Briefs | Ukraine: Pro-European parties lead poll

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko

With more than one-third of the votes counted, two allied pro-European parties in Ukraine that ran on a platform to enact tough reforms took a joint lead yesterday in a parliamentary election. Partial figures showed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Popular Front with 21.6 percent of the vote and President Petro Poroshenko’s party at 21.5 percent. Poroshenko said after Sunday’s election that he wanted Western-oriented parties elected to quickly form a broad reformist coalition. Negotiations on forming that coalition are expected to begin Monday and be completed within 10 days. A recently formed pro-European party based in western Ukraine, Samopomich, was running third with almost 11 percent of the vote. The vote has led to an overhaul of a parliament once dominated by loyalists of former President Viktor Yanukovych, who sparked the protests that caused his ouster with a decision to deepen ties with Russia. Anti-Russian sentiment has spiked in Ukraine as the country battles with separatists in the east many believe are supported by Moscow. As a result, the election has favored the chances of parties with staunchly pro-Western or nationalist agendas.

USA:Teen wounded in school shooting dies

A memorial at the entrance to Marysville Pilchuck High School

One of the teenagers wounded in a Washington state high school shooting died Sunday night, raising the number of fatalities from when a student opened fire in a cafeteria to three. Officials at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett confirmed the death of 14-year-old Gia Soriano. Another girl was killed during the shooting Friday by a popular freshman at Marysville-Pilchuck High School north of Seattle. The shooter, Jaylen Fryberg, died of a self-inflicted wound. Three other students remain hospitalized, two in critical condition and one in serious condition. At a news conference, Dr. Joanne Roberts read a statement from Gia’s family. “We are devastated by this senseless tragedy. Gia is our beautiful daughter, and words cannot express how much we will miss her,” the statement said. Roberts said Gia’s family was donating her organs for transplant.