Frank Bainimarama, Enele Sopoaga and Hilda Heine hope their urgent demands for action will save their island nations from the rising waves
It is the final night of the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu and the Fijian prime minister is explaining how to drink kava.
“You clap first,” says Frank Bainimarama, as the smooth wooden bowl is passed around the circle. “Then you have to gulp in one go; then you clap again – one, two, three.”
Continue reading...Millions of people from Sydney to Manila, Dhaka to London and New York will march for urgent action on climate breakdown
Glorious scenes in Edinburgh as thousands of children, parents, students and musicians gather at the Meadows for the Climate Strike.
“This is our Earth and our Future. We need to take care of it ,” said 11-year-old Leila Koita, pictures here with friends Eilidh Tedesco, Norah Turner, Tilly Torrie, Megan Berger and NaN Zhang.
Norah’s mum, Jo Spencely says she hasn’t been on a demo for decades but she is here to show support. “I’m massively concerned about their future. I almost can’t bear to read about the climate. It’s so scary.”
The march sets off at 11:30am and will pass through Edinburgh city centre and end with a rally in front of the Scottish Parliament. As in London, police have imposed restrictions, in this case by refusing permission for the marchers to walk down Princes Street.
As elsewhere, this is just the start of a week of climate action. On Saturday, activists will stage a “die in”, Monday will be a “day of disruption”, musicians will join a “Love the Planet Festival” on Wednesday, and there’ll be another rally outside parliament the following day.
Even Emmeline Pankhurst has joined in the protests in Manchester. A statue of the suffragette hero has donned a bright orange lifejacket and a placard that asks: “Ready for rising sea levels to reach this height?”
The stunt was the idea of Katie Bradshaw and Ryan Griffiths, both 31, who described themselves as first-protestors who felt the need to act today.
“Emmeline still carries that Mancunian spirit of standing up for what she believes in and great causes,” said Griffiths. “Climate change is so important and we think it’s something herself would be an issue she would be at the forefront of if she were around today.”
Bradshaw added: “We’ve got to do our bit and even if it’s just putting some signs up and making people realise we need to look after our planet. If she was around today she’d be supporting it.”
Emmeline Pankhurst showing the world the way in Manchester pic.twitter.com/Z1TFjYCAuN
Continue reading...Apparent climbdown follows wave of anger and criticism over draconian draft laws
Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, has ordered his government to postpone the ratification of a deeply controversial criminal code that would outlaw living together outside marriage, extramarital sex and insulting the president.
The apparent climbdown came in a surprise address at the state palace on Friday afternoon, and follows an outpouring of anger and criticism about the draconian draft laws.
Continue reading...Campaigns to expose personal details of those on both sides of protests skyrocket, with nearly 1,000 cases being investigated
Hong Kong has seen an unprecedented wave of doxxing – the malicious spread of private information online – since anti-government protests began in early June.
Social media forums such as LIHKG, a Reddit-like website, and encrypted apps such as Telegram have played a critical role in organising the leaderless protest movement but are now being used to share names, photos, phone numbers, ages and the occupation of individuals on both sides of the protest line.
Continue reading...Tokyo may be the most ‘overworked’ city – but there are ways to measure how hard a city works other than simply totting up the overtime
In July 2013, 31-year-old Miwa Sado, a reporter for Japan’s national broadcaster NHK, was found dead in her Tokyo apartment. She had died from heart failure. It was later revealed that Sado had logged 159 hours and 37 minutes of overtime at work in the month before her death. Sado’s death was officially designated as a “death from overwork”.
So common are cases of people dying from overwork in Japan that the country has a special term for it, karoshi. The first case of karoshi was recorded in 1969; according to government data, Japan had 190 deaths from overwork in 2017.
Continue reading...DNA technology links man to Hwaseong murders that inspired a film, but the statute of limitations has expired
South Korean police have identified a suspect more than 30 years after one of the country’s most notorious serial murder cases, but are unable to launch proceedings because it’s too long ago.
Between 1986 and 1991 a record number of police officers were mobilised to try to find the person who raped and murdered women in rural parts of Hwaseong, south of the capital, Seoul.
Continue reading...From big-scramble zebra crossings to a man in a hedge, the award-winning street photographer revels in the life that swirls around him
Continue reading...Chuang Chuang reportedly collapsed after eating bamboo in Chiang Mai Zoo
The sudden death of a giant panda on loan to a zoo in Thailand has sparked outrage in China and calls for no more of the bears to be lent to the country.
Chuang Chuang, a 19-year-old male, reportedly collapsed on Monday afternoon after eating bamboo in Chiang Mai zoo in northern Thailand, according to Thai media.
