More than 2m people were evacuated along the Louisiana coast ahead of Hurricane Gustav. New Orleans faced its first threat of serious flooding since Hurricane Katrina struck three years ago, but Gustav just missed the city. Some residents returned to their homes, though many were without electricity. Earlier the storm tore a destructive path through the Caribbean, killing 95 people, most of them in Haiti. See article
Gustav also wrought havoc at the start of the Republican convention in St Paul, Minnesota. The party cancelled the first day’s schedule in order, it said, to let administration officials concentrate on the emergency. John McCain was probably not too upset that George Bush missed the proceedings; the president, who has dismal approval ratings, spoke to the delegates via a satellite link instead. See article
EPA
John McCain made the surprise choice of Sarah Palin as his vice-president. Mrs Palin, the first woman to feature on a Republican presidential ticket, has been governor of Alaska for 20 months and is virtually unknown outside the state. Her nomination delighted social conservatives, who were undismayed by the revelation that Mrs Palin’s 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant. Others wondered if Mr McCain had properly vetted his running-mate. See article
Television ratings were released for Barack Obama’s convention speech on August 28th, when he officially accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in front of 84,000 people at a sports stadium. More than 38m people tuned in to the event, twice the audience that viewed John Kerry’s address to his party in 2004, but not as many that watched big football games earlier in the year.

Over to the Kremlin
At a summit in Brussels, the European Union criticised Russia’s war on Georgia and especially its recognition of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It also repeated demands for Russian troops to withdraw from Georgia proper. France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who chaired the summit, said he would visit Moscow and Tbilisi to check on Russian compliance. But the EU stopped short of imposing sanctions on Russia. See article
Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yushchenko, threatened to call a snap parliamentary election because parliament is trying to trim his powers. Mr Yushchenko had earlier accused the prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, of treason for not criticising Russia’s attack on Georgia.
The Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot leaders began formal talks in Nicosia (the capital for both) over a possible plan to reunify Cyprus after 34 years of division. See article
There were more red faces in Britain’s Labour government when the chancellor of the exchequer, Alistair Darling, said the country faced the worst economic crisis in 60 years shortly before Gordon Brown, the prime minister, unveiled a plan to boost the flagging housing market. See article

Condi’s cordiality
America’s secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, was expected to set off on a tour of North African countries, including Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia. Her visit to Libya marks a warming of relations since Libya gave up a nuclear-weapons programme in 2003 and more recently agreed to make final compensation for the bombing of an American passenger aircraft over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988.
Italy signed a deal to pay Libya $5 billion over 25 years to compensate it for mistreatment during colonial times.
AP
American forces in Iraq handed responsibility for the province of Anbar, west of Baghdad, back to Iraq’s own forces. Anbar had been the bloodiest zone in the first years of the insurgency, but is now pretty calm.
Angolans were about to vote in their first general election in 16 years. The ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) was widely expected to win a majority of seats, with Angola’s oil-primed economy said to be the fastest-growing in Africa.

The north poll
Stephen Harper, prime minister of Canada’s minority Conservative government, seemed set to call an early general election—the third in four years—after abortive talks with the leader of the main opposition party. See article
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suspended from office the chiefs of Brazil’s spy agency, Abin, after allegations were made that agents had bugged telephone calls between the head of the supreme court and a politician. See article
Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, announced that the country would repay $6.7 billion in long overdue loans to the Paris Club of 19 sovereign creditors. See article
To his intense annoyance, President Evo Morales’s plan to hold a constitutional referendum in December to allow him a second consecutive term was dismissed by Bolivia’s electoral court.

