The world at aglance NEWS 1128 March 2020 THE WEEKDelhi
Busrapeexecutions:Fourmenconvicted
ofthenotoriousrape-murderofastudent
inDelhiin2 01 2wereexecutedbyhanging
lastweek.InacasethattraumatisedIndia
andmadeheadlinesaroundtheworld,six
menbrutallyrapedandassaultedthe
victim,whowas 23 ,onamovingbus.She
incurredhorrificinternalinjuries,anddied
inhospitalafewdayslater.Oneofthesix
killedhimselfjailin 2013 ;anotherwas
givenonlyashortcustodialsentenceashe
wasajuvenileatthetime.Outrageabout
thecaseledtoarevisionofthelawand
penaltiesforrape,butthelevelofviolence
againstwomenhasremainedhigh,and
therehavebeenseveralmorerape-murder
cases.Indiancourtshavehandeddown
around2, 000 deathsentencesoverthepast
20 years,buttheyarerarelycarriedout;
thelastexecutionwasin 20 15.
AddisAbaba
UN warning:The
UN has warned
that East African
countries –
including Ethiopia,
Kenya,Somaliaand South Sudan–are
facing an “unprecedented” economic
shock,with potentially catastrophic
humanitarian consequences,fromthe
twin effects of Covid-19 andthe worst
infestationof desert locustsfor 70 years.
Agricultureaccounts forroughly one-third
of theregion’secono mic output,and more
than 65% of jobs.Theregion also
depends heavilyon bilateral trade with
China, making it particularlyexposed to
theeconomic shockcausedbythe virus.
AcrossAfrica asawhole ,44out of 54
nations hadreportedcases of Covid-
this week,and many hadclosed borders
andstarted to restrict movement.Tokyo
Games postponed:The
2020 Olympicsand
Paralympics, whichwere
duetobeginin Tokyoin
July,havebeenpostponed
forayear owing tothe
Covid-19crisis.Itisthe
onlytimetheOlympics
have been cancelled or
postponedexcept for
during thetwoWorld
Wars.Japanandthe
InternationalOlympic
Committeehadinsisted
forweeks thattheGames
wouldgoahead,but
Canada andAustralia
bothsaidtheywouldn’t
be sending teams,and
theUS hadurged a
postpone-
ment.Tehran
Conspiracy
theocrat:Iran’s
supreme leader,
AyatollahAli
Khamenei,has
accused the US
of releasing into
Iran a“special
version”of the
Covid-19 virus
that it hadcreated
“basedonIrani an
genetic information”. He also spurned all
offers of UShelp over theemerg ency.As
of Wednesday, Iran hadaround27,0 00
casesof Covid-19, and2,077 deaths
(seepage 21). Tehranisnot the only
governmentto havespread disi nformation
about the pandemic’s source.AChinese
official recently claimedthatthe virushad
been brought to Wuha nbythe USarmy.Haikou, Hainan,China
The game’sup:AChinese judgewho ran
abusine ss empireworth $200mhas been
charged with fraud, corruptionand abuse
of power,reportsTheTimes.Zhang
Jiahui, 55,aformervice-pr esident of
the People’ sHigh Courtof Hainan,was
arrestedinDecemberafterbeingcaught
on video playing mahjong for money.
Althoughgambling is illegalinChina,
such gamesare oftenplayedto disguise
illicit payments, as the briber deliberately
“loses” large sums to thecorruptofficial.
Zhang, whoran35businesses with her
ex-husband, was sacked last year.New Delhi
1.3billion inlockdown:TheIndiangovernment
putthe country’sentire 1 .3 billion-strong
populationintocompletelockdownthisweek,
inresponsetoanescalationin the number of
coronavirus diagnoses.Announcingthemove
inatelevisedaddressonTuesday,PMNarendra
Modi saidthatifthecountry did notstopthe
virus initstracks, Indiacould besetback
decades,and familiescouldbe“destroyedforever”. Allshops(exceptgrocers) and
othercommercialbusinesseswillcease tradingforatleast 21days,alongwith
constructionwork, leavingonlyessentialservices, suchashospitals,running.
InJapan,thegovernor ofTokyothreatenedtoimpose afulllockdownafter
thousandsofpeopletookpart in“hanami”cherryblossomparties(pictured),in
defiance of adviceto avoidlargegatherings.InChina,bycontrast,theauthorities
announced thatthestrictlockdown onthe city ofWuhan,where the epidemicbegan,
woul dbeliftedon 8April.Restrictionson other townsin Hubei provincewerelifted
thisweek,afterno newinfectionswere recorded forfiveconsecutive days.South
Koreahas alsoreportedasteepdeclineinitsinfection rate.