Ecuador imposes curfew after protests push government out of capital

QUITO, Oct 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno ordered a curfew around government buildings after six days of violent anti-austerity protests that have pushed his administration out of the capital Quito and brought hundreds of arrests. Following tactics that have toppled previous governments, thousands of indigenous demonstrators have flooded…

Portugal: Pres de Souza asks Socialist Costa to form government

Prime Minister-designate Antonio Costa after his ruling Socialist Party wins Portugal elections LISBON, Oct 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Portugal’s president invited caretaker Prime Minister Antonio Costa to form a new government after his centre-left Socialists won Sunday’s election, expanding their parliamentary representation but landing just shy of a full majority. After…

Police, dogs search notorious Mexican prison for clandestine graves

MONTERREY (Mexico), Oct 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — In the courtyard of a jail that was shuttered last week, a man wearing a surgical mask and gloves used an underground scanner to search the earth for hidden graves in what was for decades one of Mexico’s most violent prisons. The Topo Chico…

Policeman ‘stoned to death’ by anti-government protesters in Malawi

LILONGWE, Oct 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police in Malawi have named an officer killed on Tuesday during clashes with anti-government protesters in Msundwe – a trading outpost west of the capital city, Lilongwe. Police spokesman James Kadadzerab said that officer Usumani Imedi had been stoned to death and “killed by rioters…

Gunmen in mass kidnap in Nigeria’s capital

ABUJA, Oct 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Unknown gunmen are now asking for a ransom after at least nine people were kidnapped in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. They abducted the victims from an area on the outskirts of the city. Reports say the victims include a 12-year-old boy. Eyewitnesses say the gunmen…

Trade wars lose US its competitiveness top spot: WEF

GENEVA, Oct 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States fell to second placebehind Singapore in the World Economic Forum’s flagship GlobalCompetitiveness Report, with the slippage linked in part to President Donald Trump’s trade wars. The WEF, organisers of the glitzy annual gathering of business andpolitical elite in Davos, have released an…

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to convene symposium on colonialism and reparations

GEORGETOWN, Oct 9 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), through its Reparations Commission (CRC), will convene Thursday a symposium on ‘Western Banking, Colonialism and Reparations’ in Antigua and Barbuda. The one-day event will explore the historical roots of Western banks in financing and profiteering from the enslavement of Africans…

Cubans denounce US blockade damages to communications system

HAVANA, Oct 9 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — Cuban communications workers denounced the damages to the development of the sector caused by the US blockade, which in the last year were valued at over 55 million dollars. At a hearing convened by the National Assembly of People’s Power (Parliament) Services Committee, those…

Venezuela denounces Colombia’s attempts to undermine peace

CARACAS, Oct 9 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — The Colombian government continues its escalation of attempts to undermine peace in Venezuela, with threats to use paramilitary groups to generate violence in the Bolivarian nation, President Nicolas Maduro denounced. The president informed the decision to continue with the second phase of the orange…

President Kenyatta thanks AfDB for supporting development projects

NAIROBI, Oct 9 (NNN-KBC) — President Uhuru Kenyatta has thanked the African Development Bank (AfDB) for supporting Kenya’s development projects especially the last mile electricity distribution programme. The President said through AfDB’s funding, the country more than tripled the number of households connected to electricity over the last six years.…