World
Tribal violence over Papua New Guinea mines kills at least 20: UN
As clashes in Porgera Valley intensify, authorities allow police to use ‘lethal force’ to quell violence.
Papua New Guinea has given police permission to use “lethal force” to restore order as shootouts between rival tribes have killed dozens of people.
Between 20 and 50 people have been killed in the violence in the Porgera Valley in Enga province, home to one of the country’s largest gold deposits, the United Nations estimated on Monday.
The fighting involving hundreds of tribal warriors, apparently over control of local mining access, is continuing, the government said. The violence has spiralled after an attack in August on a landowner in the area by unauthorised miners, police said as they reported that 300 shots had been fired the previous day.
Mate Bagossy, the UN’s humanitarian adviser for Papua New Guinea, said the death toll from the intensifying tribal conflict had reached “at least 20” on Sunday but was “likely up to 50 people” based on information from community members and local authorities.
“Today, some security forces have started moving in,” Bagossy said on Monday, adding that “it remains to be seen what effect this will have”.
Police reported 30 men had been killed across the rival clans, hundreds of women and children displaced and “many” homes burned to the ground. The use of “lethal force” has been sanctioned to try to quell the violence, according to Police Commissioner David Manning.
“Put simply, this means if you raise a weapon in a public place or threaten another person, you will be shot,” Manning said in a statement over the weekend, adding that “illegal miners and illegal settlers” were “victimising” traditional landowners and terrorising local communities.
According to police, unauthorised miners from the Sakar clan have been squatting on land owned by their Piande rivals.
Alcohol sales have been banned and an overnight curfew is in place, Manning added. He promised to remove the miners from the valley, which is located near the site of a landslide in May that was estimated to have killed more than 2,000 people.
‘Spiral of violence’
Tribal conflicts are a frequent occurrence in Papua New Guinea’s highlands, but an influx of automatic weapons has made clashes deadlier.
The latest burst of fighting had been turbocharged by the presence of more than “100 high-powered weapons in the wrong hands”, police said.
The Porgera gold mine once accounted for about 10 percent of Papua New Guinea’s yearly export earnings.
But recurrent flare-ups of tribal violence and a drawn-out government takeover have slowed production in recent years.
Gunfights between rival clans living near the mine killed at least 17 people in 2022.
And at least 26 people, including 16 children, were killed when three villages in East Sepik province were attacked this year.
Pope Francis urged Papua New Guinea to “stop the spiral” of violence during a visit this month.
new video loaded: Moscow Tanker Blast Most Likely Russian Missile, Video Shows
By James McManagan, Paul Sonne, Malachy Browne and Jackeline Luna
June 19, 2026
World
Man charged with attempted murder, released after allegedly forcing toddler into crocodile enclosure at zoo
Man FORCES child into crocodile enclosure
A British man has been arrested after allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo. The child suffered critical injuries, and authorities say the suspect did not know the boy as the investigation continues.
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A man was released from custody on Friday after he was charged with attempted murder for allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo.
Cambridgeshire police said that the man, who remains unidentified, wasn’t fit to be interviewed.
The boy suffered critical injuries in the incident at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Huntingdon, England, north of London.
The 30-year-old man will remain on bail until Sept. 30, pending further inquiries.
GEORGIA MOM’S WALMART TRIP DEVOLVES INTO ‘TUG-OF-WARRING’ IN DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO SAVE HER SON
A crocodile rests inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)
“The man, who is not known to the victim, was assessed as not being fit for interview,” police said in a statement.
The boy is in stable condition, after reportedly suffering a broken arm and pelvis.
He was saved from the crocodile by Tracey Johnson, the wife of the zoo’s owner.
MOTHER JUMPS INTO WATER TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WHO FELL BETWEEN CRUISE SHIP AND DOCK
“I know Tracey very well and she’s a lovely lady and it’s nothing more than I’d expect from her,” a local told BBC News. “She’d always put her own life at risk to save someone else. She’s an extraordinary lady and very brave.
The villager added that Johnson put herself in “immense danger” during the rescue.
The owners said their tropical house would remain closed until further notice.
Crocodiles rest inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the boy and his family following the incident that occurred today,” the owners wrote on social media.
Johnsons of Old Hurst is a farm and zoo north of London in Huntingdon, England. (Google Maps)
Huntingdonshire district councillor Charlotte Lowe said she couldn’t “fathom how it’s happened because they’ve got all the right protection and safety equipment, for want of a better word, in there,” The Guardian reported.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Cambridgeshire Constabulary for comment.
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US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his comments on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying she asked him “over and over” for a photo when the pair met at the G7 summit in France earlier this week.
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Following the summit, Trump told an Italian journalist that he “felt sorry for Meloni” after she “begged me to take a picture with her”.
Meloni hit back in a video posted to social media, branding Trump’s claims as “completely made up” and insisting that neither she nor Italy begs anyone for anything.
The once close pair’s relationship has grown increasingly fractious in recent months, particularly since Rome refused to provide the US support for its operations in Iran and after Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV, who was criticised by the Trump administration over his remarks on the war and the US’s immigration policies.
“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Saturday. “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon”.
“Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her “numbers up.” No thanks!!!” Trump added.
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