Cyclone Debbie: 'Monster' storm batters Australia
A powerful cyclone has pummelled the north-east Australian coast, causing major damage, torrential rain and power cuts to tens of thousands of homes.
Cyclone Debbie made landfall between Bowen and Airlie Beach in Queensland as a category four storm, whipping gusts of up to 263km/h (163 mph).
It is moving inland as a category three but could cause damage for hours yet. One serious injury has been reported.
PM Malcolm Turnbull told parliament he had activated a disaster response plan.
The extent of Cyclone Debbie's devastation, which has a 50km-diameter eye wall, may not be known for some time, authorities said.
Mosul residents were told not to flee city before airstrikes that killed civilians
Pentagon opens investigation into reports that more than 150 civilians died in US-led bombings to retake Iraqi city from Isis
Residents in Mosul were instructed not to leave their homes ahead of airstrikes last week that are reported to have killed more than 150 civilians, Amnesty International has said.
The recent spike in civilian casualties suggests the US-led coalition in Iraq is not taking adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths as it battles Isis alongside Iraqi ground forces, according to a report by the human rights group on Tuesday.
The coalition has acknowledged that the US military was behind an airstrike on 17 March that hit a western Mosul neighbourhood. Residents have said at least 150 civilians were killed. US officials have not confirmed that there were civilian casualties but have opened an investigation.
Hungary opens shipping container camp for refugees
Every asylum seeker in Hungary, except for young children, will be housed in shipping container camps along the border. The camps have been condemned by rights groups.
Hungary was due to begin detaining asylum-seekers in shipping-container camps on its southern border with Serbia on Tuesday.
Asylum-seekers entering Hungary as well as those already in the country will be confined in camps while their applications are processed.
A statement by the interior ministry said the country's prison service installed 324 shipping container homes at two camps.
"The border protection agencies are fully prepared for the entry into force of the reinforced legal border closure on March 28," said a statement by the interior ministry.
Ahmed Kathrada, anti-apartheid activist and Mandela ally, dies
Internationally, Ahmed Kathrada didn't have the name recognition of his close friend and cellmate Nelson Mandela, but he was one of South Africa's best-loved and revered anti-apartheid activists -- and a moral compass for the nation.
So much so, many South Africans simply called him "Uncle Kathy."
Kathrada died Tuesday after a short illness following brain surgery, his foundation announced. He was 87.
Brazil's prisons: A battleground in the drug wars
A growing gang war over drugs is fuelling bloodshed in Brazil's neglected and overcrowded prisons.
Manaus, Brazil - It was early evening on January 1, 2017, when Maria heard that a riot was under way at Complexo Penitenciario Anisio Jobim (COMPAJ) - the prison where her two sons Antony, 27, and Antonio, 22, were being held.
Maria - an alias she requested for security reasons - spoke to Al Jazeera from her small red brick home in a poor Manaus neighbourhood.
Her son Antonio had been sent to the prison in September, his third sentence for stealing motorbikes. He entered as a marked man, having supposedly informed on someone when he was arrested.
GSDF steps up preparations to create U.S. Marine Corps-like force
KYODO
The Ground Self-Defense Force took a step Monday toward creating an amphibious force similar to the U.S. Marine Corps by establishing a new unit that will train members of the envisioned brigade.
The GSDF amphibious brigade, to be launched at the end of the next fiscal year through March 2018, will be tasked with countering possible attacks on Japanese islands that stretch from Kyushu to Taiwan, as the country faces China’s growing maritime assertiveness.
The brigade will train using the ship-to-shore tracked AAV-7 amphibious landing vehicles that are also used by the U.S. Marines, according to GSDF officials.
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