CALDEIRÃO DE BOLSA

Politics this week
Apr 1st 2004
From The Economist print edition

Iraq killings

Iraqis in Fallujah, an insurgent hotbed west of Baghdad, mutilated and abused the bodies of four Americans, who were killed after their vehicles were attacked in the town. At least two bodies were dragged through the streets, while two incinerated ones were hung from a bridge.

Four of the five permanent members of the UN's Security Council said they were ready to welcome an internal UN investigation into alleged corruption, possibly involving some of the international body's own staff, over the UN's oil-for-food programme in Iraq, which ended last year.

Israel's state prosecutor recommended that the country's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, be tried for accepting a bribe. It is now up to the attorney-general to decide whether a trial should go ahead.

The Palestinian Authority's prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, sounded hopeful for the first time that the Israelis' proposed withdrawal from the Gaza Strip could revive a peace process, provided there was also a withdrawal from the West Bank.

The annual meeting of the 22-member Arab League, scheduled for March 29th and 30th in Tunis, failed to happen at all, with Arab leaders arguing over the reasons for its postponement. Tunisia's president, the host, implied he had called it off because various leaders refused to welcome America's call for more democracy in the region.

France, Germany and Britain criticised Iran's decision to start operating a plant for converting uranium into gas before its enrichment in centrifuges. Iran was supposed to have “suspended” all enrichment-related activity under a deal last October.

Coup attempts were reported in Congo and Sudan. Congo's involved a burst of fighting in the capital. Sudan's, if it really happened, never got past the planning stage, but the government arrested several prominent Islamist critics, including its own former chief ideologue, Hassan al-Turabi.

A planned series of anti-government protests came to an early end in Côte d'Ivoire after the security forces killed at least 37 and perhaps as many as 300 demonstrators.

A rough regional rebuff

President Jacques Chirac reshuffled France's government after his centre-right party suffered a humiliating defeat in regional elections. The current interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, becomes finance minister; Dominique de Villepin moves from foreign to interior minister; and Michel Barnier, a European commissioner, gets foreign affairs.

A planned Islamic bomb attack was apparently foiled in Britain when police seized half a tonne of ammonium nitrate and arrested eight suspects, all British citizens of Pakistani descent.

Talks on a revised UN plan for the unification of Cyprus failed to win endorsement from the leaders of the island's Greeks. But the United Nations decided to go ahead anyway and put its plans to a vote in both parts of Cyprus on April 24th.

The Polish prime minister, Leszek Miller, is to resign on May 2nd. His most likely successor is Marek Belka, an economic adviser in Iraq.

The Irish government became the first in Europe to implement a smoking ban in all workplaces, including pubs and restaurants.

America's war on terror

After intense pressure, Condoleezza Rice, George Bush's national security adviser, agreed to testify in public to an independent commission investigating the September 11th attacks. Ms Rice has vigorously denied claims by Richard Clarke, a former White House terrorism expert, that more could have been done to prevent the atrocities.

The new chief weapons inspector for Iraq, Charles Duelfer, told two congressional committees that the Iraq Survey Group had developed “new information” about Iraq's capabilities to produce chemical or biological agents at short notice.

Colin Powell officially welcomed seven new countries into NATO. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia all handed over their instruments of accession to the secretary of state, as America is the depository nation for the defence organisation.

The Massachusetts legislature voted for a state constitutional ban on gay marriage, though the decision has to be ratified next year and then confirmed by the state's voters. The state's Supreme Court recently confirmed that gay weddings can begin next month.

Southern California, which is basking in unseasonably warm weather, had its first emergency warning from its electricity grid operator for nearly a year.

Bombs in Asia too

A series of bombs in Uzbekistan prompted a fierce response from its government: a shoot-out left more than 40 people dead. In the Philippines, the government announced that it had foiled a “Madrid-scale” plot aimed at blowing up trains in Manila, the capital. And in southern Thailand 1.4 tonnes of explosives were stolen from a quarry after ten thieves overpowered two security guards.

Taiwan's political deadlock continued, though the courts were at last due to start considering whether to hold a recount of the presidential election of March 20th—a move backed by the president, who won, and the opposition.

Interested nations met in Berlin to pledge further aid for Afghanistan, which is seeking $27.6 billion over seven years.

Voodoo economics no more

While attending the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank in Lima, Peru, Henri Bazin, Haiti's economy minister, said that he expected a meeting of international donors to take place in Haiti on April 15th.

Five months after a revolt led to the resignation of the country's president, a miner blew himself up in Bolivia's Congress building, killing or injuring several other people, in protest at unpaid pensions.

A report by Canada's auditor-general argued that the country's security agencies were failing to co-operate effectively to combat terrorism. It gave warning that the country was particularly vulnerable at airports and border crossings.

Fonte:The Economist

Um abraço,

MozHawk