Mali election frontrunner’s nationalist stance strikes popular chord
BAMAKO (Reuters) – A glance at billboards on the scruffy streets of Mali’s capital Bamako says much about the difference between the rivals for the presidency in Sunday’s runoff vote, and the prospects for peace in the West African country.
Mali court confirms ex-PM Keita’s election lead, runoff needed
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Mali’s top court on Wednesday confirmed that former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won a July 28 presidential vote but fell short of an outright majority, meaning he will face ex-finance minister Soumaila Cisse in a runoff on …
Fire guts Kenya’s main airport, chokes regional gateway
NAIROBI (Reuters) – A fire engulfed Kenya’s main airport on Wednesday, forcing the suspension of international passenger flights and choking a vital travel gateway to east Africa.
Swiss interrogate Kazakh oligarch Ablyazov’s extended family
GENEVA/ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss authorities are interrogating the extended family of Mukhtar Ablyazov, a Kazakh oligarch arrested last week in France on fraud charges after 18 months on the run, and have effectively frozen some assets, a prosecutor…
Britain and Spain agree to try to defuse Gibraltar row
LONDON/MADRID (Reuters) – Britain and Spain agreed on Wednesday to work together to calm tempers over the contested British overseas territory of Gibraltar, after the Spanish government threatened to restrict access to the territory.
Analysis: Tunisia eyes ‘Egypt scenario’ after assembly freeze
TUNIS (Reuters) – The suspension of Tunisia’s transitional parliament could bring the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings closer to an “Egyptian scenario” in which the secular opposition topples an Islamist-led government, analysts and politicians …
Zimbabwe’s Mugabe rejects West’s criticism of his re-election
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday defiantly rejected Western criticism of his disputed re-election and vowed to press ahead with nationalist economic policies transferring majority stakes in foreign-owned firms to black…
Bulgarian president vetoes government plans to spend more
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev vetoed a budget revision on Wednesday, saying the Socialist-led government had not shown enough transparency in its use of public money in the European Union’s poorest state.
Kenya anti-terror police boss sees no terror link to airport fire
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s anti-terror police boss said on Wednesday he did not believe there was a terror link to a fire that engulfed Kenya’s main airport earlier in the day.
Sweden drops inquiry into police killing that sparked riots
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A state prosecutor on Wednesday dropped an inquiry into a police shooting of a 69-year-old man in a mainly immigrant suburb of Stockholm that sparked Sweden’s worst riots in years, saying that the officer acted in self defence.
