Burkina Faso
Terrible attack in Burkina Faso overnight. The government says about 100 civilians were killed in an assault on a village close to the border with Niger. No group has claimed responsibility but the western Sahel region has been at the center of a conflict between the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and armed groups with links to al-Qaeda and ISIS for years. In a previous newsletter I mentioned that millions of people across the region were in need of urgent food aid. That remains the case.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Iran
“You have only six years of classic education, and while respecting your seminary studies, I must say that one cannot manage the economy and draw up plans for the country with this much education."
Candidates in Iran’s upcoming presidential election took part in a TV debate on Saturday, marked by sharp exchanges on a faltering economy and the impact of US sanctions. The elections will be held on June 18.
Lots of detail from Reuters via Yahoo News here.
Ethiopia
The conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has been mentioned in several newsletters. The situation there is dire, there is no end in sight and, recent US sanctions aside, it is not getting enough international attention. Now Mark Lowcock, the UN’s humanitarian chief, says famine is imminent. Tigray was also the epicenter of the calamitous 1984/85 famine that captured world attention. “There is now a risk of a loss of life running into the hundreds of thousands or worse,” Lowcock said in a statement.
More from the Associated Press here.