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Delay in vote for president is likely

By Times Wires
Published September 23, 2007

BEIRUT, LEBANON

With Lebanon caught in virtual political stalemate, Amin Gemayel, a leader in the governing coalition, said Saturday that a much-anticipated election for president set for Tuesday was unlikely to take place until next month, diminishing hopes that the deadlock could end soon.

Parliament will still convene on that date, but the session to elect a successor for President Emile Lahoud, who must step down on Nov. 24, will probably center on discussions between the ruling majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition.

The majority wants to elect one of its own, but the opposition is pressing for a compromise candidate. The opposition vowed to block a candidate it did not want. Only a few opposition legislators are expected at the session, so that the number of participants is fewer than two-thirds of the 128 seats in Parliament, the quorum needed to elect a president.

Gemayel said the session would be the first in a series of meetings and "at the end we will agree on a president who is capable of uniting all the people."

HARARE, ZIMBABWE

Villagers stopped from killing giraffe for food

Police stopped villagers from slaughtering and eating a giraffe that strayed into the outskirts of the capital amid chronic food shortages caused by an economic crisis, the official media reported Saturday. The adult giraffe was believed to have wandered from nearby farmland. Wildlife authorities took the giraffe away after police kept a crowd from killing it "for the pot," the state Herald reported.

JERUSALEM

Police find explosives belt ready for use

An explosives belt to be used by a Hamas militant was found early Saturday morning in a Tel Aviv apartment building, averting a suicide bombing on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Israeli officials said. Police arrested four suspects, officials said.

LONDON

Britain may claim part of Atlantic seabed

Britain is preparing to claim tens of thousands of square miles of Atlantic seabed around some of the country's remote island possessions, the Guardian reported Saturday, including areas around the Falkland Islands. It said Britain plans to exploit an international rule that allows countries to claim underwater territory as far away as 350 miles from its shoreline.

EL FASHER, SUDAN

Humanitarian workers wounded in ambush

Armed men ambushed an aid convoy in Darfur, wounding three humanitarian workers, the U.N. mission to Sudan said Saturday. The convoy from U.S.-based World Vision International, which included eight staff members, was attacked on Thursday, it said. The injured workers were Sudanese.

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK

Palestinian fight threatens pilgrimage

Thousands of Gazans hoping to make a pilgrimage to Mecca got caught between rival Palestinian governments Saturday, with the West Bank administration announcing that those who registered for the trip with the Hamas rulers of Gaza will not be able to travel. The West Bank government said only it is authorized by Saudi Arabia to charge the $420 pilgrim registration fee, to be paid into a Gaza bank account. Those not chosen can get their money back or stay on the list for another year.

MEXICO CITY

Endangered birds found in SUV

Highway police seized 250 endangered parrots and 300 parakeets crammed into an SUV in northern Mexico and arrested the driver and a passenger on suspicion of animal trafficking, authorities said Saturday. Officers in the state of Sinaloa pulled over the vehicle and found the birds stuffed into 11 cages, the Public Safety Department said. The Lilac-crowned parrots, native to the area, are considered threatened in some of their habitats and are protected in Mexico.

GUATEMALA CITY

3 dead, 8 missing in mudslides, flooding

Heavy rains triggered mudslides and flooding that killed at least three people and left as many as eight missing in Guatemala, authorities said Saturday. Mudslides also blocked streets in the capital, which was lashed by intense rain for hours beginning Friday night.

[Last modified September 23, 2007, 01:36:55]