Malawi bans maize exports

LILONGWE - Malawi has banned maize exports and is considering restocking its national grain reserves after crop-munching armyworms and a drought left the country’s staple grain crop damaged, Agriculture Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha said yesterday.

Mwanamvekha said in a statement read in parliament in Lilongwe that nearly 2 million people were at risk of food shortages because of the effects of armyworms and drought. – REUTERS.

Poland's President to sign Holocaust bill into law

WARSAW - Polish President Andrzej Duda said yesterday that he will sign a contested Holocaust bill into law, despite protests from Israel and the United States.

The measure imposes prison sentences of up to three years for mentioning the term “Polish death camps” and for suggesting “publicly and against the facts” that the Polish nation or state was complicit in Nazi Germany’s crimes. – REUTERS.

Hong Kong court frees 3 activists

HONG KONG - Hong Kong’s highest court freed three young leaders of the city’s pro-democracy movement yesterday, including the public face of the protests, Joshua Wong, in a stark reversal of an earlier ruling, but it warned against future acts of dissent.

The unanimous decision was made by a panel of five judges on the Chinese-ruled city’s Court of Final Appeal, led by Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma. Wong, 21, Nathan Law and Alex Chow had served roughly two months in jail before they were granted bail in November.