Today’s Vote Could End Crisis in Honduras

Voters in Honduras are at the polls today to select the country’s next president. According to polls, conservative candidate Porfirio Lobo of the National Party is in the lead while the Liberal Party candidate, Elvin Santos, trails behind. Both Manuel Zelaya, the former Honduran president who was deposed in June after he tried to change the country’s constitution so that he would be eligible to run for a third term in office, and Roberto Micheletti, the man who has been acting president since then, are members of the Liberal Party, Christian Science Monitor.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has given up some of the presidential power that was expanded when his predecessor was in office. Presidential power was greatly expanded under President Pervez Musharraf who was a military general. Zardari moved control of the civilian seat on the National Command Authority which controls Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to the office of the Prime Minister, New York Times.

The state news agency of Iran reported that the Iranian parliament has approved the construction of 10 new uranium enrichment nuclear facilities. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency has called for Iran to halt production of a recently discovered nuclear facility at Qom, CNN.

Rwanda has become the 54th country to be admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations and the second to be admitted without a British colonial past. The Commonwealth is a voluntary intergovernmental organization of member states that developed as former members of the British empire developed their own governments, BBC News.

China’s Ties with Africa Grow Deeper

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has declared a state of emergency before the arrival of Hurricane Ida, which is expected to hit land in the next 36 hours. The declaration allows the state to use federal funds to prepare for the hurricane. Ida is currently a Category 2 hurricane, but expected to weaken, CNN.

91 people in El Salvador have died from flooding and landslides, though experts say this was caused not by Ida but a Pacific storm. Heavy rains have pounded the country for days and a state of emergency has been declared for five regions. 60 people are still missing, BBC News.

China has pledged $10 billion in low-cost loans to Africa over the next three years. China’s interest in Africa has been criticized lately, with some saying China is exploiting the land for ores and minerals, as well as encouraging corruption. Wen Jiabao, China’s premier, denies this and says the efforts in Africa are “more focused on improving people’s livelihoods,” Washington Post.

Hot Topic: Reporter recalls the evening the Berlin Wall came down.