China's ambassador challenged on treatment of Uighurs
Scientists are suspiciously tracking every change in SARS-CoV-2, with dangerous looking mutations regularly appearing. On the long term, though, experts hope that the pathogen could prove less aggressive.
By Philip Bethge
China's ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, has denied reports that China is carrying out a programme of sterilisation of Uighur women in the western Xinjiang region.
Reports and eyewitness accounts have accused China of trying to reduce the Uighur population in Xinjiang by forced sterilisation.
Mr Liu was also confronted with drone footage that appears to show Uighurs being blindfolded and led to trains. He said he "did not know" what the video was showing.
Liu Xiaoming blames reports of forced sterilisation of women on ‘anti-China elements’
China’s ambassador to the UK has insisted the Uighur people live in “peaceful and harmonious coexistence with other ethnic groups”, as he was confronted with footage of shackled prisoners being herded on to trains in Xinjiang.
Human rights groups and western governments have catalogued widespread abuses against the Muslim minority in China’s western region, including mass forced sterilisation and detainment in “re-education” camps.
Iran suspends execution of three anti-government protesters in death row
Trio who participated in November demonstrations received public support following request of retrial
Iran’s supreme court has agreed to suspend the executions of three men on death row for their participation in anti-government protests in November, whose sentences sparked an online outcry last week.
Lawyers for the trio – Saeed Tamjidi, 26, Mohammad Rajabi, 28, and Amirhossein Moradi, 26 – said in a statement on Sunday the country’s supreme court had agreed to examine the men’s application for a retrial.
The three were convicted earlier this year of crimes including sabotage, armed robbery and illegally fleeing the country in connection to their involvement in one of the largest outbreaks of public dissent in the history of the Islamic Republic last year.
Corona MutationsThe Changing Virus
Scientists are suspiciously tracking every change in SARS-CoV-2, with dangerous looking mutations regularly appearing. On the long term, though, experts hope that the pathogen could prove less aggressive.
By Philip Bethge
Open eyes, hollow cheeks, a face torn by dread - Edvard Munch’s painting, "The Scream,” is an icon of horror.
Some experts believe its central figure is meant to be in the grips of an illness. The first version of the painting dates back to 1893, when the Russian flu had just spread around the world. The pandemic began in Central Asia in May of 1889. It spread to China, Russia and Europe via trade routes. The epidemic reached New York in December, arrived in Montreal in January of 1890, then made its way to South America, Australia, Borneo. Its symptoms included severe fever, headache, aching limbs and fatigue. An estimated 1 million people died worldwide.
Thousands in Israel protest Netanyahu's coronavirus response
Israeli police fired water cannons to disperse anti-government protests attended by thousands on Saturday, as public anger mounts over the handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Demonstrators gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem and at a park in Tel Aviv, voicing frustration over the government's response to a growing epidemic that has taken a devastating economic toll.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said officers had allowed demonstrations to take place but took action against unauthorised "disturbances," including road blockages.
Protesters asked to leave or risk arrest after Portland Police Association office is set ablaze
Updated 1112 GMT (1912 HKT) July 19, 2020
Authorities asked protesters near the Portland Police Association office to leave Saturday night or risk arrest.
"This event has been declared a riot. Move to the east now. If you do not move to the east you will be subject to arrest or use of force to include crowd control munitions. Leave the area now," the Portland Police Bureau tweeted. It said protesters broke into the Portland Police Association office and set it on fire.
In a separate protest near the federal building downtown, protesters could be seen dismantling a heavy metal fence set up around the building earlier as a barricade.
Japan's governors want more areas cut from travel program as needed
Japan's prefectural governors decided on Sunday to ask the central government to consider excluding more areas from a travel campaign when necessary to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The governors said they hope the 1.35 trillion yen subsidy initiative aimed at sparking domestic trips will help revive their virus-hit economies.
But "we have to avoid (the campaign) causing the virus to spread," they said in proposals to the central government compiled at an online meeting to discuss responses to the coronavirus.
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