LIBYA: Authorities in the eastern part of the divided country have banned entry by people from four nearby African countries to stem the influx of migrants seeking to reach Europe from Libya’s northern coast.

The ban, announced on Tuesday night, says citizens of Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia are “prohibited from entering Libyan territory through all land, sea, and air ports.” 

COLOMBIA: A European Union mission that observed Sunday’s presidential election claimed on Tuesday that the vote was transparent and efficient.

The independent mission deployed about 150 observers for Sunday’s run-off, whose results show far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella with a 1 per cent lead over leftwinger Ivan Cepeda. 

Outgoing President Gustavo Petro and Mr Cepeda allege fraud and are challenging the results. 

KENYA: Prosecutors have prepared murder charges against nine students accused of starting a dormitory fire in May that killed 16 girls at a secondary school, officials said on Tuesday.

The May 28 fire tore through a dormitory housing 202 students at the Utumishi Girls School in central Kenya.

Police say the girls started the fire by setting a mattress ablaze near an exit.

NORTH KOREA: The government has commissioned a 5,000-ton destroyer that national leader Kim Jong Un praised as a symbol of the country’s growing naval and nuclear capabilities, local media reported today.

The official Korean Central News Agency said Mr Kim had told a commissioning ceremonyat the western port of Nampo on Tuesday that warships such as the Choe Hyon show that the nuclear armament of Pyongyang’s navy is progressing as planned.