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https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 When former FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced Qatar's victory in 2010, there was widespread scepticism about how exactly this tiny desert state, with no World Cup experience and scorching summer temperatures, had won. Allegations of corruption, vote-swapping, and links to trade deals at the highest levels of government have always been denied by organisers and remain unproven. But there is no denying the build-up to this tournament has been especially troubled. There have been persistent fears over the human toll of building the infrastructure required in such a short period of time and in such a climate, along with discriminatory laws that prohibit homosexuality and curtail women's freedoms through male guardianship rules. BBC Analysis editor Ros Atkins looks at how Qatar won the bid to host the World Cup, as well as the human rights and environmental issues surrounding the tournament.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 An ancient gold coin proves that a third century Roman emperor written out of history as a fictional character really did exist, scientists have said. The coin bearing the name of Sponsian and his portrait was found more than 300 years ago in Transylvania, once a far-flung outpost of the Roman empire. Believed to be a fake, it had been locked away in a museum cupboard. Now scientists have said scratch marks visible under a microscope prove that it was in circulation 2,000 years ago.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 At least seven people are dead after a gunman opened fire at a Walmart supermarket in the US city of Chesapeake, officials have said. A man - believed to be the store manager - opened fire and died after turning the gun on himself. Several other people were injured in the shooting. The attacker's motive remains unclear.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has accused the West of "hypocrisy" in its reporting about Qatar's human rights record on the eve of the World Cup. Infantino spoke for nearly an hour and made a passionate defence of Qatar and the tournament at a news conference in Doha. The event has been overshadowed by issues in Qatar including deaths of migrant workers and treatment of LGBT people. Switzerland-born Infantino said that European nations should apologise for acts committed in their own histories, rather than focussing on migrant workers' issues in Qatar.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 The leaders of the US and China have met face-to-face in Bali, in a conversation where the importance of avoiding conflict was stressed. Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met for the first time in five years, and the first time since Mr Biden was elected president. President Biden said he was "committed to keeping the line of communications between us open" so that the two countries could "work together on urgent global issues" including climate change and insecurity. The leaders are in Indonesia for the G20 meeting, with the ongoing situation in Taiwan expected to top the agenda.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 Stephen A. Smith and Adrian Wojnarowski debate whether the Golden State Warriors should go after another championship this season.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 Wall Street tumbled on Monday as protests in major Chinese cities against strict COVID-19 policies sparked concerns about the global economy. Rare protests in major Chinese cities over the weekend against the country's strict zero-COVID curbs are exacerbating worries about growth in the world's second-largest economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 500 points, dropping nearly one-and-a-half percent. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both dropped over one-point-five percent. Apple shares fell $3.89, down more than two-point-six percent, dragging down the benchmark S&P 500 index as worker unrest at the world's biggest iPhone factory in China fanned fears of a deeper hit to the already constrained production of higher-end phones. "I think you're going to see some real supply-chain issues..." Greg Swenson is a founding partner at Brigg Macadam. "Apple's producing their iPhone 14 Pro and that's really going to have some effect because the manufacturing in Zhengzhou is going to be, the unrest is actually happening in the factory that makes these iPhones." Mitigating those loses, shares of e-commerce behemoth Amazon.com rose nearly six-tenths of a percent after an industry report estimated spending on Cyber Monday, the biggest U.S. online shopping day, would climb as much as $11.6 billion. Also sounding something of an optimistic note: John Williams, the New York Federal Reserve Bank president. "I expect real GDP to increase only modestly this year, and in 2023." Williams told the New York Economic Club that he saw the Fed maintaining it's policy of interest rate hikes to combat inflation, but said he was already seeing signs that the rate hikes were having the desired effect and did not forecast an economic recession. "It will take some time, but I'm fully confident that we'll return to a sustained period of price stability." [flash] "The Fed has been wrong so much in the last two years, really the last five years." Greg Swenson was far more pessimistic in his forecast, and expected inflation would not come down until unemployment climbed significantly higher. "I think you're going to see the Fed continue to raise rates, cause unemployment to go higher, and that will result in some economic contraction, for sure." This week, investors will keep a close watch on November consumer confidence data, due on Tuesday; the government's second estimate for third-quarter gross domestic product, due on Wednesday; and November's jobs report due on Friday.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 Elon Musk: Yoon held a video call with Tesla chief executive Elon Musk last week when Yoon's office cited Musk as saying South Korea is among the top candidate locations for a factory to build electric vehicles. "If Tesla, SpaceX or other companies are considering more investment in Korea including constructing a gigafactory, the government will do our best to support the investment," Yoon told Reuters in his office. Yoon mentioned ensuring regulations align with international standards so foreign firms do not face unexpected financial and regulatory hurdles, as well as offering highly skilled workers. "We are preparing a tailored approach to grant some advantages to these specified companies," Yoon said through an interpreter, when asked about what advantage South Korean can offer to Tesla over other locations being mentioned. Tesla has said it would consider building another gigafactory. While Canada, Indonesia, India and Thailand have been mentioned in media reports, analysts noted that those countries do not have the kind of automotive supply chain that South Korea does, although some have abundant natural resources like nickel. Yoon credited his government's tough response to major labor union strikes this year for starting the process of establishing the rule of law in industrial relations for both the management and labor.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 Xi Jinping: From the streets of several Chinese cities to dozens of university campuses, the protesters made a show of civil disobedience unprecedented since leader Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago. "It's clear that the Chinese people themselves are deeply unhappy with what is going on, about the restrictions imposed upon them by the Chinese government," Cleverly said.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 News bulletin 2022

