Tens of thousands of Muslim minority Rohingya are feared to be caught in fighting in western Myanmar, as a powerful armed ethnic group bears down on junta positions in a coastal town on the country’s border with Bangladesh.
The Arakan Army (AA), which is fighting for autonomy for Myanmar’s Rakhine region, said late on Sunday that residents of Maungdaw town, inhabited primarily by the Rohingya, should leave by 9 p.m. ahead of a planned offensive on the settlement.
The AA’s attack on Maungdaw is the latest in a months-long rebel onslaught against the Myanmar junta, which took power in a February 2021 coup, and now finds itself in an increasingly weakened position across large parts of the country.
“We are going to attack the remaining posts” of junta, the AA said in a statement, asking residents to stay clear of military positions in Maungdaw for their own safety.
A junta spokesman did not respond to a call seeking comment.
Around 70,000 Rohingya who are currently in Maungdaw are trapped as the fighting draws closer, said Aung Kyaw Moe, the deputy human rights minister in Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government.
“They have no where to run to,” he told Reuters.
Thousands of Rohingya fled toward neighboring Bangladesh last month, seeking safety from the escalating conflict, although the neighboring country is reluctant to accept more refugees.
Their movement was triggered by battles in and around the town of Buthidaung, around 25 km (15 miles) away to the east of Maungdaw, that was captured by the AA after intense fighting during which the rebel group was accused of targeting the Rohingya community.
The AA denies the allegations.
Rohingya have faced persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar for decades. Nearly a million of them live in refugee camps in Bangladesh’s border district of Cox’s Bazar after fleeing a military-led crackdown in Rakhine in 2017.
Thousands of Rohingya feared trapped in fighting in western Myanmar
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Thousands of Rohingya feared trapped in fighting in western Myanmar
- Residents of Maungdaw town, inhabited primarily by the Rohingya, told to leave ahead of a planned offensive by the Arakan Army against Myanmar ruling junta forces
Trump says he will call Putin on Monday to discuss the war in Ukraine
- Trump said the subject will be “STOPPING THE ‘BLOODBATH”
KYIV: President Donald Trump says he will speak by phone Monday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine.
Trump said in a social media post Saturday that the subject will be “STOPPING THE ‘BLOODBATH.”
The American president said he also then plans to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and members of NATO.
“HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.
Italian government tells Israel: ‘Enough with the attacks’ in Gaza
- “We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer,” Tajani said
- “Let’s come to a ceasefire, let’s free the hostages”
ROME: Italy’s government on Saturday upped its exhortations to Israel to stop deadly military strikes in Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: “Enough with the attacks.”
“We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer,” Tajani said during a trip to Sicily, in remarks relayed by his spokesman.
“Let’s come to a ceasefire, let’s free the hostages, but let’s leave people who are victims of Hamas alone,” he was cited as saying.
Israel’s military has announced it is in the “initial stages” of a new offensive in Gaza aimed at defeating Hamas.
Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month truce in its war against Hamas triggered by the group’s October 2023 attack.
More than 100 people in Gaza were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and another 10 on Saturday, according to the Gaza civil defense agency.
International condemnation has escalated over Israel’s military actions, and its blockage of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, where more than two million people lived before the war started.
Israel’s army said the goal of its latest offensive is to “seize control of areas within the Gaza Strip.”
Macron urges regional investment as Albania nears EU goal
- “Here in Albania, clearly, you have the entry point in this region of Western Balkans,” Macron said
- Albania entered talks to join the European Union in 2022
TIRANA: French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday invited foreign investors to come to “stable” Europe, including to Albania, which he sees obtaining EU entry in 2027.
Europe “is a stable and reliable place,” he told economic forum “Priority Europe,” organized by the Future Investment Initiative (FII) institute of advertising executive Richard Attias.
“And in this crazy world, don’t underestimate the strengths of such qualities,” Macron said at the Tirana event aimed at connecting European leaders and innovators with sovereign wealth funds and Middle East, Asia and US business leaders.
“Here in Albania, clearly, you have the entry point in this region of Western Balkans, but much more broadly it’s a key point in the Mediterranean place and Europe.
“And in two years to come, as now he has a clear mandate, he will join the EU,” added Macron, referring to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Albania entered talks to join the European Union in 2022 and Rama said that the process could conclude with the country joining in 2027 if all goes to plan. “That would be incredible,” said Rama in an interview with AFP.
