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[ad_1] The International Criminal Court (ICC) has come in for strong criticism - most recently from the United States, but also from many African nations. Tasked with bringing to justice perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, it has been accused of political and regional bias, and of failing to achieve convictions in some of its most high profile cases. Reality Check investigates. [ad_2]

[ad_1] Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A Muslim man leads the call to prayer in China's Xinjiang province in 2008 China is facing growing criticism over its persecution of some Muslim minority groups, huge numbers of whom are allegedly being held in internment camps. In August, a UN committee heard that up to one million Uighur Muslims and other Muslim groups could be being detained in the western Xinjiang region, where they're said to be undergoing "re-education" programmes. The claims were made by rights groups, but China denies the allegations. At the same time, there's growing evidence of oppressive surveillance against people living in Xinjiang. We've developed this new format to try and explain the story to you better. [ad_2]

[ad_1] Kyrgyz singer Zere has received death threats in response to a music video where she poses in a bra. She made the song in order to challenge attitudes towards women in a deeply traditional country. A central Asian state bordering China, Kyrgyzstan became independent with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Most of its six million people are Turkic-speaking Muslims. Video journalist Abdujalil Abdurasulov. [ad_2]

[ad_1] When the BBC launched the Loneliness Experiment on Valentine's Day 2018 a staggering 55,000 people from around the world completed the survey, making it the largest study of loneliness yet. Claudia Hammond, who instigated the project, looks at the findings and spoke to three people about their experiences of loneliness. "It's like a void, a feeling of emptiness. If you have a good piece of news or a bad piece of news, it's not having that person to tell about it. Lacking those people in your life can be really hard." Michelle Lloyd is 33 and lives in London. She is friendly and chatty and enjoys her job - she seems to have everything going for her, but she feels lonely. She has lived in a few different cities so her friends are spread around the country and tend to be busy with their children at weekends. She does go for drinks with colleagues after work, but tells me it's the deeper relation...

[ad_1] Image copyright Jonas Gratzer Image caption People who live on some Pacific islands are worried they will lose their homes to the sea if temperature rise exceeds 1.5C It is likely to be the most critical and controversial report on climate change in recent years. Leading scientists are meeting in South Korea this week to see if global temperatures can be kept from rising by more than 1.5C this century. The world has already passed one degree of warming as carbon emissions have ballooned since the 1850s. Many low-lying countries say they may disappear under the sea if the 1.5C limit is breached. After a week of deliberations in the city of Incheon, the researchers' new report is likely to say that keeping below this limit will require urgent and dramatic action from governments and individuals alike. One s...

[ad_1] French-Congolese artist Nicholle Kobi draws empowering images of black women, the kind she wishes she had seen growing up. [ad_2]

[ad_1] Image copyright Getty Images Image caption President Trump ordered an FBI probe into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Friday The Trump administration has denied restricting an FBI inquiry into sexual misconduct allegations made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Democrats have been alarmed at reports in US media the White House was limiting who could be interviewed under the investigation. President Trump ordered the inquiry on Friday at the request of a Senate committee. Mr Kavanaugh denies the allegations against him. The new inquiry has delayed a final vote on Judge Kavanaugh, who if confirmed is likely to tip America's highest court in favour of conservatives. Who is Brett Kavanaugh? What will the FBI inquiry actually do? Several US media outlets over the weekend said that the scop...

[ad_1] A year on from the illegal independence referendum that took place in Spain’s Catalonia region, the BBC's Gavin Lee has been speaking to some of the major players on both sides. We look at the effect of the independence crisis, and ask what was achieved by activists in attempting to declare the north east region a separate state. Produced by Juan A. Dominguez [ad_2]

[ad_1] Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The moment gunmen open fire on an Iranian military parade Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they have fired missiles at militants in eastern Syria in response to a deadly attack on a military parade last month. A statement said "many terrorists were killed or injured" in the strikes. At least 22 people were killed in September's gun attack in the city of Ahvaz, the deadliest in Iran for more than a decade. Both the Islamic State group and an Arab separatist group have claimed the assault. Four gunmen reportedly opened fire at the parade to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Women, children and members of the Revolutionary Guards were among the dead, according to officials. Iran later announced the arrest of 22 people in connection with the incident. At the funerals of the victims, the deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards Brig-Gen Hossein Sa...

[ad_1] Image copyright AFP Image caption Relations between US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have occasionally been fraught The US and Canada have reached a deal to reform the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) after last minute negotiations. The deal is said to involve more US access to Canada's dairy market and a cap on Canada's car exports to the US. Nafta governs more than $1tr (£767bn) in trade between the two and Mexico. Mexico and the US have already agreed new terms, and only recently it looked as if Canada could be excluded in a final agreement . "Today, Canada and the United States reached an agreement, alongside Mexico, on a new, modernized trade agreement for the 21st Century: the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement," US Trade Representativ...

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[ad_1] It's Monday, it's a new week, and while we won't pretend we know everything that's going to happen over the next seven days, we have some sense of what's coming up. Here's your briefing on some of the most important and interesting stories happening in the week ahead. 1) Brazil decides What's happening? The world's fifth most populous country will vote for its next president on Sunday. Why is it important? There's a lot at stake in the race to head up the country of more than 200 million people. There are two leading candidates - one of whom has been recuperating in hospital after a near-fatal stabbing a few weeks ago. That man, Jair Bolsonaro, is a former army captain and is running for the far-right Social Liberal Party. He's been condemned as sexist (he once said he wouldn't employ a woman on the same salary as a man as she might get pregnant) and homophobic (he said he couldn't love his son if he was gay). But his tough...

[ad_1] How our canine companions could pose a threat to endangered species. [ad_2]