei row. But taken against the backdrop of Ms Meng’s arrest, and ongoing tariff disputes, it’s being seen as a muscle-flexing display on the part of the Chinese. But the real success story for Huawei won’t come from smartphones, but the equipment that makes them worth having. Huawei is positioning itself as the vendor of choice for rolling out 5G technology, the next generation of mobile network. Put simply, if China thinks the US unfairly hobbling the opportunity for Huawei to be a major player in 5G, it may retaliate and Apple could feel the brunt. "The last thing tech investors wanted to see was this news about the CFO of Huawei,” Mr Ives said. "It fuels the flames of further retaliation.” A mild protest Mr Ives said Apple must feel like it has a “bullseye” on its back. Wedbush estimates 350m iPhones in use around the world are approaching the point when most people would want an upgrade, with around 70m of them in China. "You’re talking about a quarter of the incremental growth over the next three to four years is going to come from China.” Even without official intervention, the publicity hit Apple could suffer might make a dent in their Chinese revenues. Outside court in Vancouver, members of the city’s Chinese community have made their feelings clear, holding “Free Meng” signs and telling reporters they feel the US is bullying Huawei and, by extension, China. And according to internal memos obtained by Yahoo News, a number of Chinese companies have taken steps to promote their employees use Huawei products instead of Apple.

New York City police are investigating an incident in which officers grabbed a baby from a mother during an arrest in Brooklyn. The video, shared on Facebook on Friday, shows police dragging 23-year-old Jazmine Headley across a floor as she yells: "They're hurting my son." She was arrested for refusing to leave a social services centre, police say. City public officials have condemned the actions and demanded answers from the police department. The New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed that the department and Human Resources Administration (HRA) police have opened a review into the incident, in a statement emailed to the BBC. NYPD said the footage was "troubling" and the review will "include examination of all available video of the incident". The Facebook video has since received over 200,000 views and sparked public outrage over yet another case of alleged police brutality. The incident began on Friday at an HRA office in Brooklyn, where residents can apply for public assistance services like food stamps. Lisa Schreibersdorf, executive director of Brooklyn Defender Services, told reporters on Monday that Ms Headley had been waiting at the office for four hours to sort out daycare for her son. Ms Headley took a seat on the floor with her baby as there were no chairs, Ms Schreibersdorf said. A security guard asked her to move but there was nowhere to go. The two broke into a row and the guard called the cops. The NYPD officers on scene also asked Ms Headley to leave "numerous times", the police statement said. When she refused again, HRA peace officers dragged her to the floor as police attempted to arrest her. In the recording, officers can be seen grabbing at Ms Headley's baby, trying to pull him out of her arms as they restrain her. She shouts repeatedly: "They're hurting my son." An officer then points what appears to be a taser at Ms Headley as she says, "I'm begging you." Eventually, the 23-year-old mother is escorted out by by several officers. No officers were injured in the incident. New York City public officials have criticised the officers' actions and called for answers from the department. At a news conference on Monday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams denounced the incident, calling it a "blemish on our entire city". "There is no police procedure that would require police officers responding to a dispute to yank a child out of a mother's hands unless that child was in immediate danger," he said, questioning why trained officers or social workers could not de-escalate the situation. "It was not a violent crime, it was about a conversation. It was about, 'let's find this woman a chair. Talk to her. She's a human being.'" Ms Schreibersdorf described the arrest as a "violent encounter where the child was being used as a pawn". "The escalation of this not only points out something very disturbing about the police and police solutions to these incidences, but it highlights how easily one decision to arrest somebody can fan out and create so many consequences for a family." She thanked those who filmed the incident and emphasised that many poor people in New York City go through similarly violent arrests with police despite committing no serious crime. On Twitter New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said the behaviour was "unacceptable, appalling and heartbreaking". New York Attorney General-elect Letitia James said: "No mother should have to experience the trauma and humiliation we all witnessed in the video". "Being poor is not a crime," Ms James tweeted. "There must be a full investigation and the results made public." Police say Ms Headley has been charged with several misdemeanours: resisting arrest, obstructing government administration, criminal trespass, and acting in a manner injurious to a child.

