Peru, Myanmar, Colombia.

Today's three stories you should know.

Jan 10, 2023

Peru

At least 17 people have been killed in anti-government protests in Peru as demonstrators demanded early elections and the release of jailed former president Pedro Castillo. The deaths bring to 39 the number of people killed in clashes with security forces since the protests erupted in December when Castillo was removed from office and arrested after he tried to illegally dissolve Congress in what his opponents said was a coup attempt. Peru has gone through years of political turmoil and President Dina Boluarte, who replaced Castillo, is its sixth leader in six years.

Myanmar

Myanmar has sentenced 112 members of the Rohingya minority, including 12 children, to between two and five years in prison for attempting to leave the country, according to state media. Five of the 12 children were under the age of 13 and sentenced to two years, the older children to three years, and the adults to five. A state newspaper said the children would be held at what it called a “youth training school.” The mostly Muslim Rohingya, often called the world’s most persecuted minority, are denied citizenship and other rights in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of them fled into neighboring Bangladesh in 2017 after a violent military crackdown that the US, Canada and other nations have said amounted to genocide.

Colombia

Colombia’s Vice President Francia Marquez, the country’s first Afro-Colombian vice president, said today that there had been an attempt to kill her with a bomb planted near her home. She said her security team had carried out “the deactivation and destruction of a high-capacity explosive device,” adding the device contained more than 15.4 lbs of explosives. Marquez, a respected environmental activist, was elected last year alongside President Gustavo Petro, the first leftist to become president in Colombian history. Environmental activists are often targeted in the country.