The Honduran interim government defied international pressure on Wednesday and vowed there was “no chance at all” of ousted President Manuel Zelaya returning to office.
World leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have told the new rulers of the Central American country to restore Zelaya, a leftist who was toppled by the army on Sunday and sent into exile after a dispute over presidential term limits.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai registered to run for re-election on Monday, but was criticised for naming a former guerrilla chief accused of rights abuses as his senior running mate.
As the Aug. 20 election draws closer, Karzai appears to be approaching an all but unassailable position, with the opposition struggling to name a contender with a broad enough support base to win.
“I have taken this decision for the welfare and interest of the people of Afghanistan,” Karzai, who has led Afghanistan since 2001, said of his decision to seek a second …

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday he would pay close attention to religious sensibilities in his new role as NATO chief in comments aimed at allaying Muslim concern at his appointment.
Turkey had threatened to veto the former Danish prime minister’s appointment over his handling of a 2006 crisis triggered by cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper.
His comments at an Istanbul conference on Monday fell short of the outright apology which Turkish officials had hoped for.

The US and its European allies are ­preparing to plant a high-profile figure in the heart of the Kabul government in a direct challenge to the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, the Guardian has learned.
The creation of a new chief executive or prime ministerial role is aimed at bypassing Karzai. In a further dilution of his power, it is proposed that money be diverted from the Kabul government to the provinces. Many US and European officials have become disillusioned with the extent of the corruption and incompetence in the Karzai government, …

The trip came after Mr Brown praised Mr Obama for following his lead in tackling the economic crisis.
Other British prime ministers had gone to America to talk about war; he was talking about the economy and “future stability”.
Mr Brown will hope to find a key ally in the drive to pull the world out of recession and pointed that America is also now having to use taxpayers’ money to halt the collapse of the country’s banks.
He said: “He is doing similar things to what we are doing in Britain.”

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, not seen in public for nearly three years, has been for a walk in Havana.
Mr Chavez, who visited Cuba a week ago, said in comments carried by Venezuelan state TV that Mr Castro had seemed in “very, very good” shape.
Media in Cuba have neither reported nor confirmed Mr Chavez’s tale.
Mr Castro, 82, has not made a public appearance since undergoing gastric surgery in July 2006.

Tzipi Livni, the leader of Israel’s centrist Kadima party, has rejected an offer to join a ruling coalition, making the formation of a right-wing government likely.
Livni turned down Benyamin Netanyahu’s offer to form a government with his Likud party on Friday, saying that she preferred to be in a “responsible opposition”.
Livni said that one of the fundamental sticking points to her joining Likud was her desire to negotiate for a Palestinian state to exist alongside Israel.

Caracas, Venezuela – Venezuelans in the nation’s capital awoke Sunday to the sound of firecrackers and military bugles summoning them to vote on the longevity of President Hugo Chávez’s leadership.
Polls indicate that Mr. Chávez has a slight edge in the national referendum to lift term limits. But this is a tight race that has already produced verbal outbursts, demonstrations, and violence.
The outcome will likely depend on voters in places such as, Petare, a sprawling district in urban Caracas. This area has long been a bastion of support for Mr. Chávez.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s allies swept to victory over Shiite religious parties during last weekend’s provincial elections in Iraq — a rousing endorsement of his crackdown on extremists, according to official results released Thursday.
The impressive showing, which must be certified by international and Iraqi observers, places al-Maliki in a strong position before parliamentary elections late this year and could bolster U.S. confidence that it can begin withdrawing more of its 140,000 troops.

Iraqis were voting in provincial elections on Saturday in a crucial test for a nation struggling to emerge from years of sectarian strife and strengthen its fledgling democracy.
Security for Iraq’s first ballot since 2005 was extremely tight with Iraqi police and military deployed in strength as part of ramped-up measures aimed at preventing militant attacks.