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 It's the first World Cup held in the Middle East – and the region's politics are never far away. Iran's protests, Arab fans' pro-Palestinian sympathies and host-nation Qatar's own ambiguous diplomacy have all been under the spotlight. Iran's matches have been the most politically charged, both on the pitch – when the Iranian team refrained from singing the national anthem – and off it. A headache for Qatar, which has good ties with Tehran. Ahead of Iran's first match, security denied entry to fans carrying Iran's pre-Revolution flag and T-shirts with the slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom" and "Mahsa Amini" – the young woman whose death in custody sparked the current protests. "Take to storage? We have nothing else to wear. What do we wear?" "Go to the mall and buy a t-shirt." "You go to the mall and buy a t-shirt?" Iranian-American fan Shayan Khosravani shows Iran's pre-revolution flag, banned inside the country. He says he has been told to hide it. "I wanted to come to the World Cup to support the people of Iran, because we know it is a great opportunity to speak for them, we know the national team is not speaking for them so we kind of wanted to put them in shame too, telling them like, hey, we come across the whole world to just use this opportunity to tell you guys and the rest of the world like hey what is happening in Iran is messed up, like you guys need to back people up." Pro-Palestinian sentiments are also on display. Qatari players have worn pro-Palestinian arm-bands... And this Israeli journalist reporting from Qatar met a cold response from Arab fans... "I am from Israel brother" "You are from Israel? What brought you here?" Qatar wants a smooth tournament that will cement its role on the global stage and in the Middle East. It's something of a regional maverick: it hosts the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas but allowed Israeli fans to fly in for the first time. It has given a platform to Islamist dissidents deemed a threat by Saudi Arabia and befriended Riyadh's foe Iran.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 Elon Musk: Yoon held a video call with Tesla chief executive Elon Musk last week when Yoon's office cited Musk as saying South Korea is among the top candidate locations for a factory to build electric vehicles. "If Tesla, SpaceX or other companies are considering more investment in Korea including constructing a gigafactory, the government will do our best to support the investment," Yoon told Reuters in his office. Yoon mentioned ensuring regulations align with international standards so foreign firms do not face unexpected financial and regulatory hurdles, as well as offering highly skilled workers. "We are preparing a tailored approach to grant some advantages to these specified companies," Yoon said through an interpreter, when asked about what advantage South Korean can offer to Tesla over other locations being mentioned. Tesla has said it would consider building another gigafactory. While Canada, Indonesia, India and Thailand have been mentioned in media reports, analysts noted that those countries do not have the kind of automotive supply chain that South Korea does, although some have abundant natural resources like nickel. Yoon credited his government's tough response to major labor union strikes this year for starting the process of establishing the rule of law in industrial relations for both the management and labor.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 Twitter owner Elon Musk accused Apple of threatening to block Twitter from its app store without saying why in a series of tweets on Monday. The world’s richest person also tweeted (quote) "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” Musk tagged Apple CEO Tim Cook in another tweet, asking “What’s going on here?” Musk said the iPhone maker was pressuring Twitter - which has reinstated previously banned accounts - over content moderation demands. Such an action would not be unusual… as Apple has routinely enforced its rules that led to the removal of conservative-leaning apps such as Gab and Parler from its app store. Apple, however, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. According to ad measurement firm Pathmatics – Apple has significantly decreased its weekly advertising on Twitter since Musk inked the deal for the social media platform. There’s been a pattern since the acquisition. A growing list of companies have stopped or paused advertising on Twitter, which relies on ad sales for about 90 percent of its revenue. Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, said earlier this month that Twitter had seen a "massive" drop in revenue and blamed activist groups for pressuring advertisers.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 Health officials have raised concerns that some migrants have been moved from a processing centre in Kent to other parts of the country while suffering from suspected diphtheria. Health secretary Steve Barclay says there has been "targeted action" at Manston processing centre.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 'Unions seem absolutely intent on causing maximum disruption'

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 Diphtheria is a 'really horrid disease' - Dr David Lloyd

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 50 migrants diagnosed with diphtheria

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 Republic of Ireland 'at the mercy' of UK for gas supply

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 UK strikes: What does the data show?

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 China: Protesters shout 'down with Xi Jinping!'

Why is China still battling COVID?

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 From lockdowns and a zero-COVID strategy, Sky's Dominic Waghorn explains why people are protesting in China.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 An unprecedented wave of protests are taking place across China, as protesters demand an end to the country's restrictive coronavirus measures. Dramatic footage filmed in Hangzhou shows a woman screaming as police take her away and a bystander tries to intervene.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 Speaking at the Lord Mayor's Banquet, the prime minister put forward his position on foreign policy and doubled down on appearing strong against China after being criticised for being too soft on the Chinese government during the leadership campaign.

https://www.febspot.com?ref=50177 STORY: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that a potential rail strike was "unacceptable, because of the impact that it would have on jobs, and families, and farms, and businesses and communities across the country." More than 400 groups on Monday called on Congress to intervene in an ongoing railroad labor standoff that threatens to idle shipments of food and fuel and strand rail travelers while inflicting billions of dollars of economic damage. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other national trade groups warned impacts of a potential strike could be felt as soon as Dec. 5. A rail traffic stoppage could freeze almost 30% of U.S. cargo shipments by weight, stoke inflation and cost the American economy as much as $2 billion per day by unleashing a cascade of transport woes affecting U.S. energy, agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare and retail sectors.