MH370 search: Malaysia urges caution on Reunion debris find
- 30 July 2015
- Asia
Malaysia has said that it would be "premature" to speculate on whether debris washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion comes from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
A two-metre long piece of wreckage was found on Wednesday.
Malaysia's Deputy Transport Minister, Abdul Aziz Kaprawi, said it was "almost certain" that the wreckage was from a Boeing 777 aircraft.
MH370 is the only Boeing 777 to have disappeared over an ocean.
There were 239 people on board the plane when it went missing in March 2014.
Aviation experts who have studied photos of the debris found on Reunion say it does resemble a flaperon - a moving part of the wing surface - from a Boeing 777.
UK denies Ai Weiwei full business visa based on disputed 'criminal' history
British embassy officials say celebrated Chinese artist failed to declare his record on application – but supporters say he was never actually charged with a crime
The dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has accused British authorities of turning their backs on human rights defenders after UK immigration officials rejected his application for a six-month business visa, claiming he had not declared a criminal conviction in his home country.
Ai spent 81 days in secret detention in 2011 after being seized by Chinese security agents during a crackdown on activists who Beijing feared were trying launch a “jasmine revolution”.
He was subsequently ordered to pay a $2.4m fine for allegedly unpaid taxes although supporters said the penalty was a politically motivated punishment for the artist’s fierce criticism of the Communist party.
Israel passes law sanctioning force-feeding prisoners
Medical Association considers force-feeding a form of torture, urges doctors not to abide by the law
Israel’s parliament on Thursday passed into law the ability to force-feed prisoners on hunger strike, a move that has met vehement opposition from the country’s medical association.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition weathered a lengthy parliamentary debate and the law passed with 46 in favour and 40 opposed in the 120-seat Knesset.
Israel has long been concerned that hunger strikes by Palestinians in its jails could end in death and trigger waves of protests in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
But Israel’s Medical Association, which considers force- feeding a form of torture and medically risky, has urged Israeli doctors not to abide by the law.
INDIA 29/07/2015
Man fights climate change by planting a forest
Abdul Kareem
Thirty-five years after planting his first tree, Abdul Kareem, an environmental activist, has succeeded in growing a 32-hectare forest on land that was once dry and arid in Kerala state, southern India. His forest has provideed numerous benefits: it has helped the local environment, tourism and is also a powerful response to climate change.With more than 800 plant species, 300 medicinal plants, thousands of trees and hundreds of birds and insects, “Kareem’s forest” looks very much like a naturally occurring forest. However, all of it was planted using his two hands and sheer willpower. Until the early 1980s, the land was dry, cracked and rocky. But that didn’t discourage Kareem, who has worked tirelessly since 1977 to make this hostile terrain verdant.
Researchers, students and environmentalists from all over the world now visit Kareem’s forest. In fact, ‘Kareem’s model” has been added to the curriculum in Indian universities as an example of how to reforest an area without using a single chemical product.
Egypt court 'adjourns Al Jazeera trial for ninth time'
Court adjourns long-running retrial of Peter Greste, Baher Mohamed, and Mohamed Fahmy until August 8, reports say.
30 Jul 2015 08:49 GMT
An Egyptian court is reported to have adjourned the long-running retrial of three Al Jazeera journalists for the ninth time, according to security at the courthouse.
The defendants, their lawyers and Al Jazeera have not been formally informed of the decision.
Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian Baher Mohamed, and Canadian Mohamed Fahmy were found guilty in June 2014 of aiding a terrorist organisation, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which was outlawed in Egypt after the army overthrew President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Greste and Fahmy received seven years, while Mohamed was given 10 years.
The former 'Kremlin banker' describes how Putin's mind works
By Elena HolodnyThe man who used to be the "Kremlin's banker" argues that Vladimir Putin is a born-and-bred Sovetskiy chelovek (Soviet man) — and that it has informed his view of the world.
“Everything in his consciousness flows from the Soviet Union,” Sergei Pugachev told The Guardian's Luke Harding. “He’s of this epoch. He saw [former Soviet leader Leonid] Brezhnev and the politburo. Like any simple person he formed his opinions from watching Soviet TV.”
During Putin's first two terms, Pugachev was a big player in Moscow. He founded Mezhpromback (International Industrial Bank) in Moscow in 1992 and soon became known as the "Kremlin's banker." He even claims to have been one-third of threesome that put Putin into power.
However, relations between Putin and Pugachev soured in 2010, and he ultimately fled to London in 2011.
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