Politics this week

Coalition troops in Afghanistan mounted their biggest offensive against the Taliban since the start of the eight-year war. Centred on Marja, a Taliban stronghold in Helmand province, it involved foreign and Afghan forces. The coalition said early stages had gone well. But there were fierce firefights, and its advance was slowed by a vast network of bombs and booby-traps. Twelve civilians were killed in an American rocket attack. See article
It was revealed that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy leader, had been captured in Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial hub. Analysts in America hoped this signalled a shift in strategy by Pakistan, which has long tolerated and even supported a Taliban presence on its soil.
Eleven people were killed in a bombing in the Indian city of Pune—the first such attack since the onslaught on Mumbai in November 2008. Senior diplomats from India and Pakistan are to resume formal negotiations in Delhi on February 25th for the first time since that attack. See article
The European Union suspended the preferential trade terms it has offered Sri Lanka over the government’s human-rights record. Sri Lanka has six months to allay the concerns.
USS Nimitz, an American aircraft-carrier, dropped anchor in Hong Kong, despite recent tensions between China and America. The port call began the day before Barack Obama was to meet the Dalai Lama in Washington, to China’s fury.
Tin Oo, the deputy leader of Myanmar’s main opposition party, was freed after nearly seven years in detention. His release came just before a visit to Myanmar by a UN envoy. See article
The birthday of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s dictator, was marked with synchronised-swimming displays and a flower festival. He turned 68, or perhaps 69; the exact year of his miracle birth on the holy slopes of Mount Paektu is unclear.

Sticks and stones

The Democrats were dealt another political blow ahead of this year’s mid-term election when Evan Bayh became the latest senator to decide to step down, making his Indiana seat open to a Republican challenge. Mr Bayh is a moderate Democrat. He blamed legislative gridlock for his decision and later lambasted a “dysfunctional” Congress that suffered from “brain-dead partisanship”. See article
Patrick Kennedy said that he would not run for re-election as a congressman from Rhode Island, marking the first time in more than 60 years that a member of the Kennedy dynasty will not hold federal office. Mr Kennedy is a son of the late Ted Kennedy.

Debt burden

Sceptical European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels set a deadline of March 16th for the Greek government to show that its deficit-reduction plan was taking effect. Failure to convince would, the ministers said, be met with demands for further austerity measures. See article
Following an American proposal to base parts of a missile defence system in Romania and Bulgaria, Transdniestria, a Russia-leaning province of Moldova, said that it had offered to host Russian missiles on its territory. Moscow said it wasn’t interested. See article
Meanwhile, Russia signed a deal with Abkhazia granting it the right to establish a military base. The independence of the breakaway Georgian region was recognised by Russia after its short war with Georgia in August 2008. The Georgian government said the deal with Abkhazia violated the terms of its ceasefire agreement with Russia.
Disputes over Ukraine’s presidential election rumbled on. Yulia Tymoshenko, the losing candidate in a vote internationally recognised as fair, presented Ukraine’s administrative court with evidence of what she said was widespread electoral fraud. The court suspended recognition of the election result, in which Viktor Yanukovych had emerged as the winner.

Eighteen people were killed and 170 injured in a train crash in Belgium, disrupting rail services, including the London-Brussels Eurostar.

Shorn identities

Dubai released film footage that, it claimed, shows a hit-squad at least 11 strong stalking Mahmoud al-Mabhouh before he was killed in January. Suspicion has fallen on Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service. Israeli reports suggest that Mr Mabhouh was in Dubai to buy weapons for Hamas from Iran. The assassins travelled on European passports, including six from Britain, prompting an inquiry there.
America nominated its first ambassador to Syria in five years and a senior American official visited Bashar Assad, Syria’s president, for “candid” talks. Diplomatic relations were broken off by America in 2005, but are being restored as it seeks Syrian help in the Middle East peace process.
In Kenya’s power-sharing government, Raila Odinga, the prime minister, sacked two ministers from the cabinet over alleged corruption, only for Mwai Kibaki, the president, to reinstate them claiming that Mr Odinga had exceeded his powers. One of the ministers, William Ruto, launched a bitter attack on Mr Odinga. See article

Recovery efforts

The Inter-American Development Bank estimated that rebuilding Haiti after last month’s earthquake could cost between $8 billion and $14 billion. Relief workers said that the immediate priority now is issuing tarpaulins to 1m people in makeshift camps before the start of the rainy season. See article
Argentina’s government said it would take measures to stop a rig hired by a British company from exploring for oil off the Falkland Islands. It issued a decree requiring ships crossing Argentine waters to reach the islands to obtain a permit. Argentina claims the islands, which it calls the Malvinas, as its own. See article
Police held José Roberto Arruda, the governor of Brazil’s Federal District, over allegations that he accepted bribes in connection with public-works contracts. Mr Arruda says the piles of cash that he was filmed receiving were for food and toys for the poor.
The Vancouver Winter Olympics got off to a bad start when a Georgian athlete was killed while training for the luge event; other competitors had denounced the track as dangerous. Canadians were cheered by their athletes winning several medals.