The Economist Latin America June 5, 2021

Peru raised its death toll from the disease to 180,000 (from 69,300) to keep the figure in line with international counting of excess deaths. Britain reported zero daily deaths from covid-19 for the first time since the start of the pandemic in March last year. The country’s vaccine roll-out has been a stellar success. More than 75% of adults have received at least one jab. The World Health Organisation (WHO) approved the Sinovac vaccine for emergency use, the second jab made in China to receive its blessing. The WHO reclassified variants of the disease by letters of the Greek alphabet to avoid upsetting the countries where they were first spotted. The British variant becomes Alpha, the South African variant Beta, and so on. In a somewhat less sensitive move, the WHO elected Syria,…

Politics The opponents of Binyamin Netanyahu reached an agreement that would end his 12­year stretch as prime minister of Israel. Under the deal, Naftali Bennett, the leader of a nationalist party, would become prime minister, serving for two years before handing over to Yair Lapid, a centrist and secularist. The Knesset still must pass a vote of confidence in the new coalition, which includes an Arab-Israeli party. That leaves time for Mr Netanyahu to try to pick off its right-wing supporters. The African Union suspended Mali’s membership and threatened to impose sanctions if a civilian-led government is not restored. Last month Mali’s armed forces mounted a coup, the second in less than a year. The Democratic Republic of Congo said that 32 of its MPs had died of covid-19. The reported total for…

HOSPITALS ARE full, favelas echo with gunfire and a record 14.7% of workers are unemployed. Incredibly, Brazil’s economy is smaller now than it was in 2011—and it will take a lot of strong quarters like the one reported on June 1st to repair its reputation. Brazil’s death toll from covid-19 is one of the worst in the world. The president, Jair Bolsonaro, jokes that vaccines might turn people into crocodiles. Brazil’s decline was shockingly fast. After the military dictatorship in 1964-85, the country got a new constitution that returned the army to barracks, a new currency that ended hyperinflation and social programmes that, with a commodity boom, began to ease poverty and inequality. A decade ago the country was flush with oil money and had been awarded the 2014 World Cup…

Politics The opponents of Binyamin Netanyahu reached an agreement that would end his 12­year stretch as prime minister of Israel. Under the deal, Naftali Bennett, the leader of a nationalist party, would become prime minister, serving for two years before handing over to Yair Lapid, a centrist and secularist. The Knesset still must pass a vote of confidence in the new coalition, which includes an Arab-Israeli party. That leaves time for Mr Netanyahu to try to pick off its right-wing supporters. The African Union suspended Mali’s membership and threatened to impose sanctions if a civilian-led government is not restored. Last month Mali’s armed forces mounted a coup, the second in less than a year. The Democratic Republic of Congo said that 32 of its MPs had died of covid-19. The…

Peru raised its death toll from the disease to 180,000 (from 69,300) to keep the figure in line with international counting of excess deaths. Britain reported zero daily deaths from covid-19 for the first time since the start of the pandemic in March last year. The country’s vaccine roll-out has been a stellar success. More than 75% of adults have received at least one jab. The World Health Organisation (WHO) approved the Sinovac vaccine for emergency use, the second jab made in China to receive its blessing. The WHO reclassified variants of the disease by letters of the Greek alphabet to avoid upsetting the countries where they were first spotted. The British variant becomes Alpha, the South African variant Beta, and so on. In a somewhat less sensitive move, the…

NEVER BEFORE has Binyamin Netanyahu’s hold on the premiership of Israel looked so weak. On June 2nd his opponents, led by Naftali Bennett (pictured) and Yair Lapid, agreed to form a government that excludes the man who has dominated his country’s politics for the past 12 years (see Middle East & Africa section). The only thing left is for the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) to hold a confidence vote. Mr Netanyahu will do his utmost to sabotage it. But if he fails, his long reign will be over. “King Bibi” has overseen a flourishing high-tech economy and one of the world’s best covid-19 vaccination campaigns. He has made peace with several Arab states and kept Israel safe, notwithstanding a recent war in Gaza. Many of his policies are now generally accepted, even…