Monday, August 24, 2015

Six In The Morning Monday August 24

China stocks plunge rattles Asian markets

China market plummets more than eight percent on the back of last week's losses of 11 percent, as Asian markets tumble.

24 Aug 2015 07:43 GMT

Chinese shares plummeted more than eight percent within an hour of trade on Monday in the face of a global sell-off, despite Beijing authorising its state pension fund to invest in stocks in its latest attempt to shore up markets.

The plunge in China's equities followed last week's losses of 11 percent, and hammered stock prices across Asia, as fears grew that a slowdown in China could send the rest of the world into a recession.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped more than four percent in the first few minutes of trade, the Australian market dived three percent, while Japanese and Taiwanese markets were routed more than two percent.

Hurricane Katrina 10th anniversary: New Orleans is haunted by the death of Vera Smith

Eventually – with the authorities apparently having neither the resources or inclination to remove the corpse – a local man buried her under a makeshift grave. He said prayers, fashioned a cross and placed a plastic sheet over the soil on to which someone painted the words: “Here Lies Vera. God Help Us”.

Ten years after the storm that killed 1,833 people and whose destruction topped $100bn, the death of 66-year Vera Smith and the utter break-down of authority symbolised by her abandonment, continue to haunt the city.

Isis 'blows up temple dating back to 17AD' in Palmyra

Official says group destroyed Baal Shamin in city described as being of outstanding universal value and first appearing in 19th century BC

Agence France-Presse in Damascus

Islamic State blew up the ancient temple of Baal Shamin in the Unesco-listed Syrian city of Palmyra, the country’s antiquities chief has said.

“Daesh placed a large quantity of explosives in the temple of Baal Shamin ... and then blew it up causing much damage to the temple,” said Maamoun Abdulkarim, using another name for Isis.

Isis, which controls swaths of Syria and neighbouring Iraq, captured Palmyra on 21 May, sparking international concern about the fate of the heritage site described by Unesco as of outstanding universal value. “The [inner area of the temple] was destroyed and the columns around collapsed,” said Abdulkarim.

Opinion: Turkey's furious election scramble

Turkey's president has called snap elections for November 1 after talks to form a coalition government failed. But, that is exactly what the president wants, says Seda Serdar.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan did what he promised. He didn't give the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) any chance to form a government. By doing so, he became the first president in Turkish history not to grant the party with the second largest vote count a chance to set up a working coalition.

His argument sheds light on how he sees politics in Turkey.

Erdogan saw no other suitable coalition option because the efforts of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) didn't bear fruit. This once again shows that the president (who, according to the constitution should be above all parties) is not willing to accept a government without the AKP.

The nun who brings hope to one of the world's most dangerous places for women

August 24, 2015 - 3:12PM

Matt Wade

Senior writer

There are few places on earth more dangerous for women than the remote, unstable north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. But amid the hazards Sister Angelique Namaika is helping to transform the lives of young women subjected to abduction, rape and sexual slavery.

Her refuge, the Maison de la Femme (House of Women), is assisting more than 2000 women and girls who have been forced from their homes and abused, mainly by the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

Many of them have been held captive and forced to become the "bush wives" of rebel fighters.

"The DRC is experiencing a lot of insecurity," said Sister Angelique, in Australia as a guest of UNHCR last week.

China's latest stock market crash, explained

Updated by Timothy B. Lee

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite index is down more than 8 percent in Monday trading. The market is now down 37 percent from its June peak.
Over the last month, the Chinese government has taken extreme measures to reverse the stock market's decline.
The decline in Shanghai was part of a broader Asian sell-off, with stocks in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia all posting big losses.

China's stock market had a debt-fueled boom, followed by a crash

Between June 2014 and June 2015, China's Shanghai Composite index rose by 150 percent. A big reason for the stock market rally was that a lot of ordinary Chinese people began investing in the stock market for the first time. More than 40 million new stock accounts were opened between June 2014 and May 2015.

Ignoring Asia