Cape Verde holds presidential run-off

The West African archipelago of Cape Verde holds the presidential run-off on Sunday after none of the four candidates had an outright win in the first round election, according to the information monitored here. The second round was planned to run between 8 a.m. (0900 GMT) and 6 p.m. (1900 GMT), the electoral commission said. Around 300,000 eligible voters out of the country's 500, 000 population are expected to cast their ballots to choose between the two leading runners in the polls held on Aug. 7. Jorge Carlos Fonseca of the opposition MPD party took the lead in the previous race with 37.4 percent of the vote. The ruling PAICV party's candidate Manuel Inocencio Sousa followed with 33.3 percent. The other two contenders were independent candidates Aristides Lima and Joaquim Monteiro. Cape Verde won independence from Portugal in 1975. The PAICV and the MPD have been the major players in the country's politics.