Politics this week
 

[B]Politics this week[/B]
May 24th 2007
From The Economist

Lebanon suffered its worst internal fighting since the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, as its national army hit back against a Sunni Islamist group called Fatah al-Islam, which is considered close to al-Qaeda and was hunkered down in a Palestinian refugee camp on the edge of the northern town of Tripoli. At least 80 people have so far been killed. See article

As fighting between Palestinians in the Gaza Strip calmed down, militants from the Islamist movement Hamas and other groups stepped up rocket attacks on Israel. In the past fortnight, over 200 home-made rockets have been fired, killing one Israeli, while retaliatory Israeli air strikes have killed some 50 Palestinians, including civilians. This week Israel also arrested 32 Hamas leaders in the West Bank, including a government minister and the mayor of Nablus, the territory's biggest town. See article

The United Nations' nuclear inspectors confirmed that Iran had failed to meet another deadline to stop enriching uranium. The six countries leading the diplomacy at the UN—its Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany—are likely to start drafting a third resolution to tell Iran to suspend their nuclear activity or face tougher sanctions.


Algeria's National Liberation Front, which does the bidding of the country's president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, easily won a general election, but barely a third of the registered voters bothered to turn out.

The International Criminal Court at The Hague launched an investigation into atrocities committed in 2002 and 2003 during civil strife in the Central African Republic, with its former president, Ange-Félix Patassé, among others, apparently in the court's sights.

Radioactive stuff

British prosecutors and the British government called for the extradition of a former Russian KGB agent, Andrei Lugovoi, on charges of murdering an ex-spy, Alexander Litvinenko, in London last November. The Russian authorities angrily refused the request. Anglo-Russian relations hit a fresh low.

The new French government appointed by President Nicolas Sarkozy took office, under his prime minister, François Fillon. It began preparations for a parliamentary election next month, which opinion polls suggest will produce a big majority for Mr Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party.

In Turkey, six people were killed and as many as 90 injured in a rush-hour suicide-bombing in the capital, Ankara. The police said the explosives used were similar to ones used before by the Kurdish PKK terrorist group.

A Serbian court found 12 men guilty of the 2003 assassination of the pro-Western prime minister, Zoran Djindjic. The case was the first to be heard in Belgrade's special court for organised crime.

Romania's president, Traian Basescu, secured a big majority in a referendum against his own impeachment. Early parliamentary elections now look more likely.

Refusing to play ball

The whole Senate started to study the “breakthrough” compromise on immigration legislation reached between the White House and those senators who are crafting a plan. George Bush is pushing for a liberal bill that provides a guest-worker programme for illegal immigrants, and beefs up border security. However, Congress remains tepid in its support and the Senate voted overwhelmingly to reduce by half the number of proposed permits for illegal immigrants.

With the Democrats dropping their demand for a timetable for withdrawing troops, Congress pushed ahead with a new spending bill for military operations in Iraq.

The first nationwide study of Muslims in America found they were wealthier than Muslims in Europe and “largely assimilated, happy with their lives and moderate”. A quarter of Muslim Americans come from the Arab region, said the survey from the Pew Research Centre.

New York's governor, Eliot Spitzer, announced a settlement with insurers over claims stemming from the World Trade Centre, enabling the redevelopment of the site to proceed.

America promised to act quickly in choosing a new boss for the World Bank. Paul Wolfowitz agreed to step down last week.

Viewers' protest
There were large demonstrations in Venezuela against a decision by President Hugo Chávez to shut down the main opposition television channel, due to take effect on May 27th. Its frequency is to be used by a government-funded channel.

Brazil's energy minister, Silas Rondeau, resigned after an aide was one of 50 people arrested by federal police on suspicion of taking money on government contracts. Mr Rondeau is from the centrist PMDB party. In the first term of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from 2002 to 2006 the government was shaken by several corruption scandals.

Mexico's formerly ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party wrested control of Yucatán from the governing National Action Party in the first state election since Felipe Calderón took over as the country's president last December.

A military man
Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, defended the political role of the army and said his uniform was like a “second skin” to him. Earlier, Mr Musharraf, who is in the midst of a constitutional crisis, firmly ruled out allowing his two main opposition rivals, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, to return from exile before elections that are due to be held later this year.

China backed down from plans to force the estimated 20m Chinese bloggers to register their real names with the government. The state-controlled association that regulates the internet said they should be “encouraged” to register instead.

Kazakhstan's parliament scrapped term limits on the current president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, allowing him to run for president as many times as he likes.

