23 December 2014 Last updated at 08:12
Finding contradicts claims by PM Shinzo Abe that erroneous reports of wartime ‘comfort women’ had dented Japan’s image
Australia PM Abbott warns of 'heightened terror chatter'
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says there has been a "heightened level of terror chatter" since the siege at a Sydney cafe last week.
Mr Abbott said the National Security Committee had met to discuss the development on Tuesday.
However, the terrorist threat level would remain at "high" and not be raised to "extreme", he added.
Earlier, memorial services were held for the two hostages killed by a gunman in the siege.
Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson were shot by Man Haron Monis at the end of the 16-hour stand-off at the Lindt cafe in Martin Place. The gunman was shot dead by commandos.
No evidence Japan sex slaves coverage harmed country’s image, say experts
Finding contradicts claims by PM Shinzo Abe that erroneous reports of wartime ‘comfort women’ had dented Japan’s image
There is no clear evidence that a Japanese newspaper’s erroneous coverage fuelled international criticism of the country’s wartime use of sex slaves, according to a report.
The finding, by an independent panel formed to investigate articles in the Asahi Shimbun containing discredited testimony by a former Japanese official, contradicts claims by the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, that global media coverage of the “comfort women” – which he said was based on the paper’s reporting – had tarnished the country’s image.
The panel of seven academics and a journalist, none of whom is connected to the newspaper, did say, however, that the Asahi had betrayed its readers’ trust by publishing unchallenged testimony by Seiji Yoshida, a wartime labour official who claimed he had helped “hunt” for women on the South Korean island of Jeju in 1943 to work in Japanese frontline brothels.
World's oldest gorilla turns 58 but not everyone is celebrating
Christians most persecuted and discriminated against worldwide
Most violations of religious freedom occur in Muslim countries
India is the latest country in which Christians have spoken out about their persecution. Christians of all denominations have issued a joint pre-Christmas statement in which they speak of “violence against our churches in various parts of the country, especially in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and now in the territory of the capital city Delhi”. This, they said, was a “well organised campaign, also by senior members of parliament belonging to the ruling party”.
In the Middle East it has been estimated that at current rates of decline due to persecution, Christian numbers will halve over the next five years.
This year has seen more global persecution of Christians than any other in recent history. According to the International Society for Human Rights, a secular group with members in 38 states worldwide, 80 per cent of all acts of religious discrimination today are directed at Christians.
Turkish people 'shocked' by journalist arrests
Trumped-up charges are to be leveled at more than a dozen recently arrested Turkish journalists. DW talks to Turkey-analyst Günter Seufert about why the Turkish president is going after them now.
DW: Sixteen journalists are to be tried in court. Is this a new dimension in Turkey's power struggle against journalists?
Günter Seufert: There's no such thing as a power struggle with journalists, but rather a struggle between political opponents. And journalists who support one side or the other - in this case the government's side or the Gülen supporters - through their coverage and revelations are often victims. What remains, in the end, is that freedom of the press is vastly restricted.
Some of the journalists work for media outlets that belong to part of the "empire" of US-based opposition preacher Fethullah Gülen. A warrant for his arrest has also been issued. Why is Turkey going on the offensive against him right now?
In Kobane, Islamic State takes a pounding, but holds on
Despite losing hundreds of fighters to US airstrikes and confronting Iraqi Kurdish fighters, the Islamic State has resisted eviction from Kobane, and its foes fear the fight will drag on.
SURUC, TURKEY — US-led coalition airstrikes in Iraq have allowed the Iraqi Army, Kurdish peshmerga fighters, and their allies to reclaim territory lost to an Islamic State (IS) spring and summer offensive.
But in the Syrian city of Kobane, where Syrian Kurds and their allies have been fighting IS forces with dogged determination since September with the support of airstrikes, the gains have been especially slow. Despite losing fighters by the hundreds, the IS has proved difficult to stamp out, maintaining a solid foothold in the frontier town.
IS has also kept a grip on 381 villages in the wider district, villages the jihadi group seized with alarming speed in September, sparking an exodus of 200,000 people to Turkey. That offensive pushed the coalition to reconsider its strategy against IS in Syria and drew in reinforcements from Iraqi Kurdistan.
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