Alfredo Salazar says he has never really been too interested in politics and never saw himself attending a campaign-closing rally in Lima, Peru's bustling capital. But the 48-year old shop owner did just that on April 5, pushing his way into the crowd in a downtown plaza to listen to Ollanta Humala, the leading candidate in a field of 10 running for President of Peru this Sunday. "I think he is the best candidate and I wanted to ...

The stage is set for a final showdown in Ivory Coast after the army chief of staff abandoned strongman Laurent Gbagbo. General Philippe Mangou sought refuge with his family in the South African ambassador's home on the night of March 30. Mangou had ostensibly led the national army that has propped up Gbagbo for four months since he lost a November runoff election. Two other ranking officers defected as well. The defections come as forces loyal ...

A former guerrilla fighter jailed for 14 years and an ex-president were headed for a runoff next month for the presidency of Uruguay, after neither was expected to capture more than 50 percent of the vote in Sunday's election.Mujica had led in two polls last week, but both showed him falling short of the 50-percent-plus-one vote he needed to win outright. Known to his supporters as El Pepe, Mujica belongs to the same Broad Front Party as popular current President ...

Afghanistan's president is downplaying accusations of widespread fraud in his country's recent elections, but he's emphasizing the importance of a runoff for the sake of ensuring peace and stability in his nascent and war-torn democracy. "We must have a second round," said Hamid Karzai, speaking in a taped and exclusive interview for the Fareed Zakaria GPS show that airs Sunday on CNN. "If we don't do that, we would be insulting democracy. And I pledge to respect the vote ...

Mexican soldiers have captured the second in command of one of the nation's most ruthless drug cartels, the military said. "We must have a second round," said Hamid Karzai, speaking in a taped and exclusive interview for the Fareed Zakaria GPS show that airs Sunday on CNN. "If we don't do that, we would be insulting democracy. And I pledge to respect the vote of the people." In the first interview since a runoff was announced, Karzai said there ...

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is expected to announce Tuesday whether he will accept findings that indicate he did not secure enough votes to win a second term. Karzai is scheduled to speak at a news conference, a day after an independent analysis of election data found that the U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission invalidated nearly a third of Karzai's votes from the August 20 presidential election because of "clear and convincing evidence of fraud." Those findings brought Karzai under the 50 ...

With a runoff presidential election in Afghanistan appearing likely, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN on Friday that she expects the current president, Hamid Karzai, to win. "It is likely that they will find that President Karzai got very close to the 50-plus-1" in August's balloting, she said in an exclusive CNN interview, referring to the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff. "... I think one can conclude that the likelihood of him winning a ...

Fresh from medical school, Anna Bgenholm chose to do her residency in the Norwegian city of Narvik because of its spectacular mountain slopes. An expert skier, Bgenholm had gone off the trail with two other young doctors on a warm spring afternoon when she fell. What happened that day in 1999 changed her life and has redefined what is possible in cases of accidental hypothermia. Bgenholm slid down a steep, icy gully and ended up submerged head first in a ...

Afghan President Hamid Karzai maintains a substantial lead in the country's August presidential polls, according to partial results issued by election officials on Saturday. Out of 5,545,149 valid votes from 92.82 percent of the country's polling stations, Karzai has 3,009,559 and his closest challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, the nation's former foreign minister, has 1,558,591, the Independent Election Commission said. Other top vote-getters were Ramazan Bashardost, with 511,441, and Ashraf Ghani, with 149,720. More than 83,000 votes were cast for candidates who ...