Voting starts in France, Sarkozy headed for defeat

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• Voting starts in France, Sarkozy headed for defeat
• Angry Greeks vote in cliffhanger election
• Clinton pressures Bangladesh government in Grameen Bank row
• Egypt imposes curfew, deploys army after protests
• Conservative factions dominate Iran's run-off elections
• Heavy fighting rocks eastern Syria: residents
• Conservative lawmaker says UK PM Cameron should go
• Hardline Myanmar vice president resigns, says report
• Italy local vote provides test for Monti austerity
• Backing EU path, Serbian right wing vies for power
• 9/11 defendants ignore judge at Guantanamo hearing
• Polls open across France in presidential election
• Greeks vote in critical but uncertain election
• Clinton warns against undermining Grameen Bank
• Pro-EU camp faces nationalists in Serbia vote
• Syrian opposition figures urge election boycott
• Iran 'concerned' over US-Afghan security pact
• Israeli leader expected to declare early elections
• US eyes more cuts in India's oil imports from Iran
• Egypt military detains hundreds following violence

Voting starts in France, Sarkozy headed for defeat Posted: PARIS (Reuters) - Voting started in mainland France on Sunday in an election that could make Nicolas Sarkozy the 11th European leader to be swept from office by the economic crisis and crown Francois Hollande as France's first Socialist president in 17 years. Buoyed by a tide of anger over Sarkozy's inability to rein in rampant unemployment during his five-year term, Hollande was between four and eight points ahead in final opinion polls for a vote that could mean a shift in direction for Europe. ...

Angry Greeks vote in cliffhanger election Posted: ATHENS (Reuters) - Angry Greek voters headed to the polls on Sunday for an election shrouded in uncertainty that could reignite Europe's debt crisis and renew doubts about the country's future in the euro zone. At stake in the first general election since the debt crisis exploded at the end of 2009 is whether Greece sticks to the terms of deeply unpopular EU/IMF bailouts which saved it from bankruptcy but propelled it into a deep, protracted recession. ...

Clinton pressures Bangladesh government in Grameen Bank row Posted: DHAKA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday warned Bangladesh's government not to undermine pioneering microlender Grameen Bank, saying it was a key driver in the South Asian nation's slow climb out of poverty. Clinton met with Grameen's ousted founder - Nobel Prize-winning economics professor Mohammad Yunus - and later voiced strong support for the organization which has fallen out of favour with Bangladesh's political leadership. ...

Egypt imposes curfew, deploys army after protests Posted: CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military rulers on Saturday imposed an overnight curfew and deployed soldiers around the Defence Ministry to deter a repeat of Friday's deadly violence, less than three weeks before a presidential vote. One soldier died and almost 400 people were wounded in Friday's clashes, the second time in a week that protests over the army's handling of Egypt's troubled transition from army rule to civilian government have turned violent. The military imposed a 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. ...

Conservative factions dominate Iran's run-off elections Posted: DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, now out of favor with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suffered more setbacks in a run-off parliamentary election seen as a pointer for next year's presidential race, results showed on Saturday. The authorities hailed the outcome as a resounding triumph for Iran as it prepares for nuclear negotiations with the West. ...

Heavy fighting rocks eastern Syria: residents Posted: AMMAN (Reuters) - Heavy fighting between rebels and government troops erupted overnight in the capital of an oil producing province in eastern Syria, residents and activists said on Sunday, the latest escalation of violence in a tribal area bordering Iraq. Rebels armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked tank positions in the eastern sector of the city of Deir al-Zor on the Euphrates river, in response to an army offensive against several towns and villages in the province that have killed tens of people in recent days, they said. "The fighting subsided early in the morning. ...

Conservative lawmaker says UK PM Cameron should go Posted: LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron could be removed as leader of the Conservatives to prevent the party losing power in the next national election, a maverick lawmaker from his party warned on Sunday after a humiliating defeat in local elections. The bluntest public demand to date by a lawmaker of his own party for a leadership challenge escalates the strife for Cameron as he grapples with keeping his coalition government together after the worst month of his two-year premiership. ...

Hardline Myanmar vice president resigns, says report Posted: YANGON (Reuters) - A former top general close to Myanmar's retired dictator Than Shwe has resigned as vice-president, Burmese media reported, ending the hardliner's role in the reformist government. Tin Aung Myint Oo, 61, submitted his resignation on May 3 for health reasons after returning from Singapore for medical treatment, the Myanmar language service of Voice of America reported on Sunday. The report could not be immediately confirmed. ...

Italy local vote provides test for Monti austerity Posted: ROME (Reuters) - Italians went to the polls on Sunday in local elections that will provide the first test of voter resistance to Prime Minister Mario Monti's increasingly unpopular austerity policies since his appointment last year. Monti himself is not in the race, but for the two main parties which support his technocrat government in parliament, the vote will be a barometer of support ahead of national elections next year. ...

Backing EU path, Serbian right wing vies for power Posted: BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's right-wing opposition vied for power on Sunday in knife-edge elections marked by an unprecedented pro-European consensus more than a decade since the fall of nationalist strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Liberals who took power in 2000 face their strongest challenge yet from the opposition led by Tomislav Nikolic, once demonized by the West as Milosevic's spiritual heir but who says he now shares the goal of taking Serbia into the European Union. ...

9/11 defendants ignore judge at Guantanamo hearing Posted: The second attempt to prosecute the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four men accused of helping orchestrate the plot got off to a rough start, with the defendants disrupting their arraignment and forcing the proceedings to drag on late into the night.

Polls open across France in presidential election Posted: France voted in a presidential run-off election on Sunday that could see Socialist challenger Francois Hollande defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy by capitalizing on public anger over the government's austerity policies.

Greeks vote in critical but uncertain election Posted: Greeks cast ballots on Sunday in their most critical — and uncertain — election in decades, with voters set to punish the two main parties that are being held responsible for the country's dire economic straits.

Clinton warns against undermining Grameen Bank Posted: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday urged the government of Bangladesh not to do anything that could undermine the effectiveness of the internationally acclaimed Grameen Bank micro-lender.

Pro-EU camp faces nationalists in Serbia vote Posted: Serbs voted Sunday in a national election that gave them a sharp choice between a pro-Western government or one that would bring back to power former nationalist allies of the late Balkan strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Syrian opposition figures urge election boycott Posted: Exiled opposition leaders are asking Syrians to boycott an upcoming parliamentary election they dismiss as a cynical attempt by President Bashar Assad to hold on to power.

Iran 'concerned' over US-Afghan security pact Posted: Iran says it is "concerned" about a U.S.-Afghan strategic partnership agreement signed earlier this week that could keep an American military presence in Afghanistan for years to come.

Israeli leader expected to declare early elections Posted: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to declare that early elections will be held less than four months from now, a move that would give him a referendum on his leadership that would help him fend off both Israeli and international critics.

US eyes more cuts in India's oil imports from Iran Posted: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will use a two-day visit to India this week to urge further reductions in Indian imports of Iranian oil.

Egypt military detains hundreds following violence Posted: Egypt's military officials moved swiftly Saturday to prosecute protesters they blamed for an attack on the Defense Ministry, in an attempt to put down increasingly violent protests against their authority just weeks before the country's presidential election.

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