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	Thursday?December?7th?2000
	 
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[IMAGE]	[IMAGE]	[IMAGE]	[IMAGE]	The world this week
				Dec 7th 2000
				From The Economist print edition  
				
				
				Counting on courts
				
				Al Gore went on fighting after two court decisions went against him in his 
bid to contest the result of the presidential vote-count in Florida. First, 
the federal Supreme Court refused to uphold (or reject) the decision of the 
Florida Supreme Court to extend the deadline for hand recounts, and sent the 
case back for the court to explain its reasons. The next day, a Florida 
circuit court upheld the state,s results, giving George W. Bush a winning 
margin of 537 votes. Mr Gore appealed against the ruling. Mr Gore was 
encouraged by a federal appeals-court ruling that rejected Mr Bush,s request 
to throw out the results of manual recounts in Florida.
				See article: The fight for the presidencyE+
				
				Meanwhile, Mr Bush tried to consolidate his probable position as 
president-elect. For the first time, he received an intelligence briefing 
from the CIA. He told his aides in Texas, however, that they should continue 
calling him &Mr Governor8. 
				See article: George Bush,s awkward transition
				
				There were rows in Chile over General Augusto Pinochet. A Chilean court 
suspended procedures for his arrest on charges of murder and kidnapping, 
pending his appeal, while President Ricardo Lagos met armed-forces chiefs to 
discuss the issue.
				See article: Chile,s Pinochet row
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				AP
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				In his first actions as Mexico,s president, Vicente Fox sent a bill on 
indigenous rights to Congress, as a step towards trying to settle the 
Zapatist rebellion in the south-eastern state of Chiapas.
				See article: Fox tries for peace in ChiapasE+
				
				In a setback for Venezuela,s President Hugo Chavez, fewer than 10% of the 
electorate in a referendum backed a controversial government proposal to oust 
trade-union leaders.
				See article: A setback for Venezuela,s ChavezE+
				
				Colombia,s President Andres Pastrana renewed until the end of January an 
arrangement under which troops have been withdrawn from a &demilitarised8 
zone to facilitate peace talks with the FARC guerrillas. The talks have been 
stalled for months.
				
				Time for friends
				
				At the start of the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada of the 
Philippines, a count of his supporters in the Senate suggested that they 
could be sufficient to prevent his conviction on charges of corruption. 
Police were on &red alert8 for possible clashes between foes and friends of 
the president. An opinion poll gave Mr Estrada a popularity rating of 41%, up 
from 35% in November.
				See article: Estrada on trialE+
				
				The Japanese prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, sought to bolster his shaky 
government with the inclusion of two former prime ministers in his cabinet, 
together with other veterans.
				See article: Japan,s new cabinetE+
				
				Taiwan called on America to lift its ban on visits by Taiwanese officials. 
President Chen Shui-bian said he feared that Taiwan,s interests were being 
sacrificed while America was &engaging8 China.
				
				Australia is to increase its spending on defence by almost $13 billion during 
the next decade. The government said Australia would focus on regional 
threats and contribute more to peacekeeping forces. A defence report 
complained that Australia could expect little help from &useless8 New Zealand.
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				EPA
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				A collision in the Indian state of Punjab between a passenger train and a 
freight train killed 46 people. It was the 253rd train accident in India this 
year.
				
				Nice work
				
				Amid last-minute wrangling and violent protests by anti-globalisation 
activists, leaders of the European Union,s 15 countries gathered in the 
French city of Nice, where they hope to change the rules of the Union to 
allow countries mainly from Central Europe to join. France said it was 
reluctant to let the EU,s voting system be changed so that Germany would have 
a bigger say in EU decisions. 
				See article: Will the EU expand?E+
				
				Responding to EU plans for a rapid-reaction military force, America,s 
outgoing defence secretary, William Cohen, said that NATO should not be 
allowed to become a &relic of the past8.
				
				France,s President Jacques Chirac became more deeply embroiled in a 
party-funding scandal when an aide during his time as mayor of Paris was 
arrested. 
				See article: France,s embarrassed president
				
				A court in Russia found an American guilty of spying and jailed him for 20 
years.
				
				Supreme decisions
				
				With parliamentary elections due on Sunday, violence broke out in C"te d,
Ivoire after the Supreme Court ruled that a leading candidate from the north, 
Alassane Ouatarra, was not eligible for election. The decision ranged 
northerners against southerners, and Muslims against Christians. 
				See article: North v south in Cote d,IvoireE+
				
				Ghana held a presidential election. The Supreme Court modified the rule that 
voters, identification cards had to carry photographs. The main opposition 
party gave warning that this made fraud more likely.
				
				Local elections were held in South Africa after a bad-tempered campaign. The 
turn-out was low, and the opposition Democratic Alliance did relatively well.
				See article: South Africa,s racial electionE+
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				AP
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				The United Nations, secretary-general, Kofi Annan, visited Sierra Leone and 
Ethiopia, to show support for the two UN peacekeeping operations in west and 
east Africa.
				
				Defence ministers representing some combatants in Congo,s war agreed to 
withdraw troops from frontline positions. But fighting carried on in at least 
one part of Congo and the rebels in control of another part rejected the deal.
				
				The UN and Iraq agreed on a deal to renew the country,s oil-for-food 
programme. Iraq won a concession allowing it to spend some oil revenue 
locally, rather than on imports. The money is supposed to go on paying its 
oil workers and repairing oil installations.
				
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