On the streets
Samak Sundaravej, Thailand’s prime minister, declared a state of emergency in Bangkok after violent clashes between protesters and government supporters. Demonstrators calling for his resignation continued their sit-in at his office. A strike by workers in state-owned industries in support of the protests was poorly observed. See article
Yasuo Fukuda, Japan’s prime minister, announced his resignation after less than a year in office, citing a “vacuum” because of his inability to implement policy. The favourite to succeed him, in a vote by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to be held on September 22nd, is Taro Aso, the party’s secretary-general and a former foreign minister. See article
In an apparent assassination attempt, shots were fired in Islamabad at the (empty) motorcade of Pakistan’s prime minister.

Water levels began to recede in India’s flood-devastated state of Bihar. But tens of thousands of people stranded by the floods awaited rescue, and hundreds of thousands of victims were housed in temporary camps. See article
British forces in Afghanistan delivered a Chinese-made turbine to refurbish the Kajaki hydroelectric power station in a 100-vehicle convoy protected by thousands of NATO soldiers. A new road was cut through the desert to outfox the Taliban along the most dangerous stretch, and NATO said heavy fighting to clear the route killed 250 of them. Once the repair is complete, the power station should produce 51MW of power, supplying about 2m Afghan homes.


Source : Economist

From The Economist

Asif Zardari was sworn in as president of Pakistan after easily winning indirect election in the provincial and federal parliaments. During the voting a bomb killed more than 30 people in Peshawar, in North-West Frontier Province. Mr Zardari’s swearing-in was attended by Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai. At a joint press conference, Mr Zardari stressed his commitment to defeating terrorists. See article

The Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 45-country cartel governing trade in nuclear goods and technologies, agreed to a waiver for India. This forms part of India’s agreement on civilian nuclear co-operation with America, first announced in 2005. America’s own Congress has yet to give its final nod. See article

North Korean officials denounced as a conspiracy reports that their leader, Kim Jong Il, was seriously ill. Mr Kim has not been seen since August 14th. Speculation mounted when he missed massive celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the country’s founding. See article

In Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister, was freed on bail after a year in prison on corruption charges, ahead of elections planned for December to restore multi-party democracy.

Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruled that the prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, must resign for having breached the constitution by doing paid work as a television chef. Anti-government protesters continued their sit-in at his office. See article

The Palin factor
America’s presidential election turned nasty, as John McCain accused Barack Obama of being sexist and Mr Obama responded that Mr McCain was expressing “phoney outrage”. Amid the gibes about lipstick and pigs, both men agreed to be nice for a day on September 11th and travel to New York for events marking the 2001 terror attacks. Post-convention polls gave Mr McCain a sizeable “bounce”, vaulting him into the lead.

Kwame Kilpatrick said he would step down as Detroit’s mayor. Mr Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to obstructing justice in proceedings that stem from a whistleblower lawsuit and will spend four months in jail.

A landslide in Angola
The ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won the country’s first multi-party general election for 16 years, getting 80% of votes cast to 10% for the main opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Observers noted shortcomings in the conduct of the election but reckoned it was a big step towards democracy. See article

Negotiators in Zimbabwe said they were close to a power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai, who would become prime minister. But it was still unclear who would call the final shots.

President George Bush said that 8,000-odd American troops, out of the 146,000 currently in Iraq, would be withdrawn by February, and reinforcements would be sent by January to bolster the 33,000 American troops already in Afghanistan. The next president will have to decide on large-scale changes in deployment.

The American secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, became the most senior American to visit Libya since Muammar Qaddafi took over the country in 1969. Relations between the two countries have warmed since Libya dropped its nuclear-weapons programme in 2003.

A prominent member of Somalia’s parliament, Mohamed Osman Maye, an ally of the country’s beleaguered president, Abdullahi Yusuf, was shot dead outside a mosque in the town of Baidoa, where the parliament sits.

