Other important political stories this week

The diplomatic row intensified between Canada and India over the murder of a Sikh separatist near Vancouver. Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, claiming a link to the shooting in June 2023 of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an activist who pushed for a Sikh homeland in India. Explaining the expulsions, Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, said the police evidence could not be ignored and it was necessary “to disrupt the criminal activities” that threatened public safety. Canadian police described a broad campaign against Indian dissidents in the country involving criminal gangs. A furious India denied the claims and expelled six Canadian diplomats, including the acting high commissioner.

Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s federal security minister during the “war on drugs” between 2006 and 2012, was sentenced to more than 38 years in prison by a court in New York for taking bribes from the Sinaloa cartel and protecting its members from arrest.

Argentina’s economic outlook continued to improve, with the country’s risk index compiled by JPMorgan Chase, a bank, hitting its lowest level in five years. Inflation has continued to slow, running at 3.5% month-on-month in September. All of this is good news for Javier Milei, Argentina’s libertarian president, who has slashed public spending in an effort to curb rising prices. The nationwide poverty rate, however, rose to 53% in the first six months of 2024, up from 42% over the previous six months.

America took the rare step of deploying military personnel to Israel. The Pentagon sent a THAAD missile-battery system and its associated crew to the country to boost Israel’s defence capabilities following Iran’s recent missile attack. In the past America has used navy ships and fighter jets to help defend Israel. This week the Pentagon dispatched long-range bombers to target weapons-storage sites in Yemen belonging to the Houthis, a rebel group backed by Iran who have fired missiles at Israel.

Carrots and sticks

As well as bolstering Israel’s security, the Biden administration also warned the Israeli government that it must allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, or risk a reduction in the arms it receives from the US. Among other things Israel must allow at least 350 lorries of aid a day into the area. The deadline for complying comes after America’s election on November 5th. Israel said it took the matter seriously.

The horror in Gaza continued, as at least 50 people were killed across the strip, according to Palestinian health officials, who do not provide a breakdown of civilian and combatant casualties. Israeli forces claimed they were targeting Hamas in Jabalia, in north Gaza.

At least 147 people died and scores more were injured when a fuel tanker caught fire following a crash in northern Nigeria. The victims had rushed to the scene of the crash to collect petrol leaking from the tanker. Fuel-tanker explosions are common in Nigeria because of bad roads and poor vehicle maintenance.

Italy sent its first batch of illegal migrants to Albania to process their requests for asylum, under a controversial arrangement with the Albanian government. Italy has stressed that only men who are not considered to be vulnerable and come from safe countries will be sent abroad for processing. The first batch, of just 16 men, came from Bangladesh and Egypt. If their asylum claims are rejected they will be repatriated.

Poland is also cracking down on migration. The prime minister, Donald Tusk, announced that he intended to suspend the right of asylum to stop the flow of illegal migrants. It was unclear if such a suspension would be allowed under EU law.

Facing a budgetary squeeze, the French government admitted that it would not be able to fulfil a pledge of €3bn ($3.3bn) in military aid to Ukraine this year, and that the figure would be closer to €2bn. The news came just a few days after Volodymyr Zelensky visited Paris, where he presented his “victory plan” for defeating Russia to Emmanuel Macron. The French president’s office said the meeting confirmed France’s “unwavering support” for Ukraine.

Marine Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of the hard-right National Rally in France, took the stand in her trial for misuse of European Parliament funds. Ms Le Pen is accused of overseeing a system that spent money which was earmarked strictly for European Parliament affairs on employing party assistants. Ms Le Pen insists there were no irregularities, but if found guilty she could be banned from running for office for five years.

The Social Democrats were on course to form a government in Lithuania, after the party won the first round of a parliamentary election. Vilija Blinkeviciute looks set to be prime minister and has already begun coalition talks with other centre-left parties.

China held a series of war games around Taiwan after the Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-te, gave a big speech on national day. The Chinese government described the speech as a “provocation”. The Pentagon said the war games were “irresponsible, disproportionate and destabilising”. Xi Jinping later visited Dongshan in China’s southern Fujian province, where Chinese nationalists were defeated in a battle in 1953.

Symbolic gestures

In its latest bout of sabre-rattling North Korea blew up two roads within its borders that link it with South Korea. The North has said it will destroy all existing rail and road networks connecting the two countries, which were first severed during the Korean war.

At least 21 workers were killed in an attack on a coal mine in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. Baloch separatists, who have carried out a number of deadly assaults in recent months, denied any involvement. The incident came shortly before Pakistan hosted a summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, a security forum that counts China, India, Iran and Russia among its members.

SpaceX’s Starship project took one giant leap forward when the rocket’s huge first-stage booster returned directly to its launch pad, caught safely by the gantry’s massive arms. As well as being an engineering first the latest test suggests that SpaceX’s plans for a reusable spacecraft will work, which would slash the cost of sending cargo, and eventually humans, into space. “Big step towards making life multiplanetary was made today,” said Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder.