Iraq

Baghdad bombs kill dozens

At least 33 Iraqis were killed and scores wounded on Thursday as a wave of bomb attacks hit the capital Baghdad, police sources said. The bombs targeted markets and commercial streets. The government put the death toll far lower, saying only three people were killed and 44 wounded in the violence.

Mali

Keita wins by huge majority

Mali announced Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as its new leader on Thursday after confirming that the former prime minister had won a landslide victory in a presidential poll intended to give a fresh start to the conflict-scarred nation. Figures for Sunday's second-round ballot released on live television by the interior ministry showed Keita won an overwhelming 77.6 percent of the vote, with his rival Soumaila Cisse trailing on 22.4 percent.

Russia

Snowden's father contacts son

The Russian lawyer for Edward Snowden revealed on Thursday that the father of the US intelligence whistle-blower had for the first time contacted his son via the Internet in defiance of legal advice. The 30-year-old former US National Security Agency contractor received asylum in Russia on Aug 1, after spending more than five weeks stranded in a Moscow airport avoiding extradition to the United States.

United Kingdom

Stuntman killed in Alps jump

A stuntman who parachuted into the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics dressed as the fictional British spy James Bond alongside a double of Britain's Queen Elizabeth has been killed in a wing-diving accident in the Swiss Alps. Mark Sutton, 42, a former Ghurkha Rifles officer, died after jumping from a helicopter and crashing into a mountain ridge in the Trient area near the border with France on Wednesday.

Reuters

(China Daily 08/16/2013 page11)