More than 20,000 people from Myanmar have flooded into border camps in neighboring China, seeking refuge from bitter fighting between ethnic groups and security forces in the country’s north, China said on Thursday. Thousands of people have crossed China’s border in recent months to escape the conflict, which threatens Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s top goal of reaching peace with minorities. This week, about 30 people were killed in an attack by ethnic Chinese insurgents in Laukkai, a town 500 miles northeast of Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon. China is providing humanitarian assistance while taking steps to ensure peace and tranquility in the border region, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. (VOA http://bit.ly/2niS6ll)
$10,000/aidworker…Aid agencies are seeking clarity from the South Sudanese government after it signaled that it would ramp up the cost of work permits for foreign aid workers, days after a famine was declared in the country. Aid groups said the move by the labor ministry to increase the cost of permits from $100 to up to $10,000 was “terrible timing” in a country where 100,000 people are starving and a further 1 million are on the brink of starvation. The fee increase applies to all foreign workers in the country and is aimed at increasing government revenue, the minister of information, Michael Makuei, told the Associated Press. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2niXHs0)
Top Stories
Libya’s eastern parliament voted to withdraw its support for a United Nations peace deal and Government of National Accord, an escalation in the fractured country’s split that stokes concerns recent violence could intensify. (AP https://yhoo.it/2mpEx64)
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that East Africans are facing starvation and that the situation might worsen if nothing is done to avert the crisis. (VOA http://bit.ly/2nj54j2)
A former policeman who confessed to being part of a “death squad” under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he did not fear him, and believed four other members of his alleged hit team would come forward to testify. (Reuters https://yhoo.it/2niZqxA)
Tens of thousands of women took to the streets across Turkey, marching for women’s rights while some also rallied against expanding the president’s powers. (AFP https://yhoo.it/2niTzbw)
Kenya’s state sector doctors, who have been on strike for three months, said they would not resume work after a government order, and would wait for the conclusion of court-supervised resolution of the dispute. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2nj0j9o)
Egypt needs to implement economic reforms aimed at encouraging more private investment and moving away from subsidies towards targeted transfers for the poor, a senior World Bank official said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2njdXJn)
With a steady downsizing of Haiti peacekeeping operations in recent years and the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump pushing for cutbacks, the U.N. is looking at sending home 2,358 soldiers from 19 contributing countries, perhaps within months. (VOA http://bit.ly/2nj8eTP)
Europe’s top human rights official said he was “deeply concerned” about a new law in Hungary that allows authorities to detain all asylum-seekers in closed border camps, including families with children and unaccompanied minors over 14 years old. (AP https://yhoo.it/2niYb15)
Opinion/Blogs
6 million people are at risk of starving in East Africa, and climate change deserves part of the blame (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2mo75LA)
Botswana – Africa’s Model Democracy? (DW http://bit.ly/2mpsNQU)
Can Africa’s Path to Prosperity Be Tied to Bangladesh? (Daily Maverick http://bit.ly/2niND1Y)
The Economic Impact of Gender Based Violence (The Daily Star http://bit.ly/2niYBEZ)
At 60, Ghana Looks to a Future Beyond Aid (IPS http://bit.ly/2mpzK4I)
Why we worked on International Women’s Day (PRI http://bit.ly/2lHOKMB)
How Brazil’s ‘Valley of Death’ drastically cut pollution (BBC http://bbc.in/2lHO1uw)
The Ethiopian boomtown that welcomes water firms but leaves locals thirsty (Guardian http://bit.ly/2lI1rqu)
Trailblazing Brazilian mayor marries same-sex partner (CNN http://cnn.it/2njchQ5)
Indian Campaigners Use Comics to Raise Trafficking Awareness (VOA http://bit.ly/2mpBCdI)
After rape, pregnancy, Senegal’s pink house helps women rebuild lives (TRF http://bit.ly/2njd4R3)
How a Syrian refugee lost his case against Facebook and fake news (CSM https://yhoo.it/2niZrS4)
