Nine Liberian opposition parties say they will reject the results of this week's presidential election, alleging massive fraud.

President Pervez Musharraf's leading lieutenants appeared to have lost their seats in early results in Monday's Pakistani election, dealing a blow to the retired general's hopes of clinging to power. Early winners included the Pakistan Muslim League (N) of the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was polling strongly in Punjab.

The whirlwind of violent destruction triggered by Benazir Bhutto's death lashed Kashmore, a cotton-farming town at the junction of Pakistan's three largest provinces, particularly hard. A frenzied mob tore through its narrow streets, plundering banks, torching the hospital and trashing its telephone exchange.

Pakistan's political future hung in the balance on Sunday with Benazir Bhutto's party deciding whether to pull out of planned elections amid an acrimonious dispute over how she was killed. Her husband and top party officials were also expected to name a successor to Bhutto as head of the country's largest opposition party.

South Koreans went to the polls on Wednesday expected to choose as president a former CEO vowing to knock the economy into shape and stand up to the North, but whose authority could be weakened by a fraud investigation. The last legally allowed opinion polls a week ago showed former Hyundai Group executive and ex-Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak on course to to victory.