Mexico earthquake: Race to find survivors under collapsed school
Rescuers are racing against the clock to reach survivors trapped under the rubble of a school in Mexico City which collapsed during Tuesday's earthquake.
One of them, a 13-year-old girl, is believed to be sheltering under a table, officials told the BBC.
At least 21 children and five adults died when the primary school collapsed and many others are missing.
The school was one of dozens of buildings toppled by the quake. So far 230 people are known to have died.
President Enrique Peña Nieto has declared three days of mourning for the victims.
As rescue operations continued for a second night, attention was focused on the Enrique Rébsamen primary school, in Mexico City's southern Coapa district.
South Korea approves $8m aid package for North Korea
Decision to release funds for humanitarian programmes for infants and pregnant women risks rift with US and Japan
South Korea has approved an $8m (£5.9m) aid package for North Korea, in a humanitarian gesture at odds with calls by Japan and the US for unwavering economic and diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang.
South Korea’s unification ministry agreed to provide the funds, which will go towards programmes for infants and pregnant women, days after the UN security council agreed a further round of sanctions in response to the regime’s recent nuclear test.
The ministry, which oversees cross-border relations, said humanitarian aid to impoverished North Korea should remain unaffected by rising political tensions on the peninsula.
Catalonia: Thousands take to streets of Barcelona to protest crackdown on separatists
Spanish police scuffled with dozens of pro-secession activists and seized 10 million ballot papers
Tens of thousands poured onto the streets of central Barcelona and further afield in Catalonia, outraged at the escalating crackdown on a separatist-led referendum on independence for the region on 1 October that saw 14 local government officials arrested, including the region’s deputy vice president.
According to police, about 4,000 demonstrators gathered near the office of vice president Josep Maria Jove, who is also secretary-general of Catalonia’s economic affairs, to chant “we will vote” in a referendum deemed illegal by the central Madrid government and Spain’s constitutional court.
Outside the headquarters of pro-independence party Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), riot police were called to control thousands of mainly young demonstrators who cried “occupation forces out” and “the streets are ours”.
Rohingya crisis: Exiled blogger describes Myanmar violence
Rohingya activist and blogger Nay San Lwin has been documenting torture and subjugation faced by his people in Myanmar. His blog has become one of the most reliable sources on the brutal crackdown against the Rohingya.
Long before the suffering inflicted on Myanmar's prompted global outcry, Nay San Lwin's website, Rohingya Blogger, provided daily updates on the Muslim minority's everday plight.
Working with a group of bloggers and face-checkers on the ground in the cities of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung, San Lwin's blog covers all corners of Myanmar's affected areas. That work was become increasingly substantial — and dangerous — since late August, when the Myanmar military launched its brutal crackdown against the Rohingya in the western state of Rakhine.
The crackdown has led to the exodus of over 400,000 people to neighboring Bangladesh in less than a month. Myanmar's government, led by under fire Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has blamed the crisis on Rohingya insurgents who attacked a number military posts. However, the international community has condemned the deadly nature of the military's response. The United Nations has described the crackdown as "ethnic cleansing."
Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea. I asked 8 experts how worrisome that is.
One expert responded just by sending a photo of Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream.
Updated by
On September 19, President Donald Trump gave his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly. His harsh rhetoric toward North Korea stood out — mostly because he threatened to obliterate the country of 25.4 million people.
“No nation on Earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles,” Trump said, referring to the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
“Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime,” he continued, using his new favorite nickname for Kim.
U.S. holds parachuting drill at Okinawa base despite opposition
The U.S. military conducted a parachuting drill Thursday at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa's main island for the third time this year despite calls from the Japanese government and local authorities to suspend it due to safety concerns.
"It is regrettable. Japan urges the U.S. military to conduct the drill at the Ie Jima Auxiliary Airfield" based on a 1996 bilateral agreement, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters in Tokyo, referring to the base in far less populated area in the southern island prefecture.
The drill, held from around 7:30 a.m. Thursday at Kadena, involved a total of 16 servicemen who parachuted down to the base from MC-130 aircraft. Similar exercises were held in April and May at the base.
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