India, Senegal, Turkey.

Today's three stories you should know.

Jun 03, 2023

India

The death toll from a horrific three-train crash in India has reached at least 261 with about 1,000 people injured, according to officials, making it one of the deadliest train accidents in the country’s history. Rescue operations finished today and attention will now turn to identifying the bodies. Hundreds of railways accidents happen in India every year with most blamed on dilapidated equipment or human error. More than 12 million people ride 14,000 trains every day, travelling on 64,000km of track.

Senegal

Senegalese authorities have shut down social media sites and closed a university as the African Union and the United Nations called for calm after at least 10 people were killed in opposition-led protests. Demonstrators poured into the streets in anger after opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was sentenced to two years in prison on a charge of corrupting the youth but acquitted on a rape charge. Sonko has said the cases against him are part of a plot to stop him from running in a presidential election in 2024.

Turkey

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in for a new five-year term today, which will extend his already 20 years in power to a quarter of a century. Erdogan won 52.2 percent of the vote against rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s 47.8 percent despite fierce criticism of his handling of the country’s economy and his response to a devastating earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people. The first thing on his plate is a desperate cost of living crisis that has seen inflation spiral to 43.70 percent.