With almost 33% of the votes counted in Ukraine's parliamentary elections, the party of the former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, leads with 33.24%, the Central Election Commission said Monday.

After five months of political infighting, Ukraine will once again try to elect a parliamentary government. Ukrainians go to the polls Sunday, 30 September, in yet another attempt to break the deadlock that has consumed the political process since the Orange Revolution in 2004.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will monitor the parliamentary elections in Ukraine scheduled for September 30, a source in the Council of Europe said Tuesday.

Russia's Federal Registration Service has published a list of political parties eligible to compete in December parliamentary elections. Fifteen parties meet the requirements outlined in the Russian federal legislation on political parties.

Ukraine's parliament, despite resistance from the president and opposition parties, backed a resolution Tuesday to hold plenary sessions until early parliamentary elections are held on September 30.

Poland's president and the opposition leader agreed during a four-hour meeting that early parliamentary elections would be held this October to end the political crisis in the country.

An election campaign officially starts in Ukraine Thursday, 60 days before parliamentary polls fixed ahead of schedule in a bid to end a bitter political crisis in the ex-Soviet state.

Ukraine's president, by now well accustomed to the practice, today published his fourth decree in as many months scheduling early parliamentary elections.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to pursue reforms and turn Turkey into a modern democracy after his ruling Justice and Development (AK) party won early parliamentary elections on July 22.

Millions of Turks are voting today in early parliamentary elections which are being seen as crucial to Turkey's future political and social direction. The ruling pro-reform, Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) is seen as likely to win a fresh mandate, but strong gains by nationalist and secularist opposition parties could slash its majority and result in slower reforms.

Turkish voters head to the polls on July 22 to elect a new parliament, in what some commentators are calling a "watershed" moment for the nation of 70 million. In many ways, this election will be the ultimate test of Turkey's maturity as a modern democracy.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will support an expected call for new parliamentary elections. Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Ramallah, Mr. Abbas says he is prepared to issue a decree ordering the elections "soon" - once the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Central Council approves them.