By Edmund Blair and Tamim Elyan CAIRO | Thu May 24, 2012 10:31pm EDT CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood said on Friday its candidate was leading the early count in Egypt's first free presidential election that exposed a rift in the nation between supporters of Islamists and backers of men who served deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The Brotherhood said Mohamed Mursi was ahead based on a small sample of results shortly after voting ended in an election that marks the final step in a messy and often bloody transition to democracy, overseen by a military council.The overall result will not be clear for some time. But the well-organized Brotherhood had been expected to do well.Egyptian television showed live footage of a methodical counting process ... Continue reading →

By Edmund Blair and Tamim Elyan CAIRO | Thu May 24, 2012 10:31pm EDT CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood said on Friday its candidate was leading the early count in Egypt's first free presidential election that exposed a rift in the nation between supporters of Islamists and backers of men who served deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The Brotherhood said Mohamed Mursi was ahead based on a small sample of results shortly after voting ended in an election that marks the final step in a messy and often bloody transition to democracy, overseen by a military council.The overall result will not be clear for some time. But the well-organized Brotherhood had been expected to do well.Egyptian television showed live footage of a methodical counting process ... Continue reading →

KABUL, Afghanistan -- French President Francois Hollande made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Friday, days after a NATO summit at which he discomfited allies by insisting that France would pull out its combat troops by the end of the year. The newly inaugurated French leader was meeting with President Hamid Karzai and visiting with French troops, who are mainly deployed in Kapisa province, east of the capital. Earlier this week, at a NATO gathering in Chicago, Hollande said he would adhere to a campaign pledge to pull out French combat troops by the end of this year, two years before the NATO mission is to end. French public opinion opposing the Afghan war was galvanized by the deaths of four French troops earlier this ... Continue reading →

Doha will not be the host of the 2020 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee has announced. Per analyst predictions, the IOC has decided to cut Doha and Baku before it enters the final decision-making phase, officials announced in a press conference held Wednesday evening (early Thursday morning for us) in Quebec City. That means Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul will vie for hosting rights until the IOC announces its final decision in September 2013. Qatar also failed to advance past this stage in its bid for the 2016 Olympics, in part because it proposed pushing back the games into the fall due to the summer heat. This time around, the IOC had assured holding the Olympics in October would not be a “deal-breaker.” In response to ... Continue reading →

In a sign of increased sensitivity over U.S. drone strategy, White House counterterror chief John Brennan has taken command of a high stakes review process to determine which terror suspects will be targeted outside of war zones, in nations such as Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. First reported by the Associated Press on Tuesday, the updated procedure “means Brennan’s staff consults the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies as to who should go on the list, making a previous military-run review process in place since 2009 less relevant, according to two current and three former U.S. officials aware of the evolution in how the government targets terrorists.” Prior to the change, which was instituted over the last several weeks, “targets were first discussed in meetings ... Continue reading →

TUNIS | Wed May 23, 2012 4:56pm EDT TUNIS (Reuters) - A Tunisian military prosecutor demanded on Wednesday that the death penalty be imposed in absentia on ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali over his alleged role in the deaths of protesters in the towns where the Arab Spring began. Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia as protests swept Tunisa on January 14, 2011, has already been sentenced to decades in jail on charges ranging from corruption to torture.He has not so far been convicted of any charges that carry the death penalty, which is rarely carried out in the North African country.The state TAP news agency said the prosecutor in the western town of Kef also called for maximum penalties to be imposed ... Continue reading →

A Turkish prosecutor has prepared an indictment seeking life sentences for four former Israeli military commanders over their alleged involvement in the 2010 killing of nine Turks on a Gaza-bound aid ship, Turkish newspaper Sabah reported on Wednesday. Relations between the regional powers deteriorated sharply after Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara aid vessel in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and killed nine Turks in clashes with activists on board the ship. Turkey expelled Israel’s ambassador and froze all military cooperation after a U.N. report into the incident released last September largely exonerated the Jewish state. Sabah said it had seen details of the indictment prepared by Istanbul state prosecutor Mehmet Akif Ekinci and that it called for 10 ... Continue reading →

At least one million young children are at risk of dying of severe malnutrition in the Sahel region of Africa. Right now, many are already facing disease and stunted growth. Without your help, these children might not see past the age of 5. UNICEF needs your help to spread the word on your networks about the Sahel crisis in Africa. Continue reading →