Politics this weekMar 29th 2007 From The Economist print editionAPIran captured 15 British sailors and marines at the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway. Britain released navigational evidence indicating that they were taken in Iraqi territorial waters; Iran showed its captives on state television and said it would release the one woman it held. See articleGunmen killed at least 70 Sunnis in Tal Afar in Iraq. Elsewhere, Iraqs deputy prime minister, Salam al-Zubaie, was hurt in a suicide-bomb attack. Nine people were killed in the assassination attempt, which occurred while Mr Zubaie, a Sunni, attended prayers.Condoleezza Rice, Americas secretary of state, persuaded Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Ehud Olmert, Israels prime minister, to promise to hold regular fortnightly meetings. Meanwhile, members of the Arab League, meeting in Riyadh, offered Israel peace if it withdrew to its pre-1967 boundaries and accepted the right of all Palestinian refugees to return. Saudi Arabias King Abdullah opened the conference and called Americas occupation of Iraq “illegal”. See articleThe government of Egypt won a referendum endorsing changes to the constitution which, it claimed, would strengthen democracy. Critics said the changes would in fact make the country less free. Amid accusations of ballot-rigging, turnout was just 27%. See articleMorgan Tsvangirai, the main leader of the opposition in Zimbabwe, was briefly arrested in a raid on his partys headquarters, two weeks after being beaten up by the police. President Robert Mugabe, who is under increasing pressure to step down, attended a meeting of regional leaders in Tanzania. See articleWar-powers resolutionAfter weeks of manoeuvring, Americas Democrats scored a legislative coup by passing a war-spending bill in the House of Representatives and looked set to do the same in the Senate. These link funding for the war in Iraq to a timetable for withdrawing American troops. George Bush said the plan would hamstring operations and promised a veto. See articleIn the first trial under a new system of military courts to be held at Guantnamo Bay, David Hicks, an Australian, pleaded guilty to a charge of helping al-Qaeda fight American troops in Afghanistan. Mr Hickss case has become a hot political issue in Australia, where the government has been criticised for not intervening on his behalf. A fork in the roadAFPIn a big defeat for Quebec separatism, the Parti Qubcois was beaten into third place in a provincial election by Action Dmocratique du Qubec, which favours an “autonomous” Quebec within Canada, and the Liberals, who clung on for a second term but with a legislative minority. See articleColombias government rejected a leaked report from the CIA which claimed that General Mario Montoya, now the army commander, had collaborated with right-wing paramilitaries during an operation against left-wing guerrillas in Medelln in 2002. Chiles president, Michelle Bachelet, reshuffled her cabinet, sacking four ministers. She has faced criticism over a botched public-transport scheme in the capital, Santiago, and a lack of decisive leadership. See articlePolice in Jamaica said that Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan cricket coach found dead in his hotel room, was murdered by “manual strangulation”. Pakistan, along with India, was surprisingly eliminated from the cricket World Cup being staged in the Caribbean. See articleGetting bolderThe war in Sri Lanka intensified. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched their first-ever air strike, on an air-force base next to Colombos international airport. In the east of the country, government forces took an important Tiger base. Some 155,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in the east in the past six weeks. See articleThe United Nations food programme reported that North Korea had admitted it needed assistance to cope with food shortages.Thailands prime minister rejected military calls for an emergency decree to quell public protests. An election is planned for December. Shinzo Abe, Japans prime minister, repeated in parliament Japans 1993 apology for the military brothels set up in the second world war. He did not, however, retract controversial statements casting doubt on whether the prostitutes had been coerced.To no ones surprise, Donald Tsang was re-elected as Hong Kongs chief executive by a committee designed to ensure Chinas man always wins. Chinas president, Hu Jintao, visited Moscow for a state visit, marking the beginning of the “China in Russia” year. The two countries announced a joint effort to explore Mars and one of its moons in 2009. And many more?EPAThe European Union marked 50 years since its founding Treaty of Rome with a string of birthday bashes. European heads of government issued a “Berlin declaration” that avoided any specific mention of reviving the stalled EU constitution but instead used