Villagers in the Chinese town of Wukan are now in open revolt as, in the fourth month of their land dispute with the government, they expelled all Communist Party officials. Last Sunday they also repelled an attempt by around a thousand police to retake the town using tear gas and water cannons.

Negotiations were previously ongoing over the land dispute with villagers claiming farmland was taken, and sold to private developers Country Garden, with no compensation provided to locals. However, recent remarks over the legality of the initial protests in September by a county-level spokesperson prompted a return to street protests last week in the Guangdong province town.

Aung San Suu Kyi will again enter Burmese politics when she runs in a by-election before the end of the year. Last time Suu Kyi was in politics she won the 1990 Presidential elections, which were annulled by the military, which led to her spending most of her time since under house arrest.

Suu Kyi’s was made possible by the National League for Democracy (NLD) party being re-registered on Friday. This follows a change in the constitution which allowed people who had served jail time to run. Many people in Burma have served jail time, including Aung San Suu Kyi, for their struggles for freedom from military rule.

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks has lost his extradition to Sweden appeal.

Assange has been fighting Swedish authorities that wish him to face questioning over two cases of sexual assault. Many believe that the charges are trumped up charges, designed to bring down the Wikileaks organisation.

The extradition proceedings have been underway since last December when an arrest warrant was issued. Since that time Assange has predominantly been under house arrest in London.

This week the German Pirate Party reached an impressive milestone as it hit double digits in the polls for the national elections. With one in ten Germans embracing the ideas of the young party, the Pirates are on course to gain serious influence in one of the world’s major political arenas.

With the historic win in the Berlin state parliament elections just four weeks behind us, the German Pirate Party continues to gain momentum.

Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas announced Tuesday that he will end his twelve-term career in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013 when his current term expires. He will not seek re-election in 2012, but rather will focus fully on his campaign to win the presidential nomination of the Republican Party. He previously mounted two unsuccessful presidential campaigns in 1988 and 2008.

Paul, 75, has held his House seat for Texas's 14th congressional district since 1997, and previously held another House seat for Texas from 1976 to 1977 and 1979 to 1985. He ran for president as the Libertarian Party's nominee in 1988, but finished in third place with approximately 0.47 percent of the vote. Paul later returned to the Republican Party and Congress in the 1990s, and sought the party's 2008 presidential nomination while simultaneously running for re-election in the House. Despite an enthusiastic internet following that broke fundraising records, he lost the nomination to Senator John McCain of Arizona.

Officials announced that a treasure containing sacks of diamonds and gold coins as well as golden idols, jewelry and other riches has been discovered in the secret subturanean vaults of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, in the southwestern state of Kerala, India. Estimates of its worth have been rising and it is now thought to be worth $20 billion.

The Hindu temple was built in the 16th century by the kings of the then Kingdom of Travancore to serve as a royal chapel of the rulers of Travancore. The six vaults containing the treasure have been undisturbed for over a century. Assessment of the treasure began on June 27 after a lawyer concerned about the security of the treasure petitioned India's Supreme Court, which then appointed a seven-member panel of experts to inventory the treasure. The panel does not have the power to determine to whom the treasure will belong. Estimates of the treasure's worth are rising, provoking a heated debate as to how the treasure will be used in a country that has 450 million poverty-stricken people.

Several US congressmen have filed a bipartisan suit against the administration of US president Barack Obama, claiming its military operations in Libya are illegal because they did not have legislative approval.

Wednesday's lawsuit comes one day after House Speaker John Boehner expressed his concerns in a letter to the president that his administration has violated the War Powers Resolution. US federal law requires that, if Congress does not approve military action, the president must withdraw forces within 60 days from the beginning of the conflict, and that the withdrawal must be completed by the 90th day. The latter deadline will pass this Sunday.

A 'homophobic' comment on Facebook by Chilean deputy Enrique Estay, has generated controversy in the country.

"[The government's] worried about the fags and not about the swarm of concerted bureaucrats who obstruct everything, so that the benefits do not reach to the poorest and middle class," said Estay on his Facebook profile on Thursday. "I will not be quiet, until I see changes! [...] It is frustrating to me. A government that is thought to be right-winged, yet it governs with the left-winged ideas and people," he added in a comment.