From peace icon to pariah: Aung San Suu Kyi's fall from grace
Three years after she took power, Myanmar remains as repressive as ever. Were the warning signs there all along?
There are falls from grace, and then there is Aung San Suu Kyi. In 2015 her election to the post of state counsellor – de facto head of government – was hailed as a sea-change moment for Myanmar.
Three years on, the feted Nobel peace prize winner has become a global pariah at the head of a regime that has excused a genocide, jailed journalists and locked up critics, leaving the international community wringing its hands as Myanmar remains as repressive as ever.
Last week, Amnesty International became the latest organisation to strip Aung San Suu Kyi of a human rights award, citing its “profound disappointment” in her. Just days later, the 700,000 Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar after a brutal military-led campaign of ethnic cleansing in August last year collectively refused to take part in a repatriation plan, due to Myanmar’s failure to ensure they had freedom, rights and safety. Many believe the Myanmar government, which Aung San Suu Kyi leads, has no intention of taking back the Rohingya at all.
Allegations of rape and child molestation made against British youth charity volunteers
Exclusive: Restless Development accused of failing to act on complaints made against team leader who allegedly went on to rape young female volunteer
A British charity under fire for misconduct overseas is facing fresh allegations that a volunteer was raped by a team leader who had already been flagged as a risk to women.
The Independent revealed in September that Restless Development, which receives millions in government funding to run youth-led aid projects abroad, had been accused of putting volunteers’ lives in danger, as well as a catalogue of other issues.
Now it is alleged the charity failed to act on complaints made against a team leader who went on to allegedly rape a young female volunteer.
How California became Donald Trump's most hated state
Donald Trump's recent attack on California over forest management was the latest in a series of potshots he and other Republicans have taken against the Golden State. Why do Republicans love to hate California?
As wildfires blazed in California, leaving dozens dead and more than 1,000 missing, President Donald Trump tweeted that the state had grossly mismanaged its forests, and he threatened to cut off federal payments. After all, the subject was California, a bogeyman Republicans sometimes conjure up to illustrate what they see as the dangers of Democratic leadership.
"They [Democrats] want us to be just like California, right down to tofu and silicone and dyed hair," Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz told a crowd of supporters in September during his re-election campaign. Nevada Republican Adam Laxalt made the threat of California-like regulation a central narrative in his unsuccessful bid for governor. The Republican Governors Association attacked Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, a Democrat, who they said wanted to introduce "California-level tax rates."
To reclaim Baghdad, Iraqi artists grapple with its ghosts
Dressed in a multi-coloured beanie and grey sneakers, Zaid Saad had just finished setting up his contemporary art exhibit on Baghdad's sandy riverbank when police showed up.
The piece was part of a two-day walking tour of Iraq's capital, an effort by young artists to address social dilemmas and reclaim Baghdad's identity after more than a decade of violence.
But at virtually every turn, organisers came up against some of the very stereotypes they sought to break down, from blast walls to jumpy security guards and sceptical members of Iraq's conservative society.
Climate change will shrink US economy and kill thousands, government report warns
A new US government report delivers a dire warning about climate change and its devastating impacts, saying the economy could lose hundreds of billions of dollars -- or, in the worst-case scenario, more than 10% of its GDP -- by the end of the century.
The federally mandated study was supposed to come out in December but was released by the Trump administration on Friday, at a time when many Americans are on a long holiday weekend, distracted by family and shopping.
David Easterling, director of the Technical Support Unit at the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, emphasized that there was "no external interference in the report's development." He added that the climate change the Earth is experiencing is unlike any other.
Pakistan arrests TLP leader behind blasphemy protests
Khadim Hussain Rizvi, whose TLP party held massive protests against Aasia Bibi's acquittal, has been arrested.
Pakistani authorities have arrested the leader of a religious party which had disrupted daily life with nationwide rallies following the acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case.
The son of Khadim Hussain Rizvi, leader of the right-wing Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) party, said his father was taken away on Friday in a nighttime raid on his religious school in the eastern city of Lahore.
"Police raided our school and arrested our revered leader," Saad Rizvi told the Reuters news agency.
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