POLITICS

Vote counting was under way Thursday in the South Pacific's Solomon Islands, a contest keenly watched from afar as China's efforts to stamp its mark on the region are tested.

Vice President Lai, who won the January presidential election to succeed Tsai Ing-wen, will take office on May 20 at a time of growing tensions between Taiwan and China.

The showdown between conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and left-wing populist President Zoran Milanovic comes as the European Union nation wrestles with corruption, a labor shortage, the highest inflation rate in the eurozone and illegal migration.

Modi remains roundly popular after a decade in office that has seen India rise in diplomatic clout and economic power, as well as efforts by his government to bring the country's majority faith in ever closer alignment with its politics.

President Cyril Ramaphosa reminded South Africans that in this country, politicians can freely compete and the media can report without interference. He also mentioned that the courts are fair and impartial including the Electoral Court, which supervises the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and how elections are conducted.

Thirty years after the former liberation movement won the first democratic elections, South Africa remains the world's most unequal nation, suffering from high unemployment, rampant crime, widespread corruption and a stagnant economy.

The commission said in a statement that it had lodged an "urgent and direct" appeal to the Constitutional Court to provide "certainty".

As the world's most populous nation readies for general elections that begin April 19, politicians face a sobering reality. India is the fastest-growing major economy, but there are still not enough white-collar jobs for its educated youth.

After a decade in power, Modi hopes to significantly increase his Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 55 percent parliamentary majority -- and to do that requires winning in southern states.

The center-right Fine Gael party -- part of a three-party governing coalition -- selected the 37-year-old Harris as leader following an uncontested election after Varadkar's resignation.

The general elections will be held on May 29, which will elect a new National Assembly alongside the provincial legislature in each province. This election will mark the seventh election in the country since the end of the apartheid era in 1994.

Elections have become an almost annual occurrence for the OPEC member country, which has seven percent of the world's oil reserves and the monarchical Gulf's most powerful elected assembly.

Hun Sen stepped down in August after nearly four decades of iron-fisted rule, passing the baton to his eldest son Hun Manet following a landslide win in national polls held without any significant opposition parties.

He won a December election with 89.6 percent of the vote against three relative unknowns, after opposition challengers were sidelined or jailed.

Elon Musk, one of the world's richest people, says he won't directly back Joe Biden or Donald Trump in the US election -- but one look at his X feed makes clear his heart is with the Republican.

Near-final results showed the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) wresting the main cities and Anatolian provinces that were strongholds for Erdogan's Islamic conservative AKP party.

The country is to hold general elections on May 29 in what is expected to be the most competitive vote since the advent of democracy in 1994.

Surrounded by cheering supporters, the leaders of the country's two major parties staged rival events in the capital Seoul to begin just under two weeks of campaigning before the April 10 vote.

The secular opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) seized back control of the city -- Turkey's economic powerhouse -- in 2019 for the first time since before Erdogan ruled it as mayor in the 1990s.

Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the capital Delhi and a key leader in an opposition alliance formed to compete against Modi in the polls, was detained on Thursday in connection with a long-running corruption probe.

The United Kingdom and Australia inked a new defense agreement in Canberra on Thursday, as they try to boost a fledgling nuclear-powered submarine program with the United States.

US President Joe Biden unveiled almost $20 billion in grants and loans Wednesday for Intel's domestic chip-making plants -- his administration's biggest investment yet in the sector as he takes on China's chip dominance and sells his economic achievements over election rival Donald Trump.

Indonesia's Prabowo Subianto has been elected president of the world's third-biggest democracy, the elections commission said Wednesday, beating two rivals who have vowed to file legal complaints about the vote.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to return Wednesday to the Middle East in a new bid to secure a truce in the Israel-Hamas war.

China and Australia claimed to have stabilised long-strained relations after talks in Canberra on Wednesday, despite tensions over a high-profile prisoner, trade and China's crackdowns in Hong Kong and elsewhere remaining evident.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a successful test of a solid-fuel engine for a "new-type intermediate-range hypersonic missile", Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday.

South Africa's top diplomat on Tuesday accused Israel of setting a precedent for leaders to defy the top UN court, as she again alleged a campaign of starvation in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden accused election rival Donald Trump of despising Latinos as the incumbent visited the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona on Tuesday, seeking to shore up support from the crucial demographic himself.

Trump -- the Republican candidate for November's US presidential election -- intends to challenge the judgment imposed by a New York civil court in February, which would force an automatic stay of enforcement.