Scientists have estimated the total amount of life on Earth that exists below ground - and it is vast. You would need a microscope to see this subterranean biosphere, however. It is made up mostly of microbes, such as bacteria and their evolutionary cousins, the archaea. Nonetheless, it represents a lot of carbon - about 15 to 23 billion tonnes of it. That is hundreds of times more carbon than is woven into all the humans on the planet. "Something like 70% of the total number of microbes on Earth are below our feet," said Karen Lloyd from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, US. "So, this changes our perception of where we find life on Earth, from mostly on the surface in things like trees and whales and dolphins, to most of it actually being underground," she told BBC News. Prof Lloyd is part of the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) project, a near-decade long effort to identify how the ubiquitous element is cycled through the Earth system. The consortium is reporting its latest discoveries here at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) annual Fall Meeting in Washington DC. How did they work out the scale of life? The mass numbers it quotes can only be a rough estimate. They are derived from multiple studies that have dug or drilled several kilometres into the crust, both on the continents and at sea. Scientists will routinely pull up rock and other sediment samples and count the number living cells in a given volume. The DCO teams have taken these inventories and used models to construct a broader picture of Earth's total biomass. "Even though these sample sites are but pinpricks around the planet, we've managed now to look at enough different environments that we can produce reasonable values for the total amount of carbon locked up in lifeforms," said Rick Colwell from Oregon State University. What's the importance of carbon? The DCO consortium reckons the deep biosphere constitutes about 2 to 2.3 billion cubic km. That is almost twice the volume of all the oceans. Bacteria and archaea (microbes with no membrane-bound nucleus) dominate. But there also eukarya (microbes or multicellular organisms with cells that contain a nucleus as well as membrane-bound organelles) down there, such as the tiny nematode worms discovered in rock cracks at the bottom of deep mines. Science has barely begun to describe this microscopic menagerie. Deep microbes are often quite different to seemingly related species that thrive at the surface, with life cycles that operate on near-geologic timescales. And because these underground organisms persist far from sunlight they must exploit chemosynthesis - as opposed to photosynthesis - to nourish themselves. The minerals in the rocks around them are their larder. The role all these organisms play in shifting carbon about the Earth is profound, according to the DCO's executive director, Bob Hazen. "You cannot understand carbon on Earth without understanding the diversity and influence of life. Cells turn over carbon - they take carbon in, they breathe it out. They do amazing things to transform their local environments," he explained. "Although the total amount of carbon in other sources is much, much larger than in life, life has a disproportionate affect on Earth's carbon cycle." What are the implications of this research? Another aspect of the research is what is says about the absolute limits of life on Earth in terms of temperature, pressure, and the availability of energy. "The current known upper-limit for life is 122 degrees Celsius, which happens to be the temperature of sterilisation equipment we typically use in labs," said Dr Lloyd. "But there's no-one I know who thinks that's the theoretical limit. For example, we know some of the problems associated with high temperatures, such as the disordering of lipids and membranes, is at least partially compensated by higher pressures. Which means it's possible we could find even higher temperature organisms the deeper we go down." And this has clear implications for the possibility that life exists somewhere else in the Solar System, adds Prof Colwell. "I think it's probably reasonable to assume that the subsurface of other planets and their moons are habitable, especially since we've seen here on Earth that organisms can function far away from sunlight using the energy provided directly from the rocks deep underground," he told BBC News.

