The EconomistAugust 8th 2020 5
The world this week Politics
A state of emergency was
declared in Lebanon, after a
huge explosion at Beirut’s
port. The blast was felt in
Cyprus, 240km away. It killed
at least 135 people, injured
5,000 and left 300,000 home-
less. The cause was a fire in a
warehouse holding 2,
tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a
chemical used in fertiliser and
bombs. This highly explosive
stockpile had lain neglected for
six years. Lebanon’s prime
minister, Hassan Diab, vowed
that those responsible would
“pay the price”. Lebanon was in
an economic and political
crisis even before the blast.Israeliaircraft struck military
targets in southern Syria, in
retaliation for an alleged at-
tempt by militants to plant
explosives near the Israeli-
occupied Golan Heights area,
which is also claimed by Syria.The United Arab Emirates
began operating the Arab
world’s first nuclear power
plant. The oil-rich uaehopes it
will meet a quarter of its elec-
tricity needs once it is fully
operational. Qatar, a rival, has
described the plant as a “fla-
grant threat to regional peace
and environment”.A report by the bbcPersian
service accused Iranof cov-
ering up deaths from covid-19.
Leaked official data showed the
number of Iranians who have
died with covid-19 symptoms
to be nearly three times higher
than the government admits.
Known infections were almost
double the public figures.Armed men thought to belong
to Boko Haram, a Nigerian
jihadist group, attacked a
refugee camp in Cameroon,
killing 17 people.Colombia’sSupreme Court
ordered that Álvaro Uribe, a
conservative former president,
be placed under house arrest. It
is examining whether Mr Uribe
had tried to tamper with wit-
nesses in an investigation that
he instigated against a left-
wing senator. Mr Uribe, the
mentor of Colombia’s current
president, Iván Duque, is the
first sitting or former president
since the 1950s to be detained.Five months after the vote, a
final result was declared in
Guyana’spresidential elec-
tion, allowing Irfaan Ali, of the
mainly Indo-Guyanese Peo-
ple’s Progressive Party, to be
sworn into office. The new
president will be able to decide
how to spend the country’s
new-found oil income, which
began flowing in February.Sri Lankansvoted in parlia-
mentary elections. Early
returns suggest the Sri Lanka
People’s Front of President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa will win a
clear majority.Jihadists loyal to Islamic State
attacked a prison in the city of
Jalalabad in eastern Afghani-
stan. Some 29 people were
killed during a day-long gun
battle, including guards,
assailants and inmates. Several
hundred prisoners escaped,
including fighters from isand
the Taliban.Narendra Modi, India’sprime
minister, laid the foundation
stone of a temple to the Hindu
god Ram in the city of Ayodhya.
The temple is being built on
the site of a mosque that was
torn down by an organised
Hindu mob in 1992, sparking
riots in which 2,000 people
died. Its construction has been
a goal of Mr Modi’s Bharatiya
Janata Party since the 1980s.The children’s commissioner
for England said that schools
should be opened ahead of
pubs, restaurants and shops,
and only shut when essential:
“first to open, last to close”. She
listed various ways in which
missing out on education
harms children, especially the
poorest ones.By contrast, Chicagojoined a
growing list of American cities
that will keep schools closed in
September and continue with
remote learning.Black Lives Matter activists
scored their biggest upset in
the Democratic primaries so
far when Cori Bush defeated
William Lacy Clay, the in-
cumbent congressman in St
Louis. Mr Clay, who is black,
has served the district since
2001; his father held the seat
before that for 32 years.The former king of Spain, Juan
Carlos, went into voluntary
exile, two months after Spain’s
supreme court opened an
investigation into his alleged
involvement in a high-speed
rail contract in Saudi Arabia.
He said he would assist prose-
cutors as required.Hong Kong’sleader, Carrie
Lam, postponed elections to
the legislature that had been
due in September. They will be
held a year later, she said,
because of covid-19. Pro-de-
mocracy candidates had been
expected to do well.America imposed sanctions on
the Xinjiang Production and
Construction Corps, and two
Communist Party officials
linked to it, for their alleged
role in human-rights abuses.
Xinjiang is a vast Chinese
region where many ethnic-
Uighurs have been locked up
for their devotion to Islam and
their Turkic culture.China’s leader, Xi Jinping,
declared the official comple-
tion of the country’s BeiDou
satellite-navigation system,
intended as a rival to America’s
Global Positioning System, or
gps. A Chinese general said it
marked an “important mile-
stone” on China’s path towards
becoming a “space power”.The SpaceX capsulethat trans-
ported two astronauts to the
International Space Station
came safely back to Earth,
touching down in the sea near
Florida’s Gulf coast. This was
nasa’s first spacecraft splash-
down since 1975.CoronavirusbriefsManilawasputbackinto
lockdown. The 13m people in
the Philippine capital will
endure fewer restrictions than
under an earlier lockdown, but
mass transit is shut.The Australian state of Victoria
declared an emergency and
imposed a night-time curfew
in Melbourne, its capital. The
city’s residents can only shop
and exercise within 5km of
their home.The Democratic convention
in Milwaukee will now be
entirely virtual. Some party
officials will still go to the city,
but Joe Biden is to broadcast
his big speech from Delaware.Deborah Birx, who heads the
White House’s task force on
covid-19, warned that the
disease is more widespread in
America now than in April.
That earned her a rebuke from
Donald Trump, who tweeted
that she was “Pathetic!” for
repeating what he said was a
Democratic argument.For our latest coverage of the
virus and its consequences
please visit economist.com/
coronavirus or download the
Economist app.Weeklyconfirmedcasesbyarea,’To 6am GMT Aug 6th 2020Confirmeddeaths*
Per 100k Total This week
Belgium 85 9,859 23
Britain 68 46,210 249
Peru 61 20,228 1,
Spain 61 28,499 58
Italy 58 35,181 52
Sweden 57 5,760 30
Chile 51 9,792 514
United States 48 157,991 7,
France 46 30,174 70
Brazil 46 97,256 7,
Sources: Johns Hopkins University CSSE; UN;
The Economist *Definitions differ by country800
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