Dec 21 news article

Article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59723341 Malaysia: Death toll rises after massive floods The number of flood evacuees had risen to 51,000 by Monday after torrential rain lashed Malaysia over the weekend

Article 2: https://www.euronews.com/2021/12/21/us-japan-executions Japan executes three death row inmates, a first under PM Kishida -Kyodo

TOKYO - Japan executed three convicts on Tuesday, marking the first time the death penalty was carried out under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government and the first execution in the country in nearly two years, the Kyodo news agency reported. One of those put to death was a 65-year-old man convicted of stabbing and killing seven of his relatives in 2004, according to Kyodo.

Capital punishment is carried out by hanging in Japan and prisoners are notified of their execution only hours before it is carried out. That practice that has long been decried by human rights groups for the stress it puts on death-row prisoners, for whom any day could be their last. Two death row inmates in November launched a law suit against the government, demanding a change to the practice and compensation for the impact of it.

The United States and Japan are the only industrialised democracies that still carry capital punishment and rights groups such as Amnesty International have demanded change for decades. The last execution in Japan was on Dec. 26, 2019, Kyodo reported.

Article 3: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/21/france-says-killed-suspect-in-2020-murder-of-aid-workers-in-niger France says killed suspect in 2020 murder of aid workers in Niger Soumana Boura, a leading member of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, was killed in a drone attack, the French army says.

France has thousands of soldiers deployed in the Sahel, an arid region south of the Sahara Desert plagued by a worsening conflict that involves multiple armed groups, military campaigns by national armies and international partners, as well as local militias.

ISGS boss Adnan Abou Walid al-Sahraoui, who France believes ordered the execution of the aid workers, was killed in August by French soldiers. Eleven other people implicated in the murders have been arrested in Niger in recent months. The area where the aid workers died, famous for its giraffes, is a popular destination for weekend leisure trips by Niamey residents, including foreigners.