China shuts world's largest electronics market as Shenzhen imposes more lockdowns
By Nectar Gan and CNN's Beijing bureau
Updated 0841 GMT (1641 HKT) August 30, 2022
Huaqiangbei, a busy shopping area home to thousands of stalls selling computer components, mobile phone parts and microchips, is among three neighborhoods placed under a mandatory four-day lockdown in Futian district, according the district government.
Residents in those neighborhoods are forbidden to leave their homes except for Covid testing, which they are required to undergo daily until Thursday.
Taiwan fires warning shots at Chinese drone
Island country’s president says Taiwan could take ‘strong countermeasures’ if necessary
Reuters in Taipei
Taiwan fired warning shots at a Chinese drone that buzzed an offshore islet shortly after President Tsai Ing-wen said she had ordered Taiwan’s military to take “strong countermeasures” against what she termed Chinese provocations.
It was the first time warning shots have been fired in such an incident amid a period of heightened tension between China and Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory. Taiwan strongly disputes China’s sovereignty claims.
The drone headed back to China after the shots were fired, a military spokesperson said.
Gulsen: Jailed Turkish pop star released to house arrest after joke uproar
Gulsen Colakoglu, 46, is viewed by many as the Turkish Madonna
Sravasti Dasgupta
Turkish popstar Gulsen has been released from jail but placed under house arrest as she awaits trial for charges of “inciting hatred and enmity” in connection with a joke she made about the country’s religious schools.
The 46-year-old singer, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, is often described as the Turkish Madonna. She was arrested on 25 August after a video clip of her joke on a band member during a performance in April went viral on social media.
In the video, the singer joked that one of her musicians’ “perversion” stemmed from attending a religious school.
Iraq: Al-Sadr supporters withdraw from Baghdad Green Zone
Moqtada al-Sadr's supporters left Baghdad's Green Zone after a speech by the prominent cleric dampened their protests. The retreat followed 24 hours of unrest that left more than 20 people dead.
Supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr withdrew from Baghdad's high-security Green Zone on Tuesday, after a call from the influential cleric himself.
Deadly violence had flared a day earlier when al-Sadr announced he would resign from politics, and his supporters stormed the government palace.
No church in the wild: Armed groups on Nigerian clergy abduction spree
In Nigeria, data shows increased violence against Christians, especially members of the clergy, alongside a general rise in insecurity.
Published On 30 Aug 202230 Aug 2022
On July 15, Reverend Fathers Donatus Cleophas and Mark Cheitnum were in the empty rectory of Christ the King parish in Yadin Garu, a town in the Southern Kaduna area of northwest Nigeria when five armed men walked in.
Two were wielding an AK-47 rifle, another had a machete and the other two held sticks, Cleophas said.
The gunmen confiscated the phones of both priests, who had stayed to celebrate mass after an ordination service in that diocese, and led them into the muddy grounds of a maize farm near the parish.
Yahoo Auctions to ban sales of rare, endangered species on site
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
August 30, 2022 at 18:04 JST
Japan’s largest internet auction site will ban individuals from offering rare or endangered species, along with many other species that could potentially disrupt the ecosystem.
Yafuoku's (Yahoo Japan Corp.’s Yahoo Auctions) prohibition will begin from Sept. 29 and cover about 4,000 species, including the “ookuwagata” (Japanese stag beetle) and killifish, which are currently not banned by law for sale.
“I expect (the Yahoo move) will lead to discussions about whether the easy trade of wild animals should be allowed at all,” said Jun Nishihiro of the Center for Climate Change Adaption under the National Institute for Environmental Studies, who is knowledgeable about preserving biodiversity.
Jackson, Mississippi has 'no water to drink or flush toilets'
By Sam Cabral
BBC News, Washington
Some 180,000 residents in Jackson, Mississippi have "indefinitely" lost access to reliable running water after excessive rainfall and flooding.
Rising floodwaters over the weekend breached the city's main water treatment facility, bringing it to the brink of collapse.
A state of emergency has been declared, and schools, restaurants and businesses have temporarily closed.
Raw reservoir water is coming through the pipes, residents were told.
Both the city and state are distributing bottled drinking water to residents as well as non-potable water via tanker truck.
