LITTLE ROCK — “What’s happening here is much, much more sinister.And it’s happening right in the heart of our cities.” Shahnaz Wazir Ali, a senior Pakistani polio official, contrasting the violence targeting public-health workers in Pakistan with the situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have in some cases actively sponsored polio vaccination Article, this page
S. Korea elects dictator’s daughter
SEOUL, South Korea - Park Geun-hye, the daughter of South Korea’s longest-ruling dictator, was elected president Wednesday, the first woman to win the post.
With nearly 96 percent of the votes counted, according to the National Election Commission, Park had won 51.64 percent of the vote compared with 47.93 percent for Moon Jae-in, a former human-rights lawyer who was once imprisoned for opposing Park’s father’s authoritarian rule.
With her lead seen as insurmountable, Moon conceded defeat.
The election of Park, 60, a five-term lawmaker and the candidate of President Lee Myung-bak’s governing Saenuri Party, is a milestone for a society that is still heavily male-dominated despite the inroads women have made in business and government in recent years.
Under the incumbent, Lee, anti-establishment sentiment deepened in the country, especially among younger voters, as job opportunities dwindled, political corruption persisted and tensions with North Korea intensified.
But a majority of voters evidently did not see a solution to those problems in the opposition Democratic United Party. Critics say the party is too soft on North Korea and too radical in its plans to rein in the country’s huge family-controlled business conglomerates.
Park’s father, Park Chung-hee, was a former general who seized power in a 1961 military coup and ruled until his 1979 assassination.
U.K. pulling 3,800 from Afghanistan
LONDON - Prime Minister David Cameron announced Wednesday that about 3,800 British troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2013.
About 5,000 will remain into 2014, Cameron told lawmakers. The announcement comes after a lengthy video call Tuesday between Cameron and U.S. President Barack Obama.
There are about 60,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Cameron said the decision reflects an increasing confidence in the Afghan National Security Forces. After 2014, some troops will stay on to return equipment and deal with logistics but no details on numbers have been finalized, he said.
The withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan will start in April, according to Defense Secretary Philip Hammond.
Yemeni president shakes up military
SANA, Yemen - Yemen’s president Wednesday ordered a shake-up of the country’s Defense Ministry, removing the powerful son, relatives and aides of the ousted leader.
According to Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s orders, the elite Republican Guard and Special Forces, which were commanded by ousted leader Ali Abdullah Saleh’s son, Ahmed, merged under the ministry, effectively reducing Ahmed Saleh’s power base. However, it was not clear whether Saleh’s son will remain in the Defense Ministry or in what capacity.
Hadi also named a new commander to replace Saleh’s nephew, Yahia, as head of the Central Security Forces and merged another unit headed by Yahia, the Anti-Terrorism Force, to the Defense Ministry.
Hadi also removed Saleh loyalists from top positions in the ministry. One of them is the ousted president’s brother, Mohammed, who was among at least seven deputies of chief of staff to be dismissed. The positions were not listed in the new structure.
Probe faults BBC, finds no cover-up
LONDON - The BBC was severely criticized in an independent report Wednesday for its handling of childabuse allegations leveled at its late presenter, Jimmy Savile, but cleared of accusations of a “cover-up.”
The report said the BBC had “proved completely incapable” of dealing with the scandal, which triggered the “worst management crisis” in its 90-year-history.
“The level of chaos and confusion was even greater than was apparent at the time,” said the report, compiled by former Sky News executive Nick Pollard.
Britain’s culture secretary, Maria Miller, said the report “raised serious questions around editorial and management issues” at the BBC, which she hoped would be tackled.
The revelations surrounding Savile, a high-profile DJ and entertainer who worked at the BBC from the 1960s, have rocked the public broadcaster to the core in recent months.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 12/20/2012