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page 32 BENIN Benin swears in new president Patrice Talon was sworn in as Benin’s new president Wednesday, completing another peaceful transfer of power in the West African country. Talon told the crowd of about 20,000 in the capital, Porto-Novo, that he will fight corruption and terrorism and foster economic development. He also renewed a […]

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BENIN

Benin swears in new president

Patrice Talon was sworn in as Benin’s new president Wednesday, completing another peaceful transfer of power in the West African country.

Talon told the crowd of about 20,000 in the capital, Porto-Novo, that he will fight corruption and terrorism and foster economic development.

He also renewed a promise to step down after only one term. Although Benin allows its leader to serve two terms, Talon voiced concern that 10 years in office may leave leaders complacent, and said he will work to limit future presidents to one term as well.

Talon says he is committed to upholding Benin’s reputation while strengthening the economy and keeping terrorism at bay.

Talon, 57, was educated in Senegal and France and made a fortune in cotton before entering politics.

Talon supported former president Boni Yayi until being accused of a plot to poison the leader. He was later pardoned and returned from exile in October.

Talon assumes the presidency after defeating former Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou, the preferred candidate of the former president, in a run-off election last month.

LIBYA

Libya’s Tripoli government to step down

One of two rival governments in Libya has announced that it is stepping down, a justice ministry statement has said.

The announcement comes less than a week after the arrival in Tripoli of a UN-backed national unity government.

The Tripoli-based administration said it was standing down to prevent further bloodshed.

Since 2014 Libya has had two competing administrations, the one in Tripoli backed by powerful militias and the other in the eastern city of Tobruk.

“We inform you that we are stopping our work as an executive power, as the presidency and ministers of the government,” said the statement by the self-declared National Salvation government.

Western countries want the unity government to unite as many factions in Libya as possible against an increasingly powerful affiliate of the group known as Islamic State.

But it is not clear how the new administration, led by the Presidency Council, will be able to assert its authority given the opposition it will inevitably face elsewhere in the country.

S/AFRICA

Zuma’s son alleges plot to remove South African president

South African President Jacob Zuma’s son said on Wednesday that there was an orchestrated plot to remove his father from the helm of Africa’s most industrialized economy.

“We know it’s only not about the wellbeing of the country … its about merely personal vendettas that they have against the President of the country,” Edward Zuma said in an interview with ENCA television station.

“They are feeling the pressure, the pressure is simple: get Zuma out of power. They have tried many tricks in the book, they have failed.”

Zuma on Tuesday survived an impeachment vote in parliament launched after the constitutional court ruled he had ignored an order to repay state funds spent on his private home.

PANAMA CITY

Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca says leak came from hack

One of the founders of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers revelations on offshore holdings, said his company was hacked.

Ramon Fonseca said the leak was not caused by an insider but that the company was hacked by servers abroad.

The leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca showed how the world’s rich and powerful are able to stash their wealth and avoid taxes. The law firm is based in Panama and has more than 40 offices worldwide.

“We rule out an inside job. This is not a leak. This is a hack,” Fonseca, 63, said.

Fonseca also said that in all the reporting on the Panama Papers so far “nobody is talking of the hack, and that is the only crime that has been committed”.

TURKEY

Turkey, Germany herald progress as migrant flow to Greece slows

Turkey and Germany said on Wednesday an agreement between Ankara and the EU meant to stem the flow of migrants to the Greek islands was showing signs of success, but many were still trying to cross the sea and the route remained far from sealed off.

The accord, which came into force on Monday, aims to help end the chaotic arrival of migrants and refugees, most fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, after more than a million reached Europe last year.

The influx has threatened the EU’s system of passport-free travel and prompted its executive on Wednesday to propose strengthening common asylum rules.

New arrivals on the Greek islands from Turkey dropped to 68 in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning from 225 the previous day, data from the Greek migration ministry showed.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the fall was a direct result of the EU-Turkey deal. A spokesman for the German government, which lobbied skeptical European partners to back the accord and is under political pressure at home to show progress, also said things were moving in the right direction.

UNITED STATES

US Election: Cruz win in Wisconsin leaves Trump damaged front-runner

Republican Donald Trump emerged from Wisconsin as a damaged front-runner following a crushing loss to rival Ted Cruz, deepening questions about the billionaire businessman’s presidential qualifications and pushing the GOP toward a rare contested convention fight.

Democrat Bernie Sanders also scored a sweeping victory in Wisconsin’s primary that gives him a fresh incentive to keep challenging Hillary Clinton. But Sanders still lags Clinton significantly in the delegate count.

Both parties are turning their sights toward New York, which offers a massive delegate prize in its April 19 contests. It marks a homecoming of sorts for several candidates, with Trump, Clinton and Sanders all touting roots in the state.

Exit polls in Wisconsin highlighted the deep worries about Trump surging through some corners of the Republican Party.

A majority of GOP voters said they’re either concerned about or scared of a potential Trump presidency, according to surveys conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.

BELGIUM

Belgium PM acknowledges security ‘failure,’ not ‘failed state’

Belgium’s prime minister says life is returning to normal, after the suicide attacks on the Brussels’ airport and metro that killed 32 people and wounded dozens of others.

Speaking with reporters in Belgium’s capital, Charles Michel admitted his country has made mistakes in combating violent extremism, but he rejected criticism it has become Europe’s weakest state in efforts to eradicate terrorist threats.

The March 22 attacks in Brussels were the deadliest since World War II.

“When there is an attack like that, of course that’s a failure and nobody can deny this,” the prime minister said. “I cannot accept the idea that we’re a failed state.”

But, in the fight against terrorism, “everywhere in the world and in Europe, there have been successes and there have been failures,” he stressed.

SYRIA

Attack on Kurdish town kills 18

A pregnant woman and three children were among 18 civilians killed when Syrian fighters shelled a Kurdish neighbourhood in the northern city of Aleppo, according to a monitoring group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said 70 people, including 30 children, were also wounded in Tuesday’s attack, adding that the shelling was a violation of a ceasefire agreement.

The shelling targeted Sheikh Maqsud area, where up to 50,000 residents are caught in the crossfire of government-held districts and those controlled by oppposition fighters.

In a separate incident, fighters belonging to the ISIS launched attacks on government-held areas near Damascus in an apparent response to the group’s loss of ground elsewhere in Syria.

VIETNAM

Vietnam’s assembly ‘dismisses’ prime minister

Vietnam’s prime minister has stepped down after 10 years in office, leaving behind a mixed legacy of promoting failed state enterprises, but at the same time attracting foreign investment and daring to challenge China.

In a formal vote on Wednesday, 418 members representing 84 percent of the rubber-stamp National Assembly “agreed to dismiss” Nguyen Tan Dung from his duties, three months before the end of his term, the government said on its website.

The National Assembly is scheduled to elect Dung’s deputy, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, as prime minister today.

Dung’s departure was a mere formality after he lost a leadership battle during the ruling Communist Party’s congress in January.

BEIRUT

Leading Arab satellite operator drops Hezbollah TV

A leading Arab satellite operator cut transmission of Hezbollah’s television channel Al-Manar on Wednesday amid rising tensions between the Lebanese Shiite group’s backer Iran and Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia.

In a statement, Hezbollah “sharply condemned” the move.

Officials at both Al-Manar and Cairo-based Nilesat confirmed the transmission had been cut over accusations the channel violated its contract by airing programmes promoting sectarian divisions.

“This is a political decision, not an industry decision. Al-Manar has nothing to do with sectarian strife,” the channel’s general manager Ibrahim Farhat said, calling the move “unjust and arbitrary”.