Ex-rebels vie for top job

Voters in East Timor are choosing a president in a runoff between two former independence fighters. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta had a commanding lead in the first round of voting last month, but failed to secure more than 50% of the vote and avoid a runoff against incumbent Francisco ‘‘Lu Olo’’ Guterres. Ramos-Horta, whowas East Timor’s president from 2007 to 2012, and Guterres have blamed each other for years of political paralysis. East Timor is battling massive poverty, unemployment and corruption, with an economy reliant on dwindling offshore oil revenues.