Qatar working to transform into a 'smart country'

Gulf Arab nation is working to digitise and revolutionise the way transportation, health care, the environment and logistics are managed.

As Qatar gears up for the FIFA 2022 football World Cup, there is a big focus on technological innovation for fans in stadiums and the public at large.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew Chappelle visited the Smart City Expo in Doha to see some of the high-tech solutions being considered for the tournament and beyond.

Trump defends himself against impeachment inquiry

US president uses election campaign to attack political opponents after Democrats approved rules for the hearings as the proceedings go public.

US President Donald Trump has fiercely defended himself against a congressional impeachment inquiry while on the campaign trail.

His attack comes after Democrats approved rules for the hearings as the proceedings go public.

Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan reports from Washington, DC.

Chile police accused of brutality in protest crackdown

Two weeks after mass demonstrations for widespread social reforms began, envoys from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights are in Santiago probing alleged police abuses.

As anti-government protests continue throughout Chile, so are growing accusations of a brutal crackdown by police.

Two weeks after the mass demonstrations calling for widespread social reforms broke out, envoys from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights are in Santiago investigating alleged victims of police abuses.

Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman reports from Santiago.

ASEAN summit: Mega trade deal delayed

Why plans to finalise what could be the world’s largest trade bloc at the ASEAN summit have hit the buffers.

Asian leaders at a summit in Thailand have delayed signing what would have become the world’s biggest trading bloc.

A free trade agreement between 16 countries was to offset the US-China trade war.

But finalising it has now been put off until next year.

Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler reports from Bangkok.

Missing Ethiopian migrants being trafficked through Yemen

Aid agencies warn that human traffickers are increasingly using the country as a route to move migrants to Gulf countries.

Despite the ongoing war and humanitarian situation in Yemen, aid agencies warn that human traffickers are increasingly using the country as a route to traffic African migrants to Gulf countries.

IOM says almost 90,000 east Africans, 90 percent of them Ethiopians, have arrived in Yemen since April.

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reports from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

UK Brexit Party offers PM Johnson backing in upcoming election

Nigel Farage says his party will only help if Boris Johnson withdraws deal with EU.

The leader of the UK’s Brexit Party has offered to help Prime Minister Boris Johnson win the December election, but only if he abandons his withdrawal deal with the European Union.

Nigel Farage opened his election campaign by threatening to field candidates in every seat against the Conservative Party if the Brexit deal is not dropped.

But Johnson quickly ruled out any sort of alliance.

Al Jazeera’s Neave Barker reports from Westminster.

Brazil's BR Properties prices offering to raise 1.05 bln reais -filing

SAO PAULO, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Brazilian commercial real estate company BR Properties SA priced its follow-on offering at 12.50 reais per share, raising 1.05 billion reais ($250.42 million), according to a securities filing on Thursday.

The company sold 84,375,000 shares and plans to use the proceeds to finance capital expenditures and restructure its debt.

Last month, the company announced the acquisition of a large mixed-use development in Sao Paulo $186 million. ($1 = 4.1930 reais) (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer and Jake Spring; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Microsoft Delays Surface Earbuds’ Global Launch To Next Year

Microsoft has delayed the worldwide launch of its Surface Earbuds till Spring 2020. The $249 wireless earbuds were originally expected to launch this year.

The delay is a setback in Microsoft’s attempt to compete with Apple’s latest earbuds, AirPods Pro, which has a new design and features active noise cancellation.

“Product-making is about the relentless pursuit to get all the details right, which takes time…sometimes more than we planned on,” Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay said in a tweet Thursday.

He further said, “To ensure we deliver the best possible experience for you, our fans & customers, Surface Earbuds will now launch worldwide in Spring 2020.”

Microsoft unveiled the Surface Earbuds in October alongside its Surface Duo dual-screen Android phone and new Surface Pro X and Surface Pro 7 tablets.

Microsoft’s Surface Earbuds battery life enables up to eight hours of listening time on a single charge, where as Apple’s AirPods Pro, which also costs $249, delivers four and a half hours of listening time.

China raises its 2018 GDP estimate by 2.1%

BEIJING–China raised its estimate for last year’s gross domestic product by 2.1%, putting the size of the world’s second-largest economy at 91.928 trillion yuan ($13.078 trillion).

The revision of its nominal GDP, based on the results of the latest national economic census, won’t have any notable impact on the growth rate for 2019, as the increase is smaller than previous revisions, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.

China’s GDP was raised by 16.8%, 4.4% and 3.4%, respectively, following the previous three national economic censuses, the statistics bureau said.

The bureau said it is still revising the historical data, which would be announced separately.

Without revised historical data as a reference, the government will likely still set an economic-growth target of about 6% for next year, following an expected 6.2% expansion in 2019, said Hunter Chan, an economist at Standard Chartered.

China’s economy will have to expand by at least 6.1% in 2020 to achieve the goal of doubling its GDP from the 2010 level, Mr. Chan said.

The Chinese economy grew 6.6% in 2018, its slowest pace in nearly three decades. The economy, which is growing at a rate a little above 6%, will probably face more headwinds next year. It is expected to expand 5.8% in 2020, according to a recently revised forecast by the International Monetary Fund.

Beijing’s recent efforts to accelerate local government bond issuance and cut interest rates should start "providing support for the economy next year," Mr. Chan said.

–Liyan Qi