Election official says Bangladesh’s ruling alliance won vote
DHAKA, Bangladesh — An election official says Bangladesh’s ruling alliance led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has won Sunday’s election with 288 seats giving it enough to form the government.
Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed finished delivering the results of the voting early Monday.
Ahmed said the ruling Awami League-led alliance won 288 seats while Jatiya Party led by former president H.M.Ershad had 20 seats. An opposition alliance led by prominent lawyer Kamal Hossain had only 7 and others got 3 out of 300 seats. Election to one seat was not held Sunday and results for another seat were halted by the commission.
The results mean Hasina will form the government for the third consecutive time.
The opposition has rejected the result, with Hossain calling the election farcical.
Trump’s promise of a wall may not be fulfilled as advertised
WASHINGTON — Three confidantes of President Donald Trump, including his departing chief of staff, are indicating that the president’s signature campaign pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border would not be fulfilled as advertised.
Trump sparked fervent chants of “Build that wall!” at rallies before and after his election and more recently cited a lack of funding for a border wall as the reason for partially shutting down the government. At times the president has also waved off the idea that the wall could be any kind of barrier.
However, White House chief of staff John Kelly told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published Sunday that Trump abandoned the notion of “a solid concrete wall early on in the administration.”
“To be honest, it’s not a wall,” Kelly said, adding the mix of technological enhancements and “steel slat” barriers the president now wants along the border resulted from conversations with law enforcement professionals.
Along the same lines, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway called discussion of the apparent contradiction “a silly semantic argument.”
Graham says Trump slowing down planned withdrawal from Syria
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has ordered a slowdown to the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Syria, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday.
“I think we’re in a pause situation,” the South Carolina Republican said outside the White House after lunch with the president.
Trump announced earlier this month that he was ordering the withdrawal of all roughly 2,000 troops from war-torn Syria, with aides expecting it to take place swiftly. The president had declared victory over the Islamic State group in Syria, though pockets of fighting remain.
Graham had been an outspoken critic of Trump’s policy, which had drawn bipartisan criticism. The announcement also had shocked lawmakers and American allies, including Kurds who have fought alongside the U.S. against the Islamic State group and face an expected assault by Turkey.
“I think we’re slowing things down in a smart way,” Graham said, adding that Trump was very aware of the plight of the Kurds.
Congo voters barred over Ebola vote anyway, by the thousands
BENI, Congo — They were barred from voting in Congo’s presidential election. They voted anyway.
On Sunday, thousands of men and women gathered in Beni to cast paper ballots they hoped that someone, somewhere, might take seriously. Last week, the electoral commission made the surprise decision to bar some 1 million voters in Beni and Butembo, cities in eastern Congo affected by a deadly Ebola outbreak.
Protests followed the decision as people demanded to vote with the rest of the country. Ebola facilities were attacked. Health teams suspended work for days. The World Health Organization chief warned that “prolonged insecurity” could bring a spike in Ebola cases. Congo was dangerously politicizing the outbreak, the International Rescue Committee said.
The electoral commission had allowed candidates to campaign in the outbreak zone, protesters said. Health officials had been prepared to screen all voters for fever. Hand sanitizer was deployed for use in polling stations. Angry residents asked, what was the sudden danger?
The delay of the vote in the cities, which have many opposition supporters, undermines the credibility of the election to select a successor to departing President Joseph Kabila, critics said.
Lion kills worker after escaping locked area at conservatory
BURLINGTON, N.C. — A lion killed a young worker at a wildlife conservatory Sunday after it got loose from a locked space, the center said.
Alexandra Black, 22, of New Palestine, Indiana, was killed Sunday after being attacked by the lion in an enclosure that was being cleaned at the Conservators Center, news outlets reported, citing a statement from the Caswell County Sheriff’s Office.
The lion was shot and killed after attempts to tranquilize the animal failed, deputies said.
A “husbandry team” led by a professionally trained animal keeper was carrying out the routine cleaning when the lion somehow got loose, the center said in a statement.
From wire sources
It wasn’t clear how the lion escaped the area that was supposed to be locked, said the center, which is closed until further notice.
