Best articles: International NEWS 1929 February 2020 THE WEEKFacing up tothe epidemicof femicideEl País
(Madrid)Mexicans areupinarms abouttheirgovernment’sfeebleresponse toan epidemic of “femicide”,
says Carmen Morán Breña–the killing ofwomen motivated by misogyny. An average oftenwomen
aday are murderedinthe country,many bycurrent or former partners–achilling toll that has
sparked months ofprot ests by women’s groups. Outragereached anew pitch following themurder
thismonth of Ingrid Escamilla,a25-year-oldwhowas stabbed to death andpartially skinnedbyher
partner. Her deathshocked Mexicansnot just becauseitwas so grisly, but becausephotos of her
mutilatedbody were leakedtothe tabloids, which published them. PresidentAndrés Manuel López
Obrador caused further furywhenhereacted withexasper ation tojournalists’questions about
femicide, saying theissue wasbeing “manipulated”by hisopponents. His attorneygeneral,
AlejandroGertz Manero,has suggested thatfemicide shouldn’t even beconsidere dacrim eseparate
from homicide. This dismissive approachhas infuriated campaigners.The pr esidenthas almosttotal
power underMexico’spolitical system, andhehas failed to useit to halt thiswar against women.Jeff Bezos’s
plans to save
the world
The Atlantic
(Boston)
Is thereno limit toJeffBezos’sambitions,asksFranklinFoer. Not contentwithbeingthe richest
man inthe world,theAmazon bosshasbegunsubsumingthepowersofthe state.He’sbuilding
spacerockets androvers; he’s lookingintoways tofixUShealthcare,and to“retrainworkers inthe
shadow ofautomationand displacement”;hiscompany’sconstellationofservers isstoringdata for
swathes ofthe federalgovernment.And nowhewants tolead effortstocombat climatechangetoo.
La stweekhe announced the creation oftheBezos EarthFund,whichwilldispense$10bnto help
fight global warming.It’s aworth ycause, but there’ssomething troublingabout ourwilli ngness to
cedeever greater responsibilitiestoplutocrats such as Bezos, whoaren’tdemocraticallyaccoun table
andhavetheir own agenda. Amazon hasastrong interest inshaping theclimatedebate,sot hat
futu re reforms don’tharmits bottomline. Itsservershave acollectivecarbon footprint equivalent
to awealthyEuropean nation.Asfor its onlineshopping business,it’s hard to see how“the same-
daydelivery of plastic tchotchkes made in China”can be squared with the stated goalof carbon
neutrality. The publicseem sworryingly “indifferent to thedanger sofagrowing plutocracy”.Are USvote rs entitled to see the full health records ofa78-year-old whorecent ly sufferedaheart
attac k, an disnow campaigning to be commander-in-chief?BernieSanders used to think so,says
John F. Harris: hepromised in theautum ntorelease “comprehensive”health records. Bu thes eems
to have changedhismind. Asked about itrecent ly,heeffectively told the interviewer to “gotohell”,
sayingthat once youstart releasingsuchrecords,“itnever ends”.Hisreversal demonstrateshow
muchPresident Trump hastransformed therelationshi pbetwe en the pressandpublic officials. For
decades, candidates facedstrongpressure todisclose informationabou ttheirhealt h, their tax
returns,andeven theirpersonalbehaviour.Refusal to comply “came withahigh cost”: TV networks
and newspaperswouldcallout ca ndidates for evasiveness. Butinthe Trumpera, a“seismic change”
has occurred.Thepresidenthasgot away with refusing to releasehistax returns or answer reporters’
questions, highlighting the diminished powerof th emedia. Thanks to this insidiousprecedent, even
his opponents “who speak solemnly abouttheneed torestorenorms shatter ed duringthis
presidency, areready to f ollowtrails hehasblazedintakingflight from public accountability”.HowTrump
has corrupted
Bernie Sanders
Politico
(Washington DC)
MEXICOUNITED STATESUNITEDSTATESIhavelongsuspectedthat“the
multiculturalismandracialtolerance
manyWesterncountriesprofessto
practisearenomorethanafacade”,
saidAlexLointheSouthChina
MorningPost(HongKong).Soitis
withagrimsenseofsatisfactionthatI
havereadallthereportsofharassment
andprejudiceagainstAsian-looking
peoplearoundtheworldsincethe
outbreakofthecoronavirus,upsetting
thoughtheyare.“WeChinesehave
practicallybeenaccusedofbringing
onArmageddon”,despitethefactthat
thevirushasbeenlinkedtotwodozen
deathsoutsidemainlandChina.Some
restaurantsinJapanandItalyarerefusingtoserveChinese
people.InBritainandCanada,Asianpeoplehavebeenabused
inthestreet.TheDanishnewspaperJyllands-Postenrana
cartoonfeaturingtheChineseflagwithvirusesinplaceofthe
fivestars,alongwiththeheadline“Yellowalert”.TheresponseofsomeWesterncountriesandtheirmediahas
beenappalling,agreedShenYi intheGlobalTimes(Beijing).
Lastweek,TheWallStreetJournal(WSJ)carried anopinion
pieceentitled“ChinaistheRealSickManofAsia”.That’s a
veryoffensivephrasein Chinabecause itwasoriginallyused
in the mid-19thcenturywhen thecountrywas“brutallybulliedandhumiliatedbytheWesternimperial
powers”.It’sequivalenttotheChinese
mediausingtheN-wordtodescribe
AfricanAmericans.Theheadline
rightlypromptedtheexpulsionof
threeWSJreportersfromChina.“Ifindoubt,blameeveryoneelse
anddressitupasaninternational
conspiracy.”Thatappearstobethe
mantraforBeijing’spropagandists,said
GordonWattsintheAsiaTimes(Hong
Kong).Whetheritsalvagesthe
reputationofPresidentXiJinping,who
isunderpressureoverhisadministra-
tion’shandlingofthiscrisis,remains
tobeseen.Thisisaclearcaseofblamingthemessenger,said
BretStephensinTheNewYorkTimes–onethathasonly
highlightedtheregime’skeyweakness,itsfearofinformation.
Itwasthesamefearthatledittosuppressearlynewsofthe
virus.BanishingthreeWSJreporters(whohadnothingtodo
withtheoffendingarticle)willcompoundtheregime’sproblems
byremovingavaluablesourceofaccuratenews.TheJournal
hasdonepioneering work exposing the effectsofpollutionin
China,justasthelikesofThe NewYorkTimesandReut ers
havedonevital reportingon officialgraft,fraudsandscams
there.“Suppressthiskindofreporting,an dthefirstpeople
wh owillsuffer informationblindnessare China’sleaders.”PresidentXi:afearofinformationThe spreading virus: blame it on the messenger