Polish election victors apt to put price on U.S. support
Warsaw, Poland – Center-right parties victorious in Poland’s weekend election are expected to keep their distance from Russia and retain a pro-U.S. stance but talk tough about what they want from Washington in return.
The conservative Law and Justice Party, which initial results showed in the lead Monday, and its expected coalition partner, the free-market Civic Platform, support warm ties with the United States.
Both parties also have indicated they might extend Poland’s deeply unpopular military mission in Iraq past a Dec. 31 deadline, although they did not campaign on the issue. They stress that in return, they would demand more from the United States than the country’s sacrifices – which include the deaths of 17 soldiers – have brought so far.
There is a widespread sense that the left-wing government, ousted in Sunday’s vote, neglected to fight for Polish interests in return for sending ground troops for the 2003 war and later leading an international force that now is made up of 4,000 troops.
Although Washington made no concrete promises, Poles had hoped rewards might include more investment in the Polish economy, lucrative deals for Polish companies in reconstructing Iraq, or abolishing travel visas required for Poles visiting the United States.
PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla.
2 swimmers killed as Rita stirs rough surf
Two swimmers died and more than a dozen others had to be rescued from rough surf kicked up by remnants of Hurricane Rita along the Florida Panhandle.
On Saturday at Miramar Beach, where the water had been closed to swimmers, Walton County Sheriff’s deputies pulled a Kentucky man from the surf. Ronald Hallquist, 52, of Walton, Ky., was pronounced dead at the scene.
A second man died Sunday at Pensacola Beach, about 50 miles west of Miramar Beach. Witnesses saw 54-year-old Martin Gelfand walk out of the surf and collapse as he turned back toward the water.
Gelfand was a law professor at Tulane University in New Orleans.
TREMONTON, Utah
Crash of college van kills 8, injures 3
A Utah State University van overturned Monday on a highway about 65 miles north of Salt Lake City, killing seven students and an instructor and injuring three other people.
The 11 occupants of the van were ejected as the vehicle rolled four times on Interstate 84 near Tremonton.
All the victims were men from the Utah State agriculture department, said the state highway patrol.
The single-vehicle crash occurred at about 4:30 p.m. It appeared the van’s left rear tire blew out as it tried to pass another vehicle, and speed was a contributing factor, officials said.
Six men were pronounced dead at the scene, and two died at hospitals. The three survivors were hospitalized in critical condition.
WASHINGTON
Rice visit to support coming Haiti elections
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Haiti today to show support for presidential elections set for Nov. 20.
During her day-long visit, Rice will meet with President Boniface Alexandre and Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. They have been serving on an interim basis since the departure of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide during a revolt in February 2004.
Rice also will meet with representatives of a U.N. peacekeeping force that has been attempting to preserve stability in the country as it prepares for the elections.
ACAPULCO, Mexico
Rains, heavy waves, mud kill 3 people
Heavy rains, rough water and mudslides in and around this Pacific coast resort have killed three people, officials reported Monday.
One man was crushed to death in a poor neighborhood Monday when a retaining wall made of earth and tires collapsed on him, said Arturo de la Rosa, director of civil defense for the state of Guerrero.
Another man died in the nearby beach resort of Zihuatanejo when he went swimming amid heavy waves and drowned.
On Sunday, a 3-year-old boy was killed in a poor neighborhood when he was swept away by a rain-swollen river.
Officials said the bad weather was caused in part by tropical depression Norma, which was swirling far off Mexico’s western Pacific coast.
MONTERREY, Mexico
Former ruling party keeps governor’s seat
Mexico’s former ruling party has won the governor’s race in the northern state of Coahuila, according to election results announced Monday.
With more than 97 percent of polling stations accounted for, Humberto Moreira, the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, had about 55 percent of the vote.
Moreira’s strongest contender, Jorge Zermeno of President Vicente Fox’s conservative National Action Party, finished with nearly 33 percent.
The gubernatorial race in Coahuila, on the border with Texas, was the last gubernatorial election before July’s presidential poll. The PRI has held power in the state since 1929.
NHLANGANO, Swaziland
King picks teen bride despite ban on sex
King Mswati III has chosen a 17-year-old as his bride-to-be a month after retreating from a campaign to encourage girls to wait until they are 18 to have sex.
In 2001, Mswati temporarily revived the ancient “umchwasho” rite, which bans sexual relations for girls younger than 18 in a bid to fight AIDS. The king’s aides argued the ban was designed to discourage casual relationships, not marriage.
According to Swazi tradition, the king is always meant to have a bride in waiting but can only marry her when she is pregnant. Mswati, 37, has 12 wives, one other bride-to-be and 27 children.