Continue reading...Auckland beats Scotland to NZ$1.3bn contract for what is expected to be the most expensive TV series ever made
New Zealand will reprise its starring role as Middle Earth with confirmation Amazon Studios will film its new Lord of the Rings television series on its shores.
The country – where Sir Peter Jackson filmed the original Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies – beat rival Scotland to be named the production location for the series, set to be the most expensive TV show ever made.
Continue reading...Anna Katzmann said Huang could only use the money to pay debt to ATO or for living or legal expenses
A judge will today reveal her reasons for slapping a $140m asset freezing order on controversial businessman and political donor Huang Xiangmo after an application by the Australian taxation office.
At an urgent hearing in Sydney on Monday, federal court judge Anna Katzmann ordered Huang not to dispose of assets worth up to the $140.9m claimed by the ATO, including more than $6m worth of property in Sydney and an apartment in Hong Kong.
Continue reading...Eight companies turned down opportunity because it would harm their reputations
The Hong Kong government has tried but failed to secure help from any of the global public relations firms it has approached to salvage the financial hub’s tarnished reputation, as anti-government protests continued to wreak havoc months into its deepest political crisis in decades.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam told a group of business people in the city in late August that the government had approached eight global PR companies to help it relaunch Hong Kong, but four “immediately declined because that would be a detriment to their reputation to support the Hong Kong government now,” according to a transcript of her speech published by Reuters last week. Two more declined later, she said.
Continue reading...Blow for Taipei as largest remaining ally in region switches relations to Beijing
The Solomon Islands’ government has voted to sever its longstanding ties with Taiwan and take up diplomatic relations with Beijing.
The move is a huge blow to self-ruled Taiwan, which has lost six allies since 2016, and to Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking re-election in January amid rising tension with China. It has sparked protests in the Solomon Islands, according to local media.
Continue reading...Inbreeding blamed as only 61 of 147 big cats survive after removal from tourist attraction
More than half of the 147 tigers confiscated from a Thai temple have died, park officials have said, blaming genetic problems linked to inbreeding at the once money-spinning tourist attraction.
For years, the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua temple in the western province of Kanchanaburi attracted hordes of tourists who could be photographed – for a fee – next to scores of tigers.
Continue reading...Thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists used torches, lanterns and laser pens to light up Lion Hill on 13 September. Pro-democracy protesters have continued demonstrations across Hong Kong, calling for the city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, to immediately meet demands including an independent inquiry into police brutality. The evening of 13 September marked the start of the mid-autumn festival, traditionally a time for thanksgiving, spending time with family, and praying for good fortune.
Continue reading...Letter from North Korean leader comes as talks between the men have stalled
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited US president Donald Trump to visit Pyongyang in a letter sent in August, a South Korean newspaper reported on Monday, citing diplomatic sources.
The letter pre-dates North Korea’s latest launch of short-range projectiles a week ago and is the second Trump received from Kim last month amid stalled denuclearisation talks between the two countries,
Continue reading...Family of five, including two children, found dead in the highlands in August, with no visible injuries
Police have charged a New Zealand man with five counts of murder following the mysterious “witchcraft” deaths of a Fijian family last month.
Husband and wife Nirmal Kumar, 63, and Usha Devi, 54, their daughter Nileshni Kajal, 34, and Kajal’s daughters Sana, 11, and Samara, eight, were all found dead in the Nausori Highlands in August.
Continue reading...Papua New Guinea out of pocket $157m from failed attempt at mining material from deep-sea vents as opponents point to environmental risk
The “total failure” of PNG’s controversial deep sea mining project Solwara 1 has spurred calls for a Pacific-wide moratorium on seabed mining for a decade.
The company behind Solwara 1, Nautilus, has gone into administration, with major creditors seeking a restructure to recoup hundreds of millions sunk into the controversial project.
Continue reading...Riot police fire teargas and water cannon as pro-democracy protesters hurl rocks and petrol bombs, tipping the region back into chaos after a brief lull in clashes
Continue reading...Officers also fired teargas at the demonstrators, who had gathered outside the government office complex on Sunday. The latest violence came after tens of thousands defied a police ban and marched toward the seat of the government, chanting: ‘Five demands, not one less.’ For the past three months, Hong Kong has been gripped by the most serious political crisis in decades, triggered by a proposal to allow extradition to mainland China
Continue reading...Demonstrators surround government complex, throwing rocks and molotov cocktails
A peaceful rally in Hong Kong has descended into chaos as police fired teargas and water cannon at protesters who hurled petrol bombs, set fires and clashed with residents.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators defied a police ban and marched on the seat of the government calling for greater democracy in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
Continue reading...