
Top news: The ballots from Egypt's two-day presidential election are still being counted, and official results aren't expected until Tuesday. But independent vote counts by entities such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm suggest that the Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi will square off against former Egyptian Air Force general and prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in a run-off scheduled for June.
If the preliminary results are accurate, the New York Times notes, the second round of voting will "pit the two most polarizing figures" in the race "against each other in a reversion to the decades-old power struggle between Egypt's secular-minded military elite and its longstanding Islamist opposition." Shafiq, who has been criticized for his ties to Hosni Mubarak's regime, surged in the final days of the campaign on a platform of law and order.
The early frontrunners in the race -- former Arab League chief Amr Moussa and former Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh -- appear to have lost a great deal of support in the run-up to the election, while the leftist nationalist candidate Hamdeen Sabahi may have performed much better than expected. Egyptian election officials say half of the country's 50 million eligible voters cast ballots this week.
Human rights: The State Department released its 2011 report on global human rights, which criticized countries such as China and Iran but praised the progress made by states such as Myanmar and Tunisia. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called the report "baseless, biased, and completely wrong."
Asia
- French President Francois Hollande made a surprise visit to Afghanistan shortly after announcing that all French troops would leave the country by the end of the year.
- A U.S. Senate committee withdrew $33 million in aid to Pakistan -- $1 million for each year that Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track down Osama bin Laden, was sentenced to prison.
- The humanitarian organization Medair announced that four of its workers were kidnapped in northern Afghanistan.
Europe
- Trading in shares of Spain's Bankia has been suspended amid reports that the bank will ask the government for a bailout.
- Scottish nationalists launched a "Yes Scotland" campaign to persuade people to vote for independence during a referendum in 2014.
- A brawl erupted in Ukraine's parliament over a bill permitting the official use of the Russian language in some parts of the country.
Middle East
- Nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in Baghdad did not produce any breakthroughs, but both sides agreed to meet again in Moscow in June.
- The United States is reportedly developing a plan to vet members of the Free Syrian Army before Arab nations transfer arms to them.
- A bombing outside a police station in central Turkey killed a policeman.
Africa
- Clashes between farmers and herders along the border between Mali and Burkina Faso killed at least 25 people.
- Nigeria freed Chinese traders who had been accused of "economic scavenging."
- Lesotho is preparing for elections on Saturday.
Americas
- Police arrested nearly 700 people in Montreal and Quebec City who were protesting a planned increase in tuition fees.
- Mexican security forces raided a workshop producing fake Mexican military uniforms.
- Argentina prohibited a railway company from operating in Buenos Aires in response to a deadly train crash in February.
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