Stuart Munckton

Since the June 12 Iranian presidential election, and the almost immediate announcement of a landslide victory for incumbent Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Iran has been convulsed by mass protests alleging electoral fraud.

State of Play

Directed by Kevin Macdonald

Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Tony Gilroy

With Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, Helen Mirren

In cinemas

The Chaser comedy team had its top-rating show, The Chaser’s War on Everything, suspended by the ABC for two weeks after an outcry over a sketch screened on June 3 that joked about the Make a Wish Foundation charity for sick children.

Pakistan’s workers and peasants continue to be caught between the brutal military conflict waged between the Pakistani military, backed by the US, and the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban.

The most popular leader among the Arab population in the Middle East, the May 20 Christian Science Monitor said, isn’t even from the region: it is Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced the nationalisation of six companies on May 21. “There will be no discussion”, he said.

After the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which waged an armed struggle for independence for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, the extent of the killings of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan army (SLA) has begun to emerge.

“The International Peoples’ Tribunal of Conscience sat on May 15-16 in Paris to hear testimony about the harmful effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam’s environment and population”, Thanhniemnews.com said on May 20.

On May 3, Visteon workers occupying their west Belfast plant voted to end their 36-day sit-in protest, An Phoblacht said on May 7.

“We ask the Afghan government to force the American forces to leave Afghanistan. They kill more civilians than Taliban”, an angry Haji Nangyalai told AFP on May 7 at a demonstration outside government offices in the western town of Farah.