Panel urges do-over for Haiti election
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A special verification commission on Monday recommended throwing out the disputed results of Haiti’s first-round presidential election because many votes appeared fraudulent.
Commission President Pierre Francois Benoit said there were far too many “zombie votes” and other problems in the Oct. 25 presidential balloting to be considered legitimate. He said some tally sheets from polling stations had fingerprints that appeared to be from a single person.
“We recommend that the presidential election be done over,” Benoit said on the grounds of the National Palace, where the commissioners handed over their report to Haiti’s interim president.
The commission, which was installed a month ago by interim President Jocelerme Privert, said they audited a random sample of 25 percent of the roughly 13,000 tally sheets from polling stations to verify the results as well as to explore allegations of fraud.
The final decision whether to redo the election will have to be made by the Provisional Electoral Council.
Uganda cutting N. Korea military ties
KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda is cutting military ties with North Korea to comply with U.N. sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear program, a Ugandan official said Monday after a meeting between President Yoweri Museveni and South Korea’s visiting president.
Uganda’s government is simply “disengaging from military cooperation” and not cutting diplomatic ties with the North Koreans, said Col. Shaban Bantariza, a spokesman for the Ugandan government.
The policy shift came after South Korean President Park Geun-hye visited Uganda. She later flew to neighboring Kenya for a three-day visit, the last leg of her three-nation African tour in which she has pressed for the isolation of North Korea and has offered trade and development agreements.
Speaking to the African Union in Ethiopia on Friday, Park urged African leaders to support international efforts to persuade North Korea to stop its production of nuclear weapons.
In Uganda, Park attended a state banquet Sunday hosted by Museveni. At the event, Uganda and South Korea signed 10 cooperation agreements in areas such as defense, health and education.
Wildfire evacuees’ return home delayed
EDMONTON, Alberta — Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said concerns about environmental contamination will delay until as late as September the return of nearly 2,000 evacuees to their homes in the fire-damaged city of Fort McMurray.
Notley said Monday that more than 500 homes and about a dozen apartment complexes that escaped a weekslong wildfire earlier this month in three otherwise heavily damaged neighborhoods are not safe to be lived in yet based upon tests on the air, soil, ash and water.
Notley said it’s not safe to return until toxic ash and debris surrounding the homes have been removed.
Officials have said they hope to start a gradual return of more than 80,000 evacuees to Fort McMurray starting Wednesday.
Libyan forces advance on ISIS territory
CAIRO — Libyan forces loyal to the U.N.-brokered government advanced Monday against two key Islamic State militant group strongholds, with several officials saying the troops had taken a town from the extremists.
The forces entered Bin Jawad, 99 miles from the central city of Sirte, the main Islamic State bastion in Libya. Salem Jedran, mayor of the nearby town of Ajdabiya, said troops with the so-called Petroleum Facilities Guards had advanced on Bin Jawad, which fell to the Islamic State in January.
The unit’s spokesman, Ali Alhassi, later said the troops had liberated the town after five were killed and 16 wounded. Saad Abu-Sharada, a representative from the area, confirmed Monday afternoon that the area was liberated.
“I believe the [Islamic State] presence was limited in that area. There were less than 10 vehicles, and [the Islamic State] is not very good at confrontation as they lack the firepower,” he said.
A Section on 05/31/2016