Biodun@bbcnews.com

The 112th Congress convenes

Jan 6th 2011 | WASHINGTON, DC | from PRINT EDITION

by Biodun Iginla, BBC News and the Economist

THE first act of the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives, which took control of the chamber this week after four years of Democratic rule, was to order the constitution to be read aloud on the House floor. This crash course in civics was intended chiefly as a gesture of fealty to the tea-party activists, or “constitutional conservatives”, who helped propel the Republicans to power in November’s election. But the reading also serves as a stark reminder of the many celebrated “checks and balances” built into America’s political system, and thus how hard it will be for the new regime to get anything done.

Take another of the Republicans’ first acts: the scheduling of a vote on January 12th to repeal the health-care reforms passed by the previous, Democrat-controlled Congress. The measure is all but certain to pass, given the Republicans’ healthy majority of 242-193, and may even attract the votes of a few Democrats. But it is also all but certain to run aground in the Senate, which remains tilted 53-47 in the Democrats’ favour. A further obstacle to the ambitions of the House Republicans is the president’s power to veto any bill he dislikes. As their recent primer on the constitution will have reminded them, it takes a two-thirds vote of both chambers—something far beyond the Republicans’ reach—to overturn a presidential veto.

Thus most of the measures with which the Republicans are marking their ascendancy are symbolic. In another sop to the tea-partiers, they have drawn up new rules requiring every bill to specify the precise passage of the constitution that empowers Congress to act on the matter at hand. In a jab at the unions, they have changed the name of what used to be the Committee on Education and Labour to the Committee on Education and the Workforce. And to embarrass the president, Darrell Issa, the new chairman of the Committee on Oversight, has announced no fewer than six investigations he plans to conduct, into suspected incompetence at various government agencies and the like.

In a show of their determination to cut spending, the Republicans plan to vote in their first week to trim the House’s own budget by 5%. They have also changed House rules to ensure that all increases in spending are offset by commensurate cuts, rather than increases in tax. In fact, it is in fiscal matters that the Republicans will have the most leverage. Their support will be needed in the coming months both to pass a budget and to raise the legal limit on America’s debt. The stakes are high: failure to agree on the former would prompt the government to suspend all but its most basic functions; neglecting the latter would entail defaulting on America’s debts.

Republican leaders say they want to avoid any such cataclysms, but are also insisting on cuts. Paul Ryan, the new chairman of the House Budget Committee, maintains that he will pare back non-security spending in what remains of the current fiscal year to the level of 2008. That would mean a cut of roughly 20% or about $50 billion, a drop in the ocean. That is broadly consistent with the Republicans’ pre-election promises, but is considered far too severe by the Democrats in the Senate, the president and milder Republicans.

By the same token, many of the Republicans’ fiercest deficit hawks say they will not allow the debt ceiling to be raised unless they secure swingeing budget cuts. The Republican leadership appear worried that an unseemly zeal to slash spending and precipitate a melodramatic showdown with the Democrats would alienate moderate voters at the general election next year. But they also tend to bow to the zealots in the party who agitate feverishly—and often successfully—to unseat in the primaries anyone without a similar gleam in their eyes. Just how these impasses will be resolved, and with what amount of brinkmanship, is anyone’s guess.

Barack Obama, for one, seems to assume that the Republicans will indulge in a spell of futile pandering to their base before compromising on the budget and perhaps a few other matters. “That’s what happens in Washington,” he said breezily this week, on his way back from a holiday in Hawaii. Some observers see scope for bipartisanship on trade deals or an overhaul of immigration laws, although that would depend, presumably, on how poisonous the negotiations over the budget become.

A good indicator of Congress’s likely descent into bickering and stalemate is the sudden interest in both chambers in the rules of procedure. John Boehner, the new speaker of the House, has resorted to a procedural gimmick to try to impose spending cuts until a new budget is passed. He has also instituted new rules intended to rein in the deficit, but has exempted from them some of the Republicans’ most cherished but expensive goals, such as further extending the temporary tax cuts agreed with the Democrats last month.

