TUNISIA: Tunisians went to the polls today in an election which is likely to grant President Kais Saied a second term, as his most prominent opponents, including one of the candidates challenging him, are in prison.

The president faces few obstacles to winning re-election, five years after riding an anti-establishment backlash to a first term, and three after suspending parliament and rewriting the constitution giving the presidency more power.

THAILAND: Several central provinces are braced for floods today after the Irrigation Department announced it was releasing water from a major dam after weeks of frequent heavy rain.

The rain stopped in the northern city of Chiang Mai, but many people remained cut off by floodwaters that in some areas were waist high or above. 

RWANDA: Health authorities began a vaccine study against the Marburg hemorrhagic fever, officials said today, as the east African country tries to stop the spread of an outbreak that has killed 12 people.

Rwanda, which received 700 doses of a vaccine under trial from the United States-based Sabin Vaccine Institute on Saturday, will target health workers and emergency responders as well as individuals who have been in contact with confirmed cases, according to the Health Ministry.

There is no authorised vaccine or treatment for Marburg.

BRAZIL: Brazilians began voting in the first round of local elections on Sunday for mayors, deputy mayors and councillors in the country’s 5,569 municipalities.

In Sao Paulo, three mayoral candidates are running neck-and-neck, including incumbent Ricardo Nunes, left-wing lawmaker Guilherme Boulos and self-help guru turned far-right politician Pablo Marcal. 

A run-off is scheduled for October 27.