Briefly

INDIA

Modi makes effort to placate angry farmers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held virtual talks with Indian farmers on Friday and asked them to explain how the government's agricultural policies have benefited them, a month into massive farmer protests that have rattled his administration. Modi's talks with supporters of the legislation come while his government is making multiple efforts to placate tens of thousands of farmers who are blocking key highways on the outskirts of the capital in protests against new agricultural laws. The protesting farmers say the laws will dismantle regulated markets, favor big corporations, and make family-owned farms unviable, eventually leaving them landless. Farmers fear the government will stop buying grain at minimum guaranteed prices and corporations will then push down prices.

ETHIOPIA

Election commission sets polls for June 5

Ethiopia will hold legislative and regional elections on June 5 next year, the electoral commission said on Friday after polls scheduled for 2020 were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. The canceled elections were a factor that stoked tensions between the government and the northern Tigray region. Weeks of fights in Tigray between the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the Ethiopian Defense Forces have reportedly left hundreds of people dead, thousands displaced, and millions in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. More than 52,000 refugees have fled Tigray into eastern Sudan over the past six weeks, according to the UN refugee agency.

SYRIA

Air defenses intercept Israeli missile strikes

Syrian air defenses on Friday intercepted missiles fired by Israel on the western province of Hama, state news agency SANA said. Syrian state TV aired footage purporting to show air defenses responding to the Israeli attack. Israeli warplanes were heard flying over neighboring Lebanon shortly before the strikes, according to AFP correspondents. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an observer group, said the missile strikes killed at least six fighters. Israel has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

UNITED STATES

Jackson's 'Neverland' sold to billionaire

Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in California has found a new owner in billionaire businessman Ron Burkle. The Wall Street Journal reports the property was sold for $22 million to Burkle, an associate of the late pop star and co-founder of the investment firm Yucaipa Companies. In addition to a 12,500 square-foot (1,160 square-meter) main residence and a 3,700 square-foot pool house, the property boasts a separate building with a 50-seat movie theater and a dance studio. The asking price of the property was $100 million in 2016 then dropped to $67 million a year later.

Agencies - Xinhua