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Doctors outside a health clinic in Leeds are on strike. Danny Lawson / AP  

 

British strikes  

Tens of thousands of doctors on five-day strike in England  

 

In England, tens of thousands of doctors have gone out on a five-day strike today, writes the BBC. It is the longest ever strike by the medical profession. The strike comes after mainly junior doctors have requested better working conditions and more pay. The doctors want a 35 percent salary increase to end up at the same salary level as in 2008 including inflation. 

 

According to information to the BBC, the government is considering raising wages in the public sector by approximately six percent.  

 

The strike began at seven this morning local time and ends at the same time on Tuesday. 

 

Protesters in Nairobi, Kenya AP 

 

Political situation in Kenya  

Large demonstrations in Kenya – 300 people arrested  

 

Seven people have died and over 300 people have been arrested in Kenya after violent anti-government protests, AFP reports.  

 

The demonstrators are protesting against increased taxes and the high cost of living in the country. The police allegedly met the demonstrators with violence and, among other things, used tear gas against civilians. 

 

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has said he will continue to support the protesters until the arts of life go down.  

 

Marshland in Chibayish, Iraq. Anmar Khalil / AP  

 

Climate threatGlobal challenges  

Iraq's swamps are drying up - and with them old cultures are dying  

 

Iraq's wetlands are drying up. Mohammed Hamid Nour, 23, has lost most of his buffalo herd in what the UN calls the country's worst drought in 40 years. 70 percent of the wetlands have dried up. 

 

- I beg you, Allah! Have mercy, he pleads.  

 

The worse the drought gets, the saltier the water that remains and the buffalo that drink it die. 

 

The swamps of Mesopotamia have been classified as a World Heritage Site by Unesco. The Ma'adan people, in Swedish wood scarabs, have hunted and fished in the areas for thousands of years. The AFP news agency has traveled through the landscape where the ancient cultures are now threatened. At dawn, the temperature is 35 degrees and then shoots away upwards of 50 degrees.  

 

According to the UN, Iraq is one of five countries most affected by climate change. Rain is becoming increasingly rare and in the next 25 years the average temperature is expected to rise by 2.5 degrees.