BELGIUM: Police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse tens of thousands of people who flooded Brussels yesterday to protest against Prime Minister Bart de Wever’s proposed austerity measures.

Belgium’s three major trade unions organised the protest and nationwide strikes against cuts to the pension and healthcare systems proposed by Mr De Wever, who had vowed to slash spending.

KENYA: Cops have been granted 14 days to hold Kithuka Kimunyi, who has been accused of stabbing a guard, Ramadhan Hamisi Matanka, to death on Monday outside the country’s presidential office.

The investigating officer asked a court yesterday for more time as the suspect, who claimed to have been sent by the devil, is due to undergo a mental health assessment.

BANGLADESH: A fire at a garment factory and a chemical warehouse in Bangladesh’s capital has left at least nine people dead and several others injured.

Fire official Talha bin Jashim said yesterday’s blaze happened in Dhaka’s Mirpur area and is believed to have started on the third floor of the seven-storey garment building.

PAKISTAN: Suspected militants shot and killed a police officer guarding a team of polio workers in north-west Pakistan yesterday, the latest in a series of attacks on vaccine teams in the country.

The attack took place in the Matta area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, once a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, a day after Pakistan launched a week-long nationwide vaccination campaign to immunise 45 million children.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the assault in a statement and vowed stern action against those responsible.