Category: news

Bosnians are set to vote in a general election after a campaign that focused on the ethnic divisions in the country.

Fifteen years after the country’s inter-ethnic war, key political parties urged Bosnians to vote for candidates of their own ethnic group.

The complicated constitution means that voters are to choose five presidents, 13 prime ministers and 700 MPs.

This election may also decide if Bosnia moves closer towards the European Union and Nato.

Bosnians are called on to elect the leaders of the central government and of two semi-autonomous regions, the Serb Republic (Republika Srpska) and the Muslim-Croat Federation.

They will also decide who will take the seats in the central parliament and in the two regional assemblies.

The two separate entities were set up by the 1995 Dayton peace accord, which ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

With the country’s political forces at a stalemate, the election campaign was dominated by nationalist rhetoric from Muslim, Croat and Serb leaders to mobilise their own ethnic vote.

The outgoing Serb Prime Minister Mikorad Dodik, who now runs for the presidency of the Serb Republic, said he was committed to “fight for Republika Srepska” and against centralisation.

Bosnian Croat nationalist leader Dragan Covic also based his campaign on calls for a separate Croat entity within Bosnia.

The BBC’s Mark Lowen in Sarajevo says that some voters worry that the same political figures will continue in power.

There is also some frustration about the campaign focusing on nationalist issues rather than political reforms and economic recovery, our correspondent says.

Bosnia’s fragile economy, already hampered by corruption and political bickering, was hit hard by the global financial crisis.

Official statistics show that unemployment was at 43% in July.

The High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentin Inzko, called on Bosnians to go to the polls and vote for change.

“Please, get out and vote on Sunday,” Mr Inzko said. “This is your country, and it is your democratic responsibility to decide about its future.”

Analysts say that the ability of Bosnian leaders to unite and carry out reforms will determine if the country moves closer to the EU membership it aspires to.

Bosnia is also a candidate for Nato membership.

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What can UK learn from Portugal’s drugs laws?

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Rising number of foreigners choosing Uruguay for a better lifestyle

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The US government is considering warning its citizens to stay away from crowded places in Europe because of the threat of an al-Qaeda commando-style attack, the BBC has learned.

US and UK officials have confirmed that updated guidance may be issued because of the current terror threat.

A UK official said the travel advisory would not be country-specific.

It would also not go as far as advising against travel to Europe, the official said.

The advisory will be issued in response to intelligence on an al-Qaeda plan to assemble teams of gunmen and send them into crowded places to kill western civilians.

Officials said the plan was detected in its early stages and that several individuals were still under surveillance.

The suspects include British citizens of Pakistani and German citizens of Afghan origin.

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A former leader of the Nigerian militant group Mend, Henry Okah, is arrested in South Africa, after two blasts on Friday which killed 12 in Abuja.

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An armed gang has kidnapped 22 Mexican tourists in the resort city of Acapulco, the prosecutor’s office in the southern state of Guerrero said.

They said the tourists, who were from the neighbouring state of Michoacan, were abducted on Thursday.

Local media reported the group was looking for a hotel when they were seized by gunmen.

Acapulco is popular with visitors but it is also the scene of a violent turf war between rival drug cartels.

The prosecutor’s office said it did not know the motive for the kidnapping, or who was behind it.

But some eyewitnesses said the kidnappers were driving cars with Michoacan number plates.

Michoacan is the power base for La Familia Michoacana, a violent drug cartel active on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

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A pact to form a Dutch government with the support of anti-Islamist populist Geert Wilders has been ratified by the centre-right CDA party.

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Police in Glasgow are treating an attack on a Somali man by a gang of youths as racially motivated.

The 20-year-old was standing at a bus stop near a Tesco supermarket on Springburn Road at 2330 BST on Friday when he was attacked by the group.

He was treated in Glasgow Royal Infirmary for a head injury.

The suspects, one female and three males, are believed to be aged between 16 and 19 years old. Police appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

One of the male suspects was wearing a blue hooded top and another was wearing a yellow hooded top.

Det Sgt John Semple, from Strathclyde Police, said: “We believe that the attack on this young man was racially motivated.

“Officers have been scouring local CCTV in a bid to identify those involved and it is thought that they may have entered Tesco supermarket following the attack. I would therefore appeal to any shoppers or staff who were in the supermarket shortly after 11.30pm and may have seen the suspects to come forward to police.

“Springburn Road is an extremely busy thoroughfare and I would also ask any motorists, taxi drivers, bus drivers or pedestrians to get in touch with police if they witnessed the disturbance or saw a group of youths running off afterwards.”

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Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed there will be a major overhaul of the benefits system with a new universal credit introduced.

Mr Osborne told the Daily Telegraph “substantial savings” were to be made.

Details of the replacement for existing benefits are likely to come out as the Conservatives meet for their annual conference in Birmingham on Sunday.

Welfare reform is key to plans to cut the deficit but has been the source of reported tension between ministers.