Myanmar votes in first open election in 25 years
Voting is under way in Myanmar's general election - the first openly contested poll in 25 years after decades of military rule.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to win the most parliamentary seats, although she is barred from the presidency.
The ruling Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP), backed by the military, has been in power since 2011.
Large crowds gathered in Yangon as Ms Suu Kyi arrived to cast her vote.
Wearing her trademark thazin flowers in her hair, she smiled and waved, but left without comment.
Across the country, long queues formed at some polling booths, with reports of people waiting from before dawn.
"When I cast my vote I was very excited and so worried that I might do something wrong that my hands were shaking," said Kay Khine Soe, in Ms Suu Kyi's Kawhmu constituency.
Calls for new era of airport security after Sinai terror
Fears focus on screening of baggage handlers as aviation experts demand new global response
A fundamental overhaul of global aviation security is required in the wake of the Russian passenger plane crash, said senior industry experts, amid fears that flight safety is being compromised at many international airports.
The Observer has learned that Egyptian airport and security officials have launched an investigation into all staff at Sharm el-Sheikh airport who came into contact with the Russian plane, which crashed 23 minutes after takeoff, killing all 224 people on board. The move has increased speculation that a bomb may have been smuggled on to the aircraft.
In the wake of the disaster, aviation experts said a new international framework was needed to prevent airport security weaknesses being exploited by terrorists. They said urgent changes were needed to upgrade security checks made on airport staff before they reached “airside”, as well as a thorough raising of the vetting and recruitment process of airport workers.
El Niño: How the phenomenon triggers major changes in weather patterns across the world
This year's event is shaping up to be as large as the notorious El Niño of 1997-98, the biggest since accurate records began
Forest fires in tinder-dry Indonesia, a disappointing monsoon in India and even the unusually warm, wet and windy weather this weekend in Britain are all being blamed on a record El Niño developing in the South Pacific which meteorologists believe could become the biggest in living memory.
El Niño is a temporary natural warming of the surface sea in the tropical east Pacific as it spreads across the equatorial Pacific, causing fluctuations and reversals to the normal trade winds. It triggers major changes to the weather patterns across the world, from Australia and India to Africa and Central America.
The event appears once every few years at variable intensity. It gets its name from the Spanish for boy-child, a seasonal reference to Christmas. But this winter it is shaping up to be as large, or even larger, than the notorious El Niño of 1997-98, the biggest since accurate records began, according to the Met Office.
Burundians flee capital over fears of security crackdown
Latest update : 2015-11-08
Carrying prized possessions, scores of people fled Burundi's capital Saturday before a looming security crackdown that many fear will be a wave of violence.
A government-issued deadline to turn in illegal weapons or face extraordinary police action expires midnight Saturday and President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose decision to extend his rule sparked the country's current crisis, has urged the security forces to use all means necessary to restore order.
But many here blame the security forces for a series of killings that has raised international concern and convinced residents in some volatile areas to flee their homes.
At least 198 people have been killed in Burundi since late April, when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced his bid that was ultimately successful for a third term in office, according to U.N. officials. At least 13 people have died in the past week, with many coming from Bujumbura neighborhoods known as opposition strongholds. More than 200,000 people have fled Burundi fearing violence.
Among the victims is Welly Nzitonda, the son of prominent human rights activist Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, who is himself in exile after an attempt on his life.
Chinese media warns Taiwan on independence after meet
Chinese state media warned Taiwan against pursuing independence Sunday, a day after a historic meeting between the leaders of the mainland and the island it calls its own.
President Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou's handshake in Singapore was a symbolic step towards closing the rift that has separated Beijing and Taipei since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
But the occasion has also highlighted the tensions that remain across the Taiwan strait, where China still has an estimated 1,500 missiles aimed at stopping the island from declaring its independence.
Relations have improved dramatically since Ma's 2008 election, with increases in trade and tourism, as well as the start of direct flights.
THE DISPLACED INTRODUCTION
Nearly 60 million people are currently displaced from their
homes by war and persecution — more than at any time since
World War II. Half are children. This multimedia journey in text,
photographs and virtual reality tells the stories of three of them.
homes by war and persecution — more than at any time since
World War II. Half are children. This multimedia journey in text,
photographs and virtual reality tells the stories of three of them.
I have two photos on my desk. The first shows a child, a girl of about 10. She is standing behind an enormous pile of her family’s belongings, which have been tightly packed for a long journey. Her face is blank with uncertainty, but she strikes a bossy pose — one hand on her hip, the other planted firmly against the bundles. Her companions are an older woman, probably her mother, and a little boy — her younger brother? Both look directly at the photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, who took this picture in Dessau, as scores of Germans displaced during World War II began returning home. It is 1945. Where has this girl been, and what has she seen?
The second picture, taken in 1974, also shows a girl of about 10. This child is a Kurdish refugee. Her family is sitting with their worldly possessions in a barren field, somewhere near the border with Iran. A meal is underway. The parents sit cross-legged on the ground, intent on their food, while the girl stands, another little girl by her side, and stares into the distance with a wrinkled-brow expression of adult worry. Where is she going?
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