Politics this week
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Politics this week
Politics this week
Mar 25th 2004
From The Economist print edition
Israeli forces fired missiles from a helicopter to assassinate Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the wheelchair-bound leader of the Palestinians' main Islamist movement, Hamas, as he came out of a mosque at dawn in the Gaza Strip. Though Hamas has carried out most of the suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, the action provoked a wave of condemnation across the world. The American administration fell short of direct criticism, saying it was “deeply troubled” by Israel's action.
The Saudi authorities arrested 13 prominent liberals and kept six of them in prison.
Germany's president, Johannes Rau, cancelled a visit to Djibouti after his intelligence services gave warning that Islamist terrorists might try to assassinate him.
Tony Blair flew to Tripoli for a meeting with Libya's leader, Muammar Qaddafi. Britain's prime minister is leading international efforts to restore normal relations with Libya as a reward for its undertaking to give up weapons of mass destruction.
America and Britain asked the UN Security Council to approve a resolution to criminalise the transfer of weapons of mass destruction and the means to make them to terrorists or any “non-state actor”.
Three weeks before a general election, South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, upset many by joking that he would beat his sister if she fell in love with an opposition candidate. Nonetheless, his party, the African National Congress, is expected to win easily.
Investigating terror
An independent commission investigating the September 11th attacks heard evidence from officials in the Bush and Clinton administrations. All stoutly defended their policies towards terrorism. Meanwhile, Richard Clarke, George Bush's former adviser on counter-terrorism, severely criticised the current administration, claiming that Mr Bush ignored warnings about impending al-Qaeda attacks, and then put pressure on officials to link the attacks to Iraq.
A government report warned that Medicare's finances had “taken a major turn for the worse” over the past year. The fund, which covers elderly and disabled Americans, is projected to be empty by 2019, seven years earlier than estimated last year.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the phrase “under God” should be kept in the pledge of allegiance. A Californian atheist objected to his daughter reciting the phrase at school and claims that it violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
A snub from the regions
In regional elections, voters in France blew a raspberry at the centre-right government of President Jacques Chirac, prompting speculation that, after the second round, he may sack his prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin. The Socialists did better than expected; the far-right National Front scored about 15%, less than in 2002.
Ahead of a European Union summit on March 25th-26th, strong hints emerged that the current EU president, Ireland's Bertie Ahern, would resume the negotiations on the draft EU constitution that were aborted in December. An agreement on the constitution may now be reached before the next summit in June.
As expected, the Cyprus unification talks between Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot leaders failed. The Greek and Turkish prime ministers will now join in; if they too fail, the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, will take over and put his unification plans to referendums in both parts of the island on April 20th.
The country's top admiral attacked the safety of Russia's nuclear navy. Vladimir Kuroyedov declared that an advanced nuclear-powered cruiser, Peter the Great, could blow up at any moment. He later retracted the claim, though he insisted that the navy was short of money.
Narrow victory
Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian, was re-elected by a margin of just 0.2%. There were calls for a recount, or even for the election to be invalidated. The opposition said that an assassination attempt, in which Mr Chen was slightly wounded, had given him an unfair sympathy vote.
Malaysia's ruling coalition won a landslide victory in a general election. It won 198 of the 219 seats, and now controls 11 of the 12 state legislatures.
Despite optimistic reports that the Pakistani army had pinned down al-Qaeda's second-in-command during fighting in a remote tribal area on the border with Afghanistan, no top terrorists were captured. A mile-long secret tunnel was discovered.
As many as 200 people were reportedly killed in fierce fighting in Nepal.
The aviation minister of Afghanistan, who was also the son of a warlord, Ismail Khan, ruler of Herat, was assassinated there.
Japanese police arrested a group of Chinese activists who landed on one of the disputed Senkaku islands.
India won a thrilling one-day cricket series against Pakistan. Both countries have praised each other's sportsmanship, and relations between the two have improved markedly.
Lacking intelligence
Peru's government resolved to get rid of its intelligence services. The prime minister said that too many agents had ties with the former president, Alberto Fujimori, and a disgraced former chief spy, Vladimiro Montesinos. The most recent head of the agency—the seventh since 2001—is under investigation for corruption and has stepped down.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's former president, was offered asylum in Nigeria. The ousted president, who fled Haiti in late February, first found refuge in the Central African Republic before flying to Jamaica.
In El Salvador, the right-wing Arena party won its fourth presidential election since the end of the country's civil war. Tony Saca, a former sports commentator, beat a former guerrilla leader.
Venezuela's Supreme Court reversed an earlier decision that opened the way for a referendum to recall President Hugo Chávez. The opposition accused the president of manipulating judges.
