World in Brief - The Economist Roundup

 

World in Brief

The Economist Roundup

Missile strikes in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen on Saturday risked the theatre of war in the Middle East widening. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said an Israeli missile strike in Damascus had killed five of its members; Lebanese security sources said an Israeli strike there had killed a member of Iran-backed Hizbullah. A strike by Iran-backed rebels in Iraq wounded some American soldiers. Iran’s president vowed to punish Israel for its strike in Syria.

 

Tens of thousands of people—50,000 in Hamburg alone—gathered in towns across Germany to protest against the hard-right Alternative for Germany party. The protests followed the revelation that late last year senior AfD members had discussed plans for the large-scale deportation of migrants. The AfD has just 78 of the Bundestag’s 736 seats, but polls suggest it is the country’s second-most popular party.

 

Iran said it had successfully launched a satellite, placing it in an orbit 750km above the Earth’s surface. The country’s space agency did not specify the satellite’s purpose. America has previously warned that Iran’s satellite launches breach a UN Security Council resolution and may hasten Iran’s ability to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.

 

The speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament said lawmakers were preparing a bill to permit the confiscation of property from people spreading “deliberately false information” about the armed forces or calling for sanctions against the country. Vyacheslav Volodin said the bill—the latest element of a crackdown on criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine—would be brought before the State Duma on Monday.

 

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israel had fired on a hospital in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza, after the Israel Defence Forces launched an advance there. On Friday Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, spoke with Joe Biden for the first time in weeks. Mr Biden said afterwards that he did not consider a two-state solution between the Palestinians and Israelis impossible with Mr Netanyahu in charge—even though Israel’s leader had confirmed his opposition to Palestinian statehood only the day before.

 

Félix Tshisekedi was sworn in as president of Congo during a ceremony in the capital, Kinshasa. Mr Tshisekedi won a second five-year term last month after securing 73% of the vote. Nine opposition candidates, including the runner-up, Moïse Katumbi, rejected the official result after the documenting of many cases of irregularities.

 

A fiery campaign trail in Indonesia

Indonesia’s presidential election takes place on February 14th. On Sunday three vice-presidential candidates will spar in a televised debate. They include Gibran Rakabuming Raka, son of the incumbent president, Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi). Under the constitution Mr Gibran is four years too young to run for the position. But last October the constitutional court controversially allowed his candidacy. (The court’s chief justice is Jokowi’s brother-in-law and Mr Gibran’s uncle.)

Also controversial is Prabowo Subianto, Mr Gibran’s running mate, who is the current front-runner for the presidency. A former army general, Mr Prabowo has been associated with human-rights abuses during Indonesia’s brutal war in East Timor (he denies wrongdoing). He has an explosive temper: he recently lost his cool in a presidential debate when his two rivals questioned his record as defence minister, a role that Jokowi gave to him in 2019.

A Global South get-together

Uganda is having a moment in the spotlight among developing countries. A meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, a cold-war relic of countries not formally aligned with any other major bloc, ended in Kampala, the capital, on Saturday. It was followed by a “South summit”, an economic get-together organised by the G77, a collection of poor and middle-income countries. Heads of state and government begin discussions on Sunday.

Both blocs were born in the era of decolonisation. They sought to reshape an international order they said was rigged in favour of the great powers. Their influence waned in the 1980s, as Latin America and Africa plunged into debt crises and the cold war approached its end. Still, their members are home to most of the world’s population. And inside the UN, the G77 has been pushing for an international tax convention and a fund for countries affected by climate change. At the summit, the countries hope to boost co-operation in areas including trade, poverty eradication and digitalisation.

Microplastics spreading in the wind

Every year in America 2.1m tonnes of sewage sludge is spread over the land as fertiliser. This fertiliser, called biosolids, is considered a good use of the waste, even though it contains the microplastics filtered out of waste-water. A new study in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, a journal, shows how the wind picks up those microplastic particles and spreads them as plastic dust.

Experiments conducted in wind tunnels reveal that microplastics are gathered up by the wind much more easily than soil. Even a gentle breeze can introduce them into the atmosphere because microplastics are lighter and less “sticky” than ordinary dust. In tests, 84% of wind events picked up microplastics whereas only 23% picked up soil. That could mean more is floating around the air than previously thought. Little wonder, then, that microplastics have been found everywhere from mountain tops to the ocean floor—and inside human bodies. They may contribute to myriad conditions, from infertility to cancer.

A cricketing challenge for England in India

This weekend the England men’s cricket team assembles in Hyderabad ahead of a five-Test series against India. In some roles the squad lacks experienced players. Shoaib Bashir, a 20-year-old spin-bowler, had played just six matches for his county side, Somerset, when the England coach, Brendon McCullum, selected him. England have struggled for years to produce international-quality spinners, partly because domestic pitches tend to suit faster bowling. In contrast, India’s 16-man squad for the first two matches of the series contains four spinners with 183 Test appearances between them.

England’s batting is also in focus. Under Mr McCullum they have pioneered an ultra-aggressive approach, known as “Bazball”. It brought them a rare series win in Pakistan in 2022, when they broke records for the speed at which they piled up runs on pitches designed for slow scoring. Given the strength of the Indian side, a series win there would be an even bigger achievement.