World in Brief - The Economist Roundup

 

World in Brief

The Economist Roundup

February 5, 2024

America’s Senate unveiled a bipartisan border-security bill worth $118bn that would also provide aid to Ukraine and Israel, following months of tense negotiations. It would require America’s southern border to temporarily “shut down” to most migrants if there were more than 5,000 attempted crossings per day in a week. It is unclear whether the bill will muster enough support to pass the Senate: Donald Trump told Republicans to reject it if it isn’t “perfect”. An initial vote on the bill is scheduled for Wednesday.

 

America’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said there would be more strikes on Iran-linked militias in the Middle East. Earlier America and Britain struck targets linked to the Houthis, an Iran-backed Yemeni group which has attacked ships in the Red Sea in recent months. America also hit Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria on Friday night, in retaliation for the killing of three American soldiers in a drone attack in Jordan on January 28th.

 

Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, claimed to have won the country’s elections with over 85% of the vote—although official results are yet to be announced. Mr Bukele, who stood despite being constitutionally barred from a second term, is one of the world’s most popular leaders owing to his fierce crackdown on criminal gangs. Opponents fear he would use re-election to scrap term limits.

 

At least 99 people were killed in forest fires in Chile’s coastal tourist region of Valparaíso. The president, Gabriel Boric, declared a state of emergency and deployed military units to affected areas, amid fears that the fast-moving fires could spread to urban zones. The blaze was exacerbated by unusually high temperatures, and spread quickly through the drought-stricken region.

 

Osama Rabie, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said that revenue from the Egyptian waterway had almost halved in January, to $428m compared with $804m a year previously. Traffic was down by 36%. Global shipping companies have rerouted their services as Houthi militants escalate their attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The disruptions are piling pressure on Egypt’s economy, already in dire straits.

 

Hong Kong’s government said it was “extremely disappointed” that Lionel Messi failed to turn out for Inter Miami at a local stadium. It threatened to recoup funding worth HK$16m ($1.9m) for the football event. Officials had hoped to boost Hong Kong’s appeal to tourists after three years of strict covid-19 restrictions. Mr Messi claimed to have hamstring trouble; thousands of fans booed and chanted “refund”.

Blinken is back in the Middle East

This weekend America carried out more air strikes in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, all of them aimed at various Iran-backed militias that have attacked American troops in recent months. Joe Biden insists that he wants to avoid another war in the Middle East. But like the proverbial frog in a pot of boiling water, America finds itself ever-more immersed in the conflict.

From Sunday to Thursday this week Antony Blinken, America’s secretary of state, will be on his fifth visit to the region since Hamas’s attack in October. In Egypt, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the West Bank, Mr Blinken will seek to negotiate a pause in Israel’s war in Gaza—and, perhaps, the wider regional chaos. But Israel remains noncommittal. On Sunday its prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said his government would “not agree to every deal, and not at any price”. Hamas, too, is divided about whether to accept any agreement. Like the war in Gaza, diplomacy has also reached an impasse.

Samsung’s boss faces justice, again

After nearly three and a half years of hearings a South Korean court will finally pass judgment on Lee Jae-yong, scion of the Samsung family, on Monday. Mr Lee is accused of stock-price manipulation and accounting fraud relating to the merger of two Samsung subsidiaries, Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, in 2015. Prosecutors have asked for a five-year prison sentence and a 500m won ($373,000) fine. (He denies all charges.)

But even a guilty verdict might not mean Mr Lee spends much time behind bars. In 2017 he was found guilty of bribing an associate of South Korea’s then-president, Park Geun-hye, to facilitate that same merger. He found himself in and out of prison as appeals, a retrial, parole and an eventual pardon took their course; in the end he served only 19 months of his five-year sentence. If convicted again Mr Lee will probably appeal, confident that he can wriggle his way out again.

A show of force in the desert

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and rising tension in the Indo-Pacific caused by China’s growing military might, have boosted demand for weapons. The second biannual World Defence Show takes place this week in Riyadh. More than 750 defence companies will be exhibiting their wares to over 100,000 trade visitors and around 115 national delegations. In 2022 contracts worth a total of $8bn were inked during the show. The theme of this year’s exhibition is investing in new technologies. Such investment will almost certainly push deal-making beyond the level of 2022.

According to SIPRI, a think-tank that monitors the arms trade, global military expenditure rose by 3.7% in real terms in 2022, to reach a record high of $2.2trn. Military expenditure in Europe rose by 13% in that year—the largest annual increase in the post-cold-war era. Defence businesses can count on bulging order books for years to come.