“I gave the order myself” − Turkish PM on downing Russian plane. China warns U.S. warship in South China Sea. Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview that the U.S. operation is "a very serious provocation, politically and militarily" and the country's foreign ministry summoned Max Baucus, the U.S. ambassador to China, to express its "strong discontent" over the patrol.
Cui said it was a clear attempt by Washington to militarize the region. "It is a very absurd and even hypocritical position to ask others not to militarize the region while one's self is sending military vessels there so frequently," he said. The operation put the ship within an area that would be considered Chinese sovereign territory if the United States recognized the man-made islands as being Chinese territory, the official said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, testifying before a Senate panel, said the missions would continue. "We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law permits and whenever our operational needs require," he said. Tony Abbott loses leadership fight. Malcolm Turnbull won the Liberal Party room vote 54-44 in Canberra, hours after declaring his leadership bid.
A former lawyer turned businessman, Turnbull told a late-night press briefing that his new government would be "thoroughly consultative. " Australian PM Tony Abbott down but not out after no-confidence vote "The prime minister of Australia is not a president. What's currently going on with Australian politics? : OutOfTheLoop. Seoul_Doctor comments on Kim Jong Un orders North Korea military to prepare for war (from Friday at 5 PM) North Korea fires shells at South Korean military along western border : worldnews. US President Obama slams pro-Israel AIPAC over Iran nuke deal. U.S.
President Barack Obama gave a strong message to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel group that has been strongly opposing the Iran nuclear deal, in his meeting this week at the White House with the two executives of AIPAC. President Obama invited two directors of AIPAC to the White House this week and gave strong messages regarding AIPAC's cold stance on the nuclear deal. [Serious] Scottish of Reddit, Are you voting yes or no tomorrow? Why? : AskReddit. Documents Show How Russia’s Troll Army Hit America. TIL that in 2002, Kenyan Masai tribespeople donated 14 cows to to the U.S. to help with the aftermath of 9/11. : todayilearned.
From China to Vietnam - are we witnessing the world's first climate change resettlements in Asia? The resettlements connected with the connection of the world’s biggest powerplant – the Three Gorges Dam in China – have received wide media attention since 2007, when 1.3 million people had to leave their homes for the construction of the dam.
In Vietnam, the government has started to move people from their villages near the Mekong river to new ‘cluster resettlement sites’. For thousands of years, people in the Mekong region have depended on the river for their livelihoods. A changing global climate may mean that millions have to leave their homes. Alex de Sherbinin from the Columbia University Earth Institute shows how both developments are linked to global climate change – provoked by both mitigation and adaptation efforts: While the connection between these resettlement projects and climate change is not direct (it rarely is), climate is definitely a contributing factor. In Islam, there's more than one way to be an 'atheist' ‘To the Saudi government, not believing in God and fighting in his name represent the same threat.’
Photograph: Fahad Shadeed/Reuters/Corbis Saudi Arabia recently declared atheism and Islamist terrorism equal crimes in the eyes of the law. Japan Banned From Antarctic Whaling. In a case initiated by Australia the United Nations top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has ruled that Japan must stop its whaling program in the Antarctic.
In 1986 the International Whaling Commision (IWC) moratorium banned commercial whaling, but allowed whaling provided that it was carried out only for research purposes. Japanese fleets have a scientific permit for a quota of up to 935 minke whales, 50 humpback whales and 50 fin whales. The latter are an endangered species. Theblindsaint comments on At least 100,000 people take to the streets of Taiwan's capital Taipei, to protest controversial China trade agreement. The Japanese Mob Is Hiring Homeless People to Clean Up Fukushima.
Nearly three years after an earthquake and tsunami caused the greatest nuclear disaster in decades, Japan is still in the early days of its massive Fukushima cleanup effort.
Wife: Saudi blogger recommended for apostasy trial. By Salma Abdelaziz, CNN updated 4:17 PM EST, Thu December 26, 2013.
Rare Iceland armed police operation leaves man dead. 2 December 2013Last updated at 11:27 ET Apartments were evacuated as neighbours were considered to be in danger Icelandic police have shot dead a man who was firing a shotgun in his apartment in the early hours of Monday.
