8 TheEconomistNovember 14th 2020
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virus and its consequences
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coronavirus or download the
Economist app.The world this week Politics
Donald Trump refused to
concede defeat in America’s
election, despite Joe Biden’s
passing the required 270
electoral-college votes. The
president is pursuing several
legal challenges to states’
results. None is expected to
succeed. Mr Biden’s transition
team is considering suing to
obtain federal funds and infor-
mation usually granted to
incoming administrations.World leadersqueued up to
congratulate Mr Biden. Among
the strongmen who have so far
demurred are Vladimir Putin
of Russia, Xi Jinping of China
and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil. Mr
Bolsonaro railed against Mr
Biden’s proposals to punish
Brazil for not protecting the
Amazon rainforest, saying,
“Diplomacy alone won’t work.
Once the saliva runs out, you
have to have gunpowder.”Joe Biden announced a
covid-19 advisory board to deal
with the pandemic. He said his
response would be led “by
science and by experts”.Donald Trump tweeted that he
had “terminated” his defence
secretary, Mark Esper. In June
Mr Esper publicly disagreed
with the president about the
use of troops to quash protests.Peru’sCongress removed from
office the president, Martín
Vizcarra. He has been accused
of taking bribes when he was a
governor, which he denies. The
legislature’s speaker, Manuel
Merino, succeeded Mr Vizcarra
as president.Luis Arce was sworn in as
Bolivia’spresident. He was the
candidate of the Movement to
Socialism, founded by Evo
Morales, who was forced intoexile last year after protests
against his re-election. After
Mr Arce took office Mr Morales
returned overland to Bolivia
from Argentina.Eta, this year’s strongest
hurricane, killed at least 130
people in Central America.
Perhaps 300,000 lost their
homes. Eta broke a record set
in 2005 for the number of
named storms in a season.Britain’s House of Lords voted
to amend a bill that would
allow the government to re-
write parts of its European
Union withdrawal treaty,
including provisions about
Northern Ireland. The govern-
ment says it will override the
changes. Joe Biden warned
Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime
minister, not to imperil peace
in Ireland.After weeks of fighting over
Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia
and Azerbaijan agreed to a
peace deal. Armenia surren-
dered the districts surround-
ing the enclave, though a corri-
dor linking Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh will be
placed under Russian control.
Protesters demanded the
resignation of Armenia’s prime
minister, Nikol Pashinyan.The European Parliament
reached an agreement with eu
member states over the cre-
ation of a €1.8trn ($2.1trn)
spending package for the next
seven years, including a
€750bn recovery fund which
will be raised on the capital
markets by the euitself, not by
individual countries.Bihar, one of the poorest parts
of India, voted for an alliance
led by the party of Narendra
Modi, the prime minister, in
state elections. It was the first
big state poll since covid-
swept the country and induced
a deep recession. Voters in
Bihar, at least, do not seem to
blame Mr Modi.The National League for De-
mocracy, led by Aung San Suu
Kyi, retained power in Myan-
mar’selection. Despite failing
to end the country’s simmeringcivil wars, Ms Suu Kyi remains
popular, especially among the
ethnic-Bamar majority.China authorised Hong Kong’s
government to disbar legisla-
tors deemed to oppose Chinese
rule in the territory or to
threaten national security. The
local government promptly
dismissed four pro-democracy
lawmakers. Fifteen others said
they would resign.America removed the East
Turkestan Islamic Movement
from its list of terrorist organi-
sations. It said there was no
credible evidence that the
group, allegedly founded by
Uyghur separatists, still exist-
ed. China reacted angrily,
saying the organisation was a
threat not only to China but to
the world.Several people were injured by
a bomb at an Armistice Day
ceremony inJeddah, in Saudi
Arabia. The event was attended
by representatives of foreign
consulates, including that of
France. Emmanuel Macron,
France’s president, has angered
some Muslims by defending
the right to publish caricatures
of religious figures, including
the Prophet Muhammad.Saeb Erekat, a veteran Pales-
tinian diplomat who was
involved in three decades of
negotiations with Israel, died
after contracting covid-19. He
was 65.Prince Khalifa bin Salman
al-Khalifa, the hardline prime
minister of Bahrain, also died.
He had held the post since
independence in 1971. Prince
Khalifa was 84.Hundreds of people were killed
in fighting between Ethiopian
government troops and forces
loyal to the province of Tigray.
Abiy Ahmed, the prime min-
ister, ordered the army into
Tigray after its leaders held
regional elections in defiance
of the federal government.Police in Mozambiquesaid
jihadists had beheaded more
than 50 people in Cabo Delga-
do, a province in the north.CoronavirusbriefsTheEuropeanCommission
agreed to buy up to 300m doses
of thevaccinedeveloped by
Pfizer and BioNTech.Russia’s claims that its home-
grown “Sputnik V” vaccine is
92% effective in preventing
infection, a similar success
rate to Pfizer’s, were met with
scepticism.The number of people in hos-
pital with covid-19 in America
reached 65,000, a new record.
Europe’sdeath toll from the
virus passed 300,000.Lebanonannounced a new
lockdown that will last until
the end of November. Authori-
ties in Tehranordered restau-
rants and shops to close early
amid rising cases.Denmark’s government ad-
mitted it could not force mink
farmers to cull livestock but
recommended they do so, after
new strains of covid-19 jumped
from the animals to people.Weekly confirmed cases by area,mTo 6am GMT November 12th 2020Confirmeddeaths*
Per 100k Total This weekSources: Johns Hopkins University CSSE; UN;
The Economist *Definitions differ by countryBelgium 118.7 13,758 1,
Peru 106.1 34,992 321
Spain 85.8 40,105 1,
Brazil 76.9 163,368 2,
Chile 76.5 14,633 293
Argentina 76.4 34,531 2,
Bolivia 75.5 8,818 60
Mexico 74.8 96,430 3,
Britain 74.2 50,365 2,
Ecuador 73.2 12,920 216
United States 72.7 240,783 7,2.
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