Sydney not yet under fire, but there's plenty of smoke

Where there's smoke (in Sydney), there's fire [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( Where there's smoke, there's fire. That's certainly true in Sydney, where wildfires are raging just an hour outside of the city. Indian police shot four rape suspects dead, provoking both applause and a national outcry. And in Madrid, Indigenous youth are getting their message out loud and clear. (We’re still beta-testing this newsletter, and we've just updated the design. Let us know your thoughts about this newsletter by replying to this email.) --------------------------------------------------------------- In the news today Australia burns, Sydney threatened [The haze from bushfires obscures the sun setting above the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, December 6, 2019.] Credit: John Mair/Reuters Wildfires raged on in Australia, and the weather hasn’t helped. Winds [pushed several blazes together north of Sydney]( on Friday, and the newly formed conflagration sent a hazy blanket of smoke over the city, prompting authorities to cancel sporting events this weekend and to encourage people who work outside to stay home. Bushfires have killed at least four people and destroyed more than 680 homes across eastern Australia since the start of November, months earlier than the usual summer bushfire season. Authorities are blaming an extended drought, strong wind and suspected arson. In Sydney, the lingering smoke has turned the daytime sky orange, cut visibility and led many commuters to wear breathing masks. The [fire’s front is now just an hour’s drive]( from Sydney. Also: [New South Wales 'living in fear' as bushfires rage]( And: [California megafires are common due to climate change]( --------------------------------------------------------------- NewsMatch Do you value the global journalism you read here every morning? [Make a gift]( to support our work now, and your donation will be matched. [Donate here](. Indian police kill four rape suspects Indian police [shot dead four men]( on Friday who were suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian near the city of Hyderabad — an action applauded by her family and [many citizens outraged over sexual violence against women](. However, some rights groups and politicians criticized the killings, saying they were concerned the judicial process had been sidestepped. The men had been in police custody and were [shot dead near the scene of last week's crime]( after they allegedly snatched weapons from two of the 10 policemen accompanying them. Thousands of Indians have protested in several cities over the past week following the veterinarian's death, the latest in a series of horrific cases of sexual assault in the country. The National Human Rights Commission, a government-funded watchdog, said it had [ordered an investigation](. "Death of four persons in alleged encounter with the police personnel when they were in their custody, is a matter of concern for the Commission," it said in a statement. Indian police have frequently been accused of extra-judicial killings, called "[encounters](," especially in gangland wars in Mumbai and insurrections in the state of Punjab and in disputed Kashmir. Police officers involved in such killings were called "encounter specialists" and were the subject of several movies. Also: [India woman set on fire on her way to rape case]( And: [Women are becoming 'electable' in India — even when they don't win]( Indigenous youth take global stage in Madrid to voice climate change worries [Ben Charles, who is Alaska Native, was named an emerging leader by the Inuit Circumpolar Council. Charles is present this week at climate talks in Madrid to send a clear message to leaders to take decisive action on climate change.]( Credit: Courtesy of Ben Charles Around the world, young people have recently been leading strikes, school walkouts and protests, bringing their concern of climate change to the conversation. And at the UN Climate Change Conference, currently being held in Madrid, Indigenous youth are making sure their concerns takes center stage. “We’re realizing that our leadership ... is [not taking the mandatory steps to save our future]( and [we have] to step into that position …” said 15-year-old Nanieezh Peter, during the convention of the [Alaska Federation of Natives]( back in October. On Thursday, Dec. 5, the Indigenous Climate Action Youth Delegation [sent a letter to Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change](, Johnathan Wilkinson. The delegation is concerned that the international agreement on greenhouse gas mitigation, the Paris agreement, is “disproportionately focused on market-based climate solutions.” They wrote carbon-based markets [“further enable the colonial legacy of dispossession, privatization, violence against Indigenous women and girls and destruction of Indigenous lands and culture for fossil fuel extraction](.” Also: [Without respect for Indigenous rights, climate change will worsen]( And: [Brazil's Bolsonaro wants to mine on Indigenous lands — illegally]( Hundreds of thousands take the streets in France It’s day two of a nationwide strike in France that has brought more than [800,000 protesters into the streets](. Transportation networks have ground to a halt, schools and hospitals are understaffed, and unions are digging in their heels in their strike against French [President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms](. The strike pits Macron, a 41-year-old former investment banker, against powerful unions who say he is set on dismantling worker protections. There were [cancellations of rush-hour trains into Paris]( on Friday and 10 out of 16 metro lines were closed while others ran limited services. As commuters took to their cars, traffic jams clogged the roads in and around the capital. Rail workers extended their strike through Friday, while unions at the Paris bus and metro operator RATP said their walkout would continue until Monday. "We're going to protest for a week at least, and at the end of that week [it's the government that's going to back down](," said 50-year-old Paris transport employee Patrick Dos Santos. Also: [France combats extremism with secularism — and a hotline]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Morning meme Young Swedish climate activist [Greta Thunberg made it to Madrid]( on her way to the COP25. Extra: [The Russia-China pipeline shows a growing alliance in reaction to US foreign policy](. Reuters contributed to this newsletter. --------------------------------------------------------------- In case you missed it on The World - [Japanese humanitarian killed in Afghanistan]( - [Balsamic vinegar for all]( - [Burkina Faso Islamist terrorism]( - [Berlin renters fight for their rights]( - [Measles prompts total shut-down of Samoa]( - [Italian 'Sardines' march against far-right]( - [Giuliani meeting former Ukrainian officials in Europe]( - [Tax-exempt atheists]( - [European soccer acknowledges racism has gotten worse]( - [When France is on strike, bring out the bikes]( - [Russia's growing pipelines]( Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. 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