UTRECHT, Netherlands (Reuters) – Several thousand people gathered in the central Dutch town of Utrecht on Saturday to protest against new coronavirus restrictions that came into force last weekend. Protesters walked through the streets of the town carrying banners saying “Medical Freedom Now!” and waving Dutch flags. A heavy police presence was visible along the route of the march. It is the first major demonstration in the Netherlands against the measures, which include a nighttime closure of bars, restaurants and most stores to stem a record-breaking wave of COVID-19 cases that is threatening to overwhelm the country’s health care system. The Netherlands saw violent protests two weeks ago after the government announced plans to ban most people who have not been vaccinated from public places. Those plans face widespread opposition in parliament, including from parties in the governing coalition and have not been put into place yet.

***
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have concluded their first joint naval exercise, Indonesia’s navy said on Saturday, as the region faces rising tensions with China. The three-day exercise off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island aimed at increasing interoperability between the ASEAN member states and the Russian navy in the strategic maritime area. It comes amid rising tensions between major powers in the South China Sea, a resource-rich waterway of geopolitical significance. “The exercise has a strategic impact because it was designed to cultivate friendships between the Indonesian government, ASEAN countries and Russia,” the navy said. The two-stage drills involved eight warships and four aircraft from Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Brunei. Russia and the Southeast Asian bloc held their fourth summit online in October, a meeting timed with the anniversary of relations between Russia and the 10-member regional grouping.

***
CAIRO (AP) – Libya’s foreign minister has criticized a system of deterring migrants from reaching European shores that she argued fails to address the root of the problem and has so far only served the interest of EU states. Her comments are the latest stab at EU policies that fund forces such as the Libyan coast guard, which intercepts migrant boats and brings them back onshore and detains them. Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush spoke via video call at the Mediterranean dialogues, a conference hosted by the Italian government, in a session titled “Dealing with Migration.” “Please do not push the problem in our lap and please do not point your fingers at Libya and portray us as a country which abuses and disrespects refugees,” she said. “We are tired of beating around the bush, and all these superficial solutions being offered, it’s time to state the problem and face it, instead of ... keep repeating it again and again.”

***
EAST JAVA (Al Jazeera) – At least one person has been killed and dozens suffered severe burns after the Semeru volcano in Indonesia’s East Java province erupted on Saturday, spewing out huge clouds of smoke and ash, officials said. Videos shared on Saturday by the country’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) showed residents running in panic as towering smoke and ash blanketed some nearby villages in Lumajang district. The deputy chief of Lumajang district, Indah Masdar, told a news conference one person had died and 41 people had suffered burn injuries. The BNPB said later that 35 patients were being treated at local medical facilities. Indah asked for helicopters to rescue people trapped inside buildings. Thoriqul Haq, district head of Lumajang, said a number of sand miners were trapped near mines.

***
HYDERABAD (AP) – A tropical storm weakened after dumping heavy rains overnight in parts of southern India off the Bay of Bengal as more than 50,000 people evacuated to government-run camps, officials said Saturday. No loss of life or major damage has been reported so far from the rain-hit areas of Andhra Pradesh state. Kanna Babu, a state commissioner for disaster management, said 54,000 people who evacuated on Friday from vulnerable areas were waiting in nearly 200 state-run relief camps for the weather to clear before returning to their homes. Authorities shut schools, canceled trains and anchored fishermen’s boats in the affected areas until Sunday. The storm is likely to further weaken later Saturday and curve toward eastern Odisha state before making landfall on Sunday as a deep depression, the Indian Meteorological Department said. Scientists say that cyclones and powerful storms in the Indian Ocean are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.

***
BANJUL (AFP) – Gambians headed to the polls on Saturday, in the first presidential election in the tiny West African nation since former dictator Yahya Jammeh fled into exile. The voting was closely watched as a test of the democratic transition in the country, where Jammeh ruled for 22 years after seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1994. The ex-autocrat was forced into exile in Equatorial Guinea in January 2017 after Adama Barrow, then a relative unknown, defeated him at the ballot box. President Barrow, 56, is now running for re-election, and faces five other candidates. Political veteran Ousainou Darboe is considered the leading opposition candidate. Many voters in the impoverished nation of more than two million people are hoping for an improvement in their living standards. The Gambia, a sliver of a land about 480 kilometers (300 miles) long, which is surrounded by Senegal, is one of the poorest countries in the world. About half of the population live on less than $1.90 per day, the World Bank says.