A British climber made the first mobile-phone call from the summit of Mount Everest. He took advantage of a Chinese mobile-phone base to ring his family, presumably to ask if he should pick up anything on the way home.:D

Politics this week
 

[B]Politics this week[/B]
May 31st 2007
From The Economist print edition


The White House nominated Robert Zoellick to be the new president of the World Bank, replacing Paul Wolfowitz, who is stepping down after a contentious stint in the job. Mr Zoellick was America's chief trade negotiator from 2001 to 2005, when he forged trade pacts with China and Taiwan and championed the Doha round of trade talks. See article

George Bush asked Congress to extend his programme for tackling AIDS in 15 mostly African countries, which is due to expire in September 2008. The president wants to spend $30 billion more on the scheme, which will include treatment for 2.5m people.


The Constitutional Tribunal in Thailand found members of the Thai Rak Thai party guilty of breaking the law during last year's election. The ruling means the party will be disbanded. Its leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, prime minister until deposed in a coup last September, has been barred from politics for five years. The Democrat party, Thailand's oldest, was cleared of charges of fraud. See article

Japan's agriculture minister, Toshikatsu Matsuoka, hanged himself at his parliamentary apartment in Tokyo. His suicide seemed linked to accusations that he had been fiddling his expenses, and was involved in a scandal about rigged bidding for road-building contracts. The next day an executive from a company implicated in the same scandal fell to his death in another apparent suicide.

The former head of China's State Food and Drug Administration was sentenced to death for corruption. He was found guilty of taking bribes in return for approving drugs. Chinese standards have been under scrutiny after a number of scandals involving poor-quality or fake drugs and food.

Despite Malaysia's constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, its Supreme Court ruled, in an important test case, that Lina Joy, a 43-year-old woman who wants to convert officially from Islam to Christianity, cannot do so without the approval of Islamic sharia courts.

The authorities in Kazakhstan issued an international warrant for the arrest of Rakhat Aliyev, the son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbayev who was until last month the country's ambassador to Austria. Mr Aliyev, who has presidential ambitions himself, is accused of involvement in an extortion case that led to the kidnapping of two bankers.



Bertie Ahern's ruling Fianna Fail party did surprisingly well in Ireland's election, taking 78 of the 166 parliamentary seats. But its coalition partner, the Progressive Democrats, did badly, so Mr Ahern is expected to form a minority government with the help of independents. To general relief, Sinn Fein fared poorly, falling from five to four seats.

Ukraine's warring president and prime minister patched together a deal under which they agreed to a new parliamentary election, to be held in September. But there were signs that the agreement could unravel—and an election is unlikely to resolve the country's political disputes.

Andrei Lugovoi, the former Russian agent suspected by the British of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko in London last year, said that British security services had tried to recruit him to spy on Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, and accused them of involvement in Mr Litvinenko's murder.

Russia tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile intended to evade missile-defence systems. Mr Putin criticised American plans to deploy missile defences in central Europe, which he said would make Europe a “powder keg”. He is to visit America in July for talks with George Bush.

The ruling centre-left governments of Spain and Italy both did badly in local elections.


The Lebanese army continued to besiege a Palestinian refugee camp on the edge of Tripoli, in the north of the country, where members of Fatah al-Islam, a group proclaiming allegiance to al-Qaeda, refused to surrender.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution to set up a special court to try suspects in the killing in 2005 of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister of Lebanon. The Syrian government has been accused of complicity.

In the first round of a primary contest to pick the leader of Israel's Labour party, which is part of the ruling coalition, Ehud Barak, a former prime minister, beat Ami Ayalon, a former head of Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence service, by 36% to 31%, knocking out the current leader, Amir Peretz. A run-off is due on June 12th. A general election may be held later in the summer.

The American and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq met in Baghdad to discuss ways of stabilising the country, the first formal meeting between senior American and Iranian officials in 28 years. It was unclear if a higher-level meeting would ensue.AFP

Umaru Yar'Adua was sworn in as president of Nigeria, amid scattered protests against the fraudulent election he won in April. Four former state governors accused of corruption are on the run after losing their immunity from prosecution when their terms of office expired.

America toughened its sanctions against Sudan in protest against the government's involvement in killings in the western region of Darfur. But Sudan can still rely on its strong commercial links with countries such as China.

Despite widespread protests in Venezuela and expressions of concern abroad, Hugo Chávez's government shut down the main opposition television station, transferring its national channel to a state-backed outfit. The president also threatened the only remaining opposition station.

The president of Brazil's Senate, Renan Calheiros, denied claims that he had taken bribes from a construction company. The energy minister resigned last month over similar claims.

Football's governing body announced a ban on international matches being played in venues higher than 2,500 metres (8,200 feet) above sea level on the grounds it might threaten players' health and distort competition. This produced angry reactions in Bolivia and Ecuador, who risk seeing their footballing comparative advantage eroded.