World news in brief
Peru closes Machu Picchu as protests grow
Peru has indefinitely shut the tourist site Machu Picchu in the latest sign that anti-government protests are increasingly engulfing the South American country. The government said it closed the country’s most famous tourist attraction, as well as the Inca Trail leading up to it. Tourism minister Luis Fernando Helguero said more than 400 tourists are now stuck at Machu Picchu and unable to get out. The vast majority of them are foreigners. The closure of the Incan citadel came as protesters descended on the capital Lima, largely from remote Andean
regions, to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte. Police yesterday also stormed San Marcos University campus in Lima to evict protesters from far-away provinces who were being housed at the campus while participating in the demonstrations. The protests began last month shortly after President Pedro Castillo, Peru’s first leader with a rural Andean background, was impeached and imprisoned after he tried to dissolve Congress. AP
Brazil’s army chief fired in aftermath of uprising
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has fired Brazil’s army chief just days after the leftist leader openly said that some military members allowed the 8 January uprising in the capital by farright protesters. Gen Julio Cesar de Arruda was replaced by Gen Tomas Miguel Ribeiro Paiva, who was head of the Southeast Military Command. Lula, who did not comment publicly on the firing, met with defence minister Jose Mucio, chief of staff Rui Costa and the new army commander in Brasilia at the end of the day. Speaking to journalists afterward, Mr Mucio said the 8 January riots had caused “a fracture in the level of trust” in the army’s top levels and the government decided a change was needed. Lula has been trying to reduce the high number of military officers in the government administration left by Mr Bolsonaro. At least 140 military officers have been dismissed since Lula took office on 1 January. AP
India blocks BBC documentary critical of PM Modi
India has blocked the airing of a BBC documentary which questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying that even sharing of any clips via social media is barred. Directions to block the clips from being shared have been issued using emergency powers available to the government under the country’s information technology rules, said Kanchan Gupta, an adviser to the government, on his Twitter handle. While the BBC has not aired the documentary in
India, the video was uploaded on some YouTube channels, Mr Gupta said.
The government has issued orders to Twitter to block over 50 tweets linking to the video of the documentary and YouTube has been instructed to block any uploads of the video. Both YouTube and Twitter have complied with the directions, Mr Gupta said. Mr Modi was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat when it was gripped by communal riots that left more than 1,000 people dead according to official figures, most of them Muslims. The violence erupted after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims caught fire, killing 59. Human rights activists estimate at least double that number died in the rioting.
Building collapse in Aleppo leaves 16 dead
A building collapsed in a neighborhood in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo yesterday, killing at least 16 people, including one child, and injuring four others. The five-story building housing about 30 people is in the Sheikh Maksoud neighbourhood under the control of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. It collapsed after water leakages weakened the structure’s foundation, according to reports.
Many buildings in Aleppo were destroyed or damaged during Syria’s 11-year conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country's pre-war population of 23 million. Although Syrian president Bashar Assad’s government has retaken Aleppo from armed opposition groups, Sheikh Maksoud is among some neighbourhoods under the control of Kurdish forces. Aleppo is Syria’s largest city and was once its commercial centre. AP
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