Record number of migrants returned to Libya, UN says

Authorities in Portugal have launched raids after a tipoff that Portuguese troops may have smuggled contraband from the Central Afridan Republic. The country has 180 UN peacekeepers stationed in the African nation.

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a conference on Libya that saw world powers back December elections. The participating countries threatened sanctions for any actors who might seek to derail the plans.

Police have previously denied that the arrests are ethnically motivated. Almost 200 young children have starved to death in Tigray.

Are those protesting against Covid-19 restrictions just an angry few, or do they represent a much deeper malaise?As the Northern Hemisphere hunkers down for a new winter wave of Covid restrictions, backlash over these curbs is rearing up in Central Europe, the Netherlands and the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Some of the pushback is coming from fringe conspiracy theorists or muscle men, but many others have also lost trust in authorities and in what they see as heavy-handed measures and mixed messages. Is the unfiltered "anything goes" rhetoric that wins elections finally coming home to roost?

Humanitarian workers are racing against time to deliver aid as winter looms in Afghanistan, UN officials told DW. The situation on the ground is already desperate and "looks like it's going to get worse."

International travel picked up over the summer, but Covid-19 is still expected to cost the global tourism industry some €1.8 trillion in 2021. Also, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire remains optimistic about the recovery despite concerns over the Omicron variant, and farmers in India continue their protest movement despite concessions from the government.

France is hosting an international conference to help Libya prepare for elections at the end of 2021. The oil-rich nation is ruled by a fragile unity government put in place after nearly a decade of civil war. European leaders are especially keen to stabilize the country.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is sounding "alarm bells" over a record high temperature in Siberia. The record temperature was logged in June 2020 in the town of Verkhoyansk.

The UNHCR has said Sudanese security forces shot a man in the head and raped several women during protests against the country's military leaders. More protests are expected over the coming days.

A parliamentary committee has said holding the vote would be "impossible." The country's election board has now suggested January 24 as an alternative.

After much speculation, Libya's polls have been postponed. Organisers said it’s ‘impossible’ to hold the vote on Friday. The electoral commission has suggested January 24th as the new deadline. A Tunisian court sentences an ex-President Moncef Marzouki to four years in prison. He’s a vocal critic of the current leader, who has described current leader Kais Saied as a "dictator". Nigeria destroys more than million doses of expired Covid vaccines. As rich countries donate jabs with short shelf life, poorer nations continue their fight against vaccine hesitancy.

UN representatives traveling to the region described the situation as "appalling," calling on both countries to live up to their human rights obligations.