Turkmenistan's People's Assembly, the country's highest legislative body, has approved acting Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov as a candidate for president in a February vote.

Turkmenistan's acting president says officials will announce Tuesday a date for elections to choose a successor to the late President Saparmurat Niyazov.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's newly elected leader, Joseph Kabila, is trying to figure out how to form a new government while keeping promises made to various parties during the election period. Some groups say the coalitions and commitments are creating obstacles to the country's political progress. Kari Barber reports from our West and Central Africa bureau in Dakar.

Latin America has seen 12 presidential contests in the last 13 months. Despite the installation of five new leaders, many analysts argue 2006 was more a year of continuity than change in the region. VOA's Michael Bowman attended a recent gathering of Washington-based experts on Latin America and has this report.

Russian authorities have set March 9, 2008, as the date for the country's next presidential elections.