TUNIS (Reuters) - At least eight migrants died and another 15 were missing after a boat sank off Tunisia, as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, State Monastir Radio said. The coastguard rescued 14 migrants who had been on the overcrowded boat, which sank off Chebba town in Mahdia region. A security official said that the boat set off from El Awabed coast in Sfax region this week. He added that most of migrants in the boat are Tunisians. The coastline of Sfax has become a major departure point for people fleeing poverty in Africa and the Middle East for a chance at a better life in Europe. In recent months, dozens of people have drowned off the Tunisian coast, with an increase in the frequency of attempted crossings from Tunisia and Libya toward Italy.

 

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LISBON (Reuters) - Angola’s Constitutional Court made a final ruling on Thursday to dismiss a complaint filed by the runner-up in the Aug. 24 election seeking to annul the results that gave victory to the ruling MPLA. After the country’s most closely fought election, the electoral commission declared last week the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) the winner, prolonging its nearly five decades of uninterrupted rule and handing President Joao Lourenco a second term.

 

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Thousands of people in Haiti’s capital and other major cities have organized new protests to demand safer streets, more affordable goods and the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. The occasional crack of gunfire mixed with the shouting and clapping of protesters as they marched through streets blocked by rocks, trucks and burning tires. Haitians have organized a growing number of protests amid an increase in gang-related kidnappings and killings, a spike in the prices of basic goods and a severe lack of fuel amid an inflation rate that has hit 30%.

 

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BUCHAREST (Reuters) – A Romanian Navy dredger hit a drifting mine it was trying to defuse in bad weather, but the crew of 75 were unharmed by the explosion, the defense ministry said. Mines began floating in the Black Sea after Russia launched special military operation in Ukraine, and Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish military diving teams have been defusing those drifting in their waters.

 

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ISLAMABAD (AFP) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed for “massive” global support for Pakistan where unprecedented floods have killed nearly 1,400 people and made more than a million people homeless. Guterres made the appeal as he landed in the Pakistani capital early on Friday morning and was received by Hina Rabbani Khar, the state minister for foreign affairs. The UN chief later met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other top officials.