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Dozen more drone sightings reported over Paris
Indonesia foresees diplomatic strain as Bali Nine pair arrive on execution island
Apple and Google 'FREAK attack' leaves millions of users vulnerable to hackers
Colombia arrests captain of arms-trafficking ship bound for Cuba
Iran nuclear deal 'will be a farewell to arms control', Netanyahu tells Congress
More than 30 killed in explosion at coal mine in Donetsk, says official
Reports journalists were banned from asking about West Papua condemned
Ebola ‘leaves 12,000 orphans in Sierra Leone’
US billionaire Paul Allen discovers wreck of Japan's biggest warship Musashi
The East India Company: The original corporate raiders
From the archive, 4 March 1970: Vision of Willy Brandt, MP
Japanese prime minister under pressure over political donations
Russia's House of Cards? TV channel campaigns for country's first political drama
Are you special, basic or complex? Behind North Korea's caste system
Anzac's 1,000km outback journey to enlist in 1915 retraced by grandson
How Indonesia carries out the death penalty: rules of execution
Grandson of Anzac Albert Borella arrives in Darwin after re-enactment journey - video
More than 100 refugees on Nauru arrested as police crack down on peaceful protests
Refugee punched during Nauru protest – video
Bali Nine duo arrive on execution island amid Australian pleas for mercy

Dozen more drone sightings reported over Paris

Posted: 04 Mar 2015 01:39 AM PST

Police investigate latest incidents – above river Seine, Place de la Concorde and Invalides military museum – taking total number to 60 since October

Indonesia foresees diplomatic strain as Bali Nine pair arrive on execution island

Posted: 04 Mar 2015 12:50 AM PST

Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran taken to Nusa Kambangan, where they will be granted 72 hours' notice before facing a firing squad

Apple and Google 'FREAK attack' leaves millions of users vulnerable to hackers

Posted: 04 Mar 2015 12:32 AM PST

Technology giants hurrying to fix a longstanding security flaw caused by US companies being forced to sell weakened encryption software to overseas customers

Millions of people may have been left vulnerable to hackers while surfing the web on Apple and Google devices, thanks to a newly discovered security flaw known as "FREAK attack."

There's no evidence so far that any hackers have exploited the weakness, which companies are now moving to repair. Researchers blame the problem on an old government policy, abandoned over a decade ago, which required US software makers to use weaker security in encryption programs sold overseas due to national security concerns.

Colombia arrests captain of arms-trafficking ship bound for Cuba

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 11:59 PM PST

Authorities find 100 tonnes of gunpowder and 3,000 artillery shells amid cargo
Documentation for Hong Kong-flagged ship made no mention of ammunition

The captain of a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship has been arrested in the Colombian port city of Cartagena, charged with arms trafficking for transporting undocumented large-caliber munitions, reportedly bound for Cuba.

The captain of the Da Dan Xia, a Chinese national identified as Wu Hong, was captured after authorities found 100 tonnes of gunpowder and 3,000 artillery shells among other munitions, an official from the Attorney General's office told reporters.

Iran nuclear deal 'will be a farewell to arms control', Netanyahu tells Congress

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 11:55 PM PST

Israeli prime minister received loud applause in Congress and Barack Obama issued a stinging rebuttal saying Netanyahu had said 'nothing new'

Binyamin Netanyahu has urged a packed US Congress to resist an emerging deal to contain Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons in a fiery speech that may significantly complicate ongoing international negotiations in Switzerland.

Despite a boycott by up to a quarter of House Democrats and eight senators, the Israeli prime minister received loud applause from both sides of the joint meeting of Congress when he pleaded with them to block any lifting of economic sanctions in return.

More than 30 killed in explosion at coal mine in Donetsk, says official

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 11:54 PM PST

Ukrainian rescuers hope to enter the mine after removing poisonous gases.

An early morning coal mine blast in the eastern Ukrainian rebel stronghold of Donetsk has killed more than 30 people and injured 14, a local official said.

About 70 people were working underground at the time of the explosion, a local emergencies ministry official told the Donetsk separatist press service.

Reports journalists were banned from asking about West Papua condemned

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 11:23 PM PST

Journalists in Papua New Guinea say they were told not to ask Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi about West Papua and reporters in the Solomon Islands say they were 'uninvited' to an event with Marsudi

Ebola ‘leaves 12,000 orphans in Sierra Leone’

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 11:00 PM PST

UK charity's survey shows scale of crisis caused by disease, with children who lost parents facing a dire future

US billionaire Paul Allen discovers wreck of Japan's biggest warship Musashi

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 10:59 PM PST

Microsoft co-founder says his exploration vessel M/Y Octopus found the battleship off the coast of the Philippines

The East India Company: The original corporate raiders

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 09:59 PM PST

For a century, the East India Company conquered, subjugated and plundered vast tracts of south Asia. The lessons of its brutal reign have never been more relevant

From the archive, 4 March 1970: Vision of Willy Brandt, MP

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 09:30 PM PST

Parliament welcomes the West German chancellor with simple ceremony and diplomacy

Japanese prime minister under pressure over political donations

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 09:14 PM PST

Shinzo Abe denies knowing of donations given by companies that had received government subsidies

Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has denied any knowledge of
receiving donations from firms that had received government subsidies,
as he attempted to dodge allegations over financial impropriety that
have felled three of his ministers in recent months.
Japanese media said Abe's constituency Liberal Democratic party [LDP]
received 620,000 yen (US$5000) from two chemical companies in 2012 and 13,
within a year of being awarded government subsidies.
It is illegal for Japanese politicians to receive donations from firms
less than a year of being notified that they will receive state
subsidies.
But politicians will not face criminal charges if they can prove they
were unaware that the firms involved are to be awarded subsidies.
Abe will be keen to avoid a repeat of his disastrous first term as
prime minister, which ended after just one year following a slew of ministerial scandals.
On Wednesday, senior officials moved quickly to limit the fallout from
reports suggesting that his justice, environment and education
ministers had received questionable donations. All three have denied
any wrongdoing.
Last week, the agriculture minister, Koya Nishikawa, quit after
questions were raised over his political fundraising. His replacement,
Yoshimasa Hayashi, admitted receiving money from firms that had been
awarded state cash but said he was unaware of the subsidies at the
time.
The economy minister, Akira Amari, meanwhile, said he would return
120,000 yen he received from a company that received state subsidies.
Abe acknowledged that his constituency party in Yamaguchi prefecture,
southwest Japan, had received the donations, but told a parliamentary
panel: "I really didn't know what I didn't know, and I can't say more
than that."
He added: "It is a problem if politicians exercise their political
power to respond to a request in exchange for money," but did not
indicate if he would return the donations.
Abe, a conservative who took office in late 2012 promising to lift the
economy out of two decades of stagnation and give Japan a more
prominent role in international affairs, has lost three cabinet
colleagues to scandals since last year.
In addition to Nishikawa's resignation last week, two ministers quit
on the same day last October over alleged misuse of political funds.
Analysts said the current donations scandal was unlikely to inflict
lasting damage on Abe, whose approval ratings are above 50 percent –
high for a Japanese leader who has been in power for more than two
years.
He is also likely to benefit from similar allegations being made
against the leader of the country's main opposition party, Katsuya
Okada, whose constituency party received 240,000 yen in donations from
a firm in receipt of state subsidies.
"If this is the scope, I don't think there will be much impact [on
Abe]," said Atsuo Ito, an independent political analyst.

Russia's House of Cards? TV channel campaigns for country's first political drama

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 09:00 PM PST

Independent station has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise 18 million roubles for programme that imagines an opposition win at the 2018 election. The Calvert Journal reports

Independent Russian news channel Rain TV has launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise money for a new television series, described by its writers as Russia's first-ever political drama.

The new programme, called Zavtra (Tomorrow), is set in 2018 following the next presidential election. In this version of Russia's future, an opposition politician unexpectedly wins the election, leaving Russia's parliament under the control of a new, centre-left coalition. Grappling with a Russia in the midst of an energy crisis, the protagonists of Zavtra — employees of the new presidential administration — have to find a new prime minister, form a cabinet, tackle corruption and reform the country. Rain TV aired the pilot episode on 23 February.

Are you special, basic or complex? Behind North Korea's caste system

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 09:00 PM PST

'Songbun' separates citizens according to ancestral and social standings - or whether they've had their photograph taken with the great leader. But how will it coexist with Kim Jong-un's proposed reforms?

Anzac's 1,000km outback journey to enlist in 1915 retraced by grandson

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 08:33 PM PST

In 1915, Albert Borella travelled from Tennant Creek to Darwin to enlist in the first world war, where he served in Gallipoli and then the western front, earning a Victoria Cross. Now, 100 years later, his grandson has retraced his steps

How Indonesia carries out the death penalty: rules of execution

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 08:23 PM PST

As Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran await execution along with nationals from Brazil, France, Ghana, the Philippines and Nigeria, Indonesia sets out the rules governing their deaths

Grandson of Anzac Albert Borella arrives in Darwin after re-enactment journey - video

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 08:00 PM PST

Richard Borella completes his part in the retracing of his grandfather's 1,000km journey to enlist in the first world war. Albert Borella travelled from Tennant Creek to Darwin in 1915. From there, he caught a boat to Townsville, since enlisting was not allowed in the Northern Territory. The federal government has spent $1.7m on the re-enactment of Borella's journey as part of the Anzac centenary commemorations Continue reading...

More than 100 refugees on Nauru arrested as police crack down on peaceful protests

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 07:48 PM PST

Arrests come after Nauru police warn refugees not to gather in groups, and footage emerges of refugees being assaulted during a demonstration

Nauru's director of police warns refugees they will be arrested for protesting

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Refugee punched during Nauru protest – video

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 07:30 PM PST

As refugees protested their resettlement and poor living conditions on Nauru over the weekend, a refugee filming the situation on a phone is punched by a man in civilian clothing who appears from behind the police line. As the demonstration escalates, men, women and children can be seen scattering Continue reading...

Bali Nine duo arrive on execution island amid Australian pleas for mercy

Posted: 03 Mar 2015 07:20 PM PST

Australian foreign minister calls death sentence for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran 'unacceptable and unthinking' as Tony Abbott admits Indonesia's position is hardening

Two Australian men on death row in Indonesia have arrived on the prison island where they are due to be executed, while the Australian government insists there are still legal avenues available to spare the lives of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

The convicted drug smugglers, who were sentenced to death for their role in the so-called Bali Nine syndicate, were moved from Bali's Kerobakan prison on Wednesday morning and flown to the port of Cilacap.