Storm surge
Coming on the heels of Hurricane Gustav and two tropical storms, Hurricane Ike swept through the Caribbean, wreaking havoc in Haiti—where it caused more than 170 deaths—and forcing mandatory evacuations in Cuba. Venezuela and Russia announced they would hold joint naval manoeuvres in the Caribbean. America, whose recently revived Fourth Fleet has begun patrolling the area, professed to be unimpressed. See article

The presidents of Argentina and Venezuela, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Hugo Chávez, were cited in evidence in a trial opening in Miami in which the accused are said to have operated in America as unregistered agents of foreign governments. The case stems from the arrest in Buenos Aires last year of a man carrying $800,000. The cash was allegedly a campaign contribution from Mr Chávez to Ms Fernández. Both presidents say the trial is politically motivated.

Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, called an early general election. It will be held on October 14th.

Europe’s new peacebroker
France’s Nicolas Sarkozy went to Moscow to secure yet another peace deal between Russia and Georgia. The Russians promised to pull their troops out of Georgia within a month, though they will reinforce their troops in the two enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The European Union is to send monitors to help keep the peace. See article

At a European Union summit with Ukraine in Paris, the EU promised to sign an “association agreement” with Ukraine next year, but will not offer any promise of future EU membership, something of a break with tradition. See article

Germany’s Social Democratic Party agreed to nominate Frank-Walter Steinmeier as its candidate for chancellor. Mr Steinmeier will take on the Christian Democrat incumbent, Angela Merkel, in next September’s federal election. See article

Three British suspected terrorists of Muslim origin were convicted of conspiracy to murder. But a jury could not decide whether they had also conspired, with four others, to blow up airliners using bombs disguised as soft drinks. Prosecutors want a retrial of all seven men on all the charges. See article

After decades of planning and construction, the first protons were circulated around the Large Hadron Collider. The LHC, the world’s biggest scientific experiment, has been built just outside Geneva in a circular tunnel with a circumference of 27km. It is designed to find the Higgs boson, which is needed by physicists to explain the existence of mass, and to explore a branch of physics called supersymmetry. See article

Source : Economist

__________________
Regards

Aarwaa

Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.

AFP
A deal was signed in Zimbabwe to provide for a national unity government, with Robert Mugabe staying on as executive president and Morgan Tsvangirai, his bitter opponent, becoming the executive prime minister. It was unclear who would ultimately be in charge or how the deal would work. See article
A court in South Africa ruled that the National Prosecuting Authority had failed to follow correct procedure in its corruption case against Jacob Zuma, who heads the African National Congress and will probably be the next national president, so his trial could not take place. The judge also criticised the country’s embattled president, Thabo Mbeki, for seeking to influence the prosecution of Mr Zuma, his rival. See article
Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, won a primary contest to replace the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, as leader of Kadima, the party that heads Israel’s coalition government. But she will have to haggle to reshape the coalition in order to become prime minister, a post Mr Olmert will in the meantime continue to hold. See article
The IAEA, the UN’s nuclear guardian, reported that Iran has failed to co-operate fully with inspectors trying to investigate its past alleged nuclear-weapons work and meanwhile continues to enrich uranium, despite UN Security Council instructions to stop.
General David Petraeus took over the United States Central Command that covers the wider Middle East, including Afghanistan, some 21 months after overseeing a military “surge” of troops into Iraq that is credited with helping to reduce violence sharply there.
A jihadist group set off a bomb near the American embassy in Yemen, killing at least 16 people, mainly locals. The country has recently witnessed an increase of violence.

Keeping it in the family
Somchai Wongsawat became prime minister of Thailand, replacing Samak Sundaravej, who was ordered by the courts to stand down because his appearances as a television chef breached the constitution. Protesters have been campaigning for Mr Samak’s resignation for being too close to Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister deposed in a coup in 2006. Mr Somchai is Mr Thaksin’s brother-in-law.
It emerged that more than 6,000 infants in China were made sick, and four died, from consuming milk powder tainted with melamine, a chemical used to make plastic. The authorities were accused of acting too slowly after the contamination became known, so that the scandal did not cast a shadow over last month’s Beijing Olympics. See article
AFP
A series of bombs exploded in shopping areas of Delhi, killing at least 20 people. As with recent attacks in Jaipur and Bangalore a group calling itself the Indian-Mujahideen claimed responsibility.
The United Nations pulled its staff out of parts of northern Sri Lanka held by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, after the government said it could not guarantee their safety.
Anwar Ibrahim, leader of Malaysia’s opposition, claimed that enough ruling-coalition parliamentarians were ready to switch sides to enable him to form a government. But he did not name them and the prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, ridiculed the claim. See article

