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The White House nominated Robert Zoellick to be the new president of the World Bank, replacing Paul Wolfowitz, who is stepping down after a contentious stint in the job. Mr Zoellick was America's chief trade negotiator from 2001 to 2005, when he forged trade pacts with China and Taiwan and championed the Doha round of trade talks. See article

George Bush asked Congress to extend his programme for tackling AIDS in 15 mostly African countries, which is due to expire in September 2008. The president wants to spend $30 billion more on the scheme, which will include treatment for 2.5m people.

The party's over

The Constitutional Tribunal in Thailand found members of the Thai Rak Thai party guilty of breaking the law during last year's election. The ruling means the party will be disbanded. Its leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, prime minister until deposed in a coup last September, has been barred from politics for five years. The Democrat party, Thailand's oldest, was cleared of charges of fraud. See article

Japan's agriculture minister, Toshikatsu Matsuoka, hanged himself at his parliamentary apartment in Tokyo. His suicide seemed linked to accusations that he had been fiddling his expenses, and was involved in a scandal about rigged bidding for road-building contracts. The next day an executive from a company implicated in the same scandal fell to his death in another apparent suicide.

The former head of China's State Food and Drug Administration was sentenced to death for corruption. He was found guilty of taking bribes in return for approving drugs. Chinese standards have been under scrutiny after a number of scandals involving poor-quality or fake drugs and food.

Despite Malaysia's constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, its Supreme Court ruled, in an important test case, that Lina Joy, a 43-year-old woman who wants to convert officially from Islam to Christianity, cannot do so without the approval of Islamic sharia courts. See article

The authorities in Kazakhstan issued an international warrant for the arrest of Rakhat Aliyev, the son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbayev who was until last month the country's ambassador to Austria. Mr Aliyev, who has presidential ambitions himself, is accused of involvement in an extortion case that led to the kidnapping of two bankers. See article

Bertie bounces back


Bertie Ahern's ruling Fianna Fail party did surprisingly well in Ireland's election, taking 78 of the 166 parliamentary seats. But its coalition partner, the Progressive Democrats, did badly, so Mr Ahern is expected to form a minority government with the help of independents. To general relief, Sinn Fein fared poorly, falling from five to four seats. See article

Ukraine's warring president and prime minister patched together a deal under which they agreed to a new parliamentary election, to be held in September. But there were signs that the agreement could unravel—and an election is unlikely to resolve the country's political disputes. See article

Andrei Lugovoi, the former Russian agent suspected by the British of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko in London last year, said that British security services had tried to recruit him to spy on Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, and accused them of involvement in Mr Litvinenko's murder.

Russia tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile intended to evade missile-defence systems. Mr Putin criticised American plans to deploy missile defences in central Europe, which he said would make Europe a “powder keg”. He is to visit America in July for talks with George Bush.

The ruling centre-left governments of Spain and Italy both did badly in local elections.

Dug in

The Lebanese army continued to besiege a Palestinian refugee camp on the edge of Tripoli, in the north of the country, where members of Fatah al-Islam, a group proclaiming allegiance to al-Qaeda, refused to surrender. See article

The UN Security Council passed a resolution to set up a special court to try suspects in the killing in 2005 of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister of Lebanon. The Syrian government has been accused of complicity.

In the first round of a primary contest to pick the leader of Israel's Labour party, which is part of the ruling coalition, Ehud Barak, a former prime minister, beat Ami Ayalon, a former head of Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence service, by 36% to 31%, knocking out the current leader, Amir Peretz. A run-off is due on June 12th. A general election may be held later in the summer. See article

The American and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq met in Baghdad to discuss ways of stabilising the country, the first formal meeting between senior American and Iranian officials in 28 years. It was unclear if a higher-level meeting would ensue.


Umaru Yar'Adua was sworn in as president of Nigeria, amid scattered protests against the fraudulent election he won in April. Four former state governors accused of corruption are on the run after losing their immunity from prosecution when their terms of office expired.

America toughened its sanctions against Sudan in protest against the government's involvement in killings in the western region of Darfur. But Sudan can still rely on its strong commercial links with countries such as China.

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Despite widespread protests in Venezuela and expressions of concern abroad, Hugo Chávez's government shut down the main opposition television station, transferring its national channel to a state-backed outfit. The president also threatened the only remaining opposition station. See article

The president of Brazil's Senate, Renan Calheiros, denied claims that he had taken bribes from a construction company. The energy minister resigned last month over similar claims. See article

Football's governing body announced a ban on international matches being played in venues higher than 2,500 metres (8,200 feet) above sea level on the grounds it might threaten players' health and distort competition. This produced angry reactions in Bolivia and Ecuador, who risk seeing their footballing comparative advantage eroded.