Six In The Morning Tuesday 25 June 2019

Gangnam: The scandal rocking the playground of K-pop

Earlier this year, the meticulously managed world of K-pop was rocked by scandal.

Seungri, a singer in one of the world’s most famous boy bands, Big Bang, was questioned by police over allegations he was procuring prostitutes for his business and had embezzled funds at Burning Sun, a nightclub he part-owned in the exclusive Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea.

Several of his celebrity K-pop friends were also caught sharing sex videos and bragging in a chat room about raping women. One by one, Korean heartthrobs more used to being mobbed by fans found themselves fending off reporters as they made their way to the police station to face questions from drug-taking to rape.

‘Climate apartheid’: UN expert says human rights may not survive

Right to life is likely to be undermined alongside the rule of law, special rapporteur says

The world is increasingly at risk of “climate apartheid”, where the rich pay to escape heat and hunger caused by the escalating climate crisis while the rest of the world suffers, a report from a UN human rights expert has said.

Philip Alston, UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said the impacts of global heating are likely to undermine not only basic rights to life, water, food, and housing for hundreds of millions of people, but also democracy and the rule of law.

Iran says new US sanctions mean ‘permanent closure’ of diplomacy

Iran said on Tuesday that new US sanctions targeting the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials meant a “permanent closure” of diplomacy between Tehran and Washington.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing the sanctions on Monday, taking a dramatic and unprecedented step to increase pressure on Iran after Tehran’s downing of an American drone last week.

Washington said it would also impose sanctions on Iran’s Foreign Minister Zarif later this week.

“Imposing useless sanctions on Iran’s Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and the commander of Iran’s diplomacy (Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif) is the permanent closure of the path of diplomacy,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a tweet.

Intense heat wave to hit northern Europe

Record temperatures are predicted in northern Europe this week, with authorities in Germany and France on alert. Experts have said heat waves are on the increase worldwide, calling it further evidence of climate change.

A searing heat wave has begun to spread across Europe, with Germany, France and Belgium likely to experience extreme temperatures in the coming days.

In Germany, temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, topping the country’s previous June record of 38.2 degrees Celsius set in Frankfurt in 1947.

The short life and long journey of the 6-year-old girl from India who died near the US-Mexico border

Updated 0119 GMT (0919 HKT) June 25, 2019

Gurupreet Kaur crossed the US-Mexico border shortly before her 7th birthday.

The little girl wore a black short-sleeved shirt and black pants as she took her first steps in America.
Before long, temperatures in the Arizona desert would climb to 108 degrees.
Gurupreet’s mother would leave her with others as she went to search for water.
And she would never see her daughter alive again.

Ethiopia mourns after officials killed during failed coup bid

A day of national mourning observed and the government announces military funeral as the alleged coup leader is killed.

Ethiopia held a day of mourning on Monday in the wake of a failed coup bid in the country’s Amhara region that saw the killing of five senior officials.

Flags in the capital Addis Ababa flew at half-mast after a day of mourning was announced on state television.

“All of us will remember the people who lost their lives for our togetherness and unity,” a television announcer said, reading a statement from parliament speaker Tagesse Chafo.