The Economist - UK (2022-03-26)

6 TheEconomistMarch26th 2022
The world this week Politics

Volodymyr Zelensky,

Ukraine’spresident, said there

was “nothing left” of Mariupol

after three weeks of indis­

criminate Russian shelling.

The 100,000 remaining resi­

dents are desperately short of

food. The Pentagon said that

Russian soldiers had entered

part of the port city. But de­

fenders continued to resist.

More than 3.5m people have

fled Ukraine since Vladimir

Putin’s invasion began.

Elsewhere Russia struggled.

natoestimated that it had lost

more than 7,000 soldiers in a

month. Ukrainian troops went

on the offensive in parts of the

country, attempting to retake

Kherson, a southern city.

Russian forces near Kyiv, the

capital, have not advanced for

two weeks, though missiles

continue to strike the city.

Mr Zelensky said that any

peace dealwith Russia would

have to be approved by a na­

tionwide referendum. He has

also insisted on a meeting

between himself and Mr Putin.

Talks have so far made little

progress. Russia wants Uk­

raine to declare itself neutral,

give up Crimea and Donbas

and largely disarm. It also

wants the West to end sanc­

tions. Ukraine fears such a deal

would leave it nearly defence­

less, and notes that Russia has

broken previous promises to

pull back its troops. 

Jens Stoltenberg, nato’s secre­

tary­general, said the alliance

would send four new battle­

groups to eastern Europe,

doubling its military presence

there. natocurrently has

around 40,000 troops sta­

tioned on its eastern flank

between the Baltic Sea and the

Black Sea.

NorthKoreatest­launched

whatappearedtobeitslargest

intercontinentalballistic

missileever,accordingto

SouthKoreanofficials.Japan

calledthelaunch“reckless”.

RishiSunak,Britain’schancel­

lor,announcedgiveaways

includinga cutinfuelduty,a

higherthresholdatwhich

peoplepaynationalinsurance

(apayrolltax)anda lower

standardrateofincometax

from2024.Butlivingcostsare

soaringandMrSunak’snew

measuresoffsetonlyarounda

sixthofpreviouslyannounced

taxincreasesasa shareofgdp.

MadeleineAlbright, thefirst

womantoserveasAmerica’s

secretaryofstate,diedaged84.

AnimmigrantfromCzecho­

slovakia,sheservedinthepost

from 1997 to 2001 duringBill

Clinton’spresidency.In 1999

sheledcallsforthenato

bombingcampaignthat

helpedendethniccleansingin

Kosovo.

Canada’sprimeminister,

JustinTrudeau,lookslikelyto

stayinpoweruntil2025,after

hisLiberalpartystrucka “sup­

plyandconfidence”dealwith

theNewDemocraticParty.The

Liberalswillcontinuetogov­

ernasa minority,withsupport

fromtheotherleft­leaning

party,whosegoalsonsocial

issues,theenvironmentand

housingtheLiberalspromise

toadvance.

Judgedread

Erika Aifán, a Guatemalan

judge, resigned and fled to the

United States after attempts to

strip her of immunity ap­

peared close to success. Ms

Aifán, who also faced death

threats and lawsuits, was

overseeing a case involving

alleged corruption by the

president. 

Brazil’sSupreme Court

blocked Telegram, a messaging

app, for several days. The court

argued that the app had

ignored its orders over battling

disinformation ahead of Octo­

ber’s presidential election.

Separately YouTube said it

would remove videos peddling

lies about fraud in the 

election. President Jair Bolso­

naro has claimed his margin of

victory would have been bigger

were it not for vote­rigging. 

A trip to the Caribbean by the

Duke and Duchess of Cam-

bridge, intended to strengthen

the British monarchy’s links

with Commonwealth coun­

tries after Barbados removed

the queen as head of state,

sparked protests. A group of

Jamaican politicians, business

leaders and activists called on

the royal family to apologise

for colonialism, and demand­

ed reparations for slavery. The

couple cancelled another

engagement in Belize, which

also saw demonstrations. 

On March 23rd, when Afghan

girlswere supposed to go back

to school, the Taliban said that

female secondary­school

pupils would have to stay at

home. Officials said the girls’

uniforms were immodest, and

so violated Islamic law. When

the Taliban previously ran the

country, girls’ education was

entirely banned.

Imran Khan, Pakistan’s prime

minister, is facing a no­

confidence motion as early as

next week. Coalition partners

as well as lawmakers from his

party say they have lost faith in

Mr Khan, owing to his eco­

nomic mismanagement. His

relationship with the armed

forces, without whose blessing

no Pakistani leader can sur­

vive, has deteriorated.

At least eight people were

killed in Mogadishu, Soma­

lia’s capital, in an attack by

suspected jihadists near the

international airport complex.

The complex houses foreign

embassies and the headquar­

ters of an African peacekeep­

ing force.

After a decade of isolation

from his fellow Arab rulers,

President Bashar al­Assad of

Syria came in from the dip­

lomatic cold by visiting the

United Arab Emirates. America

expressed “profound dis­

appointment” at his reception.

Weeklyconfirmed cases by area, m

To6amGMTMarch 24th 2022

Estimatedglobalexcess deaths, m

With95%confidenceinterval

Sources:JohnsHopkinsUniversityCSSE;

OurWorldinData;UN;WorldBank;

TheEconomist’s excess-deathsmodel

Vaccinedosesgivenper 100 people

Bycountry-incomegroup

21

110

190

194

Low

Lower-middle

Upper-middle

High

Western Europe

Asia

10

8

6

4

2

0

2020 21 22

UnitedStates

Other

6.1mofficial covid-19 deaths

14 2.2 24.

→Forourlatest coverage

pleasevisiteconomist.com/

coronavirus

Coronavirus data

Spain shifted its position on

Western Sahara, its former

possession, by backing

Morocco’s plan to give the

territory limited autonomy.

Algeria, which backs Pol­

isario, the indigenous guerril­

la movement that has been

seeking independence for

nearly half a century, was

furious. Polisario said Spain

had made “a grave error”.

China battled to keep a wave

of the Omicron variant of

covid­19 under control. The

country reported its first two

covid deaths in over a year.

Shenyang, a north­eastern

city of some 9m people, has

locked down and Shanghai

Disneyland has closed until

further notice.

New Zealand will scrap some

vaccine mandates and ease

other covid-19restrictions.

Jacinda Ardern, the prime

minister, called it “a new

beginning”. Meanwhile New

York’s mayor, Eric Adams,

announced plans to end a

school mask mandate for

children under the age of five.