Full Coverage: Politics

29.04.2005 Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo has agreed to let rival candidate Alassane Ouattara run in elections in October, reversing his stand that a referendum be held to decide the issue and paving the way for rebels to return to the negotiating table and bring an end to the country's three-year conflict.

28.04.2005 The last Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon on Wednesday, ending nearly three decades of military and political domination. Top intelligence officials are resigning and two UN teams are going to Lebanon to assess the withdrawal, and to investigate who assassinated Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February.

28.04.2005 Charles Taylor, the former despotic ruler of Liberia nicknamed the "Murderer of Monrovia," is already manipulating the country's elections set to take place in October to avoid standing trial for war crimes, writes Douglas Farah, a former West Africa-based U.S. journalist.

28.04.2005 LOME, Apr 27 (IPS) - Emmanuel Akitani-Bob, an opposition candidate in the presidential election held Sunday in Togo, declared himself winner of the poll Wednesday. This came a day after the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) announced that Faure Gnassingbe, son of deceased head of state Gnassingbe Eyadema, was the provisional winner.

28.04.2005 KATHMANDU, April 27 (IPS) - In the wee hours of Wednesday several jeep-loads of heavily armed policemen arrived at the residence of former Nepalese prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. He was packed into one of the vehicles and driven away - arrested on charges of corruption.

28.04.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Apr 27 (OneWorld) - Voters from across the country lobbied Capitol Hill Wednesday as part of an unusual movement to support their senators' right to make endless speeches.

27.04.2005 A new ad will be airing on radio stations in twelve key U.S. cities this week as Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate get closer to what could be a major confrontation over the use of the filibuster. The U.S.'s major lawmaking body could be shut down over a Republican attempt to eliminate the 200-year old political tactic that has ensured no party can wield absolute power over the other.

27.04.2005 A bargaining session Monday in Nigeria, where both parties agreed to form a government of national unity, did little to pre-empt violence in the tiny West African country of Togo Tuesday once the ruling party was declared the winner of the weekend's elections. The opposition has urged the country's five million people to resist, and tensions remained high overnight.

26.04.2005 Spain has joined the troupe of European countries moving towards equal rights for gay and lesbian couples as its legislature began the process to legalize same-sex marriage. The law would afford same-sex couples the same pension, inheritance, and adoption rights currently enjoyed by heterosexual couples.

26.04.2005 From a lack of regulations on toxic chemicals to a lack of enthusiasm for renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction, President Bush's environmental policies have left him increasingly isolated on the world stage and in his home country, says longtime political and environmental columnist Edward Flattau.

26.04.2005 Confusion seems to be reigning in Togo after Sunday's hastily organized presidential election, which was supposed to determine a legitimate successor to Gnassingbe Eyadema, Africa's longest-serving ruler who died in office in February. But both sides have claimed fraud, and while the parties nominally agreed to a government of national unity Monday, Tuesday's announcement that Eyadema's son won the poll has sparked fresh violence.

25.04.2005 If long-term political change is to take root in the Middle East, political parties are certainly important. But so too are labor unions; social welfare organizations; and professional, cultural, and educational associations; all of which empower individuals to express their hopes and aspirations in a variety of fora that can then feed into the political process. Former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Dov S. Zakheim lays out a culturally respectful path to democracy in a deeply religious part of the world.

25.04.2005 How often have you heard UK politicians claim that new legislation is required to comply with European or international law? A new project sets out to demonstrate how national governments conspire to "launder" unpopular policies through international bodies.

25.04.2005 The deteriorating political situation in Nepal offers no favours to endangered species. As military protection of national parks is diverted, the poachers regain the upper hand, with inevitable consequences for the rhino population.

22.04.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Apr 22 (OneWorld) - The U.S. House of Representatives approved an energy bill Thursday--the eve of Earth Day--after beating back numerous attempts to minimize the environmental harm that critics said the measure would wreak.

22.04.2005 Togo's last and only president served 38 years until he died in office earlier this year. While his son is expected to win Sunday's election--although allegations of fraud are already circulating--the country's citizens all appear to be eagerly anticipating any change after decades of economic and political stagnation.

22.04.2005 U.S. lawmakers are gearing up for a potentially major clash next week over judicial nominations and the filibuster in what's being called by some a political power grab by the ruling party. President Bush's Ecuadorian counterpart was violently ousted this week by an angry populace after packing his country's Supreme Court with his own political allies.

21.04.2005 President Bush and the Republican Party were dealt a major blow Tuesday when the panel of senators considering John Bolton’s nomination as the new U.S. ambassador to the UN put off their decision for another two weeks in order to investigate fresh allegations against Bolton's character and fitness to serve.

21.04.2005 The 2005 Energy Policy Act now before Congress has been revised in the last two years to include incentives for renewable energy sources and create reliability standards for the national electricity grid, but it still does little to protect the environment or make the United States less dependent on foreign oil, says Moving Ideas.

20.04.2005 A coalition of national security, labor, ranching, and faith-based representatives are urging U.S. lawmakers to make new energy choices that would be more environmentally and socially sound. Despite President Bush's call for more "environmentally sensitive" energy choices, the current energy bill "would do nothing to improve energy efficiency, save oil or advance clean, renewable energy sources," according to one conservation group.