Politics this week
《经济学人》2018年9月29日 刊
More women made allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh dating back to the 1980s, complicating the Republicans’ plan for his swift confirmation to the Supreme Court. The #MeToo movement, which began a year ago, has rallied to oppose Mr Kavanaugh. He denies all claims of sexual misconduct.
Rod Rosenstein, America’s deputy attorney-general, described a report that he had thought about secretly taping Donald Trump and had discussed ways to remove him from office as “inaccurate”. Mr Rosenstein appointed the special counsel currently investigating Russian meddling in American elections. Mr Trump has often expressed displeasure with him.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won a presidential election in the Maldives, defeating the incumbent, Abdulla Yameen. In February Mr Yameen had declared a state of emergency and arrested judges to stay in power, so Maldivians were surprised and delighted when he conceded. See article.
Police in the Philippines arrested Antonio Trillanes, a senator and critic of President Rodrigo Duterte. Mr Trillanes was pardoned for the crime in question—mutiny—by Mr Duterte’s predecessor, but Mr Duterte revoked the pardon.
India’s supreme court ruled that a vast biometric identification scheme was constitutional, and that participation could be required for those receiving public benefits or filing tax returns. But it limited the scope for private businesses to use the system. See article.
So that’s sorted then?
Britain’s opposition Labour Party passed a motion at its annual conference that left the door open to a second referendum on Brexit. Sir Keir Starmer, the party’s Brexit spokesman, won loud applause when he said such a referendum could include the option to remain in the EU. Some unions and MPs say this would be a betrayal. The party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn, just wants an election.
Labour’s Brexit manoeuvres came after Theresa May’s “Chequers” deal for Britain to leave the EU was rejected at a summit in Salzburg. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said the EU could not accept the British prime minister’s plans. Mrs May said the solutions demanded by the EU would “make a mockery” of British voters’ decision to leave. Some of her hardline backbenchers say much the same about her own plan.
Bellingcat, a journalism website, said that the real name of one of the two Russian military intelligence agents accused by Britain of carrying out a chemical attack in Britain is Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, who was awarded Russia’s highest honour in 2014 by Vladimir Putin personally.
Volker Kauder, a close ally of Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, was ousted as head of her CDU party’s parliamentary group. The move is a further sign of Mrs Merkel’s weakening position.
In Sweden, the prime minister, Stefan Lofven, was formally ousted by a parliamentary vote following an inconclusive election on September 9th. However, he will stay on as caretaker until a new government can be formed, which might take a while.
Caputo kaput
The president of Argentina’s central bank, Luis Caputo, quit after just three months in the job. His interventions to prop up the peso had brought him into conflict with the finance minister, Nicolás Dujovne, who objected to the sale of the country’s reserves to defend the currency. The new head of the central bank is Guido Sandleris, who was Mr Dujovne’s deputy. See article.
The United States Treasury imposed sanctions on Cilia Flores, the wife of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and three other members of his inner circle. The sanctions bar American citizens from doing business with them and subject any assets they have in America to seizure. America has imposed sanctions on dozens of members of Venezuela’s dictatorial regime.
Russia defends Iran in Syria
Vladimir Putin said Russia would supply Syria with an advanced anti-aircraft missile system. Israel, which has carried out dozens of air strikes on Iranian targets in Syria, opposed the move. Relations between Russia and Israel have been strained since Syria mistakenly shot down a Russian plane in response to an Israeli air strike.
Several gunmen attacked a military parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, killing at least 25 people. Ethnic Arab separatists and the jihadists of Islamic State issued competing claims to have carried out the attack. The government claimed, without evidence, that the gunmen were backed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and America. See article.
In a speech to the UN, Donald Trump accused Iran of “sowing chaos, death and destruction” in the Middle East. Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, retorted that Mr Trump suffered from a “weakness of intellect”.
José Filomeno dos Santos, the son of Angola’s ex-dictator and himself the former head of Angola’s sovereign-wealth fund, was arrested on suspicion of money-laundering, embezzlement and fraud. Mr dos Santos is the most prominent figure from the former regime to face prosecution in President João Lourenco’s anti-corruption campaign.
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