Portugal’s Socialists win re-election
AFP, Lisbon
Portugal’s incumbent Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s Socialists won a general election marked by low turnout on Sunday after presiding over a period of solid economic growth following years of austerity.
The Socialist Party (PS) took 36.65 percent of the vote, followed by the centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) with 27.9 percent, according to near total results from the interior ministry.
Saudi, UAE talk military cooperation after Yemen rebel truce offer
AFP, Abu Dhabi
Top officials from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, key players in a coalition fighting Yemeni rebels, have discussed military cooperation following a positive response by Riyadh to a truce offer from the insurgents.
Saudi’s deputy defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in the UAE capital to discuss “coordination and joint action in defence and military affairs”, Emirati state news agency WAM reported on Monday.
UN peacekeeper killed, five wounded in Mali
AFP, Bamako
One peacekeeper was killed and five others were wounded Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded in strife-torn northeastern Mali, the UN mission MINUSMA said.
The peacekeepers were carrying out a security patrol near the town of Aguelhok when the device detonated, spokesman Olivier Salgado said on Facebook. In January, 11 Chadian members of MINUSMA were killed in an attack by jihadists in Aguelhok.
Rain puts out some of Bolivia’s wildfires
AFP, La Paz
Heavy rain that has drenched eastern Bolivia’s Chiquitania tropical savanna has put out fires that have ravaged millions of hectares in recent months, authorities said Sunday.
“It has rained all across Chiquitania. And our satellite no longer shows any active forest fire,” said Cynthia Asin, the top sustainable development official in the Santa Cruz region.
