The 10 most important things in the world right now
Hello! Here's what's happening on Thursday.
1. A suspicious scheme to pay women to falsely accuse Special Counsel Robert Mueller of sexual misconduct could spectacularly backfire. Experts say that if conservative firebrand Jacob Wohl or anyone else was involved in the alleged scheme, it could also form the basis for a conspiracy charge.
2. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has reportedly landed a deal with the EU over markets access post-Brexit. The tentative deal would give UK financial services companies continued access to European markets after Brexit.
3. Australia's top cyber spy says Chinese tech is too good to be allowed near its key infrastructure. He says Chinese telecoms are a threat to critical infrastructure and that's why companies like Huawei and ZTE were banned from Canberra's growing 5G network.
4. Saudi Arabia hopes the world will forget about Jamal Khashoggi's killing, and still hasn't answered simple questions about his death. Investigators have not even said where Khashoggi's body is.
5. Indonesian Navy divers say they retrieved a black box from the Lion Air plane that crashed into the sea. The Monday morning incident is believed to have killed all 189 people on board, and experts are still unsure what caused the plane to crash.
6. Google CEO Sundar Pichai emailed Google staff saying he was "deeply sorry" for the firm's record on sexual misconduct. The email came after news emerged that Google employees were planning a walkout to protest the company's handling of the sexual-misconduct allegations.
7. Hong Kong closed its last remaining bookstore which sold titles banned in China. The closure has caused concern among rights groups and publishers, who have pointed to China's tightening grip over the island.
8. India is already divided over its gargantuan "Statue of Unity," now the world's tallest statue. It's twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty and has cost four years and $430 million.
9. A petition to change the street name where the Saudi Embassy in Washington is located to "Jamal Khashoggi Way" already has a heap of signatures. The authors of the petition say they want to send a message that harming a member of the press is not going to be tolerated in DC.
10. A Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss is donating $1 billion in an attempt to save the planet's wild lands and waters from destruction. Only 15% of the Earth's lands and 7% of the oceans have been protected in a natural state. So thank you, Hansjörg.
And finally ...
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