The Economist february 23rd-march 1st 2013 [antikvár]

The world this week The Economist February 23rd 2013 Politics China's defence ministry rejected a report linking it to the increase in hacking of American companies. The report, published by Man-diant, an American cyber-security firm, found that a group of hackers linked to the Chinese army is probably one of die world's "most prolific •yber-espionage groups". The defence ministry retorted that the study lacks "technical proof". Nearly 90 people were killed and more than 160 injured in a bombing in the city of Quetta, in western Pakistan. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni militant group, claimed responsibility for the blast, which targeted an area populated by Shia Muslims. For three days, the relatives of those killed refused to bury their dead, a protest against authorities they said were turning a blind eye against anti-Shia violence. The UN reported that the number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan fell in 2012 for the first time in six years. It documented 2,754 civilian deaths last year, 12% fewer than in 2011. The drop in casualties was attributed to less fighting onthegroundanda decline in suicide attacks as well as NATO air operations. But the report also expressed concern about the re-emergence of armed groups, particularly in the country's north. Japan's monthly trade deficit hit a record in January as its currency weakened. However, exports rose for the first time in eight months, as the weak yen made Japanese goods more affordable to foreign buyers. Sequester gesture Barack Obama increased pressure on the Republicans to cut a deal on the "sequester", which will slash spending from March 1st. Meanwhile Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, who oversaw a commission looking at ways to reduce the deficit but whose efforts were largely ignored by Mr Obama, launched a rehash of their plan. Congressmen return from a recess next week. When they return senators will vote again on Chuck Hagel's nomination as defence secretary. Some Repub-hcans have used filibustering tactics to prevent a vote. A turning point for Tunisia? Hamadi Jebali, a member of Tunisia's Islamist Nahda party, resigned as prime minister, following ructions after the assassination earlier this month of an opposition leader. Nahda itself was divided over whether it should continue to dominate a new government or share power more widely with secular parties and technocrats in the run-uD to an election expected in the summer. In Israel, Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister and opposition leader who puts peace with the Palestinians at the topofher agenda, agreed to j oin a coalition led by the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. He has until mid-March to form a new government. Ms Livni will be justice minister and chief negotiator with the Palestinians. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah swore in 30 women to the kingdom's previously all-male 150-member Shura Council, the country's senior advisory body. Conservative clerics have criticised the move. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's ageing president, called a referendum for March 16th to endorse a new constitution that has been agreed on by all the main parties. This should pave the way to general and presidential elections within a few months. Mamphela Ramphele, a former senior World Bank official and anti-apartheid activist, launched a new political party in South Africa called Agang. She said it would compete against the ruling African National Congress in the next elections in 2014. Its chances of making an impression were not rated highly. An initial hearing of the murder charges laid against Oscar Pistorius for killing his girlfriend enthralled much of the world. The South African Olympic and Paralympic runner claims he shot Reeva Steenkamp in his bathroom thinking she was a burglar. The twists in the case took an even more surprising turn when it emerged that the lead detective is himself being investigated for attempted murder. Patient confidentiality After more than two months in a Cuban chnic, Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's ailing president, was officially said to have returned home, to a military hospital in Caracas. The government earlier released a photograph of the president lying in bed, and said he was unable to talk because of a breathing tube in his throat Rafael Correa, Ecuador's left-wing president, was easily re-elected for a new four-year term, with 57% of the vote. His party also won a big majority in the National Assembly Yoani Sánchez, a Cuban blogger, was allowed to leave the island for an 8o-day foreign tour, the resuh of the recent abolition of exit controls under which she had been denied permission to travel for five years. Forced exit Boyko Borisov, Bulgaria's prime minister, announced the resignation of his government after thousands of people took to the streets to protest against high electricity prices and austerity measures. Mr Borisov had sacked his finance minister and proposed a reduction of electricity prices, but the protests continued. Serzh Sargsyan won a new five-year term as president of Armenia in an election marred by allegations of fraud and the lack of a serious challenger The opposition Heritage party claimed many ballots had been thrown away, but did not say whether it would challenge the result A presidential election in Cyprus will go to a second round on February 24th. Nicos Anastasiades, the front-runner, who is pushing for a bail-out from the European Union, is expected to win after taking 45% of the vote in the first round. A court in Moscow postponed a pre-trial hearing to March in a posthumous case against Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in prison in suspicious circumstances. Mr Magnitsky had been arrested after accusing officials of tax fraud, but was himself accused of those crimes. His death led to a diplomatic row between Russia and America. A io,ooo-tonne meteor disintegrated over Chelyabinsk, a city in Russia near the border with Kazakhstan. Its break-up released 500 kilotonnes of energy, equivalent to the yield of a large nuclear bomb, blowing out windows and injuring more thani,ooo people. **