The EconomistAugust 1st 2020 5
The world this week Politics
There were fears in Europeof a
resurgence of covid-19. Cata-
lonia returned to a form of
lockdown. Britain announced
that people arriving from
Spain, including British tour-
ists coming back from the
beach, should quarantine for 14
days. The Spanish government
was irked. Croatia, Germany,
Luxembourg and Romania all
saw localised spikes of corona-
virus. Still, Europeans are
much better prepared now
than they were when the pan-
demic began.Chinarecorded dozens of new
infections in a day, the biggest
tally since March. Most were
reported in Urumqi, the capital
of Xinjiang. Travel restrictions
in the western region were
already strict, as the central
government seeks to crush
dissent among mostly Muslim
Uighurs.China ordered the closure of
the American consulatein
Chengdu in retaliation for
America shutting down the
Chinese consulate in Houston.
Chengdu is in western China;
the American consulate there
also covered Tibet, another
restive region where foreign
scrutiny is unwelcome.Hong Kong’sgovernment said
it had disqualified 12 pro-
democracy figures from stand-
ing in elections in September
for the Legislative Council, the
territory’s (until now) semi-
democratic parliament. It also
arrested more students.Najib Razak, Malaysia’sprime
minister from 2009 to 2018,
was sentenced to 12 years in jail
and fined $49m after being
found guilty of seven charges
related to the theft of billions
of dollars from 1mdb, a devel-opment fund. He still faces
verdicts in other trials. Mr
Naijb, who said he thought the
vast fortune in his personal
bank account was a donation
from a Saudi royal, remains
free, pending an appeal.The usdefence secretary, Mark
Esper, announced the with-
drawalof nearly 12,000 Ameri-
can troops from Germany.
President Donald Trump had
criticised Germany’s reluc-
tance to spend more on de-
fence. Mr Esper said the deci-
sion would bolster natoand
deter Russia. He suggested that
some of the troops could be
redeployed on Russia’s door-
step around the Black Sea and
in the Baltic countries.The federal quasi-military
agents sent to Portlandto help
quell violent protests are to
leave the city’s centre, on the
condition that Oregon pro-
vides security to protect the
federal courthouse there.South Africatook a $4.3bn
emergency loan from the imf
to soften the economic shock
of covid-19. The loan marks a
big change for South Africa,
which had previously shunned
the imfso as not to dilute its
economic sovereignty.Perrance Shiri, Zimbabwe’s
agriculture minister, died,
reportedly of covid-19. He led
the Fifth Brigade in Matabele-
land in the 1980s, which
tortured and massacred
thousands of suspected oppo-
nents of the despot, Robert
Mugabe, and their families. He
once likened himself to Jesus,
since he decided who lived and
who died.Parliamentarians in Somalia
voted to remove Hassan Ali
Khaire as prime minister.
America, which supports the
Somali army in its fight against
the jihadists of al-Shabab,
called the process flawed.
Lawmakers say Mr Khaire
failed to prepare the country
for elections next year.Tundu Lissu, an opposition
politician in Tanzania who
was shot 16 times in 2017 butsurvived, returned from exile
in Belgium, hoping to run for
president. Mr Lissu has also
been arrested several times for
such things as “insulting” John
Magufuli, the incumbent.
Elections are scheduled for
October.Israel fired on gunmen from
Hizbullah, the Lebanese
armed Islamist movement.
Binyamin Netanyahu, the
Israeli prime minister, said
they were trying to “infiltrate
our territory”.Iranfired missiles at a replica
aircraft-carrier in the Strait of
Hormuz. The exercise was seen
as a warning to America. Days
earlier Iran accused an Ameri-
can fighter jet of coming too
close to an Iranian passenger
plane in Syrian airspace.Five young women were sen-
tenced to two years in prison
by an Egyptiancourt for post-
ing “indecent” videos on Tik-
Tok. They had let their fans see
them dancing and telling
jokes. The authorities are
cracking down on popular
social-media influencers who
they say fail to uphold Egypt’s
conservative values.Ecuador’sdefence minister
said he was monitoring a fleet
of around 260 mostly Chinese-
flagged fishing boats that have
gathered in international
waters close to the Galapagos
Islands. Chinese fishermen
come each year to the spot,
which is teeming with marine
creatures. In 2017 a boat was
caught with 300 tonnes of
wildlife, mostly critically
endangered sharks, which are
a delicacy in China.In Boliviathe electoral court
postponed the country’s presi-
dential election for a second
time. It had been rescheduled
to take place in early Septem-
ber, but because of covid-19 the
date was pushed back to Octo-
ber 18th. The left-wing opposi-
tion rallied its supporters to
protest against the delay. It has
accused Jeanine Áñez, the
centre-right interim president,
of using the pandemic to cling
to power.CoronavirusbriefsVietnamrecordeditsfirst
infections since April. It has
still reported no deaths.North Koreaadmitted that the
virus was in the country. It
locked down the border city of
Kaesong, and accused a defec-
tor who swam back across the
border from South Korea of
bringing the disease.Australiahad its worst day for
deaths and new cases since the
start of the pandemic.Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’spresi-
dent, said he had recovered
from covid-19, after a fourth
test came up negative.Robert O’Brien, Donald
Trump’s national security
adviser, tested positivefor the
virus, the most senior member
of the administration to do so.Mr Trump in effect cancelled
the bit of the Republican
conventionthat was to be held
in Jacksonville because of
Florida’s surging infections.For our latest coverage of the
virus and its consequences
please visit economist.com/
coronavirus or download the
Economist app.Weeklyconfirmedcasesbyarea,’To 6am GMT July 30th 2020Confirmeddeaths*
Per 100k Total This week
Belgium 85 9,836 28
Britain 68 45,961 460
Spain 61 28,441 15
Italy 58 35,129 47
Peru 57 18,816 5,
Sweden 57 5,730 63
Chile 49 9,278 556
France 46 30,108 46
United States 45 150,489 7,
Brazil 42 90,134 7,
Sources: Johns Hopkins University CSSE; UN;
The Economist *Definitions differ by country600
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