It is the first time someone has been killed in an armed police operation in Iceland, officials say. Vietnam Announces Fines for Citizens who Criticize the Government on Social Media. Under the provisions of a law passed earlier this week, the Vietnamese Government will now issue fines of 100 million dong (about $4,740) for anyone who criticizes the government on social media.
Reuters reports that comments and statements that are determined to be “propaganda against the state”, or “reactionary ideology” are classified as a criminal offense in which the person responsible for them can be sent to jail. All other non-major offenses constitute the aforementioned 100 dong fine. This new law follows a decree by the government that requires blogs and news websites to pay for a license in order to operate in the country and a law that stipulates that only personal information can be placed in social networks, effectively banning opinions from being conveyed on sites like Twitter and Facebook. Like this: Like Loading... Related. How Many Countries Are There? European Parliament. The European Parliament (abbreviated as EU Parliament or the EP) is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU).
Together with the Council of the European Union (the Council) and the European Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU. The Parliament is composed of 751 (previously 766) members, who represent the second largest democratic electorate in the world (after the Parliament of India) and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world (375 million eligible voters in 2009).[3][4][5] It has been directly elected every five years by universal suffrage since 1979.
However, turnout at European Parliament elections has fallen consecutively at each election since that date, and has been under 50% since 1999. Turnout in 2014 stood at 42.54% of all European voters.[6] History[edit] UNESCO. The flag of UNESCO. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture; UNESCO; /juːˈnɛskoʊ/) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). UNESCO has 195 member states[2] and nine associate members.[3][4] Most of the field offices are "cluster" offices covering three or more countries; there are also national and regional offices.
UNESCO pursue its objectives through five major programs: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information. Xu Zhiyong sentenced to four years in prison. Brazil looks to break from US-centric Internet (Update 2) Brazil plans to divorce itself from the U.S. -centric Internet over Washington's widespread online spying, a move that many experts fear will be a potentially dangerous first step toward fracturing a global network built with minimal interference by governments.
President Dilma Rousseff ordered a series of measures aimed at greater Brazilian online independence and security following revelations that the U.S. National Security Agency intercepted her communications, hacked into the state-owned Petrobras oil company's network and spied on Brazilians who entrusted their personal data to U.S. tech companies such as Facebook and Google. The leader is so angered by the espionage that on Tuesday she postponed next month's scheduled trip to Washington, where she was to be honored with a state dinner. While Brazil isn't proposing to bar its citizens from U.S. Rousseff says she intends to push for international rules on privacy and security in hardware and software during the U.N.
Brazilian president Rousseff: US surveillance a 'breach of international law' Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, has launched a blistering attack on US espionage at the UN general assembly, accusing the NSA of violating international law by its indiscriminate collection of personal information of Brazilian citizens and economic espionage targeted on the country's strategic industries. Rousseff's angry speech was a direct challenge to President Barack Obama, who was waiting in the wings to deliver his own address to the UN general assembly, and represented the most serious diplomatic fallout to date from the revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Rousseff had already put off a planned visit to Washington in protest at US spying, after NSA documents leaked by Snowden revealed that the US electronic eavesdropping agency had monitored the Brazilian president's phone calls, as well as Brazilian embassies and spied on the state oil corporation, Petrobras.
Death of Savita Halappanavar. The death of Savita Halappanavar on 28 October 2012, at University Hospital Galway in Ireland, led to nationwide protests—which spilled over into India, Britain and many other countries—calling for a review of the abortion laws in Ireland. Halappanavar, a Hindu Lingayat of Indian origin, was suffering from a miscarriage (which was later assessed to be most likely due to a bacterial infection),[1][2] when she was some 17 weeks pregnant, she sought medical attention and treatment at University Hospital Galway.
Beginning no earlier than the date of her hospital admission on October 21, her requests[quantify] for an abortion were refused,[when?] U.S., Israel lose UNESCO voting right in dispute over Palestinians - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News. Apps.americanbar.org/intlaw/calendar/spring2006/papers/THURS9451100WOLTER_266.pdf. INCREDIBLE PHOTO: This Is What Happens When You Try To Make Protests Illegal.