Gunmen kill 25 civilians in Mali
Bamako, Feb 9: Gunmen have attacked a convoy of vehicles escorted by Mali’s army, killing 25 civilians mostly gold miners, a military spokesman said Sunday.
The attack took place Friday about 30 km from Gao, the largest city in the country’s northeast where armed groups hostile to the ruling junta operate. It was the deadliest attack on civilians this year.
The assailants targeted a convoy of some 60 vehicles escorted by the army, military spokesman Col Maj Souleymane Dembélé told The Associated Press. He said soldiers assisted the victims and transferred 13 wounded to the Gao hospital. He said four of the attackers were wounded and declined to comment on any army casualties. (AP)
Protest against China’s mega embassy plan in UK
London, Feb 9: UK shadow ministers and fellow Opposition Conservative Party parliamentarians were among hundreds of protesters who descended upon the proposed site of China’s so-called mega embassy in east London.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat and former Tory leader Ian Duncan Smith joined groups representing Hong Kongers, Uyghurs and Tibetans at the site of the historic Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London on Saturday.
Shadow ministers are members of the opposition who scrutinise the work of the government.
According to reports, the protesters wanted to register their opposition against a much-larger new embassy which they fear could be used as a “spy hub” if it is allowed permission to go ahead as one of China’s largest diplomatic missions in Europe. (PTI)
SL Navy arrests 14 Indian fishermen
Colombo, Feb 9: Sri Lankan authorities have arrested 14 Indian fishermen and seized their trawlers for allegedly venturing into the territorial waters of the island nation, the Navy said on Sunday.
The arrests took place during a special operation conducted in the sea area north of Mannar on Saturday, the Sri Lankan Navy said in a statement.
“The Sri Lanka Navy seized 2 Indian fishing boats and apprehended 14 Indian fishermen while they were poaching in Sri Lankan waters,” it said.
The Navy continues to conduct regular patrols and operations in Sri Lankan waters to curb illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing boats, taking into account the impact of those practices on the livelihood of local fishermen, the statement said. (PTI)
Two killed in Nepal school bus accident
Kathmandu, Feb 9: Two people, including an eight-year-old boy were killed and 41 others injured when a school bus plunged 150 metres from a hilly road near Kathmandu on Sunday, according to the police. The accident took place at the Pharping area of Dakshinkali municipality, 20 km south of Kathmandu. The vehicle’s 35-year-old driver and the eight-year-old boy were killed when the bus fell 150 metres down the road, police said, while others sustained injuries. The bus was carrying 41 students, aged between three and 12, along with a teacher and the bus driver at the time of the accident. (PTI)