The EconomistFebruary 22nd 2020 7
The world this week Politics
Mike Bloombergtook part in a
Democratic presidential de-
bate for the first time, after a
surge in his opinion-poll
standing qualified him for
inclusion. The other candi-
dates attacked him over lewd
comments he has made in the
past and his billionaire status.
Mr Bloomberg will reportedly
sell his media company if he is
elected president.More than 2,600 former law-
yers and officials from the
Justice Department signed a
letter calling onWilliam Barr
to resign as attorney-general.
Mr Barr recently intervened to
reduce the recommended
sentence in the case of Roger
Stone, a disgraced confidant of
the president.Using the power of the presi-
dency Mr Trumppardoneda
Who’s Who of business and
political felons. These includ-
ed Michael Milken, the “junk-
bond king”, who was impris-
oned in the 1990s, and Rod
Blagojevich, a former governor
of Illinois, whose prison sen-
tence for trying to sell a Senate
seat was commuted.Opening a new front
The un-backed government of
Libyapulled out of peace talks
with representatives of Khalifa
Haftar, a rebellious general,
after his forces attacked the
port of Tripoli. The govern-
ment is based in the capital,
which has been under siege by
General Haftar’s forces for a
year. Turkey has intervened on
the side of the government.
Egypt, Russia and the United
Arab Emirates back General
Haftar. The eusaid it would
patrol the eastern Mediterra-
nean, enforcing a long-ignored
unarms embargo on Libya.Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Turkey’spresident, said it is
“only a matter of time” before
he launches an operation to
stop the Syrian army’s offen-
sive on Idlib, the last rebel-held
province inSyria. The regime
of Bashar al-Assad, which is
backed by Russia, has rejected
Turkey’s demands to pull back.
Turkey, which has troops in the
area and supports some of the
rebels, fears a new influx of
refugees. Theunsays its aid
operation is “overwhelmed”.Dozens of people were killed in
Burkina FasoandMaliin
ethnic or jihadist violence.
They include 24 people gunned
down in a church in north-
western Burkina Faso; jihadists
were blamed for that attack.
The deterioration in security
comes after France promised to
send another 600 troops to
help stabilise the region.Government forces in
Cameroonwere blamed for an
attack that killed 22 civilians
including 14 children in an
English-speaking region. The
government said the incident
was an “unfortunate accident”
during a firefight with rebels.Terror on the streets
A gunman went on a shooting
spree in the Germancity of
Hanau, killing at least ten
people and himself. The sus-
pect was reported to have
published racist videos and
manifestos before the attack.
Xenophobic terrorism in Ger-
many appears to be growing;
earlier this month police ar-
rested 12 men suspected of
planning attacks on mosques.The British government set out
plans to overhaul the
immigrationsystem. Workers
from eucountries would be
treated the same as non-eu
workers if the plan becomes
law. Fewer low-skilled mi-
grants would be admitted,
though the definition of
“skilled” would expand.A Dutch appeals court reinstat-
ed an international court’s
ruling that Russiaowes $50bn
to the shareholders of Yukos,an oil company it bankrupted
and dismantled in 2003-07.
The firm’s seizure was a battle
between President Vladimir
Putin and Mikhail Khodorkov-
sky, theceoof Yukos, who had
political ambitions. Russia will
appeal against the verdict to
the Dutch supreme court.ATurkishcourt acquitted a
group of civic activists who
took part in protests to save a
park in Istanbul from devel-
opment in 2013 of conspiring to
overthrow the government.
President Recep Tayyip Erdo-
gan’s repression of civil society
worsened after the Gezi Park
demonstrations. Prosecutors
immediately re-arrested one of
the activists on charges of
taking part in an attempted
coup in 2016.No hiding placeDespite a fall in daily numbers
of newly confirmed infections,
many places in China main-
tained tight controls to curb
the spread of covid-19. In
Wuhan, where the new corona-
virus was first discovered,
officials banned outdoor activ-
ities. Beijing required anyone
entering from another prov-
ince to undergo 14 days of
quarantine. In Japan, the quar-
antine of a cruise ship, the
Diamond Princess, wound
down, with hundreds of pas-
sengers allowed to leave. Over
600 others had been infected
with the virus; two people
died. Russia all but barred
visits by Chinese citizens.Chinaannounced the ex-
pulsion of three China-based
correspondents of the Wall
Street Journal. It said this was in
response to the newspaper’s
publication of an opinion
piece under the headline “Chi-na is the real sick man of Asia”.
A day earlier, America desig-
nated five Chinese state-linked
news organisations as “foreign
missions”.Afghanistan’selectoral com-
mission announced the results
of the presidential election,
five months after the vote was
held. It said the incumbent,
Ashraf Ghani, had won with
50.6% of the vote, narrowly
avoiding a run-off. His closest
rival, Abdullah Abdullah,
dismissed the results as fraud-
ulent and declared himself the
winner.Time for a haircut
imfofficials held a round of
talks with Argentina. The imf
said the country’s debt posi-
tion was now “unsustainable”,
meaning that private creditors
must make a “meaningful
contribution”. The imfexpects
Argentina to repay the money
it lent the government in full.In Canadaa protest by indige-
nous groups and environ-
mentalists against a proposed
pipeline to transport gas to the
Pacific coast shut one of the
country’s busiest rail routes,
disrupting passenger and
freight trains.Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s presi-
dent, appointed General Walter
Braga as his new chief of staff,
bringing to nine the number of
men in the 22-member cabinet
who come from the armed
forces. Mr Bolsonaro is a for-
mer army captain. He has
remarked that the third floor of
his presidential office “is now
completely militarised”.All those military minds in the
presidential palace are trained
on the biggest threat toBrazil
in the next 20 years: France. A
leaked document from the
defence ministry suggested
that although China, Russia
and even Venezuela could be
considered bigger menaces,
the top brass is worried that
France might try to interfere in
the Amazon, possibly launch-
ing an invasion from next door
French Guiana. France is Bra-
zil’s main military partner.