Togo passes new law to clamp down on protests

LOME, Aug 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — MPs in Togo have passed a law which puts further restrictions on demonstrations following a wave of opposition rallies.The government says the law is to make the country safer but the opposition sees it as an effort to stifle growing dissent fuelled by the fact…

Nigeria police in Twitter rage over army ambush

ABUJA, Aug 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nigeria’s police force has taken to Twitter to express anger and demand answers from the army after soldiers killed three police officers in a gunfight on Tuesday.A civilian was also killed when a police team transporting a suspect in the north-eastern state of Taraba came…

Italy’s Salvini pulls plug on government, calls for elections

ROME, Aug 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The leader of Italy’s ruling League party, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, declared the governing coalition to be unworkable after months of internal bickering and said the only way forward was to hold fresh elections. The shock announcement on Thursday follows a period of intense…

Ethiopia grants first financial services licence to foreign firm

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ethiopia’s central bank granted a financial services licence to a foreign-owned company for the first time on Thursday, as the government begins to open up the economy of Africa’s second most populous nation. Ethio Lease’s new licence signals Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is moving…

Zimbabwe: Pres Mnangagwa fires minister for “inappropriate behaviour” after corruption charge

HARARE, Aug 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has fired his tourism minister, who was last month charged with corruption involving $95 million. Prisca Mupfumira is the first cabinet minister to be charged by the newly formed anti-graft agency, which says it is on a drive to bring to…

DR Congo PM launches talks on forming government

KINSHASA, Aug 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — DR Congo Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba began formal talks on forming a government, more than 11 weeks after his appointment, his office said. The task of forming a cabinet in the vast country has been hampered by the outcome of a disputed vote on…

Mexico staying on F1 calendar for three more years

MEXICO CITY, Aug 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexico will stay on the Formula One calendar for three more years after a new deal was signed on Thursday. Formula One said the race would change its name to the Mexico City Grand Prix from 2020 to emphasise the support of the city…

Radiation briefly spikes in Russian city after rocket engine explosion, 2 dead

MOSCOW, Aug 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two people were killed and a short-term spike in radiation levels was recorded in a northern Russian city after a rocket engine exploded at a military testing site on Thursday. “A short-term rise in background radiation was recorded at 12 o’clock in Severodvinsk,” Ksenia Yudina,…

US House Speaker Pelosi in Central America as Trump seeks asylum deals

GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a congressional delegation to Central America on Thursday as the Trump administration presses countries there to stop US-bound asylum seekers before they reach the US border. Pelosi, a Democrat, began in Guatemala, which late last month under threat…

Venezuela’s hyperinflation slowing, says opposition-controlled parliament

CARACAS, Aug 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela’s rampant hyperinflation slowed down in July, the opposition-controlled parliament said, calculating its figure for the last 12 months at just over 250,000 per cent. July’s inflation was 33.8 per cent, taking the total for the last 12 months to 265,000 per cent, compared with…