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Moderate Socialist Antonio Jose Seguro appeared to be headed for a landslide victory in Portugal's presidential runoff on Sunday, with two exit polls putting him in the 67%-73% range, well ahead of his far-right, anti-establishment rival Andre Ventura, Reuters reported. 

The exit polls conducted for television channels RTP, SIC and TVI/CNN placed Ventura at 27%-33%, still a better result than the 22.8% his anti-immigration Chega party achieved in last year's general election.

Last year, Chega became the second-largest parliamentary force, overtaking the Socialists and landing behind the centre-right ruling alliance, which garnered 31.2%, according to Reuters. 

For years under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s opposition had little presence on the streets during elections, either boycotting polls or being sidelined by mass arrests of senior leaders. Now, ahead of Thursday’s vote, the roles have reversed, Reuters reported. 

Hasina’s Awami League is banned, but many young people who helped oust her government in a 2024 uprising say the upcoming vote will be the Muslim-majority nation's first competitive election since 2009, when she began a 15-year-rule.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely expected to win, although a coalition led by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami is putting up a strong challenge. A new party driven by Gen-Z activists under the age of 30 has aligned with Jamaat after failing to translate its anti-Hasina street mobilisation into an electoral base, according to Reuters. 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi has been handed further prison sentences of seven-and-a-half years by an Iranian court, her lawyer has said, BBC reported. 

The human rights activist was sentenced to six years for "gathering and collusion", and one-and-a-half years for "propaganda activities" by a court in the north-eastern city of Mashhad, Mostafa Nili announced on social media on Sunday.

Mohammadi was arrested in December for making "provocative remarks" at a memorial ceremony, Iranian authorities said at the time. Her family said she was taken to hospital after being beaten during the arrest, according to BBC. 

Prime Minister Anutin Charnavirakul has claimed victory in Thailand's general election, with preliminary vote counts putting his ruling conservatives well ahead of their rivals, BBC reported. 

Anutin said his success belonged to "all Thais, no matter whether you voted for us or not", after his party's expected result defied opinion polls that had placed the reformist People's Party ahead.

With 90% of the votes counted, Anutin's Bhumjaithai party is projected to win 194 seats in Bangkok's 500-seat parliament, with the People's Party in second place on 116, according to BBC.