Econ_April_14

The Economist

April 14th 2018

The regime of Bashar al-Assad

used chemical weapons in

Syria

again, this time attacking

the town ofDouma in the

besieged rebel enclave of

EasternGhouta. Dozens of

peoplewere reported to have

been killed. Donald Trump

described the attackas “bar-

baric” and vowed that

Ameri-

would respondwith force.

But

Russia

said it found no

evidence that chemical weap-

ons had been deployed, dis-

missing the incident as “fake

news”. It warned it would

shoot down anymissiles

aimed at Syrian forces.

Israel

was on high alert after

Iran

threatened retribution for

an Israeli air strike on a Syrian

air base inwhich seven Irani-

anmilitary adviserswere

killed. Throughout the Syrian

conflict Israel has struckat

targets thought to be aiding

Hizbullah, the Lebanese-based

militia backed by Iran.

The ruler of

Qatar

, Sheikh

TamimbinHamad Al Thani,

visited theWhite House,

where hewas commended by

Mr Trump forworking to tackle

terrorismfinancing. That was a

stark contrast to last year, when

the American president sided

with Saudi Arabia and its

neighbours after they cut ties

withQatar for allegedly sup-

porting terrorism. Mr Trump

noted the large American base

inQatar, and that it buys “a lot

ofmilitary airplanes, missiles”.

militaryplane

crashed near

Algiers, the Algerian capital,

killing all 257 people on board.

Around two dozenmembers

of the Polisario Front, a rebel

group inWestern Sahara that is

backed byAlgeria, were on the

aircraft. It was theworld’s

worst air disaster in four years.

Nigeria’s

president, Muham-

madu Buhari, endedmonths

of speculation by confirming

that hewill run for a second

termnext year. The 75-year-old

has been plagued by bad

health in office.

The no-shows

Donald Trump cancelled his

first official trip to Latin Ameri-

ca because of the Syrian crisis.

His absence from the

Summit

of the Americas

in Perumay

be a relief for regional leaders.

A recent poll showed that only

16% of Latin Americans ap-

proved ofMr Trump. Nicolás

Maduro, the socialist president

ofVenezuela, has been

banned from the summit.

Mexico’s

electoral authorities

ordered that a fifth name be

added to the ballot for July’s

presidential election. Jaime

Rodríguezwill be allowed to

run as an independent candi-

date, despite an earlier ruling

that more than half of the

signatures he collectedwere

invalid.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a

former president of

Brazil

turned himself in to police

after a three-day showdown

and began serving a12-year

sentence for corruption. The

Worker’s Party denounced his

conviction as “baseless” and

said that for nowhewill re-

main its candidate forOcto-

ber’s presidential election.

Colombian

police arrested a

former senior leader of the

FARC

on drug-trafficking char-

ges. President JuanManuel

Santos said that theman,

known as Jesús Santrich,

conspired to smuggle cocaine

into the United States after

signingColombia’s 2016 peace

accord, and thus cannot be

shielded by its amnesty. The

FARC

, which is nowa political

party, condemned the arrest.

Viktor victorious

ViktorOrbanwon his third

successive termas prime

minister of

Hungary

, his

Fidesz party taking two-thirds

of the seats in parliament.

Critics denouncedMrOrban’s

campaign, which focused on

decryingmigration, and

predicted a newcrackdown on

civil society.

Azerbaijan

, the incumbent

president, IlhamAliyev, was

elected to a fourth term. The

election commission said he

got 86% of the vote on a 75%

turnout; opposition parties

boycotted the election, accus-

ing himof suppressing dissent.

How to make markets happy

China’s

president, Xi Jinping,

attempted to reduce trade

tensionswith America by

reaffirming his country’s com-

mitment to open itsmarkets to

foreigners. In a speech at the

Boao Forum for Asia he offered

tariffreductions on car im-

ports. The governor ofChina’s

central bank, Yi Gang, said

caps on foreign ownership of

financial firmswould be raised

or removedwithinmonths.

Acourt in

South Korea

jailed

ParkGeun-hye, a former presi-

dent, for 24 years for corrup-

tion. Ms Parkwas impeached

last year aftermass demonstra-

tions calling for her removal.

The Liberal-National coalition

led byMalcolmTurnbull,

Australia’s

primeminister,

trailed itsmain rival, Labor, for

a 30th consecutive biweekly

poll. A similar 30-poll slump

was one of the reasonsMr

Turnbull cited for leading a

parliamentary coup against his

predecessor, TonyAbbott.

India’s

Supreme Court over-

turned a ruling froma lower

court that had annulled the

marriage of a Hinduwoman

who had converted to Islam

andwed aMuslimman. The

decisionwas a victory for

individual rights in the face of

a concerted campaign by

Hindu nationalists against

conversions, which they con-

sider aMuslimploy to elim-

inate India’s Hindumajority.

America said it had killedQari

Hekmatullah, the leader of

Islamic State in

Afghanistan

in an air strike. Mr Hekmatul-

lah had been expelled from the

Taliban for excessive savagery.

The Cohen bother

The

FBI

raided the office of

Michael Cohen,

Donald

Trump’s

personal lawyer.

Among the items reportedly

seizedwere papers relating to a

payment made to a porn star

to keep quiet about an alleged

affairwithMr Trump. Mr

Trump described the

FBI

’s legal

swoop as a “disgrace”. The raid

is not connected directly to

Robert Mueller’s investigation

into Russian contactswith

Trump officials, but theWhite

House said the president now

thinks he has the power to fire

MrMueller.

Themost senior Republican in

the House ofRepresentatives,

Paul Ryan

, decided not to run

for re-election inNovember.

Since becoming Speaker in

2015, Mr Ryan has had to

contendwith the rise ofMr

Trump and a congressional

party frustrated by the lack of

progress in its agenda.

TammyDuckworth became

the first

senator

to give birth

while in office (a girl, Maile).

And CindyHyde-Smith took

up her Senate seat thisweek,

the first woman to represent

Mississippi in either chamber

ofCongress. There are cur-

rently 23 female senators (out

of100), the largest proportion

to date, accounting for almost

half the 52womenwho have

served as senators in total.

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