 » A coalition of mainly Western countries continued to bomb pro-government military targets in Libya, as Muammar Qaddafi's forces intensified their siege of Misrata, Libya's third city and the closest one to Tripoli that is in rebel hands. Barack Obama was urged by the rebels and by many in the West to provide more aircraft that can attack targets in built-up areas with precision. Aid groups voiced concerns about the deteriorating living conditions of migrant workers trapped in Libya. See article » Protests continued in Syria, where the authorities blamed the rising violence on an"armed insurrection" by extreme Islamists. Security forces fired on anti-government protests in Homs, killing more than 15 people. Bashar Assad, Syria's president, lifted the decades-old emergency law and promised to free political prisoners. But the unrest showed no sign of abating. See article » Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent, who hails from the mainly Christian south, won Nigeria's presidential election with about 60% of votes cast in a poll deemed more or less free and fair by international observers. But riots erupted in the mainly Muslim north, where Mr Jonathan's challenger, Muhammadu Buhari, had strong support. See article » A mutiny in Burkina Faso's army that began in the capital, Ouagadougou, spread to three other cities, as soldiers and police protested over unpaid housing allowances. In an effort to quell the uprising, Blaise Compaoré, the president and a former coup leader, appointed a new government and a new head of the armed forces.
An eventual end in sight?  » In Japan the Tokyo Electric Power Company proposed a"cold" shutdown of its damaged reactors at Fukushima, which would take up to nine months. Hillary Clinton, America's secretary of state, paid a visit to Japan to show support. Naoto Kan, the prime minister, who is under pressure from the opposition, formally apologised for the nuclear accidents caused by the earthquake and tsunami that struck in March. See article » Elections took place in the Indian state of West Bengal. Communist-led coalitions have held power for 34 years, but the Left Front looks set to lose this time. Results won't be tallied until May 13th, in part to protect polling stations from attacks by Maoist rebels. A recent election in Kerala might end another Communist coalition's grip on that state. See article » Binayak Sen, an Indian activist who was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of aiding Maoist fighters, was freed on bail by India's Supreme Court. The court also cast doubt on the evidence against him. Mr Sen said he would continue to work towards a peaceful solution to the insurgency.
Castro's way  » At the Congress of Cuba's ruling Communist Party, Raúl Castro, the country's president since 2008, replaced his brother Fidel as party first secretary. He called for all of Cuba's political leaders to be limited to two five-year terms in office and for a handover of power to a younger generation, though only three new members were elected to the 15-person Politburo. The Congress approved reforms that will see up to 1m Cubans move into a fledgling private sector of small businesses and allow property to be sold. See article » Bolivia's trade unions ended an 11-day general strike after the socialist government of Evo Morales agreed to raise public-sector wages by 11%, in line with the inflation rate. » Colombia's government declared that it would extradite Walid Makled, a suspected drug kingpin, to his home country of Venezuela rather than to the United States. The decision was in line with Colombia's law, but also comes amid a thawing of its relations with Venezuela. » Mexico's Competition Commission levied a fine of $1 billion on the Mexican division of América Móvil, a cellphone company controlled by Carlos Slim, the world's richest man, for monopolistic practices. The company said it would appeal.
Debt watch » America's House of Representatives passed the alternative 2012 budget plan put forward by Paul Ryan, the Republican chairman of the budget committee. Not one Democrat voted for the plan; Harry Reid, the Democratic leader of the Senate, vowed that the legislation would not pass the upper chamber. » Meanwhile, Barack Obama set about trying to convince voters of the merits of his new deficit-reduction proposals, which he unveiled in response to Mr Ryan's plan. As Mr Obama embarked on his tour, S&P fired a warning shot to Washington by putting America's credit outlook on negative watch for the first time. » The Pentagon said it would move Bradley Manning to Fort Leavenworth in preparation for his trial. Mr Manning is the American soldier accused of passing diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. Civil-liberties groups claim he was mistreated while held in detention at a marine corps prison in Virginia.
A flip of the Finns  » The politics of the euro zone's debt crisis became complicated when the True Finns, a hitherto obscure Eurosceptic party, took third place in an election in Finland. If the party joins government, as seems likely, Finland will take a tougher line on future bail-outs of troubled economies. An early victim could be Portugal, which began talks with European and IMF officials this week. See article » Hungary's parliament passed a rewritten constitution, which includes controversial sections on religion, marriage and ethnic Hungarians living abroad. Two opposition parties boycotted the vote. » Two Croatian generals were convicted of war crimes in The Hague and given lengthy prison sentences. The convictions relate to a military operation in August 1995, when ethnic Serbs were forced out of Croatia's Krajina region. Tens of thousands of Croatian war veterans took to the streets to protest against the verdict. See article » A row escalated between France and Italy over migrants from north Africa. France stopped Italian trains carrying migrants from crossing the border, claiming they posed a threat to public order. Italy retorted that France was violating the rules of Europe's passport-free Schengen area. The European Commission said France's act was legal. | 
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