The Economist - USA (2022-01-22)

6 TheEconomistJanuary22nd 2022
The world this week Politics

Russiasteppedupwhat

lookedlikepreparationsto

invadeUkraine. Itstroops

weredeployedtoBelarus,from

whichtheycouldopenupa

secondfrontandthreaten

Kyiv,Ukraine’scapital.More

than100,000troopshavenow

massedonUkraine’sborders.

A cyber­attack,allegedlyfrom

Russia,closeddownUkrainian

governmentwebsites.Presi­

dentJoeBidensaidRussiawas

readytopounceandpromised

heavysanctionsif it does.

America’ssecretaryofstate,

AntonyBlinken(pictured),was

duetomeethisRussiancoun­

terpart,SergeiLavrov,in

Geneva.Russiandomestic

televisiongavelittlehintthat

warmightbeintheoffing.

France’sPresidentEmmanuel

MacroncalledonEuropeto

builditsowncollectivesecuri-

tyframeworkinthefaceof

Russianaggression.Atlanti­

cists,especiallyineastern

Europe,arewaryoftheidea,

whichtheyfearcoulddivide

nato. MrMacronishopingto

bere­electedinApril.

Araucousparty

Boris Johnsonclung to power,

as more of his Conservative

mps called on him to resign.

The British prime minister’s

convoluted explanations of

why Downing Street held a

party when the rest of the

country was in a strict lock­

down (“nobody told me” it was

against the rules) have not

gone down well. David Davis, a

former minister, quoted words

that saw off a premier in 

and the whole of Parliament in

1653: “In the name of God, go.”

A Conservative mpdefected to

Labour. This seemed to rally

Tory support behind the prime

minister, for now.

Houthi rebels in Yemen

launched a drone attack on

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the

United Arab Emirates, killing

three people. A day later, an

airstrike by a Saudi­led

coalition killed at least 

people in Sana’a, the Houthi­

controlled capital of Yemen. In

recent weeks forces backed by

the uaeand Saudi Arabia have

pushed back the rebels.

Nigerialifted a seven­month

ban on people using Twitter

after the social­media firm

agreed to meet certain condi­

tions, including opening an

office in the country. Nigeria

blocked people from using the

service last year when Twitter

removed a tweet by President

Muhammadu Buhari that

some saw as inciting violence.

Protesters against military rule

in Sudanbarricaded streets

and forced shops to close for

two days. The security forces

reportedly killed ten people.

John Joël Joseph, a former

senator in Haiti, was arrested

in Jamaica. Mr Joseph has been

accused by the Haitian police

of being involved in the mur­

der of President Jovenel Moïse

in July last year. He denies it. 

Ingrid Betancourt, a former

senator in Colombia, said she

would run for president in

May. Ms Betancourt was cap­

tured by farcrebels in 

and held for six years. She

presents herself as a centrist.

The front­runner is a left­

winger, Gustavo Petro.

Cuba’sCommunist regime

held closed trials for peaceful

protesters, some as young as

16, who took to the streets last

year to demand democracy and

reliable electricity. Harsh

penalties are expected. 

A volcanic eruption in Tonga

cut off communications with

the archipelagic kingdom for

days. Three deaths were con­

firmed, though the toll is

expected to rise. The eruption

caused a tsunami so large that

two people drowned across the

Pacific in Peru. Tongan islands

were heaped with ash.

Australia deported Novak

Djokovicafter judges

dismissed his challenge to the

cancellation of his visa for a

second time. The immigration

minister revoked the

unvaccinated tennis player’s

visa on “health and good order

grounds”. 

Kazakhstan’sformer presi­

dent, Nursultan Nazarbayev,

appeared in public for the first

time this year. He gave a tele­

vised address more than two

weeks after nationwide prot­

ests flared up. He claimed

there was no conflict with his

chosen successor, Kassym­

Zhomart Tokayev, who appears

to have sidelined him.

The fbishot dead a British

man of Pakistani origin who

had taken four people hostage

at a synagogue near Dallas.

Questions were asked about

how the man, who had once

been a “subject of interest” to

British intelligence, was

allowed to enter the United

States. His family said he had

been mentally ill. 

America’s Justice Department

laid the first indictments for

seditionagainst some of the

rioters who stormed Congress

on January 6th last year. Eleven

people, including the leader of

the Oath Keepers, a far­right

group, were charged with

conspiring “to oppose by

force” the transfer of presi­

dential power (Congress was

certifying the result of the

2020 election at the time). 

In a day of drama in the Amer­

ican Senate, Democrats failed

to pass measures that would

standardise voting proce-

duresacross the country, and

were also defeated in an at­

tempt to change the filibuster

rule that would have allowed

the bills to proceed. Repub­

licans were adamantly op­

posed, accusing the Democrats

of exaggerating the effect of

state changes to voting rules. 

Joe Biden urged companies to

implement their own vaccine

mandates, after the Supreme

Court struck down his order

for them to do so. The court

Weeklyconfirmed cases by area, m

To6amGMTJanuary 20th 2022

Estimatedglobalexcessdeaths, m

With95%confidenceinterval

Sources:JohnsHopkinsUniversityCSSE;

OurWorldinData;UN;WorldBank;

TheEconomist’s excess-deathsmodel

Vaccinedosesgivenper 100 people

Bycountry-incomegroup

14

92

170

177

Low

Lower-middle

Upper-middle

High

8

6

4

2

0

2020 21 22

Western Europe

UnitedStates Asia

Other

5.6mofficial covid-19 deaths

12.1 19.22.

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coronavirus

Coronavirus data

found that the federal agency

tasked with enforcing the

mandate did not have such

broad power to regulate

public health. The decision

opens the way for Republican

states to outlaw companies’

“no jab, no job” requirements. 

covax, a scheme to provide

covid­19 vaccines to non­rich

countries, delivered its

billionth dose. It still has a lot

of work to do. Of the who’s

194 member countries, 

have inoculated less than 10%

of their populations and 

less than 40%.

Waita minuteMrPostman

The Chinesegovernment,

which is hoping for a covid­

free Winter Olympics in

Beijing, urged people to wear

gloves and masks when open­

ing mail, especially foreign

packages. It claims the

Omicron variant may have

entered China that way, after a

woman tested positive and

traces of the virus were found

on a parcel she had received

from Canada.