INTERNATIONAL

More than one million refugees and migrants have reached Europe by sea since the start of 2015, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) says. More than 80% of the 1,000,573 people arrived in Greece, with the majority landing on Lesbos island, it said. About 844,000 travelled to Greece from nearby Turkey. Most of the others – over 150,000 – crossed ...

DAR ES SALAAM, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As drought continues to cripple its hydropower plants, Tanzania is struggling to produce enough electricity – and is moving toward using more fossil fuels to make up the shortfall. Hydropower plants normally produce about 35 percent of Tanzania’s electricity needs, with gas and oil plants making up most of the difference. But as ...

Belgian police have arrested two people suspected of planning attacks in Brussels on New Year’s Eve. Raids took place on Sunday and Monday in Brussels and the provinces of Flemish Brabant and Liege. Police seized military clothing and computer equipment in the raids, but no weapons or explosives. Belgium has been on high alert since the attacks of 13 November ...

POWER generation at Zimbabwe’s main hydro station could fall further due to a drought, the national electricity supplier said yesterday. It planned to increase tariffs to raise money for power imports. The El Nino weather pattern is expected to bring more drought to already parched countries, including Zimbabwe, affecting the Kariba hydro station, which produces half the nation’s electricity. Electricity ...

A wave of attacks by female suicide bombers in north-eastern Nigeria has killed more than 50 people. In the latest blasts two bombers struck a market in the town of Madagali in Adamawa state, an army official said. More than 25 people were killed. In neighbouring Borno state, several attacks in Maiduguri killed more than 30 people and injured over ...

Japan and South Korea have agreed to settle the issue of “comfort women” forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War Two, in their first such deal since 1965. Japan has apologised and will pay 1bn yen ($8.3m, £5.6m) – the amount South Korea asked for – to fund victims. The issue has been the key cause for strained ...

An exclusion zone is in place after a 26-carriage freight train carrying some 200,000 litres (44,000 gallons) of sulphuric acid derailed in Australia. The accident happened at 10:20 Sunday morning, 20km (12.4 miles) east of Julia Creek in north-west Queensland. Three train staff are in hospital with minor injuries. The site was quickly declared an emergency and the 2km exclusion ...

Iraqi forces have retaken a former government compound in Ramadi from where Islamic State (IS) group militants have been resisting an army offensive, the military has said. The complex was “under complete control” and there was no sign of IS fighters, a spokesman said. He said this heralded the defeat of IS in the city, although he admitted there could ...

Eight people are reported to have been killed in Texas after new tornadoes, raising the death toll to 26 in a week of storms in several US states. Local media said five people in cars were probably blown off a motorway in Garland, near Dallas. Another three bodies were found in nearby towns. Officials also say Texas and Oklahoma could ...

Vast areas in Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil are being hit by the worst flooding in 50 years, forcing the evacuation of more than 150,000 people. Days of heavy rains brought on by El Nino have caused three major rivers to swell, and authorities have reported at least six weather-related deaths. A state of emergency is in force in Paraguay, ...