The Economist - USA (2019-09-28)

(Antfer) #1

8 The EconomistSeptember 28th 2019


1

The world this week Politics


Donald Trumpasked the
Ukrainian president, Volody-
myr Zelensky, to “do us a
favour” and investigate the
business dealings of Joe
Biden’s son in Ukraine, accord-
ing to the rough transcript of a
phone conversation they had
in July. The White House re-
leased the transcript after it
emerged that Mr Trump’s
attempt to lean on a foreign
power to discredit the front-
runner among Democratic
presidential candidates had
formed the basis of a
whistle-blower’s complaint to
the intelligence services. After
months of warning her party

abouttheunintendedconse-
quencesoftryingtoimpeach
MrTrump,NancyPelosi,the
DemocraticSpeaker,an-
nouncedthattheHousewould
startanimpeachmentinquiry.

TheIntergovernmentalPanel
onClimateChangereported
thattheworld’soceansand
frozenregionshavebeen
“takingtheheat”fromclimate
change,andthatthe“conse-
quencesfornatureand
humanityaresweepingand
severe”.Meanwhile,roadswere
closedontheItaliansideof
MontBlancasexpertswarned
thatpartofa glaciercould
collapse.

Back to the drawing board
Britain’sSupreme Court ruled
unanimously that Boris John-
son, the prime minister, acted
unlawfully when he advised
the queen to prorogue Parlia-
ment. The court concluded
that suspending Parliament
would have limited “without

reasonablejustification”mps’
abilitytoholdthegovernment
toaccount.MrJohnsonfaced
callstoresignfromotherparty
leaders.Hesaidthatonlya
generalelectioncouldprovide
a wayoutoftheBrexitfog.

Interiorministersfromfiveeu
countries,includingFrance,
GermanyandItaly,agreedtoa
temporaryarrangementfor
sharingoutmigrantsrescued
intheMediterranean.The
governmentsarepushingfora
widerdealinvolvingmoreeu
countries,butthatwillbe
muchhardertoachieve.

Braving the streets
Hundreds of Egyptians in
Cairo and other cities protested
against the government. They
were motivated, in part, by
videos posted online by
Muhammad Ali, a disgruntled
businessman and former actor,
who accuses the government
of corruption. (Mr Ali lives in
self-imposed exile in Spain.)

The authorities arrested hun-
dreds of people, hoping to
prevent more unrest.

A week after a parliamentary
election in Israel produced no
clear winner, Binyamin Netan-
yahu, the prime minister, was
given the first shot at forming a
government. He has been
talking to Benny Gantz, his
main rival, about forming a
national-unity government.

Britain, France and Germany
joined America in blaming
Iran for attacks on Saudi oil
facilities. Meanwhile, Iran
lifted a detention order on a
British-flagged oil tanker held
since July. But an ongoing
investigation of “some of its
violations” prevented the ship
from leaving Iran.

Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, a
former president of Tunisia,
died. Ben Ali led Tunisia for 23
years, keeping the country
stable. But he was criticised for
his oppression and corruption.
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