Six In The Morning Monday 1 July 2019

Hong Kong: Police and protesters clash on handover anniversary

Police in Hong Kong have clashed with protesters marking the anniversary of its handover from UK to Chinese rule.

In chaotic scenes on Monday, police used pepper spray and batons to contain protesters outside a venue hosting an annual flag-raising ceremony.

A small group of protesters also smashed into the government building.

This is the latest in a series of protests against a controversial bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China.

The government has agreed to suspend it indefinitely, but the rallies continue and Chief Executive Carrie Lam is facing ongoing calls to resign.

The Indian state where farmers sow the seeds of death

Cancer rates are the highest in the country, drug addiction is rife, and 900 farmers have killed themselves in two years. How did Punjab turn toxic?

Vivek Chaudhary

The road to Langroya village weaves its way through fields rich with crops that offer a vivid snapshot of India’s kitchens. There is wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize, mustard seed and a rich variety of vegetables that have made this corner of the country India’s most important agricultural region.

Like the majority of their compatriots in Punjab, Langroya’s residents rely on farming for their existence. About three-quarters of the state’s 30 million-strong population is involved in agriculture, with wheat the number one commodity. But while Punjab is known as “India’s bread basket”, there are challenges amid the abundance.

The list of concerns includes withering land, chronic illnesses, water shortages and an opioid drug epidemic that has wreaked havoc on village life. Over the past two years, more than 900 Punjabi farmers have killed themselves, and the state has the highest rates of cancer in India. A government survey estimates that more than two-thirds of households have at least one drug addict in the family. Added to this is the burden of paying off loans that many farmers take out from unofficial lenders at exorbitant interest rates.

Germany records all-time hottest June temperature

The last day of June has beaten all previous temperature highs for the month. Heat-related deaths have been reported in several European countries.

Germany set its all-time highest June temperature on Sunday, with 38.9 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) recorded in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The country has been baking in an early summer heat wave; however, Germany's all-time high of 40.3 degrees Celsius still stands. 

Fifty-seven runners at Hamburg's half marathon were hospitalized on Sunday after many collapsed in temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius, officials said. Some 141 runners needed treatment in what fire service officials described as "an emergency with mass casualties." 

The secondhand harms of drinking impact 1 in 5 adults, study says

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN

Updated 0417 GMT (1217 HKT) July 1, 2019

About one-fifth of adults in the United States have experienced some form of harm due to someone else's behavior while drinking.

That's according to a study published Monday in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, which found that in 2015, an estimated 53 million adults -- or nearly 1 in 5 -- said they had experienced at least one harm attributable to someone else's drinking in the past year. That harm ranged from property damage to physical injury.

'Millions march': Sudanese renew protests to demand civilian rule

At least seven protesters killed as tens of thousands take part in mass demonstrations, dubbed the 'millions march'.

At least seven demonstrators in Sudan have been killed and more than 180 injured as tens of thousands poured onto the streets across the country to pressure the country's ruling generals to hand over power to a civilian-led administration and seek justice for the scores of victims of a deadly military crackdown.

Dubbed the "millions march", Sunday's mass demonstrations were the first since security forces on June 3 killed more than 100 people during the bloody dispersal of a protest camp outside the military headquarters, the focal point of the protesters' months-long struggle for democracy.

‘Horses**t’: Susan Rice Throws Down On Trump’s Claim About Obama And North Korea

President Donald Trump over the weekend claimed that he accomplished what former President Barack Obama could not when he met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. 

But some of Obama’s closest advisers said that’s just not true ― and former national security adviser Susan Rice flat-out called the claim “horseshit.”

Trump said before his meeting with Kim at the DMZ:

“President Obama wanted to meet, and Chairman Kim would not meet him. The Obama administration was begging for a meeting. They were begging for meetings constantly, and Chairman Kim would not meet with him.”