World's highest court will hear a case from a tiny island country in the Pacific that's taking on 3 nuclear nations
A small chain of Pacific islands will face off against Britain, India and Pakistan in court next week to try and get an international ruling ordering them to start work on dismantling their nuclear arsenals.
While nobody expects the Marshall Islands to force the three powers to disarm at Monday's hearing, the archipelago's dogged campaign at the International Court of Justice highlights the growing scope for political minnows to get a hearing through global tribunals.
All three are expected to argue that the Marshall Islands' claims are beyond the Hague court's jurisdiction and should be thrown out. But many activists and academics believe getting them into court is a victory in itself.
Turkish guards 'attacking' Syrian refugees and 'pushing them into the arms of smugglers'
Families fleeing the carnage in Aleppo are being greeted at the border with bullets and beatings. Laura Pitel reports from Kilis on Ankara’s increasingly inhumane efforts to put up the barricadesLaura Pitel Kilis
Turkish border guards are routinely attacking Syrians attempting to cross illegally into Turkey, refugees and campaigners have claimed.
Families who fled the recent fighting in Aleppo told The Independent that officers had opened fire as they tried to reach Turkey with the help of smugglers. Others spoke of heavy beatings for those caught after attempting to slip across.
Turkey has cracked down on its border security amid heavy pressure from the US to limit the transit of jihadist fighters seeking to join Isis. At the same time, the European Union has urged Ankara to stem the flow of refugees setting off towards Europe in dinghies from Turkey’s western coast.
Will Olympic sailing events take place in a “giant sewer”?
OBSERVERS
Activists held a mock funeral on the coastline of Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay this past weekend to mourn the pollution that they say has “killed” the bay’s natural ecosystem. As if that weren’t bad enough, the 2016 Olympics sailing competitions are supposed to take place in the bay this summer.
The Olympic Games are set to open in Rio de Janeiro in August. While the World Health Organisation and the Brazilian government are busy trying to convince the world that the Zika virus epidemic won’t compromise the competition, there’s also another unresolved problem: the pollution. In July 2015, the Associated Press revealed that the level of pollution in Guanabara Bay, where the nautical events are set to take place, is 1.7 million times higher than the levels allowed on beaches in California, which they used as a measuring stick. Yet 1,400 athletes are scheduled to compete in these waters in just a few months.
In 2013, the president of the National Institute for the Environment estimated that one hundred tonnes of garbage were thrown into the bay every day, and there are no indications that this has improved since.
Pomp and ceremony mask disquiet regarding China growth target
March 5, 2016 - 4:20PMPhilip Wen
China correspondent for Fairfax Media
Every March, with much pomp and ceremony, Communist Party leaders gather in central Beijing to receive the government's work report, monitored closely by the world's economists and policy wonks for one magic figure – China's economic growth target.
In headier times, it used to be a yardstick that was comfortably surpassed. But as global unease rises over the stewardship of the world's second-largest economy – replete with rising debt levels, tumbling stocks and the rampant flow of capital offshore – the Chinese government has sought to shift focus, ever so marginally, away from a decades-long obsession with gross domestic product.
For the first time in two decades, China announced an economic growth range – of between 6.5 per cent and 7 per cent – instead of a specific target at the National People's Congress, a largely ceremonial political showpiece held at the Great Hall of the People – often the only opportunity many mainland journalists can capture fleeting glimpses of their country's most powerful decision-makers.Mugabe nationalizes mines: Unlocking an industry or spurning trade partners?
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe announced diamond mining in the country would become a state monopoly. At risk is an increasingly important relationship with China.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is set to nationalize the country’s diamond mines.
The 92-year-old leader declared Thursday that the Zimbabwean mines currently in operation would be taken over by the state. The news comes a week after the government ordered all mining companies in the country to halt work because they had not renewed their licenses.
President Mugabe alleged that the foreign mining companies were stealing billions from Zimbabwe. By running a state monopoly on mining, the country could control an industry with the potential to double its gross domestic product (GDP), according to estimates.
Zaman newspaper: Turkey police raid press offices in Istanbul
Turkish police have raided the offices of Zaman, the country's biggest newspaper, hours after a court ruling placed it under state control.
Police entered the building in Istanbul late on Friday, firing tear gas at protesters who had gathered outside.
Zaman is closely linked to the Hizmet movement of influential US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Turkey says Hizmet is a "terrorist" group aiming to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.
Mr Gulen was once an ally of Mr Erdogan but the two fell out.
Many Hizmet supporters have been arrested.
No comments:
Post a Comment