2022.07.07约翰逊将辞去保守党领袖的职务

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Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, will resign as the leader of the Conservative Party. He intends to continue as prime minister until the autumn to allow a leadership race to take place. Much of his party has been calling for his resignation for the past two days, with scores of ministers and aides quitting.

Iranian state television reported that several foreigners, including a senior British diplomat stationed in Tehran, were charged with espionage by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the army. They were reportedly accused of collecting soil samples in the desert in central Iran where missile tests were under way. Giles Whitaker, the British envoy, was said to have been expelled after apologising. Britain called the reports “completely false”.

China reported fresh covid-19 clusters in Beijing, Shanghai and Xi’an, accompanied by mass testing and new restrictions. Shanghai, recently freed from a draconian lockdown, logged 54 infections, while over 300 cases were reported in Xi’an. Residents fear more lockdown measures as the country maintains its zero-covid strategy.

The heads of American and British security services warned about China in their first-ever joint statement. The director of the FBI claimed China meddled in foreign businesses and elections and called it America’s “biggest long-term threat”. The director-general of MI5 said that its work to counter Chinese activity has doubled in the last three years and will double again.

Reviving Russia’s implicit nuclear threats, Dmitry Medvedev, a former president, has warned that the war in Ukraine might endanger the future of humanity. Mr Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, wrote on Telegram that “the idea of punishing a country that has one of the largest nuclear potentials is absurd and potentially poses a threat to the existence of humanity.”

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s president, has asked Vladimir Putin for a loan to import fuel, amid an economic crisis that has led to crippling shortages and public unrest. Sri Lanka has already been buying oil from Russia in recent months but this week the prime minister declared the country “bankrupt”. On Thursday the central bank hiked interest rates by one percentage point to 15.5%.

Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, has convened a conference of the ruling Workers’ Party, aimed at strengthening its leadership. The conference, described by the official media as the first of its kind, comes as the country grapples with problems on many fronts: its first acknowledged outbreak of covid-19; a dire economic crisis; and extreme weather, including a blistering heat-wave.

Fact of the day: 54%, the share of abortions in America carried out through medication rather than surgery. Read the full story.


Boris Johnson finally goes

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
After dozens of ministerial resignations and unprecedented pressure from within his Conservative Party, Boris Johnson will finally step down as party leader and, eventually, as Britain’s prime minister. Having long seen him as a vote-winner, a critical mass of Mr Johnson’s colleagues finally decided that he was a liability, unable to shake off the stench of scandal that has hung over 10 Downing Street for months.

Mr Johnson reportedly wants to stay on in a caretaker capacity until the autumn while the Tories choose a new leader. The identity of his potential successor remains unclear. At least half a dozen candidates may put themselves forward, including Rishi Sunak, who resigned as chancellor on Tuesday; Nadhim Zahawi, who replaced Mr Sunak; Penny Mordaunt, a trade minister; Ben Wallace, the defence secretary; and Liz Truss, the foreign secretary. The psychodrama of Britain’s ruling party is far from over.

Indonesia and the G20

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
The foreign ministers from the G20 group of countries gather in Bali on Thursday, at a time of unusually active diplomacy for their host, Indonesia. Joko Widodo, the president, known as Jokowi, recently visited both his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts on a “peace mission” intended to ease shortages in the global grain market.

Indonesia has made three worthy issues its priorities during its year in the G20’s rotating chair: “global health architecture” (ie, preparedness for future pandemics); “digital transformation” (notably of finance); and “sustainable energy transition”. But despite Jokowi’s efforts, the G20 meetings this year are bound to focus on the war in Ukraine.

In November Bali will host the G20 leaders. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, will attend, and Jokowi has also invited Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, although Ukraine is not a member of the club. Even on the holiday island of Bali, it will be hard to avoid talking about the war.

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Battle of the bulk: Costco’s sales

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Costco, a giant American supermarket chain, publishes its earnings report for June on Thursday, and its results will be scrutinised more closely than usual. Analysts have been poring over companies’ earnings for signs of a recession. Wealthy consumers are of particular interest, given their outsized impact: the top 20% of American households account for about 40% of consumer spending and 28% of GDP, says Morgan Stanley, a bank.

Costco provides a window into how rich Americans’ spending habits might change. The chain is popular with affluent shoppers who are alert to value but who also have the cash to buy in bulk. So far Costco’s sales have been resilient. Even as low-income shoppers have reduced spending, richer ones have sustained their appetite for giant tubs of pretzels; buying toilet paper in bulk can even act as a hedge against rising prices. The question is whether, or when, such lofty spending will succumb to gravity.

