Riot police clash with traders

Riot police in Malawi’s main commercial city, Blantyre, have been fighting running battles with angry traders over efforts by city authorities to ban them from operating on the streets. AFP reported that late on Monday police were forced to fire into the air to disperse vendors who were stoning a police vehicle. The vendors attacked the police car in retaliation at police and municipal action to confiscate their wares, which included fresh vegetables and fruits, the dispatch said. The Blantyre city council recently imposed a ban on all selling of food along the city streets. Last week hundreds of street vendors rioted after police demolished their makeshift stalls in overnight raids as part of a city clean-up campaign.