The Overview: 29.04.08

Asia: China's international PR nightmare continues, with South African Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu the latest bigwig to urge a boycott of the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. The torch relay met new protests in South Korea, but was well-received in North Korea; the treatment of this by some media puts the hypocrisy of the Games in neat perspective. (Hey, it's all about the economy, right?) Academics from around the world appealed to Chinese President Hu Jintao to be nicer to Tibet. Meanwhile, seventeen people involved in anti-China protests in Lhasa, Tibet, were jailed for their involvement, some for life.

Africa: Has Zimbabwe announced who its president is yet? Nope, but its rival opposition parties have reunited and declared their joint victory over Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, and there's talk of some multi-party vote-count-approving happening. There's another UN meeting about the crisis today. And Sokwanele has a very thorough summary of the situation. Elsewhere, there is doubt about Nigeria's electoral reform process.

Middle East: Conservative parties have won more seats in run-off votes in Iran.

North America: The US Supreme Court rules that an Indiana election law requiring photo ID is not unconstitutional. This freaks out some critics, who say that the law adds a burden to voting and could deter some people.

Asia-Pacific: The government of the Pacific island of Nauru has won re-election.