Extreme heat at the haj

PHOTO: REUTERS
On Thursday some 1m pilgrims will begin the annual haj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, a religious ritual that every Muslim with financial and physical means is expected to complete at least once in their lifetime. It is the first time the Saudi government has allowed foreign pilgrims to participate since the start of the pandemic.

But bookings, allocated via lottery, have been chaotic. And those who make it to Mecca will face temperatures above 40°C, which can play havoc with the human body. As usual when the haj falls in summer (the dates rotate depending on the lunar calendar), the pilgrims will be sprayed with water and move through vast air-conditioned corridors. But climate models suggest that, if global temperatures rise by 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, lethal heat exposure during the haj will become five times more likely. A rise of 2°C increases the risks tenfold. The religious ritual is becoming increasingly perilous.


Australia goes underwater again

PHOTO: AP
A low pressure system is wreaking havoc in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state. It has dumped more rain on Sydney over four days than London gets in a year. At least one person has died and tens of thousands have been evacuated as rivers have broken their banks. Several towns are braced for flooding as the rain moves north from Sydney.

Flood-stricken Australians will be thrown a buoy on Thursday in the form of federal disaster payments. The new Labor government, led by Anthony Albanese, is offering handouts of A$1,000 ($680) to anyone whose home has been subsumed by rising waters. But that will not go far. And building back is getting harder. Floods are striking Australia with increasing ferocity; some low-lying parts of western Sydney have gone underwater four times in the past 18 months. As waters subside, residents face a difficult choice: leave, or prepare for yet more inundations.

Daily quiz

Our baristas will serve you a new question each day this week. On Friday your challenge is to give us all five answers and, as important, tell us the connecting theme. Email your responses (and include mention of your home city and country) by 1700 BST on Friday to QuizEspresso@economist.com. We’ll pick randomly from those with the right answers and crown one winner per continent on Saturday.

Thursday: Which city hosts the annual Nobel Prize awards?

Wednesday: Which country was the subject of three partitions in the late 18th century?

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Arthur Conan Doyle




英国首相鲍里斯-约翰逊将辞去保守党领袖的职务。他打算继续担任首相，直到秋天，以便进行领导权竞选。过去两天，他的党内大部分人都在呼吁他辞职，有几十名部长和助手辞职了。

伊朗国家电视台报道说，包括一名驻扎在德黑兰的英国高级外交官在内的几名外国人被伊斯兰革命卫队（军队的一个分支）指控为间谍罪。据报道，他们被指控在伊朗中部的沙漠中收集土壤样本，那里正在进行导弹试验。据说英国特使吉尔斯-惠特克在道歉后被驱逐出境。英国称这些报道 "完全错误"。

中国报告说，在北京、上海和西安出现了新的covid-19集群，并伴随着大规模测试和新的限制。上海最近从严厉的封锁中解脱出来，记录了54起感染，而西安报告了300多起病例。居民们担心会有更多的封锁措施，因为该国坚持其零病毒战略。

美国和英国安全部门的负责人在其首次联合声明中对中国提出警告。联邦调查局局长声称中国干涉外国企业和选举，并称中国是美国 "最大的长期威胁"。军情五处总干事说，其打击中国活动的工作在过去三年里翻了一番，并将再次翻番。

前总统梅德韦杰夫(Dmitry Medvedev)重提俄罗斯的隐性核威胁，他警告说，乌克兰战争可能会危及人类的未来。现任俄罗斯安全委员会副主席的梅德韦杰夫先生在Telegram上写道："惩罚一个拥有最大核潜力之一的国家的想法是荒谬的，可能会对人类的生存构成威胁。"

斯里兰卡总统戈塔巴亚-拉贾帕克萨(Gotabaya Rajapaksa)要求弗拉基米尔-普京提供贷款以进口燃料，因为经济危机已经导致了严重的短缺和公众骚乱。最近几个月，斯里兰卡已经从俄罗斯购买石油，但本周总理宣布国家 "破产"。周四，央行将利率提高了一个百分点至15.5%。

朝鲜领导人金正恩召开了一次执政的劳动党会议，旨在加强其领导。这次会议被官方媒体描述为首次召开的会议，正值朝鲜在许多方面努力应对问题：首次承认的19型病毒爆发；严峻的经济危机；以及极端天气，包括刺骨的热浪。

今天的事实。54%，美国通过药物而非手术进行的堕胎比例。阅读完整的故事。


鲍里斯-约翰逊终于走了

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在数十名部长辞职和来自保守党内部前所未有的压力之后，鲍里斯-约翰逊终于将卸任党魁，并最终辞去英国首相。长期以来，约翰逊先生被视为选票的赢家，他的大量同事最终认为他是一个负担，无法摆脱几个月来笼罩在唐宁街10号的丑闻臭味。

