WESTERN EUROPE

CHIRAC HAS NO CLOUT ON WORLD STAGE, VOTERS SAY

PARIS – Jacques Chirac’s presidency hit a new low yesterday when a poll showed that most voters think he now has little or no influence over events at home or abroad. Of those polled, 72% regarded the influence of their president – who turns 73 Tuesday – over what happens in France as “weak.” Two thirds said his clout on the world stage was feeble, while only 36% thought he held any significant sway over European politics. Condemnation came from all age groups and corners of France. Women were slightly less critical. The poll, conducted for Le Parisien newspaper by the CSA Institute, was all the more humiliating in that the opinion of supporters of Mr. Chirac’s conservative ruling UMP Party was scarcely more favorable than those of voters on

– The Daily Telegraph the left.

CENTRAL AMERICA

HONDURAN VOTERS SPLIT ON LEADER

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduran voters choosing a president yesterday were split between a leftist-turned-conservative who promises to wipe out violent crime with the death penalty and a rival who vows to eliminate widespread corruption.

Polls showed a tight race between Porfirio Lobo Sosa of the governing National Party and the Liberal Party candidate, Manuel Zelaya.

Supporters of each candidate honked horns as they drove to the polls in the capital, Tegucigalpa, their cars sporting either blue-and-white flags for the National Party or red-and-white banners for the Liberal Party.

The country’s nearly 4 million voters also were electing a vice president, 128 congressional representatives, 298 mayors and 2,000 city councilors. Yesterday’s vote is the seventh in the Central American nation of 7 million since 1981, when it abandoned more than two decades of military rule.

– Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

CHECHNYA CHOOSES A PARLIAMENT

GROZNY, Russia – Chechens voted yesterday in their first parliamentary elections since Russia sent troops back to the Caucasus region six years ago to crush a separatist insurgency. Moscow has touted the vote as the latest step toward restoring normalcy in the violence-wracked southern republic, but critics fear the new parliament will amount to a rubber stamp for Chechnya’s Kremlin-backed governing elites. Few international observers were monitoring the election for flaws that have marred three previous votes. There were 350 candidates vying for 58 seats in the two-chamber parliament, with most of Russia’s main national political parties fielding contenders.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

ABDULLAH SWEARS IN NEW CABINET

AMMAN, Jordan – King Abdullah II swore in a new Cabinet headed by a prime minister who pledged yesterday to restore Jordan’s reputation as a haven of stability in the Middle East, an image shattered by this month’s triple suicide attacks in the capital.

“Security and stability will remain a Jordanian distinction, despite the terrorist incident which targeted innocent people in the capital of your kingdom,” Prime Minister al-Bakhit told Abdullah after the brief ceremony.

He also promised to “maintain the balance between freedom and security, and we will not allow one to dominate the other.”

– Associated Press

PERSIAN GULF

EARTHQUAKE FLATTENS IRANIAN VILLAGES

TEHRAN, Iran – An earthquake with a magnitude of at least 5.9 shook a sparsely populated area of southern Iran yesterday, flattening seven villages, killing 10 people and injuring 70, officials and state-run television said. The temblor was felt as far away as Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Tehran’s seismologic center said the quake was of magnitude 5.9, but the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., said it had a magnitude of 6.1. A magnitude-6.0 quake can cause severe damage.

– Associated Press