18 September 2013 Last updated at 09:23 GMT
Syria tells Russia it has proof rebels used chemicals
Syria has given Russia new "material evidence" that opposition fighters in the Syrian conflict have used chemical weapons, a Russian minister has said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also said a report by UN inspectors on the alleged use of chemical weapons was politicised, biased and one-sided.
He said the inspectors had only looked at evidence of an attack on 21 August, not three previous incidents.
The UN team found the nerve agent Sarin was used in the 21 August attack.
The report did not apportion blame for the attack but Western nations blame the government forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Tony Abbott officially takes over as Australian prime minister
New premier promises immediate action to slow stream of asylum seekers
Tony Abbott has been officially sworn in as Australia's new prime minister by Governor General Quentin Bryce.
Abbott was the first of 42 government executives to be sworn in at a ceremony at Government House in the capital Canberra.
His first task would be to prepare the carbon tax repeal legislation, he said in a statement.
On energy policy, Abbott plans to order officials to draft legislation that would repeal the carbon tax imposed on the country's biggest greenhouse gas emitters. The tax has been attacked over its impact on household power bills since it was first levied from July 2012.
SHOOTINGS
Austrian standoff ends, police find alleged shooter dead
A shootout between Austrian police and an alleged poacher has ended with the discovery of a body believed to be the suspect. He is thought to have killed three police officers and a paramedic.
Police near the town of Melk, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Vienna, announced the end of an hours-long standoff outside of a farmhouse where a man, believed to be a poacher, had barricaded himself with a large amount of powerful weaponry. At least three policemen and an ambulance driver were killed in the day-long incident.
After several unsuccessful attempts to contact the 55-year-old man, police commandos besieged the house on Tuesday evening. A search of the property eventually led them to a secret hiding place where they found a charred body, according to local police.
Authorities were waiting for the results of a DNA analysis in order to identify the corpse, police spokesperson Roland Scherscher told news agency DPA, but said they believed they had found the perpetrator.
China's mooncake crackdown
September 18, 2013 - 12:51PMPhilip Wen
China correspondent for Fairfax Media
Beijing: President Xi Jinping's white-knuckled anti-corruption crackdown has engulfed another unsuspecting victim: this time the humble mooncake, a mainstay of China's annual mid-autumn festival.
Elegantly gift-wrapped boxes of the dense, calorific pastries have long been exchanged among families and friends for the traditional festival, which falls on Thursday this year.
The treats have become notorious for over-the-top extravagance and are a sickly-sweet vehicle for casual bribery.
But this year, lavish varieties stuffed with abalone and shark's fin and topped with gold flakes - which used to sell for more than $1000 - are now scarcely seen.UN honours Sister Angelique Namaika for LRA victim work
A nun helping female victims of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo is to receive a top UN award for her work.
Since 2003 Sister Angelique Namaika has helped more 2,000 women and girls abused and displaced by the rebels.
She will receive the award at the end of the month and afterwards will have an audience with Pope Francis.
She told the BBC it was a surprise to be honoured and she would ask the Pope "to pardon [LRA leader] Joseph Kony".
Kony, who has an estimated 200-500 fighters in his movement, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.Can Colombia really return lost land to owners displaced by conflict?
Scores of people have died or been threatened after returning to their land under Colombia's banner land restitution program, according to a Human Rights Watch report released today.
Juan Manuel Rodríguez was in high spirits when he received notice last month that 16 years after being driven from his farm near this town in southern Cesar Province, his right to the land was restored, and he could go back to a life that was interrupted by violence.
Mr. Rodríguez bought food for a month, hired a team of workers, and set out to clear the land he deserted in 1997 after paramilitaries killed 10 neighbors and torched dozens of homes.
But just 11 days after reclaiming his land, Rodríguez was forced to abandon it again. In late August, an armed man came onto his property and ordered Rodríguez’s workers to leave, claiming he was the true owner. The workers fled and Rodíguez hasn’t returned since.
No comments:
Post a Comment