Democracy, Elections | featured news

Crowds of joyful Libyans, some with tears in their eyes, parted with the legacy of Muammar Gaddafi on Saturday as they voted in the first free national election in 60 years.

Myanmar held a landmark election Sunday that was expected to send democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament for her first public office since launching her decades-long struggle against the military-dominated government.

Libya's new rulers plan to declare their embattled nation "liberated" Sunday, a move that will trigger a timetable for elections and the writing of a constitution for the North African nation, according to reports from Tripoli.

Egyptians flocked to the polls on Saturday for the first time since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled, eager to vote in a referendum on constitutional reform which will determine how quickly the country can hold elections.

The mood in some parts of Myanmar seemed tense yet calm Saturday, one day before the nation holds it's first election in 20 years -- an electoral contest critics say is aimed at creating a facade of democracy.

A Burmese court rejects the latest appeal by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi against an extended detention.

Myanmar's ruling junta released the deputy leader of the country's pro-democracy party from nearly seven years in detention, but offered no indication that he or still-detained party leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be allowed to take part in this year's elections.