Czech businessman and politician Andrej Babiš's populist ANO party took a wide early lead in the country's parliamentary election on Saturday, according to partial results after 10% of voting districts had been counted.
ANO was leading with 39.7% of the vote, with the Spolu (Together) group led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala in second place with 19.1%.
Early results tend to be from smaller districts where in the past ANO and other opposition parties have been stronger, while Spolu fares better in bigger cities that take longer to be counted.
If Babiš, a former prime minister, wins enough to form a government, he would strengthen the populist, anti-immigration camp in Europe and reduce Czech support for Ukraine.
Babiš is an ally of Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán and teamed up with a number of far-right parties in the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament to challenge the mainstream direction of Europe's polices, including decarbonisation.
Babiš, who led a centre-left cabinet in 2017-2021, has said he aimed for a one-party government.
The results so far show ANO would fall short of a majority, so the key to forming a government will be how other parties fare.
ANO has ruled out an agreement with the current ruling parties and the liberal Pirates, which were in government until last year.
That means he may have to turn for support to the Motorists party, which opposes the European Union's phase-out of combustion cars, but possibly also the far-right SPD, or the far-left Stačilo!, which stood below the 5% threshold to enter parliament in the early partial results.
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Israeli military bulldozers have begun demolishing buildings in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, 23 October, following armed clashes with Palestinians that left two Israeli soldiers dead, according to the Israeli military.
Saudi Aramco has ordered staff to evacuate its headquarters amid escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Two people were killed in an attack on Dammam airport, while Iran's IRGC Navy claimed strikes on seven vessels and warned the U.S. of a wider response.
Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Super typhoon Champi is set to batter Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture from Friday (23 October), bringing violent winds, torrential rain and waves up to 11 metres high, as airlines cancel flights and organisers scrap a major festival.
A powerful magnitude 7 earthquake has struck Tibet in southwestern China, killing 16 people and injuring 65, while forcing more than 12,000 residents to relocate as rescue teams respond to widespread aftershocks.
German police have detained a suspect after a major fire broke out at the historic Kehlsteinhaus, known as the “Eagle’s Nest”, a mountain retreat once used by senior Nazi officials, including Adolf Hitler.
Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday, leaving one person dead and more than 500 injured as strong winds and torrential rain brought down trees, cut power and disrupted transport across the island.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday dismissed accusations that Canada planned to interfere in next month’s U.S. midterm elections, saying he was disappointed by comments from the American ambassador.
Kenya has recorded a second death from Ebola, the health ministry said late on Friday, as the outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to spread across Africa.
Gunmen opened fire on mourners at a church funeral in southern Jordan on Friday, killing at least seven people in a rare attack on the country’s Christian minority that has raised fresh questions about security in the country.
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