据报道，约翰逊先生希望在保守党选择新领导人时，以看守人的身份继续留任至秋季。他的潜在继任者的身份仍不清楚。至少有六位候选人可能会提出自己的名字，包括周二辞去首相职务的里希-苏纳克、接替苏纳克先生的纳迪姆-扎哈维、贸易部长彭妮-莫尔顿、国防部长本-华莱士和外交大臣利兹-特拉斯。英国执政党的心理剧还远未结束。

印度尼西亚和G20

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G20国家集团的外交部长们周四在巴厘岛聚会，此时他们的东道主印度尼西亚的外交活动异常活跃。被称为Jokowi的总统Joko Widodo最近访问了他的乌克兰和俄罗斯同行，执行一项旨在缓解全球粮食市场短缺的 "和平使命"。

在担任20国集团轮值主席国的一年中，印度尼西亚将三个值得关注的问题作为其优先事项。"全球健康架构"（即对未来大流行病的准备）；"数字转型"（特别是金融）；以及 "可持续能源转型"。但是，尽管佐科威做出了努力，今年的G20会议势必会聚焦于乌克兰的战争。

11月，巴厘岛将举办G20领导人会议。俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔-普京(Vladimir Putin)将出席，佐科威还邀请了乌克兰总统沃洛基米尔-泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelensky)，尽管乌克兰不是该俱乐部的成员。即使在度假的巴厘岛上，也很难避免谈论战争。

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散货之战。好市多公司的销售

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美国巨型连锁超市好市多(Costco)周四公布了其6月份的收益报告，其结果将比往常受到更严格的审查。分析师们一直在仔细研究公司的收益，寻找经济衰退的迹象。摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)表示，鉴于富裕消费者的巨大影响，他们特别感兴趣：美国前20%的家庭占据了约40%的消费支出和28%的GDP，一家银行。

好市多(Costco)为了解美国富人的消费习惯可能如何变化提供了一个窗口。该连锁店很受那些对价值敏感但又有现金进行大宗采购的富裕购物者的欢迎。到目前为止，好市多的销售一直很有弹性。即使低收入的购物者减少了支出，但较富裕的购物者却保持了对大桶椒盐卷饼的胃口；大量购买卫生纸甚至可以作为对冲价格上涨的一种手段。问题是，这种高额消费是否或何时会屈服于地心引力。

朝觐时的极端高温

照片。REUTERS
周四，大约100万名朝圣者将开始每年一次的麦加朝圣，这是一个宗教仪式，每个有财力和体力的穆斯林在其一生中至少要完成一次。这是自大流行病开始以来，沙特政府首次允许外国朝圣者参加。

但通过抽签分配的预订情况一直很混乱。那些到达麦加的人将面临40°C以上的温度，这可能对人体造成破坏。像往常一样，当朝觐发生在夏季时（日期根据农历轮换），朝圣者将被喷洒水，并在巨大的空调走廊中移动。但是，气候模型表明，如果全球气温比工业化前水平上升1.5°C，朝觐期间的致命热暴露的可能性将增加5倍。如果上升2℃，风险将增加10倍。这种宗教仪式正变得越来越危险。


澳大利亚再次陷入水深火热

照片。美联社
一个低气压系统正在澳大利亚人口最多的州--新南威尔士州大肆破坏。它在四天内给悉尼带来的雨水比伦敦一年的雨水还要多。由于河流决堤，至少有一人死亡，数以万计的人被疏散。随着雨水从悉尼向北移动，一些城镇已经准备好应对洪水。

遭受洪灾的澳大利亚人将在周四获得联邦救灾款，这是一个浮标。由Anthony Albanese领导的新一届工党政府将向那些房屋被上涨的水淹没的人提供1000澳元（680美元）的援助。但这不会有什么效果。而且重建工作也越来越难。洪水对澳大利亚的冲击越来越猛烈；在过去18个月里，悉尼西部的一些低洼地区已经被淹没了四次。随着洪水的消退，居民们面临着一个艰难的选择：是离开，还是准备迎接更多的水灾。

每日小测验

本周，我们的咖啡师将每天为您提供一个新问题。在星期五，你的挑战是给我们所有的五个答案，并且，同样重要的是，告诉我们连接的主题。在北京时间周五下午17点之前，将你的回答（包括提及你的家乡和国家）发到 QuizEspresso@economist.com。我们将在周六从有正确答案的人中随机挑选，并在每个大洲选出一名获胜者。

星期四。哪个城市举办了年度诺贝尔奖颁奖典礼？

星期三。哪个国家在18世纪末曾被三次瓜分？

没有什么比一个明显的事实更具欺骗性了。

阿瑟-柯南道尔