Mekong:a river rising
The fate of 70 million people rests on what happens to the Mekong river. With world leaders meeting in Paris next week for crucial UN climate talks, John Vidal journeys down south-east Asia’s vast waterway - a place that encapsulates some of the dilemmas they must solve. He meets people struggling to deal with the impacts of climate change as well as the ecological havoc created by giant dams, deforestation, coastal erosion and fast-growing cities
Chapter 1 of 6
Troubled waters
John Vidal’s first stop along the river is the tiny country of Laos. Fifty years ago, Laos began to build a series of giant dams. It was the first chance the country had to generate the electricity and money needed to emerge from deep poverty. But is this demand for clean energy creating ecological and human havoc?
Why do people join Isis? Expert says foreign fighters are almost never recruited at mosque
Scott Atran tells the UN in New York that a large majority of new Isis members are recruited by their own friends and peers, and says the leadership of the militant group understands youth ‘much better than the governments that are fighting against them’
The vast majority of people who join Isis are recruited by family and friends and radicalisation hardly ever occurs in a mosque environment, a leading Oxford University academic has said.
Speaking on a panel hosted by the UN in New York, Scott Atran revealed that research shows three quarters of those who join Isis as foreign fighters were encouraged to do so by friends and peers.
A further 20 per cent were recruited to Isis by family members, the expert said.
In the wake of the Paris attacks almost two weeks ago, there have been widespread calls for Muslim communities to do more to denounce extremism in structured settings.
MSF Director Unsatisfied With Pentagon's 'Admission Of Gross Negligence'
MALAKA GHARIBThe Pentagon has completed its investigation into the deadly U.S. airstrike that destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan on Oct. 3, killing at least 30 patients and staff members
But Jason Cone, the executive director of the group, says the report raises more questions than it answers. "It doesn't leave us with a lot of comfort where we operate in war zones today," he says. "What we see in this report is an admission of gross negligence on the part of U.S. forces. It's a serious violation of the law."
According to the report, the hospital bombing was the result of human error — a "tragic and avoidable accident." But Cone says U.S. forces shouldn't have acted if they were uncertain: Hospitals in conflict zones are protected under humanitarian law, and American combatants should have checked and cleared the area before releasing fire.
Could Pope Francis bring together African Muslims and Christians?
The Pontiff has kicked off his African tour, arriving in Nairobi Wednesday. In Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic, he will address matters of poverty, corruption, and interfaith healing.
“Grata Franciscus Pontifex,” headlines in Kenya read – a message in Latin to welcome the arrival of Pope Francis on his first African tour.
In Kenya, Uganda, and finally, the Central African Republic, the pope plans to address poverty, government corruption, and the rift between Muslims and Christians on the continent.
Arriving in Nairobi Wednesday, Francis is set to encounter crowds lining up the streets, followed by a public Mass at Nairobi University Thursday, which the government has declared a national holiday in honor of the pontiff.
"I go with joy to meet Kenyans, Ugandans and our brothers in Central Africa," he told journalists on his plane.US Muslim forced off plane cites Islamophobia
Being told to get off plane in front of passengers was "humiliating", says Kameelah Rasheed, who alleges discrimination.
Anealla Safdar | | Human Rights, US & Canada, US, Islam, Racism
After passing through regular security checks at Newark Liberty International Airport on her way to a holiday in Istanbul, Kameelah Rasheed was called for further questioning by customs officers.
She was later allowed on the United Airlines flight, but eventually forced to leave the aircraft ahead of takeoff to be interrogated by an FBI agent.
The 30-year-old Muslim American told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the two-and-a-half-hour ordeal a day earlier has left her traumatised and unable to consider flying any more.
"It was an attempt to humiliate and ostracise me," she said.
Meet China's dinosaur king
Updated 0017 GMT (0817 HKT) November 26, 2015
Paleontologist Xu Xing has discovered so many dinosaurs he's lost count.
A spreadsheet he brings up on the desktop computer in his fossil-filled office in Beijing stops at 57, but Xu says he thinks it's more than 60.
Whatever the exact number, Xu has named more dinosaurs than any other living paleontologist, unearthing fossils in some of China's remotest corners that have revolutionized our understanding of prehistory.
They include the 8-meter long gigantoraptor, which stood twice as high as any man and the one-fingered linhenykus that could have danced on your hand.
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