China smog: Beijing issues second ever pollution red alert
Beijing has issued a second pollution red alert, little more than a week after the first ever such warning.
The Chinese capital will see hazardous smog from Saturday until Tuesday, the Beijing Meteorological Service said.
Nationwide, a vast area from Xian in central China to Harbin in the north-east would also be affected, the National Meteorological Centre said.
The alert triggers restrictions on vehicle use, factories and construction work.
The government has promised to take action to address often dangerous levels of pollution.
Meteorological authorities have said that the regional smog is likely to be worse than the last red alert earlier this month, with the PM2.5 pollution level to exceed 500 micrograms per cubic metre.
The smog which hit Beijing on 8 December had peaked just below 300. Residents are encouraged to stay indoors if levels exceed that level.
Islamic State’s defeat by Iraqi forces just a matter of time, says top navy official
V-Adm David Johnston says significant progress being made in fight against Isis and defends deployment of RAAF aircraft over Chinese-claimed territory
The defeat of Islamic State by Iraqi forces is now “a matter of when, not if” according to Australia’s chief of joint operations, V-Adm David Johnston.
Johnston told journalists the recent advances by Iraqi government troops around Ramadi, east of Baghdad and near Sinjar in the north, and the recapture of parts of Baji, had led to a significant shift in momentum, and had made it difficult for Isis to move forces and equipment between battlefields and to resupply its fighters.
The coalition had also struck oil fields, restricting the terrorist group’s cash flow from oil sales.
“Significant progress being made on the ground,” Johnston said.
“The momentum in the fight has shifted significantly and whilst I wouldn’t put a timeline on it, I think it is only a matter of time now until the Iraqi army does actually succeed and defeats Daesh in Iraq,” he said.
Ethiopia security forces kill up to 50 people in crackdown on peaceful protests
Attempted land grab by Ethiopian government has led to violence against ethnic group
The violence-torn Horn of Africa is seeing a fresh wave of repression as Ethiopian authorities crack down on protests by the country’s largest ethnic minority.
Human rights groups say an attempted land grab by the federal government has seen violence flare in the Oromia region, with up to 50 protesters killed by security forces so far this month.
Campaigners from the Oromo ethnic group say they have been labelled “terrorists” by Ethiopian authorities as they fight the government’s plan to integrate parts of Oromia into the capital Addis Ababa.
Some Oromo protesters fear that they will be forcibly evicted from their land as part of the rapid expansion of the capital, which they call a federal “master plan”.
Syria, Ukraine wars create record number of refugees
The number of people forced to flee war, violence and persecution in 2015 is set to soar past last year’s record of nearly 60 million, the UN has said. One in every 122 people has been forced to flee their home.
The UN refugee agency released a report Friday that showed rocketing numbers of people having been displaced within their countries or living as refugees or asylum seekers during the first half of the year, the agency indicating that the full-year figures would be even more acute.
“Forced displacement is now profoundly affecting our times,” UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement. “Never has there been a greater need for tolerance, compassion and solidarity with people who have lost everything.”
Despite perceptions that most were headed for affluent Europe and North America, it’s been developing countries bordering conflict zones that host the lion’s share of the refugees, the report said. The report also went on to warn about growing “resentment” and “politicization of refugees.”
Iran’s great drought
Iran may have made international headlines with the historic signing of the nuclear deal earlier this year, but the Islamic republic still has a huge challenge to deal with at home: a lack of water and a severe drought. Lakes and dams have dried up and many cities are on the brink of running out of water. In some remote regions, the catastrophe is also threatening the local economy.
The drought has become a main concern for many Iranians. For those living and working in Iran, it’s a topic impossible to escape. Environmental experts are sounding the alarm for what they say could become one of the worst natural disasters in the Middle East in recent history.
In Iran, as many as nine cities, including the capital Tehran, face water shortages as dams, and much of the lakes in both the east and south, have dried up. The drought is posing a serious threat to millions of people and many Iranians could even be forced to migrate.
Concerns raised over emotional burden on lay judges in capital cases after executions
(Mainichi Japan)
Experts say the execution of a death row inmate tried in a lay judge trial will spark a review of the death penalty system, while others call on citizens who serve as lay judges not shrink back from their duties.
The Yokohama District Court sentenced the inmate — Sumitoshi Tsuda, 63 — to death in June 2011 in a lay judge trial for murdering three people at an apartment block where he lived in Kawasaki’s Saiwai Ward.
Former citizen judges who participated in the trial of Tsuda had acknowledge at a news conference after handing down the death penalty that they felt heavily burdened by the sentence.
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