In the World
For Uruguayans, a fateful runoff
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - A blunt-talking former guerrilla seeking to keep the left's hold on power in Uruguay easily got the most votes in presidential elections yesterday but failed to win the majority needed to avoid a runoff.Jose "Pepe" Mujica got 48 percent of the votes, compared to 30 percent for former President Luis Alberto LaCalle, a free-marketeer who wants to cut government and taxes and reduce alliances with Latin American leftists.
Mujica and his vice-presidential candidate, Danilo Astori, conceded that a runoff would be necessary but noted that even if Lacalle picked up all the votes of right-wing third-place finisher Pedro Bordaberry, yesterday's margin would still give the ruling Broad Front the edge in the second round Nov. 29.
Mujica, 74, once led the Tupamaro guerrillas, who organized kidnappings, bombings, and other attacks on the conservative governments of the 1960s. He endured torture and solitary confinement during 15 years in prison before turning his guerrillas into a political movement. - AP
India won't curb Dalai Lama
CHA-AM, Thailand - Tibet's exiled Dalai Lama is an "honored guest" in India and will not be barred from visiting a disputed border area despite China's protests, India's prime minister said yesterday after talks with the Chinese premier.But the two Asian giants agreed not to let border tensions erupt into violence, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said after meeting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at a regional summit in Thailand.
Beijing has strongly opposed a planned visit from the Dalai Lama next month to India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims is its territory.
Beijing also opposes most activities of the Dalai Lama, whom it accuses of advocating independence from Chinese rule for his native Tibet. - AP
Wartime priest is beatified
MILAN - Thousands of faithful filled the square in front of the Gothic cathedral in Milan yesterday to attend the beatification of an Italian priest who served as military chaplain during Word War II and then devoted his life to helping disabled children.In a message, Pope Benedict XVI said the Rev. Carlo Gnocchi was "above all a valid educator of youths" who provided them with assistance and an education.
Beatification is the last possible step before sainthood.
Gnocchi, born near Milan in 1902, served as military chaplain with the army's Alpine contingent during Italy's Russian campaign in World War II. He came back in 1943 with what was left of the contingent and started attending to the children of his fallen soldiers. - AP
Elsewhere:
A prominent opposition activist in Russia's southern province of Ingushetia was shot dead yesterday. The killing of Maksharip Aushev by unidentified gunmen was the third such killing in the volatile North Caucasus region in just over three months.
