Iraqi Kurds are going to the polls today in presidential and local parliamentary elections widely expected to return to power incumbent President Masoud Barzani.

Mr Barzani's Kurdish Democratic Party and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Democratic Union of Kurdistan, the region's two most powerful parties, are likely to win a majority in parliament. It is the first time the autonomous region's 2.5 million registered voters chose their president directly. Mr Barzani, a former guerrilla leader, is facing four challengers.