In Gabon the pumped-up oil-fuelled economy competes against the ballot box, writes Gamal Nkrumah

The Bush administration is once again itching to do away with Chavez and effect regime change in Venezuela, writes Faiza Rady

Journalists met in Tokyo to discuss ways of cementing between Japan and the Islamic worlds. Mohamed Ibrahim El-Desouky reports from the Japanese capital

Pakistan has returned to the Commonwealth, though not yet to democracy, writes Graham Usher in Islamabad

World AIDS Day, celebrated on 1 December, is an opportunity to reflect on the fact that 2005 shows the highest level of infection ever, rising many times faster than treatment, writes Philip Stevens

A conference on torture and ill-treatment of detainees highlighted the human cost of the war on terror. Tamam Ahmed Jama reports from London

Angela Merkel's first week as Germany's chancellor saw her busy hob-nobbing with Europe's leaders. Dominic Coldwell reviews what the German press says on the matter