The Economist Latin America May 1, 2021

Japan declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other prefectures. Unlike previous restrictions, bars selling alcohol and shopping malls were told to close. Chile will keep its borders closed for another month, even though the number of new covid-19 cases is easing. America’s Centres for Disease Control revised its advice on wearing masks. Fully vaccinated people do not need to wear one outside, it said, except in crowded venues, like sports stadiums. Americans were allowed to receive the one-shot Johnson & Johnson jab again after regulators ended their suspension of the vaccine. They had been investigating claims that it caused blood clots. America said it would donate up to 60m doses of the Astra-Zeneca jab to other countries. The vaccine has not been approved for use in the US . → For our…

Politics India’s second wave of covid-19 gained strength. The number of infections detected hit new records, with some 380,000 on April 28th alone. The official death toll surpassed 200,000, though evidence grew that many more fatalities are going unrecorded. Shortages of beds and oxygen afflicted many hospitals. The government ordered Twitter to remove posts critical of its handling of the epidemic, sparking widespread outrage. India now accounts for around 40% of the world’s new recorded infections. An Indonesian general died in a shoot-out with separatists in Papua province, in Indonesia's half of the island of New Guinea. Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha was the first Indonesian general ever to be killed in action. Fighters from the Karen National Liberation Army, an insurgent group, captured an outpost on the Thai border…

Politics India’s second wave of covid-19 gained strength. The number of infections detected hit new records, with some 380,000 on April 28th alone. The official death toll surpassed 200,000, though evidence grew that many more fatalities are going unrecorded. Shortages of beds and oxygen afflicted many hospitals. The government ordered Twitter to remove posts critical of its handling of the epidemic, sparking widespread outrage. India now accounts for around 40% of the world’s new recorded infections. An Indonesian general died in a shoot-out with separatists in Papua province, in Indonesia's half of the island of New Guinea. Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha was the first Indonesian general ever to be killed in action. Fighters from the Karen National Liberation Army, an insurgent group, captured an outpost on the Thai border from the Burmese…

Japan declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other prefectures. Unlike previous restrictions, bars selling alcohol and shopping malls were told to close. Chile will keep its borders closed for another month, even though the number of new covid-19 cases is easing. America’s Centres for Disease Control revised its advice on wearing masks. Fully vaccinated people do not need to wear one outside, it said, except in crowded venues, like sports stadiums. Americans were allowed to receive the one-shot Johnson & Johnson jab again after regulators ended their suspension of the vaccine. They had been investigating claims that it caused blood clots. America said it would donate up to 60m doses of the Astra-Zeneca jab to other countries. The vaccine has not been approved for use in the…

THE TEST of a first-rate intelligence, wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. For decades just such an exercise of high-calibre ambiguity has kept the peace between America and China over Taiwan, an island of 24m people, 100 miles (160km) off China’s coast. Leaders in Beijing say there is only one China, which they run, and that Taiwan is a rebellious part of it. America nods to the one China idea, but has spent 70 years ensuring there are two. Today, however, this strategic ambiguity is breaking down. The United States is coming to fear that it may no longer be able to deter China from seizing Taiwan by force (see Briefing). Admiral…

THE TEST of a first-rate intelligence, wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. For decades just such an exercise of high-calibre ambiguity has kept the peace between America and China over Taiwan, an island of 24m people, 100 miles (160km) off China’s coast. Leaders in Beijing say there is only one China, which they run, and that Taiwan is a rebellious part of it. America nods to the one China idea, but has spent 70 years ensuring there are two. Today, however, this strategic ambiguity is breaking down. The United States is coming to fear that it may no longer be able to deter China from seizing Taiwan by force (see Briefing).…