TNT PRESS

Millions of Nigerians go hungry as floods compound hardship

16Nov

By No Comments

World

Millions of Nigerians go hungry as floods compound hardship

Mariam Hassan, who was displaced by flood shells cowpeas, as she sits outside her shelter in Banki, in Maiduguri, Nigeria October 30, 2024. GUBIO, Nigeria — Unrelenting price rises and a brutal insurgency had already made it hard for Nigerians in northeastern Borno State to feed their families. When a dam collapsed in September, flooding the state capital and surrounding farmland, many people ran out of options. Now they queue for handouts in camps for those displaced by fighting between extremist Boko Haram rebels and the military. When those run out, they seek work on local farms where they risk being killed or raped by local bandits. "I can\'t even cry anymore. I\'m too tired," said Indo Usman, who tried to start again in ...

Ukrainians face harsh winter as Russian attacks destroy energy infrastructure

16Nov

By No Comments

World

Ukrainians face harsh winter as Russian attacks destroy energy infrastructure

FILE - An elderly woman collects wood ahead of the winter in an area that was recently shelled in the village of Yasenove, south of the city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, on Oct. 8, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. GENEVA — Ukraine is heading into its third, most challenging winter since the war started nearly 1,000 days ago because “systematic attacks” by Russia have damaged and destroyed most of the country’s energy infrastructure, a senior U.N. official warned. “I am told that by now, 65% of Ukraine’s own energy production capacities has been destroyed,” Matthias Schmale, resident and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, told journalists Friday in Geneva. “There are a lot of worries that the Russian Federation’s military fo...

Member of Vietnam president‘s delegation arrested in Chile for ‘sexual assault’

16Nov

By No Comments

Asia-pacific

Member of Vietnam president‘s delegation arrested in Chile for ‘sexual assault’

By RFA Vietnamese2024.11.12Read more on this topic in Vietnamese.Updated Nov. 12, 2024, 08:20 a.m. ET.A member of Vietnamese President Luong Cuong’s official delegation to Chile has been arrested on sexual assault charges, according to Chile’s foreign ministry, prompting an official apology for a scandal that has overshadowed Cuong’s first presidential visit abroad. Police detained “a member of the security forces of the Vietnamese delegation” on Sunday after he was accused of sexual abuse by a Chilean citizen, the ministry said.Chilean President Gabriel Boric, left, welcomes Vietnam\'s President Luong Cuong to La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, Chile, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. Chilean President Gabriel Boric, left, welcomes Vietnam\'s President Luong Cuong to La Moneda presidential p...

Petrol prices projected to decrease in Nigeria amid new agreements

16Nov

By No Comments

World

Petrol prices projected to decrease in Nigeria amid new agreements

FILE - A view of oil installations at the Dangote refinery during the opening ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, May 22, 2023. Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which is Africa’s biggest, says it has begun production, starting with diesel and aviation fuel. For decades, Nigeria has relied on imports to meet fuel demand, spending about $15 billion annually. Now, new alliances aim to cut these expenses by investing in homegrown energy, targeting affordable petrol for consumers and boosting the economy. New agreements among the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Dangote Refinery and independent oil marketers may end long-standing issues over fuel imports. NNPC and oil marketers will now take petrol directly from local refiner Dango...

UN nuclear chief in Iran to 'reach diplomatic solutions'

16Nov

By No Comments

World

UN nuclear chief in Iran to 'reach diplomatic solutions'

In this photo released by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, right, is welcomed by deputy chief of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Behrouz Kamalvandi in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 13, 2024. Tehran, Iran — International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi met Iran\'s top diplomat Thursday as he began crunch nuclear talks in Tehran weeks before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office. During his first term in the White House from 2017 to 2021, Trump was the architect of a policy called "maximum pressure" which reimposed sweeping U.S. economic sanctions that had been lifted under a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Grossi, who arrived in Tehran lat...

