Fiji’s ruling party wins general elections
Suva, Nov. 18 (IANS): Fiji’s ruling FijiFirst party led by incumbent Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, has won this year’s general elections. According to the official results announced by Fiji’s Electoral Commission on Sunday, the party topped the official tally of the 2018 general elections results with 227,241 votes, which is 50.02 per cent of the total votes in the island nation, reports Xinhua news agency. The ruling party will get 27 parliamentary seats and form the next government. The Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), the nation’s main opposition party, is in the second place on the official tally with 181,072 votes, 39.85 per cent of the total votes. It will get 21 parliamentary seats. The National Federation Party (NFP) won 33,515 votes, 7.38 per cent of the total votes. It will get 3 parliamentary seats.
Taliban hold talks with US envoy in Qatar
Islamabad, Nov. 18 (PTI/AP): The Taliban have held three days of talks with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Gulf state of Qatar, where the Afghan insurgent group has a political office, a Taliban official and another individual close to the group said Sunday. The talks are aimed at renewing the Afghan peace process and eventually winding down America’s longest war. Seventeen years after the US-led invasion that ended Taliban rule, the militants control nearly half of Afghanistan and carry out near-daily attacks on local security forces and government officials. The two individuals said Khairullah Khairkhwah, the former Taliban governor of Herat, and Mohammed Fazl, a former Taliban military chief, attended the marathon talks.
Missing Argentine submarine found a year after it vanished
Buenos Aires, Nov. 18 (IANS):A missing Argentine naval submarine has been found, a year and a day after it vanished in the South Atlantic with 44 crew members on board, authorities said. The wreckage of the ARA San Juan, which “suffered an implosion”, was found about 870 metres below the ocean floor, Argentine naval Capt. Gabriel Attis told the media here on Saturday. Family members at the navy headquarters were shown three images of the remains of the San Juan’s “sail”, or tower, and bow sections. Hours before the wreckage was positively identified, the Argentine navy tweeted an image of a point of interest on the seabed, suggesting that a 60-meter-long object might be the missing vessel.
Khaleda Zia challenges 7-year sentence in graft case
Dhaka, Nov. 18 (PTI): Bangladesh’s former prime minister Khaleda Zia on Sunday challenged the seven-year sentence handed out to her in a corruption case for embezzling millions from a charitable trust in her late husband’s name, claiming that she has been convicted “illegally and unjustly”. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief challenged the trial court’s decision four days after receiving the full text of the verdict announced on October 29. The 638-page decision and the 700-page appeal petition also include a petition for bail, said her lawyer Kayser Kamal after submitting the petition to the High Court on Sunday, the bdnews reported. The BNP chairperson has been convicted illegally and unjustly, he was quoted as saying by the daily.
