Refugees and migrants have pitched their tents on a loading dock in Calais, France. UNHCR/Christophe Vander Eecken

France Empties “The Jungle”

Most of the residence were from Africa, including Eritrea, or Afghanistan. “France began clearing the sprawling “Jungle” camp on Monday as many migrants who have camped for months or years among sand dunes near Calais gave up on their dreams of reaching Britain, a tantalizingly short sea crossing away. Following sporadic outbreaks of unrest overnight, the migrants chose instead with calm resignation to be relocated in France while their asylum requests are considered. By the evening, 2,318 camp residents – more than a third of the total – had left the squalid shanty-town outside the northern port by bus and were being rehoused at reception centers across the country, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/2ezbtYk)

Anti-UN Riots in Bangui…”Three people were killed and six wounded in Central African Republic on Monday when U.N. peacekeepers exchanged fire with armed men during a protest against the U.N. military presence, the local Red Cross said. The dead and wounded were among hundreds of protesters gathered to call for the U.N. troops to leave the country, Antoine Mbao-Bogo, president of the CAR Red Cross, said. A U.N. spokesman said at least four peacekeepers had been wounded. A Reuters witness saw protesters, carrying anti-U.N. posters, throwing stones and shouting at the troops who responded with warning shots. There was then an exchange of gunfire between the troops and armed men near the crowd. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2egVZ88)

Quote of the Day: “President Obama, it is immoral for you to keep drilling in our state lands, in our federal lands, off our federal waters, while at the same time calling yourself a climate change leader,” said actor Mark Ruffalo at a recent rally. (AFP http://yhoo.it/2dDlcGP)

Africa

More than 75,000 people have fled their homes and 18 have been killed during three weeks of clashes in Somalia, the United Nations said on Monday, warning that women and children sleeping in the open will suffer as the rainy season looms. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2eDYvVD)

President Uhuru Kenyatta commuted all death sentences in Kenya to life jail terms on Monday, removing 2,747 convicts from death row in a nation that has not executed anyone for about three decades. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2eocDGo)

Burundi’s government has withdrawn permits from a prominent human rights organisation and several other non-profit groups, accusing them of stirring up hatred and tarnishing the nation’s image, an order issued by the Interior Ministry said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2eocYZV)

The death toll in last week’s train crash in Cameroon has climbed to 79 after rescuers finished combing through the wreckage, authorities said Monday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/2eLcNDv)

South African farmers intend to plant 25 percent more hectares of maize this season in the hope that decent rainfall will ease the hardship caused by last year’s scorching drought, a Reuters’ poll showed on Monday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2ezUu3K)

Heads of state at Wednesday’s Congo-focused regional summit are likely to back a deal president Kabila recently struck with part of the opposition to allow him to stay in power until at least April 2018, beyond his mandate which ends in December. But analysts say this time Kabila cannot count on unalloyed support from Angola and other allies, especially if its leaders start to see Kabila as the problem, rather than the solution to difficulties in the central African giant. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2ezX5KO)

MENA

Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, believes that even if Michel Aoun is elected president next week after a vacancy of more than two years forming a government will take from five to six months, he was quoted as saying in a newspaper on Monday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2eofEGT)

The European Union will go ahead with training for the Libyan coast guard this week, days after a coast guard vessel allegedly attacked a boat carrying migrants, causing four of them to drown. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2eocYJ5)

Though sexual violence and harassment are rife in Tunisia, it is seen as a beacon on women’s rights. A draft law could bring reality into line with appearance. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2egUmHj)

Syrian refugee children have been working in factories in Turkey making clothes for British high street retailer Marks & Spencer and online store ASOS, an investigation by BBC Panorama found. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2dCVw1P)

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said an “humanitarian pause” in air strikes on Syria’s Aleppo had ended on Saturday and Moscow was not currently considering a return to the ceasefire, Russian news agencies reported. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2enRgmb)

An Iraqi lawmaker has called on her government to investigate a suspected air strike at a Shi’ite mosque during fighting in nearby Kirkuk last week, saying U.S.-led forces could have been involved – a suggestion dismissed by the coalition. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2enQx4h)

During a months-long investigation, IRIN tracked down and spoke to those held in so-called Islamic State’s secret prisons. (IRIN http://bit.ly/2eDVILY)

Asia

A powerful blast at a prefabricated house in northwestern China on Monday killed at least seven people and injured 94, state news agency Xinhua said. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2eE4SrX)

Human rights activists on Monday called on Thailand’s junta to drop sedition charges against a rights lawyer in the first such case against an attorney since the military took power in a 2014 coup. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2dDgSHM)

The most senior U.S. diplomat for Asia said on Monday that the United States remains a “steady and trusted” partner of the Philippines, but was concerned about recent controversial statements made by President Rodrigo Duterte. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2ezXflv)

Young Afghan soldiers who have suffered horrific injuries in the war against the Taliban are being left to fend largely for themselves. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2dDhTPZ)

The Americas

Aid is flying in, but workers are struggling to get it to areas of Haiti that were hardest hit by Hurricane Matthew. (CNN http://cnn.it/2eyiNUg)

The U.S. state of Minnesota is home to a large number of refugees from Somalia and has a high rate of FGM. (VOA http://bit.ly/2ezS3Ou)

….and the rest

Greek police say dozens of residents in an island camp for refugees and other migrants have set fire to part of the facility that handles asylum applications, during a protest over delays in the asylum process. (AP http://yhoo.it/2eLc2ud)

Carrying their belongings in bags and suitcases, long lines of migrants waited calmly in chilly temperatures Monday to board buses in the French port city of Calais, as authorities began evacuating the squalid camp they call home. (AP http://yhoo.it/2eyjCMu)

Maltese gov’t says 5 killed in plane crash were French officials tracing Mediterranean trafficking routes from Libya. (AP http://yhoo.it/2eL8MyO)

A Northern Irish bakery that refused to bake a cake iced with a pro-gay slogan lost its bid to overturn its prosecution for discrimination on Monday as a local court rejected an appeal based on its owners’ Christian beliefs. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2eoaOJp)

Opinion/Blogs

Is this the end of the ICC? (Global Dispatches Podcast http://buff.ly/2ezYkJV)

Why are Afghan refugees being forced back to a worsening war? (IRIN http://bit.ly/2f9c0PR)

Poverty Elimination and Reduction of Inequality: Global Trends and Policy Imperatives (IPS http://bit.ly/2dPt77b)

How Sri Lanka bit back at mosquitoes and wiped out malaria (Guardian podcast http://bit.ly/2dCUrHB)

Adapting to climate change is good business (TRF http://tmsnrt.rs/2egVjzm)

Calais child refugees: UK government needs less hysteria and more support (ODI http://bit.ly/2egZ0oN)

What does peace in Colombia have to do with the environment? (Guardian http://bit.ly/2enTdir)

Education in Africa profits billionaire bleeding hearts (Africa is a Country http://buff.ly/2eofqiN)

Big data can prevent global health crises — it’s time to make the most of it (Devex http://buff.ly/2eohp6W)