Merkel warns of EU failure
Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday pressed European Union countries to do more to share the burden of refugees arriving in Europe on Monday. She said that the current situation, which has seen chaotic scenes in the western Balkans as tens of thousands of refugees and migrants head north towards Austria and Germany, was unsatisfactory. Merkel renewed her call for a new quota system to be introduced. This would see applications from asylum seekers shared between members of the 28-nation bloc. The Franco-German proposal will be discussed at a meeting of EU interior ministers on September 14.
At Least 13 reported dead in Yemen strikes
Airstrikes by the Saudi-led military coalition on Sunday killed at least 13 civilians at a water plant in northern Yemen. The bombings are part of the latest in a series of airstrikes by Saudi Arabia and its Arab coalition partners that have hit civilian facilities with no apparent military target nearby. Houthi rebels, who have been the main target of Saudi Arabia’s five-month military campaign in Yemen, were not in the immediate area at the time, according to Ibrahim al-Razoom, the owner of the plant. A coalition spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asseri, said that the plant had been used by the Houthis to make explosive devices and was not, in fact, a bottling factory.
Japan plans to counter China's reach
Japan’s defence ministry has requested its biggest-ever budget to bolster its ability to protect outlying islands in response to China’s growing military reach in the region. The ministry has asked for 5.09 trillion yen for the financial year starting in April 2016, amid concern over Beijing’s construction of artificial bases in the South China Sea and its claims to the disputed Senkaku island chain in the East China Sea.
Myanmar passes anti-polygamy law
Myanmar's President Thein Sein signed a Monogamy Law on Monday, making it illegal for people to have more than one spouse. This is the last of the four so-called Laws to Protect Race and Religion, which were proposed by the hard-line Buddhist group, Ma Ba Tha. The group has accused Muslims of trying to take over the country by outbreeding its Buddhist majority. Those found guilty of having more than one spouse or living with someone other than their spouse could face a maximum jail sentence of seven years. Many rights groups condemned the law, saying it targets Myanmar's Muslim minority.
Ukraine guardsman killed in protest
A Ukrainian national guardsman was killed outside the parliament building and 90 others wounded by grenades hurled from a crowd of nationalist protesters on Monday The violence, which the government blamed on the main nationalist party, and division in the pro-Western camp in parliament suggested President Petro Poroshenko will struggle to push through key parts of a faltering peace agreement reached in February for eastern Ukraine. Poroshenko said that if parliament had not passed the draft, in line with Kiev's commitments, Ukraine would have been in danger of losing the support of its Western allies.
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Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday pressed European Union countries to do more to share the burden of refugees arriving in Europe on Monday. She said that the current situation, which has seen chaotic scenes in the western Balkans as tens of thousands of refugees and migrants head north towards Austria and Germany, was unsatisfactory. Merkel renewed her call for a new quota system to be introduced. This would see applications from asylum seekers shared between members of the 28-nation bloc. The Franco-German proposal will be discussed at a meeting of EU interior ministers on September 14.
At Least 13 reported dead in Yemen strikes
Airstrikes by the Saudi-led military coalition on Sunday killed at least 13 civilians at a water plant in northern Yemen. The bombings are part of the latest in a series of airstrikes by Saudi Arabia and its Arab coalition partners that have hit civilian facilities with no apparent military target nearby. Houthi rebels, who have been the main target of Saudi Arabia’s five-month military campaign in Yemen, were not in the immediate area at the time, according to Ibrahim al-Razoom, the owner of the plant. A coalition spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asseri, said that the plant had been used by the Houthis to make explosive devices and was not, in fact, a bottling factory.
Japan plans to counter China's reach
Japan’s defence ministry has requested its biggest-ever budget to bolster its ability to protect outlying islands in response to China’s growing military reach in the region. The ministry has asked for 5.09 trillion yen for the financial year starting in April 2016, amid concern over Beijing’s construction of artificial bases in the South China Sea and its claims to the disputed Senkaku island chain in the East China Sea.
Myanmar passes anti-polygamy law
Myanmar's President Thein Sein signed a Monogamy Law on Monday, making it illegal for people to have more than one spouse. This is the last of the four so-called Laws to Protect Race and Religion, which were proposed by the hard-line Buddhist group, Ma Ba Tha. The group has accused Muslims of trying to take over the country by outbreeding its Buddhist majority. Those found guilty of having more than one spouse or living with someone other than their spouse could face a maximum jail sentence of seven years. Many rights groups condemned the law, saying it targets Myanmar's Muslim minority.
Ukraine guardsman killed in protest
A Ukrainian national guardsman was killed outside the parliament building and 90 others wounded by grenades hurled from a crowd of nationalist protesters on Monday The violence, which the government blamed on the main nationalist party, and division in the pro-Western camp in parliament suggested President Petro Poroshenko will struggle to push through key parts of a faltering peace agreement reached in February for eastern Ukraine. Poroshenko said that if parliament had not passed the draft, in line with Kiev's commitments, Ukraine would have been in danger of losing the support of its Western allies.
