TheEconomistSeptember 5th 2020 5For our latest coverage of the
virus and its consequences
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coronavirus or download the
Economist app.The world this week Politics
Abe Shinzoannounced that he
was stepping down as prime
minister of Japan because of ill
health. Mr Abe has held the job
longer than anyone else. He
will be remembered for “Abe-
nomics”, a programme of
monetary easing, spending
and structural reforms. The
ruling Liberal Democratic Party
will choose a successor on
September 14th. The leading
candidate is Suga Yoshihide,
Mr Abe’s cabinet secretary.Thailand’sKing Maha
Vajiralongkorn restored
Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi to
her position as royal “consort”.
Last year the king made her
Thailand’s first officially
designated consort in almost a
century, but she was stripped
of her privileges a few months
later for trying to elevate
herself as an equal to the
queen, the king’s fourth wife.Tensions flared anew in a
disputed border area between
Indiaand China. India
accused China of violating an
agreement reached during
recent peace talks by carrying
out “provocative military
movements” in the Himalayas.
China said its troops had not
violated the status quo.Ethnic-Mongol parents in the
Chinese province of Inner
Mongoliakept their children
at home in protest against a
government effort to extend
the use of Mandarin in schools.
Some parents fear the new
policy will diminish young
people’s knowledge of the
Mongol language.Australia said one of its citi-
zens, a prominent journalist
working for Chinese state
television, had been detained
by the Chinese authorities. Nodetails of any charges against
the woman, Cheng Lei, have
been released.Venezuela’sdictator, Nicolás
Maduro, pardoned 110 oppo-
nents who had been charged
with crimes by his regime.
They include associates of Juan
Guaidó, the president of the
National Assembly, who is
recognised as Venezuela’s
interim president by more
than 50 countries. Most oppo-
sition leaders intend to boycott
the legislative election due in
December.Protesters in Montreal pulled
down a statue of John Macdon-
ald, Canada’sfirst prime min-
ister. They accuse him of per-
petrating “genocide” by
founding the residential-
schools system, where tens of
thousands of indigenous
children were forcibly en-
rolled. Many were abused.The German government said
that Alexei Navalny, a promi-
nent Russian opposition leader
taken ill on a plane in Siberia
and evacuated to Berlin, had
been poisoned by a form of
Novichok, a nerve agent used
in Britain in 2018 in an assassi-
nation attempt on another
enemy of Vladimir Putin. The
confirmation increases the
likelihood of more sanctions
on Russia. Mr Navalny remains
in a medically induced coma.Francereleased details of a
€100bn ($119bn) stimulus
package, aimed at countering
the recession brought on by
covid-19, and also reintroduced
the concept of a national
economic plan.Mustapha Adib, Lebanon’s
ambassador to Germany, was
selected as the country’s next
prime minister. This came a
day before a visit by Emmanuel
Macron, the president of
France, who pushed Lebanese
officials to tackle corruption
and implement political re-
form. Lebanon was already
mired in a financial crisis
when its capital, Beirut, suf-
fered billions of dollars in
damage from an explosion four
weeks ago.A delegation of American and
Israeli officials took the first
official flight from Israel to the
United Arab Emirates. The
two Middle Eastern countries
agreed to normalise relations
last month. The flight crossed
Saudi Arabian airspace, which
had been closed to Israeli air
traffic. The uaealso repealed a
law boycotting Israel.King Salman of Saudi Arabia
sacked six defence officials
over allegations of corruption.
Prince Fahd bin Turki bin
Abdulaziz Al Saud, who com-
mands the Saudi-led coalition
in Yemen, and his son were
among those removed from
their posts. Muhammad bin
Salman, the crown prince, has
used past anti-corruption
drives to consolidate power.Alpha Condé, the president of
Guinea, will stand in an elec-
tion scheduled for October,
after he abolished a two-term
limit in a contested referen-
dum earlier this year. Mr Condé
has run the country since 2010;
under the new law he may rule
until 2032, when he will be 94.The government and rebel
groups in Sudan signed a peace
deal promising to end a civil
war centred largely in the
Darfur region that has lasted 17
years. Several earlier ceasefires
and peace deals have been
signed and then broken.Donald Trumpvisited
Kenosha, a town in Wisconsin
that has been embroiled in
violence since a black man was
shot by police and paralysed.
The president reiterated his
resolute message on law-and-
order, which he hopes will help
him win re-election. In
Portland, another scene of
widespread disturbances, a
white man who took part in a
pro-Trump demonstration was
fatally shot amid clashes with
left-wing protesters.A member of the Kennedy clan
lost an election in Massachu-
setts, a first for the state.
Joseph Kennedy, a congress-
man, failed to wrest a Senate
seat from Ed Markey in the
Democratic primary.CoronavirusbriefsTheWorldHealthOrganisation
recommended the use of
cheap, everyday steroidsfor
the treatment of severely ill
covid-19 patients, after a meta-
analysis of data found they
reduced deaths by over a third.The United Statespassed 6m
cases in total; the number of
new cases continues to fall.
Franceand Spain recorded
their most infections in a day
since March. Argentinaregis-
tered its biggest jump since the
start of the pandemic.Indiareported 2m infections
in August, the highest monthly
tally for any country since the
outbreak of the coronavirus. It
has recorded 3.9m cases in all.As in many other countries,
pupils in England started
returning to schoolfor the first
time since March. New York
City postponed the reopening
of its schools as it resolved a
dispute with teachers over
testing (for covid-19, not stu-
dents’ academic ability).Weeklyconfirmedcasesbyarea,’To 6am GMT September 3rd 2020Confirmeddeaths*
Per100k Total Thisweek
Peru 88 29,068 1,
Belgium 85 9,898 19
Spain 62 29,194 223
Britain 61 41,514 49
Chile 59 11,344 354
Italy 59 35,497 39
Brazil 58 123,780 6,
Sweden 58 5,820 17
UnitedStates 56 185,249 6,
Mexico 51 65,816 3,
Sources: Johns Hopkins University CSSE; UN;
The Economist *Definitions differ by country6004002000IndiaAJJMAM SUSLatin AmericaOtherEurope