More than a million have cast their votes in Hong Kong's district elections viewed as a barometer of support for the anti-government protests.
A record 4.1 million residents have been registered to vote, with more than 400 councillors due to be elected to Hong Kong's district council.
Beijing-backed leader Carrie Lam, who cast her vote early Sunday, pledged that her government would listen "more intensively" to the views of district councils.
"I hope this kind of stability and calm is not only for today's election, but to show that everyone does not want Hong Kong to fall into a chaotic situation again, hoping to get out of this dilemma, and let us have a fresh start," she said.
Pro-democracy protest groups have urged people not to cause disruption and are hoping to increase their representation on the council.
Meanwhile, the standoff between protesters and riot police at the Polytechnic University campus entered the seventh day today.
Tehran would restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month in a framework deal with the US to also include withdrawing US forces from Iran's vicinity, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday.
Uganda has closed its border with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo with immediate effect to try to limit the spread of Ebola, Uganda's government said on Wednesday.
Five people who had been trapped inside a cave in Laos for about a week were found alive on Wednesday, as dozens of Lao and Thai rescuers continued to search for two others, Thai volunteers said.
Israeli raids targeting several areas across Lebanon on Tuesday killed 31 people and wounded 40 others, Lebanon's health ministry said, in one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks.
A commission was launched in the Philippines on Wednesday led by a former International Criminal Court judge to investigate a bloody "war on drugs", aiming to document alleged extrajudicial killings and compile evidence for potential legal cases.