Six In The Morning Tuesday 19 July 2022

 

Abortion's illegal in the Catholic majority Philippines, so more than a million women a year turn to other options

By Heather Chen, CNN

Updated 0153 GMT (0953 HKT) July 19, 2022

Miriam has seen her share of high-risk operations and procedures in her years as a veteran doctor in the Philippines -- but none quite as "complicated or as dangerous" as abortions, she said.

"We take on huge risks if we agree to perform an abortion," said Miriam, who is using an alias to protect herself from prosecution in the Philippines. She has performed four abortions on women aged 23 to 48 -- all in secret.

Abortion is illegal in the Philippines -- a majority Catholic country and former American colony -- and has been for over a century. Under the law, women found to have aborted their fetuses face prison terms of between two to six years.

Traces of methanol found in teenagers who died at South African nightclub

Cause of death of 21 young people at Enyobeni tavern last month still yet to be determined

Jason Burke Africa correspondent

Investigators have found traces of the toxic chemical methanol in the bodies of 21 teenagers who died in a nightclub in South Africa last month.

The tragedy at the Enyobeni tavern in the poor Scenery Park township in the coastal city of East London on 26 June caused shock and grief in a nation used to seeing casualties from a widespread culture of heavy drinking.

The announcement on Tuesday that methanol had been discovered came amid rising anger at the failure of authorities to pinpoint the cause of death.

With friends like these: Putin, Erdogan and Raissi to meet in Tehran

Reports that Iran is planning to sell Russia hundreds of combat drones in what would be a milestone in relations between the two adversaries of the US

Borzou Daragahi

International Correspondent

The leaders of Russia and Turkey are meeting in Iran this week in a show of unity and potential military alignment that acts as a stark geopolitical counterpoint to the recent visit by the American president to its primary Middle Eastern partners.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to meet on Tuesday in Tehran with their Iranian hosts, including supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the country’s president, Ebrahim Raissi.

Syria is the ostensible main topic of the meeting, which is being held as part of a five-year diplomatic effort to resolve the war between Bashar Assad’s regime and rebel groups. But there has been little momentum or urgency regarding Syria in recent months. And with the US declaring its aims to isolate Iran over its nuclear programme and Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, other security matters will almost certainly come to the fore.

Russia-Ukraine updates — Moscow 'struggling to sustain combat power'

A UK military report says low troop numbers could hamper Russian progress in Donbas as Ukraine mounts a counteroffensive. In Kyiv, a full review of security staff is underway. 

The UK Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that Russia has struggled to sustain effective offensive combat power since the start of the invasion, adding that the problem was likely to become increasingly acute.

The ministry said Moscow was still "nominally" committing six separate armies to its Donbas offensive, but suggested that troop numbers had significantly decreased.

Iranian filmmaker Panahi sent to prison to serve 6-year sentence

Jafar Panahi was handed the sentence for supporting demonstrations and ‘propaganda against the establishment’ in 2010.

By Maziar Motamedi

Published On 19 Jul 202219 Jul 2022

Iran’s judiciary has said award-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who was arrested earlier this month in Tehran, must serve a six-year sentence that was originally handed to him in 2010.

Judiciary spokesman Masoud Setayeshi told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday that Panahi was arrested and sent to Evin prison in Tehran on July 11 to begin serving his sentence.

Panahi had received the sentence for supporting anti-government demonstrations, but after several months received a conditional release, although it was liable to be revoked at any time.

Heatwave: Ferocious European heat heads north

By Paul Kirby
BBC News

Sweltering temperatures hit much of Western Europe on Tuesday as a ferocious heatwave headed north.

The UK hit its highest ever temperature of 40.2C, according to provisional Met Office figures, and forecasters warned temperatures were still climbing.

Extreme heat warnings were issued in France and record July temperatures were reported in the Netherlands.

Deadly wildfires in France, Portugal, Spain and Greece have forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.