The Week - UK (2021-02-13)

Best articles: International NEWS 19

13 February 2021 THE WEEK

Atrump card

to win global

domination

Der Tagesspiegel

(Berlin)

EuropeisdangerouslycomplacentaboutChina’sstrangleholdonrare-earthmetals,saysGüntherH.

Oettinger.Cerium,lanthanumandothersoftheavymetalsareusedineverythingfromsmartphones

andlaptopstoLEDlightsandelectriccars.They’rea“crucial”componentingreenenergy,usedin

windturbinesandfuelcells.Withoutthem,theEUhaslittlehopeofhittingitsambitiousclimate

targets.Yet90%oftheworld’ssupplyisminedinChina,whichruthlesslyexploitsitsleverage.It

controlspricesbymeansofexportquotas,and“mercilessly”crushescompetitorsinothercountries

byfloodingthemarketwhenanewmineopens–sothatpricescrash,forcingitoutofbusiness–

thensnapsuptheminingrights.You’dthinkwe’dhavelearntthelessonbynow.In2 01 0,prices

oftherareeartheuropium(usedinflatscreens)soaredwhenBeijingcutoffsupplytoJapanover

aspatintheSouthChinaSea.Despitethename,thesematerialsaren’tallthatrare;theproblemis

thattheirextractioniscostly.Evenso,Europemuststartgeneratingitsownsupplies.Beijingmust

notbeallowedtotreatrareearthsas“atrumpcardonitswaytoglobaleconomicsupremacy”.

Chaos in

Europe? Blame

von der Leyen

Politico.eu
(Brussels)

“It’stimetotalkaboutUrsulavonderLeyen,”saysMatthewKarnitschnig.For weeks,theEuropean

Commissionpresidenthassoughtto blameanyonebut herselffortheEU’slamentablevaccineroll-

out,pointingthefingerinsteadat drugcompanies and hersubordinates.But the uncomfortabletruth

isthatresponsibility lies with her. Itwasshe,afterall,who persuadedtheEU’s27 memberstates to

centralise theirvaccineprocurementefforts attheexpenseofflexibility.Anditwasshe who –with

millions oflives atstake–insisted onpinchingpenniesas othercountriesspent freelyto securebroad

vaccine portfolios. Alas, “for anyone familiar with von der Leyen’s record asapolitician in Germany,

hermismanagement of the Covidcrisisshould come as no surprise”. Asdefenc eminis terinAngela

Merkel’s cabinet, her incompetence was such that soldiers were reduced to using broomsticks as guns

duringtraining exercises.Herminis try wasinvestigated over claims it improperly awarded contracts

to consultants; projectswent staggeringly over budget. Herelevation to thetopofthe European

Commissionwas met with bewilderment in Germany. Butvonder Leyenhadhigh-flying allies–not

leastMerkelherself .Now,the results of her astonishingover-promotionare therefor alltosee.

VladimirPutin’s regime has beenshakenby the massprote sts over thejaili ng of thepresident’sarch-

critic AlexeiNavalny.But don’tbelieve predictions of its imminent demise,says Mark Galeotti. It’s

hardtoimagineRussian security forceslosing control ofthestreets: as therecentunresthasshown,

theyareprepared toarrest thousands. AndNavalnyis noviol ent revolutionary:hewisely recognises

that toppling Putin depends on support from the Russian elite.The “barnstorming” speechhemade

as hewasjailedfortwo years andeightmonthson2Februarywas aimed at them aswell as hisown

supporters: by mocking Putin as the “little man in the bunker” anda“poisoner of underpants” (a

nod to last year’sNovichok attack),he was seeking to undermine the president’s standing with them.

Navalny’s sympathisers in the elite include liberalsfedupwith“plundering”byKremlincronies,

business magnatesworriedabouteconomic stagnation,andpatriots embarrassedbyRussia’s pariah

status.Ifthe generalsand oligar chs whoonce welcomedthe “restored sense of pride”Putinprovided

turn againsthim, he could be at risk. But his downfall won’t be precipitated by protests. It willcome

when hiserstwhilesupporters –Russia’s “men in grey suits”–deci de he has become aliabilit y.

Will the grey

suits call time

on Putin?

The Moscow Times

CHINA

BRUSSELS

RUSSIA

Israel’scoronavirusvaccineroll-out

“haslefttherestoftheworldtrailing

initswake”,saidPeterAldhouson

BuzzFeedNews(NewYork).Over

athirdofitsnine-million-strong

populationhasbeeninoculatedsince

19 December; 78 %oftheover-60s

havehadtwodosesofthevaccine.And

theeffectsarestartingtoshow.Daily

caseratesandhospitaladmissions

amongtheover-60shaveplummeted

by46%and 34 %respectivelysince

mid-January.Thereisclearevidence

thatvaccinesarehelpingtolimit

transmissionofthevirus.Andthe

Pfizervaccine–whichIsraelreliedon

heavily–seemstobeworkingalmostaswellintherealworld

asitdidintrials,withover90%efficacyaftertwodoses.That’s

goodnewsforIsrael,andit’sgoodnewsforothercountries

whosevaccineroll-outsarealsoadvancing–suchastheUK.

CreditisduetoBenjaminNetanyahu,saidPierreHeumann

inHandelsblatt(Düsseldorf).TheIsraeliPM,whofaces

reelectionin March,personallylobbied pharmaceuticalbosses

tosecure earlyshipments.Theywerewonoverbothbyhis

willingnesstopay top prices,and byIsrael’sdigitisedhealth

records,whichmadeit an“attractivetest country”forpharma

companies.Noteverythinghasgone toplan, said The Jerusalem

Post.Infectionrateswerespirallingas

thevaccinationdrivebegan,andanew

lockdownwasimposedinDecember–

whichmanyflagrantlyignored.

Infectionshaveremainedhigh,

particularlyamongvulnerableminority

communities,suchasArabPalestinians

andultra-OrthodoxJews–whichalso

havethelowestvaccinationrates.

Observanceoflockdownruleshas

beenparticularlypoorintheOrthodox

community:some 2 0,000maskless

peoplerecentlyattendedthefuneral

ofaHaredirabbiwhodiedofCovid.

Holidaymakersaretoblametoo,said

EinavSchiffonYnet(RishonLeZion).ThousandsofIsraelis

flockedtoDubai,makingthemostoftheirnation’snewpeace

dealwiththeUAE.Theyreturnedcarryingnewstrains;theUK

variantnowaccountsfor 8 0%ofIsrael’snewinfectionsandhas

drivenasurgeincasesamongtheunvaccinated.YetIsraelison

tracktoinoculatenearlyitsentireadultpopulationwithintwo

months,saidTheEconomist,andthegovernmentissurethe

programmewillhavethe desiredeffect:thisweek,the count ry

emerged fromitssix-weeklockdown.“Inthecomingweeks

themagicofthesevaccineprogrammes shouldslowlybegin

torev ealitself.”Declininginfection and deathrates“willgive

hopetoMrNetanyahu, andtherestof the world”.

Netanyahu: not afraid to pay top prices

Israel’s vaccine roll-out: giving hope to the world?