Death of Armita Geravand, 16, comes one-year after tragedy that sparked nationwide protests

But the deal is by no means one way. The statement included a number of phrases likely added by the Chinese that echo official Beijing propaganda almost verbatim. They include: "the Russian side notes the significance of the concept of constructing a 'community of common destiny for mankind' proposed by the Chinese side."

Human rights violations in Xinjiang - where more than one million Uyghurs are estimated to have been detained in 're-education' camps - have been so severe that the UK, US, EU and Canada announced coordinated sanctions against Chinese officials in March. As such, rights groups have been calling for companies to rethink their footprint in China.

The tiny Pacific island of Samoa has been plunged into crisis after its new prime minister, who has pledged to scrap a $100 million port deal with China, was locked out of parliament this week amid a bitter dispute over the election result.

France threatened to cut off Jersey's electricity supplies on Tuesday as the row over post-Brexit fishing rights between Paris and London deepened. "We are ready to use these retaliation measures," Annick Girardin, the maritime minister, told lawmakers in the French parliament. "I am sorry it has come to this.

More than half a million people from ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang have been coerced into picking cotton, on a scale far greater than previously thought, new research has suggested.

Sweden's central bank said on Wednesday it had sold off bonds from Western Australia and Queensland, and the oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta, because it felt that greenhouse gas emissions in both countries were too high. The Riksbank deputy governor, Martin Floden, said the bank would no longer invest in assets from issuers with a large climate footprint, even if the yields were high.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, joins CNBC's "Power Lunch" to discuss why foreign buyers for U.S. homes are declining.