Muslims welcome Supreme Court's crackdown on India's 'bulldozer justice'

16Nov

By No Comments

World

Muslims welcome Supreme Court's crackdown on India's 'bulldozer justice'

FILE - Authorities demolish the residence of an activist in Prayagraj, India, June 12, 2022. Muslims in India are largely welcoming a ruling this week from the country\'s Supreme Court declaring authorities must not demolish any property simply because its owner has been accused of a crime. Such demolitions — decried as “bulldozer justice” by critics — have targeted mostly Muslim-owned properties in states ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party over the past few years. On Wednesday, while issuing the verdict, India’s highest court called bulldozer justice “totally unconstitutional” and laid down strict guidelines concerning such demolitions. “The chilling sight of a bulldozer demolishing a building, when authori...

16Nov

By No Comments

Asia-pacific

Vietnam police detain 3 linked to last year’s flight attendant drug bust

By RFA Vietnamese 2024.11.14Read RFA coverage of this topic in Vietnamese.Police in Vietnam said on Thursday they had arrested three people including a well-known singer in connection with a drug bust last year when authorities found cocaine and other drugs packed in toothpaste tubes in the luggage of flight attendants arriving from France.Police in the southern business hub of Ho Chi Minh City identified the three as singer Chi Dan, whose real name they said was Nguyen Trung Hieu, model An Tay, or Andrea Aybar who police said was Spanish, and Nguyen Do Truc Phuong.Police posted pictures of the three in handcuffs. Radio Free Asia was not able to determine if any of them had legal representation and was not immediately able to contact the Spanish embassy for comment. In March last year, cus...

Experts push contract farming to boost Africa food systems, farmers’ income

16Nov

By No Comments

World

Experts push contract farming to boost Africa food systems, farmers’ income

FILE - A farmer searches for locusts in a maize field in Meru, Kenya, Feb. 10, 2021. Nairobi — As African farmers struggle with unpredictability caused by climate change, some are looking into contract farming, which involves growing a certain crop for a price set in advance. About 400 people attended the International Conference on Contract Farming in Nairobi this week to learn more about the practice. Peris Wanjiku, the conference director, said such agreements can help solve the challenges that many smallholder farmers face in Africa. "It\'s always important to farm with a plan. I believe it\'s not enough to simply plant a crop, whatever it is, without knowing where it will end up," Wanjiku said. "Farmers should know...

Nearly 200 schools in Myanmar hit by junta air strikes since military coup

16Nov

By No Comments

Asia-pacific

Nearly 200 schools in Myanmar hit by junta air strikes since military coup

By RFA Burmese2024.11.04 Read RFA coverage of this story in Burmese.Junta forces have conducted nearly 200 air strikes on schools across Myanmar since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup d\'état, according to a Radio Free Asia tally.The air strikes destroyed 146 educational facilities, including universities, public schools and monastic schools, in Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions, and in Kayin, Rakhine, Chin, Kachin and Kayah states, which have seen fighting by resistance forces that oppose junta rule.Myanmar Witness, a London-based human rights watchdog, reported in July that 64 people had been killed and 106 injured in attacks on schools over the past three years, and that structures sustained severe damage from air strikes.The junta often claims that resistance fighte...

Iran hangs man 'for second time' after previous execution halted

16Nov

By No Comments

World

Iran hangs man 'for second time' after previous execution halted

Locator map showing Iran with its capital, Tehran. Iran hanged a 26-year-old man for a second time Wednesday months after a previous execution was halted half a minute in, an NGO said. Ahmad Alizadeh was arrested in October 2018 on a murder charge, which he denied, and was sentenced to death, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), which tracks executions in Iran, said in a statement. His death sentence was carried out on April 27 in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj outside Tehran. But just 28 seconds into the hanging he was brought down from the gallows when the victim\'s family suddenly shouted "forgiveness." His "lifeless" body was successfully resuscitated and the execution was halted, IHR said. Under Iran\'s sharia l...