News in Brief

Date: 18 October 2021 - 22:04

News ID: ۹۵۵۸۶

TRIESTE, Italy (Reuters) -- Italian police used water cannon and tear gas on Monday to clear a sit-in at the port of Trieste, where opponents of the government’s mandatory COVID-19 health pass have tried to block access. The northeastern port has been the focal point of protest in Italy over the introduction of new rules last Friday that require all workers either to show proof of vaccination, a negative coronavirus test or recent recovery from infection. Police in full riot gear moved in on Monday morning after several hundred dock workers disrupted access to one of the main gates at Italy’s largest commercial port. The crowds were pushed aside by jets of water followed by volleys of tear gas. Many of them headed towards the city’s main square to continue their protest in front of government offices.

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia will suspend the activities of its mission to NATO starting next month in response to the alliance’s expulsion of eight Russians, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday. Lavrov said staff at NATO’s military mission in Moscow would be stripped of their accreditation from Nov. 1, and that NATO could interact with Russia via its embassy in Brussels if needed, Russian news agencies reported. NATO this month expelled eight members of Russia’s mission to the alliance who it said were “undeclared Russian intelligence officers”.

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ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) -- Airstrikes hit the capital of northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region on Monday and injured several civilians, television controlled by the area’s Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) reported. Tigrai TV said the attack on the city of Mekelle was carried out by “Abiy Ahmed”, referring to Ethiopia’s prime minister and the government forces he leads. The military and the prime minister’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An aid worker in Tigray said there had been air strikes in Mekelle. Reuters was unable to verify the reports in an area that is off-limits for journalists. The Ethiopian military and its allies have been fighting forces from the northern region of Tigray for 11 months.

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KYIV (Reuters) -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation on Europe has suspended its monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine following protests near its headquarters in separatist-controlled Donetsk, the chief monitor said. About 200 pro-Russian protesters confronted OSCE monitors to demand the release of a rebel officer captured by the Ukrainian military last week. The mission had faced previous protests organized by Moscow-backed separatists, but this time demonstrators appeared to block the entrance to the hotel where the monitors are based. The conflict dates back to 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, saying the move was justified to protect the ethnic Russian population after street protests ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, a Kremlin ally. Ukraine says the fighting between separatist rebels and the Ukrainian military has killed 14,000 people. Moscow rejects Kyiv’s allegations that is has fomented the conflict and denies having forces in eastern Ukraine.

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KOCHI, India (Reuters) -- At least 22 people were killed after heavy rains lashed the south Indian state of Kerala over the weekend, officials said. Rainfall across the state led to flash floods and landslides in several areas, with the Indian army and navy called out to rescue residents. Some 13 of those were killed after a landslide in Kuttikkal village, officials and eyewitnesses said. Kerala was also a victim to the worst floods in a century in 2018 that had killed at least 400 people and displaced around 200,000. India, with 1.3 billion people, relies on rainfall to support its population, many of whom live rely on farming. But excessive rainfall can cause floods, landslides and water-borne diseases.

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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) -- Gunmen killed at least 30 people in an attack in northern Nigeria’s Sokoto state, the governor’s office said on Monday. The assault began at a weekly market in Goronyo on Sunday and continued into Monday morning, Sokoto Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said in a statement. Iliyasu Abba, a local resident and trader, told Reuters that there were 60 bodies at Goronyo General Hospital mortuary, while others sustained injuries while escaping. “The gunmen stormed the market as it was crowded with shoppers and The men were “shooting sporadically on us after they surrounded the market firing at every direction killing people.” Abba said the gunmen had at least initially overpowered police who tried to intervene. A police spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gunmen across northwestern Nigeria have killed scores of people and kidnapped hundreds more for ransom over the past year in a security crisis that the government is trying to tackle via communications blackouts, military operations and stepped up policing. The government ordered shut all telephone and internet services in the whole of Zamfara state in early September, a blackout later extended to parts of Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna states as military operations intensified.