The result marks another advance for the populist far right in Europe, where they already govern -- often in coalition -- in countries such as Italy, Hungary and Slovakia, or are steadily gaining, as in France and Germany.
In power as president or prime minister since the final day of 1999, Putin has quashed all forms of opposition and dissent, exerting a level of domestic control that ensures the result is in no doubt.
Confusion had reigned late Wednesday after President Macky Sall set March 24 as the date for the postponed election, while Senegal's Constitutional Council said it should take place on March 31.
Fifteen states and a US territory staged nominating contests on the biggest day of the 2024 race so far, with both candidates coveting a second term in the White House.
In poll after poll, a majority of Republican voters across the country continue to regard Joe Biden as an illegitimate president.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has called for a strong turnout, was the first to cast his ballot, at a polling station in central Tehran, state television reported.
The vote comes amid mounting economic difficulties in Iran, which has also been grappling with the aftershocks of mass protests triggered by the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini.
The 81-year-old told the host he was a better bet than "the other guy" -- 77-year-old Donald Trump, the Republican former president he is almost certain to face in a bitter rematch of their 2020 contest.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif was elected chief minister in her family's long-time power base of Punjab province, after Pakistan held national and provincial polls on February 8.
In the February 8 election, the army-backed Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) had been tipped to win a majority, reliant on its traditional support base of Punjab province, where Lahore sits.
Opinion polls suggest President Cyril Ramaphosa's party may win less than 50 percent in nationwide elections for the first time and may be forced to share power.
The army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said they had settled days of negotiations on securing a majority to form a coalition government that will also include several smaller parties, after the February 8 polls returned no clear winner.
Voters have made clear in multiple polls that they don't want a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and are willing to take a serious look at the growing number of politicians mulling independent or third-party campaigns.
The final result is not expected until late March but early indications all point to the 72-year-old ex-general succeeding popular outgoing leader Joko Widodo.
The losses capped a dire week for the UK leader, struggling to revive support for his beleaguered party, as official data showed Britain is in recession after economic contraction for two successive quarters.
Once a feared general under late dictator Suharto, Indonesia's likely new president Prabowo Subianto now faces the challenge of honouring his campaign pledges to maintain the country's economic growth.
CNN and NBC News both called the race in favor of Tom Suozzi, forecasting that he had defeated Republican Mazi Pilip in the election, which was marked by a heavy snowstorm across the district.
Candidates loyal to Khan defied a crackdown blocking them from campaigning and forcing them to run as independents, with a combined showing bigger than any party in Thursday's National Assembly polls.
There have been widespread allegations of vote-rigging and result manipulation after authorities switched off the country's mobile phone network on election day and the count took more than 24 hours.
Independent candidates loyal to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan took most of the seats in Thursday's polls, scuppering the chances of the army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from securing a ruling majority.
During two hours of high-stakes arguments, both conservative and liberal members of the nation's highest court expressed concern about having individual states decide which candidates can be on the presidential ballot this November.
Appearing on live television from the White House, Biden was furious over the report's claim that he was unable to remember even the date of his son Beau's death in 2015, as well as other key moments in his life.
Candidates loyal to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan were edging ahead in Pakistan's election, in front of the two dynastic parties believed to be favoured by the military, as delayed results trickled in.
In a country where millennials and Gen-Zers make up more than half the electorate, candidates Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto and former provincial governors Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo's ages range from 54 to 72.
Ramaphosa, 71, must rally support behind the scandal-tainted African National Congress in the speech to lawmakers at Cape Town City Hall at 1700 GMT, according to analysts.
Anger over rising prices and wages that don't stretch far enough brought thousands of casino workers onto the streets of Las Vegas in recent months, part of a wave of labor discontent in the United States.
The normally stable West African nation was plunged into its worst political upheaval in decades this week after lawmakers voted nearly unanimously in favor of pushing back the February 25 contest to mid-December.
The result has no tangible bearing on the race for the Republican nomination because it didn't carry any delegates -- the outcome of a row between state authorities and the Nevada GOP, which will hold a separate caucus this week.
A crackdown on independent media and the absence of any real opposition boosted the certainty of an easy win for Aliyev, whose troops recaptured the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in September.
Unlike Elizabeth, who cultivated an air of mystery and distance, Charles has shown himself to be much more accessible, at ease smiling and shaking hands with crowds at public events.
