There was a meeting of minds over a future Syria without President Assad but the US and Turkey differ over how to achieve it . A day of talks between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan were dominated by the civil war there but Obama refused to see…
Uncertainty reigns after Bulgarian election stalemate
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A political stalemate threatens to linger in Bulgaria after the winner of Sunday’s election – the centre-right GERB party – failed to form a government on Monday. Analysts say the chance that the two biggest parties, GERB and the Socialists – who are lagging behind by only 3% of the vote – can be allies is rather small.
The election results meant a victory of sorts for any party with sufficient votes to get into parliament. The GERB party of former prime minister, Boiko Borisov won 31 percent of the vote, ahead of the Socialists. The Socialist party significantly improved its results since the last election, gathering 27 percent of votes cast at the weekend. The liberal party and the ethnic Turkish party, MRF, have easily enough votes to get into parliament. The nationalist Attack party, with its 7,4% of the vote, did well enough to suggest that they may hold the balance of power; the larger parties may well need Attack’s support to form a coalition. The leaders of Attack are already calling for a new vote, apparently hopeful they may improve their results.
To add to the uncertainty, there have been loud accusations of electoral fraud, sparked after Bulgarian authorities seized 350,000 illegally printed ballots just hours before the start of the elections. The false ballots were found in a printing house in Kostinbrod in western Bulgaria two days after the delivery deadline for all 7,8 million ballot-papers.
At just 53%, it was the lowest turnout in Bulgarian elections since the fall of the communist regime in 1989. Observers say it shows the degree of public disenchantment with the political class. It was crowds of protesters angry at corruption and rising energy prices who chased away the government of Boiko Borisov in February.
Since then, Borisov has tried to show that he and his party have changed their ways and has followed a more left-leaning path in politics, promising more jobs and higher salaries. Because of the soaring energy prices, Bulgaria must diversify its sources of energy; this could be solved by the South Stream pipeline project, in which Bulgaria plays a key role.
Meanwhile, there is much anger about low living standards in the EU’s poorest country, where unemployment is close to an eight-year high. The possibility of no outright winner in these elections will stoke fears of further instability in Bulgaria, and do nothing to attract much-needed investment.
More about: Bulgaria, Parliamentary elections, Sofia
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Security concerns grow in Libya after deadly Benghazi attack
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A car bomb has exploded outside a hospital in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi.
Reports on the number killed vary between three to 15 people. Defence Ministry official Saleh al-Bargathi said that there were 17 wounded, and two children amongst the dead. One doctor said only one of the deceased was carried into the hospital still in one piece.
One restaurant was destroyed and nearby buildings were heavily damaged by the explosion.
So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Security remains an issue in post-Gaddafi Libya with a string of attacks across the country in recent weeks.
In April, a car bomb outside the French embassy in the capital, Tripoli, injured two guards.
BP has withdrawn a number of its employees as a precaution.
Militia withdrew on Sunday, ending a two-week long siege of ministries in the capital. They were hoping to pressure lawmakers into passing legislation banning anyone who held a senior post under former leader Muammar Gaddafi from the new government. Parliament bowed to the pressure. Justice Minister Salah Marghani denied any deal had been made with the gunmen.
More than 18 months after the uprising against Gaddafi, new leaders are struggling to impose authority in a country flooded with weapons.
More about: Attack, Benghazi, Car bomb, Explosion, Libya, Victims
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More victims found in East Germany human guinea pig scandal
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A report by German newspaper Der Spiegel claims more than 50,000 people in East Germany were used as medical guinea pigs between 1983 and 1989 without their knowledge or consent.
The scandal was first uncovered last December, but the victims were originally thought to be far fewer.
The deal with East Germany’s Health Ministry allowed pharmaceutical trials to be carried out in exchange for foreign currency.
“It shows that the German Democratic Republic, wanting to get foreign currency, was not considerate of the patients. And that the Ministry of State Security, that is the Stasi, monitored this trade that brought in foreign currency, and made sure that no disturbing influences prevented that business,” said Federal Commissioner for the Stasi archives Roland Jahn.
East German authorities received around 430,000 euros when they let 50 Western pharmaceutical companies carry out 165 medical tests.
Christoph Bergner, the member of government responsible for matters relating to East Germany, has called for an inquiry.
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Reyhani residents blame Turkish government for deadly bombs
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There is no sign of anger against the government abating in southern Turkey following the bombing of Reyhanli, which killed nearly 50 people and wounded dozens more.
Some residents say Turkish meddling in Syria has brought death and destruction upon them, and some are calling for the government to resign. While few complain about the more than 300,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey, many want Syrian rebel fighters to stop being based on Turkish soil.
“We don’t know why all this is happening. Is this happening because of Syrians? Our brothers were killed and buried yesterday,” said one man.
The government denies Syrian reports it was behind the blasts, and also denies they mean the war in Syria is spilling over to Turkey.
“There are speculations, provocations about refugees, but these blasts are not related to the Syrian opposition,” said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erodogan.
Residents in Reyhanli are starting to clean up the extensive damage caused by the two car bombs, but Turkey has yet to take any action in retaliation, despite talking tough about doing whatever was necessary to bring justice to the bombers who, according to Ankara, are a group with links to Syrian intelligence.
More about: Attack, Syria, Turkey
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