26 August 2013 Last updated at 08:31 GMT
Syria crisis: UN team poised to probe 'chemical attack'
UN inspectors are heading to the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack that took place on Wednesday near the Syrian capital Damascus.
The Syrian government and the rebels agreed to a ceasefire to allow the inspectors to collect evidence safely.
However, Western governments criticised Syria for taking too long to allow in the UN team.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned the US against military intervention, saying it would end in failure.
"If someone is dreaming of making Syria a puppet of the West, then this will not happen," he told the Russian newspaper Izvestiya.
EGYPT
Life under martial law in Egypt
A curfew in many Egyptian cities, put in place for safety reasons, has left many feeling locked up. Daily life is far from normal, but it has to go on. Here's how some people are trying to cope.
Egypt is under martial law. A curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. is supposed to help the army bring the country's tense situation under control. Until this past Saturday (24.08.2013), the lockdown started every night at 7 p.m. This now only applies on Fridays, when most protests take place.
Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi put the curfew in place after clearing the Muslim Brotherhood protest camps at Nahda Square and Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque on August 14, when a fierce gun battle took place between the army and Muslim Brothers.
Buddhist mob torches more Muslim homes in Myanmar
A thousand people went on a rampage following rumors that a Muslim man tried to sexually assault a young woman.
Members of a 1,000-strong Buddhist mob torched dozens of homes and shops in northwestern Myanmar following rumors that a Muslim man tried to sexually assault a young woman, officials and witnesses said Sunday, as the country was once again gripped by sectarian violence.
The rioters, who sang the country's national anthem as they rampaged, dispersed after security forces arrived early Sunday, shooting into the air. No injuries were reported.
The hours-long riot in Htan Gone village, located 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of the town of Kantbalu in the region of Sagaing, began late Saturday after a crowd surrounded a police station, demanding that the suspect in the attempted assault be handed over, a police officer told The Associated Press. The officer requested anonymity because he did not have the authority to speak to reporters.
Brazil's top modern artist gets Rio homecoming
JENNY BARCHFIELD
She's the toast of New York and beloved in Paris and London, but Beatriz Milhazes thinks there's no place like home.
More than a decade after her last show in her native Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's highest-paid artist is gearing up for a homecoming of sorts, a major retrospective spanning most of her 30-year career. The exhibition, opening Thursday at the Paco Imperial Cultural Center in downtown Rio, brings together more than five dozen paintings, silk screens and collages covered in Milhazes' signature riot of saturated color, concentric circles, upbeat flowers and meandering arabesques.
"I've shown in places that are obviously very exciting for any artist, but in a way showing in your city — I was born here and still live and work here — kind of grabs you more, excites you more, stirs you up more," Milhazes told The Associated Press in a Friday interview as she supervised the installation of the exhibit, entitled "Meu Bem," Portuguese for "My Dear." ''It's being able to say, 'Mom, look what I've done.'"
China detains well-known blogger in social media crackdown
China has detained a well-known Chinese-American microblogger and angel investor as Beijing rolls out a new campaign to “purify” the country’s social media.
Charles Xue and a 22-year-old woman surnamed Zhang were detained on Friday night for allegedly engaging in prostitution, Beijing police said on Sunday.
Sixty-year-old Mr Xue is one of China’s most popular microbloggers with more than 12m followers on his verified account on Sina Weibo, the country’s leading Twitter equivalent.
Although the authorities made no mention of his frequent liberal comments on social and economic issues, he is one of five prominent microbloggers detained over the past three days.
Japan turns up pressure on pro-Pyongyang schools
TOYOAKE —
The high concrete walls of Hwang In Suk’s school enclose a world different from the rest of Japan. Another language echoes through the halls. The classrooms, with their chalky blackboards and flimsy desks, look like they haven’t been changed since the 1950s, when the school first opened.
The government has begun denying funds to schools like this, and the reason is most evident at the front of each classroom, where portraits hang of North Korea’s first leader, Kim Il Sung, and his son, Kim Jong Il.
More than 9,000 ethnic Koreans in Japan go to schools, from kindergarten through college, closely affiliated with North Korea.
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