The EconomistFebruary 15th 2020 7
The world this week Politics
A generalelectioninIreland
produceda shockwinforSinn
Fein,formerlythepolitical
wingoftheira, a terrorist
group.Thepartytookthemost
first-choicevotes,butended
upcomingsecondintermsof
seatsintheDail(parliament).
Irelandnowfacesweeksor
monthsofnegotiationsto
producea newgovernment,
whichmightbringSinnFeinto
powerforthefirsttime,aspart
ofa coalition.AnnegretKramp-Karrenbauer
abruptlyresignedasleaderof
Germany’srulingChristian
Democrats,andsaidshewill
notbea candidatetosucceed
AngelaMerkelasthecountry’s
chancellor.Thisfolloweda
damagingrowovertheparty’s
conductintheeasternstateof
Thuringia,whereit ineffect
endedupworkingwiththe
xenophobicAlternativefor
Germany.BorisJohnson,Britain’sprime
minister,gavethefinalapprov-
altocontinuehs2, a high-
speedraillinkbetweenLondon
andnortherncities.Thepro-
jectwasonholdafterthecosts
roseabove£100bn($130bn).Mr
Johnsonalsoannouncedother
ambitioustransportplans
outsideLondon,suchasroad
improvements,4,000zero-
emissionbusesand“Mini
Holland”schemestopromote
bikelanesintowncentres.The military option
El Salvador’spresident, Nayib
Bukele, brought rifle-toting
troops into the country’s
National Assembly to force it to
approve a $109m loan to fi-
nance his crime-fighting pro-
gramme. Lawmakers decried
an “attempted coup”. He even-
tually left the building.Adriano da Nóbrega, the reput-
ed head of a paramilitary group
accused of killing Marielle
Franco, a left-wing city coun-
cillor in Rio de Janeiro in 2018,
was himself killed. Police in
the north-eastern Brazilian
state of Bahia say Mr da Nó-
brega opened fire when they
tried to arrest him and was
shot dead. Opposition poli-
ticians speculated that he was
killed to keep him quiet.Pope Francis decided against
ordaining married men in the
Amazon, a region that has a
shortage of Catholic priests.
Rather than weakening the
church’s commitment to
priestly celibacy, he used an
“Apostolic Exhortation” to urge
bishops to “be more generous
in encouraging those who
display a missionary vocation
to opt for the Amazon region”.Former front-runners fall foul
Bernie Sanders won the New
Hampshireprimary, but not
by much. Pete Buttigieg was a
close second and Amy Klo-
buchar, another moderate,
came third. Elizabeth Warren
and Joe Biden trailed far be-
hind. The next contest in the
race for the Democratic presi-
dential nomination is in
Nevada on February 22nd.With the ink barely dry on his
impeachmentacquittal in the
Senate, Donald Trump took his
revenge on witnesses who had
testified to the House. Lieuten-
ant-Colonel Alexander Vind-
man, a point man on Ukraine,
was booted off the National
Security Council and marched
out of the White House. Gor-
don Sondland was dismissed
as America’s ambassador to the
European Union.Four prosecutors who recom-
mended a stiff prison term for
Roger Stone, a confidant of Mr
Trump who has been convicted
on charges relating to the
Mueller probe, resigned from
the case after the Justice De-
partment pushed for a lighter
punishment. Mr Trump had
earlier tweeted that he thought
the prosecutors’ recommenda-
tion was “horrible and unfair”.Seeyouincourt(maybe)
ThenewSudanesegovern-
mentsaidit wouldhandover
Omaral-Bashirtofacewar-
crimechargesbeforetheInter-
nationalCriminalCourt.Mr
BashirwasdeposedasSudan’s
presidentinAprillastyear
amidhugestreetprotests
againsthisbloodyregime,
whichwasbehindthegeno-
cideinDarfur.Whenorwhere
hewillappearbeforeicc
judgesisunclear.TheWhiteHouseconfirmed
thattheleaderofal-Qaeda’s
offshootintheArabianpenin-
sulahadbeenkilled.Qasim
al-Raymiwashitbya missilein
Yemen,wherehisgroupcar-
riedoutmostofitsattacks.It
wasalsobehindthemassacre
attheCharlieHebdomagazine
inParisin2015.FivemoreTurkishtroopswere
killedbytheSyrianarmyasit
continueditsoffensiveagainst
rebelsinIdlibprovince,the
lastoppositionholdout.Turk-
ishtroopsareintheareaunder
anagreementtryingtode-
escalatetheconflict.Turkey
struckbackatSyrianpositions.The new normal
The lunar new-year holiday,
extended in many Chinese
provinces because of the
spread of a new coronavirus,
officially ended. But many
businesses remained closed
because of quarantine and
travel restrictions. Among the
fatalities was a doctor, Li Wen-
liang, who had been repri-
manded in January by police in
Wuhan, the centre of the epi-
demic, for revealing the threat.
Many people mourned for him
online, calling for freedom of
speech. The Communist Party
reshuffled the leadership of
Hubei province, which con-
tains Wuhan. It also demoted
the top official responsible for
Hong Kongaffairs.Rodrigo Duterte, the president
of the Philippines, ended an
agreement making it easy for
American soldiers to visit the
country for joint exercises.
Without evidence, he accusedAmerican forces of bringing
nuclear weapons to the coun-
try. He also denounced Ameri-
ca’s decision to cancel the visa
of Ronald dela Rosa, an ally
who led his bloodthirsty war
on drugs.India’sruling Bharatiya Janata
Party was thrashed in elections
in Delhi. The opposition re-
tained its lopsided majority in
the local assembly, following
months of protests against the
bjp’s anti-Muslim amend-
ments to citizenship laws.The eususpended preferential
tariffs for $1bn-worth of Cam-
bodian exports because of
Cambodia’ssuppression of
democracy. Hun Sen, its
strongman prime minister,
said his country would not
“bow down” to foreigners.An off-duty soldier killed 29
people in a shooting spree in
the city of Nakhon Ratchasima
in Thailand. He was apparent-
ly enraged by a financial dis-
pute with the family of his
commanding officer.Mobs attacked villages in
Kazakhstaninhabited by
Dungans, a tiny ethnic group
with origins in China, after
rumours spread that Dungans
had attacked an elderly Kazakh
man. Eight people died, scores
were injured and thousands
fled to nearby Kyrgyzstan.“Parasite”, a South Korean
comedy thriller, was the sur-
prise winner at the Oscars. It
beat the bookies’ favourite,
“1917”, to scoop best picture, the
first foreign film to do so, and
best director. Hollywood stars
spouted platitudes about
diversity and stealing baby
cows. The ceremony had its
worst-ever viewing figures.