TheEconomistApril2nd 2022 7
The world this week Politics
Russiasaidit wouldscaleback
itsattacksonKyiv,theUkrai
niancapital,andanother
northerncity,Chernihiv,to
concentrateoneasternUk
raine.Moreshellsfellonboth
cities,buttherewerereportsof
withdrawalsbyRussian
troops.Russiasaidit had
achieveditsgoalsnearKyiv,
despitehavingconspicuously
failedtocapturethecity.Uk
rainiancelebrationwasmuted.
Theinvadingarmymaybe
inept,butit ishuge,andcon
tinuestocommitatrocities.
Thejaw-jaw
Facetoface peace talksre
sumed in Istanbul. Progress
was slow. Ukraine does not
want to give up territory. Vladi
mir Putin, Russia’s dictator,
needs to claim some kind of
victory. Ukraine hinted that it
might accept being neutral, if
it receives security guarantees
it trusts. The Red Cross said
“time is running out” for peo
ple trapped in Mariupol, a city
devastated by indiscriminate
Russian bombardment. The
number of refugeeswho have
fled Ukraine passed 4m; many
more are internally displaced.
Roman Abramovich, a Rus
sian oligarch who owns but no
longer controls Chelsea foot
ball club, attended the talks.
Reports suggested that he and
two Ukrainian negotiators had
been poisoned in Kyiv on
March 3rd. Ukraine’s foreign
minister cast doubt on the
story, but warned negotiators
not to eat or drink anything.
Germanytriggered the first
phase of an emergency plan to
deal with a potential cutoff of
gas supplies from Russia, after
Vladimir Putin insisted that
purchases from “hostile”
countries be paid for in rou
bles. Germany relies on Russia
for around half its natural gas. Joe Bidensaid that Mr Putin
“cannot remain in power”. He
later clarified that he was
“expressing moral outrage”,
not calling for regime change
in Russia. Azerbaijansaid it was pre
pared to negotiate with Arme-
niaamid fresh tensions over
the disputed enclave of
NagornoKarabakh, which is
populated mostly by Arme
nians. Armenia has accused
Azerbaijan of breaking a cease
fire agreement, brokered by
Russia after a conflict in 2020. The foreign ministers ofIsrael,
America and four Arab states—
Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco and
the United Arab Emirates—
held an unprecedented meet
ing in the Negev desert. Israel
and several Arab regimes share
a fear of Iran. America and
others are struggling to reach a
deal to curb Iran’s nuclear
ambitions.Naftali Bennett, Israel’s prime
minister, said his country was
facing a “new wave of terro
rism” after 11 people were
killed in three separate attacks
by Palestiniansin eight days.
The assailants were shot dead
during the attacks. Tunisia’spresident, Kais
Saied, dissolved parliament,
which has been suspended
since last year, after lawmakers
met virtually to rescind
decrees that he has used to
consolidate his grip on power. Eight unpeacekeepers were
killed when their helicopter
crashed in eastern Congo. The
government said rebels from
the m23 group shot it down,
which m23 denied.The police in London recom
mended 20 fines in relation to
the “partygate”covid19 lock
down breaches that occurred
at Downing Street and other
ministerial offices. The police
made it clear that individual
events, and therefore individ
uals, would not be identified. Florida’s governor, Ron DeSan
tis, signed a bill into law that
forbids classroom instruction
on sexual orientation or gen
der identity for children below
the age of ten. Detractors fear
that the “Don’t Say Gay”law,
as they call it, is so vague that
teachers could be sued for the
mere mention of a homo
sexual relationship. The Biden administration was
reportedly ready to lift a
covid19 measure that speedily
expels migrantson public
health grounds, even those
who are seeking asylum.
Scrapping “Title 42” would
probably add to the number of
people trying to cross the
border from Mexico. Nayib Bukele, the president of
El Salvador, imposed a state of
emergency after 87 people
were killed in a threeday
explosion of gang violence.
The government said it had
arrested more than 1,
gangsters. On Twitter Mr
Bukele posted photos and
videos of halfnaked suspects,
who he said were gang mem
bers, with their hands held
behind their heads. President Jair Bolsonaro began
his campaign for reelection
ahead of Brazil’selections in
October. Mr Bolsonaro is trail
ing in the polls behind Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva, who was
president from 2003 to 2010. Going,going...?
Imran Khan seemed on the
brink of being ousted as prime
minister of Pakistanafter
losing his parliamentary
majority, when a party left his
ruling coalition and some
members of his own party
turned against him. Mr Khan is
believed to have lost the tacit
support of Pakistan’s powerful
army. He will soon face a
noconfidence vote.A virtual conference for donors
to Afghanistangot under way.
The unlaunched its largest
ever appeal for a single coun
try. It hopes to raise $4.4bn;
only 13% of that has been
committed so far. Donors wishWeeklyconfirmed cases by area, mTo6amGMTMarch 31st 2022Estimatedglobalexcess deaths, m
With95%confidenceintervalSources:JohnsHopkinsUniversityCSSE;
OurWorldinData;UN;WorldBank;
TheEconomist’s excess-deathsmodelVaccinedosesgivenper 100 people
Bycountry-incomegroup
22
112
191
195Low
Lower-middle
Upper-middle
HighWestern EuropeAsia10
8
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2020 21 22UnitedStates
Other6.1mofficial covid-19 deaths14.1 20. 24.→Forourlatest coverage
pleasevisiteconomist.com/
coronavirusCoronavirus datato help hungry Afghans, but
not to prop up the Taliban
regime that seized power last
year. The Taliban announced
that, despite a previous
promise to the contrary, girls
would not be allowed to
attend secondary school.The Solomon Islandssaid it
had come to a security agree
ment with China. Leaked
details suggest that Chinese
ships, soldiers and police will
visit “to protect the safety” of
Chinese inhabitants and
projects. Australia and New
Zealand, which have been the
islands’ main security part
ners, responded with alarm.In an effort to curb an out
break of covid, the authorities
in Shanghai decided to lock
down the city in two phases.
First came the eastern half,
which includes the main
financial district. That
prompted workers to move
into their offices. Next will be
the more populous western
half. China is facing its big
gest wave of cases since the
start of the pandemic.