Iraq
The death toll from a fire in a COVID-19 isolation ward in Iraq has increased to a horrific 92. The blaze started when sparks from faulty wiring hit an oxygen tank causing it to explode, police said. Grieving relatives gathered outside the hospital in the city of Nasiriya to help search for survivors and to express anger toward the government. The region’s health director, the hospital director and the city’s civil defense chief have all been suspended and arrested. A full investigation has been ordered, according to local officials.
More from Middle East Eye here.
Bahrain
Death sentences in Bahrain have risen dramatically since the 2011 Arab Spring, increasing more than 600 percent with 52 people executed in that time, according to a report from rights groups Reprieve and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. Some 88 percent of those executed in the last decade were convicted of “terror” offences - a charge rights groups say is often levelled at political opposition.
More from Al Jazeera here.
South Africa
Riots in South Africa over the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma have been mentioned in a couple of recent newsletters and they are continuing to escalate. At least 72 people have now died, including 10 killed in a stampede at a shopping mall as it was looted. The military is now on the streets and 1,234 people have been arrested.
More from BBC here.