Voters in Sri Lanka are going to the polls in a general election, with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa hoping to return to office as prime minister.
Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the presidency in a snap election in January to his former health minister, Maithripala Sirisena.
Four people have died in violent incidents during the campaign although monitors say there has been less violence than in previous years.
Fifteen million people are eligible to vote, with results expected on August 18.
Polls opened at 07:00 local time and will close at 16:00.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is standing as a member of parliament for the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
If he wins his seat by a large margin, and the UPFA secure an outright majority, President Maithripala Sirisena (who leads the UPFA) will be under pressure to name him prime minister. However, Maithripala Sirisena has ruled this out.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, 69, is thought of as a hero by many of Sri Lanka’s Sinhala-speaking Buddhist majority for crushing a 26-year Tamil uprising in 2009.
However, opponents accuse him of running a corrupt, brutal and dynastic regime – charges he denies.
Ethnic tensions between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority were the driving force behind a long and bitter civil war.
The conflict ended in May 2009 after more than 25 years of violence but recriminations over abuses by both sides continue.
Maithripala Sirisena, 63, formed a cross-party coalition to defeat Mahinda Rajapaksa in January, working with the UPFA’s main rival – the United National Party (UNP).
He led the coalition to a shock victory over the incumbent president, and UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe took the role of prime minister.
In a letter leaked during the campaign, Maithripala Sirisena accused Mahinda Rajapaksa of holding the party “hostage” and ruled out naming him prime minister.
The current president has also used his power as party leader to purge Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalists from key posts in recent days.
PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said at his last campaign stop on August 14: “We all united and voted against Rajapaksa to send him into retirement.
“If he hasn’t got the message, we should unite to make sure he understands it now.”
Analysts say the UNP has a better relationship with two smaller parties – the Tamil National Alliance and the leftist JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) – which could potentially help it form the largest bloc in the 225-member parliament.
Former Pakistani military leader Pervez Musharraf has been given the permission to run in the country’s general elections next month.
General Pervez Musharraf will be a candidate in the remote northern district of Chitral, after being rejected in two other parts of the country.
Pervez Musharraf, who led Pakistan for nine years after seizing power in a military coup, returned to the country from self-imposed exile last month.
Former Pakistani military leader Pervez Musharraf has been given the permission to run in the country’s general elections next month
The former president is facing a number of charges relating to his time in office.
Among them, is the accusation he failed to provide adequate security for former PM Benazir Bhutto ahead of her assassination in 2007.
He is also wanted in connection with the murder of a Baloch tribal leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti, and for sacking the entire higher judiciary in November 2007.
Pervez Musharraf has described the cases against him as “baseless” and politically motivated.
Last week, officials rejected his nomination papers in Kasur after objections were filed.
But officials in Chitral, close to the Afghan border, said Pervez Musharraf’s papers there were in order.
“He is not convicted so far so we cannot disqualify him,” returning officer Jamal Khan told AFP news agency.
An Egyptian administrative court has suspended general elections that were scheduled to begin in April.
The court said the electoral law needed to be reviewed by the Supreme Constitutional Court to determine whether it conformed to the constitution.
President Mohamed Morsi had said the polls would begin on April 22, taking place in four stages over two months.
The elections have been boycotted by the main opposition, amid continuing street protests.
The National Salvation Front (NSF) has said the electoral law favors Mohamed Morsi’s Islamist allies – a claim denied by the president.
The NSF has also expressed concerns that the election will not be free and fair.
Egypt remains sharply divided between Islamists and their liberal and secular opponents.
An Egyptian administrative court has suspended general elections that were scheduled to begin in April
More than 70 people have been killed in violence between security forces and protesters since February, following the second anniversary of the revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
On Wednesday, the security head in the city of Port Said was dismissed following renewed clashes between demonstrators and police.
The coastal city has seen sporadic violence since January, when death sentences were handed down to 39 people imprisoned over football violence last year which left more than 70 people dead.
The administrative court said it had acted because the Shura Council – the upper house of parliament – had not returned the amended electoral law to the Supreme Court for final review.
Instead, the court said, the Shura Council had sent the law to President Mohamed Morsi for ratification.
Mohamed Morsi’s office has so far made no public comment on the court’s decision. The president can appeal against the ruling.
Egyptian courts have made a number of decisions that have gone against the president and his Muslim Brotherhood movement, further complicating the country’s political crisis.
In June, the lower house was dissolved after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that one of the laws under which the elections were fought was not legitimate.
In the last elections, in January 2012, Islamist parties won an overwhelming majority, with the Freedom and Justice Party of the Muslim Brotherhood movement taking the biggest share.
Italy has begun voting in general elections seen as crucial for the country’s effort to tackle its economic problems, as well as for the eurozone.
Estimates published before a ban on polls two weeks ago gave a lead to Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre-left alliance.
It was thought to be a few points ahead of the centre-right bloc led by ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
On Saturday, Silvio Berlusconi gave a TV interview – in what his opponents said was a breach of the campaigning ban.
However, Silvio Berlusconi’s office later said the interview had been granted only with the explicit agreement that it would be broadcast after polls close on Monday.
A centrist coalition led by outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti is also running in the election, held on Sunday and Monday.
And opinion polls suggested there would be a strong turnout for popular comedian Beppe Grillo’s anti-establishment movement.
The election was called two months ahead of schedule, after Silvio Berlusconi’s party withdrew its support for Mario Monti’s technocratic government.
The voting is taking place amid a deep recession and austerity measures that have caused widespread public resentment.
It is also being closely watched in the eurozone, with the Italian government’s future commitment to austerity measures particularly under scrutiny.
Italy has begun voting in general elections seen as crucial for the country’s effort to tackle its economic problems, as well as for the eurozone
On the first voting day on Sunday, polls across Italy opened 08:00 and will close at 22:00.
The voting will resume again on Monday at 08:00 and finish at 15:00. First results are expected in the early evening.
Some 47 million eligible voters are electing both chambers of parliament – the The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
The electoral system is based on proportional representation and party lists, with a series of thresholds to encourage parties to form coalitions.
Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) has been a consistent frontrunner in the opinion polls at nearly 35%.
Pier Luigi Bersani, a former Communist, has pledged to continue with Mario Monti’s reforms, but suggests current European policy needs to do more to promote growth and jobs.
However, recent weeks have seen a narrowing of his lead over Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PdL) alliance, who is critical of austerity measures.
Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement (M5S) was running third in the polls.
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