Suicide bombings kill at least 37 at a mosque in Afghanistan

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Afghanistan
A group of suicide bombers have attacked another Shiite mosque in Afghanistan — killing at least 37 people and injuring dozens of others — during Friday prayers in Kandahar in the south of the country. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts, but a similar attack just last week on a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz was claimed by the ISIS-Khorasan group. Witnesses say a suicide bomber attacked  the entrance of the mosque, followed by two others inside the building. Journalists have posted photos and mobile phone footage on social media of the bloodied floor of the Bibi Fatima mosque.

Lebanon
The Lebanese government has called for a national day of mourning on Friday after heavy gun battles in Beirut left at least seven people dead as protests were taking place on the streets. Schools, banks and government offices were closed. Heavily armed militias had used automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades on the streets of the capital, reminiscent of the country’s 15-year civil war. Lebanon has been reeling from a humanitarian and  economic crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive Beirut port blast in August of last year.

Mexico
The Biden administration is planning to reinstate the controversial  “Remain in Mexico” policy in November, which was implemented during the Trump administration. The US Supreme Court upheld a decision made in August by the US District Court in Texas requiring the government to restore the policy, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). Under the agreement, the Mexican government would have to accept the return of asylum seekers to its territory. “Mexico is a sovereign nation that must make an independent decision to accept the return of individuals without status in Mexico as part of any reimplementation of MPP,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. The Trump administration returned more than 60,000 asylum seekers under the policy, requiring them to wait outside US territory as their claims were processed in US courts.

From The World

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah: ‘Colonialism and its consequences are still with us’

Last week was an adrenaline rush for novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah. Since his phone rang with the news that he’d been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, he’s had a few quiet moments.

Gurnah joined The World’s host Marco Werman to talk about what motivates him to continue exploring the ongoing consequences of colonialism in his literary works, and the power of literature to help us understand the plight of the other.

UN court favors Somalia in maritime border dispute judgment

The UN International Court of Justice ruled to split the disputed triangular maritime area — believed to be rich in oil, natural gas and valuable fisheries — in half. But Kenya has been clear that it would not recognize any judgment by the court.

Double Take

If you thought your alarm clock was startling, how about waking up to a meteorite crashing down onto your pillow?! Ruth Hamilton in Golden, British Columbia, woke up recently to the sounds of dogs barking. And, it was a good thing she did, because moments later, a charcoal-grey meteorite about the size of a melon crashed through her roof and struck her pillow … where she had just been sleeping.

In case you missed it

Listen: Violent clashes in Beirut over blast investigation

Gunfire erupted on the streets of Beirut on Thursday, killing six people. The violence erupted when armed supporters of Shiite militant and political groups, Hezbollah and Amal, marched through a Christian neighborhood in protests against the judge presiding over the August blast investigation. And police say a bow-and-arrow attack in Norway Wednesday night in which a man is suspected of killing five people appears to be an “act of terror.” It’s the worst attack in Norway since Anders Breivik, the far-right extremist who killed 77 people in 2011. Plus, The World remembers Irish musician Paddy Moloney, master of the uilleann pipes, slide whistle and penny whistle, and co-founder of the Chieftains.

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