More than 450 killed in Saudi Hajj stampede
At least 453 pilgrims killed, more than 700 injured in crush at Mina outside Mecca, Saudi's civil defence reports.
At least 453 people have been killed in a stampede at the annual Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia's civil defence directorate said, as the death toll continued to rise.
The directorate said at least 719 other pilgrims were injured in Thursday's stampede, which took place in Mina, on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca.
The injured have been evacuated to four different hospitals in the Mina region, according to a civil defence spokesman.
Mina is where pilgrims carry out a symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing pebbles against three stone walls. It also houses more than 160,000 tents where pilgrims spend the night during the pilgrimage.
Authorities in Saudi Arabia say at least 150 people have been killed in a crush at Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, where two million people are performing the annual hajj pilgrimage.
Hundreds more were injured, civil defence officials said.
There have been stampedes during the hajj on at least six previous occasions, killing hundreds of pilgrims. In 1990, more than 1,400 died in a stampede inside a tunnel.
It is a religious duty for able-bodied Muslims to complete the hajj – one of the five pillars of Islam – at least once. The rituals involved in the pilgrimage are intended to cleanse the soul and promote the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood withinIslam.
Man paralysed in both legs helped to walk again thanks to electrodes in his knees
The 26-year-old man was never expected to walk again following an accident five years ago
A man paralysed in both legs from the waist down has been able to walk again with the help of a device worn on his scalp that collected electrical activity in his brain and sent the signals to his knees.
It is believed to be the first time that anyone with paraplegia due to spinal injury has walked several paces under the control of their own brain and leg muscles, scientists said.
The 26-year-old man was never expected to walk again following an accident five years ago that damaged his spinal cord and blocked the nerve impulses between his brain and legs which are needed for walking.
Researchers said that the achievement marks an important breakthrough in treating paralysis even though the man was only able to walk along a 3.66 metre course with most of his weight supported by a body sling.
Islam in Russia: Caught between acceptance and rejection
Russia's largest mosque is opening its doors in Moscow. New Muslim houses of worship, however, are very controversial in Russia. More than anything, many Russians fear more immigrants.
After ten years of construction, Moscow's main mosque will finally open its doors to the faithful this Wednesday. It is big enough to hold up to 10,000 worshippers, and according to the chair of the Russian Council of Muftis, Ravil Gaynutdin, that makes it the largest Muslim house of worship in the whole of Europe. The mosque that originally occupied the site was built in 1904, but it was torn down in May 2005 to make way for the new building.
That means that now there are six mosques in the Russian capital. It is estimated that some two million Muslims live in Moscow. In all, nearly 20 million Muslims reside in the Russian Federation.
Islam considered an ideology
Russians tend to clearly differentiate between Islam as a religion and Muslims as individuals, says Alexander Verkhovsky, director of the SOVA Center, a Moscow-based NGO. He adds that 40 percent of Russians say they have a negative opinion of Islam, yet only 12 percent claim that they have a negative opinion of individual Muslims. Verkhovsky told DW that many Russians perceive Islam as "a kind of ideology, as something dangerous that is connected to terrorism."
Leading China lawyer Gao Zhisheng says he was tortured
September 24, 2015 - 3:20PMIsolda Morilla
In his first interview in five years, leading Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng said he was tortured with an electric baton to his face and spent three years in solitary confinement during his latest period of detention since 2010.
The Nobel Peace Prize nominee also vowed to never leave China despite the hardships and having to live apart from his family.
For years, Gao's supporters feared he might perish inside a remote Chinese prison. He survived his prison term. But when he was released in August 2014 from prison to house arrest, the formerly outspoken lawyer could barely walk or speak a full, intelligible sentence, raising concerns that one of the most inspirational figures in China's rights movement had been permanently broken — physically and mentally.
"Every time we emerge from the prison alive, it is a defeat for our opponents," Gao said in the face-to-face interview with AP.
Defector wants to return to North Korea
Updated 2324 GMT (0624 HKT) September 23, 2015
Of the tens of thousands of North Koreans who have fled to South Korea since the Great Famine of the late 1990's, only a rare few have ever asked to return.
Kim Ryon Hui is one of them. The Pyongyang dressmaker -- turned North Korean defector -- says she is trapped in South Korea and desperate to return to her family.
Before defecting in 2011, Kim lived a relatively upscale life by North Korean standards. Her husband is a doctor and the family recently received a new, larger apartment from the government.
Kim in South Korea and her family in North Korea spoke to CNN about her case.
Colombia's President Santos and Farc announce justice deal
Colombia's president and the leader of the Farc rebel group have announced a deal on setting up special courts to try crimes committed during more than five decades of conflict.
They also announced the creation of a truth commission and an amnesty law.
President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, known as Timoleon Jimenez or Timochenko, met in Havana.
The agreement is seen as a major breakthrough after nearly three years of peace talks hosted by Cuba.
"The time for peace has arrived," said Mr Santos.
The Colombian leader said he had agreed with Timochenko that a final peace accord would be signed within six months.
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