MEDITERRANEAN: Three sisters, aged nine, 11 and 17, died crossing to Europe while seeking refuge from war-torn Sudan.
German non-profit rescue agency RESQSHIP found their bodies after saving 65 people from an unseaworthy boat sailing from Libya. One person was reported missing at sea.

The civil war in Sudan has killed over 150,000 people while war crimes including mass rape and execution of civilians have been documented.

SRI LANKA: Over 1,000 protesters rallied in Colombo today against the arrest of former president Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Mr Wickremesinghe was arrested on Friday on allegations of misusing public funds to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony in London in 2023. 

Supporters say the case is part of a political witch-hunt, while the government says it is cracking down on corruption.
The ex-president was released on bail today.

BOLIVIA: Run-off candidate Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga has vowed to “change everything, dramatically and radically” if he wins the second round of the election in October.

After decades of mainly socialist government, Mr Quiroga said he would secure an IMF bailout, privatise mineral resources, cut corporation tax and attract foreign companies by subjecting Bolivia to international arbitration courts to protect their profits.

He faces another rightwinger, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, on October 19.

LEBANON: Saudi Arabia and Qatar will invest to create jobs in southern Lebanon to employ former Hezbollah fighters if the militia disarms, US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East Tom Barrack said today.

The Lebanese government voted to disarm Hezbollah, the main Shi’ite group resisting Israeli expansionism, in a meeting the group and its allies boycotted. 

The army is supposed to present a plan to disarm it by the end of the month, since it refuses to comply, saying disarming would only help Israel.