As part of the deal, coup leader Captain, Amadou Sanogo, will get all the benefits of a former head of state.

Mr Traore was initially sworn in for 40 days in April, replacing Captain Sanogo who seized power the previous month.

The coup, and ensuing rebel seizure of northern Mali, has led many thousands of people to flee their homes.

Aid agencies say they are extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Mali, which is also suffering from the regional drought.

Further details of the deal have not been revealed, such as how long Mr Traore will remain in office – Ecowas had said he should stay for a year.

Despite officially handing power to Mr Traore, the Speaker of Parliament, the coup leaders continued to play an active political role, leading Ecowas to threaten to rei-mpose sanctions against them.

After meeting Captain Sanogo in the Malian capital Bamako, the Ecowas mediator, Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Djibrill Bassole, said a deal had been done.

But he did not specify the roles of the president, the prime minister or the junta, or the length of the transition.

He did say, however, that Captain Sanogo would be given a salary and state protection as a former head of state.

The coup leader told state television that a deal had been reached “in principle.”

“Of course we have a certain number of accompanying measures to put in place and we will remain in Bamako the time it takes to ensure that, after these discussions, the institutions of state are stabilised,” he added.

Bamako-based journalist Martin Vogl says Ecowas is no longer saying that the junta has to go completely.

Ecowas lifted sanctions against the coup leaders after they handed power to Mr Traore, 70.

But Captain Sanogo and his allies wanted Mr Traore to stand down after the 40 days were over, while Ecowas said he should be given a year to organise fresh elections and deal with the rebellion in the north.—BBC

Mr Senussi, who fled Libya after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, was held at Nouakchott airport after flying in from Morocco in March.

Both Libya and the International Criminal Court want him extradited to face trial for crimes against humanity.

Mauritanian officials say he faces trial for using false travel documents.

A judicial source told the AFP news agency he had been placed in a specially prepared prison cell ahead of his trial.

In March, Libya’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mustafa Abushagur, said Mauritania had agreed to extradite Mr Senussi, but there was no confirmation from the Mauritanian authorities.

He is also wanted on an ICC arrest warrant in connection with the violent suppression of protests during last year’s Libyan uprising that toppled the late Col Gaddafi.—BBC

On Thursday, activists at Aleppo University streamed their rally live on the internet.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, activists say, in the biggest protests there since the revolt began.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several people were injured by tear gas and live ammunition.

Protests were reported elsewhere, a day after activists called for rallies in solidarity with students in Aleppo.

Observers say anti-government sentiment is rising there, after security forces killed students in a raid in early May.

Videos posted by activists show hundreds of people taking part in anti-government rallies in various parts of Aleppo.

Syria’s second city has so far not experienced the violence seen in other cities during the uprising and has remained largely loyal to the government of President Bashar al-Assad since protests began in March 2011.

Analysts say its ability to keep control of Aleppo is one of its key tests.

Separately, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that Islamist militants from al-Qaeda must be behind two deadly suicide car bomb attacks in the capital on 10 May.

Mr Ban also said the death toll in the Syrian crisis now stands at 10,000 people.

Syrian activists reported protests on Friday in Damascus, Homs and Idlib.

State TV said government forces had foiled an attempt to blow up a booby-trapped car carrying approximately 600 kg of explosives in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on Friday.

The Friday protests in Aleppo came a day after students held a large rally at the city’s university.

Activists streamed their rally live on the internet on Thursday. They were demanding the removal of Mr Assad and his government during a visit by UN observers.

Footage showed scores of demonstrators chanting loudly. A YouTube clip apparently from the same rally shows students climbing on top of a UN vehicle.

A voice could be heard in the background saying in English “the university of the revolution”.

Another YouTube video, filmed through the windscreen of a car, appears to show a demonstrator being beaten by a group of men wielding sticks.

Nearly 260 unarmed UN observers have been deployed in Syria to monitor a ceasefire, which has largely collapsed since it was brokered in March by UN and Arab League representative Kofi Annan.

The UN secretary general said their deployment had some “dampening effect” on the violence, but not enough to halt it.

