ore trade between the region and the United States, and promised new money to fight drug- trafficking.

INDIA'S opposition claimed that Manmohan Singh had misled parliament, accusing the prime minister of having falsely denied that he knew about a cash-for-votes scheme exposed by WikiLeaks. It has been a season of scandals in India, but no one had yet accused Mr Singh of dishonesty.



TIBETANS in exile cast votes for a new political leader to replace the Dalai Lama, who wants to retire. NEPAL prevented 20,000 Tibetans who live there from voting, presumably bowing to Chinese pressure.



Jose Socrates resigned as PORTUGAL'S prime minister after his government lost a parliamentary vote on the latest round of austerity measures. Speculation rose that an EU summit in Brussels would postpone the approval of a new reserve fund for the euro.



There was a rare outbreak of disharmony in RUSSIA'S ruling tandem. Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, compared the UN Security Council resolution authorising military action against Libya to a "medieval crusade". Dmitry Medvedev, the president, said Mr Putin's language was "unacceptable" and risked stoking a "clash of civilisations". Mr Putin downplayed the split.



FRANCE'S far-right National Front did well in the first round of local elections, reaching the second round in a fifth of the total districts and almost displacing President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party, which came second by share of the vote. The Socialists came first, with a quarter of the votes.



CANADA'S three opposition parties said they would bring down the Conservative minority government at the first opportunity and force an election, either by rejecting its budget or through a no-confidence vote. Polls suggest the composition of Parliament after an election would be unlikely to change much.



HAITI held a run-off in its presidential election. The vote went well by comparison with the chaotic first round. Both candidates, Michel Martelly and Mirlande Manigat, said they were ahead in the count.



Barack Obama made his first trip to South America, visiting BRAZIL and CHILE as well as EL SALVADOR. He advocated more trade between the region and the United States, and promised new money to fight drug- trafficking.
Jensen Beds
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