Migrant crisis: Deportations resume from Greece to Turkey
- 8 April 2016
- Europe
A second group of deported migrants has arrived by ferry in Turkey from Greece as part of an EU deal to reduce the numbers reaching Europe.
The boat carrying 45 Pakistanis left Mytilene on Lesbos for the short journey to the Turkish port of Dikili.
Three demonstrators who dived into the harbour were fished out by coastguards.
Some 200 mainly Pakistanis were deported on Monday under an EU deal with Turkey, the main transit route for undocumented migrants.
However, the returns process was interrupted as asylum applications surged in Greece.
Under the EU deal with Turkey, migrants who have arrived illegally in Greece since 20 March are expected to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected.
Global warming may be far worse than thought, cloud analysis suggests
Researchers find clouds contain more liquid – as opposed to ice – than was previously believed, threatening greater increase in temperatures
Climate change projections have vastly underestimated the role that clouds play, meaning future warming could be far worse than is currently projected, according to new research.
Researchers said that a doubling of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere compared with pre-industrial times could result in a global temperature increase of up to 5.3C – far warmer than the 4.6C older models predict.
The analysis of satellite data, led by Yale University, found that clouds have much more liquid in them, rather than ice, than has been assumed until now. Clouds with ice crystals reflect more solar light than those with liquid in them, stopping it reaching and heating the Earth’s surface.
Kolkata flyover collapse was 'God's message', says Indian Prime Minister
21 people were killed and more than 150 injured after a partially completed bridge fell on to a busy road in Kolkata
India’s Prime Minister has said the collapse of a flyover in Kolkata, that killed more than 20 people, was a “message from God” telling the people of Bengal they must be saved from their ruling party.
Speaking at an election rally in Madarit, north Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the tragedy was an “act of god”, illuminating the dangers of the All India Trinamool Congress led by Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee.
“It is an act of god,” said Mr Modi, “in the sense that it happened during election time so that people may know what kind of government she [Ms Banerjee] has been running.
Number of 'Islamic State' fighters has doubled in Libya, according to US general
The US military has reported that the "Islamic State" grew its base of fighters in the span of a year. But the group lacks the know-how to expand the way it did in Iraq and Syria.
On Thursday, US Army General David Rodriguez, who heads Africa Command, said the "Islamic State"(IS) had seen the number of its fighters in Libya double in the past year, reaching up to 6,000.
The top commander of US forces in Africa said local militias had tried to curb the militant group's presence, but political infighting has contributed to a security void across the country.
"In Benghazi and Derna, (groups) have fought back against the Islamic State and made it much tougher for them to operate, as well as in Sabratha," Rodriguez said, referring to cities where the group's presence is growing outside of its stronghold, in Sirte.
Military's iron grip on 'Thai-style democracy'
April 8, 2016 - 11:52AMLindsay Murdoch
South-East Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media
Bangkok: Theerawan Charoensuk never thought posting a photo of herself on Facebook holding a red water scoop with greetings for next week's Thai New Year would result in her being charged with sedition and facing up to seven years' jail.
The bowl had a message from Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a divisive figure who lives in exile to avoid jail on corruption charges.
"Although the situation is heated, it's hoped that brothers and sisters will be soothed by the water in the bowl," it read.
After Theerawan, a 57-year-old housewife from the northern city of Chiang Mai, was taken to a military base for questioning, military spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd warned that Thailand's military-led regime is running out of patience with those it sees as creating conflict, as south-east Asia's second-largest economy enters an uncertain transition from strict military rule to what ruling generals describe as "Thai-style democracy".
Supercarrier Ford to join Navy fleet in September
Updated 1818 GMT (0118 HKT)
The most expensive warship ever built, the $12.9 billion aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), is expected to join the U.S. Navy's fleet in September, a Navy official says.
Sean J. Stackley, the Navy's assistant secretary for acquisitions, gave the timetable for the 100,000-ton, 1,100-foot-long supercarrier in testimony prepared for the Senate Armed Services Committee on
Wednesday.
Wednesday.
As of March, the Ford, on which construction began in 2009, was 97% complete, Stackley said. He said the carrier is expected to begin sea trials in July and be delivered to the Navy by Newport News Shipbuilding two months later.
The ship is named after the 38th president, who died in 2006. He served aboard the USS Monterey during World War II and was discharged from the Navy as a lieutenant commander.
Israel's war on the Arabic language
Rights group warn that advances made in language rights of Israel's Palestinian minority might be reversed
Jonathan Cook | | Middle East, Palestine, Israel, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Israel's one in five citizens, whose mother tongue is Arabic, are increasingly fearful of using it in public as hostility has mounted towards the language from both officials and the Jewish public, human rights groups warned this week.
The alert comes as lawyers have threatened the municipality of Tel Aviv , Israel's largest city, with a contempt of court action for failing to include Arabic on most of the city's public signs - 14 years after the Israeli supreme court ordered it to do so.
According to the leaders of Israel's large Palestinian minority, Tel Aviv's policy reflects a more widespread antagonism towards Arabic, despite its official status as the country's second language.
Arabic, rather than Hebrew, is the mother tongue of Israel's 1.7 million Palestinian citizens.
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