“We are trying our best efforts to protect the civilian population,” Mr Ban added.

Last week’s suicide car bomb attacks in Damascus killed 55 people and injured 372 – the deadliest attack on the city since the uprising against President Assad began.

Syrian officials have blamed “foreign terrorists” for the twin bombings.

Earlier this month Syria sent a list of 26 names to the United Nations of foreign nationals it had apprehended, claiming most of them were members of al-Qaeda.—BBC

Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic is on trial in The Hague 20 years after the start of the conflict in Bosnia

Former Bosnian Serb army commander, Ratko Mladic, intended to “ethnically cleanse” Bosnia, the opening day of his war crimes trial has heard.

Gen Mladic faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide, in connection with the brutal 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Prosecutors at The Hague said they would show his hand in the crimes.

He has called the accusations “monstrous” and the court has entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Gen Mladic is accused of orchestrating the massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim boys and men at Srebrenica in 1995.

He is also charged in connection with the 44-month siege of Sarajevo during which more than 10,000 people died.

Gen Mladic, dressed in a dark grey suit, applauded and gave a thumbs-up as the judges walked in.

The prosecution opened the hearing at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with an audio-visual presentation laying out the case against Gen Mladic.

Prosecuting counsel Dermot Groome said they would prove Gen Mladic’s hand in the crimes.

“Four days ago marked two decades since Ratko Mladic became the commander of the main staff of the army of Republika Srpska – the VRS,” he said.

“On that day, Mladic began his full participation in a criminal endeavour that was already in progress. On that day, he assumed the mantle of realising through military might the criminal goals of ethnically cleansing much of Bosnia. On that day he commenced his direct involvement in serious international crimes.”

Mr Groome said that by the time General Mladic and his troops had “murdered thousands in Srebrenica” they were “well-rehearsed in the craft of murder”.

He then showed judges video of the aftermath of a notorious shelling of a market in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, in which dozens of people died.

Mr Groome said there was “no doubt” that Gen Mladic had controlled the shelling of Sarajevo. He had promised that the city would shake, the prosecutor said.

Mr Groome said the attacks were part of an “overarching” plan to ethnically cleanse non-Serbs from parts of Bosnia.

Gen Mladic has been awaiting trial in the same prison as his former political leader Radovan Karadzic, who was arrested in 2008 and is now about half way through his trial on similar charges to Gen Mladic.

Mr Groome said Radovan Karadzic’s choice of Gen Mladic was not random but because he could help to achieve the strategic goals of Bosnian Serbs.

At one point, presiding Judge Alphons Orie told Gen Mladic to focus on the court proceedings and not take part in “inappropriate interaction” with people in the public gallery.

In the hours leading up to the opening of proceedings, members of the Mothers of Srebrenica group gathered for a vigil outside the court.

Judicial authorities have rejected defence calls to delay proceedings, most recently a petition to have Dutch Judge Orie replaced on grounds of alleged bias.

However, even as the trial began there were further indications it would be delayed.

Judge Orie said the court was considering postponing the presentation of evidence – due to start on 29 May – due to “errors” by the prosecution in disclosing evidence to the defence.

Mr Groome said he would not oppose a “reasonable adjournment”.

Gen Mladic spent 15 years on the run before being apprehended by Serb forces last May and sent to The Hague.

The number of crimes of which he stands accused has been almost halved to speed up his trial.

Gen Mladic is accused of committing genocide and other crimes against Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Bosnian Croats in a campaign of ethnic cleansing that began in 1992 and climaxed in Srebrenica in 1995.

Then, Serb fighters overran the Srebrenica enclave in eastern Bosnia – supposedly under the protection of Dutch UN peacekeepers. Men and boys were separated off, shot dead and bulldozed into mass graves – later to be dug up and reburied in more remote spots.

These were the worst atrocities in Europe since the end of World War II.

Pre-trial hearings have been characterised by ill-tempered outbursts from General Mladic, who has heckled the judge and interrupted proceedings.

“The whole world knows who I am,” he said at a hearing last year.

“I am General Ratko Mladic. I defended my people, my country… now I am defending myself.”

