The Week - UK (2021-02-06)

16 NEWS Best articles: International

THEWEEK6February 2021

Left behind in

acash-free

world

CaixinGlobal.com

(Beijing)

Chinese people now payfor almost everythingwith thei rsmartphones,sayGuo Yingzhe andHu

Yue –and th at’s aserious problem for elderly peoplewhoaren’t tech-savvy. Financial apps and

digital services have grownfast in China: the twoleading payment platforms, AlipayandWeChat

Pay,are nowubiqui tous .But the disappearance of banknotes carriesaprice. Inarecen tviralvideo,

an elderly womanwas showntryingtopay fo rher health insurance in person using cash. The

impatientclerk snaps,“Nocash is accepted here:either tell yourrelativesor payonyourmobile

phone”. It causedaninstant backlash,and th efollowing month thePeople’s BankofChina issued

adiktat requiring publicinstitutions,financialfirms andsmallbusinesses to acceptcash.Ith as so

far penalised 15 companies andonepublicbody, as well as individual employees whorefused to

take cash, withfines from$77 to$77,000. Theruleismeant asastopgap, andthe broader strategy

is to help olderpeople masternew technology and bridgeagrowingdivide betweengenerations.

And rightly so.Astechnologicaladva nces continueapace, wemust notleave theelde rly behind.

The army has

no business

playing politics

Haaretz

(Tel Aviv)

Israel’smilitarychiefAvivKochaviis“wayoutof line”, saysHaaretz. Thenew USpresident

Joe Bidenurgentlywants torestore the 2015 Irannuclearagreement negotiatedby the Obama

administration,whichDonaldTrumprepudiatedthreeyearsago.ButKochavihasotherideas:last

weekhenotonlydeclaredthatrestoring the nuclear dealwouldbe“astrategicmistake”,which

wouldallow Iranto“hurtletowardsabomb”. Hesaidthis“mustnotbe allowed”,sohewas

preparing new planstoattackthe country’snuclear facilities.Kochavi iswrong abouttheagreement,

which includes“preci se and detailed” clauses on inspections, as well as provisions for restricting

uranium enrichment for up to 30 years. Until 2019–ayear after US withdrawal–Iranhad met all

of its obligations underthe deal. More importantly,Kochavi is actingway beyondhis authority by

issuing suchapublic challenge toBide n. It’ suptoministerstodecide how Israelshould work with

alliesto co mbat thethreatposed by Iran;not to unelectedmilitarypersonnel.The situation calls

for “judgement,diplomatic wisdom andmilitarycaut ion” –all of which werelackinginKochavi’s

intervention. Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu should puthimfirmly “in his place”.

What on earthwasMatteo Renzi thinking, asks Simone Cosimi.Afew weeksago,Italy’s formerPM

triggeredapolitical crisis by withdrawing his Italia Viva party from the country’s governing coalition.

But that didn’t stop him jettingoff to Saudi Arabia last week to givealectureatt he country’s annual

FutureInve stment Initiativeconference,aMiddleEast ernrivaltoDavos.Itturnsout Renzi hasa

lucrative role on the conference’s advisory board. Now, Renzi has long had anopportunistic streak.

Buteven he shouldhave seen thatflying halfwayaroundthe world forhis own personalenrichment

daysafterprecipitating thecollapse of Italy’s governmentin the middle ofapandemi cwould look

unethicalatthe best oftimes –let alonewhen everyone else is stuck athome. To makematters

worse, Renzi was filmed fawning over Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,praising

SaudiArabia as the centre ofa“new renaissance”.Thisist he manwho is widely believedtohave

ordered the brutal murderof dissidentjournalist Jamal Khashoggiint he Saudi consulatein Istanbul

in 2018,andwho rules“oneofthe most fer ociousandsuffocating regimesint he world”. If voters

turn againstRenzi an dhis party at thenextregional elections, he’ll haveonlyhimself to blame.

Betraying the

nation’s interest

for Saudi gold

Wired Italia

(Rome)

CHINA

ISRAEL

ITALY

TheNetherlands’imageas“abucolic

countryofbridgesandbikes”tookahit

lastweek,asthecountryfaceditsworst

riotsin 4 0years,saidElenaDeBreon

Slate(NewYork).Anti-lockdown

protests,whichbeganinthesmall,

historicallyrebelliousfishingvillage

ofUrkinthecountry’snorth,quickly

spreadtotencitiesacrossHolland.

Apedestrianbridgewasblownupin

Amsterdam;carsweretorchedinDen

Bosch;andpolicecameunderattackin

citiesincludingRotterdam.Somerioters

evensetfiretoaCovidtestingcentre

andthrewrocksathospitalsand

police.Theunrestbeganwhen,in

ordertocombattherapidlyspreadingUKcoronavirusvariant,

theDutchgovernmentintroducedanight-timecurfew,said

JohanvanHeerdeandJorisBelgersinTrouw(Amsterdam)–

thenation’sfirstsinceNazioccupationintheSecondWorld

War.Overthefollowingthreenights,hundredsofpeoplewere

arrestedaspolicewereforcedtodefendthemselveswithwater

cannonanddogs.Citieswereleftlookinglikewarzones.

Theprotestswerestartedbythosewith“legitimateconcerns”

about their civil liberties being curtailed, said Daniel Steinvorth

in Neue ZürcherZeitung(Zurich).Butthey were quickly

hijackedbyamotleycrewofanti-vaxxers,virus deniers, and

footballhooliganswhoseizedonthe

chancetoletout“pent-upaggression”.

Bythethirdnight,thevastmajority

ofriotersweresimply“aggressive

vandals”whowerespoilingforafight,

saidDeTelegraaf(Amsterdam).Many

camefromthefar-right.Nowthey

mustfacethefullforceofthelaw.

“Chaosmustnotbeallowedtoreign.”

Actually,thecausesofthisunrest

weredeep-rooted,saidHerman

vandeWerfhorstinDeVolkskrant

(Amsterdam).Spendingcutsoverthe

pastdecadehavetakenaheavytoll

onpublicservices.Youngpeopleare

findingitincreasinglydifficulttogetonthehousingladder;jobs

areprecarious.Bigbusinesseshaveenjoyedtaxbreaksand

inequalityhasworsened.Recenteventshaveaddedtoasenseof

dissatisfaction,saidDavidWalshonEuronews.com(Brussels).

WithageneralelectionduetobeheldinMarch,theDutch

governmentresignedlastmonthinascandaloverchildbenefit

payments.IthasfacedcriticismfromthepopulistRightfor

tighteningHolland’soncerelaxedlockdownrules,whilethe

country’svaccine roll-outhas been the second slowest inthe

EU. MostDutch peopleremainbroadly supportiveof the

government’spandemicresponse.“Butthatisnotto say they

agreewiththe directionthecountryistakingingeneral.”

Aprotester in Amsterdam: “pent-up aggression”?

Raging against the curfew: the riots in the Netherlands