Viral hepatitis growing more deadly
PARIS • Virus-caused hepatitis has become a leading cause of death and disability in the world, killing more people in a year than Aids, tuberculosis or malaria. Deaths from infection, liver disease and cancer caused by viral hepatitis increased by 63 per cent from 1990 to 1.45 million in 2013, according to data from 183 countries, said a report in The Lancet medical journal yesterday.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
New South Wales to ban greyhound races
SYDNEY • Greyhound racing will be outlawed in New South Wales from next year, after an investigation uncovered systemic animal cruelty, including mass killings and use of live bait.
State Premier Mike Baird said the inquiry, which found that 68,000 greyhounds bred in the past 12 years had been destroyed because they were uncompetitive, left no acceptable course of action except to close the industry down. The Australian Capital Territory will order a similar ban.
REUTERS
Germany passes landmark rape law
BERLIN • The German Parliament passed a landmark "no means no" rape law yesterday, broadening the definition of sex crimes and making it easier to deport migrants and refugees who commit them. The new legislation follows a rash of sexual assaults on New Year's Eve in Cologne, and explicitly covers cases in which a victim withheld consent but did not physically fight back.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
