The Economist - USA (2021-02-13)

The EconomistFebruary 13th 2021 7

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The world this week Politics

Theimpeachmenttrialof

DonaldTrumpgotunderway

intheSenate.SixRepublicans

joinedDemocratsinvotingto

rejectthedefence’sargument

thatMrTrumpshouldnotbe

triedashehasleftoffice,butit

isunlikelythattheprosecution

willgetthetwo-thirdsmajority

ofvotesneededtoconvictMr

Trumpofincitingthemobthat

stormedtheCapitolonJanuary

6th.Theproceedingsareex-

pectedtobequick,certainly

notaslongasthethreeweeks

ofMrTrump’sfirstimpeach-

menttriala yearago.

Darker Summers

The Senate approved a budget

blueprint for Joe Biden’s

$1.9trn stimulusbill. The vote

was 50-50 along party lines;

Kamala Harris cast her first

tie-breaker as vice-president.

The House is crafting the de-

tails of the legislation. Demo-

crats, meanwhile, were furious

at Larry Summers, a former

economic adviser to Barack

Obama, who warned that the

bill’s hefty spending tag might

lead to “inflationary pressures”

and financial instability.

In his first big foreign-policy

speech, Mr Biden said he

would end American support

for the Saudi-led campaign

against the Houthi rebels in

Yemen. His administration

also moved to delist the

Houthis as a terrorist organisa-

tion, making it easier for aid to

reach areas under their

control. The war, now in its

seventh year, has caused a

humanitarian disaster.

Libyandelegates at un-spon-

sored talks chose a new inter-

im government. Muhammad

al-Menfi, a former diplomat,

will head a three-man presi-

dencycouncil,whileAbdul-

hamidDbeibeh,a wealthy

businessman,willbecome

primeminister.Theirmain

taskispreparingthecountry

forelectionsinDecember.

Thousandsofpeoplegathered

inTunis,thecapitalofTuni-

sia, tomarkthekillingin 2013

ofChokriBelaid,a popular

politician,anddecrypolice

abuses.It wasthecountry’s

biggestprotestinyears.

Loujainal-Hathloul,a promi-

nentwomen’s-rightsactivistin

SaudiArabia, wasreleased

fromprisonafterservingthree

yearsforsupposedlyharming

nationalsecurity.Herrelease

wasseenasaneffortbythe

kingdomtocurryfavourwith

theBidenadministration.

A deadlockbetweenclanlead-

ersandthegovernmentin

Somaliameantthata deadline

passedtoelecta president

beforetheendofMohamed

AbdullahiMohamed’stermin

office.Thecountrywasmeant

toholditsfirstdirectelections

in 50 yearslastyear,butthese

werepostponedbecauseofa

jihadistinsurgencyandthe

covid-19pandemic.

Ethiopiagave theunpermis-

siontoallow 25 foreignstaffto

providehumanitarianaidto

thenorthernregionofTigray.

Ethiopiahasbarredoutsiders

fromtheregionsincefighting

startedinNovember.Millions

ofTigrayansarehungry.

Allowed to settle

Colombia is to give protected

status for ten years to 1m mi-

grants from Venezuela. Some

5.4m Venezuelans have fled

their country’s economic

disaster; 1.7m are in Colombia.

The unhigh commissioner for

refugees called the decision a

“historic gesture”.

Andrés Arauz, an ally of Ecua-

dor’sformer president, Rafael

Correa, led the first round of a

presidential election. He will

advance to the second round in

April. Mr Correa, a left-wing

authoritarian, has been con-

victed of corruption.

Cuba’s communist govern-

ment expanded the scope for

private enterprise. An old list

of 127 professions open to

entrepreneurs has been re-

placed with a list that reserves

124 activities for the state,

allowing entrepreneurs to

enter the other fields. The state

still bars them from profes-

sions they were eager to enter,

such as accountancy.

Haiti’sgovernment ordered

the arrest of at least 23 people

whom it accused of attempting

to stage a coup against the

president, Jovenel Moïse.

Chineseofficials formally

arrested an Australian journal-

ist, Cheng Lei, about six

months after she was detained

in Beijing. Ms Cheng, a

presenter on cgtn, a Chinese

state broadcaster, has been

charged with supplying state

secrets to “foreign forces”.

Crowds gathered in cities

across Myanmarto protest

against the army’s coup and to

demand the release of Aung

San Suu Kyi, the leader of the

ruling party. The security

services used water cannons

and rubber bullets to disperse

the protesters.

After theIndian government

started legal action against it,

Twitter reimposed blocks on

some 500 accounts, including

those linked to ongoing farm-

ers’ protests. But it refused to

impose blocks on journalists

and media firms, which the

government had requested.

Assailed from all sides over its

lax covid-19 checks on interna-

tional arrivals, the British

government announced that

passengers returning to Brit-

ainwho have visited any coun-

try on a “red list” will be re-

quired to pay for a “quarantine

package” costing up to £1,

($2,420). This mandates ten-

day isolation at a designated

hotel and covers transport

costs and two covid-19 tests.

Fines reaching £10,000 or up to

a decade in prison will be put

in place for those who disobey.

It is unlikely that any court will

impose such a draconian term.

Coronavirusbriefs

TheWorldHealthOrganisa-

tion recommended the Astra-

Zenecavaccine for all adults,

even in places where more

virulent strains of the disease

have appeared.

Earlier, South Africa’shealth

minister said he might try to

sell or swap the AstraZeneca

vaccine for other types, after a

paper found that it gave

“minimal protection” against

mild-to-moderate cases of the

South African variant.

The number of Americansin

hospital with covid-19 and the

number of patients in in-

tensive care dropped to their

lowest levels since November.

New cases continue to fall.

Diners in New York stateare

able to eat inside restaurants

again from February 12th. The

date was brought forward to

accommodate romantics

looking for a Valentine’s Day

meal. Canoodling couples can

expect more privacy; restau-

rants are only allowed to

operate at 25% capacity.

Weeklyconfirmeddeathsbyarea,’

To 6am GMT February 11th 2021

Vaccinationdoses

Sources: Johns Hopkins University CSSE;

Our World in Data; United Nations

Total Per 100

This week, ’000 ’000 people

Israel 727 5,832 67.

UAE 981 4,527 45.

Seychelles 9 42 42.

Britain 3,034 13,163 19.

United States 9,620 43,206 12.

Bahrain 18 213 12.

Malta 9 41 9.

Serbia 139 544 8.

Denmark 72 349 6.

Chile 514 1,067 5.

30

20

10

0

2020 2021

Western

Europe

US

Other

Latin

America