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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Officials say vote count won’t shift

The Spokesman-Review

Mexico’s top electoral court announced Monday that a partial recount will not change the outcome of the hotly disputed July 2 presidential election, which sparked a constitutional crisis and massive demonstrations that have shackled the capital for nearly two months.

The Federal Electoral Judicial Tribunal stopped short of officially declaring Felipe Calderon the winner over Andris Manuel Lopez Obrador, the populist former mayor of Mexico City.

The electoral court has until Sept. 6 to certify the winner, and it must still respond to Lopez Obrador’s demand that the election be annulled. Legal experts give the annulment request little chance of succeeding because it was based almost entirely on the fraud claims rejected by the tribunal on Monday.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa

Former minister laments apartheid

A former police minister whose name is synonymous with the brutal repression of the white establishment’s political opponents during apartheid has apologized for his past actions, a government official said Monday.

Adriaan Vlok, whose ministry helped suppress anti-apartheid protests, last weekend visited the offices of the Rev. Frank Chikane, a top presidential aide, to apologize. Vlok brought his Bible and washed Chikane’s feet in an attempt to atone for the sins of the white racist regime that ruled the country until 1994, Chikane said.

The gesture has prompted debate in the country, with some lauding it and others saying it is too little, too late from Vlok.

Vlok was appointed minister of law and order in 1986 and still headed the ministry when allegations surfaced in 1989 that police hit squads may have been involved in the murder of more than 100 political activists. His ministry is believed to have detained an estimated 30,000 people during his tenure.

BEIJING

Driving dog crashes car

You can teach a dog new tricks – but driving isn’t one of them.

A woman in Hohhot, the capital of north China’s Inner Mongolia region, crashed her car while giving her dog a driving lesson, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

No injuries were reported although the vehicles involved were slightly damaged, Xinhua said.

The woman, identified only by her surname, Li, said her dog “was fond of crouching on the steering wheel and often watched her drive.”