The case has stirred up strong emotions among watching survivors, with some shouting “murderer” and “killer” from the court gallery.

However, while Gen Mladic’s critics consider him a butcher, to some Serbs he is a national hero.

Gen Mladic suffered at least one stroke while in hiding and remains in frail health.

The architect of the Balkan wars, former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, died in detention in his cell in 2006, before receiving a verdict.—BBC

Charles Taylor will be sentenced by The Hague tribunal later this month

Former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, has accused the prosecution of paying and threatening witnesses in his war crimes trial.

Taylor, who was convicted last month, also told judges at The Hague he was “no threat to society”.

It was the 64-year-old’s last chance to speak at the international court before he is sentenced later this month.

Taylor was found guilty of aiding and abetting rebels in Sierra Leone during its civil war.

In its landmark ruling last month, the Special Court for Sierra Leone found Taylor guilty on 11 counts, relating to atrocities that included rape and murder.

The prosecution wants an 80-year prison term, which the defence says is excessive.

Delivering his statement from a witness box on Wednesday, Taylor – who insists he is innocent of all charges – said money had played a “corrupting, influential, significant and dominant role” in his trial.

“Witnesses were paid, coerced and in many cases threatened with prosecution if they did not give statements,” he said.

Taylor also said judges were handicapped by not having the “full contextual picture” of events at the time.

He said he condemned atrocities across the world, and had the “deepest sympathy” for victims in Sierra Leone, but stopped short of expressing remorse or apologising for his part in the conflict.

Later, he asked the court to consider his age when making their decision.

“I’m a father of many children, grandchildren and great-grand.

“I say with respect: Reconciliation and healing, not retribution, should be the guiding principles in your honours’ task.”

At the end of his address, Mr Taylor also congratulated one of the judges, Julia Sebutinde of Uganda, the first African woman to sit at the International Court of Justice.

Prosecutors have said that Taylor’s ill health and age, or the fact that he has a family, should have no impact on the sentence.

In written filings, prosecutors said a sentence of 80 years would reflect the severity of the crimes and the central role that Taylor had in facilitating them.

“The purposely cruel and savage crimes committed included public executions and amputations of civilians, the display of decapitated heads at checkpoints… public rapes of women and girls, and people burned alive in their homes,” wrote prosecutor Brenda Hollis.

But defence lawyers said the recommended sentence was “manifestly disproportionate and excessive”, and that Taylor had only been found guilty of an indirect role – aiding the rebels, rather than leading them.

They said their client should not be made to shoulder the blame alone for what happened in Sierra Leone’s war.

The court should not support “attempts by the prosecution to provide the Sierra Leoneans with this external bogey man upon whom can be heaped the collective guilt of a nation for its predominantly self-inflicted wounds”, his lawyers wrote.

During the 1991-2002 Sierra Leone civil war, Taylor supported Revolutionary United Front rebels who killed tens of thousands of people.

The war crimes included murder, rape, the use of child soldiers and the amputation of limbs. In return, Taylor received “blood diamonds”.

The sentence is due to be handed down on 30 May.

Taylor is widely expected to appeal against any prison sentence and the hearing could continue for several more months.

Under a special arrangement with the international court, any prison term Taylor does receive will be served in Britain.—BBC

France's President-elect Francois Hollande is pictured at his campaign headquarters in Paris

(CNN) – François Hollande arrived at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday to take the oath of office as the new president of France, assuming the role amid a period of financial turmoil across Europe.

Hollande becomes France’s first Socialist president since François Mitterrand left office in 1995. He secured election victory earlier this month over the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the most U.S.-friendly French presidents in decades.

The new president’s approach to France’s economic challenges is likely to reverberate across Europe as the continent wrestles with an unyielding debt crisis.

Hollande has unsettled investors with his criticism of the austerity policies central to European bailout deals for troubled economies like Greece and Ireland.

As the leader of the euro zone’s second-largest economy after Germany, his opinion matters. And analysts are waiting to see what kind of relationship he and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, are able to establish.

In an indication of the urgency of the challenges Europe faces, Hollande will travel to Berlin to meet with Merkel shortly after his inauguration.