NATO nyet
Russia signed friendship treaties with South Ossetia and Abkhazia that include a promise of military assistance for the breakaway Georgian regions. Earlier, a NATO delegation consisting of representatives from all 26 member countries paid a visit to Georgia. Attempts by Georgia to join the Atlantic alliance have met stiff resistance from Russia. It criticised NATO for displaying a “them and us” mentality.
Ukraine’s ruling coalition officially fell apart. Viktor Yushchenko, the president, is embroiled in a long-running dispute with Yulia Tymoshenko, the prime minister, the latest episode of which was a plan to trim his presidential powers. If parliament fails to form a new government in a month, Mr Yushchenko can call an election. See article
A few junior members of the government staged a mini-revolt and tried to force Britain’s beleaguered prime minister, Gordon Brown, to step down. But the cabinet, including David Miliband, the foreign secretary, a putative leadership contender, remained loyal. See article

Highlands and lowlands
After weeks of deadly clashes between pro- and anti-government demonstrators in Bolivia over proposed constitutional reforms, opposition governors from the rich eastern region agreed to talks with the government in an effort to find a way out the crisis. See article
At least seven people were killed and more than 100 injured when explosions tore through a crowd celebrating Mexico’s independence day in Morelia, capital of Michoacán, a state long plagued by drug-gang violence. The cause of the blasts remains unclear.
Cuba suffered what the government described as the worst damage in the island’s history after being struck by hurricanes Gustav and Ike. It nevertheless turned down an offer of aid from the United States. See article

Texan trail
Hurricane Ike continued its destructive path, forcing an (orderly) evacuation along the Texas coast. George Bush went to the area to view the damage. See article
America’s House of Representatives passed a bill that would expand oil-drilling in areas at least 50 miles (80km) off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. This marked a change in Democratic attitudes to drilling, though Republicans still argue for expanding it closer to the coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico. A current ban on expansion ends at the end of September. The measure now heads to the Senate.
Getty Images
A commuter train collided with a freight train in a Los Angeles suburb, killing 26 people. It was America’s worst rail disaster in 15 years. Federal authorities said they were investigating claims that the driver of the commuter train was distracted by writing a text message on his phone.
In an unparalleled move, California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said he would veto the state budget because it did not include strong provisions for times of fiscal trouble. Legislators had just reached a compromise on the legislation, 78 days into the start of California’s fiscal year.


Source : Economist

__________________
Regards

Aarwaa

Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.

Oct 9th 2008

From The Economist print edition


AFP
The passage of America’s $700 billion banking bail-out by Congress on October 3rd did little to halt the crisis in the world’s financial markets. On the first day of trading after the bill was signed into law, stockmarkets in America, Europe and Asia witnessed their steepest falls in two decades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below the 10,000 mark, the FTSE 100 recorded its biggest one-day drop (in terms of points) and Russia’s stockmarket plunged by almost 20%. On October 8th, Tokyo’s benchmark index fell by 9.4% and Hong Kong’s by 8.2%. See article
America’s second presidential debate took place amid the market turmoil. It was a tetchy affair, with Barack Obama and John McCain attacking each other over the economy and Iraq. Mr McCain did little to dent Mr Obama’s comfortable lead in the polls, both nationally and in the vital swing states. See article
Mr McCain pulled resources from his campaign in Michigan to concentrate elsewhere, basically conceding the state to his Democratic rival. The Republicans had hoped to swing Michigan into their column this year, even though it has not voted for the party in a presidential election since 1988.
George Bush’s approval rating dropped to 25% according to Gallup, his lowest rating yet by its measure.
A report showed that 11,000 gay couples tied the knot in California in the three months after gay marriage was legalised there in June. This surpassed the number of same-sex couples that have married in Massachusetts since May 2004, when that state legalised gay nuptials.

