More than 100 inmates have been killed in a fight inside a prison in the Ecuadorean port city of Guayaquil. It is expected to take days to identify the bodies, leaving relatives of inmates fearing the worst. Journalist Blanca Moncada Pesantes spoke to some of those waiting for news.

Not even at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in March and April 2020, when death was in the air in many neighbourhoods of Guayaquil, had so many relatives ever gathered outside the city’s morgue. When President Guillermo Lasso announced that the death toll had risen, dozens of families rushed to the forensic laboratory where the bodies of the victims were being taken. They want to find out where their loved ones are and, crucially, if they are still alive. They have yet to get an answer and their anxiety only increased as explosions could again be heard coming from Guayaquil’s biggest prison, a sign that the gang war inside – said to be linked to the drugs trade – had not been brought under control.(BBC)…[+]

US President Joe Biden has suffered a setback after Congress delayed a vote on a $1tn (£750bn) infrastructure plan. Part of his Democratic Party refuses to move forward with the plan until Congress signs off on a separate $3.5tn plan on welfare and climate change. That plan is at the heart of the party’s agenda for government and passions are high among its liberal (progressive) and centrist wings. Centrists want to scale the legislation back radically. The $1tn public works bill, which would apply to routine transportation, broadband, water systems and other projects, enjoys wide support but liberal Democrats are linking it to their more ambitious welfare and climate change bill.(BBC)…[+]

Col Mamady Doumbouya has been sworn is as Guinea’s interim president after leading a coup which saw the overthrow of Alpha Condé. The former French legionnaire, 41, becomes Africa’s second-youngest leader, after Mali’s Assimi Goïta, 38, who also staged a military takeover. Col Doumbouya is barred from contesting future elections, under a transitional charter published this week. The 5 September coup has been widely condemned, Both West Africa body Ecowas and the African Union have suspended Guinea. Ecowas also imposed sanctions against the coup leaders and demanded a return to constitutional order within six months.(BBC)…[+]