Political Crisis

China launched an Internet crackdown Friday amid its worst political crisis in decades, shuttering more than a dozen websites, limiting access to the country's largest micro-blog providers and arresting six people for spreading rumors about a coup attempt in Beijing. The measures represent the strongest attempt yet to quash speculation that the nation's top leadership is wracked by infighting after the ouster of Bo Xilai, the controversial Communist Party chief of mega-city Chongqing.

CAIRO - In another blow to Egypt's troubled democratic transition, the main opposition coalition announced Tuesday that it would boycott upcoming parliamentary elections because it didn't trust the Islamic-led government of President Mohamed Morsi to guarantee a fair vote. The decision by the secular and liberal National Salvation Front was widely expected after the nation's highest court ruled this month that provisions in the election law were unconstitutional. The opposition's strategy virtually ensures that Islamists, notably the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultraconservative Nour Party, will dominate the new legislature after the vote, which begins in April.

Pakistani authorities today placed opposition leader Nawaz Sharif under house arrest, a day after putting the armed forces on alert amid an escalating power struggle with former allies. U.S. diplomatic efforts to defuse the political crisis intensified as the Pakistani government pledged anew to block a massive opposition rally in the capital on Monday.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hasn't been seen or heard from since Dec. 9, when the pugnacious populist announced in a televised address that he intended to undergo further treatment in Cuba for an undisclosed form of cancer. Since then, his administration has kept details of his condition under wraps, except to confirm that it is delicate and that he is recovering in a Havana hospital. Now his vice president, who is serving as caretaker, has added this information: Thursday's scheduled inauguration will be postponed to allow Chavez more time to convalesce.

Reporting from Mexico City and Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- Representatives of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and the de facto leaders who deposed him in a coup last June came together Wednesday in an effort to end the political crisis that has divided and isolated this impoverished nation. With foreign ministers and diplomats on hand to nudge the deeply polarized parties, a tense round of negotiations got underway aimed at rescuing Honduras from what one participant called "darkness, infinite chaos, fear and uncertainty."

ATHENS - As Greece lurches along without a government, its deepening political crisis is fast turning into a war of wills in which Europe's economy potentially hangs in the balance. On one side are the Greek politicians who accuse other Europeans of trying to "terrorize" their country into accepting more draconian austerity cuts and who warn that if Greece gets kicked out of the euro, "Europe will be doomed. " On the other are officials in Brussels, Berlin and other capitals, who say that expelling Greece from the Eurozone would be regrettable but "can be managed" if Athens reneges on the tough terms to which it has agreed in exchange for two international bailouts.

Iceland plunged back into political crisis when politicians reported failure of an agreement made two days ago to form a center-left government to replace a collapsed center-right administration. Foreign Minister Steingrimur Hermannsson told reporters he has dropped his attempt to form a government. However, he said he is prepared to try to form a minority regime grouping his Progressive Party and the Social Democrats.

Tension is rising in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa's most populous nation, where President Ibrahim Babangida triggered a political crisis by annulling the results of a June election to name his successor. An alliance of civil libertarians, women's and student groups called Campaign for Democracy has called for mass protests starting Thursday to force restoration of elected government. The call has spurred a government crackdown on the democracy activists. Babangida has set an Aug.

Lebanon's U.S.-backed prime minister-designate abruptly quit today, plunging the nation deeper into a political crisis over failed efforts to form a government. Saad Hariri, whose March 14 coalition of political parties trounced a Hezbollah-backed alliance in June 7 elections, announced that he was stepping down from his post after failing to form a Cabinet. He blamed the Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition for making unreasonable demands. "After a final round of negotiations, it became clear to me that some, with their impossible demands, are in no way going to allow the proposed Cabinet lineup to pass," Hariri, leader of Lebanon's Sunni Muslim community, sadi in a televised statement after meeting with President Michel Suleiman.

The White House said on Monday that there has been some progress in discussions to resolve Egypt's political crisis, but insisted concrete actions were needed. As protests in Cairo prepared to enter the third week, President Obama told reporters there has been progress among those negotiating what lies ahead for Egypt. "Obviously Egypt has to negotiate a path and they're making progress," said Obama after completing a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Briefing reporters later, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the United States "policy toward Egypt is we watch and we are strongly encouraging the process of meaningful change ?

CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi faces legions of enemies, but the military has been a quiet, if uncomfortable, ally following assurances that the army's power and billions of dollars of business interests would not be upset by the Islamist-led government. The generals and the Muslim Brotherhood, with which Morsi was long associated, are the nation's dominant forces, onetime adversaries who have reached, at least for now, a strategic understanding amid widening unrest. The military - its reputation damaged during months of what many considered oppressive rule after last year's overthrow of Hosni Mubarak - wants to avoid presiding over the nation's turbulent political passions.

CAIRO -- With tanks guarding his palace and officials defecting from his government, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi appeared besieged Thursday in a nation divided by deadly protests and an escalating political crisis he started two weeks ago when he seized near-absolute power. For the first time since they retreated to the barracks in August, soldiers from the Republican Guard strung barbed wire and parked tanks outside Morsi's office. The president's credibility has been further damaged by the resignations of six senior advisors and three other officials.

KATMANDU, Nepal - Nepal announced the formation of a caretaker government Tuesday and settled into a tense calm after a weekend constitutional crisis led the prime minister to call elections, some four years and several shaky governments after the country set out to write its crucial, if elusive, national blueprint. But it wasn't clear whether the caretaker government would survive until the Nov. 22 election, after three allies left the ruling coalition Monday amid calls for Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai's resignation.

ATHENS - As Greece lurches along without a government, its deepening political crisis is fast turning into a war of wills in which Europe's economy potentially hangs in the balance. On one side are the Greek politicians who accuse other Europeans of trying to "terrorize" their country into accepting more draconian austerity cuts and who warn that if Greece gets kicked out of the euro, "Europe will be doomed. " On the other are officials in Brussels, Berlin and other capitals, who say that expelling Greece from the Eurozone would be regrettable but "can be managed" if Athens reneges on the tough terms to which it has agreed in exchange for two international bailouts.

China launched an Internet crackdown Friday amid its worst political crisis in decades, shuttering more than a dozen websites, limiting access to the country's largest micro-blog providers and arresting six people for spreading rumors about a coup attempt in Beijing. The measures represent the strongest attempt yet to quash speculation that the nation's top leadership is wracked by infighting after the ouster of Bo Xilai, the controversial Communist Party chief of mega-city Chongqing.

Nepal on Sunday named a new prime minister, the fourth Communist to hold the post since the nation became a republic in 2008. Baburam Bhattarai from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal Maoist defeated Ram Chandra Poudel of the Nepali Congress party after winning the support of several smaller parties. He immediately pledged to forge a consensus to complete the peace process and the writing of a constitution, two issues that have thrown the country into a protracted political crisis.

Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal resigned, triggering a political crisis for the three-month-old government of Indian Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh. Lal, 75, quit the Cabinet because he felt that some senior leaders in the coalition were maligning him and his son. Newspapers and politicians have accused the son of responsibility for violence and vote-rigging in recent elections.

This country was plunged into a political crisis Friday after a constitutional court ruling threatened to force the postponement of next month's general election. The court, whose findings are final, annulled an article of the election law which stipulates that candidates should be chosen by the executive boards of their parties rather than by party primary polls.

  Nepal's prime minister resigned Sunday, the third government to fall in three years, as the nation braced for another political crisis while still short of a peace agreement or new constitution. Jhala Nath Khanal submitted his resignation to President Ram Baran Yadav after days of vacillation and mounting pressure from political allies and opponents. The move came as the nation celebrated Gaijatra, a public holiday that mocks politicians, social luminaries, the rich and powerful.

Yemen's political crisis spiraled further toward chaos Monday, as five key generals defected to join anti-government protesters, further weakening longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh's tenuous hold on power. Talk of a coup swirled in the strategically situated nation, with tanks rattling through the streets of the capital, Sana, as soldiers loyal to one of the defecting commanders joined protesters while those siding with Saleh took positions around the presidential palace. After more than decades of manipulating tribes and political opponents to remain in power, Saleh has seen the clamor for his ouster spread from the streets to the ruling elite, including a respected tribal leader, who in recent days has stood with protesters.