World in brief: Haiti officials postpone vote set for this weekend

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Less than a week before balloting was scheduled, Haitian authorities postponed the country’s presidential and legislative runoffs because they said they needed to wait for recommendations from a special commission tasked with evaluating the widely criticized electoral process.

In a brief statement issued Monday evening, Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council said the vote scheduled for Dec. 27 was postponed until further notice. They did not provide a new date for the final round of national elections.

Last week, President Michel Martelly announced that a five-member commission would assess Haiti’s electoral process ahead of the runoffs that opposition factions have threatened to derail because of suspicions of widespread fraud. It was expected to take three days to conclude its review and make recommendations to the government and the electoral council.

But the review panel has not yet been installed, and various opposition factions objected to the commission’s members.

Palestinian Authority

plans name change

ATHENS, Greece – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said his national authority proposes to change its name on passports it issues to State of Palestine.

Abbas said this will happen in about a year at the most, replacing the name Palestinian Authority.

He spoke after talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Abbas arrived in Greece on Sunday and is due to address the country’s Parliament on Tuesday.

The parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has unanimously called on the Greek government to recognize Palestinian statehood. Tsipras’ leftist-led government is trying to balance improved relations with Israel with his party’s long-standing support for a Palestinian state.

Police say drunk mom

told son, 10, to drive

VILNIUS, Lithuania – Lithuanian police say they stopped a vehicle driven by a 10-year-old boy who had been told to take the wheel by his heavily intoxicated mother.

Border police said they noticed a slow-moving minivan on a country road Monday near the southern town of Kybartai and found a boy driving it.

The boy’s 43-year-old mother, in the back seat, was measured at more than four times the legal driving limit, a local police statement said. The woman faces a fine of $125 for allowing a minor to drive a motor vehicle.

World Health Organization statistics show that Lithuania’s road safety record is among the worst in the European Union.