Business this week: 1st - 7th October 2005

Business this week

Oct 6th 2005
From The Economist print edition

Kazakhstan's government said it would seek “strategic control” of PetroKazakhstan's assets in the country, despite its imminent takeover by China National Petroleum Corporation. PetroKazakhstan's shareholders (the company is listed in Canada) are due to approve the $4.2 billion deal on October 18th. Meanwhile, Lukoil, Russia's biggest oil company, confirmed that it is close to buying Nelson Resources, another Canadian-listed firm that maintains energy assets in Kazakhstan, for $2 billion.

Politics this week

Oct 6th 2005
From The Economist print edition

Germany came closer to knowing who will lead the country as the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats held talks on forming a coalition government. The CDU's Angela Merkel received a boost to her chances of becoming the country's next leader when her party picked up a seat in the eastern city of Dresden, where voting in last month's general election had been postponed because of the death of a candidate.

A report on the future status of Kosovo, launching a process that could lead to independence, was submitted to Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general. Agreement over the province between Serbs and Albanians remained elusive, with some Albanians demanding immediate independence with no conditions

A series of three bomb blasts killed 19 people, as well as three suicide-bombers, in Bali. This was the second attack in three years: 202 people were killed in a much bigger attack in October 2002

Algerians voted by a large majority, according to (disputed) official figures, to endorse a Charter on Peace and National Reconciliation. This was intended to draw a line under the civil strife that ensued, leaving some 150,000 dead, after the army stepped in when Islamists won the first round of a general election in 1991. The charter offers an amnesty to all but those guilty of the worst crimes but would, say critics, give the army impunity for past misdeeds.

The Palestinians' main secular party, Fatah, which has been struggling to impose its authority, did better than expected in the third of four rounds of local elections, winning around 54% of the seats, while the Islamists of Hamas got 26%. But the poll in the Gaza strip, where Hamas is strong, was put off.

The breakaway state of Somaliland held its first multi-party general election since it seceded from anarchic Somalia, of which it is still legally a part, more than a decade ago. All three competing parties want independence.

A former marine who worked in the vice-president's office for both Al Gore and Dick Cheney is being investigated for passing information to the Philippines' government.

In a snub to the White House, the Senate voted by 90-9 to set tougher limits on how American troops can interrogate terrorist suspects.

Two more indictments were brought against Tom DeLay, this time for money-laundering political funds. Mr DeLay, who stepped down as the Republican's majority leader in the House of Representatives last week, called the new charges “an abomination of justice”.
An investigation began into the capsizing of a tour boat on Lake George in New York state's Adirondack mountains; 20 elderly passengers were killed.



Weather report
At least 160 people were killed after Hurricane Stan, carrying winds of up to 80mph, ploughed through Central America causing landslides and flooding and forcing thousands to flee their homes. El Salvador (already shaken by the eruption of its biggest volcano) and Guatemala were the worst affected and struggled to help those most at risk.

Alberto Fujimori, Peru's former president who was ousted from power five years ago, announced he would run for the presidency next spring. He did not say whether he would return to Peru, where he faces arrest on charges of human-rights abuse and corruption, or fight the contest from Japan where he lives in self-imposed exile.


The United States reported that a record 464 people had died trying to cross the border from Mexico in the year ending September 30th, a 43% increase on the previous year.