Oxfam has published a report urging action on bridging the financial gap between the world's richest and poorest
Happy Monday, this is Anna getting you caught up on today's top stories.
Inequality soars - Oxfam has called for action to tackle the growing gap between rich and poor after publishing a new report showing that 42 people hold as much wealth as the 3.7 billion who make up the poorest half of the world’s population. Oxfam claimed billionaires had been created at a record rate of one every two days over the past year, at a time when the bottom 50% of people had seen no increase in their wealth. It added that 82% of the global wealth generated in 2017 went to the richest 1%.
Laying in wait - The repatriation of more than 650,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees to Myanmar from Bangladesh has been postponed. The decision to postpone efforts comes amid widespread fears that refugees would be forced to return, a Bangladeshi official has said. ‘The main thing is that the process has to be voluntary,’ said Abul Kalam, the refugee and repatriation commissioner, on Monday. It is not immediately clear when the process will now start.
Russian threat - Britain’s defence chief of general staff, Sir Nick Carter, is to warn that the UK is trailing Russia in terms of defence spending and capability. Failure to keep up with Russia will leave the UK exposed, he claims, particularly to unorthodox, hybrid warfare of the kind practised by Russia and other potentially hostile states. One of the biggest threats posed is from cyber-attacks that target both the military and civilian life.
US lockdown - The US government shutdown could be edging closer to a resolution after a small concession from the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who said he would allow a vote on immigration reform in February if Democrats agree to fund the government. However, one Democratic source cautioned that no deal had been reached.
‘Raining bullets’ - Gunmen who raided the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul killed at least 18 people during a 12-hour standoff with security forces that ended Sunday, Afghan authorities said. Of those killed, 14 were foreign nationals and four were Afghans, according to Najib Danish, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior. Four gunmen were also killed by Afghan security forces responding to the attack, he said.
SAG Awards - Dark comedy Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards on Sunday. The film about a small town murder picked up the prestigious outstanding cast in a film prize. It also collected two acting honours for Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell. British star Gary Oldman, who plays Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, picked up the best actor prize.