NEWS IN BRIEF --2025-03-17

FE Team | Published: March 16, 2025 21:38:57

'Disturbing rise in anti-Muslim
bigotry' exists: UN chief
NEW YORK, Mar 16: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday there was a "disturbing rise in anti-Muslim bigotry" around the world while urging online tech platforms to curb hate speech and harassment. Guterres' video message came ahead of the International Day to combat Islamophobia. Rights groups around the world and the United Nations have noted a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Arab bias and antisemitism since the start of Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza following Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 7, 2023, attack. — Reuters
32 perish as tornadoes ravage central US
HOUSTON, Mar 16: At least 32 people were killed and dozens more injured Saturday when tornadoes and violent storms raked across the central United States, officials said. Local news showed roofs torn off homes and large trucks overturned, as forecasters warned of more tornadoes to come this weekend. Eight people died in Kansas in a crash involving more than 50 vehicles, caused by low visibility during a "severe dust storm," local police said. — AFP
US strikes in Yemen kill 31 Huthi rebels
SANAA, Mar 16: The first US strikes against Yemen's Huthis since Donald Trump took office killed 31 people, the rebels said Sunday, with the US president warning "hell will rain down upon" the Iran-backed group if it did not stop attacking shipping. The Huthis, who have attacked Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, said children were among those killed by the intense barrage of strikes. — AFP
Massive anti-graft rally engulfs Belgrade
BELGRADE, Mar 16: A sea of people converged in Serbia's capital Belgrade Saturday in what was the largest in a series of anti-corruption demonstrations that have upended the Balkan country in recent months. At one point the crowd stretched for nearly two kilometres, with people filling the streets in and around the parliament and the capital's main pedestrian square. "We have gathered in the streets primarily to express our complete dissatisfaction after years of dictatorship, lawlessness, and corruption," said one demonstrator, Ognjen Djordjevic, a 28-year-old resident from Belgrade. — AFP