Zimbabwe police arrest 10 union officials as clampdown deepens

HARARE, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Zimbabwe police arrested 10 union officials on Friday as they tried to petition the finance minister over low pay for teachers, witnesses said, extending a government clampdown on dissent that has hobbled the country’s main opposition. Police bundled the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe…

Uganda blocks online access to Rwandan newspaper, casting shadow over pact to end tensions

KAMPALA, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Uganda said it had blocked online access to Rwanda’s main state-owned newspaper on national security grounds, two days after the countries signed a pact to end tensions that closed their busiest border crossing for six months. Uganda’s communications regulator asked all internet service providers to…

Somalia’s Jubbaland president wins new term amid rift with central govt

GAROWE (Somalia), Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The president of Jubbaland, a Somali region critical to East Africa’s fight against al Shabaab militants, won a fresh term on Thursday, the parliamentary speaker said, amid a growing rift between the federal government and its semi-autonomous states. Ahmed Mohamed Madobe, a top security…

Bangladesh-Argentina agree to increase trade

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 24 (NNN-BSS) — Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said Bangladesh government is interested to sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to import more goods in Argentina. “Bangladesh imported goods of $ 622 million from Argentina against the export of goods of $18 million in the last fiscal… We can…

US names Nigerians in massive fraud investigation

WASHINGTON/ABUJA, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US authorities have charged 80 people, “most of whom are Nigerian nationals”, with participating in a conspiracy to steal millions of dollars, prosecutors say. They are accused of using business email fraud schemes and romance scams to con victims – many of them elderly.…

‘First vape death in the US’ recorded in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD (Illinois, US),Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A patient has died after developing a severe respiratory disease due to vaping in the first such death in the US, say health officials. The US state of Illinois’ health agency said the unnamed patient was between 17 and 38 years old. It comes…

Israeli teenage girl killed in West Bank bomb attack

JERUSALEM, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A 17-year-old Israeli girl has been killed in a bomb attack near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military says. Rina Shnerb had been hiking with her brother Dvir and her father Eitan near a natural spring outside Dolev when an…

Finnish politicians call for measures to speed up firefighting in Brazil

HELSINKI, Aug 24 (NNN-XINHUA) — Leading Finnish politicians on Friday urged Brazil to take measures to stop the fires that are destroying the Amazon rain forests. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto sent a message on social media that the situation accentuates the need for international cooperation in fighting forest fires. He said in a tweet that…

122 Palestinians injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers in Eastern Gaza

GAZA, Aug 24 (NNN-XINHUA) —At least 122 Palestinians, including three paramedics, were injured on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the eastern Gaza Strip. Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza, told reporters that 50 were injured by Israeli soldiers’ gunfire. On Friday afternoon, hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators gathered close to…

Mexican Senate rejects safe third country demand from Washington

MEXICO CITY, Aug 24 (NNN-XINHUA) — Mexico’s senate said it would reject the safe third country status the United States is forcing the country to accept so that Mexico can host more migrant asylum seekers. Lawmakers have notified Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard of their decision, said Ricardo Monreal, president of the senate’s political coordination board.…