The Economist - USA (2020-03-21)

The EconomistMarch 21st 2020 7
The world this week Politics

Governmentsaroundthe

worldtookextraordinary

measurestocurbthenovel

coronavirusandalleviateits

economicconsequences.In

AmericatheTrumpadminis-

trationproposedgivingdirect

cashtransferstoeveryAmeri-

canaspartofanemergency-

spendingpackage.Some

Republicansbalkedattheidea,

butMitchMcConnell,the

leaderoftheSenate,saidthat

nowwasthetimefor“urgent

bipartisanaction”.

JoeBidenswepttheboardin

thelatestDemocraticprima-

ries. InFlorida,thebiggest

prizeonoffer,hewon62%of

thevoteto23%forBernie

Sanders.Thepairalsodebated

intheirfirstone-on-oneclash.

Ohiopostponeditsprimary

becauseofthepandemic,as

haveGeorgiaandLouisiana.

TheJusticeDepartment

droppedchargesagainsttwo

Russianentitiesindictedby

theMuellerinquirybecauseit

believesa trialwouldgive

Russiaaccesstosensitive

documentsit wouldhaveto

sharewiththedefence.

It’s war

The president of France, Em-

manuel Macron, declared that

the country is “at war” with the

coronavirus. He announced

the suspension of local elec-

tions, a day after France had

voted in the first round.

The Constitutional Court in

Russiaapproved amendments

to the country’s constitution

that will reset to zero the num-

ber of terms already served by

Vladimir Putin. He would

otherwise have been ineligible

to run again when his current

term expires in 2024.

Thebrotherofthesuicide-

bomberwhokilled 22 peopleat

anArianaGrandeconcertin

Manchesterin 2017 wasfound

guiltyofthemurderofeach

victim.Hewasconvictedfor

obtainingthematerialsforthe

bombandofhelpinginthe

plot.Inadditiontothose

murdereda further 800 were

hurt,morethan 90 withlife-

changinginjuries.

AnotherchanceforGantz

BennyGantz,theleaderofthe

oppositioninIsrael, wasgiven

thefirstshotatforminga

governmentaftera tightelec-

tionearlierthismonth.Buthis

coalitionisdivided.Binyamin

Netanyahu,theprimemin-

ister,hastriedtopushMr

Gantzintoforminga unity

government,underMrNetan-

yahu,todealwithcovid-19.

ThepresidentorIraqnamed

Adnanal-Zurfiasprimemin-

ister-designateina bidtoenda

months-longpoliticaldead-

lock.Thepreviousprimemin-

isterresignedinNovember

amidlargeanti-government

protests.PowerfulShiaparties

havealreadylinedupagainst

MrZurfi’snomination.

Swedenpromisedtosend 150

commandosandhelicoptersto

Malitojoina French-ledmis-

sionfightingjihadistsinthe

Sahel.Securityinthecountry

hascontinuedtodeteriorate.

PeterMutharika,presidentof

Malawi, sackedtheheadofthe

army,dissolvedhiscabinetand

refusedtosignnewlawsallow-

ingforfreshelectionsinMay.

Malawi’stopcourthad

annulledhisre-electionvic-

tory,citingvote-rigging.He

planstostickaroundanyway.

Risky behaviour

Brazil’spresident, Jair Bolso-

naro, joined supporters who

were holding demonstrations

in favour of him. He fist-

bumped his fans and took

selfies with them even though

at least 17 people who accom-

panied him on a recent visit to

Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s

getaway in Florida, tested

positive for covid-19. Mr Bolso-

naro describes the reaction to

the virus as “hysteria”.

A court in Guyanatemporarily

blocked a recount of votes cast

in the general election on

March 2nd. A candidate from

the president’s coalition

brought the suit seeking the

injunction. International

observers had said there was

credible evidence of fraud in an

initial tally, which gave victory

to the president.

Repressing the press

Chinaordered American

citizens working for the New

York Times, the Wall Street

Journaland the Washington

Postto leave the country. It was

the biggest mass expulsion of

western correspondents from

China since the Communist

takeover in 1949. The govern-

ment said it was a response to

America’s decision to limit the

number of people working for

China’s main state-owned

news organisations stationed

in America to 100.

Amid cries of “shame”, opposi-

tion mps staged a walkout from

the Rajya Sabha, India’supper

house, when Ranjan Gogoi

took oath as a new member. Mr

Gogoi recently retired as chief

justice; critics of the ruling

Bharatiya Janata Party claim

his seat is a pay-off for rulings

that favoured the government.

East Timorentered its third

week of political flux after the

prime minister resigned. The

president is mulling whether

to call a snap election or

appoint as prime minister

Xanana Gusmão, a former

president who says he has the

support of a majority of mps.

America urged the government

of Afghanistanand the Tali-

ban to proceed with a proposed

exchange of prisoners, as

promised in the agreement the

Taliban signed with America in

February. The Afghan govern-

ment wants the exchange to

proceed alongside peace talks,

but the Taliban say talks can-

not begin until the prisoners

are released.

Coronavirusbriefs

Countriesimposedstrict

restrictions on border cross-

ings, including between

America and Canada.

Stringent curbs on the

movement of peoplewere

enforced in France, Spain, the

San Francisco Bay Area and

other places.

The number of deaths surged

in Italy. For the first time

Chinareported no new daily

local infections.

The Philippinesdeclared a

“state of calamity”.

Researchers were concerned

about a second waveof

infections in Hong Kong,

Singapore and Taiwan.

Supermarketstook steps to

ration the sale of products

and to set aside shopping

hours for the vulnerable.

In what some saw as a blow,

the Eurovision Song Contest

was cancelled.

For our latest coverage of the

virus and its consequences

please visit economist.com/

coronavirus or download the

Economist app.

Activecases*byweek,‘

To March18th 2020

China

Rest ofworld

Deaths,logscale

Sources:JohnsHopkinsCSSE;NHS

*Confirmed cases minus recovered and dead

10,

1,

100

10

Dayssince10thdeath

51 10 15 2520

US

Spain

S Korea

Italy

Iran

France

120

80

40

0

22 Jan 5 Feb 4 Mar 18

Britain