Latin America

April has traditionally being the time for ‘hanami’ or cherry blossom festivals here when millions of Japanese hold parties under the pink flowering trees in parks and streets lit up gaily by lanterns.

If retired military officer Ollanta Humala wins the June 5 presidential runoff in Peru, he will have to govern with a highly fragmented Congress. And if lawmaker Keiko Fujimori triumphs, her most notable move may be the release of her father, former president Alberto Fujimori, who is serving 25 years in prison.

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has accepted a “road map” for a ceasefire with rebels, according to a delegation of African leaders.

Salmaniya Medical Complex, once one of the most renowned medical facilities in the Gulf and a jewel in the crown of Bahrain’s public healthcare system, has been transformed into a virtual ghost town.

My decision to visit Fukushima – the area worst hit by the massive quake, tsunami and nuclear power accident on Mar. 11 – was taken one afternoon last week after a long meeting with scientists.

The Ecuadorean government declared U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges “persona non grata” and expelled her from the country in response to a cable released by the Wikileaks whistleblower web site.

Rather belatedly, Latin America is beginning to test products imported from Japan to check that they are not contaminated with radioactivity from the Fukushima nuclear power station that was severely damaged by the Mar. 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The influx of migrants arriving from Libya and other African countries has created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in southern Italy.

Reasserting effective civilian control over the Honduran armed forces, after a coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya in June 2009, will require constitutional reform and a greater grasp by society on defense issues.

Despite the clear opposition of the Barack Obama administration and apparent ambivalence on the part of the right-wing government in Israel, neo-conservative hawks here have set their sights on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who they hope will be the next domino to fall to the so-called “Arab Spring”.