Interesting Global News

That brought to 101 the number of foreigners executed so far in 2024, according to the tally which is compiled from state media reports. This is almost triple the figures for 2023 and 2022, when Saudi authorities had put to death 34 foreigners each year, according to AFP tallies.

The Berlin-based European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) said this year's executions had already broken a record. "This is the largest number of executions of foreigners in one year. Saudi Arabia has never executed 100 foreigners in a year," said Taha al-Hajji, the group's legal director.

Saudi Arabia has faced persistent criticism over its use of the death penalty, which human rights groups have condemned as excessive and out of step with efforts to soften its forbidding image and welcome international tourists and investors. The oil-rich kingdom executed the third highest number of prisoners in the world after China and Iran in 2023, according to Amnesty International.

Foreigners executed this year have included 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, nine from Egypt, eight from Jordan and seven from Ethiopia. There were also three each from Sudan, India and Afghanistan, and one each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea and the Philippines.

Diplomats and activists say that foreign defendants usually face a higher barrier to fair trials, including the right to access court documents. Foreigners "are the most vulnerable group", said Hajji of the ESOHR.

The high number of executions undercuts statements by Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told The Atlantic in 2022 that the kingdom had eliminated the death penalty with the exception of murder cases or when an individual posed a threat to many lives.

Officials have suggested permission for wider use could be response to North Koreans joining war on Putin’s side

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Manipur in India's northeast has been rocked by periodic clashes for more than 18 months between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community, dividing the state into ethnic enclaves. Ten Kuki militants were killed when they attempted to assault police last week, prompting the apparent reprisal killing of six Meitei civilians, whose bodies were found in Jiribam district days later.

New Delhi has "ordered 50 additional companies of paramilitary forces to go to Manipur", a government source in New Delhi with knowledge of the matter told AFP on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorised to speak with media. Each company of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), a paramilitary unit overseen by the home ministry and responsible for internal security, has 100 troops.

India already has thousands of troops attempting to keep the peace in the conflict that has killed at least 200 people since it began 18 months ago. Manipur has been subject to periodic internet shutdowns and curfews since the violence began last year.

Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and jobs. Rights groups have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.

Several Israeli strikes in recent weeks on Baalbek in the east of Lebanon and Tyre in the south – both strongholds of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah – hit close to ancient Roman ruins designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The petition, signed by 300 prominent cultural figures, was sent to UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay on Sunday – a day before a special session in the French capital to consider listing Lebanese cultural sites under "enhanced protection".

It urges UNESCO to protect Baalbek and other heritage sites by establishing "no-target zones" around them, deploying international observers and enforcing measures from the 1954 Hague Convention on cultural heritage in conflict.

Change Lebanon, the charity behind the petition, said signatories included museum curators, academics, archaeologists and writers from Britain, France, Italy and the United States.

Enhanced protection status gives heritage sites "high-level immunity from military attacks", according to UNESCO. "Criminal prosecutions and sanctions, conducted by the competent authorities, may apply in cases where individuals do not respect the enhanced protection granted to a cultural property," it said.

The jihadists seized a third of Iraq, ruling their self-declared "caliphate" with an iron fist, before an international coalition wrestled control from them in 2017.

Iraq -- marred by decades of war and turmoil even before the rise of IS -- is home to more than a million internally displaced people. Baghdad has been pushing for the closure of the displacement camps, with the country having attained a degree of comparative stability in recent years.

Most of the camps in federal Iraq have now been closed, but around 20 remain in the northern autonomous Kurdistan region, which according to the United Nations house more than 115,000 displaced people. But for many, actually returning home can be a difficult task.

In an effort to close the camps and facilitate returns, Iraqi authorities are offering families around $3,000 to go back to their places of origin. To do so, displaced people must also get security clearance -- to ensure they are not wanted for jihadist crimes -- and have their identity papers or property rights in order.

But of the 11,000 displaced people still living in six displacement camps near Hassan Shami, 600 are former prisoners, according to the UN. They were released after serving up to five years for crimes related to membership of IS.

For them, going home can mean further complications. There's the risk of ostracism by neighbours or tribes for their perceived affiliation with IS atrocities, potential arrest at a checkpoint by federal forces or even a second trial.

Imrul Islam of the Norwegian Refugee Council said displacement camps by definition are supposed to be temporary, but warned against their hasty closure. When people return, "you need schools. You need hospitals. You need roads. And you need working markets that provide opportunities for livelihoods," he said. Without these, he said, many families who try to resettle in their home towns would end up returning to the camps.

Amnesty International revealed on Thursday that the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are using armored carriers from the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) which incorporate French military technology. The group highlighted the potential breach of the UN arms embargo on Darfur and called on all countries to cease supplying weapons to the conflicting parties in Sudan.

