NEWSPAPER WORLD

  The expression Black Hawk Down, the title of a Hollywood film, has become shorthand for a 1993 US military disaster in Somalia. Eighteen American soldiers lost their lives in the fighting that began on 3 October, but so did hundreds of Somalis. As Netflix launches a documentary about those events, the BBC has spoken to some Somalis still scarred by what happened. Despite being surrounded by the debris of an ongoing civil war, Mogadishu's residents in the early 1990s embraced the moments of serenity. The warm Sunday sunshine and cooling ocean breeze made for the perfect opportunity for Binti Ali Wardhere, 24 at the time, to visit relatives with her mother. "That day was calm," she remembers. But like everyone else in the city she was unaware that the Americans were getting ready to attack warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed – and what happened would change her life forever. The US had deployed soldiers to Somalia in 1992. They were there to support a UN mission that offered hum...

Five Thai farm workers released by Hamas in Gaza last month have arrived home in Bangkok, after spending nearly 500 days in captivity.   Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Saethao and Surasak Lamnao had all been working in southern Israel when they were kidnapped during the attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023. There were emotional scenes on Sunday morning as the five men were embraced by tearful relatives at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport's arrivals hall.  "I don't know how to put it into words," released hostage Mr Pongsak said. "I'd like to thank all the officials who were involved in helping us out until we're standing here. "We wouldn't be here without you helping us. We're very touched and very glad to have returned to our homeland. I am truly grateful." Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said it was "very inspiring" to witness their return following their release on 30 January. Somboon ...

The UK government on Friday announced plans to dismantle the remains of London’s Grenfell Tower, almost eight years after the deadliest fire in Britain since World War II swept through the high-rise apartment building, killing 72 people. Some of those who lost loved ones in the fire that broke out in the early morning hours of June 14, 2017, have criticized the decision because they wanted to preserve the building’s charred skeleton as a monument to those who died.  But the government said that redeveloping the site would help the community heal by removing the remains of the 24-story building, which looms over the North Kensington neighborhood in west London, providing a constant reminder of the tragedy. >  A public inquiry into the disaster concluded that decades of failures by government, regulators and industry turned the building into a “death trap.” The investigation found no “single cause” of the tragedy, but said a combination of dishonest companies, weak re...

More than 150 female prisoners were raped and burned to death during a jailbreak last week when fleeing male inmates set fire to a prison in Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a United Nations spokesperson has said.  UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango told CNN that most of the 165 female prisoners who were raped by escaping male inmates died in the fire.  Between nine and 13 female inmates, “all of whom had also been raped,” survived the blaze, Magango added, citing a judicial source in the DRC. “We did not independently verify the judicial official’s report ourselves, but we do consider his account to be credible,” Magango told CNN Thursday.   The male inmates, some of whom were killed by prison guards, plotted a mass escape on January 27 as the M23 rebel alliance battled with Congolese forces in Goma over control of the city, the UN-sponsored Radio Okapi reported Monday.  Members of the M23 armed group ride in a pickup tru...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Feb 5, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it will not normalise ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established, after Israel's prime minister said he thought normalisation with the Gulf kingdom was "going to happen". "Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that," the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on X.  The "unwavering position" of the Gulf kingdom "is non-negotiable and not subject to compromises." Both US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden have seen diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia as a major foreign policy goal. Riyadh paused tentative talks on the matter early in the Gaza conflict and hardened its rhetoric as the war continued.  The foreign ministry's statement came sw...

  President Donald Trump made an extraordinary proposal for the United States to “take over” the Gaza Strip, as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crucial talks on the truce with Hamas. Trump also doubled down on his call for Palestinians to move out of the war-battered territory to Middle Eastern countries like Egypt and Jordan, despite the Palestinians and both nations flatly rejecting his suggestion. “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it,” Trump told a joint press conference with Netanyahu. Trump said the United States would get rid of unexploded bombs, “level the site” and remove destroyed buildings, and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.” But Trump appeared to suggest that it was not Palestinians who would return there. “It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there...