News in Brief -2023-12-11)

Smugglers are bringing migrants to a remote Arizona border crossing
LUKEVILLE, Dec 10: Gerston Miranda and his wife were among thousands of migrants recently arriving at this remote area on Arizona's southern border with Mexico, squeezing into the United States through a gap in the wall and walking overnight about 14 miles (23 kilometers) with two school-aged daughters to surrender to Border Patrol agents. "There is no security in my country," said the 28-year-old from Ecuador, who lost work when his employer closed due to extortion by criminals. "Without security you cannot work. You cannot live." — AP
About 400 Rohingya land in Indonesia
PIDIE, Dec 10: Dilapidated boats carrying an estimated 400 ethnic Rohingya arrived in Indonesia's Aceh province on Sunday, chief of a provincial fishing community has confirmed, adding to a recent surge of Myanmar's Muslim minority arriving in the country. Prior to Sunday's arrivals, the United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) said that 1,200 Rohingya people, a persecuted minority from Myanmar, had landed ashore in Indonesia since November. Miftah Cut Ade, chief of the fishing community in Aceh, said that two boats landed in the province early on Sunday morning, one each in the districts of Pidie and Aceh Besar. Each boat was carrying an estimated 200 Rohingya, he said. Andi Susanto, a local military official, said about 180 Rohingya had landed in Pidie at 4 am, and that officers were coordinating in the field to collect data. — Reuters
Iran adds combat drones to its arsenal
TEHRAN, Dec 10: Iran has reinforced its air defence capabilities by adding combat drones equipped with air-to-air missiles to its arsenal, state media reported on Sunday. "Dozens of Karrar drones armed with air-to-air missiles have been added for air defence in all border areas of the country," the official IRNA news agency said. The drones, with an operational range of up to 1,000 kilometres (620 miles), were exhibited Sunday morning during a televised ceremony organised at a military academy in Tehran. "The enemies will now have to rethink their strategies" because the Iranian forces have "become more powerful", IRNA quoted the commander-in-chief of Iran's army, General Abdolrahim Mousavi, as saying. — AFP
Sydney bakes in hottest day in 3 yrs
SYDNEY, Dec 10: A heatwave scorched Australia's eastern coast and sent temperatures in Sydney to a three-year high on Saturday as firefighters battled dozens of runaway fires. Many people crowded Sydney's beaches or sought relief in the shade and authorities warned the most vulnerable-including the elderly and very young-to shelter in cool buildings. Sydney city centre's Observatory Hill weather station reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the early afternoon-the hottest since November 2020, according to weather bureau data.— AFP
Philippine, Chinese vessels collide
MANILA, Dec 10: A Philippine boat and Chinese ship have collided near a contested reef, in the latest territorial dispute between the two countries in the South China Sea. The Philippines said China had "harassed, blocked, and executed dangerous manoeuvres". It comes a day after the Philippines accused China of using water cannons to obstruct three of its vessels. The South China Sea is at the centre of a territorial dispute between China, the Philippines and other countries. The Philippines said on Sunday that China had targeted Philippine civilian supply vessels in the Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, a flashpoint between the two countries. — BBC