A high-flying Chinese executive has been caught in the centre of a growing geo-political dispute between two of the world's largest economies. Meng Wanzhou is the chief financial officer of Huawei and the elder daughter of the telecom giant's founder. She was arrested in Canada last week for allegedly breaking US sanctions on Iran and faces extradition to the US. China and Huawei insist that she has not broken any laws but she could be jailed for up to 30 years if found guilty. So who is she? Ms Meng, also known as Sabrina Meng and Cathy Meng, has risen up the ranks of Huawei, China's largest private company. The 46-year-old started her career as a receptionist in 1993, and after graduating with a master's degree in accountancy from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 1999, she joined Huawei's finance department. She became the company's chief finance officer (CFO) in 2011 and was promoted to vice-chair a few months before her arrest. In 2018, she was ranked 12th on Forbes' list of top Chinese businesswomen, four spots lower than where she ranked the year before. Ms Meng's links to her father, billionaire Ren Zhengfei, were not known to the public until a few years ago. At the age of 16, in a practice highly unusual in Chinese tradition, she took the surname of her mother, Meng Jun, who was Mr Ren's first wife. What is she charged with? Ms Meng was taken into custody in Vancouver while she was changing planes on 1 December. Prosecutors say she conspired to defraud banks by telling banks a Huawei subsidiary was a separate company - thereby helping Huawei circumvent US trade bans. The US has been investigating the world's largest smartphone maker since 2016, which it believes used a subsidiary to bring US manufacturing equipment and millions of dollars in transactions to Iran. Ms Meng's arrest has now sparked an escalating diplomatic incident between China, Canada and the US. Life revealed in court In documents filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, where Ms Meng's case is being heard, details have emerged revealing the CFO's personal life. She is a thyroid cancer survivor who suffers from hypertension and a sleep disorder, her lawyers said, in need of daily doses of medication. "I continue to feel unwell and I am worried about my health deteriorating while I am incarcerated," she said in the filing. "I currently have difficulty eating solid foods and have had to modify my diet to address those issues." Her lawyers are seeking bail for the mother of four, who, they say, is not a flight risk because of her "strong roots" in Vancouver. She told the court she was a Canadian resident until 2009, after which she returned to China. However, she bought a six-bedroom house with her second husband in the city and would return regularly to visit him and her children, some of whom attended Canadian schools until 2012. That home is now reported to be worth C$5.6m (£3.3m, $4.2m), according to property records and an affidavit Ms Meng read out in court. In 2016, the couple bought a second property, a mansion worth C$16.3m - both homes have been put up as collateral for bail. Why Vancouver? The court papers give a fascinating insight into the life of a senior Chinese executive, says BBC World Service Asia-Pacific editor Michael Bristow. "Vancouver has for some years been a destination of choice for wealthy Chinese people; as a place to live, educate their children, or as an insurance policy against the uncertainties of life back in China. "People will be intrigued to find out Ms Meng has not one but two homes in Vancouver, and wonder at how she was able to hold seven passports at the same time." How does she have seven passports? This remains somewhat of a mystery.

Never has the future of nuclear arms control seemed so uncertain. At risk is not just the collapse of existing treaties, but a whole manner of interaction between Russia and the United States that has been crucial to maintaining stability over decades. So what's the immediate problem? Last week at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Russia out. Moscow, he insisted, had been breaching an important Cold War-era disarmament agreement - the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. This 1987 agreement with the ex-Soviet Union removed a whole category of land-based nuclear missiles: those with ranges of between 500 and 5,500km (310-3,100 miles). Being small, highly mobile, and located relatively close to their potential targets, they were seen as highly destabilising. In the late 1970s Soviet Russia deployed the SS-20 missile to threaten targets in Western Europe, causing alarm in many Nato capitals. The US responded by deploying Cruise and Pershing weapons in a number of European countries. But after the agreement, all these weapons were removed and destroyed. The Trump administration says that a new Russian missile, designated the 9M729 and known to Nato as the SSC-8, breaches the INF Treaty. Mr Pompeo gave Russian President Vladimir Putin 60 days to return to compliance or the US would also cease to honour its terms. Russia insists that it is abiding by the agreement, and raises concerns about Washington's adherence to the deal. So who is right? The Americans say they