Japan ‘not ready’ for invasion of redbacks as venomous Australian spiders reach Tokyo

Experts warn Japan’s medical system is not ready for an invasion of potentially deadly redback spiders, with limited supplies of the anti-venom available to authorities. About a dozen of the venomous Australian spiders were found in a small park in a residential area of Mitaka in Tokyo, terrifying local parents. The redbacks were quickly captured and exterminated by authorities but government official Motosugu Tanaka said they would not be able to stop them from spreading.

Brazil Water Crisis Seen Worsening As Sao Paulo Nears ‘Collapse’

Sao Paulo residents were warned by a top government regulator today to brace for more severe water shortages as President Dilma Rousseff makes the crisis a key campaign issue ahead of this weekend’s runoff vote. “If the drought continues, residents will face more dramatic water shortages in the short term,” Vicente Andreu, president of Brazil’s National Water Agency and a member of Rousseff’s Workers’ Party, told reporters in Sao Paulo. “If it doesn’t rain, we run the risk that the region will have a collapse like we’ve never seen before,” he later told state lawmakers.

Poll: 3 in 4 Israeli Jews oppose a Palestinian state if it means dividing Jerusalem

Even as Jerusalem and Washington locked horns earlier this month in a very public spat over construction in Jerusalem, more than three-fourths of the Jewish-Israeli public is opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state if it means dividing Jerusalem, according to a poll released on Sunday. The poll, sponsored by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, and conducted by the Shvakim Panorama research institute, found that 76 percent of the Jewish public opposed a Palestinian state if it meant dividing the capital, indicating that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took no political risks – and indeed reflected a wide consensus opinion – when he publicly sparred with the White House earlier this month over plans to build in Givat Hamatos and allow Jews to move into Silwan. Faced with sharp censure of the move, Netanyahu said that Jerusalem was not a settlement and that not only would Israel continue to build there, but that Jews would be able to buy property throughout the city, just as Arabs are allowed to do.

Pakistan Court Upholds Death Sentence Against Christian Woman Who Allegedly Drank Water From a Well Reserved for Muslims

A Christian woman who was given the death penalty last year for drinking water from a well reserved for Muslims in Pakistan has had her appeal against the sentence rejected by the Lahore high court. Breitbart reported on the original case last year, which arose after Aasiya Noreen, a fruit picker, stopped to refresh herself during the course of her day’s work. After she was caught drinking from the same cup used by Muslim women, the well was declared “Haram”, and Noreen was beaten for the offence, before being arrested.

Boy, 17, crucified for three days after ISIS militants accuse him of being paid to take photographs of the terror group’s HQ

Islamic State militants have publicly crucified and murdered a teenager they accused of taking photographs of the terror group’s headquarters in Syria. Sickening images purportedly taken in the central square of the extremists’ de facto capital Raqqa show the battered and bloodstained body of an unnamed 17-year-old boy strapped to a cross. A handwritten placard hangs around the teenager’s neck, accusing him of ‘apostasy’ – the abandonment of his religion – and says he had been crucified for three days after being caught receiving 500 Turkish lira for every photograph he took of an Islamic State military base.

North, South Korean Troops Trade Gunfire Across Border

Troops from the rival Koreas exchanged gunfire Sunday along their heavily fortified border in the second such shooting in less than 10 days, South Korean officials said. There were no reports of injuries or property damage, but the 10 minutes of shooting highlighted rising tensions between the divided countries. The Koreas’ first exchange of gunfire came after North Korea opened fire at balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets that were floating across the border from the South.

ISIS Has Three Warplanes In Syria?

Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria are training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets, a group monitoring the war said on Friday, saying it was the first time the militant group had taken to the air. The group, which has seized swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, has been flying the planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report and U.

Leaked draft confirms TPP will censor Internet and stifle Free Expression worldwide

This morning Wikileaks published a second leaked draft of the Intellectual Property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The draft confirms people’s worst fears about Internet censorship. That’s according to community-based organization OpenMedia, which is leading a large international Fair Deal Coalition aimed at securing balanced copyright rules for the 21st Century.

