Russia-backed South Ossetia elects leader close to Moscow

TBILISI: A former Russian federal official has been elected president of South Ossetia, a Russia-backed breakaway region of Georgia, in a vote Moscow hailed on Saturday as a sign of the territory’s desire for closer ties with Moscow. Marat Kambolov, the new president, is from North Ossetia, a Russian republic on the other side of the Caucasus mountains from South Ossetia. He has no previous ties t