Syria holds first parliamentary elections since Assad's ouster in contested process

Syrians head to the polls on Sunday to vote for the new lawmakers of its first post-Assad parliament in a process criticised as undemocratic, with a third of MPs appointed by interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.  According to the organising committee, more than 1,500 candidates – just 14 percent of them women – are running for the assembly, which will have a renewable 30-month mandate.