Sudan, Haiti, North Korea
Today's three stories you should know
Hello everyone. Just a note to say that I’ve decided to take down the paywall on this week’s deep dive, which is on the U.S. bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Iran and the hierarchy of children killed in war, because I believe strongly that as many people as possible should hear about the children the mainstream media too often ignores. You can read it in full here.
Barry.
Sudan
At least 17 people, most of them schoolgirls, were killed when an explosives-laden drone hit a secondary school and health center in Sudan, a local doctor and a medical advocacy group said. Dr. Musa al-Majeri, director of the Douiem Hospital, and the war-monitoring Sudan Doctors Network (SDN) blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group for the attack. The SDN said there was no military presence in the village of Shukeiri in the White Nile province, where the incident took place. Sudan’s war began more than two and a half years ago when a dispute erupted between the RSF and its former allies in the military-led government. Since then, more than 11 million people have been forced from their homes and, according to U.N. figures, more than 40,000 have been killed. Experts and aid groups believe that number to be a vast undercount.
More from AP here.
Haiti
Haitian security forces and private contractors have killed more than 1,200 people in drone strikes, including 17 children and 43 civilians, as they do battle with organized criminals who control an estimated 90 percent of the capital, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). The New York-based rights group said that several of the strikes appeared to be “deliberate extrajudicial killings” carried out by explosives-equipped drones in densely populated urban areas. HRW quoted a resident who witnessed a drone attack blow the feet off a baby. Haitian security forces, now working alongside a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police, have for years failed to significantly impact the power of the country’s gangs.
More from Al Jazeera here.
North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister has hit out at the U.S. and South Korea for carrying out military drills this week, saying they would threaten regional stability, state media reported. Kim Yo Jong said the annual exercises were a "provocative and aggressive war rehearsal," echoing a regular accusation from Pyongyang that the drills are aimed at preparing for an invasion of the North. Washington and Seoul say they are defensive in nature. Kim pointed to what she called a “collapsing” global security order and said North Korea would continue to expand its nuclear program to defend itself, reiterating remarks made by Kim Jong Un at the ruling party congress last month.
More from Reuters here.