The Economist 2002 January-December I-IV. [antikvár]

Politics Argentína got its third government in a fortnight. Congress chose Eduardo Duhalde, a Peronist senator, to serve as the country's president until 2003, abandoning a plan for an election in March. Protests and looting had forced out Fernando de la Rua; his successor, Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, lasted only eight days. The new government was expected to scrap the country's currency board, which pegs the peso to the dollár. Almost 300 people were killed when a fire swept through a crowded shopping area in Lima, Peru's capital. The fire began when a firework exploded, igniting tonnes of other fireworks on sale in the area. Mexico's Congress approved tax rises worth about 1.2% of gdp, but rejected long-standing proposals from President Vicente Fox to levy vat on food and medicine. A war postponed? The threat of a fourth war between India and Pakistan eased slightly. India welcomed Pakistan's detention of the leaders of two groups said to have been involved in an attack on the Indián Parliament on December I3th, an event that triggered the new hostility between the two countries. But troops from both sides continued to exchange fire across their bordér in Kashmir, whose future has long been in dispute. Calls for an end to bombing in Afghanistan intensified, after an American attack killed more than 100 people in the village of Qalaye Niazi. Australia's biggest bushfires for eight years destroyed more than 150 homes in New South Wales. Somé fires reached the outskirts of Sydney. Police detained 21 people suspected of arson. Sri Lanka ended a ban on most goods destined for areas controlled by the separatist Tamil Tigers as a gesture designed to start talks to end the 18-year civil war. Over 30 people reportedly died in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Huangmao, in south-east China. Poor safety standards were blamed. Putin on the line jggPg| pffÉL WT* hm ¦MHV For more than two hours, Vladimír Putin answered ordinary Russians' questions- selected from more than 500,000 sent in-on a television phone-in. In Berlin, the local Social Democrats and reformed communists agreed to form a coalition government for the city-state. After a miserable 2001, a majority of Germán industry associations predicted that sales would be stagnant or even lower in 2002. In Britain, plans for police reform-notably to reduce the burden of early retirements on full pay-met vigorous opposition from the ranks. It was bought off with promises of better pay. More killing than calm Anthony Zinni, America's envoy, returned for a short visit to the Middle East, to press Israel and the Palestinians to agree to a ceasefire. But Ariel Sharon reiterated his demand for seven days of absolute calm before considering it. Although the level of violence has dropped since Yasser Arafat called for an end to all fighting, clashes continue: six Palestinians were killed in Gaza in a single day. A plan by Israel's president, Moshe Katsav, to address the Palestinians' parliament was quashed by Israel's prime minister. Iranians toolt to the streets to protest at the continuing imprisonment of their reformist deputies. Somé 60 members of Iran's parliament are currently being prosecuted for expressing their opinions. A presidential election in Madagascar went to a second round after neither the incumbent, Didier Ratsiraka, nor his opponent, Marc Ravalomanana, a yogurt tycoon, had succeeded in winning a majority. In South Africa, 48 people, mostly from the same family, were killed in a truck crash on the way to visit ancestral graves. Pino Arlacchi resigned as head of the UN's drug-control agency after much criticism of his administration and, in particular, a proposed round the-world boát trip designed to promote drug awareness. Levy Mwanawasa, the protégé of his predecessor, Frederick Chiluba, was sworn in as Zambia's new president, after narrowly winning an election his rivals said was rigged, foreign observers agreed was flawed but was contested by an opposition split into ten parties. New York, new mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire businessman and political novice, was sworn in as New York's io8th mayor. He vowed to continue the work of Rudy Giuliani ín rebuilding the city in the aftermath of the September nth terrorist attacks. The alleged "2oth hijacker" in the September nth attacks, Zacharias Moussaoui, refused to enter a plea to charges linking hím to the plot. He was arrested for immigration violations in August. Business Amid much fanfaré, 12 European countries introduced euró notes and coins as a replacement for national currencies. Most governments presented this as a further large step towards European integration. Early indications suggested that the rapid "big bang" method had proved largely successful. Britain. a euró outsider, appeared to warm to adopting the euró sooner rather than later. Wim Duisenberg confirmed that his tenure as head of the European Central Bank would continue for at least another year. He was said to have promised not to serve a full eight-year term (due to end in 2006) when he was appointed in 1998, before the introduction of the euro. Francé had hoped he would depart sooner; its candidatejeanClaude Trichet, waits impatiently to take over.