101.   French Agriculture Minister Francois Patriat urged fellow Socialists on Monday to stay in the thick of political campaigning as France gears up for three more election weekends.

102.   Guterres resigned from his post as prime minister on Monday following a severe setback for his party in weekend municipal elections and quit as PS leader a day later.

103.   Guterres had announced his intention to step down earlier Monday after admitting that his ruling Socialist Party had suffered a major defeat in weekend municipal elections.

104.   Gusmao, a former guerrilla chief who led the independence struggle against Indonesia, was on Wednesday declared the overwhelming winner of the weekend election in East Timor.

105.   His opponents, who stormed the parliament building the previous day, are protesting against his re-election at elections last weekend, saying the results were rigged.

106.   In his first meeting with the triumphant Liberal and National parties coalition Howard counselled a sense of humility following their crushing victory in the weekend election.

107.   Incumbent President Lee Teng-hui swept to a landslide victory in the weekend elections, the first direct presidential polls in Chinese history.

108.   Israel on Wednesday said that the killing of two of its soldiers in a West Bank attack would not affect the holding of Palestinian elections this weekend.

109.   Israel was in a double state of alert Monday as police warned that both Islamic and Jewish extremists were planning attacks ahead of historic Palestinian elections this weekend.

110.   Another series of drills in the northern part of the strait, launched on Monday, will straddle the weekend presidential elections on Taiwan.