Briefly

RWANDA

Kagame wins fourth term with 99% of vote

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame was gearing up on Tuesday for a fourth term in office after winning 99.15 percent of the vote in the election, according to results issued by the election commission with 79 percent of ballots counted. "These are not just figures; even if it was 100 percent, these are not just numbers," he said."These figures show the trust, and that is what is most important."

THAILAND

6 found dead in Bangkok hotel

Six people were found dead on Tuesday in an upmarket hotel in downtown Bangkok, police said. The Foreign Ministry said the dead were reported to be two Vietnamese Americans and four Vietnamese nationals. A senior police officer told AFP the investigation was focusing on a "toxic substance", denying initial reports that the six had been killed in a shooting. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin went to the scene in the evening and ordered all agencies to urgently take action to avoid impact on tourism, the government said.

GAMBIA

MPs uphold ban on genital mutilation

Gambia's parliament on Monday rejected a bill that would have ended a ban on female genital mutilation, after lawmakers voted down all the clauses in the proposed law. "Government stands firm in its resolve to eliminate this harmful practice," the Information Ministry said after the vote. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus commended the decision in a joint statement with United Nations representatives.

Agencies via Xinhua