Reuters: Fraud claims in Russia poll 02 December

Russia holds elections on Sunday for the 450-seat lower house of parliament, the State Duma, for the fifth time since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Under changes to election law, deputies will be selected for the first time entirely through a system of proportional representation and parties will have to overcome a seven-percent threshold to enter parliament. Images and soundbites.

Pakistan has postponed general elections until February 18 following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, a move grudgingly accepted by the country's major parties. Bhutto's party and others condemned the delay but election officials said holding the vote next week was impossible due to the widespread unrest after her killing, which left dozens of people dead. Images and soundbites.

President Vladimir Putin's party won a massive victory in parliamentary polls on Sunday. But Western governments have urged Moscow to investigate allegations of electoral fraud. With 98 percent of ballots counted, Putin's United Russia party had secured 64.1 percent of the vote, giving it a constitutional majority of more than two-thirds of seats in the State Duma. Voiced report.

Russia holds elections on Sunday for the 450-seat lower house of parliament, the State Duma, for the fifth time since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Under changes to election law, deputies will be selected for the first time entirely through a system of proportional representation and parties will have to overcome a seven-percent threshold to enter parliament. Images and soundbites of Boris Nemtsov, former Prime Minister, Union of Right Forces (SPS) opposition leader and presidential candidate.

Russians go to the polls on Sunday in a parliamentary election expected to be dominated by the party of President Vladimir Putin. Under Putin the country has witnessed a veritable economic boom, aided by the rising price of oil and gas but also by the growth of the economy as a whole -- a five-fold increase since 2000. Queues in supermarkets and sell-out rates for foreign cars are signs that Russia now has a middle class with money to spend.

On March 2nd, Russians will vote for President Vladimir Putin's successor. There's not much of an election campaign, little debate and voters appear indifferent. The reason: everyone already knows the result. Kremlin favourite Dmitry Medvedev is expected to pick up some 80 percent of votes cast because a vote for him is seen as a vote for the hugely popular Putin. An AFPTV report from Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city.

Pakistani officials said they would announce a February date for general elections on Wednesday. Parliamentary elections had been due to take place on January 8 but the country was thrown into chaos last week with the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, which set off days of unrest that left nearly 60 people dead. Images and soundbite of the media scrum outside Pakistan's election commission.

Taiwan's opposition candidate Ma Ying-jeou surged to an early lead of 17 points over his ruling party rival in Saturday's presidential election after a quarter of the vote count, television showed. Ma, of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), was also shown to be leading in 20 of Taiwan's counties and cities over the Democratic Progressive Party's Frank Hsieh.

As Italian parliamentary elections are coming up, the Roman Catholic Church says it is 'neutral' to all political parties. But with abortion being the key topic, its values still appear anchored in Italian politics

A week ahead of Russia's election, Moscow will host the third Millionaire Fair, which attracted 40,000 visitors last year. Here is where the seriously rich buy Carribean villas, diamond-studded mobile phones or private helicopters. Voiced report.