Libya, Iran, Brazil.

Today's three stories you should know.

Apr 26, 2023

Libya

At least 55 people, including women and children, drowned when the rubber dinghy they were travelling in sank off the coast of Libya, the UN migration agency said today. Libya is a regular departure point for people fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East trying to reach Europe. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said five people - three Pakistanis, an Egyptian and a Syrian child - survived and were taken back to Libya. The IOM said earlier this month that 441 people have drowned or gone missing off the coast of North Africa in just the first quarter of this year. Neighboring Tunisia has seen a huge upsurge in departures.

Iran

A top Shia cleric was shot dead at a bank in Iran today by a man wielding what appeared to be a sub-machine gun. Ayatollah Abbasali Soleimani was a former personal representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and served on the powerful Assembly of Experts, a group of 88 clerics that appoints the Supreme Leader. The governor of Mazandaran province, where the attack took place, said the gunman was a security guard at the bank and that no motive had yet been established.

Brazil

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro gave testimony at the country’s police headquarters today in connection with allegations that he goaded his supporters into storming government buildings in the capital Brasilia last January. A week after his rival Lula da Silva took office, crowds of Bolsonaro supporters, believing the election to be rigged, breached and trashed the Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace. If found guilty of involvement, the far right leader could find himself ineligible for upcoming elections or even jailed. As he left the Federal Police headquarters, the 68-year-old said to waiting journalists: “I miss you, OK? Hugs to everyone.”