NORWAY: Some 20 activists have been charged after they blocked several entrances to government offices in protest at a wind farm that they say hinders the rights of the Sami indigenous people to raise reindeer, their lawyer said today.

The VG newspaper said they had been charged because they did not accept the fines they had received after having been forcefully removed by police. They face trial in Oslo in March.

NORTH KOREA: Authorities said today that it has tested a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone in response to this week’s combined naval exercise by South Korea, the United States and Japan.

The drone test took place days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he was ditching his country’s long-standing goal of a peaceful reunification with South Korea and that his country would rewrite its constitution to define its neighbour as its most hostile foreign adversary.

SRI LANKA: Authorities said today that they had arrested tens of thousands of people in a crackdown on drugs and vowed to continue despite United Nations criticism of possible human rights violations during the operation.

Since the operation began in December, heavily armed police and military personnel have arrested thousands of alleged drug users and dealers.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Three opposition leaders have called for a nationwide protest tomorrow, when President Felix Tshisekedi is set to be sworn in for a second term.

Mr Tshisekedi was declared winner of last month’s elections with 73 per cent of the vote. But several opposition candidates have cried foul and demanded a rerun.