Fonte: The Economist
Um abraço,
MozHawk
Mar 25th 2004
From The Economist print edition
Israeli forces fired missiles from a helicopter to assassinate Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the wheelchair-bound leader of the Palestinians' main Islamist movement, Hamas, as he came out of a mosque at dawn in the Gaza Strip. Though Hamas has carried out most of the suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, the action provoked a wave of condemnation across the world. The American administration fell short of direct criticism, saying it was “deeply troubled” by Israel's action.
The Saudi authorities arrested 13 prominent liberals and kept six of them in prison.
Germany's president, Johannes Rau, cancelled a visit to Djibouti after his intelligence services gave warning that Islamist terrorists might try to assassinate him.
Tony Blair flew to Tripoli for a meeting with Libya's leader, Muammar Qaddafi. Britain's prime minister is leading international efforts to restore normal relations with Libya as a reward for its undertaking to give up weapons of mass destruction.
America and Britain asked the UN Security Council to approve a resolution to criminalise the transfer of weapons of mass destruction and the means to make them to terrorists or any “non-state actor”.
Three weeks before a general election, South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, upset many by joking that he would beat his sister if she fell in love with an opposition candidate. Nonetheless, his party, the African National Congress, is expected to win easily.
Investigating terror
An independent commission investigating the September 11th attacks heard evidence from officials in the Bush and Clinton administrations. All stoutly defended their policies towards terrorism. Meanwhile, Richard Clarke, George Bush's former adviser on counter-terrorism, severely criticised the current administration, claiming that Mr Bush ignored warnings about impending al-Qaeda attacks, and then put pressure on officials to link the attacks to Iraq.
A government report warned that Medicare's finances had “taken a major turn for the worse” over the past year. The fund, which covers elderly and disabled Americans, is projected to be empty by 2019, seven years earlier than estimated last year.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the phrase “under God” should be kept in the pledge of allegiance. A Californian atheist objected to his daughter reciting the phrase at school and claims that it violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
A snub from the regions
In regional elections, voters in France blew a raspberry at the centre-right government of President Jacques Chirac, prompting speculation that, after the second round, he may sack his prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin. The Socialists did better than expected; the far-right National Front scored about 15%, less than in 2002.
Ahead of a European Union summit on March 25th-26th, strong hints emerged that the current EU president, Ireland's Bertie Ahern, would resume the negotiations on the draft EU constitution that were aborted in December. An agreement on the constitution may now be reached before the next summit in June.
As expected, the Cyprus unification talks between Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot leaders failed. The Greek and Turkish prime ministers will now join in; if they too fail, the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, will take over and put his unification plans to referendums in both parts of the island on April 20th.
The country's top admiral attacked the safety of Russia's nuclear navy. Vladimir Kuroyedov declared that an advanced nuclear-powered cruiser, Peter the Great, could blow up at any moment. He later retracted the claim, though he insisted that the navy was short of money.
Narrow victory
Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian, was re-elected by a margin of just 0.2%. There were calls for a recount, or even for the election to be invalidated. The opposition said that an assassination attempt, in which Mr Chen was slightly wounded, had given him an unfair sympathy vote.
Malaysia's ruling coalition won a landslide victory in a general election. It won 198 of the 219 seats, and now controls 11 of the 12 state legislatures.
Despite optimistic reports that the Pakistani army had pinned down al-Qaeda's second-in-command during fighting in a remote tribal area on the border with Afghanistan, no top terrorists were captured. A mile-long secret tunnel was discovered.
As many as 200 people were reportedly killed in fierce fighting in Nepal.
The aviation minister of Afghanistan, who was also the son of a warlord, Ismail Khan, ruler of Herat, was assassinated there.
Japanese police arrested a group of Chinese activists who landed on one of the disputed Senkaku islands.
India won a thrilling one-day cricket series against Pakistan. Both countries have praised each other's sportsmanship, and relations between the two have improved markedly.
Lacking intelligence
Peru's government resolved to get rid of its intelligence services. The prime minister said that too many agents had ties with the former president, Alberto Fujimori, and a disgraced former chief spy, Vladimiro Montesinos. The most recent head of the agency—the seventh since 2001—is under investigation for corruption and has stepped down.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's former president, was offered asylum in Nigeria. The ousted president, who fled Haiti in late February, first found refuge in the Central African Republic before flying to Jamaica.
In El Salvador, the right-wing Arena party won its fourth presidential election since the end of the country's civil war. Tony Saca, a former sports commentator, beat a former guerrilla leader.
Venezuela's Supreme Court reversed an earlier decision that opened the way for a referendum to recall President Hugo Chávez. The opposition accused the president of manipulating judges.
Fonte: The Economist
Um abraço,
MozHawk
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