The EconomistFebruary 6th 2021 7For our latest coverage of the
virus please visit economist.com/
coronavirus or download the
Economist app.The world this week Politics
The army seized power in a
coup in Myanmarand arrested
Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of
the ruling party, the National
League for Democracy. It
claimed that elections the nld
won by a landslide in Novem-
ber were fraudulent, and that it
had to intervene to ensure a
fair poll could be conducted.
The army said it would return
power to civilians within a
year. The military authorities
indicted Ms Suu Kyi with the
bizarre charge of importing
some walkie-talkies without
the proper paperwork, and the
president, Win Myint, also
from the nld, with violating
social-distancing rules.Mori Yoshiro, a former prime
minister and the head of the
organising committee for the
Tokyo Olympics, which are
scheduled to start in July,
complained about how long
women talk at board meetings.
The comments prompted
widespread calls for his resig-
nation. Separately, the Inter-
national Olympic Committee
issued guidelines to help
prevent the spread of covid-19.
Spectators, it said, could clap
but not chant or sing.Mario Draghi, a former head of
the European Central Bank,
was asked by the president of
Italy to try to form a govern-
ment. The current prime min-
ister, Giuseppe Conte, has lost
his majority in a spat over
covid-recovery funds. Mr
Draghi needs the support of
one of the two big populist
parties, the Northern League or
the Five Star Movement. That
may be tricky.The European Commission
took powers to block the export
of covid-19 vaccinesto non-eu
countries, though it has not yetused them. This triggered a
furious row with Britain,
which intensified after the eu
threatened to invoke Article 16
of the Brexit agreement, which
would create a hard border
between Northern Ireland and
the Republic of Ireland. After
across-the-board criticism,
including from the Republic,
the commission backed down.A court sent Alexei Navalny,
Russia’s main opposition
leader, to prison for two and a
half years. It said he had violat-
ed the conditions under which
a sentence for embezzlement
had been suspended. He says
the original case was fabricat-
ed; and that he could not at-
tend the parole hearings as he
was in Germany in a coma after
being poisoned by Russian
agents. More than a thousand
protesters were arrested.Police in Istanbularrested 159
students at Bogazici University
who were protesting against
the detention of four gay activ-
ists for depicting Islam’s most
sacred site with the Pride flag.
Turkey’s interior minister said
the activists were “freaks”.In ScotlandNicola Sturgeon
reshuffled her ruling national-
party government in the hope
of galvanising it before a par-
liamentary election in May
that is being presented as a
proxy vote on Scottish in-
dependence. But the ejection
of a frontbencher who dis-
agrees with Ms Sturgeon’s
independence strategy only
amplified the snp’s divisions.In his first significant trade-
policy decision, Joe Biden
reinstated tariffson alumi-
nium imports from the United
Arab Emirates, which Donald
Trump had lifted on his last
day in office. Mr Biden, per-
haps mindful of his close
election margin in the rustbelt
states, says imports from the
uaehurt domestic production.The Senate approvedPete
Buttigiegas transport secre-
tary in the Biden administra-
tion. He is the first openly gay
person to be confirmed to a
cabinet position in America.Colombia’s“special juris-
diction for peace”, which in-
vestigates and judges crimes
committed during the 52-year
conflict between the state and
the farcguerrilla group, is-
sued a damning indictment of
the group’s leader, Rodrigo
Londoño, and seven other
commanders. It held them
responsible for the mistreat-
ment of hostages, which it said
amounted to war crimes and
crimes against humanity.Brazil’s“Lava Jato” anti-cor-
ruption task-force, which has
convicted dozens of busi-
nessmen and politicians since
2014, was unceremoniously
disbanded. Politicians had
turned against it and were
joined by the populist presi-
dent, Jair Bolsonaro, whose
son, a senator, is being investi-
gated for money-laundering.Rebels opposed to the re-
election of President Faustin-
Archange Touadéra closed in
on Bangui, the capital of the
Central African Republic.Iran’s foreign minister said the
European Union should “cho-
reograph” a synchronised
return of both America and
Iran to the deal under which
Iran curbed its nuclear pro-
gramme in return for sanctions
relief. President Joe Biden has
said he wants to re-enter the
deal. But he has insisted that
Iran must first comply with the
accord’s directives.Thousands gathered in Jerusa-
lem to attend the funeral of an
ultra-Orthodox rabbi, flouting
Israel’scoronavirus restric-
tions. Cases and deaths have
been rising in Israel, which is
still leading the world in vacci-
nation per person. Israel
agreed to transfer 5,000 doses
of the vaccine to the Palestin-
ian Authority, which began
jabbing health workers.Tanzania is not planning to
vaccinate the public against
covid-19, its health minister
said. President John Magufuli
has said he does not think the
vaccines work. Tanzanians are
being urged to to use tradition-
al medicine.CoronavirusbriefsA non-peer-reviewedstudy
suggested that the Astra-
Zeneca-Oxfordvaccine can
reduce transmissions by
two-thirds. Meanwhile, the
European Medicines Agency
approved the azjab for every-
one over 18. But officials in
France, Germany and Sweden
are recommending that it not
be offered to over 65s, and in
Poland to over 60s, believing
there is insufficient data to
say it is effective in those age
groups. Switzerland refused
to license it at all.Johnson & Johnsonreported
that its new single-jab vaccine
was 66% effective overall in
preventing covid-19, and that
protection increases over
time. As with other vaccines,
j&j’s trials showed its jab has
lower efficacy in South Africa,
where a particularly perni-
cious strain of covid-19 has
been observed.A peer-reviewed analysis in
the Lancetof Russia’s Sputnik
Vvaccine showed it had an
efficacy rate of 91.6%.Weeklyconfirmeddeathsbyarea,’To 6am GMT February 4th 2021VaccinationdosesSources: Johns Hopkins University CSSE;
Our World in Data; United NationsTotal Per 100
This week, ’000 ’000 people
Israel 1,148 5,092 58.
UAE 701 3,441 34.
Seychelles 12 31 31.
Britain 2,620 10,144 14.
Bahrain 16 174 10.
United States 8,942 32,781 9.
Serbia 265 496 7.
Malta 8 29 6.
Denmark 49 283 4.
Ireland 47 200 4.3020100
2020 21Western
Europe
USOtherLatin
America