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Angry demonstrators staged dozens of rallies across the country, setting up mock gallows and erecting wooden crosses to symbolise the death of French agriculture. The new wave of action came after farmers across Europe including France mounted rolling protests last winter over a long list of burdens they say are squeezing revenue.

The French government is leading resistance against ratification of the trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay that would create the world's largest free-trade zone.

Farmers fear any agreement would open European markets to cheaper meat and produce from South American competitors, who are not forced to adhere to strict EU rules on pesticides, hormones, land use and environmental measures.

The European Union and the four founding members of Mercosur -- Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay -- have been working to make a trade pact between their blocs a reality for 25 years.

A draft of the resolution prepared by Britain and Sierra Leone, which was seen by AFP, had called on both sides to "immediately cease hostilities" and begin talks on "a national ceasefire."

"One country stood in the way of the council speaking with one voice. One country is the blocker," British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said after the vote, which showed 14 countries in favor and only Russia against.

During previous votes on Sudan in the Security Council, Russia had abstained.

The UN has been largely paralyzed in its ability to deal with conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza because of splits between permanent Security Council members, notably Russia and the United States.

The human inhabitants of Lopburi have long suffered from a growing and aggressive monkey population and authorities have built special enclosures to contain groups of the unruly residents. But on Saturday around 200 of the primates broke out and rampaged through town, with one posse descending on a local police station.

"We've had to make sure doors and windows are closed to prevent them from entering the building for food," police captain Somchai Seedee told AFP on Monday. He was concerned the marauders could destroy property including police documents, he added.

Around a dozen of the intruders were still perched proudly on the roof of the police station on Monday, photos from local media showed.

Down in the streets, hapless police and local authorities were working to round up rogue individuals, luring them away from residential areas with food.Around a dozen of the intruders were still perched proudly on the roof of the police station on Monday, photos from local media showed.

While Thailand is an overwhelmingly Buddhist nation, it has long assimilated Hindu traditions and lore from its pre-Buddhist era. As a result monkeys are afforded a special place in Thai hearts thanks to the heroic Hindu monkey god Hanuman, who helped Rama rescue his beloved wife Sita from the clutches of an evil demon king.

Prominent Russian opposition figures are leading a march of more than 1,000 people in central Berlin.

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"I exhausted the words to explain what's happening in the Middle East," Borrell told reporters, barely concealing his frustration at the EU's failure to weigh on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during his five-year mandate. "There is no more words," he said. "It's about 44,000 people killed in Gaza, the whole area is being destroyed, and 70 percent of the people being killed are women or children." "The most frequent ages of casualties are children below nine years old," said the 77-year-old foreign policy chief.

Borrell confirmed he would urge ministers Monday to suspend a political dialogue with Israel -- part of a wider agreement governing trade ties -- over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. But the proposal is expected to be given short shrift by numerous member states including key powers France and Germany, as well as Italy and the Netherlands.

Borrell has often been an outlier in denouncing what he views as Israel's excesses.

Labor government ‘not acting in good faith’ when it stands on global stage and promotes its climate credentials, special envoy at Cop29 says

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A New Hampshire company is working to develop a fleet of autonomous helicopters that it hopes can be used to put out fires, spray crops and handle other dangerous jobs.

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Margaret Hodge and Andrew Mitchell criticise ‘dither and delay’ that they say protects corruption and conflict

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A draft text seen by AFP, prepared by Britain and Sierra Leone, calls on the parties to "immediately cease hostilities and engage, in good faith, in dialogue to agree steps to de-escalate the conflict with the aim of urgently agreeing a national ceasefire."

Sudan has been ravaged since April 2023 by fighting between the regular army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who seized power in a 2021 coup, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his onetime deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 11 million people, including 3.1 million who have fled the country, according to UN figures.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who will preside over Monday's session, promised to "press for a resolution that ensures the protection of civilians and an unrestricted passage of aid."

While several diplomats told AFP they felt confident the text would be adopted, the position of Russia -- a veto holder on the council -- remained less clear. One diplomat said that during negotiations over the draft, Russia had appeared to become "visibly more aligned" with General Burhan's camp.

the draft asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to consider a possible system for "surveillance and verification" of an eventual ceasefire. Guterres himself made such a recommendation in a recent report, though he added that "at present, the conditions do not exist for the successful deployment of a United Nations force to protect civilians in Sudan."

Bangladesh’s interim leader and Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus says his administration will seek the extradition of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India, where has been in exile since fleeing a mass uprising in August.

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Venezuela released 107 protesters on Saturday who were detained for demonstrations over the presidential election in July, according to Alfredo Romero, director of the local rights group Foro Penal.

