The world at aglance NEWS 96February 2021 THE WEEKJerusalem
Jabhopes:Israel’srapidroll-outofthe
Pfizer/BioNTechCovidvaccinehashad
promisingearlyresults,boostinghopes
thatmassinoculationwillcurbthe
pandemic.Bythisweek,almostonein
threepeopleinIsraelhadbeenvaccinated,
including70%ofover-60s.Vaccinations
arenowbeingofferedtoeveryoneaged
over35,andstudentsaged1 6 to18.Last
week,thefirstdatafromtheroll-out
showedthatonly 317 peopleoutof
715,4 25 – fourinevery10,00 0 –had
becomeinfectedwithinaweekoftheir
seconddose.Separately,Israelsaidit
wouldtransfer5,00 0 dosestotheoccupied
WestBankandGaza,sothatfront-line
healthworkerscanstartgettingthejab.
Untilthen,Israelwasonlyofferingitto
PalestinianslivinginoccupiedEast
Jerusalem,orworkinginhospitalsthere.NewDelhi
Pandemic“contained”:Indiahas
“containedthepandemic”and“flattened
itsCovid-19graph”,thecountry’shealth
ministerannouncedlastweek.Indiahas
hadthesecondbiggestCovidoutbreakin
theworld(aftertheUS)with10.8million
cases.Butthenumberofnewinfections
hasbeentrendingdownwardsince
September–fallingfromover 90 ,000a
daytoaround 1 2,000.Thenumberof
dailydeathshasalsofallensharplyfrom
apeakof1,290inSeptember,to 125 this
week(onaseven-dayaverage).Intotal,
around 15 5, 000 peoplehavediedwith
Covid-19inIndia,outofapopulationof- 37 billion,givingitarelativelylowper
capitadeathrate.Thisweek,someofthe
lastremainingCovidrestrictionswere
lifted:swimmingpools,cinemas,theatres
andexhibitionhallsareallnowfullyopen.
Bangui
Citybesieged:
Around 200,
people have been
forcedfrom their
hom es by the
renewedfightingin
Central African Republic, according to
the UN.Around92,000ofthese refugees
have crossed theborderintoDRCongo.
Althoughrich in resources, including
diamondsanduranium,the CARisone
of Africa’s poorest andmostunstable
countries.Fighting brokeout in December,
whenarebel grou pcalled the Coalitionof
Patriotsfor Change (CPC)launchedan
assaulton th ecapital,Bangui, inprotest
atthe exclusionof ex -president François
Bozizéfromelections. It now controls two-
thirds of the country,andislaying siege to
Bangui in an attempt tooust th ere-elected
president, Faustin-Archange Touadéra.
Conditionsin Bangui aresaidtobe“dire”.Taipei
Warthreat:Chinahas
warnedTaiwanthat any
attempttoseek
independence“means
war”, amidasharp
escalationintensions
betweenBeijingand the
island, which China
regardsasarenegade
territory.Taiwan,which
hasgrowingstrategic
importanceastheworld’s
mainsitefor the
manufactureof
microchips, regardsitself
asasovereignstate.China
hasrampedup military
drillsnear the islandthis
year.Lastmonthit
twicesent15fighter
jetsinto
Taiwanese
airspace.Tianjin,
China
Banker
executed:A
seniorChinese
bankerwas
executedlast
week,
followinghis
convictionon
corruption
charges.LaiXiaomin,58,aformerheadof
thestate-controlledChinaHuarongAsset
Management,wassentencedtodeathin
Januaryforaccepting$280minbribes.
Hestashedthecashinaflathecalledhis
“supermarket”,butwasapparentlytoo
scaredtosp endit.Theseverityofthe
sentence,andtherapidityofits
deployment,reflectBeijing’sincreasingly
toughstanceoncorporatecorruption.Hanoi
Hardliner
re-elected:
Vietnam’s
Communist
Party has
re-elected
NguyenPhú
Trong as its
general
secretary,
after aweekofclosed-door talksatits
once-every-five-yearsCongress. This gives
the 76-year-old,who is the country’s de
facto leader,an unprecedentedthirdterm.
Underparty rules,general secretariesare
limited to two terms,andmustretir eat- Trong, ahard-lineMarxist-Leninist,
hasled an anti-corruption drive that has
been popularinVietnam; he hasalso
crackeddown on dissent.Anal ysts sayhe
may have beenreappointed becausethe
party couldnotagree on hissuccessor.
Perth, Australia
Snap lockdown:The residentsofPerth
were sent into lockdownthis week af ter
the discovery ofasinglecase of Covid-19.
Aman who works asasecurity guard at a
Covidquarantine hotel testedpositive on
Saturday,andthe tight, five-daylockdown
was imposed 24 hours later.Before that,
therehadn’t beenalocally acquired case in
Western Australia forten months.Under
thelockdown,schools,restaurants, bars,
cinemasandgyms were allordered to
close,and people wererequired to stayat
hom eexceptforessential work,shopping
©A and exercise.
FP PHOTO/SECOND INTERMEDIATE PEOPLE’S COURT OF TIANJIN