AFP - Nigeria has set off on what some may consider a near impossible task in Africa's most populous nation -- holding fair elections -- and has upped the ante by giving itself only four months to prepare. (full story...)

Retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said he plans to help push a package of small-business incentives through the Senate next week, a move that would give President Obama and congressional Democrats a key victory on the economy in the final weeks before the November midterm election s. Business - Small business -....(more) (full story...)

AFP - Afghanistan's parliamentary elections are being threatened by Taliban violence and intimidation as the government fails to protect candidates, especially women, a human rights watchdog said Thursday. (full story...)

Sunni cleric was stabbed, beheaded and set alight, say policeGunmen stormed the house of a Sunni cleric today and cut his head off before setting him alight in an attack that bore the hallmark of insurgents, police said.Jabbar Saleh al-Jibouri was killed shortly before dawn at his house in a village near Muqdadiya town in Diyala province, police sp....(more) (full story...)

L'Oreal family feud has led to series of investigations concerning political donations, tax evasion and money launderingFrench police visited President Nicolas Sarkozy's party headquarters this week in an investigation into political donations and the financial affairs of Europe's richest woman, a police spokesman said today.The visit y....(more) (full story...)

Alleged malpractice in Katine's primaries last week mirrored a national trend in election s across Uganda – a pattern that many Ugandans fear could spill over into next year's general election sMany local residents have been left wondering what the future holds following suspected irregu....(more) (full story...)

AP - Ivory Coast's president signed a finalized voter list on Thursday, removing the last obstacle to holding a long-delayed presidential election that could bring an eight-year political crisis to an end. (full story...)

Reuters - Myanmar's reclusive leader on Thursday reassured Beijing that China is a vital ally and said an upcoming election and planned power transfer to a civilian government would not affect relations. (full story...)

A no vote may undermine Erdoğan's stabilising role in the regionProposed reforms to Turkey's constitution, the subject of a national referendum on Sunday, appear largely unexceptional to western eyes. But after months of impassioned, increasingly polarised campaigning, the vote has effectively transformed into a plebiscite on the eight-year....(more) (full story...)

Reuters - Despite some electoral reforms, detecting graft in Afghanistan's September 18 parliamentary election will be harder than in last year's presidential poll due to the current voting system, a Western observer group said on Thursday. (full story...)