Citizens in France are going to the election polls Sunday in the first round of voting to choose a successor to President Jacques Chirac, who is stepping down after 12 years in office. The polls opened early Sunday morning. Results are expected shortly after the polls close Sunday night. Anita Elash reports for VOA from Paris.

Russian lawmakers have decried as "unacceptable" the recent negative assessments of Russian human rights standards in a U.S. State Department report detailing U.S. aid efforts in 2006.

The U.S. State Department has issued its fifth annual report on what the United States is doing to support worldwide human rights and democracy. The State Department report says the U.S. government spent some $1.2 billion last year to help defend human rights around the world. The report stresses that major efforts to restrict human rights come from official crackdowns on non-governmental agencies.

The theme of the fourth Global Electoral Organization Conference here last week was "Every Vote Counts." It brought together more than 200 of the world"s top election officials and democracy advocates in what one of the sponsors said was a "celebration of transparency in the election process."

Hong Kong's Chief Executive, Donald Tsang, has won re-election. The election result was pre-ordained by the Chinese government in Beijing, but participants say the campaign might have pushed the former British colony somewhat closer to true democracy. VOA's Barry Kalb reports from Hong Kong.

Council of Europe, which is the human rights wachdog of Europe, urges Iraqi government to stop the executions in Iraq, over the hanging of former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan on Tuesday.