Hong Kong protests: China says protesters ‘trample rule of law’
China has accused protesters who vandalised Hong Kong’s parliament on Monday of “serious illegal actions” that “trample on the rule of law”.
A group of activists occupied the Legislative Council (LegCo) building for several hours after breaking away from a peaceful protest.
Hundreds of police used tear gas to clear the building.
Beijing urged the city to investigate what it called the “criminal responsibility of violent offenders”.
Hong Kong is part of China but is run under a “one country, two systems” arrangement that guarantees it a level of autonomy, and rights not seen on the mainland.
Jakarta residents to sue government over severe air pollution
The Indonesian capital topped the charts for the world’s most polluted city a dozen times in June
Tired of breathing in some of the world’s filthiest air, a group of activists and environmentalists in Jakarta has decided to sue the Indonesian government to take action.
Air quality in the south-east Asian metropolis has plunged dramatically in the past month and recorded worse conditions than notoriously polluted cities such as Delhi and Beijing.
Social media users have uploaded photographs of the Indonesian capital blanketed in smog under the hashtag, #SetorFotoPolusi.
Iraqi PM orders Iran-backed militias into army command
Baghdad has ordered militias to join the army and their leaders to choose between paramilitary or political activity. The move comes amid concern that Iraq could become a battleground as US-Iran tensions spike.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi issued has issued a decree seeking to bring mostly Iran-backed militias under the command of the armed forces.
The mostly Shiite militias fall under an umbrella grouping known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), powerful paramilitary and political forces that fought against the “Islamic State” alongside the US-backed Iraqi army.
In all there are about 140,000 battle-hardened armed men in militias in Iraq.
Venezuelan deputy faces trial for drone ‘hit’ attempt on Maduro
A Venezuelan politician accused of an attempt to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro using explosing drones will face trial after a court on Monday accepted charges against him, his lawyer said.
Opposition lawmaker Juan Requesens faces 30 years in prison if found guilty of the brazen attempt to kill Maduro as he attended a military parade in downtown Caracas on August 4, 2018.
Two drones packed with explosives flew towards President Maduro, causing panic among soldiers and civilians when they detonated during his speech.
Destination trouble: Can overtourism be stopped in its tracks?
Joe Minihane, CNN • Updated 2nd July 2019
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Other Democrats Reject “Staged” Tour of Migrant Detention Facilities
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ resisted the efforts of Customs and Border Protection officials to prevent her from speaking directly to migrants detained in El Paso, Texas on Monday, forcing her way into a cell filled with women during a visit by a Congressional delegation.
Emerging from the facility, Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter that one of the detained women “described their treatment at the hands of officers as ‘psychological warfare’ — waking them at odd hours for no reason, calling them wh*res, etc.”
Ocasio-Cortez told reporters, in Spanish and English, that conditions at the facility were unacceptable, and condemned the behavior of the officers she encountered there. The detained women were held without access to running water, Ocasio-Cortez said, and were “told by CBP officers to drink out of the toilet.”