11 SEPTEMBER 2015 8AM

Some opposition parties have highlighted the militarisation of the police service as one of the factors that has led to deadly confrontation between police and communities - leading to police killings. **Copper-cable thieves and others who commit infrastructure-related offences will face minimum sentences in future. **Rescue teams in Japan are trying to reach hundreds of people left stranded in homes or offices in the flooded city of Joso. **The flag of the State of Palestine will fly at the United Nations in a matter of weeks after the General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a measure to allow non-member Observer States to do so for the first time in the Organisation's 70 year history. SUDISHA