World news in brief
12-year-old boy caught trying to drive across Australia
A 12-year-old boy attempting to drive the entire distance of Australia on his own has been stopped by police, some 1,300 kilometres into his journey. The young boy was pulled over in Broken Hill, an isolated mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, on Saturday after appearing to have driven across a third of the country.
He appears to have driven across the whole state of NSW, starting in Kendall near Port Macquarie. A police spokesperson said he was on his way to Perth in a statement released yesterday. “Checks revealed the driver to be a 12-year-old boy travelling from Kendall NSW on his way to Perth,” he said.
The journey from Kendall to Perth by car takes about 40 hours and involves going across some of the harshest deserts in Australia, including the Nullarbor Plain. The country’s official tourism site advises visitors to take six days solely to get across the Nullarbor on an infamous highway which goes through barren scrubland. It recommends drivers to “carry extra petrol and plenty of water and food”.
Mexico: 9 dead in gang shootout
Prosecutors in western Mexico say nine people died yesterday following an apparent gang shootout in a rural area. The Michoacan state prosecutors' office says investigators went to the area after residents reported a confrontation between armed groups.
The office said eight bodies were found in the hamlet of El Poturo. A ninth body was found on a nearby hill. All had bullet wounds. Four bullet-riddled vehicles were found nearby. The identity and causes of the shootings on Saturday are under investigation. The state has been the scene of both drug gang violence and an uprising by armed civilian vigilantes. AP
Saudi Arabia restores perks to state employees
Saudi Arabia reinstated financial allowances for civil servants and military personnel on Saturday after better-than-expected budget figures, ending unpopular cuts to a key perk triggered by low oil prices. The king issued a royal decree restoring "all allowances, financial benefits, and bonuses" following calls for protests in four Saudi cities over the weekend, adding a two-month salary bonus for forces fighting in the kingdom's intervention in Yemen.
In September, Saudi Arabia cut ministers' salaries by 20 per cent and scaled back perks for public sector employees in one of the energy-rich kingdom's most drastic measures to save money after tumbling oil prices. The measures were the first pay cuts for government employees, who make up about two-thirds of working Saudis, and prompted complaints about the impact of austerity on ordinary Saudis. Reuters
Canadian oil company pulls out of Peruvian Amazon
A Canadian oil and gas company has decided to halt a huge concession in the Peruvian Amazon which was seen as a threat to uncontacted indigenous tribes. Pacific Exploration and Production, who began its first phase of oil exploration back in 2012, was previously awarded the right to explore for oil in a large area of the region which contains massive biodiversity. It is thought to be home to more uncontacted tribes than anywhere else in the world.
The concession, referred to as Lot 135, includes around 40 per cent of the Sierra del Divisor national park which was founded in 2015. A Canadian oil and gas company has decided to halt a huge concession in the Peruvian Amazon which was seen as a threat to uncontacted indigenous tribes.
Pacific Exploration and Production, who began its first phase of oil exploration back in 2012, was previously awarded the right to explore for oil in a large area of the region which contains massive biodiversity. It is thought to be home to more uncontacted tribes than anywhere else in the world. The concession, referred to as Lot 135, includes around 40 per cent of the Sierra del Divisor national park which was founded back in 2015.