In the Senate, meanwhile, Democrats are threatening to make it harder for the Republican minority to obstruct the will of the majority. As soon as the chamber convened on January 5th, Tom Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico, put forward a motion to change the rules of the filibuster, whereby 41 of the 100 senators can stymie almost any measure. Normally, such a change would require the approval of two-thirds of senators. But on one interpretation of procedure the rules can be changed by a simple majority of senators at the beginning of a new Congress.

Republican senators complain that the Democrats, having lost the election, are now trying to subvert its result. Somewhat contradictorily, they are decrying the attack on the Senate’s traditions even as they threaten similar acts of vengeance should they win control of the chamber at the next election. Resorting to yet another procedural ruse, Harry Reid, the leader of the Democratic majority, has deferred the matter for a few weeks in the hope of striking some sort of deal with the Republicans. Even if the Democrats in the Senate get their way, however, they will be just as constrained by America’s newly divided government as the Republicans.

from PRINT EDITION | United States

6 January 2011 Last updated at 05:05 ET

Click to play

by Suzanne Gould and Biodun Iginla, BBC News. The BBC's Suzanne Gould has been with this story from the beginning

The BBC's Iain Mackenzie said the report is "incredibly critical" of all of the companies involved.

US Oil Spill

The companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill made decisions to cut costs and save time that contributed to the disaster, a US panel has concluded.

In a chapter of its final report, to be published next week, the presidential commission said the failures were "systemic" and likely to recur.

BP did not have adequate controls in place to ensure safety, it found.

The April blast aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 people and caused one of the worst oil spills in history.

The Macondo well, about a mile under the sea's surface, eventually leaked millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, damaging hundreds of miles of coastline before it was capped in July.

“Start Quote

The opening is worthy of any British tabloid - a picture of the inferno, a core as bright as the sun, surrounded by scarlet flames and billows of black smoke”

Mark MardellBBC North America editor

Mardell: Failure of an industry

BP said in a statement that the report, like its own investigation, had found the accident was the result of multiple causes, involving multiple companies.

But, it said, the company was working with regulators "to ensure the lessons learned from Macondo lead to improvements in operations and contractor services in deepwater drilling".

Transocean, which owned the Deepwater Horizon rig, said that "the procedures being conducted in the final hours were crafted and directed by BP engineers and approved in advance by federal regulators".

Halliburton also said it acted at the direction of BP and was "fully indemnified" by the oil giant.

'Avoidable' blow-out

The new report criticises BP, which owned the Macondo well, Transocean and Halliburton, which managed the well-sealing operation, and blames inadequate government oversight and regulation.

“Start Quote

The report is likely to turn attention back to BP after several months in which the oil giant sought to turn the spotlight on its contractors”

Stephen Power and Ben CasselmanWall Street Journal

Commentators: implications of report

Specific risks the report identifies include:

A flawed design for the cement used to seal the bottom of the well
A test of that seal identified problems but was "incorrectly judged a success"
The workers' failure to recognise the first signs of the impending blow-out

"Whether purposeful or not, many of the decisions that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean made that increased the risk of the Macondo blow-out clearly saved those companies significant time (and money)," the presidential panel wrote.

"BP did not have adequate controls in place to ensure that key decisions in the months leading up to the blow-out were safe or sound from an engineering perspective."

Don Boesch, a member of the investigating commission, told the BBC's World Today programme they had identified "a whole sequence of poor decisions with unfortunate consequences when put together".

He said that not all the faults lay with BP, although the company did have overall responsibility.

"For example the lack of a proper test that was done and the cement that was used to seal the bottom of the well, that was pretty clearly the direct responsibility of Halliburton," he said.

"When the well started to blow there were decisions made by Transocean about how the material coming up the well was handled, and those were unfortunate, fateful, decisions which actually led to the explosion."

“Start Quote

Most of the mistakes and oversights at Macondo can be traced back to a single overarching failure - a failure of management ”

National Oil Spill Commission report

Excerpts: BP oil spill report

Mr Boesch said government regulators are also criticised in the report.

"What we found was very limited oversight of these various activities and decisions, that the agency responsible in the Department of the Interior was understaffed, [and] didn't have the inspectors and technical analysts who were up to the task fully."

The findings came in the final report of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, which President Barack Obama convened in May to investigate the root causes of the spill and recommend changes to industry and government policy.

