WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Al-Shabab fighters are claiming to have seized control of Adan Yabaal, a town in central Somalia, on Wednesday.  Adan Yabaal is situated about 220 kilometres north of Mogadishu and serves as the logistical hub for government forces. Raids were launched by al-Shabab fighters before dawn on Wednesday, forcing the army to retreat after fierce battles, according to a security officer quoted…

50 refugees drown trying to reach Canary Islands

Around 50 refugees are reported to have died after news broke of refugee shipwrecks off the west coast of Africa.

The two separate refugee boats were attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands from Western Sahara at the time of the shipwreck.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) confirmed the deaths of 27 people who were found in the Atlantic alongside one survivor from Guinea.

Three Indigenous Peruvians killed protesting Canadian Oil firm

A protest in a Peru oil field on Sunday ended with at least three Amazon tribesmen killed by police and 17 other demonstrators injured.

The indigenous people from Peru’s Amazon were protesting against PetroTal Corp, a Canadian energy company after they announced they will be halting operations in their Loreto location.

PetroTal usually extracts around 12,00 barrels of crude oil from a production field in Loreto, in the northeast region of Peru.

Anti-government demonstration staged after activists arrest in Thailand 

Over 1000 anti-government protesters rallied in Bangkok’s commercial district on Saturday, after two protest leaders were arrested by Thai authorities and held overnight. 

Human rights lawyer, Anon Nampa, and student activist, Panupong Jadnok, were charged on Friday and held because of their connection with a series of protests demanding the ousting of a conservative government led by pro-military politicians and the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha. Both were released on bail on Saturday. 

Pending further investigation “the court’s condition was that the two not repeat actions like allegations from this case,” said Anon’s lawyer, Weeranan Huadsri, but they could join legal protests. 

UK considers blocking migrant boats in English Channel with military assistance

The United Kingdom is considering deploying the military to block migrants boats in the English Channel before they enter British-controlled waters. 

British Home Secretary Priti Patel has appointed Dan O’Mahoney, director of the Joint Maritime Security Centre since 2019 and a former Royal Marine, as the UK's ‘Clandestine Channel Threat Commander’, as the UK looks to block migrants from crossing the channel.

“Route is incredibly dangerous & we’re doing all we can to make it unviable,” Patel tweeted earlier.

Modi lays foundation for controversial Hindu temple at site of razed mosque

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, laid the foundation stone for a controversial Hindu temple dedicated to Ram in the northern city of Ayodhya where a mosque was demolished by Hindu mobs nearly 30 years ago.

Houses and other buildings close to the temple were painted yellow - Hindu colours - whilst Modi participated in a Hindu ceremony, marking a definitive milestone in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) efforts to shift India towards an overtly Hindu identity.

Myanmar government and ethnic armed agree to talks, amidst hopes of renewed peace process

Myanmar’s military and 10 ethnic armed groups agreed to hold bilateral meetings during the state-level Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC-S) meetings to discuss the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), amidst hopes of a renewed peace process between the groups.

The military and armed groups have assented to meet individually to talk over troop deployments and territorial boundaries proposed in the NCA.

Children asylum seekers expelled from US

Hundreds of children asylum seekers, some as young as 8 months, have been rapidly expelled from the United States to overflowing Guatemalan shelters, citing COVID-19 risks.

Shelter operators are seeing a rising number of children being sent back to Guatemala with many of them unable to return home due to gang violence and abuse.

Croatian President awards alleged war criminal despite involvement in Bosnian genocide

 

Photo of accused war criminal Zlatan Mijo Jelic

Croatian President, Zoran Milanovic, presented former general and alleged war criminal, Zlatan Mijo Jelic, an award for his service during the 1995 Croatian war of independence despite his involvement in the Bosnian genocide.

Over 135 killed in Beirut explosion

Over 135 people have been recorded as dead thus far and around 5,000 injured by two massive explosions that have torn apart the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

Canadians rally against Hong Kong Security law

Recent protests took place in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal in opposition to oppose Hong Kong’s new national security law.

The new security law has outraged Chinese communities in Canada as it is seen as an erosion of basic freedom and as a further attack against Hong Kong’s independence movement.