6 The EconomistAugust 10th 2019
1The world this week Politics
In its most ominous warning
yet to protesters in Hong
Kong, China said the demon-
strators were “playing with
fire” and on “the verge of a very
dangerous situation”. A day
earlier a strike hit the city’s
transport system and led to
more than 200 flight cancella-
tions. The protesters, who
initially wanted an extradition
bill to be scrapped, are now
calling for Carrie Lam to resign
as Hong Kong’s leader and for
direct elections. China’s
spokesman in Hong Kong said
Ms Lam was staying put.India’s Hindu-nationalist
government unexpectedly
ended the autonomy granted to
Indian-administered Kash-
mir, splitting it in two, putting
local party leaders under house
arrest and ordering non-resi-
dents, including tourists, to
leave. The government poured
another 25,000 troops into the
region. Pakistan said the move
was illegal. Relations between
the two countries were already
fraught because of an attack by
Pakistani-based jihadists on
Indian troops in Kashmir six
months ago.The Taliban started a fresh
round of talks with America’s
envoy for Afghanistan. The
talks, held in Qatar, are aiming
for a deal under which America
will withdraw its troops from
Afghanistan, but only if the
Taliban starts negotiations
with the government in Kabul.
As they were talking, the Tali-
ban claimed responsibility for
a bomb that killed 14 people
and wounded 145 in Kabul.The Philippinesdeclared a
national dengue epidemic. At
least 146,000 cases were re-
corded from January to July,
double the number in the sameperiod last year. More than 620
people have died.New Zealand’sgovernment
introduced a bill to decriminal-
ise abortion and allow women
to seek the procedure up to 20
weeks into a pregnancy. At
present a woman has to get
permission for an abortion,
and may have one only if her
pregnancy endangers her
physical or mental health. New
Zealand’s abortion rate is
nevertheless higher than in
most European countries.Would you please just go
America imposed a complete
economic embargo on the
government ofVenezuela,
freezing all its assets and
threatening sanctions against
firms that do business with it,
unless they have an exemp-
tion. The move steps up the
pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s
socialist regime. America,
along with 50-odd other coun-
tries, recognises Juan Guaidó,
the opposition leader, as Vene-
zuela’s president, though Mr
Maduro is still supported by
China and Russia.The head ofBrazil’sinstitute
for space research was fired
after a spat with Jair Bolsonaro,
the country’s president, over
satellite images that showed a
sharp increase in the Amazon’s
deforestation. Mr Bolsonaro
had questioned the data and
said it brought Brazil’s rep-
utation into disrepute.All too familiar
The latest mass shootingsin
America elicited more pleas for
gun controls. Even some Re-
publicans said they would
support “red-flag laws” that
would take guns away from
those who are a violent risk.
The gunman who slaughtered
22 people at a Walmart in
heavily Hispanic El Paso was in
custody, as police trawled
through an anti-immigrant
screed he had written. The
shooter who murdered nine
people, including his sister, in
Dayton was killed by police
officers on patrol after 30
seconds of mayhem.America’s immigration agency
arrested 680illegal migrant
workersat seven factories in
Mississippi. Some were re-
leased and told to appear at an
immigration court; others
were sent to a detention centre
in Louisiana. The operation,
said to be the biggest of its kind
in a single state, had been
planned for months.Donald Trump withdrew his
pick of John Ratcliffe as the
newdirector of national
intelligence, just days after
putting his name forward.
Many had criticised the selec-
tion, as Mr Ratcliffe’s only
credentials seemed to be a
staunch defence of Mr Trump
at a recent congressional hear-
ing on the Mueller report.Puerto Rico’sSupreme Court
ruled that the appointment of a
new governor by Ricardo Ros-
selló, who was forced from
office by street protests, was
unconstitutional and he would
have to step down. The court
sided with the territory’s Sen-
ate, which had not been given a
vote on the appointment. After
the court’s decision Wanda
Vázquez was sworn in as
governor, though she had said
she didn’t want the job.Tributes were paid toToni
Morrison, the only black
woman to have won the Nobel
prize for literature, who died
aged 88. Ms Morrison’s work
was based on narratives about
race and slavery.City carnage
A car-bomb in central Cairo
killed 20 people. Egypt’sgov-
ernment blamed a violent
offshoot of the Muslim Broth-
erhood for the blast.Britain joined an American-led
initiative to provide naval
protection to ships travelling
through the Strait of Hormuz
amid heightened tensions with
Iran. In July Iran seized a Brit-
ish-flagged oil tanker.Mozambique’s president
signed a peace agreement with
the leader of Renamo, a rebel
movement. Renamo said it willdisarm some 5,000 fighters
and peacefully contest elec-
tions scheduled to be held in
October. It waged a guerrilla
war from 1977 to 1992 before
laying down its guns, but took
up arms again in 2012.The unWorld Food
Programme said that 5m peo-
ple in Zimbabwe—a third of
the population—are at risk of
starvation. The country was
the region’s breadbasket until
the government began stealing
farms and handing them to
ruling-party cronies.Rounding up the opposition
There were more demonstra-
tions in Moscowagainst the
authorities’ decision to
exclude opposition figures
from contesting next month’s
municipal elections. Hundreds
of protesters were arrested,
including Lyubov Sobol, one of
the leading candidates to have
been barred from appearing on
the ballot.Italy’sgovernment tightened
the laws on dealing with
migrants, sharply increasing
the fines that can be imposed
on ngos that rescue people at
sea and bring them to Italy
without permission. The gov-
ernment had to present the
vote as an issue of confidence,
but easily prevailed.Powered by kerosene in a
backpack, Franky Zapata flew
across the English Channel on
a hoverboard. The French
inventor, who demonstrated
his device at this year’s Bastille
Day parade, took 22 minutes to
make the 35km (22-mile) cross-
ing. A handy alternative to the
Eurostar when it is next dis-
rupted by weather/strikes/
technical issues.