His election coincided with the vote in Greece that spawned the current political chaos in Athens. That instability has moved Greece closer to the possibility of abandoning the euro, the currency used by it and 16 other European Union countries.

While bracing for the potential tumult from that situation, Hollande will plunge straight into a string of engagements with world leaders.

Major events in the coming days and weeks include a Group of Eight meeting and NATO summit this month followed by a G-20 gathering and a European Council meeting in June.

His approach is expected to make an impact in Afghanistan as well as Turkey and the Middle East.

With Sarkozy, the United States enjoyed support in its positions on Syria, Iran and Afghanistan. Sarkozy was a proponent of the NATO air campaign in Libya.

Hollande, meanwhile, is yet to clearly stake out all of his foreign policy positions.

During the election campaign, he pledged to withdraw all French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

He can expect NATO leaders to urge him to change or soften his position when he attends a summit in Chicago this month, the focus of which will be on Afghanistan.

Relations between Turkey and France have been tense because of Sarkozy’s apparent opposition to Turkey’s becoming a member of the European Union. Legislation passed during his presidency that made the denial of the Armenian genocide a crime also raised hackles in Ankara.

Some observers expect Hollande to show slightly more flexibility on Turkey.

Domestically, Hollande has to prove to the French public that he is capable of acting on his promise to bring people together after Sarkozy’s presidency, which often polarized opinion.

Voting in the first round of the presidential election showed large swathes of the population turning to parties on the far left and right of the political spectrum.

That scenario could be repeated in legislative elections to be held next month, where Hollande will hope his Socialist Party can secure a majority in parliament that would allow him to push through his agenda more effectively.

Greeted by flag-waving crowds on the street, a steady stream of prominent French figures arrived at the Elysee on Tuesday ahead of the ceremony and walked on a red carpet through the palace’s sun-filled courtyard.

They included the Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry and Bertand Delanoe, the mayor of Paris. Inside the palace, they gathered under ornate chandeliers to witness the transfer of power to Hollande.

The president elect’s car traveled along the tree-lined streets and avenues of Paris, bringing him over the River Seine and past the Grand Palais before pulling up inside the courtyard.

Hollande made his way up the carpet to be met by Sarkozy. The two men, who had fought an at times bitter campaign, shook hands before entering the palace.

Merkel’s partnership with Sarkozy — dubbed “Merkozy” by some observers — was considered crucial in steering Europe’s currency union away from collapse during the first two years of the debt crisis.

But Hollande’s professed doubts about the fiscal restraint advocated by Merkel, whose party suffered defeat in a vote Sunday in Germany’s largest state, have raised questions about whether Paris and Berlin will continue to read from the same script as the debt crisis continues to unfold.

By the CNN Wire Staff

The city of Rastan has seen fierce fighting in recent weeks, despite a nominal UN-backed truce

At least 23 soldiers have died in heavy clashes in the central Syrian city of Rastan, according to activists.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens were wounded in the attack in the city, in the restive province of Homs.

Three troop carriers were destroyed in fighting, the group said.

If confirmed, the attack would be one of the deadliest suffered by security forces in the 14-month-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

It comes after government forces launched a fresh assault on the city at the weekend, despite a UN-backed nominal ceasefire that was supposed to come into effect just over a month ago.

Dozens of people have been wounded in shelling in the city, the Observatory said.

At least 30 people died on Sunday – mainly civilians – as violence surged at flashpoints across the country despite an increase of UN observers.

The figures cannot be verified independently, as journalists’ movements are severely restricted in Syria.

The UN on Sunday said it had 189 observers in Syria, two thirds of the total intended for deployment as part of the six-point peace plan mediated by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

The UN estimates at least 9,000 people have died since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011.

On Saturday, a radical Islamist group said it carried out a massive bomb attack in Damascus last week, stoking fears that extremists are taking advantage of the unrest in Syria.—BBC

Under the roadmap, the two countries must sort out their outstanding disagreements within three months

South Sudan has accused Sudan of bombing within its territory, in violation of a UN Security Council resolution to end hostilities.