Manifest destiny
The ownership of 33 tanks aboard a Ukranian freighter recently nabbed by pirates off Somalia’s coast was disputed. The manifest indicated that they were headed for the government of south Sudan. But Kenya’s government, keen not to be seen to be arming the south Sudanese, said the tanks belonged to Kenya. See article
South Africa’s former defence minister, Mosiuoa Lekota, a close ally of Thabo Mbeki, the recently ousted president, said he was convening a meeting of disaffected members of the ruling African National Congress. This may herald the formation of a new party to oppose the ANC under its leader, Jacob Zuma, who is likely to become the country’s president next year. See article
Saudi Arabia was reported to be offering its services as a mediator between the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban rebels in a bid to end the war in Afghanistan. See article
Muhammad Khatami, a reformist president of Iran between 1997 and 2005, said he was considering running in the election due next year, in the hope of replacing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Thaksin’s long shadow
Reuters
In Thailand two people were killed and more than 400 were injured in clashes in Bangkok between the security forces and anti-government protesters. Demonstrators tried to prevent the inauguration of the government of the new prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, who is the brother-in-law of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister deposed in a coup in 2006. See article
Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia’s prime minister, confirmed he will stand down next March. He hopes the leadership will pass to his deputy, Najib Razak. Mr Badawi has been under pressure to resign since the relatively poor showing in last March’s general election of the coalition he leads.
China cancelled a number of planned military exchanges and diplomatic contacts with America in protest at America’s decision to sell Taiwan $6.5 billion-worth of weapons, including advanced Patriot anti-missile defences. See article
Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s reclusive and reportedly poorly dictator, was said by the official press to have attended a football match in Pyongyang, his first appearance for several weeks.
Scores of people died in India’s north-eastern state of Assam in violence between indigenous Bodo tribespeople and Muslims. See article
Voters in the Maldives took part in the islands’ first multiparty elections. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, president for 30 years, faced five challengers, including Mohamed Nasheed, a former political prisoner. Some allegations were made of voting irregularities.

Bad timing
As the campaign for Canada’s October 14th general election entered its final days, the chances of Stephen Harper, the prime minister, winning a parliamentary majority for his Conservative minority government seemed to be diminishing. The Conservatives’ earlier 15-point lead over the Liberals halved, as the opposition parties accused Mr Harper of complacency in the face of world financial turmoil. See article
In municipal elections in Brazil, the ruling Workers’ Party made modest gains. But in São Paulo there was a good result for José Serra, the state governor and the strongest opposition contender for Brazil’s presidency in 2010. His preferred candidate topped the poll in the city. See article
Peru’s energy minister resigned after a recording was broadcast that appeared to show corruption in the recent award of concessions for oil and gas exploration.
Venezuela’s finance minister, Alí Rodríguez, said that the fall in the oil price would result in a more restrictive budget for 2009 that would exclude spending on expensive cars, mobile phones and parties by bureaucrats. Under President Hugo Chávez, rising oil prices have hitherto paid for a huge increase in public spending.

Zone of contention
Russia appeared to be on schedule to complete its troop withdrawal from buffer zones surrounding the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia before the deadline of October 10th.
AFP
As expected, following the collapse of the ruling coalition, Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yushchenko, dissolved parliament and called an election, the third in under three years.
Gordon Brown completed a mini reshuffle of his cabinet. The biggest surprise was the return of Peter Mandelson, who was forced to resign from the cabinet twice under Tony Blair. Mr Mandelson takes up a new post of business secretary; he was previously the European Union’s commissioner for trade. See article


Source : Economist

__________________
Regards

Aarwaa

Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.