The EconomistFebruary 1st 2020 7
The world this week Politics
A new coronaviruscontinued
to spread rapidly in China.
Several large cities were locked
down in Hubei province,
whose capital, Wuhan, is
where the virus broke out.
Streets emptied; people stayed
at home. However, Wuhan’s
mayor said that 5m people had
left the city before the quaran-
tine was imposed: some for
their usual Chinese New Year
trips, others to escape the
virus. Some airlines cancelled
flights to and from China.Many countries, including
America, Britain and Japan,
took steps to evacuate their
citizens from China. Some
businesses scaled back or
closed their operations in the
country. Cases of Wuhan virus
have been detected outside
China. Human-to-human
transmissions were reported
in Germany, Japan, Vietnam
and Taiwan. Stockmarkets
shivered when it became clear
that the disease is spreading
rapidly; the s&p 500had its
worst day since October.India partially restored
internet access in the Kashmir
valley, where it has been
blocked since August. But the
authorities are only allowing
Kashmiris to visit 301 “white-
listed” websites. Social-media
services remain banned and
mobile-data speeds have
deliberately been reduced. The
government says the measures
are needed to impede
terrorism.Authorities in Pakistanarrest-
ed Manzoor Pashteen, the head
of the Pushtun Protection
Movement, which has cam-
paigned for justice for victims
of military abuses. He has been
charged with sedition, among
other crimes. Several suppor-tersprotestingagainsthis
detentionwerealsoarrested.Boltonwonderers
Democratspushedtheircase
forwitnessestogiveevidence
intheimpeachmenttrialof
DonaldTrump.Theyhopedto
callJohnBolton,thepresi-
dent’sformernationalsecurity
adviser,whohasclaimedina
forthcomingbookthatMr
Trumpexplicitlywithheld
militaryaidfromUkraineto
pressitsgovernmenttoin-
vestigateJoeBidenandhisson.
Thisclaimisa centralplankof
thecaseagainstMrTrump,
whichhedenies.Possiblytotakehismindoff
theimpeachmenttrial,and
shoreuphissupportamong
ardentpro-lifers,MrTrump
gavea speechattheannual
MarchforLifeanti-abortion
rallyinWashington,thefirst
presidenttodoso.Ina 5-4vote,theSupreme
Courtletstanda new
immigrationrulethatcould
stoplegalmigrantsfrombe-
comingpermanentresidentsif
theyusepublic-welfarepro-
grammes,suchasfoodstamps.Up the garden path
Donald Trump’s peace plan for
Israeland the Palestinians
gave Israel most of what it
wanted, such as a green light to
annex occupied lands in the
West Bank straight away. The
Palestinians got conditional
promises of something like a
state and billions of dollars in
investment at some point in
the future. They instantly
rejected the deal.The American embassy in
Baghdad was struck by three
rockets, wounding three peo-
ple. America has blamed Iran
and its proxies for an increase
in attacks on American forces
and facilities in Iraq.Heavy fighting broke out in
Libyabetween forces loyal to
the un-backed government,
which is supported by Turkey,
and soldiers under the com-
mand of Khalifa Haftar, who issupportedbyRussia,Egyptand
theUnitedArabEmirates.
Despiteanarmsembargo,
weaponsarepouringin.Thebiggestinfestationof
locustsforatleast 25 years
wroughthavoconeastAfrica.
Heavyrainslastyearcreated
idealconditionsforthepests.
Anadultlocustcaneatitsown
weighteachday.Never forgetHolocaust survivors and inter-
national leaders gathered at
the former Auschwitzdeath
camp in Poland to mark the
75th anniversary of its libera-
tion by Allied troops, amid
calls to fight resurgent anti-
Semitism. The presidents of
Israel and Poland led the com-
memoration. About 1.1m peo-
ple, mostly Jews, were mur-
dered at Auschwitz-Birkenau,
the Nazis’ biggest death camp.Regional elections in Italy
were a setback for Matteo
Salvini, leader of the populist
Northern League. He had
hoped to win a big victory in
Emilia-Romagna, but did not.The Germancabinet agreed to
cut the country’s greenhouse-
gas emissions to 55% of their
level in 1990 by 2030. The plan
aims to end reliance on coal by- However, it undermines
its own objectives by also
shutting all nuclear plants by - Coalmining regions are
to get some €40bn ($44bn) in
compensation. The nationalist
Alternative for Germany party
(AfD) had been making elector-
al gains in such places.
Britainprepared to leave the
European Unionon January
31st, after the European Parlia-
ment signed off Boris John-son’s Brexit deal. It has taken
three years of political in-
stability (and three prime
ministers) to move Britain into
a transition period with the eu
so that the details of separation
can be finalised. The focus now
shifts to a trade deal, but there
are clear disagreements, over
regulation for example, that
are unlikely to be resolved
within just 11 months.The Labour Partyin Britain
has learned little from its
drubbing in December’s elec-
tion, its worst result since 1935.
The party’s ruling committee
absolved Jeremy Corbyn, its
leader, of any blame. Labour
mps on the campaign trail, and
post-election polls, found that
Mr Corbyn was by far the main
reason voters were turned off
by the party.Not such a popular force
The largest party in Peru’s
congress lost most of its seats
in an election. Popular Force, a
centre-right party led by Keiko
Fujimori, the daughter of a
jailed former president, won
just 7% of the vote. This boost-
ed the current president, Mar-
tín Vizcarra, who dissolved
congress in September because
it failed to enact anti-corrup-
tion reforms. Ms Fujimori
returned to jail amid an in-
vestigation into allegations of
illegal campaign funding.Jeanine Áñez, Bolivia’s interim
president, announced that she
would run for the presidency
in May. A conservative former
senator, she became president
after Evo Morales quit in No-
vember. Critics of Ms Áñez say
she should not run for office
while also, as interim presi-
dent, overseeing the election.Conservationists spotted three
Bolivian Cochran frogs, the
first time they have been seen
in 18 years. The internal organs
of the vividly green frogs are
visible through their abdo-
mens and they weigh less than
100 grams (3.5 ounces). They
were spotted in Carrasco Na-
tional Park near Cochabamba,
the site of a hydroelectric dam
that is under construction.