WORLD IN BRIEF : GREECE : Ex-Prime Minister Elected Head of State

The Greek Parliament elected elder statesman Constantine Caramanlis as the fifth head of state since democracy was restored in 1974 after a military dictatorship. Caramanlis, 83, a six-time prime minister and former president, won 153 votes of the 299 cast. He needed a simple majority to be elected to a five-year term in the largely ceremonial post of president. In the first round of voting Monday, he fell short of the required 180 votes. Caramanlis was Greece’s first prime minister after a 1967-74 military dictatorship, overseeing the return to democracy and establishing the presidency after holding a referendum that abolished the monarchy.