Teen activist leads march in England
LONDON — Thousands of mainly young people joined Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg for a climate march Friday through the city of Bristol, in southwest England.
Ahead of the march, local police had expressed concern that the popularity of the event could lead to risks to protesters.
The march, which Avon and Somerset Police said attracted more than 15,000 people but which Thunberg said involved “at least 30,000” in the pouring rain, passed without incident.
The police were criticized for their warning in the run-up to the event. Protest organizers, Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate, said in a tweet that they had “no time for being patronised.” They had arranged for festival barriers, more than 80 stewards and a safe zone for young children.
In a speech, the 17-year-old Thunberg said “nothing is being done to halt this crisis despite all the beautiful words and promises by our elected officials.”
Malawi loosens cannabis restrictions
BLANTYRE, Malawi — Malawi has legalized the cultivation of cannabis as the country seeks an alternative to tobacco, its main earner of foreign exchange.
Parliament on Thursday passed the bill to allow cultivation for medicinal and industrial uses.
“Legalization of this crop will contribute to economic growth as it will contribute in the diversification of the economy and boost the country’s exports, especially at this time when tobacco exports are dwindling,” agriculture minister Kondwani Nankhumwa said.
Cannabis for recreational use remains illegal.
While lawmakers discussed the bill, police in the town of Nkhotakota were burning three tons of marijuana confiscated from dealers last year.
Malawi is the latest southern African nation to loosen restrictions on the cannabis industry, joining Zambia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
Malawi’s new law allows for the establishment of the Cannabis Regulatory Authority, which will grant licenses to cultivate, process, store, sell, export and distribute. It also will issue permits to firms and institutions to conduct scientific research.
Those found cultivating, processing or distributing cannabis illegally will face up to 25 years in prison and a fine of nearly $70,000.
35 migrants rescued off Libyan coast
CAIRO — A commercial ship has rescued 35 Europe-bound migrants off Libya’s Mediterranean coast and returned them to the capital, Tripoli, the U.N. migration agency said.
The International Organization for Migration tweeted that migrants, who were intercepted on Thursday, were given medical assistance and relief items upon disembarkation.
“Saving lives at sea is a moral and legal obligation. It is however unacceptable that migrants continue to be returned to an unsafe port,” said the International Organization for Migration.
Libya has emerged as a major transit point for African and Arab migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe.
Most migrants make the journey in rubber boats. As of last October, roughly 19,000 migrants have drowned or disappeared on the sea route since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Last week, a rubber dinghy packed with 91 migrants that set out from Libyan shores for Europe apparently disappeared in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea after leaving Libya on Feb. 8.
In recent years, the European Union has partnered with the coast guard and other Libyan forces to stop the flow of migrants. Rights groups say those efforts have left migrants at the mercy of brutal armed groups or confined in squalid detention centers that lack adequate food and water.
Guinea-Bissau swears in new president
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau — Former army Gen. Umaro Cissoko Embalo was sworn in Thursday as president of Guinea-Bissau despite a pending Supreme Court decision on a request to annul the election results.
Outgoing President Jose Mario Vaz, who lost in the first round in November, was present at the ceremony. Embalo served as prime minister under Vaz from 2016 to 2018.
The electoral commission has confirmed that Cissoko won the Dec. 29 second round vote.
But Domingos Simoes Pereira, who came in second, approached the Supreme Court on Wednesday asking for a fresh vote, alleging fraud.
Simoes Pereira was the candidate for the ruling PAIGC party. The president of the National Assembly, a member of that party, did not swear Embalo into office.
Some high-ranking military officials and Senegal’s ambassador were among those attending the ceremony in a hotel, but other diplomats were absent.
Vaz is the first democratically elected president to complete a full term without being deposed or assassinated since Guinea-Bissau became independent from Portugal in 1974.