1. United Kingdom Votes in Most Unpredictable Election in Decades
British voters get to decide on Thursday who they want to rule the world’s fifth-largest economy in a tight election that could yield weak government, propel the United Kingdom towards a vote on EU membership and stoke Scottish desire for secession. Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives and Ed Miliband’s opposition Labour Party have been neck and neck in opinion polls for months, indicating neither will win enough seats for an outright majority in the 650-seat parliament.
2. Yemen Urges Ground Intervention to Save Country: Letter to U.N
Yemen urged the international community “to quickly intervene by land forces to save” the country, specifically in the cities of Aden and Taiz, according to a letter sent to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday. The letter from Yemen’s U.N. Ambassador Khaled Alyemany, seen by Reuters, could provide legal cover for such a move.
3. Germanwings Pilot Rehearsed Crash on Outbound Flight
The Germanwings co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a jet in the French Alps rehearsed the fatal manoeuvre on the morning of the disaster, and had twice been refused medical papers needed to fly, investigators said on Wednesday. The French BEA accident investigation agency said the co-pilot had five times set the autopilot to take the Airbus down to just 100 feet while the captain was out of the cockpit on the outbound flight to Barcelona from Duesseldorf.
4. Nigerians Fleeing Lake Chad in Niger Say Some Have Died From Lack of Food, Water
Some of thousands of Nigerians told to leave neighboring Niger in the past week due to threats from Boko Haram militants have died en route from lack of food and water, evacuees said. Nigerhas evacuated Nigerians living around Lake Chad, military and aid officials told Reuters , as the armies of four west African nations battle to quash the Islamist militants.
5. King’s Changes Make Saudi Policy Less Predictable
Changes in Saudi Arabia’s leadership have concentrated power in an inner circle of the Al Saud dynasty, removing constraints on the monarch and making the conservative kingdom’s strategic positions less predictable. The world’s top oil exporter has always prized stability, developing policies slowly and altering them rarely, partly because of the need to balance rivalries among ruling family members and their conflicting interests.
6. Rescuers Step Up Hunt for Bodies in Quake-Hit Nepal Trekking Village
Nepalese soldiers and villagers dug through snow mounds in a remote hamlet on Wednesday in search of scores of bodies of villagers and trekkers believed to be buried in an avalanche set off by last month’s devastating earthquake, officials said. The death toll from the April 25 quake in the Himalayan mountain nation has reached 7,675, with more than 16,300 people injured, the government said.
7. Chile President Says She Has Asked Ministers to Resign
Chile President Michelle Bachelet has asked all her ministers to resign and will announce a new cabinet in the next few days, she said in a TV interview on Wednesday evening. “A few hours ago I requested the resignation of all the ministers, and I will take 72 hours to decide who will stay and who will go,” she said.
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