The EconomistFebruary 22nd 2020 7
The world this week Politics
MikeBloombergtookpartina
Democraticpresidentialde-
bateforthefirsttime,aftera
surgeinhisopinion-poll
standingqualifiedhimfor
inclusion.Theothercandi-
datesattackedhimoverlewd
commentshehasmadeinthe
pastandhisbillionairestatus.
MrBloombergwillreportedly
sellhismediacompanyif heis
electedpresident.Morethan2,600formerlaw-
yersandofficialsfromthe
JusticeDepartmentsigneda
lettercallingonWilliamBarr
toresignasattorney-general.
MrBarrrecentlyintervenedto
reducetherecommended
sentenceinthecaseofRoger
Stone,a disgracedconfidantof
thepresident.Usingthepowerofthepresi-
dencyMrTrumppardoneda
Who’sWhoofbusinessand
politicalfelons.Theseinclud-
edMichaelMilken,the“junk-
bondking”,whowasimpris-
onedinthe1990s,andRod
Blagojevich,a formergovernor
ofIllinois,whoseprisonsen-
tencefortryingtosella Senate
seatwascommuted.Opening a new front
The un-backed government of
Libyapulled out of peace talks
with representatives of Khalifa
Haftar, a rebellious general,
after his forces attacked the
port of Tripoli. The govern-
ment is based in the capital,
which has been under siege by
General Haftar’s forces for a
year. Turkey has intervened on
the side of the government.
Egypt, Russia and the United
Arab Emirates back General
Haftar. The eusaid it would
patrol the eastern Mediterra-
nean, enforcing a long-ignored
unarms embargo on Libya.RecepTayyipErdogan,
Turkey’spresident,saidit is
“onlya matteroftime”before
helaunchesanoperationto
stoptheSyrianarmy’soffen-
siveonIdlib,thelastrebel-held
provinceinSyria. Theregime
ofBasharal-Assad,whichis
backedbyRussia,hasrejected
Turkey’sdemandstopullback.
Turkey,whichhastroopsinthe
areaandsupportssomeofthe
rebels,fearsa newinfluxof
refugees.Theunsaysitsaid
operationis“overwhelmed”.Dozensofpeoplewerekilledin
BurkinaFasoandMaliin
ethnicorjihadistviolence.
Theyinclude 24 peoplegunned
downina churchinnorth-
westernBurkinaFaso;jihadists
wereblamedforthatattack.
Thedeteriorationinsecurity
comesafterFrancepromisedto
sendanother 600 troopsto
helpstabilisetheregion.Governmentforcesin
Cameroonwereblamedforan
attackthatkilled 22 civilians
including 14 childreninan
English-speakingregion.The
governmentsaidtheincident
wasan“unfortunateaccident”
duringa firefightwithrebels.Terror on the streets
A gunman went on a shooting
spree in the Germancity of
Hanau, killing at least ten
people and himself. The sus-
pect was reported to have
published racist videos and
manifestos before the attack.
Xenophobic terrorism in Ger-
many appears to be growing;
earlier this month police ar-
rested 12 men suspected of
planning attacks on mosques.The British government set out
plans to overhaul the
immigrationsystem. Workers
from eucountries would be
treated the same as non-eu
workers if the plan becomes
law. Fewer low-skilled mi-
grants would be admitted,
though the definition of
“skilled” would expand.A Dutch appeals court reinstat-
ed an international court’s
ruling that Russiaowes $50bn
to the shareholders of Yukos,anoilcompanyit bankrupted
anddismantledin2003-07.
Thefirm’sseizurewasa battle
betweenPresidentVladimir
PutinandMikhailKhodorkov-
sky,theceoofYukos,whohad
politicalambitions.Russiawill
appealagainsttheverdictto
theDutchsupremecourt.ATurkishcourtacquitteda
groupofcivicactivistswho
tookpartinproteststosavea
parkinIstanbulfromdevel-
opmentin 2013 ofconspiringto
overthrowthegovernment.
PresidentRecepTayyipErdo-
gan’srepressionofcivilsociety
worsenedaftertheGeziPark
demonstrations.Prosecutors
immediatelyre-arrestedoneof
theactivists onchargesof
takingpartinanattempted
coupin2016.No hiding placeDespite a fall in daily numbers
of newly confirmed infections,
many places in China main-
tained tight controls to curb
the spread of covid-19. In
Wuhan, where the new corona-
virus was first discovered,
officials banned outdoor activ-
ities. Beijing required anyone
entering from another prov-
ince to undergo 14 days of
quarantine. In Japan, the quar-
antine of a cruise ship, the
Diamond Princess, wound
down, with hundreds of pas-
sengers allowed to leave. Over
600 others had been infected
with the virus; two people
died. Russia all but barred
visits by Chinese citizens.Chinaannounced the ex-
pulsion of three China-based
correspondents of the Wall
Street Journal. It said this was in
response to the newspaper’s
publication of an opinion
piece under the headline “Chi-na is the real sick man of Asia”.
A day earlier, America desig-
nated five Chinese state-linked
news organisations as “foreign
missions”.Afghanistan’selectoral com-
mission announced the results
of the presidential election,
five months after the vote was
held. It said the incumbent,
Ashraf Ghani, had won with
50.6% of the vote, narrowly
avoiding a run-off. His closest
rival, Abdullah Abdullah,
dismissed the results as fraud-
ulent and declared himself the
winner.Time for a haircut
imfofficials held a round of
talks with Argentina. The imf
said the country’s debt posi-
tion was now “unsustainable”,
meaning that private creditors
must make a “meaningful
contribution”. The imfexpects
Argentina to repay the money
it lent the government in full.In Canadaa protest by indige-
nous groups and environ-
mentalists against a proposed
pipeline to transport gas to the
Pacific coast shut one of the
country’s busiest rail routes,
disrupting passenger and
freight trains.Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s presi-
dent, appointed General Walter
Braga as his new chief of staff,
bringing to nine the number of
men in the 22-member cabinet
who come from the armed
forces. Mr Bolsonaro is a for-
mer army captain. He has
remarked that the third floor of
his presidential office “is now
completely militarised”.All those military minds in the
presidential palace are trained
on the biggest threat toBrazil
in the next 20 years: France. A
leaked document from the
defence ministry suggested
that although China, Russia
and even Venezuela could be
considered bigger menaces,
the top brass is worried that
France might try to interfere in
the Amazon, possibly launch-
ing an invasion from next door
French Guiana. France is Bra-
zil’s main military partner.