ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Vessel with 200 Rohingya Muslims evacuating camps ahead of storm sinks, leaving only one survivor, say UN officials. A boat carrying about 200 Rohingya Muslims who were evacuating ahead of a storm has capsized off western Myanmar, killing all but one person, UN officials have said. Kirsten Mildren, of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Al Jazeera there was only one confirmed survivor from Tuesday's accident. Barbara Manzi, head of the Myanmar OCHA office, said the boat struck rocks off the Pauktaw township in Rakhine State, and sank late on Monday. The victims were trying to escape Cyclone Mahasen which is expected on Thursday and Friday. The UN has warned the storm could lead to "life-threatening conditions". Al Jazeera's Everton Fox explains the weather impact of Tropical Cyclone Mahasen Myanmar state television said on Monday that thousands of people displaced by communal violence last year had been evacuated from makeshift c...

Four new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Eastern Province as WHO officials visit to consult medical staff. Saudi Arabia has confirmed four new cases of the SARS-like coronavirus in its Eastern Province, state media has reported, citing the health ministry. The health ministry said that one of the four new cases had been treated and the patient had been released from hospital, while the three other new cases were still being treated, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia said it had a total of 24 confirmed cases since the disease was identified last year, of whom 15 had died. World Health Organisation officials visiting Saudi Arabia to consult with the authorities on the outbreak said on Sunday it seemed likely the new virus could be passed between humans, but only after prolonged, close contact. The new virus (nCov) can cause coughing, fever and pneumonia. A virus from the same family triggered the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) th...

First batch of Kurdish fighters withdrawing from Turkey received by their comrades in northern Iraq. The first group of Kurdish fighters to withdraw from Turkey under a peace process has entered northern Iraq. The 13 men and women arrived in the area of Heror near Metina mountain on the Turkish-Iraqi border on Tuesday and were greeted by comrades from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in a symbolic step towards ending a three-decades-old insurgency. They were carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles, light machineguns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers and had rucksacks on their backs. After the welcome, the apparently-exhausted fighters put down their weapons and warmed themselves at a fire. "We faced many difficulties because of rain and snow" during seven days on the road, one of the fighters said, adding that they were observed by Turkish aircraft. PKK fighters began leaving their positions in southeast Turkey on May 8 after a ceasefire declared by Abdullah Ocalan, their...