• Erdogan says March local elections will be his ‘last’

    It was the first time that Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003, has spoken about leaving office. The AKP is hoping to regain the mayorship of Istanbul in the elections later this month, having seen it taken by the opposition in 2019.
  • Iran declares 41 percent voter turnout in key elections

    Tehran, Iran - Iran on Monday announced a turnout of 41 percent in last week's elections for parliament and a key clerical body -- a record low since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, according to voting records. Conservatives were reported to have secured the bulk of seats in Friday's elections for the...
  • Polls for Iraq Kurd parliament postponed to June

    Iraqi Kurds announced that polls to elect a new parliament in the autonomous region would be held in June, after they were postponed from February. The elections have been delayed several times because of differences between the two main parties in northern Iraq, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic...
  • Iran conservatives secure bulk of seats in elections: media

    Authorities were still counting ballots two days after Friday's vote for members of parliament and for the Assembly of Experts, which selects the Islamic republic's supreme leader. The official IRNA news agency put the turnout at around "41 percent" among 61 million eligible voters. No official figure had yet been announced.
  • Iran gears up for elections dominated by conservatives

    Conservative daily Vatan-e-Emrouz hailed what it called the population's "interest in the candidates' electoral campaigns", which began on February 22. In Tehran, where less than 20 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in 2020, election banners are visibly less prevalent than the previous elections.
  • Russia in contact with OIC on upcoming presidential vote

    Moscow, Russia -- Moscow is maintaining close contact with officials from the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Russia’s upcoming presidential election, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Tuesday. Bogdanov, who serves as Russian special presidential envoy for the Middle East and Africa, told TASS,...
  • Tech giants sign pact against AI-made political deepfakes

    Under the agreement, AI-generated content could be given a watermark or tagged in the metadata at source, although the signatories acknowledged that "all such solutions have limitations". The pledge comes as big tech companies are under considerable pressure over fears that AI-powered applications could be misused in a pivotal election...
  • Pakistanis vote with Khan in jail, Sharif tipped to win

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is expected to win the most seats in Thursday's vote, with analysts saying its 74-year-old founder Nawaz Sharif has won the blessing of the generals. Outside a polling station in Islamabad, 22-year-old psychology student Haleema Shafiq said she was determined to vote.
  • Gaza activists urge voters to write ‘ceasefire’ on US primary ballots

    A separate campaign is urging supporters to write Biden's name on the ballot in exactly the same manner that "Vote Ceasefire" is promoting. The outcome will not affect the nomination process in any case, as the Democratic National Committee has declared the New Hampshire primary illegitimate.
  • Potential dangers of AI seen as major business risks for 2024

    Davos, Switzerland -- Thdfe potential dangers of AI, particularly its influence on upcoming elections and the escalation of military conflicts, is being seen as one of the major risks for businesses in 2024.This was underscored by a panel of CEOs from leading global companies, including Amazon's Andy Jassy, Intel's Pat...
  • Bangladesh’s Hasina wins fifth term in power

    The prime minister has presided over breakneck economic growth, but her government has been accused of a ruthless opposition crackdown. Her party faced almost no rivals in the seats it contested, but it avoided fielding candidates in a few constituencies to avoid the legislature being branded a one-party institution.
  • Iraqis vote in first provincial elections for a decade

    The vote is expected to consolidate the position of the ruling Coordination Framework coalition, an Iran-aligned bloc that brings together Shiite Islamist parties with factions of Hashed al-Shaabi, a network of former paramilitary units integrated into the regular army.
  • Opposition parties stage rare rally in South Sudan

    Two years after attaining statehood, the world's newest nation collapsed into a civil war that claimed 400,000 lives before a peace deal birthed a power-sharing government in early 2020. But many of the milestones of that pact have been missed, and key conditions paving the way for free and fair...
  • Israeli opposition leader calls on Netanyahu to resign ‘immediately’

    Four days after Hamas's surprise October 7 attack on Israel, Netanyahu and another opposition leader, Benny Gantz, announced an agreement to form an "emergency government" for the duration of the war. Lapid said at the time he would not be joining, accusing Israeli leaders of an "unpardonable failure" for not...
  • Impressive turnout on main day of UAE’s parliamentary polls

    ABU DHABI, UAE - Emiratis are casting their votes on Saturday, the main day of the Federal National Council elections, to select 20 candidates for the 40-member FNC. This is the first time that Emiratis have been able to vote online, and many have shared their joy at being able...
  • Luxembourg, EU’s richest country, grapples with housing crisis

    Luxembourg, Luxembourg -- Luxembourg's residents may be classified as the wealthiest in the European Union, but the sky-high cost of buying or renting a home in the country has made living there nearly impossible for some. The crisis has become the number one concern in the Grand Duchy of 660,000 people...
  • Egypt to elect President in three-day election from Dec 10

    President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a former army chief, has ruled for nearly a decade in the Arab world's most populous country, which is now mired in a deep economic crisis. Experts had predicted Sisi would move forward the 2024 election, ahead of a possible switch to a flexible exchange rate...
  • Al Yahyai is president of Regional Group 7 of International Equestrian Federation

