■ Saudi Arabia
German caterer killed
A German man who worked as a caterer for Saudi Arabia's national airline was shot and killed Saturday by unknown assailants, an Interior Ministry official said. Authorities are investigating whether the attack was a terrorist or a criminal one, the official said on condition of anonymity. The man was shot on Prince Abdullah Highway, a popular shopping thoroughfare in eastern Riyadh. Police cordoned off a strip mall where the shooting occurred and would not let journalists approach.
■ Ivory Coast
Morocco sends troops
Hundreds of Moroccan troops flew into Ivory Coast on Saturday to bolster a UN peacekeeping force as a political crisis threatening the West African country's fragile peace process deepened. In a letter to Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, Ivory Coast Prime Minister Seydou Diarra denied he had proposed three ministers from the rebel side should be booted out of a government of national reconciliation in the world's top cocoa grower. The spat over the cabinet posts has raised tensions in the former French colony because a breakdown in government undermines a French-brokered peace deal struck in January of last year to end a civil war that left thousands dead.
■ Malawi
Election gets confusing
With no official results announced, opposition leader Gwanda Chakuamba accused electoral officials of conspiring with the ruling party to rig Malawi's third multiparty elections and declared himself the winner of the presidential vote. Earlier Saturday, security forces fired tear gas to disperse more than 1,000 demonstrators protesting the delay in announcing results from Thursday's parliamentary and presidential elections. Voting in one of Africa's poorest countries had already been marred by delays and irregularities, according to international observers.
■ Brazil
Clinton blasts Bush
Former US president Bill Clinton slammed what he called the "unilateral" foreign policy of the administration of US President George W. Bush, telling an audience of about 1,000 Brazilian business and political leaders Saturday that the US needs more international partners to fight terrorism. "Rather than taking a unilateral path, we need to strengthen international organizations," said Clinton. "We need more international partners." Clinton spoke at the inauguration of an academic institute founded by former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who led the country from 1995 through last year.
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