The country of some three million is by far the most pro-EU in the Balkans. In 2024, 92 percent of those questioned in a poll said they would vote “yes” if a referendum were held on EU membership-compared to 40 percent in Serbia.
The challenges of meeting accession requirements remain sizeable, notably in terms of combating corruption.
Several ministers and several senior officials, former president Ilir Meta, and the mayor of Tirana — a close Rama associate — are currently in detention on suspicion of embezzlement.
Zelensky will attend Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass, Vatican says
- Zelensky would be happy to meet other leaders on the sidelines of the inauguration
- Rubio said he would discuss on Saturday efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi
VATICAN CITY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the inaugural Mass of newly elected Pope Leo on Sunday, along with many other world leaders, the Vatican said.
The Mass in St. Peter’s Square will formally install Pope Leo, who was born in Chicago but lived for many years in Peru, as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics.
US Vice President JD Vance, who clashed fiercely with Zelensky in the White House in February, will lead the US delegation, which also includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Zelensky would be happy to meet other leaders on the sidelines of the inauguration, a top aide told Reuters this week. When he went to the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Francis on April 26, Zelensky held face-to-face talks with US President Donald Trump in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Rubio said he would discuss on Saturday efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who served as the late Pope Francis’ envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In remarks to reporters ahead of the meeting, the top US diplomat suggested the Vatican could be a venue to facilitate dialogue.
“I wouldn’t call it a broker, but it certainly is a place that I would think that both sides would be comfortable coming,” Rubio told reporters.
Among other leaders expected on Sunday are the presidents of Israel, Peru and Nigeria, the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Australia, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula Von der Layen.
Many European royals will also be present, including Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia.
Russia will be represented by Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, the Vatican said.
Indian state honors ‘elephant whisperers’ from Oscar-winning documentary with special village
- In 2023, ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ became the first Indian documentary to win an Oscar
- Indigenous communities have been integral as elephant caretakers in Asia
NEW DELHI: India’s elephant caretakers in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, whose roles were brought to global attention in an Oscar-winning documentary, were honored with a special village by the local government as part of an effort to recognize their dedication to the conservation of the mammals.
The story of a mahout couple in Tamil Nadu who devote themselves to caring for an orphaned baby elephant was central to “The Elephant Whisperers” film, which became the first Indian documentary to win an Oscar in 2023.
Since the documentary brought the role of the mahouts — a Hindi word for elephant caretakers — to the international spotlight, the Tamil Nadu government has been working to further empower and honor them.
On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated the Mahout Village at the state’s Theppakadu Elephant Camp. Dubbed the first of its kind, the special area comprises 44 houses for each of the mammals’ keepers and their families.
“The film ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ played an important part in building the houses for mahouts, there is no doubt about it,” Supriya Sahu, additional chief secretary for environment, climate change and forests in Tamil Nadu, told Arab News.
“We will make sure that the people, the indigenous community who take care of our elephants, are also suitably taken care of. That is the idea behind (this program). It’s a tribute to them.”
Built at a cost of about $670,000, the houses at Mahout Village use solar lights and fences, and were constructed in consultation with the mahouts. The area also comes with communal facilities, including a basketball court and a kids’ playground.
Mahouts have long been integral in wildlife conservation across many South and Southeast Asian countries.
India is home to some 30,000 Asian elephants, representing at least 60 percent of the species’ global population. Tamil Nadu itself is home to about 3,100 elephants.
With the buzz around “The Elephant Whisperers” following its Oscar win, Bomman and Bellie, the couple from the Kattunayakan tribal group who were featured in the film, had urged the government to consider building houses for the mahouts.
“One good thing that has happened is the documentary brought attention to the indigenous people who have been taking care of elephants for generations,” Bomman told Arab News.
“The houses are really a recognition for those who have been taking care of elephants and helped in the preservation of nature.”
For C. Maari, a 52-year-old mahout, the Oscar-winning documentary helped show the possibility of human-wildlife coexistence.
“The documentary no doubt highlighted our issues and the world outside came to know that humans and animals understand each other, and can coexist together if we don’t intrude in each others’ space,” Maari told Arab News.
He is hopeful that the new housing will help his community better take care of the elephants.
“I am really happy that I got the house. Earlier, we used to live in a hut without any facilities inside the jungle. We used to struggle for basic amenities, like toilets and other facilities,” he said.
“For generations, we have been friends with elephants and we understand their needs. Both of us have been surviving together for generations and the houses are the recognition of our contribution in maintaining the animal world.”
