» Preliminary results suggested that a party generally regarded as secular and fairly liberal won the most votes in Libya's first post-Qaddafi general election, pushing an Islamist party close to the Muslim Brotherhood into second place. It would be a personal victory for Mahmoud Jibril, an American-educated economist who had worked for the old regime before turning against it at the start of the revolution. See article»
» A suicide-bomber killed at least 22 people when he blew himself up outside a police academy in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen.
» Syrian opposition leaders met in Moscow to discuss a political solution to their country's crisis. Two prominent Sunnis, Manaf Tlass, a general, and Nawaf al-Fares, the ambassador to Iraq, defected.
» Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court rejected President Muhammad Morsi's order that parliament should be reinstated. It was dissolved last month with military backing, after the court ruled that the election was partially unconstitutional. Thousands gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest. See article»
» A former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, was cleared of several corruption charges but was found guilty of granting favours to a business friend when he was a minister. See article»
» UN peacekeepers from elsewhere in Congo were sent to the eastern city of Goma to protect it from Rwanda-backed Congolese army mutineers who have fast been advancing from the north. The rebels, many of whom are ethnic Tutsis, as are most of Rwanda's leaders, call themselves the M23 after a failed peace agreement signed on March 23rd three years ago.
Winning numbers
» In Cuba, the government said that three people have died in an outbreak of cholera, which it blamed on contaminated well water. Unofficial reports spoke of 15 deaths. Cubans complain that the communist country's formerly world-beating health service now suffers from a shortage of doctors and medicines. See article»
» Agents from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration shot and killed a pilot of a drug plane in Honduras, the second such killing in a month.
» Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, who is seeking a third six-year term in an election in October, declared himself "totally free" of cancer. The 57-year-old made a similar statement last year, only to suffer a relapse in February.
Making things difficult
» Romania's constitutional court ruled that a majority of the electorate must turn out to vote in order for a referendum on ousting Traian Basescu, the president, to be valid. The court's decision is the latest development in a growing power struggle between factions loyal to Mr Basescu and supporters of the country's prime minister, Victor Ponta. See article»
» A bill that would make Britain's House of Lords largely elected was approved by the Commons. But a huge Conservative rebellion stalled the legislation. It is another blow to the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. See article»
» Germany's constitutional court agreed to examine complaints against the European Stability Mechanism and fiscal compact, but gave no date for its verdict. See article»
» Flash floods swept through the southern Russian region of Krasnodar in the early hours of July 7th. By morning much of Krymsk—a town of 57,000 people—had been levelled, thousands were homeless, and more than 170 dead. The central government accused local authorities of mishandling the catastrophe, hoping to deflect public anger over the devastation and high death toll. See article»
Too progressive?
» Barack Obama reopened what his critics call class warfare, saying in a speech that he wants to let Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire at the end of this year, while preserving them for anyone earning less than $250,000 a year. This led to outrage from Republicans, and even some conservative Democrats. See article»
» The House of Representatives voted, for the 33rd time, to overturn Mr Obama's 2010 health-care reforms. The vote, yet again, will be ignored by the Democrat-controlled Senate.
» Texas, under governor Rick Perry, joined Florida and several other states in refusing to expand Medicaid to provide medical insurance for more low-income people, even though the federal government has said it will pick up almost all the cost of doing so.
» A federal prosecutor said that a secret $653,000 fund had been used in 2010 to run a "shadow campaign" to help Vincent Gray, a Democrat, win election as mayor of Washington, DC. The fund was not reported to campaign-finance authorities.
Acknowledging efforts
» President Barack Obama announced that American companies will be allowed to "responsibly do business" in Myanmar. The lifting of sanctions is a reward for the country's recent reforms.
» The foreign ministers of Japan and China met at a regional forum in Cambodia days after Japan summoned China's ambassador in Tokyo to protest against Chinese patrol boats near a disputed chain of islands administered by Japan. The Japanese government plans to buy some of the islands from private owners.
See article»
» Western donor nations meeting in Tokyo pledged $16 billion to Afghanistan over the next four years, in an attempt to prevent the country slipping into chaos when most foreign troops leave in 2014. See article»
» Park Geun-hye, daughter of former South Korean president Park Chung-hee, launched a bid to become the country's first female president. Ms Park promised to tackle social inequality, and also pledged to break "the vicious cycle of mistrust" between North and South Korea. See article»
No comments:
Post a Comment