have powerful evidence that, over several years, Russia has developed and now fielded a missile that falls within the range that is banned by the INF Treaty. This by the way is not a new idea raised by the Trump administration. President Barack Obama too was concerned about what the Russians were doing. The evidence has been put to Washington's Nato allies and they have all backed the US case. Many of them though are privately not happy to see the US itself withdraw from the treaty, preferring that more time be given to try to reach an accord with the Russians. Moscow has arguments of its own, asserting for example that US anti-ballistic missile interceptors deployed today in Romania, but soon to Poland as well, could potentially fall into the INF agreement's terms if their warheads were changed. So can the INF Treaty be saved? Or, to put it another way, does either country really want to maintain the treaty? On the face of it the answer is no. If indeed Russia is in breach of the agreement, as Nato insists, then it clearly believes that developing a weapon in this category has some strategic value. And there is no hint of Russia backing down. As far as the Americans and their allies are concerned, the ball is in Moscow's court; the INF Treaty's fate is in its hands. But there is a strong sentiment in both the Pentagon and White House that the agreement is out of date. US officials point to China's huge arsenal of intermediate-range nuclear missiles, which it has been able to develop unconstrained by any treaty. In this light, the US sees the INF deal as a brake on its own strategic capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region. Perhaps the Europeans who are most alarmed (and most at risk) by the deployment of new Russian missiles can bring their weight to bear. But if both Washington and Moscow see good reasons for abandoning the treaty, then the other Nato countries are unlikely to pull a renewed INF agreement out of the hat. Should it be saved? During the Cold War years, arms control and disarmament agreements played a vital role, and not just in reducing the numbers of nuclear missiles and maintaining stability. They were the central element in the East-West dialogue. This was the domain where Washington and Moscow met across the table as equals. It continued after the Cold War with the new START treaty, signed during the Obama administration, setting limits on long-range strategic missiles. If the INF Treaty unravels, then many experts fear for the future of the new START agreement, which expires in February 2021, unless the two parties agree to extend it. Will they even want to, given the state of their relations? This is the paradox of arms control. Such agreements maybe don't matter so much in times of peace and stability; but when tensions mount they really do. Shifting global power The likely demise of the INF Treaty and the fate of the broader arms control edifice it represents is also a sign of the dramatic shift under way in world affairs. The US concern about China points to this. Maybe the era of bilateral arms control, involving just Washington and Moscow, is coming to an end. China is now a significant nuclear player. Some 10 other countries beyond the US and Russia have fielded intermediate-range nuclear missiles. The contrary view asserts that yes, the "bilateral era" is ending, but Russia and the US still have by far the largest strategic arsenals and that controlling these remains a good thing in itself. It also sets a benchmark for disarmament which should be extended to include other countries. But with relations between Russia and the West at a low ebb, with a US president asserting the credo of "America First" and with Russia pursuing its own assertive foreign policy, it is hard to see the INF Treaty or even new START surviving.

Foreign navies have played a key role in curbing piracy off Somalia's coast, writes the BBC's Anne Soy. On a beach in Hordeia on the northern coast of Somalia, I asked a former pirate what attracted him to piracy in the first place. The man, who wanted to remain anonymous, told me he was originally a fisherman and that was his main source of income but things changed when an illegal trawler destroyed his net. "I had a boat and a net on it, then a trawler cut our fishing nets and pulled them away. I was left with an empty boat," he recalled. He and a fellow fisherman tried to shout and call the trawler crew, but it was in vain. It angered them. "They passed over our nets and pulled them away. Our fishing equipment was destroyed." In the second half of the last decade what began as a defensive act against big trawlers, quickly morphed into a lucrative illegal business that raised global concern. As he and other fishermen lost their trade, they turned to piracy, hijacking ships and passengers for ransom. Dramatic cliff It also drew in former militiamen who fought with warlords during Somalia's long civil war. I wanted to know more about his days as a pirate but he became unsettled and ended the interview abruptly. What appeared to make him uneasy was a Spanish Special Forces soldier who had wandered over. Security around the beach was tight as a helicopter hovered in the sky. The helicopter was part of the