Mali’s interim Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra has resigned, just hours after he was arrested by soldiers as he was allegedly trying to leave the country. Mr. Diarra made a brief statement on national television early Tuesday, announcing his departure. Officials say soldiers loyal to Captain Amadou Sanogo, who led Mali’s coup earlier this year, […]
Egyptian Opposition to Continue Protests Against Referendum
Posted December 10th, 2012 at 9:25 pm (UTC-5)
Despite concrete barricades and a heavy military presence in the Egyptian capital Cairo, opposition leaders say they will keep up the pressure on the president to cancel Saturday’s constitutional referendum. The opposition National Salvation Front, led by liberals including Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa, have called on their supporters to march on the presidential palace […]
Netanyahu: The World Has Double Standards
Posted December 10th, 2012 at 8:15 pm (UTC-5)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has challenged international opposition to his plans to build settlements on occupied land east of Jerusalem. Speaking to foreign reporters Monday, Mr. Netanyahu accused the international community of having double standards for condemning not-yet-built settlements in the West Bank while remaining silent during a historic visit to the Gaza Strip […]
Romania’s Center-Left Coalition Wins Parliamentary Elections
Posted December 10th, 2012 at 6:10 pm (UTC-5)
Romania’s center-left ruling coalition has won a Sunday’s parliamentary elections. With more than 80 percent of the ballots counted Monday, the Social-Liberal Union led by Prime Minister Victor Ponta has won about 60 percent of the votes, defeating President Traian Basescu’s Right Romania Alliance. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which monitored the […]
Congolese Peace Talks Falter
Posted December 10th, 2012 at 5:55 pm (UTC-5)
Peace talks between Congo’s government and rebels faltered Monday when rebels did not show up for the second day of negotiations. The delegation from the M23 rebel group stayed in their hotel in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. They did not say whether or not they would show up for the talks on Tuesday. The negotiations […]
Russia Stops Leasing Azerbaijan Radar Station
Posted December 10th, 2012 at 4:40 pm (UTC-5)
Russia has stopped using a sophisticated radar system in Azerbaijan after the two countries failed to reach an agreement to renew the lease. The previous agreement on using the Gabala radar station expired on Sunday (December 9). It was the last Russian base in the former Soviet republic, with an estimated 1,000 Russian and 500 […]
Police Detain Protesters in Azerbaijan’s Capital
Posted December 10th, 2012 at 4:00 pm (UTC-5)
Azerbaijan police on Monday detained at least 30 protesters in Baku who tried to hold a rally demanding the right to freedom of assembly and the dissolution of parliament. The unsanctioned protest in the capital of the oil-rich Caspian state was timed to coincide with International Human Rights Day. Police officers quickly detained protesters at […]
Obama Presses His Case for ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Deal
Posted December 10th, 2012 at 3:25 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. President Barack Obama headed to the country’s industrial heartland Monday to press his case for increasing taxes on America’s wealthiest households as a way to help avert an end-of-year crisis over government financial policies. Mr. Obama, the Democrat newly elected to another four-year term, gave a campaign-style speech to auto workers in Michigan. The […]
Settlement Reached in Strauss-Kahn Sexual Assault Lawsuit
Posted December 10th, 2012 at 3:00 pm (UTC-5)
A New York judge says a settlement has been reached in the lawsuit filed against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn by a hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault. The judge announced the deal Monday, at a hearing on settlement negotiations between the sides. Strauss-Kahn, a French economist and politician, was arrested […]
Putin Rejects Accusations of Trying to Resurrect USSR
Posted December 10th, 2012 at 3:00 pm (UTC-5)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is rejecting accusations that he is trying to reinvent the Soviet Union, calling those claims by “colleagues from abroad” as “nonsense.” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week called Mr. Putin’s initiative to unite former Soviet republics through economic alliances as “a move to re-Sovietize the region.” On Monday, President […]
