Lusaka, Zambia - Partial results from Zambia's presidential by-election Friday showed opposition leader Michael Sata leading acting president Rupiah Banda with 
60 out of 150 constituencies counted.

Sata, who was defeated for president in 2001 and 2006, had 407,639 votes, against 317,558 for Banda, candidate of the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy.

Johannesburg - South Africa was gearing up Friday for a radical shake-up in the country's political landscape as a split in the ruling African National Congress (ANC), the party of liberation from apartheid, came within days of fruition.

ANC members and former members who disagree with the direction the party is taking under current leader Jacob Zuma began arriving in Johannesburg Friday from across the country for a weekend convention that will lay the foundations for a new party.

Copenhagen - Were it up to Danish voters, US presidential candidate Barack Obama would win a landslide victory, a Danish newspaper reported Friday.

With appearances scheduled in eight key states, an optimistic Obama embarks on the final stretch of his presidential campaign, much buoyed by a half-hour prime-time television advertisement campaign 26-million Americans watched and after receiving an impressive endorsement from former president Bill Clinton.