Legislators elect new president
Vietnamese legislators today elected the Communist Party chief for Ho Chi Minh City as the country’s new president in a leadership shuffle.
Nguyen Minh Triet, 63, an economic reformer and the sole candidate for the job, won overwhelming backing from the National Assembly with 94 percent of the vote.
“This is an honor, but also a heavy responsibility the party and people assigned to me,” Triet said in his acceptance speech. “I swear to try my best to serve the country, serve the people and fulfill the job of president.”
Triet, in turn, nominated Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, 56, to become the next prime minister.
Vietnam is a one-party state with a collective style of leadership. The prime minister is in charge of overseeing the government’s day-to-day workings, while the president holds a more ceremonial position. The country’s most powerful leader is the head of the Communist Party.
SAO PAULO, Brazil
13 gang members killed in shootout
Police killed 13 suspected gang members in a shootout outside a prison in Monday as authorities foiled a plot to attack prison guards.
The latest violence came just six weeks after imprisoned gang leaders allegedly ordered attacks against police across the city and Sao Paulo state, sparking a weeklong wave of violence that killed nearly 200 police, prison guards, suspected criminals and jail inmates.
There were no signs that Monday’s violence was spreading or having any impact on daily life in Sao Paulo, a metropolis of 18 million.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka
Cycle bomber kills general
A suicide bomber on a motorcycle rammed into a car carrying Sri Lanka’s third-highest ranking military officer and blew himself up, killing the general and three other people Monday.
Authorities blamed the Tamil Tiger rebels, but President Mahinda Rajapakse urged calm and said his government would “act with patience” – a sign officials were moving carefully amid fears the island nation was sliding back into all-out war after a four-year lull.
“These killings are further examples of the (Tiger’s) concerted efforts to derail the peace process,” Rajapakse said.
The rebels denied any role in the attack. An insurgent leader, Seevaratnam Puleedevan, insisted the Tigers were abiding by the 2002 cease-fire and were committed to peace, but the denial was viewed skeptically by many analysts.
Four months of violence have moved Sri Lanka dangerously close to war. The army announced it would reinstitute security measures that were relaxed after the 2002 cease-fire.