A stock exchange set up in the Chinese capital to serve entrepreneurs opened trading Monday with 81 companies amid a crackdown on tech giants that has wiped more than $1 trillion off their market value abroad.

The Beijing Stock Exchange joins other mainland Chinese exchanges in Shanghai and the southern city of Shenzhen. They are mostly off-limits to foreign investors, but some companies have shares traded in Hong Kong, a separate Chinese territory that is open to global capital.

Detected deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rose for the second straight month compared to last year, ending a streak of encouraging data at a moment when the government has promised to curb illegal logging.

Satellite alerts of deforestation in October corresponded to 877 square kilometers (339 square miles), the highest indicator for the month in five years and 4.9% more than for the same month in 2020, according to data from the Brazilian space agency's Deter monitoring system that were released on Friday. September registered 2.3% more deforestation than the same month last year.

he idea was striking in its ambition: African countries aimed to plant trees in a nearly 5,000-mile line spanning the entire continent, creating a natural barrier to hold back the Sahara Desert as climate change swept the sands south.

The project called the Great Green Wall began in 2007 with a vision for the trees to extend like a belt across the vast Sahel region, from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east, by 2030. But as temperatures rose and rainfall diminished, millions of the planted trees died.

Sky obscured by thick, gray smog. Monuments and high-rise buildings swallowed by a blanket of haze. People struggling to breathe.

In the Indian capital, it is that time of the year again.

The Swedish Academy that chooses the Nobel Laureates in Literature said Monday it was following the case against Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, who is under investigation for allegedly insulting modern Turkey's founder in his latest novel.

In a brief statement, the Swedish Academy said it expects Turkey to respect its international commitments and that it was monitoring the "treatment" that Pamuk — who won the literature prize in 2006 — was receiving in the country.

The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on four ministers recently appointed to the Syrian government, blaming them for playing a role in the continued repression on civilians in the war-torn country.

Asset freezes and travel bans in Europe were imposed on the four, who include the ministers for internal trade, information and labor.

What's in a name? Well, for Ji-Young, the newest muppet resident of "Sesame Street," her name is a sign she was meant to live there.

"So, in Korean traditionally the two syllables they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise. And Young means, like, brave or courageous and strong," Ji-Young explained during a recent interview. "But we were looking it up and guess what? Ji also means sesame."

Spain didn't falter with a World Cup spot on the line and will make its 12th straight appearance at the tournament next year.

Substitute Álvaro Morata scored late as "La Roja" beat Sweden 1-0 Sunday to win Group B and earn the automatic spot for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, leaving Zlatan Ibrahimovic's team facing the playoffs.

Spain, Serbia and Croatia are heading to next year's World Cup. Sweden, Portugal and Russia aren't — not yet, anyway.

Aleksandar Mitrovic's 90th-minute header left Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal stunned in a 2-1 win for Serbia in Lisbon, which gave Serbia an automatic qualifying spot at the World Cup in Qatar. Portugal still has a chance to qualify, but it must navigate a four-team bracket in the playoffs in March.

Israel has been using settler violence as a "major informal tool" to drive Palestinians from farming and pasture lands in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli rights group said.

A report by the group B'Tselem detailed the takeover of nearly 11 square miles (30 square kilometers) of farm and pasture land in the territory by settlers over the past five years. That's an area around half the size of the island of Manhattan.