Maldives Rejects Gay Yoom in Election

Time
The Indian Ocean island nation of the Maldives has weathered cyclones and tsunamis, but never before has it experienced sweeping change of the sort ushered in on Oct. 28. By the next day, it was clear that President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom — whose 30-year reign marked him as Asia's longest serving leader — had been toppled in the country's first-ever democratic elections by a man whom he had imprisoned just a decade ago. After coming second in multi-party polls earlier in October, 41-year-old Mohamed Nasheed beat Gayoom in a run-off contest by a nearly 10% margin — a gulf wide enough for the oft-dictatorial Gayoom to concede defeat over state radio even before all the ballots were counted. more