Afghanistan presidential elections
About 12 million people are eligible to vote on Saturday in the first round of what it is hoped will be the country's first peaceful transfer of democratic power
Emma Graham-Harrison has filed this report from Kabul.
Afghan voters defied Taliban threats, rain and pre-emptive accusations of fraud, heading to the polls in large numbers on Saturday to choose a new president after more than a decade under Hamid Karzai.People waited an hour or more for their turn at the ballot box in the cities and safer areas, and turnout was so high that concerns about the vote, previously focused on cheating and violence, shifted to a possible shortage of voting papers.“Each voting station was only issued with 1200 ballot papers, but the population is higher than that, which is why they have run out,” said Sayed Jamal Fuqur Behshti, member of parliament for central Bamiyan province where he said several districts were out of ballots by midday.“This is a safe province, so lots of people are coming to vote....I spoke with the election commission chairman in Kabul, he assured me he would resolve the issue.”
Magic of Disneyland Paris casts its spell on Brits
The recovering UK economy has seen thousands of families flocking across the Channel to visit Mickey & Co, reports Gideon Spanier
This year’s peak period begins in earnest this weekend with the start of the school Easter holidays as the park adopts a “Swing into Spring” theme, including a daily Disney spring promenade parade full of film and cartoon characters. Thousands of Britons will try nearly 60 attractions from Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, spread out over two adjacent parks, the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios, and many will also stay at one of the resort’s seven hotels.
Prison of the Past: A Reporter Revisits His 'Shameful' Coverage of Rwanda
Twenty years ago on April 6, the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda began. At the time, many Western reporters played it down as "ethnic warfare," including Bartholomäus Grill, now a correspondent for SPIEGEL. He looks back with shame.
It was April 1994, and Princess was infected by the feverish mood that had taken hold in all of South Africa at the time. She was our housekeeper in Johannesburg, a plump, sedate and humorous woman, whose real name was Nolizwe Mneno. She had changed her name to make it easier for white people to remember.
A cry from the grave
April 5, 2014
jane wheatley
Marina Litvinenko has spent eight years trying to learn why her Russian agent husband was poisoned. A recent court decision may bring her closer to the truth.
Deep in the wooded heart of London's Highgate Cemetery, Marina Litvinenko slips on a pair of gloves, fills a metal vase with fresh water and kneels to arrange red carnations on her husband's grave. The flowers make a vivid splash of colour against the surrounding dark green of ivy and holly. Dressed in a soft leather jacket and tweed skirt, she sits back on her heels to survey the result. A framed photograph of Alexander Litvinenko leans against the headstone; a little weather-worn now after several years in its damp woodland setting, it is nonetheless clear that this fair, pleasant-looking man in the prime of life bears little resemblance to the image that flashed around the globe in November 2006: the hairless skull propped on pillows, a green hospital gown open across a bare chest studded with electrode patches, and the heavy lidded, helpless gaze of a man who knows he is dying.
Korea
Six-party legacy emboldens North Korea
By Joseph R DeTrani
By Joseph R DeTrani
As 53 international leaders were meeting in the Hague for the third Nuclear Security Summit on March 24-25, an absent North Korea was demanding their attention by launching over 50 short-range ballistic missiles. This was followed by the launching, reportedly from mobile sites, of two mid-range Nodong ballistic missiles which are capable of reaching Japan.
As the international community makes measured progress in securing nuclear materials from terrorists, North Korea continues to threaten its neighbors and the international community with nuclear tests, missile launches and other provocative acts that defy United Nations resolutions.
In both April and December 2012, North Korea also launched
missiles, with the later date seeing a small satellite put in orbit. This was followed by a February 2013 nuclear test and frequent threats to the US and South Korea of pre-emptive nuclear attacks.
As the international community makes measured progress in securing nuclear materials from terrorists, North Korea continues to threaten its neighbors and the international community with nuclear tests, missile launches and other provocative acts that defy United Nations resolutions.
In both April and December 2012, North Korea also launched
missiles, with the later date seeing a small satellite put in orbit. This was followed by a February 2013 nuclear test and frequent threats to the US and South Korea of pre-emptive nuclear attacks.
5 April 2014 Last updated at 02:16
US allows Boeing airplane component sales to Iran
The US Treasury has granted plane manufacturer Boeing a licence to export certain spare commercial parts to Iran, a company spokesman says.
Boeing has had no public dealings with Tehran since 1979.
In a statement, the US company said the licence had been granted for the safety of flight.
The step is being seen as part of a temporary agreement to ease sanctions on Tehran that US Secretary of State John Kerry reached with Iran last year.
Under the deal brokered in November, Iran agreed to curtail its nuclear activities for six months in exchange for sanctions relief from nations including Britain, China and the US.
US company General Electric said late on Friday it had received US permission to overhaul 18 engines sold to Iran in the late 1970s. That work would be carried out at GE facilities or at German firm MTU Aero Engines, it said.
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