MALDIVES Security forces locked down parliament on orders from the president Monday, leading to clashes after opposition lawmakers stormed the compound in an attempt to vote on whether to impeach the parliamentary speaker. President Yameen Abdul Gayoom has been accused of rolling back democratic gains the Maldives has made since becoming a multiparty democracy in 2008.
VIETNAM A court yesterday sentenced an activist to nine years in prison on charges of producing videos that defamed the country’s leadership, in the latest crackdown on dissent.
MYANMAR Health officials in Myanmar say the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, has killed three people out of 13 confirmed cases this month. Confirmation of the new cases has been widely discussed on social media and more people than usual have been wearing surgical masks in crowded areas of Yangon, the country’s commercial capital.
PAKISTAN A suicide bomber struck near a police team in the eastern city of Lahore Monday killing at least 26 and wounding another 54, many of them police officers. An outlawed Taliban faction claimed responsibility.
ISRAEL-PALESTINE Muslim leaders urged the faithful yesterday to keep up their prayer protests and avoid entering a contested Jerusalem shrine, even after Israel dismantled metal detectors that initially triggered the tensions. Israel said it would replace the metal detectors with new security arrangements.
LIBYA French President Emmanuel Macron will host a meeting of the two main rival leaders of chaotic Libya, his office said Monday, to try to “contribute to an end to the Libyan crisis,” which is feeding Islamic militants, people traffickers preying on migrants and instability in the region.
SOMALIA-based al-Shabab is mocking President Donald Trump in a new video that calls him a “brainless billionaire” as his administration steps up military efforts against what has become the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa.
SOUTH AFRICA media say rescuers have recovered the bodies of four miners who were trapped underground during an earth tremor.
EUROPEAN UNION The International Monetary is more optimistic about the economy of the 19-country eurozone after a run of elections saw populist politicians defeated and risks to its outlook abated.
BRAZIL Police have arrested five teenagers on suspicion of gang-raping a 13-year-old girl on multiple occasions at a Rio de Janeiro public school.
