Elections | featured news

Tens of thousands of Russians turned out in central Moscow and across the country Saturday to protest what they believe were rigged parliamentary elections.

Many residents in the sprawling dilapidated capital of Kinshasa feared the outcome would stoke new spasms of political violence.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States of encouraging protests over Russia's parliamentary election and said hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign funds were used to influence the vote.

Oops! The leading contender for Mexico's presidency is drawing a torrent of criticism for his inability to name three books that influenced him.

A state-TV exit poll indicates a sharp drop in support for Vladimir Putin's United Russia party in parliamentary elections, down to 48.5% from 64% in 2007.

Egyptian voters are awaiting results of the first stage of landmark parliamentary elections to be released Thursday, a day later than originally planned. The Freedom and Justice Party, a front for Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood, said the bloc was in the lead following largely peaceful voting on Monday and Tuesday. But the party faces new competition from the al-Nur Party, an ultra-conservative group whose members follow the strict Salafi brand of Islam, as well as from a host of smaller parties.

The prime minister sternly warns the West not to interfere in Russia's elections.

A couple on a motorcycle fired shots into a bus carrying Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado and her supporters Saturday, a campaign spokesman told CNN en Español.

Mayor Ed Lee held a commanding lead in the mayor's race against a diverse slate of 15 candidates, but because he didn't garner a majority in Tuesday's election the city's instant runoff system has kicked in. Lee, a former city administrator who replaced then-Mayor Gavin Newsom when he became lieutenant governor in January, was ahead with nearly 31 percent of the vote.

Kentucky's Democratic governor easily won another term, and Mississippi voters kept their governor's office in GOP hands — decisions that suggested many Americans were not ready to abandon incumbent parties.