6 The EconomistJuly 20th 2019
1The world this week Politics
Ursula von der Leyen, until
recently Germany’s defence
minister, was approved by the
European Parliament as the
next president of the
European Commission, the
eu’s executive arm. She
secured 383 votes, nine more
than the required absolute
majority, suggesting that she
will take office with her au-
thority already brittle. Her first,
and very tricky, task is to assign
jobs to the commissioners of
each country.France’senvironment
minister, François de Rugy,
resigned. The French press hadlashed out at him for spending
large amounts of taxpayers’
money on lavish dinners,
including fine wine and lob-
sters, which he says he does
not like (“champagne gives me
a headache”). He denies any
wrongdoing.There were 1,187 drug-related
deaths in Scotlandlast year
according to official figures.
That is a rate of just over 218
people per million, higher than
in the United States, which is
in the grip of an opioid epi-
demic. Scotland’s drug pro-
blem has escalated quickly;
over the past five years the
number of drug-related deaths
has more than doubled.Turkeytook delivery of the
first of its s-400 anti-aircraft
missiles from Russia. The
purchase has caused a huge
row with nato. America has
ended Turkey’s role in making
f-35 fighter planes, for fear that
its secrets will be stolen by
Turkey’s Russian partners.Tit-for-tat
A Turkish diplomat was killed
in a gun attack in Erbil, the
capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Turkey recently stepped up its
offensive in the Hakurk region
of northern Iraq against Kurd-
ish fighters, who have waged
war with Turkish forces for
decades.The soldiers runningSudan
signed a power-sharing deal
with the opposition, whose
protests led to the fall of Presi-
dent Omar al-Bashir, a tyrant,
in April. The accord lacks many
details, but the two sides have
agreed on a path to elections
after three years, and the com-
position of a sovereign council
of civilians and military types.The World Health Organisation
formally declared the Ebola
epidemic in the Democratic
Republic of Congo to be a
global health emergency. More
than 1,670 people have died in
the latest outbreak.Tentacles of a scandal
Police arrested Alejandro
Toledo, a former president of
Peru, in California. Peru has
requested his extradition to
face charges that during his
presidency from 2001 to 2006
he took $20m in bribes from
Odebrecht, a Brazilian con-
struction company. He denies
wrongdoing.A judge in New York sentenced
Joaquín Guzmán, also known
as El Chapo(or Shorty), to life
in prison plus 30 years. The
former head of Mexico’s Sina-
loa drug gang, who has twice
escaped from Mexican prisons,
was convicted in February on
ten charges, including traffick-
ing cocaine and heroin and
conspiracy to murder.Donald Trump ordered that
asylum-seekerswho have
passed through another coun-
try en route to America (ie,
most of them) must prove that
they have applied for asylum in