State of emergency after police shooting

CHARLOTTE: Residents of Charlotte, North Carolina, woke up to a state of emergency and the National Guard and State Highway Patrol were deployed to their city yesterday, after a second night of unrest sparked by the fatal police shooting of a black man.

According to police, Keith Scott, 43, was shot and killed by officers on Tuesday after he refused to drop a “handgun”. His family and a witness to the shooting said Scott was holding a book, not a firearm.

A peaceful rally in response turned violent on Wednesday as protesters threw rocks at police and went on a looting spree. – Reuters

More spies for UK

LONDON: Britain’s foreign intelligence service is to get 40% more spies in one of the biggest expansions since the Cold War as MI6 seeks to harness new technology, the BBC said.

The Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, will see its numbers increase to 3 500 by 2020 from around 2 500.

MI6 chief Alex Younger said the Islamist terrorist threat to the West would last for years because simply taking back territory from the Islamic State would not solve the deeper global fractures which have fostered militants. – Reuters

‘Fertility Day’ flop

ROME: Italy’s efforts to combat infertility and reverse one of Europe’s lowest birthrates have stumbled with an ad campaign denounced as sexist, racist and ignorant of the economic reasons why Italians aren’t having babies.

Italy yesterday had its first “Fertility Day”.

But Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin was forced to remove a “racist” flyer showing light-skinned adults illustrating “good habits” for reproductive health, over young people, including a black man, smoking. – AP

‘Death penalty be gone’

TOKYO: Japan’s union of lawyers wants to lobby for the elimination of the country’s death penalty by 2020.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations, which aims to protect human rights and provide guidance to the country’s lawyers, will present the proposal to its members next month at an annual human rights convention.

Japan is one of the few industrialised nations that continues to implement capital punishment. Surveys show most of the population backs the death penalty. – dpa

Duterte talks tough

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he would invite foreign critics to come and investigate him for a spate of killings in the anti-drug war that has become a hallmark of his time in office.

Duterte said he would ask his executive secretary to send an invitation to UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon. The US and the European Parliament would also be asked to send their best lawyers and experts to the Philippines. “I am inviting them to come and investigate me,” he told soldiers and police officers during visits to their camps. – dpa

Refugees find home

DUBAI: The UAE Minister of State for International Co-operation has announced that the country would host 15 000 Syrian refugees over the next five years, to share global responsibility for the Syrian refugee crisis.

Reem bint Ibrahim al Hashemi told the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees: “The crisis of refugees and displaced persons is not confined to the Middle East. The UAE is committed to working with the international community to find collective, effective solutions to prevent further escalation of the global refugee crisis.” – Sputnik

Jets land on road

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s air force closed a major highway yesterday to practise landing jets on the road, in what it said was routine training not related to heightened tension with India after a deadly attack in the disputed Kashmir region.

The attack in the frontier town of Uri – the latest in a decadeslong dispute over Kashmir – has raised new fears of military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours. – Reuters