Six In The Morning Thursday 14 October 2021

 

Gunfire kills several people near Beirut protest: 

More than 30 people also wounded after gunfire erupts near a protest rally in the Lebanese capital.

By Tamila Varshalomidze and Arwa Ibrahim

14 Oct 2021

Gunfire has killed at least six people and wounded more than 30 others in Beirut, according to the Lebanese Red Cross, as a rally organised by the Hezbollah and Amal movements to demand the dismissal of the lead investigator into last year’s port explosion turned violent.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Beirut Palace of Justice on Thursday, calling for the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar, accusing him of political bias.

Bursts of gunfire were heard coming from the nearby Tayyoune neighbourhood, scattering the angry protesters. Clashes between seemingly rival factions continued for at least four hours.

‘A lull not a loss’: Islamic State is rebuilding in Syria, say Kurdish forces

Those who fought the so-called caliphate fear a US withdrawal could help the terrorist group to rise again

by Martin Chulov in Deir ez-Zor, Syria. Pictures by Achilleas Zavallis

On a blazing afternoon in Syria’s eastern desert this month, a Kurdish commander was hot under the collar. An American raid had just taken place against remnants of Islamic State (IS), and Lukman Khalil, the region’s most senior military leader, had known nothing about it.

The US forces had flown across the wasteland of the terrorist group’s last redoubt. Three years ago it was teeming with diehard IS members, but when thousands of holdouts emerged from the decimated town of Baghuz, the war against the so-called caliphate was won, or so it seemed.

“People couldn’t be more wrong,” said Khalil. “[IS] thinks this was a lull, not a loss. And now they’re back to fighting us from the shadows.”

Pandemic, climate change and conflict fuel sharp rise in global hunger

Nearly 50 countries are dealing with serious hunger levels as 320 million people lost access to adequate food last year, a newly released index shows.

World hunger was set to end by 2030 — that was a goal set by United Nations in 2015. After years of progress reducing numbers of undernourished people since 1960, reaching zero hunger by 2030 seemed like an attainable target for the international community.

But now, "the fight against hunger is dangerously off track," the latest Global Hunger Index indicates.

Over the past two years, economic fallout from the pandemic, climate change and armed conflict have fueled a sharp increase in the number of people going hungry around the world, according to the report by nongovernmental organizations Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa: Being a journalist has become 'more dangerous'

FRANCE 24 spoke to this year's joint Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, co-founder of the digital media company Rappler and an outspoken critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Asked whether journalism is becoming more dangerous around the world, she told FRANCE 24: "It is more dangerous, it requires more sacrifices, just to do what journalists have always done." 

Ressa, 58, is currently on bail pending an appeal against a conviction last year in a cyber libel case, for which she faces up to six years in prison.

Speaking to FRANCE 24 live from Manila, she reacted to her win for what the Nobel committee called her "courageous fight for freedom of expression" in the Philippines. "It is more dang

Pakistani airline suspends Afghanistan flights due to Taliban 'heavy-handedness'

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced Thursday that it was suspending flights to Afghanistan due to what it described as unworkable conditions imposed by the Taliban.

The airline said conditions had worsened since the Taliban formed a new Afghan government last month and that "PIA and its staff position in Kabul were dealt with very heavy-handedly by the new [Taliban] commanders." PIA said commanders had been "changing regulations and flight permissions at the last moments or deciding at a whim rather than meeting international regulations."

The statement also claimed that PIA's country representative was "held up at gun point for hours when he left the Pakistan embassy compound" on the Taliban's "suspicion of aiding and abetting" people seeking to flee Afghanistan.

North Korea's Kim Jong-un faces 'paradise on Earth' lawsuit

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un should pay damages for a 1959-84 scheme that saw more than 90,000 people move there from Japan, a Tokyo court is hearing.

The repatriation campaign was later condemned by some as "state kidnapping".

Five people who took part and later escaped the North have demanded 100m yen ($880,000; £640,000) each.

They do not expect Mr Kim either to appear or to pay up, but hope a ruling may help in future negotiations.