MINNA (Reuters) - Security forces opened fire in a city in central Nigeria on Friday as hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against the deaths of 37 detainees in the custody of a paramilitary force, witnesses said. The victims were found dead on Thursday in the cells of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), which had raided suspected illegal gold mines and locked up dozens of miners in Minna, the capital of Niger State. The government has promised an investigation into the deaths and suspended some senior officials but anger over the incident led to clashes overnight and into Friday. A Reuters witness saw security forces fire live rounds as protesters - some armed with sticks, machetes and traditional hunting rifles - called for justice. Some protesters tried to set fire to government buildings in the Tunga neighborhood.  

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LONDON (Reuters) - Women in Britain continue to receive substantially lower bonus payments than men, according to human resources data firm Brightmine. Payroll records for almost 1.5 million employees as of July this year showed male workers received average annual bonuses of £5,442 ($7,300) compared with £3,062 for women. The gap narrowed only slightly from a year earlier. The data, published on Friday, also showed,14% of male employees received a bonus compared with 9% of females. The disparity widened with age: at 56, men received average bonuses of £8,817 compared with £3,769 for women. Some of the biggest gaps were in finance and in professional and business services. Sheila Attwood, HR insights and data lead at Brightmine, said the findings suggested differences in progression, seniority and access to higher-value incentive schemes. 

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HELSINKI (Xinhua) -- Swedish Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlen on Friday tasked Social Democratic Party leader and former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson with exploring the prospects for forming a new government. Norlen made the announcement after holding separate consultations with representatives of the parliamentary parties as part of the process of finding a new prime minister. Earlier on Friday, Andersson told Swedish media that she had told the speaker that she was ready to begin work on forming a new government and would hold broad talks with party leaders if given the mandate. Andersson also said she wanted to lead Sweden in a spirit of broad cooperation. 

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BERN (AFP) - The Swiss House of Representatives voted in favor of stricter measures on asylum on Thursday, broadcaster Swissinfo reported. The House adopted a motion put forward by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party parliamentary group, urging the government to oppose any proposed changes to EU rules on compensation for unemployed cross-border workers. A separate motion called on the federal government to revoke the Swiss citizenship of dual nationals convicted of the most serious crimes and deport them. The House also called on the government to change its practice in handling asylum applications from Afghan women, so they would no longer be automatically granted asylum but instead receive provisional admission status.

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MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish riot police fired rubber bullets into the air and struck people with batons on Friday as they began an operation to clear thousands of migrants off beaches in the North African enclave of Ceuta and move some of them into temporary housing. Spain estimates 10,000 migrants remain in the tiny territory. More than 72,000 crossed into the enclave from Morocco at the end of July in an unprecedented border rush, although most later left. The Misinformation Monitor newsletter rounds up international  The authorities have built new temporary housing inside the enclave’s port to hold 1,700 people. NGOs say thousands remain unhoused and have been sleeping rough in camps.