Woman President Won’t Run Again

The world’s first democratically elected female head of state, President Vigdis Finnbogadottir, announced Monday she will not run in next year’s election.

The widely popular leader, who has been president for 15 years, disclosed her decision not to seek reelection in a speech to the opening session of Iceland’s parliament.

The office of president in this nation of 265,000 people, which brushes the Arctic Circle in the remote but strategically important waters of the north Atlantic, is largely ceremonial.