EUROPE
Hungary seizes refugee train arriving from Croatia
Authorities seize train bringing refugees into country from Croatia, disarming 40 police onboard and detaining driver.
| Europe, Hungary, Croatia, Refugees
Hungarian authorities have seized a train bringing refugees into the country from Croatia, disarming 40 police onboard and detaining the driver after more than 4,000 refugees arrived across their border, the head of the Hungarian disaster unit has said.
Gyorgy Bakondi said on Friday that the Croatian train that brought the refugees to Magyarboly came without any prior notice, like the rest of the new arrivals coming on other trains and buses.
Hungary registered and disarmed the 40 police who escorted the train, he said, according to a video posted on M1 state television's website.
Zoltan Kovacs, government spokesperson, said the incident was "a very serious border violation".
'Afraid in Baghdad,' not in Dresden
Dresden has been catching flack for poor refugee camp conditions and renewed anti-migrant protests. The city's attempts to cope with the both issues have left refugees and locals unhappy. Kathleen Schuster reports.
"Most everyone has a cold. You can count the number of people who don't,"a Tunisian man said of Dresden's refugee transit camp, which currently provides accommodation to roughly 1,000 people.
Not long after opening in late July, stories of inhumane conditions caused by overcrowding sparked a media storm. Too few toilets, no privacy for medical consultations, tents overheating in the summer sun. There was an outbreak of scabies and fever despite medical care available to the refugees. A doctor at the camp spoke of “humanitarian catastrophe” and compared what he saw there to conditions seen only in war zones.
Over a month later, only a few changes have been made. Officials have moved medical checks from nearly 80 kilometers (50 miles) away in the Saxon city of Chemnitz to less than five minutes up the street at the Red Cross building. But there are still only 35 toilets for a camp of 1,000 people. Red Cross guidelines call for 50 toilets per 1,000 people.
Why are fewer Muslims going on pilgrimage this year?
Muslims from around the world are gathering for a smaller pilgrimage than previous years, amid concerns about the conflicts in the countries neighboring Saudi Arabia.
The yearly Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia will include fewer pilgrims this year, as officials worry that the international event will be used for political gain.
Saudi Arabia welcomed 3 million Muslims to the pilgrimage, called the Hajj, in past years, but officials have cut down on numbers for safety reasons, reported Reuters. The 1.2 million pilgrims who have already arrived in Mecca have been warned not to use the event for political reasons.
"The security forces are ready to confront any irresponsible behavior that might pollute the purity of Hajj or endanger the lives of the guests of Allah," the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was quoted as saying by state media.
Is the pope changing minds on climate change? Survey says: meh.
Updated by David Roberts
Pope Francis's entry into the contentious debate over climate change was welcomed by many climate hawks as a "gamechanger." For months, people whose own minds were not changed by the pope's encyclical, Laudato Si, have been confidently claiming that many other people's will be. I've yet to actually hear from, or even hear about, an actual human being whose mind was thus changed.
I was discussing this on Twitter when, lo and behold, a fellow from the organization Faith In Public Life overheard and sent me a recent survey they did on just this question — or rather, on the broader question of how the pope is influencing American Catholics.
Japan just fundamentally changed the way it's using its military
Japan's parliament early Saturday approved contentious legislation that enhances the role of the country's military by loosening post-World War II constraints, after the ruling bloc defeated opposition parties' last-ditch effort to block a vote.
The upper house's approval makes the legislation into law, reinterpreting Japan's constitution and fundamentally changing the way it uses its military. Opponents say it violates Japan's constitution and puts the country at risk of becoming embroiled in U.S.-led wars.
The legislation has sparked sizeable protests and debate about whether Japan should shift away from its pacifist ways to face growing security challenges. Rallies have spread across the nation especially after the ruling parties approved the bills in July in the more powerful lower house.13 arrested in prison break of drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman in Mexico
Mexican authorities have arrested 13 more suspects in connection with the prison break of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the country's attorney general's office said.
Guzman, sometimes branded as the world's biggest drug lord and who is also wanted in the United States, made a well-planned, elaborate escape on July 11. He dropped through a hole in a shower into a mile-long tunnel equipped with a modified motorcycle, lighting and ventilation, and has not been officially spotted since.
It was his second escape from a maximum security prison. After his first escape in 2001, it took Mexican law enforcement 13 years to catch up with him.
His July disappearance from Altiplano prison and revelations by an investigative reporter have left a trail of accusations of collusion in the escape of the man nicknamed "Shorty" for his stature.
No comments:
Post a Comment