European Union Naval Force (EUNavfor). It gave a clue as to what has changed in recent years that has dramatically reduced the threat from piracy. A decade ago, pirates operated freely and there were plenty of hideouts for them along the coastline, like Eyl, a small, scenic port town in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland. As I approached Eyl, I saw the town by the beach right in front of a high, dramatic golden-brown cliff. The cliff seemingly shelters the town from wind and dust blowing from the mainland. Dangerous sea passage Locals told me about the time years ago when pirates flooded the market with money, causing the cost of living to rise sharply. Armed, they also terrorised the local community, but they rarely killed anyone. They also held some of the sailors they captured hostage as they demanded huge ransoms, sometimes of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The possibility of huge riches seemed to have been the main driver of piracy off the Somali coast. But it was the lack of an effective central government since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, and the subsequent disbandment of the Somali navy, that enabled it to happen. Somali territorial waters saw a rise in smuggling, illegal fishing by foreign trawlers, illegal dumping and later piracy. The route through the Indian Ocean past the Somali coast became known as one of the most dangerous sea passages in the world. But 10 years ago, the European Union, Nato and others began to deploy naval forces to the region shortly after the UN Security Council allowed warships to enter Somali territorial waters. Pirate attacks have now all but stopped, after reaching a peak in 2011. I wanted to see how this change had come about and spent seven days on the ESPS Castilla, a Spanish naval ship that is part of EUNavfor. On the second day onboard, breakfast was cut short and we were guided to the ship's bridge. A boat had been spotted in the distance. "We don't think it's anything suspicious but we carry out 'friendly approaches' as part of patrolling the sea," explained an officer. After a quick briefing, five or so marines geared up and descended from the warship onto a waiting boat. We followed on a second boat, keeping our distance. Rich fish stocks As soon as the Spanish boat had pulled alongside the fishermen, a quick search was conducted. "The vessel is from Yemen but the crew are mostly from Somalia," the officer on our boat explained after listening to the radio communication. Finally, we were allowed to board the fishing boat. The fishermen, about eight of them, were by then relaxed and making jokes as they drank water from bottles given to them by the special forces. "There's a good market for fish in Yemen that's why we sell our catch there," explained Osman Ali. He said he used to fish off the coast of Tanzania, but was attracted further north because of the rich fish stocks in Somali waters. "But I have not seen pirates," he said nervously and quickly changed the subject. All the fishermen operating here know each other and if there is a security problem they quickly alert their colleagues and move to safer waters, he added. "Sometimes we meet bad people who steal our tools and fish, but the presence of the warship has made things better," Mr Ali said. Boat blown up On another day, news came through that a freight ship came under attack 300 nautical miles east of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. A small boat, or skiff, got within 50m (164ft) of the ship and fired. But the onboard security returned fire, scaring off the small boat. The Castilla was too far away to intervene, but the next day the skiff was traced to a bay that is a known pirate base, just off the Somali coast. Spanish forces towed the skiff into sea and later blew it up. It was only the second incident reported in 2018. Both attacks were unsuccessful. As for the town of Eyl, a revolt had forced the pirates out. Back to fishing Eyl Police Commissioner Mohammed Dahir Yusuf exuded confidence about the town's ability to deal with any resurgence. "Any illegal boats are dealt with by the marine forces who catch them and bring them here, where they are dealt with." He was referring to the Puntland Maritime Police Force, around 800 men strong, and the largest such unit in the country. But its abilities are limited. "We don't have enough boats to take to sea," Mr Yusuf said. He added that the force only had two small boats, hardly enough to adequately patrol the vast sea and apprehend suspects. This is not the only challenge. Marco Hekkens, an adviser on maritime security to the EU's civilian mission in Somalia, said illegal fishing is continuing. EUNavfor can report suspicious fishing vessels to the authorities, but given Somalia's limited capacity to deal with them, hardly anything is done. Rear Admiral Alfonso Perez de Nanclares is also cautious despite the success in quelling piracy. "When the mission started we had about 40 hijacked ships, and more than 700 hostages," he told me. "Piracy has been contained but I really think the intention of going back to this business is still there. I think by working together [with the authorities] we'll be able to suppress and eradicate it."