Though it lacked subpoena power, the panel reviewed thousands of pages of documents, interviewed hundreds of witnesses, and in the autumn conducted a series of public hearings.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Bob Graham, former Florida governor and a co-chairman of the commission, said the findings showed the blow-out was avoidable.

"This disaster likely would not have happened had the companies involved been guided by an unrelenting commitment to safety first," he said.

Deepwater Horizon inquiries

Presidential commission (January 2011)

The oil spill was an avoidable disaster caused by a series of failures and blunders made by BP and its partners, including Transocean and Halliburton, and government departments assigned to regulate them, the panel concludes. It also warns such a disaster would likely recur because of industry complacency.

BP internal report (September 2010)

BP admits its managers on the oil rig could have prevented the catastrophe had they picked up warning signs of a breach of the cement seal at the bottom of the well, as well as unusual pressure test readings, shortly before the explosion. But it places much of the blame on Transocean and Halliburton.

Also due:

Department of Justice criminal and civil probes
Chemical Safety Board investigation into regulatory approaches to offshore industry
Joint inquiry by the US Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
National Academy of Engineering analysis
Various Congressional inquiries

Risk factors

In a months-long investigation, the panel found that mistakes and "failures to appreciate risk" compromised safeguards "until the blow-out was inevitable and, at the very end, uncontrollable".

BP's "fundamental mistake", the panel wrote, was failing to exercise proper caution over the job of sealing the well with cement.

"Based on evidence currently available, there is nothing to suggest that BP's engineering team conducted a formal, disciplined analysis of the combined impact of these risk factors on the prospects for a successful cement job," the report reads.

The conclusions run counter to industry efforts to portray the Deepwater Horizon disaster as a rare occurrence, as oil companies prod the US government to open greater areas of the US coast to oil exploration.

"The blowout was not the product of a series of aberrational decisions made by rogue industry or government officials that could not have been anticipated or expected to occur again," the report read.

"Rather, the root causes are systemic and, absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, might well recur."

John Boehner (top left) is greeted by US Representative Charles Rangel (centre) and other members of Congress

John Boehner (top left), who will take over as House speaker, was greeted by members of Congress

by Biodun Iginla, BBC News

The 112th US Congress has been called to order, starting a new legislative session in which resurgent Republicans aim to cut the size of the US government and its spending.

The new Congress is being sworn in two months after mid-term elections which saw President Obama's Democrats suffer heavy losses to the opposition.

Republican John Boehner is set to take over the key role of House speaker.

A BBC correspondent says the stage is now set for ideological battle.

In remarks prepared for when he takes office on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Boehner said the objective of Republicans was to give government back to citizens of the US and provide honesty and accountability.

"No longer can we kick the can down the road. The people voted to end business as usual, and today we begin carrying out their instructions," the remarks said.

The Republicans control the House for the first time in more than four years, while the Democrats have only a slim lead in the Senate.

The BBC's Paul Adams, in Washington, says there are tough fights ahead as the president, determined to press ahead with his reform agenda, locks horns with a Republican Party emboldened by its successes in November.

Republican leaders have vowed to slash spending by as much as $100bn, scrap "job-killing" government regulations, overhaul the tax code, crack down on undocumented immigration, cut diplomatic and foreign aid funds, and investigate the administration.

As soon as next week, the Republicans will launch what is being seen as a symbolic move to repeal President Obama's most ambitious legislative effort so far: the reform of America's healthcare system.

The move is expected to pass in the House, but fail in the Senate, but will be followed by a protracted attempt to pick the reform to pieces, our correspondent says.

Add to this a series of bitter debates over spending and how to control the country's budget deficits, and the scene is set for a tempestuous political season, our correspondent adds.

'Play to their base'

The House of Representatives was called to order shortly after 1200 local time (1700GMT). Members will formally vote to accept Mr Boehner whereupon the speaker-elect will deliver some remarks before being sworn in.

Earlier on Wednesday Republican and Democratic leaders took part in a by a bipartisan prayer service at St Peter's Catholic Church in Washington.

On Thursday, the Republicans will have the US Constitution read aloud in the House chamber as it gets down to business, a gesture in line with many conservatives' view that Democrats have overstepped their constitutional authority in passing sweeping regulations.

