GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the leftist presidential candidate in last Sunday’s elections, said Wednesday 4 July he would request a recount of ballots, claiming that his main opponent Enrique Peña Nieto had broken election rules. Initial official results had put Peña Nieto in first place, with 38.15 percent, followed by Lopez Obrador [...]
French turn left, Greece heads right
June 18, 2012 by
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – France gave the Socialists a clear parliamentary majority Sunday 17 June in a vote that could be good news for teachers. Newly elected President Francois Hollande’s agenda includes raising taxes and increasing spending to get the French economy moving. Part of the plan is to hire an additional 60,000 teachers. Nicolas Sarkozy’s [...]
Strauss-Kahn resigns from IMF, French back plot idea
May 19, 2011 by
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Dominique Strauss-Kahn has handed his resignation as director, effective immediately, to the executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which he has headed since 2007 (IMF announcement with the letter, published by Reuters). His post will be handled by his deputy, John Lipsky, while the board begins its search for a [...]
Cote d’Ivoire conflict heats up, thousands on the run
March 29, 2011 by
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva-based refugee and migration officials say the conflict in Cote d’Ivoire, which has been building for weeks, has suddenly heated up and some 20,000 people have been sealed off by fighting in the west. “A major military offensive launched in Western Cote d’Ivoire by forces loyal to president-elect Alassane Ouattara has [...]
Liberia now home to 25,000 Côte d’Ivoire refugees
January 11, 2011 by
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Refugees continue to cross into Liberia from troubled Côte d’Ivoire at the rate of 600 a day. Liberia is now hosting some 25,000 refugees, according to Geneva-based UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees), which announced 11 January that it is building a new camp in the eastern Liberian town of Bahn. [...]
Almost 600 jailed for protesting Belarus election
December 21, 2010 by
A court in Minsk, Belarus has sentenced 580 people to jail for between five and 15 days for participating in violent protests following the presidential election 20 December which observers have called seriously flawed, according to the AFP. The centre of Minsk was the scene of violent clashes Sunday night as more than 10,000 people [...]
Yanukovich claims victory in Ukraine presidential poll
February 8, 2010 by
Former Prime Minister of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, has claimed victory in the country’s presidential run-off, Sunday 7 February. With more than 96 percent of the votes counted, Yanukovich has declared victory with a narrow lead of 48.5 percent over his opponent, current Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko who garnered 46 percent of the votes. Tymoshenko has [...]
Endorsement seen as blow to Sri Lanka’s president
January 25, 2010 by
Former president and scion of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SFLP), Chandrika Kumaratunga, has endorsed the opposition candidate, former general Sarath Fonseka, in his bid against SFLP candidate and current president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. The move Sunday 24 January is seen as a major blow to the re-election bid by Rajapaksa in a close and increasingly [...]
