The EconomistOctober 12th 2019 The world this week 92 line. After Downing Street
briefed that it was all the fault
of Germany and Ireland, Do-
nald Tusk, the president of the
eu, told Mr Johnson to stop the
“stupid blame game”. That was
the mildest rebuke Mr Johnson
has faced in recent weeks.
A gunman spouting anti-
Semitic slogans killed two
people in the Germancity of
Halle and tried to force his way
into a synagogue.France’ssecurity services
faced scrutiny following the
killing of four policemen in
Paris earlier this month by a
colleague. The murderer, a
Muslim convert, turned out to
have praised the slaughter in
2015 of 12 people at Charlie
Hebdo, a satirical magazine, for
poking fun at the Prophet. Yet
he still had access to top-secret
police intelligence files.Portugal’sSocialist Party won
the most seats in the country’s
general election. But it fellshortofanoverallmajority,
suggestingthattheprime
minister,AntónioCosta,will
againhavetoseekalliesonthe
radicalleft.Lenín and the peopleIn Ecuadorprotesters com-
plained about the withdrawal
of fuel subsidies, at one point
forcing their way into parlia-
ment. The unrest, the worst the
country has seen for years,
prompted the government to
move temporarily from the
capital, Quito, to the port city
of Guayaquil. Lenín Moreno,
the president, defended thecuts.Hissupporterspointed
outthatthesubsidieswere
costly,wastefulandecological-
lydamaging.Buttheyare
popular.ÁlvaroUribe,Colombia’s
presidentfrom 2002 to2010,
wasquestionedbeforethe
supremecourtaboutaccusa-
tionsthatthroughhislawyer
hehadtriedtobullyandbribe
witnessestoretractclaimsthat
hehadhelpedsetupa unitofa
paramilitarygroupinthe
1990s.In 2012 IvánCepeda,a
left-leaningsenator,first
accusedMrUribeofhaving
linkstoparamilitarygroups.
MrUribedenieswrongdoing.A constitutional clash
America’s Democrats promised
subpoenas to make officials
testify in their impeachment
inquiry, after the White House
said it would not co-operate.
Having urged Ukraine to in-
vestigate Joe Biden, Donald
Trump publicly called onChina, too, to investigate his
potential election rival. Mean-
while, Ukraine’sprosecutor-
general said he was reviewing a
number of closed investiga-
tions, including a case against
the energy firm that had em-
ployed Mr Biden’s son. He said
he had not been put under any
pressure to do so.It emerged that Bernie Sand-
erssuffered a heart attack
when he was admitted to hos-
pital with what his campaign
had described as “chest dis-
comfort”. He vowed to appear
at the next Democratic debate.Microsoft uncovered attempts
by hackerslinked to the
Iranian government to target
email accounts associated with
an American presidential
campaign, reportedly Mr
Trump’s. Though unsuccessful
in their cyberattack, Microsoft
said the hackers were “highly
motivated” and “willing to
invest significant time and
resources” in their endeavour.