Motorbike gangs threaten Taiwan’s streets
Marauding gangs of youth on motorbikes have taken over the streets of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s third largest city, harassing drivers and ignoring traffic laws.
Taiwanese authorities have launched a nationwide campaign to rid the streets of such gangs, which have been linked to the murders of at least two people.
But as Al Jazeera’s Steve Chao reports, the crackdown has not stopped the determined.
South Korea launches its first rocket into space
South Korea has launched its first rocket into space just a week after the Naro Space Centre abandoned a first attempt because of a software glitch.
Seoul says the launch is meant to get the country into the satellite market, but North Korea remains skeptical.
Al Jazeera’s Tony Birtley reports from Seoul, the South Korean capital.
Gaza children head back to school
Gaza’s children are starting a new school year, but Israel’s blockade and its January war on the territory mean many are doing so without adequate supplies. Al Jazeera’s Ayman Mohyeldin reports from one school in Gaza where classes are resuming.
Central Asia’s second-largest lake under threat
It is Central Asia’s second largest lake and home to more than three million people, but Kazakhstan’s Lake Balkash is under threat.
The desert-locked sea is shrinking due to over-irrigation, caused in part by industrial neighbours such as China.
Many are concerned it could suffer the same fate as the Aral Sea, and eventually disappear.
Al Jazeera’s Robin Forestier-Walker travelled with a team of scientists to Lake Balkhash – to find out why history could be about to repeat itself.