News Headlines - 16 February 2019

▽Japan growth turns positive, despite China worries - NHK WORLD

The latest GDP data shows Japan returned to growth in the latest quarter. The economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.4 percent in the three months ended in December... Government officials say it was the first positive GDP in two quarters. The previous period saw a contraction, after a string of natural disasters in summer.

▽Ukraine Deports Russia-Aligned Priest, Strips Citizenship, In Church Rift

Ukraine has taken the extraordinary step of deporting a senior cleric of the Moscow-aligned Orthodox Church and stripping him of his citizenship, marking a political escalation in the historic rift that has shaken the Eastern Orthodox world and further raised tensions between Kyiv and Moscow.

▽Shamima Begum: Bring me home, says Bethnal Green girl who left to join Isis | The Times

On the day the caliphate suffered a mortal blow the teenage London bride of an Islamic State fighter lifted her veil. Her two infant children were dead; her husband in captivity. Nineteen years old, nine months pregnant, weak and exhausted from her escape across the desert, she nevertheless looked calm and spoke with a collected voice.
“I’m not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago,” she told me. “And I don’t regret coming here.”

▽Charles and Camilla set to make historic trip to Cuba as part of wider Caribbean tour - ITV News

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall could meet some of Cuba's most celebrated music stars when they make an historic visit to the country.
Charles and Camilla's official four-day trip to the communist state in March, part of a Caribbean tour, will be a first by members of the monarchy.

▽Slovenia MP quits after stealing sandwich - BBC News

A member of the Slovenian parliament has stepped down after stealing a sandwich from a shop in Ljubljana where he says he was ignored by staff.
Darij Krajcic told local media he was annoyed at being "treated like air" and decided to test the supermarket's security by walking out.
The theft went unnoticed but the ruling Marjan Sarec List (LMS) party member insisted he later returned to pay.