News in Brief

Russians vote in key Moscow polls
Afp, Moscow

 
A top critic of President Vladimir Putin yesterday faced a Kremlin-backed incumbent in a hotly contested Moscow mayoral poll, the first time an opposition leader has been allowed to stand in a high-profile election.
In the Russian capital's first mayoral election in a decade, Muscovites had to choose from six candidates including current pro-Kremlin mayor Sergei Sobyanin and main opposition candidate Alexei Navalny. Opinion polls indicate Kremlin-backed Sobyanin, 55, will win a majority in Sunday's poll.

MERS virus kills 3 in Saudi Arabia
Afp, Riyadh

 
Another three people have died in Saudi Arabia after contracting the MERS coronavirus, the health ministry said yesterday, bringing the kingdom's total fatalities of the SARS-like virus to 47.
Saudi Arabia is the country worst hit by MERS, which has killed 47 in the kingdom. Authorities have urged the elderly and chronically ill Muslims to avoid the hajj this year and have cut back on the numbers of people they will allow to perform the pilgrimage.

WikiLeaks to stay in politics: Assange
Dpa, Sydney

 
Julian Assange yesterday declared that the WikiLeaks Party's showing in Australia's parliamentary elections had been a “great result,” despite winning less than 1 per cent of the vote.
WikiLeaks Party picked up just 57,445 Senate votes or 0.62 percent Australia-wide on latest counts.
“We are the second largest vote count for the new parties after Clive Palmer's party which had a billion bucks behind it," said a philosophical Assange, describing it as a "good outcome". "The WikiLeaks Party will continue for sure.”

Opposition looses poll apeal in Cambodia
Afp, phnom penh

 
Cambodia's election committee yesterday handed victory in hotly disputed polls to the ruling party of Prime Minister Hun Sen, prompting the opposition to say it will boycott parliament and stage further protests over allegations of widespread fraud.
The ruling party took 68 seats to 55 for the opposition, according to the country's election committee.