At least 52 people were killed in a suicide-bombing in a busy market in Peshawar, in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province. It was one of several attacks in different parts of Pakistan, including one in which 23 people died at the army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi, and a series of co-ordinated attacks on police buildings in Lahore and Kohat. The bloodshed was linked to a planned offensive by the army against Islamist militants in the tribal area of South Waziristan. See article

Pakistan’s army complained about the terms of a bill going through America’s Congress, tripling non-military aid to Pakistan to $7.5 billion over five years. It requires the secretary of state to certify that Pakistan is dismantling nuclear-proliferation networks and not supporting militant groups.

Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, cast doubt on the impartiality of a commission investigating fraud in the presidential election held on August 20th, after one of its Afghan members resigned alleging foreign “interference” in its work. Mr Karzai won the preliminary tally with 55% of votes, but the commission’s findings could force a second-round run-off. See article

China and Russia signed trade agreements worth $3.5 billion during a visit to Beijing by Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prime minister.


China and India exchanged criticism over a visit to Arunachal Pradesh by Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister. China, which claims sovereignty over most of the state, accused Mr Singh of ignoring its concerns. India described these remarks as unhelpful.

Japan announced that it will stop refuelling ships in the Indian Ocean for the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan when its current legal mandate expires in January. The government said it was looking for other ways to support the NATO campaign.

Sticks and stones
Authorities in Iran said they would investigate claims by Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of parliament who was a candidate in the disputed presidential election in June, that security forces had raped and tortured protesting demonstrators. The implication was that Mr Karroubi could be punished if, as seems likely, his claims are dismissed.

Three bombs went off in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s western Anbar province, killing at least 23 people, including tribal leaders, Iraqi army officers and members of Sunni groups known as Awakening Councils, which are opposed to the insurgents. Many victims were attending a meeting to promote reconciliation. The government blamed the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda.

Two suspected al-Qaeda men were killed in a shoot-out in Saudi Arabia. The pair, dressed as women and wearing explosive vests, were shot after firing on security forces near the border with Yemen.

A fortnight after soldiers loyal to Guinea’s military ruler killed more than 150 protesters calling for civilian rule, a Guinean minister said that China had agreed to a deal worth $7 billion to exploit the country’s minerals. See article

Slowly, slowly
Barack Obama moved a step closer to getting a health-care bill passed by Congress. The Senate Finance Committee, probably the most significant of the five committees working on the bill, approved its version by 14 votes to nine. One Republican senator, Olympia Snowe of Maine, voted with the Democrats. See article

The prospects for progress on a climate-change bill also brightened a little, with news that an influential Republican senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, might be willing to help forge a bipartisan deal. See article

Hillary Clinton, who lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama last year and is now America’s secretary of state, said that she has “absolutely no interest” in running for president again.

Rude awakening
Reuters

Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderón, sent police to shut down Luz y Fuerza del Centro, a state-owned electricity firm where featherbedding and inefficiencies cost the government $3 billion a year. The electricians’ union protested. See article

Argentina’s government enacted a controversial broadcasting law that will increase government control over the broadcast media and will oblige Grupo Clarín, the biggest media group, to sell off radio stations and television channels within a year.

In Honduras talks to try to end the country’s political conflict continued between representatives of Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president, and the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti.

Cuba’s government denied Yoani Sánchez, a blogger, an exit visa for her to travel to New York to receive a prize from Columbia University’s graduate school of journalism.

Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, nationalised a Hilton hotel on the island of Margarita. The Caracas Hilton was nationalised in 2007.

The long haul
AP

After a century of hostility, Turkey and Armenia promised to establish diplomatic relations and reopen the border between them. But the deal must be approved by both parliaments, and nationalists in both countries object to some of its provisions. Turkey and Syria also agreed to remove visa restrictions for travel across their shared border and announced joint military exercises, a few days after Turkey cancelled an air exercise with Israel.

In Russia, to no one’s surprise, the ruling United Russia party won nationwide votes to local and municipal councils by a landslide. More surprisingly, opposition politicians walked out of parliament, complaining of vote-rigging, and threatened to demonstrate in protest. See article

Jean Sarkozy, the 23-year-old son of the French president, became a candidate to chair the development corporation of La Défense, a financial centre near Paris that aims to challenge the City of London. Accusations of nepotism put pressure on the government, already suffering from a cabinet minister’s confession that he took part in sex tourism. See article

Romania’s government collapsed after a vote of no confidence in parliament. The vote was connected to political in-fighting before presidential elections due next month and may jeopardise the cash-strapped country’s relations with the IMF. See article