Corbyn wins with 59.5% of votes cast
Jeremy Corbyn was elected as the leader of the opposition Labour Party in the United Kingdom on Saturday. Corbyn, a leftist whose victory was hailed across Europe, won the elections with 59.5% of the vote. "Things can and they will change," the 66-year-old leader said while thanking his supporters for their efforts. While anti-austerity European parties such as Greece's Syriza and Spain's Podemos welcomed Corbyn's victory, several senior Labour party officials quit their posts, saying that they would not serve in his senior team.
Mecca investigation findings to be made public
Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Saturday said that the findings of the investigation into the crane collapse at the Grand Mosque in Mecca which killed over 100 people would be made public. Salman, who visited the site of the collapse, said that national agencies would "investigate all the reasons" for the collapse. Other Saudi officials said that the accident would not prevent the annual Hajj pilgrimage from going ahead. Last year, Saudi authorities began a major expansion drive to increase the area of the mosque to allow it accommodate up to over two million people at once.
Egypt's government resigns
Egypt's national government resigned on Saturday, with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi asking the country's oil minister to form a new administration within a week. A statement released by the country's Presidency said that the outgoing government would play a caretaker role till Oil Minister Sharif Ismail formed a new cabinet. While no reason was given by the President's Office for the government's resignation, officials said that the aim of the exercise was to reshuffle the cabinet in the wake of a corruption scandal. Last week, the country's agriculture minister was arrested in connection with the inquiry into the scandal.
Hungary proposes increasing EU aid to Syria's neighbours
The Hungarian government on Saturday proposed an increase in European Union's aid to Syria's neighbours to stop Syrian refugees from migrating into European countries. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that aid to Syria's neighbours could be increased if every EU member-nation paid 1% extra into the Union's budget while reducing other expenses by the same amount. He was quoted as saying that the increase in aid would amount to a total of three billion euros. The country, which has rejected the EU's proposed migrant quotas, has also planned to increase its frontier security on its border with Serbia to prevent migrants from entering its territory.
Saudi-led coalition bombs rebel positions
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition against the Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen bombarded rebel positions in the country's capital city of Sanaa ahead of the expected United Nations-mediated talks between the two sides, reports said on Saturday. Witnesses said that coalition warplanes conducted strikes on arms depots and military camps in the northern districts of the capital as well as the rebel-held Presidential Palace in the south-east of the city. The UN has estimated that over 4,500 people have been killed in the conflict since March.
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Jeremy Corbyn was elected as the leader of the opposition Labour Party in the United Kingdom on Saturday. Corbyn, a leftist whose victory was hailed across Europe, won the elections with 59.5% of the vote. "Things can and they will change," the 66-year-old leader said while thanking his supporters for their efforts. While anti-austerity European parties such as Greece's Syriza and Spain's Podemos welcomed Corbyn's victory, several senior Labour party officials quit their posts, saying that they would not serve in his senior team.
Mecca investigation findings to be made public
Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Saturday said that the findings of the investigation into the crane collapse at the Grand Mosque in Mecca which killed over 100 people would be made public. Salman, who visited the site of the collapse, said that national agencies would "investigate all the reasons" for the collapse. Other Saudi officials said that the accident would not prevent the annual Hajj pilgrimage from going ahead. Last year, Saudi authorities began a major expansion drive to increase the area of the mosque to allow it accommodate up to over two million people at once.
Egypt's government resigns
Egypt's national government resigned on Saturday, with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi asking the country's oil minister to form a new administration within a week. A statement released by the country's Presidency said that the outgoing government would play a caretaker role till Oil Minister Sharif Ismail formed a new cabinet. While no reason was given by the President's Office for the government's resignation, officials said that the aim of the exercise was to reshuffle the cabinet in the wake of a corruption scandal. Last week, the country's agriculture minister was arrested in connection with the inquiry into the scandal.
Hungary proposes increasing EU aid to Syria's neighbours
The Hungarian government on Saturday proposed an increase in European Union's aid to Syria's neighbours to stop Syrian refugees from migrating into European countries. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that aid to Syria's neighbours could be increased if every EU member-nation paid 1% extra into the Union's budget while reducing other expenses by the same amount. He was quoted as saying that the increase in aid would amount to a total of three billion euros. The country, which has rejected the EU's proposed migrant quotas, has also planned to increase its frontier security on its border with Serbia to prevent migrants from entering its territory.
Saudi-led coalition bombs rebel positions
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition against the Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen bombarded rebel positions in the country's capital city of Sanaa ahead of the expected United Nations-mediated talks between the two sides, reports said on Saturday. Witnesses said that coalition warplanes conducted strikes on arms depots and military camps in the northern districts of the capital as well as the rebel-held Presidential Palace in the south-east of the city. The UN has estimated that over 4,500 people have been killed in the conflict since March.