Juba’s information minister told the BBC several areas had been targeted in air raids in the last 48 hours.

But Khartoum said it had the right to respond to acts of aggression.

Disputes over oil stemming from South Sudan’s secession in July led to clashes last month and fears of a return to all-out war.

The UN has threatened sanctions if both sides fail to negotiate.

Following the UN Security Council’s resolution a week ago, the neighbours agreed to follow a African Union roadmap under which they must restart negotiations and reach an agreement on outstanding disagreements within three months.

‘Orders to respond’

Mr Benjamin said the new attacks were launched on Tuesday and Wednesday in the states of Upper Nile and Western Bahr al-Ghazal.

He said the bombing was in violation of the UN Security Council which called for an end to hostilities by last Friday.

“Khartoum is bombing civilian targets, killing women and children and destroying the property of very simple people in these areas,” Mr Benjamin told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme.

According to Reuters news agency, Sudan used using MiG jet fighters, Antonov bombers and ground shelling in its attacks.

Mr Benjamin said his country had never left the negotiating table and did not believe that the outstanding issues between them could be resolved militarily.

But he said South Sudan had the “the right of self-defence”.

“We will ask the Security Council to hold accountable the belligerent party and that is Republic of Sudan,” the minister said.

However, Sudan’s media spokesman in London, Khalid al-Mubarak, told the BBC he believed the attacks were related to attacks on Sudanese territory backed by Juba.

Both sides accuse the other of backing proxy armies – and it was reported earlier on Wednesday that Darfari rebels claimed to have captured a garrison town, Girayda, from government forces.

“Where ever there is an aggression against our Republic of the Sudan our forces have got orders to respond,” Mr Mubarak told Focus on Africa.

The BBC’s Nyambura Mwambugu, in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, says the violence is a massive step backwards because it had appeared that the two sides were on the verge of respecting the UN request for an end to hostilities.

There are warnings the approaching rainy season will worsen the situation for refugees

It comes on the very day that both sides were supposed to pull back their troops from the border areas and activate a joint monitoring mission, she says.

Meanwhile aid agencies working in the border regions are warning of a deteriorating situation – with the number of those fleeing bombings increasing.

There is also a surge in the number of refugees crossing over the border from South Kordofan and Blue Nile states in Sudan, our reporter says.

Conflicts have erupted in these states over the last year where communities traditionally allied to the South found themselves north of the border after Juba’s independence.

The Security Council has backed an African Union plan which called for a written commitment by both governments to stop fighting, and threatened sanctions, such as asset freezes and travel bans, if its terms were not met.

Last year, Southern Sudanese voted overwhelming in favour of independence from Sudan in a referendum promised as part of a peace deal in 2005 which put an end to the 22-year civil war in which some 1.5m people died.

Civil war possible in Syria

(CNN) – Two strong explosions rocked the Syrian capital Thursday, state television reported, leaving bloody streets littered with debris as thick black smoke drifted into the sky.

The number of casualties was unclear, but dozens were dead or injured, according to Syrian state television.

The blasts occurred in Qazzaz neighborhood and destroyed the nation’s intelligence agency, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Preliminary information indicates it was a car explosion, the opposition group said. But state television described the blasts as “terrorist explosions.”

Videos on state television showed panicked residents running down bloody streets strewn with body parts and burned cars. Some residents scrambled to gingerly haul injured residents from scorched cars while others zipped up the dead in what appeared to be body bags.

Amid the chaos, plumes of smoke and white ashes rose into the hazy skies as rescue crews rushed toward the injured.

The blasts come hours after a leading opposition activist group said regime forces have killed hundreds since a cease-fire went into effect about a month ago.

As of Wednesday, at least 1,025 people have been killed, including 60 children, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria. The deaths include executions and tortures, the group said.

The United Nations has warned that the country risks plunging into a civil war if the warring sides in the 14-month uprising don’t adhere to the cease-fire that went into effect on April 12.

“If this opportunity is not seized, I fear that what joint special envoy Kofi Annan has warned about will come to pass: a full-scale civil war with catastrophic effects within Syria and across the region,” said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Violence has continued despite a cease-fire brokered by Annan last month, and the U.N.-backed peace plan is the only chance to stabilize the country, Ban said.

