Best articles: International NEWS 1914 March 2020 THE WEEKThe sex secretsexposed by thevirus alertsThe Daily Beast
(New York)SouthKorea isabuzzwiththesound ofbeepingmobilephones,says DonaldKirk.Asthecountry
grapples withoneofthe world’s largestcoronavirus outbreaks,itiskeepingcitizensup todatewith
emergencytextalerts.These “disturbing”messagesare tailoredtocities and neighbourhoods,and
provide detaileddescriptionsofthemovementsofpeopleinfectedbythevirus.Thoughanonymised,
the alertsarehavingunintendedconsequences:recipientshavebeenabletojointhe dots and identify
people towhomthemessagesrelate.Onealert highlightedthe case ofa43-year-old manfrom
Nowon, inSeoul.“Hewasat hisworkintheMapodistrict,”the messagesaid,“attendingasexual
harassmentclass.Hecontracted thevirusfrom the instructor.”Anothermentionedamanin his50s
whohadtravelledtoWuhan,where the outbreak started, withhis30-year-old secretary –prompting
speculation ofanaffair.Quiteapart fromraisingquestionsofprivacy,though, t he“coldcrispness”
ofthe alertsisalsocontributingto “risingresentment”ofPresidentMoon Jae-in’s handlingofthe
crisis.Moon hasfailed,sayhiscritics –“and every alerton the phonejustdrives that pointhome”.Salvaging the
reputation of
“Hitler’s Pope”
Deutschlandfunk
(Berlin)
Acloudofmysterywillsoonbe liftedfromtheVatican,saysChristiane Florin.EugenioPacelli,
who becamePopePius XII in1939,isoneof theCatholic Church’smostcontroversialfigures.
Hisdetractors–who have labelledhim “Hitler’sPope”–sayheknewtheNazisweremurdering
JewsduringtheSecond WorldWar,butmade nopublicprotestatall.Somesayit wasdownto
cowardice;othersclaim hewasplainanti-Semitic. The criticismisthesubjectofscoresofbooks,
andevenaplay:RolfHochhuth’sTheDeputy(written in 1963 ,when criticism ofthe Catholic
Church wasstil lconsidered“outrageous”).Pius’ssupporters, though,have alwaysinsist ed that his
discretionand behind-the-s cenes work saved countlessJewish lives. Speakingpublicly wouldonly
have led to furtherreprisals,theyclaim.Now,the Vatican is tryingtosettle the questionof Pius’s
legacy once and for all: leading historianshave been givenaccessto millions of pagesof documents
in th eVatican’s archives.We’d be fools toexpe ct averdict as cut-and-driedas“criminal” or “saint”:
this researchwilltake years.Butyou don’tneedtobeaprophe ttobeable to saynow:“Thearchives
will providemany explanations, but noredem ption.”Realityis ca tching upwith Ukraine’spresident, says SevgilMusaieva.VolodymyrZele nsky –acomic
previously knownfor starringasanaccidentalpresidentin asatir ical TV show–had no political
experience when he was elected byalandslide lastyear. Voters thoughthe’d be a“popularhero”,
just ashe wasonscreen. “Obnoxiouspoliticians”would beousted, andthe warand st rife thathas
plagued Ukrainewouldend.But th eillusion is fading.Zelenksyfired most ofhiscabinet lastweek,
and hisprime minister quit after beingoverheard trashing hisboss’s economic acumen; thecountry
is nowon its third PM injust seven months.Anti-corruptionmeasures have stalled after
the government failedtostampitsauthority oninte rnalagencies, andtheimpressionnow is one
of “panicand powerlessness”. Zelensky’s mistakewastoprioritise loyalty over experience–young,
untried aides were suddenly givenhuge responsibility.When they realised howlittle powerthey had,
they made ties with theoliga rchs whoreallyrun Ukraine,andtheir loyaltytoZelensky“crumbled”.
Now, faced witha“perfect storm” of challenges–toughIMF loanconditions, arecessionanda
potential coronavirus outbreak–the president’sadministrationis“close tocoll apse”.Apanicking
president faces
up to reality
Ukrayinska Pravda
(Kiev)
SOUTHKOREAITALYUKRAINEAmerica’speacedealwiththeTaliban
wasonlysignedafortnightago–butit
looksshakyalready,saidLucMathieu
inLibération(Paris).Theagreement,
whichwouldend 18 yearsofwar,
commitstheUStowithdrawingall
itsmilitaryandintelligencepersonnel
from Afghanistanwithin1 4 months.In
return,theTalibanpledgedtoensure
terroristgroupssuchasal-Qa’edadon’t
usethecountryasabase, andagreed
toenterpower-sharingtalkswiththe
Kabulgovernmentaimedatending
thecivilwar.Some5,000Taliban
prisonersand1, 000 Afghansecurity
forceprisonerswereduetobefreedin
acontentiousexchange.Butwithindays,thedeal(signedin
Qatar)wasinjeopardyaftertheUSlaunchedanairstrikeonthe
TalibanbecauseitsforcesattackedAfghantroopsinHelmand.Beinnodoubt,saidtheDailyOutlookAfghanistan(Kabul)–
theTalibanseesthisdealasa“victory”.Lockedoutofpower
since 2001 ,thegroupisonthecuspofbeingbroughtbackinto
thefold. Afghansnowfeartheachievementsof the past two
decades–women’srights,democracy,rejection of“fanatical”
interpretations ofIslam–couldbelost.Thisis“adeeply flawed
agreement”,said SusanE.RiceinTheNewYorkTimes.The
US accededtothe Taliban’sprimarydemand(full withdrawal),and–inabreakfromconvention–
negotiatedwithoutour“keypartner”,
theAfghangovernment,atthetable.
TheTalibanknewPresidentTrump
wantedadealenablinghimtobring
thousandsoftroopshomebeforethe
presidentialelection“underalmostany
circumstances”,andseizedthechance.
Notonlydoesthisdealriskfurther
instabilityinAfghanistan,italso
endangersUSsecuritythroughthe
removalofintelligencepersonnel.TheAmericansspent 18 yearstrying
toremakeAfghanistanintheirimage,
saidDawn(Karachi).They“failed
miserably”.Attemptingtotransformaculturallyconservative
countryintoaliberaldemocracywasan“incrediblynaive”
ambition,onereminiscentofcolonial“civilisingmissions”.
Exactly,saidHenryOlseninTheWashingtonPost–which
iswhywe’rerighttowithdraw.Ourpresencebroughtneither
peacenorunitytoAfghanistan.Wecouldstayindefinitely,but
thatwouldonlyleaveusmoreexposedtostrategicthreatsfrom
Russiaand China.No,bettertowithdraw–“regardless ofthe
outcome”forAfghanistan.TalksbetweentheTalibanandthe
Afghangovernment will nowbe vital,saidTheKabul Times.
TheUS may bewithdrawing,buttheinternationalcommunity
musthelpdrivethesenegotiationsforward.USsoldiersinZabulprovincein 2006The Afghan peace deal: avictory for the Taliban?