World in Brief - The Economist Roundup

 

World in Brief

The Economist Roundup

February 20, 2024

Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei Navalny’s widow, vowed to continue his work and blamed Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, for her husband’s death. Germany’s foreign minister proposed new sanctions against Russia. Meanwhile, Russian investigators said they would hold Mr Navalny’s body for “at least two weeks”, according to his spokesperson. Mr Navalny’s associates have accused Russian authorities of withholding it to “cover traces of murder”.

 

Hungary will ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO next week in a vote scheduled for Monday. Sweden’s efforts to join the alliance have been stalled for over a year. Turkey gave its approval in January, leaving Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Russia-friendly prime minister, the sole remaining obstacle to Sweden’s accession. His party, Fidesz, previously accused Sweden of criticising its democratic record in Hungary.

 

America drafted a UN Security Council resolution urging a “temporary ceasefire” in the war in Gaza and opposing Israel’s planned ground invasion of Rafah, according to reports. America vetoed earlier resolutions calling for ceasefires. It recently threatened to block one put forward by Algeria, arguing that it could disrupt negotiations with Hamas on a deal to release hostages taken from Israel.

 

China’s central bank cut a benchmark mortgage interest rate by a record amount. It slashed the five-year loan prime rate from 4.2% to 3.95%, which may enable more cities to reduce minimum mortgage rates for homebuyers. China’s property sector has experienced an extended downturn, unnerving a population that stores most of its wealth in property and hampering the world’s second-largest economy.

 

Australia outlined plans to expand its navy to its largest size since the second world war. It will comprise 26 ships, including six big boats with long-range missile capabilities, which will be built with an extra A$11.1bn ($7.2bn) of investment. Australia hopes to counter China’s military influence in the Pacific.

 

Lionel Messi, an Argentine footballing superstar, denied sitting out a much-anticipated match in Hong Kong for political reasons on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging site. Mr Messi apparently suffered a groin strain on February 4th, but played a game three days later in Japan, China’s long-term rival. Hong Kong officials called it a “calculated snub”. China subsequently cancelled two friendly matches with Argentina scheduled for March.

America and India talk arms

Defence officials gather in Delhi on Tuesday for a meeting of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X). Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, and President Joe Biden launched the initiative in June when they met in Washington, DC. It is the latest attempt to expand military-industrial co-operation. Past efforts have faltered because America has been reluctant to share advanced technologies with India, which has close military ties with Russia. But now America is eager to boost its clout in Asia to counter China’s, and India is keen to buy arms from suppliers other than Russia.

Yet ties between America and India have been strained by American prosecutors’ allegations that India has carried out assassinations on American soil. The superpower is also handling multiple global crises. Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, will not attend the INDUS-X meeting as he had originally planned to do. INDUS-X looks like a lower priority now than it did last summer.

The West targets sanctions evaders

Over the past two years the European Union has reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a dozen rounds of sanctions. As part of the 12th round, the bloc will implement stricter rules on Russian oil and petroleum products beginning Tuesday. But individuals and companies have still managed to dodge sanctions, often by working with a shady army of middlemen beyond the reach of Western measures. Policymakers in Brussels, like their counterparts in Washington, are getting more serious about penalising rule breakers.

Europe’s 13th wave of sanctions, which is expected to come ahead of the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine, reportedly proposes punishing some Indian and Chinese firms that have contributed to Russia's defence sector. In December last year Joe Biden issued a warning against foreign banks facilitating Russia’s war effort. The American president accompanied these with additional import restrictions on Russian diamond and seafood imports.

Julian Assange in the last chance saloon

On Tuesday two high-court judges in London will begin hearing arguments from lawyers representing Julian Assange as to why he should not be extradited to stand trial in America on espionage charges. The founder of WikiLeaks is accused of playing a role in obtaining and disclosing classified documents. They revealed embarrassing facts about American activities in Afghanistan and Iraq. This week’s hearing is probably Mr Assange’s last chance to escape extradition. If an American court finds him guilty, he could spend the rest of his life in jail.

It was Donald Trump’s justice department that decided to go after Mr Assange, but the Biden administration has not dropped the charges. Mr Assange divides public opinion. But by now, even some of his detractors may feel that, after spending seven years holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London and a further five in the high-security Belmarsh prison, the Australian has suffered enough. And some may fear that prosecuting him will have a chilling effect on investigative journalism.
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