Around the world attitudes towards the use of cannabis are shifting. Mexico's new government plans to legalise recreational cannabis use, as does the incoming government of Luxembourg. Meanwhile, New Zealand's leaders are considering a referendum on what their approach should be. As public opinion - and that of governments - changes, it seems increasingly likely that other countries will follow, raising questions about how they work together to manage the use and supply of cannabis. What has led one country after another to move towards a relaxation of their laws and, in many cases, outright legalisation? War on drugs It was only in 2012 that Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalise recreational cannabis use. In large part, the move was aimed at replacing links between organised crime and the cannabis trade with more accountable state regulation. Later the same year, voters in Washington State and Colorado became the first in the US to support legalisation of the drug for non-medical use. Under President Barack Obama, a critic of the US-led war on drugs, the US government stepped back from enforcing federal laws and effectively gave states a green light to explore alternatives. Eight more states and Washington DC have since supported the legalisation of recreational cannabis and penalties are softening elsewhere. The use of the drug for medical reasons is allowed in 33 of the 50 states. In many ways the jury is still out on the effects of legalisation on society and individuals' health, but there is no question that public opinion and government policy has softened. The tide has crept across the Americas, with Canada legalising the sale, possession and recreational use of cannabis nationwide in October. That Mexico will legalise marijuana seems a virtual certainty. The new government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador has introduced a bill that would legalise its medical and recreational use, while the country's supreme court recently ruled an absolute ban on recreational use unconstitutional. Other countries are pushing ahead. Although the sale of cannabis remains illegal, possession of small amounts is no longer a crime in countries including Brazil, Jamaica and Portugal. In Spain it is legal to use cannabis in private, while the drug is sold openly in coffee shops in the Netherlands. Still more countries allow the use of medicinal cannabis. Around the world, there are many more countries where change is under way: In the UK, doctors have been allowed to prescribe cannabis products since November South Korea has legalised strictly-controlled medical use, despite prosecuting residents for recreational use overseas A death sentence given to a young man selling cannabis oil has stirred debate about legalisation in Malaysia South Africa's highest court legalised the use of cannabis by adults in private places Lesotho became the first African country to legalise the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes Lebanon is considering the legalisation of cannabis production for medical purposes, to help its economy Sick children In many countries, the move towards legalisation started with a softening of public attitudes. In the US and Canada, images of sick children being denied potentially life-changing medicines had a tremendous impact on public opinion - a concern that brought forward legalisation for medical purposes. A similar softening of attitudes has been seen in the UK. In June, 12-year-old Billy Caldwell, who has severe epilepsy, was admitted to hospital after his medical cannabis oil was confiscated. A month later, a special licence to use cannabis oil was granted to seven-year-old Alfie Dingley, who has a rare form of epilepsy. Following high-profile campaigns, the UK government changed the law to allow doctors to prescribe cannabis products. As US states such as California found in the 1990s and 2000s, familiarity with medical cannabis can soften attitudes towards recreational use. But in the UK, the Home Office says the recreational use of cannabis will remain banned, although senior figures, including former Conservative leader William Hague, have suggested a rethink.

Google's chief Sundar Pichai will be quizzed by US lawmakers later. He previously failed to appear at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing for top tech executives in September. An empty chair marked his absence. That hearing was attended by Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter's chief executive Jack Dorsey, who made their own mea culpas. Now it's Mr Pichai's turn, and he shouldn't expect an easy ride. Scheduled to begin at 10:00 local time (15:00 GMT) in Washington DC, the hearing is entitled Transparency and Accountability: Examining Google and its Data Collection, Use and Filtering Practices. Here are seven things that could come up. 1. Project Dragonfly Google has been toying with creating a controversial search engine for China codenamed Project Dragonfly, as first reported by the Intercept in August and later confirmed by the tech firm's own privacy chief. Google has history in China, launching a search engine in the authoritative state in 2006, google.cn. It was compliant with the Chinese government's censorship requirements at the time but pulled the plug in 2010, citing increasing concerns about cyber-attacks on activists. The potential move back into the country comes at a tense time in relations between the US and China, to say the least. While a trade war between the nations has recently been put on pause for three months, the arrest of Huawei's chief finance officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada is keeping things frosty. The committee may question the timing of Google's push into China. 2. Political bias Claims, often unsubstantiated, about bias against conservative politicians have been raised several times on Twitter by President Trump, with the hashtag #Stopthebias. He's accused Google of failing to promote his State of the Union addresses and "controlling what we can and cannot see". 3. Data collection Eight of Google's services have more than one billion users each: YouTube, the Chrome browser, Gmail, Google Maps, Drive, the Android and Google Play stores and of course its search engine. The way it handles this immense amount of personal data should come under scrutiny. In August, Google was reported to be tracking its users locations even when location services were switched off.

An opposition candidate in Nigeria's upcoming elections has accused the government of freezing his bank account, claims that anti-corruption bodies deny. Peter Obi, the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), alleged over the weekend that all transactions on personal and business accounts belonging him, his wife and family were being blocked. The statement, issued on his behalf by a PDP spokesperson, claimed the freeze was the work of "agencies of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration". That claim has been dismissed as false by two anti-graft bodies, reports Nigeria's Premium Times, who denied any suggestion of involvement. They are the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC). Mr Obi has not provided any evidence to confirm the allegation that the government has frozen his accounts.