Nigeria

Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Umaru Yar’Adua has won 70% of the vote in the presidential elections, but European Union observers say the elections were a “charade” and that whatever administration resulted, it would not enjoy any legitimacy. Mr Yar’Adua gained 24.6m votes, against 6.6m for his closest challenger, Muhammadu Buhari. Vice-president turned opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar came third with 2.6m votes. Both candidates have told their supporters to reject the results and want a re-run. At least 200 people have died in violence surrounding the election.

Zambia

Zambian man Hammersk-joeld Simwinga has won the $125,000 worth prestigious Goldman Prize for helping to curb widespread elephant poaching by setting up economic projects for villagers in the North Luangwa valley – such as bee-keeping and fish-farming –  while persuading local people they can earn money by keeping elephants alive as they help attract tourists, and their money, to the region

Corporate pollution

Richard Ness, US mining executive head of Newmont Mining’s Indonesian subsidiary faces a maximum 10-year prison term in Indonesia if found guilty of dumping toxic mining wastes into a bay on Sulawesi island, where local villagers are suffering from tumours and skin diseases caused by mercury and arsenic poisoning. Ness has been on trial in Jakarta for nearly two years.

Sri Lanka

The International Commis-sion of Jurists (ICJ) report says an investigation by Sri Lankan police into the killing of 17 local aid workers last year is seriously flawed and there has been “a disturbing lack of impartiality and transparency in the investigation.”
The bodies of the Action Against Hunger workers were found in the north-eastern town of Muttur last August. Truce monitors blamed security forces, who denied carrying out the killings.

Basque Country

Thursday 26 April marks the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the Basque town of Gernika, by the Nazi airforce, during the Spanish civil war. The bombing, which was the first ever use of military aircraft against a civilian target, caused at least 250 deaths and hundreds of horrific injuries. Gernika became a universal symbol of the horror of war. To commemorate the anniversary, there will be a series of cultural activities linking Berlin with the Basque culture through dance, conferences, lectures and films, while in Gernika, several Nobel prize winners and mayors of cities, including the authorities of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will attend a special commemoration event.