Retired Gen. Pavel in the lead in Czech presidential runoff

PRAGUE (AP) — Early results in the Czech presidential election show retired army General Petr Pavel in the lead. Pavel has 54.7% of the vote with ballots from more than 45% of polling stations counted. The Czech Statistics Office says that populist billionaire Andrej Babis is behind with 45.3%. Czech voters are picking a successor to Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial post. The polls had favored Pavel, an independent candidate who came a narrow first in the opening round. The 61-year-old former chairman of NATO’s military committee is a political newcomer while Babis, 68, is a former prime minister.