Full Coverage: Politics

30.12.2005 President Jalal Talabani has taken the lead in sponsoring dialogue between rival political groups to resolve a political crisis that erupted after some 60 political parties claimed fraud had taken place during Iraq's 15 December parliamentary elections.

29.12.2005 Sir Bob Geldof was making an "error of judgment" in associating with the Tories, said Gill Hubbard, a spokeswoman for G8 Alternatives.

28.12.2005 The George Bush administration has embarked on a new effort to pressure Iraq's militant Shiite party leaders to give up their control over internal security affairs that could lead the Shiites to reconsider their reliance on US troops, says Gareth Porter.

20.12.2005 The election of indigenous leader Evo Morales as president of Bolivia is being hailed by native leaders from throughout the region as a "sign of hope" for all impoverished and discriminated indigenous peoples in Latin America.

20.12.2005 Presidential and legislative elections in Haiti have been postponed for a third time because the country is not ready for a peaceful process, say election officials.

19.12.2005 Bolivia's indigenous leader Evo Morales scorns US imperialism and promises social change, but will he be able to deliver after Sunday's election? Nick Buxton reports from La Paz.

19.12.2005 The omission of thousands of Kurds from voter lists is attributed to administrative error, but sparks deep-seated mistrust of Baghdad.

16.12.2005 Bolivians will elect a president Sunday in what a former president has called "the most important election of our lives," but the Bush administration is up in arms over the likely ascendance of Evo Morales, an indigenous politician and leader of the country's coca leaf producers.

15.12.2005 A leading journalist and publisher, whose passport has been confiscated by the intelligence services, claims Mugabe no longer holds the reins of power.

15.12.2005 Nearly a third surveyed in a UK Mori poll said that they condoned torture in some circumstances. A leading UK human rights group said that people are losing sight of the horrific reality of torture - enabling the UK to turn a blind eye to other countries' torture records by seeking ‘Memoranda of Understanding’ with countries like Algeria.
*Campaign against torture

14.12.2005 SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 14 (OneWorld) - Iraqis will choose 275 new legislators Thursday, but some experts warn that the country's improved voting procedures will still under-represent its Sunni Arab minority and could cause a backlash.

14.12.2005 Our members of Parliament actually touch money with their hands! That MPs soil their hands with small change was established by a sting operation that caught 11 MPs accepting money to ask questions in Parliament. Till now, only a few perverted minds ever imagined that MPs could be bribed.

14.12.2005 A top oil official in the Republic of Congo has been secretly selling hundreds of millions of dollars in cut-price oil to private companies he himself owns, reports a investigative campaign group.

14.12.2005 The government is missing an opportunity to prevent hundreds of thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from new housing, an environmental charity warned.

12.12.2005 Michelle Bachelet, who has vowed to appoint women to half the seats in her cabinet, failed to get the requisite 50% of votes to avoid a run-off in Sunday's presidential elections. The third-place candidate, who was eliminated, has thrown his support behind Bachelet's male opponent, tightening the race before January's final round of voting.

12.12.2005 The Oasis Forum organised People's rally held recently in Lusaka declared to teach President Levy Mwanawasa a lesson in the Tripartite 2006 elections.

09.12.2005 Michelle Bachelet, a medical doctor and divorced mother who was imprisioned and tortured after the 1973 Pinochet military coup, is leading the polls ahead of Sunday's presidental election. She--and other Latin American female politicans--are challenging male-dominance in the political arena, explains openDemocracy.

08.12.2005 In no uncertain terms, former president Jimmy Carter catalogs the current failings of U.S. leaders, lamenting human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation, lax environmental protection, and imperialist foreign policy. Carter calls for the U.S. to model ethical behavior--peace, rights, and prosperity for all--in an example to the world.

08.12.2005 Brazil's economy is stagnant and corruption scandals have rocked Lula's Workers' Party, but the president has followed through on his promise to focus on social development. Effective policies have cut extreme poverty by half since 1990, making Brazil one of the few countries to have already achieved Millennium Development Goal #1.

08.12.2005 The Iraqi government denies allegations that it is stepping up military operations so as to keep Sunni voters away from the polls.