“There is no escaping the reality that we see every day: innocent civilians dying, government troops and heavy armor in city streets, growing numbers of arrests and allegations of brutal torture, an alarming surge in the use of IEDs and other explosive devices,” he said.

Opposition members and world leaders have accused President Bashar al-Assad of failing to observe the truce and cracking down on protesters despite his pledge not to.

Attacks have gone on an almost daily, including a bomb blast Wednesday near a convoy of U.N. observers entering the southern city of Daraa.

There were no casualties among the observers, but the Syrian government said 10 Syrian soldiers were wounded, Ban said in a statement.

An activist group reported that at least 20 people were killed in attacks across the country Wednesday, mostly in Homs, Hama and Aleppo.

Syria has become a grave concern for the international community, according to Ban.

“More than 9,000 people have been killed during the last 14 months. This is totally unacceptable and an intolerable situation,” he said.

The observer mission in the nation comprises 70 monitors to ensure the cease-fire is implemented. The monitors are operating in Damascus, Homs, Hama, Idlib, Aleppo and Daraa. The number is regularly expanding, with the mandated total of 300 observers expected within weeks.

By the CNN Wire Staff

Samsung has unveiled its latest flagship smartphone – the Galaxy S3.

The handset has a 4.8 inch (12.2cm) screen, an increase on the 4.3 inch screen of its predecessor.

The device is perceived to be critical to how people view both Samsung’s brand and the Android system it runs.

Analysts say the popularity of the previous Galaxy – the S2 – was a major factor in the firm overtaking Nokia to become the world’s best-selling mobile phone maker.

Samsung said that the new Super Amoled (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) display was 22% larger than its predecessor, but the actual device was not much wider since it had shrunk the size of the bezel.

The development allows Samsung to boast it has a slightly larger screen than the 4.7 inch dimensions of the HTC One X, the top of the range model from its Taiwanese rival. It is also significantly bigger than the 3.5 inch display of Apple’s iPhone 4S and the 4.3 inch screen of Nokia’s Lumia 900.

Samsung may have been influenced by the popularity of its phone/tablet hybrid, the Galaxy Note, which has an even bigger screen and has proved to be more popular than many industry watchers had forecast.

The South Korean firm said that a mix of “intelligent camera features” and face recognition technology should also offer owners a more natural experience.

For example, it said that the front camera would identify the user’s eyes and would not go dark or lock so long as they were looking at it.

Other features on the S3 include an 8 megapixel camera on the rear, and a 1.9 megapixel front camera for video calls.

The phone also uses what is described as a “natural language user interface” dubbed S Voice. The South Korean company said it was a major improvement on the voice control features it included on earlier models. “It is more like a good friend and listens intently and responds effectively to you,” a spokesman said at the launch event in London.

The facility can be used to command the phone to play songs, adjust the volume, send texts or emails and take photographs.

The function is likely to be compared to Apple’s Siri software.

One expert attending the launch event said that the advances Samsung had made should help Google’s Android continue to be the most used smartphone operating system.

“The importance of the Galaxy S3 to Samsung cannot be underestimated,” said Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum.

“The company has built its reputation on producing the ‘must-have’ Android smartphone and in the process has become the poster child for the Android platform.

“However, Samsung’s Galaxy S3 not only needs to stand out amongst a plethora of other Android-based smartphones, it will also go head-to-head with the next iteration of Apple’s flagship smartphone, the iPhone.”

Mr Leach added that Apple was not expected to release its new handset until much closer to the end of the year.

The S3 will be available in two colours, pebble blue and marble white, and the firm says that other options will be available at a later date. Not everyone at the launch was convinced by the design.

“It is not an eye-catching device that will overwhelm consumers,” said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research manager for IDC.

“It is a bit of a facelift of the Galaxy Nexus. It feels less ‘plasticky’ though.”

The new handsets will be available from the end of May in Europe. Launches in Asia, the Middle East and Africa will follow.

A 4G version will go on sale in the US and South Korea in the summer.—BBC