Nigeria, Syria, Burkina Faso.

Today's three stories you should know.

May 19, 2023

Nigeria

At least 100 people have been killed in fighting between farmers and nomadic herders in Nigeria’s north-central state of Plateau. The death toll could rise as people were reported to be searching through the bush for more bodies. The violence erupted, locals say, when farmers killed a herder and his cattle after they encroached on his land. Herder gunmen then stormed villages, burning down houses and killing residents, including women and children. Conflict often breaks out between farmers and herders as they compete for land and resources. Experts say climate change and the expansion of large-scale agriculture is making the violence more common.

Syria

It was all smiles, handshakes and kisses today as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad attended his first Arab League summit in more than a decade. Syria was suspended from the regional bloc in 2011 when a crackdown on anti-government protests morphed into one of the worst civil wars the region has ever seen. With the conflict now in stalemate and Assad’s forces back in control of most of the country, Arab leaders appear to have calculated that he is going nowhere. "I hope that it marks the beginning of a new phase of Arab action for solidarity among us, for peace in our region, development and prosperity instead of war and destruction," he told delegates. More than half a million people have been killed in the war and half of the pre-war population forced to flee their homes, creating the world’s worst refugee crisis.

Burkina Faso

An 88-year-old Australian doctor has been freed after seven years as a hostage in Burkina Faso. Ken Elliott and his wife were kidnapped by an Islamist armed group from a medical clinic they had run for four decades. Jocelyn Elliott was freed three weeks later. Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said no ransom had been paid to secure Elliott’s freedom and no other particulars of the release were made public.