‘Berlusconi leads vote in both houses’

KATHMANDU: For more than a decade, the chief of Nepal’s Maoists led a bloody civil war in the rugged Himalayan foothills and carried a price on his head. He is now probably going to be Nepal’s first President. Prachanda‘s Maoist party strengthened their lead in early election results, winning 108 out of 196 constituencies where counting was complete from last week’s landmark vote and leading in most other areas, officials said.With more than two-thirds of the 240 directly elected seats allocated, the ex-rebels, now known as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), held a comfortable majority, the Election Commission said.The centrist Nepali Congress was trailing with 31 seats and the United Marxist-Leninists had only 27 seats, the Election Commission said.

Zimbabwe court refuses to order poll result

HARARE:Zimbabwe’s High Court on Monday rejected an Opposition bid to force authorities to release the result of the country’s presidential election after a two-week delay that has stoked fears of violence.As the court dealt a major blow to its efforts to reveal who won the March 29 vote, the Movement for Democratic Change said one of its supporters had been stabbed to death by members of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party. Police said the killing did not appear to be political. In his ruling, High Court Judge Tendai Uchena found in favour of the Electoral Commission, saying it had shown the reason for the results delay was legally valid.