The Economist - USA (2019-08-03)

The EconomistAugust 3rd 2019 5

1

The world this week Politics

Russia’smainopposition

leader,AlexeiNavalny,was

takenfromprisontohospital

tobetreatedforwhatthe

authoritiescalledanallergic

reactionbutsupporterssaid

mayhavebeenpoisoning.He

waslaterreturnedtoprison,

whereheisincustodyfor

organisinganillegalprotest,

accordingtotheKremlin.More

than1,000peoplewere

arrestedata demonstrationin

Moscowdemandingthat

independentcandidatesbe

allowedtostandina citywide

election.Moreprotestsare

planned.

BorisJohnsonspenta busy

firstweekasBritain’sprime

minister.Hecreateda new

officetoadministerlifelong

supportforveteransofthe

armedforces;pledged

resourcesforseveralprojects;

andpromisedtoopenthe

spendingtapsforpublicser-

vices.Thisincludeda pledgeto

put20,000morepoliceofficers

onthestreetswithinthree

years(replacingtheofficerscut

sincetheConservativestook

powerin2010).

NextforMrJohnsonwasa

whistle-stop“Union”tourwith

visitstoScotland,Walesand

NorthernIreland.Brexit

loomedinthebackground.In

NorthernIrelandMrJohnson

declaredthattheborder“back-

stop”,whichwouldkeepBrit-

aininaneucustomsunion,is

dead.Thegovernmentcom-

mittedanextra£2.1bn($2.6bn)

toplanfora no-dealexit.

He’s got a friend

Donald Trump announced that

Dan Coats would step down as

the director of national

intelligence. Like most of

America’s security chiefs, Mr

Coatshashada pepperyrela-

tionshipwiththepresident

overtheirdifferingassessment

ofthethreatsfacingAmerica.

MrTrump’schoicetoreplace

himisJohnRatcliffe,a suppor-

tiveRepublicancongressman

whowaslittleknownuntil

recently,when,ata congres-

sionalhearing,heassailed

RobertMueller’sinvestigation

intoRussianinfluence.

ThelatestDemocraticdebates

shedmoreheatthanlighton

whatpoliciesthepartywill

fightthenextelectionon.Joe

Biden,thefront-runner,was

targetedbyhiscolleaguesina

bad-temperedclashinwhich

thecandidatessquabbledover

whowasthemostprogressive.

If at first you don’t succeed

Diplomats from Iran and five

world powers met to try to

salvage a deal, signed in 2015,

that eased economic sanctions

on Iran in exchange for

restrictions on its nuclear

programme. An Iranian official

said his country will continue

to reduce its commitments

under the deal until the other

signatories secure Iran’s

interests. America withdrew

from the pact last year.

America imposed sanctions

on Iran’s foreign minister,

Muhammad Javad Zarif, freez-

ing his assets in America. Mr

Zarif “implements the reckless

agenda of Iran’s supreme

leader”, said Steven Mnuchin,

America’s treasury secretary.

According to reports, American

officials revealed that the son

of Osama bin Laden, Hamza,

who was being groomed to take

over al-Qaeda, had died. Amer-

ica played a role in the oper-

ation that killed him, though it

was unclear when or where it

was carried out.

Princess Haya bint al-Hussein,

the estranged wife of the ruler

of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed

bin Rashid al-Maktoum, asked

England’s High Court for ward-

ship of their two children, as

well as a forced-marriage pro-

tection order. Princess Haya,

thought to be hiding in Lon-

don, is Sheikh Mohammed’s

sixth wife. Two of his daugh-

ters have also tried to run away.

A music festival in Lebanon

cancelled an appearance by

Mashrou’ Leila, a popular rock

band whose lead singer is

openly gay. The organisers had

come under pressure from

Christian groups and conser-

vative politicians, setting off a

debate about freedom of

expression. The move was

intended “to prevent blood-

shed”, said the organisers.

Jihadists allied to Islamic State

claimed to have killed or in-

jured 40 soldiers in two attacks

in the north-east of Nigeria. In

other raids on funerals and

villages 65 civilians were

killed. Meanwhile, the govern-

ment banned a Shia Muslim

group that had protested

against the arrest of its leader

in 2015 and against the security

forces killing its members.

Not exactly a haven

Guatemalasigned a safe-

third-country agreement with

America, under which asylum-

seekers passing through the

Central American country

would have to apply for asylum

there rather than in the United

States. Guatemala’s president,

Jimmy Morales, agreed to the

arrangement after Donald

Trump threatened to impose

tariffs if he did not. Courts in

both countries are expected to

challenge it.

At least 57 people died in a

prison riot in the Brazilian

state of Pará. Most of the in-

mates were killed by asphyxia-

tion caused by a fire, but 16

were decapitated.

Peru’spresident, Martín

Vizcarra, proposed holding a

general election a year early, in

April 2020. This would be a

way of ending his deadlock

with congress over measures

to fight corruption. But con-

gress has little incentive to

approve early elections, since

its members cannot run for

re-election immediately. The

plan would also need to be

approved in a referendum.

A warning

Authorities in China expressed

support for Carrie Lam, Hong

Kong’sembattled chief exec-

utive, and called for order to be

restored in the territory. Police

charged 44 people who were

arrested at one of the many

ongoing protests with rioting,

prompting further protests

outside police stations.

The deputy head of the govern-

ment of Xinjiang, a region in

western China, said that more

than 90% of the Uighur Mus-

lims detained in camps by the

authorities had been sent

home. Human-rights groups

expressed scepticism. They say

more than 1m Uighurs have

been interned in an effort to

weaken indigenous culture.

North Koreafired several

projectiles into the sea in the

direction of Japan on two

separate occasions. America

and South Korea said they were

a new type of short-range

missile. North Korea suspend-

ed tests of long-range missiles

early last year, and last month

agreed to restart disarmament

talks with America.

India’sparliament approved a

law banning Muslim men from

divorcing their wives simply

by saying the word talaqthree

times. Few Muslim countries

permit this, and the Supreme

Court had declared it unconsti-

tutional. But the opposition

held up the measure for a year,

arguing that punishing men

who divorced their wives in

this way by sending them to

prison was too harsh.

The government of India said

that the country’s tiger pop-

ulationhad risen by a third

since 2014, to almost 3,000.