Japan tries to stop foreigners copying its cows
“WAGYU IS NOT just meat. It’s all things that Japan is famous for: tradition and quality and conviction.” That is how a Western chef describes Japan’s fatty marbled beef. But to the government, wagyu is a valuable asset, at risk of being pilfered by foreigners. In January the farm ministry proposed a bill to criminalise…
Even tiny Pacific islands cannot escape covid-19
Mar 21st 2020REMOTE AND pristine, the tiny island nations of the Pacific are often the object of apocalypse-proofing fantasies. But if you think they are in any state to ride out covid-19, dream on.Many Pacific jurisdictions have thrown up barriers to the new coronavirus. In late January the Federated States of Micronesia banned entry to…
Jihad is as contagious as covid-19 in the Maldives
THE ARRIVAL of covid-19 in the Maldives was hardly surprising, since 1.5m tourists from all around the world visit the Indian-Ocean archipelago every year. By March 18th 13 foreigners had been declared infected, although there have not yet been any confirmed cases among locals.But a no less dangerous contagion—Muslim extremism—is also afflicting the islands. On…
Covid-19 will end Australia’s 28 years of unbroken growth
THE BUSHFIRES that raged through December and January could not stop it. Nor could a recent fall in house prices, a slump in iron-ore prices in 2014, the global financial crisis or the dotcom bust of 2001. But covid-19 seems likely to do what none of these other setbacks could: interrupt Australia’s unbeaten run of…
How prayer is changing as a result of covid-19
FOR CENTURIES the adhan, the Muslim call to prayer, has been a changeless feature of life in the Arab world. In war or peace, prosperity or famine, the same rhythmic chant echoes across cities and towns five times each day. Midway through comes an exhortation to worship. But on March 13th a muezzin in Kuwait,…
The toils and spoils of Congo’s crocodile-killers
CICERON NYALOWALA’S parents are disappointed. Their son took a boat from their riverside village to the city of Mbandaka, in the heart of the Congo Basin rainforest, where he enrolled in a teacher-training college. They wanted him to become a crocodile hunter, like his father and most of his ancestors. “There is a lot of…
A hidden war threatens Ethiopia’s transition to democracy
IN THE CORNER of a restaurant in Nekemte, a town in western Ethiopia, Fisaha Aberra unfolds a piece of paper on which he has scrawled the names of 11 men he says were shot by soldiers last year. After this came mass arrests. Fisaha and two siblings fled their home in Guliso to Nekemte, leaving…
Africans with disabilities are at higher risk of HIV
Mar 21st 2020NOMASOMI LIMAKO, who lives in South Africa, was often told that she could not get HIV because she is wheelchair-bound. She had never met a disabled person with the disease, as far as she knew, so she believed the rumour. Then came her own diagnosis. Today the 48-year-old pharmacy assistant knows that her…
Flesh-eating Fish & its Victims Recaptured in 150-million-year-old Crime Scene
The preserved fossil of an odd flesh-eating fish that lived during the dinosaur era has been unearthed — along with some of its possible victims. The 150-million-year-old fish, named Piranhamesodon pinnatomus, was a lord of disguise. While it appeared just like any other bony fish streaming in the tropical, warm seas, it possessed razor-sharp teeth…
Developing and deploying tests for SARS-CoV-2 is crucial
Mar 19th 2020“WE HAVE A simple message to all countries.” So said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) at a news conference held in Geneva on March 16th. “Test, test, test. All countries should be able to test all suspected cases, they cannot fight this pandemic blindfolded.” Without adequate testing…