Politics this week

Barack Obama admitted that he “screwed up” in nominating Tom Daschle for health secretary. Mr Daschle withdrew his name after it emerged that he had failed to keep his taxes in proper order and had made late payments. His departure is a blow for the new administration’s health policy; Mr Daschle, a former senator, was to have overseen negotiations with Congress over reforming the health system. See article

The Democrats were also embarrassed when Nancy Killefer said she would no longer seek the job of the federal government’s first “performance tsar”. She had failed to pay taxes on a domestic employee and is the third of Mr Obama’s nominees to have problems with the tax code. See article

The Senate modified the “Buy American” part of the stimulus package (which America’s trade partners say is protectionist and could lead to a trade war) by inserting a clause promising to abide by America’s international obligations.

Mr Obama chose a Republican, Judd Gregg, as commerce secretary. Mr Gregg is a senator from New Hampshire and agreed to take the job only after assurances that the state’s Democratic governor would pick a Republican to replace him. The Democrats are tantalisingly close to a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority.

Pat Quinn completed his first week as the new governor of Illinois. Rod Blagojevich was removed from office by the state Senate on January 29th after his impeachment.

Partners in peace

Germany and France announced that German troops would be stationed on French soil for the first time since the second world war. A German battalion is likely to be based in Alsace-Lorraine, a region repeatedly fought over by the two countries in the past.

The pope ordered a traditionalist bishop, Richard Williamson, whom he had recently readmitted to the Catholic church, to recant on his denials of the Holocaust. The about-turn by the pope, who is German, came after an intervention by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.

Amid a spate of bad economic news in Europe, Spain reported a sharp rise in unemployment to 14.4% and Ireland a jump to 9.2%, in both cases the highest rates for over a decade. See article

The Russian rouble came under fresh attack after the central bank tried to establish a floor for it. It has lost a third of its value against the dollar since August. The deputy prime minister, Igor Shuvalov, said Russia would not run a budget deficit.

Reuters

Britain was hit by a series of unofficial wildcat strikes over the use of foreign workers. The strikers' main objection is to the effects of a European Union directive which, they say, makes it easier for firms to employ foreign workers. Gordon Brown’s promise of “British jobs for British workers” returned to haunt him. See article

Stimulating stuff

Faced with a rapidly cooling economy, Brazil’s government announced plans to increase spending on infrastructure this year by 28% and to set up a 500m reais ($220m) fund to insure mortgages issued to poorer families.

An armed group damaged and defaced with anti-Semitic slogans the main synagogue in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. Jewish leaders blamed President Hugo Chávez for creating a climate of anti-Semitism after he broke off relations with Israel over its invasion of Gaza. The government said that the attack was the work of opponents seeking to discredit the president ahead of a referendum later this month to abolish term limits.

Colombia’s FARC guerrillas released five hostages, including a former provincial governor held captive for more than seven years. The FARC are believed to continue to hold several hundred hostages for ransom.

Endangered Tigers

Fierce fighting continued in northern Sri Lanka as President Mahinda Rajapaksa predicted that the final defeat of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was imminent. America, Japan, the European Union and others called on the Tigers to surrender. Some 250,000 civilians were trapped by the fighting; the government accused the Tigers of using them as human shields. The only hospital in Tiger-controlled territory was repeatedly shelled and bombed, though the government denied it was responsible. See article

The government of Kyrgyzstan asked parliament to approve the closure of an important American air base, Manas, near the capital, Bishkek. The only American base in Central Asia, Manas plays an important role in supporting American and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

A suicide-bomber in Tirin Kot, in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, blew himself up in a police station, killing more than 20 policemen. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility on behalf of the group.

Ibrahim Gambari, the United Nations special envoy to Myanmar, paid his first visit to the country since August. This time he managed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained opposition leader. But Than Shwe, head of the ruling junta, was unavailable. See article

North Korea said it was scrapping agreements made with South Korea to prevent hostilities. There were fears of a clash over the maritime border, and reports that the North was preparing to test-fire its longest-range missile. See article

Representative government

Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, agreed to enter into a power-sharing government with President Robert Mugabe (some issues are still to be resolved). African countries urged everyone to support the new government; Britain and America vowed to maintain their sanctions until they see evidence that Mr Mugabe really has relinquished some power to Mr Tsvangirai. See article

Iran blasted a satellite into orbit. Carried on a Safir-2 rocket, the launch came as the country celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. America viewed the launch with “great concern”, fearing it could lead to the development of longer-range ballistic missiles. See article

Reuters

Elections were held in 14 of Iraq’s 18 provinces. In contrast to 2005, they passed off relatively peacefully. This was hailed as a great success by many, although, with security now so much better than it was, voter turnout was unexpectedly low. See article