Sarkozy avoids crushing defeat

PARIS – President Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right UMP party suffered losses in the first round of French municipal elections on Sunday but avoided the crushing defeat some had predicted.

Sri Lanka goes to the polls * BATTICALOA – Residents in swathes of Sri Lanka’s war-ravaged east voted for the first time in more than a decade yesterday, but with armed former Tamil Tiger rebels seen as the likely poll winners, peace remains precarious. Badawi sworn in as Malayia’s PM * KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s main ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), has decided to keep Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as both its leader and prime minister, a senior party official said yesterday.Aung San Suu Kyi and UN meet * YANGON – Detained Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari for a second time in three days, an official said, as he wrapped up his latest mission to the country.More peaceful S America * CARACAS – Venezuela will immediately restore diplomacy with Colombia but ties are still fragile, the government said on Sunday, after this week’s resolution of a regional dispute that had raised fears of war.ME agreement holds up * JERUSALEM – Israel and Hamas appeared to be abiding by a tacit agreement to hold fire in and around the Gaza Strip amid reported Egyptian efforts to secure a permanent truce after days of violence.Badawi sworn in as Malayia’s PM * KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s main ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), has decided to keep Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as both its leader and prime minister, a senior party official said yesterday.Aung San Suu Kyi and UN meet * YANGON – Detained Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari for a second time in three days, an official said, as he wrapped up his latest mission to the country.More peaceful S America * CARACAS – Venezuela will immediately restore diplomacy with Colombia but ties are still fragile, the government said on Sunday, after this week’s resolution of a regional dispute that had raised fears of war.ME agreement holds up * JERUSALEM – Israel and Hamas appeared to be abiding by a tacit agreement to hold fire in and around the Gaza Strip amid reported Egyptian efforts to secure a permanent truce after days of violence.