British Parliament votes in favor of Palestinian state recognition

Britain’s House of Commons voted in favor of recognizing a Palestinian state late Monday in a move that will not alter the government’s stance on the issue, but that carries symbolic value for Palestinians in their pursuit of statehood. Lawmakers in Britain’s lower house of parliament voted by 274 to 12 to pass a non-binding motion stating: “That this House believes that the Government should recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.

Richest 1 percent of people own nearly half of all global wealth

The richest 1% of the world’s population are getting wealthier, owning more than 48% of global wealth, according to a report published on Tuesday which warned growing inequality could be a trigger for recession. According to the Credit Suisse global wealth report (pdf), a person needs just $3,650 – including the value of equity in their home – to be among the wealthiest half of world citizens. However, more than $77,000 is required to be a member of the top 10% of global wealth holders, and $798,000 to belong to the top 1%.

Palestinians: We have 7 of 9 Security Council votes needed to force ballot on resolution to end ‘occupation’

A senior Palestinian official said Monday that the Palestinian Authority has mustered the support of seven of nine UN Security Council members needed to bring to a vote its resolution that would force an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines by November 2016. Speaking in an interview with the Bethlehem-based Ma’an News Agency, Sha’ath said, “We are at the stage of lobbying within the Security Council to get nine or more votes.” Sha’ath said that the PA was facing opposition to the move from the US, who was not only threatening to veto the resolution should it be brought to a vote, but also was urging other Security Council members to oppose the resolution and push back a vote on the measure until after US midterm elections in November.

South Korea warns North of ‘strong’ response after exchange of fire

South Korea said on Monday it had warned North Korea of a “strong” response if it provoked an incident similar to one last week that sparked an exchange of machinegun fire across their border. The warning came as South Korean President Park Geun-hye reiterated on Monday her commitment to engage with the North, despite what she called “the dual nature” of ties, saying the “door was always open to dialogue”. South Korea said the North Korean firing was a “provocative act” that had violated the truce suspending their 1950-53 war and the complaint was reiterated in a notice the South sent the North late on Sunday.

Horror of Kobani: Headless corpses left in the street and victims with their eyes ‘cut out’, the savagery of Isis laid bare

Survivors of the fighting in Kobani have spoken of the horrors they witnessed as Isis militants took control of parts of the town from Kurdish forces. Refugees in Suruc, Tukey, have told The Daily Mail how relatives and neighbours were beheaded by the militants, while another spoke of how he had seen “hundreds” of decapitated corpses in the besieged town. On Friday, the UN Syria envoy warned the hundreds still trapped in Kobani will be “massacred” by militants if the town falls, where only a small corridor remains open for people to flee.

China reports over 27,000 dengue fever cases

An outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever in China has killed six people and infected more than 27,200, a Chinese health authority spokeswoman said on Thursday. Song Shuli, spokeswoman of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said that this year witnessed an apparent increase of dengue cases with most of them found in China’s southern regions, including Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan and Guangxi. Unusually high temperatures and humid weather have contributed to a mosquito population in South China five times as high as normal, fuelling the outbreak, health officials said.

Where is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un?

The mystery of Kim Jong Un’s whereabouts deepened Friday after the North Korean leader appeared to have missed a ceremony to pay tribute to his late father and grandfather on what is an important national anniversary. Kim’s name was absent from the list of attendees at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on the 69th anniversary of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, issued by state news agency KCNA on Friday. The Workers’ Party, founded in 1945, is North Korea’s political party and is considered one of the country’s most crucial institutions alongside the military.

Temple Institute Raises One Hundred Thousand Dollars For Third Temple Plans

The Temple Institute’s crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the modern architectural plans for the Third Holy Temple in Jerusalem came to a close on Rosh Hashanah after surpassing its $100,000 goal in 60 days. The initiative began on the first day of the month of Av, when Jews commemorate the destruction of the ancient Holy Temples. Almost 900 pledges have come in from more than 30 countries worldwide.