In the World

ACCRA, Ghana - The head of Ghana's election commission has announced that President John Dramani Mahama won the presidential election with 50.7 percent of the vote.

Election commission chairman Kwadwo Afari-Gyan said Sunday that opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo came in second with 47.74 percent of the vote, according to provisional results from Friday's election.

Armored tanks surrounded Ghana's electoral commission and police barricaded the road around the electoral offices as the results were announced. Earlier Sunday, police dispersed protesters with tear gas. Protesters wanted the electoral body to delay announcing results until allegations of vote-rigging have been investigated. - AP

BUCHAREST, Romania - Romania's center-left government won a clear victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections, according to exit polls. The result could inflame the personal rivalry between the nation's top two officials and bring yet more political upheaval.

The governing alliance of Premier Victor Ponta had about 57 percent of seats in the 452-seat legislature, according to a poll on national television TVR. In second was a center-right group, allied to President Traian Basescu, which polled over 18 percent. First results are expected Monday.

Basescu and Ponta are bitter rivals after the government tried in vain to remove Basescu from office in an impeachment vote in July. - AP

OSLO, Norway - After braving a blizzard of denunciation from China from afar over its decision two years ago to honor a jailed Chinese dissident, the Norwegian Nobel Committee faced anger in its own backyard Sunday on the eve of a ceremony awarding this year's Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union.

In a protest organized by left-wing political groups and peace activists, hundreds of people marched through the snow-covered streets of Oslo carrying flaming torches and shouting "the EU is not a worthy winner." The parade ended with a burst of anti-Brussels chants outside the Grand Hotel, where winners of the Nobel Peace Prize stay.

Peace activists said they do not necessarily reject the cause of European integration, but view the union, with its vast bureaucracy headquartered in Brussels, as undeserving of a peace prize originally meant to honor contributions to disarmament. - AP

Talks started Sunday

in Kampala, Uganda, between the Congo government and M23 rebels who have seized strategic parts of eastern Congo. Ugandan Defense Minister Chrispus Kiyonga opened the dialogue.

Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall have killed at least six people and caused travel chaos across the Balkans, with rescue teams struggling to reach stranded passengers.