Geneva / AFP A jailed scholar defending China’s mostly-Muslim Uighur minority was awarded a leading honour for human rights on Tuesday, a move swiftly condemned by Beijing. Ilham Tohti, who was handed a life sentence in 2014, won the Martin Ennals award for his outspoken criticism of Beijing’s policies towards Uighurs. “Ilham Tohti has worked for two decades to foster …

  Paris / AFP Big cities worldwide have expanded faster than their rapid transit systems, leading to higher levels of pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and commuter misery, a report released Tuesday showed. “Low-density, car-oriented development — known as ‘sprawl’ — has been the predominant urban form for cities in the past century,” said Michael Marks, a researcher at the non-profit, New …

  DUBAI / Reuters Most major bourses in the Gulf rose on Tuesday as oil prices held near one-year highs, while Egypt retreated after news that Saudi Arabia had suspended oil product supplies to the country this month. Riyadh’s stock index gained 1.5 percent, trimming its loss over the last four weeks to 8.4 percent. All 14 listed petrochemical producers …