WORLD BRIEFING
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone
Runoff elections seem to go smoothly
Sierra Leone held runoff elections for a new president Saturday, a tense race that will test the diamond-rich, war-battered West African nation’s ability to stand on its own after U.N. peacekeepers withdrew two years ago.
Voting appeared to go smoothly, with no reports of bloodshed. Final results must be released within 12 days.
Opposition leader Ernest Bai Koroma led the first round Aug. 11. Both he and Vice President Solomon Berewa of the ruling party fell short of the 55 percent needed to win.
DUBLIN, Ireland
Protestant leader says he’ll step down
The Rev. Ian Paisley said Saturday that he is stepping down as leader of the hard-line Protestant church he founded 56 years ago, a decision his opponents say was inevitable after he angered many by cooperating with Sinn Fein to form a Northern Ireland government.
Paisley, 81, has been re-elected for decades unopposed as Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster moderator but was expected to face a challenger when his term ends in January.
VENICE, Italy
Ang Lee film wins festival’s top award
Ang Lee’s “Lust, Caution” won the Venice Film Festival’s top award Saturday, and Brian De Palma won for best direction for “Redacted.”
Cate Blanchett won for best actress for “I’m Not There,” a movie about singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Brad Pitt won best actor for “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”
