Anastasiades wins Cyprus presidential vote

Conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades, of the Democratic Rally party, has won a decisive victory in Cyprus’ presidential run-off vote on February 24. Anastasiades took between 57.5 and 61.5 percent of the vote according to an exit poll by Cypriot state broadcaster CyBC. The poll shows that his communist-backed rival Stavros Malas trailed with between 38.5 and 42.5 percent of the vote. Anastasiades favours hammering out a quick deal with foreign lenders to rescue the Cypriot economy, which is close to bankruptcy. He pledged during his campaign to speed up progress towards an agreement with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund before the island runs out of cash.