It's been a while since I've done a world news update, so here we go with the state of play this weekend:

JAPAN, CHINA AND KOREAS: Trilateral meetings on North Korea have consumed Japanese, American and South Korean officials before Wednesday's six-way talks, while China and Russia are preparing for their role separately ... In Japan, last year's police raid on the Goryokai loanshark group netted further benefits, as police have found over six billion yen (roughly US$55M) laundered through Hong Kong channels ... Gang violence escalates as yakuza fight for turf, possibly finding weakness in the Yamaguchi-gumi syndicate (linked to the Goryokai) ... China is suggesting it might raise interest rates, which would not only slow inflation, but could keep the Renminbi's value high.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN: Prime Minister Vajpayee has launched an ambitious expansion of the social safety net (also here and here) intended to cover 37 crore (370 million) workers not currently covered by social programs ... A resolution to the clashes between Hindus and Muslims over the ownership of the Ramjanambhoomi/Babari Masjid complex seem further away as Muslims refuse to advance with talks until the elections are over with, arguing that the issue is too important to leave the impression of political influence.

Iran's admission that it bought equipment on the international arms black market has led to an Indian visit by Iranian security head Hassan Rohani, evidently in the hope India can forestall IAEA action against Iran ... Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes has announced that OKB Sukhoi will replace India's MiG-21s with their new Sukhoi-30 fighters. India currently has around 50 Sukhoi-30s in operation; it has slowly upgraded its MiG-21s with limited success, and has spoken often about either purchasing or licensing for production more Sukhoi-30 planes.

In Kashmir, Pakistani-financed revolutionary group Hizbul Mujahideen threatens retaliation against Kashmiris participating in Lok Sabha (Indian Parliament) elections ... The Kashmiri power crisis is likely to worsen in the future, both due to deteriorating infrastructure and economically-infeasible bargains that let consumers pay a flat rate for effectively-unmetered electricity ... Pakistan is undertaking another operation to oust al'Qaeda forces in South Waziristan, although recent attempts in the same area have had little success (but see the post below) ... With the chaos affecting the area, narcotics growth and shipping continue to plague India, Pakistan, and Myanmar.

RUSSIA: A Russian jury has asked for leniency for neo-Nazis involved in riots three years ago ... The Duma is considering bill to drastically limit the ability of the press to report on terror attacks, something that supporters say is necessary to stop terrorists from succeeding and opponents say is censorship that will lead only to rumormongering ... The Russian military reportedly has kept the true state of its disarray and weakness from Vladimir Putin, going so far as to hide the failure of a scheduled missile test by denying that any missile test was scheduled ... An increasingly weakened Communist Party is splitting along internal faction lines, crippling its already limited chances in the upcoming Presidential elections (more information on the elections here) ... Research shows that Russia includes more women amongst senior management than any other country, with 90% of Russian companies having women in senior management, and 42% of senior management slots filled by women.

AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST: Rebels in Uganda reportedly killed 192 refugees Saturday in that country's ongoing civil war ... MEMRI has more information on the Saddam oil voucher affair ... In Iran, controversial elections from which moderates and reformists were excluded left Iranians wondering if they should vote at all; the official Iranian news agency now says over 20 million votes were cast in Friday's election, down roughly 15% from the last election ... As a hearing in the Hague opened on the legality of the Israeli separation fence, another terrorist attack rocked Jerusalem, causing panic in the PA and condemnations of the Hague process from Palestinian terror groups.