Paradise Papers: Tax haven secrets of ultra-rich exposed
A huge new leak of financial documents has revealed how the powerful and ultra-wealthy, including the Queen's private estate, secretly invest vast amounts of cash in offshore tax havens.
Donald Trump's commerce secretary is shown to have a stake in a firm dealing with Russians sanctioned by the US.
The leak, dubbed the Paradise Papers, contains 13.4m documents, mostly from one leading firm in offshore finance.
BBC Panorama is part of nearly 100 media groups investigating the papers.
As with last year's Panama Papers leak, the documents were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which called in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) to oversee the investigation. The Guardian is also among the organisations investigating the documents.
How India’s battle with climate change could determine all of our fates
India’s population and emissions are rising fast, and its ability to tackle poverty without massive fossil fuel use will decide the fate of the planet
“It’s a lucky charm,” says Rajesh, pointing to the solar-powered battery in his window that he has smeared with turmeric as a blessing. “It has changed our life.”
He lives in Rajghat, a village on the border of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states, and until very recently was one of the 240 million Indians who live without electricity. In the poverty that results, Rajghat has become a village of bachelors, with just two weddings in 20 years.
“No one wants to give their daughter to me,” says Sudama, another young man. “People come, they visit, but they see the conditions here and they leave.”
For now, the technology is proving most useful to Rajesh as a way to charge his mobile phone, saving a lengthy journey to the nearest city, but he also hopes for future benefits: “I’ll use this to let my children study.”
COP23
COP23: What's at stake?
Climate agreements are hard-won through laborious negotiations, and this week's UN climate talks will be no different. Organizers want to send a signal to President Trump and other deniers that climate change is real.
Usually, the country holding presidency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) hosts its annual conference.
But Fiji, the country with that honor in 2017, was in no position to accommodate the 25,000 negotiators, environmental activists and journalists converging on COP23 from around the world. Apart from anything, the South Pacific island nation doesn't have a convention center anywhere near large enough.
Fentanyl: A new deadly drug spreads across North America
A new drug is ravaging cities and small towns across North America that is 50 times stronger than heroin. Derek Thomson reports from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood, which has become the epicentre of a new drug crisis.
More than 20,000 people died of Fentanyl overdoses in 2016. In Vancouver, overdose deaths are doubling every year. A cheap synthetic form of heroin, Fentanyl kills one person every day in the city
North Koreans in Japan feel pride for their ‘motherland’ as they endure discrimination
BY YURI KAGEYAMA
AP
The children, gathered in rows on a school field in Tokyo, crouch and then reach up in unison, waving red, white and blue banners to form a North Korean flag as the school band plays an emotional rendition of a song for their “motherland.”
They are third- and fourth-generation descendants of Koreans, including many who were forcibly taken from their homeland to labor in mines and factories during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 until its 1945 defeat in World War II.
Though many have become citizens of Japan or South Korea, the students’ families remain loyal to their heritage, choosing to send their children to one of some 60 private schools aligned with North Korea, teaching the culture and history.
Humanitarian emergency at 'Australia's Guantanamo'
by Royce Kurmelovs
Perth, Australia - "Australia's Guantanamo" detention centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea (PNG) officially closed a week ago, but nearly 600 desperate refugees are refusing to leave.
The facility once formed the cornerstone of Australia's controversial refugee resettlement policy, but had been ruled illegal by PNG's Supreme Court in 2016.
A year later, the Australian government complied with the decision to shutter it.
It turned off the power, cut the water supply, and pulled its people out - leaving behind 587 men who have barricaded themselves inside the camp, saying they fear attacks from locals if they are relocated.
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