BBC news with Marion Marshall.
In Japan, the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has retained a two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament after a snap election. But the turnout of about 52% was the lowest since the WWII, partly because of heavy snowfall. Mr. Abe has sought a renewed mandate for his radical economic policies, known as Abenomics, two years after coming to power. Mr. Abe told reporters he was determined to continue his efforts to turn around the Japanese economy.
“My Abenomics policies are still only half-way done, but I believe we’ve moved away from those dark times two or three years ago. I’m aware that there are still a lot of people who are still not feeling the benefits. But it’s my duty to bring these benefits to those very people, and I believe this election made that clear.”
Senior European Union officials have warned Turkey, a candidate for membership, that police action against opposition media outlets went against European values. More than 20 employees of a TV network and newspaper, close to the US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, were arrested. Mark Lowen in Istanbul reports.
“After a recent visit here by EU commissioners and Turkey-stated goal of reviving stalled membership talks, the criticism from Brussels will sting. Federica Mogherini, the EU’s Foreign Policy Chief, said today’s media raids were against European standards and values, and that further steps towards membership depend on respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights. The arrests are part of the government’s campaign against, what it calls, a parallel state planning a coup. But they will further deepen divisions here, critics saying Turkey is sliding towards authoritarianism.”
There has been a mixed reaction to a new deal on climate change agreed after two weeks of negotiations in the Peruvian capital Lima. The European Union said the draft text was a step towards a global agreement next year, while India said it was happy that rich countries would continue to bear the lion's share of cuts in global emissions. However, environmental groups said the plan was half-baked and would do little to tackle emissions of greenhouse gases.
In the Egyptian city of Luxor, a colossal statue of Pharaoh Amenhotep III has been put back on its feet more than 3,000 years after it was toppled by an earthquake. Alan Johnston reports.
“The earthquake brought the towering statue crashing down and for more than 30 centuries it laid broken in many places. But now the Pharaoh has risen again. The statue unveiled at the gate of a temple on the banks of the Nile's stands 30 meters high. Nearby, like a mirror image, is another figure of the Pharaoh stalled earlier this year. Both statues wear the symbolic white crown of upper Egypt, a fitting tribute to a man who ruled at the time when Egyptian civilization was at its height.”
BBC news.
The American Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Rome. The two men are expected to discuss the Ukraine crisis, Syria and a Palestinian bid for statehood. The talks, which observers expect to be tense, come after the US Senate passed a bill authorizing further sanctions on Moscow and a possibility of Washington supplying military aid to Kiev. Russia says it will respond if the White House signs the bill into law.
There have been reports of fighting in Libya for control of the main border crossing into Tunisia. Libya’s internationally recognized government says its forces have taken control of the Ras Jidr frontier post, but that has been denied by officials there who back a rival Islamist-led government in Tripoli.
A summit of Nobel prize winners has warned that the world is at a greater danger of a nuclear conflict than at any time since the end of the Cold War. In a final statement after three days of talks in Rome, the nine laureates said one of the great threats to peace was the view of some great powers that they can achieve their goals through military force. The Liberian Leymah Gbowee, who was a peace laureate in 2011, highlighted conflicts around the world.
“The conflict in Ukraine is trampling the stability of Europe, and is undermining its capacity to play a positive role in the world. The events in the Middle East are taking an increasingly dangerous turn. They are assisting or smuggling conflict in many parts of the world, particularly in Syria, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Ukraine.”
An accident at a hydroelectric power station under construction in Ecuador has killed 13 people, including 3 Chinese men working on the project. A witness said he heard a loud noise before a tunnel collapsed, flooding the engine room. Another 12 people were injured.