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Ugandans vote after bitter presidential campaign
Ugandans are voting in an election that is widely expected to see President Yoweri Museveni win a fourth term.?�The ruling party has been widely accused of paying people to support the president who has been in power for three decades.?�?�It has sparked fears of violence in Africa’s third largest economy with the opposition threatening street protests if the poll is?�deemed to be rigged.?�The front-running opposition candidate, Kizza Besigye, has lost twice before to his former ally?�Museveni, and has repeatedly?�warned of an Egyptian-style?�revolt if the election is unfair.?�Many analysts, however, say a public uprising is not likely to succeed in Uganda, where a population less educated and less Internet-savvy than that of Egypt is afraid of an army with a history of violently suppressing dissent.?�?� Copyright © 2011 euronews

Nations scramble to get nationals out of chaotic Libya
Hundreds of foreign nationals are camped out at a frantic Tripoli Airport as governments from around the world scramble boats and planes to get their people out of Libya, as the chaos in country deepens. Russia, France, Greece and the United Kingdom along with many other nations are laying on transport to repatriate nationals. Turkey, with 25,000 citizens in Libya is mounting the biggest evacuation in its history with more than 2,000 already back home. The shooting dead of a Turkish worker at a building site close to Tripoli has increased the urgency of the operation as fear begins to grip those stranded in the country. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said his country will do all it can to help other nationals escape Libya: “There are several demands from different friendly countries for us to help their citizens. For us this is a humanitarian issue and we will do everything possible to consider these demands positively and help those who need such an evacuation.” A French military aircraft arrived in Tripoli much to the relief of those lucky enough to get a seat: “Phew, given the state of the airport, everything cancelled, the chances of getting a scheduled flight were pretty slim, yeah it’s a huge relief.” As the situation continues to deteriorate and Libyan officials break ranks with the regime more and more aircraft are finding it difficult to get a landing or take-off slot. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Egyptian PM steps down
Egypt’s Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq resigned from his post on Thursday to be replaced by Essam Sharraf, the former transport minister. Shafiq was appointed by deposed president Hosni Mubarak as a concession to opposition protesters in the final days before he stepped down in mid-February. But the move was insufficient for the Muslim Brotherhood and other political groups who wanted a clean break from the Mubarak regime, with which Shafiq had been closely associated. His departure came on the same day as Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul visited Egypt. He is in the country to talk to military leaders and political groups. President Gul told reporters: “The transition must be transparent and open. If it doesn’t meet the expectations of the people it will fail.” Turkey is often held up in the West as a model for democracy in Muslim nations. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Yemen opposition reject unity govt with Saleh
Yemen’s opposition parties have said they will reject any offer from President Ali Abdullah Saleh to form a unity government. Read our news file The offer is expected to be made within the next 24 hours but Yemen’s opposition coalition insisted they would not compromise over their key demand that Saleh must resign. Mass rallies against the president’s 32-year rule began over a month ago. Saleh has already said he will not seek re-election at the end of his current seven-year term in 2013 but that promise has failed to quell the unrest. Copyright © 2011 euronews

G20 seeks deal on imbalances, unsure of success
French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde has said that it will not be a drama if finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s 20 biggest developed and developing economies fail to reach an agreement this week on guidelines to measure global economic imbalances. Under discussion is an EU plan to identify those imbalances using an agreed set of economic indicators and then analyse their causes and possibly make policy recommendations on how to deal with them. G20 finance ministers and central bankers are due to hold a summit in Paris at the end of the week. Such imbalances, reflected in the current account balance, private and public savings, debt and capital flows, can trigger or augment crises, destabilising the world economy. G20 leaders agreed in November to find a way to tackle them. Lagarde added that there was also “a long debate on whether to include the trade balance with its flows of products and whether to include flows of services.” Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer said that the debate was not intended to be an exercise in point fingers at countries with large deficits. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Libyans count the cost of their revolt
The violence which has accompanied Libya’s bloody revolt against the Gaddafi regime has left 300 dead, including over 100 soldiers. That is according to the Libyan authorities but as families buried their dead at a cemetery in Tripoli, residents believing their own eyes put the toll far higher. Human Rights Watch and opposition groups say more than twice that number have died. In towns where Gaddafi’s grip has been challenged, locals have been tearing down symbols of the regime. But overnight, in the town of Sabratah, large numbers of the Libyan army are said to have been deployed following the destruction of government buildings. In the east of the country, earlier fierce battles that accounted for many of the dead were caught on mobile phone cameras. But now Benghazi and Tobruk are reported calm and under the control of the protesters while Libya’s interior minister became the latest senior official to defect. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Egyptian shares tumble as bourse reopens
Shares on Egypt’s stock exchange plunged as the market reopened on Wednesday. It had been shut for seven weeks because of the mass protests that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak. After ringing the opening bell, Egypt’s finance minister Samir Radwan said the dip in share prices was normal given the circumstances but added: “What I advise is to stick to your papers [shares], don’t rush to sell, you may regret it. Go on buying, go on buying, this is the time to buy, it’s a buyers market.” The benchmark index ended the session down 8.9 percent. From the start of the political turmoil on 25 January to when the market closed two days later Egyptian shares slumped, losing the equivalent of 8.5 billion euros in value Investor uncertainty was in evidence right from the start of trading on Wednesday and the index immediately fell 10 percent, triggering market circuit breakers so that the bourse had to be closed for half an hour. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Ben Ali reportedly in a coma in hospital
The former Tunisian president Ben Ali is reported to be seriously ill in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. The French news agency AFP reports that the 74-year-old has been in a coma for the past two days after suffering a stroke. The Reuters news agency quotes a Saudi source who says the ex-leader is in a “grave condition”. Ben Ali fled to the Red Sea city of Jeddah after being ousted in a popular revolt last month. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Libya clashes continue despite no-fly zone
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces have clashed with rebels despite a UN-backed no-fly zone aimed at stopping the violence. Gaddafi loyalists have repelled rebel advances in the oil-producing town of Ajdabiyah, just south of the insurgents’ stronghold of Benghazi. Anti aircraft fire has continued to ring out in Tripoli, while residents of Yafran said at least nine people had been killed in clashes between the two sides. His forces have also struck the rebel-held enclave of Misrata, east of the capital, where four children were killed on Tuesday. A rebel spokesman told AFP that Gaddafi’s men opened fire with tanks and set up sniper positions to gun down people in the streets. Security analysts say the rebels are disorganised and unable to match the Libyan leader’s military might, explaining why they have struggled to makes further advances, including the taking of Tripoli. Copyright © 2011 euronews

NATO deny Gaddafi assassination attempt
The Libyan government has accused NATO of deliberately targeting Colonel Muammar Gaddafi after the alliance launched a number of night strikes in the capital Tripoli. NATO war planes conducted several bombing runs on government buildings. Libyan officials escorted journalists to the offices of the country’s High Commission for Children, which suffered extensive damage. A hospital was also partially hit after a nearby telecommunications tower was felled by a missile. NATO has denied any moves to kill Gaddafi. Brigadier General Claudio Gabellini gave the media details of the night’s mission: “NATO is not targeting individuals. No individual is a target for NATO. We only look after command and control centres. The target is to stop Mr Gaddafi ordering his troops to slaughter civilians and block humanitarian aid from coming into the country.So we are not interested in individuals, in Mr Gaddafi’s life.” The raids came as Western powers planned their next move as the conflict to oust the Libyan leader appears to have reached stalemate. Copyright © 2011 euronews