yield
power without delay. Our correspondent John James in Abidjan says that Mr Gbagbo shows no signs of
bowing out
.
If you look at the election results, Ouattara seems to have won
slightly
more votes in the election itself. But
in terms of
who holds the power, Laurent Gbagbo has been in charge for the last few years, so he's got that continuity of control over the institutions of the state. He's certainly still got the backing of the army, of the police force, the gendarmerie, and control of the state television as well, which is really important here, given that (international) access to the international media is limited. So at the moment, he seems to be more in charge on the ground, but internationally, the regime is increasingly looking very isolated.
European Union finance ministers have decided not to provide any extra money for an existing trillion-dollar bailout fund for eurozone countries that might get into financial trouble. The IMF had called for the EU to do more.
A senior US official has told the BBC that the Obama administration is suspending efforts to persuade the Israeli government to freeze settlement building in occupied Palestinian territory. Both sides have been invited to talks in Washington next week. From Washington, Kim Ghattas reports.
The Obama administration last month offered Israel a sizable package of
incentive
s, including jet fighters and security guarantees, in return for an extension of Israel's