Kenya re-elects president

Kenya re-elects president

NAIROBI, Kenya — President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner Sunday of Kenya’s presidential election and hastily sworn in, defying widespread concern over vote irregularities and sparking riots and tribal violence. After the 76-year-old president was sworn in for another five-year term, his challenger, opposition leader Raila Odinga, said a ruling clique was trying to rob Kenya of its democracy, wiping away tears as he spoke. Odinga, 62, said he would be sworn in as “people’s president” in his own ceremony today and outlined plans for a parallel government. As he spoke, live television transmissions were abruptly cut. There were reports of violence across the country.

Plane crash survivor
released from hospital

DAVID, Panama — A California girl who was the sole survivor of a plane crash in Panama was released from a hospital Sunday but will remain with her parents in the Central American country for a few days and possibly meet some of her rescuers. Francesca Lewis, 12, her face still bruised, smiled as her sister pushed her wheelchair to a waiting car Sunday. Francesca was plucked Tuesday from the plane’s wreckage in Panama’s remote western mountains. Killed in the crash were Francesca’s friend Talia Klein, 13; Klein’s father, Michael Klein, 37, a prominent businessman from Santa Barbara, Calif.; and Panamanian pilot Edwin Lasso, 23.

Gaza region deaths down

JERUSALEM — The number of people killed in Israeli-Palestinian violence dropped dramatically in 2007, according to a report from an Israeli human rights group released today. Israeli forces killed 373 Palestinians during 2007, a 45 percent drop from the previous year, said the report from the group, B’Tselem. Palestinians killed 13 Israelis in the same period, the lowest number of Israeli fatalities since the renewed outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting seven years ago, the report said. The violence, which has ebbed in recent years, has claimed the lives of more than 4,500 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis since September 2000. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to restart peace talks at a U.S.-hosted Mideast conference last month in Annapolis, Md., aiming for peace in 2008.

Volkswagens in the bay

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. — A trucker hauling a load of Volkswagen cars drove his cab and several cars into San Diego Bay after blacking out at a marine terminal, authorities said. The unidentified driver suffered some kind of medical emergency and drove off a pier at the terminal Saturday afternoon, said fire department Capt. Sergio Mora. Mora said the driver — believed to be in his 40s — regained consciousness underwater and swam about 13 feet to the surface, where dock workers helped him out of the water. He was taken to a hospital in good condition. Three VWs fell into the bay.

Three die in copter crash

TUSCUMBIA, Ala. — A helicopter crashed in thick woods early Sunday during the search for a missing hunter, killing all three people on board, according to the company that owns the aircraft. The helicopter crew had spotted the hunter and the crash occurred as the aircraft was hovering over his location, said a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. The hunter was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life threatening.

Combined dispatches