Caracas - Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez said late Sunday that "Goliath won," as a constitutional reform to allow the unlimited re-election of the president was passed in a referendum.

"Goliath won, the Venezuelan state with the full power of the state won," Lopez told the television channel CNN en espanol.

Caracas  - Polls opened on Sunday morning across Venezuela in a new referendum on the issue of unlimited terms for President Hugo Chavez, amid heavy security measures.

Around 17 million Venezuelans are eligible to vote in the referendum, which will decide on a change to the country's constitution that would see Chavez extend his period in office beyond the currently-mandated two terms, due to end in 2013.

A further term would see Chavez, who has been in power in Venezuela since 1999, in power until at least 2019.

The result of the poll is should be known by the early hours of Monday.

Colombo  - President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) recorded convincing victories in two of the nine provinces where local elections were held on Saturday, officials said.

The victories in the Central and North Western Provinces were widely seen as an endorsement of the military campaign against Tamil rebels in the northern part of the country.

Washington  - US President Barack Obama intends to work toward Middle East peace regardless of who forms Israel's new government, the White House said Wednesday, following Tuesday's elections.

"President Obama looks forward to working with whoever makes up that next Israeli government in a search for lasting and durable peace in the region," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Elections Tuesday in Israel failed to produce a clear winner. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the Kadima party and Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu both declared victory, with 99 per cent of ballot counted.

Prague  - Without naming any names, the European Union presidency in Pr

Tel Aviv  - Whether opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu or Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni assumes the task of forming the next Israeli government, a tough and complicated process lies ahead.

The close results of Tuesday's elections created a political limbo and prompted both the underdog Livni of the centrist Kadima and the favourite Netanyahu of the hardline Likud to claim victory.

Livni, 50, said she won because her party won the most (28) mandates and retained its position as the largest party in the 120- seat Knesset.