The latter three have just contested elections for state primaries and will soon be fighting to assume the presidency of the US.
Sri Lanka will arrive back for the Test series having just contested the limited-overs Asia Cup in Bangladesh and Flower is hoping his side can take the edge in terms of preparations.
David Cameron's memoir, which has just been sold to William Collins in a "hotly contested and significant deal", is as yet untitled, according to his publisher.
The Australian Financial Review has just published a JWS poll in Forde - the seat being contested by Labor's star recruit Peter Beattie.
Interest may be strongest in America, where a hotly contested auction for IMG, the world's biggest management agency, has just concluded.
Manafort was brought to Ukraine in 2005 by wealthy businessman Rinat Akhmetov, who persuaded him to put his talents to work on behalf of the Party of Regions, a pro-Russia group in that country whose candidate, Yanukovych, had just lost a contested election and was looking for a comeback.
They had just won the contested 2000 presidential election through a 5-4 Supreme Court and asked each other if the narrowness of and questions surrounding their victory make them chart a centrist course and moderate their conservative agenda?
In Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib had just won a tightly contested election, and was flush with power.
"We have just had a very vigorously contested election, but the election is over," Mr. Obama told them.
They've just bagged the most hotly contested and coveted slot in the musical cosmos, but Basement Jaxx don't look too fussed about it.
