EUROPEAN UNION: Former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini faces allegations of corruption alongside two other people arrested this week as part of a fraud investigation, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office said today.

Authorities in Belgium made the arrests on Tuesday after raiding the offices of the EU diplomatic service in Brussels, and a college in Bruges.

Ms Mogherini led the EU foreign service from 2014 to 2019 and now serves as the rector of the College of Europe.

MYANMAR: An election candidate in Myanmar has been detained by a resistance group opposed to army rule, local media reported today, the first known such action before the polls scheduled for December 28.

The detention of Wai Lin Htet, a candidate of the Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party, highlights ongoing tensions ahead of the election.

UNITED STATES: US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said that President Donald Trump “desperately needs help” after he made derogatory remarks about Somali immigrants in Minnesota.

Mr Trump said on Tuesday that he did not want Somalis in the US because “they contribute nothing.”

The president spoke soon after a source said that federal authorities are preparing a targeted immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota against Somali immigrants.

INDIA: Plans announced earlier this week by India to make it mandatory for mobile phone makers to preload a state-run cyber safety app on new phones, has now been scrapped, the Indian government said today.

The order, which sparked public concerns over privacy and surveillance, would have forced mobile phone makers to preload its Sanchar Saathi app which could not have been “disabled or restricted.”