Ethiopia to give telecoms licences to two firms

President Sahle-Work Zewde ADDIS ABABA, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ethiopia’s President Sahle-work Zewde has given much-awaited details of moves to liberalise the telecoms industry, saying two private firms would be given licenses to operate in the sector before the end of July 2020.State owned-Ethio Telecom currently has a monopoly, being…

US blacklists 28 Chinese entities over abuses against Muslims in Xinjiang

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US Commerce Department announced it is blacklisting 28 Chinese entities that it says are implicated inrights violations and abuses targeting Uighurs and other mostly Muslimminorities in the Xinjiang region. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the move, which bars the named entities from purchasing…

UN rights chief urges Australia to overhaul detention policies

SYDNEY, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN’s top rights official urgedAustralia to reform its criminal and refugee detention systems on Tuesday,just days after the country’s prime minister took a veiled swipe at theinternational body. Speaking in Sydney, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner MichelleBachelet said she had been “shocked” to learn…

US judge orders Pres Trump to hand over eight years of tax returns

NEW YORK, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A judge has ordered US President Donald Trump to hand over eight years of his tax returns to New York investigators. The judge rejected arguments by the president’s lawyers that Trump enjoyed total immunity while in office. The ruling helps an investigation into hush money…

US Pres Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Turkish economy if Turkey goes over limit over Syria border

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) —President Donald Trump has threatened to destroy Turkey’s economy if Turkey goes “off limits” after his surprise decision to pull US forces out of north-eastern Syria. In a series of angry tweets, Trump defended the move that could open the way for Turkey to launch an attack on…

Italy: 13 women drown as migrant boat capsizes off Lampedusa

Survivors were taken ashore at Lampedusa after their ordeal ROME, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) —At least 13 women, some of them pregnant, drowned when a boat crowded with migrants capsized in the Mediterranean moments before they were due to be rescued. Italian officials said at least a dozen other people are still missing.…

Hong Kong journalist hit by petrol bomb recovering in hospital

Flames are seen on the journalist after he was hit with a petrol bomb during a protest HONG KONG, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A journalist working with Hong Kong’s public broadcaster was recovering in hospital on Monday after he was hit by a petrol bomb during weekend protests in the…

DR Congo: Two nuns from Burundi killed by fallen antenna in Uvira

The collapsed antenna is owned by Orange UVIRA (DR Congo), Oct 8 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Two nuns from Burundi were killed in the collapse of a communication installation pole owned by Orange in Uvira, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a report from the French mobile phone operator.“Five…

Thousands gather in France to protest IVF bill

A demonstrator holds a sign reading “Where is your daddy?” PARIS, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Large crowds have taken to the streets of Paris in opposition to a bill that would give single women and lesbian couples access to fertility treatments.If passed, the new law would be France’s first major…

Rwanda: 19 attackers killed after killing 14 in popular tourist region – police

KIGALI, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rwandan police say 19 attackers have been killed and others are on the run after their assault on a popular tourist area killed at least 14 people over the weekend.National police spokesman John Bosco Kabera said in a statement that five other attackers have been…