Politics this week

George Bush hosted a Middle East peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland. As well as the Israeli and Palestinian delegations, Saudi Arabia, Syria and other Arab states also came. The conference ended with a commitment to the goal of a Palestinian state, and a promise of immediate talks, but with no mention of borders, Jerusalem or Jewish settlements on the West Bank. Hamas, the rejectionist Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, held a huge rally and denounced Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. See article

Zimbabwe's chief statistician said that he can no longer work out the country's inflation rate because there are not enough goods left in the shops to count. In September inflation was reckoned to be almost 8,000%.

The United Nations said that the Sudanese government was obstructing the deployment of a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force in Darfur, which could “make it impossible for the mission to operate”. Sticking-points include the Sudanese refusal to allow night flights and the participation of non-African troops.

A British teacher, Gillian Gibbons, was charged with blasphemy in Sudan after allowing her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Ruddy good show

After 11 years as Australia's prime minister, John Howard lost an election to Kevin Rudd's Labor Party. Mr Rudd marked his victory by accepting an invitation to this month's climate-change meeting in Bali, and by promising to make a formal apology to Australia's indigenous people for past mistreatment. See article

Having legitimised his “re-election” as Pakistan's president through a handpicked Supreme Court, Pervez Musharraf shed a tear as he relinquished command of the army. The next day he was sworn in as a “civilian” president. Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister ousted by Mr Musharraf in a coup in 1999, returned home and filed his nomination for a parliamentary election due on January 8th, even though he still wants other opposition parties to join a boycott of the ballot. See article

AP

Senior European Union officials flew to Beijing for their annual summit with China. It was marked by sharper-than-usual European criticism of China's mounting trade surplus and weak currency. Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, preceded the EU in Beijing and oversaw the signing of French contracts worth billions of euros. See article

At least 16 people were killed in a bomb explosion in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. A day earlier the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam described as “naive” the hope for peace in its 24-year war with the government.

Rebel soldiers in the Philippines, many facing trial for a mutiny in 2003, briefly occupied a hotel in Manila. They surrendered when the army stormed the building.

In Japan, a former defence-ministry high-flyer, Takemasa Moriya, was arrested along with his wife in a growing defence-procurement scandal that is proving an embarrassment for the already fragile government of Yasuo Fukuda.

Troubled streets

Two years after a previous round of riots in Paris's banlieues, a fresh set of disturbances broke out following the deaths of two youths in a motorbike accident involving a police car. As well as the usual car burnings, some rioters used shotguns. President Nicolas Sarkozy promised a tough response. See article

Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, accused America of stopping international observers from coming to monitor the Russian parliamentary election on December 2nd. The United Russia party that he now heads is expected to win by a landslide. See article

The Croatian election saw the ruling HDZ party take the biggest number of seats, but it may have to depend on a small Eurosceptic party for a parliamentary majority. The opposition Social Democrats refuse to concede defeat.

A final round of internationally supervised talks between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs failed to reach agreement on Kosovo's future status. The Kosovo Albanians say they may declare independence from Serbia unilaterally soon after the UN deadline of December 10th. See article

Diplomatic words

Venezuela recalled its ambassador to Colombia amid rising tensions between the two countries. The dispute began soon after President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia ended the involvement of his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, in hostage negotiations with the FARC rebel group. The Venezuelan president called the decision a “spit in the face”. See article

Seven football fans in Brazil fell to their deaths after part of a stadium in Salvador collapsed. The city is a candidate to stage matches in the 2014 World Cup, awarded in October to Brazil.

Police in Peru said they had killed Epifanio Espiritu Acosta, second-in-command of one of the two remaining Maoist Shining Path groups, now increasingly involved in drug-trafficking.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre extended its final effort to track down and prosecute former Nazi war criminals to Latin America. Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil will now take part in the campaign, which includes rewards for information leading to a conviction.

Perfect timing

There was another departure from the White House. Allan Hubbard stepped down as head of the National Economic Council, joining a lengthy list of senior officials who have left the administration this year. He goes amid talk of a possible recession.

Trent Lott, who has been politically rehabilitated since resigning as Republican Senate leader in 2002 because of some ill-considered remarks on race, took colleagues by surprise by saying he would retire from Congress.

AP

The Republicans held their YouTube debate, with the public submitting their questions via video. Although the clips were less amusing than those in the Democrats' YouTube forum, the candidates made up for the entertainment deficit by slugging it out over immigration and other issues. Meanwhile, the Democrats cancelled a forthcoming television debate because they do not want to cross a writers' picket at the studio.