World news in brief
Protests across Middle East after Quran burning
Thousands joined protests across several predominantly Muslim countries yesterday to denounce the recent desecration of a copy of the Quran by far-right activists in Sweden and the Netherlands.
Demonstrations in Pakistan, Iraq and Lebanon ended with people dispersing peacefully. In Islamabad, police stopped some crowds trying to march towards the Swedish embassy.
In Beirut, about 200 angry protesters burned the flags of Sweden and the Netherlands outside the blue-domed Mohammed Al-Amin mosque at Beirut’s central Martyrs Square.
Earlier this month, a far-right activist from Denmark received permission from police to stage a protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm where he burned the Quran, Islam’s holy book. Days later, Edwin Wagensveld, Dutch leader of the farright Pegida movement in the Netherlands, tore pages out of a copy of the Quran near the Dutch Parliament and stomped on the pages.
The moves angered millions of Muslims around the world and triggered protests. Swedish officials have stressed that freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Swedish Constitution and gives people extensive rights to express their views publicly, though incitement to violence or hate speech isn’t allowed. Demonstrators must apply to police for a permit for a public gathering. Police can deny such permits only on exceptional grounds, such as risks to public safety.
Haitian police rebels protest gang killings of officers
Disgruntled rebel police officers roared through the streets of Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, blocking roads and shooting guns into the air to protest a slew of killings of police officers by Haitian gangs.
Gangs have killed at least 10 officers in the past week; another is missing and one more has severe bullet wounds, according to the Haitian National Police.
A video obtained by The Associated Press and acknowledged by police on Thursday – likely recorded by gangs – shows the naked and bloodied bodies of six officers stretched out on the dirt, their guns laying on their chests. The gang who killed them, known as Gan Grif, still has the bodies, police said.
The killings are just the latest example of escalating violence in the Caribbean nation, which has been gripped by gang wars and
political chaos following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. His unelected successor has asked the United Nations to lead a military intervention, but no country has been willing to put boots on the ground.
The deaths enraged members of Fantom 509, an armed group of current and former police officers that has violently demanded better conditions for officers. AP
Torrential rain triggers floods in Auckland
Torrential rain and wild weather in Auckland caused flooding and disruption throughout the city yesterday, forcing the cancellation of an Elton John concert just before it was due to start.
About 40,000 people were expected to attend the concert at Mt Smart Stadium. Thousands were already at the venue when organizers decided to cancel not long before the singer was due to take the stage at 7:30 p.m.
The concert was billed as a final farewell tour for the performer. Frontier Touring, one of the concert promoters, tweeted the concert had been cancelled due to unsafe weather conditions.
Many people who had braved the conditions were frustrated the decision hadn’t been made hours earlier. Weather agency MetService warned of flash flooding and hazardous driving conditions throughout the city. Last night, transport authorities closed parts of State Highway 1, the main highway that bisects Auckland.
Video posted online showed waist-deep water in some places, and authorities were asking residents in flood-prone areas to be prepared in case they needed to evacuate. AP
India to reintroduce more cheetahs next month
India will receive 12 cheetahs from South Africa next month – joining eight it received from Namibia in September – as part of
an ambitious plan to reintroduce the cats in the country after 70 years.
India plans to transport an additional 12 annually for the next eight to 10 years as part of an agreement signed by the two African countries, India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said yesterday. Cheetah populations in most countries are declining. South Africa, where the cats are running out of space, is an exception.
South Africa’s National Biodiversity Institute, National Parks, the Cheetah Range Expansion Project and the Endangered Wildlife Trust will collaborate with their Indian counterparts, the ministry said in a statement. The eight cheetahs flown from Namibia in September were released in sprawling Kuno National Park in central India.
Cheetahs were once widespread in India but disappeared by 1952 because of hunting and loss of habitat. India hopes that importing African cheetahs will aid efforts to conserve the country’s threatened and largely neglected grasslands. AP
Want your views to be included in The Independent Daily Edition letters page? Email us by tapping here letters@independent.co.uk. Please include your address
BACK TO TOP