Burkina Faso, Israel, Japan.

Today's three stories you should know.

Feb 20, 2023

Burkina Faso

The death toll from an attack on government troops in Burkina Faso has risen to 51, military officials said today, as the country continues to grapple with an insurgency. The governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have for years been engaged in what appears to be a spiralling war with armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS. Thousands of people have been killed, about two million have been forced from their homes, and the violence has led to a humanitarian crisis. Public anger over the government’s inability to get the situation under control led to two coups last year.

Israel

Israel’s parliament has voted to move ahead with hugely controversial judicial reforms as tens of thousands of angry demonstrators thronged the streets of Jerusalem for the second week running. Opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition are calling the reforms, which will boost the government’s influence over the selection of judges and limit the power of the Supreme Court to strike down legislation, a threat to democracy. “This isn’t a small change to a piece of legislation,” Tamara Newman, director of international relations at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, told Al Jazeera. “This government will have absolute power.”

Japan

A panel at Japan’s justice ministry has proposed raising the age of consent from 13 to 16 as part of a series of reforms prompted by uproar over several rape acquittals in 2019. The current age of consent is the lowest of any developed nation. The justice ministry panel has also recommended legislation be introduced to criminalize the grooming of minors. The new laws could be passed as early as next summer.