U.S. SHIP CHALLENGES DISPUTED CHINA SEA

A U.S. Navy ship sailed close to artificial islands built by China in the disputed South China Sea waters early today, The Washington Post quoted a U.S. defense official as saying. The move is a direct challenge to China's territorial claims to this area, which the U.S. considers international waters. The USS Lassen, a guided-missile destroyer, reportedly approached the Subi Reef and Spratly Islands accompanied by Navy surveillance planes. This drew anger in China, where the foreign ministry characterized the action as "illegal" and the official news agency Xinhua described it as "an irresponsible game of brinkmanship dangerous to regional stability." Beijing officials said the "relevant authorities" monitored, followed and warned the ship as it entered the disputed waters, Reuters reports. "China will resolutely respond to any country's deliberate provocations," the foreign ministry later said in a statement.

VERBATIM

Photo: PPI/ZUMA

"The Islamic Emirate calls on our goodwilled countrymen and charitable organizations to not hold back in providing shelter, food and medical supplies to the victims of this earthquake," the Taliban of Afghanistan and Pakistan said in a statement, Reuters reports. The two regions were struck by a magnitude-7.6 earthquake yesterday that killed at least 300 people, mostly in Pakistan, and injured more than 2,000. "And it similarly orders its mujahideen in the affected areas to lend their complete help," the Taliban statement continued. Search and rescue teams have been sent to remote mountainous areas, where the impact of the quake is still unclear. But the relief effort has been complicated by unstable security caused by the Taliban insurgency.

"STRONG EVIDENCE" OF ROHINGYA GENOCIDE

There is "strong evidence" that the ruling, military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in Myanmar is guilty of genocide against the Muslim Rohingya people for political gain, according to an investigation by Al Jazeera and the Yale University Law School. "Given the scale of the atrocities and the way that politicians talk about the Rohingya, we think it's hard to avoid a conclusion that intent to commit genocide is present," Yale's Lowenstein International Human Rights Law Clinic has concluded. The Myanmar government allegedly triggered deadly communal violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya people before displacing tens of thousands of the Muslim minority to refugee camps and burning their homes.

366,000

There are currently 366,000 Syrian refugees in the Turkish capital of Istanbul, which is more than in all of Europe combined, International Rescue Committee head David Miliband told the AP Monday. He also said that the "iconic" image of the refugee living in a camp had changed and that most now want to earn a living while being displaced, even if that means working on the black market. According to the British Labour politician, 60% of refugees are now living in cities.

HOSPITAL HIT BY STRIKE IN YEMEN

A Yemeni hospital run by Doctors Without Borders was hit by several Saudi-led airstrikes last night while patients and staff were still inside the facility, the medical aid group said on Twitter Tuesday. Hospital director Ali Moughli told Le Figaro that the airstrikes lightly injured several people and destroyed everything inside, including medical instruments and supplies.

SAUDI PRINCE NABBED IN RECORD DRUG BUST

"His Royal Drugs," reads Tuesday's front page of Lebanese Arabic-language daily Al-Akhbar, one day after a Saudi prince and four others were arrested at the Beirut airport when authorities found more than two tons of illegal drugs on a Saudi-bound private jet. Read more in Le Blog.

MY GRAND-PÈRE'S WORLD

TURKEY ARRESTS 65 SUSPECTED ISIS MEMBERS

Turkish police arrested 65 people suspected of being linked to ISIS today in operations in the Konya, Kocaeli and Istanbul provinces, Daily Sabah reports. In the central city of Konya, which is considered an Islamist bastion, 30 people were detained.

WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO

Are new technologies making the wage system obsolete, turning employees into independents? No, writes Les Echos, workers aren't so much freelancing as moonlighting. "Looking at the creation of companies, the data confirms the impression that we're seeing an entrepreneurial revolution," the newspaper writes. "But looking at employment statistics, the so-called end of the wage system that has been forecast so many times sure is taking a long time to become apparent. How do we reconcile the contradictory notions that the statistics suggest? The answer is simple. The new paradigm is diversification, entrepreneurship as a complement to the wage system."

Read the full article, No, It's Not The End Of The Wage System.

ON THIS DAY

It's been 10 years since a series of riots in Paris and other cities across France began, prompted by tensions over youth unemployment. Time for today's 57-second shot of history.

HUG, KISS OR HANDSHAKE?

Greeting an acquaintance can sometimes lead to awkward situations in which one person goes for a handshake and the other for a hug, or even a kiss on the cheek. This is known as the hugshake. Luckily, researchers from the University of Oxford and Aalto University in Finland conducted a study about what it is socially acceptable, or not, when saying hello. They found the handshake is always the safest option.