Woman leads in Chilean election
Santiago, Chile A Socialist physician once imprisoned by Chile’s former military dictatorship held a commanding lead in the country’s presidential election on Sunday, but fell short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff.
With 82 percent of the ballots counted, Michelle Bachelet had 46 percent, election officials said. Her closest rival, Sebastian Piñera, trailed with 25 percent of the vote, according to returns announced by the government.
If she wins in the runoff against Piñera on Jan. 15, Bachelet would be Chile’s first female leader and Latin America’s fourth, representing the popular center-left coalition in power since 1990. President Ricardo Lagos is constitutionally limited to one term. Pre-election polls have indicated Bachelet would defeat Piñera in a second round of voting.
The three main candidates all support the free-market policies that have built one of the most prosperous economies in Latin America.
Powerful earthquake hits Papua New Guinea
Sydney, Australia A powerful earthquake shook Papua New Guinea early today, but there were no reports of damage or injuries, a disaster official in the country said.
The quake had an initial magnitude of 6.5 and struck at 12:20 a.m. local time in the New Britain region of Papua New Guinea, 395 miles northeast of the capital, Port Moresby, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
There were no immediate reports of damage or a tsunami, said Martin Mose, assistant director for community and government liaison at Papua New Guinea’s National Disaster Management Office.
On Thursday, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, but there were no reported injuries.
Thousands march to protest WTO summit
Hong Kong About 4,000 anti-globalization activists marched Sunday in the first mass protest against the World Trade Organization’s summit in Hong Kong.
The demonstrators, who have been coming from around the world ahead of the five-day WTO meeting that opens Tuesday, marched from Hong Kong’s downtown Victoria Park to the government’s main office.
Police have been busy securing neighborhoods around the meeting venue, putting mesh on buildings and blocking off streets to prevent the violence that has marred past WTO summits.
The 149-member WTO sets rules for global commerce and champions free trade, which the organization contends brings global economic prosperity. But many protesters say globalization favors the rich and robs workers of their jobs.
Annan given report on Hariri assassination
New York The lead U.N. investigator into the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister delivered his latest findings to Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sunday.
Detlev Mehlis, who is stepping down from his post but expects the probe to continue, refused to comment about the report’s contents as he met Annan at the U.N. chief’s residence.
An interim report from Mehlis’ team delivered in October implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 14 assassination, which also killed 20 others. After Mehlis’ first report was delivered, the U.N. Security Council warned Syria that it has to cooperate fully with Mehlis’ probe or face further action – diplomatic code for sanctions.
Syria denies involvement and has waged a campaign to discredit the commission. Syrian state television has repeatedly broadcast interviews with a Syrian witness, Husam Taher Husam, who recanted his testimony to the commission and said he had been bribed to frame Syria.
Mehlis said Friday he is satisfied with the evidence he has gathered but he would not say if it recommends measures against Syria. He said the commission’s findings would not be greatly affected by Husam’s retraction.