Iran has excluded Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the founder of the Islamic republic and a cleric with ties to reformist politicians, from contesting elections to the country’s powerful Assembly of… Read more »
China’s Communist authorities are intensifying a crackdown on dissent, civil society and growing labor unrest, reflecting the ruling party’s concern that economic restructuring and dislocation will “threaten social stability.” “If… Read more »
Uganda, one of the West’s most important African military allies, will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on February 18, notes analyst Helen Epstein: Despite strong opposition, this election may be… Read more »
Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party opened an eight-day congress Thursday to name the country’s new set of leaders, who will determine the pace of critical economic reforms, the fight against corruption… Read more »
Russians are more concerned about economic and political stability than democracy, according to a new poll conducted by the Levada Center: The poll asked 1,600 Russian respondents to rank issues they viewed… Read more »
Chinese authorities have formally arrested China‘s most prominent woman human rights lawyer, Wang Yu, accusing her of subversion, as part of a crackdown on activists who have helped people fight… Read more »
Dissident artists are no better off post-Fidel, and renewed relations with the US haven’t helped as many hoped or claimed they would, Ryan McChrystal writes for Index on Censorship: The… Read more »
Venezuela is braced for a bitter political showdown as the opposition takes control of parliament, pitting the socialist government of President Nicolás Maduro against a coalition of lawmakers who aim… Read more »
A former Amazon activist and Environment Minister Marina Silva is in a dead-heat presidential race with President Dilma Rousseff, who represents the Workers Party, which she herself helped found three… Read more »
Dissident writer and human rights legal activist Guo Feixiong (left), was detained in August of 2013, formally arrested two months later for “gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place,” and… Read more »
