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Earthquakes force evacuations in Ethiopia

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Ethiopia experienced a series of earthquakes on Saturday, including a 5.8-magnitude tremor, which has caused widespread alarm and evacuations in the country’s remote northern regions.

The quakes affected the rural areas of Afar, Oromia, and Amhara, following months of heightened seismic activity, according to AFP.

Ethiopia’s government Communication Service reports that approximately 2,000 people have already been displaced, with efforts underway to provide temporary shelter for the most vulnerable among the 80,000 residents in the impacted regions.

It issued a statement warning of an increase in both the frequency and intensity of the earthquakes.

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“The occurrences of the earthquakes are increasing in terms of magnitude and recurrences,” it said in a statement, adding that experts had been dispatched to assess the damage.

A 4.7-magnitude quake was the latest in the series, striking just before noon local time near Metehara in Oromia.

The tremors have also raised fears of a volcanic eruption at Mount Dofan in the Afar region, which had previously been dormant.

Although the volcano has ceased emitting smoke, local residents have evacuated in panic.

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Ethiopia’s position along the Great Rift Valley, one of the most tectonically active zones in the world, makes it prone to earthquakes.

Geologists attribute the current activity to the expansion of tectonic plates beneath the region.

No casualties have been reported thus far, but authorities continue to monitor the situation closely.

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Trump says Iran has 22% of missiles left

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Iran still has “21, 22 per cent” of its missiles left, US President Donald Trump said Friday, in a week in which Tehran fired dozens of them toward regional neighbours, despite a sputtering ceasefire.

“They still have capacity. They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say, percentage wise, maybe 21, 22 percent of their missiles,” Trump told NBC News in an interview.

That figure for Iran’s missile stockpile is higher than one of 18 per cent Trump gave in May. He has often claimed to have completely destroyed Iran’s war-fighting capacity.

Iran’s military said Friday it had fired “warning missiles” at two US destroyers in the Gulf of Oman — a claim promptly denied by the US military. Two days earlier, Kuwait said it had intercepted 30 ballistic missiles fired as part of “heinous Iranian aggression.”

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US, allies oppose Bolivia President Paz’s ouster as unrest grow

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The United States and allies on Friday condemned the ongoing efforts to overthrow the elected government of President Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia.

The Shield of the Americas member states said “mob rule” cannot replace the decision that most Bolivians made at the ballot box to remove “two decades of corrupt governments.”

The U.S., Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago signed the joint statement.

They affirm support for the Paz administration as it resists “attempts to drag Bolivia backwards through cynical efforts to prevent the delivery of food, medicine and other vital supplies.”

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“Those who are funding these protests with dirty money from drug trafficking and transnational crime should be held accountable,” the allies urged.

The governments encouraged people who have grievances to dialogue with the government, warning against abusing their causes to “regain power.”

President Paz admitted Bolivia has been pushed to a “breaking point” amid weeks of widespread protests and a blockade that has paralyzed major cities.

Farmers, miners, transport workers and teachers are demanding immediate measures to ease the country’s worst economic crisis in four decades.

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Defence Minister Marcelo Salinas and Education Minister Beatriz Garcia resigned this week as demonstrators continue to demand Paz’s resignation, a call he rejects.

The government accuses ex-President Evo Morales of fuelling unrest, which opposition figures believe could end with a referendum to decide whether Paz should remain in office.

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Russia claims deadly drone strike varsity hostel killed 21 students

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Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of carrying out a deadly drone attack on a university complex in Starobelsk, in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region, claiming that 21 students were killed in the strike.

According to a statement circulated by Russian officials, the attack occurred on the night of May 22 and targeted the academic building and dormitory of Lugansk State Pedagogical University.

Russian authorities alleged that 16 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including four heavy drones, were deployed in three waves during the operation.

Officials described the incident as one of the deadliest attacks on a civilian educational facility in the region since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, claiming that the victims were students residing in the university dormitory.

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“Just a week ago, they were students with dreams, plans and a future. Today, all that remains are photographs, memories and unbearable grief,” the statement said.

The authorities further alleged that the strike was deliberate and targeted civilians rather than military infrastructure.

The claims could not be independently verified, and Ukrainian authorities had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of filing this report.

Since the start of the conflict, both Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of carrying out attacks on civilian infrastructure, allegations that are often difficult to verify independently due to ongoing hostilities and restricted access to affected areas.

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The reported incident has renewed concerns among humanitarian organizations about the impact of the war on educational institutions and young people caught in the conflict.

The Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fifth year, has resulted in thousands of civilian casualties, widespread displacement and extensive damage to homes, schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure across both countries.

International observers have consistently called for independent investigations into attacks involving civilian casualties, regardless of the parties involved, to establish the facts and ensure accountability under international humanitarian law.

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