Politics this week

Typhoon Haiyan swept through the central Philippines, leaving a trail of destruction that affected as many as 11m people. At least 2,300 people are known to have died; the eventual toll will be far higher. A senior politician said the government had been overwhelmed by the storm, one of the most powerful ever recorded, with winds of up to 315km an hour (196mph). Aid agencies struggled to reach remote areas.

Nasiruddin Haqqani, one of the most senior leaders of a militant Pakistani network with links to the Taliban, was shot dead near Islamabad. He was the group’s fundraiser and the son of its founder. He was also on the American list of global terrorists. It is not known who killed him.

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Chinas leaders issued a communiqué outlining reforms after a meeting in Beijing of the 370 most senior Communist Party leaders. The document promised to let the market play a bigger role in the Chinese economy. It also announced a new national-security council and a committee to oversee reform. More details will emerge in coming weeks. 

A group of more than 100 Tamils whose relatives disappeared during or after Sri Lanka’s civil war were prevented from entering the capital, Colombo, as it prepared to host a meeting of the Commonwealth. Sri Lanka’s human-rights abuses during the war have caused several Commonwealth leaders, including India’s Manmohan Singh, to boycott the summit. 

Losing patience

Government figures showed that only 106,000 people signed up for new health insurance under Obamacare in October, when the system began operating. Just a quarter of those used the glitch-ridden federal website. More Americans were kicked off their old insurance plans, which Barack Obama had promised them they could keep. Some senior Democrats suggested delaying or amending some parts of the reform. 

John Boehner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, said he had “no intention of ever” holding talks over a comprehensive immigration bill passed by the Senate in June. Republicans in the House want to pass their own piecemeal measures that focus on border security and ignore the routes to citizenship for illegal immigrants contained in the Senate’s legislation. 

Gallup reported that the approval-rating for Congress had fallen to 9% in early November, a record low.

The low lands of Hollande

It was a bad week for François Hollande, the French president. Standard & Poor’s downgraded the credit rating of France by a notch, to AA, because his government’s economic policy “is unlikely to substantially raise” France’s growth prospects. New data showed that the French economy had contracted in the third quarter, by 0.1%. Mr Hollande was heckled as he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Armistice Day. The traditionally solemn event was marred by protesters shouting for his resignation; 73 were arrested.

The Greek government narrowly survived a no-confidence vote in parliament. The motion had been called by Syriza, a left-wing opposition party. 

Police used rubber bullets and tear gas in response to violence during Poland’s independence-day march in Warsaw. The rally is organised by far-right and nationalist movements and has led to clashes before. This year it included setting fire to an arch decked out in the rainbow colours associated with diversity and multiculturalism. The Polish president apologised for an attempt by the marchers to attack the Russian embassy.

Ukraine’s parliament postponed a vote on whether to release Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and staunch opponent of the president, Viktor Yanukovych, from prison. Mrs Tymoshenko, who has been sentenced for “abuse of power”, needs to travel to Germany to receive medical treatment. The European Union says her release is a condition for signing a raft of agreements with Ukraine later this month.

A long slog ahead

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany narrowly failed to clinch an interim agreement with Iran in Geneva, where they had hoped to pave the way for a comprehensive plan to curtail the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme. One reason for the hiccup was that France demanded stronger safeguards. Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, had protested vigorously against what he dubbed “the deal of the century” in Iran’s favour. The parties are to meet again before the end of the month.

The governments of Somalia and Kenya signed an agreement with the UN’s refugee agency to encourage Somalis in two huge, UN-administered camps in Kenya to return home over the next three years. At present, most of the 500,000 Somalis living there are reluctant to leave because of the dangers and the lack of material support they would still face at home.

Foreign labourers in a district of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, protested against a decision to expel many thousands of them, mostly from Africa and the subcontinent, on the ground that they were illegally resident. The kingdom’s government wants Saudi citizens to take their menial jobs, which most of them have been loth to do. 

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Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, decreed that prices of electrical appliances be slashed. Soldiers were sent to take control of a chain of shops selling electronic equipment and several store managers were  article

Colombia uncovered an apparent plot by FARC guerrillas to kill several high-ranking politicians, including Álvaro Uribe, a former president. The revelation comes amid negotiations between the government and rebels to end their 50-year conflict.  

Brazil’s supreme court upheld the convictions of most of the politicians and businessmen found guilty in a corruption scandal that was uncovered in 2005 and involved payments to opposition politicians.

Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, told the city council that he had bought drugs within the past two years. Councillors voted to request he take a leave of absence. Mr Ford, who recently admitted to smoking crack cocaine in the past, vowed to stay in his post.