World news in brief
Education minister to replace Ardern
Chris Hipkins, who played a significant role in New Zealand’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, is set to replace Jacinda Ardern as prime minister after emerging yesterday as the only candidate to lead the ruling Labour Party. Mr Hipkins, 44, is expected to be confirmed as the new leader at a meeting of Labour's 64 lawmakers, or caucus tomorrow. “I think we’re an incredibly strong team,” Mr Hipkins told a news conference
after the party announced him as the sole candidate. “We’ve gone through this process with unity and we’ll continue to do that. I’m feeling really fortunate to be working with such an amazing group of people who have a real commitment to the service of the people of New Zealand.” Reuters
More than 50 injured in nationwide Peru protests
Dozens of Peruvians were injured after tensions flared again as police clashed with protesters in anti-government demonstrations that are spreading across the country. In the capital Lima, police officers used tear gas to repel demonstrators throwing glass bottles and stones, as fires burned in the streets.
In the country’s southern Puno region, some 1,500 protesters attacked a police station in the town of Ilave, interior minister Vicente Romero said in a statement to news media. A police station in Zepita, Puno, was also on fire, Mr Romero said. Health authorities in Ilave reported eight patients admitted to hospital with injuries, including broken arms and legs, eye contusions and punctured abdomens. By late afternoon on Friday, 58 people had been injured nationwide in demonstrations, according to a report from Peru's ombudsman.
The unrest followed a day of turmoil on Thursday, when one of Lima’s most historic buildings, a near-century-old mansion, burned to the ground, as president Dina Boluarte vowed to get tougher on “vandals”. Thousands of protesters descended on Lima this week calling for change and angered by the protests’ mounting death toll, which officially stood at 45 on Friday. Protests have rocked Peru since President Pedro Castillo was ousted in December after he attempted to dissolve the legislature to prevent an impeachment vote. Reuters
Army frees 66 women and children in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso’s army has freed 66 women and children who were abducted earlier this month by Islamic extremists while gathering food in the northern Sahel region. National
broadcaster RTB said armed forces had located the hostages during a military operation in the centre-north region. The group included 39 children, with four infants among them. Authorities said they had been out in the countryside gathering wild fruit near the town of Arbinda in Soum province when Islamic extremists kidnapped them on 12 and 13 January. Jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the so-called Islamic State group has overrun Burkina Faso, killing thousands and displacing nearly two million people in the west African nation. AP
Air India fined £30k after passenger urinates on woman
India’s aviation regulator has imposed a fine of £30,000 on Air India and suspended the pilot in command after an inebriated man urinated mid-flight on an elderly in November last year. A passenger, Shankar Mishra, who works with American financial services company Wells Fargo in Mumbai, was arrested by Delhi police almost a month after he urinated on an elderly woman passenger on a New York to Delhi flight.
Following an investigation, the directorate general of Civil Aviation of India said Air India violated its rules by not taking appropriate action against the passenger who “conducted himself in a disorderly manner and allegedly relieved himself on a female passenger”. The watchdog imposed a financial penalty of Rs 30,00,000 (£29,903) on the airlines d Rs 300,000 (£2,990) on the airline’s director of in-flight services. The license of the pilot on the flight has also been suspended for three months, it added.
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