If the exit poll results are born out by the real count, Gerb, which stands for citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, which led the country into February last year, looks set to head the next coalition government. But the task of the Gerb leader Boiko Borisov would be made more complicated by the plethoric parties expected to cross the 4% threshold and to enter the new parliament. The next government will be the fifth in under two years in Bulgaria. It would have to decide rapidly on the fate of the major commercial bank which closed its stores in June and to negotiate with Russian companies over energy supplies this winter.

The French Formula One Racing driver Jules Bianchi is in intensive care after suffering a severe head injury in a crash of the Japanese Grand Prix. Surgeons have been operating on Bianchi who was unconscious when he was taken to hospital. The race was haltered early and the British driver Lewis Hamilton was declared the winner.

BBC News.