GREECE: Greek patrol boats in the eastern Aegean Sea yesterday rescued nearly 80 migrants trying to cross from Turkey in inflatable dinghies in two incidents, as the number of such dangerous journeys rises.

Over the weekend, the coastguard picked up another 200 people who had left Turkey for Greece’s nearby eastern Aegean islands in similar boats provided by smugglers.

SOMALIA: The government says it intends to shut down access to certain social media platforms including TikTok and Telegram, which authorities believe harm young people.

The Ministry of Communications & Technology announcement came after a meeting convened by Minister Jama Hassan Khalif amid concerns that the platforms can spread extremist content, nude images and other material seen as offensive to Somali culture and Islam.

PAKISTAN: Authorities in Punjab province are promising 2 million rupees (about £19,000) in compensation for each of nearly 100 impoverished Christians who lost their homes when a Muslim mob, angered over the alleged desecration of a Koran, stormed their community areas, last week, burning at least 16 churches and damaging houses.

Police said they have arrested dozens of rioters in ongoing raids, bringing the number of detainees to 160.

TURKEY: A passenger bus veered off the road and crashed into a ditch in central Turkey yesterday, killing 12 people and injuring 19 others, officials said.

The driver lost control of the vehicle, which crossed into the oncoming lane and then plunged into the ditch near the city of Yozgat, as the bus was travelling the 150 miles from Sivas to Istanbul, Governor Mehmet Ali Ozkan said.