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In the latest violence in Gaza, the civil defence service said Israeli air strikes killed at least 20 people, including four women and three children.

The deadliest strike on Sunday killed 10 people in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, where another strike on a house claimed the life of a woman, said civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal. An Israeli drone strike killed five people in the southern city of Rafah, Bassal said, adding another strike killed three women and a child in the Nuseirat camp.

On Israel's second front in the north, AFPTV footage showed several strikes hit Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, shortly after the Israeli military warned people to evacuate. Columns of smoke were seen rising over the capital's southern suburbs, where Lebanon's only international airport is located. Further south, overnight Israeli air strikes and shelling hit the flashpoint town of Khiam, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported. The bombardment came after Israel's military reported a "heavy rocket barrage" on Haifa late Saturday and said a synagogue was hit, wounding two civilians.

A UN-backed assessment on November 9 warned famine was imminent in northern Gaza, amid the increased hostilities and a near-halt in food aid. Israel has pushed back against a Human Rights Watch report this week alleging that its mass displacement of Gazans amounts to a "crime against humanity", as well as findings from a UN Special Committee pointing to warfare practices "consistent with the characteristics of genocide".

Demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Saturday reiterated demands that the government reach a deal to free dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.

On Wednesday, jailed tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai will testify in his collusion trial, breaking the silence he has kept over five previous trials and almost four years in jail. He will take the stand the day after the sentencing of 45 pro-democracy politicians and activists for a subversion case triggered by their holding an unofficial election primary. Both cases could carry sentences of up to life in prison.

Western countries and international rights groups have condemned the two trials as evidence of Hong Kong's increased authoritarianism since Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in 2020.

"These are two cases that epitomise the collapse of human rights in Hong Kong since (then)," Amnesty International's China Director Sarah Brooks told AFP.

But China and Hong Kong say the law has restored order after the city was rocked by massive, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019, and have warned against "interference" from other countries.

The G20 summit in Rio aims to build consensus on taxing the super-rich for climate action and poverty relief. But as geopolitical issues take priority, President Lula may struggle to quell skepticism over the proposal.

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The head of Hezbollah's media office, Mohamad Afif, was one of the group's few remaining public faces.

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The four-storey block came down at around 9:00 am (0600 GMT) on Saturday in the east African country's busy Kariakoo market, in the centre of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam. Thirteen people have been confirmed dead, the presidency said Sunday, up from an initial figure of five. At least 84 people had been rescued from the rubble, President Samia Suluhu Hassan said

Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Albert Chalamila said earlier Sunday that more people were still trapped in the basement floor of the shattered building, without specifying how many.

Fire brigade chief John Masunga said the search and rescue operations had been hampered by the many walls making up the structure of the building.

It is not clear why the commercial building collapsed but witnesses told local media that construction to expand its underground business space began on Friday.

In the immediate aftermath of the collapse, hundreds of first responders used sledgehammers or their bare hands to search the rubble for hours before cranes and other heavy lifting equipment were brought in.

The incident has renewed criticism over unregulated construction in the Indian Ocean city of more than five million people. One of the world's fastest growing cities, Dar es Salaam has been the scene of a frenetic property boom with buildings shooting up quickly, often with scant regard for regulations.

While the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent prices around the world spiralling, Laos has found itself incapable of putting the brakes on inflation. Prices rocketed 23 percent in 2022 and 31 percent last year, while they are on course for 25 percent this year, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Families in particular have been hit hard as the cost of basic staples such as rice, sugar, oil and chicken doubled last year. A growing number of households are so desperate for food that they are now having to forage to supplement their diets, according to a World Bank household survey earlier this year.

Despite three decades of consistent economic growth, Laos remains one of the poorest countries in Asia, with limited transport infrastructure and a low-skilled workforce mostly employed in agriculture. Life expectancy is just 69 years and the ADB says that nearly one in three children under five is stunted because of malnutrition -- one of the highest rates globally.

In recent years, the government has borrowed billions of dollars from neighbour China to fund a $6-billion high-speed railway and a series of major hydropower dams -- aiming to become the "battery" of Southeast Asia. The World Bank warned in a report last week that public debt -- over $13 billion, or 108 percent of GDP -- was "unsustainable".

Interest payments totalling $1.7 billion are due in 2024 and an average of $1.3 billion for the next three years, further eroding Laos' foreign exchange reserves.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman told AFP Beijing was doing "all it can to help Laos ease its debt burden". But Laotians can expect more pain in the short term, with the ADB predicting inflation will stay above 20 percent until the end of next year at least.

PM does not rule out UK providing financial incentives to stop would-be asylum seekers making journey

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