2014年经济学人 本周政治要闻（在线收听）

Politics this week

The Republicans won control of America's Senate for the first time in eight years in the mid-term elections. The party rode a wave of discontent to pick up eight seats, which may rise to nine after Louisiana holds a run-off next month. They also won some states by much larger margins than the pollsters had predicted. Mitch McConnell, who will be the Senate's new leader in the new Congress, thumped his Democratic opponent by 15 points. The Republicans also increased their majority in the House of Representatives.

The day after the elections Barack Obama promised to work with the Republicans in Congress, but said he was also prepared to make more use of his executive powers. Mr McConnell warned the president not to take unilateral action on immigration reform, which would be “like waving a red flag in front of a bull”.

It was also a bad night for Democrats in races for stategovernor. They had been expected to do well but in the end the Republicans held on to Florida and Wisconsin and picked up Arkansas, as well as Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts, three heavily Democratic states. The Democrats had to console themselves with taking Pennsylvania from the Republicans and holding on, just, to Colorado.

Many referendum questions also appeared on the ballot in the elections. Voters in Oregon and Alaska approved the legalisation of marijuana. So did voters in Washington, DC, though Congress can overrule the electorate's wishes in the American capital.

Proposals in Colorado and North Dakota to grant legal rights to fetuses, or “personhood”, were defeated. In California a measure passed to reduce the penalties for certain crimes, including possessing drugs. Thousands of people in jail for that offence are now eligible for release.

Canada announced extra security measures for part of its border with the United States, including a new surveillance web, with radar, ground sensors and thermal radiation detectors. The American government has been pressing Canada to monitor cross-border activity since last month's attack by a gunman on the Canadian parliament.

Mexico's president, Enrique Peaa Nieto, under pressure to curb drug-related violence after the disappearance of 43 students in September, promised there would be new revelations following the arrest in Mexico City of the fugitive mayor of the town where the atrocity occurred. Relatives of the students remain angry.

Islamic militants claimed responsibility for a suicide-bomb that killed 55 people atPakistan's Wagah border crossing into India. The bomber targeted a daily flag-lowering ceremony conducted by Pakistani and Indian troops that attracts large crowds. It was the deadliest terror attack in Pakistan this year, though it didn't stop the ceremony from taking place the next day.

Two Christians were beaten to death in Pakistan by a mob numbered in the hundreds for supposedly desecrating the Koran. Their bodies were then burned in a kiln. Assaults on Christians have increased in Pakistan over the past few years. Unusually, police arrested dozens of the alleged perpetrators this time.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's opposition democratic movement, decried the slow pace of political reforms in the country, noting that America may have been “overly optimistic” about the process. Although she was allowed to stand for parliament in 2012, Myanmar's military rulers are using constitutional tactics to block her bid to become president.

In Jerusalem a Palestinian driver ploughed a van into a group of pedestrians, killing one policeman and injuring at least 14 others, amid mounting tensions over demands by some Israelis for the right to pray in the area of the al-Aqsa mosque. The driver was subsequently shot by Israeli policemen. Another similar attack injured three. Clashes also took place between Israeli security forces and Arab protesters at the site of the mosque, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, leaving some injured.

Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, seized bases belonging to Syria's moderate rebels in Idleb province, their last northern stronghold. The Syrian regime, meanwhile, stepped up air attacks on rebel-held areas. Australia said it would send about 200 members of its special forces to help train Iraqi forces battling Islamic State jihadists. More British troops may also return to Iraq to help train government fighters there.

Blaise Compaoré, the president of Burkina Faso, resigned after protests broke out when he attempted to amend the constitution to run for another term in office. His abrupt departure sparked a power struggle in the military, which immediately conducted a coup.

The Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, threatened to tear up a ceasefire deal granting special status to areas in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian separatists, after the separatists staged elections. America, the European Union and the UN condemned the polls; Russia praised them. Mr Poroshenko ordered reinforcements to the region, where Russia has been arming the separatists.

Five ministers in Georgia's government resigned after Irakli Garibashvili, the prime minister, sacked his defence secretary in a row over alleged misspending by officials. The ruling Georgian Dream coalition was left without a majority in parliament. The resignations included the foreign minister and the minister for European relations, casting doubt on the country's foreign policy of balancing ties with Europe and Russia.

The prime ministers of Finland and Sweden warned David Cameron, the British prime minister, that they would oppose any moves to limit freedom of movement in the European Union. Mr Cameron has hinted that he will propose some curbs on immigration from other EU countries to satisfy widespread anti-immigration sentiment among backers of the UK Independence Party and his own Conservative Party.

Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, was reported to have said she would be prepared to wave auf Wiedersehen to Britain and let it leave the EU before she would consider altering the commitment to freedom of movement.