Malawi’s ex-deputy speaker shoots himself dead in parliament

Malawi’s ex-deputy speaker, Clement-Chiwaya LILONGWE, Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A former deputy speaker in Malawi has shot himself dead inside parliament in the capital, Lilongwe, authorities said.Clement Chiwaya, who moved in a wheelchair, had gone to the building on Thursday to discuss vehicle benefits entitled to him when he left…

US and Russia say they held ‘substantive’ arms control talks in Geneva

US President Joe Biden (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin WASHINGTON, Oct 1 NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States and Russia said in a joint statement that they had held “intensive and substantive” talks in their second meeting within a framework that is aimed at easing tensions between the world’s largest…

Shutdown: Congress votes to keep US Government open

WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Joe Biden has signed into law a temporary measure to keep the government funded until early December and avoid yet another federal shutdown. Congress narrowly passed the bill hours before funding lapsed, which would have forced federal museums, national parks and safety programmes to…

EU, Australia trade talks postponed amid subs row

   PARIS/SYDNEY, Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A long-planned round of Australia-EU free trade talks have been postponed, a European official confirmed Friday, after fury over Canberra’s decision to cancel a major French submarine contract. “The FTA trade round has been postponed for a month until November,” an EU official said,…

Covid-19: 2% or less have had jabs in many African nations – WHO

BRAZZAVILLE, Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Just two percent of the population, or less, have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus in half of the countries in Africa, the World Health Organization said. Fifteen of the continent’s 54 nations have managed to vaccinate at least 10 percent of their people, achieving the…

Update: Police regain control of Ecuador prison after riot carnage

GUAYAQUIL (Ecuador), Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police gained control of an Ecuador prison where rioting has left at least 118 inmates dead, some of them decapitated, as rival drug gangs went to war armed with guns and grenades. Another 86 inmates were wounded, six of them critically, according to Ecuador’s…

Covid-19: Greece imposes restrictions for its second largest city

ATHENS, Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Greece will impose a nighttime curfew and ban music at bars, cafes and restaurants in Thessaloniki, its second biggest city, following an increase in COVID-19 cases, the government said. Infections have stabilised across the country but cases have surged in northern Greece. The civil protection…

Covid-19: Somalia opens first public oxygen plant to help treat coronavirus amid severe shortage

Workers install the public oxygen plant amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic at the Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu MOGADISHU, Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Somalia’s first public oxygen plant opened on Thursday, in a ray of hope for a country where a lifesaving treatment for the coronavirus has been largely unavailable…

Ecuador seeks to identify remains of 116 inmates killed in prison riot

GUAYAQUIL (Ecuador), Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ecuador sought to identify the remains of the 116 inmates killed during a riot at one of its largest prisons earlier this week, the latest bout of violence authorities have linked to gangs vying for control of drug trafficking routes. Dozens of relatives of…

Afghan girls’ soccer squad find new home in Portugal

The captain of Afghanistan’s national women football team Farkhunda Muhtaj (C) poses for a portrait with teammates at the Belem Tower in Lisbon, Portugal LISBON, Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Leaving her homeland Afghanistan was painful, says 15-year-old Sarah. But now safely in Portugal, she hopes to pursue her dream of…