THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2012
PAGE 3
NEWS OF THE WORLD
Associated Press
NORTH AMERICA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A pro-stateship New Progressive Party supporter shows his T-shirt printed with the U.S. flag at the closing campaign rally for the pro-stateship New Progressive Party in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday.
Puerto Ricans vote on statehood
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rican voters will once again ponder the decades-old question over the island's political future when they go to the polls Tuesday: What kind of relationship do they really want with the United States?
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Officially, the Caribbean island is the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a semi-autonomous extension of the U.S. mainland, its giant neighbor 1,000 miles to the northwest. But in fact it is a territory, lacking both the freedom
of an independent country and some of the fundamental rights it would have if it was a U.S. state.
Do they support the status quo? Or would they prefer statehood, independence or "sovereign free association," a designation that would give the island of nearly 4 million people more autonomy?
Aimed at resolving the 114-year-old conundrum over Puerto Rico's status, Tuesday's referendum marks the fourth time in 45 years that a vote has been held on the island's future. Past balloting has never given statehood a majority, and independence never garnered more than 5 percent, but debate over the territory's legal standing remained heated.
The latest vote comes at an especially difficult time for the island as it struggles to recover from an economic crisis and fights a wave of violent crime. Puerto Rico reported a record 1,117 killings last year, and its 13.6 percent unemployment is higher than that of any U.S. state.
AFRICA
The ballot measure's first question asks voters if they support the island's current status, while a second one offers the options of statehood, independence or sovereign free association. The U.S. Congress would have to agree to any change.
Recent surveys have said a limited majority favors the status quo in the referendum's first question. Regarding the second question, surveys found statehood and increased autonomy nearly tied, with a small percentage favoring independence.
Noel Colon Martinez, a political analyst who once ran for governor under the Puerto Rican Independence Party, said the referendum is confusing because it forces voters to choose from three options they might not favor.
Kenyan witch doctor John Dimo, who says he is 105 years old, interprets the result after throwing shells, bones, and other magic items to predict the outcome of the U.S. election, in front of his hut in the village of Kogelo on Monday.
Kenyan witch doctor claims to predict election
KOGELO, Kenya — At President Barack Obama's ancestral village in Kenya, witch doctor John Dimo tossed some shells, bones and other items to determine who will win Tuesday's election.
It's not a surprising result in Kogelo, Obama's late father's hometown in western Kenya, where expectations of an Obama election victory over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney were high on Monday.
After throwing the objects like so many dice outside his hut in Kogelo village, Dimo, who says he is 105 years old, points to a white shell and declares: "Obama is very far ahead and is definitely going to win."
While pollsters in the U.S. are using interviews, statistical analysis and the technology to predict the outcome of the election in America — one that is expected to be close — Dimo uses techniques he learned from his father, and is confident of his predictions.
OCEANIA
Report finds company ignored safety warnings
The official report released Monday after 11 weeks of hearings on the disaster found broad safety problems in New Zealand workplaces and said the Pike River Coal company was exposing miners to unacceptable risks as it strove to meet financial targets.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A New Zealand coal mining company ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to explosive levels before an underground explosion killed 29 workers two years ago, an investigation concluded.
"The company completely and utterly failed to protect its workers." New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Monday.
The country's labor minister, Kate Wilkinson, resigned from her labor portfolio after the report's release, saying she felt it was the honorable thing to do after the tragedy occurred on her watch. She plans to retain her remaining government responsibilities.
The Royal Commission report said New Zealand has a poor workplace safety record and its regulators failed
to provide adequate oversight before the explosion.
At the time of the disaster, New Zealand had just two mine inspectors who were unable to keep up with their workload, the report said. Pike River was able to obtain a permit with no scrutiny of its initial health and safety plans and little ongoing scrutiny.
Key said he agrees with the report's conclusion that there needs to be a philosophical shift in New Zealand from believing that companies are acting in the best interests of workers to a more proscriptive set of regulations that forces companies to do the right thing.