US STRIKE RADAA CITY IN YEMEN
Deadly US strike comes as Shia Houthi rebels make advances on Radaa city as they go after al-Qaeda territory
At least 10 suspected al-Qaeda fighters have been killed in a US drone strike in southern Yemen.
The strike on Friday happened near Radaa city, where Shia Houthi rebels are trying to seize territory held by al-Qaeda.
The US struck positions believed to be held by al-Qaeda near areas that have seen intense fighting between the group and the Houthis.
Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Saleh, reporting from Aden in southern Yemen, said the attack had concentrated on three areas believed to be al-Qaeda strongholds.
BOTSWANA RULING PARTY WINS ELECTION
Botswana’s ruling party has won majority seats in the country’s parliament, putting President Ian Khama at the helm for a second five-year term.
High Court Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo said in a statement on Sunday that Khama “has been re-elected as the President of the Republic after his political party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) garnered at least 29 of the 57 parliamentary seats” at Friday’s general election.
But the opposition coalition managed to reduce the majority of Khama’s party, which has ruled the diamond-producing nation since independence from Britain 48 years ago.
Parliament elects the president, and it is expected that Khama will win a second term, but with a reduced majority. In the previous elections in 2009, BDP won 79 percent of the seats
HONG KONG PROTESTERS TO HOLD STREET VOTES
Hong Kong protesters plan to hold a straw poll on government proposals they rejected earlier in the week as their street campaign pushing for free elections for the Chinese-controlled city enters its fifth week.
Student leaders announced a plan for an electronic poll of protesters on reform proposals tabled by senior city government officials in talks on Tuesday that failed to break the deadlock.
“The government always says that the students don’t represent the people in the plaza and Hong Kong citizens, so we are here to make all our voices heard and we will tell the government clearly what we think,” Alex Chow, one of the students guiding the movement, told protesters.
GOOGLES BOSS SETS NEW RECORD
An executive from Google has set a new skydiving record by jumping successfully from near the top of the stratosphere – about 135,000 feet, or 41,000 metres high, breaking the 2012 record by Austrian Felix Baumgartner.
The record dive by 57-year-old Alan Eustace, who is a “senior vice president of knowledge” at Google, was conducted as part of a project allowing manned exploration of the stratosphere above 100,000 feet
