BENIN’S incumbent President Mathieu Kerekou has narrowly failed to gain an absolute majority in the first round of presidential elections, forcing a run-off with his rival, Nicephore Soglo, official results showed. More than a week after the March 4 elections in the West African country, the Constitutional Court announced that Kerekou had received 47.06% of the vote, to 28.94% for Soglo. For a victory in the first round a candidate must receive at least 51% of the total votes cast. – AFP