“Start Quote

Some Democrats are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of being the opposition in the House”

Mark MardellBBC North America editor

Mardell: There will be tears

The Republican Party seized control of the House in the November mid-term elections thanks in part to the anti-government Tea Party movement, which sprang to life in 2009 in protest against Mr Obama's economic stimulus effort and bid to reform healthcare.

Speaking as he flew back from holiday in Hawaii on Tuesday, Mr Obama said he expected Republicans "to play to their base for a certain period of time".

He added: "I'm pretty confident that they're going to recognise that our job is to govern and make sure that we are delivering jobs for the American people and that we're creating a competitive economy for the 21st Century; not just for this generation but the next one."

But AB Stoddard, a columnist with the congressional newspaper, The Hill, told the BBC Congress was more polarised than ever.

"We have a different makeup in a new Congress controlled on the House side by Republicans, a lot more conservative, Tea Party backed freshmen coming in.

"They are not in the mood to help President Obama and the Democrats with any of their initiatives, so the dynamic will shift dramatically."

Analysis

M Ilyas KhanBBC News, Islamabad

The assassination of Salman Taseer once again highlights Pakistan's unending troubles. He was a high-profile leader of the PPP, and was governor of the country's largest province, Punjab. His death has left the country in shock at a time when it faces an imminent political crisis.

On the face of it, the assassination appears to be an individual act of a police guard in Mr Taseer's security detail. The guard has reportedly said he killed him because Mr Taseer publicly opposed the blasphemy law.

But the timing of the assassination holds deeper implications for the government, which is struggling to shore up political support to maintain a majority in the parliament. Whether it gets this support will be decided by one of two major political forces of Punjab - the opposition PML-N and the PML-Q parties. The assassination has the potential to upset these negotiations.

Pakistan assassinations and attempts

January 2011 - The governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, is shot dead by one of his bodyguards in Islamabad

February 2010 - Gunmen shoot at Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, leader of the Awami Muslim League (AML), in Rawalpindi

September 2009 - Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi is wounded and his driver killed in a gun attack in Islamabad

September 2008 – Shots are fired at the motorcade of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as it travels to Islamabad’s airport

December 2007 - Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is killed in a suicide attack when leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi

Readers' comments

The Economist welcomes your views. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.Review our comments policy.

You must be logged in to post a comment.
Please login or sign up for a free account.

Sort:

Michael Dunne wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 3:04 GMT

I wonder why Puerto Rico is forecasted to experience a decline in GPD?

Report abuse

pedrolx wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 3:29 GMT

This is according to the ever so wonderful IMF. The government here expects Portugal to grow by 0.2% , and the EU is also kinder in its forecasts. In any case, forecasts are forecasts, everyone said Portugal wouldn't grow this year, and it will present a growth of 1.5%! ;-)

Carlos Collaco wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 3:36 GMT

Forecasts are what they are.
Coming from the EIU they should deservedly get a second look despite recent misses.But then everybody else failed too...

In the lucky lot all except Qatar are impressive on their own.
Fast growth is taking place where it's needed.
Ghana and Timor-Leste are especially heartening.

The slowest ten are striking for comprising the majors of ClubMed - literally crawling - plus Portugal, Ireland and Iceland, oil-rich Venezuela, small Caribbean island-nations and oddly, Puerto Rico(!).
Greece remains in deep trouble while in the Iberian Peninsula Spain hopefully returns to feeble growth.
Portugal double dips into recession unless it manages to export its way out to narrowly avoid one.

__jaime__ wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 3:50 GMT

It is incredible how disrespectful british finance press can be. Which is forecasted growth for UK? As bad as the PIIGS one. Britain once dominated the world, as Spain did, but that is no longer true.

All PIIGS countries are performing terribly bad, as UK does. So don't think you are much different.

I'm from Spain and I'm specally critical with my country. I think it should fall and Europe should let us fall, so people will learn the lesson and changes have to done will finally implemented. But even if I was German, a country that is teaching all us how we should be, I would never use a term like that. Calling these countries "pigs" you are playing a dangerous game, a game of segregation and disrespect.

