Myanmar, Tunisia, Somalia.

Today's three stories you should know.

Apr 11, 2023

Myanmar

Up to 100 people, many of them children, have been killed in a government air raid in Myanmar, witnesses and survivors told media organizations, in what appears to be the deadliest incident yet in the country’s ongoing civil war. Locals said fighter jets dropped bombs directly onto a group of people attending the opening of an opposition office and then followed up with helicopter attacks. An insurgency has raged in Myanmar since the military toppled a democratically-elected government in February 2021. The attack took place in the north-western Sagaing region, which has been a bastion of rebellion against the government since the conflict began.

Tunisia

Police in Tunisia fired teargas and wielded batons today as they broke up a camp where homeless people from sub-Saharan Africa had been living in the capital Tunis. Journalists at the camp, which was beside the offices of the UN refugee agency, reported that several people were arrested. Many Black Africans have been desperately trying to leave the country since its president, Kais Saied, made a racist speech in which he said their presence was a deliberate attempt to change the demographics of the mostly Arab nation. The remarks unleashed a wave of violence and recriminations against migrants, with people being attacked in the street, sacked from their jobs and forced from their homes. Ivory Coast, Guinea and Burkina Faso are among several nations to have evacuated citizens since the race row erupted.

Somalia

Yet another appeal for Somalia. Yet another appeal to help people at risk of starvation. Yet another appeal that won’t make international headlines. Visiting the country’s capital Mogadishu today, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it needed “massive international support.” Somalia is going through its worst drought in decades with up to six million people food insecure and many already living in famine-like conditions. It is also grappling with insecurity as the al-Shabab armed group, against which the government has recently launched a major offensive, launches regular hit and run attacks. Guterres said he was in Somalia to “ring the alarm.”