8 NEWS The world at aglance
THEWEEK 14 March 2020Lansing,Michigan
Bidenwinsagain:JoeBiden
extendedhisleadoverBernie
SandersintheDemocrat
presidentialraceinvotingon
Tuesday.Theformervice-
presidentwonMichigan–the
biggestprizeoftheday–aswell
asMississippi,Missouriand
Idaho.Hisrollingcountof
delegateswas 847 toSanders’
685.Acandidateneeds1,991delegatestowin.Thisweek,there
wasspeculationthatSanders,78,mightdecidenottofighton.
Aheadofthevote,Biden, 7 7,wasboostedbyendorsements
fromtwomoreofhisformerrivalsforthenomination,Cory
BookerandKamalaHarris(pictured).Thelatterhasbeenwidely
tippedtobeBiden’srunningmateifhewins.DonaldTrump
remainsthenarrowfavouritetobeatBideninNovember’s
election,butthegaphasclosedinthewakeofhis
cavalierresponsetothecoronaviruscrisisintheUS.As
ofWednesday,therewere1,015casesand 31 deaths.
AndinNYstate,NewRochelleisunderquarantine.NewYork
WoodyAllencancelled:ThepublishinggiantHachettescrapped
planstopublishWoodyAllen’sautobiographylastweek,after
staffatitsNewYorkHQwalkedoutinprotest.Thefilmdirector
haslongbeenaccusedbyhisadopteddaughterDylanFarrowof
havingsexuallymolestedherwhenshewasseven;hehasalways
protestedhisinnocence,andthoughpolicehavetwice
investigatedherallegations,nochargeshaveeverbeenbrought
againsthim.However,claimsandcounter-claimsaboutthe
natureofhisrelationshipwithDylanhavecontinuedtoswirl.
HachettequietlyacquiredtherightstoAllen’smemoir,Apropos
ofNothing,lastyear,butnewsofthebook’simminentrelease
triggeredafuriousbacklash,ledbyAllen’sestrangedson,Ronan
Farrow.HehasalwayssupportedDylan,andwasparticularly
angryasHachetteisthepublisherofhisownbookexposing
HarveyWeinstein’sabuses.WashingtonDC
Anxietyrelief:BillClintonhasrevealedthatheembarkedon
hisaffairwithMonicaLewinskytohelphim“manage[his]
anxieties”and cope withthe stressofbeingUS president. “It’snot
adefence, it’sanexplanation. Itwasawful.Ifeelterrible,”he
said,inaninterviewforanew TVseries abouthiswifeHillary’s
presidentialrun.Clinton, 73, explainedthatasUS commanderin
chief, “you feel likeyou’restaggeringaround–you’vebeenina
15-roundprize-fightthatwasextendedto 30rounds”.Hisaffair
with Lewinsky,a22-year-oldintern,seemedtohimlike
“somethingthat’lltakeyourmindoffit forawhile”. OnTwitter,
peoplesuggestedhe shouldhave triedmeditation instead.In
1998,Clintonwasimpeachedforlyingto investigatorsabouthis
relationship withLewinsky,butwasacquittedby theSenate.Caracas
Go forth andmultip ly:Presi dent
Nicolás Maduro hassuggested that
Venezuelanwomenshouldgive birth
to si xchildre neach,tob oost the
population –and makeup f or the
millions whohavefled Venezu ela to
escape economiccollapse and food
shortages underhis rule.“Godbless
youfor giving the countrysixlittle
boy sand g irls ,” t he socialist president
told awoma natatelevised event promotingfertility. “Every
woman is to have sixchildren! Every one!Forthe goodof the
country!” Hiscall hascausedange rinacount ry wherethe
healthcare system hascollapsed, many children aremalnouri shed,
and thegover nment hasstopped publishing infant mortality
figures.AccordingtoUNfigures, 4.5millionpeoplehave left
Venezuela since2015 ,and 9. 3millionpeople, almostathird
of the remaining population,don’t have enough to eat.Santiago
Airportheist:Sevenarmed men
posingasstafffromthe courier
firm DHL stole$14m andaround
s1m in cash fromaBrink’s securityvanatSantiago airport on
Monday, in whatthe Chilean pressimmediatelydubbe dthe
“he istofthe ce ntury”. It is thelatest inaseriesofrobberie sclose
tothe airport; thievesare believed to be taking advantageofthe
fact that police forces have beenstretchedby therecentpolitical
unrestinChile. Protestshad easedin mid- December, butflared
up againthis month,ast he longsummerholidaycameto an end.
Last week,scho ol students held protestsand walkoutsacros sthe
cou ntry, and onSunday hundreds of thousandstooktothe streets
to markInternational Women’s Day.MexicoCity
Women’sstrike:Millions ofMexicanwomenand girlsstayed
away from work,university orschoolonMonday,tohighlight
theproblemof gender-based violenceinthe country. The one-day
strike followedademonstration inMexicoCity attended bytens
of thousands ofwomen. Ten Mexicanwomenaremurdered
every day inMexico onaverage.Demonstrators calledon the
authoritiestomakemoreefforttoarresttheperpetratorsofthese
crimes,andcriticisedtheirleft-wingpresidentAndrésManuel
LópezObrador (Amlo)for whatthey seeashistone-deafresponse
to similarsmallerprotestsinrecentmonths.Amlohasrepeatedly
claimedthatthewomen’sprotests –which beganinresponse toa
series ofparticularly horrific murders–arepart ofa“right-wing”
plotto oust him, andhasblamedMexico’shighrateoffemicides
on th e“neoliberal policies” of previousgovernments.