The world in brief

— QUOTE OF THE DAY “We are against this process from start to finish.”

Hussein Abdel Ghani, a spokesman for Egypt’s National Salvation Front, calling for more protests after President Mohammed Morsi refused to cancel a national referendum Article, 1A

To cover shortfall, Abbas calls for aid

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DOHA, Qatar - The Palestinian president is urging Arab nations to provide major financial assistance to cover a new, monthly, $100 million budgetary shortfall - the result of a punitive Israeli measure after U.N. recognition of Palestinian claims to statehood.

The appeal by Mahmoud Abbas reflects the severe financial fallout from last month’s vote in the United Nations and a fresh push by Palestinians to take advantage of the international momentum to rally Arab backing for peace talks and possible concessions by Israel.

Israel halted the tax transfer funds - customs duties collected on behalf of Palestinians - after last month’s U.N. vote to recognize a Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.

Abbas has been facing added pressures after rival Hamas in Gaza received major pledges of aid from Qatar’s emir in October.

Last week, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called on wealthy Arab countries to send $240 million a month to keep the government afloat. Since its creation in 1994, the Palestinian Authority has always had trouble paying its bills, owing to Israeli restrictions, and its own inefficiency and corruption. Israel said it would use the $100 million to pay down the huge debts the Palestinian government owes Israeli entities, especially the electricity company.

Ghana’s president wins re-election

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ACCRA, Ghana - The head of Ghana’s election commission has announced that incumbent President John Dramani Mahama won the country’s presidential election with 50.7 percent of the vote.

Election commission chairman Kwadwo Afari-Gyan said Sunday that opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo came in second, with 47.74 percent of the vote, according to provisional results from Friday’s election.

Armored tanks surrounded Ghana’s electoral commission and police barricaded the road around the electoral offices as the results were announced.

Earlier Sunday, police dispersed protesters with tear gas. Protesters wanted the electoral body to delay announcing results until allegations of vote rigging had been investigated.

Ghana has one of the longest traditions of democracy in this corner of Africa, but Friday’s election was fraught with problems after biometric machines used to identify voters failed in scores of polling stations.

Iran launches site to rival YouTube

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran says it has launched a video-sharing website in the latest move to create government-sanctioned alternatives to Internet powerhouses such as YouTube.

The Web page of Iranian state TV says the new site - Mehr, or “affection” in Farsi - seeks to promote Iranian and Islamic culture and artists. It’s unclear, however, how heavily the site, www.mehr.ir, will be monitored or censored.

Western websites such as Facebook, Twitter and You-Tube are blocked by Iranian officials, who claim Western bloggers and governments are waging a “soft war” against the Islamic Republic.

Iran also says it is seeking to create its own Internet universe scrubbed of Western content, but experts in cyber technology question whether any country can completely break away.

Front Section, Pages 7 on 12/10/2012

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