The EconomistAugust 3rd 2019 51The world this week Politics
Russia’smain opposition
leader, Alexei Navalny, was
taken from prison to hospital
to be treated for what the
authorities called an allergic
reaction but supporters said
may have been poisoning. He
was later returned to prison,
where he is in custody for
organising an illegal protest,
according to the Kremlin. More
than 1,000 people were
arrested at a demonstration in
Moscow demanding that
independent candidates be
allowed to stand in a citywide
election. More protests are
planned.Boris Johnsonspent a busy
first week as Britain’s prime
minister. He created a new
office to administer lifelong
support for veterans of the
armed forces; pledged
resources for several projects;
and promised to open the
spending taps for public ser-
vices. This included a pledge to
put 20,000 more police officers
on the streets within three
years (replacing the officers cut
since the Conservatives took
power in 2010).Next for Mr Johnson was a
whistle-stop “Union” tour with
visits to Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. Brexit
loomed in the background. In
Northern IrelandMr Johnson
declared that the border “back-
stop”, which would keep Brit-
ain in aneucustoms union, is
dead. The government com-
mitted an extra £2.1bn ($2.6bn)
to plan for a no-deal exit.He’s got a friend
Donald Trump announced that
Dan Coats would step down as
the director of national
intelligence. Like most of
America’s security chiefs, MrCoats has had a peppery rela-
tionship with the president
over their differing assessment
of the threats facing America.
Mr Trump’s choice to replace
him is John Ratcliffe, a suppor-
tive Republican congressman
who was little known until
recently, when, at a congres-
sional hearing, he assailed
Robert Mueller’s investigation
into Russian influence.The latestDemocratic debates
shed more heat than light on
what policies the party will
fight the next election on. Joe
Biden, the front-runner, was
targeted by his colleagues in a
bad-tempered clash in which
the candidates squabbled over
who was the most progressive.If at first you don’t succeed
Diplomats from Iran and five
world powers met to try to
salvage a deal, signed in 2015,
that eased economic sanctions
on Iran in exchange for
restrictions on its nuclear
programme. An Iranian official
said his country will continue
to reduce its commitments
under the deal until the other
signatories secure Iran’s
interests. America withdrew
from the pact last year.America imposed sanctions
on Iran’s foreign minister,
Muhammad Javad Zarif, freez-
ing his assets in America. Mr
Zarif “implements the reckless
agenda of Iran’s supreme
leader”, said Steven Mnuchin,
America’s treasury secretary.According to reports, American
officials revealed that the son
of Osama bin Laden, Hamza,
who was being groomed to take
over al-Qaeda, had died. Amer-
ica played a role in the oper-
ation that killed him, though it
was unclear when or where it
was carried out.Princess Haya bint al-Hussein,
the estranged wife of the ruler
of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed
bin Rashid al-Maktoum, asked
England’s High Court for ward-
ship of their two children, as
well as a forced-marriage pro-
tection order. Princess Haya,
thought to be hiding in Lon-don, is Sheikh Mohammed’s
sixth wife. Two of his daugh-
ters have also tried to run away.A music festival in Lebanon
cancelled an appearance by
Mashrou’ Leila, a popular rock
band whose lead singer is
openly gay. The organisers had
come under pressure from
Christian groups and conser-
vative politicians, setting off a
debate about freedom of
expression. The move was
intended “to prevent blood-
shed”, said the organisers.Jihadists allied to Islamic State
claimed to have killed or in-
jured 40 soldiers in two attacks
in the north-east of Nigeria. In
other raids on funerals and
villages 65 civilians were
killed. Meanwhile, the govern-
ment banned a Shia Muslim
group that had protested
against the arrest of its leader
in 2015 and against the security
forces killing its members.Not exactly a haven
Guatemalasigned a safe-
third-country agreement with
America, under which asylum-
seekers passing through the
Central American country
would have to apply for asylum
there rather than in the United
States. Guatemala’s president,
Jimmy Morales, agreed to the
arrangement after Donald
Trump threatened to impose
tariffs if he did not. Courts in
both countries are expected to
challenge it.At least 57 people died in a
prison riot in the Brazilian
state of Pará. Most of the in-
mates were killed by asphyxia-
tion caused by a fire, but 16
were decapitated.Peru’spresident, Martín
Vizcarra, proposed holding a
general election a year early, in
April 2020. This would be a
way of ending his deadlock
with congress over measures
to fight corruption. But con-
gress has little incentive to
approve early elections, since
its members cannot run for
re-election immediately. The
plan would also need to be
approved in a referendum.A warning
Authorities in China expressed
support for Carrie Lam, Hong
Kong’sembattled chief exec-
utive, and called for order to be
restored in the territory. Police
charged 44 people who were
arrested at one of the many
ongoing protests with rioting,
prompting further protests
outside police stations.The deputy head of the govern-
ment of Xinjiang, a region in
western China, said that more
than 90% of the Uighur Mus-
lims detained in camps by the
authorities had been sent
home. Human-rights groups
expressed scepticism. They say
more than 1m Uighurs have
been interned in an effort to
weaken indigenous culture.North Koreafired several
projectiles into the sea in the
direction of Japan on two
separate occasions. America
and South Korea said they were
a new type of short-range
missile. North Korea suspend-
ed tests of long-range missiles
early last year, and last month
agreed to restart disarmament
talks with America.India’sparliament approved a
law banning Muslim men from
divorcing their wives simply
by saying the word talaqthree
times. Few Muslim countries
permit this, and the Supreme
Court had declared it unconsti-
tutional. But the opposition
held up the measure for a year,
arguing that punishing men
who divorced their wives in
this way by sending them to
prison was too harsh.The government of India said
that the country’s tiger pop-
ulationhad risen by a third
since 2014, to almost 3,000.