Politics this week
Jun 25th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Iran’s street protests in the wake of a disputed presidential election spread from Tehran, the capital, to a string of big cities across the country, but then seemed to subside after the authorities cracked down, leaving at least 20 people dead. A young woman, Neda Agha Soltan, became a symbol of the protests after her dying moments were posted on the internet. Discord within the upper ranks of the clerical establishment ensured that the crisis was by no means over.
With American troops due to withdraw from all
Iraqi towns at the end of the month, insurgents carried out a campaign of bombings. On June 20th at least 70 people were killed by a truck bomb in Taza, a Turkmen town just south of the disputed city of Kirkuk. Two days later at least seven bombs went off in and around Baghdad, killing over 30 people. Two days after that another bomb attack, in a Shia part of the city, killed more than 70 people.
Somalia’s fragile government called in vain on its neighbours, Ethiopia and Kenya, to send troops to help it resist a growing jihadist insurgency bolstered by al-Qaeda-linked fighters from Pakistan and Afghanistan. But it was reported that the United States had secretly begun to resupply the Somali government.
Farm hands
Democrats working on America’s
climate-change legislation in the House struck a deal that gives the Department of Agriculture the authority to supervise efforts to reduce carbon emissions by farmers. With little Republican backing, Democratic leaders had to secure the support of colleagues from rural districts.
Mark Sanford, the Republican governor of
South Carolina, caused a stir when he disappeared for five days. His staff said he had gone hiking in the Appalachians. In fact, Mr Sanford had been in Argentina. On his return he admitted to an extramarital affair with a woman there.
Antonio Villaraigosa ruled himself out of the running for governor of
California. The mayor of Los Angeles had been tipped to enter the field of candidates seeking to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Two Metro trains collided in
Washington, DC, killing nine people, the worst-ever accident on the city’s network.
Battle ready
At least 80 people were killed in an attack by an unmanned American aircraft in
the tribal areas of Pakistan. The attack was in South Waziristan, the stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and came as the Pakistani army prepared a new offensive in the area.
America reached an agreement with
Kyrgyzstan that will allow American armed forces to continue using the Manas air base, their only base in Central Asia, to support operations in Afghanistan. In February the government had insisted the base must close.
An American journalist from the
New York Times and an Afghan colleague were reported to have escaped after seven months as prisoners of the Taliban, who took them hostage in
Afghanistan. Their driver is still being held. They regained their freedom in North Waziristan, in Pakistan.
Formal charges were announced against Liu Xiaobo, one of
China’s most prominent dissidents, who was detained last December after the publication of a charter calling for political reform.
An American navy ship continued to track a
North Korean vessel believed to be carrying weapons to Myanmar in breach of UN sanctions. North Korea boasted of being a “proud nuclear power” and was believed to be poised to anger the outside world further with a new missile test.
A conservation group reported that 30% of the world’s species of
sharks are under threat of extinction because of overfishing. Shark meat and liver oil are becoming more popular, and demand remains high in Asia for shark fins.
Drugs run
The UN’s annual report on illicit
drugs found significant reductions in the production of cocaine, opium and cannabis, but an increase in the output of synthetic substances, such as ecstasy and methamphetamine. Cocaine cultivation fell by 18% in Colombia, the world’s biggest producer of the drug.
A battle between FARC rebels and security forces in
Colombia’s Cauca province killed at least 25 rebels and seven police officers. Authorities said that a local FARC commander known as
El Enano (the Midget) was among the dead.
The
United States and
Venezuela decided to reinstate their ambassadors. Venezuela’s envoy was expelled by America last September after it alleged that America was plotting to overthrow Evo Morales, the Bolivian president. Venezuela then threw out America’s man.
Clothing maketh the man
In a rare address to both houses of
France’s parliament, President Nicolas Sarkozy lent weight to a possible ban on the Islamic burqa, saying that such garments were “not welcome on French territory”.
Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the president of Ingushetia, a Russian republic in the
north Caucasus, was almost killed in an assassination attack by a suicide-bomber. Ingushetia, next to Chechnya, has recently become the most violent place in the north Caucasus.
Russia’s Supreme Court ordered a retrial of three men acquitted of being accomplices in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a crusading journalist whom Vladimir Putin described as a “marginal” figure. None of the men are accused of the actual killing.
A former prime minister of
Kosovo, Agim Ceku, was arrested in Bulgaria. He is wanted by Serbia on war-crimes charges.
Two tonnes of rare whale meat were distributed in
Greenland as part of celebrations to mark the start of an era of self-government. After nearly three centuries of rule by Denmark, Greenland’s 56,000 people will gradually take control of most domestic affairs, although defence and foreign policy remain in Danish hands. Greenlandic is now the official language.
