World in Brief - The Economist Roundup

 

World in Brief

The Economist Roundup

February 8, 2024

Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, rejected a ceasefire proposal from Hamas, saying their demands were “bizarre” and that “total victory” could come in months. Mr Netanyahu explained his position shortly after meeting with Antony Blinken, America’s secretary of state. Hamas’s proposal called for a 135-day truce and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. It came in response to earlier, American-led efforts.

 

An American strike in Baghdad killed a leader of Kata’ib Hizbullah, an Iran-aligned Iraqi faction, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The militia is part of an umbrella group that America blames for killing three of its soldiers in a drone strike in Jordan last month. This is the second retaliatory attack against Iran’s proxies after America struck 85 targets across the region last week.

 

Balochistan, a restive region that straddles Pakistan and Iran, was rocked by two bombings which killed at least 30 people. The attacks took place on the Pakistani side of the border, despite an increase in deployment of police and paramilitaries across the country. The attackers targeted the offices of political candidates; Pakistan will hold elections on Thursday, following a campaign marred by violence.

 

Xi Jinping, China’s president, sacked the country’s top markets regulator. Wu Qing will replace Yi Huiman as the boss of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. He will be expected to help arrest a continuing rout in the country’s stock market, caused by waning confidence in the economy. So far, restrictions on short selling have been introduced. A finance veteran, Mr Wu cracked down on traders during the 2000s.

 

Sweden dropped an investigation into the explosions in 2022 that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which were designed to carry Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Swedish authorities said they lacked jurisdiction to pursue the case, but passed evidence to Germany to investigate further. Russia and the West have blamed each other for the sabotage.

 

The European Commission began formal proceedings against Hungary over a controversial piece of legislation introduced by the country last year. The law gives the authorities powers to investigate political activities which are carried out, or funded by, a foreign entity. The commission said the measure violates “the democratic values of the union”, and gave Hungary two months to respond.

 

Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s incumbent president, appears to have secured a landslide re-election, according to preliminary results released on Wednesday. With more than half of the votes counted, Mr Aliyev led the race with 92%, according to the country’s election commission. His victory was widely expected after he retook the region of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenian separatists and called a snap election.

 

For the first time global temperatures averaged over 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels across an entire year, reported the EU’s climate service. Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, are largely to blame, although El Niño, a natural climate-warming phenomenon, also contributed, it said. In 2015 world leaders pledged to limit warming to 1.5°C as a long-term average in order to avoid its most damaging effects.

 

Democrats rushed to pass an aid package for Ukraine after Senate Republicans rejected a bipartisan spending bill worth $118bn. The bill, which many Republicans abandoned after Donald Trump rubbished it, tied support for the war effort to tougher immigration policy. The Democrats’ “plan B” would provide $60bn for Ukraine but none for border measures. A vote is expected on Thursday.

Pakistan’s contentious election

Pakistanis headed to the polls on Thursday to elect a new parliament, as well as assemblies in four provinces. The country’s powerful generals have already made their preference clear. Neither Imran Khan, a popular former prime minister, nor his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is on the ballot. Last week the already jailed Mr Khan was given three more prison sentences in hasty trials. The election commission has listed PTI candidates as independents to confuse Mr Khan’s voters.

The front-runner is Nawaz Sharif. The three-term former prime minister is back in the country after four years of exile in London. He has pledged to deliver economic growth, slash inflation (which was at an annual rate of around 28% in January) and send a “message of peace” to India. Yet his biggest challenge may be to maintain a working relationship with the generals. Feuds with the armed forces have cut short Mr Sharif’s time in power in the past.

A rapid decline for the ANC in South Africa

Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, will deliver his annual State of the Nation speech in parliament on Thursday, the last of his five-year term in office. He may struggle to sound convincing about his achievements. A year ago Mr Ramaphosa said that his government would focus on issues that South Africans care about most. He promised to reduce the electricity outages that are crippling the economy, fight crime and create jobs. But since then South Africa has had its worst-ever power cuts and the murder rate has soared. Joblessness declined, though it is still 32%.

National elections are due to be held by no later than August 5th. Support for the ruling African National Congress has plummeted to below 40%, according to a recent poll. It now seems almost certain that the ANC will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994, though it is still expected to cling to power at the head of a coalition government.