World news in brief

Published on 03/01/2009 19:20

Ghana: OPPOSITION leader John Atta Mills has won the presidency of the West African nation.

The chairman of Ghana's electoral commission, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, said Mills won a run-off by capturing 50.23%, or 4,521,032 votes, compared with 49.77%, or 4,480,446 votes, for ruling party candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo.

The victory was announced one day after a special re-vote was held in a single western district that was unable to vote in the second round.

ETHIOPIA

HUNDREDS of soldiers have started pulling out of the Somali capital Mogadishu amid fears the troops' departure will allow Islamic insurgents to take even more control of the lawless country.

Ethiopia has been propping up Somalia's weak government for two years.

Officials declined to give an exact date because of fears of a power vacuum, saying only that the thousands of troops would be pulled out in stages.

It was not immediately clear how many were leaving, but residents said they saw hundreds on the move.

Ethiopia has not said how many soldiers are in Somalia.

CANADA

THE Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver's Archbishop said that he has retired due to his ongoing battle with clinical depression.

Raymond Roussin, 69, said learning to cope with depression forced him to reassess his calling as a priest.

"I believe my call is from God and to be a bishop, to be a pastor. I was unable to do it, and all the rest of the things that come to mind you when you become neurotic," said the Archbishop.

The cleric, who has served as Archbishop of Vancouver since 2004, is retiring more than five years earlier than the normal retirement age for bishops.

The Vatican said that Pope Benedict has accepted the Archbishop's retirement, citing an article of Canon law that allows bishops to retire because of illness or some other issue that makes them unable to carry out their duties.

Archbishop Roussin disclosed his depression in a letter to Catholics in Vancouver, British Columbia, in August 2005.

UNITED STATES

FORMER Dynasty and TJ Hooker actress Heather Locklear, right, evaded charges of driving while intoxicated by pleading to a lesser offence.

A court official in Santa Barbara, California, said an attorney for the actress entered a no-contest plea to a misdemeanour reckless driving charge in court.

Locklear was given three years of informal probation, will pay a fine and attend a driver's education programme.

She had been charged with driving under the influence of prescription drugs.