Russia fires cruise missiles at targets in Syria
Warships in Caspian Sea launch attacks in first use of Russian navy since start of military build-up in support of ally.
Russia has fired cruise missiles at targets in Syria in a major display of military power, with warships in the Caspian Sea more than 1,200km away carrying out the attacks.
Russia says it is targeting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, but at least some of its air strikes have reportedly hit Western-backed armed groups.
This is the first news of Russia using its navy in its Syria campaign since it began building up its military forces in Syria.
Sergei Shoigu, Russia's defence minister, said on Thursday the navy hit 11 targets in Syria from with missiles fired from ships in the Caspian Sea.
According to state news agency RIA Novosti, Shoigu told Russian President Vladimir Putin all of the targets, which included areas under ISIL control, were destroyed without any civilian casualties reported.
Smoke from Indonesian fires blankets Thai holiday island of Phuket in haze
As the fume cloud smothering south-east Asia continues to worsen, Thailand calls in Indonesia’s ambassador for talks on tackling the recurring problemThe Thai holiday island of Phuket has been plunged into a poisonous grey haze caused by illegal forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia.
Reduced visibility caused passenger planes from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and destined for Phuket airport to turn around on Thursday. The noxious fumes which have been spreading for weeks have shut down many other parts of south-east Asia.
Schools have been closed in Malaysia and races in Singapore for the swimming world cup – the FINA world championship – were cancelled on Saturday. A marathon in Malaysia on Sunday was also abandoned.
Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat urges Israelis to carry firearms at all times to combat 'terrorists'
Mr Barkat has faced criticism following his decision to carry a rifle while visiting an Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem
Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat has urged Israelis with gun licences to carry firearms at all times following a wave of violence across Israel.
An official statement issued by Mr Barkat said: “The mayor encourages licensed gun owners to carry their weapons to increase security. He himself serves as a personal example of this," Israel National News reports.
"Given the current escalation [of violence] in the security situation, those with a licensed firearm who know what to do with it must go out with [their weapon] - it's an imperative," Mr Barkat reportedly told Israel’s Army Radio. "In a way, it's like military reserve duty."
Indigenous Filipinos accuse paramilitary group of murdering activists
Kerlan Fanagel
Several thousand indigenous Filipinos are living in evacuation centres in the country’s south, after fleeing their villages following the killing of three of their leaders. They say these men were murdered by a paramilitary group working with the country’s military to grab their ancestral lands for mining.
The killings took place on September 1 in Lianga, in the southern island of Mindanao, which has been wracked by a Muslim separatist conflict for the past four decades.
Three civilians – the director of a local school, a tribal leader and a human rights activist – were all shot dead over the course of a single day in the town of Lianga. By all accounts, these men were never accused of belonging to the armed separatist movement. Residents report that men from the local paramilitary group Magahat-Bagani (which is only 30 men strong) fired the shots, but that elements of the military’s 36th infantry battalion were also in town that day and did nothing to stop them.
Visitors 'scream' as China's new 1,000-meter-high glass walkway cracks
Updated 0535 GMT (1235 HKT) October 8, 2015
Walking on a glass walkway suspended 1,000 meters up a mountain is supposed to be terrifying -- but not this terrifying.
Just two weeks after it opened to a nervous public, a walkway in China's central Henan province was evacuated after cracks appeared.
Reports describe visitors running and screaming in panic as they saw the damage on the U-shaped path at Yuntaishan (Yuntai Mountain) Scenic Park.
"Just witnessed a historic moment -- Yuntaishan's glass walkway is broken," wrote one user on Weibo (China's micro-blogging site) with the screen name "leedonghaeshuohyukjaenihaowodeai."
Facing impossible choices, refugees return to Syria (+video)
The United Nations has received only one third of the funds needed to feed Syrians in refugee camps, forcing thousands to return to the chaos of the Syrian Civil War.
Since the first shots of the Syrian Civil War were fired four years ago, more than four million have taken a one-way trip out of the country, risking grim conditions in refugee camps and treacherous ocean journeys to Europe to escape the increasingly complex fight that has killed over 250,000 and displaced half the country.
But now, thousands of them are buying another one-way ticket: back to Syria.
Although thousands of refugees continue to stream in from Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon toward Europe, taking their lives into their hands on treacherous sea voyages or on land routes through the Balkans, staff at refugee camps in Jordan report an uptick in returnees: nearly 4,000 in August alone, signaling a “failure of the international protection regime,” UN representative Andrew Harper told the Associated Press.
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