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Some abducted schoolgirls may never return: Nigerian ex-president

Some of the schoolgirls abducted by militant group Boko Haram may never return home, Nigeria's influential former president Olusegun Obasanjo said, in some of the most pessimistic comments yet on their fate from a member of the country's elite. Obasanjo said President Goodluck Jonathan's administration had taken too long to respond to the April mass abduction. Once Jonathan's mentor and one of his strongest political allies, Obasanjo turned against him last December. "I believe that some of them will never return. We will still be hearing about them many years from now," Obasanjo told the BBC's Hausa-language radio service on Thursday, in comments echoed in an interview with Nigeria's Premium Times website.   true       The warning from Obasanjo, who stepped down in 2007 and nurtured Jonathan's own rise to power, will dismay parents who have now waited 60 days for any news of their daughters, taken from a school in the village of Chibok in nor

China arrests prominent human rights lawyer in case watched by West

Chinese police said on Friday they had arrested a prominent human rights lawyers on charges of causing a disturbance and illegal access to personal information, in a case that has sparked an outcry among rights workers in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China and the West. Pu Zhiqiang, one of China's most outspoken dissidents, was detained last month after he attended a meeting in a private home to commemorate the bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Police also detained four other activists but later released them.   true       Beijing police had formally arrested Pu on "suspicion of the crimes of causing a disturbance and illegal access to the personal information of citizens after approval from the prosecutors", the police said on their official microblog. "As for Pu Zhiqiang's other alleged crimes, the public security organs will conduct further investigation," the police said. Pu's lawyer, Zhan

Merkel still believes Juncker should get EU top job: aide

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has not altered her view that Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker should become president of the European Commission, a government spokesman said on Friday. _0"> "The German chancellor has very clearly said, including in her recent speech to parliament, that she is in favor of Jean-Claude Juncker becoming the next European Commission president and that she will work towards him getting a majority," Steffen Seibert said, adding that "nothing has changed" in this regard.   true       (Reporting by Stephen Brown and Michelle Martin)

Air-traffic staff probe brief disappearance of flights from European radars

Dozens of aircraft briefly vanished from air-traffic control radars in Austria, class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Germany , the Czech Republic and Slovakia this week and last in separate incidents that Slovak authorities blamed on military electronic warfare exercises. _0"> Air-traffic controllers in Austria and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Germany said data about the planes' position, direction, height or speed went missing on June 5 and June 10, but the outages posed no serious danger to people on the aircraft travelling at high altitude. Their Czech and Slovak counterparts also encountered cases of vanishing aircraft on the same days. "The disappearance of objects on radar screens was connected with a planned military exercise which took place in various parts of Europe on June 5 and 10 and whose goal was the interruption of radiocommunication frequencies," the Slovak state Air Traffic Services company said in a statement.   true    

Union says wage deal to end South African platinum strike is imminent

The leader of South Africa's AMCU union said on Friday a wage deal with the top three platinum producers was imminent, signalling a possible end to a crippling five-month strike that has disrupted global output of the metal. Workers from the Association of Mineworkers and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Construction Union (AMCU) begged leader Joseph Mathunjwa on Thursday to end the country's longest mining strike and sign the latest offer - an increase of about 20 percent, or 1,000 rand ($93) a month. Mathunjwa told Johannesburg radio he would take the offer to more AMCU members at mines on Friday, before meeting with management at Lonmin ( id="symbol_LMI.L_0"> LMI.L ) ( id="symbol_LONJ.J_1"> LONJ.J ), Anglo American Platinum ( id="symbol_AMSJ.J_2"> AMSJ.J ) and Impala Platinum ( id="symbol_IMPJ.J IMPJ.J ) later or over the weekend to relay the response of his miners to their offer.   true       _3"> "

Croatia supreme court confirms jail for ex-PM Sanader over oil deal

Croatia's Supreme Court has confirmed a guilty verdict against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader for taking a bribe from Hungarian oil group MOL in exchange for allowing it a dominant position in Croatian oil firm INA. _0"> The ruling will not automatically annul a disputed INA shareholder agreement that Zagreb and MOL reached in 2009, but may serve as a legal basis for Croatia to start a new court process to render it null and void. "This verdict confirms our view that the Croatian interests were not protected in the process of INA's sale to MOL. It also confirms that the talks (with MOL) the government initiated and the arbitration procedure before international bodies were fully justified," class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak said in a statement.   true       The ruling was confirmed by Zagreb county court spokesman Kresimir Devcic. "The Supreme Court has modified the original verdict to eight years and six mo

Egypt's cabinet to be formed by Sunday, many ministers to stay: sources

class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Egypt is expected to unveil a new cabinet by Sunday, three officials said on Friday, with the class="mandelbrot_refrag"> finance minister and others likely to keep their posts following the election of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. _0"> Keeping the main ministers could allow Sisi to quickly implement the types of reform urged by the United Arab Emirates - one of the Gulf states that gave billions of dollars in aid after Islamist President Mohamed Mursi was ousted by the army. Sisi, the former army chief who was inaugurated last Sunday reappointed Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb last week.   true       Consultations on the cabinet lineup are ongoing, state radio reported on Friday. Mehleb has said the current government would stay on in a caretaker role until he forms his cabinet. The new cabinet is expected to be sworn in on Sunday, two ministers said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It is likely to convene f