In the World
Brazil's president taps a successor
BRASILIA, Brazil - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's ruling party nominated his handpicked successor yesterday to replace him, betting on her promises to extend popular social and economic policies.
Dilma Rousseff, a 62-year-old economist and former guerrilla leader who has never run for office, is currently Silva's chief of staff and served as mines and energy minister during his first term.
Although Silva enjoys 80 percent approval ratings as he nears the end of his second term, his preferred candidate must overcome a stiff challenge if she is to become the first female president of Latin America's largest nation.
Sao Paulo Gov. Jose Serra leads most polls ahead of the October vote, with about 35 percent support. - AP
Rebels in Darfur sign on to a truce
N'DJAMENA, Chad - Darfur's most powerful rebel group has initialed a truce with the Sudanese government, officials said yesterday, marking the rebel group's return to peace talks aimed at ending the Darfur conflict.
The truce between the rebel Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese government takes effect immediately, said Idriss Deby, Chad's president. The rebel group has been the most significant holdout in efforts to end the seven-year conflict in Darfur, in which 300,000 people have died.
Justice and Equality Movement spokesman Ahmed Hussein said the deal initialed yesterday was a framework agreement to guide future peace negotiations, including talks on a permanent cease-fire. He said it would be formally signed in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday in the presence of Deby and the leaders of Sudan and Qatar. - AP
Storm kills 32 on Madeira island
MADRID - Flooding and landslides swept away cars and knocked down houses as a violent storm killed at least 32 people yesterday on the Portuguese island of Madeira, a news agency reported.
The Lusa agency quoted the vice president of the Madeira regional government, Joao Cunha e Silva, as saying that 68 people have been hospitalized in the island's main city, Funchal.
Madeira is the main island of a Portuguese archipelago of the same name, in the Atlantic off the northwest coast of Africa. Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates promised assistance. - AP
Elsewhere:
Moroccan King Mohammed VI yesterday ordered experts to check the safety of the country's historic mosques as the death toll from the collapse of a centuries-old minaret rose to 41 people, the official news agency said. The minaret fell onto a mosque during Friday prayers in the city of Meknes.