At Least 15 People Killed by Suicide Blast in Central Somalia

^{PHOTO: SHOWS BLAST DAMAGED RESTAURANT BUILDING BLAST DEBRIS}

INTERNATIONAL: At least 15 people were killed in the central Somali town of Beledweyne on Saturday,February 19, after a suicide bomber blew themselves up in a restaurant that witnesses have said was packed with local officials and politicians.

The al Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a report by SITE intelligence, which monitors militants groups online.

A further 18 people were injured in the attack.

One of those killed in Beledweyne was a candidate in an ongoing parliamentary election, residents have said.

The parliamentary elections began on November 1, 2021 and were initially supposed to end on December 24, but are currently due to be completed on February 25.

Nepal Police Fires Tear Gas, Water Cannon to Disperse Protest Over US 'Gift'

Police in Kathmandu has fired teargas and water cannon to disperse protesters opposed to a U.S.-funded infrastructure programme that was set to be presented in parliament for ratification on Sunday,February 20, witnesses and officials in Nepal's capital have said.

Some protesters were injured in the clashes.

^{PHOTO: POLICE SPRAYING WATER CANNON, TEARGAS, CLASHES WITH PROTESTERS, PROTESTERS PELTING STONES}

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government aid agency, has agreed in 2017 to provide $500 million in grants to fund a 300-kilometre electricity transmission line and a road improvement project in Nepal.

Government officials have said the grant will not have to be repaid and comes with no strings, but opponents say the agreement would undermine Nepal's laws and sovereignty as lawmakers would have insufficient oversight of the board directing the infrastructure project.

Despite loud protests, the Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki put forward the agreement in parliament and has said the projects would benefit 24 million of Nepal's 30 million population.

Nepal relies heavily on foreign aid, and donors coordinate development aid policy through the Nepal Development Forum, whose members include donor countries and international financial organisations.

Several Hundred Tons of Dead Sardines,Anchovies Wash Up on Chile Beach

^{PHOTO: DEAD FISH ON BEACH, SOUNDBITES FROM LOCAL MAYOR AND RESIDENT ON DEAD FISH}

A massive fish kill in the Queule River Estuary in Chile last week has left fishermen overworked, residents in fear and thousands of tons of dead sardines floating along local shorelines. According to a statement on the website of Chile’s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (SERNAPESCA), the entire area has been declared a human health hazard and the dead sardines have been banned for consumption.

Seven major areas in the estuary have been affected by the sardine die-offs with Playa de Los Piños being hit the hardest. The news comes at a bad time for a region already struggling with stocking its national fisheries. Sardines, along with anchovy, were recently closed to fishing in the country due to low catch numbers. SERNAPESCA estimates that there were several hundred tons of dead fish in the water.

Fisherman Hernan Machua, has said, around 1,000 tons of dead sardines have been scooped out of the water so far and several thousand tons remain. He has also added that more help from the government in the clean-up efforts was desperately needed.

Environmental officials are investigating water quality in the region, off the coast of Coliumo peninsula, to determine the cause of the incident.

Some locals are pointing to low oxygen levels in deeper waters as the reason for the deaths, with fish having to swim closer to the shore in search of oxygen nutrients.