UN: 2025 the deadliest year for Rohingya fleeing by sea

Today’s headlines: some tankers appear to have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, but the situation remains unclear; Jordan calls for coordinated regional and international efforts to support the ceasefire in Lebanon. Bangkok encourages the recycling of water pistols during the Songkran celebrations; Japan has a new term for record-breaking heatwaves.

MYANMAR

Last year was the deadliest on record for Rohingya refugees fleeing by sea, with the death toll continuing to rise sharply in 2026, the UN said on 17 April, after hundreds of people lost their lives in a shipwreck earlier this month. “In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal,” said Babar Baloch, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency.

GULF–IRAN–UNITED STATES

Data from the tracking site MarineTraffic shows that some tankers appear to be crossing the Strait of Hormuz today following yesterday’s announcement by Iran’s foreign ministry. However, the outlook remains uncertain: Iran’s parliament speaker says the Strait of Hormuz “will not remain open” if the US blockade of Iranian ports continues, while US President Donald Trump says the blockade will continue until a peace deal is reached. There are also unconfirmed reports of a new meeting in Islamabad between US and Iranian delegations ahead of the ceasefire deadline set for April 21.

JORDAN - MIDDLE EAST

Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, is calling for a coordinated regional and international effort to help sustain the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and to support Beirut in its efforts to extend state authority across the entire territory. Speaking on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum in Turkey, he said it is essential that control of weapons remains exclusively in the hands of the Lebanese state, as part of efforts to strengthen stability in the country. He warned against what he described as increasingly aggressive actions by Israel in Lebanon, Syria and the occupied West Bank.

INDIA

India has failed to pass the Parliament expansion bill linked to women’s reserved seats. A government initiative that would have allocated a third of seats to women failed to secure enough votes, marking a rare defeat for Modi. Opposition groups argue that, whilst they support quotas for women, linking the bill to a redrawing of electoral constituencies represents an attempt by the government to manipulate the system and secure more votes.

THAILAND

Bangkok is promoting the recycling of water pistols used during the Songkran celebrations – the traditional Thai New Year. The City Council announced on Thursday that participants are invited to donate their water pistols for plastic recycling at nine locations across Bangkok, most of which are situated in popular shopping centres. The items used in the water fights will be turned into plastic pellets for use in new products.

JAPAN

Japan has introduced a new name for days when the temperature reaches 40 °C or higher, after the country recorded its hottest summer on record last year. The term – kokushobi – is translated by the media as ‘cruelly hot day’ or ‘brutally hot’. The name emerged as the most popular in a national online poll. Extreme weather events are becoming more intense worldwide, fuelled by human activities such as the use of fossil fuels.

KYRGYZSTAN

A petition with a large number of signatures has been circulated in Kyrgyzstan calling for TikTok to be unblocked, as the lack of access to this platform “has caused serious damage to small businesses, artisans and the creative youth of our country”, write the authors, and the use of unreliable VPN systems puts users at risk. “For us, it is not a means of distraction and entertainment, but the only free showcase for our businesses,” say tens of thousands of mothers on maternity leave, woodcarvers, guides and small shop owners.

RUSSIA - UKRAINE

The Russian Ministry of Defence has published a list of companies in various countries which, according to its information, are linked to the production of attack drones for Ukraine, including subsidiaries of Ukrainian companies in the UK, Denmark, Latvia, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic, and suppliers of components from the Czech Republic, Israel, Turkey, Italy, Spain and Germany, all of which are said to be “potential targets” for Russian military operations.