A bombing in the city of Quetta, in western Pakistan, left about 90 people killed and 160 injured. It was just another episode in the rampage of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an extremist Sunni militant group, who claimed responsibility for the blast, in its efforts to create a one-faith nation. Continue reading
South Africa has a new political party that could will put news faces and challenges before the old, powerful but riven African National Congress (ANC), which since 1994 has been a sure-thing at the polls.
The new body is headed by Mamphela Ramphele, a former senior World Bank official and anti-apartheid activist. It’s called Agang, and she says it would compete in the next elections in 2014. Its chances of making an impression were not rated highly.
— Murray Burt
Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s indefatigable 89-year-old president, is preparing his people for an election in the next few months but results may be a departure from the scandalous sleigh-rides to success he has enjoyed in the past. Continue reading
Results in indomitable Singapore’s by-elections, generally a sure-thing for the governing People’s Action Party (PAP), turned out to be a bookie’s nightmare. Continue reading
New Zealand wants to discourage boat people arriving unannounced to swell its immigration stream and is preparing regulations that would send them to controversial Australian detention centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Continue reading