European leaders have approved a new, permanent $661 billion bailout fund to help rescue the continent’s debt-ridden countries, but are still faced with resolving other difficult economic issues at their first 2012 summit. The heads of state met in Brussels Monday and witnessed an immediate reminder of the continent’s financial woes. Belgian workers staged their […]
Moscow Drivers Cover Cars in White to Protest Putin
Posted January 29th, 2012 at 4:15 pm (UTC-5)
Russian motorists staged a new protest Sunday against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s likely return to the presidency by covering their cars in white and driving around Moscow. Organizers say as many as 3,000 cars with white balloons, ribbons or other decorations drove around the Garden Ring — a major highway circling the Russian capital. Those […]
Burma Democracy Leader Begins Political Campaigning
Posted January 29th, 2012 at 1:50 pm (UTC-5)
Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi hit the campaign trail Sunday ahead of by-elections seen as a key test of the military-backed government’s commitment to reform. Thousands of cheering supporters lined the roads of several towns in the southern district of Dawei, as the Nobel Peace laureate made her first political trip outside Rangoon […]
Sudan-South Sudan Dispute Dominates African Summit
Posted January 29th, 2012 at 1:30 pm (UTC-5)
South Sudan has followed through on its threat and shut down all oil production as its dispute with Sudan shows no sign of resolution. The leaders of both countries held talks in Addis Ababa late last week on the sidelines of the annual gathering of African leaders to work on a deal to share oil […]
African Union Summit Opens in Ethiopia
Posted January 29th, 2012 at 6:55 am (UTC-5)
African Union leaders opened a two-day summit in Addis Ababa Sunday with the election of a new chairman for the pan-African organization. Benin’s President Thomas Yayi Boni was selected chairman for the next year, taking over from Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was among the first speakers in the new […]
Russia Criticizes Arab League Mission Suspension in Syria
Posted January 29th, 2012 at 6:35 am (UTC-5)
Russia’s foreign minister has criticized the Arab League’s decision to suspend its observer mission to Syria after an upsurge of violence that, according to human rights activists, killed at least 36 people across the country. Russian state media quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Sunday as saying he would support instead an increase in the number […]
Senegal’s Opposition Calls for Protest Against President
Posted January 28th, 2012 at 9:15 pm (UTC-5)
Senegal’s opposition has called for popular resistance against President Abdoulaye Wade to prevent him from running for a third term. In a statement Saturday, Senegal’s June 23 Movement, representing all the major opposition candidates, said the court’s decision Friday to allow the incumbent president to run again is illegal. The opposition announced street protests asking […]
Bloodshed in Syria Continues as Arab League Suspends Mission
Posted January 28th, 2012 at 4:30 pm (UTC-5)
The Arab League suspended its observer mission in Syria Saturday due to an upsurge of violence that, according to human rights activists, killed at least 36 people across the country. Arab League secretary-general Nabil Elaraby said the organization opted to halt the observers’ work after talks with Arab foreign ministers. He blamed Syria’s government for […]
Senegal on Edge, Bracing for More Violence
Posted January 28th, 2012 at 12:25 pm (UTC-5)
Tension is running high through the streets of Dakar, where police are bracing for another night of violent protests. Opposition demonstrators set tires on fire and hurled rocks at police late Friday despite being met with roadblocks and volleys of tear gas. Others burned down the headquarters of President Abdoulaye Wade’s Senegalese Democratic Party. The […]
No Early Pull-Out for British Troops in Afghanistan
Posted January 28th, 2012 at 11:30 am (UTC-5)
Britain says it will stand by Afghanistan, keeping troops there until 2014. British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters Saturday he has no plans to pull his country’s combat troops from Afghanistan before the current deadline expires. He also said Britain will continue to have a strong relationship with Kabul going forward because “it is […]