    Sharjah, UAE – Sultan Mohammed Khalifa Al Yahyai has been elected president of the Regional Group 7 of the International Equestrian Federation. The International Equestrian Federation conducted the elections virtually where Al Yahyai won 10 votes. “The UAE's election to the presidency of the International Equestrian Federation's Regional Group 7...
  • Jordan and Algeria look to ramp up trade, parliamentary ties

    Amman, Jordan--Jordan and Algeria are looking to boost trade and parliamentary relations to further enhance bilateral ties between the two countries. The discussion on boosting bilateral ties came up in a meeting between the head of the Jordanian-Algerian Parliamentary Committee Marwa Saoub and Algerian Ambassador to Jordan Abdulkarim Behha on...
  • Mitsotakis wins second term with clear majority in Greece polls

    Conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis won Greece's national elections on Sunday with a clear majority, securing a second term during which he vowed to bring about major reforms to transform the country. With nearly all the votes counted, Mitsotakis's New Democracy party obtained a score of over 40.5 percent.
  • Mitsotakis’s conservatives set for landslide Greece election win

    Mitsotakis's New Democracy party obtained over 40 percent of the vote, well ahead of the leftist Syriza party led by former premier Alexis Tsipras, which had under 18 percent, according to results of 35 percent of the ballot. The margin would be the widest for the conservatives in almost 50...
  • Turkish support in Germany for Erdogan fuels integration debate

    Strong backing for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan among Turks in Germany in last weekend's historic election has sparked renewed soul-searching about whether Berlin's attempts to integrate the minority are failing. There were scenes of jubilation in some German cities after Erdogan extended his two-decade rule in Sunday's runoff vote, with...
  • AI disinformation potential sparks fears for US 2024 race

    Campaigns on both sides of the political divide are likely to harness this technology -- which is cheap, easily accessible and whose advances have vastly outpaced regulatory responses -- for voter outreach and to churn out fundraising newsletters within seconds. But technologists also warn of bad actors exploiting AI to...
  • Lawmakers clash in Iraqi Kurdistan’s parliament

    Lawmakers came to blows in Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament in a dispute between the two biggest parties over the upcoming polls in the autonomous northern region. Parliamentarians were seen climbing desks and tearing up papers in a video posted to the legislature's YouTube channel, while footage shared by Iraqi media showed...
  • Anger among people in Turkey, voters divided on election eve

    Widespread public anger at the state's slow response to the tragedy leads many believe that Hatay's electors will vote differently.
  • Erdogan cancels poll appearances after developing stomach bug

    Erdogan cut short a live television interview late on Tuesday after getting sick on air. His television appearance began more than 90 minutes behind schedule and then went to a commercial break in the middle of a question ten minutes into the show. The camera shook and the reporter asking...
  • Lebanon postpones municipal elections due to lack of funds

    With the cash-strapped country mired in an unprecedented economic meltdown, Lebanon's parliament on Tuesday put off municipal elections scheduled for next month, according to official media. The country has for the second time postponed polls, after they were initially scheduled to take place last year. No new date has been...
  • Iraq’s Kurdistan announces November vote after delay

    ARBIL, IRAQ - Authorities in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region announced on Sunday a November date for legislative elections which had been postponed by a year due to disputes between two major parties. The regional parliament had voted in October to extend its term and reschedule the vote amid disagreements between the...
  • Muharrem Ince, a combative spoiler enters Turkey’s election campaign

    Six disparate parties have built an anti-Erdogan alliance and -- after a year-long debate -- rallied around the candidacy of secular CHP party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the May 14 vote. Most agree that anyone trying to single-handedly defeat Erdogan will not only fail but also hurt the opposition alliance.
  • UN election plan triggers backlash in split Libya

    The pushback was "predictable", said Khaled al-Montasser, a professor of international relations at the University of Tripoli, as elections would see members of both chambers potentially lose their seats and privileges. Despite the rivalry between them, both view the UN initiative as "interference in their sovereign decision-making power and an...
  • UAE, Turkey sign free trade deal in sign of warming ties

    Pushing aside their differences in relations strained by regional disputes, the oil-rich United Arab Emirates and Turkey signed a free trade agreement on Friday. Importantly, the pact comes ahead of Turkey's elections on May 14 as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan carries on with his contested economic policies that have scared...
  • Libya parliament denounces ‘errors’ in UN envoy’s report

    The form and rules around elections have been key sticking points in Libya's faltering peace process since the last major round of fighting in the North African country, torn apart by a decade of war. The envoy, Senegalese diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily, had on Monday told the United Nations Security Council...
  • UN envoy to Libya to launch initiative for holding elections this year

    Elections were originally scheduled for December 2021, but were postponed indefinitely because of differences over controversial candidates and rules on participation. Since March last year, an administration in Libya's east backed by military leader Khalifa Haftar has challenged the UN-recognized government of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, arguing it has outlived...
  • Erdogan announces elections for May 14 in Turkey

    The Turkish leader said that they had agreed on an adjustment to the timetable with its junior right-wing coalition partner to avoid disrupting the school exam schedules.
  • Tunisia’s Saied downplays puny poll turnout, slams critics

