Somalia, Iran, Lebanon.

Today's three stories you should know.

Sep 21, 2022

Somalia

The US military said today that it had killed 27 al-Shabab fighters in an airstrike in Somalia. A fresh offensive against the armed group was launched this month, spearheaded by Somali government forces, allied militias and African union troops. The US has been carrying out air raids against Shabab for years now - something perhaps not widely known at home - and this is the sixth operation so far this year. Shabab, which controls swathes of countryside, has for more than 10 years been trying to topple the government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Iran

Major protests are spreading across Iran and looking like they could turn into something very significant. Rights groups say nine people have been killed as police opened fire on the crowds. As mentioned in Proximities earlier this week, the demonstrations began over the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was allegedly detained by so-called morality police for taking her hijab off. Since then, women have been taking off their veils in public and cutting their hair in solidarity with her. The protests are now reported to have spread to at least 20 cities.

Lebanon

Banks in Lebanon are to stay shut indefinitely, according to their representative body, which said it did not receive adequate guarantees from authorities following a spree of hold-ups last week. The raids were carried out by desperate people trying to access their own savings, in many cases to pay the hospital bills of sick relatives. As Lebanon goes through one of the worst economic crises in world history, banks have restricted people to taking out between $200 to $400 of their own money each month, leaving many with large amounts of savings devalued and effectively trapped. Reuters today published an interview with a woman who has been on the run since she held up a bank last week to retrieve $13,000 of her cancer-stricken sister’s savings. "We are in the country of mafias. If you are not a wolf, the wolves will eat you," she said.