Afghanistan’s presidential election Afghans went to the polls on 20 August, and things stayed calmer than many had expected. As D+C went to print, only some 10 % of the votes had been counted, and it was too early to tell who will be the country’s next president.

Incumbent Hamid Karzai, who had already declared himself the victor, appeared to be ahead of his competitor Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, who also had already declared himself the victor. However, there were several complaints about cheating and manipulations. Abdullah was among those who accussed Karzai of rigging the elecctions.

The official election result is due to be released on 17 September. Should no candidate manage to gain 50 % of the votes, a second round of voting will have to be held within two weeks. During the first round, several people died in attacks on polling stations and other locations, as the Taliban tried to intimidate Afghans. Voter turnout was low, and particularly so in the areas controlled by Islamist hardliners in the South and East of the country. (cir)

Genetics of HIV decoded Scientists have recently deco­ded the entire genome se­quence of HIV 1, the main AIDS-Virus among humans. Re­searchers from Chapel Hill University in North Carolina published their results in the journal Nature. Based on this new knowledge, there are chances of better understanding the way the virus affects people and designing new medicines accordingly. HIV is parti­cularly dangerous, because the human immune system does not detect it and thus does not fight it either. It will take time, however, for new medicines to be marketed. HIV is comparatively complex, containing some 20,000 sequences. (cir)

Brazil slightly more equal Social inequality has decreased in Brazil. That is the result of a study by the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG). Be­tween 2001 and 2007, the in­come of lower-earning Brazilians showed marked improvement. Over the period studied, the poorest 60 % of the population – who account for less than 20 % of total income – saw their incomes rise by 40 %. The IPC-IG resear­chers report that around two thirds of the fall in inequality was due to better access to education and higher social spending by the government. Direct cash transfers to families and in­dividuals are reckoned to have been especially instrumental. Overall, the country's Gini coefficient – a statistical instrument used to measure equality – im­proved from 0.59 to 0.53. The income gap between poor and rich is particularly wide in Brazil: the poorest ­20 % share less than three per cent of national in­come; the richest 20 % in 2004 had more than 60 % at their disposal. On taking office in 2002, President Lula da Silva had an­nounced that action would be ta­ken to address massive poverty. (cir)

Tamil success in Sri Lanka’s Vavuniya In the first municipal elections held in Sri Lanka after the end of the civil war, voters turned away from President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government. Polls were held in two cities in the north of the country, where many members of the Tamil minority live. In Jaffna, President Rajapaksa’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won the largest share of the votes cast – but only 20 % of the electorate turned out to vote. In Vavuniya, the turn-out was over 50 %, and the majority voted for the "Tamil National Alliance" (TNA). Both cities border on the former rebel area. Because the region is still under heavy government control, observers had anticipated a different outcome. The opposition United National Party (UNP) complained it faced hindrance in the campaign and had virtually no access to voters. Indeed, no one was allowed to enter or leave the cities without a written permit from the defence ministry. Journalists were not allowed to travel to the north. Nevertheless, the government still hails the result as a first step towards democracy. (fb)

AU promises to protect Bashir The African Union has passed a resolution in protection of Sudanese President Omar al Bashir during its summit in July. All AU members – including those that are under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) – have thus pledged not to extradite Bashir.

Last year, the ICC had issued an arrest warrant, accusing Bashir of having caused violence in his country’s Darfur region. The AU resolution passed on initiative of Muammer Gadaffi, the Lybian president, who is currently presiding over the AU.

According to a Ugandan newspaper, that country’s Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa does not see the resolution in conflict with international treaties. The situation is tricky, however, as Uganda will host next year’s review conference, which will assess the ICC. Complications became obvious in August, as Bashir planned to attend a conference in Uganda. According to international law, the authorities there would have had to arrest him. On the other hand, the AU resolution clearly states that such a thing will not occur. The ICC’s Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo travelled to Uganda for talks with government officials. Consequently, Bashir sent someone else to take part in the conference in his place. (cir)

Civil-rights woes in Honduras In preliminary findings after a mission to Honduras, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) confirmed the arrest of thousands of people and arbitrary detentions since the coup against President Manuel Zelaya (note comment on page 350). The body of the Organisation of American States also noted “disproportionate use of public force”. (dem)

New gas-pipelines for Europe This summer, after years of negotiations, contracts for two new pipeline-projects were signed. On the one hand Russia and Turkey agreed to begin the construction of the South-Stream-Pipeline by 2010 at the latest. It will transport Russian gas all the way to Italy. Construction of the European rival-pro­ject, the Nabucco pipeline, will start in 2011. The scheme is to become operational by 2014, supplying gas from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. Europeans are interested in this 3,300 kilometre project because of their dependence on Russian gas. Possible gas suppliers include Azerbaijan, Kasachstan and Turkmenistan. Generally speaking, Nabucco should cover a maximum of five per cent of European demand. Kirsten Westphal of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, therefore considers Nabucco “Europe’s first step towards accessing the Caspian region”. (fb/cir)

Donor governments back off from Ilisu Dam Germany, Austria and Switzerland have withdrawn their support for the construction of the Ilisu Dam in Turkey because the government in Ankara failed to meet agreed standards for the protection of human rights, the environment and cultural assets. Many non-governmental organisations which have been campaigning against the dam for years, welcomed the decision. Turkey's Environment Minister Veysel Eroglu, however, announced the dam would be built without European support. He did not elaborate on funding. The controversial dam is planned near the border with Syria and Northern Iraq. It is meant to boost Turkish energy production. If the project is realised, around 65,000 people in the region will have to leave their homes, and the historical town of Hasankeyf will be flooded (see D+C 11/2008). (fb)

True costs of adapting to global warming According to a team of scientists, the UN has so far substantially underestimated what it will cost to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The real costs are likely to be two to three times greater than estimated by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), say Professor Martin Parry and colleagues. Their report was published by the IIED and Imperial College in London. In view of the UNFCCC summit in Copenhagen in December, the warning is that, unless multilateral talks take into account the true costs, any new multilateral agreement will be inadequate. (dem)