California to ban smoking, vaping at state beaches, parks

LOS ANGELES, Oct 14 (NNN-XINHUA) — California will ban smoking and vaping at state beaches and parks starting next year under a new legislation signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom. It covers smoking traditional cigarettes as well as marijuana and electronic cigarettes. Smoking will still be allowed in parking lots and on roads outside state…

Outsider Saied set for landslide in Tunisia presidency: exit polls

TUNIS, Oct 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Kais Saied, a political outsider, was headed for a landslide victory Sunday in Tunisia’s presidential runoff, sweeping aside his rival, media magnate Nabil Karoui, exit polls said. In a contest that reflected Tunisia’s shifting post-revolution political landscape, Saied, an independent conservative academic, scooped 72.5 percent…

16 killed in Burkina Faso mosque attack: security sources

OUAGADOUGOU, Oct 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sixteen people died and two were seriously injured in an attack on a mosque in Burkina Faso’s volatile north, security sources said. Armed men attacked the Grand Mosque in Salmossi on Friday evening, a source said, adding that 13 died on the spot and three…

Germany bans weapons sales to Turkey over Syria offensive

BERLIN, Oct 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) –– Germany said it is halting sales of weapons to Turkey over its widely criticised operation against Kurdish militias in northern Syria. Germany, along with many of its allies, has condemned the offensive that Ankara says is targing the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia —…

US: Firefighters curb southern California blazes

LOS ANGELES, Oct 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Wildfires raging across southernCalifornia abated on Saturday with evacuation orders lifted after 100,000people were forced to flee their homes. A fire that had burned rapidly through the San Fernando Valley in greaterLos Angeles was the strongest of several across southern California. By Saturday, it…

Ecuador president orders curfew, military control in Quito

QUITO, Oct 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ecuador President Lenin Morenoordered the capital Quito and surrounding areas placed under curfew andmilitary control, as deadly protests against government austerity measures roiled the city. The order would “facilitate the work of public forces against intolerableoutbreaks of violence,” he announced on Twitter, as clouds of…

Measles deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo top 4,000, Unicef rushes medical kits

KINSHASA, Oct 12 (NNN-UNICEF) — UNICEF is vaccinating thousands more children against measles and rushing life-saving medicines to health centers across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as deaths from the world’s largest measles outbreak top 4,000. Since January, 203,179 cases of measles have been reported in all 26…

US blockade affects Cuba’s tobacco industry

HAVANA, Oct 12 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — The tightening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba has caused millions in losses to Cuba’s tobacco industry, according to an official source. The Tabacuba Business Group reported that the damages amount to $145 million from April…

Ethiopia converts former torture centre to tourist hotspot

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 12 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — A palace that once housed Ethiopia’s emperors and also served as a torture site under the communist Derg regime is to open to the public in a controversial government tourism project.The palace compound in Addis Ababa, which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has rebranded…

South Africa’s ex-president Zuma to be tried for corruption: court

Ex President Jacob Zuma PRETORIA, Oc5t 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) –The corruption trial of former South African former President Jacob Zuma will hold, following a court decision to deny him a permanent stay of persecution.The Friday ruling by Judge Jerome Mnguni in the Pietermaritzburg High Court paves way for Zuma’s trial on…