    Saied lashed out at unnamed critics, accusing such rivals of "drowning in corruption and treachery" and of "plotting against the state" and its "internal and external security". "This cannot continue, and these people cannot go unpunished," he said, in a video posted on his office's Facebook page. The president's power...
  • Tunisia labour union calls for road map to ‘save’ democracy

    The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) "notes the very low level of participation in the elections, which destroys their credibility and legitimacy and clearly confirms the public's rejection" of Saied's programme, it said in a statement. The current political situation "requires the UGTT to assume its national duty and take...
  • Tunisia awaits languid election for powerless parliament

    Over a decade since the country's revolution that unseated dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, opposition parties have urged a boycott of the poll, which they say is part of a "coup" against the only democracy to have emerged from the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. The election for the new...
  • Bahrain sees record voter turnout in general elections

    Manama, Bahrain—At least 73 percent of voters have turned out to cast ballots in the 2022 Bahrain general election, the highest figure since the first elections in 2002. The elections, according to Bahrain News Agency, went smoothly across the kingdom and the eligible voters used the right of franchise on...
  • Israelis vote as Netanyahu seeks return to power

    Such a scenario has led to despondency among many Arab-Israelis -- who make up around 20 percent of the population -- potentially denting their turnout. "We need to work harder, first of all, to convince people to go out and vote," Aida Touma-Suleiman, from the Hadash-Taal alliance, told AFP.
  • Iraq parliament approves new government after year of deadlock

    Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's 21-member cabinet is expected to face myriad challenges. The oil-rich but war-ravaged country is plagued by endemic corruption, rampant unemployment and decaying infrastructure. "Our ministerial team will shoulder the responsibility at this critical period, in which the world is witnessing tremendous political and economic changes...
  • Biden to release 15m barrels from US oil reserves: official

    The decision to make the biggest-ever dip into the emergency oil reserves -- usually kept for responding to situations such as hurricane-related shutdowns at oil refineries -- was Biden's gambit to calm energy markets and shield the world's biggest economy from Ukraine war shocks.
  • New Kuwaiti government sworn in after political crisis

    Kuwait's crown prince swore in a new government, less than a month after the emirate held parliamentary elections in which the opposition reaped major gains. The polls capped a political stand-off between the former cabinet and legislature that saw lawmakers occupy the national assembly building for days.
  • Kuwait chooses new ministers for oil and foreign affairs

    Kuwait City, Kuwait— Kuwait has brought in a new oil minister in a new cabinet reshuffle after the September elections. Bader Hamed Yousef Al-Mulla was appointed as Kuwait’s new oil minister on Sunday as part of the Gulf country’s new cabinet. In the reshuffle, Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was appointed...
  • New UN Libya envoy Abdoulaye Bathily starts work in Tripoli

    Tripoli, Libya—The United Nations' new Libya envoy, Abdoulaye Bathily, took up post in Tripoli Friday, vowing to work towards elections in the North African country, rocked by over a decade of conflict. "I arrived in Tripoli today to assume my functions as the special representative of the secretary general for Libya...
  • Kuwait puts off first parliament session until mid-October

    Kuwait City, Kuwait— Kuwait has decided to postpone the convening of the first parliament session after elections to Oct. 18, according to media reports. The news agency KUNA said in a statement: “The National Assembly’s first regular session of the 17th legislative term is adjourned until Oct. 18, head of...
  • Iraq economic growth hampered in absence of government, budget

    It remains without not only a new government but a budget too, obstructing much-needed reforms and infrastructure projects in the oil-rich but war-ravaged country. Iraq has raked in huge revenues from oil exports this year, but the profits are locked up in the central bank's coffers, which have amassed $87...
  • Turkey reels from surging inflation as it hits 24-year high

    Turkish inflation jumped to a new 24-year high exceeding 83 percent in September, official data showed Monday after the central bank cut interest rates despite surging prices.
  • UN warns of outbreak of new bout of violence in Libya

    United Nations has warned of the outbreak of new phase of violence in Libya as the country faces delays in moving toward elections. Last week heavy gunfire and shelling broke out in many neighborhoods of Tripoli, leaving 32 people dead. The rival prime ministers of the country blamed each other...
  • Iraq president feels early elections can end crisis

    Less than a year after the last polls, Iraq President Barham Saleh has encouraged early elections to settle a political crisis that has escalated into deadly clashes, killing dozens and wounding hundreds more. It has been a key demand of Moqtada Sadr whose supporters clashed with security forces starting on...
  • Protests erupt in Iraq as Moqtada Sadr says quitting politics

    Sadr and his supporters have been calling for parliament to be dissolved and for new elections, but on Saturday he said doing so was not "so important". Instead, it is "more important" that "all parties and figures who have been part of the political process" since the 2003 US-led invasion...
  • Tens of thousands pray in show of force by Iraq cleric Sadr

    Sadr, a longtime political and religious force in the oil-rich but war-scarred country, has for months been in a political standoff with a rival Shiite alliance backed by Iran. Worshippers converged on a vast square inside the normally secure Green Zone, home to government and diplomatic buildings, including the parliament...