Guinea-Bissau, West Bank, Bangladesh
Today's three stories you should know
Guinea-Bissau
As covered in Proximities, Bissau-Guineans went to the polls on Monday in a presidential election that analysts expected to be razor-tight. Tonight, a dramatic development as soldiers appeared on state television to announce they had seized power. A spokesperson for the officers, Dinis N’Tchama, said they had uncovered a plan to “manipulate electoral results,” and that they had deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, suspended the electoral process, shut down media outlets and closed the country’s borders. Guinea-Bissau saw at least nine coups and several attempted ones between 1974 and 2020.
More from AP here.
West Bank
Israel has launched what it called a “counter-terrorism operation” in the occupied West Bank, the latest in a series of escalations by Israeli forces and settlers in the Palestinian territory. The governor of Tubas told Reuters that Israeli troops, supported by a helicopter gunship, encircled the city and occupied several neighborhoods. Human Rights Watch last week accused Israel of war crimes after tens of thousands of people were expelled from three refugee camps in the West Bank and not allowed to return. There has been a sharp rise in attacks by Israeli settlers in the territory, where hundreds of thousands of them live illegally among 2.7 million Palestinians who have limited self-rule under military occupation.
More from Reuters here.
Bangladesh
A huge fire has swept through one of the biggest slums in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, completely destroying more than 1,500 dwellings and forcing tens of thousands to flee. Home to nearly 80,000 people, many of them climate refugees, the Korail neighborhood is one of hundreds of poor areas in the capital to where people from rural regions often migrate. The fire service said it took 16 hours to quell the blaze and that they were hampered by narrow alleyways. Poor regulations and patchy enforcement are often blamed for fires in the country.
More from Indian Express here.
Ugh. That was pretty depressing.