Syria, Ukraine wars create record number of refugees
The number of people forced to flee war, violence and persecution in 2015 is set to soar past last year's record of nearly 60 million, the UN has said. One in every 122 people has been forced to flee their home.
The UN refugee agency released a report Friday that showed rocketing numbers of people having been displaced within their countries or living as refugees or asylum seekers during the first half of the year, the agency indicating that the full-year figures would be even more acute.
"Forced displacement is now profoundly affecting our times," UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement. "Never has there been a greater need for tolerance, compassion and solidarity with people who have lost everything."
Despite perceptions that most were headed for affluent Europe and North America, it's been developing countries bordering conflict zones that host the lion's share of the refugees, the report said. The report also went on to warn about growing "resentment" and "politicization of refugees."
Japan steps up military presence in East China Sea
Beijing confirms that new anti-ship and anti-aircraft batteries are designed to check Chinese military influence in the region
Japan is to deploy thousands of troops and build missile batteries on islands in the East China Sea, as officials confirmed for the first time that the defences were designed to check Chinese military influence in the region.
In response to US pressure to play a bigger role in deterring increasingly assertive Chinese naval activity in the South China Sea and East China Sea, Tokyo is to position a line of anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile batteries along 200 islands stretching 870 miles (1,400km) from the Japanese mainland towards Taiwan.
In addition, Japan will increase the number of military personnel on its islands in the East China Sea by about a fifth to almost 10,000 over the next five years.
On board the warship Moskva: The naval power behind Russia's air war in Syria
By Matthew Chance, CNN
Several miles off the Syrian coast, the Moskva, a Russian warship laden with long-range guided missiles, is a formidable symbol of Russian naval might in this stretch of the eastern Mediterranean.
I've been given rare access on board this 11,500-ton, 186-meter (610-foot) missile cruiser to witness the key role it plays in Russia's air war against jihadist rebels in Syria's
Equipped with a powerful air defense system, the Moskva has been situated off the Syrian city of Latakia to provide support to the Russian warplanes crisscrossing Syrian skies in an unrelenting schedule of sorties from the Hmeymim air base.
Ethiopia security forces kill up to 50 people in crackdown on peaceful protests
Attempted land grab by Ethiopian government has led to violence against ethnic group
The violence-torn Horn of Africa is seeing a fresh wave of repression as Ethiopian authorities crack down on protests by the country’s largest ethnic minority.
Human rights groups say an attempted land grab by the federal government has seen violence flare in the Oromia region, with up to 50 protesters killed by security forces so far this month.
Campaigners from the Oromo ethnic group say they have been labelled “terrorists” by Ethiopian authorities as they fight the government’s plan to integrate parts of Oromia into the capital Addis Ababa.
Some Oromo protesters fear that they will be forcibly evicted from their land as part of the rapid expansion of the capital, which they call a federal “master plan”.China smog: Beijing issues second ever pollution red alert
Beijing has issued a second pollution red alert, little more than a week afterthe first ever such warning.
The Chinese capital will see hazardous smog from Saturday until Tuesday, the Beijing Meteorological Service said.
Nationwide, a vast area from Xian in central China to Harbin in the north-east would also be affected, the National Meteorological Centre said.
The alert triggers restrictions on vehicle use, factories and construction work.
The government has promised to take action to address often dangerous levels of pollution.
Meteorological authorities have said that the regional smog is likely to be worse than the last red alert earlier this month, with the PM2.5 pollution level to exceed 500 micrograms per cubic metre.
The smog which hit Beijing on 8 December had peaked just below 300. Residents are encouraged to stay indoors if levels exceed that level.
The World Health Organization recommends 25 micrograms per cubic metre as the maximum safe level.
Plain cigarette packaging likely to snowball globally
Health campaigners celebrate after Philip Morris loses court case challenging Australia's strict tobacco laws.
Mark Worley | | Health, Australia, Asia Pacific, Law
One of Australia's leading anti-smoking campaigners says a "snowball" effect is likely to see plain packaging for cigarettes introduced in a number of new countries over the next decade, after tobacco company Philip Morris lost a court case challenging Australia's strict packaging laws.
The Singapore-based Permanent Court of Arbitration declined on jurisdictional grounds to allow the company's case to proceed against the Australian government's plain packaging laws, which were passed in 2011 to curb smoking rates.
Under the Australian laws, the first of their kind, no branding is allowed on cigarette packages and retailers must store tobacco products behind blank screens or cabinets. In addition, cigarette packages in Australia also show large graphic warnings of the possible health effects of smoking.
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