VILNIUS - Lithuania's election commission said challenger Mr Rolandas Paksas was leading President Valdas Adamkus by over 15 percentage points in yesterday's run-off presidential election, with about half the votes counted.
The lead is a shock in an election that most opinion polls showed Mr Adamkus winning easily, but the commission said early results might be unreliable.
Mr Adamkus is not a member of any party but enjoys wide centre-right backing and has overseen steps for the country to join the European Union and NATO. Mr Paksas (46) was prime minister twice and took a turn to the right in the election run-up with a tough law-and-order line. - (Reuters)
Man charged over bodies in bags
LONDON - A man was charged yesterday with the murders of three women after body parts were found dumped in rubbish bins and in his apartment, police said.
Mr Anthony John Hardy (51), who is unemployed and who has in the past been treated for psychological problems, was arrested by police on Thursday. He was set to appear before magistrates today. The murder inquiry began last Monday when a homeless man found pieces of two human legs belonging to a woman wrapped in a plastic rubbish bag at the back of a pub in Camden, north London. - (AFP)
Ivory Coast rebels open to talks
ABIDJAN - Rebels in Ivory Coast's battle-torn west said yesterday they were open to joining French-brokered peace talks in Paris.
"If I am invited officially, I'll go," Mr Felix Doh, a spokesman for the Ivorian Patriotic Movement of the Far West (MPIGO), said. President Laurent Gbagbo and the main rebel faction, the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI), have committed themselves to attending the talks, scheduled for January 15th. - (Reuters)
Man charged after boy shot dead
MISSISSAUGA - A Canadian man was charged with criminal negligence causing death after his 7-year-old sister shot and killed their 6-year-old brother with a handgun, police said.
The two children were playing in a bedroom at their home when they discovered a semi-automatic .45-caliber handgun owned by their 22-year-old brother, said police in this suburb just west of Toronto.
The girl pointed the handgun at her brother and shot him in the head, police said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. The children had been under the care of an 18-year-old sister at the time but no charges were filed against her or the 7-year-old girl. - (Reuters)
30 feared drowned in Tanzania
DAR ES SALAAM - At least 30 people were feared drowned when a boat capsized off the Tanzanian shore of Lake Victoria in the country's second shipping disaster in a week, police said. Tanzanian authorities said four people were rescued and 12 bodies recovered after bad weather sweeping Africa's biggest lake overturned a small cargo and passenger craft on Friday. - (Reuters)