World News: 18 January 2023

US-China officials meet on economy, aim to ease tension
Yellen’s first face-to-face meeting with Vice Premier Liu He in Zurich is the highest-ranking contact between the two countries since their presidents agreed last November to look for areas of potential cooperation.
Liu, for his part, said he was ready to work together to seek common ground between China and the U.S.

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Ukraine interior minister, others killed in helicopter crash
At least 16 people, including Ukraine’s interior minister and three children, have been killed in a helicopter crash near a nursery outside the capital, Kyiv, according to emergency services.
Interior minister Denys Monastyrskyy, his deputy Yevhen Yenin and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yurii Lubkovych were among those killed on Wednesday.

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Qatargate: Pier Antonio Panzeri admits guilt and signs deal to share 'revealing' details
The probe is looking into a potential cash-for-favour scheme involving "large sums of money" paid by a country in the Persian Gulf, widely identified as Qatar, with the aim to influence the European Union's policy-making.
Morocco has in recent weeks emerged as an alleged player in the graft operation.
Both Qatar and Morocco vigorously deny the allegations.

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Mexico's PeMex destroyed resources worth $342 million from two top fields
Pemex produced 201.2 billion cubic feet of gas and 24.3 million barrels of condensate from Ixachi. But it still fell short of its targets.
The documents also show that 77.6% of the investment into the field Pemex had pledged in its development plan - totaling $2.9 billion - were not made.

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Nobel winner Maria Ressa, news outlet cleared of tax evasion
Rappler, founded in 2012, was one of several Philippine and international news agencies that critically reported on Duterte's brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that left thousands of mostly petty drug suspects dead and his handling of the coronavirus outbreaks, including prolonged police-enforced lockdowns, that deepened poverty, caused one of the country's worst recessions and sparked corruption allegations in government medical purchases.

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Saved from death at sea, Syrian refugees face deportation
Since the collapse of Lebanon's economy in 2019, an increasing number of people — mostly Syrian and Palestinian refugees but also Lebanese citizens — have tried to leave the country and reach Europe by sea. The attempts often turn deadly.
This time, rescue crews from Lebanon’s navy and U.N. peacekeepers deployed along the border with Israel, were able to save all but two of the passengers, a Syrian woman and a child who drowned. For many of the survivors, however, the relief was fleeting.

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