NIGERIA: At least 48 people have died and 100 others are receiving treatment after consuming a local drink in southern Nigeria’s Ondo state, officials said today.

Ondo Police Spokesman Abayomi Jimoh said one of the 15 people who have been arrested in connection with the incident had been producing drinks “suspected to contain methanol.”

VIETNAM: Heavy rain caused flooding across parts of northern Vietnam today, disrupting travel, inundating homes and pushing several rivers above dangerous levels, authorities and state media said.

More than 2,000 homes have been submerged, many key transport routes blocked and more than 1,000 households isolated. Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces have been among the hardest hit.

SOUTH AFRICA: South African police said today that a ninth woman’s body has been discovered in an area east of Johannesburg, and said it could be linked to a series of killings they are investigating.

All nine bodies were found in the Ekurhuleni municipality over the last two months, raising concerns that they were carried out by the same person or people.

UNITED NATIONS: The US Department of State has announced that it will extend visa sanctions on officials of the Palestinian Authority and members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

The move prevents Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from travelling to New York ahead of his scheduled address to the United Nations general assembly next week.

The US State Department said it was because of the failure of the Palestinians to “reform, contrary to their commitments” and their “ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace.”