India Jayalalitha: Thousands mourn colourful politician
Tens of thousands of mourners are flocking to pay their respects to J Jayalalitha, one of India's most influential and colourful politicians.
The 68-year-old chief minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu suffered a heart attack on Sunday night and died at 23:30 local time (18:00 GMT) on Monday, Chennai's Apollo Hospital says.
Her body, draped in the Indian flag, is on display at a large public hall.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those who visited to pay tribute.
Extra police have been deployed in the state amid fears of unrest.
The extreme devotion she inspires among her supporters, many of whom refer to her as "Amma" (mother) have led to concerns that they could resort to self-harm or violence.
Facebook, Twitter, Google and Microsoft team up to tackle extremist content
The tech companies plan to create a shared database of ‘unique digital fingerprints’ that can identify images and videos promoting terrorism
Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft have pledged to work together to identify and remove extremist content on their platforms through an information-sharing initiative.
The companies are to create a shared database of unique digital fingerprints – known as “hashes” – for images and videos that promote terrorism. This could include terrorist recruitment videos or violent terrorist imagery or memes. When one company identifies and removes such a piece of content, the others will be able to use the hash to identify and remove the same piece of content from their own network.
“We hope this collaboration will lead to greater efficiency as we continue to enforce our policies to help curb the pressing global issue of terrorist content online,” said the companies in a shared statement.
Burma: 21,000 Rohingya Muslims flee to Bangladesh amid 'attempted genocide'
New figures show around 21,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Burma in recent weeks amid accusations of an attempted genocide.
The International Organisation for Migration said: "An estimated 21,000 Rohingya have arrived in Cox's Bazar between October 9 and December 2."
The government of Burma has criticised media reports of violence against the Rohingya, and lodged a formal protest against a UN official in Bangladesh who said the state was carrying out "ethnic cleansing".
At the weekend, the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak led a protest rally against what he called the "genocide" of the Rohingya minority, saying "enough is enough".
South Korea grills top executives over links to disgraced president
A senior executive at Samsung has denied receiving favors for donations to scandal-linked foundations. More than 50 corporate groups donated to foundations belonging to the president's longtime confidant.
South Korean lawmakers on Tuesday questioned the heads of the country's top conglomerates, including Samsung, Hyundai Motor and six other companies, about their involvement in a political scandal rocking the presidency.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong said that while President Park Geun-hye had asked him to support cultural and sports-related developments during a one-on-one meeting, there had been no request for financial aid.
"There are many things that I feel embarrassed about and I regret as we have disappointed the public with many disgraceful things," Lee said.
Fake US embassy in Ghana shut down after a decade
By Donie O'Sullivan, CNN
But a building that operated as a US embassy in Ghana was a fake, the US State Department says.
The enterprise, which issued fraudulently obtained legitimate visas, counterfeit visas, and other false identification documents, was overseen by figures from Ghanaian and Turkish crime rings working in cahoots with corrupt Ghanaian officials, the US State Department said in a statement. It operated three days a week in Accra, the capital.
The State Department did not say how many people may have entered the United States illegally using documentation issued by the crime ring, nor did it say how the ring may have obtained official documents.
Knesset approves Jewish-only outposts
Knesset gives initial approval to bill that would legalise 4,000 homes in the settlement outposts.
Israel's parliament gave initial approval on Monday to a controversial bill that would legalise unauthorised Israeli settlement outposts built on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
The proposed law, which has already drawn sharp international condemnation and strained relations within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing right-wing coalition, would legalise 4,000 settler homes.
Palestinians and Israeli critics have called it a land grab that would further distance prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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