USA

Billionaire Republican Michael Bloomberg narrowly won election as the next mayor of New York over Democrat Mark Green. Bloomberg, who spent $50 million of his own money but consistently trailed in most opinion polls, is the first Republican to succeed a Republican in the city. He was seen as being helped by the endorsement of popular outgoing Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Above, Bloomberg supporters celebrate. In Cleveland and Atlanta, voters chose their first female mayors. In Minneapolis, R.T. Rybak (D), an ex-newspaper reporter, was elected mayor, defeating two-term incumbent Sharon Sayles Belton, the first black and woman to hold the office. (Related story, page 1; Editorial, page 10.)

New Jersey and Virginia each put a Democrat in the governor's mansion for the first time in eight years. Virginia Gov.-elect Mark Warner, a businessman who's never held office, defeated Mark Earley (R), an ex-attorney general. But the GOP increased its control of the state House, adding 12 seats for a total of 64. In New Jersey, Jim McGreevey (D) defeated Bret Schundler (R), the former Jersey City mayor. Democrats also won a majority in the Assembly and five Senate seats, forcing a 20-20 split.

In the global crackdown on Osama bin Laden's financial network, police raided several businesses in the US and detained two Arabs in Switzerland. Warrants were executed in Washington, Boston, Minneapolis, Seattle, and Ohio, officials said. Earlier, President Bush froze assets of bin Laden's financial network in the US, targeting two people and nine organizations suspected of having ties to his Al Queda organization. The US also asked Somalia, the Bahamas, Sweden, Canada, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates to freeze assets of such organizations.

San Francisco voters overwhelmingly approved a $100 million bond issue to pay for solar power in public buildings. Washington state voters boosted the tax on cigarettes by 60 cents to $1.42 a pack, the highest in the nation.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the 10th time this year to cushion the economic blow from the terrorist attacks. Chairman Alan Greenspan announced the third half-point cut since Sept. 11, bringing the Federal Funds rate to 2 percent, the lowest since May 1962.

By a 405-to-2 vote, the House approved the establishment of Radio Free Afghanistan to counter Taliban propaganda.