British, if we, Mediterraneans, are "pigs" remember most powerful people of your country or union of countries, as you want, are a branch of snobs that only know how to move other's people money. You have no industry left, a strong coin, thousands of people living from subsidies and very poor prospects.

Besitz Belastet wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 4:26 GMT

Does someone have evidence for that Anglo-Saxons, or the British press in particular, coined the acronym "Pigs/Piigs"? I suspect an analyst in an investment bank - who is as likely to have been Spanish or Italian as s/he was British - started using it. An over-sensitive reaction to a mildly ironic acronym is not unlike that of insecure Islamists to the Danish cartoons - what does it really matter? Spain and Greece have deep structural economic problems. Britain too has structural economic problems (but less acute). So be it.

mename2332 wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 4:32 GMT

where is singapore?

VK1961 wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 5:14 GMT

The economic measurement is, of course, distorted by the *political* circumstances. Venezuela is where it is largely because of its, ah... ~extraordinary~ way of doing business with its trade partners; Puerto Rico's state of affairs is neither here nor there, due to its ancillary status, vis-a-vis the US; some other Caribbean islands are offshore havens for American and European tax-dodgers, so I'm not entirely sure that their "growth" should be applauded; Spain is still deflating its housing bubble (as is the US), caused in turn by grave political oversight, or even encouragement-- all in the wrong direction.

So tables, charts, etc. are all fine and good, but tell a partial, and often lopsided story.

inrio wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 7:28 GMT

Puerto Rico's constant and sharp decline has a direct relationship with it's lack of sovereignty which unables this latin and caribbean country to sign agreements and international treaties, just like the rest of Latin America, with emerging economies.

hedgefundguy wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 7:45 GMT

Puerto Rico, blame it on the Captain!

Excerpts:

"Diageo’s Captain Morgan Rum’s distillery in the U.S. Virgin Islands is finally scheduled to produce rum by the end of the year."

"For many years, a third party distiller in Puerto Rico has been producing Captain Morgan Rum and selling it to Seagram’s. Diageo bought the Captain Morgan Rum label in 2001 inheriting this third party manufacturing agreement. They have looking for years how to arrange a way for them to produce their own rum under the Captain Morgan Rum label. With the manufacturing plant now being built for Diageo to produce the rum themselves, Puerto Rico will be losing millions of dollars that were coming to their territory from the rum excise tax."

http://www.caribbeanislandsrealty.com/news/captain-morgans-rum-produced-...

Regards

Mago911 wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 8:08 GMT

Just for the record; Peru´s economy grew at a 9.0 % rate in 2010.

Miguel A. Guerrero

Winston C wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 8:21 GMT

Well it is good to see that Africa is on a good economical edge and what about Ghana... this country impresses me economically but mostly politically with a solid democracy; Africa should be inspired.

JRafael wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 8:33 GMT

The reason for Puerto Rico's negative forecast is a mix of historically low employment participation rates (due to the application of United States' generous welfare programs in a weaker economy such as Puerto Rico's), government budgetary deficits, and more recently, the sudden approval (without any public hearing or input from the industries) by the Puerto Rico Government of a new tax to the pharmaceutical industry in Puerto Rico, which during the last two decades has been the main investor in the Island. This new tax was approved notwithstanding taxes agreements that have been previously agreed to between the government and each of the pharmaceutical companies with manufacturing operations in the Island. Once the main industries in Puerto Rico have felt betrayed by the govenrment, rumors about their departure from the Island have been growing and therefor investors have also been discouraged from investing and trusting Puerto Rico's "Republican" and Pro-Statehood government.

An Drew wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 9:22 GMT

Wow, just following the wave of nationalism in the comments section.

Fernandi wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 9:41 GMT

It is time for Puerto Rico to become a fully sovereign nation. The neo-colonial relationship of Puerto Rico with the United States established during the cold war era (1952) has brought the island nation to it's knees. With one of the highest unemployment rates in Latin America at 17% (december 2010) and one of the highest rate of homicides in the region per capita with 268 per 100.000.000, higher than Mexico in 2010.

