APRNEWS - The former international soccer star easily defeated Joseph Boakai in the 2017 runoff, but results from the first round of balloting last month showed the two neck and neck. Weah took 43.83% while Boakai brought in 43.44% of the total.

“We are going to an election where nobody has a competitive edge with a wide margin,” said Ibrahim Nyei, executive director at the Ducor Institute for Social and Economic Research.

APRNEWS - Mr Weah got 43.83% of the vote and Mr Boakai, a former vice-president, received 43.44%.

The 10 October poll was the tightest presidential contest in Liberia since a civil war ended about two decades ago.

A run-off was predicted, but Mr Boakai, 78, has done better than expected by coming close to Mr Weah's tally.

Ivorians voted on Saturday in presidential elections the main opposition parties have urged their supporters to boycott because President Alassane Ouattara is seeking a third term in office.

By declining to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, President Trump has agitated many who fear he will refuse to leave office even if he loses the November election — and may even resort to violence. The terrifying reality is that there are also several mechanisms that are legal and constitutional that could enable Trump to stay in office without actually winning the vote.

APRNEWS - Hundreds of demonstrators worked through the night into Friday clearing away bricks and debris, after military rulers demanded that roadblocks which have paralysed parts of Khartoum must be dismantled before talks on a new transitional body can resume.

APRNEWS - A top French court on Friday rejected an appeal by former president Nicolas Sarkozy to avoid facing charges of illicit financing for his failed 2012 re-election bid, with a trial of the ex-head of state now appearing inevitable.

APRNEWS - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday meets US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the highest-level talks between the rival powers in nearly a year as they see if they can make headway on a raft of disagreements from Venezuela to Iran to arms control.

APRNEWS - South Africa’s president on Sunday vowed to purge his party of “bad and deviant tendencies” as he prepares to appoint a new Cabinet following a victory in national elections.

APRNEWS - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday the decision to re-run Istanbul’s mayoral election was an important step toward strengthening democracy, describing the March vote as marred by “organized corruption” and illegality.

APRNEWS - Opposition politician and former governor in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, Moise Katumbi Chapwe has announced his date of return to the country after three years in exile.