The Mindanao Daily Mirror

THE WORLD MDMP9thursday | OCTOBER 31, 2019

AUSTRALIA UNITED STATES

LEBANON

CHILE

Protesters take to the streetsin Santiago, other cities

STREET CLASH. Demonstrators clash with riot police during protests against the government economic policies, in the surroundings of La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, Chile. PEDRO UGARTE/AFP

SANTIAGO, Chile | AFP | -- Thousands of Chileans took to the streets on Tuesday in nationwide demonstrations tinged with violence, protesting against embattled President Sebastian Pinera and calling for economic and political change.

In Santiago alone, some 10,000 people gathered in the main Plaza Italia square, with some attempting to make their way to the heavily cordoned presidential palace and engaging in clashes with riot police.

The skirmishing, which marked an 11th day of protests, saw water cannons and tear gas rounds from police as well as rock-throwing by demonstrators.

On Monday, violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces broke out only hours after Pinera announced a cabinet reshuffle.

Shops were looted while one building was engulfed in flames, reminiscent of the violence that erupted in the early days of the protests, which began on October 18.

"It's not about people who want social justice, who want things to be better, they are people who want destruction, chaos," said Karla Rubilar, the government's new spokeswoman.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Hernan Larrain said Tuesday that the government recognized there had been some situations involving law enforcement during the protests, in which at least 20 people have died, that "appear to be human rights violations."

And Amnesty International's tactical campaign and crisis response chief Cesar Marin said the organization -- which is investigating more than 100 complaints of police abuse -- is especially concerned about charges of "sexual torture," reports of eye injuries and situations in which police or military action directly led to a death.

A mission led the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights Michelle Bachelet -- Chile's former president -- is expected later this week.

Other demonstrations took place in the cities of Valparaiso and Concepcion Tuesday, according to social media. Agence France-Presse

SYDNEY, Australia | AFP | -- Hundreds of koalas are feared to have burned to death in an out-of-control bushfire on Australia's east coast, wildlife authorities said Wednesday.

A bushfire believed to have been sparked by a lightning strike on Saturday some 400 kilometers (248 miles) north of Sydney has ravaged an area of over 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) with authorities battling to bring it under control.

Wildlife rescuers in northern New South Wales state hold grave fears for a "very rare" population of hundreds of koalas living in the fire zone.

"The special importance of those koalas is that they are very genetically diverse," Sue Ashton, president of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, told AFP.

Her fears are that "hundreds" in the known koala breeding area "have perished in the fire".

"It's a national tragedy

because this koala population is so unique," she added.

Land clearing and development over time has meant a loss of habitat for the tree-dwelling koalas, leading to less connectivity between populations, increased inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity of the marsupial.

More than 70 fires continue to burn across the state of New South Wales, which has been battling severe drought.

Authorities say conditions are easing near Port Macquarie, where large air tankers are being used to battle the out-of-control blaze.

"The fire will continue to burn throughout the night, however there are significant resources in the area protecting properties," New South Wales Rural Fire Service said in their latest update.

But if the fire intensifies and continues to burn up the tree "they'll perish,'' Ashton added. Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON, United States | AFP | -- Drug overdoses have driven the first significant reduction in US life expectancy since the AIDS epidemic in the 1990s, an official report published Wednesday showed.

Americans have lost almost four months of longevity since 2014, the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

"This is the first big drop since 1993, and the main driver behind that was the

HIV epidemic," Renee Gindi, a health statistician for the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics told AFP.

An American born in 2017 can expect to live an average of 78.6 years, compared to 78.9 years in 2014, according to the report which confirms previously published preliminary data.

Up until the 1960s, life expectancy was under 70 years.

The recent decline illustrates the devastating impact of the opioid crisis,

especially synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which can be deadly even in minute quantities of a few milligrams.

Opioid overdoses killed 32,000 people last year, according to provisional figures.

The United States ranks 28th among OECD countries in life expectancy. Japan is highest at 84.2 years.

Apart from overdoses, suicides and the rising death toll caused by Alzheimer's disease were also responsible

for the erosion of life expectancy, which was much more marked in men than in women.

Gindi compared the period to 1992-93, the height of the HIV epidemic.

"That drop in life expectancy that we started to see was a real clarion call to say that this was an issue that needed attention and that was, in a very similar way, killing people who are in these younger age groups," she said. Agence France-Presse

BEIRUT, Lebanon | AFP | -- Lebanon's prime minister submitted his government's resignation on Tuesday, bowing to nearly two weeks of unprecedented nationwide protests against corruption and sectarianism.

Saad Hariri's sombre

televised address was met by cheers from crowds of protesters who have remained mobilised since October 17, crippling the country to press their demands.

"It has become necessary for us to make a great shock to fix the crisis. I am going to the

Baabda Palace to submit the government's resignation," said Hariri, who had already stepped down twice from the same post.

He said his decision comes "in response to the will of many Lebanese who took to the streets to demand change".

The move, the demonstrators' most significant win yet, will trigger the complicated task of parliament forming a new government -- if the president accepts it. Agence France-Presse

Hundreds of rare koalasfeared dead in bushfire

Drug overdoses driving downlife expectancy: health officials

Prime Minister Hariri resigns,protesters demand ‘more’