Six In The Morning Sunday September 6

Europe

Migrant crisis: Austria and Germany await more arrivals

Austria and Germany are expecting thousands more migrants to arrive from Hungary after Budapest eased restrictions on their travel.

Throughout Saturday, by bus, train and on foot, migrants, many of them Syrians, travelled to the Austrian border before moving on to Vienna, Munich and other German cities.

Austria and Germany are providing more trains to deal with the influx. 

The German government is to discuss the crisis later on Sunday.

After days of confrontation and chaos, Hungary opened its borders with Austria and bussed thousands of migrants to the frontier. Many, frustrated at being prevented from boarding trains in Budapest, had begun to walk along a motorway towards Austria.

Up to 10,000 crossed the Austrian border over a 24- to 48-hour period, according to the Austrian authorities, who have said they do not plan to limit the numbers entering. 

Around 1,000 spent Saturday night in the open at Nickelsdorf on the Austrian side of the frontier waiting to be processed, officials say.

China says Panchen Lama 'living a normal life' 20 years after disappearance
Authorities say missing Gendun Choekyi Nyima, who was taken away at age 6, is ‘growing up healthily’ and ‘does not want to be disturbed’

Reuters

Sunday 6 September 2015 08.36 BST

A young Tibetan who vanished two decades ago after he was chosen by the Dalai Lama as the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism is “living a normal life” and does not want to be disturbed, a senior Chinese official said on Sunday.

The remarks are a rare admission of the fate of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, now 26. 

“The reincarnated child Panchen Lama you mentioned is being educated, living a normal life, growing up healthily and does not wish to be disturbed,” said Norbu Dunzhub, a member of the Tibet autonomous region’s united front work department.

Gendun Choekyi Nyima was six-years-old when he was taken away after exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama named him as the Panchen Lama.

TIM WALKER

The US has a new anti-gay marriage martyr - a four-times wed county clerk

Out of America: The jailing of Kim Davis has created an unlikely 'traditional' marriage champion - but activists fear her punishment will turn her into a heroine for the homophobic

At the end of June, as the Supreme Court struck down gay marriage bans across the United States, opponents promised a national backlash and widespread resistance to the ruling. Two months later, it is surely some measure of the national mood that, of all the clerks of all the counties of all 50 US states – the men and women responsible for issuing marriage licences – just one remains in the headlines for her  refusal to heed the court’s decision.

This weekend, Kim Davis of Rowan County, Kentucky is behind bars, after she defied a federal court order to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples. Davis cited “God’s law” as she turned the couples away, telling them that they would be welcome to drive to another nearby county to obtain a licence, but that her conscience did not permit her to issue them one in the county where they lived and worked and hoped to be wed.

Four months after quakes, Nepal fails to spend any of $5.9 billion donor money

September 6, 2015 - 3:08PM

Andrew MacAskill

Kathmandu: Two months after foreign countries and international agencies pledged $US4.1 billion ($5.925 billion) to help Nepal recover from its worst natural disaster, the government has yet to make arrangements to receive the money and has spent nothing on reconstruction.

The United Nations estimates that almost 3 million survivors of twin earthquakes in April and May - around 10 per cent of the Himalayan nation's population - need shelter, food and basic medical care, many in mountainous, hard-to-reach areas.

Govind Raj Pokharel, chief executive officer of the newly created National Reconstruction Authority, said the government was unlikely to start spending the money until October at the earliest, because of delays in approving plans and concerns about starting building work in the monsoon season.

'Guatemalan Spring' celebrated ahead of elections

Ex-President Perez Molina in court over alleged involvement in corruption scandal, as polling stations prepare to open.

Daniel Schweimler | 06 Sep 2015 06:39 GMT

Guatemala City, Guatemala - As Guatemalans prepare to vote for a new leader on Sunday, there is a fresh mood sweeping through the country. 

Tens of thousands of people have in recent months taken to the streets in peaceful protests. And now they got what they were calling for.

Their former president, Otto Perez Molina, is in court being questioned over his alleged involvement in a massive corruption scandal, dubbed "La Linea", or The Line, in which importers gave bribes to avoid paying customs duty.

Earlier this week congress voted to lift his immunity from prosecution. That opened the door to a string of events from which Guatemala is still reeling. The following day a warrant was issued for the president's arrest. A few hours later he resigned. 

Japan lifts 4-year evacuation of Fukushima town

By Jason Hanna, CNN

Updated 1320 GMT (2020 HKT) September 5, 2015

For the first time since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, residents of a certain town can return full-time if they wish.

The Japanese government on Saturday lifted an evacuation order for the small town of Naraha, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant in Fukushima prefecture, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

The town is within the 20-kilometer radius that the government evacuated after a March 2011 earthquake unleashed a tsunami that damaged reactors at the nuclear plant. The damage caused a series of meltdowns and a major release of radioactive material.

The government said radiation levels at Naraha have fallen to acceptable levels after decontamination work, Kyodo reported.