Puerto Rico's social and financial meltdown is now visible for the whole world to see. The only solution is for Puerto Rico to become fully sovereign: to have full control of it's economy and future, right now Puerto Rico does not have full control of it's destiny and it is falling apart at its seams. This is brand new news for many but it is not news for us who watch Latin America closely and who know that Puerto Rico is the only nation in Latin America which can not sign today a free trade treaty with China, Japan or with the European Union because it is not a fully sovereign nation.

mcjpaterson wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 10:23 GMT

Why is puert Rico on your list of slowest GDP growth when you forecast over 4%
do you mean it is slowing
Surely it is not the 10th slowest grower in 2011

You are usually precise

Sorry I misread the chart
Pl ignore

mopoga wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 10:25 GMT

Are these numbers in real or nominal terms?

perspectivist wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 10:53 GMT

The Economist should clearly state whether the list includes all countries in the world or just a list of selected countries.

portoricensis wrote:

Jan 4th 2011 11:52 GMT

portoricencis
I do not think it is fair to compare the development a free nations with colonies like Puerto Rico. With recognized sovereingty Puerto Rico would be one of the most productive nations in Latin America. But it is not much you can do with both hands held by foreign political and economic interference. Puert Rico's real problem is lack of political power.

Jan 4th 2011 11:57 GMT

Interesting comments particularly concerning Puerto Rico.

Seems like it has been declining for a couple of years now.

However, it also seems to be one of the wealthier countries in Latin American (GPD per capita income: 69th position, at $ 17,100 PPP (2009 est.)); and just behind Antiqua and Barbaduda for Caribbean countries.

Literacy seems to be in teh middle ranks of major Latin American countries too - total population older than 15 that can read and right: 94.1% (Chile is something like 96.7%; Argentina,97.7%; Brazil, 90%; Columbia, 92.7%; Mexico, 92.8%; Uruguay, 97.9%; Peru, 89.6%)

Interesting that the UN Human Development site doesn't compile stats for Puerto Rico (at least I have not been able to find them)

I take it tourism may not have completely recovered too?

The 112th Congress convenes

Readers' comments

MIDDLE EAST

Share this page

Related stories

More on This Story

Related stories

From other news sites

People's Daily OnlineIran arrests American woman on espionage charges32 mins ago

Guardian.co.ukIran 'arrests' US woman on spy charges37 mins ago

Mail Online UKIran arrests American Hall Talayan after 'spy equipment found hidden in teeth'2 hrs ago

TelegraphIran says American woman detained on spy charges3 hrs ago

Daily ExpressUS woman 'held on Iran spy charges'4 hrs ago

Related Internet links

Share this page

Related items

TOPIC: Irish economy »

TOPIC: Gross Domestic Product »

TOPIC: EU economy »

TOPIC: Economies »

More related topics:

Readers' comments

About Daily chart

Economist blogs

US & CANADA

Share this page

“Start Quote

“Start Quote

“Start Quote

Deepwater Horizon inquiries

More on This Story

Key stories

Key news

Watch/Listen

From other news sites

CNNPanel spreads blame for Gulf oil spill - CNN13 mins ago

Network News

US & CANADA

Share this page

Related stories

“Start Quote

More on This Story

Related stories

From other news sites

CNNNew Congress: 'Tough decisions' on tap45 mins ago

MarketWatchBoehner era begins in the House1 hr ago

BusinessWeekRepublicans' Intentions May Exceed Ability to Cut2 hrs ago

Melbourne AgeFired-up Obama foes take over US House4 hrs ago

Sky NewsThose Post-Holiday Blues4 hrs ago

Related Internet links

Share this page

Top Stories

Features & Analysis

Most Popular

Elsewhere on the BBC

Programmes

by Rashida Adjani for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

SOUTH ASIA

Share this page

Related stories

“Start Quote

Analysis

Pakistan assassinations and attempts

More on This Story

Related stories

From other news sites

TelegraphPakistan governor assassinated over blasphemy campaign56 mins ago

The IndependentGuard kills governor of Pakistan's Punjab province1 hr ago

FOXNews.comPowerful Pakistani Governor Killed by Own Guard1 hr ago

Bangkok Post*Pakistani governor assassinated3 hrs ago

Sydney Morning HeraldKey Pakistani governor assassinated3 hrs ago

Related Internet links

Share this page

Top Stories

Features & Analysis

Most Popular

Elsewhere on the BBC

Programmes

Services

About BBC News