News In Brief

Liechtenstein's men give women the right to vote

Male voters in the tiny constitutional monarchy of Liechtenstein on Sunday narrowly granted women the right to vote in a nationwide election. With about 85 percent of the electorate voting, 2,370 men, or 51.3 percent, voted in favor of women's suffrage, with 2,251, or 48.7 percent voting against it.

The vote ended majority opposition that blocked women's voting rights in 1971 and 1973 referendums. It was a victory for Prince Hans Adam, the principality's de facto ruler, who has said his chief priority was to give women the right to vote.

Prince Adam has been in charge of the country, which lies between Switzerland and Austria, for less than a year. His father, Franz Josef II, Europe's longest-reigning ruler, relinquished his responsibilities but not his title to the throne earlier this year.