Technology Slice Blog

Burkina Faso Re-Elected By Landslide - President Blaise Compaore, one of Africa's last remaining 'Big Men' who seized power in a bloody coup 23 years ago, was re-elected by a landslide in a vote rejected by the opposition. The country's electoral commission said Thursday that Compaore won Sunday's presidential poll with 80.2 percent of the vote, according to provisional results. Compaore, a former army captain who took power in 1987 after a hit squad gunned down the country's former leader in his office, was widely expected to win the election in the landlocked nation. On Tuesday, four of the seven candidates in the race said they would not recognize the poll's results, claiming the vote was rigged in Compaore's favor. They cited serious irregularities that allowed ineligible people to vote and asked that results be invalidated. "We are happy," said Compaore's campaign director Assimi Koanda. "This results shows the confidence...